Harare

Zimbabwe’s information minister has warned that alleged plans by the British government to deport up to 10 000 Zimbabweans could be cover for saboteurs to enter the country. Moyo said on Thursday that the British government has been training young Zimbabweans in violence and sabotage.

Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have agreed to reform some of that country’s electoral laws, but the opposition said it is ”dissatisfied” by the state’s attempts to portray absolute agreement. However, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said ”negations are over”.

Zimbabwe’s official inflation rate dropped to 149,3% last month, down from 209% in October, the state Central Statistical Office said on Tuesday. The new rate still leaves Zimbabwe with the highest inflation in the world. The troubled Southern African country is in the midst of its worst economic crisis since independence.

The Zimbabwean government will not tolerate foreign interference in next year’s parliamentary elections, the country’s foreign minister, Kembo Mohadi, said on Tuesday. ”The government of Zimbabwe will not allow its people to become gullible victims of hybrid, genetically modified propaganda, affectionately fanned, doctored and synthesised by reactionary forces to discredit our election process,” Mohadi said.

Zimbabwe produced just a third of the food it needs this season, the main opposition said on Wednesday, predicting the hunger crisis will worsen in the impoverished Southern African country. The opposition warned that half the nation’s 12,5-million population faces deepening hunger in coming months.

Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai warned on Tuesday that any ”carelessness” by the government ahead of the March elections could lead to an ”inferno” in the southern African country. Tsvangirai, in a weekly newsletter, called for ”sensitive political management” especially in the run-up to the parliamentary elections in the politically divided and crisis-ridden nation.

Zimbabwe’s Petroleum Marketers’ Association (PMA) has opened tenders for the supply of petrol and diesel. The latest move comes as fuel queues snake through Harare’s streets. The PMA said on Tuesday it is tendering for the monthly supply of 24-million litres of petrol and 26-million litres of diesel.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe silenced discussion in his party about his retirement and quashed a power struggle over his succession at a party congress over the weekend. Mugabe imposed a loyal but political lightweight young woman as Zanu-PF party vice-president, to put her directly in line to succeed him when he either retires or dies.

Zimbabwe’s ruling party on Saturday elected longtime Cabinet minister Joyce Mujuru as the country’s first woman vice-president at the end of a party congress. Welcoming her election President Robert Mugabe hinted that Mujuru may be destined for higher office. ”When you choose her as a vice-president, you don’t want her to remain in that chair do you?” he asked the delegates amid applause.

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party claimed on Friday that government forecasts of a bumper grain harvest were false and that the southern African country faced a severe food crisis next year. Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) shadow agriculture minister Renson Gasela told a press conference in the capital the government had inflated its estimated maize harvest as a pretext for putting a stop to international food aid.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Thursday ruled out any regime change in his country and taunted British Prime Minister Tony Blair as he opened his ruling Zanu-PF party congress which is due to renew the party’s top leadership. ”Regime change Mr Blair, who are you to talk of regime change in Zimbabwe?,” said Mugabe.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe called for unity at a crucial ruling party congress on Thursday amid tensions within the governing Zanu-PF about the election of a new vice-president. ”The message of unity… has continued to energise us even as our external and internal enemies have been vigorously seeking their dream of regime change,” Mugabe said.

The Zimbabwean government is seeking leave to appeal the acquittal of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of treason, a newspaper reported on Thursday. In October, the Harare High Court acquitted Tsvangirai of plotting to kill President Robert Mugabe and stage a coup, saying there was insufficient evidence against him.

Spending on Zimbabwe’s feared security police is set to surge to Z,8-billion (,6-million) in 2005, according to expenditure estimates released on Tuesday. President Robert Mugabe’s government refuses to discuss the operations of the Central Intelligence Organisation. Funding for the shadowy force appears under a ”special services” category in the budget for his own office.

Hundreds of delegates started arriving on Tuesday in Harare ahead of this week’s ruling party congress which is likely to see the election of Zimbabwe’s first woman vice-president. Around 9 000 delegates of President Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) are due to attend the five-day conference, which begins on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe is set to emerge with one of lowest standards of living in the world next year, according to the United Kingdom-based Economist Intelligence Unit. In an index released last week known as the Quality of Life Index 2005, Zimbabwe is ranked last among 111 countries surveyed.

In a major climbdown on Thursday the Zimbabwean government lifted its ban on 13 British journalists covering England’s international cricket series now due to start in Harare on Sunday. The dramatic retreat by Information Minister Jonathan Moyo came against a background of yet another clash between the state and the ruling Zanu-PF’s warring information departments.

Zimbabwe on Thursday reversed its decision not to allow 13 foreign journalists into the country in a bid to save England’s stalled cricket tour. The government’s Information Department has now cleared all 55 journalists who applied for accreditation to cover the tour, the state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Zimbabwe moved closer to passing a contentious law that would restrict foreign funding of human rights groups, as President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party defeated filibusters by the opposition. In a legislative session that stretched overnight on Tuesday, the majority Zanu-PF party voted down a series of last-minute amendments sought by the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Monday acknowledged that there is infighting in the upper ranks of his ruling party ahead of a key party congress due next month, state television reported. The 80-year-old leader’s remarks came amid speculation of intense jockeying for positions of power within Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union — Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) ahead of parliamentary elections to be held in March next year.

President Robert Mugabe’s government has labelled opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai as state enemy number one, the official Zimbabwe media reported on Thursday. Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa also issued a veiled threat of unspecified action to be taken against Tsvangirai, the head of the Movement for Democratic Change, when he returns from a lengthy international tour.

Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF is set to hold a crucial congress next month to renew the party’s leadership, a spokesperson said on Monday, amid signs that President Robert Mugabe will stay on as leader. The party will elect new leaders and discuss issues arising from various reports to be presented at the congress.

Zimbabweans living abroad will not be allowed to vote because ruling Zanu-PF Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa says the country’s Constitution bars them. He also said the registration of voters living in foreign countries is impossible because of a ban on senior Zanu-PF members from travelling to Western nations.

The number of Zimbabweans living in rural areas who will soon require food aid is likely to be higher than earlier estimated because food prices are rising, a regional food watchdog has warned. A report by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network says earlier estimates, which showed 2,2-million rural Zimbabweans would need food aid, will have to be revised.

Zimbabwe opposition Movement for Democratic Change lawmaker Roy Bennett applied to the High Court on Wednesday for bail. He was sentenced by a parliamentary committee to 15 months’ hard labour, with three months suspended, for pushing Zanu-PF Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa to the ground.

King Mohammed VI of Morocco has asked Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe to help mediate in its long-running dispute over Western Sahara, state media said on Tuesday. The invitation was delivered to Mugabe in Harare on Monday by Moroccan Foreign Minister Mohammed Benaissa.

Zimbabwe’s opposition is accusing a committee appointed by President Robert Mugabe of tampering with voters’ lists ahead of key parliamentary elections in March. Movement for Democratic Change secretary general Welshman Ncube has cited irregularities in voter registration that took place between May and July this year.

Zimbabwean police say they are seeking a prominent ruling Zanu-PF party businesswoman in connection with ”externalising foreign currency”. Scores of arrests in recent months have shown at least a degree of seriousness in President Robert Mugabe’s claim that he will crack down in economically and politically troubled Zimbabwe.

State media said on Thursday that 40 Zimbabwean employees of the British embassy are engaged in a work slowdown to protest pay conditions and alleged racism. Embassy spokesperson Gillian Dare denied the report carried by state radio and the government news agency. ”We strongly deny any charge of racism,” she said.

Zimbabwe police re-arrested Zanu-PF businessman James Makamba along with two senior executives from his cellular network company, Telecel. The company’s managing director Anthony Carter and company secretary Edward Mutsvairo are currently in custody with Makamba, with all three being accused of ”externalising foreign currency”.