Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has handed out millions of United States dollars worth of imported brand new agricultural equipment, vehicles, generators and cattle in what critics said was a massive vote-buying exercise ahead of elections this month.
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has signed into law a Bill giving local owners the right to take majority control of foreign companies, including mines and banks, a government newspaper reported on Sunday. Analysts fear the move could sound the death knell for an economy that is struggling with the world’s highest inflation rate of more than 100Â 000%.
Accompanied by a village choir, waving fists and miniature ruling party flags, the crowd of several thousand thunders out four words in a constant refrain: "Long live comrade Mugabe." A poet punctuates his recital with long pauses before chanting a string of praises for Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe.
European Union member states and the United States have been excluded from a list of observers who will be invited to monitor the March 29 general elections in Zimbabwe, the government announced on Friday. The only European country that had been invited to send monitors was Russia, while the Commonwealth was also left off the invitation list.
Zimbabwe is seeking to rush in maize imports from Southern African states, President Robert Mugabe told an election rally on Wednesday, saying the country faced an emergency. Concerns over widespread food shortages deepened after a government report on Tuesday showed Zimbabwe would fail to meet its targeted harvest this year.
Simba Makoni’s decision to enter the presidential race is a ploy by former colonial power Britain to divide Zimbabweans, a state-controlled newspaper reported President Robert Mugabe as saying on Wednesday. Mugabe told ruling Zanu-PF supporters at a rally that voters have to ”bury British regime-change schemes”, the Herald reported.
Britain said on Tuesday it would support a ban on a tour next year by the Zimbabwe cricket team in protest at President Robert Mugabe’s rule, but the decision was up to the sport’s authorities. The BBC’s Inside Sport said the government was looking at several options to stop next year’s tour.
Former Zimbabwe finance minister Simba Makoni has said there will be no backlash against veteran President Robert Mugabe if he topples him at this month’s general election. ”President Mugabe is someone who has a very special place in our history,” Makoni said in an interview, ruling out retribution against Mugabe.
Reviving Zimbabwe’s moribund economy would require inflation-battered citizens to swallow the bitter pill of reduced state spending and higher interest rates to attract foreign cash, analysts say. The ousting of veteran President Robert Mugabe is essential to pave the way for reforms to put the country back on track, they believe.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s deputy, Joyce Mujuru, has thrown her weight behind the veteran ruler’s bid for a sixth term, dispelling speculation linking her to Mugabe’s rival, Simba Makoni. Mujuru was quoted by the state-owned Herald newspaper on Monday as saying: ”Firstly, you should vote for comrade Mugabe”.
Robert Mugabe’s iron grip on his ruling Zanu-PF party is being broken ahead of this month’s presidential election as senior party figures throw their weight behind an unprecedented challenge to Zimbabwe’s president from his former finance minister, Simba Makoni.
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/ 29 February 2008
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Friday predicted victory in presidential and parliamentary polls next month as he launched the election manifesto of his ruling Zanu-PF party. ”We certainly are going to win,” the 84-year-old leader told thousands of supporters at a rally in the capital, Harare.
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/ 29 February 2008
The head of Zimbabwe’s prison service has ordered his officers to vote for President Robert Mugabe and said he will resign if the opposition wins next month’s election, official media reported on Friday. The Southern African country holds joint presidential, parliamentary and council elections on March 29.
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/ 25 February 2008
Zimbabwean presidential hopeful Simba Makoni said on Monday he would not form a coalition with the main opposition party because it would alienate dissenters in President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party. ”There are a large number of people in Zanu-PF who share my proper vision,” Makoni said in an interview.
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/ 24 February 2008
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe celebrated his 84th birthday on Saturday at a rally aimed at boosting support before elections next month. A laughing Mugabe, wearing a garland of flowers and surrounded by supporters, hit out at the country’s ”enemies” who have criticised his presidency. Mugabe’s actual birthday was on Thursday.
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/ 22 February 2008
President Robert Mugabe should retire before he faces defeat in elections next month, an aide to a rival whom the Zimbabwean leader branded a ”prostitute” said on Friday. Mugabe hurled the insult at former finance minister Simba Makoni on Thursday in a television interview and vowed to humiliate the opposition.
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/ 21 February 2008
In an unusual show of unity, the two secretary generals of the two factions of Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have described the dialogue that was meant to resolve the country’s meltdown as ”dead”, painting a dire scenario for Zimbabwe after its upcoming elections.
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/ 14 February 2008
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is facing the most serious challenge to his 28-year rule as candidates, including his own former finance minister, register on Friday for a March 29 general election. Detractors accuse Mugabe of destroying the economy of this once-prosperous country and rigging the last three major elections.
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/ 13 February 2008
Zimbabwe’s former finance minister, Simba Makoni, pledged on Wednesday to heal the Southern African country’s wounds as he unveiled his strategy to end President Robert Mugabe’s 28-year rule in polls next month. He expressed confidence of toppling Mugabe after accusing him of engendering fear and despair.
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/ 13 February 2008
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday declared he would work with anyone who opposed the dictatorship of President Robert Mugabe while denouncing former ruling party presidential candidate Simba Makoni as tainted goods.
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/ 13 February 2008
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was robbed at his Johannesburg offices on Tuesday evening. Police spokesperson Thembi Nkhwasu said Tsvangirai and two of his officials were in their offices in Homestead Avenue in Bryanston at about 6pm when they were confronted by three men armed with pistols.
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/ 12 February 2008
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has said he is ”raring to go” in general elections next month despite the first challenge for 20 years from within his ruling party. Mugabe is seeking another five-year term in the March 29 presidential, parliamentary and council elections.
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/ 11 February 2008
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai confirmed on Sunday he would stand for president at elections next month, quashing speculation he would give a former minister a clear run against Robert Mugabe. Former finance minister Simba Makoni announced last week that he planned to challenge Mugabe at the March 29 elections.
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/ 10 February 2008
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who only days ago looked assured of re-election next month as a result of splits in the opposition, now has to contend with a growing mutiny within his own ranks. Analysts who had regarded Mugabe as a shoo-in at national polls are revising their forecasts.
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/ 6 February 2008
Veterans of Zimbabwe’s liberation war warned a former ally of President Robert Mugabe who will run against him in next month’s elections that he was a traitor, government newspapers reported on Wednesday. Former finance minister Simba Makoni, a senior member of the ruling Zanu-PF, entered the presidential race on Tuesday.
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/ 4 February 2008
The Zimbabwe opposition’s failure to bury its differences means President Robert Mugabe is a virtual shoo-in for a sixth term of office, analysts said on Monday. Sunday’s announcement that the two factions of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would field separate candidates against Mugabe has led commentators to close the book on the contest.
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/ 24 January 2008
The United States said on Thursday it has raised its concerns with Zimbabwe over a political opponent’s arrest which it called a bid to intimidate and muzzle democratic opposition. The US ambassador to Harare, James McGee, spoke on Wednesday to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai after he was released after several hours in custody.
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/ 23 January 2008
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai accused President Robert Mugabe of running a dictatorship on Wednesday after he was briefly detained by police and needed court approval to address supporters. He told supporters his detention in the early hours by police who picked him up while he was sleeping was a bad omen for elections due in March.
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/ 23 January 2008
Zimbabwe’s main opposition party was given permission on Wednesday to stage a protest rally against President Robert Mugabe after its leader Morgan Tsvangirai was briefly detained by police. Police had slapped a blanket prohibition on the protest called by the Movement for Democratic (MDC) as a show of strength.
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/ 23 January 2008
Police took away Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the middle of the night for questioning about a demonstration planned for later on Wednesday, his lawyer said. ”The police are saying they want to know what he is planning to do today,” said lawyer Alec Muchadehama.
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/ 22 January 2008
Police released Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai hours after taking him away in the middle of the night for questioning about a demonstration planned for later on Wednesday. Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change planned the march to press President Robert Mugabe for a new Constitution.
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/ 21 January 2008
Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) set the stage on Monday for a new showdown with the security forces by vowing to ignore a ban on a mass protest against President Robert Mugabe. MDC secretary general Tendai Biti said there was no reason why a previous agreement to stage the demonstration should be ripped up.