Zimbabwe’s opposition alleged widespread irregularities as the partial recount begun on Saturday of votes cast in the presidential and parliamentary elections held three weeks ago, including ballot boxes with seals broken before they were delivered for the count or with no seals at all.
Supporters of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF have set up a network of torture camps where they have been assaulting opposition activists, a leading rights group said on Saturday. The New York-based Human Rights Watch said that suspected supporters of the opposition were being rounded up and then beaten.
Zimbabwean election officials are expected on Saturday to begin a partial recount of votes from the March 29 elections despite opposition protests and widespread fears the political stalemate could erupt in violence.The recount in 23 of 210 constituencies could overturn the results of the parliamentary election.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe came out fighting on Friday in his first major speech since disputed polls, fending off criticism over his rights record and accusing Britain of stirring up unrest. But Mugabe did not speak about the outcome of the March 29 presidential elections, the results of which are still to be announced.
Ordinarily, this time of the football season would be about which of the traditional top-three teams are best placed to win the Premier Soccer League (PSL) championship. But it increasingly appears that not all, if any, of the three teams that have dominated the PSL honours will make it to the top eight of the log.
Zimbabwe’s beleaguered President Robert Mugabe was set on Friday to make his first keynote speech since the country’s disputed polls at celebrations to mark the 28th anniversary of the country’s independence. Mugabe was scheduled to be the main speaker at a rally at the Gwanzura Stadium in Highfield, a suburb of Harare.
Opposition to a shipment of arms being offloaded in Durban and transported to Zimbabwe increased on Thursday when South Africa’s largest transport workers’ union announced that its members would not unload the ship. A government spokesperson said the country could not stop the shipment from getting to its destination.
President Thabo Mbeki must be relieved of his duties as mediator in the current impasse in Zimbabwe, Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said in Johannesburg on Thursday. ”We want to thank President Mbeki for all of his efforts, but President Mbeki needs to be relieved of his duties,” he told reporters.
Correspondence published by Zimbabwe’s state media that was purported to be between British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) chief Morgan Tsvangirai is a hoax, the United Kingdom embassy said on Thursday.
Zimbabwe’s government on Thursday accused opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai of treason, saying he had plotted with former colonial power Britain to bring about regime change. It cited alleged correspondence between British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Tsvangirai.
South Africa will not interfere with a shipment of weapons aboard a Chinese ship that is destined for Zimbabwe, government communications head Themba Maseko said on Thursday. All South African authorities can do is to make sure that ”all proper administrative processes” are followed.
African National Congress president Jacob Zuma, in his toughest statement yet on Zimbabwe, expressed apprehension on Wednesday at the post-election deadlock there and its impact on the neighbouring region. In a widening disagreement with President Thabo Mbeki, Zuma said: ”The region cannot afford a deepening crisis in Zimbabwe.”
President Robert Mugabe’s security forces clamped down hard on unrest during a general strike in Zimbabwe, arresting dozens of opposition supporters before the stoppage fizzled out on Wednesday. The security forces scaled back their presence in the capital as it became clear that the call for people to remain off work had failed.
The Zimbabwe opposition’s campaign to force the release of results from last month’s presidential election suffered a fresh blow on Tuesday when a call for a general strike went largely unheeded. Most shops and services were open for business as usual and an initial heavy security presence was eased.
A general strike called by Zimbabwe’s opposition to pressure authorities into releasing delayed presidential election results faltered on Tuesday. Fears of a fierce government crackdown and the desperate need of many Zimbabweans to make enough money to subsist seemed to have discouraged strong participation.
Zimbabwe is in a state of crisis, the African National Congress (ANC) national working committee said on Monday. ”The ANC regards [the ruling] Zanu-PF as an ally. However, it is concerned with the state of crisis that Zimbabwe is in and perceives this as negative for the entire Southern African Development Community region,” said spokesperson Jesse Duarte.
Zimbabwe opposition supporters face the prospect of a heavy crackdown by security forces on Tuesday if they heed a call to launch a general strike to show their disgust at long-delayed election results. Police have been deployed throughout the country in anticipation of the strike.
Zimbabwe’s post-election crisis intensified on Monday after a high court judge threw out an opposition demand for the immediate release of results from the March 29 presidential polls. The opposition reacted angrily to the ruling, urging Zimbabweans to show their disgust at the hold-up by launching a general strike from Tuesday.
Zimbabwe’s High Court on Monday refused to order the immediate release of delayed presidential election results, in a major blow to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Rejecting an MDC application to force the electoral commission to release the result, Judge Tendai Uchena said: ”I dismiss the case with costs.”
The High Court in Zimbabwe was to rule on Monday on whether to order the immediate release of results of a March 29 presidential election in a judgement that could plunge the country into a general strike. All eyes will be on Justice Tendai Uchena as he decides whether to agree to an opposition request to immediately declare the result.
Zimbabwe’s official presidential election results may remain secret for at least another week while substantial numbers of votes are recounted in a move the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says is designed to overturn fraudulently Robert Mugabe’s defeat and his Zanu-PF party’s defeat in Parliament.
Zimbabwe’s High Court on Sunday ordered the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to refrain from recounting the results of March 29 elections because the presidential results have not yet been announced. The ruling followed an announcement by the ZEC that it would carry out a partial recount of votes.
Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders called on Sunday for the rapid release of results from Zimbabwe’s election after a two-week delay that has raised fears of violence. A 13-hour summit in Lusaka also called on President Robert Mugabe to ensure that a possible run-off presidential vote be held ”in a secure environment”.
An emergency summit of Southern African leaders on Zimbabwe’s post-election crisis opened on Saturday with a plea from its chairperson not to turn a blind eye, but President Robert Mugabe stayed away. Zambia’s Levy Mwanawasa told Southern African Development Community leaders that doing nothing was not an option.
South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Saturday there was ”no crisis” in Zimbabwe after holding his first face-to-face talks with Robert Mugabe since the country’s disputed March 29 elections. Mbeki had stopped in Harare on his way to join Southern African leaders in Zambia for an emergency meeting on Zimbabwe.
South African President Thabo Mbeki was to hold talks on Saturday with Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe in Harare before heading on to Lusaka for a summit on Zimbabwe’s post-election crisis, an official said. Mugabe has chosen not to attend the gathering of the 14-nation Southern African Development Community.
Police have banned political rallies and the opposition has accused the authorities of waging a violent crackdown as Zimbabwe’s political crisis deepens nearly two weeks after a presidential election that produced no official winner. Zimbabwe’s neighbours hope to find a resolution on Saturday at an emergency summit in Zambia.
President Robert Mugabe will boycott a weekend Southern African summit on the Zimbabwe crisis, state radio said on Friday as the opposition called for a general strike to press for the release of election results. Mugabe signalled a further clampdown in the country with a ban on all political rallies.
Zimbabwe raised doubts on Friday over whether President Robert Mugabe would attend an emergency regional summit on the weekend to discuss deepening concern over a post-election deadlock in the country. Officials had earlier said Mugabe was expected to attend the Lusaka summit on Saturday of the 14-nation Southern African Development Community.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who says he won Zimbabwe’s election, has met South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki and pressed the key regional leader to use his influence to persuade President Robert Mugabe to step down, an opposition spokesperson said on Friday.
President Thabo Mbeki will attend a Southern African Development Community (SADC) emergency summit this weekend in Zambia on the post-election crisis in Zimbabwe. However, Mbeki’s cherished policy of "quiet diplomacy" on Zimbabwe has been rejected by his own party.
South Africa will work with other countries in the region to ensure the will of the Zimbabwean people is reflected, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad said on Thursday. The country has joined the chorus of international calls for Zimbabwe to release the results of its March 29 presidential election as soon as possible.