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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.
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/ 20 January 2008
Zimbabwean authorities have passed changes to the country’s tough security laws after veteran President Robert Mugabe gave his final seal of approval, a state daily reported on Saturday. The government also passed revised electoral laws ahead of Zimbabwe’s upcoming presidential and legislative polls expected in March.
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/ 18 January 2008
South African President Thabo Mbeki met his Zimbabwean counterpart on Thursday after local media reports that he was stepping in to break a deadlock in talks aimed at ending Zimbabwe’s political and economic crises. Mbeki met with Robert Mugabe at a hotel for four hours and also met with members of the political opposition.
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/ 17 January 2008
Zimbabwe’s opposition urged South African President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday to try to persuade his counterpart, Robert Mugabe, to delay elections due in March, opposition and government sources said. Mbeki held three hours of talks with Mugabe at State House in Harare before then meeting with officials from the main opposition.
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/ 17 January 2008
South African President Thabo Mbeki travels to Zimbabwe on Thursday to meet officials of the ruling Zanu-PF and main opposition parties after reports that a deal to end a political crisis was imminent. Mbeki has been mediating talks between Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s government and the Movement for Democratic Change for nearly a year.
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/ 16 January 2008
Zimbabwe’s main opposition said on Wednesday it planned a protest next week to demonstrate against a crumbling economy and press for a new Constitution it says will guarantee free and fair elections scheduled for March. Opposition MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said earlier this month the party might boycott elections scheduled for March.
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/ 15 January 2008
Zimbabwean parties engaged in negotiations are within days of finalising a political document that would cover all the important issues needed to ensure a free and fair election. This emerged from a meeting at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Tuesday between President Thabo Mbeki, who is facilitating the talks, and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern.
The main faction of Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Thursday vowed to boycott presidential and legislative polls in March if the nation’s Constitution was not overhauled. Mugabe has said that elections will be held in March and that the opposition would only have themselves to blame if they do not adequately campaign.
Talks between President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF and Zimbabwe’s opposition are deadlocked because the ruling party is refusing to implement a new transitional constitution, main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai claimed on Wednesday. ”Mugabe and Zanu-PF want a false election,” Tsvangirai said. ”We are deadlocked on key issues.”
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/ 30 December 2007
Bare supermarket shelves, bank queues and burst riverbanks — for many Zimbabweans a bad year ended in a bad way. At least 27 Zimbabweans died in floods this month while thousands have spent precious holiday days in bank queues, waiting for scarce cash.
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/ 27 December 2007
After a year which saw the official inflation rate surge to 8 000%, shelves run dry and opposition leaders beaten up, few people in Zimbabwe can wait to see the back of 2007. While President Robert Mugabe hopes to secure a seventh term of office in elections next year, he is unlikely to trade heavily on his government’s recent economic performance.
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/ 24 December 2007
For many in inflation-riddled Zimbabwe this year, Christmas isn’t quite what it used to be. In a glitzy department store on Harare’s main First Street, there are no customers at the almost bare perfume counters. Upstairs in the toy department, Santa has disappeared from his grotto. Outside, about 500 weary customers queue for cash at a bank.
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/ 18 December 2007
President Robert Mugabe’s government has amended security and media laws that critics say have helped him entrench his rule. The changes to the Public Order and Security Act were agreed at talks, brokered by South African President Thabo Mbeki, between Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party and two factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
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/ 17 December 2007
The main faction of Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party said on Sunday it remained committed to talks with the ruling Zanu-PF but hinted there were still sticking points. The declaration came after claims in Zimbabwe’s state-controlled media that talks between President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF and the MDC were now over.
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/ 4 December 2007
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday expressed his gratitude to European Union and fellow African leaders for enabling him to see off a bid to have him excluded from an EU-Africa summit. ”The sinister campaign led by Britain to isolate us, including the recent attempts to bar us from attending the EU-Africa summit … continues to disintegrate,” Mugabe said in a State of the Nation address in Parliament.
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/ 30 November 2007
Zimbabwe’s 2008 budget seems bereft of concrete measures to curb hyperinflation and ill suited to provide the economic rebound it promises a population faced with growing hardship. The Southern African country, facing the uncertainties of presidential and parliamentary elections next year, is in the grip of a punishing recession.
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/ 29 November 2007
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, caught in a standoff with Britain which has cast a shadow over an European Union-Africa summit, said on Wednesday he had no objection to dialogue between the two countries. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he will boycott the December 8 to 9 Lisbon summit because Mugabe will attend.
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/ 28 November 2007
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade said on Wednesday he would push to create a group of African leaders to resolve a stand-off between Zimbabwe and Britain, which has cast a shadow over a European Union-Africa summit. Wade arrived in Harare after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would boycott the planned December 8 to 9 Lisbon summit.
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/ 28 November 2007
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade will fly to Zimbabwe on Wednesday for talks with President Robert Mugabe in an attempt to resolve a row between Harare and London that threatens to derail a European Union-Africa summit next month. Wade will fly to Zimbabwe after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Tuesday he would boycott the planned December 8 to 9 summit in Lisbon.
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/ 22 November 2007
South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Thursday he was ”very confident” that mediation efforts between Zimbabwe’s government and the opposition would produce a solution to the country’s political crisis. ”They [the talks] have gone very well,” Mbeki said after meeting the two sides.
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/ 21 November 2007
The leader of Zimbabwe’s opposition said on Wednesday that talks with his government over electoral reform have made progress, but added that ensuring implementation will be crucial. He also said the Movement for Democratic Change might shun next year’s election unless it is sure President Robert Mugabe will not rig it.
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/ 15 November 2007
Southern African countries face a ”very real challenge” of regime change encouraged by foreign powers, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said on Thursday. He was opening the ministerial session of the South Africa-Zimbabwe Joint Permanent Commission on defence and security in Vanderbijlpark.
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/ 3 November 2007
Trevor Ncube’s article ("Opportunity knocks for Zimbabwe", October 5) cannot go unchallenged. One would have expected him to make use of his lofty position to differentiate clearly the forest from the trees where the situation in this wretched country is concerned, writes Ketayi Makosa.
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/ 1 November 2007
A decision by the European Union to allow Robert Mugabe to a summit is a rare diplomatic coup for Zimbabwe’s leader whose relations with the West have plummeted almost as fast as his country’s economy. In power since the former British colony won independence in 1980, Mugabe has shown no sign of mellowing in his old age.
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/ 29 October 2007
Viomak’s velvety voice drifts through the air like a lullaby on a gentle breeze. But her protest songs pack a punch which could mean jail for anyone caught listening to them in her native Zimbabwe. The tunes bluntly demand an end to President Robert Mugabe’s rule and belong to Zimbabwe’s tradition of protest music that her fans say give hope and comfort.
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/ 27 October 2007
President Robert Mugabe has dismissed claims by the Zimbabwe opposition that its supporters are victims of politically motivated violence, state media reported on Saturday. Mugabe challenged the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to substantiate allegations of attacks on its followers, the state-run Herald newspaper reported.
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/ 25 October 2007
Zimbabwe’s home affairs minister has dismissed as hearsay claims by the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) that MDC members are being targeted in violent attacks by ruling party supporters, state media said on Thursday. A delegation from the MDC was on Wednesday summoned to meet Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi.
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/ 24 October 2007
Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said it had secured a promise from the government on Wednesday to investigate charges of escalating violence against their supporters. After a meeting with Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi, senior MDC figures said they had been assured they were not regarded as ”enemies”.
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/ 24 October 2007
Zimbabwe’s central bank chief pledged on Wednesday that empty shop shelves would soon be replenished as he denounced the ”anarchy” inspired by the government’s order for retailers to slash their prices in half. Gideon Gono said the availability of goods was improving after widespread shortages that he acknowledged were sparked by the blitz.
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/ 24 October 2007
Zimbabwe’s crisis has now reached the tipping point, a spokesperson for the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change warned on Tuesday as a local consumer watchdog said the cost of living had climbed 30% in a month. Most basics are now only available on the expensive black market.
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/ 19 October 2007
An independent Zimbabwe newspaper on Friday claimed that President Robert Mugabe has named four potential successors, and they do not include Vice-President Joyce Mujuru. The Zimbabwe Independent claimed Mugabe said that the four serious candidates to succeed him were Emmerson Mnangagwa, Sydney Sekeramayi, John Nkomo and Simba Makoni.
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/ 16 October 2007
Zimbabwe’s main opposition party said on Tuesday that President Robert Mugabe’s government was escalating a violent crackdown against its members. Nelson Chamisa, spokesperson for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), told journalists it was worried by increased cases of violence against its supporters.