A vote for opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in Zimbabwe’s June 27 run-off election will be akin to an act of war, Vice-President Joseph Msika was quoted as saying on Thursday.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party said on Wednesday it would deploy more war veterans to campaign in some opposition areas ahead of a presidential election run-off.
The current climate in Zimbabwe was ”not at all” the proper one for an election, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said in an interview broadcast on Tuesday.
South Africa has chaired talks between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party and opposition in a new mediation drive ahead of a run-off election this month, a report said on Tuesday.
For more than a decade Grace Mugabe has taken a back seat, seemingly content with just being Zimbabwe’s first lady — though she has become famous for her shopping sprees.
On hearing that Kenneth Kaunda had lost to Frederick Chiluba in Zambia’s 1991 presidential election, Zaire’s strongman, Mobutu Sese Seko, is reported to have remarked: ”Lose an election? How? – That’s stupid!”
Choosing to read all events through a political paradigm is often the curse of those of us born unfree.
Her Grace has spoken. Mai Mugabe has declared with all the authority of a First Lady: "Morgan Tsvangirai will never step into the White House."
Zimbabwe’s opposition had a successful day of campaigning despite attempts by ruling party militants to thwart election activities, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) officials said on Sunday.
As Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe rolls out his strategy to hang on to power, attacks on his opponents are getting bloodier by the day.
The Zimbabwean government on Friday banned the opposition presidential candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, from holding political rallies.
The United States ambassador to Zimbabwe accused President Robert Mugabe’s government on Friday of illegally using food aid as a weapon.
Zimbabwe’s harassment of diplomats and aid groups shows it will fail to respect the rule of law during the June 27 presidential election run-off, the country’s main opposition party said on Friday.
Zimbabwe indefinitely suspended all work by aid groups on Thursday and police held a group of United States and British diplomats for several hours.
The White House on Thursday called Zimbabwe’s detention of United States and British diplomats for several hours ”outrageous”.
Zimbabwe’s presidential election run-off should be scrapped to prevent further bloodshed, the ruling-party defector who came third in the first round said on Thursday.
Zimbabwe authorities intensified a pre-poll crackdown on Wednesday, detaining the opposition chief for several hours.
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and several of his top lieutenants were detained by police on Wednesday in the approach to a key run-off presidential election on June 27, his party said.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is to send up to 400 observers to this month’s run-off poll in Zimbabwe, double the number who oversaw the first round.
The aid group Care International said on Tuesday the Zimbabwean government has halted its operations in the country for allegedly campaigning for the opposition
President Robert Mugabe’s government is using food as a weapon ahead of Zimbabwe’s June 27 presidential run-off election, United States-based group Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, whose 28-year rule has brought widespread hunger to his country, on Tuesday defended the seizure of land from white farmers, saying he is undoing a legacy of Zimbabwe’s former colonial masters. Mugabe spoke to world leaders at a United Nations summit on the global food crisis against a backdrop of sharp criticism over his participation.
Civil and human rights groups predicted more chaos after Zimbabwe’s presidential run-off takes place, saying on Tuesday they do not believe President Robert Mugabe will step down if he loses. However, it is ”critical” for the election to go ahead so a winner can emerge, said Gorden Moyo, from Bulawayo Agenda.
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe accused the West on Tuesday of seeking to provoke "illegal regime change" by crippling his country economically. Speaking at a summit on the global food crisis, the veteran leader accused the West of using non-governmental bodies and opposition parties to try and bring him down.
A Zimbabwean court sentenced three South Africans to jail terms of between six and seven-and-a-half months after they were found in possession of ”illegal transmitting equipment” belonging to the Sky television channel, Sky said on Tuesday.
The United Nations urged a summit on the global food crisis on Tuesday to help stop the spread of starvation threatening nearly one billion people by lowering trade barriers and removing export bans. ”Nothing is more degrading than hunger, especially when man-made,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told world leaders.
Britain is ”reviewing” Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s honorary knighthood, a government spokesperson said on Monday, amid reports that the first steps had been taken to revoke the title. On Monday, Channel 4 News television reported, without citing its sources, that the first steps had been taken to strip Mugabe of the knighthood.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe made a surprise appearance on Monday at a world food summit in Rome, drawing fierce criticism from the British government. In his first official trip abroad since elections in March, Mugabe attended the summit organised by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Britain criticised as obscene the presence of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe at this week’s global food summit in Rome, saying he had inflicted shortages on millions of his own people by his ”profound misrule”. Mugabe flew into Rome late on Sunday, making his first official trip abroad since elections condemned by Western leaders as fraudulent.
Shortages of bread in Zimbabwe are expected to worsen after preparations for the country’s winter wheat crop failed, state media said on Monday. The state-controlled daily Herald said that farmers planted 8 963 hectares of wheat this winter, only 13% of a government target of 70 000 hectares.
Zimbabwean police have arrested at least 70 suspects following attacks on liberation war veterans and ruling-party activists in the Buhera district, a state daily reported on Monday. ”So far more than 70 suspects have been arrested in connection with the cases,” police Deputy Commissioner General Levy Sibanda was quoted as saying by the Herald.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe flew into Rome for a global food summit on Sunday, his first official trip abroad since elections condemned by Western and opposition leaders as fraudulent. A British Foreign Office spokesperson said: ”It is a matter of concern to us and we would prefer that he did not attend.”