Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sadc forces Zim leaders
President Robert Mugabe and his rival Morgan Tsvangirai have been ordered by the Sadc leaders to form a unity government this comes after a summit which was aimed at solving the Zimbabwe crisis. The emergency summit decided that Tsvangirai should be sworn in by 11 February to rule Zimbabwe alongside Mugabe, said Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Executive Secretary Tomaz Salomao.
MorePresident Obama leads US drive to topple Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe
President Obama wants a fresh approach to toppling Robert Mugabe and is discussing with aides an unprecedented, US-led diplomatic push to get tough new UN sanctions imposed against the Zimbabwe regime, The Times has learned. During talks Mr Obama has had with his top Africa advisers in recent weeks, the central idea they focused on was taking the issue of Zimbabwe before the UN Security Council, but for the first time to combine such a move with an intense diplomatic effort to persuade Russia and China not to block the initiative.
MorePresident Obama leads US drive to topple Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe
President Obama wants a fresh approach to toppling Robert Mugabe and is discussing with aides an unprecedented, US-led diplomatic push to get tough new UN sanctions imposed against the Zimbabwe regime, The Times has learned. During talks Mr Obama has had with his top Africa advisers in recent weeks, the central idea they focused on was taking the issue of Zimbabwe before the UN Security Council, but for the first time to combine such a move with an intense diplomatic effort to persuade Russia and China not to block the initiative.
MoreMugabe wants ‘new chapter’
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe said on Tuesday he hoped that a power-sharing agreement with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would lead to a “new chapter.” “We hope that this will open a up a new chapter in our political relations in the country and in structures of government,” Mugabe said in remarks at Harare airport on arriving from a regional emergency summit on Zimbabwe held in South Africa.
MoreMugabe wants ‘new chapter’
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe said on Tuesday he hoped that a power-sharing agreement with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would lead to a “new chapter.” “We hope that this will open a up a new chapter in our political relations in the country and in structures of government,” Mugabe said in remarks at Harare airport on arriving from a regional emergency summit on Zimbabwe held in South Africa.
MoreTuesday, January 27, 2009
SADC sets 5 Feb deadline for Zim constitutional amendment
Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders have given Zimbabwe political leaders until 5 February 2009 to pass Constitutional Amendment 19. Constitutional Amendment 19 makes provision for the creation of the post of prime minister and deputy prime minister for Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) faction leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, respectively. Addressing local and international media early Tuesday morning after over 12 hours around the negotiation table, SADC Executive Secretary Dr Tomaz Salomao said the people of Zimbabwe are faced with very difficult challenges that require an inclusive government.
MoreMotlanthe gets tough
“We cannot continue talking and talking and talking without concretely proceeding to the implementation stage,” said South African President Kgalema Motlanthe at the latest round of Sadc-sponsored Zimbabwe talks. Southern African leaders remained locked in marathon talks early on Tuesday in a fresh push to end Zimbabwe’s political deadlock between President Robert Mugabe and rival Morgan Tsvangirai.
MoreMonday, January 26, 2009
Violent protest near Zimbabwe summit venue
Police in South Africa fired rubber bullets at hundreds of people protesting outside government buildings over the crisis in neighbouring Zimbabwe, injuring at least one. The protest took place around a kilometre from where Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was meeting with his southern African counterparts and his arch-rival Morgan Tsvangirai about the political impasse in his country.
MoreRegional leaders meet to tackle Zimbabwe crisis
Regional leaders will push Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and the opposition at a summit on Monday to implement a power-sharing deal and save the country from economic collapse. Mugabe will seek approval at the meeting in South Africa to form a government with or without his rivals. The veteran leader and Morgan Tsvangirai, head of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), signed the agreement in September but have failed to agree on control of cabinet posts, with neither side showing any sign of compromise.
MoreZimbabwe police block rally
Zimbabwean police called off an opposition rally in their capital yesterday, prompting accusations of political interference on the eve of a regional summit on the southern African nation’s political crisis.Opposition spokesman Nelson Chamisa said leaders of his Movement for Democratic Change had organized the rally in Harare to update members on their position headed into the talks, set to take place in South Africa.
MoreEU tightens sanctions on Zimbabwe
The European Union has tightened its sanctions against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, EU officials have said. More than 60 individuals and firms with links to Mr Mugabe have been added to a list of those banned from travelling to the EU or doing business there. Those on the sanctions list are suspected of having links to human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.
MoreFriday, January 23, 2009
WOZA leaders in court for remand hearing
On Thursday, a Bulawayo magistrate set aside a ruling on a case against the leaders of the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), who are facing two ‘nuisance’ charges for organizing demonstrations. Jennie Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu were arrested in October 2008 and June 2008 and were charged under the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act and Miscellaneous Offences Act respectively. Both draconian Acts deal with issues relating to ‘acting in a manner which is likely to lead to a breach of the peace or to create a nuisance, disturbing peace, security or order of the public’.
MoreRegime plans forced removal of Chiadzwa villagers
Plans are afoot by the regime to forcibly remove 5000 villagers from the Chiadzwa area in Manicaland province, to facilitate unfettered access to the diamond fields. Newsreel learnt on Thursday that a meeting between Governor Christopher Mushowe and some chiefs and headmen from the area is set to be held on Saturday. Almost all those invited, including the provincial administrator and district administrator for Marange, have close links to the Mugabe regime. Sure Mudiwa, the MDC MP for Mutare West which incorporates the diamond fields, said there has been a deliberate plot by the regime to exclude some people from the meeting.
MoreHunger strike for change
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is among activists in southern Africa who have launched a fast and hunger strike in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe. The new Save Zimbabwe Now movement says African leaders must abandon the policy of quiet diplomacy and recognise there is no legal government in Zimbabwe.
MoreSADC to blame for deaths in Zimbabwe, says Machel
“The blood of those dying on daily basis in Zimbabwe will be laid on the feet of Southern African Development Community (SADC) leadership as they are failing to undertake duties they are elected to do” said rights activist Graça Machel in JohannesburgZimbabwe Journalists. Machel who is also a member of elders’s group who were barred from entering Zimbabwe last Novemember by the Mugabe regime was speaking at the launch of a regional fasting that is meant to last for three months over the Zimbabwe crisis. Organisers of this fasting period believe ‘politicians alone could not solve the crisis.’
More