Free Republic

Robert Mugabe, the longtime leader of Zimbabwe who was forced to resign in 2017 after a military takeover, has died. His successor Emmerson Mnangagwa confirmed Mugabe’s death in a tweet Friday, mourning him as an “icon of liberation.” Mugabe was a former guerrilla chief who took power after the end of white minority rule in 1980 and presided over a country whose early promise was eroded by economic turmoil and human rights violations.

HARARA, May 13 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe has started rolling power cuts lasting up to eight hours that will also hit mines, a schedule from the state power utility showed on Monday, after reduced output at both the largest hydro plant and ageing coal-fired generators. The power cuts will add to mounting public anger against President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government as Zimbabweans grapple with an economic crisis that has seen shortages of U.S. dollars, fuel, food and medicines as well as soaring inflation that is eroding earnings and savings.

...Mnangagwa struck a conciliatory tone in the months leading up to the election. Declaring that Zimbabwe was “open for business,” he amended a law requiring local ownership of diamond and platinum mines. He signaled his intent to end farm seizures and vowed to sell off failing state enterprises. He even wrote a New York Times op-ed calling for democracy and equal rights for all citizens. But Mnangagwa is tied to numerous human rights abuses, including overseeing a series of government-ordered massacres between 1982 and 1986 known as the “Gukurahundi.” An estimated 20,000 civilians from Zimbabwe’s Ndebele ethnic group were killed....

Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa has called for calm after intense violence between protesters and military troops left at least three people dead. The president said he has opened lines of communication with MDC opposition leader Nelson Chamisa to discuss how to "immediately diffuse the situation" and "protect the peace we hold dear". In a series of tweets, he added that an independent investigation into the deadly clashes in Harare that led to troops firing live rounds and beating protesters would be launched. Violence broke out in the Zimbabwean capital after soldiers moved into Harare on Wednesday as protests escalated amid...

A white Zimbabwean farmer previously kicked off his land by the former Robert Mugabe regime received a hero’s welcome from his community Thursday following the new government’s return of his land, the Associated Press reported. Guided by military escort, Robert Smart became the first white farmer who came back to the land he once owned before it was seized nearly two decades ago by Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party. In 2000, Mugabe ordered land seizures and evictions of white farmers and their families. According to the Telegraph, of the estimated 4,500 white farmers prior the seizures, only several hundred remain. Zimbabwe’s...

OPPOSITION parties have called on President Robert Mugabe to resign after a massive boob in his office resulted in the ageing leader reading the wrong speech while officially opening the 3rd session of the 8th Parliament. Mugabe, battling old-age and ill-health, looked tired as he trudged through the inspection of the military parade before slipping into the confines of Parliament’s chamber where he was supposed to lay down the agenda for this term’s legislative sitting. Instead, a mortal error resulted in Mugabe re-reading his State of the Nation Address delivered to the national assembly at the end of August. Mugabe’s...

A South African spy captured by Zimbabwean counter intelligence is alleged to have been severely tortured before agreeing to co-operate with local officials, the Institute for Security Studies said in Pretoria today. The spy recently was nabbed by Zimbabwean Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) operatives at Victoria Falls and under questioning, revealed the names of his collaborators within the governing Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu(PF)). Chris Maroleng, an analyst, said the spy would not have naturally agreed to work with the Zimbabweans as they had alleged and therefore must have reached his "pain threshold". "The Zimbabwean CIO are renowned...