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China offers development assistance but not everyone is happy about it. The people of Zimbabwe head to the polls today on July 30, 2018, to cast their votes in the first election after the abrupt end to the almost forty-year rule of Robert Mugabe, the country's only ruler since independence in 1980. The two major candidates to watch are Mugabe's former vice president and now leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) Emerson Mnangagwa, the replacement for the late opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and the candidate for the Movement for Democratic Change—Tsvangirai (MDC-T), Nelson Chamisa. The drama that...

Barack Obama said on Tuesday the world should resist cynicism over the rise of strongmen, in an apparent reference to populist leaders who hold power in a number of countries. […] “Just as people spoke about the triumph of democracy in the 90s, people now are talking about the triumph of tribalism and the strong man. But we need to resist that cynicism,” Obama said in a speech in Johannesburg to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nelson Mandela. Some of Obama’s language echoed that of Trump’s critics. “Too much of politics today seems to reject the very...

Learn to light a candle in the darkest moments of someone's life. Be the light that helps others see; it is what gives life its deepest significance Without his likely ever realizing it, Canada Free Press commenter Fred Niziol brought me solace today just as I learned about the tragic deaths of prominent Zimbabwean freedom warrior Roy Bennett, his wife, Heather and Charles Burnett III. Niziol posted these inspiring words to Facebook: “Learn to light a candle in the darkest moments of someone’s life. Be the light that helps others see; it is what gives life its deepest significance.” —Roy...

A Zimbabwean court has freed an American journalist who was charged with attempting to overthrow the government, after police accused her of insulting then-president Robert Mugabe. Martha O’donovan who works for Harare based Magamba TV had her case dismissed by court for a ‘patent absence of facts’. She was arrested in November in a dawn raid on her home in the capital after allegedly calling Mugabe, who was ousted in a bloodless coup a few weeks later, a ‘goblin whose wife and step-son bought a Rolls Royce’, on Twitter. It all depends on what they gather but for now the...

"President Barack Obama drew the diplomatic line somewhere at the first ever U.S-Africa summit at the White House this week by not inviting Zimbabwe’s brutal dictator Robert Mugabe. But the guest list still included several other African leaders with only slightly better human rights records. The White House promoted the summit as the largest-ever gathering of African leaders in the United States, with more than 50 countries represented. The red carpet was rolled out for Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who shot or jailed virtually all his political opponents, Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh, who threatened to ‘cut off the head’...

NATIONAL NEWS Tuesday 11 , March Villagers flee Zanu PF terror ABOUT 10 villagers from Buhera South fled their homes following Zanu PF incited violence. They have since sought refuge at the ZimRights offices in Harare where they are seeking legal assistance. Zanu PF youths allegedly mounted attacks on the villagers from their bases. Arnold Tsunga, the ZimRights chairman, confirmed yesterday they had received victims of political violence from Buhera and Cashel Valley in Chimanimani. He said the victims had sought refuge in Harare. Tsunga said in Cashel Valley, about 53 people, 21 of them school children were displaced by...

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...

KAMPALA, Uganda—There is a terrible but revealing irony about the arrest and detention in Zimbabwe of 25-year-old American Martha O’Donovan. Over the weekend, tens of thousands of the country’s citizens took to the streets of the capital, Harare, many of them brandishing placards denouncing 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe. His army is in revolt, his wife and chosen successor, 52-year-old Grace Mugabe, is no longer seen in public, and even though he’s trying to hold on, his party and countless citizens of the country that he’s ruled for 37 years clearly want the president gone, gone, gone. Back on Nov. 3,...

By Norimitsu Onishi and Jeffrey Moyo Nov. 21, 2017 HARARE, Zimbabwe — Robert Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, resigned as president on Tuesday shortly after lawmakers began impeachment proceedings against him, according to the speaker of Parliament. The speaker of Parliament read out a letter in which Mr. Mugabe said he was stepping down “with immediate effect” for “the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe and the need for a peaceful transfer of power.” Parliament erupted into cheers and jubilant residents poured into the streets of Harare, the capital. It seemed to be an abrupt capitulation...

Harare (AFP) - President Robert Mugabe clings to office, the military is in power and the much-feared ZANU-PF party still rules -- but Zimbabweans put such issues aside Saturday to happily embrace what they hope is a new era for the country. Many protesters welcomed the army's takeover this week that has brought 93-year-old Mugabe's previously impregnable reign to the brink of collapse. "Just look at the crowds here... Finally we can hope to have jobs when I finish university," Tafadzwa Musarurwa, a 22-year-old social studies student at the University of Zimbabwe, who marched in the central business district, told...

The general behind Zimbabwe’s coup may have sought Chinese approval days before the army launched its takeover of Robert Mugabe’s government, it emerged on Wednesday. Mr. Mugabe remained under house arrest, still president of Zimbabwe if in name alone, a prisoner of once slavishly loyal generals who now hold the country’s fate in their hands. As the former British colony faced a deeply uncertain future under military tutelage, a trip to Beijing by General Constantine Chiwenga, the head of the armed forces, last week has reignited concerns about rising Chinese influence in Africa. The general held high-level meetings with officials...

The Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe, is being confined to his house by soldiers who surrounded his official and private residences, as well as other government buildings. Sources suggest Grace Mugabe, who was being positioned to eventually take over from her husband, has left Zimbabwe for Namibia. The sacked vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, was reported to have returned to Zimbabwe on Wednesday morning from South Africa, where he fled after being stripped of his office. The president of neighbouring South Africa, Jacob Zuma, said he had spoken to Mugabe, who was “fine” and that he was sending special envoys to meet...

GOOD MORNING/AFTERNOON Fellow Zimbabweans, following the address we made on 13 November 2017 which we believe our main broadcaster, ZBC and The Herald were directed not to publicise, the situation in our country has moved to another level. Firstly, we wish to assure the nation that His Excellency, The President, of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Head of State and Government and Commander in Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Cde R.G Mugabe and his fa,ily are safe and sound and their security is guaranteed. We are only targeting criminals around him who are committing crimes that are causing social and...

Zimbabwean police detained a U.S. citizen and seized her laptop on Friday on suspicion of calling President Robert Mugabe a “Goblin” on Twitter, the first arrest since the creation of a Ministry of Cyber Security last month, her lawyers said. US citizen Martha O'Donovan has been arrested in Zimbabwe for allegedly insulting President Robert Mugabe on Twitter. In a tweet, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) group said Ms O’Donovan – the manager of Magamba TV, an online-based satirical video outlet – was the first person to be arrested on such grounds since the ministry was formed. Police arrested...

The head of the World Health Organization on Sunday reversed his decision to name Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador, following widespread uproar. “Over the last few days, I have reflected on my appointment of H.E. President Robert Mugabe as WHO Goodwill Ambassador for (Non-communicable diseases) in Africa. As a result, I have decided to rescind the appointment,” the head of the UN agency, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a statement. […] Tedros had announced the appointment earlier this week during a speech in Uruguay, where he praised Zimbabwe as “a country that places universal health coverage and...

The World Health Organization (WHO) has revoked its recent appointment of Robert Mugabe as goodwill ambassador

Robert Mugabe has been named as a goodwill ambassador by the World Health Organization (WHO)

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has said that people who murdered white farmers during a government-sanctioned purge in the 2000s will never be prosecuted. The 93-year-old president addressed a rally in Harare on Monday to mark Heroes’ Day, which commemorates soldiers who have fought for the country, particularly in its independence war against British colonizers. Zimbabwe implemented a controversial land reform program in 2000 that saw squatters invade and seize hundreds of white-owned farms around the country. The violent seizures resulted in the murder of several white farmers, with many more displaced, and close associates of Mugabe given large chunks of...

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who turns 93 in February, was endorsed on Saturday as the ruling party’s candidate in a national election scheduled for 2018. The ruling ZANU-PF party announced its support in the southeast town of Masvingo, where the party’s youth wing even proposed that Mugabe should rule for life with broad powers. Opposition groups have described such adulation as a sign that Mugabe and his loyalists are out of touch with the desperation of a nation that is suffering massive unemployment, cash shortages and company closures. …

Zimbabwe’s president has formalized a law allowing the introduction of a new currency this month. The new bond notes, backed by a $200 million Afreximbank bond facility, will be regarded as legal tender for all local transactions. This southern African nation abandoned its own currency in 2009 after inflation hit 231 million percent, according to government figures. …