Free Republic

HARARE, Zimbabwe - Police have detained opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai after his convoy was stopped at a roadblock, an opposition party official said Wednesday. Tsvangirai and a group of about 14 party officials were being detained at a police station in Lupane, north of Bulawayo, spokesman George Sibotshiwe said. No charges have been put to them, he said. Comment from police was not immediately available. Tsvangirai had been campaigning in the area ahead of a presidential runoff on June 27 against President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai claims he won the first round outright, and that official results released May 2 showing...

Zimbabwe's education system, once regarded as among the best in Africa, is in crisis because of the country's economic meltdown. Almost a quarter of the teachers have quit the country, absenteeism is high, buildings are crumbling and standards plummeting. In one of the most shocking examples of the Dickensian conditions, a reporter witnessed hundreds of children...writing in the dust on the floor because they had no exercise books or pencils. "Starting this term, we are supposed to buy our own teaching materials," ... "With our paltry salaries I don't see it working. We will just sit in the classes." Absenteeism...

Zimbabwean authorities have arrested state-employed doctors who went on strike for higher wages. The arrest of three doctors was made when they turned up for a scheduled meeting with the government negotiating council. Spokesman for the striking doctors, Dr. Phibion Manyanga, who is in hiding, told VOA that the doctors were aware of the police plan to arrest them. The head of the Public Service Commission, Mariyawanda Nzuwa, said the doctors' demands for a salary increase of up to 8,000 percent is ridiculous and unacceptable. Mr. Nzuwa said even President Robert Mugabe does not earn as much as the doctors...