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Zimbabwe: Robert Mugabe accused of using food as 'political weapon' By Peta Thornycroft in Harare and Christopher Munnion in Johannesburg Last Updated: 8:25PM BST 06/06/2008 Zimbabweans have been given the stark choice of eating or voting, as Robert Mugabe tightened his grip ahead of the final round of voting in presidential elections. The government has been accused of trying to become the sole distributor of food to help President Mugabe win the election The US ambassador to Harare, James McGee, said that President Mugabe was using food as a "political weapon", allowing members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change...

Mugabe's mobs force 40,000 to flee homes By Sebastien Berger, Southern Africa Correspondent Last Updated: 8:31PM BST 08/05/2008 Around 40,000 Zimbabwean farm workers have had to flee as a result of the violence inflicted by Robert Mugabe’s mobs since the country’s general election in March, a union leader said today. The Movement for Democratic Change also said that the violence is getting worse, with three of its supporters shot dead earlier this week. Farm workers, whose livelihoods have been destroyed since Mr Mugabe launched his assault on white-owned land in 2000, are often supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic...

Recount of all votes in Zimbawe election By Sebastien Berger in Lusaka and Gethin Chamberlain Last Updated: 2:17am BST 13/04/2008 The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) will recount all votes cast in the March 29 election next Saturday, the state media has said. The Sunday Mail quoted Justice George Chiweshe, the ZEC chairman, as saying ballots cast in parliamentary, presidential and council votes would be counted again in the presence of party representatives, candidates and observers. The surprise announcement came as regional leaders met in Zambia to discuss a two-week delay in releasing results of the presidential poll which has raised...

Zimbabwe army 'moves onto the land' By Sue Lloyd Roberts BBC News Many Zimbabweans are now scavenging for food In an attempt to rescue his failing programme of land redistribution, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is trying to involve the army in a "command agriculture" programme. "Instructions have already been passed onto battalion commanders," a Zimbabwean army major told the BBC. Five years after Mr Mugabe ordered the seizure of the white-owned commercial farms, agricultural production has halved. Mr Mugabe has admitted that the people to whom he gave some 4,000 farms have some responsibility for the country's current problems. "Mugabe...

UN partially suspends Zimbabwe relief effort The UN has suspended relief projects in a Zimbabwean town after ruling party activists threatened aid workers and seized donated grain. The action in Insiza marks the first time the World Food Programme has halted food distributions in the African country. An estimated 6.7 million Zimbabweans, more than half the population, are in danger of starvation in the coming months. As aid workers distributed WFP corn Insiza ruling party militants threatened them and then seized three tons of the grain. The militants then distributed the aid itself, the UN agency said. Insiza, the site...