What is the furure of Zimbabwe?

waltky · Jul 30, 2017

Granny says dey need to quit havin' sex willy-nilly with infected people...

AIDS Burdens Zimbabwe's Elderly With Orphans, Illness
July 27, 2017 — Jabulani Zilawe lost all 11 of his children to AIDS. Now he is the only one left to care for their orphans. "This has become my life — with my grandchildren. All their parents died. AIDS killed them. I had 11 children, six of them were girls who had moved to South Africa to seek better life, but they all came back dead — one after the other," Zilawe told the Thompson Reuters Foundation as he surveyed his small grandchildren scrambling around him.

Zilawe lives in a dilapidated homestead outside Norton, a town 40 kilometers from Harare, the Zimbabwean capital. His bedroom is a thatched mud hut that sits near 12 mounds marking the remains of his wife and children. "My sons, who became illegal gold miners, also suffered from AIDS before they died. You can see the graves here; the additional one belongs to my wife, who also died some two years ago, leaving me to look after our orphaned grandchildren," said Zilawe, 76.

A man has his blood taken before being tested for HIV in Harare, Zimbabwe

Nearby, some of his grandchildren wrestled over a pot of leftover porridge. None is in school; instead, like their grandfather, each child passes the day at the homestead, idling and seeking a spot to bask in the sunshine. Some of the little ones fall ill — regularly, said Zilawe, who didn't know whether any carried the virus that had killed their parents. "I don't know anything about my grandchildren's HIV status; maybe they have the disease or maybe not," he said.

Ailing caregivers

His life is tough. Yet many other Zimbabweans in Zilawe's age bracket are not just caregivers but are also coping with AIDS diagnoses of their own. "It's sad. It's worrying when you look at the rate of HIV/AIDS amongst aged persons here. The percentage of elderly persons aged 60 years and above living with HIV is around 15.3 percent," said Marck Chikanza, national coordinator of the National Age Network of Zimbabwe (NANZ), an organization that caters to older people's needs. NANZ said more than 115,000 older people are living with HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe, one in 10 of the 1.2 million Zimbaweans who the United Nations says are living with HIV/AIDS. "There has been a decline in the rate of people living with HIV across all age groups except in the 50+ age group, where there has been a rise from 13.8 percent to around 14.3 percent," said Tadiwa Pfupa-Nyatanga of the NAC organization, which coordinates the government's response to HIV/AIDS.

Members of the public wait to be tested for HIV and AIDS in Harare, Zimbabwe

According to 2016 official statistics, about 185,000 AIDS-orphaned Zimbabwean children are living under the guardianship of their grandparents — people like Zilawe, who struggle to cope. "Most aged persons here hardly have the capacity to produce or buy food on their own. And most of the orphaned kids they look after are far too young to be working to produce food for their families. And the burden, at the end of the day, rests with the grandparents — who, in a true sense, are also dependents," Anatalia Mabeza, who chairs an HIV/AIDS support group in Norton, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Some orphaned children say their grandparents offer little or no medical help for the health problems they inherited. "I was openly told by my mother before she died that I was born with the HIV/AIDS condition, but now as I live with my grandmother, who is in her 60s, she has never bothered to monitor my condition," said Lillian Muranda, 14, who lives in Caledonia informal settlement, 25 kilometers east of Harare.

'I was bewitched'
Click to expand...

See also:

Growing HIV Drug Resistance Posing Threat to Treatment
July 20, 2017 — The World Health Organization (WHO) reports a survey of 11 countries finds evidence that HIV drug resistance is growing, posing a potential threat to the prevention and treatment of AIDS.

According to the WHO, 36.7 million people are living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. More than half that number are on life-saving antiretroviral therapy. In what it calls a wake-up call, the WHO says more than 10 percent of people starting antiretroviral therapy in six of the 11 countries surveyed in Africa, Asia and Latin America were resistant to the drugs. It warns this potentially could undermine progress in controlling and reducing the spread of this disease.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest number of HIV cases and accounts for nearly two-thirds of the global total of new HIV infections; but, the WHO coordinator for HIV treatment and care, Meg Doherty, told VOA other parts of the world, especially eastern Europe and central Asia, have some of the highest incidences of drug resistance.

She added some of the higher incidences are in places with the lowest amount of antiretroviral coverage. “So, we know in most of Africa, in sub-Saharan Africa, that there is very good and the highest coverage of treatment. So, it is a good news story. But, once we have more people on therapy and more people who are potentially taking drugs that could alter the virus, the risk of this resistance can go up,” Doherty said.

The World Health Organization is issuing new guidelines to help countries address HIV drug resistance. It recommends countries monitor the quality of their treatment programs and as soon as resistance is detected, people should be switched to a different drug treatment regimen. The U.N. agency warns increasing HIV drug resistance could lead to an additional 135,000 deaths and 105,000 new infections in the next five years if no action is taken. It projects the cost of HIV treatment could increase by $650 million during this time.

https://www.voanews.com/a/growing-hiv-drug-resistance/3952064.html
Click to expand...

Related:

If Funding Stays, HIV Epidemic May be put Under Control
July 26, 2017 | WASHINGTON — Science seems to be finally starting to win in the war against the human immunodeficiency virus HIV that causes AIDS. But experts gathered at the Paris conference on the deadly disease say proposed cuts in global funding may delay the final blow.

It took three decades from the appearance of the first drug for slowing the onset of AIDS to today’s drug cocktails that save many of the infected patients from what was inevitable death. The conference on AIDS, held this week in Paris, reflected optimism about new treatments and concern about proposed cuts in funding, especially by the U.S. government.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo highlighted the lack of funds. “I want to remind you that $7 billion per year is still missing in the fight against AIDS in the world. This is the money we need to find. And thanks to our mobilization, we could assign it to the fight against AIDS,” said Hidalgo. In spite of the latest advances, the virus that causes AIDS remains a formidable enemy due to its unprecedented ability to develop resistance to drugs.

New medicines keep it under control, but they are neither available nor affordable for many. Experts, such as the president of the International AIDS Society, Linda-Gail Bekker, also suspect a large number of unreported cases. “We know we are treating 19.5 million people, but there's another 17-odd million who need treatment today and we haven't found those people. Many of them are in regions of the world such as West Africa, Central Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, that we just haven't got to, so that's very concerning,” said Bekker.

However, UNAIDS executive director Michel Sibide sounded an optimistic note. “We are reaching the people in need. We are saving lives. Because it's not only about proving that we can put people under treatment but also that we need to completely change the screening,” said Sibide. Among the highlights is the recent news about a 10-year-old South African child born with HIV. After only a year of treatment, the child has been virus-free for more than eight years. Citing other similar cases as well as the promising vaccines being developed, experts say the scales may finally be tipped against the disease that so far has killed about 35 million people.

https://www.voanews.com/a/if-funding-stays-hiv-epidemic-may-be-put-under-control/3959422.html
Click to expand...

waltky · Nov 13, 2017

Zimbabwe Military Threatens Mugabe Rule...

Could a Coup Happen? Zimbabwe Military Threatens Mugabe Rule After President Fires Deputy
11/13/17 - Zimbabwe's military chief issued a rare, stark warning to the nation's political leadership Monday over alleged recent political purges, raising concerns of a potential coup and renewed instability in a country already devastated by economic hardships.

General Constantino Chiwenga, a revolutionary who rose up the ranks to become head of the country's armed forces in 2004, threatened to use military force to defend the positions of ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) figures who played a role in ending U.K. rule over Zimbabwe, formerly known as Rhodesia, in 1980. While Chiwenga did not name names Monday, his frank statement came a week after President Robert Mugabe fired Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, an influential independence leader who has held various high-ranking positions in the government. "The current purging which is clearly targeting members of the party with a liberation background must stop forthwith," Chiwenga said at a news conference at the army's headquarters in Harare, according to BBC News. "We must remind those behind the current treacherous shenanigans that when it comes to matters of protecting our revolution, the military will not hesitate to step in," he added.

Mugabe suddenly sacked Mnangagwa last week after accusing his deputy of conspiring against him and using witchcraft to determine when the president would die. Two days later, Mnangagwa fled Wednesday to South Africa, complaining of "incessant threats" against him and his family, Bloomberg News reported. Mnangagwa has denied taking part in any plots against the president, whose wife, Grace Mugabe, had recently suggested she could succeed her 93-year-old husband. With Mnangagwa gone, Grace Mugabe was anticipated to inherit her husband's 37-year rule. The jobs of other officials who worked under Mnangagwa were reportedly on the line as well. Minister for State Security Kembo Mohadi, Home Affairs Deputy Minister Obedingwa Mguni, provincial chairman Rabelani Choeni, Central Committee members Reni Kibi, Tambudzani Mohadi, Abednigo Ncube and others close to Mnangagwa have been placed under investigation and will not be permitted to participate in next year's elections, Zimbabwe's The Herald reported.

Mnangagwa's dismissal has upset many current and former military figures, who have viewed Grace Mugabe's younger faction of support with distrust. In addition to being vice president, Mnangagwa headed Zimbabwe's Joint Operations Command, of which Chiwenga was a member and the general's comments signaled a community alienated by the president's recent decisions. Robert Mugabe has already announced his intentions to seek another five-year term in Zimbabwe's 2018 elections, but he may face a handful of rising stars and a potential seven-party coalition attempting to challenge one of the longest political tenures of the past century. The last election in 2013 was criticized by Zimbabwe's opposition and international agencies over reports of irregularities and opponents of the president blame him and his party for decades of corruption and massive economic mismanagement.

http://www.newsweek.com/could-coup-...-threatens-mugabe-rule-president-fires-710002
Click to expand...

Jimmy79 · Nov 13, 2017

Their future is an image of the past. Civil war, abject poverty, and govt corruption, just like every third world country in the world.

waltky · Nov 14, 2017

Instead o' arrestin' him, Dey oughta give him a medal...

Zimbabwe Ruling Party Accuses Army Chief of Treason
November 14, 2017 - Zimbabwe's ruling party has accused the armed forces chief of "treasonable conduct" after he threatened to intervene in the country's political affairs.

Tuesday's statement from the ZANU-PF party was released amid worries that the military might be taking action to oust longtime President Robert Mugabe. Witnesses reported tanks and armed personnel carriers moving on roads outside the capital; however, Harare was calm and embassies issued no security alerts for their citizens. A spokesman for the State Department told VOA, "We are aware of the reports and are monitoring the situation."

Soldiers stand beside military vehicles just outside Harare, Zimbabwe

The current tension was sparked last week when President Robert Mugabe fired his deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa, and accused him of disloyalty and plotting to seize power. Many observers saw the move as a step toward the installation of Mugabe's wife, Grace Mugabe, as vice president. That would put the first lady in position to become president when her 93-year-old husband retires or dies.

At a Monday news conference, the head of Zimbabwe's armed forces, General Constantino Chiwenga, warned he would "step in" unless Mugabe stopped trying to purge the ruling ZANU-PF party of Mnangagwa supporters. Dozens have been arrested since the vice president was fired on November 5. Tuesday's ZANU-PF statement, signed by party information secretary Simon Khaya Moyo, said that Chiwenga's comments were "clearly calculated to disturb national peace and stability" and meant to "incite insurrection and violent challenge to the Constitutional Order."

President Robert Mugabe talks to General Constantino Chiwenga in Harare, Zimbabwe.

President Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since the country won independence from Britain in 1980. Mnangagwa, 75, was seen for years as a likely successor to the president, and maintains strong backing in the army. He is now believed to be in South Africa. Grace Mugabe, 52, has support in the party's youth wing and is believed to have engineered the firing of another vice president, Joice Mujuru, in 2014.

https://www.voanews.com/a/witnesses-say-tanks-seen-heading-toward-zimbabwe-capital/4114360.html
Click to expand...

waltky · Nov 23, 2017

What next for Zimbabwe?...

Mugabe has gone, but will Zimbabwe change?
22 November 2017 - Up to the moment itself the extraordinary session of parliament had proceeded along expected lines. Speaker after speaker rose to denounce the excesses of the president and his wife.

A female MP was speaking of how her constituents were suffering when we saw the messengers approach the speaker. They handed him a letter. A jolt of energy swept the hall. At first there were cheers of anticipation. The speaker rose. The next 10 minutes will remain engraved in my memory. We strained to hear the speaker through the muffled public address system. But the words "statement of resignation" were clear. And the wild cheering, the thumping of tables, the dancing and singing told all of us who were present that the age of Robert Mugabe was over. From the corridors outside where Zanu-PF activists had gathered, the MPs could hear loud cheers and singing mingle with their own celebrations. On the floor of parliament - a hotel ballroom specially converted for the session - I watched MPs and senators dance, arms around each other, as the solemn procession of mace bearers left the chamber.

Among the more bizarre experiences was finding ruling-party legislators offering themselves for interview to the BBC. A week ago most foreign journalists were banned from the country. One party stalwart, MP Keith Guzah, told me he believed real democracy would now take root in Zimbabwe. "He has gone and I am happy, happy, happy for my country." Another MP told me her greatest joy was that Zimbabwe had managed the transition "without the shedding of blood." It was a comment that ignored the bloodshed and pain inflicted by her party during the decades of Robert Mugabe's rule. Leaving parliament I moved up through the city towards Africa Unity Square, the heart of Harare, pausing several times as I was enveloped by ecstatic crowds. A man fell to his knees and raised his arms to the sky. A young woman, wrapped in the national flag, shouted: "Do you see this you guys? Do you see this? It is history in the making."

On the square I ran into Ben Freeth, a farmer who lost his land and whose family were brutally tortured during the land invasions. Like so many others he was struggling to believe that the moment of Mr Mugabe's departure had arrived. "He was going, going, going and now he's finally gone," he said. As we spoke a group of revellers approached. Suddenly we were surrounded by embracing arms. "And you can see," said Ben, "we are in this together!" Will this spirit of unity, this freedom from fear, endure under a new dispensation? I cannot be at all certain. The presumptive new leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa, is mired in the excesses of the Mugabe era. He was the deposed president's loyal henchman for decades and only struck against him to prevent Grace Mugabe from succeeding to the presidency. This was not a revolution to bring liberal democratic principles into government. It was about power. That said, there are significant pressures on the new leader to embark on a programme of meaningful change. The corruption and tyranny of the past will not attract the international financial aid and investment that is needed to rescue the nation's shattered economy.

People power
Click to expand...

See also:

Zimbabwe needs immediate economic reforms, warns IMF
23 Nov.`17 - Zimbabwe must act quickly to dig its economy out of a hole and access international financial aid, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

Government spending and foreign debt are too high and it needs structural reform, Zimbabwe mission chief Gene Leon told Reuters news agency. The country's incoming leader Emmerson Mnangagwa has pledged to grow the economy and provide "jobs, jobs, jobs". The once-thriving economy is now seen as a regional basket case. "The economic situation in Zimbabwe remains very difficult," Mr Leon told Reuters. He said high government spending should be reined in and Zimbabwe should address the large international debt it has defaulted on. "Immediate action is critical to reduce the deficit to a sustainable level, accelerate structural reforms, and re-engage with the international community to access much needed financial support," Mr Leon said.

Incoming new leader Emmerson Mnangagwa has promised "jobs, jobs, jobs" but analysts say rescuing Zimbabwe's economy is a huge challenge

Robert Mugabe, who led Zimbabwe for 37 years, stepped down earlier this week under pressure from the military and his own Zanu-PF party. His policies, including disastrous land reforms and printing too much money, are blamed for the calamitous state of Zimbabwe's economy. On Thursday, Zimbabwe's main opposition called for deep-rooted political reform to dismantle the repressive apparatus that sustained Mr Mugabe's regime. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said it was cautiously optimistic that a Mnangagwa presidency would not "mimic and replicate the evil, corrupt, decadent and incompetent Mugabe regime", reported AFP news agency. It is unclear whether Zanu-PF will govern alone ahead of scheduled elections next year, or whether a coalition government of national unity that includes opposition groups will be formed.

Economic slide

Zimbabwe's economy is half the size it was at the turn of the millennium. Zimbabwe has not had a currency of its own since 2009, when the old Zimbabwean dollar buckled under hyperinflation - which is said to have reached 231 million per cent, worse even than the notorious levels in Germany following World War One. Cash shortages mean Zimbabweans can often be seen queuing at banks. Economists say Zimbabwe needs a cash injection, but it has been barred from borrowing internationally since it began defaulting on its debt in 1999.

With bribe-taking police replaced - at least for the time being - by the military, some Harare residents report a fall in crime

Some residents of the country's capital, Harare, say they have already seen an improvement in their daily lives since the army came into the streets and Mr Mugabe was forced from office. One benefit, they say, is the absence of police road blocks on the streets where officers demanded bribes from those travelling around. "There used to be so many police roadblocks, with the driver having to pay $1 or $2 (75p-£1.50)" Spiwe Azvigumi, 31, an unemployed mother of three, told AFP. "With the police off the roads, crime is actually down - they were so corrupt and now we are living free."

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-42093895
Click to expand...

Related:

Zimbabwe's New Leaders Are None Other Than Mugabe's Former 'Enforcers'
November 21, 2017 - Jubilant crowds filled the streets of Zimbabwe’s cities on Tuesday, after the country’s speaker of parliament announced that President Robert Mugabe had resigned after decades in power.

Just shy of a week ago, Zimbabwe’s military took power in the capital and detained Mugabe in his home. Since then, the military and the ruling ZANU-PF party steadily increased pressure on the longtime ruler to leave office until it seems he finally relented. But while Zimbabweans express their joy and relief over what appears to be the end of Mugabe’s 37-year authoritarian rule, the nature of his downfall and the ruthless past of his successor are troubling signs for a country that has seen years of repression.

‘These People Were Mugabe’s Enforcers’

The military and ZANU-PF will soon install Mugabe’s former deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa, as Zimbabwe’s new president. The development has human rights groups deeply worried, as both Mnangagwa and the military that backs him have been key players in the country’s past abuses. “These people were Mugabe’s enforcers for the last 37 years,” said Dewa Mavhinga, the Southern Africa director at Human Rights Watch. In the 1980s, Mnangagwa served as national security minister and controlled the Central Intelligence Organization under Mugabe. Mnangagwa has long-standing ties to the army as a result, including sharing culpability for some of the government’s worst atrocities. “The military has been implicated in some of the most serious human rights abuses in Zimbabwe’s past,” Mavhinga said.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, seen here during elections in 2008, is poised to become Zimbabwe's new leader.

Mnangagwa was security minister at the time of Mugabe’s “Gukurahundi” campaign that, from 1983 to 1987, saw security forces kill thousands of people whom the ruling government perceived as political opponents or accused of fostering dissent. In 2008, the military launched yet another crackdown in which armed forces killed or disappeared at least 200 opposition supporters during the country’s election. Mnangagwa is reported to have been a key go-between for the military and ZANU-PF in orchestrating those attacks. There has been no accountability for these abuses, according to Mavhinga, and since many of the officials active or complicit in carrying them out now stand to rule Zimbabwe, it seems extremely unlikely that they will answer for their actions anytime soon. “It’s a change in leadership of individuals, but the authoritarian system remains intact,” Mavhinga said.

Fears For The Future Of Zimbabwe

The army’s takeover has so far seen a reshuffling of the country’s elite power brokers, but massive reforms are needed to change a political system with an entrenched history of human rights abuses and authoritarianism. Rights groups fear that there’s no guarantee the military coup will lead to much-needed transition toward free and fair elections, and could instead further deteriorate democracy and the rule of law in the country. The ruling ZANU-PF party’s chief whip, Lovemore Matuke, said on Tuesday that Mnangagwa would stay on as leader until elections in 2018, but it remains to be seen whether that vote is conducted fairly and without a crackdown on political opposition as there has been in the past. “Zimbabwean elections for many years have relied on limiting the number of people who are allowed to participate,” said Piers Pigou, senior consultant for Southern Africa for the International Crisis Group think tank.

MORE
Click to expand...

waltky · Dec 2, 2017

New bosses just like the old bosses...

Zimbabwe's new president packs status quo cabinet after 'bloodless coup'
Dec. 1, 2017 -- Zimbabwe's new government appointed party loyalists and army leaders to cabinet positions, disappointing those who expected a change in leadership.

Emmerson Mnangagwa ascended to the country's presidency after Robert Mugabe resigned on Nov. 19. A military takeover -- some observers called it a "bloodless coup" -- ended Mugabe's 37 years in office days earlier. On Friday, Mnangagwa reappointed Patrick Chinamasa as finance minister, Winston Chitando as mines minister, Maj. Gen. Sibusiso Moyo as foreign affairs chief and Ziyambi Ziyambi as justice minister.

All have ties to the Mugabe administration through the military or the ruling Zanu-PF party. The opposition People's Democratic Party had hoped for a more inclusive government but was shut out of cabinet appointments. "It's the antithesis of most people's expectations, more of the same old, same old," PDP Vice President Nelson Chamisa told Bloomberg News. "Mnangagwa never reached out to us. That didn't happen."

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, C, here at his November 24 inauguration, appointed party and military loyalists to his cabinet on Friday

The appointments indicate that the government is unlikely to change under Mnangagwa, Mugabe's vice president. In his inaugural address on Nov. 24, Mnangagwa said his administration would address the country's hyperinflation, a 90 percent unemployment rate, crumbling infrastructure and a public cash shortage. On Friday, the conversion rate of a Zimbabwean dollar was 362 to the U.S. dollar.

International activists have also targeted the country over what they call routine human rights violations on the part of the government. Human rights activist Doug Coltart said the new cabinet "does not represent a new Zimbabwe but the entrenchment of the old failed political elite."

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-...?utm_source=sec&utm_campaign=sl&utm_medium=13
Click to expand...

See also:

Zimbabwe's Mnangagwa replaces ministers after outcry
Zimbabwe's new President Emmerson Mnangagwa has replaced two ministers, two days after announcing his cabinet.

Critics said the original line-up showed Mr Mnangagwa had no plans to bring real change to the country despite hailing a "new democracy". The education and labour ministers have now been replaced, ostensibly to comply with a constitutional provision. But military chiefs remain in charge of the foreign affairs and land portfolios. Ten days ago Mr Mnangagwa returned from exile following the military coup against Robert Mugabe, promising to serve all citizens equally. There was uproar when instead of creating a cabinet that included opposition figures, he appeared to reward the military for its role in bringing him to power.

Many Zimbabweans saw President Mnangagwa's cabinet as a betrayal of his promises

On Saturday, the government announced that two positions were being replaced to "ensure compliance with the constitution and considerations of gender, demography and special needs". Reports suggest the initial list did not comply with a constitutional provision which limits the number of ministers who are not members of parliament. Some opposition supporters celebrated the most high profile decision - the removal of the education minister Lazarus Dokora - arguing that he was responsible for the decline in educational standards over the last few years. He is being replaced by his own deputy, Paul Mavima.

Meanwhile Zanu-PF deputy Petronella Kagonye becomes labour and social welfare minister in place of Clever Nyathi, who becomes a special adviser to the president on national peace and reconciliation. Following the news, Zimbabwean media mogul and commentator Trevor Ncube tweeted that the quick change meant the president was either "listening to the public" or "he rushed through this important task". Mr Mnangagwa's most controversial appointments on Friday included Sibusiso Moyo, the general who played a prominent role in the recent military takeover. He was given the role of foreign minister.

The head of Zimbabwe's air force, Perence Shiri, was named minister of agriculture and land affairs despite his notoriety in having led a military operation against opponents of Robert Mugabe in the early 1980s. Opposition leader Tendai Biti said that until then, Zimbabweans had "given the putsch the benefit of the doubt. "We did so in the genuine, perhaps naive view that the country could actually move forward," he tweeted. "We craved change, peace & stability in our country. How wrong we were".

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-42210516
Click to expand...

waltky · Dec 20, 2017

Zimbabwe tryin' to make a comeback...

Zimbabwe's Ruling Party Hopes for Economic Turnaround
December 19, 2017 - Less than a month after a military intervention forced longtime leader Robert Mugabe to step down, new leaders of the ruling ZANU-PF party have big plans for Zimbabwe.

Retired General Sibusiso Moyo announced the military takeover on November 15 and has been appointed to serve as foreign minister. He sees opportunities to revive Zimbabwe’s struggling economy. “Our primary interest at the moment is economic development and emancipation of our people,” Moyo told VOA’s Zimbabwe Service. Zimbabwe's long-ailing economy will recover, according to Moyo, through direct foreign investment, tourism and exports to worldwide markets. ZANU-PF hopes to jump-start the economy by collaborating with Zimbabweans in the diaspora and creating a more appealing environment for investment. “We are opening up to all our friends,” Moyo said.

‘Zimbabwe isn’t poor’

The ruling party is right to focus on Zimbabwe’s economy as it defines its post-Mugabe platform, according to Chipo Dendere, a visiting assistant professor of political science at Amherst College in Massachusetts. But to truly open up, the country must come to terms with endemic corruption. “Zimbabwe isn’t poor,” Dendere told VOA, speaking over the phone from Harare. In fact, the country is endowed with valuable minerals such as gold, diamonds and platinum. But, Dendere said, the wealth has been stolen. During Mugabe’s regime, he and his allies stole more than $2 billion in diamond revenue, according to Partnership Africa Canada (PAC), a group tracking mismanagement of global natural resources.

Zimbabwe's President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, speaks during the Extraordinary Congress of the ruling ZANU-PF party in Harare, Zimbabwe

So far, the government seems to be putting pressure on officials to bring back money, according to Dendere. But with so many people who have stolen, it's unclear how the government will serve a greater good without violating human rights or falling into partisan traps. “If the government fails to deal with the economic challenges, then Zimbabwe is going to be in great disarray,” Dendere said. Fixing Zimbabwe’s economy begins with addressing its many infrastructure problems, such as pothole-ridden roads and an aging and leaky water system.

Real change?

Some, including Dendere, remain skeptical that ZANU-PF will enact real change. “It’s one thing to be excited about a new government. But I think people need to be cognizant of the fact that the people that are in power right now ... are the same people that have been in power for the last 37 years,” Dendere said. The government has not, in fact, changed, Moyo conceded, but it will do things differently with new personalities in power. Dendere, meanwhile, questions what’s new. The ideology for the ruling party is unlikely to change, she said, based on language used at the party congress this month.

A security employee guards a diamond-processing plant in the diamond-rich eastern Marange region of Zimbabwe

Still, Moyo sees opportunities for dialogue and improvement. “We are not a government of a party. We are a government of all the people of Zimbabwe. And therefore, when there are issues which need dialogue, they must be discussed in house,” Moyo said. For Dendere, aspects of ZANU-PF’s legacy are, in fact, worthwhile. “This is the legacy that brought us independence, the end of colonialism. But it’s also the legacy that gave a lot of power to one party and the centralization and consolidation of power around the president and the people that are closest to him.”

Space for opposition
Click to expand...

waltky · Jul 30, 2018

Zimbabwe slowly recovering from Mugabe rule...

Mugabe's Gone, But Zimbabwe Still Has A Serious Cash Shortage
July 28, 2018 - It's a little after 8 a.m. on a Wednesday morning in downtown Harare, and Brandon Moyo has been waiting in line for the ATM for over four hours already. He's hoping to withdraw $20 — but it's not looking promising. There are over 20 people in front of him and bank officials have already warned they might run out of cash before he gets to the front.

Moyo is from a small farming town about 65 miles outside of Harare. He says banks in his town usually don't have any cash at all these days, so he takes a bus into the Zimbabwean capital city twice a week to wait in a line like this. He has to pay for that bus ride in cash, and if the bank runs out before he can get some, he sometimes has to stay overnight until he can try again. Zimbabwe has been facing a major cash shortage for the past two years, a symptom of the country's larger and longer economic crisis. After Robert Mugabe was ousted from power by the military last November, his replacement, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has claimed that Zimbabwe is now "open for business." But getting cash into the country is complicated, and access to physical currency hasn't improved with the leadership change.

Zimbabweans stand in line in front of NMB bank in Harare. Zimbabwe has been facing a major cash shortage for the past two years, a symptom of the country's larger and longer economic crisis.

At another bank down the street, Rumbidzai Chihera is also waiting in an ATM line. She sells chickens for a living, but no matter how much she earns, she's limited to the amount of cash available at the bank. She says her bank used to let her withdraw $100 a week, but in recent months that limit has dropped to $40. "It's very painful to have to wait for your money, especially if it's money that you've worked for," she says in Shona. "It feels like we keep getting pulled back when we should be moving forward." The cash problem stems from massive hyperinflation Zimbabwe experienced in the years leading up to 2009. By then, inflation was so bad that the Reserve Bank was printing notes with a valuation of 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollars — reported to be worth about $300 at the time.

In an area of the city called Copacabana, the sidewalks are packed with people selling items of all kinds.

Zimbabwe eventually abandoned its currency in favor of the U.S. dollar and several other currencies. But as the country slipped into a widening trade deficit and a lack of foreign investment, U.S. dollars became harder and harder to find in the country. So the central bank introduced bills called "bond notes" in 2016, worth $1 each in the country, but worthless outside of Zimbabwe. Bond notes come out of ATMs and are used in most cash transactions. There's also a thriving electronic economy, with more than 96 percent of the transactions in the country happening through plastic money or mobile banking systems, according to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

Lawrance Ncube shows a photo of the truck that he uses to transport things across the Zimbabwean border from South Africa.

But cash is crucial for buying things like basic goods at markets — where they're much cheaper — or public transportation. And a recent two-day crash of Zimbabwe's most popular mobile banking system showed how precarious it can be to rely on electronic payments. A thriving black market has developed around cash as a result. All over downtown Harare, you can find money traders — people who can exchange foreign currency for Zimbabwean bond notes, for a price. In an area of the city called Copacabana, the sidewalks are packed with people selling shoes, cellphone chargers, clothes, wallets. Money traders — men and women — line the streets, sitting on milk cartons and leaning against storefronts, holding thick stacks of cash: U.S. dollars, Zimbabwean bond notes, South African rand, Zambian kwacha. When cars pass by, the money traders run to the windows, waving bills and yelling unofficial exchange rates, competing over each other to give the best deal.

MORE
Click to expand...

waltky · Aug 2, 2018

Protests erupt in Zimbabwe over delayed election results...

Protests erupt in Zimbabwe over delayed election results
1 Aug.`18 - Rioting erupted Wednesday in Zimbabwe's capital as opposition supporters clashed with police and army troops over delays in announcing results from the presidential election, the country's first since the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.

The security forces opened fire with guns, water cannons and tear gas, and protesters burned cars and threw rocks as helicopters hovered above Harare. A lifeless body was seen near the demonstration. Armored personnel carriers ferried troops and riot police to the scene. Dark smoke rose near the offices of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission where protesters burned tires and at least two vehicles. The commission postponed announcing results of Monday’s tightly fought presidential race, pitting President Emmerson Mnangagwa against opposition leader Nelson Chamisa.

Supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) opposition party of Nelson Chamisa sing and dance as they march on the streets of Harare, Zimbabwe, August 1, 2018.

The commission said it would release vote totals “sometime” Thursday, even though it said most of the results “are here with us.” Agents for all 23 candidates must verify them first, it said. The ruling ZANU-PF party won a majority of seats in Parliament, the electoral commission said. “The more the presidential vote is delayed, the more it calls into question the population’s confidence in the election process,” said former Liberian leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the lead observer of a U.S. monitoring mission. “The longer it (the delay in announcing the results of the presidential race), the more the issue of lack of credibility arises,” European Union observer Elmar Brok said. Both the EU and U.S. missions urged the release of the presidential results as soon as possible. The EU mission questioned why presidential votes were counted first but were being announced last.

The EU observer mission expressed “serious concerns” as representatives of Western and other groups gave their first assessments of whether the vote was free and fair — crucial for lifting international sanctions on the once-prosperous country. The EU observer mission said “a truly level playing field was not achieved” in the election, pointing out the “misuse of state resources, instances of coercion and intimidation, partisan behavior by traditional leaders and overt bias in state media.” It said the election campaign and voting were largely peaceful in a break from the past. The opposition has alleged irregularities, saying voting results were not posted outside one-fifth of polling stations as required by law. Mnangagwa’s government has accused Chamisa and his supporters of inciting violence by declaring he had won. “Let me also warn such individuals and groups that no one is above the law,” Home Affairs Minister Obert Mpofu said.

A man runs as supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change party (MDC) of Nelson Chamisa burn barricades in Harare, Zimbabwe, August 1, 2018.

The violence was an unnerving reminder of the tensions that pervade this southern African nation, debilitated by Mugabe’s long, repressive rule. The 94-year-old former leader had been in power since independence from white minority rule in 1980 until he was forced to resign in November after the military and ruling party turned on him. Mnangagwa, a former deputy president who fell out with Mugabe and then took over from him, has said his showing in the election was “extremely positive” while urging people to wait for official results.
Chamisa, a lawyer and pastor who leads the opposition Movement for Democratic Change party, has claimed victory based on results supporters said they collected from agents in the field. “We won the popular vote & will defend it!” Chamisa tweeted. The violence appeared to dash the hopes of Zimbabweans that the peaceful vote would lift them out of decades of economic and political stagnation under Mugabe, but the country is haunted by a history of electoral violence and manipulation that means trust is scarce.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/protests-erupt-in-zimbabwe-over-delayed-election-results
Click to expand...

See also:

Zimbabwe's Mnangagwa wins first post-Mugabe election
AUGUST 2, 2018 - Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former spy chief installed after Robert Mugabe’s removal in a coup in November, was elected on Thursday after a poll marred by the deaths of six people in an army crackdown on opposition protests.

After two days of claims and counterclaims, the 75-year-old Mnangagwa secured a comfortable victory, polling 2.46 million votes against 2.15 million for 40-year-old opposition leader Nelson Chamisa. The election, the first since the army’s removal of 94-year-old Mugabe, passed off relatively smoothly but its aftermath revealed the deep rifts in Zimbabwean society and the instinctive heavy-handedness of the security forces. On Wednesday, troops backed by armoured vehicles and a military helicopter were sent in to crush demonstrations by stone-throwing opposition supporters who said Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF party had rigged the elections.

Six people were killed as soldiers, some with their faces obscured by camouflage masks, opened fire with automatic weapons. The following day, soldiers ordered civilians off the streets of the capital, despite calls from foreign governments and international organisations for calm and for political leaders to show restraint. Police then sealed off the headquarters of Chamisa’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) before storming the building and arresting 16 people. The search warrant said they were looking for unlicenced firearms, grenades and stones.

CLASHES
Click to expand...

Coupled with video of soldiers firing on unarmed demonstrators on Wednesday, the raid does serious damage to Mnangagwa’s efforts to rehabilitate the image of a country synonymous with political repression and economic collapse. Questioning the independence of the judiciary, Chamisa said he was reluctant to go to court to challenge the results, saying this would be “going into the lion’s den”. “We are not about to be a meal for lions,” he told reporters, alleging that Mnangagwa’s ruling ZANU-PF party had rigged the poll but without providing any concrete evidence.

An MDC official briefly interrupted the results announcement to say the party rejected the result as it had not been able to verify them. Wednesday’s crackdown by the army crushed the last vestiges of euphoria that followed its removal of Mugabe in November and fuelled suspicions that the generals who launched the coup remained Zimbabwe’s de facto rulers. In Harare, the contrast could not have been starker with November, when hundreds of thousands filled the streets, hugging soldiers and celebrating their role in ousting Mugabe, the only leader Zimbabwe had known since independence in 1980.

MORE
Click to expand...

waltky · Aug 5, 2018

Opposition calls Zimbabwe poll results a 'coup'...

Zimbabwe election: Opposition calls poll results a 'coup'
3 Aug.`18 - Zimbabwe's opposition leader has said President Emmerson Mnangagwa's election victory is a "coup against [the people's will".
Nelson Chamisa repeated his claim that the results announced late on Thursday night were fake, and said he had won Monday's presidential poll. Responding, Mr Mnangagwa called for peace but said people were free to challenge the result in court. This was the first election since long-term leader Robert Mugabe was ousted. Earlier, in a tweet, the president urged Zimbabweans to unite to create "a new beginning" after a vote that was intended to set Zimbabwe on a new path following years of repressive rule.

What is Nelson Chamisa saying?

Addressing journalists on Friday afternoon, Mr Chamisa called on his rival not to accept "corrupted results". He added that his MDC Alliance would pursue all legal and constitutional avenues to challenge the official result. The opposition leader said he had evidence that ballot boxes were being transported in open trucks allowing them to be tampered with. He questioned the discrepancies in the numbers of votes tallied in the parliamentary elections compared with the presidential poll. Both elections took place at the same time. Mr Chamisa also said that his election agent was not allowed to verify the results on Thursday.

What is Emmerson Mnangagwa's response?

An hour after Mr Chamisa's press conference ended, the president spoke to journalists at state house. He did not address the opposition leader's specific allegations, but said that under the country's constitution people were "free... to approach the courts". Addressing Mr Chamisa directly, the president said: "You have a crucial role to play in Zimbabwe's present and in its unfolding future." "Let us call for peace and unity in our land," he added. He said he would be the president of all Zimbabweans, "for those who voted for me and for those who did not".

A test for the new democracy[/quote]

waltky · Aug 24, 2018

Top Zimbabwe court confirms Mnangagwa's presidential election victory...

Top Zimbabwe court confirms Mnangagwa's presidential election victory
AUGUST 24, 2018 - Zimbabwe's Constitutional Court confirmed President Emmerson Mnangagwa's disputed July 30 election victory on Friday, dismissing an opposition challenge that had held up his inauguration, which will now be held on Sunday.

Before the vote, Mnangagwa had said a credible election could pull Zimbabwe out of its diplomatic isolation under former president Robert Mugabe, ending international sanctions and prompting an economic recovery. Instead, the vote left the nation polarised, with Nelson Chamisa, who leads the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), mounting the legal challenge and violence flaring on the streets of Harare. In a unanimous ruling of the nine judges of the country’s top court, Chief Justice Luke Malaba said Chamisa had failed to prove allegations of fraud during the presidential vote. “Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa is duly declared the winner of the presidential elections held on the 30th of July 2018,” Malaba said in his ruling. Chamisa had earlier said he reserved the right to take alternative actions, including peaceful protests, if he lost the legal case.

On Friday, he did not spell out his next step but told his supporters on Twitter that he would consult them on the “course of action to be taken to rescue our beautiful Zimbabwe from the jaws of poverty, corruption & dishonesty”. The election, in which Mnangagwa and Chamisa were the main contenders, was touted as a crucial step towards shedding Zimbabwe’s pariah reputation and securing international donor funding to revive an economy suffering chronic shortages of investment and cash, as well as high unemployment. An army crackdown in response to post-election violence by opposition supporters left six people dead on Aug. 1, recalling the heavy-handed security tactics that marked the 37-year rule of Mugabe, who was removed in a coup last November. Mnangagwa now faces the challenge of persuading the international community that the army crackdown and lapses in the election process will not derail his promise of reforms to overcome corruption and mismanagement under Mugabe.

After the ruling was delivered, the president called for peace on his Twitter feed. “Nelson Chamisa, my door is open and my arms are outstretched, we are one nation, and we must put our nation first. Let us all now put our differences behind us,” he said. Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa told Reuters that Mnangagwa would be inaugurated on Sunday. At ZANU-PF’s offices, hundreds of supporters in the party’s green and yellow colours followed Malaba’s judgment on television, erupting into song and dance after their candidate was confirmed as president. “He won the battle,” a supporter told Reuters TV, adding that while Mnangagwa’s enemies were trying their best, “they fail”.

HARARE CALM
Click to expand...

waltky · Sep 15, 2018

Cholera Outbreak in Zimbabwe Turns Drug-Resistant...

Cholera Outbreak in Zimbabwe Turns Drug-Resistant
September 14, 2018 — The United Nations says it is hopeful Zimbabwe will soon contain an outbreak of cholera that has killed more than two dozen people. Efforts are complicated as authorities are fighting a drug-resistant bacterium said to be fueling the spread of the waterborne disease.

Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health Friday said the number of cholera-related deaths has climbed to 28, and more than 3,700 cases have been reported across Zimbabwe, with the country’s capital, Harare, remaining the epicenter of the problem. Amina Mohammed, the deputy chief of the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said patients are not responding to the drugs typically used to combat the disease. She said doctors are now using second and third-line drugs, which she said UNICEF is importing.

Cholera patients are seen isolated at Budiriro clinic in Harare, Zimbabwe

She said the outbreak can be contained if people follow basic hygiene practices at home. “This is an outbreak, at the beginning it is not easy to bring everyone together. But I think we have all rallied behind and are improving. I think we are stabilizing. I am happy about that. It could be better but we are happy that there is coordination by the ministry of health, together with the WHO, ourselves, MSF is doing a great job managing these cases,” said Mohammed referring to the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders, the latter known for its French acronym MSF.

A woman is seen washing clothes in the Mukuvisi River in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sept. 11, 2018, as water shortages persist, what experts say is fueling the spread of cholera.

UNICEF, the WHO and MSF are some of the organizations that took action after Zimbabwe's health minister declared a state of emergency Monday. On Thursday, the University of Zimbabwe postponed a graduation ceremony that President Emmerson Mnangagwa was supposed to attend, after police banned all public gatherings in light of the cholera outbreak. But Jacob Mafume, spokesman of the main opposition party MDC, said the ban was only meant to stop its planned “inauguration” of party leader Nelson Chamisa Saturday as the “people’s president.” “The government is using its failure to provide water, it is taking advantage of its failures to restrict the freedoms of the people. They are running scared of our president Nelson Chamisa since his victory, to quickly take over from ZANU-PF inefficiency so that people can be healed from medieval diseases,” said Mafume.

Authorities go for weeks without collecting trash resulting in Harare residents dumping it anywhere they can, creating conditions for cholera organisms to thrive, say health experts, in Harare, Zimbabwe

Mnangagwa’s government has refused to comment on what it called “cheap politics” by the opposition, which has refused to accept results from the July 30 elections. It said it is concentrating on containing the cholera outbreak which has since spread from Harare to other parts of the country. Critics blame the government for failing to address issues of poor water supply, blocked sewers, and irregular trash collection, factors which are said to be making a cholera outbreak worse.

https://www.voanews.com/a/cholera-forces-zimbabwe-opposition-to-call-off-inauguration-/4571808.html
Click to expand...

BULGARICA · Oct 13, 2018

The future is Zimbabweans chasing away White farmers once again.

Log in or Sign up

What is the furure of Zimbabwe?

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

Jimmy79 Banned

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

BULGARICA Banned

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

What is the furure of Zimbabwe?

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

Jimmy79 Banned

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

waltky Well-Known Member

BULGARICA Banned

Share This Page

Useful Searches