- The Parliamentary Standing Orders and Rules Committee resolved Monday to have four independent commissioners after recommendations by its sub-committee, the Laws and Procedures committee. The Standing Orders and Rules committee adopted the recommendation on how the four Commissioners should be appointed to the bodies. The bodies are the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, Anti-Corruption Commission, Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission and the Zimbabwe Media Commission that seeks to reconstitute the Media and Information Commission of Zimbabwe. After the meeting yesterday (Monday), the Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga said “ The Standing Orders and Ru…

- ZANU PF Deputy Spokesman Cde Ephraim Masawi has called on the MDC to call for the removal of sanctions. Masawi said Friday that the MDC must stop focusing on the “GPA's non-issues”, referring to the issues that the MDC says are outstanding. He said the two unilateral appointments made by the President of Zimbabwe, of Gideon Gono and Johannes Tomana were in accordance with the constitution of the country. Instead of concentrating on these non-issues, the MDC should assist in the full implementation of the Global Political Agreement, he said. “Our position is very clear, we are behind our principal on the appointment of these two ( Dr Gono and Mr Tomana). The…

- Morgan Tsvangirai said on Saturday that the efforts they have made as a party to bring about change and democracy in Zimbabwe have not gone far, neither have they been as fast as the people of Zimbabwe deserve. In his Speech at the opening of the MDC's two-day annual conference, he said his party has to contend with extreme constraints that are hindering the much awaited change by Zimbabweans. His speech summed a bleak assessment of the future of the country, which he said was being frustrated by ZANU PF hardliners. He acknowledged the reality on the ground and accepted that the vision of a democratic Zimbabwe was yet to be achieved. “We have not yet succeeded in restor…

Zimbabwe's aid agencies have made an appeal of US$720 million to starve off hunger and meet the humanitarian needs of six million people. The southern African country that used to be Africa's bread basket, now turned into a begging basket, now has over 50% of its population surviving on aid food. - According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, over six million people have limited or no access to safe water and sanitation in the country's rural areas. Zimbabwe has 1.5 million orphans and over 133 000 children under the age 14 that are infected with HIV/AIDS and over 100 000 homes headed by children. The current appeal has increased f…

- The African National Congress Secretary General, Gwede Mantashe yesterday distanced his party from the comments of the youth league made on Tuesday that threatened to take “militant action” against the Western Cape Premier, Helen Zille. The statements that left most South Africans dumb for seconds, came less than 72 hours after the new president's inauguration in Pretoria on Saturday. The Sowetan Tuesday quoted Zille as saying “Zuma is a self-confessed womaniser with deeply sexist views, who put all his wives at risk by having unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman” The remarks came after Zille was criticised by COSATU's Western Cape Secretary…

- Despite a lot of talk about the uneasiness of masses on the movement of Trevor Manuel from Finance to the new National Planning Commission, Pravin Gordhan has swiftly taken over the helm of the country's financial resources and economic policy. Jacob Zuma, the country's newly sworn-in President, announced the new cabinet Sunday with notable changes in many departments, some of whom are totally new. These department are said to have been formed to strengthen the government's touch with the base, for instance the incorporation of Traditional Affairs under Sicelo Shiceka's Local Government now called Cooperative Governance. Manuel's move has left many people wo…

As each day breaks and the birds start to sing, Morgan Tsvangirai curses in his half sleep why the sun ever comes up. One thing he surely does, is bury his face in his pillow and wish he could scream at the top of his voice. - Yet, on the contrary, his boss (who is supposed to be an equal) wakes up early with the usual round of the newspapers, coffee in hand and a big smile of satisfaction from his young wife. Normally, that discreet flirt is promptly rewarded with a raspy grin of the “was mighty” lion who has outlived his days and those of his generation, uses a broken tooth or two, but still remains the dreaded shadow of his glorious hey days. This is the life of two men who…

Human Rights Watch has called on the South African government to halt detentions and deportations to Zimbabwe as it is violating its recently announced moratorium. - The South African police recently drove a group of Zimbabweans detained at a police operated military base in Musina to the Zimbabwean side of the border, even though the South African border officials - complying with the government's moratorium – refused to grant them exit documents. On the Zimbabweans side, they could not be accepted either on grounds of their nationality and were driven back to the military base, the HRW report said. After years of lobbying by NGOs and human rights organizations, HRW finally p…

The Zambian government has warned Congolese refugees still remaining in the country to catch a ride home as early as possible. - IRIN reported that thousands of Congolese refugees who sought refuge in the Southern African country during heightened wars in their country of origin have been told they have until December to catch a free ride home by Zambia's Deputy Minister of the Interior, Misheck Bonshe. “God in His own wisdom gave you DRC as your country, and God is no longer in the process of creating more countries,” Bonshe told refugees gathered at the Kala camp in Luapula Province this week. “All the problems that made you leave your beautiful country are no…

- Morgan Tsvangirai, the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe is hiding serious differences and rifts in the current Government of National Unity, said John Makumbe, political commentator according to a SW radio report. It seems almost certain that discontention has increased amongst the MDC Ministers and party members within the Government of National Unity and the Prime Minister's “to do tray” is hitting the ceiling whilst he is also unsuccessfully trying to get around the GPA with the other principals. The discontention, was again brought to the surface by the party's political detainee Ghandi Mudzingwa in his interview with Violet Gonda on her programme, the “Hot…

The Speaker of Parliament in Zimbabwe, Lovemore Moyo has said the drawing up of the new constitution will include views from civil society groups and the people of Zimbabwe. - Speaking at the Movement for Democratic Change's 10th Anniversary in Chinhoyi at the weekend, he said “I don't have the constitution, so does Parliament at the moment. The process will start in a few weeks time. I know that some people are not happy with Parliament driving the process but I am sure people will be happy.” AfricaNews correspondent said there is a general feeling amongst Zimbabweans, political observers and analysts that the process by which the drawing of the constitution has beg…

- The emergence of Jacob Zuma as the next President of South Africa has been viewed by many as ZANU PF's worst nightmare. Zuma, who has been labeled by many media outlets and analysts as a populist, but fondly loved and a favourite of the majority of South Africans is more likely to come in with a different foreign policy with regards to the troubled neighbouring Zimbabwe. Thabo Mbeki, the former President had adopted a widely criticised approach in trying to unravel the Zimbabwe crisis. However, his “quiet diplomacy” paved the way for the country's Global Political Agreement, on which Zimbabwe's unstable unity rests. Jacob Zuma had on several occasion…

Famous for his "trade mark" song "umshini wam," vernacular for "my machine gun," Jacob Zuma, the incoming president of South Africa is easily tempted, just like Nelson Mandela to join and dance to choral music. The charismatic Zuma has traveled a long and treacherous walk to the position he is about to hold. - Jacob Zuma, born in 1942, became an active member of Umkonto we Sizwe in 1962 after joining the ANC in 1959. In 1963 he joined the South African Communist Party and in the same year was arrested with 45 other activists in Zeerust (now known as the North West Province) and charged with conspiring to overthrow the Government of the time. He was sentenced …

- An NGO, Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum, took the government of Zimbabwe back to the SADC Tribunal yesterday, Wednesday the 22. The case was filed in 2008 with the Tribunal on behalf of twelve people who became victims of torture in the hands of the Zimbabwean army and the police. The NGO said the Government of Zimbabwe ( GoZ ) had breached the SADC Treaty and its various Protocols under article 4(c) and under article 6. Article 4(c), which refers to a state's obligation to act in accordance with the principle of “Human rights, democracy and the rule of law”. The organisation says under article 6, the state has an obligation to: “...adopt adequate measures to pr…

Zimbabwe police opened fire and injured three farm workers who had accompanied their principal to check on his Stockdale Citrus Estate farm in Chegutu. The farm, has been the cause of dispute as the Zimbabwe President Senate, Edna Madzongwe "acquired it" through the ZANU PF led farm invasions escapades. - Edna Madzongwe, who now occupies the farm, has vowed never to leave the farm. She has led an often violent campaign of harassment to force the Etheredges off their land. The farm, Stockdale Citrus Estate, owned by John and Peter Etheredge, is on a roomy spread of land with three farm houses and a 55 000 orange tree orchard generating about US$4 Million per annum in exports. …

The Movement for Democratic Change and civic society are on a collision course, should the creation of the new Zimbabwean constitution go ahead as planned by the coalition government of Zimbabwe. The civil society in the country have always partnered with the MDC in wedging fierce fights against ZANU PF. - This time around, the MDC faces a steep hill and the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) could deliver to the opposition party, a taste of its own medicine. The National Constitutional Assembly comprises of churches, academics, non governmental organisations, business, human rights organisations and labour. Dr Lovemore Madhuku, the Chairman of the National Constitutional Assemb…

- The popular Y-FM DJ Sbu was suspended Saturday night from his normal broadcasting slot after having been spotted on TV standing next to the charismatic ANC President Jacob Zuma at the party's “Siyanqoba” weekend rally held at the Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg. The African National Congress' final rally before the elections that are scheduled to commence tomorrow, pulled in a record crowd of 80 000 followers that gathered to show undying support for the oldest native political party on the land. Early in the year Sbu Leope, famously known as DJ Sbu, was also suspended from the youth broadcasting station after playing a song that was not on the station's…

- Saturday's celebrations of the Independence of Zimbabwe are amidst strains lamented by members of the Government of National Unity. “The whole nation survives on US$7 Million per month ” the Minister of Trade and Industry, Prof. Welshman Ncube said in Zimbabwe on Wednesday. Zimbabwe, a country that used to be the bread basket of Africa and the world's second largest producer of tobacco has been reduced to ruins. 4000 people die weekly of ailments including malnutrition and hiv. Hospitals have been reduced to silent corridors inhabited by the dying. This confession comes amidst so many demands made upon the government of Zimbabwe that is busy pursuing the lifting…

Zimbabwe has celebrated its 29th independence, the first under a coalition government comprised of former rival parties ZANU PF, MDC and the other MDC under Mutambara. In a remarkable show of unity that has never been witnessed before, Mugabe shared the same platform with his opposition, the MDC. - Mugabu’s message to the people of Zimbabwe was distinctly different from the vicious and venomous messages of the years past. Cain Matema, the resident Governor for Bulawayo said: “The nation had been told to refrain from party regalia as Independence Day celebrations were not a party function, but a national function which has to be enjoyed by all Zimbabweans.” Addressing …