Zimbabwe

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Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe is being urged by several political and human rights groups to implement media and security sector reforms in advance of the next elections. (Reuters)

Press Intimidated in Zimbabwe
By Jeffrey Moyo, Al Jazeera
24 April 2013

HARARE – As Zimbabwe heads to the polls later this year, media analysts and journalists are concerned about increasing crackdowns on both the judiciary and the media.

This comes as stalwarts from President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) remain defiant about implementing the media reforms outlined in the Global Political Agreement (GPA). The GPA is a 2008 pact between Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change that paved the way for the current unity government and the elections later this year.

“Forget about security sector reforms, forget about media reforms. What we are going to have are elections soon after June 29 this year when the term of parliament expires. Zimbabweans should brace for the polls,” Goodson Nguni, a well-known Zanu-PF leader, said.  (read more)

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Zimbabwe: Religious Zealot Leader Preaches Violence & Hate 
iNewp The Peoples Press 
15 April 2013

As the date of the 2013 general elections in Zimbabwe draws near, political dissidents and MDC- T members supporting current Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai have heard much from the dominating ZANU-PF party which the infamous incumbent president Robert Mugabe leads. EU- blacklisted War Veterans’ Association leader Jabulani Sibanda has been preaching hate and violence to audiences.

Sibanda has raged in 2 hour lectures against Prime Minister Tsvangirai and his party calling him an agent of the Devil.

Sibanda has also threatened violence in Zimbabwe if ZANU-PF loses the upcoming elections. Sibanda uses a combination of religious and political rhetoric that endorses Mugabe as a “man of God” and the ZANU-PF as the “one party under God”. (read more)

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Will Zimbabwe hold free and fair polls?
Namibia Press Agency, the Namibian
22 March 2013

Harare – With a new constitution approved, Zimbabweans are now looking toward a fresh general election, while wondering whether the polls will be free and fair. The overwhelming nod for the charter at a weekend referendum raised much optimism for democratic changes in a country long regarded by the West as a pariah state.

The new supreme law protects against all forms of violence and torture and guarantees freedom of expression. But observers say there is little in it that directly affects the way elections are run.

“The constitution does very little to affect electoral conditions,” said Zimbabwean legal and political analyst Derek Matyszak.

“If people are thinking the new constitution is going to create conditions for free and fair elections they are going to be very disappointed.”

The scars of election chaos are still fresh in Zimbabwe.

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Her arrest, the day after a referendum on a new Zimbabwe constitution, prompted an outcry from African and international law organizations.

“Her arrest is not just an attack on her profession but on the people of Zimbabwe who have just voted yes to a new constitution that enshrines fundamental human rights,” said her lawyer, Thabani Mpofu. (read more)

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Zimbabwe votes in support of new constitution

Al Jazeera

19 March 2013

Almost 95 percent of Zimbabweans have voted in favour of a new draft constitution which is supported by both President Robert Mugabe and his opponent Morgan Tsvangirai, which paves the way for new elections.Tallies, released by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commisison after Tuesday’s results, showed that an overwhelming 3,079,966 voters were in favour of the new constitution and 179,489 were against it.”Since the majority of the votes were received in favour of the adoption of the draft constitution and, it is declared to have been adopted by the people of Zimbabwe,” said Lovemore Sekeramayi, the official in charge of the vote tally. (read more)

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A woman cast her ballot Saturday at a polling center in Harare, Zimbabwe. The new constitution places some curbs on the president and bolsters the bill of rights. (Pete Muller, New York Times)

2 Years Late, Zimbabwe Votes on New Constitution
By Lydia Polgreen
16 March 2013

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Batsi Munyaka, 27, an unemployed mechanic, had not read the document that could govern his nation for decades to come. But he said he was tired of trying to cobble together a living with little ventures that did not add up to much, and he hoped that a new Constitution, whatever its provisions, could help get Zimbabwe’s economy on track.

“I have the right to vote, and maybe it can make a change in our country,” he said with a shrug.

More than two years late — and in far smaller and less enthusiastic numbers than their leaders had hoped for — Zimbabweans went to the polls on Saturday to vote in a referendum on a new Constitution, a crucial step toward holding presidential elections this year. (read more)

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 Zimbabwe attack reveals potential for violence

By Andrew Harding, BBC

15 March 2013

We were in Mbare, a tough, poor neighbourhood close to the centre of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.We were following a group of about eight activists for the MDC who were putting up posters calling on Zimbabweans to vote “Yes” to the new draft constitution in Saturday’s referendum.Sten Zvorwadza, who hopes to take over as the next MDC MP in Mbare, was wearing a smart grey suit and waving a copy of the constitution while his colleagues used a bucket of home-made glue to put up their posters. (read more)

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Zimbabwe MDC politician Sten Zvorwadza beaten in Mbare
BBC
15 March 2013

A Zimbabwean politician has been attacked in the capital, Harare, during the last day of campaigning before a referendum on a new constitution.

Sten Zvorwadza, who hopes to become the next Movement for Democratic Change MP for the city’s Mbare suburb, was punched as he tried to put up posters.

He escaped uninjured and says the youths were almost certainly Zanu-PF supporters of President Robert Mugabe. (read more)

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MDC leader and Zimbabwe Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai (Reuters)

Riot police break up Zimbabwe PM meeting Sapa-AFP, 
SABC
6 March 2013

Riot police in Zimbabwe blocked yesterday’s address by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, whose uneasy unity rule with President Robert Mugabe is set to end within months at the ballot box.

“Riot police have just disrupted a community meeting I was due to address,” Tsvangirai tweeted last night. “Their actions today show that the leopard has not changed colours.”

A pick-up truck loaded with helmet-clad police officers carrying riot shields and batons could be seen in pictures posted on Tsvangirai’s Facebook page. (read more)

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Zimbabwe police ban radios, crack down on NGOs
IRIN
26 February 2013

HARARE (IRIN) – Police in Zimbabwe have announced a ban on the possession of shortwave radio receivers, saying they are being used to communicate hate speech ahead of next month’s constitutional referendum and elections set to be held in July.Wind-up, solar-powered radios sets have been distributed by some NGOs to rural communities, where villagers have established listening clubs to tune in to popular independent radio stations like Radio Voice of The People, Studio 7 and SW Radio Africa. The broadcasts are produced by exiled Zimbabwean journalists based in Europe and the US.Zimbabwe has four state-controlled radio stations with a history of supporting President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party. Two recently established independent radio stations are also perceived to be pro-ZANU-PF. There is demand among listeners, especially those supportive of the rival Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), for other viewpoints. (read more)

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 For earlier articles, please see the “Archived Updates” section on Zimbabwe’s page.