The tight circles of "securocrats", who sit on the Joint Operations Command (JOC) committee, are now believed to be in day-to-day charge of Zimbabwe's government. They ensured Mr Mugabe did not step down after his defeat in the presidential election's first round in March 2008 and are now masterminding a campaign of terror to suppress the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and guarantee victory for Mr Mugabe in the upcoming elections this year. The government indefinitely suspended all work by aid groups and non-governmental organizations, accusing them of breaching their terms of registration. Mr Mugabe is a useful figurehead who still commands the deference of other African leaders, notably Former President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa. But the western diplomat said Mr Mugabe's power had ebbed away and Zimbabwe was now run by a "junta". "This is a military coup by stealth," he said. "There are no tanks on people's l...
THE role of the military has risen to the top of the political agenda as Zimbabwe’s fractious coalition debates the prospect of fresh elections in 2013 or, if President Robert Mugabe has his way, before then. The question haunting members of the MDC, the opposition party that joined Mugabe’s Zanu PF in a coalition government after violently disputed elections in 2008, is how the security establishment will react if the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, the prime minister, wins and becomes commander-in-chief. Serving and former commanders have been making menacing comments. Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba, a commander in the national army, once accused Tsvangirai of being a “national security threat” and stooge of Western powers. He added in comments to the Herald, the state newspaper, that: “We will die for him (Mugabe) to make sure he remains in power.” Although many observers suggest such bellicose statements are posturing and that even Zanu PF has distance...
I would like to extend my congratulations to His Eminence Pope Francis 1, for his inauguration and I hope and trust that he will be a good leader for his religion. I was disturbed to see the Pope hand-in-hand with a well-known dictator Robert Mugabe, a man who has caused untold sufferings to his own people. The man has inflicted pain and suffering to the people of Zimbabwe with great relish. The pope is quite aware, that the Mugabe is under a travel ban, and it is with good reason. It could be that His Eminence is still new to matters of the state, nonetheless, stupidity and immorality are the properties of such man as Robert Mugabe, we would have expected the Pope to be a man of good morals and where possible of awesome intellect. It would be fair to conclude that His Eminence has failed so far to exemplify good morality. Mugabe attended the Pope's inaugural mass on Tuesday despite a ban on him travelling to most European countries to protest his human rights record ...
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