Targeted sanctions on leading Zimbabwe government officials, in place since disputed presidential elections in 2002, will not be lifted soon, according to a high-level delegation from the European Union (EU) which ended a two-day mission to Zimbabwe 13 September.
After a meeting with President Robert Mugabe, Gunilla Carlsson, Sweden’s international development minister, said “The political agreement was an important step forward, but much needs to be done. The key to re-engagement is the full implementation of the political agreement“. Mugabe has called for a lifting of the EU sanctions, arguing “sanctions are serving no humanitarian purpose, they are causing lots of suffering among the people right at the bottom”.
The EU is Zimbabwe’s main donor and its aid budget is currently frozen at €90 million. A Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting 8 September called for Western sanctions to be lifted. Al-Jazeera, The Sunday Telegraph
Southern African nations meeting in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo,8 September called for an end to Western sanctions on Zimbabwe. Sanctions have been in place since before a unity government was formed in 2008 with President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The call to lift sanctions is seen as a significant victory for Mugabe, who says that the country urgently needs $10 billion in development aid. Tsvangirai has called for the full implementation of the accords before sanctions are lifted.
Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa and a key member of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), said at the beginning of the conference that he hoped the Zimbabwe government’s divisions could be healed quickly in order for foreign aid to be resumed. At the end, he said that he now sees no reason why conditions should be imposed before lifting sanctions. BBC, Reuters, AllAfrica
South African President Jacob Zuma is in Harare, Zimbabwe today 27 August to meet with members of Zimabwe’s unity government and to convey South African displeasure with the lack of progress in implementing an agreement between President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU party and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of Morgan Tsvangirai. He is conveying a message from the South African ruling party ANC, African National Congress, that criticizes Mugabe for his “adolescent and deviant” behaviour. Discord between the two sides in Zimbabwe’s government has left ministerial posts unfilled, and some MDC members of parliament are still in jail. There are rumours that Mugabe is ill and being treated in a clinic in Dubai. He has not been seen in public since Tuesday 19 August. AllAfrica, Mail&Guardian,The Times
The United Nations is warning that six million people are without safe water and five million face starvation in Zimbabwe, as the country struggles to move out of the economic crisis that has provoked disease and severe food shortages. In the 12 months from August 2008 to July 2009 cholera took the lives of 4,288 people, with nearly 100,000 people ill from the disease. The figures and comments were given by Agostinho Zacarias, UN Development Programme representative, at a World Humanitarian Day conference in Zimbabwe. AllAfrica, CNN
A bus trying to overtake on the road from Harare to Masvingo in Zimbabwe, 88 km south of the capital, overturned after a head-on collision, killing 33 people. The country’s roads are in very poor condition after years of neglect and traffic controls are rare.
Wimbledon, England (GenevaLunch) – Swiss Roger Federer gave a lesson in how to deal with a big serving giant when he swept past Croation Ivo Karlovic in straight sets, 6-3 7-5 7-6, breaking serve twice with some superb returns of service and barely dropping a point when on serve himself.
Tommy Haas pulled off the shock of the day with a rarely seen display of serve and volley tennis that proved too much for fourth seed Novak Djokovic. His prize will be an encounter with Federerer.
International humanitarian groups launched a new appeal for donor funds for Zimbabwe under the umbrella Cap (Consolidated Appeals Process), asking for a 30 percent increase in aid to get the country back on its feet. Cap is a short-term humanitarian financing tool which is combined with other funding but the launch of the new appeal 1 June is unusual in that it goes beyond emergency funding to providing recovery aid, in recognition of progress made by the Inclusive Government formed in February 2009 by the two main parties.
Zimbabwe is still deep in crisis, with AllAfrica (UN Irin) noting that in March, when an initial appeal had reached $719 million for basic aid, “Six million people had limited or no access to safe water and sanitation; 1.5 million children required support to access education; 800,000 people were in need of food aid, and 44,000 children younger than five years needed treatment for severe acute malnutrition.”
Zimbabwe will receive $22 million from the World Bank, the first money from the bank since 2000, but it falls far short of the $8.5 billion economically-strapped Zimbabwe has been seeking. The World Bank calls it a first step, saying it will see how the country deals with debt reduction, reports the BBC. Background, World Bank
The four-year-old grandson of Zimbabwe’s opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangerai, drowned in a swimming pool at the family home in Harare Sunday. The child, Sean Tsvangerai, was the son of Garikai, the political leader’s second son, who lives in Canada and who has been in Zimbabwe since his mother’s death less than a month ago: Susan Tsvangerai died in a highway accident when a truck ran into the car she was traveling in with her husband. Morgan Tsvangerai had only recently returned to work after his wife’s death. He was at what the BBC describes as a bonding sessions between the two political groups that make up the unity government when he was called away by this latest family death. All Africa carries a report from the government-published Herald newspaper that President Robert Mugabe addressed the unity government retreat Saturday then flew back to Harare.
Update 4 April Prisoners in Zimbabwe are dying from malnutrition and disease due to lack of supplies and inhumane conditions, reports a documentary by the South African Broadcasting Association, released Tuesday 31 March. It shows images of men too emaciated to stand or bring food to their mouths. “Zimbabwe is undergoing an humanitarian crisis, with a dearth of food for the majority of the country’s population, a collapsed economy and uncontrolled inflation,” says Al Jazeera, which features the Zimbabwe prison story, saying that “the prison service remains low on the [new unity government's] list of the priorities.” Its article includes an interview with a government official whose calls the prison situation “desperate.” Ed. note: the broadcast is not available for Internet viewing.
Susan Tsvangirai, the wife of Zimbabwe’s prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, was dead at the scene of a crash that has put her husband in hospital in “stable” condition. The pair were traveling to a rally 60km from the capital, Harare, reports Al Jazeera, when they were hit by a “haulage truck” whose driver appears to have fallen asleep at the wheel. The couple were married for 31 years and have six children, says the wire service. The BBC notes that traffic accidents are common in Zimbabwe, where vehicles are often in poor shape and speeding and drink driving are common.
Zimbabwe is asking its southern African neighbours for $2 billion in emergency financial assistance to help restore its infrastructure, South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel has told his country’s radio, reports the BBC.
Great Britain has “extended a lifeline” to Britons in Zimbabwe over the age of 70 who are living in nursing homes and residences, and to young people living at home who need care: the government will repatriate them, with 1,500 people expected to take up the offer. According to the Times, the British government “is acutely sensitive as to how the resettlement offer will be viewed by Zimbabwe’s new unity government. It is emphasizing that it is a humanitarian move driven by a collapse in the country’s infrastructure, which is hitting the elderly and sick the hardest”
Morgan Tsvangirai says his party will become part of a unity government when he is sworn in as prime minister of Zimbabwe 10 February, after the Southern African Development Community (SADC) proposed a new timetable. Aid agencies have refused to provide the country with more aid unless a unity government is in place: more than 60,000 people are reported by the WHO to be infected with cholera, and 3,000 people are believed to have died from it. All Africa, BBC, Guardian
Morgan Tsvangirai called it “the darkest day” while Robert Mugabe said he hoped for a new round of talk, but South African mediators say that 12 hours of final talks have led to no agreement. BBC
Susan Rice at her US Senate confirmation hearing for the post of new United States Ambassador to the United Nations said that Barack Obama “has affirmed America’s commitment to the United Nations as an indispensable, if imperfect, institution,” and she targeted Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe as an example of the kind of autocratic leader the US will work to dislodge, sometimes using quiet diplomacy. US Mission, Geneva
The number of people who have died from cholera in Zimbabwe was well over 1,500 by 28 December and the number of cases reported was more than 29,000, World Health Organization (WHO) officials have told CNN. Related: WHO photos, health care and cholera treatment in Zimbabwe
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss government has added 11 names to its Zimbabwe black list, bringing it to 182: bank accounts and any other assets held by individuals on the list are frozen and they do not have the right to enter or transit Switzerland. Anyone in Switzerland who is approached about handling funds for those on the black list must, immediately contact Seco, the Swiss ministry for the economy. Failure to do so is considered a serious crime.
The United Nations has issued its latest figures on cholera in Zimbabwe and they make stark reading: 1,111 deaths and 20,000 suspected cases, with the capital Harare alone having nearly 9,700 suspected cases. CNN
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon led a Security Council meeting on Zimbabwe, the first since July, and said that “We continue to witness a failure of the leadership in Zimbabwe,” as the number of cholera cases listed by the UN rose 25% over the figure a week earlier, and the political iimpasse continued. The BBC reports that “the meeting ended without agreement on a motion to censure Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, which a diplomat present said was due to opposition from South Africa.”
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe thanked outside aid sources for helping with the cholera epidemic in his country, which he now says is “stopped,” with more than 800 people having died from the disease. The United Nations disagrees, saying the number of sick and dying is rising, and it called 10 December for a campaign to raise $6 million in emergency funds to fight the epidemic. All Africa, PlusNews Global (Aids and HIV news) Reuters
Zimbabwe has appealed for aid, with the government acknowledging that the cholera outbreak has become an emergency. Some 11,000 have fallen sick, more than 560 have died and all but one province are showing the epidemic is increasing. CNN
The health situation in Zimbabwe appears to be worsening, despite government assurances it is under control, with the United Nations saying 360 people have died in two months from cholera. South Africa’s health minister, calling it a humanitarian crisis says “”Under no conditions would we want to stop entry of any person who is ill crossing from Zimbabwe to South Africa.” BBC
Morgan Tsvangirai has refused calls from regional leaders to share control of the police force with Robert Mugabe, saying that if Mugabe has control of the armed forces and secret service, plus shared control of the police he will effectively control the security forces. Their role in the country’s recent violence have made control of security forces a key issue in the power-sharing discussions. Los Angeles Times
Thirteen hours of non-stop talks under the mediation of South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki were not enough for Zimbabwe’s leaders, Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, to find a solution to the six-week-old impasse over cabinet members for a power-sharing government. BBC
Zimbabwe has a new political impasse after President Robert Mugabe Saturday announced who will be given key cabinet posts, with most going to members of his Zanu PDF party and the opposition threatening to quit the new power-sharing government. Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, who brokered the deal, is heading for Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital. BBC
Update: deal signed, AllAfrica news. Zimbabwe’s Opposition parties will enter a power-sharing agreement after a settlement between them and Robert Mugabe’s government is signed in Harare today, the BBC reports, but the truce is a fragile one. Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC and an MDC spin-off will hold 16 seats in the cabinet with Mugabe’s Zanu-PDF holding 15. Mugabe will control the army and Tsvangirai the police.
A deal appears to have been brokered after months of negotiations in Zimbabwe, and the agreement will reportedly be signed Monday in the presence of other African leaders. Under the terms of the agreement the Opposition will have control of the cabinet and the police, who have repeatedly terrorized and arrested them. Robert Mugabe’s party will retain control of the army. CNN
