The United States embassy said Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi was a diligent and honest hard worker way back in 1988 when he was appointed Minister of Transport.
(22 VIEWS)
Movement for Democratic Change-Mutambara faction secretary general Welshman Ncube was more aggressive to get an agreement during the tripartite negotiations for a solution to Zimbabwe’s crisis than the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, according to one of the negotiators Elton Mangoma.
(44 VIEWS)
Exiled businessman Strive Masiyiwa who was trying to broker an agreement between the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front and the two factions of the Movement for Democratic Change, after the indecisive 2008 elections, said he thought that the secretary-general of the smaller faction of the MDC Welshman Ncube was slippery and would not stand up to ZANU-PF.
(14 VIEWS)
Britain’s Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Mark Simmonds said yesterday the United Kingdom fully supported the move by the European Union to lift restrictions on development assistance to Zimbabwe but he added that this was not an endorsement of the content of the draft constitution.
(12 VIEWS)
Though he first worked as a diplomat, Francis Nhema was better known as the founder of the Zimbabwe Building Society, a financial institution that provided housing loans to the poorest sectors of the community. He was a darling with the media until things started going wrong at ZBS. But he survived the scandal to become a minister in President Robert Mugabe’s government. His appointment was viewed more as a way of appeasing the family of former vice-President Joshua Nkomo, who had died a year before Nhema’s appointment, as Nhema was married to Nkomo’s daughter. Despite his mediocre performance, Nhema has remained in cabinet up to today. There are 25 Wikileaks cables on him. Here they are.
(84 VIEWS)
The number of properties by United States citizens that had been acquired by the government under its land reform programme had risen to 10 but according to the United States embassy none of the people affected had asked the embassy to intervene beyond raising the issue of compensation.
(30 VIEWS)
The secretary-general of the Tsvangirai faction of the Movement for Democratic Change, Tendai Biti, who was one of the six party negotiators, was suspicious of the Mutambara faction negotiators Welshman Ncube and Priscilla Misihairabwi–Mushonga.
(24 VIEWS)
While the inclusive government continued to tout its success in achieving unity and moving forward with “problem” issues, the old guard was acting as if nothing had changed as they continued with arbitrary arrests, politically trumped-up charges and land seizures.
(23 VIEWS)
Minister of Water Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, a member of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s faction of the Movement for Democratic Change, said most of the members of cabinet from the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front were difficult to deal with, but the MDC could work with Environment Minister Francis Nhema and Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi whom he described as moderates.
(18 VIEWS)
Francis Nhema who had been Minister of Environment and Tourism since 2000 retained the Environment portfolio but lost the tourism part to his Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front colleague Walter Mzembi.
(25 VIEWS)
