News

United States ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell walked out of a briefing with Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi after the minister refused to give an assurance that diplomats would be allowed to ask questions after the briefing.

(58 VIEWS)

A former Member of Parliament who belonged to the Arthur Mutambara faction told United States embassy officials that Mutambara seemed a little mentally off and should be replaced as leader of the faction.

(40 VIEWS)

President Robert Mugabe was reported to have bolstered himself when he appointed two brothers to two of the most powerful posts in government when he appointed Samuel Mumbengegwi as Minister of Finance in 2007 joining his brother Simbarashe who was already Minister of Foreign Affairs.

(60 VIEWS)

The appointment of Simbarashe Mumbengegwi as Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2005, raised eyebrows especially with the West as he was viewed as one of those with a softer public edge.

(98 VIEWS)

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.

(112 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.

(158 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.

(42 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.

(26 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.

(122 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.

(62 VIEWS)