What you may have missed September 16-20

West dishonest – Mugabe -President Robert Mugabe today dismissed critics of his re-election as “unprincipled and dishonest”. He said it was clear that the “imperialists” would never accept the election results, adding that this was an indication that they continued to “pursue illegal regime change against our country”.

Mugabe to press on
President Robert Mugabe today vowed to press ahead with his empowerment drive to force foreign firms to surrender majority shares to local partners. “The indigenisation programme is to be pursued with renewed vigour,” Mugabe said at the official opening of parliament. The move would make Zimbabweans “significant stakeholders and not mere bystanders to the running of the national economy”.

Tsvangirai vows to stay on
Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai today said he would remain leader of his party despite an internal call for him to quit after his overwhelming defeat in July’s presidential elections against Robert Mugabe. “You don’t just wake up in the streets and say Tsvangirai must go. There are forums that should make this decision,” Tsvangirai said. “I cannot, in the middle of a struggle, just abandon people. To what objective? To satisfy who? To satisfy ZANU-PF? To satisfy people with individual grudges against me?”

Castrate them
President Robert Mugabe today suggested that child rapists should be castrated to curb the scourge. “Fathers be aware. We are going to make it very, very tough for you. No molestation of youngsters, not molestation of women…..In the past there was death for rape but these days those campaigning for human rights say its inhuman, it dehumanises a person. But these are people who dehumanise others. If you kill someone they say punishment of that nature is dehumanising, for a person who killed someone? This is where I disagree. An eye for an eye. Not in that way, I was thinking for rapists we should castrate them and the person remains alive. But that which makes him rape, must go. Are there any men here who are against that?”

$6 million probe
Police today announced that they would launch a probe into allegations that Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation chair Godwills Masimirembwa solicited a $6 million from a Ghanaian investor in a diamond-mining deal. “The case of corruption allegations against Mr Godwills Masimirembwa is receiving our attention and preliminary investigations are going on,” police spokesperson Charity Charamba said. Masimirembwa was fingered out by President Robert Mugabe who vowed that such corruption should not be tolerated.

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