What you may have missed September 6-10

Global Witness against Belgium move-Global Witness today said the move by Belgium to push for the lifting of sanctions on the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation so that it can buy Zimbabwe diamonds was premature. “We are concerned that Belgium is calling for the immediate removal of the sanctions when there is strong evidence of electoral fraud. Our research has shown that the ZMDC, and some of the joint venture companies that the group operates in Zim, have links with the military and senior members of ZANU PF. We are worried that ZANU PF may have used these companies as some form of off-budget financing for the elections. We are especially concerned because there seems to be major concerns that electoral fraud took place,” Emily Armistead of Global Witness said.

Chanakira leaves Afriasia Kingdom
Kingdom Financial Holdings founder Nigel Chanakira has sold his 30 percent shareholding in AfriAsia Kingdom Zimbabwe Limited to his co-shareholders, reports said today. The cash and equity swap deal will result in Chanakira, through family investment vehicle Crustmoon Investments, exiting AKZL in exchange for a 35.7 percent stake in Botswana’s Kingdom Bank Africa Limited.

MDC blunders
The Movement for Democratic Change has been making so many blunders since it lost the 31 July elections that it has become an embarrassment, reports said today. The blunders are also putting to question the credibility of the party’s top officials. “They are suffering from post-election traumatic stress disorder. The problems are a reflection of a leadership trying to recover from that trauma. They cannot think clearly and act rationally. They can be forgiven but not when you commit one blunder after another,” University of Zimbabwe lecturer Eldred Masunungure said.

Future uncertain
Zimbabwe’s economy remains increasingly uncertain due to a host of internal and external factors according to the World Bank. “The economy faces uncertainty both from expected volatility in the global economy, and on the domestic front after July elections, amidst worsening macroeconomic indicators and increased vulnerability of the banking sector. Growth performance has been stymied by continued slowdown of the key sectors of the economy, amidst easing of international commodity prices, low investment, tight credit conditions, and policy uncertainty after the July elections,” the bank said.

Talk to Bob

A British newspaper today said it is time for the West to take stock, set aside old scores and take a fresh look at Zimbabwe. And as the prime mover in a strategy that has failed to deliver after a decade of trying, Britain should take the lead in an effort to break the deadlock and recover its influence in a country at the strategic heart of southern Africa. Unpalatable though it is, President Robert Mugabe has emerged from his country’s recent election with more than his domestic power consolidated and the opposition in disarray. He has been welcomed back into the African fold by the very leaders the West had been hoping would denounce the conduct of July’s election – Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s president, and Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s former president and head of the African Union group of election observers.

Mugabe names cabinet
President Robert Mugabe today announced his long-awaited cabinet which brought back his old loyalists with Sydney Sekeramayi taking on Defence, Patrick Chinamasa, Finance, Emmerson Mnangagwa Justice and Jonathan Moyo, Information. He also introduced Provincial Ministers of State to replace governors.

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