March 26, 2018  Zimbabwe: Women Continue Protest at Hwange Coal
    At a meeting on February 11, two weeks into a protest by hundreds of women in the mining community outside the company's offices, still continuing in late March, the Hwange Colliery Company Ltd. (HCCL) admitted that the company owed its workers a total of $70 million. HCCL management said they did not have the money to pay, although many workers had not been paid full wages for almost five years.

November 27, 2017  Zimbabwe: After Mugabe, Looking Forward
    "While Zimbabweans understandably embraced military intervention because it led to the ouster of Mugabe and prevented his wife Grace from succeeding him, they must also embrace the fact that it comes with further, less palatable consequences. The episode demonstrated once again that the military is a critical arm of the state which has become the kingmaker in Zimbabwean politics." - Alex T. Magaisa

November 27, 2017  Zimbabwe: After Mugabe, Looking Back
    In Zimbabwe, celebration at the departure of Robert Mugabe from office after 37 years in power has been fervent and heartfelt. But almost all of those celebrating also acknowledge the difficulties of the months and years to come. Hope is tempered by recognition that the structures of kleptocratic and military rule remain in place.

July 15, 2016  Zimbabwe: #WageTheft
    "An astounding 80,000 Zimbabwe workers in formal employment--out of some 350,000 workers--did not receive wages and benefits on time in 2014, according to a new Solidarity Center report, 'Working Without Pay: Wage Theft in Zimbabwe,' released today in Harare." - Solidarity Center

July 15, 2016  Zimbabwe: #ThisFlag
    "The Zimbabwean regime did not expect Pastor Evan Mawarire to be set free on Wednesday night. But unprecedented public pressure forced the magistrate's hand, with a little help from blundering police. Look away now, Comrade Bob, because Zimbabwe will never be the same again." - Daily Maverick, July 14, 2016

July 23, 2013  Zimbabwe: Voters' Roll Follies
    "The analysis also revealed a number of discrepancies between census data and registered voters across all age groups. For instance there are approximately 831,482 people in the age group 40-49 years. However it is worrying that the voters' roll reflects 1,250,989 registered voters in this age group. Of particular concern is the age group 80 years or more which according to census data has an estimated population of 155,653, while the registered voters of the same group are 343,187, some of whom are as old as 114 years old." - Zimbabwe Election Support Network (NESN), July 12, 2013

July 23, 2013  Zimbabwe: Slim Chances for Credible Elections
    "As things stand currently, the chances of having free, fair and credible elections are slim, particularly given the shortcomings of security sector reforms and reforms in other sectors." - Dewa Mavhinga, Senior Researcher, Africa Division, Human Rights Watch

Feb 26, 2013  Zimbabwe: New Narrative on Land Reform, 2
    "Under the fast track land reform, 169,000 farmers have received land since 2000. Most are small farmers under model A1, but the fast track also includes model A2 with land for wealthy people prepared to invest in largerscale commercial farming--maintaining the dual agriculture policy that had continued since the colonial era. The 146,000 A1 farmers moved quickly onto their land and are using more of the land than their white predecessors. A2 farm allocation was more competitive and politicized ... [nevertheless] The bulk of settlers are 'ordinary' people ... Undoubtedly some are political elites or what are sometimes called 'cronies,' which we guess to be 5% of farmers and 10% of land." - Hanlon, Mantengwa, and Smart, in Zimbabwe Takes Back the Land

Feb 26, 2013  Zimbabwe: New Narrative on Land Reform, 1
    Whether to take credit for it or to cast blame, both ZANU-PF and most of its critics attribute responsibility for the land reform in Zimbabwe since 2000 to the party of Robert Mugabe. Although much of the debate in the media about the book "Zimbabwe Takes Back Its Land," has repeated this familiar point and counterpoint, the authors in fact deny this premise, arguing that the principal force behind the land reform and how it was implemented was not ZANU-PF but Zimbabwean farmers.

Jul 2, 2012  Zimbabwe: Diamonds Fund Parallel Government
    A new report from Global Witness reveals that Zimbabwe's Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) appears to have received off budget financing from a Hong Kong-based businessman as the CIO and other security agencies continue to prepare to influence elections due to take place sometime in 2013. Global Witness reports that CIO members exercise joint control over Sino Zimbabwe Development (Pvt) Ltd, a diamonds, cotton and property company in Zimbabwe, in collaboration with businessman Sam Pa, a prominent member of the Queensway Syndicate, a network of companies with a track record of negotiating opaque resource for infrastructure deals across the African continent.

Sep 12, 2011  Africa: Dead End for Diamond Monitoring?
    According to a new analysis from Partnership Africa Canada, the Kimberley Process, a joint government-industry-civil society group intended to monitor "conflict diamonds" is "unable and unwilling to hold to account participating countries that repeatedly break the rules." Unless governments are willing to support significant reforms, which seems unlikely, activists must seek other mechanisms to prevent diamonds from fueling violence and human rights violations.

Apr 14, 2011  Zimbabwe: Hard Road to Reform
    "[The] seeming lethargy of the SADC facilitation took a dramatic turn at the SADC Troika summit in Zambia on the 31st March. [It noted] with 'grave concern' the political polarization in Zimbabwe characterised by the 'resurgence of violence, arrests and intimidation.' ... Without naming Mugabe directly, [the summit's] resolutions were arguably the most forthright diplomatic criticism that SADC had issued of the Mugabe regime, with the recommendations largely echoing the demands that the MDCs and the civic movement had been making since 2009." - Solidarity Peace Trust

Jan 26, 2011  Zimbabwe: Public Opinion Report
    No one knows whether there will be an election in Zimbabwe this year, or under what conditions. But public opinion polls show that the majority of Zimbabweans are convinced elections should take place, even though they also feared they would be victims of election violence, and are increasingly reluctant to tell pollsters for whom they might vote. While in May 2009 64 percent felt free to choose who to vote for, only 47 percent expressed such confidence in October 2010, a 17-point decline.

Jan 26, 2011  Zimbabwe: Not Ready for Elections
    "As representatives of Zimbabwe's civil society, we are convinced that at present, the country has not carried out sufficient institutional and legislative reforms to enable the country to hold credible elections free of violence and intimidation." - Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, in statement calling for additional action by the African Union and the Southern African Development Community.

Dec 14, 2010  USA/Africa: Wikileaks Highlights, 2
    It should be no surprise to anyone that South African diplomats been been frustrated both with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, or that Kenya and the United States have enjoyed close military to military ties despite vocal U.S. criticism of the Kenyan government. Wikileaks cables released to date, such as the ones included in this AfricaFocus Bulletin, provide some nuances and may be embarrassing, but provide no "smoking guns" or startling revelations.

Jun 18, 2010  Zimbabwe: Whose Diamonds?
    Zimbabwe's diamond wealth, which could potentially provide a decisive boost for economic recovery, is instead still a resource shared by diamond smugglers, army officers and police, and by cliques of top officials in the country's security apparatus, says a new report from "conflict diamonds" researchers at Partnership Africa Canada (PAC).

Apr 18, 2010  Zimbabwe: Sanctions and Solidarity
    "In the case of Zimbabwe today, both supporters and opponents of sanctions exaggerate their importance. The international community, both global and regional, has other tools as well. Key issues are not only when to lift or relax sanctions but also how much support Western countries will provide for economic recovery. Even more decisive will be whether Zimbabwe's African neighbors can strengthen their diplomacy by backing it with effective pressures, even if they hesitate to use the word sanctions." - Briggs Bomba and William Minter

Feb 16, 2010  Zimbabwe: Demystifying "Sanctions"
    The European Union formally decided on February 15 to lift restrictive measures against 6 individuals and 9 companies in Zimbabwe that were previously subject to travel bans and asset freezes, but continued the measures for another year on the majority of the 203 individuals and 40 companies on the list. The EU cited the lack of progress in implementation of the Global Political Agreement of September 2008 as the reason for continued measures. Companies removed included the Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company.

May 20, 2009  Zimbabwe: 100 Days Plus
    "We all knew this was going to be a fragile, tenuous, very uneasy relationship but one where the MDC had little option. Having said that, it was also very clear from the beginning that this kind of arrangement was going to be a battle for the State between the two parties from its inception and indeed that's what it's turned out to be ... But I think we've also seen a kind of new hope that emerged in the 100 days, a sense that something else was possible and the beginning of, at least the first steps of accountability of the ruling party." - Brian Raftopoulos on SW Radio Africa

Feb 10, 2009  Zimbabwe: Making a Bad Deal Work?
    "The reality is that they have been co-opted as junior partners on its margins." Zimbabwean journalist Tendai Dumbutshena wrote in Pambazuka News, referrring to the January 30 decision by the MDC-Tsvangirai to accept formation of an "inclusive government" with Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF. And, indeed, few analysts other than partisans of the incumbent regime were optimistic that ZANU PF would truly share power or cease the use of violence against political opponents and human rights activists. But some hoped that the new government might signal some small relief from the downward spiral in economic and social conditions.

Jun 22, 2008  Africa: AfricaFocus Web Updates
    In the almost five years of publication of AfricaFocus Bulletin, the number of sources available to readers over the internet, by web and e-mail, has continued to grow exponentially. I am pleased that so many of you continue to find this occasional bulletin of carefully selected analysis useful.

Jun 14, 2008  Zimbabwe: African Leaders Speak Out
    Two weeks before the presidential run-off elections in Zimbabwe, over forty prominent African leaders have released an urgent call for free, fair, peaceful, and transparent elections. The open letter was published on June 13 and June 14 in full-page advertisements in South Africa's Business Day, the Financial Times, and the New York Times. The initial signatories included 18 former presidents or prime ministers, two Nobel Laureates, musicians Youssou N'Dour and Angelique Kidjo, and former United Nations Secretaries General Kofi Annan and Boutros Boutros-Ghali. It was sponsored by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, founded and directed by African mobile phone magnate Mo Ibrahim.

May 26 , 2008  Zimbabwe: "Democracy is Not a Privilege"
    "Africa waged a century-long struggle against colonialism and apartheid precisely to establish the principle that governments should derive legitimacy through the consent of the governed. Democratic institutions are therefore not privileges that may be extended or withheld at the discretion of those who wield power." - Pallo Jordan

May 26, 2008  Zimbabwe: A Dream Deferred
    This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains the text of "Zimbabwe: A Dream Deferred," a summary report from TransAfrica Forum on the joint observer mission sent by TransAfrica Forum and Africa Action to the Zimbabwe election in March. The summary is written for a U.S. audience, to provide a progressive alternative to misleading and simplistic characterizations of the crisis in Zimbabwe, often characterizing news coverage and debate in the United States.

Mar 31, 2008  Zimbabwe: Writing on the Wall
    "Mugabe: The Writing is on the Wall," headlined Daniel Howden in a report from Bulawayo today in the UK Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk). He was perhaps making a risky prediction, as official results continued to be delayed. But he was also referring to the fact that a late change in the electoral law had resulted in the public posting of results in constituencies around the country, and that this had made it possible for unofficial counts to speed around the country by text message, email, and mobile phones.

Sep 23, 2007  Zimbabwe: A Regional Solution?
    "Six months before scheduled elections, Zimbabwe is closer than ever to complete collapse. ... An initiative launched by the regional intergovernmental organisation, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), to facilitate a negotiated political solution offers the only realistic chance to escape a crisis that increasingly threatens to destabilise the region. But SADC must resolve internal differences about how hard to press into retirement Robert Mugabe ... and the wider international community needs to give it full support." - International Crisis Group

Sep 23, 2007  Zimbabwe: Pan African Response
    "For anybody genuinely concerned about the future of Africa there can be no politics of convenience. To be sure, the Zimbabwean crisis is not the only crisis in Africa ... [But it] is arguably the only ongoing crisis in which one side (the incumbent government) and its supporters have mobilised African support and silenced many by asserting more or less that its critics are sympathisers, supporters or agents of foreign interests and former colonial masters. This has wrongly narrowed the framework of the debate on the Zimbabwean crisis." - Rotimi Sankore

Jul 1, 2007  Zimbabwe: Call for SADC Action
    Over 100 human rights groups, mainly in Africa, have urged South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki and other SADC leaders to put human rights at the center of any mediation efforts on the Zimbabwe crisis. The appeal was initiated by Amnesty International, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, and Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights,

Mar 26, 2007  Zimbabwe: The End of "Quiet Diplomacy"?
    "Southern Africa is 'finally' assuming leadership in trying to resolve the burning Zimbabwean crisis on their doorstep, but it has been a long time coming, said analysts ... The Southern African Development Community (SADC), which has pushed for an approach of 'quiet diplomacy' to the Zimbabwean crisis, has increasingly come under fire for failing to wield any influence." - IRIN, March 23, 2007

Dec 12, 2006  Zimbabwe: Symptoms of Decline
    "Zimbabwe was once the publishing capital of southern Africa. It used to host the best book fair in Africa. But years of neglect, as with Zimbabwe itself, [have revived the saying]: 'We cannot eat books.' With few visitors and even fewer sales, neither can the publishers."

Aug 6, 2006  Zimbabwe: Displacement and Survival
    One year after "Operation Murambatsvina" ("Clean-Up"), the damaging effects of the government campaign aimed at the urban poor are still visible, reports a recent delegation from South African social movements. With Zimbabweans expressing little hope in a divided opposition, internal efforts at resistance are concentrating on survival.

Aug 6, 2006  Zimbabwe: Shadows and Lies
    "There is no reason why Zimbabweans today should watch our country go down the drain. Look at the time it took to build it up. That one can just destroy it overnight is something very painful. It was not about creating another dictatorship, creating another oppressive system, where you cannot exercise your rights." - Margaret Dongo

Oct 18, 2005  Southern Africa: Food Emergency Shortfall
    With attention diverted and disaster fatigue accentuated by response to the hurricanes in North America, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) as well as private agencies are finding responses slow to the earthquake in South Asia and to food crises in Africa. The WFP appeal for Niger, which briefly hit world headlines in July, has still only raised $36 million of its $58 million target; the appeal for 12 million people in Southern Africa has only raised $245 million out of an estimated $622 million needed.

Jul 28, 2005  Zimbabwe: Housing Tsunami Continues
    Despite a devastatingly critical report by UN-HABITAT Director Anna Tibaijuka, the government of Zimbabwe is continuing its drive to destroy "illegal" housing and shops that is estimated to have made at least 700,000 people homeless in the last two months. Zimbabweans, rejecting the government's term Operation Murambatsvina ("Clean Out Garbage") compare the assault on the country's poor to a "tsunami."

Apr 18, 2005  Zimbabwe: Election Fraud Report
    A new report from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Zimbabwe, released on April 12, has presented detailed evidence of bias and outright fraud in the March 31 elections. In particular, the report details allegations of ballot-stuffing sufficient to change election results in at least 20 constituencies. This would shift the balance of directly elected seats from 78-41 in favor of the ruling ZANU-PF to 61-58 in favor of the MDC.

Mar 2, 2005  Zimbabwe: Solidarity Newsletter
    "The Zimbabwean elections of 2000 and 2002 deepened the political crisis, rather than contributing to a progressive resolution. Since 2002 democratic space has been further eroded. What Zimbabwe needs now is not another gravely flawed election but a SADC-facilitated negotiated transition towards democracy." - Zimbabwe Solidarity Conference, South Africa, February 24-25, 2005

Aug 14, 2004  Zimbabwe: Test for African Responsibility
    "The Zimbabwean situation of starvation and malnutrition, willful political violence and intimidation, and the immoral use of food aid by the Zimbabwean government demands stronger and transparent intervention by African governments through the AU [African Union]" - Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC)

Dec 10, 2003  Zimbabwe: "We Are Still Here Ambuya"
    "We Are Still Here Ambuya," sings mbira player and activist Machingura in his new CD released recently in Berkeley, California. Linking struggles for social justice in Zimbabwe, the United States, and around the world, Machingura's music-making in California follows on his experience as vocalist in Harare's Luck Street Blues band in the late 1990s. It has also led to his selection as one of six "Artist Ambassadors" for the World Social Forum in Mumbai, India in January. He follows in a rich tradition of Zimbabwean musicians whose music has both reflected and inspired their people's quest for justice.

Dec 7, 2003  Zimbabwe: Civil Society Voices
    A six-nation panel including Australia, Canada, India, Jamaica, Mozambique, and South Africa today recommended continued suspension of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth, until the government of Zimbabwe meets minimal conditions indicating willingness to dialogue with internal opponents. News coverage of this issue has focused on the divergent views of governments, particularly the reluctance of some African states to maintain the suspension of Zimbabwe. The simplistic image of a split between Europe and Africa, however, ignores the widespread consensus in civil society in Zimbabwe and the region in favor of continued pressure.