Free Republic

A really good and personal series of memories and interviews of survivors of the Rhodesian Bush War and subsequent white genocide. The author:"How many times have you heard people say, I wished we had captured our parent's stories? Or I wish we captured those special moments when our child was born? Life can get so busy and noisy, we end up passing these moments by... This channel is aimed at inspiring you to capture more and we'll be providing examples that are timeless in the hope to make sure you don't leave the memories behind and can be re-lived by...

...Mnangagwa struck a conciliatory tone in the months leading up to the election. Declaring that Zimbabwe was “open for business,” he amended a law requiring local ownership of diamond and platinum mines. He signaled his intent to end farm seizures and vowed to sell off failing state enterprises. He even wrote a New York Times op-ed calling for democracy and equal rights for all citizens. But Mnangagwa is tied to numerous human rights abuses, including overseeing a series of government-ordered massacres between 1982 and 1986 known as the “Gukurahundi.” An estimated 20,000 civilians from Zimbabwe’s Ndebele ethnic group were killed....

China offers development assistance but not everyone is happy about it. The people of Zimbabwe head to the polls today on July 30, 2018, to cast their votes in the first election after the abrupt end to the almost forty-year rule of Robert Mugabe, the country's only ruler since independence in 1980. The two major candidates to watch are Mugabe's former vice president and now leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) Emerson Mnangagwa, the replacement for the late opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and the candidate for the Movement for Democratic Change—Tsvangirai (MDC-T), Nelson Chamisa. The drama that...

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who turns 93 in February, was endorsed on Saturday as the ruling party’s candidate in a national election scheduled for 2018. The ruling ZANU-PF party announced its support in the southeast town of Masvingo, where the party’s youth wing even proposed that Mugabe should rule for life with broad powers. Opposition groups have described such adulation as a sign that Mugabe and his loyalists are out of touch with the desperation of a nation that is suffering massive unemployment, cash shortages and company closures. …

Government yesterday vowed to grab all farms owned by the remaining white former commercial farmers and ruled out joint ventures involving whites. Addressing chiefs during the handover of A2 (small-scale commercial farm) offer letters to traditional leaders in Mashonaland East province yesterday, Provincial Affairs minister Joel Biggie Matiza said government’s new land policy was set to benefit diplomats, chiefs, war veterans, civil servants and others who missed out at the launch of the land reform program in 2000 because of rampant corruption. Speaking at the same occasion, Lands and Rural Resettlement minister Douglas Mombeshora also said government would not allow...

In 2000, Timon Shava was a hero of Zimbabwe’s land reform program when he joined hundreds of other landless peasants in a wave of land seizures and evictions of white farmers. Today, he is homeless after police, acting on behalf of President Robert Mugabe’s wife Grace, destroyed dozens of thatch dwellings on a farm that she wants to control. The First Lady, who has another farm in the area, said last year that she wanted to turn this farm into a wildlife conservancy that could raise money for an orphanage. A new twist on the long struggle over land in...

Robert Mugabe’s party claimed a resounding victory in Zimbabwe’s general election today moments before his main rival accused him of “monumental fraud”. The election had been hailed as a potential turning point in the nation’s troubled history as Mugabe’s long-time nemesis Morgan Tsvangirai again vowed to dethrone the 89-year-old tyrant after 33 years in power. … Releasing unofficial results early in Zimbabwe is illegal, and police had said on Wednesday they would arrest anybody who made premature claims about the result. But a senior source in Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party, who asked not to be named, crowed: “We’ve taken this election....

Officials of Zimbabwe’s election commission say early voting has started for police and security personnel who will be on duty during the nation’s crucial elections on July 31. The officials acknowledged there was chaos at many voting stations Sunday. Voting materials were not delivered in time for the special vote for service personnel who won’t be able to vote on polling day. …

Attorney General Eric Holder finally got fed up Tuesday with claims that the Justice Department went easy in a voting rights case against members of the New Black Panther Party because they are African American. Holder's frustration over the criticism became evident during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing as Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) accused the Justice Department of failing to cooperate with a Civil Rights Commission investigation into the handling of the 2008 incident in which Black Panthers in intimidating outfits and wielding a club stood outside a polling place in Philadelphia. The Attorney General seemed to take personal offense...

Harare came to a standstill on Monday when a ZANU PF mob engulfed the city in chaos, destroying property worth thousands of dollars, mainly belonging to foreign owned companies. Our correspondent Simon Muchemwa told us that dozens of shops were looted when the ZANU PF militia went on a rampage, as police details stood by watching ordinary people and shop owners being abused and brutalised. Shops belonging to Zimbabweans were also caught up in the crossfire. The attacks on foreign nationals could easily be construed as xenophobic, according to our correspondent. Muchemwa said the mob, dressed in ZANU PF regalia,...

In what looks to be the start of the next phase of state-sponsored property heists in Zimbabwe, over 20 tourism facilities have been invaded in Lake Chivero Recreational Park (formerly Lake Mcllwaine), 37 km south west of Harare. The lake is Harare’s main water supply and the surrounding land was declared a national park shortly after construction was completed in 1952. The game park, currently home to some of the last white rhino in Zimbabwe, was opened in 1962. The invasion was reported on Friday (January 21) when a mob of about 150 people arrived without warning on Kumba Shiri...

HARARE – More than 80 000 youth militia, war veterans and soldiers will be deployed across the country in an army-led drive to ensure victory for President Robert Mugabe in the next elections that, according to investigations by ZimOnline, look set to be the bloodiest ever witnessed in Zimbabwe. A three-month investigation by ZimOnline that included interviews and discussions with Cabinet ministers, senior military officers and ZANU PF functionaries, revealed a desperate determination by Zimbabwe’s top generals to thwart Tsvangirai, with some even openly bragging that they would topple the Prime Minister should he somehow triumph against the planned violence...

HARARE - Robert Mugabe's Zanu (PF) has started recruiting youths for training in sophisticated murder and torture techniques for a massive campaign of violence against the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) soon after the World Cup, a report said. Investigations by The Zimbabwean have revealed that the vicious campaign of terror is expected to roll into motion in July, soon after the soccer World Cup ends in South Africa and the media spotlight shifts elsewhere. High-level sources within both Zanu (PF) and MDC-T as well as the security services said the purpose of this horrific plan, if it succeeds, was...

JOHANNESBURG - Last week's issue of The Zimbabwean, which is edited from Britain, leads with a report on the possible exchange of Chinese weapons for illegally mined diamonds in Zimbabwe (see below). If the information in this report is proved correct, it would indicate that the Mugabe regime is preparing a bloody coup to preserve itself in office, in defiance of its loss of the general election last year, its subsequent power-sharing deal with the Movement for Democratic Change, the Kimberley Process which regulates the global gem trade and a ruling of the High Court in Harare. The report suggests...

White-owned companies in Zimbabwe are to be forced to hand majority control to black businessmen in a move that could lead to chaos rivalling the seizure of the country's commercial farms. The new regulations demand that all foreign and locally owned companies hand over at least 51 per cent ownership to black Zimbabweans. Thousands of firms, including the Zimbabwean operations of giants such as Barclays Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and the mining company Rio Tinto, will be affected, and they must submit their plans to comply by March 1. Owners who fail to comply could be jailed. The new law...

Nine years ago, Zimbabwe had more than 4,000 white-owned commercial farms. In a fresh wave of invasions, farmers keep their guns close at hand as ZANU-PF thugs lay siege to many of the 300 that remain . Many of the invaded farms are sitting idle or neglected despite a desperate need for food in Zimbabwe, where three-quarters of the population is dependent on food aid from foreign donors. Largely because of the invasions, Zimbabwe's farm output has dropped by 50 to 70 per cent in the past seven years, and most people subsist on one meal a day. Mr. Mugabe...

HARARE (AFP) – The death toll of Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic swelled past 2,000 people Tuesday, as a global doctors group called for President Robert Mugabe to be charged with crimes against humanity. Fresh data from the World Health Organization showed that the treatable water-borne disease has killed more than 2,000 people since August with the number of diagnosed cases reaching almost 40,000. The new figures came as US-based Physicians for Human Rights said Mugabe should be charged with crimes against humanity over rights abuses and the collapse of the nation's health system. The recommendation was made in a damning 45-page...

Excerpt - Loud jeers and howls accompanied President Robert Mugabe's address to Zimbabwe's newly convened parliament, leaving ruling party members fuming. Such uncouth behaviour from the opposition, one Zanu-PF insider said, was uncalled for. But after gaining control of parliament, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) clearly wanted to make its mark. The opening of parliament had started with the usual pomp and ceremony. ~ snip ~

HARARE - A pall of fear a campaign of post-election retributive violence that has claimed nine lives since Friday has descended over Zimbabwe. President Robert Mugabe is frantically trying to shrug off massive international condemnation over his fraudulent re-election to entrench himself for a further five years. In the aftermath of Friday’s widely-condemned one candidate runoff election, Mugabe’s supporters have intensified a witch-hunt of perceived opposition activists and supporters. Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, told a news conference at his Strathaven residence Wednesday that groups of soldiers and Zanu-PF youth militia had been carrying out a...

Youth militia descended on the home of a village head in Ward 8 Shamva and attacked the traditional leader and his wife with axes. Our correspondent Simon Muchemwa said Sabhuku Elias Madzivanzira, who was over 70 years old, died on the spot. His wife suffered severe injuries but has been blocked from getting medical treatment. Muchemwa said she may die soon if nothing is done. He explained that Madzivanzira was targeted because his Ward produced a majority of opposition councillors in the March 29 election. The youths went on to burn down about 80 homes in the area, which is...