Author Archives: David Coltart
Zimbabwe Talks Move Toward Compromise
VOA By Peta Thornycroft 16 October 2009 Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has made some compromises over distribution of cabinet portfolios according to the state controlled and owned Herald newspaper Thursday. Peta Thornycroft reports from Harare a partial agreement is expected Thursday after two full days of intense and long sessions of negotiations mediated by former […]
Zimbabwe Talks Move Toward Compromise
VOA By Peta Thornycroft Harare 16 October 2008 Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has made some compromises over distribution of cabinet portfolios according to the state controlled and owned Herald newspaper Thursday. Peta Thornycroft reports from Harare a partial agreement is expected Thursday after two full days of intense and long sessions of negotiations mediated by […]
Zimbabwe cabinet squabble holds up aid
ABC By Africa correspondent Andrew Geoghegan Posted Fri Oct 10, 2008 8:33am AEDT Zimbabwe’s opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), says a deadlock over power sharing arrangements with President Robert Mugabe is plunging the country into deeper economic hardship. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai is calling for urgent foreign mediation amid claims that Zimbabwean […]
New talks collapse
Financial Gazette Njabulo Ncube, Political Editor 9th October 2008 A FRESH round of negotiations to unlock the impasse over the allocation of ministries between the two formations of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and ZANU-PF collapsed last night with President Robert Mugabe’s negotiating team dangling the release of Morgan Tsvangirai’s passport as a bargaining […]
Exodus Of South African Ministers Adds To Zimbabwe Power-Sharing Concerns
VOA By Delia Robertson & Blessing Zulu Johannesburg & Washington 23 September 2008 The resignation on Tuesday of 11 South African ministers following that of President Thabo Mbeki increased concern the shuffle in Pretoria could have a negative impact on the delicate power-sharing transition already running into difficulty in Zimbabwe. VOA’s Delia Robertson reported from […]
Making the deal work
The Guardian, Tuesday September 16 2008 Editorial Thabo Mbeki has got his deal in Zimbabwe, although too late, probably, to save his own skin in South Africa. Robert Mugabe retains the presidency and control over the army, and Morgan Tsvangirai, the man who bears the physical scars of his regime, has at last got executive […]
Rivals in Zimbabwe sign power-sharing agreement
New York Times By Celia Dugger 15 September 2008 HARARE, Zimbabwe — After almost three decades of untrammeled power, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe on Monday signed an agreement that gives his longtime rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, the authority to shape and carry out government policies as the country’s new prime minister. The power-sharing deal, a […]
High Cost of Inclusive Government
Zimbabwe Crisis Reports By Chipo Sithole 16 September 2008 The power-sharing deal entered by long-time Zimbabwe ruler Robert Mugabe and leaders of the fractured opposition establishes the largest cabinet since independence in 1980, imposing a huge financial cost on the crisis-torn country. Prime Minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main faction of the opposition Movement […]
Church groups give cautious welcome to Zimbabwe accord
Episcopallife online September 15, 2008 [Ecumenical News International] Christian leaders and organizations worldwide have welcomed the announcement of an agreement to form a unity government in Zimbabwe, while also saying that many challenges lie ahead for the southern African nation. “We have an opportunity,” the Rev. Ishmael Noko, a Zimbabwean theologian who is general secretary […]
The end of the beginning
By David Coltart Nine years to the day since I stood with Morgan Tsvangirai, Gibson Sibanda, Tendai Biti, Welshman Ncube and many other patriots on the 11th September 1999 at Rufaro Stadium to launch the MDC a deal has been agreed in Harare tonight to bring to an end 28 years of brutal Zanu PF […]