Author Archives: David Coltart
David Coltart: the future of Zimbabwe – an interview on Radio New Zealand
Radio New Zealand 3rd December 2017 Radio interview Zimbabweans are celebrating the fact that the 37-year reign of Robert Mugabe, leader of the ruling Zanu PF party is over. Emmerson Mnangagwa, known as The Crocodile, was sworn in last week as the country’s new president and pledged to serve “all citizens” and indicated he plans […]
Henry Olonga feared Mugabe thugs would kill him
Bulawayo News 24 2nd December 2017 Almost 15 years after Henry Olonga wore a black armband, Mugabe’s rule in Zimbabwe is finally over. “I’m stunned,” he says. “Here we are in a country that is Mugabe-less for the first time in 37 years. It’s extraordinary.” Henry Olonga had long assumed that Mugabe – who “held […]
‘The same old faces’: Elation turns to despair in the new Zimbabw
Gulf Times 1st December 2017 “We dare not squander the moment,†Emmerson Mnangagwa said just a week ago at his swearing in as president, referring to the high hopes Zimbabweans had placed on him as a harbinger of change for a desperate nation. Seven days on and optimism was turning to cynicism as Zimbabweans’ collective […]
Let’s break out of the political madness zone
Newsday 1st December 2017 By Conway Tutani Now that the disastrously failed and highly polarising Robert Mugabe is out, the imperative is to manage expectations, which have shot high in a matter of days. CONWAY TUTANI ECHOES Flashback to 1980: There was an outbreak of strikes as over-expectant Zimbabweans demanded immediate change after the attainment […]
For Zimbabwe’s new president, a past tainted by a brutal massacre
CNN By David McKenzie and Brent Swails 1st December 2017 Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (CNN) When the soldiers in the red berets arrived in Alice Mwale’s village in the fading light, they were not happy. “They asked me why I wasn’t at the political meeting. They said I had run away,” says Mwale, holding a crutch in […]
“The Zimbabwean crisis exposes the Democratic Alliance’s hypocrisy” – opines Andile Lungisa
Daily Maverick By Andile Lungisa – the former deputy president of the ANC, Eastern Cape 30th November 2017 Sometimes foreign policy reveals much more about a political actor’s position on critical questions in domestic policy than the position they adopt on such matters at home. Foreign policy, it has become trite to observe, is the […]
Coltart laments low voter registration in Bulawayo
Bulawayo News 24 By Takudzwa Chiwara 30th November 2017 The low registration of voters in Bulawayo is of great concern, says former Minister of Education David Coltart. Coltart attributed voter apathy in Bulawayo to low morale and relocation to greener pastures abroad. As of November, 22, Bulawayo registered 114 389 voters, representing 27,9 percent of […]
It’s astonishing to see Chombo in leg irons, says Coltart
Bulawayo 24 News By Simbarashe Sithole 27th November 2017 The arrest of former Finance Minister Ignatious Chombo over a litany of graft-related allegations has been described by former Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture David Coltart as the following of legal channels. “It is astonishing to see former Minister Chombo in leg irons. At […]
Emmerson Mnangagwa: just like Robert Mugabe — but younger, richer and even crueller
The Sunday Times Christina Lamb in Matabeleland November 26 2017 Zimbabweans old enough to recall the early days have reason to fear the new president When Blessing Chebundo watched the crowds cheering and dancing at the inauguration of Zimbabwe’s new president on Friday, he wondered if it was time to leave the country. Chebundo, the […]
Suddenly, Zimbabwe’s biggest newspaper can print exactly what it wants. It’s harder than it sounds.
Washington Post By Kevin Sieff 25 November 2017 HARARE, Zimbabwe —For 37 years, it was the official newspaper of Robert Mugabe. Then, this month, the staff of the Zimbabwe Herald got an impossible assignment: They would have to cover the downfall of their benefactor. In the days after Mugabe was detained by the military, editors […]