Timeline Zimbabwe
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Hwange National Park has a large elephant
population
and covers 5,600 sq. miles. Mana Pools National Park has a
preponderance
of hippos.
(SFEC, 10/6/96, T10)
c18000BC Caves in the Matopos
Hills of Zimbabwe were decorated with paintings.
(WSJ, 12/9/98, p.A13)
1100-1400 Era of Great Zimbabwe and the Shona
trading empire.
(SFEC, 10/6/96, T10)
1200-1450 As many as 18,000 people in the iron-age
center of Great Zimbabwe.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.72)
c1450-1500 Nyatsimba, Mwene Matapa or Monomotapa
(Lord of the Plundered People or Ravager of the Lands), Chief of the
Zimbabwe Empire. He conquered the middle Zambezi Valley and built
stone citadels at Great Zimbabwe. He was known to have a corps of
over 100 female bodyguards.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R8)
1820-1829 Renegade Zulus rebelled against King
Chaka, but were crushed. Descendents of the renegade Zulus are of
the Ndebeles tribe, which forms a 5th of Zimbabwe’s 11 million
people, the majority of which are of the Shona tribe.
(SFEC, 1/12/97, p.C16)
1855 David Livingstone, English
physician and explorer, first saw the 328-foot waterfall on the
Zambezi River. Livingstone named the falls, which straddled the
Zambia and Zimbabwe border, Victoria Falls. The local name is
Musi-oa-Tunya (the smoke that thunders).
(SSFC, 5/29/05,
p.F2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Falls)
1881 King Lobengula left an
encampment to regroup his "induna" warriors as colonial forces
advanced toward it. In 1993 Lobengula's tribal capital was rebuilt
as a symbolic national monument near the second city of Bulawayo,
Zimbabwe, and became a center of academic and historical studies. In
2010 a bush fire destroyed the historic site.
(AP, 8/26/10)
1888 Oct 29, Lord Salisbury
granted Cecil Rhodes a charter for the BSA Company.
(MC, 10/29/01)
1889 Jul, Queen Victoria
granted the royal charter to the British South Africa Company (BSAC)
in Zimbabwe.
(www.bulawayo1872.com/history/rhodescj.htm)
1889 Oct 29, Cecil Rhodes used
an agreement with the king of the Ndebele, Lobengula, as the
legal basis to found a chartered company, the British South Africa
Company in Zimbabwe. The company was roughly modeled on the old East
India Company and its powers included the rights to annex and
administer land, raise its own police force and to establish
settlements within its own boundaries.
(www.archiveshub.ac.uk/news/02112701.html)
1889 Cecil Rhodes and his
cronies conned King Lobengula into signing away his powers over the
Ndebele kingdom in Zimbabwe. Lobengula’s father, Mzilikazi, founded
the Ndebele nation and was buried in the Matopos Hills.
(WSJ, 12/9/98, p.A13)
1890 Sep 13, Cecil Rhodes'
colonies hoisted the Union Jack in Mashonaland and Salisbury,
Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).
(MC, 9/13/01)
1890-1899 British settlers led by Cecil Rhodes
marched north from South Africa and appropriated vast stretches of
arable land in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). The Shangaani people, a hunting
tribe, were gradually forced to become poachers after the British
took control.
(SFC, 3/28/98, p.A12)(SFC, 8/10/98, p.A14)
1895 Cecil Rhodes supported the
Jameson Raid to help rebellious British settlers in the Dutch
Transvaal.
(WSJ, 7/11/03, p.W19)
1896 Cecil Rhodes rode unarmed
into the Matopos Hills area of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) in the midst of
an Ndebele uprising to negotiate peace. He told the Ndebele chiefs
that he wanted to be buried there and asked them to guard his grave.
(WSJ, 12/9/98, p.A13)
1897 Mbuya Nehanda, a spirit
medium of the Zezuru Shona people, was executed for the killing of
administrator Henry Pollard, known for his brutality toward blacks.
She provided inspiration to the Hwata Dynasty for their revolt
against the British South Africa Company colonization of Mashonaland
and Matabeleland (later Zimbabwe). She is believed to have had
immense powers was later remembered as the ancestral grandmother of
the Zimbabwe nation.
(AP,
12/8/11)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehanda_Nyakasikana)
1902 Mar 26, Cecil John Rhodes
(b.1853), British imperialist, died at age 48. He was buried in a
tomb in the Matopos Hills, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). He had co-founded De
Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd., built great railways through southern
Africa. Rhodes (founder of Rhodesia) left $10 million in his will to
provide scholarships to Oxford University in England. The first
scholars were selected in 1903. In 2008 Philip Ziegler authored
“Legacy: Cecil Rhodes, the Rhodes Trust and Rhodes Scholarships.”
(WSJ, 12/9/98, p.A1)(AP, 4/4/97)(SFC, 12/9/98,
p.A25)(Econ, 5/10/08, p.95)
1905 Cecil Rhodes brought about
the construction of a 650 foot iron bridge to connect Zambia and
Zimbabwe near victoria Falls.
(SSFC, 10/9/11, p.C4)
1914-1918 The German campaign in East Africa was
directed by General Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck. German looting and
raiding caused at least 300,000 civilian deaths. By attacking
Northern Rhodesia they invaded British territory. Of 1 million
porters recruited by the British, 95,000 died. In 2007 Edward Paice
authored “Tip and Run: The Untold Tragedy of the Great War in
Africa. In 2008 Edward Paice authored “World War I: The African
Front.
(Econ, 2/17/07, p.87)(WSJ, 8/9/08, p.W8)
1919 Apr 8, Douglas Ian Smith,
premier of Rhodesia (later called Zimbabwe), was born. He was
Premier of the British Colony of Southern Rhodesia (13 Apr 1964 - 11
Nov 1965) and Prime Minister of the Republic of Rhodesia (11 Nov
1965 - 1 Jun 1979). He was Premier of the British Colony of Southern
Rhodesia (13 Apr 1964 - 11 Nov 1965) and Prime Minister of the
Republic of Rhodesia (11 Nov 1965 - 1 Jun 1979).
(http://rhodesian.server101.com/Ian%20Douglas%20Smith.htm)
1924 Feb 21, Robert Mugabe,
Zimbabwe president, was born in southern Rhodesia into the Zezeru
sub-group of the Shona tribe.
(www.afroamerica.net/RobertMugabe122001.html)(Econ, 1/15/05, p.44)
1936 Canaan Sodindo Banana
(d.2003), Zimbabwe's 1st president (1980-1987), was born near
Bulawayo.
(Econ, 11/29/03, p.85)
1944 James Kapnek donated the
founding grant for the University of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (later
the Univ. of Zimbabwe).
(SFC, 7/7/98, p.A20)
1949 Doris Lessing (30),
author, left her girlhood home in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) for England.
The 2nd volume of her autobiography was "Walking in the Shade
(1949-1962)."
(SSFC, 2/24/02, p.M3)
1950 Doris Lessing, British
writer, authored “The Grass Is Singing,” a novel of race in Rhodesia
and the effect that harsh colonial experience had on both oppressor
and oppressed.
(Econ, 10/23/10, p.101)
1952 Mar 10, Morgan Tsvangirai,
founder of Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change in 1999, was
born.
(SFC, 3/9/02, p.A9)
1952 Joshua Nkomo formed and
headed the African National Congress, Rhodesia's first black
nationalist political party.
(SFC, 7/2/99, p.D6)
1953-1958 Sir Garfield Todd (d.2002) served as
prime minister of Southern Rhodesia.
(AP, 10/13/02)
1961 Zimbabwe enacted a
Minerals Act. In 2005 it planned to re-write mine ownership laws to
“promote” indigenous ownership.
(WSJ, 2/10/05, p.A10)
1962 Dec 14, North Rhodesia's
first African-dominated government was formed under Kenneth Kaunda.
(AP, 12/14/02)
1963 Roland Rowland (d.1998)
became chief executive of the London and Rhodesia Mining and Land
Co. (Lonrho). Over the next 30 years "Tiny" turned it into a
conglomerate with more than 1000 subsidiaries in over 60 countries.
(SFC, 7/28/98, p.A20)(Econ, 11/8/08, p.62)
1964 Apr 13, Ian D. Smith
became premier of Rhodesia. Smith was Premier of the British Colony
of Southern Rhodesia (13 Apr 1964 - 11 Nov 1965) and Prime Minister
of the Republic of Rhodesia (11 Nov 1965 - 1 Jun 1979).
(SFC, 5/15/00, p.A14)(MC, 4/13/02)
1964 Joshua Nkomo and Roger
Mugabe were jailed in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) by Prime Minister Ian
Smith after rivalries in the black nationalist movement erupted into
violence.
(SFC, 7/2/99, p.D6)
1965 Nov 11, Rhodesia (later
Zimbabwe) under PM Ian D. Smith (d.2007) proclaimed its independence
from Britain.
(AP, 11/11/97)(SFC, 11/23/07, p.B14)
1965 Nov 20, UN Security
council called for a boycott of Rhodesia.
(MC, 11/20/01)
1965 Dec 28, U.S. barred oil
sales to Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe).
(HN, 12/28/98)
1966 Apr 16, Rhodesian PM Ian
Smith broke diplomatic relations with Britain.
(MC, 4/16/02)
1966 The UN applied
international sanctions intended to cut off Rhodesia from the rest
of the world due to Rhodesia’s (later Zimbabwe) opposition to
majority rule.
(SFC, 11/23/07, p.B14)
1966 James Kapnek, investor,
businessman and rancher, died. He made a fortune building Rhodesia's
first brewery and invested in diamond and copper mining and cattle
ranching. He left several million dollars in a trust dedicated to
charitable works to help the country.
(SFC, 7/7/98, p.A20)(SSFC, 7/29/01, p.A12)
1968 May 29, UN Resolution 253
resolved sanctions on white-minority-ruled Rhodesia.
(www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,,RESOLUTION,ZWE,456d621e2,3b00f27434,0.html)
1968 Jul 18, The UK enacted
sanctions against Rhodesia for a 2nd time. The first time was on
June 17.
(WUD, 1994, p.1687)(http://tinyurl.com/c5kcs9)
1968 Abel Muzorewa was
consecrated bishop of Rhodesia for the United Methodist.
(AFP, 4/9/10)
1970 Mar 1, The white
government of Rhodesia declared independence from Britain.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/2/newsid_2514000/2514683.stm)
1970 Mar 17, The United States
cast its first veto in the UN Security Council. The US killed a
resolution that would have condemned Britain for failure to use
force to overthrow the white-ruled government of Rhodesia.
(AP, 3/17/00)
1970 Black guerrillas fighting
white rule attempted unsuccessfully to blast the body of Cecil
Rhodes from his granite tomb in the Matopos Hills, Rhodesia (later
Zimbabwe).
(WSJ, 12/9/98, p.A1)
1971 Rhodesia’s Bishop
Abel Muzorewa formed the African National Council (ANC) opening
negotiations with the regime of Ian Smith.
(AFP, 4/9/10)
1972 Jun 6, In Rhodesia (later
Zimbabwe) 418 people were killed in an underground explosion at a
mine.
(www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-14849790.html)
1972 Aug 26, The XX Olympiad
opened in Munich, Germany. The IOC had withdrawn Rhodesia’s
invitation to the summer Olympics after several African nations
threatened a boycott.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Summer_Olympics)
1972-1979 In Rhodesia black rebels fought an
insurgency against minority white rule.
(Econ, 11/24/07, p.92)
1974 Under pressure from
guerrilla groups Rhodesian PM Ian Smith released all black leaders
for peace talks, but the talks failed.
(SFC, 7/2/99, p.D6)
1976 Mar 3, Mozambique closed
its border with Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).
(http://tinyurl.com/3c8j7u)
1976 Rhodesian (Zimbabwe)
guerilla leaders Joshua Nkomo, exiled in Zambia, and Roger Mugabe,
in Mozambique, merged their guerrilla armies in a pact that held
until 1979.
(SFC, 7/2/99, p.D6)
1977 Aug 31, Ian Smith,
espousing racial segregation, won the Rhodesian general election
with 80% of overwhelmingly white electorate's vote.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodesia_general_election%2C_1977)
1978 Mar 3, In Rhodesia Ian
Smith signed an agreement with moderate black leaders, who had
pledged to eschew war and to bring black majority rule into effect
by Dec 31. Bishop Abel Muzorewa signed the agreement with Smith,
founding nationalist Ndabaningi Sithole and Chief Jeremiah Chirau to
form a transitional government which tinkered with the constitution
and paved the way for elections. Smith agreed to step down following
elections in 1979.
(WUD, 1994, p.1691)(SFC, 11/23/07, p.B13)(AFP,
4/9/10)
1979 Jan, A new
Zimbabwe-Rhodesia constitution was approved in a nearly Whites-only
referendum.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Muzorewa)
1979 Apr 10, In Zimbabwe the
first democratic parliamentary elections were held. The United
African National Congress, led by Bishop Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa
(b.1925), won 51 seats. The Zimbabwe African National Union, led by
Ndabaningi Sithole (1920-2000), won 12 seats.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwe_Rhodesia_general_election,_1979)(SFC,
11/23/07, p.B14)
1979 May 29, Bishop Abel
Muzorewa was sworn in as the first black PM of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia -
the name given to the country in the brief period before full
independence.
(www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/site/this_day_in_history/this_day_May_29.php)
1979 May 31, Zimbabwe
proclaimed its independence following a British brokered cease-fire.
(HN, 5/31/98)(SFC, 7/2/99, p.D6)
1979 Jun 1, The Government of
Zimbabwe-Rhodesia took office under the internal settlement
negotiated between the government of Rhodesia and moderate African
nationalists. Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa (b.1925) served as the first
prime minister under Pres. Josiah Zion Gumede.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Zimbabwe-Rhodesia)
1979 Dec 21, The Lancaster
House Agreement was signed in London. It ended biracial rule in
Zimbabwe Rhodesia following negotiations between representatives of
the Patriotic Front (PF), consisting of ZAPU ( Zimbabwe African
Peoples Union) and ZANU ( Zimbabwe African National Union) and the
Zimbabwe Rhodesia government, represented by Bishop Abel Muzorewa
and Ian Smith.
(www.reference.com/browse/Lancaster_House_Agreement)
1979 In Zimbabwe a program of
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) was implemented
following the end of a civil war.
(Econ, 6/26/10, p.47)
1980 Mar 4, Robert Mugabe's
ZANU-PF won parliamentary election in Zimbabwe. Black nationalist
guerrillas led by Robert Mugabe laid down their arms and beat their
white-backed opponents at the polls. Rhodesia was renamed Zimbabwe.
Martin Meredith later authored "The Past Is Another Country," the
story of Rhodesia.
(WSJ, 9/8/98, p.A1)(SC, 3/4/02)(WSJ, 3/13/02,
p.A16)
1980 Apr 1, The southern
African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) was established
by 9 countries with the Lusaka declaration (Angola, Botswana,
Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe).
The main aim was coordinating development projects in order to
lessen economic dependence on apartheid South Africa. On
August 17, 1992, it was transformed into the Southern African
Development Community (SADC). By 2008 it included 15 members.
(www.sadc.int/index/browse/page/52)
1980 Apr 18, Zimbabwe's
(Rhodesia) formal independence from Britain was proclaimed. Its
chiefs were stripped of power following independence. Canaan Banana,
a Methodist theologian, became president until 1987. He was later
accused by dozens of men of sexual harassment and rape. Robert
Mugabe became prime minister and held the real authority.
(SFEC, 1/12/97, p.C16)(SFC, 5/9/97,
p.E3)(HN, 4/18/98) (SFC, 7/14/98, p.A10)
1980 Oct, Zimbabwe’s President
Robert Mugabe signed an agreement with the North Korean President,
Kim Il Sung that they would train a brigade for the Zimbabwe
National Army.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwean_Fifth_Brigade)
1980 Robert Mugabe appointed
Joshua Nkomo as home affairs minister in charge of police and
internal security in Zimbabwe.
(SFC, 7/2/99, p.D6)
1980 Zimbabwe’s white
population was around 200,000 at this time. By 2008 it had fallen to
less than 50,000.
(Econ, 3/22/08, p.53)
1980-1987 Canaan Banana, a Methodist minister and
theology professor, served as ceremonial president of Zimbabwe
following independence.
(SFC, 12/17/98, p.A20)
1980-1992 The Renamo guerrilla movement, led by
Afonso Dhlakama, waged rebellion against the Freelimo government. It
was a peasant terrorist army created in the late 70s by
Rhodesia’s (later Zimbabwe) white minority regime and later
financed by South Africa’s white apartheid government.
(SFC, 10/14/97, p.A10,12)
1981 Aug, In Zimbabwe 106
North Koreans arrived to train the new brigade for the National
Army. North Korean-trained troops loyal to President Robert Mugabe
massacred thousands of civilians as the government tried to crush an
uprising led by Joshua Nkomo in the 1980s.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwean_Fifth_Brigade)(AP, 9/29/10)
1981 In Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe
ordered judges to investigate clashes between his security forces
and the guerrillas of Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's
Union. The report was suppressed.
(SFC, 2/22/00, p.A10)
1982 Feb 17, Zimbabwe’s Robert
Mugabe dismissed Joshua Nkomo (1917-1999) for plotting a coup. A
rebel insurrection that professed loyalty to Nkomo followed and was
crushed. Nkomo fled the country.
(www.keesings.com/search?kssp_a_id=31550n01zwe&kssp_selected_tab=article)
1982 Zimbabwe granted
landowners proprietorship over wildlife and allowed hunting. Since
then the elephant population has increased from 40 to 50 thousand.
(WSJ, 7/23/96, p.A22)
1982-1987 The Matabeleland atrocities occurred
when the Zimbabwe government of Robert Mugabe sent in its North
Korean trained Fifth Brigade to terrorize the Ndebele-speaking
region of Matabeleland, that supported opponent Joshua Nkomo. Some
200 guerrillas of the minority Ndebele tribe in Matabeleland
province, fought troops of Pres. Mugabe and as many as 20,000
civilians were killed. The terror ended in 1987 when Nkomo
reconciled with Mugabe. In 1999 Mugabe ordered provincial officials
to prepare compensation claims for the victims of army atrocities.
(SFC, 5/30/97, p.A15)(SFEC, 11/21/99, p.A14)(WSJ,
3/13/02, p.A16)
1983 Robert Mugabe again
ordered judges to investigate clashes between his security forces
and the guerrillas of Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's
Union. This report was also suppressed.
(SFC, 2/22/00, p.A10)
1985 In Zimbabwe the Communal
Areas Management Program for Indigenous Resources was begun. It was
a community based conservation program to give villagers a stake in
wildlife conservation and its costs.
(WSJ, 6/5/97, p.A22)
1985 Morgan Tsvangirai became
the deputy head of the Associated Mine workers union in Zimbabwe.
(SFC, 3/9/02, p.A9)
1986 May 19, South African
commandos struck alleged ANC "operational centers" in Zimbabwe,
Botswana, Zambia.
(www.iie.com/research/topics/sanctions/southafrica.cfm)
1987 Dec 22, In Zimbabwe ZANU
leader Robert Mugabe and ZAPU leader Joshua Nkomo signed a unity
agreement that merged the two parties to form one party known as
ZANU PF. This effectively dissolved ZAPU into ZANU, renamed ZANU-PF.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gukurahundi)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Nkomo)
1987 Dec 31, Robert Mugabe was
sworn in as Zimbabwe's first executive president. Joshua Nkomo
rejoined the Zimbabwe government as vice president.
(AP,
12/31/97)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Nkomo)
1988 In Zimbabwe Kevin Woods,
Michael Smith and Philip Conjwayo were convicted of plotting a car
bombing against exiled members of South Africa's now-governing
African National Congress. The explosives detonated before reaching
their target in the city of Bulawayo, killing the Zimbabwean driver.
In 2006 Pres. Mugabe pardoned the 3 men on humanitarian grounds.
(AP, 7/2/06)
1988 Bill Graham produced a
worldwide tour on behalf of Amnesty Int’l. featuring Bruce
Springsteen, Sting and Peter Gabriel. They toured Costa Rica, India
and Zimbabwe.
(SFC,12/13/97, p.A15)
1989 The Communal Areas
Management Program for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) was
established as a compromise settlement between park rangers and
local communities in Zimbabwe.
(SFC, 8/10/98, p.A12,14)
1989 Zimbabwe’s Morgan
Tsvangirai became the federation secretary-general of the Congress
of Trade Unions.
(SFC, 3/9/02, p.A9)
1989 Elephant floppy trunk
disease was first reported around Lake Kariba. Initial paralysis at
the tip of the trunk gradually moved up and resulted in total
paralysis. Scores of cases were reported in 2000 in South Africa and
Zimbabwe.
(SFC, 2/26/00, p.A8)
1991 In Zimbabwe, the
opposition Daily Gazette began publishing but quickly folded in the
period of heavy drought.
(SSFC, 8/19/01, p.A11)
1992 Jan 27, Pres. Mugabe’s
wife, Sally (b.1932), died. Some dated the collapse of Zimbabwe and
Mugabe’s misrule to her death.
(Econ, 3/31/07, p.28)
1992 Britain stopped financial
support for Zimbabwe’s land reform program due to mismanagement and
corruption.
(SFC, 4/7/00, p.D4)
1993 Strive Masiyiva challenged
Zimbabwe’s President Mugabe for his right to start a cell-phone
business.
(WSJ, 4/24/00, p.A21)
1994 Zimbabwe restored power to
local chiefs due to the corruption and inefficiency of appointed
officials.
(SFEC, 1/12/97, p.C16)
1995 Jan, In Zimbabwe Roger
Boka opened the doors of his United Merchant Bank. Government
business was channeled his way including a deal to issue debt on
behalf of the Cold storage Company Ltd., slated to be privatized.
(WSJ, 9/8/98, p.A10)
1995 Zimbabwe’s President
Robert Mugabe condemned the government in Nigeria for the hanging of
Ken Saro-Wiwa.
(WSJ, 12/15/95, p.A-16)
1995 Zimbabwe’s President
Mugabe lashed out against homosexuals and said they had no civil
rights in Zimbabwe.
(SFC, 7/14/98, p.A10)
1995-1997 The Zimbabwe Supreme Court ruled in
favor of Strive Masiyiva to set up a cell phone business. Pres.
Mugabe issued a decree against private cellular networks, which the
Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional.
(WSJ, 4/24/00, p.A24)
1996 May 17, This week huge
swarms of locusts swept through the Zimbabwe capital, Harare
(formerly called Salisbury). The insects had come up from
Mozambique.
(SFC, 5/18/96, p.A-9)
1996 Oct 21, In Zimbabwe some
11,000 nurses went on strike for higher wages, allowances and better
working conditions.
(SFC, 11/1/96, p.A16)
1996 Oct 30, In Zimbabwe the
government fired some 11,000 nurses who defied an order to end a
strike.
(SFC, 11/1/96, p.A21)
1996 Rwanda’s Paul Kagame
dressed up an invasion of Zaire as an indigenous revolt and
installed Laurent Kabila at its helm. Zimbabwe paid $5 million to
help finance the Kabila regime in Congo.
(WSJ, 10/8/98, p.A1)(Econ, 8/21/04, p.38)
1996 Zimbabwe’s Mana Pools
National Park, 858 square miles, was declared a UNESCO World
Heritage Site.
(SFEC, 2/20/00, p.T4)
1997 Jun 19, In Zimbabwe
delegates to the UN Convention on Int’l. Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES) approved the applications by Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana
to sell an annual quota of their collective 55 tons of ivory
stockpile, but only to Japan. Trade in ivory was shut down in 1989
due to extensive poaching.
(SFC, 6/20/97, p.A20)(SFC, 4/18/00, p.A9)
1997 Aug, In Zimbabwe on Heroes
Day Pres. Mugabe was shouted down by his own former guerrillas who
were angered that pensions to disabled veterans were frozen and over
allegations that $36 million had gone to the ruling party elite.
(SFC, 1/26/98, p.A12)
1997 Nov 14, In Zimbabwe the
dollar, stock market and economy all crashed over concerns about
payoffs to former guerrillas and the consequences of seizing 1,480
mostly white-owned farms. Zimbabwe’s currency plunged a record 72%,
an episode later regarded as the precursor of its subsequent
economic meltdown.
(SFC, 1/26/98, p.A12)(AFP, 11/10/07)
1997 Dec 9, Thousands of
protestors, angry over taxes, fought with the police for 4 hours in
Harare during one of the biggest local labor strikes. The strike was
called by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions amid discontent over
unemployment, taxes and inflation along with corruption and lavish
spending by politicians.
(SFC,12/10/97, p.A13)
1997 Dec 10, Zimbabwe’s
government withdrew key components of a controversial tax package.
(SFC,12/11/97, p.A18)
1997 Zimbabwe’s Roger Boka
opened an $8.6 million, 50,000 sq. foot tobacco exchange. His
auction floor only managed to get 8% of the market.
(WSJ, 9/8/98, p.A10)
1997 By UN definition 7% of
Zimbabwe’s children were orphans due to AIDS.
(SFC, 12/2/99, p.A18)
1998 Jan 19, In Harare,
Zimbabwe people rioted over soaring food prices. The price of corn
meal, the staple food, rose 21%, the 3rd increase in 4 months.
(SFC, 1/20/98, p.D2)
1998 Jan 20, Army troops were
ordered into Harare, Zimbabwe, to quell 2 days of unrest.
(SFC, 1/21/98, p.C12)
1998 Jan 26, The average annual
income in Zimbabwe was reported to be less than $550 and food prices
rose over 50% in the last 4 months.
(SFC, 1/26/98, p.A12)
1998 Feb, Lawrence "Warlord"
Chakaredza changed his name to Munhumutapa III, after a dynasty of
kings who once ruled in Zimbabwe. He was the founder of the Sangano
Munhumutapa, a cultural pressure group, and advocated the removal of
the Cecil Rhodes tomb in the sacred Matopos Hills.
(WSJ, 12/9/98, p.A1)
1998 Mar 3, A strike over
soaring taxes and food prices left 80% of Zimbabwe’s workers at
home.
(SFC, 3/4/98, p.C4)
1998 Apr 17, Checks issued by
Zimbabwe’s United Merchant Bank to cover redeemed notes on Cold
Storage began to bounce.
(WSJ, 9/8/98, p.A10)
1998 Apr 29, Government
regulators revoked the license of United Merchant Bank of Zimbabwe,
Ltd., wholly owned and controlled Roger Boka.
(WSJ, 9/8/98, p.A1)
1998 May 1, Zimbabwe’s labor
leaders called for a 5-day national strike to protest a tax increase
and higher prices.
(SFC, 5/2/98, p.A9)
1998 May 4, It was reported
that the United Merchant Bank of Zimbabwe’s tycoon Roger Boka was
shut down when a government audit found it incapable of paying its
debts.
(WSJ, 5/4/98, p.A17)
1998 Jun, Zimbabwe’s Strive
Masiyiva went live with Econet Wireless Ltd. on the microwaves.
(WSJ, 4/24/00, p.A24)
1998 Aug 21, Zimbabwe sent 600
troops to support Pres. Kabila in the Congo. Rwanda called for a
cease fire and warned that it would intervene if the troops from
Zimbabwe were not withdrawn.
(SFC, 8/22/98, p.A8)
1998 Aug 26, In Congo
Rwandan-backed rebels attempted an assault on Kinshasa but were held
off by government soldiers and troops from Zimbabwe and Namibia.
(SFC, 8/27/98, p.A10)
1998 Sep 7, A summit in
Zimbabwe was scheduled to create conditions for a cease-fire in
Congo. A half dozen nations gathered to fashion a draft initiative
for peace.
(SFEC, 9/6/98, p.A11)(SFC, 9/8/98, p.A8)
1998 Sep 8, The Congo rebel
delegation stormed out of the peace talks in Zimbabwe.
(SFC, 9/9/98, p.A9)
1998 Sep 26, From Zimbabwe it
was reported that timber companies were poisoning hundreds of
baboons causing them to die a slow painful death over 7-10 days.
(SFC, 9/26/98, p.A5)
1998 Oct 14, In Zimbabwe Pres.
Robert Mugabe that he will meet with Kabila to discuss support
against the rebels in Congo.
(SFC, 10/15/98, p.A15)
1998 Oct 19, In Congo 16
Zimbabwean soldiers were captured by the rebels.
(SFC, 10/21/98, p.C2)
1998 Oct 28, It was reported
that 1 in 5 adults was infected with the AIDS virus in Zimbabwe.
(SFC, 10/28/98, p.A12)
1998 Nov 4, In the outskirts of
Harare, Zimbabwe, riots broke out in anger over rising prices,
unemployment and involvement in the Congo war.
(WSJ, 11/5/98, p.A1)
1998 Nov 11, A one-day general
strike was held in Zimbabwe and soldiers killed one protestor.
(WSJ, 11/12/98, p.A1)
1998 Nov 26, Former Zimbabwe
Pres. Canaan Banana was convicted of 11 sex charges that included
sodomy and homosexual assault against aide Jefta Dube. He jumped
bail and fled to Botswana and then South Africa.
(SFC, 12/17/98, p.A20)
1998 Nov 29, In Zimbabwe Pres.
Mugabe imposed a 6-month ban on national strikes and threatened to
suspend unions that defy the ban and imprison organizers.
(WSJ, 11/30/98, p.A1)
1998 Nov, Zimbabwe announced a
plan to seize 841 farms owned by white farmers. In Jan authorities
announced a reduction of seizures to 118 in order to get a $53
million IMF loan.
(SFC, 1/13/99, p.A11)
1998 Dec 15, Congo rebels
claimed to have killed 47 Zimbabwean troops fighting for Kabila at
Kabala.
(WSJ, 12/16/98, p.A1)
1998 Dec 16, In Zimbabwe former
Pres. Canaan Banana (63) was returned from South Africa and was
placed under house arrest. He had been convicted Nov 26 of 11 sex
charges.
(SFC, 12/17/98, p.A20)
1998 Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe,
chairman of the African body “Organ on Politics, Defence and
Security,” joined with Namibia and Angola in a war of plunder in
Congo.
(Econ, 3/13/04, p.48)
1999 Jan 10, In Zimbabwe
Journalists Ray Choto and Mark Chavunduka wrote that 23 officers had
been arrested for plotting a coup.
(SFC, 2/8/99, p.A10)
1999 Jan 12, Military police in
Zimbabwe detained a newspaper editor who printed an article saying
23 soldiers were arrested for plotting to overthrow Pres. Mugabe
last month. The government denied any coup attempt.
(WSJ, 1/13/99, p.A1)
1999 Jan 18, Former Zimbabwe
Pres. Canaan Banana was sentenced to 10 years in jail for sodomy and
indecent assault. Nine of the years were suspended.
(SFC, 1/19/99, p.A7)
1999 Jan 25, In Zimbabwe 3
Supreme Court justices wrote Pres. Mugabe a letter asking that he
confirm that the army has no power to arrest civilians and that the
government will not tolerate torture.
(SFC, 2/8/99, p.A10)
1999 Feb 3, In Zimbabwe
officials said that 70,000 people will die of AIDS this year. 1.6
million of the nation's 12 million people were infected.
(WSJ, 2/4/99, p.A1)
1999 Feb 7, In Zimbabwe Pres.
Mugabe suggested that the supreme court resign. He defended the
actions of the army which had arrested and tortured 2 journalists.
(SFC, 2/8/99, p.A10)
1999 Feb 8, In Zimbabwe police
arrested 4 more journalists critical of the government.
(SFC, 2/9/99, p.A10)
1999 Feb 10, A UN panel eased a
trade ban on ivory. It allowed Namibia and Zimbabwe to sell nearly
34 tons to Japan.
(WSJ, 2/11/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 13, In Zimbabwe three
Americans appeared in court on charges of terrorism, espionage and
sabotage against Pres. Kabila. They had been tortured and pictures
with the names: Gary George Blanchfield, Jona Lamonte-Dixon, and
Joseph Pettijohn were displayed. The men were associated with
Harvestfield Ministries in Indianapolis.
(SFC, 3/13/99, p.A13)(SFC, 3/15/99, p.A8)(WSJ,
3/15/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 14, In southeastern
Congo rebels reportedly killed over 100 villagers in retaliation for
an attack by pro-government militia. Moise Nyarugabo, head of the
rebel Congolese Democratic Coalition said his forces killed at least
150 Zimbabwean soldiers allied to Kabila at Kabinda. Zimbabwe denied
the report.
(SFC, 3/15/99, p.A9)(SFC, 3/17/99, p.C3)
1999 Apr 18, During a speech on
the 19th anniversary of independence Pres. Mugabe said that over
1200 Zimbabweans were dying each week from AIDS.
(SFC, 4/19/99, p.A10)
1999 Jun 22, Zimbabwe reported
that an estimated 3,000 people were dying per week, nearly 70% of
them from AIDS-related illnesses. 25% of the population was said to
be infected with the AIDS causing virus.
(SFC, 6/23/99, p.A14)
1999 Jun, In Zimbabwe the
opposition Daily News, founded by Geoffrey Nyarota, began
publishing. In 2003 he was forced out of his job and went into exile
in America. The paper closed shortly thereafter. In 2006 Nyarota
authored “Against the Grain: Memoirs of a Zimbabwean Newsman.”
(SSFC, 8/19/01, p.A11)(Econ, 10/7/06, p.91)
1999 Jul 1, Zimbabwe Vice
President Joshua Nkomo, traditional leader of the Ndebele tribe,
died at age 82.
(SFC, 7/2/99, p.D6)
1999 Jul 12, In Zimbabwe the
trial for 3 American held on sabotage and weapons charges was
scheduled. They were found guilty on Sep 10 and were sentenced to
1-year prison terms. They were released on Nov 6 and sent home.
(SFC, 5/22/99, p.A16)(SFC, 9/11/99, p.A9)(WSJ,
9/16/99, p.A1)(SFC, 11/8/99, p.C14)
1999 Aug 1, David
Pleydell-Bouverie (18), a British student, was dragged from his tent
by a pride of lions and torn to pieces in Zimbabwe’s Matusadonha
National Park.
(SFC, 8/3/99, p.A9)
1999 Sep 13, In Zimbabwe AIDS
activists gathered in Lusaka for a 4-day conference on the disease
that had already killed 11 million Africans. 5 Africans were being
infected every 2 minutes.
(SFC, 9/14/99, p.A12)
1999 Sep 23, Moven Mahachi,
Defense Minister, announced that Zimbabwe’s and Congo’s armies had
set up a joint diamond and gold venture to help finance the war in
Congo.
(WSJ, 5/30/00, p.A22)
1999 Dec 2, Congo rebels
besieged a large contingent of Zimbabwean troops allied with Kabila
and captured a Russian-built transport plane and 120 prisoners.
(SFC, 12/3/99, p.A1)
1999 Dec 2, Congolese rebels
lost Bokungu as Zimbabwean soldiers broke through to save surrounded
comrades at Ikela airport.
(SFC, 12/4/99, p.A14)
1999 Dec 18, In Zimbabwe Pres.
Mugabe announced at a convention of the ruling party that land would
be seized from whites and that the constitutional clause
guaranteeing compensation would be scrapped.
(SFC, 12/20/99, p.A13)
1999 In Zimbabwe the Movement
for Democratic Change was created to defend democratic principles in
contrast to the ruling ZANU-PF.
(Econ, 11/19/05, p.50)
1999 The IMF suspended aid to
Zimbabwe after disputes over unbudgeted expenditures, the value of
its currency and the cost of its participation in the war in Congo.
Within a year the World Bank and the African Development Bank
followed.
(AP, 9/10/05)
1999 Scientists announced that
Y-chromosome tests had turned up a genetic link between southern
Africa’s Lemba tribe (Zimbabwe) and the Jewish Cohanim, a priestly
clan going back to biblical times.
(www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3077146/)
2000 Jan, In Zimbabwe a new tax
law became effective. It imposed a 3% tax on personal and corporate
income to pay for a national AIDS trust.
(SSFC, 8/19/01, p.A11)
2000 Feb 12, In Zimbabwe voting
began on a new constitution with provisions for expropriating the
land of white farmers without compensation. A new party, the
Movement for Democratic Change, opposed the new constitution and
Pres. Mugabe as inflation in the country soared to over 60%. Voters
spread word of their opposition using Econet Wireless messaging and
rejected the proposal.
(SFC, 2/12/00, p.C1)(SFC, 2/16/00, p.A11)(WSJ,
4/24/00, p.A24)
2000 Feb 21, The Zimbabwe
Supreme Court ruled that lawyers may sue Pres. Mugabe to release
secret reports on government killings between 1980 and 1988.
(SFC, 2/22/00, p.A10)
2000 Feb 26, Heavy rains
continued to ravage South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
33 people were reported dead in the northern province of South
Africa and 29 dead in Zimbabwe.
(SFEC, 2/27/00, p.A22)
2000 Feb 29, In Zimbabwe former
guerrillas invaded white-owned farms and occupied at least 36 with
no official interference.
(SFC, 3/1/00, p.A14)
2000 Mar 2, Zimbabwe ordered
black war veterans to quit white-owned farms.
(WSJ, 3/3/00, p.A1)
2000 Mar 31, In Zimbabwe it was
reported that the hard-currency reserves were virtually
non-existent, that over half the population was unemployed, and that
inflation stood at 70%.
(WSJ, 3/31/00, p.A17)
2000 Apr 6, In Zimbabwe ruling
party lawmakers approved a bill empowering the government to seize
white-owned land without compensation. The squatter occupation
reached to 940 farms. 6 Western donors suspended $10 million in land
reform aid.
(SFC, 4/7/00, p.D4)
2000 Apr 13, In Zimbabwe acting
Pres. Joseph Msika called for an end to squatter invasions of
white-owned farms after the high court ruled that police must comply
with an order to remove liberation war veterans and other government
supporters occupying the farms. Pres. Mugabe was visiting Cuba for a
summit of developing nations. Mugabe repudiated Msika’s order on his
return.
(SFC, 4/14/00, p.A20)(WSJ, 4/17/00, p.A1)
2000 Apr 15, In Zimbabwe David
Stevens, a white farmer, was abducted and killed by squatters near
Macheke. 4 neighbors who went to help him were missing.
(SFEC, 4/16/00, p.C22)
2000 Apr 18, In Zimbabwe Martin
Olds, a white cattle rancher, was fatally shot by squatters.
(SFC, 4/19/00, p.A10)
2000 Apr 21, Pres. Mugabe met
with Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Joaquim Chissano of
Mozambique and Sam Nujoma of Namibia at Victoria Falls concerning
the crises in Zimbabwe.
(SFEC, 4/23/00, p.C12)
2000 Apr 21, In Zimbabwe Robert
Mbuzi, an MDC organizer, was wounded by gunfire while organizing a
party meeting in Mhangura. He died a few days later.
(SFC, 4/26/00, p.A13)
2000 Apr 24, In South Africa
Pres. Mbeki brokered a deal with Pres. Mugabe of Zimbabwe for an end
to the campaign against white farmers in exchange for US and British
funding for land reform and a restoration of relations with the IMF.
(SFC, 4/25/00, p.A10)
2000 Apr 24, David Nhaurva, a
black supporter of the MDC, was killed by ax blows to the head north
of Harare, Zimbabwe.
(SFC, 4/26/00, p.A13)
2000 Apr 26, In Zimbabwe Morgan
Tsvangirai, president of the Movement for Democratic Change,
threatened to retaliate if attacks by ruling militants were not
stopped.
(SFC, 4/27/00, p.A10)
2000 May 1, In Zimbabwe
thousands opposed to the rule of Pres. Mugabe rallied in Harare.
(WSJ, 5/1/00, p.A1)
2000 May 7, In Zimbabwe
squatter leader Chenjerai Hunzvi urged people attending a ruling
party rally in Glen Norah to seek out British passport holders and
force them out of the country. Allan Dunn was murdered at his farm
by squatters.
(SFC, 5/8/00, p.A13)(WSJ, 6/8/00, p.a24)
2000 May 14, In Zimbabwe
elections were set for June 24-25, but the opposition objected
because voting districts were not yet established and a May 29
deadline for candidates was thought too soon.
(SFC, 5/17/00, p.A18)
2000 May 18, The UN called for
a new land reform program in Zimbabwe as 2 more people were killed
in clashes.
(WSJ, 5/19/00, p.A1)
2000 May 29, Thadeus Rukuni, a
candidate for the Movement for Democratic Change, was beaten to
death in Bikita, Zimbabwe.
(SFC, 6/2/00, p.A18)
2000 May 31, Farmer Tony Oates
was killed by armed attackers at his home 40 miles northwest of
Harare, Zimbabwe.
(SFC, 6/2/00, p.A18)
2000 May, In Zimbabwe it was
reported that about 4,500 white commercial farmers owned 31 million
acres of prime agricultural land, 20.7% of the country’s total area.
Most rural blacks lived on state-owned land over 41% of the country.
(SFC, 5/24/00, p.C3)
2000 Jun 1, Zimbabwe Pres.
Mugabe announced that the state would begin seizing 804 mostly
white-owned farms and resettle them with landless blacks.
(SFC, 6/3/00, p.A10)
2000 Jun 17, Pres. Mugabe said
that whites may live in Zimbabwe, but they will never have a voice
equal to that of blacks.
(SFEC, 6/18/00, p.A14)
2000 Jun 19, Zimbabwe officials
said elections would not be monitored by foreign nongovernmental
organizations.
(WSJ, 6/20/00, p.A1)
2000 Jun 24, After months of
political violence, elections began in Zimbabwe.
(SFC, 6/24/00, p.A1)(AP, 6/24/01)
2000 Jun 25, In Zimbabwe EU
observers said the voting in parliamentary elections was "not free
or fair."
(WSJ, 6/26/00, p.A1)
2000 Jun 27, Zimbabwe Pres.
Mugabe promised to work with the newly elected parliament. The
Movement for Democratic Change won 57 seats vs. 62 for Mugabe’s
ZANU-PF party.
(SFC, 6/28/00, p.A12)
2000 Jul 9, In Zimbabwe 12
people died in a soccer stampede set off when police fired tear gas
at bottle-throwing fans during a World Cup qualifier between
Zimbabwe and South Africa in Harare. South Africa’s 2-0 victory over
Zimbabwe was ruled official.
(WSJ, 7/10/00, p.A1)(AP, 7/8/01)
2000 Jul 20, The new Zimbabwe
Parliament opened with 57 opposition MDC members in the 150 seat
body.
(SFC, 7/21/00, p.A12)
2000 Jul 24, A 6th white farmer
was found beaten to death south of Harare, Zimbabwe in an apparent
robbery attempt.
(SFC, 7/26/00, p.A14)
2000 Jul 25, In Zimbabwe at
least 230 white farmers quit working along with some businessmen in
Karoi to protest the breakdown in law and order.
(SFC, 7/26/00, p.A14)
2000 Jul 31, In Zimbabwe Vice
President Joseph Msika announced that 3,000 white-owned farms would
be resettled by landless black families.
(SFC, 8/2/00, p.A13)
2000 Aug 2, Zimbabwe’s Congress
of Trade Unions (ZCTU) called a one day general strike to protest
the policies of Pres. Mugabe. Finance minister Simba Makoni
announced that the government had agreed to devalue its currency
24%.
(WSJ, 8/2/00, p.A17)(WSJ, 8/3/00, p.A1,9)
2000 Sep 12, The Zimbabwe stock
exchange made a record 500 point gain after the IMF announced that
it would not resume financial assistance. The official inflation was
53.6% and local cash could not be moved out of the country.
(WSJ, 9/15/00, p.A17)
2000 Oct 9, Morgan Tsvangirai,
opposition leader, defied threats of arrest and returned to
Zimbabwe. He called for Pres. Mugabe to quit or be ousted.
(WSJ, 10/10/00, p.A1)
2000 Oct 10, Zimbabwe Pres.
Mugabe pardoned offenders for thousands of politically motivated
crimes committed between Jan 1 and July 31.
(SFC, 10/11/00, p.A14)
2000 Oct 16, Hundreds rampaged
in eastern Harare, Zimbabwe, over food prices. Opposition leaders
called for the resignation of Pres. Mugabe.
(SFC, 10/17/00, p.A16)(SFC, 10/18/00, p.A26)
2000 Oct 25, The Zimbabwe
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) presented articles
of impeachment against Pres. Mugabe.
(SFC, 10/26/00, p.A16)
2000 Nov 7, White farmers
appealed to the highest court on the constitutionality of the
emergency powers used by Zimbabwe Pres. Mugabe for farm seizures.
(SFC, 11/10/00, p.A16)
2000 Nov 10, The Zimbabwe
Supreme Court ruled that the government’s land reform plan and
occupations of white-owned farms were illegal.
(SFC, 11/11/00, p.A16)
2000 Nov 30, In Harare Pres.
Mbeki of South Africa and Pres. Obasanjo of Nigeria admonished
Zimbabwe Pres. Mugabe to abide by laws and to curtail the seizure of
white-owned farms.
(WSJ, 12/1/00, p.A1)
2000 Dec 13, In Zimbabwe a
white farmer was killed amid the land-expropriation drive.
(WSJ, 12/14/00, p.A1)
2000 Dec 14, Zimbabwe Pres.
Mugabe claimed that his government has no control over the economy
and blamed the "white man" as the real enemy during an address to a
Congress of the ruling Zanu-PF Party
(SFC, 12/15/00, p.D10)
2000 The Caine Prize for
African Writing, named in memory of the late Sir Michael Harris
Caine (1927-1999), was first awarded to Leila Aboulela (b.1964) of
Sudan at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair 2000 in Harare. Caine
was a former Chairman of Booker plc., Chairman of Africa 95, and
Chairman of the Booker Prize management committee for almost 25
years.
(www.caineprize.com/about.php)
2001 Mar 7, Zimbabwe Pres.
Mugabe left Europe after meetings in France and Belgium over the
11,000 troops he has stationed in Congo.
(SFC, 3/9/01, p.D3)
2001 Mar 19, A Zimbabwe
delegation wrapped up 2 days of meetings with South Africa to find
ways to restore the economy. South Africa feared a flood of
Zimbabweans due to fuel and food shortages there.
(WSJ, 3/20/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 9, Zimbabwe riot
police clashed with university students and one was killed with 30
injured. The students protested "sugar daddies" who pursued
impoverished female students.
(WSJ, 4/10/01, p.A1)
2001 May 28, Zimbabwe's defense
chief died in a radio reported car accident.
(WSJ, 5/29/01, p.A1)
2001 Jun 4, Chenjerai Hunzvi
(Hitler Hunzvi), a leader of the Zimbabwe war veterans, died at age
51. He had led the violent occupations of white-owned farms.
(SFC, 6/5/01, p.A14)
2001 Jun 13, The Zimbabwe
government increased gas prices by over 70% and labor unions
threatened to shut down the economy.
(SFC, 6/14/01, p.C3)
2001 Jun 29, Zimbabwe published
a new list of 2,030 white farm properties to be nationalized and
handed over to landless blacks.
(SFC, 6/30/01, p.A10)
2001 Jul 2, Zimbabwe deployed
riot police ahead of the start of a general strike.
(WSJ, 7/3/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 3, Joseph Made,
Zimbabwe Agriculture Minister, announced that the government
increased acreage acquisition from white farmers to 20 million
acres.
(SFC, 8/10/01, p.A17)
2001 Aug 12, Some 300 family
members fled about 100 farms as rampaging mobs attacked and looted
more farms following a week of violence in Zimbabwe.
(SFC, 8/13/01, p.A8)
2001 Aug 15, Four Zimbabwean
Daily News journalists were arrested after publishing a report that
police were helping loot white-owned farms.
(WSJ, 8/16/01, p.A1)(SSFC, 8/19/01, p.A11)
2001 Aug 21, Zimbabwe halted
beef exports as foot-and-mouth disease broke out in the latest
series of farm expropriations where militants released quarantined
cattle.
(WSJ, 8/22/01, p.A1)
2001 Sep 6, Zimbabwe Foreign
Minister Stan Mudenge pledged to abide by a brokered deal to stop
violent takeovers of white-owned farms. The government agreed to
"restore the rule of law to the process of land reform."
(SFC, 9/8/01, p.A8)
2001 Sep 8, Zimbabwe militants
seized the Logan Lee farm in Beatrice.
(SSFC, 9/9/01, p.A18)
2001 Sep 15, In Zimbabwe 2
ruling party militants were killed during clashes with workers on
the Bibby family farm. John Bibby (70) was arrested the next day as
an accessory to the murders.
(SFC, 9/17/01, p.A18)
2001 Sep 23, In Congo rebel
leader Adolphe Onusumba acknowledged peace talks with Zimbabwe’s
Pres. Mugabe.
(SFC, 9/24/01, p.B2)
2001 Oct 12, Zimbabwe Pres.
Mugabe imposed a price freeze on basic foods following cuts of 5-20%
on basic items.
(SFC, 10/16/01, p.B6)
2001 Oct 15, In Zimbabwe Pres.
Mugabe announced the abandonment of market-based economics and a
return to a socialist-style economy.
(SFC, 10/16/01, p.B6)
2001 Nov 8, Geoff Nyarota,
editor of the Daily News, was arrested in Harare, Zimbabwe, along
with Wilf Mbanga, CEO of the parent company.
(SFC, 11/9/01, p.A18)
2001 Nov 12, The Zimbabwe
government banned 1000 farmers from cultivating their fields and
gave them 3 months to vacate their homes as part of a "fast track"
land redistribution plan.
(SFC, 11/13/01, p.A14)
2001 Nov 15, Peace Corp workers
were recalled after the Zimbabwe government refused to issue permits
for new volunteers.
(WSJ, 11/16/01, p.A1)
2001 Nov 16, The MDC
headquarters in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, were destroyed by pro-government
militants. They were protesting the recent killing of Cain Nkala,
who helped lead violent occupations of white-owned farms. 6
opposition activists arrested for an alleged role in the murder were
acquitted in 2004.
(SFC, 11/22/01, p.A20)(SFC, 8/7/04, p.A9)
2001 Nov 21, Zimbabwe Pres.
Mugabe’s administration planned to propose legislation for hanging
anyone found guilty of sedition.
(SFC, 11/22/01, p.A20)
2001 Nov 22, Patrick Chinamasa,
the Zimbabwe justice minister, announced plans to force residents to
carry identity documents at all times.
(SFC, 11/23/01, p.A21)
2001 Nov 23, The Mugabe
government of Zimbabwe accused 6 journalists working for foreign
media of aiding terrorism.
(SFC, 11/24/01, p.A13)
2001 Dec 4, The Zimbabwe high
court reversed a previous decision and ruled that seizures of
white-owned farms are legal. Pres. Mugabe had expanded the court and
replaced many of the justices.
(WSJ, 12/5/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec 10, Zimbabwe Pres.
Mugabe said elections would be held in March.
(WSJ, 12/12/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec 20, In Zimbabwe 2
opposition officials, Milton Chambati (45) and Titus Neya (50) were
killed west of Harare. Youth leader Trymore Midzi was assaulted the
next day and died Dec 24.
(SFC, 12/25/01, p.A20)
2001 Dec 21, President Bush
signed the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001,
which required the African nation to adopt land ownership
protections in order to continue receiving U.S. aid.
(SFC, 12/22/01, p.A5)(AP, 12/21/02)
2001 Dec 31, It was reported
that Zimbabwe planned to publish the names of nearly 100,000 black
citizens to be given portions of some 20 million acres of now
farmland owned by whites.
(WSJ, 12/31/01, p.A1)
2001 Thomas Mapfumo (57),
musician known as "the Lion of Zimbabwe," left Zimbabwe and settled
in the US. His innovations included translating sounds of the mbira
to the electric guitar.
(WSJ, 4/27/04, p.D10)
2002 Jan 4, It was reported
that $54 million in short term food aid was needed to ward off
widespread starvation in Zimbabwe. The AIDS epidemic, called
"Nkondombera" (a Shona word for "no condom") was claiming over 2,000
people per week. Inflation was running at over 100% per month.
Unemployment was estimated at 50%.
(SFC, 1/5/02, p.A5)
2002 Jan 9, In Zimbabwe the
military chiefs put their support behind Pres. Mugabe saying they
would only accept a president who fought in the war for
independence.
(SFC, 1/10/02, p.A8)
2002 Jan 10, Pres. Mugabe
enacted sweeping security and election laws to clamp down on critics
and limit election monitoring. Iden Wetherell, editor of the
Zimbabwe Independent, was arrested along with 2 staff members on
charges of defaming Mugabe.
(SFC, 1/11/02, p.A5)(WPR, 3/04, p.29)
2002 Jan 12, Police fired on
some 5,000 opposition supporters in Buhera, Zimbabwe. Opposition MDC
offices were set on fire in Kwekwe.
(SFC, 1/15/02, p.A9)
2002 Jan 23, The UN sent famine
relief to Zimbabwe.
(SFC, 1/24/02, p.A8)
2002 Jan 28, In Zimbabwe Pres.
Mugabe’s government announced plans for compulsory national youth
service training.
(SFC, 1/29/02, p.A8)
2002 Jan 31, Zimbabwe enacted a
new media law that required local media people to be licensed and
restricted foreign reporters from working freely.
(SFC, 2/1/02, p.A15)
2002 Feb 6, A human rights
group said 16 people died in Zimbabwe in political killings in Jan.
(WSJ, 2/7/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 13, Morgan Tsvangirai,
Zimbabwe opposition leader, was implicated in a plot to overthrow
Pres. Mugabe in film footage made by a consulting firm with ties to
Mugabe. Tsvangirai said the tape was contrived.
(SFC, 2/14/02, p.A9)(WSJ, 2/14/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 16, Zimbabwe expelled
Pierre Schori, head of the EU’s 150-member mission to observe
elections. EU officials threatened sanctions.
(SFC, 2/16/02, p.A14)(SSFC, 2/17/02, p.A13)
2002 Feb 18, The EU ordered
home its 30-member observer team in Zimbabwe and voted to impose
sanctions on that country, which included cutting off $110 million
in aid, a ban on travel to the EU by Mugabe and 20 Cabinet members
and freezing of assets.
(SFC, 2/19/02, p.A8)
2002 Feb 25, Morgan Tsvangirai,
Zimbabwe presidential candidate, was charged with treason for
allegedly plotting to assassinate Pres. Mugabe.
(SFC, 2/26/02, p.A6)
2002 Feb 27, The Zimbabwe
Supreme Court struck down the General Laws Amendment Act that gave
election officers sweeping powers. A high court judge delayed the
implementation of new citizenship rules that disqualified thousands
of voters.
(SFC, 2/28/02, p.A9)
2002 Mar 5, In Zimbabwe Pres.
Mugabe reinstated controversial election laws that had been struck
down by the Supreme Court.
(SFC, 3/6/02, p.A7)
2002 Mar 10, In Zimbabwe the
high court ordered the government to extend voting to a 3rd day as
long lines continued following the deadline. In Harare police chased
away some 2.5-3 thousand people from a polling station following the
extension.
(SFC, 3/11/02, p.A7)(WSJ, 3/11/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 11, In Zimbabwe the
polls closed. A request for a 4th day of voting was denied.
(SFC, 3/12/02, p.A70)
2002 Mar 13, Zimbabwe Pres.
Mugabe was declared the winner with 1.6 million votes to
Tsvangirai’s 1.2 mil. The opposition apposed the results and many
observers described the process as deeply flawed.
(SFC, 3/14/02, p.A7)
2002 Mar 18, Terry Ford became
the 10th white farmer killed by Zimbabwe militants in the last 2
years.
(SFC, 3/19/02, p.A8)
2002 Mar 19, Zimbabwe was
suspended by the 54-nation Commonwealth for one year as punishment
for Pres. Mugabe’s conduct during the elections.
(SFC, 3/20/02, p.A11)
2002 Mar 20, In Harare,
Zimbabwe, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was charged with
treason, fingerprinted and released on bail.
(SFC, 3/21/02, p.A10)
2002 Mar 24, Zimbabwe
opposition officials reported that Mugabe militants had driven
hundreds of opposition supporters from their homes and that 4
opposition activists had been killed since the elections.
(SFC, 3/25/02, p.A7)
2002 Mar 26, In nationwide vote
tallies Zimbabwe’s MDC found 185,961 missing votes and 106,731 extra
votes.
(SFC, 3/27/02, p.A6)
2002 Apr 5, Zimbabwe police
arrested 354 activists as they organized protests against the
disputed election of Pres. Mugabe.
(SFC, 4/6/02, p.A8)
2002 Apr 6, Police arrested at
least 22 people in Harare, Zimbabwe, who planned demonstrations
against Pres. Mugabe.
(SSFC, 4/7/02, p.A8)
2002 Apr 15, The editor of the
only private newspaper in Zimbabwe was arrested questioning the
legitimacy of Pres. Mugabe’s re-election under a new press law: for
"abuse of journalistic privilege."
(WSJ, 4/16/02, p.A1)
2002 May 6, Zimbabwe arrested
an 8th journalist under its harsh new press law.
(WSJ, 5/7/02, p.A1)
2002 May 15, Zimbabwe was
reported to have begun evicting thousands of black families
occupying white-owned farms and other lands not listed for seizure
under Pres. Mugabe’s land plan.
(WSJ, 5/16/02, p.A12)
2002 May 31, Zimbabwe declared
HIV a national emergency. Some 25% of the adults there were infected
with the virus.
(SFC, 6/1/02, p.A11)
2002 Jun 10, In Zimbabwe the
state radio reported that a bus carrying student teachers back from
a sporting event collided with a heavy truck, killing at least 37
people.
(AP, 6/10/02)(SFC, 6/11/02, p.A11)(WSJ, 6/11/02,
p.A1)
2002 Jun 29, In Zimbabwe Dr.
Roy Raub, a retired American doctor, was killed in an apparent
carjacking.
(SFC, 7/2/02, p.A9)
2002 Jul 1, A US federal
magistrate recommended a $73 million penalty against Zimbabwe's
ruling party for allegedly torturing and killing political
opponents.
(AP, 7/1/02)
2002 Jul 23, In Zimbabwe at
least 15 people illegally mining gold were killed when an abandoned
mine shaft in Mhondoro caved in.
(AP, 7/30/02)
2002 Aug 9, In Zimbabwe a
government deadline for the white farmers to give up their land
passed without incident, and it remained uncertain if police would
try to forcibly evict them.
(AP, 8/9/02)
2002 Aug 14, Black militants
armed with clubs and stones began evicting a white farmer from his
land in northeastern Zimbabwe, the first seizure since a government
eviction order expired last week.
(Reuters, 8/14/02)
2002 Aug 16, The Zimbabwean
government appeared to be cracking down on white farmers who defied
orders to leave their land, charging seven in court and detaining at
least 27 others across the country.
(AP, 8/16/02)
2002 Aug 25, In Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe announced his new Cabinet, firing the
moderate finance minister and keeping hard-liners who have
spearheaded harsh media controls and seizures of white-owned farms.
(AP, 8/25/02)
2002 Aug 28, The United Nations
confirmed that Uganda and Zimbabwe have begun their pledged troop
withdrawals from Congo.
(AP, 8/28/02)
2002 Aug 29, In Zimbabwe a bomb
attack gutted the office of a radio station critical of President
Robert Mugabe's government, and authorities raided a human rights
group and a camp for displaced farm workers run by a private
charity.
(AP, 8/29/02)
2002 Sep 28, Zimbabweans in
rural areas voted in elections for local councils, and the main
opposition party said hundreds of its candidates were barred from
running for office.
(AP, 9/28/02)
2002 Oct 13, In Zimbabwe Sir
Garfield Todd (93), the former prime minister of Southern Rhodesia
(1953-1958), as Zimbabwe was once known, died after suffering a
stroke.
(AP, 10/13/02)
2002 Oct 21, A UN panel accused
criminal groups linked to the armies of Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe and
Congo of plundering Congo's riches, and called on the United Nations
to impose financial restrictions on 29 companies and 54 individuals.
(AP, 10/21/02)
2002 Oct 22, In Zimbabwe a top
opposition lawmaker who was in jail on murder charges was found dead
in his cell, prompting calls for an independent investigation and
autopsy. Learnmore Jongwe (28) had been in custody since July, when
he was arrested in the stabbing death of his wife.
(AP, 10/22/02)
2002 Oct 28, Zimbabwe's ruling
party won a sweeping victory in a parliamentary by-election. The
opposition said that the vote was rigged and swayed by violence and
intimidation.
(AP, 10/29/02)
2002 Nov 11, Border police in
Zimbabwe shot and killed Richard Gilman (58), a Connecticut
man who was on a humanitarian mission in Africa.
(AP, 11/12/02)
2002 Nov 11, Zimbabwean
journalist and publisher Mark Chavunduka (37), whose arrest and
subsequent torture helped expose his government's increasing
repression of dissent, died after a prolonged illness.
(AP, 11/13/02)
2002 Nov 16, Zimbabwe's
government froze prices on a range of products from tractors to
diapers, moving to ease an economic crisis that has been worsened by
continuing political violence.
(AP, 11/16/02)
2002 Nov 18, Zimbabwe banned
citizens from swearing or making offensive gestures during the
passage of Pres. Mugabe’s motorcades.
(WSJ, 11/19/02, p.A1)
2002 Martin Meredith authored
"Our Votes, Our Guns," a look at Zimbabwe under the rule of Robert
Mugabe.
(WSJ, 3/13/02, p.A16)
2002 Zimbabwe held a census but
results were not made public. In 2004 the population was reported to
be 11.6 million. Normal growth should have put the number at 14
million.
(Econ, 11/27/04, p.48)
2003 Feb 1, In northwestern
Zimbabwe a crowded passenger train and a freight train with
flammable liquid collided, killed at least 50 people and injured
about 40.
(AP, 2/3/03)(AP, 2/1/08)
2003 Feb 14, In Zimbabwe 2
Valentine's Day peace parades by women clutching roses and singing
hymns were broken up by baton-wielding police who arrested at least
88 people as well as eight journalists.
(AP, 2/14/03)
2003 Mar 7, Pres. Bush
invoked economic sanctions against Pres. Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe
and dozens of officials of his government on grounds they undermined
the country’s democratic institutions.
(AP, 3/7/03)
2003 Mar 19, In Zimbabwe a
national strike called to protest the increasingly authoritarian
government shut down businesses and disrupted transportation
services across the country for a second day.
(AP, 3/19/03)
2003 Mar 24, In Zimbabwe the
Zwakwana human rights said forces loyal to President Robert Mugabe
hunted down government opponents after a national strike, beating
them with iron bars and whips. At least 1 person was killed.
(AP, 3/24/03)
2003 Mar 27, In Zimbabwe
opposition leaders urged the nation's soldiers and police to disobey
orders to crush any show of dissent against the government.
(AP, 3/27/03)
2003 Apr 23, In Zimbabwe many
banks, factories and stores were forced to close as workers stayed
off the job to protest a government increase gasoline prices.
(AP, 4/23/03)
2003 Jun 3, In Zimbabwe a
general strike shut down much of the already crippled economy, and
security forces prevented efforts to organize massive street
protests against Pres. Mugabe.
(AP, 6/3/03)
2003 Jun 6, Zimbabwe police
arrested Morgan Tsvangirai, the main opposition leader, and charged
him with treason as hundreds of security forces took control of the
streets.
(AP, 6/6/03)
2003 Jun 20, Morgan Tsvangirai
(51), Zimbabwe's opposition leader, was released on bail after two
weeks in jail on treason charges. He said he will not stop putting
pressure on Pres. Robert Mugabe (79).
(AP, 6/21/03)
2003 Jul 18, Zimbabwe
government inspectors and police ordered bakeries to pay fines
Friday for violating price controls.
(AP, 7/18/03)
2003 Aug 3, It was reported
that the economic crises in Zimbabwe has led to corpses being
stacked up because relatives could not afford burial costs.
(SSFC, 8/3/03, p.A16)
2003 Sep 18, Zimbabwe's high
court ordered the nation's only independent newspaper reopened.
Police had shut it down because it refused to get a government
license.
(WSJ, 9/19/03, p.A1)
2003 Sep 19, Zimbabwe military
police barred journalists from entering their offices, defying a
court order to allow the country's only independent daily newspaper
to resume publishing.
(AP, 9/19/03)
2003 Sep 20, Zimbabwe Vice
President Simon Muzenda (81), a long time loyal aide of Zimbabwe's
autocratic leader Robert Mugabe, died.
(AP, 9/20/03)
2003 Oct 1, In southwestern
Zimbabwe a bus overturned and crashed after a tire burst, killing 16
people and injuring at least 28 in the second serious bus crash in
Zimbabwe in 24 hours.
(AP, 10/3/03)
2003 Nov 10, Canaan Sodindo
Banana (b.1936), the first black president of Zimbabwe (1980-1987),
died after a long illness. In 1998, Banana was sentenced to 10 years
in prison for his role in a gay sex scandal, but served only 6
months.
(AP, 11/11/03)(Econ, 11/29/03, p.85)
2003 Nov 18, In Zimbabwe police
broke up demonstrations across the country against President Robert
Mugabe's autocratic rule, arresting nearly 90 protesters, including
14 leaders of Zimbabwe's main labor federation.
(AP, 11/18/03)
2003 Nov 28, Pres. Robert
Mugabe threatened to pull Zimbabwe out of the Commonwealth after the
54-nation grouping of Britain and its former territories barred him
from an upcoming summit in Nigeria.
(AP, 11/28/03)
2003 Dec 7, Zimbabwe pulled out
of the Commonwealth rather than endure a suspension after members in
Nigeria decided to extend the southern African country's suspension
from the organization of Britain and its former colonies.
(AP, 12/7/03)
2003 Dec 8, In Nigeria the
Commonwealth summit of 54-nations, representing nearly one-third of
the world's 6 billion people, ended with Western nations blaming
Zimbabwe for its own growing international isolation.
(AP, 12/8/03)
2003 Dec 19, In Zimbabwe riot
police shut down the printing plant of the only independent daily
newspaper, defying a court order that overturned a government ban.
(AP, 12/19/03)
2003 Dec, Gideon Gono took over
as governor of Zimbabwe’s central bank.
(Econ, 6/26/04, p.48)
2003 Inflation in Zimbabwe hit
over 600%.
(Econ, 6/26/04, p.48)
2003 The IMF suspended
Zimbabwe's voting rights and began a process that could lead to the
country's expulsion.
(AP, 9/10/05)
2004 Jan 22, Zimbabwe's only
independent daily newspaper brought out a slim edition that was
snatched up by readers after a court ordered police to allow the
popular Daily News to resume publishing.
(AP, 1/22/04)
2004 Jan 29, Widespread drought
was reported across southern Africa. Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa
and Zimbabwe were all affected.
(SFC, 1/29/04, p.A16)
2004 Jan, SHAZ, a new AIDS
prevention tool, was begun in Zimbabwe. The Shaping the Health of
Adolescents in Zimbabwe program offered economic security to help
shield young girls from liaisons with older men that often
transmitted AIDS.
(WSJ, 2/25/04, p.B1)
2004 Feb 5, Journalists at
Zimbabwe's only independent daily newspaper left their offices after
the Supreme Court upheld that it was a crime to work without a
government license.
(AP, 2/5/04)(WSJ, 2/5/04, p.A1)
2004 Feb, Zimbabwe Pres. Mugabe
bolstered police powers by decreeing that his police could hold
people for 28 days without charge.
(Econ, 3/13/04, p.48)
2004 Mar 7, Zimbabwean
authorities seized a US-registered cargo plane at Harare carrying 64
"suspected mercenaries" and military equipment. Equatorial Guinea
later said the men were mercenaries from South Africa en route to
stage a coup. Twenty South Africans, 18 Namibians, 23 Angolans, two
Congolese and one Zimbabwean carrying a South African passport were
arrested when their aging Boeing 727 was impounded. Another 15
suspects were arrested in Equatorial Guinea the next day. In 2006
Adam Roberts authored “The Wonga Coup,” an account of the attempted
coup.
(AP, 3/8/04)(WSJ, 3/10/04, p.A1)(AP,
3/10/04)(WSJ, 7/26/06, p.D11)
2004 Mar 28, Clashes between
supporters of Zimbabwe's ruling party and the opposition killed one
person and wounded at least 11 during the second day of polling in a
parliamentary by-election.
(AP, 3/29/04)
2004 Jun 8, The Zimbabwe
government announced that all farmland will be nationalized and
private land ownership abolished. Title deeds of farm properties
will be scrapped and replaced by 99-year leases with rent payable to
the government.
(AP, 6/8/04)
2004 Jun 20, Zimbabwe’s
government said it would honor ownership rights to land bought on
the property market, backtracking on previous announcements it would
nationalize all farmland.
(AP, 6/20/04)
2004 Jul 15, The Gates
Foundation announced a $44.7 million award at the AIDS Conference in
Bangkok to a consortium of TB and AIDS researchers. The 2 diseases
were often linked. A UN report cited 7 countries as the hardest hit
by the AIDS pandemic: Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zambia, Malawi,
the Central African Republic and Mozambique.
(WSJ, 7/15/04, p.B1)(SFC, 7/16/04, p.A6)
2004 Jul 18, Economists and
international donors said mismanagement in Zimbabwe by Pres. Robert
Mugabe's regime is behind an annual inflation rate now close to 400
percent.
(AP, 7/18/04)
2004 Aug 27, A Zimbabwean court
found Briton Simon Mann guilty of attempting to illegally buy arms
for an alleged coup plot in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea but absolved
66 other suspected mercenaries.
(AP, 8/27/04)
2004 Sep 10, Simon Mann, a
former British special forces soldier and the alleged leader of a
foiled coup plot in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, was sentenced to
seven years in prison for trying to buy weapons from Zimbabwe's
state arms manufacturer.
(AP, 9/10/04)
2004 Sep 22, Zimbabwe's
government dismissed reports of dozens of deaths linked to
malnutrition as lies peddled by detractors and insisted the nation
has more food than it needs.
(AP, 9/22/04)
2004 Sep, In Zimbabwe Kenny
James Froud and Simon Buckleywere, British nationals, were killed
with an axe in before the assailants stole goods and about 500
British pounds. In November Zimbabwean police arrested three
suspects in the murder of the 2 men.
(AP, 11/15/04)
2004 Oct 15, Zimbabwe
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was acquitted on treason charges
following a yearlong trial that his party had said was orchestrated
by the government of President Robert Mugabe.
(AP, 10/15/04)
2004 Nov 13, A Zimbabwe
newspaper reported that the annual rate of inflation last month
dropped to 209%, edging closer to a year-end target of 150% from a
peak of 622.8% in Jan.
(AFP, 11/13/04)
2004 Dec 4, Zimbabwe's ruling
party elected longtime cabinet minister Joyce Mujuru as the
country's first woman vice-president at the end of a party congress,
putting her on course to succeed Mugabe when he eventually retires
in 2008.
(AFP, 12/4/04)
2004 Dec 9, Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe's ruling party passed a controversial new
law that aims to bar foreign rights groups from the country, as well
as foreign funding for local groups doing similar work.
(AP, 12/9/04)
2004 White farmers from
Zimbabwe moved to Zambia and leased some 150 farms.
(Econ, 6/26/04, p.49)
2005 Jan 9, The Zimbabwe
Standard reported that a maize-meal shortage has become acute.
(http://allafrica.com/stories/200501100537.html)(Econ, 1/15/05,
p.44)
2005 Jan 17, Iranian President
Mohammed Khatami arrived in Zimbabwe to a red carpet welcome from
his counterpart Robert Mugabe with whom he is due to hold talks over
two days.
(AP, 1/18/05)
2005 Jan 20, It was reported
that a Zimbabwe government crackdown on dissent is deepening a
climate of fear ahead of parliamentary elections due in March.
President Robert Mugabe appointed a new electoral commission to run
parliamentary polls due in March under a law which the opposition
says does not guarantee a free and fair vote.
(AP, 1/20/05)(Reuters, 1/20/05)
2005 Feb 11, Zimbabwe announced
that 1.5 million people needed food aid immediately.
(SFC, 2/12/05, p.A3)
2005 Feb 25, The Zimbabwe
government accused the independent Weekly Times of violating its
operating license and ordered it to shut down.
(SSFC, 2/27/05, p.A3)
2005 Feb, Zimbabwe Pres. Mugabe
fell out with Jonathan Moyo and fired him as information minister.
(AP, 8/22/05)
2005 Mar 13, In Musina, South
Africa, thousands of protesters held an 18-hour vigil on the border
with Zimbabwe to demonstrate against mounting repression in the
neighboring country two weeks before a key parliamentary election
there.
(AP, 3/13/05)
2005 Mar 14, Zimbabwe's Supreme
Court quashed a ban on the independent Daily News newspaper, known
for its anti-government line, but upheld a controversial media law
that has forced three other newspapers to close down.
(AP, 3/14/05)
2005 Mar 17, Zimbabwe's highest
court barred 3.4 million citizens living abroad, over 20 percent of
the country's population, from voting in this month's parliamentary
elections.
(AP, 3/18/05)
2005 Mar 31, Zimbabweans waited
in long lines to vote in parliamentary elections that President
Robert Mugabe hopes will prove the legitimacy of a regime.
(AP, 3/31/05)
2005 Apr 1, Zimbabwe opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai dismissed the previous day's elections as
"massive fraud" and accused President Robert Mugabe of treating his
country like "his private property."
(AP, 4/1/05)
2005 Apr 2, President Robert
Mugabe's ruling party won 78 out of 120 contested seats in
Zimbabwe's disputed parliamentary elections, giving him enough seats
to press ahead with plans to change the constitution to strengthen
his grip on power. The Opposition for Democratic Change (MDC) won 35
seats.
(AP, 4/2/05)(SFC, 4/2/05, p.A12)(Reuters, 4/2/05)
2005 Apr 7, President Robert
Mugabe of Zimbabwe defied a European Union travel ban and arrived in
Rome to join world leaders attending Pope John Paul II's funeral.
Italy has a pact with the Vatican in which it does not interfere
with people transiting the country to see the pope.
(AP, 4/7/05)
2005 Apr 12, Zimbabwe's main
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) lodged a first court
challenge against results from March 31 polls it says were rigged.
(Reuters, 4/12/05)
2005 Apr 13, Zimbabwe state
radio reported President Robert Mugabe's government has acquired six
fighter jets "to deal with any challenges." The aircraft appeared to
be the K-8 advanced jet trainer, a Chinese copy of the British
Aerospace BAE "Hawk." Zimbabwe's opposition released a dossier to
back claims that last month's elections were rigged to hand victory
to President Robert Mugabe's ruling party.
(AP, 4/13/05)
2005 May 23, In Zimbabwe
paramilitary units armed with batons and tear gas patrolled Harare's
main roads as police warned they would not tolerate any more
protests against their crackdown on street trading, the only
livelihood for thousands in the shattered economy.
(AP, 5/23/05)
2005 Jun 1, Zimbabwe’s state
Herald newspaper reported that police have arrested more than 22,000
people as a fierce blitz on illegal stores and shantytowns gathered
pace, sending homeless people fleeing for the countryside.
(Reuters, 6/1/05)
2005 Jun 9, A strike over
Zimbabwe's razing of shantytowns made a slow start and the
opposition boycotted President Robert Mugabe's opening of a new
parliament elected in polls critics said were unfair.
(AP, 6/9/05)
2005 Jun 10, Zimbabwe police
fought running battles until dawn with supporters of a general
strike called to protest a government campaign against shack
dwellers and street traders. The mass strike failed on its final
day.
(AFP, 6/10/05)
2005 Jun 14, Zimbabwe reported
that police have razed more than 20,000 shacks and other structures
in what President Robert Mugabe called “Operation Murambatsvina,”
(drive out the rubbish), an urban cleanup campaign. Some 700,000
people had their homes or businesses destroyed in the campaign.
(AP, 6/14/05)(Econ, 6/11/05, p.46)(Econ, 5/27/06,
p.46)
2005 Jun 23, Zimbabwe state
media reported that 2 children were crushed to death by rubble
during the demolition of illegal houses this month in a government
crackdown that has made tens of thousands homeless.
(Reuters, 6/23/05)
2005 Jun 27, PM Tony Blair
defended Britain's deportation of failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers,
a policy that has triggered a refugee hunger strike.
(AP, 6/27/05)
2005 Jun 30, Zimbabwe police
targeted an illegal settlement west of Harare in the government's
six-week demolition and resettlement campaign, and as many as three
people were reported dead. 2 women, one of them pregnant, died when
they fell off the back of trucks ferrying them to a "transit camp"
where thousands of displaced people are living in tents. A
4-year-old boy was run over by a truck
(AP, 7/1/05)
2005 Jul 2, Australia and New
Zealand agreed on tough new measures to pressure Zimbabwe's
President Robert Mugabe to respect human rights, including a sports
ban and action against him in the International Criminal Court.
(AP, 7/2/05)
2005 Jul 4, In Zimbabwe armed
paramilitary police swept through a Harare township, pulling down
more 100 prefabricated wooden cabins, including one with screaming
children inside.
(AP, 7/5/05)
2005 Jul 23, Zimbabwe President
Robert Mugabe arrived in Beijing for a visit expected to include a
plea for oil and food to aid his state's failing economy.
(AP, 7/23/05)
2005 Aug 18, A pride of lions
attacked a Japanese woman (50) visiting the Lion and Cheetah Park at
Norton, a Zimbabwe wildlife park. She died the next day.
(AP, 8/21/05)
2005 Aug 30, Zimbabwe lawmakers
endorsed a constitutional overhaul that sharply restricts property
rights and allows Zimbabwe's government to deny passports to its
critics.
(AP, 8/30/05)
2005 Aug 30, Australia and New
Zealand lobbied the United Nations Security Council to indict
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his government in the
International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
(AP, 8/30/05)
2005 Aug 31, Zimbabwe state
television said the country has paid back 120 million dollars of its
300-million-dollar (245-million-euro) debt to the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), which had threatened to expel Harare for
arrears.
(AFP, 8/31/05)
2005 Sep 7, Farmers and other
experts said Zimbabwe, once a regional breadbasket, is facing its
worst agricultural season since independence in 1980, with shortages
of seed, fertilizer and equipment threatening next year's harvest
before it even has been planted.
(AP, 9/7/05)
2005 Sep 9, Zimbabwe’s
President Robert Mugabe signed amendments that adopted
constitutional changes that make it easier for the state to seize
private property and prevent opponents from traveling abroad to
criticize his 25-year rule. The constitutional overhaul stripped
landowners of their right to appeal expropriation of their property
by the state and declared all real estate is now on a 99-year lease
from the government.
(AP, 9/12/05)
2005 Sep 10, Zimbabwe President
Robert Mugabe arrived in Cuba, criticizing the International
Monetary Fund, even though the organization a day earlier deferred a
decision for six months on whether to expel the African nation.
(AP, 9/10/05)
2005 Sep 16, Zimbabwe's Pres.
Mugabe said that his government will take a stake in privately
operated mining enterprises, but he does not intend to nationalize
the industry as he has commercial farmland.
(AP, 9/16/05)
2005 Sep 22, In Britain 8
Zimbabwean soccer players and two officials deserted their teams
after a tour, joining thousands of fellow citizens who have sought
refuge abroad over a serious political and economic crisis at home.
(AP, 9/24/05)
2005 Oct 5, The official Herald
newspaper reported Zimbabwe needs to import more grain to feed at
least 2.2 million needy people who cannot fend for themselves until
the new harvest next April.
(AP, 10/5/05)
2005 Oct 19, Zimbabwean
Archbishop Pius Ncube said he feared 200,000 of his countrymen could
die by early next year because of food shortages he blamed on his
government, and called for President Robert Mugabe's ouster.
(AP, 10/19/05)
2005 Nov 8, President Robert
Mugabe told the US ambassador to Zimbabwe to "go to hell," after the
envoy blamed the country's economic and political crisis on
mismanagement and corrupt rule. Police detained several trade union
leaders and were out in force ahead of planned demonstrations to
protest worsening living conditions in Zimbabwe.
(AP, 11/8/05)
2005 Nov 11, Zimbabwean war
veterans demanded that US ambassador Christopher Dell leave the
country, accusing him of trying to cause unrest and threatening to
demonstrate against him if he stays.
(AP, 11/11/05)
2005 Nov 16, More than 150
international rights groups petitioned African governments and the
continent's main political union to act on what they called a
humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe.
(Reuters, 11/17/05)
2005 Nov 17, UN officials said
Zimbabwe has backtracked on its refusal to allow the UN to help
build emergency housing for people whose homes were demolished in a
government eviction campaign.
(AP, 11/17/05)
2005 Nov 20, Zimbabwe President
Robert Mugabe said he will turn to nuclear power by processing
recently discovered uranium deposits to resolve its chronic
electricity shortage.
(AP, 11/20/05)
2005 Nov 21, Zimbabwe's
state-owned national airline grounded its entire fleet after running
out of fuel as the southern African country's economy continues to
crumble.
(Reuters, 11/22/05)
2005 Nov 24, The UN food agency
said the United States has thrown a lifeline to six southern African
countries, donating food aid valued at $45 million. The food will be
distributed across Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia
and Zimbabwe.
(AP, 11/24/05)
2005 Nov 26, In Zimbabwe senate
elections drew a low turnout under partial boycotting by the
opposition over accusations the poll is designed to consolidate
President Robert Mugabe's rule.
(Reuters, 11/26/05)
2005 Nov 27, Zimbabwe's ruling
party swept an overwhelming majority of seats in a newly created
Senate, according to partial results from an election marked by
record-low turnout and a deeply divided opposition.
(AP, 11/27/05)
2005 Dec 1, Zimbabwe signed an
agreement with the UN food agency to feed at least 3 million people
after previously denying major shortages.
(AP, 12/01/05)
2005 Dec 10, Zimbabwe's
President Robert Mugabe conceded that shortcomings in his land
redistribution program contributed to critical food shortages as his
party wrapped up its annual conference.
(AP, 12/11/05)
2005 Dec 10, Zimbabwe's ruling
party recommended a crackdown on Western-sponsored groups hostile to
President Robert Mugabe and asked security forces to make a list of
people whose passports should be seized.
(Reuters, 12/11/05)
2006 Feb 14, Zimbabwe police
arrested at least 60 women who took part in a march with a
Valentine's Day theme calling for love and harmony and protesting
food shortages and alleged human rights violations.
(CP, 2/14/06)
2006 Feb 23, A powerful
earthquake sent thousands of panicking people fleeing from swaying
buildings in Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and killed at least two
people.
(AP, 2/23/06)
2006 Feb 25, In Zimbabwe Arthur
Mutambara, a former NASA researcher, was elected as president of a
faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). He vowed to
unite his divided party against the regime of Robert Mugabe which he
accused of creating chaos in the country.
(AFP, 2/26/06)
2006 Mar 3, Zimbabwe’s minister
of mines announced that 51% of all foreign mining shareholdings
would have to be transferred to the government.
(Econ, 3/18/06, p.64)
2006 Mar 5, Zimbabwe state
media reported that foreign hunters have bid a total of $1.5 million
to shoot leopards, lions, elephants and buffaloes in Zimbabwe this
year.
(AP, 3/5/06)
2006 Mar 11, In Zimbabwe
lawmaker Giles Mutseyekwa of the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) and seven others were formally charged with violating
security laws. The eight were rounded up on Mar 7-8 after security
agents had arrested one of the suspects identified as Mike Peter
Hitschmann over an arms cache found at his home in Mutare.
(AFP, 3/12/06)
2006 Mar 11, Zimbabwe’s Central
Statistical Office said inflation was 782 percent for the 12 months
that ended in February. Moffat Nyoni, acting director of the
government-run Statistical Office, said prices of food and
nonalcoholic beverages rose 824 percent during that time.
(AP, 3/11/06)
2006 Mar, Inflation in Zimbabwe
touched 914%. Unemployment was estimated at 80%.
(SFC, 5/2/06, p.A2)
2006 May 6, A local rights
group said Zimbabwe state security agents have stepped up the use of
torture against government opponents, with 19 cases reported in
March compared with three during the previous two months.
(Reuters, 5/6/06)
2006 May 15, Zimbabwe state
media reported that police, carrying out a massive monthlong
roundup, had detained thousands of capital residents, charging many
were responsible for crime in Harare.
(AP, 5/16/06)
2006 Jun 9, A panel of Zimbabwe
lawmakers reported that prisoners there face acute food shortages
and are going weeks without soap or toilet paper.
(AP, 6/9/06)
2006 Jul 18, Nearly 300
striking doctors in Zimbabwe ignored government demands for them to
return to hospital wards. The junior doctors walked out on July 13
after authorities extended their seven-year attachment to state
hospitals by another year, to be spent working at rural facilities.
(AP, 7/19/06)
2006 Jul 31, Zimbabwe devalued
its currency by 60% and slashed loan rates 550 points to 300%. 3
zeroes were off denominations amid 1200% inflation.
(WSJ, 8/1/06, p.A1)
2006 Aug 11, The Zimbabwe
Cabinet slashed fuel prices for private motorists by almost half,
but experts said the move could lead to further shortages and fail
to snuff out a flourishing black market.
(AFP, 8/18/06)
2006 Aug 16, The presidents of
South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe gathered for the official
opening the new Giriyondo border post linking South Africa and
Mozambique. This was another step in the creation of the 14,000
square mile Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which would span the
3 countries.
(SFC, 8/17/06, p.A2)
2006 Sep 13, Zimbabwe police
arrested trade union leaders and blocked streets and the main square
of the capital to thwart an anti-government march, and the main
labor federation apparently called off a planned nationwide strike
at the last minute.
(AP, 9/13/06)
2006 Sep 15, Zimbabwe said its
annual inflation rate has reached a new record high of more than
1,200% in August despite the conversion to a new currency designed
to halt the upwards spiral.
(AFP, 9/15/06)
2006 Nov 6, China's relations
with Zimbabwe are "unshakeable", President Hu Jintao said as he met
Pres. Mugabe amid accusations that Beijing's ties help shore up a
pariah regime.
(AFP, 11/6/06)
2006 Nov 16, Zimbabwe invited
more than 1,000 white farmers to collect compensation for property
seized during controversial lands reforms launched by President
Robert Mugabe's government.
(AP, 11/16/06)
2006 Nov 19, Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe left on a four-day state visit to Iran to
beef up trade and political ties.
(AP, 11/20/06)
2006 Nov 23, Farai Chiweshe,
deputy director for the Southern African Human Rights Trust
(SAHRIT), a leading Zimbabwean rights group, slammed President
Robert Mugabe's government for failing to ratify a United Nations
convention against torture and condoning its use by state agents.
(AFP, 11/23/06)
2006 Nov 30, Zimbabwe's finance
minister predicted marginal economic growth in the coming year and
that the country's four-figure inflation rate would dip to 350% as
he presented the budget for 2007.
(AFP, 11/30/06)
2006 Dec 1, Pres. Robert Mugabe
said Zimbabwe is showing the way for Africa in the fight against
HIV/AIDS. He urged Zimbabweans to take greater personal
responsibility in stopping the epidemic. HIV prevalence rate
declined to 18.1% this year from 25% five years ago.
(Reuters, 12/1/06)
2006 Dec 5, Zimbabwe's top
union body vowed to stage new protests against the government,
saying it had failed to address the plight of workers reeling under
four-digit inflation, high taxes and a shrinking labor market.
(AFP, 12/5/06)
2006 Dec 11, Zimbabwe said its
inflation spiral had risen to 1,098.8 percent last month, a 28.6%
hike, as experts cast doubts on state efforts to slash it to the
three-digit level. The inflation rate peaked at 1,204.6% in August.
Zimbabwe clinched a deal to export 5,000 tons of beef to Hong Kong
from next year, the first such long-distance order in five years.
(AFP, 12/11/06)
2006 Dec 17, Zimbabwe's ruling
party recommended that President Robert Mugabe's term be extended by
two years, to 2010, delaying a showdown between rival factions over
the choice of his successor. Opposition and rights groups vowed to
stage mass street protests against plans by Mugabe's supporters to
extend the veteran ruler's term by another two years.
(AP, 12/17/06)(AFP, 12/18/06)
2006 Dec 28, Zimbabwean police
said they had arrested at least 16,000 suspected gold panners and
seized more than three kilogram’s of gold in a sweeping crackdown on
illegal miners. The operation, codenamed "Chikorokoza Chapera" (The
End of Illegal Gold Dealings), was launched last month.
(AFP, 12/28/06)
2006 Dec 29, In Zimbabwe 17
elephants and a rhino were found killed. A game ranger based near
the famed Victoria Falls bordering the two countries was wounded.
Zambian poachers were suspected.
(AFP, 12/31/06)
2006 In Zimbabwe the Marange
diamond fields were discovered at the height of the country’s
political, economic and humanitarian crisis. Villagers rushed to the
area and began finding diamonds close to the surface.
(AP, 6/26/09)
2007 Jan 5, Senior doctors at
Zimbabwe's state hospitals joined junior doctors in a strike over
pay that has left patients stranded at the country's major medical
centers. Health Minister David Parirenyatwa told state radio
meanwhile that he had met with representatives of the striking
doctors and that they had agreed to return to work.
(AFP, 1/5/07)
2007 Jan 10, Zimbabwe’s central
statistics office (CSO) said inflation had hit a new record high of
1,281%, puncturing government hopes of reining in the galloping rate
which has left households struggling to make ends meet.
(AP, 1/10/07)
2007 Jan 11, Former Ethiopian
dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam was sentenced to life imprisonment,
ending his 12-year trial in absentia for genocide and other crimes
committed during his iron-fisted rule (1974-1991). Mariam lived
comfortably in exile in Zimbabwe, where Pres. Robert Mugabe has said
he won't deport Mengistu if he refrains from political activity.
(AP, 1/11/07)
2007 Jan 17, Morgan Tsvangirai,
Zimbabwe's main opposition leader, urged mass protests against
President Robert Mugabe's nearly 27-year-rule.
(AFP, 1/17/07)
2007 Jan 31, Zimbabwe's central
bank chief Gideon Gono unveiled a battery of belt-tightening
measures which include slashing the money supply and state spending
to put the brakes on four-digit inflation. The Zimbabwe dollar
traded at 250 against the greenback on the official market while
fetching up to 4,200 on the black market.
(AFP, 1/31/07)
2007 Feb 5, Teachers across
Zimbabwe began an indefinite industrial action to press for better
salaries and better working conditions.
(AFP, 2/5/07)
2007 Feb 7, Zimbabwe’s
President Robert Mugabe, under mounting pressure over a world
record-busting inflation rate and escalating strike action in the
public sector, sacked his finance minister. A union chief said 60
Zimbabwean junior doctors have been sacked from Harare's main
hospital after going on strike in December demanding salary hikes.
(AFP, 2/7/07)
2007 Feb 12, Zimbabwe's central
statistics office reported that the inflation rate, already the
highest in the world, had soared again by more than 300 points to
1,593% in January.
(AP, 2/12/07)
2007 Feb 18, Zimbabwe riot
police crushed an opposition rally amid government fears of a new
street campaign against President Robert Mugabe. Morgan Tsvangirai
cancelled a planned mass rally in Harare after police blocked
supporters from attending the gathering in defiance of a court
order.
(AFP, 2/18/07)(Reuters, 2/19/07)
2007 Feb 19, The EU extended
sanctions on Zimbabwe for another year including an arms embargo,
travel ban and asset freeze on President Robert Mugabe and other top
officials.
(AP, 2/19/07)
2007 Feb 23, Teachers across
Zimbabwe called off a 3-week strike for better wages and working
conditions after the government agreed to a near four-fold increase
in their pay.
(AP, 2/23/07)
2007 Feb 28, In Namibia
hundreds of people protested a visit by Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe, holding signs reading, "Go home dictator." The local
National Society for Human Rights called Mugabe's three-day state
visit an insult to Namibia.
(AP, 2/28/07)
2007 Mar 1, Zimbabwe's central
bank introduced two new bank notes as it battles a four figure rate
of inflation that is rapidly eroding the value of the local
currency. Zimbabwe state media reported that the government has
admitted that state agents are jamming radio broadcasts by foreign
stations deemed hostile to President Robert Mugabe's government.
(AP, 3/1/07)
2007 Mar 6, In Zimbabwe at
least 34 people were killed when a train collided with a minibus at
rail crossing on the outskirts of the capital Harare.
(AP, 3/6/07)
2007 Mar 9, Zimbabwe state
media said authorities have sealed off the eastern Marange diamond
fields as part of measures to prevent plundering of the site.
(AP, 3/9/07)
2007 Mar 11, Zimbabwe's main
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested as riot police
thwarted a planned mass demonstration in Harare against President
Robert Mugabe's government. Top opposition leaders were assaulted
and tortured by police who broke up a prayer meeting planned to
protest government policies. Tsvangirai suffered head injuries while
in police custody. Opposition militant Gift Tandare was killed as
police disbanded the prayer meeting. President Robert Mugabe (83)
said in an interview that he intends to stand in the country's next
presidential elections if they are held as scheduled in 2008.
(AFP, 3/11/07)(Reuters, 3/12/07)(AP, 3/19/07)
2007 Mar 14, In Zimbabwe Morgan
Tsvangirai (54), the country's main opposition leader, said that
police beat him repeatedly in the head, back, knees and arm and that
he lost a lot of blood in an attack that seemed intended "to inflict
as much harm as they could."
(AP, 3/14/07)
2007 Mar 15, A defiant
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe told his critics of his
government to "go hang" themselves in his first response to the
arrest and assault of opposition chief Morgan Tsvangirai. Tanzanian
President Jakaya Kikwete went into talks with Mugabe following
growing international condemnation of the crackdown on opposition
demonstrators.
(AFP, 3/15/07)
2007 Mar 17, Three Zimbabwean
opposition activists were arrested as they tried to leave the
country, including two who were allegedly beaten by police and were
going to South Africa to seek medical treatment. The African Union
(AU) expressed "great concern" about Zimbabwe's crisis and called
for human rights to be respected, after opposition members said they
were beaten after an anti-government protest.
(AP, 3/17/07)
2007 Mar 18, In Zimbabwe Nelson
Chamisa, a spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC), was prevented from leaving the country and suffered
serious injuries after being beaten up at Harare International
Airport.
(AFP, 3/18/07)
2007 Mar 20, Zambian President
Levy Mwanawasa urged southern Africa to take a new approach to
Zimbabwe, which he likened to a "sinking Titanic" as millions flee
economic and political turmoil.
(Reuters, 3/21/07)
2007 Mar 21, PM Tony Blair said
Britain would urge the EU to impose tougher sanctions on Zimbabwe,
describing the situation there as "appalling, disgraceful and
utterly tragic."
(AFP, 3/21/07)
2007 Mar 22, Zimbabwe's
Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube urged his countrymen to stand up to
the iron-fisted government of President Robert Mugabe. State-media
reported that the Zimbabwean government has urged African nations to
join hands to fight domination by powerful Western countries. A
Harare court ruled that injured activists could seek treatment
abroad.
(AFP, 3/22/07)(Reuters, 3/22/07)
2007 Mar 23, Australia called
on South Africa to pressure Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe to
quit, saying the 83-year-old leader was a disaster for his country.
South Africa defended its policy on Zimbabwe as the only way to
approach Mugabe's authoritarian government and said African nations
might convene a summit to deal with the crisis.
(AFP, 3/23/07)(Reuters, 3/23/07)
2007 Mar 24, In southwestern
Zimbabwe a British woman and her 10-year-old daughter were killed by
a rogue elephant while her husband escaped unhurt during a walking
safari at Hwange National Park.
(AFP, 3/27/07)(SSFC, 4/1/07, p.G2)
2007 Mar 28, Police stormed the
offices of Zimbabwe's main opposition party and arrested leader
Morgan Tsvangirai, hours before he planned to talk to reporters
about a wave of political violence that had left him briefly
hospitalized. Tsvangirai was released after several hours.
(AP, 3/28/07)(AP, 3/29/07)
2007 Mar 31, In Zimbabwe the
body of Edward Chikombo, an independent journalist, was found. He
had been missing since March 29. A lawyer for another reporter
arrested under sweeping media laws said he was assaulted and
tortured in custody. Chikombo had conveyed the picture of Morgan
Tsvangirai’s battered head (see March 24) to the wider world. On
April 6 Zimbabwe police opened a murder investigation into his
death.
(AP, 4/6/07)(Econ, 10/9/10, p.36)
2007 Mar 29, In Tanzania
African leaders rallied around President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe,
ignoring calls for tougher action against him and suggesting
dialogue as the solution to his country's deepening political
crisis.
(Reuters, 3/29/07)
2007 Apr 3, In Zimbabwe trucks
of riot police drove through Harare and military helicopters flew
overhead on the first day of a national strike to protest deepening
economic hardships blamed on the government of President Robert
Mugabe. The strike received a cool response from workers worried
about forfeiting vital wages. A UN study said Zimbabwe was Africa's
worst economic performer in 2006.
(AP, 4/3/07)(AFP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 4, Offices and
factories in Zimbabwe's two main cities were operating as normal on
the second day of a 48-hour strike called by the main labor
organization over the deepening economic crisis. Many workers
appeared to have shunned the call on the second day of the stoppage
organized by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).
(AFP, 4/4/07)
2007 Apr 9, In an Easter
message pinned to church bulletin boards around the country,
Zimbabwe's Roman Catholic bishops called on President Robert Mugabe
to leave office or face "open revolt" from those suffering under his
government.
(AP, 4/9/07)
2007 Apr 12, Zimbabwe
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai expressed optimism about planned
talks between his party and President Robert Mugabe's government to
end the crisis in the country.
(AFP, 4/12/07)
2007 Apr 17, State radio said
Zimbabwe has deregistered all non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
and told them to submit new applications to try to weed out groups
it says are trying to oust President Robert Mugabe.
(AP, 4/17/07)
2007 Apr 19, In Zimbabwe 82
members of the Women of Zimbabwe Arise group were arrested in
Bulawayo during a protest against power outages. 18 of the women
were stripped and jailed for hours.
(SFC, 4/23/07, p.A10)
2007 Apr 21, A Zimbabwe cabinet
minister said the Chinese government has given Zimbabwe a 58 million
dollars financing facility that will be used to purchase farming
equipment, implements and tools.
(AP, 4/22/07)
2007 Apr 26, Zimbabwe's central
bank governor Gideon Gono said the annual rate of inflation, already
the highest in the world, rose to 2,200 percent last month.
(AP, 4/26/07)
2007 Apr 28, Zimbabwe announced
new controls to clamp down on charities and other humanitarian
organizations, including democracy and human rights groups that the
government accuses of campaigning against it. A state daily reported
that Zimbabwe has compensated 800 white farmers for property seized
during controversial land reforms launched by President Robert
Mugabe's government.
(AP, 4/28/07)
2007 May 1, Zimbabwe boosted
the price of corn meal, a keystone of the nation’s diet, by nearly
600%.
(WSJ, 5/2/07, p.A1)(AP, 5/7/07)
2007 May 2, Isaac Matongo (60),
the chairman of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) and former trade unionist, died.
(AP, 5/2/07)
2007 May 5, A state daily said
Zimbabwe has lost about 40 black rhinos to poachers who have killed
the animals in some government parks and conservancies over the past
3 years.
(AP, 5/5/07)
2007 May 8, In Zimbabwe riot
police violently broke up a demonstration by dozens of lawyers
protesting the arrest of two colleagues outside the High Court in
Harare.
(AP, 5/8/07)
2007 May 9, Zimbabweans braced
for darker days after President Robert Mugabe's government announced
20-hour daily electricity cuts for households across the country.
(AP, 5/9/07)
2007 May 9, A Zimbabwean court
authorized the extradition of Briton Simon Mann to Equatorial Guinea
on coup plot charges, sweeping aside concerns that he might face
torture or invalid justice there.
(AFP, 5/9/07)
2007 May 11, Zimbabwe won
approval, in a vote of 26-21 with three abstentions, to lead the
important UN Commission on Sustainable Development despite protests
from the US, European nations and human rights organizations.
African members nominated Francis Nhema, Zimbabwe's minister of
environment and tourism, for the post.
(AP, 5/12/07)(Econ, 5/19/07, p.49)
2007 May 13, Australia’s PM
John Howard said the Australian government has banned the country's
cricket team from touring Zimbabwe in September because he does not
want to support the regime of a "grubby dictator."
(AP, 5/13/07)
2007 May 15, In Zimbabwe a
spokesman said dozens of doctors at four of the largest state
hospitals have gone on strike to demand higher pay.
(AFP, 5/15/07)
2007 May 17, Analysts warned
that a new pricing law approved by Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe, as inflation exceeded 3,700%, could worsen rather than
relieve widespread shortages and price rises.
(AP, 5/17/07)
2007 May 24, Zimbabwe police
slapped a new ban on political rallies and demonstrations in parts
of the capital Harare, citing a recent spate of "disturbances."
(AFP, 5/24/07)
2007 May 26, Zimbabwe riot
police arrested more than 200 opposition activists and officials
during a meeting they were holding at their party headquarters in
Harare.
(Reuters, 5/26/07)
2007 May 27, Zimbabwean police
freed the bulk of 200 youth opposition activists arrested in a raid
on their party headquarters.
(AFP, 5/27/07)
2007 May 29, State media said
Zimbabwe will put 40,000 more people on life saving anti-retroviral
drugs by the end of the year despite an economic crisis.
(AP, 5/29/07)
2007 Jun 5, Zimbabwe's
electricity provider raised tariffs for both domestic and commercial
customers by 50 percent at a time when a major outage has left large
parts of the country without power.
(AP, 6/5/07)
2007 Jun 7, Zimbabwe received
15 million dollars worth of anti-retroviral drugs from the United
States government to bolster its fight against HIV and AIDS.
(AP, 6/8/07)
2007 Jun 8, The Zimbabwean
government published a draft bill to amend the country's
constitution, provide for harmonized presidential and parliamentary
polls and reduce the presidential term. A party spokesman said 11
Zimbabwean opposition supporters, who had been detained for two
months for an alleged "terrorism" plot, have been released after a
court ordered the charges to be dropped.
(AFP, 6/8/07)(AFP, 6/9/07)
2007 Jun 13, Zimbabwe’s
country's consumer watchdog said in its latest report that the cost
of living for an average urban family rose by 66 percent last month.
(AP, 6/13/07)
2007 Jun 14, In the Netherlands
four African states (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe),
after an 18-year ban, were allowed to put their ivory stocks on the
market in a one-time sale as part of a hard-fought compromise
reached with other Africans who tried to block the sale. The
171-member Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species,
or CITES, approved the deal by consensus.
(AP, 6/14/07)
2007 Jun 22, Zimbabwe's
currency plunged to new depths as the US ambassador to Harare
predicted galloping inflation will force Pres. Mugabe from office
before the end of the year. Inflation hovered at around 4,500% and 8
of 10 citizens did not have formal jobs.
(AP, 6/22/07)(Econ, 6/23/07, p.56)
2007 Jun 26, Zimbabwe's
government announced sweeping price cuts in a bid to curb inflation
and said it set up a unit drawn from all its security agencies to
enforce the cuts. Retailers shunned a new government order to slash
the prices of basic goods such as bread and sugar, arguing that such
a move would drive them out of business.
(AFP, 6/26/07)(AP, 6/26/07)
2007 Jun 28, Zimbabwe ordered a
blanket freeze on the prices of all goods and services, urging
members of the public to blow the whistle on retailers who ignore
the latest edict.
(AFP, 6/28/07)
2007 Jul 1, The state-run
Sunday Mail said a senator from Zimbabwe's ruling party and 20
business people have been arrested for flouting a government-imposed
ceiling on basic commodity prices.
(AFP, 7/1/07)
2007 Jul 7, Zimbabwe's
government announced a new law making it an offense to defy steep
price cuts ordered in an effort to control runaway inflation and a
growing economic crisis.
(AP, 7/7/07)
2007 Jul 8, Zimbabwe’s official
media said police have arrested 16 more business leaders in a
crackdown on those suspected of violating the government's order to
slash prices by 50%.
(AP, 7/8/07)
2007 Jul 9, Zimbabwe police
said more than 1,300 shop owners and business managers have been
arrested as part of a crackdown on firms accused of flouting
government-imposed price controls. Thousands of students were
evicted from Zimbabwe's main university campus after they protested
at the weekend against a decision to deny them food for not paying
their fees.
(AFP, 7/9/07)
2007 Jul 10, Zimbabwe police
said hundreds more business executives and store managers have been
arrested as part of a crackdown on violations of a
government-ordered price freeze.
(AFP, 7/10/07)
2007 Jul 13, Authorities in
Zimbabwe announced the arrest of hundreds more retailers and
executives as part of an ongoing price crackdown as it emerged the
head of the central bank had warned against the blitz.
(AP, 7/13/07)
2007 Jul 16, Zimbabwean Roman
Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube was named in an adultery case. State
radio reported that a woman, identified as Rosemary Sibanda,
"admitted the affair" to the state broadcasting company. The radio
report said the woman's husband, Onesimus Sibanda, was demanding
$160,000 in damages.
(AP, 7/16/07)
2007 Jul 16, The University of
Edinburgh confirmed that it had withdrawn an honorary doctorate
awarded to Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe in 1984, because of
concern over his human rights record.
(AP, 7/16/07)
2007 Jul 17, The US offered
additional food aid to Zimbabwe to ease its famine but criticized
what it said were reckless actions by Pres. Robert Mugabe to try to
deal with the problem.
(AP, 7/17/07)
2007 Jul 21, Zimbabwe’s
official Herald newspaper said the government had revived the
Zimbabwe State Trading Corporation (ZSTC) to work alongside the
state Zimbabwe Development Corporation (ZDC) "as vehicles for
acquiring companies that it might want to take over for engaging in
economic sabotage."
(AP, 7/21/07)
2007 Jul 23, Abel Mutsakani,
the editor of an independent Zimbabwean news service based in South
Africa, was shot and seriously wounded in Johannesburg.
(AP, 7/26/07)
2007 Jul 25, State television
reported that Zimbabwe is to import 200,000 tons of the staple maize
from Tanzania to avert widespread food shortages following a poor
harvest. An international rights group said Zimbabwe's government
routinely arrests and tortures women's rights activists as part of a
crackdown on protests against President Mugabe and his policies.
(AP, 7/25/07)
2007 Jul 26, Zimbabwe state
media reported that nearly 5,000 store owners, managers and business
executives have been arrested since the government began its
campaign to slash prices last month.
(AP, 7/26/07)
2007 Jul 27, Zimbabwe's former
finance minister Chris Kuruneri was acquitted by the high court for
allegedly smuggling money abroad to build a house in South Africa.
(AFP, 7/28/07)
2007 Jul 28, In Zimbabwe Arthur
Mutambara, leader of the breakaway faction of the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC), said on that the country could not wait for
outsiders to liberate them from on-going political and economic
problems.
(AFP, 7/28/07)
2007 Jul 31, Zimbabwe's central
bank introduced yet another higher denomination banknote as it
grappled with runaway inflation which is rendering lower-value
banknotes useless. The new 200,000-Zimbabwe dollar bearer check is
worth 800 US dollars at the official rate and one US dollar at the
parallel market rate.
(AFP, 7/31/07)
2007 Aug 3, In Zimbabwe the
Interception of Communication Act was published in the government
gazette. The bill, signed by President Robert Mugabe, allows the
state to eavesdrop on private phone conversations and monitor faxes
and emails.
(AFP, 8/3/07)
2007 Aug 6, Zimbabwe police
said at least 7,600 shop managers and business executives have been
arrested in a crackdown on businesses accused of profiteering, as
President Robert Mugabe vowed to continue the blitz.
(AP, 8/6/07)
2007 Aug 12, In north-eastern
Zimbabwe at least 9 people were killed and around 50 injured when a
bus collided with a car.
(AFP, 8/13/07)
2007 Aug 15, Hordes of shoppers
desperate to buy sugar amid severe shortages stampeded at a shopping
complex in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second-largest city, killing a
15-year-old boy and a security guard.
(AP, 8/16/07)
2007 Aug 16, The 14-member
Southern African Development Community (SADC) met in Lusaka, Zambia
for its 27th summit. The 2-day summit provided scant hope for the
people of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe rejected the need for political reform
at the summit of regional leaders that is meant to find ways to ease
the country's political and economic crisis.
(AP, 8/16/07)(Econ, 8/25/07,
p.43)(www.dfa.gov.za/docs/2007/sadc0820.htm)
2007 Aug 22, Zimbabwe's main
opposition party denounced a two-month voter registration program as
a sham, saying its aim was to boost President Robert Mugabe's
chances of victory in next year's elections. State media reported
that Zimbabwe's government has authorized retailers to raise the
prices of basic goods in order to ease widespread shortages which
followed the imposition of price cuts.
(AFP, 8/22/07)(AP, 8/22/07)
2007 Aug 29, Thousands of
hardline supporters of Robert Mugabe marched through Harare,
denouncing the Zimbabwe president's Western critics and endorsing
his controversial program of farm seizures. Zimbabwe's state media
called on the government to sever ties with Australia, accusing PM
John Howard's government of seeking to topple Pres. Mugabe.
(AP, 8/29/07)
2007 Aug 31, State media said
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has banned all pay rises without
authorization and given himself extra powers in a new bid to curb
the world's highest inflation rate.
(AP, 8/31/07)
2007 Sep 1, State media
reported that Zimbabwe's government will allow hotels, restaurants
and bars to raise their rates by up to 50 percent. A woman and a
child were killed in stampedes at an agriculture show in Harare
packed with people lured by scarce snack foods and cheap Chinese
toys and exhibitors hoping to skirt a government price freeze and
sell their animals.
(AP, 9/1/07)(AP, 9/2/07)
2007 Sep 3, The Zimbabwean
government completed its takeover of the country's leading cooking
oil manufacturer by acquiring US food giant H.J Heinz's 49% stake
for 6.8 million dollars.
(AFP, 9/3/07)
2007 Sep 5, Canada’s ambassador
to Zimbabwe said the number of people facing serious food shortages
there is expected to grow to 4.1 million over the first quarter of
next year.
(AP, 9/5/07)
2007 Sep 11, In Zimbabwe
Archbishop Pius Ncube, a leading critic of President Robert Mugabe,
resigned after an adultery scandal but said he would not be silenced
by the "wicked regime."
(AFP, 9/11/07)
2007 Sep 16, Reports said the
Zimbabwean government has reversed a ban on pay increases put in
place in a bid to curb the world's highest inflation rate.
(AP, 9/16/07)
2007 Sep 18, Zimbabwe's main
opposition party reached an agreement with the government on the
adoption of a bill which paves the way for joint presidential and
legislative elections next year. Police said 17 police officers have
been arrested on charges of corruption and trading in diamonds while
guarding a mine in the country's eastern district.
(AFP, 9/18/07)(AFP, 9/19/07)
2007 Sep 20, Zimbabwe lawmakers
voted unanimously in favor of a constitutional amendment that
critics say further consolidates ruling party power, but is hailed
by the government and opposition as a breakthrough in easing the
political and economic crisis.
(AP, 9/20/07)
2007 Sep 22, To date 144
countries had ratified the UN Convention Against Torture. Holdouts
included Sudan, North Korea, Myanmar, Zimbabwe and India.
(Econ, 9/22/07, p.72)
2007 Oct 1, Zimbabwe's central
bank chief warned of "dangers" in a bill approved by legislators
which says that locals must own a majority of foreign-run firms.
(AFP, 10/2/07)
2007 Oct 2, Shop owners said
Zimbabwe's supermarkets have run out of bread after bakers were
forced to suspend their operations due to a critical shortage of
wheat.
(AFP, 10/2/07)
2007 Oct 3, Teachers at state
schools across inflation-ravaged Zimbabwe began an indefinite strike
to press for better salaries.
(AP, 10/3/07)
2007 Oct 4, A union official
said Zimbabwean teachers have called off a strike for better wages
after reaching a deal with the government.
(AFP, 10/4/07)
2007 Oct 10, Zimbabwe said it
will import 30,000 tons of wheat from its neighbors in a bid to ease
widespread bread shortages of bread. The human rights group Women of
Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) said Zimbabwean security forces routinely
torture and sexually abuse women opposed to President Robert
Mugabe's government.
(AFP, 10/10/07)(Reuters, 10/10/07)
2007 Oct 11, Eleven of
Zimbabwe's last remaining white farmers lost a bid to stay on their
farms while appealing the orders and are to be tried for defying
government eviction notices.
(AFP, 10/11/07)
2007 Oct 12, The Zimbabwean
government authorized new increases in the prices of basis
foodstuffs in a bid to ease widespread shortages that followed an
order for retailers to halve their tariffs. The government allowed
bakers to increase the price of a loaf of bread by more than 200
percent, as shortages persisted across the country.
(AP, 10/12/07)(AFP, 10/14/07)
2007 Oct 24, Zimbabwe's central
bank chief pledged that empty shop shelves would soon be replenished
as he denounced the "anarchy" inspired by the government's order for
retailers to slash their prices in half.
(AP, 10/24/07)
2007 Oct 25,
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe launched an intelligence
academy named after him, saying it would produce officers able to
counter growing threats from Western powers.
(Reuters, 10/26/07)
2007 Nov 1, State media
reported that Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe signed a law giving
him more power to choose his successor. The new law also provides
for simultaneous presidential and parliamentary polls next year.
(AP, 11/1/07)
2007 Nov 5, Zimbabwe's supreme
court ruled the government can seize equipment belonging to white
farmers whose properties were expropriated under controversial land
reforms.
(AFP, 11/6/07)
2007 Nov 6, Zimbabwe’s Attorney
General Sobusa Gula-Ndebele was briefly detained over allegations he
promised to help a fugitive banker who had fled the southern African
nation avoid arrest. Police said he faces corruption charges.
(Reuters, 11/8/07)
2007 Nov 15, President Robert
Mugabe commissioned the first biodiesel production plant in
oil-starved Zimbabwe, vowing that the country would "never
collapse."
(AP, 11/15/07)
2007 Nov 19, President Robert
Mugabe's government published a draft bill forcing mining firms to
transfer majority shareholdings to local owners, including giving
the Zimbabwe government a free 25 percent stake.
(AP, 11/19/07)
2007 Nov 20, Ian Smith (88),
Rhodesia's last white prime minister, died in South Africa . His
attempts to resist black rule dragged the country, later renamed as
Zimbabwe, into isolation and civil war.
(AP, 11/20/07)(SFC, 11/23/07, p.B14)(Econ,
11/24/07, p.92)
2007 Nov 28, Senegalese
President Abdoulaye Wade said he will propose the creation of a
committee of African heads of state to mend broken relations between
Zimbabwe and former colonial power Britain.
(AFP, 11/28/07)
2007 Nov 30, Thousands of
Zimbabwean war veterans gathered in Harare to lead a "million-man
march" in support of President Robert Mugabe's bid to extend his
rule despite a severe economic crisis blamed on his government.
Thousands of ZANU-PF supporters were ferried into the capital by bus
and train.
(Reuters, 11/30/07)
2007 Dec 6, Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe arrived in Lisbon for an EU-Africa summit,
which British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is boycotting because he
would not "sit down at the same table" as him.
(Reuters, 12/6/07)
2007 Dec 8, In Spain German
Chancellor Angela Merkel challenged European and African leaders to
confront human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, putting the country's
president Robert Mugabe in the spotlight at an EU-Africa summit.
(AP, 12/8/07)
2007 Dec 14, Zimbabwe reserve
bank governor Gideon Gono on said President Robert Mugabe's cronies
were fuelling the country's runaway inflation through illicit
dealings. Amnesty International said Zimbabwean police are still
beating and torturing human rights activists and opponents of the
government despite mediation efforts launched by fellow African
nations.
(AP, 12/14/07)(AFP, 12/14/07)
2007 Dec 15, President Robert
Mugabe suspended Sobusa Gula-Ndebele, Zimbabwe's attorney general,
and appointed a three-member tribunal to investigate allegations
that the state's highest law officer abused his powers.
(AP, 12/15/07)
2007 Dec 18, The Zimbabwe
government introduced amendments to tough security and media laws,
which critics said were used by President Robert Mugabe to stifle
opposition to his 27-year rule.
(AFP, 12/18/07)
2007 Dec 27, In southern
Zimbabwe floodwaters swept a truck down a raging river, killing 7
people. Their deaths bring the number of drownings in Zimbabwe to 21
in the past month.
(AP, 12/28/07)
2007 Dec 28, In Zimbabwe junior
doctors and nurses at major state hospitals went on strike to press
for higher pay and improved working conditions.
(AFP, 12/30/07)
2007 Dec 29, Zimbabweans formed
queues at banks to beat a December 31 deadline to hand in a currency
series phased out by the central bank.
(AP, 12/29/07)
2007 Peter Godwin authored
“When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa,” a description
of the collapse of Zimbabwe after 2000. This was his 2nd book in a
trilogy that began with “Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa.” The 3rd
volume was “The Fear: The Last Days of Robert Mugabe” (2010).
(Econ, 10/23/10, p.101)
2007 Zimbabwe and Namibia
entered into an agreement under which Namibia gave Zimbabwe a
40-million-dollar loan for repairs to its thermal power stations
while Zimbabwe would pay back by exporting electricity to Namibia.
(AFP, 1/13/10)
2007 The population of Zimbabwe
was about 13 million. 3 million were thought to have left, mostly to
South Africa, due to the economic crises.
(Econ, 8/11/07, p.37)
2008 Jan 4, Zimbabwe’s
state-owned The Herald daily reported that a diarrhea outbreak has
hit Harare following weeks of uncollected garbage, sewer blockages
and erratic water supplies.
(AFP, 1/4/08)
2008 Jan 6, Zimbabwe state
media reported that the government has awarded an immediate 600% pay
rise to striking magistrates and prosecutors in a bid to end a
3-month work stoppage.
(AP, 1/6/08)
2008 Jan 19, Nationwide power
outages shut down basic services across Zambia and Zimbabwe as anger
mounted in South Africa over power cuts that have wreaked havoc in
the continent's economic hub.
(AP, 1/20/08)
2008 Jan 24, Zimbabwean police
arrested Nicholas van Hoogstraten (63), a British businessman, after
finding a large quantity of foreign currency and alleged
pornographic material in his possession. In 2002 the
multi-millionaire was convicted of the manslaughter of an associate
and was sentenced to ten years imprisonment but the conviction was
quashed the following year and he was freed. On Jan 29 a Zimbabwe
court ordered his release.
(AFP, 1/26/08)(AFP, 1/29/08)
2008 Jan 30, South African
police raided a downtown Johannesburg church late at night where
hundreds of Zimbabweans had taken refuge, hauling people in pajamas
to a police station in scenes reminiscent of apartheid-era raids.
(AP, 1/31/08)
2008 Feb 5, Simba Makoni, a
senior member of Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party, said he would run
for president at the March 29 election in the first major internal
challenge to Robert Mugabe in 20 years.
(Reuters, 2/5/08)
2008 Feb 13, Zimbabwean
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai urged South African President
Thabo Mbeki to show some "courage" and pressure Robert Mugabe ahead
of next month's elections. Former finance minister Simba Makoni
pledged to heal the wounds of Zimbabwe as he unveiled his manifesto
for next month's election battle against veteran President Robert
Mugabe.
(AFP, 2/13/08)
2008 Feb 14, Zimbabwe's
inflation rate, already the highest in the world, soared to a new
high of 66,212.3%.
(AFP, 2/14/08)
2008 Feb 24, A rights group
said Zimbabwe's biggest state hospital has stopped surgical
operations because of a breakdown of equipment and shortages of
drugs.
(AFP, 2/24/08)
2008 Mar 9, A government
newspaper reported that Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has
signed into law a bill giving local owners the right to take
majority control of foreign companies, including mines and banks.
(Reuters, 3/9/08)
2008 Mar 14, In Zimbabwe the
teacher’s union said thousands of teachers state schools have ended
a 3-week strike after being awarded a 754% salary increase by the
government.
(AFP, 3/14/08)
2008 Mar 20, Morgan Tsvangirai,
Zimbabwe's main opposition leader and presidential candidate in
March 29 general elections, said that the voters' register was
filled with tens of thousands of ghost voters.
(AFP, 3/20/08)
2008 Mar 29, Zimbabweans lined
up for hours to vote in elections that present President Robert
Mugabe with his toughest political challenge in 28 years in power.
(AP, 3/29/08)
2008 Mar 30, Zimbabwe's
opposition said it had won the most crucial election since
independence, but President Robert Mugabe's government warned
premature victory claims would be seen as an attempted coup.
(AP, 3/30/08)
2008 Mar 31, Zimbabwe's
opposition Movement for Democratic Change and President Robert
Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF were on level-pegging, as the results
trickled in from a weekend general election. The MDC's own tally of
votes in 128 of the 210 parliamentary seats showed that its leader
Tsvangirai had secured 60 percent of votes against 30 for Mugabe in
the presidential race.
(AFP, 3/31/08)
2008 Mar, It was reported that
life expectancy in Zimbabwe, once the highest in sub-Saharan Africa,
had fallen to 36 years.
(Econ, 3/22/08, p.53)
2008 Apr 1, In Zimbabwe an
independent African monitor said top members of President Robert
Mugabe's party worried the government may have lost weekend
elections, even as a tediously slow release of results fueled fears
of rigging. A ruling party projection said opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai will beat President Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe's crucial
election, but be forced into a runoff vote in three weeks.
(AP, 4/1/08)(Reuters, 4/1/08)
2008 Apr 2, In Zimbabwe the
main opposition party claimed outright victory for its leader Morgan
Tsvangirai, saying he had won 50.3 percent of the vote compared to
43.8 percent for President Robert Mugabe.
(AP, 4/2/08)
2008 Apr 3, Zimbabwe's ruling
party geared up for a final battle to keep Robert Mugabe in power,
saying it was ready for a presidential election run-off with
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
(AFP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 4, In Zimbabwe the
ruling ZANU-PF party decided President Robert Mugabe should contest
a runoff vote against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai if neither
wins a majority in a presidential election. Hundreds of guerrilla
war veterans who support President Robert Mugabe marched through the
capital, raising fears he might turn to violence to prolong his
rule. Authorities introduced a new 50 million bank note, state media
reported. The new Zimbabwe dollar note is worth $1 in black market
trading and can buy just three loaves of bread.
(Reuters, 4/4/08)(AP, 4/4/08)
2008 Apr 5, Electoral officials
said Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF took 30 seats in elections for the
country's senate, or upper house of parliament, with the combined
opposition taking the same number. The president and tribal chiefs
are to appoint the remaining 93 seats. Opposition chief Morgan
Tsvangirai claimed outright victory in presidential elections and
warned Robert Mugabe's ruling party would resort to violence to
cling to power. 3 cattle ranchers were driven off their land, and
equipment and livestock were seized.
(Reuters, 4/5/08)(AFP, 4/5/08)(AP, 4/6/08)
2008 Apr 6, Zimbabwe’s state
Sunday Mail newspaper reported that President Robert Mugabe's ruling
party demanded a vote recount and a further delay in the release of
presidential election results, prompting outrage from the opposition
party. Several foreigners, including New York Times correspondent
Barry Bearak, remained in custody after being charged with
"illegally observing an election without official accreditation."
(AP, 4/6/08)
2008 Apr 7, Zimbabwe
authorities released Barry Bearak, a NY Times journalist, along with
an unidentified British citizen. They had been arrested last week
and accused of reporting without official accreditation.
(WSJ, 4/8/08, p.A10)
2008 Apr 8, Opposition
officials accused Zimbabwe's ruling party of orchestrating a
campaign of violence in remote rural areas in an effort to
intimidate opponents of President Robert Mugabe ahead of a likely
runoff election. A farmers' union said more than 60 mostly white
Zimbabwean farmers have been evicted from their land by war veterans
loyal to President Robert Mugabe since the weekend.
(AP, 4/8/08)(Reuters, 4/8/08)
2008 Apr 9, International calls
for Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe to release long-delayed results from a
presidential vote mounted as ruling party militants continued to
overrun white-owned farms and the opposition accused the government
of waging a campaign of violence.
(AP, 4/9/08)
2008 Apr 11, Zimbabwe state
radio said President Robert Mugabe will snub a regional summit at
the weekend that was expected to pressure him to release delayed
election results. Police said all political rallies had been banned
because officers were too busy guarding ballot boxes or deployed to
prevent post-election violence.
(Reuters, 4/11/08)
2008 Apr 12, African leaders
hoped to find a resolution to Zimbabwe's deepening political crisis
at an emergency summit in Zambia, but state media reported that
President Robert Mugabe would not attend the "unnecessary" meeting.
The Electoral Commission said it would conduct a full recount of the
presidential and parliamentary ballots cast in 23 constituencies,
all but one of them won by the opposition.
(AP, 4/12/08)(AP, 4/13/08)
2008 Apr 13, In Zambia African
leaders ended an emergency summit and called for the swift
verification of the Zimbabwe voting results in the presence of all
parties. The declaration fell far short of opposition calls for
neighboring leaders to pressure President Robert Mugabe to step down
after 28 years in power.
(AP, 4/13/08)
2008 Apr 14, Zimbabwe's High
Court rejected an opposition demand for the immediate release of
results the March 29 presidential election.
(AP, 4/14/08)
2008 Apr 15, An opposition
general strike to demand the release of Zimbabwe's delayed election
result flopped and the ruling party in South Africa said the
situation in the neighboring country was "dire."
(Reuters, 4/15/08)
2008 Apr 16, President Mugabe's
security forces clamped down hard on unrest during a general strike,
arresting dozens of opposition supporters before the stoppage
fizzled out. A coalition of Zimbabwean doctors said its members had
seen and treated more than 150 patients who had been beaten and
tortured since the elections at the end of March. A court acquitted
an American and a British reporter who had been charged with
covering Zimbabwe's March 29 election without official
accreditation.
(AFP, 4/16/08)(AP, 4/16/08)
2008 Apr 17,
Zimbabwe's government accused opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai of treason by plotting with former colonial power Britain
to oust veteran President Robert Mugabe. G8 foreign ministers called
for the swift release of the results of Zimbabwe's disputed
presidential polls, condemning recent violence there.
(AFP, 4/17/08)
2008 Apr 18,
South Africa's main transport union thwarted the delivery of a
controversial shipment of Chinese arms destined for Zimbabwe, saying
its workers would not offload the cargo. The Chinese ship left the
South African harbor and headed for neighboring Mozambique. Angola
and Mozambique said the ship is not welcome. China defended the
cargo against international criticism.
(AFP, 4/18/08)(AP, 4/19/08)(AFP, 4/22/08)(SFC,
4/23/08, p.A2)
2008 Apr 19,
Zimbabwe held a partial recount of votes from last month's
general election as the opposition accused President Robert Mugabe
and his party of trying to rig their way back to power.
(AFP, 4/19/08)
2008 Apr 20, Zimbabwe announced
a delay in the partial recount of its disputed March 29 election.
The opposition accused the authorities of waging a "war" that has
killed 10 people and injured 500 others since disputed parliamentary
and presidential elections. The secretary general of the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change said 400 opposition supporters have
been detained in Zimbabwe following the elections.
(AFP, 4/20/08)
2008 Apr 23, Zimbabwe state
media reported the first results from an election recount under way
showing President Robert Mugabe's party has won an additional
parliamentary seat. The recount in Goromonzi concluded with just a
one-vote difference from the original count from the poll, giving
the seat to Mugabe's ZANU-PF party,
(AP, 4/23/08)
2008 Apr 23, PM Gordon Brown
pledged that Britain would promote proposals for an arms embargo on
Zimbabwe.
(AP, 4/23/08)
2008 Apr 24, China said a
shipment of arms bound for Zimbabwe will be recalled after South
African workers refused to unload the vessel and other neighboring
countries barred it from their ports.
(Reuters, 4/24/08)
2008 Apr 25, In Zimbabwe
heavily armed police swooped down on opposition headquarters and
independent election observers' offices, arresting hundreds and
beating and shoving scores of people.
(AP, 4/25/08)
2008 Apr 26, Official results
showed Zimbabwe's main opposition movement has won a historic
victory over President Robert Mugabe's ruling party, but the outcome
of the presidential vote remained unknown.
(AP, 4/26/08)
2008 Apr 28, Lawyers in
Zimbabwe appealed for the release of some 200 jailed opposition
activists as officials defied pressure from the West to release the
results of last month's presidential election.
(AP, 4/28/08)
2008 Apr 30, Zimbabwe said it
has decided to float its local currency on foreign exchange markets
in an attempt to eliminate speculation on the black market. Farmers
tore up their tobacco crop in protest on the auction floors of
Harare as state price controls to combat hyperinflation threatened
to wipe out their profits. An unidentified senior official with
Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party said results from the March 29
election gave opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai 47% of the votes
while Mugabe trailed with 43%.
(AP, 4/30/08)(AP, 5/1/08)
2008 May 1, A cabinet minister
said a runoff will be necessary to decide Zimbabwe's presidential
election, citing the government's own election results.
(AP, 5/1/08)
2008 May 2, Zimbabwe elections
officials said opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won 47.9% of the
vote in the presidential elections, more than longtime President
Robert Mugabe but not enough to avoid a runoff. The opposition said
it was willing to share power with the ruling party, but not with
longtime President Robert Mugabe.
(AP, 5/2/08)
2008 May 5, In Zimbabwe 2
truckloads of youths, led by senior members of Pres. Mugabe’s party,
marauded through Chiweshe and beat to death 11 opposition activists.
(SFC, 5/8/08, p.A15)
2008 May 7, Zimbabwe, already
facing a presidential run-off, hit new electoral turmoil after the
ruling party and opposition filed legal challenges to half of the
parliamentary results from March's polls.
(AFP, 5/7/08)
2008 May 8, In Zimbabwe
farmers' groups said the ruling ZANU-PF has pushed 40,000 workers
off farms in a post-election campaign targeting supporters of the
opposition ahead of a possible presidential run-off. Pressure
mounted to admit foreign observers to oversee a presidential
election run-off amid fresh claims pro-government militias were
instilling terror in the countryside.
(Reuters, 5/8/08)(AFP, 5/8/08)
2008 May 9, South African
President Thabo Mbeki held intensive talks with veteran counterpart
Robert Mugabe over Zimbabwe's post-election crisis as doctors
reported a dramatic rise in violence.
(AP, 5/9/08)
2008 May 10, Morgan Tsvangirai,
Zimbabwe's opposition leader, said he would contest a presidential
runoff poll, but he called for peacekeepers and observers to ensure
a fair vote.
(AP, 5/10/08)
2008 May 15, Zimbabwe's
opposition reacted furiously to the prospect of a run-off poll being
delayed until the end of July, accusing authorities of flouting the
law to help Robert Mugabe cling to power. Zimbabwe introduced a new
half-a-billion dollar bank note in a bid to tackle cash shortages
fed by rampant inflation.
(AFP, 5/15/08)
2008 May 16, Zimbabwe's
President Robert Mugabe acknowledged he had suffered an electoral
disaster in losing a first round against arch rival Morgan
Tsvangirai, as the date for a run-off was fixed for June 27.
(AFP, 5/16/08)
2008 May 17, Zimbabwean
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai postponed his expected return
home to contest an election run-off after his party said it had
discovered an assassination plot against him.
(AP, 5/17/08)
2008 May 18, In South Africa
mobs killed at least six people and injured 50 in anti-foreigner
violence that has spread through poor suburbs of Johannesburg.
Zimbabweans were mainly targeted. The trouble started last week in
the sprawling township of Alexandra, where angry residents accused
foreigners of taking scarce jobs and housing.
(AP, 5/18/08)
2008 May 19, Zimbabwe's
opposition party accused the country's military of plotting to
assassinate the group's presidential candidate using snipers.
(AP, 5/19/08)
2008 May 24, Morgan Tsvangirai
returned to Zimbabwe for an election run-off with President Robert
Mugabe and said the veteran leader wanted to "decimate" MDC
structures.
(Reuters, 5/24/08)
2008 May 26, Zimbabwe’s
state-run Herald newspaper reported that President Robert Mugabe
will respect the will of voters if they end his 28-year rule in a
run-off election against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
(AP, 5/26/08)
2008 May 27, Zimbabwe's
opposition said a campaign of violence and intimidation designed to
fix President Robert Mugabe's re-election had now killed over 50 of
its supporters.
(AFP, 5/27/08)
2008 May 30, Zimbabwe’s
opposition declared itself the new ruling party and convened what if
called a session of Parliament.
(WSJ, 5/31/08, p.A1)
2008 May 31, Zimbabwe state
radio reported that 2 supporters of the ruling party have been shot
dead in the country's northeast over the last 2 days, amid mounting
violence ahead of a presidential run-off next month. Police arrested
Eric Matinenga, a lawyer of the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC), as he went to visit arrested members in Buhera where
more than 70 suspects had been arrested over recent outbreaks of
violence.
(AFP, 6/1/08)(Reuters, 6/3/08)
2008 Jun 1, In Zimbabwe police
in Harare jailed Arthur Mutambara, head of an MDC faction, for
allegedly making false statements that endangered state security.
(AP, 6/2/08)(Econ, 6/7/08, p.59)
2008 Jun 4, Zimbabwe police
detained opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai after his convoy was
stopped at a roadblock. The director of a national NGO association
said Zimbabwe has ordered aid groups Save the Children UK, CARE
International and ADRA to stop work in the country immediately due
to alleged political interference.
(AP, 6/4/08)(AFP, 6/4/08)(WSJ, 6/4/08, p.A1)
2008 Jun 5, Zimbabwe opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai vowed to push on with his bid to topple
Robert Mugabe at a run-off poll as he returned to the campaign trail
a day after being detained by police. The US Embassy said its
diplomats and British colleagues were attacked as they tried to
investigate Zimbabwe’s political violence.
(AP, 6/5/08)(AFP, 6/5/08)
2008 Jun 6, Zimbabwe police
briefly detained Zimbabwe's opposition presidential candidate for
the second time this week and told him the party's rallies had been
banned indefinitely three weeks before the runoff election.
(AP, 6/6/08)
2008 Jun 7, Zimbabwe's High
Court overturned a police ban on opposition rallies this weekend
ahead of the June 27 presidential run-off.
(Reuters, 6/7/08)
2008 Jun 9, The US said it will
spend seven million dollars to help international observers ensure
that presidential elections due at the end of the month in Zimbabwe
are free and fair.
(AFP, 6/9/08)
2008 Jun 10, Morgan Tsvangirai,
Zimbabwe's opposition leader, said the country was now effectively
being run by a military junta as he vowed that he would not accept a
victory for President Robert Mugabe at this month's poll.
(AFP, 6/10/08)
2008 Jun 10, Zambia’s state
media said Zambia has granted political asylum to a dozen Zimbabwe
opposition supporters who have fled mounting political violence
ahead of a run-off presidential election this month.
(AP, 6/10/08)
2008 Jun 11, Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe's party said it would deploy more war
veterans to campaign in some opposition areas ahead of a
presidential election run-off marred by violence. South African
President Thabo Mbeki said levels of violence in the approach to
Zimbabwe's run-off presidential election on June 27 are a cause for
"serious concern."
(Reuters, 6/11/08)(AFP, 6/11/08)
2008 Jun 12, Zimbabwe police
arrested opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai while he was
campaigning for the country's June 27 presidential run-off election.
The Zimbabwean opposition's secretary-general Tendai Biti was
arrested at Harare airport as he returned home from South Africa to
campaign for the June 27 election.
(AP, 6/12/08)
2008 Jun 12, The University of
Massachusetts rescinded an honorary law degree awarded 22 years ago
to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, calling his politics
"egregious" and his leadership an "assault on human rights."
(AP, 6/13/08)
2008 Jun 13, Zimbabwe's
President Robert Mugabe said liberation war veterans would take up
arms if he loses a June 27 presidential run-off vote. UNICEF said
some 500,000 Zimbabwean children are no longer getting the treatment
and food they urgently need since the government suspended the work
of humanitarian aid organizations.
(Reuters, 6/13/08)(AFP, 6/13/08)
2008 Jun 14, President Robert
Mugabe vowed that the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) would never rule Zimbabwe and that he was prepared to fight to
keep them from taking power. Zimbabwe opposition's number two leader
appeared in court to face a treason charge, while police again
detained opposition chief Morgan Tsvangirai ahead of this month's
presidential run-off election.
(Reuters, 6/14/08)(AFP, 6/14/08)
2008 Jun16, In Zimbabwe
Emmanuel Chiroto's house in the suburb of Hatcliffe was attacked and
destroyed by ZANU-PF supporters. Chiroto had been elected Mayor of
Harare. He was not present but his wife was later found beaten to
death.
(Econ, 6/28/08,
p.50)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Chiroto)
2008 Jun 18, The UN said up to
5 million people could go hungry in Zimbabwe next year due to a
steady drop in food production coupled with the world's highest rate
of inflation.
(AP, 6/18/08)
2008 Jun 19, Zimbabwe’s
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) opposition said 4 more
opposition activists and the wife of an MDC politician have been
killed, blaming the deaths on ruling party supporters. The MDC youth
members were abducted Jun 17 and their bodies were discovered in
various locations in Chitungwiza, southeast of Harare.
(AFP, 6/19/08)
2008 Jun 22, Zimbabwe’s
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said he is pulling out of this
week's presidential runoff due to mounting violence and intimidation
against his supporters.
(AP, 6/22/08)
2008 Jun 23, Zimbabwe police
raided the opposition party's headquarters and took away about 60
people, a day after the party's presidential candidate withdrew from
a runoff against longtime leader Robert Mugabe. Opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai took refuge at the Netherlands embassy in Harare.
World leaders challenged Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's
legitimacy and threatened sanctions. UN Security Council members
unanimously condemned Zimbabwe's government, saying it has waged a
"campaign of violence" that has made it impossible to hold a fair
presidential election. The Zimbabwe opposition said that one of its
lawmakers was in intensive care after being beaten up by President
Robert Mugabe's supporters ahead of an aborted campaign rally.
(AP, 6/23/08)(AFP, 6/23/08)(AP, 6/24/08)(AFP,
6/24/08)
2008 Jun 24, Zimbabwe's
opposition hand-delivered a letter to the country's electoral
commission confirming that its leader Morgan Tsvangirai will not
participate in this week's presidential run-off.
(AFP, 6/24/08)
2008 Jun 25, Zimbabwe's
opposition leader emerged from his refuge at the Dutch Embassy to
call for African leaders to guide talks to end Zimbabwe's crisis,
saying a presidential runoff this week was no solution. Morgan
Tsvangirai said the goal of the talks would be forming a coalition
transitional authority for his country.
(AP, 6/25/08)
2008 Jun 26, Zimbabwe's
President Robert Mugabe held final campaign rallies on the eve of a
one-man election denounced as a sham by the West after the
opposition leader pulled out of the contest.
(AP, 6/26/08)
2008 Jun 27, In Zimbabwe
marshals led voters to polling stations and bands of government
supporters harassed people in the street as the government held an
internationally discredited, one-candidate presidential runoff
marked by intimidation. A film was taken by prison guard Shepherd
Yuda using a camera supplied by the Guardian newspaper. It was
smuggled out of Zimbabwe and showed prison staff being told by a war
veteran how to fill in their ballot papers for Mugabe.
(AP, 6/27/08)(Reuters, 7/5/08)
2008 Jun 28, The head of a
foreign observer mission said many Zimbabweans deliberately defaced
their ballots in a discredited presidential runoff with President
Robert Mugabe as the sole candidate, and voted only out of fear.
(AP, 6/28/08)
2008 Jun 29, In Zimbabwe
according to official results President Robert Mugabe (84) won an
overwhelming victory in the discredited, violence-wracked runoff
election. On BBC TV Archbishop Desmond Tutu said there is "a very
good argument" for sending an international force into Zimbabwe if
diplomatic pressure fails to sweep away President Robert Mugabe.
(AP, 6/29/08)(AFP, 6/29/08)
2008 Jun 30, In Egypt African
Union Commission chief Jean Ping told African leaders at a summit
that Africa must assume its responsibility in crisis-riven Zimbabwe.
(AFP, 6/30/08)
2008 Jul 1, The African Union,
meeting in Egypt, announced that it was extending the mandate of its
force in Somalia for another six months but urged the UN to take
over the peacekeeping mission. The African leaders also called for
dialogue between Zimbabwe's political foes and a national unity
government following President Robert Mugabe's widely discredited
reelection.
(AFP, 7/1/08)(AP, 7/2/08)
2008 Jul 1, Munich-based
Giesecke & Devrient, caved in to pressure from the German
government to stop supplying Zimbabwe with special blank paper
money. Zimbabwe required new notes every few weeks as the inflation
rate pushed well over one million percent.
(WSJ, 7/2/08, p.A1)
2008 Jul 2, Zimbabwe opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai rejected an African Union decision to keep
South Africa's president alone in charge of efforts to resolve
Zimbabwe's political crisis. The European Commission insisted that
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai should be named at the
head of any new government. South African President Thabo Mbeki
rejected the EU position.
(AP, 7/2/08)(AFP, 7/2/08)
2008 Jul 3, A group of around
200 Zimbabweans gathered outside the US embassy in Harare, pleading
for political asylum and food after being displaced in recent
election violence.
(AFP, 7/3/08)
2008 Jul 4, Robert Mugabe ruled
out the prospect of talks with his opponents on ending Zimbabwe's
political crisis unless they acknowledge his victory in the one-man
presidential election. Botswana's government urged its neighbors not
to recognize Mugabe's re-election as it reiterated calls for
Zimbabwe to be suspended from a regional bloc.
(AFP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 8, In Japan G8 leaders
endorsed halving world emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. The G8
also agreed to impose targeted sanctions against leading Zimbabwean
officials after a violent election last month that extended
President Robert Mugabe's 28-year rule.
(AP, 7/8/08)
2008 Jul 10, European Union
lawmakers called for tougher EU sanctions against Zimbabwe,
including putting businessmen who finance Pres. Mugabe's regime on a
visa ban list.
(AP, 7/10/08)
2008 Jul 11, Zimbabwe’s
opposition Movement for Democratic Change said a total of 113 MDC
supporters have now been killed in politically-related violence.
Zimbabwe's ruling party and opposition held a second day of talks in
South Africa. A UN Security Council bid to pass sanctions against
Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe was vetoed by Russia and China.
(AP, 7/11/08)(AFP, 7/11/08)(AFP, 7/12/08)
2008 Jul 14, Britain vowed to
increase pressure on Zimbabwe's leaders by pushing for tougher EU
sanctions and hunting down their assets around the world, after
failing to secure bolstered UN action.
(AF, 7/14/08)
2008 Jul 16, Zimbabwe’s central
bank's governor said the annual rate of inflation, already the
highest in the world, has hit a new record level of 2.2 million
percent.
(AFP, 7/16/08)
2008 Jul 18, South Africa’s
Pres. Thabo Mbeki announced plans to work with the UN and African
Union as he attempts to mediate a settlement in Zimbabwe.
(SFC, 7/19/08, p.A8)
2008 Jul 20, A state newspaper
reported that Zimbabwe will transfer ownership of all foreign-owned
firms that support Western sanctions against President Robert
Mugabe's government to locals and investors from "friendly"
countries.
(Reuters, 7/20/08)
2008 Jul 21, In Zimbabwe
mediator South African Pres. Thabo Mbeki oversaw a ceremony in
Harare at which Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai signed an agreement for negotiations to bring the country
out of political chaos in their first meeting in a decade.
(AFP, 7/21/08)
2008 Jul 24, In South Africa
talks began in earnest on resolving Zimbabwe's political crisis
after President Robert Mugabe gave his senior lieutenants the final
go-ahead to negotiate power-sharing with the opposition.
(AP, 7/24/08)
2008 Jul 25, President George
W. Bush signed an order expanding US sanctions against the
"illegitimate" Zimbabwe government of President Robert Mugabe.
(Reuters, 7/25/08)
2008 Jul 29, Talks in South
Africa on Zimbabwe's political crisis broke up with no power-sharing
deal between President Robert Mugabe and his bitter rival Morgan
Tsvangirai in sight.
(AFP, 7/29/08)
2008 Jul 30, Zimbabwe’s reserve
bank said it will drop 10 zeros from its hyper-inflated currency —
turning 10 billion dollars into one. President Robert Mugabe
threatened a state of emergency if businesses profiteer from the
country's economic and political unraveling.
(AP, 7/30/08)
2008 Aug 3, Zimbabwe's rival
parties resumed power-sharing talks, a day ahead of the expiry of a
deadline to conclude discussions to end a ruinous political crisis.
(AFP, 8/3/08)
2008 Aug 6, Zimbabwe's ruling
ZANU-PF and the opposition MDC called on their supporters to end
political violence in the country. A newspaper reported that
President Robert Mugabe would have amnesty from prosecution and a
ceremonial role in government under a draft settlement to resolve
the country's crisis.
(Reuters, 8/6/08)(AFP, 8/6/08)
2008 Aug 10, South African
President Thabo Mbeki spent more than eight hours in talks with
Zimbabwe's president and opposition leaders to try to resolve a
deadly political dispute.
(AP, 8/10/08)
2008 Aug 13, South African
President Thabo Mbeki left Zimbabwe after failing to secure a
power-sharing deal between its main rivals during marathon talks,
adding to doubts over chances of an agreement.
(Reuters, 8/13/08)
2008 Aug 16, In South Africa a
regional summit of southern African leaders opened with Zimbabwe's
crisis high on the agenda, and with the country's main political
rivals in attendance.
(AP, 8/16/08)
2008 Aug 25, Zimbabwe's
opposition won the vote for speaker of the first parliament since
disputed elections in March, claiming votes even from the ruling
party of autocratic President Robert Mugabe amid stalled talks over
sharing power.
(AP, 8/25/08)
2008 Aug 26, Zimbabwe's
opposition heckled Robert Mugabe in an unprecedented show of
defiance when the president opened parliament with traditional pomp
and his familiar denunciations of the West.
(AP, 8/26/08)
2008 Aug 27, Zimbabwe's
opposition said it will not join any new government with President
Robert Mugabe until power-sharing talks are concluded, after the
84-year-old declared he would name his own cabinet.
(AFP, 8/27/08)
2008 Aug 29, In Zimbabwe
power-sharing talks over a unity government resumed as Mugabe's
government made good on a promise to allow aid agencies to resume
operations. Mugabe announced cash awards for Zimbabwe’s Olympic
winners. He called Kirsty Coventry, who won three silvers and a gold
at the Beijing games, Zimbabwe's "golden girl" and gave her
$100,000.
(AP, 8/29/08)(AP, 8/30/08)
2008 Aug 31, Zimbabwe's rival
parties returned home from talks in South Africa with no sign of a
power-sharing deal to resolve the country's bitter political crisis.
(AFP, 8/31/08)
2008 Sep 1, Zimbabwe's main
opposition called on regional powers to pressure President Robert
Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party to be more flexible in power-sharing
talks.
(AP, 9/1/08)
2008 Sep 4, Teachers in
Zimbabwe's public schools went on strike to press for higher pay,
despite a pay rise for civil servants announced by the government.
(AFP, 9/7/08)
2008 Sep 5, Canada joined the
US and EU in imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe's authoritarian regime
headed by President Robert Mugabe.
(AP, 9/6/08)
2008 Sep 7, Zimbabwean
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said his party would rather
withdraw from power-sharing talks than sign an unsatisfactory deal
and challenged President Robert Mugabe to call a new poll.
(AP, 9/7/08)
2008 Sep 11, President Robert
Mugabe and the opposition reached an accord in which they will wield
equal power in a unity government aimed at ending Zimbabwe's
protracted political crisis and economic meltdown. One source said
Mugabe will chair the cabinet, while Morgan Tsvangirai takes charge
of a national security council which consists of 31 cabinet
ministers.
(AFP, 9/12/08)
2008 Sep 11, Zimbabwe's health
minister said a cholera outbreak in a Harare suburb has killed at
least 11 people.
(AP, 9/11/08)
2008 Sep 15, President Robert
Mugabe relaxed his iron hold on Zimbabwe for the first time in
nearly three decades of one-man rule, forced by escalating economic
chaos into sharing power with his bitter political rivals. PM Morgan
Tsvangirai used his first platform as head of government to call on
Zimbabwe's rival political parties to work together to "unite" the
country.
(AP, 9/15/08)(AFP, 9/15/08)
2008 Sep 17, In Zimbabwe a
government-controlled newspaper said key aspects of the new
power-sharing deal won't go in effect until next month, adding to
concerns that President Robert Mugabe's agreement to cede some power
for the first time in 28 years will founder.
(AP, 9/17/08)
2008 Sep 19, Zimbabwe's ZANU-PF
and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) again failed to break a
deadlock over forming a cabinet after reaching a power-sharing deal.
(AP, 9/19/08)
2008 Sep 25, Zimbabwe's central
bank chief said nearly 600 shops had been licensed to sell goods in
foreign currency to fight the world's highest inflation rate and
critical shortages of basic goods.
(AFP, 9/25/08)
2008 Sep 27, Zimbabwe's main
opposition leader and designated prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai
said it was "urgent" the country form a new government to ensure
food supplies and prevent starvation.
(AP, 9/27/08)
2008 Sep 29, Zimbabwe's central
bank introduced 10,000- and 20,000-dollar bank notes to ease a cash
crunch in the country struggling to cope with the world's highest
inflation rate.
(AFP, 9/29/08)
2008 Oct 9, Zimbabwe's
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said that power-sharing talks
with President Robert Mugabe's government had stalled and outside
mediation was needed to break the deadlock. The UN food agency made
an urgent appeal for 140 million dollars (102 million euros) in food
aid for more than five million Zimbabweans facing severe hunger. A
state newspaper said Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate soared to 231
million percent in July.
(AFP, 10/9/08)
2008 Oct 10, Zimbabwe's
political rivals agreed to seek renewed mediation from former South
African President Thabo Mbeki to try to end deadlock over posts in a
unity government.
(Reuters, 10/10/08)
2008 Oct 11, Zimbabwe’s state
Herald newspaper published a list from the official government
gazette giving the ruling ZANU-PF party 14 ministries, including the
key portfolios of defense, home and foreign affairs, justice, media,
mines and land. This would allow 83-year-old Mugabe to retain his
iron grip on power. Opposition party spokesman Nelson Chamisa said
it was a "midnight ambush style of attack" and meant the proposed
national unity government was now in jeopardy.
(AP, 10/11/08)
2008 Oct 13, The EU condemned
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's "unilateral decision" to form a
new government and threatened fresh sanctions unless he respects a
power-sharing deal. Mugabe swore in his two vice presidents, casting
doubt on a new mediation effort aimed at saving a power-sharing deal
with the opposition.
(AFP, 10/13/08)
2008 Oct 15, Former South
African leader Thabo Mbeki opened a second day of talks with
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and his main rival to save a
power-sharing deal that has floundered over cabinet posts.
(AFP, 10/15/08)
2008 Oct 18, Zimbabwean
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai characterized failed talks to
form a unity government with President Robert Mugabe as "a
monologue" saying the veteran ruler refused to compromise on the
allocation of key ministries.
(AFP, 10/18/08)
2008 Oct 21, Zimbabwe's main
opposition party warned that unless its leader Morgan Tsvangirai is
issued a passport he will not attend a meeting next week aimed at
breaking a deadlock in power-sharing talks. The party also said that
only fresh elections would resolve a dispute over who controls key
cabinet posts, a make-or-break issue under a power-sharing pact
signed with President Robert Mugabe.
(AP, 10/21/08)(Reuters, 10/21/08)
2008 Oct 27, Leaders of a
Southern African bloc gathered in Zimbabwe to press President Robert
Mugabe and the main opposition leader to break an impasse on forming
a unity government.
(AP, 10/27/08)
2008 Oct 28, Zimbabwe’s
opposition issued an urgent call for a regional summit after talks
aimed at breaking a political deadlock with Pres. Mugabe’s party
failed.
(SFC, 10/29/08, p.A6)
2008 Nov 1, Zimbabwe opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai called for a truth commission to examine
atrocities in the country dating back to the massacres of ethnic
minorities in the 1980s.
(AFP, 11/1/08)
2008 Nov 3, Zimbabwean
officials say they have sold almost 4 tons of ivory for over
$450,000 and the money will go to the country's cash-strapped
wildlife authorities.
(AP, 11/3/08)
2008 Nov 5, Zimbabwe issued
three new denominations of banknotes, including a one-million-dollar
note, as the impoverished country struggles to cope with runaway
inflation.
(AP, 11/5/08)
2008 Nov 6, State media
reported that Zimbabwe's government will release millions of dollars
in unspent foreign aid given to the country last year to fight AIDS,
tuberculosis and malaria. An official said Zimbabwe's largest gold
mining firm has stopped operations at its five mines across the
strife-torn country, resulting in 5,000 people losing jobs. The
closures resulted from long delays in receiving payments for gold
delivered to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which has a monopoly on
the country's gold trade.
(AFP, 11/6/08)
2008 Nov 9, Southern African
leaders opened a regional summit on Zimbabwe, hoping to break a
deadlock over the allocation of cabinet posts which has prevented
formation of a power-sharing government.
(AP, 11/9/08)
2008 Nov 9, Zimbabwe's
neighbors failed to break an impasse on forming a unity government,
prompting opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to appeal to the
African Union to step in.
(AFP, 11/9/08)
2008 Nov 10, President Robert
Mugabe said a new Zimbabwe government would be formed "as quickly as
possible" despite his rival Morgan Tsvangirai's rejection of a
regional compromise on a power-sharing deal.
(AP, 11/10/08)
2008 Nov 11, In Zimbabwe riot
police beat dozens of students and pro-democracy activists marching
through Harare to demand a new government to tackle the country's
worsening economic and political crisis.
(AFP, 11/11/08)
2008 Nov 12, Zimbabwe's main
opposition said it would not join a new government with President
Robert Mugabe until unresolved power-sharing issues were ironed out.
(AFP, 11/12/08)
2008 Nov 14, Zimbabwe's main
opposition party said that it will not join a unity government with
Pres. Mugabe until the rivals resolve their differences over a
power-sharing deal.
(AFP, 11/14/08)
2008 Nov 18, In Zimbabwe riot
police prevented striking doctors and nurses from protesting against
the collapsing health care system, which lacks even basic drugs amid
a rapid spread of cholera in the country.
(AP, 11/18/08)
2008 Nov 19, The World Food
Program said that it has signed a new food aid deal to allow the UN
agency to provide 350,000 tons of grain to millions in Zimbabwe.
(AFP, 11/19/08)
2008 Nov 20, South Africa said
it will withhold aid for Zimbabwe until a representative government
is in place, in what appeared to be the first punitive measure by a
regional country to enforce a power-sharing agreement.
(AP, 11/20/08)
2008 Nov 20, The US ambassador
to Harare, James McGee, said that a total of 294 people have been
confirmed dead from cholera in Zimbabwe, amid some 1,200 cases of
the water-borne disease.
(AFP, 11/20/08)
2008 Nov 21, Zimbabwe refused
to let former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, ex-US President Jimmy
Carter and rights advocate Graca Machel to visit the impoverished
African country for a humanitarian mission. They came as members of
The Elders group, formed by former South African President Nelson
Mandela to foster peace and tackle world conflicts.
(AP, 11/22/08)
2008 Nov 23, Kenyan PM Raila
Odinga called for the deployment of African Union peacekeepers to
Zimbabwe to bring President Robert Mugabe back into line.
(AFP, 11/23/08)
2008 Nov 26, South Africa's
health minister said Zimbabwe faced a humanitarian crisis after a
major outbreak of cholera, vowing not to turn away anyone who
crosses the border for treatment. Botswana's foreign minister said
Zimbabwe's neighbors should close their borders in an attempt to
bring down Pres. Robert Mugabe, in the strongest call yet for action
from Africa.
(AFP, 11/26/08)
2008 Nov 28, Zimbabwe’s
opposition said it has agreed on a draft constitutional amendment to
allow the formation of a power-sharing government, but obstacles
still remain to setting it up. The UN warned that cholera has killed
389 people in Zimbabwe to date and that the disease is also
spreading into neighboring Botswana and South Africa.
(AFP, 11/28/08)(Reuters, 11/28/08)
2008 Nov 28, A regional
tribunal in Namibia ruled that 78 white Zimbabweans can keep their
farms because the government's land reform scheme discriminated
against them.
(AFP, 11/28/08)
2008 Nov 30, Zimbabwe's health
minister insisted that the country's crumbling medical system was
taking all necessary measures to combat a cholera epidemic, even as
more than 1,000 new cases were reported.
(AP, 11/30/08)
2008 Nov, In South Africa a
verdict by the tribunal of the regional Southern African Development
Community (SADC) found that Zimbabwe had wrongly taken land from
nearly 80 farmers, saying they had been targeted because of their
race. In 2010 white farmers whose land was seized under Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe's land reforms claimed a house owned by his
government in South Africa based on the SADC verdict.
(AFP, 3/30/10)
2008 Dec 1, In Zimbabwe gunfire
broke out in downtown Harare when rampaging, unpaid soldiers
attacked money changers and clashed with police. Zimbabwe rejected a
court ruling that demanded the government stop its policy of seizing
land from white farmers. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai urged
the world to help end a "man-made" humanitarian crisis which has
left hundreds of people dead in a cholera epidemic.
(AP, 12/1/08)
2008 Dec 2, Zimbabwe slipped
deeper into crisis as the death toll from a cholera epidemic neared
500 and members of President Robert Mugabe's armed forces were
accused of taking part in a looting spree.
(AP, 12/2/08)
2008 Dec 3, Zimbabwe riot
police charged into a group of doctors and nurses protesting the
deepening economic and health crisis, as deaths rose sharply from a
cholera epidemic blamed on collapsing infrastructure.
(AP, 12/3/08)
2008 Dec 4, Zimbabwe declared a
national emergency over a cholera epidemic and the collapse of its
health care system, as the government sought more international help
to pay for food and drugs to combat the crisis.
(AP, 12/4/08)
2008 Dec 6, Zimbabwe's
President Robert Mugabe came under fresh international pressure over
his country's economic collapse as his government announced plans to
introduce a 200 million dollar bill.
(AFP, 12/6/08)
2008 Dec 7, Kenya’s PM Raila
Odinga said foreign troops should prepare to intervene in Zimbabwe
to end a worsening humanitarian crisis and Zimbabwean President
Robert Mugabe should be investigated for crimes against humanity.
(AP, 12/7/08)
2008 Dec 8, The EU joined calls
for President Robert Mugabe to step down after 28 years ruling
Zimbabwe, where spreading cholera and food shortages have worsened a
desperate humanitarian crisis.
(AP, 12/8/08)
2008 Dec 9, President Robert
Mugabe rejected mounting Western pressure for him to resign, even as
his health minister called for more international aid to battle a
deadly cholera epidemic. US President George W. Bush joined calls
for Robert Mugabe to step down, but the African Union rejected
tougher action against Mugabe and said only dialogue could solve its
crisis.
(AFP, 12/9/08)(Reuters, 12/9/08)
2008 Dec 10, The death toll
from Zimbabwe's cholera outbreak soared to nearly 800 and a court
ordered police to find a missing rights activist, piling more
pressure on President Robert Mugabe's government.
(Reuters, 12/10/08)
2008 Dec 11, President Robert
Mugabe declared that Zimbabwe's cholera crisis was over, even as the
UN raised the death toll from the epidemic to 783.
(AP, 12/11/08)
2008 Dec 12, Zimbabwe's central
bank introduced a 500 million dollar note, as the African country
struggles to cope with the world's highest inflation and crippling
currency shortages.
(AP, 12/12/08)
2008 Dec 13, The Zimbabwean
government accused the West of deliberately starting the country's
cholera epidemic, stepping up a war of words with the regime's
critics as the humanitarian crisis deepened. Air Marshal Perrance
Shiri, head of Zimbabwe's air force, was wounded in the hand in an
alleged assassination attempt by gunmen who ambushed his car.
(AP, 12/13/08)(AP, 12/16/08)
2008 Dec 15, President Robert
Mugabe's government vowed to thwart western efforts to put Zimbabwe
on the UN Security Council agenda, saying it was not a threat to
international security.
(AP, 12/15/08)
2008 Dec 17, South African
President Kgalema Motlanthe said Zimbabwe's neighbors will launch an
urgent humanitarian campaign in the hope of saving the country from
economic collapse and a cholera epidemic. Motlanthe also said South
Africa would not join international calls for Zimbabwe's President
Robert Mugabe to step down, saying it was "not for us" to do so.
(AP, 12/17/08)(AFP, 12/17/08)
2008 Dec 19, President Robert
Mugabe declared that "Zimbabwe is mine" and vowed never to surrender
to calls to step down, as his political rival threatened to quit
stalled unity government talks.
(AP, 12/19/08)
2008 Dec 22, UN experts said
some 5.5 million people in Zimbabwe, about half the population, need
food aid, as they called for increased international help for the
country which is battling a cholera epidemic. A UN human rights
expert said Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is "a mad dictator"
who has lost all sense of reality.
(AP, 12/22/08)(Reuters, 12/22/08)
2008 Dec 24, Leading Zimbabwean
human rights campaigner Jestina Mukoko and nine other activists were
charged with plotting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe's
government.
(Reuters, 12/24/08)
2008 Dec 25, Zimbabwe police
ignored a court order to allow the release to hospital of a rights
activist and several opposition figures accused of recruiting
anti-government plotters.
(AFP, 12/25/08)
2008 Dec 28, Zimbabwe’s state
media said the government will prosecute 140 white landowners on
charges of failing to vacate their farms under the country's
controversial 2000 land reform program.
(AP, 12/28/08)
2008 Heidi Holland authored
“Dinner with Mugabe: The Untold Story of a Freedom Fighter who
Became a Tyrant.”
(Econ, 3/22/08, p.94)
2008 Zimbabwe’s President
Mugabe sent in the police and army to stop the "informal" diamond
panning at the Marange fields in favor of mining companies.
(AFP, 12/28/11)
2009 Jan 6, The WHO said at
least 1,732 people have died in Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic and the
number of cases diagnosed has risen to 34,306.
(AP, 1/6/09)
2009 Jan 7, In Zimbabwe seven
members of the main opposition party were the first of dozens of
jailed dissidents to be formally charged, and they pleaded not
guilty in a bombing plot. Zimbabwe delayed the opening of schools by
two weeks, amid fears that teachers may not show up for classes due
to the country's worsening humanitarian crisis.
(AP, 1/7/09)(AFP, 1/7/09)
2009 Jan 8, In Zimbabwe
opposition members accused of being involved in a bomb plot said
they were tortured into making false confessions.
(AP, 1/8/09)
2009 Jan 13, The WHO said
Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic has killed more than 2,000 people and
almost 40,000 have contracted the normally preventable disease in
Africa's worst outbreak in nearly a decade.
(Reuters, 1/13/09)
2009 Jan 14, South Africa’s
health ministry said the death toll from a cholera outbreak has
risen to 15, with more than 2,100 cases registered in a spillover
from Zimbabwe's epidemic. The UN said the death toll from Zimbabwe's
cholera outbreak has risen to 2,106.
(AP, 1/14/09)
2009 Jan 15, In Hong Kong Grace
Mugabe (43), the wife of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, struck
a photographer in the face repeatedly as her bodyguard grabbed him
when he was trying to snap photos of her leaving the five-star
Kowloon Shangri-la Hotel. She was later granted diplomatic immunity
from prosecution over her alleged assault of the British journalist.
(AFP, 3/22/09)(http://tinyurl.com/clw9hb)
2009 Jan 16, The EU threatened
new sanctions against Robert Mugabe's government in Zimbabwe, blamed
for political deadlock, a surging cholera epidemic and runaway
inflation. The UN said the death toll from the cholera outbreak had
risen to 2,201 and that the epidemic is still not under control.
(AP, 1/16/09)
2009 Jan 19, In Zimbabwe
Southern African mediators tried to forge a compromise between
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and his rival Morgan Tsvangirai, in
a last-ditch effort to save a power-sharing deal. The power-sharing
talks ended without a deal and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
said no progress was made on what he called the "darkest day of our
lives."
(AFP, 1/19/09)(Reuters, 1/20/09)
2009 Jan 21, Zimbabwe activists
launched a hunger strike to demand faster political change and urge
African leaders to isolate the country's president, Robert Mugabe,
who is accused of overseeing its political and economic collapse.
(AP, 1/21/09)
2009 Jan 23, In Zimbabwe city
workers in Harare began an indefinite strike, demanding to be paid
in hard currency. President Robert Mugabe's ruling party refused to
budge on opposition demands for a unity government, whose fate
hinges on the outcome of a regional summit next week. The WHO said
cholera in Zimbabwe has so far killed 2,773 people.
(AP, 1/23/09)(AFP, 1/23/09)
2009 Jan 26, European Union
nations announced the addition of 27 Zimbabwean officials and 36
companies to the EU's visa and assets freeze blacklist to pressure
President Robert Mugabe to share power with Zimbabwe's opposition.
(AP, 1/26/09)(Econ, 1/31/09, p.52)
2009 Jan 26, Southern African
leaders opened fresh talks in Pretoria to end Zimbabwe's political
crisis amid a new threat by President Robert Mugabe to form a
government excluding his arch rival from power.
(AFP, 1/26/09)
2009 Jan 27, In South Africa
the 15-nation SADC grouping said after a meeting, its fifth attempt
to secure a deal on forming a unity government, it had agreed that
opposition MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai should be sworn in as prime
minister by February 11. An analyst said chances for a deal appeared
slim. The recently introduced 10 trillion Zimbabwean dollar note
cannot buy a loaf of bread, which costs Z$30 trillion. Two weeks
ago, a loaf of bread cost Z$30 billion.
(Reuters, 1/27/09)
2009 Jan 29, Zimbabwe Finance
Minister Patrick Chinamasa said citizens will be allowed to conduct
business in other currencies, alongside the Zimbabwean dollar. A UN
report said Zimbabwe's humanitarian disaster is far worse than
anticipated with only six percent of the population formally
employed and more than half in need of emergency food aid.
(Reuters, 1/29/09)(AFP, 1/29/09)
2009 Jan 30, Zimbabwe's
opposition decided to join a government with President Robert Mugabe
next month, ending a paralyzing political deadlock that has worsened
the desperate economic and humanitarian crisis. WHO reported that
the death toll in Zimbabwe’s cholera outbreak had reached 3,161, out
of 60,401 recorded cases.
(Reuters, 1/30/09)(AP, 1/30/09)
2009 Feb 2, Zimbabwe's central
bank revalued its dollar again, lopping another 12 zeros off its
battered currency to try to tame hyperinflation and avert total
economic collapse.
(AP, 2/2/09)
2009 Feb 5, Zimbabwe's
parliament passed a constitutional bill to allow a coalition
government of President Robert Mugabe and opposition rivals, being
set up under a deal to end political and economic crisis.
(Reuters, 2/5/09)
2009 Feb 11, Zimbabwe's
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in as prime minister,
joining President Robert Mugabe in a unity government after a decade
of struggling to push him from power.
(AFP, 2/11/09)
2009 Feb 13, In Zimbabwe Roy
Bennett, a white farmer turned politician with Tsvangirai's Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC), was arrested by state agents just as
the new cabinet was preparing to take office. Tsvangirai had named
Bennett to become the deputy minister of agriculture in the new
coalition cabinet.
(AFP, 2/13/09)
2009 Feb 15, Britain's Sunday
Times reported that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has bought a
4 million pound ($5.6 million) home in Hong Kong. It was bought last
year, as Mugabe's 20-year-old daughter began studying at the
University of Hong Kong. The paper said it was one of several
properties the Mugabes own in Asia but the first to be documented.
(AP, 2/16/09)
2009 Feb 17, In Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe and his arch rival Morgan Tsvangirai sat at
a cabinet table for the first time as ministers of the country's new
unity government held their inaugural meeting. A Zimbabwe court
charged Roy Bennett, a senior MDC party official, over a plot
involving terrorism and insurgency, just days after the party joined
a unity government.
(AFP, 2/17/09)(Reuters, 2/17/09)
2009 Feb 18, Zimbabwe’s the new
finance minister announced that Zimbabwe has begun paying government
workers in US dollars and will allow more trade in foreign currency
in the first act by a unity government that gave the opposition
control of much of the devastated economy. A court ordered
ministerial nominee Roy Bennett to be kept in custody until March 4,
on the grounds there was "reasonable suspicion" against him in a
terrorism case.
(AP, 2/18/09)
2009 Feb 19, Trading resumed at
the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) after a three-month suspension but
transactions were carried out only in US dollars, the first time in
President Robert Mugabe's 29-year rule.
(AFP, 2/19/09)
2009 Feb 24, Officials said
Zimbabwe's teachers have agreed to end a strike that emptied
classrooms for a year, after the government promised to review
salaries and appealed for 458 million dollars' aid for schools.
(AFP, 2/24/09)
2009 Feb 28, In Zimbabwe Pres.
Robert Mugabe told followers at his lavish $250,000 birthday party
to respect the new power-sharing government but vowed to press on
with seizures of white farms. A melee broke out in a dining hall
among thousands lined up for a free meal of porridge and vegetables.
Soldiers used truncheons to maintain order.
(AFP, 2/28/09)(SSFC, 3/1/09, p.A5)
2009 Mar 3, In Zimbabwe’s
parliament former opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in.
A judge ordered the release on bail of senior opposition lawmaker
Roy Bennett after nearly three weeks in prison on weapons charges.
(AP, 3/3/09)
2009 Mar 4, Zimbabwe’s PM
Morgan Tsvangirai made his first call for an end to international
sanctions, part of his bid to start rebuilding the shattered
economy. He also said the detention of political prisoners is
undermining donor confidence in Zimbabwe's unity government, hurting
efforts to rebuild the economy. US President Barack Obama extended
sanctions against Zimbabwe, saying the troubled African nation had
not resolved its political crisis.
(Reuters, 3/4/09)(AFP, 3/4/09)(Reuters, 3/5/09)
2009 Mar 5, In Zimbabwe PM
Morgan Tsvangirai said more than 4,000 people have died in the
cholera epidemic that has hit at least 85,000 people, warning the
figures were likely an underestimate.
(AP, 3/5/09)
2009 Mar 6, In Zimbabwe PM
Morgan Tsvangirai was injured in a car crash that killed his wife.
Tsvangirai was flown the next day to neighboring Botswana for
medical tests.
(Reuters, 3/7/09)(AFP, 3/7/09)
2009 Mar 11, Australia said it
would provide funding to Zimbabwe's new unity government, the first
Western power to announce direct support to the new administration.
(Reuters, 3/11/09)
2009 Mar 12, In Zimbabwe Roy
Bennett, a top aide to PM Morgan Tsvangirai, was released on bail
after a legal battle that has raised doubts about Zimbabwe's new
unity government.
(AP, 3/12/09)
2009 Mar 14, Zimbabwe's
President Robert Mugabe denounced political violence and urged
Zimbabweans to work together following the formation of an inclusive
government with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
(AFP, 3/14/09)
2009 Mar 27, Zimbabwe PM Morgan
Tsvangirai decried a fresh wave of farm invasions across the country
and warned that those responsible for the farm disruptions risk
arrest.
(AFP, 3/27/09)
2009 Apr 3, The global diamond
certification body ordered a ban on trade in diamonds from eastern
Zimbabwe over concerns about human rights violations.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 6, In Zambia western
nations and lending agencies meeting in Lusaka agreed a financing
package of more than $1 billion to improve infrastructure in
southern and central Africa at an investment conference meant to
expand transport links and trade. Britain said it would separately
provide 100 million pounds ($149.2 million) to transform the
region's infrastructure to increase trade and mitigate the effects
of the global financial crisis. New projects will link businesses in
8 African countries: Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa.
(AP, 4/6/09)
2009 Apr 12, Zimbabwe set up a
parliamentary team to spearhead the writing of a new constitution
which Pres. Mugabe's opponents say will be key to holding free and
fair elections. A state newspaper reported that Zimbabwe will not
use its own local currency for at least a year, while it tries to
repair an economy which critics say was destroyed by President
Mugabe.
(Reuters, 4/12/09)
2009 Apr 15, In southern
Zimbabwe at least 29 people were killed and 39 injured when a bus
plunged into a river bed near Chivhu town.
(AFP, 4/16/09)
2009 Apr 17, Zimbabwe deputy
prime minister Arthur Mutambara vowed to act against illegal farm
invasions amid claims that a top lawmaker and Pres. Mugabe ally was
behind a fresh seizure. Mugabe made a new call for western nations
to lift sanctions and prodded his unity government partners to join
his campaigning against them.
(AFP, 4/17/09)
2009 Apr 18, Zimbabweans
celebrated their first Independence Day under a coalition
government, with President Robert Mugabe calling for national
conciliation as he shared the stage with his former political rival.
(AP, 4/18/09)
2009 Apr 20, Zimbabwe's central
bank governor admitted that he took hard currency from the bank
accounts of private businesses and foreign aid groups without
permission, saying he was trying to keep his country's cash-strapped
ministries running.
(AP, 4/20/09)
2009 Apr 29, Zimbabwe's
teachers vowed to go on strike when the new school term begins next
week after government reneged on a pledge to increase their
salaries.
(AFP, 4/29/09)
2009 May 5, In Zimbabwe
prominent human rights campaigner Jestina Mukoko and the 17 others
were taken back into custody, just two months after their release on
bail over an alleged plot to overthrow President Robert Mugabe. PM
Morgan Tsvangirai's party warned their detention threatened the
survival of Zimbabwe's fledgling unity government. Zimbabwe's
teachers unions called off a threatened strike at state schools
after the government agreed to scrap fees for children of teachers.
(AFP, 5/5/09)
2009 May 5, China said it has
given 10 million dollars (7.5 million euros) to Zimbabwe, half of it
directly into the state coffers, to help boost the country's
troubled economy.
(AP, 5/5/09)
2009 May 6, In Zimbabwe a top
rights activist and 14 others were ordered freed on bail after
Zimbabwe's president and prime minister forced a judge to reverse
her decision to send them back to the prison where they said they
had been tortured. She refused, however, to free three others she
had ordered returned to prison, saying their case was more serious
because they had allegedly been found with explosives. The last 3
were released on May 13.
(AP, 5/6/09)(AFP, 5/14/09)
2009 May 7, Zimbabwe’s finance
minister, Tendai Biti, said African financial institutions have
extended $428 million in credit lines in a bid to rescue the
country's ailing economy.
(AP, 5/7/09)
2009 May 18, The World Bank
said it would give $22 million to Zimbabwe, but said the country
must clear its long-standing arrears to qualify for more aid.
(AP, 5/18/09)
2009 May 21, Zimbabwe’s PM
Morgan Tsvangirai said the unity government has agreed on key
appointments in an attempt to resolve the political impasse that has
paralyzed the new administration.
(AP, 5/21/09)
2009 May 26, The Red Cross said
the number of cholera cases in Zimbabwe is expected to cross the
100,000 mark in the coming days, warning that the epidemic was
Africa's worst in 15 years.
(AFP, 5/26/09)
2009 May 30, Zimbabwe’s PM
Morgan Tsvangirai said that his efforts to restore democratic
freedoms and the rule of law to Zimbabwe have so far failed.
Tsvangirai urged southern African leaders to help resolve a deadlock
over the appointments of the country's bank chief and attorney
general. The national statistical agency said Zimbabwe had recorded
a minus 1.1 percent inflation rate in April, a slower fall than
March, after scrapping its worthless currency to combat world record
prices.
(AP, 5/30/09)(AFP, 5/30/09)
2009 Jun 7, Zimbabwe PM Morgan
Tsvangirai launched a three-week trip to the West. He spoke at The
Hague saying he is seeking re-engagement, not touring with a
"begging bowl" asking for aid. Pres. Robert Mugabe launched a new
pact aimed at tearing down trade barriers across 19 African nations
with appeals for external investors and an end to domestic
conflicts.
(AP, 6/7/09)(AFP, 6/7/09)
2009 Jun 16, The US added six
African countries to a blacklist of countries trafficking in people,
and put US trading partner Malaysia back on the list. Chad, Eritrea,
Niger, Mauritania, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe were added to the list in
the annual report. Removed from the list were Qatar, Oman, Algeria,
and Moldova.
(AFP, 6/16/09)
2009 Jun 20, Zimbabwean PM
Morgan Tsvangirai was booed and shouted down by exiles during a
speech in London when he pleaded with them to return home to help
rebuild the shattered country.
(AFP, 6/21/09)
2009 Jun 22, Britain pledged an
extra five million pounds in aid to Zimbabwe, hailing progress under
a new unity government but urging more reform after landmark talks
between leaders of the two countries.
(AFP, 6/22/09)
2009 Jun 26, Human Rights Watch
said that Zimbabwe's armed forces have taken over diamond fields in
the east and killed more than 200 people, forcing children to search
for the precious gems and beating villagers who get in the way.
(AP, 6/26/09)
2009 Jun 29, In Zimbabwe PM
Morgan Tsvangirai's party boycotted a meeting of the cabinet on the
grounds that it made a mockery of the country's power-sharing deal.
Tsvangirai said Zimbabwe has won 950 million dollars in credit lines
from China, the largest loan secured by the unity government since
it was formed in February.
(AFP, 6/29/09)AFP, 6/30/09)
2009 Jul 1, Zimbabwe's former
finance minister Simba Makoni launched a new opposition party that
promises to "clean up" the country's political landscape.
(AFP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 5, An official
Zimbabwe newspaper reported that the government has promised to
withdraw soldiers from diamond fields in the east, a week after a
rights group alleged the military was committing killings and abuses
in the area.
(AP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 10, Zimbabwe's army
and police refused to vacate diamond fields where security forces
are accused of human rights abuses, despite a pledge last week for
their withdrawal. Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the government
will provide 142 million dollars in aid to small-scale farmers as
the country struggles to revive its shattered agricultural sector.
(AFP, 7/10/09)(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 13, In Zimbabwe
militants from President Robert Mugabe's party disrupted the start
of a national conference aimed at drawing up a new constitution.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 14, Zimbabwe's
constitution talks, violently disrupted by militant backers of
President Robert Mugabe, resumed with calls for tolerance in work on
a charter meant to pave the way to fresh polls.
(AFP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 24, Zimbabwe's
coalition government launched a campaign of "national healing" and
reconciliation, with political leaders urging supporters to end
years of political violence and intimidation.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 25, Zimbabwe’s PM
Morgan Tsvangirai said compensation must be considered for victims
of political violence as the country held a weekend of national
reconciliation.
(AFP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 29, In Zimbabwe the
British Broadcasting Corp. resumed broadcasting for the first time
since it was banned in 2001. The five-month-old coalition government
said it also was considering allowing CNN back.
(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 30, Zimbabwe’s Daily
News, a popular newspaper banned nearly six years ago, won a new
license to resume printing. It was renowned for its willingness to
criticize Pres. Robert Mugabe. CNN said Zimbabwe agreed last week to
allow it to resume working in the country.
(AFP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 30, Zimbabwe's health
minister said a cholera epidemic has ended, after more than 4,200
deaths and 100,000 cases since last August, but warned new outbreaks
remain a threat.
(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 31, Global Witness,
which monitors the exploitation of natural resources, backed calls
for a ban on trading in Zimbabwe diamonds due to human rights abuses
in mining of the gem.
(AFP, 7/31/09)
2009 Aug 2, In Zimbabwe 40
people were killed and 30 others injured when a bus overturned after
colliding with a lorry south of Harare.
(AP, 8/2/09)(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 5, Zimbabwe's veteran
Vice-President Joseph Msika (86) died. His death was expected to
reignite debate over who will eventually succeed President Robert
Mugabe.
(Reuters, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 7, International donor
the Global Fund, which had a financial dispute with Zimbabwe's
previous government, took the unusual step of giving $37.9 million
in aid directly to Zimbabwe's new unity government instead of
channeling it through private groups.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 12, Doctors at
Zimbabwe's state hospitals went on strike, demanding higher salaries
and payment of their monthly allowances.
(AFP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 18, In Zimbabwe a
truck hit a bus head-on, killing 11 people including six members of
a family returning from a funeral.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, In Zimbabwe 10
lawmakers from PM Morgan Tsvangirai's party were arrested and
charged with disturbing the peace as they headed into the Finance
Ministry for a meeting.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 23, In Zimbabwe a
cabinet retreat by the unity government collapsed this weekend as
President Robert Mugabe's ministers walked out after the deputy
prime minister said last year's polls were fraudulent.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 26, Doctors at
Zimbabwe's state hospitals called off a crippling two-week strike,
broken by the reality that the government had no money to meet their
wage demands.
(AFP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Zimbabwe South
Africa’s President Jacob Zuma he met with PM Tsvangirai who has
accused Mugabe's ZANU-PF party of stalling on reforms and continuing
to attack and harass its activists.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, In Zimbabwe South
Africa’s President Jacob Zuma met with President Robert Mugabe and
other leaders and appeared cautiously optimistic that their
differences within the coalition government could be resolved.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 29, The EU signed a
temporary trade pact with Mauritius, Seychelles, Zimbabwe and
Madagascar calling for tariffs on European goods to be removed over
the next 15 years.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 30, In Zimbabwe
Godknows Dzoro Mtshakazi, a member of PM Morgan Tsvangirai's party,
was killed by soldiers in Shurugwi for playing a song praising
the premier.
(AFP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 5, The IMF said
Zimbabwe has received about 400 million dollars, as Special Drawing
Rights, in support from the International Monetary Fund, part of its
broader effort to cushion the blows of the global economic crisis.
To convert the SDRs into hard currency, Zimbabwe would have to find
another country to buy them. Otherwise the money serves to bolster
Harare's meager foreign reserves.
(AFP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 11, South Africa and
the European Union started a summit expected to be dominated by
calls from African nations for sanctions against Zimbabwe to be
lifted.
(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 12, Zimbabwe’s
President Robert Mugabe welcomed the first top-level European Union
delegation to visit in seven years with "open arms" and said talks
on implementing a power-sharing deal went well.
(Reuters, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 13, Zimbabwe's PM
Morgan Tsvangirai accused President Robert Mugabe of violating a
fledgling power-sharing deal. The EU said ties with Zimbabwe would
only normalize once a unity accord is properly implemented, but
pledged a further 90 million euro this year to assist the troubled
nation.
(AFP, 9/13/09)
2009 Sep 21, Zimbabwe teachers,
who went on strike over salaries at the start of the new school term
three weeks ago, returned to work after their union called off the
boycott.
(AFP, 9/21/09)
2009 Sep 30, The World Bank
announced a 74-million-dollar grant to revive Zimbabwe's agriculture
sector.
(AFP, 9/30/09)
2009 Oct 1, Nestle said it will
stop buying milk from Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's wife's
farm after facing worldwide boycott threats.
(AP, 10/2/09)
2009 Oct 10, Zimbabwe's central
bank chief said the government has frozen Nestle's local accounts
and ordered an audit after Nestle stopped buying milk from a farm
owned by President Robert Mugabe's wife.
(AP, 10/11/09)
2009 Oct 12, Nestle said its
Zimbabwe banking is back to normal just days after newspapers
reported that the government froze their accounts and ordered an
audit after the company stopped buying milk from a farm owned by
President Robert Mugabe's wife.
(AP, 10/12/09)
2009 Oct 14, A Zimbabwe court
ordered ministerial nominee Roy Bennett, a close aide to PM Morgan
Tsvangirai, back to jail until his terrorism trial begins next week.
Bennett was accused of possessing arms for the purposes of banditry,
terrorism and inciting acts of insurgency.
(AFP, 10/14/09)
2009 Oct 16, Zimbabwe PM Morgan
Tsvangirai suspended cooperation with President Robert Mugabe's
"dishonest and unreliable" camp but said he will not quit the unity
government. The snub was sparked by the renewed detention of
Tsvangirai's top aide Roy Bennett.
(AFP, 10/16/09)
2009 Oct 21, South Africa’s
President Jacob Zuma said Zimbabwe must not return to instability,
after holding talks with PM Morgan Tsvangirai who has cut ties
within his unity government. Tsvangirai flew to South Africa after
meeting Mozambican President Armando Guebuza a day earlier and then
headed to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola to brief
leaders on Zimbabwe's worst impasse in eight months.
(AFP, 10/22/09)
2009 Oct 23, In Zimbabwe armed
police raided a house belonging to PM Morgan Tsvangirai's party in a
new threat to the country's faltering unity government.
(AFP, 10/24/09)
2009 Oct 24, Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe accused PM Morgan Tsvangirai of failing to
act in the national interest after withdrawing his support for the
country's fragile unity government, state media reported.
(AFP, 10/24/09)
2009 Oct 27, Zimbabwe's PM
Morgan Tsvangirai and ministers drawn from his MDC party boycotted a
cabinet meeting led by Pres. Mugabe for the second time in as many
weeks. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) confirmed
that it will be sending its politics, defense and security body on a
fact-finding mission to Harare. The bloc mediated the unity pact
that underpins the government.
(AFP, 10/27/09)
2009 Oct 28, The UN said
Zimbabwe's government has blocked a visit by Manfred Nowak, the UN’s
torture investigator who was to examine alleged attacks on
opposition activists by ruling party supporters.
(AP, 10/28/09)
2009 Oct 29, In eastern
Zimbabwe Elmon Mupombwa (41) killed three of his children with an ax
and wounded two others. He also torched his home and killed his
livestock — five cattle, 20 goats and 17 chickens — before hanging
himself. Police said Mupombwa had attended a tribal ritual conducted
by a spirit medium, also known as a witch doctor.
(AP, 11/1/09)
2009 Nov 5, Zimbabwe's rival
leaders met with Mozambican leader Armando Guebuza, the head of a
regional security body, ahead of an emergency summit aimed at
hauling a fragile power-sharing deal out of a three-week impasse.
The summit was set to open with leaders from the Democratic Republic
of Congo, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia.
(AP, 11/5/09)
2009 Nov 6, Zimbabwe averted a
political meltdown after PM Morgan Tsvangirai ended a boycott of the
unity government, but faced a new deadline to resolve a slate of
thorny disputes. He said assurances South Africa will be watching
persuaded him to end his boycott.
(AP, 11/6/09)
2009 Nov 16, A 3-day summit on
world hunger opened in Rome. Zimbabwe’s Pres. Mugabe used the UN
summit on world hunger to lash out at the West and defend land
reforms blamed for plunging his people into starvation. Some 60
heads of state and dozens of minister rejected a UN call to commit
$44 billion annually for agricultural development in poor countries.
(AP, 11/17/09)(SFC, 11/17/09, p.A8)
2009 Nov 18, South African
police fired rubber bullets to disperse a mob who attacked shacks
belonging to hundreds of migrants following several days of tension.
Up to 2,700 Zimbabwean asylum seekers have set up a temporary
"safety camp" in a rural South African town following attacks on
their shacks in a dispute over jobs.
(Reuters, 11/18/09)
2009 Nov 19, Zimbabwe’s
government said security forces have started withdrawing from the
country's eastern diamond fields to meet Kimberley Process reforms
over human rights abuses.
(AFP, 11/19/09)
2009 Nov 25, Zimbabwe's state
media said the ailing public health system will receive a 180
million US dollar boost to fight HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and
malaria from the Global Fund.
(AP, 11/25/09)
2009 Nov 27, Zimbabwe and South
Africa signed a bilateral investment agreement which would protect
investments made by nationals of both countries in each other's
territory.
(AFP, 11/27/09)
2009 Nov 28, In China a
Zimbabwe-registered cargo plane crashed in flames during takeoff
from Shanghai's main airport, killing 3 American crew members and
injuring 4 others on board.
(AP, 11/28/09)
2009 Dec 9, The International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it needs $32
million to feed 220,000 Zimbabweans who cannot access hard currency
in the collapsed economy.
(AP, 12/9/09)
2009 Dec 10, In South Africa
the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC) said it
has approved a 10-million-dollar grant to fund the expansion of
Zimbabwe's Freda Rebecca gold mine.
(AFP, 12/10/09)
2009 Dec 12, Zimbabwe President
Robert Mugabe was re-elected as ZANU-PF leader for the next five
years, urging supporters to work for the survival of the party.
Mugabe said the unity government is short-lived and he plans to
regain his hold over the country.
(AFP, 12/12/09)(AP, 12/13/09)
2009 Dec 14, The World Health
Organization (WHO) said polio has re-emerged in several African
countries where it had been eradicated, at the start of a conference
on child immunization in Zimbabwe.
(AP, 12/14/09)
2009 Dec 18, Zimbabwe, for
years plagued by hyper inflation, presented official data showing it
has switched narrowly into an absolute price fall on a monthly
basis, following adoption of foreign currencies.
(AFP, 12/18/09)
2009 Dec 21, Zimbabwe President
Robert Mugabe and his rival PM Morgan Tsvangirai announced an
agreement on commissions to drive media and electoral reforms, one
of the key issues which has been threatening their power-sharing
deal.
(AP, 12/22/09)
2009 Dec 23, Nestle, the
Swiss-based food giant, said Zimbabwean government officials and
police had made an "unannounced visit" to the plant on Dec 19,
forcing staff to take delivery of a tanker of milk from
non-contracted suppliers. "Since under such circumstances normal
operations and the safety of employees are no longer guaranteed,
Nestle decided to temporarily shut down the factory."
(AFP, 12/23/09)
2009 In Zimbabwe Godknows Nare
produced a documentary on the conditions of the country’s jails and
prisons titled “Hell Hole.”
(SFC, 4/2/09, p.A2)
2010 Jan 6, Zimbabwe state
media reported that Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) has signed an eight
million dollar deal with Botswana to revive a shut-down thermal
power station and ease national blackouts.
(AFP, 1/6/10)
2010 Jan 7, Zimbabwe halted a
controversial sale of 300,000 carats of diamonds, but blamed
bureaucratic hold-ups rather than a scandal over rights abuses by
the military in the diamond fields.
(AFP, 1/7/10)
2010 Jan 13, Zimbabwe civil
servants, who earn only 150 US dollars a month, rejected the
government's "paltry" offer to raise salaries by a maximum of 14%.
(AP, 1/13/10)
2010 Jan 13, A Zimbabwe state
daily reported that the nation’s power utility has been ordered to
stop electricity exports to Namibia until it can meet its own
country's needs.
(AFP, 1/13/10)
2010 Jan 14, Key southern
African leaders gathered in the Mozambican capital Maputo for a
special summit on the political crises in Zimbabwe and Madagascar.
Leaders called for a return to dialogue in the ongoing political
crisis in Madagascar. A medical aid group said Zimbabweans crossing
illegally into neighboring South Africa after holidays at home are
being raped and robbed by gangs on both sides of the border.
(AFP, 1/14/10)(AP, 1/14/10)
2010 Jan 27, In Zimbabwe a
lawyer said the Supreme Court has ordered the central bank to
safeguard millions of dollars' worth of diamonds from a mine where
the military is accused of killings and forced labor. State media
said a Zimbabwe high court has rejected a southern African court's
ruling that blocked the government's move to resettle blacks on more
than 70 white-owned farms.
(AFP, 1/27/10)
2010 Feb 5, Zimbabwe's civil
servants launched an open-ended strike, demanding that their wages
be increased to at least 630 US dollars, from 150 dollars a month,
piling pressure on the strained unity government struggling to fix
the economy. Most of Zimbabwe's 230,000 civil servants appeared to
have heeded the strike call.
(AFP, 2/5/10)(AFP, 2/9/10)
2010 Feb 11, Willem
Wijnstekers, head of the UN program to protect endangered species,
said that Zimbabwe security forces had killed over 200 rhinos over
the past 2 years putting that population on the verge of extinction.
(SFC, 2/12/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 18, Zimbabwe state
newspapers reported that the Supreme Court has ordered two
government mining firms to stop operations on British-owned diamond
mining fields plagued by human rights abuses.
(AFP, 2/18/10)
2010 Feb 19, Some 1,000
Zimbabwe civil servants marched through the streets of the capital
Harare demanding hefty increases in their salaries.
(AFP, 2/19/10)
2010 Feb 26, In Zimbabwe a
cabinet minister said Zimbabwe stands by a new law requiring major
foreign firms to sell 51 percent stakes to locals, but will allow
companies to choose their own partners. The law takes effect on
March 1, giving 45 days for companies valued at more than 500,000 US
dollars to sell 51 percent stakes to locals. The Indigenization and
Empowerment Bill was passed by parliament in 2007 and signed by
President Robert Mugabe in 2008, before the creation of a unity
government with long-time rival, PM Morgan Tsvangirai.
(AP, 2/26/10)
2010 Mar 1, In Zimbabwe a new
law took effect, giving companies valued at more than 500,000 US
dollars 45 days to inform the government of the racial make-up of
their shareholders. The main labor body said the new law,
requiring locals to own 51 percent of major foreign firms, could
hurt the nation's economic recovery.
(AFP, 3/1/10)
2010 Mar 3, Zimbabwe's the
industry minister said the cabinet will review new local ownership
rules that have sparked concern among business leaders, saying the
law had been published "prematurely."
(AFP, 3/3/10)
2010 Mar 11, The Zimbabwe Red
Cross said at least 2.17 million Zimbabweans need food aid and the
figures are set to rise because of an expected poor harvest this
year.
(AFP, 3/11/10)
2010 Mar 17, In Zimbabwe South
African President Jacob Zuma began talks with Zimbabwe's political
leaders on his first trip as chief regional mediator to patch up
differences in the troubled coalition government.
(AP, 3/17/10)
2010 Mar 18, Zimbabwe's rival
leaders faced fresh pressure to mend their differences and push
toward new elections, as South African President Jacob Zuma led
talks on the fragile unity government.
(AP, 3/18/10)
2010 Mar 24, A Zimbabwean
rights group that organized a photo exhibit documenting human rights
violations scrambled to re-hang its damaged displays just minutes
before the show was slated to begin. Police had confiscated the
photos a day earlier, but the show's organizers won a court ruling
ordering the photos' return to the independent downtown Gallery
Delta. The rights group abandoned the photo exhibit following fresh
attempts by police to shut it down.
(AP, 3/25/10)
2010 Mar 26, Zimbabwe state
media reported that PM Morgan Tsvangirai has backed President Robert
Mugabe's stance against including gay rights in a new constitution.
(AFP, 3/26/10)
2010 Mar 27, Zimbabwe police
shut down an art exhibit exploring violence blamed on President
Robert Mugabe. Artist Owen Maseko had collected family photos of
missing people, images of mine shafts where bodies were believed
dumped and reports on an armed uprising after independence in 1980
in the western Matabeleland district that was crushed by troops
loyal to Mugabe. Thousands of civilians were massacred in the
fighting.
(AP, 3/29/10)
2010 Mar 30, In Zimbabwe 13
legislators from both parties in the coalition government were not
allowed to enter the Chiadzwa diamond district. They spent 2 days
waiting for clearance.
(AP, 4/1/10)
2010 Apr 8, In Zimbabwe retired
bishop Abel Muzorewa (85) died. He was the first black leader of the
former Rhodesia and later became an opponent of Zimbabwe's Pres.
Mugabe.
(AP, 4/10/10)
2010 Apr 13, Zimbabwe's
government withdrew a controversial law that would have seen foreign
firms forced to cede 51 percent of their shares to locals.
(AFP, 4/13/10)
2010 Apr 13, In Zimbabwe at
least 25 people were burned to death and two dozen others injured
when a bus collided with a truck laden with fertilizer on a highway
in the northwest.
(Reuters, 4/14/10)
2010 Apr 18, Zimbabwe President
Robert Mugabe pledged to move ahead with plans to hand over 51
percent control of businesses to blacks under a controversial
program. Addressing a rally to mark 30 years of independence from
Britain, Mugabe urged Zimbabweans to end political violence and
focus on rebuilding a devastated economy.
(Reuters, 4/18/10)
2010 Apr 22, Zimbabwe’s
President Robert Mugabe welcomed Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, a meeting of two leaders united in fierce opposition to
the West.
(AP, 4/22/10)
2010 May 10, In Zimbabwe a
judge acquitted top prime minister's aide Roy Bennett of all charges
in a terrorism case that had strained Zimbabwe's struggling
coalition government since it was forged more than a year ago.
(AP, 5/10/10)
2010 May 13, In Zimbabwe
thousands of mine workers went on strike for better pay after
negotiations with employers collapsed.
(AP, 5/13/10)
2010 May 16, Zimbabwe's PM
Morgan Tsvangirai called for an immediate Southern African
Development Community (SADC) summit to resolve major disagreements
stalling a power-sharing government with his long-time rival
President Robert Mugabe.
(AP, 5/16/10)
2010 May 18, Amnesty
International accused Zimbabwe's unity government of failing to
provide for victims of a mass eviction blitz five years ago that
left 700,000 people destitute.
(AFP, 5/17/10)
2010 May 19, Zimbabwe's Chamber
of Mines proposed a compromise in the government's drive to force
foreign firms to give 51 percent stakes to locals, saying 15 percent
local shareholding for mines was enough.
(AP, 5/19/10)
2010 May 26, Zimbabwe licensed
four private daily newspapers, including the banned Daily News, a
sign the new unity government is following through on promises to
open up the media to non-state run publications.
(Reuters, 5/26/10)
2010 May 31, Business leaders
from Ghana and Zimbabwe met in Accra to forge closer economic and
trade cooperation between the two African countries.
(AFP, 6/1/10)
2010 Jun 1, In Zimbabwe a taxi
van crashed head-on into a military bus, killing 16 people and
seriously injuring three others.
(AP, 6/2/10)
2010 Jun 4, Zimbabwe's first
private daily newspaper hit the streets to break a state monopoly
established years ago after President Robert Mugabe's government
banned a pro-opposition newspaper over a registration dispute.
(Reuters, 6/4/10)
2010 Jun 9, Zimbabwe’s farmers'
union said at least 16 white farmers have come under attack over the
last week, including several South African nationals and a farm
owned by Malaysian investors. The attackers were trying to evict
them, although many of the farmers have court orders allowing them
to stay on their land.
(AFP, 6/9/10)
2010 Jun 10, The Zimbabwe state
wildlife authority said poachers last week killed 10 elephants in a
single attack in southeastern Gonarezhou national park. All the
tusks were removed, leaving the carcasses on a river bank.
(AP, 6/10/10)
2010 Jun 18, Parts of Zimbabwe
and most of neighboring Zambia suffered a massive blackout for about
10 hours, as a fault crippled the hydro-electric dam that supplies
most of the countries' power.
(AFP, 6/18/10)
2010 Jun 20, Zimbabwe arrested
two Pakistani men for using fake passports. State media later said
one man is potentially linked to the November 2008 attacks in
Mumbai. Suspect Imran Muhammad (33) was wanted in Pakistan for
alleged involvement in the Mumbai attacks, which left 166 people
dead. The second man was identified as Chaudry Parvez Ahmed.
(AP, 6/26/10)
2010 Jul 4, In Zimbabwe a
collision involving 2 buses and a truck killed 18 people and injured
30 others 50 miles west of Harare.
(SFC, 7/5/10, p.A2)
2010 Jul 12, A Zimbabwean high
court released Farai Maguwu, a rights activist charged with
endangering Zimbabwe's economic interests by highlighting abuses at
diamond mines. He had been arrested on June 3.
(AFP, 7/12/10)(Econ, 6/26/10, p.48)
2010 Jul 13, Zimbabwe's
President Robert Mugabe vowed that the country would go ahead with
diamond sales that were banned earlier this year because of rights
violations at its largest mines. He said his nation will sell its
massive stores of diamonds despite not receiving authorization from
the world's diamond control body.
(AFP, 7/13/10)(AP, 7/13/10)
2010 Jul 15, A last-minute deal
at a meeting of the Kimberley Process certification scheme in Russia
authorized Zimbabwe to sell two batches of diamonds under strict
monitoring and regulation through Sept. 1.
(AP, 7/16/10)
2010 Aug 1, Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe lashed out at Western powers over sanctions
imposed on his ZANU-PF party, saying the European Union and United
States were simply bent on driving him out of power. Mugabe said
Zimbabwe's diamonds should benefit the entire country, as he urged
greedy politicians to blunt their appetite for individual wealth.
(Reuters, 8/1/10)(AFP, 8/1/10)
2010 Aug 3, The UN launched an
appeal for 478 million dollars (362 million euros) in aid to
Zimbabwe, 100 million dollars more than in 2009, saying the country
was at crossroads.
(AFP, 8/3/10)
2010 Aug 11, Zimbabwe auctioned
900,000 carats of rough diamonds that were mined from its Marange
fields, an area where human rights groups say soldiers killed 200
people, raped women and forced children into hard labor.
(AP, 8/11/10)
2010 Aug 12, In Zimbabwe a
wounded buffalo, known as one of the most aggressive animals in the
African bush, gored veteran Zimbabwean conservationist Steve Kok
(71) to death, ending his years of dedication to saving wild animals
from poachers' traps.
(AP, 8/17/10)
2010 Aug 16, US-based Rapaport
Diamond Trading Network, one of the world's largest diamond trading
networks, said it will expel members who knowingly trade Zimbabwean
stones tainted by allegations of killings and human rights abuses.
(AP, 8/16/10)
2010 Sep 2, South Africa's
government said it is withdrawing the April, 2009, special status
granted to illegal Zimbabwean immigrants who fled their country's
economic meltdown and political violence. A government said South
Africa will begin deportations after Dec 31.
(AP, 9/2/10)
2010 Sep 8, The UN Children's
Fund launched a scheme to provide 13 million textbooks to Zimbabwe's
students, in a 50-million-dollar effort to revive the struggling
school system.
(AFP, 9/8/10)
2010 Sep 10, Zimbabwean police
arrested 6 health workers, including four US citizens and a
New Zealand doctor, as well as a Zimbabwean doctor for allegedly
operating a clinic without a license in Harare. All belonged to an
int’l. church group that helps care for HIV and AIDS patients. All 6
were granted bail on Sep 13. Charges were dropped on Sep 22 as
prosecutors conceded the health workers were "doing good work" for
the Allen Temple Baptist Church of Oakland, Calif., which operates
the Mother of Peace Orphanage outside Harare.
(AP, 9/11/10)(AFP, 9/12/10)(AFP, 9/13/10)(AP,
9/22/10)
2010 Sep 14, Zimbabwe's state
airline said it has fired 40 striking pilots for failing to meet a
deadline to return to their posts. The pilots said the indebted
airline has not paid out operational allowances for nearly 20
months. They earned up to $2,500 a month, about one third of the
international pay scale for airline pilots.
(AP, 9/14/10)
2010 Sep 17, In Zimbabwe about
300 civil servants marched through Harare demanding higher pay and
benefits from money the state earned through recent diamond
auctions.
(AFP, 9/17/10)
2010 Sep 19, In Zimbabwe 5
people were injured in the capital Harare when pro-Mugabe militants
stoned a meeting meant to gather public opinion on a new
constitution.
(AFP, 9/20/10)
2010 Sep 20, In Zimbabwe 83
members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) were arrested after
marching to highlight concerns around community safety and police
behavior. They were freed after 2 days in jail.
(AFP, 9/21/10)(AP, 9/22/10)
2010 Sep 22, In Zimbabwe
supporter of PM Morgan Tsvangirai died, days after militants from
President Robert Mugabe's rival party attacked a political meeting.
(AFP, 9/22/10)
2010 Sep 23, Zimbabwe's
national airline said a crippling two-week strike by its 44 pilots
has ended and regional and international flights will resume Sep 24.
(AP, 9/23/10)
2010 Sep 23, Zimbabwe state
media said a measles outbreak has claimed the lives of 70 children
over the past two weeks, mostly among families from apostolic sects
that shun vaccinations.
(AP, 9/24/10)
2010 Sep 24, Investigators of
the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, who visited an animal reserve
near the southern border town of Beit Bridge and the Limpopo river,
reported that occupiers slaughtered 300 zebra for their skins in the
last two months. 7 African antelope were killed this week.
(AP, 9/24/10)
2010 Sep 30, Zimbabwe's Pres.
Mugabe told foreign investors that they must accept black
Zimbabweans as the major shareholders in their projects, or stay
away from the southern African nation.
(AP, 9/30/10)
2010 Oct 25, In Zimbabwe Kobus
Joubert (67), a prominent white farmer, was shot dead in a robbery
at his home. The Commercial Farmers Union, representing about 300
whites still on their land after a decade-long violent land seizure
program that ousted some 4,000 white farmers, said the killing
showed "the flagrant disregard for the rule of law" in farming areas
ahead of proposed elections.
(AP, 10/27/10)
2010 Oct 30, In Zimbabwe a
supporter of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was
beaten and stabbed by supporters of President Robert Mugabe's
Zanu-PF party at a constitution meeting in Harare.
(AFP, 10/31/10)
2010 Oct 30, Zimbabwean
businessman Peter Evershed (59) was mauled by five lions while
showering under a tree at the Chitake Springs bush camp.
(AP, 11/4/10)
2010 Nov 4, In Israel the
global diamond industry's oversight body upheld restrictions
preventing Zimbabwe from exporting its vast stockpile of diamonds
from a large mine after efforts to reach a compromise ended in
deadlock. Extending the approval to all the fields dominated this
week's Kimberley Process plenary meeting in Jerusalem, where the
unanimous agreement of members is required to certify the trade of
diamonds. Israel is this year's sponsor of the conference.
(AP, 11/4/10)
2010 Nov 4, The UN named
oil-rich Norway as the country with the best quality of life, while
Asia has made the biggest strides in recent decades. Australia, New
Zealand, the United States and Ireland followed at the top of the
standings. Zimbabwe came in last among the 169 nations ranked,
behind Mozambique, Burundi, Niger and Democratic Republic of Congo.
(AFP, 11/5/10)
2010 Nov 10, Zimbabwe's high
court referred the case of five of six diamond executives charged
with fraud to the Supreme Court while ordering the release of the
sixth.
(AFP, 11/10/10)
2010 Nov 14, In Zimbabwe a
report in the Standard Newspaper said retired police and war
veterans are being recalled to direct operations during elections.
Reporter Nqodani Ndlovu was arrested on Nov 17 on charges of
criminal defamation. He was granted bail on Nov 26 after his lawyer
went to the High Court to enforce an earlier magistrates decision.
(AP, 11/18/10)(AFP, 11/27/10)
2010 Nov 22, A South African
court said a Zimbabwean government property in Cape Town can be
auctioned to compensate three evicted white farmers in Zimbabwe for
legal fees.
(AP, 11/22/10)
2010 Nov 25, Zimbabwe's PM
Morgan Tsvangirai filed court papers filed saying Pres. Mugabe
violated the constitution with his unilateral appointment of 10
provincial governors last month. Tsvangirai said the power-sharing
agreement requires the president to consult with the prime minister
before making key appointments, and that Mugabe did not.
(AP, 11/25/10)
2010 Nov 26, South African
President Jacob Zuma arrived in Harare to try to smooth over
disputes threatening Zimbabwe's troubled power-sharing government.
Zuma said he had persuaded President Mugabe and PM Tsvangirai to
start talking again to address the rifts in their power-sharing
government.
(AFP, 11/26/10)(Reuters, 11/26/10)
2010 Dec 2, The UN appealed for
$415 million (€315 million) to feed almost two million Zimbabweans
facing near immediate malnutrition.
(AFP, 12/2/10)
2010 Dec 16, In Zimbabwe
Raphael Khumalo, chief executive at the Zimbabwe Standard said first
lady Grace Mugabe (45) has filed a $15 million lawsuit against the
independent newspaper after they published a story citing WikiLeaks
cables, dating to 2008, alleging her involvement in illegal diamond
deals.
(AP, 12/16/10)
2010 Dec 17, Zimbabwe's Pres.
Mugabe said the power-sharing government is not working and must
end, putting him on a collision course with PM Morgan Tsvangirai.
Mugabe told his party conference that British and US companies in
Zimbabwe will be nationalized unless sanctions against the country
are dropped.
(AFP, 12/17/10)(AFP, 12/17/10)
2010 Dec 21, In Zimbabwe 9
people died and 25 were injured when a speeding bus slammed into a
truck in Harare. 3 infants were among the dead.
(AP, 12/22/10)
2010 Dec 21, The US Treasury
Department imposed sanctions against Zimbabwe's attorney general,
Johannes Tomana, saying his actions undermined the country's
democratic institutions.
(Reuters, 12/21/10)
2010 Dec 30, Cyber activists
said they have brought down Zimbabwean government websites after the
president's wife sued a newspaper for publishing a WikiLeaks cable
linking her with illicit diamond trading.
(Reuters, 12/30/10)
2010 Dec 31, In South Africa
thousands of Zimbabwean immigrants crowded outside immigration
offices as a deadline approached for them to obtain permits or face
deportation.
(AP, 12/31/10)
2010 In Zimbabwe ZIFA chief
Henrietta Rushwaya sent the national soccer team to play
unsanctioned friendlies in Thailand, Syria and Malaysia, where a
betting syndicate allegedly fixed the results. She was fired and
charged with bribery and corruption.
(AFP, 2/29/12)
2011 Jan 21, Zimbabwe
researchers said nearly one-third of the country’s registered voters
are dead, and others appear to be babies or up to 120 years old, and
called for the list to be overhauled so that the upcoming election
cannot be rigged.
(AP, 1/21/11)
2011 Jan 23, Zimbabwean police
drove out scores of so-called war veterans and supporters of Pres.
Robert Mugabe after they declared themselves new owners of several
tourist resorts.
(AFP, 1/24/11)
2011 Jan 25, Zimbabwe's
wildlife chief said poachers are using aircraft to hunt and kill
rhinoceros as demand in Asia for their horns' supposed medicinal
benefits grows.
(AP, 1/25/11)
2011 Feb 5, Zimbabwe's main
rival political parties condemned a spate of violent clashes among
their supporters. PM Morgan Tsvangirai blamed Pres. Mugabe's youth
brigades.
(Reuters, 2/5/11)
2011 Feb 6, Zimbabwe state
media reported that the nation’s ivory stockpile has rocketed to
42,000 kilos up from a previous record of 29,000, but the country
cannot sell it due to a ban. It reportedly costs Zimbabwe $13
million annually to secure the stockpile, valued at $10 million.
(AFP, 2/6/11)
2011 Feb 7, Zimbabweans
chanting slogans from President Robert Mugabe's party trashed stalls
owned by hawkers from elsewhere in Africa at a flea market in the
capital, looting mobile phones, electrical goods and clothing.
(AP, 2/7/11)
2011 Feb 11, China’s foreign
Minister Yan Jiechi said that China plans to increase economic
cooperation with longtime African ally Zimbabwe in mining,
agriculture and other ventures. He met with Pres. Mugabe in Harare.
Mugabe thanked Yang for China's training of his guerrillas to help
in "demolishing colonialism" before independence from British
colonial rule in 1980.
(AP, 2/11/11)
2011 Feb 15, The European Union
said it is extending visa bans and an asset freeze against President
Robert Mugabe and 163 individuals and 31 companies in Zimbabwe.
(AP, 2/15/11)
2011 Feb 19, In Zimbabwe
Munyaradzi Gwisai, a university lecturer and former lawmaker from PM
Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party was
arrested along with 45 others at a meeting to discuss the uprising
that led to the ouster of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
Police tortured some of the 46 rights activists facing treason
charges after their arrest. On March 16 a court freed on bail Gwisai
and 5 other civic activists.
(AFP, 2/24/11)(AP, 3/16/11)
2011 Feb 26, Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe repeated calls for elections to end the
power-sharing government and vowed to punish companies from
countries that imposed sanctions on him and his allies.
(AFP, 2/26/11)
2011 Mar 1, Zimbabwean police
and troops put on a show of force in the capital amid calls for
protests against Pres. Mugabe, the longtime authoritarian ruler.
(AP, 3/1/11)
2011 Mar 2, Zimbabwe’s Pres.
Mugabe threatened to boycott Western products before seizing
companies from countries that have imposed sanctions against him and
his allies.
(AFP, 3/2/11)
2011 Mar 7, A Zimbabwean court
freed 38 of 46 people, arrested on Feb 19, who were charged with
plotting an Egypt-style uprising against the country's longtime
ruler. A magistrate ordered 8 others to face treason charges later
this month.
(AFP, 3/7/11)
2011 Mar 8, PM Morgan
Tsvangirai said Zimbabwe will use revenue from diamond sales to
repay part of its external debt totaling $7.1 billion. Tsvangirai
told potential foreign investors not to fear an "ambush" election to
replace the country's shaky power-sharing government.
(Reuters, 3/8/11)(AFP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 9, Zimbabwe won its
biggest foreign investment in a decade with a $750-million steel
deal. The agreement gave India's Essar Group a 54% stake in the
mothballed state steel firm Zisco, in a deal worth 12.5 times
Zimbabwe’s total 2009 recorded foreign investment.
(AFP, 3/13/11)(http://tinyurl.com/4w97xuq)
2011 Mar 10, Zimbabwe's PM
Morgan Tsvangirai called for a "divorce" in his unity government
with President Robert Mugabe, proposing new elections under a
regional roadmap.
(AFP, 3/10/11)
2011 Mar 19, Zimbabwe police
banned a rally planned by PM Tsvangirai. Some of his supporters were
beaten as they approached the event site, plunging the country's
fragile coalition government deeper into crisis.
(AP, 3/19/11)
2011 Mar 25, A Zimbabwean court
ordered Energy Minister Elton Mangoma, a top political ally of PM
Tsvangirai, to be held in jail after his second arrest this month.
The arrests have been criticized by the prime minister's party as
being politically motivated.
(AP, 3/25/11)
2011 Mar 27, Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe vowed his party would not back down from its
controversial drive to force foreign-owned companies to sell
majority shareholdings to local blacks. Police barred PM Morgan
Tsvangirai's party from holding a rally, saying it coincided with
the funeral of a close ally of President Mugabe.
(Reuters, 3/27/11)(AFP, 3/27/11)
2011 Mar, In Zimbabwe state
television began showing Pres. Mugabe supporters pulling bones from
a disused mine and hauling them off in plastic bags and old sacks
near the northern town of Mount Darwin. Mugabe's ZANU-PF party
claimed the remains are of victims of the 1970s liberation war
against the white-minority Rhodesian regime led by Ian Smith, when
an estimated 30,000 people died. Others said the victims may have
been killed by ZANU-PF forces during one of the many waves of
repression since independence in 1980.
(AP, 4/7/11)
2011 Apr 1, African leaders
delivered a thinly veiled rebuke to Zimbabwe Pres. Mugabe, after a
security summit sharply demanded an end to political violence ahead
of expected polls.
(AFP, 4/1/11)
2011 Apr 4, Zimbabwe Energy
Minister Elton Mangoma, charged with abuse of office, was freed
after the high court rejected a bid by prosecutors to block his
release.
(AFP, 4/5/11)
2011 Apr 6, Mike Campbell 978),
white Zimbabwe farmer, died. In 2007 he Pres. Mugabe before the
tribunal of the Southern African Development Community to protect
his property and won his suit. In June, 2008, he was left brain
damaged after thugs broke into his house and severely beat
him.
(Econ, 4/23/11, p.91)
2011 Apr 7, A Zimbabwe court
ordered militant supporters of President Mugabe to stop exhuming
hundreds of skeletons they say were the victims of colonial-era
massacres, a project that critics say is stoking racial hatred in
Zimbabwe.
(AP, 4/8/11)
2011 Apr 11, In San Francisco
the annual Goldman Environmental prize was awarded 6 people from
around the world. The winners included Hilton Kelly for his efforts
to cut pollution in Port Arthur, Texas; Francisco Pineda for
resisting mining in El Salvador; Ursula Sladek of Germany for
creating for reducing her community’s reliance on nuclear power;
Prigi Arisandi for her efforts to protect Indonesia’s Surabaya
River; Dmitry Lisitsyn for his efforts to protect the Russia’s
Sakhalin island; and Raoul du Toit for defending wildlife in
Zimbabwe.
(SFC, 4/11/11, p.A12)
2011 Apr 13, In Zimbabwe a
government minister and a Roman Catholic priest were arrested and
detained by police for holding a memorial service for victims of
massacres in western Zimbabwe after independence in 1980.
(AP, 4/15/11)
2011 Apr 14, Zimbabwe President
Mugabe condemned gay "filth" in Europe, as he lambasted Western
powers for maintaining their asset freeze and travel ban on him and
his inner circle. Mugabe also said the government would go ahead
with the takeover of foreign companies.
(AP, 4/14/11)(Reuters, 4/14/11)
2011 Apr 25, In Zimbabwe
thieves raided the offices and stole computer hard drives and the
editor's laptop of NewsDay, an independent daily newspaper critical
of President Mugabe.
(AP, 4/27/11)
2011 May 4, The European Union
said six Zimbabwean state-media journalists are on a sanctions list
because they incite hatred in their reporting. The journalists who
fiercely support President Robert Mugabe are among some 200
individuals linked to Mugabe's party who face banking and travel
bans from the EU, the US and Britain.
(AP, 5/4/11)
2011 May 15, Zimbabwe's central
bank chief Gideon Gono said the southern African country's economy
cannot sustain an election.
(AFP, 5/15/11)
2011 May 29, In Zimbabwe a
police inspector was killed. 12 suspects, members of PM Morgan
Tsvangirai's former opposition party, were soon detained in a police
crackdown in a western Harare township. The group appeared in court
on June 3 with severe cuts, bruising and swollen limbs.
(AP, 6/3/11)
2011 Jun 8, In Zimbabwe a group
of 19 armed men made off with one ton of gold ore, beating farm
workers with hot iron bars at Chav-Chess Farm outside Kadoma.
(AFP, 7/27/11)
2011 Jun 21, Zimbabwe state
media reported that Zimbabwe has vowed to defy moves for
international monitoring of diamond sales from its disputed Marange
fields, at a meeting of the global "blood diamond" watchdog.
(AFP, 6/21/11)
2011 Jun 22, In Zimbabwe a gang
of 27 armed robbers struck again stealing three tons of gold ore at
Chav-Chess Farm outside Kadoma.
(AFP, 7/27/11)
2011 Jun 24, In CongoDRC a
4-day meeting of the Kimberly Process, a system to end the trade in
“blood diamonds,” ended. Chairman Mathieu Yamba announced that two
Zimbabwean-South African joint ventures could resume diamond sales.
(Econ, 7/2/11, p.40)
2011 Jun 26, A Zimbabwe high
court judge freed Jameson Timba, a key aide to PM Morgan Tsvangirai,
two days after he was arrested for calling veteran President Robert
Mugabe a liar.
(AFP, 6/26/11)
2011 Jul 2, Zimbabwean teachers
said they will suspend their 11-day strike to consider the
government's offer of an pay rise that fell nearly 90 percent short
of their demands.
(AFP, 7/2/11)
2011 Jul 6, Zimbabwe's two main
political parties agreed to a timeline for reforms that will pave
the way for fresh elections, but no date for the polls was set.
(AFP, 7/7/11)
2011 Jul 27, Zimbabwe police
arrested 13 members of the Restoration of Human Rights group, who
staged a protest outside a court where allegations of police
assaults and torture were to be raised. The High Court again
postponed an appeal for bail by eight activists of the prime
minister's former opposition group accused over the killing of a
police inspector in May.
(AP, 7/27/11)
2011 Jul 31, In northern
Zimbabwe 19 people were reported killed when the commuter bus they
were traveling in lost a wheel and veered off the road in the town
of Mvurwi.
(AFP, 7/31/11)
2011 Aug 2, In Zimbabwe at
least 14 people were killed after a minibus crashed 120 miles east
of Harare, the second deadly accident involving an overcrowded bus
in the southern African country in recent days.
(AP, 8/3/11)
2011 Aug 3, Computer hackers
attacked the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange website, prompting the
authorities at the bourse to shut it down. ZSE does not conduct
trading on the Internet.
(AFP, 8/5/11)
2011 Aug 16, In Zimbabwe former
military chief Gen. Solomon Mujuru (62), one of the country’s main
political power brokers and the husband of the vice president, died
in an overnight fire at one of his homes.
(AP, 8/16/11)
2011 Aug 26, It was reported
that the Zimbabwe Electricity Regulatory Commission (ZERC) has
increased electricity rates from 7.53 US cents to 9.83 US cents per
kilowatt hour, effective next week, to help the regulator fund an
expansion program that will boost electricity production.
(AP, 8/26/11)
2011 Aug 30, Rights groups said
foreign banks with investments in Zimbabwe are enabling human rights
abuses by failing to stop local partners from facilitating illegal
sales of the country's diamonds.
(AFP, 8/30/11)
2011 Sep 1, The British-based
Economist Intelligence Unit rated Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, as the
worst of 140 world cities to live in.
(AP, 9/1/11)
2011 Sep 2, Zimbabwe state
media reported that Pres. Mugabe has sworn in an anti-corruption
commission in an effort to stem graft.
(AFP, 9/2/11)
2011 Sep 2, In Zimbabwe an
independent conservation group said a new influx of settlers at a
nature preserve in the southeast is destroying the sanctuary of at
least 70 elephants.
(AP, 9/2/11)
2011 Sep 19, Zimbabwe's
wildlife authority said poachers have begun poisoning watering
holes, killing nine elephants and at least five lions in recent
weeks.
(AP, 9/19/11)
2011 Sep 21, Zimbabwe said it
has reached a deal with insurance group Old Mutual on how the
company will comply with a law compelling foreign companies to sell
majority stakes to local blacks. The agreement allows British
insurer Old Mutual to conduct a "first phase" of compliance which
will see the firm place 25% of its local subsidiary in the hands of
local blacks.
(AFP, 9/21/11)
2011 Oct 7, Mining
multinational RioTinto's Zimbabwean subsidiary Murowa Diamonds said
it has ceded 51% of its equity to comply with a new law giving local
blacks majority shares in foreign companies.
(AFP, 10/7/11)
2011 Oct 9, In Zimbabwe the
archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, condemned "godless"
assaults on Anglicans by a breakaway faction of the Anglican Church
led by an excommunicated bishop, aligned with Zimbabwe's president.
Anglican faithful have turned to tents and parking lots for their
services, as renegade bishop Nolbert Kunonga has forcefully blocked
them from Church property.
(AFP, 10/9/11)
2011 Oct 10, In Zimbabwe the
Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, handed over a report to
President Robert Mugabe detailing incidents of intimidation.
(AP, 10/11/11)
2011 Oct 31, Zimbabwe state
media said President Robert Mugabe has warned Switzerland he would
"reciprocate" after his wife and top officials were denied visas to
attend a UN meeting in that country.
(AFP, 10/31/11)
2011 Oct 31, In Zimbabwe a $430
million fund was launched with the help of the EU and UNICEF to give
children and pregnant women free medical care at public hospitals.
(AFP, 10/31/11)
2011 Nov 1, Zimbabwe police
fired tear gas into PM Morgan Tsvangirai's party headquarters in
Harare and blocked off the building while beating up nearby street
vendors. MDC spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said the attempts to arrest
the street vendors was a ploy to raid Tsvangirai's party offices.
(AFP, 11/1/11)
2011 Nov 1, In Zimbabwe a
decision by the Kimberley Process (KP) allows two firms, state-owned
Marange Resources and state joint venture Mbada Diamonds, to sell
gems from the Marange region, one of Africa's biggest diamond finds
in decades and the site of gross human rights violations. The deal
came after negotiations involving Zimbabwe, the European Union,
South Africa, the United States and the World Diamond Council.
(AFP, 11/1/11)
2011 Nov 3, The Zimbabwean
government, the United Nations and other Western donors launched an
$85 million education fund aimed at improving education in the
country's secondary schools.
(AP, 11/3/11)
2011 Nov 6, Young supporters of
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe stoned and beat up backers of PM
Morgan Tsvangirai, blocking a planned rally of his Movement for
Democratic Change party.
(AFP, 11/6/11)
2011 Nov 11, Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe and PM Morgan Tsvangirai called for peace in
the wake of attacks on the premier's party, as tensions rise with
expectations for elections next year.
(AFP, 11/11/11)
2011 Nov 16, A Zimbabwe
magistrate court freed three businessmen accused of espionage for
allegedly selling state secrets to the United States, Canada and
Afghanistan. Farai Rwodzi and Simba Mangwende, both executives at
Africom Holdings, and Oliver Chiku of Global Satellite System still
faced a lesser charge of violating the Post and Telecommunications
Act.
(AFP, 11/17/11)
2011 Nov 22, A survey of some
6,000 people over the last 12 months in Democratic Republic of
Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe
said police are the most corrupt institution in the six countries.
(AFP, 11/22/11)
2011 Nov 23, Zimbabwe wildlife
authorities said at least 77 elephants have died in a three-month
heat wave in western Hwange National Park that has dried up watering
holes.
(AP, 11/23/11)
2011 Nov 25, A study by
Canadian scientists found that South Africa and Zimbabwe suffer the
worst economic losses due to doctors emigrating, while Australia,
Canada, Britain and the United States benefit the most from
recruiting doctors trained abroad.
(Reuters, 11/25/11)
2011 Nov 29, Zimbabwe state
radio reported that militant youth group loyal to Pres. Mugabe is
calling for a boycott of a restaurant chain whose latest
advertisement depicts the aging, authoritarian president as "the
last dictator standing." The head of Chipangano called for South
Africa-based Nando's to withdraw the ad.
(AP, 11/29/11)
2011 Dec 5, In South Africa
Global Witness said it has left the Kimberley Process, accusing the
international diamond regulatory group of refusing to address links
between diamonds, violence and tyranny. The rights watchdog cited
what it called failures in Ivory Coast, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
(AP, 12/5/11)
2011 Dec 10, South Africa's
ruling African National Congress offered to help President Robert
Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF win the next elections in neighboring
Zimbabwe.
(AFP, 12/11/11)
2011 Dec 15, Air Zimbabwe
chairman Jonathan Kadzura said the government has raised $1.5
million (1.2 million euros) to pay off the national airline's debt
and have an impounded airplane released in London.
(AFP, 12/15/11)
2011 Dec 16, Zimbabwe state
media said the national airline has suspended flights to South
Africa over a debt of $500,000, fearing creditors might impound more
of its planes.
(AFP, 12/16/11)
2011 Dec 25, In Zimbabwe a
pleasure boat capsized at Lake Chivero, drowning 11 of 19 people,
most of them children.
(AP, 12/26/11)
2011 Peter Godwin authored “The
Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe.”
(SSFC, 5/1/11, p.G4)
2012 Jan 11, In Zimbabwe 3
suspects appeared in court in Harare accused of murder and of
possessing rhino horn worth $120,000 found in a vehicle still
registered to Sessel Zvidzai, deputy local government minister in
the former opposition party. The next day Zvidzai expressed surprise
and said that he sold the truck two years ago.
(AP, 1/12/12)
2012 Jan 24, More teachers in
Zimbabwe joined a national strike in which government workers are
seeking to double their salaries. Their action on the strike's
second day, and the absence of more staff from government offices,
began to disrupt routine services.
(AP, 1/24/12)
2012 Jan 26, In Zimbabwe a
public servants' strike jerkily resumed after failed talks on
doubling basic wages, as some teachers held classes while others
left students on their own.
(AFP, 1/26/12)
2012 Jan 31, Zimbabwe’s health
minister said up to 50 cases of typhoid were being reported per day.
More than 1,500 people have been treated in an outbreak blamed on
poor water and sanitation facilities.
(AFP, 1/31/12)
2012 Feb 12, Zimbabwe state
media said International diamond watchdog the Kimberley Process (KP)
has certified Zimbabwe's Diamond Mining Company to sell gems from
the violence-tainted Marange fields.
(AFP, 2/12/12)
2012 Feb 14, Zimbabwean police
disrupted a Valentine's Day march, by about 200 members of the
militant Women of Zimbabwe Arise organization, aimed at promoting
peace and love between foes.
(AP, 2/14/12)
2012 Feb 15, In Zimbabwe a
provincial governor appointed by President Robert Mugabe suspended
the activities of 29 humanitarian organizations, alleging they did
not clear their operations with his office.
(AP, 2/16/12)
2012 Feb 16, Zimbabwe President
Robert Mugabe told foreign firms to form partnerships with
Zimbabweans to secure their investments under new rules requiring
them to cede majority stakes to locals.
(AFP, 2/16/12)
2012 Feb 16, An animal
protection group said 4 Chinese nationals have been arrested in
Zimbabwe on cruelty charges after they cut up and ate rare
tortoises. The 4 men were found to have entered Zimbabwe illegally
and worked without permits in the small scale mining district of
Bikita. They awaited deportation.
(AP, 2/16/12)
2012 Feb 17, The EU partially
lifted sanctions on Zimbabwe to encourage further progress in
political reforms but kept restrictions on veteran President Robert
Mugabe.
(AFP, 2/17/12)
2012 Feb 24, Zimbabwe's
national airline suspended all its flights indefinitely, after the
latest revival effort collapsed this week. The struggling carrier
battled against debts reported in December at $140 million.
(AFP, 2/24/12)
2012 Feb 28, In Zimbabwe
Richard Mubaiwa (31), a member of the country’s Central Intelligence
Organization, was accused of demanding $10,000 from the head of the
scandal-plagued national football association to protect him from
assassination.
(AFP, 2/29/12)
2012 Mar 4, Zimbabwe state
media reported that some 3,000 cases of typhoid have been reported
in Harare since the first case was detected in a working-class
suburb in January.
(AFP, 3/4/12)
2012 Mar 13, The Zimbabwean
government and mining firm Zimplats reached an agreement to transfer
a 51 percent stake to local investors, as required by the country's
controversial "indigenization" policy.
(AFP, 3/13/12)
2012 Mar 14, Zimbabwe Finance
Minister Tendai Biti warned the government could shut down, as new
diamond sales from the controversial Marange fields are falling far
short of expectations.
(AFP, 3/14/12)
2012 Mar 15, Mozambique's
Cahora Bassa dam denied cutting power to Zimbabwe, which had claimed
the state-owned company had pulled the plug over unpaid bills
totaling around $75 million.
(AFP, 3/15/12)
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