Emmerson Mnangagwa says country needs $2bn of aid as severe dry spell caused by El Niño afflicts southern Africa
Zimbabwe has declared a national disaster over a drought caused by the climate event known as El Niño and President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said the country needs $2bn in aid to help millions of people who are going hungry.
The severe dry spell is wreaking havoc across southern Africa.
Continue reading...Man claiming to be a prophet arrested along with seven aides ‘for criminal activities which include abuse of minors’
Zimbabwe police have said they arrested a man claiming to be a prophet of an apostolic sect at a compound where more than 250 children were allegedly being used as cheap labour, and where authorities found 16 unregistered graves.
In a statement, police spokesperson Paul Nyathi alleged Ishmael Chokurongerwa, 56, a “self-styled” prophet, led a sect with more than 1,000 members at a farm about 34km (21 miles) north-west of the capital, Harare, where the children were staying alongside other believers.
Continue reading...The 67-year-old man, whose name has not been released, was travelling alone when he left a luxury lodge to travel to Victoria Falls national park
An Australian tourist reported missing late last week in Zimbabwe near Victoria Falls already had been missing for nearly a week before that, according to new information released Monday by national park officials.
The 67-year-old tourist, whose name has not been released, was reported missing Friday in the area near the Zimbabwe Victoria Falls national park, and officials said at the time that a search with sniffer dogs was under way.
Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesman Tinashe Farawo said on Monday that the missing tourist was male, and that he had last been heard from on 17 February.
The tourist, who was traveling alone, was staying at a luxury lodge about 3km from the rainforest park. He told the lodge management on 17 February that he was heading into the park, Farawo said.
However, the man was not seen entering the park on CCTV footage reviewed later, nor was he among those recorded as entering the park, as normally is done for accountability and security purposes, Farawo said.
“We have replayed the CCTV footage, physical records at the entrance of the falls have no record of him entering and our search team has been checking the rainforest. There is no sign of him,” Farawo said.
“We are looking at other leads because it seems he never entered the rainforest,” he said.
Farawo did not disclose any other details, saying investigations were still under way.
Such incidences are rare in Victoria Falls, a destination that attracts thousands of tourists from across the globe for its majestic water curtain that tumbles down more than 108 metres from the Zambezi River to a gorge below, sending up a mist visible from miles away.
The parks agency deployed a team that included the police and rangers with sniffer dogs, professional ground trackers and drones to track the Australian tourist on Friday, said Farawo.
A few cases have been recorded in other parks. A German tourist reported missing last October in Matusadona national park, which teems with wild animals in northern Zimbabwe, was found alive and in good health three days later.
Zimbabwe’s national parks authority says a team, including police, sniffer dogs and drones, have been sent to search for the 67-year-old tourist
An Australian tourist has gone missing in Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls national park, home to one of the world’s natural wonders, according to the country’s parks authority.
Tinashe Farawo, a spokesperson for the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, said that the tourist went missing in the vast rainforest on Friday.
Continue reading...Drought in Hwange national park was the cause of most of the deaths, and wildlife experts fear the climate crisis could make such events look normal
At least 160 elephants have died as drought conditions hit Zimbabwe, and with hot, dry weather likely to continue, conservationists fear there could be more deaths to come.
The elephants died between August and December last year in the 14,651 sq km Hwange national park, which is home to endangered elephants, buffalo, lions, cheetahs, giraffes and other species. At least six other elephants have recently been discovered dead outside the park in suspected poaching incidents.
Continue reading...Resurgence classified as grade 3 emergency by WHO, with southern Africa and Haiti among those hardest hit
Cholera cases soared last year, according to preliminary data from the World Health Organization, which recorded 4,000 cholera deaths and 667,000 cases globally.
The numbers surpassed that of 2022, and the WHO has classified the global resurgence of cholera as a grade 3 emergency, its highest internal health emergency level.
Continue reading...Jealous Mpofu wins Tusk’s ranger of the year award for his work with a maligned and misunderstood species
When Jealous Mpofu was a boy, he overheard his father’s bosses talking negatively about painted dogs, wild African canines with distinct marble coats that are among the world’s most endangered species.
“They said they didn’t kill an animal, they grabbed the flesh. They said they were rough animals,” Mpofu said.
Continue reading...Masaya reportedly tortured and his body dumped on outskirts of Harare after being abducted while campaigning
A Zimbabwe opposition activist has been found dead after he was abducted on Saturday during a political campaign just outside Harare, the Citizens Coalition for Change party has said. It was the second abduction in weeks of an opposition party member.
Tapfumaneyi Masaya was reportedly bundled into a vehicle by unknown men while campaigning for the CCC’s candidate ahead of byelections on 9 December, the party said.
Continue reading...In 2020, 350 elephants mysteriously died in Botswana, with a further 35 dying in similar circumstances in Zimbabwe. Now scientists think they may have found the reason why
In May and June 2020, the death of 350 elephants in Botswana’s Okavango delta baffled conservationists and sparked global speculation about what had caused it. Elephants of all ages and both sexes were affected, with many walking in circles before dying suddenly, collapsing on their faces. Two months later, 35 more elephants died in north-western Zimbabwe.
At the time, the deaths in Botswana were attributed to an unspecified cyanobacterial toxin, government officials said, and no further details were published.
Continue reading...The coach of the Zimbabwe women’s football team has been remanded in police custody after being accused of indecent assault against a female member of staff during an international tournament.
Shadreck Mlauzi, who was reappointed as coach at the end of last month having previously guided Zimbabwe to the 2016 Olympics, was arrested on Tuesday after returning to Harare from the Council of Southern Africa Football Association (Cosafa) women’s championship in South Africa.
Continue reading...The Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) has confirmed it is investigating a member of its senior women’s coaching team over allegations of sexual misconduct against female colleagues.
The Guardian understands the allegations relate to a series of incidents said to have taken place during the current Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) women’s championship in South Africa. They include claims that the coach made inappropriate invitations to his room and “asked for sexual favours” – allegations first made in an article by the London-based journalist Melody Gwenyambira this week.
Continue reading...Cases are rising in many parts of the country and critics are blaming chronic water shortages and poor sanitation systems
The Zimbabwean government has banned large gatherings in parts of the country and increased surveillance at ports of entry in an effort to contain a rise in cholera cases.
With 100 suspected deaths, most of them in September, and nearly 5,000 possible cases of the water-borne disease in more than 41 districts, including Harare, authorities fear a repeat of the 2008 epidemic where 4,000 people died.
Continue reading...Opposition politicians and activists arrested since President Emmerson Mnangagwa won second term
Barely a week after being sworn in as an opposition MP following elections in Zimbabwe last month, Gift Siziba found himself in police custody facing several charges, including inciting violence at a football match and defacing posters of an opponent in Bulawayo.
While other legislators debate in parliament, Siziba, from the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), has been in and out of court defending his innocence.
Continue reading...Mortality rate grows as animals roam long distances and clash with local people in desperate search for water
The climate crisis is pushing elephants on a forced migration across borders in southern Africa in search of water, creating problems for national parks and conservation efforts.
In recent weeks, Zimbabwe’s elephants have been crossing the country’s borders into Botswana, officials said on Tuesday. Exactly how many elephants are affected is not yet known. The development comes as a survey this month revealed that elephants are dying of heat stress.
Continue reading...Emmerson Mnangagwa also criticised for inflating size of cabinet and reappointing underperforming ministers
The Zimbabwean president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, recently returned to power after a disputed election, has been accused by the opposition of attempting to create a family dynasty after appointing his son as deputy finance minister barely a week on from conferring his wife with an honorary doctorate.
Announcing his new cabinet on Monday, Mnangagwa said one of his younger sons, David Kudakwashe Mnangagwa, would be second in charge at the Treasury, while appointing a nephew, Tongai, as deputy minister in the tourism minstry.
Continue reading...Opposition politicians claim that voters faced widespread intimidation in election won by Zimbabwe’s president
Emmerson Mnangagwa has promised to give Zimbabweans a better life after he was sworn in as the country’s president for a second term following a vote that the opposition has claimed was stolen.
“The lives of our people should be improved, nothing less,” Mnangagwa told thousands of supporters at the National Sports stadium in Harare, and called for peace and tolerance from political opponents.
Continue reading...Nelson Chamisa, who lost to Emmerson Mnangagwa, asks for help from regional partners after poll observers say was not credible
Zimbabwean opposition leader Nelson Chamisa has called for solidarity from regional partners against a vote he called a “gigantic fraud” that returned Emmerson Mnangagwa to power in Zimbabwe.
“Africa, do not leave us. Particularly our brothers and sisters in the region and the continent. We count on your solidarity as we seek to solve this political crisis,” Chamisa said at a press conference in Harare.
Continue reading...Election victory marred by criticism of voting process from other parties and official observers
Emmerson Mnangagwa has a secured second term as Zimbabwe’s president in a poll marred by electoral malpractice.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) declared Mnangagwa the winner, with 52.6% of the vote, beating Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC), who trailed at 44%.
Continue reading...Polling described as ‘shambolic’, with electoral body accused of conspiring with ruling party to ‘disenfranchise’ opposition voters
Voting in Zimbabwe’s election has been extended by another day after huge delays in the delivery of ballot papers to some wards.
The country’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, issued a decree late on Wednesday to extend voting by another day in 40 wards across Harare, and the provinces of Mashonaland Central and Manicaland, as the government tried to salvage polling that had been described as “shambolic”.
Continue reading...Most urban polling stations in Harare and Bulawayo, where opposition claims it has strong support, open four hours late
Delays have marred voting in Zimbabwe’s general election after a campaign dominated by the country’s interlinked economic crises.
Voting at most urban polling stations in Harare and Bulawayo began four hours late after polling officers failed to distribute papers for the council elections. Some polling stations were still to receive election material more than seven hours after polls opened.
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