Vol 52 No 17 | ZIMBABWE It’s not cricket 26th August 2011 On 4 August, Zimbabwe announced its return from the cricketing wilderness, playing – and winning – its first international for over five years, a test match against...
Vol 52 No 16 | ZIMBABWE Hard winter in Harare 5th August 2011 ZANU-PF outpoint their opponents by taking over the diamond revenue and latching on to a popular national cause As senior allies of President Robert Gabriel Mugabe concede through gritted teeth that there can be no national elections this year, they have moved the battleground to economic...
Vol 52 No 16 | ZAMBIA A vote about money 5th August 2011 Largesse from the copper boom rather than good policies boosts the President’s chances in next month’s polls The main challenger to President Rupiah Bwezani Banda in the elections he has called for 20 September is his arch-rival Michael Chilufya Sata: both agree that money will...
Vol 52 No 16 | ZAMBIA Some Banda backers exit 5th August 2011 In the last two months, some high-profile Movement for Multiparty Democracy personalities, including close friends of President Rupiah Banda’s, have crossed over to Michael Sata’s Patriotic Front (PF).
Vol 52 No 16 | MALAWI The President lashes out 5th August 2011 After killings and detentions by security forces, oppositionists plan another demonstration to press their demands for reform President Bingu wa Mutharika’s shift from egotistical technocrat to violent despot was not entirely surprising, given his style of government over the past six years. Few people believe...
Vol 52 No 16 | SOUTH AFRICA Foreign policy flip-flops 5th August 2011 President Zuma’s foreign policies await definition and are under fierce attack from his former allies President Jacob Zuma’s foreign policy, his critics at home say, is just like his domestic policy: he sits on the fence hoping to please everyone and in the...
Vol 52 No 16 | SOUTH AFRICA Zuma's front-line diplomats 5th August 2011 The President's foreign policy team Kgalema Motlanthe, Deputy President: focuses on the United States, Canada, Britain and the European Union. Privately critical of South Africa’s embrace of China, Motlanthe wants to work more...
Vol 52 No 15 | ZIMBABWE Spinning out of control 22nd July 2011 Four spin doctors vie for coverage on behalf of President Mugabe and his party as the battle over the next elections heats up The official line from President Robert Gabriel Mugabe and the highest policy-making body of his Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, the Politburo, is that elections must be held...
Vol 52 No 15 | ZIMBABWE Unreliable economic barometer 22nd July 2011 The launch of the US$9.2 billion Medium Term Plan at Harare’s International Conference Centre on 7 July did not go according to plan. Although President Robert Mugabe and...