I should have published this 12 days ago on 1 October, the date we had slated for our launch. Somehow, something gave and we could not meet that deadline and so here we are today, finally bringing ourselves to life. We have not been quite dead either. Our former home (http://zimbabweinpictures.wordpress.com) is a catalogue of the journey we have travelled, the challenges we have faced and the joy we have celebrated. Thankfully, we have celebrated more. Continue...

Our Image of the Day today has the caption: Of Hopes, Dreams and Illusions. It is a picture taken inside the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) on 15 September 2008, the day ZANU-PF and the two MDC factions agreed to share power and form a Government of National Unity (GNU).  Continue...

October 8th 2009. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, today received Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe, at the Viana Palace. During this bilateral encounter, which was followed by a working lunch, matters of common interest in politics, economics, and cultural issues were addressed,
with the purpose of re-launching relations between Spain and this important Southern African country. Continue...

Although the messages coming across seem to conflicting depending on who is saying what, it is encourageing to note that there is a certain amount of willingness within the members of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) to meet and discuss the way forward following the MDC-T temporary disengagement from government recently. Many people following what is happening in Zimbabwe will agree with South African president Jacob Zuma's most recent comment that Zimbabwe "should not be allowed to slide back into instability". Continue...

It is Henry Alfred Kissinger who once remarked; "Any fact that needs to be disclosed should be put out now or as quickly as possible, because otherwise this bleeding will not end." Of course, he was not speaking of Zimbabwe but he might as well hav been! After news broke that the Monday meeting between president Robert Mugabe (ZANU-PF), Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC-T) and Arthur Mutambara (MDC-M) had yielded nothing in terms of breaking the prevailing political impasse, the tone was set for a depressing week ahead - on the political field at least! Continue...

The following is a summary of the recommendations the Open Society Institute for Southern Africa (OSISA) is making to SADC ahead of a Maputo meeting which seeks to resolve the political impasse in Zimbabwe.

ZIMBABWE: A WAY FORWARD 

  Executive Summary

The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) makes the following recommendations: Continue...