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...

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...

So SADC has met and made recommendations again. To the scores of people who were hoping for an amicable solution to thepolitical impasse in Zimbabwe, Maputo has been a huge disappointment to dsay the least. But what else could have happened? It was clear that SADC was never going to take a hardl stance on Mugabe. After all, he is a democratically elected president and is duly recognized as such. As for Tsvangirai and the MDC, their 30-day ultimatum is all they to hang on to for now. Whether that will materialize is still a matter of debate. Continue...

The People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP), a South African refugee rights group has claimed that South African insurance firm, Old Mutual is the second largest shareholder in the Zimbabwe government-controlled Zimbabwe Newspapers (ZimPapers), publishers of government mouthpieces The Herald a Continue...