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<p>South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has again called for the lifting of sanctions against Zimbabwe. This is after United States extended sanctions by one year saying they will only be lifted, if Harare has implemented certain reforms. Joining CNBC Africa’s Karabo Letlhatlha to speak on the sanctions, legitimacy issue, elective congress and the current economic challenges facing Zimbabwe is MDC Leader Nelson Chamisa.</p>


MDC’s Nelson Chamisa speaks out on Zimbabwe sanctions, dialogue and elective congress

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<p>There has been a huge call for Zimbabwe to engage in a national dialogue to resolve the country’s economic crisis. The country’s reserve bank governor recently introduced a new currency known as Real Time Gross Transfer dollars or ‘RTGS dollars’ as a measure to address its currency problem.  For more on the dialogue issue, the newly introduced currency, and role South Africa and SADC should play in resolving Zim crisis; CNBC Africa spoke to Former Zimbabwe Deputy Prime Minister Professor Arthur Mutambara.</p>


Zimbabwe needs bold reforms, productivity not a new currency – Arthur Mutambara

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<p>Zimbabwe has been struggling with a knock to the price of food and other goods as inflation has increased massively. For more on the impact of the dire situation In Zimbabwe CNBC Africa’s Fifi Peters spoke to people on the ground who have been affected the most by the economic crisis.</p>


How Zimbabweans are surviving exorbitant food prices

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<p>On Tuesday afternoon Former South African president Kgalema Motlanthe released his commission report about Zimbabwe’s post-election violence. The report suggested that the police and military were the culprits of the chaos that had occurred but Advocate Chadya Tapiwa Diamond believes that the inquiry’s finding was just a waste of tax payer’s money. He joins CNBC Africa to explain why.</p>


Motlanthe Commission report on Zimbabwe’s post-election killings labelled ‘white wash’

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<p>It was a throwback to the bad old days in Harare when riot police broke up an opposition press conference and chased journalists away. There was chaos at an attempted press conference by MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa less than 24 hours after the election results were announced.</p>


Zimbabwe riot police break up MDC Alliance press conference

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<p><em>Zimbabweans in the diaspora are heeding the call by President Mnangagwa to come back home to invest and rebuild the economy. A consortium made up of Zimbabwe&#8217;s Diaspora Infrastructure Development Group (DIDG) and South Africa&#8217;s state-owned rail transport group Transnet delivered the first batch of rolling stock equipment to National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), as to strengthen trade and the recapitalisation of the country’s railway programme. However there has been concern that the equipment delivered is second hand and out-dated. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Daniel Sango caught up with DIDG Chairman Donovan Chimhandamba to discuss more details on the $400 million US dollars recapitalisation deal.</em></p>
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Zimbabwe diaspora, Transnet win $400mn NRZ tender

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<p>Zimbabwe’s new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, appointed senior military officials to top posts in his new cabinet and chose a veteran cabinet minister to head the finance ministry.</p>


Mnangagwa, military share spoils of victory

<p><em>Yvonne Rowa, University of Adelaide</em></p>
<p>Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s forced resignation invites a re-examination of the military’s role in political affairs. While a professional military is typically expected to refrain from politics, the interface between security and politics can sometimes be blurred.</p>
<div id="attachment_290884" style="width: 2058px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-290884" class="wp-image-290884 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/104844149-GettyImages-874355048.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1365" /><p id="caption-attachment-290884" class="wp-caption-text">HARARE, ZIMBABWE &#8211; NOVEMBER 15 : A military tank seals off a main road to the presidential office within the military activities taking place in Harare, Zimbabwe on November 15, 2017. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)</p></div>
<p>In Kenya for example, the military Chiefs of Staff usually come from the president’s ethnic community making them partisan to the head of state and the party he represents. Most recently, there have been allegations of the military’s involvement in a poll rigging scheme with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government.</p>
<p>Other countries such as Uganda, Egypt and Thailand have experienced more flagrant examples of the military’s involvement in politics.</p>
<p>Recent events in Zimbabwe need to be understood within this context. The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) latest stunt must be read as political subterfuge. The military has been enmeshed in Zimbabwe’s politics since the liberation struggle. While it has occasionally flexed its muscle to support Mugabe’s grip on power, this time around it has intervened to shore up the ruling party’s fledgling support after years of the former president’s unpopular rule.</p>
<h2>Officers who call the tune</h2>
<p>The ZDF have been an invisible actor in the country’s protracted crisis. The intervention that resulted in Mugabe’s resignation was the result of a slow brewing coup that has been occasioned by the military’s involvement in the country’s politics since independence in 1980.</p>
<p>The military has been accused of violence and intimidation, as well as participation in electoral malpractices. ZDF’s human rights violations, economic plunder and entanglement in politics have been widely documented. And its professional misconduct has fomented poor civil-military relations.</p>
<p>The military takeover is therefore a manifestation of undercurrents that have been present for years.</p>
<p>According to the latest research, Zimbabwe is ranked 81 out of 133 countries in terms of military strength, just after the Middle Eastern nation of Kuwait, and one rank above Georgia, which is a former Russian territory. It has a total of 52,000 military personnel, 30,000 active personnel and 22,000 reserves.</p>
<p>ZDF prides itself as having been the liberator in the country’s struggle for independence. During the fight for independence political figures were deployed in the military rank and file to motivate the fighters. At the time, the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) was the political wing of the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA). This close relationship between the military and political wings persisted after independence.</p>
<p>Mugabe has regularly gifted the military through the allocation of exploited resources. He has also rewarded military men with high positions in the civil service to retain their loyalty, for example the late Mike Karakadzai and Samuel Muvuti. These dynamics have progressively obscured the separation between the army, state and party.</p>
<h2>Open support for the ZANU Patriotic Front</h2>
<p>The military has been openly partisan in its support for ZANU-PF. The politics of patronage and wealth accumulation has characterised the relationship on both sides. In suppressing the opposition, ZDF has created an uneven political playing field through intimidation and election rigging. The Joint Operations Command which coordinates the military, police and intelligence has been central to ZANU-PF’s security policy.</p>
<p>The military has also taken an openly antagonistic stance towards the opposition. An example of this was Brigadier Douglas Nyikayaramba’s description of Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), as a national security threat.</p>
<p>By engineering Mugabe’s ouster the military has reasserted its position as an important player in Zimbabwean politics. It may not hesitate to intervene in the event of another “national crisis”.</p>
<h2>Factors in the Mugabe ouster</h2>
<p>In their clamour to oust an oppressive ruler and his ambitious wife the Zimbabwean people have placed their hopes in a devious military.</p>
<p>It is hard to tell whether Mugabe’s Achilles’s heel was his wife, Grace, or an equally scheming military, which lured him into a false sense of security and then double-crossed him when he failed to indulge their political whims.</p>
<p>The current political crisis could in fact be the climax of an unwitting convergence of machinations from both sides. By casting Grace as the villain, and taking on the role of saviour, the military is attempting to erase the part it has played in Zimbabwe’s fractious politics.</p>
<p>By joining in the calls for the installation of former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the people seem to have momentarily discounted his dark past in the country’s politics. Examples of his misdeeds include his role as chief architect in the Gukurahundi massacres which was carried out between 1983 and 1987. Approximately 20,000 Ndebele’s were murdered by the military and security forces.</p>
<p>Another dark cloud that hangs over him includes his special relationship with the military. They were jointly involved in the economic plunder of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.</p>
<p>The former vice president has also been known to persecute his opponents.</p>
<p>While he has the support of ZANU-PF and the top military brass when he becomes president he will face the challenge of de-linking himself from his murky past.</p>
<h2>What next for Zimbabwe?</h2>
<p>The military takeover strongly suggests that the men in uniform are intent on determining the country’s political trajectory. As such, there are limited leadership choices open to Zimbabweans. With the military’s support, Mnangagwa will take over in the interim and potentially win a future election. But he has a blemished past, which the ZDF cannot sanitise. And his installation could plunge the country into further uncertainty.</p>
<p>For Zimbabwe to take a different route, two things need to happen: the radical security sector reforms that have stalled since 2008 need to be revived. These reforms should be targeted towards professionalising the sector by addressing past misconduct, mainstreaming human rights, and introducing community policing. This should go in tandem with depoliticising the sector, and demilitarising the state and some civilian populations.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87872/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />In addition, the people of Zimbabwe need to agree on a framework for a viable transitional justice process.</p>
<p>This article was originally published on The Conversation.</p>


Op-Ed: After Mugabe: why the role of Zimbabwe’s army can’t be trusted

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<p>IFP leader, Mangoshuthu Buthelezi also gave us his views on the unfolding situation in Zimbabwe and the trend of African leaders lingering long after the party is over. He joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


ANC helped prop up Mugabe’s govt past its sell-by date – Mangosuthu Buthelezi

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<p>Zimbabwe&#8217;s Robert Mugabe, who has resigned as president, leaves behind a ruined economy and Mnangagwa needs to apologise for allowing that to happen says  Zimbabwean entrepreneur and newspaper publisher, Trevor Ncube.</p>


Rebuilding Zimbabwe: Mnangagwa needs to apologise for what he allowed to happen in Zimbabwe – Trevor Ncube

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<p>Trevor Ncube, Zimbabwean businessman joins CNBC Africa to discuss the new economic promise for Zimbabwe beyond Robert Mugabe.</p>


Media has an important role to play in Zimbabwe – Trevor Ncube

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<p>Trevor Ncube, Zimbabwean businessman joins CNBC Africa to discuss the new economic promise for Zimbabwe beyond Robert Mugabe.</p>


Rebuilding Zimbabwe: We stand on an opportunity to push the reset button – Trevor Ncube

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<p>Trevor Ncube, Zimbabwean businessman joins CNBC Africa to discuss the new economic promise for Zimbabwe beyond Robert Mugabe.</p>


This is how Zimbabwe can woo businesses – Trevor Ncube

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<p>Former Zimbabwean finance minister, Tendai Biti speaks on what South Africa, can learn from Zimbabwe’s political turmoil.</p>


Former FinMin Biti: What SA can learn from Zimbabwe

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<p>The change we are seeing in Zimbabwe means the country has a fresh opportunity to kick-start and rebuild the economy and reintegrate internationally. Former Zimbabwean finance minister, Tendai Biti joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Zimbabwe needs a stamp of approval from IMF – Former FinMin Biti

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<p>The change we are seeing in Zimbabwe means the country has a fresh opportunity to kick-start and rebuild the economy and reintegrate internationally. Former Zimbabwean finance minister, Tendai Biti joins CNBC Africa to speak on the Zimbabwe-China relationship.</p>


We need to keep our relationship with China but change it – Zimbabwe’s ex-FinMin

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<p>Former Zimbabwean finance minister, Tendai Biti joins CNBC Africa to speak on the issue of Zimbabwe introducing its own currency in bid to stave off a cash flow crisis.</p>


ZDF

MDC’s Nelson Chamisa speaks out on Zimbabwe sanctions, dialogue and elective congress

Zimbabwe needs bold reforms, productivity not a new currency – Arthur Mutambara

How Zimbabweans are surviving exorbitant food prices

Motlanthe Commission report on Zimbabwe’s post-election killings labelled ‘white wash’

Zimbabwe riot police break up MDC Alliance press conference

Zimbabwe diaspora, Transnet win $400mn NRZ tender

Mnangagwa, military share spoils of victory

Op-Ed: After Mugabe: why the role of Zimbabwe’s army can’t be trusted

ANC helped prop up Mugabe’s govt past its sell-by date – Mangosuthu Buthelezi

Rebuilding Zimbabwe: Mnangagwa needs to apologise for what he allowed to happen in Zimbabwe – Trevor Ncube

Media has an important role to play in Zimbabwe – Trevor Ncube

Rebuilding Zimbabwe: We stand on an opportunity to push the reset button – Trevor Ncube

This is how Zimbabwe can woo businesses – Trevor Ncube

Former FinMin Biti: What SA can learn from Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe needs a stamp of approval from IMF – Former FinMin Biti

We need to keep our relationship with China but change it – Zimbabwe’s ex-FinMin

How Zimbabwe can fix its currency – Former FinMin Biti

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ZDF

MDC’s Nelson Chamisa speaks out on Zimbabwe sanctions, dialogue and elective congress

Zimbabwe needs bold reforms, productivity not a new currency – Arthur Mutambara

How Zimbabweans are surviving exorbitant food prices

Motlanthe Commission report on Zimbabwe’s post-election killings labelled ‘white wash’

Zimbabwe riot police break up MDC Alliance press conference

Zimbabwe diaspora, Transnet win $400mn NRZ tender

Mnangagwa, military share spoils of victory

Op-Ed: After Mugabe: why the role of Zimbabwe’s army can’t be trusted

ANC helped prop up Mugabe’s govt past its sell-by date – Mangosuthu Buthelezi

Rebuilding Zimbabwe: Mnangagwa needs to apologise for what he allowed to happen in Zimbabwe – Trevor Ncube

Media has an important role to play in Zimbabwe – Trevor Ncube

Rebuilding Zimbabwe: We stand on an opportunity to push the reset button – Trevor Ncube

This is how Zimbabwe can woo businesses – Trevor Ncube

Former FinMin Biti: What SA can learn from Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe needs a stamp of approval from IMF – Former FinMin Biti

We need to keep our relationship with China but change it – Zimbabwe’s ex-FinMin

How Zimbabwe can fix its currency – Former FinMin Biti

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