Cleric who grabbed land from white Zim farmer ignores Mnangagwa's directive - report
Rusape – A Zimbabwean cleric, Trevor Manhanga, who was recently given a directive by President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government to vacate the farm he grabbed from a white farmer, Robert Smart, in Rusape in June, has remained adamant he will "stay put".
Smart was evicted from his farm in Rusape, Manicaland province in June after heavily armed Zimbabwean riot police besieged his property and forcefully pushed him out to make way for Manhanga, who had links with the then president Robert Mugabe
The grabbing of Smart's Lesbury Farm came shortly after Mugabe told his supporters at a rally that all remaining white commercial farmers were supposed to be kicked off their properties to make way for the ruling Zanu-PF party's youth and his supporters who had no land.
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US 'cautiously considering re-engaging Zimbabwe' after Mugabe ouster
Washington – The United States is "cautiously considering re-engaging Zimbabwe, following the resignation of former President Robert Mugabe" in November, a report has said.
Voice of America reported on Wednesday that the US, remained sceptical of how relations would improve, given that the southern African country's new leader Emmerson Mnangagwa was a close ally of Mugabe.
This came as several members of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations met at a hearing titled "The Future of Zimbabwe", in Washington on Tuesday.
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Burundi president launches campaign to extend rule
Nairobi - Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza has launched a campaign to promote a referendum to change the constitution that could see him rule until 2034.
"It's the day you've been waiting for," Nkurunziza told a crowd of thousands of farmers in the central Gitega district on Tuesday, threatening those who sought to undermine the referendum vote slated for early 2018.
The government adopted a plan in October to revise the constitution that, if passed by the referendum, would allow Nkurunziza to serve another two seven-year terms from 2020.
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Zimbabwe seizes $500 000 worth of ivory on way to Malaysia
Harare - Zimbabwe’s parks agency says it has seized 200kg of ivory destined for Malaysia.
National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesperson Tinashe Farawo on Wednesday said the ivory was worth over $500 000.
Farawo says no one has been arrested yet and police questioned officials from a travel agency before releasing them.
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Sudan papers go online for freedom from censors
Khartoum - Seated in his Khartoum office overlooking the Blue Nile, Sudanese journalist Adil al-Baz no longer fears a crackdown by security agents over his articles since he launched an online newspaper.
"We are free to publish what we want on our online newspaper," Baz, a former print newspaper editor, told AFP at the office of Al-Ahdath, the website he launched this year.
In a country of increasing media censorship, Baz is among several independent journalists who have left newspaper jobs and launched online papers or websites.
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ICC: Failure to arrest Sudan's president undermines court
New York - The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Tuesday accused some of its members, including Jordan, Uganda and Chad, of undermining the tribunal's "reputation and credibility" by refusing to arrest Sudan's president to face charges of genocide in his country's Darfur region.
Fatou Bensouda also criticised the UN Security Council, saying it has failed to take action against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and others accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur during fighting since 2003 or to act against nations that fail to carry out arrests.
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