NEWS
Soldiers and police clash with protesters in Harare
Published
1 Aug 2018on
Soldiers have joined police in running clashes with hundreds of protesters in Harare, Zimbabwe who say the country’s presidential election is being rigged.
Police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse protesters as military helicopters flew overhead.
Three people have been killed in Harare, Zimbabwe as soldiers and police fought running battles with hundreds of protesters, firing live ammunition, tear gas and water cannon amid rising tension following the presidential elections.
Some of the clashes took place outside the headquarters of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) in Harare, which opposition supporters say is biased.
There has been growing impatience at delays in releasing the results of, the first since Robert Mugabe was ousted after four decades in charge.
“We support [opposition leader Nelson] Chamisa and we want him to be our president. The electoral commission is not fair. Our election is being stolen,” said a 19-year-old student among the protesters.
Heavily armed soldiers jumped out of armoured vehicles in Harare city centre and spread through narrow streets after initial clashes between police and protesters.
Rocks flew through the air and terrified commuters scrambled for cover.
“This is all the government’s fault,” said Abigail Nganlo, a 29-year-old nurse from Harare. “We are on our knees with the economic situation.
People are so angry. The [election] figures they are producing are fake. Where there are 500 people at a polling station, they are saying 5,000.”
Soldiers were seen beating people with sticks as much of the centre of Harare– an opposition stronghold – was shut down during the afternoon.
Alex Kamasa, 30, an unemployed graduate, said: “They are desperate.
They have rigged the election. It is a big robbery.”
On Wednesday morning election monitors called for votes to be counted in an open and timely way, as the opposition stepped up complaints that it would be denied victory by fraud.
Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party has already won the majority of seats in parliament after sweeping rural constituencies by significant margins, official results show.
The parliamentary outcome does not necessarily indicate voters’ choice of president.
The result in the presidential vote – contested by the Zanu-PF president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, and Chamisa of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change – is due by 4 August, but expected sooner.
Monitors have been warning of possible violence if the results are contested. Elmar Brok, the head of the first EU monitors to be allowed into Harare, Zimbabwe for 16 years, said the elections were a critical test of the country’s ability to reform.
Brok praised an “opening up of political space” but said the government had failed to ensure a level playing field, accusing the ZEC of being biased.
He called on the ZEC to make detailed results public to ensure the credibility of the election given earlier shortcomings. Other monitors also expressed concerns as the count went into the third day.
“Election day is only a snapshot of a long electoral process,” said the US congresswoman Karen Bass, one of the monitors deployed jointly by the US International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute.
“It is vital to see the electoral process to its conclusion, and it is still too early to make an assessment on the nature of these elections.”
The latest results announced by the ZEC in Harare showed Zanu-PF had won a two-thirds majority in the 210-seat lower house, which would allow it to change the constitution at will.
Chamisa’s MDC won 60 seats. Analysts blamed divisions within the opposition for the low tally.
Chamisa said in a tweet on Wednesday morning that the ZEC “seeks to release results to buy time & reverse the people’s presidential election victory”.
He added: “The strategy is meant to prepare [Zimbabwe] mentally to accept fake presidential results. We’ve more votes than ED [Mnangagwa]. We won the popular vote & will defend it!”
The election pitted Chamisa, 40, a lawyer and pastor whose only experience of power was a stint as a minister in a coalition government several years ago, against Mnangagwa, 75, a longtime Mugabe aide.
Chamisa said on Tuesday that he was “winning resoundingly”, a claim repeated by senior officials over the course of the day.
The interior minister, Obert Mpofu, said the government was concerned by “high levels of incitement to violence by certain individuals and some political leaders who have declared themselves winners”.
If no candidate wins more than half of the votes in the presidential election, there will be a runoff in five weeks. Negotiations to form a coalition government are another possibility.
The two presidential candidates represent dramatically different ideologies and political styles, as well as generations. Pre-election opinion polls gave Mnangagwa, a dour former spy chief known as “the Crocodile” due to his reputation for ruthless cunning, a slim lead over Chamisa, a brilliant if sometimes wayward orator.
Support for Zanu-PF has historically been deepest in rural areas, particularly the party’s Mashonaland heartland, where more than two-thirds of Zimbabwe’s 17 million people live.
The campaign has been free of the systematic violence that marred previous polls, but the MDC has repeatedly claimed it was hindered by a flawed electoral roll, ballot paper malpractice, voter intimidation and handouts to voters from the ruling party. Many of its complaints have now been backed by monitors.
Zimbabwe’s rulers know, however, that a fraudulent election would block the country’s reintegration into the international community and deny it the huge bailout package needed to avoid economic meltdown.
Almost four decades of rule by Mugabe has left Zimbabwe with a shattered economy, soaring unemployment and crumbling infrastructure.
Supporters said the president had won “a landslide victory”.
“The MDC are just extremely bad losers,” said Bright Matonga, a businessman and former Zanu-PF minister.
The Guardian
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NEWS
Kariba water allocation cut by 36 percent for 2027 as El Niño drought looms
The Zambezi River Authority has cut next year’s water allocation for power generation at Lake Kariba to 23 billion cubic metres, citing forecasts of below-normal rainfall.
Published
Today 06:12on
15/10/2026The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) has cut the volume of water available for electricity generation at Lake Kariba in 2027 to 23 billion cubic metres (BCM), down from 36 BCM this year, citing forecasts of an El Niño-linked drought.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, acting chief executive Peter Kapinga said the allocation will be shared equally between the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) and Zambia’s ZESCO, with each utility receiving 11.5 BCM. The Herald put the reduction at 36 percent.
The authority said its decision draws on the 33rd Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF-33), held in Swakopmund, Namibia, in August, as well as forecasts from the Zambian and Zimbabwean meteorological services. The forum predicted below-normal rainfall across much of the central and southern SADC region between October 2026 and March 2027. Southern Zambia and much of Zimbabwe are expected to be drier than normal early in the season, with the dry conditions spreading across most areas from January to March.
Under the new allocation, the ZRA projects that Lake Kariba will close 2027 at 476.80 metres above sea level, with 5.83 BCM of usable water remaining, about nine percent of live storage.
The cut follows a stronger year for the lake. The 2026 allocation was raised from an initial 30 BCM to 36 BCM after good inflows during the 2025/26 rainy season. As of 14 October, the lake stood at 480.65 metres and held 23.77 BCM of usable water, or 36.68 percent of usable storage. On the same date last year it stood at 477.34 metres with 8.25 BCM, or 12.75 percent.
Allocations for the rest of this year are tightening, however. ZPC’s Kariba South Bank power station had 6.13 BCM left from its 18 BCM allocation, while ZESCO’s Kariba North Bank station had 3.53 BCM remaining. The ZRA projects the lake will close 2026 with 16.24 BCM of usable water, about 25 percent of live storage, which becomes the starting reserve for 2027.
The authority said it monitors water use daily and meets the two utilities through joint technical committee meetings, and that it will update the public on further operational decisions.
Sources: Zambezi River Authority statement as reported by The Herald and NewZimbabwe.com.
NEWS
Redcliff explosives blast kills security guard, damages more than 80 properties
A blast at an explosives store near Redcliff in the early hours of Sunday killed a security guard and damaged more than 80 properties, officials say. Authorities suspect an attempted theft but the cause is not confirmed.
Published
14 Oct 2026on
14/10/2026A powerful explosion at an explosives storage facility near Redcliff, in Zimbabwe’s Midlands province, killed a security guard and damaged more than 80 properties in the early hours of Sunday 11 October, according to officials quoted by the state-owned Herald and Chronicle titles and by MyZimbabwe.
Midlands Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Owen Ncube told reporters at the scene that 1,200 boxes of explosives were stored in a concrete structure and that the guard died. He said the guard was allegedly tied up before suspected intruders tried to open the storage room. Redcliff Municipality spokesperson Michael Magoronga said a bolt cutter and other tools were recovered, and that the matter had been referred to the Joint Operations Command.
The municipality put the number of damaged properties at more than 80, including homes, commercial buildings and the Redcliff Civic Centre. Residents described shattered windows and cracked ceilings. Nehanda Radio, citing a municipal notice, said the preliminary suspected cause was an attempted theft of explosives, while stressing that the circumstances had not been conclusively established.
Army officials said the area had been secured and barricaded. Brigadier-General Lawrence Munzararikwa, who commands the Zimbabwe National Army’s 5 Infantry Brigade, warned residents to keep away because some explosives may not have detonated, and said specialist help may be needed to clear the site.
Reports differ on who runs the facility. The Herald, MyZimbabwe and Nehanda Radio describe it as belonging to the Buchwa Iron Mining Company (BIMCO). Separately, the managing director of explosives maker Intrachem told Mining Zimbabwe there had been “an incident at our explosives magazine near Redcliff”, adding that investigators had asked the company not to release further information. The reports also differ slightly on timing: most place the blast around 2am to 3am on Sunday, while Nehanda Radio described it as overnight on Friday.
None of the reports read by AllInZimbabwe included a police statement, and no arrests had been announced. Officials say investigations continue.
Sources: The Herald/Chronicle, MyZimbabwe, Nehanda Radio, Mining Zimbabwe.
ENTERTAINMENT
Caine Prize reviews Zimbabwean winner Kundizeza’s story after AI claims
The Caine Prize says it has started a review after The Atlantic suggested the winning story, “The Blue Fighter”, may have used AI. No finding has been made.
Published
13 Oct 2026on
13/10/2026The Caine Prize for African Writing has begun looking into claims that the story that won this year’s award may have been written with the help of artificial intelligence, days after the Zimbabwean winner was named.
Simbarashe Steyn Kundizeza was announced as the 2026 winner in London on Tuesday 6 October for his story “The Blue Fighter”. On 11 October, according to the prize’s own statement, journalist Vauhini Vara published an article in The Atlantic suggesting the story may have used AI.
In its statement, the Caine Prize said that when claims such as this are made, “it is our responsibility to look into them”. It said it aims to take a “human-centred approach”, ensuring writers are supported and cared for during the process, and that it has “initiated that process in this case”. It promised to share updates on its website as matters unfold.
The prize also pointed to the way it works: it honours stories that have already been published elsewhere, which it described as a “bond of trust” with the magazines and journals that publish the original work. The Bookseller and NewZimbabwe both reported the statement.
It is important to be clear about where things stand. The Atlantic piece raises a suggestion; the Caine Prize has not announced any finding, and nothing in the coverage reviewed by AllInZimbabwe shows that Kundizeza has been found to have done anything wrong. None of that coverage carried a response from him to the allegation. After winning, he told NewZimbabwe the award meant a great deal and gave him more belief that he could keep making room for a writing life.
AllInZimbabwe will report the outcome of the review when the Caine Prize publishes it.
Sources: Caine Prize statement; NewZimbabwe; The Bookseller.
Zimbabwean truck driver fined R10 million over cigarette haul at Beitbridge border
Chief Charumbira and two other chiefs recalled from the Senate
Kariba water allocation cut by 36 percent for 2027 as El Niño drought looms
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