Zimbabwe's High Court has overturned a two-week ban on protests in the capital following a legal challenge from political activists.

Police banned rallies in Harare and the surrounding district on Thursday, after several violent clashes between police and anti-government protesters in recent weeks.

But Judge Priscilla Chigumba said on Wednesday that the official police note issued last week was "invalid" and curtailed citizens' rights.

"The court has said the ban was unlawful," lawyer Tendai Biti, a former finance minister who represented the activists, told journalists following the verdict.

Biti also said that the court had delivered "a brave judgment that asserts the independence" of the judiciary.

Zimbabwe has seen months of protests against alleged human rights abuses and the deterioration of the economy under President Robert Mugabe, who has ruled the country since 1980.

Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa, reporting from the High Court in Harare, said some protesters were planning to go back to the streets as soon as this week.

"Their message is that they are unhappy with President Robert Mugabe; they say the economy is being run down, and some even say it's time for him to go."

Earlier this week, Mugabe accused the country's judiciary courts of being reckless in allowing several anti-government protests that later turned violent.

"We can't allow that to continue, [to have] these violent demonstrations unimpeded. No. Enough is enough," Mugabe said.

On Friday, a different court denied bail to 58 people arrested during protests on August 26 when riot police fired tear gas, beat up several people and blocked off the site of an opposition demonstration in Harare.

In the same demonstration, protesters threw stones at police while some set tyres ablaze and pulled down the sign for a street named after Mugabe.</s>Harare (AFP) - Zimbabwe's high court on Wednesday overturned a two-week ban on protests in the capital Harare after a challenge from activists involved in a surge of demonstrations against President Robert Mugabe.

Mugabe has vowed to crack down on the protests, which have erupted over recent months as Zimbabwe has been pitched into deepening economic crisis.

"The court has said the ban was unlawful," Tendai Biti, a lawyer and opposition party leader among those who brought the case to court, told journalists.

"The judgement is a very brave judgement. We are very proud that the court recognised the power it has (and) importantly that courts will adjudicate matters without fear and favour."

Mugabe, who has routinely crushed dissent since he came to power in 1980, last week criticised the country's courts after several anti-government protests turned violent.

Judges authorised an opposition demonstration in Harare on August 26 which degenerated into clashes between opposition supporters and security forces.

Mugabe later blasted judges for "reckless" rulings allowing demonstrations against his rule, saying he hoped they had "learnt a lesson".

Zimbabwe has suffered economic collapse over the last 15 years, with 90 percent of the population now not in formal employment.

The cash-strapped government has been slow to pay the salaries of public sector workers, including the military, while banks are running out of cash.

"The judgement is progressive. We are excited," Stendrick Zvorwadza, a protest leader and long-time critic of Mugabe, said after judge Priscilla Chigumba made her ruling.

"Like we have always been saying this (campaign) symbolises peace."

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, who have represented scores of arrested protesters, said the ruling against the police ban on protest was "a victory for activists".

On Friday, another court denied bail to 58 people arrested during the August 26 protests when riot police fired tear gas, beat up several people and blocked off the site of an opposition demonstration in Harare.

Protesters fought back, throwing stones at police while some set tyres ablaze and pulled down the sign for a street named after Mugabe.

The demonstration -- which had been authorised by a court -- was to demand electoral reform before 2018 when Mugabe, 92, plans to stand for re-election.

Promise Mkwananzi, leader of the Tajamuka ("We are agitated") protest group, was also arrested at the protests and was denied bail when he appeared in court on public violence charges.

The last elections in 2013 were won by Mugabe in a vote the opposition said was rigged.</s>HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — A Zimbabwean court has overturned a ban on demonstrations imposed by the police in the capital, Harare.

High Court judge Priscilla Chigumba on Wednesday ruled in favor of a group of 18 political parties challenging the ban, which affected the central business district.

Police had banned all demonstrations in the area for two weeks following a series of violent clashes with anti-government protesters.

The judge says the ban was invalid because it had been imposed without following correct procedure.

She says the ban also infringed on the rights of citizens.

This southern African country faces rising frustration over a plummeting economy and allegations of government mismanagement.</s>Zimbabwe court says ban on protests invalid, suspends it for 7 days

HARARE, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's High Court ruled on Wednesday that a two-week ban by police on protests was illegal, saying it would suspend it for a week after a challenge by political activists who had said the move violated their rights.

Police in the southern African nation issued an official notice last Thursday prohibiting all demonstrations in the capital Harare after anti-government protests descended into some of the worst violence seen in two decades. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Writing Stella Mapenzauswa; Editing by James Macharia)</s>Harare — Zimbabwe has once again said it plans to re-introduce flights to London and Beijing after suspending them several years ago due to financial and operational challenges besetting the national carrier.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development Munesu Munodawafa was quoted by the state-run Herald newspaper Tuesday as saying that the government was currently scouting for a strategic partner for the airline with capacity especially to resume long haul flights.

The Harare-London route is one of Air Zimbabwe’s most lucrative routes and analysts believe a direct flight between Beijing and Harare would go a long way in boosting Chinese tourists into Zimbabwe.

The Zimbabwe government recently gave Air Zimbabwe the approval to find a suitable strategic partner to revive its operations, and has often expressed desire to resume flights to the United Kingdom and China because of their huge potential.

“The focus is for the operator that will be able to resume the long haul drive,” Munodawafa said.

At its peak, Air Zimbabwe used to fly to over 25 regional and international destinations but is currently only flying regional routes in southern Africa due to lack of funds to modernize its fleet and pay off creditors.

It is saddled with a 300 million U.S. dollars debt, and requires a billion dollars for recapitalization, according to government.</s>In Zimbabwe, government and protesters get more defiant

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — For many in Zimbabwe, enough is enough.

The words are spelled out in anti-government graffiti in the capital, Harare, one of several new declarations of defiance that authorities have trouble scrubbing away.

Over the weekend, President Robert Mugabe also declared "enough is enough" of the growing protests that reflect nationwide anger over a plummeting economy and alleged state corruption. Protesters have clashed with police wielding tear gas, water cannons and batons. Hundreds have been arrested.

Both sides of the political divide are increasingly fed up, an ominous sign in this country whose 92-year-old leader is showing signs of advanced age but makes no move of wanting to quit. Mugabe has been in power since independence from white minority rule in 1980, meaning any political transition will be a leap into the unknown for most people in a nation with a record of disputed and sometimes violent elections.

Many in Zimbabwe are waiting to see whether the fragmented opposition that recently joined forces can find enough momentum to force real change. The opposition has faltered in the past because of government crackdowns, internal divisions and other problems.

"Forming a coalition would present the opposition with the best chance to unseat Mugabe," said Eldred Masunungure, a political analyst at the University of Zimbabwe. But he said the opposition likely would struggle with "state-sponsored election violence, intimidation and the involvement of the military in elections."

Opposition leaders, including former prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai and a former vice president, Joice Mujuru, have mentioned the possibility of contesting the next elections in 2018 as a single front.

Mugabe, the world's oldest head of state, has vowed to run for office again.

But the shrewd operator, who joked away the latest rumors of his death last weekend after an overseas absence, has struggled to curb divisions within his own party. He continues to say the growing unrest is manipulated by adversaries in the West like the United States.

"We cannot sit idly while our country is being torn apart by unruly foreign-sponsored agents," Ignatius Chombo, the home affairs minister, said last month.

Many demonstrations are now organized through social media, prompting the government to announce plans for a law that would tighten social media controls and target what it calls "cyberterrorists."

Mugabe has criticized the courts for overruling an earlier police ban on demonstrations, saying the decision had endangered stability. Human Rights Watch has accused the president of interfering in the judiciary's independence.

A two-week protest ban is currently in effect, but opposition groups plan another demonstration on Sept. 16 after it expires.

Amid the uncertainty, many people in this country of 13 million people focus on daily survival, selling medicine, car parts or basic food staples on the street. They stand in long lines at banks because of shortages of the U.S. dollar, which replaced the local currency years ago because of hyperinflation.

The government has failed to pay its more than 500,000 employees, including the military, on time since June.

Some Zimbabweans are joining Pentecostal churches that have been mushrooming across the country in hopes of a miracle. The churches are often led by couples calling themselves "prophet and prophetess" who sell things like rubber bracelets and "anointed" water to followers, promising miraculous riches.

"I want the 'prophet' to bless my business. Everything else has failed to work," Mateo Sithole said while packing potatoes at his market stall in the eastern city of Mutare. "People have no money. They are not buying,"

In Harare, the anti-government graffiti on downtown buildings takes aim at the man in charge.

"You are now a ghost," one says. Another says: "Old Mugabe must go now."</s>JOHANNESBURG, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Human rights groups slammed the World Bank on Thursday over an internal report on Zimbabwe that suggested it would be a sign of "political development" for the country if its poor human rights record did not get any worse.

In the leaked July 27 document, seen by Reuters and reported by some African media, the Washington-based bank laid out a potential plan for clearing $1.88 billion of Zimbabwe's arrears with the region's big three multilateral lenders - the IMF, World Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB).

The report identified progress on Zimbabwe's human rights record as a needed benchmark to justify re-engagement with the southern African country and bring it back into the international financial fold.

The bank believed Zimbabwe was committed to "major change", with 92-year-old Robert Mugabe - Zimbabwe's only leader since independence from Britain in 1980 - recognising the need for outside help to resuscitate a moribund economy, the report said.

But as a proposed indicator of "political development" away from "coercion" in the country, it said in a bullet point: "Number of alleged human rights violations level off or decline from 2014 average and/or no unwarranted arrest of key opposition leaders."

Rights groups took exception to such a benchmark in a country where security forces are accused of routine abuses, ranging from harassment of opposition supporters and activists to beatings and forced disappearances.

"Reading this literally turned my stomach," Todd Moss, the chief operating officer of the Center for Global Development, a Washington-based think-tank, wrote in a blog that also accused the World Bank of being too ready to believe the government's rhetoric on reform.

"For the World Bank to move ahead with funding Zimbabwe based on this naive and deeply flawed analysis would be a colossal mistake," he added.

The report also noted that - with the exception of disputed and bloody elections in 2008 - Zimbabwe's politics were largely non-violent, due in large part to "strong coping mechanisms and a rigid security apparatus".

"It is shocking to hear that the World Bank is considering a bailout package for Zimbabwe at a time when the human rights situation in the country is deteriorating as police use excessive force to crush numerous peaceful protests," added Dewa Mavhinga, senior Africa researcher for Human Rights Watch in Johannesburg, adding that the bank risked "unwittingly funding abuse in Zimbabwe."

In a statement issued in Washington, the World Bank distanced itself from the report.

"The Zimbabwe Turnaround Elibility Assessment Note that was leaked to some outlets is an unofficial draft document that has not been approved by the Bank," the World Bank said.

The institution said it would only resume direct lending to Zimbabwe when the arrears were cleared. It said it was committed to helping Zimbabwe achieve its long-term development goals and cared "deeply about the well-being of the people of Zimbabwe."

The report comes about a month after the World Bank approved new safeguards for people and the environment in its financing that have come under criticism from non-profit groups for creating "loopholes" with vague language and reliance on borrower country laws and standards.

One of Africa's brightest prospects when it won independence, Zimbabwe's economy has collapsed since 2000 after the expropriation of thousands of white-owned farms and disastrous hyperinflation.

Clearing the arrears is a pre-requisite for restructuring its $8.3 billion of foreign debt, or attracting investment to upgrade its creaking infrastructure and kick-start the economy.

The document said Harare would repay its $120 million of arrears to the IMF using its Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) at the Fund.

The outstanding amounts owed to the World Bank and AfDB - $1.156 billion and $601 million respectively - would be cleared via a mixture of short-term loans arranged by the Cairo-based Afreximbank and Lazard, a large U.S. investment bank, and the AfDB's 'Transitional Support Facility'.

It did not provide further details.

A spokesman for Afreximbank said this week the deal had not yet been finalised. (Reporting by Ed Cropley in Johannesburg, additional reporting by David Lawder in Washington; Editing by Andrew Hay)</s>HARARE, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's main public service union on Friday rejected a government plan to cut 25,000 jobs and suspend annual bonuses, saying it would hurt workers already struggling to make ends meet.

The Apex Council, a grouping of all state sector unions, demanded talks with the government over the plan that Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa has said is essential to ensure the southern African country can keep paying its staff.

"We believe these measures are ill-conceived and can only further entrench the doom and gloom that has become the lot of the average civil servant," said Cecelia Alexander, head of the Apex Council which called a two-day walkout in July by teachers, doctors and nurses over pay delays, part of the biggest strike in Zimbabwe in 10 years.

In a budget statement on Thursday, Chinamasa said state sector wages took up 97 percent of revenues collected between January and June, a situation that could destabilise the economy.

It also meant the government risked being unable to pay salaries, Chinamasa said, proposing the suspension of annual bonuses for state employees this year and next to save $180 million annually.

Last year, Chinamasa made similar proposals but was forced to back down by President Robert Mugabe who told him to find the money elsewhere.

Under Chinamasa's plan, the civil service would shed 25,000 jobs, reducing the workforce to 273,000 by the end of 2017. Salaries for ministers and senior officials would be cut by up to 20 percent and Zimbabwe would close some embassies abroad.

Unable to get funds from international lenders, Zimbabwe is in its worst financial crisis since adopting the U.S. dollar in 2009. Economic difficulties have fueled political tensions, with anti-government protests over cash shortages and unemployment.

On Friday, Harare police fired teargas to break up a march by a dozen social media activists from #Tajamuka protesting against a police ban on demonstrations, witnesses said. Tajamuka is slang for 'defiance' in Zimbabwe's Shona language.

Separately, Mugabe told a central committee meeting of his ruling ZANU-PF party that the opposition was trying to fuel a popular uprising and that the government would take "very strong" action against public violence.

"Let these opposition parties and all those groups be warned that our patience has limits and will certainly run out," he said in front of reporters at the start of the meeting, before blaming Zimbabwe's economic woes on Western sanctions. (Editing by Ed Cropley)</s>My mission is two fold;

1) Learning from this phenomenal story of development and building strategic bases and lines for the new Zimbabwe that’s imminent.

2) I am also looking for that Doctor who raises Bob from the dead. I have a petition for him from the citizens of Zimbabwe…hahahaha.

A few years ago United Arab Emirates (UAE) was a piece of dirt but over the last two or so decades it has transformed into one of the most developed nations in the world with Dubai ranking among the best cities in the world.

This did not just happen. The perpetual and unprecedented development happening here is not accidental. It takes vision and solid leadership.

Ever since the discovery of oil in UAE, it has never been the same. Dubai in particular was just a small fishing settlement before the discovery of Oil in the 1960’s. Today, Dubai is certainly one of the best cities in the world.

It’s widely known as the Middle East’s capital of excess; an emirate state where money and opulence reign supreme. Dubai’s unfathomably high skyscrapers, reaching into the clouds, are matched only in size by its vast, sprawling shopping malls and its residents’ bulging bank balances.

Zimbabwe is obviously naturally more blessed than this desert which has been transformed into one of the best nations called UAE.

Zimbabwe is extremely rich in Natural resources…the best arable land in Africa, plenty of minerals including diamonds, platinum and gold. Zimbabwe’s flora and fauna is breathtaking.

What Zimbabwe lacks is visionary leadership. Zimbabwe is suffering from perpetual leadership drought. Zimbabwe’s problems are not an act of nature. They are a result of leadership failure.

That is the reason why the President can wake up one day to inform the nation that US$15 billion worth of diamonds were lost through his government’s corruption and lack of vision.

We are changing that and we are going to take our Zimbabwe to its rightful place. We can’t continue to vegetate in the morass of failure and retrogression while the world is moving forward.

We are however not oblivious of the fact that this current crop of pseudo leaders won’t take us to that place. Mugabe and his minions have curved a niche for themselves in the world of failure. Cognizant of the fact that watering a dead log won’t bring it back to life, we know exactly what to do with these dead logs.

We can, we will and we must replace them. The time has come. Only a new breed of leaders can take Zimbabwe forward. We are ready to take our nation where it belongs.

A new and better Zimbabwe is possible in our lifetime. We shall come face to face with it. Let’s do this.</s>“Today’s High court decision is a victory for Zimbabwe’s constitutional principles. It sends a clear message to the authorities that the right to protest, as enshrined in the country’s constitution, cannot just be stripped away by the state on a whim,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for Southern Africa.

“Zimbabwe’s authorities must respect and obey today’s ruling and allow people to assemble and raise their grievances, as long as they are doing it within the confines of the laws that govern public protests.”

Today’s ruling comes after President Robert Mugabe publicly threatened the country’s judges on 3 September accusing them of being reckless by allowing demonstrations in the country.

The Zimbabwe government imposed a ban on protests in the country’s capital Harare on 1 September 2016, under the Public Order and Security Act for a period of two weeks.

The ban was imposed amid an escalation in protests in the country over stalled electoral reforms and the declining economy.

The ban was announced the day before opposition parties were due to hold an anti-government demonstration on 2 September 2016.
The High Court of Zimbabwe overturns bans on protests in Harare.