President Mugabe has refused since 2009 to administer Bennett's oath of office as deputy agriculture minister, saying he had to be cleared of the charges, but now ZANU-PF hardliners say Bennett can have no role in government. Zimbabwean Attorney General Johannes Tomana has appealed a High Court decision earlier this week acquitting Roy Bennett, a senior official of the Movement for Democratic Change formation of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, of charges that he conspired in 2006 to assassinate President Robert Mugabe and overthrow his government. More bad news was in store for Bennett in the eastern city of Mutare when he attempted to recover his passport only to learn that it had been seized by local prosecutor Michael Mugabe, Mr. Mugabe's nephew. Lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, head of Bennett’s defense team, told VOA that the travel document had in fact been stolen because Mugabe was not authorized to take it from the office of the local court clerk as he did.

 

Last Thursday Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said the country no longer posed a risk to investors and that the political crisis that destroyed the economy "no longer exists". Villagers in Mudzi and Muzarabani will have a different view, after events there last week. In Mudzi an alert issued by the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, says ZANU PF supporters are harassing and intimidating villagers, ahead of a constitutional outreach exercise meant to gather people’s views. The coalition held a public meeting in the area on the 7th May at the Kotwa Business Centre. It was there that villagers reported that ZANU PF thugs in the area are moving around and ordering villagers not to attend any meetings unless they have been sanctioned by Tafirenyika Nyune, the ZANU PF chairperson for Mudzi. Villagers said they have also been told that during the official outreach programme, led by the Parliamentary Committee, only community leaders and representatives chosen by ZANU PF will be allowed to speak.

 

The number of reported rapes and sexual assaults of Zimbabwean migrants to South Africa is increasing, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said yesterday. "From March 1 to May the number of cases treated was 71," MSF nurse Mashudu Nelufule said from Musina in Limpopo. Of these victims, 45 were female and 26 were male. Fifteen were children. "This is just the tip of the iceberg," said Nelufule. Many victims who were attacked had not sought treatment to prevent the contraction of HIV. They opted to continue on to their destinations, whether to local farms or distant cities. Nelufule also recounted several gruesome stories of women who were victimised by thugs as they crossed the border. "The gangs take their money, belongings, sometimes even their clothes. One woman, they stripped her down, and searched inside her vagina."

 

Government sources said the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority has agreed to sell at least 300 megawatts of electricity to Eskom during the World Cup. The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority and Eskom of South Africa are said to be close to a deal under which the cash-strapped Zimbabwean utility would share generating capacity during the June-July World Cup period. Government sources said ZESA has agreed to sell at least 300 megawatts of electricity to Eskom though it has been incapable of meeting domestic power requirements for years with blackouts endemic. Sources said the deal will help raise cash to pay down debts including millions ZESA owes Eskom. VOA was unable to reach electric power utility managers on either side of the border for comment. But Zimbabwean member of Parliament Moses Mare, a member of the House Committee on Mines and Energy, said ZESA has no excess capacity to sell to any Southern African country, adding that if the parastatal provides any electricity to Eskom, many Zimbabweans will be left in total darkness.