‘Scared’ Zimbabweans ‘expect worse things to come’ after Mnangagwa re-election

Published

2 years ago

August 27, 2023

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As Emmerson Mnangagwa thanked his opponents, the Zimbabwean people and the country’s churches after his second presidential election win, some of Harare’s residents prayed for a changed outcome.

Not at the Sunday congregations of their usual churches but in the safety of their homes – fearful of the police deployed across the streets of the capital and the threat of a crackdown.

“Today I didn’t go to church,” Dorcas, a Harare resident tells Sky News. “We were scared since the announcement of the results and unsure of what is going to happen given the presence of the police in the neighbourhood.

“So I just thought we would pray for our country at home. We are praying for a better future, a changed outcome and for court cases to be heard by people who are wise.”

While Mr Mnangagwa‘s main opponent Nelson Chamisa has publicly denounced the election results calling them “a blatant and gigantic fraud”, and is expected to share the opposition’s next course of action, any legal recourse is unlikely to bear fruit.

Not only is there no precedent of an overturned election outcome in the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe, but the rule of law has increasingly become a tool of repression.

After a day of disappointment for disenfranchised urban voters unable to cast their ballots because of closed polling stations or a lack of voter materials, the Zimbabwean authorities arrested 39 election monitors and raided their office on the evening of polling day.

The employees and volunteers of the Zimbabwe Election Network and the Election Reporting Centre were charged and released on bail.

“They have been charged with violating section 66 of the electoral act of purportedly announcing election results – which they did not do,” said Kumbirai Mafunda, the spokesman for Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, which is representing the civic society group. They are still expected to appear in court to face their charges.

“Our concern lies in the targeted harassment, intimidation and disruption of legitimate election observation,” Mr Mafunda added.

“These are organisations who have in the past played a critical role in the observation of Zimbabwe’s elections – we cannot wake up and suddenly label them as subversive.”

Not only can these labels be dished out by the authorities but they can also be easily enshrined in law.

Legal pathways to crush dissent have ensured Mr Mnangagwa’s hold on power – a fate not only written in the stars but in the subtext of Zimbabwe’s controversial “Patriotic Bill” passed in the weeks leading up to the election.

The bill criminalises acts seen to be damaging to the sovereignty and national interests of Zimbabwe – dangerously vague provisions that are punishable by loss of citizenship, denial of the right to vote and even the death penalty.

Critics have called the legislation a symptom of tyranny and a sign that Mr Mnangagwa has outdone his predecessor Robert Mugabe’s dictatorial ways.

“I don’t expect anything from him but I do expect worse things to come for my fellow countrymen,” says disappointed voter Chief Svosve, who is using a pseudonym for his safety.

“We are being governed by a regime that tramples on citizens.”

World

Powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake causes tsunami in Russia’s Far East – with warnings issued for Japan, Hawaii and Alaska

Published

3 hours ago

July 30, 2025

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Powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake causes tsunami in Russia's Far East - with warnings issued for Japan, Hawaii and Alaska

A powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake has struck off Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, causing a tsunami.

A tsunami of up to four metres (13 feet) was recorded in Kamchatka Peninsula, leading to evacuations and damaging buildings, officials said.

Tsunami warnings have been issued for Japan, the Philippines, Hawaii and parts of Alaska in the US.

The Honolulu Department of Emergency Management in Hawaii has called for the evacuation of some coastal areas, writing on X: “Take Action! Destructive tsunami waves expected.”

The first waves in Hawaii are expected to hit at 7pm local time (6am UK time).

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has said waves of one to three meters (three to 10 feet) above tide level were possible along some coastal areas of Hawaii, Chile, Japan and the Solomon Islands.

Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov had earlier said: “Today’s earthquake was serious and the strongest in decades of tremors.”

Follow latest: Tsunami live updates

Several people in the region sought medical assistance following the quake, Oleg Melnikov, regional health minister told Russia’s Tass state news agency.

“Unfortunately, there are some people injured during the seismic event. Some were hurt while running outside, and one patient jumped out of a window. A woman was also injured inside the new airport terminal,” Mr Melnikov said.

Russia’s Tass news agency reported from the biggest city nearby, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, that many people ran out into the street, while cabinets toppled inside homes, mirrors were broken, cars swayed on roads and balconies on buildings shook noticeably.

Power outages and mobile phone service failures were also reported in the capital of the Kamchatka region.

The first tsunami wave hit the coastal area of Severo-Kurilsk, the main settlement on Russia’s Kuril Islands in the Pacific, according to the local governor Valery Limarenko.

He said residents were safe and staying on high ground until the threat of a repeat wave was gone.

A regional branch of Russia’s geophysical service has said that “significant, noticeable” aftershocks with magnitudes of up to 7.5 after expected to continue for at least another month.

Japan issued a tsunami warning, saying it expects waves as high as three metres to arrive along large coastal areas along the Pacific Ocean.

It has ordered the evacuation of some areas.

The National Tsunami Warning Center, based in Alaska, issued a tsunami warning for parts of the Alaska Aleutian Islands.

A tsunami warning also was extended to the US state of Hawaii, with the National Weather Service’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center saying a tsunami from the quake had been generated that could cause damage along the coastlines of all the Hawaiian islands.

A tsunami “watch” was issued for portions of the West Coast, including California, Oregon, and Washington.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was shallow at a depth of 19.3 km (12 miles), and was centred about 125 km (80 miles) east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city of 165,000 along the coast of Avacha Bay. It revised the magnitude up twice from 8.0 and 8.7 to 8.8 earlier.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s disaster management agency has warned that the country’s coastal areas could expect “strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore”.

In a national advisory alert, Civil Defence New Zealand said there was no immediate need to evacuate but said citizens should stay away from beaches and shore areas.

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World

Children ‘eating out of piles of garbage’ as Gaza aid trickles in

Published

15 hours ago

July 29, 2025

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Children 'eating out of piles of garbage' as Gaza aid trickles in

“Children are eating out of piles of garbage” – that was the answer from UNICEF’s Salim Oweis when I asked if aid was now getting to those who need it.

The phone call was intended for background to try to get a clearer idea of the latest aid distribution in Gaza, but it’s a conversation I won’t forget.

“Parents are crushing whatever they can into water, most likely unclean water, because there is no infant milk or formula. The reports are horrific,” says Salim.

“Our colleagues are struggling to find enough food for themselves.”

Latest: Trump tells Sky he’s trying to get Gaza ‘straightened out’

It’s been three days since Israel announced humanitarian pauses to allow aid to get to starving people in Gaza but it’s not yet being felt on the ground.

I’m told more aid trucks have entered Kerem Shalom – the border crossing between Gaza and Israel – but that’s only the first stage of the journey.

The aid then needs to be collected and brought inside the Gaza Strip, then taken to partners on the ground for distribution.

It’s a lengthy process, and it needs to be accelerated with urgency.

So far, lorries carrying famine preventative supplies have been collected – that’s high-energy biscuits, food for children between six months and two years, infant formula, vaccines and nappies.

Therapeutic food, which has a peanut butter like consistency, and is aimed to treat malnutrition has arrived at Kerem Shalom but there’s no confirmation yet on whether it’s made it in.

I had not heard of therapeutic food before. I’ve since learnt it is high in energy and micronutrients and won’t treat the complications of malnutrition, but will get a child out of the danger zone.

There is an ongoing issue of desperate people attempting to loot these lorries as they enter Gaza.

“The more aid that goes in, the more the looting will decrease because people will trust that there is now food coming back in,” says Salim.

But the amount getting in is still a fraction of what is needed.

The situation is so desperate, not everyone can wait until tomorrow for help. People are now dying everyday in Gaza due to hunger.

There is no time for wrangling over detail. Food is needed in mass quantities immediately. We have had warnings for months that Gaza was on the brink of famine. It’s now here.

For those working to help the most vulnerable and innocent in Gaza, it feels extremely personal.

“The rest of the world has failed the children and the civilians of Gaza,” says Salim.

“The world is numb and leaders of the world are apparently deaf.”

World

Mile after mile of grey rubble – the view from a plane dropping aid to Gaza

Published

1 day ago

July 29, 2025

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Mile after mile of grey rubble - the view from a plane dropping aid to Gaza

We are on our way to Gaza with the Jordanian military.

The aircraft is hot and noisy and as we get closer, the atmosphere gets more tense. Aircrew gesture with their hands to tell us how many minutes there are to go. Fifteen. Six. One.

The Jordanian military C-130 flies out over the sea before banking and heading inland for Gaza. The parachutes, attached to the top of each of the eight pallets, are prepared for the drop.

As land approaches, I look down. The ground is modern and built up – we’re still over southern Israel.

Then a few short minutes later, it’s clear we’ve crossed Gaza’s border.

The ground turns grey, the shapes of buildings disappear, there are no cars, no people.

You can see the outline of communities and villages that are now flattened. Mile after mile of grey rubble.

This mission by the Royal Jordanian Air Force is one of the first aid drop flights since Israel announced they could resume. It is carrying eight tonnes of food and baby formula.

Foreign nations know this is a deeply flawed way of delivering aid – road convoys are far more effective and can carry far more – but the Jordanian flight crew say the need in Gaza is so urgent, it’s simply an attempt to do something.

When the aircraft ramp opens, the aid is pushed out and it’s gone in seconds.

The parachutes seem peaceful as they open and their fall slows. But dropping food from the sky is a dangerous and undignified way to feed people.

On the ground it’s chaos.

Our colleagues in Gaza say the fighting for food has become lethal – gangs are now punching and stabbing people to reach it first. Most critically, it’s not getting to the weakest. To those who really need it.

One man becomes emotional as he describes racing to find food and leaving with nothing.

“I came only for my son,” he says. “I wouldn’t come here if it was just for me. When you have a child, they need bread.”

He’s an engineer in normal times and seems in disbelief that his life has come to this. “The aid comes from the sky and we have to run after it. I’ve never had to do this in my life.”