Zimbabwe: With the elections gone and the country firmly in their grip, the ruling ZANU-PF unravelled their newest ploy to silence hostilities from their own citizens. Trevor Ncube, the publisher of two of Zimbabwe's independent newspapers The Independent and The Standard, and leading South African titles the Mail and Guardian, had his passport seized at the Joshua Nkomo Airport in Bulawayo last week. News reports speculate that the government has put together a list of 64 opponents and critics whose passports must be withdrawn immediately upon detection by border enforcement officers. Human rights activists and Civil rights leaders have however pointed out that the specific constitutional provision enabling the government to curb the travels of citizens whose travels “pose a threat to national security” is yet to be ratified by parliament making a law.
Meanwhile ZANU-PF is holding its’ People's Congress in Esigodhini, a small town in Matabeleland where they've failed to mobilize any grassroots support. This is Zimbabwe notes how unusual it is for the people of Buluwayo to have the presidential motorcade commandeering city streets in the nation's second city [1].
“People in Bulawayo just aren’t used to motorcades.
On the way home tonight, friends were forced to veer off the main road into the lane for oncoming traffic. rgm had a fabulous day of ranting at the zanu thug congress in Esigodini and the mob were on their way home.”
Burundi: Agathon Rwasa is furious at the UN Burundi office for having nothing to say on International Human Rights day in light of the fact that several FNL leaders were captured with UN uniforms in their posession a month ago [2].
DRC: Sahara Sara reports an earthquake in eastern Congo that didn't get much coverage in MSM [3].
Adventures of a Retired Armchair Traveler contemplates the culpability of a DRC citizen convicted in Australia of spreading HIV [4], making this crucial distinction,
“In this story, there is not enough information to know whether the man that was jailed did what he did intentionally. Knowingly is not the same. Knowingly means that he had received a positive diagnosis and subsequently had unprotected sex with the two women mentioned in the article. Intentionally was how our character was infecting sex partners, which is much more insidious and scary.
Malawi: Mike of Hacktivate reports on Malawi's first blogger meet up [5].