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Tag: Zimbabwe

  • Football administrators express dismay over Eagles 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe

    Football administrators express dismay over Eagles 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe

    Football stakeholders in Enugu has expressed dissatisfaction over the Super Eagles 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe in the 2026 World Cup qualifying played on Sunday.

    Some football stakeholders, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said that the Eagles and the coaches have lost focus and taking football lovers in Nigeria for granted.

    Anistar Izuikem, Star Plus FC General Manager and Chief Executive Officer said that coach Jose Pesiero has no game plans for the Eagles.

    “Pesiero is taking the fans for granted by inviting below per players and sticking with Francis Uzoho who is not doing well at the moment.

    “Must Uzoho leak in goal in every match he played for Nigeria, what happens if he keep a clean sheet? Izuikem asked.

    Izuikem said that the coach should have given a home grown goalkeeper a chance against Lesotho, to prove their worth which will guide him into the game against Zimbabwe.

    He recalled how good Ikechukwu Ezenwa was against a team like Cameroon and Algeria in one of the qualifying matches.

    Coach Okechukwu Nnamani, General Manager of Coal City Babes blamed the coach for the Super Eagles woeful performances in the two qualifying matches.

    Read Also: Zimbabwe 1-1 Nigeria: Peseiro, Iwobi blame ‘punishing’ trip for Eagles draw

    Nnamani said that the coach has failed to understand his team as he did not have a first team, talk more of a second eleven.

    He expressed fear that Nigeria may not pick a ticket to the 2026 World Cup if the Super Eagles continue the way they are going.

    “This is the worst match that I have ever watched in Nigeria colour, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) needs to do something to change the scenerio,”he said.

    Austine Ezenwata, the Chief Executive Officer of an amateur club Lions FC of Abakpa, who also called for Peseiro`s head said he  is out of ideas for the Eagles.

    “We have good and talented players but our problem is the coach because he does not know what to do with the players,” he said.

    (NAN)

  • Crisis hits Zimbabwe ahead of Eagles’ tie

    Crisis hits Zimbabwe ahead of Eagles’ tie

    Crisis is at present rocking the camp of Warriors of Zimbabwe over the unpaid allowances ahead of their tie against Nigeria’s Super Eagles on Sunday November 19 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

    The Warriors that played a 0-0 draw away to Rwanda on Wednesday returned to Kigali to tune up for two days before travelling back to Buyare tomorrow for Sunday’s clash against the three-time AFCON Champions.

    Read Also: Organisers sweat on hosts for 2026 C’ Wealth Games

    According to the Herald of Zimbabwe, there was disgruntlement among the players who threatened to boycott yesterday’s training over unpaid allowances.

    The players are protesting the non-payment of their daily allowance by the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) Normalisation Committee who travelled with a bloated staff to Rwanda.

    The players are demanding allowance for the draw against Rwanda as ZIFA NC are willing to pay $2000 for a win and nothing for a draw, which the players kicked against.

  • Outrage as Zimbabwe president names son to cabinet

    Outrage as Zimbabwe president names son to cabinet

    Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been accused of nepotism after naming his son to a new cabinet following his controversial re-election last month.

    Mnangagwa on Monday named his son, David Kudakwashe, as deputy finance minister as part of the parliament’s youth quota.

    He also appointed his nephew, Tongai Mnangagwa, the deputy tourism minister, local media reported.

    Read Also: Zimbabwe’s president names son, nephew as finance, tourism ministers

    Mthuli Ncube, an ex-banker, was retained as the finance minister while the ruling Zanu-PF party’s national chairperson Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri was re-appointed as the defence minister. Outspoken main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) lawmaker Fadzayi Mahere termed the new cabinet “indefensible”, and accused Mnangagwa of stoking nepotism.

    Some social media users have been expressing disappointment with the appointment.

    There has been no official reaction from the ruling party or the presidency over the accusation. However supporters of Mnangagwa say his son is qualified for the position.

    Mnangagwa’s re-election has been disputed by the opposition, citing claims of fraud, while a section of observers said the poll failed to meet regional and international standards.

  • Zimbabwe’s president names son, nephew as finance, tourism ministers

    Zimbabwe’s president names son, nephew as finance, tourism ministers

    President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa, has appointed his son, David Kudakwashe Mnangagwa, as the deputy finance minister in his new cabinet following re-election.

    He also named his nephew, Tongai Mafidhi Mnangagwa, as the deputy minister of tourism and hospitality.

    The nomination of Mnangagwa’s family members drew objections, raising questions about nepotism inside the administration.

    The president’s son and nephew are part of the newly constituted cabinet consisting of 26 ministries.

    Mnangagwa further appointed husband and wife, Christopher and Monica Mutsvangwa, as ministers.

    Read Also: Zimbabwe cricket great  Streak dies at  49

    He gave Christopher the power to lead the new Ministry of Veterans of Liberation, while Monica Mutsvangwa is the new minister of Women’s Affairs and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

    His son, David Mnangagwa, who recently graduated with a law degree from the University of Zimbabwe, entered parliament through the youth quota system on the Zanu PF party list from the Midlands province.

    According to African News, President Mnangagwa is reportedly contemplating a position in his administration for another of his sons, Emmerson Junior.

    This is coming at the time coups are raging across the Sahel as African leaders are regarded as the most power-hungry around the world.

  • Zimbabwe cricket great  Streak dies at  49

    Zimbabwe cricket great  Streak dies at  49

    Heath Streak, one of Zimbabwe’s greatest cricketers, died yesterday  aged 49, his wife said in a social media post. He had been battling colon and liver cancer.

     “In the early hours of this morning, Sunday 3 September, the greatest love of my life and the father of my beautiful children, was carried to be with the angels from his home where he wished to spend his last days surrounded by his family and closest loved ones,” Nadine Streak wrote.

    A family member told AFP Streak died on his cattle farm 55 kilometres (34 miles) north east of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second most populous city.

     “Heath had travelled to South Africa several times each month for treatment. At home, he spent much of his time fishing and farming,” said the member, who requested anonymity.

    Streak was an outstanding fast bowler and capable batsman. He was a key member of Zimbabwe teams that were competitive against cricket’s bigger nations in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

    His cricket career ended in ignominy, however, when he was banned for eight years for breaching the International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption code.

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    It was announced in May this year that Streak was seriously ill – and it was reported in August that he had died, following a message on social media from former teammate Henry Olonga.

    Streak himself was quick to assert that he was still alive, but not before numerous tributes by former teammates and opponents.

    In a tribute on Sunday, Olonga wrote on Facebook: “RIP Streaky. You were a titan.”

    Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani hailed Streak as a “true legend” in a statement.

     “He played with passion, spirit and was nothing less than an inspirational figure who raised our flag high and touched lives within the sport and beyond.”

    On X (formerly Twitter), several former India batting stars also paid tribute to Streak.

     “He was a fierce competitor and led Zimbabwe admirably. May God give strength to the bereaved family,” wrote VVS Laxman.

    Virender Sehwag called Streak “very competitive.”

    A strongly-built fast bowler, able to extract movement from unhelpful pitches, Streak took 236 wickets at an average of 28.14 in 65 Test matches.

    No other Zimbabwean has taken more than 80 Test wickets.

    He made 1,990 runs at 22.35 in Tests to stand seventh on the country’s all-time list. His highest score and only century was 127 not out against the West Indies in Harare in 2003.

    Streak took 237 wickets – 104 more than his nearest rival – and scored 2,901 runs in 187 one-day internationals.

    He often battled almost alone for his underdog nation against powerful opponents.

    His best Test bowling performance was typical. He took six for 73 while India piled up a total of 366 on the way to a 10-wicket win in Harare in 2005.

    Streak had two spells as Zimbabwe captain, interrupted by a dispute with Zimbabwe Cricket in 2001 over pay and racial quota issues.

  • Zimbabwean electoral process didn’t meet global standards, says U.S.

    Zimbabwean electoral process didn’t meet global standards, says U.S.

    The United States has condemned the handling of the Zimbabwean presidential election.

    The Department of State, in a statement by its Spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said the country’s electoral process did not meet regional and international standards for credibility.

    The United States, the statement said, notes the systemic bias against political opposition during the pre-election period.

    Read Also: Zimbabwean journalist re-arrested for using Twitter

    It said election observers were pressured to sign altered polling station result forms.

    “Although the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) has announced results of the country’s recent presidential election, multiple observation missions have expressed deep concerns and stated that the country’s electoral process did not meet regional and international standards for credibility. F

    “For example, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and other international electoral observation missions cited problems with transparency, independence, fairness, and credibility at all stages of the electoral process. The United States notes in particular the systemic bias against political opposition during the pre-election period and reports from respected civil society groups that ZEC officials pressured election observers to sign altered polling station result forms. We call on the ZEC to make the disaggregated polling station results publicly available to increase confidence in the result tabulation process.

    “We also strongly condemn the intimidation and disruption of lawful election observers throughout the electoral period. On August 23, the government arrested staff from respected civil society organisations engaged in lawful election observation in accordance with the Electoral Act. These arrests prevented efforts to independently verify ZEC’s announced results, a fundamental component of democratic processes in the region and around the world. Furthermore, threats directed against members of the SADC Electoral Observation Mission are dangerous, and we call upon the Government of Zimbabwe to cease these inflammatory and unacceptable attacks,” the statement said.

    It said the flaws were not in agreement with the government’s promise.

    “These actions belie President Mnangagwa’s repeated pledges to respect rule of law, transparency, and accountability. The United States is engaging regional leaders to share our concerns, including what this means for the international community’s nascent efforts to reengage the Zimbabwean government. There is much at stake for the people of Zimbabwe and the region. We urge all Zimbabweans to remain peaceful and pursue grievances through established legal channels,” it said.

  • Zimbabwe opposition leader claims ‘rigging’

    Zimbabwe opposition leader claims ‘rigging’

    Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Nelson Chamisa has accused the ruling ZANU-PF government of plunging the country into crisis by “rigging” in a tense election marred by long delays and reports of voter intimidation.

    “This is a clear case of voter suppression, a classic case of Stone Age, antiquated, analog rigging,”, 45-year-old Chamisa, the head of the leading opposition party, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), told reporters in Harare, the capital city.

    Less than a quarter of polling stations in the capital opened on time on Wednesday, according to electoral authorities, which blamed the problem on delays in the printing of ballot papers.

    Voting at one polling station in Harare’s Warren Park suburb, only opened 12 hours late — the same hour the polls were scheduled to close, an AFP report said.  

    Chamisa blamed ZANU-PF, which has ruled the country since independence in 1980, for the delays, saying it said was “desperate” to cling to power.

    President Emmerson Mnangagwa, 80, who came to office after a coup that deposed late ruler Robert Mugabe in 2017, is seeking a second term in an election that came to a backdrop of widespread discontent at the southern African country’s economic troubles.

    Ballots at a polling station in Kambuzuma township on the outskirts of Harare, arrived only after 2:30 pm (1230 GMT) whereas polling had been scheduled to start at seven am.

    Read Also: Abuja-Kaduna road reconstruction project to be completed 2024, says Umahi

    He said: “I am very frustrated and disappointed,” said Linda Phiri, 53, an angry mother of three, who had been queuing since six am.

    “But I am going to sleep here, I am not going home… I want to cast my vote, my children are suffering with no employment, no education, we cannot afford it.”

    Tipi Mvere, an 81-year-old man with a white beard who stood at the front of the queue with the help of a walking stick, said he also had been waiting more than eight hours to vote.

    “My vote is my right,” he said, explaining his determination to stay.

    The poll is being watched across southern Africa as a test of support for the ZANU-PF party, whose 43-year rule has been battered by an economic slump and charges of authoritarianism.

    The opposition has been hoping to ride a wave of discontent over corruption, high inflation, unemployment and entrenched poverty.

    Chamisa also alleged voters have been “terrorised” in rural areas, where rights groups said an organisation linked to the ruling party intimidated voters.

    Chamisa is not new to disputed elections, having narrowly lost to Mnangagwa in 2018, a poll that he condemned as fraudulent and was followed by a deadly crackdown on protests.

  • Zimbabwe polls close after voting delays

    Zimbabwe polls close after voting delays

    Zimbabweans went to the polls yesterday in a general election in which incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) is facing off against 11 other candidates.

    ZANU-PF has ruled Zimbabwe since the country’s independence from British colonial rule in 1980.

    Voting stations were supposed to open at 7 a.m. local time (0500 UTC) and close at 7:00 p.m. (1700 UTC), however, reports of delays of up to eight hours at some polling stations have triggered accusations of manipulation.

    The delays were reported in mostly opposition strongholds with less than a quarter of polling stations in the capital Harare opening on time.

    The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said “numerous court challenges” had delayed the printing of ballot papers.

    The commission added that everyone who was waiting in line at 7 p.m. would be able to vote.

    “I am not going anywhere. I waited five years to vote, and these hours won’t kill me,” Cathrine Nyakudanga said. She had arrived before polls opened, carrying her six-month-old baby on her back, but ballot papers did not arrive until 4p.m.

    Mnangagwa, known as the “Crocodile,” assumed office following a 2017 coup that ousted strongman Robert Mugabe, also of the ZANU-PF, who had led Zimbabwe since 1980.

    The incumbent president is seeking a second and final term. Zimbabwe’s constitution, approved in a 2013 reform, allows presidents to serve for a maximum of two five-year terms.

    A run-off election will be held on October 2 if no candidate achieves an absolute majority in the first round.

    Mnangagwa’s main challenger is Nelson Chamisa of the Citizen Coalitions for Change (CCC) party.

    Chamisa has accused the government of repressing the CCC, including blocking the party’s campaign rallies.

    The U.S. State Department voiced concern about political violence ahead of the election.

    “We call on the government of Zimbabwe and all political leaders to ensure the elections are free of violence and coercion,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

  • ‘Risk perception trumps orthodoxy in Zimbabwe’

    Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube seems to be doing everything by the book as he pursues orthodox economic policy often prescribed by the global “Bretton Woods” lending institutions to try and turn around a sickly economy.

    The government is running a budget surplus for the first time in years and has stopped runaway money-printing, which led to hyperinflation of 500 billion per cent in 2008.

    Last month, the central bank raised its overnight lending rate to 50 per cent to protect the local currency after ending a decade of dollarisation.

    Ncube, a former chief economist at the African Development Bank (AfDB), also agreed to a staff monitoring programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in May, under which Harare promised not to borrow offshore and to cut reliance on the central bank to finance deficits.

    All that points to a government willing to break with the ruinous policies of the past under Robert Mugabe, economic analysts say. And yet Zimbabwe’s inflation has soared to its highest level in a decade, hitting an annual 175 per cent in June.

    For a start, government reforms to set fiscal discipline, which could earn future funding, include gradually ending fuel subsidies and increasing electricity tariffs to reflect costs – steps that will in the short term lead to more price increases.

    Also, analysts note, more than 80 per cent of Zimbabweans earn a living in the informal sector, from hawking fruits on city sidewalks to selling used clothes on dusty open spaces.

    That sector is typically unresponsive to the kinds of fiscal and monetary policy tools used by finance ministers and central bankers to lower prices and stimulate the economy.

    Meanwhile, a severe drought has left a third of the 15 million population needing food aid, further pressuring prices.

    But arguably the biggest driver of inflation expectations in the economy is the lack of confidence many Zimbabweans have in the country’s economic polices and its national currency, said Jee-A van der Linde, an economist at NKC African Economics.

    “The Zimbabwean consumer is highly sceptical over government policy, and for good reason, and trying to hammer in confidence through regulation and restrictions has historically not proven very successful,” he said.

    Although former president Mugabe was ousted after a de facto coup in 2017, many doubt that Zimbabwe’s new rulers can deliver the economic change they seek because they are the same people who propped up the former strongman for decades.

    Hope that the economy would quickly rebound under President Emmerson Mnangagwa quickly turned to despair as shortages of foreign currency, fuel, medicines and bread persisted.

    The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which put the printing press into overdrive just over a decade ago and whose hundred trillion notes marked the zenith of hyperinflation, says it will not recklessly print money.

    But the bank’s governor John Mangudya acknowledged at a meeting with business leaders last week: “There is lack of confidence.”

    “I don’t know why,” he added to much laughter from the audience.

    Mangudya needs not look far for a reason. The way authorities introduced some of the reforms added to public distrust.

    The government abruptly outlawed the use of foreign currencies on June 24, saying all domestic transactions would now be in the interim RTGS currency, which was renamed the Zimbabwe dollar.

    The decision, first circulated on social media, caught the market by surprise. Ncube and Mnangagwa had a week before repeated a pledge to only introduce a domestic currency at the end of the year.

    Less than a month after ending dollarisation, the government made another u-turn, announcing that hotels in the resort town of Victoria Falls could charge guests and pay electricity bills in dollars.

  • Eagles to play Zimbabwe June 2 in Asaba

    The three-time African champions Nigeria will open camp in Asaba, capital of Delta State on 2nd June, ahead of the clash with the Warriors of Zimbabwe at the Stephen Keshi Stadium on Saturday, 8th June, thenff.com can confirm.

    Zimbabwe, which has in its ranks, globally –acknowledged talents Knowledge Musona and Kharma Billiat, finished top of a qualifying group that included two-time African champions, Democratic Republic of Congo, a resurgent Liberia and 1972 AFCON winners, Congo Brazzaville.

    The day after the match with the Warriors, the Super Eagles’ delegation will depart Asaba aboard a chartered flight for Ismailia, Egypt, where they will set up a final training camp.

    On Sunday, 16th June, the Eagles will file out against African number one –ranked team, Senegal at the Ismailia Stadium in their final tune-up game.

    This is a match to look forward to, between Africa’s number one and number three –ranked teams, just a few days to the kick –off of the 32nd Africa Cup of Nations.

    President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick said “We have sealed the matches with the Warriors of Zimbabwe and the Lions of Teranga and these are two matches we are really looking forward to. There cannot possibly be a better way to get into the AFCON spirit than playing the number one –ranked team in Africa just before the finals begin.”

    His Senegalese opposite number, Augustine Senghor, stated: “We shall only have one friendly match against Nigeria as we prepare for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.”

    Apart from being Africa’s number one –ranked team, the Lions of Teranga have in their ranks the revered Liverpool FC of England points man Sadio Mane. They come up against a Nigerian side also brimming with talent, depth and creativity.

    The day after the clash with Senegal, the Super Eagles’ delegation will move to Alexandria, venue of their Group B games, where they take on Burundi on 22nd June, tackle Guinea on 26th June and confront Madagascar on 30th June.