Zimbabwe – 2 July 2015

Obama snubs Mugabe
States President Barack Obama will not be meeting President Robert Mugabe on his last official visit to Africa this month despite his itinerary including a visit to the African Union (AU) headquarters.
Mugabe is the AU chairman and has made it a point to attend every high-level event involving the continental body since he landed the post in January. He also chairs SADC.
Mugabe has made over 15 trips since his return from annual leave in January. Last Thursday he travelled to Mozambique for that country’s 40th independence celebrations.
News Day

US slams MDC-T poll boycott
Zimbabwean opposition parties must participate in elections than grumble from the sidelines, a senior United States Congressman said this week.
In what seemed to be confirmation of the US’s growing displeasure at opposition strongman Morgan Tsvangirai’s leadership style, Gregory Simpkins, a director in the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organisations, said local opposition parties cannot criticise a system that they were not part of.
News Day

I am ready for jail: Mutasa
FORMER Presidential Affairs minister Didymus Mutasa has vowed he was ready to go to jail for spilling Zanu PF secrets after his ouster in December last year.
Mutasa has been warned in the State media that he risked arrest for allegedly violating the Official Secrets Act after he revealed that Zanu PF rigged the 2013 harmonised elections.
State media roped in political analysts who said the former Zanu PF secretary for administration was sworn to secrecy when he served in government and cannot divulge them after he was fired.
News Day

Greece Misses $1.7 Billion IMF Payment, Joining Zimbabwe’s Ranks
Greece became the first advanced economy to miss a payment on IMF debt, joining the historical ranks of delinquents from Cuba to Zimbabwe after the Mediterranean nation’s bailout talks with creditors collapsed.
The International Monetary Fund’s board has been informed that Greece is now in arrears, spokesman Gerry Rice said in a statement, after a 6 p.m. Washington deadline Tuesday for Greece’s $1.7 billion payment, coinciding with the expiration of the nation’s European bailout. Greece’s request for an extension will go to the fund’s board “in due course,” Rice said.
Bloomberg