Women are transforming the economic landscape of an entire region, bringing energy, skills, organisation – and a sense of future – to a haphazard, dangerous trade. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | Faith’s hands are calloused, her nails stained with soil and ore. But when she smiles, there’s something golden …
Read More »As University of Zimbabwe strike drags on, pressure mounts on the country’s higher education system
Harare, Zimbabwe | Gamuchirai Masiyiwa, Global Press Journal Zimbabwe | It’s been months since lecturers at the University of Zimbabwe, the country’s oldest and most prestigious university, stepped aside. Their salaries, eroded by inflation and currency devaluation, could no longer cover their basic needs, they said. That was in …
Read More »Lithium smuggling rampant as Zimbabwe fails to end corruption
Harare, Zimbabwe | Linda Mujuru Global Press Journal ZIMBABWE | In 2023, Peter, a truck driver, was approaching a border checkpoint between Zimbabwe and Mozambique. He had little reason to question what was in his truck’s sealed container — he’d transported shipments for this Chinese-owned company before. “We just thought everything …
Read More »No Water From the Tap: They’re asked to pay a tax anyway
With Chinese bank loans overdue, Harare charges residents for major upgrades that were never completed. Harare, Zimbabwe | Linda Mujuru Global Press Journal ZIMBABWE | The cholera outbreak that swept through Zimbabwe in 2008-2009 killed more than 4,000 people and sickened nearly 100,000. Parts of Harare and its surrounding suburbs were especially …
Read More »How Zimbabwe’s health system profits from the dead
A shortage of pathologists and a culture of corruption have made mortuaries sites of extortion and grief. Harare, Zimbabwe | Linda Mujuru Global Press Journal ZIMBABWE | Blessing Mucharambei’s uncle was just having lunch when he stood up, then collapsed. “[He] started bleeding from the nose,” she says, “and died on the spot.” …
Read More »Unchecked development eats up wetlands in Harare
As Zimbabwe prepares to host a global wetlands summit, its own wetlands are disappearing at an alarming rate. Harare, Zimbabwe | Linda Mujuru Global Press Journal ZIMBABWE | Not long ago, grass and flowers grew on the wetland in Borrowdale. Flocks of birds — including red and yellow bishops — were common here, …
Read More »Could the Black Market become the only market in Zimbabwe?
The price of doing business in Zimbabwean gold — the country’s latest currency — is too steep for many retailers, who can’t compete with an informal market still churning on US dollars. Harare, Zimbabwe | Gamuchirai Masiyiwa, Global Press Journal Zimbabwe | A year ago, all 16 checkout lanes were …
Read More »Chinese quarry deal rattles Zimbabwe farmers
Harare, Zimbabwe | Linda Mujuru, Global Press Journal Zimbabwe | Primrose Garande’s ancestors relied on the fertile pastures here to graze their cattle, and he followed in their footsteps. Now, a Chinese-funded quarry operation threatens the lush landscape. Garande no longer knows where his livestock will graze. When school …
Read More »FBC ZIM OPEN: Carrera claims maiden Sunshine Tour win, former Uganda Open champ 7th
Harare, Zimbabwe | THE INDEPENDENT & Michael Vlismas Media | Mexican golf professional Luis Carrera claimed his first title on the Sunshine Tour in his first start after winning the Qualifying School when he took the FBC Zim Open by four strokes at Royal Harare Golf Club on Sunday. Carrera …
Read More »Healing or Hustle? Smuggled Meds are big draw in Zimbabwe’s hidden markets
Harare, Zimbabwe | Linda Mujuru Global Press Journal Zimbabwe | It’s possible to buy pretty much anything at the market in Hopley, an informal settlement south of this capital city: rat poison, mops — even medicine. That medicine is sold without prescriptions, to buyers who don’t have a diagnosis from a doctor …
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