A Conversation with Charles Mangongera, Visiting NED Democracy Fellow, on Governance and Activism in Zimbabwe

Tags

Angola, Charles Mangongera, Equatorial Guinea, Mass Public Opinion Institute, MDC, military rule in Africa, Mutoko, National Endowment for Democracy, political science, Robert Mugabe, Tete, University of Zimbabwe, ZANU-PF, Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe elections

I recently had the pleasure to hear National Endowment for Democracy (NED) Reagan-Fascell Fellow Charles Mangongera, Director of Policy and Research for Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, speak masterfully at NED on the role of the military in the country’s political sphere.  Dedicated readers may know that I have a particular interest in Zimbabwe and recall an earlier Africa in DC interview of another Zimbabwean activist.

Veiled Threats from Zimbabwe Embassy to MDC Official and NED Fellow?

Tags

Charles Mangongera, George Chinoingira, MDC, NED, Whatmore Goora, WOZA, ZANU-PF, ZCTU, Zimbabwe civil society, Zimbabwe criticism of West, Zimbabwe Embassy in USA, Zimbabwe GPA, Zimbabwe opposition, Zimbabwe political violence, ZUJ

Aggrieved Zimbabwe Embassy Official

Today, I attended a superb talk by visiting NED Fellow (and Zimbabwe opposition staffer) Charles Mangongera on Zimbabwe’s military.  His superb presentation warrants a post (to come soon) that focuses solely on its own merits.  For this space here however, there was a very interesting exchange at the end of Q & A with an official from the Embassy of Zimbabwe that warrants a separate examination.

Zimbabwe’s Emerging Leaders: Insights from Atlas Corps Fellow Cleopatra Ndlovu

Tags

Alexio Kawara, Atlas Corps, Bulawayo, Flora Buka, Gender in Zimbabwe, MDC, Oppah Muchinguri, Robert Mugabe, Tabitha Khumalo, Tendai Biti, ZANU-PF, Zimbabwe

On Monday I sat down with Cleopatra Ndlovu, an Atlas Corps Fellow from Zimbabwe to discuss Zimbabwe’s recent elections, gender, NGO management, and a host of other issues (such as our mutual dislike of the late Sungura musician Tongai Moyo).  Cleopatra is currently serving with InsideNGO (‘a good and eye opening experience’), an organization which offers capacity-building services for NGOs.  She has been in DC for slightly over half a year and will remain here for the remainder of the year.  It is not her first visit; she was one of the young African leaders who participated in a town hall meeting with President Obama in August 2010.

A Brief Analysis of Zimabwe’s 2008 & 2013 Parliamentary Election Results in a Rural ZANU-PF Stronghold

Tags

Jimmy Jombo-Charowa, Kotwa, MDC, Mudzi, Newten Kachepa, Peter Godwin, Tete Corridor, ZANU-PF, Zimbabwe election

Although it has been several years since I’ve been to Zimbabwe, it is one of the African countries that I know best.  I visited the country on an annual basis for several years at the height of the country’s economic crisis and into the early years of the government of national unity.  My personal interest in African affairs really coalesced in 2008, when I visited Zimbabwe during Spring Break, just a few weeks before the historic elections that saw the opposition defeat incumbent