2000s in Zimbabwe when the government deported Tsvangirai and eight senior Movement for Democratic Change officials from Livingstone, Zambia. The Zimbabwean government arrested 420 women, 19 babies and 7 men on 14 February during two "Women of Zimbabwe Arise" protest marches held in Bulawayo and Harare. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe announced that it had cleared its US$9 million arrears to the International Monetary Fund on 15 February. Arthur Mutambara addressed a Pro-Senate Movement for Democratic Change faction rally in Bulawayo on 18 March. The Movement for Democratic Change's Congress took place in Harare from 18–19 March. Party members reelected Tsvangirai. Air Zimbabwe
Thabo Mbeki election in Zimbabwe prompted debate within the Commonwealth and led to a difficult decision to suspend Zimbabwe from the organisation. Mbeki supported Mugabe during this period. It is thought that Mbeki viewed Mugabe as "a victim of imperialist meddling and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) as a Western stooge." The full meeting of the Commonwealth had failed in a consensus to decide on the issue, and they tasked the previous, present (at the time), and future leaders of Commonwealth (respectively President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, John Howard of Australia, and Mbeki of South Africa) to come to a