Zimbabwe Update

Well, the drafting of a new constitution is a complete mess, with ZANU-PF busing in thugs to disrupt the charter meeting.

In a darkly humorous development, it appears that ZANU-PF did not think it out fully, as they did not include transport back home for their thugs, who were stranded for a few days at the hotel at which the meeting is being held.

From the other side, there have been threats of boycotts from civil society groups, who claim that they have not been fully included in the process, and that parliamentarians have complete control of the process.

As a historical aside, this sort of stuff makes the US Constitutional convention, which was conducted in secret, look awfully attractive.

In terms of the current government, it appears that ZANU-PF is engineering trumped up charges against MDC members of parliament, in order to get them suspended, which, if done in sufficient quantities, would flip control of the chamber back to the ZANU-PF.

Notwithstanding the rhetoric about an inclusive government, I really don't think that there will be any progress without a some external entity, and South Africa is the entity best suited to this, having a boot on Mugabe's neck to coerce "good faith" moving forward.

Finally, it appears that the situation in the Zimbabwean diamond mines is getting worse. While the government has agreed to remove the army from the mines, "in phases", but the army has refused to leave.

So the the "Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) has called for a temporary ban on trade in diamonds from Zimbabwe’s Marange fields".