Wave of violence rocks Harare

Dozens of MDC supporters were injured, some of them seriously, in a wave of weekend violence that saw gangs of ZANU PF youths rampaging through the capital. The violence comes at a time when Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has threatened to dissolve parliament and call for elections if he reaches a stalemate with his coalition partners. ‘The message from Mugabe is very simple. He is saying we will play this game by my rules and that his demands will carry the day’ said Lovemore Madhuku, leader of the National Constitutional Assembly. Jonathan Moyo, the former Information Minister who has been re-admitted to the ZANU Politburo, repeated Mugabe’s remarks.

The MDC-T meanwhile demands a new voters roll as a prerequisite for the forthcoming elections, as a survey by independent election watchdog, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), showed that the current voters’ roll is full of dead people and includes names of children some as young as four years.

A new proposal by the Kimberley Process allowing Zimbabwe further exports of its additional stockpile of rough diamonds, relieved Indian diamonds processors who face a shortage of rough diamonds. Supplies from Zimbabwe’s Marange area will stop the price rise and there are reports of a deal worth around $1.2 billion between an Indian consortium and the Zimbabwean Government.