Even more blatantly, a candidate who was heavily defeated at the election, ObertMpofu, has been appointed by Mr Mugabe as governor of Matabeleland North province.
On June 18th ObertMpofu, Zimbabwe's powerful and wealthy minister of mines, told a meeting of his country's chamber of commerce that he had got a letter from the Kimberley Process demanding Mr Maguwu's immediate release if Zimbabwe were to be allowed to resume diamond trading.