For Botswana, diamonds have helped build a stable and relatively prosperous society.  For Zimbabwe, by contrast, the same riches have served to entrench corruption

Mhlanga’s detention is not an isolated incident but part of a decades-long pattern of repression under Zanu PF rule.

Under Mugabe, the same pattern of appointing relatives and loyalists to key government positions entrenched a system of patronage, hindering effective governance.

That battlefield appears to be a power struggle intensifying at the heart of Zimbabwe’s ruling elite.

Since Mnangagwa’s rise to power in 2017, not a single anti-government protest has been allowed to proceed without state interference. 

The state’s response to criticism is predictable.