Maravi

(NEWZIMBABWE) MDC censures minister over Chiadzwa

MDC censures minister over Chiadzwa
by Lebo Nkatazo
02/07/2009 00:00:00

THE Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has publicly censured Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Murisi Zwizwai for dismissing claims by human rights groups that security forces killed dozens of illegal miners in the Marange diamond fields.

Zwizwai, also the MDC MP for Harare Central, told a meeting of the Kimberley Process in Namibia last week that “contrary to allegations in the media, nobody was killed by security forces during an operation at Marange”.

He said 30,000 people “descended” on the alluvial mining field in Chiadzwa “compelling the government to conduct a special operation to flush out the illegal diamond miners and to bring order and sanity to the area."

He said: "These people comprised of cunning, die-hard illegal diamond diggers.”

Home Affairs Minister Giles Mutsekwa, also appointed into cabinet on an MDC ticket after winning the Dangamvura–Chikanga constituency that is near Chiadzwa has previously dismissed the existence of mass graves in the area.

On Wednesday, both men appeared at odds with their party which said their views were “inaccurate” and “unfortunate”.

“We view the remarks as premature and inaccurate in the absence of an investigation into the murky dealings in the Chiadzwa diamond fields where a lot of things happened out of the public eye. Hon Zwizwai’s claims are therefore fact-hostile and evidence-free,” an unsigned MDC statement said.

The party demanded that the unity government which it formed with President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party and a rival MDC formation led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara should immediately set up an investigation to establish the truth behind claims of mass killings.

The MDC said: “We believe that a thorough investigation will enable the inclusive government to come clean on what really transpired before senior government officials seek refuge in denial … There is no public information as to how much the country has accrued from the diamond fields where ordinary Zimbabweans were displaced to make way for politically-connected fat cats and politicians.”

This week, the Kimberly Process -- a body set up by the UN to certify the origin of rough diamonds from sources which are free of conflict as well as prevent ‘blood diamonds’ from entering the mainstream rough diamond market -- sent an investigating team to Chiadzwa to investigate the alleged abuses.

During a question and answer session in the House of Assembly on May 13, Makoni South MP Pishai Muchauraya (MDC-T) asked Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu whether “the relatives of 83 diamond panners who were allegedly buried in two mass graves in Dangamvura (Mutsekwa’s constituency), Mutare, in 2008 were notified of the burial”, but the minister said the question was best answered by the Minister of Home Affairs.

Muchauraya asked the same question to Mutsekwa on June 17, and in his reply, the co-Home Affairs Minister said: “The Zimbabwe Republic Police does not have such records or information regarding the question asked by Hon. Muchauraya.”

Zwizwai could not be reached for a comment Wednesday as he was said to be travelling in Chiadzwa with the Kimberly Process team led by Liberian Deputy Mines Minister Kpandel Fiya.

Labels: BLOOD DIAMONDS, CHIADZWA, KIMBERLEY PROCESS, MDC, ZVIZVAI MURISI

posted by MrK @ 4:36 PM