Maravi

(HERALD) Regime change politics affecting Zim diamonds

Regime change politics affecting Zim diamonds

It is all about regime change The United States and Britain are frustrating Zimbabwe’s efforts benefit from its diamond resources Chiadzwa, Marange in eastern Zimbabwe because they have not given up their regime change agenda in the country, Zimbabwe has warned.

In a hard hitting statement, the Zimbabwean embassy in Namibia said the diamonds carry the hopes of many Zimbabweans but the country’s efforts to benefit from them were being thwarted at every turn.

Zimbabwe currently has four million carats of diamonds in stock but cannot sell them before the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme has given the green light.

The issue of Zimbabwe’s diamonds will be on the agenda when the KPCS meets in Israel next week.

"What has irked the US, UK and their western allies who imposed an all encompassing sanctions regime on Zimbabwe and have refused to lift them is that the sale of our diamonds , as a God given natural resource, will derail their efforts to illegally effect regime change in Zimbabwe," said the statement.

"While the same countries advocated and applauded the formation of an all inclusive government in 2009, they are now more vocal on the operations of the government because their ultimate objective, that is, the unconstitutional removal of the President H E R.G Mugabe from power, has not been met."

The embassy listed cited four "provocative" actions from what it called agents of illegal regime change.

The USA has proposed a new Act called the Zimbabwe Transition to Democracy and Economic Recovery "which are in effect new sanctions" as the Act seeks to help those parts of the transition government and parliament that demonstrate a firm commitment to democratic reform while renewing and ramping up pressure on hardiners curbing illegal diamond activities by pushing for Zimbabwe’s suspension from the Kimberly Certification Process , said the embassy.

The US secretary of State Hilary Clinton was quoted last week as saying "the ruling clique within Zanu-PF continues to benefit from diamond trade."

Clinton acknowledged that the Obama administration had renewed sanctions in March this year as part of the strategy of maintaining pressure on President Mugabe to vacate office.

The statement from the embassy noted: "the Australian government last month tabled a bill called the Autonomous Sanctions Bill 2010 meant to strengthen its sanctions against Zimbabwe."

The KPCS sent a monitor South Africa Abbey Chikane twice to Zimbabwe to first check then assess progress on the country’s suitability to trade in diamonds.

In his latest report, Chikane reported that Zimbabwe had met the minimum requirements to be allowed to export the germs.

The embassy said it was "illustrative" that Chikane’s first report had concluded that.

Zimbabwe had not met minimum requirements and the government had consequently banned the export of all diamonds in May 2010 until KP certification, which had now been given.

Zimbabwe had further met the Joint Work Plan as agreed at the KPCS meeting in Namibia last year.

The embassy dismissed press reports of so called military elites benefiting from the Chiadzwa diamond fields being peddled by Global Witness, a member of the KPCS.

"The Global witness report is part of the plot to ensure that we don’t benefit from the exploitation of our natural resource," charged the embassy.

It added: "A Canadian based organisation, Partner ship Africa Canada has gone a step further in the wake of the Chikane report, recommending that the KPCS should redefine the term blood diamonds so that it covers germs mined at Chiadzwa."

In its June 2010 report titled "Diamonds and Clubs, the militarised control of diamonds and Power in Zimbabwe", the PAC claims Government sponsored smuggling of diamonds and human rights violations at Chiadzwa.

The PAC recommended that the KPCS suspends Zimbabwe immediately and that mining licenses given to the two mining firms, Mbada and Canadile be revoked.

The report also wants the United Nations to place an immediate embargo on Zimbabwean diamonds "until such a time as there is legitimate and competent governance" of the country’s resources."

The new coalition government in Britain has also made it clear that there will be no change of policy in Zimbabwe with the new British Foreign Secretary William Hague saying his government would focus on supporting a process that gives Zimbabwe a chance "to state their democratic preferences and that leads to a stable government genuinely representing the people’s will.

The embassy hit back: "The above are just a few cases of gross interference in Zimbabwe’s internal political and economic processes."

It noted that President Mugabe had recently observed: "We want to be orderly to do like what other countries in the region are doing but countries like the US, Britain Australia and Canada want to take advantage of us by ensuring the process creates the same effect like sanctions on us that we should not be allowed to sell our diamonds.

"They have been heard saying what happens to our sanctions if Zimbabwe sells its diamonds. It is the regime change agenda all the time."

Said the embassy: "The diamonds carry the hopes of many Zimbabweans who are struggling to make ends meet under the present illegal sanctions regime.

Zimbabwe has over the past year been knocking virtually every door of any creditor including the Bretton Woods Institutions but to no avail and now Zimbabwe is trying to promote domestic led growth through harnessing its own resources, spanners are being thrown into our efforts.

Reports indicate that the first two licensed operators at Chiadzwa, Mbada Diamonds and Canadile might be sitting on gems worth more than US$200 million.

"Surely, Marange/Chiadzwa is not a war zone and the diamonds are not sold to finance insurgency or an invading army, so why should Partnership Africa Canada call them blood diamonds.

"Whilst Zimbabwe voluntarily joined the KPCs process (a non-binding protocol) which it respects, it can also easily leave the grouping," the embassy said. — The Southern Times.

Labels: BLOOD DIAMONDS, KIMBERLEY PROCESS, NEOCOLONIALISM

posted by MrK @ 2:57 AM