(NEWZIMBABWE) KP punishing ordinary people: Biti

KP punishing ordinary people: Biti
by Staff Reporter
02/07/2010 00:00:00

FINANCE Minister Tendai Biti says the Kimberly Process is punishing ordinary Zimbabweans by refusing to lift a ban slapped on exports of diamonds extracted from Marange district in the eastern Manicaland province.

A KP intersessional meeting held in Israel failed to reach consensus on certification of the Marange diamonds although the organisation’s own monitor reported that the country has since met the minimum requirements for the resumption of trade.

But rights organisations supported by some western countries insist the Marange stones should be classified as “blood diamonds” and remain banned from open trade over allegations of rights abuses and the involvement of security forces in their extraction.

However Biti said the so-called “blood diamond” classification could not be applied to Marange.

"Our diamonds cannot be categorized as blood diamonds. Blood diamonds are conflict diamonds used to fuel conflicts as in Liberia and Sierra Leone. That is not the case in Zimbabwe,” Biti said in an interview with a newsletter published by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s office.

Biti however conceded that there were issues that needed to be addressed including allegations of forced labour, human rights abuses and a legal challenge by a company which claims prior rights to the deposits.

He also said there was concern over the inconsistency in records of the amount of gems exported and those said to have been mined from the area but insisted these issues should not be used to completely ban exports.

“It will be very unfortunate if the KP does not allow us to sell the diamonds because they would be punishing the people of Zimbabwe. We can’t pay for electricity, we can’t pay our civil servants and yet we are sitting on one of the finest finds of alluvial diamonds in the history of mankind,” Biti said.

The finance minister urged the KP to certify the Marange diamonds and then engage the country’s political leadership on whatever concerns remain.

“You cannot punish ordinary citizens because of the omissions and commissions of the elite political leadership.
“If you have issues with an elite political leadership allow diamonds to be sold but reign in on the political elite because they will still sell diamonds outside the KP at the expense of the poor,” he said.

Mines minister Obert Mpofu has already stated the diamonds would be traded outside of the KP process insisting the country needs to revenue to sustain its economic recovery.

Mpofu also claimed western countries, keen to see President Robert Mugabe out of power, were behind the refusal by the KP to certify the country’s diamonds.