Maravi

(TALKZIMBABWE) Biti lied about US$30m from diamond exports: Mpofu

Biti lied about US$30m from diamond exports: Mpofu
By: VOA-TZG
Posted: Friday, July 23, 2010 1:17 pm

THE Minister of Mines and Minerals Development has dismissed as "lies" claims by Finance Minister Tendai Biti that US$30 million proceeds from the sale of Marange rough diamonds has disappeared.

Minister Obert Mpofu said a forensic audit of diamonds mined in the Marange field is under way and Mr Biti's finance ministry is responsible for revenue collection. Minister Mpofu said the audit will disprove charges by Mr Biti as to the diversion of revenues.

Biti claimed in his Mid-Term Budget Statement he delivered last week to Parliament that his ministry has not seen a single cent from diamonds extracted from the Marange field.

His budget statement cites a report by Kimberly Process Monitor Abbey Chikane in alleging that "Zimbabwe has sold at least US$30 million worth of diamonds from Marange, which Treasury and [the Revenue Authority] have no record or knowledge of."

Minister Mpofu told VOA Studio 7 that the Finance Ministry is responsible for collecting revenues when minerals are sold, not his ministry, adding that Finance is also responsible for documenting all mineral exports.

“The role of the ministry [of Mines] is to produce, and the role of the Minister of Finance is to collect. If they have not collected US$30 million, they should not blame anyone but themselves,” Mpofu told the Voice of America’s Studio 7 last night.

Minister Mpofu said “someone did not advise Minister Biti properly. It’s just all nonsensical, we cannot be guided by some statements which don’t make sense.

“In fact they are talking about US$30 million because they know what happened to that export, so they should be responsible to account for it.

"The Ministry of Mines don’t collect any money, they actually produce minerals and allow those who have produced those minerals to export using the parameters set by the Ministry of Finance.

“All the exports of any sort from any country are supported by export documents that actually accompany all exports.

"So these exports were done by the Ministry of Finance, and they should be accounted by the Ministry of Finance because they are the ones who process the export documents. It is the responsibility of his ministry to deal with those issues.”

Efforts to reach Mr Biti proved fruitless at the time of going to print.

Labels: DIAMONDS, OBERT MPOFU, TENDAI BITI

posted by MrK @ 2:55 PM