Maravi

(SUNDAY MAIL ZW) MDC-T’s KP plot foiled

MDC-T’s KP plot foiled
Saturday, 05 November 2011 22:27
By Tafadzwa Chiremba

A PLOT by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) to throw spanners into the country’s bid to export Marange diamonds has been exposed.MDC-T legislators are alleged to have, a fortnight ago, sponsored a motion to denigrate the country’s gems extracted at Chiadzwa just a week before the Kimberly Process plenary session in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In moving the motion, MDC-T House of Assembly members Mr Eddie Cross (Bulawayo South) and Mr Settlement Chikwinya (Mbizo) said diamonds from Chiadzwa “deserved to be excluded” from trading on the international market.

However, Mines and Mining Development Minister Cde Obert Mpofu said the plot failed to work as Zimbabwe received a standing ovation from all the KP participants including America.

“He (Mr Cross) wanted to pre-empt the decision of the plenary by introducing the motion,” said Cde Mpofu.

“It failed just like many other attempts as we got the support to sell our diamonds.”

The KP session held in Kinshasa, DRC, from October 13 to November 3 2011, gave Zimbabwe the greenlight to export Marange diamonds just six days after the MDC-T legislators had moved their motion.

The decision by the KP brought to an end a long-running confrontation with Western nations over the gemstones.

The motion called for the nationalisation of the mining operations in Chiadzwa alleging there was no transparency in the exploration of the gems. The legislators also called for the KP to stop Zimbabwe from exporting its gems.

Mr Cross alleged that there was leakage of diamonds from Marange into Mozambique as well as human rights abuses.

He went on to quote a malicious documentary by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which claimed that there were massive killings and mass graves in Manicaland as authorities sought to protect the gems from rogue elements.

“We have a host of illegal miners and traders operating here, in Mozambique and South Africa, extracting and trading our diamonds to their own benefit,” claimed Mr Cross.

“Then there are the astonishing revelations exposed by the BBC Panorama Programme of the human rights abuses taking place at Marange. In a detailed and well-researched programme, they expose killings, rape and torture over the past four years. There can be little doubt that this has blown our admission to the Kimberley Process right out of the water, and we deserve to be excluded so long as we do not get our house in order.”

On the other end, the Mr Chikwinya alleged that Chiadzwa villagers are forced to “work at gunpoint”. He said more than 200 villagers were killed in Chiadzwa.

“People were machine gunned, women were raped, diamonds confiscated for personal enrichment by the soldiers,” said Mr Chikwinya.

However, Cde Mpofu said the claims by the legislators were a sponsored agenda meant to tarnish the image of the country. Minister Mpofu said Zimbabwe will not be begging anymore following the green light from the KP Certification Scheme to unconditionally sell its diamonds from Marange.

“The Ministry of Mines has the pleasure to announce that it is ready to lead and champion the economic recovery of this country through a robust, dynamic and aggressive policy to grow the mining sector in Zimbabwe whose growth is currently bullish and set to contribute in excess of 50 percent of our gross domestic product (GDP) ,” said Minister Mpofu

Zimbabwe stands to earn more than US$2 billion per year from the three mines in Marange.

Labels: CHIADZWA, EDDIE CROSS, KIMBERLEY PROCESS, MDC, SABOTAGE, TREASON

posted by MrK @ 4:50 PM