COMMENT - It is time for all the economic sanctions against Zimbabwe to be lifted and compensation to be paid to the Zimbabwean people.
Zimbabwe's full readmission to KPCS is victory for Zanu PF
17/12/2012 00:00:00
by Tafadzwa Musarara
ZIMBABWE's victory at the recent Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) plenary in Washington DC to re-admit it as a full member unencumbered with external monitoring in its diamond-extraction and trading elevates the revolutionary party, Zanu PF, to a worldwide recognized economic independent institution standing as an equal.
How is that so?
The tumultuous arguments raised by USA, Britain, Canada, and EU over the diamond mining operations in Marange by Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and its various partners leading to the suspension of Zimbabwe’s KPCS membership were motivated by these Western powers’ dislike for the Zanu PF-controlled ministry superintending over the world’s biggest diamond find.
According to the report submitted by the KPCS’s Working Group of Diamond Experts, an elitist committee, to the Kinshasa 2011 plenary, Marange holds 30% of the world’s diamonds and by far the most potent landscape in the world in terms of its mineralogy.
The West could not stomach that Mugabe and his party, whom they had tried and failed to put on United Nations Security Council sanctions, was now in charge of such tremendous wealth. By extension, they were going to consume these diamonds.
On June 13, 2000, Chester Crocker, the former US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, had this to say during US Senate hearings on the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act.
“To separate the Zimbabwean people from Zanu PF, we are going to have to make their economy scream, and I hope you, senators, have the stomach for what you have to do.
“So if we were to decide to try and work for change in power in Zimbabwe, I would hope that we would have the wisdom to be discrete, to be low-key and to avoid giving those in power there the excuse that foreigners are out to get them.”
Subsequent to this event, Canada, EU and Australia all came up with various but lethal cocktail of “restrictive measures” against Mugabe and his close allies in response to “massive human rights abuse.”
When ZMDC moved into Marange to start mining operations, the situation in that area prior to that was least described as organized chaos.
Before thousands of people invaded Marange, De Beers had for the past 15 years been prospecting in that area and shipping over 100 000 metric tons of ore to South Africa for “lab testing”. No results of these tests were submitted back to the Mines Ministry as required by law.
In other words - De Beers are a bunch of common criminals. Thieves. - MrK
De Beers sold the claim to an Australian company, African Consolidated Resources, whose Chief Executive, Andrew Noel Cranswick, was declared bankrupt in Australia.
[Andrew Cranswick is wanted in Zimbabwe for buying multiple deposits under different names (fraud) and in Australia for tax evasion. - MrK]
The Government cancelled the ACR claim and immediately after that the whole area was invaded by illegal miners commonly known as Magweja. Obert Mpofu, Zimbabwe’s Mines Minister contended at the Victoria Falls November 2012 Diamond Conference that illegal panners were signaled into the Marange Diamond fields by ACR soon after government nullified its claim.
It’s important to mention that at that time Kimberly Process and its Civic Society did not raise any objections to these opaque operations which saw millions of carats smuggled out of Zimbabwe by unknown buyers who included terrorist groups.
Farai Maguwu, a self-proclaimed human rights defender, produced a damning report about Marange soon after security agents started to move away 40,000 illegal panners in order to pave way for formal mining activities by ZMDC.
The report was headlined by many major news outlets in the world. Immediately, KP suspended Zimbabwe’s membership. A lengthy and laborious joint work plan was put in place in Swapkopmund to ‘sanitize’ the Marange diamond activities. Some of the issues KP involved itself with at that time were outside of its mandate.
When the United Nations established KPCS, it gave it the mandate to eradicate blood diamonds. The UN went further to define blood diamonds as “diamonds used by rebel movements to unseat legitimate elected government”. At that point in time, the aim was to stop Jonas Malheiro Savimbi of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and Foday Saybana Sankoh of Revolutionary United Front of Liberia who had their military armaments bankrolled by diamonds.
So, by any measure, the Marange diamonds could not fit the blood diamond definition.
However, the West led by Canada made very insipid but exasperating arguments citing human rights violations, militarization of the Marange fields, transparency and many others. Mpofu argued back and told the Israel KP 2010 Plenary that the KP was erring.
“Mr. Chairman, may it be put on record that whilst Zimbabwe is keen to comply, the issues being raised here by our former colonizers are not provided for in the KP statutes.
“Further, we aver that there is no rebel movement in Zimbabwe and the legitimate elected Mugabe government recognized by all countries in this plenary has assigned me to come here and represent it. To regard our diamonds as such is a travesty of justice and is disfiguring the jurisprudence of this organization,” Mpofu said.
But the West remained truculent with Canada remaining obdurate. However, Mpofu’s message struck many African countries in the KP. Soon after the plenary, African countries caucused on the Zimbabwe matter.
With the exception of Botswana and Liberia, all other African countries agreed that the Zimbabwe issue was being politicized and similar treatment may befall other African countries.
Kennedy Hamutenya Namibia Diamond Commissioner said
“It’s obvious, my fellow citizens of Africa, that the west are tightening screws on Zimbabwe for reasons best known to themselves and I personally regard that to be cruel and selfish. My brief I have from my Namibian authorities is to stand and fall by Zimbabwe’s quest to trade its diamonds freely.”
When the meeting ended, Mpofu had earned Zimbabwe tremendous support from South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, Ghana, Chad, Tanzania and others. This was the genesis of a grouping now called Africa Diamond Producers Association (ADPA).
After Zimbabwe successfully passed Abbey Chikane’s audit, the World Diamond Council started to warm up to the Zimbabwean cause. Addressing the KP2011 Kinshasa Plenary, Eli Ezakhof, WDC President said, “It is now apparent that, with regards to Marange, KP is now delving into matters that it has no capacity to deal with. I respectfully suggest that the current leadership of KP lead us back to ethos and values of KP founding statutes.”
It all became very apparent that USA, Canada, Australia and EU did not want to approve certification of Marange diamonds since they thought it was self-defeating in light of sanctions they had imposed on Mugabe.
[The economic sanctions on Zimbabwe go much farther than individual travel restrictions, or even business sanctions on Zimbabwean parastatals, and constitute a credit freeze of the Zimbabwe Government from international financial institutions that led to the destruction of the Zimbabwe Dollar from 2002 onwards. See ZDERA, Section 4C. - MrK]
When the USA sponsored a motion to “reform” the definition of blood diamonds, Zimbabwe rejected that and so did other African countries. For these reforms to pass, America needed Zimbabwe’s vote because the KP statutes direct that all decisions must be made by full consensus of all members.
The climb-down by these Western countries in the KP was caused by the waning support of the Movement of Democratic Change formations and the increase in Zanu PF popularity. This shift of attitude is calculated to mend relations with Zanu PF ahead of the widely-anticipated Mugabe victory.
Mugabe and his Zanu PF have managed to convince the KP community that , contrary to charges made by the West, it is different from Savimbi and Sankoh. The Victoria Falls Diamond conference was a masterstroke as it made it easier for Zimbabwe to garner the rest of the KP support.
It is not often that a liberation movement can easily convince the world that the world super powers are wrong.
Tafadzwa Musarara is Executive Director for Resource Exploitation Watch. He can be reached on musarara@rew.co.zw
Labels: ABBEY CHIKANE, BLOOD DIAMONDS, DIAMONDS, KIMBERLEY PROCESS, OBERT MPOFU
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KPCS experimented with Zim — Chikane
Wednesday, 14 November 2012 00:00
Lawson Mabhena in Victoria Falls
The
Kimberley Process Certification Scheme used Zimbabwe as an experiment and selectively crafted rules only applicable to it while making demands that were beyond its jurisdiction. Addressing delegates at the inaugural Zimbabwe Diamond Conference here yesterday, Mr Abbey Chikane, who has also served as the KPCS’s special envoy to Ghana, said the KPCS was not perfect as it was founded on consensus.
“Some of the demands imposed on Zimbabwe were beyond the realm of the KPCS. I concede that the KPCS is not perfect and that it couldn’t have been perfect because it is founded on compromise.
“It is for this reason that on the occasion of the launch of the KPCS, in Interlaken, Switzerland, on November 5 2002, the ministers and other heads of delegations affirmed the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme as an ongoing international process and not an event,” said Mr Chikane.
He said the lessons learnt in the Zimbabwean impasse were that some developments should have been settled at plenary.
“And when plenary fails to reach consensus, a participant should not be used as a subject for experiment. In any event, if a new rule has been introduced, it has to apply to all participants, and not only to Zimbabwe,” he said.
He said the certification of Zimbabwe had divided members of the Kimberly Process into three distinct groupings. The divisions, he said, were caused by the failure of some member countries to adhere to KP stipulations, processes and procedures, as well as conforming to the mandate of the KPCS as agreed to by the signatories to the institution’s core document.
“Failure on the part of participants as well as observers to respect these stipulations will definitely result in the fragmentation or disintegration of the Kimberly Process into political chaos.”
He said the Zimbabwe impasse had participants divided along historical-political groupings;
Canada, European Commission, Israel and the United States and sometimes Australia on the one hand;
Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, South Africa, and other African countries on the other;
China, India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and sometimes Russia, with the rest of participants caught in the middle, said Mr Chikane.
He urged members to review the effectiveness and relevance of the Kimberly Process as the scheme entered its 10th anniversary.
Labels: ABBEY CHIKANE, DIAMONDS, KIMBERLEY PROCESS
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COMMENT - More fireworks from the conference.
South Africa tells KP chief to quit
13/11/2012 00:00:00
by AP
THE international diamond conference underway at Victoria Falls was rocked by controversy Tuesday over the Kimberley Process, the world diamond trade regulatory body, whose chairwoman was publicly asked to resign because she is American.
Gillian Milovanovic, the American chairwoman of the Kimberley Process, came under a barrage of criticism from African delegates at the conference for allegedly not doing enough to persuade the U.S. government to lift trade restrictions on Zimbabwe’s state-owned diamond mining companies.
South Africa’s Kimberley Process monitor Abbey Chikane accused Milovanovic of having a conflict of interest because she is American.
Chikane alleged Milovanovic has failed to follow African delegates wishes to promote the trade of diamonds dug up from Zimbabwe’s notorious Marange field in Europe and the United States.
The state-run Zimbabwe Mining Development Company and Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe are on the U.S. sanctions list, because of evidence of the Mugabe government’s state violence and human rights violations.
“There is a danger of having a chairmanship that will fragment the organization because you are conflicted ... you are then supposed to recuse yourself,” Chikane said to Milovanovic in front of the conference.
“When South Africa takes over the chair next year we will solve these issues,” said Chikane, who is chairman of the South African Diamond Board.
Zimbabwe Mines Minister Obert Mpofu told Milovanovic that most traders and investors at the conference, mostly of Indian and Arab origin, were “scared” of her presence at the conference, which was sponsored by President Robert Mugabe’s government.
“They are coming to me whispering, scared that they will be heard by the Americans who will interfere with their accounts,” Mpofu said.
“But it will not stop us from what we are doing,” he said, referring to Zimbabwe’s diamond trade with India and Dubai, which has been criticized for alleged corruption through price fixing.
Other delegates from Africa, India, Israel and Dubai told Milovanovic that because of U.S sanctions against Zimbabwe, the Kimberley Process is unwittingly promoting the illicit trade of Zimbabwe diamonds and creating the same conflict diamonds it is trying to prevent from being traded.
Milovanovic told the delegates that she would not respond to their criticism.
“You are looking for something very dramatic from all this but you are not going to get it,” she said. “I’m not a dramatic person by nature.”
Milovanovic said her position on the Kimberley Process had no power to influence the U.S. imposition of sanctions against Zimbabwe.
The U.S Embassy said U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe’s state-owned mining companies are separate from the Kimberley Process.
Michael Gonzalez, the political and economic officer at the embassy in Harare, said the American sanctions against Zimbabwe’s mining companies have nothing to do with the Kimberley Process but are a bilateral issue. He said Washington has imposed sanctions because of its concerns over state violence.
Zimbabwe’s “attorney general and security chiefs must start honoring the president’s calls to end violence so the sanctions can be removed,” said Gonzalez.
Mugabe’s government staged the conference in the resort city of Victoria Falls to gain international credibility for Zimbabwe’s huge production of diamonds in the Marange fields in eastern Zimbabwe.
But the Mugabe government’s efforts to win respectability have been overshadowed by allegations that $2 billion of diamond proceeds have been stolen by Mugabe’s cronies. Zimbabwe government officials denied the charges of corruption in the report by the Partnership Africa Canada, a group campaigning against conflict diamonds.
Since 2006, Zimbabwe has mined Marange - one of the world’s largest diamond deposits - producing rough stones worth an estimated $2 billion per year.
Yet the report charges that the funds have not reached the Zimbabwean treasury to help the impoverished country. Instead the diamonds have enriched Mugabe’s close associates and an international ring of traders, according to the report.
Labels: ABBEY CHIKANE, DIAMONDS, GILLIAN MILOVANOVIC, KIMBERLEY PROCESS
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Diamonds embargo: Biti's letter to US Treasury
16/01/2012 00:00:00
by Tendai Biti
Biti furious as US sanctions hit budget
The following is a letter by Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Tendai Biti to the United States Treasury, expressing his disquiet with a decision to impose a ban on diamons from Marange:
19 December 2011
Charles Collyns
Assistant Secretary of Treasury
MBANDA DIAMONDS AND MARANGE RESOURCES
I refer to the decision taken by the United States Treasury on the 9th December 2011 placing the above companies on the list of proscribed and sanctioned companies.
I want to place it on record that we as Ministry of Finance, writing on behalf of the government of Zimbabwe, find your measures contrary to the spirit of engagement and harmful to the generality of Zimbabweans.
As you are aware, I have been consistent in my lobby for Zimbabwe to be allowed to sell its diamonds but under and in compliance with the Kimberley Certification Scheme.
Pursuant to this, I was pleased when the United States of America shifted its position and supported Zimbabwe in Kinshasa on 1st November 2011 and a compromise was reached allowing Zimbabwe to sell its diamonds under the Kimberley Certification Scheme.
Zimbabwe is a poor fragile economy and therefore it must be allowed to sell and benefit from its resources. In my budget, there are capital projects of US$600 million which are totally dependent on diamond revenues.
Diamonds have been sold illicitly and illegally from Zimbabwe. There have been challenges of accountability and lack of transparency when Zimbabwe was outside the Kimberley Certification Scheme. Selling under Kimberley Process Certification Scheme would therefore, take away any opaqueness or illicitness.
Being part of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme would allow Zimbabwe to benefit from the expertise of the KPSC.
We have challenges of policing and monitoring the large area of almost 120,000 hectares where these diamonds are found.
There is also the fundamental issue of expertise which we do not have, but the KPSC has, and we could benefit from.
The decision to proscribe Mbanda and Marange is self-defeating and negates the Kinshasa decision.
The two companies and Zimbabwe should have firstly been allowed to put their case forward before the punitive action was taken. Due process of the law is guaranteed ion Amendment 14 of your Constitution.
Secondly, to the extent that normalcy had been restored by the Kishasa compromise, the two companies ought to have been given space and a chance to operate under the new regime of compliance.
The two monitors, Mr Abbey Chikane and Mr Mark van Bostael, would have provided regular updates to the KPSC.
If there was to be non-compliance, then the issue would be discussed and remedial measures or penalties taken within the KPSC.
Thirdly, the US decision undermines the KPSC and its chairmanship of this body. A member must act in good faith. One cannot in one forum act in one manner and then unilaterally undermine the collective decision taken at the common forum. It would also be curious to find out the motive of your decision against the two companies.
Your decision will not stop the mining that is a sovereign issue covered by international law. More importantly, it will not stop the sale of diamonds.
All it does is encourage more opaqueness and underwriting of the diamond industry.
As I said before, this is a self-defeating and retrogressive position one which I hope was not taken to placate powerful interests who were against the Kinshasa agreement.
I trust that you shall urgently review this position.
I will be in the United States between 23rd December 2011 and 7th January 2012 and I would be happy to discuss this issue further.
Yours faithfully,
Hon T. Biti, MP
Minister of Finance
Cc His Excellency, the President, Cde R. G. Mugabe
Cc The Rt Hon Prime Minister M. Tsvangirai
Cc Hon Dr O. Mpofu, Minister of Mines
Cc Ambassador Charles Ray
Cc Assistant Secretary Johnie Carson
Cc US State Department
Cc Kimberley Process Certification Scheme
Labels: ABBEY CHIKANE, DIAMONDS, MDC, SANCTIONS, TENDAI BITI, TRADE SANCTIONS, ZDERA
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A superpower can be tamed...Is this a turning point in EU-Zimbabwe relations?
Saturday, 05 November 2011 23:00
By Brezhnev Malaba recently in Kinshasa, DRC
DID you ever imagine that the day would come when the United States would be forced by geostrategic realities to undermine and subvert its own sanctions on Zimbabwe? This is exactly what happened at the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme plenary in Kinshasa last week.
The battle for African resources between Western nations and China is throwing up some surprising outcomes. Desperate to thwart China and cornered by African diamond producers, who vowed to back Zimbabwe all the way, the outfoxed and outpunched superpower staggered dramatically, slumped into a corner and waited for the inevitable 10-count. It was game over!
These are the two factors which have forced the US to inadvertently bust its own sanctions on Zimbabwe by approving the Marange exports: the fear that China will come and enjoy all the resources, and the sobering reality that African members of the Kimberley Process (KP) were solidly backing Zimbabwe’s unrestricted right to export the Marange diamonds.
The Americans left the African delegates gasping in shock when they displayed satellite pictures of the Marange mining operations. These were no ordinary satellite images. These were detailed pictures, so clear that you could pick out a small vehicle. Wow, so the Americans are busy spying on our Marange operations!
It was now obvious that those pictures had played a crucial role in forcing the Americans into swift capitulation. All along, US officials had assumed that Zimbabwe’s Marange mining operations were small-scale amateurish efforts that could not affect world diamond trade.
They were wrong. Diamond mining in Marange has developed at a blistering pace in the past 12 months. There is world-class equipment and expertise out there in Chiadzwa. The Americans were utterly stunned by what they saw on those satellite images.
Remember, the World Diamond Council and other industry experts have confirmed that Zimbabwe could potentially satisfy up to 30 percent of global diamond demand in a few years’ time.
Once it dawned on the Americans that Zimbabwe’s Marange output would soon become a game changer in world diamond trade, the imperatives of US foreign policy pragmatism automatically prevailed over any racist grudge arising from Britain’s gripe with the land reform programme.
US foreign policy is shaped not only by Washington’s quest to enhance American security on the global stage but is also about enhancing US prosperity. When there is discord between US actions and US interests, alarm bells go off in Washington, forcing the political class to pursue pragmatism. With China making tremendous progress in clinching huge deals with African governments in the sectors of energy, minerals and other natural resources, the alarm bells have been ringing non-stop in Washington.
It has since dawned on the Americans that the sanctions imposed by the George W. Bush administration on Zimbabwe are unsustainable. The embargo is self-defeating because, while it makes it harder for Western companies to do business with Zimbabwe, it inadvertently gives an enterprising China a glorious opportunity to move with speed and take advantage of the situation by doing brisk business with Harare.
Zimbabweans are shrewd enough to understand the geostrategic implications of this scramble for Africa. This could be our trump card.
Mr Eli Izhakoff, president of the World Diamond Council, made a vital point when he told the plenary that diamonds are much more than just resources.
“The past two years have been tough but they also provided us all with the opportunity to learn some valuable lessons. What we are certainly more aware of today is that when the diamond sector plays a prominent role in a country’s economy, the stakes are not only commercial. Control over natural resources is also associated with issues of national pride, identity and independence,” said Mr Izhakoff.
The DRC has come a long way
As you land at Kinshasa’s Ndjili International Airport, you are immediately struck by a series of neat election billboards displaying huge portraits of a broadly smiling President Joseph Kabila.
Africa’s youngest leader for many years, President Kabila has surprised his detractors by lasting in power this long. The Democratic Republic of Congo is holding presidential and parliamentary elections on November 28. President Kabila’s beaming face is everywhere. But look closely at the gigantic billboards and you will notice, far beneath the smiling face, that President Kabila’s fingers from both hands are firmly intertwined. The body language is telling. Although the DRC is a growing democracy, the state remains largely weak and the stark reality on the ground demands a strong president who can prevent things from falling apart. Kabila is not doing badly in that regard.
And it must be remembered that Joseph Kabila came to power at 29 following the assassination of his father, President Laurent Desire Kabila, at the height of devastating civil strife dubbed “Africa’s World War”.
In 2006, Joseph Kabila won the DRC’s first democratic elections in 40 years. It has not been an easy road. Despite boasting the planet’s most diversified mineral riches, the DRC has the second-highest infant mortality rate and the second lowest GDP per capita in the world.
President Kabila’s contribution to the DRC’s transformation cannot be ignored. All over Kinshasa, there are new construction projects, particularly office blocks and roads. When I commented that the newly constructed motorway linking Ndjili Airport and central Kinshasa was impressive, a Congolese man sharply retorted: “We want food, we don’t eat roads.” I was to later discover that although many people in the DRC appreciate President Kabila’s efforts to develop the vast country, there is a general feeling that his government is not doing enough to tackle poverty. In a city where a kilogramme of beef can set you back a staggering US$20 (but fish is way cheaper), a hairdresser told me that in many of Kinshasa’s poor families, people eat only on alternate days, meaning that in a family of four, two members will eat today and the other two members will eat tomorrow, as they take turns in a bid to stretch the little food they can afford. She said she earns the equivalent of US$30 a month.
De Beers is losing friends
The Grand Hotel is easily the centrepiece of Kinshasa’s hospitality industry. It is quite a glamourous facility — by Central African standards — and comes complete with conference rooms, a shopping mall and the ever-popular L’Atmosphere nightclub.
The hotel, close to President Joseph Kabila’s official residence, has stunning views of the mighty Congo River. It also has restaurants. As I traversed the busy corridors of the hotel, a man emerged from one of the restaurants and came directly into my path.
"Good afternoon, sir. Are you the gentleman from De Beers?" I asked him. His response was swift and dramatic.
"Hahahaha! No I'm not, thank goodness. I hate De Beers, actually!"
As I chatted with him, I began sensing a distant familiarity. Where had I seen that face before? Wait a minute! I suddenly remembered.
This man was none other than Mr Chaim Even-Zohar, the Israeli diamond industry analyst whose writings are mandatory reading for anyone who wants to gain a deeper understanding into the complexities of global diamond trade.
When the irony of this chance encounter hit me in the face, I laughed out and told Mr Even-Zohar that De Beers seemed to be running out of pals these days. Readers of this newspaper would have been aware, of course, that two weeks ago we ran a story quoting Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu as saying De Beers is an international looter and challenging the mining company - which, by the way, was founded by the gay gangster colonialist Cecil John Rhodes - to come clean on the thousands of tonnes of diamond ore it exported from Marange before the Government of Zimbabwe decisively intervened.
Africa played crucial role
The DRC hosted the Kimberley Process plenary in its capacity as outgoing chair. Prior to the plenary, there had been no indication that the meeting would make history in many respects.
The KP appeared to be headed for an embarrassing stalemate. Stalemates are almost inevitable in the grouping because of the nature of its decision-making procedure, which is consensus-based rather than majoritarian. In other words, 75 members of the KP can back a motion, but it takes the dissension of just a single member to throw the cat among the pigeons and scuttle the whole discussion.
When behind-the-scenes manoeuvring got off to a frenetic start at the Grand Hotel, the discussions over Zimbabwe's diamond question took on a political complexion, with serious lobbying and horse trading between Western countries on one side and African nations on the other.
The United States, Canada, Australia, the European Union and their allies in the 76-member KP grouping had relentlessly frustrated Zimbabwe's efforts to sell the Marange diamonds on the international market, citing so-called human rights abuses and alleged non-compliance with KP certification requirements.
With this history in mind, it would have been near-impossible to correctly predict the outcome of the Kinshasa plenary.
But African nations showed commendable tenacity by caucusing behind the scenes in a push to tame the powerful countries.
Here is how the drama unfolded. The US wanted to succeed the DRC as chair of the influential KP next year, but the African Diamond Producers' Association (ADPA) set a strong conditionality for the Americans: Africa will only back Washington's candidature on condition that Zimbabwe is finally given the go-ahead to sell its Marange diamonds without further obstruction.
It must be pointed out, though, that the African caucus was not as smooth sailing as it now seems.
South Africa, led by Mines Minister Susan Shabangu, initially appeared offside and this could have created serious problems for the African diamond producers.
The South Africans - it became clear - had already been in active contact with the US. South Africa had agreed to back the US bid for the 2012 KP chair. The South Africans would then come in as vice chair.
At that early stage, South Africa's decision to back the US was viewed with suspicion by many African countries who were wondering why Pretoria should be quick to jump into bed with Washington.
African diamond producers told Minister Shabangu that they would only back a US bid for the KP chair on condition that the Westerners consented to the unrestricted export of Marange diamonds. The African position was clear and unequivocal.
Turning point in EU-Zim relations?
The EU brewed a shocker by averting full-scale confrontation between the US and the African diamond producers.
The EU delegation, sensing the suffocating tension between the African states and the Americans, moved in swiftly to help draft the historic proposal that would see Zimbabwe gain certification to sell its Marange diamonds while also ensuring that the US succeeded in clinching the KP chair in 2012.
Could the EU's commendable role in Zimbabwe's victory be a turning point in relations between the European bloc and this nation?
In his closing speech to the plenary, Minister Mpofu thanked the EU, among other members of the KP.
"We look forward to a full restoration of trust and good faith as we go forward.
"The days of disagreements belong to the past and have no place in the future," he said.
Minister Mpofu, Attorney-General Johannes Tomana and their support teams deserve praise for the Kinshasa victory.
Yesterday, the KP dispatched a monitoring team comprising Mr Abbey Chikane and Mr Mark van Bockstael to visit Marange.
The KP has directed the monitoring team to perform its duties "with collegiality, impartiality, objectivity and fairness".
When noisy Western-funded non-governmental organisations announced in August that they would boycott last week's Kinshasa plenary, their aim was to plunge the KP into turmoil and frustrate Zimbabwe's exports.
They failed dismally. The meeting went ahead without them and, for the first time in years, the KP plenary made amazing progress.
The Namibian delegation told the African caucus that the boycott by NGOs was actually a blessing, because it enabled the delegates to focus on the important issues without disturbance.
Hopefully, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme has seen the last of cheap politicking. For far too long, Zimbabwe's economic rights have been violated by a shameless gang of bullies.
Minister Mpofu emphasised this point when he told the plenary: "It is my sincere hope that the KP will continue to shut politics outside of the business of this organisation.
"We all know how divergent our political views are, and that these views have no place in the Kimberley Process."
Zimbabwe has won a decisive victory in Africa's war against Western economic hegemony. The Government has a responsibility to ensure that the diamond income enhances our people's quality of life.
Labels: ABBEY CHIKANE, DEBEERS, EU, JOSEPH KABILA, KIMBERLEY PROCESS, MARANGE DIAMOND FIELDS, OBERT MPOFU, SANCTIONS
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Zim must sue Kimberley Process: ADPA
Posted: Tuesday, November 23, 2010 10:51 am
THE African Diamond Producers Association says Zimbabwe should sue the KPCS in the international courts for refusing to certify its sale of diamonds even though their appointed monitor has said the country meets the minimun requirements. The Association has advised Harare to take the legal action as the KP was openly violating its own procedures.
KP appointed monitor, Abbey Chikane, says the country has met and surpassed all the requirements needed for certification, but
United States, Canada and Australia have opposed the certification for
political reasons. These countries have imposed
illegal economic sanctions on Zimbabwe.
ADPA is quoted by the Southern Times saying it will throw its weight behind Zimbabwe in the event it sues the KPCS secretariat.
"Zimbabwe should contemplate taking legal action against the KP.
"Zimbabwe’s diamonds cannot be held at ransom by one or two countries," Namibia’s diamonds commissioner Mr Kennedy Hamutenya reportedly told delegates attending a meeting of the ADPA in Namibia last week.
"The joint work plan agreed to in Swakopmund (2009) has since expired. Zimbabwe was never suspended from the Kimberly Process and consensus is required to do that.
"There is a working document that we all signed up to and it is based on the premise that Zimbabwe would be allowed to export once it has complied with the joint work plan," he added.
Hamutenya said the KP was formed to stop the flow of conflict diamonds. It noted that there was no civil war in Zimbabwe.
"Only the World Trade Organisation can stop a country from trading its diamonds.
"The KP has no right whatsoever, no legal basis. There are solid grounds for Zimbabwe to take legal action," he said.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe boycotted a KP meeting in Belgium yesterday.
The KP members gathered in Brussels yesterday and were expected to reach an agreement on Zimbabwe’s diamond exports.
Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu confirmed the KP was meeting in Brussels.
He said the KP extended an invitation for Zimbabwe to attend the meeting but the country would not be part to proceedings in Brussels.
"They have been begging us to attend the meeting but we are not attending.
"We have nothing to discuss with them. They are the ones who need to sort themselves out. We have no problems," Minister Mpofu said.
Zimbabwe has met the KP minimum requirements to trade in its diamonds.
Western countries led by the United States, Canada and Australia continue to influence the KP not to permit Zimbabwe to sell its diamonds freely on the international market.
Labels: ABBEY CHIKANE, ADPA, KIMBERLEY PROCESS, OBERT MPOFU
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Antwerp backs Zimbabwe diamond trade
By: Comment
Posted: Thursday, November 18, 2010 11:52 am
THE future of the Kimberley Process (KP), the international diamond trade watchdog has been put to doubt at it has defied a report on Zimbabwe compiled by its own monitor.
Mr Abbey Chikane, the KP appointed monitor, last month submitted a report saying Zimbabwe had complied with all KP requirements, but the US blocked Zimbabwe's certification on flimsy grounds. This week, Mr Chikane went ahead and certified a batch of Zimbabwean diamonds for trade.
This move was also coupled with the Belgian diamond industry's backing of Zimbabwe, rendering the KP embargo useless.
The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), the Belgium-based organization has openly declared support for bringing Zimbabwe into international diamond trade while the monitor.
Whie addressing a high-powered delegation from the AWDC at his office in Harare, Minister of Mines and Mining Development Obert Mpofu revealed that the leading diamond dealers from countries including the US and Canada had repeatedly showed willingness to buy diamonds with or without the KP.
He said unless the KP made distinction between politics and economics it would not work, and warned that Harare could “make or break the KPCS.
“The biggest enemy of the KPCS is the politicisation of the organisation,” he added.
The minister urged the AWDC and other global diamond traders to play a constructive role in ensuring Zimbabwe freely trades in its diamonds.
In response, the AWDC president Nishit Parikh said: “We would like Zimbabwe to be successful. We are here to offer our services in whichever way we can for you to be part of the diamond community.”
AWDC support in the KP monitoring system indicate Zimbabwe will be legally back in diamond trade soon.
About eighty percent of the world’s diamonds pass through the AWDC, and its daily trade averages $200mn with a yearly turnover of $45bn.
Chikane’s decision to certify Chiadzwa diamonds is a sign that the KP is losing its teeth as countries like the US and Britain have politicised the organisation.
Labels: ABBEY CHIKANE, ANTWERP WORLD DIAMOND CENTRE, BLOOD DIAMONDS, CHIADZWA, KIMBERLEY PROCESS
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Fighting talk from Zimbabwe as KP stalemates
by Staff Reporter
05/11/2010 00:00:00
ZIMBABWE sent out a defiant message on Thursday after the Kimberley Process broke off talks about the certification of Marange diamonds in Israel without an agreement. Mines Minister Obert Mpofu said the country would not be held hostage by Canada, the United States and Australia – the fiercest opponents of Zimbabwe’s push to be allowed to freely sell Marange diamonds.
“These are our God-given resources and we will do with them what we feel is best for our people,” Mpofu said. Zimbabwe says it has met all the certification standards set by the KP, a 75-nation global body responsible for ending the trade of “blood” diamonds which are often used to fund wars across Africa.
Kimberley Process chairman, Boaz Hirsch, head of foreign trade division at Israel’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour, ended the four-day meeting in Jerusalem after delegates failed to reach consensus to allow the exports from Zimbabwe.
“It’s an agreement that comes to portray the complex reality that was displayed in the review mission report,” Hirsch said. “There are a small number of countries that are still in consultation with their capitals. We had deadlines and the plenary has ended, but we do hope to reach a consensus in the coming days.”
Hirsch declined to disclose details of the agreement being considered but explained that the negotiations have focused on presenting an agreement that reflects the findings of a KP review mission.
The review mission was in Zimbabwe in August, but disputes among participants delayed publication of the final report until Friday last week, just before the plenary. Zimbabwe has 30 days to reply to the recommendations.
The report recommended that Zimbabwe’s planned sale of existing rough stockpile should depend upon progress made in the implementation of the joint working plan.
Critically, the review mission was of the opinion that the KP should favourably consider the sale. The compliance report reiterated though that the Kimberley Process monitor to Zimbabwe should inspect Marange diamonds before a legal sale can take place.
One Kimberley Process participant, who requested anonymity, noted that while the plenary failed to reach consensus, there were also no clear objections -- indicating that Zimbabwe could find a technical loophole to make the exports.
Hirsch stressed that this is not the case though, and that the country is still under obligations set out by the Swakopmund agreement, signed in November 2009, whereby Marange diamonds would still be subject to the signature of the monitor for Marange, Abbey Chikane.
Hirsch noted that it was up to individual member countries to uphold the Kimberley Process principles should Zimbabwe begin exports before an agreement is reached.
Eli Izhakoff, president of the World Diamond Council (WDC), which represents the diamond industry at the Kimberley Process, said the organisation’s position has always been “an inclusive one” rather than advocating expulsion or the possibility of allowing diamonds to penetrate the market outside the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.
He declined to speculate what action the WDC would take if Zimbabwe exports begin before a decision is made.
Hirsch dismissed the possibility of another mini-summit taking place to resolve the issues, as was the case following a June stalemate on Zimbabwe out of Tel Aviv. Subsequently, a min-summit, led by Izhakoff, achieved consensus at a meeting in St Petersburg to allow two KP-monitored auctions.
“We will begin on Friday to aggressively work with those members who have not come to a decision and we remain confident that a final decision will be made soon,” Hirsch said.
But the promise of a resolution to the stand-off soon failed to tamper Zimbabwe’s anger at what it sees as political calculations by the US.
It has emerged that the legal advisor to the Mines Minister, Farai Mutamangira, was shuttling between Mpofu and the American delegation led by the Assistant Secretary of State for Africa affairs, Susan Page, following America's invitation to directly engage with the Zimbabwean delegation.
For a greater part of Thursday, Brad Rusin Brooks, an attorney with the U.S. State Department, was in closed door discussions with Mutamangira.
Attorney General Johannes Tomana, who was in Jerusalem, accused two western-funded NGOs – Global Witness and Partnership Canada – of writing “desk reports meant to please their handlers” after they claimed there was violence on a large scale in Marange.
Tomana said: “The KP review mission report presented to the plenary has certified that the Marange diamond mining operations are compliant with the minimum KPCS requirements.
“It follows, therefore, by logical inference, that our full diamond export diamond status must be restored.”
And Minister Mpofu said Zimbabwe would not be waiting for a green-light from anyone.
He told reporters: “Our compliance must entitle Zimbabwe to immediately and unconditionally export (diamonds).
“It is now clear that the Joint Working Plan is no longer serving the best interest of Zimbabwe. It is now evidently clear that it is being used as a tool to regulate improperly the flow of exports out of Zimbabwe.”
The Democratic Republic of the Congo assumes the role of chairmanship from Israel on January 1, 2011. America is campaigning for the vice presidency.
Labels: ABBEY CHIKANE, DIAMONDS, ELI IZHAKOFF, FARAI MUTAMANGIRA, JOHANNES TOMANA, KIMBERLEY PROCESS, MARANGE DIAMOND FIELDS, OBERT MPOFU, SUSAN PAGE, WORLD DIAMOND COUNCIL
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Zimbabwe holds first diamond auction to boost treasury
By Kingsley Kaswende in Harare, Zimbabwe
Thu 12 Aug. 2010, 14:30 CAT
ZIMBABWE is expected to boost its treasury after holding its first auction of diamonds since international regulators lifted a ban on the sale of the country’s precious stones.
About 900,000 carats of rough diamonds from the Chiadzwa diamond fields valued at US$72 million went on sale on Wednesday at an auction overseen by diamond regulator, the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS).
Buyers from the US, Israel, Russia, Lebanon and India attended the auction, which took place behind closed doors at Harare airport.
The KPCS had blocked the sale of Zimbabwe’s diamonds in November 2009, following allegations of human rights abuses after the government sent police and the army to drive out illegal miners who had caused chaos after they flocked to the diamond fields, east of the country near the Mozambican border.
The regulator partially lifted its ban on Zimbabwean stones at the World Diamond Council summit held in St Petersburg, Russia last month after its monitor in Zimbabwe, Abbey Chikane, made several visits to the diamond fields over the past few months to check on how Zimbabwe was observing the regulatory rules.
This followed months of intense lobbying by non-governmental organisations based in the US, Canada and Australia who lobbied for the KPCS to ban the sale of Zimbabwe’s precious stones because of the alleged abuses.
Chikane continues to oversee the audit of the country's diamond stocks.
Zimbabwe is currently sitting on 4.5 million carats of diamonds that could bring the government around US$2 billion, more than half of the country’s budget at a time when the country is struggling to win budgetary support from donors to turn round its economy.
Donors are still unwilling to extend their financial support until they see tangible political and economic reforms being carried out in the country.
Zimbabwe currently needs US$10 billion to completely resuscitate the economy that has been in its doldrums over the past 10 years after donors imposed sanctions on it as it pursued land reforms that saw over 3,500 farms owned by commercial white farmers being seized for redistribution to landless natives.
The sale of diamonds is now expected to boost liquidity levels, according to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who officiated at the launch of the certification programme.
“I am pleased to note that the Minister of Finance, in consultation with the Minister of Mines and Mining Development and other stakeholders, is working on a framework of determining how the revenues from this supervised sale are applied for the benefit of the generality of the people of Zimbabwe through the fiscus,” Tsvangirai said.?
Only stones mined between May 28, 2010 and now were auctioned. A second auction is expected in September.?
Vice-President John Nkomo said Zimbabwe had always been committed to the KPCS, as a founding participant.
However, he called for transparency in the certification programme.?
“Government clearly understands the purpose of the institution and embraces its ideals. However, it is critical that a non-partisan approach is followed in the execution of these ideals to ensure efficiency, effectiveness and fairness in the KPCS,” he said.? “Today’s ceremony is a symbol of our great resolve as a nation to succeed. Although it took us long to be where we are today, we will not tire to do the right things in the eyes of our people and the international community.”?
He said the wealth accruing from diamond sales should benefit the people.?
“Diamonds are our heritage, a heritage, which we should bequeath to our children and future generations. These diamonds should benefit the people of Zimbabwe and it is our shared and collective responsibility as Zimbabweans to guard this resource jealously,” said Tsvangirai.
Labels: ABBEY CHIKANE, CHIADZWA, DIAMONDS, KIMBERLEY PROCESS, ZIMBABWE
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COMMENT - The US, UK, Australia tried to use the Kimberley Process the same way they use donor aid - to micromanage the domestic and foreign policies of African countries.
African countries threatened to leave Kimberley Process
Posted: Monday, July 19, 2010 6:54 pm
LAST week
African countries, led by diamond rich Namibia, threatened to leave the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme if Zimbabwe was not allowed to market its diamonds freely, the Zimbabwe Guardian has learnt. This is how the voluntary KP club came to authorise Zimbabwe to sell its diamonds in August and September 2010.
Western countries in the KP wanted to block Zimbabwe's certification, although the KPCS monitor for Zimbabwe, Mr Abbey Chikane, had produced a favourable and professional report on the mining activity at Chiadzwa.
The president of the International Diamond Manufacturers, Mr Moti Ganz, and the president of the Moscow Diamond Bourse, Mr Alex Popov, also came out in support of Mr Chikane, and against those trying to block Zimbabwe.
They said KP would be discrediting itself by failing to honour a report produced by one of its appointed monitors, Mr Chikane, who has extensive experience in the diamond industry.
The two men also challenged KP for trying to ban Zimbabwe diamonds because of a report produced by "diamond activists" and mere observers.
Farai Maguwu, a self-proclaimed 'diamond activist' was arrested for faking a document which was supposed to discredit the government's role in the mining of diamonds at Chiadzwa. Partnership Africa Canada and Global Witness -- the two civil society members of KP -- campaigned vigorously for Zimbabwe to be excluded from the KP process citing unsubstantiated human rights violations in Chiadzwa.
The KP stood to be discredited if Zimbabwe had voluntarily walked out as President Mugabe and Mines and Minerals Development Minister Obert Mpofu, had indicated the country would do if these Anglo-Saxon groups kept blocking Zimbabwe's certification.
African countries, led by Namibia, also threatened to walk out of the club if Zimbabwe walked out.
Cornered US, Australia, EU and Canada then agreed a deal that would have Zimbabwe export its diamonds with KP approval.
The last-minute deal brokered in Russia authorized Zimbabwe to sell two batches of diamonds under strict monitoring and regulation through September 1.
Mining experts estimate that Zimbabwe's diamond fields are likely the biggest deposits found in Africa since the Kimberley fields were discovered in South Africa a century ago.
The mines ministry says it already has about $1.7 billion of diamonds in storage ready to be sold. This is a very significant amount as Zimbabwe's total international debt is estimated at around $5.5 billion.
Labels: ABBEY CHIKANE, KIMBERLEY PROCESS
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Kimberley Process approves Zim diamond trade
By: Itayi Garande
Posted: Thursday, July 15, 2010 7:57 pm
ZIMBABWE has been given the greenlight by the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) to trade diamonds from Marange region days after President Mugabe announced that the country will trade with or without that approval.
The issue of exports from Marange, had divided the Kimberley community and the KPCS would have been rendered meaningless by the voluntary 'withdrawal' of Zimbabwe. Heterogeneity is a core and fundamental aspect of the Kimberley Process.
Four western countries of the KPCS (United States, Canada, Australia, the European Union) bowed under pressure from 71 members of KPCS, who supported Zimbabwe's approval after diamond monitor Abbey Chikane produced a report saying the country had satisfied minimum requirements required for approval.
The news was announced today (Thursday) at the 7th Annual Meeting of the World Diamond Council in St. Petersburg, Russia.
"I want to assure everyone that Zimbabwe means business," said mining minister Obert Mpofu from the Russian city.
"We will adhere, we will comply. We will not let you down."
In an interview with the Zimbabwe Guardian on Thursday, Minister Mpofu said Zimbabwe would have gone ahead with trading its diamonds as "it had met the minimum requirements".
"Mr Abbey Chikane approved produced a favourable report and was appointed by the KP. That was enough for us to start exporting our diamonds.
“We expected the best out of the Kimberley Process and they have delivered,” Minister Mpofu said.
“We were always hopeful that we would get the greenlight as we have no blood diamonds in Zimbabwe.”
An estimated $1.7 billion plus worth of diamonds mined from Chiadzwa is currently stockpiled. These will be released as early as next week, according the mines minister.
The stockpile of diamonds mined from Chiadzwa rose to six million carats, up from 4,5 million carats in May this year.
Marange exports had been blocked since last November, after a KP monitoring mission alleged issues of non-compliance and human rights violations.
The Government of Zimbabwe had express concern at the KPCS's position and charged that the Anglo-Saxon world, led by the US, did not want Zimbabwe to export its diamonds because they knew that earnings from the sales would wreck their illegal sanctions.
Zimbabwe's diamond production could match or even surpass the 18 million carats produced annually by Botswana, presently the world’s biggest producer.
In May, KP monitor Abbey Chikane said exports should resume, but the United States, Canada, Australia, the European Union and a coalition of KPCS civic groups blocked an export resumption and disputed the monitor's report.
The four countries also wanted a redefinition of the concept of "blood diamonds" to include Zimbabwe; although the country does not have an illegitimate government and there are no rebel groups in the country.
The agreement was reached after two days of often heated negotiations, which broke down several times. One hour prior to the agreement, some negotiators believed a deal was dead. But now the mood among WDC attendees is jubilant, as many feared Zimbabwe would leave the KP and render it meaningless.
While exports will resume, the plan calls for several review missions to visit the region, and assess compliance with a work plan formulated last year.
Labels: ABBEY CHIKANE, DIAMONDS, KIMBERLEY PROCESS, ZIMBABWE
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Kimberley Process - the new colonial project
By: By Tendai Midzi
Posted: Sunday, July 4, 2010 9:41 pm
THE debate over Zimbabwe diamonds has discredited civil society groups within the Kimberley Process and the media in Zimbabwe. The debates over what exactly transpired are becoming ridiculous by the day; but there is an underlying story behind the KP madness.
The likes of Partnership Africa Canada (PAC) and Global Witness, selected NGO members of the KP, are but a figment of the western governments they represent.
One finds it puzzling that 3 or 4 governments (and 2 or 3 so called civil society institutions) out of 75 members of the KP can hold the whole organisation at ransom.
What happened to democracy as the wish of the majority? Why is the minority holding that organisation at ransom? Is this still about Chiadzwa or there's something deeper? Ironically, these governments that are against Zimbabwe's certification happen to be former colonisers or linked to former colonisers. They also happen to have imposed illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe as well.
One ridiculous debate emerged when Mines and Mining Development Minister, Obert Mpofu, sensationally revealed that the two civil society organisations had demanded 1% from the proceeds of Zimbabwe's diamond exports to be reserved for them.
The two discredited civil society organisations, in their defence, argued that no such bribe was made and they only asked for 1% to be directed to civil society in Zimbabwe. Who is civil society in Zimbabwe and who is represented by civil society? Are they not the same people that Chiadzwa diamond proceeds are meant to benefit?
And are these two NGOs now involved in setting policy (or influencing it) in Zimbabwe? Why are they extending the mandate they were given by the KP, if they have any, to include internal politics in Zimbabwe? Would 1% then get rid of the "human rights violations" they allege to be taking place in Chiadzwa?
Such ridiculousness often finds acres of reporting space in so-called independent media in Zimbabwe -- The Independent, The Standard and other western policy praise singing papers. Unsurprisingly, pirate radio stations who masquerade as mainstream news organisations, even though they have no national jurisdiction or national identity, for example SW Radio Africa, also give these ridiculous defences acres of space.
They are filled with half-baked analysts and people who claim to be journalists when they are mere mindless activists with no understanding of what is happening on the ground in Zimbabwe; or have the level of sophistication necessary to understand the underhand tactics of the western world.
One Lance Guma has become a clown in the defence of such claims and his pathetic form of reporting, if I may call it that, seems to be fed on our people daily. He drools when he interviews the likes of white farmers Deon Theron and Ben Freeth; calling black lands "their farms". One pathetic story told by SW Radio was about Freeth receiving an OBE from the Queen of England. Does SW Radio even know the significance of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) award, when they call it a "prestigious award"?
Freeth was acknowledged by that country's Queen for his services to British or white farmers, not to the people of Zimbabwe. The British have shipped their own people, who were not farmers, from Zimbabwe to cushion them from the effects of their (western) sanctions. And who reports that story and not question the altruism of British policy on Zimbabwe? So-called Zimbabwean independent media. There's nothing independent or free about this media when it represents western policy and western propaganda. This is the madness that characterises our media and our so-called journalists.
The KP minimum conditions required to certify Marange diamonds were met by Zimbabwe. Mr Abbey Chikane's report is testament to that. He was a KP appointed monitor, so what more do they want? In any case, issues of human rights (violations or no violations) have nothing to do with diamond certification. If they did, De Beers would have closed shop a long time ago. KP "blood diamonds" definition does not mention issues of human rights. Even De Beers' Oppenheimer even admitted that KP was in a quandary over Zimbabwe as the country has a legitimate government and no rebel activity.
Why does Zimbabwe media not comment on human rights violations by DeBeers and all the antitrust lawsuits in the U.S. and the lack of social responsibility policies by that company in Namibia, Botswana, etc? Why are Zimbabwean, South African, Batswana and Namibian diamonds finding their way to countries like Britain and the U.S. that abuse rights of the people in the Middle East and other parts of the world? Is DeBeers not guilty of selling to abusers of human rights?
The biggest lie that we can ever tell ourselves is that those who enaslaved us will be responsible for our welfare. The absence of an African civil society institution in the KP smacks of an attempt by "those in high places" to thwartle development in Africa; and determine our destiny by remote control.
When we fuss and fight with foreigners over our own resources, we can rest assured that our minds have been enslaved; and enslaved they shall remain.
Zimbabwe, a tiny country, is on the world radar today and institutes and institutions that purport to fight for Africa's independence have published many stories and many news items calling Zimbabwe the worst country to live in, or the most dangerous place to live in, yet they fight for their kith and kin to retain farmlands in those countries. They fight to retain their businesses in that same country, and want to go white water rafting on the Zambezi, or go on a safari in that country. What they fear is what Zimbabwe is a champion of; i.e. a champion of black empowerment and an end to 21st Century enslavement.
Those who hail countries like South Africa as symbols of democracy in Africa should see the state of the African person in that country compared with the white person. They should tell us about the number of black people living below the poverty line in that country. They should also tell us why up a person dies from crime every five minutes in South Africa and why there are so many drug and white collar crime syndicates in that country and not in Zimbabwe. They should also tell us why apartheid, racism and neo-Nazi groups of the likes of murdered DWB leader Terre'Blanche still exist years after apartheid.
So, as we debate the KP process and its importance in African mining and Africa in general, we should ask ourselves whose interests the KP protects. It might look honourable in principle; but when that organisation sees a country's people dying from curable diseases and lack of basic sanitation and still wants that country to suffer and not benefit from its natural resources, we should question its altruism.
If the likes of De Beers and Rio Tinto were involved in Marange diamond fields, this anti-Zimbabwe stance would not have been commonplace. Marange diamonds would have been certified a long time ago; and cartels of these plunderers would have taken over Zimbabwe, and be benefiting from that plunder. Zimbabwe, however, will not brook such nonsense. The liberation war was fought for land (and minerals); and we will not reverse the gains of that struggle.
Those who enslaved us are saying, "How dare you want to maintain this multi-million resource and reduce our power over you?" This is Zimbabwe's crime.
This is the reason why the likes of President Robert Mugabe, Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, ANC Youth Leader Julius Malema are castigated by "those in high places". They dare liberate they own people and educate their minds. They are called all sorts: anti-white, racist, evil, dictator, Hitlerite, etc. because they are enlightened and therefore wish to enlighten and empower their own people. That is why someone like Minister Louis Farrakhan was denied an entry visa into Britain. He would have told the true story of the black person, not the likes of Dr John Sentamu or Bishop Desmond Tutu, who are quick to dismiss African leadership and appease the west. African leaders are not infallible and are not beyond reproach. They indeed can be criticised, but the bidding should not be done on behalf of the very fallible west -- the former enslaver and coloniser, but on behalf of the African people.
The castigation of our leadership in the media and the various labels imposed on them, are mere tactics meant to frighten any right thinking African who dares question why their own people are still poor on a rich continent. Many of our young people who graduate with law, accounts, medicine, engineering, media, etc degrees are quickly absorbed by the institutions run by these "people in high places" and never allowed to see, or tell, the true story. They are given so-called "human rights awards" and research fellowships to silence them. They are never given real careers, nor real power, but these token awards to silence them and rinse them.
The likes of Human Rights Watch, International Criminal Court, International Court of Justice, etc are full of African people who do the bidding for these "people in high places". By having black people do the bidding, the racist label is shrugged off the real culprits -- the western establishment. Then, only African countries will be subjected to the scrutiny of these organisations, never western ones.
Africans, unless they liberate themselves from this mental slavery, will continue to self-hate and think they should please the white person in order to advance in life. Those of us who live in Europe and other places know very well that the establishment will never advance us. It will appease us, but that's all. We will be given various titles (African Researcher, Senior Journalist, Chairman of ..., Convenor of Crisis in Africa Organisation, Leader of the National Constitutional Assembly,etc). These are all titles that blacks got after independence, not before. Before, you could only be A Filing Clerk, Cleaner, Janitor, Post Boy, etc.
In the meantime, all our resources will be plundered and we will be made to hate our own people; our own leadership. We will be told to tell the story, the lie, ourselves. See how many anti-Zimbabwe websites there are today. Most of them speak ill and evil of those heroes who died for them and are still fighting for them.
The likes of CNN, BBC, etc do their job of denigrating our leadership very well. They even use our own black commentators to tell their version of our, story. Their story is that we are corrupt and unable to rule ourselves.
This is the crux of the whole debate over Marange and all those journalists and black so-called "human rights defenders" are still suffering from slavery, and colonial, hangover. That hangover is so strong, it cannot break the shackles that are making our people believe that the Anglo-Saxon world can be both liberator and enslaver.
_______________________________
*Tendai Midzi is a lecturer in economics at the London Metropolitan University. He can be reached via tendaimidzi1 **** yahoo.com
Labels: ABBEY CHIKANE, CIVIL SOCIETY, KIMBERLEY PROCESS, NEOCOLONIALISM, OBERT MPOFU
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West wants KP monitor replaced by Biti
By: Special report by our staff
Posted: Saturday, June 26, 2010 5:29 am
DESPERATE western countries who want Zimbabwe banned from getting the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme's approval to sell Chiadzwa diamonds wanted Tendai Biti to replace Mr Abbey Chikane as monitor.
Mr Biti, who has no experience in the diamond processing field, was proposed by United States, Israel and Canada as a possible replacement for a diamond professional of known repute, Mr Chikane.
Mr Chikane is the chairman of the South African Diamond Board and is a KPCS appointed monitor. This means the Kimberley Process does not have confidence in its own abilities.
Mr Chikane recently concluded that Zimbabwe was abiding by minimal requirements of KPCS and should be allowed to resume exports of diamonds.
The 75 countries representing the KPCS voted on the issue of whether or not to accept Mr Chikane's report on Zimbabwe at their annual meeting in Tel Aviv. Out of the 75 countries represented, only 4 (US, Australia, Canada and the European Union) blocked Zimbabwe's approval. The EU is represented as a single participant.
KPCS chairman, Boaz Hirsch, an Israeli, then ignored the vote and reminded the members that certification was only possible through consensus and all members have to agree to certify a country. This move was seen as a desperate attempt to block Zimbabwe's certification, despite the overwhelming vote by the members.
Article continues below
The four opposing western countries, who coincidentally have also imposed (and recently renewed) illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe, argued that Mr Chikane -- the current KPCS monitor -- was "compromised" as he had recommended Zimbabwe's certification. They said he had to be replaced.
The four countries then suggested that Finance Minister Biti act as a monitor, a move vehemently opposed by Mines and Minerals Development Minister, Obert Mpofu. Minister Mpofu said Mr Biti had no experience in diamond mining, or any other form of mining. His sentiments were backed by the other 69 members, including Russia, India and Brazil.
Minister Biti is currently overburdened by demands from Cabinet, the World Bank and IMF, other international donors and NGOs. Last week he stormed out of a Cabinet meeting after all his western-type economic proposals had been rejected, and left for South Africa where he watched World Cup 2010 soccer matches, inorder to "cool down".
US, Australia and Canada then suggested that Centre for Research and Development chairman, Mr Farai Maguwu, who is currently remanded in custody and charged with communicating false information prejudicial to the state regarding activities at Marange diamond fields, be appointed monitor.
This move was also opposed by Minister Mpofu and he was again backed by 71 members of the KPCS.
The three countries then suggested that for Mr Chikane's original recommendations to be accepted, Zimbabwe should cede 1% value of its total diamond exports to US, Australia and Canada through their NGOs. Zimbabwe refused to be bribed to get certification and indicated that the country will start selling diamonds with, or without, the approval of the four western countries.
At that point the talks broke down.
Minister Mpofu argued that Mr Chikane, appointed by the KPCS, had given a favourable report and that was enough for the country to start exporting the precious gem.
The minister also indicated that in future Zimbabwe will polish its own diamonds, since the Kimberly Process only monitors trade of rough, unpolished stones. Minister Mpofu also told The New York Times newspaper this week that Zimbabwe plans to set up diamond polishing plants to reap more benefits from the precious gem.
Asked how Zimbabwe would export its diamonds "without KPCS approval", minister Mpofu told a Times reporter that Mr Chikane was a KPCS monitor and besides: "That's a question for Zimbabwe, not for you."
Inorder to discredit Mr Chikane's comprehensive report on Chiadzwa diamonds, Chaim Even-Zohar, head of the Israeli diamond consultancy, Tacy, which not part of KPCS, was allowed to present his own report -- not commissioned by the Kimberley Process -- to the Tel Aviv meeting.
Even-Zohar called his report a "first-hand investigation of Zimbabwe's diamond fields". His version was "completely different" from the one presented by Mr Chikane, who had access to all areas. Even-Zohar said they were "still human rights violations in Chiadzwa" but fell short of highlighting those violations.
"Presenting some figures on the diamond potential of Zimbabwe, Even-Zohar considered that the country has the potential to become a supplier of some 25 percent of the global diamond supply in terms of value within just a few years," according to a KPCS statement released after Even-Zohar's biased presentation.
The KPCS accepted Even-Zohar's "independent report" and not the report of their own appointed monitor.
Last week, a recognised KPCS civil society participant and partner, Partnership-Africa Canada (PAC), tried to redefine "blood diamonds" to include Marange diamonds, but failed.
Blood diamonds (also called converted diamonds, conflict diamonds, hot diamonds, or war diamonds) refer to diamonds mined in a war zone and sold to finance an insurgency, invading army's war efforts, or a warlord's activity. This meaning does not apply to Zimbabwe's Marange diamonds. The country is not at war, and there is no financing of an insurgency and no warlord activity in the country.
PAC argued that "(The conflict diamond) definition is outdated and needs changing. It erroneously assumes all governments are legitimate ..." Zimbabwe has a unity Government which includes Zanu (PF) party of President Mugabe, MDC-T of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC of Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara.
The relentlessness of the western countries to have Zimbabwe diamond exports banned will be tested next month when a sub-group of the Kimberley Process is scheduled to meet and debate Zimbabwe's certification further.
Labels: ABBEY CHIKANE, CHIADZWA, KIMBERLEY PROCESS, TENDAI BITI
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COMMENT - Foreign sponsored 'rights organisations' that are doing the bidding foreing governments and Anglo-American De Beers, which is only interested in protecting it's monopoly. When by the way is Anglo-American going to give up it's mines in the DRC, or properly compensate the people of the DRC for it's operations there?
Investigate KP monitor: rights groups
by Staff Reporter
21/06/2010 00:00:00
WESTERN diamond processors and rights organisations have called for an “independent” investigation of the Kimberly Process (KP) monitor for Zimbabwe in what may be a futile attempt to force the KP’s hand when the body meets in Israel beginning Monday.
The KP – a global watchdog set up to prevent trade in conflict diamond – begins its inter-sessional meeting in Israel with the issue of Zimbabwe’s contested Marange diamonds topping the agenda.
The body is widely expected to endorse a recommendation by its Zimbabwe monitor, Abbey Chikane that the Marange gems should be certified as “conflict free” because the country has met the basic requirements established by the body.
However consumer bodies in the west and rights organisations are crying foul and have demanded that the KP maintain its Zimbabwe ban and launch a probe into the activities of its monitor.
“Zimbabwe's armed forces still control most of the fields, despite a commitment by the government to remove them from the area. Corruption is rife, and smuggling of Marange diamonds by soldiers in the field is prolific.
“The diamonds continue to benefit a few senior people in the government and their accomplices rather than the people of Zimbabwe as a whole,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
The organisation claimed that state security agencies were continuing abuses in Marange adding the two South Africa-based companies contracted by the government to mine the diamonds were connected to senior Zanu PF officials.
“There is also concern about the role of Abbey Chikane, the South African monitor appointed by the Kimberley Process (KP), to devise a "joint work plan" to bring Zimbabwe into compliance with the KP's rules.
“Human Rights Watch again calls for Zimbabwe to be suspended from the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) due to these continuing abuses. It also calls for a halt to the "joint work plan" pending an independent investigation into Mr. Chikane,” the organisation said.
Brilliant Earth, an American Jeweller, said the credibility of the KP was now being put into question over its “failure to change the situation in Zimbabwe”.
Another rights organisation, Global Witness, said the credibility of the KP’s monitor had been compromised after activist Farai Maguwu, “who helped document the abuses, was jailed two weeks ago for giving documents to the monitor, preventing him from attending the meeting”.
The high court in Harare is expected to hand down a ruling on Maguwu’s bail application on Monday.
“The (meeting in Israel should) suspend Zimbabwe from the Kimberley Process until there is evidence that human rights abuses in the diamond fields have ceased and Zimbabwe is complying fully with Kimberley Process minimum requirements," Global Witness said in a statement.
The Zimbabwe government dismisses the allegations as the work of “detractors” bent on ensuring the country does not benefit from its mineral resources.
Mines Minister Obert Mpofu recently imposed a blanket ban on all diamond exports from the country until the Marange gems are certified as the government upped the stakes over the controversy.
The blanket export ban hit Murowa diamond mine which is owned by Australia-based global resources group Rio Tinto PLC as well as River Ranch mine based in Beitbridge.
Government officials have also insisted that Zimbabwe would quit the KP and trade its gems through other channels if the Marange injunction is not lifted.
Labels: ABBEY CHIKANE, BLOOD DIAMONDS, DIAMONDS, KIMBERLEY PROCESS
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(NEWZIMBABWE) Diamond researcher claims set-up
COMMENT - Leave it to US government sponsored SW Radio Africa to give a platform for these uncorroborated allegations. This is not journalism, but propaganda. At no point does Violet Gonda ask for proof, corroboration, any eyewitnesses, etc. This has everything to do the positive report brought out by the South African Abbey Chikane, which the accompanying photograph to this article refers to as 'the accused'.
Diamond researcher claims set-up
by
09/06/2010 00:00:00
Farai Maguwu, the Director of the Centre for Research and Development (CRD), who has been investigating human rights abuses at the Chiadzwa diamond fields was forced into hiding after police raided his office, his house and arrested and assaulted some of his relatives last week. On Thursday he handed himself in to Mutare police and was immediately arrested.
The CRD has been forced to shut down and all staff are in hiding. Speaking the night before his arrest Maguwu accuses the Kimberley Process (KP) monitor to Zimbabwe, Abbey Chikane, of setting him up, as a result of a confidential meeting the two had about the ongoing militarisation of the diamond fields.
Maguwu says his troubles started when Chikane (from South Africa) betrayed his confidence and shopped him to the police. He spoke to Violet Gonda of SWRadio Africa for the programme Hot Seat.
Gonda started by asking him to explain the chain of events that resulted in him having to go into hiding.
FARAI MAGUWU: It all started on Tuesday last week, in fact prior to Tuesday, I received an email from Abbey Chikane requesting to meet me on his second visit to Zimbabwe and I duly agreed to meet him on Tuesday 25th of May at 6pm and that particular day, 26th of May, he called me early in the morning and said he was no longer able to meet me in the evening, I should come in the morning. I told him it was a public holiday and I was not prepared to go to work early so I need some time to prepare and he kept on phoning, telling me that I have to come now because he wanted to proceed to Chiadzwa. Then I went to meet him at Holiday Inn and to my surprise, there were a lot of suspicious people sitting in the lobby and others were standing outside, so I discussed with him what we were observing in Marange especially with the issues of human rights abuses which are continuing, the issues of illegal panning activities and the smuggling of diamonds without the KP certification. Then the following day, that’s when we saw on television, the government alleging that Chikane’s emails had been intercepted and his itinerary had been ‘drafted by the Americans’. Then I immediately felt insecure and the following morning I did not go to work early suspecting that something was going to happen and then at around half past nine in the morning, a truckload of men in suits pitched up at my home and they were armed to the teeth and when they were advancing to my door, I slipped through the window and then they went on to start beating my relatives at home and they took one of them into custody and they kept him in the police cells, beating him for the four days. He was arrested on Thursday and he was only released on Monday. So when I saw these events unfolding, I felt very insecure and I felt like they wanted to do a Ken Saro-Wiwa on me so I went into hiding.
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GONDA: Right and is there any understanding as to why exactly they were after you?
MAGUWU: They are charging me that I gave Chikane a State Security document which was drafted by the army and they are saying that was prejudicial to the State and that’s why they are looking for me.
GONDA: And did you do this?
MAGUWU: I did not give Chikane anything but in the conversation, Chikane himself, he mentioned this document and asked me about the contents in that document and I told him that I had not seen the document, it is hard for me to comment on something which I have not seen. So little did I know that that meeting was a way to set me up so that Chikane can create a story out of that meeting and resulting in all these problems that we are facing now, emanating from a meeting that I had with one person and in close confidentiality.
GONDA: So are you accusing the Kimberley Process monitor of setting you up and, if so, why would he do this?
MAGUWU: The reasons are to me, he is now part of the gravy train, there must be something that is going on behind the scenes between Abbey Chikane and ZANU PF officials who are plundering the Marange diamonds. And he obviously, him now being an interested party, if this case goes to court he is going to be a witness against me and him now being an interested party, it means he’s now working to advance the interests of one party against the other, that is the interests of the government against me.
And the Centre for Research and Development is a member of the Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition, and this month we were due to travel to Israel to present our findings on the goings on in Chiadzwa especially matters of human rights abuses which are continuing, panning and smuggling and this setting up and all these nefarious allegations being levelled against me are simply meant to start a long legal battle that will keep me in the country and that will also paralyse the operations of our organisation. I think that was the intentions of Chikane.
GONDA: So has he made any statements or said anything about your harassment and I understand that not only was your brother in Mutare arrested but that your elder brother who’s at the University of Zimbabwe was also quizzed by the police?
MAGUWU: Yes, first I confirmed that one of my brothers was arrested and beaten severely and the other one who is doing “A” level in Mutare, he was detained at home for two days and he was being tortured at home by the CIOs who were now sleeping in my house and cooking my food and doing everything as if they pay rent there. And my brother also at the University of Zimbabwe was taken temporarily today and they were quizzing him and some concerned human rights organisations have phoned Chikane and written emails to him enquiring why all these things are happening when I met with him in confidentiality and at his own request and to the surprise of everyone, he is very arrogant. He is saying I possessed a State Security document and he is saying I knew that it was a crime to possess that document so I’m 100 per cent responsible the consequences.
GONDA: And were you given assurances by Chikane that whatever you discussed with him during that meeting would remain confidential?
MAGUWU: In the beginning, before we started talking, I told Chikane we are living in a very difficult situation where human rights are not respected, where there is a rule by law and not rule of law and my life is not secure discussing these issues with you and I need your promise of confidentiality in everything that I’m going to discuss with you and he promised me and he gave me assurance that nothing that we were going to discuss was going to be revealed to anyone except only for his own mission to help him on his tour of Marange.
GONDA: So what implications do you think what you are saying and what you are accusing the KP monitor of doing; what implications does this have on the KP itself and also with its relationship with civic groups in Zimbabwe?
MAGUWU: I think it’s really going to affect the smooth running of the KP, especially given that Zimbabwe is taking centre stage in KP issues since 2008 and now that this monitor, he had been appointed to try to resolve these issues and also to work with all the stakeholders in trying to help Zimbabwe to get this certification. Now the civil society coalition in the KP obviously is very angered by this unfortunate and unprofessional behaviour by Chikane. He may be forced to withdraw, to halt his monitoring activities, possibly another monitor may have to be found who is agreeable to both the Zimbabwe and the KP membership but this behaviour is putting a dent on the KP operations and its credibility as an institution because Chikane was coming here holding the portfolio of the KP and representing the values of the KP and given this corrupt nature of his behaviour, he’s really a very terrible agent of such a very respectable organisation.
GONDA: I understand from well placed sources that Chikane has defended his decision, he claims that you gave him the document, this document by the security forces, and he was saying that he handed it over to the security agencies to find out if it was 'authentic’ because he didn’t want to be in possession of an ‘illegal document’. What do you think this is about then because it doesn’t add up?
MAGUWU: Yah it’s true, I agree with you that it does not add up. I’ll give you an example, some few years ago, after Operation Murambatsvina the United Nations sent a special envoy to Zimbabwe and she met a lot of stakeholders and at the end of her fact-finding mission, she thanked everyone, she went out of the country, she did her work professionally which was well received by all Zimbabweans and she did not leave any Zimbabwean in danger because of confiding in her what really happened to the people and this is unlike Abbey Chikane, he is actually talking like a ZANU PF activist. He has no sympathy, he has got no empathy, he has no feeling for what is happening to me, to my family and to all the people I work with. Right now the organisation, everyone is into hiding. We expected him to protest to the Zimbabwe government that these people spoke to me in confidentiality and they were actually helping to make my mission possible but to our surprise it appears like he came as wolf in sheep’s clothing. So it’s quite very unfortunate that he is even having the audacity to say he went to the government to try to authenticate. In any case, if he receives any documentation, that’s why he was on a fact finding mission, he was supposed to go to Marange on his own and try to see whether whatever information he got from all quarters was correct, not for him to go to the government to say I received this document from so-and-so and is it true? That is very childish and primitive.
GONDA: For the benefit of those people who would not know what your organisation actually does, can you tell us about your organisation and what were your finding?
MAGUWU: The Centre for Research and Development conducts research and advocacy in the areas of human rights, in the areas within and around the Marange diamond fields. We look at the issues of panning, we look at the issues of smuggling of diamonds, so we also do some cross-border research to see what is happening in the town of Manica across Mozambique with regard to the Zimbabwe diamonds. So when I met the monitor, I gave him a report, which was titled “Porous Security at Canadile Zimbabwe”. I also gave him a report of the CRD, which was produced in April about the escalation of human rights abuses in Marange where the soldiers were going around beating people at shopping centres. These are the two documents, which I handed over to him explaining the level of smuggling and also the increase in violence against the civilian population by the military.
GONDA: What about this ‘leaked document’ that was allegedly compiled by an assistant commissioner Mawere? What was he able to tell you about this document because I hear it also highlights the fact that there’s been no security sector reform under the Global Political Agreement and that JOC is still very much in control in the Chiadzwa area?
MAGUWU: What he simply talked about, he mentioned issues of certain military bases in the diamond field where he was asking me whether I know of the existence of those bases. He also wanted to know the issues of the syndicates, which were being operated by the army. He was actually agreeing with our reports that what we were reporting were also featuring in that document which he was holding in his hands which he allegedly got from ZANU PF’s office confirming the operations of the JOC. And he was shaking his head in disbelief saying – I don’t understand how people can deny these things because to me it’s very clear and obvious that the military is still in control of the diamond fields and even the areas which are under the companies, they are not very secure, in some areas the military are still gate crashing into these areas. He also complained about the smuggling across the border, which could be traced back to the operations of the military and the syndicates in the diamond fields. So those were the issues which he was simply raising from that particular document but which were also resonating with the reports I handed over to him.
GONDA: Earlier on you talked about Chikane’s stolen emails. Now media reports actually quote him blaming the theft of his emails on ‘naughty intelligence’. In your view, was this an appropriate response from him?
MAGUWU: He was actually showering praise on the person for his ingenuity in getting into his emails and the like. We were expecting Chikane to burst out in anger and say – how can this be, that the government has disrespected my person, they’ve disrespected my mission, how can a government agent break into my privacy? He was supposed to protest even to the KP chair and possibly he was supposed to walk out of the country and say I cannot continue with my mission because my security is not guaranteed. But to our surprise he went on even to promise that certification is within sight, within two weeks it should be done, which means he voluntarily gave this information to the government of Zimbabwe and he was trying to expose anybody - be these people be Zimbabwean or be American or British or South African - anyone who was trying to show him some elements of non-compliance, he exposed them to the government of Zimbabwe so that his relationship with the government is solidified for whatever benefits he is getting which we do not know.
GONDA: Have you complained to the mother body, the actual KP to tell them about what has been happening or even the civil society in Zimbabwe, have they issued a statement to KP to complain?
MAGUWU: I’m still in hiding, I have no access to the internet at the moment but I will have to start the legal processes tomorrow and depending on the outcome of these processes, I’ll then launch a formal complaint to the KP chair in Israel about the behaviour of Abbey Chikane.
GONDA: You are still in hiding but for how long? The police are still looking for you, what is your next move?
MAGUWU: We have been consulting and we have been setting up our legal team and building up our case so tomorrow I will hand in myself to the police in Mutare and then from there we will see, the rest will be determined by whatever the charges the State will prefer and the legal team will respond to that.
GONDA: And you feel that this is the best way to respond, bearing in mind what you were telling us about your family members being assaulted and arrested?
MAGUWU: Yes Violet, I am a Zimbabwean, this is the only country that I call home, I believe our fight for the rights of the people of Chiadzwa and our fight for transparency and accountability in Marange diamond is a just cause. It is a cause for which I’m very much prepared to suffer any consequences. The reason why I was hiding is simply because these people they raided my home without, I was not prepared to face them at that time, I had not set up any legal team to help me, but now I’ve done my ground work and I’m prepared to face them come what may. We need to continue with the struggle. Zimbabwe is for all Zimbabweans, it is not for a few privileged people no matter how powerful they are, no matter whatever weapons at their disposal, we need to share the cake, everyone must benefit from the resources of this country, not for Obert Mpofu and the political bosses to benefit with their families when everyone else is forced to feed on poverty and everyone else is forced to live on this island between malnutrition and starvation.
GONDA: Now I was actually going to ask you about those who are benefiting from the diamonds in Chiadzwa. Have you been able to actually gather the names of some of the people who are behind this plunder? And also do you know how much Zimbabwe is actually losing every month from diamond sales, from illegal diamond sales?
MAGUWU: For now it is difficult for me to mention names but all I can say is that the two companies that were formed which are mining in Chiadzwa were illegally licensed to mine there, in that the Minister did not follow the government tender regulations in awarding these licences. But coming to the issue of the losses which the government is incurring, we do not have a round figure of the total sums of the loss which the government is incurring - but the calculations we did on Canadile Mining alone, we noted that about two thousand carats are being lost daily through smuggling and theft by workers who we think have actually overtaken the syndicates and the army in supplying diamonds to buyers.
GONDA: And two thousand carats is roughly how much? Would you know?
MAGUWU: Unfortunately I cannot really give a figure because this one is actually, I have tried, we are still making some consultations on the exact value of such amount of diamonds so I cannot really disclose at the moment how much that can cost.
GONDA: What about the issue of the human rights abuses?
MAGUWU: We have gone to the fields, we have gone to areas surrounding Chiadzwa where the army occasionally go out to beat people indiscriminately. We are talking of elderly people who are going to the shops or coming from church, people are just beaten for no apparent reason. Then there are cases of armed robberies by the military where they are robbing people of their valuables. There are also cases of sexual harassment where women are taken as sex slaves. All these things are happening in and around Chiadzwa and there are people, there is a man who is a former headmaster and he is paralysed now, he can’t even walk because he was beaten severely by the military. So these are the abuses we are saying they should stop.
And go all over the world there is nowhere where the military is involved in mining. The role of the military is to defend the country from external enemies. There are companies, there are a lot of Zimbabweans who are jobless. Unemployment rate is standing at about 85 per cent at the moment. We can’t say the government has failed to find people who can work in Marange and produce diamonds for the country. So the military has to be replaced by trained security guards.
And also the other problem Violet I must bring to your attention is that Marange diamond field stretches for about 70 000 hectares. Of that 70 000 hectares only about less than ten per cent is under production and as long as all these vast fields are lying idle, the problem of panning will never stop and therefore we will always get this lame excuse that we need the military because we need to protect the diamond field. Why is the area lying idle when the country is keeping on singing this song that we don’t have money, we need help from outside?
GONDA: So what about the inclusive government itself, especially the MDC? You’ve complained about the Mines Minister Obert Mpofu as being one of those people benefiting from what is happening in Chiadzwa. What is the MDC doing about it? Are you happy with the way the MDC is handling, if at all, this issue in Chiadzwa?
MAGUWU: I think the MDC has really disappointed in the area of Marange. First of all, when we talk about Obert Mpofu we must also remember that his Deputy is Murisi Zwizwai who is an MDC official and he has not really shown any light - we are talking about Murisi here. He has not protested about these things happening, rather it appears he is also part of the gravy train. We are not seeing him showing direction as a party that was carrying the hopes and aspirations of the people of Zimbabwe. The question that people are asking is - will the MDC produce a better diamond policy than ZANU PF when they are quiet when all these things are happening? So I should say as civil society we are quite disappointed by the silence of the MDC. Even right now, that ZANU PF is trying to pin me down, they are trying to do a Ken Saro-Wiwa on me because I’m speaking out against these human rights abuses and this theft of the national resource, the MDC is quiet about it which means they are complicit or they are supporting what is happening.
GONDA: I understand that recently a parliamentary committee was actually blocked from going or entering the Chiadzwa area, now I wonder have government ministers been able to go there?
MAGUWU: People like Murisi they go there whenever they want to and we have not heard them protesting against this denial by the police to accept the parliamentary committee into the diamond field. Whereas the, the ministers were not chosen by the grassroots people but the parliamentarians are the voice of the people because they have got a mandate of the people to be the people’s eye. So when these parliamentarians who have got all the legitimacy to debate anything and to go anywhere in the country are being denied access to such a rich national resource, then we begin to ask – to whom do these diamonds belong?
GONDA: Right and of course I’m speaking to you on the night before you actually go and hand yourself in to the police. What’s going through your mind with all that has been happening to you?
MAGUWU: Of course there’s the fear of being abused, you know in Zimbabwe even if you are, a country where the words ‘human rights’ do not exist so no matter how strong your arguments are you are never guaranteed of any protection of the law therefore there is this fear of handing myself to people who have been hunting me like they were hunting for a wild animal and who have been beating my relatives. If they have been beating even school-going kids, how much more when they find me? If they have been sleeping in my house for one week, sleeping on my bed, cooking my food, waiting for me in every corner of the neighbourhood, you can wonder what will happen if they meet me. So those are some of the things, which have been just coming to my mind as I ask myself whether I have made the correct decision to hand myself into them. But at the end of the day you’d say, it has to be done, we have to move forward, we have to tell them we are the people and these are our concerns - we too believe we have the right to live.
I thank everyone who is standing with us at the CRD. There is a lot of support from civil society within Zimbabwe and beyond and I encourage everyone to know, to stand up for our resources. This is a rich country but the moment we remain silent about things that matter, this is when evil will thrive so we need to unite and stand up for what is right and denounce what is wrong.
GONDA: Thank you Farai Maguwu for speaking to us on the programme Hot Seat.
MAGUWU: Thank you very much Violet.
Labels: ABBEY CHIKANE, BLOOD DIAMONDS, KIMBERLEY PROCESS, VIOLET GONDA
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