MDC censures minister over Chiadzwa
by Lebo Nkatazo
02/07/2009 00:00:00
THE Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has
publicly censured Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Murisi Zwizwai for
dismissing claims by human rights groups that security forces killed dozens of illegal miners in the Marange diamond fields.
Zwizwai, also the
MDC MP for Harare Central, told a meeting of the Kimberley Process in Namibia last week that “contrary to allegations in the media,
nobody was killed by security forces during an operation at Marange”.
He said 30,000 people “descended” on the alluvial mining field in Chiadzwa “compelling the government to conduct a special operation to flush out the illegal diamond miners and to bring order and sanity to the area."
He said: "These people comprised of cunning, die-hard illegal diamond diggers.”
Home Affairs Minister Giles Mutsekwa, also appointed into cabinet on an MDC ticket after winning the Dangamvura–Chikanga constituency that is near Chiadzwa has previously dismissed the existence of mass graves in the area.
On Wednesday, both men appeared at odds with their party which said their views were “inaccurate” and “unfortunate”.
“We view the remarks as premature and inaccurate in the absence of an investigation into the murky dealings in the Chiadzwa diamond fields where a lot of things happened out of the public eye. Hon Zwizwai’s claims are therefore fact-hostile and evidence-free,” an unsigned MDC statement said.
The party demanded that the unity government which it formed with President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party and a rival MDC formation led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara should immediately set up an investigation to establish the truth behind claims of mass killings.
The MDC said: “We believe that a thorough investigation will enable the inclusive government to come clean on what really transpired before senior government officials seek refuge in denial … There is no public information as to how much the country has accrued from the diamond fields where ordinary Zimbabweans were displaced to make way for politically-connected fat cats and politicians.”
This week, the Kimberly Process -- a body set up by the UN to certify the origin of rough diamonds from sources which are free of conflict as well as prevent ‘blood diamonds’ from entering the mainstream rough diamond market -- sent an investigating team to Chiadzwa to investigate the alleged abuses.
During a question and answer session in the House of Assembly on May 13, Makoni South MP Pishai Muchauraya (MDC-T) asked Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu whether “the relatives of 83 diamond panners who were allegedly buried in two mass graves in Dangamvura (Mutsekwa’s constituency), Mutare, in 2008 were notified of the burial”, but the minister said the question was best answered by the Minister of Home Affairs.
Muchauraya asked the same question to Mutsekwa on June 17, and in his reply, the co-Home Affairs Minister said: “The Zimbabwe Republic Police does not have such records or information regarding the question asked by Hon. Muchauraya.”
Zwizwai could not be reached for a comment Wednesday as he was said to be travelling in Chiadzwa with the Kimberly Process team led by Liberian Deputy Mines Minister Kpandel Fiya.
Labels: BLOOD DIAMONDS, CHIADZWA, KIMBERLEY PROCESS, MDC, ZVIZVAI MURISI
Read more...
Miners, millers to get loans
Business Reporter
SMALL-SCALE miners and millers operating under the Zimbabwe Gold Miners and Millers Association in the Midlands and Mashonaland West provinces are set to get loans running into millions from local indigenous banks to buy the gold that they mill on behalf of other miners.
This was revealed during a tour of mills in Kadoma and Kwekwe by a team comprising of the Deputy Minister for Mines and Mining Development Mr Zvizvai Murisi and a team from TN Financial Holdings led by the group’s chief executive, Mr Tawanda Nyambirai on Friday.
Also in the entourage was another group from the POSB led by chief executive Mr Admore Kandlela and CBZ.
The team was on a mission to assess the operations and the needs of the miners and millers.
Speaking soon after the tour of at least six mills, Mr Nyambirai said they were impressed by the operations and could start disbursing the loans as early as Tuesday next week.
He said that they would be engaging the Zigmma executive this week to work out the modalities of disbursing the money.
The size of the loans, Mr Nyambirai said, would be determined by the capacity of each mill and the volumes of business that it would be attracting.
He said that the decision to expedite the processing of loans was part of the thrust to bring banking to the people.
"That is why we have banking lounges as opposed to banking halls because we only want our clients to visit us for the complicated transaction because we prefer to visit our clients to meet their banking needs.
"This is because we want them to concentrate more on their business and generate more money while we handle their banking needs because that is what we do best," he said.
He added that he was happy that the turnaround process for millers was 14 days a factor that augured well with their 30-day loans.
Zigmma’s organising secretary, Mr Casper Tsvangirai said that their members required at least US$30 million to buy gold.
He said that as an association they were willing to give guidance to the bank as well as underwrite loans accessed by the members who would be required to contribute 30 grams of gold to a sinking fund to be held by Zigmma for the purposes of repaying bankers in cases where there are defaulters.
"Gold will always continue to go out of the country illegally but this way we can guarantee that it is bought and sold properly and the money utilised to improve the welfare of the country," he said.
Zigmma has already secured licences to buy gold locally and sell it on the international market, a factor that Mr Tsvangirai said would help them get realistic prices.
He called for the reinstatement of lines of support from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and also for the relaxation of activities of the Environmental Management Authority.
Mr Kandlela said that although financing of small-scale miners was generally new to them they would strive to live up to their name as the people’s bank.
"This is a new dispensation for us and we will try to do our best in association with other banks," he said.
Mr Murisi said that the move to rope in banks to assist miners with finance to buy gold was part of efforts to ensure that gold plays a pivotal role in the country’s economic turnaround.
"Gold has been identified as one of the minerals which could underpin the success of the Short Term Emergency Recovery Programme and the 100-day Plan and we are hopeful that we will achieve our goals with the assistance of banks," he said.
The country’s gold production plunged from 7 tonnes in 2007 to 3,5 tonnes last year mainly due to non-payment for deliveries and poor capitalisation.
Labels: MASHONALAND WEST, MIDLANDS, MINING, TN FINANCIAL HOLDINGS, ZGMMA, ZVIZVAI MURISI
Read more...
