ZANU-PF Fight for Control Marange Diamonds

by Admin on January 11th, 2010

Intense infighting within Zanu PF (Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front) over control of the Marange diamonds stalled the planned sale of diamonds on Thursday and is frustrating proper mining operations of the precious mineral, sources told The Standard.

This was compounded by the fact that Mbada Diamonds, a joint operation between government and Grandwell Holdings of South Africa, failed to meet conditions stipulated by the Kimberley Process Certification before the planned sale.  The sources said the battle for control of the Marange diamonds pits factions aligned to retired army general Solomon Mujuru and Emmerson Mnangagwa, the minister of defence.

The two camps are already embroiled in a bitter decade-long battle to succeed ageing President Robert Mugabe, 85, as leader of the party and the country.  This past week Mbada Diamonds announced the proposed auction of the first 300,000 carats of the precious Marange diamond but this flopped spectacularly after it turned out proper procedures had not been followed.

Although government, which is also a shareholder in Mbada, had been informed about the auction, secretary for mines and mining development Thankful Musukutwa said the auction had been stopped until the correct laid-down process was followed.

He said Mbada should have involved the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe, ZRP Minerals Unit and the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development in the process. But announcing the diamond auction on Wednesday, Mbada chairman Robert Mhlanga claimed government was involved in the whole process. “The entire process from mining, transportation to marketing is being done in compliance to the requirements of the Kimberley Process,” he said.

“The sales and marketing offices are jointly manned and controlled by teams from both government and Mbada Diamonds,” he said.

Mhlanga, a former air vice-marshal, has close links with Mugabe. He was one of the first black pilots to fly Zimbabwe’s only ruler since Independence.

Sources said the auction was stopped after officials from the faction aligned to Mujuru took advantage of the failure by Mbada to follow laid down procedures.  The Mujuru faction, said one of the sources, wants to wrest control of the Marange diamonds from the faction aligned to Mnangagwa whose key figures are associated with the companies mining in the controversial area. Mnangagwa is acting Minister of Mines.

The Mujuru faction, said another source, is also querying how Mbada - a company hurriedly registered late in 2008 - got the tender to mine diamonds in Chiadzwa ahead of already “existing and reputable” mining firms.  The source said Mnangagwa’s faction is said to be sympathetic to Mbada’s mission to ensure proper mining operations at Chiadzwa, where diamonds worth millions of dollars were looted by senior politicians before ordinary Zimbabweans invaded the area.

Mhlanga dismissed allegations that he was aligned to any politician saying: “I am not aligned to politicians, MDC [Movement For Democratic Change], Zanu PF or Mavambo. I am my own man.”

He said it was time the diamonds benefited the country and the people of Marange instead of politicians. However, sources said, some politicians loyal to the Mujuru faction - who had been in control of mining operations at Chiadzwa before the normalisation of mining in the area– were determined to derail the project.

“It is the fight for political control of Zanu PF that has spilled over to the control of the diamonds,” said one of the sources. “Each faction knows that the diamonds are the country’s lifeblood so they both want to control the precious stones.

“Mbada officials made the mistake of not going by the book and their adversaries took advantage of that to throw spanners in the works.”

A Mbada official last week said their controversial reallocation of the mining claims owned by a British company, African Consolidated Resources (ACR) had saved the situation as politicians were plundering the resources.

This is not the first time that Mbada has been stopped in its tracks.

In December, the Environment Management Authority (EMA) ordered the company to stop mining operations saying Mbada had contravened the Environmental Management Act [ 20:27].

Mines Minister Obert Mpofu declined to comment saying: “I am on leave.”

Efforts to get comments from Mujuru, Mnangagwa and the Deputy Minister of Mines Murisi Zwizwai were unsuccessful yesterday.

As the fight for the control of diamond rages on, ACR has warned international diamond traders against buying germs from the Marange diamond field, saying they were “stolen.” ACR holds right of title to claims on the Marange diamond field that was seized by the government in October 2006 and reallocated to ZMDC.

“Those are our diamonds. Anyone buying them must know that they are trading in stolen diamonds. We are placing an advert in the press to that effect,” ACR lawyer Jonathan Samkange said after Mbada announced it would be auctioning the first 300,000 carats of Marange diamonds.

The government also seized considerable quantities of diamonds from ACR but was ordered by the High Court to return the diamonds to the British company in September. The court also upheld ACR’s right of title to Marange - in a judgment government is contesting.

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has demanded the immediate establishment of an independent investigating committee that would report to Parliament to undertake an audit of the firms currently mining at Chiadzwa. ZLHR said Zimbabwe has not met the standards set up by the Kimberley Process for it to start mining the diamonds.

Questions Raised Concerning Zimbabwe’s Commitment to KPCS

by Admin on January 11th, 2010

When Zimbabwe’s secretary for mines, Musukutwa, canceled a diamond auction getting underway in Harare, The Global Witness welcomed that decision. But the non-governmental organization warned the diamond industry that Zimbabwe must take concrete steps to demonstrate their commitment to cleaning up the diamond sector there or risk suspension from the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). 

“If the sale had gone ahead, Zimbabwe would very likely have been in breach of an action plan agreed at the Kimberley Process plenary in November last year,” according to a statement issued by Global Witness. It was determined that Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond fields, where the diamonds to be auctioned were mined, were out of compliance with the Kimberley Process’s minimum standards.

Annie Dunnebacke, diamond campaigner at Global Witness, said: “If rough diamonds from Marange had been exported from Zimbabwe without prior inspection by a Kimberley Process monitor, then Zimbabwe would have been in clear violation of the action plan they agreed to at the plenary session in November.” 

Dunnebacke added that Global Witness was “disappointed” that the Zimbabwe did not communicate the auction plans to the Kimberley Process. “We are deeply concerned at Zimbabwe’s complete lack of engagement with the Kimberley Process since last year’s plenary session. Their silence jeopardizes the success of the action plan and the viability of a clean future for the Zimbabwean diamond industry.”

It is imperative that Zimbabwe works more closely with the Kimberley Process and demonstrates its willingness to implement meaningful reforms in the diamond sector. If it fails to do so, the Kimberley Process must be ready to take swift and decisive action to suspend Zimbabwe and protect the credibility of the scheme, according to the group.

Zimbabwe Demands Due Process Before Diamond Sales

by Admin on January 11th, 2010

Zimbabwe’s secretary for Mines and Mining Development, Musukutwa, halted a diamond auction on 1/07/2010 in Harare because the proper procedures had not been followed to sell the rough stones, according to government-run newspaper The Herald. Mbada Diamonds, a joint venture between the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation and Grandwell Holdings, announced that it would be auctioning 300,000 carats at its new facility at Harare International Airport and that buyers from the U.S., Europe and Asia had already arrived to buy the stones. But just as the auction was getting underway, news surfaced that neither the Kimberley Process (KP) nor Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) had been made aware of the auction.

The Herald quoted Musukutwa as saying, “The due process for selling diamonds produced in Zimbabwe involves the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe, ZRP Minerals Unit and Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, where diamonds from Marange are concerned. In the case of Mbada Diamonds, this process is yet to happen. The government of Zimbabwe observes and is committed to the administrative decision of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme [KPCS] adopted at Swakopmund, Namibia during the November 2009 plenary meeting,” he said.

He added that rough diamond sales and exports could not be transacted by Mbada Diamonds until all government regulations and KP requirements had been fulfilled.

According to The Herald, Mbada Diamonds reiterated that it was ready to sell about 600,000 carats from the Chiadzwa diamond fields and had intended to offer these stones in two separate auctions. The newspaper stated that the company was complying with government terms and that the diamond certification process had begun while company representatives awaited the arrival of a KP monitor.