As the country faces the bleak prospect of more food shortages, an opulent casino, bankrolled by Mines Minister Obert Mpofu, has opened to satisfy the needs of the wealthy minority.The casino has opened on the site of the old Ascot Race Course in Bulawayo and was reportedly financed by Mpofu and his brother. According to an alert by action group Sokwanele, the casino is being protected by uniformed police officials, paid for by tax payers. The venue features two stories of plush furnishings, slot machines and well stocked bars, and is just one of Mpofus most recent lavish expenses. The Minister has also bought properties in Victoria Falls, Bulwayos elite suburbs and some other buildings in recent months.
The cash-splash comes as well over 2 million Zimbabweans are in dire need of food aid, according to the Red Cross. In a recent statement the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies pleaded for international funds for urgent food aid to Zimbabwe. Emma Kundishora, secretary general of the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society, has reported that in some parts of the country the food situation is as bad as many of our volunteers and staff have ever seen it.
Most speculators will probably place their bets on Mpofus sudden cash injection being linked to outputs from the controversial Chiadzwa diamond fields, where unknown quantities of diamonds are being mined and airlifted, without control. The wealth of the diamonds fields has been marked as key to rebuilding the country, if the sale of the gems is properly controlled. But an official from the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) last month admitted to a parliamentary committee set up to probe Chiadzwas mining operations that diamonds were being airlifted out of the country without any proper supervision.
Mpofu admitted to the same committee last week that he had licensed the two firms mining the alluvial fields, without following proper procedure. Mpofu also defended involving crooks in the mining industry in an effort to get immediate cash to the financially strapped government. Finance Minister Tendai Biti has however said that no money was coming from Chiadzwa, despite the government, through the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), owning more than 50% of the two mining firms licensed to work the fields.
Directors of the two firms, Mbada Investments and Canadile Mining, have said they have not turned a profit, blaming an order by the Supreme Court to halt all mining operations. The directors were giving evidence to the parliamentary committee on Tuesday, days after being summonsed to appear. They have previously snubbed the committee three times under Minister Mpofus orders and were facing contempt of parliament charges as a result.
SW Radio Africa correspondent Simon Muchemwa explained that the directors were trying to steer any allegations of corruption away from themselves, by arguing that they are minority stakeholders in the mining firms. Muchemwa said the directors evidence contradicts reports from the mine itself, which shows signs of recent cash improvements, such as new equipment and a large and very controversial airstrip. Muchemwa added that more questions were raised than answered by the directors, questions that the committee failed to ask.
The directors were trying to build bridges and trying to persuade the committee that they are not corrupt, Muchemwa explained. Unfortunately the committee failed to properly probe these directors.
Post published in: Economy