In the celebrity culture which dominates news gathering these days it was not the horror of bloody civil wars in Africa that the media was concerned with but the appearance of the super-model Naomi Campbell. She was, as she made clear in her evidence, a very reluctant witness, subpoenaed by the prosecution to give evidence in the case against Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia, charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Dozens of mutilated victims had already given evidence against Taylor but for some reason the prosecution decided to call Naomi Campbell to strengthen their case that Taylor had financed the wars in Liberia and neighbouring Sierra Leone using blood diamonds. Almost unnoticed, Charles Taylor himself was sitting quietly at the back of the courtroom but all the cameras were directed at Ms Cambell as she told her story.
Back in 1997 Ms Campbell had attended a fund-raising party for a Childrens Charity hosted by Nelson Mandela in South Africa. Various celebrities were there including Campbells friend Mia Farrow and President Charles Taylor. After she had retired for the night Campbell claims that there was a knock on her door and two men she had never seen before handed her a little pouch of what she described as dirty little stones. In her evidence Ms Campbell said she didnt know what they were, she had never seen diamonds like that before; she was more accustomed to seeing them all shining in presentation boxes. It was a gift said the two men at the door. She was accustomed to receiving gifts from unknown admirers she told the Prosecutor. The next morning over breakfast, Campell told Mia Farrow and her agent Carol White about her nocturnal visitors and all three women agreed that it must have been something to do with Charles Taylor though earlier Campbell had told the court that shed never heard of Charles Taylor or Liberia before all this began! Farrow and White will give their evidence next week and there is speculation that it may differ markedly from Campbells. In fact the story gathered more steam today, Friday, when it was revealed that the diamonds should have been handed over to the South African police all those years ago instead of to the administrator of the Childrens Charity. The plot thickens as they say! The diamond saga is by no means over.
Thousands of miles away, Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe also had diamonds on his mind. Unbelievably, he chose the funeral of his sister Sabina at Heroes Acre to lash out at diamond profiteers, seemingly untroubled by or unaware of – the fact that his own wife is alleged to be a shareholder in Mbada Diamonds and even, it is further alleged, to own a diamond cutting business in Hong Kong. Mugabe was reported to have been very close to Sabina and it was hard, at first, not to feel a twinge of pity for the 86 year old at the loss of this close relative; another reminder of his own mortality, that cant be easy for him I thought. That was until he started his usual hymn of hate against his perceived enemies: the west and the USA. Despite the fact that the diplomatic representatives of those countries were all present at Heroes Acre, as a mark of respect for Mugabe in his loss, Mugabe launched into an abusive tirade against their countries for the sanctions they continue to impose on Zimbabwes top Zanu PF politicians and military. Telling the west and the USA, not once but three times, to Go to hell! the diplomats not unnaturally left Heroes Acre only to be roundly condemned .by Foreign Minister Mumbengegwi for the disrespect they had shown to Zimbabwes president!
Its not the first time that Mugabe has insulted the very same countries who are pouring aid into Zimbabwe, feeding children, providing health care and paying salaries. The truth is that if Mugabe reigned in his own ministers and top military and stopped them profiteering as he calls it from the diamond wealth and all the other natural resources he has allowed them to exploit to keep him in power, Zimbabwe would not need foreign aid.
The Kimberley Process Monitor, none other than Abbey Chikane, the same man who reportedly shopped Farai Maguwu to the police and led to Maguwus arrest, will be back in the country this coming weekend to set his seal of approval on the sale of the Chiadzwa diamonds. No doubt, Chikane will give Zimbabwes diamonds a clean bill of health but it is more than possible after the publicity of Naomi Campbells appearance in court on Thursday that the world might not be so keen to buy the dirty little stones mined in Zimbabwe; not even after theyve been cut and polished, all shining in presentation boxes to suit the tastes of super-models and presidents wives. While Naomi Campbells evidence may have done little for the prosecution case against Taylor, her presence in the courtroom certainly re-invigorated the issue of Blood diamonds and Zimbabwe had more than one mention in the media analysis that accompanied the initial television coverage. The problem with diamonds said a representative from the Kimberley Process is that the diamond fields can so easily fall into the wrong hands, from war lords to discontented military men or greedy politicians. Zimbabweans know that only too well.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH aka Pauline Henson.
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