This comes after a lorry believed to be from Anjin was recently seen in Burma Valley loaded with what is suspected to be diamond ore containing diamonds. Well-placed sources told The Zimbabwean last week that they spotted the yellow truck, which had no registration number plates, with eight people wearing the maroon work suits believed to be from Anjin.
“We spotted the lorry at Amsterdam Farm along the Mutare-Burma Valley tarred road driving down towards the eastern border with Mozambique. It went to Brownhill Farm where there is an access road into Mozambique. We saw the men who were on board separating diamonds from the ore,” said the source.
Contacted for comment the Anjin Investments director and board member Munyaradzi Machacha said: “I don’t think this is true. Why did these eye witnesses not report the matter to the police? It is impossible that these people suspected to be from Anjin could pass through all the areas where there is security.”
The acting Manicaland Province Police Spokesperson Inspector Enock Chishiri said: “I am hearing this for the first time and I am not aware of this.”
The director of Centre for Research and Development Farai Maguwu has said the high incidence of theft by workers from the mining companies in Chiadzwa revealed that security systems were severely compromised.
He said the failure to improve security and transparency throughout the diamonds supply chain is prejudicing the government of Zimbabwe of revenue.
In a previous interview Officer Commanding of Manicaland Police Operations, David Mahoya, said internal systems at diamond mining firms in Chiadzwa needed to be checked.
“We have succeeded in reducing the number of illegal panners sneaking into the diamond fields, but we should now take the battle to the diamond firms whom we expect of leaking diamonds,” he said.
Mahoya believed that the companies might have employed the diamond barons and hardcore dealers who are the main players in the syndicated illegal diamond trade.
“We will work with the companies to flush out these elements and embark on a rigorous employee vetting system,” he said. Marange diamonds have been finding their way into the illegal market through sophisticated syndicates that involve top Zanu (PF) officials and cabinet ministers aligned to the mining firms.
There have been recent arrests of security personnel employed by these firms, which has led people to believe that it is only a tip of an iceberg. Five workers employed by Anjin together with a police officer attached to the border patrol unit were recently hauled before the courts in Mutare for allegedly conniving to steal diamond worth $15,000 by tempering with the sorting glove box. “It is unfortunate that the small boys are being arrested.
The truth of the matter is that huge trunks of pure diamonds are disappearing daily with the top Chefs who are using diamond barons to sell the diamonds out of the country,” said an employee at Anjin.
Last year, two Indians Zohra and Prema Desai were arrested in India for smuggling 48,663 carats worth $2 million from Marange.
In September 4,000 carats from Marange were seized by the United Arab Emirates and returned to Zimbabwe.
Post published in: News