According to him, the government is losing millions of dollars in diamond revenue from the Marange fields because the two corporations tasked with channeling revenue generated from diamond sales have been taken over by Zanu (PF).
“The mining of diamonds has been taken over by the party. It is very different from what the government wants people to believe. The government is not in charge, the party is in charge and has divided the shares among its members in the CIO, police and the army,” said Robertson.
“Now that we are using foreign currency, exchange control systems are slightly different, but still we want to know if the money is coming back to Zimbabwe. We are supposed to continue doing that. We are exporting minerals and MMCZ has a responsibility to explain how much is being paid for the minerals,” he said.
The minerals marketing unit was established under the MMCZ Act of June 1982. It began its operations in March 1983 as the exclusive agent for the selling and marketing of all minerals produced in the country except silver and gold.
The company was also tasked with acquiring, purchasing and disposing of minerals for its own accord. It is supposed to be advising the Minister of Mines and Mining Development on all matters regarding the mining and distribution of the country’s minerals.
However, the company has failed to coordinate marketing intelligence from the Marange fields. Finance Minister Tendai Biti has on many occasions complained about the opaque manner in which the selling of the Marange diamonds has been conducted.
He was forced to revise his national budget downwards after he failed to raise the projected $600 million from the sale of the precious stones.
Fears have been raised that the money from the proceeds of the diamonds could be used to finance another bloody Zanu (PF) political campaign ahead of the 2013 general elections.
Post published in: News