Mines and Mining Development minister, Obert Mpofu, said Mtisi's nomination by civil society was null and void because it did not have the consensus of all participants as required by the KPCS standing statutes.
Representatives of some 70 countries in the KPCS met in the DRC capital, Kinshasa together with civil society representatives and diamond industry representatives for the Intercessional meeting last month to make a key decision that Zimbabwe must be allowed to export its diamonds from the Marange fields.
It was the second time the government used its veto power to scuttle a KP LFP nominee seconded by Zimbabwe's civil society.
The previous incumbent, Farai Maguwu of the Mutare-based Centre for Research and Development, stepped down just before the KP plenary in Israel citing personal and institutional reasons. Maguwu did not state exactly what were the reasons, but had fierce run-ins with the authorities who accused him of leaking a dossier documenting rights violations in Marange diamond fields in what authorities said was a bid to sabotage the issuance of Zimbabwe's diamond export licence by KP.
Mtisi is a lawyer by profession and a representative of the Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers Association.
The KPCS passes decisions based on consensus from its tripartite system that pools governments, the diamond industry and civil society.
Mtisi reportedly courted the ire of government after presenting a damning report on continuing violence in Marange while flanked by officials from Global Witness and Partnership Africa Canada. Mtisi spoke about the continuing military presence in Marange and cited numerous incidents of severe beatings of villagers and claimed an army helicopter flew into Marange area, shot and killed several people two weeks before the President Mugabe’s visit a week earlier.
"The government needs to be continuously monitored by independent organisations and individuals to ensure that proceeds from the Marange diamonds are accounted for and not used to either fuel political violence or enrich a select few at the expense of the poor majority," said Machinda Marongwe, director of programmes at the National Association of NGOs, adding civil society had full confidence in Mtisi.
The Affirmative Action Group, which also dispatched a delegation to the meeting, criticised the behaviour of the civil society coalition led by Global Witness and Partnership Canada.
“The questions that need answers are; why would there be only reports of abuse of human rights in Marange and not in any other mining areas in Zimbabwe?” asked a top official from the AAG who declined to be named for professional reasons.
“Would the USA maintain the same position on DeBeers if it were granted mining rights? Who employs Farai Maguwu and Shamiso Mtisi?
Will it be a tenable position if Iran funds USA based NGOs which stand opposed to the USA government? Where were Maguwu and Mtisi when more than 40,000 illegal panners invaded Marange?” said the AAG official.
Post published in: Zimbabwe News