Cathy Buckle – 24 carat pigeons

Posted by on Monday, February 20, 2012 in Featured, Letter from Zimbabwe | 0 comments

24 carat pigeons

Dear Family and Friends,
The chat around the table the other day was how many fat pigeons were
shot with stones from the catapults of kids in the areas of Hot
Springs and Nyanyadzi as the road heads south to Birchenough Bridge.
It is the most amazing 125 kilometre stretch of road which starts
eleven hundred metres above sea level in Mutare and drops to four
hundred and fifty metres by the time it gets to Birchenough Bridge. In
the space of half an hour you go from the lofty mountains and lush
green of Mutare to the hot, dry scratchy lowveld and Baobab trees of
Hot Springs which is two thirds of the way to Birchenough Bridge.
It’s a road that used to be much travelled by families and school
groups heading for the hot mineral springs and pools at the Hot
Springs resort in the ‘good old days’ before the diamond
discoveries of 2006. All along the immediate west of this road are the
diamond fields which could and should be Zimbabwe’s saving grace but
aren’t.

“I know the money is being stolen but I don’t have any proof of
how it is being stolen,” the Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti said
this week about the money from diamond sales. Biti was commenting on a
report just released by Global Witness on the ownership of two of the
main diamond mines which are right near that Hot Springs road. The
report called “Diamonds: A good deal for Zimbabwe?” makes for
gripping and chilling reading. Contained in the Global Witness report
are the names of seven Chinese executive directors and board members
and seven Zimbabwean board members of one of the diamond mining
companies, Anjin. In the Zimbabwean list, five of the board members
are senior security personnel whose names are preceded with titles
like Air Vice Marshall, Brigadier, retired Colonel, Commissioners in
the police force and the permanent secretary in The Ministry of
Defence. The principal officer and company secretary of Anjin is a
brigadier who is on the EU sanctions list. Global Witness urge the
Zimbabwe government to cancel the Anjin agreement and say consumers
should not buy diamonds from the Marange mines until they can be sure
they are not funding human rights abuses.

The Global Witness report raises eyebrows over the decade long
rallying call of ‘indigenization’ and ‘Zimbabwe for
Zimbabweans.’ Reading the list of Chinese directors and board
members of a diamond mine near Hot Springs, leaves you wondering who
really owns Zimbabwe and if the ordinary people of our country will
ever see the benefits from the stones under our feet.

Ironically, in the same week that Global Witness raise questions about
the ownership of diamond mines and the ‘opaque’ company
structures, the EU removed 51 people from their Restrictive Measures/
Sanctions List. The list includes many shocks, including the wives of
a number of senior Zanu PF officials. It doesn’t need a rocket
scientist to read between these lines and think about what happens
next.

Back at the table with friends came the real question about birds and
catapults which is how many of those stones were actually diamonds and
how many pigeons went to meet their maker on the back of 24 carats.
Until next time, thanks for reading, love cathy. 18th February 2012.
Copyright Cathy Buckle. www.cathybuckle.com

For information on my new book “IMIRE”, about Norman Travers and
Imire Game Park, or my other books about Zimbabwe: “Innocent
Victims,” African Tears,” “Beyond Tears;” and “History of
the Mukuvisi Woodlands 1910-2010”, or to subscribe to
Cathy’s letter, please visit the  website or contact cbuckle@zol.co.zw

See other recent posts from Cathy Buckle