By Alex Bell
16 March 2010
Two diamond mining firms, given government’s approval to mine the controversial Chiadzwa diamond fields, have snubbed a parliamentary probe into their operations for a third time, apparently under mining ministry orders.
Officials from Mbada Investments and Canadile Miners, which are joint ventures with the government’s Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), on Monday failed to turn up for the scheduled parliamentary committee meeting. A Canadile official eventually arrived and handed the committee two letters; one from the mining firm and another from the Mines Ministry under the leadership of Obert Mpofu. Both letters said that company directors were not coming the hearing and would not do so in future.
Committee Chairman Edward Chindori Chininga told journalists on Monday that Canadile and Mbada’s refusal to appear before his committee was based on advice from the Mines Ministry.
“What we have been given by Canadile is an opinion that is coming from the
ministry and that is that they are not coming and they attached an opinion
from the ministry supporting their decision,” he said.
Legislators have already threatened to seek ‘Contempt of Parliament Charges’ against the companies’ directors after two other meetings were also deliberately ignored. The parliamentary hearings were set up to probe the two firms’ activities in Chiadzwa, where there are still reports of human rights abuses and diamond smuggling. The firms have taken over mining the claim from the UK based African Consolidated Resources (ACR), which holds the legal title to mine there. ACR was forced to abandon the site at gunpoint in 2006, and has since been fighting a protracted legal battle over the ownership rights. At least 30 kgs of diamonds at the centre of the ownership debate have since been handed to the Reserve Bank for ‘safekeeping’, after the Mbada firm tried to auction them off earlier this year.
The auction, which was halted at the last minute, apparently because the right officials had not been properly informed, is also set to be a major part of the parliamentary probe into the two firms’ activities. The parliamentary committee has since said that it will have no choice but to invoke the Privileges, Immunities and Powers of Parliament Act, possibly resulting in the contempt charges, if the directors do not attend a meeting.
The probe has also been launched to try and verify who authorised the mining firms to start their operations in the Chiadzwa fields, without following proper procedures. Finance Minister Tendai Biti earlier this month said the permits were issued fraudulently, and called for all mining leases to be cancelled immediately. His comments coincided with the arrival of an independent monitor ordered by the international diamond trade watchdog, the Kimberley Process. Abbey Chikane, the head of the South African Diamond Board and a former Chairman of the Kimberley Process, was finally appointed as a monitor for the diamond fields after four months of fighting over a suitable candidate. He arrived two weeks ago and has been meeting with mines ministry officials and the state-authorised mining firms operating in Chiadzwa.
Chikane’s presence in the country forms part of a list of guidelines set out by the Kimberley Process last year to try and bring Zimbabwe back in line with international trade standards. Zimbabwe escaped a widely supported ban from trade over human rights atrocities at the diamond fields. But the Kimberley Process instead gave Zimbabwe until June to sort out its diamond industry, ordering it to follow the guidelines.
Such guidelines have largely been ignored and role of the Kimberley Process has also been publicly shunned by the government. Mines Minister Mpofu recently warned that Zimbabwe will sell diamonds without Kimberley Process certification (KP) should the watchdog rule that efforts to comply with its standards are inadequate. Mpofu’s threats echo comments made by Robert Mugabe, who also threatened to withdraw from the Kimberley Process.
“If the KP is unsatisfied with our efforts and wants to be difficult saying that we have failed to comply with their requirements... we will not lose sleep, but rather we will just pull put and not lose anything,” Mpofu said.
This lack of respect for parliament, shown by the Ministry of Mines, provides a clear example of the problems that the MDC now face as part of the government. And it’s a clear example of who is still in control.
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