Zim loses diamonds worth $140 mln – report

Zimbabwe lost diamonds worth $140 million that disappeared from the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) and Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) repositories, according to a local news report citing the country’s auditor general.
New Zimbabwe.com reports that 350 000 carats of rough diamonds vanished in 2019, although this was made public recently.
Auditor-General Mildred Chiri was quoted as saying in her report that both the MMCZ and ZMDC failed to account for the rough diamonds that were kept in their vaults.
"In 2019, 297 660.41 carats of diamond stock held at MMCZ was not counted at the time of the stock count. These parcels were packed for customers and held at MMCZ,” Chiri said.
“However, at year-end, during the stock count, these stocks were not included in closing inventories.
"In 2018, 41 699.85 carats of diamond stocks held at MMCZ were excluded from the stock count. It was assumed at the time that these stocks had been sold to customers. An additional 13 222, 85 carats were excluded from the final stock sheet in error."
MMCZ also failed to account for five carats valued at over $2 000 in December 2019.
The diamonds surprisingly went missing during a Close Circuit Television (CCTV) failure.
"The findings of the audit revealed that MMCZ could not ascertain how the five carats of diamonds were lost because the CCTV video footages could not be retrieved as there was an internal control system failure,” she said.
"There is a high possibility that the diamonds were stolen. This clearly points to the failure by the corporation on its role to ensure effective accounting of natural resources and curb mineral leakages."

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished