Global Witness calls for review of Marange diamond contracts

Global Witness has called upon Zimbabwe’s government of national unit (GNU) to immediately review all contracts in the Marange diamond fields.
It said in a report titled “Diamonds: A good deal for Zimbabwe?” that Harare should also audit concession allocation procedures and operations conducted so far, to see whether they represented a good deal for the southern African country.
The lobby group said that Mbada Diamonds and Anjin Investments should publish details of their ultimate beneficial owners, and those of related companies such as Transfrontier and Matt Bronze.
It also said that Anjin, which claims to be the world’s biggest diamond miner, had Zimbabwean board members that included senior serving, retired military and  police officers, as well as the permanent secretary at the ministry of defence.
Mbada, it said, was also chaired by former air vice Marshal Robert Mhlanga.
Global Witness said that the authorities needed to ensure that diamond mining companies were not used as an off-budget cash cow by Zanu-PF loyalists in the military and police.
“If the next election is accompanied by violence, there’s a real risk that any bloodshed will be funded by diamond revenues,” it said.
Zimbabwe’s Marange fields are thought to have one of the richest deposits of diamonds in the world.
However, some analysts say the diamonds were of a low quality and posed no threat to existing diamond giants such as De Beers.
Despite the controversy surrounding the diamonds fields, the Kimberley Process approved unlimited diamond exports by Mbada, Marange Resources (formerly Canadile Miners) and recently the Diamond Mining Company.
The trade body was yet to approve the sale of Anjin diamonds.

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