SW Radio Africa (London)
Alex Bell
2 December 2011
An auction of Zimbabwe’s Chiadzwa diamonds got underway on Friday, amid ongoing concerns that the proceeds might be used to fund repression.
The auction is expected to see about half a million carats on sale during the four day event, with rough estimates pegging the profits at around US$300 million. The stones are part of a stockpile from one of the firms that has a licence to mine at Chiadzwa, Anjin, which is a joint venture between Zimbabwe and China.
The sale is the first since Zimbabwe was cleared for international diamond exports last month by the trade watchdog group, the Kimberley Process (KP), in a decision that has been slammed by human rights groups.
The KP membership has until recently been unable to reach agreement on whether to allow Zim back into trade circles, with mainly Western KP members raising concerns about human rights violations and smuggling.
These were issues that the KP itself had ordered Zimbabwe to sort out back in 2009, when it was faced with either banning the country completely or giving it a deadline to reform. The KP chose to avoid an official ban and instead suspended Zim from trade until it fell in line with international trade standards.
Two years later there are still reports of human rights abuses, smuggling and a lack of accountability, and the KP is now being criticised for appearing to bow to pressure to allow Zimbabwe to resume exporting.
The KP’s apparent inability to force Zimbabwe to fall in line with international trade standards means there are serious concerns about where the diamond profits are going, and what they are being used for. These concerns were echoed by Mike Davis from campaign group Global Witness, who told the UK’s Guardian newspaper this week: “Based on evidence we have seen, it is clear that ZANU PF hardliners are intending to use (Chiadzwa) diamonds to finance their efforts to cling on to power.”
Davis was quoted as saying that the plan by ZANU PF centres on the joint ventures it has established at Chiadzwa, “which consist of unscrupulous foreign firms and ZANU PF stalwarts.”
He added: “The Kimberley Process’s response has been to bury its head in the sand and throw away any residual credibility it had as a guarantor that diamonds do not finance abuses. The fact that Anjin’s operation may be superficially impressive is missing the point about the imminent risk of diamond-fuelled violence in Zimbabwe.”
Global Witness has previously obtained company records showing Zimbabwe’s Brigadier-General Charles Tarumbwa, named on several international sanctions lists, as a major shareholder. At the same time, the head of the Chinese firm that finances Anjin is reportedly a known friend of top ZANU PF cronies and recently received a military welcome from General Constantine Chiwenga. According to human rights group Partnership Africa Canada, this same Chinese firm also has a history of dealing with despotic regimes and has business interests in Myanmar.
Meanwhile, all Zimbabwe’s share of revenue from the Anjin sales are believed to already be earmarked to pay off a contentious US$98 million loan from China, to build a vast “techno-spy and communications base”, called the Robert Mugabe School of Intelligence, outside Harare. The loan was approved earlier this year and is said to hinge on Anjin sales.
If true, this would mean that for the foreseeable future no Anjin profits will form part of the country’s national income. Finance Minister Tendai Biti last week pegged almost 20% of the 2012 Budget on diamond sales, saying he has been “assured” that US$600 million will reach government coffers. This is despite Mines Minister Obert Mpofu saying that more than US$2 billion is expected to be generated from diamond sales.
AllAfrica – All the Time