BY CLIFF CHIDUKU

AFTER diamonds were discovered in the south-eastern parts of Manicaland province’s Marange communal lands in 2006, many people, especially those living around villages of Chiadzwa, expected their lives to be positively transformed.

Instead, they were relocated to the State-owned Arda Transau Farm, 40km outside Mutare, to pave way for commercial mining activities.

“I used to do farming projects around the year which would provide enough food for my family. We never lacked. I have had enough of the poverty here,” Nomore Dzidzi said, adding that she was now considering selling her house at Arda Transau and start a new life afresh elsewhere.

Dzidzi’s case is not isolated. Several years after Nomsa Muuya and her family were relocated to the same farm, the only benefit she has accrued is a four-roomed house and the rest is a sad tale.

She confessed that she has now resorted to prostitution and drug abuse to drown her sorrows.

“Some of us had no choice, but to engage in commercial sex work to make a living. If we had alternative ways of survival, we would quit the trade. It is unfortunate that we were not given equal employment opportunities in the mining companies,” she said.

Save Odzi Community Network Trust’s Tichaenzana Chibuwe said: “The situation at Arda Transau is desperate. Villagers lost all their livestock as the area has no pastures. Now they cannot afford to pay school fees for their children and the burden often falls on the mothers who have to take minial jobs to raise school fees.”

As if this was not challenging enough, Arda Transau villagers are also being forced to buy water as their water sources have given up to drought.

It’s a far cry from what they had in Marange before they were forced to relocate. There, the land was arable and water sources, which would provide the precious liquid all year round, were nearby.

Theirs is a case of unfulfilled promises. The government and mining companies had promised them decent housing, employment and compensation for loss of livelihood.

Malvern Mudiwa, the chairman of the Marange Development Trust, says at first, the discovery of diamonds was a boon for locals, as villagers upgraded their lives.

“Development was everywhere. People managed to send their children to school; even universities. Others managed to buy irrigation equipment. Solar power would light homes all night. Marange was virtually a town in a rural setting. It was evident that everyone was benefitting,” he said.

But then when commercial mining started in 2008, everything took a rude turn. Seven companies, among them Marange Resources, Diamond Mining Company, Gyn Nyame Resources, Kusena Diamonds and Mbada Diamonds, were licenced to mine alluvial diamonds. However in 2016, these companies were collapsed and consolidated into State-owned Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC). Even though Anjin and Jinan were also kicked out along with other companies, they have since resumed operations. The area was sealed. Soldiers were deployed to ensure that no one was trespassing. Allegations of looting and corruption were rampant. Something had to be done to coordinate mining activities so that proceeds from diamond sales would reach Treasury coffers.

In his 2013 budget statement, the then Finance ninister Tendai Biti lamented the low diamond proceeds to Treasury with government in 2012 receiving a paltry US$41 million dividend, yet Mbada Diamonds claimed it declared over US$117 as dividend.

Perhaps to dramatise the heavy losses from the diamond industry, the late former President Robert Mugabe suggested that Zimbabwe could have lost US$15 billion in revenue. However, the figure is way above earnings in the global diamond sector during the time. Kimberly Process statistics for 2012 shows that the total volume of production of rough diamonds was close to 128 million carats, amounting to a total value of over US$12,6 billion. However, imports and exports of rough diamonds have reached US$50,92 billion and US$50,27 billion, respectively.

A 2013 Financial Action Task Force report titled Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Through Trade in Diamonds said in 2012 Zimbabwe produced 12,06 million carats of diamond worth US$640 million.

In a 2013 report, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines noted that: “The committee observed with concern that from the time that the country was allowed to trade its diamonds on the world market, the government has not realised any meaningful contributions from the sector. This is despite the fact that production levels and the revenue generated from exports have been on the increase.”

However, the committee noted that sanctions imposed on diamond companies operating in Chiadzwa by the United States government were creating loopholes in the diamond trade.

“This (sanctions) has made it difficult for the companies to effectively market and trade their diamonds at competitive prices. Currently, the diamonds are sold at below 25% of the normal price. In the process, the sanctioned diamond companies are trading their diamonds through unconventional means because major international banks, insurance companies and couriers do not want to be associated with Marange diamonds. As a result of these financial restrictions, a number of loopholes have been created leading to fiscal leakages, promotion of corruption and national insecurity.”

Such leakages include trade misinvoicing, according to the Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG).

Trade misinvoicing is the deliberate falsification of value, volume and/or type of commodity in an international commercial transaction of goods or services by a party to the transaction. By manipulating the price, quantity or quality of a good or service on an invoice submitted to authorities, companies and individuals can easily shift substantial sums of money across international borders.

The misinvocing of diamonds was made possible when Mines and Mining Development ministry secretary Francis Gudyanga and Mbada Diamonds chairman Robert Mhlanga were appointed to the Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE) board. DDE, a subsidiary of Dubai Multi-Commodities Centre (DMCC), is the diamond trading platform of the UAE. DMCC can be equated to the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ). It was a serious case of conflict of interest.

This comes as Zimbabwe, which at one time held at least 25% of the world’s diamonds, is struggling with foreign currency, electricity, drugs and fuel shortages, partly due to continued illicit financial flows in the mining sector.

Anjin, a joint venture between Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Group (Afecc) and Matt Bronze, a Zimbabwe Defence Industries subsidiary, was named by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in February 2018 as having externalised foreign currency.

The Chinese miner, along with other players operating in Chiadzwa, was kicked out by the government for allegedly looting the country’s diamonds. Even though they refute the claims, the Chinese company were accused of disregarding environmental laws, underpaying workers and smuggling diamonds. According to CNRG, Anjin officials reportedly stashed diamonds in wooden sculptures which they would export to China via Mozambique.

Overson Mugwisi, the Zimbabwe Defence Forces spokesperson, did not respond to requests for an interview.

However, while Sugar Chagonda, ZCDC spokesperson refused to speak on the former mining companies; he said the new consolidated company has since its inception in 2016 initiated several corporate social responsibility programmes.

“Because it (ZCDC) operates in this country, it becomes a responsible citizen of Zimbabwe. Thus by being a citizen, ZCDC helps communities and the government. It is our obligation to better the lives of those in need, the underprivileged. In March this year, we rehabilitated Chiadzwa and Mukwada clinics as the health of the people in areas we operate are a priority to use.”

He also added that in June the company rehabilitated 20 hectares of disused mining area as part of environmental management.

Chagonda said ZCDC recently paid US$5 million to the Marange Zimunya Community Share Ownership Trust to initiate developmental projects, including rebuilding schools, rehabilitating roads and borehole sinking.

This story was written as part of Wealth of Nations, a media skills development programme run by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. More information at www.wealth-of-nations.org. The content is the sole responsibility of the author and the publisher.

Lawyers have urged Chief Justice Luke Malaba to remove the presidential immunity clause from the country’s statutes to ensure that a sitting President is not insulated from criminal proceedings.

By Tatenda Chitagu

The call was made when Malaba was giving a public lecture at Great Zimbabwe University last Friday when lawyers called for the amendment of section 98 of the Constitution which insulates a sitting President from civil or criminal trials.

But Malaba said the section cannot be scrapped off without a referendum as the supreme law of the land was a product of the people. He said the best Zimbabweans can do about the clause is “to debate about it”.

“The question of immunity, I do not want to interpret it. It is a constitutional question, I hope you understand what I mean. It (the clause) cannot go beyond something, it cannot be taken away when it’s legislated by the Constitution itself,” Malaba said.

“We must accept that the people of Zimbabwe who are the midwives of the Constitution, decided that. They then decided we will have this situation for us as Zimbabweans. Whether it applies in South Africa or somewhere else, they are not interested.”

He added: “So who am I, being under the Constitution and not being above the law, who am I to say no, this is wrong? I cannot. It is an important question, but I think it is a philosophical question. I think the best we can do is to debate it until there is an amendment.”

Section 98 reads: “(i) While in public office, the President is not liable to civil or criminal proceedings in any court for things done or omitted to be done in his personal capacity. (ii) Civil or criminal proceedings may be instituted against a former President for things done or omitted to be done before he or she became President or while he or she was President.”

POLICE yesterday shut down the MDC headquarters in Harare following the alleged discovery of 210 riot police and 41 municipal police helmets in a basement of a nearby building, but the opposition party accused the police of deliberately planting the anti-riot gear to justify a crackdown on government critics.

BY BLESSED MHLANGA

As early as 7am, armed police had cordoned off the Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House, the opposition headquarters and Robinson House where the helmets were allegedly recovered on Saturday afternoon, forcing MDC workers to abandon their offices.

Police also intensified patrols in and around Harare and other cities while keeping a heavy presence at all intersections in the central business district. They also mounted roadblocks and conducted random body searches on commuters on all major roads leading into the city, possibly in anticipation of riots.

The MDC yesterday accused the police of manufacturing the “discovery of helmets” as a pretext to clamp down on the opposition, and alleged that it had evidence that the “recovered” helmets at the basement of Robinson House had been sent for a public auction by the police themselves and sold to a private individual.

“It turns out that the helmets were sent there by the police through ABC Auctions, only to raid them and claim it was someone’s. Zanu PF is funny,” MDC leader Nelson Chamisa’s spokesperson Nkululeko Sibanda said.

Police could neither confirm nor deny counter claims by the MDC, saying investigations were still underway.

“We are investigating, investigations are under way right now,” police national spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said.

On heavy police presence around Morgan Tsvangirai House, Nyathi said: “It was not a heavy presence of police at the MDC headquarters, but members of the public have expressed concern over attacks that took place in that area by youths who control parking. In keeping with their constitutional mandate to protect members of the public, we deployed police to that problem area.”

In the morning, MDC secretary-general Chalton Hwende described the heavy police deployment as a cowardly act by a desperate regime failing to deal with pressing problems faced by the citizens.

“It is a cowardly act which won’t move us, our workers were scared out of the office and the area sealed off. How does trying to threaten a legitimate party solve the socio-economic problems that are rocking the country?” he said.

In a statement, party deputy spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka condemned the actions by the police.

“Armed police have laid siege at the MDC headquarters starting early this morning in what is clearly a choreographed attempt to clamp down on the peaceful people’s movement. First was a story in the Zanu PF-controlled media in which the police said they had discovered riot and municipal helmets at Robinson House in Harare which they are surprisingly trying to link to the party headquarters,” Tamborinyoka said.

The MDC said the actions by the police reflect panic as there was a ground swell of unhappiness over the collapsing social fabric finding expression in demonstrations.

“The illegitimate regime is getting desperate and all these are frantic attempts to ban and proscribe legitimate political activity; just as they have done with peaceful demonstrations,” the MDC said.

“For the record, we are a peaceful, law-abiding political party that poses no danger to human life. Available evidence points to the fact that in the past 12 months, it is the (President Emmerson) Mnangagwa regime that has killed people, both in August 2018 and in January 2019 and the perpetrators have not been brought to book,” the MDC said.

Before banning protests by the MDC in August, police claimed it had discovered catapults and stones that the opposition intended to use for criminal activities during the protests.

The MDC and the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions have been mulling protests over the escalating prices of goods and services at a time doctors are still on strike, a move that has the potential of crippling the country.

Striking doctors at public hospitals are likely to face a contempt of court charge for defying a Labour Court order issued last Friday compelling them to report for duty within 48 hours of the ruling which declared their collective job action as illegal.

BY BLESSED MHLANGA/ ELINERA MANYONGA/VANESSA GONYE

But, the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors’ Association (ZHDA) leadership met its members at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals yesterday where they vowed to stay at home until government ensured that they earn meaningful salaries.

Addressing members, ZHDA secretary-general, Tawanda Zvakada said the order of the Labour Court did not change anything because they remain incapacitated.

“It is not like we are feigning incapacitation; the incapacitation is real, so unless the court provides the means for us to report for work, feed ourselves and our children, which we can’t do at the moment, then it does not change anything. It is important to note that a court order must be enforceable in this case in as much as we want to comply we are incapable,” Zvakada said.

Doctors are demanding that government pays them the equivalent of their United States dollar salaries in local currency pegged at the interbank rate, which is currently the 1:15 rate to the US dollar.

Doctors on average earn $2 000 which is almost equivalent to US$120 per month which they say cannot meet their day-to-day cost of living needs.

ZHDA treasurer-general Tapiwa Mungofa said: “If only we could get a court order to buy groceries from shops, to pay rent or to buy fuel, then we won’t hesitate to accept a court order. Until then, we are incapacitated to report for duty. We could appeal against the Labour Court ruling to the Supreme Court, but we do not even have money to pay lawyers because our struggle is real,” Mungofa said.

Facing the risk of being fired or sanctioned, the doctors said going back to work on the paltry salaries would be as good as being fired while on the job, because government was paying them an equivalent of 10 chickens a month.

“Doctors, let us bring sanity to our profession. We cannot even buy 10 birds of chicken with our salaries, so we will not report for duty until our employer offers a tangible solution,” said Rumbidzai Jhamba, a member of ZHDA, during a solidarity meeting.

The doctors, who are preparing to receive their leader, acting president Peter Magombeyi – who has been receiving treatment in South Africa after he was allegedly abducted and tortured last month, said they will not relent.

“Our (ZHDA) president Peter Magombeyi is set to return home any time this week. He is recovering well and still receiving outpatient treatment and counselling in South Africa. We are in constant communication with him and we are re-engaging him in our struggle and he is still in solidarity with us,” Zvakada said.

Health ministry spokesperson Donald Mujiri said he was locked up in a meeting to deal with the issue of doctors’ strike and could not immediately state government’s position regarding the job action.

“I am currently in a meeting to deal with that matter, so I cannot give you further information,” he said.

However, doctors at Chitungwiza Central Hospital seemed to sing a different tune as they reported for duty in their numbers, except a few.

Chitungwiza Central Hospital chief executive Enock Mayida confirmed that since the strike commenced over 40 days ago, doctors at the institution had not entirely downed tools.

“Generally, the doctors were reporting for duty since the strike began, consultants were available doing their work. The majority of those who had not been coming to work reported for duty today (yesterday). They responded to the 48-hour ultimatum although we were not entirely affected from the onset,” he said.

The doctors have remained defiant, in a strike which is the sixth since the President Emmerson Mnangagwa-led government came into power with perennial demands dating back from the later former President Robert Mugabe era.

RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe deputy governor Khuphukile Mlambo and other senior staffers at the central bank face contempt of Parliament charges after they failed to attend a Public Accounts Committee (Pac) meeting where they were supposed to be grilled over money released towards Command Agriculture.

BY VENERANDA LANGA

Pac, led by Tendai Biti, had invited RBZ governor John Mangudya to appear before it, but he (Mangudya) failed to appear because he is in the United States on official duty.

Since Mangudya is away, the committee expected that his deputy Mlambo would come in his place to speak on the US$3,2 billion that was allocated through Treasury Bills (TBs) to finance Command Agriculture without Parliament approval.

The ambitious agricultural scheme was run by Sakunda Holdings, owned by Kudakwashe Tagwirei, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s top ally and adviser.

“This started as a basic enquiry pertaining to the Auditor-General’s reports on the 2017/18 audit statement on Command Agriculture, but we now find that there are other unallocated reserves of US$847 million – and the enquiry is now a full enquiry,” Biti told journalists.

“We had summoned Mangudya to give oral evidence which is key in our enquiry – and in our last two sessions we had Mlambo and two other RBZ directors.

“Mlambo can be excused in the event that Mangudya is present, but regrettably, we have a letter from Mangudya saying he is in Washington DC, but there is no reason why Mlambo and other officers are not in attendance.”

Biti continued: “We find them in contempt of Parliament, and their conduct is unacceptable in terms of section 117 and 119 of the Constitution, and section 208 and 209 give MPs the mandate to do its oversight role to follow up on money from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.”

The committee said they will now summon Mlambo and RBZ directors to appear before Parliament on October 24 to speak on RBZ’s role in issuing out money for the Command Agriculture programme outside the Public Finance Management Act.

“If they default we will ask the Clerk of Parliament to issue a warrant of arrest. We want to express our disappointment, indignation and rejection of the conduct of the RBZ because the amounts that were spent outside Parliament approval are very huge and we have a duty to follow up on the money. There were huge amounts of money that were paid to individuals,” Biti said.

The committee also said they were very keen to further quiz officials from the Finance ministry named as Fidelis Ngorora, Churu, and the new accountant-general (if there is any given that former Accountant General Daniel Muchemwa resigned recently).

“On the same day, we are also going to receive oral evidence from key suppliers of Command Agriculture like FSG, Pedstock Investments and Croco Motors. On a separate day, we are going to summon Sakunda because we need a whole day to quiz them over the Command Agriculture issue,” Biti said.

THE November 2017 coup brought new dreams and hopes among the citizens, many who believed the new regime would knock corruption off very high perch. However, after ad infinitum calls against the corruption cancer and no practical action, citizens’ hopes are fast fading away.

Corruption continues to hurt the economy, slowing down development and the fight against poverty is going off rails. It can only take a competent leadership and political will to stem corruption – and all that is in short supply in Zimbabwe at the moment.

Since coming to power through a coup, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been waxing lyrical about fighting corruption. In his quest to fight the scourge, Mnangagwa established a special anti-corruption unit in his office and dissolved the disgraced Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc). The President then appointed a new Zacc board, chaired by Loice Matanda-Moyo, after the previous Zacc body was accused of corruption and lacking the “teeth to bite”.

Last year, Mnangagwa gave us a long list of individuals and companies accused of externalising nearly US$1 billion. The list provided fodder for Zacc to start investigations and bring the culprits to book, but it seems the case has suffered a still-birth. In July, Matanda-Moyo said the commission had received Auditor-General (AG) Mildred Chiri’s report and investigations had commenced in respect of ministries, parastatals and State entities involved in corruption and misappropriation of funds. Chiri’s report revealed that the government last year had a $2 billion budget overrun without parliamentary approval, when parastatals, State entities and local authorities unashamedly flouted accounting procedures. According to the AG’s report, the government was supposed to spend $4,6 billion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, but ended up spending $7,1 billion.

The Zacc boss said the report was fodder for investigations into corruption, theft, misappropriation of funds and abuse of power and or any other improper conduct committed in the public sector, adding that Zacc had received at least 38 corruption reports since assuming duty, of which a dozen were high-profile cases.

While we have not witnessed many arrests or convictions, other than catch-and-release shows, last week we were told Zacc was casting its nets wider to recover ill-gotten wealth stashed in foreign lands by engaging regional governments in the fight against corruption. Have we exhausted the AG’s report? What has happened to the externalisation list? What has happened to 15 top Zanu PF and government officials, including Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya, Cabinet ministers and business leaders who were accused by the ruling party youth league of running illegal foreign currency rings?

This lackadaisical approach is corruption in itself – it’s self-defeating. What Zimbabweans are expecting is action, not sloganeering and posturing. There is no excuse because evidence of corruption is readily available. What is now needed is for Matanda-Moyo to bite the bullet and descend on the big fish in high offices, not herrings.

This gung-ho approach in fighting corruption will not help the Zimbabwean cause. What we have seen so far is not a genuine anti-corruption campaign, but a pursuit of personal and political agendas and vendettas disguised as zero tolerance to graft.

A handful of people who have been arrested on corruption charges are either in the wrong basket or small fish. Former Tourism minister Priscah Mupfumira is a good example. A fish rots from the head. The anti-corruption fight has gone to the dogs. At this rate, no one, including those in his inner circle, still take Mnangagwa’s anti-graft rhetoric seriously. It’s a case of all bark, no bite!

Zimbabweans must have a buy-in and own the fight against corruption. The fact that small fish and a few people perceived to be anti-establishment are the ones the corruption dragnet has caught raises questions. The command “ugly-culture” is one vehicle that well-to-do and connected individuals have been using to loot and self-enrich. This programme should be disinfected.

If he wants to be believed, Mnangagwa must urgently confront dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery, fraud and theft, as well as other criminal activities. What is needed is political will to tackle corruption in all its various manifestations. Granting Zacc prosecutorial powers will yield nothing if not accompanied by political will.

The judiciary is the last frontier in the fight against corruption with growing calls for this arm of government, charged with implementing the law, to be reformed.

In South Africa, judicial officers are performing much better than their counterparts in the region. Prosecution and trials of accused persons is conducted as quickly as legally permissible. Judges are expected to hand down written judgements that are automatically loaded online within 30 days of concluding a case. Zimbabwean courts can learn something from their colleagues from across the Limpopo River. They have to start delivering judgments soon after trials are concluded, not the current scenario where full judgments are only made available in many instances nearly two years later.

How does this help? Making full judgments available helps dispel the notion that the bench is captured or influenced as more often than not everyone can read for themselves the reasoning behind the judge’s decision. This would go a long way in making justice transparent and people could judge for themselves if justice is being done.

It seems Matanda-Moyo is biting more than she can chew. While Zacc has not hit the ground running on the local front in terms of recovering the local loot, she is already talking about recovering illegally-acquired assists in Sadc countries. Madam Matanda-Moyo, charity begins at home. Common criminals are occupying government offices, driving posh cars, building mansions in leafy suburbs, while the anti-graft body is engaging in catch-and-release shows. It is either the teeth that Zacc got have fallen off or the commission is now captured or both.

 Cliff Chiduku is journalist. He writes here in his personal capacity. Feedback: cchiduku@gmail.com

Zimbabwe’s listed companies will start presenting their financial statements using the hyperinflationary economies standard (IAS) following approval by the Public Accountants Board (PAAB).

BY FIDELITY MHLANGA

According to a circular by the accountants’ apex board, usage of the new reporting model covers financial periods ended on or after July 1, 2019.

“The PAAB can advise that there is broad market consensus within the accounting and auditing professions that the factors and characteristics to apply the Financial Reporting in Hyperinflationary Economies Standard (IAS 29), in Zimbabwe have been met,” PAAB said.

Section 44(2)(a) of the Public Accountants and Auditors Act empowers PAAB to make regulations prescribing auditing standards, accounting standards and accountancy reporting standards for use in Zimbabwe, including the application of internationally-recognised auditing, accounting and reporting standards.

PAAB, via its circular, recommended that preparers of financial statements exercise professional judgment in considering the presentation of historical financial information as supplementary information alongside the primary International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) financial statements which would be inflation-adjusted in terms of the requirements of IAS 29.

Where historical financial information is presented alongside IFRS financial statements adjusted for IAS 29, it must be made clear which represents the primary financial statements.

The accounting profession is in a dilemma as to which inflation rate to apply in their reporting after Treasury suspended publication of annualised inflation figures which stood at 176% by end of June.

Simbisa Brands Limited announced in the full-year results ended June 2019 that, it foresees difficulties in complying with the IAS 29 accounting standard in the absence of year-on-year inflation data following the rebasing decision by Treasury.

Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe chief executive Gloria Zvaravanhu said the institute will run familiarisation workshops this week and provide further guidelines for use by companies.

“We are going to be running workshops on it in Bulawayo and Harare this week. We are working on it (the issue of which inflation rate to use) and will share at the workshops and issue an implementation guideline,” said Zvaravanhu.

The IAS 29 lists factors that indicate an economy is in a hyperinflationary cycle. One of the indicators of hyperinflation arises when cumulative inflation over a three-year period approaches, or is in excess of 100%.

This is not the first time Zimbabwe has adopted hyperinflation reporting standard. In 2008 it resorted to the same before abandoning it after the adoption of the multi-currency system.

Reeling from inflationary pressures, Argentina adopted IAS 29 after the country was deemed hyperinflationary.

MDC Midlands says it is busy mending cracks that emerged ahead of the 2018 harmonised elections within its structures in Shurugwi South district which saw the opposition party losing the parliamentary seat to Zanu PF.

By Brenna Matendere

Divisions rocked the constituency after the seat was allocated to the Welshman Ncube-led MDC in line with the alliance matrix, shutting out a candidate from the Nelson Chamisa-led MDC, Daniel Mabonga, who had earlier been tipped to stand in the polls.

The development saw divisions rocking the party with the entire district leadership led by the late chairman Norman Pfeveni, backing Mabonga, while Osherd Mutunami, the official candidate campaigned without support of local party leaders. Both lost the poll to Zanu PF candidate, Edmund Mkaratigwa.

In a move meant to heal the rift, MDC Midlands chairperson Josiah Makombe led a delegation of provincial leaders in reaching out to the district leadership over the weekend, where they held a district assembly meeting at Chachacha Business Centre on Saturday.

“What happened ahead of the 2018 elections will not be repeated again. A candidate who is the people’s favourite should be allowed to stand for the party in elections,” Makombe said.

“As the provincial leadership, we have written to the national executive requesting that Mabonga, who was the favourite of the people be pardoned on his actions of standing as an independent candidate. We wait to hear a response from the top, but our feeling is that he must come back into the fold.”

The gap-filling exercise to replace the late MDC Shurugwi South district chairperson, Pfeveni, had to be deferred after the party structures requested that the case of Mabonga be completed first so that he is allowed to contest for the post.

Shurugwi South MDC organising secretary Usefu Nheredzi told Southern Eye that party structures and grassroots supporters had been pacified by the resolutions of the Saturday meeting.

“What the people want is fairness. We had a person who had helped the MDC grow through donating a truck, regalia, conducting projects for the poor and building offices for the MDC in Shurugwi South being disallowed to stand for the party last year. We then had a new person unknown to us being seconded as a candidate. This created deep fissures, but we are all happy after a frank district assembly meeting held at the weekend,” he said.

Acting Shurugwi South MDC district chairperson Todd Zvidza, pointed out that MDC’s defeat in last year’s parliamentary elections could have been avoided if there were no double candidates, adding that a delegation of party leaders that included chiefs had been sent to Harvest House ahead of last year’s election to pass that message, which was, however, dismissed .

Mabonga said: “Since 2008, I have not stopped working for the people. My trucks are carrying DDF workers to wards to repair boreholes and help improve livelihoods. I am not concerned with positions, but seeing prosperity of our rural folk. People in towns have their roots in rural areas and my wish is that they come back and help develop our area. Our late district chairman Pfeveni was a hardworking person and as MDC people we are pursuing his vision.”

Zimbabwe expects to increase diamond production to 11 million carats by 2023 from 3,2 million carats last year, the Mines minister Winston Chitando said yesterday, part of an ambitious plan to raise mining output and earn the country $12 billion a year.

Reuters

The mineral-rich southern African nation sees the mining sector as the main driver for reviving an economy crippled by triple-digit inflation and high unemployment.

Still, many investors fret about whether they can take money out because of acute dollar shortages.

Zimbabwe’s government has previously set ambitious targets on mining production, but output has rarely met those goals because investors often cite archaic investment regulations and uncertainty over the safety of their investment.

Under President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Zimbabwe is “open for business” mantra, the government has promised more favourable terms for those investing in the country, but big investors are still staying away for now.

Chitando said production by four companies – including Alrosa and Chinese-owned Anjin – would help drive up diamond output, mostly from the eastern Chiadzwa area.

Anjin plans to restart mining after being kicked out from Chiadzwa for refusing to merge with the State diamond firm in 2016, while Alrosa has plans to start prospecting and mining diamonds in the area.

United Kingdom-listed Vast Resources is expected to sign a deal this week to search for diamonds.

Chitando also said gold, the single biggest mineral export, would generate $4 billion in four years time while platinum would bring in another $3 billion as a raft of projects come on stream.

Anglo Platinum and Impala Platinum Holdings have platinum mines in Zimbabwe.

Karo Resources, partly owned by South Africa’s Tharisa Holdings, is building an integrated platinum mine and refinery while a Russian consortium and Zimbabwean investors are developing a platinum project near Harare.