Zimbabwe Times reported that President Robert Mugabe threatening to pull Zimbabwe out of the control of the Kimberly Process (KP) if the diamond mining regulator continued to insist that Zimbabwe abides by KP’s stringent measures on diamond trade.
The important thing is Mugabe does not play anything by the rules.
He is a stickler with the rules if they save his purpose. He has refused to appoint MDC’s Roy Bennet minister because the later has court case pending. He has appointed Zanu PF ministers in a similar situation or worse.
When the rules do not suit his sinister schemes he disregards them. The Kimberly Process rules here are asking Mugabe to use free labour to mine the diamonds and sell them in the open market. He has repeatedly refused to do so preferring to use force labour, soldiers policing the whole process and selling the diamonds with no paper work trail that would otherwise lead to those benefiting.
The Chiyadza and Marange diamonds are worth US$ 1 billion a year according to those in the know. And no one knows who is getting the money because Mugabe has the whole process shrouded in a blanket of secrecy. He is not going to give up this valuable source of wealth to finance his dictatorial activities.
It is about time that the Kimberly Process showed some political will and spine and stand up to Mugabe.
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