‘ZCDC shuts out community organisations from KP visit’ 27 May 2022

A section of Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) in the diamond-rich Chiadzwa area claim that it was barred from making presentations to the Kimberley Process (KP) team which was in the country on a review exercise last week, the Zimbabwe Independent can reveal. This comes amid growing concern from civic society over the perceived lack of transparency shrouding Zimbabwe’s diamond mining operations and management of revenue generated from sales. Startling disclosure by former President Robert Mugabe indicated in 2016 that Zimbabwe had lost a staggering US$15 billion from diamond leakages. The claims were, however, never proved. The Kimberley Process and Certification Scheme (KPCS),which granted Zimbabwe the greenlight to market its diamonds in 2010 was in the country last week, nearly a decade after it conducted its last review on the southern African country’s mining operations.

… Bocha Diamond Community Trust (BDCT) leader Moses Mukwada this week told the Independent that his outfit, alongside several other CBOs, though invited to the KP meeting organised by ZCDC, were not given the opportunity to raise their concerns to the review team. “We were not given time to present our concerns to the visiting KP team. Our expectation was that CBOs were going to be given time to make their presentation but that did not happen. “What happened is that ZCDC had its programme where they presented what they are doing in the area. And once that was done, they left to inspect a dip tank renovated by ZCDC and a two-roomed house they renovated. That is all they showed KP,” Mukwada said.

… “ZCDC has formed a parallel structure of CBOs which speaks on its behalf. There was no genuine CBO which made a presentation. We would have preferred it if the KP team had met community members,” he said. If CBOs were given the platform to make presentations, Mukwada said his outfit was going to alert KP that the community has not benefited “anything” from the extraction of diamonds. “The community has not benefited anything from the diamonds; even the country itself since 2007. We are lobbying for sustainable mining projects that will ensure the continuity of life even after the diamonds are exhausted. There must be some change,” he added… Questions sent to the KP visiting delegation leader Khosa via email to probe, among other matters, whether the review team engaged with CBOs had not been answered by the time of going to print. ZCDC chief executive Mark Mabhudhu did not respond to questions sent to him via Whatsapp. Following the KP visit to Zimbabwe, the review team is expected to issue a report on its findings.