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Zimbabwe's Mugabe says YES to diamond audit
06 Mar 2011 at 11:18hrs | Views
President Robert Mugabe has agreed to an audit of the country's recent diamond sales, the Times Live reports.
The country's finance minister, Tendai Biti, recently called attention to the fact that some $300 million in revenue from Kimberly Process-approved sales of rough diamonds had never made its way to the Treasury. This put Mugabe in a tenuous position, as he had been counting on the diamond money to cover the increased wages he has promised civil servants.
A number of insiders from Mugabe's party, Zanu-PF, have expressed displeasure with Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu, who they say "embarrassed" Mugabe by reporting that the money for salary increases was available.
The Times also quoted an unnamed diamond trader saying that Mpofu and the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) – seeking to cover the missing sum of money – were selling diamonds on the black market at cut rates.
The country's finance minister, Tendai Biti, recently called attention to the fact that some $300 million in revenue from Kimberly Process-approved sales of rough diamonds had never made its way to the Treasury. This put Mugabe in a tenuous position, as he had been counting on the diamond money to cover the increased wages he has promised civil servants.
A number of insiders from Mugabe's party, Zanu-PF, have expressed displeasure with Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu, who they say "embarrassed" Mugabe by reporting that the money for salary increases was available.
The Times also quoted an unnamed diamond trader saying that Mpofu and the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) – seeking to cover the missing sum of money – were selling diamonds on the black market at cut rates.
Source - Byo24NEWS
