Police launch investigations on diamonds mining boss after Mugabe comments

POLICE have launched investigations into the $6 million corruption allegations being levelled against former Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation board chairman Mr Godwills Masimirembwa.

He is alleged to have demanded a bribe from Gye Nyame, a Ghanaian firm which intended to invest in diamond mining in Zimbabwe.

Gye Nyame started mining operations in Marange in 2011.

In a statement last night, police chief spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said preliminary investigations into the case were in progress.

"The Zimbabwe Republic Police would like to advise that the case of corruption allegations against Mr Godwills Masimirembwa is receiving our attention and preliminary investigations are going on," she said.

Snr Asst Comm Charamba said the absence of the Ghanaian businessman, who should be the complainant in the case, was stalling progress.

"We expect the investigations to progress speedily once the relevant Ghanaian comes to give a statement of complaint as he is the crown witness in the matter," she said.

"For now, he is out of the country and efforts are continuing to contact him to come and assist the police with these investigations as soon as possible."

The probe follows revelations by President Mugabe that Mr Masimirembwa demanded $6 million bribe from the Ghanaian firm and later threatened the officials that they would be arrested once they set foot in Zimbabwe.

President Mugabe on Tuesday called for zero tolerance to corruption, saying the law should take its course on Mr Masimirembwa for allegedly demanding and receiving the bribe.

Mr Masimirembwa resigned from the ZMDC board ahead of the July 31 harmonised elections to contest the Mabvuku-Tafara National Assembly seat which he lost to Mr James Maridadi of MDC-T.

Speaking during a luncheon held for Members of Parliament soon after he officially opened the First Session of the Eighth Parliament of Zimbabwe on Tuesday, the President said the wrath of the law should take its unimpeded course in the matter as such rot could not be tolerated under his watch.

The President said Mr Masimirembwa and his group demanded money in cash and created a shelf company that took equity in the diamond mining firm under unclear legal circumstances before astonishingly claiming that the Ghanaians had violated some unspecified Zimbabwean law and threatening them with arrest.

President Mugabe was addressing guests who included Government ministers, Members of Parliament, traditional leaders and senior Government officials at a luncheon hosted by the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.

The President said when the Ghanaian firm's officials wanted to bring their equipment into Zimbabwe, they were told not to come back as they would be arrested.

He said Gye Nyame had entered into a joint venture with ZMDC where it had 30 percent stake.

But its officials remained outside the country dreading the spectre of arrest threatened by Mr Masimirembwa, despite assurances given to the Ghanaian firm by Commissioner-General of Police Cde Augustine Chihuri that they would not be arrested as they had not violated any law.

President Mugabe said efforts by the Ghanaians to approach former South African president Thabo Mbeki for help through that country's central bank did not help matters as Mr Masimirembwa continued warning that the police wanted to arrest them.

The Ghanaians, President Mugabe said, ended up flying all the way to Washington to meet the then Mines and Mining Development Minister, Obert Mpofu (now the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development), who was attending a diamond mining meeting in the US.

In an interview on Wednesday, Mr Masimirembwa said he was keen to give his side of the story.