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Obert Mpofu, Beatrice Mtetwa showdown as Mpofu is grilled again
30 Jul 2014 at 21:53hrs | Views
There was another fiery exchange in court as the cross-examination of the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development, Dr Obert Mpofu in the Lovemore Kurotwi and Dominic Mubaiwa fraud case continued.
The defence council, Ms Beatrice Mtetwa accused the former Minister of Mines and Mining Development of misrepresenting facts to President Robert Mugabe in his letter written on the 5th of May on conditions set by BSGR before the investor could commit to the joint venture.
She said BSGR made it very clear that it would support the mining operations through the provision of finance, management and processing when the final binding arrangements had been made.
Minister Mpofu said he may have been told by the contracting parties including the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) but he recalled mentioning that core mining was a special purpose vehicle for BSGR.
He added that ZMDC had not disclosed the conditions to him, while BSGR totally dissociated itself from core mining in a letter in his possession, meaning that the conditions were compromised.
Further pressed along the same line of questioning, the Minister said he could not comment on a document which was the subject of a criminal agreement which was contrary to the one which passed through the scrutiny of the Attorney General's office.
Ms Mtetwa told Minister Mpofu that the agreement was signed a month after he had informed President Mugabe that BSGR had come on board.
He finally relented and conceded that BSGR could only have come on board after certain conditions were met.
On whether the document short-listing potential investors specified that US$2 billion was the actual investment amount, Dr Mpofu requested for the document and Ms Mtetwa said he (Minister Mpofu) was supposed to be privy to the document referred to.
The Minister told Ms Mtetwa that he could not be reduced into a cheap commentator without referring to records of issues which occurred several years ago.
Part of the agreement stipulated that BSGR was to commit US$2 billion during the life of the project after paying $200 million for the initial phase upfront and Ms Mtetwa quizzed the Minister on the projection of the life of Marange resources.
Minister Mpofu said he is not a geologist though he agreed that over the life did not mean here and now.
The matter was postponed to the 4th of August next week for continuation.
The defence council, Ms Beatrice Mtetwa accused the former Minister of Mines and Mining Development of misrepresenting facts to President Robert Mugabe in his letter written on the 5th of May on conditions set by BSGR before the investor could commit to the joint venture.
She said BSGR made it very clear that it would support the mining operations through the provision of finance, management and processing when the final binding arrangements had been made.
Minister Mpofu said he may have been told by the contracting parties including the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) but he recalled mentioning that core mining was a special purpose vehicle for BSGR.
He added that ZMDC had not disclosed the conditions to him, while BSGR totally dissociated itself from core mining in a letter in his possession, meaning that the conditions were compromised.
Further pressed along the same line of questioning, the Minister said he could not comment on a document which was the subject of a criminal agreement which was contrary to the one which passed through the scrutiny of the Attorney General's office.
He finally relented and conceded that BSGR could only have come on board after certain conditions were met.
On whether the document short-listing potential investors specified that US$2 billion was the actual investment amount, Dr Mpofu requested for the document and Ms Mtetwa said he (Minister Mpofu) was supposed to be privy to the document referred to.
The Minister told Ms Mtetwa that he could not be reduced into a cheap commentator without referring to records of issues which occurred several years ago.
Part of the agreement stipulated that BSGR was to commit US$2 billion during the life of the project after paying $200 million for the initial phase upfront and Ms Mtetwa quizzed the Minister on the projection of the life of Marange resources.
Minister Mpofu said he is not a geologist though he agreed that over the life did not mean here and now.
The matter was postponed to the 4th of August next week for continuation.
Source - zbc
