Opinion / Columnist
Will the KP green light increase remittances to Treasury?
03 Nov 2011 at 12:31hrs | Views
The clearance of Marange diamonds for export by the Kimberley Process has understandably met with mixed reaction, with celebrations in Zanu-PF quarters and murmurs in civil society circles.
The KP appears to have succumbed to Zanu-PF's highly effective strategy of political blackmail whereby opposing the former liberation movement, no matter how well meant means that you have an imperialist agenda or are just a puppet that needs to be crushed.
Sadly, the KP's appears to have acquiesced and pushed aside all concerns about the lack of transparency in diamond sales, ongoing human rights abuses and smuggling syndicates and given a nod to the arguably "legitimised looting" of Marange diamonds.
In February Zimbabwe's Parliament opened a full scale probe into alleged illegal diamond sales amid claims that at least US$400 million due to Treasury had still not been remitted. While so many gems have been sold, they have not benefited the country.
There are strong fears that Chiadzwa diamonds may be funding a parallel regime and a possible war chest ahead of a referendum on a new constitution followed by elections which are expected to be violent unless supervised by the international community beyond SADC.
Commonsense would have dictated that verifiable safeguards against looting be put in place before letting Mugabe off the hook. Furthermore, rights abuses revealed by civil society and documented by the BBC's Panorama programme as well as SATV programme Carte Blanche on Sunday should have been probed thoroughly first.
The KP should have pressured Zimbabwe to enact the New Diamond Act which would hopefully promote transparency, sustainable use of the environment and fair compensation for displaced locals who are being impoverished by big interests.
As it is, the KP may live to regret its decision to give Zimbabwe a blank cheque as there is a big possibility of the return of blood diamonds.
Given Zimbabwe's record of not wanting to implement international agreements, the KP would have no one to blame if Zimbabwe defaulted on its commitments as we have seen with the Global Political Agreement.
There is merit in MDC-T MP Eddie Cross' motion in parliament calling for the nationalisation of the Marange/Chiadzwa diamond fields as that could generate US$2.8 billion annually for the fiscus if properly implemented.
However, the downside of nationalisation is that notorious presidential proclamations might still enable the regime to divert diamond proceeds for electioneering purposes in the same way the chaotic land grab is being handled.
Nevertheless, doubts remain that the KP's green light on Marange diamonds will increase remittances to Zimbabwe's Treasury other than line the pockets of the few who are well connected with the authoritarian regime.
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Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London, zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
The KP appears to have succumbed to Zanu-PF's highly effective strategy of political blackmail whereby opposing the former liberation movement, no matter how well meant means that you have an imperialist agenda or are just a puppet that needs to be crushed.
Sadly, the KP's appears to have acquiesced and pushed aside all concerns about the lack of transparency in diamond sales, ongoing human rights abuses and smuggling syndicates and given a nod to the arguably "legitimised looting" of Marange diamonds.
In February Zimbabwe's Parliament opened a full scale probe into alleged illegal diamond sales amid claims that at least US$400 million due to Treasury had still not been remitted. While so many gems have been sold, they have not benefited the country.
There are strong fears that Chiadzwa diamonds may be funding a parallel regime and a possible war chest ahead of a referendum on a new constitution followed by elections which are expected to be violent unless supervised by the international community beyond SADC.
Commonsense would have dictated that verifiable safeguards against looting be put in place before letting Mugabe off the hook. Furthermore, rights abuses revealed by civil society and documented by the BBC's Panorama programme as well as SATV programme Carte Blanche on Sunday should have been probed thoroughly first.
As it is, the KP may live to regret its decision to give Zimbabwe a blank cheque as there is a big possibility of the return of blood diamonds.
Given Zimbabwe's record of not wanting to implement international agreements, the KP would have no one to blame if Zimbabwe defaulted on its commitments as we have seen with the Global Political Agreement.
There is merit in MDC-T MP Eddie Cross' motion in parliament calling for the nationalisation of the Marange/Chiadzwa diamond fields as that could generate US$2.8 billion annually for the fiscus if properly implemented.
However, the downside of nationalisation is that notorious presidential proclamations might still enable the regime to divert diamond proceeds for electioneering purposes in the same way the chaotic land grab is being handled.
Nevertheless, doubts remain that the KP's green light on Marange diamonds will increase remittances to Zimbabwe's Treasury other than line the pockets of the few who are well connected with the authoritarian regime.
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Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London, zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
Source - Clifford Chitupa Mashiri
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