Arrest Looters of US$15 Billion Diamonds funds Now!

President Robert Mugabe during his 92nd annually birthday interview expressed dismay over the saddening matter that, the nation lost a whooping $15 billion dollars to fraudulent subversive activities in the diamond mining sector. The state cannot afford to let such rot left unpunished as this cash is needed dearly to develop the nation. Hence, no stone should be left unturned in search of justice to bring the culprits to book.

The merciless and illogical looting of diamonds proceeds amounts to gross violation of state interests. This makes it imperative for any citizen to have insatiable desire for due diligence to ensure the meticulous tracing, and the ultimate reimbursement of such cash for public good, as opposed to serving and/or protecting selfish personal interests by rowdy and greedy citizens that are involved. No-one is above the law, and so the state is urged to take stern measures in investigating the perpetrators and bring them to book.

In the face of the obtaining facts on the ground, it is compulsory to affirm that Zimbabwe cannot afford to lose such a life-time fortune to corruption and such thievery go unchecked. Justice should prevail and send the correct message to the public for would-be perpetrators of such crimes to desist from committing similar cases.

However, it is refreshing to note that the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, Professor Francis Gudyanga, and the Minister Walter Chidhakwa, made a pronouncement that thorough investigations will be instituted soon to establish the real facts obtaining on the ground in this case in order to facilitate possible arrests and prosecutions.

Forensic audits should be done meticulously and expeditiously in order to establish the real facts which will lead to leveling strong charges against the criminals. In addition the state can also open the Government toll-free lines which allow members of the public to furnish relevant information which lead to possible arrests of the criminals that are involved.

The reality of issues is that all crimes are committed in the same society in which ordinary citizens are found. Therefore, they can have full knowledge of how these crimes were committed and by whom at what point. The full chain of those involved can be revealed through this whistle-blowing strategy for the good of the nation.

Protecting and defending Zimbabwe's economic interests within and outside this country is every citizen's responsibility. Therefore, every citizen that possesses any grain of information leading to the arrest and prosecution of any of these perpetrators is urged to supply such information to authorities for further actioning sooner than later.

It's really sad to realize people that are endowed with special national duty to safeguard its interests at the diamond fields were busy sleeping on duty and/or abusing trust enthroned on them, while full scale looting taking a toll on the most critical national resource upon which the whole nation was pinning all its hopes.

The President, Robert Mugabe, appoints some people on national strategic points, to protect specific economic national interests. It is bedeviling to realize that, in spite of their existence, the nation sustained this amazing loss of US15 billion dollars which could have been invested to transform by rescuing the economy over-night to serve the entire population that is engrossed in abject poverty.

The multi-billion dollar question is; where were these responsible authorities when the diamonds were being looted? This is a typical real case of duty negligence, incompetency, recklessness and inefficiency. This cannot be allowed to pass unnoticed. Those who contributed in this way should answer for their omissions and commissions now, as well as their agents that took part in swindling the nation of the most needed funds for national development.

 Certainly a special commission of enquiry should be set-up to probe this vexatious case which is threatening the public's trust to authorities. Every Zimbabwean should be driven by the impetus to cleanse and exorcise our society of the gnawing bug of corruption that is spreading its wings to all sectors of our society.

To avert this devastating effect of looting of this precious national resource, the government should proceed swiftly to set-up the diamond mining consortium to exploit the diamonds on behalf of the nation. In this new dispensation, suitable air-tight measures should be taken to avert a possible replication of the same criminality that befell the nation.