Britain claims its hands are tied over Zimbabwe’s missing $15 billion worth of diamonds

There is practically nothing Britain can do about Zimbabwe’s missing diamonds estimated by President Robert Mugabe to be worth about $15 billion because it cannot interfere in Zimbabwe’s internal fiscal and economic policy, a British Minister said this week.

All it can do is to urge and make the case for overdue reform, Baroness Goldie said in the House of Lords.

She was responding to a question from Lord Chidgey who wanted to know what the United Kingdom was doing to support efforts by countries like the United States which had introduced sanctions on Zimbabwe and frozen assets of companies involved in undermining democracy and facilitating corruption.

Though Baroness Goldie said there was nothing Britain could do about the missing billions, Lord Chidgey implied in May this year that there was something the UK could do.

He said: “London is the destination of choice, for example, for billions of dollars whisked out of the Crimea and the proceeds of the diamond fields of Zimbabwe and the bauxite mines of Guinea.”

Britain can therefore freeze the accounts of all those who have been siphoning diamond proceeds from Zimbabwe if it really wants to.

Q &A

Lord Chidgey (LD)– My Lords, the Minister will be aware that Zimbabwe is the world’s sixth-largest producer of diamonds by volume, yet three-quarters of its population are living in poverty. Apparently some $15 billion-worth of government-owned diamond processing has gone off-budget. In response, the US Government have introduced sanctions and frozen ​the assets of companies involved for, as they put it, undermining democracy and facilitating corruption. What measures have the United Kingdom Government taken to support these actions, and what has been the outcome?

Baroness Goldie-The noble Lord will be aware that there is a sanctions embargo against Zimbabwe, and active sanctions against President Mugabe, his wife, Grace, and the company Zimbabwe Defence Industries. The UK is party to that EU embargo. As I said in my earlier response to the noble Lord on the Cross Benches, the United Kingdom Government cannot interfere with the internal fiscal or economic policy of Zimbabwe; all we can do is urge and make the case for overdue reform.

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