Forensic audit for Zimbabwe’s “missing” $15 billion diamonds under way

A forensic audit is underway to establish the quantity and value of gems that Zimbabwe lost through leakages at the Chiadzwa diamond fields Mines and Mining Development Minister Walter Chidhakwa said today.

Last month, President Robert Mugabe said that the country had lost diamonds worth $15 billion, a revelation that rattled a country whose government is entirely funded by taxes and is struggling to provide basic services while millions of its population are jobless.

Despite frequent reports of smuggling from the vast Chiadzwa fields where institutions such as the police, army and some Chinese firms were involved in the mining activities, the value of the loss had never been quantified since operations began over five years ago.

And parliamentarians today asked Chidhakwa if he had any knowledge about the disappearance of the diamonds and the people who were involved.

Chidhakwa appeared to cast doubt on Mugabe’s claim that $15 billion worth of diamonds vanished saying “the figure is in the process of being established.”

“We have started a process of establishing why and how it happened and how much it is,” Chidhakwa told the national assembly.

“Once the forensic audit is done, we will bring it to Parliament.”

Most of the leakages are said to have occurred during the tenure of Obert Mpofu, who was Mines Minister between 2009 and 2013, and there have been calls from civil society and the general public for him to be called to account.

Chidhakwa was appointed to head the ministry in September 2013. Last month government ordered diamond miners in the Chiadzwa area to cease operations to pave way for its wholly-owned Zimbabwe Consolidated Mining Company (ZCDC) as part of initiatives to improve transparency and accountability in the sector.

Government said its new model has been successfully applied in neighbouring countries such as Botswana to improve earnings from the mining and marketing of the gems.- The Source

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