During the legal wrangle that followed, Mpofu confiscated $10.6 million cash which was with MMCZ, mining equipment worth $14 million and 1.4 million carats of diamond in Canadile’s Mutare vaults, Kurotwi told the committee.
He also added that Mpofu ordered Canadile, ZMDC and MMCZ to pay a total of $600 000 to a lawyer Farai Mutamangira for unknown legal processes.
He has yet to get back the confiscated equipment and money. The equipment was now being used by the government owned Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC), which government set up in 2016 after chasing away miners in the Chiadzwa fields, he added.
The committee chairperson, Temba Mliswa asked Kurotwi if he thought Mugabe was corrupt and if he was part of the (demand for a bribe by Mpofu).
“From the way he defended Mpofu; yes,” responded Kurotwi.
The businessman added that he does not have trust in the new government of Emmerson Mnangagwa which has Mpofu as the Minister of Home Affairs.
Canadile, the ZMDC/Core Mining joint venture, mined a total of 1.7 million carats of diamonds worth $150 million between December 2009 and November 2010.
“In as far as investors are concerned; in my own view, Zimbabwe is lion’s den. Investors will come at their own peril because there is no guarantee that when you invest you will get your money back. I am a victim of that, it has taken almost 10 years to recover what we had invested genuinely. The company was lured to invest in this country, ” said Kurotwi.
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