Report asks more questions about Anjin than answers

Global Witness’ report on diamonds in Zimbabwe entitled: Diamonds: a good deal for Zimbabwe? leaves more unanswered questions about one of the major diamond miners in Marange, Anjin, than it provides answers.

Though the report is supposed to be a case study of Mbada and Anjin and is supposed to answer questions about who controls revenue from Marange diamonds, the report only gives the shareholding of Anjin- a joint venture company of China’s Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Group and Zimbabwe’s Matt Bronze.

The report claims that the military could be benefitting from this joint venture because the Zimbabwean directors of Anjin have military or security backgrounds.

It lists the directors as: Martin Rushwaya, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Oliver Chibage, a commissioner in the Zimbabwe Republic Police, Nonkosi Ncube also from the ZRP, Munyaradzi Machacha from ZANU-PF and Mabasa Temba Hawadi, a director of Marange Resources a subsidiary of the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation.

The report’s concern is that control of a company like Anjin “by the police, armed forces or Ministry of Defence” cuts across the democratic process where a democratically elected government should set national security strategy, and collect taxes in order to fund priorities through a budget setting process carried out by the Ministry of Finance.

The report says diamond revenues from Marange should flow into the Ministry of Finance, which would allow the Zimbabwean cabinet to decide on its public expenditure priorities.

But it does not say where the revenues are currently flowing into except asking: Do Anjin or Matt Bronze make any payments direct to the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home Affairs, Zimbabwe Republic Police, Zimbabwe Defence Force, Central Intelligence Organisation or the Office of the President and cabinet.

The report does not cite any privately or state-owned company in Zimbabwe that pays its revenues direct to the Ministry of Finance or any other government ministry for that matter?

Global Witness quit the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme immediately after the diamond body had readmitted Zimbabwe allowing it to sell the Marange diamonds legally.

(23 VIEWS)