Newspaper headlines both in the State-controlled and privately owned media were today awash with news about “big wigs” being hauled before the Parliamentary committee on mines and energy this morning. One even talked about fireworks expected during the hearing.
Former Home Affairs Minister and now Vice-President Kembo Mohadi, former Police Chief Augustine Chihuri, former Intelligence Minister Didymus Mutasa, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa, and former Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi, are among those who have been summoned to give evidence before the committee.
The media is still talking about the missing $15 billion when government spokesman George Charamba has repeatedly said that no such amount was involved. Local fact checking organization Zimfact has also clearly stated that there is no way Zimbabwe could have lost so much money without it flooding the market with its cheap diamonds.
The hearing has turned chairman Temba Mliswa into something of a celebrity though the man most people want to answer for the missing diamonds Obert Mpofu has refused to testify as long as Mliswa is chairing the committee because, he argues, there is a conflict of interest.
The diamond saga seems to be symptomatic of the hype that surrounds most issues in Zimbabwe where people seem to be carried away over things that soon fizzle out leaving things unchanged.
Take for example the hype that surrounded the arrests of Ignatius Chombo, Kudzi Chipanga, Innocent Hamandishe, Walter Mzembi, Samuel Undenge and even Happyson Muchechetere.
Five months have gone, and in the case of Muchetere years have gone by. Nothing has happened. They are now on routine remands, and people seem to have forgotten about the cases.
Life is back to normal, people waiting to feed on the next big scandal which will fizzle out again.
It looks like all that Zimbabweans want is a dose of that narcotic scandal that they can talk about for a few days, forgot about it, and the wait for another.
Life, of course, goes on, with nothing changing.
Indeed, Zimbabwean diamonds disappeared. But people need a sober mind to discover how much the country lost.
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