The Financial Gazette

Editor — It still remains a mystery how the government could afford the luxury of watching from the sidelines while national resources are being plundered.

This is happening at a time when the government is failing to meet basic requirements of decent salaries of its workers — civil servants. No amount of persuasion or explanation will absolve government from any wrong-doing because nothing serious has been done to harness national resources.
The argument of government being broke does not hold water because we know what the country is worth. The diamond fields in Manicaland province can make a huge impact on our economy only if they are well managed. The diamonds are all over the show (Marange, Buhera and Chimanimani) and ready for the picking, offering ready cash. Botswana’s economy is benchmarked by diamonds. It is a serious offence for any person in Botswana to be found in possession of diamonds because the government is in total control of that resource. Going by reports from the Parliamentary Committee on Mines, it is clear there is a-free-for-all at Chiadzwa.
The government formed the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) whose responsibility is to manage government-owned mines countrywide. The diamond fields at Chiadzwa are one of them. The Parliamentary Committee established that the ZMDC, Deputy Minister and Permanent Secretary of Mines are in the dark of operations at the diamond fields as foreign firms have been contracted to do the mining and processing of the diamonds. It is very clear that the operations are not transparent let alone the awarding of the contracts. The diamonds are national assets and as such the people of Zimbabwe should know what is happening and to whose benefit. It is therefore imperative that the government take corrective measures by auditing its resources whose recommendations should address issues of transparency and accountability.
Zimbabwe is rich in non-renewable underground wealth that needs to be jealously guarded for the development of the country. Though still in abundance and unexplored, the gold, diamonds, platinum, nickel, chrome, iron, copper, zinc etc are enough to propel Zimbabwe into one of the fastest growing economies in the world if these minerals are properly managed and marketed. The armed struggle came about after it was realised that the country and its people were not benefiting from its God-given land and natural resources. It would be total betrayal to all those sons and daughters who paid with their blood to claim what belonged to them. Today, 30 years after getting independence, the country’s vaults do not resemble the vast opportunities because there is no evidence in the form of foreign currency or gold reserve.
Today every sector of the economy is down on its knees and crying for help. Everything in Zimbabwe remains the property of the State and there is no reason why we should have a scenario where individuals or companies end up having more money than the government. Can the State defend itself against such powerful individuals or companies because that is the source of all the corruption we see littered on our streets? Control and power has seriously undermined development that offers equal opportunities to the people of Zimbabwe because we are now witnessing cartels determining the fate of the country and its people.
LM
Harare

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