The joy streaming from the
streets of Harare last month was contagious. After 37 years of Robert Mugabe’s
rule, the people declared victory and sang with a collective hope that their
years of suffering were finally over. “Thank you Zimbabwe Defense Forces,”
placards read as they cheered Mugabe’s resignation.
The celebrations, it seemed,
were an expression of relief not only that the 93-year-old president had
fallen, but also that his wife Grace would not be taking over.
For some time already, the
power struggle over who would succeed Mugabe had split the ruling Zanu-PF
party. The G40 group, headed by Grace, was largely seen as a continuation of
Mugabe rule. The Lacoste group, which had the support of the security forces,
was named for its leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa — known as “the Crocodile.”
Mugabe fired Mnangagwa, his
vice president, in early November in an apparent attempt to pave the way for
Grace’s rise to power. But with the military behind him, the Crocodile snapped
back from exile and masterminded the coup that led to Mugabe’s downfall and his
own inauguration as Zimbabwe’s president on November 24.
While Mnangagwa promised to
rebuild Zimbabwe and reengage with the world, there was also concern that he
wasn’t much of an upgrade. For most of Mugabe’s reign, the Crocodile served as
the president’s henchman.
Among other things, he’s been
accused of carrying out the Matabeleland massacres in the 1980s, of
vote-rigging and instigating violence around the 2008 election, and of
plundering the country’s natural resources.
Never return
Prominent among those
resources are the diamonds mined at the infamous Marange fields, which have
also played a part in the power struggle between the G40 and Lacoste factions.
“Marange has been a game
changer in Zimbabwe’s politics,” says Farai Maguwu, director of Zimbabwe’s
Center for Natural Resource Governance. While the battle for control of the
fields has not been made public, it parallels the power struggle within
Zanu-PF’s hierarchy, he explains.
Indeed, shortly after the
2008 election, which had been marred by violence and voter intimidation, the
government launched Operation Hakudzokwi (“never return”) to drive out the
35,000 informal miners from Marange and take control of the resource. More than
200 people were killed in the operation, Human Rights Watch reported at the
time.
While the government later
lobbied successfully for acceptance to the Kimberley Process, Marange diamonds
remain sanctioned by the US and the European Union to this day. Meanwhile, the
ownership of Marange remains unclear, and the resulting lack of accountability
and transparency has fueled suspicion that billions of diamond dollars have
been siphoned into private coffers — including those of the political and
military elite — rather than benefiting the people.
Mugabe himself has accused
the companies mining at Marange of robbing the country of its wealth, saying
last year that of the $15 billion earned from the area, government revenue had
barely exceeded $2 billion.
Flimsy structure
The missing funds prompted
the state to form the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Corporation (ZCDC) in
December 2015, in an effort to centralize the various mining concessions at
Marange into a single entity. The government declined to renew the mining
licenses of the seven companies previously operating at the site, but
incorporated three of them into the ZCDC instead, NGO Global Witness explained
in a September report titled “An Inside Job.”
The move had all the marks of
Grace Mugabe, says Maguwu. The ZCDC’s own legal basis is questionable, he adds,
given that it was formed as a private company while operating as a state-run
entity. The companies that lost their licenses have reportedly contested their
expulsion in court.
With Grace now out of the
picture, Maguwu says, it’s unclear how the ownership of the ZCDC will play out.
The company’s future is uncertain in any case, according to the Global Witness
report, which cites the ZCDC’s tenuous legal foundations as well as reports of
mismanagement and nepotism.
Reverting ownership to the
seven private companies that used to operate the fields may be even more
problematic, given the recent developments in the country. The Global Witness
report revealed that Zimbabwe’s Central Intelligence Organization, the
military, notorious smugglers, and well-heeled political elites had all gained
control of those companies — implying that the new military-backed political
leadership has an interest in Marange’s ownership.
There is a risk that
off-budget revenue will continue to flow to anonymous recipients, Michael Gibb
— a campaigner at Global Witness who authored the report — tells
Rapaport
Magazine. Maguwu has expressed similar concerns, alarmingly adding that human
rights abuses have recently escalated in the Marange area.
Yet, as Global Witness noted,
despite these transgressions and the lack of accountability, Zimbabwe diamonds
are traded freely on international markets with the Kimberley Process’s seal of
approval. While Western markets have banned them, Global Witness suspects the
rough is being exported to Dubai and Hong Kong, and then likely manufactured in
India.
“Rather than encouraging
transparency and reform, international demand has delivered a market for
Zimbabwe’s diamonds,” the group observed.
Sustaining the joy
The industry, Maguwu
stresses, must raise issues such as the lack of transparency and the human
rights abuses at Marange. Gibb adds that there needs to be an audit of the
diamond companies mining there, to shed light on their ownership structures,
production and sales.
The government can make a
difference, and so can the trade. Mnangagwa has a lot on his plate as he works
to revive the economy and restore confidence in the country’s future, and
sorting out the mess at Marange would send a positive message that he means
business. From the industry’s viewpoint, Zimbabwe’s new political reality
presents an opportunity to understand who is mining at Marange and where the
diamonds are ultimately going — and hold all parties accountable.
As Gibb argues, it’s not just
that a democratic state will result in a more responsible trade of Marange
diamonds, but that a responsible trade can bring about a more democratic state.
Like the Mugabe government,
diamonds have been a curse for Zimbabwe, when they should be a blessing. By
insisting on transparent and ethical mining of the Marange fields, the industry
can help ensure that Zimbabwe’s newfound joy continues.
Photo: Alamy Stock PhotoArticle from the Rapaport Magazine - December 2017. To subscribe click here.