Harare businessman Lovemore Kurotwi has approached President Emmerson Mnangagwa in a bid to recover $17 million he says was seized by the State when he was forced out of the Chiadzwa diamond fields allegedly at the behest of former Mines minister Obert Mpofu whom he says had asked for a $10 million bribe.
In a letter to Mnangagwa dated January 4, Kurotwi said he lost $3,6 million cash which was in MMCZ’s (Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe) account, 1,4 million carats of diamonds and mining equipment worth $14 million which he had invested through his company called Canadile Miners. In by part of the letter which was seen by NewsDay, Kurotwi writes:
We were given this concession in partnership with Marange Resources, a government mining company under the auspices of ZMDC (Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation). In fact, ZMDC guaranteed the partnership. However, as is on record, former Minister of Mines Obert Mpofu asked me for a bribe of $10 million. Upon my refusal to give him this bribe, minister Mpofu caused my arrest on unfounded allegations of fraud. Again as is now public knowledge, I was acquitted by the courts of law for these trumped-up charges.
Mpofu has in the past denied allegations that he demanded a $10 million bribe from Kurotwi. NewsDay could not get in touch with him for a comment as his mobile phone went unanswered.
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