The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) has claimed that officials from the Mines and and Mining Development looted diamonds worth millions. Zacc also backed Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa’s statement that the $15 billion figure revealed by former president Robert Mugabe was figurative.
Speaking to The Sunday Mail, Zacc Commissioner in Charge of Investigations Mr Goodson Nguni said former Mines and Mining Development Minister Walter Chidhakwa and his then Permanent Secretary Professor Francis Gudyanga are expected to be charged over the theft of the diamonds. Said Nguni:
The US$15 billion figure was not factual; it was more of figurative speech. We have investigated the matter and diamonds mined in Chiadzwa are not worth that much. he net is closing in on former top officials at the Mines and Mining Development Ministry. The investigation is complete and Chidhakwa and Gudyanga are likely to be charged (this) week over the diamonds which were stolen from diamond mining companies.
Another investigator told The Sunday Mail that diamonds sent to China to be used for training of local cutters and polishers could not be accounted for. The diamonds were shipped to China through a company owned by a Mines Ministry official who cannot be named at this stage for fear of jeopardising investigations.
More: Sunday Mail