ZCDC Board Members Resign En Masse
Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) board members have resigned in protest after the government awarded part of the Chiadzwa diamond fields to a Chinese firm.
The ZCDC board members led by chairman Killian Ukama tendered their resignations citing lack of consultation.
They argued that the unilateral action to award Portal B (rich in resource), which is part of Chiadzwa diamond fields, undermined the authority of the board. Business Times quotes its source as saying:
ZCDC board members resigned recently registering their displeasure over the parcelling out of Portal B in Marange to Chinese Anjin.
The directive is said to have come from President Mnangagwa through Mines Minister Chitando after his trip to China in 2018.
Anjin Investments is jointly owned by Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Company Ltd of China and Matt Bronze and is an investment vehicle controlled by the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.
The company is expected to resume diamond extraction in July this year after being controversially barred from operating in the resource-rich Chiadzwa area in 2016.
The ZCDC board consisted of Ukama (chairman), Ellah Muchemwa, Elizabeth Nerwande Chibanda, Zenzo Nsimbi, Esau Chiadzwa, Alexander Mukwekwezeke and Niya Mtombeni.
Mines and Mining Development minister Winston Chitando told the publication that the Ministry was currently reviewing board composition in all its parastatals and companies under its wing.
