Zimbabweans based in the United Kingdom (UK) on Tuesday, 18 April staged protests at the Zimbabwe and United Arab Emirates embassies in London.
The protestors were demanding the arrest of all Zimbabweans implicated in alleged gold smuggling and money laundering that was recently exposed by Al Jazeera in a four-part documentary called “Gold Mafia”.
The coordinator of the protests, Patricia Chinyoka, told NewsDay that they will continue protesting until the Gold Mafia kingpins were arrested. Said Chinyoka:
We are expecting the UAE to investigate all those implicated in the Al Jazeera documentary.
Tomorrow we are going to have a vigil for Hon (Job) Sikhala where we will be joined by the British MPs.
ZANU PF UK executive member Xavier Muneyi Muzukuru Zavare accused the protestors of lacking patriotism. He said:
What they are doing is very shameful and embarrassing. It’s like desecrating the graves of their and our ancestors. That’s mocking the great job done by the ancestors.
You can’t choose one’s wedding day or remember a late person to introduce your own story.
Nowhere in the world do you find people not respecting their country’s independence day.
We are quite surprised if these people are Zimbabweans or Rhodesians. It’s shameful because most of these Zimbabweans are led by a Rhodie who recently said on Twitter and their Change Radio that there is no Independence.
Last month, the Government said the individuals mentioned in the Gold Mafia documentary will be punished if they are convicted of gold smuggling and money laundering.
“Gold Mafia” is a four-part documentary series by Al Jazeera that looks at how international criminal gangs were buying gold in Zimbabwe and illegally exporting it to countries such as Dubai (United Arab Emirates).
The series exposes alleged illicit financial flows from Zimbabwe, including serious allegations of abuse of diplomatic immunity, illicit gold trading, corruption and money laundering in the mining sector.
Some of the prominent individuals featured include President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Ambassador at Large and Presidential Envoy to Europe and the Americas, Uebert Angel, and Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) president Henrietta Rushwaya.
More: Pindula News