The opposition Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) has criticised Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda for rejecting a proposal by the Public Accounts and the Budget, Finance, and Economic Development committees to investigate allegations raised in the Gold Mafia documentary which was premiered by Al Jazeera recently.
In a statement, CCC said Mudenda’s decision raises serious doubts about the Government’s commitment to accountability and transparency. CCC said:
We strongly denounce the decision made by the Speaker of Parliament, Advocate Jacob Mudenda to prevent the parliamentary committees from investigating the overwhelming evidence presented in the #GoldMafia documentary.
The evidence suggests that there is massive corruption, looting, money laundering, and the smuggling of gold by the political elites and their close allies.
The Speaker’s decision to prevent proper investigation raises serious doubts about the regime’s commitment to accountability and transparency.
We demand swift action be taken to investigate the matter to ensure that those involved in such illegal activities are brought to justice.
Mudenda told the two parliamentary committees that Parliament should allow the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), the central bank and the Police to conduct the investigations.
He said in reaching the decision, he was guided by the South African Government’s decision to task specialised agencies with investigating the gold smuggling and money laundering allegations raised in the Gold Mafia documentary.
“Gold Mafia” is a four-part investigation by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit) which exposed gold smuggling gangs in Southern Africa.
The gangs help criminals launder hundreds of millions of dollars, getting rich themselves while plundering their nations.
They use gold to turn dirty cash into clean, seemingly legitimate money for those with large amounts of unaccounted wealth.
The gangs do so by using a complex web of companies, counterfeit identities and fake documents.
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