Diamond delegation jets in

Process Certification Scheme chairperson Mr Martin Kabuelulu is in Zimbabwe to get firsthand information on diamond mining in Marange.
The visit is in preparation for an ADPA Heads of State Summit to principally deal with the Zimbabwe issue.
The delegation met Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu in Harare yesterday.
It includes South Africa’s Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu, Namibia’s Mines and Energy Minister Mr Isak Katali and Guinea’s Mines and Geology Minister Mohamed Lamine Fofana.
Sierra Leone’s Deputy Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources Mr Abdul Ignosi Koroma and senior Government officials from Ghana and Angola are also part of the delegation that will visit the Chiadzwa diamond fields.
The visit comes about a month after the association held an Extraordinary Council of Ministers meeting in Cape Town, South Africa.
“The ministers deemed it relevant to organise an ADPA Heads of State Summit which would principally deal with the Zimbabwe issue as an initial step before moving the matter to the African Union Heads of State,” Minister Mpofu said.
He said Zimbabwe was “extremely overwhelmed by the collective spirit demonstrated by ADPA”.
Minister Mpofu thanked KP chairperson Mr Kabuelulu for giving Zimbabwe the greenlight to export diamonds from Marange.
“The KP chair, after noticing dormancy in the KP institution, and in his attempt to break the stalemate, circulated a notice spelling a new dimension which Zimbabwe has accepted as the only measure appropriate to the current situation,” he said.
The notice authorises immediate diamond exports and calls for finality on the matter.
“Our view is that the chair’s intervention must be supported for initiating measures which restore the fundamental principles of the KP with regard to respect of equality, mutual benefits and consensus.
“Our anticipation is that ADPA is now well placed to spearhead an African agenda which would place Africa in a much stronger bargaining position than before,” Minister Mpofu said.
He said Zimbabwe continued to enhance its KP compliance, particularly with regards to Marange.
ADPA chair Mrs Shabangu yesterday said: “As ADPA we believe Zimbabwe has complied with the KPCS.
“Zimbabwe’s struggle is our struggle as Africans,” said Mrs Shabangu.
She said Africa produces 60 percent of world diamonds and the continent was losing patience with a system that undermined this position.
“So the Zimbabwe situation is a test for the rest of Africa; it is a test about how strong and united we are as Africans.”