Diamonds are forever, and for Zimbabweans

Robyn Curnow (RC) caught up with chairman of the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) Mr Godwills Masimirembwa (GM) to discuss various issues pertaining to diamond mining in Zimbabwe
RC: What is your current capacity? How many diamonds are you seeing coming out of Marange every month?
GM: Well every month, Marange Resources which is one of the companies owned wholly by us increased its capacity by commissioning a new processing plant and also we have a new joint venture which came in recently Diamond Mining Corporation (DMC). We expect between 1,5 and 2 million carats per month.

RC: Per month! That is a staggering amount of diamonds.
GM: Well it is a staggering amount of diamonds because we have a staggering rich resource in terms of quantity.
RC: There is criticism that the resource and all the revenue is not going to the fiscus?
GM: Nothing can be further from the truth. First of all there is a misconception that every cent that is generated there has to go to the fiscus. We are in joint partnerships, which means of course there is ratio, which means out of the revenue we have to meet operational costs, your working capital requirements, you then have to share the profits that remain on a 50/50 basis.
So if we sold for example in a month and realised US$100 million it does not mean that the US$100 million goes to Government. You have got to deduct money for working capital, then you share the profits.

RC: Absolutely that is the way business works but the Finance Ministry and Human Rights groups are concerned that somehow that money is being channelled particularly into the coffers of Zanu-PF.
GM: You know these are baseless concerns. There is absolutely no reason for making those allegations. Firstly diamonds are sold we have various arms of government in there. The Ministry of Finance is represented by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, so they know after each auction how much they have realised.
Secondly, we have the Minerals Unit which is a section of the police represented there. Then we have the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe, then we have the mining companies themselves. All these people could not be conniving when they have to account at the end of the day. You must also realise that ZMDC is a parastatal accountable to Parliament through the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development. But more critical the Ministry of Finance that you mentioned is represented by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority.
RC: The issue of military personnel, retired currently working there and intricately involved.
GM: First of all we are saying the ZNA, all our security services, they are part of the Zimbabwean society. I will give you for example, probably every diplomat who is posted by any country is either from the military or intelligence, retired or so. When you look at the Marange diamond fields, they are very sensitive for us. They represent a critical national resource for us. Involvement is with national interest.
RC: You do not feel there is conflict of interest. Many human rights groups feel that having sitting generals intimately involved particularly in the security apparatus is problematic
GM: I do not know where the problem is particularly with human rights. These are mining houses, mining companies which are operating within the provisions of the law.
So people that are operating are people that are lawfully in these operations. If I read the concerns of the human rights groups they talk about human rights abuses. But there is nothing of that sort.
If indeed there was that problem we would not get KPCS Certification. If there are any security personnel within those areas, they are in the area where mining is taking place, where no one is supposed to be there unless you have a lawful right to be in there. So if you are a diamond smuggler for example you will have a problem with law enforcement agents.
RC: The concern is that the military is still aligned to Zanu-PF and there are worries that diamond proceeds are being channelled to security apparatus which means there is still partisan access to off budget revenue?
GM: That is not true, like I indicated to you the people involved in diamond mining are handled through a transparent process from the mining itself, processing, safety of the diamonds to the market place. The allegations that the security forces are aligned to Zanu-PF is just a dream.
How are they aligned if they are the security forces of Zimbabwe with the responsibility of protecting the sovereignty of Zimbabwe? We are here today in the inclusive Government; they protect every Minister either from Zanu-PF or MDC or for any party for that matter. When you talk of our security forces they are probably one of the best in Africa. They have been utilised by the United Nations.
Why would UN utilise a partisan force which just protects the interests of Zanu-PF? Our police force has been doing UN duties all over the world. One of the top in terms of quality and efficiency in the world. The allegations of them of being partisan is without foundation, without basis.
RC: The other criticism by international observers is the construction of these companies. They are very secretive and they are opaque. For example Transfrontier, who are the beneficiaries? 
GM: Lets deal with opaqueness, if you look in the history of mining in Zimbabwe you will realise that prior to this structure that we have at Marange the people of Zimbabwe never benefited from their resources other than through royalties and taxes.
So you take a big mining house like Zimplats for example, which has revenue of probably a billion every year. You ask yourself how that money benefits the people of Zimbabwe.
Most of it is banked in offshore accounts outside Zimbabwe thereby creating liquidity problems in our country. All the profits are taken to the shareholders of those companies.
The policy that we are implementing is that the Government of Zimbabwe through ZMDC or other agencies has a 50 percent holding. So, we now not only get the royalties and taxes but the people of Zimbabwe get a 50 percent share of the profits.
Nothing can be more transparent, nothing can be more beneficial. Our enemies want to track the movement of goods and of the diamonds. What we are saying is that the irresponsible behaviour of the Americans leads to this opaqueness, if you want to call it that.
They have a right to enter into joint ventures with us and to mine diamonds because we have not done anything wrong. You do not want to be transparent in order to destroy you. Be transparent and be destroyed? Of course not!
RC: So it’s self-preservation?
GM: Precisely, but what we are saying with respect to our sharing of the profits. It is handled transparently. The carats that we sold and the value that is realised, it is not a secret. The Ministry of Finance that you referred to is ably represented by the revenue authority in this entire process.
RC: Final question, just to go back to the sensitive subject in many people’s opinion of the sitting military personnel intimately involved in the operations of Marange. Can you confirm for me who is on some of these boards?
GM: Some of these are matters of national interests. I don’t think anywhere in the world you would be told everything because you want to be transparent. There would never be national security and there would never be national interests. I would ask you. If you went to get all the information about Guantanamo Bay, would the Americans tell you, they wouldn’t.
RC: So do you consider Marange your Guantanamo Bay?
GM: No, not at all, I’m saying when you deal with sensitive issue particularly against the background of sanctions for instance, if you look at the sensitivity of that area and the attack on Zimbabwe on the assumption that everything that goes there is for the benefit of Zanu-PF, it is obviously important that we protect the national interests by simply not being careless with such information. Even every country in the world where diamonds are mined you can’t just get easy access. You can’t just go there, it’s highly secretive, it’s highly sensitive, in any country in the world. 
RC: Is there anything else that you want to say specifically on why you let us in now. What is the message that you want to give?
GM: No! no! We have never denied you. We have never denied CNN. We have always been open but within the confines of national security interests. It is important that when we talk of transparency, we should always contextualise it. But we must not sacrifice the national interest because there are enemies out there. You say it yourself, there are people out there without facts, who say that whole project is for the benefit of Zanu-PF but without acknowledging that last year, US$300 million went into the coffers.
There is no mining house in this country which can boast that it gave the Ministry of Finance US$300 million.
That is the transparency that gave him the confidence to budget US$640 million more than double what we gave him last year and indeed, we are more than determined to give him despite the difficult operating environment in which the Americans are attacking us unjustifiably.