Govt pay rise: Ball in Biti’s court

million this year alone, sources have revealed.
This follows claims attributed to Mi-nister Biti in the local private media that diamond dividends are not flowing into the national fiscus.
Documents in The Herald’s posse-ssion show that Treasury will benefit from at least US$174 million in diamond sales for January to February 7 alone.
Some of the money is already in the Government account and the rest will soon be there.
The funds are from sales by Mbada Diamonds and Marange Resources (formerly Canadile Miners).
A dividend amounting to US$85 685 491,01 has been realised while the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe has generated US$31 335 235,48 in royalties.
A sum of US$41 370 740,61 has been raised through the Zimbabwe Reve-nue Authority as corporate tax, and US$2 823 809,73 in management fees.
A further US$10 019 071,43 has co-me from withholding taxes, VAT on management fees stands at US$2 488 328,24 and VAT on MMCZ’s commission is US$411 474,15.
This amounts to US$174 223 814,88.
In an interview yesterday, Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation chairman Mr Godwills Ma-simirembwa indicated that US$76 million would be paid to Treasury in a fortnight.
Sources also indicated that Minister Biti was trying to force the Mines and Mining Development Corporation into revealing how Zimbabwe sells its diamonds, which could result in the contracted foreign firms being slapped with Western sanctions.
“Biti started making a lot of noise about diamond money just as the European Union is getting ready to extend sanctions on Zimbabwe.
“What the West wants is for us to reveal how the money is moving so that the sanctions can be extended to the firms we deal with.
“This will have a net result of cutting off the money supply to Treasury and civil servants will thus not get the pay rises that are due to them,” the Government source said.
He added that he was not aware if Minister Biti knew the implications of revealing to the West how Zimbabwe was evading the sanctions.
However, recent revelations by whi-stle-blower website WikiLeaks claim Minister Biti has in the past been actively consulted by the EU when the bloc structured its sanctions regime.
The source conjectured that cutting off diamond money could result in some elements using workers’ dire straits as a platform to try and launch civil disobedience.
“Biti’s role in this is subject to conjecture but it would not be wise for Zimbabwe to let the West further squeeze this source of livelihood.
“What I know is that Minister Biti will soon have no excuse not to give civil servants money as President Mugabe has already indicated.”
ZMDC chair Mr Masimirembwa yesterday said the illegal sanctions invited on Zimbabwe by MDC-T were impacting negatively on mining operations.
“We are working under very difficult circumstances because ZMDC, MMCZ and their subsidiaries are all under the US and EU sanctions which were invited by the MDC-T.
“Our view is that the Minister of Finance should agitate for the immediate lifting of the illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.
“The illegal sanctions are impacting negatively on the flow of income from proceeds of diamond sales to MMCZ and ZMDC.”
Minister Biti, he said, should stop politicking on the money Treasury had already received.
“Had it not for the illegal sanctions we would have by now remitted US$250 million but we have only remitted US$174 million because the balance of US$76 million from our customers is taking a longtime to come in our coffers.
“Without sanctions, payment for the diamonds is made within 48 hours,” Mr Masimirembwa said.
He explained: “A direct telegraphic transfer of the said money (US$76 million) or any proceeds of diamond sales to the MMCZ, the ZMDC and their subsidiaries will automatically be blocked and confiscated by the office of Foreign Assets Control of the US (which oversees implementation of Washington’s sanctions).
“That is their instrument for implementing illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe to ensure we do not receive payments.”
Mr Masimirembwa said this showed that the embargo was clearly not targeted on individuals.