Locals must derive maximum benefit from diamond mining

now up there among the major producers of diamonds in the world.
Western nations sought to use the brief spell of unregulated mining activity in the Marange diamond fields to discredit a whole industry at its infancy after they were shaken by the sheer potential of the diamond fields and the impact that revenue from mining the gems would have on their sanctions against the country.
Zimbabwe painfully trudged along the thoroughfare, leading up to normal mining and later approved trading in spite of all the obstacles that were thrown in its way, with powerful nations seeking to subvert the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme procedures in order to blacklist diamonds from Zimbabwe to ensure the country would not benefit from their exploitation.
The same KPCS has now given a thumbs up to Zimbabwe’s diamond mining saying it had now reached international standards and that it could be used as a model operation.
KPCS monitor Mr Abbey Chikane has endorsed Zimbabwe’s diamond industry whose growth he superintended, saying diamond mining had evolved in the past few years in the country.
Anjin, Diamond Mining Corporation, Marange Resources and Mbada Diamonds are the four companies that are mining diamonds in Chiadzwa in eastern Zimbabwe.
It is the work of these companies and the regulatory framework that brought them into existence, that deserves plaudits.
“As the country Kimberley Process monitor, I have been witnessing tremendous change and improvement in the mining landscape in the country. Today, all diamond mines in Zimbabwe have reached international standards and stand as a model for many diamond producing countries,” said Mr Chikane.
Celebrating our achievements in as far as diamond mining is concerned is very much in order though we should never lose sight of the overall national objective in resource exploitation.
The four companies in Chiadzwa are joint ventures with State-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation and since commencement of mining, there has been a huge expectation from Zimbabweans that the gems would change lives through the multi-millions they would bring into the economy.
It is our hope that the international standards mining operations translate our people’s livelihoods to those of international standards.
Our call is that money from diamonds should be handled well and be used for the benefit of our people especially in this situation whereby the Government is heavily involved in the mining of the mineral. 
We may have shamed our detractors by peacefully mining the diamonds and establishing a whole diamond industry that now rivals long established firms overseas but we need to also uplift our people through prudent deployment of proceeds from the mining operations so that international endorsement of our mining  practices  does not sound hollow to our expectant potential beneficiaries.
The entire progressive world is behind us in the exploitation and sale of our diamonds and has stood by us at international fora where Zimbabwe’s diamonds come up for discussion.
But it is only when our people derive maximum benefit from their resources, in this case the diamonds, that we can rightly lay claim to being a model for many countries.