Minister’s involvement quizzed

receives letter from Gem Diamonds. Are you aware of that?” Adv Uri asked.
Mr Masimirembwa said there was nothing sinister for the minister to communicate directly with potential investors. He said Gem Diamonds, an interested diamond investor, wrote directly to Minister Mpofu.
“We are begging to see a trend where first point of contact is the Min­ister,” Adv Uriri said.
Adv Uriri questioned why Minister Mpofu sought to engage BSGR group, a potential investor at a shareholder level when there was no agreement signed yet with the investor.
Mr Masimirembwa said the Minis­ter’s letter was only saying that while negotiations were continuing between BSGR and ZMDC “let us understand each other’s shareholder perspective. Obviously this is being done in contem­plation”.
Adv Uriri accused Mr Masimirem­bwa of speaking on behalf of Minister Mpofu as there was nowhere in the let­ter written “contemplation”.
Adv Uriri said Mubaiwa as ZMDC chief executive, in a letter dated May 15, 2009, advised Minister Mpofu that BSRG remained anonymous for politi­cal reasons as it will create diffi­culties in dealing with a shelf com­pany whose principals were not known.
Adv Uriri said the letter by Mubaiwa had an attachment of the selection of the ZMDC’s joint venture partners for Marange Resources and he advised Minister Mpofu on the signing of a non-disclosure agreement between ZMDC and BSGR.
The letter, Adv Uriri said, advised the Minister on the due diligence at Marange Resources.
He submitted that the decisions made by his client were not his own as an individual but by ZMDC manage­ment. Adv Uriri accused Mr Masimirembwa of failing to produce all the documents that vindicates his client while giving his evidence in           chief.
“It was one of the documents that you recovered but you did not pro­duce it in your direct evidence,” Adv Uriri said referring to a letter dated May 22, 2009 by Mubaiwa.
Mr Masimirembwa said there was nothing sinister.
The trial continues on May 8.