Sparkling Intrigue

- Ilan Solomons

The political elite and secu­rity forces have taken control of and secretly exploited Zimbabwe’s once promi­ sing diamond sector, while con­cealing the scale of the loss from its people, a new report from international watchdog organi­sation Global Witness reveals.

The report, titled ‘An Inside Job’, examines five of the major mining companies that recently operated in the Marange dia­mond region, in the east of the country. The report shows how companies have concealed their finances and shielded their opera­tions from public scrutiny, hiding significant stakes in these companies held by the coun­ try’s spy agency, the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), the Zimbabwe military and government itself.

Global Witness says that this raises con­cerns that diamond money is secretly financ­ ing institutions responsible for oppressing the Zimbabwe people.

Alongside the report, Global Witness has released a never­before­shared map, finally revealing the details of company concessions in Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond fields. It has also produced a short film featuring members of local communities describing the impacts of Marange diamonds on their lives.

The organisation contends that “very lit­tle” of Zimbabwe’s diamond wealth has bene­fited ordinary people. It notes that, since 2010, Zimbabwe has officially exported about $2.5­billion worth of diamonds, according to official figures from the Kimberley Process. Limited available government reports show only around $300­million of this can clearly be identified in public accounts.