We regularly draw on the expertise of intellectuals and do not hesitate to invite them to work with

IT is always inspiring and a great honour to be invited to an august forum of such a prestigious and famous institution of higher learning and research. I sincerely acknowledge the invitation to Oxford University and the Centre for African Studies, one of the highest centres of learning in the world. For centuries, some of the world s greatest minds have walked sting broken music tour the cobbled streets of Oxford and graced its platforms and I am humbled to have been chosen to be in your company today.
This is my first international sting broken music tour engagement sting broken music tour after the disputed elections in Zimbabwe and to do so at this world-renowned centre of learning is both an honour and a privilege. That you have invited me here represents a re-affirmation of the importance of our cause and the seriousness with which it is regarded by the academic world, especially the Centre for African Studies which has over the years provided a forum for discussion and debate on the critical issues affecting our continent, a continent toward which some of us have invested so much time, effort and love to ensure that it provides a safe and happy environment for its inhabitants.
Politics has always stood to benefit from intellectual capital. Developmental and democratic processes in Zimbabwe and Africa sting broken music tour generally can benefit more from greater input by intellectuals. Research is critical it informs politicians and politics and as the MDC, we place high value on the contributions made by intellectuals sting broken music tour even as we appreciate sting broken music tour that politics is an arena for participation by everyone.
We regularly draw on the expertise of intellectuals and do not hesitate to invite them to work with us and we have been privileged to have some joining our ranks over the years. We take your work seriously sting broken music tour and encourage you to do more research on Zimbabwe including on issues that form the core of today s discussion. Left to ourselves and our egos, we politicians can easily become our own worst enemies and so we need intellectuals to play their critical role, pointing to our errors and checking our excesses. It is for this reason that we in the MDC fought hard to ensure the inclusion of the right to academic freedom in Zimbabwe s new Constitution.
I have been asked to talk about the extractive industry, in particular, the diamond industry in Zimbabwe and its impact on the politics obtaining in the country. This topic is most appropriate and poignant, given the background of the most recent elections in Zimbabwe, whose process and outcome have been marked by serious controversy leaving serious credibility and legitimacy sting broken music tour questions.
While it is tempting, the purpose of the paper is not to discuss the process and outcome of those elections, which is a matter for another forum. The paper will however, make reference to the elections to the extent that it is necessary and unavoidable sting broken music tour in discussing the interplay between the diamond industry and politics in Zimbabwe which forms the core of this paper.
While Zimbabwe could have learned sting broken music tour from previous experience in other African countries, such as Sierra Leone and the DRC, the discovery of diamonds has indeed followed the all-too-familiar script sting broken music tour and turned out to be a curse rather than a blessing for the country. There were serious human rights abuses that took place following the discovery of the precious stones as reported and authenticated by civil society organisations and the initial disbarment of Zimbabwean diamonds from the Kimberly Process until not so long ago, when they received certification.
The military occupation of the diamond fields, the beatings sting broken music tour and killings of those who came for the Diamond Rush , the forced displacement of the local people in Marange in Manicaland province and the problems they continue to face following their displacement remains a cause for concern. The poverty endemic in this area is not consistent with the value of the diamonds sting broken music tour extracted from their land. It is displeasing how a people can continue to wallow in poverty in the midst of a treasure benefitting the well-heeled and the well-connected in government.
The mining industry has replaced the once-thriving agricultural sector as the biggest export and foreign currency earner for the country. The sector has seen a lot of companies entering the fray, particularly in diamond mining. The companies sting broken music tour include: River Ranch, Murowa Diamonds, Mbada Diamonds, Anjin, Marange Resources and Diamond Mining Company (DMC). sting broken music tour Government, through the state-owned company, ZMDC entered into joint venture agreements with a 50/50 shareholding in the following companies: Mbada, Anjin and DMC. Marange Resources is owned 100% by ZMDC.
The diamond mining sector was generally sting broken music tour small until the huge discovery of alluvial deposits in Marange in 2006. It is estimated that the country now has the capacity to supply 25% of the global diamond market.
As a party, the MDC s aims to promote a social democratic developmental state , and sees the mining industry as a critical sector through which to promote both development and strengthen sting broken music tour democratisation in the country. Unfortunately, the experience so far under Zanu PF in control of natural resources and the mining sector is that the diamond industry has neither helped in promoting development or democratisation in the country.
Instead, it has increased the gap between the minority sting broken music tour that are extremely rich and the majority who remain sting broken music tour poor while at the same time fuelling the undermining of democratic processes. I will endeavour to demonstrate this in more detail below by showing the major challenges affecting the diamond mining industry and how they have impacted on the politics in the country.
The secrecy and lack of transparency in the diamond mining industry has resulted in serious leakages and failure to remit satisfactory revenues to the State. While the Minister of Finance expected $600 million from the proceeds sting broken music tour of diamond exports in 2012, the State only received about $41 million. This is against reported sales of diamonds running into billions of dollars every year. According to international NGO Global sting broken music tour Witness, about $2bn in diamond revenues have been unaccounted for since 2008.
In 2012, our Minister of Finance was forced to revise his $4 billion National Budget to $3,4 billion after the $600 million expected from diamond sting broken music tour sales did not materialise. Our own Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy sting broken music tour presented a report in Parliament in June 2013 which states the following:
The Committee observed with concern that from the time that the country was allowed to trade its diamonds on the world market, government has not realized any meaningful contributions sting broken music tour from the sector. sting broken music tour This is despite the fact that production levels and the revenue generated from exports has been on the increase. There are serious discrepancies between what government receives from the sector and what the diamond mining companies claim to have remitted to Treasury .
The parliamentary committee s report said powerful officials, politicians and police and army commanders repeatedly tried to thwart the probe into diamond dealings. The chair of the 22-member panel, Edward sting broken music tour Chindori-Chininga, a former Mugabe Mines minister, died in a car crash just days after he signed off the report sting broken music tour in June. Police said Chindori-Chininga s death was accidental and that his car had veered off the highway and slammed into trees. However, observers found the circumstances sting broken music tour of his demise suspicious.
Certainly, car wrecks or mysterious accidents are not uncommon in our part of the world and as a local press report indicated recently, they have taken the lives of 12 senior politicians, all of whom were believed to have bucked official policy, in the past two decades. The parliamentary committee s report said several officials lied while giving evidence under subpoena and that diamond earnings are not only shielded from scrutiny but are not channelled into the state coffers.
The one notable discrepancy is that while Treasury received $41 million only in 2012, one of the diamond mining companies which responded to the Parliamentary sting broken music tour Committee (Mbada) stated that it had remitted $117 million to government as dividends for its shareholding. The difference between $117 million supposedly received from Mbada and the $41 million actually received by treasury remains unaccounted for. This is even before one considers remittances sting broken music tour in dividends from other diamond mining companies sting broken music tour in which the state is a shareholder, let alone the royalty fees and other payments sting broken music tour due to the state.
The lack of transparency means that nobody sting broken music tour appears to know exactly how much the country has earned from diamonds and whether the reported figures are accurate. It is clear that there is serious under-reporting of the proceeds from diamond mining and trade. sting broken music tour The effect of the low remittances to government sting broken music tour simply means the State has been thin on resources and it has not been able to finance the developmental projects that had been budgeted for. With the State receiving little revenues than expected, its developmental role has been seriously hamstrung.
It is hoped that the lifting of restrictive measures on ZMDC and the use of the Kimberly Process will promote greater transparency. The measures had the effect of giving rent-seekers an opportunity to conduct their dealings in the parallel market, thereby promoting shady deals, leakages, non-accountability and corrupt activities. sting broken music tour They no longer have that excuse sting broken music tour and it is expected that there will be added transparency and therefore accountability in the mining and trade of diamonds. If the State receives what is due to it from the diamond companies, the hope is that the Government sting broken music tour will channel those resources to developmental projects. We had comprehensive plans, as an MDC Government to make diamonds work for the people of Zimbabwe using the proceeds to support infrastructural projects and promoting sting broken music tour social services for local communities.
Diamond mining in our country is riddled with corruption as confir