Zimbabwe's diamonds: How political will and new 'diplomacy' is still standing in the way

Zimbabwe's diamond sector remains the giant screaming elephant in the room in terms of Southern African development, because the riches quite simply have changed the face of diplomacy in the space of a few years. From being a condemnable epicentre of human rights abuses (including murder, beatings, forced labour and more) Zimbabwe's lucrative diamond fields are now the centre of diplomatic wrangling, with everyone wanting their slice of this shiny pie. 

Cynic I may be, but there is no denying that the outrage that followed the 2008 murder of hundreds of diamond panners at the hands of the Zim military (who gunned down scores of people in single rounds of gun fire from helicopters) has morphed into a tragic acceptance that this was 'collateral damage'. 

Those abuses will never be investigated. Those lost lives will never be honoured  The horrific abuses that followed (and reportedly still happen) will not receive any outcry. And you can thank the Western world for this state of affairs.

The biggest slap in the face for many Zimbabweans (and other concerned people) however will be the fact that this situation is being actively normalised, not for the sake of the millions who need the diamond riches to be utilised to improve their lives, but rather to enrich a corrupt minority. 

So moving to my latest article on the situation:

A complete overhaul of Zimbabwe’s political framework has been described as the key to unlocking the country’s true diamond potential, which remains under a cloud of corruption and suspicion.

Noted human rights defender Farai Maguwu (pictured below), who is the Director of the Centre for Natural Resource Governance, made these comments during an interview with me on Tuesday. He was explaining how the Zimbabwe Diamond Policy, adopted by the government last year, is not enough to ensure the diamond sector becomes a transparent, accountable, beneficial one.

Farai Maguwu from the Centre for Natural Resource Governance

The Centre this week released a full analysis of the Diamond Policy, stating that while the Policy is a good starting point to improve governance in Zimbabwe’s diamond, it does need revision. The Centre states in its analysis key issues remain unaddressed, namely investor identification, revenue transparency, community participation, mine closure, environmental impacts and access to information, among other things.

Maguwu said that the major problem in the sector is a result of a lack of political will, which is preventing proper governance and oversight in the industry.

“It is an issue of politics. I have always said that Marange (diamond fields) should not be seen as an island, because it is a part of Zimbabwe that is experiencing the same governance problems in every sector in the country. Unless there is a turnaround in the way we think and the way we do things politically, there won’t be the quick turnaround we need,” Maguwu said.

He added: “We need political will; we need good leaders who have the interests of citizens at heart. Not the current situation where we have unpatriotic elites who are doing things for themselves and not for the people.”

Maguwu also explained that aside from the ‘internal’ problems dogging the industry, there are also external factors.

“We have (diamond) dealers who are taking advantage of the weak political, institutional, legislation and policy framework in Zimbabwe to do underhand deals and in the process are prejudicing Zimbabwe of millions of dollars,” Maguwu explained.

He said that while the Diamond Policy is an acknowledgement by the government of the need for such a policy, there is still c critical need for revision.

“The Policy does not show that government has learned from it past mistakes … I don’t think we have addressed the fundamental problems and checks and balance in whole value chain,” Maguwu said.