The Sunday Mail
An intriguing battle pitting Western machinations against progressive forces is expected at the Kimberly Process intercessional meeting starting in Luanda, Angola tomorrow.
Zimbabwe will back the United Arab Emirates’ bid to land the KP vice-chairmanship ahead of Australia, which guarantees leadership of the body come 2016.
Westerners have already begun playing dirty by claiming that the UAE, which trades gems extensively with Zimbabwe, is a conduit of illegal diamond deals.
Harare will be represented by a delegation led by Mines and Mining Development Minister Walter Chidhakwa.
Resource Exploitation Watch chair Mr Tafadzwa Musarara said: “There are going to be serious clashes because the West is on a mission to sponsor issues that fall outside the mandate of the KP. Collusion to that effect has already begun. This has seen Western-aligned groups coming up with allegations of money laundering, among others.
“This matter, in normal circumstances, should be tackled by the United Nations, but it is being smuggled into the KP with the aim of demeaning the UAE. You will see that other issues like the so-called human rights abuses will be brought to the fore to target countries such as Zimbabwe.”
Zimbabwe’s legal expert on the KP, Mr Farai Mutamangira, added: “The Western machinations are likely to continue. Within the framework of KP rules and procedures, there is nothing that will put Zimbabwe in the dock. Western countries will be supporting Australia, but the majority of African countries and Russia and China will back the UAE.
“On the other hand, you will have your usual suspects such as the United States and Canada backing Australia. It is a typical fight that usually plays out on the geopolitical front. Of course, Zimbabwe will stick to its principles and support the UAE so as to defeat Western conspiracies.”
The US government has over the past weeks been on a crusade to create an impression that Zimbabwe is in a crisis of 2007/8 proportions to impede the country’s participation at the Luanda meeting.
The strategy began with the Americans trying to discredit diamonds from Chiadzwa and then shifted to general governance, with opposition elements being used to chant the “crisis” mantra.
In May 2015, Washington dispatched its deputy assistant secretary of state (African affairs) Shannon Smith under the guise of seeking re-engagement with Harare.
Smith, however, compiled and presented an adverse report on prospects of Zimbabwe-US re-engagement upon her return to Washington.
In its “Fiscal Transparency Report 2015” released last week, the US government also alleged lack of transparency in Zimbabwe’s diamond industry.
These are the same tactics the US and its allies have in recent years tried to employ to block Zimbabwe from trading in diamonds.
