The Sunday Mail
Chief Reporter
Government will take as yet unspecified action against three mining houses that have allegedly refused to co-operate with auditors probing the reported disappearance of revenue generated from the Chiadzwa diamond fields.Anjin, Jinan and Mbada have reportedly stalled completion of the audit that was supposed to have been completed in September 2016 by refusing to divulge vital information. Secretary for Mines and Mining Development Professor Francis Gudyanga last week told The Sunday Mail that, “Our issue is still with the three mining companies, Anjin, Jinan and Mbada. They have continued to refuse to co-operate with the auditors, which is very unfortunate.
“We are now considering taking action against these companies. At the moment I am not at liberty to say what we are going to do but we have been left with no choice but to take action.”
The Mines Ministry tasked the Auditor-General’s Office to commission an audit into alleged looting of diamond revenues following concerns raised by President Mugabe that billions of US dollars may have been lost to opaque operations. Auditor-General Ms Mildred Chiri tasked private auditing firms, including PriceWaterhouseCoopers, to probe diamond firms operating in Chiadzwa. The auditors were given a September deadline.
Ms Chiri last week said, “We nominated auditors to carry out their work, but they have informed us that some of the companies are failing to comply. We have now left the issue at the hands of the Ministry.” However, Anjin director Mr Munyaradzi Machacha questioned the legality of the audit.
“An audit of that nature is something that our board has agreed to. Up to now, there has not been official communication to our board because we have only been reading about the audit in the newspapers. “We are a private company so I do not understand how Government can order an audit into a private company and by-pass the board which should approve such a decision,” he said.
An official from Anjin who asked not to be named accused the Mines Ministry of “persecution”.
“We are not refusing to comply with the audit but what they are doing has all the hallmarks of a persecution. Firstly they ordered us out, and we are contesting that in court, but now, we have a scenario where on one hand they are trying to evict us in court but on the other hand they are seeking to audit the very operations which they are attempting to evict us from,” said the official.
“We have reservations with the way the ministry has handled this matter from the moment when the issue of the so-called US$15 billion was raised.”
A Jinan official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, questioned how Government – which was involved in diamond mining in Chiadzwa – could also be a complainant.
Government had a 50 percent share in all diamond mining companies in Chiadzwa through the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation. Government this year ordered all miners out of the fields to pave way for creation of the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company. Anjin, Jinan and Mbada are contesting that in court.
