The Affimative Action Group (AAG) president Phillip Chiyangwa says despite the Kimberly Process (KP) being a non-political platform, a clique of members from Western governments, have disreputably used it to advance their foreign policy agenda on Zimbabwe, almost to the extent of tarnishing and discrediting the grouping.
Chiyangwa said since the discovery of diamonds, the international community through surrogate institutions both locally and internationally has tried endlessly to block Zimbabwe’s right to trade in its diamonds.
“It is no longer a secret that even in the absence of any hard facts, the eurocentric civil society organisations in the KP have gone to extreme lengths to manufacture lies in an attempt to discredit government effort to ensure that all companies that meet the KP certification standards are given a clean bill of health to conduct their business freely,” said Chiyangwa.
“Is it not time that we too, as indigenous people of Africa come together and question the legality and morality of the military adventurism of the Western nations which comes with a huge loss of human life, apart from needlessly destroying the infrastructure of victim countries?” asked Chiyangwa.
He said the continued non-certification of some diamond mining companies impacted negatively on the economy and ordinary people.
“We demand to be given our right to use our resources in the interest of our own economy and the right for the State to exercise sovereign decision-making free of interference from the non-State actors and their sponsors.
“Our right to trade freely with other nations must not be determined by other nations except in the context of normal international conventions,” said Chiyangwa.
The AAG president said the country remained a member of the KP, but will not and should not give in to undue pressure from unelected international pressure groups.
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“AAG believes unequivocally that resources of the nation belong to the generality of the citizens of the country albeit under the auspices of a sovereign government and that no one, else, but the government of the Republic of Zimbabwe should have a final say on matters of economic resources and policies that determine their ownership and use,” he added.
