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‘Bigwigs plunder national resources’

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POWERFUL politicians are said to be hiding behind agents to cover their illegal involvement in shoddy mineral deals, a local anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) has revealed.

POWERFUL politicians are said to be hiding behind agents to cover their illegal involvement in shoddy mineral deals, a local anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) has revealed.

Report by Veneranda Langa

Farai Mutondoro, a researcher with TIZ told delegates attending a TIZ workshop in Harare on Monday that top military officials, politicians and influential businesspeople were the worst culprits in mineral-related corruption in Zimbabwe.

“Through political power, politicians decide natural resource allocation and who gets what and they use agents or runners who act on their behalf in shoddy mining deals,” said Mutondoro.

“Politicians form syndicates with illegal panners and work with police officers at the panning areas who then pass the proceeds to more senior police officers and the chain goes up,” he said.

Mutondoro blamed prevalence of high-level corruption on gaps in mining laws.

“The rich are also paying bribes to politicians to get mining rights.  They give sweeteners to mining officials so that instead of getting mining licences in six months, they get them within a day.

“The powerful elite are also negotiating mining rights under secrecy and that is why the shareholding structures of mining companies like Mbada and Anjin are still shrouded in secrecy,” he said.

TIZ executive director Mary Jane Ncube said corruption was most prevalent in platinum, diamond and gold mining sectors.

“Our findings are symptomatic of what is happening in the whole mining sector.  The most problematic area is procurement and the nature of contractual relationships.  It is difficult to know who is involved and as a result there are a lot of leakages,” she said.

Consultant and University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer Gideon Zhou said Parliament should ensure there was accountability and scrutinise mining contracts together with Cabinet.