THE Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) has called on government to desist from political interference when dealing with the process of consolidating diamond mining companies in the country.
BY OBEY MANAYITI
The call came amid revelations that there was poor progress being made in bringing together the mining companies.
Zela head of programmes Shamiso Mtisi said the merging of the companies should be taken as an opportunity to remedy all the ills that used to bedevil the diamond sector resulting in the government failing to get meaningful revenue from diamond proceeds.
“We encourage government officials, all of whom are politicians, to be smart enough to try and engage in smart politics that relies on making economic decisions that are not heavily influenced by political ideology that is destructive to investments and capital,” said Mtisi, who is Zimbabwe coordinator of the Kimberley Process Civic Society.
“Every investor matters whether from Asia, the Americas or Europe. We want to move forward. The mining sector will definitely thrive if our politicians realise this.”
The government has been rapped for allowing party politics to carry the day in Marange with reports implicating top officials including Cabinet ministers in massive looting of diamonds.
According to ZELA, there were many advantages that could be derived from merging diamond mining companies.
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These included operational efficiency, profitability, better management or technical skills to bear on underused assets, transparency and accountability, elimination of leakages and implementation of a uniform system that could enhance monitoring.
On the other hand, the environmental watchdog warned that if political and economic factors were not addressed the diamond industry would continue facing problems and the merger would yield to nothing.
