SECURITY loopholes have been exposed in the diamond-rich Marange area after a security guard at Chinese diamond mining company Anjin Investments was found in possession of 91 pieces of the gems on Sunday.
The guard was caught attempting to smuggle the diamonds worth thousands of dollars from the company.
Anjin spokesperson Special Matarirano confirmed the theft committed by Munyaradzi Ngomo from Nyanyadzi in Manicaland province.
Matarirano, however, said the number of pieces found in Ngomo’s possession were negligible.
“A security guard attempted to steal and our on-point and alert security system caught him. As a company we are dealing with the issue in line with the provisions of the company and national laws. However, the amount of pieces of diamond which he attempted to pilfer is far-fetched,” he said.
An insider at the company said Ngomo worked with a syndicate of Anjin workers and some security details at the company.
“l have worked with Munyaradzi Ngomo, he was once a dump loader before coming to the security department, but was arrested with 91 pieces of diamonds. He was arrested by our head of security, but it was a syndicate,” the source said.
Centre for Natural Resources Governance director Farai Maguwu said there was lack of seriousness on the part of government in handling mining revenues.
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“Most of the leakages happen because workers have learnt that no one is accountable to the nation, hence the criminality is writ large throughout the production cycle. Government should show seriousness in handling diamond revenues — accountability starts from the top. Diamond companies must review remuneration for their employees. When these two have been addressed, we need stiffer penalties for offenders — both low and high profile diamond thieves,” said Maguwu.
Centre for Research and Development director James Mupfumi said: “Illicit outflow of diamonds in Marange is systematic and well-organised. Proper investigations on these porous activities will go far because of the involvement of security arms of the State in diamond mining.”
Bocha Community Diamond Trust (BDCT) leader Moses Mukwada said: “There is a need to incentivise the workers at Anjin because we are aware that they are poorly remunerated and we will continue to encounter such problems and the security loopholes are there to stay.”
Mines minister Winston Chitando was not answering his mobile phone yesterday.
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