Elements of these highly politicised state institutions have been repeatedly implicated in widespread human rights violations perpetrated against perceived critics of the Zimbabwean government aimed at silencing dissent. There is a risk that off-budget funding of the security sector from diamond revenues could be used to finance violence in any future election.
The report also reveals that a 25% stake in another Marange diamond firm, Mbada, has been given to a company linked with a man widely reported to be President Mugabe’s former personal pilot. The company has an opaque company structure based in tax havens.
The report recommends that the Zimbabwean Government should:
- Pass legislation that bans serving members in Zimbabwe’s security sector
from exerting any control over mining companies – including being the
beneficial owners of subsidiaries of companies operating in the country’s
sector.
- Immediately audit every concession granted so far in
Marange and publish details of the beneficial owners of Mbada and Anjin.
