Lose-lose cooperation?

Zimbabwe: Who wins and who loses in the rush for diamonds?

By Farai Shawn Matiashe

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Posted on March 11, 2021 20:18

Tawanda Mufute_ ATRDT secretary inspects one of the dilapidated four-roomed houses built by Anjin in ARDA Transau (Farai Tawanda Mufute, ATRDT secretary, inspects one of the dilapidated four-roomed houses built by Anjin in ARDA Transau. ©
Farai Shawn Matiashe
Tawanda Mufute, ATRDT secretary, inspects one of the dilapidated four-roomed houses built by Anjin in ARDA Transau. © Farai Shawn Matiashe

The list of hardships and suffering linked to Zimbabwe’s diamond mines is growing longer by the day.

Since diamonds were discovered in the Marange fields in 2001, non-governmental organisations have been looking into abuse and dodgy dealings:

The Marange diamond fields are in Chiadzwa, Mutare District, in eastern Zimbabwe. Thousands of people have been displaced to make way for mining operations.

Chinese mining companies and the Harare government made big promises to the displaced people, and their hopes are fading, with people saying they were duped to move out of their ancestral lands.

When Zimbabwean villagers from Chiadzwa were relocated to Agricultural Rural Development Authority (ARDA) Transau, a state-owned farm in Odzi, about 40km from Mutare, to pave way for diamond mining, they were promised better life by both the government and several Chinese mining companies.

The government

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