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Civil society walks out on Mines Minister Mpofu
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
November 21, 2012

The Kimberly Process (KP) Civil Society Coalition in Zimbabwe walked out of a breakfast meeting organised by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development at Rainbow Towers, today, 21 November 2012. The breakfast meeting which was meant to review the Diamond Conference held in Victoria Falls , on the 12th and 13th of November 2012, turned sour when the Minister of Mines, Dr Obert Mpofu criticised Civil Society organisations for working against the interests of Zimbabwe . This did not go down well with the civil society representatives who left the venue without having shared their thoughts with other delegates.

During the meeting, which was attended by Captains of the Mining Industry, Government officials and Civil Society Organisation, Minister Mpofu went into overdrive, departing from his prepared speech to call Civil Society all sorts of demeaning expletives.

"It is unfortunate that we still have retrogressive detractors in our midst in the name of civil society. These CSOs continue to represent imperialist interests and are bent on reversing the gains we have made as a country in uplifting the lives of our people through Diamond revenue beneficiation and value addition", bellowed Minister Mpofu

Min. Mpofu boasted that Zimbabwe had "over complied" with the KP Minimum conditions on trading in Diamonds and as such his Ministry would not tolerate any mischief from "unruly elements" such as Civil Society. In an overt threat with unspecified action, Minister Mpofu said that;

"As we go to South Africa next year where all the conditions which were imposed on Zimbabwe at The Kinshasa Kimberley Process (KP) Plenary are going to be scrapped, let me warn our colleagues in Civil society that if you do not want to work with us, then we will go it alone and we will be very hard on you. We will not continue to tolerate a bunch of individuals masquerading as representatives of the people trembling on our efforts and gains",

Attorney General, Johannes Tomana, who has always shown his disdain for Civil Society and other societal grouping which oppose his self-professed party, ZANU PF, took to the podium and began singing from the same Hymn Book, amplifying the Ministers unwarranted statements. Tomana threatened to unleash law enforcement agents to arrest and prosecute all those "who work against the interests of the country and collaborate with enemies."

Mr Shamiso Mtisi, an Environmental Lawyer with the Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers Association (ZELA), who was part of the Civil Society delegation told the Crisis Report Team that the statements by the Attorney General are a cause for concern and should not be taken lightly.

"The statements by The Attorney General are a clear barometer of what might happen to Human rights Defenders in Zimbabwe as we move towards the KP Plenary in USA, referendum and elections. There is a likelihood that human rights defenders will be arrested arbitrarily just to instil fear and cause panic within the country", Mtisi stated.

The Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO), Dr Cephas Zinhumwe bemoaned the deteriorating relations between the Ministry of Mines and KP Civil Society Coalition.

"We were beginning to interrelate and work towards the creation of pillars of trust and engagement, but what happened today only shows that the relationship has irretrievably broken down and we blame the Minister. There is now serious mudslinging and instead of engaging freely the Minister wants us to wash his feet and hero- worship him. As Civil society we continue to call a spade, a spade, come rain or thunder. That is our mandate", lamented a concerned Dr Zinhumwe.

Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Spokesperson, Mr Thabani Nyoni, also commented on Minister Mpofu's statements saying this is not new and reflects the position of ZANU PF and other elitists.

"The Minister's comments are consistent with ZANU PF's two pronged strategy of either creating proxy NGOs that mimic the position and interests of a vampire state or to simply delegitimize genuine and progressive Civil society which is autonomous, non partisan and reflective of the interest of the masses", said Crisis Spokesperson.

The Crisis Spokesperson challenged the Minister's assertions of progress attained from diamond revenue, saying that the progress could be seen where the Minister was concerned through his very public profligate spending real estate shopping sprees, but the claim could hardly be supported were ordinary Zimbabweans are concerned. Mr Thabani Nyoni said that civil society would not be moved by diatribes and threats and would continue to execute its mandate.

"As Civil society we have seen and experienced the worst from state repression and no amount of intimidation or threats can change our commitment to the people of Zimbabwe especially where the government abdicates its responsibility and continuously serve interests of just the elite" Nyoni added.

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