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Farai Maguwu: Truth as a shield, an interview
Zimbabwe Watch
November 22, 2011

http://www.zimbabwewatch.org/eng/News/2011/Farai-Maguwu-Truth-as-a-shield-an-interview

During a two day meeting of the Kimberly Process civil society coalition in Brussels, Zimbabwe Watch coordinator Hugo Knoppert spoke with Farai Maguwu, the director of the Centre for Research and Development. Farai arrived in Brussels from New York, where he received the prestigious Human Rights Watch' Alison Des Forges Award which celebrates the valor of individuals who put their lives on the line to protect the dignity and rights of others.

Congratulations Farai, what does this award mean to you?

Thank you. It means a lot, it is nice to be recognized for the work you do while you are still alive. Many are honoured when they are dead. The award gives me courage, energy and strength.

2010 was a very hectic year in which you were arrested and imprisoned for five weeks, how do you look back to that period?

I don't regret it at all. It was painful, but it was a necessary pain. In the words of the great Martin Luther King: 'unearned suffering is redemptive.' The arrest was symbolic of the struggle for economic justice and respect for the rights of the Zimbabwean people. Sometimes it is necessary to suffer for doing good work than to be remembered for perpetuating human suffering.

What has happened with you since?

A lot has changed since my release. Locally we have the creation of the Local Focal Point (a group of seven Zimbabwean civil society organisations reporting to the KP), which means more organisations are now working on diamonds than before my arrest. There is now a lot of monitoring going on by many organisations, which contributed to a decline of human rights abuses in Marange.

At the same time though, there is an increase in white collar crime, there is more smuggling of diamonds than ever before. And then there is also increased surveillance around me and CRD. However an agreement was reached between Zimbabwe and the KPCS in Kinshasa early this month where Zimbabwe agreed to allow civil society to monitor the implementation of the KP minimum standards in Zimbabwe. If all parties uphold this agreement our relations with the government may change for the better.

Can you ever deal with the surveillance?

There is nothing I can do to deal with that, I can't buy a gun and shoot at people who follow me and keep surveillance at CRD. The only shield we have is the truth and the force we have within ourselves to continue our work and ensure the work is credible and is appreciated by the Zimbabwean people. We are well aware that every struggle has a price to be paid. We continue to ask ourselves hard questions about the work that we do, its implications on our lives, families and relations with the wider society. We ask ourselves whether the risk is worth taking and our answer remain in the affirmative.

Earlier this month, at a meeting which was boycotted by civil society, the Kimberley Process (KP) decided Zimbabwe was allowed to export from the controversial Marange diamond fields. How do you feel about that decision? To me the decision is a step in the right direction, a major problem that threatened the KP is now out of the way. But the challenge, and the real issue, is that of governance in Zimbabwe. Will the KP decision translate into transparent and accountable governance of Marange diamonds leading to improved revenue collection by the government of Zimbabwe or it is a blank check for the privileged to make more money for themselves? Our primary concern is poverty alleviation, not merely selling diamonds whose profits go into a bottomless pit.

So what does this then mean for Zimbabwe?

This decision means peace on the KP level, but if there is no consensus inside Zimbabwe regarding revenue flows from diamonds the deal may intensify political conflict in the country and even in the region.

Why is that?

The Minister of Mines said government will collect over 2 billion dollars annually from diamond sales. However this can only be possible if government commits itself to transparency and accountability. The shareholding structures in the 5 mining companies must be known to the public. The directorships must be known and subjected to public scrutiny. Otherwise I do not have any reason to be optimistic that the deal will lead to increased revenue flows from diamonds. There are no mechanisms in place to ensure that every diamond from Marange is accounted for. The company structures of the companies mining in Marange remain a mystery, the shareholders in those companies remain a mystery. The questions are still 'who is Anjin? Who is Mbada?' In the same manner that the exact identities of the companies are not known no one will ever know where the money goes.

What are now the main challenges around diamonds in Zimbabwe?

First and foremost, there is no national vision on how to make the diamonds work for the nation. There is no consensus between the government partners on how to adopt best practices from the diamond sector. A good example is the continued quarrel between the Minister of Mines and the Minister of Finance. (Mpofu from ZANU PF and Biti from MDC-T, ed). More critically the shareholding structures of these companies are shrouded in secrecy. The companies were registered through special grants which did not go through the normal tender procedure, meaning these are political deals with little economic significance to the nation. In one of the companies government has arrested directors and taken over 100% stake after allegations of fraud in acquiring the mining license.

This may only be a tip of an iceberg. If the investor selection was fraudulent why should we expect revenue transparency from a fraudulent deal. You cannot gather figs from a thorn tree. Make the tree good and the fruit thereof will be good as well. Government must revoke all the diamond mining licenses and restart the investor selection process so as to negotiate contracts that benefit both the country and investors.

What should the KP and wider international community do?

There is very little the KP can do, its mandate is limited. The solution of the Marange diamonds lies in Zimbabwe, not elsewhere. Until such a time that there is the political will to improve transparency and accountability the Marange diamonds remain a missed opportunity for Zimbabwe.

However, although the real solution lies in Zimbabwe, the international community should help us in our efforts to ensure the abundance of resources in Zimbabwe does not lead to a resource curse, but works to alleviate poverty and meeting the Millennium Development Goals. There are companies that are registered in developed countries that are complicit, so the international community should monitor international companies in Zimbabwe so that they do not do in Zimbabwe what they can't do at home, that is plunder resources without accounting for their activities for the benefit of the wider population. They should also engage the Zimbabwe government to increase transparency and accountability.

Finally, the international community could provide support to CRD in the form of resources or funding, as some people take our work for granted. To fight such a cause need a lot of resources to engage communities, mining companies and government for a united front towards natural resource beneficiation to the locals and maximization of profits for government and companies. It must be a win-win situation

A lot of people in the Netherlands and Europe worked hard for your release, in what ways does the work of organisations like Zimbabwe Watch help?

We work at a very local level, but we don't work in isolation. Organizations like Zimbabwe Watch help with advocacy work at the international level, they have more access to international policy makers and governments. For that reason we feel so much indebted to international organisations like Zimbabwe Watch for helping us in our advocacy work. And also for keeping watch of us, haha.

What can we expect from Farai Maguwu and CRD in 2012?

We are going to intensify our campaigns for economic justice and respect for the rule of law in Zimbabwe.

Thank you so much Farai, keep up the good work.

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