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Country continues to bleed while battle for Chiadzwa intensifies
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
February 19, 2010

The mystery surrounding the Chiadzwa diamonds continues to deepen with the latest shocker being the alleged blockage of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines' visit to the fields for investigations.

If these press reports are anything to go by, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions now firmly believes that certain elite people have been exploiting the diamonds for self-enrichment at the expense of the economy. The ZCTU is puzzled as to why the Committee has been barred from the fields if certain powerful people had nothing to hide. People's suspicions were long raised and the barring of this visit confirms the worst. Zimbabweans are still smarting from revelations that an airstrip had been constructed to airlift the diamonds directly from Chiadzwa. By who and for whose benefit, is the question that comes to one's mind.

The ZCTU sees the diamond issue as a straight forward matter that should not be causing all this hullabaloo. Calls have been made from all corners of this country for the diamonds matter to be probed and measures put in place, that will see the proceeds from the sales benefitting the country. If government is serious about getting to the bottom of the Chiadzwa pandemonium, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines should be allowed to visit the fields and get on with their work. Only then, maybe, will we be able to get answers to all our questions.

The ZCTU is advocating for a fully fledged investigation into the chaos that has surrounded Chiadzwa over the past years resulting in the deaths of hundreds of innocent Zimbabweans. It would seem those in authority want to continue to 'dip their fingers into the cookie jar' and block any form of inquiry into the happenings at Chiadzwa. Those responsible for the mess must be brought to book because the country cannot continue being held to ransom by a few fat cats who are bent on continuing to line their pockets. Let the diamonds be mined and sold in a transparent manner that will benefit the country. We have enough resources to pull us out of this economic mess we are in

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