Committee to probe missing Marange diamonds

Several senior Zimbabwean Government officials have been summoned by the Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy over missing diamond revenue. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, former President Robert Mugabe sparked the probe in 2015 by announcing that $15bn of diamonds were illegally removed from the Marange, mine fields which were the site of a bloody military clampdown in 2008. NewsDay reports that the committee, which was chaired by independent lawmaker Temba Mliswa, summoned Vice-President Kembo Mohadi – State Security Minister at the time – Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa and former police chief Augustine Chihuri to testify. Other senior officials who were summoned to appear before the commission were the current Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga, Home Affairs secretary, Melusi Matshiya, and his defence counterpart, Martin Rushwaya. New Zimbabwe reports that former Presidential Affairs Minister Didymus Mutase said the fact that the officials were expected to appear did not mean they were guilty of any crimes. ‘But we would like to find out whether they knew about the concessions and who was running the concessions because all this information is very necessary,’ Mliswa said. Independent researchers have questioned Mugabe's $15bn claim.