The big interview :Kurotwi speaks on Mpofu tiff

Source: The big interview :Kurotwi speaks on Mpofu tiff – The Standard May 22, 2016

Businessman Lovemore Kurotwi was arrested in 2010 on charges of prejudicing the State of $2 billion in a botched diamond deal after then Mines minister Obert Mpofu accused him of fraud.

The case dragged on at the High Court until early this month when he was acquitted by Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, who ruled that Kurotwi had dealt with government in good faith and that it was government that failed to meet the outlined demands for the proposed joint venture between Core Mining and Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation into Canadile Miners.

Canadile was taken over by Marange Resources following the cancellation of its operating licence at the instigation of Mpofu.

After his acquittal, Kurotwi immediately published a book, The Rise and Fall of Chiadzwa, My Personal Experience.

Our chief reporter Everson Mushava (EM) caught up with Kurotwi (LK) to find out how his incarceration had affected him and what motivated him to publish the book on diamonds.

Below are excerpts of the interview:

EM: You have been acquitted on charges of prejudicing the State of $2 billion in a botched diamond deal, what is your comment on the case?

LK: I am more than vindicated. All along it was very clear that I was innocent, but those that thought they were above the law pursued me to the ends of the law and they were proved wrong.

There was never any fraud, but trumped up charges and the law courts have proved that.

EM: Did the delay in the conclusion of the case affect you?

LK: Obviously, you have family, friends and business associates to interact with.

When such an albatross is hanging around your neck, you begin to smell like a skunk and even some people close to you no longer want to associate with you because you are tainted.

Business associates don’t want to do anything with you in case what you are accused of having done rubs onto them one way or another.

So it’s a real psychological roller coaster, but then again, that’s what life means and surviving that is some measure of real success in its own right.

EM: Are you bitter that Mpofu caused your arrest in what has been proved to be false charges?

LK: I have nothing against him really. I think when it comes to some of these issues, the best thing to do is; rather than take any vengeful path, you leave everything to divine equalisation and I think Minister Mpofu will have his own comeuppance with divinity.

As for advice to him:

Minister Mpofu, you can’t have what you ain’t got and you can never lose what you ain’t never had.

There is so much satisfaction with what’s yours. Remember, there is always divine equalisation when vadzimu naMwari [ancestral spirits and God] fight for those perceived to be powerless by those who perceive themselves to have power over everybody.

So never take anybody for granted.

Try and respect every human being because they too, like you, are a product of the divine.