via Marange share ownership scheme funds administration still a mystery March 12, 2014 By Tarisai Mandizha NewsDay
THE mystery surrounding the administration of funds under the Zimunya-Marange Community Share Ownership Trust (CSOT) deepened yesterday after Manicaland Provincial Affairs minister Chris Mushohwe denied accusations that he had supplied Anjin diamond mining company with a certain bank account to deposit the trust money.
Mushohwe was reacting to claims made by Anjin director Munyaradzi Machacha last week when he told Parliament that Mushowe had instructed the company to deposit the money into a certain bank account.
“The Zimunya Marange Community Share Ownership Trust has not approached us, but we have been approached by (Cde) Mushohwe. Mushohwe has even given us the bank account in which to deposit our pledge,” Machacha said.
“We have not held any meeting between Zimunya Marange Community Share Ownership Trust and Anjin, but we have been having meetings on behalf of the CSOT with Mushohwe as he claims he has a working relationship with the Zimunya Marange Community Share Ownership Trust.”
This prompted the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Indigenisation to order Machacha to provide details of the account to the House.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Mushohwe said: “It’s not true, I have never spoken to Anjin and I have nothing to do with the community trust. The CSOT is chaired by Chief Marange. I don’t even know their bank account number except that the mine is in my constituency.”
Efforts to contact Machacha over Mushohwe’s remarks were fruitless. The issue raised eyebrows last week after five leading diamond-mining companies in Manicaland said they never pledged to contribute $10 million each towards the trust which was officially launched by President Robert Mugabe in 2012. However, former Indigenisation minister Saviour Kasukuwere was quoted in The Herald yesterday accusing the companies of being dishonest, saying they had made the pledges without coercion.
COMMENTS
Obviously Mugabe has got the money. If he had nothing, he would have fired all Involved. Treasonous thieves.