Marange Trust farce: Saviour summoned

via Marange Trust farce: Saviour summoned 11/05/2014 NewZimbabwe

Saviour Kasukuwere has been summoned by Parliament’s indigenisation committee to explain his role in the botched Marange-Zimunya share ownership trust.

A schedule of Parliament meetings for this week indicates Kasukuwere will appear before the Justice Madyajena chaired committee this Thursday.

Kasukuwere, now environment minister, is being accused of deliberately misleading President Robert Mugabe on the Marange diamonds mining firm’s commitment to the controversial government’s community support scheme.

Mugabe presided over the high profile launch ceremony 2012, where he was made to believe the firms had each pledged $10 million.

It however, emerged the embattled companies, set to be booted out from the rich mining field end of this year, had in fact pledged a mere $1,5 million each, something that infuriated the authorities.

According to evidence that has been tabled before the committee so far by mining companies that include Mbada and Marange Resources, Kasukuwere made a “gentleman’s agreement” with some of them.

Francis Nhema, the successor to Kasukuwere, said the agreement between miners and government was made verbally with no written record to support it.

When the debacle was exposed, Kasukuwere lashed at the miners, accusing them of lying under oath and went on to produce letters allegedly sent to the Mbada boss stating their obligations to the community.

When Nhema appeared before the committee, he claimed that he had not seen those letters. Even the security personnel at his office were in the dark about the originality of the said correspondence.

“I have checked with all the files at the ministry, it seems I cannot locate them,” Nhema told the committee sometime this year.

“I have even asked officials whether the letters are there. The problem is that there is no reference, no date stamp to authenticate the letters, I have checked with many files.

The Thursday appearance will see Kasukuwere coming face to face with Wadyajena after the youthful MP made formal complaints he was being threatened for his thorough approach to the saga by the former spy agent.

Wadyajena responded to the threats saying “come get me” if he insists on settling scores with him. Wadyajena has so far been the most vocal chair in his oversight role regarding the controversial management of youth funds and operations around government’s community share ownership schemes.

In discharging his duties, he has stepped on Kasukuwere’s toes, with the latter feeling uneasy over the rookie MP’s apparent attempts to expose his shortcomings when he was still in charge of the youth ministry.

Miffed by the young MP’s apparent attempts to drag his name through the mire, Kasukuwere allegedly threatened Wadyajena with unspecified action promising to “destroy him politically, economically and socially”.

The Gokwe-Nembudziya MP has since approached the Parliament’s Speaker seeking protection from the former intelligence operative.