via Minister to reveal Marange gem audit 29/09/2014
MINES Minister Walter Chidhakwa has said the government will publish the results of a financial inquest at its diamond mining firm Marange Resources, one year after it was commissioned to shed light on its dealings, and will insist that other gem miners make theirs publicly available.
Last week, pressure groups, the Centre for Research and Development (CRD) and Zimbabwe Natural Resource Dialogue Forum (ZNRDF), called on the government to make public the results of its audits, before it moves to consolidate the firms to “one or two.”
“It was not an audit, it was just a team that we set up to look into the activities of Marange Resources to take us to our desire to merge (diamond minders) and create one big company,” Chidhakwa told The Source on Monday in a telephone interview.
“What we are doing now is to look at the structures of the new company that will come up. So we will publish (the Marange Resources audit) once we finish working on it and register a new company under the consolidation.”
He did not give a time line, but said the report will be made public ‘soon.’
Chidhakwa said government is currently merging Marange Resources, Gye Nyame and Kusena Diamonds.
Gye Nyame Resources, a joint venture between the state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and Bill Minerals, represented by Ghanaian businessman William Ato Essien, had its licence revoked earlier this year due to insolvency and failure to adhere to environmental requirements.
Chidhakwa said the merging process requires aligning the financial system, human resources and legal structures of the three firms into one.
On making public financials of other miners, Chidhakwa said: “All you need to do is ask the companies the specific firm which carried out its audits and get them from there.”
COMMENTS
“It was not an audit, it was just a team that we set up to look into the activities of Marange Resources to take us to our desire to merge (diamond minders) and create one big company,” Chidhakwa told The Source on Monday in a telephone interview.
Ha Ha. So it was not really an audit then?? Don’t worry Chidhakwa, we understand …. Now that all the surface gems have been looted you have to pretend to start looking legitimate because deep mining investment is difficult when everything is “Feja Feja.”
Just give Zimbabweans a list of names of who benefited, Shamwari.
Just admit billions of dollars is gone into some offshore bank accounts namely Zanu period fools.
A look at structures is a far cry from a financial inquest, no doubt he values his head too much to go there!
will be interested to read this — Zanu PF history suggests that it will be a cover up, not an audit.