Reap What You Sow: Greed and Corruption in

Reap What You Sow: Greed and Corruption in Zimbabwe’s Marange Diamond FieldsWhile Zimbabwe’s finances suffer, the same cannot be said for bank ledgers of ZANUinsiders, including the Minister.By most accounts, Minister Mpofu is a very rich man. He is variously described as owning“half of Matabeleland”, Zimbabwe’s largest cattle herd 10 and a patronage networkunparalleled by any of his political peers. His ego is equally large—Mpofu is known torefer to himself as the “King of Matabeleland.” 11But since being appointed Minister of Mines in 2009, Mpofu has raised many eyebrowsfor spending well beyond either the means of his $800 a month ministerial salary or theincome he generates from his private business interests.Several months of investigation by Partnership Africa Canada have identified expendituresof over $20 million—mostly in cash—made by Minister Mpofu over the last three years.This figure is a conservative assessment and does not include his philanthropy, whichexceeded $500,000 in 2012 alone.Mpofu is by no means the only one associated with Marange to flaunt his wealth. RobertMhlanga, the CEO of Mbada Diamonds, the first company to enter into a joint venturewith the government, raised concerns he was laundering proceeds from Marange afterpaying inflated prices in a series of multi-million dollar real estate deals in South Africa 12 .Many top securocrats loyal to President Robert Mugabe and his party, the ZimbabweAfrican National Union (ZANU), are also, in the parlance of corruption watchers,“eating well.” This is particularly the case for those associated with Zimbabwe DefenceIndustries—a state-owned company aligned with Chinese mining company Anjin—orwho oversaw military operations in Marange. Many are known to own, or be building,mansions in Harare’s tonier neighbourhoods that would exceed their publicly fundedsalaries.Of all the ZANU insiders benefitting from Marange, Mpofu’s role as the chief guardianof Marange raises the most concern. His unexplained wealth is emblematic of widerproblems of revenue transparency associated with this promising national resource.This concern is heightened by evidence that Mpofu has a relationship to a diamondtrading company, Three Waters Investment, which operates from one of his Bulawayoproperties. This is discussed in more detail later in this report.The lack of transparency surrounding Zimbabwe’s diamond revenues is a matter ofcritical public interest. It is depriving the Treasury of much needed revenues and amplifiesconcerns PAC and others have shared for some time that these revenues are funding aparallel government other than the legally constituted Government of National Unity. 13Concerns about revenue transparency go to the heart of a country’s compliance withthe Kimberley Process minimum requirements. Missing money means systemic breaksin that country’s internal controls, including the reality that there is an illegal, paralleltrade underway.10 Mpofu is on the record saying: “I am the largest rancher maybe in the whole country. I want to know who has morecattle than me.” The Chronicle, December 11-17, 2011, p. C5.11 “I am a big politician, do not play with me, I am the most senior politician here in Matabeleland North, no one else.I am a politburo member and a Minister of Mines, if there is anyone in this province who tells you that they are more seniorthan me, tell them they are liars.” Obert Mpofu quoted in “I’m the king: Obert Mpofu,” Newsday, October 2, 2012; http://12 “Mugabe’s man shells out R185m for prime SA property,” Mail and Guardian, July 20, 2012; http://mg.co.za/article/2012-07-19-robert-mugabes-man-shells-out-r185m-for-prime-property13 See for example: Diamonds and Clubs: The Militarized Control of Diamonds and Power in Zimbabwe, Partnership AfricaCanada, June 2010.3