25
A week later, on May 14, Mpofu told a Daily News reporter that displaced Chiadzwa villagers would
only be compensated after the international community had allowed Zimbabwe to sell its diamonds.
“We will only get the money to compensate the villagers when our diamonds are sold freely
internationally,” he said. 100
On June 23, 2011, Mpofu announced that the KPCS had granted Mbada and Marange Resources
permission to sell their diamonds without supervision “after they had fully complied with its
requirements”. 101
13 CONTROVERSIAL RELATIONS WITH CHINA
In July 2005, President Mugabe flew to Beijing, secured an emergency loan of US$1 billion and
invited increased Chinese involvement in Zimbabwe’s economy. By June 2006, his visit had begun to
bear fruit. State-owned Zimbabwean businesses had signed energy, mining and farming deals worth
billions of dollars with Chinese companies. 102
When foreign minister Yang Jiechi visited Zimbabwe in February, bearing gifts in the form of soft
loans, he pledged to invest US$10 billion. 103 Jiechi praised Zimbabwe for its indigenisation policy,
but stressed that Chinese investments should be exempted. Minister of Indigenisation, Saviour
Kasukuwere, was quoted in the media as saying China would not be affected by Zimbabwe’s
indigenisation laws. 104
China stands to gain much from its extensive investments in the mining sector. All revenues from
the Zimbabwe government's joint diamond venture with Anjin over the next 20 years may already
have been mortgaged to Beijing to pay off the contentious US$98 million loan 105 to build a vast
techno-spy and communications base, the Robert Mugabe School of Intelligence, outside Harare.
100
Zim Eye, ‘No compensation for displaced Chiadzwa villagers – Minister’, 14 May 2011:
http://www.zimeye.org/?p=29882
101
Zim Daily, “Kimberley Process gives Mbada the nod to sell Marange diamonds’, 23 June, 2011:
http://www.zimdaily.com/news/2011/06/23/kimberly-process-gives-mbada-the-nod-to-sell-marangediamonds/
102
The Zimbabwean, ‘Sino relations, who benefits?’, 13 April, 2011:
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/comment/38907/sino-zimbabwe-relations--who-benefits.html
103
The Zimbabwean, ‘Sino relations, who benefits?’, 13 April, 2011:
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/comment/38907/sino-zimbabwe-relations--who-benefits.html
104
The Zimbabwean, ‘Sino relations, who benefits?’, 13 April, 2011:
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/comment/38907/sino-zimbabwe-relations--who-benefits.html
105
The Zimbabwean, ‘Chiadzwa diamonds to pay Chinese spy centre loan as Zvoma misleads MPs’, 17 June
2011: http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/news/zimbabwe/50190/chiadzwa-diamonds-to-pay-chinese.html
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