Harare, Zimbabwe – In late December, Mbada Diamonds announced a diamond auction, despite only officially beginning mining in the beginning of the month.  Mbada is a joint venture between Zimbabwe’s government and South African Grandwell holdings—a privately-owned company—with each owning 50% of the controversial business.  “The much-anticipated sales of diamonds from the Chiadzwa/Marange diamond field are expected to start before the end of the month”, Chairman Robert Mhlanga announced.

The government seized control of the diamond field over a year ago in a much-storied massacre that left more than 250 people dead.  Since then, the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation claimed that it did not have the money to upgrade their equipment, and artisanal miners began to move in to collect from the famous alluvial area.  It was when Grandwell partnered with the ZMDC that they had the necessary funding to resume mining.  After less than a month of on-the-books extraction, the estimated 300,000 carats of rough diamonds seemed like a lot. 

Human Rights groups took notice.  Spearheaded by the US-based Human Right Watch, an organization that has been after Kimberley Process officials to kick Zimbabwe out of their diamond certification scheme, an international initiative stopped the auction.  Africa Consolidated Resources joined the cause, as they initially had legal claim on much of the fields after the ZMDC stopped mining.  ACR had also filed an appeal against the initial takeover, which was set in motion by ZANU-PF officials including President Robert Mugabe, Vice President Joyce Mujuru, and Defense Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.   They won a court order to reclaim their portion of Marange, but the government overturned the ruling and continued its military presence in the fields.  It was then the same government that found a company to work with and split the profits 50/50—as far as Mbada Diamonds knows, anyway.

The root of the problem, however, is not the auction.  It is the events that came before.  In reports dating back to 2006, Human Rights Watch has consistently documented soldiers forcing civilians to dig for diamonds, using child labor, and sexually assaulting women.  It also noted that many of the diamonds confiscated by the government were believed to be smuggled through Mozambique.  Despite these ongoing disclosures, the Kimberley Process did nothing to stop the ZANU-PF from terrorizing its own people.  The KP has issued several warnings to Zimbabwe, but doesn’t really have any way to punish the government which seems perfectly content to operate well outside international law.  In the fall, Zimbabwe agreed to remove the military from the Chiadzwa/Marange region and help find housing for thousands of displaced artisanal miners and their families.  They also agreed that they would not export diamonds until this was done.  Had the auction taken place, they would not have technically been in breach of their agreement.  It would be the buyers who were non-compliant with KP standards if they tried to leave the country with the purchased diamonds.  It was a fantastic little loophole for the government, and one they tried to exploit.  However, another watchdog group, Global Witness, stated that if the sale had gone on as planned, Zimbabwe might have lost its Kimberley Process certification.

The opposition to the ZANU-PF, led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, was also instrumental in stopping the auction.  Allowing Mbada Diamonds sell rough diamonds to the highest bidder without Kimberley Process certification would have pushed the international community to force Zimbabwe out of the KPCS, leaving them with no legal means of selling their primary resource.  While that is fine in the short-term—as Robert Mugabe is already 85 years-old—it is not good for the country in the future.  It has been reported that, while run by Mbada, the government of Zimbabwe was to take 80% of the profits.  Mbada Diamonds is clearly little more than a way to appear legitimate before the international community.

Since the Kimberley Process has failed thus far to have any real effect on the human rights abuses surrounding the Chiazwa/Marange region, other groups have created sanctions of their own.  The European Union, the United States, the World Federation of Diamond Bourses and several major jewelers have all refused to use diamonds from Zimbabwe.  While these have an effect on those who operate legitimate diamond businesses, they do not affect those who use diamonds as currency to fund conflict or buy food and other commodities. 

Zimbabwe as a country suffers from the corruption surrounded their natural diamond resources.  Unfortunately, the government both creates and benefits from it.  At this point, it is up to the reigning ZANU-PF to decide whether or not it wants to stop the violence in the diamond fields and pursue international legitimacy, and it is unclear which path they will choose.

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