Diamonds Flooding European Market to Line Mugabe's Pockets

To no avail the fierce lobbying by Belgium failed to stop the European Union from lifting sanctions last week on the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation and now permits diamonds from Zimbabwe which are Kimberley Process (KP) certified to enter Europe from September 25 onwards. The policy shift also permits rough diamond imports from other Zimbabwe companies including Marange Resources, Mbada Diamonds, Kimberworth Investments and Diamond Mining Corporation, all of which control the nation's diamond trade.

However the U.S. still maintains its sanctions on all goods and services from entities that are financially tied to President Robert Mugabe and his associates in Zimbabwe. U.S. businesses are forbidden to trade diamonds from those firms even if the goods have accompanying KP certificates or were handled through a third party.

 

Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe and one of the leaders of the national liberation movements against white-minority rule, was elected as Prime Minister in 1980 when Southern Rhodesia was liberated from British rule and became the independent Republic of Zimbabwe. Since 2000, the Mugabe-led government embarked on a fast-track land reform program to forcefully correct the inequitable land distribution created by colonial rule. The period has been marked by economic sanctions, which after their introduction in 2002 led to the deterioration of the Zimbabwean dollar. Mugabe's policies have been condemned domestically and internationally and under his dictatorship Zimbabwe's economy is in ruins with famine, an AIDS epidemic, foreign debt and widespread unemployment plaguing the country.

 

While Mugabe lives a plush life surrounded by luxury, partly funded by his diamond mining interests, the life expectancy for Zimbabwean men has dropped to 37 years and 34 years for women, the lowest figures for any nation.