RE: 10 million18 Mar 2023 07:40
WHY WORRY, diamonds worth an estimated US$140 million dollars have disappeared from the supposedly impenetrable Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) and Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) repositories.
The diamonds weighed 350 000 carats.
According to previous auctions, Zimbabwean diamonds normally fetch about US$400 per carat, although this can rise to as much as US$12 000 per carat.
Auditor-General Mildred Chiri, in her report for 2019 which was recently released, revealed that both the MMCZ and ZMDC cannot account for up to 350 000 carats of diamonds which were kept in their vaults.
The matter has since been taken up by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development, which, at a hearing Monday, demanded answers.
The committee is chaired by Shurugwi South legislator (Zanu PF) Edmond Mkaratigwa.
Environment and minerals watchdog, the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA), was also invited to present its analysis of the situation.
Chiri’s investigation also revealed serious diamond stock reconciliation loopholes which she said could provide the avenue for looting.
She also reported that some diamonds were sold in the Zimbabwean dollar to local customers, who later spirited the precious gemstones outside the country, pocketing foreign currency in the process.
Curiously, the identities of the customers were not revealed even to the auditor general herself.
“In 2019, 297 660, 41 carats of diamond stock held at MMCZ was not counted at the time of the stock count. These parcels were packed for customers and held at MMCZ. However, at year-end, during the stock count, these stocks were not included in closing inventories,” Chiri said in her report.
“In 2018, 41 699 85 carats of diamond stocks held at MMCZ were excluded from the stock count. It was assumed at the time that these stocks had been sold to customers. An additional 13 222, 85 carats were excluded from the final stock sheet in error,” Chiri’s report reads.
In response to Chiri’s findings, the ZCDC management indicated that the company would in future engage a diamond stock controller to prevent such leakages, but the auditor general raised the flag saying such loopholes are mostly a result of deliberate corrupt actions.
“So the stock reconciliation problem was attributed to systems challenges. However, sometimes, laxity in systems can be created to enable corrupt or fraud behaviour to thrive,” Chiri noted.
Chiri’s report further reveals that the MMCZ, in December 2019, could not account for five carats worth slightly over US$2 000. The diamonds conveniently went missing during a Close Circuit Television (CCTV) failure.
“The audit revealed that the corporation could not account for five (5) carat diamonds worth US$2 075 which went missing during a weight verification exercise. The findings of the audit revealed that MMCZ could not ascertain how the five carats of diamonds were lost beca
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