The Kimberly Process may have come under fire for allowing the sale of the diamonds from the controversial Marange fields, but the Zimbabwean Prime Minister is grateful for the funds that these sales will bring to the nation. The Prime Minister and his entourage were on a tour of the Marange diamond fields on Thursday.
Prime Minsiter Morgan Tsvangirai said that the government needed resources, and they regarded diamond revenue as a major contributor to the ‘fiscus’. He added that they appreciated the operations and hoped that the government was able to formulate policies that would contribute largely to the Zimbabwe well-being.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara and some of the ministers from the national unity government. These included the finance and mines ministers, Tendai Biti and Obert Mpofu, respectively.
Obert Mpofu, the Zimbabwean Mines Minister said that he was impressed by the diamond mining operations in the Marange area. He said that he had received a report from DMC or the Diamond Mining Company that they had sold in excess of $30 million since they were approved two weeks ago.
Research Director Allan Martin of Partnership Africa Canada said that Mr. Tsvangirai’s visit to the diamond field was a step in the right direction that may lead to increased transparency there. Human Rights Watch alleged that Mugabe's army has killed more than 200 people in the two years after the 2006 discovery of the diamond fields. This was part of an operation to clear small-scale miners from the area.