Diamond mine workers go for nearly a year without pay

Miners working for a diamond company operating in Zimbabwe are angry that their salaries have not been paid for nearly a year, Rapaport reports.

According to Rough and Polished employees of Gye Nyame Resources claim that they have not been financially remunerated for the last ten months.

Gye Nyame is jointly owned by the state-run Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, the Zimbabwe Republic Police, Ghanaian businessman William Ato Essien and a firm called Dantor. The miners also complained that police officers on the mine payroll have continued to receive paychecks, in addition to their regular wages from the government.

Two weeks ago, Rough and Polished reported that the Government of Zimbabwe disbanded the directorate of Gye Nyame, once it discovered that Essien had only contributed a mere $8 million to fund the firm’s operations, a pittance compared to the $110 million he had originally committed to.

In September, former ZMDC board chair Godwills Masimirembwa came under police investigation for allegedly accepting a $6 million bribe from Gye Nyame, in exchange for permission to bring mining equipment into Zimbabwe.