Army chief owns half of Anjin diamond firm?

By Lance Guma

A few days after Finance Minister Tendai Biti complained that Treasury had not received any money from diamond mining company Anjin Investments, a new report by pressure group Global Witness exposes its murky ownership structure.

With a total seven mines, Anjin is the biggest mining operation in the Marange area. Unlike the other firms Mbada Diamonds and Marange Resources who have partnerships with the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), the official position has always been that Anjin is working with the army.

Global Witness say that half of Anjin’s shares are held by Brigadier-General Charles Tarumbwa, a Zimbabwean military lawyer also listed as the company secretary and principal officer. Other directors listed at the registry are Chinese nationals Jiang Zhaoyao, Chen Qing, Peng Zheng, Li Zhongqi and Huang Xianjue.

“An affidavit records a resolution making Anjin a joint venture between Matt Bronze (Pvt) Ltd, the principal officer of which is Tarumbwa, and Anhui Foreign Economic Construction (Group). The agreement was signed by Peng Zheng on behalf of AFEC(G) and Tarumbwa for Matt Bronze,” the report states.

Last week Deputy Mines Minister Gift Chimanikire told Parliament that Anjin was controlled by the Chinese who had 50% equity and the Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI) with 40%. The remaining 10% was supposed to be owned by the government through the ZMDC. Biti denied the ZMDC was involved.

The Global Witness report however exposes more inconsistencies in the ownership structure because, “the company register also states that Anjin’s share capital is made up of US$2,000, consisting of 2,000 ordinary shares, which are shared equally between Brigadier General Tarumbwa and Zheng.”

Described by the United Nations as a Judge Advocate General at the Ministry of Defence, Brigadier General Tarumbwa is listed on the current EU targeted sanctions list because he was “directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections” in Manicaland.

Anjin’s executive board on the Zimbabwean side is a ‘who is who’ of police, military and state security chiefs, some notorious for their involvement in gross human rights abuses, including murder.

The board includes: “Martin Rushwaya (Ministry of Defence permanent secretary), Oliver Chibage (police commissioner), Ms Nonkosi M. Ncube (commissioner in the police) and Munyaradzi Machacha  (ZANU PF director of publications).

Also on the board are Mabasa Temba Hawadi (Director Marange Resources), Morris Masunungure (retired army officer) and Romeo Daniel Mutsvunguma (a retired army colonel who took part in the brutal political violence in the run up to the June 2008 one man presidential run-off election). SW Radio Africa

New Report on Marange Diamonds “Financing a Parallel Government”– Global Witness

To contact this journalist e-mail [email protected] or twitter @LanceGuma