President Robert Mugabe has been forced to back down on his widely publicized attack on former Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation chair Mr Godwills Masimirembwa for allegedly trying to extort $6 million from Ghanaian investors.
Five months ago Mugabe told a luncheon for lawmakers that Masimirembwa, demanded a US$6 million bribe from Ghanaian businessman William Ato Essien who was a member of Gye Nyame, a diamond mining company operating in Chiadzwa.
As a way to silence Essien and ensure he does not come back to Zimbabwe, Masimirembwa allegedly misinformed the Ghanaian he would be arrested if he set foot in the country.
But in an interview broadcast on the eve of his 90th birthday, Mugabe was forced to eat humble pie and admit the Ghanaian firm’s executive lied to Government.
“I was persuaded to allow Ghanaians zvichinzi, aah! vane capacity. One of them was said to be the owner of a bank,” said President Mugabe.
“Twakatinyepera twuvakomana itwotwo. You see, liars. In the meantime they did not bring any money at all. Even iya yataiti yakatorwa naMasimirembwa. No! They had given the story kuti they had brought some money. Was it US$5 million or US$6 million, yakatorwa?
“They were busy here smuggling gold and selling it vachitova nearrangement neSouth African group and that is why one of the two was arrested.
“The other one pleaded innocent and said he was ignorant. He was not related to the one that was arrested. Kutinyepera. That the one who was arrested is a brother except that baba ndovakasiyana chete.
“Now we discover they did not bring anything, we discover that he does not own a bank he claimed he had.
“Yes, he was a director in a bank, Ecobank in Ghana, but he does not own it. Takamuti come now zvikanzi mapurisa anoda kundisunga.
Vanokusungirei? You are protected. The lies he has told.”
President Mugabe said Government was reorganising the diamond sector to ensure that only one or two companies would operate in the country.
“In fact, we are reorganising the diamond industry so that we create one or just two companies not more than that, like we have in South Africa, in Botswana, Namibia, Angola. You do not have multiplicity of companies doing diamonds.
“It is just one or two and the State plus a partner if we want one from outside. A partner who is reliable, who has also capacity from the point of view of technology as indeed also from the point of view of investment capital,” he said.
“Then (we will) look at areas that have been explored that we can study and where we can establish new mines. But gold is easier, easier from the point of view of alluvial mining.”
