China' causing problems via Nigeria

 From StrategyPage:

March 24, 2025: The government is going after Chinese citizens who continue to use Nigeria as a base for economic crimes throughout Africa. The Chinese ambassador in Nigeria assured the locals that China was cooperating in identifying and prosecuting Chinese citizens based in Nigeria and committing crimes. China is Nigeria’s largest trading partner and that large volume of trade is what brought Chinese gangsters and independent criminal entrepreneurs to Nigeria. China is currently owed over $5 billion by various Nigerian businesses and individuals. Nigeria is the major African exporter of oil and Chine is one of the top ten buyers.

the rest of the article discusses tribal and religious feuds, and the problem of corruption...

Illegal mining in South Africa: a standoff between illegals and government

 

forcing illegal miners out of the mines.

bad government? No. Many of these are essentially enslaved and kept there and the government is now trying to rescue them.

LINK and LINK third report more here:not mentioned: Aside from those making money giving them food, the reports never mention who is buying the gold and processing it.

Describing the conditions in the shaft, which the police have sought to check through camera surveillance, Mchunu said six to seven people who are at the top of the shaft are “commanding the whole thing”.“The food and water that trickle down would be under the control of those people. … They command everything there, and people below are kept against their will,” he said.,

it is not just exploiting the miners, but the crime wave associated with the business...

BBC Report. 

Illegal mining is a lucrative business across many of South Africa's mining towns. Since December last year, nearly 400 high-calibre firearms, thousands of bullets, uncut diamonds and money have been confiscated from illegal miners. This is part of an intensive police and military operation to stop the practice that has severe environmental implications.

The standoff makes it sound like bad government vs poor miners (who often are working this dangerous job because of poverty and unemployment). But it is more complicated than that, of course, because it is run by organized crime syndicates.

moneyweb reports:The illicit gold trade is loosely organised into a pyramid structure. At the top are white-collar criminals who launder gold from zama zamas into the legal gold market, with a hierarchy of buyers and middlemen beneath them. The miners are at the bottom...In Stilfontein, working in abandoned mines became impossible without paying them steep fees.One zama zama told GroundUp that it costs around R10 000 to enter and R25 000 to return. Local gold buyers would often front these expenses in return for a cut of the gold the miners produced. Many zama zamas became trapped in debt while underground, a cycle worsened by the high cost of food, which they paid for in gold.

many are immigrants from Zimbabwe or Mozambique.

Moneyweb has more reporting on the illegals behind this atrocity.

very complicated: of course politicians and mining corporations are involved.

no one wants to take the steps that are necessary. It’s like drugs on the Cape Flats. It’s very, very, very lucrative this business. So the kingpins who are involved, the politicians, the corporations, the security companies, the labour brokers and so on, who are all involved, don’t want this to end and they don’t want it to be legalised and regulated and controlled because that way they can’t get the gold as cheaply as what they’re getting it at the moment.

I still can't find the stories of those running the logistics behind these organizations. 

China is investing lots of money in South Africa and Zimbabwe mining but legal mines.

LINK

but no information about who is behind the illegal mining and diverting gold there into a legal market.

there is a lot of criminality behind the illegal mining. according to thie Univ Witwaterand report part of the problem is lack of laws that allow legal means to get the left over gold out of these mines

the result? 

Illicit trade of gold from artisanal and small-scale mining is now also being seen as a threat to international security. The World Gold Council estimates that as much as 20% of annual gold supply and 80% of gold mining employment comes from a supply chain controlled by criminal gangs and armed groups, abetted by corrupt governments.

so, alas, the story of the seige of miners by a government trying to shut down the operation misses the complexity of the story.

Follow the money

From the Philippine Inquirer:


NOUAKCHOTT – The African Union's panel on Libya Sunday called for an "immediate stop" to all attacks after the United States, France and Britain launched military action against Moammar Gadhafi's forces.

After a more than four-hour meeting in the Mauritanian capital, the body also asked Libyan authorities to ensure "humanitarian aid to those in need," as well as the "protection of foreigners, including African expatriates living in Libya."

Of course, there is a reason behind their backing a ruthless tyrant who kills his own people and funded terrorism: he bribed them.

The reason that China and Russia didn't veto the resolution is because the Arabs didn't want Libya turning into another Bosnia, where 100 thousand were killed while Europe and the world sat and UN peacekeepers watched.

So who Loves Ghadafffy?

The Mead list discusses a lot of "bought" Americans and Europeans.
more at Mother Jones.

BBC report on how Ghadaffy bribed Africa. when he proposed a "one Africa", he meant of course with the (white) Arabs in charge, preferably himself.

Gaddafi's main contribution to Africa since 1999, when he turned away from the Arab League and the Middle East to try to form a United States of Africa, has been to bribe and buy his way to the chairmanship of the African Union, to promote this idea of a borderless Africa, presumably led by him.

He did this in two ways. Firstly, he sought simply to buy the smaller, poorer states by bribing their presidents. Secondly, in states where he was opposed, he would fund opposition movements. So he has been extremely divisive in his relations with Africa, and his removal will quiet things down a bit.

The presidents of Nigeria and South Africa had to fight a running battle with him to stop his crazy ideas of subverting Africa, trying to make it into one, single country, just like that.

It is hard to say if he has ever genuinely been seen as a fellow African leader by other African leaders. He supported the ANC in South Africa, and Swapo in Namibia, and when Nelson Mandela came out of prison, he went to Libya almost straightaway to thank him.

But while he continues to support groups like that, he has also sided with appalling movements in western Africa which he saw as revolutionary. He has backed Charles Taylor, now on trial in The Hague, and Foday Sankoh, the dreadful rebel leader in Sierra Leone who led the Revolutionary United Front, which cut off hands and legs. So he has a very mixed record in his very idiosyncratic way....

High court releases Energy minister

From the VOA

Mangoma, deputy treasurer of the Movement for Democratic Change formation led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, was arrested last week and charged with criminal abuse of office in relation to a fuel procurement tender.

In his ruling, High Court Judge Samuel Kudya declared that the case against Mangoma was weak, and granted his freedom on $5 000 bail.,....

Defence attorney Selby Hwacha accused the Attorney General of not taking action against some officers in the Energy Ministry who allegedly misappropriated $35 million, despite an official request by Mangoma.

His trial is expected to begin March 28. If convicted, Mangoma faces no more than 15 years in prison or a $5 000 fine.

Meanwhile, MDC Member of Parliament for Gokwe-Kabuyuni, Costin Muguti was also granted bail by a Kwekwe magistrate, but remained in custody after the State invoked the notorious Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.

Zim Urban councils looted

via Zim Online:

HARARE – Corrupt councillors, commissioners and politicians in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare and other cities looted hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds, land and other assets in an unprecedented orgy of self enrichment over the past decade while service delivery collapsed in the various municipalities.... Harare alone could have been fleeced of more than $100 million in shady land deals and contracts during the tenure of illegal commissions appointed by Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo, a former university lecturer whose wealth soared upon joining government....

Corruption has not spared town councils outside the capital. In Bindura, then mayor and now Mashonaland Central governor Martin Dinha bought a mayoral house he had lived in for a miserly $40 in 2008. The house costs at least $70 000.

Former deputy mayor of Chegutu town Phineas Mariyapera was fingered in a 2003 government audit for siphoning the equivalent of $4 million today from the council. Mariyapera, a ZANU-PF official, was never prosecuted.

more details at link

Foreign aid

Several articles on foreign aid to Africa, not necessarily about Zimbabwe.

Al Jezeerah reports that some UK banks cooperated with Nigerian corruption:

High street banks in the United Kingdom could have helped fuel corruption in Nigeria by accepting millions of dollars in deposits from dubious politicians in the west African nation, an international corruption watchdog said.

In a 40 page report released on Sunday, Global Witness said that five leading banks have failed to adequately investigate the source of tens of millions of dollars taken from two Nigerian governors accused of corruption.

"Banks are quick to penalise ordinary customers for minor infractions but seem to be less concerned about dirty money passing through their accounts," Robert Palmer, a campaigner at Global Witness, wrote on the group's website.

"Large scale corruption is simply not possible without a bank willing to process payments from dodgy sources, or hold accounts for corrupt politicians."

Global Witness acknowledged that in accepting the money, Barclays, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and HSBC, as well as Switzerland's UBS, might not have broken the law, but noted that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) must do more to prevent money laundering through British banks.
---------------------

In a related article in Medical News Today that summarizes several stores:

1)

U.S. Should Purchase Food Aid From Local Farmers In Africa

In a Richmond County Daily Journal opinion piece, Yifat Susskind, the policy and communications director of MADRE: Demanding Rights, Resources and Results for Women Worldwide, argues that "the U.S. should buy food aid crops directly from local farmers in Africa."

no problem, except of course that this disrupts the ordinary food distribution system already in place, and distorts the price of rice for those who aren't in the famine area or refugee camps.

It was, after all, the cause of the Bengali famine during World War II, where the British bought up all local crops (so that if the Japanese invaded they would starve) and as a result the price of food in that area became so high that a quarter million starved.

In the Irish potato famine, a similar exacerbation was caused by local farmers exporting grain (to feed the poor in the UK) while importing only a small amount of maize (which is hard for malnourished intestines to digest) for locals.

They also cite another article that aid should be given in grants rather than loans:

In a Boston Globe opinion piece, Robert Rotberg of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, ...

Rotberg argues that the U.S. government should "stop lending to recipient countries" and "switch its foreign assistance to making grants." According to Rotberg, conditions that allowed "deserving countries to borrow on generous terms to improve their prospects for growth ... added to a poor nation's debt burden." A better approach "would be to make only grants and condition their renewal on accomplishing the goals of the grant."

and of course, grants would allow local politicians to steal the aid easier than if the lending banks were watching them.

An example of the problem can be found in our local Inquirer, where this article discusses a grant of direct aid to poor families.

Even Mr. Aquino’s cousin-in-law has cast doubt on the CCT program.

Pangasinan Rep. Kimi Cojuangco, wife of Mr. Aquino’s cousin Mark Cojuangco, said that when she was mayor, she found that certain officers of the DSWD had been giving the cash assistance to their relatives and other individuals who were not among the poorest of the poor.

Cojuangco said the families that received the money tended to spend it on alcohol and betting on the illegal numbers racket “jueteng.”

During the deliberations on the DSWD budget, she also said the CCT had been a source of conflict between neighbors, who get jealous of those selected to receive the monthly stipend.

and the Inquirer includes this editorial:

MANILA, Philippines—Several lawmakers continue to cast doubt on the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program of the Aquino government, with one of them even saying that the end beneficiary of the program’s huge budget would be the jueteng lords.

Pangasinan Representative Kimi Cojuangco said that stringent measures should be in place to guarantee that the money will trickle down to the poorest families in the country.

“Coming from the province of Pangasinan, the first thing the mother will do when she gets the money is to buy shoes and groceries, then the husband will go out and buy some gin, and whatever is left of the money is for betting, he would probably go and play jueteng,” said Cojuangco, former mayor of Sison town in the province.

that is, of course, assuming that the poor families actually get the money after all the politicians take their cut of the pot.

Being first lady is hell

Michelle Obama once told the wife of France's president that being first lady of the US was hell.

Got a lot of flack in the US, but I sympathize. She wasn't trained to be a hostess, but was brought up in the neighborhood, not in society, and is trained as a lawyer.

So now, she is stuck doing things like this:


Poor Michelle, mother told you there'd be days like this: (you can almost see in her expression she is thinking...must not laugh...must not laugh...)

The redhead is Chantal , and her husband, the President of Cameroon, has been nominated for the corruption hall of fame by a French Catholic human rights organization:

According to the authors of “ill-gotten gains, who benefits from the crime”, Paul Biya’s family owns castles in France and Germany, as well as many timber and mining companies. The presidential couple through their many "looting sprees" are said to have caused "the bankruptcy” of a Cameroonian banking company (Société Camerounaise de bank).
and their last vacation cost one million Euros, making Michelle's modest Spanish trip look cheap.

Which is why a lot of us are sceptical about the UN insisting we "aid" poor countries via their governments.

but there is good news: She doesn't have to pretend to like Grace.

Mugabe takes over more businesses

From the BBC:'
All firms valued at more than $500,000 will be required over the next five years to sell a controlling 51% stake of their companies to black Zimbabweans.

Among the many internationals in the line of fire are Barclays, British and American Tobacco, BP, Nestle and Unilever. ..

Mr Kasukuwere, who has amassed significant business interests here in recent years, did not rule out the possibility of buying assets in foreign firms himself.

Critics fear that many other senior members of President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party, along with some military leaders, may do likewise. ..

Hint to Mugabe: Here in the Philippines, they only ask for 20 percent of the deal, not 50 percent.

and given the large amount of money being invested in Africa by China, one thinks this protester is out of date:

Reuters photo

Surge in Rhino poaching

From the LA Times.

I usually don't get bothered by animal poaching, figuring it is poor folks trying to make a buck. while rich westerners moan more about dead animals than dead babies.

But the key part of this article is here
:



China's recent thrust into Africa in a rush for resources is a major factor in the illegal rhino horn and ivory trade, analysts believe, because China remains the largest market. Rhino horn, made of keratin, the same substance that forms fingernails, hooves, feathers and hair, has long been used in Chinese medicinal tonics.

Zimbabwe's collapse added to the problem, with corrupt government, army and wildlife officials reportedly involved in poaching and smuggling rhino horn and ivory. The airport in that country's capital, Harare, is reportedly a key transit hub.

In South Africa, Vietnamese diplomatic officials have allegedly been involved in rhino horn buying and smuggling. Reports in Vietnam that a government official was "cured" of cancer by rhino horn appear to have spurred Asian demand.

Many fear that the Asian market is so ancient and entrenched, there's not much a small group of farmers can do to save the species. Some support the idea of rhino farming -- regularly pruning horns, which grow back -- to meet the demand and drive down prices. Others argue that legalizing the trade would only fuel demand, putting the creatures at even more risk....

29 KG of Diamonds missing

from the ZimMail

Harare- A 29-kilogram consignment of diamonds from Zimbabwe's controversial Chiadzwa diamond field has disappeared after being removed by police officers believed to be linked to a Zanu PF faction from the central bank, in violation of orders by the country's supreme court, sources said at the weekend...

We have already revealed that the armed group behind the attack on a British-Diamond company ACR in Harare on Tuesday night has been linked to a Zanu PF faction led by Retired Army General Solomon Mujuru.

The faction is objecting to the plan by its rival led by Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa for the Diamonds to be kept at the Reserve Bank as provided by the recent Supreme Court ruling.

The Supreme Court ordered that the diamonds be moved to the reserve bank to be kept by "a neutral body" pending the resolution of the ownership dispute...

Grace's Farm

from the UKTelegraph

Robert Mugabe's wife, Grace, who has taken over at least six of Zimbabwe's most valuable white-owned farms since 2002, sells up to a million litres of milk a year to Nestlé, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose.

This goes against the sanction laws of course.
And she actually visits her main farm to make sure it is producing some milk

.

Mrs Mugabe has built a new residence on the farm, remodelled the original farmhouse and constructed an office block, workers said. The dairy produces 6,500 litres of milk a day, The Herald has said, which is only about 35 per cent of its output under the previous owner, who produced 6.5 million litres a year, more than any other dairy in Zimbabwe.

How does Nestle get around the sanctions? They buy it on the open market, they don't have a contract with her...

Nestlé said: "During the recent crisis Nestlé has not considered moving its operations out of the country. By providing basic food products to Zimbabwean consumers, Nestlé aims to meet the needs of the local population, many of whom are vulnerable and disadvantaged."

The company's code of conduct, according to its website, states: "We condemn any form of bribery and corruption." It also says that Nestlé "supports and respects the protection of international human rights", and adds that its suppliers should also adhere to its code.

Asked to explain its dealings with Mrs Mugabe in that context, it said: "Nestlé does not provide any support, financial or otherwise, to the Gushungo Dairy Estate or to any political party in Zimbabwe.

MDC MP arrested for playing Anti Mugabe song

From SWRadioAfrica:



Another MDC legislator has been arrested for allegedly playing a song that denigrates Robert Mugabe, on his car radio. The MDC said in a statement that Stewart Garadhi, the MP for Chinhoyi, was driving from Harare to Chinhoyi on Friday morning when he was stopped by police officers ‘who accused him of playing the song - Nharembozha - saying it denigrated President Robert Mugabe.’ He is being held at Chinhoyi police provincial headquarters.

At the time of broadcast it was not clear how the police heard the song if the MP had been driving at the time. A commentator remarked: “Were they in the car, or do they have fantastically large ears that can hear a song from a distance? It sounds like a case of the long ear of the law!”

Several people including members of the general public have been arrested under the country’s harsh security laws for ‘making utterances likely to cause hatred, contempt or ridicule of the President and his Office.’ ...



Meanwhile, there are at least 8 MDC MPs including a Deputy Minister who have been arrested and some of them convicted in recent weeks, following the formation of the inclusive government in February. Deputy Youth Minister Thamsanqa Mahlangu, who was arrested on Tuesday on allegations of stealing a cell phone, will remain in custody until August 13th, after the State opposed bail on Friday. Harare Magistrate Kudakwashe Njerambini had granted the MDC official and his personal assistant bail of US$50 each, but the State invoked a section of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, to oppose bail.

The MDC has accused ZANU PF of trying to whittle down its parliamentary majority by arresting some of its members. Several MDC MPs are also appearing in court facing allegations of abusing a government farming inputs scheme. One of the MPs, Ernest Mudavanhu of Zaka North has since been convicted and was sentenced to 12 months in prison.

But on Friday, another MDC MP Ransome Makamure (Gutu East) was acquitted of the corruption charges after a Harare Magistrate threw out evidence submitted by State witness Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba. Nyikayaramba was the Chairman of the farming logistics subcommittee....

Central bank chief must go

from AFP:

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's party bemoaned the slow pace of change in Zimbabwe's fledgling coalition on Sunday, calling for the central bank chief and attorney general to quit immediately....Aware of the conflict and divisive effect of the issues ... conference calls that in the national interest Johannes Tomana and Gideon Gono resign forthwith," the MDC said in resolutions read by secretary-general Tendai Biti, who is also Zimbabwe's finance minister.

Tsvangirai encountered tough resistance within the MDC about entering a power-sharing deal with Mugabe in February and the resolution made clear the party is unhappy about what it sees as a lack of reform and continued intimidation of its supporters by pro-Mugabe militias.

The government must address "the slow pace of media reforms, slow implementation of the government 100-day plan, continued deployment of the military in villages and the existence of militia and ghost workers on the government payroll," it said.

Double Money Scheme?

From the Zimbabwe Mail:

,,,This system of fraud was perfected in the former Zaïre under late dictator, Mobuto Sese Seko, who produced a stash of unrecorded notes for his own use.

The RBZ official said that he and several of his colleagues had recently been questioned over the allegations.
“It is quite possible,” he said. “The team heading the bank had total control of the process, so they would have been able to produce several versions of each Zimbabwe dollar note.”

Separate reports have spoken of truckloads of money being delivered to the army, CIO, youth militia and Zanu (PF) headquarters. There are also well-documented cases of senior party members swapping Zimbabwe dollars for foreign exchange on the black market. ...

Public rage over perks

from the UKGuardian:

• Tsvangirai allies are allocated Mercedes cars
• Pro-Mugabe newspaper criticises high living

on the other hand, there'd be a bigger outrage if they gave them Range Rovers, which would be a lot more useful for visiting the villages.

Mugabe appeals for aid

from the BBC

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has made a call for $5bn (£3.5bn) in international aid to revive his nation's shattered economy.

He also repeated his call for an end to "cruel" EU and American sanctions.

Hyperinflation, food shortages and massive unemployment have brought Zimbabwe's economy to collapse.

Launching the government's Short-term Emergency Recovery Programme in Harare, Mr Mugabe appealed to the "friends of Zimbabwe" to come to the country's aid.

"I, on behalf of the inclusive government and the people of Zimbabwe, say: 'friends of Zimbabwe, please come to our aid'," he told business leaders and government officials at the presentation.

The wide-ranging recovery plan lifts stringent price controls that have fuelled black marketeering and inflation. It also calls for reviving agriculture - which has been devastated under Mr Mugabe's land reform programme - as well as mining, manufacturing and tourism.

'Cruel' sanctions

The Zimbabwean leader also called for an end to a travel ban and asset freeze against him and his inner circle.

yup...Grace wants to shop.

SAMinister;West must drop sanctions

from the UK Guardian

South Africa's most respected politician has told the west that democracy can only succeed in Zimbabwe if Britain, the EU and the US reverse their restrictive aid policies against Robert Mugabe's regime.

The finance minister Trevor Manuel used an interview with the Observer to demand that Britain and other donors urgently inject cash into Zimbabwe's treasury rather than give it exclusively to foreign humanitarian agencies.

translation: Give money to the government to be diverted into Grace's shopping sprees.

Tsvangirai and several ministers from the Movement for Democratic Change were sworn in over a month ago. But faced with a bankrupt treasury, they are struggling to raise the £35m-a-month payroll for the country's civil servants, as well as for the politically-crucial police and army.

Britain, which spends £45m on humanitarian aid in Zimbabwe every year, maintains the government is too corrupt to merit direct aid. Other donors share Britain's position and the EU and US have sanctions in place....

The commercialism of the military (more on hero Zvinavashe)

from African Security Review (2000)

,,,
Since independence, Africa’s military coups have institutionalised forays by the armed forces into the domestic economy. Coups allow military commanders to run both the body politic and economy, hence commercialising the interests of an already politicised officer corps. As a result, the legacy of interest in the domestic economy creates a precedent for further intervention in the body politic that acts as the platform for financial gain in Africa. Successive military regimes in Nigeria created a commercially inclined military ethos, leading to further intervention in the state administration.

To control the military and prevent coups, Africa’s leaders have often found it necessary to buy off the officer corps by bringing it into the patrimonial network.

In Zimbabwe, efforts to control the officer corps through patronage appear to have raised the commercial aspirations of the military élite.

After coming to power in 1980, President Robert Mugabe saw the danger in demobilising the bloated Zimbabwe National Defence Force too quickly, finding it expedient to utilise a different system whereby "... military and intelligence top brass [have been] closely integrated into ZANU-PF’s political structure and are privy to decision-making at the highest level: this is quite apart from their large salary packages and entrees into business through state owned companies."14 However, such a system of indirect control through incorporation is a dangerous balancing act with potentially extreme consequences for the existing regime. In all cases, the partial entrance of the military into commerce alters the military’s corporate identity. This is a significant factor in determining the extent of future commercial inclination....

Later the article discusses the DRC and Zvinavashe:

In exchange for providing security to the Kabila regime, a suitable business environment has been established for private uses. According to Ross Herbert, "Zimbabwean generals, politicians and the ruling ZANU-PF party have invested an estimated $47 million in timber, mining and retail deals."24

General Vitalis Zvinavashe, commander of the ZDF, has allegedly accrued significant financial gains from military deployment in the DRC. Of the nearly US $50 million USD Zimbabwe Defence Industries contract to supply Kabila’s army and the ZDF, a major private beneficiary was Zvinavashe’s trucking company, Zvinavashe Transport, subcontracted through a subsidiary, Swift Investments.25


Apparently, benefits also accrued to the general’s family with his brother, Augustine, having been awarded a Zim $10 million deal for exporting goods to the DRC.26 The military élite thus find themselves in beneficial commercial positions through the deployment of their subordinates, enabling participation in a diverse range of entrepreneurial ventures.

Even the Zimbabwean SPCA is investigating the alleged smuggling of parrots from the DRC by ZDF officers.27

hmm...parrots.
Maybe if the UN can't stop them, we should ask PETA to intervene...

UN report on DRC diamond etc.

pdf file at link from global security

25. The elite network in the Government-held area
comprises three circles of power, namely, Congolese
and Zimbabwean government officials and private
businessmen. Chief figures in the Congolese branch of
the network are the National Security Minister,
Mwenze Kongolo, a shareholder and deal-broker for
both diamond and cobalt ventures; the Minister of
Presidency and Portfolio, Augustin Katumba Mwanke,
a former employee of Bateman’s mining company in
South Africa and a key power broker in mining and
diplomatic deals; the President of the State diamond
company, Société minière de Bakwanga (MIBA), Jean-
Charles Okoto; the Planning Minister and former
Deputy Defence Minister, General Denis Kalume
Numbi, a stakeholder in the lucrative Sengamines
diamond deal and in COSLEG; and the Director
General of Gécamines, Yumba Monga, pivotal in
facilitating several asset-stripping joint ventures
between the State mining company and private
companies,....

COSLEG, a Congo-Zimbabwe joint stock
company, remains a key vehicle for military-backedUnited Nations
II. Change in tactics by elite networks
12. The regional conflict that drew the armies of
seven African States into the Democratic Republic of
the Congo has diminished in intensity, but the
overlapping microconflicts that it provoked continue.
These conflicts are fought over minerals, farm produce,
land and even tax revenues.

Criminal groups linked to
the armies of Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe and the
Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
have benefited from the microconflicts. Those groups
will not disband voluntarily even as the foreign
military forces continue their withdrawals. They have
built up a self-financing war economy centred on
mineral exploitation.

13. Facilitated by South Africa and Angola, the
Pretoria and Luanda Agreements have prompted the
recent troop withdrawals from the eastern Democratic
Republic of the Congo. Welcome as they may be, these
withdrawals are unlikely to alter the determination of
Rwanda and Zimbabwe, and Ugandan individuals, to
exercise economic control over portions of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. The departure of
their forces will do little to reduce economic control, or
the means of achieving it, since the use of national
armies is only one among many means for exercising
it. All three countries have anticipated the day when
pressure from the international community would make
it impossible to maintain large forces in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. The Governments of Rwanda
and Zimbabwe, as well as powerful individuals in
Uganda, have adopted other strategies for maintaining
the mechanisms for revenue generation, many of which
involve criminal activities, once their troops have
departed.....

17. Although troops of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces
have been a major guarantor of the security of the
Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
against regional rivals, its senior officers have enriched
themselves from the country’s mineral assets under the
pretext of arrangements set up to repay Zimbabwe for
military services. Now ZDF is establishing new
companies and contractual arrangements to defend its
economic interests in the longer term should there be a
complete withdrawal of ZDF troops. New trade and
service agreements were signed between the
Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe just
prior to the announced withdrawal of ZDF troops from
the diamond centre of Mbuji Mayi late in August 2002.
18. Towards the end of its mandate, the Panel
received a copy of a memorandum dated August 2002
from the Defence Minister, Sidney Sekeramayi, to
President Robert Mugabe, proposing that a joint
Zimbabwe-Democratic Republic of
the Congo
company be set up in Mauritius to disguise the
continuing economic interests of ZDF in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. The memorandum
states: “Your Excellency would be aware of the wave
of negative publicity and criticism that the DRC-
Zimbabwe joint ventures have attracted, which tends to
inform the current United Nations Panel investigations
into our commercial activities.” It also refers to plans
to set up a private Zimbabwean military company to
guard Zimbabwe’s economic investments in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo after the planned
withdrawal of ZDF troops. It states that this company
was formed to operate alongside a new military
company owned by the Democratic Republic of the
Congo.
19. At the same time, local militias and local
politicians have supplemented the role that State
armies previously played in ensuring access to and
control of valuable resources and diverting State
revenue. The looting that was previously conducted by
the armies themselves has been replaced with
organized systems of embezzlement, tax fraud,
extortion, the use of stock options as kickbacks and
diversion of State funds conducted by groups that
closely resemble criminal organizations....

...
22. The elite network of Congolese and Zimbabwean
political, military and commercial interests seeks to
maintain its grip on the main mineral resources —
diamonds, cobalt, copper, germanium — of the
Government-controlled area. This network has
transferred ownership of at least US$ 5 billion of assets
from the State mining sector to private companies
under its control in the past three years with no
compensation or benefit for the State treasury of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
23. This network benefits from instability in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its representatives
in the Kinshasa Government and the Zimbabwe
Defence Forces have fuelled instability by supporting
armed groups opposing Rwanda and Burundi.
24. Even if present moves towards peace lead to a
complete withdrawal of Zimbabwean forces, the
network’s grip on the richest mineral assets of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo and related
businesses will remain. Zimbabwe’s political-military
elite signed six major trade and service agreements in
August 2002 with the Government of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. Reliable sources have told the
Panel about plans to set up new holding companies to
disguise the continuing ZDF commercial operations in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a ZDF-
controlled private military company to be deployed in
the country to guard those assets.
The elite network
25. The elite network in the Government-held area
comprises three circles of power, namely, Congolese
and Zimbabwean government officials and private
businessmen....


27. The key strategist for the Zimbabwean branch of
the elite network is the Speaker of the Parliament and
former National
Security
Minister, Emmerson
Dambudzo Mnangagwa. Mr. Mnangagwa has won
strong support from senior military and intelligence
officers for an aggressive policy in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. His key ally is a Commander of
ZDF and Executive Chairman of COSLEG, General
Vitalis Musunga Gava Zvinavashe. The General and
his family have been involved in diamond trading and
supply contracts in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo. A long-time ally of President Mugabe, Air
Marshal Perence Shiri, has been involved in military
procurement and organizing air support for the pro-
Kinshasa armed groups fighting in the eastern
Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is also part of
the inner circle of ZDF diamond traders who have
turned Harare into a significant illicit diamond-trading
centre.
28. Other prominent Zimbabwean members of the
network include Brigadier General Sibusiso Busi
Moyo, who is Director General of COSLEG. Brigadier
Moyo advised both Tremalt and Oryx Natural
Resources, which represented covert Zimbabwean
military financial interests in negotiations with State
mining companies of the Democratic Republic of the
Congo. Air Commodore Mike Tichafa Karakadzai is
Deputy Secretary of COSLEG, directing policy and
procurement. He played a key role in arranging the
Tremalt cobalt and copper deal. Colonel Simpson
Sikhulile Nyathi is Director of defence policy for
COSLEG. The Minister of Defence and former
Security Minister, Sidney Sekeramayi, coordinates with
the military leadership and is a shareholder in
COSLEG. The Panel has a copy of a letter from Mr.
Sekeramayi thanking the Chief Executive of Oryx
Natural Resources, Thamer Bin Said Ahmed Al-
Shanfari, for his material and moral support during the
parliamentary elections of 2000. Such contributions
violate Zimbabwean law.

DRC diamond trade corruption

from Relief web, July 2, 2003:

...

In October 2002, a UN Expert Panel investigating the illegal exploitation of resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) issued a devastating report on the activities of companies engaged in the diamond trade and other resource extraction.¹ The report documented systemic and massive corruption in the diamond industry of the DRC, and the flagrant collusion of allied governments, notably Zimbabwe. It detailed the pillage of Congolese diamonds and other natural resources by Rwanda and Uganda. The report described systematic bribery, asset stripping, tax fraud, sanctions busting, embezzlement, extortion, the use of stock options as kickbacks and the diversion of state funds by groups that 'closely resemble criminal organizations'. The report said that in areas controlled by the Congolese government, at least US$5 billion worth of state mining assets had been transferred to foreign companies, with no benefit for the state since 1999. It estimated that the Armée Patriotique Rwandaise had been 'earning' US$320 million a year from commercial operations in eastern Congo. These practices, the report said, had led to, and fueled war, human rights abuse and the end of an almost inconceivable number of human lives. Following a nationwide mortality study, the New York-based International Rescue Committee estimated that between 1998 and 2002, 3.3 million more people had died than would have been the case had the war not occurred.^2......

The UN report concluded with three lists. The first contained the names of 29 companies, most registered in Africa. Six were involved in diamond trading and three of these were based in Antwerp. So egregious and so blatant were the transgressions of these companies that the report asked the Security Council to place financial restrictions on them, freezing their assets and suspending their banking facilities. A second list contained the names of 54 individuals the Panel wanted barred from all international travel and placed under financial restrictions. Some were local businessmen, some were arms dealers, some were serving officers in the armed forces of Uganda and Zimbabwe. The Congo's Minister of Planning and Reconstruction was on the list, as was the Chief of Military Intelligence in Uganda and the Speaker of Zimbabwe's parliament....

Oryx Natural Resources stated that the allegations against it were 'completely baseless', and invited the Panel to repeat the allegations in public, outside the protection of the United Nations. Niko Shefer, a former commodities broker who had been jailed in South Africa for fraud, and who once described himself as honorary consul general of Liberia, said he had not been out of southern Africa since 2000. Asked about the Panel's claim that one of his companies had a 50 per cent stake in Thorntree Industries, a joint venture diamond-trading company with the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Shefer said he never had any equity in Thorntree. Zimbabwean Defence Force Commander General Vitalis Zvinavashe -- recommended for the travel ban -- said that the claims against Zimbabwe and against him were 'meaningless'....

Full report (pdf* format - 96.0 KB)