HARARE - Fake diamond certificates have been discovered in circulation, raising suspicions that Zimbabwe is trying to market “blood diamonds” illegally.

The diamond industry watchdog Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) has issued an alert on the circulation of fake KP certificates
Recently Zimbabwe threatened to sell its stones “elsewhere” if pressured to implement stringent international mining and human rights standards.
The Namibia-based KPCS said its members had “occasionally” been confronted with the occurrence of fraudulent KP certificates, a development that has necessitated its latest call for greater vigilance among the organisation’s 70-plus members when dealing in rough diamonds.
“In order to protect the KPCS against the use of fraudulent or counterfeit KP certificates, it is recommended that KP certificates should be carefully examined and, in case of reasonable doubt regarding the authenticity of certificates, relevant authorities be contacted immediately,” said KP chair Boaz Hirsch in notice.
He said it was also necessary for buyers and traders to coordinate and exchange information on certificates, as well as keep records of allegations of fraudulent or counterfeit certificates.
Trade in rough diamonds is only allowed between participants of KP on the basis of valid certificates issued by the watchdog.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe last month threatened to sell the country’s diamonds outside the KP, saying there was a limit to what the watchdog could tell the Harare regime to do.
Under a set of measures meant to bring Zimbabwe’s controversial diamond industry in line with KP standards, the diamond watchdog must monitor production and sales of diamonds from Chiadzwa where the army has been accused of rights abuses against civilians.
A planned sale of 300 000 carats of diamonds by Mbada – a joint-venture formed last year by the government’s Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and Grandwell of South Africa to mine diamonds at Chiadzwa – was aborted in January because of the absence of a KP monitor and also because the mining firm had failed to inform relevant government departments.

By The Zimbabwean