According to a top government official, who declined to be named, Chikane was initially expected to arrive at the beginning of the week on Monday but rescheduled his to Thursday.

“Chikane was supposed to come on Monday, but he received his confirmation from the government a bit late and requested that the trip be pushed to Thursday,” a source said.

“The visit is part of our agreement with KP whom also approved the initial sale that was carried out last month.”

Mines Minister, Obert Mpofu refused to comment on the matter.  “Talk to Chikane himself. He is not an employee of the ministry of mines, as he works for the KP and not us,” Mpofu curtly told ZimOnline.

Zimbabwe in August sold 900,000 carats of diamonds from its controversial Marange diamond field.

The government, which set up two joint-venture companies with some private investors to exploit the Chiadzwa (also known as Marange) deposits, earned US$30 million dollars from last month’s auction, one of two diamond sales authorised by the KP that regulates the world diamond industry.

Zimbabwe finally won its battle to sell the Marange diamonds after President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party and Tsvangirai’s MDC put up a united front urging the West to drop its opposition to the auctioning of the gemstones at a World Diamond Council meeting in July.

Revenue from diamond sells could go a long way to providing much needed cash for the Harare government that has failed to attract meaningful financial support from Western governments and international financial institutions.

But questions still remain on whether all proceeds from the diamond sales would be accounted for by the Treasury after Finance Minister Tendai Biti in July charged that $30 million from previous diamond sales was missing.

The two firms mining diamonds at Marange -- Mbada and Canadile -- are joint ventures between the government’s Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation and some little known South African private companies.

Critics say the diamond firms are fronting powerful political and military elites close to Mugabe. –

By Zimonline