THE decision by companies mining diamonds in Marange district to build a processing technology centre in President Robert Mugabe’s home province, over 400 kms from where most of the country’s gems are being extracted, has caused dismay in social and political circles.
The multi-million dollar cutting and polishing centre is being built in Mashonaland West province’s Mt Hampden area, a few kilometres outside Harare.
The Zimbabwe Diamond Technology Centre, which is being constructed by Canadile miners, one of the three firms operating in Marange, is set to become operational within six months.
Once complete, the US$20 million centre will have among other things banks, a diamond college and insurance firms.
Political and social commentators said the decision was based more on political considerations than moral and economic judgement.
They doubted if it was mere coincidence that the diamond centre, which is expected to create 7 000 jobs in local diamond processing and downstream activities when complete, was being built in Mugabe’s home province, one of the most developed areas in the country.
They argued that had the centre been built in Manicaland province it was not only going to stimulate economic development but also create jobs for locals, most of whom were evicted from their original homes to make way for mining operations.
Currently, the “beneficiaries” of diamond proceeds have been senior politicians and service chiefs while the evictees from Chiadzwa in Marange are now living in squalid conditions in tobacco barns that were converted into living quarters.
Those who spoke to The Standard last week said this was why some provinces were calling for the devolution of power during the current constitution-making process to ensure that people benefited from resources in their provinces.
Former Finance minister Simba Makoni said setting up a diamond processing centre in Mt Hampden makes a mockery of the government’s policy of decentralisation which was adopted at independence in 1980.
At independence, said Makoni, Mugabe’s administration declared a policy of decentralisation, which was abandoned along the way.
“What is happening makes a total mockery of that policy to mine diamonds in Chiadzwa and process them in Mt Hampden,” he said. “It also shows that the government is not committed to the principle of balanced national development.”
Makoni, who is the leader of Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn party, said the location of the centre in Mt Hampden meant that people of Chiadzwa were being denied a chance to access better services such as housing, transport and communication.
“There will definitely be no expansion of retail services or downstream industries to benefit people of Chiadzwa and apart from that they (mining companies) are increasing operational costs by airlifting the diamonds.
“It also makes the diamonds uncompetitive on the world market,” said Makoni.
Pishai Muchauraya, the MDC-T spokesperson for Manicaland province, said the people from the province were very angry that resources were extracted from their areas to benefit other provinces.
Had the centre been built in Manicaland, he said, the people of Marange would not have felt “robbed” because their children would be employed at the centre and the downstream industries.
“This is economic piracy,” fumed Muchauraya who is also MP for Makoni South.
“This is why people are calling for devolution of power to be included in the new constitution.
“We are saying natural resources must be processed in areas they are found to generate employment for the local communities.”
Muchauraya’s sentiments were also echoed by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) director Alouis Chaumba, who added that the people from Marange were suffering a double tragedy.
They are being evicted from their homes of several years and not benefiting from the diamonds, he said.
“If the centre was built in Mutare, the affected families would have solace in that they will be benefiting from employment opportunities created and development associated with the centre,” Chaumba said.
“As we speak, they don’t have anything to show that diamonds are being extracted from their areas except harassment by security forces.” 
Mutare was the ideal place for the centre, Chaumba suggested, because it was centrally located and has easy access to the Indian Ocean.
Diamonds are also mined in Masvingo and Matabeleland provinces but most of them come from Manicaland.
Zapu spokesperson Methusili Moyo described the location of the centre in Mashonaland West as “exportation of jobs” from Manicaland province.
“Our policy is that natural resources in a particular area must be harvested and processed in that area as a way of creating employment and further downstream economic activities,” Moyo said.
Moyo noted that apart from diamonds, granite from Mutoko, coal from Hwange and beef from Matabeleland South and Midlands provinces were mostly benefiting or processed in Harare and Mashonaland provinces.
Most people from Matabeleland provinces feel they have been marginalised by Mugabe’s regime for a long time and are calling for devolution of power.
Canadile chairman Cougan Matanhire could not be reached for comment to explain the location of the centre and whether it was influenced by political considerations.
Early this year, Mugabe’s rural home district of Zvimba and other Zanu PF strongholds in Mashonaland controversially got the largest amounts of money from tollgate fees collected nationwide, in a move that caused consternation in government and political circles.
Mugabe and his loyalists have over the years been accused of grabbing national resources to develop their own regions at the expense of others, creating imbalances in national development.
An analysis of the distribution pattern of tollgate money contained in the recent Mid-Term Fiscal Policy review statement showed that most of the US$15 million already disbursed by the Zimbabwe National Road Authority (Zinara) to different districts for the maintenance of the country’s road network went to Mashonaland West and Mashonaland Central.
Zvimba, a growth point which is Mugabe’s home area, and Bindura got the biggest chunk.
“This is politics of marginalisation,” said Moyo. “No resources from Mashonaland provinces and Harare are ever processed in other provinces.”

By The Standard