The nation and the world have been made to believe that Obert Mpofu is corrupt, evil and arrogant. All this is the proud achievement of one man in particular Lovemore Kurotwi.
Lovemore Kurotwi once made the following statement directed at Obert Mpofu and contained in the standard newspaper
” I have nothing against him really. I think when it comes to some of these issues, the best thing to do is; rather than take any vengeful path, you leave everything to divine equalisation and I think Minister Mpofu will have his own comeuppance with divinity.
As for advice to him:
Minister Mpofu, you can’t have what you ain’t got and you can never lose what you ain’t never had.
There is so much satisfaction with what’s yours. Remember, there is always divine equalisation when vadzimu naMwari [ancestral spirits and God] fight for those perceived to be powerless by those who perceive themselves to have power over everybody.
So never take anybody for granted.
Try and respect every human being because they too, like you, are a product of the divine.”
This statement contains vengeance and a hidden desire to see Obert Mpofu suffer. Lovemore Kurotwi seems to be a man with an agenda against Obert Mpofu, why single out Obert Mpofu when Kurotwi had dealings with former Mines Minister Amos Midzi ? All the world was told by Kurotwi that Mpofu is corrupt and everyone began singing the same song including Lewis Matutu, question is what does Kurotwi have against Mpofu ?
The tiff began at Chiadzwa diamond fields. Chiadzwa was the source of their beef and Chiadzwa is the reason why people say Mpofu is corrupt. But who were the main players in Chiadzwa ?
The main players in the Chiadzwa saga:
- The Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), a statutory body established in terms of the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation Act. The ZMDC is government’s mining arm.
- Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ), a statutory body established in terms of the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe Act. MMCZ is the state minerals marketing agency.
- New Reclamation Group (Reclam) of South Africa and Core Mining and Minerals (Pty) Ltd. The two companies were brought into the diamond deals by Mpofu through Mbada chairman Robert Mhlanga who is well-connected all the way to President Robert Mugabe.
- Mbada is a 50/50 joint venture between ZMDC’s subsidiary Marange Minerals and Reclam’s subsidiary Grandwell Holdings
- Canadile Miners, a 50/50 joint venture between Marange Resources and Grandwell Holdings
Mhlanga chairs Mbada, while Canadile is chaired by former army officer Lovemore Kurotwi.
Obert Mpofu was never on the ground to access diamonds from Chiadzwa , yet Lovemore Kurotwi had access to diamonds.
Could it be that Dr Obert Mpofu brought sanity to a shadowy diamond industry cartel which milked the nation of its resources ?
Bear in mind it was Obert Mpofu who brought Kimberly Certification Process to ensure that our diamonds could be sold legally and benefit the people.
Before Obert Mpofu diamond cartels did as they pleased siphoning the precious stones from the country.
People who enjoyed the comfort of shadowy diamond deals still have an axe to grind with Dr Obert Mpofu and they will keep using influence and money to ensure that they soil Obert Mpofu’s name as payback for putting a stop to cartel like operations in the diamond industry.
Lovemore Kurotwi as a former military officer with enough money clearly has political influence and will stop at nothing till he gets even with Obert Mpofu.
In the next instalment we will look at the source of Obert Mpofu’s wealth.
Nicholas Ncube is a researcher and blogger based in Ontario Canada
