31 March 31, 2023. Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) is deeply concerned with shocking evidence of rampant gold smuggling and money laundering revealed in the recently published two of a four-part documentary series by Aljazeera’s investigative unit (I-UNIT).
The Gold Mafia report confirms and validates the findings of a research report published by CNRG in July 2022 titled Zimbabwe’s Disappearing Gold. Our report estimated that about three tonnes of gold, valued at $157 million, illicitly leaves Zimbabwe monthly. The report also highlighted the role of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, McMillan, and several smugglers equipped with gold-buying licenses by RBZ.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has for years been accused of being a citadel of organized crime and illicit financial flows and some argue it is no longer fit for purpose. Issuance of gold-buying licenses in circumstances shrouded in secrecy and opaqueness to well-known gold smugglers clearly accelerated organized crime which has now been exposed by Aljazeera.
The confessions in the Aljazeera documentary series point to serious transnational organized crime, politically connected state-embedded criminal actors, networks, and well-established criminal markets of which the United Arab Emirates is only one. The gold smuggling criminal activities also follow a 2015 revelation by former President Robert Mugabe that Zimbabwe had lost at least $15 billion from Marange diamonds illicit activities between 2009 and 2014. In her 2019 audit report on state enterprises, AuditorGeneral Mildred Chiri reported that the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC), which is the successor to the companies involved in the $15 billion diamond heist, had failed to account for more than US$400 million. She emphasized that ZCDC had failed to account for a diamond stockpile of 352 583.11 carats worth about US$146.3 million. Put together, this confirms CNRG’s firmly held belief that Zimbabwe is losing more than $30 billion annually to illicit financial flows and organized crime in the extractive sector. This must not continue any further.
CNRG, therefore, makes the following recommendations:
To the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), and Southern African Development Community (SADC)
The pillaging of Zimbabwe’s natural wealth involves various countries, international criminal networks, and individuals working in cahoots with Zimbabwean state-embedded criminal actors. This makes Zimbabwe’s law enforcement and judiciary inadequate to address the full scale of the crisis. We, therefore, call on the UN, AU, and SADC to:
• Set up a Commission of Inquiry into the plunder of Zimbabwe’s natural resources dating back to the time of the discovery of Marange Diamonds in 2006. The Commission will help gather irrefutable evidence of resource plunder and identify all those involved. • Production of evidence will set the stage for demands for reparations so that Zimbabwe can rebuild its economy using its own resources.
• Engage the Zimbabwe government directly to ensure legislative, policy, and institutional reforms are urgently put in place to stop the country’s financial hemorrhaging.
To the Government of Zimbabwe:
Reward instead of persecuting investigative journalists as these are central in fighting organized crime and helping in the attainment of President Mnangagwa’s vision of a middle-income economy by 2030. Without a deliberate and inclusive effort to fight corruption that vision remains mere talk.
• Issue international arrest warrants for all those fingered in the documentaries but domiciled in other jurisdictions.
• Revoke ALL the gold buying licenses given to dealers and start a consultative process with key stakeholders on how to reduce gold leakages and boost the country’s gold reserves as well as improve revenue generation.
• Guarantee that the artisanal mining sector is formalized to reduce gold leakages.
• Ensure that Fidelity Printers and Refineries offer competitive prices to gold producers to reduce the propensity for smuggling.
Zimbabwe civil society, faith-based institutions, media, and academia
Al Jazeera has done its part and their role is complete. Nothing is going to change the status quo regarding natural resource governance unless there is intense demand for accountability by the Zimbabwean people themselves.
• Convene citizens and carry out public education and awareness raising on the impact of organized crime on human security – freedom from fear and freedom from want – food security, access to health, education, jobs, housing, infrastructure, etc.
• Lead the Zimbabwean people in engaging the government demanding answers, explanations, and actions on issues that have been revealed in the Al Jazeera documentary series.
• Make suggestions on what needs to be done with immediate effect to ensure this scourge is dealt with effectively.
• Write petitions and letters of demand asking for decisive action to combat organized crime and fish out state-embedded criminal networks from public service.
To the International Community
A two-tier approach is required. The Al Jazeera documentary reveals weak state institutions that are vulnerable to criminal networks and a disempowered citizenry that has lost its voice.
• Work with the Zimbabwe government to assist in strengthening state institutions and making them resilient to organized crime.
• Strengthen the capacity of civil society and the media to detect, expose and weaken criminal networks operating in Zimbabwe.
• Invest in strengthening parliament so that it plays its oversight role of holding the executive to account effectively and combatively. • Strengthen the Zimbabwean judiciary and law enforcement so that these are resilient to organized crime.
To the Zimbabwean community in the country and in the diaspora
Good governance is a product of an active citizenry. The Al Jazeera documentary exposé’ is a call to action and an open invitation to a national dialogue on the future of Zimbabwe. We must all engage with the subject and amplify the calls for reforms and action to be taken both on the individuals involved and countries partaking in the plunder of Zimbabwe’s natural resources.
For more details please contact:
Centre for Natural Resource Governance CNRG Information department,
Email info@cnrgzim.org
Cell +263 779 078 873
Twitter: @CNRG_ZIM
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Website: https://cnrgzim.org