Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa has openly cleared former Vice President Joice Mujuru, previously blamed for looting Chiadzwa diamonds.
Speaking in a wide ranging interview on the BBC Hard Talk, Chinamasa three times repeated his view that the missing $15billion diamond revenue matter has nothing to do with theft or fraud.
“This was all to do with the mis-pricing of our diamonds,” said Chinamasa.
He was at the time persuading his case to obtain aid and investment. “But you have got $15billion of revenue from the diamond industry which President Robert Mugabe himself said in March had been looted and simply disappeared..,” Chinamasa was asked.
He responded saying, “There is potential in our economy, no doubt, but I don’t think you are right to ascribe it to bad management. Its not the reason.
“We went through a revolution, the land issue was a revolution in itself…let me come to the $15billion, the $15 billion essentially what we are saying is over the years there has been an economic loss arising from trade mis-priscing.
“Now put it differently you would put it as looting but I would rather put it to say its mis-pricing , the problem we know happens in all developing countries – under invoicing of commodities over a period of time hence you can also put it to the fact that in that case, we were caught sleeping, but the truth of the matter is that its arising from mis-pricing and its an issue now we are interrogating with a view to coming up with the necessary systems to prevent that from happening (again),” he said.
The treasury boss’ comments came as Mujuru was fingered by ZANU PF Commissar Saviour Kasukuwere and professor Jonathan Moyo for looting Zimbabwe’s diamonds, participating in the so called $15billion theft.
Chinamasa was being grilled by the BBC’s Zeinab Badawi in London.