Zanu PF official found with diamonds at airport

Zanu PF official found with diamonds at airport

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By Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWEAN police arrested a leading official of Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF party after he was found with diamonds at the Harare International Airport, state radio reported Friday night.

William Nhara, the Zanu PF spokesman in Harare province, was in police custody late Friday, official police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said, adding that the official was arrested on Thursday.

There were no details on whether Nhara was arriving or going out of the country at the time of his arrest.

Nhara's arrest came on the same day police confirmed the arrest last week of the son of Zimbabwe Defence Industries CEO Rtd Colonel Tshinga Dube.

The government has been battling precious mineral dealers after diamonds were discovered in the eastern district of Marange. There has also been a rush for gold, leading to the arrest of over 30 000 people since late last year.

Police chiefs and anti-corruption campaigners have alleged the involvement of top government officials in the illegal mining of diamonds and gold. A magistrate was arrested last week while panning gold.

Colonel Tshinga Dube's son, Mthulisi, 24, was arrested last Friday evening at his father’s home in Greendale, Harare, after a raid by the police acting on a tip-off.

Police also arrested an Air Force of Zimbabwe officer, Nyasha Takunda Mudenge, an Air Force of Zimbabwe officer. Police recovered 764 diamond pieces and 7,42 grammes of gold.

Dube, who was at the helm when ZDI was in 1997 entangled in a weapons hijacking scandal after a Sri Lankan separatist movement, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, seized arms destined for the state, has been cited in a number of shady minerals deals, especially during the Democratic Republic of Congo war between 1998 and 2002.

Last year, the High Court heard DRC president Joseph Kabila and Dube had been involved in a DRC diamond mining concern through Dube & Associates which is registered in the Great Lakes country.

Dube has also been involved in military-run companies exploiting mostly diamonds in the DRC. A United Nations report, Final Report of the Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, produced five years ago, names Dube among senior government officials and army officers accused of exploiting minerals in the Congo. (Additional reporting Zimbabwe Independent)
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