ZIMBABWE — Air Marshal Perence Shiri has joined the stampede for diamonds amid stunning disclosures that the army man has sent his undercover troops to plunder the precious stones under the guise of restoring order and stability at Chiadzwa, a security detail who had the misfortune of testing the fifth-brigade like antics of the gang has disclosed.

 

In an interview under strict confidentiality for the fear of reprisals from Shiri who is infamous for killer instincts, the source said Chiadzwa Diamond Mine is a total mess as countless shoals of panners including renowned figures in society wear diamond weary hungry faces and are determined to stampede the security system to just gain entry into the rich veins of Chiadzwa.

 

 

“Perence never lost touch of Fifth-Brigade tricks. When we were on duty, we captured a gang of shabbily dressed nocturnal species and we severely thumped them as their mission was mysterious.

 

After thorough beatings they confessed that they were Shiri’s men who had come to investigate “report” of shady dealings at Chiadzwa but we would not take any of their silly defences,” the security detail told ZimDaily.

 

The source said that the gang among other panners that comprise retired night ladies mostly from Harare have the tendency of scheming their entry gimmicks from a nearby vantage point from the Harare-Mutare highway after evading a series of roadblocks manned by police and army details.

 

The gory episodes of confrontation , according to the source that will be off duty in five days from today, revealed physical battles with panners and most of them hungry and thirsty to gain access to a rich vein that is reportedly owned by the Vice President Joice Mujuru.

 

According to revelations, Mujuru was reported to have commissioned her portion that is persistently guarded by a vigil of security details. The security details take time off after a two-week service.

 

According to reports, numerous unannounced deaths take place as perceived panners that resist arrest are shot on site and buried in shallow graves without the knowledge of their next of kin.

 

“Flea Markets of quality clothing, takeaways and other social amenities are now mushrooming to provide for panners that anchor in Chiadzwa for days. Panners anchor in a guerrilla warfare style as they are determined to gain access to Ngoda…

 

One has to move around with foreign currency in various denominations for the purposes of bribing the snipers to avoid the danger of bullets simmering into their bodies as well as to gain access to the rich vein of Diamonds,” said a panner who has taken a break from Chiadzwa but has vowed to go back.

 

According to investigations, the ZANU-PF induced election campaign violence that characterised the March 29 and June 27 elections cannot compare with the horror episodes of deaths that are taking place at Chiadzwa.

 

There are reports of an unidentified dread-locked 'panner' who was shot at close range by a security detail for killing a police dog.

 

Some concerned industrialists once proposed the recapitalization of the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) to fully venture into diamond mining in Marange a proposal that the Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono equated to funding organised panning.

 

ZMDC once rejected government’s plans to rope in foreign investors at the 67-hectarage diamond fields in Marange. ZMDC had systematically registered dwindling diamond output of 42.29 carats that tumbled down to 34.91 in June 2008, 33.72 carats in July, 35.52 in August and an alarming 32.89 in September 2008 a situation synonymous with how the management of the ailing parastatal once sank its lethal teeth into its gold mines of Sabi, Jena and Elvington between 2000 and 2003 amid reports of looting of the precious mineral.

 

Dominic Mubayiwa, the current General Manager rose through the ranks of ZMDC from a mere graduate trainee accountant to the new top figure in the rank of the organisation.

 

A long serving worker at the Msasa’s No 90 Murate Road complex of ZMDC said around 2000 the company started nose-diving closing the most once-viable mines and should any meaningful recapitalisation becomes necessary, the axe must fall on all the remaining senior management that presided over such shoddy performance. “Handing over Chiadzwa to ZMDC under the current management is like perpetuating white collar panning as obviously nothing meaningful will come out the company,” he said.

 

According to another employee that spoke on grounds of anonymity, Mubayiwa himself is a women weary hungry vulture and is seeing another man’s wife identified as Jessie Rashama who according to sources have a child together (Dominic) even though she is still with her husband living in Kambuzuma* 

 

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