Government forms a mining revenue oversight group
30 March 2012
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Harare(ZimEye)- Government has given in to demands by the civic society and democratic forces to end corruption and bring transparency in the mining sector by partnering with civil society and mining companies to establish an oversight group called Zimbabwe Mining Revenue Transparency (ZMRT).
The mining revenue oversight group which will be chaired by Thabani Mpofu a Principal Director in the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s office comprises stakeholders from the Chamber of Mines, the government of Zimbabwe and civil society organisations which are concerned with mineral extraction.
It is being implemented under the mandate of the Cabinet Committee on Resource Mobilisation.
“I don’t think there is anywhere in the world where people will say we are totally happy with the levels of transparency so we are saying that transparency monitoring should be continuous. This is a dialogue that should be ongoing. The rules are there but having them without people acting does not help matters so that is why we came with this organization. If you are doing your business above board you are not afraid who knows what you are doing and this will also help with bringing in more partners as people are interested in working with organizations that are transparent, ”Principal Director in the office of Deputy Prime Minister Thokhozani Khupe, Samukele Hadebe told Zimeye in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the formation of the oversight group in Harare.
Civil Society Coalition (CSC) Secretary General Joshua Marufu believes the group will bring sanity in the mining sector whose activities had for long time been secretive.
“Some people were doing things that were not in the national interests so its time as a nation to come together. We need to shape up and make sure that business is accountable. What the government is doing is offering a framework where as civil society we meet with the business community and resolve these issues. We hope that revenue collected will benefit the whole population and we are hopeful that we will be successful and help the country develop.
“As civil society what the government has done is to enable every person to be included as we will talk freely to both the government and the mining companies,” Marufu told Zimeye in an interview at the event.
Complaints of corruption and secrecy in the operations at Marange Diamond fields and the entire mining sector had been raised by the civil society.
Government has been defending itself against the allegations saying the mining sector is a sensitive area.(ZimEye, Zimbabwe)

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