Mugabe a no-show at hearing

New date set for parliamentary probe into corruption in diamond industry

FORMER Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe failed to turn up yesterday for a parliamentary hearing where he was due to give evidence on corruption in the diamond mining industry.

The 94-year-old, who is in frail health, had been summoned to a session at 9am, but when he did not show up, legislators rescheduled the session for Monday.

Committee head Temba Mliswa, an independent lawmaker, said the parliamentary committee was cognisant of the fact that 9am was a bit too early for Mugabe to show up.

He said the Monday session had been set for 2pm, although no one in Mugabe’s office would say whether or not he would attend.

Lawmakers want to question him over his 2016 claim that Zimbabwe had lost $15-billion (R189-billion) in revenue due to corruption and foreign exploitation in the diamond sector.

“We are not here to humiliate him, we expect him to have enough time to prepare,” Mliswa said.

“So, on Monday at 2pm, we expect him here.” Mliswa admitted, though, that Mugabe was not legally obliged to attend the hearing.

Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe from 1980 until he was ousted in November after a brief military takeover.

He has not been seen in public since.

His authoritarian regime has been accused of siphoning off diamond profits.

He was replaced by his former deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa, a veteran loyalist in the ruling Zanu-PF party who was backed by senior military officers.

Alluvial diamonds were found in Chiadzwa, in the east of the country, more than 10 years ago.

Rights groups have accused security forces of using brutal methods to control the scattered deposits.

The parliamentary committee has interviewed former ministers, police and intelligence chiefs about the mining industry in Chiadzwa.

Zimbabwe has allowed several diamond companies to mine the area -- most of them as joint ventures between the government and Chinese firms.

However, there have been widespread allegations of mass looting.