The Moving Train of Chiadzwa

It is a little trite to point out that Farai Maguwu, the celebrated "diamond activist" who wrote copiously and negatively about a place he had never visited has finally seen the light and for once spoke good about Chiadzwa diamond fields.

Members of civic organisations, of which Maguwu is part, visited Chiadzwa for the first time last week.

According to a news report, "The fiery diamond activist (Maguwu) said there was general satisfaction following the visit that Harare seemed to meet the minimum standards required by the diamond watchdog, the Kimberley Process, in terms of security, safety, health and transparency within the production chain in Marange."

However, Maguwu said he "would be happier if it's realised that the accelerated production we witnessed is translated into revenue collection by government, and translate into material wealth for Zimbabweans."

He also said: "Given that the diamond fields have become a high security area, it is no longer safe for these people to live there; it becomes kind of an open prison where they no longer have the freedom of movement and freedom of association."

It is clear that Maguwu, even in his "Damascene moment", is eager to retain a modicum of relevance cognate with his pedigree as a "diamond activist" by bringing the dimensions of revenue collection by Government and the relocation of villagers from the "open prisons" that their areas have become.

Before an analysis of Maguwu's utterances, in light of the bigger picture that the story of Chiadzwa is, it would be interesting to show how strikingly similar his sentiments are to those of another Chiadzwa first timer, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

PM Tsvangirai visited the fields last month.

After touring the fields and expressing satisfaction at the operations here, he was quoted as saying:

"Those who have visited this area will now appreciate that the country has wealth. We will all try to be transparent because we all know that Zimbabwe has all (the) resources to take off," he said.

He also put in this rejoinder: "When I arrived at Marange diamond fields I said to myself, hey, our natural resources are getting finished whilst we are in Harare . . ." He also later claimed that the Chiadzwa community should benefit from the resources in their area as no their condition made the talk of indigenisation hypocritical.

It is no secret that the civic society, which term can be synonymous with the mutually foreign sponsored MDC of PM Tsvangirai, has been so vocal, if vacuous, against Chiadzwa diamonds.

The MDC have also generally weighed in casting aspersions on the exploitation of the resource and in particular singling out the presence of the army.

With the tours of Chiadzwa by the premier and the civil society, one gets a feeling that Chiadzwa diamond ventures are like the proverbial moving wagons that dogs can only bark at, but never derail.

The world saw it at the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme where some countries, including Canada, selfishly sought to bar Zimbabwe's certification and open sale of its gems. The US has now resorted to sanctioning the diamond companies operating in Chiadzwa and decampaigning Zimbabwean gems on the market. But that won't work, will it, given the demand for the gems and the interest of other countries like India, China and South Africa.

Basically, the war over Zimbabwe's gems is over.

One sees it in the desperation of the "diamond activist" Maguwu who sooner rather than later might be without a portfolio and has to carve a new niche of freeing Marange people from the "open prison".

It remains a matter of conjecture whether he will also not demand to see the books of diamond proceeds.

Farai Maguwu, just like many of his Western-sponsored civil society in the context of Western regime change project in Zimbabwe, simply cannot be busy enough. And it is all to the satisfaction of his masters in the West and, who knows, he might get another dubious award, this time from championing the rights of people in Chiadzwa.

Ironically, the people he will try to impress operate real and heinous prisons like Guantanamo and Palestine (yes!). Tsvangirai brings another laughable and desperate dimension to the Chiadzwa story.

He claims "the country" is being "finished" by the activities at Chiadzwa, he has repeated it on at least two Press conferences. One columnist recently exposed the fatuity of such a claim, especially coming from a person who actively participated in the exploitation of mineral resources in Bindura by a company that has done virtually nothing for the community in which it operates.

The columnist insinuated that there was an attempt to fix that which was not broken.

One gets the same feeling as Maguwu talks of his "open prisons" his small and caged mind has chanced upon thinking. There is something particularly depressing about how Chiadzwa is being treated as an exception and there are people like Maguwu making careers out of the fields, however dubious.

It has been observed that Zimbabwe has been treated unfairly at the KPCS, which saw some countries and forces trying to bend the rules so that Zimbabwe could be condemned. In another show of these cynical moves, that Zimbabwe is being certified on a mine-by-mine basis when it is traditionally done on a country-by-country basis.

While it is inconceivable that the reckless, attention seeking utterances of the likes of Maguwu can upset the applecart, they make sad reading because they are as irritating as a gnat. But after this, Maguwu should have a serious introspection. He should ask himself of the morality -- if he knows any morals of what he has been doing.

He should feel quite ashamed of himself and possibly the dubious credit he has received if he has any shame at all. Last year he was presented with the Alison Des Forges Award for "his tremendous courage in exposing abuses in Zimbabwe's diamond fields and working to end rampant violations of human rights throughout the region."

He told a radio station that he was "humbled and very encouraged that the work we are doing is recognised," vowing to "keep going."

Maguwu should now be humble and acknowledge that writing, and being encouraged to write about fictional human rights abuses will not land him anywhere.

The writing is on the wall, as the likes of him and Prime Minister Tsvangirai gain access to Chiadzwa, their lies and misplaced utterances will no longer hold. Even if they try to be as dramatic as to imagine open prisons and a country being devoured by machines, the truth of the matter is that these outrageous claims will simply fall flat.

The reason is simple: light cannot be conquered by darkness. In the same manner the light that Maguwu encountered last week has already dawned on the world.

Its either he follows it or not.

If he doesn't, the world will simply move on.

Source: allafrica.com