‘Diamond producers turned down consolidation plans’

Foreign investors in Marange turned down the government’s proposal to be amalgamated into one entity because the move would have stopped their looting sprees, President Robert Mugabe has said.

In a televised interview on Monday to mark his 93rd birthday by State broadcaster, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, Mugabe said the government took a leaf from Botswana, Namibia and Angola, where diamond mining is in the hands of the State.

He said the government offered the Chinese, Lebanese and South African investors the opportunity to consolidate or go out.

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