Mugabe fails to face Zimbabwe parliament to explain loss of billions

Former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe

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

The 94-year-old had been summoned to a session at 9am (10am Kenyan time), but when he did not show up, lawmakers rescheduled the session for Monday.

Committee head Temba Mliswa, an independent lawmaker, told reporters that the parliamentary committee was “cognisant of the fact that 9am was a bit too early” for the former president to show up.

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

Lawmakers want to question him over his 2016 claim that Zimbabwe lost $15 billion (Sh1.5 trillion) in revenue due to corruption and foreign exploitation in the diamond sector.

Syphoning off

 “We are not here to humiliate him, we expect him to have enough time to prepare. So on Monday at 2pm we expect him here,” Mliswa said, although he admitted that Mugabe was not legally obliged to attend.

Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe from 1980 until he was ousted from office in November 2017 following a brief military takeover. He denounced his ouster as a coup and 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.

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