Diamond money resurfaces in Manicaland

And the talk at most beer outlets is - kwavakupindika; and it is nowhere else other than Chiadzwa diamond area. One businessman at a business centre along the highway said: "Business is improving, but we doubt it will take time before the law enforcements agents move in with full force again.

"One can easily tell that something fishy is going on by the way people are spending money and this is also likely to attract the attention of the police. While we do not condone illegal activities going on in Chiadzwa- like killing each other- but as the business community, we are captalising on the diamond dealers' spending sprees. Do you know that one illegal miner spent more than US$100 on beer alone here last Saturday and who as a businessman doesn't like that? It is business.

"We know it will not take time and we want to make a lot of hay while the sun is still shining," said the businessman. An illegal diamond dealer conversant with the illegal goings-on at Chiadzwa said it was missing the point when people say illegal mining had started again, as the illegal activities had not stopped even after Operation Hakudzokwi.

"Illegal mining was going on even after Operation Hakudzokwi. The only issue was that people were doing it with utmost caution and it involved some unscrupulous law enforcement agents and a few panners. Most of the diamonds are finding their way into Mozambique and are smuggled into various countries, particularly the Middle East and South Africa. If you go to Mozambique now, many buyers are camped there and some of the panners jump the border through areas like Himalaya, Cashel Valley and Imbeza. Though the current crop of buyers are not paying as the previous ones, we are getting enough to feed our families and, of course, buy little beer," he said with a laugh.

The panner even said it was easy to deal with soldiers than the police, saying they were easy to bribe. But some people who are not daring enough to join the diamond bandwagon expressed fear that the new diamond frenzy might again push up prices of commodities. "If you check prices in shops along the highway, you will see that the prices are going up. I did not benefit anything from the illegal diamond mining and I don't think I will love to see another diamond rush. It will be a disadvantage to us who do not join the illegal activities," Tongai Mutenda from Zimunya said.

Some of the business centres, which benefited at the height of illegal diamond dealing last year, include Wengezi, Nhedziwa, Chakohwa, Chaseyama, Hot Springs, Nyanyadzi, Gundyanga, Birchenough, Chirasika, Mashukashuka and Zengeni, among others. When the illegal diamond dealings had taken root last year, car sales business was booming at Chakohwa, so were other businesses like vending and flea markets.

Even the latest cars on the market could bee seen parked at the dusty business centre with "For Sale" signs. Electrical gadgets from DVDs to LCD (plasma) television sets could be seen on the market at the rural business centres. With all these developments, crime became the order of the day, from mugging to armed robbery and this in a way brought sleepless nights to law-abiding citizens.