Former Zimbabwean president Mugabe snubs parliament

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Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe failed to appear before parliament for the second time on Monday to clarify a statement he made in 2016 that Zimbabwe could have been prejudiced of 15 billion US dollars through diamond revenue leakages.

The parliamentary portfolio committee on mines and energy initially wanted Mugabe to appear before it on May 9 but postponed this to May 23. Mugabe did not come on May 23, resulting in parliament postponing the hearing to May 28.

Committee chairperson Themba Mliswa told journalists on Monday that parliament would now write the third and final letter to Mugabe inviting him to attend, failure of which he would face contempt of parliament charges.

Theater actor Khetani Banda in the role of Zimbabwe's former president Robert Mugabe performs on stage during a play at Theater in the Park in Harare, March 29, 2018. /VCG Photo

"The committee unanimously agreed that we write to the former president inviting him to appear before us on June 11, 2018 at 2 o'clock," Mliswa said.

"If he fails to attend, we will have no choice but to summon him and it's something that we regret. We hope we will not get to that stage of summoning him as his legacy needs to be protected."

Mliswa said Mugabe had not responded to any of their invitations so far.

The meeting, if it happens, will be Mugabe's first public meeting since he resigned in November last year following a military intervention.

A man holds a Mozambican Liberation Movement (FRELIMO) flag and a poster with the portrait of former Zimbabwean deputy President Emmerson Mnangagwa, after removing the portrait of former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe from the wall at the International Conference center, in Harare, on November 21, 2017. /VCG Photo

Mugabe said in 2016 that Zimbabwe could have lost 15 billion dollars through diamond revenue leakages from mining operations in Chiadzwa diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe.

Over the past months, the committee has been trying to get more information on the matter and has since received oral evidence from several serving and former cabinet ministers, security chiefs and mining officials.

Mliswa said they were waiting for Mugabe's oral evidence so that they can conclude their report on the alleged 15 billion dollars.

(Cover: People were removing the portrait of former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe from the wall at the International Conference center, where parliament had their sitting, after his resignation in Harare, November 21, 2017. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency