A “diamond geezer” is a man who is thoughtful, caring and loving. The “diamond” refers to the perfection of the man’s character, whilst “geezer” is a common term for a man.

It also is the name of a drama on British television starring Sir David Jason and it tells the story of a lovable, jewel thief and professional con man.

It crossed my mind this morning that it is also an apt description of Robert Mugabe who is primarily driven by money (loads of it) and is aware of the power of the diamond.

The attraction of diamonds often puts countries in jeopardy, lives in mayhem and the choices of many men are tempered in the light of the reflection on a diamond.

In some of the more politically unstable central African and west African countries, revolutionary groups have taken control of diamond mines, using proceeds from diamond sales to finance their operations. Diamonds sold through this process are known as conflict diamonds or blood diamonds. Major diamond trading corporations continue to fund and fuel these conflicts by doing business with armed groups.

Some politicians have feathered their nests with the proceeds of their lust for diamonds.

I believe that Robert Mugabe is one of these individuals. And the diamonds that have funded him have come from the Congo and from Zimbabwean fields.

Mugabe deployed his army to the Congo in 1996 as the tension following the neighbouring Rwanda war and genocide had spilled over into then Zaire. Mugabe’s army were to assist the Kabila government is fighting a rebel force.

It is believed that during their tenure in the Congo, many senior ZNA officers were strategically placed to bring out diamonds for Mugabe. Much of this is supposition and it would answer many questions about that time.

The free world decided then that war was profiting from the diamond industry and to change that, the Kimberley Process was introduced in 2002 through which blood diamonds (conflict diamonds) are precluded from the standard and normal diamond business and trade.

In recent years there has been the discovery of the Marange diamond field in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe, and Mugabe has taken measures that the vast majority of the field is overseen by his government whilst the proceeds thereof have been siphoned off to line his and many senior loyalists’ pockets.

One quote which I read (and have quoted many times since) was from a ZNA soldier who admitted to reporters that he and other uniformed personnel were mining on the field during the night instead of guarding the diamond mines, as he observed that “why should a man die of thirst when he is standing in a river?”

Mugabe’s entire existence is one of opulence – just look at his mansion in Borrowdale Brook in Harare – and he and his senior personnel live a very fine lifestyle, whilst a few hundred metres from his door, suffering Zimbabweans starve and suffer daily from a lack of money, jobs, food, medical services and sanitation.

Not that Mugabe cares – he has the finest of everything and if he doesn’t, he will move Heaven and earth to attain it, no matter what the cost, either monetarily or the cost to human lives.

For a man who proclaims himself an anti-colonialist, his tastes are distinctly colonial!

Truly a ‘diamond geezer’.

Robb WJ Ellis
The Bearded Man