Mugabe Summoned By Parliament

A parliamentary committee in Zimbabwe has summoned former President Robert Mugabe to explain a past comment about the country losing billions of dollars in revenue due to diamond corruption.

Mugabe, who stepped down in November 2017 after a military intervention and huge protests, said in 2016 that $15bn worth of gems had been looted from fields in eastern Zimbabwe.

The 94-year-old, who ruled the country for 37 years, will appear before the parliament’s mines and energy committee on May 9 to explain how this sum was lost or how he calculated the figure, said Chairman Temba Mliswa.

“We met today [Thursday] as a committee and resolved that we invite former President Mr Mugabe to our committee to explain the disappearance of the $15 billion worth of diamonds,” Mliswa told state-owned Herald newspaper.

The move marked the first time a public institution has called Mugabe to account for such claims made during his rule.

Source: Al jazeera