A ZIMBABWEAN parliamentary committee is summoning former leader Robert Mugabe to explain past comments on alleged diamond looting.
It is the first time a public institution has called him to account for such claims, made during his 37-year rule.
Mugabe, who resigned in November following a military intervention and extraordinary public demonstrations, has said diamonds worth $15 billion (£10.5bn) were looted from fields in the country’s east. He later said he had no basis for that figure and spoke off the top of his head.
However, parliamentary committee chairman Temba Mliswa said the 94-year-old still should appear on May 9 to explain his comments. Parliament will dispatch an official letter “very soon” for Mugabe to appear, Mliswa said.
It is not clear whether Mugabe, who has lived quietly in the capital, Harare, since his resignation, will agree to show up.
The allegations have been a source of anger in the once-prosperous southern African country whose economy collapsed under Mugabe’s long rule.
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