Hakudzokwi Kumunda

“Operation you would never go back to the diamond fields” - a Zimbabwean military campaign to clear the diamond region of Chiadzwa.

Although this BBC translation of Hakudzokwi kumunda is somewhat whimsical, the brutal campaign it describes is anything but. Zimbabwean security forces began their violent crackdown (the latest in a series of operations) against “illegal” diamond hunters in mid-November and, according to the BBC, “Within a week of the operation there was not a single miner left.” One miner said, “I thank my gods I escaped unhurt. … It was hell on earth. The soldiers are shooting to kill.”

It is unclear how many people have died in this operation. The Zimbabwe Times reported that there were 20 unidentified bodies in local morgues; speaking on the condition of anonymity, a health official told Zimbabwe’s Standard, “I think we have received over 50 bodies at this mortuary since August.”

Describing the brutality of Hakudzokwi kumunda, SW Radio Africareported that soldiers were “abducting suspected diamond buyers and panners in Mutare and areas around Chiadzwa, and torturing them. After the torture sessions, the panners are taken back to the diamond fields where they are forced to fill up gullies and pits with their bare hands.”