Zimbabwean Mines Minister Obert Mpofu, testifying before the Harare parliamentary committee probing irregularities in the mining sector, admitted that some officials in the two companies mining at the controversial Marange fields were "crooks," adding that it was "virtually impossible" to encounter uncorrupted people in the diamond industry.

ZimOnline reported that Mpofu told the committee he was aware that some of the directors of Canadile and Mbada Mining were involved in shady business deals.

A source close to the hearing, which was held in camera, told ZimOnline that the mines minister told the committee that "he had done his research and found that people in the diamond business globally are drug traffickers, smugglers or plain crooks. He said this was the trend worldwide and the committee was fooling itself by thinking that they could get a clean diamond investor."

The committee accused Mpofu of failing to properly vet the companies prior to forming partnerships with them to mine the Marange diamonds.

Mpofu admitted to veering from proper procedures when he licensed Canadile and Mbada to mine diamonds at Chiadzwa, but according to the website's sources, explained his omission by arguing that the “country badly needed money that following procedures would have affected government efforts to get immediate cash."

Mpofu further insisted that Mbada and Canadile would continue their diamond explorations because the cabinet endorsed their operations.

The joint ventures with Mbada and Canadile were formed as part of measures to bring mining operations at the Marange diamond field in line with standards stipulated by world diamond industry watchdog, the Kimberley Process.