The Kimberley Process certification of Zimbabwe diamonds is a "milestone" in Harare's sovereign control of its resources, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said following the organization's survey and certification of gems mined from the controversial Marange diamond field and their subsequent auction.

A Kimberley Process mission is visiting Zimbabwe for yet another review of Chiadzwa Diamond fields operations. Zimbabwe's Cabinet Taskforce on Chiadzwa Diamonds met with mission members on Wednesday.

The closed-door meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu and Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa. Representing KPCS were Liberian Deputy Mines Minister Kpandel Fayia and Namibian diamond commissioner Kennedy Hamutenya, as well as officials from Australia, Canada, the US, Ghana and Brazil.

"For me, really, the issue was less about the monetary gains or potential," Biti told All Africa after the meeting. "For me it was the issue of a sovereign country being denied the right to control its own resources. You can imagine going to the Americans and saying you cannot mine oil in the Gulf of Mexico . . . There will be a World War. It is really about sovereign control of resources . . . our right to self-determination, which was the cause of the war of liberation."

The certification of Chiadzwa diamonds, he added, was "a glorious occasion" for Zimbabwe. He further urged Zimbabweans to work together to unlock the value of its resources.

The Kimberley Process mission also met with the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy and expressed satisfaction with the country's diamond sector infrastructure.

The committee's chairperson and Guruve South legislator Cde Edward Chindori-Chininga (Zanu-PF) described the discussion as "cordial and constructive."