The Diamonds of Marange

Itai T. Mupanduki

Mas 2012 · Trafford Publishing

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The book explores the treacherous African mineral terrain as it illustrates the powerless voiceless peasants in the village of Marange pitted against corrupt government elite. Both are then pitted against a global Multinational company and its proxies, The Military Industrial Complex. Threatened by a political opposition party, the ruling elite is caught up in its populist rhetoric and the desire for profit. Lacking capital the ruling elite is at the crossroads. But the military industrial complex has no permanent friends, leaving the peasants caught in the middle. Marange explores the missed opportunities while at the same time leaving the reader both entertained and educated. The author takes the reader to Marange through the eyes of Mugove, a peasant farmer, Taona, a high school teacher and the generality of the characters in the book who serve in their various capacities to illustrate the disjointed social and political atmosphere emerging because of the diamond discovery. The interesting contradictions and relationships that emerge in the peasant-elite-multinational company triangle make very interesting reading. This book is an essential reading for anyone interested in Africa and its minerals.

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"Itai Mupanduki, a Zimbabwean medical doctor has experienced human suffering. In this book however, he uses the personal stories of Mugove, a Marange peasant, Taona and Anesu, university students, and weaves their various stories in the face of relentless international capital exploitation of the resources of the country. Mugabe becomes only one of the players caught up in this relentless march of foreign capital, almost a prisoner as well. This book is a must read".

Professor Kenneth Mufuka, Lander University, South Carolina "The Diamonds of Marange is an accessible short novel which is written by one of Zimbabwe's emerging third generation novelists. The book compels us to think about contemporary events through the eyes of people who we normally don't usually think of as major players in African politics, the impoverished".

Professor Sinfree Makoni, Penn State University USA