Chinese owned firm Diamond Cement in hot soup over tax evasion and massive violation of national laws, policy framework
The company is also alleged to be prioritizing profits over people's health, a stance which the Second Republic under President Mnangagwa has vehemently condenmed
Redcliff- CHINESE owned cement manufacturing firm Diamond Cement (a subsidiary of Livetouch Investments) is underfire following multiple allegations of violating a cocktail of national laws and policy frameworks,Express Mail Zim can reveal.
Chief among the allegations is tax evasion coupled with disregard of Safety ,Health and Environment regulations (SHE), disregard of salary scale pegged by NEC and failure to register employees under the NSSA’s workers Compensation Insurance Fund(WCIF) and National Pension Scheme (NPS).
Investigations by this publicatiom established that the company wantonly neglected paying Value Added Tax (VAT), non-payment of NSSS employees compensation fund and alleged connivance with some NEC officials to trash workers griviances of underpayment, abuse inter alia.
” The company management is abusing workers, underpayment of salaries and also not paying VAT.
“Recently, some employees approached the NEC but the human resources department worked in cahoots with some of officials from the NEC and paid kickbacks to sweep the matter under the carpert.
“Its very disheartening and it seems the Chinese management is acting like a sacred cow,” said an impeccable source.
After a two week long investigation, this publication came out with solid information that three employees namely Progress Haruperi, Prince Kaitano and Tendai Muriro approached NEC to air their griviances over salary scale but one of the directors Kyle Wang allegedly instructed one of his surbodinates to pay ‘inducement fees’ to a NEC official (name supplied) to muzzle the contentious issue.
Diamond Cement is known for a tradition of this errant behaviour which compelled NSSA to issue a prohibition order after the death of worker due to sub standard safety and security arrangements in 2020, but the company has proved to be unrepentant.
The company is also alleged to be prioritizing profits over people’s health, a stance which the Second Republic under President Mnangagwa has vehemently condenmed.
“The company management boasts of strong political connections to employees who dare question their ill conduct and it seems they have also captured the Redcliff Muncipality,” said one of our multiple sources.
“They violate national laws and policy frameworks with impunity and we want President Mnangagwa to delegate relevant departments to stop this rot,” added our source.
Investigations further established that at the time of writing, two cases are pending before the NEC.
When contacted for comment, Wang could neither confirm nor deny the allegations but instead sent an emmisary in the form of spokesperson who identified himself to this reporter as George Makonese.
Makonese poured cold water on the allegations and challenged this publication to contact NSSA and Zimra in regards the correctness (or lack thereof) of the company records held by both quasi-government institutions.
” We are law abiding citizens and we operate above board.
“We have never paid any official from NEC or NSSA and you can approach them to verify our records,we have nothing to hide,” said Makonese in a telephonic interview based on the questions sent to him via both Whatsapp and SMS platform.
Intrestingly, despite of his vehement denial of the allegations thereof, this publication is reliably informed that he was one of the conduits who transmitted the ‘dirty money’ to mask the shady operations and whose recipients are known to this publication .
Analysts expressed concern over the development.
“This matter is very serious,imagine with allegations of tax evasion, disregard for safety regulations, and underpayment of workers. It is important that relevant authorities investigate these claims thoroughly and take action to ensure that the company is held accountable for any wrongdoing. It is also crucial for the government to prioritize the well-being of its citizens over profit, and to crack down on businesses that operate outside of the law.
“It is clear that there are serious issues at play within Diamond Cement, and it is up to the authorities to address them promptly,” said Tawanda Benie an economic analyst.
