TEMPERS flared yesterday in Mutare during the Manicaland provincial mining indaba with participants accusing traditional leaders of solely benefiting from mining companies at the expense of the Marange community.
OBEY MANAYITI STAFF REPORTER
Diamond companies stood accused of building upmarket houses for traditional chiefs, while ignoring the needs of the community.
The villagers accused diamond mining companies of failing to improve infrastructure, polluting the water sources, victimisation, corruption and nepotism.
“The house (chief’s) is very nice such that it can attract the envy of Barack Obama (US President). The companies have shown that they have the capacity to do good to our community. We don’t want houses, but we want good clinics, good roads, schools and clean water. The resources will be finished soon and we want that to be addressed,” said Tichafara Kusena seething with anger.
Speaker after speaker said there was no transparency in the manner in which “goodies” were doled out to the traditional leaders at the expense of the community.
One of the chiefs, Gilbert Marange, was accused of receiving some form of tokens from the mining companies, inviting the wrath of President of the Chiefs’ Council Chief Fortune Charumbira. He called upon Chief Marange to explain himself.
Besides houses, traditional chiefs were said to have received top-of-the-range vehicles.
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Chief Charumbira said it was wrong for a few people to benefit at the expense of the whole community.
Chief Charumbira said: “We are not approaching any election here so people should tell the truth. Can we safely say that if sanctions are to go today do we have the guarantee that the diamonds will be sold transparently and the companies will fulfil their promises?
“As leaders, we should see the benefit of the diamonds to the whole people in this country and more importantly the area from which the diamonds are being mined.”
But Chief Marange said people should not be jealous of him as he was also an entrepreneur. He expressed unhappiness over many unfulfilled promises by the miners.
Chief Marange said as the traditional leader he was entitled to receive homage from the diamond mining companies and revealed that he only received $30. “What went wrong in all this is politics. When there was political interference then they stopped listening to us. This ended up affecting employment of locals, as they were shunned ahead of people from Harare,” he said.
“To say I am getting anything from the companies will be a lie. I am also complaining and we don’t have anything to show for the diamonds. There are many companies mining there, but they have done nothing for the community.”
The two-day Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association-organised mining indaba is aimed at providing alternative space for stakeholders to discuss challenges in the country’s mining sector.
The indaba, which ends today, is also expected to create a platform for engagement between mining companies, government, civic society organisations and to discuss the importance of legal reforms in the sector.
