A HARARE law firm has done what many citizens have been too afraid — or too tired — to do: demand accountability for environmental crimes being committed in plain sight.
Rubaya and Chatambudza Legal Practitioners has written to the Environmental Management Agency (Ema) calling for an urgent investigation into alleged illegal and destructive mining activities within Manyuchi River in Mudzi district.
According to the law firm, acting on behalf of the Zhangveng Syndicate, one Emmanuel Ndemera is allegedly operating a carbon-in-pulp gold processing plant “within the very banks of the Manyuchi River”.
This is no small matter.
The process, which uses cyanide and activated carbon to extract gold from ore, carries significant risks of water contamination if not properly managed.
Conducting such operations within a river channel raises serious concerns about cyanide pollution, ecosystem destruction and the health of downstream communities.
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In its letter to Ema director-general Aaron Chigona, the law firm warned that the activity “constitutes a clear and present danger, posing a severe risk of toxic chemical contamination to the watercourse, thereby directly endangering the lives and health of downstream communities and causing irreversible harm to local flora and fauna.”
The lawyers have also demanded that Ema confirms whether Ndemera obtained a valid environmental impact assessment certificate and other statutory approvals before conducting mining activities within the river.
They further question whether the activity amounts to prohibited alluvial mining under the Environmental Management (Control of Alluvial Mining) Amendment Regulations of 2024.
These questions are not trivial.
They go to the heart of whether Zimbabwe’s environmental laws are being applied equally to all — or selectively enforced when convenient.
Across the country, rivers that once sustained life and agriculture are being turned into toxic wastelands.
Cyanide, mercury and other chemicals used in gold extraction have polluted major water bodies, threatening livestock, wildlife and rural livelihoods.
Communities downstream of gold processing plants often report dying fish, sick cattle and barren soils — yet the perpetrators rarely face any consequences.
In the case of Manyuchi River, the situation appears to be no different.
If mining operations are, indeed, taking place within the riverbed, then Ema cannot afford to turn a blind eye.
This is not just about one operator in Mudzi; it is about setting a national precedent.
For too long, environmental regulation in Zimbabwe has been inconsistent, selective and at times, suspiciously silent.
Reports of Chinese and other foreign miners blocking rivers, polluting water sources and desecrating sacred sites have become alarmingly common.
Mountains such as Boterekwa in Shurugwi in the Midlands province, have been flattened in pursuit of gold.
Forests have been cleared and rivers have turned brown with silt and chemical waste — all while the supposed custodians of the environment, Ema among them, appear paralysed or indifferent.
Ema’s mandate is clear: to protect Zimbabwe’s environment and ensure sustainable development.
Yet, in practice, the agency has often appeared to serve as a rubber stamp for powerful operators rather than as a watchdog for the people and the planet.
The law does not distinguish between local and foreign offenders.
Nor does it excuse destructive mining under the banner of investment.
The predicament Ema finds itself in — “damned if it acts, damned if it doesn’t” — should not exist.
The law provides a clear path: investigate, enforce and penalise where violations occur.
Anything less is tantamount complicity.
Environmental crimes are not political questions; they are legal and moral ones.
If Ema chooses to look away, it will be endorsing environmental destruction and signalling to would-be polluters that Zimbabwe’s laws are mere suggestions.
The call by Rubaya and Chatambudza Legal Practitioners must, therefore, be treated with urgency and seriousness.
Ema must publicly disclose whether an environmental impact assessment was conducted, whether approval was granted and whether the current operations comply with national regulations.
Zimbabwe’s rivers are national treasures — lifelines that sustain communities, wildlife and agriculture.
Allowing them to be poisoned for profit is not development; it is self-destruction.
The time for silence and selective enforcement is over.
Ema must rise to its constitutional duty and act without fear or favour.
The plunder of our environment must end — not with another report, but with real accountability.