The Executive Director’s Welcome Note
Farai Maguwu, CNRG Executive Director
Greetings from the Executive Director’s desk!
Dear Friends and family, it is my utmost pleasure to welcome you to this edition of our Weekly, it was an eventful week in natural resource governance!
My visit with Professor Patrick Bond to Bikita Minerals, aka, Sinomine on the 2nd of May was followed by a chain of events. We managed to enter Sinomine, now said to be the largest lithium mine in Africa and took several pictures of mining activities. The volume of lithium concentrate ready for export to China was staggering. Employees told us at least 42 haulage trucks depart with lithium concentrate for Beira daily. I took the matter to twitter where I posted some of the images.
This sparked outrage among Zimbabweans who demanded an immediate end to the looting. Barely a week later Police in Masvingo arrested 17 people in Masvingo’s industrial site on allegations of operating a lithium smuggling syndicate. 3700 tonnes of lithium ore suspected to have been stollen from Bikita Minerals and surrounding areas. A week later government suspended all operations at Bikita Minerals due to serious noncompliance with the country’s laws and policies.
Bikita Minerals also called CNRG inviting us for a tour of the mine so that we get an appreciation of what they are doing, this we shall do. This is the power of advocacy. At CNRG we believe a vocal and strong citizenry pushes government and corporations to be responsive! The more citizens expose corruption, organized crime, resource looting and environmental crimes, the more likely will government turn its focus towards those issues. For that reason, our team is in the communities endowed with natural resources to build local agency in the fight against extractivism and environmental crimes. Whilst the suspension of Bikita Minerals will no doubt be short-lived, it is important that the company has been ordered by the government to correct its wrongs.
Regarding the export of lithium concentrate to China, CNRG calls on government to stop the practice and invest in value addition beyond the raw material level where gains are marginal. Value addition need to advance to the chemical level where products can be sold directly to industry players. Sadly, the true value of Zimbabwe’s lithium is generated in China with Zimbabwe getting nothing in return.
Gold Mafia Case Too Hot to Handle.
The past week also saw investigations into the Gold Mafia documentary grinding to a halt. It started with the Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda writing to the chairpersons of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committees on Public accounts and Budget, Finance and Economic Development advising them that Parliament was not going to carry out any investigation into the gold mafia. Mudenda argued that ‘It is prudent to leave such investigations to specialized agencies like ZACC and Police.’ Mudenda’s memo suggests that the Chairs of the two parliamentary committees had written to him seeking permission to carry out the investigations. So was Mudenda right in his decision to deny parliament permission to carry out the inquiry. In our view the Speaker of Parliament was Out of Order on this matter. Parliament is mandated by the Constitution to play an oversight role over the executive. ZIMCODD, Magamba TV and CNRG will today petition parliament to play its oversight role of investigating the gold mafia.
Mana Pools world Heritage site Threatened by Oil and Gas Exploration
Last week the Ministry of Mines published a disturbing notice of an application it had received for oil and gas exploration in Mana Pools National Park. Shalom Mineral Resources want to explore for oil and gas in the national park – a move that will drastically affect the UNESCO World Heritage status of Mana Pools. The Ministry is open to receiving objections until today – 19 May 2023. CNRG has since submitted its objection and we call on others to do so by end of business today. We recall that on the 8th of September 2020 government made a cabinet decision to ban ALL mining in national parks. We are therefore optimistic that government will turn down the application by Shalom Mining Corporation for the same reasons it cancelled the exploration permit for coal exploration in Hwange National Park.
In this edition of our weekly newsletter, we also take a look on the plight of women living in mining-protected areas with a look at the case of Marange. Surprisingly 17 years after the discovery of diamonds, Marange villages are in a worse position as they continue to experience depressing ferocity and brutality from the state’s security forces with minimal prosecution of these atrocities.
Finally, next week 22-26 May, Zimbabwe will be hosting the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme intersessional meeting in Victoria Falls. Zimbabwe is the KP chair for 2023. The Kimberley Process is the UN backed global rough diamond watchdog created to stem out trade in conflict diamonds. CNRG is a member of the KP Civil Society Coalition. We wish Zimbabwe well during its chairmanship. CNRG is still concerned with the living conditions of more than 1000 families displaced from Marange to pave way for diamond mining. The displaced and forgotten Arda Transau community is living in squalid poverty. They have no access to clean water, electricity and arable land. Government has failed to ensure these families have viable livelihoods. In Marange the paradox of plenty is on display. Diamond mining has brought with it numerous problems for the community which include restrictions to their basic freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution. The failure to plough back proceeds from diamond sales into the Marange community is deeply concerning. Roads, schools and clinics have not been upgraded to reflect the billions coming out of Marange annually. As Zimbabwe hosts the global diamond community, we call all stakeholders to reflect on the condition of the Marange community – both the displaced and the remaining.
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