We, the civil society and residents’ groups operating in Mutare, hereby restate our position regarding the intention by Freestone Quarrying Company to carry out quarrying activities at Dangamvura Mountain. We take note of a recent meeting held at a town hall in Mutare where Freestone Mining, acting in cahoots with some officials at Mutare City Council, renewed their advances at Dangamvura Mountain.
We reiterate that no mining or quarrying should take place at Dangamvura Mountain or anywhere within the surveyed limits of the City of Mutare. A resolution was made by the residents of Mutare at a public meeting held at Skyview Conference Centre on 27 January 2022. At that meeting, the Mayor of Mutare, Councillor Tandi, who has reportedly been recalled, presented his case for the quarrying project but ALL residents present, unanimously demanded that the Freestone deal be cancelled. In his remarks as he responded to the unanimous rejection of the quarrying project by the residents, Councillor Tandi told acceded and indicated that the decision might be rescinded. The people of Mutare left the meeting hoping the next big announcement to come from Mutare City Council is the cancellation of the Freestone Mining deal.
We note with deep concern the renewed efforts to fast track a consultative meeting that was never publicly announced. Mutare City Council posts updates and announcements on various social media platforms but failed to notify stakeholders about this consultative meeting. Many stakeholders only heard about the meeting after it had already been conducted. We find it unreasonable for elected officials to go against the wishes of those who endured long and sometimes frustrating voting processes to elect them. We feel betrayed but more emboldened to defend our God-given flora/fauna.
Our collective values and interests as residents of Mutare must be respected. Any further advances by Freestone Quarrying at the Dangamvura Mountain will be viewed by the residents of Mutare as an act of provocation and bullying. Dangamvura Mountain is sacred and situated at an ecologically sensitive site whose desecration will have far-reaching environmental and social consequences to the local people. As residents of Mutare, we expect Mutare City Council to protect our heritage sites and preserve them from ecological harm. There is no amount of dangled money that can justify the desecration of Dangamvura Mountain.
As Mutare residents, we, therefore:
• We call upon the Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs, Hon. Nokuthula Matsikenyere to attend to the concerns of Mutare residents and stop the advances of Freestone Quarrying at Dangamvura Mountain.
• We call upon the Mutare City Council, Environmental Management Agency and Provincial Mining Director to work together in reversing this deal and ensure the sanctity of Dangamvura Mountain is preserved.
• We also call upon the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) to take advantage of the current consultative process by the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry on the amendment Bill to the EMA Act to propose a raft of measures that will ensure environmental impact assessments are not cosmetic and fraudulent, but indeed informed by the concerns of the people and environmental experts.
• At a secondary level, we welcome any investments, including Chinese, so long they prime local knowledge, views, interests and concerns. We sincerely ask the Government to offer them another non-controversial site for their operations, far away from our cities.
Below are the organizations that endorse this statement:
1. Africa Arise
2. BRIDGE Trust
3. Bring Up the girl Child
4. Buhera Residents Network Trust
5. Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG)
6. Centre for Research for Peace & Development in Africa
7. Centre for Civil Society Zimbabwe
8. Commercial Federation of Manicaland Trust (CFMT)
9. Community Crime Monitoring Project
10. Community Water Alliance
11. Concerned Youth and Young Adults Trust
12. Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
13. Freedom for the Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe
14. Green Governance Zimbabwe Trust
15. Hope Community Foundation Africa
16. Intergenerational Dialogue Zimbabwe
17. Institute for Young Women Development (IYWD)
18. Kundai Rutendo Trust. ( Nyanga )
19. Masvingo Residents Forum
20. Mhakwe Heritage Foundation Trust
21. Mutare Residents and Ratepayers Association (MURRA)
22. Mutare Informal Traders Association (MITA)
23. Padare
24. Peace Building and Capacity Development Trust
25. Platform for Development Initiative
26. Platform for Youth and Community Development (PYCD)
27. Tariro Foundation Trust
28. The Eastern Caucas (Teca)
29. United Mutare Residents and Ratepayers Trust (UMRRT)
30. Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe
31. Women Network for Environment and Climate Change ( Chimanimani)
32. Young Entrepreneurs Trust Zimbabwe (YETZ)
33. Youth Environmental Management and Protection Trust
34. Zimunya Young People’s Network Trust
35. Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Workers Union.
36. Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD)
37. Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU)
38. Zivai Community Empowerment Trust