The long-running dispute pitting Sese villagers and Murowa Diamond Company over exploration has moved up in intensity with villagers barricading roads.
Villagers have been at loggerheads with Murowa over
exploration in Sese accusing the miner of refusing to engage them to strike a
win-win deal before the operations can continue.
Under Zimbabwean mining law, all minerals are owned by the
State and the Government allocates prospecting and mining claims. Miners can
prospect or mine any deposit that is not under crops or built over, but most
miners come to arrangements with farmers to minimise conflict.
Last month, villagers staged a demonstration against the
mining company at one of the exploration points in Mashamhanda village.
Government then intervened through Masvingo Provincial
Affairs Minister Ezra Chadzamira ordering the setting up of a special
committee.
Following the ministerial visit to Sese, Murowa was
expected to minimise exploration and wait for a peaceful resolution to the
standoff.
However,when The Herald visited the exploration site in
Chivi yesterday the diamond miner was busy drilling for samples in Mashamhanda
village.
The miner had also filled huge pits that had been dug by
locals to stop it from accessing exploration points until their dispute had
been resolved.
Sese villagers had also vainly tried to barricade Murowa’s
route to its main camp where the diamond mine has been camped since 2018, with
villagers complaining the camp interfered with their children’s learning.
The Sese community plans to upgrade Danhamombe High School
into a boarding school and building material for a girl’s hostel has since been
delivered.
Sese Community Development Trust secretary Mr Musiiwa
Musiiwa said they were disturbed by Murowa’s intransigence in the face of their
readiness for dialogue. Mr Musiiwa protested that the gem miner was not
supposed to continue mining in the wake of a visit by Minister of Mines and
Mining Development Winston Chitando and Provincial Minister Chadzamira to the
area.
He confirmed that villagers have dug pits to block Murowa
from accessing its exploration points.
“We dug these gullies in the hope that Murowa people would
come to the negotiating table after failing to access their drilling points,
but they filled the gullies with earth and are now easily accessing their rigs
and drilling has since resumed after a short hiatus.”
This was supported by Mrs Shylet Nhengu of Mashamhanda
village who fumed that Murowa was not showing any respect to the Sese community
as hosts of the natural resources that the company wanted to mine, although
mineral rights are owned by the State.
Mr Aaron Dhobha of the same village said: “We are not
against investment in our area. We want modernisation and jobs for our
children, but we want Murowa to give us an ear after sitting at the negotiating
table so that we move in the same direction.”
Chivi district development coordinator Mr Innocent
Matingwina said he was not aware whether Murowa had resumed exploration in
Sese.
“The indications that came out from the visit by Ministers
Chitando and Chadzamira was that Murowa was supposed to stop its work until a
committee comprising villagers was formed to engage the diamond miner so that
there is common understanding going forward. I am not aware that Murowa has
resumed exploration. I will have to check,” said Mr Matingwina.
“Work on the committee in question will start possibly next
week and will comprise representatives of villagers, my office and other
interested parties” added Mr Matingwina.
Murowa owns nearly 200 diamond claims in Sese and has been
scouting to establish the commercial viability of mining kimberlite pipes in
the area for the past three years. Herald
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