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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Marange, Chiadzwa and other diamond fields and the Kimberley Process - Index of articles
Update
on Marange
Centre
for Research and Development
April 02, 2013
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Paragraph number
18 of the final Communiqué from the Kimberly Process Plenary
meeting in Washington DC on 30 November 2012 that lifted the special
monitoring on Marange
Diamonds recommended to the Government of Zimbabwe, among other
issues, to put measures in place that immediately address the situation
of artisanal mining in order to combat smuggling and address security
incidents at the mines. The government’s reluctance to address
these issues has been confirmed by the granting of more mining licenses
in Marange to foreign entities at the expense of local communities
a situation that continues to promote illegal artisanal panning
activities in the area. To date seven companies namely: Marange
Resources, Ge Nyame, Anjin, Mbada, Zimbabwe Diamonds, Jinan, and
Diamond Mining Company (DMC) are either government owned or are
joint ventures between entities in government and foreigners. It
also must be noted that no known efforts have been made by government
to grant a single diamond mining concession to the local community
in Marange.
In his presentation
before the Mines and Energy Portfolio Committee workshop held at
Leopard Rock in Mutare on 26 March 2013 attended by CRD, Michael
Fungati, a director in the Ministry of Indigenisation, Youth and
Economic Empowerment could not convince legislators and civil society
representatives alike for his Ministry’s reasons of circumventing
both the Parliament and the local MPs in the implementation of Community
Ownership Schemes. Mr Mungati could not also explain why there were
no funds remitted to Zimunya/Marange Ownership Scheme eight months
after the scheme was launched. Our worst fears were then confirmed
by the Provincial Administrator of Manicaland Mr. Fungai Mbetsa
during his presentation on the Relocation Model that was used for
Marange when he was asked about the origins of Rera a new company
that has already started relocating villagers in Marange.
According to
him, the biggest challenge was only to find land to relocate more
than 14 000 families affected by the mining operations and that
he has no knowledge of these companies because everything is coming
from Harare through the Ministry of Mines without any consultations
from local government. His statement sharply contradicted with the
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mines Mr. Prince Mupazviripo
who in the same venue, alluded to the fact that local government
is involved in the issuance of special mining grants through the
District Affairs Board whose recommendations are then forwarded
to the mining affairs board, the Ministry of mines and then the
President. The incoherence in policy implementation reflected here
by the ministry of mines, Indigenisation, local government and Environmental
Management Agency (EMA) in the extractive sector remains a governance
crisis that must be addressed if reforms in this sector are ever
to benefit our impoverished communities.
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