Mining in Zimbabwe and its consequences

 I had an opportunity to visit a lesser known mining village deep in the mountainous region of Mutoko, north of the country. The region is semi arid and the soils give no indication of fertility that can give good yeilds. When the car got there I was wondering about what the villagers do for a living but my question was soon answered when we reached our destination, the place called Makaha. Everywhere the eye touches there is some gold mining activity going on. Every villager in his compound is prospecting for the glory metal. 

The President, His excellency E.D Mnangagwa, I was told was at Makaha a couple of weeks ago to commission a Chinese mine. There is a statement that he said that everyone is bitter about, he said , "the Chinese are going to be mining here for 80 more years". Like ok, there isn't a single infrastructural development that has come. The Chinese are mining this mountain that has potential of producing more than 4 tonnes of gold per year and what are they giving the locals? Nothing! A few of the villagers are employed as drivers and nothing more. There is no network coverage in the area. Rumor has it that the mine is also owned by the President's sons. A few other mines a little further in the area are owned by people who have a relationship with the president. But you look at this little place. Its people are happy and have little cares, they only want to feed their families and be happy but their land is being grabbed by outsiders and they are told to go find some place else to live. These are ancestral lands they have known and its a sad reality that the locals are not benefiting from the minerals coming out of their place.

The image shows the place where the Chinese are mining.

The rig there is a company that is owned by a fellow called 'Pazza' who is a friend of the President. The hill behind it is owned by a couple who forcibly removed the people from their homes. 

Beside all these strange stories. There is a lot of human rights violations happening in the area.

• School drop outs are very common. Few finish school at the upper secondary level e.g A level. The boys soon join in the gold rush. Girls are married young.
• Because girls are married young and polygamy is commonly practiced Gender based violence is common. I met some lady who had been burnt with hot water by her husband's older wife. 
  
  
  
• There is no access to internet services and if you're there you consider yourself seperated from the world. 
• There is no access to SRHR services. To make matters worse there is a high risk of contracting STIs and HIV because of sexual activity going on.
• There is lack of quality education in the area. In the cold times children stop attending school because of the distances they have to walk.

Concluding, I call on the government to look into these matters and address with appropriate action. As we drives towards achieving the Agenda2030 let us not forget those in marginalized communities who are suffering from gross economic and social inequalities and injustices.