Tension as Zim’s rural communities resist opaque Chinese projects
Zimbabwe is witnessing growing conflicts between Chinese mining companies and indigenous communities who are being evicted from their ancestral lands without compensation to pave way for mining operations.
Hundreds of villagers in different parts of the country have been evicted while others face displacement to make way for Chinese firms since the beginning of the year.
In Mutoko, Mashonaland East province, Kaseke villagers face eviction from their ancestral land after a Chinese mining company, Heijin, was given a special grant to extract black granite on land covering 300 hectares.
Similarly in Marange, Manicaland province, Chiadzwa villagers are resisting eviction to pave way for diamond mining by Chinese company Anjin Investments.
In Chiadzwa, the villagers are also accusing the Chinese diamond miner of abusing its workers in conflicts laced with racial undertones.
Over 400 Chiadzwa villagers recently demonstrated against the mining firm demanding that 10% of the jobs be reserved for locals
Twenty-eight of the protesting villagers were arrested and remanded to November 22 on $3 000 bail each after appearing before Mutare magistrate Langton Mukwengi facing public violence charges.
Timothy Masamvu, a Chiadzwa villager, appealed for President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s intervention, stating that the villagers were not benefiting anything from the company’s mining operations.
“We are worried because the company is not offering us jobs.
“They are not considering us as people. Even those of us who are working at the company are complaining of poor salaries,” he said.
–Standard
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