TWO rural district council chief executives have been arrested by officials from the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) for illegally allowing mines linked to Chinese nationals to explore for chrome in the Mavuradonha Wilderness.
The arrested are Ennie Mutema, the CEO for Muzarabani Rural District Council, and Guruve RDC’s Tinos Marisa.
According to ZACC, the two were arrested under ZACC’s ongoing compliance spot-checks and systems review exercises “that have exposed malpractices in local authorities.”
NewZimbabwe.com recently reported the destruction in Mavuradonha Wilderness, a World Heritage Site nominee.
According to ZACC Mutema was arrested for criminal abuse of office after permitting Allen Mashumba to mine for chrome in Mavuradonha Wilderness in 2015.
This is against a 2012 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Muzarabani RDC and Mavuradonha Wilderness to protect the conservancy from any mining, and human settlement until 2036.
Mashumba, who has not been arrested, is said to have misrepresented to the RDC that he was an Afrochine director and proceeded to act in their capacity.
“The arrangement resulted in incompatible activities as Varden Safaris are into wildlife game breeding and botanical reserves, whilst Afrochine is into mining which disturbs the well-being of animals and the natural environment. Mining activities do compromise the chances of the nature reserve being listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site,” reads ZACC’s communication.
“The accused intentionally signed the agreement while aware that there was a subsisting agreement with Varden Safaris which prohibited any mining, mineral panning or prospecting, human settlement, construction of any type within the wilderness.
“The accused allegedly disregarded the fact that the area was declared a protected area according to General Notice 369 of 1988 and a National Monument through Statutory Instrument 06 of 2017 and is awaiting confirmation of its World Heritage site status.”
Mutema who was granted a $10 000 bail this week by a Guruve magistrate is also being accused of not having verified if Mashumba was an Afrochine employee or director.
Meanwhile, the Guruve RDC CEO, Marisa is being accused of having allowed Labenmon Investments to commence mining operations for chrome in Mavuradonha Wilderness last May knowing fully well that the area was beyond his jurisdiction.
Labenmon is said to have been targeting mining at Tingwa Botanical reserve, a protected national monument.
“In granting Labenmon authority to enter the protected area, Marisa is accused of overlooking the fact that Tingwa Botanical Reserve where mining would be conducted in the Mavuradonha Wilderness is a declared a National Monument according to SI6 of 2017 awaiting World Heritage Status.
“He also did not consider the fact that the papers they produced were for mining nickel in Guruve and not chrome in Muzarabani.
“As a result of his actions, the chances of the Mavuradonha Safaris being listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site were jeopardised due to disruptions to the ecosystem caused by road construction leading to the botanical reserve.
“It is also believed that many animals which used the area as breeding grounds fled to unknown locations which made it difficult to monitor the breeding program for Varden Safaris.”
He was remanded out of custody on a $5 000 bail by a Guruve magistrate court.
Thousands of wild animals and wetlands conservancy have been affected by the continued mining activities in the Mavuradonha area.
In a second count, Nyamutswa is accused of double-dipping from the RDC’s fuel facility by claiming both fuel and cash.
The duo is yet to appear in court. NewZimbabwe
