Mnangagwa Stops Chinese Mining Companies From Displacing Communities

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has warned Chinese mining companies to stop displacing communities from their ancestral lands.

He made the remarks while addressing thousands of party supporters at a rally in Uzumba where he said the communities have the power to decide whether or not they want mining projects on their land. He said:

We do not want people who come to do mining in an area and disrupt people’s ways of lives. Communities come first and that should be respected. No mining should happen without permission from the community and its leaders.

If the community refuses, that should be final. I hear that there were people who wanted to do mining on a school premise and that is not acceptable. I told the minister of provincial Affairs for Mashonaland East that all those people should be reported. This is our nation, all the wealth that is in it is ours and it is us who must decide what to do with it.

This comes after villagers there recently threatened to vote him out of power if he did not stop the impending mass displacements by a Chinese owned mining company, Heijin Mining Company (PVT) LTD.

Uzumba is a known ZANU PF stronghold that has been the major source of votes.

The Chinese black granite miner last month claimed that only six villagers will be displaced by its activities adding that it had already agreed on compensation with villagers.

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