Zimbabwe’s govt blamed for mining sector chaos

A coalition of extractive sector non-governmental organisations have called for adoption of legal reforms which foster transparency as a long lasting panacea to rampant violence in the artisanal and small scale mining.

In press statement released by the Publish What You Pay (Zimbabwe), the civic groups called on government to embrace transparency reforms, saying the opaque nature of mining operations and governance are part of the root cause of Machete violence.

They also urged government to decriminalize the artisanal and small scale mining by regulating their activities.

“As the government of Zimbabwe takes action to contain machete gangs who have wreaked havoc in almost every key gold producing areas in Zimbabwe, mining sector transparency reforms must not go under the policy radar.

“To a large extent, Publish What You Pay-Zimbabwe believes that opacity, the secretive way in which the mining sector operates and governed is the root cause of violence in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM),” noted PWYP.

The grouping added blamed the absence of adequate geological data which said prevents government from containing gold rushes.

PWYP also called for the adoption of international and regional standards of business to promote accountability in awarding of mining titles.

PWYP, Zimbabwe is part of a worldwide campaign for an open and accountable extractive industry to ensure that revenues from oil, gas and mining are used to drive development.

Locally it includes organisations like the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) Action Aid, Centre for Natural Resources Governance, Centre for Research and Development, Chiadzwa Community Development Trust, Institute for Sustainability Africa (Insaf), National Association for Non-Governmental among others.

Source: allafrica.com