Marondera Central Member of Parliament Caston Matewu has called for urgent reforms to ensure the country's natural resources benefit all citizens, rather than a privileged few.
Speaking during a debate on President Emmerson Mnangagwa's recent State of the Nation Address in Parliament yesterday, Matewu highlighted inequalities in Zimbabwe's resource-rich regions, where local communities receive little to no benefit from the minerals extracted from their land.
"This country is blessed with natural resources and is adorned by more than sixty precious minerals. This country should be flowing with riches," Matewu said, highlighting the need for Zimbabweans to benefit directly from the country's God-given mineral wealth.
Matewu pointed to regions like Buhera, Mvurwi, and Mutoko as examples of where local communities watch as trucks filled with minerals leave their towns, but see no tangible improvements in their own livelihoods.
In particular, he spoke about the extraction of chrome from Mvurwi and granite from Mashonaland East Province, highlighting the displacement of local residents from ancestral lands to make way for mining operations.
"Instead, they are being told to leave those communities which were left by their ancestors. That is their home from their ancestors and the mineral wealth that they inherited...but no one is benefiting from that mineral," Matewu said.
He also pointed out the importance of mineral beneficiation, arguing that minerals should be processed within Zimbabwe rather than exported in raw form.
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"There is no reason for us to take all these minerals outside so that they can be cleaned to get the actual required mineral," he said, calling for policies that prioritize beneficiation at the point of origin.
His comments come amid growing concerns that Zimbabwe's vast mineral wealth is being siphoned off by powerful interests, leaving ordinary citizens in poverty.
"This gold must be benefiting my grandmother who is in Buhera," Matewu said. "She must feel that we have gold in this country and she is getting something out of it, including all the citizens and residents who voted for me in Marondera Central." Matewu said
He took a dig at the conspicuous wealth displayed by those benefiting from the mining industry, citing social media images of luxury cars and jets purchased with profits from gold extraction.
"We see those that are extracting our gold floating their wealth...at the expense of the suffering of the citizenry," he said.
Matewu also highlighted the alarming rise in violence in the mining sector, particularly in the Midlands region, where he said over 500 people have been murdered by illegal gold miners, known as amakorokoza, in the past five years.
"We cannot let the minerals be the end of people's lives," he said, urging Parliament to implement stronger laws to protect citizens and end the cycle of violence.
He added "The Great Dyke is adorned with so many minerals, but we are not harnessing that productivity,"
