Opinion / Columnist
Mnangagwa asked Murowa to leave School Premises: Murowa Refused!
06 Jun 2021 at 10:24hrs | Views
I am deeply concerned about Murowa Diamond Miners' activities in and around Sese communal lands in central Chivi District, Masvingo, Zimbabwe. Of major concerns are; the arbitrary establishment of the mine's operations in the school precincts; disrespect for the rule of law and; ignoring protests made by both the local authorities, the President of the country and the local communities.
The miner operates within the school premises and the noise from the rig not only disrupts learning at Danhamombe High School and St. Simon Zhara School, but is a real threat to the school buildings. Let me step back a little to my high school days at Berejena Secondary school in the same district. I went to school at the height of the war of liberation struggle. There was temptation from both sides of the conflicts to establish a base on the school grounds but a simple protest from the missionaries resulted in the warring sides relocating their camps away from school premises.
Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that Zimbabwe is a signatory to guarantees everyone the right to education. Education is recognized for the full development of human personality yet at St. Simon Zhara School, grade one pupils are subjected to constant rig noise Monday through Friday. They have no choice. This is appalling especially considering that the Rhodesian army and the Freedom fighters respected the sanctity of education and would never subject kids to such irresponsible corporate mischief.
Murowa Diamonds mine's disrespect of the rule of law stinks to high heavens. These are our new corporations in an independent Zimbabwe. Danhamombe High School Development Committee filed a court case and Murowa simply ignored it; never bothered to file a notice to defend the suit.
The local community, the Provincial Minister, Ezra Chadzamira and the President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa urged Murowa to leave the school grounds and camp somewhere else but all those appeals are falling on deaf ears.
How can such a big corporation just ignore the courts, the country leadership and the communities they operate in? Who is protecting them? Who do they report to who has the guts to ignore the President's directive?
We fought against unjust actions in Zimbabwe's colonial past but one thing for sure; the colonialist respected our communal heritage; they never acted with impunity where children's education was concerned. They had ways of screening and limiting education to the majority of the people but they would never build a dam, operate a rig, or establish any project in the midst of school grounds.
Honestly, our efforts to correct the past injustices are being fast undermined by self-interest and abuse of power. Murowa does not have power to ignore orders from the courts unless they have help of the powers that be.
The miner operates within the school premises and the noise from the rig not only disrupts learning at Danhamombe High School and St. Simon Zhara School, but is a real threat to the school buildings. Let me step back a little to my high school days at Berejena Secondary school in the same district. I went to school at the height of the war of liberation struggle. There was temptation from both sides of the conflicts to establish a base on the school grounds but a simple protest from the missionaries resulted in the warring sides relocating their camps away from school premises.
Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that Zimbabwe is a signatory to guarantees everyone the right to education. Education is recognized for the full development of human personality yet at St. Simon Zhara School, grade one pupils are subjected to constant rig noise Monday through Friday. They have no choice. This is appalling especially considering that the Rhodesian army and the Freedom fighters respected the sanctity of education and would never subject kids to such irresponsible corporate mischief.
Murowa Diamonds mine's disrespect of the rule of law stinks to high heavens. These are our new corporations in an independent Zimbabwe. Danhamombe High School Development Committee filed a court case and Murowa simply ignored it; never bothered to file a notice to defend the suit.
How can such a big corporation just ignore the courts, the country leadership and the communities they operate in? Who is protecting them? Who do they report to who has the guts to ignore the President's directive?
We fought against unjust actions in Zimbabwe's colonial past but one thing for sure; the colonialist respected our communal heritage; they never acted with impunity where children's education was concerned. They had ways of screening and limiting education to the majority of the people but they would never build a dam, operate a rig, or establish any project in the midst of school grounds.
Honestly, our efforts to correct the past injustices are being fast undermined by self-interest and abuse of power. Murowa does not have power to ignore orders from the courts unless they have help of the powers that be.
Source - Sam Wezhira
All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
