Opinion / Columnist
Foreigners feast on our minerals while Zimbos starve
7 hrs ago | Views
OUR country is richly blessed with natural resources, yet it is our people who continue to suffer in poverty. From diamonds to gold, platinum to lithium, our mineral wealth has been a constant source of international interest, but one cannot escape the uncomfortable truth: Ordinary Zimbabweans have seen little to no benefit.
Instead, communities in resource-rich areas remain underdeveloped, while questions about where the money goes are left unanswered.
Take the case of Marange's diamonds.
Once hailed as a game-changer that would transform the national economy, they have now reportedly been depleted, yet the communities of Chiadzwa and Marange live in conditions no better than before.
Schools remain underfunded, health facilities under-resourced and basic infrastructure neglected.
The promises of prosperity never reached the villagers whose land bore the weight of these extractions.
The late former President Robert Mugabe introduced the Community Development Fund, which was meant to channel part of the proceeds from resources such as diamonds into local projects.
The logic was simple, if minerals are extracted from a community, that community should directly benefit.
Today, Zimbabweans must ask, what happened to that fund? Where did the money go? Who is pocketing the loot?
It is no secret that mineral wealth has a long history of enriching elites while bypassing citizens.
We only need to look at history to see the danger.
Much of the gold that once flowed from our soil ended up in Britain, a country that does not possess a single gold mine.
Our nation risks repeating the same injustice, our wealth leaving our borders while we remain destitute.
This is why Zimbabweans must demand answers, transparency and accountability.
Government should publish clear records of mining revenues, the distribution of community development funds and the companies involved in extraction.
Audits must be made public and corrupt officials prosecuted without fear or favour.
We cannot afford silence. Minerals are finite resources; once they are gone, they are gone forever.
If our diamonds have already vanished without benefiting our people, what will happen when our lithium or platinum reserves are exhausted?
Zimbabweans must raise their voices now, before history condemns us as a nation that allowed its wealth to be stolen in broad daylight.
Our minerals belong to the people. It is time government treated them as such.
Wake up!
Instead, communities in resource-rich areas remain underdeveloped, while questions about where the money goes are left unanswered.
Take the case of Marange's diamonds.
Once hailed as a game-changer that would transform the national economy, they have now reportedly been depleted, yet the communities of Chiadzwa and Marange live in conditions no better than before.
Schools remain underfunded, health facilities under-resourced and basic infrastructure neglected.
The promises of prosperity never reached the villagers whose land bore the weight of these extractions.
The late former President Robert Mugabe introduced the Community Development Fund, which was meant to channel part of the proceeds from resources such as diamonds into local projects.
The logic was simple, if minerals are extracted from a community, that community should directly benefit.
Today, Zimbabweans must ask, what happened to that fund? Where did the money go? Who is pocketing the loot?
It is no secret that mineral wealth has a long history of enriching elites while bypassing citizens.
We only need to look at history to see the danger.
Our nation risks repeating the same injustice, our wealth leaving our borders while we remain destitute.
This is why Zimbabweans must demand answers, transparency and accountability.
Government should publish clear records of mining revenues, the distribution of community development funds and the companies involved in extraction.
Audits must be made public and corrupt officials prosecuted without fear or favour.
We cannot afford silence. Minerals are finite resources; once they are gone, they are gone forever.
If our diamonds have already vanished without benefiting our people, what will happen when our lithium or platinum reserves are exhausted?
Zimbabweans must raise their voices now, before history condemns us as a nation that allowed its wealth to be stolen in broad daylight.
Our minerals belong to the people. It is time government treated them as such.
Wake up!
Source - Engineer Jacob Kudzayi Mutisi
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