Online Reporter
Zimpapers Correspondent
A high-level Government delegation led by Engineer Amos Marawa, Deputy Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, toured the Murowodzi River on Wednesday to assess a first-of-its-kind riverbed rehabilitation pilot project.
The delegation included Mr Pfungwa Kunaka, Permanent Secretary for Mines and Mining Development, Mr Aaron Nhepera, Permanent Secretary for Defence, Secretaries for Provincial Affairs and Devolution as well as officials from the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and the Joint Command.
The initiative follows the enactment of Statutory Instrument (SI) 188 of 2024, which imposed a blanket ban on alluvial and riverbed mining across Zimbabwe to curb severe environmental degradation.
Engineer Marawa, who also chairs the inter-ministerial committee on river rehabilitation, said the pilot is a “prototype” designed to inform a nationwide rollout.
The five-kilometre project site, situated between Mazowe and Glendale, is being spearheaded by Prevail International. You may recall that Cabinet banned riverbed mining due to environmental degradation,” Eng Marawa told journalists at the site yesterday. “This led to the promulgation of Statutory Instrument 188 of 2024, which completely bans riverbed mining activities.
“All provinces are now identifying degraded sites to quantify the work needed. We are here to assess the quality of work and technical output by Prevail International to see if this is a model we can adopt nationwide.”
Addressing recent public concerns regarding potential mining activity at the site, Prevail International Project Manager Mr Simbarashe Makonese said specific equipment on-site is dedicated solely to soil conservation.
“We have installed soil erosion control sheets,” Mr Makonese said. “These sheets reduce the impact of rainfall, stop runoff from creating gullies, and allow for the growth of grass seeds. They are not used for any other purpose.”
The project has already addressed approximately three kilometres of the most devastated areas.
According to the contractor, the initiative has also integrated local communities into the restoration process.
“We have employed 40 locals as general hands,” Makonese added. “Working with local communities ensures ownership of the project, which is essential for its long-term success.”
Environmental Education and Publicity Manager Ms Amkela Sidanke said: “As EMA, we applaud any effort towards rehabilitation in line with both global and national aspirations, such as the UN decade of ecosystem restoration(2021-30), land degradation neutrality targets, as well as the NDS2 thrust on land rehabilitation.
“However, the Agency is imploring for continuous rehabilitation, which is less costly, especially in the extractive industry, through prompt backfilling and restoration of land to its productive state.”
The findings from this assessment will inform the Government’s strategy as it prepares to roll out site-specific rehabilitation plans for other rivers across the country affected by illegal and alluvial mining.
