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Bianca Mlilo in Zvishavane
RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Dr John Mangudya says he will soon meet the Ministers of Home Affairs and Mines and Mining Development to facilitate decriminalisation of gold possession without permits.
The move is meant to enhance increased gold deliveries to the formal market by artisanal gold miners.
Speaking during the Great Dyke Business Investment Forum here yesterday, Dr Mangudya said gold possession should be urgently decriminalised and the arrest of small scale miners should come to an end.
He said he hoped Dr Ignatius Chombo (Home Affairs Minister) and Walter Chidhakwa (mines) would cooperate on the issue as part of efforts to boost gold reserves at Fidelity Printers and Refiners.
“There is indiscipline in Zimbabwe. We said we should not arrest artisanal gold miners but I am informed that they are being arrested. I think we need to allow artisanal miners to mine their gold and take it to Fidelity Printers so that we generate more foreign currency and import fuel, raw materials and other necessities,” said Dr Mangudya.
He said gold has become central to economic development as it is generating about $16 million in foreign currency every week compared to diamonds that generated $23 million from March to August this year.
Crucially, gold exports are the second biggest in the country at $750 million per annum after tobacco, which generates $800 million, hence the need to remove shackles on gold production, said the Governor.
Dr Mangudya called for a paradigm shift in the mining sector, which he said has the potential to increase earnings for the country.
“Our laws are too many and archaic. We need to change that and adopt laws that will help us chart a new narrative for the economy.
“I am very serious about this matter because if we do not stop the arrest of artisanal miners, we do not harvest gold and remember there is nothing to harvest from the fields (because of erratic rains).
“We need to take hard, bold decisions to move the economy forward,” he told delegates.
@BiancaMlilo
Online Reporter