Online Reporter
Zvamaida Murwira-Senior Reporter
PRESIDENT MNANGAGWA has established a high-level technical working party to coordinate and supervise the rehabilitation of 17 rivers recently declared a State of Disaster.
The development sets up the implementation framework for one of the Government’s biggest environmental restoration programmes in Zimbabwe’s history.
The inter-ministerial technical committee is expected to coordinate rehabilitation efforts across the Government, oversee the appointment of contractors and monitor restoration works.
This is expected to ensure a unified response to years of environmental degradation caused largely by illegal mining and other destructive activities.
The decision is contained in the Civil Protection (Declaration of State of Disaster: Emergency Riverine Ecosystems Rehabilitation) (Amendment) Notice, 2026 (No. 1), published in a Statutory Instrument in the Government Gazette recently.
“It is hereby notified that His Excellency the President, in terms of Section 27(1) of the Civil Protection Act, hereby declares as follows: There shall be a technical subcommittee of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Working Party’), chaired by the Deputy Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet and consisting of the following members or their authorised delegates,” reads the regulations.
The Working Party will be chaired by a Deputy Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet and will comprise Permanent Secretaries from the ministries responsible for Environment, Mining, Home Affairs, Local Government and Public Works, and Agriculture.
Other members include the Commissioner-General of the Zimbabwe Republic Police, a representative of the President’s Department, a representative of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and any additional Permanent Secretary whose participation is considered necessary by the Inter-Ministerial Committee.
The Working Party will execute its mandate through a secretariat known as the National Riverine Rehabilitation Clearing House.
Among its key responsibilities will be receiving and assessing applications from contractors seeking to undertake river rehabilitation projects, shortlisting suitable applicants for approval by the Inter-Ministerial Committee and monitoring rehabilitation works through the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) and provincial mining directors.
The National Riverine Rehabilitation Clearing House will comprise, among others, the Permanent Secretary for Environment, the Director-General of EMA, the chief executive officer of ZINWA and a representative of the Gold Trade Enforcement Unit established under the Gold Trade Act and appointed by the managing director of Fidelity Gold Refinery.
President Mnangagwa recently declared 17 heavily degraded rivers a State of Disaster following years of environmental damage caused mainly by mining and related activities.
The declaration enables the Government to mobilise financial and technical resources for the emergency rehabilitation of the affected river systems.
The rivers are Mazowe and Murowodzi in Mashonaland Central province; Mazowe and Save in Mashonaland East; Angwa, Sanyati, Munyati and Mupfure in Mashonaland West; Umzingwane and Insiza in Matabeleland South; Manzimudaka, Mutebekwi, Sanyati and Mtshingwe in Midlands; and Mutare, Haroni and Nyamukwarara in Manicaland province.
The establishment of the Working Party marks the transition from the declaration of the disaster to the implementation phase of the rehabilitation programme, with the Government now putting in place the institutional structures to coordinate restoration efforts and ensure accountability in the execution of the emergency works.
