Undeniably the main hub for growth in Mashonaland Central Province, Guruve North region is earmarked to be the frontier that links Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique through the Kanyemba Border Post.
By Philemon Jambaya
As this development stretches to the northern part of the country, the struggle for dominance and growth between humans and wildlife in Mbire District is a never ending battle. A sentiment which has ignited a racial debate across Africa, fuelled by Prince Harry’s comments suggesting that wildlife growth in Africa was being hampered by the ever increasing human population in the remote rural areas where wildlife presence has been dominant.
Apart from its scenic tourist attractions, agricultural activities and natural resources such as oil, gold and uranium, Mbire Rural District relies on the exploration of natural resources albeit it’s fair share of challenges from wildlife conservation advocacy.
This is sponsored by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to preserve wildlife all in the name of legal game hunting concessions while the general populace of the district which has been neglected since independence lives in adverse poverty.
Mbire District boasts of being the native habitat of the indigenous Doma people, famed for their three toed feet. The marginalized Doma people are found in sparsely dense forests within Mbire, surviving through sporadic handouts from NGOs, game meat given by Safari operators as well as stone-age survival means.
The natives of this richly gifted area continue to live under the oppression of the Safari operators who have been operating in the area for decades before and after independence. The game reserves in the area have also done worse than good for the development of the districts. Any meaningful development or investment in the area has evidently been obstructed by the afore-mentioned Safari operators, all in the name of protecting their hunting concession interests against human life advancement through development.
Most areas in the district have no proper connecting roads, shops, clean water, decent housing structures and proper schools all attributed to the sabotage by the Safari operators who make sure such developments never materialise by advancing the preference in wildlife conservation agenda, claiming that the increase of human movement drives away wildlife thus echoing Prince Harry’s sentiments about African people.
Mr Buzz Charlton, a safari owner who runs Charlton ‘n’ Charlton Safaris who has been operating in Mbire for more than 30 years in the same custom as his colonial predecessors is famous among the locals for being racist and anti-government. It is an open secret that hemanaged to duck the First Republic’s empowerment drive by corruptly waning off any intended investment and marginalizing the poor people.
Apart from employing less than 10 local employees and underpaying safari guides, Charltan is renowned for showering both council and government officials with meagre favours in return for them to enforce draconian legislative statutes that are against the ease of doing business mantra the Second Republic is advocating for.
Mr Charlton has rendered Mbire District council a colonial run administration as he allegedly controls the development decisions evidenced by his major influence to any investor who intends to invest there. Indeed he’s the man who calls the shots with regard to legislative issues within the council. Every decision has to be run past him and failure to do so is tantamount to council losing out on his yearly solicited payment.
Mbire region has had discoveries of oil where Invictus, a new investor, has successful prospected despite a heavy backlash from Charlton and his company, who are trying their level best to frustrate the EIA processes or to stall the quick implementation of the project.
This is a welcome development to the county’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the economic growth of Mashonaland Central. Such investments as these will alleviate the lives of many people and really deserve a complete government backing.
However, it is saboteurs such as Charlton who are delaying the fruitful progress of current events that might put Zimbabwe on the global map as an oil producing giant.
The Kanyemba Agricultural scheme, which Government through the Ministry of Agriculture has been fostering within the area has also been met with a lot of challenges from the Safari operator, who has vehemently vowed to make sure the project does not succeed. It is in this spirit that the Kanyemba villagers have appealed to First Lady Amai Auxillia Mnangwagwa to help them succeed in this life-changing noble venture.
Her recent visit to the Kanyemba area was a sigh of relief and surely showed how the First Family is heeding calls to progress the lives of Zimbabweans.
The Road which links Harare to Lusaka through Kanyemba border post passes through the heart of Mbire. It has been hampered by a lot of environmental issues emanating from underhand saboteurs believed to be sponsored by the Safari operator who is clearly blind to the future benefits and the amount of growth the development brings to the country.
A lot of investors earmarking investments in Mbire have been turned off by difficulties in obtaining licences from stakeholders .
The Safari operators through their ‘well-greased’proxies within these offices of authorities have made sure that Charlton n Miles Safaris’ interests are protected much to the detriment of the Second Republic’s quest for a sound economy by year 2023.
The historic Dande area which houses the first inhabitants of the country with a great history of the original Shona Dynasty tracing back to the 14th centuy (the Nehanda spirit medium era) should not be forgotten. They should lead in the emancipation of this economy through its rich natural resources in gold, oil, uranium and copper.
Any inhabitant of Mbire hopes that development will trickle down to the district and a new dawn of development engulfs this forgotten giant in Mashonaland North Province.
Surely a storm is brewing in Mbire and only the chief, is dozing it off by exercising good leadership qualities, hence quelling any uprising against the safari operator.
Chief Chisunga who is aware of this anomaly has been vocal about the well-being of his people and is on the forefront of their indigenisation and empowerment drive, but with little resources he can not do much. His wish is to ensure all the brilliant investment proposals that seek to bring development in Mbire see no obstacles and be granted permission to operate, thereby uplifting the lives of the marginalized.
A resident of Mbire, Goroma (54) from Angwa had this to say, “Human lives have always been second best to game in this area all because the Safari operators who have made life worse than the colonial era. We have had more wildlife inflicted deaths than that of Corona Virus in Mbire and the Safari operator has no remorse. Instead, he curses the government as he wishes for a regime change.”
“I pray to the gods for the salvation of the Mbire people and I have utmost faith that, through the able leadership of His Excellence ED Mnangagwa, change will surely tide in Mbire and I do hereby appeal to the government to investigate the operations of Charlton Operations and bring sanity to the ground,” said a resident who spoke to 263Chat on condition of anonymity.
