HOME Affairs minister Ignatious Chombo says government will deal with the rising murder and assault cases in mining areas in the Midlands Province by banning machetes and other dangerous weapons.
BY VENERANDA LANGA
Chombo was responding to a question by Silobela MP Mthokozisi Mpofu (Zanu PF) who had asked him to explain the measures that government was taking to curb increasing use of machetes as weapons, resulting in rising murder and assault cases in the Midlands, especially in Silobela and Kwekwe.
The areas including Shurugwi are gold-rich, and artisanal miners (makorokoza) have been fighting running battles over mining claims.
“The ZRP has since stepped up its deployments in all areas which were identified to be areas of conflict, and a prohibition order banning the carrying of dangerous weapons which includes machetes was published covering the period October 10 2016 to January 27 2017,” Chombo told the National Assembly last week.
“Stops and searches are being conducted to arrest those found carrying such prohibited/dangerous weapons, and a number of arrests have been made to date.”
He said an observation was also made that most of the disputes emanated from ownership of gold mining claims.
“Awareness campaigns targeting artisanal miners are being conducted to dissuade them from engaging in illicit mining and to ensure that they register their claims,” he said.
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“They are also being urged to seek lawful recourse when embroiled in disputes.
“Efforts to bring the disputing parties together are on-going so that they co-exist amicably within the dictates of the law.
“Raids are also being conducted on beer outlets to ensure that they operate within stipulated times and to deter patrons from unlawful behaviour.”
In 2013 thousands of people from rural and urban areas were allocated claims by the ruling party in Boterekwa in Shurugwi, which is a gold-rich region.
This caused chaos and fights over claims as people took over claims already occupied by others that measured up to 1 000 square metres.
On Monday, Mines minister Walter Chidhakwa told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines that in order to solve such squabbles over mining claims, hectares of open ground had been identified for small claims and artisanal miners to work from.
In his State of the Nation Address on Tuesday last week, President Robert Mugabe also told Parliament that gold production by artisanal miners was steadily rising.
