Traditional Leader Criticises Mnangagwa Over Looting And Disappearance Of Community Shares

Chief Mathema, a traditional leader in Gwanda has criticised president Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration for repealing the Indigenisation Act saying the move robbed communities of shares from resources extracted from their areas.

The Act was repealed after some analysts said that it was scaring away investors who were now opting for other countries with fewer demands. Chief Mathema asserts that the move promotes looting of national resources. He said:

The repeal of the Indigenisation Act put in place by Mugabe’s regime has sent CSOTs into extinction.

We have decided to form an association to share ideas on how we can survive now that we no longer have the government support and that of companies which are looting our resources.

The Indigenisation Act had resulted in the establishment of community share ownership trusts to ensure that the indigenous communities benefited from national resources with minerals topping the agenda.

Zimbabwe was not the first country to have such a policy as the USA, China, France, Italy, Brazil, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Taiwan and South Africa still have such policies in various forms which might not be as direct as the compulsory 51/49 shareholding adopted by Zimbabwe.

More: The Standard