A CORRUPT DEAL IN OUR RIVERS MUST BE STOPPED

I am angry, and I know many citizens are angry too. Once again, our country is being used by a few powerful people while the rest are told to suffer in silence. This time it is about our rivers, our gold, and our survival. The government banned alluvial riverbed mining, saying it was to protect the environment. They said there would be no exceptions. But now we see there is one big exception, made only for one man, Tungwarara, through his company, Prevail Group of Companies.

An official has already said what many of us are thinking. How do we know Tungwarara will only do river rehabilitation and not mine gold? It is clear to many people that he will mine gold, and he will do it alone, without anyone disturbing him, and in total secrecy. For these reasons and many more, this deal is corrupt and must be stopped. You cannot call this fairness. You cannot call this protection of the environment. This is a cover for looting.

Cabinet gave Tungwarara exclusive rights to work on river rehabilitation. This was not open to everyone. It was not advertised. It was not competed for. It was an exception made only for him. At the same time, ordinary people and even influential people across the country are involved in small scale riverbed mining. Now they are told to stop, while one politically connected person is allowed to continue, using big machines and hiding behind the word rehabilitation.

This has made many people angry, even some inside the state security forces. They see this as a clear case of greed and self enrichment by those close to power. They know that when you give one person such power, you are not fixing the problem. You are just changing who benefits from it. The river is still being disturbed. The gold is still being taken. Only the owner of the deal has changed.

Tungwarara’s company was given the only prototype project for river rehabilitation at Muroodzi River. This happened when control of alluvial mining had already been moved to provinces. So why did cabinet jump in to give one man national level protection and control? This raised serious alarm in the mining sector. People started to ask if this was really about the environment or about creating a private gold channel for the powerful.

Government says this is about cleaning rivers and removing silt. But sources say it is a way to go around the ban, so that Tungwarara can mine gold while others are blocked. This is not rehabilitation. This is mining in uniform. It is gold extraction hiding behind a clean sounding name. And everyone knows it.

Worse still, this deal has created a monopoly. Other miners, including foreign owned companies, are now forced to work under Prevail Group and pay between ten and fifteen percent in royalties just to continue operating. This is not business. This is forced tribute. It turns one company into a gatekeeper of rivers and gold. That is dangerous and wrong.

Alluvial mining was banned by law under Statutory Instrument 188 of 2024 because of serious damage to rivers, mercury pollution, and destruction of water sources. Government recently repeated that there would be no special permits and no exceptions. But then they added one small line, saying prototype projects approved by cabinet could continue. And only one project exists. Tungwarara’s project.

We all agree rivers must be protected. Water must be clean. Children must not drink poisoned water. But we must also speak the truth. Riverbed mining is how many families survive. It supports hundreds of thousands of people directly and millions more indirectly. It is a big part of gold production and a lifeline in a country with high unemployment and deep poverty.

So what we are seeing is this. The poor are told to stop and starve. The connected are told to continue and get richer. The law is used as a stick for the weak and as a shield for the powerful. This is not environmental protection. This is political theft.

Our rivers do not belong to Tungwarara. Our gold does not belong to cabinet. This corrupt deal must be cancelled. River protection must be fair, transparent, and for the benefit of the nation, not a small circle of friends. If this government was serious, it would involve communities, scientists, and honest regulation, not secret deals. Until then, we will keep speaking, because silence is what allows corruption to grow.