State Media|All is set for the two-day Zimbabwe Miners’ Federation (ZMF) annual general meeting (AGM) scheduled to start in Gweru today.
ZMF president Ms Henrietta Rushwaya said it was all systems go for the event, which is meant to tackle challenges faced by the mining sector.
She said the two-day AGM will be officially opened by President Mnangagwa and will be held at the Gweru Convention Centre along the Gweru-Mvuma Road.
Ms Rushwaya said various stakeholders including Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando and his Finance and Economic Development counterpart, Professor Mthuli Ncube, are expected to make presentations during the indaba.
“Preparations are well on course and I can safely say that we are ready to host the event. Above all, we are honoured and ready to host His Excellency President Mnangagwa, who is expected to have face-to-face deliberations with miners and stakeholders so that he is made aware of challenges they are facing,” she said.
Ms Rushwaya said the purpose of the meeting was to bring together stakeholders in the mining sector and give the first citizen an opportunity to be appraised on the challenges affecting the mining sector.
“As you are aware, the mining sector is one of the critical components of the economy. As such, we are giving the sector the recognition it deserves by bringing in the Head of State to listen to views coming from the miners and some stakeholders in the sector so that he hears the complaints first hand,” she said.
“Indeed, we have gold as our major foreign currency earner and ways to improve mining conditions in the gold mining sector will be discussed. Also of importance is the ‘lose it or lose it’ policy that will be tabled so that mines that are set aside for speculative purposes are released and utilised.”
Ms Rushwaya said under the gold section, the indaba will also look at Section 3 of the Gold Trade Act with the miners seeking to decriminalise gold possession as well as the gold retention system which is currently affecting gold production.
She said in the semi-precious minerals sector, the indaba was set to come up with a pricing regime to guide the sector to void losing revenue to agents who fleeced unsuspecting miners.
“It’s an issue of concern where we are saying we need a pricing regime in the semi-precious minerals sector so that we avoid being duped by agents due to lack of a proper pricing regime. We will also discuss the issue of weighbridges in the chrome sector, among other issues,” said Ms Rushwaya.
The indaba comes at a time when the country has shown indications it might fail to meet the 40 tonnes gold target owing to challenges faced by the miners.