By Own Correspondent| Kanyemba district, with its green scenery, thick vegetation, enchanting landscape and rich soils, is one of the most beautiful areas in Zimbabwe.

Located in a mountainous area that give the ever-green district an imposing feature, the expanse that run into the majestic Zambezi river, provides a mystic view good for wildlife conservation and game ranging.

Birds chirp in the morning while hyenas laugh endlessly during the night. In this part of the country, globalization and civilization together with all the vices associated with it, is yet to taint the people’s way of life.

Most people here still survive on hunting, fishing and gathering.

Wildlife roam freely in the virgin forests. Elephants and lions are some of the animals found in the teeming area.

The area, located about 400 kilometers north of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, is probably one Zimbabwe’s remotest places and was until recently shut from the outside world.

However, because of its location- a gateway to Zambia and Mozambique- the government of Zimbabwe decided to develop a town which they hope to be the heartbeat for industry, commerce and trade between Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique.

Away from the prying eyes of the international community, Zimbabwe has found a willing ally, Belarus investors have poured in USD$15 million in exchange for 10 000 hectares of land for supposedly farming activities in the area.

According to a signed agreement between the government of Zimbabwe and the team from Belarus, the foreigners will focus on agriculture mainly in crop and livestock production.

The area however does not support livestock productions as it is along the Zambezi valley which is a tsetse-fly infested area.

Midlands State University scholar Bester Makuvire who has undertaken a three year study in the district said “the area was prone to incessant floods because it located in the Zambezi valley and erratic rainfall making it difficult for rain-fed agriculture”.

“Due to erratic rainfall, the area is considered unsuitable for dry-land cropping and as a result only flood-plain crop cultivation is practiced,” he said.

“It’s a bogus deal, everything does not favour agriculture there including weather, pests and diseases.

“It baffles the mind why Belarus would pour in $15 million to invest in agriculture in this part of the country when the country has rich arable soils elsewhere,” said economist Tapiwa Mangwiro.

The Belarus team has been allocated 10 000 hectares of virgin land which geologists state that is rich in Uranium deposits.

According to studies undertaken by the Zimbabwean government, the entire Kanyemba basin has 450 000 tonnes of uranium deposits.

“It is believed that the 10 000 hectares area allocated to the Belarus team sits on an estimated 40 000 tonnes of Uranium deposits,” said geologist Mike Vareta, “lets wait and see if they are going to ignore uranium for agriculture”.

Initially, the Kanyemba basin had been allocated to an Iran consortium in 2011 which was supposed to mine uranium but the deal fell off in 2016 due to fear by the Iranian team on the possibility of being sanctioned by the United States of America.

The Zimbabwe government in 2006 then partnered with CNNC Overseas Uranium Holding, a subsidiary of the Chinese uranium giant China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC).

Media reports said from 2009-12, Chinese were shipping over
3 000 samples to China every month without mining licence.
At the time, the sources said the Chinese were camped at an airstrip close to the safari area where they were “guarded” by armed personnel.

The area is inaccessible making it a fertile ground for underhand dealings. However, road works are underway.

Government is targeting to clear at least 200 000 hectors to attract other investors especially in the tourism sector.

Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said Belarus is one of the investors identified by government and that they would focus in agriculture.

“As far as I know, we signed an agreement with Belarus so that they would come and invest in agriculture. As it stands, their land is lying idle and we are waiting for them to hit the ground running,” Chiwenga said.

The VP denied claims that the Belarus team will explore uranium.

While the vast land remains untapped, the local community said that they have witnessed an unusual frequency of the ‘white men in helicopters.’

“There are white men who usually come and inspect the area. Most of them will be accompanied by soldiers,” said Tafara Doma, a community member.