Young Environmentalist Tadiwanashe Temba has taken the Environmental Management Agency, (EMA) to task over the proliferation of illegal mining activities which are causing land degradation and polluting water bodies in various districts across the country. Speaking at the sidelines of a Gender Sensitive Climate Policy Dialogue meeting held in Chipinge on the 22nd of April 2022, Temba commented on the impact of the environmental harm caused by the illegal mining activities as disproportionately affecting women and girls and has dire consequences on indigenous communities in Zimbabwe whose very survival is hinged on living in harmony with the environment. “EMA is either complicit in turning a blind eye to these mining activities without an Environmental Impact Assessment or it is downright incapacitated” He said, “or some elements in the statutory body are beneficiaries of such activities.”

Illegal mining activities have been on the rise driven by unemployment, a stagnant economy and the demand for minerals like gold and lithium. Environmentalist like Temba have repeatedly fingered high ranking politicians and well-connected business players as drivers of the illicit mineral supply chain which has seen the destruction of the natural environment.

Previously, whilst addressing a demonstration over the forced eviction of Indigenous Budya villagers in Mutoko to pave way for granite and semi-precious stone excavation, Tadiwa Temba challenged EMA to produce a valid Environmental Impact Assessment that could justify the environmentally sustainable exploitation of the minerals. He also lamented the continuous forced eviction of indigenous communities from their ancestral land without adequate compensation if any and highlighted the implications on both the Environment and Indigenous peoples across the country.