Goromonzi Prospective Community Trust
Goromonzi

13 December 2022

The Chief Executive Officer

Goromonzi Rural District Council Lot A of Oakes
P.O. Box 95
Ruwa

Cc: The Goromonzi Rural District Administrator.

Dear Sir/ Madam
REF. LITHIUM AND GOLD SHOULD BENEFIT FIRST THE GOROMONZI COMMUNITY TOGETHER WITH EVERY ZIMBABWEAN BEFORE ANYONE ELSE.
This is our letter of engagement which should be responded by your office within 7 days. Failure to do that as a Community Trust we will engage the masses of Goromonzi and hear to what they deem the possible way forward in the area of their wealth which they value and strongly believe that these minerals should benefit Goromonzi Community and Zimbabweans first.

The extractive sector in Goromonzi district presents a huge opportunity for economic growth that is currently not being realized.

The Goromonzi area is likely to have more mineral reserves far higher especially lithium and gold, however Goromonzi and its inhabitants remains one of the poorest community in the country with a significant unemployment problem and most societal members in abject poverty.

The emphasis is to realise full value of our minerals so as to benefit the local people.

It’s unfortunate that the NSD1 Chapter 5 is blind and quiet on Lithium. Fortunately the Community Ownership Share comes into play as it clearly articulate that communities should have their 10%share.

The major highlight there is the community’s 10% ownership share. This is aimed at facilitating development in the area of mining and creating linkages between mining companies and communities. Nevertheless Goromonzi has never witnessed such arrangement, we don’t even have the knowledge of who was incorporated as the beneficiaries of that 10%. We are not going to allow corrupt individuals to loot our wealth and go away with it. We have made it our sole mandate that Goromonzi will never degenerate into the Marange zone where corrupt politicians in cohorts with Chinese firms plundered the precious stone and left the Marange community impoverished. We are rational people we will never allow ourselves to walk into a trap. History always repeats itself now it’s high time we recreate our future and secure the best for generations to come.
The most dangerous policy that was adopted by the government is that we Zimbabweans have no rights at all to extract lithium. It is the exact time we wake up and smell the coffee. How can the whole government agree to such a repressive and obnoxious law. We can’t allow that to happen in our lifetime. We are the people and all these minerals are in our custody and they should transform our community for the better.
Lately the people of Goromonzi were benefiting through small scale mining of minerals in the area, the government and its top officials (politicians) intervened and stopped panning of minerals to later hand over some concessions to Chinese companies. In that respect these companies are expected to take the responsibility of social and economic growth of the citizens in Goromonzi as per the NDS1 blueprint.
DEMANDS
As the community we implore the government and all mining companies in Goromonzi to:

1. Allow citizens of Zimbabwe to have the right to extract lithium. We can’t allow Chinese firms to take everything whilst we are their cheap labour. We have teams ready to extract the mineral, and these were extracted from the community.
2. Align their goals and culture to NDS1 which was initiated to promote new enterprise development, employement and job creation as well as strengthening social infrastructure and social nets.
3. Environmental concerns.
   Our environment should not be degraded under our watch. We know that a clear audit on the environment will expose how EMA has been drinking from a poisoned Chalice. EMA has allowed Goromonzi to be degraded by corrupt individuals who own Gold Claims and these individuals haven’t done anything meaningful for the community. We know them and we are coming for them.It is well-known that the most common and crucial environmental impact are discharge to soil and watercourse, in that it creates imbalance specifically the water balance. This remain the role and responsibility of mining companies in Goromonzi to address the issues of water supply as their companies are causing water pollution and shortages, for the betterment of the society this report serves to inform companies to take into cognisance the water imbalances in Goromonzi.
4. Adherence to the provisions of society ownership and fostering Corporate Social Responsibility as a pillar and aims good corporate governance.
   Conclusions
   The mining sector has become a cornerstone of the Zimbabwean economy throughout the years and the people are the ultimate beneficiaries. It is therefore imperative to acknowledge that the development of Goromonzi relies on the greater part on mining. The community must be respected. The march towards a 12 billion mining sector should not be faceless, such a development should be people centered so that no one is left behind.

Yours Faithfully

Chairperson
Tadiwanashe Gwena
+263 77 130 2804