NORMA TSOPO
RUSUNUNGUKO/Nkululeko Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, owned by the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, is running an opaque alluvial gold mining operation in Allied Timbers’ Tarka Forest, in Chimanimani, without the company’s consent and in the absence of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) in an unclear partnership with Chinese nationals, an investigation for joint publication by The Explorer and The NewsHawks has established.
Rusununguko’s activities, near the Zimbabwe-Mozambique border, have contributed to environmental damage and river pollution while also causing friction between the company, villagers and environmentalists.
An investigation supported by the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe established that Rusununguko started mining in the area in March 2024.
The development angered environmental stakeholders as the entire Chimanimani district is a Unesco Man and Biosphere Heritage.
It was designated as a biosphere reserve in 2021.
This status ensures that the district supports sustainable development and promotes the harmonious coexistence of human communities with nature.
It also serves as a hub for scientific research, environmental education, and eco-tourism, contributing to the preservation of both natural and cultural heritage.
The company’s activities in the area are an expansion of its activities in Nyamukwarara, another remote part of Zimbabwe at the border with Mozambique in Mutasa where it launched an opaque partnership with Lebanese and Chinese investors in September 2023.
Like Chimanimani, the area is rich in timber and minerals including gold.
A Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) memorandum dated 11 September 2023, which was seen by The NewsHawks, expressed concern over the operations, describing them as irregular and potentially posing security problems because of an undesignated route that the company opened from across the border to the project site.
The Mutasa project, according to the CIO, created a corridor for smuggling, which invites illegal miners and illicit trade that, in turn, attracts all sorts of players, including contrabandists, money launderers and possibly insurgents.
Rusununguko opened a road from Mozambique to the mining area for the purposes of transporting its mining equipment from across the border to the site where it partners a company called Mutare Project Cooperation.
Mutare Project Cooperation is not registered in Zimbabwe, but in Mozambique, according to the CIO memo.
It is fronted by a Lebanese national, El Fakih Hussein, (passport number AB1084246) and a Chinese national, Ren Wei, (passport number EJ7488485). Part of the communication reads:
“This submission serves to inform C.I.O HQ on the activities of Rusununguko Nkululeko Holdings, an investment entity linked to the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF).
“According to contacts, the project at Nyamukwarara commenced on 02 September 2023, with Rusununguko Nkululeko Holdings initially claiming to be rehabilitating Nyamukwarara River yet they are actually mining gold.
“…Of critical importance to this office is that the graded road from Mozambique has become an express way for smuggling and considering recent insurgencies in Mozambique this is a serious cause for concern.
“Quite recently, Rusununguko are reported to have brought in three (3) earthmoving machines from Mozambique through said undesignated roads. Checks with Zimra and ministry of Transport revealed that no customs or other official authority was granted for the equipment and for the grading of the road.”
The CIO also expressed concern over Rusununguko’s operations in Chimanimani and the possibility of gold smuggling
“Of note, the activity by Rusununguko/Nkululeko Holdings regards alluvial mining along rivers is not the first in the province as the entity previously did a similar venture between 2019 and 2020 in Ward 22 Chimanimani East along the confluence of Rusitu and Haroni Rivers before being stopped.
“…The road has created an easy illegal entry point that may facilitate smuggling out of gold and other precious minerals, more so against the backdrop of Mozambique having recently built Minerals Trading Hubs for buying and selling minerals, including a hub in Manica Province in the neighbouring country.
“Further to that, the illegal point will embolden already existing smuggling syndicates through giving them an alternative route relatedly, given the ongoing Islamic insurgency in Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique, there is risk of security suspects entering the country through the undesignated road and establishing terrorist cells in Manicaland and the country as a whole.”
The Environmental Management Agency (Ema) confirmed that Rusununguko was operating in Chimanimani without an EIA and other essential licences while the ministry of Mines said it was embarking on an exercise to establish if companies mining in the area are compliant with the country’s laws.
After weeks of reluctance to answer questions about the legality of Rusununguko’s operations, Mines permanent secretary Pfungwa Kunaka said:
“There is an exercise we are undertaking to establish whether entities that might be mining in that area should be there and whether they fulfilled registration procedures and whether their mining operations are compliant with the country’s laws,” Kunaka said.
“The action stems out of queries such as what you have raised whether those who are mining got consent to mine given that such areas had been reserved primarily for timber production and sustaining strategic minerals.”
Kunaka said his ministry has “taken a decision to stop operations of any entity that should not be there.”
Kunaka refused to answer directly whether the ministry had licensed Rusununguko to operate in the area, referring questions to the company.
He however said the company was properly registered and doubted that it could operate without requisite licenses.
“Rusununguko is a legitimate company and in mining it operates where it would have been issued requisite certificate for mining. Details and status of its operations are best enquired from its management,” Kunaka said in a written response.
Fidelity Printers referred enquiries on records of gold purchases from RNH to the ministry of Mines which also deflected questions to the company.
Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) director of public relations Colonel Alphios Makotore declined to comment, referring all questions to the ZDF.
ZDF director of public relations Colonel Charles Mutizhe said on 10 September the military would only respond to emailed questions after consulting Defence minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, whom he said was out of the country at the time.
He had not responded to questions by the time of going to the press despite several requests. Muchinguri did not respond to questions sent directly to her.
Rusununguko is mining illegally in Chimanimani:
Ema Ema spokesperson Amkela Sidange said the authority was taking steps to prosecute Rusununguko for operating illegally, given that it does not have an EIA as demanded by law. Ema is mulling taking the company to court.
“Kindly note, the agency did establish that the projects in questions are operating without an EIA licence as provided for in the Environmental Management Act in Chapter 20: 27 as read with SI 7 of 2007. “Currently engagements in line with procedures for prosecution is ongoing.”
According to Ema requirements and regulations, the company is also expected to have several other licences that include: Effluent discharge licence as the mining operations involves discharging any effluents into water bodies as is happening in Tarka;
- Air emission licence because of its use of diesel generators;
• Hazardous waste management licence if the mining activities generate hazardous waste which is inevitable with gold mining and extraction operations;
• Water abstraction permit if the mining operations involve the extraction of water from natural siding sources;
• and veld fire management plan to prevent and manage veld fires which are common in mining areas.
Manoeuvres for legitimacy amid resistance by stakeholders By April, Rusununguko had extended its operations into Rusitu-Haroni Botanical Reserve — a core area of the Unesco biosphere reserve.
The reserve plays a vital role in protecting the unique ecosystems of the region, while also offering opportunities for eco-tourism and environmental education.
Its scenic landscapes and rich biodiversity make it a valuable natural asset for the biosphere reserve,
To protect its interests in Tarka the company conducted a series of meetings to pacify the apprehensive Chimanimani community by conducting two meetings in Chimanimani in early May with various government departments.
Towards Sustainable Utilisation of Resources Organisation among others. Later that month at the Chimanimani Rural District Council boardroom, the company held a higher-level meeting with stakeholders including the board that runs the Chimanimani Unesco Biosphere Reserve which also includes Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and all the local chiefs. Stakeholders are however still against the company’s operations.
Former acting Chief Saurombe, Raymond Saurombe, who is a member of the board overseeing the Chimanimani Unesco Biosphere Reserve, wants the company’s operations shut down especially after government’s recent announcement banning riverbed alluvial gold mining.
“All mining on our rivers has to stop forthwith especially now that government banned riverbed mining,” an emotional Saurombe said in a telephone interview.
The meetings were also aimed at stopping Allied Timbers from laying a formal police complaint against the company after its invasion and commencement of heavy mechanised alluvial gold mining operations in its commercial agroforestry plantation along Chiambuka River.
The pressure worked as Allied Timbers grew cold feet against laying criminal charges against the military-owned company.
Manicaland acting police provincial spokesperson Wiseman Chinyoka confirmed the absence of any formal complaints against Rusununguko. Allied Timbers chief operations officer Ian Hondo however confirmed that the military-owned company was operating without their consent.
“No consent,” Hondo quipped in a response to questions from The Explorer.
He then referred further enquiries on their relationship with Rusununguko to the company’s estate manager for Chimanimani, Daniel Rupiya, who declined to comment, saying he had not been cleared by Hondo to talk to the media.
Chinese connection
A source who attended the meeting between RNH and stakeholders in Chimanimani said the company alleged that Chinese nationals were not partners in the project but offering technical expertise in the operations.
The company has previously done a similar operation between 2019 and 2020 on the confluence of Rusitu and Haroni Rivers before it was stopped following a government announcement banning mining in riverbeds and national parks on 8 September 2020.
The decision was part of a broader effort to protect the environment and water sources from the adverse impacts of mining activities.
Rusununguko however returned to the same area earlier this year with new partners raising the ire of conservationists as it was in the Parks Authority’s Rusitu-Haroni Botanical Reserve which is a core area of Chimanimani Unesco Biosphere Reserve.
Diplomatic standoff with Mozambique
Sources close to the military-company say the company moved into the area following complaints of international river pollution by Mozambique as a result of activities by artisanal miners.
Chiambuka River feeds into Chisengu River as it exits Tarka Forest.
Chisengu feeds into Haroni River before joining Rusitu River in Vimba as it f lows into Mozambique.
A section of Haroni River forms part of the Zimbabwe-Mozambique border between the base of Chimanimani Mountains and its confluence with Rusitu River.
Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Mozambique Victor Matemadanda demanded to know the professional credentials of this reporter arguing (you want) “information that was a bit critical”.
He later referred questions to Ema.
Ema, in a written response, however said it was yet to receive a “formal report on the issue through the appropriate government structures since it’s a matter of cross boundary concern.”
Conflict with illegal artisanal miners
With Rusununguko’s operations running alongside illegal artisanal miners in the areas, there is also simmering conflict as locals feel that the company’s operations are a threat to their livelihoods.
“When artisanal miners get rich spots, the Chinese bring in their excavators and fill it up with soil so that they will come to mine it later with their heavy-duty equipment,” an artisanal miner who spoke on condition of anonymity said.
He said at times the Chinese nationals and their employees are targeted with catapults, especially when they move in to cover pits that would be giving villagers good returns.
Rusununguko Nkululeko Holdings
RNH was established as part of the ZDF’s efforts to diversify its income streams and reduce reliance on government funding.
The company was set up to engage in various commercial activities, leveraging the military’s extensive resources and influence.
Over the years, Rusununguko has developed a diverse portfolio, with significant investments in key economic sectors spanning agriculture, mining, real estate, financial services and the media, among others.
Former Norton independent legislator Temba Mliswa was in August 2022 ejected from Parliament after questioning the transparency and accountability of Rusununguko.
He wanted the company to disclose its financial operations and partnerships, particularly with the Chinese.
Illegal artisanal gold rush
Tarka Forest has been a hotspot for illegal gold mining activities which have completely destroyed pine plantations and well-preserved pockets of pristine indigenous forest as well as crystal-clear streams and rivers.
The discovery of rich gold deposits in the area has attracted thousands of illegal artisanal miners, whose use of destructive mining methods like hydraulic action to find the gold has resulted in heavy erosion and washing away of top soil on huge swathes of land.
The illegal gold mining activities have also come with deforestation as large swathes of the forest have been cleared to make way for mining activities and further exposure to severe erosion with streams and rivers now perpetually choked with silt.
There is also heavy metal poisoning of both people and water sources by mercury which is used in gold extraction. Mercury exposure can lead to neurological and developmental disorders, particularly affecting children and pregnant women.
The influx of illegal miners has led to an increase in violence and crime in the region, particularly in dormitory communities like the nearby Muchadziya and Hlabiso communities.
Conflicts over mining claims even with mechanised companies, theft, and other criminal activities have become common, creating an atmosphere of insecurity.
Exploitation and abuse are also now common place as many illegal artisanal miners work under harsh conditions, often exploited by middlemen and syndicates.
Child labour and human trafficking are also prevalent, with vulnerable individuals being lured into the mining operations in an attempt to lift themselves out of poverty.
Governance by SI
Last month, the government banned river-bed alluvial gold mining, but Chimanimani stakeholders are sceptical that it will stop the military company’s activities.
The government has been shifting goalposts over the issue in the last decade.
In 2014, Statutory Instrument 92 banned alluvial mining on riverbeds. Later in 2018, the government arbitrary repealed clauses in SI 92 of 2014 to allow riverbed mining with SI 258 of 2018.
From 2018 the resumption of riverbed mining activities was characterised by compact mining licensing, ring-fenced and exclusionary environmental impact assessment (EIA).
Again, the government made a cabinet announcement on 8 September 2020 banning mining in parks and on riverbeds.
However, the government’s commitment to the ban proved otherwise when it promulgated SI 104 of 2021 that repealed section 3 of SI 92 of 2014 to confer on the responsible government minister discretionary powers to authorise alluvial mining on riverbeds in exceptional circumstances.
