Vocal former Norton independent MP Themba Mliswa says Minister of State for Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs and Devolution Marian Chombo, police officers and illegal miners are collaborating to disrupt the Sanyati River rehabilitation project approved by government for environmental conservation purposes amid illegal gold mining and dealing activities.
The former legislator urged Home Affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe to take urgent action to stop the corrupt, disruptive and damaging activities by Chombo and her cabal.
Cubs Den Consolidated, in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife and the Environmental Management Agency (Ema), was granted authority to rehabilitate the Sanyati River within Rengwe Conservancy — a critical initiative to restore ecological balance and protect wildlife habitats.
The project is in its preparatory phase, with the implementing team conducting assessments to submit a comprehensive rehabilitation plan as required by Ema. Cubs Den Consolidated is a lease holder of Rengwe Conservancy.
In a 14 April letter to Kazembe, copied to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, ministers, police and intelligence bosses, Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission, Ema, Prosecutor-General, Attonery-General, and Hurungwe Rural District Council, among other state sectors, Mliswa says:
“Despite our leasehold rights and repeated requests to Mashonaland West Police to remove illegal miners operating along the Sanyati River, no action has been taken. In the first week of April 2025, a group from a company called Leisure Fresh (Pvt) Ltd represented by Mr Farai Rusike encroached part of the Rengwe conservancy under the pretext of performing river rehabilitation of the Sanyati River with authorisation from the Environmental Management Agency (Ema).
“We have evidence of earthmoving equipment, operated under the authority of Leisure Fresh (Pvt) Ltd, working the banks of Sanyati to create a direct path from their illegal campsite right straight into Sanyati River. This company despite having no known documentation to substantiate their presence and current acts in the conservancy, continue to operate whilst police officers from Magunje Police Station repeatedly chase away our partners performing their pre-assessment and ignoring the actions of Leisure Fresh (Pvt) Ltd.
“This is a direct contradiction of the information we have at hand that only our entity, Cubs Den Consolidated, have the authorization to perform rehabilitation of part of Sanyati River that flows within the conservancy. They continue to cause severe environmental degradation, threatening both wildlife and water systems.”
Mliswa says Chombo is working in cahoots with police, and illegal miners to wreak havoc on the project.
“We have strong reason to believe that the inaction stems from a corrupt arrangement where some police officers, including the Officer Commanding Mashonaland West Assistant Commissioner Tawonei Nyazema, Hurungwe District Police Officer in Command Superintendent Kezias Karuru and Minister of State for Mashonaland West, Ms. Marian Chombo are allegedly involved in gold-buying syndicates with these illegal miners and allocating portions of the Sanyati River for river rehabilitation after receiving payments.
We understand that both these offices have no authority to approve any river rehabilitation.
We have reason to believe that our pleas for the arrest of illegal miners and encroachers are not addressed because there is collusion between the police service members and the illegal miners and the encroaching company.”
Mliswa added:
“On Friday, 4 April 2025, a member of our assessment team was arrested by Karoi Police while setting up temporary cabins (for accommodation purposes only) at a site well within Rengwe Conservancy and away from the river. No mining or rehabilitation work was being conducted at the time. Notably: – The arrest was carried out without notifying Cubs Den Consolidated (leaseholders) or Ema, whom is fully aware of activities of planned and approved river rehabilitation. – We have evidence suggesting this was a targeted arrest intended to implicate Honorable Sabhuku Mliswa and Mr. Edmore Kandira (Central Committee member and project partner), thereby discrediting and obstructing an approved project.
“The involvement of the Minister of Provincial Affairs Ms. Marian Chombo, Officer Commanding Mashonanland West Assistant Commissioner Tawonei Nyazema, and Hurungwe District Police Officer in Command Superintendent Kezias Karuru in this malicious act is highly suspected, given their prior resistance to the project. In the prior year 2024, other illegal miners we suspect to have links with this same group of individuals was arrested following our complaints of riverbed mining which is illegal in the Republic of Zimbabwe.”
