By Mazvita Makuyana- Mr Clever Masviki, popularly known as Mambo Chipuriro said he welcomes development in his area including the controversial Mavhuradonha area without any discrimination as long it benefits the locals.
The Mavhuradonha Wilderness is situated in the north-east of Zimbabwe, about 180km from Harare.
The name ‘Mavhuradonha’ roughly translates from Shona language as ‘dripping water’, which describes the delicate rain that sometimes descends on the slopes of the nearby mountains.
In an interview, Mambo Chipuriro said in line with the devolution agenda by the Second Republic, he is ready to open up to investors who are there to develop the community as well as create jobs for his people.
This follows media reports allegedly saying villagers around Mavhuradonha had indicated that they wanted investors as far away as possible from their cultural site as it was destroying the environment and disregarding their views through the construction of roads across their fields.
The matter received attention in the local and international media.
However, Mambo Chipuriro said he was also allowed to have a say in what goes on in his ancestral land.
“We allowed mining activities in consultation with Ministry of Mines, National Monuments, Environmental Management Agency EMA and other government agencies,” he said.
“The area belongs to us not Chief Chiweshe and we are the ones that conduct rituals there. We welcome any investor irrespective of race or color as part of developmental agenda. Mining, tourism and other economic activities can coexist.
“My boundary stretches to Musengezi, Mukwadzi and Hunyani rivers. I am in charge of this area including as far as Kanyemba now known as Mbire. It is the land of my ancestors, of the Soko totem,” he said.
Mambo Chipuriro was responding to the allegations that a Chinese firm dug dangerously deep pits and constructed roads exploring for chrome in Mavhuradonha Wilderness.
Afrochine, the country’s biggest ferrochrome producer, says although it holds claims to the mining areas, it is yet to commence operations there and has complained that illegal activities currently taking place there are prejudicing the company.