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Dinde Community Threatened With Arrest For Resisting Displacement To Pave Way For Chinese Coal Mining Project
3 April 2021
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By Farai Maguwu| 2 Days ago, on 1 April 2021, top government officials in the company of security officials descended on Dinde once again to try and extract a consent from the community with regard to the proposed Chinese coal mining project. The meeting was addressed by the Minister of State for Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs, Mr. Richard Moyo and provincial Ministry of Mines officials who represented Minister Winston Chitando who could not make it to the meeting. Chief Nekatambe also addressed the meeting.

The meeting to force Dinde villagers off their ancestral land was addressed by Mat North Minister Richard Moyo and a Provincial Director in the ministry of mines

As they have done in previous meetings, the Dinde community stood their ground, expressing their deep sadness at the insensitivity of those trying to uproot them from their ancestral homeland. Chief Nekatambe and Minister Moyo threatened that the project will go ahead with or without the consent of the community.

The community members say after the meeting Chief Nekatambe ordered the arrest of those who had spoken out against the project. Later in the day, some people from Dinde received phone calls from someone purporting to be a Police Officer saying
Police will be rounding them up and take them to the chief to be fined for disrespecting the Chief. We are in possession of the landline number used to call the community members.

When government officials promised compensation for loss of land they were told to first compensate the displaced Marange community before coming to Dinde.

The Beifer Investments project has been vehemently rejected by the Dinde community. On Tuesday next week the Dinde Community will be submitting it’s petition to Parliament. We stand with the community in their legitimate struggle against land dispossession by the Government of Zimbabwe. We strongly condemn all efforts to dispossess Zimbabweans of their land to pave way for self enrichment projects that do not benefit the affected communities and the nation at large. The country need a candid conversation on management of its vast natural resources – land, water, minerals, timber and wildlife – before things turn really nasty. #displacementsmustend