Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. A PROMINENT law firm has formally demanded that the Environmental Management Agency (Ema) immediately investigate and stop alleged “blatantly illegal and environmentally destructive” mining activities being conducted within Manyuchi River in Mudzi.
In a letter addressed to Ema director-general Aaron Chigona, Rubaya and Chatambudza Legal Practitioners, acting for the Zhangveng Syndicate, accused one Emmanuel Ndemera of operating a Carbon-in-Pulp (CIP) plant for ore processing “within the very banks of Manyuchi River”.
The letter said this activity “constitutes a clear and present danger, posing a severe risk of toxic chemical contamination to the watercourse, thereby directly endangering the lives and health of downstream communities and causing irreversible harm to the local flora and fauna”.
The legal practitioners are demanding that Ema confirms two critical points: first, “whether Emmanuel Ndemera ever obtained a valid Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Certificate and the requisite statutory approval, to conduct mining operations within a river channel”, as required by law.
Second, they question “whether his activities do not constitute prohibited alluvial mining,” specifically alleging a “direct and flagrant violation” of the newly-enacted Environmental Management [Control of Alluvial Mining] (Amendment) Regulations, 2024.
The letter says Ndemera “routinely boasts of his powerful political connections, which he explicitly uses to intimidate our client and to manipulate officials from the Mashonaland East provincial Ministry of Mines and local police.”
It called on Ema to “apply the law impartially, without fear or favour”.
According to the document, previous attempts by Zhangveng Syndicate to seek justice through the police have been unsuccessful.
The firm claims that “criminal complaints lodged at both Makosa Police Station and Mutoko Police Station were rejected, with our client being explicitly told that Ndemera is “too hot to handle” due to his political links.”
The law firm described the conduct of the police as a “gross miscarriage of justice”.
The letter was copied to Police Commissioner-General Stephen Mutamba, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission and the Mines and Mining Development ministry, “urging them to independently verify the serious allegations raised”.
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