29 Chiadzwa Villagers Arrested After Clashing With Chinese Miners
Headman Chiadzwa and 28 of his subjects were arrested on Tuesday after protesting against Chinese diamond mining company, Anjin’s decision to conduct some rituals in the area without informing them.
Marange villagers on Thursday last week staged a demonstration sparked by Anjin’s bid to initiate a beer ritual ceremony without consulting them.
The ritual ceremony was aimed at appeasing spirit mediums in order to bring more diamonds.
Manicaland police spokesperson Wiseman Chinyoka refused to comment NewZimbabwe.com on the arrest of the villagers on the pretext that he had no finer details.
But Amalgamated Chiadzwa Development Communities Trust (ACDCT) Marange Chapter chairperson Jey Kasakara confirmed the arrests to the publication. He said:
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We were told to come for a dialogue meeting with Anjin Investments officials at Mbada offices.
Unfortunately, the officials were not available and we l realised that it was a plan to get us arrested.
Upon arrival at the venue 29 of us were addressed by the inspector of Bambazonge and Mutare Rural Police saying we were under arrest for an unsanctioned demonstration.
Late on Tuesday night, Kasakara told NewZimbabwe.com that Headman Chiadzwa and other 28 villagers had been ferried to Mutare Central Police station. He said:
We are now at Mutare Police Station where we are being locked up in the cells as we wait for our case to be heard before the courts.
Anjin returned to the gem-rich area in 2019 after then-President Robert Mugabe’s administration suspended its operations in 2016 and is partnering with the Zimbabwean military in extracting the precious stones.
Marange villagers have been calling for the government to halt Anjin from new mining operations in Chiadzwa claiming that it has a “dark past” of human rights abuses.
