Oliver Munemo

For years, the lithium-rich hills of Bikita has been a site of ceaselessly running machinery but with little of the benefits trickling down to the people who call Bikita their home.

The Chinese-owned Bikita Minerals, which has been owned by Sinomine Resource Group since Janurary 2022, has become synonymous with broken promises—polluted water, displaced families, and barren fields left in the wake of its operations.

In trying to make amends to the environmental harm and disruptive operations expansions, the mining company has been trying some Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives which the community described as cosmetic citing lack of engagement.

The advocacy efforts by EnviroPress Zimbabwe in partnership with Southern Africa Trust came to fruition last week when the company announced that they would come up with CSR initiatives that were born from community engagement through the office of the local Chief Marozva.

“We will not impose projects on the community, and will always try to reach common ground with all stakeholders,” said Collins Nikisi, the company’s spokesperson.

“CSR initiatives will be discussed and approved by the community through the chief’s office before implementation,” he said.

Chief Marozva said the shift in policy was a win for the community and his role will be to mobilise the community and gather their views on where resources should be channeled.

“We welcome this change in policy by the mine and this is a major win for us. For years we have been told what to do and these projects have not been making any impact in the community largely because they were the wrong prescription.

“Now that we have been given an opportunity to be heard, we will not waste this chance to improve the lives and livelihoods of our people,” said Chief Marozva.