By Trymore Tagwirei

At the foot of the Mweza Mountain Range in Mberengwa’s Chingechuru area, lithium development is transforming a predominantly small-scale farming community as Zimbabwe accelerates investment in the sector.

However, around 104 families facing relocation to make way for the expansion of the state-owned Sandawana Mine say they are struggling to adjust to their new reality.

The families are being moved to pave the way for a $300 million lithium processing plant being developed by Mutapa Energy Resources—the mining and energy arm of the state-owned Mutapa Investment Fund.

The expansion will also require the exhumation of 52 graves, raising deep concerns over the loss of ancestral land and the disruption of long-established family and cultural ties.

Wadzanai Zhou, a farmer from Chingechuru, said some residents remain uncertain about the project and fear losing their land and vital natural resources.

“We don’t know much about this project because they only consulted our traditional leaders. We were not directly consulted, and there is a lot of fear among villagers,” Zhou said. “We heard that they will relocate us to surrounding villages, but we have established developments at our homes. We hope they will compensate us fairly. We fear losing our land, our pastures, our rivers, and our water.”

Zivai Hove, another affected villager, shared similar concerns about the transition.

“It’s difficult for us to leave our ancestral lands and adapt to a new place. We had plenty of land here, but now we are going to receive smaller plots because we are being relocated to an area that is already inhabited,” Hove said.

Read More: Dozens of graves to be exhumed, 104 families to be relocated for lithium plant

Another affected villager, who requested anonymity, expressed fear over the quality of the new land.

“Our current land is very productive, and now they want to move us to land that could be less fertile. We want decent compensation and the proper handling and exhumation of our graves,” she said.

In addition to fair financial compensation, affected families are demanding that cultural rites for exhumations be strictly honored.

Addressing the community’s concerns, Mberengwa District Development Coordinator (DDC) Vafios Hlabati said the relocation program is progressing smoothly and that replacement land has already been identified.

“All 104 households are within the Mberengwa district. Village heads under Chief Mahlebadza and Chief Mudavanhu have provided the required land. Mutapa Energy Resources has invited local chiefs, MPs, and council officials to inspect the model housing,” Hlabati said.

To demonstrate the standard of housing, Mutapa Energy Resources has constructed seven model homes, each designed to include four rooms, a kitchen, and ablution facilities.