Status of 2023 Election Campaign Promises on Natural Resources, Mining and Service Delivery

Writes Environmental Law Association (ZELA)

Status of 2023 election campaign promises on natural resources, mining, and service delivery

While we remain impartial, and apolitical and work across the political divide with elected officials that include Councilors, Members of Parliament, and the Executive to be accountable, as ZELA, we have committed ourselves to read, assess and track some of the campaign messages, manifestos, actions and promises of key political parties and candidates for the upcoming August 23rd Elections in Zimbabwe.

Our main goal is to profile natural resources, mining, and service delivery-related election promises to allow us to plan our future capacity-building programmes on legislative, oversight, and representation for elected officials. This helps us tailor our work to be responsive to the capacity needs of decision and policy makers to deliver on their promises at the local and national levels.

In compiling the election promises, we have relied on reports from political rallies, messages shared by candidates, and political manifestos where applicable. ZANU PF did not produce a manifesto, so we relied on messages from political rallies and reports of Government projects claimed by ZANU PF as ongoing and completed under its current tenure, while Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) launched a manifesto.

In this summary, the promises are divided into three groups per political party as follows; Government level (Executive), parliamentary level promises, and local authority (Council) level promises. So far, we have noted the following emerging issues from different candidates and political parties as key promises on natural resources, mining, and service delivery.

Election promises by political parties at the government (the executive) level

ZANU PF

• Completion of mining projects initiated under the US$ 20 Billion Mining Economy in the Coal, Diamond, Gold, Lithium, Iron Ore and Steel manufacturing, Platinum, Chrome-and ferro chrome sectors among others.
• Implement value addition, beneficiation, and manufacturing projects in the mining sector including manufacture of lithium batteries, solar panels, cutting and polishing of granite, diamonds, and construction of value addition plants in the platinum sector.
• Attract more investors in the Lithium and base minerals sector including promoting value addition and beneficiation.
• Commissioning of new Coal Mines including Contango Holdings Plc and other coke production plants
• Resuscitation of the railway sector for use by the mining sector
• Attract more investments in electricity generation projects including thermal, hydro-electric and solar power for economic growth
• Supporting Responsible mining through the implementation of the Responsible Mining Audit and adoption of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) policies and projects by companies.
• Continued compliance with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme minimum requirements and taking a leadership role in the KPCS.
• Establishing a mining Cadastre system
• Supporting Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners through the provision of loans, equipment, fair gold prices, and empowerment of women and youths to participate in mining and financial inclusion projects.
• Allocation of mining claims in the gold, chrome, and other minerals to the youths, women, and other groups as part of economic empowerment, including active participation in gold buying and trade.
• Establishing more Gold buying Centres around the country
• Continue to require payment of mining royalties by companies in real gold, diamonds, lithium, platinum group metals, and any other precious stone or valuable metal rather than cash.
• Use of Gold currency to stabilize the economy Roll out a title deeds programme to urban households throughout the country.
• Continue with Presidential Solar Borehole drilling (in both urban and rural communities) and gardens programme to increase water access and strengthen livelihoods in rural areas as part of promoting climate adaptation and resilience.
• The Land reform is irreversible, although farmers who lost their land during the land reform programme will be compensated for improvements on the land and not for the land itself under the Global Compensation Agreement.
• Agricultural productivity is to be improved through climate-smart agriculture (including Pfumvudza), farm mechanization, and opening up new markets.
• Construction of hospitals to increase access to health and building more secondary schools and technical colleges for the youths.
• Building dams and irrigation systems throughout the country to increase agriculture production. Widening, dualizing or modernize national roads.
• Avail modern and affordable housing for all and avail water, sanitation, and other social amenities across the country.
• Boosting the fishing business and food security in fishing communities such as Binga, Mbire and Kariba among others

Citizens Coalition For Change (CCC)-manifesto

• Removal of fiscal tax incentives which are outside the prescribed Income Tax Act Alignment of tax incentives to reduce social costs and improving social benefits.
• Plugging the loopholes in the mining sector through, inter alia enactment of a new Diamond law and a new Minerals and Mining Act and subscribing to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and consolidating for Zimbabwe’s position in the Kimberley Process.
• Amendment to the Public Finance Management Act
• Review and revisiting of investment agreements, mining grants and any disposal of Zimbabwe’s Assets.
• Enactment of a Diamond Act which includes a clearly defined revenue sharing formula between the State and the private investors and ensuring distribution of benefits to the local communities and environmental impacts mitigation obligations for mining companies.

Establishment of Sovereign Wealth Fund

• Implementation of Devolution including mandatory allocation of equitable resources through the national budget and amending the Provincial Administrative Act to give legislative powers to provincial councils on legislative development and local issues.
• Provision of adequate social amenities at the local level in particular clean, water, sanitation, sewer, refuse collection, functional health clinics, street lighting, and pothole-free roads.
• Reinstate land for displaced communities such as Dinde, Chilonga, Chiadzwa, Chisumbanje, and Mutoko and strike a balance between new investment and the rights of communities including promoting consultations, community consent, and compensation during displacement.
• Deal with the security of tenure by ensuring that resettled farmers are given title to land so that land owners have both land use value and exchange value they can use to access credit lines. This includes resuscitating the land market in Zimbabwe to increase agricultural productivity.

Movement For Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC-T)

• Ensure that mining revenue is used to benefit all people.
• Promote policies that ensure transparency in mineral revenues and the sustainable growth of the mining industry. There will be distribution of a percentage of proceeds from the mining sector to the local communities for their development. The MDC government will support SME gold production.
• Ensure fair and transparent regulation under clearly stated conditions and standards as well as total security of property rights.
• Devolution of power to local authorities for them to attain a democratic-developmental local state that delivers quality service equitably. The MDC believes in the security of title over the land or property that residents occupy for accommodation purposes and the provision of family-based accommodation.
• Facilitate the construction of new clinics in the neglected resettlement areas and many rural areas for health promotion and disease control.
• Establish a National Health Insurance scheme financed through earmarked taxes.

United Zimbabwe Alliance (UZA)

• Preserving the environment and ensuring that our nation’s wealth is for the benefit of our people.
• Value addition and beneficiation in gold, diamonds, and other natural resources before exportation and ensuring that the added value and proceeds are channelled into the national purse for the benefit of the majority.
• Enhancing the natural capital of Zimbabwe which includes renewable and non-renewable resources such as minerals and energy, forests, water, and fisheries.

Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZANU)

• Investments in equipment and regulation of artisanal mining, and improve the management and monitoring of all mining activities.
• Prevent leakages of national assets Invest in large-scale state mining companies and processing mineral plans in the country for value addition.
• Utilisation of coal as an interim energy source until the country develops an alternative green energy supply.
• Devolution of the unitary state.
• Upgrading and renovation of all educational facilities and building of new schools.
• Building a technological school and a community library in each ward
• Local minerals revenue for health care.
• Building new world-class hospitals in each city and town to complement district and provincial hospitals Monthly cash, food parcels, school fees, and other safety nets for vulnerable groups.
• Building a million low-income houses as part of strategies to increase economic growth.

Parliament-level promises by political parties’ candidates

United Zimbabwe Alliance (UZA)

• Policy framework for Mining equipment assistance for Artisanal Small-Scale Miners (ASMers)
• Calling for budget allocation and financial assistance to women miners and youths.
• ASMers are to be linked to the National Gold Milling centre so that they get more value from the gold milling centre.
• Oversight on implementation of responsible mining practices and ESG by mining companies operating in rural areas
• Assessing Government efforts to implement value addition and beneficiation policies and projects in Zimbabwe
• Increased oversight over government efforts to attract more investors in the mining sector
• Finalise the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill
• Improving water service delivery through the continuation of the boreholes drilling programme in constituencies.
• Provision of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) equipment to schools to improve the quality of education.
• Road upgrade and maintenance to improve transport as ASmers transport their ores to mills.
• Job creation for the community leveraging mining companies operating in constituencies.
• Demand for Government action towards
• Fundraising towards the construction of schools
• Creation of a localised social welfare fund to cater to vulnerable groups in local communities

Citizens Coalition For Change (CCC)

• To hold the executive to account on lithium mining agreements and revenue transparency.
• To push for environmental compliance in mining activities, enforcement of the Environmental Management Act (EMA), and holding institutions to account for environmental Management including EIAs compliance issues Pushing for the registration of artisanal miners to curb violence and conflicts in the gold mining sector To hold government to account on corruption and illegal trade of minerals
• Raising motions in parliament on transparency and accountability in the mining sector.
• To raise motions in parliament on implementation of the recommendations from the Auditor General parliament portfolio committees on revenue management.
• Pushing for the formalization of small-scale mining activities with special attention to health and safety, compensation, and Human skills development
• Promoting transparency and accountability in the awarding of mining claims. Raise motions on the need for rural farmers to get titles for their land.
• Pushing for responsible mining and community benefits from mining activities.
• Push for the amendment of the Water Act and ensure that water supply responsibilities rest with the councils.
• Push for issues of land tenure and community benefits in parliament.
• Raise motions to push for the enactment of the Devolution Act in parliament and for devolution of natural resources to provinces
• To push for the preservation of wetlands in urban areas
• To resist projects that are not environmentally friendly such as the Batoka Gorge project. To push for good waste management systems in councils.
• Push for rehabilitation of road network, reconstruction of Bridges, and construction of modern health facilities, schools, sports, and recreational facilities using the Constituency Development Fund.
• Raising well-researched motions on public finance management act reforms.

Movement For Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC- T)

• Push for enactment of the Devolution Act in parliament.
• Use of Constituency Development funds to develop roads tower lights.
• Strengthening of social welfare programmes to vulnerable groups of the community.

United Zimbabwe Alliance (UZA)

• Move motions in parliament on the legislative agenda that is informed by the community.
• Constituency-led solutions through consultative ward meetings.
• Use the constituency development funds to increase the number of council clinics, improve refuse collection and rehabilitate infrastructure such as street lights.

Local Authority Level Promises By Political Parties Candidates

Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC)

• Advocate for the preservation and protection of wetlands.
• Pushing for low carbon emissions through the development of by-laws at the council level in Bulawayo.
• Push for enforcement of environmental laws and fight corruption
• Strengthen the local authority to provide clean water and improve waste management systems.
• Promotion of green energy through advocating for tax incentives for solar power users.
• Advocating for business development in waste-to-energy sectors
• Increasing collaboration and partnerships between municipalities, development partners, and NGOs to develop a carbon credit policy framework to generate more resources for councils.
• Advocating for the development of proper land use plans to address issues of human wild conflicts.
• Fight corruption in the local authorities.
• Lobby for reforms to that the local authorities can get a fair treasury’s resources.

ZANU PF

• Implement proper waste management practices including the collection of waste
• Provision of clean water to residents
• Rehabilitate all damaged urban road infrastructure
• Implementation of waste-energy business and investment projects in urban areas such as Harare Provision of houses for urban residents
• Give title deeds to urban residents e.g. Epworth and Cowdry Park in Bulawayo

Independent Candidates

• Pushing for good environmental management at ward levels.
• Addressing road infrastructure, sewer bursts, and blockage of drainage pipes in towns.
• Improving access to public toilets at shopping centers
• Engaging municipalities to avail licences to vendors and proper vending sites e.g. in Bulawayo.
• Engaging the Bulawayo City Council to construct a new dam to improve access to water.