Like most conservative and culturally-rooted villagers of Bocha ethnicity in the diamond rich area, she and her husband were reluctant to leave their place of birth. Most importantly, Muzvidzwa could not abandon the house they had just built at her husband’s spacious family homestead.
The mother of two recalls the assurances they were given to relocate to Arda Transau settlement by state owned diamond company, Marange Resources.
“We (Talent and her husband) were promised that a new house had already been built in Arda (Transau) for us,” she said. “So we reluctantly agreed and our house was destroyed. As much as it hurt leaving our village of origin, we found solace in the enticing promise of what lay ahead. Little did we know that our lives were going to change forever,” she said.
Same roof
When they got to Arda Transau, Marange Resources shifted the goal posts. “They told us to live in the four-roomed house built for my in-laws as they were currently building ours,” she said.
Since September 3, 2011 when they were relocated, she, her husband and their two children have been forced to live under the same roof as their in-laws.
Her sad tale of broken promises and disappointed dreams characterises the daily nightmare to which all the women in Arda resettlement have been condemned.
Valentine Makoni also lives together with her husband and child at their in-laws’ house, while Florence Mwashita, 62, is living in a house that was allocated to her father. Her two married brothers were given houses as well.
Four families per house
The Zimbabwean last week toured the five settlements created by Anjin Investments, Marange Resources, Diamond Mining Company, Mbada Diamonds and Jinan Mining and discovered that an average of four families, with 11 people, share very four-roomed house in all the settlements.
The houses are built on an small area encompassing a hut, cattle kraal and field, leaving little room to build extra structures in the event a son gets married. The situation is even worse in Anjin Resettlement, predominated by apostolic sect members who practice polygamy.
Generally the owner or head of the house has more than two wives and many offspring, all forced to live under one roof. Philemon Kambeni, 89, and the remaining 14 of his 27 wives, were crammed into the same house, forcing them to scavenge for dilapidated farm structures for shelter.
Eight of the wives went on to successfully grab unoccupied houses in Anjin settlement area with the assistance of Arda Transau Relocation Development Trust. But six are still in need of houses.
One of his wives, Mbuya Kambeni said they lived like rats in Arda. “We had no roof over our heads. Our life was not different from that of rats. We don’t know where our next meal is coming from. We have no source of livelihood whatsoever,” she said.
Community gardens
Prior, to the relocation exercise, the Kambeni family was one of the most well-off households in Chiadzwa, as attested to by fellow villagers who hailed from the same area. The wives operated community gardens where they generated $30 a day.
According to the ATRDT, which is advocating for the allocation of houses to those who still have not been housed, there are 110 people in need of houses in Anjin, 34 in Mbada, nine in Marange Resources, three in DMC and eight in Jinan.
The women blamed assistant district administrator Simon Sigauke for working in cahoots with diamond companies in denying them their houses as promised. The issue of livelihood has been a thorn in the flesh for most women either widowed or married to unemployed or elderly spouses.
Many women have turned to firewood selling, devastating the surround woodlands. They travel some 10 km to Odzi where they sell a heavy pile of firewood for “peanuts.”
“The only option we have to sustain our families is to sell firewood. But we can’t all be firewood vendors, can we? Surely this is not what we wished for. This is not what our lives where in Chiadzwa. We used to have community gardens where we managed to sustain a steady living,” lamented Tredah Kupangwa. Mbuya Manyere, born in 1946, said she was too old to venture into any income-generating initiative – a situated exacerbated by the fact that her children are also unemployed.
No jobs
“Look at me and my age. What can I possibly do to look after myself or grandchildren? I cannot ask for support from my children when they are living in my house, fully aware that they are not employed,” she said.
The women who spoke to this reporter said very few males were employed by the diamond companies.
“They companies refused to employ men who were seeking jobs. They said they made enough money during the diamond rush era. They even accused them of being thieves likely to steal their diamond when employed,” said Judith Muchariona.
The women pleaded with the diamond companies, government and the donor community to come to their rescue in the form of income-generating projects.
Post published in: News