"26 Families Evicted From Chiadzwa", 2 Dec 2016

At least 26 families from Tinoengana village, in Chiadzwa face forced eviction from the diamonds fields, five months after Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) started mining in their backyards...Civic society organizations (CSO) in coalition with community-based organizations (CBO) held an urgent press briefing to alert of the impending humanitarian violations and their intention to file an urgent High Court application to halt the arbitrary eviction. Led by the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA), the CSOs accused government of seeking to forcibly move the villagers without compensation...Meanwhile, Manicaland pressure groups led by ZELA have written a letter to the District Administrator [DA] Cosmas Sigauke warning him against abusing his power. ZELA researcher Nyaradzo Mutonhori said this was meant to warn such officials abusing their privileges to trample on the rights of the marginalized rural communities...When contacted for comment DA Sigauke said government was working on the mining development plans from ZCDC as well as requests from villagers who are seeking relocation. Sigauke said ZCDC had promised to settle compensation pegged at $1000 per household before the end of December but he failed to ascertain whether the houses earmarked for the families were in good condition.