Mines minister Winston Chitando has reportedly come under fire over his alleged abuse of the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development to fight his legal battles.
The latest scandal comes at a time when the Minister’s return to the Mines Ministry is mired in obscurity after having been reassigned to the Local Government Ministry last year. Chitando is facing various litigation in courts over his handling of mining disputes.
Chitando is currently embroiled in a mine ownership dispute where he is accused of grabbing gold claims owned by local businessman Yakub Mohamed’s firm, Anesu Gold, and transferring them to Gold Reef Mining, where he was a shareholder.
During this ownership dispute which has since spilled into the courts, the Ministry of Mines has ironically been fighting in Chitando’s corner. In most hearings, the Mines ministry has been playing the role of a mine owner.
This according to sources has been happening in most court battles involving Chitando. There is high suspicion that Chitando has been using the power of his office and influence to let his Ministry fight his battles.
“This issue has since been raised with the Presidium of the country and most aggrieved parties are now considering making formal reports with the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc).
“Yakub has already engaged the Ministry of Mines over this matter and he feels Chitando has been getting an unfair advantage because of his office as Mines Minister. Yakub is also accusing Chitando of using Ministry funds to bankroll his legal battles,” sources say.
Efforts to get a comment from Chitando drew blanks.
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In the High Court application, Mohamed claimed that Anesu Gold is the registered owner of the claims which are also referred to as Mangoro claims (Ipanema).
Chitando’s lawyer Lovemore Madhuku failed to depose an opposing affidavit to rebut the allegations when he appeared before High Court judge Justice Rogers Manyangadze.
The other respondent, Golden Reef, was represented by Welshman Ncube.
Ncube argued that Anesu Gold had failed to establish a locus standi in its founding affidavit.
Chitando is not new to scandals and this year a Harare resources firm slapped Chitando with a slew of criminal charges for allegedly corruptly awarding lucrative gold claims in Bindura to a rival miner.
The charges, which range from abuse of public office to fraud, relate to how Chitando, who is now the Local Government minister, handled a dispute over four gold claims between Blackgate Investments and a company called Ran Mine and G&P Industries.
Chitando resolved the dispute in favour of Ran Mine and G&P Industries, which is currently running operations at the gold claims.
Ran Mine in Bindura has been operating for over a century but has been the scene of some of the worst mining accidents in the country in recent years.
The claims that are at the centre of the dispute are Kimberley 18 and 19, which Chitando awarded to Ran Mine and G&P Industries in his 2021 determination.
Ran Mine and G&P Industries have been at loggerheads with Blackgate for over 15 years, according to documents seen by Alpha Media Holdings’ investigative unit, the Truth Diggers.
In the dockets filed at Harare Central Police Station on January 24 this year, Blackgate claims criminal activities involving a string of powerful individuals took place ahead of Chitando’s determination.
Onesimo Moyo, the former Mines and Mining Development permanent secretary, was also separately slapped with criminal charges in the dockets that were submitted to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and several key government agencies.
In another related matter, Barrington Resources, a mining firm linked to Chitando last year suffered a massive setback in its quest to block Pulserate, a firm linked to the Moti Group from mining lithium at a lucrative Good Days resource in Mutoko, Mashonaland East after the High Court threw out its application.
Under Case number HC 8671/22, Barrington Resources as the applicant made an application for the resolution of a boundary dispute relating to the boundaries of conflicting lithium claims owned by Barrington and Pulserate respectively, who both contend that their claim includes within boundaries of the Good Days Mine.
Chitando has been facing conflict of interest accusations in the matter following allegations that he owns Barrington Resources.
Chitando is also linked to Hanzu Resources, another mining company.
Chitando in his capacity as Minister of Mines and Mining Development was cited as the third respondent and some of the accusations traded by the parties entangled the minister in the dispute in his capacity.
It was contended that the coordinates that Barrington Resources claimed are the correct ones cannot be proved without showing the court that due process was followed in their pegging.
The most critical issue, according to court documents was whether the applicant Barrington Resources was the prior pegger of the mining location in dispute.
Chitando has since vacated Mutoko Lithium claims according to sources.
