Kuvimba pledges major boost to education, health delivery services in Mberengwa district

By founding editor Nigel Pfunde, recently in Zvishavane

Zvishavane- KUVIMBA Mining House (KMH), through one of its subsidiaries, Sandawana Mines in Mberengwa District, last week pledged to improve the education and health delivery system in Mberengwa among a coterie of other developmental projects ,Express Mail Zim can report.

The company will relocate pupils from Sandawana primary school to a site that is environmental friendly and also offer scholarships to deserving pupils.

Furthermore, they will refurbish the clinic and buy ambulances to improve the health delivery system in the district.

This was revealed by the company chief executive Simba Chinyemba during a consultative stakeholders meeting held in Zvishavane last week, in the presence of 15 chiefs and other traditional leaders.

Chinyemba also outlined the company’s objectives which contain a cocktail of developmental projects that will improve the livelihood and well being of community members.

Said Chinyemba:

“We have a visiting medical doctor that we have identified for the clinic currently, before we upgrade it to a hospital.
*We have spoken earlier about all the health initiatives we are going to do.”

“Part of our objectives as Kuvimba Mining House is to do zero harm and the other one is to develop our human capital and that requires us to have a healthy workforce and a healthy community— all those basic things we are going to do them.

“We are going to buy an ambulance and it will be stationed there. If we buy an ambulance and we fix the roads, it will reduce the amount of time someone gets from a potential injury to the hospital significantly,” he added.

In a two year long projection, Chinyemba said they have lined up other community development projects that includes partnering with Agritex for livestock production.

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Sandawana, whose history dates back to 1955 as an emerald operation, has changed ownership over the years and is being resuscitated as a lithium and tantalite mine by KMH that took over the asset in 2019.

Prior to acquisition by KMH, the mine was defunct since 2010 when production was suspended due to working capital constraints and a reduction in emerald resource.

KMH, a sprawling mining and investing holding company with interests in gold, lithium, platinum, nickel, and chrome, has injected capital amounting to US$56 million towards revamping and transforming Sandawana Mines into a world class high grade lithium operation.

At last week’s stakeholders meeting , the traditional leaders were led by Chief Ngungumbane, who sits in the Chiefs Council, and is chairperson of the Midlands Provincial Assembly.

Some of the traditional leaders that attended are Chief Mahlebadza, Chief Bvute, Chief Mposi, Chief Maziofa, Chief Chingoma, Chief Mapiravana, and Chief Mudavanhu.

Early this month, KMH availed the inaugural five students they are sponsoring for Bachelor of Science (Honours) Degree in Mining and Geological Engineering at the University of Zimbabwe under the ED-UNZA Scholarship Trust and Chinyemba said they will add five more and they will be drawn from Mberengwa district.

The chiefs, led by Chief Ngungumbane, waxed lyrical over the progress Sandawana Mine has made in transforming Mberengwa communities.

“You started your mining operations early this year but you have made tremendous progress in as far as development is concerned.

“We are really excited as traditional leadership in the district for the plan to upgrade the Sandawana Mines Clinic to a hospital,” he said.