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Patrick Chitumba recently in Binga Senior Reporter
FORMER Kamativi Tin Mine employees are demanding ownership of the houses they are staying in at the disused mine, according to communication between the workers and the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC).

The state-owned ZMDC owns the mine which shut down in 1994.

There are 600 housing units at the disused mine.

In an interview at the weekend, Kamativi Early Settlers Development Organisation (Kesedo) representatives led by its chairperson Freeman Banda said they had approached ZMDC to discuss ownership of the houses they were staying in and the formation of a tributary company.

Banda said they first approached ZMDC regarding the matter in 2009.

“We met ZMDC officials early this year in Harare to discuss the issues. We want them to treat us in the same manner as they treated employees at Mhangura and Alaska whom they gave houses,” he said.

Banda said they had been staying in the houses for decades and Kamativi was now their home.

“We know no other home besides Kamativi and we feel that the human thing which ZMDC can do is consenting to our request. If they don’t want to give us the houses, then it’s better they sell them to us,” he said.

However, in a letter dated October 15, 2014, ZMDC acting general manager Wilson Chinzou recognised the significance of the issue raised by Kesedo.

He said their proposal would be considered once the mine reopens. “ZMDC’s strategic plan for reopening Kamativi Tin Mine with an investor is at an advanced stage of implementation. Therefore, once these plans have come into effect and the mine revived, consideration will be given to Kesedo’s proposal and request,” said Chinzou in a letter that Business Chronicle is in possession of.

Robert Mfumi, a son of an ex-worker who later passed on, said government should consider giving them ownership of the houses in line with the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-economic Transformation’s (ZimAsset) cluster on provision of decent accommodation.

“My father worked for this mine and later died, leaving us occupying this house as his children. We’ve nowhere to go since we were raised here. It would be appropriate and human on the part of ZMDC to give us the house at an affordable price,” said Mfumi.

Kamativi is now a ghost town after it closed in 1994 due to operational problems and poor international tin prices.

The prices have since stabilised and ZMDC is courting potential investors to re-open the mine.