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Residents Empowerment Trust to ensure locals benefit from the gems in their area.
In an interview yesterday, the Trust’s chairman Mr Didmas Machiri said they had invited President Mugabe to be the guest of honour at the launch.
He said they were expecting more than 60 000 people from the diamond catchment area to attend the event.
Mr Machiri said the board of trustees was made up of two men and seven women.
He said this was in cognisance of gender imbalances that characterised most business models in the past.
“The main objective of this trust is to empower the marginalised rural population. Our membership at the moment stands at 12 000 people derived from Mutare North, West and Chimanimani constituencies.
“We have invited His Excellency, President Mugabe to be our patron and guest of honour at the launch. Provisionally, the launch is set for April 23 but the date is subject to confirmation by the President,” he said.
Mr Machiri said they had applied for a mining concession through the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation and submitted the relevant paperwork to Government.
At the moment, Mr Machiri said, they were finalising modalities with an investment partner identified by the Trust.
“We have done all the paperwork but as for now I cannot divulge more details until the Trust is officially launched. All we are doing is the implementation of the country’s indigenisation laws and President Mugabe’s call for total empowerment of the black people,” he said.
He added that the country has embarked on a number of programmes such as land reform aimed at ensuring economic emancipation of local people.
Mr Machiri said following the success of land reform, key economic sectors should now finance the country’s agricultural activities.
He said the 11th Zanu-PF Annual People’s Conference held in Mutare also reiterated the need to empower local people economically.