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Noah Pito Features Correspondent
In the remote northern parts of Hurungwe District of Mashonaland West Province lies the Chewore-Mkwichi jungle. This is also the area where the Angwa River meanders towards the Zambezi River while providing a natural demarcation of Hurungwe and Guruve districts to the east.

About a year ago, rich gold deposits were discovered in this lion-infested forest that has today become a Mecca for daring panners searching for riches.

While proving to be a source of instant cash to some panners coming from as far as Mberengwa, Shurugwi and Beitbridge, it has proved costly to others who have been jailed for illegal possession of gold.

A troublesome spot in the jungle, dubbed Secret Valley or Pahasha, has become Hurungwe’s “Chiadzwa” after the diamond fields in Manicaland.

However, traditional leaders in the area believe the extraction should be regularised so that the area benefits from the gold activities.

Chief Chundu, who presides over the area, argues that haphazard mining is detrimental to the people from the area.

Speaking from his Mahwau home, Chief Chundu said fortune seekers descended on his area armed with gold detectors and flooding his area from across Zimbabwe.

“The gold rush started soon after the discovery of the gold deposits early last year. Up to now I think hundreds of kilogrammes of the mineral have been stolen from Secret Valley. This is just an estimate. They are getting large pieces of gold from about 15-30cm in depth,” he said.

“What I want the nation to know is that the discovery of the treasure at Secret Valley is a blessing from the spirits of this area and must be treated as such.”

He said following the discovery of gold, he consulted his forefather Chimombe’s spirit.

“I stay with the spirit which is in the form of a rock. The spirit medium, Mubaiwa, in my area accompanied me to Kakomo KeHurungwe, where we asked for rains, bumper harvests and minerals to alleviate poverty in this area,” Chief Chundu said.

The traditional leader said they asked the spirits to endow them with mineral wealth like what happened in Chiadzwa, where the people were blessed with diamonds.

“Soon after our visit something strange happened. Four pangolins were sighted and this symbolised the fortune (gold) that was to follow. In just a few days after the sighting of the pangolins, we received word that rich gold deposits had been discovered right on the surface.”

Although Chief Chundu praised the police for cordoning off the area, he urged Government to regularise gold mining in that area.

He added that apart from disadvantaging the locals, Government was not earning anything from the mining activities since the panners sell the mineral on the informal market.

“I am happy the police have since deployed the Support Unit to control the situation. And since the gold deposits are in a game area, we want Government to come up with a position that ensures sustainable mining.

“Let the mining be formalised so that my people can become part to the mining ventures, rather than the present scenario where we witness 60-70 posh cars roving around and using my poor subjects to help them plunder our indigenous resources. Our roads are in a poor state and we have no boreholes, this is our chance,” he added.

Chief Chundu said villagers accompanied the gold panners around at midnight, walking long distances of up to 50km into the game area, risking attacks from wild animals for as little as $20 and opaque beer.

“Imagine risking one’s life for only $20 and a crate of scuds while the panner gets thousands of dollars he uses to buy a house in an up market suburb of Harare.

“My people are sacrificing their lives because of poverty. Imagine travelling into the lion-infested jungle at night, an area also patrolled by armed game rangers.”

He said most of the culprits were seasoned gold miners especially from Mberengwa and Shurugwi, who came armed with gold detectors and masquerading as friends and relatives to the locals.

Meanwhile, the police have held a series of awareness programmes in the area, warning the villagers against harbouring panners who came into the area under false pretences.

The Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority has also warned villagers against driving their cattle into the game area.

Villagers are accused of engaging in poaching activities and gold panning under the guise that they would be looking for stray livestock.

Commenting on formalising mining activities at Secret Valley, Hurungwe Rural District Council chief executive Mr Joram Moyo said any formal mining activities carried out in Chewore-Mkwichi area could impact negatively on Mana Pools, which is a vibrant tourist attraction in Hurungwe.

“Remember this is the same stretch in which we also have our vibrant tourist attraction in Hurungwe called Mana Pools.

“This point (Secret Valley) is not very far away from Mana Pools and any interference, particularly through mining activities in this game area, might impact negatively on Mana Pools,” he said.