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Nyore Madzianike Manicaland Bureau
Traditional leaders in Manicaland have urged the Government to review upwards their monthly allowances to cushion them from the high cost of living.

Speaking at an emotive meeting held with Mutare District Administrator Mr Wilson Boore at Domboshava, Marange, on Tuesday, headmen and village heads under Chief Marange in Manicaland described the $25 stipend they earn monthly as insignificant, especially considering the current economic circumstances.

A review of the allowances, they claim, will help them to efficiently execute their duties and also shun corruption. Chief Marange also attended the meeting, which was aimed at exploring challenges faced by traditional leaders and how they could improve their welfare.

“The money which we are getting is too little. We receive about $25 through Ecocash, which is another challenge when trying to access it. We urge the Government to review the allowance upwards to match the volumes of work we undertake,” said village heads.

Mr Boore, however, advised them that reviewing allowances could not be done overnight, but needed to be budgeted for first. He said it also depended on revenue inflows into the national purse.

“I heard what you have just said, but let us also consider the source of the allowances that we get. The allowances come from the tax payers’ money that comes after production,” he said.

Chief Marange complained of illegal settlers whom he said have besieged his area, resulting in a surge in criminal activities. He said most of the illegal settlers were from Buhera.

“One of the challenges that I am facing here is of illegal settlers. There are a lot of illegal settlers who came from Buhera to settle in my area. These people have caused a lot of damage to the environment since most of them practice river-bank cultivation.

Some of them even go to the extent of using cattle-drawn ploughs along those river banks. What also irks me most is the fact that most of these people do not abide by the laws of the land,” he said. Headmen and village heads also bemoaned failure by diamond mining companies to plough back to their communities.

They said development in communities surrounding the mining concessions does not reflect the amount of wealth being extracted from the diamond fields.

“We are blessed to have diamonds in our area. As village heads, our influence ends at a certain point and we are appealing to you, DA, to take our plight further and urge those mining companies to develop our area.

“We want development here to reflect the amount of wealth coming from this side,” said headman Chikuku. Traditional leaders in Marange also challenged the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) to also include the community in their plans.

They said they were looking forward to a change from the previous diamond mining companies which they accused of ‘beefing up their pockets’ at the expense of the communities.