GOVERNMENT has set up a permanent army base in Mukumbura, Mt Darwin district, Mashonaland Central province as it moves to protect its prospective oil and gas fields in the area.
According to a Statutory Instrument (SI) issued by Defence and War Veterans Affairs minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, the cantonment will cover an area of land situated in Mukumbura bounded on the north by Eastings 25 to 33 and on the south northings 90 to 97, filed in the office of the Surveyor-General’s office, Harare.
The camp is expected to protect Mbire and Muzarabani districts where Australia-based Invictus Energy is prospecting for oil and gas.
Mukumbura is approximately 150 kilometres from the oilfields where Invictus Energy has been prospecting for oils and gas at two wells where prospects of a find are reportedly high.
Invictus Energy has identified 13 potential hydro-carbon-bearing zones at its Mukuyu-1 well in the Carbora Bassa Basin in Mbire district.
It has also drilled two test wells at its Zambezi Valley-based oil and gas claims following years of exploration that began after an announcement in 2015.
The company also claims that 20 trillion cubic feet of gas are located in the wells in the Muzarabani-Mbire area with the firm announcing plans to build a gas-to-power facility to feed into the national grid.
Muchinguri-Kashiri announced the establishment of a military camp under Statutory Instrument 48 of 2023 which was published in the Government Gazette on April 7.
“This notice may be cited as the Defence (Protected Areas) (No. 7) Notice, 2023. The area described in the Schedule shall be a protected area for the purposes of Part IX of the Act. No person shall enter the area described in the Schedule other than— (a) a member of the Defence Forces who enters the area in the course of any service, duty or training under the Act,” Muchinguri-Kashiri said in the notice.
Part IX of the Defence Act on Cantonments and Protected Areas, empowers the Defence minister to declare any area or place to be a cantonment excluding acquiring communal lands.
Section 94 of the Act also empowers the Defence minister to prohibit any class of people from entering or remaining in such an area or impose obligations, conditions or restrictions including registration and reporting to authorities.
Contravening the law can lead to imprisonment of up to five months or a fine.
The SI further indicated that government or Local Government authority employees in the course of their duties or those by the Commander of the Defence Forces, army or air force would be allowed to enter the area.
The army in September last year deployed soldiers to familiarise itself with the area amid reports that it was concerned over the insurgency in neighbouring Mozambique’s Capo Delgado province.
The deadly insurgency flared up in Mozambique’s resource-rich Cabo Delgado, displacing over 570 000 people and claiming thousands of lives.
The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) also confirmed the routine military drills indicating that the army was gearing to “sharpen and perfect its operational skills so as to enhance the Zimbabwe Defence Forces capability to fulfil its mandate”.
In confirming the excursion, the ZDF said: “All government ministries, the provincial leadership, traditional leaders and all stakeholders in Mashonaland Central province were engaged during the planning stage of the exercise.
“At the commencement of the exercise, the whole nation was then informed through a Press release issued on September 22.”
“What is implied in the Constitution is that the ZDF must protect everything within the boundaries of Zimbabwe.”
In June 2019, Vice-President Constantine Chiwenga announced that government had granted national project status to Kanyemba in Mbire district in line with its quest for town status in five years.
Government has also initiated a number of infrastructure development projects in the area, including the rehabilitation and resurfacing of the 141km-long Mahuwe-Kanyemba Road, expansion of Chapoto Clinic into a fully-fledged hospital and the establishment of irrigation projects, some in conjunction with the private sector.
The granting of national project status allows for the importation of critical equipment and other requisite materials duty-free.
Muchinguri-Kashiri in June last year announced that government was planning to transform Muzarabani into a town by supporting its infrastructural development projects.
She added that the government would guarantee unlimited humanitarian space to the area. – NewsDay
