‘Zama zamas have existed for many years without real and meaningful intervention by the State”

We have seen the devastation caused by food poisoning or contaminations as well as the mayhem inflicted on the defenceless people in places like Wesbury and Newclare, by the zama zamas.

We have also heard our President addressing these problems last night. But this was somewhat timid, subdued, and too little too late! His statement also lacked the oomph of a Commander in Chief of the country, which is facing a human catastrophe. 

Let me confine myself to the zama zama industry, which seems to be so lucrative that the producers of the product are prepared to even die in the unsafe and dangerous belly of the earth. 

There has to be a very tempting, willing and generous customer out there who who compels the zama zamas to take that risk. 

This risk they take despite the fact that it is illegal to do what they are doing. They are also heavily armed because they know what they are doing is illegal and the consequences of their action.

But, who supplies them with these sophisticated and high calibre weapons? Do they acquire these by themselves or are they supplied to them by their loyal customers? We also have to ask ourselves the difficult questions about the role of our political organizations and/or their leaders in this. Are they perhaps accepting funding from these criminal networks to sustain themselves and their political programs!

In all Africa’s civil wars, the amount of arms and ammunition always outstrips the GDP’s of those countries, even though they don’t have the slightest capabilities of producing anything, not even a bar of soap!

In our case, it is very suspect that it takes so many children to die before anything is “just said in passing” about it, anyway. The zama zamas have probably existed before 1994, and yet, 30 years later, we are still trying “very hard” to understand what they really are.

This is despite the fact that communities are terrorized by these criminals on a daily basis, and this has been happening for many years without any real and meaningful intervention by the State.

(Pule Monama is a commentator on local and national issues)