Source: Zim a treasure trove: First Lady• ‘Westerners hid exploration maps’ • ‘God now revealing hidden wealth’ | The Herald October 5, 2017
First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe
Tendai Mugabe Senior Reporter
Western mining experts hid exploration maps on Zimbabwe’s mineral resource base during the colonial era, but the country is slowly discovering its worth in terms of underground wealth, First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe has said.
It is believed that the whites undertook massive exploration works in Zimbabwe before independence, but never made public their findings. The move was deliberate to ensure that after independence, the new State would not know its value in terms of minerals. Addressing investors of African origin based in the United Kingdom at her Mazowe Children’s Home on Tuesday, Dr Mugabe said Zimbabwe was endowed with vast resources and God was already revealing some of the hidden wealth.
“You can actually mention any of the minerals Zimbabwe has that mineral. Even some people believe that we have oil somewhere. Yes some people know. Our erstwhile colonisers had maps and they hid some of the information from us but we are getting to know bit by bit. God is revealing that this is yours use it,” she said.
In furtherance of the quest to establish the country’s worth in terms of mineral value, Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa in his 2015 National Budget presentation said Government had proposed to set aside $3 million towards exploration activities. Minister Chinamasa said Government had already acknowledged the need to set up of an exploration firm because the country was not fully knowledgeable about the extent of the value of its mineral resource base.
He said this inevitably resulted in poorly negotiated contracts, potentially prejudicing the benefits accruing to the State and its citizens. As such the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development resolved to set up the Minerals Exploration Promotion Corporation to solely deal with exploration activities.
Apart from the vast mineral resources, Dr Mugabe said after independence President Mugabe resolved that political freedom was not enough without economic control. Dr Mugabe said the President pioneered empowerment programmes for the nation. As part of the empowerment drive, President Mugabe championed programmes such as the Land Reform Programme and indigenisation that had empowered the previously marginalised black majority.
“We of course went to war, fought the struggle, won it but our President went further to say that yes we fought for independence but independence alone is not enough. When we went out to the struggle we slept in the bush, we were being bitten by mosquitoes and lots of lives were lost. They were not lost just to say we are free, freedom alone is not enough unless we have economic freedom.”
COMMENTS
why cant we explore our resources for ourselves since we been independent for over 3 decades. why do we just want want to be handed over everything. it was there explorations and we should ours. we are to blame not the white men. we just lazy and incompetant.
What nonsense will Grace Mugabe talk about next? Its a pity that her young life was spent in a typing pool and being blessed by her present husband, and not in some sort of studies.
When she says, “Even some people believe that we have oil somewhere”, I had to smile as I thought that she was speaking of that kopje in Chinhoyi that ran with a river of diesel, as we saw being witnessed by her husband and his ministers.
Again when she says, “Our erstwhile colonisers had maps and they hid some of the information from us but we are getting to know bit by bit” she sounds like a small child trying to be clever. She appears to believe that a simple map is some sort of secret weapon of mass destruction!
Why does she not know that in the mining world it can cost billions of dollars to plan and carry out mineral exploration work? It then stands to reason that if mineral exploration companies made known their discoveries, their large exploration costs would have been for nothing. This is just common business sense.
Perhaps someone should sit down quietly with Grace Mugabe and explain to her how the financial world really works…perhaps this would even enable her to avoid sad disappointments like her senior staff stealing her blind, and running her stolen dairy business into severe financial difficulties.
Real freedom is being allowed to beat young ladies in South Africa and then get diplomatic immunity to come back to drive your brand new Rolls Royce? This is wonderful.
ONLY 3 RRS IN A WEEK – NOT BAD
THIS IS WHERE THE 15BIL WENT TO
What a load of codswallop from Grace Mugabe – If the British had known about Diamonds and platinum it would still be under British Rule and grace would be tilling the land with her Budza in an Airforce Base perhaps they did know about GAS near Binga they left that for Grace she is full of it.
Grace Mugabe is telling the truth when she says that Zimbabwe has OIL
if anyone disputes this just go to one of the Companies in Birmingham Road Harare they still have some in stock. They only accept cash
Most of the mineral exploration data in possession of the government in 1980 was lost due to sloppy record keeping by the ZANU governments civil servants.
Since then the government has done nothing in the way of exploration, but allowed foreigners including Russians and Chinese to survey. So it may be true that others know more that the government about the countries mineral wealth. This would be because of the dis-functionality of the government, not some conspiracy by white colonialist.
Remember how ZANU stole the diamond rights from a private company and then squandered the resulting $15 billion bonanza.
The bigger the lie the more the people will believe it.
Do we not know who is squandering the country’s wealth?
“They” haven’t been fooling most of the people for a long time.
Grace Mugabe is a nut job.
Remember the refined diesel pouring out of a rock….
Robert…
Yes Dear
Do you know those colonial whites stole the maps of our mineral wealth?
Are you certain dear?
Oh yes, absolutely, I have looked in your document box and there is only a map of London in there.
Yes dear that’s right – hope to go there again one day
But there MUST have been some maps of mineral wealth in our country
Yes there is
Well where are they?
In safe Keeping
Where
Not here dear – don’t worry about it, we know exactly what we had – oh sorry freudian slip, haha, – have
Oh! Good
Is it worth a lot
Yes Dear
More than a Rolla’s worth
Yes Dear
Now where is the tea?, Damn colonists Teas-made has failed again..
Do you think those colonists knew if there was a tea leaf mine as well?
Possibly
Shall I turn the light out, bugger the tea?
If you think it will save something or other.
Good night…………..
God is not revealing to Zimbabweans where the minerals are….. he is revealing to Zimbabweans then consequences of being passive.