The rampant smuggling of Zimbabwe’s mineral wealth can only be effectively stopped when the nation prioritises the welfare and dignity of its frontline human capital, as technological solutions remain futile when the officials operating them are demoralised and under-supported, Senator Conrad Jericho Gotora said.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
Speaking in the upper house on Thursday, Senator Gotora of Mashonaland East argued that the government’s high-tech anti-smuggling drive is doomed to fail unless it first addresses the economic desperation that fuels corruption from within.
His address cuts to the heart of a national crisis, where reports indicate Zimbabwe loses over US$1.5 billion annually to gold smuggling alone, a staggering haemorrhage of resources from a sector that is the cornerstone of the economy. The Senator’s critique challenges the very foundation of current strategies, suggesting that a hungry official, even one armed with the latest technology, cannot be an effective guardian of the state’s wealth.
Recently, authorities have rolled out sophisticated measures designed to curb this illicit trade. The Mineral Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) has procured drone technology to enhance surveillance over mining sites and stockpiles, particularly in remote, high-risk areas. This initiative is part of a broader government push that includes boosting mine surveillance and implementing a gold-tracing system to monitor the metal from the mine to the market.
Yet, Senator Gotora pinpointed a fatal flaw in this approach. He stated that the sophisticated equipment is being undermined by the basic needs of the people operating it. “The people who are smuggling are being given permission by security who has drones because the security is hungry; they can’t arrest people who are feeding them,” he told the Senate.
This observation reveals the limits of a purely technological fix. A drone can identify a smuggling operation from the air, but if the officers on the ground are compromised by inadequate pay and hunger, the intelligence it provides is rendered useless. The system fails at the last, most critical mile: the human being tasked with enforcement.
A Tangible Symbol of Misplaced Priorities
The Senator provided a concrete example of what he termed “misplaced priorities,” highlighting the glaring absence of a weighbridge at the Nyamapanda border post. This fundamental piece of infrastructure is critical for monitoring and taxing heavy vehicles, particularly those carrying high-value commodities like granite from his constituency.
“The lorries that are going out with granite from Mtoko and UMP are just using the Nyamapanda border; there is no weighbridge,” he declared. “We are failing to build a weighbridge because we have misplaced priorities.”
This failure is more than an administrative oversight; it is a symbol of a deeper governance crisis. The continued lack of such a basic tool, while more complex solutions are pursued, suggests a disjointed strategy that fails to plug the most obvious revenue leaks.
At the heart of Senator Gotora’s argument is a compelling philosophy: Zimbabwe’s greatest asset is its people. He directly linked the brain drain of skilled professionals to the vulnerability of security personnel, stating, “We have engineers working very well in other countries because here they will be hungry.”
This connection is crucial. A state that fails to adequately invest in its human capital—ensuring its civil servants, security forces, and professionals can live with dignity—unintentionally sabotages its own institutions. A well-fed, fairly compensated official possesses the moral and economic fortitude to resist corruption. A well-remunerated engineer is empowered to build a career at home, strengthening the nation’s productive capacity.
“We need to feed our human capital to reduce smuggling,” the Senator asserted. This is not merely a call for salary increases, but a plea for a fundamental re-evaluation of national spending. It posits that investing in people is the most sophisticated and effective anti-smuggling strategy available.
The government’s technological and regulatory measures are necessary, but as Senator Gotora’s speech makes clear, they are insufficient alone. The fight must be waged on two parallel fronts.
The first is the physical front: continuing to deploy drones, enhancing border security, and finally building the long-overdue weighbridges. These are critical operational tasks that must be executed with urgency.
The second, and more decisive front, is the human one. The state must tackle the economic desperation that turns protectors into accomplices. This means ensuring all state employees, especially those in enforcement, earn a living wage that insulates them from bribery. It also means creating a thriving, formal mining sector where artisanal and small-scale miners are incentivised to operate legally through prompt payment and fair treatment, as the government has attempted through initiatives like the US$100 million facility to support the sector.
As Senator Gotora warned, “We can arrest those at the borders, but it will not change anything.” The lorries will continue to roll through Nyamapanda unimpeded, the drones will watch from above, powerless to act, and the nation will continue to bleed—not from a wound on its border, but from a sickness born of neglected priorities and empty stomachs.
