Tunatazama - Community Monitors

COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT IS A KEY TO SUCCESS

Compiled by Zakeu Nhachi  Save Odzi Community Network Trust 27/04/18

Education is power. SOCNET is giving power to the communities by capacitating them. SOCNET as a community based Organization has realized that, their communities need to be capacitated on Social Economic, Environmental and Cultural rights..

On Saturday 21 April 2018, SOCNET conducted a capacity Building workshop at Tonhorai Primary school in Ward 20 Chimanimani Manicaland. The Workshop was attended by over 50 people from Chipiro and Tonhorai including their Traditional Leadership. The Agenda topics were Community Monitoring and EIAs development. On Monitoring the facilitator targeted targeted Social, Economic, Environmental and Cultural issues.

During the workshop, the facilitators created space for the community to participate, hence the communities indicated that were very interested with the tackled topics. This workshop followed the blocking of unauthorized prospectors from Mutare to prospect by Musee Community in Buhera.

SOCNET with the help of ZELA and EU is continuing capacitating the communities in 6 wards in 3 districts namely Chimanimani Buhera and Chipinge. Communities should know their rights so that they can be able to defend them (rights).

The facilitators G Muhwahwa and T Chibuwe encouraged them community to work together with their Traditional leadership and also to participate in their communities like what the community of Musee did.

In conclusion, the communities in the areas needs to be capacitated as way of empowering them. Many developers either companies or individuals took advantage of their status to abuse rural communities. Rural communities are very rich in natural resources which these people (developers) mainly extractors.