The province is the agriculture hub of the country because of its fertile soils and is rich in precious minerals especially gold which makes mining one of the economic mainstay for the majority of the people. Though heavily dominated by small-scale miners commonly identified as artisanal miners.
With fewer opportunities for formal employment, industrial activity and general poverty, the majority of the people in Mazowe District have joined the league of artisanal miners. The trade is a profitable means of income especially amid the country’s financial challenges.
The district has a population of 258 994 people and it is reported that about 36 019 within the 25 to 49 age group are living positive. The National Aids Council (NAC) revealed that HIV prevalence rate in the district is at 18, 6 % which is higher than the national at 14%.
Recently, speaking at Mazowe Citrus Secondary School NAC district Aids coordinator Mercy Mudhombo revealed that artisanal miners are presenting a fertile ground for commercial sex workers, ”illegal mining settlements have also attracted commercial sex workers and traders which has seen a high HIV prevalence rate of 22,4 percent among this group.
“There is also a high prevalence rate of STI cases which are over 1000 per quarter, the estimated number of HIV deaths is 714 per annum and there is also less awareness of HIV among youths in the district,” she said.
Mining activities are rampant in parts of Mazowe District like Jumbo, Concession, Ceaser, Nzvimbo (Rosa mine) making these places hotspots for sex workers who come from surrounding areas like Mvurwi and Centenary.
NAC provincial manager David Nyamurera also echoed that artisanal miners are at the high risk of spreading HIV and ST as a result of low risk perception.
“Key drivers of the epidemic in the province include having multiple concurrent sexual partners and this includes sex work, incorrect and inconsistent use of condoms, unequal gender relations resulting in gender based violence (GBV) and child marriages. It is kind of a vicious cycle also low risk perception and intergenerational sexual relations.
“Indeed artisanal miners are at high risk of acquiring and transmitting the HIV and other STIs because of their vulnerability. When they get money after their hard work they tend to prioritize leisure and this is where the issue of low risk perception comes in,” he said.
Nyamurera also added that, “the current provincial HIV prevalence rate is at 11, 8 percent and it is on the decrease. The prevalence range is 11, 5 % in Mt Darwin being the lowest to 18, 6% in Mazowe being the highest in the province
“The HIV incidence rate in the province among the 15-49 years age group is 0.46% and comparing Mash Central with other provinces in the country it is in the moderate category,”
High risk sexual behavior is frequent among small scale miners owing to the excessive drug abuse that accompany their operational activities. “ It is common knowledge that ‘Makorokozas’ lead a reckless life of serious drug abuse, alcohol and careless sexual practices with little or no fear of death hence you find they are rarely shocked with reports of HIV prevalent rates.
“Worse still these guys present a lucrative opportunity for making money to sex workers because of their lavish spending. This is further being made serious by lack of formal employment in Mazowe district where there is little industrial activity thus high levels of promiscuity abound as a result of poverty,” said a local gender activists Lucia Roki.
Mashonaland Central provincial development officer in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Judith Hove said there is still need to address the whole of the district by penetrating areas in the peripheries.
“We need to strengthen our intervention in the district. Already we are doing much but at times we find some of the places are not being reached especially those that are inaccessible.
“With most of our partners you find they just concentrate on areas that are near growth points but we have certain places that are faraway located in the periphery. They need to be visited so that the whole of the area can have awareness,”
However, she expressed negativity over tackling artisanal miners, “It’s true that these miners are part and parcel of the hotspots but the problem we have with them is they tend to come and go and if you have a certain group today it does not mean that when you go there the next time you will find the same people.
“Those artisanal miners do not stay at one place, suppose they reach a nugget they have to go for some days enjoying their money whilst others come and I do not think they use these tools for sexual health as most of the time they are underground in search of gold,” she said.
Mazowe District is hosting this year’s World Aids Day (WAD) at Rujeko Secondary School in Glendale on Saturday 01 December 2018 under the theme, ‘Know your status.
Meanwhile, a high pupil drop out and child marriage is rampant in the province amid revelations that this is also being fuelled by the continued increase of bush boarding given that a number of pupils in certain parts of the province have little access to secondary education.
Bush boarding is a colloquial definition of the practice by pupils who come from faraway places seeking secondary education where they rent houses in nearby locations living in groups with little or no parental guidance. They are reportedly among the most hunted by sexual predators because of their vulnerability and lack of parental restraint.
Recently, First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa revealed during a strategic meeting in Harare that prevalent rate is highest in Mashonaland Central with 50 percent of children entering into marriage.
This high prevalence rate coincides with the fact that of all the 18 constituencies in the province none of them has a female Member of Parliament, which is a sign that gender disparities are strong in the province’s political arena.
Nevertheless, Mazowe North legislator Campion Takura Mugweni expressed confidence in tackling the girl child issue in the district despite the male dominance.
“I do not think the fact that the province is dominated with male MPs poses a challenge especially knowing that I am also a father of daughters. I strongly believe in sex education in schools like how the first world countries tackle this STI epidemic and HIV and as for us leaders we need to put tough laws on child marriages.
“As for bush boarding this is a worrying thing to be honest and I believe government through the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education must build adequate boarding facilities as well as construct more schools in those areas that have few secondary schools,” he said.
Efforts to get comments from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education were fruitless as responsible authorities who handle the media were not available to comment.
However, it is very unfortunate that several government officials and politicians in the province are allegedly among the serious perpetrators of teenage pregnancies as they pry on the vulnerable girl child.
Tertiary students enrolled at Bindura University of Science Education and the Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University also fall prey to promiscuous behavior to get money for upkeep.
Thus there is need to step up the fight against HIV, STIs and child marriages in Mazowe district including formalization of small scale miners to stamp away the current reckless attitude of artisanal miners at the same time the whole province need serious stakeholders attention.
-Gender Links
