EMA boss Aaron Chigona arrested for graft involving two Borrowdale stands

HARARE – Environmental Management Agency (EMA) Director General Aaron Chigona has been arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) charged with criminal abuse of office.

ZACC said Chigona is accused of fraudulently issuing an Environmental Impact Assessment certificate to a Borrowdale company.

“The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) has arrested the Director General of the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), Mr Aaron Chigona, on charges of criminal abuse of office.

“Mr Chigona is accused of fraudulently issuing an Environmental Impact Assessment certificate to Borrowdale Investments Private Limited,” ZACC said.

The accused will be appearing at Harare Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

Nehanda Radio, however, understands that Chigona allegedly issued EIA certificates for the acquisition of stand number 40001 and 40072 Borrowdale West.

Both properties belong to Vifot Pvt Ltd, a Chinese company that is holding an EIA certificate number 8000107816.

A few days before Chigona’s arrest, Nehanda Radio asked EMA to explain the charges leveled against its DG.

EMA’s responded by saying; “EMA is a statutory body enforcing legal binding instruments gazetted by the Government of Zimbabwe. We are an impartial organisation whose operations are guided by the same statutes and the agency’s core values.

“We work with both internal and external clients who by doing so develop a professional working relationship with all of them. The agency protects the environment with the people for the people through the people and thus appreciates public opinion arising within such a working space.

“The Agency issues licensing services and licenses, EIA license included, to any project developer regardless of race or nationality as long as their development projects are prescribed.

“On the same vein, the Agency has a zero tolerance to corruption, and members of the public are encouraged to report any corruption tendencies by the employees of the Agency through a corruption whistleblower maintained by Deloitte available on our website or as direct contact via tipoff anonymously on 0772161630.

“The Agency is duly mandated to promote the sustainable utilisation of natural resources; wetlands included. Thus, it would be a disservice to this mandate for the Agency to work in cohorts with those degrading wetlands.

“Hence a regime of wetland management initiatives that the Government of Zimbabwe has introduced through the Agency including the gazetting of national wetland policy and management guidelines in 2021 which was quickly followed up by the ongoing gazetting of Ecological Sensitive Areas as a way of ring-fencing wetlands and enhancing their protection.

“As it stands the Agency has since adopted a stance not to conduct any ecological assessments when requested to do so by project developers in ecosystems that have been gazetted as Ecological Sensitive Areas, considering that the areas would have already been classified protected areas through the gazette.”

The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) is a statutory body responsible for ensuring the sustainable utilization of natural resources and prevention of pollution; and degradation.

It is a parastatal under the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry.