Gvt Moves to Revive Community Share Ownership Trusts https://www.263chat.com/gvt-moves-to-revive-community-share-ownership-trusts/ The Government has announced sweeping reforms to revive the country’s Community Share Ownership Trusts (CSOTs), pledging stronger oversight, transparency and support for struggling entities to ensure local communities benefit from natural resource extraction. Speaking during a post-Cabinet press briefing, Information Minister Jenfan Muswere said Cabinet had approved proposals to operationalize and strengthen the CSOTs and Reserved Sectors policy originally designed to give mining host communities a share in the profits of companies exploiting their local resources. “Community Share Ownership Trusts were established to ensure that local communities benefit from the extraction and exploitation of natural resources within their areas,” Muswere said. A total of 61 CSOTs were established under the 2013 legal framework, with 58 officially registered. However, many have since faced operational setbacks, including fund mismanagement, poor governance, and a failure to deliver on development promises. To address this, Muswere said the government will conduct a comprehensive review of the implementation framework and extend corporate rescue support to struggling Trusts. He also confirmed plans to draft a robust economic empowerment policy and regulations to guide the effective and transparent management of CSOTs. The CSOT model requires mining companies to allocate 10% of their shareholding to these Trusts, with profits intended to fund local development projects—from roads and clinics to schools and clean water infrastructure. However, in practice, many communities have reported little to no improvement in services, with widespread allegations of corruption and misuse of funds undermining the initiative’s goals. The government now promises to change that. “Efforts will be made to publicise the existence of Community Share Ownership Trusts and ensure comprehensive audits of fund utilisation,” Muswere said