Mining
Government admits losing battle against illegal mining
December 02, 2025 / Wahard Betha
Chabwera: Transparency needed
The Malawi Mining Regulatory Authority (MMRA) says it is failing to overcome illegal gold mining in the country partly due to threats by members of the mining communities who it suspects are backed by influential politicians.
In a panel discussion at this year’s Malawi Alternative Mining Indaba, outgoing Director General for MMRA Samuel Sakhuta said some illegal gold mining hotspots areas have become no go zones for the Authority since the miners are too hostile to its officers. Sakhuta also alleged that the Authority receives threats from influential politicians when it starts contending illegal miners in some hotpots.
He said the MMRA suspects that some influential politicians are sponsoring the illegal mining operations.
“It does not mean we have failed as a government or as a Ministry but this needs collaborative effort,” Sakhuta said.
Illegal gold mining emerged as the major topic at the Indaba following the tragic accident that happened in Kasalika village, Traditional Authority Suza in Kasungu District which led to the death of eight people and injured five others.
The situation forced the government to suspend all gold mining operations in the district with immediate effect. Coordinator for Chamber of Mines and Energy Grain Malunga advised government to come up with by-laws at district level to ensure that district councils are actively involved in all mining activities.
Malunga said by-laws will also help to establish good relationship between the District Council Government and communities. He said: “The communities need to understand that government visits the sites not to arrest them but to regulate the trade. The DC’s office has to create awareness and the Ministry just chips in to train them on sustainable practices.”
Concurring with Malunga, Programs Coordinator for Natural Resources Justice Network (NRJN) Joy Chabwera advised the new government to ensure that there is transparency in the sector. Apart from the suspension of all gold mining operations in Kasungu District, the government has banned export of raw minerals in order to promote local value addition and scale up benefits of the minerals sector to the local economy.
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Rehabilitation:
The establishment of a stable and self-sustaining ecosystem, but not necessarily the one that existed before mining began. In many cases, complete restoration may be impossible, but successful remediation, reclamation, and rehabilitation can result in the timely establishment of a functional ecosystem.
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Remediation:
The cleanup of the contaminated area to safe levels by removing or isolating contaminants. At mine sites, remediation often consists of isolating contaminated material in pre-existing tailings storage facilities, capping tailings and waste rock stockpiles with clean topsoil, and collecting and treating any contaminated mine water if necessary.
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