Chiefs in North-Western Province have petitioned Government to prioritise local communities and ensure they have access to mining licences so that they benefit from their God-given natural resources. The traditional leaders have urged Government to issue mining and exploration licences to prospecting investors only after consent letters are given by the chiefs and communities have agreed to the proposed investments. “When the ministry issues these licences in Lusaka, we only receive documentations which we are expected to sign.

In such cases, various chiefs have been robbed of their land,” they said. Chietainess Nyakuleng’a of the Lunda people in Zambezi district said this on the behalf of the chiefs at the just-ended North-Western Province chiefs Indaba held in Solwezi. The Indaba, organised by Caritas Zambia, attracted 23 chiefs from Solwezi, Kalumbila, Kasempa, Mufumbwe, Manyinga, Kabompo, Zambezi, Mwinilunga and Ikeleng’e districts. T h e c h i e f s h a v e u rg e d Government to come up with specific criteria on the issuance of exploration and mining licences to avoid disadvantaging potential investors as some licences have remained dormant for too long.

“We are concerned about the lack of a prescribed criteria for the issuance of exploration and mining licences, which disadvantages potential investors that could bring meaningful development to the host communities because the dormant investors hold on to licences for too long without doing anything,” the communique reads. The chiefs are dismayed with accusations that they consent to selling land to foreign investors. The chiefs have also demanded that chiefdoms own shares in mining investments in order to foster social and economic development even after the lifespan of the mines elapses.

“The case of the gold deposits in Chief Chibwika’s chiefdom of Mwinilunga is a classical example. God has given us gold, why should we prioritise awarding licences to someone who will take away everything and only share a small piece of the profits with us? We refuse to be beggars of our own resources,” it reads. The chiefs have also urged mining companies operating in the province to be consultative and prioritise the needs of people when implementing corporate social responsibility programmes.

“A lot of minerals are being extracted by various mining companies in the province. However, we are dismayed by the bad state of our roads yet these are the same roads these mining companies are using to transport minerals,” she said.