Church demands end to use of minors for mining activities, freeze on huge tax incentives to multinationals

The Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) has called on President Hakainde Hichilema to give an urgent directive to address all irregularities in the mining sector in order to end illegal mining activities.

EFZ Executive Director, Andrew Mwenda, said the Church in Zambia understands that while mining projects are expected to create jobs, questions remained about how much Zambia would benefit in terms of revenue contributions.

As Hichilema officially opens the third sitting of the 13th session of National Assembly on Friday, September 8, 2023, Mwenda in a statement issued in Lusaka on Wednesday, expects that a directive to end the deaths of young people engaging in small scale mining would be announced.

“This directive should help to end catastrophic deaths of our young people who are venturing in small-scale mining and ensure that the country benefits from this rich endowment,” he said.

Mwenda said the church in Zambia was still uncomfortable with the government’s willingness to give mining multinationals huge tax breaks and other incentives.

He said EFZ believed through formalisation, capacity building as well as provision of extension and technical services, the new dawn administration can prioritise the reorganisation of artisanal and small-scale mining.

Mwenda said this was in order to increase the participation of Zambian citizens in the mining sector.

“We are still confident that the new dawn government can create a conducive environment for our people to thrive by establishing market hubs for manganese, Gold, etc, to provide an easy market for artisanal and small-scale miners,” he said.

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