Malawi army fights illegal mining, soldiers continue guarding forest
Malawi Defence Force (MDF) soldiers continue guarding Namizimu Forest reserve in Makanjira, Mangochi after all illegal miners were either chased away or arrested for unlawful mining of prescious stones.
MDF spokesperson Paul Chiphwanya took a group of journalists to the forest, weeks after peace returned after the arrest of 133 illegal miners in a violent operation.
The journalists found that there were no illegal miners but there was still heavy presence of the soldiers in the forest and the whole area.
“The soldiers are still here to ensure that no illegal miner returns here. They will leave the place after they are assured that the illegal miners have gone for good,” he said.
The government sent the soldiers after complaints from traditional leaders in the area that the illegal miners did not only pose a security risk but promoted prostitution.
The communities accused the illegal miners of depleting natural resources in the area.
Traditional leader Saiti Mzunga has since asked the government to identify serious investors to start mining the prescious stones.
The arrested illegal miners include a Turkish, a Congolese, 43 Tanzanians, some Mozambicans as well as 93 Malawians who are on full remand at Zomba prison.
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Gold, Rare Earths, and Graphite can be Malawi’s main drivers of the economy and not forgetting to mention Industrial Hemp. We can have a lot of Industries associated with these resources – It will take prudent leadership to achieve this.
Good job APM and his government, though they took too long to take this action. They were fully aware of what was happening and in fact, some top gurus in APM government were benefiting from this illegal mining. CSOs in the area tried every means in the book to get the attention of government, but no one paid attention until the people decided to match. And they have taken action now because we are going towards elections and they desperately need the votes from the eastern region. But no matter what, come May 2019, we are going to vote out… Read more »
WE HAVE MINES/MINEALS IN MALAWI BUT IS THIS GOVERNMENT NOT CREATING JOBS FOR OUR CHILDREN TO
WORK ON THESE MINES /MINERALS ?? OUR CHILDREN ARE FACING A LOT OF CHALLENGES WITHIN AND OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY WHILE THIS GOVERNMENT IS DOING NOTHING TO HELP JUST SITTING
ON HUGE AMOUNTS OF MINEALS