Natural Resources Justice Network has opposed renewal of operating licence for Ilomba Mining Company which is mining granite in Chitipa district following allegations of corruption amid reports that the transaction is mired in allegations of bribes in excess of $300 000 to renew the licence for the foreign owned company to continue operating at the […]
Malawi is losing a whopping K20 million a day, parliamentarians and other stakeholders have been told. This has moved the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Climate Change to call for a stakeholders meeting in a bid to end illegal mining in the country. The chairman of the committee, Welani Chilenga has expressed concern over […]
Malawi has 72 firms given exploration and mining licences but were not doing much, according to a confidential government report which Nyasa Times has seen, prompting the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) demanding an investigations in into the mining deals. In a letter dated October 28 2020 addressed to Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director general Reyneck […]
Here is a full transcription of a leaked audio clip which Chief Mining Engineer in Ministry of Mining Cassius Chiwambo is alleged to be soliciting bribes from the business partner of the owner of Ilomba Granite Company Limited in Chitipa, Faisal Hassen. Former minister Bintony Kutsaira is also implicated. Cassius Chiwambo: You’ll also pay 750 to […]
The leaked audio in which a Chinese investor is offering a bribe to a senior official at the Ministry of Mining to facilitate the cutting of corners in processing the renewal of a license for Ilomba Granite Mine Company in Chitipa is not even a tip of the iceberg. An investigation Nyasa Times undertook following […]
Malawi Police Service in Kasungu have confirmed the death of a 14 year-old boy, Godfrey Nyoni, who has died whilst on the hunt for gold. Police said Nyoni died after a big stone fell on him in the process. Kasungu police publicist, Harry Namwanza, said the incident happened around midday on Monday at Masasa Village, […]
In his State of the Nation address in parliament on 4 September, President Dr Lazarus Chakwera refused to accept that Malawi is poor. He lamented that Malawi exports US$85 million in gold to the Middle East every year and has also other resources that are tripped by syndicates of people in the public sector who […]
Minister of Mining, Rashid Gaffar MP has disclosed that he hopes that the growth of the extractive industry in Malawi will contribute 30 percent funding to the future national budget. Gaffar made the remarks on Friday when he visited Songwe Hill Rare Earth project being explored and developed by Mkango Resources Limited in Phalombe district. […]
A 34-year-old man has been crashed to death in an illegal gold mine in Kasungu. Kasungu police spokesperson Harry Namwaza has identified the dead person as Maxwell Kaomba. “He went into the Kasama gold mine near Kasama river for gold mining. Unfortunately, a rock fell on his head and crashed him to death,” said Namwaza. […]
Malawi government is taking reforms to mining sector and control the trade in minerals with Vice-President Saulos Chilima holiding orientation meeting with with Minister of Mining Rashid Gaffar and officials from his ministry. Gaffar said the ministry is working major reforms to ensure that there are increased benefits to Malawians from mineral resources through review […]
Minister of Mining, Rashid Gaffar, has called upon mining companies to contribute to the development of the country as part of corporate social responsibility. After visiting Blantyre and Chiradzulu quarry sites where Mota Engil and Terastone are mining their quarry, the minister said communities in these sites should not lack basic needs like schools, hospitals […]
Chikwawa District Council has issued an order to Lafarge Cement Company stopping it from illegally mining Pozzolana material in the district. In a letter signed by the Chikwawa District Council Environmental Officer, Ellina Mkandawire, the Council has said Lafarge Cement Company had, since last September, been operating an illegal mine at Nyaika Village in the area of […]
Commercial Division of the High Court in Lilongwe has refused to award Lindian Resources Limited a refund of USD100, 000 [approximately K750 million] plus interest at 10 per cent and general damages the firm claimed to have suffered through a botched mining project agreement in 2018. The firm commenced a court action against Rift Valley […]
Informal gold mining in Kasungu is putting lives of people at risk over coronavirus and HIV/Aids. According to a citizen journalist Sapulain Chitonde, people scramble for pieces of gold traces in the mud of a river in an area called Gogodi. He says women and men spend hours away from their homes in search of the […]
Kasitu Coal Mine in Karonga District has pledged to complement government efforts in improving the living standard of people in the area by providing them with social basic amenities. Kasitu Coal Mine Administrative Officer, Last Strawo made the remarks Friday when Deputy Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Mungasulwa Mwambande toured the site. He […]
Government says it will not renew a mining licence for a Chinese firm in Chitipa when the permit expires this June. Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining deputy minister Mwangasula Mwambande said his ministry will not renew the operating licence of Ilomba Mining Company in Chitipa. Mwambande said the mining firm has no respect […]
Two people have died in Mangochi after being covered by the falling soil when they were extracting gold from Namizimu forest reserve, an illegal mine, police have confirmed to Nyasa Times. Mangochi police station spokesperosn Inspector Rodrick Maida told Nyasa Times that the incident happened on Thursday January 9 2020 at Mtiule Village, Traditional Authority […]
A controversial Chinese owned gemstone mining firm in Chitipa District has put 21 local chiefs on a monthly pay roll of K20 000 and has justified the payments as gifts symbolizing what it called “the chiefs good relationship with the company”. Malawi government pays Group Village Headmen K10 000 per month and it means these […]