The Mining and Minerals Regulatory Authority (MMRA) says there is need for local councils to have mining officers for proper oversight and coordination on issues of mining space at district level.
MMRA director general Samuel Sakhuta stressed this at a sensitisation and consultative meeting with District Commissioners (DCs) on Wednesday in Mponela, Dowa District, meant to sensitise them on the Mines and Minerals Act of 2023 .
Among others, Sakhuta said the DCs should play a central role in ensuring that mining players and the communities work together and that small or medium miners operate within the laws and by-laws.
Sakhuta, however, acknowledged the need for the mining ministry to devolve its functions to local councils by having a designated officer that would handle mining issues with relevant knowledge especially now when the sector is booming. He said:
“The presence of mining officers in councils is critical because they are the ones that are going to work with investors right in the districts and will handle issues coming from the mining space with clear knowledge because there is an officer who has knowledge in that space.”
He, however, disclosed that allocations were made in the 2025/26 budget to start recruiting such mining officers and that some district councils indicate that they have a budget to employ mining officers who will be working in coordination with the ministry and the authority.
On the role of the DCs in relation to the new Mines and Minerals Act of 2023., Sakhuta said as the administrators at local level, they need to understand the law so that the general knowledge would trickle down to traditional authorities and community leaders for better cooperation with investors.
Meanwhile, Dowa District commissioner Stallichi Mwambiwa described the sensitisation (on mining laws and policies) as critical to unlocking council’s participation in the Agriculture, Tourism Mining and Manufacturing (ATMM) strategy implementation considering that most mining activities take place in remote areas.
“Government is advancing a development agenda based on ATMM strategy and one of the key components is mining and we discussed a piece of legislation that as DCs we really needed to have clear knowledge on and that is what has just happened.
“We have been empowered so that we can go back to our respective districts and disseminate the same to various stakeholders including chiefs and members of the community,” Mwambiwa said.
Meanwhile, mining expert Ignatius Kamwanje described the Sensitisation as critical saying most disputes and misunderstandings in the sector emanate from lack of knowledge of the laws either from the part of an investor or the communities.
“I believe there is need for more awareness of what our
mining laws say. Apart from the members of the communities, we see that some investors conduct themselves in a manner that shows that they don’t clearly know our laws on mining especially during their early stages,” Kamwanje said.
Among key areas that attracted attention of the participants during the engagement is the Community Development Agreement that large scale miners need to fully comply with before starting operations and how the local councils should handle illegal miners either small or medium scale.
Fol lowing succes s f ul exploration exercises that confirmed deposits of precious minerals in various parts of the country, investors have been flocking into the country either to explore more or to invest in mining projects.
The Chamber of Mines and Minerals is projecting the mining contribution to Gross Domestic Product to jump from one percent last year to 12 percent in 2027 when at least three mining ventures will have started production
