Mulanje DC nods to stakeholders demand
Mulanje District Council has granted Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (Cdedi) and other stakeholders their wish to convene an all-inclusive stakeholders meeting to discuss concerns relating to mining activities in Mulanje Mountain.
In his letter dated December 21 2023 and addressed to Cdedi executive director Sylvester Namiwa, Mulanje district commissioner David Gondwe has proposed to hold the meeting next Thursday at the council’s chamber.
Cdedi, in collaboration with Tourism Association of Mulanje Mountain, Friends of Mulanje, Tour Guides and Porters Association and other individuals petitioned the DC to convene the meeting after Akaswiri Mineral Resources Company started exploring and mining rare earth elements and bauxite in the mountain.
On Tuesday, the stakeholders engaged the DC where they gave him up to last Thursday to ensure the miner, who had been on the mountain top since November 28 2023, is immediately withdrawn.
Said Gondwe in his letter: “I wish to communicate that the request to convene an all-inclusive stakeholder meeting is well-noted. However, take note that the council is arranging to have this meeting take place on December 28 2023 at Mulanje District Council Chamber and a formal invitation will be communicated soon.”
Namiwa has since welcomed the meeting, but has warned that any delaying tactics and attempts to divert attention from the matter would not be tolerated.
He said: “We wanted this meeting as of yesterday. But as law-abiding citizens, we give the DC the benefit of the doubt. We believe he is sincere and he is not taking sides.
“Most importantly, we assure all concerned stakeholders that we won’t relent in our efforts to save Mount Mulanje from miners.”
Besides demanding the withdrawal of the miner from the mountain, the stakeholders also want the DC to publicise all documents that resulted in the granting of the licence to Akaswiri Mineral Resources Company by Ministry of Forestry and Climate Change, and not the responsible Ministry of Mining.
According to documents Weekend Nation has seen, the miner, whose contact person is Hilton Eneya Banda of Box 1042 Zomba, was offered a licence by the Ministry of Forestry to explore and mine rare earth elements and bauxite 12 800 hectares at Chambe Plateau, on Mulanje Mountain.
The licence was for five months—November 8 2023 to March 31 2024—and the company descended on the mountain after an extra-ordinary district council meeting held on April 20 2023, approved the mining activities.
But in an interview, Akaswiri Mineral Resources Company chairperson Hilton Banda said his company would not stop operations because “there is no reason to do so”, and would continue working according to their programme.
Mulanje Mountain is a cultural, historical natural resource and a catchment area of water bodies and important rivers supplying water to people in Mulanje, Phalombe, Chiradzulu, Thyolo and Blantyre through Blantyre and Southern Region water boards. It is also a Unesco-designated heritage site.
