North Western Province Chiefs who had earlier demanded a minimum of 15% share from First Quantum Minerals – FQM, Kalumbila mine revenues, and other mining firms harvesting minerals from their chiefdoms have begged the Government to expedite the assignment so that it becomes a reality program for everyone to benefit.
The Chiefs’ request for a 15% mineral royalty tax is a crucial issue that demands the government’s prompt attention. However, to date, the government has not yet taken a position on this important matter.
Chief Dr. Mumena has since called on the government to urgently look into the matter adding that the request is coming from the communities and not Chiefs.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, North Western Chiefs Representative, Chief Dr. Mumena said the Chiefs have not abandoned the request as they are still focused on getting the 15 percent mineral royalty tax they requested from the Head of State President Hakainde Hichilema during the ground-breaking ceremony for the enterprise Nickel Mine in Kalumbila District of North Western Province.
In July last year 2022, Chiefs in North Western Province who are the original and rightful custodians of the wider community interests of the people of the province, requested the government under President Hakainde Hichilema to review the Mining Policy to include provisions where 15% of proceeds from Mining firms will remain in host Provinces.
“We have not received a position on this matter but we are still optimistic that the Government is going to respond affirmatively to this request because as we said we are looking at communities growing from local resources which is also a Government program. And so this is going to help to alleviate poverty, lift the people’s living standards, help communities feed themselves.” Said Dr Mumena.
“We made our submissions and it’s a waiting game so we are waiting for the government to finalize and tell us how far they have gone with the request that we made from the Province.” Remarked Chief Dr Mumena.
He reiterated that this is not just about one province it is about all other provinces wherever there are God-given resources the law should be the same.
“So it is not for just one Province like the North West but for everyone because I believe that every Province actually has some content of mineral resources and mineral deposits. Others are yet to be discovered so we want a law that is going to embrace everyone.”
Chief Dr. Mumena said that once fully implemented this is going to improve not only by bringing about formal employment but even the informal employment sector is going to be enhanced so we looking at this from the developmental agenda from the grassroots.
“We have not abandoned the plans and remember this calls for policy review registration review and this is what we pushed for when we had the review programs for the Mines and Minerals Act we pushed in that as the province that the 15 percent remains in the province and also remains with the chiefdoms that are hosting the investments. So that’s what we have pushed into the program that we had for the registration review Mining Mineral Act and so we are still looking forward to that being captured, it is still our stand.”
Asked why the Government has delayed giving a response, Chief Dr. Mumena said, “I may not know exactly what has caused the delay on the part of the Government but we do know that Government programs take time and that they are also systematic so we are optimistic that we are going to receive a positive result on this assignment and I will just implore the government to look at this issue urgently. This is already the Government’s call as they are also looking at how best they can help communities and improve rural development.”
Dr Mumena noted that when that money remains in provinces it is going to be used for infrastructure development, boost agriculture production, boost livelihoods, bring in rural electrification, build the road network around communities and better housing among many others, and bring in home-grown solutions.
“We think that this is also the money that is going to be used to boost and enhance food production and at the same time be able to participate in the programs that are coming in such as the Lobito Corridor which runs through our province and we think that the local people can only meaningfully participate when they have the power and the money.”
Asked if there is a timeframe set for this important request to be realized, Chief Dr. Mumena said, “Right now we have requested meetings with the government at the highest level and this is one of the items on the agenda that we are going to look at so the request has already been pushed in and the outcomes so far are that the Chiefs are still Focused on the request which we made because this is not just about the Chiefs, when we are talking about the Chiefs we are talking about the communities and the chiefs are just institutional leaders representing the communities. So we really talking about the voice of the people and trumpeting the voice of the people that over and above are voiceless so they come out through their leaders and the call by the Chiefs is actually a Leadership assignment because we know what is on the ground, we have the data on the fingertips, we know what can be developed there even the participation of our people in the small scale and large scale mining we also looking at the participation of Zambians that will be able to come on board and develop large scale mines.”
“So far with the exception of Dr Sixtus Mulenga who has developed a mine in Luapula, we have not seen any Zambian that has been involved in developing a mine as the rest that are into mining the majority of them are there as employees when we want Zambians that are going to own mines and develop the mines and control the proceeds of trade and at that stage we are going to say we are creating Zambians that are billionaires and obviously what they will be doing will scale back into the communities where they hell from.”
“This is our prayer that Zambians get involved meaningfully in mining and not just there as employees and observers. So we need to be into proper Zambians that are going to be in the mining sector, industrial sector, manufacturing sector, and agriculture sector, but what do we need, seed money and part of that seed money also goes with the structures that are going to be developed with the 16 percent mineral royalty tax remaining in the particular provinces.”
He added that the request is holistic and is going to impact positively on economic development education, health, and everything else so we are looking at a big picture.
“I can only implore the Government to expedite this assignment so that it becomes a reality program for everyone besides we currently have a government that is looking at economic enhancements and this has been exhibited through the release of more money through the Constituency Development Fund CDF and NAPSA partial withdraw so we feel that it’s the other side of the coin where we are still looking at the unlocking of resources to the citizenry so I could only implore Government to expedite on this assignment because this is about political will, leadership, we cannot look at developing these natural resources or indeed extracting them if we don’t have the resources so the resources we are talking about are therefore resources that are going to unlock the great potential that is around us and seats within us.”
Chief Mumena also has appealed to the media institution to continue helping with trumpeting the need for unlocking the resources to help communities process the natural wealth that God has richly endowed them.
The government should carefully consider this request and take a proactive approach in engaging in constructive dialogue with the Chiefs as this could lead to a mutually beneficial solution that supports sustainable development and promotes economic growth which will have a significant impact on the local communities and the mining industry.
