North Western Province Chiefs who had demanded a minimum of 15% revenue share from all mining firms harvesting minerals from their chiefdoms to remain for development projects, have confirmed that they are still waiting for the actualization of the request from the government.
Chiefs in North Western province had in 2022 asked government under the Leadership of President Hakainde Hichilema to allow at least 15% of the revenue collected from the mining activities in the province to stay in the province to facilitate development as well as enable the local people to benefit directly from their God-given wealth which they occupy.
Speaking during an engagement meeting with President Hakainde Hichilema in 2022 on the sidelines of the groundbreaking ceremony of the Nickel Enterprise Mine, Chief Mumena of the Kaonde who was speaking on behalf of all the respective Chiefs stated that they were looking forward to the results of the reviewing of the mining policy which was ongoing.
When contacted by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, to give an update on the progress that has been made so far, Dr Mumena said the request was presented to the government and “what we know is that from the time we presented it, Government has been talking about the need for community support on these assignments where investment is taking place but we are still waiting to see the actualization of the same.”
Dr Mumena said without effective monitoring and enactment of such laws, the poverty within these communities will persist adding that the potential positive impact of resource utilization on the lives of the local people is seen as a crucial factor for the region’s development.
Dr. Mumena further added that this initiative would also boost the participation of the informal sector and create an additional revenue base for the government, ultimately contributing to the overall economic prosperity of the nation.
“This is something that requires the involvement of everyone so it’s not just about northwestern province but this should be the norm everywhere concerning businesses and the participation of local communities.”
“We need the technocrats in government to make this into law, the Constitutional of the Republic of Zambia talks about local participation where the resources exist and we look forward to when appropriate pieces of legislation can be put in place to actualize this and I think that is the gap that we have.”
He said the impact of the delay is that the local communities do not effectively participate in the resource utilization and the beneficiation of what is in the environment.
“I believe that every part of Zambia is endowed with resources that will impact positively on lives of the local people but if this legislation is not put in place to effectively monitor and bring this into actualization the poverty of the people will be perpetuated so we think that the people can benefit from the resources in their areas as every province has a resource they can benefit from and this will go direct to uplifting the living standards of people.”
Dr Mumena added that this is also going to boost the informal sector participate effectively and also help Government to have another revenue base to collect money from these ventures which will go into the national confers.
