By Isaac Zulu
Central Province permanent secretary Milner Mwanakampwe says there is rampant illegal gold mining with people collecting money in sacks from the Chinese.
In an interview with Daily Revelation, Mwanakampwe said illegal miners are denying the government the much needed revenue for development.
“Illegalities in the mining sector have actually denied government the much needed revenue because these colleagues are collecting money in sacks from some Chinese, instead of using the banking sector. They are just collecting money directly and in the process denying the Zambia Revenue Authority from collecting monies,” Mwanakampwe said. “And also the monetary system in the country gets to be compromised because you do not know how much money is being injected and how much is going out. So money laundering and tax evasion are the issues we are strictly following as we tour the Province.”
He warned that individuals engaging in illegal mining activities will be prosecuted.
“And we have embarked on the tour of the Province to quickly ascertain the amount of damage that has been caused as a result of illegal mining activities,” Mwanakampwe said. “I tell you right now people are illegally mining gold in Mumbwa, they are illegally mining gold in Chisamba and in Chibombo. So we need to move in; and whoever we shall find engaging in illegal mining activities, the law will visit them. And they should not complain until the law takes its course and determines their fate.”
Mwanakampwe observed that previously illegalities were orchestrated in the name of the ruling party; stating that it was for this reason that the UPND government wants to legalise the mining of gold, manganese and other minerals; with a view to bring sanity in the small scale mining sector.
“What is there is that a lot of illegalities were being orchestrated in the name of the ruling party. And this is the shift that His Excellency President Hakainde Hichilema has brought to the governance of this country. No one will be allowed to do illegalities in the name of being a party cadre,” explained Mwanakampwe. “If you do an illegality in the name of being a party cadre you are on your own. So I think our message to our colleagues who are still engaging in illegal mining activities is that they must know that now systems have changed because we want to legalise all these things and bring sanity in the mining of gold and manganese in Central Province.”
