By CIJM
For three years, 26-year-old Granger Chizeve has known one job: cropping rose quartz gemstones at a mining site owned by Chinese nationals and their local partner around Mharaunda – about 40 kilometers south of Mzimba business area in northern Malawi.
Chizeve says working at the mine was always tiresome, Chizeve just like other workers from surrounding villages of Kadumudumu, Mchapasalu, Mbobo, and Phazima, would work from 7 am up to 6 in the evening for USD1.85(MK1500)a day.
Malawi is endowed with a lot of minerals like gemstones, rubies, gold, niobium, sand dust lime, and others which would have been contributing to the economy of the country.
Mzimba in the northern province of Malawi is one of the districts blessed with a lot of semi – precious stones that include gemstones like rose quartz, amethyst, and even uranium
“Our working conditions were very bad sometimes we would go beyond 6 pm but the pay remained the same, no protective gear was provided”, said Mtika when we visited the site.
He told us their Chinese bosses did not provide them with food and they worked under harsh close supervision. For three years toiling, Granger only has a small house where he lives with his family of three.
For others, there is nothing they can show as being the fruits of their sweat from working in the mines.
Group Village Headman Mchapasalu Geoffrey Evans Mtika has no kind words for the Chinese miners.
Mtika says the Chinese working with their local partners have mined their stones in the area for three years but have done nothing for the community living around the mining sites.
“These Chinese have been in our area for three years now since 2019 but us as the owners of the land where they were extracting rose quartz have benefited nothing
We requested them to help us with electricity connectivity but they only gave us USD120 (MK100,000) when the project requires millions for Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi Limited (ESCOM) to give us power”, said GVH Mtika
The people of Mbobo, Mchapasalu, Phazima, and Kadumudumu where the mining had been taking place have benefited nothing from the mining in their area.
Large sinkholes which have scarred the landscape are the main indicators of the mining in the area under GVH Mtika.
The GVH says the Chinese investors using middlemen came into their area and started mining without even holding discussions with the community
“But on the other hand I can’t squarely blame them, I blame myself because I and my people did not realize that those doing mining in our area have a responsibility to help us with our development needs”, said GVH Mtika.
The traditional leader says the Chinese came mined large areas which are now degraded and cannot be used for farming anymore.
“One Chinese investor mining rose quartz using a middle man Davie Banda only built a big house which is not being used up to now, we think that if the government can come in we can start using this building as a market point for the grain buying body, the Agricultural Development and Marketing Cooperation (ADMARC),” said GVH Mtika.
The 11 roomed building had solar panels but these have been removed by the middle man Davie Banda who has also taken the keys.
Apart from the house which the Chinese were using for accommodation, they only gave the owner of the land where mining would take place a sum of 160 thousand kwacha.
He said communities are still suffering.
They don’t have portable water; a clinic is very far from their area despite having Chinese mining investors in the area for over three years.
“We don’t even know how much the Chinese were making from mining in our area as they use licenses owned by middlemen who keep such information to themselves”, said GVH Mtika.
Some of the Chinese miners have left after extracting large quantities of rose quartz which was being smuggled out of the country using licenses owned by Malawians.
“They left without even saying goodbye but some are still here. You can see their equipment, they are still looking for other locations where to mine rose quartz”
But some are still in the area exploring others areas for the semi – precious stones.
Efforts to talk to one Chinese national who owns Mizwa Mines in partnership with another Malawian Manyatwako Mbewe proved futile as he would not entertain our questions let alone allow us to take his picture.
Mbewe confirmed owning the mines but refused to shed light on his agreements with the Chinese nationals.
“That is very personal I can’t be here discussing what we agreed with my partners. I have owned that mine since 1995 that’s what I can tell you”, said Mbewe.
The Chinese Embassy in Malawi gave a terse response to inquiries from the Centre for Investigative Journalism Malawi.
Lu Chang, Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Malawi said China condemns linking the misconduct of individual Chinese nationals in Africa to China as a country.
Many Chinese nationals have penetrated the remote areas of Mharaunda, Kafukule, and Euthini where they are doing mining using licenses obtained by local middlemen.
In most areas where these mining ventures are taking place, locals are wallowing in poverty while watching tonnes and tonness of rose quartz loaded in trucks snake their way out of forests transporting the semi – precious stones to unknown destinations.
In their wake leaving the environment degraded and the community poorer.
Mmbelwa District Council Vice Chairperson Councilor Kefasi Chisi says there is nothing they can do to stop the illegal mining and exploitation of the locals as the Chinese Nationals operate using licenses owned by Malawians.
Chikomeni Manda has been in the mining business for close to 15 years now.
Manda, an Artisanal and Small Scale Mining (ASM) Consultant at Perekezi ASM Consultants has reservations when it comes to the effectiveness of ASMs in Malawi’s mining industry.
He told us ASMs are a very complicated sector and most mining activities are done illegally in the country mainly due to ignorance on the side of communities on available legal requirements as there has not been much civic education on the extractive industry.
“It is very difficult to estimate how much is lost; it can be on the lower side or higher side because mining is not easy as many miners are not lucky in their mines. To produce high – value gems is not easy as many people think. Miners can mine the whole year only to find nothing,” said Manda.
Manda said in Mzimba, for example, many Chinese nationals have invested in mines owned by Malawians and are investing in low – value gemstone mines like Rose Quartz.
He believes that in a small way locals are benefiting from the Chinese investors through employment though they are being paid peanuts – wages that do not reflect the work they do for the investors.
According to the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative report for the year 2016 / 2017, Malawi gains only 0.6% through extractives; 0.9% contribution to GDP which contributes 1.1% to government revenue while the contribution of the sector to employment rate stands at 0.2%
The EITI 2016 / 2017 report indicates that the country had a total revenue of $15.5 million from the extractive industry where 28% of the revenue was generated from mining ventures.
The EITI touts the strengthening of Artisan and small – scale mining groups as one of the establishments that can help shape the future of mining in the country and help in doing away with illegal mining which exploits local communities.
The report cites an increase in gemstone mining which is mainly done by Chinese nationals in partnerships with locals where in the 2017/18 fiscal year rose in production from an estimated 2000 tons in the previous year to 2300 mainly due to increased demand outside and within the country.
Kossam Munthali an activist who strives to promote transparency in the extractive industry says Malawi can boost its economy if there is sanity in the sector.
As the Chairperson for the Natural Resources Justice Network in Malawi, Munthali describes illegal mining in Malawi as a huge problem where foreign investors – the Chinese included – are exploiting the local communities.
Munthali says the composition of the EITI Malawi team leaves a lot to be desired.
He says the team is composed of many government technocrats who are not committed to fulfilling recommendations from the reports.
“We have seen yearly EITI reports for Malawi for last three or four years but the commitment to implementation is not there. Some of us feel it is just a way of silencing those who are seen as being critical of how the extractive industry is being handled,” said Munthali.
On Gemstone mining in Mzimba, Munthali wondered why we have an influx of Chinese nationals operating in the district without any proper entry point .
“How they find their way into the remote areas extracting our precious stones is a mystery: the chiefs don’t know even the councils are in the dark”
Like Manda, Munthali too says it is difficult to gauge how much is made through mining as oftentimes the government only rubber stamps data produced by mining companies which show a hazy picture of the prospects.
The Mark Curtis report complied through Norwegian Church Aid, ACT Alliance and the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace estimates that the mining sector in Malawi could be worth $500 million and that if well-regulated it contribute 10% to the country’s GDP and 20-25% of export value.
MP Welani Chilenga who is the Chairperson for the Natural Resources and Environment in the country’s Parliament is on record saying Malawi has relevant statutes to regulate the extractive sector but these are overshadowed by poor implementation.
“As a country, we have very strong mines and minerals acts but the main challenge lies in the implementation of the legislation. If we go by the book and implement the statutes, illegal mining wouldn’t be there”, said Chilenga.
Chilenga is of the view that the government is not doing enough to enforce the implementation of mining laws which were passed by the August house which can sanitize the sector.
The country’s President Lazarus Chakwera recently told the nation of his government’s plans to reform the country’s mining sector by cracking down on rampant illegal mining and mineral smuggling.
Chakwera hopes a properly regulated mining sector has the potential to contribute significantly to the country’s economy.
He noted that despite a lot of mineral resources in the country, the sector continues to face exploitation not only by foreigners but also locals.
The government had projected that the sector would contribute about 20% to the national economy by 2020 following a mines mapping exercise.
But Munthali of the Natural Resources Justice Network says the sector needs a complete overhaul for it to meaningfully contribute to the country’s economy leading to improved delivery of essential services like health and education
“Government must take the sector as one of the key sectors that can help create the 1 million jobs by among other things transferring powers to local councils to do the mapping of precious stones, the communities in areas where there are minerals must also be helped to start leasing out these areas”
According to the World Bank and macrotrends.net, unemployment rate in the country stands at 5.99% while the current contribution from the mining sector to the job industry is a meagre 0.2 as indicated in the 2017 EITI.
Without proper implementation of the EITI and having strong systems for tracking how licenses are given out, how much revenue is generated from mining ventures and ensuring that those doing the mining are signing agreements with locals, people like Granger and Mtika in Mzimba will continue toiling under Chinese nationals who take advantage of the loopholes in the sector.
The Information for Development Trust – http://idt.org.zw – and the Centre for Investigative Journalism Malawi (CIJM) – www.investigative-malawi.org – the supported this article.
