Illegal Miners & Zambia Army

The statement by Zambia Army Commander yesterday that his boys will “exterminate” illegal miners has been received with mixed feelings. Those opposed believe it is the job of the police to do that while defending the “rights” of unemployed youths to earn a living. Those in support, like me, are looking at this issue from a deeper security perspective and safety far beyond mere jobs and earning a living by these illegals.

Here are my point of views;

1. Almost all wars and civil strife that has engulfed the African continent start with with the scramble for resources. The good example is the neighboring DRC and the Sudan. Illegal miners begin small and eventually develop into full-fledged militias. They get armed and takeover the portion of the country where they mine. When such happens, the destabilization of the country begins. These may even turn into full armies like is case in the DRC.

2. I have visited Kasempa when the gold rush started. What you see there is an amalgamation of foreign nationals that have converged to mine gold. I even found some from Sudan and the Congo who entered Zambia for gold. Our people (Zambians) most of them do not even have the knowledge of gold mining but the foreigners. How they enter this country, it is debate for another day suffice to say they have entered this illegal mining industry already.

3. Ordinarily, Zambia Police and Department of Immigration should be the ones dealing with this matter that on surface looks like a civil one. But it is deeper. How long has this been going on and yet the police officers have not controlled the situation despite being deployed there? Your guess is as good as mine. I leave it there.

4. Remember during the PF government when there was an outbreak of illegal Mukuka trade? What happened? The police failed to quell the problem and government had to deploy Zambia National Service (ZNS) to take charge – including providing escorts for Mukula laden trucks. This was done to protect our national resources and security in the timber trade.

5. In my book, I also wrote about how Zambia Army was deployed to stop the MMD cadres from taking over land in different parts of the country as the Zambia Police watched and at times participated. The military is there to protect and maintain peace for Zambia. This includes both internal and external threats.

6. The illegal miners are also working without any safety measures

whatsoever. Once there is a landslide, they perish and the issue becomes a national disaster. We need regulated mining even at small scale.

7. The gold they mine leave the country through illegal means. And this means no taxes are paid and other regulatory requirements. This breeds anarchy in the governance system. And the country does not benefit at all!

So, the operation of the Zambia Army is to bring sanity in this area. However, as the Commander mentioned, it is the operation to be done side by side with the Ministry of Mines. There is a need to regularize small scale mining operations with proper licenses and permits so that only genuine Zambians should be allocated sites. The illegals removed and restore order.

Finally, I support this move because it is a preemptive measure by Zambia Army. Wars are better prevented than fought. We cannot wait for the country to have militias for us to deploy the army when we can stop it now!