CIVIL SOCIETY REJECTS US HEALTH-MINERALS PACT
Fight Inequality Alliance Zambia, alongside a coalition of Zambian Civil Society organisations, has rejected the US health-minerals pact and demanded full transparency.
FIA Zambia National Coordinator, Mputa Ngalande, has expressed alarm over a reported “health-for-minerals” arrangement between Zambia and the United States of America.
Ngalande states that the deal reportedly links vital HIV/AIDS health assistance to the USA’s expanded access to Zambia’s strategic mineral reserves, such as copper and cobalt.
He highlights that the United States has proposed providing $1 billion in health funding over five years, contingent upon Zambia entering an agreement related to mining cooperation.
Ngalande has however noted that the linkage between humanitarian aid and the extractive sector raises serious concerns regarding national sovereignty, transparency and long-term economic stability.
Ngalande says if the deal materialises, it will derail intergenerational equity, making it impossible for future Zambian generations to benefit from mineral wealth and keeping the nation in an intergenerational poverty cycle.
He has highlighted that the agreement requires Zambia to surrender sensitive health data, pathogen samples, and genetic data for up to 25 years, despite the funding only lasting for five.
Ngalande says the arrangement appears to undermine the Minerals Regulation Commission Act 2024, by negotiating mineral rights outside the established regulatory framework.
He says lack of official disclosure has created an information vacuum, leaving citizens and oversight institutions unable to assess the implications of the deal.
Ngalande has called on government to immediately make the full agreement public and subject the agreement to rigorous scrutiny by Parliament and oversight bodies.
You want to get $1bn for someone to get $1Tn from you.