GIVE CLEAR ROAD MAP ON KCM AND MOPANI,PRESIDENT HAKAINDE HICHILEMA URGED
President Hakainde Hichilema has been called upon to take advantage of his tour of the Copperbelt and give hope and guidance on the challenges facing Konkola Copper Mines Plc and Mopani Copper Mines.
Two Non Governmental Organizations are urging the head of state that while he is on the Copperbelt this weekend, he should give a clear road map on how the mining sector will be revamped.
Advocates for National Development and Democracy Executive Director Samuel Banda has told journalists in Lusaka today that Zambians know that the Copperbelt’s economy is reliant on mining hence the delays in finding solutions to the impasse at KCM and Mopani Mines is unacceptable.
“Fellow citizens, last year December 2022, President Hakainde Hichilema indicated to the nation that government is in talks with Vedanta Resources over KCM operations. However, from that time he has not updated the nation on the progress made.
The Minister of Mines in January assured the nation that government will unlock the mining sector and will make a decision with regard to KCM and Mopani mines operations within 1st quarter of this year, and now as we towards mid year, there has still been no update from president Hakainde Hichilema on the true status of KCM and Mopani,” he said.
“President Hakainde Hichilema has not come out on what government plans are regarding KCM and Mopani, nor has a roadmap of the way forward been availed to the citizens. Despite President Hakainde Hichilema having visited the Copperbelt a few times recently, no pronouncement has been made on the way forward.”
He said this is almost halfway through the second quarter of the year and so far nothing has been concluded with regards to the mines.
He noted that this is impacting the economy negatively, small businesses have shut down, people have lost out employment opportunities and the cost of living has gone up.
“We all know that the copperbelt’s economy is reliant on mining hence the delays in finding solutions to the impasse at KCM and Mopani Mines is unacceptable. Mining is our primary economic driving sector, we therefore appeal to President Hakainde Hichilema to update the nation on the way forward on KCM and Mopani and more importantly in the interest of development, president Hakainde Hichilema should a solution on KCM and Mopani,” he added.
And Zambians for Unity, Peace and Development (ZUPED) president Ronnie Jere said the silence from government regarding the two mining firms is worrying.
“Yesterday, various social media platforms and mainstream private media covered a story regarding residents of the copperbelt crying, lamenting and requesting honourable Paul Kabuswe and His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zambia to deal with the issues at Mopani and KCM. And we are worried that this is not the first time that we’ve seen people from the Copperbelt requesting government to quickly open up the mines. Now, our worry is that it seems our government is casting a blind eye and a deaf ear to the cries of the people that voted for them,” he said.
“This government we all know that it was voted on the premise of revamping the Zambian economy. And that includes unlocking the mining sector. And we request the head of state to be magnanimous enough to inform the people of Zambia what is happening in the mining sector. We are aware that there’s a lot of negotiations that are going around as they are saying, but we hope that those negotiations are not being influenced by foreign interest. We pray that these negotiations are not being influenced by foreign interests who are just interested in enriching themselves.