🇿🇲 EXCLUSIVE | Zambia Army Moves on Illegal Mining as Politics, Security & Elections Collide
The Zambia Army Commander is not touring the Copperbelt for ceremony. Lieutenant General Geoffrey Choongo Zyeele is on the ground, inspecting units, issuing operational direction, and signalling that illegal mining syndicates have entered the Army’s threat matrix. From the Copperbelt, the operation is expected to extend to other regions where intelligence has flagged similar networks.
What the Army is confronting is not artisanal desperation in its innocent form. It is organised, mobile, and in some areas armed. That distinction matters. Speaking Thursday in Ndola, Lt Gen Zyeele was explicit. “All those individuals who threw stones at the Commander in Chief we shall pick them one by one.” He went further.
“Illegal immigrants, some with military backgrounds, are involved. These are our targets. We will flush them out and if necessary lethal force will be applied without hesitation.”
Those words have triggered outrage in opposition circles. Patriots for Economic Progress leader Sean Tembo has demanded the Commander’s dismissal, accusing him of threatening civilians. Socialist Party leader Fred M’membe has amplified the narrative that the Army is being used to intimidate voters ahead of the August elections, particularly on the Copperbelt.
This framing ignores context and history.
Zambia has been here before. During the Mufumbwe gold rush, law enforcement operations recovered firearms from illegal mining sites. Guns did not fall from the sky. They entered through syndicates. At that point, policing alone proved insufficient. Security escalated because the character of the threat had changed. The same pattern was seen during the Mukula crisis when the state deployed military assets after civilian institutions were overwhelmed by criminal networks embedded in politics and commerce.
The Copperbelt unrest last November followed the same script. When President Hakainde Hichilema was stoned in Chingola, it was not an isolated outburst. Security briefings linked the violence to resistance against enforcement measures targeting illegal mining. That incident crossed a line. Attacks on the Head of State are treated in every serious republic as a strategic threat, not crowd control.
Lt Gen Zyeele’s language reflects that shift. He is not speaking as a police commissioner managing protests. He is speaking as a commander responsible for internal stability. His warning that Chingola will not become “a hub for impunity” is directed at organised actors, not subsistence youths selling sweat for survival.
Why now? Why January? Why so close to an election year?
Security operations do not wait for electoral calendars. Intelligence drives timing. Sources within law enforcement confirm that illegal mining syndicates have expanded since late 2024, with tighter coordination, cross border movement, and political protection. Border security was quietly tightened in November for this reason. When syndicates grow, the cost of delay increases.
The Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia did not collapse overnight. Armed groups began as informal resource networks tolerated for political convenience.
This is the Army’s core argument. Prevent before contain. Neutralise before militarise.
However, opposition resistance is not surprising. Illegal mining remains a fuel artery for political mobilisation. Youths are deployed not only to dig but to stone, chant, and intimidate. When that pipeline is disrupted, political operations feel the pressure. Jerabos are the best example in this case. This explains why figures like Sean Tembo frame the Commander’s remarks as civilian persecution while avoiding the issue of guns, foreigners, and organised crime.
It also explains why the Copperbelt is central. The region is economically strategic and politically volatile. Any perception that enforcement will change economic dynamics becomes weaponised in opposition messaging. Some analysts are already casting the Army operation as an attempt to secure votes for UPND. This argument collapses when examined against facts. Illegal miners do not vote as blocs. Syndicates mobilise chaos, not ballots.
The Army Commander has anchored his stance in constitutional duty. He reminded the public that the Zambia Army has supported civil authority during cholera, Pandemic, and national emergencies. Internal security is not a deviation from mandate. It is embedded in it
This operation is not about politics. It is about who controls territory, resources, and force. When guns appear in mining zones, the issue exits the economic file and enters the national security file. At that point, the language hardens. The posture shifts. The Army steps forward.
The months ahead will test resolve. Illegal mining syndicates will adapt. Political actors will shout persecution. The Army will continue to move.
History shows that states which hesitate at this stage pay later in blood and fragmentation. Zambia’s security leadership appears determined not to repeat that lesson.
© The People’s Brief | Ollus R. Ndomu
Why even publicize in a provincial minister’s office if you’ve intelligence, just go and pluck then out already, too slow. National security risk
Some top people on th CB may be culpable, how do foreign national come in? National security risk exactly.
The army must move in with full force. We can’t have a situation where illegal miners act with a sense of entitlement. Yes, they need to earn a living but that must be done within the confines of the law. The lawlessness we witnessed with the Jerabos is mind numbing.
South Africa is in the throes of organised and their justice system has been rendered ineffective with politicians in the pockets of the crime lords. We came close to that under the PF. Jerabos became untouchable and even had access to state house.
This problem must be dealt with firmly, conclusively and expeditiously before it is too late. As it is, it is already late.