GOVERNMENT should be applauded for taking a bold step to cancel prospective mining licence to VEN Mining of Katoka Mema Mine and subsequently handing it over to the community of Kasempa in North-Western Province.
Government’s further decision to appoint ZCCM-Investment Holding to partner with the community and provide expertise in the running of the mine is yet another laudable gesture.
This is a mine which was owned by VEN Mining Zambia, a South African company whose licence had been cancelled following wrangles between the communities of Chief Ingwe and Senior Chief Kasempa regarding ownership of the mine.
The prospecting licence gives the Katoka Mema community the right to carryout exploration activities in the mining area while waiting for the full mining licence after the Environmental Impact Assessment has been done.
There is no doubt that the mine will be handled in a manner befitting such operations considering that a ZCCM-Investment Holding will be on hand to provide required expertise in the running of the mine.
What would be a better way to empower the local community than such kind of move taken by Government?
This comes against a backdrop of Government’s pronouncements to empower the local community, a gesture that was recently confirmed by yet another such move when ZCCM shares were offloaded to the public.
Mines, Energy and Water Development Minister Christopher Yaluma was on point with a clear message that Government was determined to ensure that citizens fully participated in the mining industry.
This is a sure action of Government demonstrating its commitment to ensure participation of Zambians in the mining industry not only as employees or employers or suppliers but as mine owners as well.
It is true that while Zambia had been mining minerals for over a hundred years, participation of its citizens in the industry as mine owners was nothing to talk about.
In this quest for Government to cite North-Western as the new Copperbelt which is to be different from the old, introducing a mixture of mines owned by Zambians and foreign investors is confirmation enough.
Katoka Mema is a mine whose preliminary data indicates that the mine has much more to offer than just traditional copper, there are large deposits of gold, cobalt, copper and other associated minerals.
Under the said arrangement with the ZCCM-IH, it is believed that after the board is constituted, the community from the two chiefdoms will have undisclosed number of shares in the mine as a way of securing local people’s investment
Not long ago, Government launched the sale of 17 per cent of its shares in ZCCM Investment Holdings to the members of the public.
It was Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda who initially announced Government’s plans to offload 27.5 per cent of its 87.5-per cent shares raising anxieties among the potential participants.
Mr Chikwanda had in the 2015 national budget speech in October 2014 stated that Government wanted to reduce its shareholding in ZCCM-IH to 60 per cent as per regulations.
He now said at the launch of the sale of the shares in Lusaka that the sale of Government shares will also raise resources for the treasury as was provided for in the 2015 budget.
In both cases, Zambians must take advantage of such offers by ensuring that they respond positively and apply themselves fully.
It is hoped that the Kasempa community under Katoka Mema Mine will treat the mine as a serious investment that can contribute to their personal economic development.
On the other hand, acquisition of shares in ZCCM-IH in a way, would address calls by Zambians to, not only have a voice of their mineral wealth, but also empower them with life time investment.