MINISTRY of Mines Permanent Secretary Dr Hapenga Kabeta says Brian Mundubile’s remarks alleging that government is deploying soldiers to intimidate miners are misplaced.

Recently, during a rally in Muchinga Province, presidential aspirant Mundubile said he would not use soldiers to intimidate miners who discover minerals when he becomes president, alleging that the UPND was using soldiers to intimidate local miners.

Mundubile also alleged that the UPND was wasting money on exploration, which he claimed was being carried out by foreigners to exclude locals.

Commenting on the remarks in an interview, Monday, Dr Kabeta said the deployment of soldiers at illegal mining sites in Mufumbwe was necessitated because there was a danger to national security.

“The views that are being raised by Mundubile are clearly misplaced. The first thing that is there is that we had deployed civilian police force to help us clear the illegal miners in the various mining areas and the miners responded by using some kind of force. When there’s a danger to national security where people involved in mining activities are also carrying firearms, I think there’s a clear threat to national security and therefore when there’s a threat to national security and the people who are supposed to be helped to carry out mining activities are now carrying firearms, it is no longer illegal mining, it becomes a potential threat to national security. And there’s a clear divide between law and order and threat to national security,” he said.

“We have situations where in Eastern Congo, things started at a low key as is happening in Zambia and we need to deal with the situation early enough before it becomes a national cancer. So, the thinking that we’re using the military to intimidate the locals is far from the truth. Locals I believe refers to Zambian citizens and the purpose of bringing order in the mining sites is to ensure that Zambian citizens can carry out mining activities without any fear of insecurity in a particular area. As I said those comments are clearly misplaced but as a democratic country, I think people are at liberty to express themselves, but when views are misplaced, it becomes a problem”.

Dr Kabeta said political leaders should seek facts instead of politicking.

“From my perspective, political players aspiring for top national leadership should be operating mainly on facts. The issue that is there is that we should not be involved in politicking instead of getting the facts as they sit on the ground so that whenever we make an argument, it’s founded on facts. But what is being raised is more of an emotional commentary which is not appropriate. I would be glad to provide more specific information if such candidates like Mundubile were to seek our advice. We can be able to provide the information as required,” he said.

And Dr Kabeta further dismissed Mundubile’s claims that investing in exploration of minerals was a waste of resources.

“Making reference to the geophysical mapping saying it’s a waste of resources and the people participating are foreigners, I think that’s also another misplaced perspective. We’re carrying out a nationwide geophysical survey so that as a country we have an idea of the various mineral commodities that may be found in various parts of the country. You may wish to know that when you’re carrying out geological surveys using the normal method, you need to touch the stone. Now, think of a situation like Western Province where there’s sand cover, so the purpose of this survey is for us to understand the possible mineral commodities that lie beneath the land surface and once we know that there will be a reduction in costs,” said Kabeta.

“And we also de-risk exploration when we’re not sure of what is going to be there. So, with this survey it will be more pointed as private sector operators, Zambian investors become interested in a particular area, they’ll have some indication of what could be found in those areas. It’s not meant for foreigners; it’s meant for investors in the mining sector and one of the things that we’ve put in place is the ‘critical minerals strategy’ which calls for partnerships between entities like ZCCM-IH getting involved with foreign partners. For a long time, I believe that’s one of the best investments we’ve made in the mining sector as a country because it gives us knowledge and allows us to make strategic decisions”.