Illegal mining exposed

 

Illegal Gold Mining Drains Kasungu Communities, Exposes Regulatory Gaps

By Kondwani Nyondo, Kasungu

A fast-growing illegal gold mining industry in Kasungu’s Chimbiya area is leaving communities poorer, landless, and exposed to severe health risks, an investigation has revealed.

At Gogode, about 39 kilometres from the M1 Road, a mill locally known as Chigayo cha Golide grinds tonnes of soil every day. The facility, operated under Sahava Investments, is the epicentre of unregulated mining activities that stretch across sites such as Siliuka.

Exploitation in the Pits

Villagers, including women and children, are working in open pits without safety measures, often sleeping near shafts that collapse without warning. Many dig blindly without knowing whether the soil holds any gold.

“Sometimes we crush two or three tonnes, and there’s nothing. But the costs must still be paid,” said Halod Bisalomu, a dealer overseeing the mill.

Milling one tonne of soil costs K60,000. Renting equipment such as a generator and jackhammer adds K100,000, while transporting two tonnes costs K70,000. Whether gold is found or not, villagers remain indebted to millers and dealers.

Desperation Fuels the Rush

Some miners entered the business after failing to afford farm inputs. “We had no other option. We needed income,” said Happy Mhinji, a miner at Siliuka.

Others leased land to investors. “It had stayed unused, so we thought this was an opportunity,” said Nickson Acklem, who leased out seven acres.

But fertile farmland is being destroyed. What was once cropland is now scarred terrain, riddled with unstable pits.

Chiefs Warn of Future Crisis

Local leaders say the short-term profits are destroying generational security.

“My worry is that children growing up now will not have anywhere to grow crops. And how do we expect them to survive?” said Village Head Siliuka.

She and Traditional Authority Chitanthamapiri have tried to warn residents against selling land, but many ignore the advice, lured by quick cash from outsiders flooding the area.

Mercury Poisoning

At the Lizili mill, miners use mercury to sieve gold particles. The same Lizili River is the main source of drinking water for surrounding communities.

Health experts warn that mercury exposure causes irreversible brain and kidney damage. Yet villagers continue to drink from and bathe in the contaminated river.

“The community does not realise that the same substance helping them find gold is slowly killing them,” said a Kasungu health official.

Weak Oversight and Policy Gaps

The Mines and Minerals Act restricts gold mining to licensed entities, but enforcement is virtually absent. Officials at Kasungu District Council deflected responsibility, citing “grey areas” in oversight, while the Department of Mines in Lilongwe admits to lacking resources to police small-scale mining.

This vacuum has enabled illegal actors to operate openly, with Sahava Investments’ mill at the centre of a shadow economy enriching middlemen while villagers face debt, landlessness, and health crises.

Analysis: The Cost of Neglect

The Kasungu case reflects a broader national pattern. Malawi’s gold deposits, once seen as an opportunity for economic diversification, are being exploited informally. The absence of clear policy enforcement has created space for shadow networks linking local dealers to urban buyers and, ultimately, foreign traders.

Communities, meanwhile, are locked into a cycle of debt and environmental destruction. Chiefs lose authority as outsiders dictate land use. Public health is compromised as mercury seeps into rivers.

The result is an economy that appears lucrative on the surface but leaves villagers poorer than before. Without urgent regulation and community awareness, Kasungu’s gold rush may end not with prosperity, but with poisoned rivers, wasted farmland, and a lost generation.