Perekezi ASM Consultants & Events courts MPs on pushing for transparent, accountable mining sector

Perekezi ASM Consultants & Events, a Malawian non-profit making organization advancing responsible and sustainable mining through research-driven advisory services, has called upon members of Parliament (MPs) to take a greater role in preventing corruption in the mining sector.

The organization’s managing consultant, Chikomeni Manda, made the call during a training session for members of the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Climate Change. The training took place in Lilongwe on Thursday.

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Perekezi ASM Consultants and Events, with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is implementing the Powering a Just Energy Transition Minerals Challenge (JET Minerals Challenge) Project, which seeks to promote transparency and accountability to curb transnational corruption in green minerals.

Manda observed that as the sector registers significant progress, it is important that MPs should assume their oversight role to ensure that there is optimal accountability and transparency in the industry.

“Malawi is making progress in the mining sector. And then we have minerals, which are called energy transition minerals, which are very important to the world in the sense of moving from fossil fuels to clean energy. So, we thought it was good to come and engage with MPs because there is a big risk of corruption in the sector, transnational corruption to be specific,” he said.

During the training, officials from Perekezi ASM Consultants & Events and the Malawi Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (MWEITI) presented findings from the Corruption risk assessment.

However, Manda stated that the risk of corruption in the mining sector is not as serious.

“But because we just developed a corruption risk assessment, where we found some vulnerabilities on the record, that corruption can take place. So as the members of parliament who hold the government accountable, we thought it wise that they have to be in the loop to make sure that those vulnerabilities we saw should not take place,” he said.

In his remarks, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Climate Change, Werani Chilenga, lamented delays in developing legislations that will pave the way for the implementation of the Minerals and Mines Act of 2020.

Chilenga said the mentioned Act addresses some of the concerns being raised by the civil society organizations.

“Once the legislation has been developed, we hope that everything should be in place. But the CSOs should also know that the mining sector is not as easy as we may think. It takes some time, it takes a lot of investment,” he said.