Activist weighs in on oil exploration

Environmental activist Godfrey Mfiti has warned that government risks being sued if it goes ahead with its plans to re-award licences for exploration and drilling of oil on Lake Malawi.

He said this last Tuesday in Blantyre during a public lecture on oil drilling.

Mfiti, who is also a senior official at Wild and Environmental Society of Malawi (Wesm), said licences government awarded to oil exploration companies were based on an archaic law of 1983, which lacked mechanisms on how government could enforce the law on investors that are not satisfying the terms and conditions of the agreement.

“As an ardent environmentalist, I am ready to see to it that justice is done and that the environment is protected,” he said.

“The Kayelekera uranium scenario should offer us lessons on what happens when investors export raw materials for processing abroad.”

Mfiti faulted government and oil explorers for failing to engage a third party and an independent expert to conduct an environmental impact assessment (EIA).

The environmental activist said a third party and an independent EIA expert is critical to the production of an evidence-based findings ascertaining Malawi’s capacity to contain spillages and other effects arising from the drilling.

In January 2015, attorney general Kalekeni Kaphale also expressed reservations over how the licences were awarded.

His legal advice resulted in the cancellation of all the exploration licences, on blocks one to six, pending review.

Meanwhile, Mfiti said he will embark on a nationwide tour to sensitise chiefs and concerned community leaders on the negative impact of exploring oil on Lake Malawi.