Kanyika residents to sue government, miner
People from Kanyika in Mzimba, the proposed site for a niobium mine, have engaged a lawyer to claim compensation for the suffering they have endured over the years since Globe Metals & Mining Company embarked on an exploration project for niobium.
The residents are claiming the compensation from both the Malawi Government and Australian mining firm, Globe Metals & Mining Company.
They are suing for loss of economic activity, violation of economic rights and sexual and reproductive rights by being told not to have more children after preliminary assessment, violation of right to education and health as they were told not to invest or expand development.
Speaking in an interview on Thursday, Kanyika Mine Natives Forum chairperson SothiniKaluwa said the community approached human rights lawyer ChrispinSibande from the local group Friends of Mabulabo to represent them in court.
Sibande confirmed the arrangement in an e-mail response, saying the communities have resolved to sue the two parties for the suffering they have encountered.
Sibande said, in the meantime, the families are compiling the losses incurred in the past five years.
There are about 248 households surrounding the prospective mine living in dire poverty after government assessed their property for compensation and discouraged them from farming, constructing houses and other development activities in readiness for niobium mining.
