Malawi risks losing slot in global mining body

 Malawi risks losing its Extractive Industry Transparency International (Eiti) membership for submitting its fourth Eiti report late and without input from some members of the Multi-Stakeholder Group, who are largely civil society representatives.

Government was supposed to submit the report by November 27 2020, but failed due to demands that civil society organisations (CSOs) made at a validation meeting of the draft report on November 20, forcing the Multi-Stakeholder Group to walk out of the Ministry of Finance meeting.

When contacted yesterday, Malawi Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative ( Mweiti ) coordinator Catherine Chilima said Treasury spokesperson Williams Banda was better-placed to speak on the matter.

Banda confirmed in a separate interview that the report had been sent to Oslo, Norway, without input from the Multi-Stakeholder Group.

He said: “The report was finalised but not yet validated by CSO. However, the national secretariat [Mweiti] is always in touch with Oslo as a matter of transparency and they are always updated on all issues, including the Malawi Report.

“On the Ilomba issue, the Mweiti Secretariat does not have powers to act on that because the Anti- Corruption Bureau [ACB] is investigating the matter. The CSOs were told to write a letter to the ACB and they submitted it. So, they want the ACB to act despite that the investigations are ongoing.”

Banda said the Mweiti Secretariat had to submit the report, and they duly informed Oslo that the CSOs have not validated it.

“If the ACB was not following up on the issue, it would have been a different story altogether. Government has started providing some resources to the secretariat, meaning it will soon be ready to be detached from the Ministry of Finance.

“If they delay the report submission, they will be  removed as a member of Eiti, and who will lose? It’s the country that loses!” he lamented. removed as a member of

During the November 20 meeting which the ministry held for extractive industry stakeholders to scrutinise the report before submission to Eiti, the CSOs withheld their input to force government to take prompt action on Chitipa District’s Ilomba mining licensing deal involving a Chinese investor and a government official, a transaction mired in allegations of bribes in excess of $300 000 to renew the licence.

After the development, an online meeting was convened by the Mweiti Secretariat on December 14 2020, but the CSOs stuck to their guns and it also ended in a stalemate as did another one held on January 18 2021.

As a result, the Natural Resources Justice Network (NRJN) and Publish What You Pay Malawi, which form part of the Multi- Stakeholder Group, on January 28 2021 wrote Eiti International Secretariat in Norway, accusing Lilongwe of failing to adhere to the standards of transparency promoted by the international body.

They state that during the November meeting, the two parties agreed to report the Ilomba matter to ACB, which was done, but the ministry has not

 issued a public statement on the corruption allegations as was agreed.

It reads: “Asking CSOs to endorse a report which does not fully represent the current state of affairs and make recommendations which have in the past been disregarded by the same institutions is unprogressive and reduces the Eiti process to narratives and figures that mean nothing to the citizens.”

In line with the Public Service Charter, the CSOs argue that the Ministry of Mining should inform the citizenry through a public statement on the administrative actions undertaken to address the corruption allegations.

They have also written the Mweiti Secretariat in Lilongwe that the ministry should not only be committed to producing reports, but also show commitment to using the Eiti reports to inform sector reforms.

Mea n w h i l e , mi n i n g governance expert Elyvin Chawinga has said the delay in submitting the report and failure by CSOs to endorse it could lead to the country’s suspension from the Eiti board.

He said in an interview yesterday that the board can suspend Malawi because of late submission of the report but also due to the lack of input from one constituent of the Multi- Stakeholder Group, the CSOs which have valid reasons.

Said Chawinga: “So, the country can be suspended until such issues are corrected. We were already late, and [we risk] suspension and to make matters worse, the CSOs have sent their concerns direct to the Eiti secretariat.”

According to the Eiti, if a country has partly met or not met any one of the requirements relating to stakeholder engagement, the board will suspend that country in accordance with Article 5 of Section 4 of its Standard.

Recorded voice and call clips in November 2019 detail how a Chinese investor managing Illomba Granite Company in Chitipa dangled $300 000 (about K225 million) to senior government officials to have a mining licence renewed.

In January this year, the Ilomba community in Chitipa, through its Mining Development Trust Committee, rejected a proposed agreement that Chinese Investors, who are part of the Ilomba Granite Company, made.