By George Mponda
Karonga, October 30, Mana: General Manager for Kayelekera Uranium Mine operated by Lotus Africa Limited (LAL) in Karonga Theo Keyter has pledged that the company will enhance the welfare and quality of life for residents in the district.

Keyter who was addressing a Council Meeting on Tuesday said the company will sign a Community Development Agreement (CDA) with communities within a 20 kilometre radius of the mine aimed at sustaining a good working relationship with the communities and government.

"The draft CDA has already  been reviewed by the Ministry of Mining in September and in it, we will be spending no less than 0.45 percent of our annual gross sales revenues to support development projects formulated by the communities.

If the company will be doing something wrong, dialogue is very important to reach a resolution for the common good. We believe that the communities in Karonga should be better off because we are here if not then it means we are not supposed to be here,"Keyter said.

He added that LAL will offer employment and training opportunities to Karonga locals as well as safeguard the rights of women and girls against sexual harassment, ealry marriages and exploitation within the communities.

On his part, Paramount Chief Kyungu said custodians of the land where mining activities are taking place in Malawi should benefit from the resources being taken out of their land.

"There are so many mines here in Karonga but looking around in the communities people remain poor and the district is not developing at all. There is need for Government to conduct thorough consultations before mining agreements are given to companies for communities to be benefitting,"said Kyungu.

Principal Mining Engineer in the Ministry of Mining, Reggie Makwela said government is committed to ensuring communities which surround mines are benefiting.

"The Ministry is mandated to ensure the sustainable development and utilization of mineral and petroleum resources for socioeconomic growth and development of the country," she said.

Kayelekera is 85 percent owned by Australian company Lotus which acquired it from Paladin Energy in 2020 and the Government of Malawi has a 15 percent stake in the mine.