By IOMMIE CHIWALO
The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) is still questioning the legality of licences and permits granted to Portland Cement Company and has since written to the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources to scrutinise the matter.
In a letter made available to this publication, CDEDI Executive Director Sylvester Namiwa says the request is based on what transpired during the October 8, 2025 meeting held at the Malawi Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA) boardroom. At the meeting, a Chinese firm, Portland Cement Company, was granted a mining licence to mine limestone for cement production at Chenkumbi Hill, Ng’onga Village, in Senior Chief Nsamala’s area, without conducting its own Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) as required by the Malawi Environmental Protection Act of 2017.
According to the letter, the meeting was in direct response to CDEDI’s letter dated September 12, 2025, in which the Access to Information (ATI) Act was invoked, requesting MEPA to make public disclosures on the project brief, minutes leading to the approval of the ESIA, and the ESIA report submitted by Portland.
“In response, the MEPA Director General, Mr Wilfred Kadewa, who chaired the meeting, told CDEDI that Portland relied on a 13-year-old EIA report that was done by Lafarge Cement Company, which had also intended to carry out mining activities at the same site. By then, neither MEPA nor the Department of Environmental Affairs had valid documentation to justify the transfer of the said EIA report from Lafarge to Portland,” reads the letter to the Parliamentary Committee chairperson on Natural Resources.
The letter further adds that even if such a document was produced, serious questions would still remain.
“Was it not a foregone conclusion that 13 years was such a long period that a lot had changed on the project site to warrant a fresh environmental assessment?” queries Namiwa in the letter.
He says without mincing words, his organisation refuses to believe that this was an oversight, owing to the fact that Portland presented the same Lafarge EIA report to the Balaka Physical Planning Committee meeting held on March 14 and 15, 2024.
The meeting proceeded to grant a two-year building permit without objecting to the fact that the two documents were not speaking to each other.
“To say the least, this was not a sheer coincidence. In view of the aforementioned, we pray that your committee should institute an investigation into this matter. To begin with, summon the MEPA DG, Dr Wilfred Kadewa, the then Mining Authority DG, Mr Samuel Sakhuta, and the then Balaka District Commissioner, Mr Tamanya Harawa, to appear before the said committee to exonerate themselves from acts of negligence in exercising lawful duties,” reads the letter.
CDEDI says it is pressing for justice in the mining governance sector as part of its watchdog role for mutual benefit among concerned stakeholders, including the state, investors, and citizens.
The letter has since been presented to the Parliament Office, but this publication is yet to receive feedback from the concerned recipients on the way forward.
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