By MakanDay
The Supreme Court has allowed the Government to join, as an intervener, a case in which Sino Metals Leach Zambia Limited, a subsidiary of the state-owned China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group (CNMC), is challenging a High Court decision allowing a constitutional petition by affected residents to proceed.
Lawyers for both Sino Metals and the petitioners did not object to the State’s application to join the proceedings. The petitioners, who are being supported by the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC), are represented by Messrs Malambo and Company Advocates and Messrs Lusitu Chambers, while Sino Metals is represented by Chibesakunda & Company.
The petition seeks to hold the mining companies accountable for the environmental, economic and social consequences of the spill, which residents say destroyed crops, polluted water sources and undermined their livelihoods.
On 3 June, a panel of three Supreme Court judges — Deputy Chief Justice Michael Musonda, Justice Nigel Mutuna and Justice Fulgency Mwenya Chisanga — sitting in Kabwe, Central Province, held that the Government, as custodian of the public interest, should be heard before the appeal could proceed because the issues raised extended beyond the parties directly involved.
When the matter returned to the Supreme Court in Lusaka on 18 August 2026, the Attorney General was represented by Namboo Mwiya, Acting Deputy State Advocate, and Kalaba Malakebo, Assistant State Advocate.
On 3 June, a panel of three Supreme Court judges — Deputy Chief Justice Michael Musonda, Justice Nigel Mutuna and Justice Fulgency Mwenya Chisanga — sitting in Kabwe, Central Province, held that the Government, as custodian of the public interest, should be heard before the appeal could proceed because the issues raised extended beyond the parties directly involved.
When the matter returned to the Supreme Court in Lusaka on 18 August 2026, the Attorney General was represented by Namboo Mwiya, Acting Deputy State Advocate, and Kalaba Malakebo, Assistant State Advocate.
The State said it was joining the case to protect the public interest and ensure that the rights of affected citizens are safeguarded.
It was heard by a three-member panel comprising Deputy Chief Justice Musonda, Justice Roydah Mwanakulya Chinungi Kaoma and Justice Chisanga.
The court further emphasised the important role of the State in the matter, noting that it represents the public interest, including that of the affected citizens.
More than 20 of the 177 residents of Kalusale, a community in Kalulushi District near the mining city of Kitwe on Zambia’s Copperbelt Province, were in court to witness the proceedings, more than a year after the toxic waste spill devastated farms, contaminated water sources and disrupted livelihoods.
In June 2026, the Supreme Court had been expected to hear an appeal by Sino Metals against a High Court decision that permitted the constitutional petition filed by the affected residents to proceed. The petition also names NFC Africa Mining Plc, within whose mining area the tailings dams were located, as a respondent.
Sino Metals and NFC Africa Mining are private limited companies engaged in mining operations in Chambishi, Kalulushi district. Sino Metals’ operations — including an open-pit mine, concentrator plant and tailings storage dams — are situated within NFC Africa Mining’s surface rights area and plant boundary.
At the centre of the dispute is the February 2025 collapse of multiple tailings dams, which released vast quantities of acidic and toxic waste into the Chambishi Stream, Mwambashi River and the wider Kafue River system. The incident triggered what environmental experts and affected communities have described as one of Zambia’s most serious mining-related environmental disasters in recent decades.
The matter has been adjourned to 22 September 2026.
Discover more from MAKANDAY
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
