Recently, President Peter Mutharika’s made a decision to split the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining into three separate ministries. However, the Natural Resources Justice Network (NRJN), a group of civil society organisations (CSOs) that advocates for improvements in the mining sector, has not supported the move.

According to the network’s chairperson, Kossam Munthali,  the split of the ministries will drain the limited government resources. Munthali said K40 billion, which was allocated to the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining in the 2020/2021 national budget, cannot be enough for the operations of three fully fledged ministries.

On the other hand, it must be noted that the mining sector has been catching flack for deals like Kayelekera Mine and more, while the Ministry of Energy has also been lagging. The split may inspire responsibility rather than allocate the funds to the various offices.