Toxic profits, poisoned people: When enforcement fails, communities pay the price
By
Prof. Cephas Lumina
IN MAY 2014, I visited Mufulira with a South African colleague (a public interest lawyer) to explore the possibilities of bringing legal action against Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) Plc for the severe environmental degradation and health impacts of its mining operations in the area. What we found was deeply disturbing.
In Kankoyo Township, the air was thick with the smell of sulphur dioxide from the nearby smelter. The roofs and walls of many houses were corroded by acid rain. Residents described respiratory illnesses, children with persistent coughs, and the daily struggle to breathe. The soil was discoloured, the vegetation sparse, and the ground felt more like a chemical wasteland than a place for people to live. What troubled me even more than the environmental damage was the lack of a response from the government. The local population had been left without the protection they deserved.
More than a decade later, two recent disasters—the tailings dam collapse at Sino-Metals Leach Zambia Limited’s plant on the Copperbelt and the unfolding lead poisoning disaster in Kabwe—remind me of that distressing visit. These events reveal not only a serious environmental crisis but also a profound governance failure.
Our challenge, as a country, is not a lack of laws, but a lack of enforcement, political will, and accountability. This failure exposes citizens to serious harm.
The Kafue River disaster: A toxic spill with massive consequences
Since early 2025, four mining companies — one British and three Chinese — have been implicated in the illegal discharge of toxic waste into the Kafue River ecosystem. The most devastating incident occurred on 18 February, when a tailings dam at Sino-Metals — a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group — collapsed catastrophically. Over 50 million litres of acidic effluent surged into the river, killing fish, destroying crops, and contaminating water supplies for downstream communities.
Initial company statements claimed only 50,000 tonnes of waste had spilled. But an independent assessment by Drizit Zambia Limited, the environmental clean-up firm hired by Sino-Metals, revealed the real figure: more than 1.5 million tonnes of toxic waste, with 900,000 cubic metres of sludge still polluting soil and waterways.
These tailings contain deadly amounts of cyanide, arsenic, lead, cadmium, and chromium – toxins linked to cancer, organ failure, neurological disorders, birth defects, and lasting harm to children’s development.
What makes this situation even worse is that the disaster could have been prevented. In 2005, Sino-Metals’ own environmental project brief outlined important safeguards, including acid-resistant linings, spill containment, and emergency response systems. It appears that most of these were ignored or not properly maintained. Indeed, an initial investigation by the Engineering Institution of Zambia found major design flaws, cracks, and signs of long-term neglect.
Despite all this, no criminal charges have been filed against the company or its leaders. The government has only issued unclear clean-up orders and made promises of compensation, but there is no clear timeline or accountability.
Communities continue to suffer. Farms are ruined, water remains unsafe, and justice is nowhere in sight. Clean-ups alone are not enough. The authorities must prosecute offenders, enforce clean-up timelines, and provide concrete compensation to victims.
Kabwe’s unending tragedy: Selling poison in plain sight
While communities along the Kafue River grapple with the aftermath of toxic discharge, another crisis is unfolding in Kabwe — a town already known as one of the most lead-polluted in the world.
On 4 September, 2025, Human Rights Watch reported that Enviro Processing Limited (EPL), a subsidiary of South Africa’s Jubilee Metals Group Plc, has been providing access to highly toxic lead-bearing waste, known locally as “Black Mountain.” This is happening in a town where generations of children have suffered irreversible harm from lead poisoning caused by decades of colonial-era mining, which only ceased in 1994.
In February, EPL reportedly entered a deal with Union Star Industry Limited, a Chinese company, and Chitofu General Dealers, a politically connected Zambian firm, to sell this contaminated waste for zinc extraction. The operation continues despite overwhelming evidence of severe health risks — especially to children, who are most vulnerable to lead exposure. The consequences include permanent neurological damage, developmental delays, miscarriage, and even death.
In August, the government suspended operations at four Chinese-owned plants in Kabwe for environmental violations. Yet Union Star remains operational. Why? Where is the regulatory consistency? Once again, the people of Kabwe bear the cost of weak enforcement and political compromise.
The government’s declaration of lead and zinc as “critical minerals” — essential to global clean energy technologies — appears to have opened the door to unchecked exploitation. The irony is devastating: in the name of a green energy transition, we are poisoning the very children meant to inherit that future.
National development cannot come at the cost of human life. We must demand policies and enforcement that prioritize health and safety. No transition is truly green if it is built on toxic sacrifice zones.
The legal framework for environmental protection: Strong on paper, weak in practice
Zambia has strong laws that could protect communities from environmental harm, but only if they are robustly enforced. These laws include national rules, international agreements, and specific regulations focused on sustainable development, corporate accountability, and public participation.
While the Constitution does not explicitly guarantee environmental rights, it enshrines sustainable development as a national value (Article 8) and the “polluter pays” principle (Article 255[a]). It also mandates public involvement in environmental decision-making (Article 255[l]). These are binding legal obligations, not mere aspirations.
Key laws, such as the Environmental Management Act (2011), guarantee the right to a clean and healthy environment, criminalize pollution, and hold company directors personally liable for offences. The Water Resources Management Act (2011) prohibits the pollution of water bodies and mandates regulatory oversight. The Minerals Regulation Commission Act (2024) empowers authorities to suspend or revoke mining licenses to protect the public interest.
Zambia is also a party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which recognizes the right to a healthy environment—offering additional regional accountability.
In short, the country has the necessary laws. What is lacking is the political will and strong institutions to enforce them.
Enforcement works: What Zambia can learn from other countries
Like other countries, Zambia faces serious environmental threats, but what sets us apart is our failure to enforce existing laws. Across Africa, countries such as South Africa and Kenya demonstrate that strong enforcement, judicial independence, and corporate accountability can effectively protect both people and the environment. So why are we not doing the same?
South Africa’s Green Scorpions—Environmental Management Inspectors—are empowered to investigate, arrest, and prosecute environmental offenders. Their track record shows enforcement is not only possible but powerful. For example:
In 2011, Silicon Smelters was fined R3 million for air pollution, and its directors were held accountable.
In 2014, the managing director of Blue Platinum Ventures was sentenced to prison (suspended on condition of environmental rehabilitation).
Even government bodies have not been spared: in 2024, the Govan Mbeki Municipality was fined R150 million for dumping untreated sewage into the Vaal River.
These cases demonstrate that fines, jail time, and holding directors personally accountable send a clear message: polluters will pay.
Kenya’s Constitution explicitly guarantees the right to a clean environment (Article 42), and crucially, Article 70 allows citizens to sue polluters or regulators without proof of prior harm. In 2024, Kenya’s Supreme Court awarded over Ksh. 2 billion (K362 million) in compensation and clean-up costs to victims of lead pollution in Owino-Uhuru Village, holding the government accountable.
Zambia must learn from these examples: enforce existing environmental laws rigorously, ensure access to justice for affected communities, and hold polluters accountable to achieve real protection.
Bridging the enforcement gap: What needs to be done – now
The country’s environmental crisis is not the result of weak laws, but of weak enforcement. The gap between legal promises and the daily reality of poisoned water, polluted air, and suffering communities has become a national scandal.
If we are serious about protecting our people and environment, the government must move beyond rhetoric to action. Accountability must start at the top. Criminal investigations and prosecutions should be launched immediately against the directors of companies such as Sino-Metals, EPL, Union Star Industry, and Chitofu General Dealers. The Environmental Management Act (section 36), Water Resources Management Act (section 173), the Minerals Regulation Commission Act (section 88), and the repealed Mines and Minerals Development Act (section 114 – applicable at the time of the Sino-Metals disaster) all provide for personal liability of company directors and managers.
Penalties, including fines and prison sentences, should match the scale of harm, not only to prevent future violations but also to demonstrate that human life and the environment are invaluable. Without real consequences, polluters will continue to act with impunity.
Where environmental harm is ongoing, as in Kabwe and along the Kafue River, the government should suspend or cancel mining licences. These licences are not entitlements; they are privileges that depend on compliance with the law and serving the public interest.
Strengthening enforcement also requires institutional reform. Zambia needs a dedicated environmental enforcement unit — our own version of South Africa’s Green Scorpions — with the independence, expertise, and mandate to effectively monitor, investigate, and prosecute environmental crimes.
Transparency must underpin these efforts. Environmental Impact Assessments, compliance reports, and licence approvals should be made public, ensuring communities are informed and empowered to challenge unlawful activities.
Finally, clean-up and compensation must not be delayed any longer. People living in polluted areas, especially children, deserve access to clean water, quality medical care, restored land, and fair compensation.
Zambia has the necessary laws. What is missing is the political will and strong institutions to enforce them. This needs to change.
Foreign investment must not trump public health and environmental protection
Let us be clear: foreign direct investment is important, but it cannot come at the cost of poisoning our people. It cannot mean turning our rivers into industrial sewers or condemning our children to lives marked by illness, stunted growth, and intellectual disability.
Zambia’s mineral wealth should benefit its people, not undermine their rights. The rights to life, health, and dignity are non-negotiable. They are not commodities to trade for quick profits. When companies break environmental laws, they cease to be partners in development and become perpetrators of harm. Like anyone who causes harm, they must be held responsible.
Too often, people claim that strong environmental enforcement scares away foreign investment. But this is not true. It overlooks the real costs that communities pay, such as polluted water, more illness, ruined farmland, and lost futures. It also overlooks what responsible investors truly desire: clear rules, fair enforcement, and a government that applies the law consistently.
If anything, proper enforcement of environmental laws would help Zambia attract the right kind of investment — investment that builds, not destroys. It would send a clear message that Zambia values both its natural resources and its people. In the long run, this approach does not weaken our economy or reputation — it strengthens both.
Conclusion: A moral and legal imperative
From the acid-scarred homes of Kankoyo to the poisoned waters of the Kafue River and the toxic legacy of Kabwe, the country’s environmental story is one of broken promises and betrayed communities. We have the laws — but without enforcement, they are meaningless.
The government must act decisively. Polluters must be prosecuted. Company directors must be held accountable. Communities must be protected, and the environment restored. The right to a healthy environment is not a privilege — it is a legal and moral imperative.
Kabwe and Kafue are no longer just names on a map; they are warnings. Mineral wealth without justice turns into a curse. This issue is not just about pollution, but also about power, accountability, and the future we decide to create.
Laws must have real consequences. Directors should fear prosecution. Polluters must clean up their mess. Children must be protected from lasting harm.
We owe it to them, and to future generations, to act.
The time for justice is now.
