The Zambian minister, the mysterious businesswoman and illegal mining
“There is a new mining order that is coming. Embrace it, but what is illegal, do not tolerate it,” says minister
Equipment, apparently provided by a Chinese company, for mining at Sensele mine. Photo supplied
- Illegal mining is rife at Sensele Mine in Zambia.
- Many lives have been claimed. For example, over 30 people died in a mudslide in December 2023.
- Sensele Enterprises and Zambia’s government appear to lay the blame for the continuation of illegal mining at each other’s doors.
- Questions have been raised about the relationship between Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industries Chipoka Mulenga and a businessperson who is known as “Laila”, and the latter’s role in the mine.
The copper-ore-rich pits of Sensele Mine are routinely entered by informal miners, including children, who risk death for a pittance. The fatal accidents that follow raise questions about lax security at the mine and whether powerful figures are ignoring the danger while quietly profiting from it.
Chipoka Mulenga, the Member of Parliament representing the Chingola Central constituency where Sensele Mine is located, is also Zambia’s Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industries.
Questions have been raised about Mulenga, as well as a businesswoman known as Laila, and their involvement in Sensele.
Mulenga visited the mine on 21 June following threats by young men to riot unless access to the mine was reinstated. The mine has been officially closed since December 2023, after a mudslide, probably caused by informal mining, claimed 30 lives.
Video footage from Mulenga’s visit, posted on Facebook on 21 June but later deleted, shows the minister accompanied by Laila.
On the day he visited Sensele, Mulenga received a lawyer’s letter from Muya & Company, a firm representing Sensele Enterprises. The letter accuses the minister of ignoring a 13 May 2025 High Court order preventing anyone from entering the mining site, pending a hearing.
The letter also accuses Mulenga of handing the mine over to illegal miners. “As is now publicly documented via widely circulated video recordings, you personally [Mulenga] presided over this unlawful handover.”
It continues: “We are further instructed that you appointed one ‘Laila’ and a Chinese company as the ‘contractors’ to represent the interests of the illegal miners’ actions which appear to serve your personal interests and not any lawful regulatory or public policy function.”
The government issued a statement on 23 June, denying that it had authorised illegal mining at Sensele.
Yet illegal mining continues at the mine, and it appears the mining company and the government each hold the other responsible for the mine’s security, and consequently, the failure to stop illegal mining.
For example, in our previous article, we reported that Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development Permanent Secretary Hapenga Kabeta said security at any private mine lies with the licence holder, not the ministry. “Sensele [Mine] is licenced to a private individual, and according to the law, it is that individual’s responsibility to secure the area,” he said.
Minister of Mines and Minerals Development Paul Kabuswe said Sensele Mine remains a private operation.
In an interview at his home in Lusaka’s Longacres, Minister Mulenga said he visited the mine on 21 June in his capacity as an MP visiting his constituents as he regularly does. Mulenga, who credits the current government for exposing the problem of illegal mining, stressed that on that day, he visited to encourage the young men on the mine to work safely with no child labour.
When asked about Laila, he stressed that he was not accompanied to the meeting by anyone else. He pointed out that, as the parliamentary representative for the area, he did have to meet companies and business people to discuss ways they could support development projects.
Mulenga said that the government wanted to end illicit mining and bring about a way of working where “all those boys can be absorbed into a structured way of working provided with equipment and resources that are there”.
“There is a new mining order that is coming. Embrace it, but what is illegal, do not tolerate it,” said Mulenga.
We approached Laila for comment on her involvement at the mine (we do not know if this is her real name or how it is spelt). She told us she was there to provide humanitarian assistance, support she claimed to routinely offer. However, she later said that her lawyer would respond on her behalf.
The Lusaka-based law firm Shepande & Company, representing Laila, then contacted us and requested a written inquiry. We responded, asking for details on the registered organisation through which Laila provides humanitarian assistance.
We asked, among other things, for clarification on whether Laila is involved in the purchase or trade of copper ore from illegal mining operations at Sensele Mine or elsewhere in Zambia. We also asked that she address or refute allegations that she pays commissions to political figures or government officials to facilitate mining and mineral trading activities.
In a written response, Shepande & Company stated that they were instructed to reiterate their client’s sentiments expressed in our telephone conversation of 6 August.
The firm warned that it would “commence legal proceedings for libel should the intended article contain any injurious and nonfactual information and or allegations against our client”.
The firm also declined to answer the specific questions raised, stating that the information requested – such as location data – constitutes personal data that their client does not consent to share.
While the ruling United Party for National Development condemns illegal mining, Zambia’s Financial Intelligence Centre’s 2024 Trends Report confirms that it is not only a thriving industry, it is enabled by corruption and linked to international criminal networks.
The FIC uncovered a K1 billion (approximately US$5 million) mineral smuggling syndicate operating between 2022 and 2024. The scheme involved Zambian citizens and East African nationals who smuggled foreign cash into Zambia to buy illegal copper, gold, and gemstones, which were then smuggled out without paying taxes or passing through customs.
In 2024 alone, the FIC flagged over US$3.5 billion in suspected illicit financial flows, mainly linked to mineral trade and trade misinvoicing. Hotspots identified include Kasempa, Mufulira, Kitwe, and Chingola, where minerals flowed out and untaxed foreign currency came in through bank accounts and mobile wallets, often registered under Zambian proxies. The FIC also found 131 companies or individuals involved, including over 400 legal entities and over 800 people—many of them foreign nationals or their proxies.
Video (supplied) of youths participating in illicit mining at Sensele
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