By Chiti Manga
The outcry over recent remarks attributed to Zambia Army Commander Lieutenant General Geoffrey Choongo Zyeele must be understood in proper context, stripped of sensationalism and political mischief.
At stake is not rhetoric, but the survival of a strategic national asset: Zambia’s mining sector, which remains the backbone of the economy and a key source of public revenue. 
The government’s decision to deploy the Army to restore order in mining areas is not only lawful but long overdue.
For years, illegal mining has thrived under weak enforcement, political patronage, and deliberate neglect. During the Patriotic Front (PF) era, illegality was normalised. Cadres overran mines, foreign syndicates extracted minerals with impunity, and the state looked away as billions of Kwacha were lost. What was once criminal became socially tolerated. That is the dangerous legacy the current administration is trying to reverse.
Mining is not an informal backyard activity. It is a highly regulated sector governed by law, licences, safety standards, and environmental obligations. Allowing anyone to dig anywhere under the guise of “poverty” is not compassion; it is abdication of state responsibility.
Illegal mining deprives the treasury of revenue needed for schools, hospitals, and roads. It fuels criminal networks, causes deadly accidents, destroys the environment, and undermines national security. No serious State can permit this to continue.
Critics have chosen to focus on the Army Commander’s choice of words, ignoring the substance of the problem. The term “exterminate,” taken literally and out of context, has been weaponised to accuse the government of endorsing unlawful killings. That is both dishonest and irresponsible. In military and enforcement settings, strong language is often used as deterrence — to communicate zero tolerance and urgency. It does not override the Constitution, the rules of engagement, or Zambia’s legal framework governing the use of force.
President Hakainde Hichilema has not suspended the rule of law. The Zambia Army has not been unleashed as a rogue force. Its deployment was approved by Cabinet, anchored in law, and coordinated with civilian authorities, including the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Development. Soldiers are there to secure restricted areas, stop trespassing, dismantle criminal operations and restore State control — not to conduct arbitrary executions.
Those who argue that “human rights” are being violated must answer a harder question: whose rights have been protected while illegal mining was allowed to flourish? What about the right of the Zambian people to benefit from their natural resources? What about the right to life of miners who die in collapsing shafts because of unsafe, illegal operations? What about communities poisoned by mercury and cyanide, rivers destroyed, and farmland rendered useless?
Human rights do not exist in a vacuum. They coexist with duties and laws. Trespassing in restricted mining areas, resisting lawful orders, and engaging in criminal extraction are not protected activities. When the State warns that force will be used against those who defy eviction orders, it is not declaring open season on citizens; it is asserting authority where chaos has reigned for too long.
The uncomfortable truth is that many Zambians have become accustomed to wrongdoing. The PF years blurred the line between legality and illegality. Today, when the State finally draws a firm line, it is accused of being harsh. But restoring order is never gentle, especially when disorder has been normalised.
The suggestion that the Army’s presence will alienate communities or undermine democracy ahead of elections is speculative and misleading. On the contrary, a government that fails to protect strategic resources would be guilty of betrayal. Elections do not suspend governance. National security does not pause for political convenience.
Comparisons to past statements by defence officials are also selectively framed to suggest militarisation of civilian life. Yet Zambia has always relied on its defence forces in extraordinary circumstances — from disaster response to infrastructure protection. Illegal mining, given its scale, foreign involvement, and economic impact, qualifies as such a circumstance.
What critics truly fear is not military excess, but the end of a lucrative illegal economy. The networks that thrived under lax enforcement now face disruption. It is easier to shout “dictatorship” than to explain why the State should surrender its mines to lawlessness.
The phrase “the end justifies the means” should not be read as endorsing illegality by the State, but as recognising that decisive enforcement is necessary to correct a deeply entrenched wrong. The ultimate end is lawful mining, protected lives, secured revenue, and restored sovereignty over Zambia’s resources.
Zambians must choose clarity over confusion. Illegal mining is wrong. It was wrong under PF, and it remains wrong today. The government is right to end it decisively. Strong warnings are part of that effort. Law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear. Those who insist on defying the law after repeated notices cannot claim victimhood.
Order is not oppression. Enforcement is not tyranny. Defending Zambia’s mineral wealth is not optional — it is a duty of any serious government.
