LOCAL authorities have no power to levy fees on miners extracting minerals in their jurisdictions as such power rests with the minister responsible for mining in consultation with other relevant ministries and Government departments, legislators have said. They said local authorities could only impose permit fees on persons engaged on specified business in their areas and mining did not in any way fall within that category. This was said by the Parliamentary Legal Committee, which issued an adverse report against Statutory Instruments gazetted recently by Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe and Zvataida Rural District Council (Mining and Mineral Planning) By-Laws 2025, where they sought to impose fees on firms extracting several minerals including granite and gold in their areas.
PLC is an arm of Parliament, whose constitutional duty is to scrutinise Bills and Statutory Instruments to establish if they are not in violation of the Constitution. The adverse report issued by the PLC chairperson Dr Edson Zvobgo will have a bearing on several local authorities that have minerals in their jurisdiction and would want to levy fees as part of ensuring that the local community benefits from the endowment. The report will now be debated by the full parliamentary plenary and, if adopted, the Statutory Instruments will become null and void. In its report, the PLC noted that the Statutory Instrument was in violation of the principal law, the Mines and Minerals Act, which forms the basis of its creation.
Read Full Article on The Herald (Com)
