20 October 2025
People illegally mine for gold in this forest in north-western Zambia. Photos and videos supplied
Social media posts about gold buried just beneath the surface have triggered a rush of fortune-seekers into northwestern Zambia. But the ensuing gold rush in Zambia’s Kikonge in the vast Mufumbwe district has turned violent.
The government has promised to restore law and order but the 300 police officers sent to remove illegal miners and secure the mining sites have met fierce resistance, and are accused of taking bribes to let miners in. The police are not responding to questions, neither is the government. Traditional leaders are calling for military intervention.
Amid this chaos, the state is pressing ahead with plans to license small-scale miners.
The so-called Kikonge gold mine is not a formal one but an informal site about 60km from Mufumbwe town. Reports of easily accessible gold in the area surfaced on social media early this year.
By mid-year, police estimated that about 40,000 people had migrated to the area from across Zambia and from Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania.
Residents say the gold rush first brought them money from wealthy buyers and suppliers of gold detectors. But, as word spread, gangs from the Copperbelt and Lusaka arrived and have taken control, according to the police and to traditional leaders.
“When it was just us locals mining, the place was peaceful - no killings, no deep pits, only surface digging,” a young man told MakanDay. He bought a motorbike with his proceeds from mining.
“Before that, I was using my father’s bike,” he said.
A few weeks after speaking to MakanDay his motorbike was stolen.
Police at Mufumbwe police station say crime in the area is flourishing, with people fighting over gold, sometimes killing and torturing one another.
To support local police, Zambia’s government deployed 300 police officers to the area in July, most of them from the Copperbelt. On 10 July, police and miners clashed, leaving two suspected illegal miners dead and 12 officers injured.
The government responded by dispatching some top brass. Ministers who visited the area included Defence Minister Ambrose Lufuma, Home Affairs Minister Jack Mwiimbu, and Minister for Northwestern Province Robert Lihefu. They were accompanied by top security chiefs, including Inspector General of Police Graphael Musamba and Zambia Air Force Commander Lieutenant-General Oscar Nyoni.
The ministers announced a crackdown, and police proceeded with an operation to remove illegal miners and ban access to the Kikonge mine site. It’s unclear how many illegal miners were removed (police reported 25,000). But when we visited the area in late September violent clashes between police and miners were continuing.
Police disperse illegal miners.
Police from the local Mufumbwe Police Station were threatened when they entered Kikonge in September, to track down murder suspects. A senior Mufumbwe police officer told MakanDay that he had found more than 10,000 people on the mine site, locally known as “Swahili Market”. He said police had been told to leave or they would “regret” it. “In the end, it took the intervention of some gang leaders themselves, for police to identify the suspects.”
Mufumbwe police efforts are hampered by a lack of resources. Their only vehicle, a Land Cruiser bought through the Constituency Development Fund, was damaged in an accident in August, and has not been repaired. Officers must now borrow vehicles from other departments, including the national parks and wildlife department.
Without transport, local police struggle to cover a mining area 60km from their station. Illegal miners also operate in other, more remote areas to which there are often no roads.
Kikonge is a vast area, spanning two chiefdoms presided over by Senior Chief Kasempa in Kasempa district and Chief Kizela in Mufumbwe district.
Chief Kizela’s spokesperson Labson Samola Kayombo welcomed the ministers’ visit but said traditional leaders were sidelined.
“They didn’t even want to speak to us. They said they would come to the palace. They haven’t,” said Kayombo, who says police can’t restore order because some are cashing in on the chaos.
“They’re involved because they charge people to access the mine,” he alleged, suggesting soldiers should be deployed instead.
Pressed for proof, he told journalists to visit Kikonge and hear from local residents who have been reporting this to traditional leaders.
Locals living on the Kikonge mining site handed journalists videos showing people living in flimsy shelters between gaping open pits. In one clip, a youth is heard accusing police of “charging us for access at night and chasing us away in the morning”.
The other video is too graphic to publish and shows the body of a young local boy. According to residents, he was shot by police during a raid to remove illegal miners.
When the MakanDay team arrived in Kikonge, police warned of the risks.
“No one goes to that area wearing spectacles like you. You would not come back,” an officer said, referring to spectacles being a sign of wealth.
The team asked for a police escort into the area. But the district commissioner ignored these requests and repeated visits to his office made no difference.
At the Mufumbwe-Solwezi road junction, about 27km outside Mufumbwe town and still 30km from the gold mining site, MakanDay found a makeshift camp of tired-looking young men and women preparing to return to the Kikonge gold pits.
Asked why they risked returning when access to the area was prohibited, one youth replied: “To survive, the police need us, that’s why we are going back.”
A Mufumbwe police officer, speaking anonymously because he is not authorised to give interviews, said the 300 police at the site are short of food, water, and other basics.
“If the government does not provide supplies - food, water, because there is no water there, they have to buy. But for a human being to survive, buying water every day from your salary is not possible. Recently, I saw them buying six 25kg bags of mealie meal here in Mufumbwe town. What is six bags for over 100 officers in one camp?” he said.
Police have not responded to questions sent to them on 30 September about allegations of corruption and using live ammunition to disperse crowds. Follow-up calls have also come to nothing.
The Ministry of Mines says mining licence holders are responsible for securing sites. But Kikonge is on traditional land with no licence holder. The government has not responded to a list of questions about what it will do since efforts to restore law and order to the area have not worked out. Traditional leaders say they have lost faith in the police and want the army to step in.
“We are not satisfied with the performance of the police,” said Kayombo. “The army will know how to handle civilians.”
As illegal mining and crime persist, so do deaths. A senior Mufumbwe District Health Office official confirmed that bodies from mine accidents and violence keep arriving. The mortuary was full when journalists visited, and new arrivals had to be sent elsewhere.
Bodies that are not claimed after 14 days are buried in unmarked graves, mainly at the Kalende gravesite, east of Mufumbwe town.
Mortuaries are struggling to cope with the number of bodies from Kikonge mine. If unclaimed after 14 days, bodies are moved to unmarked graves.
While mortuaries struggle to cope, many deaths are not recorded. Kayombo says most of the mining fatalities are street children lured into the area by gangs. Their bodies are often buried in collapsed pits or left unrecorded after violent clashes.
A district health official agreed: “The number of dead bodies from Kikonge is even higher. Many junkies (street kids) are buried underground after the collapse of the earth while searching for gold.”
Councillor for the Kikonge Ward Moses Mangisha told MakanDay: “We are still looking for six [missing people]. Out of these six, two of them are my own brothers. It’s either they were trapped or they were killed.”
The government is issuing artisanal licences to local co-operatives to formalise gold mining and ensure local communities benefit from it. Over 100 licences have been issued so far, and Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holdings has agreed to buy the gold.
Kayombo cautiously welcomed the move, but warned that some people might be given plots without gold, and would still have to pay taxes and file returns.
This situation will be further complicated if illegal miners are still operating in the area as they are now. While they will not pay taxes like licensed miners, licensed miners are unlikely to get access to their allotments if illegal miners are still in the area and operating as they are currently.
Produced by Makanday Centre for Investigative Journalism, an IJHub member centre, for syndication to GroundUp News.