"As Zambia eyes green minerals, Kabwe’s poisoned past looms large", 19 November 2025

As Zambia looks to profit from the growing global demand for copper and other transition minerals — essential for the world’s green energy future — the story of Kabwe, a mining city poisoned by the resource, stands as a warning. If the government and the companies that mine its wealth don’t break with the patterns of the past, activists warn, any new mining booms will likely repeat the destruction of mining host communities’ health, livelihoods and environment.

In June 2024, a coalition of young activists, journalists and environmental groups launched a campaign called “Zambia’s Sacrifice Zone,” aiming to explore the legacy of mining lead and copper in Kabwe and reinforce the push for accountability from government and mining companies. A partnership between a Zambian NGO, the Agents of Change Foundation, and Radio Workshop, a South Africa-based nonprofit that trains young community journalists across the continent, the campaign relied on a podcast, radio programs and listening parties.

At the center of the campaign is the story of Oliver Nyirenda. As Nyirenda was growing up in Kabwe, his mother noticed that his growth was stunted, his reactions slow. Tests confirmed severe lead poisoning.

Decades of unregulated mining and smelting by the former Broken Hill mine company had contaminated the soil, air and water of this central Zambian city with dangerous levels of lead. When operations ceased in 1994, the site was not cleaned up. Dust from waste dumps still blows into nearby communities such as Chowa, Makululu and Waya.

Children have been the most affected. As they play on contaminated soil or breathe in toxic dust, lead enters their bodies, causing brain damage, learning difficulties, stunted growth and other long-term health problems. Studies have shown that more than 95% of Kabwe’s children have blood lead levels far above safe limits, some reaching life-threatening concentrations.

For families like the Nyirendas, exposure comes from every direction: dust on their clothes, vegetables grown in polluted soil, and water from tainted wells.

Despite some cleanup efforts, much of Kabwe remains dangerously contaminated.

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His story puts a human face to a crisis often buried under the technical jargon of policy reports and legal briefs. Nyirenda’s call is simple: eliminate sources of continuing lead exposure in Kabwe, prioritize testing and treatment in all hotspots, and enforce the “polluter pays” principle so that companies take responsibility for the damage they cause.

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In Zambia’s Copperbelt region, towns like Chingola, Chambishi, Mufulira and Kitwe remain haunted by decades of pollution: acid mine drainage, tailings dam failures, and air contamination. While companies like Mopani and Konkola Copper Mines have pledged to adopt “cleaner” mining technologies, enforcement gaps persist.

In Kitwe, the effects of decades of smelting and waste dumping from the Nkana Mine linger. Sulfur dioxide emissions and contaminated tailings continue to affect nearby communities.

The mine, now called Mopani Copper Mines, has new owners who are planning to ramp up production, prompting concern among environmentalists that expansion will proceed faster than remediation.

ZEMA has mandated a comprehensive environmental audit of Mopani’s facilities, but civil society groups insist that affected communities must be part of the process. “Before we dig new ore, we must repair old wounds,” says Chuma from Environment Africa. “Otherwise, we are just deepening the injustice.”

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