Parliament’s Natural Resources Committee says it is expected to meet next week together with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to plan a nationwide audit of mines.

Chairperson of the committee, Tiaone Hendri, said the audit follows a directive from Speaker of the National Assembly Sameer Sulemani, who tasked the two committees with auditing all mines during the recent parliamentary meeting.

Hendri, however, said she could not provide more details at the moment, as the Speaker also spoke about an inquiry into the mining sector last week.

She said the committee’s meeting will therefore focus on developing a comprehensive programme that will be submitted to the Speaker.

Hendri added that preparations for the audit are progressing, including issues concerning funding, and said the committee is ready to conduct the exercise nationwide.

On Wednesday, September 2, 2026, the Speaker said Malawi is allegedly losing revenue through unfavourable mining agreements, weak regulation, informal mining and possible involvement by influential individuals.

He said questions have also been raised about beneficial ownership, registration of mining entities, compliance with local shareholding requirements and whether existing contracts provide adequate benefits to Malawians.

“These allegations and concerns have not been established as facts. The purpose of parliamentary scrutiny is to verify them fairly, hear all affected parties, clear individuals or institutions where allegations are unfounded and recommend corrective action where shortcomings are established,” he said.

During the sine die week of the previous parliamentary meeting, the Speaker directed the audit following a report by the Natural Resources Committee on the Kangankunde Rare Earth Project in Balaka.

The report highlighted several issues that the government needs to address to ensure that the country derives sufficient benefits from its mineral resources.