{"id":77389,"date":"2026-04-20T20:12:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T20:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga"},"modified":"2026-04-20T20:17:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T20:17:05","slug":"coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga","title":{"rendered":"Coal Firm Fined K14.5 Million for Poisoning River in Karonga"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Malawi. <\/strong><\/span>A coal mining company in Karonga has been hit with a K14.5 million fine after authorities found it was discharging acidic, contaminated waste into a river, raising serious concerns over environmental safety and public health.<\/p>\n

The Malawi Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA) imposed the penalty on Coal and Minerals Group Limited following an inspection that uncovered multiple violations at its mining site, including water pollution and uncontrolled discharge of toxic effluent into natural watercourses.<\/p>\n

The sanctions, authorised by MEPA Director General Wilfred Kadewa, paint a picture of systemic non-compliance. The company was fined K5 million for polluting water, alongside additional penalties for failing to maintain basic environmental safeguards\u2014K2 million for lacking a Waste Management Plan, K1.5 million for not having an Environmental and Social Management Plan, K2 million for operating an unapproved loading bay, K3 million for poor site design, and K1 million for failing to put in place safety and emergency systems.<\/p>\n

Regulators say the violations were not minor oversights but serious breaches that risked contaminating water sources relied upon by surrounding communities. MEPA has ordered the company to immediately stop releasing untreated waste, install proper treatment systems and submit verified water quality results within 30 days.<\/p>\n

The company has been given seven days to respond to the findings and will be required to pay the full penalty within 14 days.<\/p>\n

The crackdown follows decisive action by Chief Kyungu, who ordered the closure of the mine two weeks ago over the same pollution concerns\u2014signaling growing local frustration over environmental abuse.<\/p>\n

While the fine marks a rare show of enforcement, questions remain about whether K14.5 million is enough punishment for damage that could have long-term consequences on ecosystems and livelihoods. For communities downstream, the issue is not just compliance\u2014it is survival.<\/p>\n

The case underscores a deeper problem: weak adherence to environmental laws in Malawi\u2019s extractive sector, where profit too often comes before protection.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Malawi<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Malawi. A coal mining company in Karonga has been hit with a K14.5 million fine after authorities found it was discharging acidic, contaminated waste into a river, raising serious concerns over environmental safety and public health. The Malawi Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA) imposed the penalty on Coal and Minerals Group Limited following an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":77388,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,7],"tags":[234],"class_list":["post-77389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-head-lines","tag-malawi"],"yoast_head":"\nCoal Firm Fined K14.5 Million for Poisoning River in Karonga - Malawi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A coal mining company in Karonga has been hit with a K14.5 million fine after authorities found it was discharging acidi ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Coal Firm Fined K14.5 Million for Poisoning River in Karonga\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A coal mining company in Karonga has been hit with a K14.5 million fine after authorities found it was discharging acidi ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Malawi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-20T20:12:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-20T20:17:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2026\/04\/sm_1776716169.773067.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"658\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"474\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Coal Firm Fined K14.5 Million for Poisoning River in Karonga\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-20T20:12:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-20T20:17:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga\"},\"wordCount\":336,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2026\/04\/sm_1776716169.773067.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Malawi\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\",\"head lines\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga\",\"name\":\"Coal Firm Fined K14.5 Million for Poisoning River in Karonga - Malawi\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2026\/04\/sm_1776716169.773067.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-20T20:12:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-20T20:17:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"A coal mining company in Karonga has been hit with a K14.5 million fine after authorities found it was discharging acidi ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2026\/04\/sm_1776716169.773067.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2026\/04\/sm_1776716169.773067.jpg\",\"width\":658,\"height\":474,\"caption\":\"Coal Firm Fined K14.5 Million for Poisoning River in Karonga\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Coal Firm Fined K14.5 Million for Poisoning River in Karonga\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/\",\"name\":\"Malawi\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Coal Firm Fined K14.5 Million for Poisoning River in Karonga - Malawi","description":"A coal mining company in Karonga has been hit with a K14.5 million fine after authorities found it was discharging acidi ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Coal Firm Fined K14.5 Million for Poisoning River in Karonga","og_description":"A coal mining company in Karonga has been hit with a K14.5 million fine after authorities found it was discharging acidi ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga","og_site_name":"Malawi","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2026-04-20T20:12:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-20T20:17:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":658,"height":474,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2026\/04\/sm_1776716169.773067.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Coal Firm Fined K14.5 Million for Poisoning River in Karonga","datePublished":"2026-04-20T20:12:44+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-20T20:17:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga"},"wordCount":336,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2026\/04\/sm_1776716169.773067.jpg","keywords":["Malawi"],"articleSection":["all news","economy","head lines"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga","name":"Coal Firm Fined K14.5 Million for Poisoning River in Karonga - Malawi","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2026\/04\/sm_1776716169.773067.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-20T20:12:44+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-20T20:17:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"A coal mining company in Karonga has been hit with a K14.5 million fine after authorities found it was discharging acidi ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2026\/04\/sm_1776716169.773067.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2026\/04\/sm_1776716169.773067.jpg","width":658,"height":474,"caption":"Coal Firm Fined K14.5 Million for Poisoning River in Karonga"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/coal-firm-fined-k14-5-million-for-poisoning-river-in-karonga#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Coal Firm Fined K14.5 Million for Poisoning River in Karonga"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/","name":"Malawi","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77389"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77396,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77389\/revisions\/77396"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}