Amb Emmanuel Mwamba writes:
First Quantum Minerals Exposed, Funding President Hakainde Hichilema
London-A new Global Witness investigation indicates the extent of a Canadian mining
company’s influence over Zambian democracy as the country approaches a general election in August.
Canadian mining firm bankrolls Zambian President
●insiders claim
Ahead of Zambia’s general election in August, a Global Witness investigation finds
evidence that First Quantum Minerals and its associates have been running a decades-
long covert influence campaign distorting the copper-rich nation’s democracy.
Top lines:
●Canadian First Quantum Minerals (FQM) has financially backed
Zambia’s president, Hakainde Hichilema, through multiple election cycles, with inside sources telling Global Witness how it has become his largest funder in the upcoming 2026 election after pledging up to $50 million in support.
●FQM has reaped enormous benefits: major changes to Zambia’s tax regime have
saved the company $771 million between 2022 and 2025, and it has been
shielded from legal scrutiny.
●The mining company has ties to electoral strategists using the Brexit playbook
that have been running Hichilema’s election campaigns for more than a decade:
●the billionaire-backed Brenthurst Foundation and its associate SABI Strategy
Group, a British lobbying firm that worked on the Vote Leave campaign
Hichilema’s current election campaign, which appears to be using
disinformation tactics, is being aided by the Zambian Presidential Delivery Unit,
set up and supported by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
●The report comes as the mining company has faced nationwide protests leading
to the closure of its $10bn mine in Panama.
