Authorities in Nongowa Chiefdom, Kenema District, have appealed to the government to reinstate JM Mining Kenema (SL) Ltd’s operations licence, saying the company has delivered substantial community development even before full-scale mining began.
In a protest letter to President Julius Maada Bio and a petition signed by landowners and the Paramount Chief, chiefdom leaders described the Ministry’s decision to revoke the Kamboi Hills licence as “hasty and malicious” and called for strict adherence to the Mines and Minerals Development Act.
According to the authorities, JM Mining has operated in the area for nine years and invested heavily in exploration and community projects despite not yet starting full-scale operations.
They listed a 9-kilometre road constructed by the company, as well as support to the health sector, education and agricultural cooperatives.
“We consider them to be credible investors, awaiting the development of the mine to do much more for the larger host setting,” the petition states. “We are a people of honour, Mr President, and we wish to keep, and not violate, that honour,” referring to a 25-year surface lease agreement signed with JM Mining in 2023.
The dispute intensified after widespread reports that the Ministry, under Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources Hon. Julius Daniel Mattai, has granted an operational licence for the same site to a Chinese firm.
Sources in Kenema claim the decision was made without meeting the prior exploration and commercial discovery requirements set out in Sierra Leone’s Mines and Minerals Development Act.
Under the Act, a company seeking a large-scale or small-scale mining licence must first hold an exploration licence, conduct testing to establish economic viability, and demonstrate a commercial discovery before a licence can be converted to a mining licence.
The law allows exceptions through a public tender for a combined exploration and mining licence, or Cabinet approval for minerals deemed essential to national security or public well-being. Even then, the holder must still commence exploration and meet environmental and operational prerequisites before production.
The Ministry revoked JM Mining’s licence offer citing alleged non-payment of certain fees within a stipulated period. Community leaders acknowledge the company faced temporary financial difficulties, but say it has since secured funding and notified the Ministry of its readiness to settle outstanding payments and proceed with mine development.
In the petition to State House, Nongowa leaders argued that withdrawing the offer after nearly a decade of work, and reallocating mineral rights to parties with no prior investment, amounts to a “blatant injustice.”
The document also names the Ministry and the National Minerals Agency. It alleges officials attempted to impose new investors on the community “based upon a fraudulent misrepresentation of our consent.”
According to the signatories, neither landowners nor the Paramount Chief agreed to host the new applicants.
“The pressure to accept these newcomers is most distasteful and unacceptable,” the petition reads, warning that the move undermines community rights, the authority of the Paramount Chief, and risks creating tensions.
A Kenema resident told _The Informant Newspaper_: “The Ministry’s decision tends to deter investors from Sierra Leone. JM Mining Company is fully capacitated financially and human resource-wise to continue its work for the people of Kenema.”
Closing with an appeal to fairness, justice and mercy, chiefdom authorities asked President Bio to weigh JM Mining’s long history of investment and community support, and its current capacity to meet obligations, rather than enforce the decision on strict legal technicalities.
“Let us not turn them away so heartlessly, Mr President,” the letter concludes. “On behalf of the people of Nongowa Chiefdom, Your trusting and supportive subjects.”
For Nongowa leaders, the case is framed not only as a licensing dispute, but as a test of whether long-term, community-backed investment will be protected, or displaced in favour of new entrants who, in their view, contributed nothing to the discovery or to the social fabric of the area.