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A petition before the Constitutional Court is challenging the legality of the Minerals Regulation Commission Act, with Peter Sinkamba arguing that the law breaches the Constitution.
Sinkamba, who has filed the action in his capacity as Executive Director of Citizens for a Better Environment, contends that Parliament exceeded its authority by creating the Minerals Regulation Commission (MRC) through ordinary legislation.
He argues that the MRC—established under Act No. 14 of 2024—is not among the commissions listed under Articles 216 to 237 of the Constitution.
By introducing a new commission outside the constitutional framework, he says, Parliament attempted to do what the supreme law does not permit.
Citing Articles 266 and Part XVIII of the Constitution, Sinkamba insists that Section 5 of the Act is unconstitutional because it seeks to create a commission where the Constitution does not authorize one. As such, he argues, the MRC is illegal, null and void.
He is seeking declarations that the Act is inconsistent with the Constitution and, therefore, void to the extent of that inconsistency.
Sinkamba further wants the Constitutional Court to issue an order of certiorari quashing the Act and the establishment of the MRC, and to order the State, through the Attorney General, to bear the costs of the petition.
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