COSTA “CROSS EXAMINES” MUNDUBILE – DID BM ACQUIT HIMSELF WELL?

By Kellys Kaunda

COSTA “CROSS EXAMINES” MUNDUBILE – DID BM ACQUIT HIMSELF WELL?

Yes, he acquited himself well. I didn’t have to agree with everything he said but he exemplified knowledge, wisdom and leadership. And yes, he is Presidential material.

Costa gave Brian Mundubile an opportunity to comment and explain a number of issues.

He commented on his interrogation at the airport by individuals that described themselves as from the office of the President.

In Zambia, when individuals describe themselves as coming from the office of the President, it means they are intelligence officers.

This is a red flag. Intelligence officers must only gather intel which must be passed on to the pollice who must then interrogate a suspect.

But here in Zambia, this happens as though it is the right thing to do. On second thought, they may not have even been the mainstream and traditional intelligence officers.

The latter are not a police force. They are not part of the criminal justice system. They are part of the office of the President. The latter is their client.

Whatever info they gather is primarily meant for him. For them to go and interrogate Mundubile is the same as Hichilema interrogating his opponent.

When Mundubile was eventually locked up, arrested and charged, it meant Hichilema did all this to his opponent!

This goes against every grain of democratic norms which require the separation of powers.

Hichilema cannot be an arresting officer and a political contender at the same time but he is in the case of Mundubile because it was officers from his office who went to interrogate him.

Apparently, ruling parties in Zambia have had the bad habit of running parallel structures that mimic the official ones or forcing party caders into security institutions.

BM says they asked him about his connection with Katumbi of the DRC who he said he has heard about but has nothing to do with him.

He was asked about former DRC President Kabila, again, he denied having anything to do with him.

He was also asked about Xaviour Chungu, the former Intelligence Chief, BM described him as his brother but spoke to him a couple of months back.

They justified their questions on the premise that they suspected that he was planning to destabilize this country.

In no uncertain terms, he reminded them of his patriotism and that he couldn’t destroy a country he was seeking to lead.

Despite these questions, Mundubile was shocked that he was later charged with an issue that was more than three years old – that he was funding some social media page to spread and promote hate speech.

As he rightly observed, the charges are politically motivated. They are intended to keep him busy in courts and if possible, lock him up so that he doesn’t contest. It’s imingalato in progress.

On the persistent allegations that he received payment for works his company had not delivered, Mundubile couldn’t be any more clearer.

“On five occasions, my company has been audited to verify these allegations and each time, they have been proved false”, he said.

Another persistent question was in respect of opposition unity – why can’t Mundubile join hands with others?

“There’re 25 organizations – political parties and NGOs – that are part of Tonse Alliance of which I am President, what further evidence of unity must go beyond this?” Mundubile answered.

He further wondered why it was only unity if there were certain names in the equation. I thought that was a brilliant response whatever the contradictory opinion might be.

Costa gave BM an opportunity to let the nation in on his manifesto. He talked of farming blocks serviced by road and communication infrastructure.

He talked of these as his strategy for employment creation. He shared some stats to this effect. You could put up some mathematical arguments but he came out confident in what he was saying. He reserved details for the manifesto which he said is due out soon.

Closely related to agriculture, the topic every candidate must have an opinion about is mining, after all, it’s the goose that lays the egg.

He chose not wholesale condemnation but raised two issues: Why Mopani was “given away for nothing”.

The terms on which government gave Mopani to the present investors were controversial then and will remain so until a new government comes in.

I suspect to this day that given the questionable governance structures of our political system, clarity on this matter may only come when Hichilema is no longer President.

The second question he raised was the rate of the Mineral Royalty Tax. He said the Minister of Finance was asked why he was reducing (or was it proposing?) it from 6% to 3% and consequently forego a staggering 600million dollars?

For a country under an IMF program and under intense pressure from her foreign creditors, it’s indeed curious why a Minister of Finance would be giving away such a large chunk of money in the name of attracting foreign investors. Or did he give another reason?

Global trends indicate that the tax in question is often charged within the 1-12% band. So, whichever number any government picks I guess will be debatable as the justification may be subjective.

However, I must be quick to add that I haven’t independently verified the current rate although some sources suggest that rather than reducing the Mineral Royalty Tax, the Zambian government chose the sliding scale mineral royalty system which adjusts informed by prevailing copper prices.

This means, the rate could go down in case of lower copper prices. For those of you able to check the current status, kindly check with the Ministry of Finance.

Still on the mines, Mundubile was skeptical of government goal of reaching 3million metric tones of copper production annually by 2031.

He said those were government figures and not industry figures. However, there’re indications that government arrived at these figures based on industry performance now in addition to the new mines coming on stream.

For instance, if 2024 figures indicate a production of over 820,000 metric tones while 2025 was inching towards 1million, it was not farfetched to estimate 3million tones per annum by 2031.

This aspiration becomes even more feasible if you take into account expansions at First Quantam Minerals – S3 expected to produce 270,000 metric tones; upscaling Lumwana Super Pit, KCM, Lubambe Copper Mines and Mopani with a combined capacity of 593,000 metric tones; and Mingomba and Kitumba, a combined capacity of 700,000 metric tones.

On Bill 7, Costa tried to push hard like typical cross examinations do, but BM stood his ground – it was not about content but process. He reminded Costa of that several times.

I understood his point. I didn’t have to agree with him but his point was logically laid out – it was about process and not content.

You’ve got to give it to the man – he’s not just a lawmaker, he’s a lawyer. And not just a lawyer, but a constitutional lawyer.

On fuel imports and the current Middle East crisis, Mundubile tapped into his experience as a former ERB chairperson. He explained the use to which they applied both the TAZAMA Pipeline and Indeni. In addition, he talked about the strategic importance of storage facilities and the need to increase them. On this question, it was clear that he was on familiar turf.

On the medicine procurement challenges, Mundubile demonstrated knowledge regarding procurement and management challenges.

Since these functions were transfered from the Ministry of Health, he has noticed that the process of weaning off and separating the two entities required careful navigation.

On the US health deal, clearly, the man was on top of things. He categorically stated that personal data must be defended and protected under privacy laws.

He wondered why data must continually be shared for 20yrs after the expiry of funding which in itself is 5 years.

However, he said overall, the deal was okay but only needed to be renegotiated.

At the end of the interview, I could see why Mundubile is ready and ripe to lead: his time in public service has exposed him to just about every thematic area of governance.

He has a working knowledge of the systems of governance. Therefore, he will not be getting into government to learn on the job.

Throughout the interview, he kept his cool and answered every question to the best of his abilities.

To his credit, Costa gave Mundubile ample time to answer the questions put to him.

Where he interrupted, it was because, in broadcasting, time is of the essence.

If he sounded disrespectful by alleging greed for seeking the Presidency to the exclusion of others, it was because the word is already in the public domain. So, he gave his guest an opportunity to address the issue. And Mundubile did address the issue with grace, honor and dignity.

Agree or disagree with him, what you can’t accuse Mundubile of is ignorance. He knows statecraft and he knows what he wants to do for Zambia.