Peter Sinkamba writes:

GOVT EARNED $44 BILLION THROUGH MINING FEES IN 2022?

On page 11, of today’s Daily Mail (Tuesday, 9 January 2024), it is reported that Government earned $44 billion through mining fees.

When I saw the caption, I got interested as a mining expert because that sort of money would have surely wiped out our $14 billion external debt. It would have been enough to pay off Glencore’s $1.5 billion debt for acquisition of Mopani shares, and capital requirement of $500million; and pay $2.7 billion to Vedanta for acquisition of KCM operations. There would have been absolutely no need for debt restructuring and budget deficits for 2023 and 2024 budgets. And the kwacha would have been trading at no more than K5 per dollar.

But when I read the full story, I realised that actually the amount was K44 billion translating in only $1.8 billion.

Unfortunately, this is the third mileading story that I have picked from Zambia Daily Mail journalism in less than two weeks.

First time is generally taken as a happen stance. Second time is usually considered as a coincidence. But third time is an indication of a crisis mode.