HAKAINDE Hichilema says PF government in taking over Copperbelt Energy Corporation infrastructure are sending a message that “you are not safe to invest in property, in an asset, business, it can be take away from you any time”.
And Hichilema says Zambians can still reclaim their freedom of expression by effectively using social media platforms.
In an interview with the BBC’s Kennedy Gondwe on Monday evening, Hichilema, the UPND leader was asked on the current tiff between the government and the CEC, in which the former has declared the latter’s power supply infrastructure common carrier.
Hichilema said what the Zambian government had done amounted to expropriation of private investment.
“It amounts to basically taking away the assets or the economic benefit that the company generates from those assets it owns. In this case CEC bought some of the assets from a public enterprise which was ZCCM then, basically the distribution network, they bought the assets, now to take their assets away…by implication, someone may argue they didn’t take the assets away through those statutory instruments, but by taking their revenue opportunities away from the owner of the assets amounts to expropriation, taking over private companies’ assets or income streams or business opportunities…bad message for investment, seriously bad message for investors, we will never do that in the UPND.”
Hichilema said he understood how to resolve commercial disputes.
He noted that the Zambian government was represented on the CEC board.
He said the government was basically getting petty against its own citizens, which was a contradictory behaviour.
“We in the UPND are seeking leadership so that we can make the economy strong, we can only make the economy strong if we can make the citizens of this country strong, investors strong. Now what the PF is doing is total negation of what they say…it frightens away not just foreign direct investment but domestic investment. It frightens anybody who takes a risk to put their money in a project and expect a return when your government is making such decisions, unilateral decisions without negotiating, no one will invest,” he said. “When no one invests, there will be no growth in the economy. Our economy has already collapsed under the PF, it can only be revived by private sector investment working with the government of Zambia, because the public treasury is empty, so the only envelop we will invoke ourselves when we take over office is the private sector envelop by making sure that the UPND government provides attractive policies unlike what’s happening now, provide stability in the policies, in the laws and regulations relating to business, social life, citizen’s rights to property.”
Hichilema said the PF were sending a message that “you are not safe to invest in property, in an asset, business, it can be take away from you any time”.
“That is bad news, UPND would never do a thing like that,” he said.
Hichilema said just like in communities, there were also misunderstandings in business but what mattered was a mutually decided approach in resolving them.
He wondered why the government did not seek recourse in the courts instead of using its powers to expropriate CEC assets and its income generating opportunities.
“Because that’s a recourse in a civilised democratic country. You have conflict, you deal with it on the board like for CEC if the board doesn’t agree, go to the shareholders; the shareholders don’t agree, go to court. The government of Zambia did not invoke those. But that’s what UPND will do to bring stability and confidence back in the market,” Hichilema said.
Asked if he was a shareholder in CEC, Hichilema said, “I don’t have shares in CEC.”
Gondwe then repeated the question directly or indirectly, the opposition leader said “I don’t have shares in CEC”.
However, Hichilema said if he had any shares in the company, it would not matter because it was legal.
He said the PF government was not just oppressing CEC but KCM where they appointed their party cadre to be liquidator.
“We argued that time that KCM should not have been put in liquidation. I understand, given my background in business, corporate finance, I understand the consequences of putting a company in liquidation, you impair the business continuity, you impinge on the integrity of assets, that can basically be asset stripped,” Hichilema said. “There was no CEC involved there, there was no perception of HH having shares there. How did they act like that in KCM? They should have put KCM under a manager not under liquidation. They are destroying that business employing well over 13,000 people. Now Mopani, CEC, it’s a pattern for PF to destroy businesses yet they stand on the anthill to say they want the economy to grow. The economy will not grow like this, there is no confidence, the little confidence that was there is eroded.”
Hichilema said the only solution was a democratic change of government to restore confidence in the economy and investments would be actualised.
And Hichilema emphasised that by telling citizens to stand up and defend their rights, “I’m not asking citizens to do something out of the ordinary.”
Over the past week, Lusaka Province minister Bowman Lusambo, in an anomalous way but emblematic of him, threatened some Zambians who grieved, on social media, about certain governance matters.
The minister sought the apology of identified citizens but many people online and in mainstream media countered.
‘Fortunately’, Lusambo’s uncharacteristic behaviour won President Edgar Lungu’s support.
But Hichilema regretted that young Zambians had no jobs and that they lacked business opportunities but: “when they want to complain, the government is shutting them down and threatening them.”
“Musicians also use the social media to express their views [but] they are being threatened, being cajoled to apologise. And then Lusambo, who is supposed to be a responsible minister, acted in a roguish manner. [But] the one who is supposed to be his supervisor, his President, does not moderate him!” Hichilema said.
Asked what kind of a demonstration he meant when he hinted about it, Hichilema reiterated that Zambians must stand up and not allow anyone to take away their rights, “in this case their freedom of expression.”