IS KCM HIS NEXT HOME TOWN?
By Miles B. Sampa, MP
02.07.2022
Social media is reporting that the Zambian government has offered KCM to our own billionaire Mr James Ndambo.
Hard to rule in or out what social media reports these days. I however would be most amazed if this had to be true. The UPND government has made a number of blunders indeed like basing the 2022 budget on ‘ promissory notes’ revenues from the unreliable IMF and other West manipulative financial institutions. This so when we should have focused on our own home grown solutions of revenue generation especially from the Mines and Agriculture.
Giving or selling KCM to Mr Ndambo would be some additional unimaginable huge error or blunder for both the seller and buyer. The Mine is under some serious legal dispute caused by the previous government. KCM was grabbed from the owners Vedanta in the same way a tenant in a one room slam house is evicted. It all depends on the mood of the landlord on a particular morning. A slight delay in paying rent even for a day, the landlord arrives with bouncers (Cadres in Suits) and with zero discussions takes out beddings and other personal effects of the tenant before changing all entrance locks.
When smarter tenants have gone to the courts, such landlords have ended up paying reverse rentals to the tenant. The landlord tenancy laws have since become solid in favour of abused tenants.
It’s the same with the foreign investors that bring their money into African countries. Landlords cannot just wake up in a bad mood and change locks at foreign owned mines.
The government has the right to change tenancy or ownership of KCM but the due process of the law would have to be followed. The Mr James Ndambo I once met sounded like one of his strength was venturing into safe investments. I would be surprised if he has now decided to spend his hard earned money into a KCM ‘mpoto yotenta’ (Hot potato). It would be the surest way of losing his money some of which is currently being used wisely back home in his ‘My Home Town’ Choma district community projects.
The Government under ZCCM-IH as sellers would be risking even more and more protracted litigations on KCM at the expense of Chingola residents and other KCM suppliers whose lives are almost at a standstill.
ZCCM-IH under Ms Dorika Banda seems to have become more clueless of what to do on a straight forward matter of KCM. She may have been away from Zambia for too long to comprehend the gymnastics around her office. In the spirit of ‘Name and Shame’ as we have been encouraged to do by the President, the truth is that ZCCM-IH and the Ministry of Mines are on remote control from a Mr Valentine ‘Ucar’ Chitalu. He has sniffed a penalty after many years of goal drought.
He is trying to porn the captured KCM for a quick commision to his fat bank account offshore. It’s about him and not the people of Chingola and Zambia at large.
KCM needs to be given back to the rightful owners Vedanta. Basic commercial law or is it common sense law dictates that KCM is not available for resale.
Undisputed that Mr Ndambo has enough clean money to buy any mine in Zambia but I am very confident he would not want his next ‘home town’ to be KCM that is in huge political imbroglio.
Imbroglio is a word borrowed from Hon Mpombo that Oxford dictionary defines as ‘an extremely confused, complicated, or embarrassing situation.’ Best define the KCM saga.
Shall we please put our personal interest aside and get KCM to start full operations as a matter dire national urgency.
I have noticed that both the 2.8 and the 1.8 are only united on one thing. They don’t want another state capturer. They don’t want another Gupta, Valden or whoever. Ba Ucar (Valentine Chitalu et al); please don’t capture our President, our Vice President, our Mines and Finance Ministers minds in their decision making or lack of it.
Allow them to carry their electorate mandate to execute their roles in the best interest of the majority people and not one or two people be it black or white.
Together We Can
MBS02. 07.2022
Chairman : Pan Africa Parliament Public Accounts Committee