LUSAKA. Sunday, 24th May 2020.

Government has declared gold as a national strategic mineral following the wide occurrence of gold across the country.

This has been done to allow as many citizens as possible to benefit from its exploitation and to act as a store of value for the Bank of Zambia.

Minister of Mines Permanent Secretary, Barnaby Bwalya Mulenga disclosed in a statement that to this end, the Ministry is proposing amendments to the current law to allow that major benefits to go to Zambians.

He said on 20th May 2020, Cabinet approved a proposal from the Minister of Mines and Minerals Development, Hon Richard Musukwa to amend the Mines and Minerals Development Act to close the existing gaps, recognize the occurence of gold countrywide and its improve monitoring and evaluation.

He said of the total 3,666 of gold licences issued, 92% have been issued to Zambians.

GOVERNMENT POLICY ON GOLD

Government has mandated ZCCM-IH to coordinate the gold trading business in Zambia and purchase the gold from artisanal miners.

ZCCM has also been tasked to partner with players in the sub-sector to promote more gold mining.

He said the Policy was to encourage that gold in the country formed the strategic reserve at the Central Bank.

He said the Policy however does not entail grabbing or expropriation of existing gold licences but rather encourages more gold mines to be established in the country.

He said the policy has not been fully utilized, hence current gold producing mines such as Kansanshi Mines Plc, have not been compelled to sell their gold to Bank of Zambia as the law is yet to be amended to actualise the policy aspirations.

He said so far, ZCCM-IH has been establishing gold trading centers, which will afford artisanal gold miners an opportunity to sell their gold.

He said however, the Act allows for the Ministry to give licences to both Zambians and foreigners to encourage foreign direct investment into the sector.

He said licence holders are encouraged to use lawful sources of capital to achieve the licence conditions of mining.

ON ZCCM-IH AND ITS PARTNERSHIPS

Mr. Mulenga has disclosed that ZCCM-IH has partnered with Karma Limited, a company owned by Sudanese nationals.

He said Karma Ltd earlier set up a gold processing plant in Rufunsa at a cost of US$3.5million.

He said ZCCM-IH has partnered with Karma through a special purpose vehicle called Consolidated Gold Company Zambia Limited(CGCZ).

CGCZ has been granted a mining processing licence in Rufunsa District where the company has approached two licence holders namely: Chembe Gold Mine and Sani Gold Mine.

He said both CGCZ and Karma Ltd were not undertaking gold mining but partnering with existing licence holders.

He said
He said ZCCM-IH has also partnered with Array Ltd mining gold in Mumbwa to supply gold ore for processing to CGCZ in Mumbwa and Karma will invest $2.5million for the establishment of the processing plant.

He said the purpose of current ZCCM-IH partnerships is to establish gold processing facilities at two sites, in Rufunsa and Mumbwa.

The partnerships entail that 65% will be for CGCZ while 35% for licence holders.

Mr. Mulenga said that the above efforts would not frustrate Zambians from benefiting from the discovery and occurrence of gold in the country.

He said the partnerships will go to compliment government’s efforts to account for all gold in Zambia.

He said however, Zambia was committed to the promotion of both local and foreign direct investment in the mining sector.

By Sishuwa Sishuwa

Last Friday, 25 May 2018, marked Africa Freedom Day. Like every year, our political leaders and foreign dignitaries gathered at State House to offer platitudes on African unity and freedom. Earlier, they had gone to the Freedom Statue where they laid wreaths in honour of those who died in pursuit of the freedom of Zambia and Africa. This is an appropriate time to reflect about this day and ask: what is it that we are celebrating or commemorating? What does Africa Freedom Day mean for the ordinary citizen? What is it that Zambians are free to do on Africa Freedom Day? If those individuals celebrating independence in October 1964 could have seen a vision of what Zambia would be like in 50 years’ time, they would undoubtedly have been disappointed. Take the sorry and shameful case of Mpundu Mutembo. Many Zambians, especially residents of Lusaka, will know what this man looks like although they have never met him and he does not occupy a prominent position in public life. This is because Mutembo is the model for the famous Freedom Statue on Independence Avenue depicting a man breaking the chains of colonial oppression that had shackled Zambia’s people.

Mutembo himself has little to celebrate. This man, on whom one of our national symbols is based and who appears on the Kwacha, lives in poverty. Successive governments have forgotten him. Promises to provide an income, housing and food security have all been broken. Even the land he lives on in Mbala, Northern Province, was not a gift from the government. It was in fact granted to him by the last colonial governor of Northern Rhodesia. The governments of an independent Zambia have given him nothing. They all have forgotten him. Yet every year, on 25 May, our leaders go to the Freedom Statue to pay homage to a sculpture that he inspired. “I am suffering. I walk on foot. I don’t eat properly. Some of my children have died in poverty. I can’t even take my children to school. Where do I find the money? Very shameful,’ Mutembo told News Diggers on Africa Freedom at a braai organised by opposition National Restoration Party leader Elias Chipimo to raise funds for him. A few metres away from the venue of the braai, those for whom the poor 82-year-old had fought and who have since neglected him, were having a buffet. It is not too late to provide Mpundu with some dignity in his old age. Those who go to pay homage to the statue depicting him will do well to provide something for the man himself and for his fellow citizens who live in the same conditions of squalor. Chipimo deserves credit for inviting Mutembo to Lusaka and holding a braai meant to raise funds in his honour. This freedom fighter is surely owed more than a square meal. I plead with our political leaders to give this man some dignity. Please help him before he dies.

The ill-treatment we have accorded Mutembo should be a matter of deep shame for our country, but perhaps it is appropriate that our national symbol is a forgotten hero of our nationalist struggle living in poverty. It is at least consistent with how another national hero was treated. Mpundu Mponde Mutale, the singer of Africa my Africa, a song that has effectively become the official anthem at celebrations to mark Africa Freedom Day and which has brought a tear to the eye of successive generations of Zambia’s political leaders, was solely forgotten. He too lived in squalor and was literally left to die. Every year, on Africa Freedom Day, a very expensive car from State House would arrive in Chibolya, an impoverished slum in Lusaka, behind SOWETO Market, where he lived alone in a single-roomed shack made of cardboard and worn metallic sheets, partitioned in the middle by a filthy piece of well-worn cloth. Possibly the only time in a year that he rode in a car, it would collect and bring him to State House, where he was asked to sing the song, to convey history through music, and feted for a few hours in what constituted a brief acknowledgement of his role. After the celebrations, Mutale was again discarded, only to be remembered the following year on 25 May.

A pauper, Mutale had no house, no job, no income, no running water, no electricity and no access to healthcare. He went for days without a meal and only survived through the kindness of a fellow struggling neighbour who shared the little that she occasionally gathered. This is a historic wrong and injustice, one that now cannot be righted, as Mutale is dead. Although the official cause of his death was diabetes, a disease that is easily manageable when the necessary support is available, Mutale was killed by our inhumanity – the same cold-heartedness that is about to take another life of an outstanding patriot of our country. For a long time, like Mutembo, Mutale cried for help from the government and other well-wishers, but his cry always fell on deaf ears. “I feel my life is falling apart. Misfortunes are happening in quick succession. First, it was diabetes. Now, I am too broke to support myself and to have my music and film on the market. I have been calling for help for a very long time”, complained Mutale in July 2006, a few weeks before he died. On 25 May that year, our national leaders listened to his enlightening and incriminating track while they were drinking and eating. They have been doing the same thing before and ever since. His words still bring a tear to the eye, but those crying are not crying for him.

Mutembo and Mutale are unfortunately representative of the awful plight of freedom fighters: impoverished, without the essential basics, neglected and waiting to be freed by death. There is no national policy to even identity and locate former freedom fighters, let alone acknowledge their roles. Many live in obscurity and degrading human conditions in the land they fought to free. If this is the way we treat freedom fighters, then what hope does the common man or ordinary citizen have? During a recent visit to Muchinga and Luapula provinces, I was stunned to see the degrading and dehumanising conditions under which rural residents continue to live in independent Zambia. Housed in grass huts, with no provision of services, struggling to earn a basic living from subsistence fishing, agriculture and selling charcoal, I could not hold back my tears. No human being, let alone a fellow citizen, should live that way. However, I know that what I saw in Luapula and Muchinga is representative of how millions of rural Zambians and the urban poor in other parts of the country live. What has 54 years of independence meant for these people? How can they be expected to live in this way? Where is our humanity? How do Zambia’s leaders sleep at night?

A key reason that made the generation of Mutembo and Mutale great was their genuine humility, their sense of vision, their spirit of sacrifice, service, community and their ability to care about others and in many cases to help provide for them. Today, I fear that we are losing these humane values and becoming a nation of self-centred individuals. Millions of Zambians, with their expectations of independence thwarted, live as Mutale did. The haunting story of Mutembo is a Zambian story; it is one that represents the plight of the common man, who is free only to rot in poverty. For the ordinary citizen or common man, Africa Freedom Day or Independence Day means nothing but another day of struggle. Political leaders today have no vision or clear strategy to bring about the badly needed change. They are content to bicker over inane and trivial matters, or to use their time in public office as an opportunity for personal accumulation and self-enrichment. Just where does our hope lie?

DANIEL Kalembe brutalised me on youth day, he is violent, said Patriotic Front member Innocent Kalimanshi.

Kalimanshi and his fellow PF member Nathan Phiri told the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court that Lusaka Province PF youth chairman Daniel Kalembe, who was in the company of some youths, hit them with pavers at the freedom statue for refusing to heed to his directives when he asked them to leave the venue for youth day celebrations.

This is in a matter where Kalembe is facing two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Kalembe is on March 12, 2020 alleged to have assaulted Kalimanshi and Phiri.

Kalimanshi told chief resident magistrate Lameck Mwale that during the youth day celebrations at the freedom statue, Kalembe and Phiri had an argument on phone and when they met in person, the argument continued.

The witness said when Kalembe saw him with Phiri, he (Kalembe) accused him of involving himself in issues he did not know.

He said Kalembe told him that he would withdraw his protection over him (Kalimanshi) as he was the owner of Lusaka.

“I told him that the differences between he and Nathan was none of my business because I worked with Phiri because of politics. Kalembe left and he later came back with youths who asked me to leave but I refused because I wanted to listen to the President’s speech,” he narrated.

“One of the youths had a bottle and Kalembe got it and hit me above my right eye and I started bleeding. I looked at him to make him feel guilty as I grew up under his care. The same youth who was the owner of bottle picked a paver and asked me why I gave Kalembe a disapproving look. He hit me with a paver on my mouth and my fake teeth fell off my mouth and one of my tooth (incisor) started shaking.”

He said people threw stones at his back but he did not turn to see who were stoning him and Phiri.

Kalimanshi said the police rushed to the scene and asked Kalembe what was happening and the latter claimed he was chasing the youths who were causing commotion.

“The police told me to go to the police station as I was assaulted and it was at that time that the national youth chairman Kelvin Sampa engaged Kalembe in a conversation,” Kalimanshi explained.

He added that at the police station, he was given a medical report and he went to UTH where his wound was sutured and was given pain killers for his tooth as the doctor advised him to go and see a dentist after three months.

In cross-examination by Kalembe’s lawyer Tutwa Ngulube, Kalimanshi affirmed that him and Phiri were assaulted at the same time.

He said he felt dizzy after he was assaulted and could therefore not tell the number of other youths who were assaulted together with him.

He said Kalembe brutalised him at he freedom Statue.

When asked if Kalembe was violent, Kalimanshi answered in the affirmative.

When asked if Phiri was assaulted, Kalimanshi said “I heard Nathan cry (mayo nafwa) whilst calling upon his mother.”

Earlier, Phiri, a businessman of Kamwala south, told magistrate Mwale that on March 12, 2020, he went to the freedom statue for youth day celebrations and whilst he was seated in a vehicle labeled ECL empowerment 2021 belonging to the party, Kalembe approached him indicating that he was no longer going to protect him as he was going to withdraw security.

“He said I am going to remove my protection from you (Phiri). I asked him, are you God for you to say you will remove protection from me? He left for a while, for about 10 minutes, and he came back with youths from Intercity bus terminus and he told them to chase me and others,” Phiri narrated.

“Some of the youths said tampeni ukwenda (start walking away) and I refused saying I am not going anywhere, I have come here to celebrate and this day belongs to the youths.”

Phiri said Kalembe, who was in the company of the said youths, picked up pavers at the freedom statue and stoned him on his head and the back.

Phiri said police officers came to his rescue and he was rushed to central police station to go and obtain a medical report form and he later proceeded to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) for attention.

At this point, Ngulube objected to production of the pavers as part of evidence as there was no proof that the pavers came from the scene.

Ngulube said Phiri did not hand the pavers to the police for investigations, so there was a risk that he might have picked them somewhere.

He added that the chain of custody had not been established and Phiri being a complainant in the matter, the possibility of telling lies was very high.

In his response, state prosecutor Aaron Tuntuluka said that being the custodian of the pavers, Phiri was the right person to produce them as evidence despite him not surrendering them to the police.

However, Ngulube argued that no explanation was rendered why the witness did not surrender the pavers to the police for investigations.

In his ruling, magistrate Mwale said one would wonder why the exhibits were not tendered to the police for investigations and decline their admission as evidence.

During cross-examination by Kelembe’s other lawyer, Phiri said that he could still consider himself as a youth at 48 years because in their party, the PF, there were people who had clocked 50 years but still consider themselves as youths.

He denied being an intruder at the youth celebrations owing to his age.

When further asked if he was a youth apart from his party position, Phiri said he was not a youth.

He affirmed that he did not have proof of invitation as it was done verbally by the constituency chairman of PF.

Phiri said he knew his other attackers but it was not his duty to effect an arrest because it is a preserve of the police officers.

When asked if he provoked the youths when he threatened to take over Intercity bus terminus with others, Phiri denied.

Phiri said he identified Kalembe and Pethias Kamimbi as his attackers.

When asked if Kalembe was separating a fight between youths from Chawama and Intercity, Phiri denied.

Meanwhile, Kalembe and his assault victims have failed to reconcile as the parties could not reach consensus.

Magistrate Mwale, who earlier ordered that the matter proceeds to trial, told the parties that they could still engage the court in an event that they decide to reconcile in future.

Trial continues on July 2, 2020.

PRESS RELEASE: Gold Exploitation In Zambia And The ZCCM-IH PLC Partnerships.

Lusaka – 24th May, 2020.

There have been concerns from various stakeholders on what the Zambian Government position is in relation to Gold and the partnerships ZCCM Investments Holdings Plc has entered into with Karma Limited and other stakeholders.

The following is the explanation on the various aspects raised as concerns by the public and the Ministry position on the matters.

1. Government Policy On Gold And The Steps Taken.

Zambia is endowed with gold resources and the government remains committed to ensuring Gold benefits the people of Zambia. Government has declared gold as a Strategic Mineral meant to allow all citizens benefit from its exploitation. This means gold must be differently handled compared to other Minerals in the country. In that vein, ZCCM-IH Plc has been mandated to coordinate efforts to purchase the gold from Artisanal miners and to also coordinate the gold trading business in Zambia. ZCCM-IH Plc has also been tasked to partner with players in the sector (Small and Large Scale mining licence holders) to promote more gold mining. So far ZCCM-IH Plc has been establishing gold trading centres, which would afford the Artisanal Gold Miners an opportunity to sale their gold and the Ministry is involved in the fomalisation of the small scale and artisanal sector, to empower Citizens.

The Government Policy and the law i.e. the Mines and Minerals Development Act No. 11 of 2015, is that licences can be given to both Zambians and non- Zambians except for Artisanal Licences that are reserved exclusively for Zambian Citizens. This policy has consistently been followed from the time that the Mine Privatization Policy was adopted in 1991.

This means some licences are owned by foreigners, others jointly owned by Zambians and Foreigners while others are owned by Zambians only. Almost 92% of all licences in Zambia are owned by Zambians. The government policy in mining is to encourage both Local and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the sector. Mining requires huge capital investment which prompts licence holders to borrow from Banks and other investors. Licence holders are free to use any lawful source of capital available to them to achieve the licence conditions.

Government has not said that Gold will Exclusively be mined, processed and handled by Zambians only or ZCCM-IH Plc only: Instead the Policy is to ensure that all gold from Artisanal miners is bought through ZCCM-IH Plc to Bank of Zambia to build our strategic reserves as a nation. The Policy also tasks ZCCM-IH Plc to be involved in the opening of new gold mines at small and large scale levels, hence the involvement in Kasenseli in Mwinilunga. The policy does not entail grabbing or expropriating existing gold licences from the holders in favour of ZCCM-IH Plc but rather encourage more gold mines to be established in the country whose gold production would end up with Bank of Zambia. Licence holders are free to partner with ZCCM-IH Plc to exploit the gold resources. This Policy has not been fully realized because the law is yet to be amended to actualize the policy aspirations. This is why Gold producing companies such as Kansanshi Mines Plc are not currently compelled to sell the gold to Bank of Zambia.

This Policy was approved by the Government in October 2019. After the Policy, the legislative changes are required to implement the policy in full because before that, there is no legal basis to compel a mine licence holder to sell the Gold to ZCCM-IH Plc.

In line with the Policy, Cabinet on Wednesday 20th May 2020 approved a proposal from the Minister of Mines and Minerals Development, Hon. Richard Musukwa, MP for the Mines and Minerals Development Act to be amended. The reason for that decision of Cabinet is because there is an acknowledgment that a Policy on Gold alone will not work without the laws and regulations being aligned with the Policy. The amendment to the Act will also look at other gaps in the laws including improving monitoring and evaluation, licencing and other lucunas identified by stakeholders. As a Ministry, we welcome views from Zambians and Stakeholders on how the law can be enhanced to ensure we maximize our benefits as a people from the extractive sector.

As earlier alluded to, Government declared gold as a strategic mineral and that declaration will entail a specific law be prepared that will guide the ‘dos’ and the ‘donts’ tied to gold. The approval by Cabinet to amend the existing Mining law paves way for the completion of measures on this important topic so that the issues are further clarified through regulations.

The debate on gold is welcomed because it justifies why Government is moving the direction of amending the Mining laws to allow the policy on the declaration of gold as a strategic Mineral to be realised.

2. Status Of Gold Exploration And Mining Licences In Zambia.

There are a lot of gold occurrences in Zambia involving almost all Provinces. The gold occurrences and resources are more pronounced in Eastern Province, North-Western, Central and Lusaka Provinces. Zambia is not fully mapped, meaning there are still areas of Zambia where we do not know what minerals are present at those locations. Gold exploration is even more difficult because in some areas the exploration may not yield promising results of sufficient gold mineralization to justify commercial exploitation. What however sometimes happens is that people later discover substantial quantities of gold e.g. In Mwinilunga, Kasenseli area.

Zambia currently has 3666 Licences as at the end of the first quarter of 2020 broken down as follows:

Type of Licence And Number of Licences.

Artisanal Mining Rights : 418
Small Scale Exploration Licence (SEL): 1306
Large Scale Exploration Licence (LEL): 1252
Small Scale Mining Licence (SML): 541
Large Scale Mining Licence (LML): 109
Mining Processing Licences (MPL): 40

Total – 3666

3. Ministry’s Position On The Partnership Of ZCCM-IH PLC With Karma Limited.

ZCCM-IH Plc has partnered with Karma Limited, a company owned by Sudanese Nationals. Karma Limited set up a gold processing plant in Rufunsa at a cost of about USD$3.5Million. Later the company partnered with ZCCM-IH Plc. That partnership has been actualised through a special purpose vehicle called the Consolidated Gold Company Zambia Limited (CGCZ). CGCZ has been granted a Mining Processing Licence in Rufunsa District where the company has approached two (2) Licence holders namely Chembe Gold Mine Limited and Sabi Gold Mine Limited. The partnership is to use the mineral ore material from these mining companies to process gold. That partnership entails that 65% of the gold will be for CGCZ and 35% for the Licence holders. Currently CGCZ has applied for another Mineral Processing Licence for Mumbwa where the company has approached a licence holder called Array Limited to utilize their mineral ore material. In other words, both CGCZ or Karma Limited are not undertaking any mining of the gold ore material but partnering with existing licence holders. All the gold recovered through this partnership shall all be sold to Bank of Zambia, as per government policy. Even though the Law on the declaration of Gold as a Strategic Mineral has not yet been concluded, the guarantee of securing the gold from this partnership comes from the contractual obligations of the parties and the directive to ZCCM-IH Plc by Government.

The partnership in Mumbwa involves Array Limited supplying gold ore for processing to CGCZ in Mumbwa and Karma will invest USD$2.5 Million for the establishment of the processing Plant. This is a commercial transaction in which a private licence holder (Array Limited) elected to partner with CGCZ for the mineral ore material to be processed by CGCZ. The concept of partnering in business, is done for different reasons including the fact that one would like to mitigate the risks of not having the technology to process.

As can be seen from the explanation above, this ZCCM- IH Partnership with Karma is for the purpose of establishing Gold Processing facilities in two sites namely Rufunsa and Mumbwa. The processing facilities have partnered with 3 existing licence holders out of a total of 3666 Licences in Zambia. The Government encourages several companies to invest in the mining sector and some have specialised only in processing materials such as Karma Limited, the subject of the current debate. There are 39 other companies that have mineral processing licences over Tailings Dumps and other mine tenements. The Ministry has no objections to partnerships that ensure we increase the gold production because ultimately ALL THE GOLD FROM THE PARTNERSHIPS MUST END UP WITH BANK OF ZAMBIA.

Government and ZCCM-IH Plc have been learning from other countries that have high gold production in Africa. For example Ghana is the largest producer of gold in Africa, followed by South Africa and Sudan is third. In 2018 for example, Ghana produced about 150,000 Kilogrammes of gold, South Africa produced 117,000 Kilogrammes while Sudan Produced 93,000 Kilogrammes. In the same year Zambia, produced about 4000 Kilogrammes of Gold. Zambia has a long history of being a copper producing country and can teach a lot of countries lessons on the skill of producing copper. Zambia also needs to learn valuable lessons from other African countries that have perfected gold production and recorded higher gold production figures, therefore lessons can be learnt from Sudan, through the Karma partnership.

4. Way Forward Over Gold In Zambia.

Gold presents many opportunities for Zambians. It is our firm belief that the discovery of the many gold occurrences and resources in Zambia is a game changer for the country. Government through Cabinet has given directives over matters involving gold and as soon as the law declaring gold as a strategic mineral is finalized, several benefits will alight. This gold will benefit the country greatly and offers the following opportunities for Zambia:

a. The Majority of the Zambians who own the licences (Almost 92%) can rise to the challenge and begin to mine or process whichever the case might be. This includes the option of approaching ZCCM-IH Plc to partner;
b. More Jobs and social economic development is expected in mining towns where the gold will be commercially exploited;
c. Zambian citizens granted Artisanal licences can continue to partner with ZCCM-IH Plc who will buy the gold nuggets recovered through their gold panning activities and the Ministry will continue to formalize the sector;
d. The trading of gold presents more opportunities for various Citizens to further benefit that will be further clarified as soon as the law declaring gold as a strategic Mineral is finalized. In other words, we have learned from Ghana and Tanzania, where the trading of gold has created many jobs for the private sector such as gold dealers, gold brokers and separate users or miners that will all be registered by the Government as a regulator of the gold sector.

The partnerships of ZCCM-IH Plc are steps meant to realize the goal of recovering as much gold as possible. The 3 licence holders in Rufunsa and Mumbwa respectively, who have chosen to partner with CGCZ to supply mineral ore, out of a total number of 3666 licence holders in Zambia, cannot reasonably be condemned as frustrating Zambia’s ability to benefit from Gold. On the contrary such partnerships compliment efforts to account for all the gold in Zambia. The steps are not in any way an attempt to disadvantage Zambian Citizens but rather a positive move to learn from those who have experience in gold mining so that ultimately Gold is sold to the Bank of Zambia for use as strategic reserves for the Country. Zambia shall remain a country committed to the promotion of both local and foreign investment in the mining sector.

Issued By:

Barnaby Bwalya Mulenga
Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Mines and Mines Development.

Minister of Mines Richard Musukwa has said that the government will soon announce a permanent solution to the liquidation process at Konkola Copper Mines (KCM).

Mr. Musukwa said that the government does NOT desire to prolong the liquidation process but wants to guarantee operations and secure thousands of jobs at the mine.

Last year, the Zambian government applied to liquidate KCM because of the firm’s alleged environmental and financial regulation breaches. According to Mr Musukwa, the liquidation of KCM was also a warning to other investors in the country to follow the rules, or else. “The case should instead be used as a signal to other mining companies not complying with the law to put their houses in order,”

Following the liquidation, Vedanta Resources rushed to South Afric, where the South Gauteng High Court granted Vedanta an urgent interim interdict to stop the Zambian government from forcing through a liquidation of KCM, which could involve a plan to sell the disputed assets which have received $3 billion of investment from Vedanta and is 79.4%-owned by the Indian company.

Vedanta welcomed the ruling from the South African court, saying on the same date in a media statement that the implication is that the KCM provisional liquidator could be discharged from the office.

However, while Vedanta cheered over South Africa’s recent court ruling against the Zambian government’s liquidation of its majority-owned Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), Zambian officials rebuked the decision and denied the enforceability of the foreign ruling that determines the future of the country’s largest copper smelting assets.

President Edgar Lungu also met with the chairman of Vedanta Resources to discuss the disputed liquidation of its Konkola Copper Mines, but State House issued a statement saying that while the president agreed to listen to Agarwal’s position it did not change his mind.

“The president stated that the position the government has taken has the support of the people of Zambia, and the meeting will not affect the ongoing liquidation process,” the statement said.

And Finance Minister Bwalya Ng’andu says the Copperbelt Province is key to the national economy because of its huge contribution to the treasury in the form of taxes.

Dr. Ng’andu says he is hopeful that the government will soon find a permanent solution to the situation at KCM.

Earlier, Copperbelt Minister Japhen Mwakalombe said the protests that rocked the province against mining houses have ended because the government has provided leadership.

Meanwhile, KCM provisional liquidator Milingo Lungu said management at the mine is grateful to the government for the support shown during the period.

The Finance minister is leading a delegation of ministers on the Copperbelt to understand the challenges in the mining sector.

ECZ SHAMELESS, INCOMPETENT, COMPROMISED AND CORRUPT CREDITIALS NOW MANIFESTING THEMSELVES:

A LESSON FROM MALAWI.

By Friday Kashiwa

Finally it has come to pass.
The People’s Power has prevailed in Malawi.
The People’s Power has forced the resignation of the Malawi Electoral Commission Chairperson Ms Jane Ansah – the Tippex lady, who presided over what the Malawian Concourt and Supreme Courts, in it’s scathing judgement has branded as the most and gross incompetent electoral Commission.

During the February 2019 Presidential elections, MsJane Ansah went to the extent of using correctional fluid or tippex or most likely even her lipstick to alter results in favor of the incumbent Peter Mutharika and later on fraudulently declared him as the duly elected President.

Here in Zambia, during our 2016 disputed elections, our Electoral commission of Zambia Chairman probably didn’t have or didn’t think of correctional fluid or tippex, but instead went ahead to create a fictictous constituency in a small village of Chitulika in Mpika.
And also went ahead to announce fake results for Lundazi District.

Unlike in the Zambian case, the Malawian judiciary sided with the law and the Malawian people.
In annulling the February 2019 polls, both the Constitutional and Supreme Courts of Malawi rendered their landmark SUPREME JUSTICE judgement citing Jane Ansah’s Commission as:
– Gross incompetent and at worst, bias against the other presidential candidates.
– That the OVERZEALOUS Attorney General shouldn’t have and should no longer represent the President or the State institutions in matters of presidential electoral court disputes.
Now all the above judgements sound very familiar here in Zambia.

So from the above Malawian electoral fraud case, the January 2017 Kenyan disputed elections, the 2016 Zambian disputed elections and others in the region, it is now becoming evidently clear that almost all the disputed election results being witnessed are as a result of the respective Electoral commissions compromised, corrupt and incompetent adjudication.
So far, this has been proven by the competent and unbiased judiciaries in Kenya and Malawi.
Underline the word COMPETENT judiciary.

My humble appeal to the next administrations and Governments taking over in these countries where gross incompetence in the adjudication of polls by the Electoral commission chairpersons and their Commissioners has been cited and proven, please go ahead and prosecute them.
But don’t throw them in jail but rather cage them in public Museums or a Zoo where Tourists and scholars of Democracy and Governance can go and view them as THE PEOPLE WHO ALMOST KILLED DEMOCRACY.
Remember to put in those cages a bottle of Correctional fluid or tippex, in Malawi.
In a Zambian Zoo or Museum, let’s put a Map of Mpika, to show that Chitulika is just a small village and NOT a constituency as per the 2016 election results.
Or a tape recorder of Essau Chulu announcing fake results for Lundazi District.

We salute you Kenya.
We salute you Malawi.
Not too late for mother Zambia.

Friday Kashiwa.
Shiwangandu

By Sean E. Tembo – PeP President

1. The bottom line is that there is plenty of gold across the country. Anyone who is interested in mining it can simply apply for an exploration license at the Department of Mines and it shall be given to you. Once you locate commercially viable deposits of gold with your exploration, then you can apply for a mining license and again, the Department of Mines will give it to you and you can set up your gold mine as a Zambian which will be owned by you 100%. Nobody will stop you. I personally know more than 10 prominent Zambians that are into the exploration business not only for gold but even for other deposits such as oil. Some are in the process of developing their mines.

2. Those Karma Mining Services guys who came from Sudan went and applied for an exploration license, got it, pumped money into exploration in Mumbwa, found commercially viable deposits of gold, applied for a mining license, got it then set up their mine which is operational as we speak. ZCCM-IH as an investor decided to buy some shares into the Mumbwa mine. Given that Karma is an international company with other business assets elsewhere, instead of ZCCM-IH buying shares into Karma Mining Services, they decided to set up an SPV called CGCZ in which ZCCM-IH owns 45% and Karma Mining Services owns 55%. This SPV will mine the gold at the Mumbwa site.

3. The SPV further decided to invest into a gold processing plant which will not only process gold from their Mumbwa mining site but also from various artisanal gold miners dotted all over the area. An artisanal miner is a small scale miner and this license category is reserved for Zambians only. There are more than 1,000 artisanal mining licenses that the Department of Mines has issued so far, for different mineral deposits including gold, manganese, emeralds etc.

4. CGCZ decided to establish an SPV to undertake this gold processing in Mumbwa in conjunction with Allay metals in which CGCZ owns 65% and Allay Metals owns 35%. A gold processing facility is like a smelter in the world of copper. Anyone can set up a gold processing facility and those involved in gold mining including artisanal gold miners will decide which processing facility to take their gold to for processing.

5. So now tell me, what are people crying about regarding the above arrangement? This is a totally commercial arrangement and no one said that these entities above will have a monopoly on gold exploration or mining in Zambia, no. So before ignorance kills you by arguing about things you don’t even understand, get out of social media, go and apply for a gold exploration license at the Department of Mines and become a proud gold mine owner in a few months or years. Smh

///END

SET 23.05.2020

PRESIDENT HH IS DOING HIS BEST. THE REST MUST BE DONE BY ALL BALLY FUNCTIONARIES. PUT ON THE REGALIA.

_…paint your town red and you defeat all pf reactionaries…._

James Kasanda Musendeka Lukuku, RPP President

Wake up in the morning, wear a upnd / Bally T-shirt and be identified. In a two months time pf will be no more.

Be courageous, be brave and be confident.

Don’t be cheated that President HH is not doing his best in outreach. The President is working and he is on radio everyday. Those who shot Lawrence Banda are the ones hallucinating that he should come out. Time for our next Republican President HH to come out will come.

Twakana!

You must understand that you and me we actually have no real brutal and ruthless enemies out there. Our President is carrying a different story. Every week that passes, is the more pf leaders are losing sleep due to Ballyphobia.

Some corrupt ministers it has been brought to our understanding have even lost appetite for food one year before general elections just because of Ballyphobia.

You must thus understand the strictness of security that our President HH will have to carry with him in such a dense swamp of crocodile infested waters.

Sata was Sata and President HH is President HH. I personally don’t think President HH should begin to imitate other politicians in interpreting his political journey, philosophy, duty and obligation. Let him be unique and play his game and do his own thing.

We are blessed to have Mr William Banda with us and its high time the party put him to real function. In 2009 before Mr William Banda became MMD Provincial Chairman, MMD women were carrying their chitenge materials in handbags, and could only put them on at specific place of function. Mr William Banda came to change things as Provincial Chairman as MMD took control of Lusaka and freely we could move in mmd regalia.

Let us start wearing Party uniforms.

Especially those who shop from low crime areas like shopping malls it is ideal for you to spread the Bally T-shirt deliberately. Even in our compounds where pf thieves cant group themselves and attack let’s take advantage. Finally we shall create a new normal of upnd regalia in all markets. And that’s how pf story will end in Lusaka and Copperbelt provinces.

Go to Soweto. Find a cheap red T-shirt costing K10, take it for print for K30 and wear it. Mu opposition yalikosa and we must all supplement secretariat efforts.

The Republican Progressive Party RPP as an alliance partner of the upnd will unveil our Bally support T-shirts soonest.

James Kasanda Musendeka Lukuku, RPP President

On 10th March 2020, a story was published in the Diggers Newspaper titled “Lungu Dribbled Citizens – Sangwa by appointing unqualified ConCourt Judges”. The story generated debate on the competence and qualifications of Judges of the Constitutional Court. Since then a number of other stories, mostly false, linked to me have been published in some newspapers and other media. I have never had, and I do not have presence on any social media platform, yet a number of Facebook pages, and recently Twitter accounts, have been created in my name which publish and republish false statements.

I recognise and regret the fact that some statements attributed to me in the publication of 10th March 2020, and in other stories, have caused considerable embarrassment and distress to the Judges of the Constitutional Court.

Admittedly, I have interacted with the reporters from the Diggers Newspapers, mostly when they have sought my explanation on certain constitutional issues. I have also, at times, shared my views on the implications of certain constitutional issues and developments. The most recent and possibly very important contact was in the context of the debate on the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill No. 10 of 2019. I collaborated with them to inform the country why, in my opinion, it was vital to ensure that the Bill did not become law and most crucially why the Constitution, as it stands today, must be protected at all cost.

Whilst I do not have and I have never had control or a say over the editorial content of the Diggers Newspaper I do, however, have a duty both legal and moral to clarify and provide context to some of the statements attributed to me, for the benefit of the Judges of the Constitutional Court and Zambians committed to constitutional rule.

I have never claimed expertise in constitutional matters, but I have been a keen follower of constitutional developments in Zambia for more than thirty years. I was, therefore, elated on 5th January 2016, when President Lungu signed the Constitution (Amendment) Bill into law.
I never thought there would be a day, in my lifetime, when a sitting President would reduce his own powers and grant the Judiciary, the National Assembly and the people oversight over the office of President. Most notably, see a Constitution that would vest the right in and impose the duty on every citizen to protect and defend the Constitution.

The Constitution, as amended, was immediately tested when it was time to appoint Judges of the Constitutional Court. I was interested in how all those involved in this process would live true to the ideals contained in the Constitution, since it “binds all persons in Zambia, State Organs and State institutions.”

When the names of the six nominees to the Constitutional Court were announced, in line with my oath of office as a lawyer and right and duty as a citizen to protect and defend the Constitution, I evaluated the qualifications of each nominee based on the documents

submitted in support of their respective nominations against the relevant provisions of the Constitution.

It was my opinion that none of the nominees qualified for appointment to the office of Judge of the Constitutional Court. I detailed the basis of my conclusion in a brief attached to my letter to the President dated 13th March 2016, which was copied to the Chief Justice, the nominees, the Chairman of the Judicial Service Commission, the Speaker of the National Assembly, and the Law Association of Zambia.

What is contained in the brief is and remains my opinion, given as part of the vetting process of the Judges of the Constitutional Court. My opinion was not accepted. The President did not rescind the nominations, the nominees did not withdraw their names for consideration for appointment to the Constitutional Court, the National Assembly confirmed the nominations and the nominees subsequently took the oath of office.

The process was completed and the Judges have been exercising the powers vested in the Constitutional Court by hearing and deciding cases. I have accepted the outcome of the constitutional process. Defending and protecting the Constitution is not just about ensuring that it is not violated. It is also about respecting the processes established by the Constitution and accepting the outcome.

I have accepted the appointment of the Judges of the Constitutional Court and recognise and respect their authority. Consequently, since the Constitutional Court was constituted, I have, most likely, filed and argued more cases before that Court than any other lawyer in Zambia. -ND

WORKERS at Chiengi Constituency office in Luapula discovered faeces smeared on the office door while some of it heaped by the doorway as they reported for duty on Tuesday morning.

Chiengi member of parliament Given Katuta has, however, charged that Chief Puta must be responsible for this since he has openly declared that he doesn’t want to work with her.

On Wednesday, Katuta’s professional assistant Lackson Mwape narrated that the faecal matter was found on Tuesday morning while the law maker was away in Lusaka.

“I just decided to pass through and check the office, but before I could do anything, I had to check the entire premises outside and when I checked the outside the door, I discovered faecal matter on the lock handle. Then also saw some of it heaped on the floor. So I took some pictures of that and sent to the MP, after that, I called the police who came and witnessed the same incidence then I also reported the matter formally to the police,” said Mwape.

And Chiengi District Commissioner Davies Kasongole also confirmed the incidence, saying it had been reported to the police

“Whave taken it up now to find out who did that. But the matter has been reported to the police and they also on it now,” said Kasongole.

Meanwhile, Katuta blamed Chief Puta for the indicence.

“For me, I am hidden in Jesus Christ and I am not shaken by this. They can do whatever they want to do. But my only worry is that some people are saying what they done to the Constituency office in Chiengi is an indication that they are chasing me from that area, that’s what it means traditionally. So I don’t really know what is being communicated by that act. These are just some of the problems that we face members of parliament in the rural areas. Rural members of parliament really work under very difficult conditions and it’s difficult to foster development when you are treated like that as a leader,” lamented Katuta.

But efforts to get a comment from Chief Puta of the Bwile speaking people in proved futile by press time.

However, an audio obtained from Luapula radio, Chief Puta said he had restricted Katuta from entering his Chiefdom on grounds that the lawmaker had no respect for him.

“I have reports that she is in Chienge district conducting meetings and that she has plans to visit my Palace but I will not allow honorable Given Katuta to enter the palace. I do not want to work with a member of parliament who does recognize me as Chief,” said Chief Puta in an interview with the radio station recently. – ND

James Kasanda Musendeka Lukuku, RPP President

my understanding of leadership is that kufumyapofye umungulu.

Zambians who are suffering are just victims of umungulu wantungulushi.

When you look at Rwanda today, it is a sum total of a dream and imagination that was once merely neural content in the brain, flesh and blood of President Paul Kagame. That’s the source of what the world is saying and seeing about Rwanda.

If we are to take President Edgar Lungu today and transfer him to go and rule in Rwanda, Kigali would become like chibolya in less than two years.

The conviction I have that President HH is capable of fixing our damaged republic is the fact that between President HH and late President Mwanawasa, I personally see no difference.

President HH is capable of running a government at zero percent corruption while President Lungu is running a government at 1million% corruption.

During the time of Privatisation, President HH was a very young man, he was just a kapyopyo. He was not even the director of the Zambia Privatisation Agency. He was not even a minister and above all HH was not even a Republican President.

Its thus day light Sunday Chanda foolishness for any one to suggest that President HH sold the mines.

When you question the wealth of President HH, you should as well question the zero wealth of those who were bosses to President HH during the time of Privatisation.

When you talk about President HH, you are talking about an exceptional brain comrades.

A businessman who participates in politics especially in our country, end up losing all they have because of invisible calculating political hands. GBM, CK, BY Mwila, Fred Mmembe and several others are typical examples. Otherwise the list is endless.

President HH on the contrary has mastered that unique business art of perfecting his business and corporate management outside political circles. Both the MMD and PF governments have failed to unsettle President HH businesses because the base of his business is genuine and based on transparent and clean business management.

Sembebanamusiliza kudala Bally.

Such an exceptional leader have something extra ordinary to transcend in the life blood of our republic. This is why like a tick, I will stick to President HH because in him I see a leader who can transform our republic as I learn from his discipline.

The News Diggers analysis was fantabulous. But to state that even Bally can’t fix it is a very negative prejudgement.

This is the only guy deserving of our benefit of doubt. Let’s provide him with a long rope to hung himself.

James Kasanda Musendeka Lukuku, RPP President

By Diggers Editor,

THE dynamic nature of politics means that it’s almost impossible to predict who will govern our country during what period. The very fact that Mr Edgar Lungu is Head of State in Zambia today underscores our point. In 2011 when the Patriotic Front formed government, if anyone pointed at Mr Lungu and said ‘this guy will be Republican President in four years’ time’, that person would be taken to Chainama for mental check up. This is because, firstly, there were ‘better’, strong, influential potential candidates who were strategically positioned to be next in line. Secondly, and frankly speaking, there was nothing presidential about him and his demeanour. But the dynamism of politics proved everyone wrong.

Whether it was through violence or rigging, the fact of the matter is that those “potential candidates” are watching from the terraces today. That’s the nature of politics and this is not only true to Zambia alone. One powerful American media house got things so wrong in 2016 that they’re still struggling with the hangover of their false election outcome predictions. The mock candidate is in the White House and the ‘smart ones’ are still reading their books about how to become a successful politician.

Between today and August 2021, anything can happen. The people we consider as front runners in the ruling party as well as the opposition may be nowhere near the ballot by next year. We may sound crazy by expressing this probability now, but we may also be proved right 12 months from today. It is important for citizens who participate in a democratic process to keep an open mind. A well respected Zambian academician once said: “In this country, even death is a freedom fighter”. It sounds like an insensitive proclamation to make, but looking at it with hindsight, this proves to be an unfortunate aspect of the truth.

Our point is that it is too early to know who is going to be in charge of our country next year. Anyone who is so confident and certain about contenders or the winners of the next election is flirting with a potential heart attack. As we analyse the prospects of a potential Hakainde Hichilema presidency in our editorial opinion today, we would like to categorically state that we are not in any way suggesting that, come what may, he will be the President of Zambia next year. Like we have demonstrated above, the dynamic nature of politics teaches us to leave a lot of room for error.

Mr Hichilema has emphatically dominated his political rivals on social media. Youths, the working class and even haters are failing to ignore his early campaign euphoria. He is the man of the moment. Bally, they call him. Songs have been composed to the effect that Bally will fix it. The national debt crisis that the country has been plunged into, “Bally will pay”. People are being made to believe that under Bally, there will be no single day of load-shedding, mealie meal will be almost free, the exchange rate will be one-to-one with the dollar. Bally himself has said that the day he will be sworn in, the economy will peak instantly. There is need for citizens to be analytical and exercise caution over such commitments.

Those who are in the UPND campaign team have every right to continue peddling these messages. It’s their job to make sure that they attract as many votes as possible, even by way of deception. We have seen this method work before. Even a stupid, meaningless song can send someone into State House. So, our caution is not directed at them, our message is to the ordinary people who are governed. To say that Bally will fix everything is okay, but to believe that he actually will, is also another way of courting a heartbreak.

We can’t take away anything from Mr Hichilema. He is a self-made successful businessman, he has the right education, he commands a fair amount of respect and discipline from people around him. In more ways than one, he is quite presidential in his demeanour. While Adada in State House has been falsely promising to cut his presidential pay since 2015, Bally has put it on record that he will not draw a salary once he becomes Head of State (Yes we have not forgotten). So, depending on which angle you are looking at things, Bally may make a better leader than the Adada One.

But it is our responsibility to caution the electorate not to buy too much into the campaign promises that are now being churned out. If Bally becomes President next year, he will not fix it. He may fix some things and get started on the course of economic recovery, but he does not have sufficient magical powers to turn this country around from its current dive with the mere pronouncement of his election victory. It’s not about his capacity to fix, it’s about the extent of damage caused.

Not Harry Kalaba, not Chishimba Kambwili, not Nevers Mumba, not Andyford Banda, not Edith Nawakwi will fix this country. Not even Barack Obama can claim to have the overnight solution to our current crisis. It will take a very long time before Zambia reclaims its democratic accolades, before institutions of governance reclaim their authority, before corruption is rooted out, before tribalism is stamped out, before the overtaxed working class can be given some relief. Withdrawing cadres from the civil service, disarming them and reducing them to a singing bunch at the airport whenever the President is traveling, will not be achieved easily.

Whoever becomes President next year must understand that they are taking over a an extensively damaged country that will take a long time to fix. Be it Adada himself, Chitalu Chilufya, Bwalya Ng’andu or any other PF candidate, there is a mountain to climb ahead of us. In fact, whoever will succeed to fix Zambia will need to make very unpopular and harsh decisions.

Here is an example of what we mean: When the UPND and its supporters say Bally will pay back the loans, it will be foolish for anyone to expect that he will pay from his pocket. It’s also just as foolish to expect that he will succeed to have all the loans cancelled. So, where will the money come from to pay? We need to ask. It’s either the new president will have to borrow more and refinance the loans or more taxes from citizens and companies will be demanded to expand the national revenue base. There is also a possibility that the new president may consider removing all remaining subsidies for essential commodities in order to reduce the strain on the treasury. One way or another, people will be called to sacrifice for the good of economic recovery.

This is what we would like our fellow citizens to realise. These are the conversations that the electorate needs to engage in with their aspiring leaders. If, God willing, Bally becomes President, he will have to first fix people’s expectations. – NEWS DIGGERS

Alliance for Community Action executive director Laura Miti says comments by IBA Director General Josephine Mapoma suggesting that radio stations should air recorded programs to avoid attacks is an admission that the authority has failed to fulfil its duties.

And Miti says Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Dora Siliya’s statement in which she condemned attacks on the media was tame and meant to pacify the victims without calling out for any corrective measures.

In a statement, Wednesday, Miti stated that Mapoma’s remarks were an admission that the rule of law had broken down irretrievably and media houses should adapt to working under such lawlessness.

“The ACA also notes the implicit admission by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) that the rule of law had broken down irretrievably and therefore media houses should adapt to working under such lawlessness. A report carried by the News Diggers Newspaper dated 18th May 2020, IBA Director General Josephine Mapoma suggested that radio stations should adapt to such attacks by following news sources to their homes and airing the content pre-recorded. This proposal is an admission by the regulator of the broadcasting industry that they have failed or neglected to fulfil their duties. As licensees of the IBA, the radio stations are entitled to a minimum level of protection from their regulator,” Miti stated.

“We therefore find Mrs Mapoma’s attitude in this matter unacceptable and a glaring failure on her suitability for the position she occupies. We also doubt her suitability for the office she occupies because the same IBA Act in Section 7(3) states that, “(3) A person shall not be qualified to be appointed to the Board unless the person is committed to fairness, freedom of expression, openness and accountability and when viewed collectively the persons so appointed shall be representative of a broad cross section of the population of the Republic. If the IBA does not see the protection of the institutions over whom it superintends as its core business, they may soon find that they have no industry to regulate and supervise.”

Miti said Mapoma should have at least reminded citizens about proper channels of airing grievancies.

“If Mrs Mapoma is of the view that broadcasters must self-censor and hide in their source’s homes, we doubt her commitment to, or belief in, ‘fairness, freedom of expression, openness and accountability.’ According to the law providing for its existence, the Independent Broadcasting Authority Act no. 17 of 2002, the IBA is mandated in Section 5(a) and 5(i) of the Act to among other functions; “promote a pluralistic and diverse broadcasting industry” and “to receive, investigate and decide on complaints concerning broadcasting services including public broadcasting services.” We would therefore have expected the IBA Director General to at the very least remind or educate those who might have allegations of unethical conduct, bias or other complaints against the radio stations to seek redress through her office as provided for by the law. Further, she should have also been able to see that at the core of this issue is a refusal by one group to have a media that is pluralistic. In her response she should have addressed her mind to these and other core issues. Asking the media to run away from criminal elements is an ill-advised solution because, in any case, the content would still be broadcast through the same studios,” Miti stated.

And Miti stated that Siliya should have made a call to action against perpetrators of media attacks.

“The Alliance for Community Action wishes to condemn the continued physical and verbal harassment of journalists in Muchinga Province being perpetrated by suspected Patriotic Front (PF) members through forced entries into radio studios and destruction of broadcasting equipment. On Monday 18 May 2020, ISO FM Community radio station became the third broadcaster in less than one week to be attacked or censored in the name of the ruling party by people claiming to represent the interests of the PF. We note that the Minister responsible for Information and Broadcasting, Dora Siliya under whose duty and care the broadcast industry falls response to the attacks in Mpika FM Community Radio and Chinsali FM Radio was tame and lacked the necessary reprimand that the perpetrators deserved,” stated Miti.

“Most tellingly, the minister did not call for or suggest that any legal consequences should follow those whose actions bordered on criminal activity and abuse of media freedom and infringement of fellow citizens rights and freedoms. The Mpika District commissioner (ADD NAME) was also not identified or censored for his part in the harassment of Muchinga media houses. It is clear from the minister’s statement released to the media on Sunday 17 May 2020 that her statement was meant to pacify the victims without calling out for any corrective measures for their abusers. In such an environment, it is not difficult to see why those who have made it their business to abuse other citizens read such statements as badges of honour rather than reprimands.”

Miti called on the Zambia Police service to ensure that the attackers were taken before the courts of law as punitive consequences were the only effective deterrents for perpetrators of violence.-ND

PRESS STATEMENT

22ND MAY, 2020.

AS YOU ADMIT THAT YOU ARE THIEVES; GIVE US THE NAMES OF THESE THIEVES.

When we say PF is a Government of thieves we are called names. But there you are, PF is now publicly boasting that indeed they have thieves. We appreciate what the Government Spokes Person said by clearing the air on the looting of public resources under PF, it’s no longer a secret that the PF regime is full of thieves. The issue has been laid bare. In fact the Chief Government spokes Person should have gone further to tell us the names of these thieves. Please give us a complete list and how much each one has stolen from the poor Zambian.

Instead of telling us what you are doing to stop stealing, you are now boasting that every Country has thieves and corruption. Meaning, you are very proud of your stealing habits. You cannot justify that you started stealing because all your neighbors are thieves. Equally you can’t say that you are proud to be a thief because your father is also a thief. Sadly, this is how pompous thieves can be. By PF going public that they are unrepentant thieves, we appeal to the Zambian people to kick them out come 2021. Going by your confession, if Zambians allowed you to continue stealing beyond 2021 there will be no Zambia to talk about.

Ask yourselves, which donor will give money to self confessed thieves? The implication of your admittance that you are thieves has far reaching consequences on how this Country will be perceived by the International community. Are you telling investors that you will be stealing their money? It will be very difficult for PF to barrow money from credible institutions like the IMF and World Bank. These institutions do not condone thieves like you. You have managed to continue stealing because you have intimidated and killed all institutions of good governance.

Zambians that doubted that the PF Government is full of thieves should reflect seriously on what the Chief Government Spokes Person said. It’s an eye opener, kick out these thieves in 2021 before they come up with a Bill to legalize stealing. Don’t expect these self confessed thieves to stop stealing on their own, the only way out is to kick them out in 2021 and bring in HH and his team.

Percy Chanda

UPND – Chairman for Mines and Freedom Fighter

ALL Peoples Congress president Nason Msoni says a government that relies on terror and violence to maintain itself in government is unfit for purpose.

He urged the PF government to stop glorifying and justifying criminality.

Recently when she featured on a special Radio Two programme, information minister Dora Siliya said: “In every country there are thieves, but let not corruption be a daily song.”

In a statement yesterday, Msoni noted that no serious government can justify corruption.

“It is bad enough that the poor governance style of the country is a test case of how not to run a government. To have the temerity and the cheek to openly assert that every country has thieves is rather a case of criminality gone too far and is tantamount to self-admission of wrongdoing and criminality on the part of the Zambian government. We think that this assertion and the bad behaviour being exhibited by PF leaders gives the impression that the Zambian government is under siege by scoundrels, jackals and so forth purportedly running the country,” Msoni stated.

“We further think that such reckless political statement and poor judgment on the part of the government speaks to the rot at the core of the government and does not in any way help the country reinforce the fight against graft. No serious government on earth can blatantly justify corruption and denounce citizens for regularly speaking out against corruption. We think that a sense of shame is not a bad moral campus for any self-respecting leadership. A government that relies on terror and violence to maintain itself in government is unfit for purpose.”

He stated that a government that resorts to terror and violence is a government that has lost legitimacy.

“Clearly, a government that resorts to perpetuating terror and violence against political opponents and muzzling the press is a government that has lost legitimacy and the argument for remaining in government. The willful proliferation of small arms and other offensive weapons in the hands of criminals is threatening the peace and tranquility Zambia has enjoyed since political independence. We denounce the sustained and the uncivilised attacks on political opponents in the strongest term,” stated Msoni. “We think that moral bankruptcy and criminality is what has reduced the credibility of the Zambian government amongst the dignified council of nations of the world. To this end, we call upon on our fraternal friends from the international community to take keen interest on the unraveling sponsored criminality being perpetrated and bankrolled by criminal elements of the PF regime ahead of the 2021 elections. The period prior to the polls is absolutely critical and crucial to attaining the desired peaceful democratic space necessary for the holding of free and fair elections.”

By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba

The Supreme Court of Zambia has just delivered a fundamental and remarkable Judgement.

This is a case in which the Zambia Revenue Authority(ZRA) has been battling with Mopani Copper Mines and its Swiss parent company Glencoe since 2009.

Glencore PLC is a British multinational commodity trading and mining company with its headquarters based in Baar, Switzerland.

The Supreme Court has fined Mopani Copper Mines $13million!

The background is that the ZRA conducted an Audit of Mopani Copper Mines for the period 2006 – 2009, which revealed that the transactions between the company and its Swiss parent multinational, Glencore International AG(GIAG) violated the Arm’s Length Standards (ALS).

An arm’s length transaction refers to a business deal or transaction in which a buyer and seller act independently without one party influencing the other.

Chief Justice Ireen Mambilima sitting with Justice Nigel Mutuna and Justice Mumba Malila ruled that any tax authority would find serious misgivings on the lack of arm’s length on the revealed transactions between Mopani and Glencore.

The Court found Mopani liable of abusing transfer pricing and used it as a mechanism to avoid paying full taxes due to ZRA.

TRANSFER-PRICING

The core part of domestic revenue mobilization for any country
is taxation of its citizens and the private sector.

For Zambia, its mineral resources
present an unparalleled economic opportunity to increase domestic revenue through effective
taxation of the mining sector.

Despite the tremendous wealth inherent in this sector, Zambia has been struggling to obtain significant financial benefits through taxes from the sector.

This is due to various factors including the volatile mining tax regime policies but also the increasing tax-avoidance schemes perpetrated by mine houses that might appear legal but are aggressively aimed at reducing the amount of tax payable.

Multinationals increasingly abuse transfer pricing as a mechanism to avoid paying tax.

Developing economies are now increasingly
aware of these schemes especially the abuse of transfer pricing.

African governments are now
establishing robust legislative
and administrative frameworks
to deal with transfer pricing
issues.

For Zambia, curbing the abuse of transfer pricing, is a development financing issue, because without adequate tax revenues, our ability to mobilise domestic resources for development
is heavily hampered.

The sensitive challenge for Zambia has been to balance the need to protect its tax base while not seen to be discouraging or hampering foreign direct investment in the mining sector.

Zambia has joined many African countries that have begun to put in place, legal rules on the taxation of cross border transactions and the latest Supreme Court Judgement will go a long way in enhancing these measures.

It should be noted that this “arm’s length principle” as emphasised by the Supreme Court of Zambia is at the core of most global standards on controlling transfer pricing perpetrated by multinationals.

AFRICA LOSES $50BILLION A YEAR IN ILLICIT FINANCIAL FLOWS

Over the last 50 years, Africa is estimated to have lost in excess of $1 trillion in illicit financial flows (Kar and Cartwright-Smith 2010; Kar and Leblanc 2013).

This amount excludes capital flight. Capital flight is a large-scale exodus of financial assets and capital from a nation due to events such as political or economic instability, currency devaluation or the imposition of capital controls.

This process could entirely be legal or licit.

To resolve the crisis of illicit financial flows and outflows from Africa, the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa tasked
the fourth Joint African Union Commission and United Nations Economic Commission
for Africa (AUC/ECA) Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development held in 2011to handle the matter.

The Conference established a High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa.

Illicit financial flows (IFFs) is defined as money that is illegally earned, transferred or
utilized.

These funds typically originate from three sources: commercial
tax evasion, trade mis-invoicing and the abuse of transfer pricing.

Other origins of illicit financial flows include criminal
activities such as the drug trade, human trafficking, illegal arms
dealing, and smuggling of contraband, illegal wildlife trade and bribery and theft by corrupt government officials.

The Panel headed by South Africa’s former president, Thabo Mbeki, established that Africa loses over $50 billion a year through tax avoidance and fraud schemes largely perpetrated by multinational corporations operating in Africa.

It became clear that Africa was a net-creditor to
the rest of the world, despite the regular inflow of official development
assistance.

The continent continues to suffer from a crisis of insufficient resources for development, largely caused by illicit financial flows.

The Report of the High Level Panel
on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa recommended that Africa must implement measures to radically reduce illicit capital outflows from Africa.

The Panel recognised that the goals of ending poverty in Africa, the goal to achieve Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) aimed at reducing inequality within and among nations, and the hope to give practical effect to the fundamental objective of the right of all to development, was attainable if African governments and its partners curbed the illicit financial outflows.

Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba is Zambia’s Permanent Representative to the African Union and to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

By Patson Chilemba

I have known UPND creating scenarios of violence and then turning around to blame PF, says Muchinga Province minister Malozo Sichone.

And Sichone, who is Isoka member of parliament (PF), said opposition UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema has never committed himself to stopping violence, until now when he is being affected.

Speaking with Daily Revelation over an incident yesterday where a radio appearance on ISO FM, in Isoka, featuring Hichilema, was stopped by PF thugs, Sichone used the word purportedly in referring to the perpetrators of the violence, saying he was not even there when the incident happened.

“Did they tell you the names of the people who did that?” Sichone asked, but was reminded that there may not be names, but there are strong indications that those were PF cadres, adding to the fact that the incidence was coming on the back of another incident where the cadres stopped Hichilema’s radio appearance in Mpika. “In the first place I don’t want people to speculate, we need to speak with evidence that those are PF cadres. If at all you have any factual evidence that they are PF cadres I would love to know their names and then I would get down to comment.”

Sichone then spinned the narrative, indicating that it was the UPND plan to claim victim in this situation.

“Because as the case is, I have known of UPND creating scenarios and then turning around and claiming it’s PF which is doing this. So I want to have a lot of information about this before I comment,” Sichone said, but was however, asked on the reasonableness of his own words that the UPND could could use their own cadres to violently stop their own paid for radio programme. “What I’m saying, I am not saying that incidence was fabricated by Hichilema, I am saying let me have information because UPND has done that before yes.They have started some confusion and they claim it’s PF which is doing that.”

He said he was just sad that every time there was anything to do with PF and UPND, there was something to do with violence, while in the same breath saying that UPND should play their role in ending the violence. Sichone blamed Hichilema for not speaking out against violence.

“You know that UPND was fighting with MMD, there was a lot of violence and now UPND is fighting with PF. Then I wonder whether it’s just the ruling parties that are violent. You know UPND has been in existence for a long time let them also to a large extent then avoid these things. We will do our part they have to do their part,” said Sichone. “I wouldn’t want to promote violence and I have always been a peaceful person but I think he has never committed himself, HH has never committed himself to stop violence or to speak against violence. It’s now that you are hearing his voice because he’s claiming that he’s being affected.”

Contact: Member of Parliament, Sesheke Constituency, Hon. Romeo Kangombe.
Cell: +260 97 4661210
Email: info@upndzambia.org

PRESS RELEASE

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, UPND WILL MEET PF HEAD ON

As United Party for National Development (UPND), we have noted with dismay the continued attacks on our freedoms of Speech and Expression by the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) government.

Recently we have seen a number of attacks on media houses hosting UPND President Hakainde Hichilema, the latest being in Isoka on ISO radio station.

These attacks should not be treated as mere attacks on the freedoms and rights of Hakainde Hichilema as a person but an attack on all of us citizens and our culture as Zambians. As Zambians, we have never been known as violent people. Our country has been known as a haven of peace in Africa and beyond; therefore, PF’s continued and unbecoming behavior of using violent means to silence the opposition through the aforementioned attack and several others has clearly dented the good image of our country.

We must put it on record that our forefathers already fought and died for our freedoms and therefore, we shall not beg for our own freedoms and rights from Edgar Lungu or the PF. We shall instead defend our freedoms with anything at our disposal. We shall no longer treat violent PF cadres with kids’ gloves but we shall fight back. The same way our forefathers fought colonial masters for Independence, we shall fight for our freedoms and rights from tyrants. The police have failed us, we shall not depend on the police for help, but defend ourselves. Hakainde Hichilema will continue to interact with citizens of this country as it is his constitutional right to do so and anyone who wants to stand in his way will be dealt with accordingly.

In a similar manner, allow me to state that we have two local government by-elections coming up in Sesheke after two councilors re-signed and we wish to advise the PF against practicing its usual violent campaign tactics because we are more than ready to defend ourselves this time. I want to assure the nation and all peace loving Zambians and my party, the UPND, that we will retain the two seats in contest with huge margins because the people of Sesheke want to send a signal that they want change of government.

We pray that love, peace and unity will prevail in our country. As Parliament opens, we are more equal to the tasks to fight the evil Bill 10. Nothing that seeks to divide this nation will prevail.

God bless you and our country Zambia.

UPND MEDIA TEAM

Zambia’s US dollar reserves have been under pressure following the perpetual depreciation of the local currency – the Kwacha. Servicing US dollar denominated external debt has been ballooning as more Kwacha is needed to be converted to US dollar to service debt.

Establishing of gold reserves is viewed as a diversification strategy that would enable the country to buy gold which is locally mined in the local currency – Kwacha and be used to shore up reserves over and above the direct US Dollar forex earnings and inflows.

The advantage of establishing gold reserves include the greater security of gold reserves kept at home. Relative to foreign exchange reserves, which are claims against foreign banks and authorities, which can be blocked any time for political reasons.

The other known advantage is that most suited to Zambia is that gold reserves would provide a more stable asset to diversify from only holding US Dollar reserves. Zambia has struggled to have a stable Kwacha and gold reserves could provide a war chest to draw on and counter the perpetual Kwacha slides experienced year in year out.

And The Bank of Zambia (BoZ), has disclosed that negotiations on the resumption of the purchase of gold to establish gold reserves have advanced and that the central bank has concluded the initial negotiation stage and submitted a draft contract to the identified supplier that will govern gold purchases.

The Central Bank had in December 2019 announced plans to start the process of buying gold locally as an alternative to US dollar forex reserve as a way of revamping Zambia’s national reserves as well as diversifying from the concentration risk of only holding US dollar reserves.

BOZ has confirmed that they have sent out a draft contract to the identified supplier(s) and currently expecting feedback. The supplier is to deliver purified gold bullion to a standard that it can be held as part of international reserves.

BoZ Acting Assistant Director for Communications, Besnat Mwanza, on May 18, 2020, said that the date of resumption of gold purchases is dependent on the conclusion of the contract. She said that the mechanisms of purifying gold to international bullion standard and stored safely have also been agreed in principle with the relevant stakeholders.

Even on the economic front, Zambia has every reason to prioritise gold mining. Although copper might be fetching a staggering US$6.300/ton on the London Metal Market, with cobalt fetching a whooping US$80,000/ton, gold is in a class of its own, relatively fetching US$445.58 per gram with price per kilo averaging US$45,594.94.

It is no surprise that President Edgar Lungu has given special attention to the commodity and has put in place a specific vehicle to drive this agenda to push Zambia out of its current economic status.

ZCCM-IH through ZCCM Gold has been mandated to drive the national gold agenda, working in collaboration with the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development and other stake holders. ZCCM Gold is undertaking and overseeing all gold related investments throughout the gold value chain in the country including exploration, mining, processing, refining, marketing, trading and beneficiation in Zambia. ZCCM Gold is a wholly owned Zambian firm.

By Sara Imutowana Yeta II

The Biblical aphorism I find graphic is from Proverbs 26:11 averring that; “As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.”

Vomit is disgusting material ejected from the stomach through the mouth.

We all may have seen a dog going back to its own vomit and start to lick it up.

Our common reaction is to make a sour face and quickly throw away the vomit.

Unlike humans, dogs eat their vomit.

In life, we at times act like dogs when we return to ways we had entirely condemned as wicked and there is evidence of negative effects.

A classic example is of Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba.

In December 2013, he ditched Sata’s regime and opted to side with Henry Sosala.

He was commended for standing up for what seemed as moral convictions.

In July 2015, he endorsed the United Party for National Development (UPND) as the only party able to lead the country to development.

His UPND membership made him earn more right to be valued, respected, and treated ethically.

For that reason, when Mwamba censured Lungu and PF, he was seemingly acting moral, and upholding national standards of good leadership.

In October 2015, speaking at Fred’s guest house, he criticised Lungu and PF as visionless. He put it this way:

“Lungu was imposed on PF by the party thugs at Mulungushi Rock of Authority. I urge you all Zambians never to repeat the mistake in the next election because Lungu has proven to be a failure. I am sorry for Lungu because he had proven himself right when he earlier told Zambians that he had no vision.”

In September 2018, in an interview, he blamed Lungu for corruption and high debt saying:

“Zambians should blame President Lungu for the alarming levels of corruption and debt in the country. Corruption is everywhere but the one we are witnessing today under the PF is alarming. Look at the debt level of this county. When late Michael Sata died, the debt was at US$3.6 billion, now it is over US$20 billion. But who has created this? It is only one person, Edgar Lungu. And who has benefited from this debt? It is only one person, Edgar Lungu.”

As if he had not vomited enough on Lungu, in October 2018 Mwamba alleged that before becoming president, Lungu was unable fly as he does today:

“His unplanned trips are a drain to the Zambian treasury, but he will not listen to anymore. He is living in a dream, so what can we tell him? He should know that when we speak, we speak for the poor and not ourselves. Unlike him, us from childhood have been flying. We have been affording to fly wherever we want to, not on anyone’s account but ours.”

In April 2019 when it was reported that he wanted to re-join PF, he denounced the chit-chats condescendingly saying:

“Nothing is to shake me. I have no reason to resign. Why should I resign? Where am I going? Unless I am going to form my own political party! But they are saying he is joining PF; tukabolala natuleta insala elo nje mukucita ntwane.”

He further scathed that:

“Sooner rather than later, tukabolala tu PF will be out of power. Look at the misery they have brought among Zambians! Would I be foolish as GBM to go and join a sinking titanic called PF? Let us be serious, Zambians. I do not want that nonsense again! People of Zambia, I want to assure you that I am not going anywhere, I am still vice-president of UPND.”

He is also on record of stating that:

“I am a principled man who had no intentions of re-joining PF. When I made that decision to support the ideals of UPND, I did it with all my conscience and faculties intact and nothing has changed and need I emphasise here, I cannot be bought by a bunch of crooks as I believe in earning my money through hard work and legal means and not handouts. I give, not take. I came into politics already successful and so unlike Lungu and his minions I can say I am incorruptible.”

Having earned the quality of being believed in, Mwamba’s response to rumours that he wanted to re-join PF was taken as spoken.

I will not bore you with an account of vomit Mwamba forcefully spilt from the abundance of his heart on Lungu and PF because the catalogue is endless and nasty.

Towards the end of April 2019, to the surprise of many people, Mwamba re-joined PF to become a lead vocalist for Lungu and PF’s praise choir.

He shamelessly went back to his vomit and he is licking it up.

His return to PF shows that his regular pattern of behaviour is not consistent with values he portrayed in the opposition.

He lacks integrity to uphold what he vomited on Lungu and PF.

In basic terms, he is not able to behave in a manner that matches his past utterances, decisions and behaviours.

It takes leadership to decide, act and stay consistent to one’s convictions.

Mwamba resigned from PF and vomited horrible things about Lungu and PF based on the widely observable evidence of corruption and visionlessness that are now worse making his return to PF irrational, undesirable and deceitful.

As a result, he has generated moral disappointment, misunderstanding and anger among sane citizens.

Mwamba should not be allowed to come near the echelons of power for one reason. He has no moral principles to uphold his convictions when his convictions are not popular or immediately beneficial to him.

He has failed to go beyond the truth he vomited on Lungu and PF to take responsibility for how he genuinely thinks and feels about Lungu and PF.

He is unable to genuinely present himself to others using his conscience to be morally coherent.

It will be difficult for Mwamba to be trusted and respected again because one of the most desired qualities in leaders is consistency Mwamba lacks.

Citizens can forgive leaders on many things, but it is difficult to forgive leaders such as Mwamba who misrepresent who they are by failing to be consistent.

We should not allow leaders with deviant behaviours to violate and weaken leadership norms, practices, standards and values for selfish reasons.