By Prince B. M. Kaping’a]
Ever since Hakainde Hichilema (HH) took the plunge into the murky waters of Zambian politics, he has had an albatross tied to his neck, threatening to drown him completely save for his boldness, courage and determination.
Perhaps this is the reason why he stands out as a successful businessman and accomplished farmer amongst his peers. You gotta admire the man!
Going by the sentiments of many an electorate ‘pa ground’ disenchanted with the current state of affairs, the gates to plot 1 Independence Avenue seem to be wide open for the opposition. Shushushus (intelligence officers), tell the President the truth…or maybe you’ve already done so, hence the sudden desperation on the part of those in leadership.
Anyway, of the whole pack of individuals jostling to have a feel of the inside of State House, including Edith Nawakwi herself, HH stands a better chance of dislodging Edgar Lungu from power. But instead of marketing herself to the electorate, Nawakwi elected to go to sleep. But now that the sweet aroma of State House is around the corner, Nawakwi suddenly staggers out of slumber and sleepwalks into a popular radio station and goes to town smearing the character of the UPND leader.
In the recent past, politicians of different hues and shades have taken turns to assassinate and impugn the character of HH – preaching to the gullible ones that he stole from government… nay, sold the mines!
Nawakwi should be the last person to apportion the blame on HH for the botched privatisation exercise. Privatisation was a brainchild of MMD government where Nawakwi served as a senior cabinet minister – ascending to the portfolio of minister of finance at one point. They are the ones that stripped our nation of her prized possessions. As Francis Kaunda aptly puts it; they gave away ‘the family silver’ due to selfishness and greed on their part. A great man once said, “If you want to hide something from black people, put it in a book.”
I have just concluded reading ‘A Venture in Africa’ by Andrew Sardanis of the famed Chaminuka Lodge. The book candidly offers a rare glimpse of the shenanigans that panned out during the privatisation programme. The name of HH doesn’t popup anywhere. You can even go to Chaminuka and ask Sardanis if you want, HH had a very limited role to play in privatisation. And now the likes of Nawakwi want to take advantage of the fact that many Zambians have no time reading books and mislead the people for political expediency. Don’t you have any sense of guilt or shame, madam?
On page 228 of his book under the chapter “Ten Wasted Years”, Sardanis reveals that one of late president Frederick Chiluba’s tactics was to bypass the Zambia Privatisation Agency by appointing, in March 1997, a new team named ‘the GRZ/ZCCM Privatisation Negotiating Team (PNP); under the chairmanship of Francis Kaunda (the erstwhile ZCCM chairman whom he had unceremoniously dismissed in 1991, before he even took the oath of office). Was HH a member of PNP? Nawakwi, answer this question!
The book further goes on to disclose that by the end of 1997, Luanshya/Baluba mine was put under the hammer. Now this is where the plot thickens.
Bids for Luanshya/Baluba mine had been received and evaluated, and the Zambia Privatisation Agency had started detailed negotiations with First Quantum before the so called PNP came on the scene. It’s clear even to a fool that PNP had ulterior motives. It demanded revised bids, as a result of which Luanshya was dubiously awarded to the Roan Antelope Mining Corporation of Zambia (RAMCOZ), a new Zambian company owned by an Indian metal trader, Gokul Binani.
Fellow citizens, you ought to read and read and read to grasp the depth of crookedness of these former MMD leaders. Someone had somehow tipped Binani about the contents of the favourite bidders, First Quantum. Binani simply made adjustments to the First Quantum’s winning bid – this is how they presented it (with First Quantum’s bid in brackets): cash US$35 ($34) million, new equity investment US$21.7 (US$20) million, commitment for new investment US$69 (US$70.4) million, contingent investment US$103 (US$26.3) million, ZCCM participation 15percent (17.5%).
This proved to be a ‘neck to neck’ outcome, except for the very nebulous US$103 million ‘contingent investment’ that Binani stuck to the tail of his offer. First Quantum was furious and threatened to sue the Zambian government. This was to be the genesis of woes for Luanshya mine.
The liquid problems at Luanshya surfaced soon after the RAMCOZ take over, amid rumours that the copper proceeds were not being received regularly. But the government bent over backwards to keep it going, ordering Zanaco to grant additional facilities, ignoring huge arrears. At one stage the government even contemplated diverting a World Bank facility intended for mineworkers’ retrenchment to RAMCOZ.
In the end Zanaco decided that enough was enough and appointed a receiver, which in this case happened to be Grant Thornton. Unfortunately, it was too late for this intervention. RAMCOZ was already looted to the core and what was left of it was a mere shell that no serious investor worth their salt would be interested in.