Maravi

OP seal off Magande's office

OP seal off Magande's office
By Brighton Phiri
Tuesday February 20, 2007 [02:00]

The Zambia Intelligence Security Services (ZISS) commonly known as OP have sealed off finance minister Ng'andu Magande's office and ordered all his staff to vacate the premises. And the government has explained that consultant Martin Kalungu-Banda had no authority to speak on its behalf over the vulture fund case in London. Chief government spokesperson Vernon Mwaanga yesterday confirmed that the security agencies had sealed off some of the offices at the Ministry of Finance headquarters.

"Yes, some of the offices at finance ministry have been sealed off by the security agencies to facilitate full investigations into the powder substance that was delivered for Hon Magande’s office last week,” Mwaanga said.

He said the security agencies’ action was a normal precaution to enable them to investigate the matter thoroughly. Mwaanga described Magande’s condition as healthy. “But he is not operating from his office at the moment,” Mwaanga said. Magande’s office was last Wednesday poisoned after a parcel containing some suspected poisonous chemical was delivered there.

And in his letter to the editor-in-chief of BBC Newsnight programme, which was released by Mwaanga yesterday, Zambia’s High Commissioner to London Anderson Chibwa explained that Kalungu-Banda was not an advisor to President Mwanawasa as quoted in an article entitled: “Vulture fund threat to Third World.” He said it was incorrect for the report to refer to Kalungu-Banda as advisor to the President of the Republic of Zambia. “The High Commission further wishes to advise that Mr. Martin Kalungu-Banda has no authority to pass comment on behalf of the Zambian government in this case,” read the letter in part. Kalungu-Banda, quoted as Zambian presidential advisor and a consultant to Oxfam last week told Newsnight “that US $40m is equal to the value of all the debt relief we received last year.”

Vulture funds - as defined by the International Monetary Fund and Gordon Brown amongst others - are companies which buy up the debt of poor nations cheaply when it is about to be written off and then sue for the full value of the debt plus interest - which might be ten times what they paid for it.

Labels: MAGANDE, VULTURE FUND

posted by MrK @ 1:50 PM