ACC, DEC question Kapiji
ACC, DEC question KapijiBy Nomusa Michelo
Wednesday March 07, 2007 [02:00]
. . .over 25,000 hectares of land applied for by Amanita in Mpika
FORMER science and technology minister Judith Kapijimpanga was on Sunday evening questioned by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) over the 25,000 hectares of land applied for by Amanita Oil Products in Mpika. Kapijimpanga, who before serving as science and technology minister was lands minister, confirmed in an interview yesterday that she had been called in to explain her involvement in the land allocation. "They wanted to find out more on the Mpika land. I was not involved in the allocation of that land," Kapijimpanga said. "My only involvement in that 25,000 hectares was just to organise a meeting with the district commissioner of Mpika who in turn organised a meeting with all the stakeholders with the investor. I even asked my Commissioner of Lands and a senior surveyor since the Surveyor General was not available at the time to attend that meeting," Kapijimpanga said.
"I thought it was desirable for the ministry to be present. I didn't see the minutes to the meeting. “Shortly before I was moved from the ministry (of lands), I was invited to attend a meeting where the chiefs and the investor were present, and at that meeting there was no land allocated to the investor. That was what the end of my involvement because I was moved to the Ministry of Science and Technology on 3rd August, 2005.” And Kapijimpanga said she had no political interest in seeing the proposed Palm Oil and Jatropha Plantation project by Amanita Group take off in Mpika where she is former member of parliament for Kanchibiya constituency. She also denied being involved in the named Muma Plantation, the name her daughter bears. “Muma is a very common Bisa name in the royal family. My mother’s name is Muma and I named my daughter after my mother. Senior chief Kopa’s name is Alphonso Muma Banda, so maybe that is where the name Muma came from” she said. “It was not named after my daughter.”
Kapijimpanga said as far as she knew, no land had been allocated to Amanita for the project.
Kapijimpanga was called to the Ministry of Lands around 16:00 hours and only left the building around 21:30 hours. “I was there from 16:00 but I was only interviewed around 20:00, so it didn’t take long. I was just waiting for a long time.” According to a letter dated March 7, 2006 by suspended Commissioner of Lands Frightone Sichone to Amanita Premium Products Limited, the company was informed of the approved 10,000 hectares allocation. “We wish to advise that following the meeting on 6th March 2006, at the Ministry of Lands with the honourable Minister of Lands, the permanent secretary and the Commissioner of Lands, his Royal Highness Senior Chief Kopa and Chief Luchembe, Mpika district council chairman and the district secretary, it was decided that your application be considered successfully and you will be granted 5,000 hectares of land in each chiefdom and thereby getting 10,000 hectares in total. You may therefore proceed to effect developments on the said parcel of land while the processing of certificates of title is going on,” Sichone’s letter read in part.
Yet in another letter dated March 23, 2006 to Amanita Premium Products Limited managing director, Sichone withdrew the allocation to Amanita Oil Products. The letter of withdrawal was referenced: “Withdraw of approval of allocation of land in senior chief Kopa and chief Luchembe in Mpika district to Amanita Oil Products Limited”.
The letter read in part: “Reference is hereby made to the captioned subject and to the letter addressed to you on the same dated 7th March, 2006. We wish to advise that the contents of our said letter dated 7th March 2006 in which we approved the allocation of 5,000 hectares in senior chef Kopa and 5,000 hectare in chief Luchembe in Mpika district are herby withdrawn. The decision to withdraw our approval is precipitated by your non-satisfaction of the granted 10,000 hectares of land. Our earlier approval stands void and no certificates of title would be processed in your favour regarding the said land.” The letter was copied to Nyirongo, former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Lands Mukuka Zimba, chief Kopa and chief Luchembe and the Mpika council secretary.
Meanwhile, on November 30, 2006, Amanita Zambia managing director Diego Casilli and Muma Plantations Director Amos Wambili wrote a letter to President Levy Mwanawasa asking for his irrevocable intervention on the matter, in order to facilitate the allocation of land. The two explained in their letter that although they had applied for 25,000 hectares of land, they were served with a letter allocating 10,000 hectares to start with and advised them to make full use of the initial allocation.
“Your Excellency, at the time we felt we had provided the necessary requirements hence complied with the procedures and were expecting a title deed, we received a letter indicating that our application was unsuccessful, however, without providing us with any grounds much to our amusement. During the course of well over one and a half years of pursuing the application of land, we were asked to submit various requirements to which we complied but alas, we are to date denied. It is not our intention to dwell on speculations but suffice to mention that the details of the denial are not understandably clear to us,” the duo’s letter read in part.
Casilli and Wambili stated that the project would create not less than 2,000 jobs and would be a turning point for economic revolution to the nation and would avoid depending on importations of raw materials as Amanita currently imported 60 per cent of its raw material requirement.
They also stated that there was misinformation that Amanita held huge tracts of land in other parts of the country. They stated that Amanita did apply for land in Nyalugwe area under Lunsemfwa Safaris Limited, which it did not get. The two also assured the government that that the Amanita group was doing its best to revive operations at Mansa Batteries and awaited government’s decision in order to concretise the memorandum of understanding signed during President Mwanawasa’s state visit to China.
But in response to the duo’s letter, President Mwanawasa on January 3, 2007, stated that while he appreciated Amanita’s efforts to promote agriculture investments and employment of the Zambian people, the 10,000 hectares of land applied for was too much for one single project. “It is my view that you undertake your project in phases and upon successful implementation of the first phase, more land can then be allocated to subsequent phases. It is policy that normally land in a traditional area can only be put on title for an initial 250 hectare lease and future extensions can be given on merit depending on how the initial 250 hectares was used,” President Mwanawasa stated. “With regards Mansa Batteries, I am pleased to note that you have signed a memorandum of understanding with a Chinese firm to invest in this company.
Here again, it is difficult for government to extend incentives when there is no production and the company still remains closed. However, incentives are provided for under the law. Others can be negotiated normally when the company is fully operational and in production. I wish you well in your endeavours.”
Labels: ACC, CORRUPTION, DEC, LAND
posted by MrK @ 6:29 AM
2 Comments:
I have some difficulty in actually believing that this lady (Kapijimpanga) is clean from corruption. It would be nice if those investigating this ministry were to take time and compare notes with the POST newspaper after all it is they who brought this whole issue into the fore and they may actually have a lot more evidenvce of what has been going on.
kapiji is not guilty, however the investigations whiff of corruption too, whats happened to the actual reason we are in the minsitry of lands investigating.
it would make more sense to do a full scale investigation and have all on paper enough to persecute the culprits,weve had enough of she did, he did and only two people in jail.
and whats the culture in the country ,that if you dont get what you want you write to the president, does the president have powers to give land to whom he wishes or have I got it wrong.
and if he knew about these irregularities why has it been revealed by the POST.
part of the govermnent money goes to the speacil branch so I expect them to be better than the POST.
That means Ideally they should be a step ahead and not behind.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home