DAILY MAIL - Appointments, Vulture Fund
Levy makes more appointmentsBy ANGELA CHISHIMBA
PRESIDENT Mwanawasa has appointed Chitambo member of Parliament Nassim Hamir as Deputy Minister of Lands. And Mr Mwanawasa has also appointed former Zambia National Commercial Bank (ZNCB) Managing Director Likolo Ndalamei as Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet in charge of Finance and Economic Development at Cabinet Office.
Special assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations John Musukuma announced this in a statement yesterday. In the letter of appointment to Mr Nassim, President Mwanawasa said, “This appointment underscores the tremendous confidence that I have in your ability and leadership qualities to guide this important ministry which I have assigned you. “You will no doubt agree that the efficiency of your ministry is critical if the performance of our economy is to improve appreciably.”
The appointment and transfers are with immediate effect. The office of deputy minister of Lands fell vacant after Mr Moses Muteteka was relieved of his duties to pave way for investigations into the alleged illegal allocation of land at the Ministry of Lands.
And Mr Mwanawasa has transferred Eastern Province Minister, Boniface Nkhata, to the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development where he would serve as deputy minister. He has taken over from Mr Lameck Mangani who has been transferred to Eastern Province as provincial minister.
And the new deputy secretary to cabinet was relieved of his position at ZNCB when Rabobank of Netherlands acquired 49 per cent shares in the Zambian bank. Mr Ndalamei previously worked for the Bank of Zambia between 1992-1996 as assistant director in charge of economics. He was then seconded to the Ministry of Finance and National Planning where he served as Director of Budget. He was later appointed permanent secretary in charge of Budget and Economic Affairs until June 2002, when he was appointed Managing Director of ZNCB.
Meanwhile, KANGWA MULENGA reports that the Public Service Division (PSD) has appointed Ministry of Lands chief registrar in the lands and deeds department, Fortune Kachamba, as new Commissioner of Lands. Mr Kachamba takes over from Mr Frightone Sichone who is on suspension on allegation of corrupt activities. Minister of Lands, Bradford Machila, confirmed the appointment of Mr Kachamba. “I can confirm that Mr Kachamba has been appointed as Commissioner of Lands. His appointment was done on Monday.
He is an experienced officer who has worked in the Ministry for over 20 years and has also worked with several Commissioners of Lands before his appointment. “The new Commissioner of Lands is an experienced advocate and has a masters degree in land administration,” Mr Machila said in an interview yesterday. Mr Machila said the absence of the Commissioner of Lands stalled work at the ministry. The minister said with Mr Kachamba's good reputation, the Ministry of Lands would now administer land issues according to the public's expectation. “We now want to speed up the handling of land matters that were affected by the absence of the Commissioner of Lands, and other outstanding issues such as giving offers and signing of leases and titles,” Mr Machila said.
He also commended the public for the cooperation rendered to the Ministry in the absence of the Commissioner of Lands. The Minister further disclosed that a national conference on the draft lands policy would soon be held and that several stakeholders and members of the public would be invited to perfect the policy.
http://www.daily-mail.co.zm/press/news/viewnews.cgi?category=3&id=1128063253
Zambia to pay Vulture Fund $15.4m
By KANGWA MULENGA
THE United Kingdom Royal Court of Justice in London yesterday ruled that Zambia should pay US$15.4 million to Donegal International, the Vulture Fund that sued Zambia for US$55 million debt. And commenting on the judgement in an interview in Lusaka last night, Attorney General Mumba Malila described the outcome as good news for Zambia. This is according to the Jubilee United States of America website which also stated that court would determine the share of legal costs later. It also described the judgement as a small victory for Zambia.
The anti- Vulture Fund campaign organisation further said that the injustice of the result could not be clearer.
And Mr Malila said the outcome of the case was a plus for Zambia and commended the lawyers for having fought hard to bring down the amount from US$55 million to US$15.4 million. He said the judgement of such an amount was a plus for Zambia unlike the earlier claim. British Virgin Islands-based International paid US$3 million for a debt Zambia owed Romania but later sued for US$55 million repayment.
The debt originally had a face value of US$15 million, but Donegal International claimed that unpaid interests and other charges raised the amount to US$55 million. Zambia had paid back US$ 2 million, but Donegal International successfully sued the Zambian government on February 15, 2007 in the UK court. In 1979, the Romanian government lent Zambia money to buy Romanian tractors. Zambia was unable to keep up the payments and in 1999, Romania and Zambia negotiated to liquidate the debt for $3m. But before the deal could be finalised, Donegal International, which is part owned by US-based Debt Advisory International stepped in and bought the debt from Romania for US$3m.
Labels: APPOINTMENTS, CABINET, LAND, VULTURE FUND
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