Maravi

LETTERS - Mining Contracts, Political Funding, NCC

Copper mining in Zambia
By Jenkins Chisoni
Sunday November 04, 2007 [03:00]

I wish to express my humble feelings about the report,"Undermining development, Copper Mining in Zambia" on which The Post editorial has commented very ably indeed. The history of the elusion of a 'Fair Share of the Cake' started in the 1960s with very noble ideas by and of the UNIP government to get a fair share for the Zambian people of the proceeds of the copper mining industry in our country, after gainining independence.

I will never forget how our founding father KK congratulated himself and his party with the statement, Nalo mali ena katina translated from Chilapalapa or Chikabanga to mean 'and the money is now ours'.

Did we really get the money for ourselves or a fair share then? The answer, emphatically, is no.
The reason is simply lack of capacity, on the part of the UNIP government, to negotiate effectively in the world of a sophisticated mining industry. UNIP had only the will and desire to transfer money quickly to the people so that they could see the fruits of independence.

The result was that Anglo American Corporation and Rhodesia Selection Trust came out winners. To add salt to injury for the Zambian mine workers, they lost equal pay for the same jobs done by their white counterparts as the mining companies negotiated for, by far, superior separate expatriate conditions of service for the white employees compaired to those of their Zambian counterparts doing the same jobs, giving the reason of retention of highly skilled labour force which was necessary for the survival of the industry until enough Zambians had received training and gained experience. This lie which has remained in existence to this day as I painfully try to contribute to the fair share debate.

A quick observation is that both the UNIP action and the current suggestion of renegotiation of agreements with the current mine owners happened and is happening respectively during the boom price of copper.

Edith Nawakwi's contribution in the struggle to have a good deal with the IMF and the World Bank was a good try from what we read. But it was not good enough to be able to get anything out of the powerful forces of the two bodies which even went as far as lying that 'not in Nawakwi's life-time would the price of copper change'.

That was a lie because the facts in the history of the industry, in our country and worldwide, totally disagreed. The world has always witnessed rises and falls of metal prices which have been brought about by most unpredictable factors. Nawakwi,with due respect to her economics knowledge which I don't have, was in a very weak position to argue for Zambia.

But what puzzles me is the fact that at the time of the negotiations there were enough qualified Zambian experts to call upon, unlike the UNIP time; did she consult any of them or did she rely on pseudo experts like we are witnessing today in the likes of George Mpombo advising the government on defence matters with no qualifications?

National natural resources given to us by God should be jelously guarded and used by all of us at the end of time, we shall be accountable for them to Him that gave them to us.




http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=33509

Funding of political parties
By Jonathan Mumba
Sunday November 04, 2007 [03:00]

It is sad to hear the rumbling and threats coming out of the mouths of the so-called political leaders, it is not just immoral but pure childish by some of our leaders.

We all know that all Zambian political parties are funded by foreign interests for specific reasons, don’t tell me that MMD has never received money from foreign interests.

The fact is that they might have but they are not as transparent as PF. After all, they abuse state facilities as the case is in Nchanga at the moment. Stop being ‘clever’.

We know the sort of people you were a few years ago and who you are today. So don’t try to be champions of foreigners at the expense of the Zambian people whom you keep deceiving everyday.
The confrontational stance you have taken to attack anyone who differs with your ideas will haunt you after the political sand shifts from under your feet.

Zambia belongs to us all, not just to you people reigning now and enjoying the support of our people’s paper The Post. Everything coming out of your mouths is malicious why? Listen to the people, they put you there. If Sata is wrong, why are you threatening him? You are hiding something.

Zambians don’t hate Chinese but we don’t like the quality of their investiment. They can take it elsewhere as it does not add value to our lives but fatten pockets of their “supporters” and the corrupt.



http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=33510

Constitution-making process
By M longoti
Sunday November 04, 2007 [03:00]

The introduction of NCC after the Willa Mung’omba’s CRC, which has just turned out to be a worst of taxpayers’ money and a hoax cannot go unchallenged.

According to the finance and national planning minister, One trillion kwacha has so far been spent on the CRC. Yet, we want to spend more on NCC.

As a nation and a people we have been talking about abuse of national resources and we wonder why this could not have been avoided. Given a good constitution, tell us why we cannot cite you the leadership for abuse of resources? Does this abuse come about when it is others involved and not the leadership?
As a nation why shouldn’t we demand that the leadership reimburses the nation of the money and funds that were spent on CRC as they knew very well that the CRC was not viable enough to facilitate constitution-making process!

The wantonness and extravagance with which the CRC was expedited cannot be forgiven. Yes you can have your NCC but it is only fair that the national resources spent on CRC be reversed. The CRC was a very expensive venture.

Abandoning it midstream shows how malicious and extravagant this nation has been in addressing real issues.
The Willa Mung’omba CRC expenses and allowances would have been spared if the leadership had a vision of what was to come. Or does it have the vision?

On the constitution that will stand the test of time, I doubt that; unless we remain static, there is no constitution that can be rigid with the global rising demands.






http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=33464

Chinese global trade
By Dr Chewe Chabatama USA
Saturday November 03, 2007 [03:00]

I have been following the debate raging on the Chinese investors in Zambia, and it appears Zambians have not been following the debate on the shifting Chinese global trade activities from the developed world to the poor nations in Africa such as Zambia.

There has been ongoing interest in the US on why China has suddenly decided to shift to Africa. And this is an area I feel Zambians and Africans should try to come to grips with, not name-calling, insults and intimidation from Mpombo.

Why has China suddenly become Africa-friendly in trade? The Zambian government and other African governments are supposed to ask themselves this question and find an answer. We have "experts" in the Zambian government who are well paid to monitor things of this nature.

But given the mediocrity of our Zambian and African politicians, they cannot discern this. And if they knew, they would not want to talk about it because they do not care about the welfare of the people they govern. Their newfound pampered lifestyle and their gratuity matter more than people's welfare.

The reason China has suddenly become Africa and Zambia-friendly is simple. China wants to create a new market for its products in Africa. China is quickly losing its American market as most products from China, especially food and toys have been declared dangerous in the US.

Right now toys from China are being removed from shelves in the shops because they are a danger to the health of American children. Last month a Chinese owner of one of the companies that makes the toys, which have been removed from shelves, committed suicide because of the losses he anticipated.

Some states in the US have actually declared that they will inform the Chinese manufacturers to start labelling their products very conspicuously so that buyers can make their choice whether to buy them or not.

Other states in the USA have declared they will not allow Chinese products in their shops. We Zambians must know what is good and what is not good for us. We cannot accept anything from outside just because we are poor. That is outrageous. I want us Zambians to start charting our destiny.

Labels: LETTERS

posted by MrK @ 4:39 AM