LETTERS - Cost of cancelling agreements
Cost of cancelling agreementsBy Murray Sanderson
Monday December 03, 2007 [03:00]
Our signatories to the mines privatisation agreements were guilty of a serious oversight. Today we all recognise this and would like to correct it. But we must take great care lest, in attempting this, we commit an even greater and more costly oversight. Let me explain. Many voices are urging that we cancel the agreements.
Yes, we could do that, and the foreign investors who bought the mines would have no effective way to prevent it. If they fought us we could win. But it would be a pyrrhic victory, a battle won leading to a war lost.
For economic development depends on much more than natural resources, money and technical skills. Far more important are certain intangible factors, such as trust, the rule of law, respect for property rights, and a reputation for dependability.
Some people may argue that Africa does not yet have the trust of other peoples, so there is little or nothing to lose. But I believe that view is profoundly mistaken.
Trust is something one has to win, and today Zambia has a great opportunity to win it. How? By honouring signed agreements, instead of taking the attitude that the end justifies the means and tearing them up.
If we keep our word, varied by whatever changes can be agreed in friendly negotiation, we shall add immeasurably to Zambia's reputation as a dependable partner in development.
But to keep our word will require courage. Far easier to give in to current popular demand and forget about Zambia's international standing. That, however, would be an oversight which our children and our grandchildren could bitterly regret.
Labels: MINING AGREEMENTS
posted by MrK @ 7:09 AM
1 Comments:
Zambia should lose hundreds of millions of dollars for what? The right to be though of as 'a good chap'?
If we keep our word, varied by whatever changes can be agreed in friendly negotiation, we shall add immeasurably to Zambia's reputation as a dependable partner in development.
Horsemanure. Zambia will not develop without the massive profits from the mines.
This is nonsense.
Let Murray Sanderson eat his 'intangibles'. Maybe he can use 'intangibles' to create irrigation for agriculture, or build a factory or two.
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