Maravi

(LUSAKATIMES) Govt challenges HH to acquire the 75 % shares in Zamtel

COMMENT - I challenge Kenny Konga to start taxing the mines and come up with this paltry $200 million several times over.

Govt challenges HH to acquire the 75 % shares in Zamtel
Monday, July 27, 2009, 9:35 Headlines

GOVERNMENT has challenged United Party for National Development (UPND) president, Hakainde Hichilema to acquire the 75 per cent equity partner shares in Zamtel if he thinks the 25 per cent shares which will be reserved for Zambians after privatisation are not enough.

Cabinet Committee member on Zamtel, Kenneth Konga said it is wrong for Mr Hichilema to criticise Government for allocating 75 per cent of the telecommunication company’s shares to an equity partner before finding out the reason.

Mr Konga was part of the five-member cabinet committee constituted by President Banda to find a lasting solution to the financial and technical problems of Zamtel.

He said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that a number of factors were taken into consideration before arriving at the decision.
Mr Konga who is Minister of Energy and Water Development said Zamtel has a huge debt and requires a capital injection of not less than US$200 million to survive.

He said there is no Zambian with such kind of money to invest in the company.

“If Mr Hichilema has a lot of money, let him buy those shares because, after all, we have not yet found an equity partner for Zamtel and so he is very much welcome to invest US$200 million in the company.

“As a committee, we took a number of factors into consideration before allocating the 75 per cent shares to an equity partner because we believe no Zambian has that kind of capital to invest in the company,” Mr Konga said.
He said Government decided on offloading the remaining 25 per cent shares on the Zambian market because some Zambians can afford to buy some shares.

Mr Konga said opposition political parties and Zambians in general should desist from developing a tendency of always criticising Government on its decisions even when they are taken in good faith.

He was reacting to Mr Hichilema’s sentiments that the 25 per cent shares in Zamtel to be sold to Zambians are insignificant and that the UPND would have preferred that more shares are sold to the public.

Mr Hichilema accused President Banda of trying to benefit from the privatisation of Zamtel.

He said although he is not against making Zamtel viable, he wanted transparency in the manner in which RP Capital Partners of Caymen Islands was engaged to undertake an evaluation of the company’s assets.

Mr Hichilema said it is unfortunate that former Minister of Communications and Transport, Dora Siliya, was allowed to engage RP Capital Partners without announcing the tender.

“We want to see a better Zamtel but the manner in which it is being done is to serve a few individuals where there was no tender. There are better ways of making Zamtel flourish and that 25 per cent that will be sold to Zambians is nothing,” he said.

Mr Hichilema said the UPND is speaking for the majority Zambians who are suffering and advised the unions to consider the interests of the workers most of whom are underpaid

But the National Union of Communication Workers (NUCW) is confident that Zamtel will be viable after the 75 per cent shares in the company are sold to an equity partner.

NUCW president Patrick Kaonga advised people claiming corruption in the privatisation of Zamtel to report to law enforcement agencies.
Mr Kaonga said this in an interview from Samfya yesterday.

“Our interest is to save the company from collapse. If there are issues of corruption, there are law enforcement agencies to deal with them,” Mr Kaonga said.

He said NUCW is confident that Zamtel will be viable after it is privatised. Mr Kaonga said his union’s interest is to ensure that jobs are saved.
He warned that the company will go into liquidation if nothing is done about it because it is failing to operate viably. Mr Kaonga said Zamtel’s problems started a long time ago and that nothing was done about it.

“At the time the telecommunications sector was liberalised, Zamtel was not ready to take that route. Mass employment was part of Government’s agenda before liberalisation and now we need to restructure the company to make it viable,” Mr Kaonga said.

And the National Energy Sector and Allied Workers Union (NESAWU) has challenged Mr Hichilema to prove allegations that President Banda wants to personally benefit from the privatisation of Zamtel.

NESAWU general secretary Yotam Mtayachalo made the challenge in an interview in Ndola yesterday. “It is not fair for Mr Hichilema to accuse President Banda of wanting to benefit from the sale of Zamtel shares. As a modern politician, he should learn not to be personal and to politicise issues.

“If we continue throwing mud at each other, we are eroding donor confidence. It is not fair to accuse President Banda of wanting to benefit from the sale of 75 per cent shares in Zamtel,” Mr Mtayachalo said.

Meanwhile, Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson Charles Milupi has urged Government to ensure Zambians benefit from the sale of 75 per cent Zamtel shares.

Mr Milupi said government should ensure that the privatisation of Zamtel is done according to the laid down tendering procedures.
He said in an interview yesterday that the country should get the value in monetary terms out of the sale of 75 per cent shares of Zamtel to an equity partner.

“All Zambians must benefit from the sale of the company because we do not want to experience the same thing that happened after the sale of ZCCM. Most Zambians did not benefit from the sale of that company,” he said.

[Zambia Daily Mail]

Labels: CORRUPTION, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, KENNETH KONGA, PRIVATISATION, ZAMTEL

posted by MrK @ 12:03 PM