Maravi

Magande advises Rupiah to stop lying over Zanaco sale

Magande advises Rupiah to stop lying over Zanaco sale
Written by Chibaula Silwamba
Monday, August 03, 2009 12:24:49 AM

FORMER finance minister Ng’andu Magande has charged that President Rupiah Banda is lying by alleging that he sold 75 per cent of Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco) to RaboBank of the Netherlands. Reacting to President Banda’s statement last Wednesday that Magande sold 75 per cent shares contrary to what the latter was suggesting on the announced privatization of Zamtel, Magande denied selling 75 per cent shares of Zanaco to RaboBank.

He said the information on the names of shareholders and their shareholding was there at Ministry of Finance and National Planning, Patents and Companies Registration Office (PACRO) and at Zanaco itself.

“Since I said something and the President has said [something], what you should do is to go to other people. Why can’t you even go to RaboBank? People are there, you should ask them that how much percentage did you buy of Zanaco? Then you tell the people to say, ‘who is telling what?’ Even ask one of your journalists to go to the Registrar of Companies, find out who are the shareholders of Zanaco bank, who owns 75 per cent? And then you write that according to the Registrar of Companies, there is nobody who owns 75 per cent shares of Zanaco. It is owned by nearly two million people because the previous government floated shares on the stock exchange for Zambians to buy,” Magande explained.

“It is you to help us to say what the President said is not correct because statistics…then somebody who is in Shang’ombo who will read The Post, would say, ‘who is telling the truth?’ It can’t be me and the President to continue talking to each other.”

Magande said President Banda’s allegation against him was subjective.

“It is not a question of whether it was a collective decision but me, I was talking about an issue [of Zamtel], so that is what we should deal with. Himself he referred to another issue which I didnt talk about, I didn’t talk about Zanaco,” Magande said.

He said he was not in Zambia at the time the MMD government initiated plans to privatise Zanaco.

“You go and search, when was a decision made by government to privatise Zanaco? What year was it? I was not even in the country…” said Magande.

Last Wednesday, President Banda said Magande did not tell anyone that a study was done on Zanaco but sold 75 per cent of the parastatal’s shares to the private sector and floated 25 per cent to Zambians on the stock market.

President Banda was responding to Magande’s demand that the government should not proceed to privatise Zamtel before telling the nation the results of the asset valuation process conducted by RP Capital Partners of Cayman Islands.

During Magande’s tenure as finance minister, the government controversially sold 49 per cent of Zanaco shares to RaboBank of the Netherlands amidst opposition from majority Zambians.

RaboBank acquired a 49 per cent shareholding in Zanaco in April 2007 when President Banda was Republican Vice-President and Magande served as finance minister.

Some Zambians said the sale of 49 per cent shares to RaboBank was contrary to the Banking and Financial Services Act, which stipulated that no single shareholder could acquire more than 25 per cent of a banking institution. However, the Bank of Zambia granted Rabobank a waiver to own more than 25 per cent shares in Zanaco.

In April 2007, then commerce, trade and industry minister Kenneth Konga told Parliament that Rabobank paid US $8,250,000 to acquire the 49 per cent shareholding in Zanaco.

In November last year, Zanaco floated about 25 per cent shares to the Zambian public on the Lusaka Stock Exchange.

Zanaco managing director Mark Wiessing said the listing of the bank’s shares had marked the final stage of the privatisation process of Zanaco.

Labels: MAGANDE, PRIVATISATION, RUPIAH BANDA, ZANACO

posted by MrK @ 11:25 PM