Sata's commitment to combat corruption pleases Germany
Sata's commitment to combat corruption pleases GermanyBy Chibaula Silwamba
Wed 19 Oct. 2011, 14:10 CAT
GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel's special envoy has praised President Michael Sata's commitment to combat corruption and promote pro-poor growth, reliable economic development, good financial governance, accountability and democracy.
And the German government says it is ready to provide experts to help the Sata-led government negotiate with mining firms to ensure that Zambians get adequate revenue from their minerals.
In an interview in Lusaka on Friday, Chancellor Merkel's personal representative for Africa, Gunter Nooke, said President Sata's commitment to make the fight against corruption one of the major objectives of his government was pleasing to Germany and the entire Europe.
Nooke, who arrived in Lusaka last Thursday for a two-day visit, met President Sata and conveyed Chancellor Merkel's congratulatory message, and held meetings with mines minister Wylbur Simuusa, civil society members and other interest groups.
He also attended President Sata's maiden official opening of Parliament on Friday.
Nooke said Chancellor Merkel and the German government, through him, had given a clear signal that they were interested in the success of the new government and hoped President Sata and his team would deliver on their campaign promises.
"We have developed very successful and fruitful bilateral relations but the potential is great. I am interested in some specific issues, for instance mining, developing agriculture production, decentralisation, small hydro electricity in rural areas in Zambia. All these are issues we can work together and become more successful as partners in development cooperation and private investments," Nooke said.
"What the President said in our meeting and in his speech to Parliament must be seen as a clear signal that this zero tolerance regarding corruption is one of the main objectives of this government. It is the best advocacy for private investments if the government is successful in combating corruption."
He applauded Zambians for the peaceful election and transfer of power. Nooke said Chancellor Merkel and other European leaders want democracy to become normal in Africa.
"I appreciated the democratic awareness of the majority ordinary people in Zambia that they made their decisions free and independent from all campaigning, gifts and all unfair election circumstances," Nooke said.
"This is not just a signal by the President; it's also a signal by the Zambians that democratic awareness and capacity for Africans is bigger. We can celebrate not only the new government and President, but also the ordinary Zambian voters."
He said the German government would negotiate development cooperation with Zambia in November for a three-year term, which he assured would be increased to ensure the success of the new government.
"The support of Germany will be on a relatively higher amount of money from German taxpayers for the new government. But we need clear messages from the government and the ministers about what the real needs of the people are; which kind of support the government needs to fulfil promises and commitment made in the campaign," Nooke said.
He said Europeans acknowledged that Zambia had the potential of being a success story in southern Africa in observance of democratic tenets.
Nooke expressed happiness at President Sata's strategy to reduce Zambia's donor-dependence and promised to continue advocating German investment into Africa.
"I know how difficult it might be to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) from Europe. There are some hesitations but if there will be stability, democracy and rule of law, good governance and predictability and accountability then private investment is possible and this country has huge potential in raw materials, landscape, tourism, agriculture and all these are interesting for German companies," Nooke said.
On calls for the reintroduction of windfall tax on mining, Nooke said Germany, as a good and old mining nation with a lot of experts in the sector, could help Zambia negotiate for taxes that would benefit Zambians.
He said Germany could be "a little bit more" independent in providing expertise on mining than nations where global mining companies were based because, currently, nobody in Germany was actively involved in mining in the global arena.
"We want to see that there is political will on the side of the new Zambian government to get permanent and adequate revenue from the mines and raw materials in the country. It's a very delicate and sensitive issue and the negotiations are not very easy. You need a lot of best international lawyers and experts in mining," Nooke said.
"But at the end of the day there must be a permanent income from the mines. The best way is to know the geology of the deposits of specific natural resource and the amount of raw materials in the deposit."
He said there was need to separate companies that do exploration and extraction of minerals.
He said although exploration was very expensive, it must be done by independent companies and not firms that would extract the minerals.
"It's not the best way that those that want to extract the raw materials are the only ones who know the deposit. That is not a fair negotiation. We have to separate the exploration and extraction," Nooke said.
Nooke said mining firms must responsible for protection of the environment, take care of social aspects of the communities they operate in and people displaced from mining sites.
Labels: ANGELA MERKEL, CORRUPTION, DONORS, MICHAEL SATA, WINDFALL TAX
posted by MrK @ 2:28 PM
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