(LUSAKATIMES) ZCCM-IH to disclose the whereabouts of K850 billion next month after board approval
ZCCM-IH to disclose the whereabouts of K850 billion next month after board approvalTIME PUBLISHED - Monday, November 7, 2011, 5:13 am
ZAMBIA Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) has broken its silence regarding the whereabouts of the US$167.5 million Barrick Gold paid for a 2.28 percent stake in Lumwana Mining Company (LMC).
“The funds are placed in short-term investments with local financial institutions,” ZCCM-IH said in a statement placed in the Daily Mail following concerns from minister of Mines and Minerals Development Wylbur Simuusa that the company might have either ‘misplaced’ or ‘misapplied’ the money.
ZCCM-IH, in a management statement, said it will disclose the whereabouts of the money after a board approval next month because doing so before the board’s consent would be tantamount to flouting listing rules. The company is listed on the Lusaka and New York bourses.
Last week, Mr Simuusa gave the company a one-week ultimatum to account for the money which in Kwacha terms stands at tens of billions and could provide a major boost to poverty reduction programmes.
Former minister of Finance Situmbeko Musokotwane, in an interview via phone from Zimbabwe where he is doing some work, said he is confident the money could not have been misapplied.
ZCCM-IH, in a management statement, said it will disclose the whereabouts of the money after a board approval next month because doing so before the board’s consent would be tantamount to flouting listing rules.
“If there are any suspicions by the minister (Mr Simuusa) that the money is missing,” Mr Situmbeko said, “the matter must be reported to the police.”
The Peter Munk owned gold digger paid Australia’s Equinox Minerals up to US$7.5 billion for LMC and insisted on buying off the 2.28 percent stake Zambia had even after the local competition commission advised that ZCCM-IH must maintain the stake which by extension gave ZCCM-IH a stake in the multi-billion Jabil copper and gold mine in Saudi Arabia.
Criticism mounted regarding ZCCM-IH’s decision to take a ‘measly’ US$167.5million from the largest gold digger in the world instead of actually demanding a large stake in the mine that has an extendable 35-year lease life.
However, speculation has been escalating that ZCCM-IH only agreed to give up the 2.28 percent stake in LMC after Canada’s Prime Minister from 1984 to 1993 Brian Mulroney visited State House with a Zambian author based in the United States.
Barrick Gold is a Canadian owned mine. The nature of discussions Mr Mulroney “quietly” had at State House with the Zambian author and State House officials remains unknown.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
Labels: CANADA, CORRUPTION, LUMWANA MINING COMPANY, SITUMBEKO MUSOKOTWANE, WYLBUR SIMUUSA, ZCCM-IH
posted by MrK @ 4:22 PM
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