Ernst & Young says Zambia among 17 African countries favourable for FDI
Monday, June 6, 2011, 7:15
Global giant Ernst & Young (EY) says Zambia is among 17 African countries with good potential for foreign direct investment (FDI). In its 2011 Africa attractiveness survey, Ernst & Young identified a selection of African countries with good potential for foreign direct investment (FDI) over the next five years.
Ernst & Young (EY) is one of the largest professional services firms in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Speaking about Zambia, Ernst & Young says Zambia’s copper mines will continue to attract investors over the forecast period, with global demand expected to keep prices high for the foreseeable future.
But EY warns that outside of the minerals sector, prospects for FDI are less good.
It observed that Zambia’s reliance on copper (which makes it vulnerable to price movements), coupled with its small domestic market, will limit the flow of capital into the rest of the economy Ernst & Young however says the country’s business-friendly environment, sound macroeconomic management and investment in the infrastructure network should attract multinational companies into other parts of the economy.
The other 16 countries are Angola, Ethiopia, DRC, Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda.
Ernst & Young explains that its 2011 Africa attractiveness survey reflects, first, Africa’s attractiveness for foreign direct investors and, second, the perceptions of, and outlook for, Africa and its peers across a representative panel of 562 international decision-makers.
Labels: FDI, NEOLIBERALISM
Read more...
Mwanawasa’ son joins opposition of developmental projects
Tuesday, June 7, 2011, 8:11News36 comments
Patrick Mwanawasa
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda’s government is brainwashing Zambians into believing that it is bringing about the much-needed development, says Patrick Mwanawasa.
And Patrick (left), the eldest son of the late president Levy Mwana-wasa, has
accused government leaders of ordering security personnel to kill Zambians during the recent disturbances in Mongu and Mazabuka.In an interview witht the Post, Patrick said
he was fed up with flamboyant speeches which were clearly not a true reflection of what was obtaining on the ground.
“It has been interesting to watch events unfold in the political arena this year. But I am appalled by the lack of conscience exhibited by our political leaders and those holding public office,” Patrick said. “Time and again, we hear how our government is working in our best interest.
We are brainwashed into believing that they are carrying out their duties to bring about the much-needed development, emancipation of youths and commitment to the achievement of a vision, a vision whose cornerstone has been shattered by a failure to entrench a national instrument for governance, an instrument which protects the rights of its citizenry, a people’s generic identity, a people’s constitution.”
He said Zambia had a middle class, albeit the intelligentsia of society, that was oblivious to the plight of the youth and workers in the name of protecting their jobs and comfortable homes.
However, Patrick said he did not blame the middle class for hiding behind the political mess because whenever one criticised those who ran a government on a democratic deficit, they risked jeopardising their lives and their families.
“But this is the reality, and any criticism, external or internal under such a deficit, could have adverse effects on the legitimacy of that government at any given time. Needless to say that this is a crucial time, a time when all parameters of governance are critically scrutinised,” Patrick said.
“Against this backdrop, we the people have been blanketed with a strong marketing machinery which has captured our attention, a machinery which has got us interested: ‘your money and your government at work!’ We have been beckoned to make a decision.”
Patrick said youths were denied the chance to be entrepreneurs in their own land and were reduced to licking the boots of foreign investors and even get shot to death if they asked for a meaningful income.
“We cry this beloved country that our leaders provide laws and enforce them; laws that empower their citizens and not those that oppress them; laws that protect their citizens and not those that leave them vulnerable,” Patrick said.
He said much as Zambians appreciated the quantitative changes in the nation’s output, Zambia’s economic development must benefit them.
Patrick said Zambia needed an economic strategy that weaned it off reliance on credit policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
“Many economists will claim to have a solution to this quagmire of economic malaise, but that is not enough, because what we need is a relentless political will to achieve that which we truly desire, economic sovereignty,” Patrick said. “No longer must we be naïve and accept the cynical view often adopted by our leaders that we don’t understand how government operates.
To add insult to injury, we have charlatans representing the West and Bretton Woods institutions IMF and World Bank praising government for our country’s economic growth but they are remarkably cavalier without any idea of the gulf in real gross domestic product (GDP) between those we call our leaders and the youth selling talk time at Manda Hill.”
Patrick said pro-government charlatans lamentably fail to highlight the need to substitute elitism with a class of constructive non-state actors that advocate policy for the afflicted, the unemployed, the youth and the poor.
“This behaviour, it must be noted, is for lack of a better term ridiculous. I say this because we are being hoodwinked that the world is a global community but in my observation, the current socio-political conditions suggest that globalisation is nothing but a pretext for neo-colonialism,” Patrick said.
“This is a call to reclaim our national identity, our African pride. Our forefathers entrenched the philosophy of African humanism. However, the wave of democracy brought with it the tide of capitalism which eroded this social ideal.
Patrick said as though that were not enough, those that Zambians helped liberate from the shackles of white supremacy, had rebuilt their nations on a foundation that emphasised the enforcement of social development. However, he said Zambia had nothing to show for its efforts.
“Recently we commemorated Africa Freedom Day. It was a sad day; a day in a year where we have witnessed conflict upon conflict, from Abidjan in Ivory Coast to Abyei in the Sudan. Amidst this predicament, our leaders from Cape to Cairo celebrated the occasion in euphoric fashion under the auspices of defence forces covered in regal attire,” Patrick said.
“Back home, the same defence forces who under tough conditions of service, guard jealously that which we hold sacred, our peace. And what do our leaders do? They order them to slay the youth, women and children! Mongu killings, Mazabuka riots and the list goes on and before the end of the year, they will be ordered to slay their own families.”
Patrick said one could call it neither naivety nor ignorance to think that Zambia had fallen to subversion.
On the labour movement front, Patrick regretted that the labour leaders that were supposed to represent the plight of the workers were in bed with their oppressors.
Patrick said people whom Zambians had entrusted with the affairs of the country undermined the citizens’ confidence in their capabilities while systematically insulting the people’s plight with patronising speech and oppressive behaviour.
Labels: MMD, NEOCOLONIALISM, NEOLIBERALISM, PATRICK MWANAWASA, YOUTHS
Read more...
Biti bomb threat a fluke: analysts
Posted by By Our reporter at 6 June, at 19 : 37 PM Print
POLITICAL analysts have laughed off the alleged bombing incident at MDC-T Secretary General, Tendai Biti’s residence as headline seeking antics and cheap politicking ahead of the June 11 SADC Summit in South Africa.
Amid all the hype created by the party and its private media partners, the little dent on Biti’s precast wall said to have been left by the bomb has been described by analysts as merely a little scene begging for attention before the Sadc Summit.
Biti last played the last stunt in July 2008, just before the September 2008 Sadc Summit when he allegedly received a used bullet cartridge in the post.
Since then, Biti has never received ant threats.
The news comes after Biti was criticised by President Mugabe for not supporting Zimbabwe’s communal farmers and standing in the way of increasing civil servants’ salaries.
Political analyst and diplomat, Ambassador Chris Mutsvangwa called on Zimbabweans to see beyond the coincidence between the bombing and the upcoming Sadc Summit.
Ambassador Mutsvangwa noted that just a few days after MDC-T supporters murdered a police officer in cold blood, the Western sponsored movement’s self inflicted bombing scare is a last minute attempt to court Sadc sympathy.
“This is a narcissist headline, an attempt by the MDC-T to play latter day revolutionaries cast in the Tunisian or Egyptian style smacking of recklessness,” Ambassador Mutsvangwa said.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice National Coordinator, Advocate Martin Dinha called for an in depth investigation into the bombing claims, saying a party with no agenda to take to the regional summit will go to great lengths to cast itself as a victim of violence when in essence it is the perpetrator.
“The MDC-T has no agenda to take to the summit and they have chosen to cast themselves as violence victims,” Advocate Dinha said.
Sources in the MDC-T said Biti is planning a stage managed escape from the country on the pretext that his life is under threat.
A visit to the MDC-T Secretary General’s house showed a disappointing work of amateurs, far from what can be described as a life threatening attempt.
Police say they are still investigating the case, which was reported 17 hours late.
The MDC-T has a culture of documented violence involving petrol bombs.
Besides attacking Marimba Police Station, Harare Central Police, CID Headquarters at Morris Depot and Zanu PF Mbare offices, the party has an ugly history of intra-party fighting, which saw the bombing of Fidelis Mhashu and Job Sikhala’s residences a few years ago.
Labels: CHRIS MUTSVANGA, MDC, NEOCOLONIALISM, NEOLIBERALISM, POLITICAL VIOLENCE, SADC, TENDAI BITI
Read more...
Biti bombing a yarn: Zanu PF
by Staff Reporter
06/06/2011 00:00:00
ZANU PF on Monday dismissed a reported bomb blast at the home of MDC-T secretary general and Finance Minister Tendai Biti as a “fake incident” meant to draw sympathy from SADC leaders at a crucial summit on Zimbabwe starting on Saturday in South Africa.
The MDC-T has called for a “thorough” police probe into the incident early Sunday morning at Biti’s home in Highlands, Harare. The small blast from what is thought to be a petrol bomb left a “dent” on the perimeter wall around the house, the party said in a statement. Biti was away at the time.
The incident was headline news in Monday’s newspapers. The privately-owned NewsDay splashed with the headline, ‘Biti bombed’, and the story said the Finance Minister had “escaped death", with a strong hint that the incident could be the work of Zanu PF sympathisers in the security services.
But Zanu PF says attempts to read the purported attack in the context of recent attacks on Biti by President Robert Mugabe are a “dirty tricks” campaign by its ruling coalition partners to play victim ahead of Saturday’s summit.
“It’s a rubbish story which is already contending for rubbish story of the year if not the decade,” said Zanu PF politburo member Jonathan Moyo, part of Zanu PF’s delegation to the weekend summit.
“The idea that any serious media anywhere in the world, even in a banana republic, will claim that a politician has escaped death in absentia is ludicrous.
“Otherwise there is not even one idiot in the world who has been fooled by this MDC-T yarn and its intention. It’s a very clumsy ploy based on discredited Rhodesian Selous Scout-tactics of either getting attention, or distracting attention, and in this case they are trying to do both.
"They are trying to distract attention from their rally which flopped last Saturday, and we know when they want attention they scour hospitals and mortuaries looking for injured people or dead ones to present them as victims of violence.
“Now you can add pseudo stories of petrol bombs thrown at empty houses as if people doing the alleged assassination don’t know that it’s an empty house and there is no-one there.”
Battle lines are drawn between the MDC-T and Zanu PF ahead of the summit. The MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai wants the summit to reaffirm the report of the March 31 Livingstone SADC troika summit widely seen as critical of Mugabe.
Mugabe reacted angrily to the report, suggesting that South African President Jacob Zuma – who is the regional point man on Zimbabwe – had been misled by the MDC-T about the state of affairs in the coalition government.
"To us, Livingstone is a bombshell, there were serious inaccuracies,” Mugabe said at a subsequent SADC summit in Namibia, which however could not discuss the Livingstone report because Zuma was absent. Zuma then offered to host the summit this weekend.
Moyo added: “It’s the same pattern used before the Livingstone summit when they [MDC-T] cooked up a dossier full of green lies, and they used that dossier to mislead SADC leaders by claiming that there was harassment and intimidation against them; claiming that so-called securocrats had staged a coup and were now running the country, and the President was no longer in charge.
“SADC leaders now know that they were taken for a huge ride by Tsvangirai. You should therefore see the bombing yarn as an attempt to distract the attention of regional leaders from the lies they told before Livingstone in order to suggest there is something untoward going on in Zimbabwe, that the Minister of Finance is a target.”
Top Zanu PF, MDC-T and MDC-N officials were gathering in South Africa starting Monday – the start of intense diplomatic lobbying before the weekend showdown which could potentially split SADC leaders.
Moyo added: “There will be two groups in South Africa -- one defending the nation and another attacking it, we will see which of these two groups wins.”
Labels: MDC, MDC CORRUPTION, PROPAGANDA, SADC
Read more...
DPP cadets strip a Chief naked, dethrone him
By Nyasa Times
Published: June 6, 2011
Chief Mponda of Nsamala Village in Balaka district, who claim to have been paraded naked by Democratic Progressive Party DPP) Youth Cadets last month, has cried foul over the news that he has been stripped off his chieftaincy.
Mponda was beaten up, rubbed down with buffalo beans (chitedze) at a graveyard, during the burial ceremony of Daniel Kudonto, former regional director of campaign [South] of DPP in the presence of some top officials after he was accused of causing delays in handling the proceedings like grave digging at the burial ceremony of.
Mponda: Stripped his trousers and now chieftenacy
The 78-year-old chief told a local newspaper that he has received communication that he is no longer a chief a development he believes is politically motivated.
“As I am talking to you today, I was called by Group Kapalamula who told me that I am no longer a Chief. He said he has been instructed by T/A Nsamala to inform me about that,” lamented the chief.
Chief Mponda also said he was seriously injured by the DPP rough necks a situation which he says has left him to have difficulties in walking and now using the help of a stick.
“I am not feeling well. They beat me up so badly. I am now using a walking stick because my right leg still pains. I am not myself due to the bad experience I went through,” said the chief.
Mponda said it conspicuous that thugs who beat him were DPP youth cadets dressed in DPP regalia and were dropped off by two DPP pick up vehicles.
He also blamed the party spokesperson Dr. Heatherwick Ntaba and the Director of Women Patricia Kaliati for not stopping their militia the time they were beating the chief.
“Ntaba was very close to me when these thugs brought me before the public half naked. When they smeared chitedze on my body, he was there. And in fact, when the itching was unbearable, I removed some chitedze which fell on him,” he is quoted in the Weekend Nation saying.
He further claims that Kaliati insulted him and called him all sorts of unprintable names including teasing him on his stripped private parts.
“Madame (Patricia) Kaliati pronounced unpalatable language to me. I didn’t believe my ears. She mentioned my private parts,” said the chief.
“I feel bitter but since I was a victim I couldn’t answer back. As a chief, I needed respect. She wasn’t supposed to mention my nakedness as if she was my wife. Even my wife respects me, why should somebody’s wife mention my nakedness like that as if at one time I undressed myself to her? My heart still fumes at her conduct.
“She even said ‘Mfumu yopusa ndipo ufumu wako watha. Ngati tinakwanitsa kuthamangitsa diplomat, tinatseka university, kuli bwanji iwe?’ [You are a foolish chief, from today your chieftaincy is over. If we managed to deport a diplomat; closed the university; what about you?]”
President Bingu wa Mutharika and his DPP have all along be preaching the gospel of respecting chiefs which is not the case with what happened to Chief Mponda.
It has also been learnt that DPP is using few chiefs to call upon Malawians to back president Mutharika’s third term bid though the party through its spokesperson has downplayed the reports
President Mutharika has since called upon traditional leaders to take part in active politics a development which most Malawians including political scientists are against with saying it will bring confusion and favouritism when handling a number of government project among the people. – (Reporting by Kerah Semindo, Nyasa Times)
Labels: CADRES, CHIEFS, MALAWI
Read more...
Zaka urged to rally behind Zanu-PF
Sunday, 05 June 2011 22:49
Zanu-PF National Chairman Cde Simon Khaya-Moyo has urged people in Zaka district to rally behind the only revolutionary party that has the people at heart ahead of the upcoming elections.
Cde Khaya Moyo was speaking at a field day held in Zaka district over the weekend where he told Zanu-PF supporters that the party must reclaim the seats taken by the opposition. He said
Zanu-PF was the only party that stood against the British colonisation to liberate the black majority.
He said it was high time people realised that Zanu-PF is the only party with a traceable history and has attained tangible results in fighting for the empowerment of Zimbabweans and neo-colonialism.
"I urge everyone of you to look back at our history. If we revisit our history, we will not give away the country to the British and their opposition parties that have mushroomed this country.
"Zimbabweans must know that this country was won through the combined efforts of men and women of stamina and foresight, the likes of Josiah Tongogara, Edson Zvobgo, Jason Moyo and Herbert Chitepo to mention just a few.
"We must remember that Zimbabwe is a sovereign state which came about through the spilling of blood.
"It is against this background that we have to put this in mind when we select a candidate for the next election and see whether we are selecting a person who will carry forward the ideas of the revolution," he said.
He said the people must not betray the liberation war fighters by inviting the hand of the white men back into our affairs through entertaining Western-sponsored opposition parties.
Cde Khaya Moyo added that Zanu PF was the only party that has advocated for the total control of our resources through indigenisation and empowerment, a move that has created tension with the West who continuously want to control and manipulate Zimbabwe's resources for their own benefit.
Cde Khaya Moyo said the GPA has overstayed and has become a hindering block for the people's party to fully operate since the opposition parties they are working with do not defend or support the wills of the people but rather they put forward the agendas of our detractors.
"As we approach the elections, the GPA must be buried the same way we did to the Sadc Tribunal.
"There is no way we work properly whilst surrounded by sellouts who are working hand in glove with the people who want Zimbabwe to starve through the imposition of sanctions," he said.
He said Zimbabwe was a peaceful country with a lot of minerals and voting for the opposition parties was allowing the country's detractors to meddle in our affairs and to dictate to us what to do.
Cde Khaya Moyo also warned peo-ple against being manipulated and stirring divisions saying that the Unity Accord was an irreversible pact that has brought peace and stability in the country.
"Some want to create tension amongst us, disturbing the unity that was put in place by our founding fathers. They must know that the Unity Accord is a strong pact for the people of Zimbabwe that aims at promoting peace and unity," he said.
Cde Khaya Moyo bemoaned the status of schools in the area in particular Nemauku Primary School which is still facing a lot of challenges despite the disbursement of tdhe Constituency Development Fund.
He said the fact that nothing has been done by the Zaka Central legislator to help the school after being given US$50 000 for the development of the constituency was clear testimony that the MDC does not carry forward the wills of the people and was not progressive.
He however expressed gratitude to the teachers for their total expression that they are patriotic by continuing to soldier on despite harsh working conditions.
"President Mugabe is going to ensure that civil servants are catered for despite efforts by (Minister) Biti to keep on holding pockets," he said.
He added that people must desist from violence.
Meanwhile, Cde Simon Khaya Moyo launched the Zanu-PF Community based National Herd Rebuilding Intervention Programme in Bikita which seeks to restore the national herd and promote the improvement of
better cattle breeds which has declined over the years.
The villagers are to select 50 to 100 best cows, which will be inspected by the veterinary services for suitability to be artificially inseminated.
Cde Khaya Moyo said the programme is part of Zanu PF's concerted efforts to mobilise communities to embark on various developmental programmes.
"People must embrace increasing productivity in the breeding of cattle because there are so many benefits we derive from cattle rearing.
"Cattle are a means of income. Traditionally, owning a cow means you are very rich. Thus we seek to improve our communal herds so that we prioritize on quality on our herds," he said.
Due to the frequency of droughts, Zimbabwe's national herd has been greatly affected and the introduction of the programme is set to boost and revive the quality of cows, meat and draught power.
Labels: CATTLE, SIMON KHAYA MOYO, ZANU-PF
Read more...
JB storms Ntchisi, trashes ‘zero-deficit’ budget
By Nyasa Times
Published: June 5, 2011
State vice president Joyce Banda on Sunday addressed a public rally for her yet-to-be registered People’s Party at Ntchisi Boma, starkly criticizing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) led government for formulating a zero-deficit 2011/2012 national budget, arguing it would only further disadvantage the poor majority.
Finance minister Ken Kandodo presented the budget on June 3, 2011 entitled “Zero Budget Deficit: A Road to Economic Autonomy or Futile Exercise” and it is pegged at K307.7 billion.
The zero-tolerance budget comes fast on the heels of decisions by some major donors including Britain and Germany had indefinitely suspended donor aid to Malawi due to alleged worrying deteriorating human rights and governance situation.
“Government has no money and yet the officials are adamant insisting that Malawi can stand on its own without donor support and go on to present a zero-deficit budget,” said the Vice President.
“ I fear that implementation of such a budget would hugely rely on taxes to be borne by an ordinary villager who will have to pay painfully much more on exorbitant necessities of life such as salt, bread meat, literally all essentials,” said Banda.
Banda, who is Malawi’s first woman vice president, observed that the sorry situation is exacerbated by the worsening low tobacco prices on the auction floors where sales have been severally suspended owing to poor prices.
She wondered why farmers who have toiled had all year and later be given a “raw deal” by buyers who will have to go on to bear huge taxes on essential life commodities “just to cushion the zero-deficit budget”. Ntchisi is among the few major tobacco-growing districts in Malawi.
On the tobacco prices, the Vice President wondered why Malawian farmers are offered the “raw deal” when in the neighbouring countries of Zimbabwe and Zambia are getting “much higher prices” for the same kind of tobacco.
“Government has to seriously work out a lasting solution to this problem,” she said, suspecting that the worsening relations between Malawi and its traditional bilateral donors may also have a bearing on the status quo on the tobacco auction floors.
She suggested that the government of Malawi should “eat a humble pie” and apologize for whatever wrong may have happened to prevent ordinary Malawians from bearing the brunt of the worsening relations.
The VP informed the gathering that she had learnt “with sorrow” that some “misguided” people had been gagging the chiefs in the district against attending her rally, saying they must appreciate that Malawi is a multiparty dispensation where chiefs are supposed to be apolitical.
Banda reiterated that she respects chiefs as custodians of the tradition and culture, saying they were also “chief” counsellors in social, traditional and cultural disputes.
The vice president also questioned the poor administration of last year’s fertilizer subsidy programme where the number of coupons distributed to the would-be beneficiaries did not tally with the fertilizer on the market.
“What went wrong; where did the money to buy enough fertilizer go when it was duly provided for in the national budget? Malawian farmers deserve an explanation,” she said, adding that her concern is motivated by her oath of office she undertook upon being elected vice president “where I swore to defend and uphold the constitution.”
“Being concerned with the plight of our people is my constitutional obligation, which I shall never negate as a leader,” the PP leader declared.
On politics, Banda expressed concern that since the DPP government came into place, little or no political space has been offered to other players, particularly when it came to registering a new political party, most people have been refused that constitutional right.
She observed her PP is also facing similar problems, but she was optimistic that the party would soon be registered and be allowed to participate in the political life of the country.
According to PP’s publicity secretary Stephen Mwenye, a case is coming up on Tuesday for hearing before the Lilongwe High Court where the PP is challenging the registrar of political parties’ decision to reject the party’s registration papers.
Other PP officials that spoke at the public rally included national campaign director Filipo Ngopi and central region provincial governor Kizito Ngwembe, who pledged “unfaltering support to the vice president and the People’s Party”.
Earlier in the morning, Banda attended an Anglican Church ‘Paper Sunday” service where she donated K300 000 towards the construction of a new spacious prayer house and new uniform for the church choir. – (Reporting by Lusubilo Sichali, Nyasa Times)
Labels: JOYCE BANDA, KEN KANDODO, NEOLIBERALISM
Read more...
Bloch's contempt for working classes
by Marshal Padenga
06/06/2011 00:00:00
ERIC Bloch’s article ‘Labour’s pay demands unsustainable’ reads like justification for a whole nation, save for a few, to work for a pittance in the name of keeping the capitalist afloat.
His defence of low pay for workers got me wondering if the managing directors of the companies he was defending are also earning a pittance too. Do they also have to wake up early in the morning to catch a lift to work as well?
The imperialists have succeeded in driving the Marxian analysis to the dustbowls of political economy, and they seem happy with the result. Karl Marx aside, neo-classical theory suggests that if a business cannot cover its variable costs it must shut its doors tightly because it is just not efficient enough.
This message must be clear to all the firms out there that they cannot treat the Zimbabwean proletariat as providers of charity work. The proletariat in Zimbabwe suffered enough -- and the world is their witness -- during the meltdown and they must have a fare share of this cake now.
If Bloch conducted a survey on the earnings and benefits of those managing these companies, the very same companies that are threatening closure if they give their workers more money, the findings would be obscene to a point of embarrassment. The point is, there is a problem of corporate governance in Zimbabwe’s businesses, and there is a deficiency of openness and transparency, hence the reason why workers are so agitated. The top brass lavish themselves with all the best in benefits that ever existed whilst the entire workforce languishes on a meagre payroll budget.
There are greedy elements out there and Bloch should be advocating a redress, in terms of how the diminutive cake is shared, rather than advocate for maintenance of the status quo, a mantra he has been repeating for a very long time.
Reason, fairness and justice must prevail and financial rewards must take the backburner for once in Zimbabwe and support the mainstay of the economy -- the people who made things happen during the meltdown, the working class.
I want to come back to Marx for a while. He was revered for his surplus value theory and how it drives and stirs capitalism to its peak of imperialism – and God forbid, I hope Zimbabwe is not going there with voices such as Bloch’s.
In his analysis, Marx, the economist extraordinaire, averred that profits are a consequence of withheld surplus value created by the proletariat. There is nothing and no-one that can erase this truth. This is the pedestal upon which capitalism rests. If capital fails to realise this, this will see its own demise, as the voices for expropriation of the expropriator grow loud.
In South Africa, these voices are mounting and in Zimbabwe, the second wave will not be so merciful. One would want to think that the owners of capital would have learnt from by now the consequences of none cooperation with the proletariat. Capital must realise that by making the poor poorer and refusing to share that visibly delicious cake with them, one day they will be tempted to grab it.
The proletariat of Zimbabwe must also feel let down by the government, when the government makes promises of wanting to improve working conditions only to backtrack. Does this not give capital the reason to celebrate and continue with their mantra of, ‘the firms are not making enough and they run the risk of closure if they give in to higher wage demands?’
In view of this, it is the pervasive greed by the middle and top management in these organisations that is crippling the growth of industry and consequently, the entire economy. There is a nauseating generalisation that we hear many a time, that the wage bill is taking seventy-five percent of business revenues. Yes, that’s an archaic and tired argument, but no-one bothers to tell the populace how much of that seventy-five percent is going to the general work force and how much is going to middle and top level management. Again, the obscenity of the entire affair can be exposed for all to see.
The government must be a torch bearer on matters of taking care of the proletariat. The business of a two-tier class system in public service must come to an end. The situation where some civil servants have three to four cars and bottomless fuel tanks is not consistent with a struggling economy, especially when we have working class families living on less than US$50 a month. This gives false credence to the private sector’s argument of being in ‘survival mode’ and takes advantage of the vulnerable workforce.
It is time for the government to get its act together and show its mantle and act as the vanguard of the proletariat and strive to preserve and protect their own.
Having said all the above, it is important to point out the role of the Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Social Welfare in the entire farcical situation. The Ministry, if it has substance, must institute an enquiry into executive compensation in the public and private sector to establish what proportion of that cake the executives are apportioning themselves. This enquiry must go further and assess corporate governance in the running of business enterprises in Zimbabwe. The results may be interesting reading for all.
It may be true that the cake is small, but that as it may be, there are greedy elements who are still taking a bigger chunk of that ‘small cake’ anyway, leaving next to nothing for the workers. Until this is done, any utterances about labour being unreasonable, as Bloch suggests, are unfair and contemptuous.
To the workers of Zimbabwe, one can only exhort them to be steadfast and fight for their fair share of that ‘small cake’.
Labels: NEOLIBERALISM
Read more...
Mbeki best ever ANC leader: Malema
by Staff Reporter
06/06/2011 00:00:00
ANC Youth League president Julius Malema was credited with knocking former South African President Thabo Mbeki off the political pedestal – but now he has made an about turn, hailing him as the “best” leader the African National Congress has ever heard.
"Mbeki is the best leader the ANC has ever produced. There are those who hated him with a passion but forgot that Mbeki, during his leadership, had produced a two-thirds majority during elections," Malema said in a speech at a meeting of the league's Limpopo provincial general council in Polokwane on Sunday.
"Those who hate Mbeki are jealous of his achievements. He was the most educated and clever.
"The only problem with Mbeki was failing to allow the leadership of the ANC to decide on who they wanted in the leadership, and for wanting a third term in leading the organisation. Apart from that, he was the best and I respect him for that.”
Malema’s unexpected warm words about Mbeki come as the Youth League is growingly disenchanted with the leadership of current President Jacob Zuma – a man Malema was declared he would “kill for”.
Political analyst Elvis Masoga said Malema appeared to be preparing the stage for the Youth League to withdraw its support for Zuma at next year’s elective conference, and to ensure Zuma’s defeat they would need the support of Mbeki’s supporters within the ANC ranks.
“Malema has been critical of Zuma's government and his leadership style to a point where it is very clear that he will not support Zuma serving another term in the ANC,” Masoga told the Sowetan newspaper.
The Youth League is angry with Zuma, previously seen as a “pro-poor” leader, for the slow pace of black economic empowerment and affirmative action.
The Youth League wants a speed-up of land reforms and has been challenging Zuma to fall into line over its proposals for the nationalisation of mines.
Zuma was voted in by the majority of poor black South Africans, for whom little has changed since May 2009 when he took office.
Political analyst William Gumede, author of ‘Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC’, said: “Zuma successfully portrayed himself as poor, identifying his personal marginalisation by former President Mbeki with the marginalisation of the poverty-stricken masses. He successfully distanced himself from the failures of the ANC government in the minds of poor voters, blaming them on Mbeki.
“Throughout the election campaign, his strategists portrayed his camp, which now dominates the ANC, as an almost different party. They projected Zuma and the new leadership as more pro-poor and democratic - and paradoxically less corrupt - suggesting they will offer effective government.”
But, adds Gumede, little has changed and Zuma is now being judged on his own record, which is far from impressive.
Labels: ANC, JULIUS MALEMA, THABO MBEKI
Read more...
Bomb blast at Biti's home: MDC-T
by Staff Reporter
05/06/2011 00:00:00
A BOMB went off at the Harare home of Finance Minister Tendai Biti early Sunday, his MDC-T party said. The blast left a “dent” on the perimeter wall around the MDC-T secretary general’s home in Highlands, the party added in a statement. The statement did not say if Biti was home at the time.
“Neighbours said the incident happened an hour after midnight when they heard the blast, but were too afraid to come out,” the statement said. Gift Kaseketa, reported to have been inside the house at the time, said he “did not see anyone, and neither did he hear any sound of a vehicle”.
“He was only able to see the dent left by the detonator in the morning. Only marks of the futile attempt are visible to the wall,” the party added.
Calling for a “thorough investigation”, the MDC-T said it “does not take this attack lightly given that there have been increasing criticisms and verbal attacks on Hon Biti lately.”
The party referenced a story in the privately-owned Standard newspaper on Sunday claiming President Robert Mugabe and military chiefs had given Biti an ultimatum to award civil servants pay rises.
Nelson Chamisa, the party's organising secretary added: "Hon Biti blocked the paths they used to siphon funds from the government for personal use, so they are feeling the pinch, and are furious at him and the MDC."
Labels: MDC, NELSON CHAMISA, POLITICAL VIOLENCE, TENDAI BITI
Read more...
ZRP will not support MDC-T: Chihuri
by Staff Reporter
06/06/2011 00:00:00
POLICE Commissioner Augustine Chihuri has vowed the ZRP will not support individuals promoting the agenda of “imperialists” in Zimbabwe – a thinly-veiled attack on Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party.
"Anybody trying to bring in foreign ideas will have the shock of their lives, we don't support them," Chihuri said in comments published in the state-owned Herald newspaper on Monday.
"The ZRP will not be part and parcel of those people who promote the agenda of imperialists. Those roaming around the country, promoting such ideas, we won't support them.”
Chihuri’s comments follow similar noises from army generals who have vowed not to salute “sell-outs” – a label which has been attached to the MDC-T by supporters of President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party.
The reluctance by military and police chiefs to embrace the possibility of a change of government at the next elections has heightened concerns in the MDC-T, which has been calling for security sector reforms before elections now expected early next year.
Labels: MDC, ZRP
Read more...
There’s no big brother in SADC
By Jonathan MoyoPolitics Last updated on: June 5, 2011
IF THERE are some people who are in for a rude awakening this week, it’s the mindless regime change scribes and their handlers whose wishful thinking is that President Jacob Zuma will use the extraordinary summit on Zimbabwe scheduled for South Africa on Saturday to play big brother politics and read the riot act to President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF. Some media crackpots say this would be a necessary defence and advancement of the alleged gains of the ill-fated SADC organ troika summit held in Livingstone on March 31.
Many will be disappointed, not least because President Zuma is nobody’s big brother and SADC does not conduct its work by reducing itself to the level of political parties from member states, some of which like the MDC-T are foreign founded and funded or by ganging up against one of their founding number.
In fact the extraordinary SADC summit in South Africa presents regional leaders with a golden opportunity to reaffirm and re-assert the regional body’s founding principles as a solidarity and consensus-based organisation formed to defend the sovereignty of its members and to advance African and not European or American interests.
Frankly, and given the embarrassing and manifestly un-African background of having treacherously voted at the UN Security Council for resolution 1973 which diabolically authorised NATO’S indiscriminate bombardment of Libya and barbaric killing of defenceless civilians ironically in order to protect them, it would be tragic if not suicidal for anybody in South Africa to allow the sacred soil of the land of Mandela to be used as treacherous ground for backstabbing a founding SADC member state and a neighbour whose national sacrifices for South African democracy remains a story yet to be told.
The nub of the matter is that SADC is not a self-indulgent organisation for individuals or political parties or foreign powers but a membership grouping of sovereign states in the region. As such, President Mugabe will be attending the summit in South Africa this week not in his individual capacity and not as first secretary and president of Zanu PF but as the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces representing the entire sovereign Republic of Zimbabwe.
Those in our midst who suffer from the folly that President Zuma should use his position as both summit host and SADC facilitator on Zimbabwe to read the riot act to President Mugabe to force him to retire or not to hold elections this year not only miss the point that no leader in SADC has such authority in terms of the regional body’s history and treaty, but also that Zimbabweans would take strong exception to such an intervention which they would necessarily view as unacceptably hostile.
SADC leaders respect each other inasmuch as they respect each other’s countries. This profound sense of mutuality and paradigmatic alertness to reciprocity has made SADC a unique and exemplary regional organisation in the AU family.
The bottom line which makes the all-too-important difference at the end of the day is that SADC is a functional grouping of equal member states that are sovereign. This bottom line is the reason why SADC must stand with Zimbabwe whose sovereignty is under relentless attack from its erstwhile coloniser working in cahoots with its white and racist kith and kin allies in America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Yes, SADC has every right to ask hard questions about the political situation in Zimbabwe, but SADC must take all caution in the world not to exercise that mutually shared right in a manner that subverts Zimbabwe’s sovereignty or in a manner that gives Zimbabwe’s erstwhile coloniser an evil opportunity to trample on our national sovereignty under the brutal weight of its illegal regime change agenda whose content and purpose are morally equivalent to the tragedy of colonialism.
Some examples of the clear and present threats to Zimbabwe’s sovereignty that require urgent and robust SADC attention will illustrate the point. But first it should be remembered that as a concept about self-determination, sovereignty has two key aspects: one is the national autonomy to shape and define the national political process in which the people of Zimbabwe are free to make their own decisions in terms of their own constitution, laws, rules, regulations, norms, culture, values and tradition in pursuit of their own aspirations without being dictated upon by an external force whether neighbour, regional, continental or international; the other is the autonomy to make foreign policy guided by the national interest in a non-aligned fashion with respect to the global balance of power and forces.
Against this backdrop, it should be clear that the only reason why Zanu PF signed the SADC-mediated and guaranteed GPA on September 15, 2008, is because it sought to defend and reaffirm the sovereignty of Zimbabweans to make their own national choices freely including to form the government of the day at a time when Britain, the US, EU and the white Commonwealth were rushing to the UN Security Council in July 2008 with fraudulent claims that Morgan Tsvangirai had won a presidential run-off election that he had cowardly boycotted in a test run of what they later did in Ivory Coast, and still hope to do in Zimbabwe in the forthcoming harmonised general elections.
The GPA is thus very significant in that it kept the imperialist wolves out of the door while enabling Zimbabweans to maintain and assert their sovereignty by forming the GPA government on February 13, 2009. Unfortunately, after forming the GPA government, Zimbabweans were not left alone to implement the GPA through the government.
Instead, and unlike the instructive experience in Kenya where Kofi Annan negotiations ended after the Kenyans agreed to form a government and proceeded to form one whose attention shifted from negotiations to policymaking and implementation, the GPA government in Zimbabwe has been hamstrung and even undermined by continuing illegal GPA negotiations under SADC-sanctioned South African facilitation with an astonishing if not misplaced focus on the so-called roadmap to Zimbabwe’s elections.
This state of affairs, whose logic is tantamount to outsourcing or externalising the national policy process to South African facilitation under the pretext of GPA negotiations, has threatened Zimbabwean sovereignty in blatant violation of Article IX(9.2)(a) of the GPA which boldly states that “the responsibility of effecting change of government in Zimbabwe vests exclusively on and is the sole prerogative of the people of Zimbabwe”.
A roadmap to Zimbabwe’s elections is exactly about “effecting change of government”. Given the GPA declaration under Article IX(9.2)(a), why on earth are South African officials some who, like Lindiwe Zulu, have shown themselves to be either incompetent or dangerously partisan superintending over our national process of mapping out a road to the next elections when we have a legitimate and constitutional government, like they do in Kenya under a similar background, whose unfettered mandate should include precisely that task?
Why should a roadmap to our national elections be negotiated by three political parties, Zanu PF and the two MDC formations under the supervision of South African officials who are self-evidently ignorant of our constitution, laws, institutions and policy processes, when we have our own government in place?
The ignorance of the South African officials is already there for all to see in ways that are very harmful to our republic. For example, as part of the so-called roadmap to Zimbabwe’s election, the South African facilitation team has allowed partisan GPA negotiators to illegally agree that Zanu PF and the two MDC formations should share the allocation of board members to ZBC, Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) and the Mass Media Trust which is the majority shareholder at Zimbabwe Newspapers on some spurious formula of Zanu PF (3), MDC-T (3) and MDC M (1).
This is supposed to be an agreed allocation endorsed by the SADC facilitation team. But what is the legal basis of this patently offensive allocation? None! This means the formula that GPA negotiators have agreed to implement is in fact illegal.
Appointments to the boards at ZBC and BAZ are governed by Acts of Parliament and not by kangaroo negotiations under the convenient but misplaced cover of SADC. The responsible minister effects the appointments in consultation with the President and Parliament and the relevant law even specifies the types of national interests that must be taken into account in making the appointments and those interests are beyond political parties.
In fact, the law does not take kindly to political parties when it comes to broadcasting and yet we have a situation in which the GPA is abused to blatantly politicise appointments to the boards of ZBC and BAZ in the most primitive and negative way all in the name of GPA negotiations whose import is to subvert ministerial and cabinet responsibilities to the detriment of our national sovereignty.
The same is true of attempts to get the same three political parties to share the spoils at the Mass Media Trust which owns the majority share at Zimpapers. How can three political parties, with the blessing of an ignorant South African facilitation team, imagine that they can ignore the Deed of Trust of a company listed at the stock exchange with a strong base of minority shareholding by abusing an already negotiated and agreed GPA to appoint their own commissars to the Mass Media Trust whose Deed of Trust clearly stipulates how people can be appointed to or dismissed from its board?
Anyhow, if anyone tries to go ahead with the mindless 3:3:1 formula to the media boards in question, then they should prepare themselves for a battle royale in the courts. That madness will not be allowed simply because it comes to us with an undeserved SADC facilitation stamp. These are matters to be handled by the government of the day and through responsible ministers who have the institutional capacity to assess all the relevant material before making a final decision in terms of the law as a matter of our national sovereignty. It’s not stuff to be decided by unregulated partisan GPA negotiators under ignorant South African facilitation over a beer in some hotel heavens knows where.
What is infuriating is that, because they are ignorant of the situation on the ground, the South African facilitation team enable the MDC formations to lie that the electronic media in Zimbabwe is monopolised by ZBC when the fact is the US run Studio 7 is illegally broadcasting nationwide on medium wave to promote illegal regime change in the country!
But perhaps the one example that demonstrates the dangers to our national sovereignty in ways that are hair-raising is how, with apparent SADC acquiescence, the British government has smuggled its regime change agenda into the SADC facilitation process under the guise of supporting what is claimed to be a SADC election roadmap when unassailable information is now out showing that the so-called roadmap to Zimbabwe’s elections is nothing but a sinister initiative produced by British intelligence illegally working in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s office in May 2009.
What was in 2009 called the Government Work Programme (GWP) for implementation by Tsvangirai’s illegal parallel government structures in 2010 and 2011 is now being presented as something new under the politically convenient but discredited Middle East concept of a “roadmap” with the prefix of “election” added for propaganda purposes. Yet the truth is that the GWP was supposed to replace the GPA. Put differently, the GWP, which is now called the election roadmap and whose origination is being mischievously attributed to SADC, is what the MDC-T and its sponsors would have wanted as the 2008 GPA.
While there are many harmless similarities between the so-called SADC roadmap to Zimbabwe’s elections ostensibly produced on April 22, 2011, under South African facilitation and the 2008 GPA, the few differences are striking and quite major because they seek an illegal change of government from within in line with the 2009 GWP that was authored by British intelligence illegally working in Prime Minister Tsvangirai’s office.
For example, the media and security sector reforms that loom large in the 2009 GWP now called the election roadmap are not anywhere in the GPA. It is unthinkable that the GPA would have provided for the forced retirement of the leadership of the security sector with impeccable liberation war credentials and distinguished national service to be replaced by puppets with a Rhodesian Selous Scout background such as Martin Rupiya who worked under the team of British intelligence officers, led by Charles Heatly in Tsvangirai’s office, that wrote the GWP in 2009 which in 2011 has become the so-called SADC election roadmap. Zanu PF would not have signed a GPA with provisions similar to those in the GWP or in the contentious election roadmap.
It is now very clear that despite making false noise that Zanu PF is not implementing allegedly agreed GPA provisions, the truth is that there is no single GPA provision that Zanu PF has refused to implement. All alleged issues that Zanu PF has not agreed to implement are not at all in the GPA but have been smuggled as negotiation items subsequent to the signing of the GPA on September 15, 2008.
The 2009 GWP authored by British intelligence and rechristened in 2011 as the election roadmap is not the GPA. This is why Zanu PF has maintained that the only acceptable election roadmap must be the GPA and the Constitution of Zimbabwe. The issue is not about when elections should be held in terms of the year or date but about the framework and process of the election that should be done in accordance with Article IX(9.2)(a) of the GPA which stipulates that effecting change of government in Zimbabwe is the exclusive and sole responsibility of the people of Zimbabwe as a matter of their sovereignty.
What makes the saga of the so-called SADC election roadmap as laughable as it is unacceptable is that the evidence clearly shows that the same office of the Prime Minister has failed to implement its own GWP given to it by British intelligence in the early days of the GPA government and now wants SADC to do the dirty work of British intelligence by putting unwarranted pressure on Zanu PF to implement an illegal regime change agenda of the British government under the cover of an election roadmap.
But again the point is that the failure by Prime Minister Tsvangirai to implement the work programme of his own office dictated by the British government in May 2009 should not have anything to do with when the elections in Zimbabwe should be held.
Meanwhile, it is sad that either out of malice or ignorance some officials in the South African facilitation team, such as the loquacious and reckless Lindiwe Zulu whose mindless megaphone tactics have undermined President Zuma’s work, have wittingly or unwittingly made a bad situation worse by, for example, entitling the minutes of the May 5 & 6 between the facilitators and the GPA negotiators as “Zimbabwe’s Peace Process Report of the Workshop held at Cape Town, South Africa, on May 5-6, 2011”.
Because these minutes will be presented at the extraordinary summit in South Africa this Saturday as an official record, it is clear that there is a diabolic intention to misrepresent the political process in Zimbabwe today as a “peace process” as if the country has been or is at war and is therefore a potential threat to regional or even global peace for purposes of referral to the UN under Chapter VII as happened in July 2008.
It is equally clear that there’s also an intention to share these minutes with other third parties outside SADC in the US and EU to entrench the misrepresentation in regime change quarters that are hostile to Zimbabwe. To justify their false and malicious portrayal of the political situation in our country as a “peace process”, the South African team of facilitating officials also routinely refer to the two MDC formations as “the opposition” to conjure up a false impression of conflict when the two MDC formations are in fact in government and ruling together with Zanu PF.
It should be said in the strongest possible terms that anybody among the South African facilitation team of officials or the GPA negotiators who views the GPA as a peace agreement, when it clearly was a political deal necessitated by the fact that no single party in the 2008 elections mustered a simple majority of 106 seats out of 210 in the House of Assembly, and who sees the political process prevailing in our country today as a “peace process” is a foolish and dangerous ignoramus who has no business poking his or her stinking nose into our national affairs.
Otherwise, and whatever decision the extraordinary SADC summit takes in South Africa this week, the one fact that will never change, a fact most clearly enshrined in the GPA and the SADC treaty and the Constitution of Zimbabwe, is that insofar as the so-called roadmap to Zimbabwe’s election has to do with “effecting change of government in Zimbabwe” then it is the exclusive and sole responsibility of the people of Zimbabwe.
Changing government is not the responsibility of SADC, not the responsibility of ignorant South African facilitation team of officials, not the responsibility of Britain or the US or the EU or the white Commonwealth but the exclusive and sole responsibility of the people of Zimbabwe as represented by their government and State headed by President Mugabe.
Labels: MDC, SADC
Read more...
First man ‘functionally cured’ of HIV
By Liz Goodwin
Mon 06 June 2011, 09:10 CAT
Since HIV was discovered 30 years ago this week, 30 million people have died from the disease, and it continues to spread at the rate of 7,000 people per day globally, the UN says.
There's not much good news when it comes to this devastating virus. But that is perhaps why the story of the man scientists call the "Berlin patient" is so remarkable and has generated so much excitement among the HIV advocacy community.
Timothy Ray Brown suffered from both leukemia and HIV when he received a bone marrow stem cell transplant in Berlin, Germany in 2007. The transplant came from a man who was immune to HIV, which scientists say about 1 percent of Caucasians are.
(According to San Francisco's CBS affiliate, the trait may be passed down from ancestors who became immune to the plague centuries ago. This Wired story says it was more likely passed down from people who became immune to a smallpox-like disease.)
What happened next has stunned the dozens of scientists who are closely monitoring Brown: His HIV went away.
"He has no replicating virus and he isn't taking any medication. And he will now probably never have any problems with HIV," his doctor Gero Huetter told Reuters. Brown now lives in the Bay Area, and suffers from some mild neurological difficulties after the operation. "It makes me very happy," he says of the incredible cure.
The development of anti-retroviral drugs in the 1990s was the first sign of hope in the epidemic, transforming the disease from a sudden killer to a more manageable illness that could be lived with for decades.
But still, the miraculous cocktail of drugs is expensive, costing $13 billion a year in developing countries alone, according to Reuters. That figure is expected to triple in 20 years--raising the worry that more sick people will not be able to afford treatment.
Although Brown's story is remarkable, scientists were quick to point out that bone marrow transplants can be fatal, and there's no way Brown's treatment could be applied to the 33.3 million people around the world living with HIV.
The discovery does encourage "cure research," according to Dr. Jay Levy, who co-discovered HIV thirty years ago, something that many people did not even think was possible years ago.
You can watch Brown talk about his cure in this CBS video report.
Labels: HIV/AIDS
Read more...
Mchenga has no integrity and must go
By The Post
Sun 05 June 2011, 04:01 CAT
The Director of Public Prosecution’s withdrawal of the appeal against Frederick Chiluba’s acquittal on the corruption charges he was facing has done a lot of damage to many things in our country.
And Musa Mwenye, president of the Law Association of Zambia, is right when he says that this case has not aided the development of law in our country and it has left many issues unsettled.
And we feel it has also aided or abated corruption in our country. It has encouraged impunity. It has also encouraged lawlessness. And we know that every lawless act leaves an incurable wound, like one left by a double-edged sword.
It is good that the Law Association of Zambia has decided to put the matter of the failure to appeal Chiluba’s questionable acquittal into proper perspective.
It is important that organisations such as the law association continue to guide our people and explain complex legal issues in a manner that many of our people can understand. It is very difficult to disagree with Musa when he says that the issue they are unhappy about is not whether or not Chiluba is guilty or innocent, but rather the fact that judicial processes have been called into question by Chalwe Mchenga’s recklessness.
A process that should have been allowed to proceed in a normal way was short-circuited to accommodate petty partisan and very narrow interests. Mchenga chose to allow politicians to abuse his power in order to pursue their political interests.
By this act, Mchenga abdicated his office and joined politicians in raping the sanctity of our Constitution and permanently scarring the integrity of the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
What Mchenga has done will continue to haunt that office for many years to come. It is difficult for our people to believe that people who occupy that office make decisions in the general public interest. That damage has been done by Mchenga more than any other Director of Public Prosecutions before him.
We are not saying that other Director of Public Prosecutions have not had problems of their own. But what is clear is that Mchenga has taken issues to another level. It is difficult to think of any other Director of Public Prosecutions who has disgraced that office more than Mchenga has.
Even Director of Public Prosecutions in a one party state as Zambia was until 1991 behaved with more dignity, integrity and independence than Mchenga is showing today.
The little law that we have learnt has taught us that one of the ways of ensuring the independence of constitutional offices such as that of the Director of Public Prosecutions is to provide the occupants with security of tenure. This means that the person who occupies such an office cannot be fired in a willy-nilly way.
In theory, this is supposed to work very well because a Director of Public Prosecutions is able to work without fearing that the decisions that he or she takes could end up with them losing their job. But given what we have seen with Mchenga, maybe that should be left to a perfect world.
We say this because security of tenure does not seem to guarantee integrity in tenure. In fact, this security of tenure can be used to protect officers who do wrong things because they know they cannot easily be fired. Where does that leave us?
It seems to us that we must prize integrity above many other qualities that we look for in suitable constitutional office bearers. We say this because competence can be taught or acquired with experience, and where it lacks, it can be borrowed or sourced in many ways.
But integrity cannot easily be taught, especially to those that have learnt to reap the benefits of lacking integrity.
This seems to be Mchenga’s problem. We are not qualified to judge whether Mchenga is legally competent or incompetent, as surprising as that might sound given what we have said about him before.
We say this because we have never worked with him to assess whether he is competent or not. But one thing that we are sure of because we have observed it is that Mchenga is a dishonest, spineless wimp who lacks integrity.
We say this because Mchenga has consistently made strange decisions on important cases which a person of integrity could not have defended or even contemplated making.
We still remember that using or abusing the respect that his office is supposed to enjoy, Mchenga allowed himself to be used by George Kunda to lie to the nation about the case of Kashiwa Bulaya.
They told the nation that there was no strong case against Bulaya and it would be a waste of state resources to prosecute him. Mchenga even went further, as many of us know, to give Bulaya the benefit of a corrupt nolle prosequi which he personally tabled in court.
That case, as we all know, was later prosecuted by the Task Force on Corruption after concerted public pressure and Levy Mwanawasa ordering that it be taken back to court. Bulaya was convicted. He appealed to the High Court and his conviction was upheld. Mchenga still has issues to answer about his behaviour in the Bulaya debacle.
Did he exercise his power independently or did he allow politicians to use his office to rubberstamp their decisions? Our answer to this question is that Mchenga had allowed the politicians to take out the case of Bulaya from the courts and to take it back to the courts when the politics around it became too hot.
It was not Mchenga’s decision to take that matter out of court and to take it back. George Kunda took that matter out of court and Levy took it back to court. Mchenga was simply a dishonourable conduit in this whole matter.
Bulaya’s case is not the only case where Mchenga has disgraced his office. A few days ago, another potential beneficiary of his lack of integrity was unfortunately convicted by the High Court, notwithstanding Mchenga’s wishes.
Mchenga’s office went to court and tried to secure the freedom of Anuj Rathi by condemning the work of the Task Force on Corruption. Instead of Rathi’s lawyers defending their client, the Director of Public Prosecution’s office took over and started defending a criminal.
Shamelessly, Mchenga’s office was arguing that Rathi was not guilty when they knew that Rathi’s co-conspirator retired Lt Gen Wilford Funjika had already been convicted, sentenced and served jail time for receiving bribes from Rathi.
Why was Mchenga ready to embarrass his office by the senseless defence of Rathi? There can be only one explanation: Rathi was a dear friend of Mchenga’s political masters who needed to be protected. Today, Mchenga’s reputation has been torn into further shreds because of his lack of integrity.
A man of integrity would not do with the office of Director of Public Prosecutions what Mchenga is doing with it.
In the matter of Chiluba that Musa is referring to, Mchenga again told lies to the nation. He claimed that he had not given permission to anyone to appeal against Chiluba’s acquittal when he knew very well that such express permission from him was not needed.
We say this because Mchenga had a judgment in his office from judge Mervin Mwanamwambwa which said that once he had given the initial authority to prosecute, there was no need for further authority to appeal. Again we ask: was Mchenga’s statement that he needed to give authority a product of incompetence or was it a question of willful dishonesty and lack of integrity?
Anyway, it is clear that Mchenga has a lot to answer for in the way that he has run his office which he has disgraced completely by seeming prepared to tell lies for the benefit of his political masters. This spineless wimp simply has no integrity and must go.
Labels: CHALWE MCHENGA, DPP, MUSA MWENYE
Read more...
"It will be a tragedy to have Banda re-elected"
By Chibaula Silwamba
Mon 06 June 2011, 04:00 CAT
It will be a tragedy to re-elect Rupiah Banda because he is putting Zambia’s sovereignty at stake through his dubious sourcing of money for campaign-driven development projects, says George Mpombo.
And Mpombo said Zesco management must resist President Banda’s moves to use it as a pawn in the game of politics.
Commenting on President Banda’s claims that it would be tragic for Zambia if he lost this year’s elections, Mpombo who is MMD Kafulafuta member of parliament said contrary to the head of state’s illusion, it is his re-election that would be a tragedy for Zambia.
“Banda has been a monumental failure of colossal proportion. We have seen projects not budgeted for in the national budget being undertaken from dubious sources. His action in this regard is mortgaging the sovereignty and integrity of Zambia to the people that are funding his uncoordinated developmental projects who have been promised handsome rewards if MMD wins,” Mpombo said.
“By his recent actions, Banda has turned Zambia into a cesspool of corruption. No tender procedures are being followed in undertaking these projects. For instance, when were the tenders for the rehabilitation of roads in Lusaka floated? Who have won these tenders? We hear that some of the contractors are undertaking these works without being paid based on the understanding that they will recover their monies from the contracts.”
Mpombo said the purpose of having a national budget was to guide the nation to share national resources for one year so that there were no gaps and confusion over the sources of monies.
“The law states that if the government wants to do business outside the budget, it has to go to Parliament to seek official authorisation. But Banda doesn’t do that,” Mpombo said.
“Zambia’s sovereignty is at stake because the money is coming from people who have been promised rewards. He has created an air of festiveness of impromptu theoretical project programmes in the false hope that this will win him votes from the people. Our country is sitting on a seething cauldron of corruption. Therefore, Mr Banda must not be given a chance to rule Zambia.”
President Banda, during his press briefing last Wednesday, said he was getting money from the capital market to implement road rehabilitation projects.
Mpombo said President Banda was destroying parastals such as National Pensions Scheme Authority (NAPSA) and Zesco for his own selfish political interests. He said Zesco was undertaking token campaign projects like empty geysers where there was no running water.
“It shows that Mr Banda can promise to build a bridge where there is no river like he has done in Mandevu where he has given geysers where there is no water,” Mpombo said.
He observed that Zesco was not in a sound financial position to be undertaking political programmes.
Mpombo said President Banda’s decision to remove electricity connection fees and distribution of free geysers was crippling Zesco’s ability to generate money.
“Mr Banda must realise that in Egypt, the Minister of Information under Hosni Mubarak is under arrest for having compromised the work of the Egyptian broadcasting services, siphoning money for political purposes; exactly what Mr Banda is doing,” Mpombo said.
“It’s like Zesco is in Mr Banda’s pocket and he is creating jobs for his relatives like that chap Makulu, newly employed public relations manager for Zesco.”
Mpombo, a former minister of energy, said the World Bank had some years back recommended that Zesco be put on a commercialisation programme to revitalise and detach it from political interference but President Banda was reversing those initiatives.
Meanwhile, Mpombo said he would not seek to re-contest Kafulafuta seat on MMD ticket.
Reacting to President Banda’s statement that he would not be allowed to stand on the MMD ticket, Mpombo said the President had an obsessive illusion of mentioning his name.
“I find it shocking that he can sink so low to talk about me. The whole country knows that I will not seek to re-contest Kafulafuta seat on MMD ticket,” said Mpombo.
“Without mentioning my name, Banda feels politically deflated and inadequate. I have no desire to work under Mr Banda because he is a huge political failure who has destroyed the fortunes of the MMD.”
Labels: CORRUPTION, GEORGE MPOMBO, MMD, RUPIAH BANDA
Read more...
Rupiah contradicts himself on source of road funds
By Moses Kuwema
Mon 06 June 2011, 04:01 CAT
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda is contradicting himself on the source of money which is
being used for the rehabilitation of roads in Lusaka and the Copperbelt, says
Given Lubinda.
In an interview, Lubinda (right) said he was baffled to hear contradictions from President Banda saying that what he told the nation on the Copperbelt about the source of the money was different from what he said on Wednesday at State House. Lubinda said President Banda, therefore, owes the nation a categorical explanation on the source of money being used for road rehabilitation in Lusaka.
“Yes the roads have to be done but there has to be transparency with the way these issues are handled and this has to be in such a way that Zambians can follow. President Banda, when he launched the road projects on the Copperbelt, told the nation that the money was sourced from well wishers, but that this is different from what he told the press at State House on Wednesday when he said the money was raised from the capital markets, which is baffling,” said Lubinda, who is PF Kabwata member of parliament.
He said mobilising money from capital markets meant borrowing from the financial sector and that this was likely to reduce the availability of money for the private sector.
Lubinda also accused President Banda of not having respect and regard for the rule of law and Parliament.
“For him to say he has engaged new debts it means he has thrown away the 2011 budget because it had provisions for foreign and domestic borrowing so he is going against his own budget. The allocation for road infrastructure in the 2011 budget is K1.6 trillion for 28 roads in Zambia, now where has the K1.3 trillion been raised?” Lubinda asked.
“We might be getting this money thinking it is clean, when we are actually selling our country; so Zambians deserve to know where this money is coming from and this should be done categorically so.”
On May 19 this year, President Banda commissioned the K1 trillion urban road
rehabilitation programme (URRP) which is targeting 500 kilometres of tarmac and
gravel roads.
Following the announcement, finance minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane said the K1 trillion allocated for road rehabilitation would be paid by mining companies, adding that this was the money the mines owed in government taxes.
But President Banda last Wednesday said the capital market had financed the road projects.
Labels: GIVEN LUBINDA, INFRASTRUCTURE, PF, ROADS, RUPIAH BANDA
Read more...
Address strain on roads, Osborn urges government
By Kabanda Chulu in Kitwe
Mon 06 June 2011, 03:39 CAT
GOVERNMENT should immediately address the huge strain being placed on infrastructure such as roads as a result of increased economic activity, says Bill Osborn. And Osborn, who is Copperbelt Show Society chairman, said the agriculture sector was still facing several challenges despite encouraging signs of growth.
During the 54th Copperbelt Mining, Agriculture and Commercial Show in Kitwe, Osborn said the mining industry had grown from strength to strength over the past year and this will be maintained over the next 12 months and beyond.
“Because of the increased activity that this investment has generated, there is a huge strain being placed on infrastructure.
At present roads are being used as the main form of transport and they cannot cope with the number and weight of trucks using them. Although a number of roads are being rebuilt and resurfaced, the standard of work and maintenance is not always what it should be.
Equipment, concentrate, flux, lime, sulphur, general supplies and even explosives are all being moved by road which is having devastating effect on them,” Osborn said.
“This is why we should see the importance of reviving the railways in the country because it is now even more necessary that investment is put into the railway system either by government or the concessionaires which will be able to recoup their investment through increased traffic levels.”
He also said farmers could only recoup their investment in production if the marketing system is working well.
“It is important that once again the government and the private sector put their heads together to devise effective measures to ensure that this year’s crop marketing is well thought out and executed.
Farmers should also think more and plan more and they also need help from government in the areas of market research and market development so that the agriculture sector can improve competitiveness, increase production and start and embrace crop diversification,” Osborn said.
He said the Zambian economy was growing steadily but the improvements were trapped in traditional areas.
“This is why it is often difficult for the ordinary man on the street to visualise the benefits hence the need to expand into new areas and encourage exploration in non-traditional areas which will lead to a wider spread of investment which in turn will lead to more employment and other areas of development,” said Osborn.
Officially opening the show on Friday, President Banda said there was urgent need to address the challenge posed by the maize bumper harvest.
“Given the major maize harvest recorded, government realises the need to increase national storage capacity of agricultural inputs and products and we are already constructing and rehabilitating more silos and storage sheds in strategic locations of the country but this is an enormous financial undertaking which requires long-term forward planning; hence the private sector should consider investing in storage infrastructure,” said President Banda.
Labels: INFRASTRUCTURE, ROADS
Read more...
5 Equinox board members quit
By Gift Chanda
Mon 06 June 2011, 04:01 CAT
FIVE Equinox Minerals board members resigned on Friday after the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission gave unconditional approval to Barrick Gold’s offer for the company.
The unconditional offer saw the Zambian government agreeing to sell its 2.28 per cent stake in Equinox Minerals Ltd to Barrick Gold Corporation for more than US $160 million at a time neighbouring Zimbabwe was trying to increase shareholding in its mining companies.
Co-founder and chief executive officer Craig Williams, as well as David McAusland, David Mosher, Jim Pantelidis and Tony Reeves stepped down from the board and were replaced by Barrick executives Rick McCreary, Jamie Sokalsky, Kelvin Dushnisky and Rob Krcmarov.
Equinox also announced the board would be reduced from seven directors to six.
Barrick made its C$7.3-billion offer for Equinox in April, trumping an earlier hostile offer from Hong Kong-based Minmetals Resources.
Equinox owns Lumwana Copper Mine in North Western Province and the Jabal Sayid copper/gold project in Saudi Arabia.
Labels: EQUINOX
Read more...
Dr Musonda’s shock not surprising, says Sata
By Mwala Kalaluka
Mon 06 June 2011, 04:01 CAT
PF leader Michael Sata says convicted former health deputy minister and MMD member of parliament Dr Solomon Musonda is shocked that
despite belonging to the ruling party, he has been slapped with a nine months prison sentence for shooting a PF cadre.
And SACCORD says Dr Musonda's conviction should send a clear warning to perpetrators of political violence that they can be taken to the International Criminal Court if local systems failed to deal with them.
Commenting on Dr Musonda’s complaints that the nine months jail sentence imposed on him by Kabwe High Court judge Mugeni Mulenga for shooting Jackson Musaka in his Chitambo Constituency last year was excessive and shocking, Sata said in an interview yesterday that it was not surprising that Dr Musonda was shocked by the conviction.
Sata said, however, that Dr Musonda was legally entitled to exhaust the entire judicial process by appealing his conviction all the way up to the Supreme Court.
“He is shocked because he did not expect that, being on the side of government. So he is right by being shocked,” Sata said.
He said Dr Musonda was shocked by the court's decision because other people that were on the side of the government had gotten away with such crimes.
“Others got away with it without appearing even one hour in court,” Sata said. “He is shocked because this is not the end of the story, because having been convicted for more than one day he has Medical Council to face for his practicing licence.”
On the behaviour of MMD cadres that harassed private media journalists that wanted to interview Dr Musonda after his imprisonment on Friday, Sata said such conduct was unfortunate as the country headed towards the general elections.
“It is most unfortunate that our colleagues instead of being sorry for the person who was injured by the gunshot they want to bring more violence,” said Sata.
MMD cadres led by Central Province vice-chairman George Kangwa threatened to manhandle journalists from The Post and Muvi TV that went to cover the court proceedings relating to Dr Musonda's sentencing last Friday.
And Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes SACCORD executive director Lee Habasonda said in an interview yesterday that the number of blood-thirsty characters must be minimised ahead of this year's polls.
“It must send a clear warning to perpetrators of violence that you can’t go on abusing other people because you are in authority,” Habasonda said.
“It conviction is going to minimise these blood-thirsty characters we have in the country.”
Habasonda said Dr Musonda’s conviction by judge Mulenga would somehow enhance public confidence in the judiciary and people could still rely on it for conflict resolution.
Habasonda said the issue should be seen beyond Dr Musonda in view of the fact that Zambians could still drag architects of political violence to the International Criminal Court ICC in the Hague should the national systems fail to deal with them.
Dr Musonda was on Friday afternoon released from detention at Kabwe High Court holding cells after judge Mulenga granted him a K2.5 million cash bail pending appeal against his conviction and sentence.
This was just hours after he was sentenced to prison.
In convicting him, judge Mulenga said Dr Musonda’s shooting of Musaka was a reckless and unjustifiable act for which a defence of self-defence could not sustain.
Labels: CADRES, MICHAEL SATA, MURDER, PF, SOLOMON MUSONDA
Read more...
Amnesty International sets standards for govt ahead of elections
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Mon 06 June 2011, 04:01 CAT
AMNESTY International Zambia says President Rupiah Banda has a moral obligation of creating a favourable environment for every citizen ahead of the elections.
In an interview yesterday, Amnesty International Zambia national coordinator Zebbies Mumba said the international community expected President Banda to demonstrate true leadership by embracing and respecting the rights of every citizen regardless of their political affiliation.
Mumba said it was sad that in developing countries like Zambia, tenets of democracy during elections were usually violated by people in government to protect their selfish political interests.
He said Zambians should demand that institutions of governance like the police, the public media and the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) be left to operate independently without interference if the country was to see credible elections.
“We need law enforcers like the police service to operate independently, to respect the rights and freedoms of citizens without political interference.
Institutions like the ECZ should operate autonomously and maintain its integrity for people to have confidence in the electoral process,” Mumba said.
Mumba said it would be difficult for the country to hold credible, free and fair elections if President Banda’s government and all electoral players decline to put the interest of the nation first.
“For the country to hold free and fair elections, all electoral players must show real patriotism because Zambia is above everyone. This is a democratic country meaning every citizen has a right to belong to any political grouping or to vote for a leader of their choice without being intimidated or corrupted,” Mumba said.
He said it was disappointing to note that in the run-up to elections, government leaders on many occasions abuse their power and fail to accept people’s decisions.
He said the country had many battles to fight after the elections such as corruption, ineffective governance and lack of a people driven constitution.
President Banda last week said it would be tragic for the MMD and the country if he lost this year’s elections.
Addressing a press briefing at State House, President Banda said he would win the elections and losing would not be part of his failures.
“My task is to fight hard day and night and ensure that we win this election because if we don’t win this election, from what we are hearing from our colleagues and from the records of some of these people who are standing and want to run this country, I think it will be tragic if the MMD and I don’t win this election,” said President Banda. “I believe we will win this election and we will achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) much sooner than the target deadline.”
Labels: 2011 ELECTIONS, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Read more...
COMMENT - This article came to my attention, courtesy of
Cho's Zambian Economist blog. Glencore is a company led by a convicted criminal, Marc Rich. Convicted of tax evasion, and pardoned by former president Bill Clinton.
UPDATE 1-EIB halts Glencore lending on governance concerns
By Clara Ferreira-Marques and Philip Blenkinsop
Wed Jun 1, 2011 11:33am GMT
LONDON/BRUSSELS, June 1 (Reuters) - The European Investment Bank has frozen all new loans to commodities trader Glencore and its subsidiaries, it said in a statement, citing "serious concerns" over the group's corporate governance.
The EIB, the European Union's lending institution, provided a $50 million loan to Mopani Copper Mines, a Zambian subsidiary of Swiss-based Glencore, in 2005, to help pay for the modernisation of a copper smelter.
But Mopani has since been accused by some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) -- most recently by campaign groups in an open letter signed by a group of European parliamentarians -- of tax evasion and of causing widespread pollution.
Glencore has denied the allegations, the bulk of which stem from a leaked version of a pilot audit report commissioned by the Zambian tax authorities. The EIB, in a statement issued to answer comments from NGOs, said it has commissioned its own independent probe into the matter.
Any conclusive proof of tax evasion would lead to local penalties and could trigger early repayment of the loan, the EIB said, adding it would, if necessary, improve its own due diligence audit mechanisms.
"We welcome the EIB taking a close look at Mopani, since we are confident that we will be completely exonerated," a spokesman for Glencore said on Wednesday.
"The allegations are based on an incomplete, draft desktop study that was circulated in Zambia several months ago. We publicly refuted the draft conclusions of this document at the time," he said.
Mopani itself has also placed advertisements in local Zambian newspapers to reject claims made in the draft audit on sales volumes, manipulated copper prices and improperly recorded hedges, saying the conclusions were based on "errors and inconsistencies" and were a "calculated move to tarnish the image and integrity of Mopani".
MORE THAN MOPANI
But the EIB said in its statement its concerns went "far beyond" Mopani, repeating comments made in a letter to a group of parliamentarians who last week called for EU financing for mining projects in Africa to be suspended.
"Due to serious concerns about Glencore's governance, which has been brought to light recently and which go far beyond the Mopani investment, the president of the EIB has instructed the services to decline any further financing request from this company or one of its subsdiaries," it said.
EIB invests in mining projects throughout Africa and beyond as part of EU development cooperation policy.
Other projects with EIB involvmement include the Ambatovy nickel project in Madagascar and the Tenke Fungurume mining project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The group of more than 50 members of the European Parliament called last week for a moratorium on EU public financing for mining projects until "adequate standards and regulations" are brought in.
They questioned the environmental impact of the EU investment in Mopani, arguing the EIB was ill-equipped to monitor mining projcts and to deal with related risks.
Mopani, in which Canada's First Quantum and the Zambian state own minority stakes, has generated over $380 million in tax payments to the Zambian government since its privatisation in 2000, through royalties, import/customs duties and income taxes.
Glencore, the world's largest diversified commodities trader, listed on the London stock exchange in May.
Its shares were trading at 523 pence, down 1.5 percent, at 1050 GMT, underperforming a 0.9 percent rise in the broader sector and still below their 530 pence debut price.
(Editing by Greg Mahlich)
Labels: CORRUPTION, EIB, FIRST QUANTUM MINING, GLENCORE INTERNATIONAL AG, MOPANI, TAX EVASION, WINDFALL TAX
Read more...
Don’t kubeba, Sata urges Zambians
By George Chellah
Sat 04 June 2011, 04:00 CAT
Get the geysers and the free electricity but ‘don’t kubeba,’ Michael Sata has urged Zambians. And Sata says Zambia is headed for bankruptcy due to President Rupiah Banda’s dubious deals and fake development projects ahead of this year’s elections.
In an interview yesterday, the opposition PF leader said President Banda was being insincere on the source of funds for the so-called developmental projects he had been announcing.
“Typical of Rupiah; he is not telling the truth because any president needs to be transparent. Rupiah can’t say he is sourcing money from the capital markets.
Even if he is sourcing money from the capital markets, Zambians deserve to know how much money has been sourced from the markets, the interest rates and the payable period,” Sata said. “That is mandatory and it is not the President to source for money. That is why in PF we say all loans must be approved by Parliament.”
Sata said President Banda was driving parastatal companies into the ground.
“Where is Zesco getting the money to buy and distribute those geysers for free? As an institution, Zesco is already servicing huge loans, but Rupiah is still putting more financial pressure on the company. He is committing Zesco to more debt by asking them to supply free geysers and free services,” Sata said. “In any case, I find Rupiah’s thinking on this issue lopsided.
How do you give geysers to the suffering people of Mandevu? Is Rupiah telling us that after analysing the problems and challenges facing our people, particularly the people of Mandevu, a geyser is what turned out to be a priority?
“Is he honestly telling us that a geyser is what he found to be the most sought-after service in Mandevu? Has he taken time to inquire if at all the greater population of this area even has access to running water? Why doesn’t he work to improve the water and sanitation challenges in Mandevu and other townships in the country where our MPs have been trying so hard to rectify? This sort of desperation is unimaginable. Don’t be surprised to see Rupiah promising a pontoon to Kabwata, forgetting that there is no river in Kabwata.”
Sata wondered where President Banda had been with his developmental projects all this time while Zambian had been suffering.
“Where is Zesco getting the money to do this and why now because electricity development in this country is not more than 22 per cent? He is just cheating people that’s why he is going to such panicking levels,” Sata said. “Our people must just go ahead and get the geysers and the free electricity but ‘don’t kubeba!’ That’s the key.”
Sata said President Banda was playing with people’s minds and did not care for their well-being.
“We’ve seen more billboards of his face than the development itself. If he cared about the people’s well-being, he cannot be abusing pensioner’s money in this manner. Rupiah has deprived the pensioners of US $98 million over the NAPSA/ZNBS deal, including the over K70 billion he has given to his ‘relative’ Mr Robinson Zulu,” he said.
Sata said President Banda had a history of mismanagement.
“When Rupiah left Namboard, he left the institution in serious financial problems, the same happened when he left the embassy in Egypt and also when he left as governor, he left Lusaka District Council financially crippled,” Sata said.
“So Zambia is headed for bankruptcy due to Rupiah’s dubious deals and fake development projects ahead of this year’s elections. Rupiah is definitely going to leave this country bankrupt.”
Sata said heads of parastatals must be mindful that all dubious deals being conducted were at ‘owner’s risk’.
“We will recover all the monies misapplied or stolen from Rupiah himself because we know that all the monies they are milking from parastatals for these dubious transactions and fake developmental projects at least 10 per cent of it is going into Rupiah’s pocket,” Sata said.
“A President worth his name can’t deprive his own pensioners money. That’s why pensioners in Zambia today are destitutes as if they have not worked simply because their money is being abused. Some selfish individuals are benefitting from monies which other people sweated for, for many years, it’s a pity.”
Labels: MICHAEL SATA, VOTERIGGING
Read more...
COMMENT -
" But who is to blame? The tax regime that the mining companies are operating under has been created by our government. " The mining companies did not luck into the abolition of the windfall tax. They BRIBED the government, which is illegal. If not in Zambia, then it certainly is in the USA, if they are US citizens. And they must not profit from their crimes.
A fair deal in our mining industry is possible
By The Post
Sat 04 June 2011, 04:00 CAT
What Emmanuel Mutati, the chief executive officer of Mopani Copper Mines, has said gives us great confidence that a fair deal is possible. Mutati says mining companies must provide a framework in which inequalities in the industry can be addressed for the benefit of all the people.
And Mutati adds: “Our objective ought not to be to create prosperity for some by impoverishing others. Our purpose must be to provide a framework in which all could benefit, in which inequalities could be addressed and in which all our people and industries can prosper.”
Truly, this should be the objective of our mining companies, and all other businesses in our country. We say this because the roles of business owners and management have a central importance from the viewpoint of society. This is so because they are at the heart of that network of technical, commercial, financial and cultural bonds that characterises the modern business reality.
For this reason, the exercise of responsibility by business owners and management requires constant reflection on the moral motivations that should guide the personal choices of those to whom these tasks fall. The motives of mining companies and all other businesses in our country should be not only to make profit but even more to contribute to the common good of society.
Businesses should be characterised by their capacity to serve the common good of society. The sense of responsibility in economic initiative should demonstrate the individual and social virtues necessary for the development of our country. Mining, by its very nature, must be a community of solidarity.
Foreign investment in our mines is an objective reality underpinning the fact that no country can exploit all its natural resources by itself, no country can survive and develop on its own.
All our countries need foreign investment. And this reality underlines the fact that we are all passengers on the same vessel – this planet where we all live. But passengers on this vessel are travelling in very different conditions. A trifling minority is travelling in luxurious cabins furnished with all sorts of gadgets.
They enjoy a nutritional, abundant and balanced diet as well as clean water supplies. They have access to sophisticated medical care and culture.
The overwhelming and suffering majority is travelling in conditions that resemble the terrible slave trade of our past – they are overcrowded together in its dirty hold, suffering hunger, disease and helplessness.
Obviously, this vessel is carrying too much injustice to remain afloat, pursuing such an irrational and senseless route. It is our duty to take our rightful place at the helm and ensure that all passengers can travel in conditions of solidarity, equity and justice. This, in our view and understanding, is what Mutati is calling for.
His may appear to be a strange voice, but the message is extremely important. A fair deal has to be found in our mining industry, and indeed in all the other sectors of our economy so that we make every business enterprise in our country a community of solidarity.
It will not be a fair deal if the copper and other minerals that are mined from the belly of our country only go to benefit the owners and managers of the mining enterprises. This copper, these minerals belong to all our people and as such, all should benefit. They have got a value that is probably higher than the capital invested by foreign enterprises to mine them.
There has been a lot of talk and displeasure about the low taxes and benefits that our people are getting from the mining industry. This may be justifiable.
But again it may be necessary for us to listen more carefully to what Mutati is saying. Mutati is telling us that now is the time to act boldly and fully revive the country’s economy for lasting prosperity owing to high copper prices on the international market.
And Mutati warns us that the current metal prices will not last forever and we should take advantage of them. But how? Under Levy Mwanawasa’s government, we had windfall taxes that were put in place specifically for this purpose – to take advantage of high copper prices on the international markets when and as they arose.
But this government, the government of Rupiah Banda, corruptly gave away all that – they did away with windfall taxes for no justifiable reasons. And one cannot be wrong to conclude that for the little personal benefits they were getting from the owners and managers of these mines, they gave away windfall taxes.
As a result of this, we are not getting much as a nation from our country’s minerals that are being exploited by transnational corporations. But who is to blame? The tax regime that the mining companies are operating under has been created by our government. The mining industry is simply taking advantage of what has been given to them by our government.
And every company is entitled, if it can, to arrange its business affairs so that the tax attaching under the appropriate Acts is less than it otherwise would be. If they succeed in ordering them so as to secure that result, then however unappreciative we may be of their ingenuity, they cannot be compelled to pay an increased tax.
And probably this is what Mopani and others in the mining industry are doing. They are not under the smallest obligation to arrange their tax affairs so as to enable the Zambia Revenue Authority to put the largest possible shovel into their income.
Of course, as Mutati has correctly observed, a framework within which all could benefit, in which equity could be addressed and in which all our people and industries can prosper, is still possible.
The mining companies may be acting within their legal rights to reduce the taxes they pay and the benefits they extend to our people, but this is no reason why their efforts, or those of the people who assist them in the matter, should be regarded as a commendable exercise of ingenuity or as a discharge of the duties of good citizenship.
Laws must be put in place to ensure that our people benefit from the minerals of their country. There is need to revisit the entire tax regime concerning our mining industry and more so that of windfall taxes. A fair deal in our mining industry is possible.
Labels: MINING, WINDFALL TAX
Read more...
