Zamtel stops banking
Zamtel stops bankingBy Kombe Chimpinde, Bright Mukwasa and Joan Chirwa-Ngoma
Fri 20 Jan. 2012, 13:56 CAT
ZAMTEL management has instructed its staff countrywide not to bank the company's daily collections, sources have revealed.
And the Zamtel Commission of Inquiry says LAP GreenN must have been eliminated at the pre-qualification stage as it did not meet both the five-year minimum telecommunications operators requirement and the national telecommunications network licence requirement.
But LAP GreenN says it has been forced to explore legal options to protect its reputation following what it terms "willful misrepresentation" of the company.
The sources disclosed yesterday that Zamtel management circulated a memo over the decision not to bank money because of uncertainties on the future of the company.
"Managers have been meeting since Wednesday and there is a memo that we should not bank the money. We should instead put the money in safes. It's like accounts have been frozen by government," the source said.
According to sources, the government was seriously monitoring the financial accounts for Zamtel which was sold to LAP Green Networks by the MMD government.
Sources said the government was cognisant of manoeuvres by the firm to siphon its investments and externalise profits before government officially moves in.
"The issue of accounts is very sensitive. This is why government has been keeping the matter regarding what procedure it would use to take over the firm confidential. They (government) are avoiding all manoeuvres to siphon money," the sources said.
The source said that there was apprehension by the Libyan authorities since the revelation of the seizure of its 75 per cent stake, prompting government to strictly monitor the accounts of the firm.
"Government is currently busy monitoring all the accounts of the firm and the overall operations to avoid any such incidences," the sources said.
When contacted, Zamtel managing director Hans Poulsen claimed not to know anything.
"I don't know if it is, I don't know. I have no comment. I have confined myself. I don't have a comment right now," said Poulsen.
A report commissioned by President Michael Sata revealed Rupiah Banda's influence in abusing and circumventing set government institutions and procedures and that he aided RP Capital to ensure LAP Green Networks bought Zamtel despite not being fit to run the company.
The report issued by the Sebastian Zulu-led commission of inquiry further reveals that following review of the bid from LAP GreenN, the committee noted serious and critical anomalies in the qualification of LAP GreenN in the preliminary stage which ZDA, their lawyers and their transaction advisors deliberately ignored.
It stated that the public invitation announced on September 15, 2009 for invitation to prequalify for participation in Zamtel privatisation set out three mandatory criteria among them a minimum of five years operations in the industry, a minimum of 300,000 active subscribers in the telecommunications sector and a minimum of US$250 million or more in shareholders' equity.
"It is the considered opinion of this committee that LAP GreenN should have been eliminated at the prequalification stage as it did not meet both the five-year minimum telecommunications operator requirement and the national telecommunications network licence requirement to comply with the first criteria in the mandatory prequalification," stated the report.
"LAP GreenN had no subscribers attributable to itself, its holding company or its parent company. In order to attempt to satisfy this second criteria, LAP GreenN reiled on a percentage of subscribers proportionate to their shareholding in four separate companies in which LAP GreenN had equity interests namely Uganda Telecom of Uganda, Rwandatel of Rwanda, Oricel of Ivory Coast and Sonitel & Sahelcom of Niger."
The report stated that that was an absurd attempt at subscriber numbers engineering as, for example, any shareholder in a public telecommunications company could then lay claim on a number of subscribers proportionate to their shareholding.
The report observed that in any event, even the instructions contained in the prequalification form clearly stated that a lead member must be ‘capable of satisfying criteria one and two on its own'.
The report also revealed that LAP GreenN attempted to satisfy the minimum US$250 million or more in shareholders' equity criterion through its parent company and stated that the capital of the company was US$500 million.
It stated that, however, to satisfy that criterion, the prequalification form required that a sole applicant provides "a copy of the company's most recent, published accounts no older than for the accounting period including June 2008".
The report stated that LAP GreenN clearly had no audited accounts and also failed the third mandatory prequalification criteria.
The report stated that despite LAP GreenN having failed all the three of the mandatory prequalification criteria, they were allowed to proceed to the next stage of the bidding process.
But LAP GreenN chairman Wafik Alshater, in a statement released to The Post, claimed that the company was being subjected to a concerted campaign of misinformation via the Zambian media.
"LAP GreenN categorically rejects any allegations of wrong-doing during the acquisition of its 75 per cent stake in Zamtel. At all times LAP GreenN followed due process, facilitated by a consortium of internationally renowned professional service companies, including Standard Bank, Denton Wilde Sapte and KPMG South Africa.
The open and competitive bid process was overseen by the Zambian Development Agency and included the direct involvement of the Attorney General and international legal advisers, Simmons and Simmons," Alshater stated.
He further stated that accusations that Zamtel was undervalued at the point of sale were "completely baseless".
"The 75 per cent stake sold to LAP GreenN in June 2010 for $257 million (K1.37 trillion) constituted the highest amount ever paid for a privatisation in Zambia and was at the time one of the higher valuations for a telecoms asset in Africa," stated Alshater.
"Zamtel is a successful turnaround story and we remain very keen to cooperate with our partners in Zambia to ensure the continued growth and success of the company."
posted by MrK @ 3:28 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home