Riding on others
By Editor
Tue 14 Jan. 2014, 14:00 CAT
Charles Milupi, the president of Alliance for Democracy and Development, says there are political parties that want to get into political alliances for the sole purpose of riding on others.
Milupi says he is aware of some political parties and leaders that were not in existence to serve Zambians, who want to use any opportunity to project themselves as being more popular than others.
"We will not be ridden on by anybody. If someone feels that his political party is so big, let him go ahead and win elections. It will not be the end of the world if we are not part of the next government and the world has not ended because we are not part of the current government. 'I must be president, I must be that'. If you are driven by becoming president, it means the motive for which you want that presidency must be questioned," says Milupi.
The issue of pacts is not new. We have heard of pacts before, we have seen pacts before. Unfortunately, very little, if not nothing, has come out of these pacts.
In 2006, the UPND, UNIP and FDD went into an electoral pact and lost - coming third behind MMD and PF.
In 2009, UPND initiated a pact with PF. That pact failed and the reasons for its failure are well known to the Zambian people and need no further disquisition. Some of the things Milupi is saying are what led to the failure of the UPND and PF pact. And there are also partly the reasons for the poor election performance of the 2006 UPND, UNIP and FDD pact.
Even in 2011, there was an unannounced pact between the UPND and the MMD. The two cooperated in a number of ways to ensure that the PF doesn't win. But the PF won.
Clearly, a pact in itself guarantees nothing. It offers instead the opportunity to succeed as well as the risk of failure.
These pacts seem to be brought about by only one desire: the desire to win power. That will to win power is the one idea that they hold in common. But with the passage of time, that will prove an insubstantial glue. The signs of division start to grow.
There is much more that is needed for a pact to be successful than just the will to win.
And moreover, when one looks at the pact that is being suggested today principally between MMD and UPND, there can't be a pact there. What is being advocated is an agenda being championed by Rupiah Banda and those close to him to handover the MMD to the UPND leadership of Hakainde Hichilema as a continuation of the relationship that was established in the run-up to the 2011 elections. This is the arrangement, the take-over of MMD by UPND, that Andrew Banda is championing on behalf of his father. Of course, together with the MMD, some one-man political parties can also be persuaded to be swallowed, to subject themselves to Hakainde and UPND's hegemony.
If they all accept to subordinate themselves to Hakainde and UPND, there will be no problem and the marriage will last long. This is because there is no pact Hakainde and UPND will accept to enter into without them leading it.
Of course, this whole UPND, MMD pact is being championed without much contribution and participation from Nevers Mumba. By the time Nevers wakes up, he may find himself left alone.
There is really no pact here. It is simply a take-over, a swallowing and annihilation of the MMD. Anyway, it's not difficult to destroy something that one never created. Very few, if any, in the current leadership of the MMD can be said to be part of the founders of that party. Rupiah came into the MMD in 2006. And fortunately for him, Levy Mwanawasa nominated him to be a member of parliament and vice-president of the Republic. This was even before he had officially terminated his membership of UNIP. This being the case, it is not difficult for Rupiah to dismantle MMD and give its parts to his newfound friend Hakainde. Rupiah sincerely believes his survival and those of his close associates is dependent on Hakainde becoming president in 2016.
Probably he hopes that Hakainde will do for him and his followers what he himself did for Chiluba and his associates. And today, all is being organised for handover to Hakainde and UPND to enable them win the 2016 elections.
This is the type of pact, if one can call this a pact, that Andrew is advancing on behalf of his father, and on his own behalf. This is a pact to serve personal ends.
Clearly, this is not a pact being advanced on the basis of common values, principles, standards and aims. It is simply political expedience at play - no principles. It is simply a belief that with a pact, they can win since they believe that on their own, they can't make it. But pacts have lost before. The Patriotic Front won on its own, without a pact. Hakainde used to claim and boast that no single opposition party could defeat the MMD on its own. Can he say the same today? Probably now he believes that no single opposition political party on its own can defeat the Patriotic Front. Can this be true?
Again, it seems to be a game of simply wanting to win an election and be in power. But sometimes power is not won that way.
No true pact can be constructed on such a weak foundation. No true pact can be built on such shifting sands of evasions, illusions and opportunism.
Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, MMD, RUPIAH BANDA, UPND
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Opposition leaders selfish - Siabutuba
By Roy Habaalu
Tue 14 Jan. 2014, 14:00 CAT
PARTNER Siabutuba says opposition political parties cannot unite for a good cause because their leaders are selfish. Siabutuba, who is Youth Development Organisation director, said there could not be unity among opposition parties because it was targeted at ousting PF from power.
Commenting on Alliance for Democracy and Development president Charles Milupi's statement last week that there are political parties that want to get into political alliances for the sole purpose of riding on others, Siabutuba said some of the parties that were calling for a united opposition lacked a clear manifesto thereby giving Zambians no hope.
"If these opposition political parties want to unite to fight PF, they have it wrong. Of what use is it to fight PF or Wynter Kabimba? We don't want many shadows to come together and become one big shadow; that's not what Zambia's democracy means," he said.
Siabutuba said Zambians were not interested in fighting PF but in finding solutions to the challenges the country was facing.
"They need to provide solutions on how they would improve the living conditions of the people and tell PF what they are not doing, not fighting them. Leaders of some of these parties are not genuine; they are without a clear and prospective programmes for this country and they end up confusing Zambians more. It's not about unity; it's about a CV and to have it on record that I once headed a political party," he said.
Siabutuba said some opposition parties had lost continually and were not offering hope.
Milupi, in an interview last week, said he was aware of some opposition political parties and leaders that were not in existence to serve Zambians, who wanted to use any opportunity to project themselves as being more popular than others.
"We will not be ridden on by anybody. If someone feels that his political party is so big, let him go ahead and win elections. It will not be the end of the world if we are not part of the next government and the world has not ended because we are not part of the current government," said Milupi.
Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, OPPOSITION, PARTNER SIABUTUBA
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Holistic corruption fight will win Sata kudos - Milupi
By Kombe Chimpinde-Mataka
Tue 03 Dec. 2013, 14:01 CAT
ADD president Charles Milupi says President Michael Sata's fight against corruption will win him kudos during his tenure if it remains holistic.
Commenting on President Sata's statement that his government will ensure the efficient functioning of all anti-corruption structures and systems, including forfeiture of ill-gotten wealth and blacklisting of individuals involved in plundering of public resources, Milupi said the fight against corruption had to be transparent.
"It cannot be directed to State House. State House keeps the political will," he said.
"I think His Excellency the President of Malawi (Joyce Banda) has shown a very strong example. We have seen cabinet being dissolved because of allegations of corruption, we have seen certain actions against ministers being taken, accounts of government officials being frozen. That is the kind of action the President should take."
Milupi said there should not be sacred cows in the fight against a corruption.
"When he (President Sata) is seen to be dilly-dallying in terms of addressing issues pertaining to internal corruption within his government and then talks about plunderers and so on, that is not a holistic fight against corruption," he said.
"These are very senior ministers, top ministers, who are saying 'that other minister is corrupt and this one is corrupt' and when they are called by the Anti Corruption Commission, the President says 'don't call them until you clear it with me'. It shows the fight against corruption is no longer transparent."
Milupi reminded President Sata that plunderers could only be conclusively dealt with in the presence of serious political action.
"Now, when he talks about pursuing plunderers today and so on but when PF came into power, they had assured the country that individuals that were involved in corruption in the previous government would be prosecuted and we supported them but what we have seen is that these allegations which we also made, there is no case on which we have had progress. So these five years will pass with people going to court, with no will really to conclude these cases," Milupi said.
"For instance, when the former president's immunity was lifted, it was a big thing; by now we would have seen the conclusions on some cases.
Are we going to go through the process we went through during (Fredrick) Chiluba's prosecution? In the end, other than that judgment in London by a foreign court, do we have a judgment here in Zambia?"
He said the success of ensuring that the state recovers what had been plundered was in establishing the guilt of those that allegedly plundered resources.
"How are you going to blacklist them because the only way you can know someone is a plunderer is when they go to court and they are convicted? Before that, they are innocent," said Milupi.
Labels: ADD, CHARLES MILUPI, MICHAEL SATA
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PF will leave a 'debt legacy' - Milupi
By Abel Mboozi
Sat 30 Nov. 2013, 14:01 CAT
THE PF will leave a debt legacy for Zambia going by the rate at which it is borrowing externally, says Alliance for Development and Democracy president Charles Milupi.
Commenting on the decision by Parliament to pass a motion to give finance Minister, Alexander Chikwanda, powers to increase Zambia's debt ceiling from K20 billion to K35 billion, Milupi said: "This is what we feared, K35 billion that he has increased, the debt ceiling is equivalent to over U$7 billion."
"And U$7 billion is what we ran to the World with Jubilee 2000 to seek forgiveness, so already PF have no shame about it; they have pushed it back to where it was at the time when the whole World was forgiving us."
Milupi said it was sad that the government was busy borrowing money when it was supposed to be utilising resources drawn locally.
"We told the PF government to follow the Levy Mwanawasa example and not the Rupiah Banda example because in April 2008, the mineral taxation regime was passed which brought in windfall tax, in October when Rupiah Banda became President, he cancelled it for reasons know best to himself," he said.
"The PF was opposed to that but when it came into power in 2011, the government refused to reinstate the windfall tax and the end result is that the mining industry has continued to operate with high copper prices, high production but with very little revenues coming to our coffers."
Milupi said instead of using revenue from that part of the sector, the government was borrowing externally for consumption.
"We are borrowing for consumption because this government has not really sat down to think about where the borrowed money is going to be used," he said.
"As we speak now, money from the U$750 million Euro bond, some of it is unutilised, even though it's more than a year when we got it and we are accruing interest over this fund."
Milupi said it had become clear that the government was borrowing to fund an excessive cabinet size and to fund a growing civil service because of the new districts it was creating.
"So to fund these high increases of cabinet ministers, the President, Vice-President, MPs is what we are borrowing for and these are consumptive," he said.
"So we are borrowing to consume and the end result is we shall fall back into a debt portfolio which shall overburden the nation."
Milupi said there was no doubt that Zambia was furthering into a debt trap because of lack of foresight on the part of the PF government.
"This minister, when we told him that bring back the windfall tax, he called us names but now everybody is crying 'bring back windfall tax'," he said.
"We told them that ZRA was not sophisticated enough to track all taxes from the mines and, therefore, windfall tax was one of the easy ways of drawing revenue from the mines but they refused to do that."
Milupi said in the two years the PF had been in government, it had failed to recoup anything from the mining industry.
"Completely zero and that's the legacy that the PF government will leave for this country," said Milupi.
Labels: ADD, CHARLES MILUPI, PF
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KCM annoys govt
By Kombe Chimpinde-Mataka
Fri 08 Nov. 2013, 14:01 CAT
KONKOLA Copper Mines has annoyed the government over the response its chief executive officer Kishor Kumar gave in reference to President Michael Sata's warning against firing workers from the mine.
Speaking to journalists shortly after a meeting organised by the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) in Lusaka, labour minister Fackson Shamenda disclosed yesterday that Kumar had dismissed President Sata's warning that the government would revoke the company's licence if it fired even one worker, as mere rhetoric.
He disclosed that he had called for a meeting with KCM after the presidential order but was disappointed with Kumar's response.
"I have just heard about it today (laying off 76 workers from KCM). As you are aware the President directed me to convey government's position on the matter which I did but I am very disappointed and I would like to say I am very disappointed with Kumar for describing President Sata's threats as rhetoric in one of the meetings. Surely how can he describe the President's threat as rhetoric?" asked Shamenda.
Attempts to talk to Kumar to clarify Shamenda's statement failed as his line went unanswered.
Further attempts were made to contact KCM spokesperson Joy Sata who was asked to verify Kumar's statement but she declined to comment and said she wanted to read the story first.
Shamenda said he was disappointed by KCM's decision to lay off over 70 workers against President Sata's advice.
"I have summoned the (mine workers') unions and KCM management at a meeting at 18:00 hours to discuss the way forward. We (government) are not going to tolerate any form of blackmail," Shamenda said.
And Shamenda said the directive for him to convene a meeting with KCM and unions last evening was sanctioned by President Sata after his (Shamenda) request.
"As at last night around 20:00 hours we were still having meetings where these people (KCM) had denied allegations that they had gone ahead with their decision to lay off some workers, so I am disappointed to hear that some workers have been laid off. This is the arrogance that we are talking about," Shamenda said.
"We know KCM is in serious financial needs and we are not going to allow them to leave a shell."
On Monday, shortly before he addressed a Cabinet meeting at State House, President Sata threatened to revoke KCM's licence if it laid off even one worker following the firm's announcement to relieve 1,529 workers with the view of moving on to further mechanising its operations.
KCM had by September issued letters of termination of employment to selected workers.
Some of the affected workers claimed that the letters had been backdated.
And former vice-president and Chingola member of parliament Enoch Kavindele said KCM had plans to leave and was looking for excuses for its exit.
"The situation in Chingola where I have been member of parliament for 18 years is bad. The future is bleak. It's like they (KCM) have a lot of problems and are just looking for excuses for someone to say, 'just go'," said Kavindele.
ADD president Charles Milupi said Zambia must cease to be surrogates of the mining firms.
Milupi said it was unfortunate Zambians had chosen to be surrogates of the mining sector.
"This is why we have been continuously telling this government if we had gotten enough dividends at the time when copper prices were very high to use in diversifying this economy, creating other employment opportunities such that if the mining companies lay off people, there would be other opportunities for them but because we have chosen to be surrogates to the mining sector, we have become desperate to maintain employment in the mining companies," Milupi said.
"KCM is saying they need to mechanise, they are saying that productivity, one worker producing an average of 80 tonnes of copper per annum, when the world average is 100 tonnes. If you look at these figures, it shows one is running a very big operation. My argument is that they cannot just say, 'we'll lay off labour'. They are other ways that they could have used such as increasing productivity. They have to make us understand why the production is so high."
Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, FACKSON SHAMENDA, JOY SATA, KCM, KISHOR KUMAR
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Milupi backs SI 89 Revocation
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe and Moses Kuwema
Fri 01 Nov. 2013, 14:01 CAT
PRESIDENT Michael Sata's decision to reverse SI 89 has saved the country millions of dollars from people conniving with mines, says Charles Milupi. On Monday, President Sata cancelled Statutory Instrument Number 89, which finance minister Alexander Chikwanda signed on October 4.
SI 89, which was to be in force up to September 30, 2014, was to reverse the November 2011 decision of the PF government to impose a 10 per cent export levy on copper concentrates and ores to encourage value addition to copper exports and improve accountability in the vast mining sector.
SI 89 has since been replaced with SI 99, which has reinstated the 10 per cent export duty on copper concentrates and ores, which Chikwanda briefly abolished after being lobbied by First Quantum Minerals and Lubambe Copper Mines.
Commenting on the developments, Milupi, who is opposition Alliance for Democracy and Development president, said there was "something deeper" that motivated Chikwanda to sign SI 89.
"The mining industry has so sophisticated people and it's not right that we have institutions, whether it's Ministry of Finance or individuals, conniving with these people to further disadvantage the country," Milupi said in an interview yesterday. "The decision by the President to cancel that SI 89 was the right decision, and it is not going to result in any revenue loss to the country. I find it extremely strange that finance minister is saying the country is going to lose revenue from the reversal of SI 89. He needs to explain that."
Chikwanda this week told the parliamentary expanded committee on estimates that President Sata's reversal of SI 89 would see mining firms stockpiling ores and concentrates fail to export the unfinished resources and therefore raise no revenues to pay tax to treasury.
But Milupi, a former Public Accounts Committee chairperson, said there was a "deeper motive" that drove Chikwanda to sign SI 89 without approval of the President.
"Any measure that is affecting revenues is a matter that should be tabled before full Cabinet and only when it's approved can you sign it," he said. "Now, the President was giving an impression that this matter was not taken to Cabinet; it was just the Minister of Finance who decided to issue that Statutory Instrument. That is a very serious omission by the Minister of Finance and he must explain what his interest was in signing the SI…unless he is telling us that they took the SI to Cabinet and that when it was being discussed, the President was inattentive. That is a very serious omission. I think the President was very kind in trying to blame the commissioners from ZRA because the buck stops at the door of the minister. There is a signature of the minister on the SI unless he is an ignorant minister but that is not the case… All we are saying is that in terms of the interest of the nation, their arguments do not hold water."
Milupi said it was not surprising that Chikwanda, who labelled proponents of the windfall tax on base metals as "lunatics" was championing a regulation that was going to deprive Zambia of her fair share of the benefits from the mining sector.
"For anyone to argue that the reversal by the President will lead to tax revenue loss clearly indicates that there is something deeper in this whole issue which any sensible person can see straightforward," he said.
And Milupi said the argument that the country did not have enough smelting capacity "does not hold water".
"I find it strange to even suggest that because the country has no smelting capacity and therefore the mining companies will not be able to smelt the concentrates... that is very strange," Milupi said. "Even if that was true, the country may have lost revenue if the decision of the President was to ban the export of the concentrates so that the mining companies won't be able to process what they get and therefore not raise revenues from it and not pay government what's due."
Milupi accused Chikwada of working against the PF manifesto of more jobs and wealth creation for Zambians.
"Now, if you export ores and concentrates, you have cut off the employment opportunities in terms of refining and smelting and any other processes," Milupi said. "And that means you also have to sell the concentrates and ores at a less price. Therefore, the country is not getting as much as it would have got. And most of our ores exist with other metals, especially precious metals like silver, gold, platinum. Now if you export concentrates, that opportunity to recover those precious metals is lost to the country because all you are declaring when exporting is that this is so much copper. You are not going to say this is silver or selenium."
Milupi said encouraging the export of raw copper would see more and new mining firms resisting to establish smelting facilities.
"The significant portion of our copper is not from sulphide ore but from oxide ores, and this means sulphide ores are not smelted; it is electro-wind," said Milupi. "So, to say we have no capacity to process it and so on raises a lot of questions of the real motive for their earlier decision of lifting that 10 per cent export levy."
Meanwhiles, commerce deputy minister Miles Sampa says the stockpiling of raw minerals by mining firms is a deliberate move to avoid paying tax.
Debating the 2014 budget in Parliament on Wednesday, Sampa said there was too much tax evasion by mines, adding that some of the mining firms were known internationally.
He said Zambians were getting "ifikwangwa" (residue) from the mines.
"All they want is zero tax. Even the stockpiling of raw minerals is a deliberate move aimed at avoiding paying tax," he said.
Sampa said the non-payment of tax by some mining companies was causing budget overruns.
He said the expenditure side in Zambia never goes down for instance, on the issue of salaries.
"People cannot allow their salaries to go down, even when they have a leader who opposes the increase, his people will do a don't kubeba on him," Sampa said.
He said the government would ensure it has full control of the country's economy and assets.
But Monze UPND member of parliament Jack Mwiimbu rose on a point of order in which he wanted to know if Sampa was in order to lament about tax evasion instead of giving the government's policy.
Speaker Patrick Matibini ruled that as much as Sampa was at liberty to highlight the problems of tax evasion, it was important for him to highlight how the problems could be resolved by the government.
Labels: ALEXANDER CHIKWANDA, CHARLES MILUPI, CORRUPTION, STATUTORY INSTRUMENT 89, TAX EVASION
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Milupi urges Sata to forgo salary increase
By Allan Mulenga
Sun 20 Oct. 2013, 14:01 CAT
CHARLES Milupi says President Michael Sata should show leadership by refusing to accept the 10 per cent salary increase awarded to him and other constitutional office holders.
In an interview yesterday, Milupi, leader of Alliance for Democracy and Development, said President Sata should "search his soul" and reject the increment just like former president Rupiah Banda did.
"That's how the 2008 increase did not go through. (President Sata) has spent his time castigating Banda about corruption, about selfishness. On this particular issue, let him follow the example of former president Banda by refusing to accept that," Milupi said.
Milupi said it was not morally right for President Sata to accept the newly-revised salary increase for him and other constitutional office holders.
Milupi accused President Sata of playing double standards by accepting a 10 per cent salary increment.
"You can't change in life like a chameleon; whenever it suits you then you change. I say this because I was in Parliament in 2008, immediately after the death of former president Mwanawasa, when a motion came on the remuneration of the constitutional office bearers, including the President. He stood on a hill to condemn that totally, even though Parliament had approved it. He made so much noise, remember that is when he was saying, 'Mwanawasa rejected this, now Banda is approving this'," he explained.
"Because of that, president Banda refused to assent to that. And for him to say, 'it is not me, it is Parliament', the President has authority on all the laws in Parliament. No law will be enacted in Parliament unless it is assented to by the President. That is the constitutionalism that we operate."
Milupi wondered why President Sata had been calling on opposition members of parliament to lead the way by foregoing the 10 per cent salary increase.
"For him to come up with a statement that 'I will also forego my pay if the opposition MPs forego their increase or refuse to accept the increase', that is the most ridiculous statement that has ever come from a head of state. The head of state is not driven by members of the opposition. He should show leadership himself. Even if the opposition say they will go ahead, because they can only go ahead receiving if the President assents to it, but if he refuses to sign, nobody will get an increase," he said.
Milupi said leaders join politics to serve and not to earn riches.
"No president compares himself to chief executives of organisations anywhere in the world. President Obama is not the highest paid official in America. You are in politics to serve, you don't need to go there to make money," said Milupi.
On Friday, home affairs Edgar Lungu indicated that President Sata was ready to forego the 10 per cent salary increase awarded to him.
Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, EDGAR LUNGU, MICHAEL SATA, SALARIES
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PF setting a bad example - Milupi
By Mwala Kalaluka
Wed 18 Sep. 2013, 14:01 CAT
CHARLES Milupi says the succession wrangles in the ruling Patriotic Front will divide the country because some individuals hiding under the guise of endorsing President Michael Sata are fanning a tribal campaign.
And Milupi says the PF will have no problem continuing in power beyond 2016 as long as its leadership transforms the party into an all-inclusive organisation with a national character.
Milupi, the president of opposition Alliance for Democracy and Development, said in an interview from Mongu yesterday that those who desire a nation that is not factionalised on tribal lines will not stand idle and watch certain people within the PF who feel only their tribe should rule to divide the country based on tribal inclination.
Milupi described the current happenings in the PF as a premature succession struggle that would derail the government from delivering on its role to govern the country as the leadership will spend most of its tenure fighting each other.
"If you do it too early, the energies of those that you have selected to be in power are directed towards the power struggle rather than governance of the country. In every sphere whether it is political, economical, social, whether it is developmental, those begin to suffer," he said.
"Democracy is about various talents, harnessing the synergies of various people coming together to provide an agenda to govern the place."
Milupi, however, said Zambians must understand "the unfortunate PF power struggle" for what it really was.
"There are various wings and some of those wings are purely tribal…Certain tribes are claiming that, 'it is us only who are supposed to take over and the other side is not supposed to take over'," he said.
"They have come up with a strategy and that strategy is first of all to appear to be in support of the incumbent, knowing fully well that the time will come when either the incumbent will not want to continue or either the incumbent will be not well enough to continue and then lo and behold, those who were championing the continuation of the incumbent now take over. Then they will have destroyed all other competing structures and only their structure will remain standing."
Milupi warned that the danger with this approach was that the country could be factionalised on ethnic lines.
"Whether there are tribes that think they are so many and they are the majority or they are more than others, they cannot rule this country to the exclusion of others. You can't and others will not allow," he said.
"That is why the British came and ruled to the exclusion of others. The time came when everybody rose and demanded independence. What more with one tribe thinking that they can have the monopoly of all the senior positions and they can be succeeding each other."
Milupi said participation in the governance of the country was not the preserve of a particular region or tribe.
"Do they really think that Zambia and Zambians will allow that to happen?" he asked.
"If you exclude other tribes, other regions because you are special, in a way you are sowing the seeds for discontent. You are sowing the seeds for even a civil war, which is bound to happen sometime in the future because people were not created by God to be subservient to others."
Milupi advised the PF factions to understand that the Zambia that people want was an inclusive one.
"Leadership is not from one region, it is not from one tribe and so on and so forth. If we create those inclusive institutions, the party can continue in government. It is not a problem but that party must be an inclusive party. It must represent everybody's interest. But if people say, 'this one is from this area and they can only be replaced by somebody from this area', you are forcing other people to rise up and fight against that," he said.
"The whole essence of party political organisation is that you have cohesion. The moment that cohesion is disrupted you are no longer a political party. You must break up so that other formations can come up."
Milupi said the PF was setting a very bad precedent in the governance of the country and that their actions would have harsh consequences in future.
"The Zambian people will judge them for all these things. It has very harsh consequences, I can tell you, and to win the next elections, I think it will be extremely difficult because the Zambian people will say, 'these people can't work together why should we vote for them again?'" said Milupi.
Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, PF
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KCM under pressure over planned layoffs
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe and Henry Sinyangwe in Lusaka
Wed 29 May 2013, 14:01 CAT
MINEWORKERS officials from three KCM integrated business units yesterday staged a solidarity march in Kitwe to encourage the government and the three unions not to allow KCM to retrench employees.
And Charles Milupi says KCM is backtracking on its earlier assurance that it could still make profits with copper prices at a low of US$3,300 per tonne.
Meanwhile, labour minister Fackson Shamenda yesterday said mineworkers' unions and the government would today negotiate with Konkola Copper Mines management to halt the impending retrenchment of 2,000 permanent employees.
Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has informed the government and the mineworkers' unions of its intention to retrench 2,000 workers out of a workforce of about 8,263.
Over 100 branch officials of the Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ), National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW) and the United Mineworkers Union of Zambia (UMUZ) that travelled from Konkola, Nchanga and Nkana KCM integrated business units arrived in Kitwe around 11:00 hours and marched to MUZ headquarters at Katilungu House chanting slogans that KCM must surrender the mine to the government if they had failed to run it in order to avoid what happened in Luanshya when people suffered after Binani failed to run the mines in Luanshya and disappeared.
The union officials that were all clad in black with black accused KCM management of being insincere and unfair to the government and the nation in its operations.
In a solidarity message to their national leaders, MUZ Nchanga branch chairman Malambo Malambo who represented all branch officials said it was sad that KCM was frustrating the efforts of the PF government to create more jobs when they helped the former ruling party, the MMD create jobs.
"We have come here in peace and we want to offer solidarity to government and our national leaders. What is happening at KCM is shocking. All well-known companies, FL Smith, MMS, U&M Mining, Moolmans among others have all been frustrated or terminated. Instead KCM prefers replica companies of their origin," Malambo said.
"Our unions MUZ, NUMAW and UMUZ we have strongly resolved that KCM has lamentably failed and it is high time they surrendered the mine to the government to avoid another Binani situation."
Malambo said the government must move in with an equity partner sooner than later for the survival of the economy and employees.
He said the unions appreciated the PF government for ensuring that no miner loses a job at KCM.
"KCM did not anticipate the skyrocketing copper price at the world market, how come they are crying of low copper price which is still very high at about US$7,000 per tonne compared to those Anglo-American days? We know what is happening and it is immoral for KCM to use retrenchments as a tool to negotiate for mineral royalty and tariffs for energy and they have cited these as reasons for their intended actions," Malambo said.
And addressing the workers, MUZ president Nkole Chishimba said no one should be retrenched at KCM.
Chishimba said the national leaders of the three unions were mindful of the destruction that could be caused on the local economy and at family level if KCM was allowed to go ahead with its plans.
He appealed to workers to go back for work calmly and work extra hard to boost production levels so that the company would not have further excuses to retrench them.
NUMAW president James Chansa said the unions would not succumb to anything in the tripartite meeting expected to take place in Lusaka today with KCM, the government and the unions.
Chansa said the interests of the unions were to see KCM remain viable with the entire workforce maintained.
And Milupi, a mining engineer and now president of the Alliance for Democracy and Development, said it was surprising that KCM could cite the fall of the price of copper on the London Metal Exchange from about US$9,000 per tonne to an average of US$7,000 among reasons for its decision to prune workers.
He argued that copper prices at US$7,000 per tonne were not low and that those that could not make profits in the copper industry at such a price were not worthy to be called investors.
Milupi said initially, KCM had committed itself that if the copper price was at US$1.50 per pound or an equivalent of US$3,300 dollars per tonne, they would still make a profit of 15 per cent and keep the employees.
"In a high unemployment economy especially on the Copperbelt, to retrench 2,000 people is a significant move and it has a very adverse impact not only on the unemployment levels but also on the local economy. These issues must be handled with extreme care. Yes, copper price has fallen from US$9,000 to an average of US$7,000 but ever since the copper has been traded on LME, the price has been cycling, it goes up and it goes down. That's the elasticity of copper prices," he said.
"Now for an investor to claim that the copper price is low and on the basis of that they want to retrench 2,000 people, I think this is not being serious. What happens when it goes up again? Are they going to re-employ them? Are they serious investors that every time you sneeze then people have to go? In my view, the US$7,000 dollar per tonne is not that low because it must be compared with the production and operation costs."
Milupi described as lack of seriousness plans by KCM to lay off 2,000 mineworkers, saying "the country should get worried with the kind of investors in the copper mining industry that cannot survive with the copper prices at US$7,000 per tonne".
He challenged KCM to consider moving workers to new production sites such as Konkola Deep Mining Project (KDMP) which had about one billion tonnes of copper ore with a fairly high grade.
"US$7,000 is still a lot higher than the US$3,300 per tonne so what has happened? What happened to their commitment when they were taking over those mines? Coming to the government, they must be serious as well. They won this election promising that they would look at the interests of the poor and create employment. They need to get experts to sit down with KCM, go through production costs and find out why they cannot survive with the copper price averaging US$7,000 which is much higher than when they took over the mines," said Milupi, adding that the government must wake up and look at the interests of many poor Zambians that depend on the mines for survival.
Speaking to journalist after touring the recently-launched Zambia Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers (ZUFIAW) training centre yesterday, Shamenda vowed not to append his signature to the retrenchment of the workers at KCM.
He said government had directed the unions to carry out necessary research to help KCM find a solution.
"My office, I have the last signature to decide whether these workers should be retrenched or not, and for now, I don't think any person is going to be laid off. The unions and the deputy minister, and management of KCM are having discussions tomorrow today to look for the way forward, but not the retrenchment of 2,000 people, but to see how they can mitigate the factors in order to sustain the jobs," Shamenda said.
Shamenda said it should be made a point that no jobs should be lost.
And Shamenda said no foreigner would be allowed to negotiate for conditions of service for Zambian employees as government had discovered in the case of Shoprite.
"We have discovered that people who come for negotiations with Shoprite and the unions come from South Africa. Forthwith, as I have indicated, no foreigner not registered with Zambia Institute of Human Resources should participate in collective bargaining. If we have anybody who will come from outside and sits on the bargaining table with unions, now we will discuss with the Ministry of Home Affairs, we will never allow that person to come back into this country. That will be the last time they will be coming here. So, we don't want notorious employers, we want Zambians to negotiate on their behalf," he said.
Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, KCM
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Opposition doesn't engender confidence
By Editor
Wed 24 Apr. 2013, 14:00 CAT
The opposition should take the observations made by Charles Milupi seriously and in a positive manner. Charles says the opposition political parties have slim chances of forming government unless they reform. We agree.
Truly there is need, as Charles suggests, for the opposition to audit their actions if they are to remain relevant to the country's politics.
Politics is a very serious and important undertaking. We should all be aware that politics is an area of great importance for promoting justice, peace, development and community among all. Politics should be regarded as a vocation, a way of building up society for the common good.
And what our people are seeking is genuine democracy in which the leaders are servants of the electorate and not its abusers, manipulators, robbers. Good governance only occurs when we have intelligent, honest and humble leaders who see politics as a vocation to serve the people. No one deserves to be elected unless they love their country more than themselves. Therefore, those who enter politics should play their roles with care. Those who seek to represent the people as politicians should fight injustice and abuse; should devote themselves to the welfare of all. Their responsibilities as politicians will be exercised legitimately if they are committed to the common good of society.
And as for those who vote when election time comes, they should only vote for honest, hardworking and selfless leaders. They should vote wisely and only for people known for their honesty, ability and concern for the welfare of all. Politics should be honest and responsible because it is an effective way of serving others and working for the integral development of one's country.
We know that some people find it strange to talk of honest politics since to them, politics is mostly perceived as a dirty game because of opportunistic and dishonest politicians.
The behaviour of our opposition leaders does not engender confidence. Look at an opposition leader like Hakainde Hichilema and ask yourself: what does he stand for? What does he believe in? What is it that he's looking for in politics?
Here is a leader who not very long ago was accusing Rupiah Banda, his sons and other associates of corruption. Not very long ago, Hakainde was denouncing Rupiah and the MMD over corruption. But today, they are bedfellows and all between them is okay. Even the corruption that Hakainde used to accuse Rupiah and the MMD of is no longer an issue for him. What has cleansed Rupiah and the MMD of corruption in the eyes of Hakainde? Clearly, Hakainde stands for nothing. What matters to Hakainde is whether you support him or not. If you support Hakainde, you can be anything, you can do anything, he will have no problems with you. Look at William Banda! How can a serious politician, a politician of honour and integrity, take William for a political advisor and right hand man? How can a politician of honour and integrity defend the corruption of a man and a political party which not very long ago he was accusing of corruption? Was Hakainde lying to the Zambian people when he was accusing Rupiah of corruption? Hakainde has never explained to the Zambian people how he has cleansed Rupiah of corruption. Was Hakainde talking about things he didn't know? Was he making wild and false allegations against Rupiah?
William's political violence is well known and documented. Hakainde has no problem with William's background. Why? Probably he is looking for violent people because they fit well in his political strategy and tactics. How else can one explain all these things, all these negations? Well, Alexander Hamilton once said, "Those who stand for nothing fall for anything."
It seems for Hakainde, anything about those he considers to be political opponents goes. If Rupiah is seen to be his political opponent, anything bad or negative about Rupiah goes. It's simply a question of painting a political opponent black without justification. Look at Hakainde's behaviour today towards Michael Sata! Anything against Sata goes. Hakainde doesn't even hesitate to weigh the truthfulness of what he is saying about someone he detests. As Charles says, for some of these people, there are no principles to advance or defend. They swing to any side or to anything regardless of whether it is in line or not with their principles. The truth is that they have no principles to promote or defend and that's why they have no difficulties swinging from one end of the pendulum to the other in no time. What principles is Hakainde advancing or defending? Why is Hakainde in politics? Hakainde is in politics for vanity, to simply satisfy an ambition. Hakainde is not in politics for the good of the country or anybody else; he is in politics to become President and satisfy his ego with that. That's all that matters to Hakainde. And these are the things that today set Hakainde and Charles apart. They are both opposition leaders but Hakainde has chosen to defend corruption and Charles has decided not to defend that which is clearly rotten and immoral. Of course, Charles will soon be smeared with the filth of being bought by those in power. But Hakainde himself had gone into an alliance with Rupiah and the MMD when they were in power. Hakainde and Rupiah worked together in the 2011 elections to ensure that Michael doesn't win.
If Hakainde and those in the opposition working with him had any sense of dignity in themselves, they would feel very ashamed as a result of what Charles is saying about their conduct. They are actually a disgrace to the politics of this country and an embarrassment to those who previously supported them thinking they meant well when they were nothing but defenders of corruption and evil.
As Charles correctly observes, it will not be possible for the opposition to win an election without having to clearly define their principles and enable the Zambian people to know exactly where they stand on the most important issues of our time. Fighting corruption is a very important issue of our time. But Hakainde and his colleagues in the so-called opposition think the issue of corruption is nothing but a political tool to use against those whom one is opposed to. For those one supports, it is not an issue.
This is a vision Hakainde and his opposition colleagues are offering Zambia. But we know that to be successful, leaders must invoke an alchemy of great vision. The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet. Politics is a very important undertaking. And we believe that a bit of the reason for politics is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark. Omar Nelson Bradley once said: "We need to learn to set our course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship."
Effective leadership is putting first things first. Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. And it is said that if you must be without one, be without strategy, and not character. We hope Hakainde and his friends understand what we are trying to say. Reason and judgment are the qualities of a leader. The true test of character is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we don't know what to do. The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going. People do not follow uncommitted leaders. And as Charles says, "If you are known as a party that will fight corruption, you must be seen in all your actions" to be fighting corruption.
Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, MMD, OPPOSITION, UPND
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Milupi questions UPND's morality
By Moses Kuwema and Kombe Chimpinde
Tue 19 Mar. 2013, 09:10 CAT
CHARLES Milupi has questioned UPND's morality in opposing the removal of Rupiah Banda's immunity when the opposition party not long ago strongly condemned the corruption in his regime.
Commenting on the removal of Banda's immunity based on money laundering, corruption and abuse of office revelations contained in a motion moved by justice minister Wynter Kabimba in Parliament on Friday, Milupi wondered why the UPND would want to maintain Banda's immunity when they were accusing him of corruption.
"First of all there is the moral argument, why do you want to maintain someone's immunity? Someone that you were accusing of being involved in corrupt activities, why do you want defend that? There are certain parties that I was with in parliament. They were very specific about the corruption in Banda's administration, even if they have changed their minds," he said.
Milupi said the UPND also agreed that it was wrong for Banda's government to remove the abuse of office clause from the Anti Corruption Commission Act.
He said instead of opposing the motion out rightly, the opposition should have gotten their members of parliament to understand why they needed to maintain Banda's immunity in the interest of the nation.
Milupi said as far as he was concerned, it was not in the interest of the nation to maintain Banda's immunity because of allegations of corruption leveled against him.
He said the tabling of the motion to remove Banda's immunity was within the members of parliament's rights.
"The issue of immunity to me is a misconception. It must be revisited in the constitution. If any element of immunity remains, it must cover only the actions taken on behalf of the state, not decisions that are taken to profit you personally if you are president or to profit your children or family especially when those decisions break the law. The argument from Mr Banda in the last few months was wrong. Because there are perceptions of corrupt activities so the argument should have never been 'no me I am okay because I am covered by immunity'. The argument should be 'I did not do wrong. Whatever I am being accused of,
it did not happen'," Milupi said.
And Milupi said he has difficulties accepting that the court could determine what parliament must discuss.
"If you espouse the principle of the separation of powers and as a former parliamentarian, I will have difficulties in accepting that when there is a motion before parliament, someone can run to court and stop parliament from discussing the motion," he said.
Meanwhile, Milupi said nobody should aspire to be president to make themselves and their cabinet rich.
He said the desire to be president should be based on the desire to serve the people.
"I hope Mr Sata and his ministers have taken a lesson from what they have done to Mr Banda. Even they themselves would be subjected to the same. They should change their ways. Everybody else must take a lesson that even when the immunity is there if there are perceptions of corruption, it should be lifted. The most important thing is that this sends a lesson to those of us who aspire to be in State House. State House is not meant for us to enrich ourselves but to serve the people" Milupi said.
He said the underdevelopment and suffering that was being experienced in the country needed to be sorted out and one of the impediments to that was corruption.
"You cannot fight corruption unless you start at the top. You must have the top absolutely clean and very abhorrent of any corrupt activities," he said.
Milupi said there should be no political interference in the prosecution of Banda and urged the institutions involved to carry out their work professionally.
Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, POLITICAL IMMUNITY, RUPIAH BANDA, UPND
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Milupi advises govt to fight corruption non-selectively
By Kombe Chimpinde
Sun 20 Jan. 2013, 10:30 CAT
By Kombe Chimpinde
ADD leader Charles Milupi says Zambians will only continue supporting the PF if it delivers on its promise to reduce corruption levels in the country.
Commenting Dr Ludwig Sondashi's statement in which he expressed his displeasure over the government's reluctance to lift Rupiah Banda's immunity over allegations of corruption, Milupi said there was not only reluctance by the government to bring formal leaders to account for their misdeeds, but that there was seemingly no improvement on the levels of corruption which remained on the increase.
In an interview last Sunday, Dr Sondashi said he was personally concerned with the seeming silence on the corruption-related allegations leveled against Banda and some former government officials.
Agreeing with Dr SOndashi's concerns, Milupi said the fight against corruption had become selective, stressing further that the PF do not seem to have a grip on the fight against corruption.
"The fight against corruption is a noble fight that if it is applied in a selective manner and people are going to get arrested just because they have made a smart political move, and they are many examples you can look at of people who are in court for being found with bicycles and so on, those that have now made a choice to join PF, we no longer hear about them coming to court. It is like if someone is
clever to join the PF, they are safe," he said.
Milupi said he was one of those that had been vocal on the need to bring former leaders who served in the MMD to book but that he was disappointed with the manner cases of some individuals were being
handled.
"Let us fight corruption in a non selective manner. I campaigned against corruption when I was in parliament and I still feel that anybody who fights corruption will have our support but anyone who
fights corruption selectively to fight political battles, that will not help. Let us be serious with these matters," said Milupi.
Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, CORRUPTION
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Billions illegally taken out of Zambia over past decade, shows report
18 Dec 2012 15:29 - Guardian Reporter
Campaigners say
most of the illegally siphoned money ends up in offshore banks and tax havens and can be traced to
mining multinationals.
US-based group Global Financial Integrity blamed "crime, corruption and tax evasion" for the loss of $8.8-billion from the resource-rich country. The lost money, most of which can be traced to
multinational copper mining operations, is equivalent to almost half of Zambia's GDP.
Dev Kar, an economist and co-author of the report, said: "They [big global mining companies] are robbing the opportunities for the countries to advance, it [the money] could have been used to build hospitals and schools, and lift the economy out of poverty."
Kar said it was difficult to track where the money goes, but said most of it ends up in "offshore banks and tax havens".
* Read the report here.
Sarah Freitas, the other author of the report, said $4.9-billion of Zambia's lost funds between 2000 and 2010 could be traced to trade misinvoicing, in which importers pretend to pay more to foreign companies than they actually do, with the remainder slipped into offshore bank accounts. "This is a very serious problem," she said.
"Zambia's GDP was $19.3-billion in 2011. Its per capita GDP was $1 413. Its government collected a total of $4.3-billion revenue. It can't afford to be haemorrhaging illicit capital in such staggering amounts."
Zambia's deputy finance minister, Miles Sampa, said the report highlighted "what we have always been saying with regard to tax avoidance and income leakages in general".
Tax avoidance and transfer pricing
Sampa has accused multinational mining companies of using legal tax avoiding measures to escape $2-billion a year in taxes. He said only one or two mining operations declare they are making profits from Zambian copper mines, which hold 6% of the world's known copper reserves.
"The other mines for one reason or another, some genuine, some not, are always making losses," he said. "Most of it is due to transfer pricing or tax avoidance. We're looking at developing a law that will criminalise false reporting."
He said closing the loopholes could generate Zambia at least an extra $1.5-billion a year. "How many hospitals can that build? How many roads can that help us to develop?"
The UK government has investigated allegations surrounding Zambia's lost tax revenues from foreign-owned mines, including claims that Glencore avoided paying up to £76-million a year in tax on its Mopani mine in the countrty. Glencore denies the allegations.
Zambia is currently investigating its justice minister, Wynter Kabimba, over claims he took bribes from multinational trading company Trafigura. Both Kabima and Trafigura deny the claims.
The GFI report said "illicit capital flight" has cost developing countries $859-million in 2010, the last year for which IMF figures are available.
"Astronomical sums of dirty money continue to flow out of the developing world and into offshore tax havens and developed country banks," Raymond Baker, the GFI's director, said.
"Regardless of the methodology, it's clear: developing economies are haemorrhaging more and more money at a time when rich and poor nations alike are struggling to spur economic growth. This report should be a wake-up call to world leaders that more must be done to address these harmful outflows." – Guardian News and Media 2012
Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, TAX EVASION
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Milupi criticises Sata's creation of more districts
By Tilyenji Mwanza and Mwala Kalaluka
Wed 28 Nov. 2012, 14:30 CAT
ADD president Charles Milupi says President Michael Sata's latest creation of new districts has no practical use as it is all for political mileage.
Commenting on President Sata's decision to turn Luampa, Sioma, Sikongo and Nalolo areas of Western Province into districts, Milupi said in an interview yesterday that it would be useless to create new districts when there was nothing to show in the other newly-created districts.
Milupi said all the new districts that had been created were not catered for in the 2013 budget and, therefore, the developmental claim would be useless.
"President Sata is merely making pronouncements so that he can get political mileage which has no practical use," Milupi said. "That is his problem; he thinks he has to do things like that.
Ever since he went in the job, he has been creating this, creating that, with no planning, no budget to effect those things. And if there is no budget, the plans are hopeless."
He added that President Sata had created districts such as Mulobezi, which was removed from Sesheke district, to which no substantial changes had been noted.
"If you look at the previous districts that were created and physically go there and see what is happening…go to Mulobezi and check what is happening, there is nothing," said Milupi.
http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=29746
MMD, UPND, DOUGLAS SIAKALIMA,
MMD is losing direction - UPND
Wed 28 Nov. 2012, 14:20 CAT
THE UPND says MMD is losing direction each day that passes ever since it lost power to the PF.
Special advisor to UPND president, Hakainde Hichilema, Douglas Siakalima told QFM on Monday that the UPND felt sorry for the MMD because it did not have the experience of being in the opposition.
Siakalima said the MMD should stop accusing the UPND of creating some of the problems it was facing, but instead remain steadfast and learn opposition politics.
Siakalima said the leadership of the MMD should sit down and resolve the issues affecting the party to avoid further destruction of the party.
He said the MMD should realise that it was no longer the ruling party hence the need to stay focused.
MMD president Nevers Mumba said MMD needed UPND to remove PF from power.
This was despite UPND vice-president Richard Kapita declaring that UPND was no longer interested in a pact with MMD.
Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, DISTRICTS, MICHAEL SATA
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GBM must step down - Milupi
By Mwala Kalaluka
Fri 05 Oct. 2012, 14:50 CAT
ALLIANCE for Democracy and Development leader Charles Milupi says defence minister Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba, commonly known as GBM, must step down to pave way for investigations into allegations that he physically solicited a contract to supply wooden poles to Zesco.
Milupi, who is former Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee PAC chairperson, said in an interview yesterday that President Michael Sata should take decisive and timely action against all those alleged to be involved in corruption or else his government would be undermined.
Milupi said his party was consoled when President Sata told Parliament last year that he was allergic to corruption but he said there was no way, for example, the country's National Security Committee, whose chairperson was Mwamba, could probe the corruption allegations against him if he remained in his ministerial position.
"These allegations that we are seeing against very high-ranking members in Cabinet, they are a serious indictment on the governance situation of this country and they will undermine this very government. Any government can fall if these allegations are not dealt with to the satisfaction of the people," Milupi said.
"It is accepted practice that when senior members of Cabinet are alleged to have done something and especially where proof is presented, those that are involved should step aside on their own to allow for proper investigation."
Milupi said in the event that erring ministers were unwilling to step aside, wanting to hang on to power for whatever reason, the onus was on the President to ensure that those people were put aside.
"This time we want investigations that will be independent but will come up with factual conclusions," Milupi said. "Already, you are seeing accusations and counter-accusations. I believe the law must be given an opportunity to ensure that these things are dealt with."
Milupi said President Sata should not bury his head in the sand in the midst of these serious allegations of corruption or abuse of office because these allegations would not fade away.
"I would like to believe that these matters with respect to one minister (GBM), which have come through The Post, if The Post can unearth these, what about the Anti-Corruption Commission, what about the police, what about the Office of the President? Have they brought these things up?" Milupi asked.
"When they come out in the newspapers, the way I know the security system, the way it works, they would have known about it. They must put them aside and for the first time institute genuine commissions."
Milupi said there were many reputable retired judges who President Sata could appoint to handle the probe.
"That is the only way he President Sata can clean up his government to prove that indeed he is allergic to corruption, and I am talking about both," said Milupi. "When there is corruption, timely action and decisive action must be taken and when that is taken, you will see that the levels of corruption will go down."
Mwamba, according to sources, is influencing Zesco to award his company and others where he has an interest a one-year contract for the supply and delivery of wooden poles.
But Mwamba said in an interview that he had always been a businessman and described as "nonsense" allegations that he was soliciting contracts from the power utility.
According to documentation obtained by The Post, Zesco intends to award a tender for the supply and delivery of 9m, 10m and 12m wooden poles on a one-year running contract basis to several bidders, including Arizona Marketing & Distribution, which belongs to GBM and two of his family members.
Documents obtained from the Patents and Companies Registration Agency PACRA indicate that Arizona Marketing & Distribution, whose bid price on the above Zesco wooden poles contract was US$7,214,155.00 (about K36.7 billion), is owned by Mwamba.
Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, CORRUPTION, GBM, PARLIAMENT
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Hichilema goes for Chipimo, Nawakwi
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe and Selina Nyirenda in Lusaka
Wed 20 June 2012, 13:25 CAT
HAKAINDE Hichilema says opposition political party leaders travelling with President Michael Sata have failed to run their political parties and are now part of the Patriotic Front.
In a telephone interview with Kitwe's Radio Icengelo, the UPND leader said National Restoration Party (NAREP) president Elias Chipimo and FDD's Edith Nawakwi's acceptance to travel with President Michael Sata to Brazil for the Earth Summit was a confirmation that there were part of the PF and had joined in sharing taxpayers' money with the President.
He said Chipimo and Nawakwi had decided to associate themselves with President Sata's government because they had realised that being in the opposition was tough.
"Mr Sata and Mr Chipimo especially are beginning to move in a manner that wastes taxpayers' money. Mr Sata is on record of having telling others before him that they are travelling too much. It is now clear that he is the one travelling too much with large delegations including opposition leaders basically wasting taxpayers' money," Hichilema said.
He said it was unacceptable that President Sata was travelling with a large delegation when there were no medicines in hospitals.
Hichilema said the country cannot afford to be paying for presidential trips with large delegations when the country was facing huge problems such as constant power blackouts by Zesco.
"People in the compounds are complaining, three days passes without power. So Chipimo, Nawakwi and others have joined sharing taxpayers' money through huge allowances. I will not do that myself. I will remain opposition. We don't need government favours and handouts such as allowances and air tickets. If we need to travel, we can buy own air tickets. We don't have to spend taxpayers' money," Hichilema said.
And Alliance for Democracy and Development leader Charles Milupi said Chipimo Jr had for some time not been part of the opposition.
Milupi said in an interview that Chipimo was free to join the PF if that was his desire but that that would not compromise the opposition's stance to hold the government to account.
"I think we understand our role as the opposition, it is not to be rewarded by those in government. It is to raise issues that we feel are pertinent. That is what we have done and we shall continue to do so. Mr Sata himself during all the time he was in opposition, I don't remember Mr (Rupiah) Banda (the former Republican president) taking him for a trip outside. But if Mr Chipimo wants to join the PF, he is free to do so," Milupi said.
According to Milupi, the decision by President Sata to invite three members of the same political party who he said did not have vast experience on issues of climate change was questionable.
"There is a lot of money in travelling, so if you have authority during travel and you invite somebody who is not connected to what it is you are going out for, it is probably as a reward but a reward for what? Or what's the payback when they come back? How are they paid back for their gesture? This is a bio-fuels conference, as important as it is, we have many people in government that deal with those matters, now to go to an opposition and get three of their members to accompany you, who do not have the specific expertise!"
Milupi wondered how President Sata who criticised Banda on his frequent trips and the number of people who accompanied him whilst he was in office, had started to do the same thing.
He warned members of the opposition to be sceptical of the invitations from President Sata, saying they would be made answerable once anything went wrong.
"Those that get invited must remember the saying that 'if you dine with the devil, use a spoon with a very long handle so that you are not tarnished'. If you want the role of the opposition it is to hold government accountable," said Milupi.
President Sata invited Chipimo and Nawakwi to accompany him to Brazil.
He said a meaningful and progressive opposition was an essential ingredient to national peace, stability and sustainable development and poverty reduction.
President Sata said matters of national development cut across partisan lines hence his invitation to Nawakwi and Chipimo.
Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, EDITH NAWAKWI, ELIAS CHIPIMO, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA
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Milupi calls for principled opposition
By Selina Nyirenda
Tue 29 May 2012, 13:29 CAT
ALLIANCE for Democracy and Development president Charles Milupi says there is need for a strong opposition that should be formed on the basis of principles. And MMD Mwandi member of parliament Michael Kaingu says it is important for MMD members to adhere to ethics.
Milupi, in an interview yesterday, said that the opposition should rally around policies that could benefit the people and not work based on political expedience.
"Today more than ever before, there is need to ensure that there is a stronger opposition that would counter the autocratic and dictatorial tendencies of the PF government. So it is really up to the opposition to come together but on the basis of principles. It's not a question of saying if I get that one then I will have more powers, no; we should identify things that can bring us together and work on those for the benefit of the people," he said.
Milupi said Zambians would be looking up to the opposition to provide checks and balances to ensure that the country did not slide into dictatorial rule.
"I am not saying that they should make a pact or anything but they should defend the democratic principles which govern this country. It should be on a case by case basis," he said.
And Kaingu said although a corruption tag was placed on MMD, there were other members of the party who were clean.
"It's like a family, there are good people and bad people; but that does not mean that everyone in the family is a bad person and MMD is like a family, so some of us are caught up in the web, unfortunately. But I'm not going to apologise for those who have been visited by the law. If PF thinks there are thieves in our party, it's up to them to catch the thieves. But it is very important to operate on good ethics, although some ethics are taught and others are inborn," he said.
Milupi advised the PF government to recognise the voices of the people because they put them in power.
Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, OPPOSITION
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Milupi calls on PF to keep party politics, state apart
By Allan Mulenga
Mon 23 Apr. 2012, 13:28 CAT
CHARLES Milupi has urged the government to separate party politics from the state. And Milupi has accused the PF government of elevating its party secretary general Wynter Kabimba above Cabinet ministers.
In an interview, Milupi, who is Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) president, said trying to recreate the one-party state in a democratic dispensation was ludicrous.
"This desire to recreate one-party state by emphasising the role of the party in a multiparty dispensation, at least Kaunda did it when there was only one party, but to try to recreate it when there is multiparty dispensation is ludicrous in the extreme because there is a tendency for the party to chew into state coffers; that will have tendency to fight people," he said.
Milupi said the government should not bring party politics into the administration of the state.
"Most recently, there was a statement from the secretary general Wynter Kabimba that 'private companies, public companies must respect the party...if they operate in Lusaka or Copperbelt, they must know the provincial chairman of the party'. How about the provincial chairman of ADD, we have got one on the Copperbelt too, shouldn't he also be recognised? Basically what he is doing is campaigning for work for them at the expense of everybody else. How long can they sustain that?" he asked.
Milupi said if the PF had campaigned on the basis that their party would be supreme, people would not have voted for them.
"Let party politics be separated from the state. If you mix the two, there is no way you can later on escape the charge of abuse of public resources and indeed corruption and nepotism. That is where they are headed to if they continue along that path," he said.
And Milupi accused the PF government of elevating Kabimba above Cabinet ministers.
"I was absolutely shocked on Friday last Friday in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross when the master of ceremonies, although obviously going through the protocols, where he said ´His Excellency the President and the first lady', the next was the secretary general of the party and then the ministers and so on. They are trying to force onto this country an idea that has been discredited throughout. Let them remember that in countries like the Soviet Union where the position of the party secretary general was so pronounced, it ruined economies," he said.
Milupi urged the government to elevate Kabimba through parliamentary appointment.
"Just like PF has a secretary general, all the parties have got secretary generals, including ADD. To elevate one above everybody else is wrong. If they want to elevate him, let them make him Vice-President; that means appointing him to Parliament and then giving him a ministerial position. To superimpose that is, in fact, unconstitutional. I urge them to be constitutional in whatever they are doing. I think that is the cornerstone of every democracy," said Milupi.
Labels: ADD, CHARLES MILUPI, PF
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Oil procurement should be liberalised - Milupi
By Moses Kuwema
Wed 18 Apr. 2012, 13:29 CAT
ALLIANCE for Development and Democracy president Charles Milupi says the oil procurement process should be liberalised. In an interview, Milupi said the government must remove the "one holder syndrome" of allowing a few companies to monopolise the oil procurement process.
"This is because such things like monopoly bring with it corruption. I think that the oil procurement process must be liberalised. We should have many people bringing in this oil; ultimately that reduces the price and cuts out the corruption. At the moment, everybody has to bid to bring in goods and then that is where the pressure on corruption is but if other people were able to bring in finished products and it has already been shown that if you bring in finished products, you can have the fuel cheaper than it is now," Milupi said.
He said the oil procurement process involved large amounts of money, hence it was attractive to corruption by those in power.
"That's the easiest way they can make lots of money in no time at all. And, therefore, when you are dealing with a corrupt regime, you have to understand that that is one of the areas that is very attractive for them. Because you have a contract worth trillions of kwacha and you just give it to one contractor, it means corrupt regimes can use such and ultimately the country does not gain," he said.
Milupi said even when he served as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, they questioned some of the oil deals.
"We questioned those deals especially the deal that was awarded to a company in Kenya, it was doubtful…By saying so, even the current procurement process, we should watch out that we do not repeat the same mistake," he said.
Milupi said there was need for the country to have an effective procurement process that should adhere to procedures and regulations.
Recently, chairman of the commission of inquiry into the Energy Regulation Board and oil procurement, Wynter Kabimba, disclosed that the government lost about K2 trillion between 2007 and 2011 in the oil procurement process through corruption and other malpractices by officers in the Ministry of Energy and Water Development, ERB and the Zambia Public Procurement Authority.
Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, OIL, PROCUREMENT SYSTEMS, WYNTER KABIMBA
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Sakeni annoys Luena MP on pregnant Limulunga pupils
By Mwala Kalaluka and Kombe Chimpinde
Mon 19 Mar. 2012, 11:59 CAT
LUENA member of parliament Mwambwa Imenda says home affairs minister Kennedy Sakeni's comments over revelations of police officers impregnating 30 Mongu pupils are irresponsible.
And ADD president Charles Milupi says he is disappointed with Sakeni's response over the issue of the 30 pupils of Limulunga school that were allegedly impregnated by police officers who were camped there after the January 14 Mongu fracas.
But Sakeni says according to the official reports in the government's possession, the girls were impregnated in consensual circumstances, and maintains that nobody stops the parents of the children in question from lodging a complaint to the police if they feel this amounts to defilement.
Imenda, a member of the ADD and Forum for African Women Educationists in Zambia, said in an interview that no government could justify what the police reinforcements sent to quell the Mongu riots did to the school girls.
She was reacting to Sakeni's statement that Vice-President Guy Scott's parliamentary statement that about 30 girls of Limulunga High School were impregnated by police officers who camped there was an exaggeration.
Imenda raised the issue on the floor of Parliament during the Vice-President's question time and Vice-President Scott said the matter was contained in the Roger Chongwe commission of inquiry report, which was receiving active consideration from Cabinet.
An emotionally-charged Imenda said in an interview yesterday that such a response was not expected from Sakeni, whose responsibility was to protect vulnerable members of society such as girl children.
"It is very irresponsible of the minister to even speak the way he does. Whatever argument he is bringing… and even disputing the figures. So he knows that this thing happened."
Imenda said in his ministerial statement, Sakeni should give the age of each of the 14 girls he said were impregnated by the police officers.
"It was very irresponsible of the minister to react that way. He is even comparing the UN… hasn't he heard the world condemn such UN peacekeepers who prey on such persons? He is saying that they were right just because it happens in peacekeeping. Therefore, does it make it right?" she asked.
"Is the girl-child safe in circumstances where even ministers seem to be coming to the defence of wrongdoing? If such things are condoned by people who are supposed to deal with the problem then we are not safe, our children are not safe. Why accommodate single police officers in classrooms?"
And Milupi said there was something wrong with the country's governance system.
"This is why we say there is something wrong with the governance of this country. We raised those complaints (of police officers being camped at a school) in Parliament. We the concerned said that camping police officers at schools was wrong," Milupi said.
"I don't know what the PF is up to. What we are saying is that that was wrong and it must be condemned because the government of the day created things to happen. We are not talking about whether that operation was correct or not. If we can accept that in Zambia, then I don't know what we will not accept. Mr Sakeni must not say this because it happened in Western Province and not Luapula (Province)."
He maintained that the particular case did not only occur at Limulunga but at Kumbule High School as well.
"This is a serious matter. If Guy Scott had said that this was also indicated in the Chongwe-led commission of inquiry, then it is confirmed that was the number," Milupi said.
But Sakeni maintained in an interview that there was nobody who had stopped the girls' parents from lodging a formal complaint to police if there was a case of defilement.
"The records in Mongu show that none of those cases were reported apart from verbal reports by the headmaster, who raised a concern to the police that some of the pupils had stopped going to school because they were pregnant and had been impregnated by the police officers from Kamfinsa but honestly speaking, police normally act on cases if it is established that this is rape or defilement or whoever is concerned reports to the police," he said.
Sakeni said according to the official reports in government's possession, only 14 girls had been reported impregnated in consensual circumstances, stressing that if this was otherwise, parents must be free to report the said cases.
"Literally, there is nobody who has stopped those who thought their children were defiled from reporting. It was their understanding with the police officers, so surely does that amount to defilement?" asked Sakeni.
Labels: ADD, BAROTSE FREEDOM MOVEMENT, CHARLES MILUPI, KENNEDY SAKENI
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