Kansanshi Mine urges suppliers of goods to adopt quality standards
By Joan Chirwa in Solwezi
Thursday April 17, 2008 [04:00]
KANSANSHI Mining Plc has urged suppliers of goods and services in Solwezi to adopt quality standards for their products to maintain supply contracts with the mine. And Kansanshi Mining Plc has advanced its jatropha cultivation project with local farmers as a way of enriching the depleted areas while taking into account modern inventions in the bio fuels industry.
Kansanshi Mining Plc Public Relations manager Godfrey Msiska said the mine had given about 50 per cent consideration to local suppliers for the supply of goods and services in order to promote small-scale entrepreneurs.
"The mine has got a deliberate policy to support local businesses, especially those in Solwezi. We urge the local entrepreneurs and suppliers of goods and services to try and observe the criteria for the provision of any service to the mine," Msiska said on Tuesday.
"The suppliers need to meet the quality standards. They have to be competitive in terms of pricing as well as delivery time of the products. This is the basic criteria for any individual or company to start supplying products to the mine. Once they meet the criteria, there will be no reason for them not to supply goods to the mine."
Msiska said a number of small-scale businessmen within Solwezi had maintained regular supply of products to Kansanshi Mine.
"It is quite easy to do business with Kansanshi Mine as long as business people follow the procedures," Msiska said. " More than half of the business goes to the local suppliers of goods and services and a good number have been quite regular in supplying commodities to the mine."
And Kansanshi Mining Plc Environmental manager Richard Zyambo said the company’s decision to venture into jatropha cultivation was in respect of the need to maintain a safe environment, years after the expiry of the mine life.
"We are currently focusing on areas already disturbed by mining activities and that is where we are encouraging farmers to plant their jatropha," Zyambo said.
"At the moment, we have about 150 farmers under an out grower scheme. Kansanshi is providing all the materials for jatropha cultivation at no fee and we are also giving the farmers farming inputs for other crops so that the country’s food security is not disturbed because of increased interests in bio fuel production."
Zyambo said as much as the company valued its core business of mining, its intention was to attract players in the bio fuels sector to set up a plant in Solwezi for the promotion of the industry.
"The farmers we are working with have been trained. We have entered into three-year contracts with them, and by that time, we will have some seed as we have a guaranteed market for the commodity," Zyambo said.
"The use of bio fuels has taken a lot of interests, so we are hoping to attract investors to come and set up a bio fuel plant in Solwezi once we increase on production of jatropha. And as Kansanshi, we are trying to look at a ratio of one to four in mixing bio fuel and fossil fuels. The rising prices of fuel have raised our cost of production thereby impacting on annual profits."
Labels: KANSANSHI MINING PLC, QUALITY ASSURANCE
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Kansanshi Mine declares dispute with unions over salary adjustments
By Mulimbi Mulaliki in Solwezi and Abigail Chaponda in Lusaka
Wednesday April 09, 2008 [04:01]
KANSANSHI Mine has declared a dispute with the unions negotiating for new conditions of service for workers insisting that they could only give them a 15 percent salary adjustment. And the two unions, Mine Workers Union of Zambia (MUZ) and National Union for Miners and Allied workers (NUMAW), have warned that an impending strike at the mine was unavoidable since management has refused to accept workers demands by declaring a dispute.
In a letter dated April 7, 2008 addressed to the unions, Kansanshi Mine Resource Optimisation manager, Len Heyneke, stated that a dispute had arisen since the 90 days had elapsed, when the collective bargaining process commenced.
Heyneke said Kansanshi management communicated its final offer to the two unions on March 28, 2008 but was not accepted by the unions despite numerous meetings having been held prior to the offer made.
"We note that the information concerning an impending strike has not been refuted by the unions. We feel that a strike is totally uncalled for and extremely concerning because we have been very accommodating and flexible throughout the negotiations," Heyneke said.
Heyneke warned the unions that should they not hear from them within 24 hours, management would take such lawful measures as may be necessary to preserve the interest of both the mine and well-meaning hardworking employees.
"Given that it is now over 90 days since the collective bargaining process commenced and there is no agreement in sight, it is our understanding in the circumstances that a collective dispute has arisen," read the letter.
"We expect the union to ensure that such an eventuality is prevented by all means and we request you to make written assurance that no such strike will be attempted."
But NUMAW vice national secretary Christopher Sulute said such threats from management would not deter them from demanding for decent wages for the workers.
He said since management declared a dispute, the unions could not prevent a strike.
"What we are demanding for is very genuine because Kansanshi is not making loss but profit as indicated in their flash monthly financial reports, we know that they are able to pay but they just don't want," Sulute said.
Sulute explained that the miners had justified reasons for making the demands but management had not given them reasons for rejecting them.
"It is not us union leaders demanding for these increments, it's the workers themselves, we are just mere ambassadors who carry this message to management on their behalf and if management rejects these demands then they should know that they are rejecting the demands of their workers" stated Sulute.
Meanwhile, Zambia Federation of Employers (ZFE) President Dr George Chabwera has said that it would be irresponsible for Kansanshi Mine workers to take industrial action.
Reacting to the looming industrial unrest at Kansanshi Mine, Dr Chabwera said that the position workers had taken against management over the stalled negotiation on new conditions of services for workers was not correct.
"Workers should realise that there were laid down procedures in collective bargaining which need to be followed before workers could start talking about a strike action," he said.
He added that it would be reckless for workers to talk about striking.
Dr Chabwera said any strike action or physical violence that would be taken might be illegal and might result in management instituting disciplinary measures against those that would be involved.
"Striking should be the last action to take, workers should just wait for management and the Union to sit and come to an agreement. If nothing is done then they should strike if they want," he said.
Labels: KANSANSHI MINING PLC, STRIKE, TRADE UNIONS
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Buried vehicles at First Quantum raise environmental concerns
By By Mulimbi Mulaliki
Friday March 21, 2008 [03:00]
FIRST Quantum Mining Operations Limited (FQMOL) mining division at Kansanshi Mining Plc has buried some vehicles raising environmental concerns among workers and stakeholders in Solwezi. Handing over a refurbished Toyota Hilux double cab to Zambia Police Service in Solwezi on Wednesday, FQMOL project manager Ron Day confirmed that the company buried vehicles which had outlived their lifespan within the mine area.
“The vehicles buried were just scrap and they could not be sold that is why we decided to burry them. If they were in a good condition we could have auctioned them to either members of the public or to our workers,” Day said.
Day said the company followed procedure in disposing of the vehicles, adding that the method they used was not going to pose any effect on the environment.
Solwezi Council spokesperson Kingsley Mutayachalo expressed concern by FQMO decision to burry the vehicles.
Mutayachalo said it was not safe to burry the vehicles because they remained an environmental hazard.
“They should have found a better way of disposing off the scrapped vehicles other than burying them,” Mutayachalo said.
But some workers said the buried vehicles were still running. The workers indicated that their management refused to sell the vehicles to workers fearing that they would be stealing spare parts from the ware house to be servicing the same vehicles.
“We drove those vehicles to the site where they were buried and they have decided to refurbish one of those still remaining and donated to police as a way of avoiding criticism,” the workers said.
During the donation, Kansanshi Mine public relations manager Philip Msiska said the population increase in Solwezi had brought a number of challenges for the police to cope with.
Msiska said the vehicle donated to police would help to enhance police operations.
“It is common knowledge that the renewed economic operations in Solwezi have also attracted criminals.
This means that police now has to work even harder to contain crime in Solwezi. However, these efforts on the part of the police are sometimes hampered by limited availability of operational vehicles when the police desperately need to cover several areas at the same time,” Msiska said.
And in receiving the vehicle, North Western Province police commanding officer Fabian Katiba appreciated Kansanshi Mine’s continued assistance to police operations in the district.
Katiba said the vehicle would assist police in policing crime by increasing night patrols.
Labels: FIRST QUANTUM MINING, KANSANSHI MINING PLC, POLLUTION
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Kansanshi Mining, MUZ talks stall
By Mulimbi Mulaliki
Thursday March 13, 2008 [03:00]
NEGOTIATIONS for new conditions of service between Kansanshi Mining Plc, Mine Workers Union of Zambia (MUZ) and National Union of Mines and Allied Workers (NUMAW) have stalled following management’s refusal to accept the workers’ demands. And government has given Kansanshi mine management up to March 31 2008 to conclude new conditions of service with the two unions, which started in January this year.
The two union representatives told workers during a meeting, which was held in Solwezi on Monday that management, had refused to increase their salaries by 50 per cent.
According to the workers who attended the meeting, the two union members resolved to stand by their demand of 50 per cent salary increment across the board, review of contracts to five years from two years and also increase of the education allowance from K100,000 to K1 million among other demands.
“We have resolved that if management still rejects our proposals then we are going to declare a dispute resulting in a industrial strike. Kansanshi mine management should stop cheating government that it pays its workers better than other mine companies because the least paid worker at Kansanshi gets K1million while at Konkola Copper Mine the least paid employee gets K1.9 million,” the workers said.
The workers said their nine proposals to management among them, 50 per cent salary increment, increase of leave passage from K200,000 to K1 million housing loans mortgage to be paid and review of two years contracts to five years, were very genuine comparing with life in Solwezi and especially that accommodation was very expensive.
According to a joint communiqué, which was read out to workers, management had refused to give them a 50 percent salary increment and to review contract of two years but had offered to increase salaries in grades.
For those in grade one and two 10 per cent, grade three 12 per cent, grade four 14 per cent and grade five 16 per cent which the two unions rejected.
Management had also refused to harmonise salaries for workers doing the same work but instead pay on individual performance.
Labels: KANSANSHI MINING PLC, MUZ
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'Lumwana, Kansanshi mines reluctant to sign railway off-take agreement
By Namakau Nalumango
Friday February 29, 2008 [03:00]
NORTH Western Rail line (NWR) has said reluctance by Kansanshi and Lumwana mines to commit themselves to using the railway line may delay financing of the project. NWR chairman Enoch Kavindele said in an interview that the reluctance by the two mining companies in the province to sign the off-take agreement committing themselves to the use of the railway line might delay the release of funds by financiers.
Kavindele said the off-take agreement was a pre-condition for the financiers to release the funds for the project which is expected to be completed in 2010.
“Surprisingly, both Lumwana and Kansanshi mines are dragging their feet and are reluctant to sign the off-take agreements committing to the use of the railway in 2010,” Kavindele said.
Kavindele noted that in any project financing structure, the financiers wanted to know the anchor clients and although other mines were expected to open in the North Western Province, Lumwana and Kansanshi were the existing mines hence the need for them to sign up immediately.
He said the mines were so far taking a casual approach to the damage caused to the roads.
“As it stands, the repair and rehabilitation costs are borne entirely by the government and cease to be their problem. In the next three years, both Kitwe to Chingola road and the Kitwe to Lumwana road will be completely damaged,” he said. “All this heavy traffic combined with all other road users will place an extraordinary strain on all services, utilities and infrastructure.”
Kavindele said it was urgent therefore that the mines signed the agreements so that the construction of the rail line could take off.
He said the combined Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambian mines related freight volumes in 2010 would be 2,400 000 tonnes of copper ore per annum.
“In Chingola, this will translate to having a truck on the roads every three minutes to and from. Roads in the town will become completely congested with the route between Chingola and Kitwe becoming almost impassable not to mention the hazardous conditions that will be faced by normal motorists and pedestrians,” he said.
He also said US $2 million had been budgeted for people who might be displaced as a result of the project.
Kavindele also announced a new Board of Directors for NWR that includes Dr Ludwig Sondashi, chief Mumena, Dr Bwalya N’gandu, and Joe Chisanga.
Labels: KANSANSHI MINING PLC, LUMWANA MINING COMPANY, RAIL
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Mines resist new taxes
By Bright Mukwasa
Tuesday February 12, 2008 [03:00]
MINING companies in the country have threatened to use legal means to block the government from implementing the new mining fiscal regime. Appearing before the extended parliamentary committee on estimates yesterday,
the mining companies urged the government to use the instruments within the development agreements to effect the proposed mining tax regime before it is passed into law.
Among the mining companies that appeared before the committee were Mopani Copper Mines Plc (MCM), Lumwana Copper Mines (LCM), Chibuluma Copper Mines, Kansanshi Copper Mines, Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) and Non-Ferrous Corporation Chambishi Mines.
Submitting before the committee, First Quantum Minerals country manager Chisanga Puta-Chekwe said if the fiscal regime was implemented, Kansanshi Copper Mines would be in trouble with its shareholders.
Puta-Chekwe said there were procedures that needed to be followed by both government and the mines before the new tax regimes could be implemented.
He explained that in cases where the agreements were violated, litigation was sought in many instances by the affected party.
He said it was important for the government to adequately inform the international community about the new mining fiscal regime or they risked making the country an unattractive investment destination for future investments in the mining sector.
And Chamber of Mines president Passmore Hamukoma said despite government having promised the mining companies to renegotiate the new tax regime, government did not engage them.
Hamukoma, however, said the mining companies were open to renegotiation before the mining fiscal regime could be implemented.
“We have not been called to discuss the fiscal issues affecting the mines, therefore we have not had a chance of explaining the effects of not being in consultation with the other arm which has put the new tax regime,” Hamukoma said.
Hamukoma, who is also MCM chief services officer, said the development agreements were legally binding and the sector had no problem in abiding by them.
Chamber of Mines general manager Frederick Bantubonse said earlier on, President Mwanawasa wrote to the mines indicating voluntary negotiations of the new tax regime.
“The President wrote to us on the development agreements of which we have no problem with it being a legally binding document, he requested for voluntary negotiations, but we were surprised that the President went ahead to announce the new tax regime without our say,” Bantubonse said.
Chibuluma Mines general manager Ed Mounsey said the new tax regime would harm investments made by Metorex Mines into the development of Chibuluma South copper mine if the regime is implemented.
“The investment made by Metorex will not be recouped, they will be no dividends or profit externalisation and so these are some of the effects on the company if the new tax regime is passed into law,” Mounsey said.
“Therefore, government should not pass the Bill in its current state, instead they should carry out an independent review of proposed tax changes for the viability of the mines, and we urge you to encourage government to negotiate with mining companies.”
KCM operations director CP Baid said the mine was looking forward to meaningful dialogue before the tax regime was implemented.
Mopani chief financial officer Gavin Heale said if the new tax regime was implemented, it would lead to the mine suspending some of its expansion projects currently taking place.
“We acknowledge the development agreements but we are concerned with the process with this situation at hand,” Heale said. “It could see some projects being cancelled because the current situation seems unsustainable, of course this would also make the life of mines questionable.”
NFC Chambishi mines-corporate affairs manager Nelson Jilowa said the budget speech on the mining tax regime seemed to override the development agreements the company signed with the government at the beginning of its operations.
Recently, finance minister Ng’andu Magande declared that there would be no room for the mines to negotiate with the government the new mining fiscal regime.
Labels: KANSANSHI MINING PLC, KCM, LUMWANA MINING COMPANY, MCM, MOPANI, PARLIAMENTARY ESTIMATES COMMITTEE, WINDFALL TAX
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Re-advertise contracts, govt directs Kansanshi
By Mwila Chansa in Lusaka and Mulimbi Mulaliki in Solwezi
Friday January 11, 2008 [03:00]
LABOUR minister Ronald Mukuma has directed Kansanshi Mining PLC to re-advertise the contracts to provide catering and cleaning services it awarded to two foreign companies. Briefing the press at his office yesterday, Mukuma said the action taken by Kansanshi was
not only inconsistent with the provisions of the Citizens Economic Empowerment Act but
also with the spirit of the mining development agreement that the company signed with the government.
“My ministry therefore urges the Kansanshi Mining PLC to revisit their decision to award the contracts to foreign owned companies,” he said.
“The contracts should be re-advertised in Zambia and Zambian owned companies should be re-engaged.”
Mukuma added that the government’s policy of recruitment of foreign labour was restricted to those skills that were not available locally.
He said while the government appreciated Kansanshi’s role in improving the economic landscape in North Western Province, it was not happy that contract jobs that could be done by Zambian companies had been awarded to foreign contractors.
“I wish to inform both local and foreign investors that government’s policy is to promote and encourage effective participation of Zambian citizens in the economic sector. The provision of section 21 of the Citizens Economic Empowerment Act states that specific areas of commerce, trade and industry shall be reserved for Zambians,” Mukuma said.
He added that the government considered the development of large mines such as Kansanshi as an opportunity for Zambians to meaningfully participate in the economy through the mines contracting out their non core business activities to Zambian companies.
Mukuma said in the development agreement signed between Kansanshi and the government, the company undertook to award contracts to local contractors in an effort to promote the quality of goods and services supplied by locals.
He warned that if foreigners were engaged on contracts that could be performed by locals, they would find it hard to secure work permits for their workers because there was local capacity.
Kansanshi Mine contracts manager Franques Lee, in a letter to the Zambian companies that were providing cleaning services to the mine, said the mine would not renew their contracts and have been awarded to another company.
But most of the contractors to the mine whose contracts have been terminated questioned the criteria the mine used in selecting the foreign companies to provide services to the mine.
The contractors disclosed that Kansanshi mine management has given MR Clean, a South African Company, a contract to clean the offices, ablution blocks and the golf estate while another foreign company, Allterian Services Group ATS, had been contracted to run the mine canteen.
Labels: CONTRACTORS, KANSANSHI MINING PLC, RONALD MUKUMA
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Kansanshi Mining parts company with local contractors
By Times Reporter
KANSANSHI Mining Plc in Solwezi has done away with Zambian contractors providing cleaning and catering services, and will instead engage foreign companies. According to a joint letter by Kansanshi contracts officer, Franques Lee and commercial manager, Bill Allen, the local companies stopped providing services to Kansanshi on December 31, 2007. The service contracts included provision of catering services at Kansanshi Mine, cleaning of the village and golf estate, Simba school, plant and town offices.
“Kansanshi hereby confirms that the above contracts will be in force until 31 December 2007. Kansanshi will be awarding this contract to another company whose tender has been selected after a full valuation,” reads the letter co-signed by Mr Lee and Mr Allen.
The letter of November 20, 2007, obtained in Solwezi at the weekend, says Kansanshi would not be liable for any payments in lieu of notice for employees terminated after 31 December 2007.
The cleaning services had been given to Mr Clean, a South African company, while a Ghanaian company, Allterian Services Group (ATS) had taken over catering services at the mine.
The two companies have since opened offices at Kansanshi mine plant. Kansanshi public relations manager, Godfrey Msiska, said he would only be able to issue a statement on the matter today.
Labels: CONTRACTORS, KANSANSHI MINING PLC
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Matale explains Zambia's privatisation 'mess'
By Bivan Saluseki
Sunday December 16, 2007 [03:00]
ZAMBIA'S privatisation programme ranks as the biggest fraud in economic history, discloses former Zambia Privatisation Agency (ZPA) director James Matale. Matale served as director from November 1992 until he was fired in September 1994. He says the destruction of the public enterprises during the Chiluba regime that accounted for over 80 per cent of economic activity was an act of unprecedented vandalism.
"It surpassed even the destructiveness of the definitive Attila the Hun. Zambia lost economic investments and assets accumulated over a period of 100 years," he says.
"A large proportion of the famous K7 billion debt was attributable to investments in assets and operations of the public enterprises. For instance, with the destruction of Zambia Airways, Zambia lost the entire stock of civil aviation technology that she had acquired over 30 years at a great cost. I think that, in the fullness of time, when all the numbers are finally tallied up and the last statements recorded, the Zambian privatisation programme will rank as the biggest fraud in economic history."
So what went wrong with Zambia's privatisation programme?
Matale offers a rare insight into this monster of a programme whose benefits some Zambians have been questioning over the years.
Matale explains that the programme faced resistance and opposition from several critical stakeholders.
He also explains that there was a deliberate effort by powerful business interests in the government to treat enterprises and assets lined up for privatisation as goods fallen from the back of a delivery truck.
The donors too had their own invisible hand on the process.
Now, Matale explains some of the problems the exercise experienced.
He also talks about his life and constant dismissals and subsequent loss of friends who used to hang around him when he was in such big positions.
Q: I would like to welcome you to this interview. We have heard so much about Reverend Matale and hardly about you. Can you give me a brief background of yourself?
A: Thank you very much. I readily recall that one of the conceptual meetings leading to the establishment of The Post Newspaper was actually held in this house in 1990. My names are James Matale. I was born in Namwala where I also did my first three years of school at Nanzhila Primary School. Thereafter, I went to live with my uncle who was a teacher. I did Standard 2 at Nalutanda Primary School in Monze, Standard 3 at Mangwele in Namwala and part of Standard 4 at Nteme Primary School in Monze. In 1961, my uncle joined the First King's African Rifles and was transferred to Zomba in Malawi. I finished Standard 4 at the then Cobbe Barracks Primary School in Zomba, where I also did my Standard 5 and part of Standard 6. I came back to Zambia and finished Standard 6 at Tug Argun Barracks Primary School in Ndola.
I did Form 1 and 2 at Roan Antelope Trust Secondary School in Luanshya before transferring to Saint Mark's College at Mapanza, Choma, where I finished Form 5 in 1968. I regard myself as a Mapanzanite where I was in class with friends like Honourable Emmanuel Hachipuka, Dr Davison Kwendakwema, Hans Sindowe, Timothy Simakoloyi and Dr Nicholas Lubaba, to name just a few. My close friend Nicholas Lubaba is a material scientist with a PhD from the University of Sheffield in the UK. He has a passion for agriculture and is currently a sharecropping peasant farmer in Kasisi. The design of our system which successfully converts rocket scientists into peasant farmers is probably not correct!
Apart from making friends in many parts of the country and beyond, one of my treasured dividends of itinerancy is that I have Tonga on my Standard 2 certificate, Nyanja on my Standard 6 certificate, Bemba on my Form 2 certificate and French on my Form 5 certificate.
I came to the university in 1969 originally to pursue a course in electrical engineering. After a stint in the schools of natural sciences and engineering, I relocated to humanities and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with economics in 1974.
Q: What about your family?
A: Yes I am married to Reverend Suzanne Matale. We married in 1982 and have four children.
Q: Where are they and what are they doing now?
A: The four children are literally scattered to the four winds. There are two in America, one is working and studying, the other just finished his engineering studies at the University of Mississippi Ole Miss. The eldest and last-born are in South Africa. The eldest is working in IT (Information Technology) while the younger one is still in school.
Q: You are in a Christian home. You are married to Reverend Matale who is the Secretary General of the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ). Tell us more about yourself in terms of Christianity.
A: We are members of the African Methodist Episcopal AME Church. The AME Church not only satisfies my spiritual needs but also meets my ideological, social and cultural orientation. The AME Church is one of the oldest black churches in the world that preached liberation theology. The AME Church has been closely associated with the freedom and liberation struggles of men and women of colour throughout the world. In Southern Africa, including Zambia, the AME is the church that provided spiritual and moral succour to the freedom fighters and liberation movements. I am sure that some of the nationalist freedom fighters still alive will attest to this.
Q: Could you also tell me when you met Reverend Matale?
A: We met when we both worked for the then Nchanga Consolidated Copper Mines NCCM. But we married after she left the mines and joined the then Loggie Investments, presently Landmark Limited.
Q: The Reverend has to balance being a wife, being a worker and also pasturing a congregation. Considering her position in CCZ, have you ever felt left out, that some of the decisions she makes do not please you?
A: Suzanne is a very strong person. She pursues all her roles with passion. I am happy for her achievements. She has been the breadwinner in the house since I met my Waterloo in 1992. It has been an extremely difficult period for us but she has somehow managed to keep the family motivated and alive. So far, there has been no position that she has taken in her many roles that have been at conflict with my own views or positions.
Q: Can you tell me about your working career and particularly ZCCM where you were one of the senior people. How did you leave ZCCM?
A: I started work in government after university and following a one-year course in government administration at NIPA (National Institute for Public Administration). I am a very proud graduate of NIPA. After NIPA, I was posted to work in the then Ministry of Rural Development as a cadet economist in the Planning Unit. After an eventful short period, I answered an advertisement for a job with the newly established Development Bank of Zambia DBZ.
I was employed by DBZ as an Assistant Projects Officer. DBZ sponsored me for a course in development banking and project appraisal at the University of Bradford, UK. I am an ardent supporter of Bradford City.
In 1977 I answered an advertisement for a position of executive assistant with NCCM and was employed as a secretarial assistant. Then I went into sales and marketing. Upon the merger of NCCM and RCM to form ZCCM, I was transferred to the Executive Office as Executive Assistant to the Chairman and Chief Executive. In 1987, I was sponsored for an MBA in Geneva. I am an alumnus of the Institute for International Management Development IMD, now of Lausanne, Switzerland. The IMD is consistently rated by the Financial Times as the best business school in Europe and second-best in the world.
Upon return from studies, I was promoted to the position of Senior Manager and subsequently transferred to the Directorate of Development as Deputy Director. I was responsible for the Small-Scale Mining Unit with copper at Kansanshi, emeralds in Ndola Rural, marble in Lusaka and gold projects in Mumbwa; the Mining Enterprises Trust, for the resettlement of retired and retrenched miners in agricultural and small-scale industrial activities, and the then Parts Manufacturing Facility PMF which was modelled on the excellent precedent of Les Ateliers de Likasi operated by Gecamines of the Congo. ZCCM intended to establish plants to fabricate up to 60 per cent of its spare parts requirements, thereby cutting down the cost of production considerably.
I think Kansanshi Mine has a very interesting chequered history. It was the first copper mine that was discovered in Zambia in 1899 and experienced several closures and re-openings. I am happy to note that Kansanshi is now one major operation. How I wish somebody could chronicle its phases.
I can say without any hesitation that during the 15 years with ZCCM, I worked with merit and the highest level of integrity. Actually, I was looking forward to the inscribed Omega watch as a 20-year long service award. I also kept a set of ZCCM neckties as souvenirs that I intended to wear in retirement and old age. Instead, I was fired in 1992. I do not know what to do with the new ZCCM ties still in their covers!
Q: You are the only director that was fired by the MMD at that time.
A: Actually, I think I enjoy the dubious honour of being the only senior person who was fired because all other senior persons that the system did not want were first suspended before being retired for whatever reasons.
Q: What were the reasons they gave for your dismissal?
A: The then Acting Director of Human Resources told me verbatim that “the Acting Chairman and Chief Executive is not comfortable working with you... He has decided to terminate your services with immediate effect. ... He has given you the option to resign in order to protect your name”. I refused the option to resign because I had done nothing for which I would be ashamed of, nor breached any company regulation or any law. The letter of termination did not even bother to state any reason for the termination of services. In the state of dispossession and disgrace that I have been since then, this letter has remained one of my treasured possessions. I just do not know who to bequeath it to on my expiration!
I can state that until that day of 18 February 1992, I had a very clean disciplinary record with ZCCM. You can see Bivan that by a twist in fate, I got the boot instead of long service and merit watch!
I took the matter to court expecting to be reinstated the next day! However, the matter took forever to be disposed in the Industrial Relations Court. In 1994, the court easily found for me but judged that I should be deemed retired.
ZCCM appealed to the Supreme Court but failed to file their papers within the stipulated time. After one year, I applied to the court to dismiss the appeal for lack of prosecution. The court granted them an additional one month. After one month, they were again granted one week. After that, that is when they submitted their papers.
The Supreme Court still ruled that there was no merit for the appeal and confirmed that I should have been deemed retired.
Q: How did you take your dismissal? Where you disappointed?
A: Well, first of all, there was absolutely no reason for the summary dismissal. I was familiar with all the rules of the game. ZCCM had several options for separation. These included retrenchment, early retirement or retirement on medical grounds. Dismissal was reserved for specified serious breaches of discipline. I never breached any of the specified rules for them to have fired me.
Q: I understand you are one of the people behind the formation of MMD.
A: Well, my claim to that is that I was one of the people that supported the founding of the Economics Association of Zambia in 1986 with some colleagues from the University of Zambia from the former Economics Club of Lusaka. One of the objectives of the associations was to widen the economics and development debate beyond the bounds of the university by engaging the public at large.
The labour movement was identified as one constituency that could be cultivated to think more broadly about the larger issues of economic development as a more viable strategy for achievement of better conditions of service for their members who then numbered about 500,000 against the entire population of some seven million people. Bivan, if you talk to honest trade unionists, they will confirm that indeed lectures and presentations by members of the Economics Association at several labour fora and meetings opened their horizons to larger issues, including democratic governance.
When Aka (Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika) became chairman of the Association in 1989 or thereabout, he put more wind in the sails, culminating in the Garden House meeting on multiparty options of July 1990. After that meeting, things moved rather rapidly in the political direction. Aka was compelled to relinquish his chairmanship of the Association in order to protect its technical and professional integrity from the political movement that it had nurtured.
A number of our colleagues from the Association took active political positions and went into government after the elections of October 1991. Those of us who remained in the Association were happy for the friends in government as we believed that those ideals of democracy, good governance and economic development, that were the daily subjects of debate in the intelligentsia circles, would now occupy centre stage.
When the MMD was formed, there was a call for contributions to the secretariat. I am aware that one friend surrendered his house to serve as secretariat while another contributed his second-generation Amstrad personal computer.
The Amstrad was basic and inadequate so I surrendered my NEC PC that was used at the secretariat to process correspondence and documents such as the manifesto and the programme of action. The computer was returned to me after the elections of October 1991. Only the other day I was showing your colleague Amos Malupenga the PC, which is now obsolete.
Q: But one would think that for a person who helped MMD, they should have protected your job and not fire you.
A: No. I don’t think that I helped the MMD as such. I think that I was helping the larger cause for change and development, whether it was the MMD or not. We were mere agents of creating the environment for change.
Q: What happened after ZCCM?
A: Well, in fact let me say, when they fired me I thought that it was a mistake. As I have said, I thought the court would order that I went back the next day. I was really surprised to find that it took so long to prosecute a case.
In June 1992, I was surprised to be told that my case was listed for hearing in March 1993. When I realised that the case would be prolonged, I applied for the advertised position of director of the Zambia Privatisation Agency ZPA. After three interviews, I was given the job of director in November 1992.
Q: How many years did you stay at ZPA?
A: I was at ZPA for 20 months until I was fired again on 8th September 1994.
Q: What are the reasons they gave?
A: Again surprisingly, there were no reasons. When I took ZPA to court for unfair dismissal, they said that an American consultant had instructed the Board to fire me. When the report of the consultant was tendered in court they could neither find the chapter nor verse with that order. Then they fished around for reasons, including the argument that since my contract had not been written, I was on a master and servant contract in which they were entitled to fire me at their pleasure.
The first court found for me but on appeal, the Supreme Court strangely found for ZPA. I understand that this judgment of the Supreme Court is a celebrated precedent that all students of law now study. Neither my lawyer nor I could interpret the judgment against the grounds of appeal, the facts, the submissions and pleadings in the court.
I actually instructed my lawyer to appeal against the judgment because I felt it was for another person. The lawyer informed me that Supreme Court judgments were final, as in ‘finito’. I could not believe him so I asked him to appeal to Parliament. He informed me that that option was abolished decades ago.
So, against the lawyer’s advice, I wrote a four-page letter of protest to the Chief Justice. In his half paragraph response, the then Chief Justice merely reaffirmed the finality of Supreme Court judgments. Absolutism of the Supreme Court evokes in me fears of the return of infallibility and the divine right which ended with the Revolution of 1789. Elsewhere in the world, law and justice are closely related. In Zambia law and justice do not even live on the same side of the Equator. I think that law in Zambia is continuously being used as a tool for malfeasance.
There is clearly a case for the creation of courts of justice to cater for ordinary people who crave justice and courts of law for the lawyers and judges to practice legalisms.
Q: Privatisation has remained a big talking point in Zambia with some people saying that it was rushed.
A: Privatisation was the most important economic reform and adjustment programme that was intended to address stagnation that had afflicted the economy due to lack of capital for reinvestment, expansion, importation of raw materials and working capital.
It was an awesome burden to be in charge of the programme that should have turned round the economy on the basis of the existing economic and social infrastructure. You know at the time of privatisation, Zambia had considerable economic infrastructure and assets inherited from nearly 100 years dating from the periods of colonialism, federation and independence.
I was aware that the economic success of the government depended on how well the privatization programme was executed. I was fortunate to have had Mr John Mwanakatwe as chairman of the Agency. We shared a vision of a successful privatisation that would meet the expectations of Zambia for a successful economic turnaround. We also shared high levels of maturity and integrity. I used to muse that after achieving good results with privatisation, I would be awarded a medal for meritorious service! I got the boot, instead. (Sighs)
But, during those early days of privatisation, the programme faced four principal dangers:
Firstly, the programme faced resistance and opposition from several critical stakeholders. I estimate that support for privatization in the government at high levels, including Cabinet, was probably less than 50 per cent. ZIMCO and other holding companies were against privatization and often used their best endeavours and privileged access to the high echelons of government to undermine and frustrate privatization.
For instance, ZIMCO often questioned valuations by independent accounting firms in preference for its own valuations which did not meet the requirements of the law and were almost unprofessional. Demonstrations were even planned against me for the valuations of ZAMEFA (Zambia Metal Fabrication).
We rejected the price of less than US$ 18 million that the shareholders in ZAMEFA were prepared to pay for the government shares. Do not ask me what they subsequently sold ZAMEFA for. If I had sold ZAMEFA and the mines at the prices that have been reported, they would have had a perfect excuse for hanging me publicly. ZIMCO and other holding companies surprisingly also appeared to facilitate and encourage asset stripping of state enterprises under their charges.
Secondly, there was a deliberate effort by powerful business interests in government to treat enterprises and assets lined up for privatisation as goods fallen from the back of a delivery truck.
Thirdly, there was pressure from quarters of the donor community to fast- track the programme and for specific assets in the privatization portfolio.
Some donors were clearly frustrated by the elaborate processes that ensured that the enterprises were properly privatised to meet the provisions of the law, including transparency and integrity. (He mentions the countries which mounted pressure but begs that they should not be named)
The humdinger was that the social, economic, political and legal environments were not correct for the rapid mass privatization envisaged by the Zambian programme. To be honest with you, the economy did not have the capacity for rapid privatisation that some donors agitated for.
I often used to joke that accelerating the programme was akin to pushing the proverbial Yugo down the hill!
In those early days, we tried to balance the contending forces and interests to achieve what we felt were in the best interests of the Zambian economy. But the counter forces were more powerful; Chairman Mwanakatwe was politely shoed to head the Constitutional Review Commission and I was booted out.
I am aware that after my dismissal, considerable resources were poured into privatisation to fast track the programme. The handiwork of pushing the privatization process beyond the capacity of the economy has now been acknowledged, even by the former Minister of Commerce, who was responsible for the programme, as a serious error. That must be the understatement of the new millennium. It is a strange system and culture where our leaders are willing and keen to take profit but not the responsibility that goes with it.
The destruction of the public enterprises that accounted for over 80 per cent of economic activity was an act of unprecedented vandalism. It surpassed even the destructiveness of the definitive Attila the Hun. Zambia lost economic investments and assets accumulated over a period of 100 years.
A large proportion of the famous K 7 billion debt was attributable to investments in assets and operations of the public enterprises. For instance, with the destruction of Zambia Airways, Zambia lost the entire stock of civil aviation technology that she had acquired over 30 years at a great cost.
I think that, in the fullness of time, when all the numbers are finally tallied up and the last statements recorded, the Zambian privatisation programme will rank as the biggest fraud in economic history.
Q: Your dismissals, there must surely be reasons why you were treated like that.
A: As I have explained, there have been no official reasons that have been given to me. But parallel sources have provided me with lots of reasons. I do not think that there is a single crime in the criminal procedure Act that I have not been charged with.
I have heard that I was implicated in the shredding of confidential documents at ZCCM; I have been accused of complicity in an assassination attempt of a ZCCM official; One charge is that I was not a ‘Mutale nkonko’ enough. I understand that most of these lies against me were generated by the security services. After ZPA, an influential donor spread lies that I was corrupt.
I also recall that a lot of the men and women who went into government were full of malice and prejudice. Current revelations also clearly show that some were even criminals. The public power which they assumed since 1991 afforded them the opportunities to put into practice their private malicious agendas.
I have also observed, coincidentally, that all the people involved in my persecutions were subsequently rewarded with inducements, promotions and appointments. If I had not done probability theory at school, I would have concluded that my persecutions had a grander design.
Q: So what happened to you after the ZCCM and ZPA episodes?
A: I thought that the first dismissal was a mistake but after ZPA, I realised that they really meant to hurt me, for what ever reasons. So, I retreated into myself. I tried my hand at operating a small-scale footwear enterprise that my wife had started with one sewing machine in 1985.
We slowly built up the capital of the footwear enterprise so that by 1993, it was probably the best capitalised small-scale enterprise of any Zambian. SIDO consistently used it as a model small-scale enterprise. The facility had capacity for up to 250 pairs of shoes per day. I even had dreams and illusions that within 15 years, we would be exporting ladies’ shoes to Italy. We understood that an Italian woman rummaged through at least 167 pairs of shoes before picking the next. We intended to position our pairs on that fabled 168th shelf.
But as you know, the economic environment of the 90’s was extremely hostile to local manufacture. We could not compete against imports of second-hand and new shoes. It was incredible to find on the market new shoes from China priced at K8000 when our leather costs alone were twice that. We could also not raise working capital because interest rates then stood at over 150 per cent. I tried to find partners for the enterprise, but nobody then was interested in local manufacture in Zambia.
As you are aware, Bivan, a lot of local companies, including large, well-established ones closed down.
I closed down the shoe facility. SEDB subsequently sold our equipment worth over K300 million at that time for K50 million to recover its rental debt of K 9 million and distributed the balance to its lawyers as costs.
Q: That sounds heartbreaking.
A: Well yes. I am actually angry. Anger is a legitimate form of expression. I am angry for failure to achieve what I set out to contribute to myself, my family and society at large. You will also appreciate that one is justified to be angry if one cannot meet school requirements for his children or buy a favourite toy for a grand child.
I am also angry at what I consider as betrayal by workmates, friends, colleagues, employers and my superiors. In 1991, 42 per cent of the value my balance sheet was composed of friends, family, and colleagues at work and in society. After November 1991, the value of that investment had evaporated in the manner of the South Sea Bubble of 1720. In 1991, this empty driveway was as busy to vehicular traffic as the Straits of Malacca to shipping vessels. Some of the people I invested my trust even thrust daggers in my back.
Julius Caesar would probably have exclaimed ‘et te Brute!”
I am also angry at the injustice that I have experienced over the past 17 years. Even the courts of law had to invent laws to prejudice my justice, as if there were not enough laws on the statutes of this country to deal with commonplace cases of unfair dismissal.
Q: Is there something you knew which made people a bit scared of you?
A: Nothing that I am aware of other than malice. I am aware that a lot of lies have been written about me in secret memos. It is like giving a dog a bad name to justify hanging it; they crafted lies to justify their impunity actions against me. You know that Iraq, the cradle of modern civilisation, is currently being bombed back to the age of Babylon to justify the lie that it possessed WMDs (weapons of mass destruction).
Q: Are these the same lies which KK warned us about in 1991?
A: Probably. It may not be a lie, but it is not true that state enterprises were loss making. Audited accounts of most parastatals showed that they made profits. But what constitutes profit to a government that has social and economic responsibilities to its citizens? And yet the untruths about the state enterprises were used to close them down. It may not be a lie but it is not true that the Zambian managers of state enterprises were unqualified and incompetent.
Man for man, tonne for tonne, I could wager a case of Dom Perignon against a box of matches that the men and women who managed public enterprises then were more competent than those in evidence today in both the private and public sectors. There was a lot of investment in human capital and capacities in all fields. For instance, at ZCCM, we learnt all that was to be known about the markets, the metallurgy, the engineering, the politics, etc, of copper. In other words, the best mining engineers for Zambian ore bodies are Zambians; the best metallurgists for the Zambian ores are Zambians. And yet in 1991, we were told that foreigners knew better than we did! Zambia may actually be living a lie.
Q: This reads like the story of falling from grace.
A: Absolutely! I think that the challenge is to fashion a constitution and laws that will enable the government to govern but which will also protect ordinary people against the caprices of those in authority.
Q: Do you have any thoughts on the constitution debate currently doing the rounds.
A: Zambia is actually the oldest independent country in central southern Africa. Not only do we not have a constitution but we seem not to know even how to make one! Secondly, I must express disappointment that the CRC missed an opportunity to frame a constitution that was original to address the unique governance, legal, social and development needs of Zambia. We chose to be conformists by drafting a constitution that could suit any global candidate.
Q: Do you have an end tale to this interview?
A: No. Because I think that stories like this should be allowed to run themselves into folklore and the sunset.
Labels: IMF, JAMES MATALE, KANSANSHI MINING PLC, NEOLIBERALISM, PRIVATISATION, World Bank
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Kansanshi Mine has failed to build hospital - Salivaji
By Mulimbi Mulaliki in Solwezi
Monday October 15, 2007 [04:00]
NORTH Western Provincial Permanent Secretary Richard Salivaji has accused Kansanshi Mining PLC of
failing to construct a hospital after promising to do so last year. Responding to concerns raised by specialist doctors who came to Solwezi General Hospital for specialist treatment, Salivaji the current facilities in hospitals were not meant to cater for increased population.
Salivaji complained that despite the government allocating land last year where Kansanshi was to construct a hospital, the mine management had just been promising to start the project soon.
“They came to request us to give them one ward at Solwezi General Hospital so that they could renovate it and turn it into a high cost so that people could start paying,” Salivaji said.
Salivaji said his administration refused to give them a ward on moral grounds because the government built the hospital for the local people.
“I don’t know when they are going to build the hospital. I have been here for one and half years, the promise has been going on. Perhaps they are still planning,” he said.
Salivaji said the government advised the mine management to build a hospital, which would cater for their workforce since Solwezi General Hospital could no longer cater for the increasing population that kept.
“We need to raise the ceiling of the province because we can’t run away from the responsibility of helping our people,” he said.
Salivaji said that though the mine was helping in some of the community projects, the hospital was more important because the population increase had been brought about by the mining activities in the district.
Kansanshi Mine has contracted Hill Top Hospital which is operating in a rented building at Mema House in Solwezi, to cater for its workers.
But Kansanshi Mining Plc public relations manager Godfrey Msiska said Salivaji’s statement on the issue of the health facility was factually incorrect.
Msiska said the mine was never given land but requested Salivaji to help in acquiring land from Solwezi Municipal Council where they could construct the medical facility.
“As far as Kansanshi mining is concerned, the Permanent Secretary Salivaji’s statement on the issue of the health facility is factually incorrect. We have a long-term plan to put up an all purpose medical facility in Solwezi which is already in motion,” Msiska said.
Labels: KANSANSHI MINING PLC
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Solwezi risks becoming big shanty town - Levy
By Chris Mulaliki and Mwala Kalaluka in Solwezi
Tuesday July 31, 2007 [04:00]
PRESIDENT Levy Mwanawasa has expressed worry that Solwezi risks being turned into a big shanty town due to the current poor planning trends obtaining in the town. And President Mwanawasa has said Kansanshi Mine management pays its workers better than any other mine in the country.
Addressing miners at Kansanshi Mine after touring the facility on Sunday, President Mwanawasa said in view of this observation, the government was in the process of instituting a ministerial committee to re-design Solwezi following increased economic activities.
“I want to see beautiful houses being constructed here and you to benefit. The management has assured me that they will help the committee to re-design the town,” President Mwanawasa said.
He said Kansanshi Mine management would support the government-appointed committee with technical and financial resources. And President Mwanawasa has urged Kansanshi Mine workers to learn to engage management in dialogue whenever they had industrial-related problems.
“Kansanshi Copper Mines pays better than any mine in Zambia. That is a fact you know. You can get a lot more through dialogue. It is not encouraging that at every stage you want better conditions of service you resort to striking,” President Mwanawasa said.
He also told the miners that tomorrow he would be meeting Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) to discuss various issues relating to the working situation at the mine.
“I am aware that your conditions of service require improvement. Both the government and the management are engaged in discussions so that you can have improved conditions of service,” President Mwanawasa told the workers who were attentive.
President Mwanawasa said he was delighted that the miners called off their strike action and that he fulfilled his promise of talking to them if they called off their strike.
Two weeks ago, President Mwanawasa accused miners at Kansanshi of using the strike to blackmail management so that it does what they want and he refused to visit the mine until the workers returned to work, which they did after MUZ president Rayford Mbulu addressed them.
President Mwanawasa said it was good that the economic developments in the area were taking place during his time and that a good number of people had been employed.
Meanwhile, none of the workers at the mine run by First Quantum Minerals Limited (FQML) volunteered to express their grievances to President Mwanawasa after he requested them to do so during the brief meeting.
President Mwanawasa said he was surprised that none of the workers could marshal enough courage to express themselves before him.
“It appears that either you are afraid to express yourselves or you have no complaints to raise,” President Mwanawasa told the workers.
Some union officials from National Miners and Allied Workers Union (NUMAWU) and MUZ were present during the meeting.
And Kansanshi Mine general manager Russel Alley said FQML had managed to pay back the loans it borrowed for the construction of the mine. He said initially the mine had a workforce of 750 but within two years it grew to over 3,000 due to increased production. Alley further said some expansion projects were on going at the mine following favourable copper prices on the London Metal Exchange.
Labels: KANSANSHI MINING PLC, MINERS, MWANAWASA, SOLWEZI COUNCIL
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Kansanshi Mining Plc, Solwezi council to sign tax rebates deal
By Chris Mulaliki in Solwezi
Friday July 06, 2007 [04:00]
SOLWEZI Municipal Council is in the process of signing a memorandum of understanding with Kansanshi Mining Plc on tax rebates to ensure meaningful development in the district. Solwezi mayor Emmanuel Chihili told a full council meeting that the local authority and Kansanshi Mining were working on an MOU to be presented to government for approval.
“We are in a process of making a memorandum of understanding between Kansanshi Mining Plc and the council on tax rebates and present it to central government for approval so that more meaningful development is achieved,” Chihili told councillors.
Chihili who is an employee of Kansanshi Mining said concerned by the council over Kansanshi Foundation’s social responsibility had been addressed.
He challenged the council management to present projects it felt could be embarked on next year. And Chihili bemoaned the poor accounting system at the council, as there were no internal controls to safeguard the resources of the local authority.
He said despite the council receiving at least K2.1 billion from various sources, council programmes were not prioritised. Chihili said the external audit report for the period 1st January 2005 to February 28, 2006, revealed that record keeping was poor, revenue collection not closely monitored while payments were also not checked.
“According to the findings, we are told that our accounting system was non-existent for the period under review. Internal controls to safeguard the resources of the council were not put in place,” he said.
Labels: KANSANSHI MINING PLC, SOLWEZI COUNCIL
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