MDC, ZANU PF Ministers milk parastatals: Moyo
09/11/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
SEVERAL cabinet ministers are facing public exposure and possible prosecution for illegally taking allowances and various other freebies from struggling parastatals and state enterprises under their portfolios.
Most government enterprises remain unprofitable and have long been a drain on the national fiscus with the problems blamed on undercapitalisation and poor management.
But it has emerged that Ministers from both Zanu PF and the MDC formations have also been preying on the companies for allowances and perks such as vehicles, in the process, prejudicing the cash-strapped coalition administration of millions of dollars.
State Enterprises Minister Gorden Moyo said financial statements from the companies have revealed that Ministers were taking allowances from the firms and having their hotel and travel bills paid by the firms in violation of the Public Finance Management Act.
“Ministers get vehicles, fuel and have their mobile phone bills paid by the government but it has emerged that they are also forcing parastatals to provide them with the same perks. This is against the Public Finance Management Act and they are violating the law,” Moyo told VOA.
“We are waiting for an on-going audit to be completed and once that is done the statement would be presented to Parliament and those Ministers who are bleeding the parastatals would be exposed.
“Zimbabweans would know who is short-circuiting the rules of procedure and I hope this will be done before Christmas.”
The Anti-Corruption Commission also revealed recently that several Ministers in the coalition government were under investigation for corruption.
“We are not targeting only the small fish as some people may think,” the Commission’s chair, Denford Chirindo said recently.
“There are no sacred cows and all the reports that we have received, including those of several ministers, senior Government officials and MPs are under investigation.”
In 2009 it was revealed that several Cabinet Ministers had taken thousands of dollars from Ziscosteel in allowances and hotels bills even for trips unrelated to the company which was then struggling to survive and is now virtually collapsed.
The weekly Independent newspaper revealed that the company had paid the Industry and Commerce Minister Samuel Mumbengegwi some US$3,000 in allowances while he attended a meeting of the regional SADC body in Botswana.
Other senior government and Zanu PF officials were also said to have had air tickets for foreign travel paid for by the company in addition to taking thousands of dollars in allowances.
Labels: CORRUPTION, GORDEN MOYO, PARASTATALS
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Auditor General’s report on parastatals not good
TIME PUBLISHED - Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 1:30 pm
The 2010 Auditor General’s Report on parastatals has been published and it shows glaring irregularities and abuse of funds amounting to over K1 trillion.
Some of the parastatals mentioned in the report are the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC), Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), National Housing Authority (NHA), National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) and the Road Traffic and Safety Agency (RTSA).
Others are the University of Zambia (UNZA), Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), ZESCO Limited, ZAMTEL and the Administrator General and Official Receiver.
This is according to a press statement by public relations officer in the office of the Auditor General Ellen Chikale.
Chikale said the audit which was done on selected parastatal bodies but Auditor General Anna Chifungula is shocked at the amount of abuse in the companies.Chikale said there was unretired imprest amounting to K1, 525,924,347 while irregular payments totaled K 651,716,852,524.The report revealed that K35, 313,333,764 was inadequately supported while there was K603, 187,280 unaccounted for by the institutions.
Chikale said the findings revealed a K5, 607,388,318 from failure to follow tender procedures and a further K190, 505,273,451 of non Payment of Statutory Contribution.
The parastatal companies also misapplied a total of K9, 197,300,000 adding that K159, 598,828,919 was not recovered from the loans.
Ms Chikale noted that there was wasteful expenditure of K21,450,000 while there was K7,628,510,987 Stores Without Receipt and Disposal Details and a further misappropriation of Funds K434,447,517 in the year under review.
“Other findings highlighted in the report include the failure to prepare financial statements as required by the enabling acts and other regulations, circumvention of Tender Procedures, poor projects implementation, failure to adhere to contract terms and poor management of information systems.
Others were non-adherence to good corporate governance, irregular sale of assets, poor infrastructure management and failure to insure assets,” Chikale said.The 2010 Parastatal Report highlights some of the weaknesses that were revealed as a result of the audits that were carried out on selected Parastatal bodies whose findings were discussed with the Controlling and Chief Executive Officers but were not adequately addressed during the audit processes on twenty one (21) institutions.
Ms Chikale invited members of the public to access the report from the AG’s office as it was now in public domain.
Labels: ANNA CHIFUNGULA, AUDITOR GENERAL, PARASTATALS
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Minister blasts parastatal bosses
Monday, 07 May 2012 00:00
Martin Kadzere Senior Business Reporter
MOST State-owned firms are being run by incompetent managers as evidenced by their failure to come up with meaningful restructuring proposals, State Enterprises and Parastatals Minister Gorden Moyo has said.
This has prompted Government to craft a framework that will guide management of State-owned entities on their restructuring plans. In June 2010, Government approved the restructuring of 10 entities but most of these failed to produce restrucuturing plans.
Notable progress has only been made on the sale of the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company’s 54 percent stake to Indian firm Essar Global and the unbundling into two companies of the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe.
“Some did not even know where to start due to lack of expertise and this has slowed the restructuring of State enterprises to the point of frustration,” Minister Moyo said in an interview last Friday.
“The restructuring manual will be launched next week and it will contain ‘verses and chapters’ that should be followed by State entities.”
Minister Moyo could not reveal the names of the firms that presented sub-standard documents.
Zimbabwe has 78 State enterprises with capacity to contribute 40 percent to the Gross Domestic Product but most of them have been underperforming due to excessive debts and mismanagement.
Arufin Capital managing director Mr Knowledge Hofisi said State enterprises were affected by lack of competent managerial and technical workforce after the country suffered brain drain between 2000 and 2008, a period characterised by economic crisis.
“We no longer have adequate skills to craft pathfinder documents that articulate real issues affecting companies . . . it then becomes difficult to bring in investors,” said Mr Hofisi whose company is involved in raising capital and turning around distressed companies.
The underperformance of State firms has led to poor service delivery in various sectors including transport, water and electricity.
Air Zimbabwe, which is 100 percent owned by the Government, suspended flights in January after a strike by pilots to press for outstanding salaries.
The national airline, saddled with a US$140 million debt, resumed domestic flights last week but regional and international flights remain suspended.
Minister Moyo said his ministry was planning a restructuring summit, which would bring together directors of all State enterprises, their boards, line ministries and experts from various sectors.
He said issues to be discussed include how to deal with inter-parastatal debt.
Minister Moyo said the inter-parastatal debt involving Government departments and ministries stood at US$458,6 million as at September 31, 2011.
Of this figure, cross areas for State firms stood at US$240,2 million.
Inter-parastatal debt for the 10 entities prioritised for restructuring was US$32,6 million.
“Inter-parastatal debt remains one of the most serious challenges affecting the cashflows of most of the State enterprises to the detriment of economic recovery efforts initiated by Government,” said the minister.
Labels: GORDEN MOYO, PARASTATALS
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Allow Zamtel to run professionally - Chitala
By Kombe Chimpinde
Fri 27 Jan. 2012, 14:01 CAT
DR Mbita Chitala says it is possible for the government to find a strategic partner with Zambian interests in the running of Zamtel.
Commenting on the takeover of Zamtel whose 75 per cent shares were previously owned by Lap Green Networks of Libya by government after establishing that it was fraudulently sold, Dr Chitala a business developer and consultant said in an interview that the acting chief executive officer and board chairman Mupanga Mwanakatwe must ensure that he runs the institution professionally.
"The challenge now is for (Mupanga) Mwanakatwe and the staff that he has put in place to ensure that they run it professionally for the benefit of Zambians," Dr Chitala said.
"Government must allow it to run professionally and report and pay dividends like INDO Zambia Bank jointly owned by government and India. This can be done in all these parastatals we are having."
And Dr Chitala observed that it was still possible for government to get a strategic partner in Zamtel with the Zambian interest, stressing that the proper management of the institution was what must be emphasised.
Labels: MBITA CHITALA, PARASTATALS, ZAMTEL
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President Sata appoints Dr Mupanga Mwanakatwe, Chairman and acting CEO of ZAMTEL
TIME PUBLISHED - Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 1:51 pm
Zambian President Michael Sata has dissolved the Board of Directors of Zamtel and appointed a new Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. Government having accepted without reservation the report on the findings of the Committee Investigating the sale of Zamtel, President Sata has deemed it desirable and expedient to compulsorily acquire the 75 per cent shareholding of Lap Green Network in Zamtel. The appropriate notice under the law has been given.
This is according to according to a press statement released to the Media by Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public relations George Chellah. According to the statement, the President has ordered the dissolution of the Board of Directors of Zamtel. The Head of State has appointed Dr Mupanga Mwanakatwe, Chairman and acting Chief Executive Officer as a first step to regularize the affairs of the company.
“A new board will soon be put in place to give the policy guidance and direction to management and staff. President Sata has further directed management to address the plight of Zamtel workers with due immediacy,” read the statement.
“There should be no loss in jobs except through retirement and attrition while maintaining the highest levels of discipline and respect of law,” President Sata said.
“Zamtel workers have served with distinction in an area of sophisticated information technology. This has been so from the inception of the company,” the president noted.
President Sata once again reiterated his relentless commitment to his duty as custodian of the interests of the Zambian people and assured the Zamtel workers their traumas and anxieties would be ended.
Government will restructure ownership of Zamtel to ensure Zambians owned the bulk of the shares in a revitalized Zamtel.
Labels: GEORGE CHELLAH, MICHAEL SATA, PARASTATALS, ZAMTEL
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Appointments to parastatal boards
By The Post
Sun 22 Jan. 2012, 14:00 CAT
WE need to pay special attention to the management of our parastatal organisations. If managed well, our parastatal companies can greatly contribute to the economic development of our country. There are countries where state enterprises are playing a key role in economic development.
Look at Singapore, a very small country with about 4.3 million people running the biggest airline in the world as a parastatal.
Singapore Airlines is a parastatal. And today, that airline also owns Quantas, the Australian national carrier. One of the biggest telecommunication companies in the world is also a parastatal from Singapore.
And many countries today have parastatals that are run by their intelligence services to advance special national economic interests. But they are run well and in an efficient, effective, orderly and accountable manner. We still have a few parastatal organisations in this country and we have a duty to run them well.
Parastatal organisations should be characterised by their capacity to serve the common good of society through the production of useful goods and services. The sense of responsibility in economic initiative should demonstrate the individual and social virtues necessary for the development. A parastatal enterprise must be a community of solidarity and not a vehicle for promoting cronyism and corruption.
Therefore, those who are appointed to manage these enterprises should be the best among those who are available. Sad things have been happening in appointments to parastatal boards and management. Relatives and friends of those in power, regardless of their suitability, have been put as directors and top managers of parastatal organisations, at the expense of well-qualified and competent Zambians.
The motive of appointments to the boards and management of parastatal organisations should not be to give jobs to relatives and friends or ruling party cadres but to contribute to the common good of society.
The roles of directors and managers of parastatal organisations have a central importance from the viewpoint of society, because they are at the heart of that network of technical, commercial, financial and cultural bonds that characterises the modern business reality.
For this reason, the exercise of responsibility by those in power and the people they appoint to our parastatal boards and management requires constant reflection on the moral motivations that should guide the personal choices of those to whom these tasks fall.
Every effort should be made to make every parastatal enterprise become a community of persons. We must be responsible in the way we run our parastatal organisations. These organisations are today in trouble not because of their ownership but because of the way people are appointed to run them and how those who have been appointed actually run them.
The temptation is very high for those in power to appoint their friends and relatives to parastatal boards and top management positions. But this is a sure way for them to fail because those relatives and friends of theirs will fail to deliver. Political debts of those in power should not be paid through appointments to parastatal organisations.
We know that there are so many people who extended some favours, in one way or another, to those today in power to help them win last year's elections. But the best way to pay that political debt is not through appointing them to parastatal jobs that they are not able to perform efficiently and effectively. The best way to pay that debt is to run public affairs in the most efficient, effective and orderly manner so that the country moves forward.
When this happens, all, including those who had extended some political favours to those in power, will benefit. Let the best among us manage the affairs of our parastatal organisations on our behalf. Much more needs to be said and to be done if we are to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our public sector to meet effectively the massive problems of human suffering in our country today.
There is also need for accountability in appointments to our parastatal organisations. Those given the responsibility to do so need to account for every appointment they make.
These appointments should be subjected to public scrutiny. Public life is not an opportunity for self-enrichment, it is an opportunity to serve others. Everyone should have the right to equal access to public jobs, regardless of who is in power. What should only matter is their competency.
Those responsible for appointing the directors and top management of our parastatal organisations should not lose sight of the fact that the common good is the reason for the existence of these parastatal organisations. And the best way to fulfill their obligations is by ensuring that every appointment they make helps to contribute to the common good.
The political power they today hold must have as its aim the achievement of the common good. And their powers to appoint directors and top management of our parastatal organisations can only be said to have been exercised legitimately if they are committed to the common good of society. Let them devote themselves to the welfare of all and not to the interests of their friends and relatives.
And there should be a limit to how many boards one can serve as a director. We have some people, especially those in government, serving on many boards of parastatal organisations. There should be a limit to how many boards a person can belong. In the end, their contribution amounts to nothing. They are just there to collect a sitting allowance.
And moreover, why should someone who is using government time to attend a board meeting of a government owned entity be paid a sitting allowance? If these sitting allowances are removed, there will be better representations from government on some of these boards because only those willing to do a good job would offer themselves.
And also one important thing to bear in mind is that those who are appointed by our politicians as directors in parastatal boards are not representatives of the appointing authority.
They are representatives of the organisations on whose boards they serve. And their duty should be to represent the interests of the organisation and not of the political authority that appointed them.
Labels: PARASTATALS, REUBEN LIFUKA, TIZ
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TIZ demands transparency in all public appointments
By Bright Mukwasa
Sun 22 Jan. 2012, 13:30 CAT
TIZ says the vacuum created by the dissolved parastatal boards attracts political patronage and presents real opportunities for corruption, plunder of resources and abuse of office.
And Transparency International Zambia chapter president Reuben Lifuka has advised the government not to subscribe to the notion that boards of parastatals should be composed of people whose only qualification is being good and loyal political cadres.
In an interview, Lifuka demanded transparency and accountability in all public appointments, saying it would not do for ministers to handpick people for positions in parastatals based on unknown criteria.
He said TIZ noted with concern that it was over three months now since a number of boards of directors for parastatal bodies were dissolved by President Michael Sata and for some institutions like ZNBC, the tenure of the board expired a long time ago.
"This vacuum attracts political patronage as exhibited by the appointment of an acting postmaster general by the Minister of Transport, Works, Supply and Communication Yamfwa Mukanga. Clearly, if the Board was in place, it should have been given this mandate to advertise, recruit and appoint a replacement for the post-master general. We have seen similar appointments to positions of authority made by ministers usurping the powers of boards of directors," Lifuka said.
"The same message goes to other Cabinet ministers who have the responsibility of putting in place boards of directors; this omission cannot go on for much longer and they need to cure this by taking action at the earliest opportunity. Such vacuums in leadership and management oversight, present real opportunities for corruption, plunder of resources and abuse of office."
He urged that the old system employed by the previous regime where ministers filled boards of directors with incapable friends, colleagues and cadres should stop forthwith.
Lifuka said one of the reasons a number of parastatals were limping was that they had ‘very poor quality' board members, most of whom hardly had knowledge and skills to serve in that capacity.
"We insist that the PF government will be doing Zambians a great injustice if it adopts the same bad traits of the past which were anchored on political appeasement and patronage. One of the causes of corruption in the past was the abuse of discretionary power and some of the decisions we have witnessed in the last few months demonstrates a great need to curb any tendencies towards excesses in the discharge of public functions," he said.
Lifuka said in the case of ZAMPOST, the solution to the problems did not lie in political appointments such as the one made by Mukanga, but rather in developing and implementing a comprehensive strategy of turning around the operations of the postal services entity which was faced with numerous challenges.
"It is important that Cabinet ministers move from being mere status quo managers to transformative leaders who will bring about sustainable changes in their ministries," he said.
Lifuka told President Sata and his government that the honeymoon was over and it was time to move away from expending energies and resources on non-issues and start dealing with the root causes of the several challenges that the country was facing.
Labels: PARASTATALS, REUBEN LIFUKA, TIZ, TRANSPARANCY
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Courts will determine wrong or right in ZAMTEL sale – Guy Scott
TIME PUBLISHED - Tuesday, January 10, 2012, 8:53 am
Government says it will be up to the courts of law to determine who was wrong or right in the sale of the telecommunications company Zamtel to Libya’s LAP Green.
Vice president Guy Scot has exclusively told QFM that the matter which he said would be a civil litigation would tell who is liable in the Zamtel Sale case after it is heard in the courts of law and all the evidence is given.
The vice president however declined to comment further on LAP Green’s reaction to media reports that government has reversed the sale of Zamtel saying the government would not try anyone through the media.
In a statement availed to QFM over weekend, newly appointed LAP Green board chairman Wafik Alshater said LAP Green will pursue all options and do everything possible to retain its stake in Zamtel claiming the Libyan firm legally acquired its 75% shares in the company.
Meanwhile, The Private Sector Development Association has called on the Zambian government to quickly resolve the issue of the sale of Zamtel to LAP Green of Libya.
PSDA chairperson Yusuf Dodia says government should ensure also ensure that sale of ZANACO to Rabo bank is resolved.
Mr. Dodia says the two companies are very important in far as foreign investment is concerned to Zambia.
The vice president however declined to comment further on LAP Green’s reaction to media reports that government has reversed the sale of Zamtel saying the government would not try anyone through the media.
He says if the government handles the issues very well, and assures confidence in the economy, they will boost foreign investors’ confidence in the country.
He adds that Zambia needs foreign investment as it aids the development of the country.
QFM
Labels: CORRUPTION, GUY SCOTT, LAP GREEN, PARASTATALS, PSDA, RABOBANK, YUSUF DODIA, ZAMTEL, ZANACO
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State orders Government Stores to account for K257m unretired imprest
By Mwala Kalaluka
Tue 27 Dec. 2011, 13:30 CAT
THE Secretary to the Treasury has ordered the Mubita Sibandi-led Government Stores to immediately account for a K257 million unretired imprest noted by the Accountant General's office.
And several payment vouchers sighted by The Post show that G
overnment Stores director Mubita Sibandi and senior accountant Leonard Kaimbo have been paying themselves housing and car loans from the Revolving Fund.
According to a letter dated December 20, 2011, signed by Ministry of Finance and National Planning director of human resource administration, Siazongo Siakalenge, the unretired amount was noted during an analysis of the commitment control and financial management system undertaken by the Accountant General's office as of September 30, 2011.
"In view of the foregoing, kindly ensure that all outstanding imprests are retired and an updated copy of your CC/FMS submitted to office of the Accountant General Room 43 by 23rd December 2011," the letter read in part.
"Further you are requested to start submitting monthly financial statement to the controlling officer, every 15th day of the following month. You can liaise with chief accountant- finance for the reporting format. Your prompt response in this regard will be appreciated."
And ministry of finance sources said whenever Government Stores received funding, Sibandi and Kaimbo consistently paid themselves car and house loans and other outstanding allowances.
Payment vouchers availed to The Post indicate that Kaimbo and Sibandi paid themselves claims amounting to over K54 million between August 2010 and September 2011.
One payment voucher shows that Kaimbo on August 12, 2010 obtained an additional car loan amounting to a million kwacha through cheque number 001883, which was to be recovered in 240 monthly installments.
On the same date, Kaimbo was paid K500,000 as additional car loan on a different payment voucher on cheque number 004674.
Another payment voucher dated September 29, 2010 shows that Kaimbo was paid K3.5 million on cheque number 002101, as a household loan to be recovered in 120 monthly installments.
Kaimbo was on March 23, 2011 also paid K863, 492 on cheque number 005251 as payment of acting allowance.
On October 25, 2011 Kaimbo was paid K5 million as an additional car loan on cheque number 002200 while Sibandi was on October 19, 2010 paid K2.8 million as acting allowance arrears on cheque number 004702.
Sibandi was a month later on November 11, 2010 paid K300,000 on cheque number 004756 as part payment of a housing allowance difference arising from his acting appointment.
Sibandi was on January 20, 2011 again paid K41 million on cheque number 002122, which was a part payment of a household loan to be recovered in 120 months.
Government Stores is a department under the Ministry of Finance and National Planning.
Labels: CORRUPTION, MMD, PARASTATALS
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Government's delay in ‘cleaning up' parastatals worries Fr Bwalya
By Moses Kuwema
Fri 23 Dec. 2011, 13:57 CAT
GET Involved Zambia executive director Fr Frank Bwalya says his organisation is worried about the PF government's delay
in cleaning up graduates of the Rupiah Banda and Fredrick Chiluba ‘academy of kleptocracy' in parastatals and the civil service. In an interview, Fr Bwalya said the delay would jeopardise the fight against corruption.
"Already we know that at Road Development Agency evidence is being destroyed, now that is just a tip of the ice berg. We do believe that in many ministries and parastatals and other public service institutions, evidence is being destroyed because Rupiah Banda and his people could not steal so much money without the full cooperation of those who are in-charge of these institutions who benefited," Fr Bwalya said.
He said a number of people who were not prepared to be part of that criminality objected and some were fired from their positions.
Fr Bwalya said, however, many of them stayed in those positions because they cooperated and that this was at a fee for them.
"So these people are still in the civil service, they are still in public institutions and so on and we do know that they would destroy the evidence because it incriminates them as well. President Sata and his government should move fast, if they are short of men and women to prosecute these cases, the international community can assist so that there can even be more training for these officers. The scandals that went on under the MMD especially during the last three years of Rupiah Banda administration is enormous and everyday Zambians will be discovering something they never imagined could happen," he said.
Fr Bwalya said there was a lot of criminality that went on under the MMD during Banda's reign.
He said the MMD should either seek amnesty by coming out in the open and return the money that they had actually stolen and apologise to the Zambian people or wait to be prosecuted.
"If not they should be prepared to go to jail and for us as Get Involved Zambia, we will be very disappointed if these criminal characters don't go to jail because we would be sending a signal that you can do this and just go to court for a prolonged period but continue to enjoy your loot," Fr Bwalya said.
He also welcomed the appointment of Mutembo Nchito as Director of Public Prosecutions and that he was confident that this development would result in money that has been stolen finding its way back to the treasury.
Fr Bwalya urged Zambians to help law enforcement agencies with information so that all the stolen money could be recovered and used for its intended purpose of development.
Labels: CORRUPTION, FRANK BWALYA, PARASTATALS, PF
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Auditor General's report notes rise in State Lotteries' losses
By Bright Mukwasa
Mon 19 Dec. 2011, 13:54 CAT
THE latest Auditor General's report has revealed increasing losses at the State Lotteries Board.
According to the report for 2009 on accounts of parastatal bodies, the board's losses had increased from K1.2 billion in 2004 to K3 billion in 2009.It said although the
turnover increased from K1,929,683,000 in 2004 to K4,519,880,000, losses increased from
K1,247,549,000 in 2004 to K3,092,819,000 in 2009. The report stated that
operating expenses were more than turnover except during the financial year ended December 31, 2007.
It also revealed that an analysis of liquidity found that the working capital had worsened from negative K1,104 , 194,000 in 2004 to negative K3,176,969,000 in 2009.
It said current liabilities increased from K2,145,734,000 in 2004 to K4,710,417,000 in 2009.
The report revealed that during the period from January 2005 to December 2009, the board generated amounts of K15,526,749,000 from scratch card sales, pick-a-lot sales and rentals against a total budget estimate of K50,440,000,000, resulting in under collections of K34,913,251,000.
It said in addition, the board received K7,898,056,000 grants from the government.
The report revealed that according to interviews and written confirmations from selected tenants at Lotti House, the estates manager and estates officer collected cash in amounts totalling K83,347,403 from 12 tenants during the period from October 2005 to January 2010 without issuing receipts.
It stated that the cash collected was not handed to the State Lotteries Board for banking.
The report further revealed that in August 2007, the board received funding from the Ministry of Finance amounting to K2 billion for the purpose of facilitating the implementation of the proposed new lottery game of scratch cards and the board was required to account for the funds by making returns to the ministry, but it was observed that as of December 2010, the board had not submitted returns to the ministry.
It also revealed that contrary to financial regulations No.96, imprests totalling K267,815,050 issued to various officers during the years 2007 and 2008 had not been retired as of December 2010.
Labels: ANNA CHIFUNGULA, AUDITOR GENERAL, CORRUPTION, PARASTATALS
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Rupiah's abuse of parastatals is worrying, says Lubinda
By Bright Mukwasa
Thu 08 Sep. 2011, 14:01 CAT
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda's use of heads of parastatals to facilitate political meetings takes away the credibility from the electoral process, says PF Kabwata aspiring candidate Given Lubinda. But Zesco Limited managing director Ernest Mupwaya says he is senior chieftainess Nkomeshya Mukamambo II's ‘son' and that was why he went to her palace in the company of President Banda's senior assistant for political affairs Dr Francis Chigunta.
Commenting on Mupwaya, who acted as an MMD emissary to facilitate President Banda's courtesy ahead of a political rally in Chongwe last Saturday, Lubinda said Mupwaya had exposed himself, yet he was expected to operate neutrally as head of a parastatal.
"When we hear that heads of parastatals like the chief executive officer of Zesco acting as though they were managing Rupiah Banda's campaign, that takes away the credibility that's required for electoral process to be respected. Mr Rupiah Banda's rampant abuse of authority is scary," Lubinda said.
"We had Frederick Chiluba, we also had Levy Mwanawasa, and we never saw this level of corruption, bribery, intimidation and violence as we are seeing under Rupiah Banda. While Mr Rupiah Banda is in an elective position, people like Mupwaya are in appointed positions and such people are supposed to perform their functions as neutral people. But for him to expose himself to the extent that he has done means that he's an MMD cadre who does not deserve to hold the office of CEO (chief executive officer) of Zesco."
Lubinda said Zesco was not the ruling MMD's institution but that it belonged to all Zambians to whom Mupwaya owed his job.
"Even to ask for him to step down on moral grounds is asking for too much in this country because the one who should have resigned a long time ago on moral grounds is Rupiah Banda himself and his Vice-President George Kunda. Look at how George Kunda fought in favour of the Task Force when it suited him. And now look at how he somersaulted after Rupiah Banda became President," he said.
When contacted for a comment, Mupwaya said he was free to go to chieftainess Nkomeshya palace at anytime as that was his home.
"The only thing is that you are aware, if you did the investigation, you are aware that I come from there. I am the son of the chief and you did not write that," Mupwaya said.
"That's my home, I can go there anytime, there's no problem."
Asked about being used as an MMD emissary Mupwaya responded: "No, I don't want to comment any further, that's the only comment I can give. I have justified that I come from there because even in that meeting, the chieftainess mentioned that I should have seen her earlier herself. Beyond that I can't give you any comment."
During the same meeting on Friday last week, chieftainess Nkomeshya advised Mupwaya who had earlier on called her to arrange for the meeting, to avoid being used by politicians because he was not a politician.
"Where did I go wrong myself to put all the state machinery on me to use my own son, because he's my own son, to parade him? He Mupwaya also knows that even the electricity that will cross Chongwe to go to Luangwa, he knows it, how many villagers will benefit from here, they are poor," chieftainess Nkomeshya said during the meeting.
"He can't bring electricity in their homes except those who can manage, maybe schools, perhaps clinics. He knows that his organisation is still unfriendly to the poor people. They cannot afford to tap electricity for their consumption, but he can't say anything, he's just doing the job. The system needs to help him to reduce the tariffs even the rural electrification programme for it to be a reality we need to help him. But not use him as a tool for the campaign; it is not good for him."
Mupwaya is not a biological son of chieftainess Nkomeshya. However, culturally, all Zambians consider themselves children of their traditional leaders.
Labels: CHIEFTIANESS NKOMESHYA, GIVEN LUBINDA, PARASTATALS, RUPIAH BANDA, ZESCO
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Cabinet approves minerals exploration company
Tuesday, 16 August 2011 02:00
Cabinet has approved the draft framework for establishing a company to spearhead exploration of minerals throughout the country, a senior Government official said on yesterday. The company, to be called the Zimbabwe Mineral Exploration Corporation, will enable the Government to know the extent of the country's mineral wealth and reap maximum benefits from the resources.
Mines and Mining Development deputy Minister Gift Chimanikire, told New Ziana that the Attorney General's Office was now drafting the Statutory Instruments needed to give legal effect to establishment of the company.
"We have taken the matter before the cabinet committee on legislation and it has been approved," he said.
"Now we are waiting for the AG's office, which is currently working on drafting the necessary Statutory Instruments."
Deputy Minister Chimanikire said that the SIs would also allow the Government to court private players to partner it in the entity to cushion it from the huge costs of carrying out exploration activities.
He said this would also aid the smooth operations of the company as its success hinged on the availability of adequate funding.
"Once the AG is done with drafting the necessary laws, we will then float a tender for partners because we need a private player to partner us," he said.
Deputy Minister Chimanikire was, however, unable to give a timeline when the company would be operational.
Once operational, the ZMEC is expected to complement mineral explorations that are being undertaken by the private sector, albeit to a very minimal extent.
The absence of extensive exploration work over the years has resulted in the country failing to determine the extent of its entire mineral wealth.
In many instances the Government has become aware of the existence precious minerals after illegal miners swooped on areas as what happened at Chiadzwa where one of the richest diamond fields in the world was discovered. - New Ziana.
Labels: MINING, PARASTATALS, ZIMBABWE
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Parastatals restructuring in limbo
Saturday, 25 June 2011 23:55 Local News
By Charlotte Musarurwa
THE restructuring of parastatals and State enterprises is in limbo, with only one company, Ziscosteel, having made significant progress.
Analysts say the Government is not fulfilling its promise in line with the Cabinet decision in August last year which identified the priority list of 10 State enterprises and parastatals (SEPs) for restructuring. There are about 78 State enterprises and parastatals in Zimbabwe, but this number excludes subsidiaries.
State enterprises, when operating efficiently, have the potential to contribute about 40 percent of Gross Domestic Product, thus underlining their importance to the economy.
A major cause of the delays in the restructuring of State enterprises has been lack of specific legislation to operationalise the process.
Earlier this year, Minister of State Enterprises and Parastatals Gorden Moyo said his ministry was in the process of crafting a State Enterprises Management Bill to promote efficiency in the implementation of the privatisation drive.
The law would see the Ministry of State Enterprises transforming into a fully-fledged ministry as opposed to a mere department in the Ministry of State.
The Sunday Mail has established that the mooted restructuring policies were still on paper and yet to be implemented.
Mr Moyo said last week that progress since the adoption of the restructuring programme had been lethargic.
“The pace is very slow, but we have gone a long way with some parastatals such as Zisco,” he said.
“We have also made tremendous progress pertaining to the Grain Marketing Board and Zimbabwe Power Company, but the other companies are still coming up.”
Some analysts say the Government must put more effort into the restructuring programme.
Economic analyst Mr Blessing Sakupwanya said not all the parastatals needed to be restructured.
He said the Government must bear in mind that some parastatals had to be retained for the future.
“My opinion concerning this programme is that it has been talked about again and again,” said Mr Sakupwanya.
“There is no progress which is taking place since it was announced. As a Government, there are some entities which they need to keep since we have an economy which is not performing well.”
Mr Sakupwanya said most of the parastatals were for public services, so they needed to be handled properly.
Over the years, State enterprises and parastatals have groaned under numerous macro-economic challenges that have contributed to a significant decline in their performance.
These include liquidity challenges, which had a negative bearing on the procurement of new equipment, technologies and spares, and a huge debt overhang.
Lack of good corporate practices, coupled with inept management in most instances compounded the situation.
Some observers are sceptical of the restructuring models that have been proposed for Noczim, Cold Storage Company and Grain Marketing Board.
They argue that the proposals would result in the spin-off of more and smaller companies at a time when the entities are failing to attract adequate capital injections.
Minister Moyo indicated in a report on State enterprises and parastatals submitted to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on State Enterprises and Parastatals last week that a proposal to lease the Cold Storage Company’s Bulawayo abattoir and ranches was approved by Government last year.
But the investor withdrew at the conclusion of the deal citing financial problems.
The report shows that the restructuring of some of entities like Air Zimbabwe, National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), NetOne and TelOne is yet to commence.
The restructuring proposals for the entities have not yet been considered as the Ministry of Transport, Communi-cations and Infrastructure Development has not been appraised.
Concerning Ziscosteel, the negotiations were concluded with Essar Holdings and a shareholders’ agreement was signed with Essar Holdings acquiring 53,4 percent shareholding, with the Government shareholding slashed from 89 percent to 35,6 percent.
Minority shareholders now own the remaining 11 percent.
But negotiations to conclude the shareholders’ agreement were protracted due to issues related to ownership of the Bimco iron ore reserves under Zisco.
National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim) has been unbundled into two companies, namely Petro Trade (Pvt) Ltd and the National Oil Infrastructure Company of Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd.
The two companies became operational on January 1 this year.
Transfer of assets from Noczim to the successor companies for accounting purposes was also concluded at the same date.
The restructuring programme has resulted in 106 employees being rendered redundant and are in the process of being retrenched.
With regard to the GMB, the restructuring proposal seeks to unbundle the entity into the Strategic Grain Reserve and a Special Purpose Vehicle company with five commercial strategic business units.
The business units would be the Commodity Trading, Farming and Farmer Support, Agro-Processing, Logistics and Polybag Manufacturing.
The commercial units will then enter into partnership with investors for the recapitalisation of the companies, while the Strategic Grain Reserve would remain the responsibility of GMB.
Minister Moyo said his ministry had contracted PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Institute of Directors of Zimbabwe to design and execute a corporate governance training programme for workers in parastatals.
The ministry is going to spend US$50 000 in the first phase of training targeting at least 450 participants drawn from various parastatals.
The training is targeting chief executive officers, finance directors, company secretaries and non-executive directors of the entities.
But some analysts feel that more emphasis should be put on restructuring, rather than training.
“Why do we have to spend money on training programmes?” asked Mr Sakupwanya.
“We have to look at the critical point of restructuring. Emphasis should be on the restructuring programme and everything is done stage by stage.”
-The Sunday Mail
Labels: PARASTATALS
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Rise up and defend parastatals from MMD abuse - Shamenda
By Moses Kuwema
Thu 09 June 2011, 04:01 CAT
ZAMBIANS should rise up and defend parastatal institutions from being abused by the MMD government, says Fackson Shamenda.
Commenting on the raging debate on President Rupiah Banda’s announcement recently that Zesco Limited would install solar geysers free of charge to all interested customers, Shamenda said good governance was not only about holding free and fair elections but it also touched on the abuse of state institutions.
“This is very unfortunate; that is why institutions such as the IMF International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have been calling for the privatisation of parastatal institutions because they are scared of this same type of abuse through political interference.
That is why these days, there is no sense of ownership from the public on these parastatal institutions because they have been turned into MMD institutions,” said Shamenda, who is former Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president.
He said economic abuse which was currently happening at Zesco was dangerous as it resulted in the suffering of people, something he said should be condemned in the strongest terms.
Shamenda said the current abuse of parastatal institutions should be used as a campaign issue this year.
“Those who are aspiring for the higher positions should promise that there will be no abuse of public institutions. This is the worst ever abuse of parastatal institutions we have seen in this country.
I used to sit on some of the boards of these parastatal institutions in 1991 but this abuse was not there, this time around it’s a disaster,” he said.
He said it was embarrassing for professionals at Zesco to be defending what was indefensible adding that this was as a result of them lacking ‘spines’.
On Tuesday, assistant parish priest for Kitwe’s Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Father Anthony Salangeta called on Zesco to stop borrowing money from financial institutions on the pretext of increasing productivity since it had excess money to finance MMD operations.
Fr Salangeta called for an end to the abuse of public institutions that benefit a few individuals in President Banda's government.
“This is what we mean when we say there must be fairness in the way resources are distributed in this country, in the way the law is applied in the country, in the way ZNBC, Zambia Daily Mail and Times of Zambia are being used in this country. This is hypocrisy of the worst kind.
Time and again we hear Zesco borrowing so much from the World Bank to renovate this and that, to increase production, to enhance operations and they say the company has no money of their own to do those things but suddenly they have money to do campaign projects for the MMD in an election year. This is unacceptable from a public institution which is financed by the public with divergent political views and inclinations,” said Fr Salangeta.
Labels: FACKSON SHAMENDA, MMD, PARASTATALS, RUPIAH BANDA, SEPARATION OF POWERS
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COMMENT - What does 'the highest paid in the tea industry' mean, exactly? The writer clearly sides with management. Also, the issue of raising the tea picking 'quota' ("the imposition of a 253kg a day tea plucking quota, up from between 180kg and 200kg.") isn't gone into. Also the writer states a lot of opinion as fact. For more indepth information on Magwa Tea, check out the article
"Transformations And Tensions In A Tea Enterprise: Transkei, South Africa", from 1996.
Tea plantation faces collapse after worker rampage
STUART GRAHAM
LUSIKISIKI, EASTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA
May 30 2011 12:20
The largest tea estate in the southern hemisphere, Magwa Tea outside Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape, faces ruin after being looted and abandoned by its workers earlier this year. The 1 803 hectare farm had a turnover of R65-million a season and provided jobs and career training for 1 200 permanent and 2 300 seasonal workers.
In February, the farm was shut down when workers, the highest paid in the tea industry, went on the rampage after management refused their demand for a 104% increase. By May, tea plants usually kept pruned to waist height, for ease of picking were shoulder high and useless.
The plants stretch as far as the eye can see on both sides of the dirt road that winds across the hills from Lusikisiki to Mbotjie on the Wild Coast, in Transkei.
"The crop for the year has been lost," says Pierre Leppan, a director at the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) which has managed the farm for the past seven years.
"The names of six managers are on a hitlist and the ECDC is unable to guarantee their safety. They are having to run the farm on their cellphones."
The farm had started thriving in recent years, after decades of plundering, corruption and mismanagement.
A Magwa manager, who declined to be named for fear of his job and his safety, says the trouble started last year, soon after a Farm Workers' Union (Fawu) official was redeployed to Cape Town and replaced by two others.
Harmonious relationship
The original union official had understood Magwa, its history, and what was and was not viable, but his successors had not.
"The workers and the management had a harmonious relationship until then," the manager says.
"The two new officials were confrontational from the start. They misunderstood how Magwa worked. They thought, for example, that the management were the owners of the farm."
The manager said the officials postponed a Magwa workers' council election to allow seasonal workers to "boot out" most of the permanent workers.
Last year, the new council demanded a 104% wage increase, even though Fawu had negotiated a 7% nationwide increase for agricultural workers.
Magwa management told the council it was not authorised to approve the increase, but that the decision was up to the ECDC board and the department of agriculture.
Incensed, the workers cornered managers in their office and assaulted them. A violent strike, which was later declared illegal, went on for three months.
"Throughout the strike, the managers had shots fired at them," the manager says.
"Vehicles were stolen and vandalised. Houses were looted and burned."
The strike ended when the department of agriculture offered the Magwa employees a financial package to return to work.
Production was soon back on line, but the mood at Magwa remained tense.
"Workers were not following management's instructions, which led to the suspension of programmes around the farm," says the manager.
Tension running high
Magwa security manager Daan Schoeman recalls the tension when he returned to work in July.
"When I went back in July, I could feel that something wasn't lekker [right]," he says.
In March, workers went on the rampage again. "They destroyed everything in sight. They stole what they could. Fridges, freezers, ovens and vehicles -- everything," says Schoeman.
The police were called and rubber bullets and tear-gas were fired.
He received a desperate call for help from a manager.
"He said 'Help Daan, they're killing me', but I couldn't do anything. It was impossible to get in. They chopped him up with pangas, but he made it out [alive]. One of the security guards, though, was shot dead.
"It was terrible; that day, I started becoming an old man," he says.
Permanent workers, who lived in houses on the 13 settlements on the farm and refused to take part in the strike, were chased off their properties.
Police spokesperson Captain Mduduzi Godlwana confirmed that one person was arrested for murdering the security guard and another 48 for public violence. They are to appear in court soon, he says.
Fawu official Tonga Mbaliese blames the management for the strike.
He says the initial dispute was about the imposition of a 253kg a day tea plucking quota, up from between 180kg and 200kg.
"The target was set unilaterally without employees agreeing with it.
"The workers are not the cause of the problems on Magwa. The problems are caused by the style of management," Mbaliese says.
"There is no transparency at Magwa. Management can't cry foul and blame everyone when they are the ones who are not working."
Surrounding communities, politicians and tribal leaders have all laid claim to the land in past decades.
The plantation is in the Pondoland magisterial district of Lusikisiki, which falls under the Qawukeni Tribal Authority.
In the 19th century, the land was used to graze cattle, according to University of the Western Cape land and agrarian studies programme lecturer Thembela Kepe.
In a study titled Magwa Tea Venture in South Africa: Politics, Land and Economics, he writes that cattle was herded to the coastal grasslands during the winter months, when upland grazing was limited.
In the 1960s, Johan Mills, the then secretary to the Chief Minister of Transkei, suggested to Paramount Chief Botha Sigcawu that Pondoland needed a commercial venture to provide a local alternative to migrant labour to the sugar cane fields of Natal.
"When people rejected the notion of tea being good for the Mpondos, Sigcawu is said to have intimidated the residents, claiming that the land belonged to his father anyway and implying he could force them to move," Kepe writes.
The residents retaliated by burning down Sigcawu's supporters' houses. Several deaths were reported, including that of Sigcawu's brother, Chief Vukuyibambe Sigcawu.
Even after the plantation was established, it was beset by problems. Its assets were regularly plundered through corruption that continued into the 1990s.
Another problem was a demand by Fawu that workers receive higher wages at agricultural schemes.
It was thought that state-run enterprises should set a good example in labour practices. As a result, Magwa workers became some of the highest paid tea estate workers in southern Africa.
The high wages and poor profitability plunged the farm into financial trouble. A plan to lay off workers sparked violence in mid-2003 when 15 offices and a boardroom were burnt down.
In 2004, the ECDC, which was brought in as a custodian of the land, appointed a team of specialist tea farm managers to make the farm viable.
Exports at a minimum
It seemed an impossible task.
Magwa was producing just 1.2-million kg of "made" tea a season. Exports were at a minimum and the cost of production was "extremely high" at R25 a kilogramme.
However, by 2007, Magwa was achieving its highest-ever production figures, with 2.7-million tonnes of "made" tea a season.
"The department of agriculture would give us R15-million a year, and we were giving them R65-million back," says the senior employee.
"The tea was sold in advance on contract, making in roads into huge markets such as China, Pakistan and the [United Kingdom]."
This success was despite the infrequent and late arrival of government funds and a monthly wage bill of R3.5-million.
Before operations at Magwa shut down, workers were earning five times more than those in Malawi, the farm's general manager says.
They were also earning bonuses and being taken out of the fields and mentored.
"We were taking from the bottom and building up skills so that they could take over the running of the farm one day," says the manager.
"Tea industry skills are in enormous demand around the world, so many of the Magwa workers were poached, but this was fine. We would train more. We became something of a university for the tea industry."
Now Magwa's future remains uncertain.
Eastern Cape Rural Development spokesperson Ayabulela Ngoqo says a new Magwa board will be appointed on June 30, and will be tasked with finding a solution to the problems.
"The board will be given the prerogative to deal with all administrative matters affecting operations," he says.
"We won't have a harvest this year, but our main aim is to get it up and running again." -- Sapa
Labels: APARTHEID, LABOUR, PARASTATALS, TEA
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Heads to roll at Air Zimbabwe
By Kudakwashe Mutandi
Sunday, 15 May 2011 00:00 Business
A BOARD and management shake-up is looming at the national airline, Air Zimbabwe, The Sunday Mail Business has established. This paper has it on good authority that the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development is working on the restructuring of the board and management.
Sources indicated that heads would roll as new executives are set to be incorporated into the State-owned enterprise with a view to rescuing the sinking institution which was once voted as the best in Africa a decade ago.
The exercise comes barely five months after the group’s chief executive officer, Dr Peter Chikumba, was forced to resign.
“Minister Goche is also set to announce management changes at Air Zimbabwe once he gets the green light from Cabinet. This is also part of the agreement that he struck with the pilots a fortnight ago,” said the source.
The new changes will see former Air Zimbabwe acting chief executive Captain Oscar Madombwe being co-opted onto the board, first female pilot Emily Njovana coming in as group chief executive officer and Captain Danai Taruvinga as director flight operations. There has been pressure from pilots for restructuring at management and board level.
“For effective turn-around process to work, some of the current top management members and board members should be relieved of their duties. The airline’s board of directors lacks members with competent aviation expertise, and so can easily be misled or hoodwinked by top management who might have their own unsavoury personal agendas,” said the pilots to Transport Communication parliamentary portfolio committee
Added the pilots: “There should be representation at board level by knowledgeable senior and retired flight crew members to give professional advice and guidance to the board. There should be pilot representation at a top management level, including the executive committee and in human resources, where recruitment of key flight operations department personnel is concerned.”
The development comes after reports that the Kadzura-led board had failed to meet due to acute differences and has also split the management as executives jostle for the CEO’s post.
Insiders also said the board had been split into two: a pro-Biti faction on one hand and a pro-developmental faction on the other. The factionalism threatens to paralyse operations, observers warned.
The fallout among board members was occasioned by recommendations by the parliamentary portfolio committee on transport and communication for Treasury to resume funding the entity until its privatisation is completed.
Against this background a storm is also brewing at the airline following the appointment of forensic auditors whose tenure lapsed in March but are still operating from the parastatal, allegedly gobbling up more than US$10 000 per week. It has emerged that the forensic auditors, identified as BCA Auditors, were contracted to conduct internal investigations for a duration of four weeks on January 17 2011. It is not clear why the auditors are continuing.
Documents reveal that BCA has overstayed at the parastatal after they initially asked for a four-week extension, which has lapsed, to March when the workers started querying their stay.
The scope of the audit was supposed to cover the period between January 2008 and June 2010, but they are going back as far as 2003.
“BCA commenced forensic audit work on January 17 2011. They were initially contracted for four weeks but have asked for an additional four weeks,” read part of the minutes of the last Audit and Finance Committee meeting held on March 3 this year.
Employees at the parastatal said the auditors had overstayed and are drawing huge financial gains from the airline at a time the quasi-Government institution is cash-strapped. They cited the example of the Harare-Bulawayo and Harare-London flights that failed to take off last week after the company failed to secure cash for fuel.
“We would prefer to have renowned audit firms like KPMG, Ernest & Young, Deloitte or Kudenga who are familiar with our books,” said one employee who preferred anonymity.
“As part of the routine audit, appointment of the auditor was between a time frame of the company’s operations from 2008 to 2010. As if that was not enough, the audit was supposed to be complete by the first four weeks.
Up to this month of May, the auditors are still with us and they are getting more than US$10 000 per week. The company is cash-strapped and we are not flying,” said a workers’ committee member who commented on condition he is not named for fear of reprisals.
Labels: AIR ZIMBABWE, PARASTATALS
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COMMENT - Who say's parastatals can't turn a profit again? Because they're 'inefficient'?
Zimpapers registers US$624,000 profit
By: Our reporter
Posted: Saturday, March 12, 2011 5:12 am
THE Zimbabwe Newspapers' Group has recovered from a US$2 million loss to post a US$624 000 profit in the full year to December 31 2010. This was largely due to a US$5 million profit before tax achieved by the publishing concern's newspaper division.
The group is now geared to further consolidate its market share. However, the group said it was not declaring a dividend because it needs the cash to recapitalise operations.
Zimpapers has managed to stave off competition from new entrants into the newspaper industry to remain the publisher of choice for most readers and advertisers.
The group includes state-owned newspapers like The Herald, The Sunday Mail, The Chronicle and Manica Post among other newspapers.
The group's newspaper division weighed in with the bulk of the revenue contributing US$30 million compared to US$3,5 million from commercial printing.
New publishers like NewsDay have failed to take a huge chunk of the market share from the likes of The Herald.
Other publishers like the Daily News have failed to publish since they were granted a license over 18 months ago, despite claiming that government was not affording independent media a level playing field.
Labels: PARASTATALS
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COMMENT - Oh boo-hoo. Let me cry some crocodile tears for the unfair treatment of the privately owned mining sector. This also pretty much destroys the argument that the state should not be in the mining business - it is, not only in South Africa, but also in Venezuela, Chile, and Saudi Arabia. Set up by the CEF (see
this article from 3 years ago). Read
about the CEF, which is state owned.
King Zuma's mines
2011-02-20 19:04
Jacques Dommisse, City Press
Johannesburg - The state’s new mining company – heralded by some as a triumph for those pushing for nationalising South Africa’s mines – is bidding for no fewer than 128 prospecting and mining rights, and the scale of its intended operations has taken the mining industry by surprise.
It has already been awarded 10 prospecting rights, with another 16 in the final stages of approval and the balance at various stages of being processed. This was established by City Press from published records of the department of mineral resources.
The data sheds new light on the scale of operations of the state’s newly revived mining company – the African Exploration Mining and Finance Corporation (AEMFC) – which ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema has hailed as proof that the league’s push for nationalisation has worked.
This has been denied by President Jacob Zuma.
During his State of the Nation address Zuma spoke of the imminent official launch of AEMFC, which until now had been housed in the Central Energy Fund.
Unfair advantage
It was given the green light by Cabinet in December to be a stand-alone company. Industry and legal experts were shocked when told of the scale of the corporation’s interests.
There has been concern over the waiver of many application conditions which AEMFC received in 2009 from former minerals and energy minister Buyelwa Sonjica, and which many said gave it an unfair advantage in the industry, but the scope of AEMFC interests and potential interests had not emerged until now.
“It’s huge,” said Dr Koos Pretorius, a leading mining commentator and director of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment.
The number of applications by AEMFC in Mpumalanga alone was equal to the total number of rights for Anglo American, he said.
Peter Leon, a leading mining-law expert from Webber Wentzel Attorneys, said Sonjica had acted beyond her legal power in waiving for the corporation the obligations required by an applicant for prospecting or mining rights.
Commercial farmers
Leon said AEMFC intended to mine large parts of eastern Free State, currently used for commercial farming, but that if commercial farmers there launched a legal challenge the corporation’s application exemptions would likely be overthrown in court.
Pretorius said it was incredible that an environmental impact plan could be drafted without consulting interested parties as there was no other way to establish the amount of water that would be used, where it would come from and the long-term effects on the land.
Late last year the corporation was due to open its first mine – a coal operation called Vlakfontein which previously belonged to Anglo American – near Ogies in Mpumalanga.
The opening was cancelled, however, after concerned environmentalists established that the mine did not have a valid water licence, Pretorius said.
Meanwhile, Leon said South Africa needed an independent body to govern the issuing of mineral rights. According to him, government could not be judge, player and supervisor.
Conflict of interest
Willem le Roux, a lawyer at Brink Cohen Le Roux, said AEMFC had created an extremely unhealthy situation where there was a clear conflict of interest.
Frans Barker, the senior executive director of the Chamber of Mines, said: “We are not necessarily opposed to a state mining company, but the playing field must be equal.”
He added that the ministerial exemption granted to the corporation was of deep concern to the chamber.The chamber had already undertaken a significant amount of research into the role of the state in mining and would make this body of research available.
This week the corporation’s CEO, Sizwe Madondo, did not respond to repeated attempts by City Press for an interview and/or comment.
The mineral resources department also did not respond to requests for comment on AEMFC’s applications, the type of minerals it was applying for and confirmation of the number of active and awarded prospecting and mining applications.
Private mining companies – including Anglo American – also declined to comment.
- City Press
Labels: ANGLO-AMERICAN, JACOB ZUMA, MINING, NATIONALISATION, PARASTATALS
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Ex-workers sue NCZ
By Maluba Jere
Thu 25 Nov. 2010, 04:00 CAT
NITROGEN Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ) Limited has been sued for over K7 billion by 87 former employees of the company. Kasumba Wilfred Ngulube and 86 others have sued NCZ demanding to be paid the sum of K7,633,325,798.93 terminal benefits.
In a statement of claim filed in the Lusaka High Court, Ngulube stated that during the period between retirement and whilst awaiting their retirement benefits, NCZ paid them upkeep or maintenance allowances.
Ngulube on behalf of the others stated that upon receipt of terminal benefits which included repatriation expenses on October 16, 2009, it was discovered that NCZ had unlawfully deducted the said allowances from the money due to the former workers.
Ngulube added that NCZ claimed that the deductions were treated as part payments towards their terminal benefits.
Labels: KASUMBA WILFRED NGULUBE, NCZ, PARASTATALS
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