Global commodities trader Trafigura says allegations that Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba through his newly incorporated firm, Midlands Energy influenced the awarding of its oil supply contract for Zambia are unwarranted.
And Trafigura says a range of factors are responsible for Zambia having some of the highest fuel prices in the region.
Trafigura Head of Corporate Affairs Andrew Gowers told Journalists in Lusaka that the won the USD 500 million two year contract to supply crude oil to Zambia fair and square.
Mr Gowers was speaking in Lusaka Tuesday afternoon when Trafigura held a media roundtable meeting at Raddison Blu Hotel.
He said Trafigura does not use back hand methods to get contracts anywhere in the world adding that the Zambian oil supply deal was conducted above board.
Speculation was rife when Midlands Energy, a firm associated with Mr Kabimba was hastily incorporated and acted as an agent for Trafigura in the tender to supply Zambia with crude oil on a two year running contract.
Some quarters believe Midlands Energy facilitated the awarding of the multi-million dollar contract to Trafigura and receives a cut as for every payment made to Trafigura.
But Mr Gowers says the allegations are false and unwarranted.
“The criteria that needed to be met for a successful company had to do with security of supply and ability to source materials and so forth and so on, there is no question that we had the best service offering that was available to the Department of Energy when that contract was awarded,” Mr Gowers said.
He added, “There is no need to speculate about anything else and the speculation that has appeared is completely unwarranted and false. There have been false accusations that have been made repeatedly in some media about this contract that is absolutely unwarranted, probably some of these speculations have being spread by some of our competitors that failed to get the contract.”
Mr Gowers said, “There is absolutely nothing to hide or be ashamed of in the awarding of this contract and in particular reference to Midlands Energy, we have no relationship with that company, we have never made any payment to that company, we don’t know the Minister who has been mentioned in this. For us really, it is a tissue of lies to be honest.”
Mr Gowers further explained that Trafigura does not influence the price at which fuel is to be sold on the Zambian market.
“What I know is that we have a contract with the Zambian Department of Energy to supply fuel to the country at market linked prices which we secured in an open public tender process conducted under internationally recognized rules. It’s not just the world market price that counts in an individual market, it’s a whole range of costs, be it regulatory costs, costs related to transport, Zambia being a land locked country would be acutely conscious of that.
He said, “There is a mix of factors involved in the price of fuel and I think the public out there must be made to understand that it’s not just the international price that affects the pump price.”
Mr Gowers is brilliantly dressed speaks sense and is a man of integrity
I am reluctantly trusting his words
No one has bribed anyone here,
People are upset that he is winning the case
Whites are clever. That’s why they can swim we cant. They play golf we can’t. Play cricket we can’t. Play rugby we cant I mean at a high level
Let’s respect them bane. Alanda mudala uyu. Big up
Do I sense some conspiracy?
The want to attempt sanitizing and sprucing Kabimba up so that they can start crucifying GBM. OMG!!!!
Mr Gower is another musungu opusa. In his little brain he is saying bribe a few African leaders and make 1000% profit because they are used to suffering.
Mr Gower we shall involve retired CIA and Scotland yard private investigators to probe you and expose your corrupt ass. Enjoy while it lasts. Its all of us who are gullible like PF supporters.
All those on PF payroll be ware that in the coming months if Sata does not add two zeroes to Kwacha you will not be paid your money on time. MPs have not been paid allowances for 2 months now.
Some contractors have abandoned work due non payment.
I meant to say not all of us are gullible like PF supporters.
Iwe Jo Boza! Tiger Woods is not white. The West Indies Cricket team has no white players. Fiji and Samoa have won Sevens rugby titles and are always at the World Cup Kenya are also doing well at the Sevens Rugby. Finshi ulelanda?
Pity, as long as a lie is being told by a white person, people like Mushota believe, he is telling the gospel truth. Mr Gowers cannot in all honesty tell me that he did not know the senior leaders in the PF before submitting his tender documents. Is he telling me that Trafigura never did a diligent check on the Zambian government before tendering? I am sure Mr Gowers does not know who the current Zambian president is. Not that I blame him very much on that score.
Kabimba discarded once more… he now becoming a destitute.
@ Mushota
This is how Trafigura operate:
Rupert Neate The Guardian, Thursday 24 May 2012 18.00 BS
An Ivory Coast minister has resigned over allegations that he stole £700,000 from a compensation fund for the victims of toxic waste dumped by Trafigura.
Adama Bictogo, the minister in charge of dispensing the funds to victims, stood down after he was named in a police report into missing funds that was leaked to local media this week.
Trafigura was found guilty in 2010 of exporting toxic waste from Amsterdam, which was later dumped in Ivory Coast’s economic capital, Abidjan, in 2006. The company agreed to pay £28.7m to compensate about 30,000 victims.
The multinational oil trader denies that the waste could have caused the victims’ illnesses, which have reportedly led to at least…
which have reportedly led to at least 17 deaths. The company, which made profits of $1.1bn (£700m) last year, also said it was not directly involved in the dumping and said it paid a local company to dispose of the waste legally.
Bictogo, Ivory Coast’s minister for African integration, had been brought in by the previous government as facilitator of the process to distribute the funds to the victims.
A statement from Bictogo’s office, seen by Reuters, said: “Following the most recent developments in the case of toxic waste dumping in Abidjan by Trafigura, Minister Adama Bictogo, who played a role in negotiating compensation for the victims, has asked to be heard by the state prosecutor.”
It added that Bictogo had resigned “to ensure and guarantee a separation between the executive…
This company cannot be trusted . “How UK oil company Trafigura tried to cover up African pollution disaster” ……..It likes African governments that can be bribed. see this article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Ivory_Coast_toxic_waste_dump
And this
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/16/trafigura-african-pollution-disaster
Women wearing black mens hats are dumb. They have no idea about what they are talking about. They are easily impressed by the sound of their own voice.
Ignore IDI0Ts like these.
When some1 is guilchi, they will always lapse…Are these lapses we are seeing???
Andrew Gowers is telling Zambians a tissue load of lies. Trafigura boss claims not to know Winter Kabimba which is cheap talk from a person who does not also say how they won the tender to supply crude oil to Zambia. In a web of lies that make self incrimination to Zambians concern. Zambians have the right to know facts and truths over who supplies our oil.
I feel sorry for Kabimba.It is too little too late.He is the next one to be sacrificed at the alter of PF expediency.First they will nail him by the tribunal then he will join his nemesis GBM answering for supposed corruption.He is a goner.
Well said.Long live Wynter Kabimba !
The weird thing is Zambians only likes to hear what they want to hear even if it means being told a lie as long as it is what they were expecting to hear.This Kabimba issue attests to this as many of them (zambian)will refuse to believe thisTrafigura explanation because they want to hear the opposite of this truth.It is a unique nation.Smh
how can an HIV man live longer? its just a matter of time baba
@Saulosi, your Kabimba has been discarded AGAIN, thrown away by former friend Gower, like a dog… fuseki iwe!!. Kabimba will attend his own funeral, even maggots will refuse to taste his ka poisonous body.
Saulosi. Kabimba comfirmed on ZNBC during one of the sunday interview. He said trafigura tried to bribe him. What is this muzungu trying to talk about.
Sorry Mr. Gowers, I think I misread you. For a moment I thought you were trying to say there is nothing suspicious about your dealings with Kabimba. Can you imagine me thinking that? Hilarious right?
He doesnt kno Kabimba but I kno him to b a Cohsin to mum….hahahaha.
Lets be realistic especailly
Europeans or White guys ve GREATER INSIGHT whn analysisng issues.
MUZUNGU WUMBI Veilisnky says he can do MINING IN LOWER ZAMBAZI-…..!!!
There r other areas to do MINING rather than ‘ “LOWER ZAMBEZI”. OTHER place RESERVE THEM imwe ba kaponya- ma Africans.
It pains to b AN AFRICAN.
come and see the useless managers you are aluding to have intellect where I work and you will know that you havent got a clue what you’re on about mate
I believe him.
Andrew Gowers has been forced to resign, 2 times in his career due to Misappropriate Actions.
He still has cases pending in UK, Panama and Qatar. When the Court Injunction cases to protect him go against him, he must realize that this information will be in the public domain for every one to see. He should not play smart.
Kabimba as a lawyer failed to perform diligent checks on this chap, thus if he was dealing with Gowers directly to pull this deal. PF could have easily hired a UK Security Clearance firm to find out on these chaps who they are dealing.
So who did Kabimba refer to on his TV Interview that someone tried to bribe him on the oil deal? Time will tell.
A thief always denies a crime, until caught pants down.
@INDEPENDENT OBSERVER
You are spot on! This man will continue to manipulate Kabimba and Sata for fear of him spilling the beans.
I know that Gower is another Musungu Opusa like Guy Scott. Guy Scott will one day be asked to produce evidence of swine flue to verify that his ploy to instigate the slaughter of pigs was not a get rich quick scheme for him and his fellow white farmers.
kekekekekeke..very animal farm..that muzungu shud shut up!!
Only any insane person would have expected Gowers to say;
“Yes we bribed Mr Kabimba to win this oil contract”
Spot on.
Someone remind me, is it not Kabimba with his own mouth who said on one programme that someone from a certain company offered a bribe to him? Is it not this same company?
Absolutely right, glad you have reminded all of us. I watched that live broadcast
First feed the hungry reporters with appetisers then ask them to ask you questions.
Tell Andrew Gowers that I will appeal to Zambian watchdog (ZWD) to investigate him. Achepa sana. Let him not think he is clever, people know how to go about it.
He will suffer consequences of his words. His advisers made a mistake to tell him to hold a press conference.
Andrew Gowers, sorry this advice is coming late; but you have erred – it is not possible to help you anymore now. You should have told the true or at least kept quiet. Anyway, it happens but of course with grave consequences.
What if peradventure they had paid brides, could Mr. Gowers admit it?
Probably not; unless there is evidence, the natural instinct is denial and defensive.
This is what we expect anyway from Humans, so I don’t see anything special about this press release; probably it was better to just ignore the allegations if they are not true.
But when you open up, it’s an invitation for the public to look into your mind.
“We don’t know the
Minister”
This statement makes me not to believe everything you have said iwe buga.
What are you saying? Kabimba himself said, it in front on ZNBC cameras, that you attempted to bribe him but that he never got the bribe. One thing we know – there was an offer of a bribe. Whether he got it only you, Kabimba and the devilknows.
How many companies submitted the bids? If it was only trafigura then tou would say they are the ones but if they were several then lets start to think poeple not just cheap talk. Kabimba was open enough to say one of the bidders tried to bribe him. its upto the ACC if they think there is a case to investigate.
Gower who do u think you can cheat not Zambians those days are gone
the conduit between TRAFIGURA & KABIMBA is MAHTANI he is the TRAFIGURA representative in Zed!!!!!!
Duh who says his name has to be known to the muzungu for fixers to do their work? Fund a company and use it as a conduit the zambian way. Very common.
You can google this .trafigura scandal. Then u will know whom you a dealing with…. hear to reap us off
Just read the body language; loud and clear liar. Only fools can believe this punk
Also Mushota believe him
Kabimba said it himself on Muvi TV that Trafigura was not a credible company because they wanted to bribe him.
Mr Gowers is saying it’s a work of enemies who are peddling lies, which enemies? Kabimba? Mr Gowers has forgoten it was Kabimba who said those words.
He is cheating that he doesn’t known our justice Minister; the ministry that prepares and signs contracts.
So this Muzungu was like contract signed I don’t want to know the Minister of Justice, bye bye!!! Gowers niwaboza
Growers has featured in most high profile problems in the past 7 years
(1) please read about the collapse of the famous Lehman Brothers which led to the World financial crisis of 2008. His name is known there.
(2) please read about the oil disaster by BP in the Gulf. BP has had to pay billions of dollars in compensation to the USA. Gowers was at the centre of that story.
Now Gowers is getting involved in Zambia. Zambians need to take this with their eyes open. Sooner or later, you will mark my words.
Isn’t it interesting that he says he doesn’t know Kabimba? Whose ears are you pulling, Sir? We know you went to Cambridge University. Business dealings involve Risks Assessments. You got into this deal after satisfying yourself that Kabimba would mitigate the Risks. So you know…
Growers has featured in most high profile problems in the past 7 years
(1) please read about the collapse of the famous Lehman Brothers which led to the World financial crisis of 2008. His name is known there.
(2) please read about the oil disaster by BP in the Gulf. BP has had to pay billions of dollars in compensation to the USA. Gowers was at the centre of that story.
Now Gowers is getting involved in Zambia. Zambians need to take this with their eyes open. Sooner or later, you will mark my words.
Isn’t it interesting that he says he doesn’t know Kabimba? Whose ears are you pulling, Sir? We know you went to Cambridge University. Business dealings involve Risks Assessments. You got into this deal after satisfying yourself that Kabimba would mitigate the Risks. So you know him.
@JO
“WHITES & BANTUSTAN INFERIORITY”
AFRICANS HAVE TRIED TO USE THE DEROGATORY WORDS ON ANY ‘WHITE’ LIKE HH DID WHEN HE CALLED OUR HARD WORKING WHITE VICE PRES NAMES WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF NEO-COLONIAL STATEHOOD BECAUSE TRIBALISM IS A COLONIAL DERIVATIVE WHICH IS BASED ON MATRIARCHAL OR PATRIARCHAL RELATIONS FORGED IN THE DISTANT PAST & USED BY LEADERS LIKE HH OF ETHNIC GROUPS AS A DEFENSIVE & AND OFFENSIVE WEAPON AGAINST OTHER GROUPS. SUCH LEADERS LOOK AT TRIBALISM AS THE MAIN CAUSE OF THEIR WANING POLITICAL FORTUNES. THE WHITE COLONIALISTS, ACCORDING TO HH & HIS MINIONS, HAVE TRIED TO MAKE A NATION-STATE OUT OF A HOTCHPOTCH ANTAGONISTIC TENDENCY TO PITY OUR ‘UNCIVILIZED’ AFRICAN PEOPLES AGAINST EUROPEANS AND OTHER TRIBES.
Therefore, Mr Gowers will be willing to avail all pertinent information/documentation to a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry?
@Wanzelu
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HH AND Trafigura ETC?
THEY ALL MILK OUR PEOPLE!
YOUR HH BECAME AN INSTANT MILLIONAIRE AT THE EXPENSE OF HAPLESS LUANSHYA MINERS AND THEIR FAMILIES!
AS LONG AS I REPRESENT 45% OF THE POPULATION, HH SHALL NEVER ASCEND TO POWER EXCEPT ON MY GRAVE..
RIP luapula premier
u pipo u talking ill about the white guys when u no we cut do without them in every business there are ways to get a deal like it or not even if they lie to us they stil give us money and help us feed our families like they say don’t insult the hand that feeds YOU
u pipo u talking ill about the white guys when u no we cant do without them in every business there are ways to get a deal like it or not even if they lie to us they stil give us money and help us feed our families like they say don’t insult the hand that feeds YOU
Internal emails show that Trafigura, which yesterday suddenly announced an offer to pay compensation to 31,000 west African victims, was fully aware that its waste dumped in Ivory Coast was so toxic that it was banned in Europe.
Thousands of west Africans besieged local hospitals in 2006, and a number died, after the dumping of hundreds of tonnes of highly toxic oil waste around the country’s capital, Abidjan. Official local autopsy reports on 12 alleged victims appeared to show fatal levels of the poisonous gas hydrogen sulphide, one of the waste’s lethal byproducts.
Trafigura has been publicly insisting for three years that its waste was routine and harmless. It claims it was “absolutely not dangerous”.
Andrew est un menteur très convaincant, il n’était pas journaliste pour rien,
Quand il vont en Afrique, ils nous considèrent comme leur poubelle, ils n’ont pas ces rapports avec l’Amérique du Sud et surtout pas du nord alors aux africains de se faire respecter par ces pilleurs de ressources.