National Restoration Party (NAREP) president Elias Chipimo sold off the shares in Corpus Globe the company he helped to establish.
Responding to FDD’s statement over Mr. Chipimo’s stance when he called on Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda to refund the mines, NAREP General Secretary Rev Jevan Kamanga said there is nothing personal about his president’s calls as there is a law which requires government to pay the refunds under VAT Rule 18.
Rav Kamanga said the statement which was issued by the FDD lacked merit and did not address the issues raised by Mr. Chipimo and that those issues have started to manifest as Mopani copper mines has stated plans to lay down over 20,000 workers.
He said refunding the mines is something that has been happening since 1995 when the law was introduced and that each Minister who save between 1994 and 2011 including Ms. Nawakwi refunded mines hence FDD should not be accusing his president for urging the government to do what is right and save the many jobs which will be lost as a result of not paying back the refunds.
He said Mr. Mwanza and his party should not just issue statements without facts as the issue of Mr. Chipimo benefiting from the refunds is not there because he has sold off the shares in Corpus Globe the company he helped to establish.
However, the Opposition Forum for Democracy and Development FDD has challenged fellow opposition National Restoration Party to prove that FDD president Edith Nawakwi paid VAT refunds to mining companies during the time she saved as Finance Minister.
The FDD has maintained that NAREP president Elias Chipimo is trying to ‘eat with both hands’ as he has personal interest in the refunds to mining companies as his hence the calls for the minister to refund them.
Reacting to a statement from NAREP General Secretary Rev Jevan Kamanga who accused Mr. Mwanza of politicking over a serious national issue with huge repercussions to country’s economy the FDD spokesperson said NAREP should show empirical evidence that Ms. Nawakwi indeed paid VAT refunds when she was Minister.
Mr. Mwanza said his president did not pay any refunds to the mines and that if she did that the case should be differentiated because times have changed as copper prices were not as high as there are today hence the need to advocate for the change of the law.
He accused Mr. Chipimo of cosmetically removing himself from the face Corpus Globe for political expediency because the law firm would not have continued getting contracts with the mines if he had continued being the face of the company while saving as a president of an opposition political but that he is still part of the company which is representing the mines hence the campaigns for government to refund mines.
Mr. Mwanza also wondered why a person with best the interest of Zambians would advocate for bad which the foreign mine owners have been using to exploit Zambians and continue to walk away with huge profits when people are suffering in the country.
He maintained that the issue at the heart of Mr. Chipimo’s calls are economic benefits as Mr. Chipimos signatures are all over the mining agreements which he negotiated on behalf of the mines.
He explained that the law in question is a bad law which needs to be changed something which Mr. Chipimo should be calling for as opposed to campaigning for the mines to continue walking away with huge profits at the expense of Zambians.
Chipimo is not the sharpest knife in the Kitchen is he?
The trouble is he has people fooled here that he is this second coming of a new era and in the landscape of politics he is someone relevant pure, class and worth knowing, however the elite like some of us are seeing through him
The man is a myth and a nonentity and above all he corrupt to the core.
Arrest him
Thanks
This Man (Mushota) who supposedly hates black people, considers them inferior and doesn’t believe any good will come from Zambia, yet he lives on Lusaka Times 24/7 exposing his ignorance. This to me is a paradox.
He should be answerable for everything he has done Mr Chipimo
He is come out fighting for his career me thinks
Thanks
Mushota, you claim you are educated and currently residing in England , I have doubts because of your bad ‘breath’ of English language. You may just be a street girl making ends meet by prostituting with white men.
Did Elias Chipimo sell off his interest (including his emotional attachment) in Corpus Globe?
What shares? Does a law firm have shares? Rubbish.
This so called Mwanza has nothing in the head. He continuously departs from the issue and chooses to focus on the individual. The caliber of a Secretary General?
C’mon, guys! FDD is finished! They can not return to the days when they had 22 senior politicians defect from MMD. How does one explain that their president got only 6,833 votes compared to 20,243 for their parliamentary candidates? The gap is too big. That just shows that their leader (who is still leading them) did not inspire confidence in the voters. Also, bear in mind that in 2001 their leader had 228,861 votes whilst their candidates got 272,817 votes. The fall has been drastic.
This debate is just a ploy to keep themselves in the news. NAREP should just ignore them.
Who cares he has the interest and this is the problem in Zed today too many interests everywhere they can’t tell you the facts someone has to dig deeper
This is a serious national issue, no need for FDD to play politics. CHIPIMO has done everything to clear the air what else would you like him to say..Mushota. Stop believing lies from FDD. ….you seem to hate Chipimo so much.
Its not about Chipimo as an individual. Zambians are saying the mines should present all necessary documents according to rule no.18 .Now chipimo feels its ok for mines to collect there refund without showing any proof. Zambains are saying no. Chipimo sometimes tend to support his tribe men hoping to be appointed to be PF president. This behaviour will make Chipimo loose support.
Satellite parties of Sata PF who benefit from PF government. Both Nawakwi and Chipimo went to Brazil with Sata whose agenda has never been told to Zambians. Like Cosmo Mumba has come out in the open that Sata promised him vice presidency of PF. These Bembas with their ‘Donch Kubeba’ do hail from a common source. Deception is at their core as a people.
Don’t be naive, lady. The 2 were invited for a global convention as stakeholders and that was the time Sata was “trying” to show that he was accommodating the opposition. No evil was done by the 2 in accepting that invitation. It’s been almost 2 years, long gone, so get over it
@Gundown and @Sido Marks. Concur with your sentiments.
The fact is Chipimo’s sale of his shares in Corpus Globe means absolutely nothing. He us still attached to the firm since he set it up, it’s still his baby.
The facts are simple, and this chap Rav(Rev?) Kamanga knows fully well a new requirement has been set in VAT Regulations requiring proof documentation. There is nothing wrong with withholding VAT because if documents are provided investors get the VAT.
We need proof of sale so we can gauge our righteous share of Taxes on those sales. If these people are stockpiling unsold copper products, they can affect the market by releasing the stockpiles to affect market prices. We want control of our copper products and a bigger share of taxes.
The vat rules are very clear. You get a refund on exports .so FDD does not have a point
@Leo Leo Phiri
Wrong. We have a regulation to withhold until documentation is provided. The rules are clear, provide documentation and then get your refunds.
Ultimately there has been an amendment on getting VAT on exports without proof. If you export, provide proof where to, how much so we gauge taxes. Simple.
Don’t know which country you come from. You are no patriot, but a supporter of foreign bodies reading between the lines of our laws, in order to benefit more than Zambia does on its resources.
Change the law but do not break the law by withholding legitimate refunds due to the mines and other exporters.
The Government finds itself in a quandary because they ‘ate’ the Import VAT paid by the mines. In my time at ZRA and that includes the times Madam Nawakwi was Minister of Finance we never used to count Import VAT from the Mines as ‘Revenue’ and I recall that almost 95% of all VAT refunds were due to the Mines, Zamefa and sometimes Swarp…..
Nothing has changed but the greed of Government to illegally generate revenue through arm twisting mines so that they give up on their VAT refunds. The mines wont give up!!
What I take issue is moronic people like Mushota who have the nerve to call Chipimo not the sharpest knife in the kitchen. For heaven’s sake the man was at Oxford University and is a Rhodes Scholar! How can you call him not being sharp? You Mushota UNZA did not even accept you that is why using your connections you went to UK to buy off your education at some college located on top of a shop. It is people like you Mushota who have been to second rate universities in the UK who clearly are not the sharpest tools in the shed. Do not just say the man is corrupt to the core without telling us the illegal activities he has been involved in. We are talking about an intellectual who in other countries with enlightened populations would rise to be President of the country. Styopeti!
The truth always hurt but the naked part of it is that Politics in Africa is a license to steal big and 95% of the players get away scot free whilst petty thieving gets the full wrath of the law…why can’t we lead by example??
something is wrong with some of these bloggers. did you take time to read chipimos take on the refunds? the man clearly said the issue is on proof of exportation (documentation), he didnt say zra should just start dishing out ama starter… mulandalanda fye kwati mwali pena, dont mislead others.
very styopeti!