International Trade Consultant Trevor Simumba has urged the Zambian government to pay the Libyan Government the US$395 million it invested in Zamtel.
And the internationally recognised head of Libya’s $67bn sovereign wealth fund is to appeal to the UN in an attempt to allow the fund to manage its frozen assets.
Mr Simumba said Zambians need to stop being so misinformed about the LapGreen issue.
He said LapGreen Networks is an existing company owned by the Libyan Investment Authority which is a sovereign wealth fund of the Libyan Government.
Mr. Simumba revealed that the LIA is pursuing all its assets including in Uganda and right now has an ongoing case with Goldman Sachs for over $1 billion.
“ZAMTEL is one of the assets they have been pursuing and there is need for soberness in handling this issue. Zambia entered into a consent judgment and it must pay,” Mr Simumba said.
Mr Simumba added, “Libya does have a Government and it is even appealing to the UN. It’s not everything that is fraudulent. Minister Mutati just needs to make sure he pays to the rightful authorities.”
And sources at the Ministry of Finance have revealed that LAP GreenN has written to Finance Minister Felix Mutati expressing displeasure over his claim that the Zambian government was in the process of settling its US$395 million debt owed to the company when in fact “no single cent” has been paid.
This is contained in a letter of claim signed by LAP GreenN chairman Dr Faisel Geigab.
Dr Geigab disclosed that the Zambian government through the Minister of Finance had been sending bank transfer documents, but no actual cash was remitted to LAP GreenN.
“The now Minister of Finance was a member of Cabinet of the Zambian government at the time LAP GreenN acquired its shareholding in Zamtel. He is very familiar with the LAP GreenN matter. It would have been more useful of him to give a more comprehensive statement in parliament last month. We say this because the recent conduct of the Minister of Finance with respect to addressing the GRZ obligations to LAP GreenN has raised considerable concerns regarding the good faith and integrity of the minister,” Dr Geigab stated.
“For example, we have been sent bank transfer documents signed on behalf of the minister instructing its bankers to transfer funds to us, however, no actual payment has been received. The Attorney General, Mr Likando Kalaluka, State Counsel, has similarly made commitments on behalf of the GRZ that payments would be made to settle the GRZ’s indebtedness in LAP GreenN, however, not a single cent has been received as yet. We have material evidence to this effect.”
He stated that government’s conduct was unacceptable and it was denting Zambia’s reputation on debt repayment.
“The conduct of the GRZ towards our matter is totally unacceptable and constitutes a breach of the Zambian Constitution and the international law. It raises questions regarding the credentials of the GRZ, including its commitments to Zambia’s constitutional democracy and democratic governance. LAP GreenN is taking active steps to pursue full compensation recovery from the GRZ locally in Zambia, within Sub Saharan Africa and internationally. As the Zambian government is part of the international finance and investment community, it is indifferent to its serial defaults of such substantive sovereign debt obligations will not help its reputation. For example, the serial default payments could have an adverse effect on its international standing, including with international funding institutions, credit rating agencies and G20 states (several of which are already aware of this matter),” Dr Geigab wrote.
He warned that there would be costly repercussions on the Zambian economy for the ‘serial defaults’.
Meanwhile, the internationally recognised head of Libya’s $67bn sovereign wealth fund is to appeal to the UN in an attempt to allow the fund to manage its frozen assets, despite the violent political rivalries plaguing state institutions.
Ali Mahmoud, head of a steering committee appointed by the UN-backed government to oversee the Libyan Investment Authority, said the fund was “losing a lot of money” because it was unable to manage old equity and bond investments.
The LIA’s assets have been under UN sanctions since the 2011 uprising against Muammer Gaddafi and any chance of them being unfrozen have previously been dashed by the power struggles and conflict that erupted after the dictator was toppled.
The chaos has affected the central bank, the National Oil Company and the LIA with officials backed by political adversaries bickering over the leadership of the organisations and their resources.
“There are alternative opportunities that are being missed and in some cases there are deposits in banks that are past their maturity on which we are being charged negative interest rates,” Mr Mahmoud told the Financial Times.
“This has caused us big losses especially on the bonds and long-term investment portfolios.”
But Mr Mahmoud has two domestic rivals each claiming to be the rightful leader of the fund — disputes that reflect deep political divides.
Another figure claiming the leadership of the LIA is Ali Shamekh, who was appointed the fund’s chief executive in August by rival authorities in eastern Libya.
He says there are possible plans to open an office in London in an attempt to talk to western governments about lifting the sanctions on the LIA.
He says the sanctions affect about 65 per cent of its assets, mostly cash and equities in countries including the UK, US and Italy.
The fund has investments in about 550 companies, including hotels and downstream oil operations in Africa and the Middle East, Mr Shamekh says, and several subsidiaries, including Tamoil and Libyan Foreign Investment Company.
Arrogance of PF to cancel binding contracts and dispossession using jungle laws .Scaring away foreign investors isn’t smart business you kantemba minded simpletons
Remember The Post and Mmembe were the driver of the repossession of Zamtel just because the deal was done by Rupiah Banda. Everyone rejoiced and Sata sadly fell for it.
Trevor is a lemon and moron
Ignore the dipwit.
Thanks
BB2014,2016
Mushota is a pretentious clueless halfwit.
Ignore her Phd in garbage-ology.
We need to know who signed to call the deal off with Lapgreen. These individuals should be jailed.
The bank transfers being sent over might be ending up in our ministers foreign accounts. That is how corrupt they are.
The current government is an embarrassment even to Zambians. Please teach these thieves a lesson, and help expose their dealings so that even their few remaining supporters can see them for what they really are.
God bless Zambia
PF shouldn’t be threatened by labels. There is no government in Lybia. Who is president of Lybia? Gadda is gone who owned LAPgreen.
Should Zambia claim unpaid money for maize to Zimbabwe from Grace Mugabe?
@1.2 unlike you Travor has a proper qualification which can be verified. I personally don’t see anything wrong with what he has said. People should ignore you!
Oh thou most clever Mushota,
I know what a lemon is, I know what a moron is.
And I am sure that you can enlighten us what ‘dipwits’ are – a new genus, something watery?
With all your PhDs etc. etc., you surely can tell us!
Thanks in advance!
Zambia should pay up and stop playing games. Just pay up, after all, funds are looted always and only a few characters complain. We recently bought the most expensive (but useless) ? fire trucks in the world. So stop complaining and just pay up
Mr. Simumba, stop your rubbish pushing about ZAMTEL, the deal was horrible and day light theft from Zambian people. You are Zambian yet supporting Foreign companies/ governments to steal from us. Have you seen Arabs do that?? You such an embarrassment.
If you benefited from the deal, too bad because which government in power, will take back ZAMTEL. You are the bad seed of Zambians who want to see your country down in your own personal interests.
The author is right to say Libya has a government. However in reality, this government is just on paper and not governing at all
What you are suggesting, not to pay as per “Consent Order”?
As to your “opinion” that Libyan government is “…not governing at all…”, please inform yourself before making unfounded and misleading comment.
Ba Fake news, you are the one who is not informed, that country is in rebel hands and the government is confined to cabinet office. @umuntu did not suggest any payment, but just mentioned that the government is not in charge. your interpretation that umuntu was suggesting not to pay means you are reading between the lines or simply jumping to conclusions. please be logical in your thinking.
I am watching CNN story line on Zimbabwe and I am comparing the story of LAP Green to the grabbing of white owned farms in Zim. The villagers who were mostly employed on farms and lead a somewhat comfortable life were in the forefront in attacking the farmers even burning their buildings. I remember how a dog was dismembered by one of the marauding farm workers. Now as these same rural dwellers are being interviewed by CNN they have a different story. They blame Mugabe for their misery and yet they are part to this.
Sound familiar. Rule of uneducated mob.
But you Ndanje Khakis are a staunch supporter of Lungu and Mugabe. Everything Lungu does on advise from Mugabe you rejoice and wildly celebrate. What has changed now!
When did you hear me support Mugabe? I support Lungu because is the president and needs our support. Whatever you say or do won’t change anything.
Alikuti Luliya Bhanda. Salani muvutika
Some Zambian’s really hate themselves! Zamtel is a Zambian asset, why do we quickly backtrack in giving up so quickly just because some judge in London said so? If they want to go to the UN, let them go but we will remind the same UN to bring back our money stashed in offshore accounts by these so-called investors. We should learn to fight for our country. We get excited when we master British Law but quickly forget that its intention is to protect the British interests, first and foremost. So here we are, outsiders, trying to fleece more money from us and the best we can say is pay up? why not order an independent inquiry into the whole deal in the first place? who are the real people behind this deal?
Right now Zambia is begging for funds from IMF and other western countries…..you think you are in a position to act like mugabe ??
It’s people like you spaka like lilo who would rather see our country suffer just because you want to see your relatives in state house. Your inferiority complex will not take you anywhere. You honestly think Zambia is the only country on the planet which borrows money from IMF? Yes Zambia is begging because it makes interesting reading for the like of you. The sale of Zamtel is an internal issue which can be dealt with internally. Imagine what would have happened if a Zambian judge attempted to make a ruling when the British government confiscated the rail contract from Richard Branson? Zambia is not a poor country, just too many followers who don’t think out of the box.
FutureZed
It is people like you who make our country suffer…..why break mral obligations and try to grap something that was paid for legally ?? Why should supporting banditry and disregard for normal of international relations be patriotic ????
Just live and operate in a civilised manner…and no one will chase after you.
Iwe if you’re such an advocate of civilization then why didn’t you stage a protest to the UN when Anglo American stripped off and vandalized the ZCCM infrastructure when they left? Why didn’t you make noises when the so-called investors pulled out to try and cripple Zambia’s economy in the hope they would return and take the assets for nothing? There is nothing immoral about protecting your national assets. Why don’t you question the morality of handing over the gateway to your country for next to nothing? who benefited from the transaction? There are codes of conduct, were these followed?
“…so-called investors pulled out to try and cripple Zambia’s economy in the hope they would return and take the assets for nothing?..”
Ohhh pleas spare us the Mugabe rehtoric….the Chinese and Indians bought the assets at next to nothing….and there is nothing wrong with being patriotic but patronising from a weak and broke position is dangerous , you would be better off playing by the rules …..
“….when Anglo American stripped off and vandalized the ZCCM infrastructure when they left? …”
Why were you dozing when this was happening ??
Just goes to show that you really don’t know what you are talking about! What rules are you on about naiwe chikopo iwe? Who invented these same rules? If I was dozing when this was happening then where were you to save the day? stop behaving like a vuvuzela with no direction. We all know that after Anglo American pulled out, Zambian went on to engineer the biggest economic turnaround the country has ever experienced after independence so what rubbish are you on about?
Be careful with countries that you go into business with. The judgement for LapGreen and against Zambia could be genuine but let us learn from our mistakes. Greedy Leaders will one day auction this country to Muslims and then you will see what will happen.
There was nothing wrong with lapgreen running ZAMTEL , the thugs in PF with sata just saw an opportunity to grab money from a disintegrating Libya.. ……now Zambians assets in western countries can be auctioned off to pay for this debt and you can forget about the IMF and other western loans…….libya has plenty oil money to influence the best western lobby groups… this is no simple matter…
I wonder whom we should be paying to since LapGreen management seems to be fragmented? Just pay the money into a fund at a local bank which can then be used to clear the debt when Libyan politics stabilise.
Or maybe offer Zamtel to under5, that way it will remain in Zambian hands while at the same time settling the debt…….kikikikikikiki.
Future zed who did we give znbc majority and aothority to collect revenue for 25 years because we couldnt pay our borrowings. Yes the chinese now control our national broadcaster and the director is chinese maybe we should rename it topstar broadcasting . We owe we pay forget this colonial crap its just a smoke screen. Are you daft enough to be led by the nose the same as the Zimbabweans have. The ruling elite filthy rich the poor just filthy cant you see the truth. Step back and see what happens in African nations.
I don’t think you even understand your own statement. If the Chinese are better than you at running a national broadcaster then whats wrong with that? Why are you mixing politics with economics? The only thing colonial here is your mindset. Investors will look at every opportunity to take from you as much as they can but it’s also up to us to plug as many loopholes as possible. It’s common knowledge that the sale of Zamtel was dubious and Lapgreen where beneficiaries of a dodgy deal so why should the Zambian taxpayers fork out even more to these guys?
Futurezed
“…Lapgreen where beneficiaries of a dodgy deal so why should the Zambian taxpayers fork out even more to these guys?…”
Argue that with the international courts while interest is accumulating.. ..soon you pay double what you owed…
Does Zamtel belong to the UN for Zambia to go and argue with the international courts? Do you even understand rules and jurisdictions of sovereign states?
Welcome to the early shift terrible, which local bank, interbank or invest trust or zanaco. Wake up wally the cebt has been adjudged pay it into the bank the plaintiff nominates. Credit ratings matter not unlike a credibility rating, as no doubt you are aware. What time is njimbu unleashed. Can you take his hands away from the numbers this 6.5 and 3.5 is a bit tiresome can you have a word thanks. Cheers will have beer for u
Hehehe ati njimbu 6.5 , 3 5……
hehehe
that one that is all he knows and showing off at how the Chinese will give PF large funds of “free money” for campaigns…….
There is credible information emerging that the Chinese are intrested in running our national parks for the next 25 years…..and have started corrupt moves to influence pf through the spectacular spectrum of corrupt PF handerlers at state house….zambians should resist this…
Trevor Simumba is a text book example of some educated danderheads we have in Zambia…Pure inferiority complex. The Government will pay Libya when they have a credible government..Meanwhile foreign powerful nations are looting oil in Libya and the useless Simumba has kept his big mouth shut but is finding pleasure talking about his country…
Imwe ba zakeyo….
Zambia is right now begging those same western governments for a bailout via IMF …….labgreen will grab all Zambias assets abroad to the tune of that money owed…you have no leg to stand on.
“….The Government will pay Libya when they have a credible government….”
Calculate the interest being accumulated per day which will have to be paid ???
@Spaka like lilo, “Lapgreen will grab all Zambias assets abroad…” under what jurisdiction can they do that when their own assets are frozen?
They have the same problem in other countries they invested and they know it they can’t recover their assets so quickly, which is why they are appealing to the UN to help manage their sovereign funds. Much as we may owe them, it is not our problem that there is chaos plaguing their state institutions, hence our hesitation to pay up.
Once there’s clarity in who controls what in Lybia, I’m sure this issue will be settled without any noise.
Nine Chale
Libyas invested assets abroad are not frozen and are still generating funds as per investment.. …even though those funds are parked some where, how much interest is the money Zambia holds for lapgreen accumulating daily ??? All that will be paid.
Also UK courts offer extensive exceptions to the state immunity rules, the UK offering a broader interpretation of exceptions relating to arbitrations, many assets owned by Zambia are put at risk..
The only pathetic excuse left is Zambian government does not know who to pay.
The only crooks are the naive and reckless Zambian government who thought they could rob this foreign investor while no one was looking.
The government will pay libya when they have have a credible government, …….i assume that the pf regime is saying that they , the pf will pay when they the pf regime has a credible government. Now it makes sense why the debt hasnt been paid. Thanks for the clarity
Alll read the “the president’s keepers.” Its banned in sth Africa.. terrible njimbu can u read
Wait a minute. When Lapgreen was buying ZAMTEL, who received the money? And where did the money get allocated to? The account where the Lapgreen money went to must be the one to be debited. I suspect that RB chewed the money because he is very corrupt.
Why refer to him by his slave name? Trevor? I thought it was a muzungu. Simumba naimwe ba LT ala!
Trevor is a fu who works for them. Some Africans are a shame. Self-proclaimed consultant with papers from Amnesty!
The judgment is fraud! Never give ’em a cent Zambia!