By Chipoka Mulenga, NDC Vice Spokesperson
The National Democratic Congress Party (NDC) President engaged a team of Ministers in Kitwe led by Hon. Bwalya Ngandu on matters relating to Mopani Copper Mines.
This follows management plans to place the company on care and maintenance.
Dr. Kambwili urged the government not to allow Glencore to place the mine on the planned arrangement as the act Will deprive the government from the much needed revenue from mining associated taxes, VAT and PAYE from the many employees and contractors that would lose their jobs.
Dr. Kambwili explained how the foreign management’s negligent acts have led to MCM being found in a situation it is now.
He advised a team of ministers to deliberately come up with a policy that will get Zambians to be involved in running the mining industry at critical levels from a pool of experienced Zambians.
The NDC President believes a time has come when Zambians had a share in the majority stake of the Mining industry. He cited Mr. Emmanuel Mutati as the best CEO to have run MCM. At his helm of MCM, Mopani paid it’s employees and contractors on time as well as life of mine expansion projects being undertaken.
Local contractors and suppliers where given priority to do business with the mine situation which is slowly dying after he left the company.
MCM is now proposing to take the contract’s office to South Africa, a situation the NDC leader has lamented.
If this is allowed to see the light of day, it will not allow any Zambians having meaningful business with the mining industry, ” lamented Dr. Kambwili.
He added that placing the mine on care and maintenance will be disastrous not only to the government treasury but the general workforce on The Copperbelt Province and surrounding towns.”
If the situation is allowed to happen, there will be untold levels of poverty that not even any amount of donor aid from Chinese will help.
The best is to allow the mine to continue operating while aligning MCM system of management with inclusion of Zambians in key decision making positions at the corporate level.”
This meeting has come at the time when the opposition is not only expected to provide “checks and balances” but suggests solutions to the ailing economy which is almost on its knees.
As NDC, we shall continue giving the government alternative solutions where we feel they are failing so that the country is availed a “sample” of what they expect when we form government in 2021!
You’re always sensible CK but you need to go back to PF so that together we can defeat this cult leader in 2021
He is never sensible. And his stay in PF showed us just how repulsive he can be if in power
We are not interested.
Votes are on fate of PF ministers to contract covid-19. PF should wish all cabinet ministers test positive so they can use as an excuse for their poor performance. They should be in official quarantine, those 35 useless ones.
CK is now making HH look useless in the eyes of Zambians over the mines they privatized with late FTJ Chiluba!!
Truth be told,if Zambia is to benefit from the mines,large shares must be in the hands of Zambians unlike the poor advice HH gave FTJ Chiluba’s MMD Govnt in the 90s to sell mines to foreiners!!Kainde made a huge blunder which has caused untold misery on the copperbelt over the years!!
I 100% agree with CK on this one and congrats CK for joining the PF Ministers recently on the copperbelt something evil Kainde cannot do!!You are bringing sanity in the opposition politics-a move which is lendering bitter HH useless!!Keep up CK!!
A time that leaders in Zambia must act to ensure that Zambia ceases to be an extraction zone for minerals is now. It’s good to hear we have deposits in Zambia for gold and other precious minerals but it pains to still learn that such opportunities are given to foreigners with money in return for a few jobs for the zambian person. I believe there are many zambian entrepreneurs vying to have those opportunities but govt is frustrating them in preference for foreign investors. Let’s have confidence in our own people and give them these opportunities and back them with the necessary resources to see them succeed, once one is successful many zambians will be successful too. Let’s not step on each other while we look on as money and the precious minerals leave our borders.
“The NDC President believes a time has come when Zambians had a share in the majority stake of the Mining industry”
Too late. The privatization and SAP programs were engineered to an extent where takeover or portfolio restructuring was an uphill battle and messy; working against Government. Ask h², Ask surviving Nawakwi or Situmbeko or Katele.
See CKinsultor (by the way, I will be graduating you to CK since you have toned down on insults) the mistake was in the initial stages with those sell contracts.
Doing that will pave way to protracted legal battles as in KCM case. But it is s3xier to think in those lines. The h² you associate with lately let the country down in the initial stages big time. You have no assets to freely repossess.
A process or tenet that seeks to identify zambian entrepreneurs first for such opportunities must be put in place. Is we seek to make our economy strong we must empower local people to be the drivers for a strong economy foreign investors only make the economies of their own countries stronger in terms of GNP. On scale of 100 percent of economic drivers and development let zambian people have at least 70% of those opportunities and strategic ones too, 30% can be for FDI’s.
NATIONALISE. Please stop waffling, we need total control of our resources.
The move to have Zambian contractors is welcome move, I however would urge the Zambians to look after the employees well. Even CK’s company owes other Zambian suppliers and employees a lot of money. We too should not be selfish when given contracts. Why do Zambians choose to work for foreign companies instead of Zambian owned. Most Zambian business men are so selfish such that they even fail to play poor brick layers who have built the mansions they live in.