Former Zambia’s Ambassador to Ethiopia Emmanuel Mwamba has said that Kagem Mine Board Chairperson Sixtus Mulenga should respond to the Auditor General’s report that showed that Kagem had made losses in the least five years instead of responding to him.
In response to Dr. Mulenga’s remarks urging the Minister of Mines Paul Kabuswe and all well-meaning Zambians to treat Mr. Mwamba’s post on his Facebook page as false and ignore it, Mr. Mwamba said that the information from his post was extracted from the 2021 Auditor General’s Report on Parastatals that stated that Kagem was among a list of companies that declared losses and never submitted dividends to the state.
Mr. Mwamba further added that the Auditor General’s Report on Parastatals has consistently named Kagem Mining Limited as one of the companies that have not rendered any dividends in the last five years.
Mr. Mwamba further said that the Auditor General’s Report on Parastatals revealed that out of 33 companies in which IDC holds shares, 21 recorded a net loss of K3.8billion in 2018, K7.3 billion in 2019, and K17.3 billion in 2020 and that these companies included ZESCO, Zambia Railways, and Kagem Mining Ltd and Kagem Mining is owned by ZCCM-IH (25%) and Gemfields (75%).
Mr. Mwamba further said that Kagem Mine was the single largest producing emerald mine in the world and Zambia is the second-largest producer of emeralds after Columbia.
Mr Mwamba said that the Auditor General’s Report stated that a review of the State-Owned Enterprise (SOEs) Situational Analysis Brief issued in September 2021 revealed that out of the thirty-nine (39) companies that were operational, twenty-five (25) companies reported losses during the period under review as indicated in table 7.7 of the report on page 40, which include Kagem Mining
Yesterday Dr Sixtus Mulenga described as laughable and ignorant an article which was written by former Zambia’s Ambassador to Ethiopia Emmanuel Mwamba where he claimed that the gemstone giant posted losses in 2020.
Dr. Mulenga said that the emerald mine ceased production in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that the Facebook post by Mr. Mwamba is false and should be ignored by well-meaning Zambians.
Dr. Mulenga said that most companies scaled-down production while some closed due to the impact of Covid-19, adding that Kagem, the largest emerald producer in the world, is the only company which paid workers in full for one year despite halting its operations.
Dr Mulenga said this when Mines and Mineral Development Minister Paul Kabuswe and Lufwanyama Member of Parliament Kenny Siachisumo toured the gemstone mine recently.
Earlier, the minister visited Grizzly Mine where he urged management led by Company Vice Chairperson Abdoul Ba to be transparent in their operations.
Mr. Kabuswe said management should ensure there is skills transfer to employees to encourage artisanal mining.
And Mr. Ba commended Government for its support and pledged to continue supplementing its efforts through corporate social responsibility programmes.
In response, Mr. Kabuswe urged the workers unions to be proactive and vigilant in fulfilling their mandate and cautioned management against intimidating workers.
He urged Kagem Mine and Grizzly Mine to collaborate and tar the over 40-kilometer road which connects Kalulushi District to the two mines.
The Audit Report on parastatals for 2020 can be downloaded on the link below
https://www.ago.gov.zm/?wpfb_dl=246
Very sad reading. Instead of exchanging accusations, let AGs report be made open for all. As it is a person like who hasn’t seen this piece of paper cannot say anything. But I be glad if a chance was given to me to see it.
I think it is sad that @Deja Vu you can’t see the link for the Audit report. It is right there for you to download and draw your own conclusion. I hate Mwamba , but I think he has a point here backed by evidence. Why has Kagem been declaring losses for the last five years,
I can’t reconcile the fact that the company that haas been making loses in the last 4 years suddenly in year 5 payers it’s workers full salaries while they are not working.
How does that work and how can you justify that. Dr Mulenga needs to do better to explain than ask us to ignore what Mwambva is saying, more so if his data is from the latest AG report. We need a better explanation than insulting the Mr Mwamba
#2 Chanda Thanks. I will try as you advise.
Why is Kagem even responding to an attention seeker
And he is very well known for twisting facts. Isnt he the same guy Sata fired? I am just asking
Five years of loss making. It seems that could be the trend in the next five years. And what do we do with such a company? And what is the reaction of the other shareholder? We note that shareholders are interested in profits and not losses else the take their resources to profitable ventures. Or fire management….for underperformance…..which am sure the board chair is aware of,,,,,Can we hear from the other shareholder then.
During that five years… where was he? (Mwamba)
Guys this us big. If you look at the global emeralds index sales that Zambia sold in various international auction houses and the income they declare here at home, huge disparity. Where has the money been going? Who has been responsible? Emeralds have been a curse to this country. So many if the stones have been produced but so little of that resource accrued to the people of Zambia. Just ask untouchable and powerful Gounassi who arrived in Zambia from Mali wearing flip flops in tge early 80s and is now a multimillionaire in US dollars – with assets all over the world from stealing emeralds most of which were produced by Kagem mine
Dr (pope) Sixtus Mulenga has probably been misquoted here. Covid only happened last year so what happened in the other years?
They are ripping off zambia as usual………
The problem is those 2 mines were some of the biggest contributers to PF campain funds………..
I detaste that stinking tribal bigot ,”Table Cut” Emmanuel Mwamba SOB but on this score I fully agree with him!
We have a saying that sense can also come out of a molehill. Mwamba has made sense today.
Mwamba notes that ZESCO has also not been making profits and declaring dividends. So why is Mwamba not asking questions on failure of both ZESCO, Zambia Railways and other numerous loss making parastatals? When a private firm makes losses and doesnt pay dvidends to shareholders, it closes! Zambia cant afford to keep loss making parastatals which dont pay dividends over many years! Why do we have parastatal boards that dont adhere to criteria established to close a parastatal companies which are not profitable ?
Dr Sixtus, with a PhD from the prestigious Ryal School of Mines in London ought to be prudent and honest. It’s a shame that he could corroborate with crooks to deny the host country (Zambia) its rightful tax. I’m disappointed. No wonder his ethics resulted in he parting company with KCM!
#13 I am equally worried that such a man should be mixed with such a situation. Just hopping it’s poor reporting