Sunday, October 6, 2024

Sishuwa asks government to publish agreement with Vedanta, calls it greatest betrayal of Zambians

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Historian Sishuwa Sishuwa has challenged the Zambian government to publish contents of the agreement with Vedanta Resources regarding KCM.

Writing on X, Sishuwa says if Zambians were to see the contents of the just signed Shareholder Agreement with Vedanta for the takeover of KCM, many will be so livid that they will likely demand for the immediate resignation of President Hakainde Hichilema for working against the interests of the Republic.

“I have seen, read, and understood the Agreement, and I challenge the Government to publish it in full in the name of transparency and accountability if they have nothing to hide,” he stressed.

“I am aware that Hichilema discarded the terms and conditions prepared by patriotic and very capable technocrats in the civil service and exerted pressure on the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines-Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) to wholly accept the ones produced by Vedanta Resources. The concessions given to Vedanta – let us just say the concessions Vedanta has effectively given itself and which Hichilema agreed to without even subjecting the Shareholder Agreement to discussion in Cabinet – are so dreadful and anti-Zambia that any citizen who signs that terrible agreement must ordinarily be charged with SABOTAGE or TREASON.

Dr Sishuwa said the contents of the Agreement with Vedanta constitute the ultimate betrayal of public trust and the interests of the State.

“Argh! We are going nowhere serious with Hichilema at the helm of Zambia, unless he changes course, for the better. He has become a clear and present danger to Zambia’s economy, to our democracy, our constitutional order, our nationhood and its future, to the lives of ordinary Zambians, and must be peacefully removed from office at the earliest available opportunity.”

Dr Sishuwa said what consoles him is the knowledge that as of today, many people in Zambia may not know who they will vote for in the next election, but they already know who they will not vote for.

“The best thing about electing Hichilema president was that we are no longer distracted by his threat or potential to be better than those who came before him and we can now start looking for suitable, if better, alternatives. If Hichilema did not become President of Zambia, we would have lived with some degree of guilty for not giving him the chance to govern. We could have also succumbed to certain narratives that suggest that some regions of Zambia can provide better leaders than others. To some extent, it is not regrettable that the man got the opportunity to lead.”

He added, “Now we know that in order to develop, Zambia does not need a given region or an individual from a particular ethnic group in State House. The country simply needs competent men and women who are patriots, have a feasible plan, and are committed to restoring the nation’s dignity, where they come from notwithstanding.”

He said, “In a certain weird and perverted sense, it is good that Zambians gave Hichilema a chance to reveal who he truly is.”

Dr Sishuwa said the Chewa-speaking people of Zambia have a saying that “The best way of proving the potency of a man who claims that he is able to achieve an erection is for the woman to undress for him.”

He said in August 2021, Zambians undressed for Hichilema after a decade-and-half of claiming that he is capable of taking them to greater heights.

32 COMMENTS

  1. we are in for it KK told this nation but good that try was a man and zambians tried their level best but sa-fa-ce to say……….

  2. “Dr Sishuwa said the contents of the Agreement with Vedanta constitute the ultimate betrayal of public trust and the interests of the State.” What are the contents? If SS is to be taken serious he should have at the minimum given an example of the contents that are against the public interest. But typical of cheap rhetoric, the topic quickly changes to voting out HH. This should be left to the citizens to decide after SS exposes the contents of the Vedanta agreement. But from the look of things, there is nothing their that is against public interest. So nothing is there to expose and this is just rhetoric!

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    • When secrecy floods us all what citizens can do is speculate.
      Tc’s of IMF are not laid bare, like Vendata revival pact. Do you know that the Paris Club debt restructured bargain is not revealed to Zambians? We only hear of it in foreign news outlets. Has Musokotwane or Mweetwa ever told us anything that is cooking? Unlike being proactive they are busy firefighting. Mines are for Zambians, not UPND’s. What are you hiding? Same cheap, shoddy deals surround Kasemseli when the gold should should have cushioned the kwacha erosion: now at 25 to $1where PF left it bleeding 2 years ago. Same difference.

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    • I concur.This is personal drivel and rumor-mongering as usual, There is nothing doctorial about this write up.Tell us what you find treasonable in the agreement

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    • Mr SS is calling up on the government to publicly show the agreement with Vedanta, therefore he is not the one to do so, hence let them as a government come forward and respond to SS simple as that.

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  3. This is very true and too bad that even the union are blank they know nothing of the content in the agreement.kkkkkkk yama.

  4. Is there anything wrong if Vendanta borrows money from a bank within Zambia and repays the loan on agreed terms with that bank within Zambia?? Why dont interested Zambian companies borrow money from banks from either within Zambia or from banks based in other countries? Serious companies borrow from any bank which gives them a good business deal. Copper business is dealt as an international commodity and narrow national interests which dont make business sense will just reduce the benefits from copper mining from the perspective of mining companies.

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  5. Sishuwa, you say you have the Agreement so just publish it in its entirety yourself and point out which areas you think the government has betrayed the nation on and also mention what, given the prevailing situation, should have been agreed upon instead. I think that is what a true academic would do. By the way, in case you don’t want to do it yourself, you could even ask those who showed it to you to just leak it to Lusaka Times. I’m thinking, in this day and age, if it was as bad as you claim, someone would have leaked it already.

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  6. Alfred Bulaya, exactly it is even good when an international mining firm borrows money from a bank within Zambia as most of the repaid money will be within a bank in Zambia hopefully improving our internal financial status.

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    • Binani former owner of Luanshya and Baluba mines borrowed from Zanaco never paid back and ran away. Having said that I condemned and still condemned the way ECL’s PF grabbed KCM from the Indians by send kaizar Zulu and milingo with gun totting policemen firing into the air. This was in complete disregard of the the arbitration clause. Had we gone for arbitration, the Indians would have certainly lost. This would have allowed us to choose a more credible investor/s. Currently our hands are tied to vendetta. It’s an insult from Lungu to aspire to come back to power. He ought to be in prison.

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  7. Chipante pante Government…..in opposition everything was as simple as counting 1,2,3… but now they don’t know if they’re going or coming

  8. Sishuwa has woken up to these tribal upnd crooks. They are stealing with impunity. We are keeping records. 2026 our courts will be busy. We won’t waste time to remove hh immunity

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  9. It’s life in the marrow where it’s sweetest. The UPND are currently enjoying themselves so it’ll be futile to advise them. One day reality will dawn on them like it’s done on PF. If they can shameless ransack the treasury through consent judgements, would you expect them to be transparent on such big deals? This is where the bread is properly buttered, where grand corruption occurs. I agree with Sishuwa that although Zambians haven’t yet decided who to vote for in the next election, at least they know who not to give their vote.

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    • I saw them counting how the voting pattern would go in 2026.
      1) Make sure we get every vote in our provinces
      2) Ensure copperbelt rural gives every vote.
      3) Pass a Bill for simple majority to replace the 50+1

  10. Fugitive Kaizar, dont forget that your criminal records are kept within the LEAs in Zambia. When you appear in Zambia be ready to be caged without any bail or bond!!

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    • It’s a good thing to be serious with serious issues that has to do with the nationa, KCM is a nationa asset therefore as Zambians we have to no what’s happening because this is our resources thy don’t belong to one man, even if you are a supporter you must first analys the matter and stop rushing at people everytime we are all affected including yourself.

  11. Shishuwa got a copy of the agreement and we don’t know under which conditions he got it. Maybe the one who gave him the report demanded that it was for his eyes only…so he can’t breach.
    Remember Kabuswe told us that the agreement was verbal?
    Forget about your party and be critical for once.

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    • Maybe Sishuwa is lying and hasn’t even seen the agreement. Maybe the agreement doesn’t have anything contentious in it and Sishuwa is just trying to seek attention. You see that the game of maybe can be played on both sides?

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  12. SS cannot publish the article in the absence of Information Bill being made into law. The same people will judge him with possession seditious material and espionage. Very bogus cases!! This regime is very vindictive and vengeful. There is no need of letting SS to publish it minus the canopy of protection.

  13. I think Sishuwa means well for Zambia…. in Opposition HH sounded like a super genius but he is actually an empty tin and the only thing on his mind right now to steal and bankrupt Zambia..he is very bitter because Zambians kept rejecting him for 20 years so now its pay back time..he will make sure before he leaves office the treasury will be negative zero not even a single ngwee

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    • @annonymous. Please do not insult empty tins. They are far much much better than him and his UPND sycophants.

  14. What consoles SS is that many Zambians do not who to come and vote for in 2026. Many Zambians also know that between now and beyond 2026, Zambians will have nothing to do with anyone masquerading to beat HH bar as an alternative. Just mention one name while other parties are in courts over leadership squabbles.
    For Zambians a bird in hand is better that many noise makers around. KZ will come home too.

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