Konkola Copper Mines Plc (KCM) has said that is has not yet received any information formal communication from the Government of Zambia, in particular, the Head of State President Edgar Lungu or the Minister of Mines Mr Richard Musukwa on the decision regarding the future of KCM.

In a statement released to the media , the company said that it has made urgent effort to to seek a meeting with the President and the Minister of Mines, but have not been successful.

Over the weekend, President Edgar Lungu announced that Government will disengage with KCM saying he would not allow Zambia to be blackmailed or arm twisted by mining investors as the country was still ripe for investment.

He said Government had resolved to part with KCM and would invoke the legal process to that effect.

The President assured that Government would follow the due process of the law in disengaging with the KCM investor, Vedanta Resources.

“We have been taken for a ride by some of these investors. So I am here to announce that Government is divorcing KCM,” President Lungu said.

And Mines Minister called on KCM Workers and all Zambians to be Vigilant, to Protect the company Assets. Mr Musukwa told the media on the need for Konkola Copper Mines employees and all Zambians, considering “the current situation”, to be vigilant and protect the Assets at the mining Firm.

“For a long time now, as a survival plan, the mining house has been involved in the process of selling some scrap and equipment. We got a report from our people on the grou. And to that effect, arising from this situation, we are calling on the workers and our people to remain vigilant and ensure that such activities with this situation, must NOT be entertained,” said Mr Musukwa.

Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) is one of Zambia’s largest copper producers, with mining operations in Chingola, Chililabombwe, Kitwe and Nampundwe. KCM is a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources plc (“Vedanta”). The Zambian state-owned ZCCM-IH holds a significant shareholding (20.6%) in KCM also. Since 2004, KCM has invested more than $3billion to upgrade and expand company assets. Today it is of the largest private sector employers in the country and maintains one of the most comprehensive corporate social investment programmes

Below is the full Statement from KCM

Konkola Copper Mines Statement

Chingola, 20 May 2019: Konkola Copper Mines Plc (KCM) is aware of media reports, quoting the President of Zambia, Mr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, in respect of a decision regarding the future of KCM.

KCM is yet to receive formal communication from the Government of Zambia on this, although it has sought an urgent meeting with the President and/or the Minister of Mines.

The intention of KCM and its primary shareholder, Vedanta, is to continue to engage with the Government in a constructive and transparent manner. The Government, through ZCCM-IH, is a direct and critical shareholder of KCM and its representatives who are on the KCM Board are fully apprised of and are party to the circumstances of the company and major decisions that have been taken.

Vedanta is a long-standing investor in KCM and in Zambia, having invested over US$3 billion since the acquisition of this asset. The company employs nearly 13,000 people at its sites and operates clinics, hospitals and schools through its corporate social responsibility programme that amounts to over $210 million since 2004. The company is yet to receive a positive return on this investment while, on the other hand, taxes, duties, fuel and power costs have risen exponentially among other issues, thereby placing an enormous and unaffordable burden on the company. The most recent restrictions and duty on concentrates has negatively impacted the running of the smelter and the much needed acid to run its operations. KCM has contributed over $1.4 billion to the Zambian Exchequer since acquisition and continues to be the leading Pay as You Earn contributor in the country.

KCM is seeking to meet with the Government as a matter of urgency to discuss the future of KCM and the impact that the current onerous situation is having on the company, the people of the Copperbelt and the Zambian people as a whole.

Eugene Chungu
General Manager, Corporate Affairs.

MOPANI Copper Mine (MCM) has assured Government of sound investment policies in its operations as President Edgar Lungu yesterday continued to engage stakeholders in the mining industry.

Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations, Amos Chanda, announced in Ndola yesterday that Mopani had committed itself to sound investment policies and improved management practices in its units in Zambia.

Mr Chanda said this after the President held a closed-door meeting with Mopani, Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) and senior Government officials on matters relating to the mining industry.

“The management and board of Mopani assured the President that they were very committed to sound investment policies, management practice, corporate social responsibility and all forms of engagement. The President has thanked them for their commitment,” he said.

He said however that the President had expressed displeasure on certain issues with Mopani including social services such as health and education.\n\nMr Chanda said President Lungu was not amused with the issues relating to contractors and suppliers and wanted the mining firm to rectify them.

“Otherwise the summary of it is that the President had a fruitful and constructive engagement with Mopani,” Mr Chanda told journalists at Bank of Zambia guest house in Itawa residential area.

Mr Chanda said the President would also balance between the interests of the country and the citizens on one hand and the investors.

According to Mr Chanda, President Lungu also implored CEC and Zesco to guarantee a smooth transition of the bulk power supply agreement which would come to an end next year.

The power utility firm generates and supplies power in bulk to CEC which in turn feeds the mining industry in a tripartite arrangement.

On the depreciating local currency, Mr Chanda said Government was examining local factors, but pointed out that the US dollar was appreciating, hence many other currencies were taking a downward trend.

Mopani Chief Executive Officer, Chris Vermeulen, assured that his firm had not stopped offering medical services at Malcom Watson Hospital, but that it had transferred some of its operations to Wusakile Mine Hospital in Kitwe.

Mr Vermeulen said Mopani would continue with corporate social responsibility programmes in areas where it operates

Meanwhile, Government’s strong stance on Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) is a strong signal to truant investors that Zambia is not a kangaroo nation where the rule of law is trampled upon with impunity thereby rendering citizens to be at the mercy of unscrupulous businesses, Edward Mumbi has said.

On Friday, President Edgar Lungu announced Government will disengage with KCM saying he would not allow Zambia to be blackmailed or arm twisted by mining investors as the country was still ripe for investment.

He said Government had resolved to part with KCM and would invoke the legal process to that effect.

The President assured that Government would follow the due process of the law in disengaging with the KCM investor, Vedanta Resources.

“We have been taken for a ride by some of these investors. So I am here to announce that Government is divorcing KCM,” President Lungu said.

And speaking to the Sunday Nation yesterday, Mr. Mumbi, a development activist, said the decision by Government to disengage from KCM, was a wake-up call to other foreign companies doing business in Zambia.

He said the decision should serve as a clear message to investors that truancy did not pay.

He said the decision on KCM was long overdue because the company had reached an extent of tainting mining business in Zambia.

“Government’s decision is in the best interest of Zambians. We may have minerals but we all know that minerals are a diminishing resources and if we do not make use of it to build our country by allowing foreigners to exploit it while giving us peanuts, future generations will suffer because they will have nothing left,” Mr Mumbi said.

“For a long time now, KCM has been claiming that it was making losses and was among other companies that have been trying to arm-twist government,” he said.

“Government said no employer must lose jobs on the mines but with impunity, they went ahead and cuts jobs on flimsy grounds simply because of the Sales Tax regime and so, let them go,” he said.

Mr Mumbi called on all stakeholders to rally behind Government’s decision because there was no other option left.

He urged political parties not to politicise the matter but look at the bigger picture by putting the interest of Zambians first

The Constitutional Reform and Education Coalition (CRECO) has advised Zambians to be wary about who will be opposed to enactment of Bills that have come from the National Dialogue Forum as they will be taking away most progressive clauses that affirm Zambia as a Christian Nation or take away the gains women, youth and persons with disabilities have made towards getting represented in Parliament and Councils.

Speaking at the media briefing this morning CRECO Chairperson, Hyde Haguta, says that Zambians must be proud that the Forum agreed to change the electoral system to include the mixed-member electoral system that provides for representation of women, youth, and persons with disabilities in the National Assembly and Councils.

“Those who are standing up against Constitutional, electoral, and public order Bills are simply against the affirmation of Zambia as a Christian Nation, they are against women and persons with disabilities who, for 50 years, have fought for representation in Parliament.”

Mr. Haguta stated that Zambia, despite not being a parliamentary democracy, has managed to devise its own system of coalition government that will ensure a presidential candidate who decide to form a coalition government must obtain the 50 percent plus one vote with those candidates they would invite to the coalition.

“The current political alliances Zambians are witnessing speaks to the fact that politicians aspire to form coalition government. It is folly therefore to suggest in one breathe that coalition government cannot work in Zambia when the very political parties are busy forming electoral alliances and coalitions before elections,” says Haguta who is also Media Institute for Southern Africa Chairperson.

Mr. Haguta has revealed that the Church has gone to bed with some civil society organisations who seek to discredit the progressive clauses which have been enacted by the National Dialogue Forum.

“In the next 60 days, these organisations will be busy with an anti-Zambia agenda, together with the Church, to raise tension over the progressive clauses which include the reinstertion of deputies and removing dissolution of Parliament.”

The Coalition has since called on the Minister of Justice to release all the Bills so that the propaganda which some civil society and church groups are spreading about the Dialogue canj be exposed by letting Zambians know the truth about what was agreed at the Forum.

The 16 day National Dialogue Forum (NDF) ended in Lusaka with over 400 delegates adopting resolutions to the Zambian Constitution that for the very first time, brings to an end a number of challenges that Zambians have been faced with in governance and the electoral system.

As ruling Patriotic Front Chairperson for the Legal Committee of the Central Committee Brian Mundubile describes it as, “a huge success” especially that it aims at building participation, transparency, gender and accountability.

In an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Mr. Mundubile said the NDF has confirmed that Zambians can dialogue without the the mediation of other people including foreigners but that as a people, “Zambians can accommodate each other.”

Of the over 400 delegates, the majority were from the professional bodies, Non Government Organisations, Civil Society Organisations, law makers with political party representation being in the minority – Hon Mundubile who is also Northern Province Minister says, this was a balanced and credible representation.

The NDF concluded with the adoption of three bills to do with Constitutional and Institutional reforms, separation of powers, Judicial reforms, civility in politics and the Public Order Act and other submissions that came from the Church which were key milestones.

Bills such as the draft constitution amendment bill, the electoral process amendment bill and the draft on the Public Order Act among which have seen the adoption of a mixed member representation system, the adoption of a coalition government in the event that no candidate obtains 50% + 1 which would see a complete transformation in the governance system.

Under the Electoral Systems Bill, the Civil Society Organisations (CSO) at the NDF moved a motion introducing a coalition government that would bring by-elections to an end, prevent election runoffs and as a result, save the costs of running by-elections in the country.

Hon. Mundubile explains that under this bill, when a constituency seat falls vacant, there would be no by-elections to fill the vacancy as the political party under which the member of parliament was elected would only nominate their member in an intra-party kind of election system to make a replacement.

This would also provide for the entry of women and marginalised people in parliament and councils through the ‘mixed member’ electoral system.

And the NDF confirmed that the National Assembly shall only dissolve at the date of the general election to allow Members of Parliament complete their full 5 year term.

“You see, this is another big milestone in our system where our women, youths and the marginalised will now see themselves in the governance system of the nation,” explained the Mporokoso lawmaker adding that “once our people begin to understand the products of the NDF, they will also understand the benefits which are enormous.”

The 1955 Public Order Act was also another topical issue at the NDF which had never been amended for a very long time.

He said the forum reaffirmed the people’s right to freedom of conscience by removing Section 9 clause 1 of the Public Order Bill which penalised people for refusing to sing the National Anthem meaning that now, it will not be mandatory for any group except at public functions while the period of hearing of a Presidential has been revised to 30 days from the controversial 14.
The 16 day National Dialogue Forum (NDF) ended in Lusaka with over 400 delegates adopting resolutions to the Zambian Constitution that for the very first time, brings to an end a number of challenges that Zambians have been faced with in governance and the electoral system.

As ruling Patriotic Front Chairperson for the Legal Committee of the Central Committee Brian Mundubile describes it as, “a huge success” especially that it aims at building participation, transparency, gender and accountability.

In an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Mr. Mundubile said the NDF has confirmed that Zambians can dialogue without the the mediation of other people including foreigners but that as a people, “Zambians can accommodate each other.”

Of the over 400 delegates, the majority were from the professional bodies, Non Government Organisations, Civil Society Organisations, law makers with political party representation being in the minority – Hon Mundubile who is also Northern Province Minister says, this was a balanced and credible representation.

The NDF concluded with the adoption of three bills to do with Constitutional and Institutional reforms, separation of powers, Judicial reforms, civility in politics and the Public Order Act and other submissions that came from the Church which were key milestones.

Bills such as the draft constitution amendment bill, the electoral process amendment bill and the draft on the Public Order Act among which have seen the adoption of a mixed member representation system, the adoption of a coalition government in the event that no candidate obtains 50% + 1 which would see a complete transformation in the governance system.

Under the Electoral Systems Bill, the Civil Society Organisations (CSO) at the NDF moved a motion introducing a coalition government that would bring by-elections to an end, prevent election runoffs and as a result, save the costs of running by-elections in the country.

Hon. Mundubile explains that under this bill, when a constituency seat falls vacant, there would be no by-elections to fill the vacancy as the political party under which the member of parliament was elected would only nominate their member in an intra-party kind of election system to make a replacement.

This would also provide for the entry of women and marginalised people in parliament and councils through the ‘mixed member’ electoral system.

And the NDF confirmed that the National Assembly shall only dissolve at the date of the general election to allow Members of Parliament complete their full 5 year term.

“You see, this is another big milestone in our system where our women, youths and the marginalised will now see themselves in the governance system of the nation,” explained the Mporokoso lawmaker adding that “once our people begin to understand the products of the NDF, they will also understand the benefits which are enormous.”

The 1955 Public Order Act was also another topical issue at the NDF which had never been amended for a very long time.

He said the forum reaffirmed the people’s right to freedom of conscience by removing Section 9 clause 1 of the Public Order Bill which penalised people for refusing to sing the National Anthem meaning that now, it will not be mandatory for any group except at public functions while the period of hearing of a Presidential has been revised to 30 days from the controversial 14.

Hon Mundubile also clarified on the political party amendment bill which was left out saying consensus was reached that the amendment to Article 60 of the Constitution would adequately taken care of its provisions.

He appealed to the people of Zambia to ensure they understand the amendments to their Constitution to avoid falling prey to distortion and propaganda by some people.
Hon Mundubile also clarified on the political party amendment bill which was left out saying consensus was reached that the amendment to Article 60 of the Constitution would adequately taken care of its provisions.

He appealed to the people of Zambia to ensure they understand the amendments to their Constitution to avoid falling prey to distortion and propaganda by some people.

National Democratic Congress Leader Chishimba Kambwili has urged President Edgar Lungu to immediately step down as Head of State. Mr. Kambwili said that President Lungu has clearly failed to govern the country because he has run out of ideas and urged citizens to unite and remove the the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) through the ballot in 2021.

Mr . Kambwili said that he will continue speaking out for the people of Zambia despite being blocked by police adding that no amount of fear and intimidation will stop him from speaking out for Zambians.

The NDC leader said that he was worried that the police service under the instructions of the PF Government has continued denying opposition political leaders permits and has since warned the police command who are working with the PF that their days are numbered.

The NDC leader said this in an interview with journalists in Chipata yesterday.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kambwili has said that he has been vindicated over his stance on Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) and that it has always been the aspiration that KCM packs and goes.

Mr. Kambwili accused PF leaders of eating with KCM that has failed miners on the copper belt, noting that Zambia is broke as could be seen from the failure of government to pay civil service their salaries.

Today’s Scripture

“And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.”
(Deuteronomy 28:2, ESV)

Handfuls On Purpose

Our God is a rewarder of those who seek Him! When you keep God first place and do your best to honor Him, the Scripture says, “His blessings will chase you down and overtake you.” That means you will come into increase, promotion and good breaks that you didn’t necessarily deserve. That’s God rewarding you for walking in His ways.

We see this principle in the Old Testament with Ruth. She was out in the fields following behind the workers and gathering up the leftover wheat that they missed. She was trying to take care of her mother-in-law, Naomi, but they were barely surviving. One day, the owner of the fields, Boaz, told the workers to leave handfuls of wheat on purpose for Ruth. Ruth came into blessings that were simply dropped at her feet.

Every one of us can look back and see times where God has left us handfuls on purpose—something that we didn’t deserve or even ask for. We were just provided for unexpectedly. That’s a “handful on purpose.” I encourage you to always keep your expectancy up. Keep trusting God and obeying His voice because He is ready to bless you in unexpected ways today!

A Prayer for Today

“Father in heaven, thank You for Your goodness and faithfulness in my life. I trust You as my Provider; You are the One who cares for me. I acknowledge You with my love and thank You for leaving me “handfuls on purpose” today! In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”