Action Aid Zambia has demanded that KCM be shut to allow investigations take place so as ensure that Zambians know how much the mine makes.

Action Aid country director Pamela Chisanga observed that there is need for people to be told the truth about how much the mine makes in profits hence government should consider shutting the mine down for investigation if it does not know what is obtaining at the mine.

And Ms Chisanga demanded that President Micheal Sata gives the government’s position on the matter.

She said it was disheartening to see the government remain mute on the KCM saga.

Chisanga said the statement by KCM owner Anil Agarwal is serious and should be investigated.

Meanwhile Ms. Chisanga said the Police and the Anti Corruption Commission should come in to investigate the matter.

She said the matter is criminal and Police should not just be quick to arrest opposition leaders when they hold meetings.

Agarwal is on video saying he bought KCM for a paltry US$25 million and reaps US$500 million per year.

She has since given the PF government 7 days to give a conclusive position.

A suspected PF cadre employed under the judiciary this morning deliberately rammed his car into a group of UPND supporters seriously injuring five.The injured were part of a  large crowd of UPND supporters that converged at the Magistrate Court to offer solidarity to their leader Hakainde Hichilema.

UPND deputy general secretary Kuchunga Simusamba confirmed that the injured were rushed to UTH and two have since been admitted while one is said to be critical condition.

Mr. Simusamba said UPND supporters were standing outside the magistrate court when the man identified only as Mwewa drove his Corolla VVTI at full speed and crushed into the cadres.

“It is sad that our members are now in hospital for no apparent reason. We have identified the vehicle that bashed them. It was being driven by a PF cadre called Mwewa who ran into our supporters and injured the five,” Mr Simuusa said.

He added, “the same vehicle that hit the cadres also rammed into my vehicle and damaged my vehicle extensively.”

Mr. Simusamba said one cadre has been critically injured with his leg broken into two while the other four are in stable condition.

UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema later visited his injured supporter at UTH.

Meanwhile,the case in which Mr. Hichilema is accused of publishing false news with intent to alarm the nation has been adjourned to 3rd July 2014.

Mr. Simusamba said they could not continue with the case because of what transpired outside the court.

 Davis Chirwa(far left) Robert Sichinga Jnr(far right)

A simple yet innovative idea has been hatched to highlight Zambian talent. This is through the establishment of a platform to expose Zambian talent into the American market. Talent Zambia USA or just Talent Zambia, is the brain child of US-based Zambian born, Robert Sichinga Jnr.

Late last year Sichinga embarked on a mission to call different Zambian Talents and floated the idea of a platform on which they could have their own profile. The goal of which was as this platform was exposed and gained popularity, the talent represented would in turn also be promoted and exposed. With unanimous support, Talent Zambia USA was born. The talents represented on the site are based in Zambia, the US and other parts of the world. All Talent Zambia members receive a 1-2 page profile on the website at no cost. The Talent is asked to provide as much information as they want the world to see. Some profiles include music videos, movie clips or reals, pictures, news articles, professional bios, and links to other sites they might be part of. In addition to representation on the website, Talent Zambia will work to establish partnerships and contacts for the represented Talents.

As the Talent Zambia website took form Sichinga contacted Zambia born Seattle based Davis Chirwa, CEO of Channel ATV/DC Productions. Chirwa has many years of experience in the industry, spanning from TV/Video production, photography, and entertainment management. The two agreed to establish a partnership and committed to grow Talent Zambia. Sichinga and Chirwa began making calls to Zambian Talents. Shenky, a Zambian based singer, song writer and producer of Tinnah Touch productions, provided Sichinga with over 20 names and numbers of Zambian Talents immediately after hearing about the initiative. Talent Zambia represents models, actors, musicians, photographers, graphic designers, fashion designers and individuals in film and media production.

On Wednesday April 9, 2014, Talent Zambia was officially launched at the Marriot hotel in Marina Del Rey a beach city in Southern California. In addition to the invited guests, a few Talent Zambia members were present. These included, Ben Daka a Zambian born film producer based in California, Talia Hayward a Zambian born artist based in California, Taash a Zambian born singer based in Florida and Talent Zambia partner Davies Chirwa who is an accomplished film/video producer based in Seattle. Each of the Zambian Talents present at the launch party exhibited examples of their work including two songs performed by Taash. Chirwa and Sichinga are currently working to expose Taash to the world. Chirwa and Sichinga mentioned that they are excited about helping Taash break into the industry and are convinced that she will be a force to be reckoned with. Talia presented a 4’ X 5’ mosaic of the late Mandelas face. The mosaic is made of 4,560 pennies.

Sichinga has also set up Talent Zambia Radio (www.talentzambiaradio.com) an online radio channel which carriers non-stop Zambian music. The music mixes on the online station are provided by Talent Zambia member DJs based in the US. ZedBeats, the largest online platform for Zambian music is also providing Talent Zambia with music mixes. Sichinga hopes that as Talent Zambia Radio gains popularity he would like to use it to air Zambian radio shows. Talent Zambia radio is available by going directly to www.talentzambiaradio.com or by downloading a cellphone or IPAD app called Radionomy and then finding Talent Zambia Radio station.

Several organizations have established strategic partnerships with Talent Zambia. The most recent includes a partnership with The Africa Vibes magazine based in California. The Africa Vibe magazine has agreed to provide Zambian content in their online and print magazine. The Zambia National Arts Council and the Zambia Association of Media Arts have both formerly endorsed Talent Zambia in addition to the Zambia Short Film Festival. Zambias Kings of Comedy are also part of Talent Zambia. Sichinga would like to introduce comedy sketches on Talent Zambia Radio, in addition to other activities to expose the group.

For more information, visit: http://www.talentzambia.com

(Lusakavoice)

BY KAPA187

Vedanta Resources has issued a media statement in response to the video that was posted on Youtube where the group chairman was telling business people in India that KCM was giving his group $500 million per year after just buying  the mine  for $25 million . In a statement released to the media, Group Communications Executive vice president Roma Balwani accused “one activist ”  for  taking a small part of the video of his  speech and used it negatively out of context.

Below is the full statement

Our Chairman, Mr. Anil Agarwal, recently addressed businesspeople in India when he spoke engagingly about the human side of running a multinational mining business. In an anecdote, he referred to Vedanta’s 2004 acquisition of KCM, our Zambian subsidiary. Unfortunately, one activist has taken a small part of the video of this speech and used it negatively out of context.

In his speech, Mr. Agarwal decided not to mention that since the acquisition, nearly all the returns from KCM have been reinvested back into KCM, as it simply wasn’t relevant to his anecdote. In fact, over nine years of ownership by Vedanta Resources, KCM has made $2.9 billion of capital investment and made just $73 million in dividend payments – a fifth of which is to the Zambian government.

Anil Agarwal, Chairman, said: “In the nine years of ownership by Vedanta Resources, KCM has made nearly $3 billion of capital investment and taken very little out. With our investment, we have invested heavily, extending the mine life, creating jobs and investing in the community. We are now Zambia’s largest employer and second biggest taxpayer.

“We are very thankful to the local communities, and very thankful to the government who have worked with us, and we remain fully committed to KCM and to helping the Zambian people and the Zambian nation develop and grow its natural resources.”

With that investment, the company has dramatically increased the mine life, dramatically increased employment, doubled real salaries there, provided technical and management training for thousands of Zambians, reduced the number of expatriates and continues to be Zambia’s second-biggest mining taxpayer. Furthermore, KCM has invested $120 million in local communities, providing schools, educational programmes, sustainable agricultural initiatives, critical medical programmes and funding for cultural events.

Tom Albanese, CEO, said: “KCM has a long mine life, and we are committed to see it through the near term challenges it currently has. We have made the investments, and now we’re making a commitment in terms of all aspects of the management, the stakeholder relations, the government dialogue, to make this the world-leading Company that it deserves to be. Our reinvestment in the business is not for the next three to six months, it’s being reinvested into the business for the next 50 years.”

Mr. Agarwal and Vedanta Resources continue to believe that KCM has a great future despite short-term operational challenges. He and the company remain fully committed to KCM and to helping the Zambian people and the Zambian nation develop and grow its natural resources.

Roma Balwani Executive Vice President – Group Communications and CSR

ZAMBIA’S mining industry is projected to earn over US$1.3 billion next year, Minister of Labour and Social Security Fackson Shamenda has said.

Mr Shamenda said the mining industry’s contribution to the gross domestic product is anticipated to grow to US$1.35 billion in 2015.

He said the mining sector’s contribution to the economy is significant.

Speaking at the Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) 13th quadrennial conference, Mr Shamenda said Government will ensure it creates a conducive environment for mining activities to thrive.

“Government is committed to diversifying the economy away from mining to sectors like agriculture and tourism. We still recognise the important role of mining to our economy,” he said.

Earlier, MUZ president Chishimba Nkole said the country is now seeing the dawn of a mining industry that has absorbed over US$2 billion in recapitalisation and refurbishment of old mine infrastructure and opening of new mining projects.

Mr Nkole said the new mining projects at Kansanshi, Kalumbila and Syncrinolium at Mopani copper mine continue to contribute to the extension of the life span and production capacities of the existing mining operations.

“The new set-up of mining activities, however, poses new challenges to the union’s drives and strategies for membership recruitment, union organisation and growth in light of trade union rivalry and competition in the mining industry,” he said.

He said it is crucial that the conference focuses on challenges facing MUZ and come up with an effective plan for the unions growth and strategies for better salaries, improved conditions of service, health and job security for members.

Mr Nkole said there is need for Government to come up with a clear poverty datum line which should be official and reliable. He also called on Government and mining companies to create a framework or policy to strengthen corporate social responsibility (CSR) to help monitor spending and measure results.

“This way, our country will truly benefit from its mineral wealth. We would like to see a CSR programme that involves all stakeholders and not just mining management deciding on their own what to do for the host communities,” he said.

Mr Nkole said when Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines was unbundled and privatised, Copperbelt towns saw the advent of high revenue collections by the city and municipal councils in property and land rates not only from actual mine premises but from many residential areas.

He said it is important that the public takes a keen interest in understanding the levels of revenue collections that the councils achieve from the mines as those are public funds that should contribute meaningfully to enhance CSR.