President Levy Mwanawasa says more Zambians have died of HIV AIDS, contrary to the official figure of 90 thousand people.
Dr. Mwanawasa has directed Health Permanent Secretary, Simon Miti, to revise the current statistics because they are out-dated.
The President issued the directive when United Nations HIV AIDS envoy for Africa, Elizabeth Mataka, called on him at State House in the Southern African nation’s capital, Lusaka, Friday.
Dr. Mwanawasa also said HIV AIDS is the biggest hindrance to Zambia’s economic development.
He said Zambia is among the worst hit by HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Dr. Mwanawasa said over 200-thousand Zambians require Anti retro Viral drugs.
He however said 100-thousand are currently accessing the HIV/AIDS drugs.
The Zambian leader said a high level committee of cabinet ministers has been constituted to provide leadership in the fight against HIV AIDS.
And Mrs. Mataka said African countries need to scale up efforts towards eradicating the HIV AIDS pandemic.
Mrs. Mataka pledged to enhance promotion of universal access to HIV AIDS drugs.
She also promised to scale up efforts towards empowering women to enable them contribute to the fight against HIV AIDS.
Courtesy of ZNBC

The World Bank said on Thursday Zambia should raise mineral royalties paid by foreign mining firms and even introduce windfall taxes if feasible to gain more benefit from higher global metals prices.

New World Bank country manager for Zambia Kapil Kapoor said the mineral-rich southern African country should take advantage of higher metal prices and raise taxes so that its citizens could profit from the good prices.

Last month Zambia’s finance minister Ng’andu Magande said the government had engaged a team of foreign consultants to help it renegotiate mineral royalties and taxes with foreign miners.

“Given that commodities prices have gone up, Zambia needs to get high benefits from the increased prices,” Kapoor told journalists.

“Zambia needs to raise the taxes, whether it is withholding tax or windfall tax because this is not unique to Zambia and it’s up to the government to decide what taxes it wants to raise (and) we really support that,” Kapoor said.

Kapoor said the country required revenue to spend in social sectors and one way of achieving this would be through revenue raised from the mining taxes.

Zambia’s government has previously said it wanted to raise mineral royalties to 3 percent from 0.6 percent and corporate tax rates to 35 percent from 25 percent.

The country previously scrapped a 15 percent withholding tax to allow mining companies some financial stability after they made huge capital investments in the country, which depends upon mining for much of its foreign earnings.

Key foreign investors in Zambia’s mining sector include Canada’s First Quantum Minerals, Australia’s Equinox Minerals, London-listed Vedanta Resources and Swiss firm Glencore International AG.

Although copper mining is the economic lifeblood of Zambia, some analysts argue the country does not reap enough benefit because the mines are owned by foreign companies.

The Patriotic Front (PF) in Mwansaboambwe constituency in Kawambwa has denied reports that some of its councillors in the area have resigned to join the ruling MMD.

Consituency chairman, Fewdays Mwape says the reports are false.

Mr. Mwape who was flanked by Mununshi ward councillor, John Nsompa was speaking to
ZANIS in an interview in Kawambwa yesterday.

He said it is unfortunate that the former councillor, a Mr Mumba announced that
other PF councillors had also resigned from the party to join the MMD.

Mr. Mwape said challenged Mr. Mumba to come out in the open and disclose the names
of the PF councillors that have resigned to rejoin the MMD.

He said all PF councillors in the area are intact and have no plans of resigning
from PF to join the MMD.

Mr Mwape notes that no other councillor has resigned from the PF in the apart from
Mr Mumba and Phillip Chama of Lufubu ward.

Mwansabombwe constituency has one MMD councillor and five PF councillors.

Zambia Centre for Inter Party Dialogue, ZCID, board member Langton Sichone has commended the Patriotic Front, PF, for declaring that it will participate in the National Constitutional Conference, NCC after all.

Mr Sichone told ZANIS in Kafue that the decision by the PF is a manifestation of
maturity in dealing with the all important issue of constitution making in Zambia.

He stated that it is important to appreciate the fact the NCC has been accepted by
the majority of Zambians and its outcome will be welcomed by all stakeholders.

Mr Sichone said now is the time for all stakeholders to march together in writing a
constitution that will be nationally acceptable and stand the test of time.

Mr Sichone also noted that government has shown political goodwill and that the
church should now start praying for the success of the constitutional process.

He advised church to be wary of some sections of society who want to use them to
oppose government for selfish interest.

Mr Sichone appealed to the all the stakeholders participating in NCC to develop a
culture of nationalism and patriotism by not joining the NCC with ill motives in
order to frustrate the process.

A Vedanta Resources-owned copper mining company is selling Zambia short while generating huge profits from the country’s finite natural resource, according to evidence in a report published today. It calls on Vedanta and its major UK investors to rectify the situation before current contract re-negotiations with Zambia are concluded.

The joint report, Undermining Development? Copper Mining in Zambia, by three international development organisations, SCIAF (Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund), Christian Aid, and ACTSA, examines the record of Zambia’s largest copper producer, Konkola Copper Mines (KCM).

The report calls on the UK government to make amendments to the Companies Act 2006 to ensure that UK businesses are held to account for the social and environmental impact of their activities in vulnerable developing countries.

KCM is majority-owned by Vedanta Resources – a UK-based FTSE 100 company backed by household names such as Standard Life, HBOS, and Barclays. Such investors ‘talk the talk’ on corporate social responsibility but during the research period held major stakes in a company with a questionable record on sharing the benefits of its operations with the host country, the environment, and its impact on local communities.

The report authors say KCM is ‘short changing’ Zambia with royalty fees of just 0.6 per cent instead of the 5 to 10 per cent industry average in developing countries. Whilst legal, this rate of royalty implies that, in 2006/07, the Zambian government would have received mineral royalties of only US$6.1 million from KCM, while the company extracted copper ore worth over US$1 billion.

Zambia’s copper generates 75 per cent of the country’s foreign export earnings but according to the report the government is not receiving its fair share of the income generated at a time when life expectancy in the country is 37 years, one in three children do not go to school, and 68 per cent of the population live in extreme poverty. Last year KCM made a net profit of US$310 million which is more than Zambia spent on healthcare. If the country continues to receive such a raw deal, it is likely to remain the ninth poorest country in the world according to UN rankings.

The international development organisations are calling on major investors in Vedanta/KCM to put pressure on the companies during the current negotiations. Specifically, they argue, Vedanta/KCM should:

* pay 30 per cent of profits in income tax (up from 25 per cent);
* pay mineral royalties of at least 3 per cent, up from 0.6 per cent;
* pay the Zambian government a larger share of the difference between the actual copper price and the trigger copper price in the price participation scheme.

According to the Zambian finance minister at the time, the government was put under considerable pressure from the World Bank, IMF and other donors to privatise its copper mining industry in the 1990s; privatisation was a condition for debt relief. This contributed to the Zambian government having a weakened bargaining position during negotiations with the private mining companies.

SCIAF Policy Analyst Abi Dymond is the principal author of the report and states that whilst private companies in developing countries are there to make a profit and do provide social benefits such as employment, Zambia is not receiving a fair proportion of the money raised by its copper resources.

“Evidence suggests that Zambia is drowning in poverty whilst a rich mining company is running away with its greatest natural resource. It is vital that Zambia is given a fairer share of the profits from its natural assets to help combat crippling poverty in the country. SCIAF, Christian Aid, and ACTSA are now calling for Vedanta/KCM management and UK investors to use their influence to make sure Zambia gets a fairer deal. This is a great opportunity for Vedanta and the big UK-based investors to put their much-vaunted corporate social responsibility policies into practice, and we look forward to their support.”

Joyce Nonde, President of the Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ) said: “We endorse this report and are encouraged by the international pressure being applied on the company (KCM) and the support for Zambian Civil Society calls for improved development agreements, labour rights and environmental protection. It is time that companies operating in Zambia started paying fair taxes and mineral royalties and commit to assist the development of our country rather than undermine it.”

Kato Lambrechts, Christian Aid’s Senior Policy Officer for Africa added: “This report challenges mining companies operating in Zambia to clean up their business, pay living wages, adhere to Zambian environmental laws, and pay a fair share of their profits to the Zambian government. The revenues collected from the production and profits of mining companies, especially in view of skyrocketing international copper prices, could help Zambians improve their lives, boost economic development, and bring greater independence from international donors.”

Simon Chase, Campaigns Officer at ACTSA commented: “Corporate accountability and social responsibility in the Zambian Copperbelt are being badly ignored as the evidence shows in the report. Zambian people are suffering at the hands of companies like Vedanta and this is their opportunity to implement real and positive change.”

The report also focuses on the welfare of those who work at the KCM mines. Some sub-contracted skilled labourers claim that they are paid as little as £37 per month when it is estimated that the average Zambian family needs at least £151 a month to meet their basic needs. Concerns over the pollution arising from KCM’s activities, and its effect on local communities are also highlighted. An investigation by The Environmental Council of Zambia found the ‘grossly negligent’ behaviour of ‘KCM management’ resulted in rivers used by local communities for drinking water being ‘significantly polluted’.

A Corporate Accountability Group headed by Anne Moffat MP is currently investigating the implications of the Companies Act 2006 and how it is applied by British companies abroad. Vedanta’s operations will be assessed as a case study of the group.

Source: Christian AID
Full Report:http://www.christianaid.org.uk/Images/Mining%20Report_final_tcm15-27834.pdf