THE London High Court has increased former president Frederick Chiluba’s indebtedness to the Zambian Government to more than US$58 million from US$41 million after adding interest and costs.

This came to light yesterday during a video conference court hearing between Chikwa Court in Lusaka and the Royal Courts in London where Judge Peter Smith was hearing submissions on quantum payments for Chiluba and 19 others.

This is the case where they were found liable to have defrauded the Zambian Government of US$46 million. The increase in Chiluba’s indebtedness means that he has to pay back $58,293,106 to the Zambian Government.

The London court also increased former Zambia Security Intelligence Services director-general, Xavier Chungu’s indebteness to $58,112,727, while that of Access Financial Services director, Aaron Chungu was upped to US$27,193,136.50.

The submissions increased Lusaka businessman Faustin Kabwe’s indebtedness to US$53,757,867, while that of former ZCCM chairman and chief executive, Francis Kaunda went up to US$100,575.

In the same submissions, the indebtedness of Swiss tailor Basile Boutique went up by US$500,000. The money spent on Chiluba’s clothes was originally US$1,815,736.

Congolese businessman Raphael Soriano’s debt went up to US$29,609,502.

Judge Smith also ordered for the evaluation of Chiluba’s Kabulonga house, whose amount should not be part of the US$58 million.

The judge also dismissed Mr Kabwe’s application that he be allowed to get 2,000 Pounds per week from his assets because he did not justify how he was going to be using the money.

Judge Smith also observed that although Chiluba said money deposited in the Zamtrop account on his behalf was from well-wishers, he did not specify who the well wishers were.

“And as a result, the Zambian Government is entitled to possession of his property,” Judge Smith said.

The submissions continue today. Task Force on Corruption chairperson, Maxwell Nkole said the proceedings were open to the public and defendants based in Zambia.

President Mwanawasa has urged the G8 most industrialised countries to come up with legal measures that will make it difficult for corrupt leaders from the third world to hide their stolen money in developed countries.

Mr Mwanawasa has also called on the G8 countries to simplify the process of
recovering such monies by the aggrieved governments.

In his address to the ‘Africa Business Forum 2007’ in London today, President
Mwanawasa said developing countries cannot afford a situation where the much needed
aid from developed countries  goes back there in the personal accounts of corrupt
leaders.

‘We cannot be receiving aid and the same aid goes back through corruption, so we
hope you can help us repatriate this money”, he said.

Mr. Mwanawasa pointed out that the  money is needed to deliver quality education,
health, clean water and many other services to improve the living standards of the
people.

President Mwanawasa also said the active participation of the private sector is
central to the economic emancipation of Zambia and the rest of the countries on the
African continent.

He pointed out that the need for aid diminishes and eventually becomes irrelevant if
the private sector becomes strong.

It is in this regard that his administration is endeavouring to create a friendly
investment climate through the implementation of the private sector development
programme (PSD) in a bid to remove various obstacles to doing business.

Mr. Mwanawasa explained that the PSD programme covers areas such as software
improvement and the creation of  a regulatory framework to facilitate private sector
participation in infrastructure development through public-private partnerships
(PPPS).
The framework  would also cut down on the time required to register a company,
customs and other formalities.

President Mwanawasa added that the move would also rationalise licence requirements
and generally change laws and regulations that choke private sector initiatives.

He said in many cases, the envisaged improvements would be established through the
application of Information Technology, ICT, backed by client charters which define
the minimum acceptable standards of delivery of public services in support of the
private sector.
 
Mr. Mwanawasa said in addition, government was also creating conducive business
environments through targeted  infrastructure development in specially designated
areas  dubbed Multi Facility Economic Zones.

He pointed out that companies operating in the special economic zones will not only
benefit from world class physical environment but will also benefit from excellent
tax incentives and a world class regulatory environment.

President Mwanawasa invited the business community to explore the abundant
investment opportunities that Zambia offers through  facilities.

He pointed out that as a result of the good business environment, Zambia has
attracted significant investment in the past few years that has seen huge investment
in mining, agriculture and other sectors.

Mr. Mwanawasa however pointed out that business cannot thrive in the midst of
corruption.

He said it is in this light that his administration has taken practical steps by
prosecuting people who are suspected to have participated in corruption and theft of
public resources.

Mr. Mwanawasa said punishment of corrupt persons  is only one tool in the fight
against corruption adding that another important part of the arsenal should deal
with removing the incentives for corrupt activities to thrive.

” I say so because quite often, it is unreasonable rules and work procedures in the
public service that create fertile ground  for corruption as business people try to
find ways and means of cutting corners to get things done quickly”, he said.

Mr. Mwanawasa who thanked the G8 countries, particularly Britain , for the debt
relief so far received has since urged the grouping to meet the commitments made
during the 2005 G8 summit.

President Mwanawasa also held private talks with his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri
Museveni.

Addressing the same gathering, Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni stressed the need
for aid in order to promote trade between Africa and developed countries.

Mr. Museveni said energy, particularly electricity and cheap transportation, such as
railway, are key to Africa’s efforts to fight poverty and better the continent’s
economic position.

He also urged western countries to encourage their companies to invest in Africa.

Speaking earlier, Commonwealth Business Council, Director General and Chief
Executive Officer Dr. Mohan Kaul said small and medium enterprises  (SMEs)  are the
cornerstone  of economic development hence the need to channel more resources to
thius area.

And Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and minister for Africa  Lord Triesman
said G8 countries should help Africa in a way that the continent is able to help
itself in the long-run.

He said donor dependence should be curtailed by supporting economic activities on
the African continent.

The Zambian delegation at the Forum includes foreign affairs minister Mundia
Sikatana, commerce, trade and industry minister  Felix Mutati, agriculture and
cooperatives minister Ben Kapita and Zambia development agency executive director
Glynne Michelo.

The  high profile Forum under the theme “Partnerships for Jobs, Growth and
Sustainable Development”, which comes on the eve of the G8 summit in  Germany, is
an ongoing initiative to help business people  explore trade and investment
opportunities in Africa through high level  conferences.

THE Lusaka High Court has ordered companies and banks that hold money on behalf of former President Kenneth Kaunda to transfer it to a consortium of lawyers’ account to service the debt he owes in legal fees.

This is in a case in which lawyers from law firms are owed legal fees amounting to US$645,526.26 by Dr Kaunda.

The law firms include Central Chambers, Andrea Masiye and Company, Dove Chambers, Lukona Chambers and Mvunga and Associates.

Deputy High Court Registrar Jones Chinyama directed that the cited companies should appear before him on June 19, and show cause why they should not give the money to a consortium of lawyers.

The companies include Zambia National Commercial Bank, Barclays Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Stanbic Bank, Indo-Zambia Bank and Investments Bank. Others are Zambia National Holdings Limited, United Quarries Limited, Dora Tamane School and E.W Tarry’s.

The order was made following an application by the lawyers that the named companies and banks pay them the debts, dividends, profits, rentals due or any money accruing to Dr Kaunda and UNIP, which they were holding.

The legal fees accrued when the lawyers represented Dr Kaunda in cases, which included the misprision of treason, which attracted a fee of US$171,726.25, citizenship case with a cost of US$150,000, and the black mamba case with a cost of US$90,475.

Other cases in which they represented Dr Kaunda were the alleged Kabwe assassination attempt and illegal assembly with a cost of US$ 45,825 and the 1996 presidential petition case.

The legal fees which the lawyers are demanding were agreed upon in a consent order on April 27,1999 after Dr Kaunda disputed the initial fees.

It is alleged that the former President and UNIP undertook to settle the fees but to date they have not done so.

The ruling MMD in Mufulira district has maintained that the Mungomba Constitution should be adopted by Parliament and not a Constituent Assembly as suggested by some sections of society.

This is because the constituent assembly could cost huge sums of money that could
instead be channeled to the implementation of economic development programmes.

The MMD has also maintained that adopting the constitution through the constituent
assembly would only demean and undermine parliament which is the only legitimate
body put in place to make laws.

MMD Mufulira District Secretary, Joseph Chikombola, said this in a walk in interview
with the Zambia News and Information Services in Mufulira today.

And the MMD has suggested that the K205 billion set aside for the constitutional
making process in this year’s budget should be channeled towards national
development ventures.

The party says the money involved was too much and would only end up benefiting a
few individuals who will draw per diem at the expense of suffering Zambians.

And the ruling MMD in Mufulira has taken a swipe at the Catholic Church whom they
have accused of misleading the people on the entire constitutional making process.

Mr. Chikombola added that the church has of late been posting pastoral letters on
the constitution making process, to its members in various communities.

Mr. Chikobola has since appealed the clergy in the largest Christian grouping to
desist from talking about the constitution and rather concentrate their efforts on
propagating the works of God.

He added that politics and matters surrounding the constitution should be left to
politicians alone adding that the clergy should not gain political mileage by
speaking on the constitution without firstly consulting their members.

The ruling MMD has scooped the Chilongo ward by election in Nchelenge district.

MMD’s candidate Chilembi Chipili polled 251 votes beating his nearest rival paul
Chisala of the National Democratic Focus, NDF, who got 137 votes. PF’s Maxwell Mpande came third with 62 votes.

Returning officer Edward Musonda last night declared Chipili duly elected in
the by election at the Nchelenge District Council Chamber.

UNIP candidate Peter Muposhi was last with 14 votes. The returning officer said there were two spolied ballots with none disputed.

Speaking to ZANIS after the announcement of results, Nchelenge MMD Constituency
chairman Oswell Musamba expressed delight at the results of the polls.

Mr Musamba said the party’s victory in the polls was not by accident but a result of hard work, issue based campaign and support from the party leadership at both provincial and national level.

President Levy Mwanawasa challenged the West to match Chinese investment in Zambia on Tuesday, saying Western countries had let country down. Mwanawasa said Zambia would carry on welcoming Chinese investment, credit and loans despite domestic political opposition and unease in the West over the pace of China’s drive to boost economic ties with Africa.

“Those who oppose Chinese investment … all they need to do is to equal the help we are getting from China. We only turned to the East when you people in the West let us down,” Mwanawasa told Reuters on the sidelines of an African business forum.

“Give us the same or more cooperation we are getting from China and you will see that we are friends,” he said.

China is pursuing a strategy of tapping African raw materials to feed its economic growth, in exchange for grants and unconditional loans to the world’s poorest continent.

Zambia said last month China had boosted its planned investment to $900 million in the Zambia’s mineral-rich Copperbelt over the next four years.

“The good thing is that I know of no strings that are attached to Chinese investment,” said Mwanawasa.

China’s increasing involvement in Africa has raised concerns among Western companies that they will be squeezed out of the race for Africa’s mineral and energy deposits.

Eyebrows are also being raised in Western political circles at China’s rising influence in the populous continent.

Some within Zambia oppose Chinese investment. Workers at a Chinese-owned copper mine in Zambia rioted over pay last year and the main opposition Patriotic Front party has accused the government of selling out to Beijing.

Mwanawasa dismissed talk of domestic opposition to China: “The opposition in Zambia oppose anything.”

Chinese businesses have already invested more than $6 billion in Africa and are engaged across sectors from energy and mining to construction, infrastructure and textiles.

Some Western companies are hamstrung by their bankers who balk at the potential risks of doing business in a continent with a poor record on corporate governance.

Mwanawasa, who in a speech to the business forum stressed the need to root out graft, dismissed allegations his government’s anti-corruption campaign was a political witch hunt against his predecessor Frederick Chiluba.

Chiluba, who says he is the target of a witch hunt, is to stand trial on corruption charges on August 14, accused of stealing $488,000 in state funds while ruling the southern African nation from 1991 to 2001.

The case has been stalled since May 2006 due to concerns about his health.

“Chiluba is a very close friend of mine … there is no reason whatsoever why we should want to purge” the country of his supporters, said Mwanawasa.

He said he had offered Chiluba an olive branch — that he could repay 70 percent of what he had allegedly stolen and receive a pardon but Chiluba had rejected the proposal.

THE London High Court judgement has finally been served on former President Frederick Chiluba with a court injunction freezing his pension account and two properties in Ndola.

But Dr Chiluba has said that he would contest the London judgement during its registration in the Zambian High Court.

Ministry of Justice officials delivered Judge Peter Smith’s judgement together with the freezing order on Monday at Dr Chiluba’s Kabulonga home.

This is in a civil case in which the former head of State and others were found liable of defrauding the Zambian government of about US$46 million.

This was in an action in which the Zambian Attorney-General commenced civil proceedings in the London High Court against Dr Chiluba and 19 others to recover funds that were allegedly stolen using bank accounts based in London.

The specific claim against Dr Chiluba was about US$2 million.

Judge Smith’s freezing order is against seven defendants who include fugitive former Zambia Security Intelligence Services (ZSIC) director-general, Xavier Chungu, fugitive former Zambia High Commissioner to the United States, Atan Shansonga, former minister of Finance permanent secretary, Stella Chibanda, and Lusaka businessman, Faustin Kabwe.

Others are Nebraska Services Limited and Congolese businessman based in Belgium, Raphael Soriano, also known as Katebe Katoto.

Judge Smith’s freezing order prohibits Dr Chiluba to access his pension account at Barclays Bank’s Longacres branch in Lusaka, his properties in Ndola at 5 Kanono Road and another property at 20 Kabinga Road, until further order of the court.

Part of Judge Smith freezing order reads; “If you Dr Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba, Mr Xavier Franklin Chungu, Mr Atan Shansonga, Ms Stella Mumba Chibanda, Mr Kabwe, Nebraska Services Limited or Mr Raphael Soriano, disobey this order you may be held in contempt of court and be liable to imprisonment or fine or to have your assets seized.

“Any other person who knows of this order and does anything which helps or permits the respondent to breach the terms of this order may also be held to be in contempt of court and may be imprisoned, fined or have their assets seized”.

Judge Smith following an application by the Zambian government granted the freezing injunction on May 4.
The order was made at a hearing without notice to the defendants although they have a right to apply to court to vary or discharge the order.

Judge Smith warned that the defendants should not in any way dispose of, deal with or diminish the value of any of their assets whether they are in or outside England and Wales.

Dr Chiluba, Mr Chungu, Ms Chibanda and Mr Kabwe have each got frozen assets in the sum of US$25 million.

On Mr Shansonga, the order attaches assets valued at US$2,220,000, Mr Soriano’s at US$20,500,000 while Nebraska Services Limited’s assets are valued at US$72,000.

Judge Smith stated that for the purpose of this order, the respondents’ assets included any he had power, directly or indirectly, to dispose of or deal with as if it were his own.

The assets seized from the other six defendants range from bank accounts, farms, residential houses, companies and shares in some companies.

The order also provides that the defendants should within three days of service and to the best of their ability inform the Attorney-General’s solicitors of their assets world-wide exceeding US$5,000 in value whether in their name or not.

Judge Smith ordered that if the provision of such information was likely to incriminate the respondent, they might be entitled to refuse to provide it through legal advice in that wrongful refusal was contempt of court, which may render such people liable to be imprisoned, fined or have their assets seized.

He also said within seven days of service of the order, the respondents should swear and serve the Attorney-General’s lawyers an affidavit setting out the information on their assets world-wide.

Dr Chiluba’s spokesperson, Emmanuel Mwamba, said the former President would seek that the judgement together with the order be set aside during registration in the High Court.

Mr Mwamba said Dr Chiluba had noted that the judgement had come with other orders that sought to freeze his pension account and two of his houses in Ndola.

He said once the Attorney-General puts in motion the registration of the judgement in the High Court, he would seek that the entire ruling together with the order be set aside.

Mr Mwamba complained that the judgement was “dropped” at Dr Chiluba’s residence gate on Monday at about 16:30 hours by officials from the Ministry of Justice.

“They dropped what appeared to be normal mail but later it was discovered that it is the London High Court judgement.

“We wish to express our worry at the manner of the service of the documents because they were not given to Dr Chiluba, his representatives or agents but just left at the gate with the guard,” he said.
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