Copperbelt based governance activist Gershom Nombuyo Phiri has questioned why senior government officials in Ndola left their offices on Tuesday morning to officiate at the ceremony of unveiling a team bus for Zesco United Football Club.

Copperbelt Province Minister Elisha Matambo led a delegation that included Copperbelt Permanent Secretary Augustine Kasongo, Ndola Mayor Jones Kalyati, Ndola District Commissioner Joseph Phiri, FAZ vice President Justin Mumba, Zesco Limited Board Chairman Vickson Nc’ube, Zesco Managing Director Victor Mapani and Zesco United Chairman Maxwell Saya during the unveiling of the 65-seater bus at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium.

Mr. Phiri said the presence of several government officials at a football team event has exposed their lack of priorities.

The former Copperbelt University Students Council Chairman said officiating at the unveiling of a team bus should have been left to just one government official.

“First and foremost as a good governance and human rights activist, I appreciate soccer in general and I appreciate leaders supporting the team (Zesco United). But then looking at the delegation that came, it is clear that they cannot tell me that while they left their offices they had no individual tasks as officer bearers. Therefore they did so at the expense of those respective tasks they left which they were expected to carry out and which they were mandated to do. Today the Copperbelt, for example, is engulfed with a lot of problems which require every minute of the office bearer to add value to the response of those problems,” Mr. Phiri said.

“I think it demonstrates number one, lack of priorities. Number two, attaching politics to soccer because they went there as politicians, people who occupy political offices or public servants. If it was a public holiday, I would have said they went there as soccer fans and as a people giving solidarity to the team. So I wish to appeal to office bearers that currently Zambia is in dire need of solutions to problems it is facing and the problems it is facing are requiring urgent, short term and long term solutions. Therefore to see leaders moving aimlessly shows that they don’t know why they are occupying public offices. That cannot sit well with citizens. I am meant to believe that their absence in their respective offices were at the expense of members of the public who were going to their offices to be assisted and who were taking solutions on top of that,” Mr. Phiri said.

“Even just a permanent secretary is ok, not the Copperbelt Provincial Minister. I don’t see jurisdiction to his office with regards to that. The permanent secretary is a closer technical person or is the closest technocrat. Again if you look at the city mayor I also don’t see jurisdiction of his office. District Commissioner that is a civil servant who should have focused on other issues. Where the permanent secretary is not present maybe the District Commissioner is ok,” he said.

Mr. Phiri charged that there are several serious issues affecting the people of the Copperbelt that government officials should be tackling that include mining and agriculture.

“The issue of the mining sector, today Copperbelt being dependent on the mining sector. The mines are not doing as they are supposed to be performing and people are left in speculations. The issue of the uncertainty surrounding Konkola Copper Mines and Mopani are the issues the Minister of the Copperbelt should prioritise. Today citizens are wondering why the Government gave a tax holiday to an investor and Zambia is set to lose more than K1.5 Billion per annum when copper is trading very well on the international market. Those are the issues the Provincial Minister is supposed to explain to the people because the President (Hakainde Hichilema) made it clear that he is going to enhance and facilitate total mining taxation and maximisation of exploration of other minerals because Zambia is rich in minerals,” Mr. Phiri said.

Meanwhile, Copperbelt Province Minister Elisha Matambo has said President Hakainde Hichilema and the New Dawn Government is striving to unite the country which was left divided by the 2021 general elections.

Mr. Matambo said Zambia was left in pieces by the elections that ushered into office the United Party for National Development (UPND) government.

He said Zambia was divided on political, religious, tribal and regional lines.

Mr. Matambo, the nominated Member of Parliament, said no sphere of society was left by divisions that engulfed Zambia before and during the August polls.

Mr. Matambo was speaking when leading a high profile delegation in unveiling a team bus for Zesco United Football Club at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola on Tuesday morning.

The delegation included Copperbelt Provincial Permanent Secretary Augustine Kasongo, Ndola Mayor Jones Kalyati, Ndola District Commissioner Joseph Phiri, FAZ vice President Justin Mumba, Zesco Limited Board Chairman Vickson Nc’ube, Zesco Managing Director Victor Mapani and Zesco United Chairman Maxwell Saya among others.

Mr. Matambo said sports like football can help to unite Zambia because it cuts across political, tribal or religious lines.

“Let me just emphasise that before and during the just ended general elections our country was in pieces. I have never seen divisions which we witnessed during and before the elections of 2021. We were divided on tribal lines; we were divided on political lines. Every sector you can talk about, many in uniforms (defence forces), education, and health everything,” Mr. Matambo said.

“The unfortunate party is that even the church which is supposed to be the referee was also divided. So if a team like Zesco United, the managing director said it was the brand of the company (Zesco Limited), I want to mention to you managing director that Zesco United is one of the clubs and the symbol of our province in whom we are well pleased as Copperbelt Province,” he said.

“Therefore, every time Zesco United takes to the pitch, Zambians are not looking at each other in terms of their tribe or political affiliation, colour or religion. We all cheer the team in unison, signifying the unity that has existed in our country since independence. I pray that the grace of our Lord will see us through even as his excellence (President Hakainde Hichilema) is trying to unite the country once more,” Mr. Matambo said.

“As Zesco Limited board chairman I stand between the politicians and the corporates. As such I am fully appraised on the manifesto and development agenda of the UPND Alliance Government. Not because I am partisan because if you are going to be chairing the board of a parastatal – state enterprise you have to be aware of where the government of the day is taking the country. And that is why I speak as I speak,” Mr. Nc’ube said.

“That said, therefore, we are aware of the priority that this government has given to the youths. Football is an opportunity that is created for the youths. Zesco stands on that belief that we must be among those organisations that create a dream and an opportunity for these youths. When you see a young man walking wearing a jersey whether it is written as Messi or Ronaldo, that is a dream and Zesco seeks to facilitate the achievement of that dream in the shortest possible time,” he said.

Mr. Nc’ube further challenged Zesco United to aim higher.

“Guys the ball is in your court, you can enrich yourself by not just conquering Zambia but conquering the whole Africa. Then you go on to conquer the whole World. FIFA club championship, when you beat the whole of Africa and you go to that tournament the participating fee at one time, it could be more than $10,000,000 just for stepping there. If Africa is represented by Zesco, we are aware that there is money that will head our way and all these dreams of sponsoring these will become a thing of the past,” he said.

In a sensational turn of events, former Konkola Copper Mines provisional liquidator Milingo Lungu has revealed that he met President Hakainde Hichilema and Vice-President Mutale Nalumango and held negotiations for his exit from the mining giant.

Others who attended the meeting included Minister of Finance Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane and State House Principal Private Secretary Bradford Machila and State House Special Assistant for Legal Affairs, Christopher Mundia.

In subsequent meetings, Attorney General, Mulilo Kabesha, Solicitor General, Marshal Muchende, Director of Public Prosecutions Lillian Fulata Siyuni and Natasha Kalimukwa-Administrator General were present.

The meeting was meant to discuss how Mr Lungu can vacate his office in exchange for immunity from criminal prosecution and the return of his seized assets as they were legitimately earned.

This is according to a petition he has filed before Constitutional Court against the State and the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC).

Mr. Milingo has since requested the Lusaka High Court to compel the DEC to uphold the immunity from prosecution granted by the DPP on matters related to his role as Provisional Liquidator of Konkola Copper Mines.

He has also requested the Court to compel the DEC not to further investigate, arrest and prosecute him on matters that form part of the indemnity.

Mr. Milingo has also sworn in the affidavit that he will demonstrate to the Court that the commissions he earned from running Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) which earned $1.2billion during the period, were legitimate and in accordance with the signed Remuneration Agreement.

He said the commissions he earned were for the period between 21st May 2019 and 17th March 2021.

He said following his refusal to vacate office after an announcement about his illegal removal as the court-appointed Provisional Liquidator, State agents approached him to engage in formal negotiations for his smooth exit.

He said a crisis arose at KCM as the newly appointed liquidator had no legal mandate to access bank accounts, assets and operations of KCM.

He revealed that the parties agreed to a forensic audit that would lead to the dropping of the criminal charges against Mr. Milingo and an indemnity or immunity to prosecution.

Milingo also stated that it was unreasonable and an abuse of the criminal process to arbitrary arrest and seize assets on charges that have not been complained against or formed as criminal by KCM.

Patriots for Economic Progress(PEP) has said that giving the mines a de facto tax holiday at a time that copper prices are at record highs of approximately 11,000 dollars per metric tonne, was a very poor decision by the government because mines have been able to operate and make a profit when copper prices were at 3,500 dollars.

Mr Tembo says it is saddening that Zambia is not benefiting in any way from this windfall while at this point the country should have been leaping huge tax dollars from the mines.

Mr Tembo has advised the new dawn government to come up with homegrown solutions instead of depending on the International Monetary Fund–IMF- bailout package for the country`s economic turnaround, expressing concern that government has premised the entire economic plan on the IMF programme which he said if it does not come through will negatively affect the country`s economic recovery agenda.

Below is the full statement

FOUR MAJOR ECONOMIC BLUNDERS OF BALLY’s PRESIDENCY SO FAR

By Sean Tembo – PeP President

1. IMF BAILOUT: Believing that Zambia needs an IMF bailout loan in order for us to turnaround our economy. Additionally, Bally has premised his entire economic turnaround plan on the IMF programme, meaning that if the IMF doesn’t come through, he will be scuttled. The truth is that we can turnaround our economy by using homegrown solutions. Simply by stopping the theft of public funds, Zambia can double its revenue base.

2. TAX HOLIDAY: Giving the mines a de facto tax holiday at a time that copper prices are at record highs of approximately $11,000 per metric tonne, was a very poor decision on the part of Bally. The mines have been able to operate and make a profit when copper prices were at $3,500 which means they are now making supernormal profits with copper prices at $11,000. And yet the nation is not benefiting in any way from this windfall. Whether this decision was done in order to pay back the money which the mines funded UPND during its 23 years in opposition or it was just innocent incompetence, remains a matter of speculation. At this point we should have been leaping huge tax dollars from the mines, and we could’ve easily been servicing our debt obligations, including the upcoming Eurobond.

3. GOVT RECRUITMENT: In economics, when they say that employment creation is a key accelerator of economic growth, they do not mean government recruitment to suddenly ballon the civil service, no. They mean private sector employment creation. Am sure Bally wasn’t paying attention during his economics class at UNZA when this topic was being taught. So for him, when he became President he immediately committed to employing 40,000 plus additional civil servants, all at once, at a time when we have the largest fiscal deficit in history. A fiscal deficit means that your expenditure as a country is higher than your revenue. So the natural thing to do under those circumstances is obviously to either cut your expenditure and/or increase your revenue. But Bally is doing the exact opposite. He is increasing expenditure and cutting the revenue through the de facto tax holiday. What a poorly baked economist indeed.

4. SHUNNING LOCAL CONTRACTORS: For whatever reason, Bally has a strong apathy against local contractors and suppliers. My view is that he thinks all these people are affiliated to the previous regime. And therefore, since he wants to punish the previous regime as much as possible, he prefers to shun local contractors and suppliers in preference for foreign ones. A case of ZESCO poles tender is one such example. Bally has also decided not to pay a single local contractor or supplier since coming into office, under the excuse that he is still auditing them. This has destroyed the Zambian entrepreneurial base almost completely. Additionally, this has reduced the amount of money in circulation and also destroyed thousands of jobs. Right now, no matter what you are selling, the business environment is very poor. There is just no demand out there. All thanks to Bally and his desire to punish the previous regime.