zambia weekly - week 49

8/2/2019 Zambia Weekly - Week 49

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President Sata has alleged the MMD govern-ment illegally printed money using two print-ers apart from the ofcial Thomas de la Rue

in the UK. He claimed former President Bandahad appointed three un-named chiefs to tourthe country to antagonise and dilute theeffects of the PF government using the fakemoney. But we know what they are doing,warned Sata.

Nonsense, retorted former Minister of FinanceSitumbeko Musokotwane: Its the Bank of

Zambia (BoZ) that does all the printing of money because its in the law that they mustdo that. He suggested that Sata was trying to divert public attention from the PFs failureto full pre-election promises: [T]his is very shameful indeed, the behaviour by the presi-dent, of making all these dramatic statements and so-called revelations, which turn out tobe false (...). The outside world will be asking questions: Does the president have advisors?

Does the president have ministers? If so, why does he make all these allegations that turnout to be false? asked Musokotwane and suggested that Sata should set up a commis-sion of inquiry on the matter.

For the avoidanc of doubt, replied State House, we wish to make it abundantly clear thatthe biggest and most serious challenge facing Zambia today, whether Dr Musokotwaneand his colleagues agree or not, is excessive greed and corruption, Satas spokesmanGeorge Chellah said, calling Musokotwane a very useful but out-of-control spokespersonof a troubled group seeking to confuse the due process of the law with politics.

Speaker of the National Assembly Patrick Matibini directed Minister of Finance AlexanderChikwanda to issue a statement on the allegations, following a point of order raised byUPND MP Jack Mwiimbu, who produced a K 50,000 note not printed by Thomas de laRue. BoZ said it would state its ofcial position after Chikwanda has issued his statement.

Last month, Bank of Zambia acting Governor Bwalya Ngandu explained that Giesecke

& Devrient (G&D) GmbH of Germany are the printers of all banknotes in the 2010-2012currency supply contract. Bwalya explained that G&D had been chosen because of a longstanding business relationship dating back to 1996, which developed further as G&Dprinted the K 10,000 denomination in the 2007-2009 currency supply contract.

Another printer in the spotlight is the South African Bank Note Company (SABN), a sub-sidiary of South Africas Reserve Bank. SABNs suspended MD Musa Mbhele is currentlyfacing a disciplinary hearing cloaked in a veil of secrecy to answer accusations thatSABN printed Zambian Kwacha and Namibian Dollar notes in ways that compromisedtheir quality. Mbhele did not take reasonable steps for the maintenance of proper stockrecords and physical counts of the 500 and 1,000 Kwacha notes.

Printing extra money can destabilise an economy by damaging the value of its currency,but casting doubt on the legitimacy of a countrys currency makes it vulnerable to coun-terfeiting (Post/Times 6/7, Daily Mail 6/7/8 and iol.co.za 8).

Week 49, Volume 2, Issue 48, 9 December 2011

Did MMD pint money - illeally, that i?

Did MMD print money - illegally, that is?

BoZ governor has skeletons in the closet?

Kambwili loses it with Chinese Contractors

Riots in Kalingalinga - and Kaleya

Quotes

7 interested in MMD presidency

MP resigns - and join PF

Corrupon: Zmb mprov t rnkng

The revival of an historic railway

Has Satas son come into sudden wealth?

More mining shares on LuSE

FQM: Pyng ot of tx

LuSE week-on-week

Zamtel in brief

Latest news on Finance Bank

Sata - and his minibus

Appointments

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2

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3

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In thi ie

Zambia Weekly

I am beginning to feel rather prudish.Last week, the Weekend Post adorned itsfront page with a full-page action shotfrom a concert with singer Runnel. Oneof the patrons was on his back, pinned tothe oor by two of Runnels provocativelyclad dancing queens riding him push-ing a lot of not-particularly-attractivefemale breast, belly, thighs and crotchinto the camera. Yet, what I am mostlypuzzled about is the lack of reaction.Why are the Posts readers not complain-ing? How does the Post itself justifythese photos, considering that editor-in-chief Fred Mmembe is fond of lling hiseditorials with biblical references? Afterall, we are living in a declared Christiannation, where call boys believe they areentitled to undress women in miniskirtsat bus stations, and the police haveintroduced a dress code for visitors attheir headquarters to maintain decency.Is it only me who sees a contradictionbetween being a declared Christian na-tion and living in modern times? Maybenot, because this photo and many othersin the Weekend Post seem to be doing

their utmost to convey the message thatconcerts must be accompanied by scant-ily clad women performing vulgar move-ments in some weird echo of ancientfertility rites.

Edito note

An aggregate of Zambian news 1

FIgurEs: Contefeit noteThe ratio of counterfeit to genuine K 50,000 notes in circulation stood at 0.000036% asat end of June 2011 (Bank of Zambia in Daily Mail).

2011 REVIEW

+ sATA s FIRsT 90 DAYs IN OFFICE

Zambia Weekly

In lat ie of 2011 (23 December)Please note, rst issue of 2012 out on 13 January

sPeCial:


2/8

Zambia Weekly News

Qote

Temptations in this job are many, andyou will encounter the forces of corrup-tion, but desist from it, as it can danger-ously ruin your career as well as ruin theeconomic standing of our country.

Inspector General of Police MartinMalama at the pass out parade of 349police ofcers at Kamnsa School ofPublic Order and Maintenance in Kitwe(Post 3).


Cancer was not in Africa, we inherited itfrom Europe. If we had cancer in Africa,all of us would have died because we donot have hospitals.

President Sata in connection with for-mer US President George Bushs visit toZambia. Bush was in Zambia to promoteawareness about cervical and breastcancers in particular (Times 3).

Mon iot epot eady in 4 week

The nal report on the riots in Mongu in January this year will be ready in four weeks, ac-cording to Commission of Inquiry Chairman Rodger Chongwe (Times 6).

I will serve them [people of Chongwe]diligently and Ill not let them down. I

want to leave Chongwe a better placethan I found it. Before I leave, through my

president and my party, the major roads,Chalimbana Road and Mikango Road,will be tarred.

Sylvia Masebo, who has just been re-elected Chongwe MP. She has held thisposition since 2001 (Post 5).

Kambwili loe it with Chinee contactoMinister of Foreign Affairs and Roan MP Chishimba Kambwili has stormed out of a meet-ing with Chinese contractors after only about 20 showed up. Kambwili had called themeeting to discuss serious matters after four Chinese were arrested about a fortnightago for allegedly having deled several girls between 12 and 15 years old in Roan Town -ship in Kitwe. The four men pleaded not guilty. This is a joke, which is not funny, and Iwill not take it lightly, Kambwili fumed and directed that he expected all of the morethan 500 Chinese contractors to show up the following day which they did. Kambwiliexplained that unlike the MMD government the PF would not interfere in the case withreference to the Chinese management at Collum Coal Mine that avoided prosecution aftershooting 13 Zambian workers during riots last year. We also blame our people because itis not easy for Chinese to look for young girls, hence we suspect connivance with Zam-bians, Kambwili added. The contractors are working for the state-owned China No.15

Metallurgical Construction Company (15MCC) at the Muliashi Copper Mine in Luanshya.The latter is being developed by China Nonferrous Metals Mining Corporation, which alsoruns Baluba Mine in Luanshya (Daily Mail 5/7 and Post/africareview.com 6).

BoZ oveno ha keleton in the cloet?

Bwalya Ngandu, Acting Governor of the Bank of Zambia(BoZ), is apparently not very good at recovering loans. In2010, the BoZ closed the micro-nance institution Execu-tive Financial Services Limited (ExeFin) with Ngandu as itsMD at the time. The BoZ refused to disclose the reasons

why, but market sources claimed ExeFins managementhad been found unt to run a nancial institution. ExeFinChairman Bwalya Chiti said the institution had its licenserevoked due to imprudent lending with a low recoveryrate. Briey after assuming ofce, President Sata red BoZGovernor Caleb Fundanga and replaced the banks DeputyGovernor for Operations Austin Kaputo Mwape withNgandu. Sata will however have to obtain parliamentsendorsement of a new governor, and in the meantime which may be long Ngandu runs the bank (Post 5).

riot in Mazabka

Enraged residents of Kaleya in Mazabuka have blocked the Lusaka-Livingstone Roadbetween Mazabuka and Monze in protest against the death of a cyclist who was hit by avehicle. Two people have been killed in separate incidents in 72 hours at the same junc-tion to Kaleya market and the residents protested against the governments failure toinstall speed humps (Post 4).

riot in Kalinalina

Police have arrested 19 people in two incidents of riots in Kalingalinga Compound inLusaka. First, residents ran amok, attacking the local police post and blocking roads afterword went around that police had shot a young man in the early hours of 3 December.19-year-old Boniface Sichelela was shot, explained the police, after a ght erupted behindMayela Nightclub, but eyewitnesses claimed he was on his way home when mistaken for

a thief. Then, riots erupted again after Sichelelas funeral. A reserve police constable hasbeen charged with murder (Post 4 and Daily Mail 5/8).

People who suffer are the farmers, sothere is need for the government to nd

a solution and not say it is the previousgovernment that failed to pay the sup-pliers [of inputs]. That is why they wereelected.

Caritas Zambia Executive Director SamMulafulafu commenting on the lack offarming inputs under the Farmer InputSupport Programme (Post 3)


3/8

Zambia Weekly politics


Corrupon

Zambia improves its ranking

Zambia has improved its ranking on the 2011 CorruptionPerceptions Index (CPI) compiled by Transparency Interna-

tional. The country is ranked 91st out 183 countries with ascore of 3.2. In 2010, Zambia was ranked 101st out of 178countries with a score of 3.0. The CPI denes corruption asthe abuse of entrusted power for private gain and ranks itaccording to peoples perceptions of how corrupt their publicsector is. Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) PresidentReuben Lifuka said the improvement could be attributed tolaws implemented by the MMD, including the Forfeiture ofProceeds of Crimes, Financial Intelligence Centre Act and thePublic Interest Disclosure Act. He said the new PF governmentshould consider the 2011 CPI as a benchmark for their effortsto ght corruption (Daily Mail 6).

Five MMD members have successfully led their nominations forthe partys presidency, including recent High Commissioner to Can-ada and former Vice-President under President Mwanawasa PastorNevers Mumba; Lunte MP and recent Minister of Commerce, Trade

and Industry Felix Mutati; Chisamba MP, MMDs Youth Chairman,recent Deputy Minister of Local Government and Housing and for-mer senior private secretary to President Mwanawasa, Moses Mu-teteka; Kasempa MP and recent Minister of Foreign Affairs KabingaPande; and Liuwa MP and recent Minister of Finance and NationalPlanning Situmbeko Musokotwane. Two others, Alfred Njovu andNason Msoni, were asked to correct minor mistakes on their ap-plication forms. Apparently, Mutati led his application later afterthe deadline of 30 November. Nevertheless, some analysts saidthe race would be between Nevers Mumba and Felix Mutati withthe MMDs National Executive Committee throwing their weightbehind the former (Times/Post 3).

7 inteeted in MMD peidency

Former Deputy Minister of Health Solomon Musonda (MMD) hasrefuted reports that he bribed the family of a man he hit with hiscar to avoid prosecution. Last week, it was revealed that policeare investigating reports that Musonda killed the man and thenpaid the victims family K 10 million to avoid prosecution. Musondasaid he had paid the family as a matter of courtesy, and won-dered about the allegations, considering that he had reported theincident to the police and that the vehicle involved in the accidentwas still parked at Serenje Police Station. However, Central ProvincePolice Commissioner Solomon Jere said police had sent a forgedburial consent to handwriting experts in Lusaka before formallycharging a police ofcer and a messenger. The accident happenedon 29 September 2010, and not, as earlier reported, on 1 June2010, the day Musonda shot and wounded Patriotic Front cadreJackson Musaka; an offence he was sentenced to nine monthsimprisonment with hard labour (Times 3).

Monda: NO, I did not bibe!

FIgurEs: Lack of docto

Zambia has 700 doctors against the 2,600 recommended bythe World Health Organisation (1 doctor per 5,000 people).

UNZAs School of Medicine has graduated over 1,400 doc-tors since it opened in 1970, and it will be unable to meetthe demand in the next 50 years. Over 80% of doctors areconcentrated along the line of rail (Times 2 and Post 5).

Independent Msanzala MP Colonel Joseph Lungu has resigned andjoined the ruling PF party. Lungu hopes to ensure developmentin Msanzala by being adopted by the PF as their candidate in theconstituency in Eastern Province. It is his constitutional right, saidPresident Sata in response to criticism about the need for another expensive by-election (Post 4 and Times 6).

MP ein - and join PF

The ruling PF party has won 19 of 35 local government seats upfor grabs in local government by-elections held on 28 November,including 5 in Eastern Province, MMDs stronghold. The other seatswere shared between the MMD (10 seats), UPND (4 seats) and 2independent candidates (Daily Mail 5).

rEsuLTs: 35 new concillo

President Michael Sata has nally moved into State House, leavingbehind his residence on Omelo Mumba Road in Rhodes Park inLusaka (Post 3).

sata move into state Hoe

0 2 4 6 8 10

North Korea (182)

Somalia (182)

Afghanistan (18 0)

Myanmar (180)

Sudan (177)

Turkmenistan (177)

Uzbekistan (177)

Angola (168)

DR Congo (168)

Ivory Coast (154 )

Kenya (154

Zimbabwe (154)

Nigeria (143)

Uganda (143)

Ethiopia (120)

Mozambique (120 )

Benin (100)

Madagascar (100 )

Malawi (100)

Tanzania (100 )

Liberia (91)

Zambia (91)

Gambia (77)

China (75)

Ghana (69)

South Africa (64)

Namibia (57)

Rwanda (49)

Botswana (32)

United States (24 )

United Kingdom (16)

Canada (10)

Singapore (5)

Sweden (4)

Denmark (2)

Finland (2)

New Zealand (1)

CPI score

Country(CPIrank)

Corrupon Prcpon indx - by countryTop 5, bottom 5 and interesting countries in between


4/8

Zambia Weekly railways


The evival of an hitoic ailway

One of Africas greatestrail routes, the Benguela

Railway (see map above),is scheduled to reachthe Zambian border byMwinilunga early 2012.

In its heyday the railwaywas the shortest way totransport mineral richesfrom the Congo to Europevia the Angolan seaport of

Lobito. Back then it stretched all the way to Elizabethville (Lubum-bashi), crossing the Angola-Congo border at Luau, and further onto Ndola in Northern Rhodesia. Currently, it only runs betweenLobito and Huambo in Angola (pictures). China is rebuilding the

railway in exchange for oil.After Angolas independence in 1975, that countrys civil warbrought operations to a halt and left most of the infrastructureheavily damaged. In 2005, Angola and Zambia signed an agree-ment to reconstruct the railway and include a direct link toZambia to promote economic development. The railway providesZambia with an opportunity to import and export goods at acheaper cost than via the more distant South African ports.

The link on the Zambianside, the North West Rail,was revived earlier thisyear, when US-based Ta-gos Group and the Zam-

bia Development Agencysigned a memorandumof understanding aboutraising US and African De-velopment Bank fundingfor the USD 500 millionproject. A previous planfell through in 2008 when

mining companies would not commit to using the line and thegovernment cancelled the license of the North West Rail Company,headed by former Vice-President Enoch Kavindele. The license hassince been reinstated.

The North West Rail stretches 405 kilometres from Chingola

through Solwezi to Lumwana with a second phase to connect tothe Benguela Railway (Times 7 and internet research).

N ng ff

Government has engaged in talks with the RailwaySystems of Zambia to supply wagons and locomo-

tives for the Chipata-Mchinji Railway to make it fullyoperational. The railway was ofcially opened inAugust 2010 with a ceremony graced by the heads ofstate of Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique but hasbeen lying idle ever since. The 27-kilometre railwayline was launched in 1982 as part of the Nacala Cor-ridor (see map of Southern Africa) to connect Zambiavia Malawi to the port of Nacala in Mozambique (withthe option to be extended to Tete). The project washowever abandoned by the Zambian government dueto lack of funds and was only revitalised in 2006. TheNacala Corridor is the shortest sea route for east-ern Zambia. According to the Ministry of Transport,

Works, Supply and Communications, some portionsof the railway in Malawi and Mozambique still need tobe rehabilitated (Daily Mail 7).

Mj n sn af


5/8

Zambia Weekly presideNts childreN


One of the MMD governmentsmost rabid supporters, Commit-tee of Citizens Director GregoryChire, who was the instigator of

various damaging stories aboutPresident Sata in the run-up tothe elections, has re-emerged.

Last week, he alleged that Satasson, Mulenga, had bought twobrand-new cars, a Jeep valued

at K 800 million and a Toyota GX valued at K 1 billion; expensesthat were beyond Mulengas reach, argued Chire on the onlineZambian Watchdog, considering that Mulenga has never had alucrative business other than selling imported dogs to residents ofLusaka and supplying whisky to nightclubs.

Mulenga, who has an engineering degree from University of Cali-fornia in Los Angeles (UCLA) and is elected councillor in Kabu-

longa, immediately asked his lawyers to institute legal proceedingsagainst Chire to force him to either retract his defamatory storyand publicly apologise or substantiate the allegations. I have athick political skin but this kind of rumour mongering is not goodfor my wife, and more especially my father who has serious nation-al issues to look into, not to mention my political career because Iam a public elected ofcial myself, Mulenga stated.

Chire also asked the government to explain its deposit of 15 mil-lion Rand into a South African bank account held by a wife of anun-named senior military ofcer.

Ha sata on come into dden wealth?

Sata senior advised Chire to formally complain to law enforce-ment agencies and advised law enforcement agencies to engageChire on his allegations. No one will be shielded from prosecu-tion once it has been evidently established that a crime has been

committed in spite of their status in society, he stated.The Drug Enforcement Commission interrogated Mulenga andthen waited for Chire to show up. Chire said he would appearon 6 December, but didnt, all along arguing that he was simply awhistleblower. On 7 December, he nally showed up although themedia was confused about how he managed to get away withoutthem noticing it (zambianwatchdog.com 1, lusakatimes.com 3,Times 3/6/8 and Daily Mail 4/5/6/7).

RBs twins to be invesgated

Investigations have begun into the Mpundu Trust Fund forformer President Bandas twins upon instructions by Presi-dent Sata. Apparently the trusts bank account holds a co-lossal amount of over USD 1 million. According to sources,the trust fund is being used to nance Bandas luxury villaon Leopards Hill Road in Lusaka. Bandas ofce said Bandawould respond at an appropriate time (Post/Daily Nation6 and Times/Daily Mail 6/7).


6/8

Zambia Weekly busiNess


Th luse a shr indx cod t 3,704.85 on Thurdy 8 Dcmbr,

down by 0.22% from t Thurdy co of 3,713.14.

Wnnr: Zmf (+ 5.86%)

lor: Frt Quntum Mnr (- 10.00%)

Laka stock Exchane

week-on-week

symbol

AELZ

BATZ

CCHZ

CEC

FARM

FARMPREF

FQMZ

INVESTRUST

LAFARGE

ZAMEFA

NATBREW

PAMODZI

PUMA

SHOPRITE

SCZ

CELTEL

ZAMBEEF

BATA

ZANACO

ZSUG

ZAMBREW

ZCCM-IH

Company

afrcn expov Zmb Pc

Brh amrcn Tobcco Zmb Pc

Cavmont Capital Holdings Zambia Plc

Copprbt enrgy Corporon Pc

Farmers House Plc

Farmers House Preference Shares

First Quantum Minerals

Investrust Bank Trust Plc

Lafarge Cement Zambia Plc

Metal Fabricators of Zambia Plc

Non Brwr Pc

Pamodzi Hotel Plc

Puma

Shoprite Holdings Ltd

Standard Chartered Bank Plc

Zain Zambia Plc

Zambeef Products Plc

Zambia Bata Shoe Company Plc

Zmb Non Commrc Bnk

Zambia Sugar Plc

Zambian Breweries Plc

ZCCM Investments Holdings Plc

Cloin pice

(8/12/11)

4,000

1,590

4.5

637

2,750

4,700

4,500

15.8

7,800

741

7,200

659

1017

54,000

75.9

710

3,000

232

1,056

218

2,500

10,000

Chane

-

0.63

-

0.47

5.77

-

10.00

1.25

3.92

5.86

1.41

5.86

1.70

-

5.01

-

-

-

0.09

-

-

-

%

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Gemelds, the owner of Kagem Emerald Mine outside Kitwe, hasmade USD 11 million from its latest auction of 9.8 million caratslower-quality rough emerald and beryl in Jaipur, India, last month.At its last auction in Jaipur, the company raised USD 9.9 million for12.98 million carats, and in July, Gemelds made USD 31.6 millionin an auction in Singapore. Zambian emeralds are slowly making aname for themselves with their deep green colour, remarkable clar-

ity, generally lower prices and reputation for being ethically mined.Gemelds holds 75% of Kagem Emerald Mine, which is the worldssingle largest producing emerald deposit. All its emeralds are cutand polished at its facility in Jaipur. Gemelds also owns 50% ofthe worlds single greatest producing amethyst deposit in Kariba,and recently acquired a 75% share of the worlds largest single rubydeposit in Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique (Times 6).

Another great emerald aucon

First Quantum Minerals, Zambias largest mining company, has thisyear paid USD 611 million in various taxes to government morethan double the amount paid last year (USD 286 million excluding

windfall tax). The company generates most of its revenue from theKansanshi Copper-Gold Mine in Zambia, but also runs the GuelbMoghrein Copper-Gold Mine in Mauretania (Times 7).

FQM: Payin a lot of tax

Trade Kings Group of Companies is planning to list its subsidiary,Universal Mining and Chemical Industries Limited, on the LusakaStock Exchange in two years time. Universal Mining runs the KafueIntegrated Iron and Steel Plant (KIISP), which produces steel rolled

products from iron ore mined at Sanje Hill about 60 kilometreswest of Kafue. About 2,000 workers produce more than 200,000tonnes of steel products annually (Daily Mail 5).

Moe minin hae on LsE

870

192

399 5

12

798

1,4

09

1,6

34

561

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Ba

ck-taxes

NetprofitQ1-Q32011

Tax paid annually Tax paid cumulatve

Zamtel in bief

No audit! Zamtel has refused to be audited by the AuditorGeneral: I have written to the Attorney General for his opinionand hopefully we will receive it soon and then see how we canmove forward, said Auditor General Anna Chifungula. The gov-ernment cannot dictate an audit as it only owns 25% of Zamtel.After assuming ofce, President Sata, an unwavering critic ofthe partial privatisation, appointed a commission of inquiry tolook into the sale and last month, the commission deemedit irregular, illegal and fraudulent.After the report came out,Zamtel has also begun externalising its prots, according to thecommission (Post 2).

sold to british coNsortiuM? Persistent rumours haveit that LAP Green Networks, the majority-owner of Zamtel, hasbeen sold to a British consortium involving the Digicel Groupfor USD 270 million even though both the majority-owner ofLAP Green, the Libyan Investment Authority, and Zamtel MD

Hans Paulsen dismissed the rumours as being false. An acquisi-tion would be subject to approval from the UN Security Counciland the European Union (Daily Mail 2, Post/Daily Mail 5 andComputer World 6).

cabiNet MeMo ready: The Ministry of Justice has nisheddrafting a Cabinet Memorandum on the privatisation of Zam-tel, the fate of which President Sata recently directed shouldbe declared by Cabinet (Times 8).


7/8

Zambia Weekly News


Latet new on Finance Bank

Finance Bank has been on a roll since President Banda handed itback to its original shareholders with its founder Rajan Mahtani inthe lead:

Last week, the bank announced that it will list on three bourses

in Lusaka, London and Johannesburg and this week, the bankdeclared that it would expand into neighbouring countries (al-though it last attempt in Malawi ended in closure due to illegalexternalisation of foreign exchange).

In Zambia, Finance Bank is planning to open six new branches;two in Lusaka, to be opened this month, and four in Mongu,Mansa, Gwembe and Kazungula.

The bank has increased salaries for its 734 workers (expectedto grow to 1,000 by the end of 2012) by K 2 million across theboard. The lowest paid worker will now be paid K 4.5 million permonth. Finance Bank used to have some of the lowest salaries inthe industry.

Credit Suisse, which owns 40% of Finance Bank, has apparentlydragged the Zambian government before international courtsfor the seizure if the bank.

Credit Suisse has also resolved to fund the governments 500million Euro bond and hopes to act as a sales agent as a wayof showing appreciation to the PF government.

Mahtani announced that the banks prots at the end of Decem-ber will be no less than K 60 billion, and that K 20 billion will bepaid in taxes, leaving him abbergasted that the bank was soldto First National Bank for K 27 billion.

Mahtani alleged that the MMD government paid K 17 billion toLloyds of London to do an independent audit of Finance Bank

and K 35 billion to Ians Forensics, a subsidiary of Sandberg,South Africas largest law rm, to investigate Mahtani. The latterwondered about the large amount for an audit when there areseveral international audit rms in Zambia. So we have made aclaim against Bank of Zambia because there was a court orderthat we had obtained which directed Bank of Zambia not toengage them, he said (Daily Mail/Post 5 and Times/Post 7).

&chic

condnt

BEFORE

Chata romanot Cp Ig Sui

Reinvent your Colours, Style & Wardrobe

ContaCt: Glenda VerGeer

Cif C r Ig Csu

097 404 4850 [email protected]

www.chtromno.com

BACKGROUND

On 10 December 2010, the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) took overFinance Bank, allegedly because it violated the Banking andFinancial Services Act in general and engaged in insider bor-rowing in particular. Critics said the takeover was orchestratedby the MMD government to neutralise the banks founderand former chairman Rajan Mahtani - who is embroiled inseveral court cases about the same.

On 12 September 2011, about a week before the elections,the MMD government announced the 27 billion Kwacha saleof Finance Bank to First National Bank (FNB) Zambia.

On 3 October 2011, President Sata announced the reversal ofthe sale and ordered that the bank should be handed backto its original shareholders in general and Mahtani in particu-lar. Critics said the reversal was inspired by Mahtanis nancialsupport of Sata and the PFs mouthpiece, the Post.

The Commission of Enquiry, which Sata had assigned toprobe the sale of Finance Bank, before he announced thereversal of the sale, has stated it cannot do anything due topending court cases.


8/8

Zambia Weekly News


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Zambia Weekly

Appointment

President Sata has made a big stunt out of scrimping on expenses whenhe met Zimbabwes President Robert Mugabe in Livingstone over theweekend.

Upon arrival at Harry Mwaanga Nkhumbula International Airport aboard a

Zambia Air Force plane, Sata insisted on using a commuters minibus rath-er than the safer government transport organised for him. Where is theblue minibus? I told you to get me a minibus. We promised to put moremoney in peoples pockets, Sata said to his spokesman George Chellah.

Eventually, Sata accepted to board a smart-looking but real minibus fromthe motorcade. A plain-clothed policeman drove him to the Royal Living-stone Hotel, and his slimmed-down motorcade even got blocked momen-tarily by a reversing truck in stark contrast to Mugabe, who arrived in hisMercedes Benz, ZIM 1, accompanied by a huge motorcade.

After the short private meeting with Mugabe, the Post reported that Satawalked over 150 metres from his suite to the lobby to personally settlethe bill for security and protocol ofcers as well as journalists from both

Zambia and Zimbabwe.Citizens Forum Executive Director Simon Kabanda expressed hope thatSatas ministers would follow suit: It may look in a very small [way] whenthe president moves without a big entourage, but I think the resourcesthat are saved are huge, he said.

The media did not mention whether or not Sata returned to the airport byminibus. Nonetheless, it was a walk-the-talk publicity stunt which receivedpositive coverage around Africa in general and Zimbabwe in particular but whether Sata intended to embarrass Mugabe in the process remainsunknown (Muvi TV 3, Post 4/5/6/7, ZANIS 5, Kenya Daily Nation 4, NewZimbabwe Forums 4, Newzimbabwe.com 5 and Malawi Today 6).

sata and hi minib

ZRA board

A new Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) boardhas been appointed, including Charles Mutemwa

(chairman), former Minister of Legal Affairs VincentMalambo (vice-chairman), Justice Permanent SecretaryMbololwa Muyaba, Secretary to the Treasury Fred-son Yamba, Bank of Zambia acting Governor BwalyaNgandu, Francis Alutuli, Mwila Lumbwe and GeoffreySakulanda (Daily Mail 2).

3 new deputy ministers

President Sata has sworn in three deputy ministers,namely Brigadier General Benson Kapaya (agriculture),David Mabumba (education) and Mutaba Mwali (trans-port, works, supply and communications). All threeministries already have one other deputy minister(Times 6).

It was ironic that former US Presi-dent George Bush and ZimbabwesPresident Robert Mugabe should endup in Zambia at the same time. Bushhas been calling for sanctions againstMugabe for human rights violations but this week, Amnesty Internationalcalled on Zambia along with Ethiopiaand Tanzania, the other two countries

on Bushs tour, to arrest him for human rights violations. During his presi-dency, Bush authorised the use of water boarding and other interrogation

techniques that Amnesty and other human rights groups consider torture.In February, Bush cancelled a visit to Switzerland because of a threat oflegal action against him for alleged torture, and a visit to Canada led todisturbances (picture). In Zambia, the ruling PF Party said it only wouldobey the International Criminal Court, arguing that Amnesty had failed toprovide facts about the matter. The US is one of Zambias key donors.

Sata explained that the two visits were a coincidence. With Mugabe hehad discussed unity of Africa, while Bush was in the country to increaseawareness about cervical and breast cancers, and launched Zambias rstPink Ribbon Campaign at Lusakas George Urban Clinic. But the concur-rence of the two visits shows that Zambia is gaining back the glory whichit lost, stated Sata.

Parts of the Zimbabwean media also reported that Mugabe had wantedto personally invite Sata to ofciate at Zanu PFs annual conference in theface of growing international isolation. Satas spokesman, George Chellah,said Sata would send PF Secretary General Wynter Kabimba instead, butZanu-PF denied to have invited Sata in the rst place (Times/Post 3, Post/Daily Mail/ZANIS/Newzimbabwe.com 5).

Bh AND Mabe in Zambia

Ambaado die in Japan

Zambias Ambassador to Japan Mbikusita WamundilaLewanika has died in Japan. President Sata expresseddeep sorrow at his death and authorised thedeceaseds elder sister, Inonge Mbikusita Lewanika,who is Zambias Ambassador to the EU and Beneluxcountries, to travel to Tokyo to repatriate the remains

of her brother (Daily Mail/Times 6).

zambia weekly - week 49

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