Tendu entre le nouveau ministre des mines et ZCCM-IH
TIME PUBLISHED - Tuesday, November 1, 2011, 6:27 am
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Lumwana Mine
THERE is good news and bad news regarding Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines-Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) decision to sell a 2.28 percent stake it held on behalf of ordinary Zambians in Lumwana Mining Company (LMC) located in North-Western Province.
The good news is, ZCCM-IH that had acquired a stake in LMC from Australia’s Equinox Minerals Ltd, (the first owners) bagged an instant US$167.5 million when LMC was taken over by the world’s largest gold digger, Barrick, in exchange for a minority stake it paid US$30million in just under six years.
The bad news is learning from Wylbur Simuusa, the Minister of Mines and Minerals Development, is that the Barrick Gold cash out cannot be traced or it could have been used for something it was not intended for. In Kwacha terms, the money stands at about K850 billion.
“The money Barrick Gold paid for Lumwana for our 2.28 percent stake is not with us as a government. “I can safely say it is missing because constant calls I have made for a report regarding how the money has been used or what is remaining have not been heeded up to now,” Mr Simusa said.
“Because of the urgency of the matter and the magnitude of the money involved, I am giving ZCCM-IH one week to place a report on my desk explaining where the money is or how it has been used if it has been used”. The transaction was concluded just under five months ago before the polls.
Mr Simuusa said: “the money is supposed to be used for clearly stipulated projects and I have received no co-operation regarding the use so far. I asked questions about the money when I was in the opposition, I was given none, and since I was sworn into office last month, I have received no co-operation. This money belongs to Zambians. It ought to be accounted for.”
On June 1, ZCCM-IH issued a statement in local media announcing that “after due consideration and consultation, the board of ZCCM-IH has accepted the offer to sell,” its 2.28 percent stake in LMC to Barrack Gold, the largest gold miner in the world at US$167.5 million.
Reactions were mixed regarding the ‘sale’ of the minority stake in the largest open-cut mine in Zambia with the anti-trust – Zambia Consumer Competition Commission – on May 27 asking the gold miner to let Zambia “keep its minority stake” in the company but the Peter Munk-owned Barrick Gold prevailed after some “discussions” with State House.
If ZCCM-IH had been allowed to keep its stake in LMC, by extension, Zambia would have owned a stake in the multi-billion dollar JabalSayid copper and gold project in Saudi Arabia but now that is history and reasons for not rising to this occasion remain elusive.
What is certain though is that a highly powered Canadian delegation comprising a former Canadian prime minister and a Zambian living abroad paid intensive meetings at State House to “explain” why it was important for Zambia to give up its stake in both LMC and Jabil by extension.
The money realised from Barrick is supposed to be used for “recapitalisation projects in companies like Ndola Lime, for instance, Maamba Collieries and Konkola North Copper (KONOCO), including the repayment of ZCCM-IH loans,” Mr Simuusa said.
The other part of the money was to be used for “exploration of oil and gas, and for investing in Greenfields and diversification projects. This list I have on my table shows that this has not been done yet that’s why I want a full report on my desk.”
The Daily Mail contacted Mr Mukela Muyunda, the ZCCM-IH chief executive officer, to seek clarification on the Barrick Gold money yesterday but he referred queries to company secretary Chabby Chabala.
Mr Chabala said, “We (ZCCM) cannot release ‘market-sensitive’ information without authorisation from the share-holders or the Lusaka stock exchange.”
Mr Reuben Lifuka, Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) president, in an interview said it would be sad if the money had been “misapplied given the high poverty levels in Zambia because that amount of money has the ability of immediately changing people’s lives for the better”.
Mr Lifuka said it is cases such as “this one that we have been calling for greater transparency and for the strengthening of whistle-blowing regulations so that over-sight systems can be strengthened by way of regulation”.
But just what can one do with some US$170 million in a country like Zambia whose poverty levels stand at more than 65 percent and rural poverty peaks at more than 70 percent and more than 400,000 children of school-going age do not attend school according to a United Nations study?
A quantity surveying expert with a government ministry told us that the money can build about 7,000 classrooms at a cost of about K150 million each. It can also sink a huge number of bore-holes (at K20 million each) to provide access to clean water, which still remains a challenge in many parts of rural Zambia.
But without the report on Mr Simuusa’s desk, the rest will just be speculation. No-one will ever know whether the money is still ‘intact’ or has been used partially or in its entirety.
The only other way Zambians would know how the money was used would be through a parliament order according to legal experts or by coersion through the Minister, who so far has hit a brick wall.
[Zambia Daily Mail]