By Staff Reporter
PF presidential aspirant Chishimba Kambwili says African leaders giving tax concessions to foreign investors are criminals, and that he smells a rat over the issues surrounding KCM
Speaking with Daily Revelation, Kambwili urged Zambians to resist anyone trying to give concessions to the mining companies.
“My words are just (Rwandan President Paul) Kagame’s words. Those who are giving tax concessions, African leaders giving tax concessions are criminals. I will not even beat about the bush. Africa will continue suffering,” he said.
Kambwili argued that the country privatized the mines in order to attract foreign direct investment so that the mines could up production in order for Zambia to maximise the benefits through taxation.
He said Zambia did not privatize the mines in order to continue giving them tax holidays so that they could exploit the resources without the country benefiting.
Kambwili said the only time the country meaningfully benefited from the mines after the privatisation process, was during a brief period when late president Levy Mwanawasa introduced the windfall tax, but the same minister of Finance today, Dr Situembeko Musokotwane, who served in the same capacity after Rupiah Banda succeeded Mwanawasa removed the windfall tax and gave further concessions to the mining companies, in the same manner it was happening now.
He demanded that Dr Musokotwane should tell the country what his benefit was in the concessions, describing plans to give tax holidays to the mines as a scandal.
“This is a dirty deal that Zambians must fight and fight through the last drop of our blood,” Kambwili said, adding that minerals were a diminishing asset, citing the example of mines in Luanshya which were shut down while the investors were still enjoying tax holidays.
“What have the people of Luanshya benefited from tax holidays?…Nchanga underground, the reserves are depleted. They were depleted when we had given the concessions. Nchanga Open Pit the reserves are depleted. What has the community in Chingola and the miners in Chingola benefited?” he asked.
Kambwili charged that the country could not allow a few people receiving kickbacks and giving concessions in return to the investors at the expense of the country.
He wondered why the government would even consider giving tax holidays to the mining companies if the coffers were truly empty as they claimed, urging Zambians to stand up and say no to mining concessions, and suggesting that instead of giving concessions, it would be better to nationalise the mines so that all the profits could remain in the country.
Kambwili wondered how many times Zambians would be promised that they should sacrifice for the mining investors in order for their to increase their production from which they would benefit, something he said the people have yet to see.
“This is a deal, some people are eating from the investors in the mining sector. They are either being given silent shareholding or they are being given kickbacks from the proceeds…we cannot allow mining concessions. Kagame has spoken. Malema in South Africa has spoken that those who were attending the mining Indaba are people that have been compromised,” Kambwili said. “Those Mining Indabas were there just to go and negotiate for concessions, tax concessions and we must be ashamed of ourselves.”
He said the concessions would only benefit a few “rich” people who were getting kickbacks.
“And the question we should ask, why is it that Musokotwane when he comes in every time as minister of Finance he gives concessions? Why? I want Mr Musokotwane to answer. Why? What is his benefit?” Kambwili asked.
He singled out economic analyst Chibamba Kanyama to stop supporting wrong things from administration to administration “to advance your business.”
He said “these are the same people when PF was in office, even when PF makes a mistake he will go to the radio and support.”
“They have continued doing the same. The only thing they want is to be given contracts by each respective and sitting government for consultancy because they support them even when they are wrong,” Kambwili said. “Chibamba Kanyama must be ashamed of himself to support concessions and to start misleading people that because of concessions that FQM has invested. If FQM invests $1.5 billion, what benefit does it have to the people of Zambia if they do not collect taxes?”
He urged Kanyama to “for once have integrity” in what he does, saying he also would rush to radio stations to support the wrongs the PF were doing, saying he always wanted to associate himself with the government in power in order to benefit.
On assertions that the government wanted to give KCM back to Vendata, Kambwili wondered why the government had appointed another liquidator if they wanted to iron things out with Vendata.
He said he would not comment further on the matter in order to see where the whole thing was going, saying he once condemned DPP Siyuni before first establishing facts on the matter, which he later regretted after realising that she was being “used as a pawn” in an orchestrated scheme.
“All I can say is that I can smell a rat in the whole process,” Kambwili said.
Asked on the insults in the PF WhatsApp groups against the leadership for calling on people to contribute towards the K5 million needed for the holding of the convention and if he felt it was possible to raise that amount within a month, Kambwili said he did not want to comment on the issue of the convention, because “twalikula imitwe fwebantu.”
“We are almost having a convention and I don’t want to issue statements that will jeopardise the conference, that will jeopardise progress made so far. So I have no comment on that,” said Kambwili.
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