By Staff Reporter
Zambians have been betrayed by the government in an unacceptable manner, says veteran politician and former deputy minister Dr Mbita Chitala.
Commenting on the 2026 national budget presented by finance minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane last Friday in Parliament, Dr Chitala said that government could not hope to develop Zambia by over taxing citizens.
“Now there is money transfer … that’s where they are targeting. No! Your little income that you have to [send to] your grandfather in the village being taxed? It’s like introducing poll tax on t he people,” Dr Chitala said. “Very painful things happening and muleloleshafye (you are just watching). We must change. We can’t go on like this. Electricity is high.”
The government, from August 19, 2025 introduced the Minimum Alternative Tax (MAT) which is 1 percent tax on turnover of firms and partnerships that make zero profits in addition to annual income tax.
“This is like introducing the hated poll tax which forced Zambians to go and hide in the bush running away from tax authorities during the colonial days,” Dr Chitala. “Dr. Musokotwane further intends to introduce legislation to increase mobile money transaction levy to range from K0.08 to K1.80 which will hit the poor and informal workers hardest since they all now depend on mobile money for small transfers.”
Dr Chitala stated that Dr Musokotwane also introduced other levies such as toll fees, citizenship fees and firearm licence fees.
“Additionally, within the past year he raised excise duties on non-alcoholic beverages from 30 ngwee to 60 ngwee, tobacco duty from K361 mer mille to K400, licence fees for Kapenta fishermen from K3,333 to K4,000, introduced DNA testing fees K3,750, tax bands for passenger transport vehicles increased by 20 per cent, betting tax increased by 10 percent, introduced 15 percent tax on advance tax on remittances, increased corporate income tax for non-traditional exports from 15 to 29 percent and so on,” stated Dr Chitala. “You cannot overtax citizens and hope that you will end their poverty. For Zambia, the only clever pathway to maximize on the happiness of its cotizens is to address ownership and control of our copper mines. Zambia should own and control these mines and other strategic institutions such as the banks.”
Dr Chitala stated Zambia needed a revolutionary approach to ending ita poverty and inequality, as opposed to “this neo-liberal approach that maximizes on our pain.” He stated that he had been agonising at how self-defeating government’s policies to the mines had been, policies that he said had provided unnecessary exploitative incentives and gifts to multi-national corporations to enable them continue looting minerals.
“We allowed the mines to pay only 30 percent corporate tax instead of the normal 35 percent paid by all others. We allowed mines to carry forward losses up to ten years from 5 years to offset taxable income and this makes them not pay any corporate tax as they always declare no profits,” Dr Chitala said. “We allowed 100 percent loss offset against profits for mines with common ownership. We allowed mines to enjoy capital expenditure allowances pegged at 25 percent allowance on plant, machinery, vehicles; 20 percent on non-commercial vehicles and 5 percent on industrial buildings. We allowed VAT deferment on imported their equipment. We zero-rated supplies in Multi Facility Economic Zones. We allowed duty-free importation of capital equipment. We guaranteed the mines protection against nationalization. We provided several other fiscal incentives if an investment is over US $250,000. We allowed Barrick to give us 12 cents on every dollar while in Tanzania Barrick gives them 22.5 cents in every dollar. We abandoned the arbitration matter where two company directors illegally moved US $2.5 billion to Panama. We allowed special allowances such as 20 percent mining deduction and input tax claim for five years on pre-production expenditure for exploration and two years prior to commencement of production. We converted ZCCM’s 20 percent shareholding in KCM Plc to 3.1 percent gross revenue royalty that robbed ZCCM-IH of its shareholder value, decision making and dividend rights.”
Dr Chitala further stated that the government returned KCM to Verdanta despite the company being insolvent and gave away for free Mopani Coppoer Mines, a company that was valued to have more than US $5 billion proven reserves, “to friends of government officials in a very illegal transaction”.
“We have given away for nothing our Ming’omba mine with more than seven trillion dollars of copper and cobalt. We have foolishly allowed all our large mines to be majority owned and controlled by these multi nationals, reversing all our gains that UNIP left us,” Dr Chitala stated. “KK (founding president Dr Kenneth Kaunda) must be turning in his grave; the manner we have betrayed him and his colleagues of freedom fighters. We allowed zero percent tax rate in MFEZ for five years. We reduced VAT rate for tax-free zones.”
Dr Chitala stated that in 2022 the government made mining royalties tax-deductible from corporate income tax, saying that measure reduced tax revenue from US $1 billion a year to US $300 million.
“In 2024, Zambia lost K14 billion in mineral royalty revenues due to tax concessions Amnesty International reported that Zambia lost US $3.5 billion in corporate tax evasion through transfer pricing and under-invoicing. We reduced Property Tax from 10 percent to 7.5 percent. We passed Statutory Instrument No. 47 of 2025 suspending the 10 percent export duty on copper concentrates and this will cost Zambia about US $3.45 billion in lost revenue,” Dr Chitala stated. “These actions and many others mean that our country will never develop, will never accumulate investable surpluses for expanded reproduction to end poverty and inequality in our country. We must reclaim our sovereignty. We must re assert state control of our mines and strategic sectors such the banks as KK did in 1968.”
Dr Chitala stated that with strategic patience, civilisational confidence and an unwavering patriotic leadership in 2026, Zambia could defy empire and rise again backed by a sovereign fund that would be a fortress against economic warfare.
“We must reject neo-liberal narratives and free our country from the oppressive leverage by finance capital and their local allies against our nation,” stated Dr Chitala.
