By Staff Reporter
Raphael Nakachinda has described the happenings around plans to bring back Vedanta into KCM as “white collar crime”, which he says is going right through “Shantumbu” in Lusaka.
Speaking with Daily Revelation, Nakachinda said the issue of Vedanta coming back was just a matter of time, but there was more to the issue.
“But we have also disclosed that from where we stand and zooming from where we are seated is that it’s not just an issue of Vedanta coming back. There is already a deal cut with Vedanta. Vedanta may just be a conduit but there is a special propose vehicle that has been created and we are investigating which individuals are interested parties in that special purpose vehicle,” Nakachinda said. “But the string that we are following seems to be suggesting that it is leading to one particular house in Chalala and in Shantumbu area. That is where the string is going and looks like the same way privatisation was handled to benefit individuals, it looks like that mine, just like Mopani, is going in the same direction.”
Nakachinda said the country may just end up in a situation where those who were entrusted with the responsibility of looking after the welfare of the Zambian people may be the ones that will actually be “screwing the interests of the Zambian people by enriching themselves through this process.”
“All I am saying is that watch the space, the end of that KCM saga will be disastrous only to have certain individuals enrich themselves because the special purpose vehicle they want to use as a way through Vedanta to get involved in that business directly themselves,” Nakachinda said. “There is a mining entity that is being used today as a way in which after they have given the mines to Vedanta, Vedanta would on a legal technicality forced to purport to have sold this mine to that mining entity. And that mining entity will find that the ones who are shareholders are people who are in government today, either through proxies or directly themselves.
“So basically it’s a mafia operation to try and get that mine directly into their hands, not these accusations they are giving to say no, the process of grabbing the mine were irregular under PF. For them it’s white collar crime. They want to make sure that they get that mine in their hands.”
Nakachinda said those in PF were also closely watching the proposed reforms of the Bank of Zambia (BoZ).
“Because we are getting indications that we may end up having a situation where the Bank of Zambia equally is privatised so that it is in private hands. So those are some of the issues that we are watching,” he said.
