By Daily Revelation Reporter
Former Commerce minister Bob Sichinga says Hakainde Hichilema is refusing to declare his assets owing to the many business interests he has, saying he will not be surprised to hear that Anglo-American or the other business interests which supported the UPND have been given contracts to run KCM and Mopani.
And Sichinga said President Hichilema must be told that filling public positions with Tongas and people from the Western Provinces was not the way to govern the country, following recent permanent secretary dismissals, and parastatal heads appointed including FRA board chairperson Kelvin Hambwezya, IDC CEO Perry Mapani, ZDA CEO Albert Halwampa and Kakenenwa Muyangwa at ZCCM-IH taking over from Dolika Banda.
Speaking with Daily Revelation, Sichinga insisted that President Hichilema must not head the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) or any other state parastatal as he is already the reference point and does not report to anyone.
He said it was against the rules of corporate governance for the President to be heading these institutions, saying by law these corporate institutions are supposed to be making their own decisions but most were not doing so, which explained the resignation of Dolika Banda from ZCCM-IH as the affairs over the running of the organisations were said to have been micromanaged from State House.
Sichianga argued that President Hichilema must take responsibility for all the wrong decisions including those on Kansanshi Mine, KCM, Mopani and the general disarray in the mining sector, saying Banda was resigning because she felt “I have not been making decisions.”
Sichinga said it was ironic that the appointments to several public bodies were inclined towards Southern and Western Provinces, and that in several instances the people from the Northern Provinces and Eastern who were being fired were being replaced by those from the south-west, mentioning some heads of parastatals including ZDA, IDC, FRA and now ZCCM-IH, among others.
He said this was what Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu has been talking about.
“This habit has to stop. The President should be told ‘you can’t govern the country like that because all regions deserve representation’,” Sichinga said. “Who is that former PS in Michinga? They removed him and the person who replaced him is Tonga. The person who moved from ZDA to IDC is a Tonga. And the President is holding on to IDC so that he can be making decisions. He wants to micromanage. So he has to take responsibility for all the failures.”
Among the recently dismissed permanent secretaries were Wisdom Bwalya, Perpetual Mphande Chuulu, Danny Mfune and John Msimuko, while Professor Lackson Kasonka and Chilufya Darko were removed from their respective ministries for redeployment.
And among those appointed included Naomi Tetamashimba, Hope Situmbeko, Lillian Bwalya, Sibeta Mutelo and Christopher Simoonga.
“Why is he holding on to IDC? There are so many people, including Tongas, who can take over. Why was Njovu taken out of IDC board of directors and who has replaced him. And it’s because he’s not from Southern Province or Western Provinces,” he said.
Sichinga said he would not be surprised to hear that Anglo-American or some huge corporations involved in bankrolling UPND have been contracted into the mining sector, including at Mopani and KCM, saying Dolika Banda could have been a hindrance to that.
“There are certain specific individuals he wants to work with including those who supported him during elections. That’s why he is refusing to declare assets so that when he receives what he wants to receive he will say I had it. He should explain to us why Dolika resigned,” Sichinga said. “Why is he looking for investors from outside when ZCCM can go and borrow? I am saying to you that the structure the President is practicing is wrong because he is the chairman of the IDC and ZCCM-IH is reporting to IDC. That is not appropriate.”
He said there was simply no way a person who claims to have crafted his career in the corporate world could run affairs in the manner Hichilema is doing.
