Kalala defends Mwanawasa on sale of KCM

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Former Special Assistant to late President Levy Mwanawasa Jack Kalala
Former Special Assistant to late President Levy Mwanawasa Jack Kalala

Former Special Assistant to late President Levy Mwanawasa for Policy and Project Implementation and Monitoring Jack Kalala has defended the Mwanawasa administration over the sale of Konkola Copper Mines (KCM).

Mr Kalala said the Mwanawasa administration handled the sale of KCM to Vedanta above board.

He said the whole transaction was conducted in a transparent and accountable manner and that there was no wrong doing.

He said at a media briefing in Lusaka today that late President Mwanawasa was a professional who ran his administration in a professional manner.

Mr Kalala said the death of the former head of state was the worst thing that has ever happened to Zambia because he had a lot of good plans for the country.

He said people want to accuse the late president of wrong doing in the sale of KCM owing to the revelations by Vedanta Boss Anil Agarwal.

He called on Zambians to be careful with what they say because they will only
be cursing themselves if they try to vilify the late president.

Mr Kalala said the sale of KCM was a tactical “Douche Kubeba” strategy where the Mwanawasa administration sold the mine but at the same time introduced windfall tax as a way for government to collect dividends from the mines.

He said Dr Mwanawasa had the vision for the country stressing that the late president knew that copper prices were not going to be good all the time and that was why he asked his team to come up with programmes where proceeds from the mines were to be invested.

Mr Kalala called on Zambians to take to task all those that participated in the removal of windfall tax for them to explain why they did so.

Mr Kalala charged that the removal of the windfall tax was criminal as it denied the Zambian people a share of the country’s natural resources.

He said Dr. Mwanawasa did not make a mistake to introduce windfall tax saying that the move had the blessing of the international community and the donors.

 

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