By shi Williams in chingola.
The Konkola Copper Mines that are owned by Indian investor through vendetta resources listed on London stock market has failed to run the mines in Zambia. They may be successful in other countries but surely have failed in our mother Zambia. May be they want to prove that Indians naturally are not good in managing mines but rather selling household goods in kiosk and other shops.
The company which was sold on give away price only survives on borrowing resources to support its daily mining activities. It is not a disputing fact that the once giant mining company owes the banks and contractors both in Zambia and abroad. It is like KCM want free services from the banks and contractors while they make free profit as claimed by the vendetta chairman. These are not investors but harvesters who have come to harvest the fruits which were planted by Anglo-America investors.
Their failure to run the mines has been exposed by not paying particularly attention to the mine main surviving blood which is electricity. Surely how can this big mine fail to settle electricity bill owed to CEC and yet we expect good things from KCM. The shutting down of its one of the vital department and the flooding of the underground should not be a baby of CEC but KCM’s negligence as a result of not paying the electricity bills.
KCM actions are just deliberately as they are aware that Zambian Government is in their pocket and it can not surprise anyone as they are always protected and kept like an egg. The dispute between KCM and CEC as shown us that in Zambia we are lucking leaders. How can a Minister of Mines, Mr. Christopher Yaluma can be so strongly on CEC than KCM on the matter at hand or is that he is scared of telling KCM to pay the debts owed to CEC because of the reasons known to himself.
As for Chingola MPs again are absent and one wonders were they are hiding when chingola residents are expecting comment from them on this vital issue as it has impact largely on chingola community. Anyway today I won’t spend time on these absent MPs but concentrate on the failures by KCM.
When you look at the infrastructures in chingola which host KCM headquarter is sad indeed, places like cricket, rugby, hockey, bowling and other playing fields are in the deplorable state. These places used to be colorful and evergreen simba grass with well fenced and secured area which was admired for the resident worthy spending time there but today these place look like somebody dropped a boom on them. The streets roads which had best tarmac in town has been turned into pot holes, linking water pipes supply and other related problems have become the order of the day in chingola town.
On the contractors, KCM has extremely failed to manage that part which is very critical to their operations. Big contractors like U&M, MOOLMANS, MMS and FLSMIDTH who had employed many youths with good condition of service have been shown the exit and replace them with Indians firm like GRN, AMSL and others who offer slavery wages to our already poor Zambians. When these contractors were still in existence the economy of chingola was doing fine but today there is nothing to write about. The remaining contractors and suppliers have no impact as in most cases their dues are not paid leaving their workers and business communities who depend on them to go unpaid for many months that translate into miserable life among the people of chingola.
Again if chingola had present MPs most of these problems will be things for the past and it is therefore my appeal that Government should not be blaming striking workers and CEC but KCM who have failed to run the mine. The government should be aware that because of these Indians carelessness on how they are managing of our mine has made many youths jobless in chingola and these youths have decided to join illegal mining activities as the way of surviving.
This is the good time to nationalize our mines as we are looking for another investor.
PF lied that if they come in power the first thing to do is to control the system these mines are operating,but they have failed to do anything.
which government are we going to trust in Zambia?
We should’ve given them a periperi factory to run.
AHahahaha….chingola pipo make Kambwili Your MP.Am sure he can make noise and scare these Indians
@lusa
Concur. We need to nationalise the mines for total control.
Above all Zambians need to get ‘nasty’ about our resources. The only solution is for citizen action, but who is to organise? Trade Unions? Probably not.
In Zambia, we have an aggressive form of fraudulent leadership. We need to shake the gov’t down on this one. Politicians need to understand we want foreign conglomerates out. Vedanta must be sent out ASAP and demands for taxes for their period in the mine.
A lawsuit for mismanagement to claw back from their profits. You call them Indians, but they operate from Britain where they pay tax and dump our money. UK is wrong to allow this corporate robbery.
Late Mwanawasa, Magande and Lembalemba did this to Chingola despite all advice given and horrible experience/lessons of Binani in Luanshya. Those still alive ought to be tried & if this were China; a verdict of death by firing squad would not be far fetched!
The first one to be tried should be HH for his role as a ZPA agent liquidator for Grant Thornton.
Indians Indians everywhere in Chingola its indians….the major contractors at KCM are Indians…….And why using the U&M Mine machine on that picture??People in Chingola arejobless because of poor management by indians at KCM. Major contractors like moolmans,FLSmith,MMS,Grinaker LTA and U&M left the mine and left about 3000 people jobless.Please someone has to help us
Yaluma is busy telling us that Vedanta has injected this and that blah blah, a mouth full of lies, what interests does he have in KCM for the whole of him turning into KCM spokesminister?
This is the right time to grab back the mine. The timing cannot be bette than now.
Only in India is Vedanta, under its subsidiary, Sterlite is making a profit from Hindustan zinc and the Tuticorin smelter. This is mainly dur to good managers in India (most of the senior guys are ex Hindustan Lever, the best run company in India). The rejects, were sent to Zambia. Their zinc mines in Ireland, Namibia and South Africa were bought on credit from Anglo American. The Zambian government, and the Hon. Minister of Mines are unable to decipher these salient facts. In the mean time, a prime mining resource is going to waste.
Only in India is Vedanta, under its subsidiary, Sterlite is making a profit from Hindustan zinc and the Tuticorin smelter. This is mainly due to good managers in India (most of the senior guys are ex Hindustan Lever, the best run company in India). The rejects, were sent to Zambia. Their zinc mines in Ireland, Namibia and South Africa were bought on credit from Anglo American. The Zambian government, and the Hon. Minister of Mines are unable to decipher these salient facts. In the mean time, a prime mining resource is going to waste.
This is not true friends, it is called artificial bankrupsy . It comes into play when maximum product is sold under the table so that it cannot be taxed and minimum product is sold legally and recorded on books. It has been done before kagem was sold in 2008 to gemfields . Mr Govind Gupta; director at that time; laundered emeralds out of the country and sold to his friends privately
Let these indians pay for electricity, all poor Zambians pay for electricity why cant KCM do the same? These guys are taking us for granted coz may be they are dining with some people in GRZ. Be warned that we watching ……
@lusa
Concur. We need to nationalise the mines for total control.
Above all Zambians need to get ‘nasty’ about our resources. The only solution is for citizen action, but who is to organise? Trade Unions? Probably not.
In Zambia, we have an aggressive form of fraudulent leadership. We need to shake the gov’t down on this one. Politicians need to understand we want foreign conglomerates out. Vedanta must be sent out ASAP and demands for taxes for their period in the mine.
A lawsuit for mismanagement to claw back from their profits. You call them Indians, but they operate from Britain where they pay tax and dump our money. UK is wrong to allow this corporate robbery.
Nationalisation isn’t the solution. All Nationalisation does is put the business in the State’s hands but ownership is absent. As such the state-owned business is prone to looting by everyone who thinks if it belongs to the people iam entitled to its assets. Teach Zambians how to run businesses so they can come and take over such businesses
All along I thought Yaluma was the Country Manager for KCM.
nationalisation is the only answer to many of Zambia’s economic woes. We have learnt alot from past mistakes under the UNIP regime and with modern thinking and the general global economic dynamics that are so much different than they were back in the 1st and 2nd republic, with Africa being on the rise and free trade blocks like Comesa that are proving to be worthy markets for many multinationals to sell their products and with the emergence of China that has greatly pushed the prices of Copper up, Zambia must take the bold step and start the process of nationalisation at least with a few of the mines as a start. The same should apply with agriculture FYI Zambia Sugar incurs amongst the lowest cost of production for sugar in the world yet they and other firms like Zambeef ..ctn
ctn…other firms like Zambeef continue to be exploitative not only with regards to salary pay and working conditions but even to the end customer who is often ripped off, an example in mind is the recent embalming saga where Zambeef where selling offals that are thrown away or bought from the UK and Ireland at close to nothing, these meat products are sold at high prices here in Zambia. Nationalisation if done properly and these firms run in a business like manner as is the case with Zesco, Zamtel, Lusaka Water and Sewerage that will keep politics seperate can prove a success. Nationalisation if discussed at length with key players be they regional, or international bodies like the IMF, World Bank or even as has been mentioned the soon to be Brics Bank must be debated.
People like Yaluma where were you when Sata had only 2% of the vote and some of us where that 2%, some of us where there and we know that the real PF plan was to nationalise the mines as should have been the case. No you guys are letting both us and the big man HEMCS down, the mines are being run down and we are losing out again…ba Yaluma you are diverting from a socialist to purely capitalist which is not what the PF is about…you and you alone together with other double agents are the ones that are bringing the PF govt down guys, since when did PF become a capitalist party???