Mines Minister Paul Kabuswe has announced that the process of implementing the deal between Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) and Vedanta Minerals is near completion.
Mine unions this week held a media briefing in Kitwe at which they expressed concern over the ‘delay’ to action the KCM-Vedanta deal.
Mine Workers Union of Zambia, National Union of Miners and Allied Workers and United Mine Workers Union warned that (KCM) risks undergoing care and maintenance following low production at its Integrated Business Units (IBUs).
Commenting on this issue, Mr. Kabuswe said the consent judgment related to the deal was scheduled to be signed Friday to pave way for the last step which is a creditor’s scheme of arrangement.
He said the Government has done its part by resolving the KCM issue that emanated from the liquidation of the mine by the PF Government.
During a media briefing today, Mr. Kabuswe brushed aside issues raised by the three mine unions.
“You as the media and through you the public is aware that all the challenges of KCM and Mopani have been resolved. Of course it is in the public domain that the Government and Vedanta Resources resolved to settle their dispute the two parties had out of court. Two day ago, I don’t know whether it was a press briefing or something by the mine unions and we saw miners clad in black t-shirts and waving placards. I was in shock and asked what was going on because as a Government we have been very open. This government has negotiated various conditions for miners; among them is the 20 percent salary increase immediately Vedanta assumes full operations of the mine (KCM). I think that we need to give each other a break as Zambians. It is important to take things in their context,” Mr. Kabuswe said.
He continued: “Right now, I want to announce to you that all the documents, all the agreements on KCM have been signed. As we are talking to you now today this morning if am not mistaken they are filling consent judgment. That consent judgment they are filling today is now to pave way for the last step which is a creditor’s scheme of arrangement. That mine was in liquidation. I wish the miners who were waving those placards could have protested when a decision to liquidate a company by a minority shareholder was being made. It was a wrong decision. It is a reason this mine is where it is. Vedanta has done its part, the Government of Zambia has done its part and ZCCM IH has done its part, now it remains for the courts to run that process of the creditors’ scheme so that we remove the provisional liquidation.”
Mr. Kabuswe urged miners and their unions to be patient over the KCM issue.
“We have done our part but we have to allow the process to run. We have done our part and there is nothing remaining. We have done all the agreements. There is no more discussion going on between Vedanta and the Government. Everything is on course. Please bashi mine and leaders of miners allow the process to run. As far as we are concerned as a government , a solution for KCM has been found and there will be no looking back. Government, Vedanta and ZCCM IH are now partners in KCM. So Abena Kopala do not listen to negative voices. Sometimes in our endeavour to do correct things we seemingly look like taking long, the reason is, if you rush you crush. That is where we are on KCM,” he concluded on the matter.
Last time you told the nation that it was a done deal.
The truth is that Vedanta has no money and is negotiating for a loan
1. Show the nation the deal you have done with Vedanta. Why are you so edgy about it. The government has a stake in the mines and its in the best interest of Zambians to the know the deal.
The truth is – The Vedanta owner is not trusted by Indian Banks and Indian Government. Vedanta’s bonds are rated junk in India and international capital markets for his natural resources group, which includes his mining empire.
2. Agarwal has been struggling to cut his debt. He recently lied during an interview that everyone wants to loan us money, meaning in Indian & American Banks, but when pressed he failed to name one bank. It turns out to be a lie & B*S. He recently borrowed $400 from Oaktree Capital to stay afloat. He is using KCM “just to hedge” his position and Zambia is getting slapped with lies.
3. Meanwhile, he wants to go into Semiconductor manufacturing and partner with Apple – but he cannot find the money. So forget, this man will not invest $ Billions in KCM. He just wants to use KCM to drain money out of Zambia for his other projects, which he has constantly done since the minute he bought KCM.
4. Agarwal’s Vedanta Limited owns the majority 64.9 per cent stake in former state-owned Hindustan Zinc. He had planned to have Hindustan Zinc acquire South African operation of THL Zinc from another Vedanta group entity, in a deal valuing the company at $2.9bn that the Indian & South African Governments strongly opposed, because the deal was smeared and engulfed with so much dirty laundry.
1. Show the nation the deal you have done with Vedanta. Why are you so edgy about it.
a) Because doing business with Agrawal is not something any Zambia wanted. It is something that was imposed on Zambia by the people we owe the US $33 billion that Michael Satan and his nephew Edgar “Johnathan Mutawire” Lungu borowed and looted, that we now cannot service. Basically, the IMF and the Europeans are worried about economic nationalism; they want countries prostrate on the ground, and wide open for them to wantonly rape. HH came in and found his hands tied behind his back. Wherever he went, they told him to let us be ripped off by the likes of Agrawal, or have to find a way to pay that debt…
Correction…. #2
He recently borrowed $400m from Oaktree Capital….
The crook Lungu was right in taking the mines from Vendatta. The only acceptable excuse for giving them back is if Zambia was told to do so as a condition of debt relief. The politically correct thing to do then, would be to explain this to Zambians. Furthermore, if that was so the mines should not have been returned to Vendatta before the debt relief was signed, and the benefits announced publicly. If not why would we give anything to an Indian? Love or hate the Chinese, where they come, you see factories, airports, highways, hospitals and stadiums. We have had Indians in our country for 100 years; not only has none ever served in our army, but their operations are attended by progressive decay and dilapidation. Indians have never done economic good anywhere, not even in India.
5. In the last 30yrs, he has had countless litigation court cases, which he has lost or settled out of court. He is getting away because he funded UPND’s presidential campaigns. And our president is pressed against the wall. No person in UPND can question HH about KCM because they are all scared of his *dictatorial and *Mr. Know-It-All characteristics.
2. Agarwal has been struggling to cut his debt. He recently lied during an interview that everyone wants to loan us money, meaning in Indian & American Banks, but when pressed he failed to name one bank. It turns out to be a lie & B*S. He recently borrowed $400 from Oaktree Capital to stay afloat. He is using KCM “just to hedge” his position and Zambia is getting slapped with lies.
A) Agrawal is the worst sort of scum. Lungu was right to take KCM from him. Lungu undermined the position of Zambia by borrowing and looting money that Zambia cannot pay back, even in 50 years. The owners of this debt have come down on the side of “investors”, such as Agrawal, in this debate, and Zambia is f@cked.
3. Meanwhile, he wants to go into Semiconductor manufacturing and partner with Apple – but he cannot find the money. So forget, this man will not invest $ Billions in KCM. He just wants to use KCM to drain money out of Zambia for his other projects, which he has constantly done since the minute he bought KCM.
a) I have worked in semiconductor fabs of the some of the top IC manufacturers in the world. Zambia, or for any other African country, would never be able to run a semiconductor fab. All the engineers, physicists, chemists, environmental specialists we have ever produced combined, are not enough to run even a moderately sized fab. We do not have the technicians to run the many delicate processes in fab…
4. Agarwal’s Vedanta Limited owns the majority 64.9 per cent stake in former state-owned Hindustan Zinc. He had planned to have Hindustan Zinc acquire South African operation of THL Zinc from another Vedanta group entity, in a deal valuing the company at $2.9bn that the Indian & South African Governments strongly opposed, because the deal was smeared and engulfed with so much dirty laundry.
b) Yep! We are being mercilessly screwed with a 10foot pole like a helpless b!tch. Michael Satan and Edgar Lungu emasculated us with the US $33 billion they borrowed and looted. Now we are at the mercy of Agrawal and South Africa shylocks, sitting at a table where they are sharing Zambia for dinner.
5. In the last 30yrs, he has had countless litigation court cases, which he has lost or settled out of court. He is getting away because he funded UPND’s presidential campaigns. And our president is pressed against the wall. No person in UPND can question HH about KCM because they are all scared of his *dictatorial and *Mr. Know-It-All characteristics.
A) Wrong he is getting away because the people Michael Satan and Edgar Lungu borrowed and looted US $33 billion from, have gone to the IMF and asked that in order for Zambia to be given debt relief, the country must “respect the capital of foreign investors”. Basically, Zambia has been told that it must let the likes of Agrawal f@ck us, or we are not going to get any debt relief. This is all the fault of Satan and Lungu
He almost sounds like he’s blaming the miners for allowing Vedanta to be chased in the first place. Strange logic for the man who should be representing their interests not the interest of Vedanta
@Fuelgauge Phiri: January 6, 2024 At 2:15 pm
Chasing Vendatta was one of the few good things Lungu did. He (his uncle Michael Satan) completely undercut this good by borrowing and looting US $33 billion and looting it. Zambia does not have the means to pay this kind of debt, since some of it is of the worst sort of loans imaginable. Lungu defaulted on this debt before he left office. HH came and found that Lungu and Satan had cleared the national reserves, which had stood at about US $4billion when they came in power. HH is having to dance to the tune of the IMF, and as condition of them giving us breathing room under this crippling debt, we have to cede KCM to Agrawal, and make other such deals
………
Vendetta is the only deal in town……..
No other investor is willing to take on KCM who’s ownership was in courts………
So those that are opposed to vendetta, what’s your solution ???
Bearing in mind the court cases with vendetta
If Vendetta says they will revamp KCM and operationalise KCM, how they get the money is their problem……….
After the last saga, be assured GRZ has put in place safeguards to protect zambias intrests………
………
Vendetta is the only deal in town……..
No other entity is willing to take on KCM who’s ownership was in courts………
So those that are opposed to vendetta, what’s your solution ???
Bearing in mind the court cases with vendetta
If Vendetta says they will revamp KCM and operationalise KCM, how they get the money is their problem……….
After the last saga, be assured GRZ has put in place safeguards to protect zambias intrests………
………
Vendetta is the only deal in town……..
No other entity is willing to take on KCM who’s ownership was in courts………
So those that are opposed to vendetta, what’s your solution ???
Bearing in mind the court cases with vendetta
If Vendetta says they will revamp KCM and operationalise KCM, how they get the money is their problem……….
After the last episode , be assured GRZ has put in place safeguards to protect zambias intrests………
………
Vendetta is the only deal in town……..
No other entity is willing to take on KCM who’s ownership was in courts………
So those that are opposed to vendetta, what’s your solution ???
Bearing in mind the court cases with vendetta
After the last episode , be assured GRZ has put in place safeguards to protect zambias intrests………
………
Vendetta is the only deal in town……..
No other entity is willing to take on KCM who’s ownership was in courts………
So those that are opposed to vendetta, what’s your solution ???
Bearing in mind the court cases with vendetta
No other entity is willing to take on KCM who’s ownership was in courts………
So those that are opposed to vendetta, what’s your solution ???
Bearing in mind the court cases with vendetta
So those that are opposed to vendetta, what’s your solution ???
Bearing in mind the litigation with vendetta
@ Spaka
1. Yes, your question is valid about legal complications. However, there is nothing impossible – to do, fix or reconstruct in life. The journey to the moon was an impossible thing to do. It took the will-to-do-it. You can fix anything, especially in the corporate world because things operate in linear formular. KCM had committed serious *fraud, *deception, *tax and *environmental crimes, Add to that is *tortious crimes, breach of supplier contracts, serious employment crimes, racial slurs towards black employee were reported more than 25 times. GRZ could have raised a counterclaim litigation. In a nation where laws are respected, KCM would not continue operations.
Spaka
2. Counterclaim Litigations are equalizers – that help in making settlement of disputes by fostering a more thorough analysis, promoting fairness, encouraging negotiation, identifying common ground, and facilitating a more efficient resolution.
Therefore, the Zambian government should have taken that view to force Vedanta out using the crimes it committed and bring in new investors. We know HH wanted KCM to be owned new investors and this was a painful decision for him to make. Hence, he is so mute about it.
@@ OBSERVER… cheers to your insights and if only people can come here not to shout insults and debate reasonably. Anyways we have a corrupt president who allowed KCM owners to prevail. The same corrupt president was protecting his Foreign Affairs Ministers when surely the whole nation could see that his minister was caught pants down. Things in copperbelt will get worse.
2. Therefore, the Zambian government should have taken that view to force Vedanta out using the crimes it committed and bring in new investors. We know HH wanted KCM to be owned new investors and this was a painful decision for him to make. Hence, he is so mute about it.
a) These things only work when you can stand on your own 2 feet. Michael Satan and Edgar Lungu borrowed US $33billion, which Lungu defaulted on, and we can never pay. The IMF is using this debt to make us dance to their tune. This is why we had to to give KCM back to Agrawal
The case should have been handled in a court of law. Agrwal has played you. He has a trick that will shock and silence even praise singers. As it’s there’s no solution because you have already made a big mistake.
@Spaka everyday people are litigating so there’s nothing special about Vedanta litigating. That’s what courts are there for. How can you give in even before the case takes off. Don’t we have good enough lawyers who could have adequately argued the case? The bottom line is Upnd got financial help from these people.
INDEPENDENT OBSERVER
Counter sueing and sueing was going to take years……….even 10 to 15 years to resolve.
Has GRZ got the time and money to be hung on a court case when KCM should be working…….??……….seeing whole towns depend on KCM.
Spaka
Yes again – I agree it can take years. However, this is not circumstantial evidence. GRZ has a pool of receipts of crimes or factual evidence, which would undercut Vedanta from playing delaying tactics before a panel of judges. The owner is on video record boasting he was making $Billions per year while he was submitting losses year after year to avoid paying taxes. It scares one, that no one from the government was able to audit this company thoroughly. The blame also goes to MMD & PF and now UPND has been utterly duped as well. Donald Trump was found liable in a similar case by a Judge. 24hrs ago, the New York Attorney General asked the Judge; that Trump must pay $340m and be banned, including his children for life from doing business in New State.
INDEPENDENT OBSERVER
It will take years………can be stretched out 10 to 15 years depending on Vendettas mood.
Basically GRZ can have all the evidence……..
With the corruption in the legal world, those international indians at vendetta can play an expensive waiting game.
It comes down to who needs it most.
The UPND GRZ is being pragmatic.
The CBU needs KCM to be working. At terms favorable to Zambians.
1. Yes, your question is valid about legal complications. However, there is nothing impossible – to do, fix or reconstruct in life. The journey to the moon was an impossible thing to do. It took the will-to-do-it. You can fix anything,
b) The journey to the moon was not impossible. The scientific challenges were known by engineers. The solutions were also known. What it took was the requisite financial commitment. The problem in Zambia is that we Michael Satan and Edgar Lungu borrowed and looted US $33billion. You can employ all the verbal sophistry you want, but unless you can account for how Zambia with a GDP of US $22.15 billion, and a population of almost 21 million, can pay this debt, all you doing in nothing but verbal gymnastics
@ OBSERVER… cheers to your insights and if only people can come here not to shout insults and debate reasonably. Anyways we have a corrupt president who allowed KCM owners to prevail. The same corrupt president was protecting his Foreign Affairs Ministers when surely the whole nation could see that his minister was caught pants down. Things in copperbelt will get worse.
2) Your name is not Munalula, but Mutale, or Mwale. HH did not do anything. The IMF made him give the mines back to Agrawal. The corrupt presidents were Michael Satan and Edna Lungu, who borrowed and looted US $33 billion. The IMF is using our inability to pay this debt to make us dance to their tune