PRESIDENT Michael Sata has directed Minister of Justice Sebastian Zulu to immediately probe the sale of the Zambia National Commercial (Zanaco) Bank to establish whether procedure was followed when Dutch bankers Rabo acquired a 49 percent stake in the institution in 2007.
The probe comes days after Government reversed the sale of telecom’s company, Zamtel, whose controversial 75 percent stake belonged to Libya’s LAPGreen but has now been placed in government hands.
The Zulu-led probe team, which will also hold public meetings starting February 1 – according to a notice published – will officially try “to determine how the sale of Zanaco was conducted and to establish whether privatisation requirements were met”.
Chana Musakanya, the bank spokesperson in an emailed statement yesterday, said “Zanaco will co-operate fully with the Commission, and has been doing so upon request. We look forward to the review of the privatisation process of Zanaco, which was extensive and took place over a period of many years.”
Government has also assured – through chief government spokesman Fackson Shamenda – that business will not get hurt during and after the probe.
Mr Shamenda said: “This is a routine check into the sale of the bank as the Government attempts to normalise some old parastatal transactions. I would like to assure both shareholders and depositors that everything is under control and no-one is bound to be hurt.”
Mr Shamenda said the exercise will extend beyond the Euro-money Award recipient of 2011 to other parastatals, in a bid to ensure that the laws of the country were followed during the transactions.
Zanaco has the largest branch network countrywide, with more than 60 branches to its credit and it also has a district representation through a partnership with Zampost, making it the largest bank by representation in Zambia, according to information on its website.
It employs more than 1, 300 employees and is also the most capitalised bank in the country, according to management, but this information has not been verified with the central bank, which keeps such records, especially after capitalisation numbers for both local and foreign banks were recently hiked by BoZ.
President Sata said during the campaign period for last year’s elections that he would investigate some transactions that occurred while he was opposition leader to establish that they were done above board.
Zanaco is among the top five banks in Zambia out of a total of 18 registered commercial banks.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
Neo maganizo yani nyokola. nenzo ona ngati mambala aka wine lini ma erections. kumunzi kwatu ku gwanda nikutali ngako. ine toto kaya tiwone.
You will be surprised to know that the man is not desperate at all and has a heart for the country. He has obviously held better and higher positions than you ever will.
The country is being destroyed by constable Sata and you need to be more concerned with that than being petty , mate.
don’t use vernacular on cyber space if you want your comments to be read by all – I gues your comments are good but I understood nothing
use global language when posting comments on cyber space – I gues your comments are good but I hardly understand what you are communicating.
What are you talking baout ?
stupid bembas ,you i.diots you use your zaire language here nobody says anything..put it into your system and shut the f.uck up.
Zambia hs taken a disastrous path. We wl gone down the way Zimbabwe did.
2 UNDERTAKER,
” Zambia hs taken a disastrous path. We wl gone down the way Zimbabwe did. ”
You mean the US is going to put Zambia under economic sanctions?
Prove to me that you even KNOW what happened in Zimbabwe. If you do not, all you are doing is engaging in cheap scare mongering – on the back of people who had the GUTS to fight for what is theirs.
From this moment investors coming to Zambia will know that Pa Zambia Twaliba serious.Corruption is not welcome. I wish the next president to take over the mantle from HEMCS will continue in this direction, then Zambia will be a good place for all. That is why HH supporter of the corrupt MMD will never ascend to power.
This was sold by Magande!
Go to kifco bafikkala,of course sata is not clever than levy and chikwanda is not clever than magande so who would be right?
On a dangerous and disastrous path. Zambia is now full of comedy and hot on the switch decision by the serpant
No worry hear, the gvt is just trying to find out if the procedure was followed. The investor should not tutuma.hahahahaha. Ubukuluku bubi ila zanda. The guys are sweating not knowing the outcome.
Number 3, the opposite is likely to happen. These COI’s are supposed to provide informed government opinions- not be treated like court rulings. For example if the ZAMTEL issue went to court the COI for Zamtel could be used by the complainant as an exhibit and the commissioners would be witnesses for the complainant. However what is happening now is that the executive is simply snatching businesses back (whether wrong or right) but the judiciary is being left out of the process. What rational investor would want to invest millions or even billions in such a climate of uncertainty? They are probably going to wait it out and see what happens in the long term, if things normalize then they will invest.
The fight against corruption is good. But unfortunately in Zambia when people hear ‘fight on corruption’ they immediately relax and think things are going well. No- everything has a process which should be followed and even a fight against corruption can be made corrupt if extra-judicial processes are made and due process is not followed.
Yes its possible that nothing may happen to ZANACO, but suppose the government snatches ZANACO back…….do you think Zambia will receive the same FDI it was receiving? Probably not- the reason is uncertainty. Its not fear of reprisal, its uncertainty due to the lack of protection of property rights.
Mr Sata’s agenda should be first and foremost growing the economy by more than 7% in order to create employment….we are yet to hear on this.
ma rubbish
Sata during the election campaign said he was going to renationalize ZANACO.This is a way of manufacturing evidence to have reasons for a govt takeover. #3 Pepecho Suffering; there is no corruption here. It is just a witchhunt for which Zambia will pay dearly. Some of us are old enough to have lived through the first phase of this nonsense under Kaunda. The economy is definitely headed southwards. ‘Light at the end of the tunnel’ will be Sata’s song when the economy finally tanks. Sata shouldnt even waste time just go full throttle. Take over the Mines, ZAMEFA, Zambia Sugar, Zambian Breweries, Pamodzi Hotel, Southern Sun hotels in Lsk and L/stone etc. ‘These companies belong to Zambians’. Isnt madness defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?
I’m still watching Mushota & Nick on PN. Mushota is busy licking the same
No corruption in Zamtel sale, no corruption in ZANACO sell.
Corruption in renationalising the 2 companies is more than evident.
Who is composing these commissions of enquiry preceeding the nationalisations? How much are the commissioners paid to do a job with a pre-determined outcome? if they did not produce the expected results, would they get the same pay?
If all fundamental Government institutions are privatised where is the pride of the nation? I didnt know ZANACO was one of them. They might as well privatise BOZ. Its like privatising your own wallet, you put in money only to be told and cautioned on when to open the wallet and or spend the money in it by another man. I understand its share-holding but 49% inside a National Bank? Its like leaving a note on the door of your house saying ” No one is at home and the door is unlocked- please leave the package at the door step”
ZAMBIALISATION AT ITS BEST, THE KAUNDA WAY!
The British High Commission in Lusaka has clarified its position on Zamtel and I am personally happy because with the high commissioner for not embarking on this charade of celebrating Sata regime as if they believe in their cause. I am glad the high commissioner has retaliated the central issues of protecting foreign capital. Sata infantile regime has chosen to comfort naïve citizens with the child’s soothing medicine of “more money in your pockets”. Where is the money coming from?
Next it should be LINTCO…Dunavant must start worrying…kekekekekeke
Disaster on the way. Negative vibes on the international markets. Watch Titanic sick. This is the boat people wanted.
Yaba….some things should just be left alone. This has nothing to do with ensuring that the privatisation of Zanaco was done properly. Its becoming an ideological move by the government who don’t believe in privatization AND if the could reverse the sell of the mines they would do it. A very dangerous path for the country to take. They should just concentrate on developing the country instead of being obsessed with old ghosts
The timing of the Zamtel probe, the context and content of the alleged arguments exposes the hand of the Sata’ regime in using criminality to disable and eventually to undermine private property rights of foreign investors. Sebastian Zulu is being manipulated by state actors to give life to arguments that Zanaco and Zamtel were corruptly privatised. What a tragedy that Zulu has become a foot soldier for Sata’s expropriation schemes.
I regret my vote
Sata must be impeached. Surely Zambians, how long are we going to wait to put this nonsense to an end? it will soon be too late, what are the political forces doing about this chaotic behavior from the president? The bank is doing very well and making profits that are being plowed into Zambian economy. Zanaco is better off now than it was when it was wholly owned by govt. No wonder we are failing to develop as a nation. We cannot use ideas of the 1970?s to develop in the modern world of economics. This idea of govt running businesses has failed in the past. Why should we go back? It sad that Zambians never learn from their past mistakes. Our own neighbours in Zimbabwe have learnt the hard way. you were warned about, but you illiterates never listened! Now, brace yourselves for suffering
Numb 19 u a fool . U must be mmd or one of the selfish people Sara is doing his job , people like u are the ones who have made Zambia failing , someone burying 2 billion from avpoir country and u still stand for crap grow up u fool
Are they sure there was something wrong with ZANACO?
I can take the ZAMTEL, but ZANACO honestly,…?
KAUNDA STYLE IS BACK.ECONOMY DOWN. CHASING ALL THE INVESTORS AND ALLOWING ALL THE KOLWES TO RUN NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS HEHEHE BAKOLWE IN FULL SWING.
This a good thing only and only, if the the government is aware of the expected outcome. Go – go go pf and don’ make mistake because you will regret twice.
if some one what to know the truth on ZANACO. First, find out how was it sold at and how many shares? How much the Govt raised through LUSE by selling 25% to Zambians? Why was it sold to the cheapest bidder, while some Zambians ( like Bwalya Chiti) offered more and his bid was ok?
might as well take up citizenship here
iwe PF Cadre with Red Card, do u think bwalya chiti could have invested as much money as investors would in a bank like zanaco? are u serious? the bid is not the issue, its about the running of the bank and how much money is to be pumped into it. get serious man..
You are complaining about ZANACO, you are the same people who are saying that corruptionfight is targeted at politicians only, what do you want us to do kanshi ala? Then for your information genuine investors cannot fear our trying to be corrupt free. Let our presido rule. The problem you think you cannot do things on your own , all what is needed is discipline, thats whu you lose elections. what we need now ids a bold president like HE MCS, one day you will appreciate. Its for a reason God allowed him to be presido at this time. GOD BLESS ZAMBIA.
It is increasingly becoming clear that we have thugs in government. I wonder whether the problem here is abilene paradox; where the more informed members of this government are afraid to tell this sekulu in state house that he is nudging this country to the fringes of the modern world. Zambia is not an island. The end of poverty in this country will come from industriousness by Zambians in collaboration with foreign investors. It turns out this man, who is in the twilight of his life, wants to die with the country. What you’re doing, sir, is sheer lunacy. No wonder the Chinese are even insulting your labor minister. You don’t deserve any respect. You don’t even have credibility to investigate anyone because you’re a convicted thief.
muli mubwafya ba mbuli, lets go sata
#25 Iwe, Bwalya Chiti offer was $12m, while the current owner bought it at $8m. before Zanaco was sold, it declared K40bn profit, so there was no issue of pumping the money. and morever, it had assured business from Govt and NAPSA. in short, there was no need to sale it, instead we could have sold a loss making NATSAVE or DBZ
any way lets wait for the report from COI, may be may be Levy had a good reason to sale a profit making bank
PF Cadre with a red card, A bank that performs better after being sold should be justification for its sale. All these institutions have been performing better in the hands of investors. The government has failed to run these institutions on their own. Besides, why wait for a report thats pre determined? we all know the outcome.
A Parastatal company sold even for K1 is better off in private hands than in government and political hands. It appears we are heading for a disaster around the corner.
what is PF trying to do? To get back what was sold at low price? Common sense dictates that you go for big ones first, so why not go for the mines which were sold when Sata was in chiluba’s govt?
It is good i sold my shares in ZANACO! Things are unpredictable now!
look at the mess at ZAMTEL already. where on earth do you have CEO and Chairman in one person. Who provides oversight? Recipe for corruption!
#16, so the British have clarified their position? I am glad to hear that because I thought that there was something strange about the way today’s Post quoted what they called the British “position”. I was really surprised and disappointed that the British could take such a biased position, but then I remembered that I was reading the Post. I am glad that many people, including the British High Commission, know how Post twists stories to suit their dirty fight.
I am loving it! A man for the people and for the nation!
yes my president it for this reason we handed you the keys to plot 1, its not easy but HE MCS and his govt are doing what they were voted to do,, abakalibakali
@32, read the British Ambassador’s position on ZWD.
Or is it High Commissioner.
Good evening
I don’t see what is so dangerous or disastrous about a routine check into the sale of a national bank. Reading some of the comments, one might think some people expect the president to rule in a straight-jacket. Was he not mandated to act in the full capacity of a Head of State?
This should not even come as a surprise since he had already pledged to investigate certain transactions that occurred during the previous government to establish transparency. People should rather start getting concerned when they see the president dragging his feet in acting upon his word.
Oh no, i thouhg Cifire or is it lifwekelo was wrong. We needed some people to go to a mental hospital before being allowed to rule. I guess we do not have to wait any longer, rather, we have to arrest the situation! One has to stand up and speak!
#Nine Chale, I am not sure you understand how the modern world works. Countries are vying for power and advantage in today’s world. In short, we’re competing with other nations to attract capital into our economy, which in turn creates jobs and improves our standard of living. Investor confidence is important. One of the factors deterring real investors from going to Zambia, according to the Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal, is the lack of laws to ensure the protection of foreign investment. The judiciary is almost non-existent in Zambia, according to their assessment. You may think this doesn’t matter, but perception matters in today’s world. If you’re modeling your society on Syria, Cuba and Venezuela, you should continue on this path. Sata is destroying this nation.
Number 23 I think you should calm down have some munkoyo or something. This has nothing to do with party politics. We all know that the present governments is not interested in privatization of inefficient companies. They simply want to nationalise everything at all costs. Thats the DNA of the present government, they are socialists whose main aim is to reverse everything the previous government did whether good or bad. If GRZ is very concerned about the privatized industries they should start investigating the privatization of ZCCM and its irregularities. And as for me being a fool no chance perhaps you should come up with a credible argument in favour of what GRZ is doing
investigate the sale of KCM.
And please, Probe the fall of zambezi airlines and zambian airways.
huh..having dictators is one thing..lets watch the space..Zambia is on fire!!
Viva Nationalisation
UNIP is back with a 21st century twist, good move. Protectionism is the new privatisation, re-nationalisation is taking place all over the world why not us.
We support you President Sata and the PF government.
When all Transactions are investigated we need a comission of inquiry to ascetain the source of US$ 27, 000 confiscated from Micheal Chilufya Sata in South Africa, not only that the private account he opened where hedeposited Lusaka city council money was it proper or irregular. Next Govt. Swing in acction.
Well nothing to worry about, If not properly SOLD, We need the SHARES BACK. MMD had no heart for ZAMBIANS.
CAN YOU PUT MONEY IN OUR POCKETS ALREADY INSTEAD OF VICTIMIZING BANKS?
It is clear to me why Zambia as a country struggles to move forward, nothing is Zambia happens without the President saying so. The powers of the president are almost absolute hence the country continues to move to the tune of whoever is president. Cannot the police and the justice system work on their own without the president having to direct them. The ways things are going this PF government will spend its term in office reviewing and undoing what was done by the previous governement, the question is what will happen to delivery? Instead of the government looking forward its seems they are firmly fixed on the past. Was this government not elected to move the counrty forward.
The Robbo bank need not worry if the transaction was normal but if it was fraudulent then it has to be handed back to the government after all what has improved in Zanaco after that sell of marjority shares? nothing apart from the huge lines and inefficiency.
We really need economists to advise us on these matters. Some of us have scanty knowledge about matters of privatization henceforth the benefits and the opposite! People from other field…stop comment as you risk misleading the masses
Nevers Mu mba is a lia r and a mon ey lau ndering ma chine
Him and the de puty Mr Nz oya are ste aling tax pa yers money. They had fired Mr Tem bo beca use he knew about this sc am and was aga inst it. They also have a office slut , Caro lina Rod- riguez who is also abus ing the money. The Ottawa Zam bian mis sion are th ieves
Lets see how this plays out, and i wonder which organisation will be next? When will they setup COIs for organisations that were sold while His Excellency MCS was serving under Chiluba?
We need a commission of enquiry also to investigate the $27000 Sata abandoned at Oliver Tambo airport, The millions of dollars allegedly given to him by the Taiwanese government, Merzaff flats, the billions of kwacha Sata carried to MMD conventiion in 2001, the hucking of opposition cadres in 2001 etc.
I dont agree that this confusion should be extended to ZANACO. Ladies and gentlemen, there are better things that this government can do such as creating jobs for the youths, doing roads and drainages in places such ass kamwala south. For heaven`s sakes, this government should look at the concessioning of ZAMBIA RAILWAYS. The railway system in Zambia is in shambles. The other day, the passenger train locomotive broke down near misisi, a thing that never used to happen in Kaunda`s time. SATA was part and parcel of the people who sold off ZAMBIA RAILWAYS.
Please investigate the sale of all the former Zimco and Indeco companies. Remember ZADL ( Zambia Agricultural Development Limited) with its cattle and dairy breeding centers in all the provinces… ZAPP (Zambia Pork Processing Company) the famous pork processor.. LINTCO the cotton company, Cold Storage now Keembe, Poultry Proccessing Company now Crest Chicken, ROP, LENCO, Livingstone Motor Assembling Compony, ITT Livingstone, Luangwa Bicycle Plant, Kapiri Glass Products, MEMACO, LIMA Bank, Cattle Financing Company… just to name a few. My foot ….God take care of the young generation for the old people will not be there to cry with them when our economy tumbles. God bless this great nation and give wisdom to our elderly leaders.
jst like wat happened to the zambezi airlines crew last week. who went for a charter to malawi. upon arrival kk airport they were subjected to inhuman treatment by being searched. fingerprints taken and had their passports snatched.
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