A British judge on Friday ordered President Frederick Chiluba and 19 others to pay back $46 million stolen while in office in a landmark strike against official corruption in Zambia.

Judge Peter Smith, speaking live via satellite link from London, said he ordered that Chiluba and his associates must pay 85 percent of the funds allegedly stolen from the national treasury within 14 days.

Details on the amount Chiluba himself would have to pay back would emerge in the next few days.

“At the end of the day he (Chiluba) was the president at the top of the control of government finances. He was uniquely positioned to prevent corruption … instead of preventing corruption, he actively participated in it,” Smith said in his ruling.

Political analysts said the judgement was a milestone in Africa’s efforts to recover money lost to official corruption, seen as a major drag on the continent’s development.

“To my knowledge, this is the first legal ruling of such a case against any head of state past or present,” said Ayesha Kajee, head of the Democracy and Political Party Systems in Africa programme at the South African Institute of International Affairs.

“This will certainly make current heads of state sit up and be a little more careful and especially draw the line between private funds and public funds … it is a good start and will send out a strong message.”

Government officials say they sued Chiluba and his allies in a London court because they own properties purchased using stolen public funds in Britain, Belgium and other European nations, an accusation Chiluba denies.

The ruling backed charges by President Levy Mwanawasa’s government that Chiluba and his associates stole the money during his years in power from 1991-2001.

Zambian prosecutors told Reuters that the amount Chiluba and co-accused would finally have to pay would rise after an assessment of damages and interest. It was unclear how the money would be obtained, although officials say overseas properties owned by the accused could be seized.

“This is a milestone … I am not aware of any case like this in Africa,” said Jotham Moomba, a professor of history at the University of Zambia in Lusaka.

Chiluba, who hand-picked Mwanawasa to succeed him prior to the 2001 presidential elections, has denied any wrongdoing and accuses Mwanawasa of political persecution.

Zambia, in a separate local trial, has hit Chiluba with criminal charges of stealing $488,000 while in office. That trial stalled in May 2006 due to Chiluba’s ill health.

In a statement, Chiluba said he would not recognise the authority of the British court to rule on Zambian matters.

“This action by the Zambia government in collusion with the British government has only served to undermine and ridicule the Zambian judiciary,” Chiluba said.

“It is an affront to justice to run parallel trials simultaneously based on the same facts and circumstances as has been done in this case. It is in this regard that I have refused to submit myself to this court, its process and its consequent findings in the so-called judgement,” Chiluba added.

President Levy Mwanawasa is on Saturday expected to open the first session of the second House of Chiefs.

According to a statement released to ZANIS in Lusaka today by Clerk of House of
Chiefs Coillard Chibbonta, the President will on Saturday May 5, 2007 open the first
session of the second House of Chiefs in the Chiefs’ Chambers at 10:00hrs.

Meanwhile, President Mwanawasa has sent congratulatory messages to Mauritanian
President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi on his successful election as president of that
country.

And President Mwanawasa has also sent messages of good will to President of the
Republic of Poland, Mr Lech Kacynski on the occasion making that country’s national
day.

In his message to President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, President Mwanawasa said it
gives him pleasure to send congratulatory messages as Zambia and Mauritania share
cordial relations based on mutual understanding and respect.

President Mwanawasa said Zambia stands ready to explore areas of  cooperation with
Mauritania in a bid to promote bilateral relations.

The President wished his counterpart good health and success during his tenure of
office.

And in his message to President of the Republic of Poland, Mr Kacynski, President
Mwanawasa said Zambia greatly appreciates the warm and cordial relations that exists
between the two countries.

He said Zambia looks forward to further strengthen its relations with Poland and to
include other areas of development cooperation such as mining, tourism and agriculture.

President Mwanawasa said this could be through increased interaction at both bilateral and multilateral level, on matters of mutual interest and benefit of the two peoples.

This is contained in a statement released to ZANIS in Lusaka today by Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations, John Musukuma.

ZANIS

CIVIC and political groups have differed over President Mwanawasa’s proposal for a national convention to discuss the constitution-making process.The Oasis Forum described the President’s call as a step in the right direction but the Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) says the constitution- making process be confined to either the Government or Oasis Forum- proposed roadmaps, irrespective of the costs involved.

Oasis Forum new chairperson, the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) president, Elijah Banda, said in an interview yesterday that the move was welcome although they needed time to study the matter before making a comprehensive statement.

“We will soon sit with the new LAZ Council to study the President’s pronouncement in line with what has been the position of the Oasis Forum on the matter,” Mr Banda said.

But FODEP executive director, Elijah Ruvuta, suggested it was better to go ahead with one of the established roadmaps as long as the weeks over which the process was supposed to take ran concurrently.

The Oasis Forum has suggested in its roadmap that the constitution-making process should be carried over a period of about 71 weeks while Government has proposed 87 weeks.

Mr Ruvuta said FODEP was sceptical about what would be achieved through a constitutional convention especially that there was almost nothing significant, which came from the last national convention.

“What did we achieve from the last convention.

Government is using costs as a concern for using the established roadmaps.

But what is the loss in investing in something broad. Moreover, how is the convention going to be managed because during the last one, a number of things were not properly handled,” Mr Ruvuta said.

Mr Ruvuta said since Government had agreed to enact the new constitution through a Constituent Assembly, it should not worry about the costs that would be incurred because it was a worthy investment.

And United Party for National Development (UPND) spokesperson, Charles Kakoma said the President’s stance was in line with UPND’s consistent calls for dialogue.

“The purpose of the indaba should be to reach consensus in studying various issues involved in the constitution-making process like the road map, which we need to discuss and agree on,” Mr Kakoma said.

He, however, said President Mwanawasa should not use the convention as a replacement for the Constituent Assembly.

“Instead the indaba should be used as a forum to discuss important issues like the mode of selecting people to be on the Constituent Assembly because this is what people wanted when making their submissions,” he said.

But Patriotic Front president, Michael Sata, said although the Oasis Forum’s roadmap was just a proposal, he would prefer a referendum on any roadmap because it was a quicker way of enacting a constitution.

Mr Sata who was speaking on Face the Media programme on Radio Phoenix, said a national convention might just be a waste of time and resources because many had been proposed over the last five years but nothing significant had come out of them.

He said a referendum should be used as a guide in enacting a new constitution because it was a quicker formula to bringing in an acceptable document to allow the people to govern themselves.

Non-Governmental Organisation Coordinating Council vice chairperson, Joyce Macmillan, said there was need for a good constitution because everything in the country rested on it.

She said issues like the fight against corruption, job security and independence of institutions like the judiciary, were all dependent on a good constitution.

The government  plans to raise mineral royalties and corporate taxes in June after renegotiating agreements signed with foreign mining companies,  Finance Minister Ng’andu Magande said on Wednesday.

Magande told Reuters the government had informed foreign copper and cobalt mining companies it intended to raise mineral royalty tax to three percent from 0.6 percent and corporate tax to 30 percent from 25 percent.

The government was currently working out detailed proposals and would start renegotiating agreements in order to raise corporate and mineral royalty taxes, he said.

“We would like to start renegotiating the development agreements to raise tax in June and complete the exercise the same month. There are only five items we are looking at,” Magande added.

Magande said foreign firms which purchased copper mines starting from 2000 had been awarded tax breaks to enable them to stabilise their operations at a time of low prices.

“The tax breaks were only for the stability period and now they should all start paying the same taxes. The new mines are already paying 30 percent corporate tax and three (percent) mineral royalty tax,” Magande said.

He said the government would renegotiate with 10 foreign mining firms that had received tax incentives so that they could contribute more funds to the Treasury.

PRESIDENT Mwanawasa says it is difficult for Government to reasonably improve conditions of service for its workers because some of the unionised employees aren involved in thefts and abuse of public resources.

“How can we improve workers’ conditions when money is being stolen and abused by your (trade union) members and workers are ever going on strike? It takes two to tangle and so both Government and the workers must be prudent in handling public resources,” he said.

Mr Mwanawasa said this in Lusaka yesterday during Labour Day celebrations.

He said this year’s theme contained important milestones, which were necessary ingredients in realising desired industrial harmony in the country.

Mr Mwanawasa said the milestones were healthy because they promoted a safe working environment and increased productivity.

“It is essential that as we commemorate this important day, we reflect seriously on our achievements with regard to promoting and sustaining workers’ rights and decent work through social dialogue.

“All these can be enhanced through measures and mechanisms that we have taken and established which are at our disposal as social partners,” he said.

Mr Mwanawasa said Government was committed to accelerating the realisation of this year’s Labour Day theme through the inclusion of a chapter on employment and labour in the Fifth National Development Plan and the implementation of the country’s decent work programme in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Mr Mwanawasa said social dialogue was an important means of sharing and exchanging ideas to resolve problems on the labour market.

He said Government had institutionalised social dialogue through the ratification of convention 144, of 1976, which had been domesticated through the Industrial and Labour Relations Act Cap 269 of the Laws of Zambia.

Mr Mwanawasa said through this Act, Government was obliged to meet its social partners not less than twice a year to exchange views on labour matters, human resource development and issues that included legislation, policies and programmes.

He said regular labour inspections should be complemented by educational awareness campaigns with regard to the provisions of the Employment Act, the Industrial and Labour Relations Act, Minimum Wages and Conditions of Employment Act and the Factories Act.

He said promoting and sustaining workers’ rights required concerted efforts by stakeholders.

Mr Mwanawasa said workers should be educated on the provisions of the labour laws so that they could claim their rights.

He said government on its part would endeavour to maintain a sound industrial relations climate for conducting business.

The President said under the decent work programme for Zambia which Government in collaboration with ILO was developing, greater employment opportunities would be created and adequate social protection provided.

He also said workers’ rights would be respected while meaningful social dialogue among social partners would be guaranteed.

“Having taken these measures, Government will concentrate on facilitating the creation of more jobs to absorb school leavers and graduates into gainful employment.

To create more opportunities for decent employment, Government has introduced a number of intervention measures in the FNDP,” he said.

Mr Mwanawasa said with regard to social protection, Government had already started implementing social security reforms to ensure harmonisation of fragmented schemes in the country and to improve the coverage and delivery of services.

The President has since instructed the Minister of Labour and Social Security Ronald Mukuma to finalise the social security policy, which would also carter for workers in the informal sector.

“In this regard, the informal sector operators and individual players in the economy may contribute to the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA),” he said.

Mr Mwanawasa also said child labour should be tackled through a multi-dimensional approach involving various stakeholders.

The President also appealed to members of Parliament to consult their electorate before making laws.

And President Mwanawasa took a swipe at some employers who did not have representation at the celebrations.

“Some of these employers invited me when they were opening their companies, but now they don’t want to see me.

Let them not call me for any event if they are not prepared to dance with their employees.

“While we are happy that they are making money and that there is a level of industrial peace, we are not happy that they are not giving us support,” he said.

Copperbelt Province Minister Mwansa Mbulakulima has disclosed that Parliament has approved a budgetary provision of more than K28 billion to Copperbelt Province.

Making the disclosure during a meeting he hosted for Provincial Members of Parliament and District Commissioners today, Mr Mbulakulima said that K28,233,855,177 had been approved by Parliament.

Mr Mbulakulima explained that K8,787,515,415 out of the allocated amount would be spent on poverty reduction programmes.

He said most of the funds would be used on ongoing programmes such as the rehabilitation and expansion of education and health facilities in the province.

He further said the other programmes to benefit from the funds were, the land resettlement infrastructure, water and sanitation and many other Copperbelt support
programmes.

The Minister explained that the meeting was aimed at finding ways on how best all
stakeholders could work together as a team and bring development to the province.

He said that the meeting needed to address issues concerning the Youth Development
Fund on the Copperbelt Province, Developmental Projects as well as working relations among the office of the Provincial Minister, the District Commissioners and all Copperbelt MPs.

And in a vote of thanks, Kantanshi MP, Yamfwa Mukanga urged the minister to ensure
that the money allocated to the province was shared equally.

He said as concerned stakeholders they needed to be discussing developmental issues
and to establish how the money would be used.

Mr Mukanga assured that Copperbelt MPs were ready to work as a team.

ZANIS