Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
The Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) has demanded that State House allows the case in which ZCCM-IH had sued First Quantum Mineral (FQM) for defrauding them of US$1.4 billion to be heard by the court.
The JCTR says it’s dismayed by media reports that State House has intervened in the court proceedings, stating that if this is true, it basically validates speculations that the government shareholdings in the mining companies is compromised.
In a statement obtained by QFM News, JCTR says its understanding is that government’s objective in maintaining shareholding in the mining companies through ZCCM-IH is to safeguard and maximize the potential benefits from mining companies, while maintaining voting rights to influence decision making in Zambia’s mining sector.
The Centre, however, notes that the frequent changes in the fiscal policy governing the extractive industries and the recent case of State house inference in the FQM fraud case suggests that the government does not put the interest of the Zambia people at the helm of all the decisions made thus far.
The JCTR says the intervention in the $1.4 billion case basically shows that the autonomy of the ZCCM-IH to deliver this function is absolutely non-existent.
It adds that what’s further worrying is that there have been little to no facts presented to justify the state’s intervention on the matter, describing this as yet another dent in the transparency and accountably of Zambia’s mining sector.
The JCTR states that the Intervention in the fraud case will not only entail that Zambia and its people will lose the much needed US1.4 billion for its social and economic investment, but will compromise other institutional efforts to curb illicit financial flows across different sectors amidst the turbulent economic and social times the country is going through.
It further notes that US$1.4 billion is more than the US$1.3 billion loan that the government is seeking to contract from the IMF and if collected could lessen the country’s swelling debt burdens.