Zambia not for sale to multinationals - MNT

ZAMBIA is not for sale to the multinationals and people cited in the Paradise Papers should be followed closely because they have mastered the art of manipulation of taxes in offshore tax havens, says Movement for National Transformation (MNT) president Daniel Shimunza.

Mr Shimunza said the people involved in those practices should be condemned in the strongest terms

He told the Daily Nation in an interview that off-shore accounts were exploitative because the tax burden kept backfiring on the middle class, while those rich people kept leveraging their capital gains at the expense of various governments.

He said the manipulation of taxes through off-shore accounts by selfish individuals was denying government’s revenue for development programmes.

He described the act as “smart white collar corruption” hidden in legality or legal backing, without moral considerations.

Mr Shimunza pointed out that the moral and ethical question was ignored by individuals involved in tax evasion because their conscience was seared by pride and arrogance by saying there was nothing illegal about those off-shore accounts.

Mr Shimunza said the recent revelations by Oxfam, ActionAid, and the Paradise Papers attested to the fact that those cited were not just hardworking business people, but opulent high net worth individuals who have mastered the art of manipulation of taxes in offshore “safe haven” accounts for self - preservation, at the expenses of tax evasion of various nations.