Govt rejects KCM international arbitration
WE will not allow Vedanta to drag us into international waters over the KCM issue because Zambian courts and laws are competent enough to manage and run the matters before it, Mines Minister Richard Musukwa has said.
“We are aware of their propensity to dramatise in international space as we have already seen a well-calculated and dedicated media platform which has been orchestrated to project themselves as the messiahs when in fact not.”
Commenting on reports that Vedanta has dragged Zambia to international arbitration following the seizure of KCM, Mr. Musukwa yesterday told the Daily Nation that the company’s evil schemes of using cash power had been laid bare but that Government would not buy into such manipulation.
“If this is where they want to take the liquidation matter, we are not prepared to allow Vedanta to drag us into international waters as the Zambian courts and laws are enough and competent to manage and run the matters before it. This issue falls squarely on the jurisdiction of the Zambian courts. They must respect the territorial integrity of our judicial process.
“Their suggestion is already an indication of wellknown perceived evils they have done to the people of Zambia and they are looking for excuses to posture at the international platform.
“We are aware of their propensity to dramatise in international space as we have already seen a wellcalculated and dedicated media platform which has been orchestrated to project themselves as the messiahs when in fact not,” Mr. Musukwa said.
He said Government’s priority was to ensure that C was ept afloat and that all facets of the operation were functional.
He said Vedanta had shown high levels of irresponsibility for a number of years and that they have just been posturing over these issues.
“Vedanta must be ashamed to even start a process where they have completely neglected mine development and resource recapitalisation. The mine was operating at a freefall investment platform on a wait-and-see basis,
subjecting our workers and the citizens of Zambia to untold misery.
“I challenge Vedanta to speak to their conscience and stop playing with the lives of the people of Zambia. Vedanta will not be allowed to hold the people of Zambia and mine employees specifically hostage because of the initial investment they brought to Zambia.
“We privatised the mining operations because we were looking for big brother investors who would bring fresh capital injection in the operations. Clearly, from our statistics and investigations, the mine has been surviving on account of resources internally generated by our own operations. They have been using our own money,” he said.
He said Vedanta, just like any international player, was bound to obey the laws of the country.
“In fact, the evil perpetuated by Vedanta in Zambia cannot be tried in their jurisdiction where they operate. In London where they operate, they cannot allow such kind of evil.
“Zambia has a cadre of well-trained mining experts in all fields and are capable of running and operating our mines,” he said.