SO KABUSWE WAS FACING THE AXE
SO the minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, Mr Paul Kabuswe was facing early exist. The minister has been chasing the informal and illegal miners in our lucrative mining sector including Gold green fields.
He has worked extremely hard to bring order and sanity to the mining sector which is underperforming in the midst of the booming copper prices at the international market.
There are allegations against the minister of cutting deals over the Black Mountain which is now the only active mining site on the Copperbelt. Black Mountain is now the youth empowerment scheme.
President Hakainde Hichilema defended and saved the job of the minister at the press conference on April 25, 2022 (Daily Nation, April 26, 2022).
I believe that the President’s defence only saved the minister’s job but not his name from being soiled. This is not because Mr Kabuswe is guilty of any wrong doing, but is a matter of trust.
President HH has defended his ministers who have received bad press on allegations of corruption. The position of defence all the time does not reflect the reality.
This is because any cabinet is composed of human beings and not agels and therefore subject to the sin of corruption, just like the rest of us. The consistent denial by the President is lacking authenticity and is damaging in the long term.
I can only urge Mr Kabuswe to continue working hard because the sector he heads is critical to our debt reduction and economic growth.
The defence by the President is an early warning to the minister. He should tread carefully on the Black Moun
tain and leave the asset to the new investors.
Let him concentrate on providing policy guidance and leave out management to the technical staff so that his name is not entangled with corrupt deals.