Publicise Vedanta agreement, Chisela urges Govt
GIVING back Konkola Copper Mine (KCM) to Vedanta without a proper publicly accepted agreement will be a disaster because the people of Zambia especially the residents of Chingola are very upset with the sentiments that the mine will be given back to them, Zambia United for Sustainable Development (ZUSD) president, Lazarus Chisela, has said.
Mr Chisela said ,President Hakainde Hichilema’s sentiment regarding KCM is questionable because it does not show the government’s stance in this matter regarding the return of Vedanta.
He said the announcement by the President that they never wanted to give back KCM to Vedanta but they just wanted to deal with the issues of KCM outside the courts, raises questions.
Mr Chisela said the confusing part about all this was that the government had not stressed out what they intended to do with that mine. “They are just making blank statements, because we are supposed to know if they are not giving it back to Vedanta what they are going to do with it, people want answers,” he said.
He said what was more confusing was having the unions that fought so hard to kick the stealthy and deceiving Vedanta out of this country, calling for them to come back.
He said the statement was a great mistake and it raised a lot of questions about what deals they were trying to cut with Vedanta behind the scenes.
Mr Chisela said the UPND should be very careful in the way they were handling the issue of Vedanta because their position was already compromised and marred with allegations that that particular company sponsored their campaigns.
He said the people are very angry with Vedanta because the wounds of how that company deceived them were still very fresh and slight mistakes in the way this issue will be handled could lead to people revolting.
Mr Chisela said government has two options regarding KCM, one which was getting the Zambian human capital and investing in KCM so that the mine could be run by Zambians or make a proper agreement with Vedanta and put it in the public domain for the people to see and decide what is right for them.
He said the people who are the major stakeholders in the running of all public assets deserve to know what deals were being entered in on their behalf.