MEDIA WON'T SWAY US - TRIBUNAL

First it was complaints from petitioners' lawyers who complained about biased reporting by government media but on closing day complaints came from the respondent's lawyers over what they termed judgmental editorials in the Post newspaper. The following is the story as reported by the Times of Zambia:

THE tribunal probing the conduct of Communications and Transport Minister, Dora Siliya has warned that any sensational reporting of its proceedings by the media will not sway it. Chairman of the tribunal, Judge Dennis Chirwa, sitting with Judges Peter Chitengi and Evans Hamaundu, warned yesterday after Ms Siliya’s lawyer, Eric Silwamba complained of some editorial comments in the Post newspaper that referred to the proceedings.

Before the closure of the tribunal on April 7, 2009, Mr Silwamba said on March 19, 2009 petitioners’ lawyer, Bonaventure Mutale complained about the headline in the Times of Zambia, to which the tribunal cautioned the media to be factual in their reporting. Mr Silwamba said the tribunal went further to say that it was not gagging the media but imploring it to report in a factual manner. He said Ms Siliya had observed with concerns that The Post newspaper’s editorial comment of March 31, 2009 made a finding of fact on the evidence of Solicitor General, Dominic Sichinga, which was repeated on April 3 and on April 5 this year. Mr Silwamba said adjudication on evidence was a preserve of the tribunal and that any inquiry should be by the tribunal and not in the media.

“We are fortified in our submission by the guidance of the Supreme Court in the Mazoka/Mwanawasa petition when the court dealt with Mr Mazoka and Mr Kavindele who commented on the case before the court. My instructions are that those opinions are grossly prejudicial to the proceedings. I know the tribunal has almost finished but the public should be made to wait until it concludes. These are instructions from my client,” Mr Silwamba said.

Justice Chirwa said the tribunal was aware that “the pen was mightier than the sword” but newspapers had their own interests in the matter. He also advised the parties to restrict their submissions to the proceedings of the tribunal and not from the media, as each media institution seemed to have their own interests.

He said the tribunal would only use evidence in the tribunal and warned that it may reconvene if prejudicial statements continued.

ATTORNEY GENERAL'S EVIDENCE

The Attorney General Mumba Malila on April 7 gave evidence to the tribunal relating to his legal opinion of the RP Capital Investments Memorandum of Understanding. The following is the story that appeared in the Times of Zambia of April 8, 2009:

ATTORNEY General, Mumba Malila has testified that the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) complained that his chambers did not properly handle the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the evaluation of Zamtel assets. Mr Malila also said that Solicitor General, Dominic Sichinga never informed him that Communications and Transport Minister, Dora Siliya complained that the legal opinion missed the point on the MoU. He said the ZDA board felt that their obligations could not be done because their functions were not mentioned in the document.

“ZDA concerns were that it had complained that their obligation could not be done as they were not mentioned in the MoU, so they concluded that the attorney general’s chambers did not perform a good advice,” he said.

He said his representative at the ZDA board, a Ms Patricia Jere told him that the board had concerns with the MoU and they felt that he should have personally handled it. He also said he declared the MoU between the Government and RP Capital Partners on the evaluation of Zamtel assets a nullity after it was signed.

Mr Malila told the tribunal probing the conduct of Ms Siliya that he wrote his letter advising that the MoU was a nullity on January 5, 2009 when the document was signed on December 22, 2008. The minister is alleged to have unilaterally cancelled a duly awarded contract by the Zambia National Tender Board (ZNTB) for the supply, installation and commissioning of Air Traffic Management Surveillance Radar Systems at Lusaka and Livingstone airports. She is also alleged to have awarded RP Capital Partners a US$2 million contract to value Zamtel assets disregarding legal advice from the attorney general, and in the last allegation, she is said to have abused constituency development funds (CDF) in Petauke.

Mr Malila said he was also not aware that another MoU was signed on January 9, 2009 and his advice referred to the first opinion offered by the solicitor general on November 21, 2008. He said the MoU signed on January 9, 2009 was not taken to his chambers for approval and it was brought to his attention by Ms Jere who was his representative on the ZDA board.

The attorney general, who was speaking before the closure of the tribunal, said what was ultimately signed was a document that did not comply with the advice from his chambers. He said his advice was copied to Cabinet office and to the president’s special assistant for legal and others in the interest of the country because he was aware that the president wanted the Zamtel issue to be resolved in a fair and quick manner.

Mr Malila, who expressed shock that RP Capital and Partners had already started evaluating the Zamtel assets even after declaring the MoU null and void, observed that Ms Siliya ignored his advice. He explained that on November 12, 2008, acting Communications and Transport Permanent Secretary, Victor Imbwae wrote to his office requesting for legal advice but that he delegated the issue to Mr Sichinga, because he was leaving the country. He said on November 21, 2008, acting Principal Counsel, Inonge Kwendamwene in the solicitor general’s chambers wrote a letter to the ministry in which she rendered the required legal opinion. He said on November 25, 2008, Mr Sichinga wrote another letter to Ms Siliya suggesting that the MoU should be clearer to safeguard the interest of the public. He said when he returned to Zambia, he was given the file for the MoU and saw a letter that indicated that Mr Sichinga had meetings with Ms Siliya over the MoU and that he would not be averse to the signing of the MoU if advice was followed. He said he first saw an MoU on which the ZDA did not sign, which was in line with reports he received that the ZDA board was against the MoU because it was supposed to be a signatory.

Mr Malila added that it was not usual for his office to review any opinions endorsed by the solicitor general but in the case of the MoU his review was prompted by complaints from ZDA. He said when he reviewed the MoU, he discovered that the legal opinion given on November 21, 2008 by Ms Kwendamwene and that of Mr Sichinga on November 25 was also largely not taken into account.

“It is important to heed to the legal advice from the attorney general’s office because ignoring such is as good as not seeking it in the first place and failure to seek such advice is contrary to article 54 of the Constitution,” he said.

Mr Malila told the tribunal that in an event that there was no evaluation and sale of Zamtel assets, the Government would be in breach of the financial obligations as the MoU was binding. Being led by the petitioners’ lawyer, Bonaventure Mutale, Mr Malila said if the Government decided to sell Zamtel to another company, it would still have to pay RP Capital Partners five per cent of the proceeds. He said some paragraphs in the MoU implied that it would be governed by Zambian laws and RP Capital Partners would not be interested in Government’s internal procedures but that the MoU was binding.

When led by Ms Siliya’s lawyer, Eric Sliwamba, Mr Malila said he saw documents related to the MoU between December 25 and December 30, 2008 and that Mr Sichinga briefed him on the two meetings he had with Ms Siliya. He said Mr Sichinga told him that he had made suggestions to the MoU some of which had been taken on board and he never mentioned that Ms Siliya had said that the attorney general’s chambers had missed the point in the advice. He said Mr Sichinga never told him that he had to re-look at his earlier opinion of November 21, 2008, adding that the letter the solicitor general wrote was unclear to him. He also said he was not informed that the legal opinion missed the point because it talked about the sale of Zamtel when the issue was about evaluation of assets.

He said if he was told that the MoU was about evaluation of shares and not the sale of Zamtel, he could have changed it. He said in his letter, he addressed himself to the sale of Zamtel and raised other issues that his subordinates did not raise but it was after the MoU of December 22 was signed.

The tribunal closed yesterday and lawyers from both parties were given up to this afternoon to tender their written submissions to enable it read through and prepare its findings.

INDABA ENDS, WHAT NEXT?

THE national indaba concluded its proceedings late on Sunday April 5, 2009. It recommended a range of measures including the revival of co-operative banks and zero-rating of all agricultural in-puts and machinery in order to turn Zambia into a food basket.

Reading out the resolutions to the plenary session, agriculture committee representative Chance Kabaghe said agriculture was a key for Zambia's survival during the global economic crunch. He said there was need to promote market-driven agriculture while council levies on produce should be reduced or abolished because they contributed to the high cost of food.

Mr Kabaghe said rural banks should be set up to help farmers access banking facilities while co-operative banks should be revived without involving politics. He said Government should also relax the importation and exportation of maize as long as the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) maintained enough reserves. He said an irrigation authority should also be set up to look at irrigation while tax on fuel used in farms should be removed.

After the recommendations were read out the indaba adopted them without much debate.

Mr Timothy Muchibwe read out recommendations from the tourism committee, which were also adopted. Mr Muchibwe said that the Zambia Tourism Board should be restructured and strengthened for it to effectively market Zambia to the outside world.

The indaba recommended that the implementation of the proposed tourism act should be deferred while Zambians in diaspora should be used to market the country. It said there should be incentives to promote local investment in Zambia while domestic tourists should be encouraged and tour packages should be zero-rated

The indaba agreed that more international air carriers should be encouraged to come to Zambia directly while the road network should be worked on to improve connectivity.

RB and the Death Penalty

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has said that he will not sign a death warrant for any condemned inmate despite the death sentence still being enshrined in the Constitution. Speaking at State House when he held a closed-door meeting with a delegation of German parliamentarians, Mr Banda said he would follow the footsteps of his predecessor, Levy Mwanawasa, who in the seven years of his tenure never signed a death warrant.

And Germany has pledged to lure investors from that country into Zambia, saying the local investment climate was favourable. The German parliamentarians were members of the Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Kabinga Pande, who attended the closed-door meeting, told the media in Lusaka that President Banda had said like late Dr Mwanawasa, he found it difficult to sign a death penalty against anyone on death row. The president said that ‘I am not God to send someone to die’ and even said that many should be sensitised that he would not sign a death warrant on anybody,” Mr Pande said. President Banda also implored the German government and other European nations not to support the government of Andry Rajoelina in Madagascar.

President Banda said the German government should follow the decisions made by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) not to recognise and support the undemocratic government in that country. Mr Banda said that SADC was for Madagascar restoring the constitutional government. He urged Germany and other European countries to support the stance taken by the regional grouping. He appealed to Germany and other European nations to assist in lifting sanctions against Zimbabwe. Mr Banda said Zambia was satisfied that the government in Zimbabwe was working at normalising the situation and it was, therefore, important that sanctions against that country were lifted.

Speaking during the same meeting, German delegation leader, Sybille Pfeiffer commended Zambia for the efforts in resolving conflicts in the region as well as on the continent. Ms Pfeiffer said the German government was particularly impressed with the efforts by Zambia to resolve the political crisis in Zimbabwe. She urged President Banda to continue with the efforts in resolving conflicts in neighbouring countries.

Earlier, the German delegation met Mr Pande at his office where a member, Karl Addicks said he would lure investors from his country to invest in Zambia. Dr Addicks said the investment climate in the nation and the Government policies were conducive, saying Germans would find Zambia lucrative. He told Mr Pande that he would soon be returning to Zambia to inform him of the possible investors that were willing to invest into the nation. Dr Addicks said he was happy that the Government had initiated an indaba to discuss the effects of the global economic crisis. He said any problems were solved through dialoguing, and the Government should, therefore, be commended for the move.

Mr Pande said that Germany and Zambia had a long history of economic and technical cooperation, which was testimony of the warm relationship between the two countries. He said Germany’s assistance was in line with the development priorities as enshrined in the Fifth National Development Plan.Germany is a lead cooperating partner in the water sector and the assistance has also been targeted towards other key areas such as Budget support, poverty reduction, decentralisation and rural development,” Mr Pande said.

INDABA'S INS AND OUTS

The politicking around the Indaba went on throughout last week. On April 2 the Times of Zambia reported that more people and groups were in support of the Indaba.

The newspaper on April fools day interview a number of stakeholders mainly in the economic sector who told the newspaper that the Government should be commended for the initiative, which they hoped would also contribute towards fostering national unity.

The Economics Association of Zambia (EAZ) commended the Government for initiating the idea saying it was through dialogue that the country’s numerous problems could be solved. EAZ president Mwilola Imakando said in Lusaka that the association would be attending the national conference because through dialogue, the country’s numerous problems particularly in the face of the economic crisis would be resolved.

Zambia Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Zacci) chief executive officer Justin Chisulo said that the organisation would participate. Mr Chisulo said the gathering was a positive move but emphasised that the Government and other stakeholders should ensure that the resolutions from the meeting were fully implemented.

The Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (Zica) president Chintu Mulendema said that the idea to call for an indaba was welcome. He said that he was confident that through dialogue, Zambia would be able to resolve problems.

Zambia Consumer Association (Zaca) executive secretary Muyunda Ililonga said his association welcomed Government’s move to call for an indaba because the economy was facing difficulties. Mr Ililonga said that the indaba should find ways of seeing how Zambia could come out of the global economic recession.

By the time registration of delegates to the national indaba started on April 2 the United Party for National Development (UPND) and Patriotic Front declared that they would boycott the gathering set for April 4 and 5, 2009.

Speaking at a Press briefing in Lusaka, UPND president Hakainde Hichilema said his party had in December 2008 made suggestions and recommendations of dealing with the crisis but all of them were allegedly ignored. Mr Hichilema further said that even during his meeting with President Banda at State House on March 12 this year, the opposition party made several proposals, among them the need to maintain the windfall tax and the Mines and Minerals Development Act, the two pieces of legislation which Parliament amended in the last sitting. Mr Hichilema said that if the Government was serious about the indaba, it could have held the meeting way before the national Budget was presented in Parliament. That way, he said, the Budget could have incorporated what the indaba discussed. He, however, said the Government was at liberty to circulate at the indaba the UPND submissions that the party made in 2008 as well as the party’s Budget critique. He said that even members of Parliament going to the conference would be doing so against the party’s directives. The opposition leader also advised the Government to find lasting solutions to the soaring food prices, fight against corruption within the Government and ensure that the proposed 66 per cent electricity tariff hike by Zesco was shot down.

And the PF said it would not attend the indaba claiming that the Government was not ready to listen from ordinary MPs. In an interview in Lusaka, PF spokesperson Given Lubinda said the Government had on several occasions shown unwillingness to listen to divergent views. He said when Parliament was debating the Mines and Minerals Development Act as well as the amendments to the mining tax regime, the UPND leader Mr Hichilema had met President Banda and made recommendations that the two pieces of legislation should not be amended. Mr Lubinda said that, surprisingly, the Government made the amendments and the opposition lost the bid in Parliament.

But Matero MP Faustina Sinyangwe (PF) who was found accrediting herself at Longacres Lodge said she would attend the indaba as an ordinary MP as well as chairperson of the education committee in the party.

And a member of the World Federation of Democratic Youth International Union of Socialists Youth, Frank Musonda, said that the decision by the Government to initiate the indaba was a step in the right direction.