No jail for HH or I over Mopani – Kabuswe

By BARNABAS ZULU

PAUL Kabuswe, has defended the Mopani transaction, which has raised widespread concerns among various stakeholders, stating that the deal was above board and that no one, including President Hakainde Hichilema, would face legal consequences for the agreement after leaving office.
Mr. Kabuswe, the Minister of Mines and Minerals Development claims that individuals responsible for managing the transaction between Mopani and Glencore should be the ones who should face scrutiny because according to him, the deal was criminal.
He said under President Hichilema, the Mopani transaction was transparent and had followed all the legal framework to ensure its prudency and legitimacy.
“The Mopani deal was above board. It was done transparently, there was no illegality, whatsoever. We followed the legal opinion of the Attorney General over the matter,” Mr. Kabuswe said. “The way government operates is not about Paul Kabuswe, it is the government of the Republic of Zambia. Paul Kabuswe happens to be the Minister of Mines. That is where his jurisdiction is,” he said.
The Mopani transaction has sparked considerable controversy, with many stakeholders demanding clarification on the deal between ZCCM-IH and International Resources Holdings (IRH).
However, Mr. Kabuswe has insisted that the government operated within the bounds of the law throughout the process and that no illegality was committed during the process of tranfering the shares.
“There will be no jail. Jail for doing what? What have I done to go to jail? We followed the law. That transaction was not supposed to go to Parliament. That was the legal opinion that was there, and we followed the advice of the Attorney General. No one will be going to jail. The Mopani transaction was above board and no one is going to jail. We did all the legal processes,” Mr Kabuswe explained.
Mr. Kabuswe also addressed the financial condition of Mopani when the UPND government took over.
He claimed that the previous deal left the mine in a state of insolvency, owing over US$1.8 billion to Glencore, along with an additional US$220 million in unpaid debts to suppliers and contractors. “The people who must go to jail are the ones who signed the deal between Glencore and Mopani at the time. Those are the people who must go to jail. Whatever they signed that time was criminal,” Mr. Kabuswe said. He added that when the UPND government took office, Mopani was in a dire financial situation with tax obligations of $2 billion.
Mr. Kabuswe explained that the government took immediate action to address the Mopani fiasco by negotiating the debt with Glencore, reducing it from US$1.6 billion to US$600 million.
The first payment from IRH amounted to $400 million, of which US$220 million was allocated to settling Mopani’s debts with suppliers and contractors.
“The Mopani transaction is benefitting the people of Zambia,” he said. “In fact, the resuscitating of Mopani has brought back life to the Copperbelt through employment creation. Over 1, 000 jobs have been created,” he said.