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Mine researcher and international policy expert, James Musonda, fears that the government is employing delay tactics on the issue of Mopani Copper Mine (MCM) and Konkola Copper Mine (KCM) so that the mines are sold cheaply.
Musonda also accused the United Party for National Development (UPND) government of hoodwinking Zambians using the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) partial withdrawal to gain political mileage, despite the long-term economic consequences.
“It is becoming very clear that the UPND administration is waiting for the act of God on the issues surrounding the two giant mines, negotiations and maneuvering has taken more than necessary,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
Musonda suspects that investors interested in Mopani and Konkola were making outrageous demands that the government cannot meet.
“On the other hand, I know that the current government has a soft spot for foreign investors that they cannot fail to agree on any term with foreign investors,” he said.
Read more : Mine policy researcher, Musonda, accuses President Hichilema of failing miners
Musonda also observed that the government might try and create a crisis so that the mines were sold at a lower value as can be seen in the change of heart by unions and some ‘corrupt’ church leaders.
On NAPSA’s partial access to pension, he cautioned against the tendency of African leaders to use money to get votes.
“African leaders are fond of using money to get votes, In Zambia the Patriotic Front (PF) was accused for corruptly using money to bribe voters through clandestine empowerment programmes, the UPND is doing the same,” Musonda alleged.
He said with the UPND, people are taught to get part of the money to bribe themselves “UPND and PF are the same, no difference.”
Mosonda is currently Senior Researcher in Energy Policy at the Institute for Economic Justice, Johannesburg and holds a PhD in Politics and Social Sciences from University of Liège, Belgium.
In 2021, he won the Terence Ranger Prize for his work on Zambian Copperbelt miners, and he is a former trade unionist.
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