Zamtel back to rightful owners
By The Public - Tue Jan 24, 8:37 pm
Government has officially and compulsorily acquired the seventy five per cent shareholding of LAP GreeN in ZAMTEL.
And President Michael Sata has ordered the dissolution of the Board of Directors of the telecommunications company.
President Sata has deemed it desirable and expedient to compulsorily take over the 75 per cent shareholding by LAP GreeN Network in ZAMTEL.
Mr. Sata says Government accepted without reservation the report on the findings of the committee investigating the sale of ZAMTEL.
The President has consequently appointed Dr. Mupanga Mwanakatwe as Chairman and Acting Chief Executive Officer as the first step to regularize the affairs of the parastatal.
This is contained in a statement issued to ZNBC News in Lusaka today by State House Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations George Chellah.
Mr. Chellah says a new board will soon be put in place to give the police guidance and direction to management and staff.
He also said the appropriate notice under the law has been given.
President Sata has further directed management to address the plight of ZAMTEL workers with due immediacy.
The President has said there should be NO loss in jobs except through retirement and attrition while maintaining the highest levels of discipline and respect of law.
President Sata has reiterated his relentless commitment to duty as a custodian of the interest of the Zambians.
He has assured ZAMTEL workers that their trauma and anxieties will be over.
And Mr. Sata says Government will restructure the ownership of ZAMTEL to ensure Zambian’s own the bulk of the shares in a revitalized telecommunications firm.
Meanwhile, various stakeholders and members of the public have welcomed the takeover of the 75 percent stake owned by LAP Green of Libya in zamtel.
Transparency International Zambia says the takeover was predictable.
TIZ executive director Goodwell Lungu says civil society organisations and members of the public who opposed the transaction have been vindicated.
He has called on the PF government to exercise caution when managing the operations of the telecommunication company to avoid a repeat of transactions marred with illegality.
And former Finance minister Ng’andu Magande has also welcomed government’s decision to take over the parastatal.
Mr Magande however says it remains to be seen what move the managers of Lap Green will take next.
Meanwhile, UNIP president Tilyenji Kaunda says the reversal of the ZAMTEL transaction could not have come at a better time than now.
He said the takeover of ZAMTEL will send a message along the political corridor that people ought to make decisions in the interest of the public.
Mr Kaunda says it is clear from the government decision that no politician should think og oneself at the expense of public interest.
And former Bankers Union of Zambia president Lucky Beene says the takeover is in the best interest of the nation.
In another development, several Lusaka residents have praised president Sata’s government for taking over the management of ZAMTEL, saying it was long overdue.
Wilbroad Mulenga has observed that the measure will sustain economic development, while creating more jobs by empowering Zambians by owning shares in the company.
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