Thu, 27 Apr 2017 11:16:33 +0000
By BENNIE MUNDANDO
Post Newspaper auctioneer must do more to recover the huge amounts of money owed to the Zambian people because the K 7million realized from the auction last weekend was a drop in the ocean says Evangelical Youth Alliance (EYA) executive director Reverend Moses Lungu.
Rev Lungu said the money from the sale was miniscule considering that money owed to the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) was in excess of K 14 million.
Rev Lungu said that the liquidation of the Post on account of the tax debt should serve as a serious and enduring example to other defaulters who depended on patronage in the hope of avoiding tax obligations.
It was important, he said that the properties on auction were properly priced to recover as much as possible of the value that was still outstanding.
Rev. Lungu noted that while his organisation believed that selling the Post’s assets was the only way Government and the Zambian people could get back what was owed to them by the liquidated company, EYA was disappointed with the outcome of the first auction that did not seem to have raised enough to liquidate the debt.
He said it was sad that Zambia will never benefit from the taxes the company was evading which led to its liquidation.
“So, what next? What is the auctioneer going to do? Auction Fred M’membe himself to cover the deficit? This is very disappointing and heart-breaking.
“This should not be looked at as a Post newspaper matter but a national matter because Zambians wanted their money and the realisation of that money lay in the selling of that property but if the property cannot off-set the debt, then what?
