By SIMON MUNTEMBA
BRITISH High Commissioner to Zambia Nicholas Woolley should take the Arc Minerals’ business activities in the country seriously and ensure the petition over the matter was expedited, the Evangelical Youth Alliance (EYA) has said.
Alliance Executive Director Reverend Moses Lungu said it was disappointing that two weeks has elapsed since he petitioned the British Government to act on Arc Minerals’ deals in Zambia. “The British High Commissioner to Zambia should take the matter seriously and ensure that the petition was acted upon without further delay.
That is a serious matter that affects us Zambians. It is sad that two weeks down the line since I took the petition, nothing has been done,” Rev. Lungu said. In his petition, Rev. Lungu disclosed that the said company has been using Zamsort and two other companies as conduits at the stock exchange for making declarations and profiling its explorations at Cheyeza in Zambia.
He explained that Arc Minerals had 66 percent shares in Zamsort, 66 percent shares in Handa and 72 percent shares in Zaco, all three companies registered in Zambia. He said the company was making millions of Pounds for themselves but the money did not come to Zambia because they were not interested in mining.
“In short, these three companies are subsidiaries of Arc Minerals and these are the entities that Arc Minerals has been using as conduits at the stock exchange for making declarations and profiling its explorations at Cheyeza in Zambia.
“Through this business undertaking which is done in complicit with some corrupt elements at the Ministry of Mines in Zambia, Arc Minerals is making millions of Pounds for themselves but this money does not come to Zambia because they are not interested in mining. The London Stock Exchange is literally their market,” he said.
