Sean Enock Tembo wonders why the Ministry of Finance has not  released the 2018 draft budget for wider stakeholders’ debate.

” We have  noted various media reports that the Ministry of Finance has been working on the 2018 National Budget, which they intend to present to Parliament during the course of this month. However, we are very shocked that up until now, the Draft 2018 National Budget has not been circulated to key stakeholders such as ourselves and neither is it available online to allow stakeholder feedback, before it can be presented to Parliament,”  Tembo who is PeP leader said.

He  appealed  to the PF Government to allow stakeholder consultation on key policy matters that affect multitudes of Zambians, not only from stakeholders that always agree with them but also from stakeholders such as PeP who often disagree with them.

He   Finance Minister  Felix Chipota Mutati that he is a Minister  of Finance for the Republic of Zambia and not the Republic of PF.

“…Therefore, there’s no justification whatsoever why the Draft 2018 National Budget should be kept under lock and key and away from opposition political parties such as ourselves,” Tembo said

The opposition leader  expectsthe 2018 National Budget  to be self-sustaining without any reliance on donor funding.

“For as long as we allow foreign countries to fund our government expenditure, the Republic of Zambia shall never be a sovereign state and the celebration of Independence Day every 24th of October shall remain a mockery to our pride as a nation.

He added: ” PeP believes that the surest way our national budget can be domestically funded is through the re-introduction of Mineral Royalty Tax on mining companies which the late President Sata had introduced and which President Lungu suspended in February 2015, soon after assuming the presidency. It must be noted that up until now, more than 2 years later, the President  has not explained to the Zambian people why he decided to suspend Mineral Royalty Tax on mining companies, when he intends to reintroduce it or indeed why he is very friendly to mining companies and always fights their battles for them, as the Zambian people seek to get their fair share of tax revenue from mining companies,” Tembo said.

He said there is a well documented fact that mining companies never pay income tax as they always find means and ways of understating their profits and declaring tax losses.

Tembo said it is also a well documented fact that the treasury actually subsidizes the operations of private mining companies in the country through VAT refunds under a scandalous dispensation in the law called VAT Rule 18.

And the PeP leader  said  it must be noted that the concept of zero rating exports is meant to apply to finished products only so as to encourage the local manufacturing sector.

“..It was never meant to apply to the export of raw materials such as copper. As Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP), we hereby submit that the recent payment of about K5 billion of tax payers money to various private mining companies as VAT refunds last month constitutes theft of our had earned money as a nation,” he said.

Tembo appealed  to the PF government to be considerate of the plight of poor Zambians in their management of  national resources.

“We acknowledge and appreciate the fact that the PF have a mandate to manage the affairs of this nation until 2021, but we would like to appeal to their conscience for them to desist from continuing to molest our dear country without Vaseline,” he said.