Dr. Mbita Chitala’s book is all lies, IDC considering legal action

The Industrial Development Corporation says it has noted with concern the deliberate falsehoods and misrepresentations published by former ZESCO Board Chairman, Dr Mbita Chitala, in his book “Corporate Capture: The Political Economy of Electricity Management in Zambia”.

The Corporation is dismayed that, rather than using the book to add value to public and academic discourse on the better management of State-owned Enterprises in Zambia, Dr. Chitala opted to use it for personal attacks on the leadership of the Corporation and malign the integrity of the IDC through blatantly false claims.

IDC Head Corporate Communication Namakau Mukelabai says contrary to his assertions, there were no attempts to strip any of ZESCO’s assets nor were IDC’s disagreements with the ZESCO Board Chairman personal in nature.

Ms. Mukelabai said the IDC’s interactions with, and directives to ZESCO are well documented and therefore, the former Board Chairman’s claims in his book are easily disprovable. 

Ms. Mukelabai says his assertions on management fees are false, as the issue was addressed by the Attorney General who guided ZESCO that the introduction of management fees by IDC for services it provides to its subsidiaries as a holding company, was legal and they should be paid in accordance with modalities agreed upon in the Management Services Agreement.

In a statement, Ms. Mukelabai said Dr. Chitala twice accepted his appointment to the ZESCO Board by the IDC, contrary to his claims that they were Presidential appointments. 

She said that some of the information published in the book is in fragrant violation of his fiduciary responsibilities as a Director as enshrined in the Companies Act and underlines the deep concern IDC had over the Corporate Governance practices that were taking place in ZESCO.

Ms. Mukelabai said the IDC is consulting with key stakeholders and its lawyers on additional action that could be taken, and the public will be informed accordingly hence the public should disregard the claims against the Corporation in Dr. Chitala’s boo

This article originally came from The Lusaka Times