By JAMES KUNDA –
KAWAMBWA Tea Company Limited (KTC) in Luapula Province has been placed under receivership pending court proceedings after which the fate of the estate would be determined.
Luapula Province Permanent Secretary Chanda Kasolo said in an interview that Felix Chisambo was appointed receiver by 450 employees at the tea estate recently and would represent the company in the High Court during proceedings over statutory debts owed to the Government institutions.
“The receiver was appointed by the existing employees and will represent the company before the courts to settle issues of credit to Government agencies like Zesco, Zambia Revenue Authority and NAPSA,” he said.
Mr Kasolo said once the legal processes were concluded, it would be determined whether or not an investor would be roped in to manage the company.
“We have received interest from investors based here in Zambia, India and Sri-lanka, who want to operate the tea estate but of course this has been delayed due to the court orders and pending debt obligations,” he said.
Mr Kasolo said the Government, through Zambia Forestry and Forest Industries Corporation (ZAFFICO), was also developing a 1,000-hectare tea estate in Kawambwa.
“The Government wants to alleviate the suffering that has engulfed Kawambwa and that is why all these measures are being pursued,” Mr Kasolo said.
Kawambwa Tea was owned by Gombe Holdings of Zimbabwe but the investor has neglected the company leaving it in debts totaling millions of Kwacha.
Meanwhile, Mr Kasolo said there was an investor from South Africa who was ready to revive operations at the defunct Mansa Batteries.
Mr Kasolo said the investor was currently in negotiations with the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) and that they were keen to revive the company, refurbishing it with modern infrastructure.
“The South African investor is very keen to revive Mansa Batteries because they already have a thriving business of that nature in South Africa and want to make a replica of that in Zambia,” he said.
Mr Kasolo said the resurrection of the two companies would ignite Mansa with a lot of opportunities for job and wealth creation to benefit the people.
