A sad Joke . No a bad joke ! Mining Kenya is mine

[nok]

www.nation.co.ke/News/Discovery-of-Sh5trn-rare-minerals/-/1056/1922502/-/iob40tz/-/index.html

Mrima Hill, in the coastal county of Kwale, has one of the top five rare earth deposits in the world. The area also has niobium deposits estimated to be worth $35 billion.

“This is by far the largest mineral deposit in Kenya and the find at Mrima Hill will make Kenya one of the largest rare earth producers in the world,” said Mr David Anderson, managing director of Cortec Kenya Mining.

The government will earn three per cent royalties from the nobium project and five per cent from the rare earths mining. Under the Constitution, 80 per cent of these earnings will go to the national government, 15 per cent to Kwale County and five per cent to the local community.

Honestly ! how stupid are we ?

Parliament ( NA + Senate ) Kwale County Assembly , Balala , Ruto and Uhuru = > Vision 2030 ! Knock knock is anybody there ??

[Omwenga]

Jul 23, 2013 12:17:08 GMT 3 nok said:

www.nation.co.ke/News/Discovery-of-Sh5trn-rare-minerals/-/1056/1922502/-/iob40tz/-/index.html

Mrima Hill, in the coastal county of Kwale, has one of the top five rare earth deposits in the world. The area also has niobium deposits estimated to be worth $35 billion.

“This is by far the largest mineral deposit in Kenya and the find at Mrima Hill will make Kenya one of the largest rare earth producers in the world,” said Mr David Anderson, managing director of Cortec Kenya Mining.

The government will earn three per cent royalties from the nobium project and five per cent from the rare earths mining. Under the Constitution, 80 per cent of these earnings will go to the national government, 15 per cent to Kwale County and five per cent to the local community.

Honestly ! how stupid are we ?

Parliament ( NA + Senate ) Kwale County Assembly , Balala , Ruto and Uhuru = > Vision 2030 ! Knock knock is anybody there ??

Nok,

This can't be true, otherwise whoever negotiated the deal must be the most obtuse and worst in corruption any country has ever seen or had.

That's not to say we don't have morons who for a few bucks would think that's a good deal.

Let's just assume for now it's a mistake or that it's simply not true.

[nok]

Omwenga

I shared that reaction. The secrecy and silence as to Mining issues in kenya in the last decade is just deafening.

Lets visit some literature of interest;

news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/25_03_09_breaking_the_curse.pdf

www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=9136

The poor balance sheet of mining tax revenue in times of record high metals and minerals prices has motivated African and international non-governmental organisations to collaborate in commissioning a study on mining taxation and transparency in seven African countries. The countries are Ghana, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Malawi, South Africa, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Each country study examined past and present mining tax laws, tax rates, and the forces driving tax changes, and compared the tax terms of mining contracts with national tax laws.

The central argument made by the report is that African governments have not been able to optimize the mining tax revenue due to them before the
2003 to 2008 price boom; neither have they been able to capture the anticipated windfalls during the price boom. This argument is grounded on two main reasons:

* (i) Mining companies operating in Africa are granted too many
tax subsidies and concessions
* (ii) There is high incidence of tax avoidance by mining
companies conditioned by such measures as secret mining contracts, corporate mergers and acquisitions, and various 'creative' accounting mechanisms.These two factors coupled with inadequate institutional capacity to ensure tax compliance contribute in a large measure to diminish the tax revenue due to African governments. In turn, they diminish the contribution of mineral resource rents to national development.

This explains the high preponderance of income poverty indicators in mineral endowed African countries and communities in mining areas. To reverse this trend and ensure the maximization of mining tax revenue for national development the report recommends reforms of policies, laws, and institutions that govern the financial payments made by mining corporations to national governments. Mining companies claim that they need to be compensated for the unique risks they face, such as price booms and busts, through special tax exemptions and concessions. But these tax subsidies, together with tax avoidance and alleged tax evasion practices by mining companies, have robbed African treasuries of millions of dollars of foregone tax revenue from the mining industry.

Fuelling these losses has been a lack of transparency and oversight of the financial remittances from mining companies to government institutions, coupled with the inability of government institutions to audit the complicated accounts of multinational mining companies.

How tax subsidies and tax avoidance are driving down revenues from mining

This report argues that African governments have failed to collect the additional rents generated by mining companies before and during the price boom because

* (i) they have given tax subsidies to the industry and
* (ii) mining companies have been pushing for tax breaks in secret
mining contracts, amounting to an aggressive tax avoidance strategy.

As a result, the citizens of mineral-rich countries continue to live in poverty, and are in some cases subject to violent conflict fuelled by the wealth generated from mineral resources as is the case today in the eastern DRC. To break this 'resource curse' and turn mineral wealth into revenue for development, the laws, policies, and institutions that govern the financial payments made by mining corporations to national governments need to be reformed.

In the report, estimates are given of the revenue foregone by the governments of Malawi, South Africa, DRC, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Zambia as a result of special tax breaks given to companies in secret contracts or in the mining tax laws promulgated in these countries since the 1990s. In Ghana, South Africa, and Tanzania, the report estimates that lower royalty rates have cost or will cost treasuries up to US$68m, US$359m, and US$30m a year respectively. In Malawi and Sierra Leone, tax breaks granted in mining contracts have cost or will cost treasuries up to US$16.8m and US$8m a year respectively. In the DRC, the tax exemptions in a single mining contract have cost the treasury US$360,000 a year.

African mining tax regimes are a mix of secret and discretionary tax deals, as well as tax laws enacted through parliament. Most mining tax laws dating from the 1990s have lowered taxes considerably to attract new foreign direct investment into the sector. This shift to lower taxes has been promoted by the World Bank in all its client countries in Africa, as a means to revitalize the mining sector. Many of these laws allow ministers to negotiate tax deals with individual mining companies at their discretion, often leading to lower royalties, corporate taxes, fuel levies, windfall or other taxes than those stipulated in the law.
At their worst, contracts may completely exempt companies from any taxes or royalties, as was the case in a number of the mining contracts signed between private companies and state-owned enterprises in the DRC between
1997 and 2003.

[nok]

In Ghana, the Minerals and Mining Act of 2006 charges royalties on a sliding scale from 3% to 6% of gross sales value. This law replaced the Minerals and Mining Act of 1986, which used a sliding scale of 3 to 12 %. According to the EITI Aggregator report, however, no company has ever paid more than 3% in royalties, partly because of high capital allowances, and partly because Ghana's tax collection authorities do not know how to use the formulae. Gold accounts for 90% or more of Ghana's mineral exports. According to our calculations, between 1990 and 2007, the government had foregone revenue of between US$387.74m (if royalties were to be paid at 6%) and US$1.163bn (if royalties were to be paid at 12%). In 2005, for example, the government would have collected more than half of the country's debt repayment if additional royalties were paid at the rate of 12%. In each year, additional royalties would have exceeded HIPC debt relief payments.



In South Africa, the government has been drafting a new royalties Bill since March 2003. Parliament is expected to pass this Bill in May 2009.
The mining industry and South Africa's competition commission have argued strongly for royalties to be profit-based rather than value-based. The original draft proposed a royalty on company turnover of 8% for diamonds, and 2.25% for gold. This rate has been reduced to a profit-based royalty of 3.7% on diamonds and 2.1% on gold by the fourth draft in June 2008. If we use the royalty rates proposed in the third draft of the Bill, which range from 2.98% to 4.63%, the South African government would forego an estimated US$359m to US$499m a year in revenue from unrefined minerals - based on earnings for unrefined and refined metals in 2006, by lowering royalties to the lower rates proposed in the fourth draft of the bill.51

In Tanzania, no mining company, other than AngloGold Ashanti, had paid corporate income tax by the end of 2008 - 10 years after industrial mining companies started operating in the country.52 AngloGold Ashanti paid US$1m in 2007 (see section below). Therefore, royalty payments have been the main avenue for revenue collection. Between 2002 and 2006, mining companies exported around US$2.9bn of gold. During the time, the government earned around US$17.4m a year in royalties, charged at 3% of the net back value (market value minus cost of transport and
transactions) of gold exports.

If these royalties were to be increased to 5% as recommended by the presidential commission in charge of reviewing all mining agreements,53 government revenue would have increased to US$29m a year or an extra US$145m over the five years. Tanzania is one of the ten poorest countries in the world - this funding could have swelled government coffers to pay for essential health, education and other basic services to Tanzanians. For example, the government's budget for 2007/8 envisages spending US$48 per person on education, health, infrastructure and
water.54 US$145m could have paid for over 3 million people to be provided with these services.

[nok]

Jul 24, 2013 14:52:54 GMT 3 nok said:

In Ghana,.....

According to our calculations, between 1990 and 2007, the government had foregone revenue of between US$387.74m (if royalties were to be paid at 6%) and US$1.163bn (if royalties were to be paid at 12%). In 2005, for example, the government would have collected more than half of the country's debt repayment if additional royalties were paid at the rate of 12%. In each year, additional royalties would have exceeded HIPC debt relief payments.



In South Africa, ... the South African government would forego an estimated US$359m to US$499m a year in revenue from unrefined minerals - based on earnings for unrefined and refined metals in 2006, by lowering royalties to the lower rates proposed in the fourth draft of the bill.51

In Tanzania, .....
If these royalties were to be increased to 5% as recommended by the presidential commission in charge of reviewing all mining agreements,53 government revenue would have increased to US$29m a year or an extra US$145m over the five years. Tanzania is one of the ten poorest countries in the world - this funding could have swelled government coffers to pay for essential health, education and other basic services to Tanzanians. For example, the government's budget for 2007/8 envisages spending US$48 per person on education, health, infrastructure and
water.54 US$145m could have paid for over 3 million people to be provided with these services.
[/quote][/quote][/b]

Simply put ! those making the laws and drafting such contracts, those officials who are corrupt or were secretively collaborating with you know who, you would even make more, if only you were to have the mind of your nation or communities. Simply put; it pays more to think of your kids, neighbours, friends and countrymen.

The most developed nations are the ones that are thee most protectionist. And we ! We even sell our souls for nothing ! Thats why we are cursed.

[omundu]

A sad joke indeed NOK. One that has bedeviled this mama afrika since pre-colonial days. The oxymoron where our riches, our main hope to catch up with the rest of the world economically, became our worst curse. The main reason behind all those millions dead in our continent, military coups, stolen elections, hunger, rape, gruesome manslaughter where even babies have their limbs chopped off and the only option they have is short sleeve or long sleeve. I went to school with some angolans during the savimbi era and the stories they used to recount were like horror movies. Savimbi used proceeds of his mines to educate some of his conquered people so he may have educated technocrats if or when he took over the country. So you are having drinks in varsity with a young men who have seen life. They recounted tales of savimbi burning pregnant women claiming they are witches just because their husbands or fathers or brothers absconded duty while on a unita mission abroad in belgium (education related sometimes)but ended up in the press or american senate committees spilling the beans on savimbi and the west's atrocities. Stories of the young boys being given tilly lamps and AK's to stand in parallel lines on a clearing in the forest at night so that a plane, heavily laden with weapons could land for batter trade with savimbi's diamonds. Some of the things my friends went through cannot even be repeated here. And a lot of minerals have been siphoned off to the west that way. I even have first hand tales from a son of the governor of sokoto (northern nigeria). About the clandestine yet heavy handed involvement of shell bp in the running of the country. In that era, the line between government and private sector (shell) became blurred. The presidents and governors then, even took orders from the regional ceo. Anyways, that is a long story for later.

I just wanted to share a link that was originally written in pambazuka related to africa's minerals and the malevolent games conjured by the fascist coperate world.

www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=26663

All in all, africans are F++cked. The amount of money or resources leaving the continent each year far out ratios the debt we pay yearly plus the aid we get. Yet we scream vision 2030. The way the flow of resources is skewed towards the west will leave us behind the rest of the world for eons if the trend continues.

Even a supposedly far developed country like SA (with an apparently the most progressive constitution in the world)is not spared this butt-f++ck. The recent marikana incident bares remarkable witness. And the miners were not protesting against just wages, they wailed against the poor conditions they were subjected to even as they broke their backs and rotted away their lungs in the deep recesses of the mines.

And it is just not about the money. The scars these mines leave in the regions they operate is an issue. The environmental impacts need to be addressed. Anyone can see what shell has done to the biodiversity in regions they operate in nigeria. The coperate fascists will collude with the politicians who then turn a blind eye. We all know how nigeria has tried to deal with MEND. We saw what they did to ken saro wiwa, just for raising his voice.

I always give one example to the contrary when someone says those companies are bringing jobs yada yada: in 2006 the DRC gained only 100 000 euros as opposed to 760 million euros that was taken out as proceeds from the minerals. Currently, Botswana and Libya remain the only countries in africa that have used their mineral wealth to develop into middle income countries. The rest are still in limbo with the few at the top making the money.

That said, as per last year (not sure) there were only ten african countries that were EITI compliant. Kenya is not amongst them methinks. EITI (extractive industries transparency initiative) means that the Government and involved companies in the extractive industries, explain clearly and openly, the revenues flowing from its extractive sector so that the citizens and any other concerned party can scrutinize it and openly debate the pros and cons of the contracts entered.

The above has several benefits as a start; presently, it has unearthed the corruption prevalent in nigerias oil industry, a lot of scrutiny on areas like environmental and human rights and it also helps with the eventual stability of the area because the locals are heavily involved in the process as opposed to feeling left out and eventually forming movements against the companies. So this initiative is also good for the companies because stability ensures smooth business and world prices stabilise.

So how do we go about it ? Well, I guess we first need visionary leaders. But that is not enough. Ask the Lumumbas of days gone, ask hugo chavez what they tried to do to him in venezuela. We need a unified front. That way you can't be the sole voice in the dark. That's why I commend the current crop of south american leaders this past decade. They worked in unity and that subcontinent is taking off leaving us clutching around clueless.

But a few voices have started to be raised in africa. The anc charter on mining is a good starting point and discussions are heavily underway towards equity. There is also a recent report by the africa progress panel on such matters (chaired by koffi annan)and it is raising eyebrows. I just can't seem to get my hands on it.

[omundu]

So, what does our constitution say about mineral wealth ? I managed to come across a something on the CIC website. It deals with the mining bill but I may have been overtaken by events because it is dated october 2012 and by then, CIC was yet to receive the bill from the AG for review. They were commenting based on an advanced copy they received from the ministry of environment and mineral resources. If any update, please don't hesitate.

www.cickenya.org/cicoldsite/news/mining-bill-2012

Key points:

- the bill did not adequately address the principle of compensation as required by article 60 (1) b of the constitution. Anyone else smell a rat ?

- ratification of mining licenses according to article 71 (1) (a) of the constitution: that all licenses and agreements (existing or future) to be ratified by parliament. Now here is where the debate will or should take place and where we keep our eyes and ears open. Occupy the mpigs if need be. I gather scrutiny by wananchi of the gazzette is prudent.

- transparency, accountability and good governance: this is covered by article (10) 2 for good debate and dialogue to prevent confidentiality (where eating happens). A mandatory publication of anything and everything dealing with the minerals for added measure is included.

So far, with the kwale mines, it is proving difficult to find (via web search) all the details relating to the minerals, agreements, shareholding etc. Or is it just me ?

[OtishOtish]

Jul 25, 2013 0:52:47 GMT 3 omundu said:

A sad joke indeed NOK. One that has bedeviled this mama afrika since pre-colonial days. The oxymoron where our riches, our main hope to catch up with the rest of the world economically, became our worst curse. The main reason behind all those millions dead in our continent, military coups, stolen elections, hunger, rape, gruesome manslaughter where even babies have their limbs chopped off and the only option they have is short sleeve or long sleeve. I went to school with some angolans during the savimbi era and the stories they used to recount were like horror movies. Savimbi used proceeds of his mines to educate some of his conquered people so he may have educated technocrats if or when he took over the country. So you are having drinks in varsity with a young men who have seen life. They recounted tales of savimbi burning pregnant women claiming they are witches just because their husbands or fathers or brothers absconded duty while on a unita mission abroad in belgium (education related sometimes)but ended up in the press or american senate committees spilling the beans on savimbi and the west's atrocities. Stories of the young boys being given tilly lamps and AK's to stand in parallel lines on a clearing in the forest at night so that a plane, heavily laden with weapons could land for batter trade with savimbi's diamonds. Some of the things my friends went through cannot even be repeated here. And a lot of minerals have been siphoned off to the west that way. I even have first hand tales from a son of the governor of sokoto (northern nigeria). About the clandestine yet heavy handed involvement of shell bp in the running of the country. In that era, the line between government and private sector (shell) became blurred. The presidents and governors then, even took orders from the regional ceo. Anyways, that is a long story for later.

I just wanted to share a link that was originally written in pambazuka related to africa's minerals and the malevolent games conjured by the fascist coperate world.

www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=26663

All in all, africans are F++cked. The amount of money or resources leaving the continent each year far out ratios the debt we pay yearly plus the aid we get. Yet we scream vision 2030. The way the flow of resources is skewed towards the west will leave us behind the rest of the world for eons if the trend continues.

Even a supposedly far developed country like SA (with an apparently the most progressive constitution in the world)is not spared this butt-f++ck. The recent marikana incident bares remarkable witness. And the miners were not protesting against just wages, they wailed against the poor conditions they were subjected to even as they broke their backs and rotted away their lungs in the deep recesses of the mines.

And it is just not about the money. The scars these mines leave in the regions they operate is an issue. The environmental impacts need to be addressed. Anyone can see what shell has done to the biodiversity in regions they operate in nigeria. The coperate fascists will collude with the politicians who then turn a blind eye. We all know how nigeria has tried to deal with MEND. We saw what they did to ken saro wiwa, just for raising his voice.

I always give one example to the contrary when someone says those companies are bringing jobs yada yada: in 2006 the DRC gained only 100 000 euros as opposed to 760 million euros that was taken out as proceeds from the minerals. Currently, Botswana and Libya remain the only countries in africa that have used their mineral wealth to develop into middle income countries. The rest are still in limbo with the few at the top making the money.

That said, as per last year (not sure) there were only ten african countries that were EITI compliant. Kenya is not amongst them methinks. EITI (extractive industries transparency initiative) means that the Government and involved companies in the extractive industries, explain clearly and openly, the revenues flowing from its extractive sector so that the citizens and any other concerned party can scrutinize it and openly debate the pros and cons of the contracts entered.

The above has several benefits as a start; presently, it has unearthed the corruption prevalent in nigerias oil industry, a lot of scrutiny on areas like environmental and human rights and it also helps with the eventual stability of the area because the locals are heavily involved in the process as opposed to feeling left out and eventually forming movements against the companies. So this initiative is also good for the companies because stability ensures smooth business and world prices stabilise.

So how do we go about it ? Well, I guess we first need visionary leaders. But that is not enough. Ask the Lumumbas of days gone, ask hugo chavez what they tried to do to him in venezuela. We need a unified front. That way you can't be the sole voice in the dark. That's why I commend the current crop of south american leaders this past decade. They worked in unity and that subcontinent is taking off leaving us clutching around clueless.

But a few voices have started to be raised in africa. The anc charter on mining is a good starting point and discussions are heavily underway towards equity. There is also a recent report by the africa progress panel on such matters (chaired by koffi annan)and it is raising eyebrows. I just can't seem to get my hands on it.

Omundu:

When people are willing to bend over, it should not be a surprise that others will be prepared to give them tarimbo. The only question is, from which direction? East or West? It appears that these days, we'd like a change in direction.

Change will come when Africans decide they want it badly enough. In the meantime, let's focus on our man and our people and eating. Of course, if others don't accept the inherent superiority of our man and our people, as well as our divine right to eat, why then, we'll just have to rape and maim and kill them.

[omundu]

Kweli otishotish. It is very sad indeed. No sooner had we smelt a something fishy...

www.equities.com/news/latest-news/newsdetail/energy/2013-07-21/1648461

It is amazing that very little noise is emanating about this impending doom/scandal. The government is hiding something. They are denying the public access to documents.

If people thought goldenberg was huge, then ignore the smoke signals and see what the magicians will conjure roundi hii. Even the mpigs salaries should pale in insignificance. I demand to see pigs slaughtered by the entrance of the relevant ministry and parliament.

An abomination of biblical proportions.

[nok]

Jul 25, 2013 6:29:52 GMT 3 omundu said:

Kweli otishotish. It is very sad indeed. No sooner had we smelt a something fishy...

www.equities.com/news/latest-news/newsdetail/energy/2013-07-21/1648461

It is amazing that very little noise is emanating about this impending doom/scandal. The government is hiding something. They are denying the public access to documents.

If people thought goldenberg was huge, then ignore the smoke signals and see what the magicians will conjure roundi hii. Even the mpigs salaries should pale in insignificance. I demand to see pigs slaughtered by the entrance of the relevant ministry and parliament.

An abomination of biblical proportions.

standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000089804&story_title=kwale-ore-worth-more-than-sh51-2-trillion-firm-says

A mining company like Cortec or Tullow usually make a double killing;

1. proceeds from selling the mineral or oil

2. proceeds from the stock markets.

An african government if at all get only royalties.


Now free simple advice for Balala;

www.nation.co.ke/business/news/-Kenya-oil-resources-meet-commercial-target/-/1006/1932620/-/lrtb6rz/-/index.html

1. Demand gov. partnership in a profitable way and have veto rights(Min. 30 % corporate ownership, or like some Asian tigers; demand for 51%)

2. negotiate royalties at 12%

3. have a clever Tax policy; without tax loopholes, and taxing should start from corporate, VAT, all the way to stock trading.

4. Include a social welfare arrangement for the local community

5. Value addition of the minerals should happen locally. i.e export end-products and not just the raw minerals or crude oil. This

triggers other secondary industries, industrialisation and tertiary markets i.e positive financial market stimulation.

I like the thread can Kenya go bankrupt.

Free advice to Uhuruto;

With one stroke of a pen and inteligent strategy pursuant to Mining and Oil industries Kenya digital, you could solve a lot of issues like

1. public wage bill
2. Public debt
3. Vision 2030
4. Laptops for kids and elders
5. Welfare for University graduates
6. buy and not just lease or pay for a couple of hustlers jets

e.tc e.t.c

and bild a legacy that will drown ICC

[omundu]

NOK, OtishOtish, Omwenga and others: it seems the government is listening. Balala just today raised levies from goldmining to five percent and rare earth mining to ten percent as this reuters article says;

mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSL6N0G61T520130805?irpc=932

A step in the right direction I think.

Now to the tax issues, ownership, transparency issues most of you folk have raised above.

[nok]

www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000089880&story_title=Kenya-secrecy-over-deals-sours-good-news-on-oil-production

"Under the deal, capital expenditure on mining equipment is fully tax deductible during the mining following the categorisation of the rutile, ilmenite and zircon as “special” minerals in regard to the Income Tax Act last September. A working model developed by the International Monetary Fund ( IMF) suggests that the National Treasury will forfeit a whooping Sh8.7 billion due to the tax concessions, but introduction of other taxes could increase the public purse from the project, while the operator would still make more than a decent profit."

"While the proposed Mining Bill 2013 and the Energy Bill may seal some, or all, of the loopholes, the secrecy surrounding the already signed deals does nothing to make Kenyans believe the Government is behaving in their best interests.

After all, Section 71 of the Constitution requires that the management of natural resource wealth be in the interests of all Kenyans. This clearly demonstrates that the continued refusal to make public information on these deals goes against the letter and the spirit of the Constitution.

It could be argued as well that a public disclosure of these deals would reduce the suspicions around these agreements. Kenyans in Kwale, Lokichar and Mui Basin — where Fenxi Coal Mining Company Ltd of China was awarded a contract to mine coal — are opposed to the three international firms.

The Constitution requires ratification by the National Assembly of future agreements granting rights to natural resources, which would turn both into public documents.

One hopes the Government would borrow a leaf from countries like Guinea, which has made its agreements with foreign firms public by posting them online, albeit after losing much of its natural wealth through lopsided deals with international mining firms.

""



www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/-/1064/1937788/-/c3w9qc/-/index.html

Why not audit all Mining contracts and have them ratified by our parliament and the respective county assemblies. Dealing with briefcase companies is one issue in the right direction.

Let has have sanity by following the constitution lest we be cursed like the other mineral rich african countries.

[nok]

deepcogitation.com/2013/08/05/uhuru-trading-icc-woes-for-kenyas-minerals/

Lets have some noise here guys !

Forget the sideshows. Here is where the concert is !!

[nok]

Aug 1, 2013 11:31:47 GMT 3 nok said:

A mining company like Cortec or Tullow usually make a double killing;

1. proceeds from selling the mineral or oil

2. proceeds from the stock markets.

..........

www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/How-experts-foresaw-Mining-exaggeration/-/440808/1938458/-/y1dku9/-/index.html

[podp]

Aug 6, 2013 9:22:36 GMT 3 nok said:

deepcogitation.com/2013/08/05/uhuru-trading-icc-woes-for-kenyas-minerals/

Lets have some noise here guys !

Forget the sideshows. Here is where the concert is !!

the yet to be tabled in Parliament mining bill can be obtained at www.cickenya.org/index.php/legislation/item/329-the-mining-bill-2013

if you check out 'Functions of the Director of Mines' you will see among them (l) grant export permits, import permits, mineral dealer’s licences and diamond dealer's licences in accordance with this Act;.

if the Bill were passed as it is, since the current Act is of 1947, section 22 would result in (1) There is established the National Mining Corporation which shall serve as the investment arm of the national government in respect of minerals.

somehow what happenned in 2008 is repeating itself....step 1 suspend Commissioner of Mines and all granted licences....step 2 go back on the Mining Bill and continue using the 1947 Act as it gives the Minister (and now Cabinet Secretary) those archaic powers ....wait for the next election, say in 2017!

and to think 50 years after flag independence we can manage our own affairs

[nok]

In documents filed with the National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) and signed by Juma — and which are also in our possession — two UK firms jointly own 70 per cent in Cortec, while Juma owns the remaining 30 per cent.

This would put his share of earnings from the mine before statutory deductions at about Sh15 trillion, going by the value of the mine according to Cortes’s estimates.

www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000090305&story_title=untold-story-of-kenya-s-biggest-mining-contract&pageNo=2

[nok]

www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000090498&story_title=Kenya-miners-profits-shouldn-t-override-kenya-s-national-interest

But after all the legal arguments from both sides are exhausted, the hope is that the court will make its ruling on whether the issuance of this, and other mining licences, best serves the interests of the local people and the nation at large, because that is the intent of the relevant provisions of the Constitution.

[nok]

www.nation.co.ke/business/news/Mining-firm-share-price-drops-59pc-after-licence-cancelled/-/1006/1941452/-/ws9fj7/-/index.html

[nok]

www.nation.co.ke/Features/smartcompany/-/1226/1937970/-/p3qowo/-/index.html

Consideration of a new revenue sharing model comes out of recommendations made by a team of International Monetary Fund (IMF) experts that recently visited the country to review existing petroleum exploration and mining contracts.

The team’s input, according to Mr Chirchir, would enable the Energy ministry to draft new contracts that ensure the government earns more from exploitation of oil resources.

This will, however, not affect existing contracts between the government and licensed oil exploration firms as they will be applicable in future issuance of exploration blocks.“We invited the team of IMF experts to carry out an audit of our exploration contracts so that they could advise whether they meet the international standards. This is important in light of the level of interest in exploration that has developed in the country,” said Mr Chirchir.

In the current revenue sharing model between the government and exploration firms, Kenya can earn money from two avenues; the sale of its share of profit oil and a share of windfall profits, which is capped at 26 per cent.

Profit from oil, which the government shares with contractors, is at most 50 per cent of all the oil produced. Windfall profits refer to the amount of money that is earned from selling oil above the threshold which is capped at $60 per barrel.

The model, according to Mr Chirchir, is not progressive and does not take into account the cost of production and fluctuating petroleum prices. Outside Kenya, it is also applied in Uganda and Guinea among other countries.

All contracts should be reviewed and ratified by parliament ( N. Assembly and Senate ) as well as the respective county assemblies . Mr. Chirchir lets follow what the constitution says. Last but not least Kenya first !

Tullow Contracts in Ngamia 1 and 2 need to be revisited just like Cortec 's.

[jakaswanga]

Aug 9, 2013 13:25:09 GMT 3 nok said:

www.nation.co.ke/Features/smartcompany/-/1226/1937970/-/p3qowo/-/index.html

Consideration of a new revenue sharing model comes out of recommendations made by a team of International Monetary Fund (IMF) experts that recently visited the country to review existing petroleum exploration and mining contracts.

The team’s input, according to Mr Chirchir, would enable the Energy ministry to draft new contracts that ensure the government earns more from exploitation of oil resources.

This will, however, not affect existing contracts between the government and licensed oil exploration firms as they will be applicable in future issuance of exploration blocks.“We invited the team of IMF experts to carry out an audit of our exploration contracts so that they could advise whether they meet the international standards. This is important in light of the level of interest in exploration that has developed in the country,” said Mr Chirchir.

All contracts should be reviewed and ratified by parliament ( N. Assembly and Senate ) as well as the respective county assemblies . Mr. Chirchir lets follow what the constitution says. Last but not least Kenya first !

Tullow Contracts in Ngamia 1 and 2 need to be revisited just like Cortec 's.

IMF experts ? This institute has been doing mea-culpas just about anywhere --Russia, Greece, Argentina, Brazil, for having gotten it wrong everywhere! At its head now is Cristine Lagarde. A former 'turbo-Zarko-babe' in french politics and that is how she got the job after the pervert DSK, now facing jail for running a prostitution ring. ---yes, that is the guy of the New York hotel rape drama with the Guinea girl Nafassitiou.
jukwaa.proboards.com/thread/5447/why-dsks-ouster-relevant-kenya
if these fellows could save any country, the first country they would save would be their own, France. Currently, because of Sarkozy's incompetence and that of his successor Hollande, the fifth republic is referred to as THE SHRINKING REPUBLIC OF FRANCE. Beside the ever-rising incredible hunk , Germany.

My rule is simple: if you can not save your country, you can not save mine. Lagarde can no save her dear France, she wont save Kenya. --Oh? the experts are not all French? That is definitely news to me! [Some come from such dungeons as Senegal --if you remember the WB representative who was the tenant of Lucy Kibaki in Muthaiga! and others come from Scandinavia? the Kings of tax and spend on education, health and public services come to advise you to live it all to the free market? and others come from the USA, which uses her espionage powers to give her multinational concerns competitive advantage even over her European allies? O No! they are all French to me! Even if they come from India, whose chief ideologue once said: Ours is self-interest first, then later we will listen to the other experts from afar, even if they are god-sends!

That Rotich and his boss Ouru are sucking Christine Lagarde's dry teats dry, just shows the depths of the duos mental depravity, how starved of ideas they are! ---economic saboteurs!

And on minerals great companies, anybody ever heard of 'apartheid' South Africa's bad-boy De Beers? O, I forgot, that is diamonds, which is a special kind of mineral!
www.brettonwoodsproject.org/art-565940

Exploring alternatives for some

Sierra Leone was one of the few African countries to defy even the looser IMF policy advice on deficits and inflation by embarking on a fiscal stimulus that focussed on labour-intensive infrastructure. Professor John Weeks, an economic advisor the Sierra Leonean finance minister Samura Kamara, helped draft a policy package for the country that combined these higher deficit policies with monetary easing in the form of printing money, and called for "donors and the IMF to grant it 'policy space'".

Likewise, Uzbekistan is now being praised by analysts for its resistance to dominant policy prescriptions. The pre-crisis IMF economic report on the country faulted the Uzbeks for their heavy financial sector intervention, trade restrictions and exchange rate management. But now the country is being hailed as a heterodox success story in a paper from the Centre for Development Policy and Research at the University of London. Even members of the IMF board had to revise their opinion when they visited the country in October 2009. The IMF executive directors announced that "Uzbekistan has remained mostly resilient to the global economic crisis as a result of the authorities' prudent policies that enabled them to accumulate considerable resources to support growth in this period and withstand the impact of the crisis and due to its cautious approach to participation in global financial markets."

Debating the tenets of economic policy

A new book released in December, The deadly ideas of neoliberalism: How the IMF has undermined public health and the fight against AIDS, challenged the Fund's approach to economic policy. It argues that "IMF fiscal and monetary policies are tantamount to 'health repression' and are undermining global health goals, and that public financing to support health systems needs to be 'liberated' from such constraints through the freedom for developing countries to use more expansionary fiscal and monetary policy options."

Sit baaaaak and wait for the IMF mea-culpa on Kenya, a decade later!

[OtishOtish]

Aug 9, 2013 20:05:36 GMT 3 jakaswanga said:

Sit baaaaak and wait for the IMF mea-culpa on Kenya, a decade later!

Jakaswanga:

It appears that you are still enjoying that salary that just arrived.*** Underlying your statement is the assumption that those in charge in Kenya would do their own thinking and take action on their own. Evidence suggests that they are happy to outsource everything as they focus on eating.

*** A musical dedication to the noble teachers:

[jakaswanga]

Aug 9, 2013 20:27:55 GMT 3 OtishOtish said:

Aug 9, 2013 20:05:36 GMT 3 jakaswanga said:

Sit baaaaak and wait for the IMF mea-culpa on Kenya, a decade later!

Jakaswanga:

It appears that you are still enjoying that salary that just arrived.*** Underlying your statement is the assumption that those in charge in Kenya would do their own thinking and take action on their own. Evidence suggests that they are happy to outsource everything as they focus on eating.

*** A musical dedication to the noble teachers:

The salary that just arrived: would you believe it! At mama mbogas, after more rounds that we could count, we were singing:
THE CHORAL SONG OF THE DRUNKEN TEACHERS IN LUOLAND!

An naneno Ouru, ne ae amor! ---Sossion baba! ---An naneno Ouru, ne ae amor!
Onyatto wang'e-kwar ong'eyo ni kong'o nyaka nyiew!
An naneno Ouru ne ae amer!
Ondiek wuod Okuyo oolo pesa e gwenge!
Kaimenyi gi Kazungu Kambi dhogi donge omoko nono! --Guogi!

Special translation for Milady Fahari!

And I saw Uhuru, and burst into delightful song! ---OO Sossion the Messiah!
The red-eyed son of Kenyatta knows teachers can not drink on credit!
And I saw Uhuru, and wrecklessy drunk I got!
The Gikuyu top-predator has showered the Ksh in all counties of the land!
Kaimenyi and Kazungu Kambi are reduced to idiots in broad daylight! ---Goons!

[podp]

www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2013/08/balala-denies-cortec-bribery-claims/

one FB stated that the rejected politicians turned to Cabinet Secretaries have a role of collecting rent for the men on the house up the hill. so the papers need to turn the heat on the accuser instead of questioning the author of mayhem

www.nation.co.ke/News/Man-at-the-centre-of-Sh500m-maize-case/-/1056/1941786/-/item/2/-/f8v8eiz/-/index.html

Muzalendoobash • 17 hours ago −
I think this man Jacob is not different from other men from other regions who became too rich and they are not mentioned. Just because he comes from a region where people are supposed to be watchmen,he is being exposed.Expose those from central and some parts of Rift valley and you say Jacob Juma is as clean as snow,very innocent compared to those who have looted the whole economy of Kenya and they are not mentioned.They preach water and drink wine.


www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2013/08/balala-undermined-us-in-revoking-licences-traders/

if the 'experts' or rather 'shareholders' are ignored by a Cabinet Secretary whose interests are being served by the latter? National or personal (vested)!

www.nation.co.ke/oped/Editorial/Probe-Balala-graft-claims-/-/440804/1942602/-/c2wg0y/-/index.html

Friday, Mr Juma accused Mr Balala of demanding Sh80 million from Cortec Mining Kenya in exchange for the licence to mine multi-trillion-shilling minerals in Mrima Hill, Kwale County. Cortec has also written to the anti-corruption agency requesting that the allegations be investigated.

The turn of events, on what looked like a well-informed government step to safeguard the state’s natural resources by demanding transparency in licensing of mining, calls for urgent action.

The truth must be established by a detailed and impartial investigation. If it is true, President Uhuru Kenyatta must act by sacking Mr Balala and ensuring that the full force of the law is applied. The message must be clear. State resources must never be used for rent seeking and unjust enrichment.

[nok]

[podp]

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) wants suspended commissioner of Mines Moses Masibo prosecuted for facilitating trade in gold suspected to be part of a wider money laundering and terrorism financing ring.

CID director Ndegwa Muhoro has told Parliament that the source of gold that Skyhawk International Limited and Ushindi Exports Limited have been exporting through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) “remains a mystery.”

www.businessdailyafrica.com/CID+wants+mines+boss+prosecuted+over+gold+exports/-/539546/1944352/-/qlxfjgz/-/index.html

the script is old. the vultures are circling. not for the Cabinet Secretary but for a sacrificial lamb. if we can have an errand boy refuse assisting us collect rent we get another one. brace yourself for more leaked confidential memos not on the Cab Secretary but the Commissioner for Mines. meanwhile the Kwale residents are promised what is theirs.

www.nation.co.ke/business/news/Govt-to-deal-with-squatter-problem-at-the-Coast/-/1006/1944864/-/rejllgz/-/index.html

In trying to do so, Mining Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala cancelled 42 mining licences that he says were irregularly allocated. However, businessman Jacob Juma has thrown a spanner in the works by sensationally claiming that Balala solicited a bribe of Sh80 million so as not to cancel a licence for Cortec Mining Kenya to mine minerals worth billions of shillings in Kwale.

The accusations are weighty and as has happened in the past, talk around this matter will most likely produce more heat than light as political protagonists take hardline positions.

www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000090647&story_title=Kenya-review-mining-laws-for-a-fair-share-of-minerals