The government has officially terminated the concession contract between James Ndambo’s African Union Holdings and Zambia’s government for the management of the Dry Port facility at Walvis Bay in Namibia.
Zambia’s High Commissioner to Namibia, Steven Katuka, revealed that the concessionaire had not been performing well and that only 10,000 of the 30,000 square meters of land given to Zambia by Namibia had been used.
The termination of the concession contract comes as the private sector-led construction of a gas and oil pipeline from Namibia to Zambia has not been able to take off due to the difficulty of sourcing funds.
Mr Katu
The Zambian millionaire and promoter of My Home Town, James Ndambo, is believed to have been behind the concession and lease agreement with African Union Cargo (AUC). Reports say that the UPND government in Zambia, and AUC had been in dispute over the revenue the government was receiving from AUC. The government had planned to take control of the facility and give it to the state-owned company, ZAM Cargo.
The Namibian government gave Zambia as a Southern African Development Community (SADC) land locked country a dry port at Walvis Bay along the Atlantic Ocean coast of Namibia in order to enable Zambia develop their own sea dry ports at Walvis Bay as a way of encouraging trade through Namibia.
Zambia started using its Walvis bay dry port, which was constructed at an initial investment cost of US$3 million in 2017.
The Port offers the Zambian economy a sea route and can easily be used by the Zambian business community to access the market in Europe and America. Walvis Bay Corridor offers Zambia an excellent opportunity for both the private sector and parastatals to participate in international trade.
In Deember last year Mr Ndambo officially closed his Zambian Non-Governmental Organization “My Home Town Zambia” due to the dented international reputation after the Zambian government carried out investigations of suspected money laundering resulting to the pulling out of other global sympathizers that were supporting the organization.
Sources within the organization have
confirmed the development to Phoenix News that the organization which was non-profit making but dependent on financial support from allies of Mr. Ndambo, will no longer be operating in Zambia where it was founded 25 years ago.
The sources have further revealed that investigations of money laundering which was carried out by the Zambian investigative wings dented the image of the organization to some global business partners of Mr. Ndambo.
Mr Ndambo through my home town zambia in july this year donated vehicles to the zambia police in southern province, refurbished the Choma central police station, Choma township roads and organized one of the most expensive beauty pageant in Zambia
Mr Ndambo’s organization has been instrumental in supporting Zambians whose medical conditions could not be treated locally by evacuating them to countries where their ailment were treated.
