People’s Alliance for Change (PAC) president Andyford Banda says government is desperate to kick out Vedanta Resources and find a new investor to takeover struggling Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), even if it means breaking the law.

In an interview, Banda said it was because of desperation that government was now ready to break the law in ensuring that it finds a new partner for Konkola Copper Mines.

“The problem that we have right now is that, the engagement of the China is an easy win for the government because there are definitely scared to say that, ‘if we don’t quickly find an investor, we may actually be paying the salaries of the mine,’ which is why the government is so desperate even when things are still in court! The government is sending people to go against the law, which is not correct. For us, we don’t mind who takes up the mine as long as that person is the right investor,” Banda said.

He said government should not rush to find an alternative investor.

“It shouldn’t matter whether it is China, America or Britain; what we just need is a right investor who is committed to doing the right thing. There has been a lot of stories about the Chinese. I think what we need is somebody who can push in the right investment, correct the wrongs that have happened and move the mine forward. We also want to warn the government if they want to make quick decisions regarding the mines, they will find themselves in the same problems or even in a worse situation in a few months’ time,” he warned.

And commenting on a separate issue, Banda said it was important for government officials facing corrupt charges to follow RTSA chief executive officer Zindaba Soko’s example by going on leave until legal proceedings were concluded.

“We have Honourable [Ronald] Chitotela who is still in office and I think that he should follow through and also excuse himself during this period. That is the reason why there is confusion in this country because some of the things are very straightforward. And the next for us is that the people that are within the PF and those who seem to be enjoying, they must see through within their cycle that, slowly but surely things are falling apart, and this is why they should wake up. This is the reason why they should not even support this Constitution Amendment Bill because the Constitution Amendment Bill is a bill that is meant to support one individual,” said Banda.