THE VICTORIA FALLS AFFAIR: A SUMMARY

The Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA), a statutory body responsible for wildlife and National Parks under the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources (MTENR), this year issued Tourism Concession Agreements (TCA) for the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, which falls within the United Nations Education and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) sanctioned Victoria Falls World Heritage Site. One of these, a 2 ha. site on a 5 year lease – a normal agreement, was issued to a Zambian company, Tourism Investments Ltd. This lease was later expanded on the amalgamation of Tourism Investments with Legacy Resorts & Hotels International, spawning a subsidiary, Legacy Holdings Zambia, into a 220 ha./75 year TCA, on the strength of plans to invest $200 m in a golf estate comprising an eighteen-hole golf course, two hotel resorts, a club house and marina, and 500 chalets. For this ZAWA were paid $9 m (75% of their current income) and promised an annual fee of $2 m thereafter. On Saturday 29 July, the Vice-President - in the State President’s name, laid the foundation stone .

This lease was issued without going to tender and is therefore procedurally incorrect and has been reported to the Commission for Investigations and the National Movement Against Corruption (NAMAC). The latter have stated that i) the boundaries of the Park have not been changed to make the concession possible by statute, ii) the proposed development places ZAWA in default of its statutory mandate as laid down in the Wildlife Act of 1998: section 5(1) (a) and (c) and, iii) the concession reduces the area of the National Park, contrary to Section 12 of the Act. A Director of Legacy, Renatus Mushinge, is the brother of the Financial Director of ZAWA, Tom Mushinge, whom it is believed orchestrated the necessary permission. The Chairman of Legacy Holdings Zambia, J.J. Sikazwe, is also Chairman of the private sector organization, the Tourism Council of Zambia, the Chairman of the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) appointed by the President, and a member of the Zambia International Business Advisory Council. The Livingstone development is considered to be the first black empowerment investment under the new CEE Act of 2006.

Development had therefore begun despite the rejection of the initial project’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) by the Environmental Council of Zambia (ECZ), the objections of the local ZAWA and National Heritage Conservation Commission office – who have joint responsibility for the Park, and no application made to the Livingstone City Council, or consultations of any kind carried out with the Natural Resources Consultative Forum of Zambia (NRCF), with the tourism industry, with civil society in general or, most seriously of all, UNESCO.
Legacy Holdings finally submitted an EIA, a 360 page document which stated (sic) that i) the development would remove all natural vegetation from the site and that it would cause ‘irreversible ecological destruction’ to the 220 ha. area, but that ii) the socio-economic benefits outweighed environmental impacts, and iii) despite being offered alternative sites on the river that they would not build elsewhere.

UNESCO visited Livingstone and declared that if the development went ahead that they would cancel the World Heritage status, not consider applications on other potential sites, and would conduct a world-wide campaign to discourage visitors to the 30 km radius area which encompasses Victoria Falls town in Zimbabwe, and Livingstone and the Mosi oa Tunya NP in Zambia. Later the Chairman of the Zambia National Tourism Board declared that this was not a serious issue.

The Environmental Council of Zambia has stated that a decision will be made on the development by 15 December. However, UNESCO have let it be known that they cannot make a decision until they receive the “State of Conservation” report by Zambia, due by 1 February 2007. Only then will they make recommendations as to the management of the Park. Currently some tourism operators in England and South Africa have started a boycott of the Legacy Group; and there is mounting opposition from Zambian NGOs and the people of Livingstone.

The Wildlife Environment & Conservation Society (WECSZ) of Zambia, Livingstone Branch, state that the development would cut the Park in two, would destroy prime elephant and wildlife habitat and would negate present plans to establish a five-nation transfrontier conservation area.

EXPERT CONTACTS:
Nick Katanekwa: Chairman Livingstone Tourism Association
Kalaluka Mulyokela: Ex-ZAWA, Wildlife Consultant, Livingstone
Margaret Whitehead: Former long-serving Livingstone Council member
Sakwiba Sikota: M.P. for Livingstone.

To contact the above, forward mail to gamefields@zamnet.zm and it will be forwarded to them