Jubilee USA Launches Campaign Against Vulture Fund Today

Feb 20th, 2007 5:00 PM UTC
By Monét Cooper, Jubilee USA

Today, Jubilee USA and its partner organizations launched a call-in/write-in to Debt Advisory International (DAI), the parent company of Donegal International, urging the company’s owner, Michael Sheehan, to drop the lawsuit against Zambia.

Zambia’s crime? That’s what we’d like to know.

As activists were working to convince international financial institutions like the World Bank and IMF to cancel Zambia’s unsound debt, Donegal swooped down in 1999 and nabbed a piece of Zambia’s debt for $3.3 million. Zambia later received debt cancellation in 2005.

Last week, a U.K. court ruled that while Donegal is not entitled to $55 million — the amount the company claimed it is owed in taxes and interest — it is entitled to something. Donegal could be granted at least $20 million, which is half the amount Zambia expects to save this year from debt cancellation. This means that monies earmarked for healthcare, education, and other social spending needs, will instead go to line the pockets of Donegal.

Donegal and companies like them are called “vulture funds.” These companies make a profit from purchasing debt at a bargain basement price then turning around and suing the debtor for the full amount.

So, what do you do when vultures circle?

You don’t stand and cower; you fight them off!

You have the power to help Zambia, by participating in a worldwide action supported by millions of global activists. Urge Michael Sheehan to drop the lawsuit against Zambia and tell the courts that what Donegal did is the result of corruption that had nothing to do with Zambia.

A few hours into the call-in, Debi Kar, Jubilee USA’s media and policy coordinator, told us that callers were now greeted with an automated message letting them know that they had indeed reached the offices of Donegal, but that the voice mailbox was full.

When you can’t call, write. Go to Jubilee Debt Campaign’s site to send an e-mail to Donegal and DAI letting them know that you are incensed by what they’re doing!

For more information about the movement to stop the vulture fund from plundering Zambia, please visit:

• Jubilee USA Grassroots Coordinator Kristin Sundell interviewed this morning by host Amy Goodman on Democracy Now
• E-mail Donegal International via Oxfam’s website
• BBC’s Greg Palast discusses Zambia and the vulture fund on Democracy Now
• BBC reports on the vulture fund case

 

TAGS: Debt Cancellation, The ONE Blog