“Over 127 out of 1,100 former Zambia State Insurance Corporation employees have been died between 1991 and 2019 without collecting their retirement packages”, says ZSIC retirees national Chairman Pule Mwila.

Mr Mwila since called on the UPND to take a keen interest in their plight once it forms government in 2021.

Mr Mwila said the former ZSIC workers that were retrenched on 30th April 1991 have undergone untold misery and suffering leading to premature deaths, breaking of marriages, failure for children to start or complete their education while hunger and subsequent poor health have characterised the team that has been neglected by successive governments including the Patriotic Front.

He said terminal benefits amounting to over 34 million have remained unpaid since 1991 adding that the Committee has been at pains in the past 29 years to restrain the members against street demonstrations which would lead to violence and loss of life.

“Mr President, this culture of treating people that have made positive contribution to national development for many years should come to an end. This team here built Premium House in Lusaka, Mpundwa House in Ndola, Mukuni in Kabwe and many other investments. The way we have been treated for 29 years makes us wonder if truly the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation is biblical or a tool for suppression,” Mr Mwila said.

He added, “October 18th has no significance on us as fasting has becoming a natural phenomenon for us. We have had 29 years of patience but time to react has come. We are now ready for anything and repercussions”, he told UPND President Hakainde Hichilema and his National Management Committee at the Party Secretariat.

Mr Mwila has appealed to Mr. Hichilema and the UPND to help in rescuing the country from a greedy and selfish cadre of leaders.

He pledged to rally the huge team of retirees nationwide behind the UPND towards 2021 saying whoever looks after their interest shall remain their friend as they were a large group that cannot be ignored.

And Mr Hichilema says the PF should not heap the blame on past governments for its failure to pay the retirement packages as that is a responsibility of a sitting government.

He pledged to make the issue as one of his first responsibilities when the UPND assumes office.

President Hichilema said the government has enough resources to pay off the K34 million terminal benefits but it was the lack of political will on the part of the government to undertake such a payment.

“For 29 years, these people have been struggling without anyone paying an interest. It is not correct for the PF to say this is an MMD problem. The government of the day is the major shareholder in all parastatal companies and it doesn’t make economic sense for the PF to tell us that this is the MMD problem. These guys in PF have the capacity to pay out the K 34 million owed to our retirees but they just lack the interest in addressing the welfare of the majority Zambians, not only the retirees.“

“How can a normal government opt to buy a Presidential jet at over $ 100 million instead of attending to the plight of the retirees? What is needed for our friends here is merely a small amount as compared to what was spent towards the pleasure of one individual and a few of his selfish friends. We pledge to prioritise the paying of retirees once in government because we know that the money is available. But we shouldn’t wait for that long as people will die. More children will fail to get into school or complete their education. We join the rest of the country in demanding that government immediately pays the retirement packages to ZSIC and other retirees.”

“Mr Mwila, our hearts pour out to you and your team. This surely has been a difficult time for you. We are with you now and forever”, the UPND President added.

By Dr. Joze Manda

We have seen in the recent past how some opposition parties and some rogue NGO’s have teamed up for an orgy of violence to discredit the government in all its activities. We also know and have classified information on how highly funded these NGO’s are and just recently, some media houses have also been looped in and have received funding to help in the campaign against the PF government.

At the time when our country is experiencing serious economic challenges, as citizens we must watch out for imperialist agents who are bent on taking advantage of our situation to capitalize on their selfishness to take over the control of our natural resources, more especially our minerals.

As Zambians, we must realize that there are agents who are more determined than the opposition to foster regime change. They are prepared to fund the opposition with an unlimited flow of campaign funds in return for our mineral wealth.

*Our current situation makes things worse and Zambians must wake up from slumber. We have HH and his UPND who are prepared to worsen our economic problem as long as it can give them power, they are prepared to go to bed with any prostitutes including gigolos to attain political power and worse still, they are even prepared to sleep with fellow men or encourage such unnatural acts as along as it can get the power and this is where the whole act gets dangerous, they have easily fallen into the trap set up by those external forces that want more power than HH and his UPND.*

What they don’t also know is the cunning nature of the imperialist who is funding them, these imperialists are prepared to run down our country to get what they want. Zambia has recently discovered huge deposits of gold dotted across the country, from Eastern province to North- Western and we have become an easy target because of, *first* – our economic challenges and *secondly* – the opposition who are bent on acquiring political power at whatever cost. You just have to look at what they have done to DRC to ascertain where we will eventually end up if we let these imperialists use us.

The latest social media propaganda on Mukula trading which implicates the head of state and some minister is a highly orchestrated campaign bent on discrediting the Zambian government and has serious ultra motives behind it without any doubt.

In the mukula propaganda saga, they use a three steps propaganda strategy known worldwide to manipulate the innocent public.

Step 1, They release a well manipulated graphical image to catch the attention of the public,

Step 2, They distribute the graphical image to the media that they fund indirectly and have bought into their cause and lastly

Step 3, They release a video which is highly infested with wrong information and is full of accusation and not facts to drive their point in. By the time some people will realize that its fake, the damage would have been done.

This kind of propaganda strategy is meant to put the government on its defense in anticipation that they may make a mess out of it in the.

As Zambians, we must note that the relationship between mineral extraction and the societies and states in which it takes place has long been a central issue in parts of Africa. Mining enabled some pre-colonial African societies to engage with the global economy, accumulate wealth, and its expand horizon. But we should also be aware that mineral resources provided a primary motivation for colonial exploration and capitalist exploitation of the continent and our country in particular.

Nationalist visions of postcolonial modernization rested on plans to exploit mineral resources for developmental purposes, but capitalists and imperialists have come up with their own evil agendas for us—in extreme cases fueling secessionism and civil war.

In conclusion, as Zambians we must in the strongest term refuse and not allow any Diplomat to mingle into our internal issues, if they have a problem, they must engage the authorities at the appropriate level.

Just in case you didn’t know, on January 30 1799, the US Congress passed the Logan Act to prevent any individual (Diplomats included) from corresponding with a foreign Government without permission from the US Government. In its present form, the Act, as amended in 1964, reads:

“Any citizen of the US, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the US, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign Government or any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the US, or to defeat the measures of the US, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.”

The key elements of this Act are
(1) communication with a foreign Government;
(2) without the authority of the US;
(3) for the purpose of influencing the actions of the foreign Government in relation to a dispute with the US or of defeating US policy.

I rest my case here.

Dr. Joze Manda is a Political Analyst based in Lusaka.

President Edgar Lungu has stressed that the days of millers depending on cheap maize from the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) are long gone.

President Lungu says the FRA is only meant to store strategic reserves, taking into consideration that it is the primary purpose why the agency was established.

The President has also encouraged millers to buy maize from farmers and has appealed to those that are not able to conduct maize buying on their own to instead sub-contract grain traders to procure the commodity on their behalf.

And the Head of State says the developments taking place in the milling industry are a clear indication that the private sector is embracing the government’s policies of promoting private sector development and value addition.

He said this yesterday when he officially opened the African Milling New Maize Plant situated along Buyantanshi road in Lusaka.

And the President noted that the expansion project by African Milling is expected to increase milling capacity to 506 metric tonnes of maize per day.

He said with this production capacity, the plant is supposed to run at full capacity, hence the need to address load shedding and ensure adequate maize meal supply which he said will cushion the escalating mealie meal prices.

The President mentioned that the government has been making frantic efforts to ensure that maize production is improved in the current farming season.

President Lungu explained that he is confident that the creation of the maize market through the expansion of the African Milling as well as other developments in the milling industry will propel farmers to grow maize, and service the local market, as well as export the surplus to the region.

And the Head of State has further urged all millers to emulate African Milling which is not only focusing on milling but also supplying inputs to farmers.

He, however, said he is aware of the players in the market who are hoarding maize under the pretext that they will realize exorbitant prices around January and February next year.

The President indicated that such practices create artificial shortages resulting in high mealie meal prices, and has since advised the perpetrators to desist from doing so as the strategy is prone to fail.

President Lungu said the government is in constant touch with farmers, millers and grain traders through the stocks monitoring committee under the Ministry of Agriculture.

Meanwhile, Chairman for African Milling, Zaeed Patel said the expansion of the milling plant is testimony of the continued support and commitment by African Milling to ensure food security in the country.

He noted that the past few months have been critical and challenging in some parts of the country hence the need for government to work together with other stakeholders in ensuring food security.

And Minister of Agriculture Michael Katambo, said the developments taking place in the milling industry is an indication that farmers should position themselves for increased demand of agriculture produce by millers.

Mr Katambo noted that government through his ministry will continue to facilitate a conducive environment which will include allowing maize exports after satisfying the local requirements.

Lusaka Minister Bowman Lusambo indicated that government is working hard to ensure that the living standards of people in all parts of the country are improved upon.

He noted that the country has continued witnessing such investments in food processing companies especially milling and other sectors due to the good leadership of President Lungu.

President Lungu also said that he did not subscribe to calls by some Patriotic Front-PF members for Northern Province PF chairperson Chungu Bwalya to resign, but however, said that the matter of Mr. Bwalya will be tabled before the Central Committee meeting to chart the way forward.

Some PF members are demanding the resignation of Mr. Bwalya following the party’s failure to win a council by-election in Lupososhi, Northern Province.

On the other hand, President Lungu said that the PF’s performance in the recent council by-elections throughout the country is a litmus test for the party ahead of future elections, adding that  UPND members  that were celebrating in one of the towns in Southern Province after winning a council election in Northern Province are at liberty to do so.

And President Edgar Lungu has described as primitive those harassing Members of Parliament that have supported the restoration of the Constitution amendment bill to the order paper in Parliament.

The head of state said that the harassment is unwarranted and does not conform to the tenets of democracy.

President Lungu has reminded political stakeholders that nobody will assume power in Zambia using violence, adding that the world is now so civilized and those seeking to take over leadership should do so without killing anyone.

President Lungu said his political rivals should wait for the 2021 General elections as Zambia is a democratic state instead of engaging in violence.

The President was speaking in an interview with journalists in Lusaka today after his routine jogging session in Lusaka’s State Lodge Area.

Opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema has described as heartbreaking, the latest report which has exposed the Mukula smuggling cartel.

Mr Hichilema said the Mukula smuggling scandal report released by the Washington DC based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), implicating President Edgar Lungu, his daughter Tasila, Justice Minister Given Lubinda, and his Lands counterpart Jean Kapata, says everything that people need to know about the sustained push by the government to sell ZAFFICO.

Mr Hichilema said the ZAFFICO sale issue was always about smuggling Mukula and the mineral deposits under ZAFFICO land and that now the scam has been exposed by experts.

“What we have been warning people about in the past, has today been revealed in detail and brought to the fore,” Mr Hichilema said

“What we read in this report is exactly what we already knew about this Mukula smuggling scam, but the testimonies from the government officials, smugglers and their Chinese handlers contained in the circulating video are staggering and heartbreaking accounts of recklessness and criminal impunity by people who have been entrusted to govern our country.”

He added, “Zambians; wake up now and see this regime for what it truly is, a Government of thieves. It’s a syndicate of institutionalized criminals hellbent on stripping national resources to the core. This needs to stop forthwith,” Mr Hichilema said.

A new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) dubbed Mukula Cartel has exposed how associates connected to President Lungu, including his daughter Tasila, onetime resident of the United States of America, are reportedly involved in the plunder of valuable, increasingly scarce, mukula rosewood trees; and hence the destruction of Zambia’s vulnerable forests.

The investigation shows that despite public pledges to end the illegal mukula trade, several politicians are repeatedly named as key actors in an influential timber trafficking network that bypasses existing national bans on mukula harvest and export.

The report raises serious concern about implementation of the recent international protection granted to the threatened mukula tree by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Concerned by a rapid decline of rosewood trees commonly called Mukula in central and southern Africa, the 183 CITES-member governments agreed at the 18th Conference of the Parties to include the species on Appendix II in order to regulate its international trade and protect it from extinction.

The binding international measure took effect on November 26th, 2019.

Meanwhile, EIA undercover investigators documented how the state-owned company Zambia Forestry and Forest Industries Corporation Limited (ZAFFICO) is secretly used by well-connected Zambian and Chinese business operatives as a cover to export thousands of freshly cut mukula logs. This illegal trade flourishes in spite of bans on the harvest, transport, and export of mukula.

According to EIA’s findings, senior officials including the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Jean Kapata, help traffickers benefit from the ZAFFICO scheme.

Investigators also found that the illicit timber networks – described by one trafficker as a “cartel” – are reportedly connected to President Lungu and include his daughter Tasila, Senior Chief Nkula Kafula Musungu II, and Justice Minister Given Lubinda.

According to revelations made to EIA, the high-level corruption takes many forms – including, for example, US$40,000 worth of outfits allegedly “donated” by a powerful Chinese trafficker to the Zambian president for his re-election campaign.

Sources also highlighted how special permits to export mukula logs have been commonly traded in exchange for votes. A trafficker further explained to EIA investigators that he manages his clandestine operations in “joint venture” with the ruling party PF’s central committee.

EIA estimates that over 50 40-foot containers of mukula logs have been illegally exported each month from June 2017 to May 2019; their transit and export allowed as a result of an estimated total of $7.5 million in bribes and informal fees paid annually, as explained by traffickers.

The money lost to the illegal mukula trade could have been spent on public services that benefit the lives of Zambians; instead the loss of these trees threatens the livelihoods of local communities.

Lisa Handy, Director of Forest Campaigns at EIA-US, said: “If not dismantled, the mukula cartel has the power to derail the international protection granted to these rare African trees. This will result in a continued assault against fragile forests and rural communities.”

The mukula cartel’s operations are driven by international demand almost exclusively from China. Handy adds: “China has a unique opportunity to stop rosewood trafficking networks and to protect the world’s threatened forests by prohibiting import of illegal timber.”

EIA recommends that Zambia suspends the trade of mukula using a zero-export quota until illicit trafficking networks are dismantled, and the requisite for trading under CITES – including Non-Detriment Finding (NDF) and Legal Acquisition Finding (LAF) – are met and shared publicly. It is essential that Zambia complies with the new CITES rules regarding the mukula trade, or the tree will simply cease to exist.