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Chipolopolo interim coach Aggrey Chiyangi wants his players to concentrate throughout the match if Zambia is to stop conceding late goals.
Zambia allowed late goals when forcing draws against Niger (1-1) and Benin (2-2) in the weekend friendly matches played away in West Africa.
Benin scored a stoppage time equaliser on Sunday to deny Zambia a win.
‘It’s just concentration. What we need to do as we go back we have to talk about concentration levels. We have to concentrate throughout the game until the game finishes,’ Chiyangi said.
‘I think the second goal Benin scored our defenders did not challenge for the ball. I don’t know if they were waiting for the referee to blow for offside,’ he said.
Chiyangi however described the friendly against Benin as good preparation for future assignment.
‘It was a good game. Good preparation. Benin gave us a good game they played well and we also played well. It is a good foundation for the future,’ said.
A pre-pilot UNESCO Refugee Qualifications Passport aiming to help displaced people with missing qualification documents will be launched in Zambia this month, before the project is rolled out at a greater scale globally.
Four organisations – UNESCO, UNHCR, Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education and the Zambian Qualifications Authority ZAQA – announced the project recently in New York City.
Based on the Council of Europe’s European Qualification Passport for Refugee, launched in 2017 as a response to the influx of refugees to the continent, the latest move is a way to test whether the methodology can be used beyond a European context.
“We have big expectations of the Zambia pilot since it will be the first time the Qualification Passport methodology is tested outside Europe,” Andreas Snildal, program specialist, Section of Higher Education – Education Sector at UNESCO explained.
“It will be an important step for learning and for further developing the project, but it is important to emphasise that the pilot will also include countries in other regions.”
Zambia was chosen for its “considerable refugee population, its experience in qualifications recognition and not least its government’s commitment to higher education and refugees”, Snildal said.
“We will build on this support for implementing the full-scale pilot, and we are aiming at piloting the UNESCO Qualifications Passport in two or three countries in different parts of the world in 2020.
“In the long run, the aim is to establish a tool that can be used around the world in different contexts,” Snildal added.
The qualifications passport is the “perfect match to address the gap that often exists in refugee and migrant populations that may have incomplete documents”, Maren Kroeger, tertiary education officer in the Division of Resilience and Solutions at UNHCR said.
Working in an advisory role, UNHCR recognises that incomplete documents are one of the biggest barriers for refugees to access university education.
“We came to Zambia to have a pre-pilot to see how it works in a completely different context – it is a completely different higher educational setting then in the European context where the passport has been piloted before,” Kroeger told The PIE News.
Some settlements in Zambia have been there since the 1970s, while others arrived last year from places such as Congo. That diversity offers a good test of the tool, while the project will also provide insight into the profile refugees.
Those involved expect that a global rollout will follow once willing countries and national quality assurance agencies have been identified, and funding needs to be sourced.
“From our side where I see possibly a huge demand for that tool for the Venezuelans in the Americas because they also been highly educated before the crisis,” Kroeger concluded.
The outcome of the pre-pilot will be presented at UNESCO’s General Conference in November, and most likely countries in other UNESCO regions will be included in a more comprehensive pilot, Stig Arne Skjerven director of Foreign Education at NOKUT added.
The Lumwana copper mine is located about 100 km west of Solwezi in Zambia’s Copperbelt. (Image courtesy of Barrick Gold.)
China Minmetals, Jiangxi Copper and Zijin Mining are among the firms weighing to bid for Canadian mining firm Barrick Gold’s Lunwana copper mine in Zambia.
If the deal materialises, the mine could be worth approximately $1bn.
China Molybdenum and Aluminum Corp were also invited to take part in the bid.
Barrick is currently working with advisers to draw interest for the mine.
The Lumwana copper mine is a conventional open pit mine, located approximately 100km west of Solwezi town in Zambia’s copperbelt region.
It is expected to produce 210 to 240 million pounds of copper in 2019 and has proven and probable copper reserves of over 4.5 billion pounds.
In August, Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow said that the company is focusing on divesting $1.5bn of assets by the end of the next year.
The Lumwana mine was officially inaugurated in April 2009 by Equinox Minerals.
In April 2011, Barrick Gold signed a support agreement to acquire all issued and outstanding common shares of Equinox Minerals in a takeover offer valued at C$7.3bn ($7.6bn).
Equinox Minerals was acquired by Barrick Gold in July 2011.
Barrick Gold announced its plans to suspend operations at the mine in 2014 following the Zambian Government’s move to raise mining taxes on open-pit mining operations in the country.
In July, the company signed an agreement to acquire a stake in Acacia Mining.
Meanwhile, Barrick is also working with Bank of Nova Scotia to scout for buyers for its Tongon Gold mine in Côte d’Ivoire.
Sunday Chanda with UPND President Hakainde Hichilema
By Sunday Chilufya Chanda
INTRODUCTION
Will the Opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) participate in this year’s Independence Commemoration, breaking from their long-held tradition absconding important national and continental events such as the Africa Freedom Day.
As the title of Nelson Mandela’s book “Long walk to freedom” suggests, the struggle for the political emancipation of Africa and Zambia was a long one. Because of the significance of the day in relation to the heading, this article is also longer than usual.
A BACKGROUND TO ZAMBIA’S INDEPENDENCE DAY
Every year on October 24, Zambia celebrates its Independence Day in commemoration of the day it attained its freedom from British rule in 1964.
In 1889, a treaty was signed between the Lozi overlord and a representative of the British South Africa Company in 1889 establishing British protection. Sir Harry Johnston added Eastern Zambia to Britain’s empire during his conquest of Nyasaland (now Malawi).
British administration in Zambia (then called Northern Rhodesia) was the same like its other African territories. A governor heads a small central council composed of Europeans appointed by the British government. The local rulers are allowed greater freedom under this system of indirect rule. In the late 1920s copper was discovered in the north, this development led to the extension of the railway and the building of the first smelting plants in the so-called copper belt. In 1939, Zambia had become a major producer of copper, and the urbanization of the northwest has begun. The arrival of European technicians and administrators to Zambia was brought about by the copper industry.
In 1953, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, comprising the territories of Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland (now Malawi), was dominated by the white population of these territories. Every African politician in the state condemned the federation from its inception by. For Zambia, the path towards independence was more problematic than the other British African territories because the federation had to be broken first.
On 24 October 1964, Northern Rhodesia became the Republic of Zambia, with Kaunda as the first president.
So why would an Opposition party abscond anything to do with commemorating the significance of such an important occasion as our Independence Day?
A BACKGROUND TO AFRICA FREEDOM DAY
On 15 April 1958, at a time when most of Africa was under colonial rule, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the Prime Minister of the newly Independent state of Ghana convened and hosted the first ever congress of Independent African States.
The gathering also showcased the progress of liberation movements on the African continent in addition to symbolising the determination of the people of Africa to free themselves from foreign domination and exploitation.
It is at this conference that the concept of commemorating an “Africa Freedom Day” was born.
The day was mooted in order to “…mark each year the onward progress of the liberation movement, and to symbolise the determination of the people of Africa to free themselves from foreign domination and exploitation.”[4]
A few years later, on 25 May 1963, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, a country that has never been colonised, hosted in Addis Ababa the representatives of 30 African nations. By then more than two-thirds of the continent had achieved independence, mostly from imperial European states.
It is at this meeting that the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was founded, with the initial objective of galvanising the decolonisation of Angola, Mozambique, South Africa and Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The OAU pledged to support the liberation efforts of freedom fighters in the respective colonies, and remove military access to colonial nations.
Zambia after attaining independence from Britain in 1964 under the leadership of Dr Kenneth Kaunda played a pivotal role in the liberation of neighbours Zimbabwe, Angola and Mozambique and our people also paid the ultimate price with their lives to liberate our brothers and sisters in South Africa from the shackles of Apartheid.
Fast forward to 2002, our nation during the tenure of the Second President Dr Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba hosted an OAU summit, and it was at this meeting that the continental body was transformed from OAU to the African Union (AU).
In spite of the changed appellation of the continental body, Africa Day continues to be widely celebrated on 25 May by Africans across the globe, in the motherland and in Zambia by everybody…well almost everybody except Mr Hakainde Hichilema and his UPND!
TRIBALISM; AN ARCH-ENEMY OF NATIONALISM & PAN AFRICANISM
The UPND under Mr Hichilema has for over a decade consistently absconded official commemorations of Africa Freedom Day and Independence Day ostensibly because he does not want to observe this day or even his own country’s Independence day until he can do so as Head of State. He has an entrenched “It’s either my way or no way” mentality that blinds him from celebrating others (even freedom fighters).
BLINDED BY THEIR OWN EGO AND TRIBALISM; UPND SNUBS CELEBRATING AFRICA & ZAMBIA
Mr Hichilema’s narcissism and self-centeredness is at the core of his unpatriotic attitude. His self-centeredness has gone to the extreme and it has produced in UPND tribal inclinations that override everything that celebrates national and Pan- African causes. The UPND leader’s very introduction on the political scene was unpatriotic and perverted; it was an act of glorifying Tribalism.
As Guy Scott the former Vice President of Zambia recounts in his recently released book “Zambian Politics: a Story in Black and White”:
_”When Anderson Mazoka the founding President died, a convention was held of the UPND (then as now, the United Party for National Development was the leading opposition party) featuring Tonga warriors with spears and friction drums, galloping around the convention and threatening anyone who would oppose the election of another Tonga to the presidency. The winner in these circumstances was the wealthy privatisation expert, the wealthy Hakainde Hichilema. There was an exodus of non-Tonga leaders…”_
With the systematic hostile ejection of non-Tongas from the time Hichilema took over UPND, its tribal stature has consistently dwarfed its national identity. Tribalism is by its very nature inimical to the concept of Nationalism and Pan-Africanism.
Samora Moisés Machel one of Africa’s greatest revolutionaries and first President of Mozambique once famously said:
“For the nation to live, the tribe must die”.
From 2006 when Hichilema usurped leadership of UPND he expected all Southerners and Bantu Botatwe to automatically support him. UPND ethos since then has been a perverted form of Machels’ mantra: _“The nation must die and the tribe must dominate that I must become President”._ He is neither Nationalist nor Pan-Africanist, that is why Africa Freedom Day and Independence Day celebrations mean nothing to him!
UPND’s tribalism is NOT representative of the people of Southern Province and Bantu Botatwe. Hichilema and his UPND have betrayed the spirit of many of our founding national fathers and gallant freedom fighters who’s roots were in Southern Province. Together with their compatriots from other regions of our nation , they joined forces to overcome the shackles of colonialism to build the nation of Zambia where a common National identity eclipsed tribal character.
Can UPND and Hichilema’s unpatriotic nation-dividing agenda be compared to the following Southern Patriarchs?
1. HARRY MWAANGA NKUMBULA (15 JANUARY 1916 – 8 OCTOBER 1983)
Until the late 1950s, Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula was very much the public face of African nationalism in Northern Rhodesia (colonial Zambia).
While at the London School of Economics in the late 1940s, Nkumbula had been drawn into Pan-Africanist circles and worked closely with Hastings Kamuzu Banda, the future President of Malawi, with whom he co-authored ‘Federation in Central Africa’, ‘a point-by-point rebuttal of federationist arguments as well as the first comprehensive statement of political objectives ever made by Nyasas and Rhodesians’.
Upon his return to Northern Rhodesia in 1950, Nkumbula became president of the newly formed Northern Rhodesia’s African National Congress (ANC) and spearheaded the party’s vehement anti-Federation campaign. In early 1955 Nkumbula and Kaunda were imprisoned together (with hard labour) for distributing “subversive” literature that called for independence.
Column space does not allow me to outline the great contribution this great man made to the freedom we enjoy today.
Just prior to Zambia’s independence, Nkumbula chose to form a coalition with UNIP and was given the post of minister of African education. The UNIP/ANC alliance lasted until the pre-independence elections of January 1964, when UNIP won fifty-five seats to the ANC’s ten seats. Nkumbula became leader of the opposition.
When Kaunda moved to convert Zambia into a one-party state, Nkumbula in the interest of keeping the nation together signed a document called the Choma Declaration on 27 June 1973 and announced that he was joining UNIP.
Nkumbula was a nationalist who sacrificed his personal status for the sake of national unity.
Can the same be said of the “only-me-myself-and-I” Hichilema of today?
2. MAINZA MATHIAS CHONA (21 JANUARY 1930 – 11 DECEMBER 2001)
While Nkumbula remained as leader of the ANC when Kaunda broke from the ANC in October 1958 and formed the Zambia African National Congress (ZANC); Mainza Chona had been a member of ANC while in London and he had not made a choice between the two factions. Due to ZANC’s militancy and its unwillingness to compromise on the issue of “independence now”, Kaunda and other leaders of the new party were detained by the colonial authorities, and ZANC was banned in March 1959.
Chona and other nationalists broke away from the ANC and, in October 1959, Chona became the first president of the United National Independence Party (UNIP), the successor to ZANC. However, he did not see himself as the party’s main founder and he stepped down when Kaunda was released from prison in January 1960.
Would Hichilema have done the same?
As Kaunda’s loyal lieutenant, Chona was elected deputy president of UNIP, but he had to leave Northern Rhodesia to avoid a charge of sedition brought by the increasingly rattled CAF authorities.
Yet again column space cannot allow one to highlight in detail the exploits of one of Zambia’s first lawyers who later served as Vice President of Zambia from 1970 to 1973 and Prime Minister on two occasions: from 25 August 1973 to 27 May 1975 and from 20 July 1977 to 15 June 1978 and defacto second in command in the one-party state when he served as Secretary-General of UNIP, the ruling party, from 1978 to 1981.
The great Nationalist Mainza Chona put Nation above tribe when in the interest of laying the foundation for the nation of “Zambia” he left his tribesmate Nkumbula to join Kaunda.
One wonders; what would the patriarch Mainza Chona have made of the “Only a Tonga Must rule UPND” campaign that paved Hichilema’s way to the leadership of UPND?
There are many other examples too numerous to mention of our Southern Province freedom fighter fore-fathers who placed nation building above tribal interests. Hichilema’s UPND is a disgrace to their memory.
3. ELIJAH HAATUAKALI KAIBA MUDENDA (6 JUNE 1927 – 2 NOVEMBER 2008)
A freedom fighter and post-independence cabinet minister and diplomat who among other things played a significant role in negotiating the construction of TAZARA with the Chinese Government when Zambia was surrounded by hostile colonialist states. So significant were his contributions to the emancipation of his country and Africa that he was conferred the Friendship Medal by Fidel Castro’s Cuba.
What would Elijah Mudenda, Fidel Castro or Che-Guevara make of Hichilema?
4. KEBBY SILILO KAMBU MUSOKOTWANE (5 MAY 1946 – 11 FEBRUARY 1996)
The charismatic and selfless Musokotwane who was one of the closest allies of President Kaunda. Musokotwane served as the 5th Prime Minister of Zambia from 24 April 1985 until 15 March 1989.
How does Hichilema and his UPND compare to Zambia’s fond memory of patriotic “Kebby”?
5. BALDWIN MWANA KUMABU NKUMBULA (DIED 27 AUGUST 1995)
A son of veteran politician Harry Nkumbula, and Minister of Sport in the Chiluba regime, Baldwin was an astute politician in his own right.
Would Baldwin have approved of Hichilema’s “Tongalisation” of UPND?_ _Would Baldwin have approved of Hichilema’s indefinite tenure and Life Presidency of UPND?
6. VERNON JOHNSON MWAANGA (BORN 1939)
How does Hichilema’s narrow tribal agenda compare to the Nationalistic outlook of the versatile living legend Dr Vernon Johnson Mwaanga, freedom fighter, politician and diplomat par excellence who played a key role in championing China’s admission to the UN? How does Hichilema’s UPND’s Sinophobia compare and contrast?
There is really very little (if any) that Hichilema’s style has in common with the pragmatic approach of “VJ”. This is sadly underscored by how UPND cadres brutally assaulted Dr Mwaanga when as Chief Government Spokesperson of MMD Government of late President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa, at the time; he went to deliver a special message of condolences at the funeral house of UPND founder Anderson Mazoka. In a well-documented incident, his UPND assailants physically and verbally abused him for “being a traitor” i.e. being a Southerner and “not supporting a Tonga Party”.
CONCLUSION
Whereas our forefathers fought to raise national character above tribal identity, there are some that are working overtime to undo what our forefathers worked so hard to build.
Hichilema even spat on the recent National Dialogue Forum’s efforts which includes the honouring Freedom Fighters!
While Africans across the globe celebrate Africa Freedom day, and Zambians celebrate Independence Day, there are some among us who are not celebrating because they are agents of international capital and are being used to provoke regime change for the benefit of their neo-colonial masters. They are but puppets and mouthpieces of the capital!
They do not value it, so they will not celebrate it!
On our part, the Patriotic Front Government led by President Edgar Chagwa Lungu values and celebrates the efforts of our forefathers and we are now building on their foundation with our fight for economic emancipation and creating a better life for ALL.
The Opposition Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) President, Dr. Nevers Sekwila Mumba has said that he will fix the former Ruling Party in order to save Zambia.
Dr. Mumba who on Sunday visited his party’s structures in Matero Constituency thanked his party officials and members for remaining loyal to the party.
“Matero Constituency has a special place in the heart of Zambians especially the MMD. Even though our great party has been under siege for the past 3 years, you have all remained loyal to the Cause and for that I would like to say thank you”, Dr. Mumba said.
Dr. Mumba further said that the no-show of the MMD on the Political arena has led to National problems.
“I would like to inform you all that a number of problems that our Country is facing such as High Debt, Corruption and Political Violence are happening because the MMD is not active on the Political arena. For example, today we have a debt of over $19 Billion, when I was Vice President together with President Mwanawasa we managed to clear $7 billion due to fiscal discipline. We fought corruption such that Zambia became a Champion in the fight against Corruption”, Dr. Mumba said.
Dr. Mumba further said that he would fix the MMD to save Zambia. The MMD will be a major political player in this country.
“It is beyond a reasonable doubt that Zambia is undergoing serious Political, Economical and Social challenges. The people of Zambia are tired of the continued political violence during By-elections. MMD will provide hope to the citizens of this great nation. We have the knowledge, experience, and expertise to make Zambia great again. We will fix MMD so as to save our beloved nation and provide a bright future for our children”, Dr. Mumba said.
DA President Harry Kalaba shows the party symbol during the press briefing in Lusaka
As the Democratic Party (DP), We make an appeal to all DP members,sympathizers and the general Public to ignore with contempt the stories making rounds on social media on the purported de-registration of the DP.
Its old and stale news that broke in February of 2019 and by peddled desparate PF Govt agents with the intent to destabilise DP and mislead the masses.
In countering, our lawyers wrote to the AG requesting him to “tame” the PF Govt official who issued the contemptous article.
Below is part of the letter from our lawyers Mwenye & Mwitwa Advocates to the the Attorney General;
“Re: Precious Ntambu (Suing as National Secretary for the Democratic Party) v The Attorney General-2018/HP/1113. We refer to the above captioned matter. on the 2nd of February 2019, Mr Nephas Chufuta a Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a statement to the press and the public in general to the effect that the court of Appeal had issued a stay of execution that had reinstated the Registrar of Societies’ decision to cancel the Registration of our client, the Democratic Party. As your office is no doubt aware, this position is false and calculated to deliberately mislead and is therefore contemptuous of the proceedings currently before the courts of law,” Mwenye & Mwitwa Advocates stated.
“The correct position is that on 6th of September 2018, the High Court squashed the Registrar’s decision that deregistered the Democratic Party. Your client applied for a stay of execution of the judgement, and in its Ruling, of the 29th January 2019, the High Court refused to stay the decision that squashed the Registrar’s decision. As a matter of fact, the court stated the following;
‘Therefore with regard the order of Certiorari, as rightly submitted by Counsel for the Applicant this order cannot be stayed as doing so would be to reverse the said order. On that basis, I decline to grant the stay of execution as regards the order certiorari’.”
Mwenye & Mwitwa Advocates urged AG Kalaluka to tame Chifuta or else the party would be forced to commence contempt proceedings against the official.
“The decision of the Registrar that was quashed, remains quashed and there is nothing, at law that prevents our client from continuing its normal day to day activities and operations. It is therefore misleading and contemptuous for your client to intimate that the order of the Registrar of Societies has been reinstated. This is therefore to demand that you prevail upon your client to desist from issuing similar misleading statements or interfering with the operations of our client, failure to which our client will have no option but commencing contempt proceedings and to seek other appropriate orders from the Court. We have every confidence that as the Chief Legal Advisor to the Government and the leader of the Zambian bar, you will prevail upon your client to desist from similar conduct in future,” stated Mwenye & Mwitwa Advocates.
We therefore instruct all party functionaries to continue operating and mobilising as we look forward to our DP Vision launch on 2nd November,2019 in Samyfa.
The Council of Ministers from Zambia and Tanzania has resolved to finance the re-capitalization of the Tanzania-Zambia Railways.
During a meeting held in Dar-es-salaam, the Council of Ministers notes that the performance of Tazara remained below break-even point and therefore requires immediate action to improve the situation.
In a joint communique the Council Ministers notes the need to review the Tazara Act as it was nearing final conclusion and the Bilateral Agreement to pave way for the revision of the Act which will be signed by the end 2019.
The Council of Ministers are targeting to develop a bankable business plan by March 2020 and also resolved the need to restructure the Authority once the Tazara Act is reviewed.
It was also agreed that in order to foster business for Tazara, preferential policies will have to be passed in the respective countries for at least 30 percent of bulky cargo to be transported by rail.
Transport and Communications Minister Mutotwe Kafwaya represented Zambia as chairperson while Engineer Isack Kamwelwe Tanzania’s Minister of Works, Transport and Communications, signed on behalf of Tanzania as co-chairperson.
File:Youths queing for Police recruitment at Sikanze Camp
Analysis by Mwansa P. Chalwe Snr
The 2020 Budget presented by Minister of Finance, Dr. Bwalya Ng’andu on September, 27, 2019 did not cover the issue of Youth unemployment comprehensively as one would have expected. There were a few theoretical and cavalier sentences in budget that the minister read like: “ With regard to skills development, support to technical, vocation and entrepreneurship development as a means for job and wealth creation will remain a priority”, which did not inspire confidence about its practicality and impact. Youth unemployment is an issue I consider as the number one social, political and economic problem facing Zambia to day but one gets the impression it is no getting enough attention.
The practical aspect of Youth empowerment that the Minister should have addressed in the budget was the reform of the moribund Youth Development Fund. In the current article, I will address factors that have contributed to its failure to achieve job creation. The next one will provide comprehensive and practical solutions on how the Fund can be redesigned to create jobs for young people.
The Republic of Zambia government created the Youth Development Fund (YDF) in 2000 in order to address the issue of Youth unemployment through encouraging young people who could not find formal salaried employment to pursue entrepreneurship and self-employment. This option to employment is one of the universally and internationally recognized solution to youth unemployment.
However, 19 years down the line, there is nothing much to show for it. This article will address the reasons why the programme has miserably failed and why it needs to be revisited and refined as it still offers hope to the issue of solving youth unemployment if innovatively implemented.
According to the study and evaluation of the programme done by the Zambia Institute for Policy analysis and Research (ZIPAR) in 2018, they concluded that the programme failed to achieve its objectives
“The evaluation found that the YDF created a total of 742 paid jobs from 2011 to 2015. Compared to the amount of resources that were invested in the YDF, the jobs did not sufficiently contribute to reduction in the high youth unemployment rate. Additionally, the welfare of the beneficiaries did not improve compared to that of the non- beneficiaries”, ZPAR study concluded.
The intentions of the policy were noble but any knowledgeable person would have predicted or foreseen that the programme was destined to fail from the word go. The reasons why the programme was not going to achieve its objectives was because of flaws in its design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation.
In the first instance, the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Child development was charged with the task of managing the fund – loan assessment and disbursement of funds – for Youth empowerment. It is curious how one could have expected a line ministry to all of sudden become a financial institution and expected to carry out the complicated task of loan assessment, disbursement and recovery. It is obvious that issues of capacity, skills set, and experience were certainly going to arise in the administration of the fund.
The Youth Development Fund Programme (YDF), was premised on the flawed assumption that money was the panacea to youth unemployment and is the only impediment to youth going into business. And as such, once funds were provided, Youth were going to set up businesses and create jobs. But if any comprehensive independent research had been done, the programme would have been designed in such way that other resources like business development services, practical youth entrepreneurship training, information dissemination, mentoring and coaching and the use of 21st century digital tools would have been incorporated in the programme. These were clearly absent.
There is also the big and persistent mistake that Government bureaucrats make by thinking that they can come up with private sector policies including those relating to job creation to the exclusion of the people with the expertise and who know how jobs are and be created – the private sector. It is crystal clear that one of the major reasons why the YDF failed is the fact that the Private sector was not involved by government in the design of the programme, its implementation and its monitoring. There was need for the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Child Development to involve the private sector by tapping into private sector expertise and possibly out sourcing some of the services as well as entering into some form of Public Private Partnerships (PPP).The line Ministry would still have been able to be in charge of the overall management of the programme.
The Youth Development Fund started in 2000 but there was no strong formal Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework in place to find out how the fund was performing and whether it was achieving its objectives. The first M& E was contracted in 2017 which is 17 years after its commencement. It was, therefore, impossible to track and measure the impact the fund was making so that improvements could be made.
The other major problem that contributed to the fund failing to achieve its objectives is the fact that it is highly politicized. The various administrations under the MMD and PF have abused the Fund for political purposes and the Zambia Institute for Policy analysis study alludes to this.
”The involvement of politicians in the disbursement of funds has negatively influenced the public perception of the Fund and its potential as a youth economic empowerment vehicle. This is because the Fund is highly linked to the political structures, which make youths think the funds are a political reward or benefit, and this perception could have significantly affected repayments”. ZIPAR study observed.
The idea of solving youth unemployment with entrepreneurship and self-employment initiatives is a noble one and can achieve its intended objectives but the big question is the vehicles and tools used to implement the policy. If innovatively designed, and in tandem with the knowledge and ICT economy of the 21st century, entrepreneurship and self-employment can solve the youth unemployment problem. The government should rethink the design of the Youth Development Fund.
It is imperative that the promotion of youth entrepreneurship should be approached comprehensively in order to achieve lasting impacts. A mix of financial and non-financial support as well as partnership with the private sector can influence the success and sustainability of such policies.
The Author is a former financial specialist advisor to the USAID funded Botswana Private Enterprise Development Project (BPED), an entrepreneur and founder of Prosper Knowledge Solutions. He has a passion for solving the Youth unemployment problem using his vast hands on international private sector experience. (Send comments and suggestions on this article to pmchalwe AT gmail DOT com)
Kalusha Bwalya says there was need to recognise and honour more retired footballers.
Football icon Kalusha was at the weekend honoured by the Luapula Provincial administration together with athletics great Samuel Matete.
The ceremony culminated into a football match between Kalusha’s peers and other past national team players led by 2012 Africa Cup winning captain Christopher Katongo played in Kitwe on Sunday.
‘I want to thank Honourable Nixon Chilangwa for doing the Luapula Expo. This game was played because of the Luapula Expo. Also Honourable Ronald Chitotela thought we play on the Copperbelt that is why we had a lot of players from 1994 going up until the young boys like Christopher Katongo,’ Kalusha said.
Linos Chalwe and Nchimunya Mweetwa scored as the Katongo led team thumped the Kalusha captained side 2-0 at Arthur Davies Stadium.
‘Yes lovely moment. Most of the boys have done Chipolopolo very proud I hope Zambia being a Christian nation they will always be remembered,’ the 1988 African Footballer of the Year said.
‘This game was also played because of Samuel Matete and the people who are not here today. We are thankful to the people for coming and you the media for supporting the game.’
GEARS Initiative Zambia says the violence that occurred on 6th October, 2019 in Kaoma District which left one person dead and several injured was uncalled for and unnecessary.
And the Organisation says the arrest of United Prosperous and Peaceful Zambia Leader Charles Chanda though on electoral unrelated matters, at the height of the campaigns could have a tow on his party’s poor showing in Kaoma.
Organisation Executive Director McDonald Chipenzi said the continued violence during by-elections is a clear sign of lack of reasoning capacities of political players leading to intolerance.
Mr Chipenzi said after a careful analysis of the by-elections, GEARS Initiative’s observation is that playing field in these local by-elections wasn’t leveled.
He said other than violence, the by-elections in Kaoma, Mwinilung’a and Kabompo were characterized by all sorts of malpractices such as abuse of state resources by the party in power and selective application of the law.
Mr Chipenzi said Joint agreed Campaign schedules were threatened by the wanton behaviour of the executive who could fly into the campaign and out of Kaoma at will even when it was not their day to do so, a potential act of provocation and violence during campaigns.
He said the Electoral Commission of Zambia despite its failure to have its Voter Education Facilitators reach out to each and every Polling Station in Kaoma District, for example, Maheba, its decision to proceed with the by-elections on 10th October, 2019 must be commended with sincerity.
However, Mr Chipenzi said the failure by those tasked to enforce the electoral Code of Conduct led to the ruling PF wantonly abusing state resources with senior civil servants such as Permanent Secretaries, some District Commissioners and some Provincial Medical Officers all visibly providing a helping hand to the ruling party to PF Kaoma campaign team.
Mr Chipenzi said his organization noticed high activities in the distribution of food stuffs, bicycles or their spares and the use of government vehicles whose number plates were removed in all the by-elections especially Kaoma.
In Mwinilunga’s Samuteba ward, Mr Chipenzi said relief food in 12.5 kg mealie-meal bags were ferried by the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit to the ward for distribution despite the district being declared food secure.
He said it has become clear that DMMU has become an effective arm used in elections through food distribution by those in power to canvass electoral support.
“We also noted the uncensored use of blackmail language by government and ruling party officials such as no development for voting the ruling party’s opponents in a by-election. GEARS Initiative observed that opposition agents lacked food and campaign materials such as wrappers (chitenge) for their members which their opponents exploited to an extent where even the President could throw these wrappers to the people through the window”, he added.
Mr Chipenzi said the ECZ should provide guidance on whether or not the ruling party is now allowed to employ and deploy government officials and state utilities thereof as part of the ruling party electoral campaign resources base!
In Kaoma District, Mr Chipenzi said his Organisation saw more state officers involved in partisan politics openly canvassing electoral support for the ruling party through driving “unregistered” vehicles or removed number plates.
He said the Road Traffic and Safety Agency and the Road Traffic Section of Zambia Police Service should explain to the nation how and why it has been allowing unregistered vehicles to flood by-elections areas without them taking action.
He said from the just-ended local government by-elections and those before the country, it seems clear that RTSA and Road Traffic section of Zambia Police Service are now an accomplice to encouraging electoral malpractices in the electoral process by tolerating use of unregistered vehicles just like what has become of DMMU with relief food.
“Sadly, we also observed the ugly face of violence with the UPND supporters damaging windscreens of two vehicles of some PF supporters and also the windows of the PF District Office which was unnecessary and uncivil”, he said
And Mr Chipenzi said some parties did not deploy their party agents in some polling stations such as Mangango’s Chilombo, Maheba and Kashinzi remained unmanned by some political parties and those deployed were never looked after well by their respective parties in terms of logistics such as food, water, transport which is a recipe for maimed and vulnerable observation.
He has since demanded explanation and position from the ECZ on the alleged Ballot Boxes with ballot papers found at the collation centre during tallying process which almost disrupted the process in Kaoma.
“If true the ballot boxes were not part of the ordinary ones as alleged by the opposition, our question is who wanted to sneak them into the collation centre and what did the Commission do to the people involved? Such scenarios if went unexplained has potential to dent the commission’s reputation and the integrity of an election process”, he added
Mr Chipenzi said as long as the code of conduct remains a redundant electoral law and regulation, Zambia should not expect any integrity in the electoral process.
He said the country’s electoral process shall remain a highly contested arena years to come.
Disaster Management and mitigation Unit National coordinator Chanda Kabwe has expressed disappointment with some unscrupulous individuals who are reselling the maize accessed from the food reserve agency to fight hunger.
Mr Kabwe says unknown people have been buying maize from Food Reserve Agency purporting to be vulnerable but instead they are replenishing their stocks with the government maize sold under what is called “community sale”.
He said the community sales initiative is a strategy government has devised to enable vulnerable households access maize at affordable prices considering the hunger situation ravaging the area and should not viewed as a business opportunity for others.
Mr Kabwe has warned that if the act continues, government will have no choice but to revisit the system of community sale of maize to the people.
He observed that the scourge is not only happening in Southern Province but western province as well.
Mr Kabwe described the situation as a betrayal to government.
He was speaking in Choma today when he paid a courtesy call on southern province Permanent Secretary Mwangala Liomba.
And Southern Province permanent secretary Mwangala Liomba requested the DMMU national coordinator to quickly attend to some bridges that have outlived their lifespan.
He says most bridges leading to key areas might be washed away once it rains.
Mr. Liomba cited the crossing point leading to Macha Mission Hospital, the school of nursing and connecting through chief Chikanta’s area in Kalomo district to be one of those that need immediate attention.
The PS says if they are left unattended to it may be difficult to distribute the farming inputs to those areas.
Bailiffs this morning pounced on United Prosperous and Peaceful Zambia President Charles Chanda’s Offices in Rhodes Park.
Staff and Clients at Brook Cherith Offices, a company owned by Mr. Charles Chanda, were greeted by a rude shock when government bailiffs pounced on the offices and grabbed Chairs, tables, a TV, a computer, landline line telephone and other items worth about K15,000.
Bailiffs turned the place upside down as they collected the property.
When talked to by staff and clients who had come to the office the bailiffs answered arrogantly that they were working under instructions.
And workers talked to said they expected that any action to recover the alleged stolen money would wait until the case involving Mr. Chanda is disposed of by the courts which is not the case.
Mr. Chanda and his daughter Esther have remained locked up at Lusaka Central Police since Monday last week.
The duo was picked up from the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court after Mr. Chanda had taken plea in 22 out of 120 civil charges of fraud brought against him by people who say paid for plots that have never been given to them.
Chanda and his daughter were then driven to Central Police where they were warned and cautioned on 160 counts of obtaining money by false pretenses.
Ministry of Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Liya Mutale says civil registration plays a key role in generating essential statistics that are vital for policy formulation.
ZANIS reports that Dr. Mutale explained that Zambia has continued to learn from other countries on how they are implementing civil registration and registration of vital statistics in their respective countries.
She underscored that in line with this, the country has embarked on a serious agenda which involves digitalising the issuance of civil registration in the country.
Dr. Mutale emphasized that this is in line with the 2030 Africa Union Agenda of the Africa.
The Permanent Secretary was speaking when she officiated at the opening 5th conference of African Ministers responsible for civil registration, currently running from October 14 to 18th, 2019.
The Permanent Secretary pointed out that the over 600 delegates that have converged in Lusaka for the conference, will share ideas, that will help in the implementation and monitoring of different civil registration related programmes.
“Civil registration and registration of vital statistics play a key role in generating essential statistics that are vital in policy formulation. As Zambia we are excited to host this memorable event which is important to the country and the continent as a whole,” she stressed.
And African Union Commissioner for Economic Affairs Victor Harrison said the continent has embarked on the technological revolution in the civil registration and registration of vital statistics.
Professor Harrison explained that going forward, civil registration should include the data from the refugees, displaced persons and all citizens, noting that it is part of human rights.
He said the AU has re-positioned itself as the body that will guide member countries in order to speed up the modernization of civil registration among member countries.
Junior Chipolopolo on Monday produced another resounding victory at the 2019 Cosafa U17 Cup in Malawi were they crushed South Africa 7-0 in a penultimate Group A game in Blantyre to qualify to the semifinals.
The rest saw record two time champions make a shock early exit from the tournament Malawi is hosting from October 11-20.
Zambia, though, qualify to the last four with a match to spare and now await the result between eSwatini and Malawi to know their top two classification thanks to their emphatic goal difference.
Oswald Mutapa’s side took a 3-0 halftime lead through Miguel Chaiwa, Joseph Banda and Rickson Ngambi in the 10th,20th and 38th minutes respectively.
Moses Mulenga added the fourth in the 50th minute to score his second of the tournament.
Ngambi completed his brace two minutes later to take his tournament tally to three.
Charles Mumba struck in the 68th minute just eight minutes after coming on the pitch.
Peter Chikola wrapped up a productive Monday in the 72nd minute.
Junior Chipolopolo play Malawi in their final Group A match on October 16 ahead of the October 18 semifinals.
UPND Leader Hakainde Hichilema says he has noted with dismay the PF regime’s failure to pay council employees and other public sector workers their salaries, allowances and benefits for long periods of time.
Mr Hichilema says the current situation indicates that council workers have gone for over 3 months without pay and yet the PF have funds to bribe voters in unnecessary by-elections.
He said this is uncalled for and a great injustice to families that are already struggling under the economic hardships brought about by the corrupt and failed PF, Mr Edgar Lungu and his friends.
Mr Hichilema said in view of the above, the PF administration should immediately pay outstanding salaries and allowances to all council and other public sector workers who have not been paid.
“We also direct that Mr Edgar Lungu’s PF administration must mmediately release the equalization funds and other grants meant to help run the local authorities and other public sector institutions without any further delay. It is absurd for the PF to keep using council, government and other public sector workers without paying them but funding their PF thugs during election campaigns. A salary is a human right which must be received on time”, he said.
He also directed the President to remove PF thugs from bus stations, markets, taxi ranks and several other public places and replace them with local authorities so as to restore order.
Mr Hichilema said this will save the public from the PF thugs’ harassment and being overcharged for using public facilities.
He said further, this will enable local authorities to properly manage these facilities and collect fair revenue that will facilitate their smooth operations, especially as the rain season draws near.
Mr Hichilema said currently, the PF thugs are collecting high and illegal levies from members of the public in the above stated areas and sharing among themselves at the expense of the councils and the public.
He lamented that this lawlessness and violence with impunity must end now and the councils must without further delay reclaim their mandate to properly manage these public facilities and collect fair levies on behalf of our people.
“As UPND, we would like a situation where ordinary citizens are able to freely use these public facilities without fear of being overcharged, harassed, robbed, beaten or killed by these unruly gun trotting PF thugs”, he added.
And Mr Hichilema has challenged the PG Pay retirees all their benefits immediately because they worked for these benefits, in some cases, for many years and the PF must not be diverting these monies to reward their militias that are harrassing, maiming and killing citizens with unbelievable impunity.
“Lastly, we would like to assure council, government and other public sector workers that are not receiving their dues and other benefits from the PF, that when in government, the UPND undertakes that your salaries and all other benefits including those relating to retirement will be paid on time”, said the opposition Leader.
He said not only will the retirees be paid promptly, but their conditions of service will be improved in line with the party policy of ensuring motivation of all workers.
Mr Hichilema said in addition, the UPND in government will ensure that funding (grants, equalization funds and others) will be paid on time to allow for smooth operations.
