Volunteers from Put Foot Foundation Rally of South Africa have donated over 1,000 brand new school shoes to the underprivileged children at Ebenezer Primary School and Orphanage and Ngandu school in Livingstone.
The Foundation has been supporting different schools in the the country for over nine years now. It was born out of the need to tackle the daily plight and indignity of children with no shoes.

The Foundation operates across the whole of South Africa and around neighboring countries like Zambia, Malawi, Botswana with particular focus on the less privileged and rural areas that are often overlooked by charities.

According to the Foundation, providing thousands of school children with a brand new pair of shoes is its main focus and that believe shoes are symbolic of pride and give confidence to young learners knowing that they can walk to school in comfort, as opposed to barefoot.

It says shoes are also a vital protection barrier between our children’s tiny soles and Africa’s rough and unforgiving terrain.
“As an organization, “We believe that a new pair of shoes should be tough enough to protect a young child’s feet whether it be on the playground, on the sports field or even walking home in the snow, on a gravel road in the middle of winter,” the organization states.

For this year, the Foundation has been joined by executives from GOtv who have contributed to this cause and sponsored the branding of its vehicle for the rally and donated towards the shoes being given to the children.

Zambia’s slim chances of having use of marijuana for medicinal purposes have been shattered after Peter Sinkamba lost the case in which he had taken the Minister of Health Dr. Chitalu Chilufya to grant him a license to cultivate the crop.

With several countries having taken that route, Mr. Sinkamba, the Green Party President was hoping the judgement would favour him and salvage the country from the jaws of increased foreign debt.

legalising marijuana can generate US$36 billion annually

Mr. Sinkamba said legalising marijuana can generate US$36 billion annually for Zambia and that it is frustrating that many countries have seen sense in legalising the use of the crop for medicinal use when Zambia is refusing to see it.

Mr. Sinkamba sued Dr. Chilufya for refusal to grant him the license to cultivate, manufacture, distribute, export and import medical marijuana and case came up for judgement before the Court of Appeal in Lusaka this morning.

According to the Court of Appeal, Dangerous Drugs Act which is the principle Act for Administration of Dangerous Drugs section 22 gives discretion to the Minister of Health to reject or grant an application to cultivate Cannabis.

Judge Fulgency Chisanga said the Court of Appeal cannot impose its position on the Health Minister’s discretion.

And Mr. Sinkamba said the judgement is a lost opportunity for the country to generate revenue which could have been used to pay debt and reduce poverty levels.

Lusaka City Council has permitted Shumeite Investment Limited to resume construction works on Kalundu Mall on Plot number 5477 in Kalundu.

This is contrary to an article in Daily Nation of Monday 24th June 2019 which suggested that the investor had defied court and resumed construction works.

According to the Daily Nation the Lusaka City Council (LCC) is playing cat and mouse games over the approval of the Kalundu Mall Project as it has failed to produce documentation pertaining to the same. Area councillor Douglas Tembo charged that the LCC had since Monday failed to avail the project approval letter as demanded by the residents thereby creating threats of a possible showdown between the people and the Chinese developer Shumeite Investment.

According to the article the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) directed that Shumeite Investment obtains a consent from the immediate neighbours on the development before proceeding with the project.But one of the immediate neighbours, disclosed that the company had resumed work on the project without consulting any of the immediate neighbours as directed by ZEMA.

“Even if there was no court ruling, how could these people resume construction works without meeting the ZEMA conditions? Who allowed them to continue building when there is a court ruling stopping them from doing so? Who, at the council, is lying to them?” Mr. Mulenga wondered.

However, the Council in the letter to the developer dated 17th June, 2019 permitted the resumption of construction works. The letter lifted the enforcement notice of 6th June, 2017 following a court ruling.

“Please be notified that the enforcement notice of 6th June 2017 has been lifted,” the letter read in part further setting out some conditions to be followed during construction works.

Some of the conditions were that the developer needed to engage Council building inspectors to be inspecting works, no works on Sundays and public holidays and that the plan should always available on site.

Others were that the developer needed to suppress dust and control noise, among other building regulations.

George Sichimba, Council Public Relations Manager said the article in the Daily Nation headlined “Chinese firm defies court, resumes Kalundu mall works” was not balanced because it lacked the input from LCC which has been handling the matter.

Mr. Sichimba has since appealed to Kalundu residents and the media to get facts from the Council about the project.

In a statement issued to the Media, Mr. Sichimba said it is important that all residents of Lusaka support the urban renew agenda which the city has embarked on.

President Lungu has said that Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo have shared warm bilateral relations since time in memorial. The President said that it was important that the two nations continue to build upon their relationship and cooperation as active members of the Southern African Development community, SADC, The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa COMESA and the International Conference of the Great lakes Region.

Speaking last evening at the State banquet held in honour of the DRC Leader’s s visit to Zambian at the Taj Pamodzi Hotel in Lusaka, the President expressed confidence that the two nations would continue to strive to fuilfil their bilateral and multilateral obligations which will result in uplifting the livelihood of the people of the two nations as well as that of the entire region.

“Your Excellency, in uplifting the lives of our people, we must continue addressing the challenges of peace in the region. As we agreed in our meeting this morning, this is a pre-requisite to development. I therefore wish to reaffirm the Zambian governments commitment to promoting and strengthening the regions peace initiatives, ” the President Said, making a commitment that the Zambian government would continue to persue peace in the region even after Zambias chairmanship of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security had ended.

President Lungu commended the efforts of President Tshisekedi in restoring peace and security to the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, and paving way for economic and political transformation.

“I wish to quote a rich African Proverb which says that ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. if you want to go far, go together’. I know it is a worn out saying, but it is still relevant to all of us. If we want to make progress, we have to go together.”

He also quoted a Bemba saying whose translation was that moving together is not a sign of cowardice stating that there is strength in numbers.

“In this regard your Excellency, only by working together can we achieve the goals and aspirations of our region and the African continent as a whole,” President Lungu said.

He stressed the importance of African countries speaking with one voice especially at the multilateral level which requires collective action to be taken on issues of social and economic development.

He said this was in addition to matters of peace and security in a quest to reform the United Nations Security Council in line with the Ezulwini consensus and the Sirte declaration.

“It is no doubt that the majority of issues under the UN agenda comprises of African issues. In this regard, we must strive to be the problem solvers of our own challenges. We can do this by fighting for permanent representation at the UN Security Council,”he said.

President Lungu took time to thank his Counterpart for accepting his invitation to grace the 55th Zambia International Trade Fair taking place in Ndola, the Copperbelt town of Zambia.

And President Tshisekedi said his Country would continue to pursue stronger ties with the Zambian government because the two countries are one as evidenced by the many similarities they share in language, culture and history.

He agreed with President Lungu of the need for Africa to have a permanent seat at the UN Security Council and thanked his Zambian Counterpart for the invitation to officiate at the Trade Fair and for the productive and progressive talks and agreements they were engaging in.

President Edgar Lungu has appealed to African countries that have not yet acceded to the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) to do so in order for them to jointly move towards the realisation of their ideal continent.

President Lungu said the kind of social, economic and governance development of the continent which African countries aspire for, can only be realised through committing themselves to the principles of the African Peer Review Mechanism.

The President further urged African countries to align themselves with the aspirations of the African Union (AU) agenda 2063, which is about creating a continent that Africans want.

He said this in a speech read for him by Minister of Justice, Given Lubinda at the official opening of the Targeted Review Preparatory workshop and the launch of the Africa Governance Report (AGR) in Livingstone today.

“If the Africa we want is going to be a reality, the universal accession to the APRM is a must for all African Union member states by 2022,” he stressed.

“The African Governance Report findings indicate that Africa has scored major strides on the transformative leadership as demonstrated through the maturation of democracy and remarkable decline in inter-state conflicts,” he said.

The Head of State revealed that Africa has also performed well in constitutionalism the rule of law which he said has seen a number of countries recording remarkable progress in the ratification of the principle AU instruments.

President Lungu further noted that under the regional economic communities, Africa has performed well in promoting unity and regional development.

“In view of this outstanding performance, we are optimistic that the continent has a bright future as cherished by the pioneers of our democracy whose vision is to liberate Africa from colonialism, poverty and underdevelopment,” he said.

The President however said that according to the report, Africa still faces some challenges which include an increase in intra-state conflicts, violence, unrest, youth unemployment and terrorism.

Mr Lungu has therefore urged African countries to passionately pay attention to such challenges and work towards addressing them.

“In view of all these escalating challenges, I wish to appeal to all member states to align their national visions with the African Union Agenda 2063 and the United Nations Agenda 2030,” he said.

The President has also implored African countries to implement the recommendations of the report individually in order to uphold the APRM principles of good governance and meet the AU agenda 2063 aspiration of creating an Africa they want.

Meanwhile, APRM Continental Secretariat Chief Executive Officer, Eddy Maloka, said the Targeted Review will enable the APRM enhance the significance of the reviews to African countries seeking to address governance challenges that affect the overall development of their societies and the continent at large.

Professor Maloka expressed optimism that the Targeted Review exercise will make the APRM process even more relevant to policymakers and encourage non-member countries to accede to APRM.

“In addition, Targeted Reviews will increase the value-addition of the APRM to governance and development on the continent,” he said.

And a member of the APR Panel of Eminent Persons, Don Sengulane, explained that the Targeted Review will examine and identify the catalyst for good governance on the continent by undertaking an in-depth, focused analysis of key socio-economic and political governance questions.

“I hope this is an ideal tool Africa has been looking for to tackle specific institutional, political and economic challenges that impede socio-economic development on the continent,” Bishop Sengulane said.

In welcoming the delegates to his province, Southern Province Minister Edify Hamukale urged participants to ensure that the outcomes of the Targeted Review workshop are implemented to benefit citizens in all Africa countries.

Dr Hamukale said it would be a waste of time and resources to meet at a conference if the outcomes are not implemented.

The workshop, which will close tomorrow, has attracted participants from all 38 countries that have acceded to the APRM and other stakeholders.

Unlike other reviews of the APRM which are limited to the 38 countries, the targeted review is open to all 55 AU member states.

Dr.Simon Miti has been appointed as the new Secretary to Cabinet replacing Dr. Roland Msiska who was recently retired.

Dr. Miti has been serving as Principal Private Secretary at State House.

The appointment is subject to ratification by the National Assembly.

This is according to a statement issued by secretary to the President for Press and Public Relations Isaac Chipampe.

Zambia’s Ambassador to Germany Anthony Mukwita has cautioned foreign media against using ‘pedestrian’ experts that make alarming and damaging statements about Zambia on their programmes as they often lack or possess no facts to validate their claims.

Ambassador Mukwita has also advised interviewers to challenge guests that make allegations with the potential to injure a country’s image to demonstrate the basis of their claims.

The senior diplomat was reacting to an interview German television DW conducted with a Chiponda Chimbelu that discussed the question of Konkola Copper Mines, KCM and the legal actions taken by the Zambian government.

Mr. Chimbelu believed to be a Zambian by origin claimed the Zambian government was cash-strapped hence the reason it commenced action to liquidate KCM, as a shareholder contrary to the facts given by President Edgar Lungu when he announced the legal route.

This is not the first time DW is quoiting an ‘off side’ toxic analyst regarding important Zambian issues without seeking a Zambian comment from the embassy in Berlin or indeed Lusaka.

Recently another DW story in which they were quoting Nick Branson identified as a Senior Africa Analyst at Verisk Maplecroft went on air without the side of the Zambian government as required by basic journalism standards.

Ambassador Mukwita said such remarks smack of ‘an agenda’ intended to control and direct the narrative, adding, “they are also misleading, inflammatory and injurious to Zambia’s international image.”

Given the seriousness of the remarks, the senior diplomat said basic standards of fairness in journalism demanded that the views are balanced with a voice from Zambia’s government.

“It is now common practice on many international media platforms to check allegations made against facts. We see this happen often on CNN as a way of protecting viewers against the injury that arises from misleading statements. If these standards are applied when allegations are being made against western governments, why are not similar standards applied when dealing with an African story? Are we any less important or any less human?”, Ambassador Mukwita asked.

‘’Zambia has consistently maintained a single digit inflation, a growth rate close to 4 percent, an external debt of 10billion dollars in a 20 billion and more economy with growth in the mining, manufacturing, energy and ICT sectors”, Ambassador Mukwita said, and added, “and we still service our debt as evidenced by the more than 700million dollars we paid in debt servicing at the end of 2018”.

Ambassador Mukwita said the Zambian government has in the past only borrowed for production and not consumption as can be seen through the sprouting of infrastructure countrywide.

The Ambassador said Zambia has adopted measures intended to run the affairs of the country smoothly during financially challenging times.

“The Zambian government took a calculated risk when it took on public works that we have spent so much money on. Each one of these works was absolutely necessary as public infrastructure needed for any meaningful activity was crumbling at the time the current government assumed power. This is the story the so-called experts being paraded in international media studios do not know or are purposely ignoring”, Ambassador Mukwita said.

He dismissed as farfetched and imaginary the conclusion that government decided to take over the operations of KCM to raise money to pay debts saying the action was taken to forestall the perennial poor management of the company by Vedanta Resources.

Ambassador Mukwita further dismissed the notion of a looming nationalisation of the mining sector saying there was no such policy by the government of President Edgar Lungu saying, “such a policy exists only in the minds of pedestrian commentators.”

The Zambian envoy recently visited DW at their Berlin offices and met Director General Peter Limbourg who was in the company of Managing Director Ms. Gelder Moyer, Head of Africa Programs Mr. Claus Stacker and Media and Public Affairs Officer Mr. Benjamin Rietdorf.

In the company of embassy press officer Kellys Kaunda, Ambassador Mukwita raised concern over recent media reports on Zambia that carried no official government comment. He told them that his office was open for comment on matters that involve the Zambian government. A few days after this meeting, DW conducted a phone interview that largely centred on ZNBC and Star Times. Whether that interview ran or not is unknown to the embassy.

Issued in Berlin by Kellys Kaunda
First Secretary – Press and Public Relations. Zambia Embassy ; Germany

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi has arrived in the country for a two day state visit.President Tshisekedi is expected to hold talks with President Edgar Lungu and officiate at the Zambia International Trade Fair in Ndola tomorrow.

The plane carrying the DRC leader touched down at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (KKIA) in Lusaka at about 12:32 hours to a thunderous welcome from thousands of flag waving and ecstatic Congolese nationals.

He was received by his host counterpart President Edgar Lungu, Foreign Affairs Minister Joseph Malanji, Zambia’s Ambassador to DRC Friday Nyambe and DRC Ambassador to Zambia Chantal Maloba.Others include some cabinet ministers, Lusaka Mayor Miles Sampa, Senior government and party officials, and embassy staff were on hand to welcome the DRC leader.

President Tshisekedi who is undertaking his first visit to Zambia since ascending to office on January 25, inspected a guard of honour and was given a 21 gun salute.

President Tshisekedi created excitement and frenzy among the Congolese nationals as he waved and walked over to greet them and appreciated the cultural dances and songs.

The DRC leader is expected to lay wreaths at the graves of Zambia’s fallen Presidents at the Presidential Embassy Memorial Park in Lusaka. Mr Tshisekedi will then engage President Lungu in talks aimed at strengthening mutual ties and cooperation between the two countries.

President Lungu is later today expected to host a State dinner in honour of visiting DRC leader Felix Tshisekedi. Mr Tshisekedi will fly out to Ndola tomorrow morning to officiate at the 55th edition of the Zambia International Trade Fair.

President Tshisekedi is the Fifth President of the DRC, having ascended to office in January this year after winning a tightly contested and delayed national election, to find a successor to President Joseph Kabila.