Vice President Inonge Wina says government is fully aware of the impact of the non-availability of roads in all parts of the country.

The Vice President says government realises that a bad road network has the potential to retard development and thus it remains committed to ensuring that roads in all parts of the country are worked on.

Mrs Wina was speaking in parliament today when responding to Sioma Member of Parliament, Mbololwa Sibulwa, during the Vice President Question and Answer session, who wanted to know the immediate plans that government has towards addressing the poor state of the roads in Western Province with specific reference to Sioma district and Sinjembela.

The Vice President said government is concerned with the bad state of the roads in Western Province and indicated that because of the bad terrain, there is need for massive resources, adding that government is making every effort to look into the matter.

She noted that the ongoing cashew nut programme in the area has also brought about the need to put up of feeder roads which will help with transportation of goods and services.

And the Vice President has indicated that she will carry out investigations to find out what has happened to the money that was allocated for the construction of a modern stadium in Mongu district in Western Province.

Mrs Wina said this in response to Mongu Central Member of Parliament, Mwilola Imakando, who wanted to get an update on the construction of a 20, 000 seater ultra-modern stadium in Mongu.

The Vice President noted that after the ground breaking ceremony by Late President Michael Sata, wrangles emerged between the contractor and government officials which led to the project not taking off.

She said her office will however look into the matter to find out exactly what had transpired.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Joseph Malanji will represent President Edgar Lungu and Zambia as a whole at this year’s 12th Extraordinary Summit of the Assembly of the African Union Heads of States and Government in Niamey, Niger.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Executive Council in Niger, the Foreign Affairs Minister said the President will not attend the summit due to commitments with other equally important national duties.

And Mr Malanji said Zambia stands to benefit from some AU Flagship programmes such as the Africa High speed train project that will see Zambia being a manufacture of one of the key components of the train, expected to run from Cape to Cairo.

The Minister also said Zambia supports the African Union Commission budget for 2020, as the country subscribes to the principle that Africa should fund its own programmes.

He however urged the AU commission to ensure that there was diligence in the use of resources availed to the African Union in line with the aspirations spelt out in Agenda 2063.

This is contained in a statement released to ZANIS in Lusaka today by First Secretary for Press and Tourism at the Zambian High Commission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Inutu Mwanza.

Meanwhile, the Minister has noted that President Edgar Lungu’s signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) protocol is testimony that Zambia is committed to being part of the envisaged big market that will become operational during the summit.

He said the only process that is remaining was the ratification of the AFCTA agreement by parliament, expected to be done after stakeholder consultations are concluded.

And Mr Malanji has urged the African Union members to avail emoluments for the staff that has been employed by ECOSOCC in order to fully operationalise the interim secretariat based in Lusaka.

ECOSSOC President, Abozer Elligai, earlier commended the Zambian government for the commitment in the relocation of ECOSSOC adding that the decision by Zambia to avail interim offices for the secretariat is testimony of the country’s commitment to ensuring that the relocation was a success.

Several Heads of States and Government are expected to attend the Extraordinary Summit which is dedicated to the launch of the operational phase of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Zambia’s Delegation to the African Union Summit in Niger includes, Foreign Affairs Minister, Joseph Malanji, Commerce Minister Christopher Yaluma and Zambia’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union, Emmanuel Mwamba.

A female banker identified as Imenda Musialike has fled after allegedly stealing K59,000 from ZANACO Monze Branch.

Police have since launched a manhunt for Imenda who is suspected of arson and theft of K59,000 from a Bank client using a cloned ATM card.

Police Spokesperson Esther Katongo said this is reported to have occurred on 03rd July, 2019 at ZANACO, Monze Branch.

“The suspect is alleged to have set the registry room on fire and some property got burnt. The value has not yet been established,” Ms Katongo said.

She said Imenda is alleged to have stolen K 59,000 from a client and that at the time officials from the Bank were viewing CCTV footage from the information technology room to establish who could have withdrawn the money using the cloned ATM, she is alleged to have set the registry room located next to the information room on fire in a bid to destroy evidence but the fire was quickly quenched by other Bank officials.

She is currently on the run and investigations have been launched.

Last month, a female Barclays employee identified as Pamela Gondwe fled after staging a heist involving US$ 400,000 and Interpol have since placed her on the International Watch List.

Former Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane says late University of Zambia Economics Professor Venketash Sheshamani contributed immensely to the economics profession in Zambia.

Dr Musokotwane said the economics fraternity has received the news of the demise of Prof. Seshamani with great sadness.

“Prof has contributed immensely to the economics profession in Zambia since the early 1980s in terms of training, research and advice,” Dr Musokotwane said.

“I am one of the first two Zambians that Prof taught. Being his first Zambian academic son (the other Zambian he taught being female) it is essential that I make some remarks about him in remembrance. The place was the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and the year was 1979. I was pursuing an M.A. degree specialising in Monetary Economics. I was 23 years and Prof must have been in his 30s.”

Dr Musokotwane added, “Prof taught me two of the compulsory courses namely economic theory and quantitative methods.”

“The thing you immediately learnt about Prof is that he was very deep and rigorous. Every minute was packed with technical detail. If your mind wandered off for even half a minute you would have tough time to catch up,” Dr Musokotwane recounted

“Having been so impressed with this man, I spoke to him to see if he could agree to come to the University of Zambia. Fortunately he did and this was in the early 1980s. I can’t remember the year because by then I was away in West Germany (together with Dr Caleb Fundanga) pursuing our PhD studies and on my side I carried on with Monetary Economics.”

“Upon our return in 1985 Prof was already well established in the Economics Department of the University of Zambia. As young lecturers he gave us lots of support and encouragement.”

He added, “Prof has since of course taught hundreds if not thousands of economics students over the years. He became an institution in the Economics Department and of course within the whole university.”

Dr Musokotwane charged that Prof. Sheshamani devoted most of his life to Zambia.

“He came to this country when he was still relatively youthful and he has aged here. Meanwhile, almost every economist in Zambia has passed through Prof Seshamani. What a commitment to academia and human capital development.”

“My sincere condolences to his widow who I have also known from the Dar as Salam days as well as to his daughter and son. Farewell Prof and Rest In Peace.”

A Truck has hit into a moving recovery train at the Kapiri Mposhi railway crossing point in Central Province.

ZANIS reports from Kapiri Mposhi that the truck which was burnt to ashes, with registration number BAK 2182 and trailer number BAH 9400 driven by Dalitso Shawa of Time Time tracking in Lusaka.The truck hit into a moving Recovery train at around 24:40 hours.

The 37 year old truck driver sustained serious injuries been admitted to Kapiri Mposhi District Hospital.

An eye witness, Maggie Bwalya narrated to ZANIS in an interview that she heard a loud noise, which prompted her to wake up and step out of her house, only to be met by a huge fire burning at the railway crossing.

Meanwhile, an official from the Zambia Railway Authority (ZRA) who sought anonymity, explained that the train was coming from Kabwe going to Ndola when a truck which was coming from Ndola going to Lusaka rammed into it.

He said the truck driver was in the wrong and did not abide by the laid down rules and regulations, adding that all motorists are mandated to stop at any railway crossing.

Efforts to contact ZRA Spokesperson Caristo Chitamfya failed by press time.