Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda says the “extreme preposterous allegations” being peddled by Bloomberg and Africa Confidential are aimed at killing the Zambian economy by stopping Foreign Direct Investment.

And Mr. Chanda has revealed that government has stopped engaging Africa Confidential but that it will respond to what he called lies if they breached a certain limit.

At a media briefing today at State House, Mr. Chanda lamented that the lies being peddled by the two media institutions are denying Zambia’s reputation on the international financial market.

“There is concerted attacks on the currency, on the country’s economy clearly by elements that have been paid to peddle lies about the state of the economy. Once the President acknowledges the general difficulties of the times, he is stressing that government is taking strides to address certain issues but State House finds that it is extremely unfortunate that publications such as Africa Confidential and Bloomberg have dedicated the past week peddling lies about our economy to undermine the country in the eyes of the financial market by insisting on non existent default,” Mr. Chanda said.

“So Zambia is in the financial market, it has borrowed money so if you begin to hint on the default, you are actually trying to incite the markets to be nervous about the Zambian economy and therefore ultimately what you hope to achieve is to strangulate the economy by stopping Foreign Direct Investment. Fortunately, the Minister of Finance and Treasury team are competently dealing with the difficulties that are in the economy,” he said.

“We have brought these issues to the attention of the editors at Bloomberg because we still have confidence that that is a respected outfit, we are no longer engaging with Africa Confidential, suffice to say that when their lies extend beyond a certain level, we will tell the nation, we don’t want a ping pong with a publication whose agenda is well known. But just a caution on Bloomberg that they mustn’t fall prey to the very cheap and malicious media propaganda that is being put there,” Mr. Chanda said.

He insisted that the Zambian government has not defaulted on any loans.

“The government is not in default of any loans whatsoever. It is meeting its foreign service obligations, it is meeting its domestic obligation, of course, it has to be acknowledged that with the attendant difficulties which you may have seen in delayed salaries in some of the months but I can tell you, and civil servants can confirm that steps are being undertaking that is why sometimes, actually in the months of March and April, actually salaries in some cases were paid one week ahead of time so we find the recent publications, one by Bloomberg, making very preposterous, extreme preposterous allegations; drawing a parallel between Zambia and Venezuela, for lack of a better term, that makes Bloomberg unrecognisable to us, this is a respected wire firm that cannot descend into quoting fictitious analysts and putting them across,” he said.

He added, “For Africa Confidential, our views are very known, it’s no longer a publication that it was, it is a formerly respected tabloid that has willingly transformed itself into a scandal sheet and that is very regrettable. What we find extremely puzzling is the agenda we have seen in the past weeks where Bloomberg would pitch a story on fictitious analysts hinting at the default (on loans). The Minister of Finance will continue to update the nation. She is so transparent, the debt servicing mechanism is so transparent, she tells the nation where we are.”

The Patriotic Front has wished the African National Congress (ANC) well in the up-coming national and provincial elections in South Africa.

PF Secretary General Davies Mwila disclosed that he had written a letter of good wishes to the ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule.

Mr. Mwila said the PF is hopeful the people of South Africa will vote for the ANC so that the economic development plans of the party would be allowed to bear fruits.

Speaking in South Africa, Mr. Mwila said the PF will take a familiarization tour to ZANU-PF in Zimbabwe and the ANC to forge closer links with sister parties.

South Africa goes to national polls on 8th May 2019

And speaking to PF South Africa branch members, Mr. Mwila encouraged them to embark on resource mobilization.

He confirmed that he will attend a fundraising event that the branch would organise.

And PF South Africa Chairperson, Sydney Njamba expressed gratitude to Mr. Mwila for according them an opportunity to meet and discuss programs of the party.

Mr. Mwila was accompanied by Lusaka Provincial Chairperson Paul Moonga and North-western Provincial Chairperson, Jackson Kungo.

This is according to a statement issued by Naomi Nyawali, the First Secretary for Press at the Zambian High Commission in South Africa.

National Dialogue Forum Chairperson Muyunda Mwanalushi says the 37 UPND Members of Parliament that have stayed away from the National Dialogue Forum risk being prosecuted.

Professor Mwanalushi said the MPs have committed an offence and the law will take its course.

He said in line with Article 17 of the NDF Act, the MPs may be fined penalty units not exceeding 50,000 or imprisonment not exceeding six months or both.

And Professor Mwanalushi said the request to extend the forum by two days will be adequate to deal with all outstanding matters on the republican constitution.

He said that there will be no need for any further extension of the process.

38 UPND Members of Parliament had had written to the NDF asking to be guided whether they must stay away or it is mandatory for them to attend.

National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament had also written to the forum asking to stay away because he had not been sworn in.

Meanwhile UPND Leader Hakainde Hichilema yesterday indicated that the party will not impose any sanctions on MPs attending the Forum as that would sway the attention of Zambians on issues affecting the nation.

ZAMEFA says the slow settlements of its export duty draw back claims and VAT refunds by the Zambia Revenue Authority are putting pressure on its operations.

ZAMEFA says the situation is further compounded by the slow payments for product by state utility firm ZESCO.

In a trading statement issued by the Lusaka Securities Exchange, ZAMEFA says the situation continues to increase the borrowing requirements of the company beyond sustainable levels.

The company said it has continued to curtail its operations to remain within its available levels of credit.

It said for the six-month period ended 31st March 2019, the basic earnings per share (“EPS’) and head line earnings per share (“HEPS”) are both expected to be between 190% to 210% higher than those of the corresponding period in the prior year for both the group and for the Company.

“The movement in EPS and HEPS is primarily attributed to the increase in sales volumes for the period and the net foreign exchange gain which resulted from the strengthening of the Kwacha against the dollar between end of September 2018 and end of March 2019.”

It however said that this increase is off a very low base and the company continue to operate at below normal levels of operating activity.

“This level of operating activity is primarily due to the ongoing slow settlement of export duty draw back claims and VAT refunds by the Zambia Revenue Authority and slow payments for product by ZESCO. These slow settlements continue to increase the borrowing requirements of the company beyond sustainable levels and the group continued to curtail its operations to remain within its available levels of credit.”

MultiChoice is committed to exposing upcoming talent to industry professionals with the intention of developing technical skills of established creatives in cinematography, audio, and storytelling to improve the quality of local productions. As a business born in Africa and the biggest investor in local content, MultiChoice has continued to play a significant role in bringing the local television production industry to life in many countries.

“This speaks to our commitment to partnering with industry experts such as Oyin Oladejo to promote and protect the growth of Africa’s creative industries,” says Berry Lwando, Academy Director. “At this academy, we are equipping students with the skills, knowledge, experience and qualifications to help launch a successful career within the creative industry. Working in partnership with local creative organizations and professionals like Oyin Oladejo, we offer our facilities and network to provide a select group of young people with a tailored 12-month apprenticeship,” Lwando said.

As Africa continues to change rapidly, the entertainment industry is ever more relevant. As MultiChoice, we are using our influence and resources to play a positive role in Africa, helping to grow Africa’s people and creative industries into vibrant, economic powerhouses. It’s by creating value for our customers, our employees and society that we’ll build a successful business for the future.

The three Church Mother Bodies says the Church has nothing against National Dialogue, but have had serious concerns with regard to the process and contents of the National Dialogue Forum Act.

The three namely the Council of Churches in Zambia, the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia has declared their unwavering desire to support any process that conforms to constitutionalism, democratic governance and respect for human rights in Zambia which has been their plea and desire of the majority Zambians.

They said the ongoing dialogue process is unlikely to achieve national healing and reconciliation compared to the process which they had embarked on.

They said the reason why the Church is not participating is the NDF Act of 2019 does not provide a guarantee for the protection of the contents of the outcome that will be generated by the National Dialogue Forum.

The three added that this is because there is no provision in the Act, as the final NDF resolutions will be subjected to further parliamentary deliberations and scrutiny.

They noted that contrary to the submission to remove the members of parliament from the Forum, the Act still maintained this provision which will give MPs undue privilege at the end of the NDF process, to look at the Forum resolutions again and where possible alter the agreed outcomes.

The Church says it finds this anomaly to be against the rules of natural justice, where in this case, the same people who will participate in the initial discussions will be the ones again to scrutinize the same contents.

They noted that it is best practice, especially in constitutional making process, to have an independent committee of experts that reviews and refines all the submissions from the people through such fora as the NDF before they are taken to parliament for enactment to reduce the inconsistencies and lacunas in the constitution.

The three church mother bodies said Given the limited time allocated to this process, they are still concerned, as a matter of procedure with the simultaneous handling of the constitutional refinements with other pieces of legislation which must derive their existence from the

Constitution as a supreme law.

They said the NDF Act does not provide for the enhancement of the Bill of Rights by way of a referendum which is too cardinal to leave out in this process because the Bill of Rights is essential to enjoying our rights under the constitution. Our call has always been having a comprehensive constitution making process that does not leave out the question of human rights.

Meanwhile, the three Church Mother Bodies say the composition of the National Dialogue Forum is highly dominated by people with undue influence from their appointing authority.

They are concerned that when it comes to voting on particular issues not agreed by consensus, the outcome may possibly go the majority way.

The three church mother bodies said in the spirit of genuine dialogue and reconciliation they feel that the punitive clauses put in the Act do not speak well to the objectives of the National dialogue process.

Lusaka Times has just gotten word that our very own rising Zambian Hip-Hop star, Chanda Mbao, has been recognized and profiled by Red Bull Music, a well-known global music property which is heavily invested in recognizing world-class musicians and music acts of all genres. This recognition comes just as Chanda Mbao’s most recent single has been topping radio charts locally where he has held various number 1 positions over the course of the past month; these include Hot FM, Radio Phoenix and Pan African Radio. 

Red Bull Music is a very selective and heavily curated platform which features artists with strong regional and global potential. Red Bull has created significant credibility in music and is famed for its Red Bull Studios initiative which brings together cutting edge global talent to collaborate in top-tier music recording facilities in global cities. From Zambia, the only recent participant has been Zambian-born Geneva-Based She Spells Doom who was sponsored to attend sessions and produce in their studios. The only other previous Zambian music involvement being from Emmanuel Jagari Chanda, of The Witch fame, who was involved as a panelist and lecturer. We are happy to see our musicians, across their genres, being recognized by global platforms like this!

Read the redBull  article HERE