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Netflix is adding to its growing slate of African content with its first original animated series, “Mama K’s Team 4,” produced by South Africa’s award-winning Triggerfish Animation Studios and British kids’ and family entertainment production company CAKE.The series follows four teenage girls living in a futuristic version of Lusaka, Zambia, who are recruited by a retired secret agent to save the world. It was created by Zambian writerMalenga Mulendema, who in 2015 was one of eight winners of the Triggerfish Story Lab, a pan-African talent search backed by the Cape Town-based animation studio and The Walt Disney Co. The series is designed by the Cameroonian artist Malcolm Wope.
In the past decade, Triggerfish has become a powerhouse in South Africa’s burgeoning animation industry. Its first two animated features, “Adventures in Zambezia” (2012) and “Khumba” (2013), are two of the five top-grossing South African movies of all time.
Mulendema said she was inspired by the experience of watching cartoons as a child in her native Zambia, where none of the heroes looked like her or lived in a world that resembled her own. “In creating a superhero show set in Lusaka, I hope to introduce the world to four strong African girls who save the day in their own fun and crazy way,” she said. “Most importantly, I want to illustrate that anyone from anywhere can be a superhero.”
“Mama K’s Team 4” is the latest African original for Netflix, which recently announced its first two dramatic series on the continent. The streamer is now collaborating with Triggerfish and CAKE on a pan-African search for local female writing talent to join the creative team on the series.
“In addition to giving African writers a global platform on which to be heard, we are excited to present this powerful and entertaining new animated series that brings Malenga’s incredible and unique vision to life on Netflix,” said Melissa Cobb, vice president of original animation at the streamer. “‘Mama K’s Team 4’ has the potential to give a whole new generation of African children the opportunity to see themselves on screen in the powerful, aspirational characters they look up to.”
Triggerfish’s collaborations with the U.K.’s Magic Light Pictures have produced four multi-award-winning BBC Christmas adaptations, including Roald Dahl’s “Revolting Rhymes” (2016), which was nominated for an Oscar and won more than 15 international awards, including an International Emmy. The studio is currently in production on its third animated feature, “Seal Team.”
Vanessa Ann Sinden, Triggerfish’s development producer, said: “After animating four multi-award-winning BBC Christmas specials set in England, including the Oscar-nominated ‘Revolting Rhymes,’ Triggerfish is delighted to bring an African capital city to life on Netflix.”
Minister of Finance Margaret Mwanakatwe and Zambia’s Ambassador to the United States Dr. Ngosa Simyakula.
Minister of Finance Margaret Mwanakatwe has described the just ended Spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington DC, as a success.
Mrs. Mwanakatwe says the meetings with the IMF, the World Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, UK Department for International Development, African Development Bank, the Trade and Development Bank and other development partners were “very insightful and further strengthened the country’s cooperation with both multilateral and bilateral partners.”
The Minister has said Zambia’s multi-sectoral investor forums held on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings, were the icing on the cake as they gave her delegation, the hope of tangible investments in energy development, technological & industrial development, agriculture, education, health, and social Investment.
Affirming the success of the trip to America, Mrs. Mwanakatwe confirms that following her delegations investor relations programmes, a consortium of American Investors has submitted a proposal for the creation of a Southern African Regional Hub for Technology to be located in Lusaka, Zambia.
The technology park, a mixed-use work-live facility, will consist of a large-scale data center, a business incubation hub for small and medium enterprises, two international standard hotels, a regional conference center for technology, residential housing and office blocks.
The technology park will also host international standard facilities for block-chain technology, financial technology, education technology and a campus for advanced academic interaction for top local, regional, and international universities.
At full-scale, the hub will create over five-thousand jobs.
“The Zambian Government will do its best to ensure that all requirements are put in place so that the proposal becomes reality and construction commences as soon as possible,” Mrs. Mwanakatwe has stated.
She added that the technology park will avail opportunities for the much needed technological creativity and upgrades in some Zambian industries.
“Our citizens, especially the youth, need jobs, so we cannot wait for long for the proposal from the Americans to be actualised,” said the Minister.
Mrs. Mwanakatwe has since departed Washington for Lusaka.
She was seen off at Dulles International Airport in Washington DC, by Zambia’s Ambassador to the United States Dr. Ngosa Simbyakula.
The Minister of Finance was accompanied to Washington DC by her counterpart the Minister of National Development Planning Alexander Chiteme, Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba, Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Finance and Economic Development) Christopher Mvunga, Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary for Economic Management Mukuli Chikuba, Ministry of National Development Planning Permanent Secretary Chola Chabala, and Bank of Zambia Governor Dr. Denny Kalyalya.
And Mrs. Mwanakatwe has a busy schedule upon arrival in Lusaka among which is a meeting with an IMF Mission Team for ARTICLE IV CONSULTATIONS. The current discussions are known as “Article IV Consultations” because they are a statutory requirement under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement.
After the engagements with different stakeholders in Zambia, the IMF team will report its findings to IMF management and to the Executive Board, an organ which represents ALL the IMF member countries, Zambia inclusive.
In a few days, the Zambian Government and the World Bank Country Office are also scheduled to launch the recently approved Country Partnership Framework.
During bilateral discussions with the Trade and Development Bank, it was also confirmed that Zambia will host the Bank’s 35th Anniversary Commemoration and Annual General Meeting in August this year. The event will be held in Lusaka.
Issued by;
Chileshe Kandeta
Spokesperson
MINISTRY OF FINANCE.
I have had an interesting Facebook engagement with the University of Zambia Lecturers and Researchers Union (UNZALARU) General Secretary, Dr. Kelvin Mambwe following my posts challenging the need for research and innovation enhancement at our public universities. My posts were ignited by the continuous call by the Higher Education Minister, Hon. Prof. Nkandu Luo on the need for universities to raise resources from within rather than heavily depend on government grants. This call by the Hon. Minister has not been well received, especially that it comes at a time when university lecturers have not been paid their salaries on time – a situation that has become an annual and monthly ritual for many years now.
What is evidently clear is that government is constrained in meeting its obligations with regards adequately funding higher education in Zambia. With many competing needs, and the heavy burden of foreign debt repayment, government funding cuts or delays are certain, and universities have not been spared, including university students whose monthly stipends/bursaries have been cut off completely.
These developments have caught off-guard our universities, and their response has been to down tools/go slow/strike petitioning government to meet its obligations and fund them. Others are saying that this is a clear case of ‘government failure’, and are hoping that a new government comes in which may fund universities better. What no one is saying, however, is that this challenge isn’t new, but importantly, that the universities themselves have over the years failed to be innovative enough to grow resilience and ensure some degree of self-sufficiency.
I think our universities, especially the top public universities have over the years failed to sufficiently add innovative value to society. While I cannot doubt the competence of their teaching having studied and taught at some, our universities have had little value beyond producing graduates for employment, filled with strong, though sometimes weak theoretical knowledge that lags behind the real developments in society and industry. Rather than being adaptive to the changing needs of society and industry to produce skills that are relevant to industry, our universities have, for the most part, remained far behind. This has made it hard for our graduates to have strong ‘labour market’ power beyond the country, and in some cases, particularly the science and technology skills, there has been need to re-train these once employed in industry, at a higher cost, leading to companies preferring expatriates who need no retraining.
I believe the role of universities transcends teaching. In fact, lecturers at our top universities carry the title of ‘Lecturer and Researcher’. However, there is little, if any, research going on in our universities. Actually, for the most part, the role of our lecturers has been reduced to teaching and marking tests and exams, and in occasional cases, commissioned research for ‘extra incomes’. This colleagues, has reduced the university’s value to a mere ‘place of work’ rather than a centre for academic thought and practical excellence. The argument I receive for the lack of research and innovation is that ‘government has not funded research’. This is the typical ‘Boma iyanganepo’ argument that we hear from the non-academics – and one begins to wonder what the difference is between those who have never been to school looking only upto to government for everything, and our highly educated academics doing the same – clearly we have failed ourselves here!
My highly educated colleagues further argue that without government grants, there is little, if any, research that can take place. I think this is the most absurd justification I have heard from people that have dedicated their time and training to academics. The argument is similar to what we have heard before from would be retirees that they will think of a business idea when they get their pension. I do not think it makes any sense for academics to wait for funding for them to develop research ideas. On the contrary, research ideas should be penned down every day for one whose life is centred on a university – from their reading and the students’ ideas. Ideas from or for research should be enough, if of social, business or national value, to attract funding from many sources – government or the private sector. In this regard, I argue that our universities must be flexibible, innovative and must adapt to the changing needs of society for them to remain relevant now and in the future. They must begin to see themselves as drivers of thought entrepreneurship through academic excellence for private and public sector growth.
Perhaps more than anything, let us ask ourselves, how many enterprises have been born as spinoffs from our local universities which have been in existence for over 50 years? Enterprises born out of university as either student led of lecturer lead reflect the depth of university research, but importantly, its relevance to society that a profitable enterprise can be created. In any case, as motivational speakers repeatedly say, the world rewards you for the value you bring to the society: All the wealthy people in the world created their wealth from providing innovative solutions to the world’s problems. If that be the case, what better place to generate innovative solutions to Zambia’s problems than our universities? The fact that there are very few, almost non-existent spin-offs from university research illustrates how impotent, irrelevant or non-existent our research at top university is/has been. How many patents have come out of our university research? How far have the researchers gone to market such research? How much valuable collaborative and contract research have our researchers generated? What has been the value of this research? How much mentorship have our “dons” provided to their graduates to follow-through their ideas and make them successful outside university?
The fact that our highly educated lecturers and researchers sing the ‘Boma iyanganepo’ slogan, that they need money to ‘think and be innovative’ does not inspire confidence for the innovative and academic future of our country. It is disappointing that academics will talk about an ‘enabling environment’ for research, the way that our business community talk about an ‘enabling environment’ for business when, in the same environment, foreign firms are thriving. The private sector in Zambia cries foul saying they lack capital for them to grow their business. Is it a coincidence that now our academics are also saying they need funds to think innovatively? Perhaps it is a nationwide problem, a reflection our lack of higher levels of ambition? Think about it, really, why would a university that teaches PhDs have over 60% of its staff without PhDs? How can someone be teaching for over 20 years with just an MSc/MA at a top university that has been around for over 50 years?
This is grossly unacceptable!
As I conclude, let me reiterate the need to enhance both the quantum and quality of university research. I disagree that our top academics need funds to think innovatively, rather, they need to reorient their position and appreciate that they already are in a position of privilege surrounded by insurmountable resource in thought of their students and their academic community to do more than sing ‘boma iyanganepo’. I would like to end by quoting part of Sir Andrew Witty’s Review of Universities and Growth – Encouraging a British Invention Revolution – published in 2013 in which he says:
“I likened universities generating cutting edge research and its resulting insights to the tip of an arrow, with the arrowhead behind it representing the economic activity enabled by research-led innovation. I suggested that maximising the size of these arrowheads and their economic benefit…. is fundamental to both sectoral and local growth strategies.”
The value of the education is not in its possession, but in its use to solving the challenges of our society.
Herryman Moono
Economist & Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, UK.
President Lungu and wife arrive for the Commonwealth Law Conference in Livingstone
President Edgar Lungu is today expected in Mazabuka, Southern Province on a one day working visit. This is according to a programme released to ZANIS in Choma by Southern Province Permanent Secretary Mwangala Liomba.
Mr Liomba said President Lungu is expected to be in Mazabuka in the morning to flag off the first export of Nickel Mineral extracted from the Munali Nickel Mine.
Munali Nickel has resumed production after some years of being under Care and maintenance.
Meanwhile, Mr Liomba has thanked President Lungu for ensuring that operations at Munali Nickel Mine are revived creating job opportunities for locals.
He said the mine is producing the most valuable mineral with a lucrative price on the international market.
President ECL speaks at ceremony to reopen Munali Nickel mine in Mazabuka on April 16, creating more than 400 direct jobs; boosting local incomes and creating opportunities for the region. Good development for the economy.
FILE: Vice-President Inonge Wina (l) listens to PF Campaign manager Samuel Mukupa on arrival at Woodlands Stadium for the Thanks Giving and Unity Rally in Lusaka on Tuesday, August 16,2016-Picture by THOMAS NSAMA
PF national chairperson Samuel Mukupa has warned that the party will not allow its name to be abused by people setting up unauthorised blogs.
Mr Mukupa has since directed chairperson for security and youth to summon administrators of all PF aligned groups to provide clear guidelines.
He said the party has seen a disturbing trend on social media platforms where some spiteful bloggers using the name of the Party are publishing and circulating insults and other demeaning and derogatory statements.
Mr Mukupa has also directed that all social media groups bearing the “Patriotic Front” name should be registered with the Party Secretariat with immediate effect.
This is according to a statement issued to ZNBC News through the PF media director Sunday Chanda.
Ministry of Health spokesperson Abel Kabalo has disclosed that consultative meetings concerning the impending reduction of tuition fees in all public nursing institutions, is currently underway.
Dr Kabalo said government has decided to engage various stakeholders on the matter, in order to ensure that an agreement is arrived at, in relation to setting of favourable tuition fees.
He further said that the ministry will respond to concerns being raised by unions and the general public, once consultations are done.
Dr Kabalo explained that the ministry is currently producing more health workers by standardizing tuition fees, in order to enhance access to education for everyone.
Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya recently announced that government will soon standardise the tuition fees for all student nurses in public institutions, from K18, 000 to paying K8500 per year.
Dr Chilufya added that government was concerned that tuition fees in some nursing schools were very high, hence reducing the fees will help in transforming the quality of service delivery as well as provision of equal access to training opportunities.
The Zambian government’s intention to replace VAT with sales tax may be a well-intentioned decision and done in good faith. However, the majority of tax and financial experts agree that the planned change from VAT to sales tax is a leap in the dark which comes with immense risks. It is generally agreed by experts that there are less costly options that Government could have explored.
This article touches on some practical problems that are awaiting ZRA, the Private sector, the economy at large and the Zambian consumer. It also suggests alternatives which are less disruptive to the proposed one and also calls for some delay, and serious introspection before sales tax is implemented.
The Zambian Government wants to switch over back to sales tax because according to the finance Minister’s budget speech: “VAT works better when you have an economy that has a strong manufacturing base. But we don’t have it! We are in constant refund and it cannot work now. We have to grow the manufacturing base because that is the sector that needs that support of a VAT refund. Right now, VAT is a subsidy and we are in austerity – we can’t afford subsidies. It is as simple as that. So, 1st April sales tax comes into play”.
The VAT system was introduced 23 years ago by the MMD government on 1st July 1995 to replace sales tax. The VAT system had served various administrations since then very well, until recently, it appears. Some of its major advantages include the following: the fact that it is invoiced based, it is therefore not a complex tax and makes it easier to collect tax, it is also a fairer tax as it avoids levying tax on tax, and it has potential to promote exports as well as the domestic manufacturing industry. VAT also provides for a wider tax base.
The above advantages are still very compelling and therefore it very curious that Zambia wants to switch over purely due to low manufacturing base and excessive refunds. It is crucial that before the government implements the new system, some of the costs and the disruptions that will be caused by the changeover are considered.
The costs, disruptions and economic impact of VAT abolishment
The implementation of sales tax comes with immense risks to the Zambia revenue authority as an institution. In addition, there are risks of increased cost of doing business, increased cost of living for Zambian consumers and general inflation, increased unemployment, may affect foreign investor sentiment and generally dampen the economic growth and delay Zambia’s economic recovery. One hope that all these facts and risks were considered and some sensitivity analysis done when the decision was made.
First and foremost, there will be need to set up a new administrative regime by Zambia Revenue authority for sales tax which will be difficult and costly as Zambia does not have the experts on sales tax. ZRA staff simply does not have the institutional memory of the sales tax regime nor is there a ready benchmark in the region to use. The issues of who is to pay the tax, which goods and service to charge sales tax on, what will the rate be, which goods will be exempt etc. will need to be figured out within five months
Secondly, there is the issue of accounting systems. Vat is an established tax and Zambia revenue Authority has accounting software which will need to be replaced with a Sales tax system. The new software could cost as much as $25million and the old VAT system will have to be thrown in the dust bin. In addition, the private sector will also have to install new accounting systems to account for VAT. They will require new software to change to the new sales tax systems and this will cost them money.
The negative impact on employment both at ZRA and the private sector should not be underestimated. ZRA employees has a large number of staff handling the VAT tax regime and these will not certainly be needed considering that activities like vat audits for refunds will not be required and so these employees will have to be retrenched. The private sector on the other hand will have to retrench some of its staff for variously reasons including the increased cost of business that sales tax will entail. Employers will consider cutting costs and employees will have to be the first target. Job losses should not be ruled out as a result of Sales tax.
There will be need to train staff at ZRA and in private sector on the operation of the new sales tax system and there are simply no expertise on the market who understands the sales tax system as it was discarded twenty three years ago.
The issue of inflation and consequently increased interest rates should not be underestimated. There is no doubt that Sales tax will increase the cost of doing business in Zambia especially as it will result in tax on tax as as all business inputs will not be recoverable and businesses will have to increase their prices and this will be contribute to increased inflation.
The Sales tax Bill has proposed a 9% Local Sales Tax and 16 % on Imports which will replace the 16% Value-Added Tax currently used on 1st July. In the past under VAT consumers used to pay 16% regardless of the value chain. Under the Sales tax regime, the longer the value chain, the higher the tax paid.
In order to put the impact on sales tax on the Zambian consumer/ voter, here is a scenario. Under the sales tax regime, if a Zambian manufacturer imports raw materials he will pay 16%, on selling to a wholesaler, 9% local sales tax will be levied, when the wholesaler sales to a retailer, 9% will be levied and when a retailer finally sales to the consumer, 9% will be charged. This means that the Zambian final consumer- the farmer, villagers, informal sector worker, they will be paying 41% tax instead of 16 % VAT. In the case of certain Zambians workers who are paying Pay and as you earn (PAYE) at the top rate of 35%, the total effective tax on their income would be 76% without taking into account all sorts of levies. The sales tax is not a smart tax to introduce from the social, economic and political view, especially when a general election is on a horizon
Zambia will be the only country in SADC and possibly COMESA region to have a sales tax system and this may influence foreign investors in their decision to locate their companies. The country will be less competitive as a destination for foreign investors in comparison to our neighbours.
There is no question that the current VAT system has been abused by the private sector especially the multinational companies and excessive refunds have been made by ZRA as pointed out by the Commissioner General, Kinglsey Chanda sometime ago.
“I wish to inform the nation that our vigilant audit teams discovered some fraudulent refund claims. This discovery prompted us to take a more cautious approach when paying refunds,” he said
In November, 2017 according to ZRA Commissioner General Kingsley Chanda, Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) paid out over K4 billion in values added tax (VAT) refunds to the mines and other sectors in six months. Mining companies were paid 76% of the amount, while the remainder paid to other sectors of the economy. It is estimated by some experts that the Zambian Government pays over a billion US dollars in terms of refunds per year with the mining industry getting approximately US$700million and the rest get $300million.
Options to VAT abolishment
The analysis of the problems that Zambia faces with VAT administration reveals that the bulk of refunds goes to the Mines, and two, ZRA has cash flow problems in making refunds and three, there is widespread fraud in VAT refunds claims. It follows, therefore, that these are the problems that should be addressed rather than switching to the risky sales tax which may result in negative effects on the economy may even result in less tax collections. Sales tax may do more harm than good to the overall economy.
First and foremost, the government should revise the VAT Act. The act should exempt all traditional exports like copper, cotton and tobacco. The main rationale behind the current legislation of Zero rating exports is to promote exports by making them competitive but mining exports for example, cannot be promoted through VAT because prices and demand for copper are determined at the London Metal Exchange and other international markets. Zero rating exports should, therefore, be targeted and reserved for Non- traditional exports.
Alternatively, since the VAT refunds have largely been claimed mining houses (estimated at 76%,), the easy way out could be Zero rate both the input and output of the mining industry unlike now where the Output (exports or sales) is zero rated but the input (imports and whatever they mines use in production) is standard rated at 16% and thus are able to claim refunds,
Thirdly, there is need to improve the cash management of VAT in order to avoid the cash flow problems that ZRA faces. It is advisable that in order to avoid having VAT arrears, the introduction of prudent accounting practice by ensuring that VAT funds are not comingled with other taxes but banked in separate bank account accounts will be a solution to the refund conundrum.
The issue of VAT refund fraud is a major problem but other countries have found solutions to it. One of the most efficient Tax authorities in Africa is South Africa Revenue Service (SARS). They are sophisticated and have minimized VAT fraud. It would be advisable for ZRA to send a study team to SARS to go and learn tricks on how to catch the cheats as SARS have immense experience in a more sophisticated economy.
In the event that the Government still wants to go ahead with Sales tax, it may be advisable for them to shelve the whole decision for a year or so. On the basis of the author’s experience in a foreign country as an Advisor, when major policy decisions with immense impact on the economy were at hand, studies were conducted and widespread consultation made in order to make informed decisions. The knee jerk approach to major economic decisions can be disastrous and embarrassing when reversals are made. It may be advisable for the government to commission an independent study by professional consultants to carry out an in- depth analysis to address some of the issues raised in this article and by others. Thereafter, an informed decision could be made after serious consultations with stakeholders and the people in the know.
The advice to government is that VAT is a good tax regime and should be retained. The areas that have been the cause of the problems should be addressed. The costs of switching from VAT to Sales tax far exceed the benefits. The risks are also immense. If Sales tax is implemented against all advice from experts, it will join the long list of economic own goals or unforced errors committed by the current administration- to use football and tennis analogies- which have resulted in the mess the Zambian economy is today. The abolishment of VAT and replacing it with Sales tax is tantamount to the proverbial “throwing the baby with the bath water”.
The writer is a Chartered Accountant by profession, a Private Sector Development expert and an Enteprenuer. He is an independent finance and economic commentator/analyst and a Patriot.
Here is a selected wrap of some of our foreign-based player’s performances at their respective leagues and in continental competition over the weekend.
DR CONGO/TANZANIA
Midfielder Cletus Chama came on in the 53rd minute of Simba’s 4-1 away loss to TP Mazembe in their CAF Champions League quarterfinal final leg match on Saturday in Lubumbashi.
Zambia defender and captain Kabaso Chongo scored one of Mazmebe’s four goals against the Tanzanian champions and played the full 90 minutes together with midfielder Nathan Sinkala.
Midfielder Rainford Kalaba was substituted in the 76th minute of Mazembe’s 4-1 win that saw them advance via the same aggregate result to the semifinal.
SOUTH AFRICA -Mamelodi Sundowns:
Goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene was on the bench on Saturday in Sundowns 1-0 away loss in Egypt against Al Ahly in Alexandria but still advanced to the CAF Champions League semifinals 5-1 on aggregate.
-Black Leopards:
Striker Mwape Musonda on Saturday played the full 90 minutes for Black Leopards in their 1-1 home draw against Kaizer Chiefs but did not add to his Golden Boot-chasing 13 goals.
-SuperSport/Polokwane:
Midfielder Salulani Phiri played the full 90 minutes for Polokwane City in Saturday’s 0-0 away draw against SuperSport United.
Defender Billy Mutale and striker Gampani Lungu were unused substitutes by SuperSport.
FRANCE -Metz:
Ligue 2 leaders and promoted Metz beat 16th placed Chateauroux 2-1 on Friday to confirm their Ligue 1 status for next season.
Defender Stopilla Sunzu played the full 90 minutes for the promoted side.
-Beziers:
Beziers have six games left to ensure Ligue 2 status but on Friday sustained their second successive defeat in their bottom two dog-fight against last placed Red Star who beat them 3-1 at home.
Midfielder Emmanuel Banda was an unused substitute for the second from bottom team.
BELGIUM
Striker Fashion Sakala is out with a foot injury and missed KV Oostende’s 1-0 away loss at St Truiden on Saturday.
AUSTRIA -RB Salzburg:
Midfielder Enock Mwepu came on in the 79th minute for defending champions and league leaders 3-1 home win over Sturm Graz.
Striker Patson Daka was an unused substitute
-Altech:
Striker Brian Mwila was an unused substitute in Altech’s 1-0 away relegation playoff win over Hartberg on Saturday.
Patriotic Front Secretary General Davies Mwila has distanced the ruling Party from a video circulating on Social Media where people unknown to the Party are heard threatening the life of former Roan MP Chishimba Kambwili and issuing unprintables against his mother.
Mr. Mwila says the Party finds the video to be highly offensive to its values and that the content thereof borders on nothing else but criminality.
Mr. Mwila has since calles on the Zambia Police to immediately investigate the matter and bring the culprits to book.
The Secretary General has further reminded the Party members at large that President Edgar Chagwa Lungu has constantly called for non-violence in the Party and no such criminality would be tolerated.
He said the PF believes that while they may hold differences with their opponents, they do not become their sworn enemies to the point of shedding blood or wishing for one’s cessation of life.
The National Democratic Congress yesterday said it will report to the Police, Patriotic Front cadres insulting and threatening violence against its consultant Chishimba Kambwili in a video that has gone viral on Social Media.
Party Vice President Joseph Akafumba said the NDC take exceptional interest in the video because the life of Mr. Kambwili is being threatened.
Mr. Akafumba said in a statement that letters to the Inspector General of Police Kakoma Kanganja and Copperbelt Police Commissioner Charity Katanga have been written and will be delivered Monday morning.
Alleged PF cadres are seen in the video threatening violence and insulting Mr. Kambwili.
Part of the 6 acre maize field that has recovered after spraying
The UPND says there is nothing to thank the PF government for, for reversing their earlier decision to export maize barely two months ago.
UPND Chairperson for Agriculture Levy Ngoma says Mr. Hichilema advised and forewarned them prior to their misguided decision, that allowing maize exports was one typical PF way of perpetuating an illegality that is devoid of coherence and coordination which a sane government should not even have pursued.
Mr. Ngoma said the decision by the PF regime to allow maize exports amidst a looming hunger situation in the country due to poor yield was completely uncalled for and unwise.
“Actually, we view it as one of those selfish decisions where they wanted to make a quick buck for their individual pockets through corruption. We know they won’t thank Mr. Hichilema for the visionary advise against exporting maize, because of their usual arrogance and pride and in any case we don’t want any accolades from the PF because, its simply not in their DNA”, Mr. Ngoma added.
He said the UPND has consistently been offering alternative economic policy guidelines to the nation though the PF reject them for political reasons resulting in disaster and economic retardation.
Mr. Ngoma said UPND will continue offering the nation what they believe are the best policies and if the visionless PF leadership wants, they can give them a complete economic blue print to salvage this sinking PF titanic regime.
“But in the meantime, PF must immediately pay our farmers for last season’s crop supplies to the Food Reserve Agency, We are actually disturbed with reports that PF are reselling maize to the starving villagers at more than K110 per 50 kg bag when they bought it at K60 per 50 kg bag and yet the farmers have not been paid for their supplies”, he addes.
He said what only places where maize and mealie meal is being dished out freely is in the bye election areas as an inducement for votes.
UPND Leader Hakainde Hichilema says his party will not take part in the National Dialogue Forum slated for 23 April at the Mulungushi International Conference Center.
The Forum which was supposed to start today has been moved to 23 April to allow people to observe Easter, according to Justice Minister Given Lubinda.
But Mr. Hichilema said his party will not attend the Forum because it is another ploy by the PF government to manipulate the constitution in favour of the PF.
He said the UPND will instead commence a countrywide tour to mobilize the party and assure the people of a better Zambia once the PF is voted out in 2021.
Mr. Hichilema also reiterated that the UPND is ready for a Church led dialogue and not that being pushed by the PF government.
He has since appealed to the Police not to deny them permits to hold rallies once the tour begins.
Hakainde Hichilema
Opposition UPND President Hakainde Hichilema has promised to eliminate Borehole and Rental taxes when the party forms government.
Mr. Hichilema said the UPND shall immediately undertake an audit to ascertain which taxes are burdensome and excessive to the citizens when it democratically takes over power in 2021.
He said it is cruel to tax people who are finding alternative ways of accessing clean water for drinking arising from failure by government to meet its civic obligations of which one of them is providing water.
Mr Hichilema said water is life and a human right.
“We have noted with regret that the bankrupt PF regime wants to continue with their misguided policy of taxing citizens for sinking boreholes. As a matter of fact, we are of the view that such community initiatives by citizens are supposed to be rewarded by tax rebates than punitive measures of taxing them,” Mr Hichilema said.
“Furthermore, how can the PF be implementing such measures with the current drought in some parts of the country amidst unpredictable global weather conditions due to the effects of climate change? The fact is that the PF has no capacity to provide citizens with clean water for our citizens and that’s why many communities are currently sharing dirty and unhealthy water with animals, but when they take it upon themselves to access clean water sources by digging boreholes, they are punished. This is retrogressive and kills community initiatives that are critical in complimenting government efforts in areas they fail to serve citizens,” he said.
He added, “Citizens with a bit of resources in these areas should be encouraged to sink more communal boreholes and other water points as opposed to discouraging them and punishing them by burdening them with more taxes. We understand the need to avoid underground water contamination, especially in urban areas, but even then, the role of any serious government would have been to merely offer technical support on where water points can be sunk as opposed to prohibitive measures such as taxing people who are spending colossal amounts of money seeking for a lifesaving commodity like water.”
Mr Hichilema charged that this is just another scheme by the PF regime to abuse citizens by siphoning hard earned money from them and put in their individual pockets to enrich themselves further.
“When the UPND democratically takes over power in 2021, we shall immediately undertake an audit to ascertain which taxes are burdensome and excessive to our citizens. Borehole and rental taxes will be among those that we shall immediately eliminate. Water is life and a human right,” he said.
Nkana coach Beston Chambeshi still insists they were the better side against CS Sfaxien despite their quarterfinal loss that saw them eliminated from the CAF Confederation Cup.
Nkana lost 2-0 away in Tunisia in Sfaxien on Sunday to bow out at the last eight 3-2 on aggregate and end Zambia’s interest this season in continental competition.
“They put up a good fight and the way I saw the game today, the best team has lost but I wish Sfaxien all the best in the semifinals,” Chambeshi said.
Sfaxien took deserved 1-0 halftime lead when Firas Chawat head-in Habib Oueslati’s corner in the 7th minute.
Nkana’s best chance on goal came in the 30th minute when Hassan Kamis sent his shot inches wide of the left post.
But Sfaxien sealed the home win in the 90th minute through Alaa Marzouki to send Sfaxien through to the semifinal 3-2 on aggregate.
Meanwhile,Sfaxien coach Ruud Krol scoffed at Chambeshi’s argument as to who was the best side on the day.
“Not at all, I don’t agree that Nkana were better, but I think we had more opportunities than they had,”Krol said.
Founder and Chairman of APO Group Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard
Founder and Chairman of media giant APO Group Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard says it is absolutely crucial that an African focused international news channel is set up.
And Mr Pompigne-Mognard has warned that Africa’s rising youth unemployment poses a great risk to stability on the continent.
Mr. Pompigne-Mognard, a Gabonese born Journalist founded APO Group in 2007 which has now risen to become the leading media consulting firm and press release distribution service in Africa and the Middle East.
The APO Group employs around 80 people across its offices in Switzerland, Dubai, Senegal and Hong Kong.
Admitting that creating a pan African news channel would be difficult to accomplish, Mr. Pompigne-Mognard remained hopeful that conversation around the need for such a channel could ignite stakeholders to explore the possibilities.
In a wide ranging interview, Mr. Pompigne-Mognard also cautioned African governments against passing legislation that seeks to stifle online media
He also appealed to authorities to promote investments that result in job creation adding that the rising joblessness among the youth on the continent is worrying.
Mr. Pompigne-Mognard said in an interview in Lusaka recently that the growing demand for African continent across the globe should prompt the setting up of an African focused international news channel that could rivals the likes of CNN and Aljazeera.
Mr. Pompigne-Mognard sat down for an interview with our Correspondent in Lusaka during his brief visit to Zambia.
Below is the verbatim of the interview.
Founder & Chairman of APO Group Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard
LT:Let’s discuss the coverage of Africa in the global press, would you say there has been some change in the way the African narrative is being told globally?
Mr. Pompigne-Mognard: Yes, there has been some change but I am not sure if it is positive change in the sense that it could appear positive in the first sight because for instance back in 2005 and it was about the same time I created APO because at the time, the major coverage was mainly about hunger and poverty and it was mainly conveyed by the international media and that was the main reason because I wanted to make African voices audible on the international stage.
So we have moved from a certain level of noise and that noise produced content by the international media and it was mainly negative and now suddenly the interest of the international media has changed. So they are interested so there is more volume of content produced about Africa, for instance, CNN has six programmes dedicated to Africa but I am not sure it’s the solution. It’s another kind of pain, I am not sure that content or more volume of content is much better and I think the problem is quite simple, it is still the international media talking about Africa and it’s not Africa talking about Africa. It’s an evolution, it was bad but it’s not good now.
LT:How then do we get more African content generated by African Journalists themselves?
Mr. Pompigne-Mognard: It’s not about the volume of content but about the distribution of content. For instance, I was talking about the international media, they are not international media because when you say international media then you put a spoon of objectivity like the International Criminal Court. What they are infact is national media with an international geographical coverage and that is different. But when you say international media, then all of a sudden you assume that they don’t have any bias. We are talking about CNN, we are talking about Aljazeera, really, they don’t have any bias?
And we do not have that to fight that. We don’t have an African owned news channel. They are flooding us with that content and we don’t have a way to reciprocate. Honestly, as long as the international media will have the ability to speak louder in terms of reach about Africa than about the Africans themselves, we will have a problem.
LT:Would you then prescribe that maybe time has come for an African based, African focused international news channel?
Mr. Pompigne-Mognard: Absolutely, Absolutely, and off course but I don’t see that coming. I was recently in Dakar Senegal speaking to a group of students and one jumped up and said Africa should create a Pan-African news channel and Senegal is interesting because there was a time when it was the Headquarters of something called PANA Press, a pan Africa news agency. Does anyone know what happened to PANA Press? And remember, PANA Press was a creation of the African Union Commission to create that voice which will not only share information intra Africa but outside. And they failed lamentably and there are now a few private agencies trying but we don’t have a truly pan African news agency and you know why, Africa is 52 countries and everything in Africa is difficult. But if we continue this discussion for an hour, you or me will pronounce the word colonization. You have BBC opening its biggest office outside the UK, not in Beijing, not Washington but in Nairobi with an investment of 370 million, you have Euro News creating African news, you have CNN creating six programmes about Africa, you have Huffington Post creating Huffington Post Tunisia and Morocco, so you have many news brands coming here, why do you think they are coming? Everything here is initiated about the data about the demographic of the continent. According to the World Bank, African population will double by 2015, so moving from 1.2 to 2.4 billion and according to the UN Demographic Report, Africa will be 40 percent of all humanity by 2030.
So if you are a multinational company, you have no choice but to go to Africa. Africa is becoming increasingly sexy. Look at the NBA, they are investing in Africa. There are so many international media companies investing in Africa. According to IPSOS, in Nigeria, the middle class is starting to spend more time watching international media than local media. If that trend continues, in five years, and you tell the CEO of a multinational company with 5 million Euro budget to spend on advertisement, you have a choice either to spend the entire budget on one channel like CNN or spread it across 50 local news channels which may not be able to provide with media monitoring because they are not digitalised and you may have to negotiate five different contracts. Where do you think the CEO will place his adverts? What do you think will then happen to the African media landscape? It means the African media will not have the money to digitalise and fund the new model to monetarize the subscription and won’t have the money to keep the talent and will lose the battle of content.
If that scenario persists, you come back after 10 years, the African media landscape has completely depreciated. As they say in France, the fat guy will grow thinner and the thin guy will die. Now this is just one aspect of financial, what happens in a country where majority of its children are learning about what is happening in their own countries via international media, now that is a problem of sovereignty. Now how do you fix it, I don’t know but maybe we need to start doing African flavoured programmes and stop mimicking these western programming.
LT:How crucial is the improvement of the overall African governance credentials in its quest to attain social and economic development?
Mr. Pompigne-Mognard: This is key. I feel old discussing this issue now because 15 years ago I had a discussion with the then President of the African Development Bank Dr Kaberuka. Is it going better? To me it’s not obvious but my gut feeling overall is that I don’t see any major improvements but again this is linked to the fact that Africa has 52 countries. Governance is critical to FDI but is also critical for two bold reasons related to demography but by 2015, most of the population will be between 5 and 25, for instance in Uganda, 77 percent of the population is below 30, Uganda is a young country. I truly believe that when a country with have a volume of youth, men in power will not be able to manipulate the constitutions, youths need change, I am hoping that with a younger population will bring that wind of change in most countries and that is where the FDI comes in to give jobs to the youths. I cannot imagine an African continent with double the number of people without employment and the media has a critical role to play in creating spaces for the civil society and to the growth of democracy.
LT:There is some conversation going on in Zambia about how do we regulate the media, with the coming in of Fake News mainly peddled through online platforms, Governments even some Tech companies are now calling on governments to help with some kind of regulation of social media, in Zambia we have historically practiced our Journalism through self-regulation but government seems to prefer statutory regulation, how do you think governments should handle the issue of regulating the media with respect to social media?
Mr. Pompigne-Mognard: What is important is not to have media regulation through the statue on the pretext of fighting Fake News. In a non-bias, non-agenda environment, regulation is good, regulation gives guarantee to everybody. Media should be able to regulate itself, create a body that can regulate the media and just like the Doctors in France, the court is the court of your Peers and that doesn’t mean that there is no recourse to the law. You don’t government to use that as a pretext to control, there should be a big different between regulating and controlling. There must be some minimum level of control because tomorrow, you don’t want a former Baker to create a news website just like tomorrow you don’t want me to just wake up and become a Dentist.
LT:Thank you for your time and enjoy your stay in Zambia
Economics Association of Zambia President Lubinda Haabazoka says there is need to defer sales tax to 2020.
Dr Haabazoka has since proposed that in the meantime, government should zero rate domestic Value Added Tax for legal entities but keep import Value Added Tax.
He has however proposed that Import VAT refunds should be suspended.
He said this move will seal the leakages but maintain revenue collected from through VAT thereby meeting the budget targets.
“We should do everything possible to ensure that the Kwacha does not trade at k13 per dollar. On Friday the green back was trading at k12.5 per dollar from k12.1 on Wednesday. Ideally the Kwacha gains from April as mining companies scale up production, the agriculture sector exports their harvest among other factors,” he observed.
He added, “To avoid further speculation and adverse effects, it is advised that the difference between the Bid and Ask price should be above k0.5. This will stop players from speculating. We also need to boost our foreign exchange reserves by engaging businesses to help bring their foreign reserves into the country.”
Dr Haabazoka who is also Head of the UNZA Graduate Business School said the extractive industry should also be encouraged through the fiscal policy and other incentives to make Zambian banks primary holders of proceeds from the sale of mineral resources.
“There is also need to immediately restructure debt so as to make cash outflows match cash inflows. Infact there should be cash inflow out flow matching to insure that negative gaps are identified are treat to avoid liquidity problems. The formula that can be used at national level should resemble that done by commercial banks,” Dr Haabazoka said.
