Opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema has been invited to attend the 15th anniversary of the Mining Indaba which opened in Cape Town, South Africa today.

Mr Hichilema will join South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Ghanaian counterpart Nana Akuffo-Addo and other business executives at the largest gathering in the mining industry.

He said the UPND believes in win-win situations between mining companies and the countries they operate in.

“We arrived safely in Cape Town, South Africa where we will be attending the 25th Mining Indaba. This is the largest mining indaba in the world where governments, investors and high profile business leaders meet. This year the indaba will see Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa and his Ghanaian counterpart Nana Akuffo-Addo give keynote addresses,” he said.

“We will be joining other high ranking Government officials and Mining executives in this endeavour as we seek solutions for our country and our people. The Indaba will discuss among other things, diversity and inclusion where communities will participate more in the mining industry. It shall also discuss talent management and sustainable employment in mining as well as the role of big data towards the year 2050.”

“For us, as firm believers in win-win situations between mining companies and the countries they operate in, we are grateful to the organisers for inviting us once more. Of particular interest to us is the conversation around women in mining, we believe this is the time we give opportunities to the women folk to fully participate in this industry that has been dominated by men,” he said.

Mr Hichilema said the involvement of women should provide a good segue into diversifying the mining industry.

He said this will eventually land Zambia into community participation.

“We are firm believers in empowerment; this is the reason we have always emphasised that joint ventures are the only way the local communities can participate in this industry that requires heavy financial capital investments. Where our people do not have finances, they have land which is their equity contribution. This is how we will have mining industry benefit the locals,” he said.

“We are excited with this particular Indaba which comes at a time when the tax regime in Zambia has been adjusted for the 9th time in 18 years. We shall take this opportunity to engage with the mining houses and have constructive dialogue on what would be a fair taxation system from their point of view and from our point of view,” he said.

“Such dialogue is essential in order to achieve a situation where mining investments benefits Zambia and Zambians as well as well as investors (win-win situation).”

President Edgar Lungu has urged defence and security officers in the country to remain loyal and dedicated to serving the country at all times.

President Lungu said officers in the defence and security wings should maintain their loyalty to the appointing authority and superiors, and further remain nonpartisan before, during and after elections.

The President said he is aware of some officers who go behind their superiors to solicit for appointments, adding that such officers are a danger to the security wings.

The President was speaking during the swearing in ceremony of the new Zambia Air force Deputy Commander Major General Benedict Kalinda.

The newly sworn in Air force Deputy Commander, General Kalinda has replaced late Major General Kapotwe Chintu who died on January 11, 2019 in India.

President Lungu who is also Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces said he was confident that the new Deputy Commander will remain loyal and serve the people of Zambia diligently.

He noted that having served in the Air force for 30 years, Major General Kalinda deserves to be promoted, for having demonstrated good leadership qualities.

He however urged the Deputy Commander to be wary of people who might try and lead him astray during his execution of duty.

And speaking to journalists after being sworn in, the Deputy Air force Commander thanked the Head of State for showing confidence in him through the appointment.

He said he will work closely with the Air force commander to realise the vision of the Air force, which includes defending the airspace.

He added that he will also ensure prudent use of resources in the security department.

The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) has directed Multichoice Zambia to suspend the Lusaka based Hustle Reality Show, aired on Zambezi Magic on the DSTV platform.

The suspension, which has been ordered to be done with immediate effect, has been necessitated following a public outcry, that the Reality Show promotes a lifestyle, contrary to Zambian values and culture.

IBA Director General Josephine Mapoma said the authority has received several concerns from the public, with regards to the show, and as such directed Multichoice Zambia to withdraw it, in public interest.

“Section 24(1) of the IBA (principal) Act,2002 provides that all programmes by a commercial broadcasting service shall, subject to the conditions of a license and regulations of the authority-(a) reflect the culture, character, needs and aspirations of the people in the areas they are licensed to serve,” she said.

Ms Mapoma has urged the producers of local content to produce that which reflects the Zambian culture, as well as take into, the Zambia laws.

She further urged the television stations, to preview the content, and ensure that both picture and sound, is in line with the Zambian culture, and suits the needs of all content consumers.

This is contained in a statement availed to ZANIS in Lusaka today by IBA Director General Josephine Mapoma.

Former Minister Finance Minister Felix Mutati says media gossip and finger pointing does not turn the wheels of the country’s economy.

Mr. Mutati challenged the youth to reduce spending their time on social media but instead channel their energies on studies.

Addressing the youth at St Mathias Mulumba Catholic Church in Lusaka’s Bauleni compound after a Sunday service, Mr. Mutati said quality education was the only equalizer in society, hence the need for young people to focus on studies than social media.

“You will evaporate into nothing less if you become allergic to education. Reduce on social media conversation and gossip because it does not contribute to the growth of the nation,” Mr. Mutati said.

Mr. Mutati urged the youth to focus on acquiring an education and stop wasting their time chatting on social media.

“Story telling will not turn Zambia’s economy so focus on studies than social media conversations,” he said.

“If you put pleasure first and drink the whole night, you wake up in the morning and drink water as if you are going for baptism, there are no priests to baptize you so you can only baptize yourself by repenting from your drinking habits,” Mr Mutati added.

Meanwhile, Mr. Mutati made a contribution of K20,000 towards the completion of a youth training facility which will include a kitchen and ICT center for disciples of Don Bosco youth ministry of ST Mathias Mulumba in Lusaka.

He has also pledged computers for the purpose of training youths in Information Communication and Technology (ICT).

Speaking on behalf the youth, Alex Mutale said the youth at the church were committed toward making meaningful contribution to community.

“We have a number of projects going on including a piggery which is already operational as well as a computer lab which we are slowly building, so your gesture will make a difference to us as youths,” he said.

Cleo Ice Queen released the video for the 2019 hustlers anthem “Secure the bag”

Visuals by Smockback , song produced by Shinko beats

The four main opposition parties have unanimously charged that the 18 January national dialogue organized by the three Church Mother Bodies is in a hurry to put UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema to State House.

The quartet comprising mainly the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD), Libral Party (ULP) and Rainbow Party have charged that the three church mother bodies are sidelining the Zambia Centre for Interparty Dialogue (ZCID) to pave way for Mr. Hichilema to be President.

Speaking at a joint press briefing held in Lusaka yesterday, the leaders of the opposition namely Felix Mutati the MMD faction leader, Edith Nawakwi’s FDD, Sakwiba Sikota for ULP and Rainbow Party General Secretary Wynter Kabimba said during a joint press briefing in Lusaka yesterday the Church mother bodies and their Alliance conveniently omitted the fundamental issues and importance in the dialogue process.

Mr Kabimba charged that this omission of fundamental issues is deliberate because facts exposes their duplicity and ultimately political scheme.

“ We now do just that so that the Zambian people can make a fair judgement,” Kabimba said wondering how the failed national dialogue launch held at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on 18th January, 2019, was issued by the opposition Alliance when the quartet did not attend the said launch.

“The truth of the matter is that the purported national dialogue launched was a failure in its attempt to promote the image of one political party namely the UPND,” he said.

The leaders of the four parties said the level of hypocrisy exhibited by UPND and the “ church “ Alliance is unacceptable and consequently described the 18 January meeting as unproductive.

‘‘It’s a vehicle for regime change and nothing else. We don’t see the success of the national dialogue and reconciliation process as a pre-requisite to our winning the 2021 general elections,” they submitted.

The four leaders however seeking an appointment with the three bishops on the next course of action with FDD leader Edith Nawakwi assuring that quartet remain committed to legal reforms that would help promote peace and stability in the country.

The highly anticipated relaunch of Zambia Airways has for the second time been deferred.

The relaunch is now expected to take place in the third quarter of 2019.

The rebirth of Zambia Airways was initiated planned for October 2th 2018 but was forced to be pushed to April 2019, a date which has also been deferred.

This time around, Government hopes to finally put all logistics in place to enable it launch around the third quarter of this year.

Sources at the Ministry of Transport and Communications have revealed that there have been disagreements over the operations model for the airline submitted by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).

The sources said technocrats at the Ministry are objected to the type of aircrafts the IDC and its shareholder Ethiopian Airlines wants to purchase fearing that they may result in losses.

In its model submitted to the Ministry, the IDC wants Zambia Airways to build a fleet of 12 aircraft by 2028 using the US$30 million initial investment.

It hopes to be transporting 1.9 million passengers by 2028 adding that “it will put in place a performance driven culture to ensure the airline is commercial viable.”

According to the plan, Zambia Airways will initially operate regional routes, subsequently expanding to intercontinental destinations in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

The sources have revealed that the Zambian government prefers purchasing smaller aircrafts such as the Embraer SA’s E2-family E195 or Bombardier Inc.’s C Series but that Ethiopian Airlines appears to be inclined to add Boeing Co.’s 737 Max 7 or even Boeing 787 Dreamliners to the fleet.

The sources disclosed that Transport and Communications Permanent Secretary Misheck Lungu will soon toe travelling to Ethiopia to try to convince the partners (Ethiopian Airlines) to agree on the choice of aircrafts.

They said the other reason for the delay is that the newly appointed Zambia Airlines Board of Directors is yet to meet for its inaugural board meeting.

“What this means is that the Board will have to wait before they could meet until P.S Lungu returns from Ethiopia and submits a report on what type of equipment to go with. As we speak now, the launch is postponed because there hasn’t been any agreement on the type of equipment to purchase. Government doesn’t want to buy larger planes which will only service regional and domestic routes, it will be counterproductive and unsustainable,” the source said.

“Further, we don’t have a CEO yet, the board will have to meet first to determine how the question of the CEO will be dealt with the other shareholder. There are some suggestions from Addis Ababa that they give us a CEO but Government seems against that proposal so these are the reasons for the deferment.

Zambia Airways was established in 1964 and operated flights to London, Frankfurt, Rome and Amsterdam, as well as regional destinations.

It ran into financial troubles and was liquidated in 1995.

Ethiopian Airlines will hold a 45 per cent stake in the revived Zambia Airways, while IDC will hold the remaining 55 per cent.

FDD President Edith Nawakwi says the national dialogue failed because the UPND wanted other political parties to champion their agenda.

During a joint media briefing at Taj Pamodzi Hotel with Rainbow Party’s Wynter Kabimba, Sakwiba Sikota’s United Liberal Party (ULP) and MMD’s Felix Mutati, Nawakwi said the UPND reneged on most commonly agreed positions by the opposition political parties before the January 18, 2019 national dialogue.

Mrs. Nawakwi cataloged the steps leading up to the launch that included meetings with all opposition political parties.

She said that opposition political parties met under the auspices of the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) where ADD’s Charles Milupi and Sikota were appointed co-chairpersons but the UPND aligned forces opened another meeting point with the Church Mother Bodies.

“The purported launch of National Dialogue on the 18th January, 2019 was a failure because it was an attempt by the UPND to take control of the process,” Mrs. Nawakwi said.

“The rest of us were to be used as tokens to promote the UPND agenda.”

Mrs. Nawakwi said the UPND branded political parties that did not turn for the national dialogue as surrogates of the Patriotic Front.

She said that all the political parties were agreed that the Church Mother Bodies should chair the dialogue process with the ZCID providing a supporting role.

Mrs. Nawakwi said the political parties already had an agreed agenda from their meeting in June 2018 in Siavonga.

She said that all political parties had signed the Memorandum of Understanding including the UPND.

Mrs. Nawakwi said the constitutional and electoral reforms were more important than the national dialogue.

“It is legal reforms which will promote peace and stability,” she said.

Mrs. Nawakwi said the Church Mother Bodies were being deceived by the UPND in the run up to the dialogue process.

Below is the full briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY PARTY PRESIDENTS OF MMD, FDD, ULP AND GENERAL SECRETARY OF RAINBOW PARTY ON THE NATIONAL DIALOGUE PAMODZI HOTEL, LUSAKA 03RD FEBRUARY, 2019

1. Members of the Press, Ladies and Gentlemen. We wish to welcome you all to this press briefing which is intended to provide the true facts of the events on the impasse between the Zambia Centre for Interparty Dialogue and the three Bishops of the three Church Mother Bodies. Further we wish to give a response to the press statement issued by the Opposition Alliance on Friday, 1st February, 2019.

2.The Opposition Alliance has conveniently omitted the issues of fundamental importance and agreement during the meetings referred to in their press statement. The omission is deliberate because stating the actual facts would expose their duplicity and ultimately their political scheme. We now intend to do just that so that the Zambian people can make a fair judgement.

3. To set the record straight, we have uplifted the paragraphs from the Opposition Alliance press statement and contrasted the lies with the actual facts. We wish to state at the out-set that all the proceedings in the meetings we held with the Opposition Alliance were duly recorded and a verbatim record is available.

4.When we first met with members of the Opposition Alliance at the Law Association of Zambia Secretariat on 24th January, 2019, the Chairperson of the Opposition Alliance, Mr. Charles Milupi asked a question whether or not we ourselves were meeting them as an alliance. It was made very clear to them that we were separate political parties and independent of each other.

At this meeting president Sakwiba and president Milupi were appointed as co-chairpersons. We were not surprised at the question because after the failed launch of the National Dialogue held at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on 18th January, 2019, a statement was issued by the Opposition Alliance calling those of us who did not attend the said launch as surrogate political parties of the Patriotic Front.

5.Let me now address the relevant paragraphs in the Opposition Alliance press statement.

I. In paragraph 2, the Opposition Alliance states that:

‘‘We in the Opposition Alliance decided to approach the Church Mother Bodies and seek counsel on whether there is any role that we could play to assist in addressing the concerns of our colleagues in the Patriotic Front regarding this on-going National Dialogue and Reconciliation process.”

II. In paragraph 3, the statement states that:

‘‘The Church Mother Bodies advised that Opposition Alliance to reach out to our Brothers and Sisters in the Patriotic Front and affiliated Political Parties and to sit down with them. With the aim of seeking to resolve our differences, actual or perceived.’’

The factual position is as follows:

On the evening of Friday, 18th January 2019, on their own initiative the concerned Party Presidents namely: Hon. Sakwiba Sikota SC, Hon. Felix Mutati and Hon. Edith Nawakwi went to Kapingila House to meet the three Bishops namely Bishop George Lungu, Bishop Alfred Kalembo and Bishop Paul Mususu. The purpose of the meeting was to seek to resolve the differences between the Bishops and ZCID.

The follow-up meeting was held on 19th January, 2019, in which the four (4) Party Presidents presented a Draft Memorandum of Understanding from ZCID to the bishops. The bishops advised that they needed time to peruse through the documents and would revert to the Party Presidents after consultations. It was quite clear in the meeting that there were no major differences with the text in the Memorandum of Understanding. The bishops commended the Party Presidents for the initiative and emphasized the urgency to conclude and sign the Memorandum of Understanding.

While waiting for a response from the bishops with regards to the Memorandum of Understanding, president Charles Milupi contacted president Sakwiba Sikota requesting for a meeting which culminated into a meeting of Thursday, 24th January, 2019.

When we met with the Opposition Alliance on 24th January, 2019, we had no idea that they were coming to the meeting as EMISSARIES of the bishops. In that meeting the Patriotic Front were not present as they were not invited. There were no differences “actual or perceived” between the Opposition Alliance and any Political Parties present in that meeting. We did not know the concerns of the Patriotic Front in respect of the National Dialogue which the bishops wanted the Opposition Alliance (as EMMISARIES) to assist them in resolving.

The truth of the matter is that the purported launch on 18th January, 2019, was a failure in its attempt to promote the image of one Political Party namely the United Party for National Development. The rest of us were to be used as tokens to promote that agenda, and hence the reference to us as surrogates of Patriotic Front.

6. In paragraph 5, the statement reads that:

‘‘the other side identified the draft Memorandum of Understanding that was intended to define the relationship between the Church Mother Bodies and the Zambia Centre for Interparty Dialogue (ZCID) which had not yet been signed as a major sticking point’’.

The draft Memorandum of Understanding was a document generated through consultative meetings between the Zambia Centre for Interparty Dialogue and the three Church Mother Bodies including United Party for National Development. However, the United Party for National Development President in the meeting pleaded ignorance of its existence. He requested for a copy which was given to him. It was then agreed that the meeting be adjourned to the following day, with the Memorandum of Understanding as the agenda item. At this stage the Opposition Alliance suggested that the Patriotic Front should be invited to the meeting so as to rally consensus of all Parties on the Memorandum of Understanding.

7. In paragraph 9, the statement reads that:

‘‘All Parties were agreeable to the fact that the three Church Mother Bodies will lead and Chair the ongoing National Dialogue and Reconciliation Process as they had ably done thus far, and that Zambia Center for Interparty Dialogue will assist with the process as delegated by the Church Mother Bodies from time to time’’.

This paragraph is a complete and deliberate distortion of what transpired and it’s clearly intended to please some quarters including the three Church Mother Bodies for reasons only the Opposition Alliance would understand.

The verbatim transcript will show that all Parties agreed:

(a) That the three Church Mother Bodies will lead and Chair the National Dialogue.

(b) That there shall be a joint secretariat which will not be situated at Kapingila House or Zambia Center for Interparty Dialogue premises.

(c) That the secretariat shall be composed of staff seconded thereto by both Zambia Centre for Interparty Dialogue and the Church Mother Bodies and other relevant offices.

(d) That the Secretariat shall be headed by an independent professional person.

(e) That there shall be a National Dialogue Bank Account to be jointly managed by the church and ZCID. This is for the purposes of promoting transparency and accountability.

(f) That the agenda for the National Dialogue shall be as agreed by all Political Parties in SIAVONGA in June, 2018, with room to include any new items during the plenary session of all Political Party Presidents and all stakeholders.

It is important here to point out that at the end of the meeting on the Memorandum of Understanding, Mr. Charles Milupi as co-chair emphasized that all Parties would now go and meet the three Church Mother Bodies as a united front. It was also agreed that the two co-chairs Presidents SAKWIBA SIKOTA and CHARLES MULUPI would go and submit the Memorandum of Understanding in advance of the meeting bishops.

On Sunday 27th January, 2019, the Co-Chairpersons went to meet the bishops and delivered the agreed Memorandum of Understanding. They were shocked to learn that the bishops were already in possession of the Memorandum of Understanding. The bishops informed the co-chairs that Mr. Sean Tembo had already delivered the said Memorandum of Understanding and the bishops confirmed that the Memorandum of Understanding delivered by the co-chairs was exactly the same and that they had already reacted in writing to the document.

8. At the behest of co-chair Hon Milupi a meeting of political parties was called without an agenda at the Pamodzi Hotel on Tuesday 29th January, 2019. To our dismay the United Party for National Development and its Alliance Parties reneged on almost all clauses agreed to during the meeting on Friday 25th January 2019, and attempted to re-open debate on the Memorandum of Understanding based on the comments made by the bishops.

We then asked them as to whether they were speaking on behalf of the bishops or they had changed their minds about what was agreed document in the meeting of Friday 25th January 2019 concerning the texts of the same MOU.

In response they said that they had not changed their minds but they argued that the document didn’t reflect the spirit of the discussion. We advised them that there was no need to respond to the spirit of the meeting when the text to which agreed was very clear.

It was a strange coincidence that the issues on which they wanted to reopen the debate were exactly the same as the comments raised by the bishops’ reactions in the Memorandum of Understanding. This level of hypocrisy was unacceptable.

When the Opposition Alliance insisted on reopening the debate, we proposed to them that the verbatim recording be played to the meeting in order to settle the argument. At which stage the UPND president stated that if we went ahead to play the recording, he would walk away and the dialogue process will collapse. With that threat from the UPND president the meeting collapsed because it was clear that the meeting was unproductive.

Members of the press, we now clearly understand the maneuvers and capitulation by UPND and its alliance as stated in their press statement in paragraph 20 in the Opposition Alliance press Statement which reads:

‘‘We do not see the possible success of the National Dialogue and Reconciliation Process as a pre-requisite to our winning the 2021 general Elections, but rather as merely complimentary. A successful National Dialogue and Reconciliation process would ensure a peaceful transition of power in 2021, whereas a failed process would bring about a chaotic transition of power in 2021.’’

From the foregoing, it is clear to see and understand that the National Dialogue is only important if it guarantees the United Party for National Development and its Alliance Parties a gateway to state House in 2021. It is a vehicle for regime change and nothing else.

A United Party for National Development in power would see no need for such dialogue. This agenda by the United Party for National Development and its Alliance Parties has many players. This was clear from some of the speeches delivered during the purported launch on 18th January 2019.

It is for this reason that issues such as a transparent bank account are met with strong resistance from the Opposition Alliance. It is also for this same reason that a joint secretariat and other issues collectively agreed by all Political Parties in the meeting of Friday, 25th January, 2019 had now become contentious and obstacles in preparing for the National Dialogue Process.

We wish to take this opportunity to inform the Nation that yesterday on 02nd February, 2019, we submitted a letter seeking an appointment with the three bishops on the next course of action.

As political parties we remain committed to legal reforms which will promote peace and stability in our country.

Issued by:

Hon. Sakwiba Sikota SC President-United Liberal Party

Hon. Felix Mutati
President-Movement for Multiparty Democracy.

Hon. Edith Nawakwi
President-Forum for Democracy and Development.

Hon.Wynter M. Kabimba SC ODS General Secretary-Rainbow Party.