By Percy Chanda

PF must be very careful in the way it conducts itself in the Country, it’s very clear that Zambians have been stretched to the limit; there is no looking back now. People who tuned up included the youths, middle aged and the old. What brought all these people is the suffering and misery they are going through. The economy has been mismanaged to the levels where people are prepared to die from a bullet than from hunger. You can dismiss this as nonsense but it’s a reality.

At one point I asked one old lady what she was doing there since she cannot even run in case of problems. This old lady said” my son I’m already dead. If I don’t support you people hunger will still kill me, so what’s the point of me fearing that gun (pointing at the Policemen with guns.) Let them shoot me it will be faster for me to die than the slow painful death from hunger.” I could not hold back tears.

As I moved towards the Civic Centre I met a very young boy and I told him to move away quickly out of that place before anything happens, but he said “you are mistaken I’m also part of this gathering” I pleaded with the boy to leave. The boy said “I’m a double orphan I only live with my elder sister who is also too young to work, we only survive on rentals we collect from the house we have subdivided left by our late parents. Now we hear this PF will be taking away that money from us, so better I die here.” You can imagine how I felt. Later I found women singing KAPATA MUKAYA MWENI AKAYA UKASHALA UCHIMONA.

This is what happens when those in power detach themselves from the suffering masses. The PF regime has been very insensitive to the cries of the people. The PF leadership is busy appeasing itself. The PF regime is so insensitive that it has continued squeezing the already suffering Zambians through endless taxes to pay back loans most of which just ended in their pockets.

Unlike the PF demonstration that was attended by hired cadres eating with PF, most of those who attended did not even understand why they were demonstrating. What was at hand was just bribery; people were ferried by free transport. But the HH one people moved on foot from very far townships of Ndola. The HH solidarity one was driven by people’s inner feelings of how they are suffering under this ruthless and brutal PF regime. The determination that I saw in people was enough to safely say that PF should start packing.

Next time don’t use your emotions and your so called power to silence the voice of the people.

The Author is UPND – Chairman for Mines and Freedom Fighter.

The Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) has welcomed the six-year sentence meted out on Anti-corruption activist Gregory Chifire by the Supreme Court on Friday.

LAZ President Eddie Mwitwa said that the sentence sends a message that Zambians must not engage in unwarranted attacks that tarnish the image of the judiciary.

Mr. Mwitwa was speaking in a telephone interview with ZNBC News in Lusaka.

Mr. Mwitwa also observed that the Supreme Court judgment where Mr. Chifire was convicted indicated that the judiciary welcomed constructive criticism through the right fora.

Mr. Mwitwa has also welcomed the admonition by the Supreme Court Judges that lawyers must observe professional ethics when representing clients in the courts of law.

Mr. Mwitwa further upheld the observations by the judges that the media houses and personnel must be professional in handling court matters to avoid being cited for contempt of court.

Mr. Chifire who is also Director of Southern Africa Network Against Corruption (SANAC) was cited for contempt of court for his disparaging remarks on Justice Irene Mambilima and the Judiciary after the disposal of the STANBIC Bank Versus SAVENDA Case.

He was charged with four counts of contempt of court.

Deputy Chief Justice Marvin Mwanamwambwa, Supreme Court Judges Evans Hamaundu, Mumba Malila, and Rhoda Kaoma presided over the judgment.

State House says the meeting between President Edgar Lungu and opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema was cordial and frank.

Presidential Spokesperson Amos Chanda said that the two engaged freely and openly in a cordial atmosphere.

Mr. Chanda told journalists that the opposition leader committed to the dialogue process unconditionally.

He said President Lungu remains focused on the process.

Mr. Chanda however expressed concern at the level of doubt in the nation up to the extent of questioning whether the meeting of the two leaders ever took place.

Meanwhile, President Lungu has met business executives from Tullow Oil who informed him that they were on the verge of making a decisive move.

Tullow Oil Vice President Tim O’hanlon told the President that some initial stages of the exploration of oil and gas in Luapula are done.

Mr. Chanda who confirmed the development said the decision by the company can change the country’s economic outlook.

President Lungu also met the World Farmers Organisation President Theo De Jager who expressed excitement at Zambia’s immense agro potential.

Today’s Scripture

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
(John 3:16, NIV)

Love That Gives

Have you ever thought about how love affects giving? I’ve heard it said that you can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving. Love prompts us to give of ourselves, our time, abilities and resources. The Bible tells us that God is love, and the world will know that we are His followers by the love we show—and giving is what shows our love! We are entering into a time of the year that the world knows as the season of giving, but let’s remember to take time to focus on the greatest gift of all, the gift of eternal, abundant life through Jesus. If you’ve never received this gift, I invite you to open your heart and pray this simple prayer: “Lord Jesus, I come to You today, giving You all that I am. I repent of my sins and confess that I need You. I believe You died and rose for me. Be my Lord and Savior and make me new today. I receive Your love and Your gift of eternal life.” Then, go out and share the gift of love with someone else because it’s the only gift that will last in eternity!

A Prayer for Today

“Father in heaven, thank You for loving me and setting me free. I choose to serve You with my whole heart all the days of my life. Help me to love others the way You love me. Give me opportunities to be a blessing everywhere I go in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

The Commission of Inquiry into Voting Patterns and Electoral Violence has closed its countrywide public sittings in Lusaka Province.

Commission Chairperson Munalula Lisimba officially closed the hearings in Chawama Constituency yesterday.

Justice Lisimba expressed happiness with the quantity and quality of the submissions countrywide.

He has since thanked the people of Zambia for their contributions to the commission.

And a petitioner Andsen Banda 61, a business man, submitted that the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) was not professional in the manner it handled the 2016 elections saying there were irregularities.

He added that the playing field was not levelled.

And Leonard Kapungu aged 63, submitted that violence is caused by political parties who heavily fund political cadres to engage in the vice.

Mr Kapungu said most cadres are unemployment and that are instigated to get money from political leaders who fund them during campaigns.

He added that the cadres are forced to engage in violence for survival purposes as they are not employed.

He said character assassination by supporters of political party leaders was the order of the day a situation which he said was regrettable.

Meanwhile, the Commission will week hold special sittings for the Founding Fathers and Mothers and other senior citizens of Zambia.

The Munalula Lisimba-Led Commission was instituted to inquire among other matters into the voting patterns between 2006 and 2016 and establish the root causes of the patterns.

Furthermore, the Inquiry was also mandated to establish the role of political parties, traditional rulers, and the media in shaping voting patterns and instigation of violence among others.

President Edgar Lungu instituted the commission in October 2016 and through Statutory Instrument No. 60 of 2018, in exercise of the powers contained in section 3 of the Inquiries Act, extended the mandate of the Commission to 31st December, 2018 to conclude its work.

Prior to the extension, the Commission had by 30th June, 2018, covered eight (8) out of the country’s 10 provinces to receive oral and written submissions from members of the public.

PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu says his government has kept State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) the way it found them while others have been revamped contrary to claims that it is selling some parastatal companies.

Mr Lungu said the Patriotic Front government wanted to expose SOEs to improve their operations and make them transparent to create more wealth and jobs.

The president said today in Kasama when he launched the ZAFFICO Kasama Forest Plantation that Zambians should not listen to people who were saying that ZAFFICO had been sold.

He said just like government listed ZCCM IH on the stock market, it did not mean that ZAFFICO would be sold because the State would maintain 60 per cent shareholding while part of the 40 per cent shares would be floated to the workers and the rest to others.

“As we list ZAFFICO on the Lusaka Securities exchange (LuSE) we will be careful and prudent just like vice president Inonge Wina said in Parliament on Friday, government will hold 60 per cent shares,” he said.

Mr Lungu said in the MMD regime some people involved in the privatization process undervalued some companies but the PF government would be careful with SOEs.

In an apparent reference to UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema, he said some people even had shares in the same companies they sold.

“Some people we know were given chance to sell companies and they bought them. But now they want to be leaders, do not listen to them they will sell more companies. They are wolves in a sheep’s skin,” he said.

He stated that it was sad that the people that where entrusted with with the privatization process at the time, shamelessly sold off the state owned enterprises and even now boast of riches which they literally looted through the privatization process to the disadvantage of the poor ordinary majority.

“Muchibemba batila, shibukombe ninkombe wakufikisha amashiwi. Nomba ngawaya ifisha we shibukombe, ninshi fyamano? (As a messenger, your role is to deliver a messege and not pass off the message as your own). The President stated that it was a shame that the privatisers were shareholders in the companies that they had been entrusted to privatise.

He stated that the accusations by the culprits of privatization, that the PF government was selling state owned companies was malicious and lacked merit in its entirety and urged the Zambian people to treat those peddling falsehoods with the contempt they deserved.

“Do not listen to lies that we are selling ZAFFICO. We have kept all state owned enterprises that we found. We have grown some of them and going foward we intend to list some of them on the stock exchange to make them more viable,” he said.

He said the PF government had kept parastatals the way it found them and ZAFFICO was on the right trajectory and was implementing programmes such as the 5,000 hectares cashew nut Mongu project and the almost 2,000 hactares of forest in Kasama.

“Some people we know were given chance to sell companies and they bought them. But now they want to be leaders, do not listen to them they will sell more companies. They are wolves in a sheep’s skin,” he said.

He urged Zambians to listen to both sides because those who were involved in the privatization of companies were the ones accusing his government of corruption.

The president urged those in government to continue working hard while listening to people’s concerns and not from those who wanted to distract them so that they could lose the 2021 elections.

Lands and Natural Resources Minister Jean Kapata said Zambia was facing rapid deforestation and her ministry wanted to ensure there were 20 hectares of forest plantations in each district.

Ms Kapata said the idea needed the partnership of stakeholders and that was the reason the ministry partnered with ZAFFICO in the Kasama and Nakonde projects.

She said President Lungu had provided leadership on sustainable forest management which had potential to create wealth and job opportunities.

Northern province Minister Brian Mundubile said ZAFFICO had responded by investing in the region in order to help drive the diversification agenda.

ZAFFICO board chairperson Trevor Kaunda said the 1,947 Kasama Forest Plantation was the first in Northern province and the third outside the Copperbelt.

He said 300 hectares of land had been cleared this year with the involvement of about 300 local people.

He said his company was also in the process of acquiring land in Luwingu and Mporokoso in its continued forest plantation expansion programme.

He said the idea of listing the company on the stock market would help his company raise capital while Zambians would also have to own shares.