Why voting for PF candidate Annie Patricia Brown as Chilanga District council Chairperson is the right thing to do
By Sunday Chanda, 16th July 2018

Background

Chilanga district council was for decades a Cinderella constituency filled with immensely unfulfilled potential under Kafue district Council.When the Patriotic formed government in 2011 and established Chilanga as a District the following year, it did so with the prospect of lifting the standard of living for the people of Chilanga by initiating and accelerating the building of infrastructure such as roads, Health Centres, Schools and markets in order to fulfil the Patriotic Front’s vision of taking government to the people under the decentralization process.
Sadly, since Chilanga was established as a district, the lack of appreciation of the originators’ vision by the UPND and lack of collaboration by the opposition-led council has over the years frustrated the well-intended efforts and works of the ruling Patriotic Front Government led by His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu and his predecessor and the late PF founding President Mr. Michael Chilufya Sata.
In the words of John Maxwell, “Teamwork makes the dream work, but a vision becomes a nightmare when the leader has a big dream and a bad team”.
His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu and the PF Government have a vision for the people of Chilanga. However the indifferent opposition officials at local government level have turned the development dream into a sordid nightmare. UPND District Council chairpersons, councillors and Members of Parliament have avoided meeting and engaging Central Government officials on behalf of Chilanga residents for fear of expulsion from their party and other reprisals meted by their leadership. This has not helped Chilanga residents at all.

A new Era for Chilanga

However there is a boat that is emerging which is silhouetted in the rays of a new dawn. It brings with it fresh hope for the district to develop as envisaged by its PF initiators.
The sunrise of breakthrough began with the recent election of PF’s Maria Langa as Member of Parliament for Chilanga. This marked a defining moment as it demystified the “Chilanga is an opposition stronghold” myth and started clearing the haze covering the districts’ progress. In less than a month since the Patriotic Front MP was elected, she hit the ground running and there have been 3 grounds breaking ceremonies by the Minister of Health Honourable Chitalu Chilufya, for 3 different desperately needed health facilities in three different wards of Chilanga.
In its short history, the District is yet to have a Member of Parliament and a Chairperson from the ruling PF serving at the same time. But barring the improbable, that is about to change. The synergy and prospects of development that would unfold with such a scenario are bound to give the people of Chilanga goose bumps. This connotes that development. In such a scenario, even if Ms Brown as Chilanga PF Council Chairperson faced hostility and spiteful obstruction from the significant opposition numbers in the council, she would invariably garner the direct support of the people of Chilanga through the Ward Development Committees with the backing of Honourable Langa and Constituency Development Funds (CDF) as well as the Devolution Fund. She would run Chilanga District Council as an agent of Central Government in the promotion of social, political and economic development to the lowermost level.
With Ms Brown of the ruling party, Chilanga District Council is at the cusp of a new era of social and economic development as per the Chilanga District 2016 to 2021 Strategic Development Plan which was designed by the Ministry of Local Government and housing and launched with a view to modernising the district whose general outlook is in stark contrast to the capital city just 15 kilometres away. Pursuit of continuous improvement in service delivery through infrastructure development in the district is the common thread interwoven throughout the fabric of the plan.

Core Issues

The two PF women under the leadership of His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu and the Patriotic Front are not only already in sync with each other and the Patriotic Front Manifesto, but they are also in tune with government policy and programs such as the Seventh National Development plan. The pair has already drawn up and prioritised a to-do-list which they have pledged to jointly execute in league with relevant authorities once Ms Brown is ushered into office.

Legalisation of Land

At the top of the list is the pressing issue of the legalisation of land in settlement areas of the 10 wards in Chilanga district.

Roads and Infrastructure Development

The tarring of Chilanga Township Roads under the L400 Project features prominently on the PF Council Chairperson Candidate’s agenda.

Water & Sanitation

The sight of her fellow women in Nyemba, Mwembeshi, Nakachenje, Chilongolo, Namalombwe, and Chilanga as well as those in Chilanga and Chimanga walking long distances to fetch for water has galvanised the PF Chilanga Council Chairperson Candidate into seeking a sustainable solution to the lack of water supply in the district.

Health

Ms Brown has expressed anguish at the lack of adequate health facilities in the district. As a mother and a grandmother she has noted the absence of adequate health facilities across the district and she has resolved to work with the area MP and other stakeholders, to remedy the situation once elected into office.

Agriculture

As a small scale farmer with a passion for agriculture, the PF Council Chairperson candidate has pledged to facilitate the establishment of the Chilanga District Farmers Union under ZNFU and to that ensure farmers are included on the E-Voucher System.
Added to this, Ms Brown envisions the participation of residents in the correctional facility farms in Mwembeshi and the construction of two jubilee markets.

Women and Youth Empowerment

In line with the PF Manifesto 2016-2021, to integrate women and youth in national development, she looks forward to the establishment of the Chilanga District Women’s Association and the Chilanga Youth Entrepreneur Association.
To this end Anne Patricia Brown has pledged to allocate at least 10% of CDF to women empowerment and 10% to Youth Empowerment programs. She has also committed to rehabilitating Mt. Makulu Recreation Centre together with many others

Corporate Social Responsibility

Ms Brown seeks to leverage strategic industries in Chilanga such as Lafarge, oriental Quarries, Marcopolo tiles and AquaSavana among others for the benefit of the residents of Chilanga.

Gender Equity and Gender Equality

While the erstwhile deceased Council Chairperson was a woman, the UPND bizarrely chose a man to replace her, thus regressing the pursuit for gender parity in political space and decision making.
On the other hand, the adoption of Ms Anne Brown as the PF Candidate for Chilanga Council Chairperson demonstrates the PF government’s commitment to Gender Equality. Her election will provide further impetus to Zambia’s implementation of international protocols, such as the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the SADC Protocol on Gender and the 50-50 by 2030.
Anne Patricia Brown’s victory at the ballot would not just be an ordinary triumph for affirmative action for the sake of it. She is a phenomenal woman and a woman of substance.
A former employee of Bank of Zambia and the University of Zambia“Mai Anna”, as she is fondly called in her neighbourhood, is a practical hands-on community leader. She is a devout Christian and is the current Chairperson of the St. Anna Lay Group at her local Catholic Church. Through this church women’s group, she provides leadership by caring for orphans and vulnerable persons. In her vision for Chilanga, she endeavours to create uplifting partnerships with citizens, communities and organisations creating sustainable prosperity for Chilanga.
The Patriotic Front and Mai Anna bring forth an excellent opportunity for Chilanga District community to have a dedicated and visionary leader and mother chairperson for the District Council. With bold leadership and a clear action plan, Mai Anna is poised to galvanise the ethos at Chilanga District Council to ensure the purpose of the formation of Chilanga as a district is fulfilled.
Working under the leadership of His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa and the Patriotic front Government, teamwork will make the Chilanga Development dream work.

The author is Patriotic Front Media Director at the Party Headquarters

The Party of National Unity (PNU) says austerity measures announced by government need to be supported by figures if they are to be meaningful.

PNU president Highvie Hamududu said the Minister of Finance cannot just announce the measures to address debt and fiscal challenges without stating what the amounts are.

Mr. Hamududu said without stating how much will be saved from the announced austerity measures the pronouncements by the Minister will remain mere flowery intentions on paper.

He told QTV News that his party is of the view that the Treasury must go further to indicate the exact amounts to be saved and where these savings will be applied.

Mr. Hamududu stated that it is also important for the Ministry of Finance to clearly indicate all expenditure realignments.

Below are some of the austere measures announced by Finance Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe last month.
Revenue measures

1. The ministry of finance wi?l ensure that there is strict adherence to the programmed domestic financing in the 2018 budget;
2. The ministry of finance will compel fuel importers to make declaration of fuel imports at borders to curb the problem of smugglingof fuel;
3. The ministry of transport and communication will expeditiously implement the telecommunication transactions monitoring system for mobile service providers;
4. The ministries of finance and mines and minerals development will put in place legislative measures to introduce taxation on precious metal exports;
5. The ministry of finance will introduce electronically verifiable tax stamps on high risk imports to address the problem of smuggling; and,
6. The ministries of justice; finance, and lands will urgently resolve all land titling issues to ensure that the planned issuance of 300,000 land titles is attained.

Expenditure measures

1. The ministry of finance will only fund projects that are at least 80 percent complete;
2. In order to control the high expenditure on personal emoluments, recruitments will strictly be limited to the provisions of the 2018 budget;
3. The management of the payroll will be moved to the ministry of finance by the end of june 2018 to ensure separation of duties in order to enhance the authenticity of entries on the payroll, address payment of wrong allowances and ghost workers;
4. To cut down on the cost of running government by reducing expenditures related to both local and foreign travel, and workshops, the secretary to the cabinet has been directed by the president to immediately issue new travel guidelines that will reduce the number of travels and the size of delegations;
5. The ministry of works and supply will finalize the policy on government vehicles with the view to have them disposed off. This will reduce expenditures on running the government fleet;
6. The president has directed that a committee to crutinize the quality of expenditure in ministries should be set up under the ministry of finance.the committee will allow government to take remedial measures on unnecessary expenditures for the rest of 2018 and going forward.
7. Electricity tariffs with independent power producers will be renegotiated to ensure that there is parity between the buying and sell prices by ZESCO;
8. The industrial development corporation (idc) will implement the president’s long outstanding directive to relook at the portfolio of state owned companies to restructure the portfolio and bring in equity participation for those that are variable; and,
9. The ministry of national development planning will establish a multi-sectoral public investment board to scruitnize capital expenditure requests prior to submitting to cabinet.

The 3rd annual Lusaka July event was successfully held this past weekend (14^th july) at Lusaka Polo club under the theme ‘Colony of Wealth‘. The theme was designed to encourage attendants to express the richness and diversity of African fashion and imagine themselves as royalty through their outfits. Some of the attendees admittedly did not understand the theme but came dressed in their most luxurious ensembles nonetheless.

The polo-fashion event had a number of celebrity guests such as Nollywood actress Nadia Buari, Maps Maponyane from South Africa, Dillish Mathews from Namibia as well as Zambia’s Macky 2, Cleo Ice Queen, DJ El Mukuka, Mampi, Bombshell among many others.

Many local fashion designers showcased their latest collections. Some of the designers included ; Nkanda Yaku , Lace by Mwenge, Blink Africa Designs , as well as Mtani from Tanzania. Guests were treated with live music performances by James Sakala and Kuni as they enjoyed the fashion parade.

The Lusaka July was introduced in 2016 by PR Girl Media as a deliberate spin-off the South African horse-racing event the Durban July. Over the years the event has grown to become a “must attend” for A-Listers, socialites and corporates, with its unique combination of fashion, entertainment and the sport of polo.

Pictures from the event:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

46.

47.

48.

49.

50.

51.

52.

53.

54.

55.

56.

57.

58.

59.

60.

BY KAPA KAUMBA

Political parties participating in the Chilanga District Chairperson By-Election on 26 July have taken measures to end violence in the district by drawing up ten resolutions which were signed by the parties, the Police and the District Electoral Officer who is also the Council Secretary.

Among the resolutions signed by UPND, PF and UPPZ, Police and the Council Secretary was a call to political parties not to import cadres to the district during the campaign period and command centres to be immediately disbanded after the campaign period ends on 25th July as well as voters to leave polling stations immediately after voting.

Accrding to the statement released to the media by Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) public Relations Manager, Ms Margaret Chimanse, the parties also resolved that offensive weapons should not be carried during the campaign period while door to door campaigns were restricted to three people and campaign messages to be issue based with no character assassination.

The parties further resolved to abide by the district campaign schedule and called for enhanced police presence at polling stations while maintaining routine patrols. It is hoped that these measures shall help maintain peace during campaigns and poll day for the Commission to deliver credible elections.

Meanwhile, United Party for National Development (UPND) Spokesperson Charles Kakoma has denied reports from PF that the UPND cadres attacked the residence of Karen Mukata, young sister to former Chilanga Member of Parliament Hon Keith Mukata.

According to PF reports, Ms Mukata’s residence, which is being used as a PF election center, was attacked by UPND cadres in the presence of their candidate Mr. George Muleya and UPND Chilanga Ward councillor Misheck Mweemba and a UPND lady Mrs Mafosi who is Ms. Mukata’s neighbour. The report also alleged that UPND criminals went away with a Television and Radio set belong to Ms. Mukata.

However, Mr Charles Kakoma said that those that attacked Ms. Mukata were not UPND members.

And PF Member of the Central Committee Kebby Mbewe has condemned the violent attacks by suspected UPND cadres on Karen Mukata’s residence. Mr. Mbewe who is also Chilanga Council Elections Campaign Manager said that it was disappointing that the attack comes shortly after the PF and UPND held a meeting with the Electoral Commission of Zambia to hold peaceful council elections.

Mr Mbewe advised UPND leader Hakainde Hachilema to denounce violence as President Edgar Lungu has done on several occasions. Mr. Mbewe said the attacks on Ms. Mukata are unfortunate and must not be condoned in anyway.

He was speaking shortly after he visited the residence to check on the victim and extent of the damage to property.

And Ms. Mukata who narrated her ordeal to ZNBC News said the cadres also went away with property which included a flat screen television set and a radio and that the matter has been reported to police.

The Patriotic Front government has been warned to be cautious that the refined Constitution it wants to give the Zambian people will one day come to haunt them.

Senior citizen Dante Saunders is reminding the PF government to keep in mind that they will have only themselves to blame when they are out of power under such a Constitution.

Mr. Saunders says he has taken note that, while Zambians want a refined Constitution that protects everyone, those in government seem to be more interested serving their interests.

He has told QTV News that if anyone like him would come to power, after the PF government has been removed from office, he would use the same Constitution to deal with them ruthlessly.

Mr. Saunders stated that it will be then that they would realize how bad it is to have a Supreme law of the land that serves more the interest of those in government than the people

Mr. Saunders said that he remembered very well that the same thing actually happened to the then MMD government when it was removed from power because of a bad Constitution.

And Minister of Justice Given Lubinda has clarified that the Parliamentary Service Commission Act has not been brought into force.

Mr. Lubinda says the State Audit Commission Act is equally yet to be operationalized.

He has told QTV News that both Acts require the issuance of Statutory Instruments (SIs) before they could be brought into force.

Mr. Lubinda states that all appointments under the two commissions are therefore being done according to provisions of the Republican Constitution before the 2016 amendments

He states that this does not however mean that the government is not following the Republican Constitution.

Mr. Lubinda notes that Act 1 of 2016 does in fact provide for a transition from the old to the amended Constitution.

He says he does not therefore think it is fair for anyone to create an impression that government is applying the Constitution selectively.

Government has condemned the unruly behavior exhibited by Nkana and Zesco soccer fans during the week 24 fixture played at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola.

Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo says government will not allow any form of hooliganism to dent the image of the country as a beacon of peace.

Mr. Kampyongo disclosed to ZANIS in Lusaka today that he has since instructed the commissioner of Police on the Copperbelt to summon both managers from the two clubs.

He urged FAZ to work with the law enforcement officers under his ministry to insure that perpetrators of this vice are brought to book.

He said soccer is a unifying sport and wondered why soccer fans resorted to indulge in behavior that doesn’t promote the spirit of fair play.