National Restoration Party President, Elias Chipimo has offered his condolences to the families of the young men that lost their lives in what he described as Zambia’s worst mining “accident” in recent years.

Mr. Chipimo has called for the resignation of Mines Minister, Richard Musukwa who recently declared that mining operations at the Black Mountain were safe and it was not a disaster in waiting.
Mr.Chipmo said the accident was not only predictable, it was actually predicted.He has also called on President Lungu to appologize to the families of the victims for putting the lives of their loved ones at risk.

Below is the Full Press Statement

Blood on their hands

We received, with a heavy heart, the news that filtered through this morning about the death of many young Zambians while operating at the Black Mountain slag dump in Kitwe. We offer our sincere condolences to the families of the young men that have lost their lives in this terrible incident which ranks as Zambia’s worst mining “accident” in recent years.

This “accident” was not only predictable, it was actually predicted. Many, including NAREP, had warned of the danger of unsupervised operations at the slag dump. The decision to grant open access to a dangerous and unstable mine site reflects the irresponsibility of political leadership whose sole aim is to retain political power at any cost. President Lungu and his advisers must surely now reflect on how many lives they feel need to be needlessly lost in order to secure their political survival on the Copperbelt. They should answer the question as to whether they feel they have blood on their hands.

Three things are must be done from this point onwards:

(i) Mr. Richard Musukwa must resign as Minister of Mines – this is what any self-respecting individual who goes on record rubbishing the concerns of people’s safety a few days before an accident actually happens, would do;

(ii) the police, local authorities and the Ministry of Mines should take clear and comprehensive steps to ensure that no further mining operations take place without proper and enforceable guidelines that adhere to the law and safe mining practices; and

(iii) an apology should ensue from President Lungu to the families of the victims of this “accident” for putting the lives of their loved ones at risk.

In future, no politically motivated manoeuvres of this nature should be allowed to endanger the lives of communities yearning for empowerment. We have always said that there is a way to empower the youth on the Copperbelt. NAREP remains open and willing to provide these ideas and to work together towards their implementation in order to ensure that incidents like this never happen again.

Elias C. Chipimo
President
National Restoration Party (NAREP)

The on-going works on the Ndola-Kitwe Dual Carriageway are a serious diplomatic scandal, says Green Party President Peter Sinkamba.

And Mr. Sinkamba has called upon the Chinese Government to completely write-off the loan given to Zambia for the project for sub-standard works by one of its parastatal companies.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sinkamba has demanded that Kenneth Kaunda International Airport and Ndola International Airport should be allowed for use after completion of the works by China Jiangxi International until the works are verified by international construction experts to avert an airport disaster at the two airports.

Speaking in Kitwe this morning after inspecting the road, Mr. Sinkamba said the quality of works on the Ndola-Kitwe Dual Carriageway by China Jiangxi International is of substandard quality and added that and he has no doubt in his mind that on-going works on Kenneth Kaunda Airport and Ndola International Airport will also be sub-standard quality.

“As the Green Party, we call upon the Chinese Government to write-off the loan which was given to the Zambian government for the Ndola-Kitwe Dual Carriageway because China Jiangxi International, is a Chinese Government company, has done a scandalous job. This is a serious diplomatic scandal. It is not right for the Chinese Government to engage in rip-offs like the Ndola-Kitwe Dual Carriageway,” Mr. Sinkamba said.

“The Chinese Government gave us a loan to construct the 2,000km TAZARA. No doubt about it, TAZARA was a quality job. And we the Zambian people are thankful for perfect job done in a record time. And we also thank the Chinese Government for writing-off the TAZARA loan,” he said.

“Now coming to the Ndola-Kitwe Dual Carriageway, this one is a scandal. The works to resurface less than 70km the Kitwe-Ndola Dual Carriageway has taken a record six years. We expect much better than that from a Chinese Government company. We cordially invite the Chinese Ambassador to Zambia to come to the Copperbelt prove our point. As a face-saver, the best the Chinese Government could do is just to write-off the loan,” Mr. Sinkamba said.

Mr. Sinkamba explained that China JCHX was granted the contract to resurface 65km of the dual carriageway from Ndola to Kitwe in 2012 and up to now, in 2018, the works are far from being completed. He said several stretches along the road have been redone on a number of times but the redone works only last for less six months.

He said the quality of work by contractor China Jiangxi International on the Ndola-Kitwe Dual Carriageway is very pathetic and wonders why the company was awarded such sensitive works without any proven record of satisfactory works in Zambia.

He added that the road is now a serious hazard, especially in the night because half the total stretch of the dual carriageway has been ripped off.

He regretted that China Jiangxi International was allowed to completely rip-off the original works without verification that they could better work. He said even in the state the old road was before ripping it off in 2012, it was by far stronger and of much better quality than the sub-standard China Jiangxi International works.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sinkamba regrets that China Jiangxi International was awarded two very sensitive airport construction jobs. He said construction of runways and taxiways is a very specialized and sensitive job which requires experienced and proven records of excellence.

“Going by what we have seen on the Ndola-Kitwe Dual Carriageway, this company lacks appropriate experience and proven record of experience in Zambia to undertake sensitive and specialized works like airport runways and taxiways. We think that when they finish working on the Kenneth Kaunda international Airport and Ndola International Airport, AITA should commission an independent verification exercise before the airports are operational to avert disasters,” Mr Sinkamba said.

Chief Government Spokesperson Dora Siliya has clarified that government has not banned travels for the President, government leaders and civil servants but is merely trying to manage the process so that the country gets maximum benefits from such travels.

Addressing Journalists at her office in Lusaka yesterday , Ms Siliya who is also Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services said the travels are necessary for the work of government and that travels will be restricted to those with comparative advantage and benefits for the country.

Last week Finance Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe announced that President Edgar Lungu had introduced several new austerity measures in an effort to address the country’s worsening debt crisis.Among the austere measures introduced were a cut down on ministerial travels.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

President Edgar Lungu and opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema on Wednesday met and shook hands during the burial ceremony for late veteran politician Daniel Munkombwe at his Kabebya farm in Choma.

President Lungu also met and shook hands with other opposition leaders such as Chishimba Kambwili, Wynter Kabimba and Dr Nevers Mumba.

The scene attracted jubilation from fellow mourners who jubilated at seeing the political rivals embrace.

Speaking at the event, family member Vernon Mwaanga said it was late Mr. Munkombwe’s final wish that political leaders should put their differences aside and unite.

Dr Mwaanga said what was witnessed at the burial is testimony that late Mr. Munkombwe’s wishes are coming to pass.

And Mr Hichilema observed that it is befitting that people from across the political divide came out in numbers and paid their last respects to one of the few remaining freedom fighters in Zambia.

“It is sad that he has left at a time we needed more of his ebullience and encouragement which was key in uniting the country. The late Munkombwe is one of the few politicians who diligently served under all political parties in Zambia since independence,” Mr Hichilema said.

“We strengthened the family and prayed that they look up to God the Creator as they mourn the passing of this illustrious son of Zambia,” Mr Hichilema said.

At least 10 people are confirmed dead and eight injured after the slag mountain commonly known as “black mountain” collapsed this morning in Kitwe‘s Wusakila township.

Copperbelt Province Permanent Secretary Bright Nundwe has since halted mining operations at the mountain until further notice.

Mr Nundwe who rushed to Kitwe to check on rescue operations carried out by Zambia Police Service and the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) confirmed that 10 people have died while eight were injured in the accident that happened this morning around 09 30 hours.

The Ps said out of the eight injured two people are in are critical condition while the other six sustained multiple injuries and are admitted at Kitwe Teaching Hospital.

The mountain is allegedly to have collapsed due to the machinery that was excavating on top while some people were picking stones below.

Meanwhile Mr. Nundwe has ordered that operations be halted at the mountain and mobile police officers from Kafimsa be deployed to keep vigil at the black mountain.

And Copperbelt Police Commissioner Charity Katanga said the number of victims may go up as rescue operations will continue just to ensure that no one remain trapped in the slag.

Emotions flared as news of the collapsed mountain spread in the nearby Wusakila Township causing commotion and panic among residents.

This led to the deployment of security personnel from Zambia Army and reinforcement of police officers from

And PEREZ Christian Church in Ndola has called on government and other safety institutions in the country to quickly put up safety measures at the famous ‘black mountain”.

Perez Apostolic leader Alick Kapandula said government through the ministry of mines should re-exam the safety of the mountain and ascertains the prevailing situation which he described as threatening.