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Speaker of the National Assembly Patrick Matibini has declared the Chilanga seat held by UPND’s Keith Mukata.
Dr Matibini has since written to the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Zambia asking the Commission to start making arrangements for a by election.
The Speaker stated that a vacancy has occurred in the Chilanga seat following the sentencing to death of Mr Mukata by the Lusaka High Court last week Wednesday.
But Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Jack Mwiimbu has questioned the declaration of the Chilanga seat vacant when Mr Mukata has appealed against his death sentence.
Last week, Mr Mukata filed in a notice of appeal against his conviction. Lusaka High Court Judge Susan Wanjelani sentenced Mukata to death after finding him guilty of first degree murder.
According to Mr Mukata’s appear notice in filed in the Court of Appeal Holden at Lusaka Criminal Jurisdiction. “… On the following grounds, the learned trial judge erred in Law and fact when she convicted me without my supporting evidence on record to support such a conviction in. The learned trial judge erred in Law and fact when she convicted me based on circumstantial evidence which had more than one inference to drawn therefrom. Other grounds to be included upon perusal and review of the entire judgments,” the notice read in part.
There was more misery for Zambian clubs in continental action on Wednesday when Zesco United and Zanaco both lost in their respective 2018 CAF Champions League engagements.
Zesco and Zanaco’s home losses came just 48 hours after Nkana were crushed 3-0 away in Algeria by CR Belouizdad in the 2018 CAF Confederation Cup.
At Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola, Zesco United lost 1-0 to ASEC Mimosa of Cote d’Ivoire.
An own goal from Solomon Sakala in the 37th minute handed Zesco its first home loss in continental club action.
The win for ASEC was also the first over Zesco by an Cote d’Ivoire club after two defeats in combined meetings that included losses by the Abidjan clubs’ archrivals Africa Sports in 2009.
There was more history in Lusaka at Nkoloma Stadium where Mbabane Swallows of Swaziland rallied to collect their debut away victory over a Zambian opponent.
‘Swallows stunned Zanaco 2-1 in their CAF Champions League match.
Maisha Chavda put Zanaco ahead in the 32nd minute but Felix Badenhorst and Richard McCreesh fought back with goals in the 55th and 86th minutes respectively.
But Zanaco missed a great opportunity to get an equalizer in stoppage time when Felix Nyaende missed a penalty.
Defeats or draws for Zesco and Zanaco in their final away ties during the weekend of March 17 will see them relegated to the CAF Confederation Cup while the winners with healthy margins advance to the CAF Champions’ League group stage.
EASTERN Province Permanent Secretary, Chanda Kasolo, speaking when he officiated at this year’s Tuwimba traditional ceremony of the Nsenga people of Nyimba district on Saturday. PICTURE BY STEPHEN MUKOBEKO/ZANIS
Eastern Province Permanent Secretary Chanda Kasolo has described the attitude of Zambia Police officers at the last 2018 Nc’wala traditional ceremony of the Ngoni people at Mtenguleni village in Chipata as worrying.
Mr. Kasolo said Journalists had a right to apply their work freely in order to collect accurate data and information at the event without harassment.
The permanent secretary was reacting to the letter issued to him by ZANIS Provincial Information Officer Euphrasia Banda who complained against the manhandling of the media by some security officers at the 2018 Nc’wala ceremony in Chipata district.
This follows a Lusaka based ZANIS Cameraperson Fedelis Mulenga was manhandled and ejected out of the main Nc’wala arena by some security officers at the event.
Mr. Mulenga met his fate when he (Mulenga) attempted to reason with a police officer who wanted to remove a ZANIS technician manning the Public address System from thebmain arena and was slapped in the process.
The PS has described the action by police officers as worrying adding that, instead of them exhibiting professionalism and ensuring peace and tranquility in the execution of duties they went wild harassing the media.
Mr. Kasolo said the police are supposed to be in front line carrying out duties and ensuring that there is peace as opposed to being trouble makers during important events.
Mr. Kasolo said Journalists should work hand in hand with Police officers and vise vesa in supplying information to the public, hence the collaboration between the two remains vital.
And Eastern Province Police Chief Luckson Sakala has condemned and described the attitude of the police officers as unfortunate.
Mr. Sakala said the objective of the media and of the police at the end of point was one and the same hence the need for them to work in harmony.
He has since assured the media in the province that he will not tolerate a re-occurrence of what happened at the ceremony among his officers.
Journalists who covered Nc’wala ceremony have expressed concern with the manner in which police harassed the journalist.
This comes hardly in a space of two months when a Daily Mail Journalist was again harassed by the men and women in uniform during the cleaning up exercise which is a source of concern to the media fraternity in the province.
ZESCO Spokesperson Henry Kapata checking the building in New Kasama that has encroached in the ZESCO pole line
ZESCO Public Relations Officer Henry Kapata says the power cuts being experienced in some parts of Lusaka are not as a result of loadsheding.
Mr. Kapata said some parts of Lusaka like Chilenje, Chalala, and Kamwala have been experiencing some power cuts due to the faults caused by the current season.
Speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today, Mr. Kapata said the mentioned areas are not experiencing load sheding but only electrical faults due to the current weather.
He however said that ZESCO is having challenges in fixing the faults because the fixing of electricity faults is not done during the rainy season.
Mr. Kapata noted ZESCO sends messages on mobile phones to residents if the faults are caused by the company to inform them about the inconvenience.
He however mentioned that there is enough water that will ensure the constant supply of electricity to the nation.
Recently there has been concerns from some residents of Lusaka assuming that the power cuts were load shedding.
First Lady Esther Lungu fitting the hearing aid on Ezra Mung’andu during the World Hearing Day Commemorations at Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka on March 3,2018 . Looking on are Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya and Starkey Hearing Foundation Co-founder Tani Austin looks
First Lady Esther Lungu says it is gratifying that women are making positive gains towards achieving gender parity across the globe and Zambia in particular.
Mrs. Lungu said the gains women have achieved towards gender parity has been made possible by the very strong civil society movement of advocacy, activism and support in the country.
The first lady urged women not to be complacent but continue pressing forward and remain united.
The First Lady was speaking at the Women’s Day Reception event last evening organised by the Chinese Ladies Union in Zambia at the Lusaka Museum.
She hailed the efforts of government for the strides it has made to ensure gender equality in the country and further commended the legislature for putting in place policies and laws that protect women and girls from any forms of violence.
The Chinese Ladies Union in Zambia (CLUZ) also applauded Zambia for achieving gender equity and for implementing various women empowerment programs in the country.
Union Patron and Wife of the Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Geng Hailing said Zambia has made strides to ensure gender equity and has managed to improve representation in decision making positions in the country.
She said China like Zambia has also ensured that women representation in government increases so that they participate in the decision making process.
She further hailed the relationship between the two countries noting that the ties have continued to deepen resulting in the people of the two countries to work together in various sectors.
She said China will endeavor to expand the cooperation between the two countries for the benefit of the citizens.
The Women’s Day reception which was held ahead of the international women’s day which falls on the 8th of March was characterised by Chinese music performances by pupils and Chinese instrumentalists.
The Kitwe City Council has refuted allegations by Chimwemwe Member of Parliament Mwila Mutale that over K500, 000 Constituency Development Funds (CDF) for the year 2013 has gone unaccounted for.
Mr. Mwila alleged that the money that was meant for drilling five boreholes and putting up street lights in three roads in Chimwemwe constituency has been spent but none of the works was done.
Speaking in an interview in ZANIS in Kitwe today, Kitwe City Council Manager for the above CDF projects Kelvin Navinda explained that the localauthority paid for all the three road lighting projects and two were done.
Mr. Navinda said the contractor for the third road lighting project did not do the works forcing the local authority to terminate the contract after consulting its the legal department.
He named the two roads where street lights were put as Chishimba and Garnetone –Zambia Compound roads while Twatasha road was abandoned by the contractor who later was ordered to provide poles equivalent to the amount of money he was given to carry out the project.
He clarified that the local authority paid K107, 000 for Twatasha road, K59, 000 for Chishimba road and another K59, 000 for Garnetone-Zambia compound road.
The contractors engaged were G.A Automation, Josmark Enterprise and Majety contractors, all of Kitwe district.
And on the boreholes, Mr. Navinda said the three boreholes were drilled but in the process, two got vandalised while one was producing muddy water which the residents could not use.
He explained that the contractor was then told to flush out the muddy water but did not do so despite having being paid all the money until the legal department took the case to court.
Mr. Navinda further stated that on the three solar boreholes, Billium contractor was engage to do the work which he did not fully execute.
He added that the defaulting contractors will soon be taken to court for failing to carry out the works after receiving the money for the respective projects.
Mr. Navinda said it was wrong for Mr. Mutale to say the money went unaccounted for when the works were actually carried out despite some not having been completed as specified.
He said it was also important to note that the council was not sitting idle over the uncompleted projects but was pursuing the defaulting contractors.
Constituency Development Funds is money allocated to constituencies for development projects that are suggested by residents.
The Southern African Centre for Constructive Resolution of Disputes-SACCORD says the increase in the number of days to deal with presidential petitions will give ample time for the aggrieved parties to address their issues.
Speaking in an interview SACCORD Executive Director Boniface Cheembe said the 14 days which was put in the amended constitution of 2016 was problematic and that it contributed to the political tension which the country has seen since the 2016 general elections.
Cheembe said his organisation welcomes the move to increase the number of days from 14 to 30 days because the increase in days will give adequate time to the aggrieved to attend to their grievances
“As SACCORD we welcome the increase of days in presidential petition from what was included in the amended constitution number 2 of 2016 of 14 days to what the technical committee put in place by the Ministry of Justice has recommended that of 30 days.
“We believe that the increase in the number of days will go a long way in helping and to give some time to aggrieved parties to be able to attend to their grievances as the 14 days was too problematic and contributed to the political tension that the country has been experiencing since the 2016 general election on account of the fact the 14 days were not adequate.
“As SACCORD we would even have preferred to have 90 days for presidential petition so that all stakeholders are given ample time for them to have all their grievances heard so that by the time we are having a President being sworn into office he or she would at least be coming into office without any other pending issues as regards the petition,” he said.
The technical committee appointed by the Ministry of Justice to address some of the lacunas in the amended constitution commended that a presidential petition be given 30 days in which to resolve the petition.
This recommendation comes in the wake of a difficult petition by the UPND in the 2016 elections. It was believed by stakeholders that the 14 days was inadequate a period for a substantive presentation of evidence.
In a highly competitive and polarised political environment it is only hoped that the 30 days period under recommendation would suffice to allow both the petitioners and the petitioned to beyond reasonable doubt walk away content that justice has prevailed.
Zambians alike crave an election that ends with one conceding defeat and the other walking to victory without humilaiting the loser in national building.
Women in Chinsali District of Muchinga Province have welcomed the amendment of the Statutory Instrument number 10 of 2018 by the Ministry of Local Government of enforcing the hand washing and hygiene.
This is in line with the 2018 women week activities which were flagged off by Muchinga Province Permanent Secretary Dr. Jobbicks Kalumba on Friday during the day of payers which were held at St John’s Catholic Church under the theme “all God’s creation is very good”.
Dr Kalumba encouraged women to be united as they have the potential to serve the country from cholera outbreak by ensuring they support government’s calls.
The PS also appealed to all Zambians to love one another as the theme for the day of prayer states it clearly.
Yesterday, a team of women led by Chinsali District Commissioner Maximo Chitambi donated assorted disinfectants, and later cleaned Chinsali General Hospital.
The women also sensitized to other women in the area on the importance of hygiene and hand washing with its revised penalties under SI 10 of 2018.
Later, women donated pampers to newly born babies and other children in the hospital.
This year’s International Women’s Day will be commemorated under the theme “Time is now: Rural and Urban Activists, Transforming Women’s Lives”.
Central Province Local Government Officer Ackson Habanji, says the councils in the province have a very clear plan of incorporating street vendors into various designated markets.
Mr Habanji says Kabwe Municipal Council and the ten town councils in the province have embraced the Statutory Instrument (SI) number 10 of 2018 that deals with the control of nuisance and street vending in the country.
Speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Kabwe today, Mr Habanji said the SI has empowered the councils to effectively control street vending and public nuisance.
He said what is happening at the moment is that all the councils in the province are sensitizing the communities on the SI.
The PLGO described the SI as double edged because it does not only penalize the vendor but the buyer as well and as such people must be available with the necessary information.
He observed that this is opposed to the previous arrangement where the vendor was punishable while the buyer was left scot free.
Mr Habanji who is currently visiting districts to assess the levels of compliance said what is obtaining on the ground is that the province had a situation where space in the markets were not occupied.
He cited railway market as one such place where some spaces were empty and urged the people to take advantage of the existing stands for conducting their businesses.
He revealed that Mumbwa Town Council has created a temporal place for vendors near the bus station while Chisamba has opened a market with adequate sanitary facilities.
Members of the audience that attended the public discussion organized by the Oasis Forum in Lusaka on Tuesday evening.
Respected Academic Sishuwa Sishuwa has charged that Zambia is facing a major crisis.
Dr Sishuwa said the country has 60% unemployment with 70% of its population living in poverty.
He said the crisis in Zambia is also demonstrated by the extreme and generally uneven distribution of resources.
Dr Sishuwa who was trained at Oxford University in the U.K and now teaches at the University of Zambia said the high borrowing trends by government are signs of crisis.
He was speaking on Tuesday during a public discussion in Lusaka organised by the Oasis Forum at Kapingila House on the topic; Is Zambia In a Crisis?
Dr Sishuwa also charged that Zambia has an impoverished and useless middle only fit for hire by those with money.
The Academic observed that the nature of Zambian crisis started in 1980s but that it is the degree at which the country is degenerating that is worrying.
He stated that the social divisions emerging from the 2016 elections are a consequence of ineffective and inept government.
He observed that Zambia is in a crisis because most public institutions are deteriorating rapidly.
Dr Sishuwa expressed concern that key institutions of governance have weakened and that the civil society has being bought by the ruling elite.
He said the country has political party cadres who are beating policemen which is a sign of lawlessness.
At the same event, political commentator Laura Miti charged that says Zambia’s main crisis is accountability.
She said public accountability is almost nonexistent in Zambia.
Ms. Miti said those in power are preoccupied with clinging to power and that they think they do not have to account to their electorates.
She said Zambians are not angry enough to demand what rightfully theirs arguing that Zambians need a critical mass movement.
Ms. Miti said Zambians must be angry not with those in power but with that they are doing with that power.
Ms. Miti said Zambians today know more about 2021 than the real issues affecting them.
And Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection Director Fr. Emmanuel Mumba said the failure to correct the mismanagement of public resources year after year is a sign that Zambia is in a crisis.
Fr Mumba said the Basic Needs Basket has for the first time hit K5, 000 for a family of six which is also a sign that Zambia is in a crisis.
And ruling PF Deputy Media Director Antonio Mwanza said the fact that citizens are able to meet and discuss in that manner means that Zambia is not in a crisis.
Mr Mwanza said for the first time, Zambia has a minimum wage to help poor labourers live a decent life.
Mr. Mwanza said government is committed to improving agriculture by improving the performance of the E-voucher programme.
He said the country has 88 operational private and commercial radio stations adding that people are free to call in and say anything.
Mr Mwanza charged that the civil Society thrives on crisis which they use to write proposals.
At this point, the PF Deputy Media Director was booed off the podium by an audience which comprised mainly civil society actors and ordinary citizens.
Mostly those in attendance said they do not agree with Mr. Mwanza’s arguments that Zambia is not in a crisis.
The audience also had prominent personalities such State House Spokesperson Amos Chanda, PF Media Director Sunday Chanda, NGOCC Executive Director Engwase Mwale and Water Aid Country Manager Pamela Chisanga.
At the same function, Law Association of Zambia President Linda Kasonde launched a new logo for the Oasis Forum and declared that “Watch Out” in closing the public panel discussion.
Ms. Kasonde said the consensus was that Zambia has a crisis of public accountability, a lack of citizen participation and poverty of leadership and that there is need to do something about it.
Dr Sishuwa Sishuwa taking some notes during a public discussion organized by the Oasis Forum in Lusaka on Tuesday eveningMembers of the audience that attended the public discussion organized by the Oasis Forum in Lusaka on Tuesday evening.Members of the audience that attended the public discussion organized by the Oasis Forum in Lusaka on Tuesday eveningPanelists during a public discussion organsied by the Oasis Forum in Lusaka on Tuesday evening.Members of the audience that attended the public discussion organized by the Oasis Forum in Lusaka on Tuesday evening.Members of the audience that attended the public discussion organized by the Oasis Forum in Lusaka on Tuesday evening.
Power Is sweet, even unavoidable, at times. Call him president, commander-in-chief, head of the security council, party chief, and chairman of everything from innocuous intra-governmental agencies to multi-lateral conglomerates baptized into China’s mainstream socialistic agenda; may be brewing a cocktail too detrimental to the future of democracy in Africa.
Since the Fall of the Berlin Wall, and in effect the dismantling of the Iron Curtain in the early 1990s that pitted the West against the East, the last of the strong men in Africa had almost collapsed. Zimbabwe and Uganda yielded their adamancy until 2018 when Mugabe was silently deposed. Now, and not unusual, Uganda’s Museveni is demanding a forever regime. Next, it will be South Africa, then Nigeria and finally Zambia. Strong men are not a new phenomenon; they predate the collapse of colonialism and outlive empire building. They are as old as monarchical ceremonialism in United Kingdom and monarchical internalism in Lesotho. In all these forms, strong men government was not a threat to world economic and political equilibrium. Until now.
There are three reasons why we should be worried of the new surge in One-Man Strong Rule (OMS Rule). The rise of China; the democratic naivety under Trump in the US; and the inevitable catalyst for Africa.
First, China is rising, and with it the enshrining into its constitution of the all-mighty-for-life presidency for Xi. By the new constitutional dictates, Xi has been conferred upon such enormous levels of ideological authority that he is to be only equal to Mao Zedong. The New Era so-donned, will empower Xi with “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.” Camouflaged into these so-called glorious words is OMS Rule. Xi will be the undisputed one-man ruler of China – controlling everything from economic forays to thought and reason. Thought and reason are the last to fall. When they do as the case in China now, freedom can permanently wave bye-bye!
China has already penetrated most major economies of the world through its products and services. There is no world trade without Chinese advantage. China is everywhere, any time and in any form. But China had resisted ideological domination or should I put it, had its ideological momentum curtailed due to America’s policing in yester-years. However, with the weakening of American democracy internally under Trump, Xi and China have finally found their inner energy to emerge. And BIG China will emerge.
Second, US has been weakened internally by the Trumpistic policies to mitigate over China’s rising. This is, perhaps one of the greatest defining marks on world politics. Hitherto, the US kept the world sane by preaching, though not always practicing, democratic ideals. To that end, the world found a level of political equalization. Small countries had an olive branch to institute democratic standards and be guided by the Rule of Law (and not of a man). But with this internal moral and political erosion in the US, China will scintillate its own sparkle, and countries, especially in Africa, will again be tempted to return to the vomitus – to the politics of single party dictatorships. Unless America returns to its guardianship of the democratic diadem, there will be no end to which OMS Rule will not scale.
Last, Africa will, again and sadly, be the culprit. Mark my words, it is already happening in Africa. Uganda’s ruling party is pushing for a referendum that could extent President Yoweri Museveni’s rule to 2035. This is in spite of the fact that the opposition parties have objected. And for a good reason – because this will be a declaration of life presidency for the incumbent who has been president since 1986. Uganda’s ruling party will then justify its course of action by citing Xi and the Chinese model. Where is the US, and with it the rest of us 9no pun intended!)?
The demerits of the OMS Rule are intractable. In the least, they insult the collective pollical conscience of the majority, and at best, they undermine democracy at the expense of autocratic rule. The Rule of Law become the Rule of a Man, and freedom is relegated to oblivion. Africa should fight against this evil. Even with over economic advances, an OMS Rule will always lead to bondage, political disfranchisement and intolerance. Africa must resist OMS Rule. The African people must rise up and condemn OMS Rule, no matter the justification. Government by definitive tenure should be the gold-standard, and not life-presidency, no matter how great the leader should be!
File:SOME corn flakes with traces of Genetically Modified Organism (GMOs) being destroyed by Luanshya Municipal Council workers at a dump site
Position on GMOs and the Revised Biotechnology and Biosafety Policy of 2003
Zambia must continue to uphold the highest biosafety standards
Zambia’s approach to biosafety since the development of the Biotechnology and Biosafety Policy of 2003 has been cautious and aimed at ensuring high standards of human,environmental and socio-economic well-being. We are alarmed that the biotech industry is eroding this approach in favour of promoting and protecting the interests of that industry.We reject this shift.
Key concerns in the revised policy include:
• Abandoning the precautionary principle in favour of creating incentives for innovation for industry. This shift means moving from the aim of protecting against harm to promoting genetically modified organisms (GMOs) by reducing safety procedures;
• Shifting focus from “GMOs” to “biotechnology” thereby wrongly implying that GMOs are as safe as other forms of biotechnology such as conventional breeding or tissue culture;
• Removing provisions on liability and redress. These made producers of GMOs responsible for paying for and cleaning up damages arising from GMOs;
• Increasing the focus on intellectual property rights that are skewed in favour of corporations and away from communities;
• Broadly promoting the benefits of GMOs as described by the producers of GMOs,without interrogating the many problems associated with the technology, such as increased indebtedness of farmers, quality issues in Bt cotton, development of insect and weed resistance, loss of markets due to consumer rejection and many more;
• Falsely asserting that GMOs will benefit smallholders; and
• Dismantling current institutional arrangements with no clear replacement structure that clearly outlines new responsibilities, hierarchies and procedural pathways.
[pullquote]GMOs have primarily benefited transnational corporations and the wealthy, rather than the poor and hungry of the world.[/pullquote]
Potential risks of GMOs must be recognised:
Governments around the world retain a precautionary stance to GMOs. There is an extensive body of literature that highlights many risks associated with GMOs, these include that:
• GMOs and related pesticides and herbicides pose health risks
• GMOs pose environmental risks
• GMOs are not appropriate for smallholders
• GMOs contribute to corporate control of the food system
• GMOs restrict access to markets thereby threatening livelihoods
Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity
Real solutions to hunger, poverty and degraded environment must be sought
The fact remains that Zambia is facing a series of crisis level challenges currently – socially,economically and ecologically. Poverty and inequality has risen exponentially. We are now ranked as one of the most malnourished countries in Africa. Women are affected the worst
across the board. These are long term developmental crises.
The majority of the our population rely on agriculture and local food system related livelihood activities – from production through to formal and informal retailing in both urban and rural areas. Very well-known problems farmers face in Zambia are lack of market, late delivery of
and cost of inputs, lack of accessible land, soil infertility, erratic rainfall and lack of irrigation,lack of infrastructure, lack of extension services, lack of social and infrastructural support to retailers and traders (exemplified by the recent cholera outbreak and trader dislocations). None of these problems that keep our population poor – and our youth malnourished and restless -are going to be solved by GMO proposed solutions.
Therefore we state:
If we are to face climate change and deal effectively with environmental degradation, poverty,hunger and the extensive malnutrition due to lack of diverse diets in Zambia, it is vital to invest in farming systems that are designed to create resilience and social equity.We fully agree with the findings of the 2008 International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) that GMOs have primarily benefited transnational corporations and the wealthy, rather than the poor and hungry of the world. The IAASTD found little solid evidence to support claims that GMOs have contributed to equitable or sustainable development or will do so in the future, but instead raised substantial questions about their social, health and environmental impacts. This is same stand that Late President Mwanawansa stood for years before, and the same principled stand that all subsequent Presidents have remained steadfast in upholding.
We have been assured by the New Minister of Agriculture that Government position on GMOs has not changed. Zambia as a nation remains opposed to GMOs – and citizens have a right to say no to GMOs if they so wish. Therefore – as people who have faith, in agriculture training institutions, civil society, farmers and consumers alike, we raise our voice of concern and distress about the attempts to amend the exemplary National Biosafety and Biotechnology Policy. We support our leaders in their efforts to prioritise the rights of small holder farmers in Zambia, over and above foreign neo-colonial agriculture systems that extract wealth from the poor and from the country, and undermine the health of our families,
our farming systems and our environment.
We ask Zambia’s leaders to remain strong; to resist and reject the unjust and unethical efforts of foreign pressure to weaken national laws for the benefit of corporate profits.
Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) Commissioner General Kingsley Chanda has said government can no longer rely on borrowings to support the national budget.
Mr. Chanda said it was for this reason that ZRA will continue to collect taxes through the available means as a way of raising its revenue.
He emphasized the need for tax payers to comply with payments of taxes to ZRA to avoid being inconvenienced.
Mr. Chanda added that the authority has the powers to close accounts of clients who do not want to comply.
He was speaking at a press briefing in Livingstone yesterday.
“ZRA will continue giving adequate information to clients through working closely with the media so that clients can comply on their own and pay taxes willingly,” Mr. Chanda said.
Mr. Chanda also explained that ZRA is currently implementing a lot of electronic systems to curb illegal activities.
And when asked how much was lost as a result of smuggling of goods at various entry points, Mr. Chanda disclosed that it was difficult to estimate how much ZRA was losing as a result of smuggling but said a total of K850 million was recovered from various smuggling activities.
Earlier, ZRA Commissioner for Customs Sydney Chibbabbuka said all the entry points in the country are frequently visited to check on the operations and that in Southern province, his team has visited Katima Mulilo and Kazungula border posts among others.
Mr. Chibbabbuka disclosed that there was too much congestion at the Kazungula border post adding that the overcrowding seen at the entry point yesterday during his team’s visit to the area was worrisome.
“Something has to be done at the Kazungula border post to deal with the congestion of trucks at the entry point,” Mr. Chibbabbuka said.
He observed that the procedures involved during clearing of trucks at the border post should be quickened in order to speed up the clearing process.
And ZRA Commissioner for Domestic Taxes Moses Shuko said his team was in Southern province to share with its stakeholders such as the media what revenue authority was doing.
Fired Former Minister of Water Development, Sanitation and Environmental Protection and Matero Member of Parliament (MP) Lloyd Kaziya says the accusations from Matero residents that the MP does not visit the area are false.
Mr. Kaziya said he is based in Matero constituency and does not understand why the residents are accusing him of not being available.
Speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka yesterday, Mr. Kaziya stated that he is always available at his office.
He noted that if Matero residents have any sort of complaint, they are welcome to visit his office and make known their matters.
Mr. Kaziya also made clear that he is aware of the problems being faced in the area like ritual killings and poor drainage system and is working hard in alleviate the concerns.
He added that he does not need to be seen by the residents roaming around the streets of Matero but what was important is that he provides their every need.
Mr. Kaziya however urged the residents to stop accusing him of neglecting them because they know where to find him if any problem arises.
Recently residents of Matero were complaining on a named radio station accusing the law maker of neglecting the electorates alleging that he does not visit the area to see what challenges they are facing.
The residents further accused their MP saying he has not set foot in the area since he was elected as Matero Member of Parliament.
Vice President Inonge Wina confers with Finance Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe during the official openning of second session of the twelfth Assembly
Government has yesterday in partnership with UNAIDS launched the Zambia Integrated Health Situation Room (ZIHSR) to enable effective monitoring of health information across the country.
In a speech read for him by Vice President Inonge Wina, President Edgar Lungu noted that the Situation Room will be vital in translating health statistics into easily visualised and user friendly form.
President Lungu added that the integrated health situation room will also attain strategic importance by availing timely access to critical data across all areas of health.
The President further stated that the Situation Room will enable quick feedback on health outcomes at district and community levels as well as identifying challenges to accessing health services.
And President Lungu has noted that HIV and AIDS still remain a source of concern on the health of the Zambian citizenry.
The President said he is however, happy to note that the country has made steady progress towards reaching the target of zero new infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS related deaths by 2030.
The Head of State indicated that through collaborations and partnerships with other stakeholders, the country has continued to witness a decline in new infections from 77,500 in 2010 to approximately 46,000 in 2016.
He added that the Anti- Retroviral Therapy programme has steadily grown bringing the current level of approximately 9,000 people on treatment.
The Zambia Integrated Health Situation Room is an interactive electronic platform which enables effective monitoring and analysis of HIV and AIDS, TB, maternal and child health and malaria data among others to facilitate optimal and timely decision making.
