Defence and Security wings cleaning Lusaka CBD
Proceeds from Mukula logs have been deposited into Government Accounts-Kampyongo
Government has clarified that proceeds of the sale from the 21 trucks intercepted by suspected UPND and PF cadres at Shimabala, on suspicion that they were carrying Mukula logs are well accounted for.
Acting Chief Government spokesperson Hon. Stephen Kampyongo says the proceeds have been deposited in government accounts as stipulated in the financial regulations act and not in any individuals’ accounts as alleged by some sections of society.
Speaking at a joint media briefing with the Ministers of Defence and Lands, on the status of timber operations, Hon. Kampyongo said it is unfortunate that the trucks were intercepted by the cadres on suspicion that they were carrying Mukula logs belonging to senior government officials.
He said the Zambia Forest and Forestry Industry Corporation (ZAFFICO) was issued with three export permits by the ministry of Lands for the 21 trucks.
Hon. Kampyongo said this has been done in order to salvage the economic value of the illegal logs other than letting the logs go to waste.
He further clarified that ZAFFICO is mandated to export mukula logs despite the ban on their export still being in effect.
He said the ban, alongside other measures put in place by government has reduced the rampant harvesting, trading and transporting of the Mukula species.
Meanwhile, some suspected PF cadres have been summoned by police for intercepting Mukula laden trucks.
The said cadres are being quizzed as home affairs minister Steven Kampyongo says their conduct is criminal.
Mr. Kampyongo says citizen arrest must be done within the provisions of the law.
He further said the Mukula logs were lawfully being exported after being seized by government.
And a civil society organisation says the Mukula Logs saga is clear indication of the deep rooted corruption in the PF government.
Zitukule Consortium Executive Director Nicholas Phiri wonders why the Mukula export ban is being applied selectively.
He has also questioned why ZAFFICO used foreign trucks to transport Mukula if the transaction was done in good faith.
Observe hygiene, Lusambo urges CB residents
Copperbelt Province Minister Bowman Lusambo has urged residents in the province to observe high standards of hygiene amidst the cholera outbreak in some parts of the country.
Mr. Lusambo said Copperbelt residents should maintain high standards of hygiene so that the province can be cholera free.
He told ZANIS that there was need for every person to observe cleanliness and adhere to Ministry of Health directives.
He said Copperbelt province should strive by all means to ensure that it remains cholera free.
Mr. Lusambo observed that cholera is a preventable disease which could be avoided if people maintained high standards of hygiene.
The minister said there was need for the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government to deploy medical personnel at strategic points such as airports to screen people entering the province from areas that have confirmed reports of cholera cases.
Over 2,000 people have suffered from cholera while 42 have died from the disease since it broke out in October this year.
Lusaka city is the most affected district in the country.
Ministry of Health calls for citizens to abide to SI 79
Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya has called people in the country to abide to the Statutory Instrument (SI) 79 which mandates that public gatherings during this period are banned.
Dr. Chilufya explained that the focus for his ministry is public health as a way of creating awareness in order to reduce new cases of cholera.
The Health minister said this during a tour of markets in the Central Business District in Lusaka yesterday.
He said his ministry is monitoring the evolution of the epidemic and has engaged the ministry of education to work together and advise them on the message to be shared.
Dr. Chilufya stated that school health inspectors have been deployed in schools to decontaminate the toilets and ensure that the water to be used by the pupils is clean and safe.
He further added that there is need to eradicate the source of the cholera and ensure that a benchmark is set on the standards of hygiene people need to operate under.
Dr. Chilufya noted that there is need to encourage a paradigm shift in the minds of people with regards to managing solid waste and personal hygiene.
Speaking at the same event Zambia Air Force Commander Eric Chimese said rumours by a certain section of the society that members of the public are facing challenges with going to town because the defense force are forcing them to clean is untrue.
Lieutenant General Chimese explained that what is on the ground is that the general public who constitute marketeers and street vendors are participating in the process of cleaning alongside the defence force.
He said the cleaning up of the city is a community project and not for the military personnel alone.
Lieutenant General Chimese appealed to the communities affected to own up to the programme and clean up as directed by President Edgar Lungu to combat the cholera.
He revealed that so far works are progressing well as the team has managed to open up access to the drainage system.
Lieutenant General Chimese said once works are completed and facilities such as water and toilets are made available then certain sections of the market will open up.
And Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda said the military will remain firmly involved as per instruction by the commander in Chief.
Mr. Chanda explained that the civil military operation is only limited to an emergency period such as the one the country is faced with.
He said the move is a temporal one meant to supplement efforts to combat the further outbreak of the epidemic.
And Minister of Local Government Vincent Mwale revealed that there is need to provide toilets before opening up the places.
Mr. Mwale disclosed that Lusaka City Council is mobilizing a number of portable toilets meant to be placed in various places.
He noted that the opening up of water points at the markets or trading areas are key to the fight against cholera.
Mr. Mwale stated that the operation is on-going and will not only focus on the Central Business District but will cover all markets and trading areas in Lusaka in order to bring sanity to the areas.
Meanwhile, Chibombo District Commissioner Barnabas Musopelo says six cholera cases have so far been recorded in various parts of Chibombo District.
Mr. Musopelo says four cases of the cases since been confirmed while the remainder are yet to be.
Of the six cases, two are from the communities near Shifwankula, while two others are from Kapopo, all in Katuba area, said the District Commissioner.
He said the victims from the two communities are being treated at Chingwere and Naluyanda clinics, respectively.
Mr Musopelo said Zambeef Camp in William area has also recorded two suspected cholera cases adding that the victims have since been admitted to Liteta Hospital.
He said the samples of the two suspected cholera cases have since been taken to Kabwe for confirmation.
He said the cholera patients admitted to Naluyanda clinic came from in Lusaka, while those at admitted Liteta Hospital where infected within the district.
Mr. Musopelo has, however, described the condition of the six cholera patients as stable.
Meanwhile, the DC has instructed the District Health Office to immediately engage the Zambeef management in the district in ensuring that its camp is sprayed to avoid the spread of cholera.
African Parks to spend K 1.2 million for chiefs’ official quarters in Kalabo’s Liuwa national park
African Parks has handed over three institutional houses to local chiefs in Kalabo’s Liuwa national park.
The development is part of a community project to construct multipurpose houses to serve as residential and official quarters for all 10 local chiefs within Liuwa at a total cost of K1.2 million.
Kalabo District Administrative Officer (DAO) Siyupwa Kabisa graced the official handover of the houses on behalf of Kalabo District Commissioner Fridah Luhila at Mushuwa village in Salunda ward.
Mrs. Luhila said government was tirelessly working towards improving the welfare of chiefs despite facing challenges of limited resources.
She disclosed that traditional leaders were key partners in delivering most of the social services hence the need for them to have permanent institutional houses.
She further explained that this development will enable chiefs enhance community mobilization.
Mrs. Luhila named the beneficiaries as chiefs Kakuya of Luoke, Mundandwe of Mishulundu and Nalubutu of Mulinga chiefdoms.
She has since commended African Parks for the initiative to complement government efforts adding that wildlife conservation has turned Liuwa national park into a tourist destination.
Speaking at the same event, Acting District Chiefs and Traditional Affairs Officer Pelekelo Shwana said government appreciates the role of traditional leaders in advancing national development.
Meanwhile, Induna Ngela, who is also acting Muleta of Libonda royal palace, has thanked African Parks for embarking on the project saying each one of the remaining seven local chiefs will have a similar institutional house to operate from.
The traditional leader recalled that Liuwa is a historic sanctuary dating back from the times of King Lewanika in 1872.
He said the national park is an ecosystem endowed with bio-diversity of wildlife hence the need for parents to change the mindset their children towards conserving nature.
He noted that the area has abundant natural resources whose protection and sustainable utilization would enhance economic activities that will create wealth for national development.
Speaking earlier, African Parks Community Manager Walubita Sifuniso said the project to construct institutional houses for chiefs was aimed at paying back to the community for their commitment to support wildlife conservation.
Mr. Sifuniso has since implored communities in Liuwa to conserve wildlife in order to stimulate tourism related ventures.
African Parks is a non-profit conservation organization that took over Liuwa national park in 2003 to secure the area’s vast landscape, protect endangered species and restore wildlife in a bid to inculcate economic development, alleviate poverty and promote ecological sustenance among communities living there.
Chamber of Commerce asks govt. to support SMEs
The Kitwe District Chamber of Commerce and Trade has called on government to put policy interventions that will boost the performance of small and medium scale entrepreneurs (SMEs) for them to fully contribute to the country’s economic growth.
Kitwe Chamber of Commerce and Trade vice president Emmanuel Mbambiko said SMEs had potential to push the country to the 2018 projected economic growth of five per cent if well nurtured.
Speaking yesterday on YAR FM radio station programme dubbed ‘Social Chatter’ Mr. Mbambiko said the SMEs have proved to be an effective economic driver in most countries where they have been given favourable incentives for their operations.
He noted that in Zambia, SMEs were failing to attain their full potential due to several challenges that include high tax rates, cost of electricity, and bank interest rates.
He said government should find means of helping SMEs with these challenges.
Mr. Mbambiko added that SMEs were currently faced with a challenge of Value Added Tax (VAT) being paid at source, meaning that their money will be trapped twice.
He said when SMEs are importing goods, they are charged VAT at the border point and also their money will be trapped at the point of sale which he said was a set back to their growth.
Mr. Mbambiko has therefore suggested that government should consider waving VAT at source for SMEs with a turnover of K20 million and below so that they are helped to grow.
He said government should take a leaf from the United States of America President Donald Trump who has provided incentives to promote the growth of local investors by reducing taxes.
He has meanwhile complained that government does not adhere to suggestions made by the Chamber of Commerce and Trade.
He said if government could heed to some of the suggestions the chamber makes, the SMEs and other productive sectors could have grown significantly.
SMEs have for some time complained of failing to grow due to set backs that include high bank lending rates, electricity cost and unfair competition from cheaply produced foreign products among others.
And government has on several occasions recognised SMEs as potential drivers of economic growth.
Government invokes SI to combat cholera
Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya has invoked provisions of the Public Health Act and have since issued a Statutory Instrument 79 Public Health Act on cholera affected areas.
Dr. Chilufya stated that the move has enhanced powers for the Ministry to carry out public health interventions to stop the spread of cholera by addressing the determinants of the epidemic from Soweto market and other markets including contaminated foods consumed from the streets.
He said from 6th October, 2017 when cholera was declared an outbreak, 1,901 cases have been recorded and 49 people have so far died.
The Minister added that the disease has mainly been in Lusaka with a few sporadic cases outside, most of which if not all of them have been linked to Lusaka.
Dr. Chilufya added that currently, Chelstone, Barastone, Rhodespark and Ibex Hill have also recorded cholera cases.
Speaking at the National Epidemic Preparedness Prevention Control and Management Committee Meeting in Lusaka yesterday, Dr. Chilufya stated that the main drivers of cholera include consumption of contaminated water from shallow wells, consumption of contaminated foods that is sold from Soweto market and other markets as well as from the streets.
He further explained that his Ministry has investigated the cases picked from various places and it has been found that all cholera cases in Lusaka have a common point of distribution which is either a visit to a particular market or procurement of foods from certain streets.
Dr. Chilufya indicated that the fresh foods that is sold from the streets and markets including mushrooms, beef and chickens and also the food from restaurants with poor sanitary facilities have picked up vibrio cholera or other fecal particles.
The Minister added that toilets in markets that have been checked so far also have evidence of vibrio cholera.
Meanwhile, Minister of Local Government and Housing Vincent Mwale noted that there was need to upgrade the slums.
Mr. Mwale noted that about 70 percent of the people stay in slums without good water reticulation or water points and with poor sanitary conditions.
He added that resources for the project to upgrade slums will be mobilised through issuance of bonds.
And Deputy Minister in the Office of the Vice President Sylvia Chalikosa said communities need to be sensitized against the use of contaminated water for washing because they may end up consuming it.
Ms. Chalikosa said the people, who are affected, should be made to understand that if there are no concerted efforts in curbing the spread of the disease, everybody is at risk of being affected in one way or the other.
First family mourns Luanshya prominent farmer John Enright
First Lady Esther Lungu and the first family have wished comfort and conveyed heartfelt condolences to the family of Luanshya prominent farmer John Enright during his funeral church service held in Luanshya yesterday.
Hundreds of Luanshya residents this morning gathered at Kafwankumba United Methodist church to pay their last respects to John Enright, 67, who died on 26th December 2017 in a road traffic accident in Luanshya.
The late Mr. Enright died near Fisenge blind center when a truck failed to keep to its near lane and hit into his moving motor vehicle.
Speaking on behalf of the First Lady, Luanshya Mayor Nathan Chanda said the First Lady, who could not make it to the funeral services, wished the grieving family comfort and God’s strength during the mourning period.
And Livestock Minister Michael Katambo, who was represented by Luanshya District Commissioner Joel Chibuye, described the death of the Luanshya prominent farmer as a loss to the economic growth of the district and the nation at large.
Mr. Katambo said government will always remember Mr. Enright for his dedication towards transforming Luanshya district from a mine dependency town to that of agriculture among other diversification projects he undertook.
He noted that the late Mr. Enright had a lot of business concepts that prompted President Edgar Lungu and the First Lady to visit him and see how best they could foster development.
He pledged government support to the bereaved family and urged them to keep the late Mr. Enright’s vision alive by continuing with the various development projects that were intended to create jobs and uplift the living standards of the people of Luanshya.
And Mr. Chibuye has appealed to the bereaved family and employees of the various economic activities that were run by the late Mr. Enright to guard jealously that which he established and ensure growth and sustainability.
He further appealed to the family and friends of the deceased to stand by the bereaved family and offer them love, comfort and strength to help them recover from the loss of their beloved one as well as the quick recovery of his widow Kendra who was still nursing injuries from the accident.
Parliamentary deputy chief whip Steve Chungu and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Consul General Chantal Konji Maloba were among other dignitaries in in attendance.
Speaking in an interview, DRC Consul General Chantal Konji Maloba described the death of Mr. Enright as a shock and a loss that cannot be recovered as he was dedicated to fostering economic development through agriculture.
Mrs. Maloba said she worked with the late farmer in the setting up of farming blocks along the Zambia/DRC border which are aimed at revamping that country’s agriculture sector.
Enright, 67, was Belgian by birth but lived in DRC since 1956 as a farmer and a missionary.
He came to Zambia in 1999 and settled in Luanshya district where he established various agricultural enterprises among them bee keeping, goat rearing, aquaculture at his kafwankumba and Riverndale farms among other projects.
He died on 26th December 2017 in a road traffic accident and is survived by a wife Kendra Enright, two sons and three grandchildren.
The burial of the remains of the late prominent Luanshya farmer John Enright will take place in April this year at his Kafwankumba farm.
Today, there was a church service and cremation at Kafwankumba training centre United Methodist church which was attended by hundreds of Luanshya residents.
Police officer arrested for causing death
Police in Kabompo district in Northwestern province are investigating a suspected ritual murder case of a 23-year-old man whose body was found dumped in a bush.
Kabompo Police picked up the body of a 23-year old male named Kakoma Maseka of Kamwala area of Kabompo yesterday.
In a statement issued to the media, Northwestern province Police Commissioner Auxensio Daka confirmed the development saying the body was in a decomposed state and had a deep cut on the chest.
Mr. Daka said the body was believed to have been dumped near Kabompo hospital four days earlier after being killed by unknown people from elsewhere.
He said the body of the deceased was identified by his brother in-law, a Mr. Malasa Malasa of Kamwala in Kabompo district.
He said police have since instituted investigations into the matter.
In another development, police have arrest Edwin Simwawa, a District Chief Inspector of Police at Kabompo police station for killing John Mwamba in a hit and run road traffic accident.
Mr. Daka said Mwamba, aged between 16 and 20 of Musamba area, was hit and killed on the spot by a Toyota Ipsum vehicle, which was driven by Inspector Simwawa.
He explained that Simwawa was driving from the eastern direction heading towards the west along the Kabompo-Zambezi M8 road at Kabompo hospital junction of Musamba area.
He said the victim died on the spot after sustaining fatal head injuries.
The police officer is currently detained in police custody and will be charged with causing death by dangerous driving.
Meanwhile, A 20-year-old man of Kawama compound in Kitwe has died after being stabbed by unknown people.
The suspected murder occurred on Monday morning around 03:30 hours at a place called New life Bar in Kawama’s Kitwe City Council village.
Copperbelt Province Police Commissioner Charity Katanga confirmed the development to ZANIS in an interview and identified the deceased as Bruce Namushi, 20, of house number 1922, New Kawama.
Ms. Katanga said the suspected murderers stabbed the deceased with an unknown sharp object that made him bleed to death.
She said the deceased’s body is currently in Kitwe Teaching Hospital mortuary awaiting post-mortem.
She added that an inquiry file has been opened for further investigations.
Kambwili and Masebo Commends Kalaba for Resigning
Roan Member of Parliament Chishimba Kambwili has commended Harry Kalaba for resigning his position as Foreign Affairs Minister.
Mr Kambwili said Mr Kalaba’s departure from the PF government is the beginning of something huge.
He said the resignation of Mr Kalaba will be followed by more big names because a revolution is coming.
“You kept you word my brother. It’s better to leave the den of thieves and fight for your country,” Mr Kambwili wrote on his Facebook page.
“Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Kalaba resigns from the kangaroo government with immediate effect. Citing the rampant corruption that is robbing the ordinary Zambian citizen of their wealth.”
And UPND Chairperson for Strategy and Mobilisation Sylvia Masebo says the resignation of Mr Kalaba is commendable.
Ms Masebo said Mr Kalaba’s resignation must surely shake the false foundation with which the PF Government has claimed it’s legitimacy.
She said the development is profound and a rare principled stand not seen in Zambia in a long time.
“We live in a time where greed and the quest to enrich oneself at the expense of the masses has taken center stage in African leaders. To find a leader who will resign on moral grounds citing high levels of corruption in his government is a rare occurrence in African politics and needless to mention, Zambia,” Ms Masebo said.
“Our forefathers fought for independence so we could have social, political and economic freedom. The levels of looting and gross mismanagement of state resources that we are currently witnessing under Edgar Lungu’s regime is disheartening and unprecedented and threatens national security and unity.It must be stopped not tomorrow or next week, but now!”
Ms Masebo said the decision to resign by Mr. Kalaba is noble and should be commended by all patriotic Zambians regardless of political affiliation.
“He is a rare breed and his actions should be emulated by all those sitting government officials that are not in agreement with the unprecedented levels of corruption and looting by the PF government.”
She added,”I still insist, it’s not a partisan affair but a Zambian issue that affects every citizen of any colour, creed, sex, tribe and religion. Let’s join forces and weed out these elements of corruption that are impoverishing our country.”
“If we don’t speak as one people to stop this wanton plunder of our national resources by crooks and criminals that control our Government, who will speak for us? Every Zambian voice from Kaputa to Gwembe, Chipata to Mongu, Mbala to Sesheke and Zambezi must speak out and say enough is enough!”
Meanwhile, Luapula Province PF Secretary Francis Musunga has said that Harry Kalaba’s resignation as Foreign Affairs Minister is a huge relief to the party.
Reacting to Mr. Kalaba’s resignation on Tuesday, Mr. Musunga who is also Samfya Town Council Chairman said the PF in Luapula Province would now breathe a collective sigh of relief following Mr. Kalaba’s exit from government.
“Honorable Kalaba’s resignation is a huge relief. It should have come earlier than this because we became fatigued of Mr. Kalaba’s clandestine activities which include sponsoring anarchists who are now removing party flags in Mansa,” said Mr. Musunga.
Mr. Musunga said Mr. Kalaba had become a danger to the unity of the party because of his treacherous behaviour.
He said his resignation was long overdue especially that President Lungu had kept him even when he continued to sponsor confusion in the Province.
Mr. Musunga said the PF in Luapula Province had always been ready to meet Mr. Kalaba in the Bahati by-elections if he chose to recontest.
He said Mr. Kalaba had no capacity to defeat the ruling party in the Province because the structures were intact and fully behind President Edgar Lungu.
Mr. Musunga explained that he had appealed to Mr. Kalaba to be patient with himself before engaging in an agenda to become President.
“I personally talked to Honorable Kalaba and advised him against being too fast and overly excited to challenge President Lungu. He became big – headed and forgot that it is PF that made him who is. He was a nothing before PF picked him to contest the Bahati seat,”
Schools in Cholera hit areas to remain closed
Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya has announced that all schools beginning from primary to tertiary level will remain closed as an enforcement of SI 79 which restricts public gatherings in the wake of severe Cholera outbreak.
Dr. Chilufya announced during a news briefing that the Ministry of General Education has been engaged to ensure all schools comply to this directive.
The first term of the academic year 2018 was supposed to commence next Monday, but this directive has extended learners’ holiday to avoid contracting Cholera bacteria Vibrio Cholerae.
However, only schools in the Cholera infested Lusaka district will remain closed while those outside the Capital resumes as planned.
42 people have since died from Cholera while 2,000 cases have been reported.
Zambia Army, Zambia Air force and Zambia National Services strong men have been deployed in the dirty city of Lusaka to clean up following Lusaka City Council employees having gone to sleep with the mayor.
Foreign Minister Kalaba quits his Cabinet Post, cites rising corruption in PF
Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba has resigned from the PF government.
In a Facebook post, Mr Kalaba said he has dumped his cabinet post because of the path the country has taken of insatiable greed and shame which he said is clearly unacceptable and unsuitable.
Mr Kalaba said who has held the position for the past four years said he has just dropped his resignation letter as Foreign Affairs Minister with President Edgar Lungu.
He said his fundamental belief is that his allegiance should not be with a position, Party or Person but it must be with the country and its people.
Mr Kalaba who is also Bahati PF Member of Parliament said his conscious and everything he is have directed him to choose the country over his individual comfort.
And some family sources confirmed that Mr Kalaba held a family meeting late afternoon where he made the decision to quit.
They said afterwards, he left for State House where he dropped the resignation letter with President Lungu.
By the time of publishing, Mr Kalaba had switched off his mobile phone and was not available for a comment.
Below is the full Facebook Post
I HAVE RESIGNED
There comes a time in a person’s life when it becomes necessary to die to self for the good of others and if not for that reason, at least to stand for one’s cherished ideals and values. I have just dropped my resignation letter as Foreign Affairs Minister with President Edgar Lungu – a position I have cherished and held for over 4 years. I have taken my decision to resign as Foreign Affairs Minister with a heavy heart but quite succinctly with a clear and resolved mind. I have no shed of doubt that this was a necessary undertaking and an unavoidable one looking at the path our country has taken – a path of insatiable greed and shame which is clearly unacceptable and unsuitable.
My fundamental belief is that my allegiance should not be with a position, Party or Person but it must be with the country and its people. My conscious and everything I am have directed me to choose the country over my individual comfort. To some, this may appear like an act of defiance, yet to those close to me, to those who have watched me wreath in perpetual pain and mourn over my country, this may more or less be a relief because I have finally found peace in my mind and heart even in the face of losing the comfort that the position of Minister brings to give both expression and action to what I believe in. In any case, I accepted this appointment in the first place as a gesture and avenue to serve my Country but when that becomes difficult due to incongruence of values and objectives, there could only be one outcome. This outcome is what I am repeatedly convicted of by my own conscious especially at night when I go to bed to face my own brokenness.
We cannot proceed to manage national affairs with cold indifference when the levels of corruption are swelling and being perpetrated by those who are expected to be the solution. Our youths are wallowing in poverty without a clear plan for them while business preferences and opportunities are always tilted in favour of outsiders, reducing Zambians to mere spectators in the economic affairs of the State. This cannot be allowed to continue. We need to go back to the original agenda of our Party the PF, where the poor and not the corporates must be at the centre of all our decisions. It would appear that the poor Zambians have ceased to be the reason we are holding power. Materialism and the propensity for money has taken over and is arrogantly at the centre of many decisions being made today.
What I wish most for the youths of Zambia is opportunity and success. All I desire is for each and every Zambian to make their own success story – the story they deserve, one that allows them to raise their heads high in a country where effort, work, planning and selflessness will become the hallmark of our people.
I have elected to join the many sidelined Zambians by remaining as an ordinary Member of Parliament representing the gallant people of Bahati. Some will call it politics and yet some will call it sacrifice. Whichever way you choose to look at my action, one thing is certain, I can no longer be a silent listener to the whispers of greed and indifference making rounds in the corridors of power. Contrary to what a number of my colleagues claim, I believe that the failure of the Zambian political and economic management does not lie in the individualistic nature of a lot of our politicians, but it is the result of oppressing this individualism to a level where there is consistent effort to suppress individualistic dynamism in preference for collective carelessness and indifference.
When people begin to feel overwhelmed by fear for speaking the truth, it is time to realize that critical fundamentals have shifted. We all have a role to play in making things right. This is my little contribution – Zambia is our Country, we need and must reclaim it Back.
Chief Chikankata refutes claims of stoppage of road works on Dundumwezi road
Chief Chikankata says contrary to the reports, the constructor , SCRICA Limited Company , has abandoned the road but that the constructor halted the construction works following the onset of the rains which makes construction works difficulty.
ZANIS reports that the traditional leader explained said this in an interview in Chikankata district in Southern province today.
He said the SCRICA Limited Company has only stopped the works due to the rains adding that once the rain season is over, the constructor will resume the workd.
Chief Chikankata said he was impressed with the works the contractor has done a good job on the Itezhitezhi road stretch so far.
The traditional leader has since assured his subjects and the travelling public to be patient with the constructor.
He also urged motorists and residents to give maximum support to the constructor working on the much talked Dundu Mwezi road in Kalomo district in Southern province.
There has been some reports that the contractor engaged in the construction of Dundu Mwezi road in Kalomo district has abandoned the construction works.
London Court orders KCM to pay ZCCM-IH $139 million
A London Court has ordered Konkola Copper Mines to pay ZCCM-IH $139 million in a claim related to the copper price, raising by $36 million the amount it was originally ordered to pay.
The claim relates to outstanding payments under a 2013 copper price participation settlement agreement between KCM and ZCCM-IH.
In a statement, ZCCM-IH said, “we refer to the Market Announcement (Announcement) provided in December 2016, in which the market was informed that the English High Court had granted default judgment in favour of ZCCM-IH in its claim against Konkola Copper Mines Plc (KCM), brought pursuant to a Settlement Agreement entered by the parties in 2013, for a sum in excess of US$100 million.”
“In the same Announcement, the market was further informed that the Court had given directions for an inquiry to determine whether KCM had breached the Settlement Agreement by making payments to Vedanta Group Companies whilst sums remained due and owing to ZCCM-IH, and whether ZCCM-IH would be entitled to recover additional sums from KCM as a result.”
It added, “We now advise that ZCCM-IH has successfully brought an application for summary judgment against KCM for such additional sums. Granting the claim in full, the Court has awarded ZCCM-IH a further US$35,991,768, bringing the total amount awarded to approximately US$139 million. ZCCM-IH was also awarded its costs of bringing these proceedings.”
ZCCM-IH says the parties have agreed a repayment plan for the recovery of these additional sums, which consists of 21 equal monthly instalments of US$1,713,893.72, together with interest at 3 per cent.
It said the final payment is expected on 31 August 2019.
Over 11,300 Kapiri farmers’ e- vouchers activated
Over 11, 390 small scale farmers in Kapiri Mposhi district have had their e-voucher cards activated in order for them to obtain farming inputs under the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).
This is out of a total of 27, 000 small scale farmers targeted to benefit from FISP in the 2017/2018 farming season in the district.
Kapiri Mposhi District Agricultural Coordinator (DACO) Chiluba Wabalika confirmed the development to ZANIS today.
Mr. Chiluba disclosed that 6,915 out of the 11,397 farmers whose e-voucher cards were activated have started accessing farming inputs after government deposited its top-up contribution.
He stated that a total of 11,391 farmers have been issued with authority to deposit the initial K400 for government to top up its contribution.
“The farmers have started getting inputs from the various agro dealers dotted in the district. We are receiving applications on a daily basis to activate the cards,” Mr. Chiluba explained.
And Kapiri Mposhi District Commissioner Peter Mwiinde has advised farmers in the district to include chemicals on their list of inputs which they are obtaining from agro dealers under the e-voucher system.
Mr. Mwiinde said the chemicals will be used to control army worms in their respective fields.
He disclosed that army worms have been reported in the district hence he urged the farmers to take advantage of the e-voucher system and include chemicals on their lists.
“Farmers now have a choice of what they should include on their list of inputs…. my advice is that they should include at least a bottle of chemicals for army worms,” Mr. Mwiinde said.