Deputy Inspector General of Police for Administration, Eugene Sibote said serious action will be taken against the erring officers.

Mr. Sibote has also cautioned the officers against violating human rights of citizens in the execution of their duties.

He said the command is disturbed by reports of late banking of government revenue which sometimes takes more than one hundred days as there is no justification for such administrative shortcoming.

The Deputy Inspector General stated that government financial regulations are very clear on this matter and that officers found wanting will be disciplined.

He said the there is no excuse for late banking as banking services are now within reach of most police stations.

Mr. Sibote said the police command does not take pleasure in appearing before the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee to answer queries in respect of late banking by police officers.

ZANIS reports that the Deputy IG was speaking during the 2017 Southern Province annual ball in Choma last night.

And Mr. Sibote noted that police officers should not be the one violating human rights in the execution of their duties because this is creating a bad image of the police service.

He added that police officers should instead be the ones in the forefront upholding human rights.

Mr. Sibote said respect for human rights and observance of the law by police officers is very important especially that the men in uniform are also subject to the same law they are mandated to enforce.

He has emphasized that the violation of human rights in the execution of police duties is not excusable by law but stated that this was not to suggest that police officers should be fearful in the execution of their duties provided they do their work with realization that people have rights.

Speaking earlier, Southern Province Commissioner of Police, Bonnie Kapeso said the command in the province has in the year 2017 worked hard to achieve effective policing as evidenced by the reduced crime in the area.

Mr. Kapeso assured the command that police in the province will continue working hard to ensure peace prevails for the socioeconomic development of the region.

The function was also attended by the assistant commissioner of police for Southern Province Ndandula Siamana.

The Chadiza Magistrate Court has sentenced three Chinese National and two Zambians to Five Years imprisonment for illegally being in possession of rhino horns.

Before Magistrate Fred Musaka was Wan Qian (31),Huang Qingzhon (42),Hi Qingmao (30),Lovemore Kamwendo (42) , and Oberty Simwajata (48) who were charged with one count of unlawful possession of prescribed trophy contrally to section 130(a) and 86(2) of Act No.14 of 2015 of the laws of Zambia

Facts before the court were that on 27th July 2017 all the Five accused persons in Chadiza of the Eastern Province of Zambia jointly and whilst acting together had in their possession prescribed trophy namely 25 pieces of rhino horns weighing 32.2kg without a certificate of ownership issued by the Director of National Parks and Wildlife.

The Accused were intercepted at Chanida Border Post by Zambia Revenue Authority Officers as they crossed into Zambia from Mozambique for being found in possession of suspected rhino horns and were later handed over the Department of National Parks and Wildlife.

In mitigation the five accused persons asked the court to exercise lenience on them as they were all family men who may subject their families to great suffering if they were sent to prison.

And in delivering judgment Magistrate Musaka said he took into consideration what the accused had presented in mitigation but that they accused had no right to be in possession of the rhino horns without the certificate of ownership and export permit from the Director of National Parks and Wildlife.

He said sending the five to prison would serve as a lesson to other would be offenders. The five were then sentenced to Five years imprisonment with effect from the date that they were arrested.

Mr. Ngulube says the current Commission should instead be replaced with one which will be chaired by the Chief Justice.

He says the status quo where lawyers preside over the affairs of judges is not good as they do not understand the challenges that judges face during work.

Mr. Ngulube has told ZNBC news that many people have complained about the way the current commission is handling the complaints from the public hence the need to reform it.

He says the Commission has also been accused of overstepping its boundaries when dealing with issues before it.

ALLEGATIONS by former National Olympic Committee of Zambia (NOCZ) vice-president Gabriel Muyinda that Olympic Youth Development Center (OYDC) OYDC has declined in terms of infrastructure, administration and activities are false and malicious, says the centre director Clement Chileshe.

Chileshe confirmed that the centre was going through a lot of challenges but was in perfect shape to continue contributing to the development of talented sports men and women who relied on the centre for their development.

“We are very disappointed with the allegations made by former NOCZ vice president who was also a board member of the OYDC and he was aware of the challenges faced by the centre; therefore it is disheartening for us to have a member misinforming the public about this facility (OYDC),

“We have a number of challenges which include cash flow which have led to shortage of power man here at OYDC but despite that, the facility is always well maintained and will continue to be used by deferent national team for the development of deferent sports men and women,” Chileshe said.

Chileshe reaffirmed OYDC management’s commitment to raising about K11000000 next year for the maintenance of the centre which is affected with vandalism cases due to its location.He disclosed that plans were underway to construct separate dormitories that will be used by teams that rely on the facility for camping.

Chileshe called on Muyinda and his camp to be professional and learn to handle issues in a respectful manner for the love and development of sports in Zambia. “We will continue to work hard and we will not be discouraged by negative statements by some members. My only appeal to people tarnishing the image of this facility is that let them swallow their pain for losing their elections for the love and development of sports in Zambia. Let them not destroy the image of this facility,” Chileshe said.

On Tuesday last week, Muyinda held a press conference where he called for an audit of the OYDC.

Muyinda alleged that computers and televisions went missing and have not been accounted for with OYDC Staff being hired and fired and going without pay for months.

However speaking during a press briefing yesterday in Lusaka, Chileshe said that the allegations by Muyinda were false as there were no mismanagement at the centre.

The news was not as good for those who sat for grade nine examinations but it was better than last year’s, with more than 162,500 selected to grade 10, representing a pass rate of 52.76 per cent, just slightly higher than the 49.07 per cent recorded last year.

General Education Minister Dennis Wanchinga said out of the 308,060 candidates who sat for grade nine examinations, 162,539 were successful.

Dr Wanchinga said the highest progression rate was recorded in North-Western Province at 60.06 per cent followed by Northern Province at 59.63 per cent while the lowest was recorded in Southern Province at 45.36 per cent.

Of the 364,546 candidates who sat for the 2017 grade seven composite examinations, 357,763 candidates were selected to grade eight, indicating a progression rate of 98.62 per cent, from 97.65 per cent last year.

Dr Wanchinga said he was sad that at both grades seven and nine, boys performed better than girls in all learning areas except English.

“Candidates have been performing well in practical subjects but in the Natural Sciences category, the results haven’t been good enough. On a good note, as a country, we have continued to reduce on the number of candidates failing the grade nine examinations,” Dr Wanchinga said.

He said this in Lusaka when he announced the 2017 grade seven composite examination and grade nine junior secondary school leaving internal examination results yesterday.

Dr Wanchinga said members of the public could access results through the SMS Results Release System (SRRS) offered by the Examinations Council of Zambia (ECZ).

He said all provinces were expected to conduct the combined grades eight and 10 selection meetings from Tuesday to Thursday next week, and that candidates would be collecting statements of results from their respective centres and schools.

Dr Wanchinga said the opening day for the 2018 grade eight and 10 learners would be January 15 with a grace period of up to January 29, and those that would not report by the deadline would forfeit their places and be replaced accordingly.

He said during the grade nine internal examinations, 70 suspected cases of examination malpractice were reported, which indicated a decrease as compared to 113 that were recorded last year.

Minister of Higher Education Nkandu Luo has reiterated government’s commitment to addressing the challenges which the Copperbelt University students and lecturers are facing so that the institution regains its past glory.

Professor Luo said her ministry has put up modalities to dismantle the over K3 million owed to the institution for staff retirees.

She said this when she addressed students and members of staff in separate meetings yesterday.

Prof. Luo said government will work on the poor sanitation facilities and improve the learning equipment and also look at issues of delays in the payment of students’ meal allowances and bursary sponsorship for appealers.

She also assured lecturers and other staff that the issue of delays in salary payments was being addressed.

She said salaries will be availed on a specific date to avoid unnecessary work stoppages by members of staff.

The minister further urged the students and lecturers to always engage in dialogue as opposed to rioting or downing tools when they have grievances.

Prof. Luo said her office remains open to dialogue hence both students and staff members should be free to call her and air out their grievances.

And Prof. Luo has seriously cautioned students against engaging in riots which she said were costly in terms of damages that are caused in addition to the injuries resulting from clashes between police and students.

Earlier when she paid a courtesy call on Copperbelt University Vice Chancellor Naison Ngoma, Prof. Luo said there was need to review the procurement system in the country so as to include the part of assembling and maintenance of specialized products.

She noted that some products were very specific in terms of assembling and maintenance as such they need experts to handle them.

She was responding to Prof. Ngoma’s concerns that the institution had some challenges with assembling some medical equipment that were procured for the School of Medicine in Ndola.

Prof. Luo was in the Copperbelt province to acquaint herself with the challenges faced by the Copperbelt University.

The Zambia Army will soon have the first-ever Military University in a move that will see the defence save huge amounts of money in training costs.

Zambia Army Commander, Paul Mihova, said plans are underway to transform the Military Training Establishment of Zambia (MILTEZ) into a University.

ZANIS in Kabwe reports that Lt Gen Mihova disclosed this through Chief of Policy Doctrine and Strategy Development Branch, Brig Gen Harry Ngusa, during a courtesy call on Central Province Permanent Secretary, Chanda Kabwe.

Gen Mihova disclosed that the army has factored a total budget of K19 million but will start with an initial budget of K8 million to actualise the transformation.

He said the rest of the budget will be coming in piece meals once the university takes off and the move will help the army save a lot of money in training costs of defence and other military personnel.

The Army Commander observes that the money the army spends on training of defence and other military personnel at various defence universities is bigger than the initial investment.

Gen. Mihova notes that the defence often has to deal with the backlog of payments in training costs to various universities.

And the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Higher Education, Mabvuto Sakala, described the move as a positive transition and long over-due

Speaking during the same courtesy call on his Central Province counterpart, Chanda Kabwe, Mr Sakala said Cabinet has nodded the move and pledged the government’s support to make sure that the first military university becomes a reality.

Mr Sakala said looking at the deficiencies in public universities, the military university will create an ideal training ground for those wishing to accomplish their professional ambitions.

He said the attainment of social and economic development is impossible without investing in human capital development.

Meanwhile, Central Province Permanent Secretary, through his Assistant Secretary, Joshua Kamanya, said the initiative resonates well with the aspirations of the provincial administration.

Mr Kabwe said the transformation of MILTEZ into a military university is a noble venture because other than offering tertiary education, it will create employment for the people of Central Province and the entire country.