UPND Vice President Geoffrey Mwamba has rubbished reports that Roan MP Chishimba Kambwili is poised to take over the position of Vice President in the party.

Mr Mwamba said the issue of Mr Kambwili joining the UPND is neither here nor there.

He said the story is a creation of Daily Nation Newspaper proprietor Richard Sakala.

“Daily Nation newspaper proprietor Richard Sakala this morning phoned in an attempt to dupe me into a discussion aimed at causing confusion in the UPND leadership,” Mr Mwamba said.

“Mr Sakala who called under the guise of anonymity asked me to comment on PF orchestrated propaganda that Dr Chishimba Kambwili aimed at taking over the UPND vice presidency. I quickly identified Mr Sakala’s voice and charged that the UPND is a party for all Zambians and it would unconditionally welcome Dr Kambwili if he decided to join the UPND,” he said.

“I urged Mr Sakala to stop surviving on confusion. It is unfortunate that this ex convict wants to always create confusion for him to earn a living. ..what kind of a human being is he who cannot make money in a prudent way… and he pretends to be another person.”

Mr Mwamba said Mr Sakala has to learn to be sincere.

“When he was under siege and his paper almost folding up, I assisted him with money and the purchase of vehicles for his paper, money that he has not paid me back. The issue of Dr Kambwili and I racing is neither here nor there…it is in the minds of people like Sakala and panicking PF sympathisers.”

He said, “Kambwili is my brother and a free citizen who has been demonized by your Daily Nation newspaoer … he is actually welcome in the UPND if he so wishes. UPND is a party of choice for all Zambians.”

“Mr Sakala, be professional like other journalists ….even Iwe Ka Sakala , when our time comes we shall forgive you because we know that you survive through cheating.”

Mopani Mines has announced that it will have to close several areas of its operations which may affect a total of 4,700 direct employees if power supply restrictions continue.
In a statement, Mopani says it has become necessary to curtail some areas of its operations due to the restriction of power by Copperbelt Energy Corporation.

It says the decision has been necessitated by the unilateral action by CEC to restrict power supply without notice and against the provisions of the Power Supply Agreement.
“We are operating under a Power Supply Agreement dated the 31st March 2000, that was most recently amended on the 6th March 2015, and is valid until 2040. The PSA strictly sets out the agreed tariff and increases during the contract period. The contract provides that a tariff may be increased on agreement by both parties. This was the case in 2008 when Mopani agreed to a tariff increase of 33% over and above the contractual tariff,” Mopani said.

It said the current proposed revision would result in a further increase of 54%. Within the provisions of the agreement there are clear steps to be taken in the event of an impasse on tariffs.

“These dispute resolution steps have unfortunately not been followed by CEC, which instead chose to resolve the impasse by a unilateral restriction of power supply. Efforts to compel CEC to abide by the Power Supply Agreement have unfortunately been ignored,” it said.

“We are prepared to continue to follow the process as underlined in the agreement. However, for as long as the restriction is in force, we are unable to conduct our operations safely. Mopani has some of the wettest underground copper operations in the world. Each day we have to pump 190 million litres of water to ensure the safety of our workforce. The pumping alone represents almost 25% of Mopani’s total power costs.”

It warned that without a stable supply of power, its ability to safely operate is severely hindered.

“Although we shall work on optimising the use of the limited power that we are receiving, we expect that we shall effectively have to close several areas and our scaled back operations may affect a total of 4,700 direct employees We are engaging with the Unions and other stakeholders to see how we can mitigate the effects of this unavoidable course of action,” it said.

“We have continued to negotiate with CEC and ZESCO in good faith, however without power supply to our operations, we are unable to maintain our workforce.”
“Mopani is one of the largest investors in Zambia’s mining sector, having committed over USD$ 4 billion since 2000. Since 2014, Mopani has invested over USD$1 billion in site expansions and upgrades to extend the life of mine by a further 25-30 years,” it stated.
It said this investment will help Zambia realise the full potential of its copper mining industry for decades to come, providing a secure platform for the Zambian industry to compete on a global scale.

“This investment will help secure jobs, local procurement and much needed revenues for the Zambian state. CEC’s inability to honour its agreement with Mopani puts this investment at risk.”

Meanwhile, a memo sent to all Mopani employees from Employee Relations Manager a Mr. G Mayeya had advised all affected workers to take leave.
“Further to our earlier communication on the restrict of power supply to Mopani, we would like to inform all employees that the situation has not changed as negotiations have still continued,” read the memo.

“Management is working hard to ensure that this matter is resolved within the shortest possible time as this is impacting negatively on production. While a lasting solution is being sought, Management has taken the opportunity to allow employees in the various Business Units to take leave, particularly where operations are suspended or plants are operating at minimal capacity, as a way of managing fatigue.”

“Accordingly, Business Unit Managers will work with their respective Senior Human Resources Officers to prepare leave schedules to effect leave arrangements in this respect. The implementation of these leave schedules will take effect from Monday, August 21st 2017 until further reviewed.”

Trial  has failed to take off in a case in which Veteran Politician William Banda and 10 other  United Party for National Development (UPND)  cadres are charged with the offence of obstruction of police officers.

This is because one of the suspects and the prosecutor handling the matter were not before the court.

The suspects include William Banda, Gilbert Liswaniso, UPND Leader Hakainde Hichilema’s press Secretary Brian Mwiinga and others.

In this matter, it is alleged that the suspects obstructed police officers when they tried to stop them from arresting Mr. Hichilema on April 10, 2017.

Lusaka Magistrate Fides Hamaundu noted that trial has delayed starting and urged parties to be present during the next court sitting.

United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema says he is not an angry man despite being in detention for four months on trumped up treason charges.

And Hichilema says he has paid the price for agitating constitutional basic rights through his four-month detention over alleged treason charges.

Meanwhile, the opposition leader has also said he wishes no one to be imprisoned because prison life is so horrible such that even prison warders are prisoners.

Hichilema, Hamusonde Hamaleka, Muleya Hachinda, Laston Mulilanduba, Pretorius Haloba and Wallace Chakawa  who were arrested in April, charged with treason, walked to freedom after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Lillian Siyunyi discontinued their case on August 16.

Zambian Photographer Chellah Tukuta Rancen was awarded the African Photographer of the year and the Lens Awards in Nigeria.

He had this to say on social media:

” This is the beginning of hard work and am happy to have represented my country Mother Zambia at Continental level. I would love to dedicate this award to the woman who has seen me work my nose out Chanda Chibs, to my lovely and beautiful daughter Malumbo Joy Grace Tukuta, My mother Blesta Mpundu Mulenga who always told me one day I will be great, Yonah my new son adopted, to our leaders both in the ruling and opposition parties and above all to our current president Edgar Chagwa Lungu and to ALL THE ZAMBIANS

I would love to use my award as a way to advocate for peace, love and unity in my Country because it’s only when there’s these 3 that our country can develop and us the young people can be more productive. I would love to encourage every creative youth that ” Keep working hard and you never know who is watching. And instead of us being tools of violence let’s be advocates of peace and development. We are all ambassadors of Goodwill to Mother Zambia.

I would love to thank God above all and many people who have been pillars and sources of motivation like Mrs Miyanda Katiwa, Mr Rocky Sombe, Mr Makungo Muyembe, Mr KBF, Mr Geofrey Bwalya Mwamba, my sister’s Faith M. Kabende and Gwen Mulenga – Machiya the list is endless. I want to say “I AM VERY HUMBLED AND I LOVE YOU ALL.” To all my lovely and amazing followers who have made me a hero today I say “YOUR HAVE A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART”

View Chellah’s Photography:

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BY KAPA187