The Energy Regulation board ERB has announced the reduction of fuel effective from midnight. In a statement released to the media today, ERB attributed the reduction to the drop in the price of crude on the international market and the sustained strengthening of the Kwacha.
Below is the full statement
There are two things which one should exercise caution with before discharging because you can’t take them back once discharged,that is words out of ones mouth and a bullet out of a gun. I am cautioning honourable Chishimba Kambwili to use his head now more than ever before he uses his mouth because the way he is going about his rantings doesn’t denote integrity or honour. Yes we know he can talk but revealing things which he stumbled upon by virtue of him being a government officer may land him in problems and he shouldn’t blame anyone or cry foul.
As a politician, one should understand that there are six types of followers:
By far the most important ones are the ones who believe in you and sympathisers because they will campaign for you whenever they can, without expecting anything in return. When Mr Kamwbili was expelled from PF, people believed that he was curtailed out of the party using what he termed as a kangaroo court. Where the accuser was the judge and jury. This made him have sympathizers. But now, looking at how he is conducting himself, he is going to lose that set of people because there is no honour in revealing secrets that you swore to keep. People will think twice and sometimes think twice about thinking twice about revealing some secrets to him because they will not be sure whether he will manage to keep his buccal cavity in check. In the same vain, a woman loses her dignity when she starts revealing bedroom secrets to her friends or other people generally regardless of her situation.
There are two times in life when you should really keep your mouth closed, when you are under water and when are you are angry. So if Hon Kambwili is revealing these things because he is upset I am advising him as a political comrade to have a selectively permeable political mouth for his words because he is going to lose his dignity and then find himself with a case to answer.
In my political career I have always known that it pays off to give people reasons why they should follow you more than struggling to give them reasons why they shouldn’t follow your opponent. So he shouldn’t be like detective politician Saviour Chishimba if he wants to be regarded as a presidential material. He should try by all means to emulate President Wynter Kabimba of Rainbow party because he conducted himself honourable after being relieved of his duties from PF because if he doesn’t his mouth will be his biggest enemy sooner than he thinks and people are going to think he is too desperate for power that he is willing to do or say anything.
All in all, by and large, a wise man once said nothing.
I rest my case.
By David Chishimba
Rainbow Party Provincial Youth Vice IPS
We finally crossed another river on a pontoon as the sun set before we arrived in Kalabo by 6:00pm (18 hours). It was hot and humid. Kalabo was even smaller that my home small town of Lundazi in the Eastern Province of Zambia. The only small Rest House we stayed at served us nshima with chicken. The following morning, I spent an hour inspecting the small NAMBOARD depot. The only one employee who was the manager complained about the delay of delivery of fertilizer from Mongu Provincial Headquarters since the December growing season was just two weeks away. Soon after we embarked on our long return journey to Mongu.
That night at about 9:00 pm (21 hours) Mr. Mundia and I walked from Lyambai Hotel to Sinjonjo Bar to see if I could by the remotest chance still find the mystery chiphadzuwa or chipeshamano woman. As fate would have it, I was desperate to meet her again since I was flying back to Lusaka the following morning. We waited and waited as I bought several rounds of beer and chit chatted with Mr. Mundia at the bar; not as my NAMBOARD driver but this time as one desperate young man trying to help another. I had been watching the bar entrance like a hawk. She suddenly popped in. I saw her quickly surveying the bar clearly searching for someone. Once her eyes locked with mine, chiphadzuwa walked toward me. I was very ready knowing this may be the last time I might see her.
When I shook her hand in the Zambian greeting, I held it a while longer this time to feel her soft hands. She drew nearer and stood closer to me.
“Something…..something….Kaonde and …something SiLozi …..something … something”, she said hastily suspiciously glancing at Mr. Mundia. Mr. Mundia laughed nervously.
“Bo Mundia,” I quickly asked. “What is she saying, what is she saying!!??”.
“She is saying she speaks Kaonde but knows very little SiLozi. She is asking if I am a spy.”
“No, No, No,” I shook my head. “Tell her you are my friend. Tell her we work together at NAMBOARD. Ask her her name. Ask her why she thinks you are a spy. Ask her who that man was the other night who took her away from me.”
“Something….something… something, Chintele, Ikelenge ..Kaonde..Linda“ she said rapidly as she began to tag and pull my arm with both her hands toward the door.
“Bo Tembo, she says the other night she was with her cousin who was watching her. She is from the small village of Chintele in Ikelenge in Mwinilunga north of here. Her name is Linda. But she can tell you more outside the bar because her cousin may have spies here.”
All three of us walked out of the bar and turned to the right along the wall where it was more discrete. I beckoned Mr. Mundia to come and stand closer to us. She leaned against the wall and held my right hand between both her hands and began squeezing my hand between her hands playfully. This immediately set my body on fire. I leaned my left elbow on the wall with my palm supporting my head next to her head, felt her warm breath and tried to kiss her. She moved her head to the side the last second and softly tapped me on my shoulder lightly pushing me away while smiling.
“Something…… something……..something….something?” she asked at Mr. Mundia.
“Bo Tembo, she is asking what is your name and what do you do in Lusaka.”
“Tell her, I am Mwizenge Tembo, from Chipata or Lundazi, I speak Nyanja. She can call me Tembo. What’s her Kaonde name. I am a Staff Training Officer at NAMBOARD in Lusaka. Ask why she came here to Mongu. Tell her I am very attracted. I love her. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”
This time the conversation was getting longer between Linda and Mr. Mundia because of so much information. I was beginning to get jealous that Mr. Mundia might just try to steal her for himself during the translation. Linda was at first animated and then she paused the playing with my right hand between her hands. She looked down with anguish and sadness as if she was about to cry.
“Bo, Mundia,” I asked anxiously. “What did she say? Why is she sad?”
“Bo, Tembo, It is a long story. She says she is happy you find her beautiful. But she said all men say that to women. She says her Kaonde name is Jitanda which means bright star. She asked me how do you say I love you in Lusaka City Nyanja. She likes to hear it. Her parents had arranged marriage for her to a man she did not love and did not want to marry. She ran away from her Chintele Village in Mwinilunga to get away and hide at her cousin’s house in Mongu. But her cousin betrayed her. He wrote a letter to the village that Jitanda was at his house. Her uncle who owns a truck is a fish monger in Mwinilunga. He drove to Mongu to buy dry fish. Her cousin and her uncle are making sure she will be on that truck when going back to Mwinilunga. She is afraid and sad.”
I slipped my right arm around her tender soft waist and pulled her to my chest and whispered I was sorry. She leaned her head on my left shoulder and sobbed throwing her left arm on my right shoulder. Her soft bosom heavily leaning on my fast thumping chest inflamed my body and my passion for her was so overwhelming it boiled over. I wanted to protect her. I wanted to furiously pierce with a spear his wretched heart any man who wanted to torture this my beautiful soul. We breathed hard hot steam like two furious Cape buffaloes fighting to the death. I desired to devour her like nshimas with a thousand delicious dendes, ndiyos or relishes; chicken, beef, rape, delele, beans; all together. I wanted to devour her like a thousand delicious mangoes. We kissed deeply, desperately, and passionately like the world and tomorrow did not exist at that moment. We meshed as one and almost on the edge of death with passion for each other.
Suddenly she pushed me away. She had seen something over my shoulder. “something… something…..bar….” she said as I held on to her hand as she tagged away from me toward the bar entrance. Mr. Mundia had moved a good distance away from us no doubt to get away and seek safety from the dangerous fire-sparks from two passionate lovers.
“Bo, Mundia!” I shouted breathlessly. “What is she saying?”
“She says her cousin is here looking for her. It must be the man who just entered the bar. She has to go. She has no choice.” There was a pause. “Bo, Tembo,” Mr. Mundia spoke in a low tone. “She is not a local girl. She loves you. She has not even asked you for money.”
“Bo, Mundia!!” I pleaded. “Oh, please ask her to come with me to the Hotel. She can come with me to Lusaka. She can sit on the floor of the plane. She can slip away with me. She can hide in the Hotel with me.Tell her, I swear I won’t touch her all night!!”
“Something… something….something” she replied.
“She says she is not that kind of girl. It is bad enough that she is at a bar. If her family heard she had spent a night at some hotel with a man she was not married to, she would be called a prostitute. That would be the end of her life. She might as well be dead.”
A minute later, Linda came out with her cousin and were engaged in an animated argument. She pointed in my direction. She sadly and painfully waved at me as she reluctantly walked away into the dark night. I felt a nail hammered into my heart.
The following morning at 10 am (10:00hours) the half full 35 passenger Zambia Airways two propeller plane was raving loudly getting ready to taxi for takeoff at Mongu Airstrip. The door was still open and Mr. Imasiku and Mr. Mundia were still standing by to see me off. A young man ran to Mr. Mundia, said something, and handed him an envelope. Mr. Mundia looked at the envelope and rushed to the still open door of the noisy raving plane and beckoned me to come to the door.
“Bo, Tembo, a young boy on a bicycle brought this letter to the NAMBOARD office this morning. It is addressed to you.”
I put the letter in my jacket pocket. The Zambia Airways Friday weekly plane flew from Lusaka that morning. It was now going to fly to Sesheke to drop and pick up passengers. Then it would fly to Livingstone to pick up some tourists and back to Lusaka. As I stared at the beautiful landscape below, I realized at that moment through a glaze of my own tears that Linda Jitanda had just made me love Zambia even more and forever. How could you not love your country if it gives you such a beautiful soul of a woman; everything that a man worships in a woman? Why would she have to marry a man she did not love?
I was thinking of the best moment to open the envelope. The thoughts and anticipation tormented me so much that I decided, with my hands shaking, to open the envelope while flying calmly between Livingstone and Lusaka.
21 November 1976
Dear Husband Tembo
I don’t know to write. Only know Kaonde. I ask friend to write for me. I am very happy to meet you. I love and think look you for 4 days. Last night I give you all my heart forever. I cry. You good man. Go back to Chintele village today. Come to Lusaka. Marry, clean house, cook food, speak Lusaka Nyanja. Make you happy. Nikukonda maningi Tembo. Meet in heaven forever.
Your Darling
Linda Jitanda
By Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D.
Professor of Sociology
CHIEFTAINESS Waitwika of the Namwanga people in Nakonde district in Muchinga Province has asked non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to revisit the administration of contraceptives to schoolgirls in the name of preventing unwanted pregnancies as it is contributing to moral decay in the country.
She said in an interview yesterday that a number of unmarried girls in her chiefdom are on long-acting contraceptives provided by some NGOs which have made them to indulge in sex.
“I have noticed that girls, especially those who got pregnant but went back to school after delivery, are put on contraceptives to prevent them from conceiving again. I feel this is just promoting immorality,” Chieftainess Waitwika said.
She said some of girls who started taking contraceptives from childhood have complained of difficulties to conceive when they get married.
Chieftainess Waitwika said it is unfortunate that most girls are no longer scared of engaging in sex.
“Some girls are given everything by their parents but you tend to wonder why they still go out to sleep around for money and sometimes just pleasure,” she said.
Chieftainess Waitwika said the best way to help girls is to continue offering them counsel on the importance of living a morally upright life instead of shielding them by providing contraceptives which are better off being used by married people and adults.
She said discouraging early marriages is working out by way of giving people correct information.
“Some people are finding it difficult to move away from marrying off children early because it has been a tradition from way back. So, we have started punishing parents who marry off their daughters early and we also get back those girls into school and good results are being achieved,” Chieftainess Waitwika said.
Southern Province police commissioner Bonny Kapeso said in a statement yesterday that the accident happened when the driver of a Toyota Hiace minibus registration BAE 2682, identified as Brighton Hadunka, 46, of Mumbwa, lost control of the vehicle due to excessive speed.
“Five passengers died on the spot, including the driver, while two others died whilst admitted to Namwala District Hospital with 18 others who sustained various body injuries,” Mr Kapeso said.
The accident happened around 20:00 hours. Mr Kapeso has since cautioned motorists driving at night to always exercise patience.
“Motorists driving during the night have been cautioned to always be prudent and exercise patience bearing in mind that they are carrying lives of people,” he said.
The bodies of the deceased are in the Namwala District Hospital mortuary awaiting post-mortem and burial.
Last month, 11 people died on the spot while 29 others sustained injuries in a night road traffic accident which happened at Munali Hills in Chikankata district.
The driver of the Hino truck, which was carrying people, livestock and assorted goods, is believed to have been over-speeding when he lost control of the vehicle which later plunged into a 10 metre gorge.
THE Zambian High Commission in the United Kingdom (UK) is investigating the authenticity of an online story about a 16-year-old upcoming Zambian footballer who has been killed in that country.
UK’s Metro News, an online newspaper, on Saturday reported that Joshua Bwalya was stabbed to death in London in the latest case of postcode gang wars in that country.
Joshua was chased through the streets of Barking on Tuesday night and stabbed to death in an attack police described as brutal.
Joshua’s family said he was a victim of ‘crazy postcode’ wars and had been targeted by a gang from another estate from the one he lived in with his Zambian parents.
According to the publication, one of his four sisters told the Evening Standard: ‘He was just on the wrong place in the wrong time, a victim of a postcode war.
“It was because of where he was from, not who he was, they were just after anyone. It’s shocking how innocent people are dragged into this.
“He was a beautiful boy with his life ahead of him and now our family has been ripped apart,” the family members were quoted.
The Scotland Yard police are investigating the alleged murder of Joshua in Barking.
And a post-mortem found multiple stab wounds on Joshua’s body and they were the cause of death.
Scotland Yard detective chief inspector Gary Holmes branded the killing ‘a senseless act of violence’.
“I urge anyone who has information that can help our investigation to come forward and help us to bring Joshua’s murderers to justice,” Mr Holmes said.
Joshua was preparing to start studying business at college and had played for Barking FC, which is planning to hold a memorial match.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Kalaba said in an interview yesterday that he will update the nation as soon as he receives a report.
He also urged Zambians living abroad to alert Zambian missions in their respective countries whenever they encounter misfortunes.
“Zambians living in other countries should always find time to visit embassies and missions abroad to alert them on happenings regarding their fellow Zambians,” Mr Kalaba said.
Eastern Province CSPR co-ordinator Maxson Nkhoma has described the high annual student failure rate at ZIALE as “literacy sabotage”.
Mr Nkhoma said in a statement that Zambians, especially the poor, do not have affordable legal representation because of ZIALE’s alleged inability to produce more lawyers onto the labour market.
“It’s difficult to comprehend how out of 300 students who sat for ZIALE mid-year examinations, only seven passed,” he said.
Mr Nkhoma said Zambia needs more qualified lawyers to represent those in correctional facilities unlike the current situation where only a few rich people afford the costly legal representation.
PRESIDENT Edgar Chagwa Lungu says he is leading a team that will leave legacy befitting to make generations to come proud.
And President Lungu says he will endeavour to engage various sections of society to help him govern.
Speaking when International Fund for Agricultural Development paid a courtesy call to him at state house, President Lungu said his government was ready to partner with investors and organisations that can help transform and better the lives of an ordinary Zambian.
“We want to leave an impact! A positive impact. We want to say we found it at this level and lifted it to that level,” President Lungu said.
“That is the legacy we want to leave!”
And President Lungu took notice of the works of the United Nations noting that their already reseached work can be used by government as templates.
“The UN family gives us a lot of hope…The UN have experience, they know what works and what doesn’t. They can tell us what we can or can not try…,” he said.
He noted that people learn by listening to others and that was why he was engaging various sections of society.
“We learn by listening… we know what we want and what we want is to deliver service even to rural areas, make them more attractive with development and hence decongest the urban area,” President Lungu said.
Among the Officials present was IFAD President, Gilbert Houngbo, UN Systems Country Coordinator Janet Rogan.
Others were IFAD Regional Director Sama Jatta, Country Director Abla Benhammouche, economist Oscar Anadumba and logistics specialist Waseem Khan.
On hand to aid the President receive the entourage was Agriculture Ministers, Michael Katambo and Hon Dora Siliya as well as Commerce Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe.
The ministers thanked IFAD for their support as cooperating partners in small holder farming targeted at reaching out to women and the youth.
On Friday the former Copperbelt Minister claimed that Chiefs in Southern Province had invited embattled Roan MP, Chishimba Kambwili to travel to the region to have a meeting with them.
But the chiefs refuted Mr Musenge’s claims and challenged him to name any chief from the region involved in the purported meeting. Most chiefs talked to by the Daily Nation yesterday said they did not know what Mr Musenge was talking about.
They said Mr Musenge’s statement should be ignored because it was only meant to bring the name of Tonga chiefs into ridicule. “I am not aware of that meeting or any chief from here who has invited him (Kambwili).” said Chief Chipepo.
Chief Chipepo challenged Mr Musenge to disclose the names of traditional leaders who had invited his friend and also to state the purpose of such a meeting.
“Who invited him and to discuss what if I may ask? Because I am hearing about it for the first time. It’s not true, there is no such a meeting or any plans to have one. Not to my knowledge.”
Chief Chipepo further said it was wrong for politicians to be dragging chiefs from the region into their political battles.
“Politicians should find other strategies to use. They should stop using our names. we are traditional leaders and not politicians,” warned Chief Chipepo.
And in a separate interview, Chieftainess Mwenda of Chikankata District expressed shock at Mr Musenge’s claims.
“I don’t know anything about the meeting he (Musenge) is talking about. Nobody has communicated to me about it. I don’t think there is any impending meeting between him (Kambwili) and us,” said Chieftainess Mwenda.
President Edgar Lungu has said that the decision to peg the market price of maize at K60 per 50kg by the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) was not made by him but the Agency alone.
Speaking when he conducted a pre-tour of the stands at the 91 st Agriculture and Commercial Show, President Lungu said he will not intervene to adjust the maize market price this time around and took the opportunity to call on Zambians to export the excess maize.
President Lungu said local entrepreneurs should take advantage of the bumper harvest and liberal market to trade and export the commodity to other countries such as Kenya and Tanzania for their businesses to grow.
The President said neighbouring countries are awash with market opportunities for the maize crop.
Farmers are saddened that Government, through the FRA, can announce the price of K60 per 50kgs bag when the cost of production is far much higher. Farmers have therefore, placed their hopes in the Zambia National Farmers’ Union (ZNFU) as their mouth piece to renegotiate with government over the pricing.
In Mumbwa, farmers have expressed disappointment at the prices of maize and soybeans which have kept nose-diving and in turn affecting their incomes A check at Badat, which is the largest grain buyer in Mumbwa, found prices of maize had reduced from K55/50kg bag to K52/50kg bag and soybeans from K115/50kg bag to K110/50kg bag. This development has worried farmers saying the cost of production was higher than the prices the commodities are being pegged at. Another check at NWK ginnery, which previously was buying at K60/50kg bag of maize, found reduced prices of K55/50kg bag.
In Solwezi, despite the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) beginning its maize marketing on 1st August 2017, no farmer has so far supplied any single bag of maize to the FRA. This is because the farmers are not happy with the pricing of K60 for a 50 kg bag of maize. On the other hand, some buyers who were buying a 50 kg bag of maize at K70, reduced
the price to K60 per 50 kg bag immediately the Agency announced the price of K60. A check conducted on Wednesday by ZNFU at FRA main shed found a dreary situation with stranded looking deport supervisors with their scales and empty grain bags.
Farmers who visited the ZNFU office vowed not to sell their produce to the Agency if they maintained the K60 price. Farmers also complained bitterly saying maize farming was no longer an attractive business venture looking at the high cost of inputs and challenges encountered during this just ended farming season like Fall Army Worms and Red locusts. Farmers appealed to ZNFU to help them find alternative profitable markets.
In Mutunga Camp Northern block of Katete, Eastern Province, farmers on Tuesday expressed displeasure with FRA’s low Market price. This was during a camp agriculture committee (CAC). Farmers also complained of long distances to the new depot as the only depot in the camp has been shut. There are no private buyers in the area as the road and geographical terrain is very bad. The camp boasts of high production of maize, soya beans and cotton. The major markets for this camp are FRA and cotton companies. But cotton companies such as NWK and Cargill are only buying cotton in the camp leaving over 2000 farmers stranded with markets for maize. The CAC appealed to ZNFU to help farmers in the camp with better markets, saying if it means the whole camp joining ZNFU to access better markets they would do so without hesitation.
In Kasama, farmers are stranded with maize due to lack of maize market following the announcement of low buying price of K60 per 50kg by the FRA. Most farmers have held on to their crop waiting for FRA to adjust the price upward or sell to any buyer who can offer a reasonable price. Farmers have since challenged FRA to explain the logic behind the reduction of maize price as the price of inputs and replanting was very high.
In Mbala District, farmers are still anxiously waiting for the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to review the maize price. The K60 FRA maize price has brought about panic and anxiety
among farmers. Some private buyers have taken advantage of the low FRA market price and are offering farmers as low as K 55 per 50 kg bag of white maize on cash basis, which many farmers are saying is just a drop in the ocean. A random survey conducted in some selected Information Centres, found that farmers are longing to know if the Agency will make any adjustments to the maize price for the 2017 marketing season.
Members of the Patriotic Front on the Copperbelt staged a solidarity walk on Saturday across the busy Central Business District of Kitwe in a show of support to President Edgar Lungu’s 2021 bid.
The walk later ended up in a mini rally at the PF district office.
PF Copperbelt Chairman Stephen Kainga led some Members of Parliament who included Kampamba mulenga, Emmanuel Mulenga, Frank Ng’ambi, Jonas Chanda, Alexander Chiteme in the solitary march.
All the speakers took turns to denounce Roan Member of Parliament Chishimba Kambwili and Former Copperbelt Minister Mwenya Musenge.
Mr Kainga announced that the party on the Copperbelt is now even more united with the expulsion of the two members.
He said the party in the province is fully behind President Lungu and have since endorsed him as their preferred candidate for the 2021 polls.
South African President Jacob Zuma on Saturday visited former president Kenneth Kaunda at his home in Lusaka.
According to the South African presidency, President Zuma found Dr Kaunda “in good spirits”.
“President Zuma found President Kaunda in good spirits and expressed his wishes for good health and many more years of a peaceful and enjoyable retirement for this highly regarded selfless freedom fighter and humanist who made Zambia the home of thousands of South African exiles during the struggle against apartheid,” the presidency said.
The former President Kenneth Kaunda yesterday amused South African President Jacob Zuma and his delegation when he performed his ‘signature jogging move’ and has since assured the nation that he is well.
Dr Kaunda was recently admitted to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) for routine medical check-ups.
Mr Zuma, who was in the country to officiate at the Agricultural and Commercial Show, took time off his schedule to visit the former statesman at his residence in State Lodge to renew their acquaintances.
Dr Kaunda, who had a casual conversation with Mr Zuma, said he was honoured by the visit as he never expected it.
“I did not think you could find time to come and see me due to your tight schedule, I’m grateful for this gesture. I’m fine and thank you all for the best wishes,” Dr Kaunda said.
The former President wished Mr Zuma well and implored him to be a servant of the people as he governs the country.
President Zuma said he was glad to see Dr Kaunda looking strong and enjoying good health.
“It is nice seeing the old man looking strong. I didn’t know he could jog,” he said.
Mr Zuma was happy to be in the country, adding that Lusaka was his second home.
The South African leader was quick to point out that the capital city has drastically changed due to the various infrastructure projects.
Mr Zuma, who once lived in Zambia during South Africa’s liberation struggle, said the capital city has witnessed massive development.
The President said he holds Dr Kaunda in high esteem and despite the tight schedule, he could not leave the country without seeing him.
“I see things have changed a lot in Lusaka, this was also my home.
Mr Zuma was met on arrival at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (KKIA) by President Lungu and was accorded a 21-gun salute after which he inspected a guard of honour.
President Lungu and Mr Zuma later held private talks at State House before the latter officially opened the Agricultural and Commercial Show.
The directive comes after three convicts claimed that some officers mistreat them, contrary to the institution’s guidelines.
The three convicts, whose identities have been withheld, told Minister of Justice Given Lubinda, Mr Kampyongo and National Guidance and Religious Affairs minister Godfridah Sumaili during their visit to the correctional facility recently that they are ill-treated.
The convicts revealed their ordeal after Mr Lubinda asked the more than 500 male inmates to feel free and come out in the open if they are being beaten.
Mr Lubinda said corporal punishment is no longer allowed in Zambia, adding that those in incarceration were not there for punishment but reformation.
Mr Kampyongo warned that any officers who will be found to have beaten or used force against the convicts will be disciplined.
Mr Kampyongo said inmates are Zambian citizens just like any other and they deserve fair treatment.
Meanwhile, some inmates have pleaded with Government to come up with measures where someone who is released from the correctional facility can get financial help so that they can start a new life.
FURNITURE and timber worth thousands of Kwacha have been burnt to ashes in unclear circumstances at New Kasanda Market in Kabwe.
The fire is reported to have started around 20:30 hours on Friday in sections where carpenters make and sell furniture.
Some eye-witnesses claimed the fire started after sparks were seen on electricity cables while others claimed the fire started under two poles on which a transformer is mounted.
A check by the Sunday Mail around 21:00 hours at the market found police officers, officers from the fire brigade and officers from Zesco struggling to extinguish the raging fire.
Some owners of the furniture, who rushed to the market, were seen wailing over the loss of the property.
And some onlookers poured scorn on the fire brigade for failing to extinguish the fire, which consumed chairs, cupboards, wooden doors and timber.
Among the senior Government officials found on the scene were Central Province minister Sydney Mushanga and his permanent secretary, Chanda Kabwe, Kabwe district commissioner Dominic Mulenga, Kabwe town clerk Ronald Daka and Central Province commissioner of police Lombe Kamukoshi.
And in an interview, a visibly disappointed Mr Mushanga described the burning of the furniture and timber as an unfortunate development.
“This is very sad. This is one of the biggest markets we have in Central Province,” Mr Mushanga said.
Mr Mushanga said Kabwe has no fire tender, and that is why the fire brigade failed to extinguish the fire.
Mr Mushanga said the Ministry of Local Government has procured 12 fire tenders and Kabwe will receive two.
“We have been helplessly watching because we don’t have a fire tender. The Ministry of Local Government has assured us that we will be provided with two fire tenders,” he said.
And Mr Kabwe, who visited New Kasanda Market yesterday to check on the situation, said police have launched investigations into the cause of the fire.
“Let us allow our colleagues from the security wings to do their investigations,” Mr Kabwe said.
Mr Kabwe commended all the officers and marketeers who helped in extinguishing the fire because this also helped in saving the Zesco transformer.
SEVENTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD Mulomba Mutakwa is by far the oldest person in Zambia to sit for Grade 12 General Certificate of Education (GCE) examinations.
Mrs Mutakwa, a retired teacher, was last Wednesday among 13 GCE candidates who sat for history paper (I) at Kabwe School for Continuing Education.
As she sat in the examination room waiting for the invigilator to hand her the question paper, she was very anxious and probably felt she made a wrong choice to go back to school. But she remained undaunted.
She did her best, she says.
“I was very anxious but I am happy that I wrote the paper,” she said. “It [examination] has motivated me and I am encouraged. I feel I can do it.”
Pastor Simweemba, director of Home Health Education Service (HHES) in Kabwe under the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA), convinced her to sit for GCE examination.
“He felt this was going to help me to be well-informed,” the septuagenarian shares.
She does a lot of work under HHES and this demands a lot of reading and exposure to current affairs. It means a good command of English is a pre-requisite for her.
She also has an interest in history.
“History will also help me to understand the scriptures,” Ms Mutakwa, a retired primary school teacher, says.
In March this year, the mother of four and grandmother registered to sit for English, Religious Education and History at Kabwe School for Continuing Education.
She did not, however, sit for English and Religious Education because she had a bereavement on the dates she was supposed to write the two subjects. She intends to sit for them next year.
True to its name, the Kabwe School for Continuing Education has for the first time recorded a septuagenarian among its GCE candidates.
“She is even an encouragement to members of staff that age shouldn’t be a factor to make progress in education,” principal at the school Elias Chanda said.
Mrs Mutakwa told staff at the school that she intends to enrol in university to undertake a course that would be of interest to her.
“Our advice to her is that she shouldn’t give up but keep writing until she has the right qualifications,” Mr Chanda said.
Central Province education officer Jennipher Banda described Mrs Mutakwa as a courageous woman.
Ms Banda adds that Mrs Mutakwa stands as a shining example that “education knows no age”.
She says there is a big possibility Mrs Mutakwa is the oldest person in Central Province to have sat for Grade 12 GCE examinations.
Her granddaughter, Lucy Mondoka, is humbled by her grandmother’s decision.
Ms Mondoka, a teacher at Kabwe School for Continuing Education, adds that her grandmother is showing a good example that anyone can go to school at any age.
“This is a big step she took because at her age, she is supposed to be resting but she has decided to return to school,” Ms Mondoka says.
Ms Mondoka is inspired and she wants to improve her academic qualifications.
When she completed her primary school decades ago, Mrs Mutakwa proceeded to do her junior secondary education.
She went up to Form Two and proceeded to David Livingstone Teacher Training College for a two-year course.
She worked as a primary school teacher for 31 years. She retired in 1996 at Mine Primary School, one of the local schools in Kabwe.
© Lusaka Times
