Patriotic Front (PF) Kantanshi Member of Parliament Anthony Mumba has warned that the continued refusal by UPND leadership to recognize President Edgar Lungu as head of state will take the opposition political party into oblivion.

“They might just lose the focus and become irrelevant in the next five years; so they need to take introspective and check what they believe before they go into oblivion,” Mr Mumba said.

He said in an interview that it was irrelevant for UPND president Hakainde Hichilema and his leaders to continue living in denial when every Zambian including the UPND supporters had accepted that President Lungu was the head of state.

Mr Hichilema and his vice Geoffrey Mwamba as well as senior leaders have refused to recognize the election of Mr Lungu on claims that the last year’s elections were rigged.
But Mr Mumba noted that the continued refusal to accept that Mr Lungu the current president of Zambia had a potential to disturb the peace that the country was enjoying and derail the economic path.
“The Zambianshave spoken and I think the role of the opposition is to provide checks and balances to the ruling party so that we have development for every Zambian,” he said.

“But the stance taken by UPND that they will not recognize the president I think they are just wasting time because everyone has already recognized and the president; I think they should up their game otherwise they will be rendered irrelevant.”
He noted that the opposition political party had been associated with violence and antagonism since last year when it lost the general elections and urged the leadership to resume the role of the opposition party.
The parliamentarians, however said  President Lungu for exercising exceptional restrain even when some of the claims by the opposition party bordered on criminality.

Mr Mumba said it was also a myth and misconception for the UPND to suggest that the opposition political party was getting stronger on the Copperbelt.
He warned that becoming a member of parliament had become competitive and opposition parliamentarians would be wasting their time to fulfil their campaign promises because of the current antagonism

Rainbow Party Secretary General Wynter Kabimba has written to the Chinese Embassy in Zambia raising objection over its recent donation of K200,000 cash to the Esther Lungu Foundation.

Mr Kabimba wants the Chinese Embassy to withdraw the donation saying the act of donating such an astronomical amount of money to the spouse of the President amounts to corruption.

He said it is wrong and against diplomatic convention practice for the Chinese Ambassador’s wife to donate K200,000 to First Lady Esther Lungu.

In a letter addressed to Ambassador Yang Youming, Kabimba described the donation as improper, unethical and corrupt.
“On Tuesday 04th April, 2017, during the ZNBC main news at 19:00 hours, I saw a clip in which your spouse was presenting a cheque in excess of K200,000 as a donation to the First Lady, Mrs Esther Lungu’s foundation on behalf of the embassy. The said donation, according to your spouse was the first of the annual installments to the foundation. Whereas Zambian laws do not prohibit such donations as per se, a donation coming from a foreign embassy and/or government to a personal charity led by a First Lady is not only wrong, improper and unethical, but wholly outside the purview of the normal diplomatic conversions and practices,” Mr. Kabimba wrote.

He also wondered what criteria was used to pick First Lady Esther’s foundation as the recipient.

“Our position as the Rainbow Party is that the act undertaken by the embassy through your wife is tantamount to corruption. As you are very well aware, Mrs Lungu is and has been a principal and active campaigner of the Patriotic Front, a role which has a thin line with her purported foundation. In this vein, we view the donation as Rainbow Party as nothing but the financing of PF as a political party by your government through this foundation which is not accountable to any established board of trustees or subject to any rules and regulations,” wrote Mr. Kabimba.

“This is, therefore, political interference by your government in the domestic affairs of another sovereign state. In this regard, we demand that you furnish us with the criteria you used to make the donation in question to Mrs Lungu’s foundation out of the many existing old charities in the country. We also demand that the donation be withdrawn immediately. Yours faithfully, Wynter Kabimba.”

And appearing on Hot FM Hot Seat radio programme, Mr Kabimba said there are many deserving charities such as SOS and Cheshire Homes who can have received that donation.

“If the Chinese really cared for this country, they could have donated that money to resolving the situation at UNZA, maybe build UNZA library which is collapsing,” he said.

Mr Kabimba demanded that the Chinese Embassy discloses the source of that K200,000.

“Was the money from Chinese Government or the Chinese business community in Zambia? I want them to tell us the sources.
They money was handed over by the Ambassador’s wife. There is everything wrong. Mrs Xi Jinping can never receive money in that manner. It is never allowed in other countries by international conventions. We shall not allow any foreign company or mission to come and interfere in the internal affairs of this country by financing one political party against the other. We won’t allow this mischievousness. We shall unearth the truth about this matter,” he said.
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United Party for National Development (UPND) Secretary General Steven Katuka has said his party has suffered both physical and emotional abuse at the hands of the Patriotic Front (PF) leadership under President Edgar Lungu.

Katuka, who bemoaned what he termed as abuse to the opposition by the PF led Government, explained that violence has become more pronounced in the last six years of the PF leadership than other successful Zambian Governments.

And Katuka said the demands for the deregistration of UPND are ill-intended and misplaced, adding that the UPND has been at pain more than any other political party in Zambia as most of its members have died at the hands of police service and the PF cadres while others are languishing in prisons across the country.

Mr Katuka has since urged and warned what he termed briefcase Political parties in Zambia to cease being front runners of the PF’s evil scheme of taking Zambia to the one party state, affirming that the PF’s scheme to take back Zambia into one party state will not spare them as opposition political parties in the country, unless they have not intentions of being in Government at some point.

“The briefcase political parties in Zambia should not be used by the PF to champion their evil agenda of taking Zambia back to one party state,” Katuka said

Meanwhile, Zambia Direct Democracy Movement (ZDDM) President Edwin Sakala on behalf of 16 political parties insists that UPND should be deregistered because of that has engulfed the country for some time now.

Sakala further stated that the reason for other opposition political parties in Zambia to demand for deregistration of the UPND is because six months after elections the entire UPND leadership has failed to recognize President Lungu as a dully elected president of Zambia in the 2016 general elections.

“UPND should just be deregistered to curb violence in Zambia and because they have failed to recognize the president six months down the line” Sakala said

But National Restoration Party (NAREP) Lusaka province information and publicity secretary Richard Malilwe has distanced the Elias Chipimo led Party from the group that wants UPND deregistered.

Malilwe said there is nothing wrong with what the UPND has done to deserve deregistration.

Maliwe noted that deregistering the UPND would mean going to the costly exercise of by-elections and currently Zambia has no money to undergo such an expensive exercise.

“The UPND has done nothing wrong and deregistering UPND will be costly to the country” Malilwe said

All is set for the UK Easter Bonanza, to be graced by International Mega – stars Jordan Katembula popularly known as ‘JK’ and ‘Wile’.

In an interview with Lusaka Times, Big 4 Rocks Events coordinator & founder, Chela Katwishi disclosed that JK and Wile are geared up and promising funs a magical and spectacular show to be held both in London on Sunday 16^th April at the Royal Regency Banquet Hall and Manchester on Friday 14^th April at the Indulge Banquet Hall.

Katwishi said that Big 4 Rocks decided to put up a show, not only in London but Manchester too because they would like to bring professional entertainment to the hardworking UK – based Zambian community and friends of Zambia at their door – steps.

He said that JK & Wile are expected to jet into the UK from Zambia on or just before 11^th April in readiness for the two shows saying that fans should come early to avoid disappointment.

Katwishi also disclosed that Big 4 Rocks, comprising Businessman & former Valentinos DJ Eddie Musonda; Businessman & former professional footballer Stan Sikwese and Broadcast Journalist Chela Katwishi, will continue to embark on supporting charities and the under – privileged children in Zambia.

He said that the shows will be curtain – raised by new upstart Blessed Hildah, while award winning DJ Blair will handle the decks.

Katwishi thanked BIG 4 Rocks clients for their continued unwavering support and emphasized that 2017 is a year of abundant blessings not only for Big 4 Rocks but for their clients too.

 

BY Kapa187

PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has directed National Development Planning Minister Lucky Mulusa to immediately implement the performance management system to add impetus to the performance of the public service workers towards economic growth.

President Lungu noted that the performance system would also reduce the unnecessary dismissals of civil servants, among other benefits.

The President also tasked Vice-President Inonge Wina and Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe to set up an inter-ministerial council to coordinate investment inflow into the country.

Mr Mulusa said President Lungu wanted to the performance management system to be effected to monitor the performance of civil servants and expose those with a ‘lazy’ work attitude.

“The President wants this system to be effected as soon as possible to monitor the performance of civil servants. It will also be linked to rewards and sanctions unlike at the moment, it’s difficult to know who is working hard or not,” he said.

Mr Mulusa, who was in the company of his Permanent Secretary Chola Chabala, was speaking to journalists at State House yesterday after presenting a quarterly report on the ministry to Mr Lungu.

He said the ministry was making project appraisals to ensure funding was allocated for the completion of projects, and his ministry would roll out a project to install one milling plant in each of the 10 provinces.

The facilities would be set up in districts with huge maize production in addition to already existing solar powered milling plants by the Zambia Cooperative Federation.

Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda said the facilities would help to reduce the cost of mealie meal production and lead to low cost of the commodity in the market.

Ms Mwanakatwe said President Lungu had tasked Ms Wina and herself to set up an inter-ministerial council to coordinate trade and investment inflows.

She told journalists after presenting her ministry’s report to Mr Lungu that all huge investments would be coordinated through relevant ministries.

Mr Lungu directed Ms Mwanakatwe to ensure Zambians take part in growing the economy and set up economic zones in border posts such as Kasumbalesa in additional to incorporating trade missions abroad to woo investors.

Finance Minister Felix Mutati was directed to come up with more reforms that would increase collection of domestic revenue.

Mr Mutati, who also presented a quarterly report to the President, told journalists that Mr Lungu’s desire was for the country to reduce on external borrowings, but enhance domestic revenue mobilisation.