Several Journalists perceived to be aligned to the PF government have been appointed to serve as diplomats in various foreign embassies.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs sources have confirmed that state broadcaster ZNBC and the Zambia Daily Mail have contributed the most number of appointees.

Others are from the Daily Nation, a paper run by former State House aide Richard Sakala which is seen by many as pro PF.

The letters of appointments were handed over to the Journalists two weeks ago and some are earmarked to take up their new positions as Press Attaché’s by end of April.

ZNBC News Manager Cosmas Chileshe has been appointed as the new Press Secretary at the Zambian Mission to the United Nations in New York while Wallen Simwaka of the Daily Nation will take up the same role at the Zambian Mission to the USA in Washington D.C.

ZNBC’s Bangwe Naviley who ran a string of PF propaganda news broadcasts in the run up to the August 2016 polls has been sent to India.

Inutu Mwanza who has been covering First Lady Esther Lungu’s local and international trips has taken up the position of Press Secretary at the Zambian mission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Others are Yotamu Mugara who is Japan bound while Freelance Journalist Kellys Kaunda will go to Berlin, Germany.

Kasabo Seth Kalussa who was a Freelance Journalist with Mwebantu New Media has been sent to Botswana as Press Attaché.

Others are Daily Mail News Editor Jerry Munthali and several others at the Times of Zambia in Ndola and Lusaka.

The sources said State House Spokesman Amos Chanda is the one who has been personally handing out the letters to the Reporters.
The appointed Journalists have since undergone security clearance while others have even resigned their media jobs.

The majority of those Journalists who were appointed by late President Michael Sata in 2012 are being recalled and are heading back home.

State House has castigated opposition UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema for misleading the Commonwealth delegation that met him recently, in Lusaka.

Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda says it was wrong for the UPND leader to claim that the August 2016 general election results were stolen from him.

Mr Chanda said it was unpatriotic of the opposition leader to continue peddling lies when he has failed to prove how many votes were stolen from him.

Speaking to the media at State House today, Mr. Chanda said the opposition leader should be sincere and accept that President Lungu won the August 11, 2016 general elections.

Mr. Chanda maintained that Mr. Hichilema must refrain from insinuating that he won the elections as President Lungu won convincingly in six provinces out of the ten provinces.

The UPND leader should just move on and accept the outcome of the general elections, Mr. Chanda told journalists during the briefing.

He said misleading international organizations will not buy him sympathy from the international media.

“ Government is ready to provide reports compelled by various monitoring organizations that participated in the monitoring of the August 2016 general elections, ‘ said the President Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations.

He emphasized that none of the monitoring organizations questioned the outcome of the election results.

Mr. Chanda said the Zambian people are distancing themselves from Mr. Hichilema because of his delusion state of mind.

Recently , the UPDN leader was quoted in the media alleging that the 2016 general elections results were stolen from him when he met the Commonwealth delegation.

And Mr Chanda has counseled UPND leader to desist from creating false impressions to the international community that there is tension in the country.

He explained that visiting foreign nationals who are in the country to watch the ongoing AFCON under 20 games are surprised to learn that there is no tension in the country.

Mr. Hichilema risks being irrelevant in the opposition if he continues on his path of telling lies about the state of affairs in the country, he said.

Meanwhile Mr Chanda has told journalists that Agriculture minister Dora Siliya is not involved in the maize gate scandal.

Mr Chanda said it was wrong for the Malawi maize gate commission of inquiry to mention the name of Ms Siliya in the report when they did not speak to her.

He explained that on the Zambian side there is no maize scandal adding that the maize gate problem is in Malawi.

Mr Chanda described the mentioning of Zambia’s Agriculture minister in the maize gate commission of inquiry report as unfortunate.

And the Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations says the recent visit of President Lungu to Israel was successful.

Mr Chanda said the Head of State was accorded a full state visit by the government of Israel during his five days official visit.

He disclosed that President Lungu managed to re-establish diplomatic and political ties between the two countries.

Relations between the two governments had regrettably broken down from 1973 to 1993.

He said President Lungu’s visit to the holy land enabled him to cement economic ties between the two countries.

Mr. Chanda revealed that four medical missions from Israel are expected to arrive in the country soon.

However Mr. Chanda told journalists that minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Kalaba will present a deport report to parliament on the outcome of the President’s visit to Israel.

He also hinted that Zambia and Israel will sign an MOU agreement in the due course that seeks to promote cooperation in the agriculture sector.

Earlier, Mr. Chanda asked Journalists to observe a moment of silent in honour of the Daily Mail Journalist Teddy Kuyela who passed away, yesterday after a short illness.

South African based Payments service provider Zoona has raised US$1 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the MasterCard Foundation to strengthen the reach of its mobile banking services in Zambia.

Initially launched in Zambia, Zoona has become the country’s leading payments service provider.

It provides financial services through its mobile money platform, and offers emerging entrepreneurs an opportunity to provide money transfers and financial services to low-income consumers through its network of over 1,500 mobile money agents.

“Zoona was founded with the purpose of helping communities thrive. We work with emerging entrepreneurs to lay the foundation for the sustainable and inclusive economic growth necessary to tackle today’s challenges and to secure the future of generations to come. This project will help Zoona expand its work to increase financial inclusion in Africa,” said Lelemba Phiri, chief marketing officer at Zoona.

IFC will provide advisory services for three years to assist Zoona to develop and roll out a new mobile wallet solution that will allow customers to store and send money, with the aim to reach 300,000 new customers.

The project is part of the Partnership for Financial Inclusion, a US$37.4 million joint initiative of IFC and the MasterCard Foundation to expand microfinance and advance digital financial services in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Mobile money solutions have been rolled out across the continent in recent years with remarkable impact on financial inclusion. Now is the time to focus on the products offered through these mobile platforms to ensure they meet the needs of low-income people and small-scale entrepreneurs and truly help improve peoples’ lives,” said Riadh Naouar, head of IFC Financial Institutions Group Advisory Services in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Non-Governmental Organisations’ Coordinating Council ( NGOCC ) has condemed the invasion of LAZ offices by PF cadres and described the act as barbaric and misguided.

In a statement released to the media, NGOCC said that the the levels of lawlessness by the ruling party was appalling and very retrogressive to democratic dispensation, adding that it was totally unacceptable for cadres of the ruling party to conduct themselves in such a barbaric manner.

Below is the full statement

NGOCC CONDEMNS PF ATTACKS ON LAZ

The Non-Governmental Organisations’ Coordinating Council ( NGOCC ) condemns, in the strongest terms, the barbaric and misguided attacks on the Law Association of Zambia ( LAZ) by cadres of the Patriotic Front Party (PF).

While we recognize that every citizen has a democratic right to express their views on any public institution, the attacks towards the LAZ and in particular towards the LAZ President Ms Linda Kasonde are unwarranted and clearly meant to intimidate the Association from playing it’s rightful role as a legal advisory. As the custodian of the law, LAZ has every right to defend the mutilation of our Constitution by those who yield political power.

The levels of lawlessness by the ruling party are appalling and very retrogressive to democratic dispensation. It is totally unacceptable for cadres of the ruling party to conduct themselves in such a barbaric manner. It must be appreciated that LAZ is an autonomous body with clearly articulated governance structures through which measures can be taken should it be established that LAZ had misconducted itself. The actions by the cadres are meant to intimidate LAZ especially it’s President from discharging her duties as a duly elected leader of the association.

We are especially concerned that if this trend of intimidation of institutions such as LAZ continue, the voices of citizens, especially women, as well as their vested interest will be suppressed even more.

We demand that Ms. Kasonde be allowed to discharge her duties free of intimidation and personal attacks.  As the women’s movement we stand with Ms. Kasonde and support her in her endeavors as LAZ president.

We further appeal to the leadership of the PF to immediately stop this hooliganism by its cadres. The ramifications of this trend is obviously stifled freedom of expression and of the press and is an unfortunate recipe for killing our democracy.

The women’s movement is therefore calling upon all Zambians to stand up and reject this perpetuation of undemocratic tendencies of the PF.

Issued
for/ NGOCC

Engwase B. Mwale
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Today’s Scripture

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains…”

(Psalm 121:1, NIV)

Dream Beyond

So many people today are stuck in a rut. Not because they aren’t talented; not because they don’t have God’s favor, but because their vision is limited. They can’t see beyond their circumstances. They don’t see themselves accomplishing their dreams, being promoted or living healthier. They just see more of the same because it’s what they are focused on. What you see in your mind is what you’re going to move toward.

The truth is, we all have vision. Every one of us has a picture in our mind of our self, our family and our future. The question is, what does your picture look like? Do you see yourself rising higher, overcoming obstacles, living an abundant life? Do you dare to dream beyond your circumstances?

Today, why don’t you change your focus? Lift your eyes beyond your circumstances. Get a higher dream, a greater vision for your life. See yourself the way God sees you and move forward in the abundant life He has prepared for you!

A Prayer for Today

“Father, today I choose to lift my eyes off of my circumstances and look to You. Show me Your ways that I may walk with You on the path to victory all the days of my life in Jesus’ name. Amen.”