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Mr Fred M’membeFRED M’membe and Nchima Nchito are on the run following the Lusaka Magistrates Court issuing a warrant of their arrest on Wednesday for alleged impersonation, disobeying lawful court orders and masquerading as advocates of the Post Newspaper (in liquidation).
On Wednesday, police raided Mr M’membe’s house along Nangwenya Road in Rhodes Park near the Lusaka Show Grounds where they only found his wife Mutinta who turned violent against the police and tore into pieces the warrant of arrest against her husband.
By press time yesterday, the police officers effecting the warrant of arrest did not know the whereabouts of Mr M’membe but had camped at his house for most of the day searching for the journalist turned fugitive.
Mr M’membe is currently at large but social media reported that the embattled Post Newspaper (in liquidation) owner had sneaked out of the country four days earlier and was allegedly heading for Jamaica.
Mrs M’membe was by yesterday evening still being held in custody at Kabwata police station after she was bundled there on Wednesday and the police are reported to be holding her following the violent scenes at her home on Wednesday during which she was shown on television haranguing the police and tearing up the warrant of arrest they were carrying for her husband.
Mrs M’membe could be charged with contempt for tearing up the court order for the arrest of her husband.
Mr M’membe is wanted by the police for disobeying lawful court orders to surrender all the assets of the Post Newspaper now in liquidation contrary to section 127 of the Penal Code chapter 87 of the laws of Zambia.
According to the warrant of arrest directed to Inspector General of Police Kakoma Kanganja, Mr M’membe is said to have concealed or was privy to the concealing of the property of the Post Newspaper (in liquidation) contrary to sections 353 (I)(b) of the Companies’ Act Cap 388 of the laws of Zambia.
Mr M’membe is also said to have prevented the production of books or papers affecting or relating to the property or affairs of the Post Newspaper (in liquidation) contrary to section 353 (I) (f) of the Companies’ Act Cap 388 of the laws of Zambia.
“You are commanded in the name of the President forthwith to apprehend the said Fred M’membe and produce him before the court at Lusaka Magistrates Complex,” the warrant of arrest read in part.
The court has also ordered the arrest of Mr Nchito for allegedly impersonating and acting as principal partner in the firm of Messrs Nchito and Nchito Advocates and an advocate of the Post Newspaper (in liquidation) contrary to section 378 (I) of the Penal Code Cap 87 of the laws of Zambia.
Zanaco are in a do-or-die situation in Kigali this Saturday when they visit Rwanda champions APR.
The two sides head into their 2017 CAF Champions League preliminary round, final leg match level at 0-0 from the first leg played on February 11 at Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka.
That result sees Zanaco on the edge of an early exit from the competition as the pressure mounts on them to emulate compatriots Zesco United who reached the semifinals of the same competition in 2016.
Another scoreless draw at APR will see the tie decided the lottery of penalties but Zanaco coach Mumamba Numba is upbeat they can conjure an away win or a score draw to advance to the first round on away goals rule.
“Our chances are 50/50 I think we even have an upper hand because we did not concede we did not have a scoring draw we had a barren draw which is good because if we go and get a scoring draw then we are automatically through to the next round,” Numba said.
Winner will advance to the first round in March where Young Africans are their most likely opponents and who host Ngaya of Comoros this Saturday in Dar-es-Salaam armed with a 5-1 away victory recorded last Sunday in Moroni.
1From right to left: AGRICULTURE Minister, Dora Siliya, Eastern Province Minister, Makebi Zulu, Commerce Minister, Margaret Mwanakatwe and Luapula Province Minister, Nixon Chilangwa, during the first Eastern Province Symposium on development held at Protea Hotel in Chipata
2From left to right: Commerce Minister, Margaret Mwanakatwe, Eastern Province Minister, Makebi Zulu, Agriculture Minister, Dora Siliya and Luapula Province Minister, Nxon Chilangwa during the first Eastern Province Symposium on development held at Protea Hotel in Chipata on Thursday. PICTURE BY STEPHEN MUKOBEKO/ZANIS
3ZAMBIA Development Agency (ZDA) Director General, Patrick Chisanga, gives a presentation during the first Eastern Province Symposium on development held at Protea Hotel in Chipata
4ZAMBIA Development Agency (ZDA) Director General, Patrick Chisanga, gives a presentation during the first Eastern Province Symposium on development held at Protea Hotel in Chipata
5PARAMOUNT Chief Mpenzeni ( left) and representative of Paramount Chief Gawa Undi, Chief Chanje, follow proceedings during the first Eastern Province Symposium on development held at Protea Hotel in Chipata
6CHIEF Madzimawe ( right) delivers a speech on behalf of Paramount Chief Mpezeni during the first Eastern Province Symposium on development held at Protea Hotel in Chipata
7EASTERN Province Minister, Makebi Zulu, offiates at the first regional Symposium on development held at Protea Hotel in Chipata on Thursday. On the left are Commerce Minister, Margaret Mwanakatwe, Luapula Province Minister, Nixon Chilangwa and on the right is Agriculture Minister, Dora Siliya. PICTURE BY STEPHEN MUKOBEKO/ZANIS
8EASTERN Province Minister, Makebi Zulu, offiates at the first regional Symposium on development held at Protea Hotel in Chipata on Thursday. On the left is Commerce Minister, Margaret Mwanakatwe and on the right is Agriculture Minister, Dora Siliya. PICTURE BY STEPHEN MUKOBEKO/ZANIS
9AGRICULTURE Minister, Dora Siliya, speaking at the first Eastern Province Symposium on development at Protea Hotel in Chipata on Thursday. On her right are Eastern Province Minister, Makebi Zulu and Commerce Minister, Margaret Mwanakatwe. PICTURE BY STEPHEN MUKOBEKO/ZANIS
10AGRICULTURE Minister, Dora Siliya, speaking at the first Eastern Province Symposium on development at Protea Hotel in Chipata on Thursday. On her right are Eastern Province Minister, Makebi Zulu, Commerce Minister, Margaret Mwanakatwe and Luapula Province Minister, Nixon Chilangwa. PICTURE BY STEPHEN MUKOBEKO/ZANIS
11AGRICULTURE Minister, Dora Siliya, speaking at the first Eastern Province Symposium on development at Protea Hotel in Chipata on Thursday. On her right are Eastern Province Minister, Makebi Zulu and Commerce Minister, Margaret Mwanakatwe. PICTURE BY STEPHEN MUKOBEKO/ZANIS
12COMMUNITY Market for Conservation (COMACO) Manager, Smith Kapeya and Commerce Minister, Margaret Mwanakatwe confer during the tour of the peanut butter processing plant in Chipata on Thursday. PICTURE BY STEPHEN MUKOBEKO/ZANIS
13COMMUNITY Market for Conservation (COMACO) Manager, Smith Kapeya, explains to Commerce Minister, Margaret Mwanakatwe about the peanut butter processing machine. This was when the Minister toured the plant in Chipata on Thursday. PICTURE BY STEPHEN MUKOBEKO/ZANIS
14COMMERCE Minister, Margaret Mwanakatwe, admires the packaging of peanut butter at Community Market for Conservation (COMACO) in Chipata on Thursday when she toured the processing plant. PICTURE BY STEPHEN MUKOBEKO/ZANIS
15COMMUNITY Market for Conservation (COMACO) President and founder, Dale Lewis, welcomes Commerce Minister, Margaret Mwanakatwe, when she visited the processing plant for peanut butter and other products in Chipata on Thursday. PICTURE BY STEPHEN MUKOBEKO/ZANIS
16EASTERN Comfort Lodge Proprietor, Elvis Mhone, welcomes Commerce Minister, Margaret Mwanakatwe, when she visited the Lodge in Chipata on Thursday. Mr. Mhone is a beneficiary of a loan from the Citizen Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) to expand his business. Second from right is CEEC Director General, Likando Mukumbuta and second left is Eastern Province CEEC Coordinator, Calistus Maingaila. PICTURE BY STEPHEN MUKOBEKO/ZANIS
17COMMUNITY Market for Conservation (COMACO) President and founder, Dale Lewis, introduces COMACO Manager, Smith Kapeya, when the Minister visited COMACO in Chipata on Thursday. PICTURE BY STEPHEN MUKOBEKO/ZANIS
18EASTERN Comfort Lodge Proprietor, Elvis Mhone, speaking when Commerce Minister, Margaret Mwanakatwe (r ) visited the lodge in Chipata on Thursday to appreciate what the loan obtained from Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) has done in terms of business improvement at the premises. In the middle is CEEC Director General, Likando Mukumbuta. The Minister also visited other projects funded by CEEC in Chipata
Kapri Mposhi FIFA Referee Janny Sikazwe officiating FIFA Club World Cup in Japan between Spanish giants Real Madrid and Kashima Antlers.
By Nimi Princewill
You can’t get cocky for so long, for being too talented or extremely skilled in your art. You might get outclassed in a split second by someone largely underrated, or far less skillful than you are. How this happens, remain a total mystery!
I do agree every fighter gets beaten, and the most anyone can hope for is to be on top for a while, but life never get to play it fair!
A lot of times, the best singers are hardly the fans’ favorite, while the not-so-great singers turn out to be the delight of the fans, sometimes for trivial reasons such as their expertise in fashion!
In the corporate world, a couple of times, the academically less qualified get the job ahead of the ‘well-decorated’ over qualified!
Isn’t it really ‘unfair’ to be punished for having paid too much attention to academics, acquiring a lavish grade in the process, but failing in street smart? LOL!
It’s quite breathtaking how some promiscuous women end up in marriage with committed men, at the expense of some religious and celibate women. While some philandering men, astonishingly find solace in the arms of loving and understanding women, at the expense of some committed and faithful men. Funny how things work out, isn’t it?
Doesn’t it get really annoying and pointless, when the smooth chances of your favorite football team winning the league, are completely shattered on the last day by a least-deserving relegation bound team, after the huge efforts and consistency all through the season.
For Christian folks, we were told Lucifer rebelled just once in heaven and got himself banished for eternity! But humans curse God and live, and are always entitled to multiple privileges of pardon! Really adorable I must say, but somewhat unfair to that demon right? (no wonder the devil gets so mad at us!)
Life is certainly not fair to certain categories of thieves in some places in the world and Africa! A government official who embezzle public funds, get cheered and applauded by a chunk of supporters, while a common thief who dispossesses someone of a phone, is lynched to death or set ablaze by the roadside!
Life never get to play it fair! So enjoy the benefits of life while it favors you at someone else’s expense, but keep an open-mind incase it suddenly swirls at your expense!
Finance Minister Felix Mutati says the Zambian government is proceeding with a home grown economic recovery programme and that everyone including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will have to fit into it.
And IMF Resident Coordinator Alfredo Baldini has urged Zambians not to fear the possible return of the IMF but embrace the home grown recovery programme.
An IMF mission team is due to arrive in Zambia on March 1st 2017 to conclude negotiations for a possible economic bailout package believed to be in the region of US$ 1 billion.
But Mr Mutati explained that the Zambian government has already kick-started the implementation of a home grown economic recovery programme called Zambia Plus adding that the IMF will have to fit into that.
The Finance Minister was speaking in Lusaka Thursday during a well-attended public discussion organised by the Economics Association of Zambia on the IMF recovery programme.
[pullquote]IMF may become Zambia’s undertaker and not doctor[/pullquote]
“This is a home grown economic recovery programme and the rest of you including the IMF will have to fit into our programme. We will tell them we don’t need you if they don’t fit in,” Mr Mutati said.
The Finance Minister said Zambia should be allowed to enjoy some of the benefits of belonging to the IMF.
“Our voice should be heard, we are members after all. We should be able access those benefits which we are entitled to as members,” he said.
Mr Mutati said the Zambian economy which was beginning to grind to a halt has now started showing signs of recovery with stability in the foreign exchange market, low inflation and increased tax collection.
He however said challenges around debt servicing and the quantum of debt still remain and the need to maintain consistent policies for recovery.Mr Mutati stressed that government is also committed to fiscal discipline and realigning its expenditure to the key priorities.
He said some non-priority projects have either been cancelled or differed adding that only K8.9 billion has been allocated for capital projects this year.
“The message we keep telling our spending agencies is that you can’t spend what you don’t have,” he said.
And IMF Resident Coordinator Alfredo Baldini admitted that there is still anxiety about the IMF presence in Zambia given the history that the Fund has had with Zambia.
Mr Baldini who likened the IMF to a Coach or a Doctor who administers severe medicines or a fire fighter who is called upon when there is a crisis said the Fund has undergone serious reforms since 2009 which enabled it to disburse more money with less conditions.
“The anxiety about the IMF severe medicine perhaps was like that 20 years ago when we were a bit aloof about the country challenges but since 2009, there was a reform programme at the IMF and now there is more money for lending but with less conditions,” Mr Baldini said.
Speaking during the same event, Economic Consultant Professor Oliver Saasa said he does not believe that the IMF should be a Coach or a Doctor urging that countries should be supported to come up with their own set of policies to steer economic recovery.
Professor Saasa stressed that he does not believe there should even be such a thing as an IMF programme but rather an IMF supported programme.
He has since advised government to delay signing up to the IMF programme if it is not ready with a clear picture of what it wants to do.
“First and foremost, there must be a very clear picture as to what government wants to do and that the IMF only come to compliment and supplement government’s efforts because of that he (Mr Baldini) needed to characterise the IMF as a doctor and doctor do prescribe and the prescription is really where we need challenges because if you follow religiously especially when the competencies within the country to follow those prescriptions are faulty then we end up having the IMF not being the doctor but an undertaker,” Professor Saasa said.
Professor Saasa said he does not believe that Zambia needs additional resources from the IMF but that what the country needs is technical assistance to improve its budget execution which is provided by the Washington based lender.
He also warned government to cut on unnecessary expenditure if it is to continue implementing the economic recovery programme.
“Honourable Mutati, let us tighten our grip on financial discipline and that means that we shouldn’t hear that a new district is being created because there is a by election in that area,” he said.
And WaterAid Country Director Pamela Chisanga said the civil society is concerned that government might be moved to cutting what it might feel as unnecessary expenditure when it signs up to the IMF which might hurt the poor more.
Ms Chisanga said any removal of subsidies that benefit the poor should be done in phased approach saying whatever measures are implemented by government, they should not impact on its ability to deliver basic services for the poor.
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) has called for the immediate and unconditional release of Fred M’membe’s wife Mutinta and all those detained.
In a strongly worded statement, NUMSA General Secretary Irvin Jim said his union wants to launch a campaign to boycott Zambian goods and to end South African trade with Zambia.
Mr Jim has also revealed that the union wants to launch mounting protest action outside the Zambian embassy in South Africa.
He said the union is also calling on all its sister unions to expose what has become a police state and a brutal regime of President Lungu.
Below is the full statement
NUMSA Condemns the Attack on Media Freedom in Zambia
16 February 2017
On behalf of the more than 340,000 members of National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), and indeed on behalf of more than 21,000,000 South African Workers’ we want to register our extreme concern over the continued harassment of the independent media in Zambia and on Comrade Fred M’membe and his wife and all the workers of The Post Newspaper.
A warrant of arrest has been issued for Comrade M’membe.
Our information confirms that his wife and several workers connected to The Zambian Post Newspaper have been arrested. What is extremely worrying is the violent raid on his house by scores of armed police.
We have no doubt that the intentions behind the latest violent assault on Comrade M’membe’s family and workers of The Post are aimed at shutting down The Mast Newspaper and eliminating the most irksome independent voice to President Edgar Lungu, his Patriotic Front party and their followers.
The ruthless persistency and violence with which M’membe and The Post have been pursued by the Lungu government are impossible to defend. The allegations that the paper is not registered with the Zambian Revenue Authority are bogus and malicious.
These political objectives are very clear even to the most fanatical Patriotic Front and Lungu supporter.
It is clear for all to see that the Patriotic Front is determined to eliminate The Post Newspaper, and Fred M’membe himself by any means necessary. Obviously this is an attack on freedom of the press, which is the cornerstone of any democratic society.
As the working class we have a revolutionary duty to prevent the rise of tyranny in any of our countries.
We have a responsibility to defend and advance democracy, human rights and full human freedom. We have a duty to defend and advance the interests of justice.
It is time for the working class in all sectors to rise in defense of Democracy. NUMSA calls on workers in the transportation industry; workers in the import and export industry; workers in the public sector; workers in the security cluster; all workers must unite and fight against the rise of tyranny in the sub-region of the continent. We must fight to protect democracy in Africa.
NUMSA calls on the New Federation; the United Front and all working class organizations all over the world to demand an audit of Zambian trade with other countries that include South Africa.
NUMSA wants to launch a campaign to boycott Zambian goods and to end South African trade with Zambia.
This includes mounting protest action outside the Zambian embassy in South Africa. We are calling on all our sister unions to expose what has become a police state and a brutal regime of President Lungu.
We pledge our solidarity with all the working class and socialist forces in Zambia in general, and to the Socialist Party of Zambia in particular. We also extend our support to comrade Fred and The Post, during this tough time.
To President Lungu of Zambia we demand the following:
Stop, forthwith, the harassment of Comrade Fred, his wife and workers of The Post.
Fred M’membe’s wife and all those detained must be released, immediately and unconditionally.
The warrant of arrest for Fred M’membe must be withdrawn immediately.
Ensure that Zambian tax authorities comply with the order to have The Post opened and operating normally, and to allow for the normal resolutions of the tax matters between the two parties.
The Mast must operate normally, without hindrance or harassment.
These demands are all well within the powers and duties of the President of Zambia, who in effect has sworn to protect all Zambians.
As the working class of this African sub region, we reserve the right to adopt whatever campaigns and measures to ensure that we advance and entrench a culture of democracy, protection of human rights, defend justice and prevent the rise of tyranny. This is not an idle threat; it is a timely warning!
After weeks of speculation over his future at Egyptian club Ittihad, ex-Zesco United midfielder Clatous Chama’s brief love affair with the club has come an end.
The Zambia midfielder joined The Egyptian club on a free transfer from Zesco but had not been registered after a contractual rift between the two parties barely three months after agreeing terms with the Alexandria club.
“Chama, 25, had reportedly informed the Zambian Football Federation to refrain from sending his ITC to his new club and has missed the registration period,” Egyptian football website Kingfut.com reports.
“What had remained was the player giving back the club the financial amount which he received upon signing, and now the sum has been reimbursed.”
Chama was a key player in Zesco’s 2016 CAF Champions League semifinal success scoring four goals in the tournament.
Chief Chama of the Chishinga people in Kawambwa District has appealed to
Government to work on the deplorable Chibote-Chama road which leads to his Palace.
Speaking when Luapula Province Permanent Secretary Dr. Buleti
Nsemukila paid a courtesy call on him, the Chief said owing to the bad
state of the road, the vehicle he bought for himself from his savings
has been damaged beyond repair after using it twice on the road.
He appealed to government to work on the road starting in May when the
rains subside because most farmers in the area depend on it
to deliver their farm produce to the markets.
The Chief said he is happy that the Patriotic Front won the August
2016 quadruple elections so that they could continue with the many
developmental projects in Kawambwa and the Chibote –Chama road is one
the projects which should be taken seriously.
Luapula Province Permanent Secretary Dr. Buleti Nsemukila agreed with
the Chief that the state of the road is unbearable because in some
portions, the grass has overgrown.
He said the situation shows that the road has been neglected for a long time.
Dr. Nsemukila informed the Chief that he has endured the hardships on
the road to reach the Palace and Government will actively give the
road the attention it deserves.
COMERCE Minister, Margaret Mwanakatwe, speaking during the first Eastern Province Symposium on development held at Protea Hotel in Chipata on Thursday. On her right is Luapula Province Minister, Nixon Chilangwa and on her left are Eastern Province Minister, Makebi Zulu and Agicultural Minister, Dora Siliya. PICTURE BY STEPHEN MUKOBEKO/ZANIS
COMMERCE Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe has called for the need to have a strong technology-based, diversified and export focused manufacturing sector which is self-sustaining as part of the country’s development strategy.
Speaking at the Eastern Province symposium on development in Chipata district yesterday, Ms Mwanakatwe said the country should also be dynamic, resilient to external shocks and competitive with effective entities that add value to locally abundant natural resources.
She said Government would facilitate the up scaling of manufacturing sector towards higher value addition and upgrade capacity in the provision of related services.
Ms Mwanakatwe noted that Government has placed emphasis on transforming industrial businesses and complementary services into strong value creating entities.
And Agriculture Minister Dora Siliya said that agriculture there was need to address threats that affects the agriculture sector for improved agriculture industry.
Ms Siliya noted that agriculture was one of the key sectors that contribute to the country’s job creation.
She said that Government was putting in place stringent measures to ensure that challenges faced during the distribution of inputs in the 2016/17 farming season were addressed.
Meanwhile, Eastern Province Minister Makebi Zulu explained that the aim of the symposium was to bring stakeholders together and identify bottlenecks that affect the development agenda for the province.
Mr Zulu notes that being an agro based and the largest producer of commodities such as maize, groundnuts and cotton, the province was still importing most of its finished products such as mealie meal and peanut butter.
She states that Government was keen to promote and localize improved value chains in agro processing and its infrastructure development through the creation of an enabling environment for private enterprise to thrive and promote sustainable public private partnerships.
And Paramount Chief Mpezeni of the Ngoni people of Eastern Province said traditional leaders in the province have committed themselves to do away with negative traditional norm and practices that hinder the development process.
Speaking through chief Madzimaweof the Ngoni people of Chipata district, Paramount chief Mpezeni says that chiefs are happy that government recognizes traditional leaders as partners in national development saying there is need for government to embrace and co-opt all levels of leadership for sustainable development.
NYIMBA Member of Parliament(MP) Olipa Mwansa has commended Eastern Water and Sewerage Company(EWSC) and Devolution Trust Frund (DTF) for remaining committed to improve the lives of the people through the provision of quality water.
Ms Mwansa said when she launched a K2.5 million water supply project financed by the DTF in Nyimba yesterday that lack of access to clean water supply and sanitation services has a negative social and health impact on the Zambian population.
She said water supply and sanitation was not only a necessity but also a human right that if neglected could lead to loss of the lives.
”It is for this reason that the supply of quality water services to the people of Eastern Province is of great importance to Eastern Water and Sewerage Company Limited,”she said.
Ms Mwansa said the Government has continued to improve the water accessibility to all Zambians through the engagement of external donors to invest in the water supply and sanitation Infrastructure development programmes in the country.
She said Government through the ministry of water,sanitation and environmental protection was overwhelmed with the goal of meeting the demands for the water supply in Nyimba district.
She said according to the National Water Supply and Sanitation Council(NWASCO) annual report of 2015, a total of population of 83.8 percent in urban areas were being served with urban water supply while 60.7 percent were being served with adequate sanitation at national level.
She said the figures were low stating that there was need to improve water supply and sanitation services in the country in order to achieve the vision 2030 of universal coverage.
Ms Mwansa said Government has continued going into partnership with cooperating partners on opening the doors for the rapids spread of improved water supply in both rural and peri-urban areas.
Currently the company has a customer base of 700 households adding that the 400 households were expected to benefit from the project.
Ms Mwansa however said there was still a shortfall of 600 households in areas such as Kacholola and Chipembe.
She pledged to lobby for more funds to cater For the remaining population so that they could access to clean water and sanitation services.
Speaking earlier,EWSC Managing Director Lytone Kanowa said the launch of the project was a Big milestone to the people of Nyimba.
Mr Kanowa said his company was currently providing water in seven districts of Eastern Province a well as Chama district in Muchinga Province.
He said he was happy that the company had the capacity of providing treated water to its customers.
Mr Kanowa said it was disheartening that some people had not yet utilised the services the company by connecting water to their houses.
The managing director said today his company had no districts physical presence in Sinda and Vubwi due to lack of water supply network.
And Chief Ndake of the Nsenga People of Nyimba urged all beneficiaries to pay their bills on time so that the company continue supplying quality water services.
He said the connection of water was a dream come true to the people of Nyimba district.
Over 50 Tanker Drivers in Ndola have downed tools petitioning the Energy Regulations Board (ERB) though the Ministry of Energy to put up a Statutory of Instrument to stop foreign tanker Drivers from getting fuel from the sources up the final consumer, a situation they described is disadvantaging them. PICTURES BY FRANK CHING’AMBU/ZANIS
FUEL hauliers have called off their strike following an emergency meeting with Copperbelt Minister Bowman Lusambo who has assured that the drivers’ concerns will be addressed.
One of the key decisions was to ensure that Sahara and Dalbit, two foreign companies contracted by Government to supply fuel to Tazama, would offer 20 percent of the transportation business Zambian truckers.
The drivers downed tools on Wednesday in a move to press for a larger share of business to move fuel supply to local companies like mining firms and the airports which they claimed were dominated by foreigners.
Zambia Association of Tanker Drivers and Allied Workers (ZATDAW) general secretary Humphrey Kapesha said the decision to resume work was arrived at following yesterday’s meeting.
Mr Kapesha said following the meeting, the two suppliers were requested to give local transporters a fair share of the business.
Mr Kapesha said it was not the union’s desire to hold the Government to ransom as the strike had an adverse effect on the economy.
“The drivers have agreed that in the interim, after signing the contracts, that they go back for work because we cannot hold the economy to ransom. We will have a meeting with the Minister of Energy over those engaged to take fuel to the mines,” he said.
It was hoped that the meeting, a policy would be put in place that would favour the local drivers and also keep foreigner firms from handling and transporting fuel directly to the mines.
He said the 20 percent allocation would be given collectively to the Petroleum Transporters Association of Zambia (PTAZ), who would in turn divide it among the 32 local transporters.
Meanwhile, Energy Permanent Secretary Emelda Chola said in a statement that the tanker drivers were aware that everything possible was being done to improve their welfare following consultative meetings that ended on Wednesday in Livingstone.
“It is from these consultative meetings that the Ministry learnt of the Zambian driver’s entry charges into Tanzania. These charges have since been removed. The cry of drivers has been heard and all the fuel suppliers have been tasked to give us reports on how many Zambian drivers have been contracted and over what period. We are currently awaiting responses from our suppliers before any action can be taken,” she said.
She reaffirmed that Government had prioritised empowering of local transporters by ensuring that a minimum of 20 percent local transportation was a contractual matter in all suppliers’ contracts.
“The Ministry will insist that this is implemented if the on-going assessment of this matter reveals that our suppliers are exclusively using foreign transporters. We therefore, urge the fuel tanker drivers to immediately stop their boycott as their grievances are being addressed,” she added.
Part of the 6 acre maize field that has recovered after spraying
B. thuringiensis is a ubiquitous bacterium that lives primarily in the soil as well as in water, on plants and in grain silos. In times of stress—when nutrition is scarce, for example—B. thuringiensis forms an endospore: a resilient, dehydrated version of its former self. Such spores are seriously durable, especially when protected from the elements. During the sporulation process, the microbe also produces a diamond-shaped crystal packed with poisonous proteins known as cry toxins. They seem to help the bacteria infect various insects and continue their reproductive cycle within the bugs’ bodies. In fact, B. thuringiensis conducts most its conjugal activity inside the larvae of moths, beetles, mosquitoes and other insects, rather than in the soil.
The reanimated spores release a concoction of chemicals that further predisposes the insect to infection. Within hours all the internal chemical chaos disrupts communication between neurons and paralyzes the insect. Several hours or days later—consumed by a severe infection of B. thuringiensis and other opportunistic bacteria—the insect dies and the microbes use its decaying tissues as energy for a frenzied orgy.
People have been manipulating B. thuringiensis for their own purposes for nearly 100 years. In 1901 Japanese scientist Shigetane Ishiwata discovered that a particular strain of bacteria was killing large numbers of silkworms. He named the bacterium Bacillus sotto. Ten years later, Ernst Berliner rediscovered this same species of bacteria on a dead moth in a flour mill in the German state Thuringia; he gave the species the name that stuck: Bacillus thuringiensis. An easily duplicated living creature that killed insect pests without endangering other animals or people was an incredibly serendipitous find. But no one it in the early 1900s could have foreseen the extent to which this microscopic organism would eventually transform agriculture around the world.
Farmers began to use Bt spores and crystals as a biological pesticide as early as the 1920s. France produced the first commercial Bt insecticide, Sporine, in 1938. And the U.S. started manufacturing such sprays in 1958. By 1977, scientists had identified 13 Bt subspecies that made different kinds of crystals, all toxic to different types of moth larvae. Soon enough researchers isolated Bt strains that specifically killed flies, mosquitoes and beetles. Scientists have now catalogued more than 80 subspecies of B. thuringiensis and more than 200 distinct cry toxins. In most cases each subspecies and the crystals it produces evolved to kill only one or two insect species, even within the same insect family. B. thuringiensis subspecies tolworthi, for example, easily slays Fall Armyworm caterpillars (Spodoptera frugiperda).
In the 1980s, as crop pests developed increasing resistance to synthetic pesticides, more and more growers turned to Bt, which became especially popular among organic farmers. In addition to their selective lethality, the bacterial toxins degraded in sunlight and washed away in rain, rather than contaminating wild habitat and sources of drinking water. This transience was both appealing and problematic for farmers, however, forcing them to reapply Bt sprays as often as every three days. And Bt formulations contained more than just spores and crystals; they were also full of synthetic chemicals that helped the bacteria spread over and stick to plants. Some of those chemicals were known to poison rodents and other mammals. The rapidly advancing technology of genetic engineering promised a cleaner and more precise way to use Bt. If it worked, farmers would never have to spray Bt in liquid form again; in fact, they could spend far less time and money on typical pesticides in general.
In 1987 Plant Genetic Systems in Belgium isolated a gene encoding a cry toxin from one subspecies of B. thuringiensis and used agrobacterium to insert it into the genome of embryonic tobacco plants, creating the very first Bt plant life. That was just the beginning. Biotech companies in several different countries continued to improve this technique. Less than 10 years later, in 1996, the U.S. commercialized Bt corn and cotton. Farmers across the country readily adopted Bt crops because of their obvious benefits. “There’s no question that Bt allowed us to grow and harvest more corn,” says David Linn of Correctionville, Iowa, who has been farming his whole life. He explains that, before working with Bt corn, he would painstakingly search his fields for the eggs of a pest known as corn borer, trying to figure out when to spray chemical pesticides; the chemicals kill the newly hatched larvae only during a short window of time before they tunnel into the corn and out of reach. He often lost as many as 30 bushels of corn per acre to borers. “Bt corn meant not driving through fields, not spraying toxic chemicals, not using up fuel,” he says. “It makes things a whole lot simpler when Bt is in the corn.”
As of 2013, 76 percent of the corn grown in the U.S. and 75 percent of the cotton are Bt varieties. In 1996, 1.7 million hectares of genetically engineered crops were grown worldwide. By 2012, the number had increased to more than 170 million hectares, at least 58 million of which were plants that produce Bt toxin.
Some opponents of Bt crops and genetic engineering in general contend that government scientists and researchers at universities have not conducted long-term studies, or any studies, on the health risks of GM foods—that such experiments simply do not exist. Even a cursory search of the research literature refutes these claims. The independent nonprofit educational organization Biology Fortified, Inc., hosts a growing online database of 600 GM plant safety studies. Manufacturers have tested every GM food on the U.S. market to make sure they are not toxic and do not cause allergies and began selling such foods only after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reviewed and approved the results of those tests. It’s in the manufacturers’ best interest to do so: After all, if something goes wrong after a company markets a GM product, there will be serious legal and financial repercussions.
Scientists at universities with no stakes in the biotech industry have also questioned and rigorously evaluated the risks of B. thuringiensis and its toxins ever since farmers started using Bt sprays in the 1920s. Numerous laboratory and field tests have concluded that Bt is not toxic to fish, birds, mammals or people, even at doses thousands of times greater than what a person or animal would ever encounter outside the lab. Over the years researchers have injected or piped billions of Bt spores and toxic crystals directly into the skin, lungs, blood, stomachs and brains of mice, rats, cows, pigs, hens and quails; time and again the animals survived the experiments with few, if any, ill effects. The same is true for rats that ate one billion Bt spores a day for two years as well as for three successive generations of rats fed Bt corn. Joel Siegel, now at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, spent more than 10 years investigating the toxicity of Bt. “My conclusion was this was a very safe product,” he says. “You could probably eat a pound of it and nothing would happen to you.”
President Edgar Lungu has been called upon to dialogue with UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema.
The Young African Leaders Initiative has said that President Lungu should embrace efforts by UPND Leader Hakainde Hichilema who once tried to dialogue with him.
YALI Governance Advisor Isaac Mwanza noted that President Lungu indicated that the people who have not accepted him as President want to dialogue with him, encouraging him to consider such an opportunity as a starting point for dialogue.
Mr. Mwanza said that the president cannot run away from the fact that he needs to dialogue with the UPND leader and resolve all their issues.
Mr. Mwanza stated that the President’s commitment towards peace building will be seen and weighed by the way he handles issue of dialogue with Mr. Hichilema.
Mr. Mwanza said that despite Mr. Hichilema refusing to recognize him as the duly elected president, mutual respect can be gained after the dialogue as the two leaders will begin to appreciate each other and think about Zambia.
