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UPND President Hakainde Hichilema with his Vice President Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba during the Consecration of Rev. Fr Justin Mulenga as Bishop at St Joseph’s Cathedral in MpikaUnited Party for National Development (UPND) President Hakainde Hichilema has thanked the Church throughout the country for praying for the nation during the many challenges Zambians faced in 2016.
In his New Year message to Zambians, Mr. Hichilema hopes that that this will be upheld this year 2017 and beyond as it gratifies the Lord, God through his son Jesus Christ.
Mr. Hichilema has reminded Zambians that God is not yet done blessing each of them, as he will continue doing so all the way through 2017 and years to come.
He has furthermore encouraged Zambians to continue praying unceasingly as well as praying for those who treat them as enemies.
He has also encouraged Zambians to forgive one another as the Bible encourages people to forgive one another just like God forgives them when they do something wrong.
Mr. Hichilema has advised Zambians to take a moment and thank God for His grace in last year.
President Edgar Lungu has announced that he expects the Energy Regulation Board to reduce fuel prices in due course.
President Lungu said a favourable pronouncement on fuel prices will help cushion the consume.
He explained that in October last year, cabinet approved the removal of fuel subsidies in to ensure that financial resources are channeled to productive sectors of the economy.
President Lungu said government is committed to passing benefits that may accrue from favourable pricing variables, principally the cost of petroleum products and the exchange rate.
This is contained in President Lungu’s new year message to the nation.
“Given the stability in the exchange for most of 2016, it is my expectation that the Energy Regulation Board will in due course be making a favourable pronouncement that will help cushion the consumer,” President Lungu said.
President Lungu said it is imperative that Zambians embrace the austerity measures that his government has put in place.
“The measures may be painful today and make the future look bleak, but the rewards will benefit everyone tomorrow and beyond. As a nation, we must cultivate a positive attitude and hold out hope for the future.
With god’s help and unity of purpose, we will succeed in developing our motherland.”
He said during the year 2017, Government, will strive to achieve positive growth in the economy, which should generate more job opportunities, especially for our youth.
“We are confident that with the bold steps being taken to manage the fiscal and monetary policies designed to address these challenges, the nation will be more resilient to domestic and external shocks,” President Lungu said.
Strikers Conlyde Luchanga and Rodgers Kola failed to spark on Saturday as Hapoel Ra’anana were hammered 3-0 at home by Ironi Kiryat Shmona.
Kola started against his former club but was substituted in the 46th minute with the visitors leading 1-0 at the break.
Luchanga came in the 76th minute just two minutes after 5th placed Shmona had scored their final goal.
Kola and Luchanga have yet to find the target in 11 and four league games played respectively at the end of round 16 of fixtures in the 2016/2017 Israel campaign.
Defender Emmanuel Mbola played the full 90 minutes for 9th placed Ra’anana.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
(2 Timothy 1:7, NLT)
Finished with Fear
So many people today are living with less than God’s best because they’ve allowed fear to stop them from pursuing their dreams. We have to remember that fear is not from God. It’s a lie from the enemy to paralyze us and steal our power.
Today’s verse tells what God has given us: power, love and self-discipline or self-control. When you are confident in God’s promises, there’s nothing that can stop you. But when fear creeps in, you hesitate. You’re not as strong as you were before. Not only that, but it affects your love. Love prompts us to give, and when we are afraid, we tend to clench our fists and act selfishly. Fear also affects our self-discipline or self-control. It makes us panic and do things without thinking.
If you’ve allowed fear to steal from you in any area of life, today you can be free—you can be finished with fear. Conquering fear starts with a choice to believe God’s promises and then taking a step of faith to act on them. As you step out, God will be with you. He’ll give you power, love and self-discipline so that you can confidently move forward into the abundant life He has for you!
A Prayer for Today
“Father, I come to You today declaring that I am finished with fear. Thank You for giving me power, love and a sound mind. I choose to stand on Your promises. Fill me with Your peace and joy today as I move forward in victory with You in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
Road works along the Great East Road have are up beat such as this stretch near NyimbaGOVERNMENT has said the contract sum for the 98.3 kilometres Nyimba-Luangwa Bridge stretch on the Great East Road has been revised from 33.1 million Euros to 55.6 million Euros.
Eastern Province Minister Makebi Zulu told journalists in his office in Chipata on Thursday that this was to allow quality works be completed on the Nacala corridor phase project.
Mr Zulu said the works on the Great East Road from Luangwa Bridge to Mwami border are progressing well despite the slowdown on the 15 kilometre Petauke-Sinda stretch.
He said that 15 kilometres will be completed once the rains are over because what delayed the works was the misunderstanding between the contractor and the funders, which have since been resolved.
He said the portions that have been done on the road so far are okay and the contractor would be able to rectify any defaults before the project is handed over to government.
And Mr Zulu said the Chipata-Chadiza –Katete road works which started in 2013 and were expected to be completed in June 2017 were still at 33.9 percent due to some challenges that the contractor encountered. Mr Zulu said that Government wants to complete the already existing projects before starting the new ones next year.
He said Government has plans to rehabilitate some feeder roads in Chipata, Chadiza, Lundazi, Petauke, Nyimba, Sinda and Mambwe districts next year.
He also said that mobilization works on the Chama- Lundazi road are underway while works on the Nabwalya-Mfuwe road were at 15 percent and would continue next year.
Mr Zulu has said various infrastructure developments have been recorded in the province.
He said some of the projects which have not been completed would be able to receive funding in order to be completed.
The minister said he was happy that most of the projects were going and some almost reaching the completion point.
He disclosed that the construction of Vubwi Civic Centre at a cost of K6 million which was at 40 percent and assured that the contractor would receive funding in order to complete the construction of a civic centre and two high cost houses.
He said the construction of 10 medium houses at a cost of K11 million and 20 low cost houses at a cost of K6.6 million in the new district was progressing well.
Mr Zulu said the constructions of 1×4 classroom block at Anoya Zulu Secondary School have been completed and was currently being used. He said the construction of administration blocks in Vubwi, Sinda and Nyimba districts was going on.
Mr Zulu also assured that the Government was determined to complete the construction works including some township roads in Eastern Province.
And some families in Mambwe district have been affected by floods and hailstorm caused by heavy rains.
Mr Zulu who is Malambo Constituency Member of Parliament said most of the affected families in six wards of Mambwe district had roofs of their houses blown off due to hail storms experienced in the area.
He said Government through the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit(DMMU) was assisting the 750 families with iron sheets and food stuffs.
Mr Zulu however said the number of families affected by floods may increase because of the rains.
He said that DMMU has also released 110 metric tonnes of maize to be given to families affected by hunger in Msoro area.
He said most parts of the province have been affected by hunger or heavy rains and that Government would move in to assist all of them.
President Edgar LunguPresident Edgar Lungu has said that the dawn of the New Year provides an opportunity for citizens to resolve to work towards a more unified and prosperous Zambia.
President Lungu said that he hopes that Zambians will work towards reconciliation with a special sense of agency to foster peace, unity and development in the country.
The President said this in a televised address to the nation on ZNBC TV and Radio to mark the eve of the New Year 2017.
President Lungu said despite a number of challenges the nation faced, Zambia, however scored a number of successes in 2016.
The President cited the bumper harvest, socio economic stability and the holding of successful elections and unprecedented infrastructure development among other strides.
President Lungu said there is need to entrench good values and principles in an effort to build on the successes and address the challenges that lie ahead.
He said there is need for integrity in all socio-economic, political and cultural transactions, adding that that is why government has taken a zero tolerance in the fight against corruption.
And President Lungu said he expects that Energy Regulation Board-ERB- will in due course be making a favourable pronouncement that will help cushion the consumer of petroleum products following a stable exchange rate and benefits accrued from, pricing variation.
Meanwhile, President Lungu has urged Zambians to celebrate the dawn of the New Year responsibly by praising God for 2016 and seek divine blessings for 2017.
The President has also thanked the people for their support with a pledge not to let them down as he spearheads national development in the New Year.
About 28 houses have collapsed in Siavonga district, Southern Province after heavy rains last evening.
Siavonga District Commissioner Lovemore Kanyama who confirmed the destruction of the houses to ZANIS, however said no serious injuries have been reported.
Mr Kanyama has appealed to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit to quickly come to the aid of Siavonga residents who have been left homeless.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kanyama has also appealed to the Road Development Agency to repair the Road that leads to Siavonga, which has been damaged due to the rains.
And nine houses in Kapili Compound and 3 classroom blocks at Kabale Primary School in Mpika District have had their roofs blown off by heavy rains.
Mpika District Commissioner Moses Katebe disclosed this in an interview with ZANIS in Mpika.
Mr Katebe says the incident happened on Wednesday around 12:30 hours in Kapili Compound near TAZARA Training Centre.
He told ZANIS that the heavy rains that lasted for about an hour left two classroom blocks and nine houses which included a boarding house without roofs.
Mr Katebe has since assured the affected families and students that his office, together with Mpika District Disaster Management team will do everything possible to help them.
And Chairperson for Kapili compound Section Boyd Siame has called on well-wishers to quickly come to the assistance of the affected families and students.
NGOCC Chairperson Sarah Longwe(c) stresses out a point during the Rural Youth Exposure Conference and Study Tours Program which was held under the THEME: DISCOVER YOUR POTENTIAL TO GREATNESS
In a few days time, the year 2016 comes to a close and we open yet another chapter as we welcome the year 2017. The end of the year provides an excellent opportunity for us as a nation to reflect on our collective achievements and failures from which we can draw lessons in the pursuit of a more prosperous Zambia for all.
In order for us to forge ahead as a nation, it is imperative that we re-focus and strategize on how to propel an all-inclusive development agenda for the country that allows all women, men, youths and children of this great nation to benefit from the national cake.
Below are some of our reflections of 2016:
1. 2016 General Elections and Politics
In 2016, Zambians witnessed one of the most challenging elections which left the country divided. We call upon those in leadership to take deliberate measures to re-unite the country in the true spirit of One Zambia, One Nation.
NGOCC remains concerned with the increased tribal inclination and electoral violence that the country witnessed before and shortly after the 2016 August 11 elections. The violence led to a death of a woman cadre of the opposition from a gunshot allegedly fired by an antiriot police officer. It is our anticipation, therefore, that the Commission of Inquiry that has been established will make pragmatic recommendations on how to curb the vice and how to prevent these occurrences in future.
Further, NGOCC is deeply concerned with the low numbers of women that were elected in the August 11 Elections. Women were marginalized starting from the adoption process within political parties. In addition, women who were initially adopted by political parties in the ward, constituency, district and provincial nomination processes were left out and replaced by men at national level. This has seen marginal increase in women’s representation in Parliament and Local Government at 17% and 9% respectively from 11% and 7% registered in the 2011 elections. Obviously this is still far below the SADC and African Union gender parity requirement of 50% at all levels of decision making.
The 2016 amended Constitution brought with it new provisions requiring all aspiring candidates at all levels of elections to have a Grade 12 Certificate or its equivalent as the minimum qualification. The interpretation of this provision was left to the Examination Council of Zambia which set the standard at five credits. Though this provision was belatedly re-defined by the Court, the initial position disadvantaged women more than men, who were left with little time to verify or present their equivalent credentials because of extra costs in the verification exercise. The nomination fees were also high and this further disadvantaged a number of women from contesting even with the last minute reduction by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ).
2. Constitution Making Process
While the Constitution was amended however, the constitution making process remains incomplete. This is more so because of the failed National Referendum that was inappropriately held alongside the 2016 highly politicised partisan general elections. There is need for the country to collectively revisit the Constitution review process in earnest to harmonize some of the contentious and ambiguities that were occasioned by the rushed manner in which the pre-election Parliament-sitting amended the Constitution. Therefore, Government must appoint a lean technical committee to review and harmonise the Constitution and remove the ambiguities and include new Bill of Rights that is expanded to include gender equity and equality, socio-economic, cultural and environmental rights.. The process should be devoid of any partisan interest and should be driven by the Zambian people themselves.
3. Gender Equity and Equality Law
The enacted 2015 Gender Equity and Equality Act (GEEA) is a progressive piece of legislation, which seeks to domesticate some of the women’s rights and gender provisions in regional, continental and international instruments to which Zambia is party to. NGOCC notes however, that in 2016, nothing much was put in place to implement the provisions of the GEEA. This was despite our calls for the operationalisation of the Gender Equity and Equality Commission as already established in the 2016 Amended Constitution.
4. Media and freedom of expression
In 2016, Zambia witnessed a very sad scenario where media houses were intimidated, with some closed in very suspicious circumstances, a situation only reminiscent to autocratic states. We witnessed the suspension of licenses for Muvi Television, Itezhitezhi and Komboni radios, which were later lifted, but The Post newspaper was closed and subsequently liquidated. The media, especially the private media, plays a critical role in the democratic dispensation. It is, therefore, regrettable that the State institutions were used to close up sections of the private media. These media closures without doubt have had a negative effect on the freedom of expression in Zambia as a whole. As a women’s movement, we are concerned that with the narrowing down of civil society space including freedom of expression, the voices of women, youths and children are suppressed and silenced even more.
5. Chaotic distribution of farming inputs
The distribution of farming inputs has remained chaotic over the years and is working against the country’s principle of diversifying into agriculture. In 2016, farming inputs were again distributed to the farmers late given the slow cascading effect to the lower organs at community level. Our concern is that the late distribution of farming inputs negatively impacts the farming output and threatens the country’s food security considering that the women are the main producers of the basic foodstuffs consumed by the majority of Zambians. Also the majority of women, bear the burden of preparing family meals and ensure that their families have adequate nutrition.
6. Gender Based Violence
Cases of Gender Based violence (GBV) have continued to be on the increase. Though the latest statistics suggest some minimal reduction in the last quarter of 2016, but the GBV incidents still remain extremely high for the Zambian population. During the third quarter of 2016, Zambia Police received 4,235 GBV cases countrywide compared to 4,951 cases reported in the third quarter of 2015. This translates to a decrease by 716 cases giving a percentage of 14.5%. However, the reporting rate of GBV related incidents is still minimal due to inadequate judicial system and negative social factors around GBV e.g stigma attached to victims, withdrawals of cases from police and courts, to name a few.
A total of 615 cases of Child defilement were reported this year representing 14.6% compared to the third quarter of 2015 where 688 cases were recorded, representing a percentage decrease of 10.7%. More girl children than boys were defiled (about 98%). Further, the country recorded 62 cases of rape, 17 attempted rape, 8 cases of incest out of which 6 victims were female adults and 2 were female juveniles. 23 cases of unnatural offences were recorded out of which 3 victims were male adults while 19 were male juveniles and 1 female.
The Country further recorded 15 GBV related Murder Cases of which 6 victims were female adults, 4 male adults, 2 female juveniles and 3 male juveniles compared to last year’s third quarter in which 17 cases were recorded out of which 5 victims were male adults, 5 female adults,5 male juveniles and 2 female juveniles. One case of attempted murder and 4 infanticide cases were also recorded Country wide during the period under review.
Sadly, in 2016 Zambia witnessed a growing trend in the country where a number of women killing their husbands and partners increased. However, empirically more women compared to men have lost their lives at the hands of intimate partners. Generally 1 in 4 married women have experienced an incident of GBV in their life time (ZDHS 2014). This further calls for serious collective reflection on this vice that is now ravaging the family unit.
7. Feminised Poverty
While Zambia’s economy is said to be growing, NGOCC notes that the poverty levels and standard of living for most people, especially the women has really gone down given the levels of hunger in most households. In 2016, extreme poverty remain higher in female headed households (60.4 %) compared to male headed households (57.1 %)1. Women lack economic, social and political power, which exclude them from development processes.
7. Expectations for 2017
NGOCC looks forward to a more prosperous and productive 2017. In order to address the challenges faced in 2016 in bettering the lives of Zambians especially the women, we recommend the following:
National Reconciliation: We demand that President Edgar Chagwa Lungu takes deliberate measures to ensure that the country is reunited. The scars left by the August 11 elections have the potential to wipe the good reputation Zambia has enjoyed over the years of being ‘a peaceful country’. Beyond the Commission of Inquiry set up, examine the causes of the electoral violence before and after the general elections. It is our expectation that the President will step in to reinvigorate a true spirit of reconciliation and national building in a pragmatic way.
Expanded Bill of Rights: We maintain that there must be a stand-alone National Referendum that will guarantee its success and that this must happen before 2021 general elections. The need for the expanded Bill of Rights in the national Constitution cannot be overemphasized. The expanded Bill of Rights is critical to all citizens by removing legalized discrimination to women, youths, people with disability, the elderly and the poor. We demand that the Government commences a process of adopting an entirely new Constitution through a National Referendum as opposed to the Parliamentary amendment process in order to avoid political partisan votes as it was done in 2015.
Gender Representation: Political parties must take up affirmative action measures to ensure that more women are incorporated at all levels of political party decision making levels and adopted in various disciplines. We call upon the Government to speedily enact the Political Parties Act that will among other things ensure that women are accorded an equal opportunity to participate in the political leadership of the country. It is totally unacceptable that 52 years after independence, women remain marginalized from meaningfully participating in the governance of the country as per current low numbers in Parliament (17%) and local councils (9%) respectively.
Gender Equity and Equality Act: The Government to immediately operationalise the Gender Equity and Equality Act. Without doubt the establishment of the Gender Equity and Equality Commission will contribute in narrowing down the gender gaps in the country at all levels.
Freedom of Expression: In 2017, we must witness greater freedom of expression. The media must be allowed to operate freely without any form of restraint or interference from any sector. So, we urge the Government to enact the long awaited Access to Information law, which must be holistic by taking into account the views of all stakeholders..
Distribution of Farming Inputs: The Government must review the whole distribution process of farming inputs including taking into account equity aspects. The national food security and sovereignty rests on a timely and proper distribution of inputs to the farmers, of whom the majority are women farmers; There must be a transparent distribution system coupled with sex and gender disaggregated data of the beneficiaries of the Fertiliser Support Programme and all other inputs; Agriculture must be prioritised in 2017 as an economic diversification strategy. Zambia being blessed with abundant land and surface water it has the potential to grow her economy through agriculture. We recommend that government encourages private sector involvement in the maize marketing considering that the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has had challenges in paying farmers on time for adequate preparation for the next farming season.
Curbing Gender Based Violence: The Government, private sector and civil society must pragmatically collaborate and come up with a collective resolve to curb Gender Based Violence. In addition, the Government and all stakeholders should invest in research in improving the provision of psychosocial counseling services and preventive mechanisms.
Social Protection Measures: The Government must scale up the social protection programmes by expanding the Social Cash Transfer programme to all parts of the country. The Government must also review the programmes in order to meaningfully better the livelihoods of all the beneficiaries.
Health Posts and Services: The Government must prioritise the completion of the construction works and equip the 650 Health posts in order to reduce the distances that people have to walk to access health services. The reproductive health service access still lies in jeopardy due to the limited capacities especially for the rural populations. For instance, an inspection of a number of the health posts in the northern part of Zambia revealed that works were still at slab and window level. These health posts must be completed in 2017.
Education sector: NGOCC observed that a number of primary schools were under construction, which is a good step, however, secondary schools still lag behind. The Government must prioritize the construction of more secondary schools with boarding facilities as a means of addressing the rising numbers of teenage pregnancies and child marriages.
Improving General Economy: We call on the Government to engage citizens on the beneficiaries of government debt and its economic value. The Government should not contract any more debt but seriously invest in local investment and revenue generation with the help of economic experts (Think Tanks). Government should put measures in place to ensure that the huge debt burden, both domestic and external debt, is managed so that our country does not return to being the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) from which the women benefit nothing but extreme feminized poverty and early deaths of their household members. The ministries of Finance and National Development and Planning should take this as a matter of priority and work collectively in finding sustainable solutions.
Conclusion
The above reflections and indeed NGOCC’s expectations in 2017 are part of our mandate of championing gender equity and equality and the empowerment of women. NGOCC remains committed to contributing to Zambia’s national development through playing our watchdog role in a non-political-partisan manner. We embrace dialogue and indeed stand ready to contribute to the Government’s agreed gender agenda contained in the National Gender Policy of 2014, the SADC Gender Protocol 2030 Agenda, the AU 2063 Agenda and the Sustained Development Goals 2030 Agenda.
It is, therefore, our expectation that Government shall play a more facilitative vanguard role in ensuring that the economy is favorable for all and that national development is being pursued in line with the aspirations of the Zambian people. Given the gloomy economic forecast, there is need for the Government to put policies and measures that will cushion the most vulnerable in our society who are mostly women, youths, the eldery, people with disability and children.
FISP inputs in a warehouseCHIEFS in Southern Province have the right to advise their subjects on the right time to plant and have a good reason to discourage them from receiving the farm inputs if they believed that the planting season was coming to an end, the UPND has said.
UPND in Southern Province has said there was nothing wrong with the traditional leaders to stop their subjects from collecting fertilizer and seed under the government’s FISP programme if the inputs were late.
But former Patriotic Front (PF) Dr. Mubitana Ward aspiring candidate in the August 11, 2016 general election Chitoshi Mulenga said those discouraging farmers from accessing FISP must be punished.
In an interview with the Daily Nation in Livingstone, UPND’s Neto Halwabala said it was unfortunate that PF deputy spokesperson Frank Bwalya attacked the chiefs in the media without verifying his facts.
Mr. Halwabala said that the chiefs as leaders have the right to advise their subjects on what is correct and wrong in order for them to make informed decisions about their livelihood.
“Frank Bwalya and PF have exposed their ignorance on agriculture. They do not know that agriculture is business and not charity in this modern era. His threats on the alleged chiefs is unfortunate because farming is like a flight, you miss it then it’s gone.
“FISP is not for free but these farmers are paying for it, so PF should realise that it is not mandatory to receive these inputs. Farmers who are refusing to accept FISP have the right to do so because it is their right especially that it has delayed and that has nothing to do with chiefs,” he said.
Mr. Halwabala, who is the provincial publicity and informational secretary, said the ruling party’s statement issued through a media briefing held by Mr. Bwalya was a recipe of confusion and must not be allowed.
“Why should someone get inputs in January when the planting season is in November and December? His statement is unfortunate. We advise him to avoid commenting on issues he does not understand but concentrate sorting out the problems that have engulfed his party,” he said.
But former Patriotic Front (PF) Dr. Mubitana Ward aspiring candidate in the August 11, 2016 general election Chitoshi Mulenga said those discouraging farmers from accessing FISP must be punished.
“Those chiefs who are discouraging farmers from getting FISP in Southern Province must be punished. They should not turn their palaces into political arenas. FISP means well to the farmers and they just continue accessing it,” he said.
He said that chiefs were receiving huge salaries from Government and that they should not make their subjects poorer by discouraging them to access FISP.
“Chiefs should be in fore front encouraging their subjects to access FISP and not what is happening in this province. No subject will respect them if there is poverty in the chiefdom. We are tired of these chiefs in Southern Province….why are they like this?” he wondered.
Commissioner General Kingsley ChandaThe Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) has disclosed that over one billion kwacha was not collected from the mines as company income due to the losses the mining companies incurred.
And the authority says 2016 has been a tough year for the revenue collection body for various reasons.
ZRA Commissioner General Kingsley Chanda explains that among the reasons were the changes in the macroeconomic environment.
He notes that the authority had projections in terms of the exchange rate, the copper prices among others but that all the economic parameters were not as projected.
Mr. Chanda says due to the decline in copper prices, the mining companies who are the biggest tax contributors declared loses and thereby affecting the performance of the authority in terms of revenue collections.
Mr. Chanda adds that the authority also faced challenges in terms of enforcement such as corruption, smuggling among other challenges.
He also states that the 90% of not meeting the initial target set by parliament were reasons outside ZRA’s control.
Labour and Social Security Minister Joyce Simukoko
Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) President Andrew Nthewewe says the move by embattled Horse Shoe Restaurant workers to storm some media houses in defense of the Labour Minister Joyce Nonde is suspicious.
Mr. Nthewewe says it must be understood that the Labour Minister mishandled the matter that is why she is on the limelight.
Mr. Nthewewe says the move by workers to defend the minister even brings more questions because they are the ones who are victimized and wonders what prompted them to do such a thing of defending the minister.
He suspects that there must be a hidden hand controlling these workers.
Mr. Nthewewe says both President Edgar Lungu and Ms Nonde Simukoko have created a bad image for themselves for the Labour Minister to fail to resign on moral grounds and the President for failing to fire her after seeing that she mishandled the whole case.
Copperbelt Province Police Commissioner Charity KatangaCOPPERBELT Province Police Commissioner, Charity Katanga has been ordered to apologise on behalf of her officers to the people of Kabushi over the behaviour of her overzealous officers that teargassed the innocent residents who were demanding for justice following the death of one of the residents allegedly shot by the police officer.
But Ms Katanga said she was not going to apologise for anything because there were procedures to follow and that she needed to get a full report from her officers before she could make a comprehensive statement.
“This is a preliminary issue, I don’t understand why the Minister was arguing with me. I have my officers who were there on the ground. As commanders, we are not found on the grounds. We allow officers to be there, so once I get a full report from the officers on the ground, I will issue a report,” she said.
Bowman Lusambo, who is Copperbelt Province Minister, has demanded for an apology from Ms Katanga following a fracas where the police were throwing teargas to the residents of Kabushi Constituency when they were demanding for the arrest of an officer for shooting a resident of Kabushi Constituency.
Mr Lusambo stated that the people of his constituency were not happy and demanded for justice because the culprit who caused the death of their fellow resident was freely walking to freedom instead of being behind bars.
He further stated that the angry residents took to the street after the Police commissioner Ms Katanga issued a press statement alleging that the deceased was shot in the bar while the residents and family members had information that the deceased was allegedly shot within his house when the police officers forced their way inside the deceased’s house through the window and later shot him.
Mr Lusambo said that was what angered the residents because the Commissioner’s statement to the media and that of the family were contradicting.
He further stated that as residents of Kabushi, all they were demanding for was for justice to prevail and bring to book the officer who allegedly shot the deceased and let the inquiry be opened while the culprit is remanded in custody.
2016 has seen a number of great music videos as the quality keeps getting better and better , and more Zambian videos are being shown on international tv stations such as Trace , Trace Africa , MTV Base , Channel O.
Below is the editors choice of the 10 top videos of the year .
The 2016 Mr. Zambia bodybuilding competition was successfully held on 30th December at Taj Pamodzi Hotel in Lusaka. The event had a number of sponsors including; OD General dealers , Mad Max auto spares Ltd , monarch premium quality aged malt whisky, Pro gym and fitness center, Lamasat , highlife investments , National sports council ,china henan, Muvi TV ,ZNBC ,CBC TV ,P rime TV,daily nation newspaper, Zambian Daily mail , Carousel shopping complex, Lusaka royal casino, chelstone auto spares ,among others .
The day started off with Pre-judging or prequalifies which were held at the Carousel shopping Complex from 10:00hrs – 14:30hrs. Among the 50 bodybuilders that participated, 15 were chosen to compete for the title of Mr. Zambia
15 of Zambia’s top bodybuilders battled it out with various poses to display every inch of their muscular physiques. In previous years competitions there have been categories i.e. Heavy weight, light heavy weight, middle weight etc. This year’s edition was open to all weight classes. After the first round of flexing, the top 10 was selected.
The completion finally came down to the top 3; Clement Shamboko, Emmanuel Mwale and Sylvester Mwila. Mwila was crowned the champion making it his 8th title!
RTSA Head of Public Relations Mr Fredrick Mubanga
THE Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) has given a grace period of 14 days within which motorists should acquire motor vehicle and trailer licences (road tax) and road service licences for the year 2016.
All motorists and Public Service Vehicle Operators have been given an extension of up to 14th January, 2017 to pay for the required licenses.
In a statement made available to the media and signed by Head of Public Relations Mr Fredrick Mubanga, RATSA said that there will be no enforcement of the validity of said documents until the stated grace period has expired.
The Agency is providing this grace period to accommodate the licensing needs of all motorists.
However, the extension does not include the certificate of fitness and the test certificates as the two relate to road-worthiness and the safety of the vehicle.
The RTSA hopes that the public will utilise the extension to comply with the law.
The Agency further wish to urge motorists to renew and pay for motor vehicle and trailer licences for the year 2017 in accordance with the provisions of the Road Traffic Act No. 11 of 2002.
