Facility will be used by students in the library

There is a new ‘seat of learning’ at the Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education (ZIALE), and it is thanks to Stanbic Bank.
The ten-seat study area which was handed over by the bank last week will be used at ZIALE by students in the library, and is described by the bank as a way of paying back to the community. It is envisaged that the seating cubicle will go a long way to helping the students in their study.
Stanbic Bank Zambia head legal and company secretary Doris Tembwe said one of the bank’s key priorities is to build stronger relationships with its clients and stakeholders.
“To do this, we are adapting to the changing needs of stakeholders. This is something we have been doing successfully in Zambia for close to 60 years. We remain committed to our customers and clients, to our people and to the communities where we work,” said Mrs Tembwe.
“As a bank, we approached ZIALE for a partnership where our main target is law students who wish to be accepted to the Bar to be able to practise law in the Courts of Zambia. Having passed through this programme personally, I am cognisant of the rigorous nature of the legal practitioners’ qualification exam. It is for this reason that we financed the cubicles that we are here to hand over today.”
About 320 students, including some entrants from South and Central African Region, are currently enrolled at ZIALE. This is the highest intake ever registered.
Mrs Tembwe thanked ZIALE management for giving the bank two days a week to hold financial literacy sessions.
“Financial education is every person’s right, and the skills to earn, save and budget money should be taught to everyone,” she said. “ZIALE have agreed for us to hold two banking days (Tuesdays and Fridays) for the next five weeks to enable us to showcase the various products and services the bank has to offer, even as we carry out financial education for the students.”
She said Stanbic Bank Zambia is constantly seeking opportunities to improve the lives of the Zambian people. “As a bank, we say Zambia is our home and we drive her growth. Our being here with you today is testament to that fact: we are driving Zambia’s growth by supporting the legal fraternity.”
Attorney General Likando Kalaluka, who received the cubicle, expressed his appreciation that Stanbic Bank had responded to ZIALE’s call and fulfilled its corporate social responsibility. He said that with the increase in the number of students at the institution, there was a need to improve the infrastructure.
Mr Kalaluka, who is also the chairperson of ZIALE council, said the cubicle will help in ensuring that the students achieve better results as they will be studying in a more suitable setting: “A comfortable study environment contributes to better and enhanced performance and better results.”

Eddie Black released the first single from his upcoming debut album . The single is called “Nilandileni”.

Eddie Black had this to say about the song:

“A few weeks before I wrote this song, I told Fumbani I want to start doing Gospel Music and he was really surprised. I don’t think he believed me until we got in studio. This is something that I wanted for a long time and thank God for YouTube I was watching Rev Billy Graham on the morning of September 16th 2016 and I just decided I’m going to give my life to Christ. First thing I did was delete my old music from the internet, of course some songs are still on but everything I could access I deleted, it was hard letting go of 2 EP’s and dozens of singles/videos but I just found myself doing it anyway. After doing that I sent a text Pastor Mpangwe Mutwale telling him the news and he was so nice welcomed me and said we should meet, he was so busy in my head I was like ”we need to meet now what if it was a hoax and I change my mind” lol, but we did meet eventually and we talked and he got me this wonderful book that helped me through my Journey ‘Destined to reign’ by Joseph Prince if you JUST GOT SAVED get this book, it will help big time.

The evening of that day, it was a Friday on september 16th, I was in studio with Fumbani and I told him I wanna make a song saying I JUST GOT SAVED. In my head this was already my album title coz I was super excited, he was making the beat and I already knew what I was gonna say on it we finished the song in a hour. I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it for you. My first single off my debut album “Nilandileni””.

https://soundcloud.com/eddie-black-dukeofhazard/eddie-black-nilandileni-featuring-fumbani

BY KAPA187

Kaoma district losing PF Mulamatila ward councilor, Lipoba Maliande has appealed to the PF top leadership to intervene as members are being suspended on flimsy allegations in Kaoma.

Mr Maliande said there is need for the top PF secretariat in Lusaka to assist its members in the district adding that as things are now the ruling parties is headed for doom in the district.

Mr Maliande complained that members with positions from both the district and constituency levels are being hounded out by unscrupulous and overzealous members with ill motives of bringing the ruling party to its end in Kaoma.

He said urgent measures should be sought so that the party thrives as the district is being headed by the opposition UPND party as such the PF top officials should come in order to resolve the impasse and the infightings that have rocked the ruling party in the cosmopolitan area of Kaoma district in Western province.

Mr Maliande who described himself as a loyal and ardent PF losing councilor in the last August tripartite elections, has called on everyone to be strong, and not allow people with hidden agendas to destroy the PF.

He said that if the divisions that have engulfed the ruling party in Kaoma are not urgently resolved, then the opposition UPND will continue to be strong.

Mr Maliande said that the PF secretary General and his team should with immediate effect visit the district in order to harmonize the escalating wrangles that have rocked the party before and after the general elections.

But Kaoma district PF Youth chairperson, Alick Kalimbwe has refuted the claims saying that there is no infighting among PF members in the district.

Mr Kalimbwe said only those members that were supporting the opposition and independent candidates had been written letters in order to discipline them adding that those that failed to follow the party constitution have automatically removed themselves from the ruling party.

President Edgar Lungu is tomorrow, Tuesday, expected to arrive in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, to attend the fourth Africa-Arab summit which has attracted several heads of state and government from Arab and African Union member countries.

Zambia’s permanent representative to the African Union Susan Sikaneta confirmed to ZANIS in Malabo that  the summit will be held under the theme: “together for a sustainable economic development.”

Ambassador Sikaneta said President Lungu will be accompanied by Finance minister Felix Mutati and his commerce counterpart Margaret Mwanakatwe.

Foreign Affairs minister Harry Kalaba arrived in Malabo on Sunday to attend preparatory meetings of Ministers of foreign affairs ahead of the summit.

The last Africa-Arab summit was held in Kuwait in 2013. This year’s summit is expected to build up on resolutions made in the previous summit. It will also focus on finding common grounds for economic and sustainable development cooperation.

Ambassador Sikaneta said apart from issuing an important statement during the summit, President Lungu will on the side-lines of the high-level event hold bilateral meetings with leaders of delegations from Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and the King of Saudi Arabia.

And Ambassador Sikaneta said during the last 2013 Africa Arab summit, Kuwait availed a US$ 5 billion development facility to Africa.

This was in line with Kuwait’s promise of meeting the needs of the African countries of improving their economies, infrastructure, food security, and agriculture, and development projects

Ambassador Sikaneta, however, said to date only 70 percent of the US$ 5 billion credit has been utilized by African countries with 30 percent of the remaining amount still lying idle.

Ambassador Sikaneta said Zambia has already benefited from the funds which were applied on the construction of a teachers’ training college.

She said Zambia is eager to get more funds for other projects including the construction of a dual carriage way between Livingstone and Chililabombwe that will also link Solwezi.

The road project will not only impact positively on Zambia’s economic development but also enhance regional integration.

Singer/songwriter , Chembo, treated her fans to an intimate listening party for her upcoming EP entitled “Love VS Reality“. This gave her audience a chance to sample the EP before it goes on sale. The event was held at Modzi Arts in Lusaka and was attended by media personalities, artistes ,bloggers, and many of her fans.

The event started off by showing a mini documentary, taking the viewers through the process Chembo went through in creating the EP.

The first song from the project to be shared with the audience was ” Hey Mama“. It is a soulful, mid-tempo track in which Chembo celebrates her mother and the impact she has had on her life. This song became a massive hit with the crowd.

Secondly was a live acoustic performance of the love song “Forever” . Chembo performed this song with a talented guitarist names Stanley. Chembo’s melodic, soulful voice captivated the audience and displayed her amazing talent.

She then went on to elaborate more about the theme of the EP ,Love VS Reality, stating that it encompasses the feelings of love on songs like ‘Forever’ and ‘Hey Mama’ , and the everyday realitys of life in songs like ‘Abena Mavis’ and ‘Tightrope’. Abena Mavis is about a mothers advice to her daughter against getting involved with married men. She explained that she was going through alot in her personal life during the time that she wrote Tightrope. Describing it as her “hell and heaven” . She went on to play the song for the audience and they all loved it . It garnered the biggest applause of the night.

Chembo performed a live acoustic version of Abena Mavis with guitarist Stanley , then held a question and answer session. She was asked where she gets her musical inspiration from . She explained that she gets inspired from everyday life situation, interactions and observations of people around her.  She described her recent performance at the “Lake of Stars Festival” in Malawi as a tremendous motivator and boost to her career. Making her work even harder on the completion of the EP ‘Love VS Reality’ and other upcoming projects.

For her final performance she sang ‘Hey Mama’ once again ,which was a huge hit and many of the audience sang along to the catchy song .

Chembo’s EP ‘Love VS Reality’ will be available for purchase on 29th November . For more info on how to get yourself a copy follow Chembo on her social media pages.

Instagram: Chembomusic

Facebook: Chembomusic

Twitter: Chembomusic

TIGHTROPE

ABENA MAVIS

By KAPA187

And Mr Hichilema has confirmed that his party will seek justice in the international courts if it loses its High Court bid to have its election petition heard which comes up in the Lusaka High Court today.

Mr Hichilema who is a Masters graduate in Finance and Business Strategy from the University of Birmingham from the U.K said the 2017 is fundamentally fraudulent.

He said the budget delivered by Finance Minister Felix Mutati will not even deliver the empty promises and will make the lives of Zambian worse at the end of 2017.

Mr Hichilema was speaking on Sunday evening when he featured on Muvi TV’s the Assignment programme.

“This budget will make it very difficult for the people of Zambia as it will make many negative changes, people are already living under very difficult conditions. The truth is life is tough for the people of Zambia but this budget will make it even more difficult for the people of Zambia. It doesn’t hold any hope for them,” Mr Hichilema said.

He added, “This budget is true to the words of the PF, it’s a dununa reverse budget. Their economy recovery programme which they have dubbed Zambia Plus is built on five pillars which are to enhance domestic resource mobilisation, scale up social protection programmes, improve economy and fiscal governance by raising accountability and restore creditability and greater economic accountability, job creation.”

Mr Hichilema however said the Zambia Plus economic recovery programme is not deliverable.

He said there is nothing in the budget to allow Zambians to have disposal incomes, to have the jobs and that enhancing resource mobilisation is not possible.

Mr Hichilema said the targeted 3.4 percent growth is not feasible because the facts on the ground say something else.

“The PF has this year only managed to scratch 3 percent growth in 2016, is the worst economic growth since 1998. President Lungu has recorded the worst growth since 1998. That is 18 years back. These are facts and there are there. It means even Dr Chiluba did far much better than Mr Lungu, even Mwanawasa, Mr Banda and Mr Sata did better,” Mr Hichilema said.

He described President Lungu as the worst President in the history of Zambia in the last 20 years who has failed to grow the economy.

“This is uncontested, the figures are here, hoping for 3.4 percent is not achievable because the cost of doing business has gone up because fuel costs have gone up. Before the elections, he went to Saudi Arabia and he came back and promised that Zambians will be buying fuel at K5 per litre, he has done a dununa reserve on Zambians. How can you achieve a higher economic growth like this? Even the cost of electricity will increase as they are doing away with electricity subsidies.

Mr Hichilema charged that the budget is full of consumption expenditure which makes it difficult to even achieve the 3.4 percent targeted economic growth.

“Mr Mutati’s boss in January this year said he will create 5,000 jobs in 2015 but in actual fact but the country shed jobs because of the economic mismanagement. I January this year, he addressed Parliament and he said he will create a 1 million jobs, that is a joke of the century. The budget is already a contraction because Mr Mutati says he will create 100,000 jobs. So who is telling the truth, I say none of them is telling the truth because all these projections are wrong. Look at HomeCorp, a furniture shop is closing, anyone running a butchery is closing their businesses. They are doing a dununa reverse, now its dununa regret,” he said.

And Mr Hichilema has confirmed that his party will approach the international courts if the High Court throws out its last ditch attempt at forcing the courts to hear its election petition against the election of President Lungu.

He maintained that the 2016 election was fraudulent and that his party has a constitutional right to be heard.

“We all know what happened in the 2016 elections, media freedoms were suppressed, human rights were not respected and we saw unprecedented violence. We have never seen that kind of violence around an election. On media suppression, we saw the closure of the Post and that took away media space for the opposition, we even had to sue ZNBC for refusing to air even our paid for adverts. Yes, the courts ruled in our favour but the judgement only came three days before voting day,” Mr Hichilema said.

He added, “After the elections, we saw irregularities in vote counting and tallying, basically the ECZ mismanaged the election. The ECZ interfered with the election and that is why we petitioned them even the PF has now petitioned many election results and they are complaining about the ECZ’s failure to execute the G12 forms. This is evidence that the election was fraud.”
Mr Hichilema said the UPND election petition case was never heard as it was shut down.

“It is like you accuse HH of having killed someone, HH is taken to cells and he should be taken to court on Monday and when the Judge walks in and he says we don’t have time to hear your case but we are sentencing to death.”

He added, “We are in court for our right to be heard. Tomorrow, 21st November 2016, we are in the High Court on the right to be heard. It’s not a secret because we are contending the election result.”

Mr Hichilema said the UPND will exhaust all domestic and international legal channels until it is heard.

“It’s a process and that is why we are stretching the domestic court process but the conduct of the Concort leaves much to be desired. Its conduct has created doubt in the minds of the people about its conduct. If this fails, we will continue seeking justice outside this country.”

The Opposition Green Party President Peter Sinkamba has said that the measure taken by President Edgar Lungu to cut his salary by 50% is just a delusion as he has decided to increase his foreign trips abroad that causes the country to spend more money than the paltry 50% saved from his salary.

In a statement released to the media, Mr Sinkamba said that one trip by the President abroad is worth hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars depending on the destination, entourage accompanying the President and lengthy of the visit and wondered where the benefit was in saving if the president cuts a paltry US$1,800 only to spend hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars on foreign trips.

Below is the full statement

THE GREENS’ POSITION ON PRESIDENT LUNGU’S 50% SALARY CUT

We the Greens welcome the spirit taken by the PF Government to introduce austerity measures in light of the shrinking resources envelopes for the country. As the Minister of Finance conceded in his maiden National Budget speech presented to parliament on Friday, 11 November, 2016,total export earnings have significantly declined. Earnings from copper have fallen to US$3.2 billion from US$4 billion while non-traditional export earnings declined to US$1.3 billion from US$1.6 billion. In other words, total export earnings for Zambia in 9 months this year (January to September) totaled US$4.5 billion. On average, this works out at US$0.5 billion (US$500 million) per month. Therefore, at the most, export earnings for Zambia for 2016 will only hit a paltry US$6 billion. The country’s GDP has fallen from US$28 billion in 2015 to US$22 billion in 2016.

These figures surely demonstrate that the economy is in a serious mess. It is therefore justified that Government implements measures that optimize resource allocation and use. It is therefore it is rational that austerity measures are implemented to ensure socio-economic justice.

Whilst we support introduction of austerity measures, our point of departure with the PF Government is its strategies applied. For example, government has decided to cut subsidies on fuel, electricity, farming inputs such as fertilizers and other in the name of optimization of the resources. On the other hand, Government has decided to create four more ministries. Where is prudent management of resources when one shifts resources from one ‘wasteful’ expenditure-line to another? In elementary arithmetic or algebra, minus one plus one equals zero. Shuffling one ball using two hands does not make that ball become two.

If anything, we believe the austerity measures introduced by Government are intended to get money from the poor to give to the rich. Take for instance the creation of ministries, the ultimate beneficiaries of the removal of subsidies which prior benefited the poor are now the middle class that have been employed to run the ministries. There is nothing tangible that one can point as a benefit that the poor will derive from the creation of the ministries.

The other measures, where for example the President has decided to cut his salary by 50% another delusion. The President’s basic salary is around K36,000 or US$3,600 per month. Reducing it by 50% brings it to around K18,000 or US$1,800 per month .

However, the President has decided to increase on his trips abroad. This is where there is real money. One trip by the President abroad is worth hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars depending on the destination, entourage accompanying the President and lengthy of the visit. Where is the saving if the president cuts a paltry US$1,800 only to spend hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars? The most beneficial measure that the President should have put in place is cut his trips abroad like his counterpart in Tanzania has done. President John Magufuli has literary suspended his trips abroad as a cost-saving measure…. and indeed, millions of dollars have been saved and invested in health, education and other more deserving service delivery lines.

Peter Sinkamba
President