Former United Party for National Development Vice President for Politics Canisius Banda has distanced himself from the story that was published on 4th October, 2016 in one of the named daily tabloid suggesting that he said the PF won the August 11 elections fair and square, reports Pan African Radio Journalist Hermit Hachilonde.

On his Facebook posting which Pan African Radio verified with him to be authentic, Dr. Banda said the headline in the named newspapers and its fiction was fabricated.

He said the “PF Won, Says Canisius” headline alongside its byline and the first paragraph is only a warped reflection of an active and creative mind of the named daily tabloid.

He said the story is merely a figment that represents the editor of said newspapers’ bent and overzealous imagination.

Dr. Banda revealed that he spoke with the reporter responsible for the story and the reporter was equally shocked that the headline was at variance with their conversation, affirming and protesting that he did not write what was published in the paper.

The former UNPND Vice president further disclosed that he also spoke with Mr. Richard SAKALA, the owner of the named newspapers who pledged to retract the headline and correct the false impression that his paper have created.

“Even as we seek personal or organizational ends, we must never sacrifice or crucify TRUTH. Lies have no legs. They can’t stand”

“And the truth is that I did NOT say what Richard SAKALA says I said. Nonetheless, the rest of the story, though fraught with grammatical errors, reflects an accurate view of my minds” DR. Banda said.

The opposition UPND says it does need unsolicited advise from any party to forget about the just ended elections and move on.

Percy Chanda the Party’s Chairperson for Labour said instead of advising their Party President to forget about the elections the parties should advise the people who stole their election victory that stealing is a crime.

Below is a statement as issued by the UPND.

It has become a habit for some Nashala Neka Parties (NNP) or Kantemba Kandi Parties (KKP) to be offering their so called advise to our Party President to forget about the last election and move on. Instead of your misplaced advice please be advised that we as UPND do not need your unsolicited advice.

Instead if you are genuine enough you should have advised those who stole our victory. In fact you should have gone further to advice those thieves that stealing is not only a crime but a big sin. Instead you now opt to attacking at an innocent person.

Surprisingly enough even those who preach the word of God are now saying that stealing is good, what a shame in our Christian Nation. This is what poverty can do, people lose their moral principles over 30 pieces of silver.

You must appreciate that HH is a God fearing man and as a Party we have been pushing him hard to see that justice is done. Some of you never even participated in the very sham elections you are championing. It’s clear to some of you who participated in the elections that you only did so to create confusion to assist thieves get away with our victory.

But be warned that UPND has men and women capable of standing up to any challenge. Our resolve to follow the right procedure should not be mistaken as a weakness, far from that. Stop harboring the notion that UPND is full cowards. We love and cherish the peace that this Country has enjoyed since Independence. Don’t push us too far. Respect our rights also in fact they say UULELILA TABAMUCEBA KUKANWA meaning if one is mourning the loss of a beloved one don’t pay attention to what he or she is saying. It’s also double punishment to beat a child and tell him or her not to cry.

The pain is in us, but if you are happy that Public workers are now reduced to beggars because they cannot be paid on time, it’s unfortunate for you and your Nashala Neka Party. Look at bigger picture for anytime you can end up in a Hospital where there is no medicine. If you can manage to buy medicine think of others who can’t. This is what UPND is all about; it’s about the suffering majority.

Percy Chanda
UPND: Chairman for Labour and Social Security

 

GOVERNMENT has urged street vendors trading along the
Umodzi Highway in Chipata District to move from the streets
to allow Mota Engil contractor to finish carrying out work without
facing problems.
Eastern Province Minister Makebi Zulu said in a telephone
interview that there was need for street vendors to comply with the
directive that they should move from the streets into market place.

“I am advising the street vendors to move out from the streets so that
the contractor who is carrying out works cannot be disturbed. The same
street vendors who are selling along the road have left Saturday
market stands,” he said.
The minister also disclosed that Chipata Municipal Council has found
an alternative land which some street vendors without stands could be
selling from.
Mr Zulu said the council would ensure that the place were some street
vendors would be relocated becomes habitable.
Last Friday scores of street vendors fought running battles with the
police as they protested over the decision by Chipata Municipal
Council to remove them from the streets.
The angry street vendors were demanding for the removal of Chipata
Mayor Sinoya Mwale.
Police officers fired teargas canisters after the traders refused to
stop the protest but they also responded by throwing stones at the law
enforcers.
But Mr Mwale said it does not make sense for street vendors to rise
against the council because the decision to remove them was agreed by
Government and the council.

THE PF won the August 11 elections fair and square and allegations to the contrary are totally misconceived, says Canisius Banda.

And the former UPND vice president for politics has rubbished claims by the UPND that the August general elections were rigged and has cautioned the opposition party Members of Parliament (MP) to be careful in their assertions because they are in Parliament on the basis of the same vote they claim to have been stolen.

And Dr Banda has charged that his resignation from the UPND was final because he could no longer work in a toxic environment that had endangered his life. In an interview with the Daily Nation yesterday, Dr Banda wondered why the UPND could say their vote was stolen when it was the same vote that signified their presence in the House.

“How can they say their vote was stolen when the premise for their presence in the House (Parliament) is the same vote they were saying was stolen. So whose vote are they talking about? So they should be specific, was that protest in solidarity with their president, or in solidarity with the citizens because they are in the House as the consequence of the citizens having voted for them. So are they saying that validity of their MPs is questionable?” Dr Banda said.

Dr Banda was reacting to the decision by all the 58 UPND Members of Parliament to boycott the official opening of the first session of the 12th National Assembly by President Edgar Lungu on Friday last week on the premise that their vote was stolen. “Staying away from the House in protest should be properly done because citizens are at a loss to find out the reason for boycotting,” Dr Banda said.

He said UPND MPs were elected to be in the House so they should do their protest properly and also let them be in that House and speak. Dr Banda said Parliament was a platform for speaking on behalf of the citizens and they must do that. He said Parliament seats in the House and not outside. “They should be very careful to question the very vote that premises their presence in the House. Protest is a must but its basis must inspire citizens. Parliament seats inside and not outside and they are expected to do their work as Members of Parliament,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Banda has charged that his resignation from the UPND was final because he could no longer work in a toxic environment that had endangered his life. Dr Banda said there was a group of vultures in the UPND who wanted to bite him.

Dr Banda also said that he was asked by the UPND to exculpate himself before they could consider suspending him from the party. “I cannot stay in an environment that is toxic, that endangers my life. Even the best of friends some day you will have to part company,” he said.

And Dr Banda said there was ‘‘no love and spirit on oneness’’ in the party for Mr Charles Kakoma to claim the party could not deliver his suspension letter because nobody knows where he (Dr Banda) stays. “I am not a member of any political party in Zambia today. The only status that I have known is that of a pilgrim who does not know wherever he goes, so my journey continues,” he said.

UPND President Hakainde Hichilema says he did nothing wrong on the Copperbelt for Police to summon him.

Police in Luanshya have summoned Mr Hichilema and Vice Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba to appear for questioning tomorrow over a meeting the duo held with Mpongwe residents.

Copperbelt Police Commissioner Charity Katanga confirmed that the callouts had been issued for Mr Hichilema and Mr Bwalya to appear before Luanshya Police.

The two UPND leaders were last week denied access to their party officials incarcerated at Kamfinsa State Prison despite going there during visiting hours.

“Yes, we have summoned the two to appear for questioning concerning the meeting they had in Mpongwe on Monday. They will appear at Luanshya Central Police on Wednesday at 14:00 hours,” said Mrs Katanga.

Police sources disclosed that Mpongwe district Commissioner Keith Maila formally lodged a complaint against Mr Hichilema and Mr Bwalya in Kitwe for allegedly inciting Mpongwe residents to rise against the government.

But Mr Hichilema laughed at the callouts and wondered when greeting party members became an offence.

He said President Lungu was looking for an opportunity to lock him up as that had always been his plan.

“If it is about the Kamfinsa visit, we notified the Prison authorities that we were going to see our detained officials, those that are wrongly detained by Lungu and on the way we were greeting people, that’s our right. We did not incite anybody. We started greeting people from Chibombo and did that all the way, so why would he say that we were inciting violence and talking nonsense he is talking about in Luanshya? He (Lungu) is a brutal dictator who has now shown his true colours, because I did nothing wrong for him to instruct his police to summon me, he wants me arrested for no reason,” Mr Hichilema charged.

“He denied us our right to visitation of those that are wrongly detained by him. But we will continue demanding for their release. It’s him who is stroking violence, inciting citizens to rise because of his brutality. What is wrong with stopping at a market to buy vegetables and greet people? What’s wrong with that? His ministers do that every day, why can’t we do that ourselves? He is not the Constitution, the Constitution is above him! The point is that we are not inciting anybody, he is the one who is doing that.” Mr Hichilema charged.

He said PF President Edgar Lungu should be ashamed for stopping his entourage from visiting party members who were incarcerated for defending the Constitution.

“Why would he take our rights to visit detainees? Even detainees have the right to be visited. There is nothing that we did wrong, absolutely nothing wrong. This is what he has been planning, he has been planning to lock us up so that he can install someone in the UPND leadership the way he did to the MMD by putting Mutati there. That’s what he is trying to do but that scheme will not work. UPND is a strong party, it’s a party that won the election,” said Mr Hichilema.

The Game Plan returns to viewers’ screens with 20 ambitious entrepreneurs battling to secure the top prize of K250,000.

Nyamuka Zambia, the annual business plan competition, will debut season 2 of its innovative business TV show series, The Game Plan, on Tuesday 4th October at 21:00hrs on the national broadcaster, ZNBC TV1. Subsequent episodes will air on Wednesday 5th October at 21:00hrs andFriday 7th October at 20:30hrs.
The mini-series, moderated by renowned entrepreneur, Miyanda Katiwa, is a “Dragons’ Den”-style contest where the 20 finalists from the Nyamuka Zambia business plan competition pitch their plans to “The Bench”, a group of judges who are leading Zambian captains of industry and finance. All the finalists qualified for the show having competed against over 500 other hopefuls in prior stages of the competition who were all hoping to scoop the top prize of K250,000.
The catch is, finalists will have only two minutes to persuade The Bench that their business plan is the best and is worthy of the top prize. The judges will then probe the idea further once the contestant has made their presentation. This will either reveal a sound business proposition that The Bench may consider for the prize money, or an embarrassing lack of preparation on the part of the contestant or reasons for The Bench to question the viability of the idea.  There is also the added pressure that the contestants’ inevitable ups and downs will be caught on camera. All of this will culminate in a tense and dramatic show.
Nyamuka Zambia manager, Namaya Mbikusita-Lewanika said: “Standing in front of such knowledgeable people could be daunting but the experience gives the entrepreneurs a chance to really test their business idea and show what they could achieve in the future”.
She added: “The great news is that every entrepreneur who gets through to this challenging final round is guaranteed a prize of at least K75,000 so everyone is a winner.”
However there are five enhanced prizes with a top prize of K250,000 and all 20 contestants will be making their best effort to secure the big money.  Having heard the presentations from each of the 20 budding entrepreneurs, The Bench will deliberate and select the five business plans which will win one of the top five prizes.  The results will be announced in the final programme of the series which airs on ZNBC TV1 on Friday 7th October at 20:30hrs.
For more information, visit www.nyamukazambia.com

The United Party for National Development (UPND) has dismissed as a total fabrication reports suggesting that Dr. Nevers Mumba has been appointed as party vice president for politics replacing Dr. Canisius Banda.

UPND Secretary General Stephen Katuka says the story is malicious and has no substance.

He says at no time has the party’s National Management Committee sat to discuss any issue to do with the replacement of Dr. Banda.

Mr. Katuka noted that the party is not in a hurry to replace Dr. Banda and has not started discussing such issues.

He said the party is currently busy with other issues and has urged people to ignore the rumour on Dr Mumba’s alleged appointment.

Mr. Katuka stated that should anything be decided, the party will use the right channels to communicate.

[QFM]