LUSAKA residents have called on all political parties who took part in the just ended general elections to start removing their campaign posters which are making the city look dirty.

Joyce Bombwe said campaign materials such as posters and flyers especially those pasted on road signs and other directional facilities were making the town look filthy.

She said now that campaigns and elections were over there was need for political parties to engage their cadres and start removing the posters around the city.

Kelvin Chambwa also said posters especially at Kafue and Kabwe roundabouts were making the city look even dirtier, stating that the local authority should move in quickly and address the issue.

Mr Chambwa said it was unfortunate that politicians were in the forefront of making the city dirty by sticking posters anyhow.

And Christopher Mulenga added that political parties must ensure that environmental protection and public safety was upheld in the course of posting or distributing electoral campaign materials.

Mr Mulenga advised political parties to abide by the guidelines of the electoral code of conduct as they removed their post-electoral campaign materials.

He said the electoral code of conduct states under article 10 (f) and (g) that political parties and candidates shall take appropriate measures to ensure environmental protection and cleanliness in the course of posting or distributing electoral campaign materials.

And under (g), the electoral code of conduct states that political parties and candidates shall remove campaign materials within 14 days of the declaration of the election results.

Meanwhile, University of Zambia lecturer Alex Ngoma said there is need for the Lusaka City Council and other municipalities to come up with a law that will compel political parties to buy advertising space for their political campaign materials unlike the indiscriminate placing of posters on traffic road signs and writing of graffiti on wall fences.

Dr Ngoma, who is a political analyst, said the political campaign period had been characterized by the indiscriminate placing of posters on road traffic signs and the writing of graffiti on wall fences and has suggested to the council to come up with a regulation that will compel political parties to be paying for placing adverts within a specified location. He said that this initiative had worked in other African countries where political parties are given advertising space within a specific time frame.

“Political parties just like everyone else should buy advertising space of their own. District and city councils must come up with a regulation so that at the end of the campaign period political parties remove their posters so that the city remains tidy.

The graffiti writings such as those which were done during the UNIP campaigns are still visible today; so my suggestion is for the council to work with the Electoral Commission of Zambia to curtail this scourge as punitive measures could be applied that will instill adherence by political parties,” he said.

And Ms Nawakwi has called on politicians to put their selfish interests aside as the country is bigger than any politician or political party in the country.

Speaking at a media briefing the FDD President said the current political standoff was due to the ineptitude of the the ECZ saying due to the stubbornness and incompetence of the ECZ,today Zambia has no government.

She said all Commissioners should step and pave way for new people who can run the ECZ in a professional and efficient manner.

She said the current ECZ has failed to do its job of ensuring that elections are held in a free, credible and transparent manner.

She described the elections process as flawed and that the voters register was compromised as it had too many errors and that it was belatedly distributed to stakeholders who had no time to audit it.

She added that with the current leadership at ECZ as well as the existing electoral laws and regulations which she said are ignored with impunity, it is wishful thinking that Zambia will have free,fair, credible elections no matter the outcome of the presidential petition.

And Ms Nawakwi has called on the constitution Court to expedite the matter so that people can resume their normal lives.

Ms Nawakwi who expressed disgust at the laiserfaire attitude of people handling the case saying their are just interested in making money and are not interested in the lives being affected by standoff.

“While we fully appreciate the constitutional right of every citizen to seek legal redress when they are aggrieved,we appeal that national interest must prevail over personal ambitions. Zambia is bigger than any one of us politicians. In fact, Zambia is bigger than any political party,” she said.

She added that even if the elections were nullified it was a fallacy to expect a different result with the same referee (ECZ) officiating in the elections.

She described Easu Chulu as Diramba (a referee from Garbon who officiated in a game between Zambia and Morocco) who cannot be trusted to hold a free and fair as well as credible elections.

State House Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda clarified that the International Monetary Fund bailout program which Zambia intends to engage into will be a mutually agreed program designed to stabilize the local economy.

Mr Chanda has assured that there will be no austerity measures that will be accepted that may make the status of majority vulnerable Zambians worse contrary to assertions that the IMF program will hurt Zambians.

Mr. Chanda disclosed that government has reached advanced stages in negotiating with the IMF for a possible bailout package but was quick to mention that government has not yet made a commitment to the proposed US$1.2 billion.

He said once ministers are appointed, the program will be negotiated on terms agreeable to the government and that all the money received will be channelled to productive areas.

“The money that is being injected into subsidies will be invested in growth areas of the economy,” Mr Chanda told a media briefing at State House on Tuesday.

Mr Chanda said the IMF had indicated in talks with the government that the aid package would amount to around $1.2 billion dollars and negotiations would resume as soon as a new cabinet was appointed.

He said the government shares the IMF’s concerns about the huge amounts of money being spent on subsidies but that would not implement measures that would hurt the poor.
“There will be no austerity measures that will be accepted that will increase the cost of health care. There will be nothing that will be accepted that will make life for the poor more miserable than it is now,” Mr. Chanda said.

President Edgar Lungu said on August 18 that Lusaka and the IMF had reached broad consensus on the key areas of an aid programme for Zambia, but did not elaborate.

United Party for National Development (UPND) Vice President for Politics Canisius Banda is calling for an enactment of a law to deter people from promoting tribal hatred in Zambia, reports Pan African Radio journalist Hermit Hachilonde.

Speaking during a media briefing held at the Party secretariat in Lusaka on the 29th August, 2016, Dr. Banda said it is imperative that the people advocating for tribal hatred must be imprisoned to maintain peace and unity which Zambia has enjoyed since independence.

Dr. Banda stated that it will be outrageous to allow some individuals to divide the country after fifty-one years of independence.

“We must have laws so that some who are talking promoting tribal hatred in Zambia can be arrested” Dr. Banda said

Meanwhile, UPND chairperson Mutale Nalumango said it was folly for any politician alleging that UPND is a region political party in Zambia.

She noted that tribal cards in Zambia are only being played by some politicians whose motive is to divide the country for their self-aggrandizement.

“It is folly for people to allege that UPND is tribal party in Zambia” Mutale Nalumango said

And the UPND vice President for politics Dr. Canisius Banda has since urged the former UPND Deputy Spokesperson Edwin Lifwekelo who recently re-joined the Patriotic Front to put God first in his entire life.

Dr. Banda urged Mr. Lifwekelo not only to go to the PF for himself and his family but also to serve the community, affirming that he wishes him well in each and every aspect of his life.

“Edwin go! Go! We wish you well, also put God first where ever you will be and work for the community not for yourself and your family alone” he said

This is after 17 foreigners in the early hours of Monday were involved in a road traffic accident.

The accident occurred along the Mbala-Nakonde Road when a Nissan Elgrand Vehicle registration number ECP 975 overturned, killing two suspected Somali nationals on the spot. Immigration Public Relations Officer Namati Nshinka said yesterday that later, an Ethiopian also died while four other Ethiopians sustained serious injuries and were admitted at Mbala General Hospital.

“At the time of the accident, only two were found to have valid passports. The two passports however were void of entry endorsement stamps to prove legal entry. The driver, a Zambian is believed to have survived the accident and investigations regarding his whereabouts are ongoing,”he said.

He said investigations into the matter were underway adding that initial indicators seem to suggest that this could be a case of human smuggling.

Mr Nshinka said the Department through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was making efforts to notify the victims’ respective Government representatives.

In other developments, two Somali nationals were arrested in Chirundu for travelling on Tanzanian Emergency Travel Documents (ETDs).

Further, in Solwezi, two Rwandese refugees were arrested for being found outside the refugee settlement without authority.

“Meanwhile, on Friday, 26th August, 2016, in Nakonde, a total of 14 Tanzanians and 1 Nigerian were refused entry into Zambia after they failed to satisfy the entry requirements for Zambia. On the same date, the Department removed a total of 10 prohibited immigrants from the country. These include, 8 Congolese nationals in Kasumbalesa, 1 Somali national in Lusaka and 1 Congolese in Kitwe,”he said.