FDD leader Edith Nawakwi has added her voice to the condemnation of xenophobic attacks perpetrated on Rwandan Nationals in Lusaka.

Speaking in an interview Ms Nawakwi said the looting and damaging of property is senseless and serious criminal act that deserves punishment.

She said the acts do not depict the true spirit of the people of Zambia as Zambians are naturally generous and hospitable people who do not want a bunch of misguided and unruly people to dent their reputation.

“We condemn the Xenophobic attacks perpetrated against the Rwandan nationals. The looting and damaging of property is senseless and a serious criminal act that deserves punishment. These riots and violent acts do not depict the true spirit of who we are as a people: Zambians are naturally generous and hospitable people and we do not want a bunch of misguided and unruly people to dirten our good national image out of their riotous conduct.

“We urge the police to work closely with local community leaders to restrain thugs who are taking advantage of ritual murders to loot, steal and damage innocent people’s property. These xenophobic attacks if not curtailed will damage our country’s international reputation and scare investors from investing in Zambia,” she said.

She called on the Police and other law enforcement agencies to quickly bring to book the ritual killers saying depression and poverty have contributed to the unprecedented events of the last 24 hours.

“The police and all other law enforcement agencies should note that our people’s anxiety over these suspected ritual killing is running out of hand. Therefore, there is need for our men and women in uniform to up their game and ensure that these killers are captured and justice is meted on them. In a country of hungry people, anger is always at its pick and if nothing is done, then what seems to be sporadic attacks and skirmishes can soon degenerate into full blown anarchy. People are hungry and angry. They are depressed and are dying under the yoke of poverty and destitution and therefore tempers are really high. This is a very sensitive matter that poses a serious national security threat.

“We want to plead with all well meaning citizens to be vigil and refuse to be used in attacking others. Let us guard this peace very jealously. We only have one Zambia. Let us all co-operative with the police and help them maintain law and order,” she said.

And SACCORD has called on Zambians not to vent their frustrations on the lack of progress in arresting ritual killer on innocent individuals regardless of their nationality.

Commenting the spat of xenophobic attacks which were experienced in Lusaka yesterday, SACCORD Executive Director Boniface Cheembe said it is understandable that people are frustrated with the lack of progress regarding the ritual killings that has hit the capital city but that attacking innocent people will not resolve the problem.

Mr Cheembe called for restraint on the part of the public saying instead of causing more problems for the law enforcers the public should be working hand in hand so as to helping them find and arrest the perpetrators of the heinous crimes.

He said the public should ensure that their communities are safe and that it will not happen by destroying and vandalising both private and public property.

He said destroying private and public property will not stop the ritual killings but has the potential of escalating the crime challenges in Compounds adding that destroying property will only end up destroying public good such as Police Stations which are supposed to help in deterring would be offenders.

He further added that Zambians should not look at the whole issue as that of being Zambian against foreigner as the country will only end up losing its well deserved name of being a peace loving country in the region.

He said the riots have the potential of earning the country the undeserved name of being one of the countries practicing xenophobia something he said would put a dent on the country’s international standing.

The UPND has called on the Republican President Edgar Lungu to take advantage of the meetings he will have with traditional leaders from the Northern Province to discuss development issues in the Province.

UPND Vice President Administration Geoffrey Mwamba said having visited the region in the recent past the President has seen the desperate situation in the region.

He said among other issues that the President must touch on is the high poverty levels prevailing in the areas.

“Their Royal Highnesses he has invited are custodians of our culture and also responsible of the welfare of the people within their chiefdoms. It is against this background that we hope President Edgar Lungu will be truthful, faithful and objective as he engages the traditional leaders.

The President has in the recent past made numerous visits to the Northern Province and he has seen for himself the desperate situation there. Poverty levels in the province are unprecedented. The agriculture sector in the provinces has been grossly mismanaged. The cost of living is too high for most people to afford,” he said.

He added “It is unfortunate that President Lungu earlier announced that people in Kasama are buying mealie meal at K 45 when in actual fact there is a shortage of mealie meal and when its there the 25kg bag sells for more than K100. Unemployment among our youth is very high and yet the province has potential to be the agriculture and tourism hub of the country.

We sincerely hope the meeting at State House between President Lungu and their Royal Highnesses will focus on how to improve the livelihood of the people on Northern Province and the country in general. Hopefully the president will extend his invitation to Chiefs from other regions as well. The Chiefs are parents and we all benefit from their wise counsel and more so as the country prepares for a general election.”

Mr Mwamba said this in a statement issued to the media.

UPND President Hakainde Hichilema took to facebook to call for calm as the country experienced a spate of xenophobic attacks on Monday which started from Zingalume and George Compound and later spread to other parts of Lusaka.

Mr Hichilema appealed to Zambians to remember that they were God’s children who should love one another adding that violence was never an answer to anything.

He said even with the current difficulties the answer can not be found in violence and destruction of property.

He also called on law enforcement agencies to proactively deal with the issues before they escalated to unmanageable levels.

Below is a posting from his page.

Our prayer this evening is for calm to return to our compounds and our homes quickly.

We pray that no one has been hurt during the riots and unrest that have spread in some parts of our capital city including this evening, as some reports are suggesting.

Our earnest appeal to every Zambian at this time is to remember that as God’s children we must always love and care for one another, and that violence is never an answer to the troubles we face. It can only bring more hurt and God Himself will sit in judgement of those who transgress.

As a society we need to broadly address poverty and inequality properly as one way of preventing these evil happenings.

But the answer can only lie in peace and unity and a cooperative spirit to change our country.

Even with current difficulties in our communities, the answer does not lie in the destruction of properties through rioting and maiming each other.

We also call on law enforcement agencies to proactively deal with these issues before they escalate to such levels.

We also encourage those who can to co-operative with law enforcement officials in returning peace and order to our streets and compounds.

Suspended MMD National Spokesperson Raphael Nakacinda says party President Nevers Mumba is on the wrong path as he has allowed people who are serving their selfish motives to advice him on issues related to the operations of the party.

And Mr Nakacinda says he feels insulted by the people insinuating that he has been bought by the Mutati lead faction because he is above being bought and that he remains a friend to Dr Mumba even though they have differed on the issue regarding the holding of the convention.

Speaking when he featured on Muvi TV’s the Assignment program, Mr Nakacinda said Dr Mumba had chosen a wrong path by choosing to listen to people who did not care about him and the party.

He explained that the party started preparing for the convention as far back as April 2015 when the Party NEC put up modalities which would culminate to convention but that they were surprised when all that changed after the NEC meeting held in January.

He said some people the President has chosen to listen to do not have the interests of the party at heart and that they are destroying both the party and the reputation of Dr Mumba in his personal capacity.

Asked if he had betrayed Dr Mumba, Mr Nakacinda said Dr Mumba had betrayed himself by not following the correct advise over matters related to the running of MMD which was given to him on several platforms.

And Mr Nakacinda said he takes great exception to accusations that he had been bought to work against party President Nevers Mumba.

He said he was one of the people who helped convince Dr Mumba to return from Canada and stand for Party Presidency but that he will not stand by and see the party constitution being abrogated as that would be misleading to Dr Mumba and his loyalty misplaced.

He said unlike others his journey with Dr Mumba is not from a year or two ago but that of 18 years hence he wouldn’t betray him for a penny nor will he depart from doing the correct thing due to misplaced loyalty.

On the purported injunction restraining Felix Mutati and 11 others from carrying out mobilization meetings across the country, Mr Nakacinda expressed disappointment that Dr Mumba would allow his advisers to sink so low as to lie to him that there was an injunction when in fact not.

He said Dr Mumba actually lied to the nation that Mr Mutati and others were abrogating the Republican Constitution because the court denied them the injunction adding that the time Dr Mumba was issuing the statement on the 13th of April they did not even know the out come of their submission as the document in which the injunction was denied was served on the 14th.

He added that whoever is advising President Mumba should stop telling him lies as doing so will only do them more harm as lies have short legs.

On the issue of the convention, Mr Nakacinda said instead of demonizing the people calling for a convention Dr Mumba should have prepared himself for the event because he knew that the day would come.

He said the excuse he is trying put across that his tenure ends in 2017 did not hold waters because he was just finishing up a term which started in 2011 when Rupiah Banda was elected as Party President.

He said it should be born in Dr Mumba’s head that he took over as President through an extra ordinary convention after extra ordinary circumstances in the party when former President resigned from active politics and that the constitution clearly states that the party shell have a convention every five years.

On whether the party will participate in the forth coming elections, Mr Nakacinda said the party will only participate in the elections after sorting out its internal problems and the holding of a convention.

He said with the current challenges within the party, the MMD would only be embarrassed if they went ahead and participated without putting their house in order.

THE Government is disappointed that veteran politician and seasoned diplomat Vernon Mwaanga is reported to have made a Press statement on elections in which he concluded that Uganda’s February election was flawed.

Dr Mwaanga is reported in The Post newspaper of April 16 this year that people should restrain the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) from using the same printing company in Dubai that was used in the February election in Uganda because the ballot papers in the Ugandan election were pre-marked to favour President Yoweri Museveni.

The ministry of Foreign Affairs has since urged Dr Mwaanga and all political players to avoid mentioning other countries and their political processes when commenting on domestic political issues.

Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba said yesterday at a Press briefing that it was regrettable and sad that Dr Mwaanga named Uganda, a sovereign State, in a matter of domestic politics.

Mr Kalaba said the matter of the Ugandan election was still in domestic courts in that country and had not been verified or concluded.

“It is regrettable and sad that a veteran diplomat that we should be looking up to is the one to say something that degrades everything he has achieved,” he said.

Mr Kalaba said Zambia and Uganda enjoyed good bilateral relations which should not be jeopardised by unverified media statements.

He said it was not in conformity with good international practice to name other countries and bring into dispute those countries’ political processes.

THE Lusaka City Council (LCC) has embarked on a routine road maintenance and street lighting installation project throughout Lusaka, under performance contracts and the L400.

Lusaka Town Clerk Alex Mwansa said the local authority had engaged Sunspot Insurance Brokers to help replace the vandalised streetlight poles through insurance claims of vehicles that damaged the poles.

Mr Mwansa also urged members of the public to report to the police whenever they saw a vehicle hit into any of the poles by simply giving the vehicle registration number.

He said in a statement issued yesterday by LCC assistant public relations manager, Brenda Katongola that the council had noted with concern that most streetlights were being knocked down by careless motorists, especially during weekends.

He said that the road maintenance and street lighting installation project was aimed at improving the status of roads in the city to make them better and safer for all road users.
Mr Mwansa said AVIC International had been awarded a contract by the Government to construct roads and install the streetlights in the capital city, which was being supervised by LCC and the Road Development Agency (RDA).

He said streetlight installations would be carried out on major roads in the city, with the Great East, Chilimbulu and Burma roads receiving a facelift and later on Independence Avenue.

“Some roads such as Addis Ababa Drive, Church and Great East roads have already started receiving a facelift to enhance the safety of our road users. This is expected to continue on all the roads in the central business district (CBD), including the pedestrian or zebra crossings,” Mr Mwansa said.

He said that AVIC in partnership with LCC and RDA was expected to light up 150-kilometre stretch of the 408 kilometres of roads at an estimated cost of US$23,550,000.

Mr Mwansa said in trying to stave off the continued power outage by Zesco, the council and RDA had embarked on putting up streetlight poles, which were solar-powered on 40km of the 150km in an effort to improve lighting and security in the city even with the current power deficit.

He said the LCC had since installed conventional streetlights along Manchinchi, Dr Aggrey and Blue Boar roads through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and internal support, and that the local authority was working on modalities to protect infrastructure which was being constructed.

Mr Mwansa said that the local authority through funding from the National Road Fund Agency (NRFA) was currently carrying out road markings on major roads and pothole patching on selected roads in the capital city.