The President says government will protect the integrity of the ECZ because it is among the best electoral bodies in Southern Africa and the continent.

And President Lungu has declared that the PF is ready for the election.

The President was speaking this morning on arrival at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport in Livingstone for the official opening of the World Farmers’ Organisation General Assembly.

President Lungu assured PF members who welcomed him at the airport that the ruling party is stronger now than ever before.

He said some opposition parties are accusing the ECZ of planning to rig the August 11 election as an excuse for losing because the message is clear that they will lose to the PF.

President Lungu said the opposition missed the opportunity to dislodge the PF from power in the 2015 Presidential election.

The President also said he is happy that Zambians including some opposition parties have embraced the ‘One Zambia One Nation’ slogan and encouraged everyone in the country to preach peace, love and unity.

And Southern Province Minister Nathanial Mubukwanu informed the President that the region is peaceful except for an outbreak of Cholera in Monze and Mazabuka districts.

Mr. Mubukwanu said the government may consider to temporarily ban fish trading as a way of curbing cholera because the disease is spreading from fishing camps in the affected districts.

MULENGA Sata was the first to declare his presidential ambitions immediately after the death of his father, President Michael Sata, because he believed the Patriotic Front (PF) belonged to his family and not to the people of Zambia, says Julius Komaki.

Mr Komaki said when President Sata died in London in October, 2014, Mulenga immediately started calling some people in Lusaka while in the United Kingdom, dictating that the party should start organising for his succession because according to him, he was the heir to the throne.

Mr Komaki alleged that a cartel that had held late President Sata hostage and took control of most of the sensitive security State institutions thought they could use Mulenga Sata to continue with their ambitions but that Zambians quickly thwarted the scheme by rejecting the former Lusaka Province minister as his father’s successor.

He recalled that when the body of President Sata arrived at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport, Mulenga, instead of showing a solemn face, was happily campaigning among his supporters who were clad in T-shirts printed ‘‘Mulenga Sata for President’’.

Mr Komaki said Mulenga saw an opportunity to become president of the PF and of Zambia after the death of his father. Instead of mourning, he embarked on a campaign to be anointed to take over from late President Sata and had printed campaign materials while the nation was in a state of mourning.

“Immediately President Sata died in London, Mulenga Sata who was in the United Kingdom started calling Lusaka, dictating that the PF should start preparing his succession because he thought he was the rightful heir to the throne.

‘‘In fact, the cartel that held President Sata hostage encouraged Mulenga Sata to go for the presidency because it believed through him it would maintain its hegemony and continue abusing State security institutions and installations to their advantage. Zambians realised this and immediately rejected Mulenga Sata, thereby thwarting the schemes of the cartel,’’ Mr Komaki said.

Mr Komaki said Mulenga Sata had always been a failure politically and that he had risen to his current status not because of his efforts and achievements but because of the name of late President Sata.

Mr Komaki stated that the cartel later realised that Mulenga Sata was a failed project and attempted to anoint former first lady Christine Kaseba, who without reflection, declared her presidential ambitions shortly after her husband had been interred, an act that shocked Zambians to the core.

He said Zambians had not recovered from the shock that former first lady Kaseba could ever think of taking over from her husband as president when she was mourning, an act, he said, was not only unZambian but was culturally and traditionally an abomination.

“After the scheme to install Madam Kaseba flopped, Dr Guy Scott was forced to fire President Edgar Lungu as secretary general of the PF at the time in an attempt to bring back Wynter Kabimba who had previously been fired by President Sata as Justice minister and secretary general of the PF. Zambians rose and the country was tense and the decision to fire President Lungu as secretary general was immediately reversed,” Mr Komaki said.

He said Mulenga Sata was an ungrateful man who had attained most of his political positions purely on humanitarian grounds as he had failed to perform in all his appointments.

Latest figures from the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority shows that the country now has 6.1 million internet users, representing a penetration rate of 39 percent.

MTN is still the leading internet mobile service provider currently with 45.5 percent of the data market, followed by Airtel with 40.1 percent and Zamtel with 14.4 percent.

The figures also show that Zambia’s mobile phone penetration rate has reached 74.3 percent of the population, with 11.6 million subscribers out of 15 million Zambians.

ZICTA Director Support Services Mofya Chisala said the adoption of smartphones and other mobile devices has increased internet access and is fuelling the demand for data services.

Mr Chisala said there is huge appetite for internet connectivity among Zambians.

The Head of State has also urged all Zambians to become tourists of their own beautiful country.

Mr Lungu said most heritage sites were found in various chiefdoms and hence there was need to declare them as National Monuments to encourage rural development in various parts of the country.

He said this in Livingstone yesterday at Victoria Falls World Heritage site in a speech read for him by Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs Deputy Minister, John Kufuna, during the commemoration of the first ever African World Heritage Day celebrations.

African countries will for the first time this year going forward, start celebrating May 5 as the African World Heritage Day which is a month commonly referred to as Africa month.

This is the month in which Pan Africanism was born years back during the period when th founding fathers such as Nkwame Krumah, Kenneth Kaunda, Jomo Kenyata and Mwalimu Julius Nyirere among others reigned Africa.

May 5 also marks the 10th anniversary of the African World Heritage Fund.

“I wish to direct the National Heritage Conservation Commission (NHCC) to declare more sites as National Monuments to stimulate rural developments as most of these sites are found in chiefdoms.

“My Government recognises the fact that heritage sites provide opportunities for tourism especially waterfalls that attract a number of tourists and social-economic developments such as adventure tourism, hotel industry, cultural and eco-tourism.

“These activities have spill-over effects on other sectors of the economy such as agriculture, transport and communication which are pivotal to national development,” Mrt Lungu said.

He noted that since most natural heritage sites were located in the rural parts of the country, they had potential of reducing rural poverty through the creation of employment opportunities.

Currently, Zambia has a total number of 4, 052 cultural and natural heritage sites.

Mr Lungu said he was aware that the NHCC was reviewing the Heritage Conservation Act of 1989 and was in the process of finalising the National Heritage Conservation Policy whose process started in 2009.

“I would like to urge the Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs to ensure that both the Policy and Act must provide for participation off local communities, vulnerable groups and the private sector to stimulate rural development and the creation of sustainable jobs,” he said. .

And President Lungu urged all Zambians to be tourists to be tourists of their own beautify country.

He hoped that Zambians would have the opportunity in their lifetime to visit heritage sites and monuments which mark the historical journey as a people of One Zambia One Nation.

“Our country offers diversify and abundance of cultural and natural sites that encapsulate both the beauty and history of the country.

“Indeed we are fortunate to be living in a country blessed with this beauty, despite having one World Heritage Site (Victoria Falls) which is recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO),” he said.

UNESCO Director General, Irina Bokova, said the World Heritage Day was meant to increase global awareness of African heritage and to mobilise greater cooperation for its safeguarding.

In a speech read for her by Zambia National Commission for UNESCO Secretary General Charles Ndakala, Ms Bokova said Africa’s cultural and natural heritage was a force for peace and a driver of development and innovation.

“Out of the 129 cultural and natural sites on the list of World Heritage List, 17 are also on the list of World Heritage in danger.

“The list of threats is long from armed conflict, terrorism, poaching and global warming to uncontrolled urban expansion and mineral and oil exploration,” she said.

NHCC board member, Clifford Chishala said World Heritage Sites had been known to be key drivers of social and economic development in most countries.

Mr Chishala said the survival and fame of Zambia’s tourist capital Livingstone was largely due to the existence of the Victoria Falls World Heritage site.

He further said that heritage sites required the support and involvement of many stakeholders at national and international level.

Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba said this in Lusaka when he officiated at the Zambia-EU political dialogue meeting on the side-lines of the European Union week.

Mr. Kalaba who led a delegation of some cabinet ministers that included Ngosa Simbyakula, Nkandu Luo, Joseph Katema and Margaret Mwanakatwe and other senior government officials later held private talks with EU Head of Delegation to Zambia Alessandro Mariani who was accompanied by 16 other dignitaries accredited to Zambia.

The minister noted that the last Zambia-EU political dialogue meeting was held in June 2015 and described the talk as successful.

Mr. Kalaba said the Zambian government wants to have a clear understanding on issues such as the migration crisis and terrorism affecting the European Union (EU) .

He pointed out that migration and terrorism are issues that have global implications on other countries including Zambia and that the country stands ready to support efforts aimed to countering terrorism.

Mr Kalaba reiterated that the Zambian government has continued to actively participate in peace initiatives and activities within and outside the region which includes contribution to personnel to the peace keeping in war torn countries like the Central African Republic.

And the minister disclosed that his ministry has finalized the diaspora policy and would soon be submitted to cabinet for approval before it is launched.

Mr. Kalaba said the policy contains issues of access to land, dual citizenship, and partnership in business, exchange of information and promotion of Zambia’s interests with other countries.

And speaking at the same occasion, EU Head of Delegation to Zambia Alessandro Mariani hailed the political discussions as a milestone as Zambia is preparing to hold general elections in august, this year.

Mr. Mariani reiterated the EU’s confidence in the Electoral Commission of Zambia to conduct free and fair elections in accordance with Zambia’s electoral laws.