Workers at the state run National Housing Authority have not been paid for salaries for the past three months.

This was revealed by NHA Acting Chief Executive Officer Waicha Ndhlovu when State House Special Assistant for Project Monitoring and Implementation Lucky Mulusa toured the NHA Headquarters.

Mrs Ndhlovu said Government must come and offer grants to the institution to enable it meet its operational costs.

She revealed that NHA is owed K 900 in unpaid arrears for its property which has made it difficult to even meet salaries for its workers.

And Mr Mulusa assured that Government will intervene in the matter and maintained that the organisation is still viable.

A three-day hearing in the High Court in London will start on Tuesday 12 April on behalf of 1826 Zambian villagers who are taking legal action against UK based mining giant Vedanta Resources Plc and its Zambian subsidiary Konkola Copper Mines (KCM).

The villagers allege that their water sources and farming land were contaminated by the copper mining operations of both companies. They allege they have suffered continual pollution since 2004 and it is still ongoing today, causing them to fall sick and lose their crops.

The judge, Mr Justice Coulson, will hear arguments on behalf of the defendants, Vedanta, a UK mining company with an asset base of US$37 billion, and its subsidiary KCM, against the jurisdiction of the English courts to try the claims. Lawyers for the mining companies will argue that the claims should be tried in Zambia because the Claimants are Zambian and the damage occurred in Zambia.

The Claimants, subsistence farmers who are among the poorest inhabitants of Zambia, will argue that the claims should be tried by the English courts because UK-based Vedanta should bear equal legal responsibility, given its control over its mining subsidiary and alleged knowledge of the pollution.

The Claimants will also argue that there is a very real risk that they will not achieve justice if their claims are not tried in England, illustrated by the fact that they have received no assistance in Zambia during the 12 years they have been allegedly suffering from the pollution.

The 1,826 villagers, represented by London based law firm Leigh Day, are members of four artisanal farming communities situated in the Copperbelt region of Zambia along the Mushishima and Kafue Rivers.

They live close to the city of Chingola and next to the Nchanga Copper Mine which is operated by Vedanta’s subsidiary KCM. Vedanta bought a controlling share in KCM in 2004.

The communities, Shimulala, Kakosa, Hippo Pool and Hellen claim that polluted water is affecting their health and causing illnesses and permanent injuries. Their primary source of water for drinking, washing, bathing and irrigating farms are these waters.

The Claimants’ primary source of livelihood is through farming as well as some fishing from the rivers. The alleged pollution has devastated crops and affected fishing greatly impacting the earnings of the local people.

Leigh Day issued proceedings on behalf of the villagers against Vedanta and KCM at the High Court in London in July 2015.

Lawyers who have been over to Zambia to see the effects of the effluent spills and discharges, claim that the pollution primarily stems from the copper processing part of the plant called the Tailings Leach Plant.

Much of the infrastructure was built in the 1970s and is over 40 years old and in need of replacement.

Toxic effluent flowing from the Tailings Leach Plant is supposed to be caught by a Pollution Control Dam however the dam is believed to be at capacity and is overflowing directly into the waterways.

The effluent is highly toxic containing chemicals such as sulphuric acid and high levels of heavy metals. The pollution emanating from the Nchanga Copper Mine in breach of Zambian regulatory requirements has been widely documented. The Claimants are seeking compensation for their loss and damage to their land and their health suffered as a result of the pollution. They are also seeking remediation of the land and the provision of clean water.

Martyn Day, the senior partner at Leigh Day, who is representing the villagers, said:

“‘The Claimants are desperately poor Zambians who are anxious to be compensated for all the losses and harm they have suffered as speedily as possible. It is clear that justice is far more likely to be achieved quickly and efficiently by the cases staying in this country.”

GEOFFREY Bwalya Mwamba yesterday went ballistic, venting his anger on the Daily Nation, promising to shut down the paper and send proprietor Richard Sakala to jail over a “dossier” he claims he is holding as soon as the UPND forms Government on August 11, 2016.
He also insulted Daily Nation journalist Wallen Simwaka, calling him a bastard, fool and stupid for working for a newspaper which he claimed was pushing an agenda to ruin his political career.

This diatribe follows a story in the Sunday Nation disclosing a clandestinely recorded conversation in which a person purported to be Mr Mwamba was allegedly insulting Lusaka Province minister Mulenga Sata.

Mr Mwamba threatened that should the UPND form Government, the Daily Nation would find it difficult to continue operating and would therefore be forced to close down which would result into the suffering of individual reporters.

Mr Mwamba used graphic insults against Mr Sakala and Mr Simwaka, describing the two in one of the most cruel, uncivil and gravely offensive language.

He later called civil activist Chilufya Tayali, who posted the offending conversation on line and insulted him in vernacular and challenged him to put the insults on the internet. The insults also targeted Zambia’s ambassador to South Africa Emmanuel Mwamba and PF deputy spokesman Frank Bwalya.

Mr Mwamba accused his detractors of; supporting President Edgar Lungu who he said was not a marketable product. He also said the PF was a totally ineffectual shell which was going to lose the elections to the UPND because he had single-handedly damaged the ruling party in Lusaka, Copperbelt, Northern Province and elsewhere in the country.

Mr Mwamba in his telephone conversation with Chilufya Tayali, the Zambian Voice executive director, claimed he had tonnes of maize which was ready for export but that this had been banned and an opportunity to export given to a few people.

The report stated that the recording had gone viral on social media.

Mr Mwamba also extended his anger to President Edgar Lungu and accused Mr Sakala and Mr Simwaka of enjoying huge but unaccounted for financial benefits, claiming that the Head of State was a difficult political package to sell which was why the UPND was forming the next Government.

He told Mr Simwaka to continue accepting money from President Lungu but threatened that the reporter was going to suffer for the rest of his life after August 11th when the UPND takes over Government.

Mr Mwamba banned the reporter and all Daily Nation reporters from ever attending any UPND functions, threatening that the journalist risked being physically sorted out by his boys but later in the day called again to state that he was not against being covered but that he wanted to be covered positively.

“I told you the recording was fake and you and your stupid boss went ahead to write a story in your foolish newspaper. Now listen to me, do not use my name to sell you newspaper. You tell your stupid boss that he is very ungrateful and he should stop using my name to sell his newspaper.

“You bustards should know that I am a self-made man and I do not depend on anyone like Mr Sakala who got money from RB (Rupiah Banda) and Edgar Lungu (President) but let me warn you that we are going to deal with you individually and the newspaper. You depend on business from Government and when UPND forms government, where will you run to?” Mr Mwamba said.

Mr Mwamba threatened that he was going to revive the libel cases against the Daily Nation which he had withdrawn years back and demanded that Mr Sakala should immediately pay back all the money he had given him to sustain the operations of the newspaper.

He said the article published in the Sunday Nation had as a matter of fact made him (Mwamba) and the UPND more popular and that nothing including what he termed malicious propaganda was going to stop Zambians from voting for the opposition party.

SUSPENDING the national referendum will only delay progress in the constitution-making process that started almost 50 years ago, says Young African Leaders Initiative governance advisor Isaac Mwanza.

Mr Mwanza said calls from stakeholders to suspend the national referendum on the Bill of Rights would not take away the ability of Members of Parliament to alter the Bill after the referendum unless the country quickly repealed Article 79 to halt such future plans.

He said the only way to ensure the people’s aspirations were retained was to adopt provisions of Article 302 and 303 of the Final Draft Constitution, to curtail Parliament from making future amendments unless through another referendum.

He said YALI had already approached the high office to advocate for engagements to build consensus around key issues on what amendments to be made to the Bill of Rights before proceeding with the holding of the referendum.

“We now wish to make public our correspondence to President Lungu on this matter.

“YALI now wishes to confirm that on 8th February 2016, the organisation wrote to Republican President, Edgar Lungu to, among other key issues, advise on the need to build consensus around what amendments will have to be made to the Bill of Rights before proceeding with holding of the referendum”.

Mr Mwanza said holding the referendum would also repeal Article 79 alongside the 2016 general elections would not only be a matter of public interest but also the only way Zambians could take away the powers of Parliament to tampering with the referendum’s outcome. He said calls to suspend the national referendum on the Bill of Rights without the abolishment of Article 79 would be replaced by Article 302 and 303 of the final Draft Constitution which open the doors to Parliamentarians elected after the August 11 elections to repeal Article 79 and thus make any future referendum on the Bill of Rights binding.

Mr Mwanza said calls from stakeholders to suspend the national referendum on the Bill of Rights would not take away the powers of Parliament to amend the new Constitution, unless the country quickly repealed Article 79 and replaced the same with provisions of Article 302 and 303 of the final Draft Constitution.

He said civic organisations should therefore take advantage of holding the referendum alongside the 2016 general election to test the people’s reaction and responses to making decisions on Constitutional issues to ascertain that Zambians truly got a people-driven Constitution.