THE hate propaganda against the Patriotic Front (PF) has reached pervasive levels with the latest campaign being the recent ritual murders where bodies of victims are covered with Chitenge materials of the ruling party, Jean Kapata has charged.

Ms Kapata, who is PF elections chairperson, said investigations into the ritual murders in Lusaka should be extended to the opposition political parties that had continued disparaging the ruling party and propagating hate messages against President Edgar Lungu.

Ms Kapata said it had become critical that the police should cast their investigations wider to include the notorious cartel that almost usurped State power during the reign of late president Michael Sata and now aggressively fighting President Lungu for refusing to be colonised.

She said in an interview that the macabre killings in the last two weeks were allegedly being perpetrated by some opposition political parties which believed that they would only win the August 11 general elections by demonising the PF and President Lungu.

Ms Kapata said it was the worst form of propaganda to commit murder and cover the corpse with PF campaign material in an attempt to invoke anger among citizens so that they could rise against the ruling party.

She explained that the ritual killings had become a campaign tool for some opposition political parties and it was therefore imperative for State investigative wings to extend their probe to such political organisations.

Ms Kapata said that no criminal would commit a crime and leave evidence at the scene of crime or leave a PF Chitenge material at the scene.

“The ritual murders in Lusaka are linked to politics and we now know that the propaganda against the PF has reached levels where citizens are being ritually murdered and some opposition political parties are blaming the PF. I want to appeal to the police and other State investigating wings to extend their probe to opposition political parties that have continued with their hate messages against the PF and President Lungu.

‘‘Criminals always cover their tracks but with the recent ritual murders, they have committed murder and used the PF Chitenge material to cover the corpses,” Ms Kapata said.

Ms Kapata said Zambia was a Christian nation and it was against God’s teachings to engage in heinous crimes such as the ritual murders the country had witnessed in the recent past.

She said the ritual killings should be stopped and that those involved should be hunted down so that they could face the wrath of the law.

SUSPENDED United Party for National Development (UPND) Musiotunya Ward Councillor Ziwa Ziwa together with 218 members from the opposition UPND and Rainbow Party in Livingstone have defected to the ruling Patriotic Front (PF).

And the PF in Livingstone have launched the District Mobilisation under the slogan ‘PF Youths No Violence Dot Com campaigns’.

Speaking during the Launch at Zambezi Sports Club in Livingstone on Saturday, Southern Province PF mobilisation Chairperson Brave Mwetwa said only the PF had an agenda run the affairs of the country and bring development to all corners of the nation.

Mr Mwetwa accused opposition UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema of preaching tribalism in the Southern Province adding that the UPND were busy canvasing the province telling people lies that there was no PF in Southern Province.

“Go and tell everyone that the PF in the province is intact and making positive headlines in the province and please those close to HH should go and tell him that very soon.

“Very soon, HH will start having sleepless nights and will suffer greatly because of PF’s success,” Mr Mwetwa said.

He said the PF was a growing party in the province as evidenced by the number of defectors that were ditching their party to join the ruling part because of its developmental agenda.

Mr Mweetwa added that the people of Southern Province had embraced all political parties and were ready to give the PF a fresh mandate because it was an attractive party.

Mr Mwetwa accused the UPND leader of being a dictator by refusing to go convention as stipulated in their party manifesto.

“If HH wants to be president of the republic of Zambia, let him try after 40 years. The UPND are claiming that they are the most organised party in Southern Province when they have failed lamentably to have elections at Branch, Ward, Constituency, District and National levels.

“Since Hakainde Hichilema became the president of UPND, they have never gone for a convention. Tell me what is he scared of? To me Hakainde Hichilema is a dictator because if he wasn’t a dictator, he would have allowed his party to go for a convention,” he said.

PF acting District Chairman John Mukosho appealed to the members to go flat out and campaign for the ruling party as well as preach the message of peace as championed by Republican President Edgar Lungu.

Meanwhile, PF Youths No Violence Dot Com Ambassador, Maxwell Chongo said PF youths in the country had vowed to walk the talk by preaching the message of peace and saying no to all forms of violence.

Mr Chongo said the message from the Republican President was very clear and the PF Youths had embarked on a countrywide campaign to education youths on the need to promote peace before, during and after the general elections.

And speaking on behalf of the defectors, Mr Ziwa said that God had already prophesied that President Edgar Lungu would be given another fresh mandate to rule the people of Zambia.

SEVERAL aspiring parliamentary candidates for the Livingstone Constituency have pledged to empower youths and women in the Tourist Capital once they are elected as area Member of Parliament (MP).

The candidates further vowed to denounce violence ahead of the August 11 General elections and pledged to upgrade infrastructure and Township roads in Livingstone to improve the City.

This was at Livingstone Lodge on Friday night during the first Public Debate Forum for aspiring MPs hosted by the Livingstone Press Club (LPC).

The participating candidates were Gladys Kristafor from Patriotic Front (PF), Edward Ntinda also from PF, Regina Musokotwane from United Party for National Development (UPND), Matthews Jere also from UPND and Teddy Andrew Mulenga from the Green Party.

Ms Kristafor, who is former Permanent Secretary for Southern Province, said women and youths were important to national development and she would empower then if she was adopted and elected as Livingstone MP.

She said women were going for their education to various schools just like men but they were marginalised in most cases.

“We are talking about equality here. Women, who are qualified, should be allowed to do their job and they should not just end as sympathisers.

“Some many women in Zambia are qualified but they have never been given an opportunity. Citizens who qualifies irrespective of genders should be given an opportunity to participate in national matters,” Ms Christafor said.

She said tourism was a priority and she would work with Government to establish an international convention centre and open up Livingstone through aggressive marketing to attract more tourists.

Ms Musokotwane, who is former Katombola MP, said she would introduce youths training centres to train the young people in carpentry, bricklaying and other skills.

She said most young people had nothing to do for their living and hence they were engaging in violence.

And Dr Mulenga, who has already been adopted by Green Party, said he would not buy beer for youths but he would instead talk them to Zambia National Services (ZNS) for training in life skills.

Dr Mulenga said he would put a lot of pressure in Parliament to lobby for the development of Livingstone especially he understood the challenges of the City.

“I have suffered here and I know this town. I know the roads in Livingstone which were seen in 1974 and have not yet been upgraded.

“The Government has done a commendable job to improve roads and other infrastructure in Livingstone but there is more to do. Look at Libuyu Bridge, crocodile come when it is flooded,” he said.

He asked Livingstone residents to avoid voting on party lines or voting for recycled political parties.

Mr Ntinda, who is former Provincial Engineer for Southern Province, said he would create job opportunities for street kids as well as elderly women and men in Livingstone once he was adopted and elected.

He said the PF Government already had a youth empowerment policy which he would use to create jobs for the young people.

“We have poor roads in townships and we need to improve on them. PF has a lot of programmes which need to continue until they are logically concluded.

“The modern market and bus station will be completed and you will need a forceful person like myself,” he said

Mr Jere, who is former Deputy Mayor for Livingstone under the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD), said he would use his experience in the Livingstone City Council to improve the Constituency.

He said he would address the poor state of roads especially in Townships to attract tourists to those areas.

“We want tourists to visit Songwe, Jack Mwanampapa, Sinde and Kasiya in the outskirts of Livingstone instead of just visiting the central business district.

“I will also not allow a situation where political party cadres’ take over construction jobs that are meant for experts like the case was during the 2013 United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly,” he said.

Mr Jere said he would engage employers, youths and Government to seek ways of creating jobs for youths and women.

“Currently, the conditions of service are poor and so we will improve on that while encouraging the youths to venture into entrepreneurship,” Mr Jere said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has come up with a mortgage financing initiative that will enable Zambian missions abroad to acquire mortgages in respective host countries for the construction or acquisition of properties in order to cut the high cost rentals challenges.

In an effort to reduce expenditure in Zambian missions abroad, Cabinet at its 18th meeting held in July 2015 accepted the recommendation by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and of Finance to acquire mortgages for the construction or acquisition of properties in missions abroad.

Foreign Affairs Public Relations Officer Dorcas Chileshe disclosed in a press statement released to ZANIS in Lusaka today that an inter-ministerial committee comprising experts drawn from different ministries has since been constituted.

Mrs. Chileshe said the committee has finalised the guiding principles and terms of reference and is currently working on the mortgage financing document.

She further said the initiative covers various options including construction and purchasing of chanceries and houses for diplomatic staff.

She said the initiative would be piloted in a number of missions some of which have already advanced in terms of negotiations with financial institutions that offer mortgages in host countries.

Mrs. Chileshe added that the programme will then be rolled out to other missions.

“It is expected that the initiative will relieve stress on the treasury in terms of paying rentals and generate savings for the country which can be used for other developmental programmes,” Mrs. Chileshe explained.

Meanwhile, government spent K14, 713, 566.13 on rentals alone in the first quarter of 2015.

At the opening of the second session of the eleventh National Assembly on 19th September 2015, President Edgar Lungu directed that the operations of missions abroad be one of the areas on which cost saving measures should be instituted.

More stakeholders have expressed grave concern over the rising number of road traffic accidents occurring in the country.

Zambia Bus and Taxi Workers’ Union (ZBTWU) president James Liambai said the union was deeply concerned with the loss of lives through road traffic accidents.

Mr. Liambai attributed the high number of road mishaps to fatigue amongst drivers who are subjected to traveling long distances coupled with poor their conditions of service.

Mr. Liambai, who was flanked by his General Secretary (GS) Mangalitso Nkunika, said this in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today.

He bemoaned that drivers do not have adequate sleep hence lose alertness and concentration when driving.

“The labour movement feels fatigue among the bus drivers is the major contributing factor for the high number of road accidents the nation is currently experiencing,” Mr. Liambai said.

And ZBTWU general secretary Mangalitso Nkunika called for concerted efforts from all stakeholders in the transport sector to work towards finding solutions to reduce accidents on the roads.

Mr. Nkunika urged the stakeholders to avoid the blame game but to instead act responsibly in trying to find a lasting solution towards reducing road carnages in Zambia.

“Let us avoid the blame game and act responsibly. As a labour movement, we believe in team-work if these road mishaps are to be reduced,” Mr. Nkunika said.

Meanwhile, President Edgar Lungu has learnt of the death of 25 people between Kabwe and Kapiri Mposhi yesterday with shock and sadness.

President Lungu has since announced that government will take over all expenses for the funerals of those who died in the road traffic accident yesterday.

Mr. Lungu has further directed Central Province Minister Davies Chisopa to lead the his administration in working with the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit officials to lessen the burden of the families as much as possible.

The Head of State directed that dual carriage ways should be built soon to help reduce incidents of road accidents such as the ones experienced in recent months.

Yesterday, 25 people died in an accident involving a Wada Chovu Marcopolo bus and a Mercedes Benz minibus around 09:00 hours between Kabwe and Kapiri Mposhi districts in Central province.

The bodies of the deceased persons are lying in Kabwe hospital mortuary awaiting identification and post-mortem.

Government says it is deeply concerned with the small burial space that has remained at Leopards Hill and Chunga cemeteries in Lusaka.

Minister of Local Government and Housing Steven Kampyongo has since directed the Lusaka City Council (LCC) to expedite the process of indenting a new burial site for the residents of Lusaka.

Mr. Kampyongo said Leopards Hill and Chunga cemeteries are almost filled up hence the need for the local authority to treat the matter of finding an alternative burial site with urgency.

He said this in Lusaka today shortly after a tour of Chunga and Leopards Hill cemeteries this morning.

Mr. Kampyongo, who was accompanied by Lusaka Town Clerk Alex Mwansa and senior council officials, also toured the Chunga solid waste dumpsite.

He has appealed to the Lusaka City Council to work closely with the local authorities in the surrounding districts of Chilanga, Chibombo, Kafue and Chisamba during the process of finding a new burial site.

And Mr. Kampyongo has urged the council to computerise the documentation of the decease persons’ details for effective tracing of information for both government and their families.

Meanwhile, Lusaka Town Clerk Alex Mwansa assured Mr. Kampyongo that the local authority was working hard to urgently address the matter of finding an alternative burial site.

Mr. Mwansa also said the council was exploring various ways of finding a burial site.

He said among the options was the possibility of having a shared cemetery with the surrounding districts.

Former District Commissioner for Kabwe, Patrick Chishala, has commended President Edgar Lungu for directing that government takes over the funeral expenses of the people who died in yesterday’s road traffic accident involving a Wada-Chovu bus and a Mercedes Benz minibus at Kabwe’s Manyumbi Area.

Yesterday, 25 people died in an accident involving a Wada Chovu bus registration number AJB 6340 and a Mercedes Benz minibus ACZ 4829 registration number ACZ 4829.

Mr. Chishala said the decision by the President signifies that he was truly the father of the nation and will greatly help in assisting the affected families.

And Mr. Chishala has called on the clergy in the country to partner with government in curbing road traffic accidents.

Speaking during an interview with ZANIS this morning, Mr. Chishala, who is also Provincial Taxis and Minibus Drivers (PTMD) patron, described yesterday’s accident as a tragedy for the country.
He said he was deeply saddened that 25 lives were lost in yesterday’s accident adding that his prayers are with the affected families.

He has since appealed to the clergy to partner with government and guide the country in praying and anointing the roads so as to curb fatal accidents which have recently rocked the country.

“We desperately need God’s intervention and in as much as the government is doing its best to better our roads, we need prayers on our roads to arrest evil schemes,” he said.

Mr. Chishala recalled that the same accidents which have resurfaced took root on the Great North road in 2013 and claimed many lives until the provincial administration partnered with the church.

He noted that the corporate prayers helped in reducing road traffic accidents in the province in 2013.

“You see, we should not forget God in all this because prayer changes things. It was done before and it can be done again. We should not underestimate what God is able to do to preserve our lives if only we can go back to Him and seek His intervention on our roads,” he said.

And Mr. Chishala has called on bus drivers using bigger bus to be cautious on the road and respect other road users.

He said the drivers should equally avoid over speeding because they carry many people in their buses.

And Njanji Ward Counsellor Cornelius Katiti has appealed to road users to take precautionary measures while on the road.

Mr. Katiti told ZANIS in an interview that there was equally need for the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) to put up stringent measures and inspect vehicles as a way of reducing road carnages.

“I feel that RTSA can equally intensify its operations by thoroughly inspecting these transport facilities as well as the users because sometimes, the vehicles are faulty and at other times, the drivers are inexperienced hence the accidents,” he observed.

Meanwhile, the clergy in Kabwe have welcomed the call by Mr. Chishala for them to partner with government and pray against road carnages.

Kabwe Pastors’ Fellowship Chairperson, David Muwowo said the church was always available and willing to work with the government of the day in alleviating some of life’s challenges.

“Well, I think prayer is the way out of such challenges and as the church we agree at any time to partner with government and seek God’s intervention because for sure we saw a relative reduction in accidents when we previously regrouped and prayed as well as anointed the roads,” he recalled.

Pastor Muwowo however reiterated Mr. Katiti’s call on government to seriously inspect road users and regulate their speed through the Road Transport and Safety Agency.

“While we acknowledge the call to pray as the clergy, we also want to see government intervention with regard to the security and competence of these road users as well as the safety of the passengers that they carry. Otherwise, we are ready to join government divinely as for sure, spiritual problems need spiritual solutions,” he stated.