PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has said that he will not allow a developer who has acquired huge tracts of land covering three chiefdoms in Lufwanyama district on the Copperbelt to displace local people.

The President said that he was shocked to learn that the land, which could be bigger than Lusaka, has been given to one developer who is now threatening to evict people in Lufwanyama.

President Lungu has described the development as a big scandal which Government has to deal with to protect the people from eviction.

The head of State said this when he met Lamba chiefs from the Copperbelt at State House yesterday.

This is according to the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) news monitored in Lusaka last night.

President Lungu has assured the people of Lufwanyama that Government will support them and ensure that they are not evicted.

Meanwhile . President Lungu has assured chiefs countrywide that the proposed national land policy will not come into effect unless it upholds their aspirations.

Mr Lungu said the proposed land policy, which he only came to know about on Wednesday and is not yet before Cabinet, could not be approved without a thorough consultative process.

The proposed land policy will limit the powers of chiefs on customary land allocation with the major concern of the traditional leaders being increased cases of illegal land allocation.

“I saw this proposed national policy on land yesterday (Wednesday) but let me assure you that it is not yet in effect and has not even been brought to the attention of Cabinet.

“It is just a proposal by the ministry of Lands, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, but it must be interrogated and if we are not satisfied with its provisions, we will discard it,” he said.

The Head of State was speaking at State House in Lusaka yesterday when he met with 15 Lamba traditional leaders from the Copperbelt Province.

Justice Minister Ngosa Simbyakula, Chiefs and Traditional Affairs Minister Joseph Katema, their Copperbelt counterpart Mwenya Musenge and State House officials were present during the meeting.

Mr Lungu said he was aware that the Zambia Land Alliance was among civil society organisations championing the new policy on the premise that it had worked well in other countries on the continent.

He, however, said Zambia would not adopt any laws on the basis of comparison with other countries.

The President asked Dr Simbyakula to issue a statement on the matter after he noted that the amended Constitution would give chiefs a say on matters of land in their regions.

Dr Simbyakula reassured the traditional leaders that the Patriotic Front (PF) Government was a listening administration which would ensure that every implemented policy upheld the interests of Zambians.

He was also happy that there were minimal cases of succession wrangles in the Lambaland, and urged the traditional leaders to continue upholding peace in their chiefdoms.

He said development projects would be rolled out to all the chiefdoms so that people could benefit regardless of their status.

“We have incorporated the Zambia National Service (ZNS) to open up roads and although all this cannot be done overnight due to resource constraints, it shall be achieved,” Mr Lungu said.

He directed Mr Musenge to ensure that the ZNS units in the province executed the works in good time for the areas to attract development.

Senior Chief Chiwala, who spoke on behalf of the traditional leaders, assured the Head of State of continued support towards the Government’s development agenda.

After the meeting, President Lungu had lunch with the chiefs.

Apart from Senior Chief Chiwala, other traditional leaders in attendance were senior chiefs Mushili and Ndubeni, who sent a representative, and chieftainesses Shimukunami and Malembeka.

Other chiefs were Nkambo, Kalunkumya, Lesa, Machiya, Mwinuna, Nkana, Lumpuma, Mukutuma, Shibuchinga and Fungulwe.

Energy and Water Development Minister Dora Siliya has today appointed a Zambian businessman Dillion Chipungu as the new Chairman for the Zesco board.

Ms. Siliya said in a statement today that Mr Chipungu brings business skill and private sector experience to the ZESCO board.

The Energy Minister asked Mr Chipungu to bring good governance to ZESCO.

She instructed the new board chairman to work closely with ZESCO management and other board members in addressing the current power crisis.

Ms. Siliya asked Mr Chipungu to ensure ZESCO positioned itself as a efficient service deliverer to the people shared timely information with the public regarding the crisis and also adhered to transparency in procurement processes.

Ms. Siliya who appointed the new ZESCO board just a week ago wished Mr Chipungu the best in his appointment.

Zesco has not had no board for over a year and the new board was appointed a week ago after cabinet ratified the names submitted by Ms Siliya.

Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) Copperbelt Women’s Chairlady Edith Mataka has revealed that Lunte Constituency Member of Parliament, Hon. Felix Mutati has continued organizing people to destabilise the MMD because of his ambitions to unseat current President Dr Nevers Sekwila Mumba. Commenting on yesterday’s press briefing in Kitwe held by another impostor called Suzyo Ngulube who was purporting to be the MMD Copperbelt Youth Chairman, Ms Mataka said Mr Mutati is a spineless “muselela kwakaba” who was wasting his time because the MMD structures are solidly behind Dr Mumba.

She said the real Copperbelt youth chairman is Chiko Chibale and that MMD has been aware for some time that Mr Mutati is being secretly funded by the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) to attempt to overthrow Dr. Mumba’s presidency using people who are not MMD office bearers. She said Mr Mutati plans to then negotiate to be President Edgar Lungu’s Running Mate under the 50%+1 electoral system.

There was commotion yesterday at Kitwe’s Hotel Edinburgh when a group of MMD die-hard youths stopped another stage-managed press briefing organised by Mr Mutati through his cadres Mr. Thabo Kawana and Mr Ngulube. The impostors later held the briefing from the premises of Olympic Milling company, who are believed to be involved in Mr Mutati’s clandestine political dealings.

The MMD youths got a tip-off about the planned briefing from journalists and workers from the hotel who decided to leak the information to MMD party officials in the Copperbelt. There has been a series of stage-managed statements in the media calling for an MMD party convention next year where Mr. Mutati is believed to be planning to overthrow Dr. Mumba’s presidency.

Ms Mataka said the MMD already knew about the press briefing from last week and that Kitwe District Commissioner Chanda Kabwe was also involved in the scheme. She said the Police were instructed to not act to stop the illegal press briefing even when they were told about it. The Kitwe Police were dragging their feet when they were told about the fake press briefing and kept insisting that the two MMD “factions” should sit and resolve their differences when in fact, there is only one true MMD group with the others being impostors.

Ms Mataka said that it was disappointing that the Edinburgh Hotel did not even bother to verify whether the impostors were bona-fide MMD members and they risked being cited as an accomplice when the MMD takes legal action against Mr Ngulube and his henchmen. He said she told off the Hotel management for their sloppiness.

“In recent weeks, Mr Mutati through his stooges has been speaking from both sides of his mouth. Sometimes he says we are united and that the MMD only has one president while in other cases, he says he would be happy to stand as MMD president if given a chance. He has continued pretending to the MMD that he is supporting Dr Mumba when the truth is that he is not. He is a snake. We know all his moves in advance. Mr Mutati has a history of inconsistencies, U-Turns and denials than for standing up for what he believes in,” said Ms Mataka.

“All these people calling for a convention next year are just paid stooges for Mr. Mutati. They are all stranded and finished former members of the party, most of whom were last in the party during the Levy Mwanawasa regime and had resigned or defected to other parties. This already proves that the party is behind Dr Mumba. No genuine party official is doing what these fake people are doing,” said Ms Mataka.

The disgruntled Mr. Mutati has never gotten over his defeat by Dr Mumba at the 2012 MMD Convention where he only managed 30% of the vote against Dr Mumba’s 70%. Mr Mutati was hoping to land the UPND Vice-Presidency but got snubbed by the UPND President Hakainde Hichilema due to his inconsistencies and political cowardice. Mr Geoffrey B Mwamba was appointed to be UPND Vice-President instead, even though Mr Mutati tirelessly campaigned for Mr Hichilema during the January 2015 election campaign and abandoned his own party the MMD.

Some western diplomats today met MMD President Dr Nevers Mumba and some MMD officials to discuss an incident in which he was teargassed by police in Eastern Province.

The meeting held at Dr Mumba’s residence in Kabulonga in Lusaka was attended by U.S. Chargé d’Affaires to Zambia David Young who was joined by German Ambassador Bernd Finke and Bruce Lawson-McDowall of UKAID.

They envoys wanted to discuss freedom of assembly and the recent disruption of an MMD party meeting in Lundazi, Eastern Province.

The diplomats wanted to get details of the incident in Eastern Province as a way of establishing the facts surrounding the incident.

They also raised concern over the rising levels of political violence in Zambia.

Dr Mumba has indicated that he may seek legal redress over the incident.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police Kakoma Kanganja has urged police officers to apply the Public Order Act fairly but firmly to all regardless of their party affiliations.

The Police chief has directed all provincial police commissioners to engage politicians and civil society organizations to explain the provisions of the Public Order Act.

Mr Kanganja said he was directed by President Edgar Lungu to ensure that the Public Order Act was applied fairly but firmly.
Mr Kanganja said this yesterday at the Police headquarters in Lusaka when he addressed officers.

“The Zambia Police has scaled up preparations for policing the forthcoming general elections in 2016,” he said.

Mr Kanganja said the command had noted the numerous concerns raised by the general public about the partisan position taken by some officers during their discharge of their duties.

“To this effect, all officers have been warned to desist from such behaviour and I wish to assure the Government that any officers found wanting will be shown the exit door,” he said.

He reminded police officers that discipline was the cornerstone of the police service and they must ensure that they adhered to the Police code of conduct at all times.

“Complaints of officers being seen to compromise with cadres involved in breaching the law have sometimes taken centre stage in the press. This is a matter of concern to us which is seriously being addressed because it has the potential to ruin the legitimacy and integrity of the police,” Mr Kanganja said.

He directed police officers to be professional and ethical in their performance.

Speaking at the same occasion, Home Affairs Minister Davies Mwila called for professionalism among police officers ahead of the 2016 general elections.

“Complaints of officers being seen to compromise with cadres involved in breaching the law have sometimes taken centre stage in the press. This is a matter of concern to us which is seriously being addressed because it has the potential to ruin the legitimacy and integrity of the police,” Mr Kanganja said.

He said if police officers choose to be selective when carrying out their duties then electoral violence would continue.

Mr Mwila said no police officer should receive directives from any politician in the line of duty, adding that Government had allowed the police to operate independently.

But Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) president George Chisanga feels there is need for an urgent consultative meeting of stakeholders and the Police to discuss the way forward on the implementation of the Public Order Act.

Mr Chisanga bemoaned the continuous political violence in the country.

He said an immediate consultative meeting was the way the country could reduce incidents of political violence.

“I think the political violence in the country is getting a little bit serious and it calls for urgent action, because if this is not addressed as soon as possible, we will not be able to enjoy the peace that we have enjoyed as a nation over the years,” Mr Chisanga said.

He reiterated the need to review the Public Order Act as soon as possible, saying that it would bring order and sanity in the country.

After the release of her latest single , Chimubabe , Salma Sky has started a social media awareness campaign to encourage young girls to say No to Chimubabe (Sugar Daddies).

Join The #SalmaSkySelfie movement With Your Placard To Create Awareness And Help Young Girls Say NO To #Chimubabe (Sugar Daddies). In Your Post Please Use The Hashtags, Share The Video Link http://salmasky.com/chimubabe-official-music-video/ . Share your picture on social media platforms such as facebook ,instagram, twitter . And Nominate 10 People To Put More Faces Of Support To The Cause And It’s Voice. 
I Nominate YOU!
#Nakana #Chimubabe”

Here are some of the women who have participated ;

 

 

 

BY KAPA187