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FDD President Edith Nawakwi
Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) President Edith Nawakwi has demanded an apology from President Edgar Lungu over the violent attack by suspected PF cadres on a meeting she was addressing at Mtendere Mosque this afternoon.
Suspected Patriotic Front cadres have attacked Mtendere Mosque in Lusaka where Forum for Democracy and Development President Edith Nawakwi is holding a meeting with Muslim women.
The stone throwing cadres demanded that the FDD leader leave the Mosque. The vehicle belonging to Islamic Council of Zambia President Suzyo Zimba was damaged in the process after stones landed on it.
QFM’s Albert Mpezeni reported from the scene that the cadres who were chanting anti Nawakwi slogans besieged the Mosque after word went round that the FDD leader was in the area meeting Muslim women.
Speaking to journalists shortly after holding a meeting with Muslim Women in Mtendere, Ms Nawakwi said that the levels of violent attacks more especially on opposition leaders in the country are unacceptable.
Ms Nawakwi said that since formation as political party, the only language the PF know and understand is violence.
Ms Nawakwi said that President Lungu must apologize to the Muslim Community for the nasty behavior by the PF cadres who attacked women at Mtendere Mosque in the process damaging a car belonging to Islamic Supreme Council of Zambia President Suzyo Zimba.
The FDD Leader said that it is a shame that the PF and their cadres do not respect places of worship and decided to attack innocent and harmless Muslim women.
She stated that Zambia is a peaceful nation and should not be turned into a war zone.
Ms Nawakwi has since vowed that she will not be stopped or prevented by the PF from listening to the challenges the people are going through either by using cadres or the Police.
And the FDD Leader has advised Zambians not to allow politics and religion divide them.
Speaking in a separate interview with Journalists, Islamic Supreme Council of Zambia President Suzyo Zimba who had his vehicle damaged called for a stop to the trend of unleashing cadres on innocent citizens by political party leaders especially as country prepares for elections.
Mr. Zimba has also urged cadres to refuse to take up such risk assignments because when they are caught they suffer the consequences alone.
For decades Zambia has enjoyed a reputation as one of southern Africa’s most stable nations.
But now the leading opposition candidate in next month’s presidential election has delivered a stark warning about the danger posed by growing political repression.
There is a real risk, says Hakainde Hichilema, that the government’s tough line will lead to violence of the kind that has engulfed other countries in the region, including nearby Burundi.
Mr Hichilema, 53, a wealthy businessman who heads the opposition United Party for National Development, says he has been arrested for political reasons on 14 occasions since 2011.
“The world thinks of Zambia as a peaceful country. But the writing’s on the wall,” he told The Independent.
“Freedom of assembly, freedom of association, freedom of speech, are taken away.”
Outsiders have failed to spot what is really happening, he said.
“The world is saying Zambia is doing okay because the Democratic Republic of Congo is worse, because Burundi is worse,” he said.
“Until there is sufficient blood – that’s when you pay attention.”
Democracy must be respected, he added, to avoid scenarios like that in Burundi, where violence has broken out after the president extended his stay in power by winning a third term in office, contrary to the constitution.
That election was condemned by Western observers for harassment of the opposition.
Last month, the United Nations expressed concern over political violence in Zambia, after members of the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) party reportedly attacked Mr Hichilema during a rally in the Copperbelt region.
“Zambia is peaceful. At what price? How long will it remain this way?” Mr Hichilema added.
“If thugs roam with guns and attack opposition members, one day the opposition members will protect themselves. The issue is how much violence does the world want to see before it acts?”
Mr Hichilema – widely known as HH – has stood for, and lost, the presidency four times in Zambia, a country of 16 million with widespread poverty and one of the world’s lowest life expectancy rates.
The country has seen regular elections since the end of its single-party socialism in 1991.
In January this year, Mr Hichilema was beaten by PF leader Edgar Lungu in an interim election after the death of the previous president.
With just 1.66 percent difference in the votes cast between the two candidates, Mr Hichilema has suggested the vote may have been rigged.
Supporters of his own UPND party faced widespread violence throughout the campaign, he said.
He hopes votes will swing back in his direction in next month’s election.
He believes the electorate is fed up with economic mismanagement which he says has contributed to surging inflation rates.
“Prices change while you are in the queue,” he said.
“The price of bread has doubled in the last 10 months.”
Zambia, which became independent in 1964, has been considered a success story for the past 10 years.
It became Africa’s biggest copper producer following the privatisation of the industry in the late 1990s, drawing in vast investment from China.
But amid falling copper prices and China’s own economic slowdown, the World Bank last month said Zambia faces its toughest economic challenge in a decade.
“The voter now will tell you that they want somebody different, somebody who will fix the economy,” said Mr Hichilema.
“I think at some point people cut through lies and false hopes.”
Mr Hichilema believes he can be that somebody.
Born to a rural family, he didn’t set foot in a city until he attended the University of Zambia in the capital of Lusaka in the 1980s.
After he graduated, he had his first taste of business success, buying a plot of land in a nearby shanty town on which to build a property.
“My classmates were laughing at me, they were saying ‘How can you buy a house in the [shanty] compound?’“ he said.
“My response was, ‘But you have no house. I have something at least’.”
He later sold the plot, half-finished, at a profit of 200 percent.
“Simple as that. Crude, basic. That was the beginning of my property portfolio.”
He went on to study at the University of Birmingham, and has served as CEO of both Coopers and Lybrand and Grant Thornton in Zambia.
He wants to cut the red tape that he says stifles growth in Zambia, attract investment into industries other than copper and drastically cut government spending.
He is also keen to cut the number of cabinet ministers.
Despite being a perennial presidential candidate, Mr Hichilema rejects career politics and wants an end to the era of populist politics.
“What is charisma if it doesn’t create job opportunities? What is charisma if the cost of food is beyond the majority of people? We want to bring business ethics, values, and principles into public office,” he said.
Heritage Party Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda
Heritage Party president Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda has asked President Edgar Lungu not to immediately assent to the Constitution Amendment Bill as there are still contentious issues such as political party funding.
And Gen Miyanda has described the 1,000 presidential supporters clause as an artificial road block.
“What does it prove if you have 1000 supporters when filing your candidature? Does this guarantee that those 1000 will vote for you? What will stop those with money to buy supporters the same way they buy votes? Why complicate our hard won democracy? Does it mean that promoters of 50 percent plus one vote have no confidence in their scheme? Just leave it to voters to decide instead of creating artificial road blocks,” he said.
Gen Miyanda said there was no justification for taxpayers to be funding clubs called “political parties”.
He said this in an open petition to the Republican President titled “At least ten reasons why President Edgar Lungu must read with open eyes before signing and assenting to the Constitution Bills”.
Gen Miyanda also said the Constitution was ambiguous on the declaration of Dual Citizenship.
He urged the Head of State clearly state his position on source of campaign funds for political parties, adding that it was a loophole where those with money, especially foreign interest groups, launder money to control which party won elections.
Gen Miyanda also said combining the referendum with the 2016 elections was another questionable scheme which must not be carried out.
He said the President also needed to clear a address the issue regarding media freedoms before he could assent to the Constitution.
Gen Miyanda said the process required careful examination and even consultation before assenting.
“Why must taxpayers pay for private clubs called ‘political parties’? There is no justification. Since you have emphasised the need to reduce costs, is this not a contradiction? Please explain because your minister did not raise this in his Second Reading statement and many such contradictions,” he said.
File:SACCORD Executive director Boniface Chembe captured in the audience during the presidential debate
The Southern African Center for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) has distanced itself from the Grand Coalition resolution to de-campaign the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) and the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) ahead of the 2016 elections for not subjecting the entire draft constitution to a referendum.
SACCORD Executive Director Boniface Cheembe said that much as his organization remains a member of the Grand Coalition on the Campaign for the People Driven Constitution, it does not share the idea of engaging in partisan politics.
Mr. Cheembe explained that SACCORD as a civil society organization was not formed to participate in partisan politics.
Mr. Cheembe told QFM News in a telephone interview that SACCORD wanted and still wants Zambia’s new constitution to be adopted through a referendum and not through Parliament.
Mr. Cheembe said that it was therefore the hope of his organization that President Edgar Lungu holds back the signing of the constitution Bills passed by Parliament to pave way for their adoption through a referendum.
Mr. Cheembe noted that if this does not however happen, SACCORD will continue to advocate that government sees the necessity for the Country to adopt the constitution through a referendum.
FILE: UPND president Hakainde Hichilema following proceedings during the meeting to demand for the release of the draft Zambia constitution.
United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema has revealed that his party would put in place three parallel voter tabulation (PVT) systems in order to secure the votes in the Presidential elections to be held next year.
Speaking during the meet-the-UPND party president fundraising dinner in Solwezi, Mr Hichilema told party members that there was need to be aggressive in next year’s general elections if landslide victory was to be assured.
“Voter malpractice in Zambia is real, therefore we have to guard our votes at all costs and in order to do this as a party we will put in place three PVT systems, the first one will be known by all party members, the second one by a few individuals and the last one will only be known by myself,” he explained.
The UPND leader said that 2016 elections will not be easy and told party members that there was there is still time for people to obtain national registration cards and register as voters.
“We have a big task ahead of us, a very big assignment which awaits us in 2016 and it calls for every well-meaning party member to get involved and ensure that we deliver a sound victory,” Mr. Hichilema has said.
He said Zambia was going through many challenges due to the mismanagement of national affairs by the current leadership, adding that Zambians should not allow the PF to win next year’s elections.
“We have to take this seriously; next year is not a year to joke with. We all need to put our efforts together and ensure that we remove the PF from power. And this can only be done when we all get involved,” Mr Hichilema said.
He said despite the political landscape in the country changing, party members should be vigilant ahead of next year’s elections.
Mr Hichilema also took a swipe at party members aspiring as parliamentarians and civic leaders.
He said the party has been betrayed in the past by a few individuals who were adopted on a pretext that they were loyal and committed members.
“There are three things that we will be looking at, at whoever wants to be adopted. Firstly, a candidate should be resourceful, secondly the quality of a candidate and lastly their loyalty to the party; if we suspect that you are going to betray us the way Dawson Kafwaya (North-Western Province Minister and UPND Solwezi Central member of Parliament) did we will not adopt you,’’ he said.
A HOUSEWIFE of Lusaka has told the Matero Local Court that her husband has been denying her conjugal rights, saying he is no longer finds her attractive.
Isabel Kumwenda, 23, of Matero Township complained before senior court magistrates Pauline Newa and Lewis Mumba that her husband Wilson Kumwenda has not been intimate with her for the past 11 months because she is no longer sexually attractive.
Isabel was narrating in a case in which she sued Kumwenda, 35, for marriage reconciliation.
She got married to Kumwenda in 2012 and the two have one child. Bride price was not paid.
“Problems started when I fell pregnant. He started abusing me. He sometimes called me a prostitute in the presence of her sisters.
“There are times I tried to seduce him when we are together in the bedroom by applying lotion in his presence but he simply tells me that I stink. He says he can only consider having sexual relations with me after I stop breast feeding our baby,” she said.
Isabel told the court that Kumwenda once went home with lipstick marks on his white shirt.
“He got angry when I asked him and told me that he no longer has appetite for me. He even bragged that he usually goes to see other women before coming home who know how to sexually satisfy men without limitations,” she said.
She said Kumwenda currently sleeps in his car to avoid sharing a room with her. Isabel said when she complains about being sexually starved, Kumwenda gives her examples of catholic priest who manage to stay celibate for the rest of their lives.
But in his submission, Kumwenda told the court that he cannot manage to meet his wife’s excessive sexual appetite. He said he will only move back into their matrimonial bedroom when his wife stops demanding for sex and begins to understand his challenges as a man.
“Yes, I decided to deny her conjugal rights sexually for 11 month because I don’t find breast feeding women sexually appetising. I have even told her that we will start having sex when she stops breastfeeding,” Kumwenda said.
The court reconciled the couple and ordered Kumwenda to stop denying his wife her conjugal rights.
File: Charles Kakoma (c) with then Vice president Dr Guy Scott and Provincial minister Josephine Limata at Likumbi lya Mize traditional ceremony of the Luvale people of Zambezi
The opposition UPND has said that it’s premature to begin talking about who will be the running mate for party leader Hakainde Hichilema of the two vice presidents Geoffrey Mwamba and Canicius Banda, considering that the 2016 general election is still far.
UPND Spokesperson Charles Kakoma told QFM News that the party is not under pressure to pick a running mate between the two vice presidents.
Mr Kakoma stated that the decision to pick a running mate will not squarely rest with Mr. Hichilema alone.
Mr. Kakoma said that the decision to select a running mate from the two vice presidents will be made through wide consultations with the entire party.
Mr Kakoma added that the UPND is also cognizant that President Edgar Lungu has not yet signed the constitution bill passed by Parliament into law.
Mr. Kakoma said that his party is currently focused on mobilization ahead of the next year’s general election.
I’m so excited for Christmas; I’m literally counting down the days, hours and minutes until that joyous morning, when everyone will wake up with happiness and cheer and shout “Merry Christmas” at the top of their lungs. Running down the stairs excited to see what Santa has brought them…but is that what Christmas is really about? Is it not about family, friends, love, happiness, togetherness, good health, faith and blessings and of course good food?
I sat at my desk trying to relate my Christmas to a traditional Zambian Christmas and I realised that I can’t. In all my years I never saw how different Zambian culture is to Western culture, having grown up with a “unique” blend of both, I didn’t quite notice that I had lost touch with Zambian culture (to a certain extent); and it was only at a time like this – Christmas, that it became so obvious. My last Christmas in Zambia was when I was 5 years old, so I have no idea what we ate and I was probably more focused on the presents than the food. So there I was ready to write about; a lovely roasted Turkey and stuffing, minted Lamb joint, with roasted potatoes, gravy, Mac ‘n’ cheese and cranberry sauce topped off with a glass of vino or bubbly; when it hit me….”Do Zambians in Zambia, actually eat this for Christmas…how will they relate or even try this if they don’t eat it?” So I panicked, torn between whether to inspire you with my version of Christmas, or yours. Then I conducted a Google search, which really wasn’t helpful. So I finally collected some market research asking my Zambian acquaintances and relatives – “What do Zambians actually eat for Christmas?” The general consensus was that the average Zambian Christmas meal consists of; chicken, rice, salad, and is very similar to the type of food you might find at a party, though each household varies slightly.
So today’s Christmas meal isA Whole roasted chicken with a classic potato salad
Preparation and cooking time: 2 hours
Serves: 4-8 people
Ingredients
For the Chicken
1 whole chicken
1 whole bulb (head) of garlic, which contains about 6-12 cloves of garlic
2 large onions, largely sliced
Salt, preferably sea salt
Ground black pepper
2 tbsps Paprika
2 tsp Thyme (optional)
2 large carrots
Olive oil, vegetable oil, or sunflower oil
For the potato salad
5 large potatoes – peeled, chopped and boiled
3 eggs – boiled
¼ cup of mayonnaise
Black pepper
Salt
1 tsp Paprika
½ an onion, chopped
Method
First cook your chicken. Preheat your oven to 240°C. Leave the carrots unpeeled– just wash them and roughly chop them. Peel your onion and break the garlic bulb into cloves and peel them.
Put the carrots, onions and garlic into the middle of a large roasting tray and drizzle with oil; drizzle the chicken with oil and season well with salt, pepper, paprika and thyme; rubbing it all over the chicken. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables on the roasting tray and put it into the preheated oven. Turn the heat down to 200°Cand cook the chicken for about 1 hour 20 minutes. If you’re doing roast potatoes and veggies, prepare them and get them into the oven for the last 45 minutes of cooking.
Halfway through cooking, use a tablespoon to pour the fat and juices from the chicken over the chicken and veggies, add a splash of water to the tray to stop them burning. When cooked, take the tray out of the oven and transfer the chicken to a serving dish, make your gravy from the chicken juices.
Whilst the chicken is cooking, prepare your potato salad. Boil a large pot of salted water. Peel and chop your potatoes then add them and cook for about 15 minutes, until tender but still firm. Drain and cool them. Place the eggs in a saucepan and cover them with cold water. Boil them for about 10 – 12 minutes. Remove them from the heat, drain the hot water and cool, peel and chop them. In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, eggs, onion, salt, pepper, paprika and mayonnaise. Mix together well and refrigerate until chilled
Serving
Carve your chicken by removing any string from it; carefully cut through the joints and pulling the wings and legs off. Cut according to the number of portions needed.
For your potato salad, you can actually add more veggies; try adding some peas, carrots and even tomato for extra colour and flavour.
Serve your chicken with your delicious potato salad, and of course this goes perfectly with roasted potatoes and rice.
To have it with nshima simply forgo the carrots but roast the chicken as instructed.
Kanta Temba is a cake maker and decorator. She is also the owner and founder of Kanta Kakes – cake shop.
You can find her work onwww.kantakakes.com. Follow her on twitter @KantaKakes and Instagram @KantaTemba.
Vendors sale second hand clothes in the Central Business District of Lusaka.
MINISTER of Local Government and Housing Stephen Kampyongo says Government is in the process of relocating street vendors in Lusaka, Copperbelt and Livingstone to new trading places.
Mr Kampyongo said on Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) Sunday Interview that this is in a bid to decongest the streets in the central business districts.
“Once we are done with relocating street vendors in Lusaka, a similar process will be done on the Copperbelt and Livingstone, where street vending is still a challenge,” Mr Kampyongo said.
He said a piece of land has been allocated for street vendors along Lumumba Road in the central business district in Lusaka, but might not cater for all the vendors.
Mr Kampyongo said the land has already been cleared and construction of the ablution block is under way.
“Once the construction of the ablution block is completed, we will start moving them in phases. We are also still negotiating for other two locations where we can take those who will remain,” Mr Kapyongo said.
He said the street vendors through their association are being engaged on a regular basis and a register has been put in place to establish their numbers.
And the minister has appealed to Zambians to join in the fight against illegal land allocation by reporting all those suspected to be constructing on land illegally.
Mr Kampyongo said there will be no “sacred cows” in dealing with people involved in illegal land allocation.
He urged councillors not to get involved in illegal allocation of land because it is eroding public confidence in councils.
“Let people have confidence in the councils by doing the right thing. It will never be justifiable that because there is too much demand for land, then people can build anywhere,” he said.
Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda at Inyambo Community Development Trust where he gave them a loan of K3, 3 million to boost fish production
PRESIDENT Lungu has appointed Minister of Finance Alexander Chikwanda as chairperson of the public private partnership council (PPPC) and tasked him to ensure all outstanding projects are implemented.
The appointment is in line with the PPP Act number 14 of 2009, which designates the Minister of Finance as chairperson of the council.
In a statement released yesterday by the President’s special assistant for press and public relations, Amos Chanda, Mr Lungu directed Mr Chikwanda to ensure that the PPPC is operational.
Mr Chikwanda will be deputised by the Minister of Works and Supply, Yamfwa Mukanga.
Other members of the council are Margaret Mwanakatwe, Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Dora Siliya, Minister of Energy and Water Development and Steven Kampyongo, Minister of Local Government and Housing.
Others sitting on the council are Samuel Mukupa, chairperson of the Road Development Agency, Moses Zama, former Energy Regulation Board chief executive officer and an energy expert, Fungai Musana, quality surveyor and investment advisor and Salvatore Hara, a structural engineer.
The President expects the council to work expeditiously to implement all outstanding PPP projects and not to work on new ones as part of government strategy to reduce expenditure on infrastructure development whilst strengthening private sector participation.
“It is not right that well-meaning policies of PPP could be on statute books for years without any tangible project seeing the light of day,” President Lungu said.
During the official opening of the 5th session of the National Assembly, President Lungu directed that an autonomous body be created to professionally deal with PPP matters and that State House, in liaison with Cabinet Office and relevant stakeholders, must spearhead the formation of this body, which will eventually be taken to Cabinet Office.
Father Bwalya on Chilubi Island Trip
THE Patriotic Front (PF) will not start any premature campaigns ahead of the 2016 general elections because Parliament has not been dissolved.
Information and publicity committee chairperson Frank Bwalya said his party is law-abiding and will not abrogate the laws of the country.
“We are a law-abiding political party and as such, we will wait for the dissolution of the Parliament and we will also wait for the Electoral Commission of Zambia to announce the date for the campaigns to start,” he said.
Father Bwalya said his party has been holding party mobilisation meetings, but these have been misconstrued to be campaigns.
He said some political parties that do not have structures on the ground have been accusing the PF of starting campaigns before the election date is announced.
Fr Bwalya said campaigns for the PF are being done by the several development projects which the country is experiencing at the moment.
He also said lack of structures on the ground has been forcing some opposition parties to hold rallies which contravene the Public Order Act.
Fr Bwalya urged other parties to consider mobilising their party membership, unlike holding rallies without informing police.
He said the PF has been doing a lot of visitations in the field, a gesture which has earned the party a good reputation across the country.
Fr Bwalya said the holding of rallies without informing police will not help the opposition win the 2016 elections, but will only tarnish their image.
Government has reconstituted the board for the National Savings and Credit Bank (NATSAVE).
Ministry of Finance Spokesman Chileshe Kandeta said this is in accordance with the directive of Cabinet at its 25th special meeting held on 26th November, 2015.
Mr Kandeta said taking into consideration gender parity, qualifications, competencies and track records, the following persons have been appointed as new board members for NATSAVE:
1. Dr. Chiselebwe Ngandu – Chairperson
2. His Royal Highness Chief Mumena – Member
3. Ms. Judith Mwananshiku – Member
4. Mr. Frederick Siame – Member
5. Ms. Tiziana Marietta – Member
6. Mr. Cosmas Mambo – Member
7. Mrs. Chobela Mutantika – Member
8. Mr. Vincent Mwanza – Member
Commenting on the appointments made by the Minister of Finance Alexander Chikwanda, Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba assured that, “effective policy oversight in the operations of NATSAVE will now be ascertained and that the board must ensure that the governance systems at the bank are strengthened.”
Mr. Yamba also affirmed that the government would continue to invest in the bank as an avenue for reaching the unbanked areas of the nation.
Chief Government Spokesperson Chishimba Kambwili
Information and Broadcasting Services Minister Chishimba Kambwili says public media institutions are objective in their reporting.
And with reference to ZNBC, Mr. Kambwili said unlike other media that are always reporting against government, ZNBC strives to cover all political parties.
Mr Kambwili, who is also Chief Government Spokesperson wonders why the Media Liason Committee is only talking against the public media when there are private papers that were biased towards some opposition political parties.
Mr. Kambwili says the duty of the public media is to serve the masses and ZNBC has been striving to do this.
Meanwhile, the Zambia Editors’ Network has expressed concern over the threats by the Media Liaison Committee to take the public media to court for allegedly not serving the interests of the public.
Zambia Editors’ Network Treasurer Kent Chanda says it is unfortunate that the Committee seems not to appreciate the independence of the public media organizations.
Mr. Chanda wonders why the committee is attacking the public media when it should be in the forefront of protecting the Freedom of all media institutions in the country.
He adds that if the committee takes the public or any other media institution to court in an unfair manner, his network will join the process to protect such media organization.
This according to a statement issued to ZNBC news on Monday.
And Patriotic Front-PF-Deputy Secretary General Mumbi Phiri has castigated MISA Zambia for linking PF cadres to the beating of a journalist in Chipata, without verifying the reports with investigative wings.
Mrs. Phiri says she expects MISA-Zambia to be objective when dealing with sensitive matters.
She says MISA -Zambia should not show bias only when matters involve the Post Newspapers.
Mrs. Phiri has since challenged MISA-Zambia to take the matter to court if it has evidence against any PF Cadre linked to violence.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Phiri has advised MMD leader Nevers Mumba to follow the law whenever, he wants to hold a public meeting.
She says the Public Order Act is clear as it does not segregate.
Her comments come in the wake of Police action to disperse Dr Mumba’s meeting in Lundazi because the MMD leader had not notified the police over his meeting.
Dope G presents “My Hair” Produced by Zero Db’s Shom-C. This is the first
single from a yet to be titled project that will be released in 2016. My Hair is for those that have been judged by the outer appearance, knowing
that not only Hair but nothing on the outside defines you.
Music Video Directed by Tommy Banda For MT Productionz Zambia
