Mrs Phiri said the practice stems from members and the leadership of the ruling party and it is aimed at helping sustain peace and unity in the country.

She said this is demonstrated and re-affirmed by President Lungu’s bold pronouncement to re-dedicate Zambia as a Christian nation and the declaration of October 18 this year as a national day of prayer and fasting.
In a reflection of the fourth anniversary of the PF in office, Mrs Phiri said the ruling party has rejected the use of tribe to bar participation of its members in intra-party democracy.

“The right to aspire for leadership in the party transcends tribe as we demonstrated following the death of our founding President Mr Sata. This crucial feature is as rare as a dog’s horn in some known political parties seeking power.

“PF continues to make a consistent case on why we must change the way we do politics as a nation. PF believes that we must co-exist for a better Zambia, and our PF political leadership has continued to espouse humility, dedication, helping the weak and providing selfless service to the nation,” she said.

And Mrs Phiri said the PF leadership has remained resilient to provide leadership and guidance to the nation, amidst strong criticism and verbal abuse from some sections of the media and their agents.

She said the PF has principally contended that true courage by competitors and adversaries alike is not in how much they insult and demean President Lungu.

“To the contrary, true courage is when they can provide solid policy alternatives to Government. The PF in Government is always ready to interact with such serious checks and balances,” Mrs Phiri said.

And Mrs Phiri has commended the PF leadership and membership as the ruling party has remained strong and attractive.

She said this is validated by the party winning seven parliamentary by-elections since January 20, 2015 when President Lungu was elected into office.

“They are still working hard to consolidate PF’s gains in this democracy. We thank each one of you for keeping the PF dream alive. I want you to know that your leadership will do more to celebrate you because without you, there is no PF,” Mrs Phiri said.

PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has said global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has had minimal effect in reducing poverty levels, improving people’s livelihood and facilitating access to economic and social opportunities in many countries.

Mr Lungu said this here during the United Nations (UN) Summit on the adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda held under the theme ‘Operationalisation of the 2030 Agenda for Africa’s Industrialisation’.

The President said although the African continent had recorded higher GDP growth rates and a significant increase in total trade, unemployment levels remained high, especially among the youth and young women.
Mr Lungu said Africa was a continent that had been characterised by poverty with almost half its population earning below US$1.25 per day.

Zambia is among 34 countries in Africa that are classified as Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

Mr Lungu said although Zambia was an LDC, it had also been classified as a lower middle-income country as the country had sustained a steady GDP and growth in trade over the last decade.

“Despite the strides that have been made in economic growth and expanded trade, the major share of its exports are raw materials. As a result, this growth has not been sufficient to significantly reduce poverty and unemployment levels in the country which remain high, especially among women and the youth,” he said.
Mr Lungu said that unemployment levels were also in part as a result of the economic growth being propelled mostly by exports of raw commodity products rather than value-added ones.

He said the weak manufacturing base in most LDCs did not allow for local value-addition and, as a result, jobs that should be in the country with the natural resource were being exported to countries that had the capacity to add value.

President Lungu said industrialisation was indispensable for countries to achieve sustained and sustainable economic growth that was also socially inclusive and environmentally sound.

“It is, therefore, an inevitable solution to bring about the much-needed structural economic transformation,” he said.

The President said that industrialisation-induced structural economic transformation would help countries to diversity their economies, raise productivity, create better jobs and increase their competitiveness in the global market.

Meanwhile, Mr Lungu said the spirit of South-South and triangular cooperation continued to soar.
This was evident in the fact that in the last few years, several developments had taken place in the countries of the South and the North.

Mr Lungu said this when he gave an intervention statement at the high-level roundtable meeting on South-South cooperation, at the ongoing 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York at the weekend.

He said the rising standards of living of the peoples of the South had created challenges and opportunities for enhancing development among the UN countries.

Mr Lungu said emerging economic powerhouses of the South would play a catalytic role in uplifting the economic fortunes of the regions.

“Further, South-South cooperation must result in increased foreign direct investments among countries of the South particularly among the least developed countries and land-locked developing countries which will result in value-addition, industrialisation, job creation as well as women and youth empowerment,” he said.

Mr Lungu said that Zambia, like the upper middle-income countries of the South, had witnessed a growing demand for better health services, especially with the growing middle-class population.

Acting President Inonge Wina has directed the police command to deal sternly with cadres who travel from outside areas into constituencies where elections are held.

In a statement released by Mrs Wina’s Senior Private Secretary Ambassador Sheila Siwela, the Acting President said the cadres who are mostly from major political parties are in the habit of fanning violence and disrupting peace.

Mrs Wina has further directed police in Kasama to ensure that no one is allowed to promote unruly behaviour pending court determination on the anticipated by election in Kasama Central.

And Acting President Inonge Wina has urged young people to take civic education seriously. Ms Wina said that the move will result in future population which will have the interest of the nation at heart.

She said this through Home Affairs Minister Davies Mwila at Parliament buildings when Civic Education pupils from Kalonga Secondary School from Kabwe visited the institution on a familiarisation tour.

And former Education Minister Dora Siliya has urged young people to take President Edgar Lungu’s call for smart thinking seriously.

Ms Siliya, who is also Petauke Member of Parliament, said that smart thinking among youths will help them make helpful decisions for personal and national development.

The FDD has advised Ministry of Finance public relations officer Chileshe Kandeta to stop playing politics with the country’s rating by Moody’s but that he should concentrate on giving the public and accurate information.

Commenting on a statement issued by Mr. Kandeta on the recent negative economic rating of Zambia by Moody’s, an international credit rating agency, FDD Spokesperson Antonio Mwanza called on Mr. Kandeta to stop deceiving the country that rating companies needed permission to assess the country’s economic outlook.

He noted that Moody’s was a reputable and internationally recognized rating agency which does rating on every economy in the world including the USA and their assessments are based on facts and professional analysis hence Mr. Kandeta as a professional himself should give accurate information to the public.

“It is totally wrong and unacceptable for Mr Chileshe Kandeta to be playing politics with the country’s credit rating by Moody’s. Mr. Kandeta should be giving the public accurate data no matter how bad the truth is. To try to rubbish Moody’s down grading of Zambia’s economic outlook from positive to negative and say that we should as a country ignore Moody’s assessment just because they were not consulted and not solicited for to comment is totally misplaced.

First and foremost Moody’s as a rating agency does not need permission from anybody to do an assessment of the economy. This is a renowned and internationally recognized rating agency who do ratings on every economy in the world including the the US, China and the rest of Europe. They are a reputable agency that every world economy looks up to because their ratings are based on facts and professional analysis and we expect professionals like Chileshe Kandeta to give the public accurate and unbiased information.

To try and rubbish Moody’s and justify it by using Standard & Poors Mr. Kandeta is actually shooting himself in the foot” continued Mr. Mwanza “when Moody’s does an upgrade of our country’s economic outlook Mr. Kandeta is the first to issue statements quoting Moody’s is but because the opposite has happened his position on the same agency has changed.”

Mr. Mwanza observed that the assessment by the rating agency was in tandem with the realities on the ground.

“What we want to say as FDD is that the assessment by Moody’s is in tedium with the current economic realities on the ground. In fact we don’t need any international rating agency to tell us that our economy has collapsed. The failure by many families to secure three meals a day, send children to school, the laying off of workers, the growing debt, the failure to pay farmers, lecturers, retirees and contractors is enough evidence that our economy is in trouble. The Bank of Zambia has been telling us that we are in trouble because we are spending more than we are earning, that Zambia has projected deficit of up to 20 Billion Kwacha. Our trade deficit is at its highest. The Government’s balance sheet is negative and it is increasingly difficult for this Government to pay its dues.

[pullquote]The Kwacha has plummeted in the last quarter, losing 41% of its value making it the worst performing currency in the world.[/pullquote]

The Kwacha has plummeted in the last quarter, losing 41% of its value making it the worst performing currency in the world. The cost of electricity, fuel have all gone up. Companies are cutting down on production by 40 to 60% due to the critical power shortages, mines are laying of workers, copper prices are down and the cost of doing business is at its highest since independence so its common knowledge that Zambia’s economy is crumbling even paying salaries for civil servants is becoming difficult that Government has to borrow money from somewhere and announce to the whole world that they have managed to find money to pay salaries to civil servants and Mr. Kandeta has the audacity to rubbish Moody’s,” he said.

Mr. Mwanza challenged Mr. Kandeta to tell the nation what his Ministry of Finance is doing about the plummeting Kwacha which has hit K11 against the Dollar and what economic fundamentals are being put in place to arrest the kwacha’s free fall.

Our President Edith Nawakwi warned that injecting 120 million US Dollars of kaloba to stabilize the Kwacha was worse than gambling at a casino in Las Vegas but they rubbished her advice and called her names.

“Our President Edith Nawakwi warned that injecting 120 million US Dollars of kaloba to stabilize the Kwacha was worse than gambling at a casino in Las Vegas but they rubbished her advice and called her names. She told them that before thinking of injecting money in the economy there was need address the economic fundamentals that have plunged us into this economic abyss but they didn’t listen. Now just as she predicted 33 days ago the Kwacha is at its lowest and will hit K15 to a Dollar before 2016. Our challenge to Mr. Kandeta is that he tells the nation what his ministry is doing to arrest the free fall of the Kwacha instead of playing politics over Moody’s.”

Meanwhile, the FDD has condemned the chartering of a private jet by Government to take Republican President Edgar Lungu to New York at the expense of poor Zambians and economic hardships in the country.

With all these economic challenges were we are failing to pay civil servants we have a President swimming in luxury at the expense the masses who are failing to have a single meal.

“As FDD we are actually surprised that amidist all these challenges we have a President hiring a private jet at a colossal sum of 300,000 US Dollars to go to New York. With all these economic challenges were we are failing to pay civil servants we have a President swimming in luxury at the expense the masses who are failing to have a single meal. The problem with Edgar Lungu and his PF Government is that they are not patriotic. Their philosophy is that this is their turn to eat. That is quite immoral to say the list,” Mr. Mwanza noted.

A Luanshya local court heard that a creditor kidnapped his debtor’s son to compel the man to pay for a second-hand fridge he had sold him on credit.
Eleston Musebo told senior local court magistrate Judith Mwape Bwalya that he was shocked that Mainga Hichiwa abducted his son over the K70 he owed him as balance for a fridge he sold him for K900.
This came to light in a matter where Mr Hichiwa sued Mr Musebo over the bad debt. The complainant was also demanding a payment of K230 as penalty fee because Mr Musebo had taken long to pay him.
Mr Musebo, in his testimony, said Mr Hichiwa picked the boy from his house and handed him over to the police in pursuit of his money. However, the police had advised Mr Hichiwa to take the matter to court and return the boy to his parents because he was innocent.
The accused said it was unfair for Mr Hichiwa to take his son hostage when he had paid him a significant amount towards the fridge.
The accused further claimed that he had been making efforts to clear his debt but Mr Hichiwa was nowhere to be seen for quite some time.
In his submission, Mr Hichiwa said Mr Musebo kept on avoiding him and referring him to his wife each time he approached him for payment. He said this is the reason why he abducted the boy and handed him to the police.
Mr Hichiwa complained that Mr Musebo had taken long to pay him, hence his decision to sue him. The court, however, observed that there was no written agreement to show that a transaction really took place between the two.
But in passing judgment, Ms Bwalya ordered Mr Musebo to pay Mr Hichiwa K230 by next month because the debt had taken too long.
“This is the end of the matter. You must pay him on October 16, next month,” she said.

(DailyMail)

The Young African Leaders Initiative has demanded that Secretary to the Cabinet explains the source of the funds used to charter the plane for President Edgar Lungu and his delegation to New York, USA for the UN General Assembly.

YALI Governance Advisor Isaac Mwanza has also called on Government to provide an accounting on how much the Presidential trip to New York for the UN General Assembly has cost the taxpayers’ money.

Mr Mwanza says this is considering that Zambia is failing to fully raise its own local revenue to meet the budget lines and is surviving on borrowed money.

He said YALI is saddened by reports that President Lungu chartered a private jet at a colossal sum of US$300, 000 to carry him, his party functionaries and Zambian musical artists when the people contributing to paying these taxes are failing to make ends meet.

Mr Mwanza has appealed to President Lungu to be conscious and reflect on the suffering of the Zambian people and avoid this lack of priorities especially that he had assured the nation that he was following late President Michael Sata’s footsteps.

SINGER Sylvie Chibiliti’s first official single Supposed to Love Me written by her and produced by D’Angelo Stephens aka Dlo88keys, the cousin of Grammy Award winner John Legend, is charting at number 15 on the R’n’B and soul charts on iTunes worldwide.
Sylvie’s management confirmed this in a short email to the Weekend Mail in Lusaka.
“I would like to inform you that Sylvie Chibiliti is officially the first Zambian artist to have a single top the iTunes charts worldwide. Her new single ‘Supposed to Love Me’ is currently #15 on the RnB & Soul charts and climbing.”
Sylvie, a former contestant on American Idol thanked her fans worldwide for the support.
“Thank you to all my wonderful fans for supporting me and making this song #15 on the iTunes charts worldwide,” the United States based singer posted on her Facebook page.
Sylvie has a story to tell about her own upbringing.

“For Sylvie Chibiliti, her story begins as a young Zambian girl living in Botswana. As a child, she lived with her mother, father and younger brother. At the age of 10, she suffered a great loss by losing her father,” her official biography reads.
“Nothing in the world could prepare her for what was to come. Exactly 10 months after losing her father, Sylvie’s mother also passed away. Torn by the tragedy, she and her brother were sent to America, to a children’s home which was originally founded as an orphanage.
“Being separated from her brother, Sylvie attempted to remain strong by letting music be her outlet to release her pain. After returning to her homeland, with small hope of becoming a singer, she was faced with discouragement and disappointment from those who loved her.”
At 17, she returned to the United States involuntarily with hopes of becoming a star. Shortly afterwards, she appeared on Simon Cowells’ American Idol Season II, gaining a place in the top 32.
“Now working on an album for the first time, she continues to come up with new material. Her music is inspired by life and the people she has met, as well as the feelings she bears.
“With all of her tribulations, many would come to reason that this would hinder her spirits, weaken her dreams, but on the contrary. She has not always had the support many in this profession do, but she has the natural drive and ability to succeed above the odds that have worked against her.”

(DailyMail)