FDD President Edith Nawakwi says she has been moved by the alarming poverty levels in Luapula Province.Ms Nawakwi said that she gets annoyed when she sees such high levels of poverty while Government is misusing resources on what she termed rubbish things.

Speaking in Bangweulu Constituency where she is on a campaign trail for the party candidate Robby Mwansa in the forth coming by-election, Ms. Nawakwi said the PF have been telling people that they are developing the country when in fact the opposite is happening on the ground.

“I get so annoyed when I move around in rural areas and see this appalling poverty levels in the country especially in rural areas while Government officials continue to misuse state resources by buying rubbish oil and other useless things.We are here in Bangweulu Constituency and this Government decides to start grading roads which you don’t even need at the moment because what I see here is that you definitely don’t need roads but what you need is food, what you need is clinics because you can’t call what you are using a clinic. I am from checking your school and the teachers don’t even have accommodation.You built those small houses for teachers but the teachers in the area are not even getting help from Government because they have been fooled. These are the important things your Government should be bringing instead bribing voters.In any case by grading these roads while you are hungry they are telling that they don’t know what your challenges are.”

Ms. Nawakwi who camped at headman Kapaka’s village wondered how the people are surviving because there is no sign of any economic activities in the area.

“I wonder how you are surviving in this area because there is no sign of any economic activity anywhere. Everywhere I have visited the story is the same, you cannot even see a chicken in villages, no goats nothing! I spent a night at headman Kapaka’s village and I met a woman who has a tooth ache which has turned septic because she doesn’t have money to go to Samfya General Hospital where she has been told to go.”

And the opposition leader also bemoaned the high number of teenage mothers in the district saying it is not healthy for children to be having babies.

“I was at Kaishe where I took a ten day old baby to the under five clinic for the first time because the mother is too young to understand anything about motherhood and the baby is not gaining weight because the mother is not producing milk.It is not healthy for children to be having babies because their bodies are not ready to start having children and the reasons for this unfortunate situation in communities is because of poverty and lack of recreational activities for these teenagers. Instead of grading roads for your votes these are the things which the President and his Government should be looking into not doing roads where people need food, schools and health facilities.

I have seen many mothers trying to build a community clinic by themselves and I told them that I will not hesitate to support them by bringing them 200 bags of cement, window frames and roofing sheets once this by election is over. I know someone will say am trying to buy votes but tell them to also build houses for teachers because I have seen that they don’t have accommodation.Moreover the Government has brought graders to try and buy your votes by grading your roads.” Ms. Nawakwi said.

She further called on the people in the constituency to challenge President Edgar Lungu and his Government to show them the development they have been preaching about because as far as she is concerned there is no sign of development to write home about in the entire province adding that all she can see is impoverished communities deprived of the little resources there is in the country.

Dr Simbyakula told Parliament today that the Bills which have been drafted are expected to be tabled in Budget sitting of Parliament after ensuring compliance with Article 79(2) of the current constitution which requires 30 day publication period prior to introduction in the house.

Dr Simbyakula said that following the public concerns raised on the identification of clauses for enactment into the constitution, Cabinet has decided to table all the provisions of the draft constitution prepared by the Technical Committee on Drafting the Zambian constitution except the bill of rights and provisions on alterations of the constitution provided for under Article 79 of the current constitution.

Dr Simbyakula said that the Bill of rights and Article 79 of the constitution will be subject to a referendum during the 2016 general election.

The Justice Minister has since urged members of the public to take time to study the contents of the documents once published and make their submissions to the relevant committee of Parliament at the appropriate time.

Meanwhile Government spent about K12 billion unrebased on three commissions of inquiry appointed by late President Michael Sata in 2011.

These are the commissions of inquiry on the Mongu riots of 14th January 2011,the sale of 75% government shareholding in Zamtel to Lap Green and the commission of inquiry into oil procurement under the Energy Regulation Board.

Dr Simbyakula told Parliament in a ministerial statement that the inquiry on the Mongu riots gobbled K5.5 billion, while the one on procurement of oil gobbled K4.7 billion with the one on the sale of Zamtel gobbling K2.2 billion.

Dr Simbyakula said that President Edgar Lungu is currently studying the contents of the reports, and that later, Cabinet will consider the reports and that the appropriate follow up action will be determined thereafter.

The Young African Leaders Initiative has called for a probe on whether Speaker of the National Assembly Patrick Matibini breached the Constitution by declaring the Kasama Central parliamentary seat vacant.

YALI Governance Adviser Isaac Mwanza said in an interview that a probe should be called to establish whether Dr Matibini was in order when he declared the Kasama seat vacant.

Mr Mwanza has since called on Dr. Matibini to reflect on his conduct in determining the question of the membership to the National Assembly in light of the matter that the PF had used the due process of the law as provided in Article 72 of the Constitution to determine the question of Mr Mwamba’s membership.

He said YALI was of the view that Speaker Matibini could have waited for the High Court to rule over the matter.

Mr Mwanza said the High Court was best placed to determine in the application by the PF with recourse to the Supreme Court.

He said Speaker Matibini knows very well that only the Courts can determine whether the seat has fallen vacant.

But Law Association of Zambia President George Chisanga has supported the decision by Speaker Matibini to declare the Kasama Central Seat vacant.

Mr Chisanga said the ruling by the Speaker is consistent with Article 70 and 71of the Republican Constitution.

He however said he was not sure that the Speaker did the right thing considering that the matter between Mr. Mwamba and the PF was in court over his earlier expulsion from the party.

Speaker of the National Assembly Dr. Patrick Matibini recently declared the Kasama Central seat vacant after Mr. Mwamba crossed the floor by accepting to serve as UPND Vice President for Administration.

But Mr. Mwamba popularly known as GBM said he is ready to defend his seat in order to prove his popularity.

The former parliamentarian said the developmental projects he had initiated in his Kasama Central constituency will speak volume during the campaign period.

Mr. Mwamba claimed that the PF’s popularity in Kasama was as a result of his personal contribution to the ruling party.

Meanwhile, PF Kasama District Chairperson Teddy Mweshi said the impending Kasama Central parliamentary by-election has been long overdue because Mr. Mwamba was an expelled party member.

Mr. Mweshi revealed that the PF is more than ready to contest the Kasama central seat and teach Mr. Mwamba a lesson that the ruling party is bigger than him.

He urged PF members to support the aspiring candidate that the party will adopt to contest the forthcoming parliamentary by-election.

And The Patriotic Front ( PF) in Muchinga says the ruling party in the province is intact and ready to take on newly appointed United Party for National Development ( UPND) Vice president for administration Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba whose Kasama Central seat has been declared vacant.

PF Provincial Women Chairperson Mary Chifuna says the PF in the province has welcomed the declaration of the Kasama seat by Speaker of the National Assembly Dr. Patrick Matibini vacant and that the party in the province is ready to take on Mr. Mwamba.

Ms. Chifuna told the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in Chinsali today that PF members in Muchinga are not worried about the defection of Mr. Mwamba adding that he is as popular as he claims to be, he should re-contest the Kasama seat and prove himself wrong.

Ms. Chifuna has also appealed to Mr. Mwamba to stop marginalising some tribes in the country saying no tribe is small as long as it has people who are also Zambians.

She said all the tribes in Zambia whether small or big should be respected adding that this is the reason why President Edgar Lungu has been calling for unity of purpose in the country under the One Zambia One Nation motto.

The Provincial Chairperson said the PF under the able leadership of President Edgar Lungu has been growing from strength to strength going by the number of parliamentary and ward seats that it has won in the recent past.

She has since called on all the PF party members in the province to continue being united and support President Lungu in his quest to develop the country.

Speaker of the National Assembly Dr. Matibini has declared the Kasama Central seat held by newly appointed UPND vice president for administration, Mr. Mwamba vacant and the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) is yet to set the date for the by-election for the Kasama Central Seat.

Roberto released his latest single, “Chitenge” , taken off his album ,1712 , released in December 2014 ; this is the follow – up to Amarulah.

download the song here: http://www.datafilehost.com/d/7394c242

BY KAPA187