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ActionAid Zambia Country Director Pamela Chisanga
Action Aid Zambia has handed over a 1×2 classroom block to Kamininusi community in Nakonde District of Muchinga Province.
Speaking during the handover ceremony, Action Aid Country Director Pamela Chisanga said Action Aid will continue to complement government efforts in reducing poverty in the country.
Ms. Chisanga said she was happy that her organisation was handing over the classroom block as the community in Kamininusi did not have a school and children had to cover long distances to access education at the nearest school Ndingindi located over 10 km .
Ms. Chisanga however, appealed to the District Education Board Secretary (DEBS) to deploy teachers and provide furniture and other learning materials.
And Nakonde DEBS Stanley Mwambazi said he was grateful to Action Aid Zambia for assisting the people of Kamininusi in constructing a classroom block.
Mr Mwambazi said commended Action Aid for supplementing government efforts especially in the education sector and helping in curbing early marriages among the school- going children in Nakonde District.
Meanwhile, Acting Nakonde District Commissioner Kasase Mwale also commended Action Aid’s good gesture of recognising government as a partner in National development.
Mr. Mwale has since called on members of the community to guard the infrastructure jealously for the good of their children and the community.
Justice Minister Ngosa Simbyakula
Justice Minister Ngosa Simbyakula is hopeful that the Constitution Bill will be out this week and published in the government gazette, as provided for in the Constitution.
Dr. Simbyakula has appealed to all Zambians to study the contents of the Constitution Bill and forward their comments and observations to their representatives.
He said any bill which is intended to alter the Constitution had to be published 30 days before first reading, so that Zambians would have an opportunity to make comments and observations through their respective representatives.
“We want everyone to approach this exercise calmly and honestly for the benefit not just for us but for posterity, for our children and children’s children. We want it to stand the test of time and it can only do so if people go into this exercise putting Zambia first,” he said.
Dr. Simbyakula said this in an interview with the Journalists in Livingstone on Monday, after the opening of an Induction Course for newly appointed Judges of the COMESA Court of Justice (CCJ) at AVANI Victoria Falls Resort.
Earlier, he urged judges at the COMESA Court of Justice (CCJ), to contribute to the growth of COMESA through speedy delivery of justice.
Dr. Simbyakula said speedy delivery of justice was critical in enhancing the image of COMESA, and confidence within residents in the region.
“That way litigants in our region will feel confident and be encouraged to refer disputes to the COMESA Court of Justice,” he said.
He said COMESA was established to bring together member states from Eastern and Southern Africa for the purpose of economic and social cooperation.
“As the economies of our member states grow so will the level of interaction and purpose. As a result of that, the number of matters that shall be referred to the court is bound to increase,” he said.
Earlier, Lady Justice Lombe Chibesakunda said the outgoing CCJ bench led by Judge President Nzamba Kitonga had done a commendable job of developing jurisprudence of the court and creating a legally conducive environment of doing business within the COMESA region.
Justice Chibesakunda who is also the CCJ incoming President, acknowledged the huge task ahead of the new judges.
“New judges have a huge task ahead of them. We need to keep the light of the CCJ shining and take it to greater heights in terms of service delivery and jurisprudence, as we strive to gain a better understanding of the regional integration particularly with the launch of the tripartite free trade area,” she said.
Justice Chibesakunda further said the new judges would face challenges ahead of them from different experiences, civil systems, national origins and cultural differences but would still need to make decisions based on the reasoning of the law.
“We must be seen to transcend our personal sympathies and prejudices and aspire to achieve a greater degree of fairness of economic adjudication,” she said.
Prof. Nkandu Luo (c)
Gender and Child Development Minister Nkandu Luo says government has made tremendous progress towards efforts to revise the Marriage Act in order to protect young girls from being married off at a tender age.
Professor Luo says government has seen the need to reinforce the marriage Law in view of the increasing number of child marriages in the country.
She states that government attaches great importance to safeguarding the lives of children in the country.
Professor Luo says government through her ministry has engaged various stakeholders to help come up with concrete suggestions that will be included in the revised law.
She states that once all the suggestions have been critically looked at, her ministry will then proceed to present the bill to Parliament in the shortest period of time.
Professor Luo has since appealed to stakeholders to support government efforts in ending child marriages in the country.
A 23 year old woman of Mansa has been sentenced to six months imprisonment suspended for 12 months for trafficking in Psychotropic substances contrary to Section 6 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic substances Act chapter 96 of the Laws of Zambia.
Before Magistrate George Mulenga was Astridah Mwanga of Kolongo Village in Chief Chimese’s Chiefdom who was found with seven balls of cannabis weighing 14.2 kilograms.
Particulars of the offence are that on 4 July, 2015 Officers from Drug Enforcement Commission received a report from concerned citizens that there was a woman who was selling suspected marijuana from her home.
Acting upon the information, Officers from Drug Enforcement Commission searched the suspect’s house and found seven balls of suspected marijuana which were later confirmed to be cannabis after tests were conducted in Lusaka.
In mitigation, Mwanga pleaded with the court to be lenient with her as she was a first offender and had a little baby whose life would be affected if sent to prison.
In sentencing, Magistrate Mulenga said he took into consideration her mitigation specially that she readily accepted the charged.
He however said the offence has become rampart in the District and it is the duty of courts to punish such offenders.
Magistrate Mulenga said considering that she was a single mother, he will be lenient but she will be punished to deter would be offenders.
,Lusaka Province Permanent Secretary Stardy Mwale talks to Dr Lastone Chikoya after visiting the Mazabuka and kafue accident victims at the University Teaching Hospital
Lusaka Province Permanent Secretary Stardy Mwale has assured street vendors in Lusaka that government will not remove them from places where they conduct their business for now but emphasised on the need to keep the streets clean.
Speaking when he addressed over 1000 street vendors at Lusaka main post office, Mr. Mwale said government had acquired refuse trucks which will be used to clean up the city.
Mr Mwale stated that President Edgar Lungu wanted to continue with the legacy of Late President Michael Sata who allowed the vendors to freely trade in streets.
He commended the street vendors for coming up with a programme to sweep and clean all streets in town twice a week in order to address sanitation issues which had raised a lot of concerns from some sectors of society.
He said the programme to clean up the streets is in line with a programme earlier launched dubbed war against garbage
Meanwhile United Street Vendors Foundation district coordinator Emmanuel Sinyangwe said his foundation will ensure that the clean-up exercise is taken serious in order to address the cleanliness in the business trading area.
Mr. Sinyangwe said traders had already come up with a clean-up programme and will ensure that it continues.
He said the traders have pledged to keep the business trading area clean as they are waiting for a permanent trading place to be allocated later.
Mr. Sinyangwe added that traders have agreed to conduct the clean-up exercise every Tuesday as it was demonstrated in the early hours of today.
Chiefs in the southern Province have distanced themselves from accusations of planning to secede from the rest of the country.
The more than 14 Chiefs who today held a closed door meeting with southern province Minister Nathaniel Mubukwanu to discuss ways on how chiefs and government can clear this misunderstanding have totally refused to be associated with secession claims from some quarters.
Speaking in an interview after the meeting, Chief Hamusonde of the Tonga speaking people of Monze district who spoke on behalf of the chiefs in Southern Province said he and other chiefs in the Province have no plans to secede from the rest of the country.
He said the chiefs feel insulted to be accused of having made statements of secession plans something which they strongly denounce.
“We have called for this meeting because we want to know why we have been insulted day in and day out on the matter of secession and tribalism to which we are not party”, he said.
Chief Hamusonde said the Tonga speaking People of southern province are peace loving Zambians who embrace people across sections of society and tribe.
He said the statements running in the media on secessions are basic lies which no chief in Southern province is responsible of.
The chiefs have through the provincial Minister presented their grievances on the matter and requested that a meeting with President Lungu be scheduled to bring an end to this disturbing issue.
Meanwhile Southern Province Minister Nathaniel Mubukwanu said the meeting with the royal highnesses has resolved not to make the contents of the meeting known to the media to avoid misrepresentation.
Mr Mubukwanu said the chiefs have however rejected any tribal sentiments attributed to them emphasizing that their wish is for the country to uphold and maintain the one Zambia one nation slogan.
“We have held a meeting with chiefs from the province at their request were various concerns have been highlighted that needs to be brought to the attention of the President”, he said.
Mr Mubukwanu however assured the chiefs that he will present the resolutions of the meeting to President Lungu as soon as possible.
The chiefs who attended the meeting include, Chief Hamusonde, Chief Sipatunyana, Chieftainess Mweenda, Chieftainess Choongo, Chief Simamba, Chief Monze, Chief Chikanta, Chief Singani, Chief Nalubamba, Chief Nyawa, Chief Mungaila, Chief Muchila, Chief Mukobela and chief Sinazongwe.
Kay Figo is back with another hit song titled “Mutima Chabe”. She continues to prove that she is one of the best female musicians in Zambia and forever puts her country on the world map. Song produced by Raydo of Digital X studios
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBkSHOIeCpw BY KAPA187
File : Police officers wield a short button against UPND cadres outside the Lusaka magistrate court
The decision by the State to enter a nolle prosequi in the case of musician, Pilato is an indictment on the Zambia Police over their unprofessional conduct in the discharge of their duties.
Arresting and prosecuting Pilato on frivolous and vexatious charges was not only a waste of the courts valuable time and scarce resources but a wanton abuse of The Judicial process by the PF in their spirited but futile attempt to silence any critic who dare expose their impotence and ineptitude in effectively managing the affairs of the state.
It is a shame that the Zambia Police have reduced themselves to nothing but a mere armed vigilante wing of the ruling PF. It is clear that from the onset, the police were acting on some misguided directives from some political hoodlums within the PF government to arrest Pilato. That is the more reason the Police failed to charge Pilato with any reasonable charge but came up with frolicsome charge of conduct likely to breach peace because the man had committed no crime. Instead of pursuing political gangsters who are shooting unarmed civilians, the police are busy arresting and intimidating innocent victims of Edgar Lungu’s myopic leadership.
In conclusion and as a way forward we urge Parliament to repeal and amend the Zambia Police Act to make it conform to the norms and practices of a democratic state. The Zambia Police Act in its current form is archaic and moribund and exposes the police to too much political interference and machinations.
This recent fuel pump price hike signifies an economic collapse that will further inflict more pain to our people in terms of survival and here is the simple reason why.
As a result of poor planning and maintenance of ZESCO generation equipment the PF government is currently implementing unprecedented levels of electricity load shedding. This is despite supposedly having injected huge amounts of borrowed Eurobond bond money into ZESCO.
As an alternative measure, Zambians at various levels from domestic to industry have resorted to using alternative electricity sources such as gensets that use fuel for production. These machines use fuel, which the PF has now increased the price of precisely when one would have expected a reduction.
[pullquote]PF government will hoodwink us by reducing fuel next year towards elections[/pullquote]
This fuel price increase will now mean a further reduction on economic activities as production costs will escalate further. This situation will automatically lead to price increases on all goods and services, causing a further rise to the already very high cost of living.
A genuine government that is currently facing bankruptcy and cares for its citizens would have considered taking pay-cuts by President Edgar Lungu himself and his cabinet.
President Lungu is currently the only happy Zambian getting double salary as Republican President as well as Defence Minister and at the same time travelling and getting allowances together with the large cabinet that he should have been considering reducing as one cost saving measure, among others.
Zambia can do better than the current PF government. There are leaders that care for their shrinking economies, such as newly elected Nigerian President General Buhari who this week cut his salary by 50 percent to demonstrate that he is also tightening his belt having inherited a bankrupt economy.
In the face of all these price increases, the only thing that has remained stagnant and frozen are people’s salaries and lack of employment opportunities, especially for the youths.
What is even worse is that the sharp fall on the Kwacha that has finally breached the K8 to US$1 due to poor economic performance will put a further strain in an import dependent economy that will affect even small businesses such as cross-border traders.This increase will equally push transportation costs higher at a time farmers are moving their produce to the market as the PF government has so far refused to buy their agricultural produce.
This fuel increase, coming at a time the price of oil prices on the international market are coming down, is totally unjustifiable. The price of Brent crude fell sharply last year from US$115 a barrel in June to US$45 a barrel in January (see here.
As Zambians, we should now brace ourselves for more job loses due to the ever-shrinking economy. But make no mistake, the same PF government will hoodwink us by reducing fuel next year towards elections purely to solicit for your votes like they did towards the January 20th elections.
For motorists, transporters, minibuses, and tax-drivers, it is double tragedy as the PF government have also increased Road Tax licenses thereby making it difficult to operate your vehicles.
While we blame those in government for reckless decisions, it is time we as voters also shoulder the blame for electing people who openly confess they have no vision.
It is high time we took a deep reflection on our political choices and for once think of the bigger picture and put national interest ahead of our trivial and petty political persuasions based on imaginary boundaries within our country.
Have a great day and God bless you.
Timothy shares a stunning music video for his latest single titled “Chikondi“. The Afro-RnB music act drops a cool interesting Big Deal Graphix produced video with a feature by the Beautiful Talented “Tanny”- TheFormer YarFM Kitwe Radio DJ.
Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda
Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda has signed a Statutory Instrument increasing the fees and fines from 20 Ngwee to 30 Ngwee.
According to the Fees and Fines (Fees and Penalty Unit Value) Amendment Regulations 2014, the statutory instrument signed on June 19th 2015, the fees, charges and penalties have gone up to 30 Ngwee from 20 Ngwee.
Mr Chikwanda revealed in Parliament when he issued a midyear budget review that he be will be raising additional revenues of K500 million by increasing the fee unit from 20 to 30 Ngwee.
The Non Governmental Organizations Coordinating Council says it is deeply alarmed by media reports that Cabinet office has instructed the Ministry of Justice to call for a caucus of all PF Members of Parliament to decide which articles in the draft constitution should be considered contentious and non-contentious.
NGOCC Executive Director Ngwase Mwale said the Government must be reminded that the Republican Constitution does not belong to PF members for PF MPs to decide what is good for all the Zambian people.
Ms Mwale said the constitution belongs to all Zambians and therefore it is totally unacceptable that Cabinet office can relegate such an important national affair to a political party.
“NGOCC, and on behalf of the women’s movement in Zambia, has been opposed to the suggested phased roadmap on the constitution making process by the Government precisely because we do not want the ruling party or any other grouping to hijack the process and “cherry pick” what clauses best suit their narrow-partisan interests,” she said.
“The Zambian people made their wishes well known as to what they want in the new constitution through the various
The Energy Regulation Board has increased the pump price of petroleum products effective Monday midnight.
In a statement, the ERB says Petrol has been increased by K1.13n and diesel by K1 while Kerosene has been adjusted upwards by 72 ngwee.
Petrol will now cost K9. 87n per liter from K8.74n and the new price of diesel will be K8.59 n from K7. 59n while Kerosene will now be K6.12n from K5.40n.
ERB said the depreciation of the Kwacha has mainly been caused by the global strengthening of the US dollar against major currencies, low copper prices and weak foreign currency inflows.
Chishimba Kambwili with Amos Chanda at Statehouse Press Briefing
Chief Government Spokesperson Chishimba Kambwili has reaffirmed government’s position that succession talks from any individual, pressure group, political party and Zambian in the country bounders on treason charge.
Mr. Kambwili, who is also Information and Broadcasting Services Minister,
warned secession advocates in any part of Zambia to desist or face the full wreath of the law.
The Information Minister, who was flanked by Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda, was speaking at a press briefing held State House.
Mr. Kambwili said he finds is strange for some ‘secession advocates’ from Southern province to convene a meeting on July 19, 2015 in Monze district.
Last week, Mr Kambwili said tribalism has got no room in the 21st century as allegedly spearheaded by some Tongas.
He also took a swipe at the privately owned Post newspaper for allegedly mis-informing the nation about the earlier statement he issued on secession.
He urged the Zambian people to dismiss and ignore secession talk because Zambia was founded on `One Zambia One Nation’ motto.
Mr. Kambwili said government welcomes progressive ideas from the Zambian people on the current electricity load shedding as opposed to discussing individual (Patriotic Front Secretary General Davies Chama)
A planned meeting has been set at the weekend at Sparkles Events Centre by some Tonga political activists calling themselves ‘Chuundu Chaitwa’.
Recently, President Lungu castigated individuals inciting the people of Southern Province to secede from Zambia because of remarks allegedly attributed to (PF) SG Mr. Chama.
President Lungu said it is ridiculous and unacceptable to talk of secession because the people of Southern Province can sit down and dialogue with Mr. Chama, the PF leadership and to find out a lasting solution to the problem.
