FIVE political parties have resolved to prioritise the reviewing of their constitutions, manifestos and other internal rules and regulations to make themselves gender-responsive as they prepare for the 2016 general elections.

The parties are the Alliance for Development and Democracy (ADD), Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD), Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), Patriotic Front (PF) and the United Party for National Development (UPND).

The parties, in a joint communiqué issued at a press briefing in Lusaka yesterday,
expressed concern at continued gender-inequalities in their parties and failure to fulfil the requirements of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) protocol on gender and development.

The SADC protocol commits governments to ensure that by 2015, 50 percent of decision-making positions in the public and private sectors are held by women. This also requires engendering of political party constitutions, manifestos and internal regulations and rules.

Reading the communiqué to the Minister of Gender and Child Development Nkandu Luo on behalf of other political parties, PF member Joyce Mlewa said they have also resolved to develop gender policies aimed at addressing inequalities in party structures.

Mrs Mlewa said the parties will further press for attainment of the 50/50 gender balance, and thereby change the political structure.

“We have resolved to ensure that adoption and selection processes in political parties are gender-sensitive to ensure equal participation of women and men in elective positions,” she said.

And Prof Luo is happy that political parties have opted to work together in championing the gender agenda in their different political structures.

She said: “If things could always be like this, where we all come together for a common cause, we would really move faster in terms of development. Two striking things are that we have decided to work together as different political parties and the commitment from members of the press to report on issues that matter most in our development agenda.”

A local think tank, the Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research has welcomed Government’s plans to introduce a maximum age limit to imported used motor vehicles entering Zambia.

Deputy Minister of Transport, Works, Supply and Communications Mr. Richwell Siamunene reported in the Zambia Daily Mail of 28th May 2015 in which he states that Government will introduce a maximum age limit on imported used motor vehicles entering the country.

ZIPAR says the move is in line with what the institute has called for.

This is according to a statement by ZIPAR Executive Director Dr Pamela Kabaso.

Dr Kabaso said the Government is right to say that there is need to regulate the age of imported used vehicles entering the country to ensure quality and safety.

She said the Deputy Minister’s comments reflect the findings from a research conducted by ZIPAR on Used Motor Vehicle Imports and the Impact on Transportation in Zambia.

‘ZIPAR’s research findings show that the average age of Zambia’s motor vehicle fleet has increased from 12 years in 2006 to above 15 years in 2014.Left alone as it were, in the next five years the average age of Zambia’s motor vehicle fleet could reach 20 years.,’ she said.
  
‘In the research report, ZIPAR argues that one of the main reasons for the aging fleet of vehicles in Zambia is that the age at which used vehicles are being imported – for example from Japan – is getting older. The average age at which vehicles are imported has risen from 10.5 years in 2006 to just under 13 years in 2014,’ Dr Kabaso said.

Meanwhile, author of the report Zali Chikuba argued that Zambian policy makers should consider options for reducing the age of imported vehicles in Zambia because it matters for a number of reasons.

He said ‘firstly older cars are more unreliable as they are more likely to breakdown, which means that Zambian consumers are increasingly risking buying a car which is not good value for money – it might only last a few years on the road.’

‘Secondly, it will make it harder to reduce the high rate of car crashes on our roads. With 23.7 road traffic deaths per 100,000 population, Zambia is among the riskiest countries, ranking 12th out of 48 participating African countries (World Health Organisation, 2013). Thirdly, older cars are bad for the environment.

Typically, the older a motor vehicle is the higher the mileage and the higher the emissions level.

Other findings in the report include that the proportion of motor vehicles without roadworthiness certification has increased from 14% in 2006 to 32% in 2013.

ZIPAR said this is important because while legally vehicles without certificate of roadworthiness are not meant to be on the road, it is widely accepted that many that have failed their road worthiness test are still being driven.

The institute said the average age of the entire fleet including those without roadworthiness certification has increased from 13 years in 2006 to 17 years in 2014.

The analysis projects the average age of the entire fleet to reach 20 years, in the next five years.
This is expected to cause greater car maintenance and repair burden on Zambia.

The research also found that the proportion of newer cars in Zambia’s motor vehicle fleet is dwindling while that of older cars is increasing.

‘It would be expected of these trends to continue as the fleet ages. The picture is not any different when only roadworthy vehicles are considered,’ it said.

The research further found that the fit lifespan of used motor vehicles in Zambia is low with average fit lifespan of used motor vehicle imports been slightly below 4 years while that of new motor vehicles is slightly greater than 12 years while the global expected lifespan of a standard motor vehicle is 13 years.

‘While it may be argued that more liberal second-hand motor vehicle importation policies are helping poor Zambians to own one, the study shows that motor vehicle ownership is still dominated by better off urban households. Clearly, the goal of enabling more poor households to own cars has not been achieved by relaxing used motor vehicle importation policies.’

It added, ‘Given that taxes applicable on older and newer vehicles are the same, the tax amounts paid on newer vehicles are as many times larger depending on the pre-tax price. While this taxation policy may seem equitable, newer vehicles which are generally more expensive become extremely costly and very few Zambian households can afford to buy them.’

ZIPAR has since proposed three short-term policy changes and three long-term policy options including the strengthening of the pre-shipment road worthiness assessments, changing the current import duty and excise tax treatment for imported motor vehicles and placing a cap on the age of vehicles imported into Zambia.

The long-term policy options include a strengthening of the public transport system, introduce motor vehicle scrappage policy and commencing local motor vehicle assembly of popular models.

UNITED Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema may suffer a revolt from the general membership of the party which may lead to mass defections to the Patriotic Front (PF), Richard Kapita has warned.

Mr Kapita, who is the former vice-president of UPND, said the opposition political party was not in a position to defeat the Patriotic Front (PF) and form government because many of its members were not happy with its leadership and were considering leaving the party.

He said it would be difficult for the UPND to unseat the PF because the opposition political party was currently experiencing a serious internal leadership crisis because there was a feeling that the current leadership had failed its members.

Mr Kapita revealed that he had learnt through Mr Hichilema that he was unwanted in the party and could not therefore remain in an organisation where his services and contribution were not needed.

He said there were many other senior members of the UPND who were planning to join the PF because they had realised that President Edgar Lungu had changed the politics in the party and his leadership style was being appreciated.

Mr Kapita said the ruling party had become more attractive with President Lungu who had embarked on rebranding and repackaging the ruling party with his reconciliatory, peace and unity messages among the members and Zambians in general.

He pledged that he would apply his best to ensure that the ruling party’s mandate to govern was renewed after the general elections next year.

Mr Kapita said the UPND had been claiming that he was not a factor in politics and yet after he announced his resignation from the party, some party leaders started panicking and launched verbal attacks against him.

“The UPND is not going anywhere and as I speak, there is a revolt against Mr Hichilema by a lot of his members. There are many who are going to abandon the UPND and will be joining the PF because they have realised that President Lungu has really changed the politics in the ruling party. President Lungu has rebranded the PF and it has become more attractive to a lot of Zambians.

As for me, I learnt through Mr Hichilema that I was not wanted in the UPND and since I started feeling rejected, I made a choice to move on and I am happy I am out of the UPND,” Mr Kapita said. He said he had found a family in the PF and that he would work hard to deliver the best for the ruling party so that it continue governing through President Lungu.

Mr Kapita said he had sacrificed for the UPND for the last 17 years and that it was unfortunate that the leadership did not appreciate his contribution. He said he had been sidelined for a long time and that time had come for him to associate with a political party that was accommodating and respecting of all members irrespective of their positions. Mr Kapita stated that he had joined the UPND voluntarily and that it was not a crime for him to have left the party adding that it was surprising that some UPND leaders started abusing him verbally for leaving the party.

“I feel welcome in the PF and I have a lot of friends in the UPND who will soon be joining the PF,” Mr Kapita said.

THE Anti-Corruption Commission has been challenged to tell Zambians if it received the US$1.3 million reported as having been looted when Tedworth Properties illegally reposed in the Bank of Zambia were handed over.

Civil Rights activist Brebner Changala said the Commission should be categorical in accounting for the 12 years of rentals for the properties as ordered by the Lusaka High Court.

Mr Changala said the ACC should be explicit and explain why it was intending to appeal against the judgment, when it was not even an active respondent in the first action, which had gone in its favour because according to him, it did not make judicial sense for the Commission to have been unhappy with the ruling that had restored its role and mandate to manage the seized properties.

He accused the ACC of conniving with the people responsible for the looting and plundering of seized properties by attempting to appeal against a judgment ordering that those involved in the plunder should be investigated and prosecuted.

“They must tell the nation how much had been handed to the commission at the time the properties were handed over by the Bank of Zambia because this was a condition precedent set by the court which ordered the movement of the properties,” Mr Changala said.

It was not enough, he said, for the commission to give a blanket answer in view of the instruction by Judge Philip Musonda that the commission should investigate and prosecute any abuse of the funds from Tedworth Properties.

In 2011, Judge Musonda ordered that Tedworth assets that were abused and looted at the Bank of Zambia should have been surrendered to the ACC because the Central Bank had no role to play in the criminal investigations against Tedworth.

In his ruling, Judge Musonda ordered that…there was need for criminal investigations to be instituted with the help of the Police and the Drug Enforcement Commission.

Judge Musonda ruled that it was factually, legally and intellectually flawed for Mr Mutembo Nchito, the suspended Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Mr Mwansopelo of the Bank of Zambia to divest the director general of the ACC of the power and give it to the Bank of Zambia where the assets were eventually looted.

The properties, which were being managed by Access Finance, were seized by the Task Force on Corruption and then illegally transferred to the Bank of Zambia from where money in rentals was stolen through various schemes including inflated legal fees and management costs.

Mr. Changala also wanted to know why the ACC intended to appeal against Judge Musonda’s ruling which was in its favour. “The court ordered that properties should be reposed in the ACC and not Bank of Zambia, why then is the ACC appealing?” Mr Changala wondered.

Mr Changala said it was baffling that the ACC could start protecting the Bank of Zambia for illegally possessing assets which should have been legally domiciled at the commission.

He wondered why the ACC was refusing to make people who had looted the seized properties to account by appealing against a court ruling that had ordered that the seized properties be returned to the commission.
“Can the ACC convince me the legal sense of appealing against a court ruling that was in their favour and meant to restore its mandate to be in possession of the seized properties which have since been looted by known people?

The ACC should have been celebrating that its mandate and role in the Tedworth Properties had been restored and in whose interest did the ACC appeal against Judge Musonda’s ruling?

The judgment was about accountability and why is the commission refusing to have people responsible in the looting account? Things are not adding up and the Bank of Zambia has more to explain in this,” Mr Changala said.

Mr Changala demanded that the Commission should state where the money was being banked by the Bank of Zambia and who was managing the account.

More than US$1.3 million in rentals from the illegally seized properties by the defunct Task Force on Corruption disappeared without trace before then High Court Judge Philip Musonda ordered the immediate transfer of the funds to the Anti-Corruption Commission.

The Daily Nation has been informed that in contravention of the High Court order to have known persons who looted Tedworth Properties criminally prosecuted, the ACC appealed against Judge Musonda ruling to the Supreme Court. The people who looted the US$1.3 million were reported to have opened accounts in the Isle of Man and the United States and the ACC which the court ordered to investigate the looting and prosecute the people responsible closed their investigations because the matter was too sensitive apart from involving personalities at the Bank of Zambia.