Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) National Women’s Chairperson Lisa Passi has commended the bravery and clarity of the MMD Chief Whip, who is also MMD Chipata Central Member of Parliament Honourable Mutolo Phiri and MMD National Secretary and Chembe Member of Parliament Mwansa Mbulakulima for the strong submissions made to the Constitutional Bill debate in parliament on Wednesday 25th November 2015 during second reading.

Mrs. Passi said the MMD’s contribution has given clear direction to the debate and a strong push towards making progress in what has been an expensive and frustrating process for the people of Zambia since 1972 when the first Constitutional Review Commission was set up. She said the the truth about how the earlier constitutional bill presented by MMD in 2011 failed is finally being exposed because many Zambians have been misled by the Patriotic Front (PF) that the MMD failed to bring a new Constitution.

She said MMD women are very happy that the two MPs have shown the nation that the MMD has been consistent on this matter and not influenced by any external factors since 2011 when this same bill was presented to parliament but was defeated by the PF and the United Party for National Development (UPND) for selfish partisan considerations.

She said the UPND in particular had a lot to answer for because they even took part in the National Constitution Conference set up by late President Levy Mwanawasa but were against the bill in 2011

The UPND in 2011 said they were against the bill because it did not contain the 50%+1 and Running Mate clauses. Yet they voted against the bill yesterday even though it has the two Clauses they insisted on. Now they have a different reason which shows how insincere they are. They ate the huge allowances for sitting on the NCC but were against the bill in the end.”

“The UPND in 2011 said they were against the bill because it did not contain the 50%+1 and Running Mate clauses. Yet they voted against the bill yesterday even though it has the two Clauses they insisted on. Now they have a different reason which shows how insincere they are. They ate the huge allowances for sitting on the NCC but were against the bill in the end.”

“The PF walked out of Parliament before the vote in 2011 but want to pretend today that it was our fault that the bill failed. Even if the bill was not perfect, why didn’t PF and UPND vote for the preogressive clauses in the 2011 bill and then come back later to debate the other clauses that were not there? In fact, the two clauses the UPND were insisting on were put to the referendum that we had planned to have after the 2011 elections. Today the UPND is saying they want the whole constitution subjected to a referendum when the same thing could have been achieved years ago,” said Mrs Passi.

Mrs. Passi said she is pleased that the MMD position in the debate has been consistent all along and was first explained by Party President Dr Nevers Sekwila Mumba during the Presidential debates held at Mulungushi Conference Centre in the run-up to the January 2015 Presidential Election.

Mrs Pass said with a 20-year record of experience in governance and having presided over two constitutional Review commissions, MMD is the best placed party to understand the complexities of enacting a new constitution in the interests of the nation.

She that the MMD position was supported by the American Government through its Ambassador as the most practical and cost-effective method given Zambia’s serious liquidity challenges.

She urged the PF Government to be sincere with Zambians in this matter for a change because they had initially promised the people of Zambia a new constitution within 90 days of coming into office which they later admitted was just a political gimmick to get into power. She sounded a strong warning that if the bill is mutilated by the PF as is feared by certain MPs such as Professor Geoffrey Lungwanga, the PF Government will have to answer to the people of Zambia, who are already fed up with them and are ready to boot them out in 2016.

Zambia’s self proclaimed Ruler Of Zed Hip Hop ‘Tiye P‘ unleashes brand  new music video titled ‘Badman‘ featuring Fyah Ziah.

BY KAPA187

THE mineworkers unions have expressed gratitude to President Edgar Lungu for the manner he has intervened in helping mitigate the impact of job losses among the retrenched Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) miners who have been given some tax relief by Government.

Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) General Secretary Joseph Chewe said the retrenched miners have all been given some tax relief by the President who has stopped Government from taxing K18, 000 ex-gratia given to MCM employees declared redundant in the wake of the current economic down-turn.

Mr Chewe said this at a MUZ, National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW), United Mineworkers Union of Zambia (UMUZ) and Zambia Union of Nurses Organisation (ZUNO) joint press briefing in Kitwe yesterday.

The MUZ general secretary who was giving the routine updates on matters surrounding the affairs of miners, said apart from the pension money of two-month salary pay by the number of years of service, the unions also negotiated for an K18, 000 ex-gratia for each of the retrenched miner, which they had asked to be a stand alone payment.

He said to this effect, the unions asked President Lungu to allow the retrenched miners to be paid K18, 000 without Government taxing the money, as a way of giving the ex-employees some form of relief.

“President Lungu responded favourably to this because he is sympathetic and he has asked the Ministry of Finance to allow the miners to each receive K18, 000 without the money being taxed,” he said.

Mr Chewe said furthermore, the unions, in seeking a sustainable way of assisting the retrenched miners, asked Government to help empower victims of mine redundancies with land for agriculture purposes.

He said the President responded positively to this by directing district commissioners for Kitwe, Mufulira and Chingola to ensure that they identified farming land for the retrenched miners.

“We are grateful that the president has responded to the unions’ cause and the good thing about this is that this will resonate well with Government’s programme for diversification of the economy,” he said.

Mr Chewe appealed to Stanbic Bank to consider having a humane face over the retrenched miners by not subjecting them to a 100 per cent loan recovery.

He was aware that while some banks such as Standard Chartered were doing a 50 per cent loan recovery, Stanbic had opted for a 100 per cent, making some of the retrenched miners go empty-handed.

NUMAW president James Chansa castigated arm-chair critics who have been critical about the interventions put in to help mitigate the impact of the global challenges such as low copper prices on the mining sector in the country.

“The unions have been badly affected because they have lost income and so is Government which has lost revenue in form of taxes,” Mr Chansa said.

UMUZ president Wisdom Ngwira urged all the retrenched miners who would be fortunate to be empowered with land for agriculture to seize the opportunity by making good use of it.

MMD Spokesperson Raphael Nakacinda says assertions that there is confusion in the party are misplaced as the party has moved on from the confusion that rocked the former party during the adoption of the party candidate for the January 2015 elections.

Speaking in an interview Mr. Nakacinda refuted claims that the party leadership had failed to run the former ruling party as it has worked hard to restore order through inclusive dialogue among members.

He explained that the party had made great strides in reconciling the party and that he was happy that their efforts to reconcile had paid dividends as older members have returned and are participating in party programs and working towards wining the next general elections.

“The party was engulfed in confusion during the run up to the last elections as a result of the former President trying to stand on the party ticket that created a lot of uncertainties among members which led to some of our members supporting other candidates during the past election but as a Party we have made efforts in reconciling those members and a lot them have since come back and are even speaking out on behalf of the party.

We are happy to see the likes Honourable Mutati speaking on behalf of the party and continuing to reaffirm their commitment of their membership with MMD.

He reiterated the Party’s desire for unity and reconciliation among its members.

” our desire us a party leadership and the membership across the country is to see that there is unity and cohesion at national level among the leaders and that should trickle down to the grass roots.

We should stop any attempts by either our opponents from other political parties or other stakeholders like the media from creating an impression that there is confusion within the Party.”

He further said the Party will forever be proud of their record as regards to the adherence of democratic principles.

“As MMD we are proud of our record of adhering to democratic principles and any suggestions and view that people my hold that would enhance the chances of MMD in 2016 can only be arrived upon and decided through a democratic process and we will continue as MMD to respect and uphold democratic principles.

” Anybody who attempts to replay the ordeal that we experienced prior to the Presidential by -election and consequences that followed will not be tolerated. Such people will be viciously dealt with by members of our Party who have been injured and suffered a great loss as a result of the confusion created by senior members of our Party. Our appeal is that let us all hold hands together and rebuild our great party. We have no time as elections are around the corner,” he said.

Parliament on Thursday evening passed the Constitution of Zambia Bill Number 16 and The Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill Number 17 when they came up for second reading after heated debates from both sides of the House.

This was after Speaker Patrick Matibini had called for electronic voting shortly after the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs Chairman Cornelius Mweetwa had presented the Committee reports which called for the withdrawal of the two bills as they did not meet the aspirations of the nation.

Mr Mweetwa said the Committee recommended that bills be withdrawn in its entirety to allow for further consultations and areas that need amendment.

But MMD Chief Whip Reuben Phiri Mtolo said the former ruling party has decided to vote for the bills as it will give Parliament a chance to thoroughly debate the draft constitution.

After the debates, 106 MPs voted in favour of the Bill Number 16 while 36 voted against with 4 abstaining.

109 MPs voted for The Constitution Amendment bill 17 of 2015, 35 voted against while two MPs abstained.

Both bills will be taken at Committee stage next week Thursday.

And Justice Minister Ngosa Simbyakula has thanked the MPs for the support and said Zambia is now on its way to having a new constitution.

Republican President Edgar Lungu will tomorrow hold his first press conference at State House. This is according to a statement released to the media and signed by his special Assistant for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda.

According to the Statement, members of the Press and Diplomatic Corps are invited and should be seated by 11:30.

Below is the full statement

PRESIDENT LUNGU TO HOLD A PRESS CONFERENCE

LUSAKA, (Wednesday, November 25, 2015)­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­——His Excellency Mr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu President of the Republic of Zambia will hold a Press Conference at State House on Thursday, November 26,2015 at 12:00 hours.
Members of the Press and Diplomatic Corps are invited to be seated at 11:30 hours.

________________________________________________________________
Issued by:

AMOS CHANDA
SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT
(PRESS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS)
STATE HOUSE