FILE: UPND president Hakainde Hichilema following proceedings during the meeting to demand for the release of the draft Zambia constitution.
UPND Leader Hakainde Hichilema has said that his Members of Parliament will go with the position of the Grand Coalition with regards the Constitution Bill which comes up for second reading in Parliament today.
Mr. Hichilema said that the UPND cannot support a process it knows will deliver piece meal amendments when what the people of Zambia want is a whole new constitution adopted through a referendum.
Mr. Hichilema said that he suspects that the ruling PF wants the current constitution making process to fail just like previous processes have been failing because the ruling PF allegedly wants some provisions of the draft constitution not to be retained in the new Constitution.
Mr. Hichilema stated that what the ruling party does not however realize is the fact that the Constitution belongs to the People of Zambia.
He said that the People of Zambia have already spoken in this case that they want a new Constitution which includes the Bill of Rights.
Mr. Hichilema stated that this therefore implies that Parliament is a wrong platform to deliver a new constitution.
He said that being the party in government, the ruling PF is supposed to do what the people want because this is what he believes leadership entails.
Mr. Hichilema however told QFM News that UPND Members of Parliament have not been given any specific instructions with regards the constitution amendment bill.
Joseph Mulenga Chipimo is a 20 year old Zambian living and studying mechanical engineering in South Korea. He is the creator of Worklance, which is a freelance website with about 35,000 users worldwide. worklance.net is a website that connects employers and freelancers. He started the website 6 months ago and its user base has grown to 35,000 users worldwide. Worklance.net has three things to offer to zambia and the world ; skill, employment and education. This could also help develop our country because the website provides skills to those who want to start a business or a project, employment to those who want to work online as freelancers and education to those who want to sharpen there skills and learn more.
KAPA187: Who is Joseph Mulenga Chipimo?
Mulenga Chipimo: Well, Mulenga Chipimo is a 20 year old guy who is enthusiastic, passionate in what he does and believes in innovation and creativity. He was born and raised in Zambia by his parents. His is currently studying mechanical engineering in South Korea.
KAPA187: You are a self-taught computer programmer and you are currently studying Mechanical engineering .That takes a lot of hard work and dedication. What drives you?
Mulenga Chipimo: Yeah, very much, because it involves a lot of hard work to teach yourself to program. But there is one thing that always keep me moving. I love what l do , which is programming, and l am very passionate about it. If you love what you do it becomes easy doing it. It becomes part of you, and which makes it hard to quite when you are faced with problems or challenges. For instance, I have faced hard times too. I once lost all my codes, and l wrote them in 4 months after my computer hard drive crashed. It was so depressing and discouraging moments for me. However, l started from scratch developing back what l lost. Even though this was upsetting, l still hard interest and loved it.The passion made me not to give up. I would be very grateful seeing my country develop. It is my responsibility to push hard to help develop my country in terms of software which may create jobs for people, and this is the main reason that makes motivate me to do extra hard each and everyday and also seeing the economy rise.
KAPA187: worklance.net is a website that you created .Tell us what it is about.
Mulenga Chipimo: Basically worklance.net is a community platform that connects employers and freelancers in one setting to complete a task. Lets say you want to start a software business and you have all the requirements, idea and all the functionalities you want your software to perform and all you need now is someone to develop that software, that’s were worklance.net comes in the picture it’s to provide you with the skills you need to develop that software, to do so you have to post a project on worklance.net, describe how you want it, when you want it and what you want it to do and then our intelligent system finds freelancers right for you they bit on that project and you will choose the suitable freelancer for your project by looking at there ratings, reviews from other customers and portfolios, after all the work is done, you deposit money to worklance.net and when the freelancer completes the project and you are satisfied with the work then you can release the money you deposited to the freelancer. Simply we act has a middle agent between the two. With worklance you can work with anyone in the world.
KAPA187: What prompted you to come up with your website worklance.net?
Mulenga Chipimo: The time I came to Korea I came up with a music search engine called soundsbeat.com. This music search engine used to search for music, videos, lyrics, events of a particular artist and many other stuffs. The search engine made to search any song in the world and other languages that are available on internet. Therefore, the website was said to be illegal in Korea because most companies like LG, Melon and many others provide paid subscription. In addition, l had to shut down the site. Then I came across this idea of working online it caught my interest l decided to start developing a website called micro jobs were you can post any micro jobs you needs to be done, l finished the website in 2 months and later on, I decided to changed the name to Worklance.net.
KAPA187: How has the response to your site been, from the time it started to now?
Mulenga Chipimo: The time I started the business I didn’t have money, but l just had money to pay for my web hosting. The website didn’t have traffic to revamp the user-base. I started advertising the website on some social media, and also joined other programs that helped grow the traffic. In 4 months time, I started seeing a change in the traffic and I had one registered user. A month later, I had more than 100 registered users from different countries. People began liking the site and the user base started growing rapidly. I received more than 300 new registered users every day. But none of them posted their projects, they only had drafts of projects. I had to think deeply the reason why they didn’t post any project. I decided to redesign the website and built a marketing around all my customers. I sent emails regularly to my potential customers, and one week later users started posting projects.
KAPA187: Is there a process of scrutinization /verification when someone posts a project?
Mulenga Chipimo: Yes we are required to check the projects and help users make the most out of their projects. We guide them which and how to get a suitable freelancer for their project. We work hard to provide the best service we can!.
KAPA187: Is there a charge for submitting a project, and if one gets hired, are they required to pay a commission to the site?
Mulenga Chipimo: No we don’t charge anything for someone to post a project on our platform, it’s completely free. We want to help people start their projects, and make their idea to reality. Therefore, for freelancers we charge a commission fee from their income.
KAPA187: On your site if one gets hire for a particular project, do they get paid through the site? Or are those transactions handled by the individuals themselves.
Mulenga Chipimo: Well, here is what we do, when an employer hires someone to do a particular project he has to deposit the money in our system. If the project is complete and he is satisfied with the work, then he can release the money he deposited to pay the freelancer. We give care to the whole process, and that’s one of the reason we exist to provide fairness to both parties (freelancer and employer).
KAPA187: In your opinion is it better to be freelancers or to be in fulltime employment?
Mulenga Chipimo: There is one thing that freelance grinds someone, freedom to do anything you want at any time you want it. Another thing is that you get to do what you treasure doing like things you are passionate about, and explore new things and be your own boss. This makes being a freelancer remarkable. The disadvantage comes in when you don’t discipline yourself. If you don’t provide a great service probably no one may hire you. The secret to freelancing is to provide an outstanding service to your customers, and know how to communicate with them, treat them with respect and try by all means to earn trust.
When I look at Zambia unemployment rate is increasing each and every day. We have a lot of individuals with great qualifications master degrees and PhDs, but they are not employed. This ends them in depending on their parents, and others may involve themselves in activities that are not accepted in the society. This also depreciates our economy. But if those individuals were self-employed (freelancers) likewise they won’t depend on someone else or involve themselves in activities that are not accepted in the society. Self-employment is one way to revamp the entrepreneurship field and the development of our country. To be a full-time worker is also good but it doesn’t grant you the freedom to do what you want at any time and you don’t get to do what you love to do in most cases.
KAPA187: You have also created a social media site called Crystal Chats. There are currently a number of social media sites, the most popular being Facebook. What sets Crystal Chats apart from the rest?
Mulenga Chipimo: Crystalchats.com was as the result of soundabeat.com. soundsbeat had a social part were users used to interact with each other that include chat, send music, lyrics, activities and many other. Therefore, I shifted the technology direct to what is called now crystalchats.com. What sets crystalchats.com apart is that crystalchats.com is fully customizable, You can blog, it’s an Ajax based platform.
KAPA187: What advice would you give your fellow young people about entrepreneurship?
Mulenga Chipimo: To me entrepreneurship means problem solver, it means creativity, it means development.There is nothing else that makes me happy seeing my fellow youths start companies because thats the only way our lovely zambia will develop , its good that the government realized that entrepreneurship is the only way forward. My advice to my fellow youths is that no matter where you are, no matter who you are, no matter what situation you are in you can still make great things that other people can use. All things you see around you were created by people who are not smarter then you, immediately you discover that you will never be the same again, the power is with you. You can create the best version of yourself. I believe God gave all of us one gift and that gift is thinking, you can wow the world if you use it at its best and lastly remember to have passion, the only way to do great work is to love what you do just like any other great relationship it just gets better and better has the years move on. You are the future and above all stay Hungary.
KAPA187: Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years?
Mulenga Chipimo: In 10 years time, I see myself being a CEO and founder of a great worldwide company which will help our country develop. That’s were I see myself in such years.
Musician Clifford Dimba, alias General Kanene has told the court that his lawyer Nicholas Chanda no longer represents him because he cannot afford a lawyer anymore.This was heard before principal resident magistrate Kenneth Mulife in a case in which Dimba, 30, is charged with assault.
Mr Dimba told the court that Mr Chanda no longer represents him because he cannot afford a lawyer anymore.
“I have challenges with money, so I will start representing myself,” Dimba said.
Meanwhile, the Lusaka Magistrate’s Court yesterday issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Modrine Chisanga, the woman of Chawama Township who was allegedly assaulted by musician Clifford Dimba, alias General Kanene.
It is alleged that Dimba on October 27 this year in Lusaka assaulted Ms Chisanga thereby occasioning her actual bodily harm.
When the case came up for trial, State prosecutor Zakes Yumba applied for Ms Chisanga to be brought to court under a bench warrant because all efforts to compel her to attend court sessions have proved futile.
Mr Mulife granted the application and ordered that Ms Chisanga be compelled to attend court under a bench warrant.
Earlier, Dimba’s lawyer Nicholas Chanda told the court that the witness would not avail herself to the court because she told the police before the case started in court that she wanted to withdraw the matter.
Nevers Mumba on Sun FM
MMD president Nevers Mumba and his National Restoration Party (NAREP) counterpart Elias Chipimo have backed Government’s road-map to amend non-contentious clauses of the constitution through Parliament.
Dr Mumba said opposition political parties that will oppose amendment of non-contentious clauses through Parliament will have themselves to blame if the country will not have a new constitution before the 2016 tripartite elections.
He said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that the MMD members of Parliament (MPs) would today support the Constitutional Amendment Bill when it goes through Second Reading in Parliament.
“The MMD operates on principles and we have been consistent on this matter as a party. We feel that Parliament is the appropriate route for the 50 percent plus one vote threshold for a winning presidential candidate and having the Vice-President as the running mate will be included in the constitution,” Dr Mumba said.
He said MMD MPs have his blessings as party president to use Parliament to amend non-contentious clauses of the constitution.
Dr Mumba said opposition political parties will only effectively participate in the 2016 general elections with a new Constitution in place.
And Mr Chipimo said the country is guaranteed to have a new constitution through piecemeal amendments in Parliament.
“It is those resisting piecemeal amendment to the constitution who want to have more power if at all they form Government because they want to rule under the current constitution,” he said.
Mr Chipimo said the road-map embarked on by government is sensible and must be supported.
“Let us proceed with these sensible amendments. Let us proceed with the referendum,” he told journalists in Lusaka yesterday.
President Lungu on arrival in Livingstone
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has with immediate effect revoked the law that imposed presumptive tax on bus and taxi operators.
The Head of State has also reversed Statutory Instrument (SI) 41 of 2015 that increased the unit fee from 20 Ngwee per unit to 30 Ngwee per unit.
The fees were revised in accordance with the provisions of Statutory Instrument No.41 of July 2015 of the Fees and Fines Act, which increased the value of the Penalty Units from 20 ngwee to 30 ngwee per Penalty Unit.
The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) also introduced the presumptive tax on bus and taxi operators this year.
The presumptive tax is a tax imposed on an informal sector like transport and when it was introduced, bus operators were meant to pay tax of between K1,600 and K19,700 per month at ZRA offices.
Bus and taxi operators protested saying that paying of the taxes was cumbersome and consequently costly.
Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda said in an interview yesterday that President Lungu had ordered the presumptive tax that had affected the transport sector and reversal of the SI 41.
“Following submissions from the bus and transport operators, the President has with immediate effect directed the reversal of the presumptive tax and the SI 41,” Mr Chanda said.
He said Mr Lungu has directed the ministries of Finance and Transport to revert to the initial fees and fines that transport operators were paying.
Mr Chanda said President Lungu has ordered the two ministries to review the entire penal and tax Law that affect the transport business to ease their operations and make them more effective.
“For example, the bus operators complained that the presumptive tax took a lot of their time as they took about three hours at ZRA which made it cumbersome for them to operate,” he said.
He said bus and taxi operators should know that the review is with immediate effect and should corporate with RTSA and ZRA.
The revised fines ranged from K225 to K450 for charges penalty offences which include traffic offences, unlicensed Motor Vehicle,expired Test certificate and fitness, defective tyres talking on mobile phones whilst driving.
Given Lubinda
AGRICULTURE Minister Given Lubinda says Government has allocated US$115 million to develop 10,000 hectares of land under the irrigation development and support programme (IDSP).
Mr Lubinda said farming was one of the main sectors that contributed and promoted national development saying farmers were entrepreneurs that needed to be supported.
He said the funds were aimed at empowering small scale farmers in the country in order for them to work efficiently and contribute to national development by producing enough for export purposes.
Mr Lubinda was speaking in Lusaka yesterday during the economic panel discussion on agriculture in Zambia.
The discussion is part of a series of economic panel discussions the U.S. Embassy and the Women’s Entrepreneurial Centers of Resources, Education, Access, and Training for Economic Empowerment (WECREATE) Center are holding to support Zambia’s economic growth and prosperity.
“Small scale farmers have the potential to boost the agriculture sector in Zambia and government will ensure that it invests for them to get the support they need for the country to develop, “Mr Lubinda said.
He said government had the capacity to regulate the economy using the instrument of exports and that the empowerment of farmers would promote exports.
Mr Lubinda said government is currently discussing with some foreign investors to come on board and promote the agriculture sector in the country.
He appealed to the private sector to participate in the empowerment programmes by closely working with government to promote national development.
Speaking at the same event, American ambassador to Zambia Eric Schultz said the current economic situation in the country was an opportunity for Zambia to promote herself.
“Zambia is in a crisis mode, this means we have many opportunities to show the world that we can make it. Let’s make use of what we have now, “he said.
Mr Schultez noted that helping the private sector develop would increase the pace at which the country was growing positively.
He said agriculture was one of the largest sectors in the country and that making efforts to promote farmers products was good for the country.
LUNTE member of Parliament Felix Mutati has said that he has he has no intentions of crossing over to the United Party for National Development (UPND).
Responding to a question when he featured on Radio Phoenix’s ‘Let the people talk programme, Mr Mutati further said that the MMD MPs that supported the UPND in the January 20 presidential election intend to contest the 2016 parliamentary elections on the MMD ticket.
“I am MMD and will continue to be MMD. My position and 26 MMD members of Parliament is to stand on MMD and not UPND in the 2016 elections. We only supported UPND and not joined,” he said.
Mr Mutati also revealed that is ready to run for presidency if MMD members consider him but observes that there is confusion in the former ruling party.
Mr Mutati has also declared next year’s elections as a do-or-die for the MMD.
Mr Mutati said there was confusion in the former ruling party and the current leadership should step down to allow a new crop of leaders to take up the mantle.
“Things are not normal in the MMD, there is a lot of confusion. My appeal to our members who are tired is, let them be courageous enough to accept failure and step down for fresh members to take up the challenge,” he said.
And Mr Mutati says challenges in the mining sector can be resolved through constructive dialogue by Government and mining companies.
The former Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry urged the two parties to continue dialoging.
“The problems in the mining sector can only be solved if all stakeholders are involved in constructive dialogue. Absence of dialogue is what is causing stakeholders to have conflicting statements, we should not wait until things are bad,” he said.
Comprehensive sexuality education provides young people with opportunities to explore their values and attitudes and build skills so they can make safe decisions and reduce their risk of getting diseases such as HIV. It is different from “sex education” in that it encompasses more broadly sexuality as a whole – a person’s identity, orientation and expression. Comprehensive sexuality education is mainly taught in schools as you see here, but can also be received at home, in churches and mosques and through other community forums.
In December 2013, Ministers of Education and Health from 20 ESA Countries affirmed and endorsed their joint commitment to deliver comprehensive sexuality education and sexual and reproductive health services to young people.
This is a joint initiative between national governments, the UN (UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO), SADC, EAC, civil society and development partners.
Members of Parliament during the opening of Parliament by President Sata on September 19,2014 -Picture by THOMAS NSAMA
Of late, the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) and citizens at large have been hearing accusations and counter-accusations from the highest office of the land, the Presidency, and the Grand Coalition on a People-driven Constitution, which comprises and speak for its members such as the United Party for National Development (UPND) on who must shoulder the blame for the imminent failure of Constitution Bill No. 17 in Parliament.
First, our view is that, if truly Parliament comprises principled and leaders of good quality elected to make laws on behalf of the people, the Constitution Amendment Bill must never fail to go through. We are quite confident the Bill will pass if our MPs are allowed to freely debate without fear of sanctions or reprisals from their political parties. The Patriotic Front (PF) President Edgar Lungu has shown the way and the burden now rest wits on the shoulders of Opposition UPND and MMD to show a similar commitment by freely letting Members of Parliament to debate and pass the Bill. Indeed, Parliament represents the views of the people of Zambia, not political parties.
The failure of the Bill in Parliament can only occur in the face of 3 factors:
1. Fear of progressive clauses such as the 50% +1 by our political parties which will make it more difficult for any single political party to win the presidency without convincing a true majority of Zambians of its programmes. On the positive side, this clause will give the smaller parties the power to influence public policy by holding the balance of power in a run-off, which will also result in the larger parties giving due respect to all political players;
2. The Bill may fail if Members of Parliament from political parties lured away from political parties which sponsored them into parliament by the attractions and trappings of political office, namely, the positions of minister or deputy Minister begin to pursue narrow personal interests. There may therefore be resistance to the Clause which seek to have ministers appointed from outside parliament, since a member of parliament offered a ministerial post, would be required to resign from the position of member of parliament without the right or certainty of returning to the House in the event that they lost ministerial office; and
3. MPs may themselves contribute to the failure of the Bill if these MPS choose to ignore, or simply forget the lessons of history by their failure to attend Parliament during this crucial debate, as happened in 2011.
We are also conscious of the fact that we have, in our political dispensation, selfish and immature leaders who have never wanted a good and progressive Constitution, preferring the status quo as it suits their present circumstances. Sadly, Zambia has political leaders and civil society organisations who will always look forward to failure of the Constitution reform process, like they caused it to fail on 29 March 2011, so they could take political mileage or continue to use this process to raise funding for themselves. YALI wants the Bill to pass so we could save both our local taxpayers monies and, in future, apply resources from the international community to other needy areas apart from Constitution reform.
In this Constitution, YALI wants true and attainable guarantees of good governance, fair representation of the youth in decision-making and elective offices without one fearing to be discriminated against based on age, true gender equality, protection of our children, the advancement of women to true parity of the sexes, a true advancement of democracy and respect for human rights.
Unfortunately, we have selfish and parochial leaders both in the House and in the political parties whose main focus is the attainment of political power for themselves and for their own personal purposes, not for the benefit of the people whose name they abuse daily.
We saw first in 2011, how one person’s desire to get into power, effectively sabotaged the 2011 Constitution of Zambia bill, because this one person, in blatant violation of the law (NCC Act), wanted certain clauses sneaked into the Constitution to guarantee his own position in exchange for political support to his potential allies. When this person’s demands were rejected for being unlawful, political support was withdrawn and the Constitution of Zambia Bill, 2011 fell 15 votes short, and failed.
We know of certain political parties that celebrate failure by its political opponents, regardless of the unfortunate consequences to the Zambian community at large or gradual development of law. Some civil society activists are on record of having said “since the government has refused to bow to the Grand Coalition’s demands for the Constitution ‘to be adopted by referendum’, the only thing left for the Grand Coalition is to help ensure that the Constitution Bill fails”.
We appeal to MPs of good conscience, MPs who truly have the interests of Zambia and its people at heart, to take up their duty of making good laws for our country, to take up the challenge and pass a good and progressive constitution.
We also wish to remind MMD MPs of the events of March 2011, when all their hard their work to give Zambia a progressive constitution, were sabotaged by a supposed ally and a decent constitution was sacrificed on the altar of personal glory and power.
We therefore call upon the MMD MPs to use their experience in guiding the rest of the House to objectively debate and support the Bill, without allowing themselves to be held hostage by their aspirations in the way of adoption to stand, ahead of the 2016 elections.
Shooting down of abstaining from voting on the current Constitution Amendment Bill will only contribute to retention of the 1996 Constitution which does not promote competitive democracy and favours the party in power. Our MPs have a choice on whether to retain the Constitution that favours or gives vast powers to the ruling party or to give Zambians a better one by enacting the current Constitution Bill into law.
We are confident that, in the face of pressure from selfish party leaders, all our political parties have some independent-minded and upright leaders who can think outside the box and do what is right. We recognise, however, that unfortunately, no matter how much they may want to do what is right, the political survival of these independent-minded MPs may be dependent on acting the same way as their party leaders. If the leader does not want something, no matter how right it is to do, these MPs have to sadly follow what the leader says or thinks.
Zambians must remember that when the UPND failed to support the Bill on 29 March 2011, its leader, Mr. Hichilema, claimed the Bill was unsatisfactory, as it did not include a number of critical amendments, particularly the Presidential running mate and the 50%-plus-one requirement, which would have changed the presidential voting system from the current first-past-the-post system to one in which a candidate would need more than 50% of the vote to win.
Today, we have a Bill that has the 50 percent plus one and the running mate which the UPND gave as one reason not to support the 2011.
We should not be surprised if, on this occasion, our compatriots on the opposition UPND benches, refuse to support the 2015 Bill; this is because they now believe they are close to winning the 2016 elections with a slight margin, and the 50% +1 will be a hindrance to such victory.
We ask Zambians to watch how the UPND, MMD and PF MPS will debate this Bill. We look forward to our MPs from all political parties, including the UPND, proving us wrong by passing this Bill.
We are equally disturbed by the almost comical statement made by the Chair of the Grand Coalition on the adoption of a people driven Constitution, Fr. Leonard Chiti, in which he claims the re-enactment of the Constitution through Parliament, is a betrayal of the people and of the Patriotic Front party’s own Manifesto in which the party pledged to “adopt the constitution through a referendum”.
We are utterly puzzled at their insistence on having the Constitution “adopted through a referendum” even though it has been stated repeatedly, that under current Zambian law, no such method of re-enacting the Constitution is permitted or provided for, or even suggested.
We can only conclude that the Grand Coalition has a special interest in certain provisions which, if subjected to free and open debate in parliament, will not pass for being obnoxious or against constitutional values or customs. It is unimaginable that the Grand Coalition is, for instance, advocating for a Draft Constitution which will auction Zambia to foriegn nationals by allowing non-Zambian citizens to stand in an election although the same draft Constitution does not allow these foriegn citizens to vote. You surely want to protect Parliament from scrutinising such a law?
The Grand Coalition is obviously labouring under the false impression that such clauses, once voted upon in a referendum, cannot subsequently be removed, deleted or amended by Parliament. This is a myth; Parliament has full power to debate and amend any provision in the Draft Constitution, regardless of the outcome of a Referendum.
Having had their plans to arrest parliamentary proceedings thwarted by precedence in the ZADECO Vs Attorney General, the Grand Coalition now resorts to accusing their erstwhile allies and cohorts of reneging on electoral campaign promises. May we remind the Grand Coalition that no political party manifesto is above the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia, and any attempt to subvert the Constitution to a party manifesto would have been met with a fierce response asserting the supremacy of the Constitution.
We urge fellow citizens to uphold the rule of law underpinned by the current Constitution of Zambia which ONLY grant an exclusive mandate to our freely elected Members of Parliament to make laws for our Republic, and to support the current process.
YALI fully agrees and endorse President Edgar Lungu’s call upon our fellow citizens to demand that Members of Parliament do the right thing and give us a progressive constitution which we have been demand all these years.
We want to encourage all political leaders whose political parties are represented in Parliament i.e Edith Nawakwi, Charles Milupi, Nevers Mumba, and Hakainde Hichilema, to come out clearly and show a political will by encouraging their Members of Parliament to, for once, be on the right side of history where they will contribute to successfully bettering our Constitution and protecting the people’s interest and voice. That Bill before the House, in all its respects, represents the consistent calls by the people to have better laws. Members of Parliament must listen to their own conscience and deliver that better law as we await for the Referendum of 2016 to also include the expanded Bill of Rights.
Signed
Isaac Mwanza Governance Advisor Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI)
SPEAKER of the National Assembly Patrick Matibini has said that it is criminal for any Member of Parliament to merely register their presence in the house yet abscond from parliamentary proceedings.
Ruling on a point of order raised by Local Government and Housing Minister Steven Kampyongo last week on whether UPND Members of Parliament were in order to merely register their presence in the house and later walkout and never to return to the house for the rest of the day, Dr. Matibini said while it is conventional for MPs walkout of the chamber for whatever reasons, this practice has the unfortunate tendency of denying the electorate of representation in the house.
The Speaker said that such conduct is not only dishonorable and dishonest, but is also unbefitting of the status and dignity of a Member of Parliament.
Dr. Matibini added that this action is also tantamount to obtaining pecuniary advantage by false pretences contrary to Section 309a of the Penal Code Chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia.
He further stated that in essence it amounts to a criminal offence for which a member may on conviction be liable to imprisonment for 5-years.
Dr. Matibini said that was very unfortunate for Members of Parliament to elect to absent themselves from the house at a time when the 2016 national budget which has a direct and serious bearing on the people of Zambia is being considered.
The Speaker has since directed the Clerk of the National Assembly to immediately start recording MPs who come into parliament to merely register their names and walk out without returning.
And the Speaker has reprimanded Monze central Member of Parliament Jack Mwiimbu for walking out of the house immediately after raising a point of order last week on the attack on the UPND offices in Kitwe by suspected Patriotic Front cadres, before he could make a ruling.
Dr Matibini said that Mr. Mwiimbu was out of order as his action breached parliamentary etiquette
He reminded parliamentarians that parliamentary etiquette and decorum demands that members behave in a manner which is befitting of their status in society.
A married woman of Highlands in Livingstone, who admitted to having an affair with another woman’s husband, has been fined K5,000 for adultery.
This is in a case in which Melia Sikabwe of Dambwa township sued Astriana Muntanga, demanding K15,000 as compensation for adultery.
Sikabwe told the court that Muntanga was having an intimate relationship with her husband, Hillary Miyoba.
“I want her to just give me K15,000, compensation for having sex with my husband,” she said.
And Muntanga admitted to sleeping with Sikabwe’s husband but said it only happened once.
The court had adjourned the matter pending the appearance of Sikabwe’s husband. However, the plaintiff’s husband failed to appear in court.
But Gibson Sikabwe said he does not believe that his wife was caught committing adultery as she was framed.
Passing judgment, the court dismissed the K15,000 claim, and instead ordered Muntanga to pay Sikabwe K5,000 as compensation in monthly instalments of K500.
A wizard crashed-landed in Choma while mysteriously ‘flying’ to the tourist capital, Livingstone on a suspected witchcraft cruise.
The Copperbelt-based wizard was said to have been flying from Kalulushi town to Livingstone in Southern Province before he crashed-landed.He was discovered making snake like movements in the premises of United Church of Zambia (UCZ) in Shampande Township where he fell down in the early hours of Monday.
When word went round of the bizarre occurence, scores of residents while gripped in fear and panic, jostled to the scene to catch a glimpse of the man.Police rushed to the scene to rescue the mystified 22-year-old man whose body was said to have been deeply tattooed.
The man earlier told the inquisitive on-lookers that he was allegedly initiated into Satanism by his colleagues and was flying from Kalulushi to Livingstone.Police have since identified him as Chilufya Makungu of House Number 1A15 Nkana in Kalulushi.
Southern Province Police deputy police chief Bonnie Kapeso also confirmed the bizarre in an interview.Mr Kapeso said Mr Makungu was discovered by a UCZ caretaker, Lita Hamalambo, who found him manifesting like a snake in the church premises.
“The suspect (Mr Makungu) says he was in the company of five others mysteriously flying to Livingstone for satanic mission but later fell down,” he said.
Mr Kapeso said that police found the man in a confused state which suggested that he could have crashed-landed.He said that police are holding him for further investigation into the bizarre matter.
The UCZ pastor could not be reached by press time as he was reported to have travelled out of Choma.
Outgoing FAZ-treasurer Kelvin Mutafu’s allegations made last week should not be taken lightly.
His allegations of embezzlement of FAZ funds and proceeds from counterfeited Zambia replica Nike jerseys are very damning and have seemingly not been taken seriously.
It is very rare, in Zambia for that matter, to hear a public officer turn whistle-blower.
The whistle-blower is not even a well-known rebel but a longtime and staunch Kalusha Bwalya loyalists.
For those that do not remember Mutafu, he is one of the three co-opted FAZ committee members in 2010 at the height of the Bwalya and Andrew Kamanga factional standoff.
This is a man who was the executive committees eyes on the balance sheet and had first hand knowledge of the money trail.
For years, no one could make a case stick on FAZ’s alleged financial mismanagement despite long-standing speculation.
Today an insider at the very heart of Kalusha Bwalya’s ‘Politburo’ drops the bomb and it is handled with a slap on the wrist.
FIFA has led the way in its reforms which is the subject of a running story with the international media.
And now it is time for FAZ to stop hiding behind the chicanery of beautifully crafted reaction statements over the matter enter the dock and prove their innocence and also show us all a pious ledger.
Members of Parliament
The Non Governmental Organizations’ Coordinating Council (NGOCC) has urged Members of Parliament to reject the Constitution amendment Bill which comes up for debate in Parliament tomorrow.
NGOCC Executive Director Engwase Mwale in a statement issued to QFM News says her organisation joins the Grand Coalition in opposing the treacherous and risky route taken by the Patriotic Front (PF) to use Parliament to enact the new constitution, against the wishes of the Zambian people.
Ms. Mwale says NGOCC appeals to Members of Parliament from both the ruling party and the opposition to reject the Government’s Constitution Amendment Bill so as to allow the Zambian people give unto themselves a constitution that they have so desired for many years which can only be achieved through a National Referendum.
She says as confirmed by President Edgar Lungu’s public statement recently, the parliamentary direction is too risky as the country has been through this road before and did not yield any meaningful results.
She states that while the country has been at this constitution making process for far too long and spent huge amounts of resources, there is need to ensure that the contents of the constitution, as submitted by the people, are protected from manipulation especially by the ruling party.
Ms. Mwale notes that from the various statements made by the PF over the last four (4) years, it is clear that the PF lacks the necessary political will to enact a truly people-driven constitution through Parliament.
She adds that given that they seem to have the numbers in the Parliament, it is clear that the outcome of the new constitution will not reflect the aspirations of the Zambian people, but their partisan PF interests.
Ms. Mwale says NGOCC therefore appeals to the conscious of Members of Parliament to oppose the Constitution Amendment Bill and allow the Zambian people to give unto themselves a truly people-driven constitution.
She states that for the women of Zambia a new constitution will be meaningless without the expanded Bill of Rights, a process that is not a possibility without holding a national referendum.
We have noted with concern the continued mistreatment of our hardworking and passionate Civil Servants by the PF Government under the leadership of HE President Edgar C Lungu.
15th of every month has been the traditional pay date for our under-appreciated and over stretched Civil servants in Zambia and the late HE Michael C Sata ensured that civil servants get paid salaries was at least 17th of every month.
With the ever escalating prices on all household goods, daily job losses in our dwindling PF economy, it is mind baffling to imagine that President Lungu can even allow our Civil Servants to work for 30 days but get paid on the 45th day every month. This is criminal and murderous behavior by our State President shows lack of care for the Zambian families.He can afford to take holidays, fly around the world with 256 people to USA, buy free tickets for Soccer fans at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium but fail to pay his own employees on time.
The continued mismanagement of our Economy by the PF Government is a clear testimony that they have failed and this leadership is Visionless.
Whilst President Lungu is failing to pay his employees on time, he has created 5 new Ministries and this should each be costing the Treasury over K200 000 every month.
President Edgar Lungu wasted Taxpayers money by moving State House to Kitwe for political rallies and insulting Labour Unions and issuing fake threats to Mopani Copper Mines. MCM Owners have however embarrassingly showed State House who is the real boss in the Mines by proceeding to fire 4000 employees.
Our humble president HE Edgar Lungu and his leadership do not understand poverty because they get everything for free no wonder they are punishing even our abused Civil Servants like the men in uniform. They see it fit to command unpaid men in uniform around Zambia to beat up innocent UPND cadres whilst they enjoy luxuries in Lusaka.
We therefore urge you the Zambians to get your NRCs and Voters cards so that you can choose better leadership in 2016
By Matthew Chanda,
UPND Kitwe District Media Office
