Former Finance Minister Katele Kalumba has called on Patriotic Front (PF) members with ambitions of becoming the country’s republican President to hold on to their aims for the right time.

Dr. Kalumba’s counsel follows revelations by Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda that there are some PF leaders who have begun positioning themselves for presidency despite there being no vacancy in the country.

Speaking to Qfm news in a telephone interview Dr. Kalumba says politicians whether from the ruling party or the opposition should be reminded that they have a singular obligation to create stability and confidence in the governance of the country.

Dr. Kalumba says this confidence is required at the country’s national security, economical, political, social and cultural levels.

He says this is why it is important to always manage information intelligently on the Head of State to avoid creating troubling anxieties in the minds of the people.

The former Finance Minister says it of this reason he thinks that creating an impression that there is a vacuum in the country’s presidency by people who are alleged to have started positioning themselves for the presidency boarders on creating insecurity in the country.

He says PF member who have aims of becoming republican president should therefore wait for the time that the ruling party goes for a convention.

Vice President, Guy Scott, says he will soon issue a circular to all councils in the country that will control the conversion of traditional land into private ownership.

Dr Scott said this will be done to stop the indiscriminate sale of land by councils and traditional leaders to investors at the expense of their subjects.

The Vice President said this in Siavonga on Thursday when he met Chief Chipepo, Chief Simamba and Chief Sinadambwe of the Tonga speaking people of Siavonga.

Dr Scott said it is disheartening that chiefs, who are supposed to be custodians of traditional land on behalf of the people, are the ones disadvantaging their subjects.

The Vice President said according to the Zambian laws, chiefs do not own land but are merely trustees on behalf of their subjects and should, therefore, not sell land.

He cited Siavonga as one area where local people have been denied access to the lake because most of the land on the lake shore has been turned into private property.

Dr Scott said the PF government wants to protect the wellbeing of ordinary people and will not tolerate a situation where people are not benefitting from their God-given land.

He told the chiefs and the council in Siavonga to resolve the issue of access to the lake so that local people can also utilize the lake for their benefit.

And Chief Chipepo said the matter of chiefs selling land can be resolved by engaging the traditional leaders through the House of Chiefs.

Chief Chipepo said as leaders, chiefs welcome dialogue with government aimed at serving the people better.

The Opposition Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) has disowned Die Hard Youth Wing leader, Bowman Lusambo, saying the former ruling party has no such wing in its constitutional structures.

MMD National Secretary, Muhabi Lungu, wondered why some sections of the media have continued quoting and referring to Mr Lusambo in what he called a wrong way of addressing him as Die Hard Youth Wing.

Mr Lungu stressed that whereas Mr Lusambo may be a member of the MMD, he does not have a position worth being quoted as a bona fide leader in the ranks of the MMD, adding that any coverage of his statements must be attributed either into his personal capacity or any other lawful organisation to which he belongs.

He said the Chairman of Youth and Child Development in the MMD is Muchinga Member of Parliament, Howard Kunda.

He noted that continuing to quote Mr Lusambo as Die Hard Youth Wing leader has a potential to create confusion and offend some of the party members and sympathisers.

“I want to state and stress that it is in the best interest of professional journalism to follow our advice as the contrary has the potential to create confusion and offend some of the party members and
sympathizers. You may please abide accordingly,” explained Mr Lungu.

The MMD, through its then Acting National Secretary, Chembe Nyangu, earlier in March this year wrote to all media houses to stop them from referring to Mr Bowman Lusambo as “MMD Die Hard Youth Wing” claiming that there was no such structure in MMD, stating that the much popularised
wing was an illegal rank.

Efforts to contact Mr Lusambo on the matter proved futile as his mobile number went unanswered.

The Electoral Commissioner of Zambia (ECZ) says the ballot papers for the five Parliamentary Constituencies and one local government (Central province) by elections will arrive tomorrow Sunday at 20:20 hours Zambia time.

ECZ Public Relations Manager, Cris Akufuna, named the five Parliament Constituencies as Mkushi Central, Vubwi, Kasenengwa, Solwezi Central and Zambia West.

Speaking to ZANIS in a telephone interview, Mr Akufuna said all political parties participating in the Parliamentary Constituency and local government by elections will verify the ballot papers on Monday, August 25.

He further stated that after verification the ballot papers will be dispatched to respective constituencies and ward.

ECZ set September 11, 2014, as date for the five pending Parliamentary by-elections in Solwezi Central, Kasenengwa, Mkushi South, Zambezi West and Vubwi.

This was after the Supreme Court’s judgment of July 3, 2014 which cleared the former Members of Parliament who had their elections nullified for engaging in electoral malpractices to re-contest their former seats.

Different women organizations under the umbrella of Non-Governmental Organizations Coordinating Council (NGOCC) stormed the Lusaka Magistrate Court to protest against the Games Stores Manager Vincent Palan who was scheduled to appear in court for allegedly sexually harassing his two female workers.

Mr Palan who was arrested and charged for sexual harassment of his female employees appeared at the magistrate court but his case failed to take off because the docket was not in court.

The women groups who gathered at the main gate entrance displayed placards demanding for an end to sexual harassment against women and immediate deportation of Vincent Palan.

And Kwasha Mukwenu Women Group Chairperson Dorika Phiri said the law should take its course over the sexual harassment offenses levelled against Palan because women were suffering at the hands of their male superiors in working places.

Ms Phiri said it was not fair that women including young girls continued to be sexually abused by men without any recourse from the law.

She has also called for the deportation of Palan saying government should ensure that he goes back to his country.

“We want this man to go and government should see to it that he is deported,” she said.

Two Game Stores female employees Mukamuluti Mwila and Nasutu Munalula have accused Palan of sexual harassment in separate incidents where he touched them in inappropriate manner and verbally abused them after they refused to have sexual intercourse with him.

One of the workers Nasutu Munalula accused him of squeezing her buttocks and attempted to tear her underwear in an effort to touch her private parts.

Kabwata Constituency aspiring candidate Clement Tembo says he is not being sponsored by political enemies of incumbent Given Lubinda.

Featuring on the Hot Seat radio programme on Hot FM on Thursday, Mr Tembo clarified that reports suggesting that he is a sponsored candidate are baseless.

“I do sympathise with the political troubles of my big brother Given Lubinda but I wish to state that I have nothing to do with his political misfortunes. I have not been sponsored by anyone to run for Kabwata seat. I’m my own man and motivated to serve the people of Kabwata,” Mr Tembo said.

Mr Tembo said his stance is to ensure that the people of Kabwata fully participate in determining the development course of their area.

“Some people think Kabwata is just Chilumbulu and Burma Roads but I can tell you that people in places like Mapuloti and Jack are suffering. They don’t see their MP there and they have nowhere to cry to for help. I want to work with the local people to push for their own development.”

Mr Tembo said time for young politicians to rise and take charge of Zambia’s development has come.

“We cannot continue staying on the sidelines. Time is now to fully participate. As young people, we have the ideas and the energy and the zeal to change this country. Why should my brothers and sisters go without water in some parts of Kabwata when there has been an MP who has served for 13 years? Surely something must change.”

Mr Tembo said the role of an MP is to initiate development for the local people and fully participate in the execution of development programmes.

“An MP should not wash his or her hands off and say clearing of garbage for instance is the role of the central government. Our new type of leadership requires that we are fully engaged with the people. When the people of Kabwata cry, I cry with them and together we find solutions to the challenges,” Mr Tembo said.

He said by 2016, he would analysed the various political parties that would be participating and he will pick a ticket on which to stand.

“Let us cross the bridge when we get there. For now I have just introduced myself to the people of Kabwata and I have not even started campaigning yet,” Mr Tembo said.

Several callers to the live programme encouraged Mr Tembo to continue offering himself up for leadership saying his message is inspiring to the youths of Zambia.

Others cautioned him to stick to his messages on development of Kabwata and desist from attacking Mr Lubinda adding that he has a strong chance of becoming Kabwata MP in 2016.

Commission Chairman Professor Chifumbe Chintu stated that the current low staffing levels at 149 trained staff hampers efforts to fight malnutrition.

Professor Chintu observed that Zambia needs close to 1,400 nutritionists to be spread out across key sectors such as health, agriculture, training institutions, the private sector and NGOs.

“Clearly the current number of nutritionists is far below requirement to effectively address the current nutrition challenges,” Prof Chintu said.

He also observed that the food intake situation among Zambians is still a challenge adding that overall dietary score is 5.6.

“This score measures the diversity of foods consumed by households. A dietary diversity score of between 8-13 is preferred and means that households are eating a variety of foods. The Zambian diet has an over reliance on Maize and not diverse enough to provide all necessary nutrients for healthy and productive lives,” Prof Chintu stated.

Prof Chintu said meat and meat products including eggs and yellow fruits and vegetables are poorly consumed particularly in rural areas.

“More households consume dark green vegetables, fish and fish products were also poorly consumed. This shows that food consumption is poor.”