Vice President, Guy Scot, has asked the electorate in Mangango Constituency to vote for the Patriotic Front (PF) candidate, Rodgers Lyambai Lingweshi, in the August 19, by-election.

Dr Scot said people of Mangango should vote for Mr Lingweshi because only the ruling party candidate can foster development in the constituency.

Speaking during a public rally to drum up support for Mr Lingweshi at Kafwansoni Primary School yesterday, the Vice President said the opposition has no developmental agenda for the constituency.

He said the Patriotic Front is creating a better Zambia as it can be evidenced by the developmental projects being undertaken in less than three years that the party has been in government.

Dr Scot said the opposition has no message for the electorate in Mangango apart from peddling lies about President Micheal Sata’s health.

And speaking at the same rally, Western Province Minister, Richwell Siamunene, said voting for an opposition Member of Parliament (MP) will be wasting votes because the opposition parties do not want to cooperate with government.

Mr Siamunene said although he was an opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) MP he is serving in the PF government in order to take development to his constituency.

He said it is only an MP from the ruling PF who can bring development to Mangango Constituency.
And PF Chairperson for elections, Silvia Masebo, asked the people of Mangango to give the ruling party an opportunity to prove itself in terms of service delivery by voting for its candidate.

Ms Masebo said people of Mangango will be free to vote for another party in 2016 if PF fails to address some of the challengers being faced in the area.

The Mangango seat fell vacant after the nullification of the seat for Robert Taundi Chiseko of the MMD by the Supreme Court.

Church Mother Bodies say demands by Members of Parliament, Civil Society Organizations and some opposition political parties to meet President Michael Sata at State House are justified.

Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) President Reverend Alfred Kalembo has told QFM News that President Sata however deserves privacy as an individual despite him being a public figure.

Reverend Kalembo says those seeking to meet the President should do so by being mindful of the President’s individual privacy.

Reverend Kalembo was however quick to mention that people have the right to know what is happening to the Head of State following his absence from the public eye.

He says Zambians are anxious for the President to address them on the many issues that have been happening in the recent past.

And Independent Churches of Zambia (ICOZ) Board Chairperson, Bishop David Masupa, says the people of Zambia deserve to know what has been happening to the Head of State.

Bishop Masupa says the only way to end speculation on the President’s wellbeing is by him addressing a press conference.

Meanwhile Christians against Poverty in Zambia (CAPZ) Executive Director, Evangelist Gregory Chileshe, says it is pointless for MPs, CSOs and political parties to demand to meet President Sata, but that it is important for president to address the nation.

Evangelist Chileshe says most of the people are eager to have the President address the nation.

And the sixteen political parties in the Grand Coalition championing the speedy enactment of the new Republican Constitution have opted to take the battle to the streets following government’s apparent unwillingness to dialogue over the release of the final draft constitution.

Spokesperson of the sixteen political parties, Reverend Jervan Kamanga, says all efforts to dialogue with government for the possible release of the final document have failed and that the only solution left is to take the fight to the streets.

Reverend Kamanga has told QFM News in an interview that if it means to camp at State House to demand for the release of the document, the grand coalition will do just that.

Reverend Kamanga, who is also National Restoration Party (NAREP) National Secretary, says government is doing injustice to the people who voted for them by ignoring the issue of the constitution.

He says the Grand Coalition has been meeting to discuss the way forward and that they have resolved to put the necessary pressure on the government to release the document.

Reverend Kamanga says the Grand Coalition will continue to look for means and ways to compel the government to release the final document.

MMD President Nevers Mumba says Zambia will be saved from immoral politics very soon.

Reacting to Patriotic Front Secretary General Wynter Kabimba’s remarks that he is a cheat, Dr. Mumba says it is God who will judge him and not any human being.

Dr. Mumba has told Qfm News in an interview that he has always been a Pastor and has never stopped serving God as Mr. Kabimba is implying.

He laments that Mr. Kabimba is attacking his personality and his Christian life because of politics, which he says is wrong and unacceptable.

Dr Mumba has reemphasized that he is still a strong a Preacher with 53 churches dotted around Zambia and outside the country.

And Dr. Mumba has noted the need for politicians to respect each instead of engaging in immoral politics that will not yield any positive results.

He says he will stand firm and continue speaking to Zambians on the need to promote peace and unity in the country.

MMD Mwandi Member of Parliament Michael Kaingu has observed that the gesture by PF Matero MP Miles Sampa to donate taxis to jobless youths in his constituency is a business venture.

Dr Kaingu said there is nothing spectacular about Mr Sampa’s initiative because he is treating it as a business venture.

“It is not really a donation. It’s an investment. He promised those youths and he has used a business principle to deliver part of that promise. It’s really nothing as far as am concerned,” Dr Kaingu said.

He said the public should not use the Mr Sampa’s initiative as the pinnacle for public service saying some MPs do a lot of work even without publicizing them.

“Some work quietly you know, they don’t want to attract unnecessary attention but they do a lot of work for their people so for me am really not bothered,” he said.

Pressure mounts to introduce cameras in courts, law enforcement institutions
Members of the public have continued mounting pressure on the judiciary to introduce cameras in courts and institutions that deal with law enforcement in the country in order to ensure transparency in their discharge of their duties.

The debate as to whether cameras should be installed in courts to film proceedings or not has been popping up in almost all the townships the Legal and Justice Sector Reforms Commission has held public sittings in Lusaka.

Members of the public have suggested that judges and law enforcement agencies such as the police, Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) officers, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Prisons Service officers were breaking laws with impunity because no one monitors their operations.

Others have suggested that cameras in courts and police stations will help members of the public to understand court procedure which would help them once they appear in court to either defend themselves or to testify against the accused.

Today the topic of introducing cameras in the courts of law came up during the commission sitting in Chilenje where a resident of Libala, Brian Kuwema, submitted that the commission should consider introducing CCTVs in courts if corruption and all sorts of injustices by the judges are to be addressed.

Mr Kuwema stated that apart from judges, police officers, DEC officers and officers at the Prisons Service violate human rights everyday as they are not monitored by anyone.

He explained that at both the police and in prisons, inmates’ human rights are violated as they are beaten by officers which should not be the case.

He observed that the camera would also serve as sensitization to the public who would get to know the procedure in both courts and police.

He said the gadgets can be installed and controlled by the institution to avoid interference.

And Mr Kuwema submitted that for the judiciary to be independent, the Chief Justice should not be appointed by the President but an independent board which should be interviewing people who qualify for the job.

Meanwhile Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) Executive Director, Lee Habasonda, observed that the introduction of cameras in courts would interfere with security matters despite the idea being a measure to enhance transparency in courts.

Mr Habasonda, however, wondered how the cameras would work at police stations especially if they are operated by the same officers as they would be turning them off if they want to commit some illegal activities to avoid being spotted.

He noted that introducing cameras in courts, prisons and police was a good idea as it would expose illegal activities in law enforcement institutions.

A Serenje ex-military officer yesterday left the Legal and Justice Sector Reform Commission with mixed reaction after he narrated of how he suffered imprisonment on charges of defilement which led to the loss of all his financial resources but was later acquitted.

Major Nicholas Munthali of Serenje District in Central Province told the commission that because of negligence by the police and the magistrate he was made to serve prison sentence for three years at Mukobeko Maximum Prison before the truth was established to warrant his acquittal.

He explained that during the process of proving his innocence in the courts of law he lost all what he worked for in the civil service due to high legal fees.

Major Munthali sent the commission into laughter after he disclosed that the police believed the story of a young girl who was merely dreaming of being defiled and arrested him which later went to court
without proper investigations.

He stated that it took him three years for the high court to prove that he was innocent and by then he had lost almost all his property.

He observed that the police do not investigate before arresting people, a situation he said has led to congestion in remand prisons and delayed justice.

He also submitted that the local courts should be abolished in Zambia as they do not serve any purpose because they are not in consistence with other courts but a mere source for corruption for local court justices.

He called on the judiciary to closely monitor the operations of the local courts and the prisons to ensure that corruption and perpetuation of human rights violation is avoided.

A petitioner, Obed Mukwala has submitted before the Frederick Chomba-led Commission at Lusaka’s Chilenje Community Hall that the law on defamation of the President should also be abolished because it was archaic and discriminatory.

He instead recommended that the Commission should come up with a different law that would only allow for a fine once one was found guilty and not a custodial sentence which was currently obtaining.

“I know that the President is a respected person in society and that anyone found abrogating the law on the President should be arrested for defaming the President, but this is infringing on people’s rights of freedom of expression, it should be abolished forthwith,” Mr Mukwala said.

Mr Mukwakwa also submitted that the Supreme Court should not be allowed to refer back cases to the lower court for re-trial because it was considered as the last court of appeal and must deliver the last judgment and not referring back cases as it delayed matters and was a waste of time.

Brian Kuwema submitted that the Commission should introduce CCTV cameras in court, police and prisons to monitor the level of human rights as well as the progress made by the courts.

Mr Kuwema told the Commission that lawyers should stop wearing wigs because they were intimidating and should also move with technology and start using laptops and ipads instead of heavy briefcases.

He said the behaviour of the Drug-Enforcement Commission (DEC) officers when searching suspects was so intimidating and left many people injured and, in the process, making citizens fear to report any case to them.

THE Legal and Justice Sector Reforms Commission yesterday heard that the five-year ban on Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education (ZIALE) students who fail three examinations should be abolished.

George Silonda submitted that the law banning students after attempting three examinations should not be entertained because it was segregative and shattered future dreams for would-be lawyers.

Mr Silonda said ZIALE students already had a qualification from the University of Zambia (UNZA) and that in an event that they failed ZIALE examinations for three times, it did not mean that they were dull but it was clear that the move was meant to avoid saturating the market.

He also proposed that ZIALE should come up with specialised courses because it currently has too many courses, making lawyers not to concentrate and ending up failing because the school has too much work.

“ZIALE should have specified people as lecturers, examiners and people to specifically mark. As it is, it is compromising because the same people are lecturing, setting examinations and marking the same exams,” Mr Silonda said.

The petitioner also submitted that ZIALE should allow more tuition centres to be opened while it remained an examination centre.