Dr Mbita Chitala has advised the financial and fiscal management at the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Zambia to resign so that the kwacha can be saved from the free fall depreciation.

Dr Chitala who is former finance deputy minister in the MMD administration and also Zambia Research Foundation Executive Director said the kwacha was losing value due to poor economic management that led to the introduction of SI 33 and SI 55 and their subsequent revocation.

He said investors that were removing their moneys from the local economy had lost trust in the current leadership managing the country’s financial control.

The Kwacha has continued to depreciate hitting K6.61 and K6.63, buying and selling against the dollar respectively as of yesterday.

The local currency has been rated Africa’s worst performing currency and second in the world after Ukraine.

From trading about US$1 to K3800 in 2011 as President Michael Sata was taking over power, the kwacha has weakened in drastic fashion and may soon hit the K7 (7000) against US$1 rate.

“The major problem we are facing is that of confidence in the economy and our managers. After the revocation of Statutory Instruments Number 33 and 55, the same managers are managing the economy.

Ordinarily, it was going to be good for those managers to either resign on their own, or be shifted to other institutions so that new people come in,” Dr Chitala said.He said most investors had shifted their assets from Zambia.

“Those people who brought in SI 33 and 55 which led people to shift their assets from Zambia to foreign accounts have not yet returned their money as they are not yet convinced that these managers who had hurt them so much have now become better and consistent managers namely the people at the ministry of Finance and the Bank of Zambia,” Dr Chitala said.He insisted that the best the government could do was to shift the financial managers to other government institutions and appoint new people in those areas so that confidence could be restored.

Government says the levels of piracy in the country is worrying and has for this reason called for concerted efforts to effectively fight the vice.

Commerce, Trade and Industry minister Robert Sichinga says it was for this reason that his ministry is currently working on a bill that will protect the creative works such as tradition dances and ceremonies in the country.

Mr. Sichinga said Zambia has rich culture and tradition that needs to be protected so as to maximize the benefits because the value in the creation and use of intellectual property for economic development has not only been recognized in Zambia but globally.

“Today, universal acceptance and strategic use of intellectual property offer an opportunity for individuals, businesses and countries to convert their creative resources into economic assets capable of generating wealth and contributing to a more secure future, “he said.

The minister said this during the commemoration of World Intellectual Property day at the Freedom statue under the theme: “MOVIES A GLOBAL PASSION”

And some unscrupulous business people are reportedly putting counterfeit hologram stickers on some audio-visual products which they are selling to unsuspecting consumers despite the October 31, 2013 deadline.

Cycorps Managing Director Kingsley Nkonde says some unscrupulous people in the music and film industry have already started producing counterfeit hologram stickers which they are putting on audio and visual products which are being sold to unsuspecting consumers.

Mr. Nkonde said following a successful sensitization campaign on the introduced hologram in the country spear headed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services (MIBS) in all the ten provinces, consumers have been looking for audio visual products with a hologram.

He added that this has now forced pirates to start producing counterfeit holograms.

Mr. Nkonde then presented a musical DVD for Malawian Skeffa Chimoto which has a combination of a Zambian and the Malawian hologram to the minister.

He said this was being done because consumers are now demanding to see holograms before they buy any audio-visual product being sold on the street or in the shops.

And Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) acting assistant registrar Sunduzwayo Zimba says intellectual property is a very important tool for economic growth of any nation.

Mr. Zimba said at the same function that intellectual property rights shape each stage of the film-makers journey from the script to the screen.

He said this year’s theme cannot over emphasised because it has come at a better time when most of the film producers and script writers alike have not fully benefited from their works.

Meanwhile, the intercepted counterfeit Samsung phones valued at K867, 000 have been destroyed.

The counterfeit products were destroyed at the Central Recycling Company yesterday in the presence of the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA), Samsung representatives in Zambia and Cycorps Zambia Limited officials.

And Cycorps Managing Director Nkonde reaffirmed his organization ’s commitment to rid the country of counterfeit products.

Mr. Nkonde said the Government has lost millions of kwacha through counterfeit Samsung phones that come into the country without paying tax at the point of entry into the country.

“These counterfeit products are just smuggled into the country and government has continued lose millions of kwacha through such illegal activities, ” Said Mr. Nkonde.

Farmers in Kaputa District have advised government to increase this year’s maize floor price at K85 per 50 kilogram bag.

And Kaputa Central Camp Agricultural Committee (CAC) Chairperson, Philemon Kapoma suggested that government needs to consider the price of fertilizer and other costs when coming up with the price.

Meanwhile, Kaputa has been allocated with six satellite depots where the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) will be buying the maize from.

The farmers say their demand for increased floor price was because the current floor price has remained at K65 last four seasons.

ZANIS reports that the concerned farmers said this in an interview at the Kaputa Central Agricultural Camp Show yesterday.
They said government needs to look into their plight and increase the floor price.

The over 100 farmers who attended the Camp show over half said they want the floor price increased to K85 while a few proposed K75.

And Kaputa Central Camp Agricultural Committee (CAC) Chairperson, Philemon Kapoma suggested that government needs to consider the price of fertilizer and other costs when coming up with the price.

Mr. Kapoma told ZANIS in a separate interview that most farmers were not having any profit by selling the maize at K65 .

Meanwhile, Kaputa has been allocated with six satellite depots where the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) will be buying the maize from.

Acting Kaputa District Agricultural Coordinator (DACO) Charles Mwanza said Kaputa will have six satellite depots while Nsama district will have four.

Mr. Mwanza said the two districts will start with the same satellite but is hopeful that the number of satellites will be increased once the marketing season gains momentum.

The maize floor price for maize has remained at K65 per 50 kg bag since 2009.

THE Ministry of Labour and Social Security directed management of Armcor Security Company to settle the salaries owed to its workers.

The directives followed the reports that workers at the company were protesting over non-payment of salaries.

Ministry of Labour and Social Security Chief Planner for Press and Public Relations Mirriam Mukonde Zimba said yesterday that following the meeting, Armcor management assured the ministry that it would pay outstanding salaries to its workers by 23rd of May 2014

Ms Zimba said the ministry of Labour and Social Security directed that the payments should be implemented without fail as agreed in the meeting.

“Management of Armcor and three unions representing security guards were summoned for a meeting with a view to normalizing operations of the security firm particularly payment of salaries,” she said.

Three unions namely National Union for Safety and Asset Care Workers (NUSCAW), Zambia Union of Security Officers and Allied Workers (ZUSOAW) and the United National Union of Private Security Employees (UNUPSE) attended the tripartite meeting.

She said management informed the ministry that the challenges the company was facing were as a result of maladministration by the previous management which had led to the current cash flow problems which they were trying to resolve.

The two parties assured the ministry that they would go and address the workers and revert to the ministry for an update.