The Bank of Zambia (BOZ) says it has withdrawn about K3.178 trillion (KR 3.178 billion) as at the end of 28th February 2013 and issued about KR three (3) billion (K3.178 trillion) since the new currency was introduced into circulation at the beginning of the year.

BOZ Head of Public Relations Kanguya Mayondi says this represents 82.71 percent withdraw of cash in circulation at the close of the year 2012 which stood at K3.841 trillion (KR3.841 billion).

Mr Mayondi revealed this in Lusaka yesterday in response to a ZANIS press query.

Mr Mayondi also said on 25 January, 2012 the Bank of Zambia announced that it had approved the recommendation to rebase the Kwacha by dividing the existing banknotes by 1,000 which in effect caused the cancellation of three zeros on the existing banknotes.

He said as of January 2013, new notes and coins were issued in circulation to run alongside the old currency up to June 30th 2013 when the old notes are expected to be phased out.

He said the central bank was on track in withdrawing all of the old currency from circulation before the deadline in June this year.
And some members of the public in Mumbwa have expressed ignorance that the exchange of the old kwacha notes will continue up to December 31, 2013.

This came to light yesterday when Bank of Zambia officials visited the district to assess the impact on the use of the rebased notes and coins.

During a survey in the market and shops some members of the public expressed ignorance after being asked on what will happen to the old notes after ceasing to be legal tender on June 30.

Some said they would destroy the notes after 30 th June as they will no longer be in use.

BOZ delegation leader Maeke Njunju told marketers that the bank’s design is to continue exchanging the old kwacha notes up to December 31, 2013.

And Mumbwa Market Chairperson Humphrey Shamasale said although people in the township were responding well to the new currency they have no adequate knowledge on the conversion of smaller notes to coins.

Mr Shamasale said traders are not conversant especially on the 5n, 10n, and 50n as they have problems to equate them to the old K500, K100, and K50 notes.

Another businessman of Asian origin complained of inadequate supply of coins which makes the public to resist acceptability.

Meanwhile the police in Mumbwa are holding one man for laminating and glue two sides of the new bank notes

Police sources said the man in his 30s was arrested after he laminated the back and front parts of a K100, K50 and K20 specimen notes cut from posters.

He is expected to appear in court after police has concluded investigation.

THE Zambia Institute for Human Resource Management (ZIHRM) and the labour movement have welcomed Government’s decision to ban foreigners from taking up Human Resource Management (HRM) jobs in all the institutions in Zambia.

ZIHRM president Winner Kanyemba said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that Zambia had enough local professionals who were competent to execute the functions of human resource in any institution.

He said the local human resource personnel had a better understanding of the Zambian labour laws, the environment and the culture making them better placed for the job.

He said since the Zambianisation programme was introduced, the ZIHRM had trained a good number of human resource personnel to carry out the functions of HRM in both private and public institutions.

“For national economic development to be strengthened human resource officers who understand the environment in which the institution is operating in are desired,” he said.

He said the HRM had an important role to play in an institution of ensuring right attitudes were instilled in employees.

Mr Kanyemba said this had not been so with the influx of foreigners taking up HRM who did not understand the local culture thereby compromising performance of employees.

He said the institute was willing to work with the ministry of Labour to conduct inspections to ensure that all institutions engaged local human resource officers.

The ZIHRM Act number 11 of 1997 also demands that all human resource managers should be affiliated with the institution.

Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ) president Joyce Nonde-Simukoko said the move would make it easier for the labour movement to negotiate for conditions of service for the workers.

Ms Simukoko said the benefit of the local HRM was that they understood the needs of workers in terms of their environment culture, practices and attitude.

And the Zambia Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) president Leonard Hikaumba said the move would bring sanity in the labour industry which had been marred with intolerance and abusive language.

He said it was sad that in some institutions, foreign HRMs were even denying their employers to attend funerals for close relatives for failure of understanding the cultural system in Zambia.

“It’s unfortunate that some HRM in some of these companies are disregarding the cultural heritage of the country such as denying employees to attend funerals for close family members,” he said.

The Zambia 2010 Census of Population and Housing national analytical report was this week launched in which, it revealed that out of 2.5 million youths in the labour force, 16.7 per cent are unemployed.

Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba launched the report in Lusaka where he appealed for more support from stakeholders to help Government in making available accurate, reliable and timely statistics for national planning, monitoring and evaluation.

The report provides updated data on demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the Zambian population at province, district, to the lowest administrative levels.

Zambia’s population in 2010 was 13,092,666 which increased from 9,885,591 in 2000 with the male population at 6.5 million representing 49.3 per cent while that of female was 6.6million representing 50.7 percent of the total population.

The report revealed that the population residing in the rural areas was 7.9 million (60.5 per cent) while the urban population was 5.1 million (39.5 per cent).

Lusaka had the highest density with 100.1 persons per square kilometre while the lowest population density was recorded in North-Western province at 5.8 persons per square kilometer.

On the unemployment rate involving youths between 15 to 35 years by rural, urban and province, 7.5 per cent were from rural areas, 22.0 per cent in urban.

In provinces, Muchinga had 7.7 per cent, unemployed youths, Northern 7.9 per cent, Luapula 9.3 per cent, Western 10.1 per cent, Eastern 10.4 per cent, North-Western 13.3 per cent, Southern 14.8 per cent, Central 16.2 per cent, Lusaka 25.1 while Copperbelt was at 29.6 per cent.

The report says 4.3 million persons were in labour force, out of which 2.4 million were males and 1.8 million females countrywide.

It says of the 4.3 million persons in labour force, 554,202 (13.0 per cent) were unemployed, with the Copperbelt province having the highest unemployment rate at 22.1 per cent while Northern Province was lowest at 6.3 per cent.

The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) was 76 deaths per 1000 live births in which rural and urban areas had rates at 81 and 68 deaths per 1000 live births respectively.

Luapula had the highest IMR with 100, Eastern 97, Muchinga 84, Western 82, Northern 82, Central 71, Lusaka 68, Copperbelt 66, North-Western 58 and Southern Province 53.

The report further revealed that there were 25,324 Albinos in the country, of which 12,532 were males while 123,792 were females.

Mr Yamba called for increased technical and financial support from stakeholders to assist Government in statistical undertakings to make timely release of statistics for effective national planning.

“Population is our most valuable resource and we can only take stock of it through an activity like the census. We now have the data, therefore, the challenge remains with all of us to ensure it is put into good use by making informed decisions for our people,” he said.

Mr Yamba said the report was important as it would help how public resources could be shared evenly across the country and to ensure that services at local levels were relevant to all.

Earlier, Central Statistics Office (CSO) director John Kalumbi said information was key in any development process and that the national census was important for providing national statistics.

He thanked Government for providing the needed resources adding that the 2010 census could influence decisions by Government and several other stakeholders.

The Bank of Zambia officials have appealed to the people in Western province to accept using the new rebased currency as it is the legal tender in the country.

Bank of Zambia Investigations Officer and team leader Maeke Njunju said this in an interview with Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in Kaoma district yesterday.

Mr Njunju who is on the tour of Western to assess the impact of the rebased currency both the notes and the coins on the financial bodies and the marketers in all the districts of the province said the majority of the people were acknowledging the new currency which is in circulation at the moment.

He said people should ensure that they utilized the remaining time before June 30, this year when the outgoing currency ceases to be a legal tender in the country so that come July 01, 2013 everyone in the country is conversant with the new rebased currency.

Mr Njunju said people should ensure that they continue exchanging their old monies in the ZAMPOST and NATSAVE Bank and other banks which are partners of the Bank of Zambia in ensuring that every citizen accessed the new rebased currency.

He said that the exchange of the old currency with the new rebased currency will continue up to December 31, 2015 adding that after 2015 no one would be allowed to exchange the old currency with the new rebased currency in the country.

And Kaoma District Marketers’ Association Chairman, Ngangula Njamba has called on the Bank of Zambia to speed up the process of producing more coins as there are not seen in circulation in the district.

Mr Njamba said that the only currency which is readily available in Kaoma was the new rebased notes not the coins adding that people will face challenges especially when the old lower notes will not be allowed after June 30, 2013 for people to buy goods and services.

He however complained that the new rebased notes especially K2, K5, and K10 notes respectively fades faster and that there is need to ensure more of the coins were produced in numbers as they are more durable as compared to the paper notes.

Mr Njamba also complained that if coins are not introduced quickly into circulation people in the rural areas will find difficulties in using the new coins for buying goods and services adding that coins such as the five, ten, fifty and the one kwacha were not found on the market.

ZANIS