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President Michael Sata speaks as First Lady Dr Christine Kaseba listens at Chimutengo cemetery during the burial of the Post Bus Accident victims on Febraury 11,2013-Picture by THOMAS NSAMA
President Michael Sata this morning led thousands of people at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola for mass funeral of the Chibombo accident victims involving a Post bus, a truck and a Toyota Land cruiser.
Fifty one (51) people died in the accident with the majority of the victims being Ndola residents.
President Sata is accompanied to the funeral by First Lady Christine Kasemba.
Addressing mourners at the stadium, President Sata called on the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RATSA) to intensify road patrols to avert road traffic accidents in the country.
President has also called for the need to mourn the accident victims with dignity.
By broadcast time the funeral procession had proceeded to Mitengo cemetery were the burial of the accident victims is expected to take place.
President Sata who arrived in Ndola this morning has declared three days of national mourning in honor of the accident victims.
President Michael Sata laying wreaths at Chimutengo cemetry during the burial of the Post Bus Accident victims on Febraury 11,2013-Picture by THOMAS NSAMA
Pigs enjoying on the flooded road that passes through Chibolia Compound in Lusaka
A clergyman in Mungwi says there is need for the government to expand the current roads in the country to avoid fatal accidents such as the one which claimed more than 50 lives in Chibombo area.
Church of God Bishop, Sampa Musonda, observed that the amount of traffic in the country has increased tremendously adding that there was need to upgrade the roads to meet the current traffic demands.
He was speaking to Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in an interview in Mungwi today.
And the Bishop has also wished bereaved families of the John Chinena accident God’s strength as they mourned their loved ones.
Bishop Musonda also paid tribute to the government for giving support to the affected families during mourning period.
He said the church will remain supportive to the government by offering prayers so that God can direct the nation at all times.
Meanwhile, The Church of God Bishop says there need for all well-meaning Zambians to support the recommendation by the Technical Committee on drafting the Zambian constitution to change the current electoral system.
Bishop Musonda says Article 135 on Election to the National Assembly is well-meant because it will reduce unnecessary by-elections caused by self-individuals who resign to join other political parties.
He said government was currently spending a lot of tax-payers’ moneys on by-elections which can be directed to other important national issues such as construction of roads and improving learning in schools.
Bishop Musonda said some members of parliament who were defecting to other parties were selfish and a disgrace to the electorates.
File: Zambia sugar Corporate affairs Manager Lovemore Sievu takes shareholders on a conducted tour of the sugar plant in Mazabuka
A report by ActionAid has revealed that Zambia Sugar Plc has siphoned KR374 million from Zambia through exploitation of legal loopholes from 2007 to 2012.
The report entitled ‘Sweet Nothings’ was released globally yesterday by ActionAid, an international movement working to achieve greater human rights for all and to defeat poverty.According to the report, the Zambian public service has also lost an estimated KR116 million as a result of the company’s tax avoidance schemes and special tax breaks.
Dr. Francis Mubanga a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and Securities & Investment Expert has called on MPs, Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), Securities and
Exchange Commission to immediately investigate these allegations and give Zambians a report just like the reports that have been given by other Government or Quasi-Government institutions such as Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).
‘Instead of denying and giving us a blanket statement, we ask Zambia Sugar Plc – Illovo to give us a comprehensive report of their side of the story and distribute it to both online and print media,’Dr.Mubanga said.
‘Zambia Sugar Plc has within 30 days to give us a comprehensive report from the date of the first publication of this Press Release,’he said.
Meanwhile Zambia Sugar spokesperson Lovemore Sievu said last evening that the ActionAid report was full of inaccuracies.Mr Sievu said Zambia Sugar did not and would not evade paying tax to the Zambian Government.
[pullquote]Zambia Sugar, a subsidiary of Associated British Foods, admitted generating KR550 million in profits and virtually paying nothing in corporate taxes and only 0.5 per cent of that was paid to the Zambian Government[/pullquote]
“We categorically deny the report by ActionAid. The report is absolutely full of inaccuracies. Zambia Sugar meets all its legal obligations including tax,” he said.
Mr Sievu said the firm was one of the largest foreign exchange earners and employer in Zambia and that it was the single largest tax payer in the agricultural sector.
The report said Zambia Sugar, a subsidiary of Associated British Foods, admitted generating KR550 million in profits and virtually paying nothing in corporate taxes and only 0.5 per cent of that was paid to the Zambian Government.
ActionAid Zambia country director Pamela Chisanga said yesterday when she explained the report to journalists that the revenues lost by the Zambian Government were 10 times bigger than the amount of British aid to Zambia’s education sector each year.
She said Zambia Sugar’s case is a common trend in some multi-national companies operating in the country.Ms Chisanga said when Zambia’s tax-funded education, health and nutrition services were suffering from crippling lack of revenue, the siphoned money from Zambia Sugar could put extra 48,000 children in schools.
She said since 2007 when Associated British Foods bought Zambia Sugar it has paid an Irish firm US$47.6 million for management services despite that company’s accounts stating that it had no employees.Although the company said it was an error, Zambia lost an estimated US7.4 million in corporate and withholding taxes as a result of the action.
Since 2011, Zambia Sugar had also paid KR15.2 million annually as an export agency commission to its sister company registered in Mauritius
where companies were taxed at three per cent.
In November 2007, she said, Zambia Sugar took a KR280.5 million loan and this was routed through Ireland to avoid Zambian tax on the interest
charges and the country lost an estimated K13.5 million in withholding taxes.
She said that company shuffled its ownership between the tax havens of Ireland, Netherlands and Mauritius in which it reduced withholding tax it pays on dividends in Zambia by an estimated KR32 million since 2007.
The report will be launched in Zambia at a public forum tomorrow.
And in a media statement Illovo denied that it was engaged in anything illegal, immoral or in any way designed to reduce the tax rightly payable to the Zambian Government.
“We are very proud of Zambia Sugar and the major contribution that it makes to the Zambian economy,” the statement read.
The statement said that despite Illovo’s attempts to persuade ActionAid to improve its report by correcting errors and introducing more balance into its analysis, the international organisation had decided to publish a highly inflammatory account of the company’s tax position.
First Lady Dr Christine Kaseba breaks down at Linah Mwale and her two chiildren’s funeral house Linah and her children died on the Post Bus accident. This was on Feb 10,2013-Picture by THOMAS NSAMA
The Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) says the church will hold prayers for the wellbeing of the nation because Zambia cannot afford to distance itself from God.
CCZ general secretary Suzanne Matale said the country needed prayers in such hard and trying moments.
Rev Matale said the three church mother bodies would meet today meet to decide when the prayers would be held.
“The three church mother bodies are meeting today to discuss when the prayers will be held to ask God to intervene in the situation the country is going through. With these happenings, Zambia cannot afford to distance itself from God” Rev Matale said.
On Thursday more than 51 passengers aboard a Post Services Bus perished in a road accident in Chibombo area of the Central province in a head on collusion with a truck.
The country has also witnessed in the recent past unexplained suspected ritual murders that have claimed lives of taxi drivers and young women around the country.
Rev Matale said in an interview that the three church mother bodies would hold prayers to seek God’s intervention.
She said that the country needed God’s intervention now than ever before and appealed to all to join in prayers.
She said it was important for all churches in the country to pray for the nation especially for families who have continued to lose their beloved ones in unexplained circumstances.
“Zambia is facing a serious time which needs prayers from everyone to seek for God’s intervention,” she said.
More than 30 people who died in the road accident would be buried today on the copperbelt while others would be buried in Kabwe and in other places.
First lady Christine Kaseba is already on the Copperbelt to give comfort to the bereaved families as well as attend the burial expected to be held at Levy Mwanawasa stadium.
First Lady Dr Christine Kaseba at Linah Mwale and her two chiildren’s funeral house Linah and her children died on the Post Bus accident. This was on Feb 10,2013-Picture by THOMAS NSAMA
Paramount Chief Mpezeni of the Ngoni speaking people of Eastern Province has warned against any form of politics at this year’s Ncwala traditional ceremony.
Chief Mpezeni said all people regardless of their political affiliations and different backgrounds will be treated as delegates at the inaugural traditional ceremony.
ZANIS reports that Inkhosi Mpezeni said this in a message read on his behalf by the Ngoni Royal Establishment Spokesperson George Zulu during a fundraising walk in Lusaka yesterday.
Meanwhile, Chief Mpezeni has sent a message of condolences to the families of the 51 victims who died in a road accident at John Chinena area along the Great North Road in Chibombo district.
Chief Mpezeni has since appealed to all the delegates travelling to the inaugural Ncwala traditional ceremony to observe all traffic rules and regulations.
President Michael Sata is expected to grace this year’s Ncwala ceremony which will be held on the 23rd of February at Mtenguleni Park in Chipata.
Other notable delegates expected to attend this year’s ceremony include South African President Jacob Zuma, Malawi’s Joyce Banda, Mozambique’s Armando Guebuza, members of the diplomatic corps and other senior government officials.
Traders on the black market in Solwezi district are selling a 25 kilogramme bag of breakfast at KR92 (K92,000) and roller meal of the same quantity at KR82 (K82,000) amid shortage of the commodity.
Some Solwezi residents decried that unscrupulous traders at Kazombe market have taken advantage of the shortage and have since hiked the price of the commodity.
A retired employee from a Solwezi based mining firm, Julius Phiri, attributed in an interview the hiking of mealie meal prices at Kazombe market to the shortage of the commodity in the district.
Mr Phiri said yesterday that unscrupulous traders were selling the commodity in broad daylight and strongly appealed to relevant authorities to urgently address the problem.
A school teacher, Shadreck Mpundu said most families were unable to afford buying the commodity because of the soaring prices.
Solwezi District Commissioner Chrispin Likando confirmed the increased price of the commodity and urged residents not to panic as Government was doing everything possible to ensure the situation returns to normal.
Mr Likando said traders on the black market were selling the commodity mostly in the night and that the shortage had persisted for more than three days.
“The traders on the black market have hiked the prices of mealie meal to about KR70 (K70,000) and they are mostly selling the commodity in the night,” Mr Likando said.
He said his office has since requested the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to urgently supply 30,000 bags of maize to local millers and residents to cushion the high demand for the commodity in the district.
He said FRA managed to deliver 1,200 bags of maize to the district last week out of which 120 had already been bought by consumers by Friday the same week.
“Most retail outlets are selling the commodity at about K50 (K50,000) except at one of the outlets of Antelope where a 25 kilogramme bag of breakfast was being sold at K55 (K55,000). The shortage started on Wednesday last week,” he said.
He said the shortage was fueled by limited millers, retail outlets and agents operating in the district who have failed to satisfy the local market.
“Literary, we have had no mealie meal for three days although the flow of the commodity in the district has gradually started. We received supply of 1,200 bags from Superior milling and 800 from Antelope,” he said.
Mr Likando assured that his office would conduct random checks at traders who were suspected to be selling the commodity at exorbitant prices.
President Michael Sata recently directed traders and millers to with immediate effect start selling a 25 kilogramme of breakfast at less KR50 (K50,000).
Information and Broadcasting Minister Kennedy Sakeni
Government has warned that law enforcement agencies will pounce on political parties using violence such as the alleged ‘Mapatizya ‘formula by United Party for National Development (UPND).
The UPND is insisting that it would use the infamous Mapatizya formula which is synonymous to violence during Livingstone and Mpongwe by-elections.
The Mapatizya formula is alleged to be deeply associated with violence as it caused some bloodshed during the bye elections held in Mapatizya constituency in Southren Province some years back.
But UPND president Hakainde Hichilema despite warnings from Government and law enforcement agencies against the use of the formula insisted that it would use it because it was peaceful and democratic.
In an interview yesterday, Chief Government spokesperson Kennedy Sakeni warned that the law would visit the opposition political party if it used formulas which had potential to cause violence.
Mr Sakeni who is Information and Broadcasting Services Minister said law enforcement agencies would not take kindly to any illegal activity that amounted to causing violence during the Livingstone and Mpongwe bye-elections slated for February 28, 2013.
He however said that Government had no problems with political parties engaging in peaceful and democratic campaigns.
He said the two by-elections were expected to be held in a civilized and non violence manner.
“I am appealing to all political parties participating in the by-elections to uphold electoral code of conduct,” he said.
Mr Sakeni said that it was government‘s wish to see the Livingstone and Mpongwe bye elections peaceful.
Meanwhile, Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) executive director Macdonald Chipenzi said his organization had little information on whether or not the Mapatizya formula was violent.
Mr Chipenzi however appealed to political parties to desist from using malpractices during the by elections.
He said such methods were costly to the country in an event the courts nullified the elections based on electoral malpractices.
File: Zambia sugar Corporate affairs Manager Lovemore Sievu in yellow takes shareholders on a conducted tour of the sugar plant in Mazabuka
Zambia Sugar has dismissed the report by ActionAid that it was involved in evading tax remittance tax avoidance in Zambia.
Spokesperson Lovemore Sievu said the report by ActionAid was full of inaccuracies, adding that Zambia Sugar that was engaged in anything illegal, immoral or in any way designed to reduce the tax rightly payable to the Zambian government
“We categorically deny the report by ActionAid. The report is absolutely full of inaccuracies. Zambia Sugar meets all its legal obligations including tax,” he said.
Mr Sievu said Zambia Sugar was one of the largest foreign exchange earner and employer in Zambia. He said the company was also the single largest tax payer in the agricultural sector.
“We are very proud of Zambia Sugar and the major contribution that it makes to the Zambian economy,” he said.
[pullquote]Tax evasion: Illegal or fraudulent non-payment or underpayment of taxes. Tax avoidance :The organisation of finances or accounts in such a way as to minimise declared income and therefore pay as little tax as possible – often through finding and exploiting loopholes in different countries’ legislation. This is legal.[/pullquote]
Mr Sievu said that despite Illovo’s attempts to persuade ActionAid to improve its report by correcting errors and introducing more balance into its analysis, ActionAid had decided to publish a highly inflammatory account of the company’s tax position that is incomplete at best and factually wrong in places.
Illovo had engaged openly with ActionAid to set out the correct position.
“ActionAid have failed to reflect this in their report. ActionAid has clearly decided that its campaign should take priority over the facts,” he ssaid.
A report released by Action Aid International Zambia revealed that Zambia Sugar PLC, producer of White Spoon Sugar and other household brands, was evading tax remittance in Zambia.
The report which was released in Lusaka yesterday indicated that Zambia Sugar PLC had been avoiding remitting full tax since 2007.
Action Aid Zambia Country Director Pamela Chisanga said the continuous trend by Zambia Sugar and other corporate entities of avoiding paying taxes deprives the poor Zambians from having access to basic necessities.
She added that due to these corporate institutions avoidance to remit revenue to government, the vulnerable Zambians have continued to live in adverse poverty.
“If Zambia is ever going to end its dependence on foreign aid, it must first be able to raise the money needed to provide for its own citizens. Taxes are a sure source of sustainable income. Taxes pay for critical public services like healthcare, good infrastructure, clean water and many other social amenities,” she said.
Ms Chisanga has since called on all Zambians to join hands and take urgent action in ending tax evading among corporate entities in the country.
Stephen Keshi says he would like to forget about the disappointment of Nigeria’s failure to defend their title in 1996 in South Africa after the irony of playing the final of the 2013 Africa Cup in Johannesburg where they face Burkina Faso on Sunday night.
Nigeria withdrew from defending their title in 1996 following a backlash over it human rights record during that period.
“What happened in 1994 we won and as for 1996 is out there I don’t like to talk about past, those things are out there,” Keshi said.
Keshi was captain of the 1994 winning team that beat Zambia 2-1 in Tunis.
Meanwhile, Captain Joseph Yobo said the current Nigeria team has defied its skeptics through unity.
“The difference is that there is a lot of unity that’s the difference for me from the other squads I have played in,” Yobo said.
“Unity was not that strong the way it is right now because we were from different cultures and places we come from.
“We are more solid now, we are closer because people didn’t give us a chance and that has made us work very hard.”
Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi welcomes CAF’s decision to expunge Burkina Faso midfielder Jonathan Pitroipa.
The Stade Rennes player was sent off in controversial circumstances in Burkina Faso’s 3-2 post-match penalty semifinal win over Ghana on February 6 for alleged simulation in the box although replays showed otherwise.
Referee Slim Jdidi from Tunisia later admitted he erred in his judgment forcing CAF to reverse the decision and slapped an indefinite suspension on the match official.
“I think I applaud the decision made by CAF by rescinding the decision,” Keshi said.
“When you look at the video, you look at the game, it is obvious this guy does not deserve a red card.”
Keshi said Pitroipa’s return will add excitement to the final.
“For the game I think it is a good thing because for the 90 , 000 fans coming for the game it’s going to be fun to watch good football,” Keshi said.
“It is not every day that you get to play in the Africa Cup of Nations final and without any offence. I think it (the suspension) was a little over the top.”
Burkina Faso who are playing in their first Africa Cup final face Nigeria at Soccer City in Johannesburg on Sunday night with The Super Eagles aiming for their third title.
Konkola Blades on Saturday began their two-match DR Congo tour with a loss to Don Bosco in Lubumbashi.
DR Congo’s 2013 Confederation Cup representatives beat Blades 2-0.
Chico Ushindi and Jonathan Merikani were on target for Don Bosco in the 60th and 80yj minutes.
Blades today face TP Mazembe in the final warm-up game.
Meanwhile, Mazembe reports on its website that it is expecting it DR Congo and Zambia players from the 2013 AFCON Cup to report to camp on February 11.
Both teams were ejected from the tournament in the preliminary group stage on January 29.
The Zambian players expected back for pre-season training are Rainford Kalaba, Francis Kasonde, Nathan Sinkala and Jonas Sakuwaha.
However, Mazembe did not state when AWOL defender Stopilla Sunzu would return.
Sunzu is reportedly holed up in England trying to tie up a deal without Mazembe’s blessings.
Workers packing sugar for transportation within Zambia
Associated British Foods has been accused of Zambia tax avoidance after sending massive profits abroad. One of Britain’s biggest multinationals, whose brands include Silver Spoon sugar, Twinings Tea and Kingsmill bread, is avoiding paying millions of pounds of tax in Zambia a country blighted by malnutrition, a year-long investigation revealed on Sunday.
The Zambian sugar-producing subsidiary of Associated British Foods, a FTSE100 company, contributed virtually no corporation tax to the state’s exchequer between 2007 and 2012, and none at all for two of those years.
The firm, Zambia Sugar, has recently posted record pre-tax profits and its huge plantation is increasing its capacity to produce more sugar for markets in Europe and Africa. Yet it paid less than 0.5% of its $123m pre-tax profits in corporation tax between 2007 and 2012.
The company benefits from generous capital allowance and tax-relief schemes in Zambia, but the investigation also found that it funnels around a third of its pre-tax profits to sister companies in tax havens, including Ireland, Mauritius and the Netherlands. Tax treaties between Zambia and some of those countries mean the state’s revenue authorities are unable to charge their normal tax on money leaving their shores.
[pullquote]Zambia Sugar admits it has paid “virtually nothing in corporation tax” in recent years[/pullquote]
The revelations are contained in a report published by ActionAid, which exposes how Zambia Sugar has kept its contribution to the state’s exchequer so low, although the company says that globally it actually pays a higher rate of tax on its profits than it otherwise would due to its corporate structure.
It is estimated that the tax haven transactions of this one British headquartered multinational deprived Zambia of a sum 14 times larger than the UK aid provided to the country to combat hunger and food insecurity.
ActionAid’s findings will heap more pressure on the chancellor, George Osborne, to make progress in closing gaps in international tax standards and tackling avoidance at the G20 meeting of world leaders this week and the G8 in June.
The total loss to tax avoidance by multinationals in the developing world is estimated to be around £70bn a year, enough to save the lives of 85,000 children under the age of five in the world’s poorest countries every 12 months, campaigners say.
The deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, who will visit Africa this week, said on Thursday that tackling those “gaming the system, seeking to play us all for fools” will be a priority for the UK government when it chairs the G8.
But Ivan Lewis MP, the shadow international development secretary, said rhetoric needed to be matched by action. “ActionAid’s report underlines the urgent need for David Cameron and George Osborne to match their tough talk on tax avoidance with meaningful action.”
[pullquote]
The total loss to tax avoidance by multinationals in the developing world is estimated to be around £70bn a year, enough to save the lives of 85,000 children under the age of five in the world’s poorest countries every 12 months
[/pullquote]Sir Malcolm Bruce, chair of the cross-party Commons select committee on international development, said: “I would like to think Associated British Foods’ board will now say, ‘Are we really being fair to the Zambians?'”
Lord Oakeshott, the Liberal Democrat peer and a former economist for the Kenyan ministry of finance, said: “We must start by changing the law here, so big businesses like ABF must show the tax they actually pay in each country where they operate, and explain fully in each case why it is so far below the headline corporation or profits tax rate.”
Zambia Sugar admits it has paid “virtually nothing in corporation tax” in recent years due to capital allowances and reliefs granted to it by the Zambian tax authorities to finance its expansion, including one obtained by taking the Zambian government to court.
ActionAid’s report reveals, however, the existence of an additional array of transactions that reduce Zambia Sugar’s taxable profits in the African state, while the structure of others avoids Zambian taxes that are ordinarily levied on foreign payments.
The report focuses, in particular, on annual $2.6m payments to an Irish sister company whose accounts have repeatedly stated that it has no employees. Associated British Foods says this is an accounting error, but even the latest accounts filed on the 28 January, after the firm was presented with ActionAid’s findings, repeat the allegedly erroneous statement.
[pullquote]It is estimated that the tax haven transactions have deprived Zambia of a sum 14 times larger than the UK aid provided to the country to combat hunger and food insecurity.[/pullquote]
Chris Jordan, a tax specialist at ActionAid and co-author of the report, said: “This is a really shocking case where the Associated British Foods group has gone to great lengths to ensure it pays virtually no corporation tax in a very poor country. Tax avoidance is not victimless financial engineering. In Zambia 45% of children are malnourished and two-thirds of the population live on less than $2 a day.”
Money meant for these poor Zambia children is instead siphoned abroad by so called investors
A spokesman for ABF’s subsidiary company, Illovo, the immediate owner of Zambia Sugar, said: “We deny emphatically that Illovo is engaged in anything illegal, immoral or in any way designed to reduce the tax rightly payable to the Zambian government. We are proud of Zambia Sugar and the major contribution it makes to the Zambian economy.
“Since 2008 Illovo has invested £150m to double the production capacity in Zambia and so create the largest sugar mill in Africa. This mill and related activities provide employment for more than 5,000 people. Capital allowances on this investment have resulted in no corporate tax being payable since the investment was made.
“The availability of these allowances, used by governments all over the world, has nothing to do with tax avoidance. African governments should be as free as any other to attract investors.
“Payments made by Zambia Sugar for the services of third-party contractors, expatriate personnel in Zambia and export services provided by Illovo, are made at cost … there’s no artificial reduction in profit in Zambia Sugar.
“These payments are made to overseas companies, largely for historical reasons, and are not driven by tax considerations. ActionAid could not be more mistaken.”
“You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; so light will shine on your ways.” (Job 22:28, NKJV)
TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria
Today I declare that a shift is coming. Whatever you need — a shift in your health, a shift in your finances, or a shift in a relationship. It may not look like anything is happening in the natural, but we serve a supernatural God. He’s about to breathe in your direction in a new way! The enemies you have seen in the past, you will see no more. The addictions or bad habits that have held you back are being broken in Jesus’ name. God’s favor is being released in a new way that will propel you forward. What should have taken you 40 years to accomplish, God is going to do in a split second!
The shift is acceleration. The shift means going beyond where you could go on your own. The shift is seeing Jehovah Jireh, the Lord our Provider, do exceedingly, abundantly above and beyond. Now our attitude should be, “God, I’m ready. I’m taking the limits off of You. I’m enlarging my vision. I may not see a way, but I know You have a way. I declare I’m coming into a shift!”
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Father, today I open my heart and mind to You. I declare that a supernatural shift is coming my way. I receive Your Word, I receive Your truth, and I receive the increase You have in store for me in Jesus’ name. Amen.
— Joel & Victoria Osteen
Several houses have collapsed in Mumbwa’s Nangoma area leaving 1600 households homeless after heavy rains.
Mumbwa District Commissioner Sunday Shamabanse disclosed the calamity in an interview with ZANIS in Mumbwa yesterday.
Mr Shamabanse said the incidence happened on Tuesday evening following a heavy downpour which also left several fields of crops flooded and many household properties worth thousands of kwacha destroyed.
The District Commissioner has since described the incident as disastrous saying it requires urgent government intervention.
He said Myoye Dam has also collapsed while roads, including those leading to Senior Chief Shakumbila and Chief Kaindu’s palaces have become impassable.
Mr Shamabanse expressed worry that if the heavy downpour continues for 10 or more days, as indicated by the Meteorological department, then there will be serious disaster in the district.
And Mr Shamabanse has expressed concern over the delay by Nyiombo Investments to distribute the much awaited top-dressing fertilizer (Urea).
He complained that to date, farmers in the district have not yet received Urea, a situation he said will affect the yield.
Mealie meal retailers in Solwezi have stated that the alleged shortage of the commodity in the district is as a result of inadequate supplies they have been receiving from the suppliers.
The retailers who meet with Commerce and Trade Minister Robert Sichinga in Solwezi yesterday explained that millers who are mostly based on the Copperbelt and Lusaka have not been supplying enough quantities of mealie meal to Solwezi to meet the demand.
They explained that they are receiving only 400 bags of mealie meal every two weeks from the millers which is not enough to meet the demand.
Solwezi Milling Company proprietor Teta Vundamina said the district require about 2000 bags of mealie meal every week if the demand is to be met.
A check by ZANIS at National Milling, Shoprite, Antelope and Mpongwe Milling outlets revealed that the mealie meal stocks have run out.
Shoprite Branch Manager Bruce Mapika said his shop only received 400 bags this week from National Milling instead of 1000 bags while Mpongwe Milling outlet received 800 by 10 kilogram bags of roller a week ago.
The shortage of mealie meal in Solwezi has resulted in high prices of the commodity on the black market where a K25 kg bag is now being sold at K100 rebased (K100, 000) on average.
And Mr Sichinga urged the retailers to discuss with millers to increase the supplies being supplied to the district considering that there is an increase in mealie meal demand due to increased population.
The minister noted that the shortage has been compounded by the problem of distribution on the part of the millers.
