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Opposition Zambians for Empowerment and Development (ZED) President Fred Mutesa has urged Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba not to be personal on the Honorary Prize for African Democracy awarded to former President Rupiah Banda.
Opposition Zambians for Empowerment and Development (ZED) President Fred Mutesa has urged Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba not to be personal on the Honorary Prize for African Democracy awarded to former President Rupiah Banda.
Mr. Banda was honored for his contribution to the wellbeing of Zambians and for respecting the will of the people at the 2012 Lifetime Africa Achievement Prize-giving ceremony held in Kenya on Saturday.
But Mr. Kabimba is quoted in some sections of the media disputing Mr. Banda’s recognition stating that he does not deserve it.
But speaking in an interview with Qfm News, the ZED president says Mr. Banda’s recognition should be commended by well meaning Zambians as it underscores the importance of democracy and the rule of law.
Dr. Mutesa says the recognition of president Banda should not be politicized.
He says Mr. Kabimba should realize that Mr. Banda’s gesture of accepting defeat following last year’s general elections cannot be taken away from him and has earned him International recognition.
Dr. Mutesa says it is therefore important for people to congratulate Mr. Banda for his achievements regardless of their political affiliation.
Government has said that it has credible information on a Rwandese national Abdul Simwaya that guarantees his deportation to the country of his origin.
Home Affairs minister Edgar Lungu said that the government is aware that Mr. Simwaya has been an agent of the Rwandese government and that he is wondering why Mr. Simwaya has been rejected.
Mr. Lungu has told a media briefing that the government is also aware that Mr. Simwaya had been issuing death threats to a refugee resident in Zambia adding that the deportee in question is inimical to the state.
Mr. Lungu added that as Minister of Home Affairs, he is duty bound to ensure that foreign nationals resident in Zambia abide by the laws.
The Minister noted that government will not hesitate to deport foreigners that breach the Zambian laws adding that prosecuting them locally will just further strain the country’s judicial system.
The children of Mr. Simwaya have challenged the government to explain to the nation the charges that led to the deportation of their father.
Zambia and Nkana striker Evans Kangwa says he is delighted to be invited for trials by English championship league side Watford.
Kangwa, the 2011 FAZ Super Division top scorer, is next month set to travekl to England for trials at the former Premiership side.
He confirmed that Watford have expressed interest in him.
“It feels good to be invited by a big club like Watford to attend trials. It’s an honour for me,” Kangwa said.
“I am just waiting for traveling documents. I will be traveling next month,” he added.
It is reported that Kangwa has further interested Dutch side Feyenoord.
The striker is currently in camp with Chipolopolo preparing for Saturday’s away friendly against Tanzania set for the National Stadium
in Dar-es-Salaam.
MMD cadres during the Press conference held at party president Dr.Nevers Mumba’s residence
Some Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) Members of Parliament have rebutted a Zambia Daily Mail story of yesterday that quoted party President Nevers Mumba as having admitted that 30 of his MPs were planning to defect to the ruling Patriotic Front (PF).
Speaking at a press briefing at the MMD secretariat in Lusaka today, MMD Solwezi Central Member of parliamentary Lucky Mulusa claimed Dr. Mumba was misquoted saying the 30 MPs will not cross over to the PF.
He said the former ruling party has since written a letter to the management of the Zambia Daily Mail to retract the story.
Mr. Mulusa said the party’s MPs are not so irresponsible as to defeat the aims of democracy and disappoint the people to whom they campaigned and convinced to send them to parliament on the MMD ticket by resigning from the party to join the PF.
He claimed that there was something peculiar about the MPs who have so far resigned from the MMD to join the PF saying most of them were facing criminal charges in the courts of law and that their crossing to the ruling party was a desperate effort to have their criminal cases dropped.
Mr. Mulusa said the resignation of such MPs was therefore an assault and a mockery on the country’s justice system.
He further stated that the excuses that the MMD was dictatorial and that they would not remain in a troubled party does not hold water alleging that there were more dictatorial tendencies and problems in the PF.
Mr. Mulusa said MMD MPs will ensure the party survives by making sure that there was order and unquestioned support to a democratically elected party leadership and also to a democratically instituted National Executive Committee (NEC).
He alleged that the appointment of MMD MPs as Deputy Ministers in Government was just a ploy by the PF to destroy democracy in the country.
Mr. Mulusa said PF only wants to increase their numbers in parliament and that was why they were appointing opposition MMD MPs in Government, saying there were many qualified and competitive PF MPs in parliament who should serve in Government as ministers.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mulusa said the party membership and the nation at large are tired of the recent squabbles that have rocked the party.
Asked to state whether the party was also going to expel party Vice President Brian Chituwo for seeming to support expelled National Secretary Richard Kachingwe, Mr. Mulusa said the party would deal with that issue internally.
And the Solwezi Parliamentarian has dismissed claims that camps have emerged in the former ruling party, saying there were absolutely no divisions in the party.
And Sinda MP Levy Ngoma stated that should the leadership of the party decide to bring back expelled Secretary General Richard Kachingwe, the MPs would halt their contribution to the party.
Mr. Ngoma said the MPs cannot continue funding a Secretary General who was inimical to the interest and principles of the party.
Speaking at the same occasion, MMD Chitambo MP Mushili Malama said the MMD MPs were strongly behind the leadership of the party President Dr. Mumba and also stands by the expulsion of Major Kachingwe as National Secretary of the party.
Mr. Malama said the expulsion of Maj. Kachingwe was sanctioned by MPs who petitioned his expulsion following his utterances which clearly showed that he was no longer serving the interests of the party.
Five MMD MPs who claimed to represent the 30 members alleged to be planning to defect to the PF attended the briefing and these included Mr. Mulusa, Mr. Ngoma, Mr. Malama, Christopher Malila of Lukulu East and Anne Chungu of Lufwanyama constituency.
MMD president Nevers Mumba indicating his details in the police register at the Kitwe East police station
By Dr. Charles Ngoma
Not so long ago, I wrote about the need for reform of the Zambia police service. That call seems to have fallen on deaf ears. The recent activities of the police service in Zambia, and in particular against the leader of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), Dr Nevers Mumba, are a clear indication that the service is not a service at all but an instrument of political oppression by the powers that be.
It looks like barbarism of the Zambia police is on the rise. It is very sad indeed to see such unprofessional behaviour of our men in uniform in a democracy. Public Order Act or no Public Order Act, it is wrong to use power so arbitrarily as the Michael Sata led Patriotic Front government is doing.
[pullquote]one day when the music plays, you will dance alone[/pullquote]
If the Public Order Act was really what it says, why is it applied selectively? What our police men and women need to know is that when it comes to paying for human rights abuses, ‘following orders’ is not accepted as defence. The same advice goes to the military. The recently reported orders, allegedly, by the head of State to shoot to kill civilians in the Western Province of Zambia is, I hope, an order that will never be obeyed. Each and every one of you will have to account for their actions individually. May I suggest that you follow your conscience, because one day when the music plays, you will dance alone.
People in a queue for mealie meal in Chililabombwe this week
It’s now becoming increasingly clear that fear and greed have permeated every sector of our beloved nation and firmly taken root.Except for a few principled individuals, almost everyone is seemingly held in total captivity and they can’t dare interrogate government on some of its shortcomings for reasons best known to themselves.
Whereas some politicians such as MPs and councillors especially from MMD are slowly flocking to the ruling PF obviously because “njala yabanyokola” as former President Rupiah Banda would say, vital institutions that are expected to speak up for the downtrodden such as the media, the church, labour movement, LAZ, UNZASU, TIZ and civil society have all suddenly lost their voices.Surely, is it in order for the said institutions to stand aside and watch when all is not well in the nation? MMD may have made mistakes, many mistakes in fact, but should we go to sleep after putting PF in power and only become vigilant after 10 years or so of PF being in power?
[pullquote]In the 1990s we created a demi-god in FTJ. We watched him defraud us and make our fledgling democracy fray at the edges[/pullquote]
We are repeating the same grave mistake we made 21 years ago after ushering Chiluba in power. If I may borrow Field Ruwe’s words from his recent article on Zambian Watchdog, “We never learn. In the 1990s we created a demi-god in FTJ. We watched him defraud us and make our fledgling democracy fray at the edges. During FTJ’s reign we witnessed denial of fundamental human rights, arbitrariness, absence of the basic freedoms, corruption of the worst kind, dissipation of the treasury, and misappropriation of millions our dollars.”Indeed, we never learn as a nation! Many of you would agree that a number of things Field Ruwe writes about run parallel to what we are either reading or hearing about today. Allow me to categorically highlight some of the shortcomings of PF ever since they assumed power:
Denial of fundamental human rights
When President Sata lost to Banda in the elections of 2008, he immediately hit the campaign trail a few days later. He made sure he combed the breadth and width of this nation lamenting how victory had been robbed from him and pontificating about how he was going to rebuild the nation within 90 days if voted into power come 2011 elections. And people obviously cheered along; here was their long awaited messiah. The question that now remains to be answered is: why shouldn’t President Sata allow leaders of the opposition to interact freely with their members when Banda willingly allowed him to do so? Is he probably afraid that PF would be relegated to opposition ranks come 2016 because of their failure to effectively govern the nation?
Corruption
During his days in the opposition, President Sata was always the first one to paint the MMD administration as blatantly corrupt! And upon assuming office, he openly declared that he was allergic to corruption and promised that he would deal firmly with ministers or civil servants suspected to be entangled in any corrupt practices. To any analytical mind, the President may not be allergic to corruption after all. If indeed he was allergic to corruption as he claims, why didn’t he ask his Justice and Defence ministers to step aside to allow ACC to freely investigate them following mounting allegations of corruption on their part?What about the company alleged to have been single-sourced to carry out renovations at State house,doesn’t this amount to an act of corruption? Remember, former Communications and Transport minister Dora Siliya in the Banda administration is in court for a similar offence; she is alleged to have influenced single sourcing of a firm to supply radar equipment at KK international Airport. What is good for the goose must surely be good for the gander!
Dissipation of the treasury
While we appreciate the creation of additional districts by the President as this would enhance development in one way or another, we are concerned with the manner the exercise is being carried out. The President would just wake up and declare this village or outpost a district without taking into consideration the cost implications. The creation of more districts has to be budgeted for otherwise this is going to be a drain on the treasury as more money has to be allocated towards the construction of offices for the new Boma as well as salaries for the district commissioner and other civil servants.
Arbitrariness
At the height of fuel shortages during MMD rule,Mr. Sata went to a fuel station with a container to queue up for fuel – this picture made it to the front page of The Post newspaper. Did anybody attempt to arrest him, then? Why is he blocking the opposition from visiting markets or arresting them for visiting markets or traditional leaders? While this gross violation of human rights is slowly taking root in the nation, the church, labour unions, civil society and the media are scared of speaking out for the voiceless because they are either afraid of the unknown or they are greedy fellows who have been simply compromised. While the majority of citizens are enduring pain and hardship, these people are daily frequenting State house to lobby for government jobs or contracts. This is so disgusting!
The Patriotic Front (PF) Kabwata Constituency has filed a petition demanding the immediate removal of area Member of Parliament Given Lubinda as their representative.
In a petition handed over to PF Lusaka District chairperson, Goodson Banda, in Lusaka yesterday, Kabwata Constituency chairperson David Silubanji denounced Mr Lubinda accusing him of failing the Constituency.
The embattled Foreign Affairs Minister faces disciplinary action for alleged treachery after PF Secretary General and Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba gave him a seven-day ultimatum to exculpate himself which had since elapsed.
“We have decided to recall and withdraw our support from Hon. Given Lubinda to be our MP following reasons that require further investigation so that ultimately power remains with people and allegiance of members to the party and not a dishonest individual,” Mr Silubanji said.
Mr Silubanji accused Mr Lubinda of not visiting his Constituency to perform and participate in party activities since being re-elected as MP last year.
He alleged that Mr Lubinda had not been helpful to the party on empowerment in areas such as job creation projects and skills training.
His also disclosed that Mr Lubinda had withdrawn financial support to the operations and management of the Constituency.
Other reasons cited, were Mr Lubinda’s alleged involvement in manipulating the election of district officials and influencing ward councilors not to respect and work with the party.
“His continued dark corner friendship with UPND, MMD, other individuals and groupings that threatens the confidentiality of our privileges as members of the PF and his decision to include relatives and friends who are not PF officials to go for training abroad at the expense of our members who fought for the 2011 election victory,” he added.
Mr Silubanji further accused Mr Lubinda of selfishness in the manner he acquiring a piece of land and that the plot had now expanded and was encroaching on land reserved for roads.
He said Mr Lubinda had no formal relationship with PF structures and organs and had refused to attend constituency meetings.
“We ask for divorce to be granted and thank you for listening to us,” Mr Silubanji said.
The petition was also expected to reach President Michael Sata, Mr Kabimba and the central committee.
And receiving the petition, Mr Banda promised to forward the petition through the laid down structures of the PF.
“This should be a lesson to all the MPs that they should be visiting their Constituencies. I will take the petition through the laid-down procedure so that it is heard,” Mr Banda said.
Mr Lubinda is accused of leaking vital PF information to online publications as well as collaboration with the troubled opposition MMD and United Party for National Development (UPND).
Children to the recently deported Rwandese national Abdul Simwaya have challenged government to tell the nation what terrorist activities their father was involved in.
ZANIS reports that Mustafa and Asia Simwaya said this in a statement in Lusaka yesterday.
The duo were reacting to the deportation of their father, Abdul Simwaya, on grounds that he was linked to a terrorist organization in east Africa.
They said it was shocking that the Mr. Lungu made such allegations and later acted upon them without evidence.
The children questioned why their father was deported and was not arrested, charged and tried in the courts of law in Zambia if he was involved in any criminal activities.
They further challenged Mr. Lungu to tell the nation why he chose to deport their father instead of prosecuting him.
They have complained that the deportation was done irregularly and was unfair as their father was deported unaccompanied.
[pullquote]They said their father come to Zambia in 1966 was awarded Zambian citizenship in 1986 and has lived in Zambia for 0ver 46 years.[/pullquote]
The children said their father was Zambian and was given citizenship when he met all requirements by declaring to the citizens’ board the facts being used against him today.
They have since called on government to protect the interest of all Zambians by instituting inquiries in certain matters before making resolutions.
They said their father come to Zambia in 1966 was awarded Zambian citizenship in 1986 and has lived in Zambia for over 46 years.
MMD spokesperson Dora Siliya says party vice president for administration Brain Chituwo’s sentiments that the expulsion of MMD National Secretary Richard Kachingwe is wrong and against the party constitution, is a personal reflection.
On Saturday, Dr Chituwo who was flanked by MMD national women’s chairperson Catherine Namugala said at media briefing that NEC would soon review the matter to decide the way forward.
Dr Chituwo however, noted that while the expulsion of Major Kachingwe was wrong, the invalidation of the election of party president Dr Mumba by the expelled national secretary was equally not in line with the party constitution.
But in the turn of events, Ms Siliya said Dr Chituwo who is MMD Mumbwa Member of Parliament (MP), could have issued the statement on an individual basis.
She was speaking on Sunday evening when she featured on a live Muvi Television’s Assignment Programme dubbed ‘Politics of the Belly’.
Ms Siliya said, Dr Chituwo could have been expressing an individual decision because NEC met together with him and that a broad decision was made to expel Maj Kachingwe.
“Dr Chituwo is an individual and could have a personnel decision because NEC met and made a final decision which was announced by Mr Pande that Maj Kachingwe was expelled,” she said
Ms Siliya said Dr Mumba would soon call for a meeting to discuss some of the pertinent issues occurring in the party.
She said the MMD and other opposition political parties would this Saturday hold a rally in Mtendere township and was now finalising with police permits.
Meanwhile, with what is seemingly to be growing internal political strife in the MMD top leadership, the party youths in Lusaka province have called on their leaders to put the interest of the party first.
MMD Lusaka Province youth chairperson Watson Mtonga said in Lusaka yesterday that their party leaders should stop washing ‘dirty linen’ in the public in reference to the on-going leadership bickering.
Mr Mtonga was speaking when he presented a petition to party spokesperson Dora Siliya reaffirming their commitment to supporting party leader Nevers Mumba.
“In view of the recent disturbing developments that have been happening and impacting negatively on the party, we the MMD Lusaka youths do here present this petition to the party leadership and the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the MMD.
“We urge all our leaders to put the interests of the party at heart and stop washing any perceived dirty linen in public,” Mr Mtonga said He said the youths supported NEC‘s expulsion of MMD national secretary Richard Kachingwe as recently announced by party chairperson Kabinga Pande.
“We also wish to put on record our full and total support to the Members of Parliament (MP)’s petition to president Nevers Mumba over expelled National Secretary Major Richard Kachingwe because it was clear from his media statements that his allegiance and loyalty had shifted to the Patriotic Front,” Mr Mtonga said
He said NEC appointment of MMD Senga Hills MP Kapembwa Simbao as acting national secretary was a good and vital for advancement of MMD’s ideas during its critical turbulent moment.
And receiving the petition, Ms Siliya urged the youths to remain united and carry out a massive recruitment drive to enable the former ruling party continue to exist.
The Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) has announced the purchasing of six new Diesel Electric (DE) mainline locomotives from China and the re-commissioning of two out of four heavy duty gantry cranes during the month of November 2012, describing it as a major boost to the company’s operations.
The company said the two projects mark significant progress and a major step towards the completion of the implementation of capacity building projects under the 14th Protocol of Economic and Technical Co-operation (14th Protocol), which was signed by the governments of China, Tanzania and Zambia in December 2009.
TAZARA Managing Director, Mr. Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika said the management of TAZARA was confident that much more was on the way to be delivered by all stake holders working positively and rendering appropriately focused and effective support to overcome challenges of undercapitalization, inadequate working capital and the genuine concerns of employees.
Mr Mbikusita-Lewanika said although TAZARA is already has an over-stretched financial situation was making it difficult to meet some of the expenditures related to the projects, such as Port charges and commissioning aspects requiring to be paid for locally the company was committed to change the state of affairs.
He said that the additional six locomotives are expected to enhance motive power to the drastically dwindled capacity and reverse the declining performance that has been witnessed in the past years.
This is contained in a statement made available by TAZARA public relations manager Conrad Simuchile yesterday.
Mr Mbikusita-Lewanika said the company appreciate this contribution towards capacity building in the form of the long awaited six new locomotives and the four strategically located gantry cranes, but much more is required towards a comprehensive and conclusive resolution of challenges that have dogged TAZARA for more than three decades.
He said that all projects under the 14th Protocol were originally scheduled for completion by the end of 2011, but encountered difficulties that caused delays but was happy that the difficulties have nevertheless since been addressed and overcome through collective efforts on the part of TAZARA, the projects’ implementing agents of China and the three governments, paving way for conclusion of the projects.
“We are delighted to be on the last lap to completion of all the projects under the 14th Protocol, even as we continue to face some challenges. But we are determined to meet these obligations, and have been soliciting all the understanding and assistance we need from various parties,” he said.
He said the six 3000-horsepower DE locomotives, which are manufactured in China under license of General Electric Company of the United States of America, have already been cleared from the Port of Dar es Salaam and transferred to the TAZARA Dar es Salaam Workshops where they are awaiting final release and hand-over from the Chinese suppliers.
Meantime, Mr Mbikusita-Lewanika said the Dar es Salaam and Kapiri Mposhi based gantry cranes, which have not been operational for many years, have now been rehabilitated and re-commissioned, leaving the Kasama and Makambako based ones, to be commissioned within the coming four months.
This development will uplift container loading and offloading activities at the two ends of the line, further promising the revival of container transportation throughout the line once the other two gantry cranes at Makambako and Kasama are also fully rehabilitated.
Herve Renard says he and two of his players are hoping Zambia will win more awards on Thursday when they travel to Ghana for the 2012 CAF awards gala.
This is after Christopher Katongo, who was snubbed for the 2012 CAF player award, was on Monday announced winner of the 2012 BBC Player of the Year award.
Renard is in line for the CAF coach of the year award while Rainford Kalaba and Stopilla Sunzu are vying for the CAF African based player of the year award.
Zambia is also favourite for the 2012 team of the year award.
“I leave tomorrow (Tuesday) for Ghana with Stopilla Sunzu and Rainford Kalaba to try and get something,” Renard said on Monday.
“We will see if we are lucky.”
The trio are expected to fly back immediately after the awards ceremony for a friendly commitment away to Tanzania this Saturday in Dar-es-Salaam.
Nkana secretary Ken Mwansa says the club plans to maintain caretaker head coach Zeddy Saileti ahead of the 2013 season.
Mwansa said Nkana does not have immediate plans to make changes to the Saileti led technical bench.
He stated that Saileti performed well after taking over as head coach from Linos Makwaza who was fired in July.
” Currently, we don’t have any plans to make changes to our bench but we will advise when need arises. As at now we will maintain the same technical bench,” he said.
“He (Saileti) has performed exceptionally well. Our aim was to survive relegation and he did just that,” Mwansa added.
Saileti, who took charge when Nkana were 12th on the Super Division table with 16 points, helped the Kitwe side to finish 10th on the log.
Christopher Katongo winner of the 2012 BBC African Footballer of the Year award.Source: BBC sports
Christopher Katongo has won the 2012 BBC African Footballer of the Year award.
The 30-year-old Zambia captain beat off competition from Demba Ba, Didier Drogba, Younes Belhanda and Yaya Toure to become the first winner from southern Africa in the history of the award.
According to Football Association of Zambia , the captain of reigning African champions Zambia was presented with the award at a ceremony in Lusaka by Sports Minister Chishimba Kambwili and FAZ president Kalusha Bwalya.
“On behalf of the BBC, I am pleased to give this award and invite the president of the Football Association of Zambia Kalusha Bwalya to present it to Chris Katongo,” the BBC’s Farayi Mungadzi said before handing over the trophy to Kalusha.
“I’m speechless. I don’t know what to say but my heart is rejoicing. I am grateful to the people who have spoken through their democratic vote,” Katongo said after becoming the first east, central and southern African player to win the BBC annual player accolade.
FAZ chief Kalusha -the only player in the sub-region to win the coveted African Footballer of the Year in 1988 – commended Chris on the accolade.
He said Kalusha had carried the legacy of the greatness of the Zambia national team number “11” shirt very well.
“Well done Chris. This is a fantastic achievement in a year that we continue to achieve lots of success. You have stood out as leader and captain of the team. Ben would have been very proud of you because when we said no to retiring the number 11, we said Chris can continue with the great legacy of the shirt. You have done very well.
“ Congratulations too to your team colleagues, Herve Renard and his staff and all the people that continue to support us,” Kalusha said adding:
“You have continued the great legacy of the number 11 shirt. I’m sure you will remember the late Ben Bamfuchile who gave you your first national team game. When Ben was there, we discussed the shirt and when giving you that number 11, we said that this shirt can score goals on its own. The number itself scores the goals and you have lived up to it. Very well done.”
Kambwili dedicated the award to the rest of the team.
“It’s wonderful that we continue winning. You would not have been able to do it on your own that’s why I would like to dedicate this award to the whole national team,” Kambwili said.
Katongo saw off the challenge of Didier Drogba, Demba Ba, Yaya Toure and Youness Belhanda to win his first continental award.
The Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) says it is grateful to Justice Minister Winter Kabimba’s willingness to be investigated by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC ).
And the Non Governmental Organizations Coordinating Council (NGOCC) says the decision by Mr. Kabimba is what is expected of a leader, adding that it is long overdue.
ZANIS reports EFZ Executive Director Reverend Pukuta Mwanza says the decision by Mr. Kabimba to cooperate with the ACC is commendable.
Reverend Mwanza said that the Justice Minister’s decision to cooperate will make the job easier for the commission.
And the Non Governmental Organizations Coordinating Council (NGOCC) says the decision by Mr. Kabimba is what is expected of a leader, adding that it is long overdue.
NGOCC Board Chairperson Beatrice Grillo said in an a separate interview in Lusaka, today, that the ACC should without fear or favour conduct thorough investigations into the corruption allegations against Mr. Kabimba within the shortest possible time.
On Sunday, the Justice Minister said he was prepared to cooperate with the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) to enable the Commission conduct smooth investigations on allegations leveled against him.
He said this in Livingstone, when he featured on Falls FM’s Checking Point programme.
Kapiri Mposhi district has started receiving chemicals and equipment meant for spraying farms that have been invaded by army worms.
The District has received hundreds of bottles of cypermethrin and Lambda – Wipe to distribute to affected farmers in the area to spray against the pests that have invaded most farms and eating newly planted and germinating crops, mostly maize.
Napsack sprayers, working suits and gumboots have also been delivered to the district for officers who will be engaged in spraying the fields.
Acting District Agricultural Coordinating Officer, Muchula Kanyata, confirmed the receipt of the chemicals and equipment during an emergency District Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DDMMU) committee meeting held at the District Commissioner’s office on yesterday.
Mr Kanyata explained that the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock has since started delivering the chemicals to the farming camps and is dispatching extension officers to the affected agricultural camps to commence with the spraying exercise.
“As of today, we have received 10 X 20 bottles of cypermethrin and 15 X 12 bottles of Lambda – Wipe. The district has also received 12 Napsack sprayers, eight work suits and six pairs of gumboots,” Mr Kanyata said.
“This is just one of the intervention measures by the Ministry of Agriculture. Each bottle of 500 ml cypermethrin can spray up to two hectares of land while a litre of Lambda – Wipe can be sprayed on 2.5 hectares of maize field. We are also expecting a chemical called Guru anytime this week. Our extension officers are already on the ground helping farmers on how to spray their affected fields,” Mr Kanyata further said.
Mr Kanyata revealed that over 4000 small scale farmers in Kapiri Mposhi district have had their fields invaded by the pests, which have swarmed about 3000 hectares of land with newly planted crops.
He further disclosed that 20 out of the 30 agricultural camps in Kapiri Mposhi have been invaded by army worms, adding that nine camps are heavily infested.
Mr Kanyata named the nine heavily infested agricultural camps as Chibwe, Kaunga, Kapandwe, Lunashimba and Lukanga.
Others include Chilumba, Kato Mpunde and Musosoloke agricultural camps.
Meanwhile, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) has procured and distributed spray chemicals to farmers in the district.
World Vision – Zambia has distributed 100 X 100 bottles of cypremethrin to farmers in Musosoloke area in Senior Chief Chipepo’s area of the Lenje people in Kapiri Mposhi.
Mr Kanyata confirmed that World Vision – Zambia is working with government through the Ministry of Agriculture to assist the affected farmers.
He further said other agri-business entities have also made available the chemicals to the farmers.
“I would also want to say that SEEDCO and BASF have stocked cypermethrin for our farmers who may not benefit from the government distributed chemicals,” said Kanyata.
And a farmer has lost over ten hectares of his maize to the army worms.
During an on-the-spot check at his farm in Luanshimba Agricultural Camp, Darlington Suntile complained that the army worms have so far destroyed over 10 hectares of his maize field.
“I have lost 10 hectares of my maize field. And I am remaining with 15 hectares, which I managed to spray with some chemicals,” said Mr Suntile.
But Kapiri Mposhi District Commissioner, Beatrice Sikazwe, has assured farmers whose fields have been invaded by the army worms of government’s commitment to addressing the issue of the pests.
Ms Sikazwe commended other stakeholders such World Vision –Zambia that are helping government in addressing the problem of army worms in the district.
“Our farmers should not lose hope. Government, with other partners, is doing everything possible to ensure that the problem of army worms is addressed because this is a national disaster and we just have to go flat out to assess and help our farmers”, Ms Sikazwe said.
Other than spraying the infested fields, the Ministry of Agriculture has embarked on sensitization activities aimed at enlightening farmers about other preventive measures such the digging of furrows around their fields.
