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A Belgian national accused of practising homosexuality has pleaded not guilty to the charge of sodomy.
Appearing today before Principal Resident Magistrate Davies Mumba was Pascal Courouble aged 49 and Resident Manager of Stanley Lodge in Livingstone who stood accused of committing sodomy on Coillard Zyangwa contrary to section 155 of the penal code of the laws of Zambia.
Mr Courouble who is represented by his lawyer, Davies Nkausu is alleged to have committed the offence between March 2011 and 21 January 2012.
Meanwhile, Mr Nkausu has applied for bail arguing that although Courouble was not a Zambian he had an established residence and employment.
Mr. Nkausu further defended the application for bail saying the accused had been cooperative from the time the matter was reported to police
“My client has been very corporative with police from the time the matter was reported and he is able to raise sureties who are resident in Livingstone,” pleaded Mr. Nkausu.
Magistrate Mumba has since reserved ruling on bail application for tomorrow and remanded Mr Courouble in custody.
Young soldiers matching during the Youth Day in Lusaka
Government has engaged a team of experts to study the process of re-introducing mandatory Zambia National Service (ZNS) skills training for school leavers.
Youth and Sport Minister, Chishimba Kambwili said the process of re-introducing the mandatory training would not be rushed as it needed to be handled cautiously.
“We want to avoid doing things hurriedly, that is why we have engaged a team of experts or consultants to help us with the process,” Mr Kambwili said.
The re-introduction of the ZNS mandatory training for youths will start with the 2013 Grade 12 school leavers.
About K100 billion had been allocated for the refurbishment of ZNS infrastructure that would host the youth.
Mr Kambwili said his ministry had already issued a Cabinet memorandum for Cabinet approval.
A team of experts would fine-tune all aspects of re-introducing the ZNS training.
The training was aimed at equipping youths with survival skills.
The programme would not have an intense military component that was undertaken during the UNIP Government.
Trainees would be expected to spend 18 months at the ZNS camps before enrolling for further education in tertiary institutions.
The last crop of school leavers to undergo ZNS training during the UNIP era was in 1980.
Mr Kambwili said youths would receive training in various fields including carpentry, welding, and automotive mechanics.
The minister said the move was aimed at equipping school leavers with various skills to cope with life’s challenges and use them for entrepreneurship.
He said this would assist in addressing unemployment levels in the country.
Mr Kambwili expressed confidence that the skills training programme would act as an empowering tool for the youth across the country.
Minister of Defence Geoffrey Mwamba says government will not cross paths with the Church because it appreciates the role it plays in developing the country.
Mr Mwamba said the Church has been a worthy social ally for the majority of the population and that it has participated fully in the political development of Zambia over a long period of time.
Mr Mwamba said this in Lusaka yesterday when he officiated at a United Church of Zambia (UCZ) fundraising service where he also donated K100 million to go towards the completion of the construction of a church in Chainda.
Mr Mwamba said the Church, through the three mother bodies, has continued to hold Zambia together for a long time.
“We are happy as government with what UCZ is doing for the people. The church has continued to partner with government in implementing programmes aimed at improving living standards of people in the country,” he said.
Mr Mwamba said he is happy that the project UCZ has embarked on has created jobs for some youths during the construction phase, enabling them to earn an income.The minister said he is also pleased that UCZ has continued to complement government efforts in uplifting people’s living standards through provision of services in the health and education sectors.
Mr Mwamba assured the church of government’s support in its activities aimed at improving people’s living standards.
And in his sermon, UCZ Mount Olive Church of Chongwe Reverend Lordwell Siame urged the people to support the project through financial and material contributions.
He also urged church members and well-wishers not to relent but to ensure that they work hard to successfully complete the church construction project.
Rev. Siame said church members should dedicate their time, energies, and resources towards the project as it is part of worship.
He also assured government that UCZ will continue supporting programmes aimed at uplifting people’s living standards.
File:Construction workers working on the drainage system in Lusaka
Five people are feared dead after part of the earth caved in as they were working on a sewer line in Lusaka’s Ibex Hill area.
The men, who had been engaged by a private contractor, were working on the sewer line on private property when part of the earth collapsed on them while in a ditch.
Scores of curious onlookers rushed to the scene of the accident as the fire brigade struggled to retrieve the five people last evening.
Police spokesperson Elizabeth Kanjela confirmed the incident last night, but could not give further details, saying she was out of the office at the time.
Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC) said as concerned stakeholders, it would appeal to relevant authorities such as the Lusaka City Council (LCC) to suspend the works.
LSWC spokesperson, Topsy Sikalinda said there was no public safety guaranteed when carrying out the works on some private properties.
“As stakeholders LWSC will appeal to relevant authorities to have the works suspended because the issue of public safety has been compromised here,” said Mr Sikalinda, who was at the scene of the accident.
By Press time, fire fighters were still trying to retrieve the men after the fatal accident which occurred around 17:30 hours.
The men were working on private property and LWSC was trying to establish the owner.
{Times of Zambia]
“The earth is suspected to have fallen on them and the fire brigade is here trying to retrieve the people,” Mr Sikalinda said.
Two weeks ago, a similar incident happened in the same area.
Communications, Transport, Works and Supply Minister Christopher Yaluma
Government has announced that it is keen to engage a new investor to run operations of the Zambia Railways Limited, Communications, Transport, Works and Supply Minister Christopher Yaluma has said.
Mr Yaluma repeated that Government decided to cancel the concession agreement with the Railway Systems of Zambia to save the company from total collapse and loss of assets.
Mr Yaluma said this when he featured during a live phone-in programme on Radio Mano in Kasama.
“As Government, we are keen to engaging another investor in the running of the railway company via joint ownership or equity from the Government with the majority coming from the private sector,” Mr Yaluma said.
He said railway transport was vital in ferrying various goods especially minerals and heavy machinery to save the road network.
“We all know what the Zambia Railways meant to the Zambian economy and there’s no way we could let something so critical in building up this economy go just like that and be ransacked. Pardon my word, it was ransacked by the people who we thought they could handle our railway network system, but they went ahead to ransack the railways,” he said.
Mr Yaluma also assured railway workers from TAZARA that they would be paid their dues before the end of next year.
He said Government was committed to revitalizing the company, citing among other measures, continued injection of funds and that it recently engaged 45 Chinese experts to conduct feasibility studies on the company.
“We have committed that we must pay all the pensioners from TAZARA, so be patient, it needs a lot of money, it has been left hanging for so many years without paying you. We will ensure that before the end of next year, we will do almost all the TAZARA ex-employees who have never had their monies paid,” he said.
In another development, Mr Yaluma has clarified the tender for the installation of the Electronic Zambia Transport Information System (e-ZamTis) for the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) had not yet been concluded nor awarded to any bidder, contrary to reports in some sections of the media.
“According to the Public Procurement Act No. 12 of 2008 and the Public Procurement Regulations of 2011, it is premature and illegal for anyone to comment on or attempt to influence the outcome of an ongoing public procurement process before it is concluded,” Mr Yaluma said this during a press briefing in Lusaka yesterday.
REPUBLICAN VICE-PRESIDENT Guy Scott (l) with Community development, mother and child health deputy minister Jean Kapata,Tourism minister Sylvia Masebo and Agricultural minister Emmanuel Chenda during church service at Chizera congregation New Apostolic church in Mufumbwe on Sunday
VICE President Guy Scott has said Government will construct 12 new health centers in Mufumbwe District.
Speaking when he attended a church service at Chizela New Apostolic church yesterday, Dr Scott said Government noted with concern that despite Mufumbwe being a district for the past 20 years, development still remained scanty.
“We are here for you and we want you to be here for us, we note that Mufumbwe has been a district for 20 years but nothing much has been done, we have already designated to build 12 new health centers here,” he said.
Dr scott said President Michael Sata was also scheduled to arrive in the district on Saturday an indication that the Patriotic Front (PF) government wanted to see how districts were developed and ensure that national wealth was shared equally.
And Dr Scott sent the congregation to laughter when he said the first thing the PF would do when their candidate Steven Masumba won was to advise him to stop dancing to Congolese rhumba but to concentrate on how best Mufumbwe should be developed.
“We want North Western to be in the house also so that together we can start building the district, we shall always be there for you and you should be there for us also, that is how development works,” he said.
And earlier, Apostle Patrick Phoho asked the church and Mufumbwe residents to ensure that they maintained peace and order in the district.
He said the church played a cardinal role in ensuring that peace prevailed in the country hence the need for Christians to be examples of being in the forefront of championing peace where ever they may be.
“Without peace we wouldn’t have been here, so am urging you church members to be examples of peace to the outsiders, once you do that the rest will follow,” said the apostle.
The Vice President who arrived in Mufumbwe yesterday morning was accompanied by Tourism Minister Sylvia Masebo and her Agriculture counterpart Emmanuel Chenda and was welcomed by PF candidate Mr Masumba, Provincial Minister Josephine Limataa, Provincial Permanent Secretary Augustine Seyuba and PF campaign manager Jean Kapata.
Kalulushi Modern Stars on Saturday ended an 11-year absence from the Super Division when they beat Nkwiza 2-0 at Arthur Davies Stadium in Kitwe to bounce back to the elite league.
Modern Stars has joined Lime Hotspurs who won promotion to earlier this month after winning the FAZ Division One North League.
With two games to spare in the Northern Division, Modern Stars have amassed 62 points while third placed Prison Leopards are seven points behind the Kalulushi outfit.
Laurent Muma and Chalwe Mailoshi provided a goal each as in either half for Modern Stars.
Earlier in the game, Modern Stars midfielder Daniel Mwansa had denied his side a chance to take a lead when he missed a spot-kick.
Modern Stars have also been awarded three points in their abandoned match against Mufulira Wandereres.
Wanderers were 1-0 down when the match was halted prematurely due to crowd trouble at Shinde Stadium in Mufulira.
Fans turned against the Zambia Under-17 during a poor performance at Arthur Davies Stadium on their way to losing against South Africa Under-17 and eventual elimination from the 2013 Africa Junior Cup qualifiers.
The crowd turned to booing and jeering Oswald Mutapa’s side after Siyanda Ngcobo headed in the lone goal in the 53rd minute.
Fans cheered every pass and run thereafter by South Africa Under-17 whose attitude from start to finish was that of a side playing at home rather than away.
The home fans main target was goalkeeper and captain Mangani Banda whose delaying tactics in the first half infuriated them as Zambia were seemingly taking the risk of defending a 1-1 draw from the first leg played on October 13.
Zambia was second best throughout as they headed to a 2-1 aggregate loss.
Even Faz President Kalusha Bwalya’s body language in the stands did little to hide how he felt about the Under-17s lackluster showing.
However, the fans gave Zambia a brief reprieve in the 64th minute after Albert Kafwali had seemingly equalised but his effort was ruled out for offside by referee Mohamed Ali.
After the game, fans gathered outside the team’s dressing room to mount a relentless verbal attack of the players.
South Africa meanwhile advances to face Ghana whom they host in the final third round qualifying round on November 16-18.
NAREP leader Elias Chipimo today launched an ambitious programme aimed at creating job opportunities for the millions of unemployed young people in Zambia.
Under the plan, Mr. Chipimo is proposing that government sets aside 10 percent of its supply contracts to the public sector for enterprises run by young people and women as a way of empowering them.
Mr. Chipimo stated that the PF came to power on a promise of jobs and more money in the pockets of the people but noted that after a full year in power, it has become increasingly clear that this was a false hope.
He was speaking in Lusaka this afternoon during a media briefing to launch the NAREP employment and empowerment Initiative.
Mr. Chipimo said NAREP has developed the NAREP empowerment and employment Initiative that would create immediate jobs and help to draw many current and future vendors off the streets by promoting sustainable livelihoods.
“The initiative involves the adoption of a policy by government to allocate 10 percent of all its procurement of goods and services to youth and women enterprises that would also specifically target street vendors. This would in time be extended to the private sector,” he said.
He said Government spends over 10 trillion Kwacha per year on procurement of local goods and services adding that it is estimated that this move alone would deliver up to 1,000 billion (or one trillion) Kwacha worth of orders to youth and women’s enterprises each year.
“In order to benefit, these enterprises should be made up of between 5 and 10 people and be registered with PACRA, Workers Compensation, ZRA, NAPSA and other such entities through an established youth or women’s NGO,” said Mr. Chipimo.
“There will be a fast-track system for registering the youth and women’s enterprises with PACRA, NAPSA, Workers Compensation, ZRA etc.) and vendors would only be required to pay for these charges once they had executed their first orders and been paid.”
The NAREP leader said members of these youth and women’s enterprises will be trained to enable them to deliver on these orders through established NGO’s that are registered.
“In order to deal with political interference and partisan selection for contracts, the system would be administered through 4 banks and financial institutions that would be invited to bid to administer the funds for procurement,” he explained.
He said once adopted by government, the NAREP empowerment and employment Initiative will go a long way towards reducing unemployment and its negative effects on society.
“We have set ourselves the task of collecting one million signatures to support the implementation of the NAREP Empowerment and Employment Initiative by 2 March 2013 a date which will coincide with the 3rd anniversary of the launch of our Party.”
“If the government fails to implement this plan, they would have said no to the wishes of over 1 million people and come election time, you know where those 1 million people would be voting,” he warned.
Ruff Kid won an awrard at last nights BEFFTA awards ,he won Best International Act beating out other African music heavy weights such as Zahara, Camp Mulla, Cover Driver, D’banji and Grace Galazy .
Veteran mercenary Samson Gaul (Jean-Claude Van Damme) knows that in the heat of battle, every bullet counts. He retired from combat when his actions resulted in the deaths of helpless victims, but now he’s the last hope for a desperate father. Mixed Martial Artist, Andrew Fayden (Joe Flanigan) knows how to fight, but alone he’s unprepared to navigate the corrupt streets of a foreign city to find his kidnapped daughter. Together, these warriors will stop at nothing to tear apart a vile network of criminals that prey upon the innocent.
PROS
Exciting movie from beginning to end.
exhilarating action scenes
CONS
Predictable story line
CONCLUSION
Great movie by the legendary action hero Jean Claude Van Dame .It is action packed from beginning to end ,and has a few twists and turns . The only problem with it , is that the plot is very similar to the movie “Taken” another thing is ,i have no idea why it was called 6 bullets ,he used a lot more than that .
Vice President Guy Scott has said that Zambia has become a grain hub for the entire Southern African region because of the good agriculture policies being implemented by the government.
Dr. Scott says neighbouring countries are importing maize from Zambia making it a ‘power house’ in the region.
Dr. Scott said Zimbabwe and Kenya are among countries that are buying maize from Zambia.
The Vice President said this in Chongwe yesterday when he officiated at this year’s Chakwela Makumbi traditional ceremony of the Soli people at Makuyu palace for Chieftainess Nkomesha Mukambo II .
He however regretted that despite this good record payments to farmers in Chongwe who sold maize to the Food Reserve Agency-FRA was caused by bureaucratic tendencies.
Dr Scott however assured the farmers country-wide that government has released over K1.1 trillion to pay those who supplied maize to the FRA before the crop marketing season ends on October 31st.
He further disclosed that government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives has delivered 47,850 x 50 kilogram bags of basal dressing fertilizer and an additional 13,200 metric tones of both ‘D’ compound and urea (top dressing).
Dr. Scott said government has started distributing the 2012/2013 farming inputs.
And Dr. Scott says government will soon do away with the culture of taking gifts to the chiefs but instead take development closer to the chiefs.
He explained that empowering traditional leaders with decent accommodation is better than giving them donations.
Dr. Scott also disclosed that Chongwe district Hospital which is in phase-two of construction will cost K14 billion when completed and fully fledged.
And speaking earlier, Chieftainess Nkomesha Mukambo II commended the government for the development projects in agriculture, health, education and other sectors in the district.
Chieftainess Nkomesha who spoke through her representative John Luputa further said the re-alignment of Sibuyunji and other three districts in Lusaka province would give local people an opportunity to benefit from government programmes and commended President Michael Sata for the decentralisation policy.
Lusaka Province Minister Gerry Chanda said government recognizes the role chiefs play in national development and advised them against engaging in politics.
Colonel Chanda said Zambia was founded on the ‘One Zambia, One nation” motto which entails love and unity adding that it was therefore inappropriate for chiefs to dwell on politics of ‘divide and rule’.
Chakwela Makumbi, literary meaning gathering clouds to bring rains, is a ceremony where Chieftainess Nkomeshya asks ancestral spirits to provide rains to her people.
Area Member of Parliament Sylvia Masebo, Ministry of Chiefs cabinet ministers, Chiefs and Traditional Affairs Permanent Secretary Colliad Chibbonta, Lusaka Mayor Daniel Chisenga , visiting chiefs and tourists were among those who attended the rich and colourful ceremony.
“Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
(Luke 6:37, NKJV)
TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria
Did you know that the ability to forgive others is a gift from God? The Bible tells us that if we don’t forgive others, we cannot be forgiven. If we don’t forgive, we are blocking the ability for God to work in our lives. But when we choose to forgive, we are choosing God’s way and opening the door for Him to heal our hurts and restore our souls.
Forgiveness doesn’t mean that what that person did was right or that you even have to get back into a relationship with that person. Forgiveness simply releases the debt they owe you so that God can release the debt you owe Him. Ask the Lord to search your heart and show you if there is any unforgiveness blocking His blessing in your life. Ask Him to show you more about this gift of forgiveness so that you can walk in the freedom and victory He has for you today.
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
God, I know that You have called me to forgive others. Today I choose to release those who have hurt me and trust that You will be my Vindicator. I choose to forgive knowing it opens the door to Your healing in Jesus’ name. Amen.
— Joel & Victoria Osteen
Iris Kaingu the woman convicted of producing an obscene video has asked for forgiveness from Zambians. Iris said that she is grateful for the support and sympathy she received from Zambians during her trail.
She said that she would not want another person to be caught up in a similar situation as hers. The daughter of MMD vice President Michael Kaingu said that she will now concentrate on her school and developing her business.
The 21 year old said that her parents are already making efforts to secure her a place in school outside the country.
Iris was this week found guilty and convicted on one count of making obscene cinematography films tending to corrupt morals by Lusaka Magistrate Prince Mwiinga.
UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema has asked the PF government the ruling Patriotic Front Government to explain why it has been failing to pay farmers in the past three months.
And Mr. Hichilema has charged that Zambia is headed for a poor harvest in the 2012/2013 farming season owing to poor agricultural policies.
Speaking when he featured on Petauke Explorer radio’s special program this morning, Mr. Hichilema said that the PF government should clearly explain to Zambians for failing to implement their promises.
He has therefore accused the PF government of mistreating farmers in Petauke by not paying them for the maize they supplied to the Food Reserve agency (FRA).
Mr. Hichilema has since assured Petauke Residents that once voted into power, he will pay particular attention to the agriculture sector and ensure that small scale farmers benefit.
