Vice President Dr Guy Scott says the Patriotic Front Government wants to create a defined and clear relationship with investors in the country.

Dr Scott said this is aimed at avoiding confusions as well as to ensure that Zambians benefit from the investments brought into the country.

And the Vice President has said his government is working hard to ensure that all industries are revived and expanded in order to create more jobs for the unemployed Zambians.

Speaking at a dinner hosted for him by Konkola Copper Mines Plc in Chingola last evening, the vice president noted that there is need to revive industries that were created a long time ago and expand them because the country’s population has increased over the years.

Dr. Scott said his government also wants to build a clear relationship with investors so that they can operate freely in the country and spread the benefits to the local people.

He said his government does not want to be seen as being a puppet to foreign investors but as partners who will work together in creating jobs for people.

Dr Scott said he undertook the visit to the mining towns to see if there are any controversies instead of listening to rumours.

The vice President further hailed the people of copper belt province and Miners in particular for being the first Zambians to welcome the formation of the Patriotic Front as a political party in the country.

He said government will ensure that it delivers to their expectations for being part of team that formed the party in power but noted that similar developments will also be taken to all parts of the country.

And speaking at the same function KCM Chief Executive Officer Jayakumar Janakaraj commended government for creating a peaceful and favourable environment for investment and pledged that the mining giant will work hard in the best interest of the country.

Mr. Janakaraj said his company has settled in the country very well and will continue to uplift its values of working as partners in progress and prosperity while operating with excellence.

He disclosed that KCM has long standing programmes in Zambia and will use its billion dollar investment to build durable infrastructure that will benefit Zambians.

Immediately after arrival in Ndola the vice President drove to Kitwe where he toured the KCM owned Kitwe Trades School which has now been opened to offer skill training not only to KCM employees but to the public and other mines.

Dr. Scott was impressed with company’s initiative to open the school to the public.

He later toured Nchanga Mines and the Copper smelter which is located within the mines in Chingola.

The Vice President has since returned back to lusaka after he toured an under ground mine at Konkola Copper Mine Shaft 4 in Chililabombwe today.

The vice President also visited the the Kasumbalesa border post located a few kilo metres from Chililabombwe town.

ZANIS

The Zambia Association of Musicians (ZAM) says its members have the potential to provide adequate live entertainment during the United Nations World Tourism Organization conference (UNWTO) in Livingstone next year.

Speaking to Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in a phone interview in Lusaka yesterday, ZAM President Maiko Zulu said Zambian musicians have however been disadvantaged to play live music due to lack of instruments.

He explained that musicians are able to play live music if only musical instruments are made available to the artists.

Mr Zulu said most of the Zambian musicians do not have music equipment to use in playing live performances.

He told ZANIS that most of the musicians have failed to purchase musical instruments as they are costly.

The ZAM president said the tax concession on music instruments was only waved on mixers and microphones excluding other music component such as drums.

Mr Zulu disclosed that no Zambian musician has musical instruments to play live music performance.

Mr Zulu regretted that most Zambian musicians have not invested in procuring musical instruments to use for live performances.

He urged musicians to take advantage of the UNWTO and show case how artistic Zambian musician are by performing live performances.

Meanwhile, Mr Zulu says ZAM has started compelling music that will be used during the hosting of the UNWTO.

ZANIS

Minister of Youth and Sport Chishimba Kambwili has said government is dedicated to improving the quality of lives of young people in the country.

Mr. Kambwili said government, through the Ministry of Youth and Sport, was committed to scaling up the provision of skills training to the youth who drop out of the school.

He said this in a speech read on his behalf by the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sport Nathaniel Mubukwanu at the 9th graduation ceremony for Kalingalinga Youth Resource Centre at which 346 youths graduated.

He said the PF manifesto, which government is implementing, has prioritised vocational and skills training as a prerequisite to youth empowerment.

Mr. Kambwili noted that government is investing heavily in education and skills training especially among the youth so that most of them, regardless of where they are, can have access to training.

“The Ministry of Youth and Sport has developed a policy framework whose strategies aim at mitigating the challenges the youth face,” he said.

He observed that his ministry still needs to do more in the area of providing skills training not only in Lusaka province but in the country as a whole.

He has since called on other partners to come on board and join hands with his ministry so as to mitigate the challenge faced by the youths.

Mr. Kambwili congratulated the graduates who were trained in various life-long skills that include food production, metal fabrication and Information Communication Technology (ICTs) among others courses.

He urged them to use their skills and create employment.

And Kalingalinga Resource Youth Centre Advisory Committee Chairperson Doras Chirwa said the centre focuses on job and wealth creation strategies such as entrepreneurship development.

Mrs. Chirwa stated that the graduates were now ready to compete as employees.

ZANIS

Zambian Hiphop superstar Macky 2 released his latest video for the song “Addicted”

By Kapa187

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane brings his boundary-pushing brand of humor to the big screen for the first time as writer, director and voice star of Ted. In the live action/CG-animated comedy, he tells the story of John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg), a grown man who must deal with the cherished teddy bear who came to life as the result of a childhood wish…and has refused to leave his side ever since.

PROS

• Very funny movie with an interesting story line

FAVOURITE QUOTES

Ted: Yea, why dont you finish that story in an email and send it to me.

Ted: Thunder buddies for life!

Narrator: Now if there’s one thing you can be sure of, it’s that nothing is more powerful than a young boy’s wish. Except an Apache helicopter. An Apache helicopter has machine guns AND missiles. It is an unbelievably impressive complement of weaponry, an absolute death machine.

CONCLUSION

Basically if you are a fan of the cartoon series “Family Guy” this is a must watch movie for you . It is an extremely funny comedy with a very obscene humor, which curiously doesn’t come out offensive from a teddy bear’s mouth – and also a movie that is surprisingly warm and sincere, showing Ted as a complex character and making him totally believable with a flawless animation job.

RATING

5 out of 5

By Kapa187

By Rev K.Kaoma

The revocation of MMD’s official opposition status in the House of Parliament is saddening. With little astuteness, MMD could have avoided this disastrous state of affairs. Sadly, the party seems to believe that Nevers Mumba’s honorary doctorate, political experience and the title of pastor give him extraordinary powers to be all over the map – picking up every fight on the way. How on earth does he expect to fight two battles at once, President Michael Sata and his opponents within MMD? Pastor Mumba is an outsider in MMD and he will only lead the party with ultimate humility. More still, one does not need political science 101 to understand that unlike UPND and PF, MMD does not have regional stronghold at the moment. So unless he wakes up to this crude reality, MMD’s days are numbered on the Zambian political front.

It is a fact that MMD is new to opposition politics. The myth that it will bounce back to power in 2016 is not just naïve but delusional at its best. Sata’s PF was born at the time of leadership struggle within the MMD after its 10 years in power. He strategically built his following by appealing to the masses’ frustrations over perceived MMD failures. As soon as he realized that Mwanawasa had re-created himself from being Chiluba’s handpicked “playboy” into a champion of anti-corruption, Sata jumped on the bandwagon – throwing his once endorser, the late President Frederick Chiluba, under the bus. Sata even went to an extent of reconciling with his once avowed enemy, Levy Mwanawasa. This strategic positioning bought Sata popularity in most major cities and Northern parts of Zambia.

Unlike Patriotic Front, however, MMD lacks the strategy for winning popular support. Rather, its leadership holds the misconception that just as Sata bulldozed his MPs during Rupiya Banda’s reign, Mumba can do the same. This is a huge gaffe. Sata’s MPs were mainly in his strongholds – Luapula, Northern, Lusaka and Copperbelt provinces – so he could intimidate them. Those who disobeyed him risked their seats. “Rebel MPs” – as they were openly called – also knew it and successfully blocked their expulsion from the PF – making by-elections impossible. After the 2011 elections, most of them will never be heard of in Zambian politics again.[pullquote]The myth that MMD will bounce back to power in 2016 is not just naïve but delusional at its best.[/pullquote]

But Sata’s political context was so different from that of the MMD today, whose MPs are mainly from neutral constituencies (swing constituencies in American political language), which can flip to any political party. Such constituencies are likely to favor PF over UPND due to many dynamics that usually work for the ruling party – from police to organizational advantages. Since Sata has assured MMD MPs of adoption should they be expelled, we may see massive exodus to PF. However, Sata’s assurance will have little or no impact on UPND, whose MPs are mostly from its stronghold – Southern Province.

I have nothing against MMD and Pastor Mumba. If anything, I would like to see the party survive for the development of democracy in Zambia. I believe that MPs should have constitutional powers to change parties since it is within their democratic rights to do so. However, I am opposed to unnecessary by-elections. We should be spending that money on providing health care and feeding our starving children in the nation. MPs should be allowed to switch parties without fear of victimization – the situation which will reduce the state and party president’s powers, encourage MPs to represent their people’s interests and save us hard needed cash. I submit that this will have its own shortfalls[pullquote]in politics, there are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends – only permanent interests.” Each time MMD loses by-elections, PF gains not just an extra seat but the public perception that MMD is finished[/pullquote]

On a different note, I am very concerned with President Sata’s undemocratic pronouncement on the adoption of to be expelled MPs. Who counts in democracy – the president or the people? The imposition of Stephen Masumba on Mufumbwe even after he had lost the PF primary elections shows how the cult of the “big man” is undermining democracy in the country. It is shameful that playboy Masumba now owes his political life to Sata and not to the electorate of Mufumbwe. No doubt, Sata is using his power to get his cronies into government in order to reposition himself for the 2016 elections. This dejected situation will erase all structures of accountability and lead to massive corruption and mismanagement of national resources.

That aside, MMD needs to change its strategy. The majority of its MPs are likely to retain their seats should they re-contest under PF. After all, PF is strategically going after MPs in constituencies it knows it will win in by-elections. Here then is my counsel to my fellow pastor, Nevers – grow up when dealing with your MPs. Storming State House will buy you fifteen minutes of fame but not votes. As leader of a political party, you have no role in parliament. In fact, until you are lucky to be elected president, (which is not likely in 2016) your contributions will be through your MPs. By losing the official status of opposition, you weakened your position of influence in the nation.

Let me remind you that MMD MPs are after securing their jobs as opposed to seeing you in plot one. Politicians, it is said, always think about the next election. It is now on you to sell yourself to the people; telling them why they should vote for you. Again, you do not have the economic or geographical capital to bully your MPs – Sata does. You yourself did exactly the same when you accepted to serve as republican Vice President – dumping your own party for the sake of Kwachas.

Finally, learn to read the mood of the nation with humility. Liberate your MPs from your authoritative grips – political parties are not churches where people are afraid of going to hell should they differ with their pastors. Let MMD MPs cooperate with PF on popular issues and oppose it when the nation needs them to do so. Remote controlling them will only lead you into losing credibility and destroying your party. As it is said, “in politics, there are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends – only permanent interests.” Each time MMD loses by-elections, PF gains not just an extra seats but the public perception that MMD is finished. The choice is yours – go ahead and expel all MPs working with PF or show maturity and leave them to work with PF so that MMD can reorganize again. Humility and not arrogance is the mark of a great leader. I pray and hope you are listening.