The 100 room Lusaka Protea Hotel is constructing a new wing that will see it grow to 237 rooms.

The expansion is to service the growing demand for business travel as the Zambian economy continues to grow.

The hotel is located within the Arcades Shopping and entertainment lifestyle hub opposite the Mulungushi International Conference Centre.

Protea Hospitality Group Director of Sales, Marketing and Revenue Danny Bryer said Zambia like many economies in Africa is showing phenomenal growth and as business expands so does the need for accommodation with the hotel name that is known and trusted across Africa.

Mr Bryer said Lusaka Protea Hotel’s prime position in the capital as well as its superior accommodation and service offering mean the demand is there to invest tens of millions of dollars in the large new wing.

The new wing will include a restaurant, a bar, a pool, free Wi-Fi, satellite television and in room work stations.

The hotel also offers conferencing facilities of up to 80 people.

The new wing is expected to be open in February 2014.

Government is finalizing a statutory instrument that will bring about the Higher Education Loans and Scholarships Authority to replace the existing Bursaries Commitee.

Once operational, the Authority will extend loan facilities beyond the current two public universities, UNZA and CBU to cover other tertiary institutions that offer degrees and diplomas.

When the Authority comes into effect, recovery measures will also be put into place and while the government will put in seed money to start the programme, a revolving fund will subsequently be established to continuously offer scholarships to students using the repayment.

There will be a grace period of 1 year after which students will be expected to repay their loans.

Procedures will be put in place to recover loans by partnering with Banks, and other relevant agencies to track all those who have benefited from the scheme.

Education Minister John Phiri said bursary reforms have reached an advanced stage and will be completed soon.

“We are in the processing of completing the statutory instrument to operationalize the authority. Our target is to have the SI ready before the next budget presentation so that we could be considered,” Dr Phiri said.

Dr Phiri said the current bursary regime in Zambia is unsustainable, unfair and discriminatory hence the need to reform it.

Home Affairs Deputy Minister Nickson Chilangwa says long and tedious public procurement processes are delaying the pace of national development.

Mr. Chilangwa said the PF government is failing to execute some of its urgent plans because Zambia’s public procurement processes take long to complete.

He said some of the requirements in public procurement are unnecessary and create an opportunity for corruption.

“We have to reform our procurement laws, there is no way we could develop this country if it will take us six months to procure anything for the good of the nation,” Mr Chilangwa said.

He cited the procurement planned procurement of modern crowd control equipment for the Zambia Police Service as one which is being frustrated by the long procurement processes.

“Everybody knows that we need to get modern equipment for our officers. There are now more riots breaking out and our officers need better protection and everybody knows the urgency of the matter but if the Permanent Secretary or the IG wakes up one day and say buys the equipment, everybody will start saying abuse of office. This is nonsense and we have to change this.”

He warned that Zambia will continue lagging behind unless serious public procurement reforms are under taken.

“There are so many things we need to change in this country but our very laws are holding us back,” Mr. Chilangwa said.

President Michael Sata has directed the Ministry of Local Government and Housing to quickly resolve the matter surrounding the crop levy.

President Sata said government appreciates and supports the fact that a significant proportion of the financial resources of local authorities should be derived from local taxes, fees and charges for which they have the power to determine the rates to cover the costs of services that they provide.

And President Sata has noted that government recognises local government as the engine for social and local economic development.

Mr. Sata said it is for this reason that his government is committed to ensuring that the local government system is sufficiently funded through increased fiscal transfers as evidenced by the budgetary provisions.

The President added that government will ensure that any transfer or delegation of tasks and responsibilities to local government shall be accompanied by corresponding and adequate financial resources.
President Sata said this today in a speech read for him by Republican Vice President Dr. Guy Scott at the official opening of the 57th Annual Conference of the Local Government Association of Zambia in Nakonde, Muchinga Province.

This year’s conference is being held under the theme “In pursuit of integrated local solutions for the MDGs delivery agenda-today, tomorrow and beyond 2015.”

President Sata further stated that government in line with the Patriotic Front (PF) manifesto has laid down the basic framework to facilitate the realization of a fully decentralized system of governance in councils countrywide.

The President said the ultimate goal for this development is to ensure increased local participation in the decision making process.

Mr. Sata indicated that the programme of creating new districts will continue as a measure to achieve full participatory democracy.

He also added that government is committed to supporting both the new and old existing districts within its economic and financial capacities.

President Sata observed that since local government is the panacea to local economical and social development, the Association must comprehend the principles of decentralisation and play its role in its implementation in the most effective and efficient manner.

“Having been associated with local government for many years, I am aware that your association has played a very constructive role in the development of the local government system in Zambia” he said.

“I am also aware that your members have demonstrated effective roles and responsibilities despite the various challenges they face. Your Association has equally responded positively to the programmes that aim at strengthening the operational capacity of your councils for efficient service delivery to the communities,” he noted.

President Sata has since challenged the Association to continue playing its role with enthusiasm and zeal to make the decentralisation process a success for development and for the benefit of the country.

Meanwhile, President Sata has stated that government is not insensitive to the appeal of the Association for remuneration of councillors except that the matter requires time and thorough consideration so that the best solution is found.

And Minister of Local Government and Housing Emerine Kabanshi noted that it is government’s policy to only release funds to councils that put the previous funding to good use.

Ms. Kabanshi warned that severe punishment and disciplinary action will be impacted on councils that delay to implement developmental projects.

The Minister said it was shameful to observe that public amenities are in a deplorable state a situation which she said is worsened by among other reasons the low revenue collection by councils.

“As Minister of Local Government and Housing I can’t just sit and watch this sad state of affair,” she lamented.

And United Nations Country Representative in Zambia Kani Wignaraja noted that local government have an influence on national decision making and a right to influence policies on national budget and governance.

Ms. Wignaraja said after making a tremendous achievement with some of the MDGs, Zambia should be asking itself where it is today and what it should look at to make a change.

She observed that there is less than one thousand (1,000) days remaining to meet the MDGS adding that when they were formed most people felt they were ambitious but they have provided the needed focus in national development.

Ms. Wignaraja said Zambia has risen to the challenge and has seen steady growth which has brought foreign direct income and that the country was no longer highly indented.

ZANIS

Bank of Zambia (BoZ) Governor Michael Gondwe says there is need for all Zambians to accept the use of all the new money in circulation especially the re-introduced coins.

And Dr Gondwe has urged the media to highlight stories on the new rebased currency.

Dr Gondwe observed that for over two decades, coins were not used in the country hence the need for the people to clear their psychology surrounding coins as a legal tender.

The BoZ Chief Executive Officer who was speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today, has since dismissed some media reports that some parts of the country have run-out of coins in circulation.

“It’s not true that we have run-out of coins and there are no coins in some districts. You might be aware that for two decades, there were no coins being used it’s only this time now when the Patriotic Front government has re-introduced the coins through the new rebased currency policy from higher to lower notes. I attribute this to psychology which needs to clear in people when using coins,” Dr Gondwe said.

Dr Gondwe has advised members of the public against keeping coins in their homes but use it in buying commodities so that the coins could be put in circulation.

“Don’t keep coins in your homes but please, use them to buy goods so that they can be circulated. We have been sending our team to rural areas such as Nabwalya so that no-one is disadvantaged,” he said.

Dr Gondwe disclosed that the Central Bank has collected 94 percent of the old kwacha notes and only remained with six percent yet to be collected.

He added that the Central Bank has been deploying its staff to rural areas so that the people are not disadvantaged.

Dr Gondwe has also advised people not to cling to old currency notes but take them to commercial banks and exchange them for rebased ones without any charges.

On the media, the Central Bank Chief implored Journalists to write more stories on the new rebased currency.

“You the media help us to disseminate this information on rebased currency so that members of the public are educated about the new money in circulation,” he said.

Recently, the business community in Kalabo district of Western province complained of serious shortage of coins that were scarcely in circulation in the district.

Kalabo Merchants Association Spokesperson Samuel Masiye said both one Kwacha and fifty ngwee coins had run-out forcing customers to unintentionally buy small items whenever change was not available.

And, MMD Sinda Member of Parliament Levy Ngoma complained to government in Parliament last week that Eastern province had also run out of coins.

But Deputy Minister of Finance Keith Mukata announced last Friday that in April this year, 61,956,000 coins were made at a cost of US$1.05 million that were delivered to BoZ.

ZANIS