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FILE: Western Province Permanent Secretary Bett Mushala with PF Secretary general Winter Kabimba when he arrived in Mongu on a special Zambia Air Force flight.
The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) has said that the Patriotic Front (PF) must always realize that it is the responsibility of government to create employment and not of the party.
YALI board chairperson Andrew Ntewewe said it is very unfortunate that the PF as a party has started operating as a government.
PF secretary general Winter Kabimba recently disclosed that in an effort to tackle unemployment, the party is in the process of registering a non-governmental organization that will be responsible for the establishment of vocational skills training centre in the country.
Ntewewe said that the PF being the party in government needs to operate within the framework of the government and not create employment on its own.
Speaking to QFM, Ntewewe said that political parties aspire to form government and not to necessarily begin to implement activities.
He said that a party manifesto is there for a government to implement activities and not a political party.
Ntewewe said that it is such types of mentalities that cause a party to begin abusing government resources.
Ex-Chipolopolo genius midfielder Gift Kampamba has joined the Nkana bench as an assistant coach.
Nkana secretary Ken Mwansa who confirmed on Tuesday said Kampamba is now the second assistant at the Wusakile side.
Mwansa said the former Nkana star started work on Monday.
“I can confirm, he started work yesterday (Monday), he is the second assistant coach,” he said.
Mwansa could not give contract details.
“We have employed him those details will come later,” he stated.
Mwansa said his executive expect Kampamba to add value to the Nkana bench led by head coach Linos Makwaza and first assistant Zeddy Saileti.
“We expect a lot from him, he is an experienced coach and he played proffesional football,” he added.
Kampamba, who was until Monday head coach of Faz Division Two North side Miseshi Blue Stars, has replaced Fidelis Chungu who was fired together with six players last month.
The Zambia Association of Musicians (ZAM) has called on its members to exhibit high levels of maturity in musical works they produce.
Zambia Association of Musicians president, Maiko Zulu, said it was unacceptable for musicians to use vulgar language in their music.
Mr. Zulu noted that offensive language should not be condoned by any morally upright Zambian.
He stated that the association was aware that some musicians were using inappropriate contents which some number of artists had been feeding its audiences.
In an interview with ZANIS, Mr. Zulu bemoaned the bad language in most musical tracks which are done by some Zambian artists.
He said unpalatable language was stirring up some moral decay when in fact, musicians were supposed to play a central role in enlightening people on good morals.
Mr. Zulu is however delighted that the creation of the ministry of Tourism and Art saying the move has come at the right time when the local musicians need support to subsequently improve their artistical skills.
“Some time back, music was merely a hobby such that some musical artists were not even conscious enough to improvise self-regulation upon themselves but now it is high time a good artist did so,” he said.
He asked musicians to regulate themselves before laws are imposed on them.
Mr. Zulu has since warned that if artists do not change their production of filthy content, action will be taken against them.
He implored the ministry of Tourism and Arts to bring sanity should musicians leave the acceptable way of educating and entertaining the public on different issues affecting communities.
Meanwhile, Mr. Zulu has advised Zambian artists to concentrate much on live performances other than miming.
“Local artists should by now know that when one performs live, there is some mellow value added to spice up the work especially if it is on stage,” he noted.
He has since called on all parliamentarians both from the party in power and the opposition to support the formation of the ministry of Tourism and Arts if the country is to realise the full potential of social and economic development.
Pupils at Kenneth Kaunda Secondary School in Chinsali district ran amock in the early hours of today destroying property worth undisclosed millions of kwacha.
Both Muchinga province deputy commissioner of police Chilije Nyirenda and Chinsali district commissioner Evelyn Kangwa have confirmed the development in separate interviews with the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in Chinsali today.
The two senior government officials who rushed to the school after midnight when the riot started however declined to give the actual monetary value of the damaged property as an assessment has not yet been done by the relevant authorities.
Meanwhile, authorities at the school have not yet established the cause of the riotous behaviour by the boys in which they destroyed window panes at the girls dormitories and some teachers houses.
The boys also beat up the girls in the dormitories and stole their money and food.
The irate pupils have also damaged a personal vehicle belonging to one of the staff members at the learning institution.
The rioting pupils also attempted to go to Chinsali Girls secondary school to beat up the girls but quick action by the police prevented them from entering the school premises.
Police in full riot gear where deployed around the school to prevent the boys from causing harvoc at Chinsali Girls.
And District Commissioner Ms Evelyn Kangwa has condemned the behaviour by the boys and called on the school administration to get to the root cause of the confusion.
Ms. Kangwa also directed that the pupils should account for the damage they have caused to property at the school.
She said they boys should have sought other means of resolving their grievances with the school administration instead of them becoming violent.
“It is wrong for the boys to act in the manner they have done. They should learn to solve problems through dialogue,” said Ms. Kangwa.
And the Kenneth Kaunda Secondary school Parent Teachers Association –PTA chairperson Weston Milimo has blamed the riot by the pupils on alleged poor administration of school affairs at the institution.
Mr. Milimo told ZANIS in a telephone interview that authorities should ensure that they also deal with the administrators of the school.
“ What has happened at KK is as a result of a lapse in the administration . There is need for an overhaul at this school to avoid future problems. They boys who also rioted need to be dealt with severely,” said Mr. Mwansa.
The boys have since run away from the school into the nearby bush leaving only female pupils in the institution.
Shiwang’andu Member of Parliament Stephen Kapyongo has said that MMD leader Nevers Mumba has no moral right to issue threats to the MMD members of parliament currently serving in the PF government.
Mr. Kapyongo said that Dr. Mumba needed to be reminded that he also abandoned his party to go and serve a Republican Vice- President under the late Levy Mwanawasa.
The PF parliamentarian has told QFM news that there is nothing wrong that the MMD MPs have done to accept their constitutional privilege of serving the people of Zambia at national level.
Mr. Kampyongo has since advised the MMD to give its decision a deep thought on its plan to expel the 9 MMD mps.
He added that expelling the 9 MPS will only weaken the MMD party adding that the MMD has already lost 2 seats that were nullified by the courts of law.
Mr. Kapyongo was speaking To QFM news in Lusaka today.
FILE: UPND Siavonga Member of Parliament Douglas Siakalima talks to police officers
The Lusaka Magistrate court has set Friday July 20, 2012 for ruling in the case in which a UPND cadre is jointly charged with four others for idle and disorderly conduct likely to cause breach of peace
The ruling is to determine whether the matter should be referred to the High Court for determination following some constitutional issues which were raised such as breaches of Article 11 to 26 which relates to freedom of expression, association, assembly and movement.
This follows an application by defence lawyers who have asked Magistrate Lameck Ng’ambi to refer the case to the High Court for determination.
Defence lawyer Keith Mweemba told the court that Article 28 of the Constitution of Zambia is twofold.
Mr. Mweemba explained that if an issue arises during the trial where it required constitutional interpretation and there is evidence which hinges on the constitution the Magistrate Court has the jurisdiction to refer to the High Court.
“If it is not an issue which arises but a specific request at the bar it becomes mandatory to refer to the High Court and that it does not mean that it is the end of the criminal proceedings,” he said.
Mr. Mweemba added that the High Court has the power to refer the case back to the subordinate court and he later sought the High Court to guide the court.
He added that the court has rules to follow and insisted that the case be taken to the High court.
Lusaka Magistrate Lameck Ngámbi told the court that he would present the ruling this Friday July 20, 2012.
Zambian rap group Zone fam announced , at Press Briefing held at Sterkinekor , that they have signed to Kenya based music label Taurus Musik. This will see them spreading their music across Africa and the globe.
PRESS RELEASE
Exciting news from Taurus Musik comes to you in the form of our latest band to be signed; Zone Fam. Lusaka’s energetic Hip Hop group consists of four members namely; Dope G, Jay Rox, Yung Verbal and Thugga, the group was founded in 2009 by Mr. Duncan Sodala.
What brought the members together was a mutual love and passion for Hip Hop and has enabled them to effortlessly work on timeless music together. This can be seen in their solo mixtapes that were released in 2010 and their main album named The Business (Foreign Exchange) that featured prominent Zambian artists and went on to be one of the best albums in 2011.
Taurus Music is the latest branch of the Taurus Group . It caters for the entertainment industry in Africa. It aims to restore, build up and preserve African culture by infusing various cultures across the continent and ensuring that the outcome is vocal and lyrical perfection. It has major/talented artist from most parts of African signed under the label .
We have been able to achieve the following under our platform:
Create a brand around a name and a face and sustain the brand Guide, counsel , manage, represent the artist and bring out their full potentials. Distribution of music digitally through platforms such as iTunes as well as ringtones and CRBT’s . Traditional spread of artist music through sale of CD’s , we are able to reach the A-Z market segment and offer the quality product via Music outlets in the Uptown and Downtown markets respectively
Look out for Zone Fam singles like ‘Shaka Zulu on em’ that has over 50,000 hits on YouTube. They have nominations for the Channel O Music Award for the Most Gifted New Comers, won the Global Music Awards for Best African Group and nominated for being the Best Hip Hop acts on the globe. (4th Place).
We are on Twitter ( @TaurusMusik @Zonefam ) and Facebook : Taurus Musik and Zone Fam respectively. Get involved. Zambia stand up!
Faz Division One North league leaders Lime Hotspurs coach Mathews
Ndhlovu has admitted that being on top of the table is giving his side
pressure to perform well in the remaining matches.
Lime, increased their tally to 38 points after beating Kitwe United
2-nil on Sunday cutesy of a brace from striker Paul Chibambo.
Ndhlovu said the Ndola side has remained cautious because every team
in the league dreams of beating them.
“Sure it is, you know being on top you become the team to beat but we
want to work hard to maintain our stay on top. If we work hard in the
coming matches the league is ours,” he said.
Ndhlovu cautioned his side against complacency as Lime attempts to go
back to the Super Division just a season after suffering demotion.
“I am telling my players that the league is not over, we should not
relax it not over until the last game,” he stated.
Ndhlovu added: “It will be very tricky for us if we falter because we
will find ourselves dropping on the table. We want to stick to our
position until we get back into the Super Division.”
FILE: Deputy secretary to the cabinet Teddy Mulonga (l) and Sports Minister Chishimba Kambwili (c) take Zambia’s chief of protocol only identified as Nkumbula (r) to task after Zambian football fans were stranded because of Nkumbula
Sports Minister Chishimba Kambwili has warned that government may be forced to formulate laws that will compel all mining firms to sponsor sport if they fail to do it voluntarily.
Kambwili told LT Sports on the Copperbelt that mining companies should take it upon themselves to sponsor sport in their areas of operation.
“I want to warn mining companies that if they don’t want to sponsor sport we shall be forced to come up with legislation to compel them to pay tax that will go toward sport,” he said.
“Let them be responsible enough and sponsor sport because we don’t want to go to such extent. Sport in Zambia is anchored on the resources from the mines,” Kambwili said.
However, the minister said he was cheered that Mopani Copper Mines has started sponsoring legendary clubs “Mighty” Mufulira Wanderers and Nkana.
[pullquote]“I want to warn mining companies that if they don’t want to sponsor sport we shall be forced to come up with legislation to compel them to pay tax that will go toward sport,” he said.[/pullquote]
“I am extremely happy that Mopani Copper Mines has come on board to sponsor “Mighty” Mufulira Wanderers and Nkana “Red Devils” plus the rehabilitation of Shinde Stadium and Nkana Stadium,” the Roan parliamentarian said.
Mopani has announced that besides providing monthly grants to Wanderers and Nkana the firm will also rehabilitate Kantanshi’s Shinde Stadium plus Nkana Stadium in Wusakile.
THE Bank of Zambia (BoZ) is this week expected to sign a contract with a South African mint company to produce the new coins.
Central bank deputy governor of operations, Bwalya Ng’andu says the new coins are expected to be delivered in December.
In an interview in Lusaka, Dr Ng’andu said a contract has been signed with GNB of Germany to print the new notes but could not give a tentative date as to when the rebased Kwacha notes will be delivered in the country by the producer.
“As soon as we have full agreement with printers, we will be able to provide you with an exact date when the new notes will be launched in the country. I don’t think that it would take a long time,” he said.
He however noted the anticipated challenge e distributing the new currency once the full agreement with the printers is signed.
He said the central bank’s planned time table is to have the new notes distributed before the onset of the rains as it poses some challenge due to poor infrastructure in rural areas.
Dr Ng’andu said the BoZ has in the past few months been holding meetings with members of the business community to sensitive them on the rebased Kwacha.
“We are recruiting a team of mass campaign experts who are not members of the central bank and are expected to sensitive the public on various concerns raised for the next three months,” he said.
The campaign team is expected to provide adequate information to the public on what is happening concerning the new currency.
He also said a special team within the central bank has been tasked to work with commercial banks on technological work that needs to be done as regard to rebasing of the currency.
The National Restoration Party (NAREP) has advised fellow opposition Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) to avoid solving its party issues by creating A national problem.
NAREP Lusaka province spokesperson David Chikwanda says he is worried about the cost implication of holding nine by elections if Members of Parliament serving in the Patriotic Front government are expelled.
Chikwanda has therefore appealed to the MMD to serve the people of Zambia from the cost that comes with the by-elections and find a better way of resolving the issues at hand with its MPs.
Speaking to QFM, Chikwanda says it is time political parties practiced civilised politics.
He says it is sad that the MMD has decided to continue with the old kind of politics which the nation is already tired of.
Chikwanda was reacting to the threat by MMD president Nevers Mumba to expel its Parliamentarians currently serving as deputy ministers in the PF government.
An agriculture industry company in Mkushi district has expressed disappointment with small scale farmers in the area for failing to settle a loan scheme which was administered to them.
Agri-options General Manager Lester Shenton disclosed that the company had given out about 25 tonnes of Soya Bean seed as part of a loan package to farmers for the 2012 planting season.
Mr. Shenton complained that the loan recovery performance has been very disappointing as most farmers had failed to honour their obligations to the company.
He explained that the company had envisioned promoting crop diversification in the district through seed loan scheme but that the response from farmers has been disheartening.
Mr. Shenton disclosed this when Mkushi District Commissioner (DC) Christopher Chibuye toured the company’s factory plant today.
The Agri-option General Manager did not however state the course of action that his company would take on the defaulting farmers in its quest to recover its investment.
And the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) Central Regional Manager Joseph Phiri stated that 211 hectares of land was set as the collective total for the farmers who benefitted from Agri-Option loan scheme.
Mr. Phiri explained that the conditions for this loan deal entailed that the benefiting farmers were to grow Soya Bean, adding that their collective efforts were to culminate into 211 hectares of Soya Beans cultivation.
He expressed hope that the loan recovery performance could improve during the course of this month.
Meanwhile, Mkushi District Commissioner (DC) Christopher Chibuye reiterated his appeal to Commercial farmers to join the District Business Association (DBA).
Mr. Chibuye stated that commercial farmers were arguably the most well established private sector in the district, saying that there was need therefore for this sector to be brought on board in the quest to boost the DBA.
He said the DBA was a cardinal in the fostering development of the district, adding that Government recognized such organizations as partners in development.
Mr. Chibuye explained that there was need for commercial farmers to seriously consider this appeal as Government had consistently encouraged local participation in driving the economy of the district.
Zambia’s civil society has challenged the Patriotic Front government to step up the fight against corruption and quit paying lip service.
Zambia Rainbow Coalition(ZRC) President, Cleophas Phiri, said the fight against corruption must rise above campaign slogans and be backed by facts and action.
Mr Phiri said the PF government was spending colossal sums of money on commissions of inquiry aimed at fighting corruption yet the outcome of the findings were not benefiting the Zambians.
He said ZRC was very concerned at how president Sata and government ministers were arbitrary breaking the law which was core to Zambia’s stability and governance. He said it was imperative that all citizens abide by the same rules.
Mr Phiri also called on government to sit down with all stack holders to map out a strategy on how to create employment for the Zambians instead of going at it alone.
“No man has monopoly to employment creation. Government, the public enterprises and informal sector can work together to do that. When you promise during campaign pledges, you should deliver. Government must use every means, including subsidies to create the much needed employment in Zambia”, Mr Phiri said.
He was speaking on Zambia Blog Talk Radio over the weekend.
President Michael Sata has said that corrupt practices have negatively affected the operations of councils in the country. Mr Sata said that corrupt practices are manifested in the allocation of plots, collection of revenues through pilferage and issuance of licenses and permits.
ZNBC’s Effie Mphande reports that this is contained in the President’s statement read for him by Vice President Guy Scott. This was at the official opening of the 56th Annual Conference of the Local Government Association of Zambia- in Livingstone on today.
President SATA also observed that over the past years, local government has NOT delivered to peoples’ expectations. He has explained that politicking by the previous administration in PF run councils had worsened the situation.
Mr Sata also says government is committed to the implementation of the national decentralization policy which will guarantee the participation of all citizens in decision making.
The President also says government is committed to increasing budgetary allocation to local authorities. Earlier, Local Government and Housing Minister Nkandu Luo warned councillors and staff involved in illegal allocation of Land that they will have their councils suspended.
Professor Luo explained that illegal allocation of land has resulted in some structures being built on sewer and water lines. She has urged councils across the country to develop service charters which will enable them provide quality services to the people.
And United Nations Resident Coordinator Kanni Wignaraja called for the implementation of policies and laws which are responsive to enhanced service delivery. And Local Government Association of Zambia President Daniel Chisenga says lack of funds has hampered service delivery by councils.