Two children aged 12 and 8 years have lost their lives in a road accident after a vehicle driven by their mother plunged into a ditch near Nyumba Yanga area in Lusaka.

Their mother, Makhosazana Dlamini Haanzele lost control of her Suzuki Grant Vatara Reg ALC 2482 as she was chasing after her husband Frank Haanzele whom she suspected was carrying a girlfriend.

The accident occurred around 20 Hours on Friday 28th June at the junction of Leopards Hill and Godfery Chitalu road.

The kids, Michelo (8) and Jolezya (12) who were passengers died while the husband and the wife are injured and admitted in UTH.

Police Acting Spokesperson Charity Chanda confirmed the accident and said the vehicle overturned due to excessive speed.

Ms Chanda said the accident happened when the woman,Makhosazana Dlamin Haanzele who was driving a Suzuki Grant Vitara registration number ALC 2482 was with her three children and her brother-in law when the accident occurred.

“Makhosazana who was with her three children and brother-in-law in her car decided to pursue her husband’s vehicle and in the process lost control of the car due to excessive speeding and over-turned. Two of her children died,” Ms Chanda said.

She said the bodies of the deceased are at the UTH mortuary.

Makhosazana who is said to be in a state of shock and one of her surviving child are admitted to University Teaching Hospital (UTH).
By press time, Makhosazana who had not been informed of her children’s tragic passing had not been visited in hospital by her husband.

Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) chairperson, Justice Ireen Mambilima, has observed that the public media have been abrogating the Electoral Code of conduct as it provides unbalanced coverage of news among political parties.

Speaking during a youth conference against electoral malpractice and violence under the theme, Support Peaceful Elections, Justice Mambilima noted that the public media have been biased towards the ruling party as observed in the 2006 and 2011 general elections.

She noted that even during the nominations for the Chipata Central Constituency by elections last Thursday, the public media covered the ruling PF while the opposition political parties were not covered.

Justice Mambilima said that the national broadcaster, ZNBC, only aired the filing in of nominations by the PF candidate, Lameck Mangani, and not the other four parliamentary hopefuls.

She stated that the ECZ intends to discuss the matter with ZNBC and noted that it was unfair for the media to show biasness towards one political party.

She, however, stated that the ECZ has not been experiencing such problems with the private media.

Meanwhile, Justice Mambilima has called on youths to promote peaceful elections as they go to the polls on July 25, 2013.

Justice Mambila said youths have a role to play to ensure elections are held in a conducive environment in the district by refraining from engaging in violent activities which could influence apathy.

She said the commission has notice that most youths are vulnerable as they are used as tools of violence during elections.

“You should not allow them to use you to settle their political scores. They cannot allow their children to engage in such activities because they know it has repercussions,” she said.

Justice Mambilima stated that the commission is committed to ensure violent free elections by engaging youths in the electoral process, adding that they should also encourage others to register and also participate in the elections of the country.

She said youths were the future of the nation such that they should be responsible to uphold the peace the country was enjoying.

Justice Mambilima said youths should be ambassadors of peace and stressed the need for them to share the knowledge acquired from the interaction with their colleagues who did not have the opportunity.

“When you engage in a violent acts, you scare away voters, hence the need for you to desist from violence during campaigns and to the run up to the polling day,’’ he added.

Justice Mambilima also urged all political parties to be tolerant with each other to avoid misunderstandings characterized during elections by engaging in issue-based campaigns.

She said there is need for tolerance among political players, adding that she expected violent-free elections in Chipata central.

Justice Mambilima said the forefathers already shed blood for the country and that there was no need for youths to die but what was required is to consolidate the democracy that the country was enjoying.

And Justice Mambilima said ECZ is an independent body that does not succumb to pressure from both the ruling and the opposition political parties.

Justice Mambilima said the commission enjoys being an autonomous electoral management body promoting democratic governance by conducting elections according to the law.

And speaking at the same function ECZ Director, Priscilla Isaacs, said the when the commission met traditional leaders earlier this week, chiefs raised a concern of youths who were being ferried from town during campaigns.

Ms Isaacs said the chiefs complained that drunken youths from town caused violence in rural communities during times of elections.

She said from the meeting it was expected that the youths would come out untied.

ZANIS

Government has with immediate effect banned paid-for public tuitions in learning institutions.

Education Science Vocational Training and Early Education Minister, John Phiri, announced the ban on paid-for public tuitions in all the schools in the country on Thursday when he graced the inaugural Provincial Careers Day Exhibition and official launch of the Campaign against Malpractice in Zambia held at Mpika Boys’ Secondary School in Mpika district of Muchinga Province.

Dr. Phiri said with immediate effect, no school shall be permitted to hold tuitions in holidays or during weekends unless such tuitions will be paid for by the school and will involve all the schools.

He, however, said internally arranged tuitions which attract no cost at all to the pupil are encouraged.

Dr Phiri observed that paid-for public tuitions in schools disadvantaged pupils from poor families.

The minister also warned that no school, government, private or Missionary, will host learners from other schools to provide extra tuitions unless that particular school organizes its own pupils using the school money.

Dr Phiri also announced that with immediate effect all class teachers from Grades 8 to 12 shall avail subjects’ syllabus to all the pupils at the beginning of each term.

He said subject teachers should write the syllabus on the board for the pupils to copy or give them hand-outs of the syllabus if resources are available so that they (pupils) can know what they are supposed to cover in that particular term.

The minister has since directed all head teachers to ensure that the directive is implemented, adding that the move would help the school administration to effectively supervise the teachers in their respective schools.

Dr Phiri also called on the pupils in all the schools to ensure that they report to the school administration through their class monitors or prefects any teacher failing to finish the syllabus in that particular time.

He warned that any teacher failing to finish the syllabus of particular terms will be charged accordingly.

“We want to completely do away with examination malpractices in the country. Government will not allow a situation where pupils learn only 3 subjects out of 18 in a year. The genesis of the examination malpractices is failure by the teachers in respective schools to finish the subjects’ syllabus forcing the pupils and the teachers as well to find other alternatives means of ensuring that they pass the examinations, “said Dr Phiri.

Dr Phiri charged that government can effectively stop the examination leakages if teachers diligently delivered their lessons and pupils’ diligently accepted that deliverance.

He further warned that any school head teacher whose school persistently reports cases of examination malpractices must be charged and that the punishment should include a demotion for the head teacher who will be found wanting.

On Provincial Mock Examinations for Grades 7, 9 and 12 classes, Dr Phiri said they must be consistently be done on time to allow the Provincial office reflect on them and make a decision, adding that best performing head teachers and their staff must be rewarded.

And government says it remains committed to providing quality education to all its citizens. However, said that the state is concerned about low literacy levels which are currently prevailing in the country.

The Education Minister noted that the current situation with regards to the literacy levels, if left unchecked, has the potential of denying the learners full participation in quality education.

Dr Phiri said reading skills are important to children s success in school and work, saying reading can be a fun and imaginative activity for children which he said opens doors to all kinds of new world for them.

And in launching the Provincial Careers day exhibition, Dr Phiri said government attaches great importance to the need of having an effective guidance programme aimed at preparing youths for future roles and productive lives.

Dr. Phiri said it is common knowledge that today’s learner is seen as a developer needing not only academic knowledge but also information about the world of work.

He said that there is vital need to prepare young people about the realities of employment situation to help them relate knowledge and skills acquired in education to their lives after school.

Dr Phiri said he expect teachers to guide pupils in terms of subjects that can help them meet the required qualifications or grades without any destructive motive, adding that humiliating pupils in the name of providing Career Guidance will haunt some teachers for the rest of
their lives.

The minister, however, implored pupils to develop interest in knowing and understanding themselves before they make a decision about the career each pupil wants to take.

And University of Zambia Manager for International Liaison and Public Relations, Mulenga Musepa, told the pupils drawn from all the seven districts in the province that it is not difficult to get a place at the university but that pupils lack knowledge on the courses and the subjects they will need to do for them to do a course of their choice.

Mr Musepa appealed to the pupils to consult their teachers when choosing a career.

Meanwhile, Dr Phiri has warned the teaching staff to stop humiliating pupils in the name of carrying out their duties as teachers.

Dr Phiri said teaching should not be perceived and taken as physic training but as a calling from God which has a lot of blessings once children become good leaders in society.

He noted that some teachers have a tendency of venting their anger caused by their personal problems on innocent pupils who are expecting professional conduct from the teachers to help them realise their dream careers.

Speaking at the same function, Muchinga Province Education Officer (PEO), Jobbicks Kalumba, said the objective of holding the Careers Day Exhibition is to give pupils career guidance and prepare them for future challenges.

Mr Kalumba explained that his office decided to host the provincial careers day as another platform of information sharing with both teachers and pupils while exchanging ideas on professional exhibitions.

Exhibitors at the Career Exhibition Day included Chilonga Nursing School, TAZARA Training School, University of Zambia and the Zambia College of Agriculture, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) Zambia Police, Zambia National Service (ZNS), Zambia National Commercial Bank ( ZANACO) Finance Bank, Indo Bank and Local Government.

Others were the Immigration Department, Zesco, Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA), Drug
Enforcement Commission, Zambia Prisons Services, and the media.
The Provincial Careers Day and launch of the Campaign against Malpractice was held under the theme” EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND DEDICATED LEARNING, A PILLAR TO QUALITY ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE”.

ZANIS

Workers constructing the State-of-the-art Ministry of Home Affairs Offices in Kapiri Mposhi district have complained over none payment of their salaries for over nine months now.

Government engaged Risbel Enterprises Construction to build the Home Affairs offices in Kapiri Mposhi district at a total cost of KR33 million to house the ministry’s departments of National Registration, Passports and Immigration.

Risbel Enterprises is also building the Ministry of Home Affairs offices in Luangwa district at the same amount.

The workers complained to ZANIS yesterday that they had gone without pay for over nine months now.

Speaking on behalf of the workers, Laston Chirwa said some affected workers have even stopped work because of none payment of salaries by the construction company’s management.

But Risbel Enterprises Construction Director, Abel Chunga, said his company has not been paying salaries to its workers because of delays by government to finalize the payment for the project.

In a telephone interview with ZANIS today Mr Chunga said his company was still awaiting transfer of funds from the government.

Mr Chunga appealed to the workers to remain calm because government has assured the construction company that it will transfer the funds next week.
“Government has assured us that they will transfer the money next week… the process delayed because there is procedure in government which requires that the funds move from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Home Affairs and then to us… otherwise we regret the inconvenience that we have caused to our workers,” Mr Chunga said.

Meanwhile, the construction of two Home Affairs Offices in Luangwa and Kapiri Mposhi districts have reached advanced stages.

Mr Chunga said over 95 per cent of the works have been done on the buildings and will be ready for handover to government soon.

The projects were supposed to be completed and handed over to government last year.

Once completed and commissioned the offices will solve the acute shortage of office accommodation for the departments of National Registration, Passports and Immigrations that currently rent in private buildings.

ZANIS

The continued skyrocketing commodity prices since the removal of subsidies on fuel and agricultural product buttresses the resolve by the consortium of Civil Society Organisations (CSO) championing the Black Friday to continue the campaign until government finds a lasting solution in ameliorate the sufferings of the poor people in the country.

The rise in inflation by 0.3% as announced by the Central Statistics Office vindicates our argument on the negative impact of the government’s unilateral decision on the removal subsidies. In this regard, we are resolved to sustain the campaign and is so humbled by the overwhelming support from individuals, communities, CSOs and professional bodies.

In this vein, this week’s Black Friday Campaign was observed in the communities while sympathizers are urged to continue putting on black attire every Friday.

In preparation for the national prayer vigil coming in the next few days, Black Friday members and sympathizers are urged to visit and seek permission from various denominations and church leaders on Saturdays and Sundays to talk about the rising cost of living and the need for them to be part of the forthcoming national prayer vigil once the date is decided.

For and behalf of the Black Friday CSO Campaigners
McDonald Chipenzi