The Ministry of Energy Energy Permanent Secretary, George Zulu invited people with information about allegations that the Trafigura is involved in corrupt activities in other countries to come forward.

Mr Zulu said that security agencies cleared the company in the technical stage adding that the company has operations in Tanzania and Kenya.

Mr Zulu who is in Tanzania to supervise the transportation of three million liters of Petrol to Zambia said that the government does not want any irregularities procurement of oil for the country.

He was responding to a story in the Daily Nation attributed to UPND’s chairperson for Energy, Garry Nkombo who says the entire oil tender was full of corruption.

Mr Zulu refuted accusations that the Oil supply contracts awarded to Gunvor and Trafigura were marred in corruption.

He said that the process was done in a transparent manner and has urged those with information to the contrary to report any irregularities to law enforcement agencies.

[pullquote]The Daily Nation further claimed that Trafigura was illegally allowed to change prices for its bid three months after the tender was opened. But Mr Zulu said that this was a serious criminal offence which must be reported.[/pullquote]

The Daily Nation further claimed that Trafigura was illegally allowed to change prices for its bid three months after the tender was opened.

But Mr Zulu said that this was a serious criminal offence which must be reported.

He however stressed that the tender process was done in a transparent manner involving three stages before Gunvor and Trafigura were selected to as winners of the tender.

Meanwhile, the opposition Zambians for Empowerment and Development has cautioned the Patriotic Front government against engaging suspected corrupt oil companies for the supply of oil to the country.

Government is currently holding talks with two foreign companies Gunvor and Trafigura regarding a two-year contract for the supply of oil and refined fuel.

[pullquote]Dr. Mtesa noted that any company that can not meet the stringent environmental management and good corporate norms demanded in developed countries should automatically be disqualified to do business in Zambia.[/pullquote]

ZED president Frederick Mtesa said the reported revelations of corruption and unsound environmental practices of the two companies negotiating for oil supply, if left unchecked, are bound to make a mockery government claims that it is committed to the fight against corruption.

Dr. Mtesa noted that any company that can not meet the stringent environmental management and good corporate norms demanded in developed countries should automatically be disqualified to do business in Zambia.

He told QFM News that if companies that have tainted records are allowed in the country, it will be distorting competition and risking the country’s independence to run public affairs.

Dr. Mtesa has since demanded for a better explanation from government stating that it was not enough for energy permanent secretary George Zulu to just say that the country’s security wings had cleared the two companies.

[Source :ZNBC/QFM]

Justice Minister Sebastian Zulu says President Michael Sata’s statement yesterday during the signing of the trilateral agreement on the hosting of the UNWTO General Assembly that a little corruption can be allowed in the issuance of visas at entry points should not be politicized.

Mr. Zulu said that Zambians know the government’s stance on corruption since the coming of the Patriotic Front to power. He said that the statement by the President should not be taken out of context as it does not change the fact that the PF government remains committed to the fight against corruption.

The Justice Minister has further urged Zambians to join hands in the fight against corruption.

Mr Zulu said that though he did not want to directly respond to the president’s statement, he believes the fight against corruption is a mammoth tasked which needs everyone’s efforts.

QFM

Former President Rupiah Banda’s son Andrew has been arrested by the Joint Government Investigative Wings for alleged corrupt practices involving over 170 Million Kwacha.

Mr. Banda has also been charged for failing to account for over 360 Million Kwacha deposited in his Stanbic personal account.

Mr. Banda, who is Zambia’s Deputy High Commissioner to India, was arrested and charged on Thursday morning at Woodlands Police Station in Lusaka.

Joint Government Investigative Team Spokesperson, Namukolo Kasumpa has confirmed that Mr. Banda has been arrested for soliciting for a two per cent payment from an Italian construction firm, Fratelli Locci Limited.

Mrs. Kasumpa says Mr. Banda allegedly received 171 Million Kwacha out of the two per cent solicited for from the Fratelli Locci Limited Managing Director, Antonello Locci.

She however says Mr. Banda has been released on bond.

Mr. Banda, who appeared jovial, was in the company of his lawyer Sakwiba Sikota and several family members.

On Tuesday, the Joint Government Investigative Team recorded a warn and caution statement from Mr. Banda over the same charges.

ZNBC

As we continue to promote Poetry in Zambia ; here are this weeks poems ,enjoy.

HARKEN, SNIFF AND TAKE A LOOK by Subila Esperanza Chilupula

Listen, that’s all I ask,
Harken, just for a moment, it’s a small task.
Now do you hear that? that beautiful sound?
That my love, is the sound of a heart unbound,
Thought you had me chained till it took me to my grave
Thought you ruled me, that I was your slave
Pity, I knew better
So here my love is a goodbye letter

Raise your snout to the sky, take a whiff
Just for a moment, a little sniff.
Do you smell that? That delightful scent?
That my dear, is the smell of your descent.
Always making the decisions and rules,
Making sure at every game I would lose.
Guess what, I wrote me my own constitution,
And its time I set up my own institution.

Look, quickly you might miss it.
Go on, take a peek before you lose it,
Do you see that, that golden ray?
That sugar, is the heel of my boot walking away.
So you cheated on me and claimed it was an accident
Used the girl’s curves to explain the incident
Well guess what, you just gave up a rose
For the taste of a weed, now watch my new man propose.

OH! ‘MPOSA MABWE’ by Clement Suze

Oh! ‘Mposa Mabwe’
There’s a lump on your throat and its breeding pain
In the heart of Kitwe, there you proudly stand
The destiny of your children depends on the battles of your hands
Father of a Zambian worker, you are

What inspires you to fight?
Is it the stirred rage in the center of your cage?
Is it the tales of many your children they enslaved?
You have exhausted all ways of civility I am told
And resorted to throwing stones
You have ignored the nagging conscious of your limitations

Oh! You may stand there like a mad soul
Your desire is might
Your blood is warm and we feel your pain
We remember you even more today for our gain

When I look at you, I cry.
This is because your desire to succeed is engulfed in darkness
Yet this never dims your ambitions to win
Whoever you are and wherever you have been
You are great because you have the grace

When I stand in your shoes,
I feel like a punch on my heart
Is there any sacrifice I have offered for my Zambia?
This Once more streams my eyes, with much pain I cry
I look for solace in the verse of the Zambian anthem
And it says: “Land of works and joy in unity”

I pray that you may find joy in your works
May you find meaning in the fruits of your labor as we stand together
Look at the path where we are coming from as a nation
Endurance of misery untold in relation
Like a horror episode where all fine things are put on hold
We are still here standing and will Endeavour to make beautiful this land

Wait until we get there, we shall sing to sweet melody that inspires good life
All this is only but for the Love of my country and its people
Dear Zambia, how I Love you
The train might be slow but we shall finally get there
Wake me up when we arrive and we shall dance together
Hope you will dance too.

BLOOD STAINED INK by Michael Mutale

Green, purple or maybe, navy blue,
That is the color of love when it’s true.
That’s not the green of Envy,
the color could be blue, but in navy.

The color of Love is the color of blood stained ink,
Just take a moment to think.
Ink can be black or blue,
that’s a fact simply true.
The color of blood
is usually red.

In ink written is the romance,
but stained in blood, the sacrifice.
Like steel refined in fire,
love comes only after, tried is ones desire.

“I LOVE YOU”, words to be written with the Ink of a writer and the blood of a warrior.

Word and deed combined and reaffirmed by God.

John 3:16 that is love!

By Kapa187

President Michael Sata, arrived Wednesday afternoon in Luanda to participate at the Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which will be held from 31 May to 1 June.

President Sata was welcomed at the 4 de Fevereiro International Airport by the foreign minister, Georges Chicoty, Zambia’s ambassador accredited to Angola, Chisheta Raphael, among other figures.

The meeting in Luanda, which will address issues related to regional integration process, provides meetings of the Troika (Angola, Mozambique and Namibia), the Council of Ministers and the SADC Organ for Cooperation in the areas of Security and Defence Policy.

Political issues like the crisis in Madagascar and the report of the Troika of the SADC on the campaign for the presidency of the African Union Commission will also be on the negotiating table.

SADC comprises Angola, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritius, Seychelles, Malawi, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Mozambique and Zambia.

[ANGOP]

President Michael Sata has castigated the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) for politicking at the expense of addressing challenging problems such as cattle diseases in Southern Province, where the party was heavily represented.

Meanwhile, Mr Sata has directed newly-appointed Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Luxon Kazabu to initiate mechanisms that will strengthen animal husbandry to boost the livestock sector in the country.

Speaking at State House in Lusaka yesterday when he swore-in Mr Kazabu, Mr Sata said during campaigns for the September 2011 general elections, many unfounded allegations were levelled against the Patriotic Front (PF), especially in Southern and Western provinces.[pullquote]The whole Southern Province is controlled by UPND. They never talk about the way the animals are perishing and you (Mr Kazabu) are going to the Ministry of Agriculture specifically for animal husbandry[/pullquote]

He said Southern Province, which was being controlled by UPND, had been faced with livestock diseases but sadly, the opposition never talked about the issue.

“The whole Southern Province is controlled by UPND. They never talk about the way the animals are perishing and you (Mr Kazabu) are going to the Ministry of Agriculture specifically for animal husbandry,” he said.

Mr Sata said at the time when Alexander Chikwanda was Minister of Agriculture under the UNIP government, Zambia used to import beef, a move which prompted the government to set up an animal husbandry unit at the ministry.

“I want you to go and build it up. I want you Mr Minister of Agriculture (Emmanuel Chenda) to give him a vehicle, give him petrol and I will give him enough money to tour the entire Southern Province, the whole Western Province and the whole Eastern Province,” he said.

Mr Sata said Zambia had a lot of potential in goat rearing and a ready market was there in the Middle East.

He urged Mr Kazabu to take an inventory of goats available so that the first consignment of exports could be made.

He also urged Mr Kazabu to work hand in hand with Agriculture and Livestock Permanent Secretary, David Shamulenge, a veterinary doctor, to boost the livestock sector.

He said a number of stakeholders were ready to help the Government combat animal diseases.

MINISTER of Finance Alexander Chikwanda has said that it was sad that the main speakers at the just ended Global African Diaspora Summit in South Africa did not acknowledge Zambia’s contribution towards the freedom struggle, despite the country having been the epicentre of liberation struggles in Southern Africa.

The summit was hosted by the African Union in partnership with the South African government and took place under the theme “Towards the realisation of a united and integrated Africa and its Diaspora”.

Mr Chikwanda, who was representing President Sata at the summi, said that it is unfortunate that Zambia’s contribution to the liberation struggles in Southern Africa could not even warrant a footnote in the speeches of the main speakers at the summit.

Eminent personalities like former South African President Nelson Mandela, former Kenyan President Jomo Kenyatta, former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere and former Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah were fondly mentioned for the role they played in the liberation, but nothing was mentioned about Zambia and former President Kenneth Kaunda.

The main speakers included South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma, Benin and current African Union President Boni Yayi, African Union Commission chairperson Jean Ping, Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Nguema Obiang and Vice-President of the Cuban Council of State Esteban Lazo.

The summit was held on the anniversary of the day when the Organisation of African Unity, the forerunner of the African Union, was set up in 1963, and was intended to set up a set of Legacy Projects, including a programme to mobilise Africans outside the continent to help with African development; the creation of an African Diaspora Development Fund to channel remittances from Africans abroad into investment in African development; and the creation of a “development market place” to promote African entrepreneurship.

Judgement in the case in which the MMD through their lawyers Hobday Kabwe and Company and George Kunda and Company filed a judicial notice for leave to apply for judicial review has been set for 26th June 2012.

When the matter came up for hearing before High Court Judge Jane Kabuka this afternoon, Chief state advocate Kombe Mwila asked the court to quash the application for Judicial review on grounds that the applicant had failed to exhaust the laid down channels to appeal through the Minister of Home Affairs.

Mrs. Mwila told the court that the MMD failed to observe the natural rules of justice when they failed to heed to the notices served on them prior to the decision of deregistration of March 14th ,2012.

She stated that the Chief registrar of societies Clement Andeleki acted within the law by giving 21 days notice to the MMD before arriving at his decision.

Mrs. Mwila argued that issues of illegality, irrationality and procedural impropriety in the matter do not arise and further asked the court to dismiss the application for judicial review with costs to the applicant.

And MMD lawyer Hobday Kabwe argued that there would be a prospect of biasness if the appeal in the matter was lodged with the Minister, on account that the officer who made the decision to deregister the MMD is under the same Minister.

Judge Kabuka therefore adjourned the matter for judgement on or before June 26, 2012.

The former ruling party had sought legal redress against the de-registration and further asked the court to declare the Registrar of Societies’ decision to deregister the MMD as unlawful, null and void.

QFM