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Mwense district council has appealed to the ministry of local government to employ more council workers to enable the local authority run the local authority effectively.
Speaking when the Deputy Minister for Local Government and Housing in charge of administration Forrie Tembo visited the district, Council Chairman Willie Mumba said the council is facing a lot of challenges because of poor staffing levels.
Mr Mumba said shortage of man power has contributed to poor service delivery by the local authority in the district.
He named some of the departments with critical shortage of staff as works and development which only has a director of works and finance and the treasurer.
Others are administration, which has no committee clerks and the planning department which has no district planner and National Rural Water and Supply (NRWSS) focal point person.
Mr Mumba appealed to the minister to ensure that the vacancies are filled up if the local authority is to carry out its works diligently.
And in a related development, the Ministry of Local Government and Housing has been called upon to harmonize salary scales and improve conditions of service for local government workers.
Mr Mumba said currently, council administration is facing a lot of challenges because salaries have not been reconciled.
He wondered why council secretaries in various parts of the country could have different salaries despite doing the same type of work.
Mr Mumba further said it is sad to note that some junior council workers get paid as low as K200, 000 while senior officers are getting huge allowances.
Police in Kasempa have launched an investigation in which a track carrying about 600 hundred by 50 kg maize from Kasempa to Ndola Food Reserve Agency-FRA shade was diverted and sold in Kitwe.
Kasempa Police Officer in Charge Clement Nchimunya said police in Kitwe had arrested a driver of the truck, Kennedy Mpamba, 31 who is now detained in Kasempa police and will appear in court soon.
And Police in Kasempa district have recovered household goods worth millions of Kwacha that is believed to have been stolen between January to March this year.
Mr Nchimunya confirmed to ZANIS that the suspect, Fredrick Mande, 27 of Muselepete area is believed to have stolen household goods from Mukinge area where police had received several complaints for the past two months.
Among the things recovered are three Toshiba Laptops, three DVD players, two Puma blankets, three mobile phones and two mountains bikes.
Police have called on the public to visit the police station and identify their properties.
Zambia has continued to record a steady decline in the spread of the HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) due to an increase in access to quality interventions.
And the country has also continued to record significantly attained progress at all levels of HIV/AIDS interventions particularly in diagnosis, treatment and care.
According to the Ministry of Health’s National Health Strategic Plan (NHSP) of 2011 to 2016, the HIV/AIDS prevalence in the adult population has declined from 16. %1 in 2002 to14.3% as of 2007.
The National Health Strategic Plan which was released by Health Minister Joseph Kasonde in Lusaka recently further indicates that an estimated 16.1 % females and 12.3 % males are infected with HIV in both urban and rural area.
The urban areas have however continued to have higher HIV prevalence of about 20% as compared to the rural areas which are recording a prevalence of about 10%.
Moreover,(NHSP also indicates that new HIV infections are projected to increase from an estimated 67,602 adults in 2006 to 72,019 in the year 2015 translating into approximately 185 new HIV infections every day.
Out of these daily HIV infections, an estimated 10% of HIV transmission is from parent to child mostly occurring during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding.
In the five year plan, Government has since put up strong measures to scale up interventions particularly in Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT, Abstinence, Be Faithful and Condom Use (ABC) Strategies, Male Circumcision (MC), Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTC) Among Others.
Currently over 900,000 Zambians are living with HIV and over 250,000 are receiving Anti Retro Therapy (ART).
And Government has taken the fight against HIV/AIDS countrywide very seriously.
Minister of Lands, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Wilbur Simuusa pointed out that the HIV virus is affecting the ability of all Zambians to pursue their goals.
Mr Simuusa was speaking in Lusaka yesterday at the swearing in ceremony of 34 American Peace Corps new volunteers who will be in the country for two years to work in six provinces to address local issues especially those focused on forestry to improve the livelihood of many Zambians especially in rural areas
Mr Simuusa observed that government and other institutions were losing a lot workers because of the disease.
He pointed out that the pandemic cannot be fought by one ministry or organization but requires concerted efforts from all in the country.
Mr Simuusa noted that the disease must be addressed by all in Zambia if the fight against HIV/AIDS was to be won.
He said the new 34 Peace Corps volunteers as they work with communities throughout Zambia, will see and feel the impact that the HIV/AIDS has on the lives of Zambians, families and the workforce.
Mr Simuusa also added that the volunteers who will be in the country to work in six provinces to improve the livelihood of many Zambians should also help address the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
He pointed out that with all the Zambian government’s and the American Peace Corps hard work, collaboration and partnership can continue to save lives of men, women and children who are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS in Zambia.
Mr Simuusa said government looks forward to working with the Peace Corps volunteers for years to come and anticipates a close collaboration and cooperation between the two.
Meanwhile, American Ambassador to Zambia Mark Storella said the American government works hand in hand with the Zambian government to reduce the transmission of HIV and to improve the quality of life of those infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS Zambia.
Mr Storella urged the Peace Corps volunteers to pursue HIV/AIDS prevention with the greatest energy and enthusiasm.
Reuters reports that Zambia, Africa’s top copper producer, plans to tighten its grip on the government’s share of profits made at the country’s mines, boosting tax revenue and ensuring a more level playing field for Chinese and other investors.
Investors in miners operating in Zambia, which include Glencore, Indian miner Vedanta and Canadian-listed First Quantum, have fretted over possible increases in taxes under a government elected last year, against the backdrop of a surge of resource nationalism across Africa.
But Vice-President Guy Scott said there were no plans to change the tax code, and that making sure mining companies complied with the existing rules would boost income.
“We are very happy with the formula at the moment. We are not arguing about the taxation formula … That’s not where the concern is. The concern is compliance,” he said, speaking at an event hosted by Thomson Reuters on Friday.
“There are all these countries that are known as offshore banking or financial services centres. They get their money from somewhere, and we suspect some of it may be coming from Zambia,” said Scott, one of the highest-ranking white officials in sub-Saharan Africa.
[pullquote]Sticking to the current tax regime was a “firm promise”, he said. “We have backed off a windfall tax which at one stage was brought in … We have a higher royalty, and a progressive profits tax and the interest is not to change the formula but … to enforce compliance,” he said.[/pullquote]
Sticking to the current tax regime was a “firm promise”, he said. “We have backed off a windfall tax which at one stage was brought in … We have a higher royalty, and a progressive profits tax and the interest is not to change the formula but … to enforce compliance,” he said.
The new Zambian government is trying to juggle the competing priorities of unions demanding better pay for mineworkers with demands for more stable conditions from mining firms.
Scott said the government would look at under-reporting and possible transfer mispricing by mining companies, but said there was an issue with raising tax-collecting capacity.
“You get between 45 and 50 percent of the profit in tax. If you get it, there is no problem,” he said in an interview later.
LEVEL PLAYING FIELD
Ensuring they collect their share of mining profits is a huge concern for resource-rich African countries like Zambia.
Many countries and pressure groups fear abuse of transfer pricing rules – governing how companies sell goods between subsidiaries – means they are losing billions of dollars to tax havens.
Transfer mispricing happens when a company’s unit in Zambia, for example, sells goods to a second unit at a cut-down price to ensure it records most profits in a low-tax jurisdiction.
[pullquote]“In some senses, this is a kind of Fitch correction visit … We get down-rated or up-rated according to maybe what some 25-year-old thinks is the case from various gossip that he’s heard in Zambia, and I’m here to correct it,” he said.[/pullquote]
Scott said Chinese miners, with whom relations have not always been smooth, would be treated like anyone else but would no longer get the favoured treatment he said they had enjoyed under the previous administration.
President Michael Sata has toned down his past accusations that Chinese companies, which have sunk $2 billion into Zambia to secure a share of its mineral wealth, had created slave labour conditions in Zambia with scant regard for safety.
“We don’t give them any leeway in terms of ‘You’re special, we want you, you don’t have to pay tax or you don’t have to comply with the labour laws’,” Scott said about Chinese firms.
“They have great interest in our natural resources … We are not frightened they are going to turn around and go. They are obviously not. So they need to be treated on an equal basis,” he said.
Scott said he expected the Zambian economy to grow by eight percent this year, after 6.6 percent growth in 2011, and inflation to stay around its current level of 6.5 percent. “If it increases a bit, I don’t see what the problem is,” he said.
Scott said his aim in coming to London was to convince investors that “we do speak your language” but he took aim at rating agency Fitch over its decision in March to revise Zambia’s outlook to negative.
“In some senses, this is a kind of Fitch correction visit … We get down-rated or up-rated according to maybe what some 25-year-old thinks is the case from various gossip that he’s heard in Zambia, and I’m here to correct it,” he said.
Deputy Minister of Finance and National Planning Miles Sampa has directed the Central Statistical Office-CSO to complete the Central Statistics Office (CSO) Office complex building next to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) by December 31st , this year.
Speaking at a familiarization tour and operations of CSO, Mr Sampa said the building has taken about 10 years to be completed
He however commended the CSO for the good work it is doing for the nation.
Mr Sampa said the CSO is a beacon of the nation and a place that nation depends on for information.
And Mr Sampa urged CSO to provide l statistics on all sectors and not to concentrate on one sector.
He said statistics are useless to the Zambians if they do not improve lives and further called upon CSO to find a way in categorizing the economic statistics.
He also said CSO needs to provide information on employment levels adding that government is relying on CSO to inform the nation on how much employment has been created.
Mr Sampa said the Patriotic Front (PF) government promised the people of Zambia jobs hence the need for CSO to provide information on how many jobs have been created.
Meanwhile Central Statistical Office (CSO) Director, John Kalumbi says CSO will soon release the latest national census stats in the number and age category in the country.
Mr Kalumbi said internal consultations are currently being done after which it will be released to the public.
He added that the out-dated legal frame work of CSO Act makes its operations difficult as the Act was enacted in 1964.
He said lack of a coordination in the National Statistics department has added to the challenges because the current CSO Act does not empower CSO to coordinate with other various players in producing statistics.
Injury has ruled out Power Dynamos defender Govenda Simwala from his side’s Super Division match against Indeni slated for Ndola on Saturday.
Simwala has confirmed that he has a knee injury which will keep him out of action for an unspecified period.
The utility left back has since been dropped from the team which is in camp getting ready for Indeni.
Simwala sustained the knee injury in Saturday’s league match against Forest Rangers which ended 2-2 at Arthur Davies in Kitwe.
Despite being substituted in the game against Forest due to the same injury, Simwala played full 90 minutes on Wednesday as Power beat visiting National Assembly 2-nill in a delayed week two league match.
Simwala has been a regular at Arthur Davies since graduating from the Power reserve team almost three seasons ago.
Post Newspaper Managing Editor Fred M’membe has been honoured and awarded by Reggae musician Maiko Zulu for being the most relevant person in the promotion of Maiko Zulu and Saint Maiko Band.
And Maiko has also awarded the Post for being the most relevant organisation in promotion of Maiko Zulu and St. Maiko Band.
Presenting the award of recognition at a ceremony held at the Post Newspaper Offices in Lusaka today, Zulu said M’membe has outstanding record in supporting the St. Maiko Band speak for the voiceless people in community.
Zulu took a swipe at the national broadcaster, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) for allegedly blacklisting him in 2006 when released his sixth album, Mad president.
Zulu, who was flanked by his wife Dambusa Nkhata alias ‘Sister D’ and daughter also condemned the previous MMD government for being at the centre of abusing state machinery to ‘block him’ from highlighting social injustices.
He hoped that the new Patriotic Front (PF) government will work hand-in-hand with artists who are doing their level best to sensitize the people.
“State machinery was used in 2006 to halt and block me to voice out the concerns contained in my album affecting people in communities.
ZNBC blacklisted my song/album from enjoying the airways, that decision was very unfair. But I hope the PF Government will manage things better,” he said.
Zulu has produced six albums namely; In The Ghetto which was the first album released in 2001, Pressure (2004), Reggae Unlimited (2005), Mad President (2006), Monk Square Revolution (2008) and Justice For Hire in 2009.
Zulu has written a song titled “Bwezani” as his seventh album yet to be released. The song is not about former Head of State Bwezani as in Rupiah Banda but rather a satirical composition which addresses real issues like the ZAMTEL tender, the plunder of national resources, the retirement nightmares and the failed constitution. The song also tackles the unfair judicial system and the cost of essential commodities among other burning issues
Zulu is an aggressive stage performer with direct social commentary in his hard-hitting lyrics.
His 2006 album ‘Mad President’ has continued to raise the controversy surrounding the artiste with Parliament in Zambia debating his music during live broadcast of parliamentary debates.
In accepting the award, Post Newspaper Managing Editor Fred M’membe said he was humbled by Maiko Zulu whom he said was giving the award as an individual instead of the government of the day.
“ I am really humbled and l appreciate for receiving this honour from a musician. I thank Maiko and his wife for their generosity and kindness to present this award to me,” M’membe said.
He disclosed that he has received other honours from outside the country but this is the very first time he was receiving an award locally.
And M’membe has called on government to support and uplift the welfare of artists in the country.
M’membe who claimed to be a musician in his 20s added that traditional music in Zambia was ‘stuck’ because no-body is paying attention to revive it.
He observed that Cuba, Congo- DR, Jamaica and other countries are earning huge sums of moneys from foreign exchange because of the input of their indigenous best musicians who made an impact.
“Government should pay attention to musicians because other countries are doing fine and earning a lot from forex. We are stuck here in Zambia because our own traditional music has gone down and no-body is paying attention to revive it,” M’membe said.
Veteran musician Brain Chengala Shakarongo and Rick Illilonga including other up-coming local artists; Twice and Impi witnessed the award presentation ceremony.
The Monetary Policy Committee met today the 27th April 2012 to review recent economic developments and assess the upside and downside risks to the end-year inflation target of 7.0%.
The Committee observed that global prospects are gradually strengthening though the economic recovery in industrialised economies remains fragile. In this regard, Zambia’s international trade performance is expected to remain favourable in May 2012, mainly due to an expected increase in merchandise export earnings.
In addition, the continued favourable macroeconomic environment and positive sentiments regarding the economy are expected to have a positive influence on the supply of foreign exchange, and consequently have a moderating effect on inflation.
Although liquidity conditions in the money market are expected to ease in May 2012, threats to inflation will remain minimal as domestic credit growth is likely to remain within the projected path. Further, the expected improvement in the supply of maize, fish and fresh vegetables on account of seasonal factors in the second quarter is expected to dampen food inflation.
The above developments are expected to mitigate the lagged pass-through effects of the exchange rate depreciation experienced in the first quarter of 2012. In this regard, the Committee has weighed the inflation risks and has determined that inflation during the policy-relevant period would remain consistent with the end year target of 7.0%. Accordingly, the Committee has decided to maintain the Bank of Zambia Policy Rate at 9.0% in May.
The next meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee to review of the Policy Rate will be held at the end of May 2012.
Jay Rox releases Zamcab off his soon to be released album Mvesesani Niza Musekesani.
In this song Jay Rox likens the way a lady makes him feel to the movements of a “Zamcab” – A Zamcab is a wheelbarrow turned transportation vehicle by local Zambian Entrepreneurs that you can see practically on every corner of the capital city Lusaka.
This particular release comes along with a Dance Competition.The Ladies get to win a movie date with Roxa at Freshview Cinemas at Manda Hill Mall in Lusaka and the Fellas get to win a studio session with Production from the man himself. Each contestant must send in a short clip of them dancing to “Zamcab” with the own interpretation…in other words come up with your own style of the “Zamcab’ dance shoot it on your camera phones and send the short clip to [email protected]…TheBest Female and Best Male get the Prizes! Unfortunately this competition is only open to Lusaka residents but if you can still go ahead a submit your video no matter where you are from!
Today marks the 19th anniversary of the tragedy that befell our country in 1993.
During the late evening of Tuesday 27 April 1993 the Zambian Air Force Buffalo DHC-5D carrying most of the Zambian national football team to a FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Senegal in Dakar caught fire and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean about 500 metres offshore near Libreville, Gabon.
The plane had made a refuelling stop in Libreville en route to Dakar. All 30 passengers died, among them most of the finest generation of footballers Zambia had ever produced.
Eventually 24 bodies were recovered, but only 13 could be identified.
A Gabonese official investigation into the accident concluded that the pilot had shut down the wrong engine after a fire. The investigation found that pilot fatigue and an instrument error had contributed to the accident.The Zambian government is yet to release a full report of the air crash to be unveiled to the public or family members.
The Copper Bullets ‘Chipolopolo’ honored the fallen heroes when they won AFCON trophy earlier in the year in Gabon.
‘We wanted to honour the dead players and that strengthened us. Our first game was against Senegal and the team was on its way to Senegal for a match when the plane crashed. The plane crashed in Gabon and we won the final in Gabon. It is a sign of destiny,”Zambia coach Herve Renard said after Zambia lifted the trophy.
Let us remember our brothers that lost their lives for us. “Rest in Peace”.
Gone but not forgotten
Footballers
Efford Chabala (goalkeeper)
John Soko (defender)
Whiteson Changwe (defender)
Robert Watiyakeni (defender)
Eston Mulenga (midfielder)
Derby Makinka (midfielder)
Moses Chikwalakwala (midfielder)
Wisdom Mumba Chansa (midfielder)
Kelvin “Malaza” Mutale (striker)
Timothy Mwitwa (striker)
Numba Mwila (midfielder)
Richard Mwanza (goalkeeper)
Samuel Chomba (defender)
Moses Masuwa (striker)
Kenan Simambe (defender)
Godfrey Kangwa (midfielder)
Winter Mumba (defender)
Patrick “Bomber” Banda (striker)
Coaching staff
Godfrey “Ucar” Chitalu
Alex Chola
Wilson Mtonga (doctor)
Wilson Sakala
Others
Michael Mwape (FAZ Chairman)
Nelson Zimba (public servant)
Joseph Bwalya Salim (journalist)
Crew
Colonel Fenton Mhone (pilot)
Lt Colonel Victor Mubanga (pilot)
Lt Colonel James Sachika (pilot)
Warrant Officer Edward Nambote (fitter)
Corporal Tomson Sakala (steward)
Vice President Guy Scott arrived in London for a five- day working visit.
Dr Scott who is accompanied by his wife Charlotte, Commerce, Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Keith Mukata, Commerce Permanent Secretary Stephen Mwansa and Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) Director-General Andrew Chipwende was met on arrival by Zambia’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Bizwayo Nkunika.
During his visit to Britain, the Vice President is among other programmes expected to address a breakfast roundtable meeting organised by Thomson Reuters in Canary Wharf where he will meet 15 banks and equity funds on investment opportunities in Zambia.
Dr Scott will also conduct a public lecture at Thomson Reuters where he is expected to speak about the policies of the Patriotic Front (PF) government and the economic prospects of the country.
He will also attend a luncheon to be hosted in his honour by the Commonwealth Business Council where he will expound to an audience of forty (40) potential investors about the investment climate and opportunities available in the Zambia.
The investors at this meeting have been drawn from the United Kingdom and across the Commonwealth.
Dr Scott is also expected to give a key note address at the inaugural Business in Africa Conference at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School being organised by the Cambridge Africa Business Network under the theme: ‘Unlocking Value in Frontier Africa’ which is expected to be opened by former Nigerian President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
On his tight schedule, Dr Scott will hold a meetings with the Overseas Development Institute, the British Minister for Africa, Foreign and Commonwealth Office official a Mr Bellingham.
He will further meet Mr Stephen O’brien, the Permanent Under Secretary of State in the Department of International Development (DfID) among others.
Before winding up his visit to Britain, Dr Scott will also address the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Agriculture and Food for Development and Zambia and Malawi respectively.
The Vice President will also meet with Mr Charles Abani, Managing Director for Absolute Return for Kids (ARK) an international charity whose purpose is to transform children’s lives.
The organisation delivers programmes in the areas of health, education and child protection across the globe, including Zambia.
Dr Scott is expected to return back home after his scheduled business.
FILE: President Sata confers with Given Lubinda during the meeting with Zambians in Botswana.Courtesy State House
President Michael Sata has urged Zambians in the diaspora to come back home and explore the job opportunities available in the country and to contribute to the development of the country.
President Sata has also assured Zambians that his government’s promise of creating employment opportunities in strategic areas of the economy will be delivered.
The President was speaking last evening at a cocktail when he met Zambians living in Zimbabwe at the High Commissioners residence in Harare.
And President Sata has urged Zambians leaving in Zimbabwe to be ambassadors of the country by making meaningful contributions to the economy of the host country.
At the same function, President Sata introduced Zambia’s first Home Affairs Minister Aaron Milner who is now resident in Zimbabwe.
Mr Milner said the election of President Sata has turned a new page for Zambians and the future of the country because of his resolve to stir the country to higher levels of economic development.
He commended President Sata for his firm stance against corruption and urged Zambians to give him and the PF government the support required to fight the scourge if the country is to develop.
Meanwhile, Zambians living in Zambia have been assured of government support to help them obtain national registration identities.
Zambia’s High Commissioner to Zimbabwe Ndiyoyi Mutiti says the embassy is ready to assist Zambians that are ready and willing to go back home by helping them obtain passports and citizenship documents.
The High Commissioner was responding to questions raised by some Zambians living in Zimbabwe over the procedures to follow when acquiring passports and citizenship documents.
And in a vote of thanks, a representative of Zambians living in Zimbabwe, Yvonne Chibiya said Zambians living in Zimbabwe were proud of the stability and economic development that the country has recorded in the recent past.
Mrs Chibiya said as Zambians in the diaspora are committed to making a meaningful contribution to the discourse of development back home.
Meanwhile, President Sata and his entourage have left Harare for Bulawayo.
The President will officially open the 53rd Zimbabwe international Trade Fair later in the day before returning to Lusaka.
He is accompanied by the First lady Dr Christine Kaseba – Sata, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism Given Lubinda, Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations George Chellah, and Zambia’s High Commissioner to Zimbabwe, Ndiyoyi Mutiti.
United Nations Chef de Cabinet Susana Malcorra signing the Book of Condolences on behalf of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in honour of the late former vice-president of Zambia George Kunda at Zambia's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York on April 23, 2012. Photo by Chibaula Silwamba/GRZ
United Nations Secretary General His Excellency Ban Ki-Moon, several Ambassadors and diplomatic missions accredited to the UN in New York have paid glowing tribute to the late former vice president of Zambia George Kunda.
UN Chef de Cabinet, Susana Malcorra, who signed the Book of Condolences on behalf of Mr Ban at Zambia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, said Mr Ban fondly remembers his meeting with Mr Kunda at State House in Lusaka last February during his visit to Zambia.
“[The] Secretary-General has asked me to convey his condolences on the passing of Mr George Kunda, a Zambian statesman,” Ms Malcorra wrote. “He [Mr Ban] wants to tell Mr Kunda’s family and the people of Zambia that, in his passing, they must find comfort that his life will serve as a legacy in the fight for development, justice and democracy.”
Zambia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Sheila Mweemba, who welcomed Ms Malcorra at the chancery, thanked Chef de Cabinet for coming to sign the book of condolences.
Permanent Representatives, deputy permanent representatives and other diplomats, from countries across the world also signed the book of condolences, wishing the Kunda family and Zambians strength.
This was contained in a statement issued by Chibaula Silwamba,First Secretary for Press Permanent Mission of the Republic of Zambia to the United Nations.
Permanent Representative of Namibia to the United Nations, Ambassador Wilfried Emvula signing the Book of Condolences in honour of the late former vice-president of Zambia George Kunda at Zambia's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York on April 23, 2012. Photo by Chibaula Silwamba/GRZUnited Nations Chef de Cabinet Susana Malcorra (r) and Zambia's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Sheila Mweemba on arrival to sign the Book of Condolences on behalf of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in honour of the late former vice-president George Kunda on April 23, 2012. Photo by Chibaula Silwamba/GRZPermanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations, Ambassador Joseph Goddard signing the Book of Condolences in honour of the late former vice-president of Zambia George Kunda at Zambia's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York on April 23, 2012. Photo by Chibaula Silwamba/GRZ
I just write to make you aware about some wrong activities in the Ministry of Education headquarters, accounts department in particular.
There is a man who has turned the public office into a brothel. He is always found with ladies in the office at awkward times after working
hours, Saturdays and Sundays pretending to be studying and doing business for cars when he is actually doing wrong things.
We in accounts have been seeing him doing that for a long time especially before ifmis.
There is a system he has been using which by passes some signatories and offices to help people get illegal loans which do not reflect on the pay slips. He has helped a number of desperate ladies in the ministry to get illegal loans which they don’t pay back.
Clean evidence is there and a list of the beneficiaries, a lot of ladies have built houses and driving before they even serve two years in employment due to the same illegal loans.
Most of the young, weak and idle ladies are being victimized in these offices. He was once found by one of the guards but he decided to bribe.
Hope the new Permanent Secretary will take serious investigation and action to this matter because it is now a habit.
Tanzania Ministry of Transport Permanent secretary Omar Chambo
SEVEN top management officials at the beleaguered Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) have been suspended as the strike by 1,200 workers on the Zambian side fizzled out yesterday.
The affected officials have apparently been singled out as “stumbling blocks” as the railway firm continues teetering on the verge of collapse.
Tanzania’s Ministry of Transport Permanent secretary Omar Chambo confirmed the suspension of the senior members of staff and indicated that they would be handed over to law enforcement agencies.
Tazara has been stalked by a series of strikes as operations continue to plummet with a huge debt stock in unpaid retirement benefits, unremitted statutory contributions, and outstanding payments to suppliers of goods and services.
Mr Chambo, who is also Tazara board chairperson, said in an interview that Mpika-based regional general manager Sinonge Masiliso had been sent on forced leave.
The suspended officials are chief mechanical engineer, Wenslaous Kamugisha, Finance manager Sarah Masiliso, Traffic manager Pondani Mwanza, Head of Commercial services Ally Idd, Information and Technology manager Pascal Mulenga.
Others are the marketing manager Evaristo Kasumbai and marketing officer Manyeteya Lonin’go.
Mr Chambo said the suspended officers would be handed over to law enforcement agencies to be probed for theft, corruption, mishandling of company procurement procedures among other allegations.
The board would make a decision on the managing director Akashambatwa Mbikusita Lewanika and deputy managing director Damas Ndumbaro.
“There are serious allegations levelled against the suspended officers such as cases of theft of company property, corruption and issues to do with rules and procedures. They have to answer to these allegations so that we can know what the way forward is,” he said.
The two holding governments have since appointed other officers to act in the positions left vacant by suspended officials.
TAZARA Workers Union (TRAWU) on the Tanzanian side and the Workers Union of TAZARA (WUTAZ) on the Zambian side have welcomed the development which they said was long overdue.
TRAWU general secretary Erasto Kihwele said the union had been part of the talks with other stakeholders concerning the removal of top management officials in order to facilitate investigations.
