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.

ZANIS

Dear Editor,

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.

Concerned citizen

Three Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) political party supporters have been sentenced to 3 years imprisonment with hard labour for assaulting a Muvi TV crew in Lusaka in July last year.

Magistrate Alice Walusiku in passing judgment, said that journalists have a duty to investigate, disseminate, research and inform, hence they should not be hindered as they carry out their noble tasks. Magistrate Walusiku also said that her court would be failing in its duties if stiff punishment was not meted out on the offenders as many would continue to perpetrate the vice.

In July last year more than 100 ruling MMD cadres severely beat a MUVI TV news crew and confiscated their equipment.

The cadres then also almost raped the female journalists who were among the Muvi TV news crew.

The journalists had gone to Nakachenje area in Lusaka West to interview a woman who had been attacked by the same MMD cadres and had had,her land grabbed from her.

Reporter Dainess Nyirenda and Cameraperson, Annita Kalwani suffered internal injuries after they were trampled upon by the cadres.

Driver, Edward Ntele suffered a deep cut on his forehead and while another cameraperson, Emmanuel Kaluba had his lips cut in the fracas.

The MMD cadres confiscated a camera tripod stand, a microphone, 4 mobile phones and undisclosed amounts of money.

The matter was quickly reported to Matero police Station and officers were quickly mobilised to the incident scene.

MMD Lusaka Province Vice Youth Chairman, Watson Mutonga physically identified the MMD cadres, who assaulted the MUVI TV news crew.

The assaulted MUVI TV personnel narrated the ordeal describing it as uncalled for. Camera person, Annita Kalwani almost shed tears when describing how she was almost gang-raped. Another cameraperson, Emmanuel Kaluba said he was beaten badly because of the camera he was holding.Driver, Edward Ntele has also narrated that he was hit with a huge stone on his head making him lose consciousness.

Meanwhile the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia has welcomed the sentencing and said it was a timely warning to all those with plans or are in the habit of perpetrating violence against media practitioners.

We are convinced that the sentence has sent a strong signal to perpetrators of violence against the media practitioners and urge all the journalists in Zambia to continue reporting cases of violence against them so that perpetrators can be brought to book.

United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema says he will never be intimidated from pointing out the failures of the PF Government.

Mr. Hichilema has since encouraged opposition political parties and civil society organizations not to be scared of pointing out the wrongs of the government is committing.

He says every stakeholder has a role to play in ensuring that Zambia becomes a better country for all.

He adds that this can only happen if stakeholders such as political parties and civil society organisation remind those in government to deliver on the promises.

Mr. Hichilema has further stated that he will soon be vindicated, noting that a number of promises that where made to the people of Zambia have not been delivered.

And the Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) has observed that the government has not shown much commitment towards revising the public expenditure system in the country.

CSPR executive director Mwila Mulumbi said that  when the PF came into government it had given assurance through the budget address that it was going to review the public expenditure system in order to ensure there is prudent use of public funds in the public service.

[pullquote]Ms. Mulumbi added that the PF government not shown any signs of introducing the planning and budgeting bill to parliament as earlier indicated.[/pullquote]

Ms. Mulumbi added that the PF government not shown any signs of introducing the planning and budgeting bill to parliament as earlier indicated.

She added that it would have been good if the government has moved quickly in trying to put in place an expenditure system that would prevent abuse of public funds.

Ms. Mulumbi has noted that the PF government has not been consulting the other stakeholders when drawing and implementing the countr’s developmental plans.

QFM

Attorney General Mumba Malila says gone is the era when Judges were above scrutiny.

Speaking when he officiated at the Law Association of Zambia Conference in Livingstone today, Mr Malila says the present era demands that the doings of the Judiciary should be publicly scrutinized and discussed almost as frequently and with as much venom as those of politicians.

Mr Malila says for judicial independence to be meaningfully nurtured and protected by all, it must be counter-balanced by judicial accountability.

He adds that judicial independence does not mean Judges are an elitist group, untouchables, and not subject to accountability.

He says to the contrary judicial independence is also about transparency and accountability.

Mr Malila further states that judicial institutional accountability requires that the judiciary is held in high esteem by the public.

He says this respect cannot be demanded but must be earned.

The Attorney General also reminded Lawyers that they have an obligation not only to protect judicial independence, but also to ensure that the public understands, respects and supports the principles.

He adds that Lawyers should not relent in letting the general public know that courts exist to serve their justice needs, and assure them that a strong independent and accountable judiciary is for their own good.

QFM

The unprovoked vociferous personal attacks that opposition UPND president Hakainde Hichilema unleashed on President Michael Chilufya Sata on radio this morning has given us insights into the grim side of his troubled childhood which is now manifesting in hate speech and utter disregard for any other person but himself.

His ravings and ranting on a live radio programme on Hot FM radio, does not, however, surprise us because Hakainde’s disrespect for elders stems from his difficult personal circumstances that have forced him to conceal his parentage.

This hurting and hating man, who has shown contemptible disregard for his own father, cannot be expected to respect any other person.

It is not too late for him to reconcile himself with the past by accepting the realities of life, whatever the circumstances because there is nothing he can do about the past but can surely do something about his bleak political future.

It shall remain a fact that he was born of a father somewhere who he ought to recognise; it is fact too that he lost an election last year, something unpleasant, but nonetheless a reality he ought to acknowledge. This is the historical will of the people he can do nothing about!

The scornful disapproval of the will of the people he demonstrated during the radio programme is insulting to the Zambian voters who he falsely accused of “now living with regret” that they elected President Sata after being “fooled.” We wonder when the Zambian people appointed him as their spokesperson.

We shall leave those insults on the Zambian people to Hakainde because, as he will soon learn, the same voters will be there for him to face. We shall also leave to western governments represented in Zambia who ridiculed for “supporting a flawed constitution-making process.” We shall also leave it to the many other citizens he insulted simply for taking positions different from his.

[pullquote]This man insulted our cadres when he tried to order the police “to remove these PF dogs out of my way,” in reference to the cadres who were making their way out of the Cathedral grounds after seeing off the President.[/pullquote]

But as for the youths of our party, the ruling Patriotic Front, we have taken a position that this hurting and hating loser shall never again be allowed to abuse the goodwill of our President at any public function.

It is debasing for anyone who considers himself a national leader to purvey the kind of blatant lies this desperately bitter man broadcast on radio this morning. How could he lie to the whole world that he confronted and challenged the President to a greeting at the Cathedral of Holy Cross during the funeral of the late Princess Nakatindi Wina yet the President accorded him the respect as an opposition leader to exchange pleasantries?

How could he lie that the poverty and unemployment Zambia faces is a creation of the PF which is barely half a year in government? How can he lie that pensioners pursuing their money were suffering because of President Sata? How can he blame his own recklessness that earned him the ire of party cadres on the President and other PF officials some of whom were not even at the funeral?

[pullquote]How could he lie that the poverty and unemployment Zambia faces is a creation of the PF which is barely half a year in government? How can he lie that pensioners pursuing their money were suffering because of President Sata? How can he blame his own recklessness that earned him the ire of party cadres on the President and other PF officials some of whom were not even at the funeral?[/pullquote]

This man insulted our cadres when he tried to order the police “to remove these PF dogs out of my way,” in reference to the cadres who were making their way out of the Cathedral grounds after seeing off the President.

To get so bitter about an electoral defeat so as to descend into hatred is a dangerous condition that anyone seeking public office must avoid. For this reason the PF youths will not allow this man to get anywhere near the President at any function because he is abusing the honour and goodwill accorded to him by the Head of State. He has openly said he will be calling the President all sorts of derogatory names because he has the right to do so! Let him keep away from the President because this will not be tolerated.

After arriving late for the funeral, Hakainde voluntarily made his way to where President Sata and other dignitaries stood to wait for the arrival of the body of the late Princess and offered his greeting thus: “mulishani ba mudala,” to a receptive President Sata who was in the company of the First Lady, Mr. Given Lubinda, Mr. Wynter Kabimba and the clergy that were leading the valedictory service.

This exchange was warmly applauded by the on-looking PF and UPND cadres. It is therefore shocking that he made this friendly gesture a shooting point from where he abused the President calling him all sorts of names and other unpalatables!

Before he calls other people dictators he must examine his own conduct such his failure to call for a national convention to renew the mandate of the national management committee which has expired; his iron fist on the party whose MPs are suffering under the weight of his repression and the threats he issues against anyone with dissenting views.

It is also shocking that Hakainde could openly say the constitutional-making process can only succeed if people of a particular region were the ones to lead the process. He dismissed all the people sitting on the technical committee and suggested names from a certain region as the only ones suitable to lead!

[pullquote]We are not, as PF youths surprised that he does not regard any elderly person with respect because of his own person challenges with his upbringing. So, we understand that this, coupled with his failure to come to terms with the September 20 electoral defeat, has caused him to descend from bitterness to insolence and political mischief never seen in any losing candidate since the dawn of our democracy.[/pullquote]

We are not, as PF youths surprised that he does not regard any elderly person with respect because of his own person challenges with his upbringing. So, we understand that this, coupled with his failure to come to terms with the September 20 electoral defeat, has caused him to descend from bitterness to insolence and political mischief never seen in any losing candidate since the dawn of our democracy.

His support for lawlessness and industrial unrest before all avenues are exhausted at the University of Zambia is yet another demonstration of the desperation of a man on the brink of political extinction.

It is folly for him to fail to accept that President Sata was undisputedly elected with a resounding mandate yet he doubts the legitimacy of such a clear expression people collectively expressed. What cheeky is this that a losing candidate can insult the Zambian voters with remarks that they collectively made a mistake to vote in Mr. Sata and the PF?

I call on all progressive UPND MPs and Councillors to redeem their party from extinction courtesy of Hakainde’s greed, lack of respect for elders and authority. They should be brave to call for internal democratic elections in the party which are long overdue.

We the youth in PF will not allow Hakainde Hichilema to get anywhere near the Republican President at any gathering. We have given him a distance of 30 metres space away from the President or Acting President when incumbent is abroad.

We urge the Presidency and State House to totally ignore Hakainde Hichilema as he both not worth their time and also not the official opposition leader given it was Rupiah Banda that came second during the elections last year.

HON. MILES SAMPA

MATERO MP

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

Poverty by Kapembwa wanjelani

Poverty Oh Poverty…

Men let me go.

I don’t recall inviting you

But here you are, standing tall.

Known you since puberty…

You watched me grow.

Cause of you my life fell through

True beauty I’ll never know.

Poverty Oh Poverty…

You are getting on my nerves.

You want to take this outside?

I don’t care who you serve.

Always in my biz

Dishing me you I don’t deserve.

Don’t you take me for a ride.

My pocket aint a reserve.

Poverty Oh Poverty…

Its time you hit the road Jack.

Take your stinking shoes

And don’t you dare come back.

We were never friends

Just leave you out of luck.

And when you cross the road

I pray you get hit by a truck.

Mrs. my-last-name by Blake Emmanuel Kapili

The “Mrs. my-last-name” version of her is not yet born, yet her influence so present and her name upon my heart so marked/

Wound up together is her spirit with mine so intricate and exact/

A bond that cannot be broken or cracked/

Which is why she is impossible to extract/

Without dismantling the very me, yes you cannot subtract/

Mine from hers or vice versa, we’re like a pact/

Made of true love and sworn before God and angels we are intact/

Fighting for love and truth with insurmountable tact/

Ever emerging again every time we’re beat down n attacked/

Because we’re inevitable, we’re more than just an act/

We’re a ritual, spiritual n deep, it’s evident in how we interact/

We’re a living demonstration that like n like do attract/

And we are the irreproachable evidence of that irrefutable fact/

So I await her like a passionate reader anticipates the next episode of a story tract/

Or like a faithful servant patiently waiting for his God’s decree to enact/

ON THE ROAD AGAIN by Mwape Mumba

On the road again

I remember when we first met and then

I did whatever just then to sit next to you then

This road reminds of you

Vividly the thoughts linger in my head of you

Our minds laced together at every scenery having the same point of view

Joking, laughing, I let myself be me in your presence

Gave you a big chunk of me felt like you were my deliverance

You bestowed peace and even balance

Bringing joy and plenty memories of remembrance

I saw you at 1st sight awed by you beauty

And so to sit next to you was my duty

When we sat I couldn’t stop staring over and over nafuti nafuti…

Your eyes of crystals sparkled

Fell in love with your hair startled

Cute face lovely cheekbones beauty beheld

Such awesome beauty me not believing I took your hand in mine and I held

Your soft skin

Only a few hours and I already wanted to meet your next of kin

You possess the total package everything from outside and within

Could never get enough of that sight

I felt your light and would move heaven and earth with all my might

Just to be by you side and keep you in sight

On the road again

Even in your absence I fall in love again…

And heart broken again…

By Kapa187