Despite a court order releasing former President Rupiah Banda’s passport and official notification to immigration authorities approving his travel to Kenya for the inauguration, today authorities acting under instructions from President Michael Sata forcefully prevented him from boarding his flight, says his international lawyer Robert Amsterdam.

Former President Banda, who is currently facing a politically charged case, arrived to Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka today for his flight to Nairobi bearing both his passport and a copy of the court order, but was stopped by immigration authorities that refused to process him, says Amsterdam.

At this point, an administrative assistant to former President Banda presented the court order from the Magistrate, which clearly orders the release of the passport and the permission to travel for the period of one week, and spoke by telephone with Zambia’s Chief Immigration Officer, who said “we have received orders not to process former President Banda from an authority higher than the court,” says Amsterdam.

“Today’s incident at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka represents a complete breakdown of the rule of law in Zambia, and a further indication that former President Banda cannot expect a fair trial,” said Amsterdam. “This shameful and embarrassing conduct is the result of an authoritarian state acting under the orders of a frightened and enfeebled president who is willing to break the law, violate rights, and ignore the judicial process in order to attack his opponents.”

Amsterdam continued: “Keep in mind that former President Banda has never been convicted of any wrongdoing, recall that the accusations against him are completely suspect, and, judging by thoroughly illegal handling removal of his immunity, it appears the Patriotic Front has lost all credibility as normal democratic government. This is not a normal case, and this is not a normal government, and today’s outrageous defilement of the judicial system is yet another reminder of the destruction wrought upon Zambia’s image as a democracy.”

United Party for National Development secretary general Winston Chibwe has described newly appointed Southern Province Minister Daniel Munkombwe remarks against UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema as unfounded saying the opposition party was not moved by his allegations.

Chibwe said in an interview that Mr Munkombwe served in all Governments and there was a possibility he could still come back to the UPND to beg for a position when it forms Government in future.

“As UPND, we are not moved by the statement from Mr Munkombwe because we know what kind of a person he is. Since he has served in many Governments, when UPND forms a new Government, we know he will still come back to us to lobby for a position,” Mr Chibwe said.

He advised Mr Munkombwe to concentrate on his new appointment and work diligently instead of attacking the UPND at the expense of the much needed service delivery to Zambians.

Yesterday, Mr Munkombwe charged that the opposition UPND is not succeeding politically because of its leader Hakainde Hichilema who is allegedly running the party on tribal basis.

Mr Munkombwe, a veteran politician, said the Patriotic Front’s (PF) recent scooping of opposition held Livingstone parliamentarian seat from the UPND, was a good indication that the ruling party had safely penetrated the province.

He said politics of tribalism and individualism allegedly being championed by Mr Hichilema in Southern Province had continued to cost the party’s ability to grow.

“UPND also died the very day late Mazoka died. If you make individual calculations, you can see somebody who will form a Government like I saw that MMD will not form Government. I don’t think UPND in its current state can form a Government.

“As a veteran politician, I can’t even give advice to arrogant leaders. Tribalism in itself is insufficient because it only confines itself to a small area and not the country at large. This is dangerous,” he said.

He said the death of UPND leader Anderson Mazoka also marked the ‘death’ and continuous sinking of the opposition party under Mr Hichilema.

[pullquote]“UPND also died the very day late Mazoka died. If you make individual calculations, you can see somebody who will form a Government like I saw that MMD will not form Government. I don’t think UPND in its current state can form a Government.[/pullquote]

He said the PF managed to win the Livingstone seat because it never confined itself to campaigns on tribal lines adding that the party would continue to pull more votes within the province.

He advised Zambians to denounce politics bordering on tribal lines saying such political acts were not healthy to uniting citizens and subsequently fostering national development.

“I have been in politics for many years and I can see that the people of Southern Province are getting tired, irritated for voting for UPND under tribal and regional basis,” he said.

He said the people of Southern Province had seen nothing concrete with some politicians promoting tribalism hence most of them had resorted to joining PF because of its inclusive policies.

Mr Munkombwe said the Livingstone seat was scoped by PF due to team work exhibited by the PF leadership.

He said the victory could not only be attributed to him alone but the entire ruling party because they promoted the spirit of togetherness and running the party inclusively.

He urged Mr Hichilema to consider forming a coalition of already existing opposition parties saying that could be an avenue for him to form a Government in future.

He said President Michael Sata was moving national affairs in the right direction and was confident that Government would deliver tangible developmental projects that Zambians wanted.

He pledged to play a cardinal role of stabilising the ruling party to make it stronger as long as he was still energetic because he was impressed with its political ideologies.

He said he managed to work with all Governments in the past because he was hardworking, honest and combative in politics which had helped him to be co-opted by many Governments.

Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda says Government wants to increase the pace at which the Zambian economy is developing in order to improve the welfare of people in the country.

Speaking today when he met the Government leader of Shenzeng in the Chinese Province of Guangdong, Mr Chikwanda said government is not impressed with the rate at which Zambia is developing.

“We want it to develop 10 times at this rate, so we are currently working very hard so that we can develop the way that China is developing,” he said.

He said the country has enormous resources with a good climate and peaceful people who are culturally hospitable, which he described as value addition to economic development.

Mr Chikwanda observed that the most precious resource that a country could have is people saying China managed to develop because the construction works of its massive infrastructure was labour intensive.

He attributed China’s heroic performance in developing to the Cultural Revolution by Chairman Mao, the founding father of that country.

Mr Chikwanda stated that chairman Mao instilled confidence in the people of China saying people cannot make innovations without confidence.

“He made the Chinese people believe in themselves after which they worked together to contribute to the development of China,” he said.

He observed that Zambia has been lagging behind because there have been no innovations and that people have been adopting the western culture.

“People want to dress like those of the western,” he said.

Mr Chikwanda commended China for its support in implementing developmental programmes especially in infrastructure development, which he said is a major factor to development.

He stated that Zambia has nearly the same population as Shenzeng with a vast land of 752, 000 square kilometers though development in Shenzeng has grown at a tremendous speed.

And Mr Xu Qin said Zambia has the potential to grow due to its enormous natural resources of water and minerals.

Mr Qin said China wants to make Shenzeng as an economic model due to developments made through the establishment an economic zone.

Earlier, a high level delegation of Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and other government officials led by Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda today visited Shenzeng Museum to get a clear understanding of how the established economic zones transformed Shenzeng into one of the richest cities in China.

Shenzeng city leads in high-tech, financial services, foreign trade, shipping and creative cultural industries, which have also been enhanced with the country’s structural reforms and broader opening to the outside world.

ZANIS

Patriotic Front (PF) Lusaka District Chairman, Goodson Banda, says his stance to add pressure to allow former Foreign Affairs Minister, Given Lubinda, to resign were not personal but the truth as backed by other senior ruling party officials, including opposition MMD Spokesperson, Dora Siliya.

Mr Banda maintained that Mr. Lubinda is very treacherous against the party in government.

Mr Banda says he is happy that he and other people have been vindicated on Mr Lubinda’s alleged under-hand methods.

He was speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka yesterday.

MMD Spokesperson and Petauke Member of Parliament (MP), Dora Siliya, is quoted as having said Mr Lubinda cannot be trusted.

However, Mr Lubinda accused Ms Siliya of being lonely and using him to de-contaminate her image.

“I’m happy that some of us have been vindicated because I am not the only person who wants Mr Lubinda out of the ruling party, PF. The sentiments by Ms Siliya are true in that Mr Lubinda is treacherous and cannot be trusted,’’ Mr Banda said.

He further warned Mr Lubinda, who is PF Kabwata MP that his campaign mounted in Kabwata constituency ahead of a possible by election would not yield anything.

Mr Banda vowed that Mr Lubinda cannot win in Kabwata Constituency, adding that the road network in the constituency leaves much to be desired as they are dilapidated.

The Lusaka District PF Chairman said he is aware of Mr Lubinda who has recruited opposition youths from the UPND and ULP as well as some from the ruling PF who are engaged in campaigns in Kabwata.

Mr Banda stressed that Mr Lubinda lost an opportunity when he served in government as Foreign Affairs Minister and should not be allowed to travel out of the country again to represent government because he was a traitor.

Meanwhile, Mr Banda says the people in Lusaka and Zambia as a whole have realised the need to belong to the ruling party.

He said the PF Lusaka District was growing because of cadres defecting to the ruling party to be part of the development agenda set by the party and Republican President, Michael Sata.

“Our party is very strong not only in Lusaka district but the country as a whole. People are joining us leaving their own parties because they support the PF policies and there is nothing to offer in their opposition political parties,” Mr Banda said.

ZANIS

MINISTER of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education John Phiri said in the past years most promotions in the teaching fraternity were made on tribal and nepotistic lines a trend that the current Government would not tolerate.

Dr Phiri said the corrupt practices had extended to inducing favours from provincial education officers (PEOs), district education board secretaries (DEBS) and principals so that their people are considered for promotions. Speaking in Kabwe yesterday during the official opening of PEOs and DEBs workshop Mr Phiri said staff appraisal systems must ensure that only the best filter through and ultimately get promoted.

Dr Phiri said he was however happy to learn from the seminar objectives that if achieved the system would be on its way to clear the air over the rather poor showing hither to exhibited.

And teaching service commission chairperson Jennifer Chiwela said the commissions mandate is to appoint professionally qualified persons to the teaching service. Ms Chiwela added that the commission’s goal is to perform its constitutional role and functions deligently, efficiently and transparently taking account of merit and justice.

She said the commission was determined to work relentlessly to correct bad tendencies and practices that are likely to tarnish the image of the teaching profession.

Southern Province Minister Daniel Munkombwe has pardoned all civil servants currently on suspension for various offences that do not border on corruption or criminality.

Addressing provincial heads of government departments in Choma this afternoon, Mr Munkombwe said the amnesty covers all civil servants who are currently on suspension resulting from offences committed in the course of their duty.

He said the pardon is meant to allow the erring officers come back to work and join in the developmental efforts being pursued by the new team at the provincial administration.

A number of civil servants in the province have been serving suspensions and the Minister told Provincial Permanent Secretary Bernard Namachila to institute administrative procedures to reverse the disciplinary actions.

Mr Munkombwe said there is need to start on a fresh note in running affairs of the province.

The minister who said he does not believe that most civil servants are indiscipline called for hard work, honest and loyalty among all public servants.
He said the Patriotic Front government is in a hurry to develop Southern province which he said is part and parcel of Zambia.

Mr Munkombwe said civil servants must be able to interpret the PF manifesto in their programmes and that he wants all critical developmental concerns in the province such as the Bottom road and the Monze-Neiko road to be urgently attended to.

He said the opposition parties no longer have any topic of substance for political discourse against the PF government because President Michael Sata has ‘deflated’ them through the numerous developmental programmes taking place in the country.

And Mr Munkombwe has given marching orders to all provincial heads of government institutions still operating from Livingstone to immediately move to Choma or face serious consequences.

He said the various ministries and departments should find office space within their district offices, adding that there would be no reason or justification for the provincial heads to continue operating from Livingstone.

ZANIS

Transparency International Zambia-TIZ- has expressed concern with the decision by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to withhold details of their concluded investigations into allegations of corruption leveled against two Cabinet Ministers.

TIZ president Lee Habasonda has observed that it is surprising that the ACC could remain silent on the matter when it has indicated in a letter of reply to the organisation implying that the Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba and his Defence counterpart Geoffrey Mwamba were cleared of allegations of corruption.

Mr. Habasonda has however disclosed to Qfm in an interview that his organization has been studying the letter of reply by the ACC that was sent to the TIZ on 5th March.

He said the TIZ will within two weeks from now convene a board meeting to discuss the letter and thereafter reply back to the ACC to confirm whether it is satisfied with the ACC’s explanation on the matter or not.

The TIZ had recently written to the ACC demanding an explanation o the circumstances that led to the clearing of the two cabinet Ministers.

Meanwhile when contacted for a comment by QFM News acting ACC Spokesperson Queen Chibwe maintained that the ACC will soon make its position known on the matter.

QFM