THE Bank of Zambia (BoZ) has disclosed that printing, minting and delivery of banknotes and coins resulting from the rebasing of the Kwacha, is expected to commence in mid-May 2012 onwards.

BoZ deputy governor Bwalya Ng’andu said the Central bank will introduce the new notes and coins around the same period.
Dr Ng’andu was speaking at a sensitisation workshop for members of Parliament in Lusaka yesterday, on the rebasing of the Kwacha.
[pullquote]the central bank rebasing team has not considered including portraits of any eminent personalities on the new notes[/pullquote] Government announced the decision to rebase the Kwacha on January 23 this year and indicated that the exercise would be conducted within six months.

The BoZ Act number 43 of 1996 empowers the bank to, among other things, manage the national currency.

The idea of rebasing the Kwacha was initially conceived in 2003 when the current currency structure was implemented.

Dr Ng’andu said BoZ is expected to sign contracts with successful bidders next month.[pullquote][/pullquote]

He said in February, BoZ invited tenders to shortlist printers and minters and that the period March 23-28, 2012 is targeted for submission of bids, tender closure and opening of bids.

He said the approval of technical and financial proposals by the Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA) is scheduled to be done from April 5 to 11 this year.

Dr Ng’andu said the characteristics of the new banknotes will be communicated to the public once the tender has been awarded to the successful bidder.

“The success of the Kwacha rebasing exercise depends on the bank’s capacity to inform people about the change. BoZ has designed a communication strategy on currency rebasing that will allow for the carrying out of simultaneous spreading and education activities in different parts of the country, to all stakeholders and the general public,” Dr Ng’andu said.

He said all legal aspects pertaining to the Kwacha rebasing are currently being reviewed by the legal sub-committee of the rebasing project.

Dr Ng’andu said some of the laws to be affected by the rebasing of the Kwacha include those on pricing, wages and pension, among others.

“The board of directors of BoZ has delegated the implementation of the currency rebasing project to BoZ management for the successful implementation of the rebasing exercise. BoZ management has created structures to manage the currency rebasing exercise,” Dr Ng’andu said.

He said the structures include the BoZ governor who is patron, deputy governor of operations who is sponsor, a steering committee, project team and technical committees.

Others are legal, information and publicity and security and logistics committees.

And Dr Ng’andu said the central bank rebasing team has not considered including portraits of any eminent personalities on the new notes.

He said the rebasing team will choose the features once the successful bidding companies provide samples of the proposed notes and coins.
[Zambia Daily Mail]

Barotse Royal Establishment Primer Ngambela Sinyinda has said that the time for the people of Barotseland to make their own choices and decisions is now adding that change is a necessity when every other way becomes impossible.

Speaking during his keynote speech at the extra ordinary Pizo of the Barotse National Council held at St Lawrence grounds today, Ngambela Sinyinda said the people can no longer wait for other people or another time.

He said every generation is given a cause to either fulfil or betray.

“To our generation is given the awesome responsibility to resolve the Barotseland crisis, a consequence of an impasse and a resultant failure from the non implementation and unilateral abrogation of the Barotseland Agreement of 1964’” Said the Ngambela.

“It is entirely up to us to either fulfil or betray this cause” He added.

Ngambela Sinyinda said in pursuit to resolve the matter, people passed through turbulent times as successive Zambian government applied the undemocratic principle of might over right.

[pullquote]“Though our blood has been spilt we will spill no innocent blood, though we have been shot we will not throw even a pebble at our aggressors, we will treat all persons with human dignity,” he said[/pullquote]

“We paid with our blood for simply requesting to consolidate our integration with Zambia. Intimidation became the order of the day,” he said.

He said the BA of 1964 is a legitimate and international treaty which must be respected though many nationals over the last half century have been brutalized, victimized and antagonized for holding the view.

Ngambela Sinyinda said checks and balances model in the Barotse Royal Establishment governance system which was terminated prematurely be re-introduced.

Ngambela Sinyinda said Barotseland has a history of inclusiveness and harmonious co existence adding that differences were resolved peacefully at all times.

He said BRE is committed to non violent means of conflict resolution adding that he is confident that BRE shall forever remain committed to finding a peaceful settlement to the Barotseland question.

“Though our blood has been spilt we will spill no innocent blood, though we have been shot we will not throw even a pebble at our aggressors, we will treat all persons with human dignity,” he said

“Yet our peaceful nature should not be mistaken for lack of courage or determination to have this impasse revolved” he added.

He later urged all delegates to the meeting to participate freely as they deliberate on the decisions and resolutions that have come from different corners and angles of the society.

The BNC meeting is also being attended by newly appointed Western Province Minister John Kufuna, Deputy Permanent Secretary Mwangala Liomba, and Chiefs from Southern Province namely Chief Mukuni, Chief Chikanta and Chief Sinazongwe respectively.

Ruff kid recently released the video for his new single “wilayvinyola” . In a recent interview with lusakatimes.com he had this to say about the song  ” The song has the Southern African influence of Kwaito but it also has the undertone of our Zambian music. It is a feel good song. An uptempo, club song.”

wilayvinyola

By Kapa187

Last week we featured an article about Lil Nick AKA Pacman .  We caught up with him and did an in-depth interview.

Kapa187: Tell us a little bit about your background.

Lil Nick :well you see i was born in kobe japan, whilst my mum was an english teacher there, after 3 years of living there i moved to wales in england with my mum and my younger brother. my brother, mother and I went on holiday to zimbabwe alot going back and forth between the uk and zimbabwe, and then we ended up moving to zambia, thats just the brief way of describing my background going in to detail i would be taking up hours of your time. By the age of 6 I was living in zambia with my younger brother and my mother. I was raised in a very good environment in my early years, you know i had school, a lovely home, and lived a very healthy lifestyle. My confidence as a young boy was very low i got bullied alot in my 1st school in zambia, so i ended up switching to another school which was the italian school of lusaka, i stayed there from grade 4 to 7, and then moved to ISL to do my highschool/GCSE’s, i struggled alot in school im not stupid but i wasnt the smartest kid in the class i guess haha so i went to the uk to study my GCSE’s instead at a boarding school, which wasnt helpful for my music as i never had any studio time and it was hard to get a hold of a mic. and now im at college in leicstershire england studying music technology.

Kapa187: You first came on the scene being featured in a video by C.R.I.S.I.S , how did that come about.

Lil Nick :well to be honest with you it was pure luck, as crisis literally lived across the road from me, and i was walking down the road with my friend once and he pulls up in a car and goes, im looking for a young teen for my next music video, and personally at that point i knew who crisis was but i had no clue what he looked like so, i asked him what his rap name was and he told me he was crisis so i was thinking that opportunities like this dont come around everyday you know? crisis is the biggest artist in zambia with no doubt, hes gone to the grammys, won a befta award and i know him personally now because of this and i featured in the video of one of my favourite songs by him, so it was a very good moment for me.

Kapa187:Have you always wanted a career in music , what draws you to it.

Lil Nick :when I was young i “thought” i could sing haha i ended up finding out i was terrible after listening to myself. but i loved music u know and all my friends in my neighbourhood would always be playing the latest rap or hip hop song and always talking about how good the rappers verses were, the punchlines that were put in the song the messages behind all of them, and i always used to wonder how do they think of this stuff? like how does it come into their head? so i started writing lyrics everyday until i could finally come up with a good enough punchlines to impress them and impress others around me. I also remember me at 11 years old telling my mum “i want to be a rapper when im older” haha and she did give me a bit of a weird look but i probably would have done the same if it was my son. so yes from about 11 years old ive always wanted to be a musician.

Kapa187: How does your music differ from other upcoming and established rappers in zambia.

Lil Nick :well you see music is a weird thing, it can only be described in moods and genres, in my music you will always find a message behind the lyrics, i have never ever had a pointless song and i never will have a pointless song. my music is expressing how i feel and my personal thoughts so if you dont like it then listen to someone else, but i do love all the support from the fans have at the moment as they are really giving me the momentum to push forward and do more for them. another thing that does also make my music different to other zambian musician is infact my race, i mean i am a white british zambian rapper, i have a really good blend between both races in zambia as i grew up with a zambian father and all zambians neighbourhood friends.

Kapa187:What does being creative mean to you

Lil Nick :being creative is all about self expression, if it aint you it aint cool. you have to let your mind wonder to strange ideas so that you end up coming up with the next big thing. its how entertainment works, you know if it doesnt work then you try something else.

Kapa187:You started your rise to fame after competing in a cypher battle against So good entertainment artist. First explain to those who dont know wat a cypher is .

Lil Nick :firstly a cypher is where you go to show off a talent weather its singing, dancing, poetry or rapping. cypher is all freestyle when it comes to battling, i mean because any rapper can come write down a couple of good lines for you and then you go ahead and say them so yeah its all freestyle in the cypher battles.

Kapa187:How was that experience ,and did you prepare your raps before hand or was it straight from your head.

Lil Nick :The experience for me, i would literally say that, that battle i had against k.r.y.t.i.c has gone down as one of the best moments of my life. before that battle i quit rap because of discrimination, i couldnt take being teased permanently about being a white african rapper it just took all motivation out of me so i just quit i didnt rap for 7 months. then when i came back from the uk all my friends were telling me nick dont quit your good at what you do like trying to motivate me but i wasnt about to say yes anytime soon. then one weekend we went to the cypher to check out what was going on, next thing i know my name is being called to go into the middle of the circle, it had turned out my friend signed me up and i was blank, and everyone was looking so i just went straight into the middle and just saw the looks on everyones faces when i got in the middle of that circle, my mind went completely blank and all i could think of was how i could get out of being humiliated in public. but then the battle started and i was getting ripped apart until my turn the crowd seemed to like what i was saying and i created quite a buzz that night, there was no winner officially from the battle but my personal point of view i was beaten. there were also rumours that i had done all of that off my phone because i was on it alot but infact i was talking to my girlfriend at the time because i was extremely nervous so she comforted me through that situation.

Kapa187: Your music video for the song ‘i know’ was released recently , what is the song about and what was the concept of the video.

Lil Nick :The song and the video both say the same thing which is: “im here, im there, im everywhere, im taking over, and im gunna tell you just how good i am, and how easy it is for me to do this”

Kapa187: Are you working on an album , if so who have you worked with and who would you like to work with .

Lil Nick :at the moment i do not have the fan base to make an album, and make profits off the album. im currently working on my 3rd mixtape which will definitely be the biggest project that i have done so far. My 1st mixtape was called ITZ TOO EASZY, the second one called PACMAN and this one which i will be announcing the name for the 1st time is called ” Its Still Too Easzy “. on this next mixtape i will definitely have alot more local artist to broaden my fan base and to meet and work with new interesting artists, a couple from the old mixtape will be “2wo 1ne”, rowdogg, urban chaos, ruff kid, white stripe league, yang mas who is the 1st person to ever produce a song by me, one of my very good friends lil Chits (amazing lyricist) and another good friend of mine, shadia Zaher.

Kapa187:How do you handle criticism

Lil Nick :Well i look at it in the case of, i was criticized before which made me stop doing something that i was good at, follow your instinct and if you are thinking of quitting then remember why you started in the 1st place

Kapa187: Is there anything your fans will be surprised to know about you.

Lil Nick :if there was anything they wouldnt know it would be who my idol was as i started rapping without an idol but now i definitely have one besides my mother and father which would be crisis mr swagger, theres nobody in the world right now who deserves fame more than he does because hes worked off every limb in his body to get where he is right now, he went from selling CDs on the street to getting invited to the grammys. so yes if theres anything the fans do not know about me it would be that zambias very own mr swagger is my idol.

Kapa187: Any last words for your fans

Lil Nick :I love every single one of my fans more than i love myself without them nobody would know who i am, please keep supporting me and showing your friends my music i hope i can be the motivation for your day, and the music you dance to at night.

THE MUSIC

The cypher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5oenFcuZpg

Latest single ‘I Know”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnonEk-2dQo&feature=youtu.be

By Kapa187

The Voice of America reports that Zambia’s Vice President, Guy Scott, said President Michael Sata is on a planned private visit to India and not for medical treatment as reported in both Indian and local media.

The Times of India newspaper reports that the 75-year-old Zambian president underwent laser procedure at Samved Urology Hospital Saturday.

Citing unconfirmed reports, the paper said Sata was expected to leave the city of Ahmedabad Monday after being discharged.

But, Vice President Scott said it is normal for the president to go on a private visit and undergo a medical checkup.

“He went to India for a personal visit and, whenever I make a personal visit, I have a checkup, and maybe he is having a checkup, too. It was planned for quite long time ago. There have been many times that he [Sata] has been pronounced dead. So, we are a bit used to it here,” he said.

Scott accused members of the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) of jubilating over Sata’s supposed health problems.

UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema entered into a coalition with Sata’s Patriotic Front party prior to last year’s election. But, it fell apart before the election.

Scott appealed to Zambians and outsiders not to speculate on the health of Sata.

“There is no good reason to suppose our boss is sick. He might have gone for a checkup. You expect to have a checkup, and I would certainly have a checkup because, when you passed 50, it’s best to watch the gauge on the dashboard,” Scott said.

Scott and Sata were in opposition for a long time before winning last September’s election. Scott said governing is different from being in the opposition.

“One of your New York mayors once said that you campaign in poetry, and you govern in prose. So, there is a lot of detail and a lot boring stuff to deal with in governing, but the basic issues on which we fought are still alive, and we will do what we can about them,” he said.

The Zambian vice president said the biggest challenge for the Sata government is reducing the country’s high youth unemployment.

“You are phoning from the United States where the problem of youth unemployment is an issue. All over Africa, all over the Middle East, it’s a problem,” Mr. Scott said.

He said the Sata government is doing what it can to get a grip on the country’s high youth unemployment.

“We are changing our economic variables, we are fighting corruption, we are getting interest rates down, we are making things better for the investors,” Scott said.

[VOA]