THOUSANDS of Zambians working in Gaborone and beyond had a bitter-sweet taste of President Sata’s venom when they made requests ranging from access to land, water and money during a meeting for Zambians living in Botswana.

Mr Sata thought this was tantamount to seeking a ‘special’ kind of treatment Zambians back home do not get.

The event held at a Zambian property not far away from the River Walk Mall, started on a shaky note on Tuesday evening when Tobias Mweendo started complaining about what he called “by-standers” in Zambia and finally cited a non-existent walk out of Parliament recently which he said had been conducted by the Patriotic Front to press for some legislation.

Mr Mweendo’s speech, which often digressed, had to be reduced to just about half an hour, before President Sata decided that talking down to the Zambians, would not be such a good idea after all and asked the more than 2,000 Zambians to ask questions in an impromptu and unprecedented Town Hall-style meeting.

The questions from the Zambians ranged from access to land back home, access to money from the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission and the crucial usual politics of employment.

But after the barrage of questions, President Sata stood up to address the Zambians and told them to get up, pack their bags and return to Zambia and help build the nation, if they felt they were getting a raw deal in Botswana.

[pullquote]“You are saving the lives of Botswana children when your children in Zambia are dying,” Mr Sata said. “You are teaching Botswana children when your children back home have no teachers…you ought to be ashamed of yourselves for having obtained a good Zambian education for free, to come and benefit a country that can afford, you must be ashamed.”[/pullquote]

“Why do you want to be given special treatment if you have something to offer? Come back home and offer it,” President Sata said. “It’s clear you have decided to work here in Botswana for an extra kwacha when your people are suffering back home.”

President Sata said it was a shame the “Zambians living abroad chose to moan and complain about doing all sorts of jobs; some good, some bad, when they were needed the most at home and they chose to complain about decisions back home.

“You are saving the lives of Botswana children when your children in Zambia are dying,” Mr Sata said. “You are teaching Botswana children when your children back home have no teachers…you ought to be ashamed of yourselves for having obtained a good Zambian education for free, to come and benefit a country that can afford, you must be ashamed.”

President Sata described as a ‘shame’ the fact that Botswana roads are being designed by Zambian engineers, hospitals run by Zambian doctors and schools taught by Zambian teachers while Zambia lacked in all sectors he mentioned.

“Don’t be surprised if you come home and find the children you left in Grade One are now ministers,” Mr Sata said. “I will make them ministers because they are available and you are not…things are tough everywhere but you have to work hard to make things work. I was in opposition for 10 years and I think you can come back home and make things work if you like, but you chose to work for an extra Kwacha and then complain.”

Earlier, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism Given Lubinda challenged Zambians in Botswana to state for the record how many relatives they have taken to live with them in Botswana, in order to improve their lives. Responses to this question were elusive.

The Zambians, who were initially full of anticipation of promises of money and goodies, appeared disillusioned as President Sata reminded them that job creation and economic development in Zambia can only be achieved through hard work at home and not rhetoric abroad.

[Report filed in by ANTHONY MUKWITA in Gaborone Zambia Daily Mail]

THE Government’s offer to public service workers for improved salaries and conditions of service will be minimal to avert shocks in the national economy.

Finance and National Planning Minister Alexander Chikwanda said the Government was constrained to offer a high salary increment because of ‘tight’ fiscal space.

The minister was speaking during a meeting with World Bank managing director Sri Mulyani Indrawati at his office in Lusaka yesterday.

Mr Chikwanda said if the Government offered high salaries, it could trigger an upsurge in the inflation rate and also affect service delivery in the social sector and other areas of the economy.

The Government would, however, be reasonable in addressing demands from workers’ representatives in the on-going negotiations.The current collective agreement with the trade unions in the public service would expire at the end of this month.

The minister said the Government was under intense pressure from the Zambian people to deliver on economic development, job creation andsalary increments against the compelling need to avoid economic shocks.

[pullquote]Mr Chikwanda said if the Government offered high salaries, it could trigger an upsurge in the inflation rate and also affect service delivery in the social sector and other areas of the economy.[/pullquote]

Mr Chikwanda said the downgrading of Zambia’s economic performance by the Fitch Rating agency was irregular as it was based on the decision to reverse the sale of 75 per cent shares in Zamtel from Lap Green Networks of Libya.

He said Zambia’s economic outlook remains favourable and that the fight against corruption was meant to restore confidence in the investors.

Global rating agency Fitch last month downgraded Zambia’s economic outlook from stable to negative.

Mr Chikwanda said the new Government would establish economic policies that were predictable, consistent and credible, which the fight against corruption sought to achieve.

Responding to a question by Ms Indrawati who wanted to know what was being done about the outcry from some members of the community, Mr Chikwanda said ‘careless’ salary increments would be avoided.

“People have become vocal because they want us to deliver. We are under pressure but we must act quickly. Bureaucracy must be turned into quick action,” Mr Chikwanda said.

He said the future of Zambia’s economy did not entirely depend on high copper prices but diversification and that Government would not consider introducing windfall tax in order to protect mining companies.

[pullquote]“Windfall tax pre-supposes that the wind will blow your way all the time and this means that we will tax the mining companies out of business. Right now the price of copper at the London Metal Exchange has gone down,” Mr Chikwanda said.[/pullquote]

“Windfall tax pre-supposes that the wind will blow your way all the time and this means that we will tax the mining companies out of business. Right now the price of copper at the London Metal Exchange has gone down,” Mr Chikwanda said.

He said the six per cent mineral royalty tax was adequate while efforts to promote diversification in the country were ongoing. He said a technical committee headed by Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba had been constituted to streamline operations of the Public Private Partnership secretariat.

Mr Chikwanda said Bank of Zambia had delayed to rebase the currency because the Government had directed that it should follow the law and refer the process to the Zambia Public Procurement Authority.

He said service delivery in Zambia was being hampered by bureaucracy, which he said also existed in the donor community with some projects not taking off on time.

Ms Indrawati said Zambia was performing well compared to other countries but urged the Government to be more careful on the fight against corruption to avoid negative effects on the economy.

She said the World Bank would render all the necessary assistance for the Zambian government to meet the people’s expectations.

[Times of Zambia]

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

DOES HE KNOW?

By Yvonne Sishua

Does he know that she knew him even before they met?

She knew the feeling he would evoke

They met and she knew she would adore him just as much

He did too.

Does he know that her thoughts are constant?

Constantly his, his full time to time indefinite,

Like the endless world.

Does he know that this feeling is so strong?

 Only Shakespeare defined it to the very complication of its core,

 Only the words of King Solomon described its effect on ones soul

And only in the book of Corinthians was it explained as to how it ought to be executed.

A feeling so free, both kings and peasants have shared it

Both the rich and poor!

A feeling that can never be owned, bought or sold,

It guarantees neither pleasure nor pain,

And when she loved, she decided to take both pleasure and pain for he is worth it.

Now he is love personified,

If anyone has ever perfected the art of love, she knows it is only he.

At times she thinks she is the reincarnation of Juliet and he is that of Romeo,

For this feeling feels so right yet so wrong.

At times she thinks he is heaven and she is earth,

 Two places of immense beauty but heavens’ is a tad bit more magnificent,

Unseen to the ordinary eye and unmatched by that of earths’.

She knows of earths’ beauty but heaven surpasses it beyond measure.

She knows not much of heaven but the obvious,

Heaven and earth have never been in union,

This Madness that men call earth has forever been a place of confusion, misunderstanding, fear and impatience

Heaven forever a place of peace, understanding and patience,

How then can they exist as one?

Earth relates well to pain for a part of its existence it has been from time immemorial,

Why then is it so hard for heaven to understand that for earth love is foreign,

 A source of fear for its origin lay unknown!

Heaven must be selfish…

Keeping its beauty unseen to the ordinary eye

Hence his failure to understand earth’s weaknesses.

Earth holds secrets yet it is the most open of all secrets,

 To learn anew, an appealing idea

Why then won’t heaven share his understanding and patience to teach earth a new way?

A better way to live, Earths senselessness it seems cannot walk alongside a sense full heaven.

My wonder remains,

 How can two people with a voice to speak out,

Two people endowed with the ability to communicate,

 Not know how to understand each other,

 Yet spend half their time not voicing out what they feel

 And the other half voice out what they do not really mean…

Humans in love

Champions of Life

Peter W. Nawa

This is a dedication to that child who never got the chance

Even though your conception was perceived to be a mistake

A misconception that you did not have life

But if only they could STOP

Listen to your heart beat, it would scream, “I am Alive!”

Your face we did not see

Killed while in the womb

Rest in Peace

This is for that little boy

Always wanting to make his father proud

The look in his father’s eyes

Tell him he has fallen short

Teachers called him a failure and day dreamer

His imagination was too great for mere mortals to comprehend

His dreams too big for small minds to contain

Despite the dream killers and being misunderstood

He refused to let his dreams die and fade away

This is the anthem for every guy who was broken hearted

The girl said you had no potential

She could not see a car, house or J. O. B in your future

Far too shortsighted to ever see your future

Your destiny was far greater than you now

Life was unfair at times and threw you a bus on several occasions

You refused to play the part of victim

You moved on, pressed on, carried on and dreamed on

Today when people ask who is that?

Everybody replies, “That is not just anybody that is somebody”

These are our inspirations

Fathers who refuse to be part of the wrong statistic

Men who do not have kids simply because they can

But are men enough to stick around and watch them grow

They show their daughters how their men should love them

By the tender loving care he shows his wife

He teaches his sons that manhood is not defined

By the number of women you can have

Or the money in your pocket

It is about making the right choices

Loving you family

And a man after God’s heart

To these wise champions of life we salute

When you are long gone and your stories are told

They will say on this ground that we walk

There once tread greatness

Even though life threw its trials and tribulations

They refused to buckle in

Yes they cried, yes they felt pain, yes they failed

But each time they wiped the tears, took a painkiller and rose

When all was said and done

They stood on the summit as giants of life

MOTHER TO DAUGHTER: FROM MULIEBRITY-CELEBRATING WOMANHOOD

                                                                                   Pamela Sinkamba

The news is good; you are on the way,

My belly swells, I can’t wait to play,

Stay put infant, am not faraway.

I hear you cry, the joy is mine,

Your little fingers, just seem so fine,

Welcome to this world, I love your smile.

Years seem to fly; you’re all so grown,

All you now desire, I have known,

My life has been but a big groan.

The world is wide, and never seems to end.

Pleasure of pleasure is never a friend.

Deep inside you joy always reigns.

Come, come child hear what’s been.

And what has been, I have already seen.

Patience, patience, give your life esteem.

Down in the chapel, wedding bells sound,

Celebrating life, as the happy go round,

Oh mother’s joy, a daughter’s life profound.

Oh crying little babe, fill my hands with joy,

One old life ends, a new one joins

Here begins another mother’s employ.

The world is wide, and never seems to end.

Pleasure of pleasure is never a friend.

Deep inside you joy always reigns.

By Kapa187

The opposition Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) convention to choose a new leader is in doubt following the party’s failure to raise the K3 billion required.

Party Deputy National Secretary Chembe Nyangu disclosed to QFM in an interview that the party is not likely to hold the convention any time soon because of unavailability of resources.

Mr Nyangu says a another fundraising committee consisting of himself,party national secretary Major Richard Kachingwe,party spokesperson Dora Siliya, Suresh Desai and veteran politician Vernon Mwaanga has been constituted to try and raise the required funds.

This was after the earlier committee constituted to raise the funds failed to raise the money.

Mr Nyangu says the committee will work hard to ensure that resources are found but could however not promise when the convention will be held.

Meanwhile, The Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC) has noted that it was imprudent for the Chief Registrar of Societies to de-register the opposition MMD.

ZEC Secretary General Cleophas Lungu has since stated that the concerns raised by Fitch Ratings on the de-registration of MMD should serve as a wake up call to the country.

Fr. Lungu notes that it is also important to ensure that the good image that Zambia has earned on the international community in terms of upholding democratic principles is not distorted.

The clergy notes that it is important that principles of democracy such as freedom of expression and association are upheld.

Fitch Ratings has expressed concern on the country’s policy direction and governance quality following the de-registration of the MMD.

Fitch has warned that if the decision to de-register the MMD is upheld and by-elections are called, there will also be adverse fiscal consequences.

The Rating Agency says holding elections will put unnecessary strain on the budget or divert funds from much-needed capital spending.

QFM