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Zambians for Empowerment and Development (ZED) President Fred Mutesa
Zambians for Empowerment and Development (ZED) leader Fred Mutesa has questioned whether government has the financial capacity to compensate former majority shareholder in Zamtel LAP Green of Libya $480 million.
Dr. Mutesa says the claim of compensation by LAP Green has not come as a surprise as it was anticipated.
The opposition leader says government should have avoided such consequences if only it had found better ways of handling the matter.
Dr. Mutesa has however, noted that as things stand it would be better to wait for the matter to be looked at by the courts of law.
LAP Green has challenged the decision by the PF government to seize its 75% shares.
In the petition filed in the Lusaka High Court on Monday, LAP Green has outlined its right to financial compensation for the value of the asset at the time of seizure should the shareholding not be restored to it, which is calculated to be US$480 million.
The Libyan firm is additionally claiming for substantial losses it has suffered as a result of the seizure of the shares.
LAP Green Network has disputed the legality of the Zambian Government’s claim that LAP Green%u2019s shares were taken for public purpose.
File: PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda is welcomed by Mwansabombwe MMD former National Secretary Dr. Katele Kalumba when he arrived at Kazembe grounds
National Revolution Party (NRP) president Cosmo Mumba has demanded that government stops former President Rupiah Banda from traveling to the United States before he answers to corruption allegations leveled against him.
Dr. Mumba has told Qfm that Mr. Banda should prove his innocence to the investigative wings.
He has also appealed to the security wings to expedite investigations into the alleged corrupt activities involving the former President.
And Dr. Mumba has lifted the suspension of former party secretary general Kelly Walubita and further appointed him as his special assistant for press and public relations.
He says the decision has been arrived at following the meeting of the party’s national executive committee in Lusaka yesterday convened to discuss the fate of Mr. Walubita.
Journalists from Mongu interview Inspector General of Police Stella Libongani Picture By /ZANIS
Inspector General of Police Stella Libongani says police will discipline the Police officers who allegedly impregnated 30 pupils in Limulunga last year.
And Ms Libongani has assured the people of Western Province that the police service will maintain law and order in an effort to allow people exercise their rights fully during the proceeding of the Barotse National Council scheduled for Monday next week.
Speaking when she called on Western Province Permanent Secretary Augustine Seyuba at his office in Mongu today, Ms Libongani said she has come in the Province to get first hand information on the matter.
” I have come so that i can get first hand information on the issues of the school going children who are reported to have been impregnanted by police officers and also to check on the security status of the province ahead of the Barotse National Council” she stated.
She noted that police officers were deployed to Mongu last year to provide security to the community saying the report of some officers having impregnated school going children will not be taken lightly.
Ms Libongani further disclosed that the she was in the province to check on the security status of the province ahead of the forth coming long awaited Barotse National Council.
She said police will not stop people from exercising their rights but said that people should conduct themselves in a peaceful manner.
And Mr. Seyuba has praised the police service in the province for maintaining law and order in the midst of many challenges they are facing.
Mr. Seyuba said the current order and peace in the province is due to the hard work and professionalism the service has exhibited.
He appealed to the Inspector general to consider addressing the many challenges officers face in combating crime in the province saying areas such Sichili, Shangombo and Mitete in Lukulu district do not have police stations a situation that has led to an increase in the number of caravina cases in the province.
Government has promised to rehabilitate some damaged bridges and feeder roads in district following appeals from chiefs in the area.
North-Western Province Permanent Secretary, Bert Mushala made the promise to senior Chief Sikufele and Chief Kalunga when he paid courtesy calls on them at their respective palaces at the week end.
The two traditional leaders lamented that the development of Kabompo district was only concentrated along the Mutanda-Chavuma (M8) road from Musamba to Mumbeji while other areas are allegedly neglected.
They said three other important roads namely Kabompo-Zambezi via Chikenge, Nyela-Kayombo and Dikolonga has be left unattended to for a long time. The chiefs further said bridges at Kalwilo, Maveve, Nyela and Dikolonga also need repair.
In response, Mr. Mushala promised the chiefs that government will soon send experts to assess the extent of damage before works could begin this year.
A Tanzanian truck driver has been brutally murdered by his assistants, known as Lorry boys in Isoka district of Muchinga Province.
Muchinga Province Police Commissioner Standwell Lungu confirmed the incident to the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in Chinsali yesterday.
Mr. Lungu said the truck driver, who he identified as Thabit Abdallah Lebora aged 53, was murdered by his two lorry boys outside his truck at the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) sheds in Isoka Township.
He said the deceased, who sustained deep cuts in the head, was driving a truck registration number T966 AVL and trailer number T 768.
Mr. Lungu said the motive behind the brutal killing of the truck driver has not yet been established.
He disclosed that police have since arrested the two Lorry boys and identified them as Richard Msamaha Mbazi 34 and Goodluck Yesana Kivania aged 44.
Mr. Lungu said one of the Lorry boys was arrested in Isoka while the other was arrested in Nakonde yesterday when he was to sneak into Tanzania.
He said the duo is currently detained at Isoka police station will appear in court soon.
Illegal land allocation is said to be the biggest problem facing Lusaka Province.
Provincial Deputy Permanent Secretary Kaizar Zulu has observed with saddeness the lawlessness in the way land is being administered.
He says time to address land issues in the Province is now.
Mr. Zulu was speaking on Tuesday when he opened a stakeholders consultative meeting on planning issues in Lusaka Province.
He says there is need to come up with guidelines which must be communicated to the public clearly at which point acquired land can be sold.
Lusaka province has been facing a major challenge on land while some of the less privileged have been greatly affected, like Ng’ombe displaced Persons who are yet to be fully settled.
Fitch Ratings says that additional strain could be placed on Zambia’s (‘B+’/Negative/’B’) government finances and its relatively strong governance undermined if the Registrar of Societies’ decision to de-register the country’s official opposition party is not overturned by the courts.
On 14 March, the Registrar of Societies announced that the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), the party that lost last September’s election after two decades in power, would cease to operate as a political party due to the alleged non-payment of dues over the past 20 years. The registrar called for by-elections for the 53 parliamentary seats held by the MMD.
In Fitch’s view, it is too early to tell if this is simply the actions of an over-zealous official, or whether the decision was politically motivated, with negative consequences for democracy and governance, factors which Fitch has traditionally regarded as amongst Zambia’s rating strengths. However, the agency’s revision of Zambia’s Outlook to Negative on 1 March 2012 reflected Fitch’s concerns about some of the government’s early actions and announcements, which have brought into question the direction of government policy. This latest development only increases the agency’s concerns over policy direction and governance quality.
It is not obligatory under the Act for the Registrar to suspend a society that has not paid its dues. Furthermore, a society should be given at least 21 days to respond to any allegations. In addition, the Registrar does not have the authority to dismiss elected parliamentarians and call for by-elections. The Registrar may therefore have overstepped its mandate. The high court has subsequently halted the suspension and ruled that by-elections to fill the party’s seats in parliament must await the outcome of a legal challenge to the suspension.
However, even if the decision is overturned by the courts, Fitch highlights again the risks associated with sending a negative message on matters relating to economic policy, property rights and respect for the rule of law. This is particularly the case in a year that the government will seek to raise USD500m from international capital markets in a debut eurobond.
If the decision to de-register the MMD is upheld and by-elections are called, there will also be adverse fiscal consequences. Holding elections will put unnecessary strain on the budget or divert funds from much-needed capital spending. Furthermore, if donors believe governance is deteriorating, they could decide to suspend aid, which makes up 7% of government revenue. This has been a response to similar events in other aid recipients in Africa and elsewhere in the past. It also risks sparking political instability, particularly given the support the MMD still garners in rural areas.
Fitch will continue to monitor this issue closely, and the government’s actions and policy announcements more generally over the coming months. Evidence that the fiscal position is being damaged and growth eroded through a weaker investment environment would have negative implications for the rating.
2wo-1ne relasead their latest video for the song “Bosa Tumfwe”. 2wo-1ne is know for thier creativity and this is no different . Great song with a great video
Defence deputy minister Colonel Panji Kaunda has refuted reports being circulated by an online publication that government is deploying soldiers to Mongu, Western Province, ahead of the Barotse National Council.
Col Kaunda says there are no troops being deployed to Mongu as is being suggested.
In an interview with QFM NEWS, Col Kaunda says it is most likely that the soldiers being mistaken for Zambian soldiers are the ones from neighboring Angola.
Some sections of the media have reported that the PF government is sending troops to Mongu in ahead of the Barotse national council which takes place in the next few days.
Colonel Kaunda says there is nothing to worry about in Western Province as the situation is very normal.
The opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) says it is unreasonable for anyone to suggest that UPND parliamentarians should resign in solidarity with the MMD if the former ruling party’s deregistration is upheld.
UPND Deputy Spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa says the party has never even thought of making such a decision because it knows how costly by-elections are.
Mr. Mweetwa says there is no way the UPND should involve itself in a dispute which is between the registrar of societies and the MMD.
He was reacting to sentiments by People’s Party national coordinator Edwin Sakala that the deregistration of the MMD is a constitutional crisis which can result into fresh elections if the UPND MPs could also declare solidarity by resigning.
In an interview with QFM, Mr. Mweetwa says the UPND should not be expected to join in the dispute, which is currently in the courts of law.
File: Former education Minister Clement Sinyinda is being dressed in traditional attire during his installation as the new Ngambela of Barosteland
The Barotse National Council (BNC) is here: 26th to 28th March, 2012. All ears will be on the ground to hear its resolutions, especially given the current heightened impasse over the Barotseland Agreement (BA). I pray that the discussions take the following direction and spirit.
a. Inclusive Representative Leadership
The monarchy system is an impediment to the implementation of the BA for many reasons: it is not inclusive enough; it breeds tribal hegemony as the rulers come from one or few tribes; it disenfranchises people as chiefs and kings rule by succession and not popular vote; if a bad chief or king lives too long, the people will be subjected to his bad leadership for too long; etc.
The ancestral agreement to the BA, the Lochner Concession of 1890, was a protectorate agreement. Protection from who?
In Barotseland, the main problem, history records, is hegemony of Luyis over other ‘smaller’ tribes. Historian, Gerald L. Caplan writes, “One of the themes of Barotseland history has been the demand by members of the smaller tribes for increased representation in the council of the nation. Some people clearly were excluded from positions of power, perhaps those who had not intermarried with ‘pure Lozi.’” (Gerald L. Caplan, 1970, The Elites of Barotseland, 1878-1969: a political history of Zambia’s Western Province).
Caplan defines ‘pure Lozi’ as the ruling Luyis, who he says “split from the Lunda-Luba empire of the Congo basin, reaching the Zambezi plains during the latter half of the seventeen century. They were labeled the Luyi (foreigners) by the existing inhabitants whom they conquered, a name they retained until they were conquered from the south in the nineteenth century.” (by the Makololo, led by Sebituane, who renamed them Barotse, and ruled them for 40 years up to 1865 [Rotse means plain; ?Burotse, country of the plain; ?Murotse, man of the plain; ?Marotse, people of the plain]). Luyis believe that “if Nyambe (God) and his wife-daughter begat the first Lozi king from whom all successive kings are descended, the legitimacy of the royal family’s right to reign is not open to challenge.” (Caplain, Pgs 1 & 2).
Therefore, “The Litunga would seek the protection of a European nation to safeguard himself against internal opposition and his Kingdom against an Ndebele invasion.” (Gerald L. Caplan, The Elites of Barotseland, 1878-1969: a political history of Zambia’s Western Province, Pg 38). Historian, John S. Galbraith, (published in 1974), shows how serious the internal opposition was when he says, “Francois Coillard, of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society, had first arrived in Lozi country in 1878 when it was convulsed by a civil war in which Lewanika was for a time ousted.” (John S. Galbraith, Crown and Charter: the early years of the British South Africa Company, page 209).
The Litunga only regained his thrown in 1885 and immediately, Caplan narrates, “he (Litunga) uprooted his enemies from positions of influence (and murdered others) and replaced them with his supporters.”
Despite this drastic “personal survival” step by the Litunga, both historians, Galbraith and Caplan, confirm that the Litunga still faced strong opposition later in 1890 from within his council against seeking British protection because “his (Litunga) white protectors would effectively eliminate the possibility of a new coup.”
The BNC must therefore seriously address sentiments by Mbundas, Nkoyas, etc instead of considering them as ‘ignorant’ or ‘spoiling the party’ for Lozis (ruling Luyis). These are the very sentiments that in the absence of ‘outside protection’ to the Litunga in form of the Lochner Concession, and now, in form of government from Lusaka, led to civil wars. This can be done by transferring the current powers of the Litunga and the Kuta to popularly elected bodies.
b. Take the BA to the High Court
The problem over the BA can be described simply as a ‘difference in interpretation’ between the government and the BRE. Government interprets it as having been overtaken by events and therefore, invalid; the BRE interprets it as still valid and therefore, abrogated. It is time it was taken to court for the experts to interpret it, then we can all work with one authoritative interpretation.
This is the purpose of clause 9, which says, “Any question concerning the interpretation of this Agreement may be referred by the Government of the Republic of Zambia to the High Court of the Republic for consideration (in which case the opinion thereon of the Court shall be communicated to that Government and to the Litunga of Barotseland and his Council) and any such question shall be so referred if the Litunga, acting after consultation with his Council, so requests. “
The BNC must resolve to request government to take the BA to the High Court. Right now this issue appears to be complex and ‘unsolvable’ because there are too many ‘experts’ interpreting it their own way.
c. Tell cessationists to shut up
A bit of pressure will help to get government to take action instead of just rhetoric to resolve the issue; but that pressure does not need to be treasonous or threaten the peace and stability of this country. The BNC must resolve that all representative groups in Barotseland, BFM, Linyungandambo, etc must desist from making cessationist statements and engaging in such behavior. It does not help the cause of Barotseland to have groups publishing constitutions, declaring independence, announcing governments, etc.
The BA is not a marriage certificate but rather a reconciliation certificate of a divorce that could have been. The preamble to the BA says, “Where as it is the wish of the government of Northern Rhodesia and of the Litunga of Barotseland, his council and the chiefs and people of Barotseland that NORTHERN RHODESIA SHOULD PROCEED TO INDEPENDENCE AS ONE COUNTRY and that all its peoples should be one nation.”
Note that it was not Barotseland AND Northern Rhodesia that proceeded to independence as one country. Rather it was just Northern Rhodesia. This means Northern Rhodesia COULD have split up at independence. The Litunga, and all other chiefs in Northern Rhodesia for that matter, could have refused to be a part of Zambia. They would have simply re-asserted their leadership now that the tyrant colonial master had gone. The BA was negotiated (instead of military force) to KEEP Barotseland with Zambia; and NOT to join it to Zambia as if previously separate.
Our independence was delivered on the values of nationalism – One Zambia One Nation. ALL MEANS necessary were used by our founding fathers to ensure that Northern Rhodesia: (i) proceeded to independence and (ii) as one nation. In western province, the challenge was Lozi tribalists (seen as patriotists by Lozis) who were opposed to nationalism. In Northern Province, it was Mama Lenshina and her Lumpa Church who were seen as anti-independence and pro-federation. Twelve (12) years after independence (1976), it was Adamson Mushala in North Western Province, supported by the apartheid regime in South Africa, who launched an insurgency to destabilize Zambia and create a separate country in North Western province.
The Western Province challenge was negotiated (the BA); the Northern Province one was forcefully crashed with thousands dead; the North Western too, with Mushala himself killed somewhere in 1982.
Just like at independence, all Zambians are committed to ensuring that our One Zambia One Nation is preserved. Cessationists have no place among us. This is something even those who may want to hide tribalism behind federalism or regionalism should know.
The preamble to the BA further says, “Where as having regard to the fact that all treaties and other agreements subsisting between her majesty the queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and The Litunga of Barotseland WILL TERMINATE WHEN NORTHERN RHODESIA BECOMES AN INDEPENDENT SOVEREIGN REPUBLIC….”
If the two were separate as cessionsists postulate, why did the independence of one automatically terminate the protectorate status of the other?
In addition, clause 1 says, “This agreement may be cited as the Barotseland Agreement 1964 and shall come into force on the day on which Northern Rhodesia, INCLUDING Barotseland, BECOMES (not become) the independent sovereign Republic of Zambia.”
All this is showing that Northern Rhodesia INCLUDED Barotseland; such that at independence, it was not Northern Rhodesia AND Barotseland that gained independence and became Zambia; rather it was just Northern Rhodesia. And the independence of Northern Rhodesia made Bembaland, Ngoniland, Luvaleland, Lenjeland, Tongaland, and all lands within it independent. Consequently, Loziland’s protectorate agreements automatically terminated and it became independent too.
Talk of cessation must therefore cease among representative groups in Western Province. What is needed is finding a viable way for the province, and indeed all provinces, to exercise enough control over their own destiny and resources while preserving our One Zambia One Nation. This will be achieved by a well worked-out decentralization process. In Western Province, it will be good to decentralize to an inclusive and representative leadership rather than to a monarchy. The current monarchies in Zambia can hardly be described as people’s “self-rule;” they are not different from the Mugabe, Gaddhafi, Mubarak, etc kind of ‘self-rule.’
Let all delegates to the BNC know that we wish them well and may God’s wisdom and blessings be with them as they go into this very important and defining national council.
3 Zambian students aged between 23-24 years, were severely beaten in Saint Petersburg Russia on the night of 18th March leaving one of the students in a Coma. Two of the students are studying at St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance (FINEK), and the third at St.Petersburg State Engineering and Economic University (ENGECON).
The students whose names are Lenard,Christopher and Crispin were at an entertainment club, the “City”, located at number 113 on Ligovsky Avenue.
There are reports that was a quarrel and the guards at the Club are said to have severely beated the Zambian students breaking Christopher jaw and inflicting him with severe head injuries that has left him comatose.The other two also have severe head injuries.
Police are studying records of CCTV cameras to establish the circumstances of the incident which many believe was a racist attack.
Racist assaults are frequently committed by skinhead gangs, which have grown in number in recent years in Russia and specifically Saint-Petersburg.
They often target people from Russia’s Caucasus region and the former Soviet republics in Central Asia.
The number of such crimes has grown by nearly 20 per cent in 2010 from the year before, according to the Russian Prosecutor General, who conceded in April that the authorities are not successful in curbing the trend.
According to the New York Times Racist attitudes lie deep within the Russian psyche and are growing even worse now.
Earlier this week, St. Petersburg officials arrested four young men for the murder earlier this month of Roland Eposeka, a 29-year-old student from the Congo in what prosecutors believe was racially motivated.
In November 6, 2009 19 year old a Zambian student-Lance Mate went missing on November 6, 2009 after a quarrel with some Russians and his body was retrieved from Kazanka River in Kazan City 5 months later.The government is said to have downplayed this incidence and remained tight-lipped over the killing while Russian Ambassador to Zambia Boris Malakhov said the death of Mate was an isolated case.
However Africans living in Russia have been victims of racist attacks time and again.
“I don’t even think about going out for a walk because I am scared. I stay at home, in front of my computer, after classes. Can you imagine when people back at home ask me how was my life in Russia was for the past four years and I am not even familiar with any street but the street where we are now,” one student said.
Western Province Task Force on Corruption has arrested two civil servants from the department of Community Development for allegedly pocketing government money amounting to over K89 million.
Task Chairperson Fanwell Siandenge confirmed the arrest of Provincial Community Development Officer Jenipher Malembeka 46 and Instructor of Carpentry at Namushekende Wakwinji Lifunga also aged 46 years.
“ The task on corruption, Western Province has today Friday 16th March 2012 arrested two officers from Community Development Department in Mongu on the ongoing investigations concerning plunder of national resources” he said.
Mr. Siandenge who is also Provincial Commissioner of Police said it was established that the duo were involved in non remittance of money to the provincial accounting unit for rentals from August 2009 to February 2012.
He said Jenipher and Wakwinji allegedly collected and later pocketed money from various government buildings which included houses, hostel and a tuck shop where teachers and organizations were renting in Namushakende area of Mongu District.
Mr. Siandenge said the duo who are currently on police bond have since been charged with theft by public servant contrary to section 272 and 277 of cap 87 of the penal code of the laws of Zambia adding that they will appear in court soon.
“All have been arrested and charged with the offence of Theif by Public servant contrary to section 272 and 277 of cap 87 of the penal cord of the laws of Zambia” Mr. Siandenge added.
Meanwhile, Mr. Siandenge has disclosed that the task force has discovered that the non remittance of government money has been a trend in the department hence investigations have since been extended to persons who were holding the offices before the accused persons.
This the second arrest the task force has made since it was constituted in February this year.
Last month, the task force arrested and charged four government officers from the buildings department for non remittance of about K24 million to the provincial accounting unit.
FLASHBACK: Livestock and fisheries Minister Bradford Machila checking on quality of maize for FRA at ATZ plant in kafue
Government, through the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has spent K3.2 trillion on purchasing maize and transportation it during the 2011-2012 crop marketing season.
Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Emmanuel Chenda said K2.2 trillion was spent on maize purchasing alone while K1 trillion has been spent on transporting the commodity to safer places.
Mr. Chenda said this amount was unprecedented considering the low productivity by the small scale farmers in the country.
He disclosed this in Solwezi at the weekend during a briefing with Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock provincial heads of departments.
Mr. Chenda said due to flaws in the FRA marketing system, government has ended up huge sums of money on maize purchasing alone.
He said traders and other players on the market have taken advantage of the lucrative price which FRA was offering to import maize from neighbouring countries which they later sold to the agency.
Mr. Chenda said government was in the process of reviewing FRA operations aimed at reverting to its original mandate of being a strategic reserve.
And Mr. Chenda said government was still facing the challenge of finding market for over one million tonnes of maize which is still laying at the depots.
He said his ministry was working hard to find market within and outside the country so that space is created for this year’s crop marketing season.
Meanwhile, Mr. Chenda said the only way of ensuring food security and poverty reduction was to diversify the agriculture sector.
He said government was currently revising the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) saying it has been hijacked by politicians, civil servants and traders.
Mr. Chenda said the revised FISP will include other crops in addition to maize.
He said the crops that will be included on the FISP are cotton, beans and groundnuts.
He said the highly publicized bumper harvests were not as result of farmers’ increased productivity but because of the increase in the number of beneficiaries.
And speaking after he toured selected fields under the Kansanshi mine conservation farming project, Mr. Chenda commended the mine for the efforts it was making to helping farmers increase their productivity.
“We have come and seen for ourselves how you are trying to be friends of farmers by teaching them new methods of farming in particular conservation farming,” Mr. Chenda said.
He said the Kansanshi conservation farming project will help in job creation, poverty reduction and putting money in farmers’ pockets.
Mr. Chenda said the PF manifesto has emphasized on the need to diversify the agriculture sector as it was the only sustainable way of reducing poverty.
The minister said conservation farming will play an important role in fulfilling the diversification programme of the PF government.
He said currently, small scale farmers that use conventional methods were producing two tonnes of maize per hectare while those practicing conservation farming were producing about five tonnes.
Mr. Chenda also bemoaned the low livestock production in the district and urged Kansanshi mine to speed up their plans of diversifying to livestock.
He assured Kansanshi mine of continued government’s support.
Meanwhile, Director of Agriculture, Mary Chipili, has called on stakeholders involved in conservation farming to collaborate with the ministry in the designing of messages targeted at farmers.
Mrs. Chipili said at the moment, organizations that promote conservation farming have different messages which she said was confusing the small scale farmers.
She said the harmonization of conservation farming messages were underway so that the country can have one message for farmers.
And speaking after the minister’s tour of the fields, Kansanshi Mine Public Relations Manager Godfrey Msiska pledged the mine’s continued support to the agriculture sector.
Mr. Msiska said the mine was alive to the fact that not all the local people can be employed by the mine hence the need to empower them through agriculture.
Those wishing to watch the Power Dynamos-TP Mazembe clash will have to dig deeper than usual into their pockets at the Arthur Davies Stadium in ticket booths for this Saturdays much anticipated Copperbelt/Katanga derby showdown.
VIP tickets will go for K250,000 up from K100,000 fans are accustomed to pay for on regular match-day.
The grandstand fee is also up to K100,000 while the opening wing will cost K20,000.
Meanwhile, tickets are yet to go on sale for the two sides first-ever competitive meeting after numerous friendly games played over the years.