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Inspector General of Police Martin Malama: To issue Statement on Tuesday
THE Barotse Freedom Movement, also known as the Linyungandambo, has pledged its loyalty to the Patriotic Front government in the wake of President Sata’s revelation that a group in Western Province is plotting to form its own state.
And a document in possession of the Mail has listed people alleged to be plotting to form government in Western Province. According to the list, the administrator general is A. Mombotwa, and the deputy administrator is N. Nyambe. Y. Mukelabai is earmarked for Speaker of the National Assembly, while the Chief Justice role is for L. Mundia.
The full list is: M. Lewanika (Minister of Finance), M. Ilukena (Minister of Justice /Public Order), C. Nalishuwa (Minister of Social Development), and M. Liuwa (Foreign Affairs) to be deputised by M. Mulope.
Others are C. Mulwasikwanda (Minister of Defence), Mr M. Sioma (Minister of Commerce), M. Mooto (Minister of Local Development) and P. Likando (Minister of Agriculture).
The rest are C. Suyumbwa (Minister of Education), to be deputised by I. Mutangelwa, M.Muyangana (Minister of Information), G. Mwala (Minister of Transport) and N. Wanga (Secretary to the Cabinet).
But the Linyungandambo yesterday said the people on the list may not even be aware that their names are being touted for the said cabinet positions in the planned State. In a press release to the Mail Barotse Freedom Movement national secretary Chazele Mulwasikwanda, incidentally mentioned for the Defence portfolio in the proposed cabinet, says he is concerned about developments in Western Province, especially that President Sata said a prime minister has already been appointed.
Mr Mulwasikwanda, in an interview with the Mail, said he was not even aware of his position. “These are just rumours being circulated on the internet. All of us who have been mentioned have never been approached,” he said.
Mr Mulwasikwanda said in Lozi parlance, ‘Prime Minister’ refers to the Ngambela and that he is appointed by the Litunga after a rigorous process of ratification by the royal council. “I am concerned because I don’t know anything about the group.
The Prime Minister refers to the Ngambela in Lozi, and since the death of Mr Maxwell Mututwa we haven’t had a Prime Minister, who is appointed by the Barotse Royal Establishment,” Mr Mulwasikwanda said.
And in a statement he writes: “I would like to assure the President that we the people of Barotseland are particularly waiting for the report of the Commission of Inquiry into what led to the Mongu and Limulunga fracas; and also from Barotse National Council.
“Just like we voted the Patriotic Front into government in September, we extend our gratitude to His Excellency for his fatherly love by constituting a Commission of Inquiry to probe what happened in Mongu and Limulunga.”
On January 14, police killed and maimed people accused of rioting and planning to secede from Zambia.
President Sata on Friday castigated Inspector General of Police Martin Malama saying, “You are fully aware that people within Western Province are calling for the creation of a State within a State, and the Inspector General of Police is smiling.”
Asked about the situation in Western Province, Dr Malama promised to issue a statement on Tuesday.
And Western Province commanding officer Fanwell Siyandenge yesterday said the situation is under control and that if there will be threats from the people mentioned, police will arrest them.
“I will be writing to the IG to advise him to send more investigators,” he said.
And when contacted for a comment, Barotse Royal Establishment spokesperson Oliver Saasa declined to comment.“I have no authority to comment on the matter, maybe the BRE might issue a statement later,” he said.
THE University Teaching Hospital (UTH) has accused the Lusaka City Council (LCC) of giving it the burden of disposing of unclaimed bodies because of local authority’s failure to carry out the task.
And LCC says it appreciates the hospital’s effort to help it dispose of the unclaimed bodies and blamed poor communication between the two public institutions for the problem.
UTH public relations manager Pauline Mbangweta said in an interview LCC has given it a lot of unnecessary work because it has failed to play its role of disposing of unclaimed bodies at the hospital.
Ms Mbangweta said the hospital spends huge sums of money amounting to K6 million every month to bury the bodies, a task that does not fall within its mandate.
“It is the local authority’s responsibility to dispose of these unclaimed bodies, but the reason is not clear why they have not been doing their work. It’s a big drain to us because we are not funded to bury them. We are only given money for clinical care,” she said.
Ms Mbangweta said the hospital is facing difficulties in acquiring more drugs because it spends unbudgeted for money to bury unclaimed bodies on behalf of the council.
Ms Mbangweta said the council has not been helpful because it only provides the hospital with a truck without fuel and a driver to help carry the bodies for disposal.
“We buy fuel and pay the driver we are given using our own resources. We bury 25 to 35 bodies every month. Last month we buried 35 and this month of December we have 24 bodies awaiting burial,” she said.
Ms Mbangweta said the hospital has been trying hard to clear the unclaimed bodies on behalf of the council for 20 years because they want to give them a decent burial instead of leaving them to rot in the mortuary.
“These people are not our patients because they are brought in dead (BIDs) by the police. Imagine how much money we could have saved if we were not spending such amounts to do the work which is supposed to be done by them (LCC),” she said.
Ms Mbangweta said UTH is the only hospital that is spending huge amounts of money to bury unclaimed bodies around the world when the police and the council are supposed to do the job.
And LCC public relations officer Henry Kapata said the council appreciates the work the hospital has been doing on its behalf, although it is its responsibility to do so.
“There has not been official communication from them. We did not know that there is such a crisis at the hospital. We will do everything possible to work on the matter,” he said.
ZESCO LTD engineers inspecting power pylons at Kafue Gorge station'
ZESCO Limited says it will next year start putting ‘more money in the pockets’ of rural dwellers across the country by engaging them in clearing its power lines with the help of chiefs.
This has elated traditional leaders who see the gesture as a tool for reducing rural poverty.
Managing director Cyprian Chitundu said in Lusaka yesterday from next year the company will start awarding contracts to cut grass to villagers to put more money in their pockets.
Mr Chitundu said unlike in the past when contracts were awarded to companies from urban areas, Zesco will engage traditional leaders in mobilising communities to cut grass along the transmission lines to empower the local people.
“We want to help put more money in the pocket of every Zambian, instill ownership in local communities and make them feel part of the nation by awarding them contracts to cut grass along transmission lines. We will change the procurement system in the awarding of contracts for cutting grass along transmission lines to incorporate the local people,” Mr Chitundu said.
He was speaking when he officiated at the environmental and social affairs unit’s 15th anniversary held at Lusaka’s Southern Sun Hotel on Friday night.
Mr Chitundu said by engaging the villagers in cutting grass, they will also provide security and the ESU department will be tasked to convince traditional leaders and the local people to take up the contracts.
He said Zesco feels the move would also help sensitise the communities to look after transmission lines and not to burn the bush unnecessarily and take up ownership of the protection of the environment.
Mr Chitundu urged the ESU to rise to the challenge and convince the local people to accept the offer from Zesco, which will help enhance security of the transmission lines.
And House of Chiefs chairperson Chief Madzimawe has welcomed the move by Zesco Limited to empower the villagers.
“It is a positive move by Zesco, a number of people in villages have no jobs and awarding them contracts is a positive way of empowering the rural communities who are in dire need of employment,” he said.
The traditional leader urged other companies operating in rural areas to emulate Zesco in providing employment to the local people.
He said the ‘more money in the pocket’ slogan by the Patriotic Front is not meant for people in urban areas only but for all Zambians.
The chief said the move by Zesco will motivate villagers and ensure that Zesco properties are protected.
Chief Puta of the Bwile people also commended Zesco for the gesture, which he said will help stop exploitation by urban-based companies that were being awarded contracts to cut grass along transmission lines.
He said the companies would go and engage villagers and only pay them peanuts and take the rest of the money.
The chief said villagers used to accept the peanuts because that was the only opportunity they had to get a job because of lack of companies in rural areas.
He said the awarding of contracts to local people will also help stop vandalism because casual workers from urban areas who were enlightened were the ones who used to cut cables.
Minister of Information, Broadcasting and Tourism Given Lubinda
Chief government spokesperson Given Lubinda has said that that the government will ensure that it meets the promises it made to the Zambians.
Mr. Lubinda said that government was aware of the many challenges that citizens face such as poverty and unemployment levels.
Mr. Lubinda stated in the Patriotic Front will always be a people’s party stating that it is the reason why it is still in power.
The information, broadcasting and tourism minister adds that the party will ensure that it does not disappoint the majority that voted for it in power.
He has however noted that the country is facing a lot of challenges which needs ever stakeholder to participate in.
He says that in order for the country to ensure that most challenges are addressed; ever stakeholder needs to participate in the governance system of the country.
Budget execution and service delivery recorded a decline for the period of January to June 2011 and July to December 2011 by 4 percentage points from an average score of 44 to 40 percent respectively.
This is according to Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) national budget execution and service delivery barometer.
CSPR information officer Diana Ngula tells QFM that the decline implies that government minimally met a number of aspects of budget execution and service delivery and has since attributed the decline to lack of transparency and accountability as well as a decline in basic service delivery and management among others.
Ms. Ngula notes that the barometer has not shown significant change in the poor people’s livelihoods during the period under review despite the country having registered positive economic growth during the same period.
Ms. Ngula notes that while there were some significant political commitments to human development as demonstrated in the six national development plan (SNDP), this did not match with the requisite resource allocation, especially towards social protection.
She adds that under the same period, they were consistent patterns of uneven distribution of services across districts with basic service delivery being biased towards the urban areas but living out the marginalized and vulnerable.
Ms. Ngula further stresses that the continuing challenges in basic service delivery have impeded significant impacts on human developments.
Ms. Ngula has since urged government to begin to conceptualize human development as a series of investments to increase capacity and promote a more equitable and inclusive society.
Ex-Zanaco and Nkana powerful striker Patrick Kabamba says he is
looking forward to reviving his career next year after recovering from a length spine injury which kept him out of action for almost two years.
Kabamba was the player of the year and top score in the 2009 Super
Division campaign after netting 20 goals for eventual champions
Zanaco.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with LT Sports in Kitwe, the
Congolese born forward revealed that due to the career-threatening
injury he has never featured for his Angola side Primero de Agosto
since making a switch from Zanaco in 2009.
He said the spine injury which affected his legs started just before his move to Angola where he has a two-year contract which runs until
31st December, 2011.
The former Kitwe United player added that he started training last
September after being diagnosed with a spine injury and undergoing an operation in India and China in 2010.
“Just before leaving Zanaco for Angola I developed an injury which has led to me failing to play any game for Primero De Agosto since signing a contract on 31st January 2010,” he said.
Kabamba said he plans to return to Angola next month even though his
contract with the army side is expiring this week.
Meanwhile, Kabamba is currently training with Power Dynamos since
retuning to Kitwe earlier this month.
“Primero De Agosto have sent me a return air ticket to Angola. So I
will be going back in January the new coach wants to assess me and
right now I am keeping fit with Power after explaining my situation to the coaches ba (Fordson) Kabole na ba (Beston) Chambeshi,” he
narrated.
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder…”
(Isaiah 9:6, NKJ)
TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria
When Jesus came to earth, He brought with Him everything you need to be empowered to live a life of victory. He came as a little baby, but He represented all authority in heaven and earth. When you choose to serve Him, you have access to all of His resources. You have access to His peace, power, authority, provision, joy and strength. He brought all of this to us when He came to earth. Unto us a child is born…unto us victory is given. Unto us, peace is given. Unto us, provision is given. Unto us hope and healing are given. Unto us eternal life is given!
Whatever you need today, remember, when Jesus came into the world, He made a way for every one of your needs to be met spiritually, emotionally and physically. Surrender your life to Him and receive all the spiritual blessings He has in store for you!
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Father in heaven, thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, so that I could be free to live an abundant life in You. Fill me with the revelation of Your love and everything that You have for me in Jesus’ name. Amen.
— Joel & Victoria Osteen
A PF councilor is disappointed with remarks attributed to the Human Rights Commission over the warn and caution statement recorded from Lusaka Province MMD Chairperson William Banda.
Emmanuel Chanda of Libala Ward 7 says the statement by the Human Rights Commission is unfortunate.
Mr Chanda says there is nothing wrong with police questioning Mr Banda over the unlawful assembly he held with about 20 MMD members at a named eating place in Woodlands, without a police permit.
He told ZNBC in an interview that the police were merely doing their job.
On Thursday, HRC Spokesperson Samuel Kasankha said in a statement that people are not obligated by any law to seek permits or to even notify police about meetings which involve small gatherings.
Mr Kasankha said notification of police is a formality, unless participants become uncontrollable and therefore pose a security risk.
Minister of Information, Broadcasting and Tourism Given Lubinda
Government has urged Zambians not to listen to people saying the PF government will remove the Christian nation clause from the constitution.
Information minister Given Lubinda says it is not true that president Sata’s government intends to remove the Christian nation declaration clause from the constitution.
Mr Lubinda says those spreading such lies are merely politicking and should not bring God’s name in politics.
And Mr Lubinda has advised some church mother bodies complaining that they have been left out of the technical committee to draft a new constitution not to feel left out.
He explained that the Zambia Episcopal Conference which is the mother body of all churches in the country will represent their views.
The minister was speaking at the annual conference for the Global Word of Life Pentecostal Assemblies in Kabwata on Saturday.
Vice President Guy Scott says the Patriotic Front government is devising mechanisms, which will help create more job opportunities in the country.
Dr. Scott says unemployment still remains the biggest challenge in Zambia.
He was speaking on Frank Mutubila’s Mid-morning television programme on ZNBC on Saturday.
And Dr. Scott says investors have been re-assured that there is a genuine fight against corruption after the PF took over government.
He says investors have also been reassured that the PF government has a genuine respect for private property and that they will continue investing into the country’s various economic sectors.
The Vice President explained that he has received a number of reports from investors indicating that they are pleased with government’s genuine fight against corruption.
And Dr. Scott says government will sustain the fight against corruption.
President Sata has been advised to carefully handle the matter involving activities in the Western province.
People’s party national coordinator, Edwin Sakala says the grievance and problem in the province is real.
He adds that the basic issue the people are complaining about is not only limited to western province alone.
Mr. Sakala says people elsewhere are complaining because government has not taken development there.
He says the PF national agenda has nothing to do with national development, but has been wasting time in witch-hunting the previous MMD president Rupiah Banda and his ministers at the expense of development and creating jobs for the people.
Mr. Sakala says it is for this reason that his party, believes that what Zambia needs is a change of governance system.
File:Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) Secretary General Roy Mwaba addresses journalists at Courtyard hotel in Lusaka
By Mr.Roy Mwaba
The Zambia Congress of Trade Unions is disappointed with the approach taken by government to review the current statutory retirement age from 55 years to 65 years. Consideration to review the current statutory retirement age follows the Presidential directive to which the Ministry of Justice has already drafted the pensions Amendment Bills.
After wider consultations with affiliate members and Zambian workers in general, the Congress noted that the principle of consultation with main stakeholders such as workers representatives was greatly undermined in this process because the unions and employers were only given the opportunity to make contributions after the process of reviewing the retirement age had advanced.
In addition,the spirit of the review of the retirement age is closed and not accommodating contrary views.
In view of this, ZCTU does not consider the extension of the statutory retirement age from 55 years to 65 years as merited because there is no strong case so far advanced by Government to justify the revision of the statutory retirement age from 55 years to 65 years. In line with this, ZCTU has identified a number of factors that need to be taken into account before considering extension of the statutory retirement age to 65 years.
One of the factors to consider is the life expectancy. Life expectancy is not a mere statistic but should guide policy makers especially social security schemes to determine the appropriate retirement age which reflects realities on the ground.
Official statistics from CSO (2009) estimates life expectancy at 52 years while the UNDP report for 2011 estimates life expectancy at 47.3 years. Generally, the statistics show that even the current retirement age of 55 years is higher than the life expectancy of a common Zambian.
What this implies is that even at the current statutory retirement age, a number of employees die before retirement, denying them the opportunity to enjoy their pension benefits. It is a known fact that the attrition rates are high even for public service workers where teachers alone accounted for 11,443 in 2009 (2009 Education Bulletin) partly due to high death rates. This brings to question any likelihood that a higher minimum retirement age would lead to people working longer, translating in greater economic output.
This could explain why the retirement age in developed countries is set below the average life expectancy and not above. Examples would include Sweden where the statutory state pension age ranges between 61 and 70 years, with a life expectancy of 80 years and the United Kingdom where the state pension age is 65 years with life expectancy of 79 years.
In this regard, it is our view that increasing the retirement age is likely motivated by intentions to enhance solvency of pension systems because by implication there will be no retirement payments for the next ten years. What is overlooked, however, is the number of people that will possibly die before enjoying their benefits as a result of the extended period.
It can be estimated that over 6 million workers would die without enjoying the benefits of their lifetime hard work.
We note that currently, no one is prevented to continue working even after attaining the statutory retirement age of 55 years. It is not illegal to employ someone who has reached retirement age, the reason why statistics from the 2008 Labour Force Survey indicate a high participation rate for people above the statutory retirement age with over 470,000 people above the age of 55 years still actively employed.
Further, we cannot ignore the challenge of Youth Unemployment when considering extending the retirement age. There is no shortage of skills among the younger generation required to replace the elderly so as to warrant an extension of the retirement age. We have a number of qualified personnel already active and contributing to the development process.
Besides, there is a large number of unemployed youth graduates still looking for employment; about 70 percent of youth with degrees are unemployed (LFS, 2008). For the employed, a large proportion of the youths are in informal jobs where they have no social security coverage.
In this regard, Government’s focus should be to enhance social security packages and introduce financial management training to adequately empower retirees. Social security schemes should provide financial services such as business loans and mortgages to enable workers prepare for the time they would be out of employment.
Increasing the statutory retirement age in the absence of a revamped social security system will simply mean more people will even die before they reach the statutory retirement age than is currently the case. Equally important, there is need to improve service delivery in terms of health, education and sanitation in order to raise life expectancy to justify the change in retirement age.
Currently, the majority of the workers are in the informal sector and are not covered by social security schemes. Thus, the statutory retirement age only applies to a few formal sector workers estimated to be about 500,000 from the working population of about 4,600,000.
The majority of all workers, constituting about 90 percent of the total working population fall outside social security schemes. The worry of government in this regard should be to address the growing informality where an increasing number of people have no social safety nets rather than focus on a few formal sector workers already covered under social security schemes.
Alternatively there is need for a thorough assessment of the current pension system to consider best options of improving the schemes.
There have been long standing debates about the current arrangement of our pension system. One of the issues to be addressed is harmonising
the legislations. There is also need to harmonise the benefits structure and apply a common formula to standardise the benefits, and also ensure that no same category of employees contribute to different schemes; the case of teachers currently.
Alternatively, options should be given for early retirement. We note that only the PSPF Amendment Bill provides options for personnel in the Defence Forces, the Police Force, and Prison Service to retire on or after attaining the age of 45 years or after completing 20 years’ service. It is appropriate to extend such provisions to other workers covered under NAPSA and LASF. In this regard, ZCTU is proposing 55 years for early retirement or after completing 30 years’ service,with 60 years as mandatory retirement age.
In light of the above, we note that the government’s intention to increase the retirement age has not been done with adequate analysis of the current pension system to warrant an extension. No substantial justification has been advanced by government to extend the current statutory retirement age. In turn, this has generally been understood as a plan to create solvency in pension schemes because no retirees will be eligible for pension benefits in the next ten years.
Consequently, Government will not have the problem of paying retirees for the next ten years.In addition, not all of the people who could be due for pension benefits under the current system would be able to live up to 65 years and claim their benefits.
On this basis, ZCTU does not support the review of the retirement age from 55 years to 65 years. Our suggested option is to consider 55 years or completion of 30 years in service as early retirement and 60 years as a mandatory retirement age. Although we know that Zambia has one of the lowest statutory retirement age in the region, the decision to extend the statutory retirement age should be founded on justifiable empirical evidence. If the intention is to harmonise our statutory retirement age with that prevailing within the region, a comparative study within the region should inform such a decision. We cannot treat the retirement age like an import product. A systematic approach must be instituted to warrant such change.
MMD Chavuma Member of Parliament Kenneth Konga yesterday said that the Hummer police seized from his Kabulonga residence was acquired using the money Members of Parliament get from Parliament for car loans.
QFM News reports that Mr Konga revealed this in parliament today when asked vice president Guy Scott to tell the house whether the money the National Assembly gives MPs for car loans is stolen money for Police to seize his vehicle.
The vehicle was seized following a nine hours search police conducted at Mr Konga’s Kabulonga residence yesterday.
A combined team of investigators from the Zambia Police, Anti Corruption Commission and Drug Enforcement Commission also seized two motorcycles from the former minister’s residence.
MMD Lusaka province chairman William Banda is disappointed with the Zambia police’s reaction over the meeting he held with other party cadres. Mr. Banda wonders why the police officers bundled the party cadres in the manner they did when they would have talked to them in a proper manner.
He has since refuted media reports that the party convened a meeting to talk about the Patriotic Front Government’s performance in the 90 days. In an interview with Journalists, Mr. Banda says the party only decided to meet so as to decide the way forward as well as to elect the new district leadership.
The MMD provincial chairman said that it is good that the police have set a tone that whoever meets, regardless of the political party and without informing the police will be apprehended for illegal assembly.
[pullquote]The MMD provincial chairman said that it is good that the police have set a tone that whoever meets, regardless of the political party and without informing the police will be apprehended for illegal assembly.[/pullquote]
On Thursday, warned and cautioned MMD Lusaka Province chairman William Banda and eight other party members for unlawful assembly. Police said Mr Banda and about 20 other MMD members unlawfully assembled at a named eating place between Kabulonga and Woodlands where they were planning to organise people to rise against the PF government, for failing to fulfil its campaign promises within 90 days.
The Police said the group had a closed-door assembly between 10:00 hours and 14:00 hours and refused to answer knocks from plain-clothed detectives who approached them.
And The Human Rights Commission (HRC) has cited the police of having acted outside the law when they detained and recorded a warn and caution statement from Lusaka province MMD Chairperson, William and others for alleged unlawful assembly.
The Commission has since asked the Zambia police service to clarify to Zambians what it means by unlawful assembly.
[pullquote]He clarifies that notifying the police is a formality and is useful if the organizers of a meeting suspect that the numbers of participants will swell therefore pose a security risk.[/pullquote]
HRC spokesperson, Samuel Kasankha says the people who were picked up were not obligated by law to get a permit or notify the police about their meeting especially that it was a small gathering.
He clarifies that notifying the police is a formality and is useful if the organizers of a meeting suspect that the numbers of participants will swell therefore pose a security risk.
The Commission spokesperson notes that the police should slap the arrested people with a different charge other than unlawful assembly if there is evidence that Mr Banda’s meeting was meant to create disorder against the PF government.
Mr Kasankha has urged the police to ensure that their reactions to meetings are undertaken within the confines of the law. He stresses that the Zambian constitution guarantees freedom of assembly.
The Commission has since cautioned the police to be careful not to be seen to be biased against some sections of society.
United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema has been saved from prosecution for breach of parliamentary privileges and contempt of the house for ridiculing Parliament and the office of the Speaker.
This follows an article in the Daily Mail 9th December, 2011 headlined “Arrest me, HH dares Sata” in which he cast aspersions on the Speaker by doubting the credibility of the Speaker and questioning his impartiality by accusing him of siding with ruling Patriotic Front MPs.
In his ruling following a point of order raised by Kawambwa Member of Parliament Nickson Chilangwa whether the conduct of the UPND leader did not constitute a serious breach of the constitution and Chapter 12 of the Laws of Zambia and whether it was not a serious affront against the integrity of the Speaker and the whole House, Speaker of the National Assembly Patrick Matibini questioned how he has been siding with PF MPs when records show that of the 109 points of order raised in the house, opposition MPs the raised the majority.
QFM News reports that Dr Matibini stated in his ruling that Mr Hichilema not only ridiculed the house in his statement but also caused to publish misleading information which amounts to contempt of the house, which upon conviction would attract a penalty of 5,000 units or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months or to both.
The Speaker said he has graciously decided to counsel Mr Hichilema and the general public to desist from attacking the house and the office of the Speaker, despite the breach committed by the UPND leader warranting his prosecution.
