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President Michael Sata has welcomed Dr Nevers Mumba’s intention to sue the Government. This is contained in a press statement released to the media by his assistant for press and public relations George Chellah.
The President has said that this will provide the Zambian people a golden opportunity to know what transpired at the Zambian Mission in Canada before Dr Mumba was recalled.
President Sata reminded Dr Mumba that the Attorney General’s Chambers stands ready to receive the legal suit at the earliest convenient time.
The President however hopes that Dr Mumba’s legal threat is not meant to intimidate law enforcement agencies that are carrying out an investigation on him.
The Head of State wishes to reiterate that those facing corruption investigations must not seek to intimidate law enforcement agencies by false claims of a witch-hunt and allegations that the country was sliding into a police state.
The President has also taken note of the strange offer of protection Dr Mumba has promised former president Rupiah Bwezani Banda.
“Dr Mumba stated that: ‘…let us fill the jails of this country until freedom comes.’ Truly, those found wanting will have to serve their time in jail before they regain their freedom. This is the position of the law and we hope Dr Mumba and his colleagues will respect that,” President Sata said.
“Dr Mumba was in Zambia when people were fighting for freedom but typical of him, he went to hide in the Christian Coalition. Zambians know that Dr Mumba is just an opportunist who goes with the wind. What protection can Dr Mumba offer to anybody? As a matter of fact, Mr Rupiah Banda does not need Dr Mumba’s dirt hands to protect him.
“It is regrettable that it has become fashionable for people facing legitimate investigations to make outrageous and preposterous allegations against myself and the law enforcement agencies. An investigation is not a sentence so let my brothers and sisters keep the cool.”
President Sata said that Zambia is a democracy and this entails that the rule of law shall apply fairly to all citizens regardless of their status or political affiliation.
THE Zambia Co-operative Federation (ZCF) has signed a US$ 1.5million (K7.5bn) deal with Nyiombo Investments on Fertilizer Distribution amongst small holder farmers country wide. The deal signed on December, 7, 2011 will see the federation utilize its infrastructure dotted across the country to distribute Urea and D-Compound fertilizer to it’s over 4,500 members.
ZCF Director General James Chirwa says this will further increase the contribution that small holder farmers make to the country’s agriculture sector beyond the current 80%. Mr. Chirwa adds that the project will be a form of supplement on the existing Farmer Input Support Program (FISP) by government.
“Farmers have remained small in the country despite having started benefiting from FISP in 2002…we want to avert this situation as a federation through this deal with Nyiombo Investments,” said Mr. Chirwa.
He said the deal provides for a competitive price by Nyiombo to ZCF which will in turn be passed on to beneficiaries across the country with three provinces namely Northern, Western and Southern earmarked in the first phase which commenced on December, 8, 2011.
The prices will not go beyond the existing market price of K 200,000 per 50kg bag. Mr. Chirwa was however quick to mention that co-operative members who have already made their K 50,000 contribution toward the recapitalization program from among the federation’s over 4,500 members will be given the farming input at a good price as part of incentives.
“We want to recognize the role that our members have played in the recapitalization program hence we will award them with a good price for the fertilizer so that they can increase on the yield,” stated Mr. Chirwa.
Meanwhile speaking at the same occasion which was held in the ZCF Boardroom, Nyiombo Investments Limited Operations Manager Kwazi Dlamini said his firm was happy with the deal entered into with ZCF. He is optimistic that the fertilizer will reach its targeted beneficiaries the small holder farmers who are the drivers of the country’s economy.
“We are confident that farmers in the rural areas will greatly benefit from this program so that they can be motivated to increase their yields owing to availability of the farming input,” he said. Mr. Dlamini further revealed that Nyiombo Investments is looking at going beyond supplying of fertilizer but also other farming inputs.
The US$ 1.5million between ZCF and Nyiombo Investments will continue beyond the current farming season. Market analysts are expectant that ZCF’s active participation in developing the small holder farmers will further enhance their contribution toward agriculture development making Zambia a regional food basket through successive bumper harvests.
The crowd during the inauguration ceremony raise the PF symbol as they sing the national anthem.{picture by Dr.Simuyemba}
By Jacqueline Musiitwa
Michael Sata and supporters echoed Barack Obama’s mantra of ‘change’ during the 2011 election.
As a child growing up, I recall the fervor and momentum around Zambia’s first democratic multi-party election which took place in 1991. I remember running in the streets chanting, “The time is now…It’s time for change” and other chants focused on the people’s hope for a better future. Little did I understand politics, much less political evolutions or revolutions.
In the last 20 years both Zambia and the world have changed, becoming more loosely bound. We continue to witness the globalization of ideas, politics, economics, social systems, culture, technology and disease. If the Arab up rising has taught us anything, it is that leadership is about responsibility and not power.
Failure to be responsible results in removal from power. This year I have witnessed another change of sorts in Zambian politics. In a relatively peaceful election Zambians made it known that once again it was time for change. The election process demonstrated to me Zambians’ choice to hold leadership accountable for its actions.
The one thing that has remained constant in the lives of all Zambians is the desire to make a better life for themselves. The ever present consensus in African political discourse is that our leaders are the cause of our problems. Although in part true, leaders alone must not take all the blame. As Aldous Huxley said, “People get the government they deserve.”
Considering many African countries’ battle with national self esteem, questionable degrees of patriotism and nationalism, as Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea games have a larger following than parliamentary proceedings, one can only be cautiously optimistic. Based on the assumption that Zambians are committed, inspired and willing to work hard together towards national development, it still begs the question, how can ‘we the people’ ensure the leaders are for the people, of the people and guided by values and ethics (including, but not limited to, transparency and accountability)?
The first step is to consider the words of Barack Obama, “We must educate our children to become like young Egyptian people….” This does not mean taking to the streets, it means uniting young people together for a common cause despite existing differences. The days of silent children who are seen and not heard are gone – younger generations now know that they are an influential and growing part of ‘the people’.
It also means understanding and demanding civic rights, obligations and privileges under the law while using the appropriate means to express grievances. People’s rights need to be taught in schools and other community fora.
The second step is to foster independent institutions buttressed by a strong civil society, free press and unrestricted access to social media. It is through open debate of the issues that people effectively contribute as active and responsible citizens.
People need to express and advocate the views of a diverse cross-section of the population without fear or threat of prosecution. A good example of this is Rwanda’s ‘National Dialogue’ – a process that invites people to converse with government through phone calls, text messaging and email (domestically and from the diaspora) about national challenges, successes, lessons learned and future plans.
Often in Africa political leadership is disconnected from the realities of the people. Being surrounded by a convoy of security in a vehicle with tinted windows or a helicopter because there are no roads to the region for the rare opportunity to visit a village, (that prepares for weeks on end for the visit), is hardly a depiction of the people’s reality.
President Sata, was in part voted because he appears to be ‘a man of the people’. In his first ninety days, people have been watching with anxiety the reforms the government is making. So far the new government is demonstrating its commitment to unifying past political fractures – renaming the airports with names of the founding fathers, whilst demoting military officials that were allegedly unqualified for their posts suggests that a meritocracy could be developing, thus minimizing corruption and nepotism in hiring practices.
Clearly outlining and enforcing the terms and conditions for investors entering into Zambia, especially the Chinese, thus protecting Zambia’s greatest resource, its people, at the forefront of the agenda demonstrates the government’s commitment to sustainable development.
All of the above are great starts, however, the development agenda, be it Vision 2030 or the Millennium Development Goals, need to be accompanied by an active and realistic plan of how to accomplish them. Such a plan is not yet clear. Additionally, the needs of the people change over time, and government must take that into consideration whilst still focusing on such visions. There need to be checks and balances, monitoring and evaluation of leadership performance. And ultimately it is up to the people to gauge when it is time for change and be the necessary agents of change.
Jacqueline Musiitwa founder of Hoja Law Group is a Mo Ibrahim Leadership fellow, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and an Archbishop Tutu fellow.
Bishop Simon Chihana has castigated President, Sata over allegations that he and Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia-EFZ-Executive Director, Pukuta Mwanza intend to hold a press briefing to attack the President.
Bishop Chihana says has described the accusation as all lies from a bottomless pit of hell that do not deserve a place or part in the hearts and minds of the hearers.
He adds that the accusations are shocking and unbelievable.
Bishop Chihana says what is also shocking is what he has termed as un Presidential language used likening it to that of a person who has just entered night school classes of grade seven possibly at Mpika primary school.
And, Bishop Chihana has maintained that President Sata’s swearing in of the technical team was illegal without constitutional powers. He says he does not need a place on the technical team but desires that things are done lawfully as per advice of the legal and constitutional experts.
[pullquote]Bishop Chihana says what is also shocking is what he has termed as un Presidential language used likening it to that of a person who has just entered night school classes of grade seven possibly at Mpika primary school.[/pullquote]
Bishop Chihana says he agrees with PF Secretary General, Winter Kabimba that Mr. Sata is still under shock that he does not believe that he is the head of state and needs time to recover.
This is contained in an electronic statement sent to MUVI TV News.
President, Sata yesterday charged that Bishop Chihana and Rev. Mwanza intend to hold a media briefing to denounce him.
Eleven Members of Parliament from North Western Province have urged President Sata not to underrate the intelligence of chiefs from the area. This follows President Sata’s warning to traditional leaders in North Western province against promoting tribalism.
North Western Province Members of Parliament Chairperson, Kabinga Pande says President Sata should not underrate the intelligence of the traditional leaders by insinuating that they are being incited by politicians.
He says all the traditional leaders are asking for is a fair share of the country’s resources and this does not in any way amount to treason. Mr. Pande says the President must not use threats but rather use dialogue.
He was speaking to MUVI TV News while being franked by other MPs from North Western Province.
Chongwe Member of Parliament, Silvia Masebo has told the Lusaka magistrate court that Lusaka Province MMD chairman, William Banda organized MMD cadres to go to Chongwe and beat up PF cadres. This is in a matter in which Mr. Banda and four others are facing charges of assault on some Chongwe residents.
Ms Masebo said on 3rd September 2011, she received a call from one of the PF Members in Chongwe, informing her that MMD cadres were beating people in the area. She said when she got to Chongwe she found some PF members who were attacked, by the road side on great east road.
Ms. Masebo says later on she saw Mr. Banda come near her and calling for reinforcement and a few minutes later some MMD cadres were brought in buses and vans.
She says Mr. Banda ordered the cadres to beat and clear all PF cadres because former President Rupiah Banda was to pass there as he was scheduled to have a rally in Chongwe. An emotionally charged Ms Masebo told the court that the MMD youths were armed with Pangas and sticks and were throwing stones at PF supporters.
Ms Masebo positively identified Mr. Banda and another accused person in court, as some of the people who were in the fore front in the Chongwe violence. And Lusaka resident magistrate, Rogers Kaoma warned Ms Masebo against using unpleasant language in court.
This was when responding to a question from defense lawyer Hopday Kabwe, who asked her on whether or not she wanted to outweigh former President Rupiah Banda’s campaign strategy. Ms Masebo had earlier responded that it was nonsense and ridiculous for someone to think that she wanted to outweigh Rupiah Banda.
The European Union has joined other international institutions recommending the removal of the presidential parentage clause in the Zambian constitution.
According to recommendations from the EU Observer Mission’s final report of the 20 September General Elections, Zambia should do away with the parentage clause so that all its citizens are accorded an opportunity to lead the country.
Other recommendations include the extension of time between the announcement of the final presidential results and the inauguration of the new head of state.
The EU has also recommended that a new special court or tribunal be set up to exclusively deal with election petitions.
EU Chief Election Observer for Zambia, Maria Muniz told MUVI TV News that Zambians who are not aligned to any party should also be allowed to contest the presidency.
A few weeks ago, the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa also recommended that the parentage clause be scrapped off and independent presidential candidates be allowed to contest elections.
Former High commissioner to Canada Dr.Nevers Mumba
Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) Presidential hopeful, Nevers Mumba is suing the state over allegations that he has misappropriated funds at the High commission in Canada.
Dr Mumba, who returned yesterday from Canada where he was Zambia’s High Commissioner, said that he has instructed his lawyers to commence legal proceedings for defamation.
He said that he will also sue for illegal detention at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport, where he was briefly detained yesterday upon arrival.
Nevers Mumba, recalled Zambia’s High Commissioner to Canada was yesterday morning briefly detained by authorities at the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport upon arrival causing panic among sympathizers who went to welcome him.
When he was finally released, Dr. Mumba asked Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) members to remain resolute in rekindling prospects for the party to bounce back.
Dr. Mumba, who is a front runner for the MMD presidency, was optimistic that party members will remain focused and determined now that they are in the opposition.
Addressing cadres, a jovial looking Dr. Mumba said his party desires a Zambia that is tolerate and free of intimidation of its citizens.
He stressed the need for the party to organize itself ahead of prospective elections.
Recently president, Sata expressed concerned on information of alleged financial impropriety at the Zambian mission in Canada.
The president had hoped that Dr Mumba’s impending visit to Zambia will provide law enforcement agencies an opportunity to engage him on the financial matters at the mission.
Mines Minister Wylbur Simuusa has told Reuters today that Zambia could cut back mineral tax royalties if commodity prices collapse next year. Mr Simuusa told Reuters on the sidelines of a London conference.
“For now (the royalties) will stay, but if it becomes a crisis, if prices crash, we might have to review the regime… not in 2012 but for 2013, in the next budget,”
Zambia plans to double royalties on copper miners to six percent in order to bring in badly needed revenue, increase social spending and farming subsidies – a move miners have warned may cause them to scale back operations.
The World Bank has said that the policy is unlikely to cripple the industry at current prices but could cause problems if copper prices fall.
Copper miner First Quantum, one of the largest investors in the Zambia’s mining sector, warned the viability of newer projects in the country, especially a newer generation with lower copper grades, could be at risk. It says its Kansanshi copper-gold mine is already among the most highly taxed in the world.
Adam Little, head of tax for First Quantum, indicated the miner hoped reforms to improve Zambia’s tax collection would result in lower royalties, which are based on revenue, not profit, and can be very punitive as prices fluctuate.
“We need to be thoughtful about the impact of revenue-based taxes. The recent 100 percent increase in mineral royalty taxes is damaging, especially for low-margin mines,” Little said.
“If other taxes can become more collectable, then Zambia’s reliance on the more damaging taxes can be reduced.”
Simuusa agreed their could be a re-calibration once Zambia has overhauled its tax and tax collection system.
Foreign mining companies operating in Zambia include Canada’s First Quantum Minerals, London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc, Glencore International Plc, Barrick Gold, Brazil’s Vale and Metorex of South Africa.
Zambian nationals driving into Zambia from neighbouring countries are being charged US Dollar Toll Fees. This practice has been going on for years. The arrangement is illogical and is being abused. We wonder where the Government is expecting Zambians to get US Dollars from each time the drive into Zambia.
Our understanding is that the Zambian Legal Tender is Kwacha. Why are citizens being forced to use foreign currency, we are not foreigners.
America will never force you to pay in Kwacha. An inquiry at Chirundu Border revealed that Government Officials are involved in the illegal Black Market Trade of US Dollars. When you go to the RATSA office, the cashier tells you that he is not allowed to receipt in Kwacha but US Dollars and he shows you where to go and change your Kwacha into US Dollars often at an exorbitant rate. The money changers take advantage because they know you have no way to confirm the rate and also the Bureau’s only open at certain times, so they will overcharge you.
The real story is that the same Government Officials are the ones selling/changing the money that’s why they direct innocent people to change Kwacha into US Dollars before they can accept it. We appreciate that the Zambian Government needs FOREX but not from its citizens,there are other ways to obtain the money.
Our appeal is that let the Government allows us to have choice of presenting either Kwacha or US Dollar unless the Kwacha is so fake that even the Government doesn’t want it any more.
Minister of Finance Alex Chikanda this morning delivered a statement to parliament on the printing of Bank Notes by the Bank of Zambia. Below is the full statement delivered.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank you for allowing me to deliver this statement on the printing of
banknotes by the Bank of Zambia.
Sir, the Bank of Zambia as mandated by the Bank of Zambia Act No. 43 of 1996 Cap 360 of
the laws of Zambia is the only issuer of Zambian Currency. The practice in recent times has
been to procure currency notes for three year periods, principally for cost considerations.
Mr. Speaker, for the 2010 – 2012 period, a tender was floated using limited bidding method
and 12 companies submitted bids. After tender evaluation, a German company Giesecke
and Devrient (G and D) was awarded the contract to print both paper and polymer bank
notes.
The contract sum was Euro 16, 779,411.00. Out of this amount the Bank of Zambia has
paid Euro 12,450,709.81 for the quantities received for 2010 and 2011. The balance,
therefore, stands at Euro 4,328,701.00. The total quantity of banknotes delivered so far is
212 million pieces while the balance of 116 million pieces will be delivered in 2012.
Sir, despite the mandate of the Bank of Zambia to issue currency, the Bank is expected to
conform to the public procurement procedures in accordance with the Public Procurement
Act No. 12 of 2008.
The Zambian Government, as a custodian of public interest, will take keen interest in
ensuring that the Bank strictly conforms to the requirements of the Public Procurement Act
and avoid sidelining the Zambia Public Procurement Authority approval as was the case in
this particular instance. This is not only a recipe for impropriety but also raises legitimate
questions by the public who are at the end of the day the repository of our authority at all
levels of Government.
Sir, I now lay on the table a copy of the contract signed between the Bank of Zambia and
Giesecke and Devrient for the information of the House.
The COCA-COLA company has moved it secret formula to be put on public display at the World of Coca-Cola. It hasn’t been moved in 86 years, but the secret is out – The Coca-Cola Company has moved the 125-year-old secret formula for Coca-Cola to a new home at the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta. As the capstone to the 125th anniversary year of Coca-Cola, the Company is sharing the rich history and timeless appeal of its secret formula in a brand new exhibit where visitors can experience the world’s most recognized brand like never before.
For the first time in history, the vault containing the secret formula will be visible to the public in a permanent exhibit titled The Vault of the Secret Formula, opening today at the World of Coca-Cola.
The move of the Coca-Cola secret formula is a historic moment for the Company,” said Paul Kaluba, Coca-Cola Zambia Country Manager. “The Company has always gone to great lengths to protect it and now by safeguarding it at the World of Coca-Cola, we can share its legendary legacy with people around the world.”
After Dr. John S. Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in 1886, the formula was kept a close secret, only shared with a small group and not written down. In 1891, Asa Candler became the sole proprietor of Coca-Cola after purchasing the rights to the business.
Then, in 1919, Ernest Woodruff and a group of investors purchased the Company from Candler and his family. To finance the purchase Woodruff arranged a loan and as collateral he provided documentation of the formula by asking Candler’s son to commit the formula to paper. This was placed in a vault in the Guaranty Bank in New York until the loan was repaid in 1925. At that point, Woodruff reclaimed the secret formula and returned it to Atlanta and placed it in the Trust Company Bank, now SunTrust, where it remained until its recent move to the World of Coca-Cola.
Guests to the World of Coca-Cola can feel closer than ever before to the secret formula. At The Vault of the Secret Formula exhibit, visitors will learn about the most closely guarded trade secret in history through an immersive multimedia experience that celebrates the rich history, mythology and intrigue around the secret formula.
While The Coca-Cola Company started with this secret formula 125 years ago, the secret to its success has grown far beyond the formula today.
“Any stakeholder who is part of our global system, from a local community partner in countries around the world to someone who simply loves our brands, is part of our secret to success,” said Kaluba. “It is this recipe for success that gives us the confidence to fulfill our 2020 Vision: to sustainably grow our business and continue to help build a better world and future for everyone, everywhere.”
As part of the 2020 Vision, the Company plans to double its system revenue from 2010 to 2020. The Company also has set sustainability goals as part of its commitment to being a good steward of the environment and a partner with communities around the world.
Yesterdays grand opening celebration event featured performances by the Coca-Cola 125th Chorus, and the Latin Grammy nominated Mexican singer-songwriter Ximena Sariñana. The Coca-Cola 125th Anniversary Chorus is a group of young people from the Atlanta area conducted by Francisco Núñez, founder and the acclaimed artistic director of the Young People’s Chorus of New York City.
Continuity or change?-An unidentified man walks past gabbage and flooded houses in Chawama
By E.Tembo
Zambia is a vast country with huge chunks of bare land. However we hear the continuous refrain of shortage of land. Everyone who has found new wealth will be looking for a piece of land whether serviced or not. The flaw in our system is to let land “manage itself” and yet land is a very important resource. The poor manner in which we manage land in the rural areas has led everyone to flee the village and come to the city. The old song called “Mayendele” rings in my head. “Kale bamwisa baletwikata ubulofwa, nomba iyo, mayendele muno Zambia”. While this is good it has brought about serious strain in terms of providing services in the cities and towns. And unless we tackle the rural areas we shall continue to gratify an ever increasing urban population who will continue to demand more from our cities and towns. We therefore need to manage our rural land better.
Land management covers all activities, concerned with the management of land as a resource such as agriculture, mining, property and estate management and the physical planning of towns and the villages both from an environmental and economic perspective. Unfortunately we seem to take management of land rather casually in Zambia as in most African countries as witnessed by the general abject squalor that the lot of our people live in.
The dungeons in Chibolya, the smell of sewer in Garden, the massive heaps of uncollected garbage in Misisi is testimony of allowing land to manage itself. Our major cities and towns are all but glorified shanties with basic amenities such as clean piped water being a reserve for a few. In the countryside we are saying depletion of forest reserves for energy purposes, while we sit in our air-conditioned offices saying all nice things about how we are managing climate change. Clearly we are not doing something right.
Underlying most of these problems is the way we administer land. I wish to interrogate the land question from the functional aspect of land administration in the country and what I believe we need to do as a country if we are to truly engender sustainable development.
One land economist once said, “the trouble with land is that they do not make it anymore”. Indeed supply of land is fixed while demand will continue to soar. However, when we look at our land mass versus our population we should not be in the situation where land is in short supply at all.
Our colleagues in Japan must be wondering what is wrong with us crowding in a small land mass called Lusaka when we have such a vast land. It is not land per se that we should be looking at providing but rather shelter and amenities. Added to the supply quagmire is the fact that we are not opening serviced land and are allowing ourselves to create eyesores of townships with individuals creating their own services. It is not uncommon to find acres of land allocated with no services of basic roads, water and sewerage.
A casual glance at Lusaka will reveal that the whole of Lusaka South and North has all but been “consumed” by massive self built housing with hardly any aid from the state in the form of basic services of any kind. In fact we should commend our people for the tenacious way in which they are able to create housing on their own initiative and create some kind of services to access their houses and find water to drink, throw rubbish –all without the aid of the government.
Critically, though we need to be forward looking and assess the demand for land by initially carrying out a land audit around our major towns and cities. We can only develop that which we know and therefore the starting point should be to analyse who owns what land around the cities and what use it is for. It can be argued that this information is available at the Ministry of Lands.
But to what extent have we mapped and recorded all the land transactions in the peripheral of our cities and towns? Pieces of land falling in the ambit of the chiefs around the major towns and cities are not well recorded. Therefore huge chunks of land (so-called farms) are being apportioned with the consent of the traditional leaders. We now have the new smart Alecs from the city owning land on the peripheral of the cities and towns who call themselves “farmers”. Traditional land is very susceptible to abusive use and with collusion of traditional leaders is subjected to all forms of subdivision and sold to the highest bidder without recourse to any planning ethics. Consent by the chief for instance is not commensurate to judicious use of the land by the one who gets consent; neither does it suggest that the consent is beneficial to the community or the land itself. The expectation is that the land delivery system should at the very minimum involve planning, surveying, servicing, pricing, allocation and title registration. One, of course, can argue that this is only applicable to urban land. Indeed this land delivery cycle is best suited to state land. However, customary land also requires some form of land delivery system which will create real value to the land.
There is need therefore to build new structures to manage traditional land. The current laissez-faire attitude of handling land in traditional /customary areas will impact negatively for the future. We must understand that traditional leadership, with due respect, does not have the requisite skills to manage and administer land as required in a modern economy.
A policy decision needs to be made to introduce a new governance structure in the rural areas; this structure can include the traditional leadership but must in the main be made up of technocrats whose job it is to oversee the proper administration of land. Perhaps the Ministry of Chiefs will come up with a policy on rural development which will come up with a land administrative structure which tackles land administration in the rural areas. The model in countries like Botswana and Namibia can be used to develop such a structure. Botswana has created Land Boards in each province.
These Boards elected and selected by the Minister of Lands are composed of the salaried “civil servants” who are schooled in land administration. The chief executive of a land board is a board secretary who would be equivalent to a director in a government department. Each district will also have sub-land-boards to govern land at the district.
So, by the same token there is need as a sense of urgency to come up with new land administration structures in the rural areas of Zambia. I think the office of the district commissioner could well be converted to that of the land manager in areas where the councils are not planning authorities. This will of course necessitate the creation of land records in each district which would then feed into the national land database. The current situation where anyone who wants to get a title deed must travel to Mulungushi House is untenable for the future; if any thing the situation lends itself to corrupt practice. In this regard it is gratifying to note that the new government is keen to see a new decentralised government system. How this will pan out will be significant in heralding a new development paradigm in the rural areas of Zambia.
This week we will concentrate on flexibility and stretching of the upper body.
It is important to stretch your muscles , it prevents injures when doing harder workouts and it keeps you flexible.
THE WORKOUT
The bridge (glutes, back, thighs)
how its done;
Lie on your back with your knees bent, keeping your feet on the floor.
Push your feet into the floor and draw your hips up, keeping your shoulders on the floor.
The cobra (abs, pecs, back)
how its done;
Lie on your front with your hands under your shoulders.
Keeping your hips on the floor, push your arms straight.
Hold for a few seconds, then come down.
Back bends (shoulders, back)
how its done;
Place your palms on your lower back, lift your chest and bring your elbows together.
Bend back as far as is comfortable.
The camel (abs, quads, lower back)
how its done;
Kneel down, keeping a 90-degree angle in your knees.
Reach back and try to grab your ankles.
If you can’t then just go back as far back as you can.
Follow this 4 week plan .
The plan
Week one Monday Bridge straight up and down x 10; Cobra x 5 Wednesday Standing back bends x 5; Bridge straight up and down 2 x 10 Friday Bridge straight up and down 3 x 10; Cobra x 10
Week two Monday Bridge + hold for 5 seconds each time 3 x 10; Cobra + hold with hand off floor for 10 seconds 3 x 10 Wednesday Standing back bends x 10; Stretch chest + shoulders Friday Bridge + hold for 5 seconds each time x 15; Cobra + hold with hands off floor for 10 seconds 4 x 10
Week three Monday Bridge into half wheel (steps 1-3) + hold for 10 seconds x 5; Camel x 5 Wednesday Bridge into half wheel + hold for 10 seconds x 10; Camel x 10 Friday Bridge into half wheel + hold for 10 seconds x 15; Camel x 15
Week four Monday Bridge into half wheel + hold for 20 seconds x 10; Cobra (with arms outstretched to side. Lift lower legs too.) 3 x 10 Wednesday Bridge into half wheel + hold for 20 seconds x 15; Cobra (with arms outstretched to side. Lift lower legs too.) 3 x 15 Friday Bridge into half wheel + hold for 25 seconds x 15; Cobra (with arms outstretched to side. Lift lower legs too.) 3 x 20
UPND leader, Hakainde Hichilema has accused the President Sata of making false statements against him by linking him to the sale of companies and pocketing money from the sale of these firms.
Mr. Hichilema has since challenged the President to arrest him if he has any proof that he pocketed the money from the sale of the companies.
President Sata last month accused Mr. Hichilema at a public rally in Magoye of having liquidated Luanshya Mine and allegedly pocketed the money from the sale of the company.
Mr. Hichilema also accused the President and the PF government of abusing him as a citizen of the country.
He says the President has been abusing him and many other people on a lot of issues adding these are as a result of the excessive powers the President has been given in the constitution.
Mr. Hichilema also lashed out at the Speaker of the National Assembly Dr. Patrick Matibini for allegedly allowing Lusaka Province Minister, Miles Sampa to debate on tribal lines while he ruled off a point of order which was raised by Derrick Livune on the matter.
