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Austin Liato, the man behind the two billion Kwacha cash unearthed at his farm in Mwembeshi, has finally reported to the police to answer questions over the matter.
The former labour minister appeared in public for the first time since the 2 billion kwacha story broke on Friday last week.
Police and other investigative wings have been waiting for Mr Liato to appear before them to answer queries over the money .
Mr. Liato appeared before the interrogators at the former Task Force on Corruption premises in Lusaka at 15:00 hours on Tuesday.
Mr. Liato kept police officers waiting from 10 hours until 15:00 hours when he showed up.
He was welcomed at the former Task Force on Corruption premises by his lawyer Nelly Muti .
Mr. Liato was accompanied by his relatives and former defense Deputy Minister Joseph Mulyata.
Mr. Liato who looked calm and collected was interrogated for over two hours.
When asked for a comment on the two point one billion kwacha found at his farmer, Mr. LIATO remained
mute.
And fresh reports are saying that Mr Austin Liato has been detained by police at Lusaka’s Woodlands police station.
Police service spokesperson, Elizabeth Kanjela, confirmed that Mr. Liato is yet to be charged. Ms. Kanjela further disclosed that investigations are still on going.
Lawyers representing Mr. Liato have declined to comment on the matter, saying it is too early.
Mr. Liato was detained at exactly 20:00 hrs, after a conducted search by lay enforcement agencies at his Kalundu residence for close to three hours.
Dario Bonetti says it is unfair for Faz of blaming him for Zambia’s slump.
Bonetti told LT Sports today that Faz was trying to destroy his image.
Last week, Faz communications officer Erick Mwanza said Herve Renard was correct in saying that the teams fitness levels were not at competitive enough for the 2012 Africa Cup tournament.
“It’s very clear that Faz’s attack on me to try to put me in a negative image,” Bonetti said.
“The Faz strategy is very poor and ridicule.
“The old and new government know all the people know the truth. I still have the Zambia people to heart.”
Bonetti won 8, drew 3 and lost 4 matches in charge during his one-year and four months reign.
“They (Faz) talk only for the sake of talking,” the Italian said.
“In football the results are important. The results during my period has been better my year in charge.”
File:Police transportation...Female police officers disembark from a lorry after a one hour thirty minutes drive from Lusaka to Mazabuka
HOME Affairs Minister Kennedy Sakeni has instructed the police command to stop expelling female police recruits who fall pregnant during training.
And Mr Sakani has said President Michael Sata and his Government attach great importance to the welfare of the Zambia Police Service and are committed to addressing the various challenges officers face to boost morale and service delivery.
Speaking when he officiated at a pass-out parade of 490 police recruits at Lilayi Police Training College in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Sakaeni said the police command should stop expelling female police recruits from training after falling pregnant. He said expelling female recruits finding themselves in such a predicament was unfair because some of their male counterparts who impregnated females were still allowed to continue with their training.
Mr Sakeni was reacting to revelations by police divisional commander Chola Katanga that 10 recruits who were supposed to be among the graduates yesterday were expelled for gross violation of college standing orders for trainees ranging from falling pregnant while on the course and being away without leave. He said Zambia had joined the rest of the world in commemorating 16 days of gender activism and, therefore, it was saddening and unfair to learn that female trainees were expelled for falling pregnant.
“Instead of expelling them, they should just go on leave for 24 months. We must be fair, unless there were other offences,” he said. And Mr Sakeni said President Michael Sata’s Government was aware of the various problems the police service was encountering.
He said in a bid to address the challenges the police faced, Government had committed sufficient resources in the 2012 National Budget to be used in the construction of police camps and stations.
[Times of Zambia]
Finance Minister Alexander ChikwandaFINANCE and National Planning Minister Alexander Chikwanda has called for an end to financial mismanagement in public institutions in Zambia.
Mr Chikwanda said some public institutions had been unable to deliver tangible benefits and dividends to shareholders and the people of Zambia because their lavish expenditure practices had depleted the resources required for expansion, growth and profitability of core ventures.
He said the monitoring and supervision of some statutory State-owned enterprises and public institutions had been loose, thereby rendering the whole system prone to abuse, poor governance and irrational application of invested resources.
Mr Chikwanda said this when members of the the Mwila Lumbwe commission of inquiry on operations of the Zambia National Building Society [ZNBS] paid a courtesy call on him at his office yesterday.
The minister said in a statement released by Ministry of Finance and National Planning public relations officer, Chileshe Kandeta that financial impropriety should be nipped in the bud for Zambia to develop.
Mr Chikwanda reiterated Government’s commitment to strengthening financial management and accountability in the entire public service so that incidences of impropriety, misappropriation or mismanagement of public resources reported by the Office of the Auditor General could be curtailed.
“I have a deep sense of admiration for the quality of professionals in various fields in Zambia. However, we need to get our act together by galvanising all relevant expertise in areas of need in order to improve monitoring and supervision of public institutions,” he said. Mr Chikwanda said this would in turn help to resolve the challenges confronting the performance, financial management and accountability of public institutions.
Later in the day, the commission questioned former ZNBS board chairperson Luambe Mondoloka on why the society failed to engage a transaction adviser prior to the US$98 million concession agreement with National Pensions Scheme Authority (NAPSA). Mr Mondoloka appeared before the commission of inquiry at Mulungushi International Conference Centre.
However, Mr Mondoloka explained that he had asked management to engage the services of a transaction adviser who would have taken on board the interests of the society, but that a consultant who looked at the proposal from NAPSA was instead engaged.
When asked whether the consultant who scrutinised the NAPSA proposal was single- sourced, Mr Mondoloka said he was not sure about the manner in which the consultant was engaged.
He also apologised before the commission for not dealing firmly with some of the issues concerning management at the time he served as board chairperson. Earlier, former Stanbic Bank Zambia managing director Joseph Chikolwa said the 20-year concession agreement was lopsided in favour of NAPSA.
Mr Chikolwa said it would have been important for a transaction adviser to be drawn from ZNBS because he would have protected the institution in terms of the agreement. He said the transaction adviser had a critical role as he was well placed to provide external advice to the society.
Mr Chikolwa said investment of $98m in the refurbishment of Society House and Central Arcades was not justifiable.
File:Former deputy Health Minister Dr Solomon Musonda at Woodlands police station after he was arrested.
Police are investigating reports that a former Minister in the MMD government caused the death of a man by dangerous driving and paid his family ten million Kwacha to avoid prosecution.
Central Province Commissioner of police Solomon Jere has revealed that police are investigating former Health Deputy Minister, Solomon Musonda.
Dr. Musonda caused the death of a man in Serenje by dangerous driving and failed to report the matter to police.
Dr. Jere has told ZNBC new that investigations in the matter have reached an advanced stage.
He says the incidence happened on the same day that Dr. Musonda allegedly shot a PF cadre in Serenje district.
Dr. Jere says police officers are currently investigating the matter and Dr. Musonda is expected to be slapped with fresh charges.
The ruling PF has scooped all the two seats in the local government by-elections characterized by a low turnout in Kapiri Mposhi.
Out of the total of 7029 registered voters in Mushimbili ward only 877 people turned up to cast their vote while only 340 voted against 2834 total registered voters in Kashitu ward.
However, PF candidates John Mutambo and Angela Muleya respectively grabbed the Mushimbili and Kashitu wards which were held by the former ruling party, MMD.
In Mushimbili ward by-elections John Mutambo for the PF tallied 527 votes, MMD Chuni Pythias got 303 votes, UPND Wilson Banda, 40 votes while Siwakwi Webster who stood on the UNIP ticket only obtained two votes.
340 votes were cast in Kashitu ward with only one vote rejected.
And in Kashitu ward the ruling PF candidate, Angela Muleya polled 193 votes, trailing opposition MMD and outgoing councilor, George Nsandabunga who managed 80 votes while John Mudenda of the UPND came third with 66 votes.
In the Mushimbili ward by-election a paltry of 877 voters turned-up to cast their votes in the election of which five votes were rejected.
Kapiri Mposhi Constituency Returning Officer, Jimmy Musweu declared Muleya Angela and John Mutambo both of PF as duly elected councilors for Kashitu and Mushimbili wards around 21:30 hours respectively.
The by-elections in Mushimbili ward were necessitated by the death of a PF candidate, Chila Mugala early in September while those in Kashitu ward were deferred after a mix-up of pictures for candidates on the ballot paper.
In the 20 September 2011 local government elections the opposition MMD scooped nine wards out of the 12 in which elections were held while the PF, UPND and an Independent candidate got a ward each.
Kapiri Mposhi has 14 wards.
Meanwhile in Kawambwa an independent candidate, Collins Kabanda, has scooped the Kabanse ward local governmental by-election in Kawambwa district.
Mr. Kabanda polled 229 votes beating his closest rival Wilfred Kasuba of the Patriotic Front (PF) who polled 202 votes.
MMD Candidate Ignatius Kambi scored a paltry 32 votes.
Returning officer Godden Siwila declared Collins Kabanda duly elected at 21:05 yesterday.
The returning officer said the area experienced low voter turnout because most voters had gone to the BOMA to collect their money from the Food Reserve Agency.
The Kabanse ward general elections did not take place during the September 20 polls, because the names of the Independent and PF candidates Daniel Kaite and Wilfred Kasuba respectively were swapped.
File:Patrotic Front cadres on a motor vehicle roof top of when they escorted Sylvia Masebo to file in her nominations in ChongweThe Patriotic Front (PF) has scooped the Chongwe parliamentary by-election.
The seat was contested by four political parties.
PF Candidate Sylvia Masebo Polled eight thousand six-hundred and seven (8607) while Adrian Bauleni of the UPND/MMD pact polled three thousand nine hundred and two (3902).
David Chulu of FDD got one-hundred and seventeen (117) votes while UNIP’s Johannes Mativenga got one hundred and twenty three (123) votes.
The total number of registered voters in Chongwe is 52,166 and only 12,901 voters managed to cast their votes, which is only 25% of the registered voters.
Chongwe Returning officer, John Lungu declared Ms. Masebo of the Patriotic Front duly elected at exactly 03:05, this morning.
The Pf has also won the Nakonde parliamentary seat.
PF candidate Abel Sichula emerged winner with 8,841 votes and was seconded by the MMD candidate George Sinkala who managed to secure 2,116 votes.
Mr Sichula was declared winner around 04 hours this morning.
In preliminary results from Magoye constituency, 36 polling stations have been counted while the remaining four will be tabulated after collection from across the Zambezi River.
So far, the UPND has secured 6,058 votes, PF 2,430 UNIP 64, ADD 100 and FDD 71.
President Sata has expressed deep sorrow and grief over the death of former deputy High Commissioner to Canada, Brigadier-General Joseph Ngosa Chitomfwa (Rtd).
This is contained in a statement released by George Chellah special assistant to the President on press and public relations.
Brig. Gen. Chitomfwa, who also previously served as Chief of Military Intelligence and Security, died in the early hours of November 27, 2011 at Maina Soko Military Hospital.
President Sata says the deceased gallantly served the country in various capacities during his illustrious military career.
“It is with profound distress that I offer my deepest condolences to the Chitomfwa family on the loss of this devoted and dedicated compatriot,” President Sata says.
“We pray that the Almighty God gives them comfort and fortitude as they face these immense difficulties.”
Inspector General of Police Dr martin Malama with his deputy Stella Libongani
A TEAM of police officers has been mobilised to hunt down former Labour Minister, Austin Liato, whose whereabouts remain unknown after security agents exhumed two trunks containing K2.1 billion from his farm in Mwembeshi.
Inspector-General of Police, Martin Malama, disclosed this in Lusaka yesterday saying a man-hunt has been launched for Mr. Liato. “A manhunt has been launched for Mr. Liato who has failed to avail himself to the law enforcement agencies to explain the source of the money that was found hidden in two trunks and buried under thick concrete on his premises,” he said Dr Malama appealed to the former minister to come out in the open and explain the source of the K2.1 billion to the law enforcement agencies.
“The DEC, ACC and the Police are looking for him, they want answers. Mr. Liato should come out so that we talk to him and give answers not only to the law enforcement agencies but also the nation at large,” he
said Efforts to contact Mr. Liato failed as all his mobile phones were not reachable.
A combined team of officers from the Zambia Police Service, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC), last week, a raided Mr. Liato’s farm at Lot 44, Mpamba
Settlement Scheme in Mwembeshi area where they conducted an operation which yielded K2.1 billion cash.
The officers had to force open a safe before retrieving two metal trunks in which K50,000 and K20,000 notes were discovered in bundles of K25 million. The safe with trunks containing the money was buried under a thick layer of concrete which the officers struggled with for hours before gaining access.
The MMD, in which Mr. Liato is chairperson for labour, has since suspended the former minister to give him time to attend to the matter. The former ruling party has also distanced itself from Mr. Liato.
GOVERNMENT has asked National Democratic Focus (NDF) president, Benjamin Mwila’s company, Wade Adams to reimburse all the money advanced to them for the failed K80 billion Mumbwa-Landless Corner road project.
According to the Road Development Agency (RDA), the Mumbwa–Landless Corner contract was signed on December 3, 2010 and Mr Mwila’s firm, Wade Adams, was advanced K11.5 billion with a performance bond of about K8 billion.
And the Government has said that former leaders who are suspected to have openly stolen from the public coffers would be arrested and prosecuted.
Information, Broadcasting and Tourism Minister, Given Lubinda, said at a Press briefing in Lusaka yesterday that Mr Mwila’s company should pay back the money because he had failed to perform his contractual obligations. He said it was wrong for Mr Mwila to suggest that there was tension in the country.
“I do not have the figures yes, but Mr Mwila must be able to tell you that his Wade Adams company was contracted by the Rupiah Banda government to do part of the Mumbwa –Landless Corner Road along with a Chinese company.
“Mr Mwila’s Wade Adams was supposed to have started from Landless Corner, the Chinese company was supposed to have started from Mumbwa. Whereas the Chinese company has done 40 kilometres, almost completing their contractual obligation, Mr BY Mwila’s Wade Adams has not even
started.
‘That is the reason why this responsible Government has asked him to pay back the bond that he issued at the time of getting the contract,” he said. Efforts to get Mr Mwila for a comment proved futile as his phone was not reachable.
Mr Lubinda said all those who had failed to execute Government contracts for which they were paid would have their contracts terminated irrespective of whether they cried foul or not so as to save the country from losing money.
“Mr Mwila was instructed to reimburse the Government money advanced to him for the construction of the Landless Corner road which he failed to even start. This does not mean there is tension in the country,” he said. The minister, who is also Chief Government spokesperson, said it was sad that people who had been questioned by the police together with their lawyers were accusing the Government of engaging in a
witch-hunt.
He pointed out that Government would not be swayed by “some cheap defensive mechanism.” “Former leaders who are suspected to have openly stolen from the public coffers shall be arrested and rosecuted.
‘We encourage our law enforcement officers to continue with their noble task of unearthing all the dirty criminal scandals that were engaged in by some of these common criminals who used the veil of leadership to loot and squander people’s resources,” he said.
Mr Lubinda said it did not imply that there was tension in the country when law enforcement agencies question former leaders of misconduct which included the suspicious sale of Zamtel, the acquisition of large fleets of motor vehicles, thousands of bicycles, motorised bicycles and burying of billions of Kwacha in the ground.
Mr Lubuinda said the PF Government was a responsible one, was not vindictive and one that did not believe in any form of retribution. He said the likes of Mr Mwila were encouraged to go about their lives freely without fear of victimisation by the Government.
Mr Lubinda said at no time did President Sata stop respecting his predecessors in the execution of national duties and that the president would continue to bestow honour on all those who served Zambia in various capacities before him.
“A leader whose only preoccupation was to loot from the poor cannot be respected. A leader who goes about insulting their former spouse in public cannot be respected.
‘A former leader who fails to fulfill his contractual obligations to the Government through Government contracts cannot be respected,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Lubinda has warned former president, Rupiah Banda against engaging in active politics as he would lose his retirement benefits.
Mr Lubinda’s remarks come in the wake of Mr Mwila’s advice in his advertorial that the MMD should allow Mr Banda to be the party’s president for another two years. And Mr Lubinda has said Government had no regrets over having registered its apologies to Angola over the previous government’s engagement in that country’s internal partisan politics.
“We did not have to hide behind national pride so as to avoid tendering our apologies. We instead chose to do what we did for the sake of contributing to good neighbourliness and global understanding,” he said.
THE Ministry of Health has constituted a team to carry out an audit of equipment reportedly missing at Kitwe Central Hospital (KCH), ministry spokesperson Kamoto Mbewe has said.
Dr Mbewe said yesterday that the team would travel to Kitwe soon to investigate what equipment had been stolen from the hospital.
This follows reports of missing equipment at KCH, including a theatre patient monitor machine which recently disappeared from the hospital theatre in unexplained circumstances.
Dr Mbewe said the ministry had finally received a report on the missing equipment but could not divulge the details for fear of jeopadising the investigations.
However, Copperbelt deputy commissioner of police Milner Muyambango said KCH management had not reported the missing machine to the police, thus making it difficult for the police to start investigations.
“It is very difficult to start investigations because the hospital has not reported the matter to us. ‘’You know those are technical machines so you need information regarding the make and so on and so forth to carry out an investigation,” Mr Muyambango said.
He said the police would work with the Ministry of Health to get to bottom the matter. The Copperbelt Patriotic Front (PF) executive recently appealed to the Ministry of Health to carry out an audit of equipment at all public health institutions following numerous reports of missing equipment.
Copperbelt PF vice-secretary Elias Kamanga said there was need for the ministry to take an inventory of the equipment, especially the one bought prior to the September 20, 2011 general elections which was believed to have vanished. Mr Kamanga said private health institutions should be asked to provide the source of the equipment they were using by producing valid purchase documents.
“Private health institutions should be probed to ascertain where they procured some of the equipment because it is expensive for some individuals to buy,” Mr Kamanga said. He said the party would not allow selfish individuals to frustrate Government efforts aimed at providing quality health care service delivery to the citizenry.
[Times of Zambia]
Warrior tells the story of the broken Conlon family, Brendan (Joel Edgerton), Tommy (Tom Hardy) and Paddy (Nick Nolte), who figuratively and literally fight to repair themselves and their family. An ex-Marine haunted by a tragic past, Tommy returns to his hometown of Pittsburgh and enlists his father, a recovered alcoholic and his former coach, to train him for a Mixed Martial Arts( MMA) tournament awarding the biggest purse in the history of the sport. As Tommy blazes a violent path towards the title prize, his brother, Brendan, a former MMA fighter unable to make ends meet as a public school teacher, returns to the amateur ring to provide for his family. Even though years have passed, recriminations and past betrayals keep Brendan bitterly estranged from both Tommy and his father. But when Brendan’s unlikely rise as an underdog sets him on a collision course with Tommy, the two brothers must finally confront the forces that tore them apart, all the while waging the most intense, winner-takes-all battle of their lives
PRO’S
Great story line that gets you hook from the beginning to the end of the movie.
You will feel for the father , played by Nick Nolte , as he struggles to find forgiveness from his sons.
The relationship between the two estranged brothers was developed perfectly.
The conversations between Tommy (Tom Hardy) and is father (Nick Nolte) were done perfectly , lines such as “..hard to find a woman who can take a punch these days” contains the history of Tommy’s childhood, his fighter’s voice, his humour, his father’s backstory and the character of his mother, all in 11 words.
The fights were excellent , even if you are not a fan of Mixed Martial Arts , you will be impressed.
FAVORITE QUOTES
Brendan Conlon(Joel Edgerton): C’mon, it’s not as bad as it looks.
Principal Zito: Are you being literal or figurative? Because literally it looks bad. And figuratively it looks even worse.
Tommy Conlon(Tom Hardy): Mom needed you. I needed you. You were my big brother and you bailed on me.
CONCLUSION
Coming out of the summer movie season that has been filled with larger than life super hero’s , this movie brings us back to real life. Dotted with emotional honesty and strong storytelling that you only find in truly special movies. It is much more than a “fight” movie . One of the top 5 movies of the year.
File:Mother's tender love...A mother kisses her baby
A shortage of baby food products has hit Mansa district in Luapula Province for the second time leaving several babies whose mothers can not breast feed for various medical reasons on the verge of starvation.
The shortage of baby products comes after a team of Health workers from the Ministry of Health in Mansa directed Shoprite management to remove the baby products from their shelves.
However, Government rescinded its decision and considered complaints raised by the people in Luapula Province hence suspending the exercise.
Yesterday, Shoprite received fresh directives from Health officials to remove all baby products from the shelves as the Ministry of health was yet to call a stakeholders meeting to discuss the issue.
A Check by ZANIS found Shoprite workers removing the baby products from the shelves.
In a telephone interview with ZANIS, Shoprite Zambia Deputy General Manager Charles Bota expressed disappointment at the move by Health officials accusing them of discriminating against his shop when other outlets were equally still selling the products.
Mr.Bota said it was saddening that such an action could be taken even when it was mentioned in Parliament that the chain store be given time to sell the products.
When contacted, District Environmental Health Technologist Davies Silwamba declined to comment and referred all queries to the Provincial Medical Officer who was reportedly out of the province.
Two weeks ago, a team of Ministry of Health officials in the district swung into action and confiscated several baby food products from Shoprite Mansa in a bid to promote breastfeeding in the country.
