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The National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) has given opposition MMD a seven day ultimatum to settle outstanding rental arrears.
NAPSA Director General, Stanley Phiri has said that failure by the former ruling party to settle the debt will see bailiffs enforce a recovery of the rentals.
Mr. Phiri has disclosed that the MMD owes his organization 461.9 million Kwacha in rental arrears.
The debt is in respect of rentals accrued by the MMD through its National Secretariat housed at NAPSA building in Lusaka.
Meanwhile, Mr. Phiri says his organization has the liquidity to pay all outstanding claims.
The Zambia Federation of Employers has warned that the current wave of workers protests if mishandled can lead to business closures and severe retrenchments.
Federation Executive Director, Harrington Chibanda has observed that business expenses are normally transferred to customers thus increments in salaries will have spiral effect.
Mr. Chibanda has said that the country’s inflation can equally be affected through the anticipated increase in prices of most goods and services.
He said that the federation would instead like to see social dialogue prevail with workers allowed to join unions.
Mr. Chibanda added that the issue of the minimum wage must be handled in a consultative process including members of the tripartite labor council.
Meanwhile, workers at Zambezi Portland Cement Plant in Ndola Monday morning downed tools to demand three point five million kwacha salary increment across the board.
But management has offered five hundred thousand kwacha as cushion while government reviews the minimum wage.
When the workers reported for work at 0800 hours Monday morning, they decided to gather outside the company premises and started chanting slogans against management.
Management and party officials from the ruling Patriotic Front led by Copperbelt Chairman Rebby Chanda and officials from the labour office held a closed door meeting where they resolved to offer the workers the five hundred thousand kwacha.
And a Director at the company Daniel Ventriglia says his company will stick to contract agreements signed by the workers.
Mr Ventriglia says the company has signed contracts which have been attested by the labour office and will not depart.
Copperbelt Principal Labour Officer Eunice Misima has advised the company to allow workers to affiliate to a union of their choice.
Mrs Misima says this will give them an opportunity to have a union which will negotiate for their conditions of service.
The workers were later advised to report back for work on Tuesday and continue working.
The Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) has called on President Michael Sata to uphold and defend the constitution jealously as he tries to reorganize government structures and operations.
FODEP Executive Director McDonald Chipenzi says his organisation has observed with concern that new government ministries have been established, merged or dissolved without approval of the national assembly as required by article 44 (2)(e) of the constitution.
Article 44 (2)(e) of the republican constitution states that the president shall have powers among others to establish and dissolve government ministries and departments subject to the approval of the national assembly.
In a statement made available to QFM, Mr. Chipenzi questions which part of the law is being applied by the president to make the ministries and departments functional and dysfunctional, in the absence of the national assembly.
Mr. Chipenzi says his organisation hopes that the decisions made by President Sata which require national assembly approval, will be presented when parliament resumes sitting.
And Mr. Chipenzi says the appointment of Colonel Panji Kaunda as Member of Parliament and deputy defence minister, contravenes article 65 (1)(b) of the constitution because he was declared bankrupt by the courts.
Article 65 (1)(b) states that a person shall not be qualified to be elected as a member of the national assembly if that person is an undischarged bankrupt, having been adjudged or otherwise declared bankrupt under any law in force in Zambia.
The FODEP executive director has since called on republican President Michael Sata to either reconsider Colonel Kaunda’s appointment or disclose to the nation that Colonel Kaunda is no longer a bankrupt person.
Republican President Michael Sata has proposed the candidature of High Court Judge Dr Patrick Matibini as Speaker of the National Assembly.
President Sata has since appealed to Members of Parliament to support the candidature of Judge Matibini State Counsel whom the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) is floating as Speaker of the National Assembly.
The President has also called on MPs to support Lundazi MMD MP Mkhondo Lungu as Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly.
President Sata says the PF has fully endorsed Judge Matibini’s candidature as Speaker, Mr Lungu as Deputy Speaker and any candidate the opposition MMD will propose as Chairperson of Committees.
He says Parliament needs impeccable leadership, and, above all, a person with vast legal knowledge to preside over its affairs.
MPs are this Thursday, October 6, 2011 expected to elect the new Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Chairperson of Committees.
This is contained in a statement released to QFM this afternoon by the President’s special assistant for press and public relations George Chellah.
Good news for this middle aged man with sun glasses in Lumezi
President Michael Sata has directed Justice Minister Sebastian Zulu to amend the Pensions Act to allow civil servants retire at the age of 65 and not 55 years.
The President has also instructed the Minister of Justice to come up with legislation to amend the Judicial Service Commission.
President Sata says it is illogical that people in the civil service are retired when they still have strength to serve the country.
He was speaking at State House when he swore in newly appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs Max Nkole and Deputy Inspector General of Police Stella Libongani.
President Sata says it is sad that senior civil servants such as the Chief Justice continue to serve on contracts despite having retired at the age of 55 years.
On the Judicial Service Commission, President Sata says it is wrong that the Chief Justice who has an interest should serve as the Chairperson of the Commission.
The President observes that the practice is the same with the Central Bank where the Bank of Zambia Governor is the Chairperson of the board.
File: A ZESCO LTD worker working on high voltage power cables
Pupils at Chipepo High School and communities surrounding the institution in Gwembe District are likely to go without power for days following the vandalizing of a ZESCO transformer.
Pupils at the institution are reported to have stoned the ZESCO installation and cut cables after a brief interruption in power supply that had affected the entire district.
It is reported that when power was restored, the vandalized transformer blew off, plunging the whole area into darkness.
Police who rushed to the High School after the incident say the situation is now calm and that no arrests have so far been made.
They also say the school authorities briefed them that pupils ran amok and threw stones at the transformer and vandalized power cables following the brief power cut.
Police in Gwembe have since expressed worry that the disruption of power supply will affect examination preparations among pupils.
They are further worried that the prolonged power shortage will lead to more unrest by pupils.
They have appealed to ZESCO management to quickly look into the matter.
Areas affected include Chipepo High school, Chabbobboma and other surrounding areas.
At press time, ZESCO management and the District Board Secretary’s office had rushed to Chipepo High School to assess the situation.
No arrests have been made yet and police are investigating the matter.
[ZANIS]
President Michael Sata has with immediate effect dissolved the Road Development Agency-RDA.
And the President has directed the new Police command to immediately stop the Zambia Revenue Authority -ZRA- from paying K4billion kwacha to a fake company managing the scanners at Nakonde border post in the Northern Province.
Meanwhile, President Sata has announced reforms in the police service with all Division Commands to be run by personnel with the rank of Commissioner of Police.
The President was speaking Tuesday morning when he swore in New Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs Max Nkole and Deputy Inspector General of Police Stella Libongani.
Mr Nkole once served as Executive Chairman at the Task Force on Corruption before its abolishment.
And Ms Libongani was until her new appointment Central Province police commanding officer.
President Sata also disclosed that -ZRA- was on Tuesday expected to pay K4billion kwacha to a fake company which the President says belongs to someone who occupied his office.
Mr. Sata has directed the new Home Affairs Permanent Secretary and the new Police command to stop the payment and investigate how much has already been paid out to the bogus firm.
And president Sata has directed ZRA to find its own people to manage the scanners at Nakonde border.
In dissolving the RDA, the President said it is surprising that the road agency awarded some contracts without tenders and made payments with unknown source of funding.
[ZNBC]
Rowan Atkinson is back in the role of the accidental secret agent who does not know fear or danger in the action- comedy Johnny English Reborn.
In his latest adventure, the most unlikely intelligence officer in Her Majesty’s Secret Service must stop a group of international assassins before they kill the Chinese Premier. In the years since MI-7’s top spy vanished off the grid after an incident in Mozambique, he has been honing his unique skills in a remote region of Asia. But when his agency superiors learn of an attempt against the Chinese premier’s life, they must hunt down the highly unorthodox agent. Now that the world needs him once again, Johnny English is back in action. With one shot at redemption, he must employ the latest in hi-tech gadgets to unravel a web of conspiracy that runs throughout the KGB, CIA and even MI-7.
PRO’s
Funny from beginning to end.
New charaters were introduced instead of recycling the old ones.
CON’s
It was a bit predictable . Right from the beginning you know who the “bad guy” will be.
Not as funny as the first one.
there is a lot of childish humor.
CONCLUSION
It is a nice funny movie to get your mind off the hustle and bustle of life . Rowan Atkinson is hilarious , he will leave u gasping for air. Story wise ,it is definitely not as good as the first one , but this will still leave you felling good inside.
Reuters reports that Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services today affirmed the foreign- and local-currency long-term ratings on Zambia at ‘B+’. We also affirmed the foreign- and local-currency short-term ratings at ‘B’. The outlook is stable. Our transfer and convertibility assessment for Zambia remains ‘B+’.
Our ratings on Zambia are constrained by our view of its low prosperity, balance-of-payments vulnerabilities to shifts in copper prices, and political risks. The ratings are supported by promising investment and economic growth trends, a strong external balance sheet in the wake of debt relief, and a modest debt burden, which has also benefited from debt relief and bouts of double-digit inflation.
We view Mr. Sata’s victory in the Sept. 20, 2011, presidential elections as an indication of a maturing of democracy in Zambia. International observers declared the election to be well-organized, and the handover of power from President Banda’s MMD party (in government for 20 years) to be smooth and uncontroversial. Although President Sata’s Patriotic Front party did not secure a parliamentary majority, we note that he has promised to implement major reforms during his first 90 days in office, including measures to promote transparency in governance.
In our view, however, President Sata’s victory has increased economic-policy uncertainty in Zambia. A long-standing opposition figure, he has supported changing regulation and taxation of the mining sector, possibly with the reintroduction of a windfall tax. He has also favored more expansionary fiscal policies, and called for higher redistribution and lower taxes.
We are also concerned about increased political interference in monetary policy after the dismissal of the central bank governor on Sept. 29, 2011, particularly as he had just six months left in his second term.
[pullquote]In our view, however, President Sata’s victory has increased economic-policy uncertainty in Zambia. [/pullquote]
Zambia’s economic performance so far in 2011 has been positive, buoyed by an increase in copper production and higher copper prices. We expect this will boost the current account surplus, reserves, and fiscal revenue. And given the exceptional maize harvest, we expect per capita GDP growth will exceed 4% in 2011 while inflation remains just over 8%.
Our local-currency rating is equalized with the foreign-currency rating because monetary policy options, which underpin a sovereign’s greater flexibility in its own currency, are constrained by Zambia’s relatively-less-developed domestic private bond market and high inflation. Our T&C assessment is equalized with the sovereign foreign-currency rating to reflect our opinion that the likelihood of the sovereign restricting access to foreign exchange needed by Zambia-based nonsovereign issuers for debt service is similar to the likelihood of the sovereign defaulting on its foreign-currency obligations. This reflects political uncertainties, and the possibility that, in a severe downside scenario, the government might use restrictions on access to foreign exchange needed for debt servicing as a policy tool.
[pullquote]We are also concerned about increased political interference in monetary policy after the dismissal of the central bank governor on Sept. 29, 2011, particularly as he had just six months left in his second term.[/pullquote]
The stable outlook balances improving economic fundamentals against uncertainty regarding the new administration’s economic policies.
The ratings could be lowered if the new administration’s policies shift macroeconomic policies radically, weakening external, fiscal, and monetary fundamentals, or impairing copper production. The ratings could also be lowered if Zambia’s external liquidity were to deteriorate significantly, for instance, as a result of an extended depression of copper prices.
The ratings could be raised if Zambia’s external liquidity were to become less vulnerable to copper prices and if investment in infrastructure were to raise trend economic growth
Zambian President Michael Sata yesterday scrapped FirstRand Ltd.’s purchase of a local lender and fired the board of the central bank. The Kwacha fell the most against the Dollar.
Sata, who defeated incumbent Rupiah Banda in a Sept. 20 election, dissolved the boards of three state agencies, including power utility Zesco, according to a statement from his office. The board of the Bank of Zambia was removed after Governor Caleb Fundanga was fired on Sept. 29.
The currency of Africa’s biggest copper producer dropped as much as 3.8% to 5,014 per dollar yesterday, the biggest decline since December 2008 and the most of any currency tracked by Bloomberg. It weakened 1% to 5,065 by 8:38 a.m. in Lusaka. Sata’s overhaul may heighten investors’ concerns at a time when copper prices have dropped 27 percent since August, undermining the economy’s outlook.[pullquote]Sata “is sending the message that he is not dependent on external powers. Obviously that is a worrying sign for investors.”[/pullquote]
“When people come into presidential positions they bring their own people,” Yarik Turianskyi, a political researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs, said in a telephone interview from Johannesburg yesterday. “With more moderate leaders, this is more of a moderate process.” Sata “is sending the message that he is not dependent on external powers. Obviously that is a worrying sign for investors.”
Kwacha Gains
The kwacha gained 20 percent from April 2009 to the end of last year as the economy benefited from debt cancellation in 2006, rising copper prices and inflation easing below 10 percent for the first time in three decades.
Sata, 73, has pledged to extract more money from mining companies to distribute to citizens, create jobs and fight corruption. Companies including Vedanta Resources Plc, First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and Glencore International Plc operate in Zambia.
Sata didn’t give a reason for annulling FirstRand’s 27 billion-kwacha ($5.5 million) takeover of Finance Bank Zambia Ltd.. The central bank seized Finance Bank in December for breaching financial laws and agreed to sell it to Johannesburg- based FirstRand, which had been managing it for eight months.
“We strongly believe that due process was followed and that the agreements reached with the Bank of Zambia were concluded in accordance with Zambian law,” Michael Jordaan, chief executive officer of FirstRand’s First National Bank, said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
John Sangwa, a lawyer for Finance Bank’s former Chairman Rajan Mahtani, said the central bank’s decision to dispose of Finance Bank’s assets was “flawed” and Mahtani was “very happy” with the decision.[pullquote]This is the risk of doing business in Africa, if certain political parties are not happy there is the chance they can reverse a deal[/pullquote]
Meanwhile Analysts have said Zambia’s decision highlighted the political hazards of investing in an African country, particularly after a change of government. “It is a bit of a shock, as I thought that it was done and dusted,” said Johan Scholtz, banking analyst at Cape Town-based Afrifocus. It was even more surprising since Zambia was a country where South African companies such as retailer Shoprite had experienced great trading success, he said.
“This is the risk of doing business in Africa and if certain political parties are not happy there is the chance they can reverse (a deal),” said Faizal Moolla, a banking analyst at Avior Research. “However, it was a small acquisition so it would have not had a dramatic impact on FirstRand’s African strategy. But it is a bad precedent and leaves a bad taste.”
Mr Moolla said FNB could still expand in Zambia through organic growth, although he warned this could be costly, given the expenditure required for new branches, ATMs and recruiting staff.
Mr Jordaan struck a positive note about FNB’s future in Zambia, saying the bank remained committed to investing in the country and would “continue to evaluate our options as the situation develops”.
FNB had expected to become the fifth-largest retail bank in Zambia after purchasing Finance Bank based on balance sheet size, adding 50 more branches to its five.
WORKERS at Zambezi Portland Limited in Ndola yesterday downed tools and demanded a K3.5 million increment across the board.
The workers also demanded that the company’s management should not insult or allow alleged hired thugs to batter them whenever they were deemed to have done wrong. A check found most of the workers outside the plant and shouting that they would not return to work until management met their demands.
Those spoken to said the lowest paid worker at the company got K420, 000 as basic pay and that there was no medical cover for their families, while the company was not fulfilling the mandatory requirement of taking them for pneumoconiosis examination. However, management, led by managing director Antonio Ventriglia, said the company was paying the stipulated minimum wage and had no problems with adjusting it once the Government made the changes in law.
In a meeting attended by the workers’ representatives, principal labour officer Eunice Mifima and Copperbelt Patriotic Front (PF) chairperson Rebby Chanda, Mr Ventriglia said the workers were also given K2 million funeral grant and that there were medical facilities in the plant at their disposal.
He said management would immediately award the workers K500, 000 across the board as a temporary measure, as it waited to hear from the Government on the revised minimum wage.
And Ms Mifima asked the management to immediately arrange a meeting with the preferred union body and ensure that they allowed workers to be affiliated. The workers were asked to disperse and get back to work today after assurance that management would put the agreement in writing.
And operations at Zinc Aluminum Copper and Ore Company (ZALCO) and Full Value Goodness (FVG) milling company in Kabwe yesterday came to a standstill after casual workers downed tools demanding improved conditions of service, among others issues.
At ZALCO, more than 200 irate workers blocked the entrance to the plant with huge stones and threatened to damage any motor vehicle entering the premises, while chanting and vowing to continue until the demands were met. The workers also threatened violence against Times of Zambia and Radio Maranatha reporters who they accused of siding with management.
Lubasi Chimuka, a representative of the workers at ZALCO, said management should consider increasing salaries from the current K15, 000 per day as it was not sufficient to sustain their families. “Management has to look into revising our salaries because most of us are working from as early as 07: 00 hours up to as late as 20: 00 hours but our salaries show nothing for these efforts.
“Most of us have been temporary employees for over two years and we want to be recognised as permanent employees,” he said. At FVG Milling, the workers held a peaceful protest demanding better salaries and conditions of service.
But FVG General Manager Hastings Mwase refuted the workers’ allegations that the company’s conditions of service were poor because their policies were in line with the country’s labour laws.
Mr Mwase said FVG management was still waiting for the restructuring of the minimum wage and would comply with the changes once they were announced.
In Lusaka, more than 400 ZESCO casual workers staged a protest at ZESCO head office demanding for among other things, job security and improved salaries.
The workers, who locked the entrances to the ZESCO head office demanded for increased salaries and job security. Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Joseph Phiri said the casual workers who had in some cases worked for ZESCO for over 10years wanted permanent jobs.
“Can you imagine we work for K1, 400 per hour and at the end of the month it only goes to about K450, 000? We want this to change because this amount of money is too low for us to afford a basic life,” Mr Phiri said. Management could not be reached for comment by Press time.
In Choma, workers at Mochipapa Livestock Development Trust (LDT) have gone on strike demanding payment of 15 months’ salary arrears. The angry workers who stormed ZANIS offices in Choma yesterday vowed not to return to work until they were paid their outstanding salaries.
They complained that their families had been reduced to destitution as a result of failure by the institution to pay them their dues. The workers said management has also failed to explain why they had not been paid their salaries in the past 15 months.
The claimed that the Government had been releasing money to LDT but that management was diverting the money to other unknown expenditures, leaving workers without salaries for 15 months.
Meanwhile, hundreds of workers at Mpulungu Harbour yesterday staged a protest demanding improved conditions of service. The workers who were supposed to report for work at 06:00 hours camped at the Main Bus Station, about 500 metres from the harbour.
[Times of Zambia]
File: National constitutional Conference delegates
ELECTORAL stakeholders have called for the enactment of a new constitution within 90 days to improve the electoral process in the country.
A Senior citizen Donald Mutale said during a stakeholder’s meeting to review the September 20, 2011 general elections at Saint Andrew Kim retreat centre in Kitwe over the weekend that a new Constitution was important if the electoral process were to be improved in the country.
Mr Mutale said it was disappointing that huge sums of money where spent on the National Constitution Commission (NCC) which did not take the country anywhere.
He said it was important that a people driven constitution was enacted to address concerns in the electoral processes of the country.
Mr Mutale said the new constitution should also ensure that it does not entrust so much powers to those in leadership to appoint and disappoint chairpersons of institutions such as the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) among others.
He suggested that elected commissions or parliament should have the powers of appointing or disappointing those found to be inefficient or those that could not be trusted in their duties in public institutions.
Mr Mutale said the current constitution was fraudulent as it gave so much powers of appointing and firing to those in Government.
“The new Government must within 90 days ensure that we have a new constitution which should not be seen to entrust so much powers to those in leadership,” he said.
And Beautiful Gate executive director Bill Kaping’a said it was important to come up with a strong constitution which would reduce some powers of a sitting President.
Mr Kaping’a said issues such as the announcement of the election date should not be a preserve of the sitting President but should be enshrined in the Constitution.
He said political parties should also disclose their source of funding to avoid abuses or soliciting for funding from investors.
Democratic Governance and Human Rights Advocates (DEGHA) national co-coordinator Gerald Mutelo said a new constitution was inevitable as it would strengthen the electoral processes in the country.
[Times of Zambia]
Members of the new Cabinet at the swearing in ceremony at State House
A political analyst has challenged those questioning the composing of President Michael Sata’s newly appointed cabinet to point out individuals of high calibre that have been left out.
Dr. Alex Ng’oma who is also Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) president has told Qfm that President Sata has constituted a team that is capable of guiding the country to social and economic prosperity.
His sentiments come in the wake of concerns by some stakeholders that 50 percent of Cabinet ministers that President Sata has appointed are either his relatives or close friends.
But Dr. Ng’oma has contended that the President’s appointments are timely as he has chosen those available to him.
He has expressed hope that the government will deliver on its campaign promises to the Zambian people.
On the move by President Sata to terminate the contracts of Anti Corruption Commission Director General Godfrey Kayukwa and others, Dr. Ng’oma says the President’s decisions are within his constitutional powers and that he should not be questioned.
The Zambia Rainbow Coalition on Sunday charged that Republican President Michael Sata has taken a path that raises alarm to the democratic aspirations of the country.
Coalition President Cleophas Phiri said that the President’s actions so far appear unilateral, without any consultations adding that in many cases, they are breaching the law.
The future of Zambia coach Dario Bonetti comes into question as Minister of Sports Fackson Shamenda is to sit down with FAZ soon to inquire how the Italian was hired.
With change of government, it was expected that the former Juventus man’s 2 and a half year contract would come into scrutiny.
Former President Rupiah Banda had revealed last year that he had a hand in the hiring of Bonetti.
Bonetti was employed in July last year and FAZ then defended his appointment.
But Shamenda has now said he will sit with FAZ to see how Bonetti was recruited.
Former Secretary to the Treasury Likolo Ndalamei: his position has been abolishedPresident Michael Sata has directed the Ministry of Finance to allocate funds for a feasibility study that will pave way for the construction of roads in Lusaka, Central North-Western, Northern and Eastern Provinces.
President Sata said that the funds should be allocated in the 2012 budget soon to be presented to the National Assembly.
The President issued the directive at State House in Lusaka during a swearing in ceremony.
He named the Leopards Hill road linking Lusaka to Chirundu which could help boost tourism for Luangwa as one of the roads that should be worked on.
The President has also named the Chipata-Chadiza-Katete road, the Kalulushi-Kasempa-Mumbwa road and the Lukulu-Mwinilunga road and the Kaputa -Kasama road as some of the roads to be constructed.
President Sata says unlike his predecessor Rupiah Banda, he will not commission the construction of new roads if funds are not available.
Meanwhile, the Office of Secretary to the Treasury in the Ministry of Finance has been abolished with immediate effect.
This is the latest move in various cross cutting measures announced by President Sata to reduce the size of Government and cut down on costs.
President Sata announced the abolishment of the position at State House in Lusaka on Monday.
The President has also reduced the number of permanent Secretaries at Ministry of finance to one from the previous two.
President Sata has also abolished the position of Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism.
He says there will be only be one Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Tourism.
