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Electoral Commission of Zambia Chairperson Justice Irene Mambilima has called on the Patriotic Front Government to decentralize the operations of the Commission.
Justice Mambilima says there is need to decentralize the Commission to district level by employing full-time officers to avoid some of the challenges faced during the just ended tripartite elections.
She says having people at district level employed by the ECZ on a full-time basis would enhance the efficiency of the Commission in conducting elections.
Justice Mambilima has also called on the new government to ensure that the Commission is funded to ensure that it carries out the continuous voter registration exercise in accordance with the law which was enacted about 10 years ago.
And Justice Mambilima has denied threatening to resign as ECZ Chairperson for being pressurized by some MMD officials during the announcement of election results.
President Sata arrives for the swearing-in ceremony of his senior private secretary Francis Chalabesa at State House
Newly elected Republican President Michael Sata has renamed three International Airports in the country with immediate effect.
President Sata made this announcement at State House this morning when he swore in Francis Chalabesa as principal private secretary.
The President said Lusaka International Airport will now be called Kenneth Kaunda International Airport renamed after Zambia’s first President while Ndola International Airport has been renamed after second Republican vice President late Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe.
President Sata has also renamed Livingstone International Airport after late Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula,a Northern Rhodesian nationalist leader who assisted in the struggle for the independence of the country from the British colonial masters.
He said there is need for Zambians to reconcile with the past adding that the country is what it is today because of men and women who struggled hard for Independence.
And President Sata has expressed confidence that Mr.Chalabesa will perform to his expectations due to his vast experience in the office of principal private secretary.
The President further congratulated Mr. Chalabesa for his appointment and wished him well in his endeavors.
And newly appointed principal private secretary Francis Chalabesa pledged to pay allegiance to the Republican Constitution and work to serve the Zambian people.
Mr. Chalabesa served in the same capacity for a decade under late second Republican President Fredrick Chiluba’s reign.
File:Members of the public walk through Freedom way as a way of celebrating the election of President Michael Sata in Lusaka
Supporters of Zambia’s new president have staged a series of attacks against former ruling party members in a violent aftermath to last week’s polls, opposition and police officials said Monday.
Followers of the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD), whose leader Rupiah Banda was toppled by Patriotic Front supremo Michael Sata in last week’s election, have been physically assaulted and seen their property attacked in the capital Lusaka and other parts of the country, they said.
“As I am talking to you right now, one of our members Somili Muyukwa is at the casualty ward of the University Teaching Hospital after being knifed by the Patriotic Front,’ said Scorpion Kadobi, the MMD’s youth chairman in Lusaka.
“I don’t know whether this harassment has reached the attention of the president,” Kadobi told AFP.
The head of the MMD’s youth wing in Ndola, capital of the country’s central copperbelt, said members were living in fear following the recent attacks.
“Even me, I am in fear right now because of the threats from these youths,” Arthur Mataka said. “My appeal is that the PF should ensure that people are protected from such behaviour.”
Several houses of MMD supporters had been ransacked by Patriotic Front youths and others set alight, according to Kadobi.
The latest reports of violence come after Sata’s followers rioted in slum areas around Lusaka as they awaited the results of last Tuesday’s poll. Sata was eventually declared the winner and sworn in on Friday.
Senior police official Martin Malama confirmed receiving reports of harassment from some MMD supporters and said they were being probed.
“The police have received the complaints and the matter is being investigated,” Malama said.
Former Finance and National Planning Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane
FORMER Finance and National Planning Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane has said some MMD members have gone into hiding after former President Rupiah Banda lost power to the President Michael Sata.
Dr Musokotwane appealed to the present government to help bring Zambians together because the campaigns were over and that the Patriotic Front(PF) were now in power. He cited broadcaster Chanda Chimba as one of the members who were not certain about their safety should they come in public.
Dr Musokotwane said several other members were in hiding and that the party was not aware of their where abouts. Dr Musokotwane said President Sata was currently Head of State which the MMD had accepted but there was need to help the members of the former ruling party to live without fear because he is now President for all Zambians.
He said the PF was no longer an opposition party and that Zambians were ready to receive the benefits of having a new government. Dr Musokotwane said the issue of providing a new constitution for the
people had remained topical and Zambians were anxious to have it. He said even the promises for an improved welfare of the people was anxiously being awaited and that the MMD would now work as opposition party.
Meanwhile, asked what had gone wrong in the MMD after several predictions stated that Mr Banda was headed for victory, former parliamentary chief whip Vernon Mwaanga said the national executive
committee was expected to meet this morning to discuss such matters. Mr Mwaanga had predicted that the MMD would win the elections two days before voting started on September 20, 2011.
[Times of Zambia]
President Banda and First Lady Thandiwe during a public rally in Lusaka
By Dr Charles Ngoma:-
First of all, I should like to congratulate the Patriotic Front and President Sata for winning the 2011 Tripartite elections in Zambia after a spirited campaign.
Now that the election is over, it will be nice to look back and see where exactly did it go wrong for the MMD and President Banda? In many democracies in the world, where the economy is booming, inflation is low and interest rates are reasonable, it is unthinkable for the ruling party to lose power. Therefore, I believe that the fact that the MMD lost says a lot about the weaknesses of the Banda administration than the strengths of Mr Sata.
Why do I say so? Well, Mr Sata was rejected by Zambians three times before and yet his message did not change. The economy and many parameters actually became more and more favourable for the ruling party than ever before. In my past article, I did show that we are not where we should be indeed, but we are definitely far much better off than we were in the past.
I am sorry to say, however that the common denominator to President Sata’s loss in 2006 and President Banda’s loss this time round, is the late Dr Frederick Chiluba. President Banda miscalculated on the deep seated feelings that Zambians had concerning the late President.
The turnover of life in Zambia is very quick and as such, young people who were not party to the victors and heroes of yesterday, fill up the electoral registers very quickly. More than a million voters were not born when Dr Chiluba wrested power from Dr Kaunda.
Indeed, to most of them, all they remember about the man is that he presided over the time of great plunder of the nation’s wealth and if they were unemployed, he had something to do with it.
President Banda was made out to have interfered with the Judiciary to free Chiluba and while at that time many would have exculpated him, his more recent remarks during and after the funeral, seemed to justify that understanding.
Mr Banda should not have been openly so close to Dr Chiluba and while he was facing charges. If MMD has to have a post morterm of it’s performance, it must start here. Dr Chiluba was a liability to Mr Sata in 2006, and Mr Sata quickly learnt from that poisonous association and let go. He handed the poisoned chalice to Mr Banda and this led to Mr Banda’s loss.
The whole fight against corruption was shipwrecked at the rock of Chiluba. Time will tell whether Mr Banda interfered with the constitutional office of the Director of Public Prosecution or not.
The second cause for failure was the perception that the MMD were too close to the minning companies that were extracting vast amounts of profits without any benefits to the local people’s. There were very inadequate explanations about how much the mines had invested into the mines in the first place and how much they were making in profits.
Everyone knew that copper prices had risen to record heights, but it was never made clear that it is the result of initial investment and capitalisation that production had doubled since the days of Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM). The last minute attempt to get money from the mines to improve inner city roads was too little too late and was very poorly communicated to the people. In fact, the President said one thing, while his Minister of Finance said another.
The third cause of failure was the government’s failure to make good on a very important promise. President Banda promised Parliament in 2009 that the public media would be privatised. The paranoia that kept the public media houses in state hands was an achille’s heel. Over and above this, the public media embarked on a full scale war against the Patriotic Front and Mr Sata. People love to support the underdog, and more when they see one so unfairly treated. Even though Mr Banda denied that he had editorial control of the public media houses, it did not cut the mustard with the people.
The public media must be privatised or made independent of government, otherwise, even if the state has no influence on editorial decisions, as long as the editors are employed by state agencies, there will self censorship in favour of the ruling party.
The fourth cause, is perhaps the nemesis of all African politics. The failure to separate government from the ruling party affairs. I warned about this in the ‘open letter to the President’ shortly after Mr Banda took over. The days of the party and it’s government are over. We cannot accept a situation where a provincial chairman of a political power goes around behaving as though he is state President, harassing and threatening people at will.
There must be a clear distinction between party business and state business. It is a pity that so many politicians had their umbilical cords cut by the UNIP knife in the One Party state labour ward.
Under this subject, I would include family affairs. We understand that even the head of State is a human being who has family, but it is not proper to have the appearance that sons or daughters have a privilege over other citizens by reason of the filial relationship with the President.
It is in these last 3 Presidencies that children have had such prominence in the affairs of the state. People elect ONE person as President and not a fiefdom or a monarchy. If the new government also fails to recognise this distinction, it will not be long before the Zambian voter bids it farewell too!
Lastly but not least, was the open hostility to certain sections of the society who seemed to disagree with the President. Dr Chiluba was a master of charm when he was under attack. Quiet often, he was able to get out of difficulties with the media with a chuckle and oratory. It is ironic that President Banda was seen to be weak aloof and not in control on the one hand, but was also suspected to have a hand in everything!
President Sata is called such nicknames as ‘king cobra’ and ‘man of action’, which endear him to the voters and yet rejecting Mr Banda who appears to be less demanding and dictatorial. Mr Banda would have done himself a great service had he extended an open and genuine welcome to State House from the media houses that seemed to be against him.
It is strange that in 3 years of his Presidency, he never gave a one to one interview like the one he did after he became Vice President. The public want to see ‘THE PERSON’ in his native environment. Mr Banda could have taken advantage of the same institutions that were against him and open up to them, instead of attacking them publicly. Perhaps this was an abject failure on the part of his press office.
It remains of me however to just say one more thing. Mr Banda served the nation to the best of his ability. Called out of retirement and a crown thrust upon his head through death, he did not shirk his responsibility to serve, but took up the challenge and did well. He obviously could not do everything in the half term but ‘adde paruum paruo magnus aceruus erit’ (add a little to a little and there will be a great heap).
Above all this, his legacy to the country will be the strengthening of our fledgling democracy. He was truly magnanimous in defeat and lives have been spared. He put the country first and his own ambitions last. We turn a new chapter. Now, Zambia’s democracy has come of age, and we hope that we will fix the ugly issues that came to the fore during this last election.
Zambian striker Fwayo Tembo will not be part of Swiss club FC Basels traveling party to face Manchaster United tomorrow the two sides second Uefa Champions League Group C game.
Basel, who lead Group C on 3 points from one match played, face Manchester United at 20:45 hours Zambian time.
According to Basel’s official website, Fwayo was not part of Thosten Frings team that arrived in Manchester on Monday afternoon.
“FC Basel on Monday afternoon arrived in Manchester. This occurred with the exception of Fwayo Tembo all players in the squad to travel – including the injured and suspended players,” teh statement read www.fcb.ch.
No other reasons were given for Fwayo’s failure to make the team.
Tembo was hoping to get a look in against second place United who have one point in Group C.
Moreover, the Zambian striker did not feature for the Group C leaders over the weekend in the Swiss league in a 1-1 away draw against Thun.
Furthermore he has yet to play in the group stage after sitting out Basel’s 2-1 home won oevr Romanian club Oteulu Galati on September 14.
Lusaka province MMD chairman William Banda captured by Patrotic Front cadres in Chipata
Fugitive opposition Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) Lusaka Province chairperson William Banda has been arrested in Chipata District.
Police spokesperson Ndandula Siamana has confirmed to Qfm that Mr. Banda is currently in police custody at Chipata Central Police station.
Ms. Siamana could however not give further details adding that her office is waiting for a detailed report from Chipata.
But Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) Eastern Province chairperson Isaac Ngoma has told Qfm that Mr. Banda, who was reportedly to in the company of his family, was apprehended by Patriotic Front cadres this afternoon and later handed over to the police at Chipata Central Police station.
He is said to have been cornered at Chipata’s Akapuko lodge where he is believed to have been lodging.
He is also said to have been found with millions of Kwacha concealed in a plastic bag and a fire arm.
Mr. Banda has been a controversial figure of the former ruling party who allegedly masterminded the violence that recently rocked the country’s political scene.
On Friday last week, suspected PF cadres looted his house and beat up his employees at his residence in Lusaka’s Bauleni compound.
Electoral Commission of Zambia chairperson Irene Mambilima threatened to resign on Thursday prior to the announcement of the election results.
ECZ sources have told QFM that some former ruling MMD officials were pressurizing the ECZ chairperson not to announce the election results.
Some MMD officials are said to have pressurized Justice Mambilima not to announce the election results when it became clear that the former ruling party was losing the elections.
The MMD camp was broken following the defeat in the presidential election which has left the former party in pieces, with its future bleak.
Some sources within the MMD suggest that a number of party officials are planning to defect to the ruling PF.
President Michael Sata delivers his inaugural speech at the Supreme Court
President Michael Sata has called on Chinese investors to adhere to the country’s labour laws.
President Sata says the Patriotic Front -PF- government is concerned that there is unlimited number of Chinese expatriates who are coming into the country to take up jobs which Zambians are capable of doing.
The President however says the PF government welcomes Chinese investment that will benefit the local people and the investors themselves.
President Sata was speaking Monday morning when he met Chinese ambassador to Zambia Zhou Yu Xio at State House.
President Sata says Zambians are grateful to the Chinese government for funding the Lusaka General Hospital and the Ndola Stadium.
And Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Zhou Yuxio has pledged that the Chinese Investors will abide by all local labour laws.
Mr. Zhou says China will work with the current government to ensure that all Chinese investors follow local labour laws.
The Chinese envoy says it is in the best interest of the Chinese investors to use the local people because it is cost effective.
Earlier the Chinese Ambassador and the President held a closed door meeting.
And Chinese President Hu Jintao has congratulated Zambia’s new President Michael Sata for winning the presidential election.
This is contained in a statement read for President Hu Jintao by Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Zhou Yu Xio.
President Hu Jintao says China is looking forward to working with the new government.
He says Zambia and China have continued to be traditional friends.
President Jintao says that the Chinese government hopes that the mutual respect and ties between the two countries will continue.
Lusaka residents celebrate the victory of President Sata
By D.Maswahu
At the risk of being accused of pouring salt on fresh wounds, allow me to seek an audience on your esteemed forum. The issue of the numerous pre-election polls that predicted an out-right win for Rupiah Banda lingers ( like a voluptuous woman’s short black skirt) on my mind.
I have a bone to pick and am ravenously keen to see the faces of the organisations and institutions that churned out that information, how they arrived at their conclusions and (most importantly) how they intend to maintain professionalism and public credibility (if this is indeed part of their institutional ethos).
If the producers of those opinion polls had an ounce of professionalism they would have by now come out to reconcile the discrepancy between their prediction and the eventual result. As all of them are now wondrously silent, I will make my own conclusions on their behalf and state what they would never have the guts to state publicly (which same they must thank me for, but never mind)
1.
All those people and institutions that produced wrong opinion polls are a pack of ravenous howling wolves whose only consideration is their own welfare. They should be black listed as unreliable and registered (plainly for all to see) as professionally and politically dangerous.
2.
The pack of wolves should be extended to include any District Commissioners and former MMD party loyalists who are now (of all times) deciding to defect to PF. All these should be seen in their true light as insincere, morally bankrupt and unprincipled in the extreme. If PF are sensible, these fair weather friends and defectors should not be allowed to join the ranks. They belong to the political wilderness. Congratulations from failed politicians should also be taken with a pinch of salt as these are in all probability just jobs seekers running away from the rumbling of their hungry bellies.
3.
The current government sponsored media institutions (ZNBC, Daily Mail and Times of Zambia) should in all fairness be privatised and perhaps leave just one (instead of three) pro-government media houses.The presidential election result has classified these institutions as unredeemable and unrepresentative besides being a criminal waste of tax-payers hard earned money. Tax payers money should never be (ab)used to propagate views divergent from the source of income.
Let us learn from President Barack Obama who surrounds himself and has specifically appointed people to criticise and tell him unpleasant things because it is better that he hears criticism first from his own ranks than from the opposition.
The 2011 presidential election result has vindicated the intelligence of the Zambian people (aka we are not fools). I now have more reason to believe that future elections will be based more on issues rather than on how many bicycles, vitenges, T-shirts, bags of mealie meal or brown envelopes one can pass around. Even having biased reporting via television stations and news papers and (above all) well oiled but erroneous opinion polls will not help future election candidates. The MMD were so blinded in their frenzy to stay in power, they did not realise that they first of all needed to be sincere with themselves before they went out to sell the party. If anyone is looking to find out the simple cause of MMD failure, lack of sincerity hits the spot.
As much as the MMD should carry out an autopsy as to how and why they failed to read the situation, the PF should get on with the task at hand.
I will not thank the PF, but fellow Zambians for taking our young democracy to the next level. If our loyalties remain true to our country and it’s welfare (not to an individual who is here today and gone tomorrow), we have no need to fear anyone or anything and can stand as Zambians truly proud and free. UNIP, MMP, PF will come and go. Zambia remains. Decide for yourself where your loyalty lies – I have no illusions about where mine lies.
The Patriotic Front says it will not make arbitrary changes to mining tax regime.
Patriotic Front Member, Lameck Mangani who is also former Chipata Central Member of Parliament says President Michael Sata will consult with mining companies before applying a mining tax regime.
Mr. Mangani has told ZNBC News in an interview that the PF government believes the mines have not been contributing much to government treasury, but says any changes to the mining tax regime will be done with through consultation.
And Mr Mangani says the Patriotic Front will leave up to its promise to deliver development in 90 days.
He however says this does not mean President Sata will be distributing huge sums of money.
Mr Mangani has also called on people to give President Sata some time to settle down, appoint his cabinet and make thorough consultation.
He says that one of the major things President Sata could address in 90 days is the coming up with a new constitution.
President Michael Sata and First Lady Christine Kaseba during the celebration mass in Lusaka yesterday.
By Gray Soko
One of the international observers to the just ended elections said that the successful outcome of the elections should be a victory not only for the winning party but for Zambia. Indeed it is all about Zambia and not the party in power. The tragedy in Africa has been that the party in power becomes an end in itself, seeking its own self preservation to the detriment of the nation. The people have given PF a categorical mandate as HE MC Sata said in his inaugural speech. It is a mandate to serve Zambia and not to be served.
The PF vice president Guy Scott has recently been quoted as saying that the PF government is committed to road rehabilitation, among other issues. Our roads are generally in very poor shape and need to be brought to civilized standards. However, as I said in my earlier article of 14 August 2011 ( What if Zambia..), we should be aiming higher than maintenance projects. They are necessary but do not constitute development or take the country to a higher level.
To recap, the new government should focus on higher issues of rail/road network redesign, technological/scientific research and development not just building more schools on antiquated syllabi, take agriculture and tourism to a higher level instead of endlessly talking about its potential and avoid total dependence on extractive mining, create a niche to benefit from Zambia’s central geographical position on the continent and have a slimmer and smarter government structure.
Unless there is a quantum shift in the way we do things, the country will still lag behind with high unemployment and poverty levels despite the country’s abundant natural and human resources. It will be like having a new crew on the boat still headed for the waterfall except that it is not for fun rafting.
One way I feel the government could address these issues is the formation of non-partisan think tanks to focus on key developmental and technological policy directions. Initially these think tanks may have to be government funded but given sufficient freedom to freely research and advise appropriate policy approaches. Many countries in the world have think tanks ( over 4500) and India has the third largest number of think tanks. Needless to say this has contributed in no small way to its development.
The think tanks for specific areas of need will bring together expertise in various fields to research and give appropriate advice to government and industry. We cannot simply rely on party manifestos although they are important in spelling out the vision but no party or government anywhere has the necessary expertise on all economic, environmental, health, social security or defence and security matters.
Previous governments have appealed to Zambian professionals abroad to come back and help develop the country but there must be real challenges and a progressive environment for them to operate. It is certainly not correct to assume that there are no Zambians locally or abroad who can spearhead the quantum leap into the 21st century. We just have to work smarter, demand commitment, transparency and prudent use of our resources .
