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Motorists in Lusaka have called on government to monitor the implementation of the new fuel pump prices as announced on Friday.
The Ministry of Energy announced an average 400 Kwacha reduction on prices of fuel effective Friday midnight.
However some oil marketing companies have not yet effected the new fuel prices.
Some concerned drivers have called for strict monitoring of the implementation of the reduced prices in order for consumers to benefit.
On Friday Government scrapped a levy used to fund strategic fuel reserves, which will now be the responsibility of the government in the latest of a sweep of changes.
“The onus of holding fuel will go into the hands of government. The government will take that risk and will ensure that we do not have shortages. Right now the government has ensured that storage facilities are built across the country,” he said.
Local Government Minister, Professor Nkandu Luo has with immediate effect banned the holding of workshops by local authorities in the country.
She has charged that the outcomes from these workshops are rarely implemented but only serve as a source of corruption.
Professor Luo has further warned Civic leaders to refrain from illegal land allocation regardless of the political party they belong to.
She was speaking when she installed PF Councilor, Davies Chiwala as new Mayor for the City of Ndola. Mayor Chiwala takes over from Friday Sikazwe.
Meanwhile, Mr. Chiwala has appealed to all civic leaders to seriously draw a line between politics and development. He says the people of Ndola are highly expectant of development from the new government. The new Mayor has appealed to Government to increase funding to local authorities for easy delivery of services.
Opposition UPND’s Lizuma ward councilor, Aggrey Nyekwa has been retained unopposed as Livingstone City Council mayor. While, his deputy is MMD’s Matthews Jere who also went through unopposed.
Livingstone City Council Town Clerk, Vivien Chikoti as returning officer declared the two duly elected as Mayor and Deputy respectively. Meanwhile, the PF in Livingstone says it did not contest for any position in a bid to probe the land allocation irregularities in the city.
PF Akapelwa ward councilor, Paul Sensele has accused many councilors in Livingstone of allegedly having benefited from illegal plots allocations. He has charged that corruption has hampered development in Livingstone.
In Kabwe PF councilor for Justine Kabwe Ward, Moses Mwansa, has been elected new Mayor for Kabwe Municipal council, while Ms Rachael Mwelwa also of the ruling PF is the Deputy Mayor.
Mr. Mwansa a former army officer and Rachael Mwelwa who both went unopposed in the elections were declared winners by the Town Clerk Maria Dias Neves in the Council Chambers.
The newly elected Mayor has pledged to work with Kabwe council administration and in collaboration with other councilors whose support he said he values to transform the face of Kabwe town.
He adds that he will work to revive Zambia-China Mulungushi Textiles and other companies that have since closed to create more jobs for the people of Kabwe.
File: Maize that has been purchased from farmers waiting to be transported to sheds by the Food Reserve Agency
The Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has ruled out the possibility of a lot of maize having gotten soaked and damaged in the recent rains reported in various parts of the country.
FRA Public Relations Officer, Mwamba Siame claims that reports of some maize going to waste is not reflective of the holistic picture across the country.
Meanwhile, the FRA has regretted the destruction of maize in a fire that gutted the FRA shed in Chadiza.
Ms. Siame clarifies that the fire was caused by a fumigation chemical when it came in to contact with rain water.
And Ms. Siame has disclosed that 41 contractors have been engaged by her organization to construct produce storage slabs.
The project once completed is expected to create 450,000 metric tons of storage space for the bumper maize crop.
She says the first phase of the project is expected to be completed by the end of this month.
Meanwhile, Food Reserve Agency (FRA) Public Relations Officer, Mwamba Siame has also disclosed that a task force has been constituted to ascertain the quality of maize available across the country for exports.
She says maize export is being considered in view of excess maize on the market arising from the carryover from previous season harvest.
President, Michael Sata has turned down an invitation from Malawian President, Bingu Wa Mutharika to attend the COMESA summit set to be held in that country.
He has explained that he is unable to attend next week’s summit in Malawi because of being declared a prohibited immigrant in Malawi following his deportation in 2007.
Speaking when he met President Bingu Wa Mutharika’s special envoy at State house David Bandawe, President Sata says until Malawi formally deals with the matter, he fears being embarrassed if he travelled as he is still regarded as a prohibited immigrant.
Mr. Sata told the envoy that he thought he was bringing the revocation of the prohibited immigrant declaration.
“You are fully aware of the dilemma I am in with your government,” Sata told Malawi’s high commissioner to Zambia David Bandawe after he delivered an letter inviting the Zambian leader to the summit.
[pullquote]“I went to Malawi to visit an opposition leader and your government bundled me into a (Toyota) Land Cruiser and said I am a prohibited immigrant. Your government has not been courageous enough to apologise and therefore I find it extremely difficult to go to Malawi.”[/pullquote]
“I went to Malawi to visit an opposition leader and your government bundled me into a (Toyota) Land Cruiser and said I am a prohibited immigrant. Your government has not been courageous enough to apologise and therefore I find it extremely difficult to go to Malawi.”
President Sata has instead assigned Vice President, Guy Scott to lead the Zambian delegation to the COMESA Summit.
Meanwhile, President Sata has ordered the reinstatement of all Copperbelt University students who were expelled for expressing displeasure at the re-appointment of Dora Siliya, as Minister of Education after a judical tribunal ruled that she breached the law over the award of a contract to RP Capital which was single-sourced to evaluate Zamtel.
And Mr. Sata has also directed the NAPSA management to reinstate the Director of Finance who was dismissed for challenging a questionable transition that would cost the authority billions of pensioners’ money.
This is contained in a statement made available to the media by Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations George Chellah.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish…”
(Proverbs 29:18, KJV)
TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria
Throughout life, we will always have forces opposing us to try to keep us from becoming all God’s created us to be. And many times, the adversities and unfair situations are set up by the enemy to try to discourage us and deceive us into giving up on our dreams. Today, you may feel like you’re at an empty place in life. Not much is going your way. You’ve been through difficulties and setbacks. But I believe God wants to restore you. He wants to encourage you, and pour out His spirit upon you. He wants to do a new thing in and through you. It doesn’t matter what’s happened in your past, God has something new for your future. I always say, when one dream dies, dream another dream.
Today, remember, God has placed so much inside of you. You have gifts, talents and abilities that no one else has. You may have had more than your share of unfair things happen. But it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish that matters. It’s time to shake off the past and shake off that discouragement. Let faith arise in your heart and keep your dreams alive!
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Father God, I know that You have chosen me for such a time as this. I may not understand everything that has happened in my past, but I choose to trust in You. I believe that You are working all things together for my good. Give me Your faith so that I can boldly pursue the dreams You have given me in Jesus’ name, Amen.
A drama centered around a promising football running back , Deon (Curtis “50 cent” Jackson), during his senior year in college. Every thing is going his way , he is the best player on his team , he has all the fame ,all the girls , he is about to play for a top team , but all that is taken away when he is diagnosed with cancer. As life changes for him and his family ,he struggles to get back on his feet.he
PRO’S
The best acting 50 cent has ever done , he was really dedicated to the part and it showed in his improved performance.
The story was very gripping , you really feel for Deon and his family and what they go through.
The dynamics in the relationship between Deon and his brother Sean were interesting to watch.
CON’S
The movie has a slow start.
Should have had original music in the movie ,instead of 50 cent’s music , it distracts you from the story.
CONCLUSION
This is a very good music , i was really impressed with Curtis “50 cent ” Jackson , (as he is credited in his movies), acting. Not quite Oscar worthy but most definetly his best work so far. The drastic weight loss shows just how dedicated he was to this movie. He also had his tattoos removed in a painfull procedure . It has a very inspiring story , it is a must- watch movie.
Zambia captain Christopher Katongo said team did its best against Libya and did just enough to qualify to the Africa Cup finals.
Zambia and Libya finished scoreless at Nchanga Stadium in Chingola in the two sides crucial and final 2012 Africa Cup Group C decider.
“We know Zambians didn’t want a nil-nil result, they wanted the goals,” Katongo said in a post-match interview at Nchanga.
“We tried our best the goal was not forthcoming.
“I know Zambians wanted to see Zambia to go to the Africa Cup. That’s the most important thing. Today we tried our best am sorry to Zambia but we will are still going to represent Zambia at the Africa Cup of Nations.”
Zambia found the going difficult against a plucky Libya who defended with steel in the first half and came out of their shell in the second period to attack in stealth fashion in the second half.
Zambia’s major highlights in the match came firstly in the 39th minute when Libyan goalkeeper Samir Abodl in spectacular style denied strikers Collins Mbesuma and James Chamanga in quick succession.
Abodl was again on hand in the 45th minute to stop defender Nyambe Mulenga’s close-range shot before the first half came to a close.
In the 53rd minute, Chamanga amazingly blasted his close-range shot onto the post with Abodl nowhere in sight.
Not even the arrival of super sub Emmanuel Mayuka could conjure a goal and found Abodl and Libya’s defence in non-compromising mood.
Information, Broadcasting and Tourism Minister GIVEN LUBINDA
Government has asked all workers in the country to stop engaging in unnecessary protests and work stoppages.
Information, Broadcasting and Information Minister Given Lubinda observes that work stoppages and protests are a cost to the nation.
Mr. Lubinda says Government is determined to come up measures aimed at addressing issues associated with the minimum wage.
Mr. Lubinda was speaking at a press briefing in Lusaka on Friday.
He says Labour Minister Fackson Shamenda will soon announce the acceptable minimum wage.
In another development, Mr. Lubinda who is also Kabwata MP, says President Sata can not be reckless to appoint Colonel Panji Kaunda as MP if he did not qualify.
His comments come in the wake of increased media reports questioning why President Sata appointed Col Kaunda who is said to be bankrupt.
Mr. Lubinda challenged the media to engage in research work before publishing articles of such a nature adding that Colonel Kaunda is not bankrupt as reported.
And Mr. Lubinda says Government is happy with the election of Judge Patrick Matibini as the Seventh Speaker of the National Assembly.
He says the Patriotic Front-PF is happy and pleased with the outcome of the voting by new MP’s.
Mr. Lubinda says the ruling party’s desire has come to pass.
Judge Matibini polled 78 votes against Richard Kapita who polled 77 vote
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Hakainde Hichilema has congratulated Judge Patrick Matibini on his election as Speaker of the National Assembly.
Mr. Hichilema says Judge Matibini’s election is a good achievement.
Mr. Hichilema was speaking in an interview with ZNBC News in Lusaka on Friday.
The UPND Leader has also congratulated Deputy Speaker Mkhondo Lungu and Chairperson of the Committees of the whole house Chifumu Banda on their election.
Mr. Hichilema, who proposed his vice Richard Kapita for the position of Speaker, thanked Members of Parliament for taking part in the vote.
And Mr. Hichilema says time is ripe for the country to have a new constitution.
Mr. Hichilema Says the new constitution should have a 50 per cent plus one threshold, in order for the country to enjoy a majority president.
He says the 50 per cent plus one threshold will unite the country further.
Police in Lusaka are investigating Former Finance Minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane for allegedly using public funds to procure over one thousand bicycles.
Police Public Relations Officer, Ndandula Siamana says police have so far confiscated hundreds of bicycles from Dr Musokotwane’s residence in Lusaka west.
Ms Siamana has told ZNBC News in Lusaka that police suspect public funds could have been used to buy the bicycles.
Ms Siamana could not state what the bicycles were used for but says a statement is yet to be taken from the Former Finance Minister.
Vice President Guy Scott has revealed that the PF government will table the Freedom of Information bill before Parliament within 90 days. Dr Scott was speaking to Journalists at State House shortly after witnessing the swearing in of Lieutenant General Paul Mihova as Army Commander.
Dr Scott said that there was no reason for opposition political parties to frustrate the Patriotic Front in Parliament.
Dr Scott who is leader of government business in the house said that the PF will only table progressive bills aimed at delivering development to people of Zambia.
The Vice President said that he saw no reason why any elected Members of Parliament should frustrate progressive pieces of legislation such as the Freedom of Information bill.
Dr Scott says if the opposition in Parliament deliberately blocks bills which will be tabled by the PF, the ruling party will have no choice but to tell the Zambian people what their elected representatives are doing in Parliament.
TAZARA managing director Akashambatwa Mbikusita Lewanika
Tanzania Zambia Railways Authority -TAZARA- Managing Director Akashambatwa Lewanika has written to President Michael Sata indicating his willingness to step down as Managing Director for the joint national railway company.
Mr Lewanika says he has decided to offer himself to be replaced because the effective operations of the TAZARA Managing Director require political will and support.
He has noted that with the coming in of the new government in Zambia, there is need to appoint a new Managing Director and that he is willing to step aside.
And Mr Lewanika says TAZARA needs over 7-hundred million US dollars to meet its financial requirements.
Mr Lewanika told a media briefing in Lusaka on Friday that of the total amount of money required to ensure the smooth running of TAZARA, over 4-hundred Million US Dollars should come from the government of Zambia.
He says this should be so, because the survival of TAZARA is critical to the Zambian economy.
Mr Lewanika has pointed out that TAZARA has a lot of challenges which need to be addressed by both the government of Zambia and Tanzania.
By D.Phiri
Indeed, Zambia celebrates another benchmark in its democracy. Mostly,credit is to the people of Zambia and the mature political players involved. However, I would like to bring to the fore, a very pertinent matter which has for a long time been relegated to the periphery in the governance agenda in Zambia. That is, the Childrens agenda. Adult Zambians have spoken, and democracy has answered their call. However,we have the unheard voices; whose right to vote is not yet but they are a critical constituency in the Zambian demographics.
As of 2007, the Zambia demographic and Healthy Survey (ZDHS) stated that Zambia has a young population with 50 per cent of the total population under the age of 15 whilst the least age group of 0 – 4 years comprised of the largest proportion of the population at 19 per cent (p. 13). Therefore, many children are being impacted in reality by the social, economic, and political realities of the day than adults. It can be assumed by the population demographics that they tend to be affected more.
However, their voices seem to continue to be unheard. The government and other NGOs who purport to work in this area need to reflect on this matter at this early stage of government transition. Whilst children cannot vote, how can the government ensure that childrens perspectives, concerns, views and experiences be taken into consideration as a serious governance agenda? Political structures from the time of campaigns are not easily accessible to
children, and were it is done, seems to be top dressing and not mutually interactive with children to get their perspectives.
In some cases, we have read in media were political players have laughed at other party rallies attended by children. Is it a sign of political
failure when children attend rallies to hear what government is doing in their country? Children are social agents, who are part of the
overall political environment and are largely affected by political activities and outcome. It should be well known that children contribute severally to the political economy of the country but due to such discriminative tendencies their contribution and stake is not seen and respected.
As the new government settles down and creates its structures, we are watching with keen interest what changes they make in structures that will be pushing forward the childrens agenda. The question has always been, ‘which government wing holistically moves the childrens agenda forward!’ Fuzzy and unclear structures in the government characterized the system that has been tasked to handle childrens affairs. In most instances, childrens programming was subsumed in other adult activities and as such never made substantial impact at all.
Previously, we had Ministry of Sport, Youth and Child Development (MSYCD), Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS) and Ministry of Education (MoE) as the main structures handling childrens affairs in various aspects. These were aided by several committees that had duplicative mandates. However, this system was fraught by serious duplication of efforts, lack of precision in handling child affairs, inefficiency and subsequent poor delivery.
This is evident in the ONLY report CRC/C/11/Add.25 (instead of 3-4) delivered to the United Nations Committee on the rights of the child
in 2001. With the current merging of ministries, we hope that structures that will coordinate the holistic programming in child welfare and development will be visible. With expertise and competence in working with various NGOs in making childrens voices, views,perspectives and concerns audible through various creative programming that lessens the distance between local people and technocrats.
In addition, allocation of financial and competent human resources to programming in this area has been very inadequate. It is a huge challenge for the very inefficient systems to carry out their mandate when they are insufficiently resourced. In this regard, it is hoped that the ‘newly created structures’ will be sufficiently resourced to ensure that programming in childrens welfare is well resourced in terms of finances and human resources. With the start of the national budget debates in parliament, I hope that concerned government wings and related structures will be allocated sufficient funds to sufficiently attend to concerns and needs of this large and vital, but usually unheard constituency of the Zambian population.
It should not be assumed that addressing adults concerns addresses childrens concerns as well, for childrens concerns and perspectives as independent social agents in our society are in many ways and instances different.
Zambia seek revenge on Saturday when they host Libya in the two sides 2012 Africa Cup Group C decider at Nchanga Stadium in Chingola.
Libya beat Zambia 1-0 in the first leg played exactly a year ago in Tripoli to hand Dario Bonetti his first defeat in charge of Chipolopolo.
Since then, Zambia has been undefeated in Group C recording back-to-back wins over Mozambique and Comoros who are both out of the qualifying race.
A draw will be enough for Zambia to see them through to the January tournament to be co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
Zambia are on 12 points while Libya, who are undefeated in Group C despite their upheavals at home, are a point adrift of their hosts.
Bonetti welcomes back two key players from injuries namely Dutch-based striker Jacob Mulenga of FC Utrecht and Orlando Pirates midfielder Isaac Chansa.
Mulenga should start in attack together with Collins Mbesuma and James Chamanga.
Chansa could be in line to take up Rainford Kalaba’s place in midfield who is out of this match due to suspension.
Meanwhile, Saturday’s meeting will be the sixth between the two teams since their first encounter in the 1982 Africa Cup semifinals that Libya won 2-1.
Zambia both teams are even despite Libya coming into this match with a 1-0 advantage.
Both sides have won and lost two matches each and one draw although Libya are still without an away win against Zambia.
Loser of the game could still qualify for the tournament as one of the best five runners up.
Zambia National team Coach giving Instructions to Players
President Michael Sata, has said that Zambia national soccer team’s victory over Libya in this Saturday’s Orange 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Chingola would be the best present for his September 20 presidential election triumph.
The President has challenged the Group C table-topping Chipolopolo to go for an outright win over second-placed Libya who, if taken lightly, may just spring a surprise and secure a berth at the Gabon-Equatorial Guinea finals.
“Although my election victory demands hard work and not celebration or presents, I will be happy to receive a present from our national football team; and that should be in the form of victory over Libya and, consequently, qualification to the 2012 Africa Cup finals,” stated President Sata.
The Head of State observed that although playing at the Africa Cup is always a tough undertaking, he is confident that coach Dario Bonneti’s squad has enough depth to scalp the continent’s heavyweights and go a step further than the quarter-final finish achieved at the 2010 edition.
President Sata is hopeful that while the Government will play its part in helping prepare the team, the Football Association of Zambia will equally ensure that all officials, the technical bench and players are all committed to repaying the Zambian tax-payer with remarkable results.
[pullquote]“The best way of accounting for our people’s hard-earned money which they always spend on the national team is to play for exceptional results, or else, they will begin to doubt whether the team dserves any more tax payer’s money. We want accountability to show in all that we spend money on,” said the President.[/pullquote]
“The best way of accounting for our people’s hard-earned money which they always spend on the national team is to play for exceptional results, or else, they will begin to doubt whether the team dserves any more tax payer’s money. We want accountability to show in all that we spend money on,” said the President.
President Sata has assigned the Minister of Labour, Sports, Youth and Gender, Hon Fackson Shamenda as his official and personal representative at the footbal match.
