SOME Church leaders have expressed disappointment at Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata and other opposition party leaders who shunned Sunday’s prayer rally in Lusaka which was organised to pray for Zambia’s peace during the election period.

The Independent Churches of Zambia board chairperson David Masupa said it was unfortunate that Mr Sata snubbed the prayer meeting despite it not being organised by the Government.

“On such an occasion which fosters unity, the opposition political parties should make an effort to attend,” Reverend Masupa said.

The PF leader and United Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema were conspicuously missing from the event organised by the Council of Churches in Zambia, Zambia Episcopal Conference and Evangelical Fellowship in Zambia and was characterised by messages of peace and unity.

Rev Masupa described the prayer service as historical and necessary as it marked peace for the September 20 elections. “It was a historical event especially the releasing of the doves which signalled peace,” he said.

Rev Masupa appealed to Zambians to make a last-minute assessment on whether the socio-economic development that the country was enjoying could continue under some political leaders who did not show interest in making peace with others.

Council of Churches in Zambia secretary general Suzanne Matale said Zambians should cherish the peace that the country was enjoying by conducting themselves above partisan politics.

Rev Matale said it was unfortunate that some political leaders failed to attend the prayer service although she reiterated that the three Church mother bodies that organised the session at the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Cross achieved their objective.

She said the Church was pleased with the representation from different stakeholders, more so that that all the people in attendance agreed that Zambia would not engage in electoral violence.

“It was unfortunate that some opposition members could not attend the service or at least send a representative because it was a platform for seeking God’s intervention in the electoral violence that has been rearing its ugly head,” Rev Matale said.

Meanwhile, Calvary Church Pentecostal Assemblies of God (Zambia) in Livingstone yesterday conducted prayers for peace and re-committed Zambia to God as the country holds the tripartite elections next week.

Leading the prayer meeting, Copperbelt Province-based cleric Bernard Nwaka prayed for peace to prevail in the country, saying Zambia should move forward after the elections.

Dr Nwaka, who is Living Water Global Ministries International overseer in Kitwe, said this under his sermon titled ‘Let’s not sow seeds of hatred which would affect the future generations’.

“We don’t want bloodshed in this country. If we understand the teachings of the Bible, we shall be less careless in what we say. “Whoever takes over the country as president should take the spirit of reconciliation. We pray that the president to be elected shall only choose men and women of integrity who are qualified and chosen by God,” he said.

Southern Province Permanent Secretary Gladys Kristafor, Livingstone Town Clerk Vivian Chikoti, former Information minister Stan Kristafor, provincial defence and security chiefs as well as some Livingstone residents participated in the prayer meeting.

[Times of Zambia]

THE ELECTORAL Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has said it has received reports of vote buying and warned perpetrators of punishment by the law.

ECZ director of elections Priscilla Isaac said in Lusaka yesterday that the commission had been receiving anonymous messages in form of letters and text messages from members of the public in Lusaka and some districts indicating that there was rampant vote buying.

“There have been no specifics and that is why we are making a general statement. People are not being open so we cannot take the bull by its horn. Members of the public should also report such cases to the police and the ACC (Anti-Corruption Commission),” she said.

Ms Isaac urged members of the public to guard their voters’ cards jealously, saying their vote was sacred.

She also said ballot papers for the September 20 tripartite elections would arrive today aboard a chartered plane scheduled to land at Lusaka International Airport between 11:00 hours and 12:00 hours.

She said all those nominated to witness the arrival and inspection of the ballot papers before they are dispatched to polling stations should be accredited with the ECZ.

Ms Isaac said the ECZ would only allow two representatives from stakeholder groups and political parties to avoid congestion as was the case in 2008.

She said the ballot papers would be kept at a Zamcargo warehouse at the Lusaka International Airport, which the ECZ was renting, and would start being dispatched to the various polling stations by road between Wednesday and Friday, after inspection by district electoral officers.

She said ECZ was installing closed circuit television (CCTV) in and outside the Zamcargo warehouse to ensure maximum security.

Ms Isaac appealed to Zambians to allow the safe passage of ballot papers to their respective polling stations to avoid undue delay of the electoral process.

“I appeal to all people to allow the safe passage of the ballot papers. Our trucks should not be disturbed and there should be no undue delay of the papers,” she said.

She maintained that the end of the campaign period was September 18 at 06:00 hours as had been agreed with stakeholders at a meeting in Livingstone last year, and urged all Zambians to observe the end of the campaign period or be in breach of the law.

Ms Isaac said more than 500 international monitors from about 20 organisations and countries, including the media, had already accredited, among them the Electoral Institute of South Africa, Southern African Development Community parliamentary forum, Botswana, Kenya, the Commonwealth and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.

On alleged corruption involving Universal Print Group, Ms Isaac said any direct allegations of UPG and corruption had been forwarded to the ACC as it was the best wing of Government to investigate the printing company.

On public media failing to observe the electoral code of conduct on coverage, Ms Isaac defended the Times of Zambia and the Zambia Daily Mail saying the two public media had tried to ensure equal coverage of all political parties and stakeholders in the elections under difficult circumstances.

She said Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation had also tried to offer coverage to all stakeholders and political parties.

She urged political parties and other stakeholders to make it easy for the public media to cover them by minimising hostility.

On the special vote, she said the ECZ would not be able to offer a special vote for the media and the police but was looking at developing procedures for 2016.

She however said ECZ officials and the police would be given certificates to vote where they would be deployed.

[Times of Zambia]

This is a challenge that every body , male , female , young , old  can do.  It comprises of doing 100 push-ups every day for 100 consecutive days.  At first glance it may seem like a daunting task , but it is in-fact quite easy.

What you have to do is break down the 100 push-ups into 5 sets of 20.  Most people can do 20 at a go , if you cant , then you can do 10 sets of 10. For example

• When you wake up in the morning do 20
• Before lunch 20
• early evening 20
• before dinner 20
• before you sleep 20

BENEFITS

Push-ups  work the entire body .

• your chest
•  hands, forearms, biceps, triceps
•  shoulders, traps, upper back, lower back
•  abs
•  glutes

It also gets your heart rate up which is good for you.

Other benefits are:
– you can perform them anywhere, anytime
– you don’t need any technical equipment
– it cost you nothing for gym membership or anything else
– Doing this regularly with keep you health and looking fit.

You can call push ups a core-strengthening exercise. They largely improve your balance by strengthening and shaping up most important muscle groups in your body – the core.

I believe push-ups are the most effective exercise for improving total body fitness. They include cardiovascular training, weight/body lifting and muscle stretching all in one exercise.

Enough talking. Now drop down and give me 20 !

BY KAPA187

By Henry Kyambalesa

As we get closer to the general elections, one of the topical issues we ought to be pondering is our country’s current record on good governance. Zambians nationwide expect their national government to apply the elements of good governance in both word and deed, that is: transparency, accountability, rule of law, citizen participation in governmental decision making, and freedom of the press.

Let us briefly examine what each of these elements of good governance entails, as well as determine whether our country can be said to be fostering any of the elements of good governance.

Firstly, “transparency” requires members of the public to have access to information about the state, its decision-making mechanisms, and its current and planned projects and programs — except for state secrets. The procurement of hearses by the Ministry of Local Government and Housing, which President Rupiah Banda has publicly sworn to have had no knowledge of when he has been both Vice President and President, provides a good example of the lack of transparency in government.

And in June 2011, Vice President George Kunda led MMD members of parliament in shooting down a private members’ motion that could have compelled the government to release consolidated annual statistics on employment levels in the country, arguing that it was meant to embarrass the government — a clear example of lack of transparency in the governance of our beloved country.

Secondly, “accountability” entails the availability of a mechanism for ensuring that civil servants and public officials are directly accountable and liable for the outcomes of their decisions and actions, and the appropriation of resources assigned to them. The re-appointment of Dora Siliya to a Cabinet post after she was alleged to have defrauded Petauke District Council of K12.5 million in fake refund claims, mishandled the appointment of RP Capital Partners in respect of its valuation and potential sale of Zamtel, and cancellation of a duly awarded contract for the supply, delivery, installation and commissioning of a Zambia Air Traffic Management Surveillance Radar System (ZATM-RADAR) at Lusaka and Livingstone international airports provides a good example of the lack of accountability in government.

Thirdly, “rule of law” requires the existence of non-discriminatory laws and law enforcement organs of the government that are efficient, impartial, independent, and legitimate — an element that is undermined by failure by the police to arrest MMD cadres like William Banda and Chris Chalwe who have continually harassed or threatened MMD leaders who have dissenting views, opposition political leaders, journalists, newspaper vendors, and other innocent citizens.

Also, dismissals of officials who have attempted to pursue corrupt politicians regarded as sacred cows by the Republican president, selective prosecution of suspected perpetrators of corruption, and appointment of individuals found to be wanting for flouting national laws and regulations to key government positions are rife in the country.

Fourthly, “citizen participation” refers to the availability of channels and mechanisms through which the citizenry and non-governmental institutions can have a direct or indirect influence on the actions of public officials, such as the procurement of mobile clinics, which President Banda made through single-source procurement in contravention of rules and regulations limiting such procurements to emergency situations, and without initial consultation with technocrats in government ministries, the Zambia Public Procurement Authority, or primary stakeholders — the rural dwellers.

And “freedom of the press” calls for the national government to foster the development of a free press to facilitate the exposure of unscrupulous activities in institutional settings, such as the K10 billion historic theft by a civil servant at the Ministry of Health.

The role of a free press in the creation of a system of governance in which accountability, transparency, rule of law, and public participation in governmental decision making cannot perhaps be overemphasized. We should not expect our multi-party democracy to function effectively without such a system of governance.

Moreover, the effective checks and balances we seek to introduce into our system of government are not possible in a political setting where the government is a prominent player in the fourth estate — that is, the news media. Besides, the fight against the scourge of corruption (which is believed by the President to be non-existent in Zambia) is seriously undermined by public news outlets which are muzzled by the MMD and its leaders.

So, the MMD administration can hardly be said to be fostering any of the foregoing elements of good governance. If this conspicuous failure to improve our beloved country’s record on good governance is not enough to deny Comrade Rupiah Banda and the MMD another term of office, what about the unprecedented levels of poverty which have continued to haunt over 68% of our fellow citizens?

Whither my beloved country?

Currently, our country is experiencing unprecedented socio-economic problems. The healthcare system, for example, cannot meet the basic needs of the majority of citizens; tens of thousands of Grade 7 and Grade 9 students have continued to be spilled onto the streets every year; so many Zambians have no access to clean water and electricity; and a critical shortage of decent public housing has compelled so many of our fellow citizens to live in shanty townships nationwide.

Moreover, public infrastructure and services are still deficient; civil servants are still not adequately compensated for their services; a lot of civil service retirees cannot get their hard-earned benefits; crime and unemployment are still widespread; taxes and interest rates are still very high; and, among many other socio-economic ills, the constitution-making process is still fraught with personal, partisan and short-term interests.

Therefore, the soundness of political players’ contemplated policies in addressing the problems we face as a nation must be the primary consideration when we go to polling stations to cast our votes on September 20, 2011.

Our people’s demands and expectations on the government have never been clearer and louder. Unfortunately, we have continued to have a backlog of unfulfilled promises from those who have assumed the reins of power. Currently, there is extreme inertia and resistance to change within the MMD administration. After governing for nearly 20 years, the MMD government has seemingly become lax, arrogant, stubborn, and complacent.

Giving such a government 5 more years is, therefore, a sheer waste of time and public resources, because there is nothing the MMD is likely to do in 5 years which they could not have done in nearly 20 years the party has been in power.

We, therefore, need to try the Patriotic Front (PF) this time around, hoping that it will make a serious effort to address the people’s needs and expectations.

Ballot papers for nine local government wards and one parliamentary constituency are being reprinted in Durban.

This was after the Electoral Commission of Zambia- ECZ discovered mistakes on the ballots for the affected wards and the constituency.

ECZ Public Relations Manager Chris Akufuna says most of the wards had missing candidates while other wards had names of candidates appearing in the wrong alphabetical order.

MR. Akufuna told journalists in Durban on Monday that the affected wards are in central province, Copperbelt, Eastern province and Western province.

He says ballot papers for Sinjembela Constituency will have to be reprinted because the names of the candidates are not appearing in alphabetical order.

Mr Akufuna has attributed some of the errors to the big numbers of local government wards which have exceeded one thousand and pressure of meeting the deadline before election date.

He says the reprinting of the named ballot papers started last night and was expected to be completed today, Monday.

[ZNBC]

The civil society has welcomed the holding of live presidential debates ahead of the 20thSeptember elections next week.

Citizens Forum executive secretary Simon Kabanda says presidential debates have for a long time been a demand from citizens.

In an interview with QFM, Mr. Kabanda says such platforms will also enhance the country’s democracy as it will bring together top leaders of various political parties to discuss real issues instead of attacking each other in the media.

He says he expectant that the debates will act as a platform where all questions that citizens have had for the leaders will be answered.

The British Broadcasting Cooperation (BBC) world Service has partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Muvi Television to conduct live presidential debates starting this evening and tomorrow, 13th September, 2011, at the Mulungushi international conference centre.

Parties expected to participate in this evening’s debate include the Patriotic Front (PF), the Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD), the Alliance for Democracy and Development (FDD), the Heritage Party and the Zambians for Empowerment and Development (ZED).

The ruling Movement for Multi-party Democracy, the United Party for National Development UPND, the National Restoration Party (NAREP), the United National Independence Party (UNIP ) and the National Movement for Progress (NMP) will feature in tomorrow’s debate.

QFM