Former Works and Supply Deputy Minister Lameck Mangani has cited his loss at the just ended MMD convention as one of the reasons for his resignation.

Mr Mangani who was vying for the position of MMD National Chairman at the convention says he felt humiliated by the way his colleagues in the party treated him.

The Chipata Central MP says that he had been consulting with several friends in the political arena over a week before he arrived at his decision to resign.

Mr Mangani told ZNBC News in Chipata on Thursday that he will soon announce his next action.

He says his decision was not born out of personal vendetta against president Rupiah Banda but was purely based on principle.

And MMD founding member Chisala Chilufya says Residents of Chipata feel betrayed by Mr Mangani’s resignation because he was considered a close friend to president Rupiah Banda.

He adds that Mr Mangani’s resignation has not shaken the party in Chipata and that the area remains an MMD stronghold.

[ZNBC]

A Southern California woman was in jail Wednesday after allegedly drugging her husband, cutting off his penis, throwing it into the garbage disposal and turning it on, Orange County police said.
Catherine Kieu Becker put a drug or poison in her husband’s dinner Monday evening to make him sleepy, according to the initial police investigation.
“The victim went to lie down and he woke up tied to the bed with his wife tugging his clothes off,” police said. “The suspect grabbed the victim’s penis and cut it off.”
Becker told police he “deserved it” when they arrived at the scene after she called 911, the police report said. The couple is going through a divorce.
Becker, 48, was arrested for aggravated mayhem, false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon, administering a drug with intent to commit a felony, poisoning, and spousal abuse. She was booked into the Orange County Jail.
The 51-year-old victim, who hasn’t been identified because he is an alleged victim of spousal abuse, underwent emergency surgery at the UCI Medical Center, police said.
[CNN.COM]

About K1.3 billion Constituency Development Fund-CDF- for Livingstone has been lying idle in the bank because of leadership wrangles that rocked the council recently.

Livingstone Mayor, Aggrey Njekwa told ZNBC News in Livingstone on Wednesday that two CDF allocations have not been used.

Mayor Njekwa says lack of accountability by some recipients in the past had also contributed to the delay in the release of funds.

He however says the council has now approved thirteen projects at a total cost of K1.2Billion.

Mr. Njekwa disclosed that among the approved projects, is the fencing of the bus stop at a cost of K72million.

He has appealed for prudent use of the funds by the recipients.

Livingstone Council had been rocked by wrangles involving the former town clerk Dras Nerves and the council.

Ms Dras Nerves has since been transferred from Livingstone.
[ZNBC]

THE presidential directive on the sale of Maamba collieries houses is intended to allow those who qualify to buy the houses to do so, special assistant to the President for press and public relations Dickson Jere said in Lusaka yesterday.

Mr Jere was clearing the air over the the sale of 831 houses to sitting tenants announced during a public meeting addressed by President Banda in Maamba last Friday.

Mr Jere said in a statement that President Banda received a petition from sitting tenants of houses owned by Maamba Collieries Limited, asking him to intervene in the delay to issue letters of offer or in some cases, title deeds to tenants.

The petition is dated April 25, 2011 and signed by the representatives of the tenants.

Mr Jere said upon reading the petition, it was discovered that tenants were offered the houses following a directive by former President Frederick Chiluba in the year 2000.

He said Maamba Collieries offered sitting tenants the houses but the transaction was never concluded, especially with retirees and retrenchees.

Mr Jere said for current employees, the company deducted some money from their dues as a contribution to the purchase of the houses.

“President Banda’s directive, therefore, is to allow those who did not purchase the houses when they were offered to do so if they qualify. Further, the President has, for the first time, directed the Commissioner of Lands to give offer letters to those who qualify to purchase the houses while title deeds should be processed with immediate effect and given to tenants with offer letters and who have paid for the houses,” Mr Jere said.

On the remaining institutional houses at Maamba Collieries Limited, Mr Jere said President Banda has received a petition from sitting tenants and will respond to their request after studying the matter.

On Wednesday, the Post Newspaper quoting Nchanga member of parliament Wylbur Simuusa , reported that Rupiah Banda was not sincere about the 838 Maamba Collieries’ former houses because they were already sold.

[Zambia Daily mail]

FIRST Lady Thandiwe Banda has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss an injunction in which the Patriotic Front (PF) sued her for assisting the vulnerable, alleging that she is abusing Government funds.

Mrs Banda’s lawyer, Irene Kunda, said in an argument filed in the Supreme Court yesterday that the Lusaka High Court did not err in law when it held that the application for an order of interim injunction against Mrs Banda was wrongly directed to her.

PF sympathisers Evelyn Kangwa and Marjorie Nakaponda appealed to the Supreme Court against the Lusaka High Court’s decision to throw out their injunction against Mrs Banda.

“The only items she donates are those passed onto her by well-wishers for charity purposes, a noble cause a person of reasonable tenure cannot dispute or despise.

“We therefore submit that to grant an injunction against the first respondent (Mrs Banda) would violate her fundamental constitutional rights and freedom of expression, assembly, movement and association,” Mrs Kunda said.

She said Supreme Court judge Phillip Musonda, sitting as Lusaka High Court judge, was on firm ground when he ruled that Mrs Banda has no role in directing, disbursing and controlling expenditure.

Mrs Kunda said the practice of the first lady getting involved in charity work is a worldwide phenomenon and the plaintiffs cannot use the injunction to create conditions only favourable to themselves.

She said Mrs Banda’s predecessors had also engaged in similar charity activities.

Mrs Kunda said the relief the two PF sympathisers are seeking is not clear because the person they are seeking to restrain has nothing to do with receipts and payments of Government revenue.

She said Mrs Banda does not use government resources for her donations because she does not have access to Government money.

The appellants’ lawyer Wynter Kabimba argued that the Supreme Court should grant his clients an injunction because the High Court erred in law.

Early this year, Mr Justice Musonda threw out Mrs Kangwa and Mrs Nakaponda’s injunction because it was directed to a wrong party, Mrs Banda.

The duo filed an application for an injunction against Mrs Banda, seeking court action to restrain the first lady from acting in any capacity not supported by any law of the land.

They wanted the court to restrain Mrs Banda from disbursing money and distributing goods which are not provided for in the estimates of expenditure by Parliament.

The plaintiffs, through Mr Kabimba, were also asking the court to restrain Mrs Banda from using the facilities in the absence of disclosing the source of the monies and goods and also to restrain her from using official Government facilities and services for alleged partisan political activity until this matter is disposed of.

[Zambia Daily Mail]