Join our community of SUBSCRIBERS and be part of the conversation.
To subscribe, simply enter your email address on our website or click the subscribe button below. Don't worry, we respect your privacy and won't spam your inbox. Your information is safe with us.
A political analyst has condemned the emerging trend where traditional leaders are engaging in partisan politics.
Dr. Alex Ng’oma who is a senior lecturer in the school of humanities at the University of Zambia has told Qfm that traditional rulers play an important role in uniting the people in the country.
Dr. Ngoma has since advised chiefs in the country that in as much as they would want to add their voice on issues of national interest, they should desist from taking sides in matters of politics if there integrity is to be protected.
He observed that drawing traditional leaders into politics will put their credibility at risk as they are held in higher esteem by society.
Dr. Ng’oma says this in a wake of various chiefs who have openly declared their support for Republican President Rupiah Banda in this year tripartite elections.
The MMD has announced that it is ready to start receiving applications for the adoption of candidates who want to stand on the party ticket as Members of Parliament and Councilors in this year’s general elections.
MMD National Secretary Richard Kachingwe says the deadline for submission of applications to constituency committees is 10th June, 2011.
Major Kchingwe who was addressing a media briefing for the first time since he was elected into office last April told journalists that the Provincial Executive Committee-PEC will submit all applications to the party secretariat on 16th June, 2011.
He explained that this is after interviews and selection of candidates have been done at the grassroot levels, which are the constituencies, districts and provincial.
Major Kachingwe says between 18th and 20th June 2011 the National Executive Committee panel will interview the applicants.
He has urged women and youths to apply for the positions.
Major Kachingwe has warned that the party secretariat will not tolerate candidates who will try to discredit others during the selection process.
And the MMD says it has written to the Catholic Church seeking audience to iron out perceived differences with the government.
MMD National secretary Major Richard Kachingwe says the party has also written to the Zambia Centre for Inter- Party dialogue-ZCID to convene a meeting with all political parties to iron out contentious issues ahead of this year’s general elections.
Major Kachingwe who was addressing the Media for the first time since he was elected party national secretary told Journalists at a media briefing that the MMD will always use dialogue to resolve perceived differences with the Catholic Church and Political
parties.
He explains that it is President Rupiah Banda’s desire that this years tripartite elections are held in a peaceful manner.
Major Kachingwe further explained that the MMD is committed to ensuring that the elections are held in a free and fair manner.
And Major Kachingwe has advised youths not to be used by politicians to cause violence ahead of this year’s general elections.
Meanwhile, Major Kachingwe says the MMD has always stated that the Parallel Voter Tabulation -PVT is illegal.
He wondered why the party was being accused of wanting to fund the PVT system when it has clearly stated that the system is illegal.
File: Suspended deputy Health Minister Dr Solomon Musonda at Woodlands police station after he was arrested.
The Kabwe High Court has convicted former Health Deputy Minister Dr. Solomon Musonda for causing bodily harm with intent to maim a Serenje man.
Delivering the judgment in Kabwe On Tuesday, Judge Mugeni Mulenga set Friday, June 3, 2011 as date for mitigation by the defence lawyers and sentencing.
Judge Mulenga said that she was convinced that Dr. Musonda was guilty of the charge.
Dr. Musonda’s bail has meanwhile been extended.
Particulars of the offence were that Dr Musonda, a 34-year-old medical doctor and politician, and a resident of Nsumbu road in Lusaka’s Woodlands area, on June 1, 2010 with intent to maim, disfigured and caused grievous harm to Jackson Musaka of Serenje.
In another case, the Lusaka high court has granted a 5 million kwacha bail to two youths of Kafue pending appeal to the Supreme Court after being convicted for malicious damage to property.
Mike Chongo 19 and James Silwamba 18 were sentenced to 7 years simple imprisonment after being found guilty of the offence earlier this year.
In a ruling by high court judge Agness Banda- Bobo, the duo was granted bail on account that the two are school boys in grades 9 and 12.
The court agreed with the defence that since appeals in the high court take long to determine there incarcerations would mean they miss examinations and will have to drop out of school by the time their appeal was being heard.
The duo is alleged to have caused damage to property worth 17 million kwacha belonging to Marry Musonda of Kafue whom they accused of being a witch.
PARLAIMENT heard yesterday that the employee portfolio for one of the country’s mining giants, Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has been going down from around 11,978 in 2008 to last year’s 9,696 because of the global economic crisis.
Mines and Minerals Development Deputy Minister Jazzman Chikwakwa said this in response to a question by Chipili MP Davies Mwila (PF), who wanted to know whether there was a reduction in the number of employees at the company.
Mr. Chikwakwa said the numbers had been going down steadily, but when asked further questions by opposition the MP, Mines Minister Maxwel Mwale said there were explorations that had been undertaken by KCM that could lead to increased employment levels while the effects of the crisis had come to an end.
Mr. Mwale said the opening of the new Nchanga smelter which did not require more labour also led to further cuts to the employee portfolio.
Mr. Mwale said KCM had more expatriate employees as compared with Mopani Copper Mines because the former had been running new explorations that required expert skills.
And Home Affairs Minister Mkhondo Lungu told the House that 33 police officers had been dismissed between 2008 and 2010 for various offences ranging from absenteeism to robbery, among others.
Mr. Lungu said this in response to Mr Mwila’s question, who sought to know the province with the highest number of dismissals.
Mr. Lungu said Lusaka had 14 cases of dismissals and was the highest.
Earlier, his deputy Lwipa Puma said one of the police officers was dismissed for absconding from duty for six years while 13 were involved in an offence of theft by public servant.
He said only one of the 33 police officers was female while the rest were male.
And Deputy Minister of Justice Todd Chilembo said the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) spent K43 million and K25 million to monitor elections in Lesotho and Tanzania, respectively.
The commission also spent K1.7 billion on the delimitation exercise that took place in 2005 while 84 election petitions were recorded between 2001 and 2010.
And the Human Rights Commission (HRC) has concluded 664 cases in the last few years out of a total of 1,232 while the rest are still under investigations.
Meanwhile, 162 Zambians serving in various missions abroad have been trained by the Zambia Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies.
[ Times of Zambia ]
TWO trade unions have said there was nothing sinister in the award of the contract to re-develop Society House and develop Central Arcade in Lusaka and described the financing agreement between National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) and Zambia National Building Society (ZNBS) as progressive.
Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ) and Zambia Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers (ZUFIAW) said the agreement would boost the accounts of NAPSA.
They said ZNBS would have dented its books of accounts and rendered itself insolvent had it decided to borrow money to refurbish Society House and develop Central Arcade.
At a join media briefing in Lusaka yesterday, ZUFIAW president Cephas Mukuka and FFTUZ vice-president Charles Phiri said the decision by NAPSA was consistent with the international standards and cited Botswana where the pension authority had invested in houses to securethe money for the retirees.
They said NAPSA had an obligation to grow the workers’ contributions through the institutional diversification policy under the NAPSA Act Number 40 of 1996, which was assented to in 2004 when President Rupiah Banda was not even in Government.
Mr Mukuka said the earlier plans by NAPSA were to invest money in off-shore accounts but trade unions objected to the idea on the basis that the investment would have benefited people in foreign countries.
He said the process to construct Society House was started in 2004 when President Rupiah Banda was not in Government, while allegations that a Kenyan investor who had won the bid was Mr Banda’s friend were originated by The Post newspaper.
Mr Mukuka said Zambezi Consortium was formed by one company from South Africa, while the majority of the companies were Zambian firms.
He said all tender procedures were followed in the execution of the deal and that NAPSA was merely a fund manager and not ZNBS.
As a result, it would be easier for NAPSA to recover its US$98 million.
He said management at ZNBS had approached several companies inviting them to be equity partners but they all declined because the firm’s books of accounts indicated a negative balance of K52 billion.
Mr Mukuka said the firms that accepted partnership had offered unfavourable conditions that could have placed ZNBS in an awkward position.
Mr Mukuka said Cha Cha Cha House and Central Arcade in their current condition were in a serious state of dilapidation which called for urgent attention.
He explained that the deal had been reviewed further and that there were no losses for NAPSA which would instead gain through interest rates as it recovers the $98 million.
Mr Mukuka said during the transformation of NAPSA, ZUFIAW and FFTUZ were being represented by ZUFIAW general secretary Joyce Nonde and at no time did the Government interfere with the process.
He explained that the new structure would have a modern structure and an automated car parkwith a capacity of more than 1,000 vehicles.
Mr Mukuka said 1, 000 full-time jobs created would add value to the national economy through taxes, while the project also included a five-star hotel that would benefit the capital city.
Two people have died while 34 others are nursing serious injuries after a truck lost control and hit into a Toyota Mark two car registration number ABF 4222 along Katimamulilo road, in Lusaka’s Garden compound.
The Truck with unknown registration number first knocked down a pedestrian before hitting into a Toyota Mark two.
And Mandevu Member Of Parliament Jean Kapata who was at the scene of an accident expressed sadness at the increasing number of accidents along Katimamululilo road.
Ms. Kapata has since appealed to the Lusaka City Council to consider putting up humps that will force motorists to drive at a low speed.
The accident happened around 12 hours when an Isuzu truck carrying mourners lost control and hit into a Toyota mark 2 registration number ABF 4222.
Police spokesperson Ndandula Siamana confirmed the accident to MUVI TV news.
Ms. Siamana says the driver of the truck Shadreck Banda had no drivers’ license and is in police custody.
She has advised members of the public to avoid getting on to overloaded vehicles when going to the graveyard.
The bodies of the deceased are lying in UTH mortuary.
[ MUVI ]
Former Zambian High Commissioner to Botswana , Milton Phiri’s family says it is saddened with their guardian’s remarks alleging that President Rupiah Banda is not a Zambian.
The former envoy’s young brother Frackson said Mr. Phiri’s remarks against President Banda embraced the entire family because he was an elderly person of high standing in society as a former envoy.
He said it was strange for his elder brother to attack the Republican President in an immature manner saying he was not supposed to allow himself to be used to fight cheap political battles aimed at discrediting the Head of State.
Mr. Phiri stated that it was shameful that Mr Phiri who once lived with President Banda in Chikomeni village in Lundazi could make such allegations when he knew Mr Banda’s roots.
He said that his family was shocked and stated that it was a way of discrediting President Banda to re-contest the Presidential seat in the forthcoming tripartite elections.
Mr. Phiri advised his brother to apologize to the Head of State and the nation for the false allegations.
The former High Commissioner was recently quotated in one of the tabloids as having accused President Rupiah Banda of making a false declaration during nominations ahead of the 2008 Presidential election.
[ ZANIS ]
THE latest Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) report says although this year’s general elections are likely to be tightly contested, President Banda and the MMD are likely to win.
The report says the MMD will benefit from the advantages of incumbency and its formidable electoral machinery.
“However, the PF and Mr (Michael) Sata should put up a strong challenge to the MMD. Mr Sata narrowly lost the 2008 elections…,” it says.
The report adds that President Banda emerged from the MMD national convention in a much stronger position.
“Recent trends have shown that the MMD still has a bigger rural support base of about 65 percent of the total population,” the report says.
The report says political squabbling will intensify but stability will remain intact.
On policy agenda, the report says this will be underpinned by the Sixth National Development Plan (SNDP; 2011-15), the medium-term expenditure framework (2011-13) and the extended credit facility with the International Monetary Fund (2008-11).
It adds that despite the impending elections, a high degree of policy continuity is expected in 2011-12.
The report says fiscal policy in 2011-12 will be expansionary, with expenditure forecast to rise by an average of 17.2 percent per year.
“The government plans to implement a shift from public consumption to public investment, with the former projected to grow by 11 percent (on average) and the latter by 38 percent.
“Real GDP growth is expected to stay robust, at seven percent in 2011 and 7.2 percent in 2012. Agriculture is forecast to grow by an average of 6 percent as producers of maize continue to receive subsidies and as the country’s vast tracts of uncultivated arable land attract an influx of foreign direct investment,” the report says.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
Editor’s Note
Lusakatimes has the full original report but cannot publish it for copyright reasons because the report is meant for sale. If you want to get the original copy for about $23 go to
THE Industrial Credit Company Limited (ICC) has won a case in which it appealed against the Zambia Revenue Authority’s assessment of value added tax (VAT) valued at K1.6 billion.
The Revenue Appeals Tribunal (RAT) also ordered that each party meets its own costs.
Facts before the tribunal are that on February 26, 2002 the ICC received a letter from ZRA station manager – Ndola VAT Moses Nkandu.
In the letter, ZRA indicated that its pre-visit review of the company’s file revealed that it had not been declaring VAT on finance charges since February 2001, the total output VAT being K1, 730,762,199.03 with interest of K381.8 million.
After the inspection, ZRA informed the ICC of their intention to re-visit their earlier assessment of June 27, 2002 and accordingly proceeded to issue a revised assessment dated April 14, 2004 in the sum of K1,617,889,474 being K1,224,663,031 principal and interest of K393,226,443.
The tribunal said there is no dispute that the return lodged by the ICC was incorrect or inadequate and that the initial assessment made by the ZRA in 2002 was based on an incorrect or inadequate return but the issue was to determine the validity of the replacement assessment of April 2004.
The tribunal disagreed with ZRA’s submission that the evidence that led to the April 2004 assessment was the credibility inspection of December 2003, adding that the February 2002 was in its view unequivocal and straight to the point as it identified the cause of the incorrectness of the ICC’s return as being the application of a wrong Statutory Instrument.
The Tribunal was presided over by former vice chairperson Ngosa Simbyakula sitting with Marian Munyinda and Mary Ncube.
“We therefore have no difficulty in finding that February 26, 2002 was the date on which the respondent (ZRA) first became aware of the incorrectness of the appellant’s (ICC) return and that the two-year time period began to run from that date. We therefore find that the April 2004 assessment was done outside the two year time period,” part of the judgement read.
ZRA was represented by its legal officer Theresa Kampata while ICC was jointly represented by Eric Silwamba and Company, and Deloitte and Touche.
ICC contended that the time or date when the ZRA first became aware of the incorrectness or inadequacy of the ICC’s return should be taken to be February 26, 2002.
Mr Eric Silwamba submitted that the matters raised in the credibility report were not new at all but were in fact matters that had been subject to exhaustive and extensive negotiations between the two parties from February 2002 to June 2002 and were as such conclusively disposed of.
Mr Silwamba stated that it is the ICC’s submission, therefore, that the assessment issued by the ZRA on April 16, 2004 in the sum of K1,617,889,474 was issued after some two years one month and some weeks after the ZRA through one Mr Nkandu informed the company by his letter he was aware of the incorrectness of its return and that on that premise the assessment is void and of no effect.
FORMER Patriotic Front (PF) secretary general Edward Mumbi has challenged British High Commissioner Carolyn Davidson to explain Committee of Citizens executive director Gregory Chifire’s allegations that her government is funding the Press Freedom Committee of The Post to bolster Patriotic Front (PF) campaigns.
Mr Mumbi was commenting on Ms Davidson’s open letter to the Times of Zambia over allegations that the Department for International Development (DFiD) is funding PF president Michael Sata’s campaign ahead of this year’s tripartite elections.
Mr Mumbi said Ms Davidson has still not addressed Mr Chifire’s allegations in this week’s Monday edition of the Times.
“Having read the letter from Ms Davidson, she has not addressed the issue of her government funding the Press Freedom Committee of The Post and has not clarified the issue of her government investing five million pounds to enhance Zambia’s domestic observation of the elections among other things. What is this domestic observation all about?” he asked.
Mr Mumbi said Ms Davidson has made her point clear but something is still missing in her response to Mr Chifire’s claims.
He challenged Ms Davidson to explain how the Press Freedom Committee of The Post has been accused of getting funds from the British government for PF campaigns.
Mr Mumbi urged Ms Davidson to address the issues raised by Mr Chifire, instead of talking about what Zambians already know.
“Ms Davidson should not jeopardise the good relationship Zambia has with Britain. She should just explain why her government wants to involve itself in internal politics by allegedly funding the Press Freedom Committee of The Post.
Mr Mumbi said explaining the links between The Post and the British government does not affect the relationship Zambia has with Britain.
On Monday, Mr Chifire accused the DFiD of using The Post to fund PF through seemingly innocent electoral programmes.
Mr Chifire said Mr Bob Sichinga has been going round the country to campaign for the PF with donor funds, using the Press Freedom Committee of The post.
“We, therefore condemn this donor agency which is sponsoring PF campaigns,” he said.
And Ms Davidson said claim that the British government is funding the electoral campaigns of the PF is not true and Mr Chifire has not provided any evidence to support his claim.
She said the British government is committed to helping Zambia deliver free and fair elections, in which all stakeholders have confidence in the whole process.
Isaac Chansa has joined the Zambia national team at it Kitwe camp.
The Orlando Pirates midfielder completes the list of call-ups in camp ahead of Saturday Africa Cup Group c qualifying match against Mozambique at Nchanga Stadium in Chingola.
Chansa arrived Monday evening and joined the team in training Tuesday at Arthur Davies Stadium in Kitwe.
Meanwhile, two players have been rested for 24 hours as a precaution.
Striker Christopher Katongo of Xanthi in Greece and defender Kampamba Chintu from Bidvets Wits in South Africa have both sustained muscle strains.
And Dario Bonetti has received some good news that striker Emmanuel Mayuka of Young Boys in Switzerland is making progress in his recovery ahead of Saturday’s game.
Meanwhile, Mozambique will arrive on Thursday at mid-day at Ndola Airport.
File: Workers from the Food Reserve Agency packing maize at a shed in Choma
The Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has maintained the maize floor price of K65, 000 for a 50 kilogram (Kg) bag of maize and K60, 000 for a 40 kg bag of paddy rice.
And the FRA says it has targeted to purchase 1.3 million metric tonnes of maize at a cost of K1.69 trillion in this year’s agriculture marketing season.
The Agency has also set June 1 to October 31st as the period for 2011 agriculture crop marketing adding that the FRA will only buy maize with moisture content of about 12 percent.
FRA board Chairman, Brigadier General Maybin Sikweti announced this at a media briefing in Lusaka today.
He said that the agency arrived at the prices after carefully analyzing the cost of production and the prevailing local and regional markets.
“These prices were arrived at after carefully analyzing the cost of production and also after taking into account the prevailing local and regional market conditions.
” Initially we were supposed to reduce the prices of the commodities because we have a surplus but instead decided to maintain the floor prices considering the production cost our farmers have put in,” He said.
Meanwhile, the FRA is targeting to purchase 1.3 million metric tonnes of maize at a cost of K1.69 trillion in this year’s agriculture marketing season.
Brigadier General Sikweti said FRA will also purchase 5000 metric tonnes of paddy rice valued at K7.5 billion.
The Board Chairperson said the money to finance the exercise will be through government grants, crop sales and commercial borrowing.
He announced that the FRA has repaid the loan sourced from Finance Bank which it acquired last year for crop purchasing adding that it is in the process of repaying the US$140 million loan acquired from Standard Chartered by July this year.
Meanwhile the FRA has set June 1 to October 31st as the period for 2011 agriculture crop marketing adding that the FRA will only buy maize with moisture content of about 12 percent.
The Board Chairperson said the agency has since set up satellite deports in all the 74 districts where farmers will be selling their produce.
“The agency has set up buying points in all the 74 districts on average 15 satellite depots per district will be opened to ensure that the farmers have access to the market,” he said.
He has however said urged farmers to use the floor prices as guidelines when negotiating with other private buyers on the market.
Brigadier General Sikweti said FRA has embarked on a construction of 98 slabs in strategic positions with a total capacity of 450,000 metric tonnes to avert the challenges of limited storage space.
He also said that FRA has exported about 290,000 metric tonnes of maize valued at US$ 48.2 million to Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique and Congo DR.
“The FRA has also sold about 168,000 metric tonnes of maize valued at US$ 27.9 million to local millers in addition about 2,600 metric tonnes have been sold to local communities while 18,600 metric tonnes have been released to the Disaster management and mitigation Unit (DMMU) for relief distribution purposes” he said.
Zambia has this year recorded another bumper harvest of over 3 million metric tonnes of maize.
Japanese Ambassador to Zambia Ackio Egawa says his country’s development assistance is anchored to support sincere self help development efforts of recipient countries.
Speaking when he donated assorted medical equipment to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) worth about K5.5 billion under the grant aid, in Lusaka, today, Mr Egawa said the donation demonstrates his country’s commitment to contribute to the Zambian government’s development efforts .
Under the grant , the Japanese government has facilitated the rehabilitation of twelve operating rooms, three intensive care units comprising the main intensive care unit, the neonatal intensive care unit and the paediatric intensive care unit, five special observation rooms and five birthing rooms.
“In addition ,there has been procurement and installation of various pieces of medical equipment, most notable of which are anaesthesia machines, suction machines, sonograms and patient surveillance monitors, among others,” the ambassador said.
He also said that a team of Japanese experts worked together with the medical and technical stuff of UTH for skills transfer in the operation and maintenance of the equipment.
Mr. Egawa said this is in a bid to ensure effective and efficient management of the new hospital facilities, thereby guaranteeing longer life span.
Mr. Egawa states that Japan’s continued assistance to the health sector in Zambia is based on the belief that the quality of health service directly reflects the quality of life for the people at grassroots level and thus indicative of the social development of the nation.
The ambassador commended government and the people of the Republic of Zambia in their sincere efforts towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in the health sector.
He said that the contribution of equipment will have positive impact on the initiatives being undertaken by the Zambian government aimed at further reducing maternal and child mortality in Zambia.
And Deputy Minister in the ministry of Health Dr. Christopher Kalila said the equipment donated will go a long way in improving the quality of health in the country.
Dr. Kalila said the medical equipment is very vital and important for use in serving lives at the institution.
He noted that government has so far spent K 7 billion on rehabilitating the institution in a bid to provide quality health services.
He added that government is also extending this development to other parts of Zambia, as it has been on its agenda to improve healthy facilities across the country.
Vice President George Kunda has assured Zambians living in Ethiopia that this year’s tripartite elections will be peaceful.
Mr Kunda said in Addis Ababa today that the government has put in place mechanisms which will ensure that peace is maintained in all parts of the country before, during and after elections.
The Vice President was speaking during a stop over in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on his way from Nigeria where he had gone to attend the inauguration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
This is contained in a statement received by ZANIS from the Zambian High Commission’s Assistant Secretary for Press, Dorcas Chileshe.
Mr Kunda said despite government’s efforts to ensure peaceful elections, all Zambians have a responsibility of safeguarding peace which the country has enjoyed for many years.
The Vice President also appealed to investors not to withhold their investment during the election year as Zambia is one of the few countries in Africa with a record of peaceful elections.
He appealed to Zambians to guard against making negative pronouncements which can create unnecessary tension and scare away potential investors.
He said Zambians should speak positively about their country as this is the surest way of attracting investors.
British High Commissioner to Zambia Carolyn Davidson (l)
The British government has reaffirmed its commitment to assisting Zambia to hold free and fair elections.
The former colonial master has invested over 5 million British pounds pounds in funding the electoral registration process, training of Zambia police in electoral duties and enhanced local observation in this year’s tripartite election.
British High Commissioner to Zambia disclosed that none of the 5 million pounds that has been allocated has gone fund any political party to do its political activities.
High Commissioner Davidson said this in a media statement released to ZANIS in Lusaka today in reaction to media reports alleging that DFID was funding Mr. Sata’s electoral campaigns ahead of this year’s elections.
She stated that her government is happy with President Rupiah Banda’s pledge and determination of Zambia in holding free and fair elections.
The British envoy hailed the Zambian government’s efforts in delivering an electoral process which inspires confidence locally and internationally.
High Commissioner Davidson further stated that the response from the Head of DFID Zambia is clear and disassociate the UK and other donors from the claims in the media reports.
She has since urged the media to double check their facts in order to avoid harming the excellent relationship between Britain and Zambia.
Early this week, Committee of Citizens Executive Director, Gregory Chifire was quoted as saying that the British government through DFID was allegedly funding the electoral campaigns of the Patriotic Front (PF).
Mr. Chifire was further quoted as having said that the British government and other donors fare engaged in activities to undermine the Zambian government.
ZANIS
