GOVERNMENT has given the ZCCM-IH a seven-day ultimatum to implement President Banda’s directive to write off outstanding balances on over 3,386 housing units offered for sale to sitting tenants.

Deputy Minister of Mines and Minerals Development Jazzman Chikwakwa said in a statement issued in Kitwe yesterday that ZCCM-IH should execute the presidential directive within seven days, failure to which disciplinary measures would be taken against the institution.

“All those responsible for implementing the President’s directive must do it immediately, especially ZCCM-IH. They should implement the directive within seven days,” MrChikwakwa said.

He warned that Government will not fail to take necessary action against any officer who will employ delaying tactics in the implementation of the President’s directive.

“All those who will be found to be delaying the presidential directive, including chief executive officers, should be immediately reported to the relevant authorities without fail. This is a presidential directive and it should be treated with respect and urgency,” he said.

Mr Chikwakwa said President Banda is working hard to ensure that people throughout the country have decent accommodation.

Mr Chikwakwa said Government is implementing projects in all parts of the country intended to alleviate poverty and improve lives, especially in rural areas.

[pullquote]“All those who will be found to be delaying the presidential directive, including chief executive officers, should be immediately reported to the relevant authorities without fail. This is a presidential directive and it should be treated with respect and urgency,” he said.[/pullquote]

On April 16, President Banda directed that outstanding balances on over 3, 386 housing units on the Copperbelt be written off and sitting tenants be given letters of sale with immediate effect.

The President also directed Minister of Mines and Minerals Development Maxwell Mwale to instruct the ZCCM-IH to immediately write off the outstanding balances on housing units offered for sale to sitting tenants in six towns on the Copperbelt.

The directive covers 1,518 houses in Mufulira’s Kankoyo, Kantanshi and Mupambe townships and 1,011 in Luanshya.

In Kitwe, outstanding balances on 732 houses will be written off in Wusakile, Mindolo, Nkana East, Nkana West and Chamboli.

About 92 sitting tenants in Kalulushi and Chambishi are expected to benefit from this directive.
In Chililabombwe, outstanding balances on 31 houses will be written off.

[Zambia Daily Mail]

President Rupiah Banda has asked Zambians to reflect on the importance of family and community values.

In his Easter message, the President says every Zambian should take stock and reflect on the importance of family, community and eventually the need for maintaining peace and stability in the country.

“ Easter makes an opportunity for us to take stock and reflect on the importance of family, community and the need for peace and stability in our country, ” said the President.

He also appealed to all citizens to help the country in maintaining a peaceful and supportive society as the country goes to the polls the year.

The President has meanwhile assured the country of free, fair and open elections this year.

“Zambian people will this year choose leaders who they wish to lead them to the tomorrow Zambia. I wish to reassure them that these elections will be free, fair and open.

” In return I appeal to them to help us maintain a peaceful and supportive society, ” he said.

He has further reinforced his pledged to provide a better future for all Zambians.The President has also promised to continue working hard to ensure that every Zambians enjoys the fruits of a strong and prosperous nation.

Last week the President directed that debts on over 3,300 parastatal homes on the Copperbelt be written off.

He has during his time in office been working tirelessly to achieve a better place for Zambia in the world.

His policies have brought better health care provision, increased education and employment opportunities, and underpinned by steady economic growth which has yielded investment across the country.

This is contained in a press statement to ZANIS in Lusaka today by Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations,Dickson Jere.

ZANIS

THE Ngambela of Western Province has said the Litunga and people in the province are impressed with the development projects being undertaken by President Rupiah Banda’s administration and that the campaign to isolate the Government from the Lozis will not succeed.

In an interview at Limulunga palace in Mongu yesterday, the Ngambela, who is prime minister and holds the second-highest position after the Litunga, said attempts to drive a wedge between the Lozi-speaking people and the Government would fail.

He said the traditional leaders in the province would maintain the existing close relations they enjoy with the Government considering the many developmental issues it was tackling.

The Ngambela backed President Banda’s initiative to empower teachers and miners, as well as former miners occupying the former Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) houses.He said even though the directive did not affect the province in terms of mining houses, the Government should continue with any programme that seeks to empower Zambians.

President Banda on Saturday directed that all outstanding debts owed by sitting tenants of the former ZCCM houses be written off, and that teachers occupying Government and institutional houses should be allowed to buy them.

He also directed parastatal firms such as National Pensions Scheme Authority and Development Bank of Zambia to work towards offering their houses countrywide to sitting tenants for purchase.

The Ngambela said for the first time since independence, Western Province would have four district hospitals while Mongu-Kalabo Road was the most expensive project taking place in Zambia.

He also said the traditional leadership was considering holding a meeting with Mongu Diocese Bishop Paul Duffy because some of his statements sounded as though he was the spokesperson for the province and the Lozi people.

“We have never held an audience with Bishop Duffy but it is our plan to do so. We want to meet and understand in what capacity he speaks for the province and from there we will see what next,” he said.

The Ngambela said President Banda and his Government should not be discouraged by the negative campaign orchestrated by some Catholic priests such as Bishop Duffy.

It was not correct for anyone to suggest that a whole province could all at once be against the Government because people were at liberty to hold different opinions on matters of governance.

He said there was no gauge to show that the province was against the Government and that the traditional leadership would always work with the current administration for the benefit of the people.

The Ngambela said Zambia was one nation born in 1964 and was optimistic that unity would always prevail despite the pockets of campaigns aimed at causing divisions.[pullquote]The Ngambela said for the first time since independence, Western Province would have four district hospitals while Mongu-Kalabo Road was the most expensive project taking place in Zambia.[/pullquote]

He said campaigns, including a recent failed scheme aimed at having the Kuomboka traditional ceremony cancelled, were in direct conflict with the stand of the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE).

The Ngambela said he had to go on air to announce that the ceremony would take place and urged the people of Western Province to ignore the fliers that suggested otherwise.

He said the BRE had been engaging the Government on developmental issues and was happy that schools, hospitals, roads and farming inputs were being delivered to farmers in the province and the rest of the country.

The Ngambela said royal establishment had always been against calls for secession and that people who protested early this year in support of calls to separate the province from the rest of Zambia did not have any blessings of the Litunga who was a staunch supporter of the “One Zambia, One nation” motto.

He urged the people of Western Province to remain calm and support Government programmes to promote peace and co-existence.

[Times of Zambia]

THE MMD in Eastern Province has unearthed a scheme in which Chipata Central member of Parliament and deputy minister for Works and Supply Lameck Mangani’s wife, Mary, has allegedly been promising a man challenging the current Chief Chikuwe, that the Patriotic Front (PF) will give him the throne if he campaigns for its president, Michael Sata to take power.

Mrs Mangani has allegedly been working with a member of the Eastern Province MMD executive committee to lure people in the chiefdom into defecting to the PF, using the dispute surrounding the chieftaincy.

However, the two women’s mission is reported to have flopped after their major target, Mr Maron Mbewe, who has contested the Chikuwe chieftaincy in court, rejected their overture and informed MMD leaders about their attempt to lure him and other people to the PF.

And MMD Eastern Province chairperson Kennedy Zulu says the revelation has answered questions the party raised when Mr Mangani held a private meeting with former Minister of Lands Judith Kapijimpanga just a few days after the latter defected from the MMD to the PF.

It is alleged that MrsMangani has been working with MMD Eastern Province vice chairlady Deborah Kamanga in her campaigns for Mr Sata and that on April 14, the two were on a campaign trail in Chief Chikuwe’s area, trying to capitalise on the succession wrangle in the chiefdom to garner support for the PF leader.

Former MMD Chipata district secretary Samuel Phiri said on April 20 that Mrs Mangani and Ms Kamanga informed people in the chiefdom, located in Chipata’s Kasenengwa Constituency, that President Banda is not interested in resolving the succession wrangle or helping Mr Mbewe to become Chief Chikuwe.

Mr Phiri said the pair then told the people to vote for Mr Sata, whom they claimed will resolve the succession dispute, and that President Banda has done nothing in the last two years he has been in power.

“I challenge the two to prove their innocence on the matter because the evidence against them is overwhelming.

People in the chiefdom are upset with the behaviour of these two unreliable women and I urge the party leadership in the province to flash out such people because they are misleading people and tarnishing our party’s image in the province,” Mr Phiri said.

He said Mrs Mangani and Ms Kamanga’s conduct is unpatriotic and tantamount to being in bad standing with the party.

“They are bad seeds who can easily contaminate innocent MMD members. As MMD in Eastern Province, we will not tolerate the behaviour of the two. They don’t mean well for President Banda and the party, and I challenge them to show where their loyalty lies because they seem to be anti-MMD,” he said.

And former Kasenengwamember of Parliament Timothy Nyirenda confirmed that he was present when Mr Mbewe’s envoys reported the activities of the two women to the MMD leaders.

“Yes, it is true that the report was made and I was present when men from Mr MaronMbewe made the report,” Mr Nyirenda said.

When reached for comment, MrsMangani denied campaigning for Mr Sata.

[pullquote]“I am not a politician, and I am not interested in campaigning for PF or MMD. We need to go round so that we can check on how these clubs are running, it’s not that we are campaigning,” Mrs Mangani said.[/pullquote]

She said her involvement in the running of women’s clubs since 2007 has forced her to go round the province and that some people mistook her frequent trips for campaign trails.

“I am not a politician, and I am not interested in campaigning for PF or MMD. We need to go round so that we can check on how these clubs are running, it’s not that we are campaigning,” Mrs Mangani said.

And Ms Kamanga said she is not aware of the matter.

And MMD Eastern Province chairperson Kennedy Zulu said the revelation has shed some light on Mr Mangani’s meeting with Mrs Kapijimpanga.

Mr Zulu said the MMD provincial leadership will soon meet and chart the way forward because Mrs Mangani may not be working alone.

He said the leaders will also summon Mr Mangani, who is also Deputy Minister of Works and Supply, because it is not possible that his wife can be involved in such activities without the husband’s knowledge.

Mr Zulu said the party leadership is also aware that Mr Mangani has allegedly been wooing his supporters in Chipata Central Constituency to follow him when he defects from the MMD.

He said it is sad that Mr Mangani can be seen to be fighting the MMD and President Banda.

“The fact that he lost an election at the MMD national convention doesn’t mean that is the end of the road. He should just concentrate on his constituency and continue serving as deputy minister.

These allegations are serious. We have verified them and found that they are true,” he said.

But Mr Mangani wondered how his wife could ask people to campaign for PF when her husband is a serving minister in the MMD Government.

He said it was not possible for Mrs Mangani to campaign in Chikuwe, which is in Chipangali Constituency, when he (Mr Mangani) is member of Parliament for Chipata Central.

“I really doubt that story. What I know is that she has been busy meeting women’s clubs. They got some money from the CEEC (Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission) and she told me she was going to check how far the clubs have gone with the balances on the loans,” he said.

Mr Mangani said nobody had told him anything about his wife trying to lure anyone to vote for Mr Sata, and promised to find out if it is true.

“I have spoken to my wife and she looked surprised. She told me the story seems to be a fabrication,” he said.

He said Mrs Mangani oversees 92 women’s clubs as patron while Ms Kamanga is the chairlady of the Chipata Central Women in Development Association.

“My wife was in Eastern Province for only a week, and has been accompanied by Ms Kamanga only once,” he said.

[Zambia Daily Mail]

Mansa Community Radio Station Management has denied allegations that the station aired a news article that was believed to have contributed to the riots that recently engulfed the town this week killing three people.

And ZANIS reports that calm has now been restored in Mansa town, the provincial capital of Luapula province following Police and other relevant officials who have kept vigil in the area.

Station Manager Oswald Chansa says the radio station is purely catholic which promotes love and peace saying there is no way his institution could engage itself in acts of anarchy and lawlessness.

Father Chansa in a statement released to ZANIS in Mansa yesterday that said the story in question is unrealistic, unfounded and a deliberate attempt to malign and implicate the community radio station.

He strongly advised people behind the allegations to immediately stop and show responsibility in the manner of addressing to problems.

The community radio station manager stated that the mix-up could have come from a news item where a pregnant woman died in an unclear circumstance at a named place, 40 kilometres away from Mansa.

Fr. Chansa added that the death of the woman was not in any way connected to rituals in the district.

[pullquote]The community radio station manager stated that the mix-up could have come from a news item where a pregnant woman died in an unclear circumstance at a named place, 40 kilometres away from Mansa.[/pullquote]

ZANIS Crew that toured Kapesha Senama market and nearby other trading areas revealed that business activities had normalised as some traders were selling their merchandises,. as usual.

Meanwhile, Luapula province Minister Besa Chimbaka is tomorrow expected to hold consultative talks with the authorities in the area.

The caucus meeting is meant to iron out the problems caused during riots.

Police have since recovered some properties that were looted by the residents as police have intensified patrols in the area in order to bring law and order to Mansa town.

ZANIS

President Rupiah Banda has said that the Government will take over payment of salaries to doctors and nurses at Beit Cure Hospital along Kabwe road in Lusaka.

The President made the announcement after touring the hospital which specialises in the treatment of children with disabilities.

Mr. Banda said he was touched by the commitment shown by the staff at the private hospital where children and adults from all parts of Zambia were receiving treatment at no cost.

The President visited the hospital to see first-hand the surgical operations being conducted by veteran United States constructive surgeon Joseph Clawson.

Dr Clawson, who is also known as “Doctor of the Poor” is in Zambia at the President’s invitation and will return to the United States on Saturday.

President Banda said he first learnt about Dr Clawson’s surgical operations when he watched a documentary on CNN which showed him performing his works in Zimbabwe. It was at that point that the President initiated Dr Clawson’s invitation which the he gladly accepted.

Mr. Banda directed the Ministry of Health to begin the process of taking over the payment of salaries to the Beit Cure Hospital doctors and nurses.

The President was also happy that the mobile health services, for which he has been roundly criticized by some opposition leaders, were being offered by Beit Cure Hospital in their own mobile facilities.

This is according to a statement to ZANIS from State House signed by the President’s Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations , Dickson Jere in Lusaka, today.

ZANIS