The Hope for human rights has charged that Zambians should not be misled that the patriotic front president Michael Sata supports homosexuality.

Hope for human rights executive director Smart Chanda has stated that after close analysis of the gay allegations, it has come to the organizations knowledge that Sata does not support homosexuality.

Mr. Chanda says that Zambians should analyze the allegations other than commenting on something they do not understand.

In an interview with QFM radio, Mr. Chanda has clarified that Mr. Sata was recognizing laws that were talking about homosexuality.

He says that Mr. Sata never meant to support the homosexual relationships as alleged by some media organizations and civil society organizations.

He has further called on Zambians to study the statements before making their opinions known.

QFM

The United Party for National Development (UPND) says it will formally summon Colonel Panji Kaunda to exculpate himself and explain media reports that he endorsed the candidature of PF leader Michael Sata in this year’s elections.

UPND presidential adviser Douglas Siakalima has told QFM news that Colonel Kaunda’s statement that Mr. Sata is the right candidate for this year’s elections is an indication that he has chased himself from the UPND.

Mr. Siakalima says Colonel Kaunda is hopeful that Mr. Sata will win this year’s elections hence his move to side with the PF leader.

He says people like Colonel Kaunda always looked for opportunities to be linked with ruling parties for personal benefit.

But when asked on whether the UPND has any plans of extending its disciplinary action to Professor Clive Chirwa for proposing that Mr. Sata was the most preferred candidate at the time the pact was still alive, Mr. Siakalima said professor Chirwa has apologized for his actions.

He adds taking disciplinary action against Professor Chirwa would be unfair because PF secretary General Wynter Kabimba was to blame for the leakage of information that was deemed confidential.

And party president Hakainde Hichilema has challenged Panji Kaunda to leave UPND and join the Patriotic Front (PF) so that he can effectively campaign for PF leader Michael Sata.

[pullquote]“As UPND, we have passed the stage of reconciling with PF and if Col Kaunda thinks Mr Sata is a better presidential candidate of the pact, he should leave UPND and join PF so that he can campaign effectively for the PF leader,” Mr Hichilema said.[/pullquote]

Mr Hichilema said Colonel Kaunda did not own UPND and was, therefore, free to leave and join the PF to enable him campaign for Mr Sata whom he felt was a better presidential candidate.

He was reacting to Col Kaunda’s statement during the Copperbelt Pact Forum at Jubilee Lodge in Kitwe that he believed Mr Sata could lead Zambia and that Mr Hichilema should be Mr Sata’s vice-president.

One of the resolutions which constituted what was called the ‘Jubilee Declaration’ was that Mr Hichilema should accept to be vice-president to Mr Sata, failure to which members of the pact should identify who should lead the pact.

But when contacted, Mr Hichilema said the UPND had gone beyond the stage of reconciling with the PF because the former pact partners had failed to exhibit seriousness on important national issues.

He said Col Kaunda should leave the UPND because he (Hichilema) was not ready to be vice-president to Mr Sata.

“As UPND, we have passed the stage of reconciling with PF and if Col Kaunda thinks Mr Sata is a better presidential candidate of the pact, he should leave UPND and join PF so that he can campaign effectively for the PF leader,” Mr Hichilema said.

Mr Hichilema said Col Kaunda did not form the UPND and nothing would change even if he left the party.

He said PF officials were insisting that Mr Sata be the presidential candidate of the pact because they were more interested in sharing positions than serving the interests of Zambians.

Mr Hichilema said the PF had failed to explain how it would improvepeople’s lives, but insisted that Mr Sata should be the candidate of the pact because it wanted to share positions and enrich from the national resources.

QFM

A ZNBC news crew was Sunday afternoon whisked away from a Patriotic Front-PF supporters’ attempted attack after the party’s public political meeting in Lusaka in Mandevu.

The ZNBC Reporter and Cameraman were rescued by the Patriotic Front party security.

The PF supporters accused the ZNBC news crew of filming for freelance Chanda Chimba the third’s “Stand Up for Zambia” Television programme.

They also warned that they would ensure that the ZNBC news crew does not the leave arena.

The PF supporters removed the ZNBC microphone from the podium where the party officials were addressing the public rally.

PF officials later removed the shield, which had a ZNBC label and put the microphone at the podium.

Meanwhile two people who include a fifteen year old boy of Lusaka’s Kanyama compound are nursing serious wounds after they were allegedly shot and wounded by PF caders over the weekend.

The incident followed the fracas that happened at garden house motel were PF and MMD carders clashed.

Kanyama MMD Constituency chairman Loyd Kaseba confirmed the attack in which 16 year old Keegan Mofya sustained gun shots wounds.

And Keegan’s mother Queen Mofya has appealed for justice to prevail in her son’s shooting incident.

Mr. Kaseba also says 25 year old Charles Banda was brutally beaten by the alleged PF cadres.

He was speaking with ZNBC News in Lusaka.

And MMD Provincial vice Youth Chairman Whatson Mtonga has called on police to investigate the alleged shooting and bring the culprits to book.

Police Spokesperson Ndandula Siamana said police have not received a report over the alleged shooting incident.
[ ZNBC ]

Former Patriotic Front (PF) secretary general, Edward Mumbi has described as an act of intelligence, the decision by United Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema not to reconcile with PF leader, Michael Sata.

Mr. Mumbi said in Lusaka yesterday that Mr Hichilema’s decision showed what an intelligent and focused leader he was.

He said Mr Sata was not a person who could be trusted as he was always changing positions on important matters.

Mr. Mumbi said Mr Hichilema’s rejection of the appeal for reconciliation was justified because the PF leader always degraded his former partner in the PF/UPND Pact that had now collapsed.

“Today Mr Sata has felt the pinch of his action towards Mr Hichilema. He now realises that he cannot win without UPND since PF has become very unpopular. He is actually riding on UPND’s popularity,” he said.

Forum for Leadership Search Zambia executive director, Edwin Lifwekelo said it would be unreasonable for Mr Hichilema to reconcile with Mr Sata.

He said if Mr Hichilema reconciled with Mr Sata, he would be showing Zambians that he lacked political direction.

“The writing is on the wall, once beaten twice shy. Mr Hichilema has learnt a bitter lesson and he should not fall in the same trap again,” he said.

Zambia’s former ambassador to Libya Mulondwe Muzungu said the Zambian people should reflect on the events that led to the failure of the pact and Mr Sata’s public pronouncements on homosexuality.

Mr. Muzungu said in a statement yesterday that Zambians should not embrace Mr Sata’s leadership because it would be destructive for the country.
[ Times of Zambia ]

National Democratic Focus (NDF) president Ben Mwila has said the organisations promoting the parallel vote tabulation (PVT) of election results are preparing Zambians to reject the 2011 presidential poll results.

Mr Mwila said in the likely event that the opposition lost the elections, the Press Freedom Committee of the Post Newspapers (PFC), Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) and Caritas Zambia could never have good intentions for Zambia.

He said the three organisations were always against the Government and had preferred candidates they wanted to lead Zambia.

Mr Mwila said the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) should use the current debate to bar the three organisations from accrediting as monitors because they were biased and did not mean well for both the Government and the Zambian people.

He questioned the capacity and neutrality of PFC, which was basically The Post newspaper, for them to claim they could run a process that required impartiality and maturity.

Mr Mwila said PVT was a smokescreen for the organisations to prepare ground for the rejection of the election results by announcing their own figures, and lead to confusion like it happened in Zimbabwe and Kenya.

The Nchelenge parliamentarian said ECZ had credible systems that could be relied upon at all times.

He said PFC, SACCORD, and Caritas Zambia were behaving as if they were an extension of the opposition Patriotic Front, and wondered why donors selected them when they knew that they were always critical of the Government even when it was performing well.

Mr Mwila also described Catholic priest Frank Bwalya and Citizens Forum executive director Simon Kabanda as failed clerics who had now turned to politics to help cause confusion.
[ Times of Zambia ]

FIVE opposition political parties have rejected the passionate plea by the Patriotic Front (PF) to form a loose alliance with it and help it win the forthcoming tripartite elections.

The rebuff comes barely a day after United Party for National Development president Hakainde Hichilema said his party is not ready to work with the PF, dismissing the latter’s invitation to revive the now defunct pact between the two parties as mere public relations.

And the MMD says PF president Michael Sata’s plea for help from other opposition political parties is a sign of desperation and realisation that the PF cannot win this year’s tripartite elections.

The United Liberal Party (ULP) said it cannot go into a pact with the PF because doing so would be unwise.

ULP secretary-general Langtone Sichone said in an interview yesterday Mr Sata is allegedly a greedy person who would not want to leave the position of president to any person if he got it.

“It will be foolish and naive for anyone to get into a pact with Mr Sata when everyone knows that he caused the split of the PF-UPND pact,” Mr Sichone said.

Mr Sichone wondered why Mr Sata wants to form a pact with other opposition political parties when he did not want to engage them when the PF-UPND alliance was in existence.

Forum for Progressive Politics (FPP) secretary-general Charles Kafumbo said his organisation will not form an alliance with the PF, but will instead support President Banda and the MMD in the forthcoming tripartite elections.

Mr Kafumbo said his party has decided to rally behind the MMD because of its good manifesto, which has helped to uplift the living standards of people in the country.

He said FPP is willing to work with the MMD because of the good economic policies, which have improved the economy of the country.

The United National Independent Party (UNIP) said it will not form an alliance with the PF.

UNIP general secretary Jemima Banda said UNIP will not accept to work with Mr Sata because of his poor political leadership skills.

And the National Democratic Focus (NDF) has rejected the request from Mr Sata to form an alliance with the PF as a way of helping his party win this year’s tripartite elections.

NDF president Benjamin Mwila said his party cannot form an alliance with the PF because its leader, Mr Sata, is inconsistent and lacks understanding of modern politics.

[pullquote]”The problem with the big man (Mr Sata) is that he is not consistent with some of his statements, which is not good for a person who is aspiring for the highest office in the land,” Mr Senka said.[/pullquote]

Mr Mwila said in an interview in Lusaka on March 20 he cannot work with Mr Sata because the opposition leader has proved to be a failed political leader, who cannot add any value to the overall economic development of the nation if elected president of the country.

“My party can’t work with Mr Sata or the PF because Mr Sata is inconsistent with modern politics. He distorted my party’s name by changing it from Zambia Republican Party to National Democratic Focus. So, how can I trust this person?” he asked.

“Mr Sata is not a person to trust. This issue is out of question because the man does not stand for the truth,” he said.

Newly formed Unified Party for Democracy and Development (UPDD) chancellor Felix Senka said Mr Sata is a difficult person to work with, and his party cannot waste time associating with Mr Sata because he is dictatorial.

Mr Senka said in an interview in Mufulira on March 20 it is shocking that Mr Sata is pleading with opposition political parties to form loose alliances with him so that he can win this year’s elections when he failed to work with the UPND.

[pullquote]”In the first place, it is not a matter of changing government. For us, it is better to allow the MMD in power than bringing in the likes of PF and its leader Michael Sata,” he said.[/pullquote]

Mr Senka said his party cannot not enter into a political alliance with the PF because of Mr Sata’s dictatorial tendencies.

“These are the same people who called UPND president Hakainde Hichilema an under-five politician. They called UPND junior partners of the pact. Our party, the UPDD, cannot even think of joining hands with Mr Sata because he is not a good leader,” Mr Senka said.

He also warned Zambians against voting the MMD out of power this year.

“In the first place, it is not a matter of changing government. For us, it is better to allow the MMD in power than bringing in the likes of PF and its leader Michael Sata,” he said.

“The problem with the big man (Mr Sata) is that he is not consistent with some of his statements, which is not good for a person who is aspiring for the highest office in the land,” Mr Senka said.

Over 1,000 UPND members in Mufulira recently broke away from UPND to form the UPDD, with Mr Senka as its leader.

Mr Sata was quoted by the Sunday Mail on March 20 as having pleaded with “small” opposition political parties to help PF win this year’s tripartite election by forming loose political alliances with his party.

He is reported to have made the plea on March 19 when opening the PF’s Lusaka provincial conference at Garden House Hotel.

And MMD acting national secretary Chembe Nyangu said in an interview in Lusaka on March 20 it is clear that Mr Sata has now realised he will never win this year’s elections, hence begging for help from ‘small’ parties.

“These guys have realised the MMD is getting stronger everyday. That is why Mr Sata has started begging for help to remove the MMD from power. He will not succeed to remove us from power because we have become stronger than we were before,” Mr Nyangu said.

Mr Nyangu said the break-up of the PF- UPND pact has increased Mr Sata’s desperation for power.

[Zambia Daily Mail]

President Rupiah Banda has condemned and apologized for the violence between the opposition Patriotic Front (PF) and MMD cadres yesterday in Lusaka.

The two parties fought violent battles on the sidelines of a PF Lusaka Provincial conference at Garden House hotel.

President Banda has said it is sad that both the MMD and PF failed to co-exist in the area surrounding the Garden House Hotel.

“I am very sorry about that. I asked one of my colleagues who knew something about it. It is not justified, but I just want to say I am sorry. We don’t want this kind of thing,” he said.

Mr Banda said political party cadres should learn to co-exit and avoid all forms of confrontation.

The President said he understands that PF youths went to pull out a flag from a grocery shop run by one of the MMD members, a situation that infuriated the shop owner and other MMD cadres who later fought back at PF supporters.

“Why can’t we live side by side? They can put a PF flag here, MMD there, UPND there. I am sorry about that, and I condemn it,” he said.

Mr Banda has since called on the church to pray for the forthcoming general elections, just like it has always done in the past.

[pullquote]”Why can’t we live side by side? They can put a PF flag here, MMD there, UPND there. I am sorry about that, and I condemn it,” he said.[/pullquote]

The President said this at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Lusaka during the installation of Reverend Albert Chama, as Anglican Archbishop of central Africa.  With his installation, Archbishop Chama will now oversee Zambia, Botswana, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

Hundreds of Anglican Church members, their leaders and government officials attended the installation ceremony.

Meanwhile, at least 5 people have been arrested in connection with yesterday’s violence between Patriotic Front (PF) and MMD cadres.

Yesterday, PF and MMD cadres engaged in a violent fight on the sidelines of the opposition party’s Lusaka Provincial conference at garden house hotel.

Police service spokesperson, Ndandula Siamana has confirmed the arrest of the five people.

Ms Siamana has further said the police have instituted a probe in he matter, which will include other subsidiary issues.

MUVITV