Chief government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha has described Patriotic Front leader Michael Sata’s political tactics as old fashioned.

Lieutenant General Shikapwasha said Mr. Sata is only showing his incapability of becoming a leader as he is a violent man.

He said his conduct on Thursday at the Drug Enforcement Commission were PF cadres who had accompanied him turned violent after being tear-gassed is only exhibited by individuals who are no longer interested in the county’s security.

Lieutenant Shikapwasha, who is also information minister said in an interview that Zambians will not allow anyone to disturb the peace the country has continued to enjoy.

He added that it is unfortunate the PF Leader is the one in the fore-front of perpetuating violence in the country instead of him condemning it.

The chief government spokesperson has since advised Mr. Sata to put his house in order to avoid more violence during the 2011 general elections.
[ QFM ]

Thirteen people among them two babies have died on the Kapiri-Kabwe road in a road traffic accident involving a canter truck and a Petrotech- fuel tanker.

Meanwhile, eight people have survived the same accident which happened last night around 21:00 hours after a head-on collision of the canter truck and the fuel tanker.

Both drivers from the accident vehicles are among the dead.

The fuel tanker registration number ABT 3209 coming from Ndola enroute to Lusaka was carrying 21000 liters of petrol and 17000 litters of diesel when it collided with the canter truck which had at least 23 passengers on board.

A ZANIS crew which rushed to the scene of the accident at Vuba area on the Kapiri –Kabwe road found police led by Police Deputy Commissioner- Operations, Dr. Solomon Jere and fire brigade still pulling out bodies of the victims from the wreckage.

By press time the canter truck which was carrying bundles of fish was still trapped underneath the fuel tanker.

Smashed bodies of victims could be seen within the mangled canter truck which was trapped underneath the oil Tanker.

Police Deputy Commissioner, Solomon Jere told ZANIS that the accident happened when the driver of the canter which was coming from Kabwe veered off the rightful lane to avoid hitting into a stationary truck.

Dr. Jere said the driver of the canter truck tried to avoid the stationary truck on his lane resulting in him going into the other lane were he collided with an on coming Oil Tanker which was on its rightful lane.

He said police do not know the exact number of bodies trapped under the fuel tanker as they were still awaiting a crane from Lusaka to move the tanker.

Dr. Jere said the operation was also considering decanting the fuel from the tanker to make it lighter for it to be easily hoisted from over the canter.
[pullquote]“As you can see the tanker is still on top of the canter truck and the crane that we have is smaller so we have called for reinforcement for a bigger crane so that we remove the tanker. The other option is to decant the fuel from the tanker but this is also proving to be a delicate operation,” Dr. Jere said.[/pullquote]
He however said police and fire brigade have only managed to pull out 13 dead bodies among them two children who have since been taken to Kabwe General Hospital Mortuary.

The Deputy Commissioner said police are still working out ways of retrieving the bodies which were still believed to be trapped in the canter truck beneath the oil tanker.

Dr. Jere said the eight survivors have been rushed to Kabwe general Hospital for treatment describing their conditions as critical.

“As you can see the tanker is still on top of the canter truck and the crane that we have is smaller so we have called for reinforcement for a bigger crane so that we remove the tanker. The other option is to decant the fuel from the tanker but this is also proving to be a delicate operation,” Dr. Jere said.

Dr. Jere blamed the accident on careless driving and overloading on the part of the canter truck driver.

Dr. Jere advised motorists to observe traffic rules to avoid such tragic accidents which cost lives of people.

He described the accident as the worst that has happened in a long while in the country.

Two other vehicles were also extensively damaged from the accident after they avoided ramming into the fuel tanker.

The two vehicles were following the fuel tanker which collided with the canter.

All passengers from the other two vehicles survived with minor injuries.
[ ZANIS ]

A Copperbelt based senior citizen has praised government for coming up with a mechanism of closely checking on Non Governmental Organizations who were receiving resources from the donors to see whether such resources were reaching the intended beneficiaries.

Mr. Paison Kasompe told ZANIS in Ndola that government should be commended for the mechanism of following up on NGOs who were claiming to be doing some projects of assisting the poor in communities to see whether they were indeed doing something on the ground.

He said there were many NGOs which were claiming to be addressing certain community problems with the people but there was no corresponding effect on the ground.

He said it was important for government to strengthen the monitoring and checking mechanism for all registered NGOs so that through such efforts, there could emerge strong institutional systems which should be user friendly in ensuring that the poor people in the community were not just being paraded as justification for receiving donor aid but in fact not the beneficiaries.

He added that it was shocking that most NGO directors were living luxurious lives and driving the most expensive vehicles at the expense of the poor people registered in their books for donors to see.

Mr. Kasompe said it was important for government to take interest in what NGOs were claiming to be doing on the ground through such follow up checks on where the purported support from well wishers and donors had gone after a year or two of receiving it.

He said many NGOs were lacking administration capacities and needed to be helped in areas where they were manifesting weaknesses.

He said through various registration offices it was important for government to come up with a directory for all NGOs even going from district to district and measure the relevance of the existing NGOs in the communities they claim to be serving.

He recommended that those which do not live up to their mandate should be helped through linkages and networking mechanisms with others in order for them to become useful and relevant in society.

ZANIS

Parliament heard today that government spent $11 million in foreign legal fees in the London court case involving second republican president Fredrick Chiluba.

Justice Deputy Minister Todd to the house that government spent $2.3 million on local legal fees in addition to k1.2 billion.

Mr Chilembo says government spent K305 million in travel expenses for the Attorney General and support staff.

He explained that travel costs for officers from the defunct task force on corruption staff amounted to K211 million.

Mr Chilembo was responding to a question by Solwezi central Member of Parliament Watson Lumba who wanted to know how much money the Government spent in the London Court case involving the Second Republican President in legal fees and travel costs for the Attorney General and support staff,and what the benefit of the case is to the country.

And vice president George Kunda who is also Justice Minister said government did not appeal for the registration of the London judgment in the Zambian courts to avoid incurring more costs in a futile exercise.

He says the Attorney General guided government that it would be an exercise in futility to lodge an appeal for the registration of the London judgment.

The vice president however says government has managed to recover money and property from some of the defendants including Meer Care and Desai and former Zambian ambassador to the US Atan Shansonga.

QFM

Government through the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has bought about 156,789 by 50 kilogramme bags of white maize at a cost of over K10.1billion in Solwezi district of North Western Province.

Solwezi District Commissioner Frobisher Fulayi disclosed that K9, 840,480,000 has so far been paid to the farmers while K305,805,000 for 5 397 by 50 kg bags of white maize was yet to be paid.

Mr. Fulayi said over 95 percent of the purchased crop had been mopped up to the main storage depot.

He told ZANIS in an interview in Solwezi today that mitigation measures have been put in place to secure the crop from being soaked by rains.

Mr. Fulayi said the maize had been covered with tents where sheds are not available.

The District Commissioner expressed gratitude to Government for its commitment towards paying farmers for the maize purchased, adding that this would enable farmers plan for the 2010/2011 farming season.

Mr. Fulayi encouraged farmers to plan effectively and work even harder to have another bumper harvest to sustain food security at household level.

[ ZANIS ]

UPND members of Parliament (MPs) have said they do not regret participating in the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) as the draft Constitution born out of the exercise is better than the current Constitution.

Responding to a question in Lusaka yesterday during a Press briefing on whether the UPND was not ashamed of having taken part in the NCC, the parliamentarians led by Monze MP Jack Mwiimbu said it was a worthwhile decision to take part in the exercise.

Mr Mwiimbu, who is UPND chairperson for legal affairs, said it was going to be shameful for the party if the Government failed to take the draft Constitution to Parliament, which was not the case.

“As UPND MPs, we are not ashamed of having participated in the NCC. We would be if the Government decided not to bring the draft Constitution to Parliament. The NCC was not formed to enact a Constitution but to make recommendations.

“The enactment of the Constitution is the domain and jurisdiction of Parliament, which is the body with powers to alter or repeal the Draft Constitution,” Mr Mwiimbu said.

Mr Mwiimbu said the draft Constitution Bill would be tabled in Parliament next year and the House shall decide on the matter.

“In fact, the draft Constitution is even better than the current Constitution. It has good clauses which are in the interest of the Zambian people although many other good ones were rejected,” Mr Mwiimbu said.

“There is no doubt that the UPND did its best in the NCC deliberations, that is why contentious issues like the 50 plus one as well as the bill of rights have been referred to the referendum.

“In any case, it is not too late. Zambians have to lobby MPs to ensure they debate the Draft Constitute in their interest for a good product. In fact, even the 50per cent plus-one clause can be reintroduced,” Mr Mwiimbu noted.

“We cannot have a pact without the backing of the Constitution but with this provision in the Draft Constitution, the pact will be consummated. It will, therefore, be wrong to say the Draft Constitution is not okay, it has good clauses that are progressive,” he said.

Mr Mwiimbu said the MMD did not even have the two-thirds majority to enable it pass the new Constitution but it would still need to lobby the opposition to do so and the UPND would render its support if the interest of the Zambian people came first.

Mapatizya MP Ackison Sejani said it was not shameful for his party to have taken part in the NCC because it contributed enormously to the deliberations of the body on contentious clauses which were now referred to the referendum.

His Mazabuka counterpart Garry Nkombo said it would have been folly for the UPND to go against its decision in Parliament by not participating in the NCC.

Mr Nkombo said when the law to enact the new document was passed in the House, all the UPND, PF and the MMD members supported it.

Kalomo MP Request Muntanga said the party participated in the NCC because it believed that it would help change things from within the body and not outside.
[ Times of Zambia ]