The UPND has accused the PF government of having failed the people of Zambia since it assumed government in September 2011.
UNPD chief advisor, Douglas Siyakalima says President Sata has failed to fulfill the promises he made to the Zambian people during the 2011 election campaigns.
Mr Siyakalima says President Sata has deviated people’s attention to the fight against corruption which he said is only targeting political opponents .
And Mr Siyakalima told a media briefing that publishing of the Baroste agreement in the media will not solve anything because the document has been in the public domain.
But State House says the Patriotic Front Government has managed to free the media from the shackles of the former ruling party the MMD which used to black out the voice of opposition political parties.
President Sata’s Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations,George Chella says Mr Siyakalima should appreciate that today opposition political parties are free to voice their views using the public media.
Mr ChellaA said this was not the case during the MMD regime.
He advised UPND to present meaningful opposition to the government because at the moment the party is only pretending not to notice the changes the PF government has brought since the September 2011 poll.
LAP Green Network Chairman Wafik Alshater has described as completely baseless accusations that Zamtel was undervalued at the point of sale.
Mr Alshater in an electronic statement released to QFM has also dismissed allegations of wrong-doing by LAP Green during the acquisition of the 75 percent stake in Zamtel.
Mr Alshater claimed that LAP Green followed due, facilitated by a consortium of internationally renowned professional service companies, including Standard Bank, Denton Wilde Sapte and KPMG South Africa.
He said that the open and competitive bid process was overseen by the Zambia Development Agency and included the direct involvement of the Attorney General and international legal advisers, Simmons and Simmons.
Mr Alshater added that the 75% stake sold to LAP Green in June 2010 for $257 million about K1.37 trillion constituted the highest amount ever paid for a privatized company in Zambia and was at the time one of the higher valuations for a telecoms asset in Africa
He said that Zamtel is a successful turnaround story and that LAP Green remains keen to cooperate with the Zambian government to ensure the continued growth and success of the company.
And Mr Alshater has accused the media in Zambia of subjecting LAP Green to a concerted campaign of misinformation.
He said that the willful misrepresentation of LAP Green has forced the company to explore legal options to protect its reputation.
Nkana coach Linos Makwaza has pledged to remain at the Wusakile side despite reported interest from other clubs.
Last season, Makwaza guided Nkana to a respectable top eight finish in the Super Division.
The Power Dynamos legend told LT Sports in Kitwe that he is not leaving the legendary club.
Makwaza declared that he enjoyed his first season at Nkana.
“I am not moving away from Nkana. I have enjoyed my stay here,” he said.
“I think football is not about money but passion for the game.”
He indicated that after commiting his his future at Nkana, it is now up to the club officials to renew his contract if they need his services.
“It is now in the hands of the officialls if they say they need me i will continue but if they say that they don’t need me that will be another story,” stressed Makwaza, who was found drilling his sqaud at Nkana Staduim on Thursday afternoon.”
Former Labour and Social Security Minister Austin Liato
The Lusaka Magistrate court was today packed with heavy presence of police as trunks and money were taken to court for identification in the case involving former Labour Minister Austin Laito.
Mr. Liato who had his indictment substituted yesterday is charged with possession of property suspected to be proceeds of crime.
Before Magistrate Aridah Chulu was Paul Kayando, a witness, who identified the trunks and two safes where the money was being kept.
Kayando, a former worker at Mr. Austin Liato’s farm in Mwembeshi identified the items in question following an application by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Mutembo Nchito.
Kayando testified that he and his colleagues witnessed the excavation of the money and that the money was counted at the Lusaka Central Police Station.
He told the court that one trunk contained K1.1 billion while the other had K1 billion.
He also told the court that his wife and his colleague’s wives fainted upon seeing the money adding that the place where the money was discovered had an alarm system.
Kayando added that Liato threatened to kill him and his colleagues and falsely imprisoned them in his car and moved them around.
Kayando further testified that Liato accused them of having divulged the presence of money at his farm.
Later the money and trunks where whisked away from the court premises as the court moved to Liato’s farm in Mwembeshi.
Zambia has robust maize stocks and sees little risk in using them to partly fill a regional gap as a supply crunch looms in southern Africa, pushing up futures prices for the staple and accelerating food inflation.
South Africa is now importing maize to make up for deficits due to export commitments, while Malawi, which recorded a series of bumper crops helped by subsidies, has suspended exports because of reported shortages.
But Zambia, which is exporting to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Mozambique, Botswana, Burundi and Namibia, feels it has enough stocks.
“We are monitoring the situation very carefully to ensure that we don’t end up importing maize. I think we are standing on very firm ground in terms of food security,” Zambia’s Agriculture Minister Emmanuel Chenda said.
“We had more than one million tonnes of surplus maize. We decided to export 600,000 tonnes because we didn’t have storage space and so far we have sold 200,000 tonnes,” he said.
But analysts are concerned about Lusaka’s costly spend on maize purchases from farmers, done via the Food Reserve Agency.
Brian Tembo, an Economics Association of Zambia analyst, said the government was buying the maize at above market prices and selling it at reduced prices. He said this meant the government was effectively using “Treasury funds to subsidise the region.”
Zambia harvested 3 million tonnes of maize in the 2010/11 season, from the 2.8 million tonnes the previous season. Zambia’s maize season runs from October to August.
Zambia’s big yields have been attributed to government subsidies to peasant farmers in the form of fertilizer and seeds. However, the crop ultimately depends on rain and the agriculture minister has said the 2011/12 season had gotten off to a bad start because of erratic weather.
Zamtel has announced its marked mobile subscriber growth from less than 100, 000 to a million customers in within 12 months. Zamtel Chief Commercial Officer, Amon Jere, attributed the one million milestone to diligent leadership with an abated focus on investment into the Zamtel network.
The nation’s only total communication solutions provider has over the past 12 months invested to expand the GSM coverage from 261 sites to above 400 sites while at the same time deploying over 250 new 3G sites in the key cities across Zambia.
“I am proud to say that through an execution of a number of initiatives, our mobile market share has also grown from 3.5% to 11% and our broadband subscriber base has grown from 100 or so subscribers at the beginning of the year to over 4,000,” said Mr. Jere.
As a result of the successful implementation of a number of initiatives to improve efficiency levels, Zamtel posted an EBITDA margin of 13% at the end of 2011, the first time in the recent history of the company that a positive EBITDA margin was recorded.
In addition to the above positive developments, management also expanded the network core, implemented a new billing system, deployed a new ISP core and a number of Value Added Services, all adding up to the Zamtel growth.
Further, as part of the company’s strategic action to improve customer touch points, Zamtel managed to count six newly fitted centers –Manda Hill, Cross Roads, Cairo Mall, Lumumba Road, Livingstone Falls Park Mall and Levy Business Park. In addition, renovation works have advanced at Ridgeway which will also act as the regional office for Lusaka while the centres in Kitwe and Chipata are on schedule to be completed within quarter one of 2012.
And in living up to its brand promise of enabling lives, Zamtel launched a unique CSR program –Water for Life in partnership with World Vision, committing K2 billion in the first phase to bring clean water to approximately 1500 households in 9 districts across Zambia.
Zamtel is 75 percent owned by the Lap Green Group of Libya, with the Zambian Government retaining 25 percent share holding. Lap Green has its footprint in six African markets, providing voice, data, fixed, internet and business continuity services to more than 4 million customers.
Upon privatization in July 2010, Lap GreenN embarked on an investment program of USD 170 million. The first phase of the investment program focused on expanding the GSM network coverage from 197 to 440 as at November 2011, and a 3G network being deployed in all the major cities across the country.
Following the re-organization, Zamtel recruited new talent and invested heavily in training and developing of its employees while at the same time building a new brand that is appealing to Zambians.
These measures resulted in the growth of mobile market share from 3.5% to 11%, 3000% growth of fixed broadband customers, a boost of revenues by 50%, staffing costs being reduced from 80% to 23% of revenues and overall operating costs being reduced from ZMK 431 billion as at 31 March 2010 to ZMK 190 Billion, representing a 55% reduction.
A TEAM from Standard and Poor’s (S&P), a renowned international rating agency is in Zambia to review the country’s economic performance and structural issues. This is the first time that S&P team is in the country to assess Zambia’s performance following the rating of B+ last year.
Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba confirmed in an interview that the team arrived in Lusaka over the weekend. The delegation is expected to hold meetings with various Government ministries and the private sector among them the Economics Association of Zambia and the Bankers Association of Zambia.
Mr Yamba said the team is expected to wind up its assessments on Zambia by Friday and present a report to Government. In a separate interview, Standard Chartered Zambia, head global markets dealing, Stanley Tamele said economic fundamentals in Zambia are strong and positive, adding that the re-evaluation of the country’s performance should not worry anyone.
Mr Tamele said assessments of a country’s performance by rating agencies are routine. He said Zambia can be rated with a B+, upgraded or downgraded depending on the performance. He said the rating and proposal by Government to issue a US$500 million euro bond targeted for infrastructure development is a good sign for economic growth.
He said by and large, the economic outlook for the country is very positive considering that last year Zambia went through an election in September that had an element of political risk but not so big considering that there is a new Government and things are stable.
“There is confidence back in the economy, we see the Kwacha in the short-term reducing to K5,050 from where it is (K5,200) and steadily making progress to about K4,900 levels,” he said.
Mr Tamele said the assessment of Zambia by S&P should not cause anxiety considering that some European countries that have had their rating were downgraded due debt crisis and defaulting on debt.
“The outlook for our economy is very positive, sub-Saharan growth is expected to be very high compared to Western where it’s expected to be very minimal…the fundamentals look good and positive and I don’t think there is much to worry especially in relation to what is happening in the Euro zone,” he said.
Some countries in the Euro zone have had their rating downgraded due to the debt crisis.
Former High commissioner to Canada Dr.Nevers Mumba
The Zambian mission in Canada, Ottawa misapplied K339 Kwacha in 2010 which was part of the K898 million meant for the rehabilitation of the High Commissioner’s residence.
According to the 2010 Auditor General’s report ,of the total amount of K898 million, only K365 million was spent on renovation works, while K193 million was in the bank.
The report revealed that K 339 million was applied on unrelated activities such as settling of utility bills and payment of subsistence allowances.
It further revealed that the contractor engaged to carryout the works on Residence No.9 Mission Inn Grove was paid a down payment of K24 million but that as of May 2011, the contractor had not completed the works and had since abandoned the site.
The Audit report also revealed that in June 2010, a representational vehicle, Mercedes Benz 240 CDJ, was involved in an accident which was not reported to the Police.
It said that conquently, despite the vehicle being comprehensively insured, no insurance was claimed, but that the mission paid an amount of K26 million in repairs.
The mission during the period under review also transferred amounts totaling K403.9 million from the revenue account to operational account without authority from the Secretary to the Treasury.
The Zambian mission in Canada was headed by Dr Nevers Mumba at the time.
Yesterday, the 2010 Auditor General’s report was released with a comparison of irregularities with the 2009 report revealing a sharp increase in excess expenditure from K87.3 billion in 2009 to K814,2 billion in 2010.
In a statement released to media,Public relations officer Ellen Chikale said that misapplication of funds increased from K95.2 billion to K 220.6 billion ,while unretired imprest in the same period increased from K25.8 billion to K77.2 billion respectively.
Ms Chikale said that the report had also revealed irregularities due to undelivered materials,unaccounted for funds, excess expenditure and non recoveries of salary advance and loans.
The report has also revealed that there was delayed banking of K13.5 billion, while unaccounted for funds amounted to K3.8 billion and irregular payments amounting to K 10.3 billion
And Bishop John Mambo has charged that revelations of increased irregularities in the 2010 Auditor General’s report are a clear confirmation that Zambia stinks of corruption.
Bishop Mambo said that it was saddening to note that Zambia has been singing the song of poverty and unemployment when billions of kwacha go unaccounted for.
He said that the Patriotic Front government has a mammoth task to correct the disturbing revelations of corruption in the previous MMD government.
Bishop Mambo has however noted that the Patriotic Front government is working hard to ensure that misappropriation of funds is reduced. He has predicted that more revelations will come to the fore in view of the change of government.
Bishop Mambo in an interview with QFM radio on Wednesday appealed to civil servants to help the PF government achieve its goals.
Zambians are yet to see the worst of the man they gave the mandate to lead them and will regret why they did not listen. Where I come from they say nalikwebele tabulapo.
We warned our people that Rupiah Banda was even a better devil than Sata and they didn’t listen.Now you just have to brace yourselves for the worst because if you expect anything better after what you have so far seen in 90 days you are in for a rude shock because even Chiluba when he took over, it didn’t even take the so called 90 days.
Chiluba didn’t give himself an ultimatum yet we saw Phoenix and Shimtz contractors constructing and taring roads in all the towns in the country, end the abnormal queues for transport and essential commodities such as cooking oil, mealie meal and sugar among other things. Things like police and teacher brutality ended in less than 90 days together with smuggling and the once famous pick pocketing and the popularly known “by air” on the streets,markets and bus stations.This unlike the development Sata and team is bragging about that of rewarding his cadres like George Mpombo,
Kambwili, GBM, Panji and the legion of Post News paper staff, with good appointments and changing the names of infrastructures while prosecuting his perceived enemies in the name of fighting corruption.
People should not be deceived by cheap political propaganda of President Michael Sata and his choirmaster because if they were seriously fighting corruption, President Sata would not have appointed people who were facing criminal charges in Zambia like George Mpombo,Mutembo Nchito and Sebastian Zulu.He should not have even appointed Maxwell Nkole because we all know in Zambia that a lot of billions of kwacha were misappropriated at the Task Force.
Why has Sata found it prudent to probe people like Nevers Mumba and Hakainde Hichilema now when he is busy appointing people believed and proved to be bankrupt, crooks and those that are facing criminal charges?
What things has President Sata and PF done differently from MMD in the 90 days they have been in power, when he single sourced the contractor at state house and handed over finance bank to his friend who is suspected to have been financing his rallies and who had no doubt flouted banking ethics?
President Sata can fool Bakaponya but not us. But even Bakaponya very soon they will catch up with him and he will be in trouble.
President Sata has never been a democrat and does not have what it takes to carry the country forward and that’s the reason why he has resorted to political witch-hunting and vindictiveness.
Sata wants to silence and finish all the opposition political parties in Zambia through intimidation, witch hunt and lies and that’s the reason why he first begun by wining Memmbe and Post News paper, catholic church, KK and family and civil society in Zambia to himself while going at the opposition political leaders with the strongest venom ever and he will do anything to ensure his goal is attained -a one party sate and communism.
So he is not fighting people like HH, Nevers or even former president Rupiah Banda because they have done anything wrong, but because he wants them to either be quiet or surrender. By this I don’t mean to say that the afore mentioned are innocent. But what I basically mean is that it’s not because of what so ever they might have done wrong which they are being persecuted for, but because he doesn’t want any opposition however small to exist in Zambia.
Okey for example in the case of Hichilema, if President Sata knows that he is not straight,why did he go into an alliance with him? Who believes Sata that when he complains for example about MMD having flouted tender procedures in selling Zamtel to Libyans,when in less than 90 days he has been President he has made appointments and changes himself without following the right procedures?
As Zambia Republic Party ZRP we don’t believe him, though we are in full support that government should not even hesitate to reposes Zamtel.
President Sata’s aim no doubt is to die a President and for PF to rule for 100 years through lies, intimidation, witch hunt and completely killing democracy in Zambia; the things he is good at. I repeat Pesident Sata and his surroundings are not democrats and have never been one before. But please let him know that the REPUBLICANS are back!
A new song is taking over the airwaves on Zambian radio stations . The song is called “Vitumbuwa” it is done by 2wo-1ne, a hiphop all star group made up of K star, krytic, thugchuld, buttah Nova & Marvel. The song has got so popular a remix of it is already reportedly being produced.
It is a hot topic of discussion on social media websites such as facebook and twitter. People are in two groups those who love the song and those who hate it.
The people who hate the song say it is a meaningless song that does nothing to improve the state of Zambian music. And that zambians need to be making songs that will stand the test of time , not songs that will be hot for a month and then fade away.
Contrary to those views there are those that love the song. They say it is a fun song and music is supposed to be fun . You forget about all your problems and just let lose and enjoy the carefree , humorous song.
Take a listen to it and tell us what your view of the song is.
Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president Leonard Hikaumba
Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president Leonard Hikaumba has advised workers to engage themselves in dialogue whenever they have industrial relations disputes.
Mr. Hikaumba said the workers should engage into discussions by using the right channels to avoid industrial unrest.
He was speaking during a press briefing in Lusaka yesterday.
Mr. Hikaumba said ZCTU would assist the workers whenever they had disputes without attracting industrial unrest.
He noted that industrial unrests should not be tolerated as they are unproductive and impact negatively on the country’s economy.
Mr. Hikaumba explained that ZCTU would strive to ensure that there is industrial peace through mutual dialogue in the country.
He pointed out that the Minister of Labour should only intervene when there is need and when the unions have failed to reach a decision.
Mr. Hikaumba has since urged government to respect the tripartism, which includes government, trade unions and the employees, in dealing with industrial relations.
He further said smooth dialogue between government and the workers would help to reduce unnecessary industrial unrest in the country.
Meanwhile, Zambia Federation for Employers (ZFE) president Alfred Masupa said his federation and ZCTU agreed to involve the Minister of Labour on issues affecting the labour laws.
He observed that employees were directly linked to the government without engaging the labour unions.
Mr. Masupa added that the issue of minimum wage was addressed and it had since been handed over to Cabinet for scrutiny.
He said once Cabinet was done with the scrutiny on the minimum wage, it would be brought back to the technical team for the final say on the issue.
He further advised government to avoid putting pressure on investors saying this might force them to leave the country and invest elsewhere.
Lusaka City Council (LCC) Council Public Relations Officer Henry Kapata says the council will take appropriate measures against anyone found disposing garbage indiscriminately in the city.
Speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka yesterday, Mr. Kapata said the local authority will spare no effort to sternly deal with people in the habit of disposing of garbage anyhow.
Mr. Kapata said, like was the case on Omelo Mumba Road, whoever will be found disposing garbage in undesignated areas will be made to pick up the garbage and pay a fine of about 2500 units which is equivalent to K450,000.
He said that the act by the LCC to punish all those disposing waste is part of the Public Health Act cap 295 of the laws of Zambia.
He said that last week two Lusaka residents, Nawa Sitwala and Ntenga Mwenya were punished by the LCC for indiscriminate disposing of garbage in undesignated area and that the duo has since finished doing the punishment.
He said the two named people were told to clean the allay on Lusaka’s Omelo Mumba Road in seven days and that they have done a good job which they completed only done in four days.
The Pan African Parliament (PAP) has sworn in five (5) Zambian parliamentarians. The swearing in ceremony took place in Addis Ababa Ethiopia yesterday during the opening of the 6th Ordinary Session of the Second Parliament.
Those sworn in include; Solwezi Central MP Lucky Mulusa, Mutinta Mazoka of Pemba, Dorothy Kazunga of Kafubu, Davis Mwango of Kanchibaya and Lubansenshi MP Patrick Mucheleka.
The five Parliamentarians will represent the Zambian Parliament at the Pan African Parliament for next five years.
This is according to a statement released to ZANIS by First Secretary for Press at the Zambian Embassy in Ethiopia, Dorcas Chileshe.
Speaking after the swearing in ceremony, PAP president Moussa Idriss urged members to double their commitment and ensure that they advocate for policies which will help address the numerous challenges on the continent.
And PAP Ambassador Jerry Rawlings urged the Pan African Parliament to enhance its image and reputation by taking strong positions on various challenges affecting Africa.
The PAP 6thOrdinary Session of the Second Parliament under the theme,” Transformation of the Pan African Parliament into a legislative Organ” has attracted over 235 members from 47 AU member states.
The five (5) day Session will discuss the State of the African Union, Peace and Security on the continent and the state of Ratification of the African Charter on Democracy, Governance and Elections.
File : Zambia Red Cross Society General Secretary Charles Mushitu (r) and public relations manager James Zulu (l) talk to journalists on the Haiti earthquake aid appeal in Lusaka
The Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) has pounced on two seniors management officers at the Zambia Red Cross Society (ZRCS) who are currently being investigated by the commission for various offences including money laundering activities and seized six motor vehicles from them.
DEC acting Public Relations Officer Samuel Silomba, who confirmed the development to ZANIS in Lusaka today, said the motor vehicles were seized early this week by the officers from the commission.
Mr Silomba said investigations into the matter involving ZRCS senior management officials have reached an advanced stage.
However, he could not give out the names of the affected officers but said the nation would be kept informed of any latest development at Zambia’s largest humanitarian organisation.
Efforts to get the comment from ZRCS Secretary General Charles Mushitu proved futile as his mobile phone was switched off while Public Relations Manager, James Zulu could not comment referring all
queries to the former.
Meanwhile, sources from within Zambia Red Cross Society have revealed that the remaining few motor vehicles were being parked in different locations within Lusaka, where the commission could not find them.
The sources said the organisation has been grounded to a halt following the sudden closure in December last year of the institution after senior managers received immerse pressure from the commission to stand aside to pave way for investigations.
The workers complained that management communicated to them through telephone calls and text messages, informing them that the organisation had been closed until January 8, 2012.
The employees told ZANIS yesterday that as things stood, they received information that the humanitarian organisation might not resume operations for a very long period of time considering that seniors officers were under investigations.
The workers also complained that they had not yet received their salaries as far back as September last year and appealed to the government to serious intervene.
File: President Sata greets Finance Minister Alexander Chikweanda when he arrived from Uganda
President Sata has authorised the creation of 650 health posts across the country. This is contained in a press statement made available to the media by Special Assistant to the president for Press and Public Relations George Chellah.
The health posts and residence facilities will be equipped with solar systems, equipment and furniture, hand pumps, medicines and dressing materials among others.
As a result, President Sata has instructed the Minister of Health Dr. Joseph Kasonde, to step up the recruitment of health personnel both locally and abroad to ensure the new health posts are adquately staffed.
“I have also instructed Dr Kasonde to take a survey of the conditions of service for medical personnel in the region in order for us to see how we can curb brain drain as well as attract our well trained citizens who are currently in the Diaspora,” President Sata said.
The President’s directive is in line with the Patriotic Front campaign promise to improve the health sector by facilitating the building of vital infrastructure that will deliver primary healthcare as close as possible to the people.
“This is why we opposed the expensive procurement of mobile hospitals which have been unable to reach all parts of the country. The new health posts will expand the healthcare infrastructure and therefore reach many people in the outlying areas,” the President said.
Meanwhile, the president has created a new district called Nsama between Kaputa and Mporokoso districts in Northern Province.
In a letter to the Provincial Minister, the President directed that a suitable place for the district headquarters be identified in liason with all stakeholders, political parties and their Royal Highnesses.
[pullquote]“This is why we opposed the expensive procurement of mobile hospitals which have been unable to reach all parts of the country. The new health posts will expand the healthcare infrastructure and therefore reach many people in the outlying areas,” the President said. [/pullquote]
Last Friday, January 13, 2012 President Sata created three districts, namely:Chikankata, Chirundu and Mulobezi.
The President’s decision was in line with his campaign promise to decentralise government operations for the effective and efficient delivery of services to the people.
