THE Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has said assertions by United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema that Zambia lacks economic and social development are mere political statements meant to mislead the people.

And economist Oliver Saasa has said the assertions by Mr Hichilema are a political statement because the country has recorded substantial improvement in economic and social sectors.

ZCTU president Leonard Hikaumba said in an interview yesterday that it was misleading for anybody to suggest there was no development when infrastructure in sectors such as roads, education and health were being developed countrywide.

Mr Hikaumba said blanket statements that condemned everything the Government was doing were not healthy for the development of the country.

“It is not true there is no development, that is an understatement because there is development in almost all the sectors of the economy,” he said.

Mr Hikaumba said politicians, in spite of their party affiliations, should provide practical solutions to the problems the country was facing because citizens needed improved living standards regardless of who was in power.

And Professor Saasa said there was need to appreciate what was being done to develop the country unlike condemning every effort being made.

“We have seen a number of schools and health institutions being constructed countrywide,” he said.

Prof Saasa said the private sector should rise to the occasion and respond to the economic development taking place.

“The Sixth National Development Plan is under way, therefore economic players should take advantage of it,” he said.

He said the private sector and individuals should also make use of the development programmes such as the Citizens Economic Empowerment Fund to venture into businesses and improve living standards.

Prof Saasa said the Government had continued to provide a platform which the private sector should take advantage of, adding there was need for the people of Zambia to make use of the conducive environment so far created to generate business activities.

Meanwhile, the MMD has said the International Monetory Fund (IMF) has shamed Government critics by acknowledging the economic growth that the country has achieved.

MMD acting national secretary Chembe Nyangu said this in reaction to IMF’s statement that Zambia’s economy was performing well, with the Gross Domestic Product projected at 6.6 per cent this year.

Mr Nyangu said it was surprising it had to take outsiders to acknowledge the economic growth when some Zambians were criticising the Government that it was not doing anything.

He said some critics, especially opposition leaders, had deliberately chosen to ignore what the Government had achieved because it was an open secret that a lot of things had been achieved.

President Banda this week commissioned a K10.8 billion Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computerised Tomography (CT) scans at the Cancer Diseases Hospital in Lusaka.

And last week, secretary to the Treasury Likolo Ndalamei revealed that the country’s economy was expected to grow by 6.6 per cent a revision from the earlier projection of five per cent.

[Times of Zambia]

Speaker of National Assembly Amusa Mwanamwambwa has declared Chilanga parliamentary seat, which was under former minister of Finance and National Planning Ng’andu Magande vacant after his expulsion from the ruling party for indiscipline.

The speaker has also written the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) informing them he had not declared Kafulafuta seat vacant following the decision by former minister of Defence George Mpombo to contest the expulsion in court.

Parliamentary media liaison officer Chikomeni Banda said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that Chilanga Constituency was now vacant and the ECZ had been informed to conduct elections and fill the seat in line with the law.

Mr Banda said the speaker received a notice from the ruling party that it had expelled Mr Mpombo and Mr Magande but that his duty was to follow the law and declare vacant the seats that were not in dispute such as Chilanga.

On complaints from opposition Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata that the speaker had declined to declare the seats of the 22 rebel MPs, Mr Banda said the cases were all in court and the speaker would not touch such seats.

“That is mere politicking, those seats are in court just like Mr Mpombo’s seat. If the matter is in court, the speaker waits until the due process of the law takes its course,” Mr Banda said.

He said the same would apply to Mr Mpombo’s seat, which would not be declared vacant because his lawyers had informed Mr Mwanamwambwa’s office they intended to take legal action against the MMD.

At the beginning of this month, the ruling MMD expelled Mr Mpombo and Mr Magande who was chairperson for finance in the party after a national executive committee meeting that found them liable for constitutional breaches.

[ Times of Zambia ]

Government has demanded an apology from Roman Catholic Church priest Godfrey Mpundu for comparing frogs with human beings and urged him to stop sowing seeds of hatred for political gain.

And a non-governmental organisation has called on Father Mpundu and Mongu Diocese Bishop Paul Duffy to stop campaigning for the opposition in view of the many developments taking place in Western Province and the rest of the country.

Chief Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha said in Lusaka yesterday that it was disappointing for a priest to compare human beings to frogs and the clergyman’s statement was against the will of God.

Lieutenant General Shikapwasha said clerics should respect God’s creation and build peace in society instead of sowing seeds of hate.

He said some members of the MMD were also Catholics and Fr Mpundu’s job was to offer counsel to the Government and not to insult anybody.

“Government wishes to register its utmost disgust at allegations by Fr Godfrey Mpundu that Government has neglected the people of Lukulu District in Western Province,” Gen Shikapwasha said.

He said allegations of underdevelopment by Fr Mpundu were unfounded and calculated to incite public hate against the Government.

Gen Shikapwasha said Fr Mpundu’s statement showed how ignorant he was on developments which had taken place in Lukulu.
[pullquote]“Government wishes to register its utmost disgust at allegations by Fr Godfrey Mpundu that Government has neglected the people of Lukulu District in Western Province,” Gen Shikapwasha said.[/pullquote]
He said contrary to the clergyman’s views, the Government had continued to take development to Lukulu and Western Province as a whole to improve people’s living standards.

Various development projects in health, education, agriculture and road sectors were being implemented in both Lukulu East and Lukulu West constituencies at a cost of more than K30 billion.

“The Government has a programme to take development to all parts of the country and the people of Lukulu are witnesses to what Government is doing in their area,” Gen Shikapwasha said.

Fr Mpundu was quoted in yesterday’s edition of The Post newspaper as saying the people of Western Province were better off voting for a frog than the MMD while Bishop Duffy had said earlier that the people in the province wanted change of Government.

And Centre for Elections and Governance chairperson, Gershom Musonda said in Lusaka yesterday that his team had just arrived from Western Province where the Government was constructing high schools in Lukulu, Mongu, Nangweshi, and Shang’ombo.
[pullquote]Fr Mpundu was quoted in yesterday’s edition of The Post newspaper as saying the people of Western Province were better off voting for a frog than the MMD while Bishop Duffy had said earlier that the people in the province wanted change of Government.[/pullquote]

Mr Musonda said the open campaigns for the opposition by the two priests would reduce the Catholic Church to an extension of the political parties and the respect they command would collapse.

He said the Catholic Church had many problems which had increased the exodus of priests to other churches.

He said the decision by the diocese to paint a prison building in Mongu was merely meant to issue a political statement because people who work for the companies owned by the Catholic Church were underpaid.

And the MMD women and youth wings have condemned the disparaging remarks issued by Fr Mpundu against the MMD Government.

Speaking at a joint media briefing in Lusaka yesterday, MMD Lusaka Province chairperson Jane Mkalipi described the remarks as regrettable especially that they were made by a clergyman from a church founded on principles of love.

Ms Mkalipi said the clergyman should be in the forefront of uniting Zambians instead of issuing demeaning statements against Government leaders.
[ Times of Zambia ]

Embattled Kafulafuta Member of Parliament George Mpombo says he will not re-contest the parliamentary seat in the 2011 tripartite elections.

Mr. Mpombo, who was expelled from the MMD told ZNBC news in a telephone interview Wednesday that Kafulafuta Constituency has a number of capable young people who can take over from him.

Mr Mpombo said he is currently grooming some young people in Chief Chiwala and Ntambo’s area who can take over from him.

He described as sentimental intentions by Patrick Mwanawasa, son of late President Levt Mwanawasa, to contest the Kafulafuta seat on the MMD ticket.

Mr Mpombo, who is challenging his expulsion from the MMD in the courts of law said he still has a lot of political influence in his area.

But Masaiti MMD District Chairman, Michael Katambo says Mr. Mpombo has no following in the area.

Mr. Katambo also said Patrick Mwanawasa is capable of defeating Mr Mpombo should a by election be called in Kafulafuta.
[ ZNBC ]

By Daimone Siulapwa

RECENTLY, a number of people including the clergy have been talking about the need for change of government in next year’s elections. And when they talk of change, they mean not just the President, but the ruling party as well.

The ruling party, the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) will be in power for 20 years come 2011. For that reason, some people believe that change is necessary.

In fact, they go further to say change is good for democracy as it brings with it new ideas. Perhaps that is the case.

For now, lets us address ourselves to this need for change in next year’s general elections.

It is not the first time that people are calling for change of the country’s leadership since Zambia became a self-governing republic some 46 years ago. The most defining call for change was made in 1991 when then President Dr Kenneth Kaunda was forced, literally, to change the political system from a one-party state to multi-party.

So loud were the calls for change that during the 1991 elections, the opposition MMD led by Frederick Chiluba won by a landslide. Dr Kaunda, ever gracious, accepted the results, with the usual magnanimity.

A new era had begun, and with it, lots of hope, thanks to the many promises that the new government had made during their campaigns and calls for change of leadership. I was young then, about 25 years, my future looked bright and I was ready like all the youth of that time to hold the bull called life by its horns. Now am around 44 years, nothing much has changed, I am lucky am able to earn a living and be able to feed my family. What about my brothers and sister who had so much hope and have lost it?

I am very much interested more than ever to leave for my children and grandchildren what I didn’t get. In the moment of excitement, all citizens ignored to do the credibility check the leaders they voted in power in 1991. The results are there for you and me to see so clearly.

Now we have the best opportunity to change and make it better and we must do it wisely with a lot of caution.

But not s fast! Soon, there was realization, first within the party itself, that the change that was expected or promised to the people was not the one happening.

So, out were the likes of Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanikaand his sister Inonge as well as Humphrey Mulemba, Baldwin Nkumbula and Emmanuel Kasonde among others. They formed the National Party (NP) which unfortunately was destroyed at birth because of in-fighting between Mulemba and Nkumbula and also between Aka and the rest.

Aka was one of the original architects of the Garden House meeting that led to the formation of the MMD. Always forthright in his views, he decried that the original Garden House agenda had not been followed by the MMD government since winning the elections. Few believed him or took him seriously. But his assessment was correct and he was right.

After this group, followed the likes of Dean Mung’omba and Boniface Kawimbe, who were fired after they held a press briefing at the airport before briefing President Chiluba at which they said donors were concerned with the corruption and drug dealing in government. They had just come back from a Paris Club meeting with donors.

Also out at around the same time was Levy Mwanawasa and Ludwig Sondashi, who said certain ministers, particularly Michael Sata was being protected from corruption allegations by the President.

At that stage, Kaunda was vindicated; he had warned Zambians that the MMD should not be trusted, for they had within their ranks people with shady characters and backgrounds. Despite those visible signs that things were not right with the MMD, they still got the second term albeit controversially.

Fast forward a few years later, there were differences again within the MMD, mostly to do with the third term. This saw a number of senior members of the MMD leave the party, mostly those who were against while those who were in support and at least did not show it remained.

Those who left included Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda, Lieutenant General Christon Tembo, Edith Nawakwi and Vincent Malambo.

Among these to remain included Enoch Kavindele, Vernon Mwaanga and Michael Sata, who only left after he was over-looked for the Presidency, in favour of Levy Mwanawasa.

The rest as they say is history. But what is not history are the recent calls for change in the 2011 general elections.

With these lessons learnt, assuming something has been learnt, what kind of change do we really want?

As things stand now, we are talking about changing the MMD government which right now is led by Rupiah Banda, one of the few people to have resisted change in 1991 by remaining in UNIP until 2006 when Mwanawasa asked him to join the ruling party.

So, assuming that RB as President Banda is fondly called and his party, the MMD, are voted out, who comes-in next?

Right now, there are two possibilities, either Michael Sata’s Patriotic Front (PF) or Hakainde Hichilema’s United Party for National Development (UPND). Of these two, Sata looks to be in pole position as he enjoys more support than HH.

HH has always been plagued with disability from the beginning. He succeeded Anderson Mazoka, who through-out his tenure as UPND President, had to fight accusations of his party being tribal despite enjoying support in Lusaka, Western, Southern, Central and North-Western provinces.

Even more, when Mazoka died, there were calls within the party to have a Tonga succeed him. On that basis, HH beat Sakwiba Sikota, who naturally should have been the President of the UPND. In every sense of the word therefore, HH is tribal, and he has a huge task to prove otherwise. In the meantime he should not be considered for Plot One. He has the task of proving himself to be a nationalist. Age is on his side to do so.

That leaves with us with the ‘King Cobra’, Michael Sata.The PF President, just like HH and the UPND, have to prove that they are national parties and not regional. Currently, the PF enjoys wide support only in Luapula, Northern, Copperbelt and Lusaka provinces. But that is not Zambia, how about the Western, North-Western, Central and Southern provinces? For those that want change, you may argue that since we have two opposition parties enjoying supports on the two extreme ends of the country, then they should join hands in next year’s elections. In other words, they should join hands for the sole purpose of removing the MMD from government. The mistake made in 1991 when removing UNIP. See where we are now!

Pacts or alliances should not be made on such shaky grounds. They should be formed on ideological principles or manifestos. Elevating the poor living conditions of our people should be focus number one, not who becomes what and from what tribe.

The UPND manifesto is more on the right while that of the PF leans to the left. How do they intend to bridge these gaps when they form government? Those are the questions they should resolve now and not when in government. And just in case they find common-ground, who becomes President? In all likelihood it is Sata. But are we sure Sata is the change we want? Sata was among the last people to join MMD in 1991, and one suspects he only did so after realizing that UNIP was unlikely to win the elections. Again, Sata was among the last people to leave the MMD at the height of the third-term. He only did so after Chiluba sidelined him for the Presidency, and only because they had deep personal differences with Mwanawasa.

Again, in order to win the support of the PF in Luapula and the Northern provinces in the 2006 general elections, Sata promised to drop all corruption charges against Chiluba. After he fell out of favour with Chiluba and the former President switched his support to RB, he again changed positions regarding the corruption allegations facing Chiluba.

So, while I may agree with you that we need change, am still looking at what we really need to change. The two possible candidates for change do not inspire confidence at all, and they do not pass-out as Statesmen or nationalists capable of taking this poor nation forward. Maybe, you can assist me find someone.

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda’s foreign trips have generated investment worth more than US$400 million within a period of one year that he has been in power.

Chief Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha said this in Lusaka yesterday and dismissed assertions by United Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema that the trips had been costly to the country.

Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha said President Banda’s trips had yielded more investments than the cost of the trips while more pledges had been lined up.

In an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Gen Shikapwasha said the K5 billion quoted by Mr Hichilema for each trip was by far lower than the value of the investment even if the figure were true.

Gen Shikapwasha said Mr Hichilema was speaking from a position of ignorance following his sentiments that President Rupiah Banda’s foreign trips were costing the country K5 billion (US$1 million) and not bringing value to the economy.

He said other benefits included job creation and some revenue is aid, which was much higher than K150 billion while some companies were constructing structures.

Gen Shikapwasha said the Government was constructing high schools, hospitals and roads throughout the country.

Gen Shikapwasha said Mr Hichilema should realise that some of the trips were short and cost little money while the returns were much higher.

He said the president had a duty to attract investors from other countries and develop the country instead of sitting in State House while people wanted jobs.

Gen Shikapwasha said the president would not be distracted by Mr Hichilema’s attacks because he was conveniently not stating how much revenue and investment had been brought into the country as a result of the same trips.

Gen Shikapwasha said Mr Hichilema should avoid politicising development efforts, as it was common knowledge that President Banda was working hard to achieve development by promoting the country’s investment potential abroad.

He wondered why Mr Hichilema condemned the recently launched Choma-Namwala road saying it was below standard and yet he was not an engineer.

“That is the problem with Mr Hichilema he talks and then thinks later. The roads the Government is constructing are being used by his company Grant Thornton and himself when he is travelling to Namwala,” Gen Shikapwasha said.

Gen Shikapwasha said the Government had done a lot to ensure that development was speeded up for the benefit of all Zambians.

He said the Government had delivered the bumper harvest at 2.8 million metric tonnes under the leadership of President Banda and this has ensured that there was food security at household level.

Gen Shikapwasa challenged Mr Hichilema to drive around the countryside and observe huge stacks of maize the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) was purchasing from farmers.

[Times of Zambia]