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“Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing”
(Proverbs 12:18, NIV)
TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria
The Bible tells us that life and death are in the power of our words. We can use our words to build people up and encourage them, or we can just as easily bring destruction with our words.
When we use our words to bring healing, the Bible says that we are wise. Choose to be wise today and choose healing words. Look for the best in others and build them up. Choose healing words over gossip; choose words of freedom and peace over anger and judgment. Let your words encourage the people in your life by speaking strength, hope and victory.
Remember, words are seeds. When you use your words to bring healing, you’ll reap a harvest of health, strength and life in return. As you are faithful with your words, God will increase your influence. He will increase His favor and blessing upon you and lead you in the good life He has prepared for you.
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Father in heaven, today I choose to be wise and bring healing to others with my words. I ask for an increase of Your power and ability in my life so that I can live to honor You in all I do. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
A 44-year-old man of Lusaka’s Luangwa township forgave his wife who knelt before him and asked for forgiveness from him for having had a sexual binge with another man.
Josephine Zulu, 34, knelt before her husband at the Lusaka boma local court and asked for forgiveness.
“Please forgive me, I know that I have sinned against you and God…I promise to tell you in future if any man approaches me for love. I am ashamed of myself for the embarrassment I have caused you,” she said.
Zulu told the husband that she could not afford to lose the 17 years of marriage over a few minutes sexual satisfaction she had with another man.
This was in a case of adultery involving Aiwell Phiri, 44, of Luangwa township and Sam Singwa, 30, of Chipata township.
Phiri sued Singwa for compensation, alleging that he committed adultery with his wife.
Zulu told the court that Singwa had for a long time been proposing love to her, which one day led to him inviting her for a drink.
“I went to meet him at a bar not knowing that my children were drinking from there. After he bought me some drinks, he booked a room where we made love after which he gave me K150,000,” Zulu said.
She said as they were dressing up, her children appeared and started calling her a prostitute.
She described the scene as humiliating, especially that her own children caught her committing adultery.
Zulu said she had learnt her lesson and vowed never to accept any man’s proposal.
Earlier, Phiri told the court that he has been married to Zulu for 16 years and loves her so much that he cannot imagine life without her.
He said he did not know anything concerning his wife’s affair with Singwa until the day she was caught.
“I was home in the evening when I heard some noise from outside and when I went to check, I found a mob of people with my wife and Singwa at the centre…they were calling them prostitutes,” he said.
Phiri told the court that he spends a lot of money to make his wife look beautiful for himself and not Singwa.
But Singwa told the court that he was enticed by Zulu when the two met at the bar.
“I did not know that this woman is married. She told me that she is not married and begged me to have sex with her. She is the one the booked the room in which we had sex,” he said.
He said it is clear that Zulu loves him so much that she cast a spell on him to lose his mind over her.
“I am sorry for my actions. I was drunk and did not know what I was doing, I only realised after I had finished having sex with her…besides, the sex was not nice,” he said.
Senior presiding magistrate Regina Mumba, in passing judgment, said it was evident that Zulu and Sangwa had been having an affair for a long time.
Magistrate Mumba advised Singwa to desist from sleeping with married women.
She told Zulu that she was an embarrassment to the women as nature does not allow them to behave in such a manner.
The court order Singwa to compensate Phiri K15 million in monthly installments of K200,000.
[ Sunday Mail ]
Mongu Diocese Bishop Paul Duffy and Western province Minister Richard Mwapela cutting the ribbon during the official handover of the painting of the Mongu Central Prison
ARCHBISHOP Emmanuel Milingo has lashed out at Mongu Catholic diocese Bishop Paul Duffy for reportedly calling for change of Government.
Archbishop Milingo said during a healing prayer meeting at Chawama Family Worship Centre in Lusaka that it was wrong for Bishop Duffy to incite people of Western Province to turn against Government.
Bishop Duffy was quoted in the media last week as saying the people of Western Province want a change of Government.
Archbishop Milingo, who is heading the United Church of Africa and championing the movement of married priests, said every church leader who calls for regime change is not chosen by God.
He said Zambians were happy with President Banda’s Government and there was no need for leaders to call for change of Government.
He urged Zambians to analyze carefully and vote for a leader who can deliver development to the people in next year’s general elections.
“Do not vote anyhow in next year’s elections. You should vote for leaders that can deliver development,” Archbishop Milingo said.
And speaking earlier, Right Reverend Bishop Isaac Chabwera of Chawama Family Worship Centre, said Zambians have once again been presented with an opportunity to vote for a Government of their choice which will deliver development from 2011 and beyond.
He said this is a time for people to seriously reflect on the events of the last few years and to critically evaluate Government’s performance in all sectors.
“We need to look at the government which is in power and what it has so far done for the Zambian people. This, of course is a time to take stock of how things have been done taking into account the success that government has scored,” he said.
Reverend Chabwera said it was not right for people to call for change of government for the sake of change.
He said people must be realistic in arriving at such a conclusion, saying that it is a dangerous statement to simply incite the electorate to vote for change.
“The Bishops Council of Zambia has observed that, in fact, the government has so far done extremely well in infrastructure development, in agriculture, in poverty reduction programmes and gender main streaming. The truth is that President Rupiah Banda and his Government have done a lot in a very short time. So far, the research we have done in Western Province shows that most people do not want change of government,” Reverend Chabwera said.
In reference to Bishop Duffy’s statement in the media, Reverend Chabwera said no responsible church leader can issue alarming statements.
“We are the voice of the voiceless but not in a negative way. We need to be on the positive side as we make statements. As Bishops Council of Zambia we, therefore, condemn the recent development in Western Province,” he said.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Milingo has called on people living with HIV/AIDS to pray hard for God to heal their affliction.
He said they should not despair because there was nothing impossible with God.
“Prayer can heal anything. And once you have been healed, stop. Do not go back to activities that made you contract HIV/AIDS,” he said.
[ Sunday Mail ]
As anticipated the MMD National Executive Committee (NEC) has expelled from the party its members of parliament for Chilanga and Kafulafuta constituencies following a NEC meeting held at state house yesterday.
The two members of Parliament are former Finance Minister, Ng’andu Magande for Chilanga and his counterpart George Mpombo for Kafulafuta constituency.
MMD Spokesperson, Dora Siliya announced the expulsion and withdraw of support from the two members of parliament.
She said the decision was reached at after the two members of parliament failed to show remorse over their actions of bringing the party into ridicule and disrepute.
Mrs Siliya said the matter has since been communicated to the Speaker of the national assembly.
The two members of parliament did not attend the state house NEC meeting.
Meanwhile, when contacted for a comment Kafulafuta Member of Parliament, George Mpombo described the decision as excessively irrational and emotionally taken.
He said he is game for a fair bare knuckle fight.
Mr Mpombo noted that there are so many things involved in political life.
Asked whether he would challenge the decision taken by the MMD NEC in court, Mr Mpombo said he would comment after receiving the letter of expulsion.
The former Defense Minister has recently been critical of government and President, Rupiah Banda since he stepped down as Minister.
Efforts to get a comment from Mr Magande failed as his mobile phone was switched off.
[Muvi TV ]
President Rupiah Banda will today leave for Rwanda to attend a one-day Heads of State and Government summit, which will discuss progress on the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
President Banda would join other African leaders on Sunday at a meeting in Kigali organised by Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, to review progress made by African countries in implementing MDGs.
The leaders would share their country experiences ahead of the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly to be held this month in New York whose theme will be on MDGs.
After the summit, President Banda will join other African Heads of State and Government on Monday at an inauguration ceremony of President Kagame, who was recently reelected as President of the Republic of Rwanda.
President Banda has been invited to attend the inauguration in his capacity as Zambian President as well as Chairman of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region.
Since Zambia became a signatory to the Millennium Declaration, the country has put in place a number of development frameworks to support the realization of MDGs.
These include the Poverty Reduction and Strategy Paper, the Transitional National Development Plan, the Vision 2030 and the Fifth National Development Plan, which are aimed at accelerating the attainment of MDG targets by 2015.
[ QFM ]
Football fans pondering their next move after the Zambia-Comoros Islands match was put off at Nkoloma stadium.
CAF has rescheduled for 24 hours the Zambia versus Comoros 2012 African Cup of Nations Group C qualifying match from Saturday to Sunday after the delayed arrival of the match officials for the qualifier to be played at Nkoloma stadium in Lusaka.
Match commissioner Wellington Nyatanga of Zimbabwe said in a press briefing at Football House in Lusaka today that the three Eritrean match officials are stuck in transit in the United Arab Emirates en route to Zambia.
“The match will not be played today (Saturday), therefore we are trying to appeal to FAZ to make sure this game is postponed for today and with the hope that game is played tomorrow. We have had information that referees will be arriving tonight (Saturday),” Nyatanga said.
Nyatanga said CAF had put three South African match officials on standby for the game that will be played at 15:00 on Sunday at Nkoloma.
“If not we have agreed with FAZ that they put referees on standby, with agreement with CAF, from South Africa they are on standby now they will be arriving on SAA Air Link at 8 O’clock tomorrow and FAZ are trying to organize their tickets,” Nyatanga said.
“So yes, it is an extra cost, I sympathize with FAZ but however we have no choice but we have designated officially qualified referees and that is the current situation.
“The referees have spoken to FAZ president where they are stuck in Dubai. They are expected tonight at 11 O’clock on KQ (Kenya Airways).”
FINANCE Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane
Minister of Finance and National Planning Situmbeko Musokotwane has lashed out at Chilanga member of Parliament Ng’andu Magande for alleging that Zambia’s economy began to decline after he left office.
Mr Magande, who is the immediate past Minister of Finance and National Planning, said the economy performed well under his leadership but that now it is weakening after he left office.
He said this during a Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) television programme ‘Frank Talk’ on Wednesday.
Mr Magande alleged that public service workers are now getting their salaries late and that the Kwacha has constantly been depreciating against major foreign currencies.
Mr Magande alleged that interest rates have continued to be adjusted upwards.
But Dr Musokotwane dismissed Mr Magande’s claims and described them as misleading.
He advised Mr Magande to stop issuing misleading perceptions on the performance of the economy.
“Well, that statement by Mr Magande is not true but of course such statements depend on who is issuing them, and that is if the person was properly trained as an economist.
“If Mr Magande says he is an economist and he is talking like this, then it makes me feel sad because I would have expected such statements from someone from the streets and not a properly trained economist,” Dr Musokotwane said.
He challenged Mr Magande to categorise the programmes he successfully spearheaded during the period he served as Minister of Finance and National Planning.
[pullquote]“If Mr Magande says he is an economist and he is talking like this, then it makes me feel sad because I would have expected such statements from someone from the streets and not a properly trained economist,” Dr Musokotwane said.[/pullquote]
Dr Musokotwane said during Mr Magande’s tenure, the interest rates were high and the Kwacha was equally depreciating.
He said financial institutions are slowly responding to Government’s call to reduce interest rates.
Dr Musotwane challenged Mr Magande to produce evidence to show that the economy is now performing badly.
He said the country’s trade balance of payment is performing better now than when Mr Magande was in office.
Dr Musokotwane said even the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, which is at six percent, is poised to grow further.
“Growth in the economy is important and so when he talks about interest rates, quite rightly they are a little bit higher, but I do not think they were any lower when Mr Magande served as minister.
“The trade balance of payment is performing much better than when he was minister. I didn’t expect him to make those remarks. I’m not saying this because I’m the minister now but any properly trained economist anywhere in the world would not make that statement of the economy going backwards,” he said.
Dr Musokotwane said even independent observers have acknowledged that the Zambian economy is continuously recording growth.
Dr Musokotwane said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently praised the country for coming out ‘strong’ after the global economic crisis.
“So maybe he (Magande) must give us an example of what he understands by the economy growing backwards,” Dr Musokotwane said.
[ Zambia Daily Mail ]
ZAMBIA launch the campaign for the 2012 Gabon/Equatorial Guinea Africa Cup of Nations finals when they take on rank outsiders Comoros Islands at Lusaka’s Nkoloma Stadium today.
The Chipolopolo thoroughbreds are poised to open the hunt for the place at the Africa Cup finals on a positive note considering that Comoros are soccer under-weights with little traceable record since the birth of modern football.
While Zambia have been participating in this competition from the 1974, Comoros, sandwiched by Palestine and Somalia in FIFA ranking, only joined the race in 2008 when they were vying for the 2010 edition. Even that was a flop they would not want to remember following the 2-10 mauling at the hands of Madagascar.
Ranked 172 against Zambia’s 73 in the world, Comoros are certainly not up to mark for the journey to Gabon and may just fall on the wayside.
But football being what it is, anything is possible and the Islanders may just cause an upset and spoil new Chipolopolo trainer Dario Bonetti’s anticipated good start to his new job.
Bonetti, who replaced charismatic Herve Renard, is open to reality and has ruled out any possibility of underrating Comoros despite the feeble status they have been given in world football.
“There are no small teams in football anymore and we will play them (Comoros) like we are playing Brazil. We don’t know anything about Comoros but winning is a must because we want to have a good start to the Africa Cup qualifiers,” said the soft-spoken Italian.
While Zambia consist mostly of foreign-based players, Comoros have come with only local players and their technical advisor Jean Paul Rossignol is heaping his hope for a draw or a win on the fact that football is like a dice and results can go either way.
[pullquote]“There are no small teams in football anymore and we will play them (Comoros) like we are playing Brazil. We don’t know anything about Comoros but winning is a must because we want to have a good start to the Africa Cup qualifiers,” said the soft-spoken Italian.[/pullquote]
“We started football recently. We are a new nation in football and it will not be easy for us to beat Zambia which is a strong soccer nation,” Rossignol said on arrival at the Lusaka International Airport on Thursday.
In his analysis of Group C, Rossignol rated Zambia as the best team followed by Libya whose style of play he likened to that of Egypt, and then he put Mozambique in third and his own Comoros last.
Going by Rossignol’s ratings, one would think that the Islanders have already conceded defeat and they are here to merely fulfil the fixture.
However, Bonetti and his boys should be careful because Rossignol could just be employing mind games to force Zambia into becoming complacent believing that they are playing a frail team.
In fact, Rossignol’s views are in sharp contrast with his coach Manuel Amoros who believes Comoros are here to get three points.
“We are not intimidated playing big names like Zambia. We are coming to play football and if all goes well, we will get three points,” Amoros said.
But Amoros will surely need an above average strike force to penetrate the Zambian defence of Chintu Kampamba, Joseph Musonda, Stoppila Sunzu and Emmanuel Mbola who will be shielding goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene.
The Zambian defence should be wary of Mouigni Mohamed, Daoud Mzitrani and Nourdine Midtadi, who are likely to be deployed upfront to search for goals.
Zambia’s most entertaining football will be played in the midfield where Bonetti will field skipper Christopher Katongo, Rainford Kalaba, Isaac Chansa and Felix Katongo but they will meet opposition from Mohamed Mahamoud and Moindje Ali Moilim.
The Comoros defenders Djabir Issouf, Izzidine Mohamed Zainoudine and Kassim Abdallah will be the busiest men on the pitch as they will need to work overtime to contain thirsty Zambian strikers.
Switzerland-based striker Emmanuel Mayuka is likely to partner James Chamanga in a two-man pronged attack. Fwayo Tembo, who has been a regular at Swiss champions Basel is also a potential starter in this game Zambia are expected to have a deluge of goals.
It may be important to remember though that Comoros are not the worst ranked team Zambia have ever played. They have failed to beat Seychelles in Lusaka (2003) and lost to Djibouti last year.
[Zambia Daily Mail ]
AFRICAN Rainbow Minerals (ARM) is set to create about 3,000 jobs at its new mine in the north of Chingola where construction for the production of copper by 2015 has started.
Mines and Minerals Development minister Maxwell Mwale said in an interview in Lusaka that the company would start producing copper in the next five years.
The minister said construction has already started at Konkola North to produce 45,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate in the first phase of the project but this would increase in the second phase to 100,000 tonnes.
And ARM executive chairperson said in a media release on its website that the company was building the new mine in the country with its partner, Vale and described the project as exciting to its diverse commodity portfolio.
The partners had a three-year exploration programme to supply material into that expansion.
The two mining firms were in talks with Mopani Copper Mines, Chambishi Copper Mines and Vedanta Mineral Resources to treat their concentrate.
ARM and Vale spent 18 months studying the copper market and the expectation was for them to grow.
The price of a three-month copper contract on the London Metal Exchange rose 9.75 to 7314,25 a tonne last week.
The reason for the anticipated rapid growth at the new mine was that Anglo American operated Konkola until the late 1950s, when it sunk a 420m-deep shaft there.
ARM and Vale hope to rehabilitate and re-equip the mine, which was forecast to have a life span of 28 years.
Second Republican President Dr Frederick Chiluba’s spokesperson Emmanuel Mwamba urged Zambians to avoid misinterpreting the former president’s recent statement that he is smiling over the decision by the High court not to register the London judgment.
Mr Mwamba said what Dr Chiluba meant by saying that he is smiling is that he had maintained his innocence from the first day he was taken to court.
Mr Mwamba said Dr Chiluba smiled even the first day he appeared in court when the charges against him were being readout to him because he knew he was innocent.
He described the former president as a positive person who brings positive drama in every situation.
Mr Mwamba said his statement that he was smiling after the decision by the High court to throw out the London judgment should not bring controversy.
Speaking in an interview with QFM, Mr Mwamba added that Dr.Chiluba has always been joyful and cheerful.
He further said that Dr Chiluba remained optimistic that his legacy will be restored as time goes on.
[ QFM ]
President Rupiah Banda with Chinese deputy minister of Foreign Affairs at Beijing International Airport in china on his arrival
By Daimone Siulapwa
Ever wondered why the Chinese are willing to pay so much for a small piece of land? Well, it is now common knowledge in Zambia that if you want to sell your piece of land, just look for the Chinaman. They will pay top price for it.
But the million dollar question is whether they are really paying top price? And if the answer is in the affirmative, then we ask must ourselves WHY?
Trade and investments have in the recent times been the main drivers of the Sino-Zambia relations. In fact, that is the case for most African countries. China as an emerging global economic powerhouse is interested in securing primary products such as copper to feed its industries.To ensure that it has first consideration ahead of the West, it has increased its aid to Africa, increased preferential loans, eliminated tariffs on more than 500 products from Africa and have canceled more than $2 billion of debt from over 30 African countries.
These offers from China have made headlines in most African countries.
Just recently in Zambia, the head line was “Chinese Bank to lend ZESCO $430 million”. Most African countries are happy to receive the aid from China because it comes without conditions attached to it. The only one, which in any case carries little significance is that the country severs formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, regarded by mainland China as a renegade province.
For many African countries, that is nothing compared with array of economic benefits they are likely to get from China and far less daunting than a number of liberal economic policies and standards of governance now required by traditional donors.
However, there is a flip side of this.
Experts are warning that these interest free but massive loans African countries such as Zambia are getting from China could saddle African economies with a new generation of unsustainable debts. Well, perhaps China is prepared to write-off these loans again.
But how is Africa paying China back for its hospitality?
This is what I personally think is happening.
China will give the Government /Zesco a loan to do ABC. The money will come in the country. China will then re-commend a Chinese company to do the job. The Chinese company will receive payment and that money will be sent back to China, as that is were all materials will be coming from.
What they are simply doing is selling us material, labour and technology.
Or else, do you think that China would agree to give Zambia a huge loan then allow it to bring the Americans to come and build, say, a hydro-power station?
The answer is NEVER, and a big one for that matter.
Still, Zambia should start looking at ways in which it can get maximum benefits from China. Basically, the relations between China and Africa are based on the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which it must be admitted, has created new opportunities and challenges in the country’s development effort. At work cost, we are yet to see. I hope we are not selling the souls of our children and grand children. GOD FORGIVE US.
According to experts, the opportunity created includes tapping into China’s experience in acquiring technology and financial resources needed to scale up the country development effort while the challenge lies in turning and regulating Chinese interests in the country to the mutually benefit of both China and Zambia without endangering the country’s social-cultural heritage and environment.
However, there is great concern that Zambia will not get the expected benefits.
A study by Naidu and Davies (2006) examined critically China’s acquisition of and investment in Africa’s natural resource sector and the short to medium term political, economic, social and environmental implications.
The main findings are that China’s engagement with Africa is full of contradictions.
For instance, African producers have been marginalized and displaced from the market because of the influx of Chinese goods. This we know, at least from the Zambian perspective, to be true.
Further, as consumers, these same individuals have gained because of the affordability of Chinese goods.
However, as China entrenches itself within production of high-tech goods, these same consumers will not be able to afford to purchase such goods as their livelihoods would be eroded by Chinese goods.
These are the challenges that the country faces. But the main challenge is in addressing them.
Zambia’s presidency and presidents have dominated much of post-colonial analysis of politics and history. This is very well understood, considering the power that the presidency wields and the central role that it plays in the political and economic life of the nation. As such, political leadership in Zambia has been discussed from the ambit of its presidents and the times they lived and ruled. As such we categorise Zambian political history in terms of the Kaunda Era, the Chiluba Era, the Mwanawasa Era or indeed the Banda Era. One of the areas of political analysis I think that we have neglected is to look at the republican vice-presidents, and appreciate the lessons they teach us about politics and leadership. This article therefore seeks to look at the vice-presidency, and indeed specifically the vice presidents that Zambia has had since 1964. The vice-presidents and the times they served provide for us perhaps the greatest insight into politics and the nature and character of the presidents they served. From looking at the people who served in that office, we can come up with general rules or principles that we can extrapolate to either predict future political trends or indeed get some lessons that can help move our nation forward.
Gender
The first element of analysis shall be the gender composition of the vice-presidents. It is indeed quite telling and revealing that none of the vice-presidents since independence is a woman. In terms of our country, it is not enough that we have had an all-male contingent of presidents, but to think that even their deputies were all-male does tell us a despicable story of our gender imbalance. We’ve only had names such as Reuben, Simon, Mainza, Alexander, Enoch, Augustine, Godfrey, Christon and George for Government House. In spite of the fact that women make up 51% of Zambia’s population and are still the biggest demographic of voters, it is quite unfair that Zambia has had no woman president, worse still that Zambia has had no woman vice-president. This gender imbalance in my opinion could explain why we are faced with all this economic and political turmoil—we have given women very little opportunity to rise to the top, or even to the second topmost. Women are not just good for dancing at the airport, but rather they are equal partners in development. Kaunda, Chiluba, Mwanawasa, and Banda have all shown us lamentably that they are all male chauvinists for failing to use their prerogative to give the vice-presidency to a woman! I think we must do better and if we are to be a truly balanced nation it may be time to give the womenfolk a chance. As such, the time may be ripe for names such as Inonge, Edith, Maureen, or even Judith to rule. If they cannot yet have a shot at State House, we can at least give them the opportunity to have the shot at Government House.
Political weaklings
The second element has got to do with modalities by which these vice-presidents are chosen. As a rule, it looks like most of the vice-presidents were never chosen from very politically popular candidates. They were mostly chosen from among the most politically unpopular cadres. It remains for another time to explore why this is so. Suffice here to mention, however, that the most unsuccessful vice-presidents have been those that garnered a lot of political support while in office or those that went to the position of vice-president with a huge political base. When Kaunda appointed Reuben Kamanga as vice-president in 1964, it was widely held that KK so chose Reuben for his lack of popularity and political base than for any other reason. This is the reason why, even today, Reuben is not considered a political hero of Zambia’s independence. Zambians can easily recall Kapwepwe than their first-ever Vice-president Reuben Kamanga. Kaunda could not have chosen a powerful candidate for vice-president.
In 1967, when the Bemba-Tonga alliance in UNIP beat the Nyanja-Lozi alliance at the first post-independence UNIP conference, Kaunda was left with no choice but to drop Kamanga as republican vice-president and appoint Kapwepwe instead. But Kapwepwe did not last very long in that position. He was too powerful and too politically popular to be a vice-president. He had to be forced to resign.
When Mwanawasa, a man of great influence within the MMD latter became the republican vice-president, he too like Kapwepwe, could not successfully discharge the duties of his office. He had to resign simply because the MMD government and President Chiluba could not handle a powerful and influential vice-president. Unfortunately, the same reasons why Mwanawasa resigned as Vice-President resurfaced when he was now in power. He appointed Nevers Mumba, a man who had no strong political base. Of course Mumba was going to be a good vice-president as long as he played it small and unpopular. But that was not to be for an American trained tele-evangelist. He became a little bit more larger than life. While in office, he developed a huge constituency, and rose in popularity. Perhaps as a mix of both chance and opportunity Nevers Mumba was beginning to eclipse his boss—a bad omen for a vice-president. Zambian presidents generally have a dislike for a very powerful vice-president. It was not very long after Nevers had addressed a press conference, while Mwanawasa was away, that he was fired from his position. A vice-president must be dismal!
It still remains to be studied why Mwanawasa, left all the popular cadres within his party and chose to cross party lines and appoint, Nevers Mumba, and repeat the same feat later by appointing Rupiah Banda for Veep. But Mwanawasa’s eccentrics did not end there; after he had fired Mumba he then went for Augustine Festus Lupando Mwape Katoloshi, to be his vice-president. Not only was Mwape lacking a political base, but he was also not even a member of cabinet. He had in fact been fired by Mwanawasa just a few months earlier, only to be reinstated as a junior minister responsible for Northern Province. Mwape’s political unpopularity was proved later by his failure to retain his parliamentary seat in the 2006 elections. It is unpopular candidates who seemed to make very good vice-presidents in Mwanawasa’s regime. But this does not just apply to Mwanawasa it is also true for Kaunda, Chiluba, and even Banda. The Banda affair is even more telling, when Mwape lost his parliamentary seat, Mwanawasa went to a farm in Chipata district and fished out a retired politician-turned-farmer, perhaps two decades his senior, to come and serve as vice-president. According to Mwanawasa’s calculation, good vice-presidents should be taken from the bush and not from the bloom of urban political life. For his part, when he started to rule, Banda did not look to popular candidates within the MMD for a vice-president. He instead looked to George Kunda, a political novice to become a vice-president. He had in choosing Kunda by-passed the more politically astute and popular cadres such as Mumba, Magande, Mpombo, and even Kalumba.
Constitutional roles
The third element concerns, constitutional roles that vice-presidents have fulfilled in the course of Zambian history. As least three vice-presidents were lawyers by profession. These are Chona, Mwanawasa and now Kunda. All of these three served at a time that the republican constitution was being reviewed. Of the three however, Mainza Chona has perhaps played the most visible role of all vice-presidents in pushing through dramatic changes to the constitution of the Republic. The famous Chona Commission was responsible for the implementation of the one party state. It is rather ironic that Kaunda appointed his Vice-President to be chairman of a constitution review commission instituted under the National Inquiries Act. It is still to be seen the constitutional contribution that the current vice-president will make to the current constitution under review. From all indications, it is clear that as Vice-President and Minister of Justice concurrently, George Kunda’s constitutional role is far from minimal. Learning from 1973, the current constitution is very likely to go Kunda’s way!
How Not to get fired
Fourthly, I should now comment on general observations about Zambia’s vice-presidents. They tell us quite a bit more about the characters of the bosses they served. The most unstable and unpredictable of all these bosses was Mwanawasa who had four vice-presidents in the seven years of office. That is to say he had a different vice-president every one and half years. Mwanawasa’s most intriguing moments with his vice-presidents concerns how he fired his first two, Kavindele and Mumba. Kavindele was let go at the same time that Mwanawasa was intensifying his fight against Chiluba’s corruption. It remains to be seen whether Kavindele was fired for anything to do with Chiluba. As for Mumba, he was fired for simply showing independence, ingenuity, and political astuteness. When Sata advised Mumba to relax and simply enjoy tea at Cabinet Office, Mumba vehemently refused and instead worked even harder for the good of the government. As a political novice Mumba needed to understand that a Veep should only jump as high the president says jump. You jump higher than you were told to; some close confidantes of the president will be there to report you. As such, Sata was quite prophetic; it was Mumba’s vice-presidential hard work that landed him into trouble. A vice-president should just be drinking tea and waiting for the president to say, “Help me here.” That is exactly what one Augustine did and he was dearly loved by Mwanawasa for it.
When making the choice of Vice-president, Presidents must take into consideration serious ethnic calculus. Kaunda lacked this calculus in the first few years after independence in his choice of both Kamanga and Kapwepwe. Kaunda’s tribe or ethnicity was not easy to categorize at independence. This worked both ways—positively and negatively. On the positive side, he was taken as a neutral arbiter between tribal tensions; on the negative side his choice of political friends would attract accusations of siding with one side of his heritage over the other. As such when he chose Kamanga as the first Veep, the Bemba-speaking section lamented that he had brought his Malawian brothers to top positions in the nation. However, when he reluctantly appointed Kapwepwe to the vice-presidency, after the 1967 UNIP conference similar accusations surfaced, two Bembas could not possibly hold two top positions in the country. He had to accept Kapwepwe’s resignation and appointed Mainza Chona, a Tonga, as his replacement. After Mainza Chona, Kaunda continued to emphasize his Bemba heritage and completely sidelined any other Bemba to any top position in the Second Republic. He then concentrated on having other tribes share the national cake. The position of Vice-president was abolished and the functions of the office were split between the Secretary General of the Party and the Prime Minister. The Secretary General functioned more like a first-vice president, while the Prime Minister was more like a second-vice president. The Prime Ministerial positions were the preserve of either a Lozi or Tonga speaking citizens. The position of Secretary General went to Mainza Chona at the inauguration of the Second Republic and Alexander Grey Zulu took over the position for much of the Second Republic. Grey Zulu was Kaunda’s deputy and a de-facto vice president and natural successor to Kaunda. Zulu was the best candidate for a de-facto number two since he lacked political clout to develop a political following of his own. It is men like Grey Zulu who make good vice-presidents and fortunate enough this rule has been proven true in the more democratic Third Republic.
Provinces of origin
Another matter of particular interest with the vice-presidents is their provinces of origin. Chinsali District has the honor of being home to two vice-presidents in the history of Zambia. Interestingly, of all 72 Districts in Zambia, Chinsali has produced more top two leaders per capita than any other district in Zambia. It is from Chinsali where both Kaunda and Kapwepwe hailed from. And in the Third Republic, Mwanawasa looked to Chinsali when he had the second shot at choosing a Veep. Of all the nine provinces, only Luapula and Lusaka Provinces are yet to produce a vice-president. Northern Province has had three, Kapwepwe, Mumba and Mwape. Central Province has had Mwanawasa, and George Kunda. If we consider Prime Ministers in the Second Republic to have been vice-presidents (in their own rights) then we could say that in Mundia, Lisulo, and Masheke Western Province has had its representatives. Mainza Chona and Musokotwane are among the most eminent representatives of Southern Province. Copperbelt produced Mwanawasa who had both Lamba and Lenje heritage. Northwestern Province’s Kavindele has served the country very well too. Eastern Province has had Kamanga, Banda, Tembo, Miyanda and Grey Zulu. There should be something about the people of the East that should explain why they have had more vice-presidents than any other province in Zambia. However, I leave that to others to explain why this is so.
Professions
In terms of professions, the vice-presidents have been very diverse. Both Miyanda and Christon Tembo were soldiers. Prime Minister Malimba Masheke was also a career soldier. It is said that Augustine Festus Lupando Mwape Katoloshi served in the Air Force as well. I have already mentioned that three vice-presidents where lawyers—Chona, Mwanawasa, and Kunda. Prime Minister Daniel Lisulo practiced law as well. One preacher, Nevers Mumba is among this rank. Kavindele leads the vice-presidents as the wealthiest of them all—his wealth surpasses the wealth that all of the vice-presidents have had combined.
No doubt that without their deputies, Zambian Presidents could not have discharged the functions of their offices effectively. Of all the presidents of Zambia, Levy Patrick Mwanawasa is the one who delegated the affairs of state to his vice-presidents the most. Vice-President Lupando Mwape is one who received the most of all these delegations. At one time when the estimates of the expenditure of his office were announced Mwape’s office had in one year spent more money than the office of president Mwanawasa. Cabinet office was quick to run to Mwape’s defence by explaining that they had not expected Mwanawasa to delegate so much state responsibilities to his vice-president.
Whats in it for them?
In terms of the law of retirement, the Zambian law only singles out Zambian presidents for a special retirement package which includes a 100% gratuity, an executive mansion, a string of luxury cars, security, a cadre of staff and seventy-five percent of the incumbent’s salary. As for the vice-presidents there is nothing special—no special gratuity and no executive mansions. This is unfair especially for people like Lupando Mwape who were de-facto Heads of State at a time when Mwanawasa was barely functional. As we honor the office of President, it may be time for Zambia to equally honor the men these presidents hired and fired to be their number two!
UPND_PF_PACT
The Citizens Forum has advised the UPND/PF pact partners to merge into one political party if they are to pose a serious challenge to the ruling MMD in the 2011 tripartite elections.
Citizens Forum executive secretary Simon Kabanda said the UPND/PF pact is faced with challenges which if not addressed will cause serious damage.
Mr Kabanda noted that issues such as the pact’s presidential candidate and the sharing of parliamentary seats to contest have the potential to bring the pact crumbling.
He warned that the pact would be history if the two parties the UPND and the PF do not heed to calls for the presidential candidate to be named.
Mr Kabanda said the only best possible option for the two parties is to fully merge into a single party.
He pointed out that as long as the two political parties remain as individual entities united through UPND/PF pact, there would be continued friction in the pact.
[ QFM ]
MMD Spokesperson Dora SiliyaMovement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) spokesperson, Dora Siliya has challenged Mongu Catholic Diocese, Bishop Paul Duffy to tell the nation who the people of western province want instead of simply saying that the people want a change of government.
Ms Siliya told a media briefing in Lusaka on Friday that Bishop Duffy who is quoted in today’s edition of the Post Newspaper as saying that the people of western province want a change of government.
Ms Siliya has described the statement by Bishop Duffy as shocking, baseless,and misleading to the general public.
She said the MMD is comfortable with the people of western province and with the unprecedented level of development currently undertaking in the area, there is no possible way that people of Mongu would want the ruling party out of power.
The MMD spokesperson said it is clear that a lot of work still has to be done in the province but that government is on course and that people should learn to appreciate its commitment.
Meanwhile, Ms Siliya has said Chilanga Member of Parliament, Ng’andu Magande has disqualified himself for the MMD presidency by claiming that he was handpicked by late President Levy Mwanawasa as his preferred presidential candidate.
She said Mr Maganda and his Kafulafuta counterpart, George mpombo are both welcome to leave the party because they are not committed to making it work.
Ms Siliya said Mr Mpombo has remained in constant bitterness with the ruling party when no one asked him to leave government, while Mr Magande knows clearly that he had a lot of troubles to convince the people of Chilanga to vote for him.
Ms Siliya has since challenged the two to take leave from the party if they feel uncomfortable with the ideologies of the ruling party.
[ QM ]
United Party for National Development (UPND) youths have observed that the vacancy in the UPND/PF pact presidency is contributing to fueling squabbles in the partnership involving the two biggest opposition political parties in the country.
Speaking when he featured on the Public’s Last Say on QFM, UPND Lusaka province youth coordinator Brian Hapunda said during the period the pact has been in existence, the two political parties have worked together and have known each other’s strengths and weaknesses and that the next stage should now be the selection of the pact president.
He says there is need to pick the presidential candidate to offer guidance to the UPND/PF pact.
Mr Hapunda stated that it is not possible to have two heads of the house,hence it is high time that the PF/UPND pact selected the presidential candidate systematically.
He added that the UPND/PF pact should select a presidential candidate to avoid being caught unaware in the event the elections date for 2011 is announced abruptly.
And speaking on the same programme, Patriotic Front national youth secretary Eric Chanda had a different opinion on the need to pick a presidential candidate for the pact.
He said the issue of selecting the pact presidential candidate is not the biggest issue but selling the UPND/PF pact to the Zambian people.
Mr Chanda said the two political parties are not in the pact to sale an individual but what they two political parties together will do for the Zambian people.
He said selling the UPND/PF pact to the Zambian people first will make it easy for whoever will be picked as the presidential candidate to win the 2011 elections.
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
