Government will ensure that Zambians, wherever they are enjoy the same opportunities and access to information, Chief Analyst for Economic and Development Affairs at State House, Ngoza Munthali, has said.

Speaking at a dialogue meeting with Zambians living in London at the Zambia High Commission on 26th July 2010, Mrs. Munthali said it was Government’s aim to develop a positive and progressive working relationship with all Zambians, including those in the Diaspora.

She said Government considered Zambians in the Diaspora as key partners and not rivals in national development.

Mrs. Munthali, who is Diaspora Liaison Officer at State House said Government would engage the Diaspora through harnessing their resources, both skills and financial for national development, enhancing the impact of remittances towards the socio-economic development of Zambia, increase their participation in investment and projects implemented in Zambia, enhancing their positive dialogue with the Government and provision of information on opportunities and what was happening in Zambia, among others.

She challenged the Diaspora to engage with Government through Missions abroad and the Diaspora Liaison Office at State House and seize the moment to market themselves.

She noted that there was need to sensitise people in order to dispel beliefs that migration was negative and build capacity on how to effectively tap from the Zambian Diasporas.

“Take advantage of the Government good will and make positive contribution by coming up with innovative ways on how best to contribute to national development. Instead of thinking of what the Government can do for you think of what you can do to contribute to the development of mother Zambia.

“As Government, we believe there is a wealth of not just skills, but money among Zambians abroad which could be pooled together to help develop the country both as long and short-term partners in development,” she said.

She said the Diaspora Liaison Office had so far supported the inclusion of dual citizenship in the draft constitution and established a committee to look at land issues for the Zambians in the Diaspora. There has also been increased recognition by many ministries, Government institutions and the private sector on the need to engage the Diaspora more actively. The Office has also undertaken a survey to establish more information on the Diaspora and their needs.

Mrs. Munthali said the Government will develop a comprehensive database which would help know the number of Zambians living in the Diaspora and ensure that the support for the Diaspora did not lead to resentment by Zambians at home towards Zambians in the Diaspora on a presumption that they were being favoured.

On land acquisition, Mrs. Munthali informed the gathering that the Government, through the Ministry of Lands had developed mechanisms to make it easier for the Zambians in the Diaspora to acquire land. She said the process had started and land was currently being identified in collaboration with all the 73 districts in Zambia.

“Plots recommended for allocation shall be numbered and surveyed in advance considering that it would not be easy for applicants in the Diaspora to follow through such processes. Ministry of Lands shall combine the survey and lease charges to enable those offered to settle them at the same time,” she said.

She explained that applications shall be channeled through Zambian Missions in the applicant’s country of residence or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for those in countries without a Zambian Mission.

On housing, Mrs. Munthali told the audience that the National Housing Authority (NHA) had embarked on process to provide housing to Zambians living in the Diaspora through housing schemes that it had developed in various localities.

With regards to economic development over the years, Mrs. Munthali said the country had sustained levels of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Growth Rate of over five percent over the past five years with 6.4 percent Growth rate recorded in 2009 amidst the Global economic crisis. This was as a result of the growth in Mining, agriculture, tourism and some non-traditional sectors of mining. The country recorded a reduction in inflation to 7.8 percent in June, 2010 while Gross International reserves rose to about US$1.8 billion, amid stable macroeconomic indicators.

A number of reforms aimed at reducing the cost of doing business were implemented over the years and this resulted in improved rankings on the World Bank Doing Business rankings to number 99 in 2009 and number 90 in 2010.

Earlier, Zambia’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Professor Royson Mukwena, urged Zambians resident in Britain to build strong links with the Diaspora Office at State House to benefit from the good policies of the current Government.

Mrs. Munthali was accompanied by Mr. Christopher Mulenga of CMM Property Consultants and Mrs. Florence Mumba – Director of Research at the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA). The two also made presentations.

The delegation also held meetings with Zambians in Wales, Scotland, Manchester and Coventry.

ZANIS

By Henry Kyambalesa

While addressing a campaign rally recently at Mombo Basic School in Western Province to drum up support for the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) candidate in the forthcoming Luena parliamentary by-election, Vice-President George Kunda said the country’s opposition political parties were erratic because they had no vision or plan for the country.

As usual, he could not specifically state the MMD’s vision or plan for Zambia or Western Province.

Hon. Kunda also talked about “Vision 2030” at the rally. “Vision 2030” should be balanced with the needs of our generation because in the long run, to paraphrase the famous economist John Maynard Keynes, we are all going to be dead! For this reason, there is a need for Hon. Kunda to cite some of his political party’s short-term and medium-term projects and programs designed to strike a balance between the needs and expectations of the people in Luena constituency, and the needs and expectations of future generations.

There are a lot of important projects and programs which the MMD needs to work on in Western Province in order to improve the socio-economic well-being of residents. These projects and programs include the following:

(a) Improvement of the availability of safe and clean water in the province through boreholes, dams, water pipes, and protected shallow wells, and also provide for modern sewage facilities and both public and private conveniences.

(b) Completion of the 50 km road from Uwee to Mongu through Nangula, and upgrading and maintenance of the Limulunga-Ushaa-Lukulu Road.

(c) Construction of Kalongola Bridge on the Zambezi River and Liyoyelo Bridge on the Mongu-Kalabo Road, and maintenance of all other bridges throughout the province—including foot bridges.

(d) Allocation of adequate resources for upgrading and expansion of the Lewanika School of Nursing, and construction of a new District Hospital in Mongu district.

(e) Provision of incentives for the establishment of processing industries for cotton, timber, leather, mangoes, fish, tobacco, paprika, rice, cassava, and cashew nuts.

(f) Planning adequately for both the prevention and the containment of diseases like the Contagious Bovine Pleuro-Pneumonia (CBPP) disease (which recently hit the border area between Kazungula district in Southern Province and Sesheke district in Western Province) and effective control of the tse-tse fly in order to reduce the incidence of sleeping sickness—particularly in Kaoma and Shang’ombo districts.

(g) Improvement of the road infrastructure in the province through the construction and/or rehabilitation of the Mongu-Lusaka Road, Mongu-Senanga Road, Senanga-Sesheke Road, Katunda-Lukulu Road, Mongu-Lukulu Road, Senanga-Kalabo Road, Kalabo-Sikongo Road, and the Luampa-Machile Road. It is also important to provide for the rehabilitation of the Mulobezi railway line.

(h) Exploitation of waterfalls like the Sioma for hydro-electric power, and the sandy soils found in much of the Province for glass manufacturing. There is also a need to provide for the re-opening of Mulobezi Sawmills in order to boost economic activity and the creation of employment opportunities in the Province.

(i) Upgrading of resettlement schemes in the province by providing financial and material resources for constructing and/or rehabilitating boreholes, water wells, irrigation dams and canals, feeder roads, culverts, low-cost houses, clinics, basic schools, police posts, and other essential public services and facilities. Such schemes include the Kalumwange scheme.

(j) Elevation of the Namushakende and Nkeyeme sub-districts to full district status.

I have had an opportunity to skim through brief biographies of the five contestants in the Luena parliamentary by-elections—that is, Charles Milupi of the Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD), Muyunda Illilonga of the United Party for National Development (UPND), Mwangala Maopu of the MMD, Mutakela Mutakela of the United National Integration? Party (UNIP), and Sikatala Musole of the United Liberal Party (ULP).

I wish to urge my cousins in Luena constituency to cross political party lines and elect Mr. Muyunda Ililonga to represent them in Parliament. I believe he will competently and impartially represent them in the National Assembly irrespective of their political alignments, tribal identities, religious convictions, and/or professional affiliations.

This is to inform you that we are having problems with our spam filters, which seem to have just gone mad. They are  treating valid and legitimate comments as spam and put them in a queue for deletion. Our technical guys are working on the problem to resolve the situation. Please bear with us. If your comment does not  appear on the site immediately when you post , please check later. Know that your comment is queued somewhere. It will be published as soon as the webmaster gets to it.

There has also been complaints of a big advert appearing in the middle of the page while one is reading a story. These complaints seem to be affecting people in the US mostly. Our technical guys have failed to reproduce this error and if you experience it please e-mail a screen shot to webmaster (at) lusakatimes.com so we can see what exactly is happening and try to fix the problem. You can capture a screen shot by just pressing the “Print Screen/SysRq” key on your keyboard and then do a paste in a word document. Please note that different regions see different adverts that load on the site.

Lastly, use this thread to also provide us any feedback and any changes you want to see implemented. We are now working on the next upgrade for the site.

Thanks for your support to Lusakatimes.com

LT team

The MMD says it is in the process of disciplining Kafulafuta member of Parliament George Mpombo and his Chilanga counterpart Ng’andu Magande following their refusal to exculpate themselves against charged levelled against them.

MMD deputy national secretary Chembe Nyangu said yesterday that there are no sacred cows in the party and that any member who abrogate the party’s constitution will be dealt with.

Mr Nyangu said the two MPs will soon be disciplined for their continued attack on the party leadership.
He said Mr Mpombo and Mr Magande should not think they are clever, adding that they will be dealt with like other members who have been punished in the past.

Mr Nyangu said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that the two should not think they are smarter than the party leadership.

He said the MMD is a party of laws and that any member who goes against rules and regulations should resign as it is the most honourable thing to do.

“Almost everyday, they are in the newspapers insulting the top leadership as if there are not members of this party. I can assure you that they are no sacred cows in this party so they will be punished like any other ordinary member,” he said.

Mr Nyangu said the party had written to the two MPs to exculpate themselves but that they have not responded.

He said the 14-day period given to the two to exculpate themselves has elapsed and that the leadership is taking the next step of action in the disciplinary process.

Mr Nyangu said the disciplinary committee is following all steps in disciplining the two.

“We want to ensure that we follow all the steps in the process of instituting disciplinary action against Mr Mpombo and Mr Magande so that we do not lose out in this case in terms of technicalities,” Mr Nyangu said.

He said MMD members should not be swayed to follow the ways of Mr Mpombo and Mr Magande.

Mr Nyangu said party members should rally behind the leadership of President Banda as he will steer the economy in a positive direction.

He said there is need for the party to mobilise more members ahead of next year’s elections.

Meanwhile, parliamentary chief whip Vernon Mwaanga says it is indiscipline for Mr Mpombo to continue attacking President Banda through the media when he knows the communication channels that exist in the MMD.

Mr Mwaanga said Mr Mpombo’s outrageous and irresponsible utterances against Mr Banda and the MMD are unwarranted.

He charged that Mr Mpombo’s outbursts have a serious political consequence on his life.

“Mr Mpombo is a misguided political comedian who is hell-bent on committing political suicide by acting like a vuvuzela for enemies of the MMD,” Mr Mwaanga said.

Mr Mwaanga said the party constitution is clear on members that violate regulations.
[ Zambia Daily Mail ]

UNITED Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema yesterday conceded that the pact formed last year with Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata is in a serious crisis.

And Luapula member of Parliament, Peter Machungwa has said Mr Sata and Mr Hichilema are being haunted by the wide age difference and ideological variances for their parties which are serious problems that can only be resolved temporarily.

Mr Hichilema, while describing the causes of divisions as minor, said he and Mr Sata should accept that the issue of blaming each other should be discussed.

In an interview in Lusaka, Mr Hichilema said the two political parties would call a crisis management committee meeting involving senior party members from both ends to resolve the problems and hoped the divisions would be mended urgently.

He said the problems faced by the pact were similar to the one faced by the MMD where Chilanga MP Peter Magande and former Defence minister George Mpombo had continued to criticise the Government.

Mr Hichilema described the divisions in the pact as minor and said it was still strong on the ground.

Meanwhile, Dr Machungwa said Mr Sata and Mr Hichilema lacked a common purpose resulting from the wide cultural and age differences.

He said the two leaders did not have anything in common to share.

Namwala United Party for National Development (UPND) Member of Parliament, Robbie Chizhyuka has said Mr Hichilema’s shifting positions show he is ill-prepared for the Republican presidency.

Major Chizhyuka said yesterday that Mr Hichilema’s insincerity on the political scene had confirmed the reason why Mr Sata had continued mocking him as a junior politician.

Mr Hichilema told a daily tabloid last weekend that he did not join active politics to become a president but to serve the people of Zambia.

And former PF secretary general Charles Chimumbwa has said the pact supporters who gathered to witness the launch should feel cheated by their two leaders whom he said had now left them in the cold following their failure to provide unity.

In an interview yesterday, Mr Chimumbwa said it had become clear that the two leaders were playing political tricks for their own gain without necessarily taking into consideration the feelings of their supporters.

Meanwhile, UPND youths plan to hold a consultative forum to discuss the future of the pact.

UPND national youth chairperson Joe Kalusa said in an interview yesterday the youths in the party, like their colleagues in PF, would be holding a consultative forum to discuss various issues that had been raised on the pact and to chart the way forward.

A PF youth leader was yesterday quoted on Radio Phoenix as saying his leadership was conducting a countrywide consultative forum with members to advise the national leadership whether the party should remain in the pact.

And the UPND in Southern Province has maintained that the pact in the area is intact and preparing for the 2011 general elections.

Provincial vice-chairperson John Chidyaka said there were no cracks in the pact except allegations that were only being perpetrated by the “enemies” of PF and UPND.

In Chingola, the UPND has made a desperate plea to its national leadership to ensure the party’s continued involvement in the pact.

District chairperson Raphael Chimupi said in an interview the grassroots members wanted their leaders to resolve any outstanding issues between the two parties.

Mr Chimupi said it was in his party’s best interest to continue in the pact with the PF and guarantee success in the coming elections.

But PF founder member Samson Zulu said in Lusaka yesterday the pact was falling apart because its leaders were more interested in going to State House than anything else.

Mr Zulu, who resigned from the PF after differing with its leader Michael Sata over the party’s convention, said the crumbling of the pact was a foregone conclusion.

He said Mr Sata and Mr Hichilema were both preoccupied with going to State House and had forgotten about important issues such as consulting their members before entering into a pact.
[ Times of Zambia ]