President

Rupiah Banda yesterday honoured Brazilian President Lula da Silva for his contribution to uplifting the living conditions of people in third world countries and his desire to promote peace in Brazil and the rest of the globe.

President da Silva was honored with an order of the Eagle of Zambia at a ceremony held at State House witnessed by first Republican President Kenneth Kaunda, second Republican president Frederick Chiluba, Speaker of the National Assembly Amusaa Mwanamwambwa, his deputy Mutale Nalumango, chairperson of the whole committees of the House at Parliament Ernest Mwansa, Chief Justice Ernest Sakala and several Cabinet ministers and their deputies.

President Banda said President da Silva has struggled for the emancipation of the people in developing countries despite his little formal education.

President da Silva worked in the mine at the age of 19 and was injured while on duty resulting in him joining the union to fight for the better working conditions for miners.

Despite his humble background, President da Silva managed to transform Brazil’s economy and managed to pay the loan to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) two years before schedule.

Mr Banda was happy that Brazil has invested in road and rail construction under President Da Silva’s leadership saying Zambia has admired the strides made in that country.

On the international scene, Mr Banda said Mr da Silva has provided leadership at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and has also been instrumental to defuse tension in Columbia, Venezuela and Ecuador.

Mr Banda said that the Brazilian leader was helping to promote cooperation between his country and African nations as could be evidenced from his visit to Zambia, Tanzania and South Africa among other countries.

It was because of Mr Da Silva’s commitment to uplifting the living standards of the poor that he was this year honored with the Global Statesman awarded by the World economic Forum.

The Brazilian leader joins South African President Jacob Zuma and former president Thabo Mbeki, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro and first Republican president Dr Kaunda in being honored with the order of the Eagle of Zambia award.
[ Times of Zambia ]

Chief Mumena of the Kaonde people of Solwezi and United Church of Zambia (UCZ) Copperbelt Presbytery bishop Sydney Sichilima have advised United Party for National Development (UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema not to continue politicising President Rupiah Banda’s apology to him.

Chief Mumena said President Banda had shown statesmanship by publicly saying sorry and that Mr Hichilema should exhibit humility in the manner the republican president did.

He said it was unfortunate that the UPND leader had decided to give conditions to the apology and was attempting to gain political mileage out of it.

The traditional leader was reacting to Mr Hichilema who questioned the genuineness of Mr Banda’s apology over a statement he made referring to the opposition leader’s spouse.

Bishop Sichilima said a responsible and mature leader should accept an apology for the sake of reconciliation, unity, harmony and peace.

“I think it is not in order for a person to start giving conditions to a person who has said sorry,” he said.

Leaders in Development executive director Moses Kalonde also said in Kitwe yesterday that his organisation was disappointed in Mr Hichilema questioning the credibility of President Banda’s apology.
[ Times of Zambia ]

Katanga Governor Moses Katumbi has denied that he is in the process of buying Kasaba Bay, a tourist resort in Northern Province. Mr Katumbi was speaking during a question-and-answer session with journalists that he had no interest to invest in the Zambian tourism sector.

“Although there is no law blocking me from buying any properties here in Zambia where I have a number of properties even today, I have no intentions to buy Kasaba Bay. Perhaps if it was a mine or an industry I could have interest in it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s Katanga Province and Lafarge Cement yesterday signed a K50 billion (US$10 million) agreement for the supply of cement to the DRC region that is undertaking massive construction works.

Mr Katumbi signed the cement purchase deal on behalf of his provincial government while Lafarge Cement operations manager, Elililia Usiri represented the company’s management during the signing ceremony held at the Ndola cement manufacturing plant.

Mr Katumbi said the more than 50,000 tonnes of cement would be used for a $3 billion infrastructure reconstruction programme under which schools, hospitals, a drainage system and road infrastructure were being reconstructed.

The DRC government had embarked on a nationwide infrastructure development programme after the country’s cooperating partners wrote off a $10 billion debt when the country attained the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) completion point.

Mr Katumbi said DRC attainment of the HIPC completion point was as a result of the good record in human rights and good governance set by President Joseph Kabila’s administration.

Mr Usiri said the Lafarge plant had capacity to produce 400,000 tonnes of cement per year and currently 5,000 tonnes were ready for delivery to Katanga Province after the deal was signed.

The signing of the cement deal was witnessed by Copperbelt Province Permanent Secretary Villie Lombanya and Ndola Mayor Charles Chiwala, Katanga Province Infrastructure Development minister, Lubumbashi mayor, Kolwezi mayor and some DRC embassy officials.

First lady Thandiwe Banda says simple sustainable transport is an essential tool in the provision of quality education and mitigating poverty. The first lady said this at State House on Wednesday when she received the First 100 bicycles of over 5,000 bicycles from the World Bicycle Relief (WBR) on behalf of Nakajoli Basic School in Mumbwa, Central Province.

Mrs. Banda said the bicycles will be delivered to over 40 schools for pupils and teachers to use in Mumbwa district. She said the Bicycle programme is aimed at improving the education in 17 rural districts through the nine provinces of Zambia by supplying 50,000 quality bicycles to pupils , teachers and community supporters.

The First lady noted that many children and teachers face many challenges in rural communities throughout Zambia hence the need to empower them with such a programme.

Mrs. Banda noted that bicycles can be an essential tool to link the pupil and Teacher and improve educational outcomes. She said 70 percent of the donated bicycles will be distributed to pupils and 30 percent will distributed to teachers and identified community supporters. Mrs Banda said Government has recognised the special vulnerabilities of the girl child especially in rural areas.

She added that Government has implemented the education policy to help mitigate these discrepancies and empower the girl child adding that other stakeholders should emulate this effort.

The first lady thanked World Bicycle Relief World Vision and other implementing partners for the gesture and commitment to improving education in Zambia .

World Bicycle Relief (WBR) Head of African operations Dave Neiwander said his organisation is committed to ensuring that Zambian education isimproved for people living in rural areas.

Mr Neiwander thanked the first lady for her commitment towards the education sector and especially to the vulnerable in rural communities. He pledged continued support to programmes aimed at empowering youth to meet the challenges they face in rural communities.

Mr Neiwander thanked Government for partnering with his organisation through Ministry of Education and World Vision in assisting the vulnerable in society who travel long distances due to lack of transport.

He said so far, over 5,000 bicycles have been delivered to Chongwe district where over 120 bicycle field mechanical officers have been trained.

ZANIS

Fifteen people are reported to have died while, 17 others sustained serious injuries during the heroes and unity holidays through out the country.
Central Province recorded the highest number of deaths with six, followed by North-Western and Northern Provinces that recorded three respectively.
Lusaka , Southern and Eastern Provinces each recorded one death while Copperbelt, Western and Luapula Provinces recorded nil returns.

This is according to a press statement released and made available ZANIS in Lusaka Wednesday by Zambia Police Service Spokesperson Bonny Kapeso.

And a total of 76 road traffic accidents were recorded through out the country with Lusaka recording the highest with 32 followed by Copperbelt
with 14 and Northern with 10. North-Western had nine, Eastern eight and Central had two with Southern recording only one accident.

This year has recorded an increase in deaths as compared to last year when only nine people were killed, but with a reduction of accidents unlike last
year when 125 were recorded

ZANIS

The Church has commended President Rupiah Banda for apologising to United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema and has since asked other politicians to emulate the humility exhibited by Mr Banda.

Speaking in separate interviews, the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ), Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ), and Independent Churches of Zambia (ICOZ) said Mr Banda has shown high levels of humility, which should be emulated by other politicians.

CCZ general secretary Suzanne Matale said by apologising publicly, Mr Banda was leading by example, which the citizens and politicians in particular, should emulate.

Now that President Banda has apologised publicly to Mr Hichilema and his family, Reverend Matale said the Church expected the opposition leader to accept that.

“That was a good gesture from the president. He has shown humility and is leading by example.

“If we wrong people it is incumbent upon us to apologise and as the Church we expect the Hichilema family to accept the apology,” Rev Matale said.

She said the Church was hopeful that following the apology, politicians would work at promoting unity in the country, particularly that the nation was preparing for elections next year.
[pullquote]“That was a good gesture from the president. He has shown humility and is leading by example.

“If we wrong people it is incumbent upon us to apologise and as the Church we expect the Hichilema family to accept the apology,” Rev Matale said[/pullquote]
Rev Matale said it was important for all citizens to realise that there was no human being regardless of their status who could not make a mistake.

It was, therefore, soothing that the president realised that he had made a mistake and offered an apology.

EFZ executive director Pukuta Mwanza said President Banda should be commended for the action he had taken.

Reverend Mwanza said it was difficult for some people to apologise publicly.
He said Mr Banda had showed the citizens that it was possible despite somebody’s status in society.

“As the Church, we are encouraged by the president for taking such a humble position and we commend him. Humility and maturity are important if we are to foster unity in the country,” Rev Mwanza said.

ICOZ president David Masupa said it took humility for a person to realise that they had made a mistake and apologise.

“It only takes a servant of God to be that magnanimous and we only hope that other politicians can emulate President Banda. How many politicians have apologised for their mistakes?” Rev Masupa asked.

Rev Masupa also appealed to the Asian community to accept the president’s apology, saying his statement was not meant to injure them.

Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) have also welcomed the president’s apology to Mr Hichilema, saying Mr Banda has demonstrated maturity and good leadership.

ZCTU secretary general Roy Mwaba said apologising did not mean that President Banda was weak but showed how mature and humble he was.

“We all make mistakes by virtue of being human beings but the best to do is what the president has done, by humbling himself and that shows integrity,” Mr Mwaba said.

The apology had showed that the president was accountable to the people of Zambia and had respect for humanity.

TIZ president Rueben Lifuka said he appreciated and valued the president’s apology because politics needed to reach that level, where the Head of State could apologise publicly for doing something wrong.

Mr Lifuka said the action had set the tone that politicians needed to focus on real issues that would bring development to the country.

He said doing so would reduce confusion and unnecessary tension.

[ Times of Zambia ]

Brazilian President Luiz inacio Lula Da Silva has arrived in the country for a two-day official visit.

President Lula Da Silva’s plane touched down at Lusaka International Airport around 17:10 hours and was received by his Zambian counterpart President Rupiah Banda and several senior government officials.

He immediately proceeded to inspect a guard of honor mounted by the Zambia Army’s Second Battalion before he was accorded a 21-man gun salute.

President Lula Da Silva later left in the company of his counterpart President Banda without speaking to journalists who had turned out at the airport.

He president Banda is expected to treat his guest to a State Banquet later this evening at Intercontinental Hotel.

President Lula Da Silva is visiting Zambia at the invitation of President Banda.

The two leaders are expected to hold official talks at State House tomorrow morning before witnessing the signing of various Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) in different fields between the two countries.

Among the agreements to be signed include, the production and utilization of biofuels, strengthening the National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS; and technical cooperation in the field of sports and education.
[ QFM ]