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President Rupiah Banda has arrived back from Malawi were he went this morning for urgent consultative talks with his Malawian counterpart Bingu Wa Mutharika.
The President arrived at the Lusaka International AirPort at about 17:23 hours and on hand to receive him was Home Affairs Minister, Lameck Mangani, Information and Broadcasting Minister Lt Gen Ronnie Shikapwasha and other government officials.
The President who is the chairman of the International Conference on the Great Lakes region said on arrival at the airport that he had a very successful meeting with his Malawian counterpart, Dr Wa Mutharika who is chairperson for the African Union (AU).
Mr Banda said he had bilateral talks with Dr Wa Mutharika as regards projects in Malawi being undertaken by the Chinese adding that the projects would be of benefit to Zambia.
The President Left for Malawi this morning for the urgent consultative talks with that country’s president Dr Wa Mutharika accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kabinga Pande, and his Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations, Dickson Jere and other government officials.
Senior Chief Bright Nalubamba of the ILA people in Southern Province has described as unfortunate calls by the Mwanachingwala Royal Family Establishment for current chief Mwanachingwala to step down.
Speaking in an interview with the Zambia News and Information Services in Lusaka today, Chief Nalubamba said, although he has just learnt the development in the press, it was regrettable that Chief Mwanachingwala has been accused of dragging the name of the Chiefdom into disrepute and shame.
He said he will soon meet Chief Mwanachingwala to get first hand information on what really transpired for the Mwanachingwala Royal Family Establishment to ask him to immediate step-down from the throne.
Chief Mwanachingwala of the Tonga speaking people in Mazabuka District of Southern Province, is accused of crowning himself as chief Mwanachingwala, a thing which has annoyed some family members thereby calling for him to step down.
Efforts to get a comment from Chief Mwanachingwala failed by press time.
The Lusaka City Council (LCC) has advised members of the community to work closely with their Ward Councilors by ensuring that roads and streets in their respective residential areas are named.
Council Assistant Public Relations Manager Mulunda Habeenzu says members of the community have not be been proactive in assisting their ward Councilors to propose names, identify, roads and streets which require to be named.
Mr. Habeenzu told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka today that Councilors alone cannot manage adding that the task requires the participation of members of the community.
Mr. Habbeenzu said this would also assist many people to easily locate places in various residential areas.
He said this was why the Council had decentralized the identification and naming of roads to Councilors so that the process could be spearheaded by Councilors who would be assisted by members of the community.
Mr. Habeenzu said the exercise would also instill a sense of ownership in the Community adding that the council does not want to impose any name on the community.
He said the local authority only comes in to approve the name of the road when Councilors make submissions on the name they have agreed to give a certain road in their areas.
The Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) has given K22 million to organizing committees of three forthcoming local government and one parliamentary by elections in Northwestern Province.
Minister of Mines and Minerals Development Maxwell Mwale disclosed this during the launch of MMD provincial card renewal exercise in Solwezi over the weekend.
Mr. Mwale said three wards where there will be local government by-elections in Mufumbwe, Kasempa and Solwezi west will receive K3 million each.
He said out of the K3 million each ward will receive, K2 million is for organizing election activities while K1million for buying bicycles.
He said the party has provided K13 million towards the Mufumbwe parliamentary by-election of which, K10 million will go towards organizing activities while K3 million will be used to buy bicycles.
Mr. Mwale said there was need for all the party members in the province to uphold peace and unity in order to work towards achieving one purpose of strengthening the party and win the elections.
And speaking earlier, MMD acting Northwestern Province chairperson, Peter Patel said the party attaches great importance to the card renewal exercise as it determines its strength.
Mr. Patel said for the party to enhance its strength, there was need for the members to take the exercise seriously by renewing their membership.
“This exercise posses a huge challenge to you all because after renewing your membership, you should go flat out and recruit new members into the party,” he said.
Mr. Patel said the party in the province was intact, adding that it has already started reorganizing itself and strategizing on how to win back the Mufumbwe parliament seat.
The Mufumbwe parliamentary seat was left vacant after its Member of Parliament, Misheck Bonshe died last month.
jubilant MMD Lusaka province youth chairman Chris Chalwe during youth day in Lusaka
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Young soldiers marching during the Youth Day in Lusaka
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Police escort PF and UPND youths during the youth day match past.
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Paramedics carry a youth who collapsed during Youth day celebrations
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MMD youths singing songs during youth day in Lusaka
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flooded houses in Chawama township
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Kalusha Bwalya about to settle down for a meal during the FAZ-KCM football awards in Lusaka
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Drink your beer when you retire...Former footballer Boniface Simutowe seem to be saying during the FAZ-KCM awards in Lusaka
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Defence Chief going to lay wreaths on the Freedom Statue
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Youths lay a wreath on the Freedom Statue
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President Banda going to lay a wreath at the Freedom Statue
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A child plays in dirty rain water in Misisi township
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A police officer doing acrobatics on a motor bike during youth day in Lusaka
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Children try t catch a glimpse of officials from the local authority who were assessing the flood situation in Misisi township
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Czech Republic rime Minister Jan Kohout presents a gift to President Banda at State House
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PF UPND pact youths greeting, in style, the President Rupiah Banda during the march past marking the 2010 Youth Day along the Independence Avenue. by J.MANDELA
Former Zambia coach on Sunday guided Simba to a record equaling 17th Tanzanian league title.
This was Phiri’s second league title with Simba after winning the 2004 crown in his first and debut stint with the Tanzanian club before leaving at the end of the season to coach Nkana and later Zambia.
Unbeaten Simba secured league championship after defeating Azam 2-0 in Dar-es-Salaam.
Simba sealed their title victory with two matches to spare on an unassailable 56 points from 20 games played and are 12 points ahead of archrivals and outgoing champions Young Africans.
Phiri said he was delighted to have won the title in his second season after finishing runner-up last year.
“Each Game was tough. After finishing second last year, our target was to finish first,” Phiri said. “It is good to manage to fulfill the aspirations of Simba.
Phiri signed a 2-year deal with Simba that comes to an end this year.
The Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has called on government to come up with mandatory laws that promote and protect persons living with disabilities at work places.
ZCTU president Leonard Hikaumba noted that most disabled people have over the years been subjected to segregation and unfair treatment by their employers. He said despite their physical challenges, disabled persons have the potential to positively contribute to the growth of the country through various skills.
Mr. Hikaumba said this in Lusaka today when he officially opened a one day workshop organized by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in conjunction with various worker representatives aimed at equipping worker representatives with knowledge and information needed to become committed advocates for disabled persons.
Meanwhile Mr. Hikaumba has called on organizations intending to construct buildings to have the disabled persons in mind. He said it is sad that most work places in the country are not user friendly to disabled persons.
Mr. Hikaumba said it is important for organizations to ensure that their buildings have staircase and access ramps for persons with disabilities to avail them easy access to their buildings.
Speaking earlier ILO Skills and Employability Senior Specialist, Barbara Murray, said there is need for employers to change their attitude towards disabled people.
Ms Murray observed that disabled people are equal partners in development hence the need for them to be given equal employment opportunities just like any other person. She has since appealed to employers to give fair working conditions to persons living with disabilities just like their able-bodied counterparts.
A mock operation by doctors from the University Teaching Hospital
I wish to comment on the statement made in Parliament recently by Health Minister Kapembwa Simbao about the extension of a Medical Retention Scheme to nurses and paramedics—a scheme which currently provides medical doctors with such incentives as further training outside the country, new vehicles and school fees for their children.
This is a progressive idea for a country that has been losing significant numbers of locally trained health personnel through the brain drain.
However, the Medical Retention Scheme may not be adequate to curb the exodus of health personnel. The provision for new vehicles, for example, is really not an incentive to individuals who are keen on securing jobs in developed countries where their services would fetch adequate salaries and allowances which would make it possible for them to buy vehicles on their own. And formal education (from Grade 1 through Grade 12) in such countries is generally free!
The Scheme, however, is likely to give incentive to those who wish to emigrate to other developing countries in search of higher incomes, a better standard of living and/or a less-hostile environment, among a host of other reasons.
It is essential for the authorities to discern the causes of the brain drain in order to devise viable ways and means of curbing the phenomenon. There are currently many factors obtaining in Zambia which have contributed to the exodus of skilled talent. One of such factors relates to poor conditions of service, including inadequate wages, salaries and fringe benefits. The second factor pertains to human rights abuses and violations, including the violation of individuals’ freedom of speech, and the repudiation of freedom of the press.[quote]
Third, many technical and professional personnel have decided to “vote with their feet” upon finding that the rewards of their labor in Zambia are generally measured on the basis of political patronage rather than excellence, and that corruption, nepotism, tribalism, and other similar forms of behavior have permeated every level of work life, particularly in the civil service.
Fourthly, the common tendency among local and national leaders to scout for expatriate scientists, technologists and consultants from industrialized nations has made indigenous experts to feel disregarded, and has made many of them to migrate to countries where their qualifications are appreciated.
Fifth, the high interest rates, income taxes and value-added taxes in the country have, among other factors, adversely affected investment in new enterprises, and have consequently hampered the creation of jobs for streams of graduates from local schools, colleges and universities. And the government cannot absorb many locally trained citizens due to the lack of financial resources. In 2004, for example, about 9,000 trained teachers were roaming the streets as they anxiously awaited their postings to schools. In 2005, around 1,000 out of 7,000 needed teachers were employed through financial assistance rendered by the Netherlands.
Sixth, access to life-saving healthcare in Zambia today is seriously hampered by inadequate, dilapidated and antiquated healthcare facilities, among other things. In November 2005, for example, Ms. Inonge Wina secured “ox-cart ambulances” for the country’s Nalolo constituency during her tenure of office as MP for the constituency in order to curb maternity-related deaths occasioned by delays in the transportation of expecting mothers to healthcare centers. And, of course, we still remember First Lady Thandiwe Banda’s call in November 2009 for developing innovative transportation schemes like “bicycle ambulances” to help women reach health facilities from distant places!
And seventh, unprecedented and widespread poverty and unemployment in the country have made burglars, thieves and robbers more daring, thereby contributing to the emigration of skilled to safer countries. Besides, Zambian migrants who are resident in affluent countries, where there is generally greater safety and security, are fearful of becoming obvious targets of perpetrators of such crimes upon returning to their countries of origin.
Clearly, there is a need for policy initiatives designed to address the brain-drain problem because, without large pools of skilled professionals to facilitate and expedite the process of socio-economic development, Zambia will not likely attain meaningful levels of growth, development and competitiveness. Such initiatives could include the following:
(a) Tax proposals requiring native professionals trained through the public treasury to pay a certain percentage of their incomes earned abroad to the Zambian government;
(b) Generation of restrictive policies aimed at delaying emigration – such as by adding extra years to medical students’ training, requiring doctors and other professionals to stay on for a number of years to ‘pay back’ what they ‘owe’ to society, or to incorporate the delay within the training period, thus ensuring that certification follows rather than precedes a spell of public service;
(c) Taxation of the earnings of emigrants by the Zambian government, although this would depend largely on emigrants’ continued citizenship in their native country, Zambia;
(e) Initiation of international agreements requiring employers in foreign countries who may hire professionals trained through public resources to reimburse the Zambian government for financial and material resources committed to the training of the professionals; and
(f) Provision for attractive retention allowances, research grants for academic staff, car-ownership and home-ownership schemes, and adequate upward salary adjustments.
In this regard, Zambia will need new leaders with a desire to pursue radical, practical and comprehensive change designed to uplift our beloved country from the current socio-economic decay and backwardness. Superficial schemes like the Medical Retention Scheme are not likely to help the country in its quest to stem the exodus of technical and professional personnel. Only the creation of socio-economic conditions that will lead to a higher quality of life for all citizens will, by and large, mitigate the exodus of the country’s skilled personnel.
A murder suspect who has been on the Police wanted list in Kitwe, has been arrested in Lusaka. Kitwe East Police station Officer in charge Assistant Superintendent Mrs. Getrude Divayi confirmed the arrest of Patrick Lungu Mwaba to ZANIS in Lusaka today.
Mrs. Divayi, who could not give more details about the suspect, referred all queries to Police service spokesperson. Efforts to get the Police spokesperson proved futile as his mobile phone was unreachable by press time.
But some police officers at Kitwe East Police Station said the suspect who has been on police wanted list for some time now, was nabbed by officers in Lusaka while his accomplice whom they declined to name due to investigation purposes is still at large.
They disclosed that the suspect has since been taken to Kitwe East Police Station for further investigations and appealed to members of the public who know the suspect to be on the look-out.
They said the suspects are accused of having murdered Mwape Bupe of Chipata compound in Kitwe in 2006 and later dumped the body of the deceased near Mushisho Pre- School near Kitwe East Police station before they fled.
“According to the information at hand, the two suspects murdered the deceased before they dumped his body near Mushisho Pre-School near Kitwe East police station in Kitwe and fled to an unknown place,” confirmed the officers.
The officers thanked the members of the public who assisted the Police by facilitating the arrest of the suspect.
Riot breaks out in Kitwe today following the release of Change Life Zambia executive director Father Frank Bwalya from custody on bail.
Confusion erupted when a Kitwe magistrate released Fr Bwalya on bail and his supporters who had turned up at the court to give him solidarity resorted to stoning vehicles parked near the court premises.
Rioters looted Kobil filling station which is located near the court as employees fled for their safety.
Police only managed to bring the situation under control after reinforcements were brought in.
A PF Councilor Elias Kamanga who is also PF Copperbelt youth vice chairman and 24 others have since been arrested in connection with the riot.
Meanwhile Fr Bwalya has been released on a K100, 000 bails after pleading not guilty to the charge of conduct likely to cause the breach of peace.
Kitwe senior magistrate Mercy Makubale has since set March 31st, 2010 as the date for the commencement of trial.
Copperbelt police commanding officer Antoneil Mutentwa said Fr Bwalya was arrested while distributing red cards for the red card campaign at the venue of Youth Day celebrations.
But Fr Bwalya said he was doing nothing wrong but merely trying to get a lift from someone when police officers pounced on him.
QFM
Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Peter Daka has said government has good reasons for revising the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) by giving farmers four packs of fertilizer instead of eight as was the case in the previous programme.
Mr Daka said the decision to reduce the packs of inputs given to individual farmers was meant to increase the number of beneficiaries under the FISP. He said it was also realised that most farmers did not have the potential to utilise all the eight packs and as a result were abusing the extra fertiliser by reselling the inputs.
He was speaking when he visited Power-Line Cooperative farm in Bahati constituency in Mansa on Saturday where 24 farmers pooled their four packs of inputs together to cultivate a 12 hectare farm of maize jointly owned by the cooperative members. The four pack inputs are only enough for a half-hectare.
The agriculture minister praised the Power-Line Cooperative members for the initiative taken to work on one farm, saying he was impressed with their work and that the crop promised good yield. He was visiting the farm as an envoy for President Rupiah Banda who failed to do so during his last tour to Luapula Province.
Mr Daka said it is the intention of government to see members of a cooperative work together by putting their efforts and ideas to expand their crop production as well as seek financial support from lending institutions.
“This is a typical example of how working together can make farmers achieve great things because the word cooperative means putting effort and ideas together. It is also a confirmation that FISP is working,” Mr Daka said.
He promised the farming group that government would help to link them to institutions like the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) and other financing agents so that they could access capital to mechanise the farm.
He said while it was not possible for government to give oxen or tractors to farmers, it was going to facilitate the process to ensure farmers like Power-Line Cooperative had guaranteed market for their crop and access farming implements through cheaper capital from CEEC and other lending institutions.
Earlier the cooperative chairman Benson Kabwe said the farmers under the cooperative were cultivating using hoes and appealed to President Banda to source a tractor of cattle for them.
THE Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) has refunded the Norwegian Embassy part of the funds that were meant for a road project in the South Luangwa National Park, whose contract award was queried by Norway.
Last year the Embassy raised concerns regarding ZAWA’s financial management of one of the road contracts in the South Luangwa National Park, and wrote to the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources over the matter.
The concerns involved Zawa’s scandalous award of the contract under the SLAMU road contract, where the authority paid the contractor an amount of K1.4 billion even before the works were undertaken.
Norwegian ambassador to Zambia, Tore Gjøs confirmed that ZAWA had paid back the funds that had been released for the project while the government would refund the amount that was mismanaged.
Ambassador Gjøs could not, however, state how much Zawa has refunded but said the government had committed to refunding the misapplied funds during the course of this year.
He said the embassy had held several successful high-level meetings with government on the matter.
“ZAWA has since paid back the funds under the SLAMU road contract account and Government has further committed to pay back funds that were lost under the contract under this year’s fiscal budget,” he said.
Ambassador Gjøs said the commitment by the Government and Zawa to pay back the funds was encouraging, and the embassy no longer had the concerns.
“The Embassy is satisfied with the progress that both ZAWA and the Government of Zambia have made in addressing the concerns,” he said.
Norway has had a longstanding partnership with the Government of Zambia in the wildlife sector through support to Zawa.
At the time the embassy raised the concerns with the Ministry, media reports suggested that Norway was suspending its support to Zawa because of the authority’s financial mismanagement.
Tourism Minister Catherine Namugala had said the Government was talking with the Norwegian embassy officials and assuring them that the situation would be corrected and that Norway did not cut its support to the wildlife sector.
And Ambassador Gjøs has told the Times that his Government was continuing its support to ZAWA in 2010 and was considering extending its assistance to the wildlife sector beyond 2010 under a different support framework.
He said the embassy would continue to consult ZAWA, the Ministry of Tourism Environment and Natural Resources and other stakeholders on further support to the wildlife sector.
THE cost of living in 10 major towns in all nine provinces in Zambia has increased to K2, 713,580 in the month of February from K2, 696,030 in January, according to the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR).
This is according to an assessment by the JCTR conducted in Lusaka, Livingstone, Monze, Kabwe, Ndola, Luanshya, Kitwe, Kasama, Mongu and Solwezi.
JCTR coordinator of the Social Conditions Programme Miniva Chibuye, said in a statement in Lusaka that the unrelenting high cost of living that many Zambian households experienced at the beginning and end of each year was now a long standing problem.
Ms Chibuye said according to the assessment based on the monthly Basic Needs Basket (BNB) for a family of six, in the month of February 2010, there was an increase in the cost of food now averaging K860, 250 in Lusaka.
She said the increase was based on an upward adjustment of prices of kapenta, dry fish and green vegetables.
“When costs for some essential non-food items such as housing, energy and water are added, the overall cost of living for the month of February increased to K2, 713,580 from K2,696,030 in January,” she said.
The nominal cost of food in January 2008 was K596,000, but this increased to K656, 600 in December 2008 and to K761,550 in January 2009 and rose further to close the year at K822,100.
In January 2010, the cost of basic food increased to K842,400. Similar trends have been observed particularly in major towns such as Kitwe, Ndola and Livingstone.
Ms Chibuye said the BNB has consistently shown nominal increases in both food and essential non-food items at the beginning and end of the year.
JCTR’s qualitative high density area research, the challenge of the high cost of living is manifested in the increasing inability on the part of the majority of Zambians to have access to proper housing, quality health services, education, clean water and sanitation and, most significantly, adequately balanced diets.
Ms Chibuye said the JCTR, through its work on the urban BNB and the Rural Basket has noticed a strong correlation between the affordability of food items in urban areas and the availability of food items in rural areas.
“It is important to bring this assertion to the fore when drawing up strategies that respond to the food security situation in the country,” she said.
JCTR was calling for the effective participation of people at the household, community and national levels on their food security situation while pragmatic steps should be taken if this situation was to be redressed.
The JCTR want an approach that focuses on increased production of food but also improved storage and even distribution to respond to issues of availability and accessibility throughout the year.
Secondly, to respond to the high cost of living in urban areas, the Government should provide a suitable environment for households to have adequate income. In this regard, national development strategies should live up to their promise of creating employment.
The JCTR however urges the Government that a right balance should be found between the cost of food in urban areas and the future of agriculture in rural areas.
United Liberal Party (ULP) President Sakwiba Sikota has maintained that his party is strong contrary to media reports.
Mr. Sikota says this time around, the party is stronger than before and dismissed assertions that his party is dwindling..
Mr. Sikota, who is also Livingstone Member of Parliament (MP) says time to start campaigning is now and would not wait for next year to do so.
He urged party members at all levels starting from the Wards, Constituency, District and provinces to explain the party’s manifesto the
people countrywide.
Mr. Sikota was speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka yesterday. He accused the MMD of having failed to deliver development to the people as evidenced by the high poverty and unemployment levels in the country.
He claimed that the ULP will surprise the ruling MMD in next years’ polls adding that his party was not threatened by the UPND/PF Pact.
On holding of national conventions, Mr. Sikota said the ULP has not met constitutional obligations to do so..
Meanwhile, Mr. Sikota has said political pacts in the country have in the past failed because of different party ideologies.
He warned opposition political leaders not to rush into forming pacts but instead concentrate on how to better the living standards of the people.
MMD Patron Sikota Wina has said that the country has made tremedious economic progress under the able leadership of President
Rupiah Banda.
Speaking at Sandy’s Creations in Lusaka at “Meet the President FOR Unit and sustenance” fundrainsing Dinner Dance orgainsed by MMD Lusaka Province, Mr. Wina said under the guidance and massive experience of Pesident Banda, many countries were now evying the country’s sustainable unit and peace.
Mr. Wina said through Mr. Banda’s efforts, there was now unit within the MMD and the nation. He said even the International Monetary Fund President Dominique Strauss Kahn who was in the country recently was satisfied with the economic performance of the country in the last two years.
Mr. Wina said Mr. Kahn was satisfied with measures government had made in the management of the economy during the World Economic crisis.
He said the IMF official was extremely happy with the country’s economic performance and even asked Mr. Banda to influence other leaders in the region to come up with appropriate regislation that will make them easily access IMF funds.
Mr. Wina said during his visit Mr. Kahn encouraged other countries in Africa to seek to seek cheaper loans from china to grow their economies.
Mr. Wina said on good governance, Transparent International has rated the country above several other countries which indicated that the country was on the right track in the fight against corruption.
Former Finance and National Planning minister Ng’andu Magande has expressed happiness that the MMD government has been doing well in the last five years.
Speaking to Qfm in an interview after he renewed his MMD membership card at Mulungushi International Conference Centre on the weekend, Mr. Magande said the MMD is still there because it has kept the policies that were agreed in 2005.
He said the MMD government has managed to improve the economy and to get Zambia’s debt off.
The former minster said the International Monetary Fund will continue to support Zambia because the country has good economic policies.
Recently, International Monetary Fund Managing Director was in the country and said Zambia’s economy is in the right direction.
Mr. Straus however warned the country to weigh the country’s benefits from Chinese investment.
