Join our community of SUBSCRIBERS and be part of the conversation.
To subscribe, simply enter your email address on our website or click the subscribe button below. Don't worry, we respect your privacy and won't spam your inbox. Your information is safe with us.
Vice President George KundaVICE-PRESIDENT George Kunda says Government is determined to end the constitution-making process on August 31 this year.
Mr Kunda said in Parliament yesterday that the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) should expedite its work on two of its committees’ reports which are remaining.
“We want the constitution-making process to end on the 31st of August, 2010. That is our vision. We do not want to prolong the process,” he said.
Mr Kunda was winding up debate on the National Constitutional Conference Amendment Bill which passed second reading.
He said the NCC should quickly conclude work in the remaining committees so that other processes in the constitution-making process are done.
Mr Kunda said Government is set to have the constitution-making process end despite a number of members of Parliament insisting that the process should not be rushed because of next year’s general elections.
He also said Government will make amendments to the National Constitutional Conference Act to provide for 40 days in which Zambians will be required to make submissions on the work of the conference.
Earlier, Katuba member of Parliament Jonas Shakafuswa said while he supported the amendment bill, there was need for all members of Parliament to start sensitising people about the need to make submissions on the work of the NCC during the period the draft constitution will be subjected to the public.
Namwala member of Parliament Robbie Chizyuka said the 30 days that has been provided for the NCC to get comments from the public on the constitution is insufficient.
Major Chizyuka warned that the public should be vigilant against people who might use money so that their agendas are pushed forward.
Sinda member of Parliament Levy Ngoma said he supported the amendment bill and reiterated that the constitution should not be rushed because of next year’s elections.
Mr Ngoma said if the process is rushed, the country may regret.
“The constitution-making process is being looked at from a political angle. We want a good constitution.
It is not good to rush the process for next year’s elections because we might regret,” he said.
The bill has been referred to the committee stage.
Long queues of People waiting for Fuel during the 2009 fuel shortage in Zambia
ENERGY and Water Development Minister Kenneth Konga has said that the decision by BP to sell it shares in BP Zambia will not affect the flow of petroleum products in the country.
Speaking in Parliament when he delivered a ministerial statement on the decision by BP to sell its shares in BP Zambia, Mr Konga said that the Government would ensure that there was a smooth exit of the petroleum firm.
He said this after Kantanshi Member of Parliament Yamfwa Mukanga (PF) asked Mr Konga to assure the nation whether the move by BP would not result in the disruption of flow in petroleum products.
Since BP was an important and critical player in the petroleum sector, Mr Konga said that the Government was monitoring the operations of the firm to ensure that its exit did not affect the flow of petroleum products.
As a result of the realisation that BP was critical player, he said that the Government had engaged management at the petroleum firm in discussions to have an indepth understanding of the reasons behind the pull out.
In the said discussions, he said that BP informed the Government that a number of BP Africa’s portfolio in Africa lacked synergies with BP Africa.
“BP Africa has made a purely business decision to sell its marketing business in Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Tanzania and Zambia,” Mr Konga said.
He said that the exit of BP on the Zambian market should be seen as an opportunity by some local investors to invest in the sector.
Mr Konga said that it was the intention of Government to support local investors in the petroleum sector through institutions like the Energy Regulations Board (ERB), Zambia Competition Commission (ZCC) and the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) among others.
THE Government has said it is illegal for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Zambia to advocate the removal of a democractically-elected Government using potentially dangerous means such as the ‘red card’ campaigns.
Home Affairs Minister, Lameck Mangani said in Lusaka yesterday that NGOs should be sober in their criticism, and should concentrate on civic campaigns instead of agitating violence.
He said the NGOs would not be allowed to hold demonstrations against the Government because that would be a recipe for anarchy.
However, the NGOs spokesperson, Obby Chibuluma said they would go ahead with the rallies and demonstrations but ensure that everything was done in conformity with the laws.
Mr Mangani said the civil society could instead campaign for issues such as good governance and the promotion of fair play in elections which could in turn allow Zambians to make informed decisions through an electoral system allowed by the country’s Constitution.
He said this in an interview after meeting some NGOs representatives at his office.
Among those who attended the meeting were Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes executive director, Lee Habasonda, Transparency International Zambia president, Reuben Lifuka and his executive director Goodwell Lungu, and Anti-Voter Apathy director, Bonnie Tembo.
The civil society had requested for a meeting with the minister, to which he consented.
Mr Mangani said he told the NGOs representatives during the meeting that there was no individual or organisation that had the right to force any citizen to remove a government elected by the people, and appealed to them to be objective in the manner they approached national issues.
He said the Government had a responsibility to ensure the peace Zambia had enjoyed over the years was sustained, and it was for that reason that it had often called for dialogue among the citizens.
Mr Mangani said unless the NGOs justified the need for demonstrations, the Government would not allow them to do so at the expense of national security.
The minister said while the Government acknowledged citizens’ rights to air their views, it was not ready to allow anybody to cause unnecessary confusion in the country.
“As far as the Government is concerned, we cannot allow the NGOs to take to the streets to demonstrate because we are not convinced with the reasons they have given us,“ he said.
Mr Mangani, however, described the meeting, which started at 11:00 hours and ended after 13:00 hours, as fruitful and assured the NGOs that the Government would remain open to dialogue for the benefit of the Zambian people.
And Mr Chibuluma said the CSOs would go ahead with the rallies and demonstrations, adding that to ensure no law was breached, the civil society went ahead to notify the police.
He, however, paid tribute to the Government for allowing them hold a meeting with them through the minister of Home Affairs, and described it as a step in the right direction.
“As civil society, we are happy that the minister met us but we did not go to his office to ask for any permit to hold rallies or demonstrations. We wanted to express ourselves after realising that our freedom of expression was being tampered with,” he said.
Mr Chibuluma acknowledged that dialogue was important in any society and the civil society would continue engaging the Government on various issues for continued mutual understanding.
Lusaka district police commanding officer Greenwell Nguni wears and recovered mask and a rifle recovered from criminals during a public display of the goods at Lusaka central police station.
Some people in Siavonga district are said to have discovered a stack of firearms believed to have been buried in the area by freedom fighters before independence in 1964. Minister of Home Affairs Mr Lameck Mangani said according to Siavonga member of Parliament Raphael Muyanga, there are people who are digging the firearms out for use in criminal activities.He said freedom fighters in Siavonga hid firearms underground, thinking that the country’s freedom was temporary and would have to unearth the arms later.
Mr Mangani said the revelation by Sinazongwe Member of Parliament, Raphael Muyanda that there were firearms buried in his constituency should not be taken lightly, hence the need to investigate and establish the truth. Mr.Mangani said he will be sending a team of officers from the ministry to the area to investigate the matter.
He warned that Zambia’s security would be compromised if the circulation of arms was not controlled.
Speaking in Lusaka yesterday, when he officially opened the National mobilisation and arms marking training workshop at Hotel Inter-Continental, Mr Mangani said the ownership of weapons should be scrutinised by the relevant authorities.
Government will soon embark on the marking of all firearms and light weapons in the country to mitigate illegal ownership of arms.
Mr. Mangani said illegal ownership of firearms will be mitigated through the marking, as the arms will easily be identified.
Mr Mangani said officers from the Zambia Police Service will mark the weapons using a pin-marking machine.
“Officers are expected to stockpile and manage small arms and light weapons with the aid of a pin-marking machine. All firearms in the country are going to be engraved with special numbers. This will help in the identification of firearms in terms of their origin and ownership,” he said.
He said the country’s security will be in danger if the ownership of small firearms and light weapons is not controlled.
Mr Mangani said the uncontrolled ownership of arms could lead to an unhealthy environment for economic development.
He said the programme to mark firearms and light weapons is being conducted with the help of the country’s co-operating partners who include the Regional Centre on Small Arms and Light Weapons (RECSA) and the American Embassy in Lusaka.
Mr Mangani said the beginning of marking arms and weapons signifies the strides Government has made in preventing, controlling and reducing the proliferation of weapons in the country.
He said Zambia is responsible to the protocols of the United Nations Programme of Action in the jurisdiction of preventing, combating and eradicating illicit trade in small arms and light weapons.
Mr Mangani said Government is aware that in the recent past, the country was surrounded by countries that were experiencing civil wars which made the proliferation of small firearms and light weapons highly probable.
Mr Mangani also called upon the Inspector-General of Police Francis Kabonde, who is the national focal point for the control of the proliferation of small firearms and light weapons in Zambia, to embark on a countrywide sensitisation programme of the arms marking programme.
He said the programme is critical because people need to know what is happening and that lack of knowledge has proved to be a challenge to the ministry’s directive that people illegally owning firearms can surrender them to the Zambia Police at a fee of K1 million without being punished.
Mr Kabonde warned that the police will not rest until people trading illegally in firearms and light weapons are dealt with.
“I warn those people who are involved in illegal trade and ownership of small arms and light weapons that the Zambia Police and other law enforcement agencies will not rest.
Those that hide these weapons in sacks and pack them in their pickup vans should know that the police will soon catch up with them,” he said.
And RECSA executive secretary Francis Sang reiterated that the records generated in the process of arms marking will ease tractability and identification of the sources and end users of arms within the country.
Copperbelt Permanent Secretary Villie Lombanya with KCM and Government Officials and the students who received the KCM scholarshipsKCM has awarded 18 recently graduated Grade 12s from the Nchanga Trust School five-year scholarships tenable at top Indian universities to study medicine, engineering and commerce. Twelve of the recipients are girls.
The scholarships are part of an $18million scholarship programme launched in Chingola yesterday by Copperbelt Permanent Secretary Villie Lombanya who hailed the initiative as the surest way of securing Zambia’s future and helping the nation attain middle-income status by 2030.
Apart from the 18, 11 Grade 8 and 10 Grade 10 pupils from Nchanga and Konkola Trust Schools were awarded scholarships. The India-bound pupils will study Medicine, Instrumentation engineering, Commerce, Electrical Engineering, Metallurgy and mechanical engineering.
One of the recipients, Bwalya Chitundu, daughter of a retired miner, is going to study instrumentation engineering and said she was delighted and grateful to KCM for the sponsorship that would ease the burden on her family.
Crycencia Musonda, has been sponsored for a BA Commerce and promised to work extra hard to repay the favour from KCM.
The programme comes just weeks after the company introduced a scholastic excellence award for government schools in Chingola, Chililabombwe, Kitwe and Nampundwe, the four districts where the company has assets.
Mr Lombanya said KCM’s commitment to the development of education, which includes a $17.5 million involvement in the development of Mulungushi University, was evidence of its long-term vision for Zambia and proof that it was in the country for the long haul.
He challenged the scholarship recipients to take advantage of the opportunity they had been given to fulfil their dream careers, saying they held the future of the nation in their hands and the whole country would be watching them to ensure they did not waste the opportunity.
KCM Chief Executive Officer, Kishore Kumar said KCM had more than its wealth in copper, referring to Zambia’s rich human resource potential as gold, diamonds and rubies. He challenged to pupils to learn from everyday experiences by keeping their eyes open and being curious and interrogative.
He said he would like to see more young people making use of the abundance of the sports and recreational facilities in Chingola and Chililabombwe instead of them spending too much time in front of the television set.
“Each one of you can go as far as you want in life if you are willing to work hard but you must also balance your life with play, good food and a lot of rest,” he said, adding; “that is why KCM sponsors sport and recreational activities and has all these on the curriculum of its schools.”
KCM Vice-President for Human Resource Sophie Mutemba said the occasion marked a turning point in the life history by KCM in relation to education.
“The Company policy is to offer quality education to its employees’ children and the community. KCM has heavily invested in education since its inception in 2000 and progressively expanded the school from a mere Primary school into a full range Secondary school. Now we have this programme that will benefit the nation,” she said.
KCM Trust Schools had their first Grade 9 in 2004 with Nchanga scoring 100% pass mark in the first ‘O’ level exam attempt while Konkola recorded 97%.
Mr Lombanya said KCM’s commitment to the development of education, which includes a $17.5 million involvement in the development of Mulungushi University, was evidence of its long-term vision for Zambia and proof that it was in the country for the long haul.
He challenged the scholarship recipients to take advantage of the opportunity they had been given to fulfil their dream careers, saying they held the future of the nation in their hands and the whole country would be watching them to ensure they did not waste the opportunity.
KCM Chief Executive Officer, Kishore Kumar said KCM had more than its wealth in copper, referring to Zambia’s rich human resource potential as gold, diamonds and rubies. He challenged to pupils to learn from everyday experiences by keeping their eyes and being curious.
He said he would like to see more young people making use of the abundance of the sports and recreational facilities in Chingola and Chililabombwe instead of them spending too much time in front of the television set.
Kwacha NgweeZambia’s currency may gain 18 percent and stocks of Africa’s biggest copper producer are likely to rally 15 percent in 2010 as the nation’s economy and earnings improve, Renaissance Capital said.
The southern African country’s Lusaka Stock Exchange All Share Index may climb to 3,200 at the end of 2010, up from 2,794.89 at the end of 2009, after gaining 12 percent in 2009, the Moscow-based brokerage wrote in a research report today. Zambian shares trade at 9.8 times estimated earnings, Rencap said, compared with 12.95 times for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, according to Bloomberg data.
“Economic growth is likely to remain strong in 2010, at about 6.3 percent,” according to the note. “We expect earnings for 2010 to surprise on the upside as corporates recover from the low base in 2009.”
The Zambian kwacha may appreciate to about 4,000 to the dollar by yearend as “foreign direct and portfolio inflows improve and copper prices remain elevated,” the analysts wrote. The currency was 4,725 against the dollar at 12:33 p.m. in Lusaka, according to Bloomberg data.
The kwacha lost 26 percent of its value against the dollar between April 7 and December 24, 2008, as copper prices declined from $8,730 per ton to $2,845 per ton amid the global financial crisis. It was the ninth-worst performance against the dollar of 170 currencies tracked by Bloomberg. Copper accounts for about 10 percent of gross domestic product of Zambia, a landlocked country of 13 million people, and 70 percent of export earnings, according to Standard Bank Group Ltd.
Market Value
The metal used in wiring more than doubled to $7,375 per ton at the end of 2009 from $3,070 per metric ton a year earlier, and is up 1 percent so far in 2010.
The market value of stocks traded in Zambia was worth $5.3 billion at the end of 2009, according to RenCap. Among African countries, the Lusaka exchange ranks behind that of Botswana, the world’s biggest diamond producer with a population of 2 million, and Ghana, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer, in market value, and is bigger than Malawi’s bourse, according to Bloomberg data.
Zambia is likely to have had gross domestic product growth of 6 percent in 2009, compared with about 2 percent for sub- Saharan Africa, according to RenCap.
Best Performers
There is a 60 percent chance that the Lusaka index will reach 3,200 at the end of this year, assuming copper prices remain above $7,000 per metric ton, RenCap said.
A better-than-expected global recovery may drive commodity prices higher and take the index to 3,350, a possibility to which RenCap assigns a 30 percent chance.
The best performing stocks last year were Farmers House Ltd., a Zambian property investor, Zain Zambia, the nation’s biggest mobile-phone operator, and Zambia National Commercial Bank Plc, RenCap said.
The National Constitutional Conference (NCC) is expected to be dissolved by 31st August,2010, parliament heard today.
Vice President George Kunda told parliament when the National Constitutional Conference Amendment bill 2010 came up for second reading.
Mr Kunda told the house that the amendment bill seeks to amend the NCC Act No.19 of 2007 by revising the period for the dissemination and adoption of the initial report and draft constitution in an effort to conclude the constitutional making process before the preparation of the 2011 national budget.
He also said that the amendment is aimed at ensuring that constitution provisions with financial implications are taken into account in the preparation of the national budget.
The vice president who is also Justice Minister further told the house that the proposed amendment seeks to specify the period within which the NCC chairperson should submit the final draft bill to the minister of justice after its adoption by the Conference which currently is not provided for.
Mr Kunda said following last year’s amendment which changed the budget cycle which now requires government to present the budget by October of each financial year; the NCC amendment bill contains provisions specifying that the NCC will stand dissolved by 31st August, 2010, and the term of office for the members will thereby expire.
Transparency International Zambia has charged that vice president George Kunda lied to Parliament when he stated that TIZ objected to the ratification of Mr Abyudi Shonga as Attorney General.
In a statement released to QFM today, TIZ president Rueben Lifuka said to the contrary, TIZ in its submission to the parliamentary select committee stated that they were reluctantly recommending Mr Shonga’s ratification, and that nowhere in their submission did they object to the ratification.
He said they informed the Parliamentary Select Committee of the reasons for the qualified recommendation, which include allegations that had come to their attention that the Attorney General had travelled with the Inspector General of Police who had remained in office despite the ongoing criminal investigations, to South Africa for matters related to the investigations.
Mr Lifuka said they emphasized to the Select Committee that the allegations were not made by TIZ, but by reliable sources who brought this to their attention and that they were following up on the issue to satisfy themselves of the veracity of the allegations, and urged the Committee to do the same and satisfy themselves that these allegations were not true as part of the process of scrutiny of the appointee.
He stated that import of their submission was not to mislead the Committee as alleged by Mr Kunda but to spur the Select Committee to engage in more robust due diligence.
[pullquote]Mr Kunda told parliament when he wound up debate on the motion to ratify the appointment of Mr Shonga,that Transparent International Zambia was the only organization that opposed the appointment of Mr Shonga because of falsehood and misinformation.[/pullquote]
He further added that the vice president elected to leave out the essence of TIZ’s submission and rushed into libeling the organization as peddling in falsehoods and doubting its credibility.
Mr Lifuka said on the same day that Mr Kunda made his statement, the republican president was swearing in six High Court Judges to whom TIZ made its submissions on their appointments.
He further added that Transparency International Zambia in fact recommended the ratification of Mr Abyudi Shonga twice for the position of Solicitor General, and that in the recent incidence; they reconfirmed their satisfaction with his qualifications and suitability for the position but highlighted the allegations that had reached them about his conduct in the investigation of the IG.
Mr Lifuka said TIZ finds the vice president’s attacks regrettable and a sure sign that the political leadership in the country is slowly becoming irrelevant to the country’s democratic aspirations.
On Thursday las week, Vice president George Kunda accused Transparency International Zambia of presenting falsehood to the Parliament Select Committee when they appeared before the committee appointed to scrutinize Mr Shonga’s appointment.
Mr Kunda told parliament when he wound up debate on the motion to ratify the appointment of Mr Shonga,that Transparent International Zambia was the only organization that opposed the appointment of Mr Shonga because of falsehood and misinformation.
Mr Kunda recommended that such organizations should never be allowed to appear before the parliamentary committees.
Parliament unanimously ratifed the appointment of Abyudi Shonga as Attorney General.
LUSAKA province minister Lameck Mangani inspects the cholera centre at Chawama clinic in LusakaCholera killed at least 12 people in Zambia’s capital Lusaka after floods caused by torrential rains contaminated drinking water, a health ministry official said on Tuesday.
Health Ministry spokesman Rueben Mbewe said 562 cases of cholera were recorded in Lusaka out of 694 reported cases across the southern African country last week and most of the sick came from areas hit by serious flooding.
“The floods have worsened the situation in that this has caused the flooding of pit latrines causing the effluent to… mix with drinking water,” Mbewe said.
Mbewe said authorities were providing chlorine to help people purify drinking water.
The government said last week that eight people had died earlier this month after drowning and hundreds more were displaced by floods.
Officials at the Kariba dam on the border with Zimbabwe were forced to open flood gates, increasing the chances of more downstream flooding on the Zambezi river in Mozambique.
Mozambique is already on flood alert – one level below declaring a disaster.
Last year, heavy rains in Zambia and Malawi caused flooding in Mozambique that killed 45 people and left 285,000 homeless
Lukanga Water and Sewerage Company (LuWSC) in Central province is owed over K6 billion in unsettled water
bills by its customers. This was as at January this year.
Central Province Permanent Secretary Denny Lumbama who disclosed this yesterday called on water users in the province to play their role by paying their bills on time to enable the company provide better services.
Mr. Lumbama was speaking during the commemoration of world Water day yesterday, whose theme was “CLEAN WATER FOR A HEALTHY WORLD,” at Kalonga High School. He said out of K6, 447, 138, 129.00 government owed the water utility K1,015,872,541.00 adding that there was need for all to ensure they became honest and settled their water bills.
He also challenged water users to safeguard the water sources and distribution infrastructure from vandalism by reporting those who tamper with installations to relevant authorities.
Mr. Lumbama said government discouraged the use of shallow wells because the quality of water from the wells was compromised and that was why government placed great importance on the provision of clean water to its citizens.
He commended LuWSC for taking the opportunity to sensitise young people on important issues such as water.
And Kabwe Municipal Council Deputy Mayor, Christabel Mwenda commended government for running water supply projects in Kabwe through the water supply and sanitation program aimed at providing 400 water points.
Speaking at Nakoli market during the world water day commemoration, Mrs. Mwenda said the program to provide 400 on site sanitation would benefit vulnerable people in peri-urban areas such as Katondo, Makululu, Kawama, Nakoli, Kaputula and others.
Mrs. Mwenda noted that Lukanga water and Sewerage Company was also addressing the problem of water and sanitation in Bwacha, Chimanimani and Ngungu areas.
ZANIS
THE Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has set April 29 as the date on which the parliamentary by-election will be held in Mufumbwe constituency following the death of Mr Misheck Bonshe.
According to a statement issued in Lusaka yesterday by ECZ public relations manager Cris Akufuna, this is the same date when the Milanzi constituency by-election will be held.
The polls will take place from 06:00 hours to 18:00 hours.
Mr Akufuna said aspiring candidates in the two by-elections should lodge completed and attested statutory declaration and nomination papers subscribed before a magistrate, local court justice, head of primary school, head of secondary school, principal of a college, commissioner of oaths, election officer or returning officer on April 8, between 09:00 hours and 15:00 hours.
Aspiring candidates for the Mufumbwe parliamentary seat should take along with them nine supporters who must be registered voters in the constituency.
The supporters must have in their possession their green national registration cards and voters’ cards while the aspiring candidates will be required to pay K500, 000 non-refundable nomination fee.
The campaign period for the by-elections commences on April 8, after 15:00 hours, and will end at 18:00 hours on April 28.
Registered non-governmental organisations wishing to monitor or observe the elections are advised to apply for accreditation from ECZ.
Patriotic Front (PF) has distributed campaign badges bearing the portrait of its leader Michael Sata for the 2011 elections, three months after the United Party for National Development (UPND) distributed similar badges with leader Hakainde Hichilema’s picture.
PF cadres in Lusaka are distributing Mr Sata’s portrait with a message that he is the one contesting the 2011 elections.
The portraits in form of badges are bearing a message saying ‘Sata for 2011’.
Three months ago there were similar badges for UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema that also stated that he was going to contest the 2011 elections.
But when contacted for a comment yesterday, PF spokesperson Given Lubinda said that it was not of concern to anyone if the PF was campaigning for next year’s elections or not.
Mr Lubinda said no one would tell the PF when to campaign because whatever happened 2011 elections were coming.
He said if there was campaign material for Mr Sata or Mr Hichilema the people would next year vote to determine their leader.
He said there were many badges that were being distributed including those of him and UPND Member of Parliament (MP) for Siavonga Douglas Syakalima saying that they would also contest next year’s elections.
He accused the Times of Zambia of chasing the wind by asking him on the campaign material that was being distributed.
“You Times of Zambia, it seems you have a lot of talk time to chase the wind. You can write what you want because PF’s campaign is not of concern to anyone,” he said.
But deputy UPND spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa said he was not aware of the development but there was nothing wrong if it was true that campaign materials were being distributed.
“In case it is true, there is nothing wrong because the two leaders have agreed to work together and they can campaign,” he said.
Mr Mweetwa said Mr Hichilema could also campaign for the elections because both leaders were possible candidates for the 2011 elections.
He said that he did not believe it was Mr Sata distributing the material but his supporters because even UPND members could do the same.
THE widow of Peterson Ngoma, the man Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata claims he was with in prison has said her late husband had never been jailed for any offence.
Mary Ngoma, 75 said she was aware that her husband was a freedom fighter who fought to liberate the nation from colonial bondage but was never jailed, as had been claimed by Mr Sata that he was his cellmate.
Mr Sata had denied ever being in jail with the last governor for Mambwe Boma during the UNIP era, Jackson Ngoma but claimed it was his brother Peterson who they shared a cell with. But Mrs Ngoma has denied the claims.
Jackson Ngoma, earlier in the month disclosed that he and Mr Sata shared cells at Bwana Mkubwa and Mukobeko prisons in the early 1960s.
Mr Ngoma even produced a certificate of release from jail dated 1964 after being released from prison.
Mr Ngoma was serving a six-year jail term for subversive acts against the colonial government while Mr Sata was incarcerated for a criminal offence.
“My husband, Peterson Ngoma has never been in jail. He was in politics and a freedom fighter but was never in jail for all the years that I spent with him as his wife,” Mrs Ngoma said.
Mrs Ngoma said she was aware that in the 1960s, freedom fighters were jailed for their role in the liberation struggle but her husband was not among those jailed.
In fact, Ms Ngoma said it was in 1961 that she got married to her husband and they lived together until 1979 when he died and at no time was he jailed and neither did he inform her that he had served a jail sentence prior to their marriage.
“At no time did my husband go to jail unless I was not aware but in all the years that we stayed together, he never went to jail for any offence,” Ms Ngoma said.
As far as she was concerned, Mrs Ngoma said there was a possibility that some people were mistaking her brother in law Jackson for her late husband.
Mrs Ngoma challenged whoever claimed that her husband was ever convicted to ask her brothers-in-law, Jackson who was currently in Eastern Province and Basil now settled on a farm in Chilanga.
“My husband is not here to speak for himself that he was never jailed before but if there is anybody that thinks otherwise, let him ask his brothers, Jackson and Basil. These are the only surviving brothers from my husband’s family,” Ms Ngoma said.
THE MMD on the Copperbelt has recommended that its national executive committee (NEC) expels former Minister of Defence George Mpombo for his decision to take part in the red card campaign against President Banda and Government.
But Mr Mpombo says he is not part of the red card campaign but will merely attend meetings of the organisers when invited.
MMD Copperbelt chairman Joseph Chilambwe said in an interview in Luanshya on Sunday that the ruling party has nothing to lose if it expels Mr Mpombo.
“I have already recommended that he should be expelled from the party. There is nothing we are pleading for. Our recommendation is to kick him out of the party. Let him join a political party of his choice or he should form his own political party,” Mr Chilambwe said.
He described Mr Mpombo as an ungrateful person who is now allegedly insulting President Banda and the MMD leadership who made him MP.
“The MMD has made Mr Mpombo what he is today and it is sad that he is now insulting President Banda and the party,” Mr Chilambwe said.
He wondered why Mr Mpombo is bitter when he resigned on his own from Government and also relinquished his position in the NEC.
Mr Chilambwe said it is unfortunate that Mr Mpombo now wants to destroy the MMD, which he wants to use to contest the party presidency.
“I don’t know why we are keeping Mr Mpombo. They should suspend him or expel him from the party because he is confusing us. He is not popular and there is nothing we are pleading for,” Mr Chilambwe said.
He advised the Patriotic Front to be wary of Mr Mpombo because the Kafulafuta member of Parliament allegedly insulted the United Party for National Development leadership when he resigned from the party to join the ruling MMD.
But Mr Mpombo said on Sunday that it is not a big deal for him if Mr Chilambwe has recommended his expulsion from the MMD.
He said Mr Chilambwe is not an elected provincial chairman and that he will always dance to the tune of the appointing authority.
He clarified that he is not a member of the red card campaign but that he would attend meetings when invited.
On Sunday, MMD spokesperson, Dora Siliya asked Mr Mpombo to resign from the party because his decision to join the red card campaign is evidence that he does not support the ruling party’s policies and programmes.
Ms Siliya said it is disappointing that Mr Mpombo has allowed himself to be used to allegedly create anarchy in the country through the red card campaign.
THE Zambia Direct Democracy Movement (ZDDM) will launch the white Ribbon peace campaign to counter the red card campaign spearheaded by Catholic priest Frank Bwalya, ZDDM national coordinator Edwin Sakala has said.
Mr Sakala said it was wrong for Fr Bwalya, who heads Change Life Zambia to propagate the distribution of red cards , which he said signified anarchy and blood.
It was also wrong for a clergyman of Fr Bwalya’s calibre to be propagating anarchy and bloodshed in the country.
Instead, Mr Sakala said Fr Bwalya should help promote peace in the nation.
Mr Sakala said with the white ribbon, Zambians would be encouraging the process of starting afresh and forget about the wrongs and differences that occurred in the past.
Further, he said that the white ribbon would facilitate the creation of a Government of national unity where all parties would be involved in the formation of the Government.
“There is no need to continue with the differences that are happening now,” Mr Sakala said.
The white ribbon would be launched in the coming two weeks and the ZDDM was considering launching it in Kitwe.
Currently, he said some members of the ZDDM were in Livingstone sensitising the citizenry on the need to avoid participating in the red card but instead the white ribbon.
Zambians should desist from participating in the distribution of the red cards saying the move was detrimental to the country’s continued peace.
