Vice President George Kunda has accused opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) leader, Hakainde Hichilema of gagging the party’s original philosophy of inclusiveness and non-tribalism stance.

Mr. Kunda said Mr. Hichilema’s going into a political pact with the Patriotic Front (PF) was against the ideals on which late UPND president Anderson Mazoka formed the party.

“When the late Mazoka formed the UPND, it was represented by all tribes, it had a national agenda but HH is selling the party for silver,” he said.

He said PF president, Michael Sata, with whom Mr. Hichilema has entered into a pact, was supporting tribalism as evidenced in the last Kasama parliamentary by-election campaigns where he (Sata) allegedly declared that his candidate should be supported and voted for because he comes from Kasama.

“Hakainde Hichilema is not a tribalist, but why has he gone into a pact with a self-confessed tribalist?” he asked.

Mr. Kunda was speaking when he addressed a public rally in Chisamba today.

He appealed to UPND Members of Parliament (MPs) not to allow their party to lose the ideology it had at its formation.

“Tribalism is illegal in this country. So I am appealing to MPs in the UPND to kick HH out if he is misleading the party” he said.

The Vice President disclosed that many members and sympathizers of the UPND have noted the differences in the UPND-PF pact and were therefore leaving it to join the MMD.

“Thousands of Zambians have seen the evil in the UPND-PF pact and so they are moving out. By 2011, the pact will be a shell,” he told the rally.

Mr. Kunda has unlike the pact, President Rupiah Banda was promoting love and non-tribalism.

He said the party had a bright future and hence should be supported by all Zambians.

He said government, under the MMD has performed very well in the education, health and agriculture sectors by building more schools, health centres and creating a fertilizer support programme for farmers.

Mr. Kunda said government was currently rehabilitation silos around the country to ensure that the grain produced by farmers was properly stored before it was sold or consumed.

“As a government, we are planning ahead to address the problems we have in Zambia. We are developing the sixth national development plan which will be implemented over a period of five year,” he said.

And speaking at the same rally, Chisamba Member of Parliament, Moses Muteteka appealed to government to consider degazeting some forestry land in his constituency if order to subdivide it for resettlement by the local people.

Mr. Muteteka said many more people in Chisamba were engaging into farming hence the need to allocate more land for agricultural activities.

Earlier, Mr. Kunda addressed commercial farmers in Chisamba where he declared that government will protect farmers’ interests in the country in order to guarantee food security in the country.

Mr. Kunda said farmers were playing a very important role in the economic development of the country hence the need to protect their interests.

He said government will address farmers’ interests in terms of promoting irrigation and providing small scale farmers with agriculture inputs such as fertilisers and seeds.

And Zambia National Farmers Union Vice President David Golden, who is also a farmer in Chisamba, said government’s agricultural policies have enabled the sector to grow massively in the last ten years.

Mr. Golden said Zambia was now self-sufficient in wheat, maize and Soya production.

He however asked government to ban wheat importation into the country because there was enough local wheat produced by Zambian farmers.

He however complained that fluctuations of the exchange rate of the Kwacha to the United States dollar have affected farmers’ profits.

Mr. Kunda was on a three day tour of Central province to interact with chiefs, local people to appreciate challenges they were facing and inspect development projects.

ZANIS

Former US president Jimmy Carter challenged African governments to speed up the legislation for access to information in their countries.

Mr. Carter regretted that even when all the other continents were claiming to have access to information laws in place, Africa had lagged far behind.He was speaking when he officially opened the African Regional Conference on the Right of Access informational in Ghana. Mr. Carter reminded the conference participants that access to information was a basic human right and a key factor in reducing corruption in government.

The former US president said access to information laws also increased the participation of women in decision making adding that he was amazed by reports that women in Liberia could not participate in politics and were being raped even with a woman president in office.

Mr. Carter who singled out South Africa as the only country that had passed the freedom of information law in Africa cited Zimbabwe as another country that had passed the same information Law which it had, however, twisted around to persecute people who released public information.

The African Regional conference on the right of access to information is the third major conference that the Carter center for Democracy Program has sponsored on freedom of information after the Atlanta Declaration in 2008 and the Lima declaration in Peru, South America in 2009.

Mr. Carter and Mrs. Rosalynn Carter have since left for Sudan to monitor the situation in that country before the presidential elections due in six weeks time.

Speaking yesterday when he chaired a high level panel discussion on transparency at the La palm Beach hotel in Accra during the on- going Right of Access to information conference organized by the Carter Center for Democracy program, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Lt. Gen. Ronnie Shikapwasha assured the Conferenc that the Zambian Government will table the freedom of Information Bill immediately parliament resumes sitting this month.

Lt. Gen Shikapwasha said the Zambian Government has already reached an advanced stage in pushing for the legislation of the Freedom of information Act and was currently wrapping up its study of other models as advised by the World bank and the United Nations Development Programme UNDP to see which model would best suit the Zambian environment .

Gen. Shikapwasha said the Zambian administration under President Rupiah Banda was in a rush to pass the Freedom Of Information Bill and other media bills ,but was taking its time consulting widely so that it could come up with an -all embracing legal framework that would enhance people’s equitable access to public information .

The minister who cited cost as another factor that had weakened the pace for legislation, explained to the conference that the access to information, or freedom of Information Bill should not be viewed from the prism of being an exclusively media bill alone, but one that would benefit every citizen who might need information .

[ZANIS]

The Forum for Progressive Parties (FPP) has condemned the print media for publishing people especially women who are allegedly half naked .

FPP Secretary General (SG) Charles Kafumbo says the publishing of such pictures in the newspapers should be condemned by all concerned Zambians.

Mr. Kafumbo told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that it is high time that print media desist from publishing nude pictures in their newspapers.

He said it is immoral to publish pictures of women who are half naked adding that it corrupts the mind of people especially the children.

Mr. Kafumbo’s sentiments comes in the wake of publication of half naked women published in one of the tabloids and daily newspapers.

The Forum SG has since taken a swipe at Women Civil Organizations in the country over their silence to comment on half naked women.

He said the Forum would now start championing for the rights of women because the publishing of half naked women in the newspapers is tantamount to pornography.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kafumbo has advised women in the country to dress properly when they go out to functions because they should not blame the media if the find themselves in those circumstances.

He said indecent dressing especially among the women folk is against the values of the declaration of Zambia, a Christian nation.

ZANIS

OPPOSITION political parties should offer alternative solutions to the challenges affecting the nation because politics of merely criticising the Government is long gone, former first lady Maureen Mwanawasa has said.

Featuring on a Joy FM live chat-show “Tikambilane” yesterday, Mrs Mwanawasa said leaders from the opposition and the Government should co-exist and support one another in the management of the country.

She said there was need for opposition leaders, who considered themselves as the government in waiting, to prove to the people that they had alternative ways of tackling issues like the effects of the floods in Lusaka.

Mrs Mwanawasa said politics of merely criticising the Government was long gone and those aspiring for leadership positions should be able to prove to the electorate that they are capable of providing better policies than those of the ruling party.

She said she was still an ordinary MMD member who was on the “bench” and if called upon to “play on any number” she would be able to respond accordingly.

Mrs Mwanawasa insisted she had no grudge against the MMD or the Government saying whenever she spoke strongly, she did not do so out of malice but to advise leaders.

On the adoption of degree requirement by the National Constitutional Conference for people vying for the presidency, Mrs Mwanawasa, who is a lawyer said it was not necessary.
She said what was important was a candidate’s performance.

Mrs Mwanawasa said a candidate’s past performance should be an important barometer in an election. The degree requirement might disadvantage other people like those in the military who do not have degrees.

On life after president Levy Mwanawasa’s death, she said it had not been easy to live as a widow since a lot of friends and some relatives had been shunning her.

Mrs Mwanawasa said during late president Levy Mwanawasa’s sickness and after his death, there had been a lot of adverse publicity about her with some people spreading rumours that she had a lot of money in First Alliance Bank and that she owned the multi-national oil marketing company, Petroda.

She said all that was not true as she did not even know much about the two entities and challenged the law enforcement agencies to arrest her if she had stolen anything as first lady.[quote]

She said the Mwanawasas were among the first families who had left State House with as little as they had gone in with.

Mrs Mwanawasa challenged other widows to rise and claim whatever was due to them as most of the traditional beliefs were oppressive to them.

She urged society to stop oppressing widows and orphans.

On the Maureen Mwanawasa Community Initiative (MMCI), Mrs Mwanawasa said the organisation was still active although many organisations had stopped supporting it.

She appealed for further support so that the organisation could continue with the projects it had initiated and embark on others.

[Times of Zambia]

Movement for Multi party democracy MMD Chief Whip Vernon Mwanga has stated that the party is still receiving support.

Mr. Mwanga says that the party is doing well with the support from the Zambians who have continued to believe in the party.

He told QFM that the party has still the largest support in the country because of its good economic policies that have been put in place since its inception. [quote]

He however admitted that the party has some challenges that the party is slowly addressing.

He has called on the MMD sympathizers not to be cheated that the party has lost support in urban areas especially Lusaka.

He says that Zambia is not made up of Lusaka alone, as people in the rural areas still have faith and belief that the government will address its issues.

He further explained that if the government has failed to meet people’s expectations, the country would not have attended single digit inflation and the highest reserves in the central bank since independence.

QFM

Vice President George Kunda has warned that the country risks getting back to its economic doldrums if Zambians voted out the ruling MMD government from power in the 2011 tripartite elections.

Mr. Kunda says the MMD government has worked hard to revive and sustain the economic gains the country has continued to make.
.
He says as a result of government’s good economic policies, the country has won itself confidence from the donor community.

The Vice President who was addressing a rally at Keembe Farm Training Institute in Chibombo yesterday said in the last few years, the donor communities have been releasing huge sums of money for developmental projects because of the confidence they have in the government of the day.

He said without good economic policies, the donors would have withdrawn their funding from government.

Mr. Kunda said for the past few years, the country has been recording a bumper harvest because of government’s support to the agricultural sector through programmes such as the Farmer Input Support Programme ((FISP).

He also disclosed that this year, government has released K5 billion each to three ministries namely Gender, Sport and Community Development to empower women, youths and vulnerable clubs to enable them engage in various economic activities.

Mr. Kunda added that government has also given the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services an additional K10 billion for Food Security Pack programmes for vulnerable people in rural areas across the country.[quote]

He explained that all these programmes have been put in place in order to reduce poverty levels in the country which he said mostly affects the women, youths and vulnerable people.

Mr. Kunda urged the people of Chibombo district to forms Clubs and access these funds.

He told the gathering that 40 percent of the CEEC has been reserved for women, youths and vulnerable people.

The Vice President further warned that if Zambians voted for the UPND /PF Pact in 2011, all such economic empowerment programmes will discontinue thereby subjecting the Zambians to abject poverty.

“You have seen what the MMD government has done because of our good economic policies set by this government. So I urge you not to experience with leadership with some of these who only come to plunder the economy,” he said.

Mr. Kunda said some of the people vying for presidency now have failed before when they were in government and so far they have nothing to offer to the Zambian people if voted into government.

Mr. Kunda also requested the people of Chibombo to reject UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema because he partnered with PF leader Michael Sata whom he described as a failure.

The Vice President is in Central Province to acquaint himself with the economic problems the province was faced with. He will also inspect developmental projects, hold public rallies and meet chiefs in the province.

Earlier, Central Province Minister Ackimson Banda said the people in the province are happy with the MMD government for developing the area.

Mr. Banda said MMD government has scored a lot of achievements in various key sectors of the economy.

Mr. Kunda is expected to return to Lusaka on today. He is accompanied by Provincial Minister Ackimson Banda, Science Minister and Mumbwa Central MP Dr. Brian Chituwo and MMD Deputy National Secretary Chembe Nyangu.

ZANIS

The PF/UPND Pact has refuted allegations by Vice President George Kunda that there will soon be massive defections of opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) to the ruling MMD.

UPND Spokesperson Charles Kakoma said the pact was not surprised or shaken by the vice presidents claims which started last year.

Mr. Kakoma urged the electorate to ignore the assertions and prepare themselves for the 2011 tripartite elections.

“The Vice President is just dreaming. These dreams started last year before the MPs got their gratuity and no resignations have occurred since then,” Mr. Kakoma said.

He said last year, the MMD said the opposition MPs were just waiting for their mid-term gratuity before defecting to the ruling party.

Mr. Kakoma said all the MPs from the Pact got their mid-term gratuity last year and no one has defected to the MMD.

He said no MPs from the PF/UPND Pact were planning to defect to the ruling party as alleged because there were no problems in the pact.

“There are no problems in the pact. People should just wait for the next government next year,” He said.

And Mr. Charles Kakoma has disclosed that 31 houses have been destroyed in Zambezi West Constituency in Zambezi District from heavy rains the area has been experiencing during the past few days.

Mr. Kakoma who is also Zambezi West MP said 150 people have been left homeless as a result of the floods which were now threatening to submerge Senior Chief Ndungu’s Palace.

He appealed to the Office of the Vice President’s Disaster Management and Mitigation Union to travel to the district to access the damage and assist the people that have been displaced as a result of the floods.

Mr. Kakoma said there was need to send food and other requisites to the area and also contain any possible outbreak of water borne diseases.

He sad reports from the area indicated that maize fields in Zambezi West Constituency have all been submerged in water.

Mr. Kakoma said because of the devastating floods, the area would likely going to experience hunger this year.

ZANIS