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A 28-year-old housewife is battling for her life in Luwingu District Hospital after her husband brutally battered her and later burnt her private parts with burning firewood.
Both hospital authorities and relatives to the victim confirmed the incident to Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in Luwingu on Friday.
Narrating the ordeal, the mother to the victim Rachael Chomba said her daughter was burnt on her private parts using firewood by her husband on suspicion of flirting with another man.
Mrs. Chomba said her son-in-law Amos Kanswe Sumpa, who was drank at the time of incident, also inflicted other bodily injuries on his wife.
She explained that her daughter is complaining of severe pain on her private parts owing to the burns and she is confined to her hospital bed as she was unable to walk.
Mrs. Chomba has since appealed to the police and civil society organisations to help her get justice over her daughter’s brutal assault by her husband.
And police in Luwingu have launched a manhunt for the suspect, who is on the run.
The hospital authorities have described the condition of the burnt woman as stable and the incident happened on New Year’s Day at Sumpa village in Chief Tungati’s area.
ZANIS
The MMD in Mazabuka has ignored directives by party National Secretary, Katele Kalumba not to conduct any party elections until his office issues a circular to do so.
In Chikankata constituency party officials have already started the process of ushering in new office bearers while in Mazabuka Central, ward and branch officials were being mobilised to conduct free elections.
Party administrator for Mazabuka and Monze districts, Clement Matente disclosed this to ZANIS in Mazabuka today.
Mr. Matente explained that MMD deputy national secretary, Jeff Kaande has issued fresh directives to conduct the elections in the two districts within 21 days.
He said Mr. Kaande maintained that the directives he issued to dissolve the district and constituency executives in the two districts when he visited Mazabuka still stand despite his boss saying no district or constituency executive had been dissolved.
Mr. Matente who is also Southern Province Treasurer said he will ensure all the districts abide by the instructions from the deputy national secretary.
He said the party is dead in Mazabuka and Monze because the dissolved party executive committee officials did not have the interest of the party at heart.
Mr. Matente said ushering new blood would help rebuild the support the party has lost in the two districts.
A Copperbelt based political Sage has called on political parties intending to float presidential candidates next year not to go for upstarts because time for political experiments was long gone.
Mr. Humphrey Ngulube told ZANIS in Ndola yesterday that the 2011 presidential elections should not be peddled by political upstarts because leadership must always have a track record.
He said 2011 was a crucial year as the country will be going to the polls to elect a leadership cadre that should steer the developmental agenda of Zambia from its current stage to a higher one.
Mr. Ngulube said Zambians should be careful with the choice of leaders that will be parading before them for votes and should critically scrutinize each candidate with care.
He said even if Zambians should not be looking for perfection in the human beings that political parties will offer for presidency, they should be looking at a political leadership track record of honesty, integrity, accountability, tolerance, humility, openness and passion to see the country moving forward in unity.
He said leadership was about offering a service to the people and any leader who wanted a position in order to amass wealth; take advantage of the privileges of the position of leadership for personal aggrandizement was seeking a position for wrong reasons.
He said Zambia needed tried and tested political leadership that was driven by the passion and conviction rooted in the spirit of patriotism and national building.
Mr. Ngulube added that there was need to promote unity, respect and the underlying values of “one Zambia one Nation” because time for tribal politics and regional isolation was over.
He also appealed to the Church to pray for the right leadership which should emerge as a result of prayer and much seeking of God about the direction of the nation after 2011.
He said the Church had a critical role to play through preaching love and unity for the nation and praying for God’s direction for the leaders that would be chosen.
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia Chapter has commended government for setting up a Media Institutions Support Funds (MISF) this year.
MISA Zambia Chapter Chairperson Henry Kabwe said the move by the government to set up the fund shows how committed it is in improving media operations in the country.
Mr. Kabwe told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that Media Institutions Support Funds are cardinal to the development of the media in the country.
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Permanent Secretary (PS) Ngosa Chisupa announced that government had set aside a Media Institutions Support Funds that will be accessed by both public and private media institutions in the country.
TWO Juveniles of Katepela village in chief Kawaza’s area in Katete district in Eastern province have died after drowning in Chinyendenda stream.
Katete District Commissioner Eleman Mwanza confirmed the death of the two in a statement to ZANIS Katete.
Mr. Mwanza said the juveniles drowned while they were swimming in the stream.
He named the juveniles as Best Phiri and Yosiya Banda both aged 10 and of the same village.
He said that his office received a report from the Zambia Police Service about the death of the two children.
Mr. Mwanza said that the incident happened on Tuesday around 13: 00 hours, adding that officers from the Zambia Police Service visited the scene and the two bodies were retrieved from the stream.
He stated that the bodies have since been buried since there was no foul play .
ZANIS
THE National Constitutional Conference (NCC) delegates yesterday failed to reach a consensus on the 50-per cent plus one threshold for the election of the Republican President.
NCC chairperson Chifumu Banda said after calling for a division in which 131 delegates rose in support of the proposal that the issue would have to be put to a vote and deferred it.
The decision to subject the issue to a vote followed a heated debate with some delegates supporting the proposal while others were against.
The officials from the Electoral Commission of Zambia will have to be called in to conduct the elections on the matter either today or some other time.[quote]
Meanwhile, the NCC adopted the proposal by the conference’s democratic and governance committee that there should be at least 30 per cent of gender representation in elective public offices.
The NCC adopted the recommendations when debating Article 94 of the Draft Constitution, which stipulates that the electoral system shall ensure a representation of each gender, is not less than 30 per cent of the total number of seats in the National Assembly, district council or other public elective bodies.
Contributing to the debate, delegate Pixie Yangailo, representing the Human Rights Commission, said Zambia had made minimal progress in female representaion at governance level.
As such, Ms Yangailo said there was need for the nation to stop being rhetoric and ensure that it increased gender representation in elective public offices.
Ms Yangailo proposed that in fact, the percentage should be increased to 50 per cent but other delegates settled for 30 per cent.
But another delegate, Martin Mwale said as mush as he was in support of the recommendations by the committee, the positions should be held because a particular individual was competent to be the office holder and not based on gender.
PATRIOTIC Front Mwense Member of Parliament Jacob Chongo has predicted that the United Party for National Development (UPND) and the Patriotic Front (PF) Pact will collapse four months from now because leaders of both parties are egoistic and want the presidency.
Speaking in an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Chongo said it was because of the realisation that the pact would crumble that he was concentrating on campaigning for himself for the parliamentary seat and not based on either the PF or the UPND.
Commenting on reports that the UPND was considering to give the position of vice-president to a woman, preferably from Northern Province, to enhance its chances of winning the 2011 general elections, Mr Chongo said it was clear there was a rift in the pact.
“That pact will not hold, I am not worried about them and that is why I have ensured that I deliver to my constituency. I am campaigning for myself and not to wait for anybody,” he said.
Mr Chongo said PF leader Michael Sata and his UPND counterpart Hakainde Hichilema were egoistic and wanted the presidency at all costs.
Since none of the two was willing to serve under the other, Mr Chongo said that in the coming four months, the pact would be no more.
“The pact is definitely crumbling because the PF wants Mr Sata to be president and the UPND wants Mr Hichilema. Even the two leaders themselves are not ready to work under the other,” Mr Chongo said.
He said in 1991, people came up together to form the MMD on principle and not hatred for first Republican president Kenneth Kaunda.
Unlike in 1991 when the MMD was formed out of principle, Mr Chongo said for now the PF-UPND Pact was formed out of hatred for President Rupiah Banda.
The Zambia National Women’s Lobby Group (ZNWLG) commended the UPND for its decision to reserve a position of party vice-president for a female candidate.[quote]
ZNWLG executive director Tamara Kambikambi said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday, the decision by the UPND was welcome and appreciated it. She said the decision was in conformity with the international conventions on gender.
Ms Kambikambi said Zambia was a signatory to international gender conventions while at the same time ratified the Southern African Development Community protocol on gender.
Ms Kambikambi said in other bodies like the National Constitutional Conference, the nation had done well to ensure that there was equal representation in positions of authority saying the same principle should apply in political parties
The ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) in Mazabuka district has refuted allegations that it has endorsed the candidature of Chilanga Member of Parliament Ngandu Magande as the party’s presidential candidate at the forthcoming party convention.
District Chairman, Trywell Himoonga told ZANIS in Mazabuka yesterday that it was not possible for the district to endorse Mr. Magande’s candidature because he had been rejected in Magoye where he hails from.
Meanwhile Mr. Himoonga has said the ruling party in the district is intact despite the dissolution of the district and constituency executive committees by provincial chairman, Solomon Muzyamba.
He said the district has welcomed the decision to dissolve the committees because this will strengthen the party especially when a new leadership is ushered into office.
Mr. Himoonga said contrary to reports that Mr. Magande was the favorite, the district and constituency officials are in full support of President Rupiah Banda as the sole Presidential candidate in the 2011 General elections.
And Mazabuka Central constituency chairman, Davis Bbilika said party officials are only engaged in party campaigns in readiness for the forthcoming party elections.
Mr Bbilika said the party in the constituency is intact and in support of RB.
The Forum for Political Parties (FPP) says it will next week petition the Pope over the continued involvement of some Bishops in partisan and politics.
Forum Chief Spokesperson, Charles Kafumbo, said FPP will present the petition to the Pope Benedict the XVI (sixteenth) through his representative in Zambia.
He said FPP has decided to seek the Pope’s intervention in order to restrain some Bishops from participating in active politics.
Mr. Kafumbo disclosed this in a statement released to ZANIS in Lusaka yesterday.
He has meanwhile challenged the Bishops to come out in the open and announce the name of their political party or completely stop their involvement in politics.
Mr. Kafumbo said Bishop Duffy’ s attacks on government have openly shown that the Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC) is compromised and actively participating in politics describing the situation a shame.
He has since advised the church to stop making statements that incite people to rise against the government because this can be a receipt for chaos in the country.
He said the church is divine and should help in uniting the country and not be seen to be agitating for any form of division and chaos which undermines the country’s security.
All is set for the official launch of Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) new Television channel Two (Tv2) today, January 15, 2009.
Vice President George Kunda is expected to commission the new national TV channel on behalf of President Rupiah Banda.
ZNBC Public Relation Manager Mirriam Tonga confirmed the development to Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in an interview in Lusaka yesterday.
Ms. Tonga said the opening of the new TV channel is part of the Corporation’s commitment to give both the listeners and viewers an improved programming and provide a variety of content.
Ms Tonga noted the new channel is also expected to give the audience an expanded coverage and compete effectively in the modern broadcasting era.
She further said the new channel prepares Zambia to migrate from manual to digital transmission before 2012 like other countries in the Southern region that have already gone digital.
According to Ms. Tonga, ZNBC’s stance is to retain audience market leadership in all platforms in radio and television thereby giving the listeners and viewers a greater choice to tune to.
Tv2 the second television channel for ZNBC will be a 24-hour entertainment channel with a news segment.
A man in his early 80s today appeared before Livingstone Magistrates Court Mumba for mention in a drug trafficking case.
Benson Ngombo of Saw Mills Township in Livingstone was arrested and charged for trafficking in 120 grams of cannabis.
Particulars of the offence are that on August 5, last year, the Drug Enforcement Commission, (DEC) Livingstone Regional Office got a tip from members of the public that they suspected Ngombo was trafficking in Cannabis.
The following day, Stanley Muyinda a DEC Investigations Officer in the company of two other DEC officers carried out an operation at Ngombo’s house around 03:00hr and found Ngombo and one other person identified as Lubinda fast asleep.
And state witness Paul Kamanga who was also in the company of Muyinda and Kaluba told the court that while they waited for Muyinda and Kaluba who were inside the house, they saw a brown sugar plastic bag being pushed out of the house through a gap between the wall and the roof.
Kamanga said he then picked up the plastic bag and took it to Muyinda and Kamanga who were still inside in the house.
The duo (Ngumbo and Lubinda) were then asked who had thrown the bag outside but they all expressed ignorance saying they did not know who the owner was.
The DEC officers then apprehended the duo and took them to Livingstone Central Police where they were later arrested and the suspected cannabis taken to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) for examination.
When the results of the test were brought back, it was confirmed that the material in question was in fact cannabis.
Ngombo who understood the charge said he did not know about the cannabis which was contained in the plastic bag.
Magistrate Mumba adjourned the matter and reserved ruling for tomorrow, Friday January 15, 2010.
Mwinilunga Soccer fans were yesterday treated to a rude shock when the ZESCO thermal propelled generator went off , plunging the whole district in darkness.
The sad ordeal happened minutes after the Zambia and Tunisia match kicked off after half time.
The district was in total darkness for over 40 minutes before power was restored by ZESCO.
Meanwhile, police used tear- gas canisters to displace angry soccer fans who wanted to riot in protest against the power blackout.
The angry fans who were watching the match from the council rest house , resolved to follow the ZESCO manager at his resident to register their displeasure over the power blackout, but quick action by police displaced the angry fans.
And one of the soccer fans who stormed ZANIS offices this morning Katizi Chinganbu wondered why the ZESCO manager opted to be home instead of being at the plant monitoring the machine.
Mr. Chingambu said government and the corporate world played their part by ensuring that the matches are televised on ZNBC so as to allow soccer fans to watch the match.
He wondered how the soccer fans in Mwinilunga will manage to support the national team with the negligence exhibited by ZESCO.
Mr. Chingambu said soccer have the potential to cause serious damages, if ZESCO will continue denying power to the residents during critical matches involving the Zambia National Soccer Team.
Meanwhile maize loaders in Mwinilunga district have called on the Food Reserve Agency FRA to pay them their dues.
Speaking on behalf of the maize loaders, Charles Kajimbala complained that FRA has not paid them their dues.
He said loaders were depending on the money from FRA to pay for their school going children.
Government has castigated Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata for suggesting that the recent 15 percent fuel hike is aimed at subsiding thieves that are involved in oil procurement.
Chief government Spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ronnie Shikapwasha says the statement by the PF leader is untrue, highly irresponsible and provocative.
Lt. Gen Shikapwasha adds that the Mr. Sata’s Statement is only meant to mislead Zambians and promote hatred against President Banda.
In a statement issued to ZANIS in Lusaka last evening, Lieutenant General Shikapwasha explained that the increase in fuel prices has not vindicated Mr. Sata from anything because he still remains an insensitive, hypocritical and manipulative politician who can say anything to gain political mileage.
Lt Gen Shikapwasha said as a government, the regulation of fuel is solely managed by the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) and not as insinuated by Mr. Sata.
He said having been a member of Cabinet in 1998 when ERB Act Cap 436 was enacted, Mr. Sata is aware that ERB is responsible for regulating fuel prices.
He explained that the nation should know that the last fuel prices were reviewed on 22nd December 2008 when petroleum products pump prices were reduced by an average of 24 percent.
Gen Shikapwasha added that this was on account of the dramatic decline in international oil prices and favourable exchange rate of the kwacha against the US dollar.
He noted that since December 2008 both the average international oil prices and cost of feedstock cargoes have gone up significantly as much as 72% while the average international oil prices have increased by an average of 110% over the period February 2009-January 2010.
“Going by the above stated figures, price increases would have averaged 32% as opposed to 15% as announced by ERB on 12th January 2010,” explained Gen Shikapwasha.
Gen Shikapwasha who is also Information and Broadcasting Minister stated that to cushion the economy, the government subsidised the high costs of fuel so as to make it affordable, especially in the context of the global economic recession that characterized the global economy in 2009.
He pointed out that as the global economy is slowly moving out of the recession, the demand for petroleum products is beginning to increase, the international prices of oil have also began to rise.
He disclosed that this is why government cannot continue to subsidise the pump prices hence the 15% average increase instead of the 32% increase that is warranted by the economic fundamentals.
Lt. Gen. Shikapwasha has since expressed sadness at Mr. Sata’s remarks adding that they do not add value to raising a well-informed society.
On 12th January 2010 the Energy Regulation Board announced an increase in fuel pump prices a move that has attracted attention from various sectors of the economy in the country.
Mr. Sata is quoted in yesterday’s edition of the Post Newspaper a having said that he has been vindicated over recent revelations that President Banda would hike fuel prices and that Zambians will now subsidise the President’s corruption.
