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Police in Ndola have arrested former Defence minister George Mpombo for allegedly issuing a K10 million cheque on an insufficiently funded account to a local businessperson Terence Findlay.
Police spokesperson Bonny Kapeso said he was not aware of the arrest but Mr Mpombo confirmed the development in an interview yesterday.
Mr Mpombo said he was taken to Ndola Central police station in the company of his lawyer Bonaventure Mutale.
Police who charged Mr Mpombo with issuing a bounced cheque on an account which had insufficient funds, later released him on police bond and will appear in court on Friday this week.
“I was called in by the police sometime last week to appear before the Ndola Central police which I did today after my lawyer flew in from Lusaka,” Mr Mpombo said.
He said the police informed him that they had received instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) chambers to effect the arrest.
On January 5 this year, a Ndola firm, Colwyn Ltd reported Mr Mpombo to police for issuing a K10 million cheque to the company which was dishonoured by the bank.
Mr Mpombo told the Times that he used the cheque to pay back the K10 million which he borrowed from Colwyn Ltd owned by Mr Findlay.
He later paid the amount after the matter was reported to the police.
THE Government is discussing with development partners, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on how to utilise some of the accrued international reserves for infrastructure development, Finance and National Planning Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane has said.
Bank of Zambia (BoZ) governor Caleb Fundanga recently announced that the foreign reserves had risen to nearly US$2 billion, which has been said to be the highest Zambia has ever accumulated in 38 years.
There have been calls for the Government to consider diverting into gold reserves to take advantage of the growingly favourable prices of the metal on the international commodity markets.
But Dr Musokotwane said in Lusaka that the Government would not divert the reserves into buying and stocking of gold reserves because it was a risky business, as the prices of the metal was vulnerable in the commodity market.
“It is dangerous to put money into gold because the prices are not stable, as a commodity,” he said.[quote]
He said the Government was confident that the current level of the international reserves was safe and would like to plough part of the reserves to invest in infrastructure development.
“At the levels of the foreign reserves where we are, we think that it is safe. Investments take place with these reserves and we want to invest some of the money into the development of infrastructure,” he said.
The Government was talking to the IMF because the fund had room for Zambia to borrow more and use the finances on developmental projects.
“We are talking to a number of partners, even the IMF. There is room for us to borrow a little bit more with the level of reserves. Most of the money will be for infrastructure, and the focus will be on power infrastructure and roads,” he said.
The gross international reserves increased to $1,924.2 million in December 2009, up from $1,739.9 million at the end of September and from $1,171.17 in June in the same year, after the country received more than $600 million from the IMF under the special drawing rights.
Zambia recorded an increase in capital and financial accounts after receipt of the SDRs amount of $627.3 million, the receipt of budget support from the European Union of $43 million and the receipt of a $80 million Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) loan from the IMF, which coupled with BoZ purchases of foreign exchange from the market, improved the reserves.
Okay lets try and see if we can fix this. Looks like we suddenly have an influx of micro bloggers determined to violate our comments policy at will. They have been dumping comments on the site that are inappropriate. These bloggers have even gone to the extent of spelling some local insults with English words to just beat our filters.
In our last update we brought up this issue and we repeat it here for those that missed it. We said this:
We have this word we never saw in primary school-ad hominem, in our comments policy. It can have a myriad of meanings to a lot of people, but this is what it means to us:-attacking an opponent’s character rather than answering his or her argument. Can we please not do this on the site. Can we also apply this to our leaders? We believe people comment because they want to be heard and influence decisions and surely if you want somebody to hear you and later on take your advise, you better be nice to them. If you want honey, don’t disturb the bees. Lets make this forum a place where we educate each other and deliver our opinions to our leaders in a civilised manner
It looks like those people peddling in inappropriate language have chosen to ignore the civil way we are trying to address this issue. Please note this is one of the most reliable Zambian websites with news content that a lot of people frequent, including our leaders and the comments posted by some micro bloggers are unacceptable. We realise some of you have just discovered freedom of expression and out of excitement, you just don’t know what to do with it. Could this be a result of the combination of Freedom of Expression and Lack of Vocabulary? Surely, there is a civil way to exercise your new found freedom despite having a limited vocabulary.
Right, we are currently working on some technical solutions to fix this problem and it will take us a few months to get it right. In the interim we are going to be very, very heavy handed with offenders of our comments policy. First time offenders will be put on moderation for a week and their comments will take hours or even days for us to approve. Second time offenders will be completely banned from accessing the site. When you visit the site, all you will see is a message in red-YOU HAVE BEEN BANNED.. We have the technology to do this and we have banned a few people in the past. It’s not pretty when you are banned.
Lastly, we welcome comments that encourage dialogue or debate but not insults, particularly targeted at our leaders in both Government and those in Opposition. Insulting Mr Michael Sata does NOT add any value to the development of Zambia. Same goes for attacking Ms Dora Siliya’s personal character. There is only one Zambia with the current leaders at the wheel and it is everybody’s responsibility to influence them to do good, through constructive suggestions and not attacking their personal characters. And remember that growing beyond ourselves and our views requires learning from others. Let uphold this spirit on this site.
National Constitutional conference spokesperson Mwangala Zaloumis during a briefing when she announced the expulsion of six members from the NCC in Lusaka.
The National Constitution Conference (NCC) says it is still waiting for a report from Kaoma District Council on the fate of its chairperson Dick Kwanga who was last week convicted by a Kaoma magistrate court of stealing K53.5 million Constituency Development Funds (CDF).
Mr. Kwanga who is MMD Longe Ward Councilor in Kaoma was last week convicted by the Kaoma magistrate court together with Kaoma Council treasurer Gift Ngenda and a local businessman, Nawa Mangolwa and handed a three-year suspended sentence.
NCC spokesperson Mwangala Zaloumis said in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today that the NCC cannot terminate the membership of Mr Kwanga who is one of its commissioners without an official complaint from the institution he is representing.
Ms. Zaloumis further said that the NCC was not aware of the conviction of Mr. Kwanga and would wait until a report is forwarded to them.[quote]
She was reacting to a story carried in yesterday’s Post newspaper that said the councilor was still attending the NCC deliberations after his conviction by the court of law.
Mr. Kwanga was on Tuesday last week slapped with a three-year suspended sentence by the Kaoma magistrates’ court after he was found guilty on counts of abuse of authority of office, conspiracy to defraud and theft by servant.
The three convicts have been ordered to refund the embezzled CDF by April this year failure to which a warrant of distress would be issued against them.
The Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) has announced that it has received overwhelming response on its new Television station TV2.
ZNBC Public Relation Manager, said in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today that the new station is receiving a 100 percent viewer-ship in Lusaka.
Ms Tonga further said ZNBC‘s TV2 will soon migrate to the sate-dish hosted on its behalf by Multi-choice Zambia.
She said the feedback being received from viewers appreciating the new channel is overwhelming.
“I am receiving a lot of feedback especially through phone calls of people watching our new channel. In fact, most homes I have been to even business places including other television stations watch Tv2.” Ms. Tonga said.
Ms. Tonga further said the TV2 expansion project will soon extend to Livingstone in Southern province and on the Copperbelt province with the availability of funds.
She disclosed that TV2 is a self-run and generating its own funds and therefore expansion to other towns will be done gradually.
Vice President George Kunda launched TV2 on January 15, this year on behalf of President Rupiah Banda.
The Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) says quick action will be taken to control the presence of crocodiles in Livingstone’s Kashitu Extension Area.
ZAWA Park Ranger, Moses Kaoma said in an interview with ZANIS in Livingstone today that more information would be gathered on the matter to ensure action is taken before human life is lost.
Mr. Kaoma explained that it was possible that crocodiles strayed into Kashitu extension area because of pools of water in that area located near the boundary of the Mosi-O-Tunya National Park.
Some residents of Kashitu Extension today stormed ZANIS offices challenging ZAWA to protect human life by preventing wild animals from straying into residential areas.
The residents claimed that each year, crocodiles stray in their residential area during the rainy season posing a danger to their well being.
Community development and social services minister, Michael Kaingu says the criticism on President Rupiah Banda by the opposition PF-UPND pact is normal because all opposition political parties world over were behaving in the same manner.
But Mr Kaingu warned that the negative criticism being targeted at President Banda by some MMD members will not be tolerated.
The Minister who said this when he paid a courtesy call on Chief Mwanachingwala of Mazabuka at his palace assured the Chief that the criticisms on President Banda was being perpetrated by a few disgruntled party members and has no capacity to destroy the party and the vision of the President.
Mr Kaingu challenged MMD members attacking the President to make their position known on which political platform they belong.
And the Minister said the MMD does not take the criticism by PF leader, Michael Sata and UPND leader, Hakainde Hichilema as being offensive because they are interested in going to State House.
Mr Kaingu also praised the people of Southern Province for rejecting the PF through the ballot.
Meanwhile, Mr Kaingu has commended Chief Mwanachingwala for the crucial role he played in influencing other chiefs in the province to rally behind President Banda during the Presidential By-election.
He said without the chief’s support, the MMD would have had serious problems to gain the 52,000 votes the President scored.
And Chief Mwanachingwala said he will continue supporting President Banda’s government.
He said chiefs play an important role in advising government on key national issues.
Minister of Education, Dora Siliya, has condemned the riotous behavior exhibited by pupils at Petauke Boarding High School recently.
This is contained in a statement issued by the Petauke Central constituency office and made available to ZANIS today.
Pupils at Petauke Boarding High School on Sunday night rioted and extensively damaged the school administration block, the computer laboratory and the girls’ dormitory.[quote]
The pupils accused the school administration of not explaining the circumstances that allegedly led to the deaths of mathematics teachers at the school every year.
Ms. Siliya, who is also Petauke Central Member of Parliament, said in a statement that pupils should have used proper channels to air their grievances rather than rioting.
She said the damage caused to the school infrastructure will still fall back on them for repair works.
She said government would not pay for vandalized infrastructure because it was spending a lot of money on constructing new schools.
Ms. Siliya urged the school administration and the Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA) to quickly ascertain the extent of damage and ensure that the pupils that were involved in the riot paid for the repair of the school infrastructure.
The Minister also appealed to the pupils and the community to appreciate the school property and have a sense of ownership by guarding it jealously.
Police have since released the three pupils that were on Sunday arrested for riotous behaviour but have continued with investigations in the matter.
World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick has described his meeting with President Rupiah Banda as excellent and fruitful for the people of Zambia.
Mr. Zoellick said he had good discussions with the Zambian Head of State on many areas of national development such as infrastructure development, agriculture, irrigation among other key national programs.
He said he discussed with Mr. Banda how the country would find money to invest in the sectors adversely affected by the global economic meltdown.
Mr. Zoellick disclosed that he also discussed with Mr. Banda how Zambia can diversify its economy from dependence on mining as the key economic activity to agriculture.
He told a video press conference today that he was able to discuss with President Banda how the country can find additional funding for clean development projects.
Mr. Zoellick said President Banda was able to tell him about his own farming experience and how some farmers sold the subsidized fertilizer they got from government to other farmers.[quote]
The World Bank Group President said this situation was unfortunate and did not make sense hence the need to reduce subsidies.
And the World Bank chief said Africa’s development lies squarely with Africans themselves.
He said the World Bank was committed to work with Africa to create jobs and reduce the prevailing poverty among the African people.
Meanwhile, Mr. Zoellick has said Chinese investment in Africa was welcome as it had the potential to contribute to Africa’s infrastructure development which could in turn result in job creation for the people.
He, however, said Chinese investors need not to come with their Chinese workers as that did not do Africa any good in terms of development.
The World Bank is working with China, including via jointly funded projects, to develop a manufacturing sector in Africa and potentially transform the economies of the poorest continent, its head said on Tuesday.
“If you look back at the growth of east Asia, starting with Japan and then Korea and Taiwan and southeast Asia and China, they’ve used the model of basic manufacturing to slowly move up the value-added chain,” Bank President Robert Zoellick said at the end of an African Union summit in Ethiopia.
“I’m not saying this is going to happen overnight but…”
The legacy of colonial rule means many sub-Saharan African countries — South Africa excluded — have economies structured round the export of raw materials such as oil, gold and cocoa, and have to import basic manufactured goods at higher prices.
Developing a domestic factory sector would go a long way towards cutting these costs, as well as creating jobs and accelerating industrialisation.
Chinese officials often talk of the potential for Chinese investment to bring about an African industrial revolution. Zoellick’s desire to see World Bank expertise and cash tied up with Chinese business and manufacturing knowhow supports that view.
It also marks a departure from World Bank criticism of some of the massive minerals-for-infrastructure deals that have typified much Chinese investment in the continent.
“In the case of China, we may sometimes look for opportunities to co-invest; sometimes we may try to help and work with the local government to build infrastructure — maybe it’s the electricity to power the plants, maybe it’s the roads,” Zoellick told journalists via teleconference from Addis Ababa.
Other examples included advising host countries on streamlining customs procedures — a vital step in establishing manufacturing-for-export zones, he said.
Zoellick said last year he had talked to senior Chinese officials about the feasibility of moving low-value factory work, such as making toys or shoes, from China to special economic zones in sub-Saharan African countries.
Such projects already exist in Zambia, Nigeria, Mauritius and Ethiopia, but are very much in their infancy.
Despite his praise for China’s investment in Africa, Zoellick said too many projects tended to rely on imported Chinese labour to the detriment of African skills development.
“We’ve wanted to work with both Africa and China so that people get the full benefits,” he said. “It doesn’t do Africa much good if China comes in and brings in Chinese workers.” (Editing by Tim Pearce)
President Rupiah Banda says government will soon commercialize the ICT sector in the country in order to enhance economic growth.
Mr. Banda says government wants to give specific emphasis to the growth of the sector because it has realized that ICT has the potential to transform Zambia’s economy more rapidly than other sectors.
President Banda disclosed this to ZANIS in an interview in Addis Ababa today shortly before departure for South Africa where he is scheduled to undergo a medical review.
The President said government has already taken first steps in its plans to commercialize the sector by inviting foreign investors to invest in ICT.
The President also disclosed that the World Bank has shown willingness to help the country grow the ICT sector.
He said during a meeting held yesterday, the bank pledged to transform the ZAMTEL ICT Training school in Ndola into a viable institution.
And President Banda says Zambia will take a leaf from Ethiopia on how that country has managed to grow its economy within a short period of time.
Mr. Banda said Ethiopia had come up with a deliberate policy of setting up colleges and schools in rural areas where many people have been trained in various skills.
President Rupiah Banda was in Addis Ababa Ethiopia to attend the 14th ordinary session of the African Union (AU) whose theme was, ‘New Information and Communication Technologies in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities for Development’. The summit closed today.
As chairperson of the Great Lakes Region, Zambia’s President Rupiah Banda reported to the summit on the progress made so far from the time he took over the chair.
On the sidelines of the summit, President Banda held closed door meetings with World Bank president Robert Zeolleck and US head of delegation to the AU Lauren Ladenson.
The summit witnessed the change of guard between outgoing chairperson Colonel Muhammar Gaddafi of Libya and Malawian President Dr Bingu Wamutharika who has taken over as chairman.
The summit also witnessed the launch the AU flag.
A combined team of police officers from Mazabuka and Lusaka yesterday arrested a witch finder of Magoye, who has been on the police wanted list for swindling businessmen out of millions of Kwacha.
It is alleged that the witch finder used to claim to the businessmen that he could multiply their money.
Police told ZANIS in Mazabuka today that the named Zambian witch finder, who was posing as a Nigerian and responding to the name of Chinedu, was captured in Magoye Township around 16:00 hours yesterday.
Police say the witch finder was hiding at a girl friend’s house for two weeks to escape the police dragnet.
According to police, the named suspect has been running advertisements in the national daily newspapers about what he claimed to be able to do.The police said some people who were desperate to get rich fell victim.
Police said after sensing danger, the suspect, who is a Kaonde by tribe but based in Lusaka, fled the capital city and settled in Magoye.
Police said one Lusaka businessman was allegedly swindled out of K13 million cash after the suspect promised him that his money would be multiplied.The suspect has since been taken to Lusaka.
The first train carrying ballast stones for the completion of the Chipata/Mchinji railway project arrived in Chipata today to the excitement of residents that gathered to witness the laying of the stones on the railway track.
Construction of the Chipata-Mchinji railway is scheduled to be completed before the end of this month.
Project manager Ernest Silwamba said 95 percent of construction works on both the railway line and the station terminal building have already been done.
Mr. Silwamba said construction on the rail line will be completed by the mid February.
He was speaking during a NACALA Corridor Development meeting in Chipata yesterday.
The meeting was attended by representatives from Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique.
Mr. Silwamba said the remaining works include ballasting of two kilometers and three yard lines.
He added that lifting and aligning of four kilometers of the main line and four yards and the rehabilitation of the station building will be done within the month of February.
Meanwhile, the Malawi has commended the Zambian government for putting up resources to complete the 27 kilometer stretch of the Chipata-Mchinji railway line.
Malawian delegation leader, Stephen Mkandawire said the Zambian government had shown commitment in the Chipata-Mchinji railway which he said is an economically viable project.
Mr. Mkandawire said President Rupiah Banda and his Malawian counterpart Bingu Wamutharika played a critical role in the completion of the railway project.
He noted that the existing warm relationship between the two countries and their leaders would further be strengthened as the project would continue uniting Zambia and Malawi.
And Central and Eastern African Railways (CEAR) Director of Marketing and Commercial Services, Wilfred Ali, said vandalism on the railway line was the greatest challenge in the development of the NACALA Corridor.
Mr. Ali said the NACALA Corridor was a major economic target for Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique.
He noted that the most common form of vandalism in the railway was the removal of stones and rail sleepers.
Mr. Ali said part of the 510 kilometer stretch of the rail line in Malawi was vandalized and needed emergency repair works.
He noted that a number of bridges on the railway line had also been vandalized.
He stated that CEAR had engaged the local community and area Members of Parliament in sensitizing people against vandalizing the infrastructure in Malawi.
Mr. Ali emphasized the need to ensure that the vandalism in Malawi did not spill over into Zambia.
Meanwhile, a contractor, Ziyaundin Daya, has commended the Zambian government for contracting local contractors to carry out works on the Chipata-Mchinji railway.
Mr. Daya said government was promoting local contractors through giving them big projects such as the Chipata-Mchinji railway.
He however, expressed concern that revenue officials in both Zambia and Malawi were slow to clear cargo that was meant for the completion of the railway line.
Mr. Daya cited an incident where it took close to four hours for the train carrying ballast stones to be cleared simply because border authorities in both countries did not have transport to the point where the train was to be cleared.
Patriotic Front leader Michael Sata has announced that the PF will hold its long awaited general conference between September and October this year.
Mr Sata said it will be during the general conference that a new party leadership will be ushered in. He said the Patriotic Front is very much geared and far much ahead of other political parties in the country in its quest to hold the general conference.
He was speaking when he featured on radio Phoenix’s Let the People Talk this morning
While on the same programe, Mr Sata said that former President Fredrick Chiluba should repent for the destruction he caused to Zambia.
Mr Sata said Dr Chiluba should repent and not add any more to the destruction he caused to the country. He said as someone who has worked closely with the former president there are so many things he knows which he has kept to himself.[quote]
He said Dr Chiluba knows the poverty Zambians are currently going through because of the destruction he caused during the time he served as President, that is why he was dishing out K10,000 notes to people when he visited the Copperbelt.
Mr Sata added that when leaders know the poverty people are going through the best thing to do is to address the poverty, wondering what a K10,000 can do to address the poverty people are facing.
A 12 year old boy in Katete district has allegedly killed his 40 year old uncle by stabbing him with a knife.
Katete District Commissioner, Elemani Mwanza and police sources confirmed to ZANIS that the incident happened last week at Kajiwa village in chief Kawaza’s area.
Mr. Mwanza identified the deceased as Samson Mbewe, adding that he died two days after he was stabbed.
He said the deceased was stabbed after he allegedly picked a quarrel with his 12 year old nephew.
He said after being stabbed, the deceased was rushed to St. Francis’ hospital where he was admitted and treated before he died two days later.
Mr. Mwanza, who expressed shock at the incident, said the 12 year old boy was apprehended by police after relatives to the deceased reported the matter.
