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THE Government is considering extending the mobile issuance of National Registration Cards (NRCs) following complaints from three provinces after the 90-day period expired.
Home Affairs Minister Lameck Mangani said the Government was considering revisiting Northern, Southern and Central provinces where a number of people had complained that they were not issued with the NRCs during the exercise period.
In an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Mangani said the Government was analysing the situation for the three provinces before a decision on whether to extend or not could be made.
“I can confirm that we have received a lot of complaints from the three provinces because a number of people feel that they were left out during the exercise. So we are revisiting the situation to find out how the matter can be resolved,” he said.
Mr Mangani said although the 100,000 target was reached in nearly all the three provinces despite challenges encountered during the exercise, the Government was committed to see how best to handle the matter.
He said it was important that the matter was analysed following the expiry of the 90-day period and that officers were supposed to start preparing for the last phase of issuance of NRCs.
The minister said the officers would continue to be vigilant during the exercise to ensure that only eligible Zambians were issued with the documents, and called on politicians to stop politicising the matter.
He said the Government would continue to engage the traditional leaders where officers had questions before NRCs were issued to any person as a way of stopping unscrupulous people from getting the documents.
Mr Mangani appealed to politicians to sensitise the public on the need to take advantage of the mobile registration exercise to obtain the NRCs instead of complaining.
The Ministry of Finance and National Planning (MFNP) has commenced the implementation of the new budget cycle and has so far released K 1.171 Trillion as funds for various undertakings.
In a statemenet made available to ZANIS in Lusaka today, MFNP Public Relations Officer Chileshe Kandeta said the Ministry is happy with the development because the new budget cycle is on course and consistent with their fiscal policy focus for 2010.
Mr. Kandeta to ensure debt sustainability over the long run, the January 2010 budget releases included K100 Billion for Constitutional and statutory expenditure of which K6.8 Billion was allocated to servicing of multilateral external debt.
He added that K 8 billion is for the Paris Club bilateral debt, K33.5 billion for interest payments on treasury bills and K51.6 billion for interest payments on government bonds.
Mr. Kandeta also noted that Zambia is on track to meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of providing universal education by 2015 because government has placed a high priority on education.
He said the ministry of Education was the largest beneficiary of resources with a total of K 247.6 billion allocation which represents 21.6 percent of all resources released in January 2010.
Mr. Kandeta said out of this amount, K5.5billion is for utilities, K1.9billion is for dismantling of arrears, K10.4billion as bursary support, while K31.6 billion is for infrastructure development and K3.3 billion is for curriculum development and educational materials.
He also disclosed that the Ministry of Science, Technology and Vocational Training (MOSTVT) has received K12.5 billion for various activities such as, implementation of a bursary scheme for students under TEVET institutions and for rehabilitation of research institutions under the same ministry.
Mr. Kandeta said the Ministry of Health (MOH) has been funded with a total of K 98billion to improve on access to quality health services.
He said the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS) has received K7.4billion for social welfare, community development and for cultural industries.
Mr. Kandeta said the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has been given K20.8 billion for operations across the country in line with the policy of speeding up the dispensation of justice.
He added that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) received K32.7 billion and the Ministry of Local Government and Housing received K4.6billion in the budget allocation.
Mr. Kandeta also disclosed that the Public Service Management Division (PSMD) received K27.5billion of which K5billion is for technical support for the payroll management and establishment control.
He said the Ministry of Works and Supply received K24 billion and the Ministry of Communications and Transport (MOCT) received K6.8 billion of which K1 billion is for waterways management under the marine, ports and shipping programme.
Mr. Kandeta further said the Ministry of Energy and Water Development (MEWD) has received K6.6 billion and the Ministry of Youth, Sport and child Development (MYSCD) has been given K6.6 billion of which K3.3 billion is for regional and continental games.
He has since implored the public to take interest in the public works and projects being implemented in their localities to ensure that resources are applied for intended purposes.
A 23 year old man of John Chinena area in Chibombo district has been sentenced to six months imprisonment with hard labour by a Kabwe magistrate on convicted of theft.
Magistrate Mary Simpungwe convicted James Ngoma of the offence of theft after he pleaded guilty to the charge.
Facts before the court are that on January 31 this year, Ngoma broke into a farm house belonging to Charles Whipp in Chibombo and stole items worthy K745, 000.
Ngoma stole six wooden poles, one role of barbed wire, carpets and two fans property of Charles Whipp.
In mitigation, Ngoma told the court that he was an orphan who deserved lenience from the court. He said he was facing a lot of hardships in life that was why he was tempted to steal.
He said when he went into the farm, his intention was to eat guavas but found that the house was unmanned tempting him to break in to steal.
And passing judgment Magistrate Simpungwe told Ngoma that although he deserved leniency, he should not go for other people’s property simply because he was suffering.
She said at 23 years of age, he should be able to find better and lawful means to take care of himself other than stealing.
Zambia national soccer team coach Herve Renard talks to reporters after returning from Rwanda
Zambia National Soccer Team Coach Herve Renard has expressed his desire to lead one of Africa’s biggest football teams to the 2010 world cup tournament in South Africa.
Renard disclosed that he has received some offers from two African football national teams, one of which will be participating at the 2010 world cup tournament in South Africa.
He told a press briefing in Lusaka today that it could be difficult for him to refuse an offer as he has ambitions of being part of the world’s greatest soccer event.
Renard’s a coaching contract with the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) until May this year. He said he is yet to meet FAZ officials to decide his future with the Chipolopolo boys.
Meanwhile, Renard has advised Zambian journalists to be professional in their work by reporting facts every time.
He added that he has no problems with journalists or a particular media organisation but with one particular journalist who he said has been writing fabricated stories about him.[quote]
And FAZ Communications Officer Erick Mwanza said the association has no problem with coach Renard’s ambitions to coach one of Africa top national teams.
Mwanza said if Renard decides to leave after the contract expires, FAZ will respect his decision.
Meanwhile, Mwanza revealed that striker Collins Mbesuma is now back at his South African club, Moroka Swallows after getting stranded in Angola when he missed the flight that was carrying the Chipolopolo boys from Angola.
He said circumstances that lead to the striker getting stranded in Angola would be disclosed once the team manager Solly Pandor presents his report to FAZ.
Mwanza has however thanked President Rupiah Banda for showing his commitment in supporting soccer in the country.
He said the President’s continued support to the national team has brought a new dimension to football in the country and has boosted the morale of players hence the good performance of the team at the just ended tournament.
The ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) has advised political leaders to always tell the truth to avoid misleading the public.
MMD National Secretary Katele Kalumba said politicians must be in the forefront of promoting truth in everything they do.
Dr. Kalumba was reacting to opposition Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata’s statement that the ruling MMD was a finished party.
He said Mr. Sata’s allegations that he (Katele) was still in the MMD simply to ensure that the party loses honourably in 2011 elections was also not true.
Yesterday, Mr. Sata was on Radio Phoenix’s ‘Let the people Talk’ programme where he raised a lot of allegations about the ruling MMD and some of its members.
“I would like to say in the MMD, we promote the politics of truth,” he said.
Dr. Kalumba alleged that Mr. Sata was making false statements about the ruling party because he has run out of a public agenda.
He said his main aim was not to quarrel with other politicians but to organize the MMD to promote a leadership that was accountable, responsible,and disciplined in partnership with its people.
Dr Kalumba said he was also organizing the party for victory in 2011.
The Green Market Advisory Committee has commended Kabwe Municipal Council for getting rid of vendors from the streets.
Committee Chairperson Ignatius Chipoya expressed happiness at the clean up exercise that was carried out by the council last week.
Mr. Chipoya said the clearing of vendors from the streets would now force them to start selling their merchandise from the designated markets.
He told ZANIS in Kabwe today that this would increase the revenue which the council will be collecting and also promote sanity in the town.
He said the removal of vendors from the streets would also enable people move freely and urged the local authority to continue with the exercise so that the town could be kept clean all the time.
Mr. Chipoya further noted that the efforts of the council would now be appreciated because garbage clearing will be easy and effective.
“We cannot support the vendors because they have abandoned their own tables in the market, so why should they mess up our clean town?” he said.
He has since called on the vendors who had left their designated trading places to return to markets, adding that those who did not have stands in the market should apply through the committee.
Chief Hanjalika of the Tonga people in Mazabuka district has expressed worry at the high number of people engaged in commercial cannabis cultivation in his chiefdom.
The chief said in the recent past, the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) has arrested a number of people in connection with the commercial cultivation of cannabis in his chiefdom among them village headmen.
He told ZANIS in Mazabuka today that the increased number of people growing the illicit drug has dented the image of the chiefdom.
He has since vowed not to protect anyone, including his village headmen, and warned that they will be arrested for growing cannabis because they have embarrassed him and put the name of his chiefdom into disrepute.
Chief Hanjalika said it was saddening that hardly a day passes without reading in the media about people being arrested for drug related offences.
He further lamented that the Mazabuka magistrate court has been flooded with cases of illegal cultivation of drugs from his area.
Chief Hanjalika has since urged the DEC to comb his chiefdom and bring to book all perpetrators of the vice in order to promote sanity in the area.
Meanwhile, Mazabuka District Commissioner, Tyson Hamaamba has urged the Drug Enforcement Commission to seriously commence sensitisation meetings in chief Hanjalika’s area to educate people on the dangers of growing cannabis.
Mr. Hamaamba said the sensitisation would help change the belief of some villagers who think growing cannabis was as normal as growing maize.
Government is planning to expand and transform the Intercity Bus Terminus in Lusaka and other major stations around the country into modern standard stations.
Local Government Deputy Minister, Moses Muteteka said the expansion of the bus stations will also decongest them, which will in turn provide good services to the traveling public.
Mr. Muteteka said the public were currently facing difficulties when traveling mainly owimg o inadequate spaces at bus stations.
He said this today when he met management and some bus operators at Lusaka’s Intercity Bus Terminus after touring the bus station.
He also asked Intercity Bus Terminus management and some bus operators to sensitize their drivers at the station to adhere to the high way code so as to reduce on the number of accidents which the country was experiencing.
And Intercity Bus Terminus Manager, John Walubita said the station was facing problems of inadequate spaces for buses because of an increase in the number of bus operators.
Lusaka province minister Charles Shawa says the adoption of a constitutional clause by the NCC requiring that a president should have a minimum qualification of a first degree, is a sign that Zambians want educated and skilled leaders to run the country.
Mr. Shawa says the world is changing and becoming more complicated and Zambia cannot afford to lag behind.
Mr. Shawa has since called on parents to take the education of their children seriously. He says as future leaders, children should be facilitated to attain the best and highest level of education possible.
He says this is why government has continued to invest heavily in education so that children can get quality education.
Mr. Shawa said this when he addressed heads of government and parastatal organizations in Luangwa district.
He has also expressed concern at the poor grade seven results in the district this year and urged teachers and other stakeholders to work together in improving the performance of pupils next year.
Mr. Shawa, who is also Feira Member of Parliament, said he will consider introducing a trophy for the best performing school at grade seven examinations level in the district in order to motivate teachers and pupils to perform better.
Chinese Collum Coal Mine (CCM) General Manager from shaft two and three Chen Wei Min has said the production of coal and demand for the product has improved.
Mr Min said the company only has the problem of selling the Fines brand which has accumulated to 30,000 metric tones.
He said despite the winning back of customers that left the company when it was shut down last year, most of them were buying the Peas and Nuts brand of coal.
He said the 30,000 metric tones of coal is likely to be destroyed with the continuous heavy rains in Sinazongwe district if market is not found.
The General Manager said the company is currently producing 10,000 metric tones of coal per month and has the capacity to produce more this year.
He pointed out that the scenario among the dissatisfied employees has improved because the company has improved their wages to acceptable standards.
He noted that the company was also working on building houses for its workers to relocate them from the mine area.
Preparations for the development of the sixth national development plan (SNDP) for Kitwe district are under way.
District Commissioner (DC) MacDonald Mtine, who is also the chairperson for the district development co-ordinating committee, said district stakeholders will be meeting this week to strategize on how the sub district structures will be involved in the planning and implementation process of the SNDP.
Mr. Mtine said the planning process will incorporate the decentralization policy as a new concept that the sub district structures have to understand and embrace.
He added that the district will also review the performance of the fifth national developmental priorities drawn from the submissions that the sub district structures will make as well as what was not implemented in the previous national development plan.
The DC said the plan will consider infrastructure development in the district as one of its priorities especially the rehabilitation of roads and security officers’ accommodation.
The district SNDP once developed will be submitted as an input into the 2011/2016 development plan to the Ministry of Finance and National Planning.
ZANIS
DIVERSIFIED giant BHP Billiton has decided to manage and fund the next phase of the Mumbwa iron oxide, copper and gold exploration project in Zambia, joint-venture (JV) partner Blackthorn Resources has said.
Once completed, BHP could elect to increase its interest in the project from 40 per cent to 60 per cent, the company said in a statement.
“We are very pleased that BHP Billiton has chosen to fully fund this next phase of the project that will include a concept study.
“We are also excited about further exploration work being undertaken to assess the full potential at Mumbwa,” said Blackthorn managing director, Scott Lowe.
The phase-four programme would use two universal drilling rigs to test the Mushingashi anomaly.
BHP has already selected a preferred drilling contractor and expected to finalise a drilling contract soon.
It was likely that the two drill rigs would be on site in late March.
The phase-four programme would also include a scoping study, to evaluate the exploration and development of the project.
The concept study would incorporate additional data collected from the phase four drilling, as well as the inferred mineral resource estimate from the Kitumba anomaly.
The programme would start following the end of the wet season and on the completion of site improvement works.
This was expected to take place by April, but was dependent on ground and access conditions.
Police will investigate threats on the second Republican president Dr Frederick Chiluba’s life to its logical conclusion and ensure that culprits behind such acts are brought to book, Home Affairs Minister Lameck Mangani has said.
Mr Mangani said the Government condemned the threats and investigative wings will ensure that the matter is brought to a logical conclusion.
Speaking in an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Mangani wondered how suspected Patriotic Front (PF) cadres could attempt to petrol bomb the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) guesthouse in which the former head of State was lodging in Ndola.
He said Dr Chiluba, like any other citizen, was entitled to his freedom of association and assembly and should not be denied his rights to freedom of expression.
“In any case, the opposition have been saying that Dr Chiluba was a finished man but why are they worried about his freedom of association? That is why as Government we shall have to investigate the matter to its logical conclusion,” Mr Mangani added.
And the National Youth League (NYL) said Police should quicken investigations and arrest the suspected PF cadres that were allegedly involved in the petrol bombing of the guesthouse.
In a statement in Lusaka yesterday, NYL national organiser Sylvester Kaunda said police should also take stern action against the leaders of such cadres.
“We cannot allow such a situation by a party whose hidden motives are based on principles of violence. Zambia is a safe haven of peace where people including the dead enjoy peace at the most.
“We call upon all non-governmental organisations, the Church to desist from double standards and condemn this kind of violence,” Mr Kaunda said.
The NYL also called on the Registrar of Societies to thoroughly investigate the PF as it posed as a danger to the country’s security. Mr Kaunda said the PF president Michael Sata has not condemned the attacks on Dr Chiluba.
“We believe that a party that attacks former heads of State, a Republican president has a potential to become a militia group,” Mr Kaunda said.
He said in this era of democracy, dialogue and not physical fights should spearhead politics.
And the Leadership in Development said attempts to petrol bomb the guesthouse should be condemned strongly by all well meaning Zambians.
In a statement in Lusaka yesterday, Leadership in Development executive director Moses Kalonde said that Dr Chiluba was president for 10 years and therefore should be accorded the due respect that he deserves.
Mr Kalonde said the country was setting a bad precedence by not respecting the former head of State.
He said the behaviour by suspected PF youths to attack Dr Chiluba was uncalled for and was a recipe for anarchy and violence.
If Dr Chiluba was not an issue in the country’s politics, the suspected cadres would not have been threatening violence on the former head of State that has security for 24 hours.
Centre for Policy Dialogue director Neo Simutanyi condemned the threats on Dr Chiluba, which he described as a primitive and cowardly act.
Dr Simutanyi said yesterday that physical molestation was a cowardly way of dealing with issues.
He said whoever was behind the threats on Dr Chiluba’s life should be condemned in the strongest terms possible.
Constituency Concerned Citizens Forum (CCF) chairperson Wilbroad Mutoloka also condemned those who were behind the attempts to petrol bomb Dr Chiluba.
He said Dr Chiluba was a free citizen whose freedom of movement was guaranteed and that he was free to campaign for whoever he wished, and that those who were not happy should not attack him but allow the electorate to decide the best candidate in the 2011 elections.
Recently some unknown people allegedly threw a petrol bomb at the BoZ guesthouse where Dr Chiluba was residing during his recent private visit of the Copperbelt.
THE Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has requested for further information from institutions concerned with the procurement of 100 hearses for the local authorities before concluding the probe.
ACC corporate affairs officer Wezzy Chomba said yesterday investigations were active and had not been concluded yet.
Mr Chomba said in response to a Press query that the commission was waiting for a feedback from institutions concerned for it to conclude the matter and make a decision.
He said the commission had not made any arrests concerning the matter.
Mr Chomba said the commission would inform the nation on the outcome of the investigations once they were concluded.
The ACC started investigating the purchase of 100 hearses by the Ministry of Local Government and Housing after late minister Benny Tetamashimba reported his predecessor Sylvia Masebo to the ACC and auditor general on the procurement last year.
Mr Tetamashimba had then told Times of Zambia that as minister, he had his own suspicions because a single hearse could not cost US$29,000 and that was the reason he directed the then Permanent Secretary Coillard Chibbonta to report anybody who was suspected to have benefited from the transaction.
