Special Assistance to the President for Press and Public Relations, Dickson Jere, said President Rupiah Banda will start including all media houses both public and private in his local and international trips.

Mr. Jere said this follows several requests from the media houses to be included in the Presidential delegations going for key international events.

He however said reporters from the private media will be included on a rotational basis due to financial constraints.

Mr. Jere said this in a statement released to ZANIS in Lusaka today in reaction to a story carried by the Post Newspapers that said State House was eyeing MUVI TV to cover President Banda at the Africa Union Summit.

The story also said that President Banda is only interested in MUVI TV to cover his trip leaving out the other private media outlets and the state broadcaster.

Mr. Jere said to the contrary, President Banda will include the private media in addition to the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) which syndicates stories to all media outlets in the country in his delegation to the AU Heads of State and government’s extraordinary summit in Addis Ababa Ethiopian this month.

He said the reporters from the state owned Times of Zambia, and Zambia Daily Mail newspapers, ZNBC and community radio stations in Zambia will be also be included on a rotational basis to cover key international events.

“I wish to reiterate that State House will continue including reporters from public, private and community media on the presidential delegation to key international events. Reporters working for the public and private media are all Zambians and should therefore be given the opportunity to cover their head of state on key international engagements such as the Africa Union Summit” he said.

Mr. Jere clarified that the President went with a crew from QFM to Mozambique during the SADC Troika meeting held on 15th January this year.

He said it was therefore erroneous and misleading for the Post to insinuate that President Banda is only interested in MUVI TV at the expense of other media outlets.

ZANIS

The Zambia Police Service says it has an obligation to protect all the citizen in the country.

Police spokesperson, Bony Kapeso said the police will not discriminate against political parties but provide security to all the citizens.

He said this in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today.

He said police officers provide security to all the citizens of the country regardless of their political affiliation.

This follows concerns from opposition Patriotic Front Munali and Kabwata Members of Parliament and Forum for Democracy and Development (FFD) President Edith Nawakwi who have allegedly been threatened to be attacked by suspected Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) cadres.

The alleged MMD cadres on Sunday threatened to beat up Mr. Lubinda and Ms. Nawakwi for their continued attacks on President Banda.

The MMD cadres are alleged to have threatened to gang rap Ms. Nawakwi and attack Mr. Lubinda if they continue their careless attacks on President Banda.

And Munali MP Mumbi Phiri has said she was attacked by unknown people yesterday whom she suspects were MMD cadres.

But Police spokesperson Bonny Kapeso could not confirm receipt of the trio’s formal complaints to the police.

“Go and ask them whether they have complaint or formally written to us on what happened before I can comment” he said.

ZANIS

Government has implored tertiary education institutions to find land and expand their respective institutions so that they can absorb the large number of pupils from basic and secondary schools.

Science, Technology and Vocational Training Minister Brain Chituwo noted that it is important that the expansion of classroom space and both basic and secondary school is in tandem with that of tertiary institutions of learning.

Dr. Chituwo says it is imperative that colleges in the country strive to expand so that they absorb the large number of pupils into the mainstream tertiary education.

The Minister said this in Lusaka yesterday when he toured Lusaka Business and Technical College (LBTC).

Dr. Chituwo noted that there are so many basic and high schools under construction in the country but regretted that very little is happening at tertiary level.

Dr. Chituwo said his ministry will ensure that that money is made available for the expansion of such institutions.
He said government is pleased by the large number of graduates being offloaded into to the entrepreneurship sector to avert unemployment levels in the country.

Dr. Chituwo was accompanied to LBTC by his Deputy Chrispin Musosha and LBTC management Board Chairman George Silutongwe.

And Lusaka Business and Technical College Director Lawrence Zulu commended government for the support his institution is receiving.

Mr. Zulu disclosed then LBTC Management Board is pondering to transform the College into a Modern University College so that it can offer degree programmes to favorably compete in the Southern Region.

ZANIS

The Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) in Mazabuka has arrested a village headman and his family in connection with the cultivation of 7 kilogrammes of cannabis.

The named villageman from Chief Hanjalika,his wife,and daughter are currently detained at Mazabuka Police station.

DEC Mazabuka Officer in charge, Patson Chiwala, could neither confirm nor deny the arrest of the traditional leader to ZANIS in Mazabuka.

But Magoye Member of Parliament, Ben Mweemba, who confirmed the arrest of the headman, told ZANIS in Mazabuka that people in his constituency are involved in the cultivation of cannabis because they want to raise funds to send their children to school.

He stated that high povery levels are forcing people, especially elderly men and women, to grow illicit drugs because they offer quick and good money.

Mr Mweemba has since urged government to devise a petition scheme for elderly people to deter them from engaging in the illegal cultivation of drugs.

He also suggested that government, through the Ministry of Community Development and Social Welfare, should provide monthly food rations to elderly people to save them from starving.

The MP also requested DEC to conduct sensitisation campaigns to educate people on the dangers of cultivating and trafficking in illict drugs.

People in Chief Hanjalika’s area in Mazabuka are notoriously known for cultivation of cannabis.

Last year in September, DEC officers in a morning seized 3,000 kilogrammes of cannabis and arrested ten farmers.

The seizure was the highest ever reported in the Southern Province.

ZANIS

Some business houses in Livingstone have expressed dissatisfaction at ZAMNET Communication Systems’ inconsistency in providing internet services.

Hope Dot Com Internet Café Information Technology Officer, Obby Munyama, said internet service delivery by ZAMNET had been terrible in the past few months and had resulted in massive loss of customers to competitors.

Mr Munyama said business had gone down since internet services by ZAMNET became irregular for unknown reasons, and efforts to have the internet service provider provide a long term solution have proved futile.

A check by ZANIS this morning at the internet café found some customers being turned away as internet services were not available.

Mr Munyama said his employer was considering switching to another internet service provider as she suspected that ZAMNET had a serious problem which it had failed to disclose to its clients.

And Zambezi FM Radio Programmes Manager, Richard Ambali, also bemoaned the inconsistent manner in which ZAMNET was providing its internet services.

Mr Ambali said media institutions, like Zambezi FM Radio, were heavily dependent on speedy access to the internet to enable them prepare and disseminate local and international news to the public in a timely manner.

He said it was costly for his institution to use other internet service providers for temporary services and still maintain their monthly ZAMNET bills.

Mr Ambali called on ZAMNET to be innovative and give preferential treatment to institutions that need its internet services constantly.

Meanwhile, the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in Livingstone has experienced similar problems which have resulted in failure to submit diaries and news items on time.

Internet access at ZANIS Livingstone offices has been erratic and disrupted normal operations since the last quarter of 2009.

Efforts to get a comment from ZAMNET Communications Systems Business Development Manager, Majory Nalubamba, failed by press time as she was reportedly off duty.

ZANIS

Zambia and Rwanda have agreed to work together in identifying possible genocide suspects who may be living in Zambia as refugees so that they can be repatriated to Rwanda to undergo the due process of the law for their part in genocide which left over one million people dead in 1994.

The two countries have also agreed to revive the Joint Permanent Commission, JPC, which was signed in 1982, to serve as a platform for regular consultations and cooperation in various sectors.

This is part of the outcome of President Rupiah Banda’s bilateral talks he held with his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame in Kigali, Rwanda today.

In a joint press briefing with his Rwandan counterpart Louise Mushikiwabo at the end of the two leaders’ meeting held at the presidential office in the capital Kigali today, Foreign Affairs Minister Kabinga Pande said as a strong advocate of human rights and the rule of law, Zambia cannot allow any genocide suspect to take refuge on its soil.

Mr. Pande said the process of identifying genocide suspects will be carried out in close collaboration between the Ministries of Justice of Zambia and Rwanda.

He said the genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994 in which over one million people were killed, was a sad event which Africa and humanity as a whole should never allow to happen again.

“We should all learn a lesson from what happened here and ensure it never happens again. The genocide is also a reminder that ethnic and tribal sentiments can have grave consequences on society,” said Mr. Pande.

The minister said Presidents Banda and Kagame also discussed various bilateral and regional issues including peace and security in the region, ahead of the forthcoming African Union, AU, summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the end of this month.

On the Joint Permanent Commission, JPC, Mr. Pande said the two governments are in a hurry to have it operational and agreed that the first meeting should be held not later than June this year.

This will mark the beginning of regular contacts between Rwanda and Zambia to exchange views on various issues of mutual interest.

And Rwanda has paid tribute to Zambia for her support at both bilateral and regional levels.

Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo, during a joint press briefing with Mr. Pande, said among other attributes, Zambia played a key role in Rwanda’s admission to the membership of the Commonwealth.

“We thank Zambia for her support to Rwanda in many areas. Among them is the fact that Zambia was instrumental in lobbying the international community to have Rwanda admitted to the Commonwealth for which we are most grateful,” said Ms Mushikiwabo.

She said Rwanda is eager to have the JPC revived to serve as a vehicle for deepening and broadening cooperation between the two countries.

Earlier, president Banda visited the Kigali Memorial Centre where the remains of quarter a million victims of the 1994 genocide, are buried.

Accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Kabinga Pande and several Rwandan Cabinet Ministers, President Banda laid a wreath on one of the mass graves at the memorial centre in honour of the genocide victims.

The president was later taken on a conducted tour of the centre during which he was briefed on the events and factors which led to the 1994 genocide.

President Banda who arrived in Kigali yesterday for a two-day working visit, has since flown back home.

He was seen off at Kigali international airport by Rwandan Prime Minister Bernard Makuza, Zamba’s Deputy High Commissioner to Tanzania Patrick Ngoma and other Zambian and Rwandan government officials.

ZANIS

Mweemba Area Development Association (MADA) says succession disputes of senior Chief Mweemba in Sinazongwe district have divided villagers who may attack each other if nothing is done to address the situation.

MADA chairperson, Edson Sikalongo, told ZANIS that government and responsible officers were behaving as though the situation over the succession was safe when two people have declared themselves as acting Chief.

In the deepening succession dispute, Lason Siasokwe and Ephraim Siatambika have declared themselves as acting Senior Chief Mweemba and they have each mounted the national flag at their homes.

Mr Sikalongo said the law enforcement officers and the Local Government and Housing Ministry should move in quickly to address the situation before a crime was committed.

He disclosed that the people in Mweemba area have also rejected the shifting of the Senior Chief Mweemba palace each time a chief dies.

The MADA chaiperson pointed out that the Mweemba people would also not accept a politically appointed chief as it happened in 1999 when Syacheye Madyenkuku was alleged to have doctored the appointment of senior Mweemba.

He said the appointment of the chief should be in accordance with the Zambian constitution on the act of chiefs’ article 127 where headmen have powers to appoint a heir.

Mr Sikalongo has called on the people in Mweemba area to be united in the selection of the senior Chief Mweemba.

Tension has mounted between the headmen that are supporting Mr Siasokwe and those that are supporting Mr Siatambika over the succession of senior Chief Mweemba who died in 2007.

The headmen that are supporting Mr Siasokwe have been threatening to shed blood if their fellow headmen continue to support Mr Siatambika.

ZANIS