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PARAMOUNT Chief Mepezeni during the Nc'wala traditional ceremony
PARAMOUNT Chief Mpezeni of the Ngoni people in Eastern Province says he intends to summon Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata to his palace if he does not apologise over remarks that the tarring of the Chipata-Mfuwe road will benefit animals more than people.
Mr Sata is alleged to have accused President Banda of favouring the construction of the Chipata-Mfuwe road which leads to a game park where animals live at the expense of equal development of all provinces.
Chief Mpezeni said the remarks Mr Sata made over the commissioning of the road are demeaning and retrogressive to national development.
He said in an interview yesterday that it is important for Mr Sata to apologise to the people of Eastern Province and President Banda, failure to which he would summon him to his palace.
“I have read in the papers and I can confirm that I am just waiting for an official complaint from chiefs who live along the Chipata-Mfuwe road before any action can be taken,” Chief Mpezeni said.
He said hundreds of people live along the road which President Banda commissioned.
“What kind of leadership is Mr Sata going to bring if he continues to use such abusive language?” the chief asked.
He said much of the food which Mr Sata enjoys comes from Eastern Province despite the poor state of roads.
The chief said President Banda’s commissioning of the Chipata-Mfuwe road will help boost the agricultural sector in the province.[quote]
“Eastern Province has good soil for agriculture although the poor state of roads discourages many farmers from transporting their produce.
“ It is very unfortunate for someone who is aspiring to be a leader of the nation to utter injurious and demeaning remarks to people from whom he will be soliciting votes next year,” he said.
Chief Mpezeni advised Mr Sata to humble himself if he wanted to become a good leader in society.
But Mr Sata has clarified that he never likened the people of Eastern Province to animals.
“I can never compare human beings to animals because I have respect for them. All I said is that even if the road is built, preference will be given to animals because people will be displaced to pave way for the road construction,” he said.
Mr Sata said many roads in Eastern Province have been in a deplorable state for many years and that it is important to also give them attention.
Other chiefs in Eastern Province have also demanded an apology from Mr Sata.
GOVERNMENT is hopeful that the ban imposed on local airlines by European Union’s international operational safety audit will be lifted this year following a number of safety measures put in place.
Communications and Transport permanent secretary Dominic Sichinga said Government is working to ensure that the blacklisting of Zambian operators into the EU market is lifted this year.
In an interview, Mr Sichinga said the problem that resulted in banning of local airlines flying into the European Union zone was the inadequate capacity of safety staff.
He said Government is aware of the challenges facing the aviation department and is committed to addressing them.
He said Government has increased funding to the Department of Civil Aviation and embarked on training personnel to ensure that the safety of travellers is not comprised.
Mr Sichinga said his ministry is seeking more funding from the Treasury to train more people to undertake safety measures.
“We are sending personnel from the Department of Civil Aviation to train abroad and locally. We are also working with the private sector to ensure safety standards are maintained together with officers from the Department of Civil Aviation,” he said.
He said the three million euros pledged by the EU to support the department and Government efforts to ensure that local airlines comply with safety standards is part of the goodwill from co-operating partners.
“We are very hopeful that the ban will be lifted this year. It’s a process that takes time but we are working closely with the Department of Civil Aviation,” he said.
Mr Sichinga said the emergency operation safety standards carried out by National Airports Corporation Limited (NACL) at Lusaka International Airport last week was one of the safety preparatory measures in line with the international operational safety audit.
The emergency preparedness plan exercise caused panic in Lusaka as some residents rushed to the airport following reports that a plane had crashed.
The airport was a hive of activity as relatives of some passengers rushed to the airport in panic, after word went round that a plane had crashed.
A Mockery of Justice is probably a wrong title for the 288-page latest release by Richard Lazalous Sakala, a former Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations for Zambia’s second President Frederick Chiluba.
The book should have been titled A Fall from Grace as the author ably chronicled his life from driving an E260 Mercedes Benz to his prestigious office at State House to being “squashed in the back of the truck” with over 200 prisoners as one of the suspected “plunderers” of national resources.
The book is divided into six parts, each with sub-chapters of his experience as an “enemy of the State” following his eviction from State House after the 2001 general elections which saw the end of President Frederick Chiluba’s 10-year reign.
Sakala was one of the key players at State House and his book is full of reminders of how the anti-corruption crusade was started and later hijacked in the process by a group of lawyers and journalists who were initially against the election of President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa, SC.
Sakala names these people in the book.
It is a book depicting a Head of State – Mwanawasa – under siege, held to ransom in exchange for political favours and economic licences.
“The President was forced, for political expediency, to accept an offer he could not refuse. Post Editor Mmembe and his lawyers and business partner Mutembo Nchito offered him ‘leadership’ of the ‘anti-corruption’ campaign, which they had enhanced using secret information from the Zambia Security Intelligence Services…” Sakala begins the book in his preface.
The author’s former boss, Chiluba, who opened the foreword, attacks from another angle, describing the anti-corruption crusade under his successor as a Western-sponsored scheme.
“This book is an effort to provide an objective critique to the paternalistic politics of so-called donor governments which have continued to dictate the pace of political and economic development of their former colonies,” Chiluba says in the typical style of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
“The so-called crusade against corruption is basically the pursuit and perpetuation of politics of calumny to force regime change in the Third World.”
A seasoned journalist in his own right, Sakala is a former president of the Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) and director of the once prestigious Africa Literature Centre in Kitwe which trained a chain of Zambian and other African journalists.
Using his journalistic background, Sakala takes on The Post newspaper, accusing the publication of throwing ethics out of the window, preferring to settle scores.[quote]
For example, Sakala questions the logic of Fred Mmembe’s travel to London to testify as a State witness in a case against Chiluba but at the same time wanting to pretentiously pose as an objective journalist when covering the same case.
“The journalism profession on the other hand demands a high professional ethic that should ensure moral neutrality, accuracy, truthfulness, fairness and balance,” Sakala lectures to The Post newspaper.
“The Editor of The Post as a prosecution witness cannot be expected to serve an impartial and objective role given their own commercial as well as personal interests. Sadly, the public cannot distinguish when The Post is posturing for self-interest and when it is genuinely presenting an objective fact – this being the result of professional compromise.”
Away from The Post, Sakala attempts to show in the book a number of glaring financial irregularities in the Taskforce, including the lack of tender procedures when awarding contracts.
“The Taskforce has been prosecuting cases concerning non-adherence to tender board procedures and yet the audit report is replete with cases where it abused the system,” Sakala writes.
He, for instance, gives an example where a UK firm was awarded a contract for a monthly fee of US$90,000 but the figure was revised to US$150,000 without the approval of the then Zambia National Tender Board.
The firm eventually was paid a whopping US$2.4 million! The book details several other irregularities which qualify to be called scandals of the Taskforce.
Further, the book chronicles the fights within Government over the legal status of the Taskforce – he uses documents and inside sources – to reveal that current Vice-President George Kunda, SC, was against the Taskforce being legalised as a distinct institution.
But, according to the book, he was overruled by Mwanawasa despite him being the Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs at the time.
At most times, Kunda was not privy to the work of the Taskforce as he was completely sidelined. The Taskforce was answerable to the donor community and, occasionally, to the President.
It is public knowledge that the author was sentenced to a jail term of four years with hard labour for abuse of authority and theft of a motor vehicle.
Sakala argues his innocence even now and blames Zambia’s legal system for his sentence. He equally blames the judges and the tedious legal procedures, which he said cannot guarantee justice for a man without a lawyer.
Sakala writes: “I found to my dismay that using lawyers was not only expensive but very frustrating. The legal fraternity has created for itself a structure and framework that bears little resemblance to reality, the multiplicity of forms, submission procedures and archaic language seem designed to dissuade any ordinary person from seeking redress.”
Sakala then turns to the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ), accusing the body of abdicating its responsibility of providing counsel on key issues of national importance.
For instance, he tabulates how the former director of public prosecutions (DPP) Mukelabai Mukelabai (late) had sacked Mutembo Nchito from prosecuting him but the DPP was overruled by Mwanawasa even when it was clear that Mukelabai was not subject to the direction of any authority.
And LAZ kept quiet when the Constitution was being mutilated. Thus a sub-title of the book is – “Rule without Law Legacy 2001 – 2008” – the term served by Mwanawasa.
The book is well thought-out although written for a Zambian audience with current affairs acumen. It is easy to read for those who follow events reported in the Zambian media.
In fact, many passages and references in the book can only be understood by ardent readers of The Post.
For instance, some names drop without giving background of what they did for them to appear in the book. On one instance, Dora Siliya’s name appears as an example but the author fails to give background as to who Dora Siliya is and what she is alleged to have done for her to be used as an example.
The book is worth reading for those interested in Zambia’s public affairs. It is a fair account of a man who enjoyed much influence when he was at State House but was reduced to nothing by the very system he once worked for.
ROAN Constituency Member of Parliament Chishimba Kambwili was misleading people by stating that China Non-ferrous Mining Corporation Luanshya Copper Mines (CLM) had placed some miners on three months probation when they had already worked over six months, company public relations officer Sydney Chileya has said.
Mr Chileya said in an interview yesterday that the three months period Mr Kambwili was talking about were probation period given to the miners as stipulated by labour laws of Zambia.
“It is far from the truth that we have placed these workers on probation unfairly. They are on probation as stipulated by the law, all the unionised workers have been given full time and pensionable jobs,” Mr Chileya said.
Mr Kambwili was quoted in the media early this week that the mining firm had placed its workers on probation after the initial six months, which he said was “nonsense”.
Mr Chileya said the six months contracts CLM gave the miners when it took over the operations of the firm last June was to facilitate the registration of the company and signing of the recognition agreement with the mine unions.
‘All this has been done on time, the company has been registered and the union has been recognised, they just held branch elections recently,” Mr Chileya said.
He said senior management staff were put on various renewable contracts depending on their skills and that nobody had less than a year contract.
Mr Chileya said the contracts were effective of January 1 this year. So far, the mining company has employed 2,300 workers. He said negotiations on the conditions of service between management at the union were expected to start soon.
Mineworkers Union of Zambia officials too have supported Mr Chileya.
Union officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said it was important that politicians were kept from meddling in the operations of CLM because the investor has done everything in the best interest of the people.
DIFFERENT Campaign badges each of them bearing respective portraits of the Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata and United Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema as 2011 presidential candidates are being distributed in Ndola.
The badges that are being printed by Shakti Engineering Limited of Ndola upon request from interested respective party members, are also being sold at K10,000 each. An official at Shakti Engineering said customers brought the badges for printing.But when contacted the UPND-PF co-spokespersons Charles Kakoma and Given Lubinda expressed ignorance about the badges saying the pact would come up with a single presidential candidate for 2011.
Mr Kakoma said the badges were not official as the pact would come up with a single candidate as soon as it was ready.He said the material being distributed in Ndola could be the ones that were produced long before the 2008 presidential by-election because the UPND had launched the 2011 campaign for its party president Mr Hichilema as far back as 2008.
Mr Kakoma said the UPND had not yet decided when to hold a convention but that modalities would be worked out to come up with a single candidate when time comes.He said the working committee was already in place working out such modalities that would be implemented at a later stage.
“Mr Hichilema is a president for UPND and Mr Sata is PF president and the two political parties will hold separate conventions. What will happen is that after the respective conventions, the higher organ will then sit and come up with a single presidential candidate for 2011.
We are just a pact and cannot hold a joint convention,” said Mr Lubinda.[quote]
UPND Copperbelt provincial chairperson Elisha Matambo accused the ruling MMD of allegedly being behind the printing of the badges with the aim of destabilising the pact.Mr Matambo said the provincial leadership would launch an investigation to establish those behind the distribution of the different material at a time when the pact was planning to come up with a single presidential candidate.
“Investigations will be launched and if we find out that the people behind this are our members, we will not hesitate to mete out discipline although we are aware that it is the MMD which is behind this,” he said.
But MMD acting spokesperson Mike Mulongoti said the distribution of different campaign materials for the pact signified the serious problems the two parties were facing despite pretending that all was well.
“There is confusion in the pact. The two leaders do not trust each other and that is why they decided to come up with different campaign materials despite saying they will come up with a single candidate for 2011.They are just pretending that all is well and let them not even accuse the MMD of being behind their confusion,” Mr Mulongoti said.
Zambia coach Herve Renard needs only a few seconds to discover the problem threatening to derail ambitions of a 2010 African Nations Cup quarter-finals place.
In 10 qualifying matches leading to Angola, Chipolopolo (Copper Bullets) managed to score a miserly four goals and no player was on target more than once for a national team with a dismal recent Cup record.
Since finishing third in 1996 – the last time Southern Africa staged the biennial African football showcase – Zambia have qualified for five of six tournaments and made a first round exit every time.
Renard, at 41 the youngest of five French coaches who will perform sideline patrols in Angola, has vowed to do better and set his squad a quarter-finals target.
That will not be easy in Group D, where revitalised Cameroon are favourites and considered potential champions, Tunisia have much to prove after falling at the final World Cup hurdle, and Gabon boast a young squad packed with promise.
“Our target is to reach the second round,” stressed Renard to Zambian reporters before heading for a pre-tournament camp in South Africa where Chipolopolo defeated Mozambique and held Nigeria.
“In life one makes progress step by step. When I arrived in this country my ambition was to qualify for the African Nations Cup. Now we want to go to the next step.”
But poor finishing continued to plague the team in warm-up games as they struck just one against Mozambique and none against Nigeria and Renard is running short of time to discover a solution.
Germany-based captain Christopher Katongo offers the best hope as he was a consistent scorer at international level until affected by the malaise that gripped the entire team during the 2010 qualifiers.
And while Zambia did face formidable qualifying opponents in Togo, Egypt and Algeria, the same cannot be said of minnows Swaziland and Rwanda, who conceded only one goal each over 180 minutes.
China-based James Chamanga and Collins Mbesuma of South African club Moroka Swallows are potential partners for Katongo, whose younger brother Felix is a likely midfield starter.
Many of the squad play in South Africa, including goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene from Free State Stars on whom much may depend given the failure to convert chances at the other end.
THE Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports that some players in the national team were down with injuries, just as the Super Eagles were held to a goalless by their Zambian counterparts yesterday in an international friendly match at the ABSA Sharks Stadium in Durban, South Africa.
The match was Nigeria’s final friendly game before the beginning of the Angola 2010 African Nations Cup in which the Super Eagles will battle with Egypt, Mozambique and Benin Republic in the group stage of the competition.
The detail of the game was not made available yesterday.
Both teams have been camping in South Africa preparatory to the three-week, 16-nation championship, which begins across Angola on Sunday.
After the game, the NFF disclosed that it had concluded arrangements for a charter flight to take the contingent from Durban tomorrow to Luanda, the capital of Angola ahead the beginning of hostilities in the Southern African country.
According to a release by the NFF, the Federation’s President, Sani Lulu Abdullahi, arrived in the Super Eagles’ final training camp in Durban yesterday morning and immediately set about giving words of encouragement to the players.
The NFF boss had travelled overnight from Lagos to Johannesburg and connected the early morning flight from Johannesburg to Durban, arriving at the Riverside Hotel and Spa just after breakfast, the NFF said.
“I am happy to be here with you. I bring words of encouragement and motivation from the Federal Government. You know how passionate our people are about the game of football; they are all expectant as we prepare to storm Angola.
“The Cup of Nations is the first of two major championships that you will be taking part in this year and Nigerians are anxious that we perform very well in Angola so that we can have great confidence going to the World Cup finals in June”, Lulu told the players as he sat down with them at the Riverside Hotel and Spa.
Meanwhile, the Super Eagles Team Secretary, Enebi Achor, has refuted the alleged injury crisis in the team as reported by a section of the Nigerian press.
“There are no injuries in the camp. Please tell Nigerians not to listen to rumours and speculations of injuries and whatever is being blared by a section of the media. All the players are okay and looking forward to the Cup of Nations,” Achor said.
The match against the Chipolopolo of Zambia was Nigeria’s second game at the ABSA Sharks Stadium in Durban. The team had on Sunday defeated a South African league club, Thanda Zulu Royal, 1-0.
At a time when India is trying to reclaim its sphere of influence in Africa, Zambia’s First President Kenneth Kaunda on Thursday said Indian investments in his country should be aimed at value addition.
Welcoming Indian investments in Zambia, the founding father of this southern African nation said Indian investors should work in partnership with Zambian entrepreneurs to engage in value addition by processing the raw materials locally.
Mr. Kaunda drew the broad parameters for the Indian engagement in Zambia when Vice-President Hamid Ansari called on him at his Kabulonga office here.
This assertion by KK, as Mr. Kaunda is popularly referred to countrywide, comes at a time when he is under attack for dabbling in the country’s politics and trying to influence policies.
Criticism
Meeting Mr. Ansari in the middle of a raging controversy over his criticism of a former Defence Minister, Mr. Kaunda side-stepped attempts by the local media to get him to speak on the issue after the Vice-President’s entourage left the premises. He has been accused of being a “tension-building catalyst” and a “divisive failure” instead of emulating the likes of late Julius Nyerere of Tanzania and Nelson Mandela of South Africa, who “remained stabilising factors in their countries post-retirement.”
Belying his 85 years but for the hint of a stoop and a shuffle in his gait, Mr. Kaunda remains a presence in Zambia 18 years after he signed out of active politics though people no longer chant ‘God in heaven; on earth, Kaunda.’ Still, he is referred to as the First President and his office has been institutionalised as the ‘Office of the First President.’
A familiar figure in India along with the African pantheon of Nyerere, Mr. Mandela and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Mr. Kaunda is heralded not just for leading Zambia to independence but also uniting the country’s 73 tribes under the slogan on ‘One Zambia, One Nation.’
Hence, there is considerable disquiet among the commoners over the controversy with his critics also feeling that he should be left alone in his “sunset years; however wrong he may be.”
“Spare him and he is our most cherished asset left” is one of the oft-heard refrains whenever the issue is discussed while the more critical feel he should just confine himself to work on the HIV/AIDS front. This was another issue that came up during his meeting with Mr. Ansari.
Seeks India’s help
Stating that southern Africa was bearing the heaviest brunt of the AIDS pandemic, he appealed for Indian assistance in fighting the disease that claimed one of his sons.
But for this appeal and the contours for Indian investment, Mr. Kaunda chose to walk down nostalgia lane with Mr. Ansari as both recalled the common spiritual father the two nations had in Mahatma Gandhi.
The venue of Saturdays Zambia-South Korea friendly game in Johannesburg has been confirmed.
The match will be played at Rand Stadium and kickoff will be at 16:30.
South Korea arrived in South Africa on Tuesday for their Africa training camp.
This will be Zambia’s final friendly match before they leave for Luanda on Sunday morning ahead of next Wednesday opening Group D match against Tunisia in Lubango.
Zambia has already played two friendly matches in South Africa winning 1-0 against Mozambique on December 28 in Johannesburg and drawing 0-0 on January 6 against Nigeria in Durban.
Meanwhile, other Group D teams are also wrapping up their preparations for their Africa Cup outings this weekend.
Tunisia host Gambia on Saturday while Cameroon play their training camp hosts Kenya in Nairobi also on the same day.
Gabon meanwhile, beat Mozambique 2-0 in Bloemfontein this past Tuesday.
Zambia plans to start building a major $1.5 billion power plant next year, which is expected to boost generation capacity by 600 megawatts (MW) when completed in 2017, a senior energy industry official said on Thursday.
Increased investment opportunities in mining, its economic lifeblood, have raised Zambia’s power demand, leading to an electricity deficit which authorities want to overcome by constructing new generation plants.
Israel Phiri, who heads a department charged with promoting private power investment in Zambia, said the government would engage the private sector to help build the Kafue Gorge Lower hydro power project in a two-stage tender process.
“This process is expected to last the whole of 2010 and if you want to talk about actual construction starting on site we are looking at 2011 and commissioning in 2017,” Phiri said.
The tender aimed to find a potential developer and allow time for selected equity partners to raise funds for the project, to be financed through debt and equity.
Phiri said the government would put up $250 million for the project, with the private sector injecting a similar amount.
“It will be a mix of capital, the government felt that if it is a 100 percent independent power producer, then the large equity investment would restrict the pool of suitable bidders,” Phiri said.
Phiri said the government participation would give confidence to the private sector and attract equity from a number of partners including Western donors, development banks and export and import banks.
“Once that equity is in place the project company itself will then borrow the rest of the money, which is about $1 billion from the open market,” Phiri said.
Phiri said the World Bank’s lending arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the project advisors, had recommended the construction of a 600 MW plant and a reserve bay.
“The IFC recommended that we have a 150 MW bay for future installation when the market has developed to levels where we require the extra 150 MW,” he said.
Zambia generates 1,400 MW of electricity and consumes about 800 MW but demand rises to 1,500 MW at peak times.
[Reuters]
Indian VP Ansari calls on First Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda
Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari on Thursday met veteran Zambian leader Kenneth Kaunda, who sought India’s help in combating the HIV/AIDS menace in Africa.
Zambia’s first President Kaunda, who drew inspiration from Indian freedom struggle and particularly Mahatma Gandhi praised Indian democracy as a great success and recalled his association with India fondly. The 86-year-old Zambian leader said, Southern Africa is bearing the heaviest brunt as a result of the AIDS pandemic and India has made significant advances in drugs, which can fight the pandemic effectively and in a cost-effective manner.
Over 22 million people are inflicted with the killer virus in sub-Saharan Africa. Promising all help, Mr Ansari described Kaunda as a great friend of India and emphasised the commonality of approach of both the nations on a number of issues.
During the meeting with Mr Ansari, who is in Lusaka on a three-day official visit, Kaunda fondly remembered former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as a great human being. Kaunda said he greatly valued her contribution and advice on many intricate issues that affected humanity, including the question of apartheid in South Africa.
Acknowledging that Zambia has several Indian investments, which are contributing to the country’s effort to attain sustainable economic and social development, the African veteran said, Indian investors should work with Zambian entrepreneurs to engage in value addition by processing the raw materials available in the continent. Kaunda also referred to the role played by the two countries in the NAM, Commonwealth, United Nations and Group of 77.
A 28 year-old-man has been killed over a girl friend in Sinazongwe district in Southern Province.
Both Police sources and Sinazongwe Movement for Mult-party Democracy Chairperson Foster Syapwaya confirmed the development to ZANIS that Exile Ngilazi of no fixed residential area died on Monday after a fight with his foes in Sinazeze area on Sunday.
Sinazeze police have since apprehended one suspect who wanted to escape to Lusaka to assist with investigations.
The police source named the alleged killer as Ernest Siankabe 18 of Sinankumbi Village in Senior Chief Mweemba area.
Mr Syapwaya explained that deceased is alleged to have fought with the alleged youths who sell Musanza Opaque beer from Choma.
He said the friends to Ngilizi were surprised to find out that he had a swollen face, looking dirty,and suspected that he could have taken excess of popular Zambian beer among youths called Tujilijili which is packed in small sachets.
The MMD Chairperson disclosed that Ngilizi who was muscular failed to explain to his friends that he had a fight and only request them to pour water on him.
He said before his friends could pour water on him he started purging and entered into the toiled where his friends found him unconscious.
Mr Syapwaya said he was rushed to Sinazeze clinic where he died upon his arrival.
He said Police picked up the girl friend who revealed that he had a fight with his rivals from Musanza beer which led to his untimely death.
Sinazongwe police have since launched a man hunt to arrest the other suspects who are on the run.
Chinese construction company China Jiangxi, which is in a joint venture with BICON Zambia Limited, has been awarded a contract to design and construct roads in the Lusaka south multi-facility economic zone (MFEZ) at a cost of K47 billion.
The contract involves construction of the 2.4km Chifwema Road, to connect the MFEZ to the town centre, and a 50km internal road network in the zone.
Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA), through a central tender committee meeting held on December 21 last year, gave China Jiangxi Corporation for International Economic and Technical Cooperation, in association with BICON Zambia Limited, to undertake the project.
Zambia Development Agency public relations and communications manager, Margaret Chimanse said China Jiangxi and BICON Zambia were preparing to start construction work by January 11.
Ms Chimanse, in response to a Press query, said the project was expected to be completed within a year.
Chifwema Road is one of the main access roads that will connect the Lusaka South MFEZ to the Leopards Hill Road.
Other access roads, according to the MFEZ master plan, would connect to Mosi-oa-Tunya and Kafue roads, and the Lusaka National Park.
The Lusaka South MFEZ, a 2,100-hectare area, will house high-tech industries, commercial, residential, research and development facilities, among other infrastructure.
On the Lumwana MFEZ, Ms Chimanse said a statutory instrument was expected to be signed any time soon for work to begin.
The master plan for the Lusaka East MFEZ is also being reviewed and work will start once all logistics are finalised, she said.
[Times of Zambia]
By Wesley Ngwenya
Its 6am and you are up getting ready for a workday. You turn your television set on to ZNBC our national channel and you hear an annoying buzz. Oh forget it, its too early for them to open so you try our private television station MUVI TV. Here you find its some poor quality music videos. Because you cannot stand the presentation you resort to the old fashioned way of starting your mornings-radio.
I am actually shocked at how television is so slow and low in this country. The standards of the content on our television stations are way below average. Content is key to drawing advertisers. The programming on most of the stations is so poor and lacks planning. There is still too much foreign content. MUVI Television has done extremely well with their local dramas such as Banja and Brothers. ZNBC is struggling with its sole local drama Kabanana.
I find it interesting that ZNBC does not open its station until 10am. Why? Is it that there are no employees willing to wake up that early? Is it that there is not enough advertising revenue in the morning? Or is it that they simply have no ideas what to broadcast during those hours? MUVI TV has morning shows that are less structured and seem not to have a target audience in mind. They are branded Breakfast with the boys or breakfast with the girls but that does not mean much to the viewer who wants to watch good TV in the morning. They are less informative and more of the same things different days. They are not businesslike but more komboni-like.
Television stations in Zambia are missing out on morning revenue. I personally think that there are many business houses in this country who are willing to partner or advertise in the mornings provided there is a forum for it. Morning times should be busy times. We need a station that will come up with quality content on issues affecting the daily mornings of Zambians. Traffic, the weather, school openings, events, product launches, church meetings, exchange rates, stocks, the list is endless. Such content will attract big advertisers such as banks and small advertisers such as a local community school.
Evening television is also the same old fashioned soaps or talk shows. Now, I am not against these shows not because I naturally cannot stand them but we need something new. If television stations in Zambia can think a little deeper, there is no doubt that they can come up with great programming that will carter for various demographics. Little is taken into consideration about the viewer’s income, profession, social habits, etc when designing a program. Every viewer seems to be put in one big basket.
Perhaps the other one concern on Zambian television is the quality of our presenters. Our presenters are often shallow, not articulate and poorly dressed. Not only do they lack the education, expertise and experience but don’t seem to have the capacity to be resourceful, adventurous and spontaneous. I don’t know how many times I have listened to too many lies and inaccurate information from our presenters. They never seem to put time and effort to check and recheck their facts. Even those doing interviews cannot seem to have the ability to ask reasonable questions and interact professionally with their guests.
Perhaps one way of having quality content on our stations is by encouraging local productions to come up with concepts and produce content so that TV stations can buy them. We need one good reality show, one good business show, one good talk show with an audience and one good sports show. This will get me to start watching Zambian TV again.
PANJI Kaunda, the first born son of first Republican president Kenneth Kaunda, has urged politicians to respect the first president for the contribution he has made to the development of Zambia.
Colonel Kaunda told the Times in Chipata on Monday that the family of Dr Kaunda was not happy with the outbursts from some politicians who were allegedly talking ill of his father.
“As a family of Dr Kaunda, we are surprised by remarks from sections of politicians against my father. I have noticed with sadness that politicians have continued to issue careless and irresponsible statements to the media against my father,” Col Kaunda said.
He said the family of Dr Kaunda was disturbed at the moment in view of the outbursts being directed at his father.
He said some politicians should not forget that Dr Kaunda educated them when he was the president through free education, adding that Zambians should recognise his contribution to national development.
“The works and contributions that our old man made to the country should not be forgotten and should be recognised by Zambians.
‘‘We as children are not happy with politicians saying bad words against my father,” Col Kaunda said.[quote]
He said Dr Kaunda was a father to most of the current crop of politicians while others were his grandchildren who should be respecting him all the time.
“I am sure these people attacking my father have also their fathers who need respect from them. My father needs to be respected just as their fathers need to be respected,” Col Kaunda said.
He said Dr Kaunda had a right to comment on issues affecting the country because he was the father of the nation.
Col Kaunda asked veteran politician Malimba Masheke to respect Dr Kaunda and his family.
The former Republican president was recently a victim of a media bashing from former Defence minister George Mpombo, Patriotic Front president Michael Sata, secretary general Wynter Kabimba and former prime minister Malimba Masheke, who accused him of siding with President Banda.
Those attacking Dr Kaunda are reported to have warned him about further attacks if he continued with his perceived biased political stance.
