The Economic Association of Zambia (EAZ) has expressed happiness with government’s intentions to reduce on its domestic borrowing by next year.

EAZ President Mwilola Imakando says the move will go a long way in improving the economic performance of the country by attracting more private sector investment.

Speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today, Dr. Imakando noted that the reduction in domestic borrowing will make more money available for the Private sector hence improving the economy.

He explained that if government continues to borrow from commercial banks the private sector will not have enough money to invest in various sectors of the country’s economy.

Dr. Imakando said government’s move is important because the private sector will be given a chance to access more money from commercial banks.

He said this will also assist commercial banks to reduce on their lending rates there by benefiting many local people economically.

He further added that this will also compel the private sector to invest in important sectors such as in infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Dr. Imakando has appealed to commercial banks in the country to reduce further their lending rates if the sector is to be more competitive.

He noted that Zambia’s economy has the potential to perform well if only the banking sector can be made more competitive.

He since praised the government for continuing to record growth in the economy of the country despite many challenges that came with the global economic down turn.

Dr. Imakando has also cautioned people in the country against making statements that can scare away investors and disturb the economic environment of the country.

Currently Government borrows about K620 billion in treasury bills and government bonds per month.

Government has announced that its intentions to reduce on it domestic borrowing and attract more private sector investment in the economy.

ZANIS

The Road Traffic and Safety Agency (RTSA) Director Fredrick Mwalusaka has said that the agency was disappointed by the allegations from Kasama Central Member of Parliament Geoffrey Mwamba that RTSA was being used by the Movement Multiparty Democracy (MMD) to cripple his transport business.

Mr. Mwalusaka said the agency operates on the principle of good corporate governance which includes fairness, accountability transparency and professionalism.

He regretted that individuals of different political affiliations always want to associate the operations of RTSA with partisan politics.

He indicated that at no time had RTSA received instructions from any political party to fix any transport operator.

Mr. Mwalusaka reiterated that RTSA was a corporate body created through an act of parliament and is committed to implementing traffic regulations accordingly.

He vowed that RTSA will not stop implementing and enforcing road traffic regulations saying it was up to vehicle owners and drivers to adhere to traffic rules if they do not want to be inconvenienced.[quote]

Mr. Mwalusaka was reacting to the article that appeared in the Post newspaper of 22nd December 2009 alleging that RTSA is favoring MMD transport operators and was trying to cripple the businesses of the opposition political party members.

Meanwhile, the Road Traffic and Safety Agency (RTSA) has vowed not to spare anyone breaking traffic laws regardless of their political affiliation.

RTSA Principle Publicity Officer, Mercy Mwila, told ZANIS in Lusaka yesterday that the agency is working hard to ensure that Passenger Service Vehicle (PSV) operators adhere to traffic rules during and after this festive season.

Ms Mwila said RTSA will not entertain individuals who want to politicize the agency, which is non partisan.
She said the agency will operate as mandated by the law and not favour anyone in its operations.

Ms Mwila said traffic officers were already on the ground to ensure that traffic rules were followed in order to avoid loss of life through unnecessary accidents.

She revealed that last week, a lot of buses, including Kasama Central Member of Parliament Geoffrey Mwamba’s bus, were impounded after traffic officers discovered that the public service vehicles were not fit to be on the road.

Ms Mwila noted that allowing unfit vehicles and drivers to be on the road would be disastrous especially now that the roads were slippery due to rains.

She disputed assertions that RTSA was selective in the way it enforced the law.

Ms. Mwila noted that it is the duty of RTSA to treat everyone equally regardless of their political affiliations.

She has since called on the bus operators and their drivers to ensure that their vehicles were fit before they travel in order to avoid being impounded.

[ZANIS]

Government has dismissed allegations that the proposed media bill is aimed at fixing The Post Newspaper and its editor Fred M’membe as it has been reported in yesterday’s edition of the same tabloid.

Chief Government Spokesperson Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha described the story as a total fabrication which is aimed at misleading the people in the country.

Gen Shikapwasha, who is also Information and Broadcasting Services Minister, said government is extremely disappointed with the unethical reporting exhibited by newspaper and accused it of deliberately failing to balance the story by getting a comment from government on the matter.

He said in a statement made available to ZANIS in Lusaka yesterday that it was such unethical tendencies that were making people call for media regulation.

He said The Post Newspaper was not only portraying unethical reporting but also deliberately showing ignorance of the legislative process to mislead the people.

General Shikapwasha said the Vice President does not make laws in Zambia as has been insinuated in the story carried by the Post Newspaper’s edition of today.

“Making of laws has a procedure, which The Post newspaper is pretending not to know. Drafting of a bill is initiated by the Ministry of Justice then the draft goes to the stakeholders for input. Thereafter, the bill goes to the Legislation Committee, Cabinet and then Parliamentary Committee. The Parliamentary Committee further calls for submissions from stakeholders. The draft bill is then debated by Parliament, at which point it is either passed or rejected,” Gen Shikapwasha explained.

Gen Shikapwasha therefore said the Post Newspaper was deliberately misleading the nation by stating that the Vice President would take advantage of the President’s long absence to push his agenda.

He stressed that there can be no law that can be made in the absence of the President because the President chairs cabinet and also signs Acts of Parliament.

Gen Shikapwasha urged the Zambian people to dismiss cheap allegations that Vice President George Kunda was making his own law.

“The media bill is under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services. At an appropriate stage the ministry will call stakeholders, including the Post Newspaper, to review the draft bill”, Gen Shikapwasha said.

He assured the nation that the drafting of a media bill is not intended to fix any media house or individual because that has never been government’s intention.

He added that government has always been committed to seeing media practitioners come up with a self-regulatory mechanism.

The minister alleged that the statement attributed to mysterious sources in the Ministry of Justice was just a mere manipulation and distortion of the situation, which was aimed at covering up the media practitioners’ failure to meet the six months deadline.

“Government has promised the nation that should the media fail to produce self-regulation mechanism within six months, it would provide an alternative. There is therefore, absolutely nothing wrong with government taking steps to draft the media bill, which will be an alternative,” he said.

Gen Shikapwasha has also disclosed that work was already in progress and that stakeholders would be involved at an appropriate time to contribute to the process.

He urged the Post Newspaper to concentrate on informing the nation on how far the media practitioners have gone in formulating a self-regulatory mechanism instead of misleading the people.

ZANIS

INTERNATIONAL economic relations Professor Oliver Saasa has said the Kwacha is not the weakest in the region, adding that currency’s stability which the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) had achieved was more important for an economy.

He said it was incorrect for Patriotic Front (PF) leader, Michael Sata to say the Zambian Kwacha was the weakest currency in the region because there were other weaker currencies.

Prof Saasa, like Economics Association of Zambia (EAZ) president, Mwilola Imakando said the importance of a strong currency depended on its use in national development, saying export-inclined economies required weaker currencies.

Prof Saasa, who is Premier Consult managing consultant, said there were countries which had weaker currencies than the Kwacha, although that was immaterial as far as national development was concerned.
He said what was important was the currency stability which he said the BoZ had achieved.

He said contrary to Mr Sata’s view that the Kwacha was the weakest in the region and, therefore, that was bad, international economic organisations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank held a view that the Zambian currency was too strong.

“It is anomalous for anyone to suggest that the Kwacha is the weakest currency in the region because it is relatively stronger and hence, good for the marketing of non-traditional export products like tobacco,” said Prof Saasa, who is former University of Zambia lecturer.

Prof Saasa said the Kwacha was faring well among other convertible currencies like the US dollar and the British pound.

He said the situation had been strengthened by the Kwacha stability which was being backed by decades-record of the biggest national reserve of about $1.7 billion.

He described a strong currency as being like a double-edged sword, saying its significance depended on what kind of the economic path the country wanted to take.

Prof Saasa gave an example of countries like neighbouring Malawi whose Kwacha had higher value than Zambia’s but the economic levels were not so high.

In a separate interview, Dr Imakando expressed similar sentiments, saying export-oriented economies would benefit more from a weaker national currency because the products would be more competitive as opposed to those with overvalued currencies.

Dr Imakando said abnormally strong Kwacha would render the local products uncompetitive on the international market because the prices would be unaffordable.

He, however, said when the country wanted to embark on major capital projects, which required importation of machinery and other things, a stronger currency would be more desirable.

Dr Imakando cited Japan and China whose respective currencies are lower compared to other major convertible currencies and yet they have giant economies, saying that went to show that the strength of the currency was immaterial.

President Rupiah Banda has assured people in the country that he will continue to be tough and serve them to the best of his ability.

President Banda said there is no need for people to worry about his critics because he is braced for more hard work next year.

The President was speaking on arrival at Mfuwe International Airport this afternoon.
Mr. Banda is in the area for his Christmas Holiday.

The President stated that during his holiday, he would commission some developmental projects in Chipata before the end of the year.

President Banda also stated that he would take some time to visit some villages in Mambwe to understand and appreciate the living conditions of the people in the district.

Mr. Banda, who was accompanied by First Lady, Thandiwe, was received by Eastern Province Minister, Isaac Banda, Provincial Permanent Secretary, Eularia Syamujaye, Provincial MMD chairperson, Kennedy Zulu, and other top government MMD officials.

Others on the entourage include Tourism Minister, Catherine Namugala, Mines Minister and Mambwe Member of Parliament Maxwell Mwale, Local Government Minister, Eustacio Kazonga and other Cabinet Ministers.

Speaking earlier, Eastern Province Minister, Isaac Banda, informed the president, that the province has continued to benefit from his leadership through infrastructural development.

He cited education, health, roads and agriculture as some of the sectors which have seen tremendous development in the region.

Mr. Banda stated that it is for this reason that people in the region have continued to rally behind President Banda.

And MMD Provincial Chairperson, Kennedy Zulu, said President Banda has put his critics to shame by pulling the country through the global economic crisis.

Mr. Zulu assured the President of a hundred percent vote at the impending party convention.

He said the party in the province will continue to rally behind his leadership because he has proved that he is a hard worker by initiating developmental projects throughout the country.

ZANIS

LUSAKA lawyer Christopher Mundia has said Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Chalwe Mchenga has not done anything wrong to warrant the setting up of a tribunal under the Inquiries Act.

Mr Mundia said in Lusaka that a DPP can only be removed under the Inquiries Act after setting up a tribunal to probe alleged misconduct to determine the merit of particular allegations against him.

He said the current DPP Mchenga had not done anything wrong to warrant the setting up of such a tribunal to investigate him.

He said a tribunal could only be constituted if there was need to determine the merit of the allegations levelled against the office bearer.

Mr Mundia who is a State Counsel said Mr Mchenga was one of the young and intelligent DPPs that the country has had and he was professional in work.He was not protecting Mr Mchenga but the latter had proved to be a good DPP who should not be removed on mere allegations. [quote]

He said the people who were calling for the removal of the DPP had not even read the judgment on former president Chiluba’s acquittal. Mr Mundia said people were mishandling the acquittal of Dr Chiluba because what may appear as evidence to a layman may not be counted as evidence in the court.

He said the principle of law was such that even if there could be a good case before the court, it could be mishandled to the advantage of the accused.

And Deputy Minister of Justice, Todd Chilembo has said that a DPP can only be relieved of his duties if it was proven that he had committed gross misconduct.

Mr Chilembo said in an interview yesterday that if there was reasonable evidence that the DPP had committed an offence such as corruption or anything that was unethical, a tribunal to hear the evidence would be appointed and the tribunal would decide from the evidence if the DPP had committed an offence.

Mr Chilembo said the DPP would also be relieved of his duties if he attained the retirement age saying that a DPP like judges had security of tenure.

The office of the DPP differed from that of the Attorney General (AG), as the AG’s position was advisory while the DPP made decisions regarding prosecution of matters.

Mr Chilembo said it was sad that while matters regarding the registration of the London Judgment concerning former president Chiluba were open to the public, PF president Michael Sata continued to mislead the public on the status of the London Judgment because he issued wrong statements.

Mr Chilembo said the true position was that Mr Kunda had travelled for three days to London to testify over the Vulture Fund case and it was because of his testimony that the claim that Zambia was meant to pay reduced substantially.

[Times of Zambia]

CHINESE Ambassador to Zambia Li Qiangmin has described as denial, ill-motivated, loss of sight and vision for some politicians to attack Chinese investment.

Mr Li commended President Banda for his consistent support to the process of ensuring resumption of production at the CLM mine.

Mr Li said it was sad that a ‘unique Zambian politician of rare breed’ could attack China with a claim that the Chinese did not bring any investment when the investment was there for all to see.[quote]

He was speaking during the production resumption ceremony at CLM mine in Luanshya yesterday.

He cited the construction of Tazara and the establishment of the Zambia-China economic and trade cooperation zone, the building of the Stadium in Ndola, construction of hospitals, schools and Hydro-power station as some of the investment under the aid of china.

“All those undertakings are not only well received and extensively recognised by all African governments and people on the continent but also applauded by the well travelled Western researchers and credible institutions.
“This politician’s remarks are absolutely baseless and ill motivated or he is just in denial or lost sight and vision which is very dangerous for any politician,” he said.

Mr Li praised the Zambian workers for working side by side with the investors to have the copper mine resuscitated.

He said during the last year’s global recession, Chinese funded companies, with government stakes and shares, forged ahead without reducing investment, laying off of employees and downsizing production.

He said the investment at the Luanshya mine would in two years time reach US$400 million and believed that the commitment of more investment, more recruitment and more output would demonstrate a more dynamic picture.

CLM chief executive officer Luo Xin’geng pledged the company’s commitment in continued investment in the mine.

Mr Luo said in Luanshya yesterday that CLM would put more emphasis on renovations and construction at the mine and the investment would next year increase to US$170 million from the current US$38 million.
Describing the production resumption as a Christmas gift to President Rupiah Banda, Mr Luo said that as production at the mine resumed, development of Mulyashi project was also in full swing.

Mr Luo said his company would strictly abide by the Zambian laws and regulations, respect Zambian culture and rely on Zambian employees to manage Luanshya mine and participate actively in the welfare of the community to benefit the people of Luanshya.

CLM board chairperson Tao Xinghu said the company would adopt new labour service articles and long term employment contracts next year.

Mr Tao said according to the company’s investment plan, the accumulative investment in the next two years would go beyond US$400 million and that CLM would have a production capacity of 60,000 tonnes of Copper after the development of Mulyashi mine.

[Times of Zambia]