President Banda and former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa today held closed-door talks at state house.

During the closed door talks the two presidents discussed the political and security situation in the great lakes Region.

This is according to a statement made available to ZANIS by Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations Dickson Jere.

Mr. Mkapa who is one of the mediators in the Great Lakes Region is in the country to brief President Banda on the Political and Security situation in the region ahead of the African Union Heads of State and Government summit to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia next month .

President Banda who is the current Chairman of the International Conference on Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) thanked Mr. Mkapa for the detailed brief presented to him.
President Banda said the brief was useful in handling the conflicts in the region.

Mr. Mkapa said the political and security situation in the great lakes region has normalized in some of the countries adding that there are still many challenges which need to be addressed in order to have peace and stability in the entire region.

Mr. Benjamin Mkapa and Former Nigerian President General Olusegun Obasanjo are the two mediators appointed to spearhead the peace process in the region.
ZANIS

 Chief Government Spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha has challenged people to always check their facts before making any statements to the media.

 Lieutenant General Shikapwasha says the growing tendency by some opposition political party leaders of making careless statements without correct information are likely to cause confusion in the country.

He told journalists in Lusaka that it is important for people aspiring to lead the country to always put their facts rights before issuing any statements to the public.

 He said it was important to give correct information to the people because it is vital in building public confidence especially in those aspiring for leadership.

Gen. Shikapwasha challenged those aspiring to govern the country to always aim at saying the truth if they are to win the confidence of the majority Zambians.

Gen Shikapwasha cited the recent remarks by opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema that President Banda spent about K1 billion on his trip to Western Province and that the Ministry of information uses K60 million each month as some of the statements that needed to be verified.

He said Mr. Hichilema’s statement was unfounded because they could not be substantiated.

He explained that President Rupiah Banda as a Republican President has the right to visit any part of the country saying the money used in Western Province was far much less than a billion.

Lt Gen Shikapwasha who is also Information and Broadcasting Minister said it was wrong for Mr. Hichilema to continue feeding members of the public with wrong information. Mr. Hichilema is quoted in the media as having said President Banda spent over K1 billion on his recent trip to Western Province to solicit for support.

 ZANIS

State House has dismissed allegations by some sections of the media that President Rupiah Banda has instructed the Ministry of Finance and National Planning to pay US$5.9million as compensation to Dr. Rodger Chongwe for the 1997 shooting incident in Kabwe.

Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations Dickson Jere said in a statement made available to ZANIS in Lusaka yesterday that President Banda did meet Dr. Chongwe in the company of Solicitor General where Dr. Chongwe informed the President of the pending compensation following his successful complaint before the United Human Rights Committee (UNHRC).

Mr. Jere however maintained that President Banda instructed the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General to meet with Dr. Chongwe and agree on a reasonable compensation.

He stressed that at no time did President Banda instruct the Ministry of Finance and National Planning or the Attorney General’s office to pay Dr. Chongwe the reported sum of US$5.9million as claimed by the media.

Meanwhile, President Banda has reiterated his stance not to answer to the constant malicious and unfounded attacks by the media and his political enemies at the expense of providing leadership to the nation.

ZANIS

First Lady Thandiwe Banda says the HIV/AIDS and Cancer debilitation have remained serious challenges to the country’s development.
Mrs. Banda says the situation demands the support and combined efforts of all stakeholders to be addressed.

She noted that these diseases which lead to prolonged illness, need special care which can only be made available through the participation of everyone.

The First Lady said this in Lusaka last night when she officiated at the prize-giving ceremony of a fundraising golf tournament organized by the Chainama Golf Club.Mrs. Banda commended the Chainama Golf Club for adopting the Kalingalinga hospice as one of the institutions they would support.

The First Lady said like other organizations, the sports fraternity must actively participate in efforts aimed at meeting some of the needs of the people in communities.

She said the Hospice was playing an important role by providing the necessary care and support to the terminally ill patients without any form of discrimination.

And Kalingalinga Hospice Administrator Sister Kay O’Neill commended the Chainama Golf Club for choosing to support the hospice.

Sr. O’Neill assured that the contributions to the institution would be used for their intended purposes.

Over K20 million was raised at the fund-raising golf tournament.

Recently, The First Lady in company of her South African counterpart Nompumelelo Nthuli Zuma, Vice President George Kunda’s wife, Ireen and Ministers’ spouses visited the Kalingalinga hospice.

ZANIS

ACTING MMD spokesperson Mike Mulongoti has challenged former Defence minister George Mpombo to resign from the MMD because he has become irrelevant to the party.

Mr Mulongoti who was reacting to Mr Mpombo’s continued attacks on the MMD said the fact that the MMD was not responding to his utterances showed that he had become irrelevant to the party.
He said keeping quiet did not mean that the party could not take action against Mr Mpombo and that it was a matter of time before action was taken.[quote]

“As a member of NEC he should have been doing something that can build the party and not divide it. If he wants he should leave the party,” he said.

Mr Mulongoti wondered why Mr Mpombo was crying for a convention when he had abandoned the people that voted for him as chairperson for energy.
He said that Mr Mpombo’s behaviour had consequences and that he should not blame anyone if the party acted.

And Mr Mulongoti refuted claims that the MMD is panicking because of the formation of the Patriotic Front (PF)-United Party for National Development (UPND) Pact, saying it is strategizing for the 2011 elections.

He was reacting to UPND president Hakainde Hichilema’s claims that the MMD was panicking because of the pact.
He said the MMD could not panic because it was not even known who would challenge President Rupiah Banda from the PF-UPND Pact in 2011.
He said the two leaders in the pact – Michael Sata and Mr Hichilema had been beaten by the MMD on several occasions and that the party would only be concerned if it was a different candidate who would challenge President Banda.

He said it was the PF-UPND Pact that was panicking and that was the reason the two parties came together because they knew they could not dislodge the MMD from office.

MMD national chairperson Michael Mabenga agreed with Mr Mulongoti on the matter and also said the party was strategizing for 2011 elections.

Mr Mabenga said the MMD was not asleep but strategizing for the 2011 elections and the opposition should look out.
He said it was Mr Hichilema who was panicking because he did not know what he would be even if the PF/UPND Pact won elections.
He said Mr Hichilema was panicking to the extent of allegedly bribing people in North Western Province with cows so that they could vote for his party in future elections.

When contacted for a comment on calls to resign from the ruling party, Mr Mpombo said Mr Mulongoti had no moral or political right to ask him to leave the party.

He said it was Mr Mulongoti who was a liability to the MMD.
“It is Mulongoti and his colleagues who have plunged the party into a crisis it is now experiencing. Unless people like Mulongoti leave, the party faces a irreversible political calamity,” he said.
Mr Mpombo accused Mr Mulongoto of not having feelings for the party.

[Times of Zambia]