CHIEF Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha has challenged All People’s Congress (APC) party president Ken Ngondo to provide evidence which will link Vice-President George Kunda and Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Chalwe Mchenga to any act of corruption in the Judiciary.

Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha said Mr Ngondo has no basis to demand the resignation of Mr Kunda and Mr Mchenga.

Gen. Shikapwasha was commenting on a story that appeared in yesterday’s edition of The Post Newspaper attributed to Mr Ngondo, who is demanding the resignation of Mr Kunda and Mr Mchenga.
He said in an interview yesterday in Lusaka that Mr Ngondo should stop making unwarranted allegations which he cannot prove.

Gen. Shikapwasha said since Mr Ngondo has decided to talk about the alleged rot that exists in the Judiciary, he must also state whether the acquittal of Post Newspaper News Editor Chansa Kabwela is an act of corruption.

Mr Ngondo was quoted as having said that he supports The Post newspaper’s editorial policy.
“Zambia has an independent Judiciary. If Mr Ngondo thinks the Judiciary is corrupt, he must lay the evidence for us to see, otherwise, he must desist from making unwarranted statements in the media,” Gen. Shikapwasha said.

He said as a leader, Mr Ngondo has no right to demean Mr Kunda as reported in The Post Newspaper.[quote]
Gen.Shikapwasha said Mr Ngondo must respect elected leaders just as he would like to be respected if he were in the same position.

But when contacted, Mr Ngondo claimed he has evidence to prove that the Judiciary and some government ministers are allegedly corrupt.He said he will soon hold a press conference to prove his allegations.

On his lack of respect for Mr Kunda, Mr Ngondo said he had great respect for the Vice-President but he has come to realise that the respect is not mutual.

“Mr Kunda has no respect for me. He referred to my party on national media as ‘Mr Ngondo’s party’. My party is called All People’s Congress Party and he must refer to it as such,” he said.

[ Zambia Daily Mail]

KAFULAFUTA Member of Parliament(MP) George Mpombo has called for reconciliation in the MMD in readiness for 2011 elections.

Mr Mpombo said in Ndola yesterday that time to quarrel should now be over and that there was need for the leaders in the party to take a reconciliatory path in readiness for the 2011 tripartite elections.

But MMD deputy national secretary Jeff Kaande said the party had never differed with Mr Mpombo and that it was his statements that portrayed a picture that there were differences between him and the MMD.
He said time had come for the healing process to commence and give another chance to the members in the spirit of charting the way forward.

Mr Mpombo, who recently has been issuing statements against the party and its leadership, said the mistakes had been made but that now was the time to sit down and find the way forward for the party.

He said people like MMD chairperson for elections, Mike Mulongoti should by now know that time was running out before the 2011 elections and should be the one to promote reconciliation in the party.

“Mistakes have been made, differences have been there but time has now come for us to sit down and chart the way forward for the party,” said Mr Mpombo who declared himself ready for reconciliation if called upon.

Mr Mpombo wondered where the party trustees were to help reconcile the MMD members whenever differences arose.

He said the MMD was still a strong party and that the party leadership would make history to hold a reconciliatory meeting at which the party would be put together before 2011.

But Mr Kaande said no specific person in the party had differed with Mr Mpombo and advised him to instead take a reconciliatory path before it was too late.

[Times of Zambia]

The long awaited fresh voter registration exercise begins soon. The exercise has been on the cards for some time now.

Electoral Commission of Zambia(ECZ) Florence Mumba, says the exercise in all the 72 districts of Zambia will be done over a period of 90 days.

In some areas, especially those in remote areas, the exercise will be conducted through mobile services.

Ms. Mumba told a consultative meeting in Lusaka on today that the fresh registration exercise will help to remove deceased voters from the register.

The new voters roll will also enable more people to take part in the 2011 general elections.

The stakeholders’ meeting was attended by Town Clerks and Provincial local government officers.

[ZNBC]

President Rupiah Banda is on Tuesday scheduled to officially re-open the Luanshya Copper Mines (LCM) and commission the production of copper following the successful acquisition of the mine by a new investor.

President Banda will join the new investor China Non-Ferrous Metals Corporations (CNMC) at LCM in Luanshya on the Copperbelt Province to reopen the mine which was put on care and maintenance by the previous owners before it was sold to CNMC.

This is contained in a press statement made available to ZANIS in Lusaka today by President Banda’s Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations Dickson Jere.

President Banda and his delegation are expected back to Lusaka after the commissioning of the mine, which has so far created about 2, 000 jobs for the people in the area.

Meanwhile, President Banda is on Wednesday expected to travel to Eastern Province where he will officially open a Technical and Vocational college in Chipata before flagging off the construction of the Chipata-Mfuwe road.

President Banda will spend his Christmas in Mfuwe where he is also expected to hold meetings with various groups on a number of national issues.

ZANIS

VICE-PRESIDENT George Kunda says the claim by Mr Sata and Mr Hichilema that they are both presidential candidates for the 2011 elections shows that there is confusion in the PF-UPND pact.

Speaking on a Radio Phoenix programme ‘Government and You’ in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Kunda has challenged the PF-UPND pact to tell Zambians who the candidate is between them. He also alleged that The Post newspaper is promoting Mr Sata while Mr Hichilema is considered a thug.

“I am just wondering why an intelligent man like HH should make an alliance with Mr Sata, whose conduct we all know is not very good. The earlier you (Mr Hichilema) come out of it the better because Mr Sata is just using you.

“If he can dismiss 22 members of Parliament without even blinking, how do you trust such a man? UPND, please leave that sinking ship because there is confusion where you are,” he said.

Mr Kunda wondered whether Mr Hichilema has given up his ambitions of being republican President.[quote]
“Are people of Southern Province happy? Please leave this confusion; you are a learned man,” he said.
Mr Kunda said Mr Sata expelled late UPND president Anderson Mazoka from MMD.

He said Mr Hichilema’s alliance with Mr Sata is betraying Mr Mazoka’s legacy.

He said the MMD will continue talking about the PF-UPND pact because people talk about the MMD as well.
“We have seen a weakness in the pact. Southern Province is cracked. Even chiefs in that province are saying Mr Hichilema has made a blunder. We must also gain mileage out of the mistakes of our competitors. So, even tomorrow (today), I will sharpen my tools to fight the pact. This pact is only between Mr Sata and Mr Hichilema,” he said.

Mr Kunda said Government has information that some UPND members of Parliament will not be adopted.
He alleged that Mr Sata is a die-hard dictator because his party has made it clear that some jobs will be reserved for PF members only.

[Zambia Daily Mail]

SCIENCE and Technology Minister, Gabriel Namulambe has been told to publicly apologise to President Rupiah Banda or resign on moral grounds.

Copperbelt provincial MMD publicity and information secretary in charge of youth affairs Morgan Ntankula, said in Kitwe yesterday Mr Namulambe should apologise for raising what he called false alarm which had created unnecessary tension between the Lamba people and other tribes.

Mr Ntankula who was speaking in his capacity as a concerned Lamba person, said in a statement it was unfortunate that Mr Namulambe who recently said that Lambas were hurt and frustrated, did not even consult the Lambas.

He said Mr Namulambe should have handled his grievance with maturity than implicating the innocent Lamba tribe.

When contacted, Mr Namulambe who is Mpongwe Member of Parliament (MP) said, he would not apologise because his statement was not targetted at President Banda but at those that had continued to attack the late Levy Mwanawasa’s legacy.

“Let the people read my statement and they will find out that at no time did I direct that statement at President Banda,” he said.

He said Mr Ntankula was not one of the people he represented as Mpongwe MP and he should just concentrate on organising the party.

“It is sad that people have decided to take the smoke out of my statement leaving out the fire,” Mr Namulambe said.

Mr Ntankula, however, said it was shameful of Mr Namulambe to even boast that he was strong politically and could not be pushed, instead of humbling himself.

“I strongly feel Mr Namulambe should apologise publicly or resign if he has any morals. What we have noticed in his attitude is that he is exhibiting the worst levels of indiscipline and disrepect to the authority, something very unfamiliar to our tribe.

Failure to publicly apologise to the president and the nation at large, will compel us the concerned Lamba speaking people, to earnestly request the president to fire him and consider other people that are eager to work with the president,” Mr Ntankula said.

He said Mr Namulambe had dented the image of the Lamba speaking tribe.

Mr Ntankula said it was sad that Mr Namulambe should create an impression that President Banda had become unpopular in Lamba land when the president was enjoying massive support in the area.

Meanwhile, Kafulafuta Constituency leadership in Ndola, is against the expulsion of area Member of Parliament, George Mpombo from the party because the move is not a solution to the current stand off with the MMD.

Constituency chairperson, Abraham Mwape said the party in the area was still hopeful that the issue concerning Mr Mpombo could still be resolved amicably.

Mr Mwape said in an interview in Masaiti at the weekend that calls for the expulsion of the former Defence minister would not solve the problem but compound it.

“Calls for Mr mpombo’s resignation is not a solution to the problem but he should instead be called for a meeting so that all outstanding issues can be resolved,” he said.

He said the party in the district still wanted Mr Mpombo to avail himself at the forthcoming constituency conference scheduled for January 8, 2010 in Ndola, where he was expected to explain in detail his position following his unwarranted attacks on President Banda and the MMD leadership.

Mr Mwape said Mr Mpombo had not responded to calls by the constituency to go and explain his position on the matter since he resigned from Cabinet in September.

But provincial party chairperson, Joseph Chilambwe maintained the earlier position taken by the party in the province to recommend to the National Executive Committee (NEC) to expel Mr Mpombo from the MMD.

[Times of Zambia]