each other the best in the next Solwezi Central by-elections.

The two leaders met near Solwezi radio station where President Banda was coming from having a live interview.

President Banda implored his counterpart Mr. Sata that as leaders they should teach the young generation not to practice politics of insults but work together.

The two leaders hugged and shared jokes as they chatted on some current affairs.

And PF leader said that they should continue with verbal fight and not fighting with guns and weapons.

The two leaders wished each other the best before parting company.

President Banda is in Solwezi to sum up support for MMD candidate Albert Chifita while Mr. Sata is in the district to sum up support for the PF-UPND Pact candidate Watson Lumba.

ZANIS

President Rupiah Banda has urged the Solwezi electorate to vote for the ruling MMD candidate Albert Chifita, in the Solwezi Central constituency by-elections on November 18 , next week.

President Banda said  in Solwezi at a public rally at Kimasala Basic School ground to drum up support for the MMD candidate Mr Chifita.

He appealed to the Solwezi residents who turned up in numbers for the rally to give Mr Chifita a chance to continue with the work left by the late member of parliament Ben Tetamashimba.

“I want Mr Chifita to join our MMD team, please give him to me so that we can continue with the work our late brother left.” He said.

The seat fell vacant owing to the  death of the  Member of Parliament Ben Tetamashimba, recently.

The PF/UPND pact is fielding Watson Lumba, Forum for Democratic Alternative (FDA) is fielding Muhammed Kalela while Thomas Kafula will stand as an independent candidate.

President Banda has further assured the people of Solwezi that the contentious road that goes to Chavuma would be completed.

He also charged that the opposition PF leader Michael Sata who has been criticizing his government that they are not working, was in government before and for a long time but did not do anything for the people.

And former PF Secretary General, Edward Mumbi charged that PF leader Sata was a pathological liar who should not be trusted.

Mr Mumbi said that those who know him like himself know that he could not be trusted because of his lies.

“Sata is a pathological liar, those who don’t know him, do not know this. The man cannot be trusted.”He said.

He said that he resigned from the PF because of Mr Sata’s undemocratic tendencies and the opposition leader’s lack of respect for others.

[ZANIS]

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has accused some people with vested interests in the fuel procurement process of blowing the current fuel shortage Zambia is experiencing out of proportion.

Mr Banda said in Chipata that Zambia had been experiencing some difficulty in the procurement of the fuel but that the Government was trying to improve the flow of fuel in the country.[quote]

“Some people who are making noise on the fuel crisis have vested interest in the procurement of fuel and they want to create a wrong impression of the matter,” the president said on a recorded programme aired on Radio Breeze in Chipata yesterday.

The president acknowledged that Government alone could not run Indeni Refinery following the pulling out of Total and called for a partnership.

Mr Banda said the disbanded Taskforce on Corruption spent US$30 million trying to recover about $500,000 alleged to have been stolen by former president,Frederick Chiluba.

“Already we have spent more than we are trying to recover and I cannot allow my Government to spend another $15 million on the matter just to satisfy a quarter of the people who were calling Mr Chiluba a thief before he was proven guilty,” Mr Banda said

The president denied playing any role in the acquittal of Dr Chiluba.
Mr Banda said the Taskforce was disbanded because it was spending more money than it wanted to recover.

He said he had allowed the three arms of Government to work independently and at no time would his Government interfere in the operations of the three institutions.

The president said his Government had allocated more money than before in this year’s national Budget to the office of the Auditor-General and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to strengthen the two institutions.

He said corruption had become so sophisticated that there was need to train more officers in this area to curb the vice.

The president said there was need to regulate the operations of the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and defended the passing of the NGO Act.

On the regulation of the media, the president said he would like to see the media regulating themselves and the Government would only come in to regulate if the media failed to do so.
[Times of Zambia]

First Lady Thandiwe Banda has urged fellow First Ladies in the Sub Sahara region to double their efforts in working towards bettering the lives of women and girls in the region.

Mrs. Banda noted that if First Ladies could harness the support of governments, individuals and many other stakeholders, the campaign for the improvement of women’s welfare would be unstoppable.[quote]

She was speaking during the 10th anniversary of the White Ribbon Alliance Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania, today.

Mrs. Banda said there was need for the institutionalisaton of training of midwives in order for them to provide the necessary services for women.

She said First Ladies need to advocate for the development of low cost community interventions such as the development of Mama-Kits for mothers to use in home deliveries and infection prevention.

She said there was also need for developing innovative transportation schemes such as bicycle ambulances to help women reach health facilities from distant places.

Mrs. Banda said if First Ladies succeed in combining efforts, the results are potentially phenomenal, adding that building for women will mean building a lasting future for the world.

She further said there was need to ensure that safe motherhood was a right for women in the region and appealed for unity in the quest to save the lives of mothers and their children.

The First Lady said supervised deliveries is one of the interventions Zambia and other developing countries in the Sub Sahara region have instituted to stem the maternal mortality rate.

Mrs. Banda said the maternal mortality ratio in Zambia and in other sub Sahara Africa stands at 591 per 100, 000 live births.

She however observed that the distance to health facilities, the human resources crisis that the region faces and the limited number of midwives negate the gains that may have been achieved in the recent past.

“I’m speaking on behalf of the half a million mothers who die every year from just about the most avoidable and most preventable deaths of all. And for every death, 30 more suffer debilitating and painful injury from pregnancy and childbirth. This is unacceptable”, she said.

The First Lady said it was the duty of every government in the region to move the world to action against such avoidable tragedies.

Mrs. Banda said a mother’s survival is vital in ensuring the wellbeing of families and the community at large.

“So saving the life of the mothers and reducing maternal mortality is the most central of our gathering today. It is not peripheral, not an afterthought, and not the margins”, she said.

ZANIS