President Rupiah Banda has reiterated his government’s commitment to continue allocating financial resources for developmental projects in the country.

President Banda said this in Chama yesterday when he addressed a public rally attended by hundreds of residents who braved the heat at Chama market.

Mr. Banda said government would ensure that more resources were provided for the development of the nation.

He said that his government intends to distribute resources fairly across the country so that development is spread evenly, adding that Zambians should actively get involved in developing the nation.[quote]

“We want to ensure that all the provinces in the country are developed and not divided because we are one nation,” he said.

And President Banda stated that for the first time in the history of Zambia, agriculture input such as fertilizer have been distributed to all the districts before the onset of the rain season.

President Banda has since reassured farmers that the cost of one bag of fertilizer will be at K50, 000 per bag, adding that the food security pact for a family has been reduced from eight to four so that more farmers could benefit from the supplement.

And President Banda has disclosed that his government would not arrest anyone for criticizing him, adding that as a leader, he would remain focused to developing the nation.

He said Zambia has chosen democracy as its guiding principle and he would therefore, not discriminate against anyone regardless of their political affiliation.

He said his wish was that all children in Zambia have access to education because this was cardinal for the development of the nation.

“I want to see a situation where all children go to school even if their parents did not vote for me,” he added.

He appealed to Zambians to continue being focused and develop the country and not to listen to people from outside the country who would want to confuse the nation.

He has since urged Zambians to uphold peace and remain united for the good of the nation.

Meanwhile, President Banda said government would soon respond to concerns raised by traditional leaders in Chama concerning major projects such as the Chama-Matumbo road and the construction of a bridge at Luangwa river.

He said in a private meeting with the chiefs, he was informed of the need to work on the two projects in the province to enhance development.

President Banda assured the people of Chama that a contractor, Sable had already been engaged to work on the bridge.

Meanwhile, former Patriotic Front (PF) Secretary General Edward Mumbi commended President Banda for being a good leader.

Mr. Mumbi noted that unlike some party leaders, President Banda was not full of vengeance and insults.

He further charged that the PF leader Michael Sata had received a lot of money from donors which up to now can not account for.

ZANIS

A panel of three high court judges is expected to hear the appeal case of Regina Chiluba’s receipt of alleged stolen properties and money. This came to light when high court Judge Evans Hamaundu informed parties to the case that the appeal case could not take place as it required more than one judge. The case has been adjourned to a later date. In adjourning the matter this morning, Judge Hamaundu says a penal of three judges has to be set and a pre-hearing be done before coming up with a date before the actual hearing of
the case commences. This is in a case in which Mrs. Chiluba is appealing against the Magistrate court’s sentence, to three-and-a-half years in prison for receiving and obtaining stolen state property while her husband Dr. Chiluba was Republican president. The magistrate’s court in Lusaka on March 3rd 2009 found Mrs. Chiluba guilty on five of six counts of fraud relating to receiving alleged stolen property and funds. Mrs. Chiluba was accompanied to court by her husband Dr. Chiluba and a number of sympathizers. Meanwhile Mrs. Chiluba’s legal representative Robert Simeza has requested the Lusaka high court to assist in securing the complete record of the evidence from the magistrate court. Mr. Simeza explains that the appeal case for Mrs. Chiluba cannot be properly argued without the complete record of the evidence that was produced in a lower court. He says the lower courts are obliged by law to prepare the record before the commencement of the appeal hearing.

[Muvi TV]

North Western Province against making experiments on government leadership.
Mr. Kunda said it was important for people in the area to vote for a candidate that will have an easy access to government resources in order for development to flourish in the area.He appealed to the people in the area to continue supporting MMD so that development can continue, noting that government would not relent in its efforts of ensuring that the people in the province benefit from its leadership.

He said it was only the MMD government which has the capacity to developing all parts of the country because it was the party in power.

Mr. Kunda said it was not safe to experiment on leadership by voting into office people that did not have the interest of the electorate and of the nation at heart.

He said the MMD government has managed to lead the country in peace and tranquility and has accelerated development because it leaders were experienced.

He said government has a robust programme for building schools, hospitals, and other infrastructure through out the country, adding that it has so far succeeded in its developmental programmes because it was listening to the citizens.[quote]

Mr. Kunda was speaking at a public rally at Kyafukuma Basic School in Solwezi today to drum up support for the MMD’s candidate Albert Chifita in the forthcoming Solwezi parliamentary by-elections.

And Mr. Kunda has said it was a legal requirement for foreign investors to practice cooperate social responsibility.

He said it was important that investors support communities that live around the area of their operation.

Mr. Kunda was reacting to reports that Kansanshi mine investors were not doing enough to support communities around the mining area.

He said investors should not only make money but should instead plough back some of their profits into communities by building schools, clinics and other facilities.

And speaking earlier, North Western Province Minster Joseph Mulyata accused Kansanshi mine owners of only employing opposition Patriotic Front (PF) members at the expense of the local community.

He said it was strange that some mining companies could engage themselves in politics by employing only members of a particular political party when government does not choose who to employ.

Mr. Mulyata said since Kansanshi mine is based in Solwezi, it must work towards benefiting the local people.

He said government will soon engage the mining company to discuss the problems surrounding the employment of the local people.

Meanwhile, government has pledged to continue putting in place programmes that will benefit the poor and disabled people in the country.

Community Development Deputy Minister Moses Muteteka, who was speaking at the same rally, said government would ensure that the living standards of Zambians were improved.

Mr. Muteteka said government has so far spent K50 billion on Fertilizer Support Program (FSP), adding that input on this programme have already been distributed to vulnerable but viable farmers through out the country.

He appealed to traditional leaders and the church to work with his ministry in the distribution of inputs to avoid incidents of segregation and abuse of the programme.

On women empowerment, Mr. Muteteka said government has allocated K5 billion in next years budget for the empowerment of women and appealed to them to form cooperatives for them to access the funds.

He said government was mindful of many challenges that women around the country were facing and was working hard to mitigate some of these sufferings.

And Solwezi central campaign manager Kabinga Pande appealed to the electorates in the area not to deceive themselves by voting for the opposition political parties whom he said were only bent on opposing whatever programme the government initiates.

Mr. Pande, who is also Foreign Affairs Minister, said Mr. Chifita is the best candidate for the Solwezi Central parliamentary seat because he has the experience and understood the difficulties people faced in the area.

He said Mr. Chifita was once a District Commissioner for Solwezi and therefore, it would be easy for him to understand the needs of the people.

The Solwezi parliamentary seat fell vacant after the death of Ben Tetamashimba, who was Member of Parliament under the MMD.

ZANIS

VICE-PRESIDENT George Kunda says it appears that United Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema does not want to contest the 2011 presidential elections and is instead selling the candidature of Patriotic Front leader Michael Sata.

Mr Kunda said Mr Hichilema is unlikely to stand in 2011 and was in Solwezi to campaign for Mr Sata.
He was addressing hundreds of Solwezi residents who welcomed him at Solwezi airport yesterday.

“Now, here in Solwezi and many parts of the country, we do not vote for Mr Sata. Go to Central Province, go to Southern, Western (provinces); people do not vote for Mr Sata,” he said.

He said people do not vote for Mr Sata because of his bad campaign strategies.

Mr Kunda said Government declared Zambia a Christian nation and that the ruling party is committed to the declaration.

He said the MMD has no problem with the declaration and will support it in the National Constitution Conference (NCC).

Mr Kunda said the MMD has maintained peace and stability in the country from 1991 and that is what the party wants to continue doing.

He said with peace, the people of Zambia can protect their propertyand their investment.

“Reject violence and vote for MMD which wants peace,” he said.

Mr Kunda said the ruling party has everything to lose when there is violence and called on the police to guard the peace that the country is enjoying.

The Vice-President said Government would like to see issue-based campaigns and will not condone any act of violence from the opposition.

Mr Kunda said the MMD is committed to promoting and maintaining peace and stability the country has continued to enjoy since 1991.

“We will not sit and watch selfish politicians destroy our peace,” he said.

He called on the people of Solwezi to reject the pact by voting for MMD candidate Albert Chifita, who he described as a man of the people.
Mr Kunda said the MMD is not going to engage in violence, but will concentrate on issues that affect the people of Solwezi.

He called on Zambians to uphold the slogan of ‘One Zambia One Nation’ for the country to continue enjoying peace.

Mr Kunda said North-Western Province has a great economic potential, adding that the people of Solwezi Central should give the MMD a vote for it to continue implementing the programmes it has planned for the province.

“I have travelled with a high-powered delegation, and all these ministers are here to explain our development agenda for Solwezi,” he said.

Mr Kunda is accompanied by Minister of Health Kapembwa Simbao, his Transport and Communications counterpart Geoffrey Lungwangwa, Deputy Minster of Agriculture Albert Mulonga and his Community Development and Social Services counterpart Moses Muteteka.

Deputy Minister in the Office of the Vice-President Gaston Sichilima is also in the entourage.

The Vice-President was met at the airport by North-Western Province Minister Joseph Mulyata and Minister of Foreign Affairs Kabinga Pande.

He said the MMD will address problems in the health, education, agricultural and mining sectors.

[Daily mail]

THE MMD and the opposition Patriotic Front (PF) and United Party for National Development (UPND) Pact yesterday called for an end to violence during the campaign for next Friday’s Solwezi Central Constituency parliamentary by-election.

The two parties denounced the violence that has rocked the campaigns with the latest being on Saturday night when cadres from the two parties clashed.

Campaign managers for ruling MMD candidate, Albert Chifita and Patriotic Front- UPND Pact aspirant, Watson Lumba were forced to step in to condemn the violence after MMD and UPND cadres clashed on Saturday after they crossed paths in the central business district.

MMD campaign manager, Kabinga Pande and PF-UPND Pact campaign manager, Steven Katuka denounced the violence during a Press briefing held in Solwezi yesterday after the two camps had a meeting with the North-Western provincial police command.

The two managers, who are both members of Parliament (MP) in North-Western Province, said the people in the constituency were peaceful and were all related, and the two camps agreed that there should be no violence.

Mr Pande said campaigns for the poll to fill the seat left vacant following the death of Solwezi Central MP, Benny Tetamashimba had been going on smoothly and peacefully after the violence at nominations until “yesterday (Saturday) when there was an incident.”

“People here are all related, and we have agreed that there should be no violence.
‘‘Any cadre who will be involved in the violence, it will be him or her and the police; and the police from now onwards would not let anyone be violent.

‘‘They charge immediately,” Mr Pande, who is Foreign Affairs Minister, said.
Mr Pande, who is Kasempa MP, said he had agreed with his Mwinilunga East counterpart, Mr Katuka to speak to their supporters against violence, which was first experienced during nominations for the November 19 by-election.

He said the two major camps would also monitor each other and would keep their communication lines open, with the campaign managers asked to inform the police and the rival camp before any impending violence.

He said the two parties had allowed police, who would not tolerate any violence, to search at random any vehicle, including those of senior officials like himself and Mr Katuka of any weapons.

Mr Katuka said the two camps condemned the violence by its cadres in the strongest possible terms, as while elections would come and go, the people, who were brothers and sisters, would remain.

He said he would talk to the supporters in his camp about avoiding violence so that the election, whose other candidates are Muhammad Kalela of the Forum for Democratic Altenatives and independent, Thomas Kafula could be won on merit and not through intimidation.

Meanwhile, MMD cadres clashed with some miners on a bus taking them for work around 17:30 hours on Saturday after they responded with opposition symbols as the ruling party cadres were driving by.