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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.
Embattled Herve Renard breaks his silence tomorrow when he dates the press after morning training in Lusaka.
Renard has ducked the press since Zambia lost 1-0 to Egypt at Konkola Stadium in Chililabombwe on October 10 in their penultimate 2010 Group C qualifying match.
The Frenchman this week came under attack from his own camp in particular the nomadic German-based midfielder Andrew Sinkala whom he dropped for the match against Rwanda.
Sinkala took a swipe at Renard and poured his heart out in the local press over his relationship with the Frenchman and it is hoped the latter will have something major to say on this issue during his briefing.
Meanwhile, in the midst of the brewing clouds, the team went about the business of preparing for the crucial Rwanda game away in Kigali this Saturday that they must win to book their place at the Africa Cup in Angola in January.
Zambia need to beat Rwanda to safely secure the third and final qualifying berth in Group C they currently hold on 4 points against the latter’s 1 point, although a draw will suffice for the former to book their place at the finals in Angola.
And goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene arrived from South Africa this evening together with the Israel based-duo of striker Emmanuel Mayuka and midfielder William Njobvu.
Earlier in the day, Given Singuluma from TP Mazembe, Mamelodi Sundowns player Felix Katongo including he Amazulu duo of goalkeeper Kalililo Kakonje and defender Kampamba Chintu all joined camp in Lusaka.
Captain Christopher Katongo and defender Joseph Musonda all joined the squad on Sunday.
Jacob Mulenga and Rainford Kalaba are both being expected later tonight and tomorrow respectively.
Zambia are expected to leave for Rwanda on Thursday.
Vice-President George KundaVice President George Kunda has cautioned people of
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.
A 19 year old Zambian student studying at a university in South Africa, who went missing on 24 October 2009, has been found dead in a Roodepoort police mortuary in South Africa.
The teenager, Ponjee Sendwa, allegedly went to a night club in Roodepoort near Johannesburg to celebrate Zambia’s Independence Day with his friends when he met his fate.
The boy’s father, Neol Sendwa, who is an engineering manager with BP Zambia in Lusaka, said the body of his son was discovered at Roodepoort police mortuary yesterday morning.
This is contained in statement made available to ZANIS in Lusaka today by the second secretary for press at the Zambian Embassy in South Africa, Phillip Chirwa.
Mr. Sendwa said his son was murdered on the night of 24 October and dumped in a pond where his body was retrieved by police the following day.
He said the police treated the body of his son as unidentified because the deceased teenager had no documents on him.
He said the boy’s body was only discovered after he (Mr. Sendwa) produced the late son’s photographs to Honey dew police station in Roodepoort.
Ponjee went to South Africa last year to pursue his studies in Economics and Administration at Monash University in Rusimig, Roodepoort.
Meanwhile, arrangements are being made to bring the body to Zambia.
Police in Nchelenge district in Luapula Province are holding a 28 year old man for allegedly killing his 24 year old pregnant wife.
The man, identified as Moses Mutawa of Nkalamo Village in Chief Kambwali’s area, was apprehended by police after he allegedly killed his wife, Agnes Mulenga of the same Village after a domestic dispute.
Luapula Province Police Commanding Officer, Auxencio Mbewe said Mutawa, who is believed to have been drunk on the material day, kicked and punched his wife on 1st November, 2009 in unexplained circumstances, resulting in her death two days later.
He said results of the postmortem conducted on the deceased at Saint Paul’s Mission Hospital revealed that she was about two months pregnant at the time of her death.
Mr. Mbewe said the accused man is being held at Nchelenge Police Station and will appear in court soon.
He said the deceased was buried on Wednesday last week, at Nsoka Village after the postmortem.
Mr. Mbewe urged couples in Luapula Province to find amicable solutions to disputes instead of engaging in violence.
He further called on the people of Luapula to refrain from engaging in excessive beer drinking, as doing so affects their reasoning.
The Police Chief warned that the police will not take kindly to people indulging in any mischievous activities, adding that any one found wanting would be prosecuted.
Reaching HIV/AIDS Affected People with Integrated Development and Support(RAPIDS)Chief of Party Batuke Walusiku says about 20, 000 caregivers in Zambia will be honoured for their assistance to vulnerable children and those orphaned due to HIV/AIDS.
Ms Walusiku said her organisation will tomorrow honour its 19,839 caregivers for their wide contributions and care for HIV/AIDS victims.
She said the honoured caregivers will, apart from receiving tokens of appreciation, also participate in a short refresher course on care giving using the RAPIDS guidebook.
She pointed out that the United States government through RAPIDS has invested US$57 million dollars for the 2004 – 2010 period to help mitigate the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
The Chief of Party said this during a press briefing held at RAPIDS offices in Lusaka today.
And caregiver Lesta Chingangu has urged communities to combat HIV/AIDS which has affected a number of people.
Ms. Chingangu observed that RAPIDS helped lessen the challenges being faced by caregivers in the country through their continuous support.
She said many orphans are able to go back to school with the help of RAPIDS adding that the number of orphans has since risen from 50 to 261 thousand under the RAPIDS programme.
The plane carrying the FIFA world cup Trophy, Lusaka International Airport
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President Banda introduces former PF secretary general Edward Mumbi to MMD cadres in Chipata, Zambia
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Security personnel harassing a photographer when the FIFA world cup arrived in Lusaka, Zambia
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MMD cadres queue to shake president Banda's hands in Chipata, Zambia
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Journalists wait to shoot pictures of the world cup trophy in Lusaka, Zambia
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Former PF secretary general Edward Mumbi is greeting MMD cadres in Chipata, Zambia
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An unidentified woman using her mobile phone to shoot pictures of a plane carrying the FIFA world cup trophy in Lusaka, Zambia
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FIFA world cup Trophy Tour, Lusaka, Zamba
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An unidentified MMD cadre singing party songs before president Banda's arrival in Chipata, Zambia
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An unidentified Chinese man waiting for President Banda's arrival at Chipata airport, Zambia
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Zambian Breweries Group managing director Pearson Gowero hoist a special packaged coke in Lusaka, Zambia
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Vice president George Kunda is helped to wear gloves before laying a foundation stone for the construction of an agricultural technology demonstration centre in Lusaka, Zambia
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An old IFA truck transporting charcoal from Chongwe to Lusaka, Zambia
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An unidentified man watching a Nyau dancer in Lusaka, Zambia
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Mine looks different...Agriculture minister Brian Chituwo seem to be telling education minister Dora Siliya (l) after receiving gifts from the Chinese embassy in Lusaka, Zambia
Women treated for breast cancer are at a higher risk of a relapse if they have “dense” breasts, say researchers.
Those with denser breasts are four times more likely to see their cancer return, compared to women with less dense breasts, says the journal Cancer
The Canadian authors advise that women with the densest breasts should have radiotherapy while the women with less dense breasts could be spared.
Experts say further studies are necessary before any treatment change.
The researchers from the Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, Canada, looked at the medical records of 335 women who underwent surgery for invasive breast cancer and for whom a pre-treatment mammogram was available.
Patients’ breasts were categorised as low density, intermediate or high.
Greater risk
Breast density was higher in the younger women in the study, which surveyed women with an average age of 63.5 years.
The women in the high density group experienced a much greater risk of breast cancer returning.
Over a 10 year period, they had a 21% risk of cancer recurrence, compared to a 5% risk for women with the least dense breasts.
After 10 years, the difference in the rates of disease recurrence for women who did not receive radiotherapy after surgery was more pronounced, with 40% of women with high density breasts experiencing cancer recurrence compared with none of the women with the lowest density of breasts.
The authors said their findings indicated that women with low breast density, may not need radiotherapy, but that women with high breast density could significantly benefit from the therapy.
‘Breast density modifiable’
The researchers believe the hormonal profile of denser breast tissue makes it more susceptible to cancer.
Dr Steven Narod, of the Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, Canada, said: “The composition of the breast tissue surrounding the breast cancer is important in predicting whether or not a breast cancer will return after surgery.
“Breast density has been found to be modifiable to some extent by physical activity and hormone therapy.”
‘Attractive prospect’
Stephen Duffy, Cancer Research UK’s professor of screening, said: “This is intriguing.
“One reason for this could be that we know breast density increases the risk of a breast cancer in the first place, so it may simply increase the risk of a second one.
“Another possibility is that the dense tissue makes it more likely that other areas of cancer in the breast are not visible at initial diagnosis and so are not removed when surgery takes place.
“The potential to spare women who do not have dense tissue from radiotherapy is a very attractive prospect. But further studies will be necessary to be sure that this is safe practice.”
Maria Leadbetter, clinical nurse specialist at Breast Cancer Care, said: “By being able to determine which women may or may not benefit from radiotherapy it may be possible to offer more tailored treatment.
“It could also reduce the total number of women having radiotherapy, which can have significant long-term side effects.”
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.
Eight foreign and local firms have submitted bids to explore for oil in three provinces in Zambia, Godwin Beene, permanent secretary for the ministry of mines and minerals development said on Sunday.
Zambia, Africa’s top copper producer, invited bids from foreign companies for oil exploration in June after demarcating 23 oil blocks in its northwestern, western and eastern provinces.
Beene said in a statement foreign companies GP Petroleum and Petrodel Resources from the United Kingdom, Glint Energy from the United States and Exile Resources from Canada had submitted bids along with four Zambian firms.
“The Petroleum committee has begun analysing the bids and the minister of energy will announce the names of the successful bidders after the committee completes its work,” Beene said.
Beene said the successful bidders needed to demonstrate proven ability to raise the funds required for the projects, and also show they have assets, machinery, technical expertise, equipment and tools required to explore, produce and sell oil.
The bids were initially scheduled to close in August but the government extended the tendering period to allow more companies to submit their bids
Zambia does not produce oil, but the government says soil samples sent to European laboratories, have shown good traces of oil, particularly in areas bordering oil-producing Angola
The first two cases of NGO officials, who allegedly pocketed more than K148 million donor funding will be handed over to the police fraud department, Home Affairs Minister, Lameck Mangani said yesterday.
He said in an interview yesterday that the matter had been referred to the police for further investigations and warned that all found culpable would face the law.
“The matter has been referred to the police for further investigations and these are some of the NGOs that are vocal and talking a lot about corruption and the acquittal of Dr Chiluba. Once they have been found guilty, they may face the law,” Mr Mangani said.
Mr Mangani said what was annoying was the fact that the NGOs in question were among those vocal civil society organisations that were agitating for honking against the acquittal of second Republic president, Fredrick Chiluba, thereby being in the forefront to promote anarchy in the nation.
Commenting on the whistling by the CSOs which went on undisturbed in Lusaka on Friday last week, Mr Mangani said such action was still an offence, especially that the CSOs had agreed that they had stopped their action when they last met with the Government and the police.
He wondered what the CSOs would achieve by whistling.
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.
German researchers say babies begin to pick up the nuances of their parents’ accents while still in the womb.The researchers studied the cries of 60 healthy babies born to families speaking French and German.
The French newborns cried with a rising “accent” while the German babies’ cries had a falling inflection.
Writing in the journal Current Biology, they say the babies are probably trying to form a bond with their mothers by imitating them.
The findings suggest that unborn babies are influenced by the sound of the first language that penetrates the womb.
Cry melodies
It was already known that foetuses could memorise sounds from the outside world in the last three months of pregnancy and were particularly sensitive to the contour of the melody in both music and human voices.
Earlier studies had shown that infants could match vowel sounds presented to them by adult speakers, but only from 12 weeks of age.
Kathleen Wermke from the University of Wurzburg, who led the research, said: “The dramatic finding of this study is that not only are human neonates capable of producing different cry melodies, but they prefer to produce those melody patterns that are typical for the ambient language they have heard during their foetal life.
“Contrary to orthodox interpretations, these data support the importance of human infants’ crying for seeding language development.”
Dr Wermke’s team recorded and analysed the cries of 60 healthy newborns when they were three to five days old.
Their analysis revealed clear differences in the shape of the infants’ cry melodies that corresponded to their mother tongue.
They say the babies need only well-co-ordinated respiratory-laryngeal systems to imitate melody contours and not the vocal control that develops later.
Dr Wermke said: “Newborns are highly motivated to imitate their mother’s behaviour in order to attract her and hence to foster bonding.
“Because melody contour may be the only aspect of their mother’s speech that newborns are able to imitate, this might explain why we found melody contour imitation at that early age.”
Debbie Mills, a reader in developmental cognitive neuroscience at Bangor University, said: “This is really interesting because it suggests that they are producing sounds they have heard in the womb and that means learning and that it is not an innate behaviour.
“Many of the early infant behaviours are almost like reflexes that go away after the first month and then come back later in a different form.
“It would be interesting to look at these babies after a month and see if their ability to follow the melodic contours of their language is still there.”
Power Dynamos and Green Buffaloes are through to the final of this years Barclays Cup.
Buffaloes made it to the final after beating Roan United on post-match penalties while Power thumped Choma Eagles 3-0 in their semifinal doubleheader tie played at the Trade Fair Grounds in Ndola today.
In the lunchtime kickoff, Power were up 1-0 going into half time through midfielder Kennedy Mudenda who scored the opener in the 13th minute.
Striker Elson Mkandawire later struck twice in the last 12 minutes of the match with goals in the 74th and 87th minutes to secure Power’s passage to the final.
Meanwhile, Buffaloes beat Roan 5-4 on post-match penalties after the two sides finished 0-0 at full time.
