Luapula Chiefs have described as false and malicious, assertions that the traditional leaders were not in support of the appointment of Luapula Provincial Permanent Secretary Jazzman Chikwakwa and Provincial Minister Boniface Kawimbe.

The traditional leaders have since assured government that they will work with and support the leadership of President Rupiah Banda in the Province.

Luapula Province Council of Chiefs Chairman Chief Chisunka said the traditional leaders in the area were geared to work with Mr. Chikwakwa and Dr. Kawimbe because the two leaders were direct envoys of President Rupiah Banda whom they fully support and whose development programs they appreciated.

The traditional rulers were reacting to accusations that they do not support the provincial administration leadership of Mr. Chikwakwa and Dr. Kawimbe on the premise that the two leaders are outsiders as they do not come from Luapula Province.

Chief Chisunka said the allegations that the chiefs in the area are not in support of the two provincial leaders bordered on tribalism and were bent on creating disunity amongst the traditional leadership in the province.

The traditional leader said the speculations were aimed at promoting tribalism and hatred which in turn negated development.

“Those speculations that we are not in support of Mr. Chikwakwa and Dr. Kawimbe because they are not from here (Luapula) are aimed at destroying the good relationship we have with the government of President Rupiah Banda and we shall not condone such statements,” Chief Chisunka said.

He said that both Mr. Chikwakwa and Dr. Kawimbe have made headways in reconciling the traditional leaders with government through various visitations to all the chiefs in the province.

He said it would not do for the two leaders to be judged because they do not come from Luapula Province.

“We have had Permanent Secretaries and Ministers who come from this area but have failed to represent us effectively, so what we need are good leaders from any part of this country not only locals,” the Chief said.

ZANIS

The Forum for political parties, which includes National Democratic Party, Zambia Direct Democracy, PUDD and ZADECO intends to hold a peaceful demonstration next Monday at the British High Commission in Lusaka.

The demonstration is aimed at protesting against alleged interference by High commissioner,Tom Carter, in Zambia’s internal affairs.

Forum Chairperson, Edwin Sakala, says the parties have already written to the police, seeking a permit to hold the demonstration.

Mr. Sakala told ZNBC news that parties are not happy with Mr. Carter’s remarks over the acquittal of former President, Frederick Chiluba.

He said the diplomatic community in Zambia must respect the country’s judiciary.

And tthe Christian Coalition has accused civil society organizations planning to demonstrate over former president Fredrick Chiluba’s acquittal of trying to destabilize the country and please the donor community.

Coalition Youth Chairperson, John Mwendapole, said in a statement released to ZANIS in Lusaka today that their motive is purely to disturb peace in the country and please donors who want to see Chiluba imprisoned for their own reasons.

Mr Mwendapole charged that the civil society organizations have demonstrated from the reasons advanced that they are not even interested in the peace of the country.

He said when they are very important issues such as slave wages offered by some investors and street vending among others, the organisations have kept quiet adding that it shows they are not representing the ordinary people.

He has therefore called on peace loving Zambians to ignore the civil societies planned demonstration over former president Chiluba’s acquittal.

Mr Mwendapole said there is need to believe in the integrity of the judiciary and in the principal that one is innocent until proven guilty.

He called on Zambians not to be swayed by what he termed mafia groups that want to take over the powers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

ZANIS

Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), a company of Vedanta group in copper business is the largest copper producer in Zambia. The company is equally committed to bringing social and economic empowerment in the region. Recently KCM has been focusing towards Luano community.

Chingola’s Luano area is about 22 km from the town centre and its main community occupation is farming. The economic condition of the community living in Luano are far from being satisfactory. The community struggles to just manage the basic necessities like salt, money for milling their maize and paying the school fees. Most of the members of this community are not connected to the national power grid and have lower literacy levels and poor road network. The biggest challenge is to find exactly what may suit the targeted community and the general climate for the projects. Yet there is nothing that may perfectly suit this rural community than farming projects.

To avoid creating any dependency, KCM spent over K53 million (more than USD 10,000) to source 300 goats for 100 families on condition that they pass on the first offspring to other needy families belonging to the same cooperative and who are on the waiting list. The goat passing-on project is aimed at reducing poverty levels among the non-mining community of miners.

One would wonder how KCM identified such a remote community under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) project. KCM manager for CSR Ms. Sampa Chitah explained that KCM had been working with the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to help in finding the needy communities. This has helped in breaking the chains of dependency. Over the years, the animals reproduce, leading to a greater supply of surplus products for the generation of income.

Ms Chitah said the Luano goat draft project was among many programmes KCM has undertaken. Others are sustainable livelihood programmes, mentorship of widows of former miners and support rendered to Mutende and Luwi orphanages.

The sustainability of the projects was highlighted by Chingola veterinary officer, Mr. Peter Kabungo, who urged farmers never to break the chain of recipients because through the draft goat project, the people of Luano could help families to become accountable to each other and restore their dignity and self-respect.

Dr. Kabungo said Government is happy with KCM’s quick response to the call made at the Copperbelt Agriculture and Commercial Show in which the Government appealed for diversification as noticed from the theme ‘Productivity in Adversity’. He said this was a call to diversify overdependence from copper to other minerals and agriculture for sustainability.

Dr. Kabungo also added, in conclusion, that stakeholders and the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives should ensure that the farmers are helped with the needed chemicals and the Ministry of Agriculture in the district is to be in constant touch with the farmers.

THE Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has set November 19, 2009 as the date for the Solwezi Central Constituency by-election following the death of area Member of Parliament, Benny Tetamashimba last month.

ECZ senior public relations officer, Sylvia Bwalya announced in a statement in Lusaka yesterday that the Solwezi Central parliamentary by-elections would take place alongside three local Government by-elections in three provinces.

The local government seats are Katete in Chienge District in Luapula Province, Nakulenga in Zambezi District in North-Western Province and Kauba in Pemba in Southern Province.

Ms Bwalya said that aspiring candidates in the by-elections should lodge in completed and attested statutory declaration and nomination papers on October 29, 2009 between 09:00 and 15:00 hours.

She reminded the aspirants for the parliamentary by-ections to take nine supporters who should be registered voters within the constituency.

The parliamentary candidates would also be required to pay K500, 000 non- refundable nomination fee while those for municipal council by elections would be required to pay K75, 000 and K50, 000 for those in district local authorities.

The campaign period starts on October 29 at 15:00 and ends on November 18 at 18:00 hours.

Ms Bwalya urged the non-governmental organisations wishing to monitor or observe the elections to apply for accreditation from the ECZ, which is open until November 10, 2009.

[Times of Zambia]

Lameck Mangani’s recent claim that the government has unearthed a scheme in which some prominent Zambians and some diplomats accredited to Zambia are conspiring to destabilize Zambia is a scam and an embarrassment to the people of Zambia.

Such a claim tells us volumes about the caliber of some of the current crop of government leaders. It is a clear depiction of the shallowness of some of our leaders.

The allegation that some diplomats accredited to Zambia are conspiring with citizens to destabilize the country is a very serious matter. It would be understandable if it was an MMD riff-raff who had made such an allegation, not a government Minister responsible for Home Affairs, even if such an allegation had any merit at all.

What Zambians expect from the Minister—and other Ministers as a matter of fact–is to get the police and other investigative organs of the government to investigate his suspicions thoroughly. If the findings of such an investigation confirm his suspicions, the government can seek to prosecute Zambian citizens involved in the alleged plot through the existing legal channels. And rather than rushing to the media to castigate the diplomats, a sensible government would logically write to the home governments of the diplomats involved for their action if their diplomats are found to be wanting.

It is not in the interest of any one for the Minister to unashamedly alarm the nation with unfounded allegations of a conspiracy to destabilize the country. If there is any truth to his allegations, why can’t he name the individuals involved?

Making such a serious claim without naming the culprits can only lead to rumor-mongering and mistrust among the citizenry. President Rupiah Banda needs to caution his Ministers against making such reckless allegations. If they do not have anything important to tell the people, they would do well just to shut up than to continue to embarrass us.

Henry Kyambalesa

Opposition UPND President Hakainde Hichilema says the UPND-PF pact is here to stay.
Addressing hundreds of Senanga residents at Senanga Market yesterday, the opposition leader said people talking ill of the UPND- PF pact should not be taken seriously.

Mr. Hichilema said the pact was a people driven initiative which called upon the opposition to unite.
He alleged that in the current leaders, Zambia lacked visionary leadership that would propel the country towards economic development.

Mr. Hichilema accused President Banda of hating Mwanawasa and his legacy of fighting corruption.
He alleged that President Banda was an enemy to anybody within government and the MMD who was against corruption.

He urged Senanga residents to obtain National registration Cards so as to prepare for the Voter Registration exercise.

And Mr. Hichilema has described the late former Senanga Central UPND Member of Parliament Albert Situmbeko as a gallant man who was committed to serving the people of Zambia.
Speaking when he visited the widow of the former MP, Mr. Hichilema said the demise of Mr. Situmbeko was a great loss.

Mr. Situmbeko who died last month served as MP for Senanga Central from 2001 to 2006 before retiring from active politics.

ZANIS

A scam has been unearthed in which some prominent Zambians and some diplomats accredited to Zambia are allegedly conspiring to destabilise the nation.

Home Affairs Minister, Lameck Mangani, says the Zambians and the diplomats have been holding dark corner meetings.

Mr. Mangani has warned that any schemes to incite Zambians to rise against the government will attract the wrath of the law.

He was speaking at a press briefing in Lusaka on Thursday.

Mr. Mangani said it is worrisome that the majority of people who attended Wednesday’s meeting of NGOs were from the diplomatic community in Zambia.

He described as illegal, the meeting at which NGOs resolved to publicly show their displeasure against the refusal to appeal against the acquittal of former president Frederick Chiluba.

And Faith Based Organizations have condemned the planned demonstrations by Civil Society Organizations (CSO) over the acquittal of former President Dr. Fredrick Chiluba.

Christian Coalition (CC) Pastor Clergy Chombela says the planned demonstration will not be beneficial to people in the country as it is aimed at bringing confusion.

Pastor Chombela told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka today, that there are a lot of developmental challenges that the CSO’s can concentrate on rather than holding demonstrations that will only benefit a few individuals.

He explained that most Non Government Organizations (NGO’s) were established with the call function of assisting the vulnerable groups in the country.

He pointed out that despite demonstrations being a right of any person in a democratic state, NGO’s should always strive to concentrate on issues that will benefit all the people in the country.

Pastor Chombela has further advised people in the country to take a leading role in the developmental process of the country by engaging themselves in serious governance matters than politics.[quote]

And Evangelical Youth Alliance President Moses Lungu has said there is need for Zambians to establish good channels of airing their grievances if the country is to develop.

Reverend Lungu noted that demonstrations are not a good way of addressing issues adding that they paint a bad picture of the country to the outside world.

He Explained to ZANIS in a separate interview that CSO’s should at all costs refrain from such activities that can destroy the good image and heritage of the country.

He also charged that the planned demonstrations can reduce investor confidence hence the need for CSO’s to direct their energies and resources towards building capacity and empowering the youths.

Yesterday a consortium consisting of 18 Civil Society Organization threatened to hold countrywide demonstrations and campaigns against the acquittal and the restoration of Dr Chiluba’s immunity.

ZANIS

The World Wide Veterinary Services (WVS) has ruled out food poisoning and disease outbreak as the cause of death of the 35 buffaloes on Musa River in Itezhi Tezhi.

According to a statement made available to ZANIS in Lusaka today by WVS Chief executive officer Dr. Luke Gamble said the deaths are as result of drowning due to the herd stampeding whilst trying to cross the river.

Dr. Gamble explained that the reason they ruled out food poisoning is because only buffaloes were found dead and not any other animals within the proximity.

He added that the vultures were present and they all looked healthy despite eating internal organs of these carcasses.

Dr. Gamble further said other animals such as Impala, warthog, hippo, among others were still drinking from the same area and no fish was found dead.

He stated that disease outbreak was also ruled out because there were no other buffaloes spotted sick within the same area and the number is too big to die instantly.

He said that stampede is therefore the only reason that could have caused the death of the buffaloes unless the blood test proves other wise.

Dr. Gamble noted that the bank of the river at which the buffaloes entered to cross was quiet steep with deep waters.

Dr. Gamble further said the stampede might have been caused by a pride of lions which were actively hunting their prey.

Early this week ZAWA reported that 30 buffaloes were found dead and floating in the Musa River and the death toll had risen to 35 later in the week.

ZANIS