Former Headmistress Judith Theresa Chilekwa Mpamba, will be crowned Queen Mother for the Bemba people in Kasama today.

Ms Mpamba will be succeeding her late mother Her Royal Highness, Chanda Mukulu wa Chibundu, who died last year.

Ms Mpamba will be crowned queen of the main stream Bemba Royal Establishment through a coronation ceremony which will take place at the Chanda Mukulu Royal Palace in Kasama.

In a press release to ZANIS in Lusaka today, the main function of the queen mother is to bear children that will succeed the main stream of Bemba chiefs such as Paramount Chief Chitimukulu and Senior Chiefs Mpepo, Nkolemfumu and Mwamba.

The release further states that Bemba chiefs, being matrilineal,trace their decent and ascendancy to the highest thrones through the female line.

Ascendancy to the position of queen mother is also through the female line, and the tradition dates as far back as the 18th centaury when two brothers, Chiti and Nkole, were running away from the brutality of their father, then King Mukulumpe. They left Kola Country and founded a Bemba Kingdom across Kalungu river in present day Zambia.

The two fugitive brothers later rescued their sister, Chilufya Mulenga, who had been imprisoned by their father in Kola Country, saying he did not want her to bear children who would succeed them as king.

The statement says since the Bemba tradition of tracing ascendance through the female line has been strictly followed ever since and there is no doubt that the current queen mother who will be installed today will be any different, adding that she shares the same blood with the very first queen mother, Chilufya Mulenga.

The Bembas are sure that the current Paramount Chief Chitimukulu the 37th is a blood relation of the first chief chitimukulu who was the son of Mukulumpe of the Kola Country.

ZANIS

Four bandits armed with a gun, bottles and a panga yesterday raided Gwaula Agricultural Supplies Ltd (GAS) filling station in Livingstone and stole K3,450,000.00 cash.

GAS Director, Ernest Sinyangwe, has confirmed the development to ZANIS.
He said one of the four bandits was armed with a gun while the other three had bottles and a panga in their hands.

Mr Sinyangwe said the four bandits approached the filling station on foot and demanded money from one petrol attendant, threatening to shoot him if he did not surrender the money.
He said the attendant, who also happened to be the supervisor, then surrendered the money to the bandits.

Mr Sinyangwe said the bandits could have parked the vehicle somewhere.
He said he was informed about the incident around 20 hours and the matter was then reported to police for investigation.

He said plans are underway to hire a police officer, who will be guarding the filling station.
Efforts to get a comment from the police failed.

ZANIS

BUKS Haulage Limited, BHL, a Ndola based transportation company, has donated a motor vehicle to the Zambia Police Copperbelt region Flying Squad unit.

Speaking at the handover ceremony at the police provincial headquarters in Ndola today, BHL operations manager, Artson Kanyenda, said the donated vehcle is meant to help reduce the transport problems the Flying Squad Unit encounters in its efforts to address crimes in the province.

Mr Kanyenda observed that government is losing huge sums of money through various crimes committed on a daily basis especially theft of copper concentrates from mining companies.

He, however, observed that Police are doing a commendable job in fighting crime in the country especially on the Copperbelt despite operating under difficult conditions.

Speaking at the same function, acting Copperbelt police commanding officer Danwell Kasonde thanked BHL for the donation.

Mr Kasonde said the vehicle will ease the operations of the flying squad in fighting crime.
He urged the officers in the flying squad unit to work harder as the excuse of lack of transport had been solved.

He said the usage of the vehicle will be monitored so that it will be well taken care of.

Mr Kasonde also appealed to other organisations to emulate the gesture by BHL and help ease police operational handicaps.
ZANIS

Kaputa district in the Northern province has been hit by a one-week electricity black-out.

The power black-out being experienced in the area is due to the break down of the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation, ZESCO, generators.

Kaputa District Business Association Chairperson, Gershom Musonda, confirmed the development to ZANIS in Lusaka today.

He disclosed that operations at the Kaputa District hospital, public and government institutions and business communities have been negatively affected by the lack of electricity in the area.

Mr. Musonda said the situation has also paralysed the water reticulation system in residential areas, institutional and government offices.

Mr. Musonda said people are forced to travel over 200 kilo meters to Nchelenge and another 150 km to Mporokoso to charge their cellular phones to communicate and that the people of Kaputa have been detached from current affairs on both radio and television.

He has since appealed to ZESCO Northern region in Ndola to intervene as local ZESCO plant has no capacity to address the situation.

But Kaputa Constituency Member of Parliament, Mutale Nalumango, says she is aware and quickly pointed out government is considering to construct a hydro-power station to link the district to the national grid to end the electricity blues.

Mrs. Nalumango in a separate interview said the Rural Electrification Programme, REP, has already conducted feasibility studies on the project.

She assured that ZESCO in Kaputa has sufficient fuel but the problem is the old generators that are constantly breaking down.

Kaputa is one of the rural districts in the country which is being run by thermal power generators to produce electricity.

ZANIS

An insurance agent at Chanida border post has been sentenced to 36 months in prison for defrauding the Norwegian People’s Aid Landmine Survey Project.

Chadiza Magistrate Billy Milanzi jailed Juma Milanzi 33, after convicting him on four counts of making a false document, one count of uttering a false document and one count of obtaining money by false pretence.

Magistrate Milanzi sentenced Juma to six months in prison with hard labour on which each of the six counts will run consecutively.

During trial, Landmine Survey Project Manager Mario Tome Nunez had testified that on 1st September 2008, while in the company of 20 others, he entered Zambia from Mozambique with 15 Toyota Land Cruisers at Chanida Border post.

He said he wanted to insure the vehicles before proceeding to Lusaka and approached Juma at one of the containers trading as Beam Insurance who purported to be an agent for Goldman Insurance Limited.

He said Juma charged K350, 000 per vehicle but because they did not have Kwacha, they paid him $ 1500 for the 15 vehicles.

Nunez testified that although Juma gave them insurance certificates, he did not issue them with receipts and it was only in December 2008 when he went to Goldman Insurance to collect the receipts in Lusaka that he learnt that the certificates were fake.
ZANIS

Rwandan Minister of Local Government and Housing Protais Musoni has called on African countries to work together to improve the status of refugees.

Mr. Musoni said the current status of refugees worldwide is worrying as it gives no hope for a better future.
He said there should be concerted efforts in addressing the plight of refugees in the world.

Mr. Musoni was speaking today when he visited the Lusaka City Council to learn and share experiences in the running of the councils.

And speaking earlier, Lusaka Mayor Robert Chikwelete said the local authority values the relationship that exists between the Rwandan and Zambian governments.

Mr. Chikwelete said the Lusaka City Council has also enjoyed a good relationship with the Rwandan refugees, saying most of them have contributed positively to the economic development of the city.
He aid the Rwandan refugees have also conducted themselves well and the local authority was satisfied with their behavior.

Mr. Chikwelete expressed hope that the visit by the Mr. Musoni would cement the friendship that exists between the two countries.

ZANIS