ZESCO board has directed management to buy underwater cameras to help detect weed early in the Kafue River.
And Energy Permanent Secretary Peter Mumba, who is also board member, says Zambia is likely to experience power black-outs if the Kafue River is NOT properly managed.
Mr. Mumba said various firms discharge effluent in the Kafue River, which act as manure to the weed.
The Kafue weed recently affected equipment at Kafue Hydro-power station causing massive blackouts country-wide.
[ZNBC]
Operations at Choma General Hospital have remained paralysed as the strike action by nurses and other medical personnel has continued despite the 15 percent salary increment by government.
During a conducted tour of the hospital Saturday, the Parliamentary committee on health, community development and social welfare chaired by Chikankata Member of Parliament, Munji Haabenzu, found the institution’s operations still crippled.
Acting senior nursing officer Margaret Muchanga told the parliamentary committee that only trainee nurses and senior management officials were attending to patients.
Mrs Muchanga said the institution was only attending to emergence cases in the male and female surgical wards.
“As you can see, we only have patients in the surgical wards while we have done away with patients in the medical wards for both male and female due to the ongoing strike,” she said.
Mrs Muchanga said the strike had disrupted normal operations of the hospital forcing management to devise a timetable for attending only to emergencies.
Other members of the parliamentary committee who toured the hospital were Ng’andu Magande for Chilanga, Lameck Chibombamilimo-Mpulungu, Dr Joseph Katema-Chingola, Betuke Imenda-Lukulu and Jean Kapata for Mandevu.[quote]
And Mrs Muchanga informed the committee that although the institution had been supplied with a CD4 count machine, its constant breakdown had adversely affected smooth operations in the provision of antiretroviral therapy.
“Each time it break down, there is no one who is able to repair it locally. In the last six months, it broke down 4 times,” she said.
Meanwhile, District Director of Health, Dr Rhoda Mkandawire has bemoaned the drastic reduction in government grants to both the district health office and Choma general hospital.
Submitting to members of the visiting parliamentary committee, Dr Mkandawire said the grant had suddenly reduced from K 397 million monthly to K 122 million.
The funding to the hospital had also reduced from K 110 million monthly to K 69 million.
“We have written to higher authorities explaining the implication of such reduction of funding on the delivery of health services but we have not received any response,” she said.
The committee also heard that out of the establishment of 15 medical doctors at Choma general hospital, there were only five doctors while there only 66 nurses out of the 89 provided for on the establishment.
ZANIS
Deputy Minister of Labor and social Security Simon Kachimba has appealed to local and foreign mining companies operatibg in Zambia to assist retrenched workers by giving them business contracts in order to boost their businesses.
Mr. Kachimba said this in a speech read for him by Kitwe District Commissioner (DC) Macdonald Mtine during a 5 days potential entrepreneurs training workshop organized by the concept for informal sector employment promotion (CISEP).
Mr. Kachimba said mine houses should be able to engage institutions like CISEP and future search so that they could carry out much programmes on a continuous sustainable path for the various people who are losing jobs everyday in Zambia.
At the workshop the participants were provided with information skills and knowledge necessary for self employment and entrepreneurship.
They were also urged them not to stop learning but to continue developing their new acquired skills.
And CISEP Manager, Dixon Moyo urged the participants to link themselves with various institutions to facilitate poverty alleviation through the organization.
ZANIS
A traditional leader in Choma district says leaders of the political pact between the country’s major opposition parties, the Patriotic Front and United Party for National development (UPND) would be held accountable should the pact collapse.
Chief Macha of the Tonga speaking people told ZANIS in Choma today that Mr Micheal Sata and Hakainde Hichilema, of the Patriotic Front (PF) and United Party for National Development (UPND), respectively, should also be prepared to step down should they fail the people.
“We sincerely ask Sata and Hichilema to behave and be sincere with the people they lead,” he said. “If anything happens to the pact, the two leaders will be personally held accountable.”
Welcoming the PF/UPND pact, Chief Macha said the country needed a strong opposition and not fragmented opposition political parties.
He said the electorate had all along been sincere with all the political parties whose leadership had unfortunately not lived up to the people’s expectation.
“They must know that UPND is not for Hakainde Hichilema and PF is not for Sata but that the parties belong to the people they lead,” said chief Macha.[quote]
Chief Macha said he was anxious to see how see how Hakainde and Sata would handle the pact.
He said the electorate had in the past been disappointed by failed pacts and hope this time around things would be different.
“Things should not happen like in the past when the pact failed to work,” he said.
ZANIS
Henry Kapoko, the man embroiled in the scandal at the Ministry of Health has Sunday been given another charge.
This is for issuing a cheque on an insufficient funded account.
Commissioner of Police Graphael Musamba said this is contrary to the national payment and systems act number one.
Kapoko who is remanded in custody has already been charged for theft by public servant.
Meanwhile Police have formally arrested six officers from the Ministry of Health in connection with the K27 billion scam at the Ministry.
Mr. Musamba said they have been arrested for theft by public servant.
He told journalists that the suspects are being held at Woodlands and Kabwata police stations and that they will appear in court, Monday.
On Saturday police said they had picked up six officials from the ministry of health and the operations manager at Best Home lodge.
[ZNBC]
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
“Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor; only fools insist on quarreling”
(Proverbs 20:3, NLT)
TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria
I’ve found that for most people, it can be easy to start a fight but hard to end one. It’s easy to get offended and say things that we know we shouldn’t, but once you get started, it’s difficult to stop. It’s hard to let it go. That’s why the scripture tells us that it’s much better not to ever even start a quarrel.
If you want God to honor you, if you want to enjoy your life to the fullest, then always strive to be a peacemaker. Be the kind of person who goes the extra mile to avoid an unnecessary argument. Make your home a place of peace. Choose to be in harmony with your spouse and the people you live your daily life with. The Bible says that you are blessed when you are a peacemaker. So today, look for ways to make peace. Choose to overcome strife and wear the mark of honor He has given to you.
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Father in heaven, today I choose to be a peacemaker. I choose to wear Your mark of honor and avoid strife in my life. Use me for Your purposes today as I yield every area of my heart to You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Joel Osteen ministries
Former Communication and Transport Deputy Minister Alfred Ndhlovu has advised government to come up with legislation that will enable employees to be paid according to their level of education.
Mr. Alfred Ndhlovu said government should set a minimum salary that will enable people to be paid according to their education levels saying this will help address the current low wages in the country.
Mr. Ndhlovu, a former Transport and Coomunications Deputy minister in second republican President Dr Chiluba’s [quote]administration, said many workers in the country were being paid poor salaries despite their huge contributions saying this was tantamount to abuse of workers right.
He said paying the workers according to their educational levels will also enable parents put more value on education and thereby invest in their children.
Mr. Ndhlovu said this in a letter to chief government spokesperson Lt. Gen Ronnie Shikapwasha, made available to the media in Lusaka yesterday.
He said slave salaries should cease and allow people live a good standard of living if the country is to attain the much needed development.
He said the low wages lead to poverty adding that this was a major contributing factors why rural areas are not developed.
Mr. Ndhlovu further said the current maize floor price of K 65,000 given to farmers by the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) is also not enough considering the high cost of inputs in the country.
He also said that he is happy that Information and Broadcasting Minister Lt. Gen Shikapwasha during the commemoration of the world press freedom day expressed concerns at the low wages journalists in the country were receiving.
In his letter the former deputy minister has proposed that those below grade 12 should be paid K 1 million per month, K1.8 million for Grade 12, K4.5 million for First workers with Diplomas/University Degree.
He further said Second University degree holders be paid K 6 million and PHD holders be paid K10 million per month.
ZANIS
Government has urged the church and other stakeholders involved in uplifting the standard of living in communities to apply for land to build more projects.
And the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church says it will build about 3,000 churches and over 20 primary schools around the country.
Lands Minister, Peter Daka said the Church and organizations should apply for land whenever they need it adding that government will not hesitate as it will benefit communities.
Mr. Daka said this when he officiated at the SDA church building promotion programme in Lusaka’s Jack Compound today.
He said government is ready to work with the church in their programmes aimed at alleviating poverty.
He said government fully recognizes the important role churches play in fostering economic, social, and spiritual development in the country.
And SDA Zambia President Pastor Harrington Akombwa disclosed that the church will this year start building more churches and schools around the country.
Pastor.Akombwa said the church has started constructing three primary schools in Livingstone adding that it will also build two schools in each of the nine provinces around the country.
He said the schools will be built through partnership with donors from the United States and is aimed at helping the government achieve the MDGs and education for all goals.
He has thanked government for creating an enabling environment for the church and further pledged his church commitment to the country’s leadership.
And the church has raised more than 15 million toward its programme while other have pledged both financial and material support and the minister has donated K1 million towards the programme.
ZANIS
The government expects a 100% teacher turn-out on Monday. This follows the successful conclusion of bargaining between government and three teacher-unions, out of which teachers have been given a 15 percent pay rise.
Ministry of Education Permanent Secretary, Lillian Kapulu says teachers that will NOT report for work on Monday, will be doing so at their own peril.
Mrs. Kapulu has warned that labour laws will apply for teachers that decide to stay away from classes but hoped the situation will not reach that level.
She says there is no justification for teachers to continue with their strike action after being awarded a 15 percent pay rise.
And Mrs. Kapulu says the ministry of finance will soon release K15 Billion as part payment of fixed band allowances for teachers.
The Ministry of Education Permanent Secretary said government is aware that teachers are owed K42.5 Billion in fixed band and is determined to off-set the arrears by August this year.
And the three Teacher unions in Lusaka say there is NO need for teachers to continue with the strike action.
And the unions have challenged those within the teaching profession inciting teachers to continue with the strike to leave the profession.
This was said by Lusaka province Basic Teachers Union of Zambia (BETUZ) Chairman Ian Miyoba, flanked his Secretary Clifford Chirwa.
Mr. Miyoba thanked national leaders from the three teacher unions for their courage and determination in reaching at the 15 percent pay rise with government.
And Zambia Union of Teachers (ZNUT) Provincial Secretary Lillian Nshinga, said teachers should report back for work on MOnday.
This is an interview of Zambia’s ambassador to the United States Dr. Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika conducted on the 10th of May, 2009 on the Public Broadcast Service (PBS) in the United states.
In the interview, Ambassador Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika discusses the efforts Zambia is making in fighting corruption and how Zambia qualified for the threshold status and how the country qualified for the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) compact status.
Many thanks to the First Secretary (Press) at the Zambian Embassy in the US, Mr Ben Kangwa, for making the video clip available to us
This is to inform you that the site will be intermittently available over the weekend to facilitate debugging (trouble-shooting) and fixing of the piece of software that has been causing the “504 Gateway Time-out nginx/0.7.35” error lately.
The work will largely take place between 24:00 hrs (ZMT) midnight and 06:00 hrs (ZMT) in the morning , the period we have the least traffic. We hope to fix the problem over the next nights.
Sincere apology for the inconvenience this work will cause.
LT team
Cattle farmers in Western Province have appealed to Livestock and Fisheries Minister, Bradford Machila, to lift the ban on the exportation of raw cattle skins.
Western Province Cattle Farmers and Marketing Association Chairperson, Mbikusita Munyinda made the appeal through ZANIS in Mongu today.
Mr. Munyinda said small scale cattle farmers were losing huge revenues through the current policy which bars them from exporting raw cattle skins.
He stated that the total value of an animal was inclusive of the price of its skin hence the need for the Minister to lift the ban.
Mr. Munyinda said a lot of cattle skins were going to waste at the butcheries and abattoirs in the province as farmers cannot turn their animal skins into blue leather which can be exported.
He disclosed that currently ZAMBEEF was enjoying the monopoly of exporting leather as it had the capacity to transform raw skins into blue leather.
Mr. Munyinda has since urged ZAMBEEF to consider buying cattle skins from other cattle farmers and even train them in tanning in the province.
ZANIS
Striking Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education workers in Ndola have asked for the immediate resignation of their National Union leaders who are part of the salary negotiation bargaining team.
ZANIS Ndola reports that the decision was reached at a joint meeting between the Health workers and their Education counterparts at Ndola Basic School this morning.
In a joint resolution read by Zambia National Union of Teachers (ZNUT) Ndola District Chairperson Nibbu Nyasulu and Civil Servant and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (CSAWUZ) Joy Beene, the workers said the leaders in the bargaining team had failed to represent the wishes of grass root members.
Mr. Nyasulu said teachers were passing a vote of no confidence in their representatives at national level.
“As teachers we have resolved to pass a vote of no confidence in our national Union Leaders and we have even resolved that the contributions we make to the unions be withheld immediately,” he said.
He further said the teachers have resolved that government and the bargaining team that had prematurely signed the agreement should immediately re-open the negotiations because teachers in the district would not go back for work unless their demands were met.
And the Nurses who earlier in the day had a meeting at Ndola Central Hospital (NCH) resolved to continue their strike until government awarded them a K1.5m salary increment across the board.
Mr. Beene said the nurses had resolved that their national union leaders should not agree to sign the 15% salary increment because the grass root membership had totally rejected it.
Meanwhile, Mr. Beene has appealed to President Rupiah Banda to have a fatherly heart towards the people who were unnecessarily dying, by awarding nurses their genuine demands so that they could go back to work.
A check at Ndola Central Hospital this morning revealed that management had decided to close down all wards on the Fifth, Fourth and Second floors inlcuding the Gynaecology wards.
ZANIS
Zambia’s second biggest sporting event the Lusaka Castle International 7’s tournaments kickoff on Saturday and ends on Sunday.
The event is second in size to the Zambia Golf Open that this year has suffered two delays and two venue switches brought about by the recent global downturn and now set to be held in Ndola this August.
12 teams from five nations including Zambia will battle for honors to be crowned the 11th champions of the Castle 7’s tournament.
Hosts Zambia are seeking their first Castle 7’s title win after finishing runner-up over the last two seasons to
of the competition to defending champions Zimbabwe.
Zambia, two-time champions Zimbabwe and record four-time champions Mpumalanga are the three seeded sides in this years draws and lead Group A, B and C respectively.
Zambia are in Group B together with Botswana A, Harare Sports Club and Zambia Defence Forces side that will comprise players from Arrows and Buffaloes rugby clubs.
Zimbabwe , who are eying a third successive Castle 7’s title, are in Group A and have been paired against Zambia B playing as Lechwe including two South African teams namely Golden Lions and Natal Sharks Academy.
Group C comprises of Mpumalanga, Goshawks of Zimbabwe, Botswana B and Kenya.
Kenya together with Zimbabwe are the two sides in this years Castle 7s that represented Africa at the 2009 IRB 7’s Rugby World Cup and will be the sides to beat for any team with ambitions on this years title.
Kenya reached the semifinals of the IRB 7s World Cup held in Dubai this past March while Zimbabwe reached the quarterfinals of the same tournament.
2009 Lusaka Castle 7s International Fixtures
13/06/2009
09:00: Goshawks-Botswana B
09:20:Botswana A-Defence Forces
09:40:Lions-Lechwe
10:00: Mpumalanga-Kenya
10:20:Zambia-Harare
10:40: Zimbabwe-Sharks
11:00:Goshawks-Kenya
11:20: Botswana A-Harare
11:40: Lions-Sharks
14:40: Mpumalanga-Botswana B
15:20:Zambia-Defence Forces
15:40: Zimbabwe-Lechwe
15:40: Kenya-Botswana B
16:00: Harare-Defence Forces
16:20: Sharks-Lechwe
16:40:Mpumalanga-Goshawks
17:00: Zambia-Botswana A
17:20: Zimbabwe-Lions
14/06/2009
Quaterfinals
09:20: Quarter Final 1
09:40: Quarter Final 2
10:00: Quarter Final 3
10:20: Quarter Final 4
Semifinals
14:10: Semifinal 1
14:30: Semifinal 2
Finals
17:00
*All kickoff times are Central Africa Time
President Rupiah Banda who underwent a minor operation in Cape Town, South Africa, on Thursday for a knee problem has been discharged from hospital.
Medical doctors who conducted the operation on the President’s right knee say it was very successful.
State House Press Aide, Dickson Jere, said in a statement that the President is expected to make full recovery within a short period of time.
President Banda is among several leaders attending the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town.
[ZNBC]
© Lusaka Times
