Vice President, George Kunda, has directed MMD Members of Parliament (MPs) to explain government programmes to the people in rural areas.

Mr Kunda says people in rural areas are in dire need of assistance and want to see development come to their door steps.

He says government has now changed the new approach of sending ministers and deputy ministers more often to rural areas to explain the fiscal government policies set by the MMD administration.

The Vice President said this at a mammoth public gathering held at Chavuma Boma yesterday.

He disclosed that government has released K10 billion to the Citizen Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) in all the nine provinces so that rural populace benefits as a way of alleviating poverty among the people in rural areas.

He said now that the 2009 national budget was out, MPs should often visit their constituencies to sensitize the rural people on what government intends to do for them especially in areas of education, health, tourism and mining among other key sectors of the economy.

He said government is revising the conditions of accessing the CEEC funds because government is in a hurry to developing the nation so that it becomes a middle-income nation by the year 2030.

Mr Kunda said each district will be apportioned a share from the K10 billion, adding that 40 per cent is for women vulnerability development while the rest (60 per cent) will go towards men, women and the youths.

Mr Kunda announced that government intends to link Chavuma with an all-weather road by rehabilitating the Chavuma /Zambezi road to remove the barriers that impede development in that district.

He challenged civil servants not to frustrate government’s efforts, but to ensure that funds released by the central government are used prudently and reach the intended people.

Meanwhile, Mr Kunda has condemned politics of insults and appealed to the Zambian people to concentrate on national building of the economy.

The Vice President said government has realized that politics of insults is a sheer waste of time because it diverts attention to developing the country.

He disclosed that the just-ended indaba is one way of consultative approach that government has embarked on so that all the people are on board towards attaining national development.

He noted that Zambezi is affected by floods and he disclosed that government has sent 200 metric tonnes of food relief to the flood victims.

Mr Kunda is on a tour of North-Western Province on a fact-finding mission of floods.

He is accompanied by Gender Minister, Sarah Sayifwanda, Local Government and Housing Minister, Benny Tetamashimba, MMD Deputy National Secretary Jeff Kaande and senior government officials.

And Mr Kunda has described the flood situation in Zambezi and Chavuma districts as serious.

He, however, said government is tackling the disaster situation with a matter of urgency.

The Vice President is using the ZAF helicopter having Ariel views of floods in flood inflicted areas.

Mr Kunda said his office has deployed Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) Teams to flood inflicted areas to access the damage and provide resources and other needed materials such as tents and food.

The Vice President, who has just returned from Western Province on a similar mission, has disclosed that a vulnerability report will be compiled and the nation will be told.

Mr Kunda and his entourage aboard a ZAF AF-219 plane departed at 07-30 hours for Kabompo on a similar mission.

Mr Kunda is expected back to Lusaka on Thursday this week (tomorrow).

ZANIS/ENDS/KC/EB

other interested parties not to give ultimatums to investigative wings probing the financial irregularities into the operations of the airline.

Chief Government spokesperson, Ronnie Shikapwasha said this in an interview in Lusaka yesterday.

Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha said it was absurd that directors and interested parties were calling for the speedy completion of investigations of financial irregularities in the operation of the airline which suspended operations in January.

He said it was imperative that people exercised patience with the investigative wings because there were many cases being investigated and no similar demands had been made.

“Many people in this country are investigated for whatever they have done and there has been nobody giving an ultimatum as to when the investigations should be concluded.

“Similarly, the investigations regarding Zambian Airways are being handled by the investigative wings and they should be allowed to do their job without any deadlines,” Gen Shikapwasha said.

Gen Shikapwasha, who is also Information and Broadcasting Services minister, advised the directors of Zambian Airways to be patient with the investigative wings, especially that they considered themselves to be innocent.

“If they are innocent, they should wait until the investigations are over because there is no investigative wing that will be given an ultimatum.

‘‘Investigative wings have their own rules and time table to follow and all those giving an ultimatum are doing so out of ignorance,” Gen Shikapwasha said.

The Zambia police, Drug Enforcement Commission and the Anti-Corruption Commission instituted joint investigations into the financial irregularities of Zambian Airways.

Efforts to get a comment from Inspector General of police, Francis Kabonde failed as he was reportedly out of the country.

[Times of Zambia]

Energy and Water Development Minister Kenneth Konga says government is committed to ensuring that electricity tariffs meet the cost reflective level to attract investors in the energy sector.

Mr Konga said today that there is need for Zambia to adjust its electricity tariffs if it is to record substantial investment in the energy sector.

Mr. Konga was speaking when he made a submission on the status of electricity in Zambia at the on going tripartite high level conference on the North – South corridor in Lusaka, today.

He explained that Zambia just like many African countries lacks proper investment in the energy sector due to low tariffs levels.

” There is need for all countries in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Southern African Developing Communities (SADC) and the Eastern African Communities (EAC) regions, who form the corridor, to adjust their energy tariffs,” said the minister.

The Minister said the sector can contribute positively to the economic growth of developmental activities within the three regions if it is properly utilized.

Mr. Konga further called for private sector participation in developing the energy infrastructure in the corridor adding that developed energy infrastructure also plays an important role in attracting investor’s confidence.

He added stakeholders should come on board and ensure that all energy developmental projects are adequately funded.

Meanwhile Mr. Konga has maintained that electricity tariffs in Zambia will continue to be adjusted upwards until the cost reflective level is met, adding that this is expected only after all power rehabilitation projects in the country are completed.

He has however called on members of the public to support government’s initiative of adjusting power tariffs upwards if the cost reflective level is to be achieved.

And speaking earlier Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP) Cordination centre Manager Lawrence Musaba has disclosed that US$ over 4.7 billion is required to improve the current power generation capacity.

Mr. Musaba explained that the current capacity of power in the Southern region is far below the required installed capacity of 55 Mega Watts (MW).

He noted that out of the required installed capacity of 55 MW, only about 46 MW is available to service all the economic growth taking place in the countries, saying this has resulted in power shortfalls causing massive loading shedding.

He pointed out this also has affected the level of investment by both local and foreign investor in SADC countries.

He added that there is need to come up with infrastructure development such as least cost generating facilities that will improve the quality of energy been generated in the region.

Mr. Musaba cited that on -going major power rehabilitation projects in Zambia and Zimbabwe as having contributed to the power deficit in the region.

He further added that there is also need for SADC member states to devise measures that will ensure successful implementation of the cost reflective and time use tariffs within their countries that will provide incentives in the energy sector for both local and for foreign investors.

Meanwhile, the World Bank has pledged over US$700,000 million worth of support to SAPP for improvement of the power generation capacity.

The three year support will be used towards financing various energy developmental projects such as the Zambia- Tanzania-Kenya and the Burundi-Democratic Republic of Congo interconnectors among others.

The interconnectors which are expected to be commissioned by 2013 will generate an additional of more than 1Mega Watts’s power capacity.

ZANIS/MM/ENDS/MM

Government spokesperson Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha says government would go ahead and implement national indaba recommendations despite their financial implications to curb the effects of the global financial crisis.

Lieutenant General Shikapwasha told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka, today, that despite parliament having had already approved the 2009 national budget, government would follow a financial law which would enable it to make adjustments to the approved budget in case of an emergency.

Gen.Shikapwasha, who is also Information and Broadcasting minister, said the indaba recommendation were important but with financial implications to be taken into consideration.

He said that government, in cases where more funding was needed to deal with an emergency had a right by law to go back to parliament and solicit for supplementary expenditure.

Gen.Shikapwasha said the national budget was flexible enough to accommodate urgent needs that could arise adding that the law also allowed government to divert money allocated in budget to other urgent matters that may need to be addressed.

The spokesperson added that some opposition parties that had shunned the just-ended Indaba citing the budget approval as one of the reasons for their boycott were just narrow minded.

He has however thanked all the stakeholders that participated saying that they should not always wait for the government to call for a big national forum such as the just-ended Indaba but instead should engage in dialogue even at smaller stages.

Gen.Shikapwasha said President Rupiah Banda and other government departments were ready for dialogue in order to advance national development whenever need arose.

Meanwhile, government has urged all those calling for the release of the findings in the investigation of the Zambian Airways alleged mismanagement of funds to be patient.

General Shikapwasha said it would be known once the investigations are completed on whether the Management at Zambian Airways would be found with a case to answer or not.

ZANIS/MP/ENDS/MM