A Ndola clergyman has expressed concern over the silence of the church mother bodies on the issue of South African based exorcists who came to Lusaka to perform ritual cleansing.

Pastor Bupe Mutale told ZANIS in Ndola that it was shocking that the church leaders in Zambians cast a blind eye on a serious spiritual trespass that was done to the country where they were in full spiritual control.

He said allowing the spiritualists to come and perform their rituals without a bother or consideration from the chief mother bodies was a serious omission which must be addressed.

He said the church leaders’ silence on the matter could be misconstrued for consent and support when it is clear that there were questions which must be answered by the church leaders regarding the matter.

Pastor Mutale said since Zambia was a Christian nation, it was important to critically examine the motives and implications for certain actions that were allowed into the country, especially that they were being performed by outsiders.

Pastor Mutale cautioned the church mother bodies to justify their relevance in the country if they were not giving spiritual guidance to the nation.

He said it was little wonder that even their boycott of the NCC was an ill concieved position because a Constitution was coming which would not only affect those who participated in its making process, but includes them despite not being part of the process.

The pastor said that Church should learn lessons from national bodies and associations in the political arena which went the boycotting route in the past and to-date have failed to recover from the repercussions of such ill conceived actions.

He called for a stronger prophetic voice from the church mother bodies on topical national issues for them to remain relevant because they had a responsibility to give spiritual guidance to the nation on matters of religion.

ZANIS/ENDS/CN/EML/EB

The Zambia Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) President Leonard Hikaumba has urged the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) not to increase the electricity tariffs.

Mr Hikaumba has instead suggested that the Electricity company should consider supplying power to unconnected areas so that it can improve its revenue.

He charged in an interview with ZANIS that the power utility firm is losing out huge sums of moneys in terms of
revenue in non-connected areas.

He said ZESCO could realise alot of revenue once it connects the areas.

Commenting on the proposed 66 percent electricity tariff hike, the ZCTU president said the increase will have a negative impact on the already impoverished public service workers especially civil servants.

Mr Hikaumba has since advised government to heavily fund ZESCO so that it can complete rehabilitate its machines that are allegedly old.

He said allowing ZESCO to increase its electricity tariffs would be a mockery to the public service employees saying it will have a trickle down effect on essential commodities such as mealie-meal, sugar and clothes.

Recently the ERB Chairperson Sikota Wina said his organisation has not yet made a decision on ZESCO’s proposed 66 percent electricity tariffs as alleged by some media reports.

Mr. Wina said ERB will follow the legal procedures before it can approve or reject the proposed tariff increment by ZESCO.

He explained that ERB is committed to adhering to the legal process as outlined in section 8 of the Electricity Act, which provides for a consultative process among the consumers.

Meanwhile, the Rural Electrification Authority (ERA), says that the K98 billion allocated for the authority will enable it to meet its goals in the year 2009.

ERA Public Relations Manager, Justine Mukosa, said this in a statement to ZANIS this today.

Mr Mukosa said that the implementation of 25 grid extension areas in all the nine provinces at an estimated cost of K70 billion will cover the selected projects in the nine regions.

He said that ERA will mop all the projects that have been outstanding for a long time, ensuring that all the provinces of Zambia receive a share  of available resources.

He said that the procurement, delivery and installation of solar energy for lightening and water pumping at identified social institutions in remote areas is on course.

Mr Mukosa said that the feasibility study on Chavuma falls mini-hydro project on the Zambezi river in Chavuma district, designing packaging of Chikata falls mini hydro projects in Kabompo district of Northwestern Province was also under way.

ZANIS/ENDS/ISS/EB

Opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) says it would not participate in the national indaba this weekend.

Party leader Hakainde Hichilema said during a press briefing in Lusaka today that UPND wrote recommendations to government last year in December on how to deal with the global Financial crisis prior to the presentation of the 2009 budget.

Mr. Hichilema said UPND was proactive on the matter and tried to engage in consultation because it had projected the impact of the world economic recession on Zambia’s economy.

Mr. Hichilema said it was too late for the government to call for an Indaba when parliament had already approved the budget.

He said that the forum should have been called before the budget approval so that the recommendations that would have financial implications could be incorporated into the national budget.

He further said government had scrapped off wind fall tax which could have been retained with amendments alleging that government’s move was contrary to the consensus that the UPND and President Rupiah Banda had reached when they had a meeting on the 12th of March, 2009.

Mr. Hichilema also accused the government for making an amendment to the Mines and Mineral Development Act that barred the Zambians from owning mines with foreigners as partners.

He advised the government to consider the involvement of the local people in the country’s economic activities aimed at restoring the nation’s economy.

Meanwhile, the opposition party says the National Constitution Conference (NCC) deliberations should be concluded by the end of June 2009.

Mr. Hichilema that this will enable government to cut on excessive spending and channel the resources to paramount areas such as the health and education systems.

He also recommended that the ZESCO limited should not be allowed to increase the electricity tariffs by the proposed 66 per cent as more than 80 per cent of Zambians were unable to access electricity.

He noted that once the tariffs have been increased, the demand of charcoal would rise posing a threat to the environment as efforts to discourage environmental degradation would be affected.

ZANIS/MP/ENDS/MM

Britain says it has only spent £7 million in supporting the fight against corruption in Zambia over the past seven years.

British High Commissioner to Zambia, Tom Carter, said this in a statement issued in Lusaka yesterday.
This is contrary to reports in some sections of the media that Britain has spent £500 million on the fight against corruption in Zambia.

“I have seen reports in the Zambian media suggesting that the UK had spent £500 million on the fight against corruption. This is incorrect,” he said.

Mr Carter said Britain, through the Department for International Development (DFID), had spent £7 million, most of which was in support of the activities of the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Task Force on Corruption.

“The British Government will continue to support the Zambian authorities in the fight against corruption and in this context, warmly welcomes the recent approval of the National Anti Corruption Policy,” Mr Carter said.

On Sunday the Forum for Leadership Search  (FLSZ) Zambian  Chapter  Executive Director Edwin Lifwekelo claimed that Britain had spent 500 million pounds in the last 5 years on the fight against corruption

“We have  learnt with interest the statement by the British High Commissioner to Zambia, Thomas Carter that Britain has spent over US$1billion, 500 million pounds in the last 5 years on the fight against corruption,” Mr. Lifwekelo said in his statement.

He further said both the Zambian government and Mr. Carter should help the nation by disclosing how such a colossal amount of money was used for.