Mr Ngwenya said a single currency would help reduce the cost of doing business on the continent.

Mr Ngwenya told ZANIS in an interview, today, that a single currency could also promote cross border trade and investment necessary for economic growth on the continent.

The Comesa Secretary General said the currency would ensure that prices of commodities will be easily compared in the region.

He emphasized that if European Countries have been successful in having a single currency, the Euro,nothing will stop African countries from doing the same.

Mr Ngwenya also acknowledged plans to form United States of Africa saying it a thoughtful idea adding that the only challenge that exists is how to form the continental Union.

He said that African countries will definitely benefit from this. He later noted that if Africa speaks with one voice it will be stronger.

He stated that African countries might be moving at a different economic development pace but what is important is that they are moving toward the same direction.

He said that the time is now for those countries who want to integrate to do so and that they should not wait for other countries.

He urged the countries who are sitting on the racing chair to continue and those who are not to be compelled to sit on that chair and race with others.

ZANIS/CMC/MM/ENDS/MM

About 300 Reform Party,RP, members led by the Party’s Former Chairman for elections and strategic Planning, John Ziba, have defected to the United Party for National Development,UPND.

Mr. Ziba said the Opposition UPND was the only Party in the country that would offer meaningful leadership.

Speaking at a press briefing in Lusaka today, Mr. Ziba said the RP members decided to join the UPND because it was the only party with a vision to develop the country.

Mr. Ziba accused the ruling MMD of failing to meet the expectations of people of Zambia.

In welcoming the defectors UPND President, Hakainde Hichilema, said the UPND was now growing its membership in readiness to form the next government after 2011.

The UPND President challenged President Rupiah Banda to implement programmes that focus at reducing poverty levels in the country.

He has since called upon Zambians to condemn tribal politics and instead promote unit in order to achieve the required development in the country.

And Mr Hichilema said he will soon hold a meeting with President Rupiah Banda over the global financial crisis.

Mr. Hichilema said the UNPD wrote to President Banda to give ideas to government on how to address the global financial crisis.

He said President Banda replied that he was willing to hold talks with the opposition leader when he returns from the African Union Summit in Ethiopia.

He said there is need for the opposition to demonstrate maturity in handling national issues by sharing ideas with the government.

ZANIS/AJN/ISS/SJK

Libyan President Colonel Muhammad Gaddafi has vowed to pursue his vision of a United States of Africa.

Addressing the 12th Session of the Assembly of the African Union last night in his inaugural address as the new chairman of the African Union, Col. Gaddafi said he would continue to push African countries work towards the achievement of the United States of Africa.

Col Gaddafi, who was elected during closed doors session at a summit in Ethiopia, however, conceded that African leaders were not near to a settlement on the issue.

The chairmanship of the African Union is a rotating position held by heads of state for one year. It is a position heads of state can use to wield influence over the continent’s politics.

Col. Gaddafi takes over from Tanzania’s Jakaya Kikwete.

The 12th Summit of the African Union on the Union Government resolved to transform the African Commission of the African Union into the Africa Union Authority.

The new entity has been given a mandate and definition of duties and responsibilities to guide the AU members states on the process of ultimately forming a Union Government being referred to as the United States of Africa.

African Union member countries however remain sovereign states as the have not relinquished any authority.

The process towards the formation of the Union government has followed decisive steps. On January 2005 the 4th AU summit in Abuja, Nigeria, after reviewing the proposal of creating certain ministerial portfolios for the union, the leaders decided to set up a committee of seven heads of state under the leadership of President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda to examine the proposal in all its ramifications.

In July 2005 the 5th AU summit held in Sirte, Libya affirmed that the ultimate goal of the union is full political and economic integration leading to the United States of Africa after reviewing the report submitted by the committee, in which it recommended that there was need to work towards the formation of a union government for the continent.

In July 2006 a committee of seven African heads of state submitted a report to the AU summit. The report, named the “Study on an African Union Government towards the United States of Africa”, outlines a roadmap of forming the United States of Africa by 2015 in three phases.

In November 2006 the AU Executive Council concluded that “All member states accept the United States of Africa as a common and desirable goal, but differences exist over the modalities and time frame for achieving this goal and the appropriate pace of integration.”

In July 2007 AU summit met in Accra , Ghana to debate the plan for an African union government.

The United States of Africa is a name sometimes given to one version of the possible future unification of Africa as a national and sovereign federation of states similar in formation to the United States of America.

The idea has been spearheaded by Libyan leader Maummar al-Gaddafi who is eager for a Union Government with other African leaders calling for a gradual process towards the formation of the United States of Africa.

ZANIS/ENDS/AM/SJK/MKM

President Rupiah Banda has urged Zambians in the Diaspora to take a leaf from Ethiopian nationals who have invested massively in their country.

Mr. Banda said the Ethiopians in Diaspora have invested in their country’s infrastructure , Agriculture , Tourism and Real Estate that has translated into significant development of Ethiopian towns such as the capital, Addis Ababa.

President Banda was speaking last night when he addressed the Zambian community in Addis Ababa where he is attending the 12th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union, which is under the theme ‘Infrastructure Development in Africa’ .

The Ethiopian government estimates that between 1.5 million and 2 million Ethiopians are living abroad in places as far as Sweden, Canada and the Middle East.

Mr. Banda said efforts would be made by the Zambian government to find a strategy of encouraging and facilitating for the Zambians abroad to invest their earnings back home.

“Investing back into the country by you people in the Diaspora would help you avoid becoming destitutes once you are recalled,” he added.

Mr. Banda also called on Zambians to adjust their way of life in the face of the global economic financial crisis.

President Banda urged all Zambians to seek to be self-sustaining by venturing into farming in a bid to avoid buying food for their survival.

He said at national level, the country was diversifying from the traditional dependency on mining to other sectors such as agriculture and tourism in a bid to mitigate the impact of the global economic financial crisis.

President Banda also emphasized the need for unity at family, community and national level, as unity is a prerequisite for personal and national development.

He said unity was a precious attribute, which must be guarded jealously if Zambia is to move forward.

President Banda reiterated that his administration was a listening government and would accept constructive criticism for the good of the country.

Speaking earlier, Zambia’s Ambassador to Ethiopia Patrick Sinyinza said the efforts by President Banda to spare time from his busy schedule for the Zambian Community in Ethiopia was a clear manifestation of good leadership.

Mr. Sinyinza said the Zambian Community in Ethiopia was fully behind the leadership of President Banda and government.

And Chairman of the Zambian Community in Ethiopia Washington Mukumbila congratulated President Banda for his victory in the October 30 Presidential by-election.

Mr. Mukumbila said signs were already visible that Zambia was poised for greater development under the leadership of president Banda.

ZANIS/AM/MKM/SJK/ENDS

By Mingeli Palata

Its an awfully beautiful Sunday afternoon, regular visitors to my house would he surprised to see me here and this is not only because I rarely spend my Sundays home but also because I am here in the front house trying to do up the landscape. It’s such a peaceful sight yet the same cannot be said about what is going on in my mind. Dear friends the thing is, when you watch the news and see kids that have been molested, like in my case, it doesn’t really make any sense until it happens to one of your own.

Allow me to take you back to that fateful and most recent Friday night, naturally after a long week I would link up with a couple of friends around our lovely Lusaka to hide somewhere in Rhodespark to hear the latest and to simply unwind the week. And so it was on the Friday that I linked up with ‘the usual suspects’ on what started off be to a promising evening. Little did I know that the next few minutes would paint a very grim picture.

I got a call from my little cousin and my first thought was an eminent invitation to one of those salsa dances around town, oh boy how was I wrong. Her message was simple yet thought provoking, ‘you better get home, my dear’. It wasn’t a prank; my kid sister was reported to have been raped. I obviously never really grasped the reality of that message until I got home only to see my aging mother turned into a sorry sight.

This prompted my quick arrival at woodlands Police station where the police officers on duty charged in response to my dismal temperament. Before I realized it, I had four officers at hand to withhold my anger. I looked at my twelve year old sister and couldn’t entertain the fact that some insane men had taken her advantage of her. As I peered deeper in her young eyes, a lot of thoughts came in my mind. I thought about the emotional trauma that this kid was obviously going through, I thought about the possibility of her contracting HIV, I thought about how this experience would affect her sexuality in future. Trust me; you wouldn’t want to be in my shoes.

The night earned itself some credit as the worst night ever such that as I made my way to the children’s section of the University Teaching Hospital, I didn’t know whether it was more important for me to be angry with the culprits or to sympathize with my kid sister. I could deploy all my available resources to making sure that the culprits have been brought to book but what would that change about my sister’s fate? I have too many questions with but a handful of answers. I guess you just never know, until it happens to one of your own!

Opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) in Livingstone says it is saddened by Southern Province Minister Daniel Munkombwe’s recent attacks at one of its senior officials over the cholera epidemic in the province.

Mr Munkombwe made scathing attacks on UPND Councilor for Doctor Mubitana ward, Mr Joseph Jam, during in a meeting yesterday for expressing a different view on the cholera situation in the area.

This was after the UPND official, Joseph Jambo was forced out of the meeting which the minister convened to discuss the cholera situation in the province yesterday.

Mr. Jambo said that the only reason Mr.Munkombwe chased him from the meeting was because he did not support the minister’s views on the epidemic.

Yesterday, Mr. Jambo was asked to leave the meeting for disagreeing with the minister over the source of the cholera pandemic in Livingstone.

However sources present in the meeting revealed that the UPND councilor was chased out of the meeting on grounds of politicking during the meeting which had nothing to do with politics.

And UPND constituency chairman, Bowas Maseka said in the press statement made available to ZANIS today that Mr. Munkombwe chased him from the meeting where he was supposed to represent the views of the people.

“It was dishonourable for the minister to call the councilor immature. He showed no respect for the councilor by chasing him from the meeting like a dog,” the statement read.

The statement further read that the minister should be reminded that it is important to respect people that were elected by the people.

“The person he chased represents people in the same way the minister represents the people,” said Mr.Maseka.

Mr. Maseka said the minister’s action of not respecting divergent views indicates how undemocratic he is.

ZANIS/AS/ENDS/MM

Bus drivers in Kitwe today packed their buses in protest against incessant patrols by Road Trafic and Safety Agency (RTSA) officers and state police.

The Zambia Consumer Association (ZACA) has condemned the action by bus drivers to paralyse transport routes in Kitwe in order to avoid policing by state police.

ZACA Executive Secretary, Muyunda Illilonga, said it was important that the drivers adhere to the laws of the land.

He said traffic police officers were not doing anything wrong by enforcing the law.

Mr Illilonga told ZANIS in Kitwe today that the drivers have the mandate to report to authorities any traffic police officer who solicited money from them, and this should not be substituted to road safety rules.

The Executive Secretary said since there was an increase in the number of cars, the Road Safety and Transport Agency and the police should remain vigilant to ensure that there was sanity on the roads.

He called on Government to seriously reflect on the future management of the transport sector because the private sector should not be depended upon to provide transport.

He added that the move taken by drivers had clearly shown that the private sector has the capacity to black mail government when its interests were not being served.

Mr Illilonga suggested that government should have a policy shift where all local authorities would be compelled to operate buses within the areas of its jurisdiction.

Mr Illilonga further said there should be stiff competition between government and the private sector so that government could keep the private sector in check.

And some mini-bus drivers in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, Monday abandoned their vehicles in protest against alleged harrassment by officers from the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA).

This affected routes to Lilanda, Chunga, Chipata, Mandevu and Chilenje townships.

Some Commutters who could not afford to hire taxis were forced to walk, while others opted to stay home.

A check by a ZNBC news in some selected parts of the City also revealed that a number of marketeers were also affected.

Commutters also called on authorities to quickly resolve the stand off between bus drivers and RTSA personnel.

RTSA Frederick Mwalusaka is expected to issue a comprehensive statement on the stand-off with drivers.

ZANIS/ENDS/PK/EB.