President Rupiah Banda says it will be difficult for government to increase the allocated farming inputs under the Fertilizer Support Program (FSP) in this farming season.

Mr Banda said it was difficult for government to access supplementary fertilizer because the commodity was not locally produced, adding that it was too late to restart procurement procedures.

The President said this in an interview with journalists after he arrived at Chipata airport this morning.

President Banda explained that it would not be easy to access the farming inputs and distribute to farmers on time because the planting season had already begun.

He however expressed confidence that government would increase the allocation of the farming inputs for the 2009/10 farming season.

The President also stated that the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) was currently addressing the hunger situation in some parts of Eastern province.

He reiterated that government was committed to addressing the hunger situation in the country and would continue to distribute relief food to needy areas.

Meanwhile Chongwe Member of Parliament Sylvia Masebo  accused companies contracted by government to supply fertilizer under the Fertilizer Support Programme (FSP) of sabotage when they were ordering their depots to close.

Mrs. Masebo said suspending fertilizer distribution when the country was experiencing soaring food prices was sabotaging government.

She said the companies already knew that government would always pay the debts owed to them and therefore, there was no need to suspend the distribution of farming inputs under the FSP.

Mrs. Masebo was speaking in Chongwe district  at the official launch of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) programme in the agriculture sector.

President Rupiah Banda has told the people of Eastern province that they did not waste their vote in the last presidential by-election.

He said he was humbled by the people of Chipata who looked after him very well when he retired from public service and politics in the early 1990s.

He said this when he arrived for a two day private visit to Chipata today. President Rupiah Banda has also advised Zambians to preoccupy themselves with activities that would promote poverty alleviation and food security in the country.

Speaking earlier, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kabinga Pande said the people of Eastern province voted for Mr. Banda on merit.

Mr. Pande, who is also ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) vice national chairman, said President Banda was a national leader because he was accepted by all Zambians.

He has since challenged the people of Eastern province to assist President Banda govern the country constructively criticizing him and offering developmental solutions.

He lashed out at the opposition PF for calling for protests over high mealie meal prices saying demonstrations were not a solution to the problems the country was experiencing.

Mr. Pande urged Zambians to concentrate on working towards producing more food and a bumper harvest next harvest season.

And Eastern province minister, Isaac Banda said, whilst others were planning to demonstrate, people in his province were busy cultivating so that they could produce a lot of food next year.

Mr. Banda, who congratulated President Banda for his victory in the last presidential by-elections, promised that his province will offer full support to the current administration.

Meanwhile, ruling MMD Eastern province chairman, Kennedy Zulu said the province was happy with government’s Fertiliser Support Programme in the area.

Mr. Zulu however requested President Banda to consider asking for more relief food from the Office of the Vice President in order for all district in the province to benefit.

He also assured President Banda that the party was intact in the province, adding that the Provincial executive committee (PEC) would ensure that the area became a pillar for MMD.

President Banda is accompanied to Eastern province by Mr. Pande and two of his personal friends, Jacob Mwanza, who is former University of Zambia vice chancellor and Mr. Ephraim Mwenda.

The President was met on arrival at Chipata airport this morning by provincial minister, Isaac Banda and other senior government and MMD officials.

President Banda is expected back in Lusaka on Tuesday morning.

ZANIS/CBM/KSH/ENDS.

President Rupiah Banda has advised Zambians to preoccupy themselves with activities that would promote poverty alleviation and food security in the country.

Mr. Banda said Zambians should devote most of their time cultivating land and planting crops instead of engaging into demonstrations and protests against high mealie meal prices.

He said people of Zambia should make use of the rain season to the maximum and avoid wasting their time in protests.

Referring to the planned demonstration by the opposition Patriotic Front and some organisations over high mealie meal prices, Mr. Banda noted that such kind of acts would scare away investors because they would not want to risk their finances.

He said Zambians must endeavour to keep the country united at all times in order to uphold the attractive investment environment.

President Banda explained that it was for this reason that government was refusing to give permits to allow blanket protests by some political parties and other organisations.

He said this when he arrived for a two day private visit to Chipata today.

He said he was in Luanshya yesterday where he had audience with mine owners and their workers.

He assured them of government’s commitment to keep the mines running and preserve jobs of workers.

ZANIS/CBM/KSH/ENDS.

Today’s Scripture

“Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim His greatness. Let the whole world know what He has done” (Psalm 105:1, NLT).

Today’s Word from Joel and Victoria

When someone gives you a meaningful or costly gift, how do you show your appreciation? Do you tell them how grateful you are? What do you do with that gift? When it’s something you are truly thankful for, you probably don’t just throw it in the back of a closet; you openly and proudly display the gift. When others see and admire it, you probably tell them about where it came from and about the generosity of the giver.

In the same way, as believers, we should give thanks to the Lord and constantly show our gratefulness and appreciation for all He has done for us by displaying the gifts He’s given us. We should display love, peace, joy, kindness, and hope. We should live our lives in such a way that our very actions proclaim His greatness and cause others to take notice.

Proclaim His greatness by living a life of gratitude to Him and let the whole world know what He has done for you!

A Prayer for Today

Father in heaven, thank You for setting me free and filling me with Your hope, peace, and joy. I invite You to dwell in every area of my being and make my life a continual praise to You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Joel Osteen ministries

President Rupiah Banda has declared a state funeral for former Minister of Finance Emmanuel Kasonde who died at Lusaka’s Trust hospital yesterday.

Mr. Banda said the late Mr. Kasonde has been accorded a state funeral in recognition of his distinguished service he rendered to the nation while in service.

This is contained in a press release signed by Secretary to the Cabinet Joshua Kanganja and made available to ZANIS this evening.

The late Mr. Kasonde’s funeral service will be conducted at Cathedral of the Child Jesus in Lusaka on Monday, December 15th 2008 at 09:00 hours.

Dr. Kanganja said the body of the late Mr. Kasonde will thereafter be flown to Kasama where it will lie in state awaiting burial at Malole mission in Mungwi district on Tuesday, 16th December.

The burial day has been declared as a day of national mourning from 06:00 hours in the morning to 18:00 hours in the evening.

Dr. Kanganja said flags will on this day fly at half mast while public functions and activities of entertainment nature should be cancelled or postponed.

ZANIS/KSH/ENDS

The Ministers’ Spouses Club have received assorted goods worth millions of kwacha and K10 million cash from three different private companies.

Speaking during the handover of a K10 million cheque at Government House in Lusaka today, RB Technical Services Managing Director, Reinhard Bonkat said the company is committed to helping the needy people in the country.

Mr. Bonkat has since urged other companies to ensure that they fulfill their corporate social responsibility in order to help the underprivileged ion society.

Cyclone Construction and Hardware Representative, Sam Zulu, whose company donated construction materials towards the refurbishment of some toilets at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), said the company was willing to contribute towards the well being of the needy.

And later at the same occasion Makora Investments Representative, Ameeral Dalal handed over assorted goods worth about K4 million.

Speaking after receiving the goods and handing them over to Luyando Orphanage in Kanyama, Republican Vice President George Kunda’s wife, Irene, expressed gratitude to the three companies for the gesture.

Mrs. Kunda said the Ministers’ Spouses club will remain focused in ensuring that the needy in society are helped.
She received the donations on behalf of the Ministers’ Spouses Chairperson, First Lady Thandiwe Banda.

Speaking after receiving the goods, Luyando Orphanage Manager , Normy Kapindi expressed gratitude to the club, adding that the donation was timely as the orphanage is currently faced with many challenges.

ZANIS/CM/KSH/ENDS

Former Church of God regional Overseer, Bishop John Mambo, says there is a  need for political leaders to start mobilizing people to grow more food so that Zambia could come out of the food crisis. He said there is need for government to devise an effective mechanism that will help in controlling the prices of staple foods even in the face of high inflation in the country.
Bishop Mambo told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka today that government must look at ways of heavily subsidizing the farming inputs as a unique way of addressing the soaring prices of essential foodstuffs in Zambia.

Bishop Mambo, who is also Chikondi Foundation President, expressed concern at the insistence by some political parties and organisations to hold countrywide demonstrations saying protests will not achieve anything tangible to change the state of the economy.He said the people of Zambia were already facing many hardships which required solutions, therefore, threatening the peace, love and unity that exists in Zambia was a situation that must avoided at all costs.

Bishop Mambo said the soaring food prices were a global problem which had also affected Zambia as a player in the world economy. He said  his organisation would continue advocating for a special meeting between government, the opposition, civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations and the church to look at the problems affecting the nation.

He has since appealed to government and the opposition political parties to meet and discuss matters of national concern.

And Bishop Mambo has advised government not to extend the process of the National Constitution Conference (NCC) after its mandate comes to an end.

Bishop Mambo, who is a former Willa Mung’omba Constitutional Review commissioner, told ZANIS  that calls to extend the NCC process were uncalled for since Zambians were eagerly waiting to have a new constitution.

He said there was no need to extend the NCC process as government was spending huge resources that could be channeled to other national development programmes.

ZANIS/TK/KSH/ENDS

By Mingeli Palata

The other day I got on a bus from Stanley bar in Lusaka town and if you have been on a woodlands flash bus at 9pm then you know what my experience was like. There were two or three drunk guys headed for Kabwata, the ‘working class and a couple of other nobody’s like myself. I sat in the corner making sure my phone was hidden from the infamous Staley Bar phone snatchers while getting some fresh air from the open window.

The late night bus discussion started soon after we took off and this time around it was about the extension of the proposed National Constitutional Conference mandate by twelve months. I was surprised to learn how the chaps I stereotyped as loud and drunk possible PF cadres articulated themselves in their arguments against the extension of the NCC’s mandate. In their opinion, the extension of the National Constitutional Conference is not in the best interests of Zambians seeing as the country is facing a number of problems like the souring food prices and lack of fertilizer in the districts. In their own wisdom, they noted that the NCC costs K300m every year and that the money could for instance help the homeless in Mazyopa. (Internally displaced people)

The debate got sweeter by second and I was getting tempted to get off my shelf so as to add to the discussion. But before I could put my thoughts together, the discussion switched to the issue of the so called rebel PF MP’s and so I quickly lost interest and put my i-pod on- pressed play on a song by the Mulemena boys- intambi. Yet soon thereafter, a commotion developed in the bus- forcing my attention. Apparently a big argument was taking place between some MMD and PF cadres. The two parties obviously disagreed on some issues and were now venting out insults against each other. What really bothers me is that this is not the first time I have heard or witnessed party cadres squabbling. You may be saying come Mingeli! What do you expect? Those are just party cadres! But wait a minute! Can RB stand Sata’s presence or the other way round? Why is it that the two cannot stand on one platform to debate issues of national importance?

There is grave lack of intolerance and reason in the way Zambian politics are played. You may say that’s it’s the way politicians are and call me naive but I think its much more then politics because its starts with you actually. Some of you may recall the articles I wrote prior to the October 30th Elections, it was quite interesting how when I criticized RB- I was called a PF sympathizer, when I questioned HH- I became tribalist and when I ridiculed Michael Sata- I was called RB’s boy. Ironic, isn’t? Now imagine if any of the operatives belonging to the aforementioned political parties took the questions I raised into serious consideration, the political landscape would have been a little different. As I speak there is trouble in the UPND camp, the same questions we raised are being echoed by some prominent UPND members. Sata lost the elections due to the same regionalism and the personality cult mentality we spoke about and RB’s image is not the best today because of the companions we had warned him about.

If only we could debate constructively, this country would go a long way. Instead of completely brushing aside views that seem to challenge your own, it will be good to try and listen. There was a cheaper way of ushering a new constitution, if only the civil society, politicians and leftist commentators like the author were heard.The situation would have been different but now we may not even have the 2011 elections under a new constitution. Further to which one wonders what is wrong with PEACEFUL demonstrations calling on the government to put their act together visa-vies the food, employment and fuel situation in the country. This is the same freedom of expression that we keep talking about. What harm does a hungry person demonstrating his displeasure over the fact that he can no longer afford a bag of mealie meal cause to a mighty state?

We are way past political and social infancy and should now strive towards embracing divergent views and putting politics aside to focus on making ours a better country. This calls each and every one of us to focus on the more important things; the welfare of the Zambian people and not politics. Did you notice that a combination of the MMD, PF and UPND manifestos is actually the panacea to Zambia’s economic misfortunes? Yet before we put shallow politics aside, before we concentrate on the gist and not the pizza and before we open our arms to opposing views; we are but miles away from reaching the Promised Land.