The Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) says the mass demonstrations over the high cost of mealie meal prices being organised by the opposition Patriotic Front were uncalled for, as they could lead to political instability in the country.

ZCTU Acting Secretary General Ian Mkandawire said it was not necessary for the Patriotic Front and other people to hold mass demonstrations over the problems confronting the nation, as such issues could be resolved through dialogue.

Speaking when he addressed members of the Press in Kitwe today, Mr. Nkandawire said there was need for the Government to re-establish the inter-party dialogue, in order to reduce the current tension between the ruling Movement for Multi Party Democracy (MMD)  and other opposition political parties in the country.

He further said the planned demonstrations  were a result of lack of dialogue between Government and the various  opposition political parties, a development which he said could lead to Political instability if not checked.

Mr. Mkandawire additionally called on Government to initiate the re-establishment of an effective inter-party dialogue, in order to curb unnecessary suspicions and mistrust and instead promote an exchange of progressive political and economic ideas and tolerance.

He said ZCTU believed  that the re establishment of the  inter party dialogue was the only effective way which could help resolve the problems prevailing in Zambia.

Eastern Province Permanent Secretary Kelvin Kamuwanga says there is need to take the fight against corruption as a personal challenge in order for the country to achieved positive results.

Speaking in a speech read for him by Deputy Permanent Secretary Eularia Siyamujaye at
the commemoration of the United Nations Anti Corruption Day, Mr. Kamuwanga said
corruption could only be won through the participation of all stakeholders at an individual level.

He stated that there is need to ensure that the public service was subject to safeguards
that promote efficiency, transparency and recruitment based on merit.

“Public servants should abide by the codes of conduct and disciplinary measures should
be taken where appropriate,” he said.

He disclosed that various government institutions have developed codes of ethics and
established customer service centers in a bid to streamline transparency and
accountability in the process at key points of public service delivery.

The UN ACC Day which falls today, is being celebrated under the theme ‘Corruption,
your NO counts.’

Meanwhile, malpractice in the distribution of farming inputs under the Fertilizer Support Program (FSP) have remained a source of concern in Eastern province, the Anti-Corruption Commission has disclosed.

ACC Regional Manager, Raymond Banda, said yesterday in an interview that the commission has been recording a number of cases of malpractice in the distribution of fertilizer on a yearly basis.

Mr. Banda said the trend has been common in Chipata, Petauke and Chadiza districts.

He revealed that the commission has been strategizing on how it could stop practice through consultation with other stakeholders.

He expressed hope that the strategy would ensure that procedure was followed and that those entrusted to distribute the inputs did so diligently.

Mr. Banda however said the commission has made headway in the fight against
the vice in some sectors in the province.

He said cases of malpractice in the education, police and other sectors have been minimal
due to partnerships that were formed with the commission.

He also revealed that no cases of electoral malpractice were recorded in the October 30th presidential elections.

The ACC official bemoaned inadequate resources as a major challenge in the operations
of the commission.

ZANIS/HN/KSH/ENDS

The Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) has observed that cases of gender based violence and defilement have continued to rise on the Copperbelt province.

YWCA Regional Coordinator, Julita Mutale, said from January to June this year, her office recorded 768 cases of gender violence, 167 cases of defilement and 15 cases of incest.

Speaking at the Copperbelt tribunal held in Kitwe today, Mrs. Mutale attributed the increase to poor communication, compounded by the advent of cell phones, myths and misconceptions on social issues and poverty.

She said there had been a number of challenges in responding to gender based violence, some of which are the withdrawal of cases, long court processes and failure to report gender based violence to relevant authorities.

She called for the provision of strict legal framework, fast track of gender based violence cases in courts and scaling up facilities for recuperation and therapy.

And Kitwe Chief Resident Magistrate, Charles Zulu, said women rights have continued to be violated despite efforts made through various international and regional protocols.

He said women continued to be marginalised in terms of accessing productive resources such as land.

And Southern Province Minister, Daniel Munkombwe, says while government has taken a firm stand on the protection of the rights of all, the evidence indicates that some violations of the rights of women and children have continued to occur in the country.

Speaking during the commemoration of sixteen days of activism against gender violence at Civic Centre in Livingstone today in a speech read for him by Southern Province Deputy Permanent Secretary Aaron Zulu, Mr Munkombwe said concerns have been raised by various stakeholders that the rights of women have not been adequately addressed.

Mr Munkombwe said some of the violations that have continued to occur included rape, defilement, wife battering and property grabbing.

Mr Munkombwe, however, said government would not allow such a situation to go on and noted that it was for that reason that the commemoration of the 16 days of activism against gender violence continued to be of significance to government.

The minister also observed that he was encouraged by the increased recognition of women’s and girl’s rights among the traditional leadership and the traditional leadership’s involvement in the fight for human rights as they played a critical role at community level.

He said the achievement of human rights for all could not be realistic without the protection of the rights for women.

Speaking earlier, NGOCC representative Jean Mweene said the mushrooming shebeens in most townships in Livingstone had contributed to gender violence.

Mrs Mweene said women were also still being discriminated even at places of work through sexual violence and intimidation.

She also appealed to government not to relent in seeking peace for Zimbabwe saying the situation in that country had brought untold misery especially to the women folk.

And 11 year old Mwamba Mulenga said in a moving speech she delivered on behalf of the Girl-child in relation to gender based violence that gender rights could not be inclusive if women’s rights were not recognised.

She said the concern to the girl child was that cases of defilement that were reported were not dealt with accordingly.

Mwamba expressed regret that some parents tend to withdraw the cases at the expense of the abused child.

She also noted that HIV testing be made mandatory for those people who defile yyoung children.

ZANIS/ENDS/FM/SJK

Press release by Zain Zambia
Zain Zambia wishes to respond to the quite alarming, unfounded and misleading allegations attributed to its operation in a news article titled “Zain Zambia scraps low cost talk time” and published on the Watchdog and Zamnet websites today.

It is unfortunate to see this level of mis-representation by the author of the news story in question, which runs contrary to the normally factual Zambian journalism profession.

Zain has not ‘scrapped’ its “Iliyonse” offering, which remains the most affordable way in Zambia to to buy talk time, and from as little as K200. The inference seems to be that “Iliyonse” is ‘scratch-card’ based and that these are no longer in the market. The fact is, that ‘Illiyonse’ is based on a mobile top up platform which does not require any physical scratch cards.

Separately from ‘Illiyonse’, Zain tested the market with physical scratch-card low-denominations of K1,000 and K2,000; these were in fact a ‘first’ from Zain to enable access our talk time affordable to more segments of our customers.

These lower K1,000 and K2,000 talk time denominations introduced on the market in a limited manner at first, to see how they would be received by customers. Zain was pleased to find that there was an overwhelmingly positive response. Therefore as might be expected, Zain is now going to roll-out these cards nationwide.

It is hoped that the facts of the ‘scratch-card’ matters raised are now clear.

In terms of the ‘visibility’ of Illiyonse, it is true that now this product is well known and truly into the market, Zain has now started communications about its latest innovations in tariffs, which we feel are of extreme importance and interest to our customers.

Zain reduced or re-aligned all its tariffs, and automatically ensured all its customers calls were rated from November 1st on these new tariffs so as to to make Zain the most affordable way in Zambia to call. It is natural too, that when this is of such personal and positive importance to Zain’s customers budget, Zain wants to tell them the good news in every way it can! This is why Zain sent SMS messages to its customers informing them of the good news.

As this sending of an SMS is a mechanically automated process, it may be that a few of Zain’s customers received more than one SMS, and it is regretted if this happened. Zain has no records from its call centre about customer complaints in this respect for this particular tariff campaign however.

Therefore as the real facts now clearly show no basis whatsoever for these unprovoked allegations, it should also be clear that smooth transition to David Holliday, the new CEO of Zain Zambia from the long-serving David Venn, who had held the post for over 5 years, was nothing more than ‘business as usual’. There was and is, no ‘confusion’ in the equation.

Finally as far as quoting Richard Mwanza as saying CAZ accuses Zain of ‘stealing’ is concerned, Zain has no knowledge of this accusation, and therefore cannot comment on the same.

Choma District Commissioner, Laiven Apuleni, is disappointed with the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit, DMMU, for the alleged lack of confidence in reports submitted by district authorities over the extent of hunger in the area.

Mr Apuleni said he expercted DMMU to rely on available data compiled by relevant government structures put in place at grass root level in order to urgently respond to the current food crisis that has hit the district.

He regretted that DMMU was dispatching teams to conduct re-assessments of the hunger situation instead of considering assisting the affected families with relied food.

Mr Apuleni was speaking in Choma today when he met officials from DMMU Lusaka, who are in the district to conduct an assessment of the food situation.

He said it was regrettable that DMMU was sending officers to verify reports of food insecurity, when the food situation was worsening and required immediate measures to save lives of people in the area.

Mr Apuleni said the district administration and other ministries were adequate to provide reliable information which DMMU could use in responding to the crisis.

He argued that the current assessment would only serve to buy time when the situation has gone out of hand.

“These offices are adequate to provide you with information upon which you can base your action. It is disappointing that you have no faith in local structures put in place by government to collect information and give it to you,” he told the DMMU officials. “The ministry of agriculture has capacity to provide details on the food situation.”

He said while all the 26 wards have been severely hit by hunger, DMMU has only adopted 12 wards to benefit from relief food, a situation that creates a serious problem for the district.

One child has since died, while two others are battling for their lives in Choma general hospital after eating suspected poisonous roots due to lack of food.

Ends/CM/ZANIS/SJK