The Communications Authority has called on internet service providers to make security an important feature of their service.

Communication Authority Acting Controller, Richard Mwanza, said this is to protect customers from the risk of viruses and other attacks that might lead to loss of important personal and confidential data.

Mr. Mwanza said this in Lusaka yesterday at the opening of the internet provider’s security meeting in the wake of the recent hacking of ZAMNET web server on 27th December last year.

He said Service Providers need to protect the customers from fraud and thefts that may arise as a result of sharing personal information online.

He said the recent hacking of ZAMNET web server shows how vulnerable Zambia is to be targeted by cyber criminals adding that this should not be taken lightly.

Mr. Mwanza said ZAMNET customers lost business whose cost cannot be quantified adding that this has also eroded the confidence in people who trusted in ICT’s.

He has also called on the Internet Service Providers to put in place mitigation procedures that should ensure business continuity in the case of any eventuality.

Mr. Mwanza further called for a disaster recovery plan and procedures which should be a requirement for licensing and renewal.

He disclosed that the communication authority will soon review the license condition of all Internet Providers to ensure that customer’s security needs are addressed.

The communication authority has since formed a task force that will mitigate and prevent customers from being exploited.

Director in the Ministry of Transport and Communication, Victor Mbumwae, has called on all stakeholders to promote and fight cyber crime due to its negative effects.

Mr. Mbumwae said there is need to fight cyber crime adding that doing so would shame critics the ICTs.

He said this will also help safe guard the country from unwarranted attacks and exposure of information.

Meanwhile, ZAMNET Technical Director, Raphael Maseko, said the recent hacking of its web server did not expose private information.

Mr. Maseko has however assured its consumers and the general public that their information is secure.

He said ZAMNET is currently conducting investigations into the cause and the extent of the problem.

ZANIS

By Mingeli Palata

It’s only natural that the issue of food is on top of the mind for most people and certainly for me. I fail to perform to expected levels when my stomach is not tightly gripped. I choose to believe that most of you share this view. You many not really understand the food crisis in this country until like me you meet the likes of Justin Mwemba, a taxi driver in Lusaka whom I met the previous week. Aside from struggling to make  his cashing markup, I got to learn that Justin is also a father to two and a husband of one wife who lives with his family in Bauleni compound. The man vividly put the deteriorating hunger situation in the country, describing the cost of living and the price of mealie meal in particular as unattainable for most average Zambians.

True to the word, in the past year, the issue of mealie meal prices has been one of great interest to most Zambians and it was only a few weeks ago when we were told that Zambia will experience a poor harvest this year, alarming isn’t it? Yet this is the order of the day- year after year. The price of mealie meal is negatively affected by mismanagement of food administration and low agriculture output, as much as it is affected by weather patterns.

I need not overstate the fact that Zambia has a special God-given capacity to feed itself and its neighbors.Despite countless efforts made to urge government to put agriculture in the center stage of their undertakings for both internal food security and foreign exchange purposes, there has been little done in this area. Today agricultural news is still rocked by unattainable fertilizer prices and maize grain price scandals. It is obvious that the system being used to make these much needed agricultural inputs available is not working.  This is not only embarrassing but detrimental to aspirations of ensuring sustainable food security and making Zambia the ultimate food basket in Africa.
Firstly there is a lot of mismanagement, low innovation and lack of priority that characterizes operations at the FRA. In frantic efforts to know what the problem is, I was shocked to learn that both commercial and subsistence farmers find it more profitable to sell the maize to opaque beer brewers or foreign nations rather than the government simply because alcohol brewers for instance offer to buy the grain at double the price. Why can’t government rectify this anomaly? I suggest that deliberate regulation be effected to woo farmers to vend the grain to the FRA by offering attractive prices and terms.Smart economic measures such as high taxation and regulation should be effected to discourage farmers from selling their maize to ‘opaque beer brewers’.

Secondly, Government needs to take a more deliberate action other than relying on selfish private commercial farmers, who would rather sell their maize grain to the Congo than the FRA. I suggest that the state identify key farmers so as to equip and position them in strategic locations for the sole purpose of achieving food security in our beloved country. These strategic state aided farms should be equipped with state of the art farming equipments, inputs, an all season irrigation system that enables winter farming (tapped from the numerous mighty rivers we are endowed with) and objective government supervision to ensure that food shortages and crazy mealie meal prices are a the thing of the past.

Lastly, Zambia also suffers from a self inflicted addiction to maize- somehow we believe that the only thing worth being called food is maize meal- nshima. This should notbe the case.There are other foodstuffs like rice, cassava, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, that can supplement maize as the staple food. Government needs to take deliberate action to fight this stereotype and promote other foodstuff to combat hunger in this country. I will give you an example of Cassava, a crop I am most familiar with because my grand mother in Kapompo grows the crop. Cassava is cheap and convenient to grow; it is rich in carbohydrates and will not let you down should your basal metabolic rate be higher than the average Zambian. Yet it is very drought resistant, doesn’t need fertilizer and can grow in various soils with minimum supervision. The advantages that Cassava has over maize are immense and I see no reason why it should not be promoted as a staple food of choice.

We need to see more inspiring deliberate action and more government innovative regulation to ensure that the country has maximum food security so that Justin Mweemba and his family are well fed. This in my view is the government’s primary responsibility and there is no room for excuses.

Government says it is ready to deal with floods and droughts that may affect the country during 2008/2009 rain season.

Deputy Minister in the Office of the Vice President Gastone Sichilima said government has developed a contingency plan that is aimed at outlining the measures that need to be undertaken before, during and after the floods or drought.

Speaking at a media briefing in Lusaka today, Mr. Sichilima disclosed that the plan provides a framework which will show the preparedness, response and early recovery that are being undertaken.

Mr. Sichilima noted that food and non-food items have been stocked to enhance timely interventions to the affected areas.

He assured that government will be able to assist any section that gets affected by the floods or droughts adding that there is need for such a section to have an established objective assessment.

He added that his office has put in place interventions following reports of general food insecurity in the country.

The Deputy Minister also noted that the number of districts that needs relief food has increased from 21 to 29.

Mr. Sichilima said currently government is supplying a total number of about 10 thousand Metric Tonnes (MT) of relief food in 21 districts adding that there is an addition of about 5 thousand MT to cater for the other 8 districts.

He pointed out that Food Reserve Agency will offload maize on the open markets in districts that need market interventions.

He further cautioned that government’s relief food programme is only meant for vulnerable communities that are identified through technical assessments.

He said the 80 percent of every tonnage of relief food sent to any district is meant to be food for work, where as the 20 percent is meant to be given freely to old members, child headed households and the terminally ill in communities.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sichilima said government through the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) has continued to monitor the situation in areas that where hit by floods last rain season.

He thanked the opposition Members of Parliament (MP) for taking a lead in carrying out the necessary preparedness measures for Lusaka floods response activities.

He further appealed to cooperating partners to supplement government’s efforts in mitigating the impact of floods and droughts in the country.

ZANIS/MM/MC/AM/ENDS