Veteran freedom fighter Mama Chibesa kankasa says former first lady Maureen Mwanawasa should be respected as she and the rest of her family were still mourning her late husband  and father Dr Levy Mwanawasa.

Commenting Federation of the Free trade Union of Zambia ( FFTUZ )president Joyce Nonde over Mrs Mwanawasa’s refusal to occupy a house in Roma Township government had found for the first lady, Mrs Kankasa urged Zambians to respect the former first lady and the Mwanawasa family.

Mama kankasa explained that the former first lady was not being difficult in as much as she is supposed to adhere to government ‘s offer.

She said Mrs Mwanawasa was merely following President Banda’s directive for her to vacate State House , but she was  equally told by the president  that she can only move from state house after the government found a house of her choice.

This is according to a statement made available to ZANIS in Lusaka, Saturday.

The veteran politician said it was not the first lady’s own doing but she was just following what she is entitled to.

Mama kankasa expressed disappointment that established public figures like Ms Nonde were not Zambian saying as a fellow woman, the union leader should be supportive to Mrs Mwanwasa and her bereaved family.

She noted the need to appreciate what government was doing to console the former first lady in whatever difficulties she was passing through.

Ms Kankasa said Ms Nonde should have first gone to visit the first lady in a friendly manner and inquire about the state of the house before issuing a media statement.

She urged her to love and support one other so that peace and harmony amongst each other and the nation can be fostered.

this follows an observation made on the article  published in the News paper in yesterdays Post, politics of Appeasement shouldn’t be encouraged -Nonde.

ZANIS/AH/ENDS/MM

An MMD party official in Kafue says the party should give credit to the Post newspaper for having made it work hard through the stories it used to publish up to the run up of the presidential elections.

MMD district party chairman Goodson Sansakuwa said in Kafue Saturday that the ruling party should consider itself lucky that it was able to win the presidential elections as the opposition Patriotic Front (PF) really gave them a good campaign.

Mr. Sansakuwa said as a party it has learnt lessons on how the electorate view the ruling MMD. He said if it was not for the stories the post were publishing about the MMD, it would not have been easy to plan and strategize well for the its campaigns and win the elections.

He said he was happy that the MMD, despite the negative publicity by the the private daily, was able to turn them into positives. He said the MMD will from now on work hard to ensure it revisits its manifesto to woe more support.

Mr. Sansakuwa who is also Kafue district council chairman said the party in the district has set out a programme in which it will start planning for the 2011 elections.

He said despite some members defecting to the opposition, the party in the district was strong and will not allow outsiders to win the people.

Mr. Sansakuwa appealed to Republic President Rupiah Banda to fulfill the promises made during campaigns. He said the MMD will only win the 2011 elections if it fulfills its promises.

Mr. Sansakuwa also appealed to the national executive committee to start visiting members on the ground instead of only staying in Lusaka. He said many members at grassroots level are not happy with the way the top leadership in the party are treating branch members.

He said the NEC should find time to tour branch officials as these are the ones who campaign for them most of the time. He said the MMD has a huge task of working hard so that new issues are raised and people’s interests in elections are revived.

The district official also called on the party to revive its manifesto so that it is tailored to the current needs of the Zambian people. He said the current manifesto is proving to be not helpful in addressing what the Zambian people want.

ZANIS/BS/ENDS/MM

Kafue district council has warned the Cavendish University management to start developing the land allocated for construction of a University within the next 30 days failure to which the land will be withdrawn.

Kafue district council chairman Goodson Sansakuwa said Saturday in an interview with ZANIS in Kafue that management at the council and councilors are worried that the land has remained idle for the past four years when it allocated to the university.

He said it was against the law to keep land undeveloped for that long time.

Mr. Sansakuwa said the council has decided to give the university 30 days in which it should show cause why the land in question cannot be grabbed away from them and be given to other serious developers.

He said while the council is aware of the importance of tertiary education to the nation, it was prudent that developers once given land , they develop it within the shortest period of time and not hold on to it.

Mr. Sansakuwa further stated that despite the university having in the recent months complained of encroachment on their land; it was not true because a verification of their claims was undertaken and no encroachment was found on the ground.

And Mr. Sansakuwa disclosed that Kafue council will continue with its land audit so as to address problems of double allocation and other land related disputes. He said it is the intention of the council to acquire land for serious developers and residents so that they can give them.

Mr. Sansakuwa said his office is happy with the progress made so far on resolving land issues as opposed to assertions that workers at the council are corrupt and are involved in illegal land deals.
ZANIS/BS/ENDS/MM

The Kitwe District Land Alliance has appealed to President Rupiah Banda to withdraw the draft land policy as it does not support transparency.

Kitwe District Land Alliance chairperson, Bwalya Mpange, said the current Land Act of 1995 was not only pro-poor but also non-transparent and was not in tune with the spirit of poverty alleviation.

Officially opening a two-day training workshop for councilors on Transparency Land Administration at Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation today Mr Mpange welcomed the government’s move to overhaul this law as evidenced by the 2006 land draft policy.

He explained that the draft land policy in its current stature does not support transparency and lacks support to the poor people in terms of equitable access and ownership of land.

Mr Mpenga also expressed worry that there had been incidences where some civic leaders were being caught up in illegal plot allocation in Kitwe.

He reminded the councilors that since they had been identified as important partners in land administration in the district, there was need for them to be knowledgeable in land administration and be more transparent on allocation of plots.

ZANIS/ENDS/PFK/E

Scores of women today staged a protest in Lusaka over Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ) president, Joyce Nonde’s remarks over the former First Lady, Maureen Mwanawasa’s rejection of a house that the government offered to rent for her.

The visibly angry women expressed their displeasure over Nonde’s sentiments that the former First Lady should not reject the house because government was only following the law.

The women added that it was too early to criticize the former First Lady, noting that she was still mourning her husband’s death.

Mrs Edith Mataka Nkoma, who was representing the women, noted that Ms Nonde should stop frustrating the former First Lady and her family as they were still in grief.

Ms Nkoma, who is also a widow, noted that death is something that is painful, hence there is need for Ms Nonde to respect Mrs Mwanawasa, saying that if she had any problem with Maureen, she could have approached her instead of attacking her through the papers which she said was sending a bad picture to the children.

Ms Nkoma noted that Mrs Mwananwasa is a Zambian and has the right to express herself, as her children were brought up in a different environment and she needs to keep her children in a better environment.

She further urged all Zambians to look back and reflect on Mrs Mwanawasa as still the mother for the nation, hence the need to respect her as she did not choose for her husband to die.

And Ms Carolyn Chanda urged Ms Nonde to mind her own business and not to criticize Mrs Mwanawasa in the papers.

Ms Chanda noted that Ms Nonde is also a married woman and she will also face some challenges in a home.

The women’s protest follows a comment that was made by Ms Nonde in today’s The Post News papers, saying that the former First Lady should not reject a house that government offered to rent for her in Roma township because government was following the law.

ZANIS/ENDS/AH/EB

The verification of last week’s presidential by election results in Kasama was yesterday almost disrupted after some Patriotic Front (PF) cadres demanded to be paid allowances before witnessing the exercise.

The PF cadres claimed that the verification of ballot papers was a government exercise and as such they were entitled to receive lunch allowances.

The irate cadres also asked the election officials to give a detail explanation of what was involved in the verification of election results as most of them expressed ignorance on the exercise.

Some PF cadres claimed that the exercise should also involve re-counting of the ballot papers.

But responding to the queries, Kasama District Electoral Officer, Joseph Sampa, dismissed the PF demands for allowances to be paid to them for witnessing the verification of election results.

Mr. Sampa explained that the verification of presidential results was a voluntary exercise that did not require political stakeholders to be paid money.

He also clarified that the verification of the election results did not mean re-counting of ballot papers as that can only be done after a Court Order.

Mr. Sampa later convinced the PF members to continue with the exercise of verifying the results, saying the exercise was in the best interest of all political parties that took part in last Thursday’s presidential poll.

As at yesterday, only the ruling MMD and the PF had representation at the verification of presidential results while the UPND and the Heritage Party did not send representatives.

But a check today by ZANIS found all parties and some election observers busy witnessing the verification of election results, which is one of the post-election activities being conducted by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) countrywide.

And in Kitwe, Various political parties today turned up for the voter verification exercise in the just-ended Presidential by elections at the Civic Centre.

Among the notable parties present were the Patriotic Front (PF), United Party for National Development UPND), Heritage Party (HP) and the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD).

Kitwe Town Clerk, Ali Simwinga, said the exercise went on peacefully and there were no incidences recorded.

The exercise has given credibility to the just-ended elections.

He said all the political parties have signed the verification forms and are satisfied with the outcome of the election.

ZANIS/ENDS/LK/EB.