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Sata rules out pact

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PATRIOTIC Front (PF) president, Michael Sata has ruled out the possibility of an electoral pact with the United Party for National Development (UPND), saying his party is strong enough to win the presidential election on its own.

Speaking on a live Radio Phoenix programme in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Sata said he could not support UPND leader, Hakainde Hichilema, for the Republican presidency because he had enough young people capable of taking over from him within the PF.

Mr Sata also accused the UPND of desperately trying to show that it had a lot of support by stealing pictures of PF supporters who attended one of his recent rallies and using them on UPND’s website to show that it was working with the PF.

“Our supporters out there should know that there is no pact between us and the UPND although the party is using pictures of our rallies to confuse the people that we are together,” Mr Sata said.

He said the people of Zambia set their priorities when they made him come second after late Levy Mwanawasa in the 2006 elections and he was confident that he would win the elections this time around.

He said his mission was to change the face of Zambia and reiterated his 2006 campaign promise that if elected, the people would start feeling the positive impact of the change of Government within 90 days.

He said the PF would bring development and Zambians abroad seeking greener pastures would return home.

Asked what would happen if he lost the election, Mr Sata said he would then get back to reorganise the party for 2011 elections because Zambians did not even anticipate that an election would be held this year.

“Losing the election would not be the end. When I just started PF, some people were saying I would not last because I was going to run broke but see where we are today,” Mr Sata said.

He also justified his recent change of heart regarding Chinese investment, saying he had decided to do so because the Chinese authorities were now working with authorities in Taiwan.

The PF leader said it was surprising that a lot of people had condemned him for aligning himself with the Taiwanese when the Government of China was also dealing with Taiwan.

He said he was grateful to the late Dr Mwanawasa for having sent him to South Africa for treatment and he was now very fit to run for the presidency.

Times of Zambia

Mealie meal prices go up again

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The price of mealie meal has gone up again barely two months after another price hike.

A random check in Lusaka by ZNBC news, Wednesday, revealed that a twenty-five kilogram bag of breakfast mealie meal is now pegged at 53 thousand kwacha from 50 thousand kwacha.

Retail outlets are selling a twenty-five kilograms bag of mealie meal between 52-53-thousand kwacha.

And the Millers association of Zambia Executive Secretary, Harrison Banda, said his association will issue a comprehensive statement on the matter on Thursday.

Meanwhile the Government has increased farming inputs under the fertilizer support programme from sixty percent to seventy-five percent in the 2008/2009 season.

This means that small scale farmers will only be required to pay twenty-five percent of the market prices.

Agriculture Minister, Sarah Sayifwanda said at a media briefing that government was prompted to do so to cushion farmers from high cost of input prices.

She said government has paid input suppliers fifty percent of the value of the eighty thousand metric tonnes of fertilizer to continue with the exercise.

The minister is optimistic that the distribution of the farming inputs is expected to be completed early October, this year.

The budget for the 2008/2009 fertilizer support programme currently stands at four hundred and eighty-five billion six hundred and fifty million and four hundred thousand kwacha.( K485 650 400 000).

ZNBC

MMD says those linking RB to UNIP are desperate

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The MMD in Kafue has described as acts of desperation, accusations by some opposition politicians that Acting President Rupiah Banda is still a UNIP member.

MMD District Vice-Treasurer, John Mwansa, regretted that some opposition politicians were basing their campaigns on character assassination at the expense of issues affecting the nation.

Mr Mwansa expressed confident that the ruling MMD would emerge victorious in the October 30 Presidential elections because it was basing its campaigns on issues.

Mr Mwansa said MMD candidate Rupiah Banda, is the only candidate, among those that have so far declared interest to contest the elections, with the vision of sustaining national economic growth.

He said the MMD was fully aware of the confidence that the people of Zambia have in the party as regards the need for continuity in the implementation of national economic programmes.

And opposition Forum for Democracy and Development, FDD, has challenged aspiring presidential candidates to desist from politics of insults and concentrate on how they would improve the people’s economic welfare once voted into power.

FDD Provincial Publicity Secretary Mr. James Musemuna regretted that aspiring candidates were not indicating measures they will employ to revamp operations at Kafuel Textiles of Zambia and Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia.

Justice Mumba from ECZ defends her meetings with RB

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Electoral Commission of Zambia, ECZ, Chairperson, Florence Mumba, says her recent visits to the Office of the President were part of the Commission’s procedure in holding national elections.

Justice Mumba has explained that she recently met Acting President, Rupiah Banda, on two occasions in line with the necessary procedure in an event of national elections.

Justice Mumba told ZANIS in a statement this evening that her first meeting with Mr Banda was to discuss the possible date for the Presidential elections in view of the school examination calendar.

She also indicated that on the second occasion the meeting was called to advise the Acting President on the preparedness of the Commission to meet the target within the 90 day period in accordance with the law.

She said the two meetings were held before the ruling MMD elected Mr Banda as its candidate in the Presidential elections.

“The meetings were held before the Acting President was elected by the National Executive Committee of the MMD as its Presidential Candidate,” read Justice Mumba’s statement.

Wednesday Football Updates

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-Kabwe Warriors and Zambia national team striker Emmanuel Mayuka on Monday left for trials at Israel club Maccabi Haifa.

Warriors sources disclosed today that Mayuka will be on trials at Maccabi for 7 days.

“He (Mayuka) left on Monday and they sent the letters for his trials a long time ago so we were under some pressure to do this deal,” the source said.

Mayuka has missed both Monday and Tuesday of the Zambia Under-20’s training camp in Lusaka.

The Zambia Under-20 team is in camp preparing for their Rwanda 2009 Caf Africa Youth Cup 2nd round, 1st leg qualifier away to Egypt Under-20 to be played on Friday September 26.

The source said Mayuka will join the team in Egypt after attending his trials at Maccabi.

Mayuka’s absence means he will miss Warriors’ commencement of the BP Top 8 title defence this Saturday against Young Arrows whom they meet at the Trade Fair Grounds in Ndola.

The Warriors striker is this years top scorer with 12 goals in all competition- 4 of those goals came with the Zambia national team.

-Elsewhere, Faz has banned all political parties from displaying presidential election campaign symbols or chanting slogans at all Faz organized matches.

The ban comes as political parties begin a frenzied campaign ahead of the October 30 presidential elections that will take place following the death of president Levy Mwanawasa on August 19 in Paris after suffering a stoke.

Faz communications officer Erick Mwanza advised all political parties from using football match gatherings as an avenues to campaign for their respective presidential candidates.

Zambia Under-20 team List:

Goalkeepers:William Chibale (Lusaka Dynamos), Richard Musheke (Western Province), Kelvin Musonda (Zanaco)

Defenders:Christopher Muntahli (Afrisports), Michael Katongo, Ackson Phiri (Both Kabwe Warriors), Moses Mulambi (Nchanga Rangers), Jimmy Chisenga (Red Arrows), Derrick Mwansa (Nkwazi), Chiyesu Sakufunya (Power Dynamos), Gift Sakuwaha (Chambishi)

Midfielders:Henry Banda (Zanaco0, John Chingandu, Innocent Mwaba (Both Zesco United), Musonda Munaile (Young Zanaco), Nathan Sinkala (Green Buffaloes), Evans Musonda (City of Lusaka), Stophila Sunzu (Chateauroux, France), Justin Zulu (Hapoel Beersheba, Israel)

Forwards:Roger Kola, Simon Silwamba, Kasuba Mwila (All Zanaco), Alex Mwiche (Forest Rangers), Daniel Kasongo (Power Dynamos), Morgan Kaoma (City of Lusaka), Tindi Mwanza (Green Eagles), Kamuti Kapambwa (Green Buffaloes), Emmanuel Mayuka (Kabwe Warriors)

Government to showcase Zambia abroad

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Government has stepped-up efforts to open-up tourism offices in all the Zambian embassies abroad in a bid to promote Zambia’s tourism potential.

Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources Minister Michael Kaingu says his ministry has since started holding meetings with Zambian envoys in the various countries in an effort to implement the programme.

Mr. Kaingu told ZANIS in an interview that the move is aimed at fulfilling the late President Levy Mwanawasa’s vision of enhancing the growth of the tourism sector.

He pointed out that once implemented, the initiative will also help in spearheading the showcasing of Zambia’s tourism potential on the global market.

Mr. Kaingu further disclosed that government was considering revising the new Visa Fees.

He said this follows consultations with the Ministry of Finance and National Planning on whether Zambia would suffer heavily in terms of foreign earnings.

He cited the United Kingdom, British Visa Fees and the United States Visa Fees as some of the Visa Fees that his ministry would consider revising.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kaingu has urged the people of Zambia to rally behind the Acting President Rupiah Banda in the forth-coming 30 October presidential elections.

Mr. Kaingu said voting for Mr. Banda and the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) party in particular will help not disrupt the late President Levy Mwanawasa’s vision of uplifting the living standards of people and help to harness the growth of the country’s economy.

Mr. Kaingu, who is also Mwandi area Member of Parliament, said voting for the ruling party will also help the country to continue implementing developmental programmes which Dr Mwanwasa embarked on during his reign as Republican President.

He has since appealed to Zambians to vote for Acting President Rupiah Banda whom he said was the only credible candidate committed to taking national development to greater heights

Government assures the nation of free and fair elections

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Government has assured the nation that no effort will be spared to ensure free and fair elections.

Justice Minister George Kunda says the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) is doing everything possible to ensure that polls are conducted in a free and fair manner to the satisfaction of all stakeholders.

Mr. Kunda says government has confident in the ECZ and assured the nation that the Commission was fully in charge of the electoral process.

He was speaking in Lusaka today shortly after he led Attorney General Mumba Malila and Director of Public Prosecution Chalwe Mchenga and other Ministry of Justice officers in laying wreaths on the tomb of the late President Mwanawasa at Embassy Park.

Mr. Kunda described the departed President as an icon who was exemplary in addressing judicial matters.

Traders protest, politically motivated- Mwandila

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Mufulira Town Clerk Charles Mwandila has described the protest by traders against the implementation of the revised trade licensing fees for 2009 as politically motivated.

Mr. Mwandila said it was not clear why traders in the district have decided to protect against the local authority now, when the Statutory instrument was signed by Commerce Minister Felix Mutati in June this year.

The revised trade licensing fees are contained in a Statutory Instrument Act number 65 of 2008.

“Why should traders in Mufulira be the only ones to protest over the fees when the instrument was issued in June, why this time? He asked.

He said the motive behind the protest will be deemed political, because the Statutory Instrument came in effect at the time it was signed on behalf of Government.

Traders in Mufulira staged a protest against the council yesterday, for implementing the Statutory Instrument issued by the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry on revised trades licensing fees for 2009.

The license fees have been increased from K90,000 to K400,000 per year for new applicants and renewals.

Traders are complaining that the fees are too high, compared to their monthly income earnings and that the council did not consult them before effecting the adjustment.

“The fees were revised by Government after consultations so if they are too high, why should they protest against the council,” Mr. Mwandila asked.

He said the council informed the traders through notices that were issued last month, which indicated that the fees had been adjusted upwards.

He advised the aggrieved traders to direct their complaints to the Ministry of Commerce, not to the council.

HH challenged to prove corruption charges against RB

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A veteran politician in Mufulira has challenged United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema to substantiate his claims that Acting President Rupiah Banda was corrupt.

Levy Mwansa told ZANIS that the statement made by Mr. Hichilema was irresponsible and lacked merit.

Mr. Mwansa described the statement as a shame which should not come from a presidential candidate.

He advised the UPND leader to cease the opportunity to propagate the agenda of his party for the nation and not focus on character assassinating political rhetoric.

Mr. Mwansa, who is former Copperbelt Provincial UNIP chairperson, was reacting to a statement by Mr. Hichilema that Mr. Banda is corrupt and using state machinery to campaign.

He further said it was cheap politicking for Mr. Hichilema to state that the Acting President was wrong to distribute food stuffs in Katete District instead of delegating the function to the District Commissioner of the area.

State Summons Italian Ambassador Over Press Report

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The Government yesterday summoned Italian Ambassador to Zambia, Giovanni Ceruti for undiplomatic conduct over a newspaper report attributed to him that the Government should not kill Zambian Airways.
Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary, Tens Kapoma confirmed in an interview in Lusaka that he had summoned Dr Ceruti to his office over the statement, which was published in Monday’s edition of The Post newspaper.
In its Monday edition, The Post carried the story headlined, “Government has responsibility to keep Zambian Airways – envoy Ceruti”, quoting Dr Ceruti as having implored the Government not to “kill” Zambian Airways through unnecessary measures.
“The issue of the airline is a domestic issue which has assumed political dimensions and it would be undiplomatic for the ambassador to comment on it. He, however, profusely denied having said so and he has written to the paper to that effect,” Mr Kapoma said.
Mr Kapoma said although Dr Ceruti denied having made such comments attributed to him, he still apologised to the Government for having talked about the subject with a reporter.
He said that the comments attributed to the ambassador were undiplomatic, hence his decision to summon him.
When contacted for a comment Dr Ceruti confirmed that he had written to The Post on the matter, adding that he did not say what the paper reported.
“First of all, I would like to underline that when he (the reporter) asked me about the problem of Zambian Airways, immediately I answered that this is not a problem of my competence and that in any case it was not in my style to say what the Zambian Government must do or not do.
“Because of his insistence I said I could just speak of the general problem existing all over the world and first of all also in my country about the great difficulties airlines face at the moment.
“Always referring first of all to Italy, where you know the problem of Alitalia is a sensitive subject at this moment, I commented that there are two different schools of thought,” a copy of Dr Ceruti’s letter to The Post reads.
Dr Ceruti said the first school of thought was that the State must leave it up to the market to decide and the second one was that the Government could support the airline, in some ways, but still abiding by the rules of the market.
“But of course it is up to any government to make its own decisions,” Dr Ceruti said.
Zambian Airways has been going through turbulent times leading to its owing the National Airports Corporation Limited (NACL) US$1.6 million.

Times of Zambia

I did not endorse HH- Sata

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Following the launch of the Michael Sata campaign website, a copy website called hakainde.com was also launched.This was according to a Patriot Front spokesperson. The website had on its front page a claim that Mr Sata had endorsed HH.

Mr Sata has since refuted this  claim.” I cannot be a vice to someone who is under five and inexperienced…He has never met me to discuss a government of national unity. It’s a lie.”

Mr Sata further said “In 2006, I had more presidential votes than H.H, I had more MPs than H.H, I had more councilors than H.H . In 2006 when he represented 3 parties, H.H reduced the Mazoka led UPND from 49 to 22 MPs, he reduced FDD from 11 to 2 MPs, he reduced UNIP from 15 to 2 MPs. So what credentials has he got to consider me as vice? If in his eyes I am too old, why then should he consider me for vice? It’s all in his dreams and wishful thinking. We are filling nominations next week and we are very confident PF will form the next government”.

Zambia puts IT to use in October presidential election

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The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) will use biometric data to identify those replacing their lost voter registration cards for the Oct. 30 presidential election.

The ECZ has already established a permanent register, capturing biometric data from voters in the form of fingerprints, said ECZ deputy director of IT Brown Kasaro in an interview.

Fingerprints were collected prior to the 2006 general election, uncovering thousands of duplicate registrations, Kasaro said. Individuals were using multiple National Registrations Cards bearing different names, “either our of ignorance or just out of wanting to cheat,” he added. Despite arguments by opposition political parties in the 2006 elections, Kasaro also revealed that the ECZ will use computers and fax machines to manage results for the upcoming election.

To overcome fears of computer error, the ECZ intends to hold a series of meetings with political parties on the process.

The ECZ hopes to tabulate results at the Mulungushi International Conference Center, Kasaro said, with the Zambian National Broadcasting Corporation airing the proceedings live.

The commission will also use GIS (geographical information system) technology to produce maps in delineating each constituency prior to the election.

However, Zambia Media Women Association coordinator Emelda Yumbe expressed her fears in an interview that computers may be used to manipulate results and rig the election, noting most Zambians are not computer literate.

IDG news service

Chitala threatened to sack Daily Mail employees

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The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today protested over threats from a prominent member of the Zambian ruling party to sack employees of the government-owned Zambia Daily Mail newspaper after they did not publish articles he wrote.

“We protest the intimidation tactics used by M. Mbita Chitala,” said Gabriel Baglo, the Director of the IFJ Africa office. “The Zambia does not need the media environment to be polluted at this painful period in its history. We call on the government, ruling party members and all political party leaders to make sure journalists can work in total freedom during the upcoming race for the successor to the late President, Levy Mwanawasa.”

On August 30, Mbita Chitala, a member of the campaign team of the ruling party’s candidate for the presidency, went to the headquarters of the Zambia Daily Mail demanding to know why stories he sent them were not published.

According to Nigel Mulenga, the acting deputy editor of the newspaper and also the Secretary General of the Zambia Union of Journalists (ZUJ), despite explanations from staff members, Chitala “warned reporters and editors that they risked being sacked because this was ‘a matter of life and death.’”

The IFJ is supporting the ZUJ, which has said that the era of “threats is long gone and we demand an apology from him.”

The IFJ is also calling on the government and the political parties to publicly vow to respect press freedom and editorial independence for all media.

SOURCE : International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)

Wife not interested

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I am a man aged 40 years married to a beautiful woman. We have been married for 11 years now.

The problem has been the issue of Sex. She is what I may term a frigid woman. She does not like sex. Besides me trying to give enough quality and quantity she does not respond in the affirmative.

Recently she had a dental problem and her front tooth was removed. That has been reason enough that she does not want to be kissed. It has now been 1 year No Kiss from my dear wife and I love kisses. What do I do?

Worried Man

Please give mature advise

NCC suspends sitting indefinitely

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The National Constitutional Conference -NCC- has suspended its sitting indefinitely.
NCC Chairman Chifumu Banda says the conference will only reconvene after next months Presidential Election to allow delegates to participate in campaigns.
He told ZNBC news in Lusaka, Tuesday, that after a lot of consultation, the NCC decided to suspend sittings until after the Presidential by-election.
Mr. Banda however, could not say when the NCC sittings will start but stated that the conference will wait for the dates of the next parliamentary sittings before making a new calender.He said this is because NCC does not meet while parliament is in session.
The NCC plenary was supposed to meet this month to consider recommendations made by the three committees which met in July.

ZNBC

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