WORLD renowned tele-vangelist Thomas Dexter Jakes, fondly referred to as TD Jakes, is expected in Zambia on Monday to meet the presidential hopefuls in an effort to maintain the prevailing peace ahead of this month’s presidential election.

Freedom Summit convenor, Nevers Mumba said at a media briefing in Lusaka yesterday that Bishop TD Jakes would pay a courtesy call on the acting President, Rupiah Banda and meet all the presidential hopefuls before talking to the Christianity fraternity.

Dr Mumba said Bishop Jakes’ visit would give hope to the country which was expected to maintain peace during the political transition ahead and after this month’s presidential election following the death of president Levy Mwanawasa.

He was flanked by Miracle Life Church senior pastor Schurtz Walker, Northmead Assemblies of God Church Bishop, Joshua Banda and Barak Ministries pastor Godfrey Mhusambazi in Lusaka.

“This is the first time that Bishop Jakes will be visiting Zambia and he comes into the country to give hope to the nation through the Church leadership during this time of political transition,” Dr Mumba said.

He said Zambia had seen tragedy in the past such as the death of president Mwanawasa but was happy the country was a Christian nation, hence the peace, which was prevailing currently.

Dr Mumba said the summit to be held at Mulungushi International Conference Centre (MICC) was expected to attract the church and private sector, where Bishop Jakes would address them before having a business and leaders’ banquet at Padmozi Hotel.

He said currently, Bishop Jakes was in South Africa conducting a mega conference which was drawing an attendance of more than 100,000 men and women.

Bishop TD Jakes senior was born on June 9, 1957 and is the pastor of the Potters House, a 30,000 non-denominational member Church in Dallas, Texas.

The visiting bishop’s Church services and evangelical sermons are broadcast on the Potter’s Touch which airs on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Black Entertainment and the Word network.

Times of Zambia

The law Association of Zambia has assured all Zambians  that the fourth coming presidential by-elections  shall  be transparent and integrity  in all the electoral process  in order to maintain peace and security in the country.

Law association of Zambia LAZ, Human rights committee  convener  Abraham Mwanza said there is need for all political parties to accept and respect the election results proclaimed to have been free and fair by the electoral Commission of Zambia  in accordance with the law of the land .

Mr Mwnza  also said necessary measure will be taken and precautions to prevent the perpetration of Fraud , rigging or other illegal practices  of the entire electoral process to maintain peace and security.

He said  this in a statement made available to ZANIS in Lusaka today.

Mr Mwansa noted that the association will  facilitate the deployment of representatives of political parties and individual candidates at polling  and counting stations and also accredit national and other observers  Monitors .

He  however noted that LAZ shall cherish the impartiality of the electoral Commission of Zambia and the independence of the Judiciary as well as other law enforcement agencies during the electoral processes.

Mr. Mwanza further said that adequate logistics and resources for carrying out Democratic elections will be provided and adequate security to all parties participating in the fourth coming elections.

He stressed that equal opportunity to exercise the right to vote and be voted for will be safeguarded as the human and civil liberties of all citizens include the freedom of movement, association, expression and campaign.

mr mwanza noted that Zambia will follow the United nations and African union  Declaration on the principals and gidelines governing Democratic elections in africa.

He noted that Zambia is adhereces to the principals and giudelines governing democratic elections promulgated by the SADC member states which was signed in namibia Windhoak  in 1992. hoping that zambia being state party  to the SADC treaty will observe the laws that have been put in place

And The Electoral Commission of Zambia repeated that it will display results of the forthcoming presidential election at various polling stations after the counting process is concluded.

ECZ Senior Public Relations officer, Sylvia Bwalya, told ZNBC on Monday that the commission has adopted a system used in Zimbabwe.

She said this in order to make the entire election process transparent.

Ms. Bwalya said the system will also avoid suspicion of rigging.

She said the ECZ has also allowed representatives of stakeholders to monitor the printing of ballot papers in South Africa to ensure the electoral process is transparent.

And the representatives who are currently in Durban told journalists that they are happy with the exercise.

The stakeholders say the gesture by the Electoral Commission of Zambia to allow them to monitor the exercise has dispelled fears of malpractice during the forthcoming election.

Ends ah/zans/lsk

No Zambian medical personnel who treated the  South African woman suffering from a lethal mysterious flu like disease has died.

And neither has any Zambian who came into contact with Cecilia Van Deventer died, from the disease which at present is being considered incurable.

Van Deventer who was being treated at a private hospital in Lusaka died later in South Africa where she had been evacuated for further treatment.

The Paramedic who escorted her and a nurse who attended to her is also reported to have died.

The driver of the ambulance that ferried Van Deventer is said to be dead as well.

Patients with the disease develop a fever, cough and bleed from various parts of their bodies before dying.

The Executive Director at Care for Business Hospital where Van Deventer was treated, Ramesh Panchal, said all the emplyees are safe.

He said Van Deventer was treated at the hospital but later sought attention from two other hospitals before leaving for South Africa.

And Dr. Panchal disclosed that the National Institute of Communicable Diseases in South Africa has sent a team of experts to investigate the disease.

He said Professor, Bob Swanepoel, from the institute visited his hospital on Monday.

And Health Minister, Brian Chituwo says there is no medical evidence to suggest that Van Deventer contracted the lethal flu like mysterious disease from Zambia.

Dr. Chituwo says there is equally no evidence of any Zambian who have contracted the disease.

He told ZNBC news in Lusaka on Tuesday evening that doctors and nurses who attended to her within Zambia are all well.

Dr Chituwo, announced the outbreak of the mysterious disease in a statement released on Monday.

ZNBC

ACTING Republican President, Rupiah Banda has assured of continued price reductions in the essential commodities in the country.

Mr Banda was reacting to United Liberal Party (ULP) president Sakwiba Sikota who commended him at Sesheke Airstrip yesterday for having successfully reduced the price of fuel.

“This Government has managed to bring down the prices of mealie meal and fuel so I call on you the people of Sesheke to vote for Mr Banda,” Mr Sikota had said.

In response, Mr Banda said he was committed to ensuring price reductions of essential commodities in the country.

He cited the recent price reductions for fuel and mealie meal, which would go a long way in assisting the poor in the country.

Mr Banda bemoaned the high poverty levels in Zambia and called on whoever would take up leadership on October 30, to consider the plight of the poor people in Zambia.

“I will continue reducing prices whenever possible. I intend to reduce further the cost of fuel in the country. That was just the beginning,” he said.

He said Zambia was a wealthy country and appealled to the people of Sesheke to vote for him on October 30 so that he could develop the country.

“The duty of the next president will be to fight poverty. I give you my promise that we will uplift the standard of living of Zambians throughout the country. We will ensure that the late Dr Mwanawasa’s programmes are fulfilled,” Mr Banda said.

He thanked Southern Province chiefs and all other Chiefs throughout the country for endorsing his candidature.

Earlier, MMD national chairman Michael Mabenga called on the people of Sesheke to vote for Mr Banda and avoid listening to detractors.

Mr Sikota said Zambians should not waste their votes by voting for UPND president Hakainde Hichilema or Patriotic Front leader Michael Sata as the two had minority seats in Parliament and could therefore not make decisions.

“Africa is currently littered with warring countries so don’t take risks but rather vote for Rupiah Banda and ensure development of this country,” Mr Sikota said.

MMD Sesheke district chairman, Adons Mufalali assured Mr Banda of a 100 per cent support in Western Province.

Western Province chairman, Simasiku Namakando urged the people of Sesheke to vote for Mr Banda for development.

Meanwhile, Mr Banda has assured the people of Southern Province of further development to reduce poverty if elected president, reports Edward Mulenga from Choma.

Addressing a rally at Boma square, Mr Banda said the province was a heartland of Zambian politics and it was his desire to see it return to its political status as opposed to isolation.

Mr Banda said with his vast political and diplomatic experience and commitment to people’s welfare, he would ensure more schools were built in the province, which he said had produced many intellectuals including engineers and doctors.

The acting president said having worked with the late president Levy Mwanawasa who detested poverty, he understood Dr Mwanawasa’s vision better and was the right person to carry on with it.

He also warned the people against voting for a person who would cause confusion in the country especially those whose names were associated with snakes.

Thanking the people of the province for their support and cooperation during the time he had been in charge of the country, Mr Banda said he had no doubt that people would vote for him for peace to continue.

Mr Banda also said many leaders from opposition political parties had endorsed his candidature because they knew MMD was a democratic party whose leadership has been subjected to the transparent selection process.

“I am a candidate of a party that has the most democracy. Most leaders in the party are elected. To become an MMD candidate, we had to go through a rigorous process of electing the candidate from 15 people,” Mr Banda said.

He said the difference between him and other presidential candidates was that he was a team player whose works have been characterised by working for the people in his life, unlike others who had only done something for themselves.
Times of Zambia

Fate brought Racheal Mofya to the U.S. to further her goals — and put her on the commuter train that collided with a freight. She has been hospitalized, unconscious, ever since.

She has not regained consciousness since the deadly Metrolink crash on Sept. 12, which left her with a fractured skull, a broken ankle, a dislocated hip, third-degree burns, and lacerations on her face and one of her legs.

But “we gain little increments of hope,” said Pat Abruzzese. He and his wife, Joanne, have spent hour after hour by Mofya’s side in the intensive care unit at County-USC Medical Center.

Mofya, 27, an exchange student from Zambia, had been living in the Abruzzeses’ Simi Valley home for a year when the crash occurred. That day, she had taken an early train home from her classes downtown. Joanne Abruzzese was at the train station, waiting for her.

Members of Mofya’s adopted Simi Valley family have stood by her bedside and prayed for a miracle ever since, joined in spirit by Mofya’s large family back home in southern Africa.

One of her older sisters, Martha, who is also studying in the United States, flew in from Minneapolis to join the vigil the day after the crash and has rarely left her room. Another older sister, Agnes, who lives in Zambia, is trying to get a visa and raise money for a plane ticket. The Abruzzeses are helping her.

Both families continue to hope that Mofya will one day awaken and resume the extraordinary journey that took her from her impoverished country to California as one of eight students chosen from 200 for a highly competitive Rotary program. Mofya was close to finishing her business studies at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in downtown Los Angeles, the Abruzzeses said. Her plan was to work for a year in the United States to save some money, then return to Zambia to open a cosmetics business.

Right now, those dreams seem a long way off.

Mofya recently got skin grafts to replace flesh burned in the early moments of the crash. Doctors say she also may need a corneal transplant.

If it was fate that led Mofya to Metrolink 111, fate also played a role in bringing her from one of the poorest nations in the world to the Abruzzeses’ upscale home.

Pat Abruzzese, finance officer for a Chatsworth cabling company, said he just happened to be in the office of the local Rotary Club one day when he heard the executive director say that they needed a family to host a student from Zambia for a year. On the spot, he offered.

“We didn’t put much thought into it,” he said. “But I knew we had the room, so I thought, ‘Why not?’ ”

Studious and soft-spoken, Mofya is devoted to her studies, Pat Abruzzese said. She calls the Abruzzeses Mom and Dad and has developed a close bond with their two children, Jaime, 20, and T.J., 16.

“She fit right in with us,” said Pat Abruzzese. “She became part of the family.”

English is the primary language in Zambia, an independent nation in southern Africa that has a small middle class, widespread AIDS and grinding poverty. Mofya, always proper, spoke “the Queen’s English” and corrected her Simi Valley family when they uttered American colloquialisms, Pat Abruzzese said with a laugh.

Mofya is one of six children raised by a grandmother in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, who stepped in after both parents died, one of malaria and the other of a gastrointestinal illness.

Mofya’s family had a small farm on the outskirts of Lusaka, a city of 1.2 million. Mofya is ambitious, viewing her stay in the United States as an opportunity not only to open her own business but to create jobs for other Zambians, Pat Abruzzese said.

She crammed courses that normally take 18 months into one year, and she got straight A’s, he said.

“She was competitive. She knew she had been given a chance and wanted to make the best of it.”

Their life together soon had its routines. Mofya would be up early every morning, waiting for Pat Abruzzese to take her to the Simi Valley Metrolink station. She rode the commuter line to and from her Los Angeles campus every week day, he said.

“She’d be at the bottom of the stairs and say, ‘Dad, I’m ready. Let’s go,’ ” he said.

Mofya also carved out her own territory. After joining a singles group sponsored by the family’s church, she became friends with dozens of local young people, the Abruzzeses said.

On Sept. 12, Mofya phoned home to say she was taking an earlier train because she had plans. Joanne Abruzzese was waiting for her at the Simi Valley station when she got word of the crash.

The Abruzzeses spent the next 12 hours calling hospitals and combing lists of the injured. Eventually, they joined the other frantic families gathered at Chatsworth High School.

At 3:15 a.m., someone called to say that a woman who matched Mofya’s description had been taken, in grave condition, to County-USC Medical Center. Could they come immediately, with a photograph, to identify her?

They found Mofya swollen and covered in bandages. Monitors beeped. A ventilator wheezed over her silent body. Joanne Abruzzese had the grim duty of calling Martha Mofya, 30, who has been in Minneapolis since January studying nursing. Martha sobbed and said she had seen a news report on the crash the night before and “had a sinking feeling.”

Her church friends have organized regular visits to her room. Their prayer chains have grown to include supporters from Canada, Vietnam, Thailand, and England, people who heard about Mofya’s story and were moved.

Friends bring food for the Abruzzeses, Martha Mofya, and whoever else happens to be standing vigil, the family said. They crowd a nearby visitors lounge and exchange news about Mofya’s condition.

Pat Abruzzese’s eyes grow soft as he talks about his daily visits to the young woman who has become like a daughter to him.

“I’m waiting for the day when she opens her eyes, looks at me and says, ‘Hi, Dad,’ ” he said.

Los Angeles Times

UNITED Party for National Development (UPND) president, Hakainde Hichilema, has pledged to ensure that the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) completes its work by June next year if he is elected president.

Speaking on Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)-sponsored television programme Race to Plot One, Mr Hichilema said that it was important that a timeframe was set for the NCC to complete the work.

He said that the Constitution-making process was cardinal and the UPND attached great importance to the NCC but there was need to stipulate the timeframe of its existence and work.

“The NCC should close by June 2009. It should conclude the work. We have been beating about the bush on the Constitution making,” Mr Hichilema said.

He also said the UPND would offer favourbale investment incentives for investors irrespective of their countries of origin. Mr Hichilema said that it was wrong to denounce some investors on the basis of their countries of origin or race.

What was important, he said, was to offer favourable investment climate to all, including Zambians as well as laws that would protect the local people.

There was need for the Government to deliberately come up with ways to encourage the participation of local people in the economic affairs of their nation.

Mr Hichilema said that the Government should ensure that investors coming in their country forge partnership with the local business people who usually lacked capital to invest.

He said it was the Government’s duty to ensure that the local people with bankable business proposals had access to the capital resources, which was the main hindrance to prosperity of Zambian investors.

Mr Hichilema reiterated his government’s planned investment in education to offer free education from primary to university and underscored the importance of education.

He said Zambia was endowed with a lot of resources, which needed to be tapped for the emancipation of the country from the pangs of poverty.

Describing himself as the economic manager, Mr Hichilema said he was the most suitable person to run Zambia at the moment among the four candidates because of his background.

On his chances to scoop the polls, Mr Hichilema said that he had travelled across the nation and the other candidates might not reach some places he had been to.

Others contesting the October 30 elections are acting president, Rupiah Banda, Patriotic Front president, Michael Sata and Heritage Party (HP) president, Godfrey Miyanda.

Times of Zambia