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

The Zambian delegation led by Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) Chairperson Judge Florence Mumba currently in South Africa’s Port City, Durban is tomorrow (Tuesday) morning expected to sign off  the ballot paper dummies (proofs) for Ndola Central and Mwansabombwe constituencies.

The Zambian delegation comprising ECZ officials, four political parties (MMD, Heritage Party, Patriotic Front and UPND) are expected to verify the dummies after which they will append their signatures at South Africa’s Universal Printing Company (Uniprint) in Durban.  Civil Society representatives will also witness the exercise. The company has been contracted by ECZ to print over four million presidential ballot papers and electoral materials for the two constituencies including Kanchibiya which has since been completed at an estimated cost of over US$4 million.

ECZ Senior Public Relations Officer Sylvia Bwalya in an interview with Journalists here today said political parties and ECZ officials will append their signatures on the electoral materials at an event which will also be witnessed by Civil Society representatives. Ms Bwalya said once the constituency ballot paper proofs have been approved by stakeholders, this would enable printing of the electoral materials to be done simultaneously with the presidential ballot papers.Printing of the presidential ballot papers started on Friday last week.
‘The signing off will ensure that all the electoral materials are printed simultaneously’, She said.

All the electoral materials to be used in the presidential election and the three by elections slated for October 30 are expected to be dispatched to Zambia this week on Saturday (October 12).  Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has reiterated that results for the presidential poll and three by elections (Ndola Central, Mwansabombwe and Kanchibiya) would be pasted at all polling stations to accord  everyone access.The ECZ Senior Public Relations Officer disclosed this in an interview with journalists here today (Monday). Ms Bwalya explained that ECZ adopted this concept from Zimbabwe and the Commission was also responding to calls by various stakeholders requesting the same to be done to consolidate transparency.

‘In the past people did not have access to these results at the polling stations.  Polling agents, other electoral agents and observers would carry the results with them after the polling and nothing was left at the stations’’. She said.  Besides, Mulungushi Conference Centre as a station for result announcements, Ms Bwalya further disclosed that another result centre will be opened at the ECZ headquarters.

‘’There will be two result centres at the Electoral Commission of Zambia Headquarters and Mulungushi Conference Centre’’. She added. In view of this, she advised that stakeholders wishing to have access to the two centres should get separate accreditation for the two, failure to which they will be denied entry.  Meanwhile, Ms Bwalya has advised various political parties participating in the forthcoming presidential election to ensure that they employ polling agents conversant with the electoral process. The ECZ  observed that the polling agents were the eyes of political parties hence the need for them to be well versed with the electoral process. She said that ECZ will conduct training for the polling agents and the meeting slated for Friday between the Commission and political parties in Lusaka was expected to address such issues.

‘’The polling agents are supposed to be spread in 6 456 polling agents and it is important for them to be conversant with the electoral process’’. Ms Bwalya said.

Patriotic Front leader, Michael Sata, has accused first Republican President Dr. Kenneth Kaunda of failing to develop the Northern Province during his 27 year tenure in office.

Mr. Sata asserts that Chinsali District where Dr. Kaunda hails from has lagged behind in terms of development.

Mr. Sata also wonder’s why Dr. Kaunda chose to have his pension house built in Lusaka instead of Chinsali District.

ZANIS reports that the PF leader said this at a campaign rally in Kasama.

Mr. Sata also said it was unfortunate that Dr. Kaunda has chosen to attack his capability to manage the affairs of the country if elected as republican president.

The PF leader said he has waited for several decades to lead Zambia and that time has now come for him to become president.

On Saturday, Dr. Kaunda was quoted by the media as saying Mr. Sata has no capacity to lead Zambia.

He said the PF leader was only suitable to head a government Ministry, as the position of president required a number of qualities.

ZNBC

Zambia’s liberation hero, Kenneth Kaunda, has endorsed acting president Rupiah Banda ahead of an election later this month, state media reported on Sunday.

Former head of state Kaunda said Banda, and not populist chief opposition leader Michael Sata of the Patriotic Front (PF), who has been drawing huge crowds at his campaign rallies, would make a good president.

“I am happy with the leadership skills shown by the acting president,” state radio quoted Kaunda as saying, adding he hoped Banda would continue holding the office of president.

“He (Sata) is good as governor and minister but I don’t think he can work as a president. I don’t hate him, but if voters elect him, it is their own fault,” Kaunda was quoted as saying by the state-owned Sunday Times newspaper.

Banda became acting president after the death in August of Levy Mwanawasa, praised by investors for stabilising the mineral-rich southern African nation and fighting corruption.

Analysts say Kaunda’s comments may swing a few more votes to Banda. No clear favourite has emerged ahead of the October 30 presidential poll.

State media also reported that the Electoral Commission of Zambia’s (ECZ) director of elections, Dan Kalale, said the budget for the poll would be 231 billion kwacha and that Zambia had asked donors to help finance it.

Finance Minister Ngandu Magande told Reuters last month he expected the cost of the election to widen the budget deficit beyond the projected 1.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), but it would be kept below 2 percent.

Reuters