The Long awaited Free Trade Area (FTA) for Southern African Development Community (SADC) was officially launched, Sunday.

New SADC chairman South Africa’s president Thabo Mbeki urged SADC countries to utilise the FTA to achieve economic growth and integration in the region.

Mbeki also called on SADC countries to become active players in the global economic arena which he said was dominated by countries such as China, India and the Americas, among others.

Premised on the gradual remova of barriers to trade, the SADC FTA is a culmination of an eight year process that started with signing of the SADC Trade Protocol by member states in 1996 which came in effect in 2000.

In addition to the Trade Protocol, = SADC member states have also adopted the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan, RISDP, which outlines the roadmap for further and deeper regional integration.

Principally, the FTA will allow goods originating from SADC member states to enter each others markets free of customs duty.

ZANIS/MM/BMK/ENDS

Government is in the process of recruiting 5,000 new teachers who will be deployed to various schools across the country to improve the pupil-teacher ratio especially in rural areas.

Education Minister Geoffrey Lungwangwa has also disclosed that his ministry is finalizing the process of transforming Kwame Nkhuruma and Copperbelt Secondary Teachers Colleges into university colleges to provide teachers the opportunity to upgrade their qualifications to degree level.

Professor Lungwangwa says Government will also construct 13 new high schools, 233 basic schools and 228 housing units for teachers countrywide by the end of this year.

The minister said this in a speech read on his behalf by his Deputy Clement Sinyinda at a dinner for the Basic Education Teachers’ Union of Zambia, BETUZ, in Lusaka Last night.

Professor Lungwangwa further said a total of 799 new classrooms will be constructed as part of the Ministry’s infrastructure operational plan for 2008.

He said government is also in the process of procuring 100 second-hand motor vehicles for head teachers in the country as an addition to the K3 billion allocated to all provinces last year for the same purpose.
ZANIS/BK/ENDS

Zambia needs a cadre of highly innovative, qualified and self motivated individuals to propel the country in achieving its vision of becoming a middle income nation by the year 2030.

Finance and National Planning minister Ng’andu Magande told scores of youths attending the Teenagers and Youths Conference at Mulungushi International Conference centre in Lusaka today that unless they play their roles correctly, the country will not attain the vision 2030.

Mr Magande urged the youths to play their individual roles well and to have personal integrity if they are to meaningfully contribute to the achievement of the country’s intended goals.

The minister explained that the Vision 2030 reflects the collective destiny of the people of Zambia to be a prosperous middle income country.

He advised the youths to have a positive attitude and inspiration to turn Zambia into a developed country.

At the same function, Head of the European Delegation, Derrick Fee said young people should believe in themselves as they face the challenges of life.

Conference Convener Chibamba Kanyama said the conference is meant to create a future for young people and that of the nation.

And renowned motivational speaker Felix Banda urged the youths to be courageous, disciplined and passionate about what they want to achieve in life.

In her vote of thanks, Chiluba Chimwemwe urged fellow youths to use the knowledge they will learn from the conference to better their lives.
ZANIS/CBM/BK/BMK/ENDS

Zambia has been challenged to take advantage of the SADC Free Trade Area, FTA, which will be launched in South Africa tomorrow, to increase trade with its eight neighbours as well as other countries in the region.

EU head of delegation to Zambia Derrick Fee says Zambia should use the FTA to boost its growing economy.

In an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today, Dr Fee commended SADC member states for the progress in establishing the Free Trade Area in the region.

He said the launch of the SADC FTA is a significant step towards improving trade and economic growth among Southern African countries.

Dr Fee said the EU hopes a bigger FTA will be established for East and Southern African countries during the tripartite meeting of SADC, the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Eastern African Community to be held in Uganda in October this year.

The SADC FTA will be launched tomorrow on the last day of the SADC heads of state government summit which opened in the South Africa’s commercial capital Johannesburg today.

It is aimed at eliminating tariffs and non tariff barriers on substantially all trade among SADC member countries.

The FTA is a key milestone towards achieving the SADC goal of pursuing a common regional integration agenda premised on political, economic and trade interests.

It is expected to create a regional market worth US$360 billion with a total population of 170 million and includes economies growing by up to 7 per cent.
ZANIS/BK/BMK/ENDS

Outspoken clergyman Bishop John Mambo has urged Zambians to maintain the momentum in denouncing the proposed increase of salaries and allowances for the President, ministers and constitutional office-holders.

Bishop Mambo told ZANIS in an interview today that the proposed increase of salaries and allowances for the President, ministers and constitutional office-holders is immoral and unjustified.

Bishop Mambo, who is Chikondi Foundation founder, said the proposed hike of salaries and allowances should not be entertained as they are many areas of priority that desperately need such resources.

He cited the health and education sectors as some of the sectors that urgently need resources.

Bishop Mambo pointed out that some health centers lack life-saving medicines and are deficient of skilled labour while some schools are dilapidated and the teachers are de-motivated because they are poorly enumerated.

He said doctors at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) and lecturers at the University of Zambia (UNZA) are demanding for better perks, but government has been slow to respond.

Bishop Mambo further warned that if the proposed salary hike is implemented, donors and cooperating partners could loose confidence in Zambia.

He said such a hike of salaries and allowances portrays a picture that Zambia has sufficient recourses but that such resources are being misapplied.

Bishop Mambo also pointed out that the crusade against corruption would not yield the desired results because the national cake is not being fairly shared.

He said it would not do for some individuals to award themselves hefty salaries and allowances when other workers such as public service employees are poorly paid.

The three bills whose objectives are to increase salaries and allowances for the President, ministers and constitutional officer-holders have since passed the committee stage.

And MMD officials in Kasama this morning protested over the proposed new emoluments constitutional office holders and senior government officials.

The MMD officials led by District Chairperson, David Chanda, stormed the ZANIS offices in Kasama today in protest against he proposed hefty salaries for the senior government officials and constitutional office holders.

The officials described the move by Government to adjust the emoluments as selfish, saying the party in the district will not support proposal because it comes at a time when the country was facing economic problems.

The officials accused Government leaders of taking advantaged of President Levy Mwanawasa’s absence due to sickness to impose their will on the people.

They charged that there was no justification for the increase because Members of Parliament were already getting hefty allowances for sitting on the National Constitutional Conference, NCC.

The officials warned that they will not support any leaders who exhibit selfishness in the way they handle issues of national interest.

They charged that the recent developments were a testimony that leaders did not have national interest at heart but existed to fulfill selfish desires.

They regretted that project of national importance such as the rehabilitation of the Kasama-Luwingu Road, have stalled due to alleged lack of resources but at the same time leaders were insisting on paying themselves hefty salaries and allowances at the expense of national development.

The bills that sought to increase salaries and allowances for constitutional office holders and senior government officials have since passed through the stages of Parliament and now await presidential ascent.

ZANIS/ENDS/HM/SJK

Dear friends,

I have been married for over 7 years and we have two children but my husband is in the habit of beating me for no reason at all. I want to end this madness but I don’t know how.We are both
graduates and honestly I did not expect such from him. As a result I have been carrying this anger in me for a long time at times at night I feel like getting anything to hit him hard.
Please advise,I would like to know how others have handled such brutality from their
spouses.

yours Lara(not real name)

FORMER Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) chairman and Chief Executive Francis Kaunda and Access Financial Services (AFS) Director Faustin Kabwe have been jailed for two years each with hard labour for abuse of office and conspiracy to defraud.

In the first count, Kaunda, 70, was charged with abuse of authority after he allegedly offered Ndola Primary School to Ndola Trust School for sale.

In the second count, Kaunda was charged with Kabwe with conspiracy to defraud ZCCM by arbitrarily offering Ndola Primary School to Ndola Trust School, an act that was prejudicial to the interests of the Government.

High Court deputy registrar, Edward Musona sitting in the magistrate’s court sentenced Kaunda to two years imprisonment in the first count and another two years in the second count of conspiracy to defraud.

The sentences will however run concurrently. Kabwe was also jailed two years for conspiracy to defraud.

In passing sentence, Mr Musona said he appreciated that the crime committed was a misdemeanor but that he had observed some seriousness in the circumstances of the offense.

He said that the school was not sold to the right buyer as per privatisation guidelines and that the two were senior citizens who were supposed to lead by example.

The court was satisfied that Kaunda was contracted to assist in the sale of ZCCM assets and was therefore described as a public officer.

Mr Musona noted that Ndola Primary School PTA had offered K520 million while Nsansa School offered a total of US$300,000. He also noted that the valuation for the school was K400 million.

He said the offer was not given to Nsansa Primary School, which was the preferred bidder but instead a firm called Cave Malik made a bid after the closing date and offered K200 million which was less than what other bidders had offered.

Mr Musona also observed that at the time, Ndola Trust School was not yet registered and Bimo Thaker, the lawyer who represented Cave Malik and was also a consultant for ZCCM at the time of privatisation was still on the run.

He said Ndola Trust School communicated their offer after the closing date for bids and that what happened was unusual because the school was sold to a fictitious and non-existent entity represented by Kabwe.

The court stated that Kaunda knew that Kabwe who had signed for the bidder was his friend and that he never declared interest.

Mr Musona said the school could have been sold to anyone provided that the procedure was followed and that Ndola Trust School could not have had the experience because it was not yet registered.

He said the State had proved that there was dishonesty in the manner the school was offered and that the Government and ZCCM lost out on the higher bids and Nsansa School, which had the past experience of running schools.

In defence, Kaunda had stated that it was not true that he conspired with Kabwe to sell the school without the approval of the owners who were ZCCM.

He said he did not arbitrarily offer the school because it was not possible as ZCCM assets had to be sold by ZCCM themselves through the negotiating team.

In mitigation, Kaunda and Kabwe through their lawyers, Vincent Malambo and John Sangwa urged the court to be lenient in sentencing them because the offense was a misdemeanor and therefore a custodial sentence was not necessary.

The lawyers said the fact that their clients had been found guilty was enough punishment and that the court should consider that it had not been proved that Kaunda and Kabwe benefited from the transaction and therefore did not deserve the jail term.

After judgement, Mr Sangwa indicated that his client was going to appeal to the high court.

Speaker of the National Assembly Amuusa Mwanamwambwa has warned of stern action against Members of Parliament uttering unprintables against a fellow member during the parliamentary deliberations.

Mr Mwanamwambwa who guided the house against the using of unparliamentary language while in the house said he would not be hesitating to eject MPs uttering unprintables against their fellow Members.

He said it has become too common for Members of Parliament to be making noise and uttering unparliamentary language which he said were disrupting parliamentary deliberations.

Mr Mwanamwambwa warned Members of the House against making noise while a Member of the House was on the floor debating.

He further cautioned Members of Parliament not to be debating rumors in the House saying that the House was a highly respective institution where all MPs should debate on pertinent and factual issues.

Meanwhile, government has instituted a Technical Committee to address the educational impasses at the country’s higher learning institutions.

Education Minister Geoffrey Lungwangwa told Parliament in Lusaka today that government has been prompted to institute a Technical Committee to deal with problems facing the higher learning institutions such as the University of Zambia and Copperbelt University with a view to creating educational stability at the institutions.

Professor Lungwangwa said the Technical Committee has been tasked to device various mechanisms that will help the higher learning institutions to become stable from unnecessary closures.

The Education Minister was responding to a oral and answer question raised by Nchanga area Member of Parliament Charles Chimumbwa (PF) who wanted to know if government had intentions of coming up with deliberate measures to address educational impasses at the country’s higher learning institutions.

Professor Lungwangwa further disclosed that government had completed auditing the University of Zambia (UNZA) which he said would also help in resolving some of the problems facing the institutions.

He however said that government through his ministry was concerned with the behaviour some students were exhibiting which he said was contributing to educational instability at the high learning institutions.

Professor Lungwangwa further called on the opposition political parties to come onboard and complement government efforts in addressing problems facing the higher learning institutions instead of using Universities as political battlefields.

ZANIS/TK/AM/ENDS

Vice President Rupiah Banda says President Levy Mwanawasa has continued to respond positively to treatment.

Mr. Banda has since urged the nation to remain peaceful and continue praying for his quick recovery.

He also advised government and the civil service to continue working hard so that President Mwanawasa finds the country in order when he returns home.

Mr. Banda was speaking when out going British High Commissioner to Zambia, Alistair Harrison paid a courtesy call on him at government house.

He commended Mr. Harrison for his exemplary work during his tenure office adding that government and the country as a whole will greatly miss him.

And out going British High Commissioner to Zambia, Alistair Harrison paid tribute to Zambians for remaining calm and united during the absence of President Mwanawasa.

Mr. Harrison said the international community is impressed with the spirit of unity across the political spectrum adding that Zambians should continue praying for the quick recovery of President Mwanawasa.

He further thanked government for the support rendered to him during his tenure of office.

Mr. Harrison noted that Zambia and Britain have continued to enjoy good bilateral relations adding that his government will continue to offer financial assistance to Zambia.

The British government has welcomed the sentencing to jail of former Zambia Consolidated Copper Mine (ZCCM) Chairman Francis Kaunda and Former Access Financial Services Director Faustin Kabwe.

Out going British High Commissioner to Zambia, Alistair Harrison said the sentencing to jail of Mr. Kabwe and Mr. Kaunda to two years imprisonment will serve s a deterrent to would be offenders.

Mr. Harrison said this in an interview with the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in Lusaka today.

He said the imprisonment of the two should send a strong signal to those fond of engaging themselves in corrupt practices that the law will one day visit them.

Acting Lusaka deputy high court registrar Edward Musona on Wednesday sentenced Mr. Kaunda and Kabwe to two year in jail after finding them guilty of conspiring to defraud ZCCM.

Meanwhile Mr. Harrison has appealed to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) heads of states who will be meeting in South Africa this weekend to be optimistic and put on their agenda the Zimbabwe political crisis.

Mr. Harrison said SADC leaders should endeavor to resolve the political situation in Zimbabwe amicably for the betterment of people and the region as a whole.

He noted that Zambia as the current chair of SADC has done a commendable job towards resolving the political situation in Zimbabwe but that more effort is needed from other countries in the region.

Mr. Harrison has since thanked President Mwanawasa for his good leadership during his tenure of office as SADC chairperson.

Zambia will be handing over the SADC chairmanship to South Africa this weekend.

ZANIS/YK/AM/ENDS