The Disability Movement has upheld President Mwanawasa’s retention of Ben Kapita as Minister of Agriculture and Co-operatives.

Disability Activists Elijah Ngwale who is blind, Lango Sinkamba and Felix Mutale who are physically disabled, say, President Mwanawasa’s retention of Ben Kapita as Minister, is a fulfillment of United Nations Conversions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Recently, Mr. Kapita was diagnosed with cancer of the spine and became disabled, thereby using a wheelchair for his mobility.

Subsequently, President Mwanawasa retained Kapita as Minister of Agriculture and Co-operatives and appointed Ms. Saifwanda as Minister of Agriculture and Co-operatives to work hand in hand with Ben Kapita.

The trio observed that what is required is to reorient and adapt Ben Kapita in order for him to be as effective as he was before he became disabled.

The trio has condemned politicians and the general public who are calling for the resignation of Kapita on grounds of his disability, describing such persons as practicing discrimination against persons with disabilities.

The trio has called upon disabled people’s organizations to give President Mwanawasa support as he formulates and implements programmes and policies of persons with disabilities in Zambia and the SADC region.

They said as President Mwanawasa is Chairman of SADC, he is also responsible for programmes and policies of persons with disabilities in the region.

A Mazabuka mother has abandoned her two children aged five and eleven years old and her whereabouts are not known since December last year.

A Good Samaritan, Christopher Nkalamo, who is keeping the children told ZANIS that the woman identified as Petronela Kayayi, disappeared last December after telling the children that she was going to Pemba to order some mushrooms but has not returned since.

Mr Nkalamo explained that he rescued the children when the landlord evicted them from the house and got hold of the household items as surety for the unpaid rentals.

He said he then got the children with the hope that the mother will return quickly but up to date, she has not returned from her business trip.

Mr Nkalamo is appealing to the father to the children, Siame Kachingwe, who is suspected to be in Mbala and working as a police officer to come and collect his children as he could not continue keeping them.

Oposition United Party for National Development (UPND) in Mazabuka is demanding for the immediate resignation of Food Reserve Agency management for failing to pay farmers their dues since July last year.

UPND District Chairman, Lloyd Buumba said FRA was demoralising farmers by not paying them on time so that they can acquire inputs.

Mr Buumba said most farmers have not sent their children to school because of the delay by FRA to pay them their money.

Mr Buumba, who is also Mazabuka Central Ward Councillor, said if the FRA boss can not resign, then he should be fired because he has let down the farmers.

He told farmers who were protesting at the District Commissioner’s office that government should not take advantage of the farmers’ vulnerability.

He said failure by government to pay the farmers will have a negative effect on the crop production.

Meanwhile, The Cotton Development Trust (CDT) has predicted a reduction in the production of cotton in Southern province due to the peculiar rainfall pattern that the province has experienced this farming season.

CDT Director West Chita said in an interview today that several crops will be affected by the higher than normal rainfall that the province has experienced.

Mr Chita said cotton production is expected to be low compared to last year adding that the minimum amount of cotton the province will produce could be in the range of 40 to 60 percent.

He said excessive rains caused the fields to be water logged such that weeding and pest control were difficult and challenging to the farmers.

“Our assessment is that this has been a bad season. On crops like maize the effects have already been felt but on cotton there is still some hope that through good management and depending on the weather pattern,” Chita observed.

Mr Chita said organisations that deal with small scale farmers should help in creating awareness to farmers about the effects of global warming.

“Civil society, non governmental organisations, government and ginning companies should take a holistic approach on making sure that farmers are sensitized on the effects of global warming and climate change,” Mr Chita said.

He said farmers should not leave in the dark but they should instead follow meteorological information and advice in order to adapt to the changing climate.

Mine companies that fail to pay royalties 14 days after the end of the month in which the sale of the minerals is done will be prohibited from conducting further business outside their mining areas when a bill before Parliament is enacted.

This is according to the Mine and Minerals Development Bill 2008 which was tabled before Parliament by Minister of Justice, George Kunda on Friday.

The proposed law will repeal and replace the Mines and Minerals Act of 1995.

“Where the holder of a mining right fails to pay any royalty payable on or before the due date or any extension thereof allowed by the Zambia Revenue Authority Commissioner General, the Commissioner General may by order served on the holder, prohibit the disposal of any mineral from the mining area concerned until an arrangement has been made that is acceptable to the Commissioner General for the payment of the royalties,” the bill reads.

The bill states that any holder of a mining right who contravenes or fails to comply with an order given commits an offence and shall be liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand penalty units or imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or both.

In the case of a corporate body, it would be liable to a fine not exceeding one million penalty units.

“Where payment of any royalty is deferred, it shall be accumulated with any other deferred payment of royalty which is outstanding and the amount outstanding should be payable when the royalty is due,” the bill states.

It states that holders of large-scale mining and gemstone licences and small scale mining and gemstone licences shall pay a mineral royalty at the rate of three per cent of the normal value of the base metals produced or recoverable under the licence.

The bill is to be tabled in Parliament this week for second reading.

In the 1995 Mines and Minerals Act, a royalty is payable but calculated at two per cent of the market value of minerals, less the cost of smelting, refining and insurance, handling and transportation from the mining area to the point of export or delivery within Zambia.

Royalty payments could be deferred if the cash-operating margin of a holder of a large-scale mining licence falls below zero.

A chief financial officer at Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ)was yesterday morning beaten by angry workers who had assembled at the local Zambia National Commercial bank branch where they were waiting to be paid their salaries.

The incident happened after workers were informed by management staff at the bank that it was not possible to pay them their salaries because retirees had not lifted the injunction they filed through their lawyer, Mr. Keith Mukata, restraining the bank not to release any money meant for NCZ.

More than 200 workers, who assembled at the bank, ganged up and went to the house of the company’s chief financing officer, Mr. Siisi Mukelabai, demanding that he talks to the bank on why they were not being paid.

It was at this point as he arrived at the bank that irate workers pounced on him and started throwing punches at him but quick action by police officers who were monitoring the situation rescued him and whisked him away before he could sustain serious injuries.

NCZ workers, who get their salaries from the local ZANACO bank branch, have not yet received their pay as retirees are also demanding to be paid their terminal benefits amounting to K19 billion the company owes them.

National Union of Commercial and Industrial Workers (NUCIW) president, Seth Paradza, and local union branch chairman, Spider Chibale, who were present at the bank, cautioned the workers against becoming violent as it was not the fault of the chief financing officer’s, but that of the retirees.

Mr. Paradza described the action by workers as unfortunate and has appealed to management at the company to dialogue with the retirees’ lawyers to find a solution to their problem.

Mr. Paradza said workers, together with management at ZANACO and the retirees, had agreed the presvious day in Lusaka to release the salaries but wondered why the injunction has not been lifted by yesrteday to allow the bank to pay the salaries.

He said it was practically impossible to share the K6 billion government has released for the retirees because it is meant to clear the four months salary arrears for workers.

Mr. Paradza said other workers who receive their salaries through other banks have not problems and have been paid apart from the ones who are with ZANACO.

But when contacted for comment, Chairman for the retirees Mr. Victor Kunda, said their lawyer will only lift the injunction if management agrees to pay the retirees K5 billion.

He said there is little the retirees can do but only instruct the lawyers to lift the injunction once they are paid their money also.

Mr. Kunda said once this is done, the workers will be allowed to access their salaries from the local ZANACO branch.