The National Constitution Conference (NCC) has embarked on a countrywide sensitization drive of core representatives and stakeholders on the NCC.

NCC Spokesperson Mwangala Zaloumis told ZANIS in Mongu today that the countrywide tour of districts is aimed at discussing various issues pertaining to the NCC and the constitution making process.

Mrs. Zaloumis said the sensitization process will involve meeting and explaining in greater detail to stakeholders such as government officials, community leaders, various professionals, among others, pertinent issues concerning the NCC and the constitution making process.

She said public participation in constitution making is vital hence the resolve by the NCC to strive to have everyone understand the mandate of the NCC.

Mrs. Zaloumis said by so doing the people will be better informed and would hence actively participate in the constitution making process.

She however noted that among the challenges the NCC team will meet during the exercise is the high levels of misunderstanding of the constitution by some people.

Mrs. Zaloumis also said people may think the whole exercise is an absolute waste of time but she pointed out that constitution making is time-consuming and is an expensive undertaking.

She explained that Zambia was in fact striving to undertake the task in the most inexpensive manner.

And speaking when Mrs. Zaloumis paid a courtesy call on him, Western Province Minister Adonis Mufalali hailed the NCC for undertaking the countrywide sensitization drive.

Mr. Mufalali pointed out that people in the Province needed to understand what the NCC was and what its mandate is.

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Government has given the Citizen Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) a six weeks ultimatum to start disbursing the citizen economic empowerment funds to the intended recipients.

Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Felix Mutati said the process of disbursing funds by the commission should be speeded up so that people do not lose hope in the commission.

Mr. Mutati noted that there is need for the CEEC to start working out modalities and publish the guidelines on how the citizen should access the funds.

He advised the CEEC to come up with a strategy of reaching out to all parts of country and ensure that the fund is accessible to all beneficiaries within six weeks.

Speaking at the launch of CEEC Company Logo, the Minister ordered the commission to ensure that they start disbursing the funds before it holds any other gatherings like workshops, seminars among others.

He said he did not want to see a situation were he will start explaining what the CEEC is all about when parliament resumes sitting in June.

Meanwhile, Government has implored the Citizen Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) to ensure transparency and accountability in the disbursement of the economic funds.

Minister of Commerce Trade and Industry Felix Mutati says the Commission should further ensure that the funds are accessible by all the targeted beneficiaries in the country.

Mr. Mutati explained that the economic funds should not be treated as a Bank loan or grant but be seen as a grant meant for empowering the local citizens so that they can contribute to national development.

He noted that the collateral and payment terms should be flexible and not discourage people to apply for the funds.

Mr. Mutati said government has pledged its support to ensure that people are economically empowered for the betterment of their lives.

He stressed that people want to see transformation of funds from policy to implementation.

The Minister was speaking in Lusaka today when he officiated at the launch of CEEC Organisation Logo.

And speaking earlier, CEEC Commissioner Dillon Chipungu said the Organisation aims at changing the way business is conducted in the country.

Mr. Chipungu said the Commission remains committed to promote economic transformation in order to increase the participation of Zambian citizens in the economic activities of the country.

Zimbabwe’s President, Robert Mugabe will attend an emergency meeting of regional leaders on the presidential poll delay in Lusaka.

The BBC reports that his Deputy Information Minister, Bright Matonga said that if there is a SADC meeting, President Mugabe will definitely be there.

The opposition said its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, won the election outright.

It has accused the government of using the delay to engineer a second-round victory for Mr. Mugabe.

President Levy Mwanawasa, who chairs the 14-nation Sadc grouping, called the emergency meeting for Saturday.

Zambia’s Information Minister Mike Mulongoti told the BBC that Mr. Mugabe’s presence would not necessarily be helpful.

The Movement for Democratic Change’s leader, Mr. Tsvangirai, is touring Southern Africa in a bid to get regional leaders to put pressure on the Zimbabwean government to announce the results of the presidential election.

Patriotic Front Councillors in Kasama yesterday boycotted a meeting called by Kasama Central Member of Parliament Xavier Chishimba to discuss the disbursement of K260 million Constituency Development Fund (CDF) for 2006 and 2007 respectively.

The councillors, who included Kasama Mayor, Sebastian Chipope, maintained that they do not recognize Dr. Chishimba as MP because he was an expelled party member.

They said they had nothing to discuss with the embattled MP whom they accused of frustrating developmental programmes in the district.

The councillors said they would continue to uphold their party’s directive not to entertain Dr. Chishimba’s manoeuvres to win back support from PF members after his expulsion from the party.

But Dr. Chishimba dismissed his purported expulsion from the PF and vowed to continue executing his duties as Kasama Central Member of Parliament.

The MP described the councillors’ actions to shun his proposed meeting on the disbursement of CDF as retrogressive, and warned that they risked becoming irrelevant to the development of his constituency if they do not change their attitudes.

Dr Chishimba also accused the councillors of having vested interests in the allocations of resources to beneficiaries in his constituency, saying the clubs earmarked to benefit from the CDF were just formed a few weeks before the funds were aportined.

He further said he would go ahead and constitute a new committee to oversee the disbursement of the K260 million CDF which was lying idle in commercial banks in order to spearhead development in his constituency.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is implementing a de facto military coup to keep himself in power but will be ousted with the help of other African countries, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said.

“We’ll manage to get Mugabe out. Mugabe is being deserted. No one wants to touch Mugabe in the region now. Eventually, we will ease him out,” Tsvangirai told Time Magazine.

Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) accuses Mugabe, 84, of prolonging the delay in issuing the results of a March 29 presidential election while he plans a violent response to his biggest defeat since taking power in 1980.

Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party lost control of parliament for the first time in an election on March 29 but no results of the parallel presidential vote have been issued.

“This is, in a sense, a de facto military coup. They have rolled out military forces across the whole country, to prepare for a run-off and try to cow the population. It’s an attempt to try to create conditions for Mugabe to win,” Tsvangirai said.

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said on Friday the ruling party was preparing for a runoff after its tallies showed neither Tsvangirai nor Mugabe won the required absolute majority.

The MDC rejected both a runoff and ZANU-PF attempts to have at least 14 seats recounted in the parliamentary vote. It says Tsvangirai has won and should immediately end Mugabe’s 28-year rule.

The regional body SADC, concerned at the increasing possibility of violence because of the election deadlock, has called an emergency summit in Lusaka on Saturday.

Tsvangirai said he would try to persuade the regional leaders to put pressure on Mugabe to step down.

SADC has been criticised in the past for failing to pressure Mugabe despite the economic collapse in Zimbabwe, now suffering the world’s highest inflation, chronic shortages of food and fuel and a near worthless currency.
Reuters