Dear Womba,

Its always great to hear from you. Unfortunately I’ve been unwell. I had a miscarriage last week. Everyone expects me to be okey- after all it was just a foetus! But it was so much a part of me still. I carried him/her for 9weeks. Doesn’t that account for anything? Of course I don’t get any sympathy from my aunties. They say its a part of a womans life and I should focus on the children I have. I agree but I just want even a day to grieve the loss of my baby. I keep asking why why did it happen.I quarreled with my husband yesterday when he told me to snap out of it. He can afford to say that since he didn’t carry it! Despite our fight he got me card that touched me it said ” acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune. Circumstances alone do not make us happy or unhappy.It is the way we react to the circumstances that determines our feeling.”
I wonder- do women who have had abortions secretly grieve the loss of their babies? Perhaps its a relief for a teenage girl when she aborts and no longer has the thought of being pregnant hanging over her head. However, does she ever get over the guilt of “getting rid” of her baby? I’m sure its something they live with the rest of their lives. Would they do it if they knew the physiological and psychological effects of their actions? I wonder.
Well I’m sure Heaven has a big nursery for all the miscarried and aborted babies where they are loved and taken care of.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,The courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference!

love Jelita

Zambia has called an emergency meeting of the 14-member SADC regional bloc on Saturday to discuss Zimbabwe’s post-election impasse, President Levy Mwanawasa said on Wednesday.

Mwanasa, who chairs the Southern African Development Community, said the crisis required a concerted effort by all southern African countries to find a solution. It was the first move by Zimbabwe’s neighbours to intervene after the March 29 elections. The presidential result is still not known.
[Reuters]

The National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW) has welcomed Konkola Copper Mine (KCM)’s acceptance to abide by the new tax regime introduced by government.

In a Press Statement issued to ZANIS in Kitwe today, NUMAW National Secretary, Goodwill Kaluba said the commitment pledged by KCM to abide by the provisions of the new tax regime was a demonstration of good corporate citizenship which must be emulated by other mining investors.

Mr. Kaluba said observing and respecting laws of a country was a milestone in fostering development and promoting integrity and respect for human rights.

He added that government’s move to introduce the new tax regime for mining companies was aimed at making local people benefit from their natural resources such as copper and other minerals.

Mr. Kaluba noted that the current record of high copper prices on the international market should have a positive benefits on the local people

He disclosed that his union would remain committed to supporting government’s well intended move to adjust corporate tax from 31 per cent to 47 per cent.

Mr. Kaluba said the new tax regime would cushion the tax burdens which miners have been enduring in the past.

He said the new tax regime would assist government in speeding up development works on the Copperbelt province, especially in turning Kitwe-Chingola road into a dual carriage way.

The Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (ZESCO) has denied allegations by the Millers Association of Zambia that the production levels of mealie meal and other bakery products has gone down due to the persistent load shedding by the power company.

ZESCO Director of Customer Services, Teddie Mwale said the claims by the millers is not justified as the utility company only cuts off power from manufacturing companies from 05:30- 09:00 hours adding that the given time can not affect the production line.

Mr. Mwale said this in Lusaka today during a press briefing.

He explained that ZESCO held a meeting with the Zambia Association of Manufactures where it was agreed that the electricity company should be cutting off power in the morning to reduce the chances of affecting production.

And Mr. Mwale says recent claims by some people that their electrical appliances and houses have been destroyed by ZESCO’s power load shedding are not justified.

Mr. Mwale denied the claims saying most houses have naked and loose wire installations made of telephone wires.

He has since advised consumers to engage qualified electricians for power connections to avoid damage to property.

The Millers Association recently attributed the shortage of mealie meal and other bakery products to power load shedding by ZESCO.

The shortage of mealie meal in most parts of the country has seen an upward rise in prices.
ENDS/ZANIS/YK/GK….PIX.

[Headline corrected]
The Zimbabwe High Court on Tuesday ruled that the application by the opposition for the release of presidential poll results was urgent, and immediately started hearing submissions from both sides.

The country’s biggest opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) filed an urgent application in the High Court on Friday, seeking a court order compelling the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to release the results of the March 29 presidential elections.

Lawyers for the ZEC had however, initially argued that the High Court had no jurisdiction over the case, which was dismissed by Justice Tendai Uchena.

The lawyers then argued that the case was not urgent, prompting Tuesday’s ruling.

After the ruling, Uchena immediately called on both sides to make submissions in the case.

MDC lawyer Alec Muchadehama, who presented first, told the court that the MDC had a ‘legitimate expectation and clear right to have the results announced’.

He said all matters relating to the harmonised polls were supposed to be treated as urgent in terms of the Electoral Act.

“Results of all polls must have been in ZEC’s possession on or before March 30 2008,” he said, adding that collation and verification should not have been difficult.

“If the respondents (ZEC) have any other process they are carrying out, 10 days after the poll, then I submit that they failed to act in terms of the Electoral Act which requires them to act urgently”.

Agreeing that there was no provision providing for a specific time in which the results had to be announced, Muchadehama, however said there was no reason why the presidential poll results had not been announced yet results for the council, House of Assembly and senatorial elections held on the same day had been made public.

“Even if there is no specific provision providing a time period, within which the presidential polls ought to be announced, I submit that the totality of the circumstances of the case is that the respondents (ZEC) have failed to act in a reasonable time and because it has failed to act, must be ordered to act,” he said.

He said ZEC was an administrative body that was answerable to the courts.

He said ZEC should not audit the results or re-count the votes as this could only be done after a winner had been announced, provided that a re-count had been requested for 48 hours after the announcement.
“If that is what they are doing (re-counting) they are acting ultra vies the Electoral Act,” Muchadehama said.

He said there was no logic for parties to challenge results that had not yet been announced.

In his arguments, ZEC lawyer, George Chikumbirike dismissed the MDC’s application as invalid, and a political statement.

“How can anyone in all seriousness expect a court order that there be announcements of presidential results within four hours of an order being made,” he said.

He said the applicant’s (MDC) lawyers had also erred as they presented their application to the courts in a wrong format.

Based on this technicality, he said the application could be dismissed.

Chikumbirike also dismissed allegations that the commission was deliberately delaying the announcement of the results, saying there were steps that had to be followed.

The defence continues with its arguments on Wednesday.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Mansa has expressed worry at the low condom usage as a contraceptive among couples in the district.

UNFPA Team Leader Pascal Salimu said people in the area were not usually using condoms as a family planning contraceptive.

Mr. Salimu said there was need for heightened sensitisation about the importance of using condoms as a family planning too and not only for HIV/AIDS prevention.

He said this during a tour of four Rural Health Centres (RHCs) whose objective was to familiarise himself with Reproductive Health issues in Mansa recently.

He has since urged people in the district to also use condoms in family planning.

He said the condom was an effective contraceptive which should be widely used because it even reduced risks of contraction of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) such as HIV/AIDS.

Mr. Salimu observed that many people in the area were shunning using condoms as a family planning contraceptive even after they prescribed at the RHC.

“Women shunned using condoms in family planning and opted for nothing when Safe Plan and other contraceptives were not available at the RHC,” he observed.

Meanwhile Mr. Salimu has called on the traditional leader to assist in reducing and avoiding teenage pregnancies and early marriages in their chiefdoms.

He said unwanted pregnancies and early marriages among young people were a hindrance to girl child education.

And a traditional ruler in Mansa has threatened to punish parents who would marry off their daughters at tender ages.

Chief Mabumba of the Ushi people in Mansa said he would punish parents found condoning teenage pregnancies and early marriages in his chiefdom.

The traditional leader said this yesterday when a UNFPA team visited him at his palace on the agency’s reproductive health familiarisation program.

The UNFPA project, which was recently launched in Mansa and Nchelenge districts, is aimed at improving the health standards of women and children through three components namely, reproductive health, gender and population development.

The programme would deal with issues of adolescent and sexual reproductive health and emergency child care, which includes HIV/AIDS prevention.