Pomp and splendour characterized the official opening of the second session of the Tenth National Assembly by President Levy Mwanawasa.

The President who was clad in an immaculate blue suit accompanied by his wife, Maureen, arrived at Parliament Building at 10:30 hrs and was met on arrival by Speaker of the National Assembly Amusaa Mwanamwambwa and Service Chiefs.

Dr. Mwanawasa was accorded the 21 gun salute fired by the salute Troop of the Zambia Army Artillery and a fly past by the Zambia Air Force jets.

However, Dr. Mwanawasa could not inspect the guard of honour mounted by the Second Battalion of the Zambia Regiment due to rains that started a few minutes after his arrival.

The Parade, Photojournalists and hundreds of people braved the rains to witness the arrival of the President.

Immediately after the National Anthem was played, Dr. Mwanawasa, the First Lady and the Speaker, despite the rains, ceremoniously proceeded into the chamber where he addressed Members of Parliament.

After officially opening parliament, the President left the chambers and was accorded the third presidential salute before departure at about 13:50 hours.

On Quality of MP Debates

President Levy Mwanawasa showered Members of Parliament with glowing tribute, saying their style and manner of debate was a sign of a fledging democracy in Zambia.

Dr. Mwanawasa congratulated the members for debating matters of great importance to the nation with maturity and transparency in the previous session of the National Assembly.

During the first session of the tenth National Assembly, 1,120 questions for oral answers were considered while six private members’ motions and 34 ministerial statements were dealt with in parliament.

“My administration is grateful to this house for the outstanding manner in which Honourable members debated and passed the bills which came before them in 2007. This demonstrated the constructive manner in which this house scrutinized government intensions and proposals,” he said.

In the same session, 21 motions to adopt reports of sessional committees and six motions to adopt reports of select committees to ratify presidential appointments to constitutional offices were also considered.

The house also considered 105 papers laid on the table by government ministries.

“This is a demonstration of our efforts to foster good governance and our desire to remain transparent and accountable at all times,” he said.

Dr. Mwanawasa has since called on the Members of Parliament to work with his administration in order to accelerate socio-economic development, which, he said, people of Zambia were yearning for.

He however noted that some opposition members of parliament have been opposing government programmes merely for the sake of opposing.

“This is a disservice to the electorate and we must avoid it,” he said.

The President was also happy that efforts to improve parliamentary reforms have also paid off.

He cited the live broadcasting of parliamentary debates to areas along the line of rail, implementation and the establishment of parliamentary offices in all the constituencies around the country as some of the evident developments in parliamentary reforms.

He reiterated his call on members of parliament to discharge their duties with diligence, commitment and selflessness because of their serious tasks of dealing with legislative maters, approving the budget and giving Zambians a constitution that would stand the test of time.

“The daunting challenge of youth unemployment, HIV and AIDS and the high poverty levels are still with us, but we must not give up in tackling these head on,” he said.

Dr. Mwanawasa said in his 84-paged speech, that each Member of Parliament had a responsibility to work tirelessly towards fulfilling their social contract that they had with Zambian people.

“..to serve them in an atmosphere that transcends partisan and individual interests. In this way, we will not betray the trust and confidence the Zambian people have placed on us,” he emphasized.

The public gallery of the parliament chamber was full of invited guests who included diplomats accredited to Zambia, donor community representatives, Supreme and High Court judges, mayors, permanent secretaries and several other people.

On the Media

President Levy Mwanawasa announced that Government will this year reintroduce the Freedom of Information Bill in the House.

President Mwanawasa told the gathering that Government has consulted widely and has taken time to learn from other democracies that have enacted similar laws.

In re-tabling the Bill, he said, Government will provide safeguards to ensure that increased access to information does not compromise Zambia’s National Security nor violate people’s rights to privacy.

President Mwanawasa said the implementation of this legislation will necessitate more work on the part of Government as there will be need to restructure, overhaul and streamline public institutions.

He acknowledged that the fight against poverty and corruption can not be won, if the media is not fully involved as it was a powerful, educative and information tool for development.

The President said under the Fifth National Development Plan, Government has endeavoured to take the Media close to the people by installing television transmitters in rural districts and the next stage would be to take newspapers to the people.

He disclosed that the Printing Presses under the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) will be decentralised starting with Chipata, a move, Dr Mwanawasa said was aimed at having local language newspapers printed close to the intended audiences to enable them follow national events as they happen.

In addition, the President announced that Government has made progress in repealing the Theatres and Cinematography Act adding that it is in the process of introducing legislation that will help in classification of materials for public viewing and check on the proliferation of illegal video houses.

Dr Mwanawasa also disclosed that the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation Board of Directors will be appointed this year.

“The Independent Broadcasting Authority will also be made operational after the Board Members have been ratified by the House”, announced President Mwanawasa.

On Legal Front and Accountability

President Mwanawasa announced that the decentralisation of the Legal Aid Board and Director of Public Prosecution Chambers is underway.

He said there was need to enhance access to Justice for the Zambian people hence Government’s endeavour to decentralise the two institutions.

President Mwanawasa said his administration shall continue to uphold the rule of law and ensure that the Public Service is transparent and accountable to the Zambian people.

Dr Mwanawasa noted that accountability and prudent use of public funds shall continue to be top priority in the governance of the nation adding that Government will continue to strengthen the institutions that promote Good Governance in the country.

On corruption, the President said Government had now moved a step further towards institutionalising the prevention of corruption in ministries, departments and public bodies through the Integrity Committee Initiative.

To this end, he disclosed that eight pilot Integrity Committees were set up last year and thirty two members sworn in with a mandate to address the vice and other malpractices.

Dr Mwanawasa also informed the gathering that the construction of office buildings in five provincial centres was nearing completion adding that the developments are aimed at decentralising Audit Services countrywide.

On Government Management of Finances

President Levy Mwanawasa made a declaration that his government would this year implement the computerized and integrated financial management information system (IFMIS) in ministries, provinces and spending agencies.

Dr. Mwanawasa said that the system would improve further the operations of the public expenditure management and financial accountability in government.

He said the implementation of the computerized and integrated financial management information system was a key milestone in public expenditure and financial management area of government.

He told Members of Parliament that government would also continue to review tax policies and administration to ensure that tax was aligned to development in the economy.

“These reforms are important to ensure that each Kwacha of public financial resources spent brings about tangible socio-economic benefits to the country,” he said.

President Mwanawasa restated that the country has continued to foster a conducive investment climate which would stimulate and attract local and foreign direct investors through various reforms.

He cited the private sector development reform programme, the citizens’ economic empowerment programme and the creation of the Zambia Development Agency.

“In spite of all these macro-economic gains, we still have the challenges of equitably translating them into improved living standards for the people,” he observed.

Dr. Mwanawasa said to this end, government was implementing the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP) whose objective is to create jobs through the participation of citizens.

And the President said government would this year operationalise the empowerment fund under the Citizens’ Economic Empowerment Commission, whose desire is to encourage citizens to be economically active on their own.

He said government would also encourage Zambians to participate in the economy and encourage foreign companies to be actively involved in other facets of empowerment.

Dr. Mwanawasa said through the effective participation of the private sector and cooperation, government would reduce the cost of doing business in the country.

On Oil and Gas deposits

President Mwanawasa said he is optimistic that Zambia has high chances of having oil and gas deposits in dotted areas of Western, north-western and eastern province.

President Mwanawasa said most of the samples collected in selected areas have tested positive to the presence of oil and gas.

Dr. Mwanawasa said soil samples that were sent to Germany for analysis using the technique of Microbial Prospecting for Oil and Gas (MPOG) indicate that the Zambian ground held oil and gas deposits.

He said out of 11 samples that were collected in August 2005 and analysed using the MPOG technique, nine tested positive for oil while the remaining two tested positive for gas.

In July 2006, 31 samples were collected from North-western province, 12 of them tested positive for oil while six tested positive for gas.

“These results were strong indicators of the presence of oil and gas in the districts of Kabompo, Chavuma and Zambezi. Further, investigations were extended to Eastern province in 2007 where 153 soil samples were collected in north Luangwa valley and whose laboratory results are equally encouraging,” he said.

He said 277 soil samples were collected from Western province. The results were that Lukulu and Kalabo have the highest chance of finding oil while Mongu district has high chances of gas deposits.

Dr. Mwanawasa has since appointed members of a petroleum committee as provided for under the petroleum exploration and production Act. The committee is already spearheading formulation of policies and guidelines relating to petroleum and its development in Zambia.

He said it was now necessary to amend the petroleum exploration and production Act of 1985 and also to have a strong legal provision on environmental protection.

Government has since suspended all processes of invitation to tender until the Act is repealed and replaced through a bill that would be dealt with in parliament in the first quarter of this year.

And Dr. Mwanawasa has disclosed that government has established a stabilization fund aimed at cushioning high import prices of refined petroleum products when Indeni Oil Refinery is shut.

He said government has therefore put in place a mechanism for long term supply of 1.44 million metric tones of crude feed stock over a period of two years, which is 2008 and 2009.

“The feed stock will be supplied by the Independent Petroleum Groups (IPG) who have been awarded a contract after a competitive tender bidding process managed by the Zambia National Tender Board,” he said.

The President said government and Total, which are the two shareholders in Indeni, have agreed to invite a third shareholder to take up 30 per cent of the shares.

He said the restructuring of shareholding of Indeni would contribute further to the recapitalization and investment in the company.

On Climate Change

Dr. Mwanawasa said government has formulated a national adaptation programme of action which aims at mapping out adaptation strategies to address the adverse impact of climate change.

He said although Zambia was not a major contributor to greenhouse gases, the country was still vulnerable to the consequences of climate variabilities such as droughts and floods.

“These particularly affect the small-scale farmers and the poor, threatening their food security,” he said.

On forestry, Dr. Mwanawasa said government would focus on creating large industrial plantations for re-foresting degraded land around the country.

The President told parliament that government was already persuading investors for this sector, adding that traditional authorities were also being approached to release part of their pieces of land for the same.

He envisages a creation of thousands of jobs once such industries were created.

He also said Zambians have been able to use the Forestry Development Credit Facility for the development of forestry and other related industries in the country.

On International relations

President Levy Mwanawasa says the Asian continent as a strategic region is expected to remain an important source of technology, Trade and Investment for Zambia.

President Mwanawasa added that Government is mindful of the long historical ties between Zambia and the Asian continent.

Dr Mwanawasa who described the Asian continent as the fastest economic region of the 21st century said it was gratifying to note that strategic countries in that region are showing keen interest in bringing significant investments to Zambia.

In recognition of Zambia’s contribution to peace and security in the SADC region, the President disclosed that the country was requested to host the centre for the promotion of Democracy, Good Governance, Human Rights and Civic Education within the Great Lakes Region Framework.

In addition, President Mwanawasa said as part of Zambia’s commitment to the cause of African Unity, Government has presented the candidature of a distinguished professional for the position of AU Chairperson, Ambassador to the US Dr Inonge Mbikusita Lewanika.

The President further acknowledged that the European Union is Zambia’s largest donor and pledged to continue engaging this bloc in various development matters affecting Zambia and the region.

He said Zambia anticipated increased European participation in its national development programmes particularly after the EU/AU Summit held in December last year which afforded both sides a rare opportunity to discuss critical issues of mutual concern.

The President also pledged commitment towards relations between Zambia and the USA adding that Government recognises America’s unique position of world influence and responsibility.

On Taxing Foreign Mining Investors

President Mwanawasa said government has decided to introduce a new fiscal and regulatory regime in order to bring about an equitable distribution of mineral wealth between the government and mining companies.

Dr. Mwanawasa said the new regime introduces a windfall tax and variable profit tax that has been designed to work in periods of both high and low prices and for high and low cost mining projects to ensure that the tax system remains stable.

The president assured mining companies that the new regime will still be immensely profitable to them and the mining industry in Zambia will continue to be attractive to investors.

A 10- year- old boy of Zambia Compound in Kafue district has committed suicide by hanging himself using a piece of wrapper (chitenge cloth) on a football ground goal post.

Both the father of the boy, Jack Mwanza and the Police confirmed the incident to ZANIS today which happened at Mtendere Basic School football grounds yesterday around 15:00 hours.

Police named the deceased boy as Haiwelo Mwanza of house number K 60 in Zambia Compound and a grade three pupil of Kaseba Basic School.

Mr. Mwanza told ZANIS at the funeral house that he was shocked about the death of his son saying there was no way the boy could commit suicide at such at tender age.

He said upon leaving home for work after lunch he left the boy eating nshima and advised him not to move out.

Mr. Mwanza disclosed that he was only informed later about the death of his son by his daughter Phales Mwanza whilst at work.

Narrating the ordeal, he said the girl who was at the scene informed him that the incident happened when the deceased was playing football at the school ground.

He said the boy according to his sister pretended to be hanging himself with a wrapper (chitenge cloth) and accidentally got killed in the process. He said it was at this point the girl rushed home to call for help but later on found him hanging dead about two metres away from the ground.

The body is still lying in Kafue District Hospital mortuary awaiting postmortem.

Police who referred further queries to Lusaka Division Police Commanding officer Greenwell Nguni have since launched investigations into the matter to establish the cause of the boy’s death.

Meanwhile, a Kafue magistrate court this morning adjourned a rape case involving a male nurse Richard Tembo of Kafue District hospital who allegedly raped a female cancer patient last year in December.

The Court adjourned the matter to 16th January 2008 for trial because the accused asked to be excused as he was unwell.

Magistrate Monica Chiyaika adjourned the case after the accused produced a medical report showing that he was not feeling well and could not proceed with the court proceeding.

The bond has since been extended.

Home Affairs minister Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha has warned that he would not hesitate to dismiss from the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) any officers found divulging information pertaining to the operations of the commission to the suspended DEC Commissioner Rayan Chitoba.

Lt. Gen. Shikapwasha says he is aware of officers in the commission that are undermining the authority of the acting commissioner Peter Chingaipe and have continued leaking vital information to the suspended DEC commissioner, Mr. Chitoba, on a daily basis.

The minister said this at the official opening of the DEC 11th senior officers conference in Siavonga today.

Lt. Gen. Sikapwasha said it is wrong for any officer to leak information to Mr. Chitoba who has been suspended by the president to pave way for investigations into his alleged corrupt practices at the time he saved as DEC commissioner.

He said divulging information was an act of undermining the authority that the president has vested into the acting DEC commissioner whom he described as an effective officer capable of driving DEC to greater heights.

Mr. Sikapwasha called on officers to exhibit the highest levels of integrity and discipline and ensure that they work hand in hand with Mr. Chingaipe in advancing the operations of the commission.

And Acting DEC Commissioner Peter ChiNgaipe bemoaned lack of transport saying the commission needs to acquire a new fleet of motor vehicles to enable it execute its duties effectively to expectations of the public.

Mr. Chingaipe further said that inadequate and sporadic flow of operational funds has negatively affected the operations of the commission.

Members of the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) today reached a deadlock on regulation five of the disciplinary committee proceedings.

Regulation five talks about complaints against members of the NCC and members of staff of the NCC secretariate.

Regulation 5(I) states in part, “A person may complain to the committee that disciplinary action be taken against a member or member of staff or that the member of member of staff be removed from office where the person alleges that the member or member of staff has………….”

The NCC members failed to strike a consensus on whether to allow members of public other than themselves to lodge a complaint against the NCC members or not.

Some members observed that allowing the public to lodge complaints against NCC members or staff would disturb their deliberations as some public members might not mean well.

Other NCC members felt it was in order to allow members of the public to lodge complaints against NCC members because they were also stakeholders in the constitutional making process.

A heated debate was sparked when a member Crispin Shumina asked for a clarification on whether members of the public would be allowed to complain against NCC members.

In response, Patrick Matibini, who is the chairperson of the NCC interim committee that was set up to come up with rules and regulations to govern the NCC deliberations, said the proposed meaning was to allow members of the public to make complaints, that arose, against NCC members.

Dr. Matibini explained however that the disciplinary committee would reserve the right to dismiss a complaint made against NCC members from any other person if it was established that it was frivolous, vexatious and hopeless.

He said the committee would be careful in its consideration of complaints to establish a prima facie case against a member or not.

In her contribution, Chieftainess Nkomesha observed that NCC members would be prone to unnecessary attacks from members of the public if the regulation was left open to the public.

She noted that involvement of outsiders in proceedings of the disciplinary committee would influence the operations of the NCC.

Another member, Chrispine Musosha, who is also Mansa Central Member of Parliament (MP), wondered why disciplinary complaints should come from outside instead of being confined only to the NCC members and secretariat staff.

Mbala MP Gustone Sichilima argued that members of the NCC enjoyed immunity, according to clause eight of the principal NCC Act and therefore, they should not be put under scrutiny by the public.

Mr. Sichilima even raised a point of order on whether the conference was in order to continue debating the matter when the principal act was clear about immunity of the members.

Chongwe MP, Sylvia Masebo suggested that complaints against NCC members should be restricted to members only and not be opened to the public.

She said allowing the public to make complaints and call for disciplinary action against members of the NCC would cause them to be lumbered with many unnecessary complaints, which will divert the attention of the conference.

And Dr. Swebby Macha, from the medical fraternity, warned that there would be acrimony between NCC members and the public if the regulation on disciplining NCC members was opened to the public.

Another NCC member, Chrispine Bwali, proposed that the issue be restricted to NCC members only, giving an example of football rules which only dealt with team members and not spectators.

Mr. Bwali said NCC members were representatives of the public hence there was no need to involve them.

However, Kalomo Member of Parliament, Request Muntanga contended that the public should be allowed to raise complaints against NCC members because they were stakeholders to the process.

Mr. Muntanga said the NCC members were not hiding anything from the public hence the need to allow them complain against NCC members.

Mazabuka MP, Garry Nkombo supported the proposal to allow the public raise complaints against NCC members if they felt dissatisfied about the conduct of any member on the conference.

Chifunabuli MP, Ernest Mwansa observed that closing the public out of contributing to the disciplinary committee of NCC would raise more suspicion, especially that the whole constitutional process had been marred with suspicions from various sections of society.

“If we close out from the public, we may be suspected of doing something that undermines the integrity of this conference. I think we should leave it open to the public,” he said.

At some point, NCC Chairperson, Chifumu Banda sought an explanation from Minister of Justice George Kunda on the issue.

Mr. Kunda told the conference that section 16 (ii) on the jurisdiction of the standing committee empowered the committee to consider and determine disciplinary action relating to members of the committee.

He however said the section was silent on whether members of the public should raise complaints against NCC members or not.

He said the drafting department in his ministry would, without departing from the principal Act, redraft the section depending on the resolution of the NCC members.

NCC chairperson, Mr. Banda noted that he had strove to make members reach a consensus on whether members of the public should be allowed to raise complaints against NCC members or not.

Mr. Banda has since said a draft amendment would be made to the regulation and be circulated to NCC members tomorrow morning in readiness for further debates and contributions in the afternoon.

He said a consensus was one of the ways spelt out in coming up with conclusions in the NCC but a vote would be used to determine a final resolution if consensus failed.

And Mr. Banda warned NCC members to use sober language even when they differ over debates on what should be accepted and what should not.

Tomorrow Investments Limited has clarified that delays in the completion of some projects awarded to the company has been because of the delays and non-payment of funds to the company.

Company Director Augustine Katotobwe says government should not shoulder the blame on his company for delays in the completion of projects or the halting of projects but that it should carry-out investigations to establish the root cause of the problems.

Addressing Journalists at the Company Headquarters in Lusaka today, Mr Katotobwe said his firm should not be blamed for poor workmanship as the company had fulfilled the gazetted National Construction Council contractor requirements and that there had been no documented adverse performance reports from clients and supervising consultants.

Mr Katotobwe also said his company should not be blamed for bad performance because of mis-information by the public.

He cited Nyakaseya Bridge across the Zambezi River and the Lufubu Bridge across Lufubu River as some of the projects that his firm has successfully executed and handed-over to government without receiving any complaints.

He also refuted reports that his company was being awarded tenders using dubious means stating further that all contracts awarded to his company were done following the laid down procedures.

Mr Katotobwe said his company values transparency and open business undertakings and that it will continue performing to the expectations of its clients.

And Mr Katotobwe has announced that his company will go ahead and renew the company’s 2008 contractor registration certificate despite government’s directive to the National Council for Construction (NCC) that it should not be allowed to renew the certificate this year.

Mr Katotobwe said that even if the firm has not yet submitted the papers of registration to NCC it will go ahead and submit the papers of registration.

He said his company is not shaken with the statements made by Works and Supply Minister Kapembwa Simbao that the firm’s directors and partners would be held liable for prosecution individually and serve for any payments they received without any corresponding delivery of products and services.

Mr Katotobwe said his company is saddened by the remarks made by Mr. Simbao as he is incompetent to understand the challenges that the construction industry was going through.

He advised the minister not to be issuing statements that are beyond his comprehension in order to protect the construction industry.

Mr Katotobwe has since disclosed that his company will issue a comprehensive report to government after the findings by the Auditor General’s Office.

Patriotic Front (PF) Chilubi Island Member of Parliament Obby Chisala has called on party leader Michael Sata to announce when the party will hold its convention.

Mr. Chisala says the convention would help iron out some of the problems that have besieged the party.

He told ZANIS in an interview that the convention would further help to re-organise the party.

Mr. Chisala, who has just returned from his constituency, said this is the message from party cadres at the grassroots.

He said party cadres and other stakeholders are concerned about the alleged internal wrangles in the party.

Mr. Chisala has appealed to lower organs of the party not to breach the channels of communication of the party.

In reference to the recent alleged expulsions of Chifubu Member of Parliament Benson Bwalya and Bwanamukumbwa lawmaker Joseph Zulu by the district organs, Mr. Chisala said the district party authorities have no authority to expel a Member of Parliament.

He said a Member of Parliament is more senior than constituency or district leadership therefore the constituency officials should have consulted the party secretariat on how to proceed.

Last week, the two lawmakers were allegedly expelled from party by the district officials for what they termed as ‘failure to represent them adequately’.

Meanwhile, the Patriotic Front (PF) in Chifubu constituency has warned its top leadership of mass exodus of party members if the issue of their member of parliament was not handled properly.

Scores of PF members and leaders who stormed ZANIS offices in Ndola today and expressed shock that their member of parliament Benson Mwamba has been expelled from the Party because he was attending the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) currently sitting in Lusaka.

Group spokesman Mr. Humphrey Mwaba said expelling Mr. Mwamba from the party would be the worst mistake the constituency leadership could make because the MP was elected by the people.

He said people who were alleging that Mr. Mwamba has been expelled from the party because of participating the NCC were part of the group that were allegedly demanding K150 million from the MP for unknown reasons.

Mr. Mwaba said the constituency leadership has no powers to expel an elected member of parliament unless the party’s National Executive Committee confirm’s the decision.

He said party members in the area have disassociated themselves from the anti- Mwamba supporters who have no reasons as to why they expelled the MP.

Mr. Mwaba said the PF was not a one person party and should be seen to be democratic by exercising democratic rights through holding conventions so that genuine leaders could be elected to lead the party.

He said the party and its members were fed up with mere appointments and wanted a clear procedure of electing leaders at every level so that the party could become a people driven party whose leaders were supported by the people.