The ruling Movement for Multi-party Democracy, MMD, has nominated former PF MP, Charles Chimumbwa, as its candidate for the forthcoming Nchanga parliamentary by- election.

MMD Chairperson for Information and Publicity, Benny Tetamashimba, announced the nomination at a press briefing in Lusaka today.

Mr Tetamashimba said Mr. Chimumbwa has been nominated candidate based on the
qualities of integrity he has, adding that he is also well known by the people of
Nchanga constituency.

Mr. Tetamashimba, however, acknowleged that the race for the MMD candidature for the
Nchanga by-election was tightly contested as most of the applicants were highly
wualified leaders.

He said the MMD has no doubt that Mr Chimumbwa is the right person to stand on the
party ticket in the forthcoming by-election being contested by among others the
opposition United Party for National Development, UPND, PF and All People’s
Congress, APC.

He appealed to the people of  Nchanga to vote for a candidate who is going to
adequately represent them in the on-going constitution making process.

He also appealed to the unsuccessful applicants for the MMD Nchanga candidature, to
support Mr. Chimumbwa and help him put up a strong campaign ahead of the polls.

The Nchanga seat fell vacant following the resignation of Mr Chimumbwa from the PF
to join the MMD.

And Mr Tetamashimba has defended the MMD National ExecutiveCommittee, NEC, decision
to nominate Mr. Chimumbwa as candidate for the by-election.

He said the decision is not in contradition with the party Constitutional provision
that provides that a selected candidate for an election must have served the party
for three years.

Mr Tetamashimba explained that Mr Chimbumbwa is not contesting for a party position
but rather a parliamentary position which is decided upon by the electorates.

He said the decision of NEC would have only been irregular if Mr Chimumbwa was
nominated to contest a party postion, which decided upon by party members .

Meanwhile, Mr Tetamashimba said the position of  MMD  Deputy National Secretary will
be filled soon.

He said the position is important to the party as it is a full time job.

He, however, indicated that the selection of an individual for the  position of  MMD
Vice President  will be done at a later stage.

Mr Tetamashimba has since assured party members that the NEC was doing everything
possible to fill theexisting vacancies in the party.

The Zambia Disability HIV/AIDS Human Rights Programme has urged disabled organisations and persons with disabilities to develop keen interest and participate in the National Constititution Conference (NCC).

Programmes Director Elijah Ngwale says the participation of disabled organisations
and persons with disabilities in the NCC will give them a wonderful opportunity to
represent themselves on the NNC fora.

Mr Ngwale told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka today that the participation of
persons with disabilities in the NCC would also play a paramount role of ensuring
that human rights to do with disabilities are not violeted in the country.

He urged politicians, the church and other stakeholders not to shunn the much
awaited and needed NCC Act but to ensure that they participate so that the alleged
numerous frauds in the NCC can be addressed.

Mr Ngwale, who also demanded the inclussion of the people with disabilities in the
NCC said there is need to expeditiously put in place a new constitution that will
answer the people’s aspiration.

The ruling Movement for Multi Party Democracy (MMD) in Southern province has called for the arrest of Politicians and non governmental organisations disregarding the NCC as Law.

Provincial chairman, Daniel Munkombwe told ZANIS in Mazabuka today that Police
should not wait for the President to direct them to effect arrests because they are
aware that the NCC has become Law.

Mr Munkombwe said the MMD in the province fully supports President call’s for the
arrest of people undermining the NCC which has since become law.

He also disclosed that the MMD has information that some NGOs were allegedly been
sponsored by foreigners to cause anarchy in the country by rejecting the NCC through
demonstrations.

Mr Munkombwe warned that the MMD will make it difficult for such organisations to
operate in the province.

Meanwhile, Mr Munkombwe says the bestowing of a honorary doctorate to President
Mwanawasa by a United states university has brought excitement in the MMD.

Mr Munkombwe said Dr Mwanawasa deserves such an award because of his outstanding
performance when he served as lawyer.

He said Dr Mwanawasa has distinguished himself as a strong leader in Africa and the
World over following his fight against corruption, revamping the economy.

THE International Fellowship of Christian Churches (IFFC) has challenged the three Church mother bodies that have said they will boycott the National Constitution Conference to give satisfactory reasons why they are shunning the conference.

IFFC president, Simon Chihana, said the NCC had taken into consideration all the concerns raised by the various stakeholders and wondered why the Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC), Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) had continued shunning the conference.

Bishop Chihana said at the Pastors’ Forum, which was attended by close to, 250 clergymen from various denominations under the auspices of IFFC and other religious bodies the three bodies were merely a fraction of Christian organisations, which should not derail the entire process.

“I had for example invited Bishop Mususu so that we could hear from him why they are not participating. But he said through his secretary that he would not make it,” Bishop Chihana said.

He said it was wrong for the Church mother bodies to shun the NCC as religious persons were well versed on issues of justice and equality which constitutions the world over sought to address.

Since independence, he said, Zambia had not enacted a people-driven Constitution and this was the only opportunity, which should not be spoiled as a result of selfish motives by the Church mother bodies and other interest groups.

Christians should not boycott the NCC as they had the wisdom through the Bible to ensure that a Constitution enacted did not divert from the biblical norms.

He said politicians relied on the wisdom from the clergy and it would, therefore, be wrong for Christians to shun the conference. In biblical times, he said the best constitutions were those that had an input from men and women of God.

At the same forum, constitutional lawyer, John Sangwa described the NCC as a golden opportunity for Zambians to participate in enacting the Constitution.

He, therefore, said it was important that the various stakeholders participated in the process, as shunning would not be in the best interest of the Zambian people.

Unlike in the previous Constitution review processes, none of the governments reached the stage of putting in place a conference at which citizens had been accorded an opportunity to contribute.

During the previous Constitution review processes, Mr Sangwa said that past presidents only appointed a few individuals to recommend what should be contained in the Constitution but this time, close to 500 people would be included.

Home Affairs Minister, Ronnie Shikapwasha said in the NCC, the Government would ensure that the draft Constitution, John Mwanakatwe and Patrick Mvunga reports and their relevant documents were provided for Lieutenant General Shikapwasha said it was not too late for the Oasis Forum and others shunning the conference to rescind their decisions and come on board.

And Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA) said time had come for accountants to participate in the Constitution making process.

ZICA president, Chintu Mulendema, said during the consultative workshop that accountants had always remained behind in governance issues and yet they contributed to the running of the economy.

He said owing to accountants taking back seats in governance, they had all the time not been included in key positions apart from that of Auditor General.

Mr Mulendema said ZICA decided to hold the workshop so as to enable the accounting profession realise the importance of participating in the governance issues.

GOVERNMENT has warned employers against waiting for the expiry of a collective agreement before embarking on negotiations for new salaries and conditions of service because this is a recipe for industrial unrest.

Minister of Labour and Social Security, Ronald Mukuma, said yesterday that Government was concerned that most industrial unrest in the country occurred at organisations where directors and managers were knowledgeable about existing labour laws.

He was speaking at the official opening of the 10th Zambia Institute of Human Resources and Management annual convention at Cresta Golf view Hotel in Lusaka.

Mr Mukuma said the Zambia Institute of Human Resources and Management should provide leadership to its members by ensuring that there was adherence to labour laws.

In a speech read for him by Labour permanent secretary, Ngosa Chisupa, the minister called for dialogue between employers and employees to avoid industrial unrest in the country.

Mr Mukuma said dialogue should be promoted between employers and employees for the benefit of the country.

He said work stoppages were retrogressive to the economic development of the country.

“Government wants to see a situation where dialogue is encouraged between employers and employees, because sometimes the industrial unrest the country experiences is as a result of failure to dialogue between management and workers,” he said.

And Mr Mukuma revealed that Government would introduce a number of legal instruments, which would include the attestation of the terms and conditions of employment, especially for companies that do not conduct collective bargaining.

Mr Mukuma said the proposed instruments would require employers to submit terms and conditions of service to the ministry to ensure there was compliance with key provisions of the labour law.

“By Friday this week, we shall revoke all the expired conditions of service instruments because Government cannot accept that some employers are paying employees K120,000 per month.

That’s total abuse of human resource,” he said.

Mr Mukuma also accused some human resources practitioners of supporting casualisation of labour by engaging employees on short-term fixed contracts instead of permanent and pensionable long-term contracts.

He appealed to the institute to sensitise its members on the dangers of casual work and to support Government’s efforts towards ending the practice.

Mr Mukuma also said Government was aware that some foreign investors had continued to give a raw deal to Zambian workers without human resource managers raising the matter for fear of losing their jobs.

“I wish to remind you that the development of the nation depends on the calibre of human capital available and how these are motivated and nurtured in a manner that both management and other stakeholders like Government would appreciate,” he said.

Mr Mukuma called for routine inspections in companies to ensure that there was adherence to the provisions of the law and also to the professional code of conduct.

He said Government considers the Zambia Institute of Human Resources and Management as a key stakeholder in upholding the country’s labour laws.

Mr Mukuma also reminded the institute to continue pushing for implementation of HIV and AIDS policies in work places.

Earlier, Zambia Institute of Human Resources and Management president, Hobby Kaputa, said the institute had introduced practising certificates for members.
He said this follows the enactment of the institute’s Act number 11 of 1997.

Mr Kaputa said the aim of introducing practising certificates was to get rid of non-human resource managers that had invaded the profession.

“People involved in the practice of human resources management who do not hold certificates fully issued by the institute are in breach of the law, and all law abiding employers should not be associated with such people,” he said.