THE plane carrying visiting Djibouti President, Ismail Guelleh, yesterday failed to take off at the Livingstone International Airport, causing panic among security staff.

The Zambia Air force (ZAF) aircraft, which had carried the visiting leader from Lusaka, could not start as panic gripped senior military, security and Government officials who were all over the airport apron.

Following the failure, senior officials instructed protocol staff to lay the red carpet, which had been removed after the President had boarded, for him to use as he was about to be evacuated from the aircraft.

The panic became more apparent among the security personnel, while airport staff also waited for a solution from the ZAF crew.

The motorcade that had been parked a short distance away was driven closer to the plane to carry the President who was about to be evacuated from the plane.

The aircraft which was scheduled to leave at 14:25 hours for Lusaka, only took off after 20 minutes.This was after it was attended to. It was not clear what caused the failure.

Speaking earlier in an interview, Mr Guelleh said Zambia was blessed to have the Victoria Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world.

Mr Guelleh said Djibouti would work closely with Zambia to prop up tourism.

The President who was impressed by the falls assured that apart from tourism, his government would work with Zambia in telecommunications and advance the two nations’ technology.

He praised the people of Zambia for the warm welcome and urged them to continue with their warm spirit.

Mr Guelleh said Livingstone was a well known city in his country and felt he should visit it.

He was accompanied by Health Minister, Brian Chituwo. The visiting President is expected to leave for his country today. President Mwanawasa last night hosted a State dinner for Mr Guelleh in Lusaka.

PRESIDENT Mwanawasa says Zambia will be turned into a major exporter of agricultural and food products by the year 2015.

The President said to this effect, Government had embarked on the promotion of the production of a wide variety of crops so that agriculture could become the mainstay of the country’s economy in the near future.

Mr Mwanawasa said this in Lusaka last night at State banquet hosted for visiting Djibouti President, Ismail Omar Guelleh, at Hotel Intercontinental.

“In the agricultural sector, my Government wishes to turn the country into a major exporter of agricultural and food products by the year 2015.

Already, the country has achieved self-sufficiency in the production of maize, the staple food of the Zambian people,” Mr Mwanawasa said.

He said in its endeavour to achieve economic development, Government had elected to prioritise agriculture, mining and tourism.

He said Zambia was offering incentives to local and foreign investors with a view to increasing the production of wealth that would help raise the living standards of the people.

In the mining sector, the President said the attractive incentives Government had offered had triggered tremendous expansion of the industry across the nation.

“The investment incentives have also contributed to a remarkable expansion in the tourism sector.

Your Excellency has been afforded a chance to sample one of our most spectacular tourist attractions just outside the city of Livingstone: the Mosi-O-Tunya – the smoke that thunders.”

He also said Government strongly believed that the interaction between Zambia and Djibouti should transcend the political sphere and trickle down into trade and culture.

The President said such interactions would enable the two countries strengthen longstanding political relations and bonds of friendship at all levels.

“My Government strongly believes that your visit to Zambia will constitute a turning point in the political relations of our two countries,” President Mwanawasa said.

He said Mr Guelleh’s visit to Zambia went beyond fostering a better understanding between the two Governments and providing an insight into the developments to closer cooperation in the cultural and economic fields.

President Mwanawasa also appreciated the Djibouti Government’s great interest in the establishment of an African Union Government at the Accra, Ghana, African Union summit held about two weeks ago.

Mr Mwanawasa said his Government fully understood Djibouti’s advocacy for the consolidation of democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law as prerequisites to the formation of a continental government.

And Mr Guelleh said President Mwanawasa’s good leadership since he headed Government in 2002, deserved international support and emulation because Zambia had made many economic strides which the local people should be proud of.

He said his visit to Zambia was mainly dedicated to sharing Djibouti’s experiences on how it had struggled in fighting poverty and the way it had contributed to the restoration of peace and security in the Common Market for East and Southern Africa and other regions.

Mr Guelleh urged Africans to ensure that the continent no longer depended on other developed nations’ support.

Director of Decentralization Alfred sakwiya says most political leaders ushered into office after last year’s tripartite and general elections are not conversant with Government’s decentralization policy.

Mr. Sakwiya said this when he presented a paper at the ongoing Local Government
Association of Zambia 51st Annual Conference at New Fairmount hotel in Livingstone
today.

And Mr. Sakwiya said most chiefs in the country were apprehensive about the
2006-2010 decentralization policy as  they doubted the local authorities capacity
ability to handle additional responsibilities considering their generally poor
financial status.

Mr. Sakwiya said once the general public understood the whole concept of
decentralization they would support it wholeheartedly because of its numerous
benefits.

Opposition United Party for National Development, UPND, has disassociated itself from the Zambia Centre for Inter-Party Dialogue ZCID’s roadmap as published in the post newspaper of July 16, 2007.

UPND chairperson for information and publicity Charles Kakoma said the Zambia ZCID
committed the UPND to a programme and  roadmap without consulting the party
leadership.

Mr Kakoma said the UPND’s official position on the constitution reform process is
to support the adoption of the constitution through a Constitutional Conference
based on the understanding that the  Constitutional  Conference will function as
the Constituent Assembly.

He said the UPND does not  therefore agree with the ZCID’s position that the
Constitution Conference is different from the Constituent Assembly.

Mr Kakoma noted that there was no roadmap which was discussed and agreed  upon at
the summit of  political party presidents recently.

He said the only agreement reached during the party presidents summit was to the
effect that government presents a Constitutional Conference Bill to parliament .

The UPND spokesperson said the issues of the roadmap and contents of the draft
constitution were supposed to to be referred to various political parties for
scrutiny before the are  presented to  the second summit of party presidents.

Mr Kakoma further said UPND is opposed to piecemeal amendments of the constitution
as suggested in the ZCID roadmap.

This is contained in a statement  received by Zanis in Lusaka today

Mr Kakoma further said the UPND’s position is that the contents of the new
constitution should be agreed upon  and adopted by the Constitutional Conferenc, and
later be subjected to a National Referendum  before presentation to parliament for
enactment in total.

Mr Kakoma  said the party is opposed to the amendment of the constitution because
that is what has been done to the constitution reviews  since independence
resulting in the current constitution that is not acceptable to the majority of
Zambians in a  multi party democratic dispensation .

He  said the  Constitutional Conference Bill should be published  and distributed
to all stakeholders including ZCID, political parties  and Oasis Forum who should
agree on its content ,before it is presented to parliament.

Mr.Kakoma said the party does not agree with ZCID ‘s programmes of sensitising
people countrywide before the contents of the proposed Constitutional Conference
Bill are known and agreed upon.

He said his party is committed to an inclusive constitution making process that is
accepted to all stakeholders.

Mr Kakoma however assured that the UPND will continue to participate in the ZCID
activities current happenings nowithstanding.

The government will allow a farmers’ group and three other associations to export a total of 200,000 tonnes of white maize to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Namibia, an industry official said on Tuesday.

The Grain Traders of Zambia (GTA), the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU), Millers Association of Zambia (Maz) and the state Food Reserve Agency (FRA) will be given permits to export 50,000 tonnes of surplus maize and ground maize each, Maz general secretary Allan Sakala said.

“Most of this maize will go to the Congo, although we have inquiries of maize requirements from Namibia as well. We are just making arrangements to start exports because the permission from the government is with immediate effect,” Sakala told Reuters.

The DRC continues to heavily on maize imports from Zambia as it rebuilds an agricultural sector that was devastated by decades of civil war. The need for maize is particularly dire in Lubumbashi, a city just across the DRC border with Zambia.

Sakala said the price of the exported maize would be determined by the market, though he noted that the Zambian government had slapped a $2 levy on each tonne of maize or ground maize meant for export.

Surplus from the 2005/06 maize crop will be used, he said.

The impending Zambian exports are less than what had been originally expected.

In June, Zambian Agriculture Minister Ben Kapita told Reuters that the government would allow farmers to export 350,000 tonnes of maize after the southern African nation recorded surpluses in the last three agricultural seasons.

But Zambia’s 2006/07 maize output declined 4.4 percent to 1.36 million tonnes from the previous growing season due to flooding that destroyed crops in a majority of the country’s 72 districts.

Kapita said Zambia would keep 250,000 tonnes of maize in strategic reserves compared with a surplus of 160,000 tonnes the previous year.