GOVERNMENT says it will hold the Oasis Forum responsible for any lawlessness which may occur during the Southern African Development Community (SADC) heads of State Summit in Lusaka.

The Oasis Forum are planning to hold peaceful demonstrations for five-days during the SADC Summit next week.

The intention is to picket leaders in the region over the perceived disagreement over constitution-making process in Zambia.

But Minister of Justice, George Kunda, said yesterday in Lusaka that it was unfortunate that the Oasis Forum and those bent on derailing the constitutional review process intended to demonstrate against the government during the SADC heads of State summit with a view to compelling Government to follow their constitution review Roadmap.

“Oasis Forum will be held responsible for any damage to property, loss of life or lawlessness which may occur during their planned demonstrations during the Southern Africa Development Community heads of State summit,” he said.

Mr Kunda said demonstrations were not necessary under present circumstances as Government was putting in place a broadly representative body, the National Constitutional Conference (NCC), to adopt the constitution or any part of the constitution as recommended by the Mung’omba Constitutional Review Commission (CRC).

“As Zambians, we are law-abiding and peaceful and should not ferment chaos or lawlessness, especially when we receive distinguished leaders from the SADC region,” he said.

Mr Kunda said in drafting the NCC Bill, Government had consulted stakeholders and accommodated divergent views.

And Minister of Home Affairs, Ronnie Shikapwasha, said the Oasis Forum and the Consultative Group on the Constitution could not guarantee that their planned demonstrations would be peaceful because they were unable to detect elements that may try to disturb the peace.

Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha said in an interview yesterday in Lusaka that any planned demonstrations during the summit could not be allowed to proceed because they were a major security risk.

He said the arguments put forward by the two groups that it was their democratic right to hold peaceful demonstrations “did not hold water”, as it was also the democratic right of Government to maintain law and order, especially during a gathering such as the SADC summit.

“There is really no need for anyone to demonstrate.

We are in control of the security situation in the country and we do not want to see a situation where our visitors will think that we are not, after all, a peaceful country,” he said.

Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha said the Zambia Police Service was capable of dealing with all the security issues of the country and that Government would support them.

Inspector General of Police, Ephraim Mateyo, said he had not seen the notice given by the two groups on their planned demonstrations.

He said, however, that the Lusaka Police Division may have received the notice and that the department would make a decision in the best interest of the nation.

Chilanga Constituency Member of Parliament,  Ngandu Mangande has called on the opposistion to work together with government to foster development in the country.

Mr. Magande says the opposition and ruling party, should bury their political differences to accelearte development.

Mr. Magande said this in Lusaka today when he handed over three sewing machines and K200,000 cash to the May Flower Women’s Club in Chilanga.

He further challenged Councilors in his constituency to be pro active and explain
government programes to people in rural areas.

Mr. Magande who is also Finance and National Planning Minister restated governments
committed to empowering women with income generating ventures so that they could
sustain themselves.

The donation was necessitated by Ms. Joyce Muwo, a renowned Lusaka business woman.

Last year, Mr. Magande donated seed to the May Flower Womens Club which they planted during the last farming season.

And receiving the donation, May Flower Womenæs Club Chairperson Nora Banda commended both Mr. Magande and Ms. Muwo for the gesture.

Ms. Banda disclosed that her organisation is expected to harvest 40 x 50 kilogram
bags of maize.

Leaders attending the 2007 Langkawi International Dialogue, LID2007, have been urged to become more practical in implementing policies to facilitate infrastructure development as an effective mechanism for poverty reduction.

About 16 African and Asian leaders, attending the Eighth Dialogue, have been urged to become more innovative in devising new sources of value required for the creation of wealth.

Malaysian Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, said leaders in developing countries should shift from concentrating on economic rhetoric to becoming innovative by putting in force policies that would create a strong foundation for infrastructure development as a prerequisite for economic growth and poverty reduction.

Mr. Badawi was speaking during a State Dinner hosted in honour of the Heads of State and Government attending the LID 2007 taking place at Berjaya Beach and Spa Resort on the Island city of Langkawi in Malaysia.

The Malaysian leader pointed out that human resource was another significant element in the development process and implored governments and the private sector in developing countries to place priority to the development of skilled human capital.

“Given the central role of people in the development process, it is crucial for developing countries to give priority to the development of skilled human capital,” Mr. Badawi said.

President Mwanawasa is among the 16 African and Asian leaders attending the LID 2007 which is being held in the resort town of Langkawi, Malaysia.

This year’s Dialogue is being held under the theme ‘Poverty eradication through human capital development and capacity building’.

“But for those of us who are decision-makers and public servants, we have a specific role to play; we must create the necessary infrastructure and a police environment which is necessary not only for social and economic development but also conducive for achieving the ultimate objective, that is the eradication of poverty in our community,” He added.

The Malaysian Prime minister was of the view that the development of the small and medium scale industries could effectively generate economic activity and help reduce unemployment levels
among the people.

He challenged participating leaders at LID2007 to put in place deliberate policy measures that would facilitate the channeling of Foreign Direct Investment towards activities that focus on poverty reduction in the respective nations.

LID 2007 is focusing on identifying practical measures that could help reduce the devastating impact of poverty among the people in African and Asian countries.

The Dialogue initiated in 1995, creates a platform for governments, private business sector and civil society to discuss and find solutions to issues affecting the economic developments of the people.

Mr. Badawi said Malaysia has significantly reduced poverty levels through a programme that brought on board the business sector in the provision of healthcare, education, housing and skills training for the people.

Earlier, Lesotho President, Pakalitha Mosisili,said the Smart Partnership principles that promote south-to-south cooperation should be promoted to address the problem of poverty and disease in African countries.

Professor Mosisili was confident that wealth creation should be encouraged as a sustainable measure of supporting efforts of combating the HIV/ AIDS pandemic and poverty that have ravaged people in Sub-Saharan Africa and other developing countries of the world.

He acknowledged the enhanced networking among countries towards the goal of promoting investment for economic growth and improving the living standards for the people.

About 500 delegates are attending the Three-day Dialogue that officially opened today.

President Mwanawasa, as an active member of the network involving governments, would on Tuesday August 7, be convener of a session under the theme ‘capacity building for poverty eradication.’

LID creates a forum for government and the private business sector to exchange views, experiences and lessons on issues affecting economic and social development of African countries.

The Dialogue which was initiated in 1995, has been an effective avenue for the promotion of foreign direct investment in developing countries.

GOVERNMENT has directed the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to pay farmers within seven days of the purchase of their maize.

And Government has vowed not to pay satellite depot supervisors who are allegedly conniving with ghost farmers to demand payment of undelivered maize.

Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Ben Kapita, told Parliament yesterday that farmers were only expected to wait for less than seven days before receiving payment for their maize.

He said the seven-day period was aimed at enabling FRA officials to ensure that stocks were verified before making the payment.

Mr Kapita also said FRA would purchase 270,000 metric tonnes of maize from the K205 billion allocated in this year’s budget.

However, he said FRA would have to find alternative sources of funding to purchase the rest of the 130,000 metric tonnes of maize.

The minister was responding to a supplementary question by Kalomo MP Request Muntanga (UPND) who wanted to know why farmers were not being paid their maize in good time.

This followed a question by Gwembe MP Brian Ntundu (UPND) who wanted to know the cash crops the FRA was buying and the measures Government had taken to ensure that all the crops grown in Zambia were purchased by the agency.

In response to the question, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Daniel Kalenga, said the FRA Act only allowed the agency to purchase maize, rice, soya beans, cassava and sorghum.

He said it was not possible for FRA to purchase all crops grown because it was not within its mandate.

And Mr Kapita said his ministry has received information that some satellite depot supervisors were conniving with ghost farmers to demand payment for undelivered maize.

He said some supervisors had failed to prove that the maize whose payment was being demanded was delivered.

Mr Kapita also told the house that Government had signed an agreement with a Chinese company to rehabilitate silos for storage of maize.

And Mr Kapita defended FRA as the most competent board.

This was after calls by Mr Ntundu for the minister to dissolve the board.

Mr Kapita said the chairman of FRA was the biggest farmer in the country and that there were other experts in the field of agriculture who sat on that board.

Forum for Leadership Search Zambia has welcomed the proposed NGO bill in parliament by government.

In a statement released to ZANIS in Lusaka today Forum for Leadership Search Zambia Executive Director, Edwin Lifwekelo, said the bill will bring sanity to the
operations of NGOs.

Mr. Lifwekelo also noted that the bill will instill levels of responsibilities and
accountability in the operations of NGOs in Zambia.

He accused some NGOs of  behaving like political parties, adding that although a lot
of money is donated to them, it is not used for the intended purpose.

Mr. Lifwekelo said his organisation suspects that the recent beating of  innocent
citizens by suspected criminals in some parts of Lusaka could be sponsored by people
who allegedly intend to cause political anarchy by justifying that it was wrong for
government to remove street vendors from the streets.

He warned that if laws to restrict movement of colossal sums of  money in the
country are not strengthened the security of the country risks being endangered.

He said that this  can be observed by how some groups of people want to disrupt the
SADC summit scheduled for this month.

Mr. Lifwekelo further noted that there is need to improve  public confidence in the
activities of  civil societies by ensuring that this integral part of  public policy
is not abused.

He however said that the introduction of a mechanism to review the operations of
NGOs will serve citizens interests if government does not abuse the piece of
legislation.