A conglomerate of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) has  welcomed the London High Court Judgment on Second republican President Dr Frederick
Chiluba and President Mwanawasa’s call for a national Indaba on the constitution making process.

Speaking at a joint press briefing in Lusaka today, Committee of Citizens Director Gregory Chifire said the London High Court ruling on Dr Chiluba was an indication of true justice and a milestone in the national crusade against corruption.

Mr Chifire said the London High Court judgment on the second President by Judge Peter Smith is a clear demonstration to show that the days for plunderers are numbered and that many more people will follow the path of Dr Chiluba.

He advised government to suspend paying Dr Chiluba’s terminal benefits so that part of the stolen money can be recovered.

Mr Chifire further said that investigations should be launched to know how the money realized from the Privatisation exercise was spent on development programmes.

He also said that the resources recovered from plunderers be used to set up an
Education Trust Fund with a view to educating the large number of youths and street kids who are on the streets.

Forum for Leadership Search Executive Director Edwin Lifwekelo said his organisation supports the call by president Mwanawasa to hold a national indaba on the constitution making process in order to address the acrimonies surrounding the constitution making process.

Mr Lifwekelo said public participation through which people can exchange views and influence the review and drafting of a constitution process is central to the
acceptance of the republican constitution.

He noted that the national indaba will play a crucial role as it will help guard
against anti-democratic drafting of a constitution process.

Mr Lifwekelo said his organisation has supported the enactment of  a new
constitution as it plays an ideological role by inculcating the values that the
society seeks to enshrine but that the right procedure be used in enactment a new constitution.

He further urged the civil society, trade unions, student bodies and the church to put pressure on government so that it can discontinue giving Dr Chiluba his benefits until he pays back the 85 percent of the money he defrauded the Zambian government.

Mr Lifwekelo also advised government to stop building Dr Chiluba’s house so that the exercise can be part of the recovery process of the money Dr Chiluba defrauded the Zambian government.

Meanwhile, Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) Vice President Sam Phiri blamed the civil society and government for being stubborn over the constitution making process.

Mr Phiri said both government and the civil society were creating unnecessary
political tension in the country by not agreeing on the constitution road map.

He noted that the civil society should discuss and agree to hold a national indaba
which he said will act as a surgeon for enacting a people driven constitution which can stand a taste of time.

And Operations Young Cheetah Movement Executive Director Mcloud Lunkoto appealed to government to involve youths in the constitution making process saying youths are a reservoir of the national human resource.

Mr Lunkoto also urged second republican president Dr Chiluba to disclose the sources of the funds that found their way into the Zamtroop coffers.

Vice President Rupiah Banda has asked the people of Zambia to be vigilant on
individuals that were bent on retarding development in the country.

Mr. Banda said every individual citizens must exercise vigilance and jealously guard the public infrastructure against vandalism and also ensure that public funds were used for the right purpose.

He said it was only vigilant people that would help accelerate developmental projects and programmes in the country, especially the rural areas.

Mr. Banda was speaking today when he addressed a political rally at Kamjoma in Chief Manjawanthu’s area in Petauke district.

He is on a campaign trail for the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) candidate, Fashion Phiri in the Kapoche by-election. The Kapoche seat became
vacant after the High Court nullified MMD Member of Parliament’s election, Nicholas Phiri.

The Vice President said for development to take place in the country, there must be collective responsibility from both rural and urban citizens in implementing poverty reduction programmes, using public resources and taking care of the public infrastructure.

Mr. Banda, who is accompanied by among many others, MMD Deputy National Secretary, Richard Kachingwe and Eastern Province MMD Chairman, Lameck Mangani, said the current government was resolved to improve the social welfare of rural people.

He said previous regimes under UNIP and MMD under former President Frederick Chiluba had ignored rural areas, noting that President Mwanawasa’s government decided to provide attractive social services to all areas of the country.

He further said already, a lot of economic sectors that have a direct bearing on the development of rural areas have been revived by the Mwanawasa administration, an indication that there was commitment.

He cited mining and agriculture as some of the sectors that have recorded huge successes in the Mwanawasa regime.

He said the government was now able to collect a lot of money as tax to treasury from such sectors, hence it has managed to start rehabilitating schools, health centres and providing boreholes in rural areas.

Mr. Banda stressed that the people of Kapoche should elect an MP from the ruling party because it would be easier for him to have access to funds meant
for development.

He said the people of Kapoche should not vote for propagandist opposition political parties, some of which have quarrelsome and sarcastic leaders.

The Vice President stated that all other candidates, apart from professor Phiri, in the June 5, Kapoche by-election were representing parties, whose records
were unsatisfactory.

He emphasized that the people of Kapoche should allow government to concretize the programmes it has started by continuing to vote for MMD candidates.

The Vice President also paid a courtesy call on Chieftainess Mwanjawanthu.

Mr. Banda is expected to wind up his campaign to drum up support for professor Phiri, tomorrow.

Other candidates in the by-election are Charles Banda of FDD, Mike Tembo for the Patriotic Front, Sarah Zulu for the All People’s Congress and Levison Mumba standing under UNIP.

THE Lusaka Magistrates Court has ordered former President Frederick Chiluba to appear before the ad hoc committee of doctors to determine his fitness to stand trial.

The committee of doctors from the University Teaching Hospital (UTH)
recommended Chiluba’s evacuation to South Africa for specialist treatment last year when it noted that he was unable to stand trial at that time.

Acting deputy High Court Registrar Jones Chinyama, made the order yesterday following an application by Task Force on Corruption prosecutor Mutembo Nchito who wanted trial dates fixed in the matter in which Chiluba is jointly charged with Access Financial Services director, Aaron Chungu and Lusaka businessman, Faustin Kabwe.

The trio are charged with theft by public servant of about US$500,000.

“I therefore order that the medical condition of the first accused (Chiluba) should be reviewed by the same ad hoc committee of medical experts so that we are guided,” Mr Chinyama said.

“Of course the views of the prosecution will be taken into consideration.

The matter stands adjourned to May 31 (2007) for the presentation of the medical report and possible setting of trial dates,” he said.

Mr Nchito told the court that the State was anxious to fix trial dates.

He, however, said the State did not know what the defence’s instructions were.

Standing in for Chiluba’s defence lawyers, Diana Bunting of Simeza Sangwa Associates, told Mr Chinyama that Chiluba was still unwell and was not able to stand before the court.

Ms Bunting said the defence would be ready for fixing of the dates sometime in August because the former president was yet to undergo another medical review in South Africa in July.

But Mr Nchito said he had heard the defence but that there were issues of concern he had to raise.

“Your honour, there are two issues, one is that the first accused has been active in the public domain and engaged in strenuous activities than attending court,” he said.

The State was of the view that Chiluba was able to attend court.

“Your honour, if the first accused is unable to attend court in person, equipment can be made available for him to attend at the comfort of his home,” he said.

In a ruling, Mr Chinyama noted that just like the State had submitted, it was evident that the matter had been pending for sometime because of Chiluba’s poor health.

At this point, Chiluba’s lawyer Robert Simeza was in court and wondered if the two weeks to enable his client appear before the ad hoc committee at UTH was enough for the report to be presented before the court.

Mr Simeza said the local team of doctors still needed to get a report from doctors that have been attending to Chiluba in South Africa.

But Mr Nchito assured the court that everything was under control since the State was the one to organise and enable Chiluba appear before the committee.

The government is set to take action against main opposition leader Michael Sata for allegedly causing political instability in neighbouring Malawi ahead of that country’s general elections, ZNBC radio said on Friday.

Defence Minister George Mpombo assured the Malawian government that Zambia would deal with opposition leader Michael Sata, who was recently deported from Malawi for allegedly trying to help organise opposition in that country.

“The Zambian government will ensure that political bandits are not allowed to transfer their mischief into Malawi,” Mpombo was quoted as having said by the state-run Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation.

The Malawian government is believed to have formally complained to Zambia about Sata during the joint permanent commission on defence and security meeting in Lusaka this week.

“We will not allow Malawi’s sovereignty to be undermined. We will deal with such characters firmly and in clear terms,” Mpombo was quoted as saying.

Sata denied the accusations and has since sued the Malawian government over his deportation

The government has ruled out exempting foreign mining companies from paying higher taxes in return for doing more to train local workers.

Zambia gave foreign firms that bought copper mines starting from 2000 tax breaks as part of development agreements so they could keep up output at a time of low prices.

With prices now sharply higher on the back of strong global demand, especially from China, the government recently told 10 foreign copper and cobalt miners that it wanted to renegotiate these pacts.

Finance Minister Ng`andu Magande said he would explain to the mining companies that the development agreements were about more than tax breaks; they also obliged the mining firms to train local contractors if they lacked the necessary skills.

“Now, when we go into these negotiations, we want to know whether the mines have been able to do that. If they haven`t, what is the problem and how can we work together to create this capacity?” Magande told reporters on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the African Development Bank.

Asked whether there could be a trade-off, Magande said: “No. What we feel is that if we let each one of them say, `I have a social responsibility, I will do this` it will be very difficult to supervise.”

Foreign mining firms operating in Zambia include London-listed Vedanta Resources plc, Canada`s First Quantum Minerals and Swiss firm Glencore International AG.

If social development were left to the mining firms, inequality and social problems would result, Magande said.

“So what we have said is that, if they do agree, we think taxation is logical.”

Some of the firms argue that the development agreements incorporating the tax breaks are legally binding.

Magande said the government, in embarking on the negotiations, had discovered some “technicalities” were involved and said some multilateral financial institutions and bilateral donors had offered to help Zambia prepare for the talks.

The government had held preliminary meetings with the mines and hoped to have something in writing by the end of the month, the minister said.

( Reuters)