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By Dr Fred M’membe President of Socialist Party Zambia
THE SOCIALIST Party (SP) will create employment once voted into power with a job-creation strategy centred around the three pillars of its social and political programme; education, health and peasant agriculture. Under the SP government, schools will not be run the way they currently are. We will provide free education from nursery at the age of three all the way to university, and it will be compulsory up to grade 12.
Education will be a major undertaking in this country and will be allocated not less than 25 per cent of the national budget. Under this programme, teachers will not be left to manage and run schools on their own. In order to have an effective, efficient, and orderly system, the running of schools will include other professionals and a broad spectrum of workers, such as human resources personnel, information technology experts, accountants, marketing personnel, cleaners, drivers, mechanics, gardeners, nurses, clinical officers, and catering staff, among others. Schools, colleges and universities will need to be supplied with all sorts of teaching aids and other goods and services, and these will be produced in factories by our people, meaning that education will directly and indirectly be one of the biggest employers.
The health sector will also be used to create a number of jobs. By expanding Zambia’s health services – both in terms of quantity and quality – we will need to employ more people. This will entail a need for more nurses, clinical officers, doctors, pharmacists, radiographers, and many other health and general workers. In addition, our government will prioritise the manufacture of some of the medicines we use, even under licence. We will also need to create factories producing health equipment of all sorts. This, together with many other functions that will be added to health services, will create many more jobs.
Another sector that we will prioritise to create employment is peasant agriculture. And when we say peasant agriculture, we don’t mean that everyone will be carrying a kambwili, hoe and be tillers of land. There’s an urgent need to transform the way peasant agriculture is carried out.
We cannot increase agricultural production with a hoe, that’s for planting flowers around your house and a few beds of vegetables to feed a small family. Our plans are much bigger than that and will involve many jobs being created in the agricultural sector because of the transformations we will make.
Transformative peasant agriculture under this government will need new equipment, that is; appropriate ploughs, planters, harvesters and other necessities. To produce these, we will need to set up factories all over the country employing engineers and their technicians, human resources experts, accountants, IT experts, marketing and sales staff, drivers, mechanics, nurses and clinical officers to ran staff clinics, catering people to manage the staff cafeterias, and so on. Of course, our reality, as it stands today, is that we may not have all the engineering expertise required to set up and run these factories. We may have to rely on expatriate skills while we train our people in our schools, colleges and universities.
We will also need to set up factories producing agricultural chemicals. These will require us to employ a diverse range of scientists and other staff. In addition, we will need to create factories that produce veterinary medicines for our livestock. This undertaking will employ scientists, technicians, HR people, accountants, ICT experts, marketing and sales experts and many others. The medicines produced will need to be administered by vets, working with lab technicians. In this way we will be creating more and more jobs for our people.
And, of course, peasant agriculture will need to be financed. This will require us to create a myriad of financial institutions, such as agriculture banks and insurance companies. These institutions will employ bankers, lawyers, accountants, IT experts, insurance personnel and many others, again creating more and more jobs.
The agricultural output produced by our factories will need to be delivered to our peasant farmers. This will create logistics jobs for drivers, mechanics and other support staff. Furthermore, the cotton we produce in Nyimba, Petauke, Katete, Chipata, Chadiza, Lundazi, Chama and other places, will not leave Eastern Province unprocessed. Textile factories will be established in employing people from all over the country in many, various roles. These factories will be producing reels of all sorts of cloth, but the cloth produced will not be exported as it is.
Clothing factories will be created to design and produce shirts, trousers, dresses, caps, canvas shoes, belts, and many other products. These factories will require sewing machines and needles so small factories will be created to manufacture and service the machines. The clothing factories will further need buttons and zips. The buttons can be produced from the horns of cattle, hard wood and stones, creating even more jobs. And the finished products will need to be packaged. This will require us to create factories producing packaging materials. Drivers will be needed to transport the finished products from the factories to the ports of Dar-es-Salam, Walvis Bay and Durban. Furthermore, delivery trucks will need to be serviced by mechanics. In this way, more jobs will be created.
Our strategies on cotton production and its processing and export will be extended to food crops. Small and large factories will be created all over the country to process agricultural produce. For instance, factories can be built to process tomato into jam, juice, soup, puree or paste. Some of these products can be exported, and some consumed locally, resulting in more jobs. In addition, it is important to also mention that there will be new jobs created in other sectors of our economy, such as mining, construction, forestry, and the provision of the many other services needed in an organised society.
Opposition Leadership Movement (LM) has said Zambians should not celebrate the announcement by First Quantum Minerals Limited (FQM) that it is this year expected to employ 2,400 people at its Trident Mine Limited in Kalumbila District and Kansanshi Mining Plc in Solwezi District.
FQM this week told ZNBC TV that it is expecting to employ 2,400 people at its Trident Mine Limited in Kalumbila District and Kansanshi Mining Plc in Solwezi District of North Western Province.
This comes after FQM, which runs both mines, announced an investment of over US$1.2 billion at Kansanshi Mining Plc and the opening of Enterprise Mine at Trident Limited which will be Mining Nickel.
LM Media Director Tatila Tatila said Zambians should wait until people are employed by FQM for them to celebrate.
Mr. Tatila said the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development should also thoroughly monitor the 2,400 job recruitment at FQM.
He said with the right leadership, the mining sector has the capacity to employ many people.
“The Ministry of Mines should monitor the 2,400 job recruitment at FQM. The Leadership Movement-LM under Dr Richard Silumbe wishes to welcome the 2,400 job recruitment by First Quantum Minerals Limited. As a Party, anchored on job creation and advocates of Massive Production among the youths, we call on the Ministry of Mines to monitor the recruitment process in order for FQM to fulfill its pronouncement,” Mr. Tatila said.
“As Leadership Movement LM, we call on Zambians not to celebrate the announcement of plans to employ by Investors until people are employed. With the right leadership the mining sector has the capacity to recruit millions of young people. The problems have been Corruption and Government protecting mining companies at the expense of poor Zambians. Lastly, we urge the Mining Firm to consider the locals in Kalumbila and Solwezi, further Leadership Movement want to see schools, clinics, and water and Recreation centers under FQM Corporate Social Responsibility to benefit the local communities,” Mr. Tatila said.
Meanwhile, Sentinel Mine General Manager Junior Keyser said Trident Limited will ensure it increases copper production at the mine by having operational equipment.
The ruling United Party for National Development( UPND ) leadership in Muchinga Province says the continued appreciation of the Zambian Kwacha gives hope of many good things coming ahead.
In an interview today, Provincial Coordinator, Frederick Chimeya says the continued appreciation of the Zambian Kwacha is a boost to the economic recovery of the country.
Mr. Chimeya says it is fundamentally important for the Zambian Kwacha to appreciate against the other convertible currencies adding that this is needed for the resuscitation of the country’s economy.
“As new dawn administration, we are on course to resuscitate our economy and the appreciation of the Zambian Kwacha recorded in recent months as because of the measures put in place to ensure the economy of the country improves, ” said Mr. Chimeya.
He says the appreciation of the Zambian Kwacha is allowing many people to trade locally and internationally.
The UPND provincial coordinator says the performance of the currency shows investor’s confidence in the new dawn administration towards resuscitating the economy.
Meanwhile, at Nakonde border the appreciation of the Zambian Kwacha has boosted trade.
A check by ZANIS revealed that the number of cross border traders from Zambia has increased in the past days to buy goods and other merchandise from the border town of Tunduma in Tanzania.
Provincial Coordinator for the Zambia Micro and Small Traders Cooperative, Josephat Chitimbwa says the demand for maize and Soya beans has further strengthened the performance of the Zambian Kwacha at the Nakonde border.
Mr. Chitimbwa has told ZANIS that the demand for maize grain and Soya beans by the foreign countries calls for the need to invest more in agriculture in order to boos our economy.
“Agriculture is now the main stay of our economy and we need to invest more in agriculture in order to increase production and earn more foreign exchange through exports,” said Mr. Chitimbwa.
Mr. Chitimbwa says Zambians at Nakonde are benefiting from the increased demand for both maize and Soya beans which is being exported to Kenya and Tanzania.
The demand for maize and Soya beans has seen an increase of Tanzanian and Kenyan nationals at Nakonde who are working in partnerships with Zambia citizens in exporting maize and Soya beans to Kenya and Tanzania.
Mr. Chimeya says the demand for Kwacha by the foreigners buying maize and Soya beans has further strengthened the performance of the Zambian Kwacha at the border giving it more buying power.
“We have seen an influx of people from Kenya and Tanzania coming to trade with us especially in maize grain and soya beans which is of mutual benefit to our cross border traders of Zambia as the buying power of the Zambian Kwacha has been strengthened, ” said Mr. Chitimbwa.
The Zambian Kwacha has gained value in recent months and is now more robust than the South African Rand and other currencies in the Southern region.
The Zambian Kwacha has continued to demonstrate its overall stability for a couple of months now.
The Zambia National Students Union (ZANASU) and its affiliate Unions is calling on Parliament to amend the Public Order Act Bill which stands in defense of the rights of students and citizens to peacefully assemble while upholding the need for public order.
The students’ leaders through its umbrella body submitted that the presentation of the Bill provides an opportunity for the country to repeal the existing draconian public order law and replace it with a law that responds to modern-day democracy.
The student leaders representing various institutions have called on Members of Parliament across the political divide to make amendments to the current Bill rather than attempt to lose this opportunity.
The student leaders submitted that it was saddening to see students abused and detained for exercising their constitutional rights of assembly, expression and association.
In a statement issued on behalf of ZANASU and its affiliate Unions, ZANASU President Steven Kanyakula highlighted that Parliament should make specific amendments to the Bill, to remove the wider discretion law enforcement officers enjoy to unilaterally refuse to allow and permit people from holding public meetings.
“Sometimes the Zambia Police deny permits on the basis lack of sufficient manpower to handle public gatherings and demonstrations,” he said
Mr Kanyakula added that as an umbrella student Union they want to see to it that the new Public Order law makes both convenors of meetings and authorized officers accountable rather than confer immunity on police.
He said that ZANASU is trusting on Parliament to ensure the new Bill recognises the rights of students to have a peaceful demonstration and guaranteed protection of academic freedoms.
Mr Kanyakula noted that thoughts shall be offered to Parliament once it’s open for submissions and a continued engagement to individual MPs to make desirable changes that would work in the interest of both students and the general citizenry.
“As a united student movement, we are determined to help our country come up with a new public order law than being armchair critics,” he said
Kitwe Town Clerk Patrick Kambita has warned people that are putting up structures along the rail line in Kitwe’s Mukuba Natwange area to halt their constructions or risk losing their investment.
Mr. Kambita said the plots being allocated along the rail line are illegal and that the council will not legalize any structure that has been built there or any other unlawfully acquired pieces of land.
He urged people that have bought land in an illegal manner to claim their money back because such pieces of land will not be regularized by the council.
He also warned council officials that are involved in illegal land allocation that the law will soon visit them.
He further warned members of the public that get letters of offer directly from the Ministry of Land that the local authority will not also recognize those documents as long as the council is not involved.
Speaking when he toured Mukuba Natwange area in Ndeke where unscrupulous people claiming to be council employees are allocating land to unsuspecting members of the public, Mr. Kambita said the land allocations along the rail line are illegal and that the council will not compensate anyone building in unauthorized areas.
He said the law stipulates that structures should not be put up within 50 meters from the rail line.
“We are at a point where the council is witnessing illegal allocation of land that we have never witnessed in many years and the council has now resolved to move in and bring sanity to Kitwe, it’s new dawn so we need to start doing things in a proper manner, we have people that are masquerading as council officials or planners when in
fact they are not,” Mr. Kambita charged.
He urged members of the public to be on the look-out for such council officials involved in illegal land allocation and report them.
In addition, Kitwe District Commissioner Lawrence Mwanza has warned that government will not tolerate the illegal land allocation schemes.
And a resident of Mukuba Natwange area Sunday Nyirenda appealed to the council to act before structures are completed so that people don’t waste money.
Controversial activist Gregory Chifire has said the Ministry of Agriculture must take advantage of President Hakainde Hichilema’s zero tolerance to corruption to end cartels in the fertilizer procurement chain.
The government through the Ministry of Agriculture is this year expecting to contract firms to supply 307,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer that will benefit 1,024,000 farmers across the country under the Agriculture Support Programme.
Mr. Chifire, the Executive Director of Southern Africa Network Against Corruption (SANAC), said the Ministry of Agriculture should ensure that tenders of supplying fertilizer are awarded to deserving suppliers.
He said the fertilizer procurement process was in the recent past tied with suspected corruption and bribery that led to suppliers supplying the commodity at exorbitant prices.
Mr. Chifire observed that Zambia was made to lose a lot of money that could have been used in other needy areas as cartels flourished in the fertilizer supply chain.
He said SANAC has been following with keen interest the fertilizer procurement process for the 2022/2023 farming season by the Ministry of Agriculture that attracted interest from a good number of fertilizer suppliers.
Mr. Chifire said SANAC was pleased with the professionalism and transparency that the Ministry of Agriculture has so far exhibited.
He said the Ministry of Agriculture should continue exhibiting transparency even in the selection of successful bidders.
“The Southern Africa Network Against Corruption (SANAC) has been following with keen interest the fertilizer procurement process for the 2022/23 farming season by the Ministry of Agriculture that attracted interest from a good number of fertilizer suppliers. We are pleased with the professionalism and transparency that the Ministry has so far exhibited. Now that bids have been opened and the bidders with their respective prices are known, we are calling on the Ministry to continue exhibiting transparency even in the selection of successful bidders,” Mr. Chifire said.
“Fertilizer procurement process was in the recent past laced with suspected corruption and bribery that led to suppliers supplying the commodity at exorbitant prices. This situation must be arrested as the Country was made to lose a lot of money that could have been used in other needy areas,” he said.
Mr. Chifire added:”The Ministry of Agriculture must take advantage of the President’s zero tolerance to corruption to break the fertilizer cartels in the sector by awarding tenders to deserving suppliers.”
The Ministry of Agriculture last January opened the bids for local agro-dealers to supply fertilizer for the 2022/2023 farming season.
The development followed President Hichilema’s announcement while on the Copperbelt a month earlier that Zambian suppliers will be prioritised in the tendering process.
According to the ministry, from the target 307,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser, 47,000 of Compound D will be supplied by the Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia to Central, Copperbelt and Lusaka Provinces.
The successful bidders will supply Compound D’ to the remaining seven provinces and urea to all the provinces.
The African Union has expressed concern that African countries have continued to be threatened with food insecurity despite having abundant land and water resources compared to other regions in the world.
African Union (AU) Head of African Governance Secretariat, Salah Hammad has observed that despite contributing only about 3.8 percent of the greenhouse emissions, Africa is the most hit continent by effects of climate change.
Ambassador Hammad noted that this is why there is need for African countries to work on sustainable measures aimed at mitigation the problems.
Speaking during the launch of the a report on food security and nutrition on the African continent on the sidelines of the forth coming AU mid-year coordination meeting in Lusaka today, Mr. Hammad said Africa has continued to remain poor and the number of poverty levels among has increased.
He noted that this is why there is need for collaborative effort to ensure that there is enough food for all the people in Africa.
He explained that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the effects of climate change are eye openers for African leaders to invest more in Agriculture and grow enough food for the continent to be food secured.
Mr.Hammad further commended Oxfam for the continued support in enhancing food security in the African region.
Earlier, Oxfam Southern Africa Programmes Director Dailes Judge disclosed that over 800 million people are likely to be food insecure from 2022 ongoing forward.
And Ms.Judge added that about 22 out of 55 countries are in critical debt stress which will like result in reduced social spending leading to increased poverty levels
She said the high debt levels has also made countries to record slow economic recovery after the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby considering bailout packages from multinational institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Ms. Judge pointed out that this is why it is important for African governments to build strong resilience to economic shocks so that can help countries to remain food secured.
A cross section of stakeholders in the Copperbelt province have condemned the planned demonstration by some political parties and non-governmental organizations during the hosting of the African Union mid-year coordinating summit.
Kitwe Pastors Fellowship Chairperson Reverend Raddy Lewila told ZANIS that Zambians should avoid anything that will disrupt the successful hosting of the summit.
Pastor Lewila said any disruption of peace in the country will depict a bad picture which can affect the country economically but rather urged politicians to address their issues with relative authorities internally.
“When you have internal challenges, they should be sorted out through the right channels, you do not have to wait for visitors for you to air out your grievances so to carry out demonstrations at a time when the country is hosting a high-profile continental meeting, will make the country appear like it is failing to solve its own problems
thereby giving a bad impression to the visitors and embarrassing the whole country, as the church we feel this is not the right time for anyone to demonstrate over any internal issues,” he said.
And Anti-Voter Apathy Programme (AVAP) Copperbelt Coordinator Poster Jumbe said the country does not have any urgent matters to warrant holding of protests when the country is hosting an important event which can be used to market the country as a potential investment destination.
He has since urged local entrepreneurs to position themselves on how they can benefit from the summit through their businesses.
“There is nothing urgent for us to say we need to demonstrate now, there are no such issues, if there is any issue then we should engage relevant authorities contrary to street protests,” he said.
In addition, Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Advocacy (DEGHA) coordinator Gerald Mutelo acknowledged that it is a wrong time for any group of people to conduct protests against internal matters as the country will be hosting the summit. Mr. Mutelo said this is time to market Zambia to the visitors instead of bringing out internal squabbles.
“Yes, people have the right to protest but this is not time for sorting political scores, Zambians should be thinking about how they can market the country to the visitors as an excellent investment
destination where their investment will be safe,” Mr. Mutelo said.
Home Affairs and Internal security Minister Jack Mwiimbu recently issued a warning to organizations or individuals planning to engage in illegal protests during the African Union Mid-Year Summit which will be hosted by Zambia from July, 14-17 of this month.
Copperbelt based good governance activist Peter Mulenga has supported the directive by Mines Minister Paul Kabuswe that the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) quickly dialogue outside court on issues surrounding Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) and Vedanta Mineral Resources.
Addressing the media in Lusaka on Tuesday, Mr Kabuswe said the government cannot wait for January 2023 for the next court case to be dealt with as this requires urgent attention.
Mr Kabuswe said the government is interested in dialogue so that matters surrounding Vedanta are resolved before next year and progress must be made as to whether Vedanta is exiting or staying in order to calm the public and avoid.
In reaction, Mr. Mulenga said the pronouncement by Mr. Kabuswe on KCM is long overdue and should be supported by all well meaning Zambians.
He said it was gratifying to see that the government is interested in dialogue so that matters surrounding Vedanta are resolved before next year.
“As a good governance activist I wish to support the directive by Mines Minister Paul Kabuswe that the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) dialogue over issues surrounding Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) and Vedanta Mineral Resources outside court. Indeed, like Mr Kabuswe said the people of Zambia cannot wait for January 2023 for the next court case to be dealt with as this matter requires urgent attention. I believe this pronouncement by Honourable Kabuswe is long overdue and should be supported by all well meaning Zambians. We have all seen that the KCM issue has protracted thereby hindering investment into the mine which has operations in Chingola, Chililabombwe and Nampundwe,” Mr. Mulenga said.
“It is good to note that the government is interested in dialogue so that matters surrounding Vedanta are resolved before next year and we are confident that progress will be made as to whether Vedanta is exiting or staying.I am aware that the call to dialogue over KCM does not mean handing over KCM back to Vedanta as some people are insinuating. Dialogue is a process where the participants commit to listen, observe and reflect with a curious mindset in order to seek a shared understanding. This proposed dialogue by the Government through the Mines Minister is an example of an effective communication process which guarantees good results that will benefit not only the people of Chingola, Chililabombwe and Nampundwe but the entire Zambia,” he said.
Mr. Mulenga observed that the prolonged KCM impasse has been hindering capital injection into the mine operation.
“The court process seen in the KCM issue is usually longer and can drag on and on. The people of the Copperbelt and Zambia in general need to see an end to this issue which has dragged for too long. Many people on the Copperbelt will tell you that KCM has positive, long term benefits generating economic and social benefits for the local communities and wider society. Therefore the Mines Minister is on point to call for dialogue instead of the prolonged court processes that have not yielded anything positive so far. The Government needs to seek new ways to deal with this long running dispute, its further right that a bilateral agreement between the two parties is made. But the first intention is to get parties to the table and to come up with a negotiated resolution. I think it’s for the Zambian people’s wish not to fight these fights in court, it’s not what we want, and we want proper activities coming back in Chililabombwe, Chingola etc soon,” Mr. Mulenga said.
Mr. Mulenga added:”Remember the Judiciary is independent, therefore the Minister of Mines cannot force it to speed up and even if he did, Vedanta can still appear meaning that this can go on and on. So the Mines Minister’s call to dialogue is timely. He is making a clear statement that the new dawn is rising and aims to bring back wealth to the masses, develop all of Zambia, prosper all of Zambia and connect all of Zambia. The one thing about this Minister and the government at large is they want to bring sanity in the country. Things were done in an up hazard way and it’s time to call a spade a spade. Honourable Kabuswe, kindly make the KCM issue your number one priority. We salute you for being brave, we know guns will be breezing now, but keep fighting a good fight sir. I call on well meaning Zambians to support Mr. Kabuswe’s efforts to bring sanity to KCM and the mining sector in general.”
Meanwhile, Vedanta has said that they have set aside US$220 million to dismantle outstanding debt to small and medium contractors in a bid to reduce liabilities and aid the growth of businesses, adding that the company remains committed to offsetting the liabilities.
Vedanta Resources reiterated its position that it remains resolute in playing a part in revitalizing Zambia’s economy in mine development of KCM, serving the community and workforce in a more responsible manner through a structured programme and through an independent trust to empower the youth and women among others.
Local Government and Rural Development Minister Garry Nkombo says mobile money booth cartels were formed as a result of political party carders allocating booths at undesignated places.
The cartels were big as they were run by Council workers, politicians, political party carders and Mobile Network Providers.
The manner in which the mobile money telephone booths were installed was completely against the Urban and Planning Act, Mr Nkombo highlighted this when he made an appearance on HOT FMs Hot Seat Programme.
He noted that the carders would go to mobile money booths to collect rent amounting to K250 per booth in places with high traffic and K100 per booth in places with low traffic and every Friday at 3 O’clock political party carders would go over and above the K5,000 in revenue collection.
“These cartels formed charged K5,000 for stand allocation only,” he said
Mr Nkombo noted that if the money collected by the carders for booth allocation went to the Council, it could have been more affordable than the K5,000 that was being charged by carders.
Mr Nkombo said that one person would own up to 100 booths around the city and use the same trading license, conduct which is illegal and against the stipulated Law.
He added that political party carders planted booths on other people’s property and collected rent, conduct that was disjointed in the rule of Law.
“The money was going to a certain political party and I will live it to the public to guess which political party it is,” he said
Mr Nkombo alluded that when the Zambian people decided to transfer people and power through a vote and gave UPND an opportunity to govern, these are some of the problems that he was confronted with in his Ministry.
He further explained that the mobile money providers included as many people in financial transactions which saw the participation of all citizens, and the inclusion of all our citizens in the financial market is something that the UPND Government extremely desires to achieve.
Mr Nkombo said that despite creating a tangible benefit for those that found a livelihood in the operations of mobile money booths, the onset and setup of money booths became rampant not just in Lusaka but other parts of the country.
Mr Nkombo is concerned with how the Local Authority in the whole country is not recognised as they relegated their power and authority to them by the Constitution Act and ushered that power to political players who in one description can be called political carders who took over the responsibility of designation of mobile money booths.
“The Council’s power to operate had been overpowered by political party carders and it is not something to argue about,” he said
Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Garry Nkombo says the Mobile money booths have been relocated by the City Council to a more designated trading place which will create less challenges in terms of cleanliness and order in the Central Business District (CBD).
Speaking during the HOT FM Hot Seat Programme, Mr Nkombo highlighted that Mobile Network providers such as Airtel, MTN, Zamtel, ZANACO and all those that have booths have been engaged to discuss with them how they must not only look at the Bank balance at the end of the month, but they must help and assist in the process of ensuring sanity in their industry is attained.
Mr Nkombo clarified that the relocation of mobile money booths from places such as Cairo Road, Chachacha Road, Freedomway and other places around Lusaka is not because of the African Union Summit but the exercise was conducted to keep the city clean and maintain sanity.
He said that Lusaka is a pioneer for this exercise as the relocation of mobile money booths will be conducted country wide to bring back sanity and order and a signal has already been sent to the Councils.
Mr Nkombo noted that having an opportunity to take part in the cleaning exercise after the removal of booths, his experience was extremely reviewing and sadly so the revelation was that faecal matter was found in Nairobi place an area between Wood Gate House and Kafue House in Cairo Road as the entire place was smelling of urine.
“I am not accusing the mobile money operators to be the ones who were leaving the faecal matter,” he said
He added that the Central Business District is stressed in terms of sanitary facilities and part of what we are doing is to shift all the booths that were around the CBD to the land that interfaces between the CBD and the Zambia Railway land from the Main Post Office all the way to Findeco House and in the process of that the Council should create an ablution block for ladies, gents and the disabled.
“Where do you draw the pride from because it is always said that cleanliness is next to Godliness and charity begins at home,” he said
Mr Nkombo explained the need to usher back the power that confers the authority to the Local Authorities to be the ones managing these booths as against political party carders doing that.
“The Council have been collecting Five Kwacha from all the booths thereby appearing to be giving them legitimacy of existence,” he said
He said that at the time of the transfer of power, some of the carders within the political party where he belongs decided to jump onto the bandwagon to partner with those who were doing wrong and this issue should not be viewed as a matter of dealing with the Patriotic Front (PF) but to deal with carderism altogether.
He added that when President Hakkainde Hichilema took office, one of the pledges that he made to the Zambian people was that the authority should go back to what the Constitution permits, and there will be no carderism in the markets and bus stations.
Furthermore, schemes of this nature are still happening and the Local Authority is trying its best to ensure that regardless of which political party one belongs to, the issue of carderism is something that must be stopped as quickly as possible.
Patriotic Front Members of Parliament yesterday walked out of Parliament saying the second Deputy speaker must begin to treat all Members of Parliament equally.
Speaking during a media briefing after walk out, Chama South Member of Parliament Davison Mungandu said PF Lawmakers yesterday decided to walk out to send a message to the second Deputy Speaker that it is time he started respecting the standing orders and treating all Members of Parliament as equal.
He said MPs are in Parliament to represent the needs of the Zambian people but if they are being infringed upon then their needs will not be met.
He said during the Parliamentary procedures yesterday afternoon, the second deputy speaker would not allow him to bring to the attention a matter of national concern and kept interjecting him and telling him to get to the point when he needed to give an explanation to validate what he was to say.
“Most of the matters we bring to the house are issues that if the government does not take action, irreparable damage would be the result.” He said.
“Today I wanted to bring forth one such matter, as I was giving my preamble, I have to state that during this period you are not restricted in terms of being guided by being told ‘just go to the point’, you can’t go to the point when the issue involved is a matter that you need to explain,” he added.
The lawmaker explained that he wanted to bring to the attention of the government an issue of civil servants who he alleges have been dismissed on ethnic lines and that of mobile money booth operators who have been removed from trading areas without notice thereby disrupting their businesses and livelihoods.
“We are not against the government’s program of cleaning the city, but what they should have done is to warn them, give them a grace period and alternative places where they can conduct their business from,” he said.
And Malole Member of Parliament Robert Kalimi said it is sad that today the second Deputy Speaker chose to take an almost partisan stance. He said the MPs decided to exercise their privilege to walk out to avoid confrontation which would have led to them being suspended again.
“You remember that it was the same Deputy Speaker who made us to be suspended for 30 days because of unfair treatment of Members of Parliament, failure to articulate issues and to follow what is in the standing orders.”
“We are not in Parliament to be schooled or to be told what to say or how to say it, we know the procedures and guidelines and are controlled by the standing orders, it is very unfortunate, I was shattered, I was schooled and ignored as if I am not even a Member of Parliament,” He said.
The SOS Children’s Villages Zambia has appealed to the public to get acquainted with the mental health Act of 2019.
SOS Children’s Village Zambia Programme Advisor, Rebecca Chipoya has noted that there are various extents of mental illness hence knowing and understanding the legal aspects that protect one with a mental illness is important.
“Information is power, and ignorance is no defence. Some of the aspects that this law deals with include the medical aspect as well as the use of derogatory language. For instance, use of derogatory language such as imbecile towards a person suffering from a mental illness is a criminal offence that attracts imprisonment for one year or payment of a fine of K30,000 or even both,” Ms Chipoya said.
She was speaking during a child safeguarding and protection sensitisation and awareness meeting on the mental health Act of 2019, with the Katete District Child Protection Committee.
She further emphasised that communities should get to know this law so that they can protect and act in the best interest of the people suffering from mental illness.
Ms Chipoya further called for the need to rebuild family and societal values in the various communities.
She explained that a breakdown in family and societal values has led to violence against children as societies are not protecting them.
“There is nowhere we can find solace. All sorts of abuses are happening and even children with disabilities are the worst affected. Now, imagine those with mental disabilities, what they are going through?” she wondered.
Ms Chipoya said violence against children steal trust, corrupts, maims, kills, and destroys children, the vitality of childhood, and undermines society.
Meanwhile, Katete Acting District Commissioner, Anslow Muchelemba lamented how society has been mistreating old people with mental health conditions.
Ms Muchelemba said the combination of old age and mental illness instantly makes the community conclude that one practices witchcraft, a mentality that ravages the very fabric of what family and community should be.
“You will find that this old person due to a mental illness finds themselves on the street may be naked, but people including those sworn to protect or take care of people, will now start asking this person; are you a witch, how many people have you killed? And because this old person is not in a normal mental state will just be agreeing to whatever they are saying,” she said.
Ms Muchelmba said it was important for the public to understand mental health to avoid name-calling and doing things that might be detrimental to the mental patient’s health and the wellbeing of society.
Meanwhile, Katete Town Council, Chairperson Fanuel Chama appealed for the need for communities to be sensitised on mental health and the mental health Act of 2019 so that they may not abuse people with mental illnesses.
James Nyasulu, the much respected Zambian grassroots activist and former miners union leader, and partner of Foil Vedanta, died in hospital in Lusaka on 30th March 2022 from kidney failure.
Though not known as a household name in Zambia, James Nyasulu dedicated his life to justice and fairness for the communities around Kitwe and Chingola in the Copperbelt. He rose to international notoriety in 2011 after leading 2000 people from poor communities along the River Kafue, who had been seriously affected by a major pollution incident originating from Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), through the legal system to get compensation for the severe damage to their health and farmland. The case was later taken up by international human rights lawyers, who, with the help of James and others, successfully established the right for the claimants to have their case against KCM’s parent company Vedanta Resources for ongoing pollution and harm to health and livelihoods heard in the UK.
James was an extremely dedicated activist with a passion for justice that drove him to spend much of his time campaigning tirelessly against local corruption, and for some of Zambia’s poorest communities whose lives had been ruined by years of gross pollution to their water and land. He was very intelligent, meticulous and determined, and could undoubtedly have been very financially well off if this had been his orientation. Yet he died with very modest means, but having lived a rich life of community, purpose and meaning. He is survived by seven children and his wife Agnes.
His life story (in brief below) tells of the positive impact one person with determination and conviction can have on society. May there be many more like him in Zambia and elsewhere!
James Nyasulu was born in Mufulira in 1958. His father tragically died in 1966 and he was subsequently cared for by his uncle, who impressed upon him not to become a miner due to the terrible working conditions. However Nyasulu didn’t get on well with his uncle and an American white missionary (Jim Connelly) ended up informally adopting him at Kitwe Boys Secondary School, where he was the only black student in his class in 1975 (11 years after independence!).
In 1975 he finished secondary school and decided not to go to Seminary and become a minister as Jim Connelly wished. He saw that his other siblings were suffering and wanted to go into employment to help them financially. He decided to train to become a teacher but first had to do six months military service because of apartheid in South Africa and threat of war. He attended Malcolm Moffat teacher training college and continued to stay with Jim Connelly at Riverside Church in Kitwe. In 1979 he joined the Ministry of Education as a primary teacher at Rokana Primary School (now Kitwe main school).
However his passion for justice and his activist spirit soon became apparent. He (along with his friend Fabian Zulu) began to see how the Unions were trying to levy money from parents illegally and raised this issue. In response the unions transferred him to North Western province, near Ngala, which he found very remote and provincial as he was used to being with English people and in more cosmopolitan towns.
In 1982 he resigned from Ministry of Education and became an educationalist at Zambia National Breweries until 1987, when he quit before the company liquidated, and finally joined the mines in 1989 at Mutondo Central Services division (Nchanga) where he was trained and “had the privilege to go underground and do some mining”. In 1996 he stood for the Mineworkers Union of Zambia and quickly became branch chairman for Nchanga mine, speaking for 12,900 workers.
James was proud to say that “during my term of office I never lost any member of the Union” despite strict rules about dismissal. Instead of letting the mines fire workers for late return to work Nyasulu would always persuade management to take workers back by pleading for their family circumstances and poverty, even in the case of stealing. He understood that when miners were late they were usually seeing their families in the regions, from which telegrams could take 10-15 days to arrive in those days.
Some workers were losing teeth due to acid fumes from the tailings ponds. The management would give them milk to lessen the impact but would do nothing to stop it.
One serious case Nyasulu dealt with as a Union chairman involved stolen copper being planted on workers by a corrupt manager along with others. 30 workers were in the cells awaiting prosecution but James managed to have them released by persuading managers that the workers were innocent and had been instructed by the corrupt manager whose truck was being used.
When privatisation came in 2000, 9000 workers from Nchanga division were retrenched and Nyasulu also took retirement. The mines were offering workers houses instead of retirement/retrenchment benefits. “If I had moved into a bigger house offered by the mines I would have got nothing in terminal benefits, but I had already decided against that as I didn’t want to be that sort of leader that profits from his position.”
Instead he used the retirement benefits to pay for his daughter to go to University and rented three limas of land to grow groundnuts and later maize and poultry to provide an income.
In 2004 James made his first foray into local activism when the municipal council tried to increase their tax rates illegally. He contacted an old friend who had become a magistrate and found that the council had breached the statutes, so he took a writ of summons in the subordinate court soliciting the help of some local friends, a group of former miners who would become ‘the committee’ which worked alongside him in the pollution case. He eventually won against the councils lawyers, “exposing some of their tricks along the way”, and got his costs covered.
James Nyasulu with polluted River Kafue
In September 2004 James got access to an unpublished report about a water pollution incident by Konkola Copper Mines. Local water company Mulonga Water denied any knowledge of the event and no action had been taken by the mining company either so he again took a writ of summons against Mulonga Water in the subordinate court (which in those days only cost 8 Kwacha). In addition he took a motion against KCM for allowing the report to be leaked and alarming people. He used this threat to demand that KCM stood by their own report against Mulonga water in court otherwise he would sue them for leaking it. He also summoned two doctors and a public health officer too, with threats that he would sue them if they didn’t tell the truth about the report. When the matter was tried he withdrew motion against KCM and they did tell the truth about the report. Mulonga were convicted and damages were awarded to 139 claimants. Later they claimed only the two with medical documents were entitled.
On 5th November 2006 James himself became one of the thousands of victims of a major pollution incident from KCM’s mines, which literally turned the Kafue into a ‘river of acid’.
He described how he got up in morning and drank 1.5 litres of tap water as usual. Two hours later he had very bad stomach and abdominal pains. He went to the clinic and was given magnesium medication and felt better. On 6th November he didn’t feel like breakfast and at 17/18hrs was feeling drowsy and feeling sick. He went to the local clinic who sent him to the hospital. The doctor told him not to drink any tap water, but only saline solution, and put him on a drip.
On 8th November KCM (owned by British multinational Vedanta Resources Plc) finally admitted to reporters that there had been a major pollution incident. Water was subsequently cut off for the whole district from 8th until 18th November. When James was discharged from hospital on 10th November having heard the news, he tried to get a medical report and lab results from the doctors who refused him. Friends working in the hospital told him that many villagers had come from Hippo Pool, a village very close to the outlet pipes from the mine and smelter. On 13th November he walked 15km to Hippo Pool village to investigate the matter. Many people were still in clinics and those discharged had also been refused medical records.
In the following weeks as the seriousness of the incident became clear James started to gather evidence and a group of friends and former miner colleagues around him who could help to try to get justice for themselves and the worst affected villagers. Two friends who still worked for KCM confirmed that a very serious incident had occurred in which pure acid had been released into the environment over 48 hours. He made contact with an old friend from Mufulira, a retired magistrate called Kelvin Bwalya who advised him on the seriousness of the incident and offered to take the case pro-bono.
James Nyasulu and some of the ‘Committee’
The group of friends spent several weeks cycling two and from the worst affected areas holding meetings encouraging affected people to join together into a mass legal case. In Kabundi South 500 people attended, and many more in Nchanga North. Many of these areas had very few homes on piped water, and residents had consumed extremely polluted groundwater. In Chiwempala police disrupted the meeting leading to a riot. By this time the group had over 4000 people signed up, but when they reached the worst affected villages of Shimulala and Hippo Pool residents reported that KCM had already come to them with an offer for an out of court settlement and couldn’t add their names. A further 2000 people subsequently retracted their involvement following out of court offers from KCM.
On 27th December 2006 the group, now made up of 2001 people, filed their case in the Lusaka High Court. The case was made against three defendants – Chingola Municipal Council for failing to warn people of the pollution, Environmental Council of Zambia for failing to regulate KCM, and KCM themselves.
The first proper hearing in front of Judge Phillip Musonda was not held until March 2009 due to delays and heel dragging by KCM and the legal system, but it would not be until January 2011 that a High Court ruling was finally made. In the landmark ruling (Nyasulu and Ors vs Konkola Copper Mines Plc and Ors, Jan 2011) the 2001 claimants were awarded a total of $2 million and judge Justice Musonda found KCM guilty of ‘gross recklessness’ and turning ‘the residents of Chingola into Guinea Pigs’. He stated that KCM had acted with ‘impunity and immunity’ as they had been ‘shielded from criminal prosecution by political connections and financial influence, which put them beyond the pale of criminal justice’.
Before and after each hearing Nyasulu and ‘the Committee’ would go to see all the communities, often walking between them, taking five or six days to cover all of them. Nyasulu told us:
“Before and after court session we visited the communities. We never asked any money from them and never took any penny from them to support our movements. We just wanted them to know what we were doing and where it was going.”
Money was raised from the Committee’s own pockets and through their families and supportive friends in their communities.
“People who respected and trusted our work would always give freely. It was very easy to raise money.”
James meeting polluted residents living next to KCM’s smelter at East 1st Street in 2015
Tragically, the case was appealed by KCM and was not re-heard until 2015, when the Supreme Court upheld the guilty verdict against KCM but reduced the payable compensation to only 12 claimants who had medical records of injury. To date none of them have been able to claim in Zambia due to a lack of legal representation.
We (Foil Vedanta) got to know James Nyasulu in 2014, when we first visited Zambia to document what would turn out to be major tax evasion, pollution and human rights abuses at Vedanta’s operations there . International news reports gave the impression that the $2 million fine had been paid by Vedanta to communities, but when we met lawyer Kelvin Bwalya he informed us that the case had been stalled at appeal by political influence. We had not yet had the chance to meet James or the Committee but started holding protests at the Zambian High Commission in London demanding justice for the victims of pollution. It was some months later that we finally managed to make contact with him and later spent many weeks together in Chingola. The UK protests made international news and galvanised James and the Committee who had all but given up on the case. In the end it was a personal meeting with Zambian President Michael Sata in 2015 which unblocked the delays and enabled the Supreme Court hearing. Sadly, Sata himself had died before the grossly unfair judgment which reduced compensation payable to only those with medical records was made.
Giving a talk to students at Copperbelt University alongside Foil Vedanta
However international amplification of the plight of the polluted communities and the callous and criminal behaviour of Vedanta/KCM would bring a new dimension to the case as international human right law firms got involved. The story of their divisive impact on the communities is too long and complex to tell here though it must and shall be told. Suffice to say that James and the Committee spent many more years gathering evidence and working with the communities to take their case against KCM directly to the parent company Vedanta Resources Plc, a UK firm who had profited immensely from asset stripping, tax evading and corner cutting at KCM. In April 2019 after four years of hearings in various courts, Supreme Court Chief Justice Lady Hale and four further judges made a precedent ruling in the case Lungowe and Ors. v Vedanta Resources Plc and Konkola Copper Mines Plc [2019] that 1,826 villagers (with a further 1,500 represented by a different law firm) could have their case against Vedanta and KCM heard in the UK.
This landmark ruling has opened the door for victims of crimes by other British multinationals to take their cases to the UK parent company instead of being limited to suing the subsidiaries, who are often able to evade justice due to corruption and political influence in the country of operation. This incredible achievement which will affect many thousands of people affected by the worst pollution and human rights abuses all over the world would not have been possible without the thirteen plus years of dedicated legal activism led by James Nyasulu. Yet, his name is barely known and is certainly not credited in news reports sponsored by the international law firms who profited immensely from this notable case.
The Zambian villagers case against KCM for pollution was never actually heard in the UK after the right to do so was established. Instead the law firms settled out of court, paying each claimant only a percentage of the sum awarded, after covering costs of the case, with no requirement to remediate the extremely polluted land.
James’ last communications with us before he died described the anger felt by villagers who feel they have still been denied justice, and his own anger with the international law firms for exploiting their dire situation for their own gain and reputation.
There is still much work to do and we need many more James Nyasulus in this world with whom to do it.
Please circulate this story as widely as possible in Zambia as inspiration to the next generation of activists so desperately needed.
