Columns

by Dr. Charles Ngoma As a little boy in the renamed town of Fort Jameson in the late 60s and early 70s. I was fascinated by two ‘white’ men. They were very successful businessmen in the town. From their farms,...

by Henry Kyambalesa I wish to comment on The Post newspaper article of March 23, 2010 entitled “Politicization of Relief Distribution Worries DMMU” by Florence Bupe. In the article, the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) is quoted as having...

It was utterly disturbing to read about Darius Mukuka from Ndola who has been sentenced to 18months imprisonment because he verbally insulted President Rupiah Banda. This shows just how intolerant of opposing views the Zambian government is.It also shows how that ordinary Zambian citizens are supposed to 'bootlick' if they expect to have a decent existence in the Zambian system. Most people are frustrated with the way things are running especially when we remember how things once were.One must not insult their elders but when one does imprisonment is not the solution.If that was the case half the Zambian population should be in jail.Should we all now start shouting 'defamation' every time we are insulted?

WHEN Father Frank Bwalya convened a conference at Buchi Hall in Kitwe dubbed “Save Zambia Campaign’’ and made radical resolutions to embark on a nation-wide campaign against President Rupiah Banda’s Government and the MMD, he expected immediate protestations from...

The Medical Retention Scheme may not be adequate to curb the exodus of health personnel. The provision for new vehicles, for example, is really not an incentive to individuals who are keen on securing jobs in developed countries where their services would fetch adequate salaries and allowances which would make it possible for them to buy vehicles on their own. And formal education (from Grade 1 through Grade 12) in such countries is generally free! The Scheme, however, is likely to give incentive to those who wish to emigrate to other developing countries in search of higher incomes, a better standard of living and/or a less-hostile environment, among a host of other reasons.

Do not doze in public, lest you fart’, so goes one Zambian saying. After seeing the picture of Hon Rev. Lt Gen. Ronnie Shikapwasha dozing in parliament, I was not worried for the Gen doing anything of that sort in his slumber. I was furious because he was sleeping on duty while time was ticking towards his allowance and his gratuity from the hard-earned tax payers’ money. What was even more annoying is that the sleeping honourable is a full cabinet minister whose ministry is blemished with questionable media reforms.

This week I want to talk about consumer driven products and sales driven products. As a consumer of many goods and services in the country, I cannot help it but notice how much companies in the country force their products on consumers. Or using what I call the sales driven products approach. This approach focuses on sales and is designed by the company prior to the launch of the product. However, the consumer driven approach tests the market first and develops a strategy according to the demands of the consumers.

The recent revelation made in Parliament by Hon. Lameck Mangani that Zambia will give K2.7 billion to Zimbabwe as a contribution to the country’s economic recovery needs to be condemned, because Zambians like their counterparts in Zimbabwe are equally facing very serious socio-economic problems.There is, therefore, no wisdom in “stealing” from the poor in Zambia to give to the poor in Zimbabwe. In fact, there is no guarantee that the money will not end up being used by Robert Mugabe in his 2011 presidential bid. Mugabe has already announced that he is ready to contest the 2011 presidential poll regardless of whether or not the country’s new constitution will have been enacted by then.Zambia needs to stop using borrowed money on unproductive ventures. For too long, a significant portion of loans secured by the MMD government has been used on keeping inefficient state companies in operation, financing the production of non-tradables, subsidizing consumption, financing government leaders’ superfluous perquisites, and/or on other unproductive schemes.

By Lwanga Mwilu Today we celebrate International Women’s Day, the day that women can speak and be heard, in theory at least. I am celebrating my day by standing in solidarity with all my fellow women and by imagining a...

There is now less than 100 days before the FIFA 2010 World Cup kicks off in South Africa. Here in Zambia there is little or nothing that is being done by authorities to take advantage of this big event in our front yard. What exactly is wrong with our leaders? A fortnight ago I visited the ministry of tourism to find out what they were planning, here in Zambia, as far as the world cup was concerned. There seemed to have been no one particularly responsible for this. After running around and bouncing from office to office I was referred to the Zambia Tourism Board Managing Director who was too busy and still waiting for a call from him.