Maravi

Polls set for October 30

Polls set for October 30
By Noel Sichalwe
Wednesday September 10, 2008 [04:00]

VICE-President Rupiah Banda announced that presidential elections will be held on October 30, 2008. And Vice-President Banda has directed the ministers of finance and energy to sit together and examine possibilities of reducing the fuel price.

Addressing the nation on both radio and television last night, Vice-President Banda said as Acting President, he was aware of his responsibility towards upholding the Constitution. He said the Constitution under Article 38 (1), as read together with section 20 of the electoral Act number 12 of 2006, demanded that the country should hold elections within 90 days of the death of a sitting President.

Vice-President Banda said upon the death of president Levy Mwanawasa, the government began preparations to meet this constitutional requirement and that the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) had already commenced such preparations.
"May I take this opportunity to announce the date of the election. Now that we have concluded the official mourning of the late president Dr Levy Patrick Mwanawasa SC, I have the honour to inform the nation that the programme of conducting the presidential by-election has been finally established. The presidential by-election shall, therefore, be held on Thursday, the 30th of October 2008. The forthcoming elections will require substantial resources. In this regard, government welcomes financial assistance from cooperating partners and well-wishers. I appeal to the people of Zambia to remain calm, peaceful and united during this pre-election period and to conduct campaigns in a clean and dignified manner. I hope that the campaigns will be based on issues," Vice-President Banda said.

He thanked Zambians for according late president Mwanawasa a funeral and burial befitting a king. He said God had blessed Zambia to magnanimously and genuinely mourn and bury late president Mwanawasa. He said he was proud that Zambians demonstrated unity to the world.

Vice-President Banda paid special tribute to the defence and security wings for a perfect execution of the programme of mourning that was incident free except for the enormous outpouring of emotions by people. He also thanked the government of Egypt and its people for exceptional support rendered at the time president Mwanawasa fell ill. He said the Zambian people and government were grateful to President Hosni Mubarak and the Egyptian people.

Vice-President Banda also expressed appreciation and gratitude to the French government and its people for the support rendered during the illness and subsequent passing on of the late president. He said Zambians were grateful to French President Nicholas Sarkozy whose government met medical bills and provided transport and other logistics of honour such as transporting the body of late president Mwanawasa to Zambia.
Vice-President Banda said also thanked the Chinese government for dressing the burial site and providing an exceptional casket. He thanked the international community for spiritual, financial and material support during the funeral period. He further thanked the family of the late president for cooperating and understanding during the illness, subsequent death and state funeral arrangements.

He also appreciated the role that religious leaders played in directing the country for directing their faithful to pray for the late president and the country during the period of illness and mourning.

He asked Church leaders to continue leading the country in prayer and faith because God had blessed the nation.

Vice-President Banda also praised the media for keeping people informed and engaged during the official mourning period. He thanked Zambians for unity and goodwill during the illness and subsequent death of the late president.

"I realise that the passing of our Republican President could have created uncertainty, fears and anxiety in the political, economic and social circles. In this vein, I assure the people of Zambia, investors and the international community at large that Zambia remains peaceful, secure and stable," Vice-President Banda said. "I am grateful that the mourning has been and continues to be conducted in a peaceful, orderly and dignified manner. This is commendable and is indeed a demonstration of the respect that government and the Zambians had and still have for the late president."

Vice-President Banda said it was the desire of president Mwanawasa to leave behind a legacy of the rule of law, self sufficiency in food production, increased employment, economic empowerment and stability of the nation.

He said president Mwanawasa provided leadership regarding transparency, accountability, zero tolerance for corruption and prudent use of national resources.
"To honour our late president, we need to follow the ideals and principles he stood for," he said. "Government will continue with the same economic policies pursued by the late Republican President. In addition, all contractual obligations entered into between the government of the Republic of Zambia and second or third parties remain enforceable at law. The rule of law remains and will continue to be the pillar of our government. The government will also ensure that the peace and stability that the country has enjoyed over the years is maintained. I therefore, urge everyone to conduct their business activities normally with confidence and trust."

Vice-President Banda re-affirmed government's commitment to the constitution-making process as specified in the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) Act and that the work of the CRC would continue to its logical conclusion.

He said Zambia should also maintain that free expression of views was fundamental to good governance. He said the government would continue to provide conducive policy, legal and institutional framework for the development of a free media.
"Government will continue with the liberalisation of the media industry for continued private sector participation. In this regard, the review of media laws will continue until we find an appropriate media legislation that will further promote freedom of expression," Vice-President Banda said.

He said the Mwanawasa administration reintroduced National Development Planning which had refocused economic management. He said this had led to tremendous economic progress that Zambia had made and that planning would remain the economic management tool.
Vice-President Banda said prudent fiscal and monitory policies had been pursued resulting in macro economic stability and that consequently, the economy had been registering annual growth rates averaging five per cent and reaching six per cent in the last two years. He said government has also recorded low inflation with single digit levels attained for the first time in 30 years in 2006.

"However, in the recent past, the country has witnessed an upward surge in inflation due to global factors. Government will remain committed to fighting inflation to single digit levels through continued prudent fiscal and monetary policies which have a positive impact on interest rates," he said.

He said the increase in export earnings and debt relief had led to a substantial build up of the foreign currency reserves to the current US $1.4 billion.

Vice-President Banda said the hard earned economic strides have been appreciated in the international financial circles to the extent that Zambia was poised to have a sovereignty credit rating for the first time ever. He said the government was determined to continue with the implementation of prudent economic policies to sore even more successes, particularly a rapid reduction in poverty among the people.

Vice-President Banda said the government would continue the implementation of structural reforms aimed at improving business and investment climate. He said the reforms would include the private sector reform programme, public expenditure management and financial accountability reforms, financial sector development plan.
Vice-President Banda said agriculture remained one of the key priority sectors of the economy and that government would continue to implement the policies and programmes of late president Mwanawasa.

He said the ultimate goal was to ensure sustenance of household and national food security. He said the government would continue to develop agriculture extension and research services in order to enhance productivity.
Vice-President Banda said the government would continue to maintain adequate strategic food reserves to ensure national food security.

"We will continue the fertiliser support programme. In view of the sharp increase in fertiliser prices on the global market, the government has provided a supplementary funding to the tune of K307 billion to the programme. This is in addition to this year's budget allocation of K185 billion which will allow for an increase in the number of targeted small scale farmers from 125,000 to 200,000. That applicable subsidy has been increased to 75 per cent from 60 per cent. This measure is intended to cushion the impact of high fertiliser prices on targeted small scale farmers."

Vice-President Banda said the government would continue to promote irrigation programmes particularly among small scale farmers. He said in order to increase land for agriculture, government would maintain the current programme of opening up new farm lands for both local and foreign investors.

Vice-President Banda said, therefore, the appropriate infrastructure like access to roads, bridges, dams, electrification, storage facilities and communications will continue to be constructed.

He further said the mining sectors remained the driver of the economy and that the sector had recorded growth in investment, production and export earnings over the recent years.
Vice-President Banda said the positive developments in the sector were a result of the favourable mining policies espoused by the Mwanawasa administration.
"I want in this regard to assure both local and foreign investors that there will be no departure from the current policies and focus in the mining sector. I am pleased to inform the nation that the mining companies have equally reiterated commitment to continue their operations in this country," he said.

Vice-President Banda noted that president Mwanawasa instructed the Department of Geological Survey in 2005 to investigate the possibility of occurrence of oil and gas in North-Western Province.

He said following the preliminary positive results from samples obtained, government has demarcated the area into exploration blocks for detailed exploration once the appropriate legislation which was currently before Parliament was established.
Vice-President Banda said government would continue to investigate the possibility of occurrence of oil and gas in other parts of the country. He observed that fuel prices in Zambia were higher than the regional average and took cognizance of the fact that international oil prices had started coming down. He said there was case for re-examination of fuel prices in Zambia.

Vice-President Banda directed finance minister Ng'andu Magande and energy minister Kenneth Konga to sit together and examine the matter with a view to reduce the price of fuel.

He said the energy sector played a pivotal role in the social economic development of the country and that the country had in recent past experienced disruptions in form of power outages and petroleum shortages that had negative impact on the overall performance of the economy.

Vice-President Banda said the rehabilitation and up-rating at Kafue Gorge Power Station was expected to be completed this year while works at Kariba North Bank Power Station were expected to be completed in March 2009.
He said completion of the projects would lead to increased power generation and reduction of power deficit.

Vice-President Banda said in the medium and long term, new power stations would be built in order to cater for increased demand for electricity in the growing economy.
The new projects included Kafue Gorge Lower, Kariba North Bank Extension, Kalungiwshi, Kabompo and Itezhi Tezhi Hydro Power Projects.
Vice-President Banda said cost-reflective tariffs in the medium term would be required to support the development of the projects.

""In an effort to promote alternative sources of energy, government will encourage the production and utilisation of bio-fuels and solar energy," he said.
He further said the private sector development reform programme would continue to be a platform for faster and sustained private sector-led growth.

Vice-President Banda said the government was reviewing the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) Act number 11 of 2006 to ensure that it met the various needs of the private sector. He also said the government was reviewing the competition and fair trading Act to take on board the broad interests of investors and consumers.
Vice-President Banda said late president Mwanawasa wanted to see many Zambians participate in the economy and then initiated the establishment of the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission which has begun to operate.

He said another important initiative was the establishment of the multi-facility economic zones in Chambishi and Lusaka and that the government had since passed an appropriate Statutory Instrument regulating the economic zones.

Vice-President Banda said the Chambishi Economic Zone whose development has commenced would attract investment worth US $900 million and create 6,000 jobs.
He said the master plan for Lusaka South Multi Facility Economic Zone was being developed and infrastructure development would start in 2009.

Vice-President Banda said Zambia was an attractive member of regional integration and that the recently launched SADC Free Trade Area would allow regional market access for Zambian products.

He said the government remained committed to programmes that fostered regional trade and integration.

Vice-President Banda said also said Fifth National Development Plan and Vision 2030 required Zambia to be a major tourism destination. He said the policy to use tourism as a tool for income generation, poverty reduction, job creation and small business development would be pursued. He said the projects to be pursued included northern circuit that included Kasaba Bay and Samfya white sands, the development of south east park in Lusaka and that Kafue National Park was due for a face lift.

Vice-President Banda said also said government was committed to public service reform programme that included public expenditure management and financial accountability, public service management and decentralisation.

Labels: RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 4:22 AM