24, 25, 26 July: National healing, reconciliation days
Nancy Pasipanodya
Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:34:00 +0000
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe Friday declared 24, 25 and 26 July as national healing and reconciliation days, part of efforts by a new inclusive Government to end a culture of political violence in the country.
He appealed to political parties and interest groups in the country to help government promote peace and political reconciliation, after a decade in which Zanu PF and the former opposition Movement for Democratic Change vied for power.
President Mugabe appealed to all Zimbabweans at home and abroad to publicly renounce, reject and report all forms of political violence as the inclusive Government moves to restore peace and stability in the country.
"In the spirit of the inter-party political agreement, I do hereby declare, set out and dedicate the 24th, 25th and 26th of July as a period during which the nation may dedicate the inclusive Government, our new-found peace, our freedom, our new spirit of nation-building, national healing, reconciliation and integration to inspire the country going ahead," President Mugabe declared in a special inter-party political agreement declaration Gazette.
The days will not, however, be marked as holidays.
Observers have blamed both parties for the politically-motivated killings in the run-up to the June 27 runoff presidential election.
The three Principals of the Global Political Agreement, President Mugabe, PM Tsvangirai and DPM Arthur Mutambara are expected to lead the nation in renouncing political violence in the best interests of National Healing.
President Mugabe implored the inclusive Government to ensure the safety return of all Zimbabweans desirous of returning from the Diaspora.
Traditional chiefs and faith based leaders at all levels have been requested to seek the cleansing of the land from the curse of conflict and bloodshed.
Chairperson of the Organ on National Healing John Nkomo warned all political activists inciting violence to stop the practice as the law will take its course without fear or favor on any found wanting.
Outlining the contents of Extraordinary Gazzette, the three co-ministers of National Healing, John Nkomo, Sekai Holland and Gibson Sibanda, spoke with one voice on the need for all citizens to take the 24th to the 26th July as a first step of a long and demanding journey to dedicate themselves to God in the country’s effort to build a peaceful Zimbabwe.
Labels: MUGABE, NATIONAL HEALING AND RECONCILIATION DAYS
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COMMENT - Zimbabwe was put on a credit freeze in the year 2002, by among others the present serving Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, the Vice President Joe Biden, Russ Feingold republicans Jesse Helms and introduced by Bill Frist. Read
Section 4C of the
Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001. Obama should read the history of Africa
Taiwo Akerele - Opinion
Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:45:00 +0000
I WISH to respectfully disagree with President Barack Obama of the United States on the true cause of the Zimbabwean economic and political crisis. During his recent state visit to Ghana, he was of the opinion that the economic crisis in Zimbabwe was not caused by colonialism but by bad leadership. We all recall that at the heart of this crisis is the land question?
For many years the white minority that ruled Zimbabwe cannibalised and appropriated to themselves the productive agricultural landscape in the whole of Zimbabwe leaving the black majority to become slaves in their own fatherland. As if this is not an evil policy, enough to cause disenchantment, the British Government agreed to finance the land re-distribution policy as part of the negotiation in the advent of the historic independence in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
It is an open knowledge that for the umpteenth time,
the British Government reneged on this agreement to the consternation of the African Union and particularly the Zimbabwean Government and its people. In the process, there arose a serious internal insurrection although tacitly supported by the Zimbabwean Government against the white minority holders of the land and
in its wake severe sanctions were meted out against the Government amidst violence.
It is very unfortunate and a revisionism of history that the whole world supported by the powerful Western media and new broadcasting technology, rather than condemn the British Government for reneging turned against Robert Mugabe who rightly was fighting for his people. Again whether the strategy is right is another issue entirely.
Against this background, it came to me as a rude shock for President Obama who is an apostle of transparency and equanimity of purpose to outrightly condemn African leaders in our soil and left the oppressor Europe to enjoy their loot from Africa amidst poverty, perpetual economic down-turn and fake boundaries in West Africa, Rwanda, Burundi and Morrocco.
Today in Africa, millions of people are living together against their wishes, this accounts partly for the ethnic clashes all over the continent and this was manifested in the genocidal war in Rwanda, the perpetual religious crisis in Nigeria and the contradictions in Cameroon where one part of the country speaks French the other half speaks English. To Europe and America, the African continent is a commodity that must be shared amongst them for full exploitation- Where is the United Nations?
Because ignorance is not an excuse for breaking the law, like President Bill Clinton, Obama should settle down and read the works of Walter Rodney on "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa" Claude Ake's Democracy and the Crisis of Underdevelopment in Africa and of course compare the situation with Singapore as captured in the work of Lee Kuan Yew " Singapore: From Third World to the First". I am sure these will give him an idea of the difference between what it takes for a people to control their destiny and for a people's destiny to be controlled by others.
For me the African situation is beyond rhetoric and Presidential gallivanting and speaking from an Olympian height amidst claps and cheers from a listening political class who in the words of Claude Ake have no development in their agenda in the first place.
In unmistaken terms, it must be stated that most African leaders have messed up severally post-colonial rule and squandered the opportunities that clearly came to us as a continent to develop and liberate our people from poverty, disease and illiteracy and others too numerous to mention.
In Nigeria we have experienced "strong man" rule as noted by President Obama who attempted to change the constitution rather than strengthen institutions. In Gabon and Zaire, Presidents have died in power trying to equate the destiny of the countries to their own existence and in North Africa, gerontocracy still reigns supreme.
However, the Zimbabwean situation is a classic case of the battle of a people to take over their God- given land. What they do with it is another page for history to foretell. And for America, I hope the analysis of Mahomoud Mandani in his book "Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism or Francis Fukuyuma's treatise on the End of History and the last man is not manifesting already?
* Akerele is with the Center for Values in leadership, Lagos.
This article was first published as an editorial on the Nigerian Guardian News Online under the title "Obama and Zimbabwe".
Labels: BARACK OBAMA, NEOCOLONIALISM
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Tsvangirai's London speech: challenge for UK immigration policy
Comment
Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:32:00 +0000
THE United Kingdom Home Office faces a huge dilemma with regards to its immigration policy on Zimbabwe. On one hand it maintains sanctions against Zimbabwe, saying the situation in the country has not changed significantly; on the other it has to deal with a huge backlog of asylum seekers who are awaiting determination of their cases.
There is also the added burden of ceasing statuses of those Zimbabwean refugees already granted the 5 year refugee leave.
The UK is entitled to cease the status of a refugee who comes within the terms of one of the six cessation clauses in Article 1C of the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
Clause 5 (Nationals whose Reasons for Becoming a Refugee have Ceased to Exist) will be applicable to Zimbabweans granted refugee leave if the UK argues that "circumstances in connection with which the refugee was recognised have ceased to exist".
In this case those Zimbabweans already granted leave can no longer be regarded as refugees and will have to return to Zimbabwe or their leave altered. Even if they were granted some temporary leave, they will nevertheless be left vulnerable to deportation.
Current refusals for asylum have been based on a variety of factors including the June 20 speech by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai that "it is now safe to return to Zimbabwe". Another oft cited case is that of MDC-T UK representative Hebson Makuvise who voluntarily gave up his refugee status to return to Zimbabwe.
These two developments will have a bearing on the Operational Guidance Note with regard to Zimbabwean Cases although the case of RN will still very much be used to determine a wide range of cases.
The Home Office will, therefore, have an added burden of ceasing refugee leave already granted in addition to putting forward evidence to show that RN does not apply in certain instances.
It will be interesting to see whether the Home Office, in refusing to grant refugee status, will have a parallel policy of cessation and deportation; i.e. ceasing the refugee status of Zimbabwean refugees.
Will they send letters to about 5,100 Zimbabweans recenlty granted leave under the legacy system, approximately 4,000 who recently claimed asylum, and approximately 7,000 already granted refugee status informing them that the situation has changed in Zimbabwe and they have to return home? Will these people simply go under the radar?
This is the fallout from PM Tsvangirai's London Southwark Cathedral speech that the political situation in Zimbabwe has fundamentally changed since the formation of the inclusive Government in February.
It presents a huge policy challenge for the British government.
The questions posed are: Have the circumstances that caused a person to be a refugee ceased to exist? Are the changes brought about by the inclusive Government both fundamental and durable? Are there any threats from new sources at home? Is it simply too early to revoke the refugee status of Zimbabwean granted asylum in Britain, even though the PM said the situation had changed?
Either way mass cessation notices will be a cause for great alarm among Zimbabwean asylum seekers and refugees alike, and a policy challenge for the British government.
Labels: DIASPORA, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, UK
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Is Obama's African tough love bootstrap theory racist
Lloyd Whitefield BUTLER, Jr.
Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:26:00 +0000
In 1863, the Negro was told that he was free as a result of the Emancipation Proclamation being signed by Abraham Lincoln. But he was not given any land to make that freedom meaningful. It was something like keeping a person in prison for a number of years and suddenly discovering that that person is not guilty of the crime for which he was convicted. And you just go up to him and say, 'Now you are free,' but you don’t give him any bus fare to get to town. You don’t give him any money to get some clothes to put on his back or to get on his feet again in life.
THE Honourable Barack Hussein Obama, President of the United States of America made the following statements to the African world during an AllAfrica interview and his recent lecture to the Ghanaian Parliament:
“We must start from the simple premise that Africa’s future is up to Africans,” Mr. Obama said in an address to Parliament televised across the continent. “I say this knowing full well the tragic past that has sometimes haunted this part of the world. After all, I have the blood of Africa within me and my own family’s story encompasses both the tragedies and triumphs of the larger African story.”
"The West and the United States has not been responsible for what's happened to Zimbabwe's economy over the last 15 or 20 years."
"Ultimately, I'm a big believer that Africans are responsible for Africa."
"Africans are responsible for Africa".
"I think part of what's hampered advancement in Africa is that for many years we've made excuses about corruption or poor governance, that this was somehow the consequence of neo-colonialism, or the West has been oppressive, or racism – I'm not a big – I'm not a believer in excuses."
Dear President Obama to draw a distinction between the European American Slave Trade of African people, the African Diaspora, and African Colonialism as separate is false and lacks historical documentation. The three systemic viruses are one and the same organism of oppression and exploitation installed in Africa and the Americas. Of course I am assuming you’re well versed in African history.
I wish to inform you, in all due respect, that what happened to the African in Africa happened to the African in the Americas: both where enslaved and stripped of their dignity and humanity.
President Obama it is an embarrassment that I respond to your interview with AllAfrica with a commentary from African and African American Studies 101:
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King at the National Cathedral, Washington, D.C., on March 31, 1968. The sermon is titled, "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution."
"...Now there is another myth that still gets around: it is a kind of over reliance on the Bootstrap philosophy. There are those who still feel that if the Negro is to rise out of poverty, if the Negro is to rise out of slum conditions, if he is to rise out of discrimination and segregation, he must do it all by himself. And so they say the Negro must lift himself by his own bootstraps.
"They never stop to realize that no other ethnic group has been a slave on American soil. The people who say this never stop to realize that the nation made the black man’s color a stigma. But beyond this they never stop to realize the debt that they owe a people who were kept in slavery two hundred and forty-four years.
"In 1863, the Negro was told that he was free as a result of the Emancipation Proclamation being signed by Abraham Lincoln. But he was not given any land to make that freedom meaningful. It was something like keeping a person in prison for a number of years and suddenly discovering that that person is not guilty of the crime for which he was convicted. And you just go up to him and say, 'Now you are free,' but you don’t give him any bus fare to get to town. You don’t give him any money to get some clothes to put on his back or to get on his feet again in life.
"Every court of jurisprudence would rise up against this, and yet this is the very thing that our nation did to the black man. It simply said, 'You’re free,' and it left him there penniless, illiterate, not knowing what to do. And the irony of it all is that at the same time the nation failed to do anything for the black man, though an act of Congress was giving away millions of acres of land in the West and the Midwest. Which meant that it was willing to undergird its white peasants from Europe with an economic floor.
"But not only did it give the land, it built land-grant colleges to teach them how to farm. Not only that, it provided county agents to further their expertise in farming; not only that, as the years unfolded it provided low interest rates so that they could mechanize their farms. And to this day thousands of these very persons are receiving millions of dollars in federal subsidies every year not to farm. And these are so often the very people who tell Negroes that they must lift themselves by their own bootstraps. It's all right to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps, but it is cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps...."
Dear Mr. President Barack Hussein Obama can you inform the world public of the time and place when African governments upon receiving so-called independence were not granted political independence only?
Can you, Mr. Obama explain to the African world what government or company was ever brought to justice for the crimes at the Cape Coast Castle European American slave fort that you visited Saturday 07/11/09?
Can you, Mr. Obama, name an African government upon receiving independence controlled their mineral or agricultural resources?
Can you, Mr. Obama, name an African government upon receiving independence were not controlled by the banks and industrial corporations of Europe and America?
Can you, Mr. Obama, name an African government upon receiving independence controlled their educational institutions?
Can you, Mr. Obama name a corrupt African leader who did not deposit their citizen’s billions of dollars from state coffers into European and American owned banks with permission?
Can you, Mr. Obama explain to African people worldwide how Europe and America made their riches and acquired African land possessions other than through war against defenseless Africans?
Can you, Mr. Obama name a day in the last 400 years that any European or American government ever economically compensated an African government or victim One Dollar for the European and American slave trade in African people as commodities, intellectual properties, and forced skilled labour?
Can you, Mr. Obama inform the African people worldwide of the place, date, and time that a European or American government or corporation were put on trial in an international court for the horrors and deaths caused by the EU-US slave trade in African people and African colonialism; whose death figures run as high as 150 million?
Can you, Mr. Obama explain how Africans are responsible for Africans whereby upon receiving independence were debt free after surviving the African Holocaust of colonialism and slavery?
Can you, Mr. Obama explain which “excuses about corruption or poor governance” are not traced to racist operated colonial institutions? It is a fact that US and EU governments and their corporate mercenaries installed and armed their own African leaders and generals, and assassinating sovereign African leaders who demanded respect and control over their resources?
Is it racist for America to grant Israel and Egypt billions of American dollars in financial assistance, after their present inability to make peace, not violate human rights, and create a sound fiscal government? Did Russia receive an American “Tough Love” foreign aid approach after the fall of the Soviet Union? Answer: NO. The American U.S. Congress immediately restored their economy with taxpayer’s dollars. No tough love for Russia, why Africa?
Have you Mr. Obama visited the CIA recently and 'googled' (researched) files on America’s role in assassinating African leaders and overthrowing their governments directly and indirectly?
Hellloooo Mr. Obama this information is in the public domain and accessible to those who request it.
“If some areas of the globe, with a history of poverty… are still living in a situation of deprivation comparable to that which existed at the time of Paul VI, and in some cases one can even speak of a deterioration. It is significant that some of the causes of this situation were identified in Populorum Progressio, such as the high tariffs imposed by economically developed countries, which still make it difficult for the products of poor countries to gain a foothold in the markets of rich countries…we must acknowledge how difficult this journey has been, both because of new forms of colonialism and continued dependence on old and new foreign powers, and because of grave irresponsibility within the very countries that have achieved independence.” Encyclical Letter, Caritas In Veritate of The Supreme Pontiff Benedict Xvi
Africa needs an Asian International Court to petition for Reparations and Restitution due to their unrelated connections with the European, Latin American, and American Slave Trade of African people as commodities, intellectual properties, and forced skilled labor.
Peace is unto Barack Obama, my Brother.
Labels: BARACK OBAMA, LLOYD WHITEFIELD BUTLER JR, NEOCOLONIALISM
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We’re left with no option but to impeach Rupiah – HH
Written by Patson Chilemba
Saturday, July 18, 2009 9:35:03 PM
UPND president Hakainde Hichilema yesterday said the UPND and PF have been left with no option but to impeach President Rupiah Banda because he has completely failed the country. In an interview, Hichilema said the PF and UPND would use all the legal provisions at their disposal to remove President Banda and the "corrupt" MMD out of office.
On information minister Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha's statement that Hichilema and PF president Michael Sata were desperate politicians who wanted to go to State House at all cost, Hichilema said he and Sata never created impeachment provisions but were merely being responsible citizens applying the law to remove a corrupt government from office.
"I have always told you that Shikapwasha has a shallow mind. That is a legal provision, which is part of government, and when they are excessive like this government, you are left with no option. You are aware that Frederick Chiluba has no immunity. Was it not this same government which applied the law to remove that immunity?" Hichilema asked. "We are invoking any other democratic avenue to deal with a government which is impervious, which is irresponsible. And if we wanted to go to State House at all cost, would Shikapwasha stop us? Because the conditions are ripe for that. He wants us to send cadres on the streets? The biggest impeachment is 2011. If we do not achieve now, we won't be discouraged."
And Hichilema said allowing the finance minister to be the paymaster for the executive, the judiciary and the legislature would only help in compromising all the arms of the government.
Hichilema said it was disgraceful for the government to want to make the minister of finance a paymaster for the politicians, civil servants and the Judiciary.
He said already there were complaints that the Judiciary was compromised.
Hichilema said allowing the minister of finance to be the paymaster would be a negation to the separation of powers.
Recently, Sata said the government wanted to introduce two bills to create different salary structures for politicians and those for civil servants.
He said the government would introduce the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Emoluments) (Amendment) Bill, 2009.
The Bill states as follows: "(a) empower the Minister responsible for finance to prescribe, by statutory instrument, the emoluments payable to the holder of the office of Vice-President, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Cabinet Minister, Leader of the Opposition, Chief Whip, Deputy Chief Whip, Deputy Minister, Deputy Chairperson of Committees and Private Member of the National Assembly; and (b) provide for matters connected with or incidental to the foregoing."
Sata said there was another salary structure aimed at making the minister of finance a paymaster for those in the judiciary.
Sata said the practice in the Commonwealth was that salaries for politicians and those for the judiciary should go through parliament.
Labels: HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, IMPEACHMENT, RUPIAH BANDA
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Govt still consulting on FoI Bill – Shikapwasha
Written by Ernest Chanda
Saturday, July 18, 2009 9:33:31 PM
INFORMATION and broadcasting services minister Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha has said the Freedom of Information (FoI) Bill will not be considered in this session of Parliament. In an interview on Thursday after he toured some media houses in Lusaka, Lt Gen Shikapwasha said the government was still consulting on the matter.
"In this session of four weeks, as you have seen from yesterday [Wednesday] to today [Thursday], there are going to be 10 or 15 Bills. So the independent broadcasting Act, to amend the Act and the Freedom of Information Bill are still pending. There are many other 15 or 20 Bills that have to come through. But we are on line, once we move in we will get them done," Lt Gen Shikapwasha said.
"In this session here we may not get the Freedom of Information Bill dealt with because; as you know some of you in the non-governmental media have gone with our wonderful lady [Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation acting director] Mrs [Juliana] Mwila to the UK [United Kingdom] to go and see how the UK have gone ahead to first of all pass the law and then implement the Freedom of Information Bill, and this is being done. And what we gained from there we are trying to adjust that position to our own programme. There are still some consultations to be done. We feel that this session here will not be able to make it but we will make it for the next session."
Asked if the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) Act would be tabled in this session of Parliament, Lt Gen Shikapwasha simply expressed hope.
"The IBA I'm hopping that it will be tabled. It's at Cabinet level, it's been there for some time and after Cabinet has dealt with it then it goes to Parliament," he said.
And Lt Gen Shikapwasha said he sees greed in Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata and United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema.
He said the duo had no interest in national unity other than their quest to get to State House.
"Today you see the desperation of the opposition that they feel and think that out of chaos they can rule Zambia. But the people of Zambia don't want chaos, the Zambian people want peace, the Zambian people want development. The youngsters, young women and young men that are there now don't want politics of old, to try and impeach a President with no apparent reason. That impeachment will fall flat on the face of Mr Sata," Lt Gen Shikapwasha said.
"Democracy requires that you sacrifice your position to allow for democracy to go forward. And I see no sacrifice that's being made by Mr Sata or Mr Hakainde, all I see is greed. I see people who want to get into government without an agenda, and you can have a disastrous country when you have people that just want to have power and they want to get into power without an agenda."
Meanwhile, local government deputy minister Chrispin Musosha challenged Sata to disclose the names of MMD members of parliament who were supporting the impeachment of President Rupiah Banda.
Musosha, who is also Mansa Central MMD member of parliament and acting Luapula Province party chairman, said as far as he knew there was no MMD parliamentarian who could support the impeachment.
"First of all I want to thank Mr Sata for making that revelation. And in the same vein I'm challenging him to disclose the names of MMD members of parliament supporting the impeachment of President Rupiah Banda. For me I don't support the idea because the man [President Banda] has just started and you can't judge him so early," said Musosha.
"I admit that Mr Sata has a track record of having worked very well at every ministry and I thank him for that. I also appeal to him to praise President Banda when he performs well. We should give credit where it is due, and as far as I know there is no MMD member of parliament supporting the impeachment. Can Mr Sata help us by telling the nation which MP from the ruling party is supporting the impeachment."
Labels: FOI, RONNIE SHIKAPWASHA
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Zaloumis dismisses Sata’s remarks on NCC allowances
Written by Kabanda Chulu
Saturday, July 18, 2009 9:32:18 PM
NATIONAL Constitutional Conference (NCC) spokesperson Mwangala Zaloumis has refuted allegations by Patriotic Front president Michael Sata that it has failed to pay its members their daily allowances for a period of two months. Reacting to the allegations by Sata, Zaloumis stated that it was not true that some members have not been paid their allowances for two months.
“It is not true that some members were not paid for two months when in fact NCC members had sat for less than two months from 5th May to 26th June 2009 in plenary sessions to deliberate and adopt its committees’ reports on the Mung’omba draft constitution and members were paid appropriate allowances every fortnight to cover subsistence, sitting and transport costs,” Zaloumis stated.
She stated that out of the NCC budgetary allocation of K50 billion for 2009, only K36 billion had been released so far while the balance of K14 billion was yet to be requested by the NCC secretariat as and when needed.
Zaloumis stated that the Ministry of Finance had been supportive in ensuring that timely releases of funds to the NCC secretariat were made to support administrative duties that included finances and payments.
Last week, NCC chairperson Chifumu Banda said that the NCC had made tremendous strides in constitution-making process and that some of its critics were now seeking to be associated with the success of the conference.
But Sata said Banda had given a wrong impression of the success scored by the conference when the NCC had allegedly failed to pay its members their daily allowances for two months.
Labels: MWANGALA ZALOUMIS, NCC, SATA
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Sata asks Judicial Service Commission to explain Chief Justice Sakala’s contract
Written by George Chellah
Saturday, July 18, 2009 9:30:16 PM
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) leader Michael Sata yesterday demanded that the Judicial Service Commission states the role it played in the awarding of contracts to Chief Justice Ernest Sakala and justice Peter Chitengi.
In a letter dated July 17, 2009 to the secretary of the Judicial Service Commission, which was also copied to President Rupiah Banda, Chief Justice Sakala and Attorney General Mumba Malila, Sata stated that he would like to know what role the commission played in the awarding of the contracts.
"The Post newspaper edition dated Wednesday 15th July 2009 carried an article on the front page entitled "Chief Justice Sakala must go - Sangwa". The said article was referring to a letter by Messrs. Simeza Sangwa and Associates questioning the constitutionality of awarding contracts to the Chief Justice and some judges of the Supreme Court without ratification by Parliament by the President of the Republic of Zambia," Sata stated. "Firstly, I would like to know what role your commission has played in the award of the said contracts to these judges. If the commission were consulted by the President, why did Parliament not ratify the contracts to allow the people's representatives to question the candidates on their competence or otherwise to continue serving our people in such public positions?
"Secondly, it is my understanding that the fact that the contracts in question were not ratified by Parliament means that the process was incomplete and the appointments unconstitutional. If this is so, what is the position of the Chief Justice who purports to swear a President into office after elections when he is not supposed to be in office himself? What about the oath of office which the President took himself?"
He stated that it was clear that the country was faced with a constitutional problem of unprecedented measure since independence.
"We cannot, therefore, gloss over these matters as a matter of convenience when the nation is spending colossal sums of money on a new constitution. The citizens need clear answers from all concerned and I demand that these answers be provided without delay," stated Sata.
The Judicial Service Commission is chaired by the Chief Justice with Registrar of the High Court Mwamba Chanda as the secretary.
According to a letter to Malila dated July 13, 2009, which was also copied to President Rupiah Banda, the Chief Justice, the deputy chief justice, justice Chitengi and the Speaker of the National Assembly among others, Simeza, Sangwa and Associates stated that Justice Sakala and justice Chitengi had already passed the retirement age of 65.
The law firm stated that the duo was not qualified to hold office and that they were holding their offices illegally.
"On 29th April, 2009, we lodged the above-stated appeal and because of its urgent nature it was heard in Ndola on 2nd June 2009, by a bench consisting of the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Peter Chitengi and Madam Justice Chibomba. We understand that madam Justice Chibomba is acting judge of the Supreme Court in line with the provisions of Article 93(5) of the Constitution. On 9th July 2009, what was described as the "judgment" of the court was read by the Chief Justice and our clients' appeal was rejected," read the firm's letter in part. "It has now come to our clients' attention that at the time of hearing the appeal on 2nd June 2009, both the Chief Justice and Mr Justice Chitengi had already passed the retirement age of sixty-five stipulated in Article 98(1) of the Constitution, hence not qualified to hold the office of judge of the Supreme Court, consequently not competent to hear and determine this appeal or any other appeal case.
"Article 98(1), omitting the parts not relevant to the issues at hand, reads: Subject to the provisions of this Article, a person holding the office of a judge of the Supreme Court- shall vacate that office on attaining the age of sixty-five years: We are aware of the proviso to Article 98(1), which omitting the parts not relevant, reads: provided that the President- (a) may permit- a judge of the Supreme Court, who has attained that age to continue in office for such period as may be necessary to enable him to deliver judgment or to do any other thing in relation to proceedings that were commenced before him before he attained that age; (b) may appoint- a judge of the Supreme Court, who has attained the age of sixty-five years, for such further period, not exceeding seven years, as the President may determine."
They stated that these provisions did not allow their lordships to hear and determine the appeal or any other appeal after reaching the retirement age.
Simeza, Sangwa and Associates stated that: "If your interpretation of the constitutional and statutory provisions we have referred to is different from ours, we have instructions from our clients to move the High Court so that the issues we have raised can be adjudicated upon. However, if you share our interpretation of the said provisions, we would like to know what you propose to do to correct the constitutional and statutory violations we have outlined above. We would be grateful to hear from you within seven days from date hereof. If we do not, we have instructions to move the High Court."
Labels: ERNEST SAKALA, JUDICIARY, SATA
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Courts are under pressure from politicians – Miyanda
Written by George Chellah
Saturday, July 18, 2009 9:27:42 PM
HERITAGE Party (HP) president Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda yesterday observed that the court system in Zambia is under extreme pressure from politicians. Brig Gen Miyanda said it was not a secret that the court system in Zambia was under extreme pressure from politicians, especially in cases which have political undertones.
"We cannot blame them, they are human. The buck stops at the President's feet. When an African President speaks, he scares everyone. As I sat in the courtroom when [Post news editor] Ms [Chansa] Kabwela was being arraigned, I could not help but notice the huge portrait of President Banda above the magistrate's head, as though to say ‘I am watching you!’ Why should this picture be in that neutral ground? All such pictures must be removed forthwith because they are not adding value to the justice system. Instead, I get the impression that the government has perfected the system of eavesdropping. In the past, you had to have a court order to intrude on a telephone conversation," Brig Gen Miyanda said. "But now technology is so advanced that one does not need to keep following someone. They watch us at play, at the club and even in our bedrooms; if there is any pornography in Zambia it is in the government offices because Big Brother is always watching under the pretext of security. That is why I have believed for a long time that the government knows a lot about assassinations of prominent people in Zambia. Select target groups, especially politicians are constantly under surveillance even when there is not a reason to watch them."
He said Zambia was now a total police state.
"Thanks to the President and his method of handling simple investigations. According evidence before the courts, the government bought listening devices covering a distance of 300 kilometres. This means that the government can listen to conversations from Lusaka over a radius of 300 kilometres (Mumbwa, Kabwe Choma, Nyimba, Mkushi, and so on). This has serious implications on privacy as well as the judicial system. Courts conduct conferences to decide on cases," Brig Gen Miyanda said. "Imagine the President, as a party to the proceedings is hearing the other parties discussing their case with their clients. And you say you are writing a new constitution! Mr President, Big Blackman, everyone knows who actually arrested Ms Kabwela, because we saw and heard you order the arrest. Stop interfering in the system before more people are injured. I hope you will be at court to give evidence of the part you have played in this unjust affair!"
Brig Gen Miyanda said he hoped and prayed that the 10 state witnesses in Kabwela's case would be witnesses of fact.
"But I take issue with the conduct and double standards of President Rupiah Banda. I am concerned because I am seeing disturbing signs of our government receding into our dark past; behaving like a frightened person who does not know where the next blow will come from. When people are afraid or are scared they can do anything, including committing suicide. I still have some confidence in our court system even though every now and then you feel you are being short-changed," Brig Gen Miyanda said. "Our judicial system is a curious carbon copy of the British system, which is the next best thing for us, until we make and write our own. Alas, I do not believe that the NCC is making and writing a new constitution because the personalities that are at centre stage have less than noble motives in their decisions. The NCC is a complex subject; what has made it complex is the deceptive manner in which it was birthed. So it may be better to devote time to a detailed analysis of this topic later. For now all I can say is that jail is not a pleasant place to be, especially for a woman."
He said the President who was responsible for this must revisit his decision.
"Talking about double standards leads me to delve into a bit of our history that may have been forgotten. The political and independence history of Zambia will never be complete without mentioning the name of one Julia Chikamoneka. Many people think that to make history one must already have a big name. I too believe that I have a place in our history. As a young man I was always fascinated by this lady because I had heard of her story that appeared out of the ordinary and I had ever wanted to meet her. As I was growing up before independence, I had met big names such as Kenneth Kaunda, De Luxe Nkoloma, Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula, Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe, Munukayumbwa Sipalo, Timothy Kankasa and of course Mrs Kankasa and many more; but I never met Mama Chikamoneka. My first fascination was with her name; to this day I still question whether that was her real name! I have tended to believe that it was a pseudo or protest name. Chikamoneka is a Bemba name which literary means "It will be seen" or "It will happen'," Brig Gen Miyanda said. "My meeting with her was unheralded, unplanned. Because I was indefinitely blacklisted by the Kaunda regime, I had to use unconventional ways for a General to find bread for my wife and children. The system was vicious, vindictive and ruthless. I had a big American car, a Ford Fairmont V8, a guzzler of petrol. I turned it into a taxi; I didn't care if I didn't eat but my wife and children had to eat. Because it was not a licenced taxi I had to operate at night. This is the time when taxi drivers were being killed and knifed and spiked with screwdrivers. I believe my participation in driving at night opened the way and encouraged many taxi drivers to be operating at night because money was good. Later I obtained a licence and was able to operate without let or hindrance. I still have a few friends among taxi drivers whom we were "ukubaza" together and crack jokes with them mainly at Intercontinental and Pamodzi hotels.
"One day, I was at Pamodzi waiting for a chance pick up; I saw two Caucasians, a man and a lady. They asked me to take them to Kabulonga; I did and that was the beginning of good and bad things. I took them to a private home somewhere in Kabulonga and my God did I have bread! They were generous; I asked them to give me whatever; they paid me in real money - British pounds! They asked me to pick them up again in the morning. Later, being satisfied with my dexterous performance and handling of the V8, they never wanted anyone else to drive them. Instead they asked me to park my rickety Ford and hired a new Fiat GLS; I had lucrative terms; they paid for my car which I was not using and gave me a lot of other perks. God is indeed good all the time. My hours of work changed for the better and I could be with my family; I drove them everywhere they wanted to go during the day. But as a result of this miracle contract I was reported to the authorities and was arrested and detained. While I was in prison, John Shepherd, a foreigner, was furious. He boldly asked my sister to take him to State House because he wanted to tell the President that what he had done was nonsense and that I was a good man trying to earn a living."
Brig Gen Miyanda narrated: "Government was told that I had bought a brand new car with foreign funds and that these activities were inimical to the state. Yet all they needed to do was to take the car number and trace that it was not my car; but in Zambia lies achieve much; they also destroy and injure families. My sister reminded John that he was in Africa; his intervention would result in his own detention and make my situation worse. I was touched by this type of affinity by a foreigner to a mere taxi driver! How I wish John was here when Ms Kabwela was being lambasted by the Father of the Nation. The taxi contract inadvertently resulted in meeting Mama Julia Chikamoneka. The duo, Maxine Baker the lady and John Shepherd were from the British television Granada and were here to make a three part documentary titled "End of Empire". In Zambia when this film was being shown on television, they would flip the part that showed my name very quickly so that you could not read my name. I was responsible for coordinating meetings with important people in Zambia, many of them were uncomfortable to deal with me," Brig Gen Miyanda said. "Later I was tasked to locate Mama Chikamoneka because they had heard of her and wanted to include her in the film; to them she was of historical significance. She had exposed her nakedness in public to protest the abhorrent colonial regime with its archaic laws; they had to see her to complete their research. I eventually traced her in a humble home in Kabwata. She told the Granada team her part of the story. But I was more interested in why she undressed in public and really wanted to know. Off camera I was struggling to ask her; you see she is a mother and in our culture sons do not discuss these things with their mothers. Somehow I plucked up courage and asked. She responded with a quip, very simplistically, as though there was nothing important that she had done. Addressing me affectionately as "mwanawandi - my son" she said that when you believe in something you must be ready to do anything to achieve that grand purpose. She went on to say that "these whites were too powerful and I had nothing to make them realise that we were choking with rage and frustration.
"To show my nakedness was the highest form of anger; baring my nakedness was the only weapon that I had, hoping that the Big Whiteman (Ian McLeod) who had come all the way from England would have a heart and feel for us. So I undressed in public. When I did this I did not care whether there were people watching, or whether my children would see my nakedness and laugh at me like Noah's children did in the Bible. I did not even know or care that it was an offence. All I cared for was for the Whiteman to see our suffering. Somehow I had confidence that that if he sees me naked, may be he will feel pity on us". Actually McLeod had more than a heart; he was shocked to see an elderly woman undress because of anger. He did something about it. Compare this with President Banda's calculated stage performance. He did not care about the urgent message that he had received; he manipulated it so that it appeared that the motive was less than noble."
Brig Gen Miyanda said during the last indaba, he told Zambians that the MMD was at full throttle and was in election mode.
"The conduct of the President was clearly an election gimmick, targeting a certain constituency, mainly the church. This type of behaviour will go on until elections are held; so there may be a lot of threats and arrests of people on flimsy grounds. The reason is that somehow those in office are always afraid to leave office. Look at the contradiction: President Banda publicly told the nation that after viewing the pictures, he threw them away. By so doing he was distributing the so-called pornographic pictures because he left the pictures to be picked up by any body, his security guards, children at State House, the chef, the radio operator. Perhaps it is his picture that ended up on the Internet!" Brig Gen Miyanda said. "President Banda is displaying double standards. He was in UNIP when the Chikamoneka event happened. Mama Chikamoneka contributed to our independence by undressing in public. I believe at that time this crime would be classed as "Indecent Exposure" and McLeod, the Big White Man, merely needed to order her to be killed and she would have been shot. He didn't; instead he softened up, showed his big heart and went to influence the Wind of Change that swept across the continent; and the rest in history.
"Without discussing the matter in court I wish to say that people in authority, such as presidents, must not abuse this power. Most of our legal problems have nothing to do with bad laws or a bad constitution. When leaders/politicians get into office they must strive to stop the rot that they used on their campaign trail as a means to get the vote. Most of the time they do not keep their word. That is why I am very concerned at the new Zambian culture which does not care what happens after tomorrow. We had a State of Emergency from before independence (1963) until about thirty years later - remember! Did we learn any lessons from that history?"
Labels: COURTS, GODFREY MIYANDA, JUDICIARY
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Standard Bank focuses on Africa
Written by Joan Chirwa in Johannesburg
Saturday, July 18, 2009 9:26:05 PM
STANDARD Bank Group chief executive Jacko Maree on Thursday said the bank has focused on growing its businesses in Africa in a proactive and vigorous way while managing risks and costs.
Briefing a group of visiting African journalists at Standard Bank headquarters, Maree said the bank was also focusing on building robust operations in other selected emerging markets across the globe.
Standard Bank, which trades as Stanbic in Zambia, recently partnered with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of china (ICBC), the world's largest bank, through its acquisition of 20 per cent shareholding in the former.
It also plans to open up branches in Angola once authorisation is granted by the Angolan government.
"Standard Bank has a successful track record in growing businesses organically in new markets and geographies as well as proven experience in making and integrating acquisitions in foreign markets," Maree said. "Our strategic partnership with ICBC provides us with a strong partner from a future superpower economy, with a keen desire to participate in the next phase of development on the African continent...We are a financially secure organisation with a strong capital and liquidity position. We have a clear vision and strategy for the group and a set of values that guide us. We have a strong brand in South Africa and our reputation on the continent and in other key emerging markets is growing."
He said Standard Bank's key objective was to become a leading emerging markets financial services organisation.
"Our focus is firmly fixed on being a full-service financial services player in our home market and using this experience to build strong operations in chosen markets in Africa, and in other emerging markets, particularly those with links to Africa. This is evidenced through Standard Bank's recent acquisitions in Nigeria, Kenya, Argentina and Turkey, and more recently a transaction in Russia, which is still subject to regulatory approvals," said Maree.
Meanwhile, Standard Bank yesterday launched its first integrated global and in-country advertising campaign to support the group's growth in emerging markets.
Labels: JACKO MAREE, STANCHART
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Mukuni’s appeal for recognition as paramount chief saddens Nalubamba
Written by George Zulu in Monze
Saturday, July 18, 2009 9:25:07 PM
THE Royal Foundation of Zambia Southern Province committee says it will not allow chief Mukuni to divide the province.
Provincial committee chairperson senior chief Bright Nalubamba of Namwala said the appeal by chief Mukuni made to President Rupiah Banda during the Lwiindi traditional ceremony in Livingstone - to have the province divided into two parts and have him recognised as paramount chief of the province - made sad readings as it undermined the essence of existence of the Bantu Botatwe.
Namwala said this after a closed-door consultative meeting with chief Moonze on the division of the province into two parts of the Tonga people of Monze yesterday.
"The proposed division of the province into two makes sad reading. In the first place and out of respect Mukuni should have discussed it with his royal highness paramount chief Moonze of the Tonga people of Southern Province. Secondly, the provincial royal foundation for which I am chairperson and Mukuni is a member should have been given an opportunity to deliberate on the matter and provide a way forward," he said.
Nalubamba wondered how chief Mukuni went ahead and requested the head of state to take a unilateral position on what he called a sensitive and critical matter when government organs below the President were not adequately informed.
"How does Mukuni request the President to recognise him paramount chief and to have the province divided into two parts? I don't think that the provincial administration is aware about this move. We, the traditional leaders, should have been briefed about the matter at the Choma meeting. Considering the gravity of the issue at hand, I call upon the provincial minister to call for an urgent meeting for intervention on the proposed division of the province," he said.
Chief Nalubamba said chief Mukuni was going too far in his burning desire to become paramount chief of the Tonga speaking people.
He said chief Mukuni used the Ministry of Local Government and Housing to call for a meeting in Monze and resources were used for what turned out to be a fruitless meeting.
"His desires to become paramount chief of the Bantu Botatwe have taken a wrong path because he is now demanding for the division of the people in the province which is dangerous to the security of the nation and the peace we have enjoyed since independence. He and government called for a meeting which was held in Monze where former minister of local government Mama Masebo, senior chieftainess Nkomeshya Mukamambo II graced the occasion which turned up to be a very useless gathering, " he said.
Chief Nalubamba said chief Mukuni had exposed the traditional leadership into ridicule because of his desires which he said were regrettable and warned President Rupiah Banda against accepting chief Mukuni's proposals.
"We shall not allow a person who hails from Congo-DRC or any other country to come and destabilise the peace and unity we have enjoyed. The fact that his grandfather trekked through to Livingstone from Kola to marry a beautiful Toka-leya girl; with some royal blood is not the basis on which he should claim recognition as paramount chief of the valley. After all, the people of the valley have been subordinate to His Royal Highness chief Musokotwane who was related to paramount chief Moonze," he said.
Chief Nalubamba said the Royal Foundation of Zambia in the province had realised that chief Mukuni's move to change Lwiindi Livingstone from December to July was to inconvenience the Lwiindi Gonde ceremony of Monze.
He said it was extremely unfortunate that all the efforts and attempts to separate and divide the people of Southern Province were going on with the blessings of those in government.
Senior chief Nalubamba met chief Moonze to discuss the matter, which they said was critical to the unity and sustainable development of the province.
Labels: CHIEF MUKUNI, CHIEFS, SOUTHERN PROVINCE
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Consumer watchdog urges government to hire new vibrant bosses for parastatals
By Nyasa Times
Consumer watchdog, CAMA has asked President Bingu wa Mutharika to reform parastatals other than consider shutting them down because of not performing.
President Mutharika warned when he opened budget sitting of parliament that he will close all parastatals which are not performing.
The performance of public enterprises continues to be mixed. Some statutory corporations have been running perpetually at a loss. Those that fail to perform will definitely be closed down,” Mutharika said in State of the Nation Address entitled Malawi’s Economic Miracle.
But the Consumer Association of Malawi (CAMA) executive director John Kapito said the solution for the President is not to close such state owned companies but appoint bosses who can deliver.
“Appointment of management (in these parastatals) has been political, there is need to reverse the trend,” Kapito told Capital Radio.
“There has been a lot of political patronage in these parastatals,” he said
The outspoken consumer activist cited power company, Escom for poor services whereby power-blackouts have been the order of the day.
He said the top brass decision making is poor and urged the bosses to “move out and pave way for new thinking”.
Finance Minister Ken Kandodo told parliament that government has lined up a number of reforms to the underperforming parastatal organizations aimed at improving their performances.
Kandodo assured that government will help improve the sectors performance as they pose a fiscal burden when underperforming and shared similar sentiments with Kapito that some of the reasons that led to underperformance of some organizations in the sector were poor management decisions and investment in infrastructure.
“Causes of the underperformance include poor management decisions such as poor allocation of resources and inadequate levels of maintenance and investment in infrastructure,” said Malawi’s Finance Minister.
“Mr. Speaker Sir, Government will continue to strengthen governance structures in all parastatals by strengthening boards of parastatals in ensuring that there is a mix of key skills,” said.
He added that the executive management of various parastatals will be strengthened by strict adherence to a policy of recruitment based on merit.
The parastatals that have performed include; Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (MACRA), Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC), Airport Developments Limited (ADL) and the Tobacco Control Commission (TCC).
However, Air Malawi, Agricultural Development and Marketing (ADMARC), Malawi Post and Communications (MPC), and the Blantyre Water Board are among the notable parastatals that have underperformed.
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, PARASTATALS
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Biti: Civil servants to get salaries and bonuses
by Lebo Nkatazo
17/07/2009 00:00:00
ZIMBABWE’S civil servants will get a salary this month, as well as bonuses in November, Finance Minister Tendai Biti announced on Thursday.
Biti did not reveal the figures, but the change will see the civil service wage bill rise from the current
US$34 million to US$40 million, he said in a mid-term budget review presented to parliament.
The new pay structure, based on the public service grading system, takes effect from July 1.
The task of announcing the salary scale will fall on the Public Service Commission, with most civil servants expecting a substantial rise from the US$100 monthly allowances that they have been paid for the last five months.
The Voice of America’s Studio 7 reported last night that the average pay for civil servants would rise to US$150 – far short of the US$400 demanded by most unions.
Biti will know in the coming days if he has averted a planned strike by the country’s 90,000 teachers, but the signs were not good after Progressive Teachers’ Union (PTUZ) secretary general Raymond Majongwe accused the minister of failing to consult.
Majongwe blasted: “Tendai Biti has continued and perpetuated the Zanu PF way of doing things … that he sits with whoever he sits with and he makes his presentations like Father Christmas without prior consultations with relevant stake holders like trade unions.
“We also had to listen to him making submissions on what salaries civil servants will earn. We are very disappointed with that conduct.
“Basically, what he did is he talks about increasing salaries, but honestly after doing our calculations, it’s going to be very difficult for teachers to earn US$50 per teacher from what he presented, from our view.”
Majongwe said Biti’s budget review was anti-poor, adding that concessions made on import duty were not aimed at the poor.
“Ultimately,” Majongwe said, “we are very disappointed because the very concessions that have been made … people who are going to be able to import cars into the country are not the teachers, are not the poor people, it’s the same people who have money that have looted over the years that are going to import cars and bring them duty free. So there is nothing for the poor man in this budget (review).”
Biti encouraged Zimbabweans to use cheques and plastic money, which includes debit and credit cards, to counter the shortage of bank notes on the market.
He said as the government is no longer printing money, due to the introduction of multiple currencies, ministries should stick to their budget allocations to avoid the resurfacing of budget deficits which fuel inflation.
Labels: 2009 BUDGET, CIVIL SERVANTS, TENDAI BITI
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We accept our comrades’ apology
Written by Editor
On June 26, 2009 we received a letter from the Zambia National Women's Lobby signed by the board chairperson Ms Tamala Kambikambi. This letter which was addressed to the chairperson of the Press Freedom Committee of The Post complained against circulation of pictures of a woman in labour.
Reading the letter we immediately realised that our comrades at the Women's Lobby had become victims of Rupiah Banda's misinformation and propaganda against us. Our comrades at the Lobby had not made an effort to speak to us on this issue before writing their letter which was given extensive coverage in the state-owned and government-controlled media. We decided to exercise revolutionary patience and did not respond to their attacks.
Life has taught us to know how to wait; to know how to be patient; we never despair. Our enemies, those who have made public declarations to destroy The Post live in perpetual despair, in perpetual anguish, in perpetual lying, in the most ridiculous and infantile way.
We knew very well that our comrades at the Women's Lobby didn't know the truth about this issue. We were confident that eventually they will know the truth and when this happens their position will change. We knew that no matter how hard its adversary - falsehood - may try to overwhelm it, truth always refuses to yield.
And we are always prepared to stand by the truth even if everyone is against us. For us there is no better tactic, no better strategy than to fight with the truth, with clean hands because these are the only weapons that inspire confidence, that inspire faith, that inspire dignity. Lies are weapons that help no one, and no serious person ever needs to resort to a lie. Our weapon is reason, morality, truth, the ability to defend an idea, a position.
And because we fight with the truth, we are very quick to admit our errors, our mistakes, our wrongs and without hesitation acknowledge them and apologise. How else can we defend something that is wrong if not by accepting that we are wrong and apologise.
We also have learnt to recognise and distinguish the mistakes of our comrades from the actions of our enemies. Rupiah was not misinformed to take the position he took against us over those pictures. His was a position driven by hatred for us, by enmity against us. Rupiah has never attempted to hide his hatred for us and his desire to one day catch us wrong-footed and punish us. This was what drove Rupiah to tell the lies he told about those pictures and us.
And because we are able to distinguish the mistakes of our friends from the actions of our enemies, it is not difficult for us to forgive our comrades when they apologise for the wrong position they have taken against us. And for this reason we wholeheartedly accept the apology made by the Women's Lobby. Who are we not to forgive others when we are every day being forgiven by others? Friendship is the fruit of honesty, truth, humility and solidarity. And to guarantee friendship, all are called to maturity, tolerance and responsibility. True friendship is to seek and accept forgiveness.
We are told in the Bible: "Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one other, so that you may be healed" (Jas 5:16). We are also told in Matthew 5: 23-24 : "If you are bringing your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your gift."
If friendship and cooperation is to be built or established among us, the primary requisite is to eradicate the factors that make us differ, that make us attack and denounce each other, that cause dissension between or among us.
Throughout this period we have never attacked or denounced the Women's Lobby because we understood very well that the position they had taken was driven by lack of understanding resulting from Rupiah's manipulation because some of them are very close to his people and serve in various institutions or agencies that are connected to government.
Their position was different from that of NGOCC who had deliberately refused to take our explanation. When NGOCC chairperson Marian Munyinda wrote that letter attacking us, effort was made to contact her and explain to her what we did and why we did it the way we did it.
Time was also taken to explain to her the consequences of the uncomradely approach they had taken to deal with their displeasure against us and what we had done. We told her that this is not the way to deal with comrades even if they are wrong. When we failed to make her accept our position we told her that in that case there is no alternative for us but to apologise to them.
Marian and her friends, because of their treacherous intentions and designs saw in our apology a weakness, and not a strength, and decided to exploit it. Our apology to NGOCC made headline news in the state-owned and government-controlled media. And they followed this with a meeting with Rupiah.
After that meeting, Rupiah decided to go for us in the most shameless and ridiculous manner, trying to whip up public sentiments against us, trying to humiliate us as reckless, queer, morbid and sick people who indulge in pornography and other immoral behaviour.
To this day, we have not received an apology or an explanation from NGOCC and the equally treacherous changed Women for Change who have always enjoyed unlimited access to our newsroom. Probably, now that they are seeing the consequences of their treachery, tomorrow they may come to us to mend fences.
But this will not be an honest position on their part arising from a realisation that they behaved in an unfair and unjust way towards comrades. Whatever action they take will be a product of defeat and an attempt to save their faces.
We will not regard it as a genuine act of contrition after realising that they were wrong. What they did against us is not a product of not having adequate information. Their action was not a product of oversight. It was deliberate and conscious.
They were simply out, in solidarity with Rupiah, to humiliate us and diminish our influence. But they have failed and the most they can do is to realise that their senseless action will take them nowhere. Instead of humiliating us, it is them who have been humiliated. But it is not us who have humiliated them. They have simply humiliated themselves. This is what happens to people when they lose or abandon principles. This is what happens to individuals and organisations when values are lost. These treacherous and opportunistic women will live to regret their evil activities and designs against us.
Our alliance with women organisations is a strategic one. This isn't unity conceived of only on the plane of a tactic of struggle. It isn't just a happen-stance or a political alliance like those we are seeing just to win an election. It is, of course, by definition, but the tie that is established here on the ethical or moral plane concerning the plight and role of women has the nature of a lasting, permanent, strategic alliance. It is a proposition with a solid moral, political and social basis.
To us issues concerning the plight of women are not an act of charity, the result of a humanitarian or compassionate attitude. Issues concerning the plight and role of women are a fundamental necessity for the progress of our country, are the guarantee for our nation's success in all the areas of human endeavour. For us this is the context within which the question of women's role, plight and rights arises. Generally speaking, women are the most marginalised and humiliated beings in our society. This being the situation, how can this country make progress with the majority of our population in this position? How can one change things in this country without mobilising women, leaving women on the fringe of the struggle for the establishment of a more just, fair and humane society?
It is essential that we understand this phenomenon so as to avoid false and futile debates. Clearly the fight for the dignity of women demands, as a first step, a clarification of our ideas. It requires action on several essential levels. And first of all, a political line of action must be laid down. For women to make progress, to emancipate themselves, there must be cautious political commitment. And we pledge action to educate our people in the best way we can to a more correct view of women and to actively redress the injustices done to women everywhere in our country, including the church, state and family life.
Women must not be treated as mere passive participants in national development. But they must enjoy fundamental rights and freedoms befitting all human beings, both in domestic and public life.
Women are a backbone of our families and they play major roles in our economy, especially in rural areas. This being the situation, the life and health of women are of central importance to the future development of our country. Clearly, women bring special gifts to the progress of our country and if they are not treated in a fair, just and humane manner, then we will simply not have sustainable and equitable progress. This is what we believe in. And people who believe in things like this cannot be justifiably accused of the crazy things Rupiah and his treacherous women are charging us for.
Labels: RUPIAH BANDA, TAMALA KAMBIKAMBI, ZAMBIA NATIONAL WOMENS LOBBY
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CPJ describes obscenity charge slapped on Kabwela as bogus
Written by Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Friday, July 17, 2009 5:23:32 AM
COMMITTEE to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has described the obscenity charge slapped on Post news editor Chansa Kabwela as bogus.
And Reporters Without Borders have described Kabwela's arrest as shocking and the grounds ridiculous.
According to a statement issued in New York on Wednesday, CPJ Africa programme coordinator Tom Rhodes stated that the arrest of Kabwela on bogus charges of circulating obscene materials was alarming.
"The only obscenity in this case is that a child should die outside a hospital for want of proper care," Rhodes said. "The charges against Chansa Kabwela should be dropped immediately, and the ongoing harassment of her newspaper by the authorities must end."
According to latest CPJ research, The Post, which is known to be a tough critic of the President, detailing corruption allegations involving the administration on a regular basis had been targeted with reprisals.
CPJ stated that the ruling MMD supporters had threatened Post staff, including vendors of the paper, on six occasions in the first five months of 2009.
CPJ is an independent, non-profit organisation that was founded in 1981. The organisation, which is headquartered in New York, promotes press freedom worldwide by defending the rights of journalists to report news without fear of reprisal.
And Reporters Without Borders yesterday noted that it was outraged to learn of Kabwela’s arrest on July 13 on a charge of "distributing obscene materials", namely photos of a woman giving birth in a hospital car park.
"Kabwela's arrest is shocking and the grounds are ridiculous. We urge the government to withdraw these absurd charges. Kabwela is clearly innocent because she made a point of not publishing these photos. She just sent them to certain government officials and NGOs," Reporters Without Borders stated. "The photographs are anyway not pornographic. Their aim was to alert the authorities to a public health problem. This episode is just another case of the government obstructing this newspaper's work."
Reporters Without Borders observed that The Post, the country's leading independent newspaper, was being hounded by the authorities.
"Reporters Without Borders is aware of at least six cases of members of its staff being physically or verbally attacked by leaders of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy since the start of the year," the statement read in part.
Reporters Without Borders was founded in 1985 to among other things, defend journalists and media assistants imprisoned or persecuted for doing their job and exposes the mistreatment and torture of them in many countries, to fight against censorship and laws that undermine press freedom.
The organisation, which is registered in France as a non-profit making organisation, is present on all the five continents and has consultant status at the United Nations.
Labels: CHANSA KABWELA, COURTS, REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS, THE POST
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Charges against Post news editor are shocking and ridiculous – Reporters Without Borders
Written by Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Friday, July 17, 2009 5:21:03 AM
GLOBAL press freedom organizations have urged the government to withdraw pornography charges against Post news editor Chansa Kabwela, with Reporters Without Borders describing the charge as shocking and ridiculous.
In a statement obtained yesterday, Reporters Without Borders observed that it was outraged to learn that Kabwela was arrested on 13 July on a charge of “distributing obscene materials”, namely photos of a woman giving birth in a hospital car park.
“Kabwela’s arrest is shocking and the grounds are ridiculous. We urge the government to withdraw these absurd charges. Kabwela is clearly innocent because she made a point of not publishing these photos. She just sent them to certain government officials and NGOs,” Reporters Without Borders stated.
“The photographs are anyway not pornographic. Their aim was to alert the authorities to a public health problem. This episode is just another case of the government obstructing this newspaper’s work.”
Reporters Without Borders observed that The Post, the country’s leading independent newspaper was being hounded by the authorities.
“Reporters Without Borders is aware of at least six cases of members of its staff being physically or verbally attacked by leaders of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy since the start of the year,” the statement read in part.
And in a separate statement, issued in New York last Wednesday, CPJ’s Africa programme coordinator Tom Rhodes stated that the arrest of Kabwela on what he termed “bogus charges” of circulating obscene materials was alarming.
“The only obscenity in this case is that a child should die outside a hospital for want of proper care,” said Rhodes.
“The charges against Chansa Kabwela should be dropped immediately, and the ongoing harassment of her newspaper by the authorities must end.”
According to latest CPJ research, The Post which is known to be a tough critic of the President, detailing corruption allegations involving the administration on a regular basis had been targeted with reprisals.
CPJ research stated the ruling MMD supporters have threatened Post staff, including vendors of the paper, on six occasions in the first five months of 2009.
Labels: CHANSA KABWELA, COURTS, REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS, THE POST
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Rupiah effects mini reshuffle
Written by Joseph Mwenda
President Rupiah Banda yesterday appointed Chisamba member of parliament Moses Muteteka as the new deputy minister in the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services.
Special assistant to the President for press and public relations Dickson Jere in a statement also announced the transfer of deputy Minister of Community Development and Social Services John Chinyata to the Northern Province in the same capacity.
The President has also moved Northern Province deputy minister Charles Shawa to Lusaka Province to replace Lameck Mangani, who was recently elevated to full Cabinet minister in charge of home affairs.
Jere said President Banda has appointed director of State Functions at Cabinet Office Eddie Mwanza as his principal private secretary at State House replacing Dr Austin Sichinga who was recently elevated to the position of Chief of Staff at state house.
Labels: CABINET, DICKSON JERE, RUPIAH BANDA
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Distribution of hearses to councils will not jeopardise ACC probe
Written by Katwishi Bwalya
Friday, July 17, 2009 5:18:16 AM
LOCAL government minister Benny Tetamashimba has said the distribution of hearses to various councils across the country will not jeopardize the ongoing investigations by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Auditor General on their procurement.
In an interview after he officially received the 100 hearses from Top Motors Limited of China, Tetamashimba said the government decided to distribute the hearses because they had already been paid for.
He said the issue was not with the hearses but the controversy surrounding the price at which they were purchased.
Tetamashimba charged on the author when he was asked why the government started distributing hearses to the councils when he had already reported his predecessor Sylvia Masebo to the ACC for investigations.
He then instructed this reporter to repeat the question so that other journalists could capture the question before he could respond.
"Can you capture his question [telling other journalists from other media organizations], Repeat your question then I will answer you," Tetamashimba said.
After this reporter repeated the question, Tetamashimba accused The Post newspaper of not wanting the people to benefit from the hearses.
"You have asked the question because you do not want the people to benefit and you have asked that question knowing very well that your mother would not have afforded to put you in those vehicles from the funeral parlours. If you were not working for The Post [newspaper] and if today you stopped working for The Post and you died, am sure you would be put in one of these [pointing to the hearses]," Tetamashimba said.
He maintained that the truth about the price of the hearses would be known after the ACC and the Auditor General conclude their investigations.
"The issue here is not about the hearses because they are in good condition but the question is were they really bought at US $29,000 or less? That is the argument. Then the ACC and the Auditor General will tell us the truth then those who are saying they were bought at US $29,000 then they will become more honourable. So, the issue is that were they really bought at US $29,000 or less than that but the problem is that you seem to be supporting those who are in between and I don't know why," he said.
Earlier, Tetamashimba urged the councils to put the hearses to good use to enable the needy citizens to benefit.
"There has been a lot of comments on the said hearses and the PF calling the hearses Tetamalilo when their leader knows very well that local authorities were providing Katengamalilo vehicles to bury the people," Tetamashimba said "Government is being considerate and has decided the vehicles... that despite the circumstances surrounding the purchase, the hearses have to be put to good use to enable the needy citizens have access to a cheaper and humane manner of burying the departed loved one.
And Top Motors managing director Liang Ge said the contractual obligation had been fulfilled through the handover ceremony.
Labels: ACC, BENNY TETAMASHIMBA, CORRUPTION, PROCUREMENT SYSTEMS
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Sangwa has raised very important concerns – Chongwe
Written by George Chellah
Friday, July 17, 2009 5:16:39 AM
LUSAKA lawyer Dr Rodger Chongwe yesterday said Simeza Sangwa and Associates' demand that Chief Justice Ernest Sakala and justice Peter Chitengi must vacate office because they have already passed their retirementage is a very important issue and not frivolous.
In an interview, Dr Chongwe said the issue raised by Simeza Sangwa and Associates needed to be given some attention.
"On the face of it Mr Sangwa has raised a very important issue. It's not a frivolous letter, it's a letter that deals with our Constitution. The constitutionality of the functioning of the courts and the appointment of judges in those court," Dr Chongwe said. "These are important concerns and we should not dismiss them, they are not frivolous. They are important so we should deal with them. They are good for this nation to be dealt with so that next time we don't fall in the same pitfall."
On Wednesday, Attorney General Mumba Malila said he was studying Simeza Sangwa and Associates' demand that Chief Justice Ernest Sakala and justice Peter Chitengi must vacate office because they had already passed their retirement age.
Malila said he was studying the letter with a view to respond to the various issues raised.
Malila said: "I still haven't received it but I have been provided with a copy. I am studying it now with a view to respond to the various issues which he has raised."
But justice deputy minister Todd Chilembo said Malila could not come up with any binding verdict on Simeza Sangwa and Associates' demand that Justice Sakala and justice Chitengi vacate office.
However, Chilembo said it was logical that Malila responds to the letter from Simeza, Sangwa and Associates.
In a letter to Malila dated July 13, 2009 which was also copied to President Rupiah Banda, the Chief Justice, the deputy chief justice, justice Chitengi and the Speaker of the National Assembly among others, Simeza, Sangwa and Associates stated that Justice Sakala and justice Chitengi had already passed the retirement age of 65.
The law firm stated that the duo was not qualified to hold office and that they were holding their offices illegally.
"On 29th April, 2009, we lodged the above-stated appeal and because of its urgent nature it was heard in Ndola on 2nd June, 2009, by a bench consisting of the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Peter Chitengi and Madam Justice Chibomba. We understand that madam Justice Chibomba is acting judge of the Supreme Court in line with the provisions of Article 93(5) of the Constitution. On 9th July, 2009, what was described as the "judgment" of the court was read by the Chief Justice and our clients' appeal was rejected," read the firm's letter in part. "It has now come to our clients' attention that at the time of hearing the appeal on 2nd June 2009, both the Chief Justice and Mr Justice Chitengi had already passed the retirement age of sixty-five stipulated in Article 98(1) of the Constitution, hence not qualified to hold the office of judge of the Supreme Court, consequently not competent to hear and determine this appeal or any other appeal case.
"Article 98(1), omitting the parts not relevant to the issues at hand, reads: Subject to the provisions of this Article, a person holding the office of a judge of the Supreme Court- shall vacate that office on attaining the age of sixty-five years: We are aware of the proviso to Article 98(1), which omitting the parts not relevant, reads: provided that the President- (a) may permit- a judge of the Supreme Court, who has attained that age to continue in office for such period as may be necessary to enable him to deliver judgment or to do any other thing in relation to proceedings that were commenced before him before he attained that age; (b) may appoint- a judge of the Supreme Court, who has attained the age of sixty-five years, for such further period, not exceeding seven years, as the President may determine."
Simeza, Sangwa and Associates stated that:
"If your interpretation of the constitutional and statutory provisions we have referred to is different from ours, we have instructions from our clients to move the High Court so that the issues we have raised can be adjudicated upon. However, if you share our interpretation of the said provisions, we would like to know what you propose to do to correct the constitutional and statutory violations we have outlined above. We would be grateful to hear from you within seven days from date hereof. If we do not, we have instructions to move the High Court."
Labels: LAWYERS, ROGER CHONGWE
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Impeachment will succeed – Sata
Written by Patson Chilemba and Mwala Kalaluka
Friday, July 17, 2009 5:15:25 AM
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) president Michael Sata yesterday asked President Rupiah Banda to resign in order to avoid the embarrassment of an impeachment.
But chief government spokesperson Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha charged that Sata was a desperate politician whose only preoccupation was to get to State House. In an interview, Sata said President Banda should not underestimate the move to impeach him.
"He can avoid impeachment by resigning. He can follow the example of former United States president Richard Nixon when Congress wanted to impeach him over the water gate scandal. Rupiah Banda can do the same. He should avoid this embarrassing episode by resigning because the impeachment will definitely succeed," Sata said. "PF and UPND are now busy talking to friendly MMD. The only draw-back over the two-thirds is because of the rebels who will be bribed. By the end of the debate, there will be very little left of Mr Rupiah Banda. In fact those in MMD are even complaining that he is paying more attention to the rebel PF MPs than them."
Sata said he had instructed his members of parliament to oppose the draconian laws President Banda wanted to introduce over the Zambia Tanzania Pipeline Act and the other bills seeking to make the finance minister a pay master for the politicians, the Judiciary and civil servants.
"If they [members of parliament] want to be treated like garden boys, let them go ahead and accept these bills," Sata said.
He said because President Banda was highly irresponsible, the police had not yet been paid their June salaries.
He wondered where President Banda had taken the money.
"For the first time in history of Zambia, police are being treated like former Congolese soldiers, ba kaboke. If people at NCC [National Constitutional Conference] do not collect their money, that is not a problem. But a policemen will be forced to order a one-man road block if he is not paid," said Sata. "Those are reasons why Rupiah Banda should be impeached. On the midterm gratuity, it is not law, so let him and the MMD show leadership by not collecting that money. They will have our support when they show leadership."
But Lt Gen Shikapwasha said Sata was just desperate because he had seen that President Banda was performing.
He advised Sata to wait for 2011 if he really wanted to be President.
Lt Gen Shikapwasha said President Banda had ensured peace but Sata had failed to contribute towards the well-being of the nation.
"It is inconsequential for him to call for an impeachment because he has not given the people of Zambia reasons. How can he say he is working with MMD members when he is not our member? Let him not try to shift the problems of his party to another party. People are resigning in his party," Lt Gen Shikapwasha said. "President Banda is doing a lot of things without the support of you The Post or the opposition. He is undemocratic. There has never been a time when you have written a story that Sata is undemocratic. As the adage goes, birds of the same feather flock together."
Lt Gen Shikapwasha said if the UPND and PF pact was worth its salt, they should shoot down the bills government would present to Parliament.
He said the bill regarding TAZAMA was meant to protect Zambians and not foreigners.
Lt Gen Shikapwasha said the government intends to streamline the payment of allowances through the bills to be presented to Parliament.
On the appointment of Dora Siliya and Michael Mabenga as education minister and lands deputy minister respectively, Lt Gen Shikapwasha said Siliya was cleared by the courts, and so there was nothing wrong with her appointment.
He also said there was no court ruling that Mabenga should not serve as minister or member of parliament.
MMD national secretary Katele Kalumba described Sata's claims that some parliamentarians in the ruling party support the opposition's bid to impeach President Banda, as extreme wishful thinking.
Kalumba said no MMD parliamentarian had approached him openly or privately to intimate to him, as the party's chief executive officer, that there was an internal rebellion against President Banda.
" I think that my big man may be dreaming and I would like to say my big man, because I do not like to use abusive language," Kalumba said in an interview. "If it is wishful thinking, it is only one of the extreme kind."
Kalumba said no MMD parliamentarian in their right sense could even entertain thoughts of impeaching President Banda.
"I can confidently say that all our members of parliament are fully behind the President," he said. "It is a time-wasting exercise. I do not know for what political capital they want to do that but I see it as a fruitless exercise."
Kalumba urged the opposition politicians to behave in a statesmanlike manner and avoid situations that would enhance tension in the country.
"Talk of impeachment of a sitting President does not come easy. It is a very serious matter. It sends some signals not only to the political community but also the investor community, both locally and internationally," Kalumba said. "When you begin to talk about impeachment you are signifying a political legal impasse has been reached."
On Wednesday, Sata said President Banda had created several scandals since assuming office eight months ago.
He said President Banda had breached the Constitution by appointing corrupt people like Siliya and Mabenga.
Sata said President Banda's government wanted to introduce a bill in Parliament to amend the Zambia Tanzania Pipeline Act to provide immunity from execution of judgments against the assets of the Tanzania Mafuta Pipeline Limited as well as provide for matters connected with or incidental to the foregoing.
He said the government wanted to run away from paying the US$100 million dollars debt owed to ABSA of South Africa.
Sata said the government wanted to introduce two bills to create different salary structures for politicians and those for civil servants.
He said the government would introduce the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Emoluments) (Amendment) Bill, 2009.
The Bill states as follows: "(a) empower the Minister responsible for finance to prescribe, by statutory instrument, the emoluments payable to the holder of the office of Vice-President, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Cabinet Minister, Leader of the Opposition, Chief Whip, Deputy Chief Whip, Deputy Minister, Deputy Chairperson of Committees and Private Member of the National Assembly; and (b) provide for matters connected with or incidental to the foregoing."
Sata said there was another salary structure aimed at making the minister of finance a paymaster for those in the Judiciary.
He said the practice in the Commonwealth was that salaries for politicians and those for the Judiciary should go through Parliament.
But Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president Leonard Hikaumba said he hoped the introduction of the bills was not aimed at awarding politicians hefty allowances.
Hikaumba said there should be a system to scrutnise salaries and allowances for politicians and those in the Judiciary rather than just coming up with statutory instruments.
He said recently several people had raised observations that the Judiciary was compromised and it should not be left to the minister of finance to determine their allowances.
"As the adage, you can't bite the finger which feeds you," said Hikaumba.
Labels: IMPEACHMENT, SATA
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Chirwa asks Katele to stop silencing other MMD presidential candidates
Written by Patson Chilemba
Friday, July 17, 2009 5:13:23 AM
MMD presidential aspirant Professor Clive Chirwa yesterday asked Katele Kalumba to stop silencing other presidential candidates when he has allowed others to freely campaign for President Rupiah Banda.
Commenting on MMD national secretary Kalumba's threat to take action against those he felt were making a mockery of the party and his directives to stop presidential campaign politics, Prof Chirwa said the perception was that Kalumba was promoting undemocratic and dictatorial tendencies towards President Banda by stopping other aspirants from talking about presidential campaigns when others were freely campaigning for him.
"This is a democratic process and in a democratic process, you cannot stop anybody from talking about aspirations and where perhaps that person has got a vision...therefore you can't stop people from speaking about the presidency because it is part of the democratic process. You cannot just come on the last minute and say 'oh yes! I can start speaking about the presidency'. It might be too late," Prof Chirwa said. "I do not believe that it is right for Katele Kalumba to be silencing everybody while the people who have forwarded the name of His Excellency are actually campaigning on his behalf. And you can see that things are moving very fast indeed. I hear that the first lady is supplying this and that in hospital."
Prof Chirwa said people must be given the platform to advance their vision and presidential aspirations.
"Now when you silence them, that becomes something like a censored venture, and when it becomes censored, it becomes dictatorial," he said.
On President Banda's U-turn over the presidency when he had earlier announced that he would only govern for three years, Prof Chirwa said he would speak to the President to find out if it was true that he wanted to stand.
He said he believed that there were people who were advancing the President's candidature for their own benefit.
"That's why I want to have an audience with him. If he doesn't give me the opportunity to see him, that means it's him who wants to stand. And the only way we can do that is to meet at the convention," Prof Chirwa said.
On calls from some MMD members to postpone the convention, Prof Chirwa said there were party members who had tried to justify the move by saying that even the major opposition PF had never held a convention.
However, Prof Chirwa said MMD had a constitution, which should be obeyed. Prof Chirwa said there were party members who felt that President Banda would lose at the convention.
"But he should not be scared. Let him present the vision. If he wins, I will support him," Prof Chirwa said.
On MMD spokesperson Benny Tetamashimba's statement that he would not be allowed to contest the presidency because he was not a member of the party, Prof Chirwa produced evidence that he was in fact an MMD member as well as party treasurer in Katuba Constituency.
Prof Chirwa's statement comes in the wake of the arguments involving Kalumba and Magande over presidential campaign politics. Kalumba had initially ordered party members to stop talking about campaign politics because they were becoming divisive, but Magande argued that nobody including the national secretary would stop him from talking about the matter.
Kalumba then warned that he would take action against all party members who tried to make a mockery of the party and his directives. In response, Magande said he was ready to be disciplined for talking about presidential campaign politics.
Magande maintained that he would continue talking about the presidency for as long as people like President Rupiah Banda, Southern Province minister Daniel Munkombwe, Mulongoti and Tetamashimba continued to champion the President's candidature.
Prof Chirwa said there was no need for the country to have so many political parties when the population was small.
On the PF and UPND pact, Prof Chirwa said the pact was welcome and MMD should not feel intimidated. He said MMD should in fact, up their performance in view of the challenge posed by the pact.
And Prof Chirwa said MMD national chairman Michael Mabenga was not fit to serve as lands deputy minister because the Supreme Court established that he abused about K30 million Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
Prof Chirwa said Mabenga did not deserve to be a deputy minister since there was a Supreme Court ruling against him.
Prof Chirwa further charged that it was a disgrace for the country to have low caliber ministers like Tetamashimba who he said he could not employ not even as a secretary.
Labels: CLIVE CHIRWA, KATELE KALUMBA, MMD, PRESIDENCY
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HH blames donor funding pull-out on MMD’s failure
Written by Masuzyo Chakwe
Friday, July 17, 2009 5:12:06 AM
UPND president Hakainde Hichilema has said the withdrawal of funding by donors to the Ministry of Health is an example of the many failures of the MMD government.
Commenting on the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI)'s suspension of funding to the Ministry of Health following recent revelations of corruption, Hichilema said the suspension of funding was an indication arising from the poor governance where funds ended up in the pockets of a few individuals.
He said this was one of the threats that the country was faced with.
"These are the threats, poor health delivery because of corruption which has become rampant. There was an insinuation that people are taking advantage of problems the people are facing for the personal benefits, this is not correct. We are providing checks and balances and as long as the situation does not improve, we will not stop taking," he said.
He said there were issues of retrenchees and lecturers at the University of Zambia (UNZA) that needed to be dealt with.
"So if services are not delivered we will continue talking, no one will stop us or threaten us. And there is no plot, I don't see no plot maybe there is an imaginary plot," he said.
Hichilema said President Rupiah Banda was trying to divert the attention and the pressure on his government's failures to deliver to the people of Zambia
"So he will like to create an imaginary threat, this country is a peaceful country except people are agitating for better service delivery and that you can't define as a threat. I mean let's assume there was a threat. A threat against what? I mean the nurses have been on strike, their matters have not yet been fully resolved, they have gone back to work which is very good and, the lecturers at the University of Zambia have had a go-slow, nobody is attending to that. So if there is any threat it's the failure of the leadership of the MMD, that is the threat this country is facing," he said. "And let's assume there was another threat, taking Mangani to home affairs. Who is he going to threaten? What capacity or mechanism would Mangani use other than the dictatorial tendencies we are seeing from President Banda and his team and the confusion. You have seen the arguments, [former defence minister George] Mpombo, [works and supply minister Mike] Mulongoti, [MMD spokesperson Benny] Tetamashimba, it's a chaotic situation. I see a threat on the stability of the country arising from the failure of leadership of the MMD government."
And some services in some clinics in Lusaka have been affected following the withdrawal of funding to the Ministry of Health.
Highly-placed sources at three named clinics said since there were no funds to pay nurses and midwives for part time duty, many were shunning the work.
The sources said the nurses and midwives had not been paid their part time money since March.
"You see there is a shortage of staff in clinics. So what they do is that there is part time duty where nurses and midwives come to work when they are off duty and they are paid 40,000 and 45,000 for midwives and nurses respectively per shift. And you do like five shifts in a week. Now we are being told that there is a delay in payments because of delays in receiving the grants from the source," the source said.
The sources said clinics get about K2 million for part time duties which was supposed to be shared among the staff but this had not come in four months.
"The supply of gloves and Jik is also erratic so what we are doing now is telling mothers to bring their own," the source said.
Apart from GAVI Alliance's decision, Sweden, through Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and the Netherlands recently suspended aid to the Ministry of Health following revelations of corruption. The two countries said the abuse of taxpayers' money was unacceptable and that they would withhold funds until the Auditor General concludes the forensic audit on Ministry of Health.
Labels: HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, MMD
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