MDC-T run Redcliff Municipality collapses
The Herald
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:13:00 +0000
REDCLIFF Municipality has collapsed as a result of alleged gross mismanagement of funds and non-payment of rates by residents and companies operating in the once vibrant industrial town.
The town has a population of around 70 000 people. Council is owed US$4 million in rates with companies such as Ziscosteel having last settled their bills in February 2008.
Other companies operating in the Midlands town such as Zimchem and Bimco have also stopped paying rates citing viability problems. Only Steelmakers is paying rates to the Redcliff Municipality. However, council reduced Steelmakers’ monthly bill from US$74 000 to US$7 000 under unclear circumstances.
This has seen the MDC-T-run council failing to pay workers their salaries for the past four months.
Many small towns die a natural death upon the closure of the mines that surround them. Kamativi Tin Mine, Mhangura Copper Mine and BHP Harley Platinum Mine saw the demise of the centres that surrounded them.
Investigations by our Harare Bureau have shown that council owes its employees salaries backdating to September last year, while contract workers have not been paid since March 2009.
This has seen the unpaid wage bill ballooning to US$420 000.
Council is also failing to settle its bills with service providers such as Zesa, TelOne and Ziscosteel.
Ziscosteel supplies Redcliff with water, which in turn it draws from the City of Kwekwe. Council owes Ziscosteel nearly US$100 000 in water bills according to reports. Ziscosteel in turn owes the City of Kwekwe US$1,3 million in water bills.
Redcliff Municipality has been running without water and electricity for almost a month now.
TelOne has disconnected telephones and council business is run on individual mobile phones. Council turned to diesel generators after Zesa switched off electricity supplies nearly three weeks ago.
The municipality owes Zesa US$50 000 in electricity bills.
At Redcliff Civic Centre (Town House), the nonavailability of water for three weeks has seen council introducing "the bucket system" in its toilets.
Redcliff Municipality has been surviving on businessman Mr Philip Chiyangwa's US$680 000 land development deal brokered by the municipality's marketing manager Mr Paul Shongera.
Mr Chiyangwa, through his company Pinnacle Holdings, has been religiously settling his dues and has already paid US$400 000, but there are indications that the funds could have been misused.
Police in the town have since launched investigations into how these and other council funds could have been misused.
When our Harare Bureau visited Redcliff on Tuesday, council was holding a crisis meeting to solve these and other issues.
Mayor Joseph Matewa confirmed in an interview after the special council meeting that council was in dire straits and he would require six months to turnaround its fortunes.
“We have serious cash problems. We have not paid our employees salaries since September last year and the unpaid wage bill is now US$420 000,” said Mayor Matewa.
“We have been surviving on Mr Chiyangwa’s funds after council sold him land. He has paid about US$400 000 now and is left with about US$300 000. We relied on this deal to sustain our activities,” he added.
Mayor Matewa claimed there was mismanagement of funds paid by Mr Chiyangwa by some senior council officials and the municipality had launched investigations.
Council had reported the alleged embezzlement of funds to the police. Police have since visited Redcliff town offices to establish the facts. The mayor confirmed that all the companies operating in Redcliff apart from Steelmakers have not been paying their bills. Redcliff town was established around Ziscosteel Company, yet the giant steel company stopped operations over two years ago.
On Steelmakers, Mayor Matewa said: “Steelmakers used to pay US$74 000 in rates every month, but the bill was reduced to US$7 000 under unclear circumstances and without council’s consent by a senior council official.”
In another development, Redcliff councillors earn more than council employees in a development that has caused disharmony among the workers.
“They (councillors) get US$180. Their allowances have been paid and are being updated as we speak,” he said.
The majority of workers earn well below US$100 although last year they agreed with council that the least paid employee should earn US$120.
At the moment council is in a quandary as to how to extricate itself from the mess.
It had resolved to lay off some of its employees, but does not have money to give them retrenchment packages running into thousands of dollars.
Labels: COUNCILS, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, MDC CORRUPTION
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Teachers demand US$600, threaten strike
by
07/01/2010 00:00:00
TEACHERS have threatened not to turn up for work when schools open on Tuesday unless government agrees to raise their salaries to a monthly minimum of US$600.
Organisations representing the country’s 90 000 teachers say their members have run out of patience with the inclusive administration over its failure to improve their conditions of service.
However, the US$600 minimum salary demand is clearly beyond the government’s means as it translates to about US$55 million; half the country’s monthly tax income.
Takavafira Zhou, president of the more militant Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe said teachers would not turn-up for work unless they received clarity from the government over their salaries.
"We have given the inclusive government enough time and ... it’s high time they give us salaries above the poverty datum line meaning (nothing) less than US$600.
"Right now we don’t know what we are getting and if we get the same $150, what will happen next? We have to warn them now," Mr Zhou told The Herald.
Tendai Chikoore, President of the rival Zimbabwe Teachers’ Union said her organisation would seek a meeting with the government next week over the issue.
"If teachers strike, their move would be justified because we have given them (government) enough time to sort out everything.
"Since the budget was announced, we expected to know what we will be earning and if the issue of being graded has been addressed, but up to now they have been quiet,” Chikoore said.
Education Minister, David Coltart referred questions to his counterpart at Finance, Tendai Biti who could not be reached for comment.
"I think the best person to answer their questions would be the finance Minister as he is the one who presented the budget. I do not know what they would be getting as I am not the one who pays them," Minister Coltart said.
Teachers say they are not amused with the Government’s silence over their remuneration since the announcement of the national budget last December.
They also want to know if calls for the implementation of salary structures have been addressed.
Meanwhile, should job-action go ahead, this will be the latest, in a long series of disruptions to the country’s school calendar as teachers continue to fight with government over their conditions of service.
Upon assuming office, the inclusive government put all civil servants on the same salary of US$150 and pleaded with its employees for time to address the country’s economic challenges.
The government said salaries could only be improved once revenues had increased meaningfully.
Labels: STRIKE, TEACHERS
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Prof Saasa urges govt to revist mining revenue policy
By Kabanda Chulu and Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Thu 07 Jan. 2010, 04:01 CAT
PRICEWATERHOUSE Coopers(PwC) and the World Bank have revealed that tax reform has remained on the agenda of several governments, including Zambia, despite the global economic recession that has resulted in reduced tax revenues and difficult tax policy choices.
And economic consultant Professor Oliver Saasa has asked the government to quickly revisit its revenue policy for the mining sector as benefits of the recovering copper prices are only accruing to mining companies
According to a joint report titled ‘Paying taxes 2010: the global picture’, many governments have streamlined the business tax regime and simplified the tax administration in order to cope with challenges posed by the global economic recession.
The report measured the ease of paying taxes across 183 economies by assessing the administrative burden for companies to comply with tax regulations and also by calculating companies’ total tax liability as a percentage of pre-tax profits.
“While 20 economies have reduced corporate income tax rates, 18 simplified the process of paying taxes. On average across all of the 183 economies covered in the report, the standard case study company measured has to make 31 tax payments and spend 286 hours on calculating and paying its taxes,” it stated.
“These results show that corporate income tax is just one of the taxes with which business must comply. On average, the company pays 9.5 different taxes and corporate income taxes accounts for 12 per cent of payments, 26 per cent of the time to comply and 38 per cent of the tax cost.”
Commenting on the report, World Bank director of the Global Indicators and Analysis Department Penelope Brook stated that many governments’ efforts to streamline tax procedures and reducing time spent on compliance would make a difference for small and medium enterprises especially in difficult times.
And PwC Africa Tax leader David Tarimo stated that the global recession had meant falling tax revenues and difficult tax policy choices.
“The challenge is ensuring sufficient public revenues for the future while incentivizing investment and economic growth,” stated Tarimo.
Meanwhile, pressure continues to mount on the government to reintroduce the abolished windfall tax as copper prices continue to show signs of resurgence in tandem with the recovery of the global economy.
Copper prices on the international market continue to remain robust, closing yesterday on another strong run with three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange trading around US $7,505 a tonne.
Commenting on the current high copper prices, Prof Saasa predicted a further rise in copper price, saying this would only benefit mining companies at the expense of the country.
Prof Saasa said it was incumbent upon any responsible government to ensure that any benefits that accrued in its most important sectors such as mining benefited the country through improved cash flows into the Treasury.
Prof Saasa predicted that copper prices would hit an all time high of almost US $9, 000 a tonne by the end of this year, rallying on the recovering global economy.
“It’s very clear that this is straight forward that the global stabilising and demand for commodities like copper is rebounding, and in fact I am hoping that it is going to go beyond US $8,000, US $9,000 per tonne,” Prof Saasa said.
“This current price places good state those opposing government reluctance to revisit revenue earnings from the mining sector…even this excitement about the high copper prices is only accruing to the mining companies. They are the ones feeling the benefit because with the higher the price, the higher they (mining companies) maximise the profit benefits and very little true accrue to our treasury.”
He said the windfall tax was the surest way of ensuring the country benefited astronomic rises in the red metal because most of other tax structures were embedded in the long-term agreements the government entered into with mining companies.
Prof Saasa said while broader tax increments maybe debatable because of the long-term agreements, windfall tax was the only tax that ensured that both the government and mining companies benefited from boom in copper price.
“Even the IMF (International Monetary Fund) is projecting further rise in copper prices and ideally, any responsible government would ensure that improvement in international copper prices leads to improvements in terms of treasury collection from an important sector like mining which is our country’s largest foreign exchange earner,” said Prof Saasa.
“Copper prices are surely destined to hit the highest level, but we should not allow these benefits not to accrue to the country. I think there is need to put the interest of Zambians in this excitement about the rising copper price.”
Labels: MINING, OLIVER SAASA, TAXATION, WINDFALL TAX, World Bank
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‘A rather confusing political situation’
By Editor
Thu 07 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT
Some people wonder why Catholic bishops, priests and nuns are today so concerned about the subtleties of economic, political and social issues. They wonder what the bishops, priests and nuns expect to contribute to such issues and discussions about them and what bearing their religious themes could have on such clearly secular decisions.
This challenge is all too common these days in our country, especially as Catholic bishops, priests and nuns become more actively involved in addressing the political, economic, social and cultural crises our people face. They are able to participate meaningfully in these issues, and in some cases provide very valuable insights and leadership, because their church has offered them a body of social wisdom, based ultimately on biblical teachings and principles, that speak to the conditions of our people’s everyday life.
This social teaching of the Catholic Church that these bishops, priests and nuns are following and propagating contains not so much of a specific platform of political action but a dynamic framework for searching for relevant solutions. There is a very important theological foundation for this linking of secular elaborations of the issues that today affect the daily lives of our people and the texts of the Catholic Church’s social teaching. For them, the hopes and forces which are today moving the world in its very foundations are not foreign to the dynamism of the Gospel, which frees men and women from personal sin and from its consequences in social life.
And this line is not new. It can be traced back to the Second Vatican Council, The Church in the Modern World (1965): The joys and hopes, the sorrows and anxieties, of the women and men of this age, especially the poor and those in any way oppressed, these are the joys and hopes, the sorrows and anxieties, of the followers of Jesus Christ.
Clearly, this means that human dignity flourishes within real community, and the vitality of community depends upon each and everyone’s personal development and commitment.
It is in this context that we should try and understand what Bishop George Lungu is saying. In the story we carry today, Bishop Lungu has expressed concern about the political atmosphere in our country today. He has observed that the political situation is rather confusing and that there hasn’t been movement on a number of important issues that the Church has pointed out to the authorities that needed to be addressed. He touched on the issue of regionalism and tribalism, observing that this issue has not been put to rest because people are still talking about it and feel it is still going on.
They raised this issue shortly after the 2008 presidential elections, raising concerns about what appeared to be regional or tribal voting. When they raised this issue, those in power, those who had won these elections did not take kindly to it. They accused them of all sorts of things. Instead of mulling over things and trying to understand what they were saying, they dismissed them and the issues they were raising. This was the easiest thing for them to do – denounce those speaking and the issues they are raising. Anyone can do that. What is difficult is to correct problems, rectify errors and change the course of things. But problems and issues don’t disappear by just simply dismissing those raising them. Problems have to be solved to disappear.
Bishop Lungu has also raised the issue of the government letting down the farming community. He has raised the old question of Farmer Input Support Programme, which previously they used to call the Fertiliser Support Programme. A lot of issues were raised in 2008 over this programme. It was an election year and those who were in control of government machinery used this programme to aid their campaign. They didn’t bother to listen much to the criticisms that were being raised about this programme. The problems of 2008 are still with us and they have probably gotten worse because instead of our people freeing themselves from the dependency on government for inputs, they have become more dependent. And while their dependence on government is increasing, the support from government is reducing. The bags of fertiliser that were given in 2008 have now been reduced. And as Bishop Lungu has correctly observed, this may also mean a reduction in acreage which will result in reduced food security in the country.
When criticism was being raised about all these issues, those who did so were called all sorts of names and were seen as destructive, as people bent on destructive criticism – and not constructive criticism. This is still happening today. There is no criticism that is voiced publicly that those in charge of government today seem to consider or take as constructive. Every critic, in their view, is against them; is an agent or supporter of the opposition. They are even forgetting that with or without the opposition, criticism will always be there. It was there under the one party state. But of course it was not tolerated and those who engaged in it were seen as foreign agents and at best as enemies within.
Criticism per se is non-existent. Anything else is destructive. Criticism is an expression of hate, not pure disagreement.
In due course, the phrases “constructive criticism” and “destructive criticism” are coined in order to place those who criticise them in some useful categories so that they can be easily dealt with. We must all belong to them, we must all support and defend them or be condemned to be destructive, disgruntled or dismissed as agents of the opposition or even foreign governments, the donors. The sponsors of this dialectic are not even ashamed to attribute enmity where it may not exist. They thrive on the explosive emotions which this dialectic is likely to generate among the unsuspecting idle youth of low literacy who they intoxicate and destroy with Chibuku and Tujilijili. In fact, no regard is ever had for the patriotism of people like Bishop Lungu and others who are pointing out things that have gone wrong and urging them to correct them, unless they happen to die.
Why do they behave in this way? We ask this question because even some good people we have known, when they get into government, they quickly change. We think this is so because those in our ruling party usually consider themselves as the government and government as the state. The ruling party, government and their leaders become as sacred as the state. Any denigration of these institutions and their leaders is tantamount to treason – or at least those who do so are threatened with treason charges.
And what do they hope to get out of such political practices? Tyrannical rulers and uncritical people is the only discernable result.
Probably we should also ask them what they mean by “constructive criticism” and “destructive criticism”. A keen look at the way they use these phrases invariably reveals that they get intensely paranoid when they hear criticism. They are so weakly constituted that they fear that if they are criticised, they will lose their manliness, their constituencies, public support and ultimately their hold on power. “Constructive criticism” means flattery, agreement and praise of all that they do – wrong or right, palatable or unpalatable.
They are incapable of being criticised without feeling rancoured about it. In fact, all the time the impression given is that to criticise is to condemn or curse in the biblical fashion. And to them, it doesn’t matter where the criticism comes from, the reaction is the same. If a ruling party member criticises them, questions the actions of the president, he will be treated in the same way as someone from outside the party criticising their leadership. They will not hesitate to flush them out of the party. Hence, whenever criticism is raised, their first instinct is to smear it with the filth of one being an agent of this or that, or of having been paid by this one or that one to voice that criticism – however greedy they themselves may be. Every crisis they face, however self-created, will eventually be blamed on other people – the critics and their alleged sponsors.
We don’t know how they would react to Nelson Mandela who says: “If criticism is valid, it must be made.”
If we have shortcomings, we should not be afraid to have them pointed out and criticised because this is the only sure way of us correcting them quickly so that they don’t become permanent disabilities. And those whose job is to serve the people, it doesn’t make sense not to allow the people they are serving or are supposed to serve criticise them. But in this country, it seems immediately one criticises those in power, he or she is removed from the category “people” and become something else without any citizen rights.
You are only part of the people if you support them and agree with everything they say or do. Anyone, no matter who, should be able to point out the shortcomings of those in public service, of those who occupy public office. If they are right, those in public office should correct the mistakes they are pointing out. If what they are saying or proposing will benefit the people, they should act upon it. Again criticism is good for people, especially those in public service, and for public institutions. It is hard for anyone or any political party to avoid mistakes, but they should make as few as possible. And once a mistake is made, they should correct it, and the more quickly and thoroughly, the better.
Labels: GEORGE LUNGU, ZEC
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Political atmosphere is confusing - Bishop Lungu
By Christopher Miti in Chipata
Thu 07 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT
ZAMBIA Episcopal Conference president Bishop George Lungu last Monday said the political atmosphere in the country is confusing.
And Bishop Lungu said the government had been a letdown to the farming community.
In an interview, Bishop Lungu said previously ZEC had raised a lot of issues in the Pastoral Letter but that there was no move towards finding solutions.
"In my opinion I feel the political situation, to say the least, is rather confusing. I say so because you know in the past, we in ZEC have mentioned a number of issues that are of great concern to us as a church and also the community in Zambia but apparently we don't seem to see movement towards either finding solutions or at least showing signs that something is happening in those areas,” Bishop Lungu said.
“You remember not long ago we had produced a pastoral statement that touched on issues of regionalism. We tried to kind of evaluate the outcome of the election and we saw very clearly that we voted according to regions, which again translates in others ways to tribalism, voting into office for somebody who comes from your area. It was an issue of concern but again we didn't see any effort to address that concern.
"And of late again we have been reading in the newspapers about tribalism, appointing people coming from the east because the President is from Eastern Province and so on. Then if that is true in the sense that all those posts people do not deserve those posts because they are just from Eastern Province, then we have also encountered a problem we are still dealing with an issue that hasn't been addressed. So I find that really something needs to be done about our situation,"
Bishop Lungu said it was bad that there were a lot of intra-party fights in Zambia.
And asked to comment on the government's sharp reaction towards criticism, Bishop Lungu said criticism was a health exercise.
"We often talk about constructive criticism so that people who receive the message do not get a negative picture of what you are trying to do. I should be able to know that you are criticising because you would like to see change, positive change for that matter," Bishop Lungu said.
He said it was unfortunate that some beneficiaries of the fertilizer support programme were still complaining about the manner in which it was handled.
"The marketing issue, people still know that the last marketing season was quite chaotic and many of them have expressed their anger in the manner in which it was handled and a number of things that happened during that marketing exercise," Bishop Lungu said.
He also expressed concern over the government's delay in completing the much talked about Chipata/Mchinji railway project. And featuring on a special Face the Media programme on Monday, Bishop Lungu charged that farmers have been let down by the government.
"I don't know what the government promised the people but you are the people who are going to judge the government. Have they managed to implement what they have promised to us?" Bishop Lungu said.
He urged the government to be careful in the manner it was treating farmers in Eastern Province if it were to get a vote from the area.
Labels: GEORGE LUNGU, ZEC
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Sata calls for arrest of cadres that threatened Fr Mwewa
By George Chellah
Thu 07 Jan. 2010, 04:01 CAT
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) leader Michael Sata yesterday said the threat on Catholic Diocese of Ndola treasurer general Fr Augustine Mwewa's life was unfortunate.
Commenting on MMD cadres' threat to kill Fr Mwewa for likening President Rupiah Banda to Zambian comedian Chintelelwe of Journey to Paradise who moves anyhow without a vision, Sata condemned the cadres' threats.
“What people should understand is that MMD has hired a president from UNIP and UNIP type of politics is what we are seeing now where they want to use other people to humiliate other citizens,” Sata said.
“The people MMD is trying to assault are innocent. The Catholic Church has suffered at the hands of this government. First, it was information minister Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha who insulted the Catholics by calling them murderers involved in genocide,” Sata complained.
“The President never spoke on that issue or later on come to the defence of Catholics against his minister's direct assault on the Catholic church. We have never heard anything from Rupiah and the police on those genocide allegations. Are we Catholics going to be slaughtered like chickens in our country by this government? Because now MMD cadres are attacking innocent priests and no one is saying anything.”
Sata wondered where hired MMD thugs could get the courage to go to the Dioceses in Ndola and attempt to attack a priest.
“And as these things are happening, the police are quiet. But what they shouldn't forget is that Zambians are getting ready for MMD thugs,” Sata said. “It doesn't matter in which form they come, they will be dealt with and dealt with accordingly. Tell Francis Kabonde Inspector General of police that, that's not a threat, it's a fact. If Kabonde can't guarantee people protection from these MMD thugs, what does he want them to do? You get thugs to go and attack an innocent priest, that's not fair.
“Let the MMD keep a distance from the Catholic Church. It's not intimidation the Catholic Church will be afraid of, what we want as Catholics is truth, justice and fair play. Remember in 1991, the late Mr Shapi was saying Catholics will go on a rosary but UNIP went out of office because of the rosary. Let them be careful.”
Sata said police must arrest the MMD thugs that threatened violence against Fr Mwewa.
“Threatening violence is an offence. Let the police arrest those criminals who went to the Diocese. They shouldn't just be quick to arrest PF cadres. When the PF cadres were alleged to have poured Chibuku on Faustina Sinyangwe, they rushed to arrest them but these thugs who attacked the security guard in Ndola are free,” said Sata.
Labels: AUGUSTINE MWEWA, CADRES, POLITICAL VIOLENCE, SATA
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MUZ urges ‘reasonable’ salary increments for miners
By Zumani Katasefa in Kitwe
Thu 07 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT
MINE workers Union of Zambia (MUZ) secretary general Oswell Munyenyembe has warned of industrial unrest this year if foreign mine investors in the country do not offer reasonable salary increments to miners.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Munyenyembe said there was no need for investors to fail to give miners reasonable salary increments this year when the copper prices on the international market had gone up.
"As you know we have been negotiating with different mine houses over salaries. We have been negotiating with KCM (Konkola Copper Mines), Mopani and the Chinese mine investors. We are not getting what we are expecting. We want to warn them that we are not going to accept anything less than the inflation rate. The copper price has now reached US$7,454 per tonne on the international market, so there is no justification for us to fail to get what we want. If they do not give us what we want, they will see more industrial trouble than they saw previously," warned Munyenyembe.
He said miners were aware that the mine houses were no longer paying windfall taxes and that meant that the mining firms were making a lot of profits therefore workers also deserved decent salaries.
Munyenyembe said at the time when the copper prices went down on the international market, mining houses rushed into retrenching workers, but wondered why the mining companies were taking time to increase salaries for miners this time around when the prices have improved.
Munyenyembe also warned government not to interfere in the matter as the miners push for increased salaries.
"We also want to tell the government not to interfere in our negotiations. Government should stay away," he said.
And Roan PF member of parliament Chishimba Kambwili urged investors especially the Chinese not to ignore the Zambia labour laws.
Kambwili's comment came in the wake of complaints from some Luanshya miners that China Luanshya Mine (CLM), the new owners of the once troubled Luanshya mine, has put some workers on three months probation despite having already served the company for almost six months when it took over the mine.
"Some workers have been put on probation after the served the company for six months. This is not in order, and it has created panic among the workers. I am therefore urging my Chinese friends to follow our labour laws," he said.
Kambwili said the government should also be monitoring the activities of the foreign investors especially the Chinese and not just be excited about their investments.
CLM commenced production last month.
Labels: MINING, MUZ, OSWELL MUNYENYEMBE, SALARIES
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Chikwelete asks home affairs ministry to account for K2bn
By Henry Sinyanwe
Thu 07 Jan. 2010, 04:01 CAT
LUSAKA Mayor Robert Chikwelete has asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to account for the K2 billion that was spent on police officers deployed to remove street vendors.
Chikwelete said the bigger task of removing vendors from the streets was only done in three days while the rest of the days, officers were just spending time in the streets doing nothing.
“The actual removal of vendors was only done in less than three days and the rest of the days officers were found lazing around. We have not received any details on how the K 2 billion was spent by home affairs,” said Chikwelete.
And Lusaka City Council public relations manager Chanda Makanta has expressed disappointment at the lack of cooperation by the Ministry of Home Affairs saying that each time they needed their help, they had to spend large sums of money for their service.
“We all belong to Zambia and when it calls for duty, we should help each other and not only when there is money,” she said.
Asked on what the local authority was doing about the vendors that were back on the streets, Makanta said they have deployed council police and they also asked for help from the police but were only given 18 police officers who were placed at strategic positions.
She said council police, who are not armed when on duty, are usually harassed by the vendors hence the need for help from the Zambia Police.
“Inasmuch as these people need to feed their families from the street business, as a local authority we also have the duty to keep the city clean but we cannot do this alone. We need help from the police,” said Makanta.
However, when contacted for a comment, home affairs minister Lameck Mangani said the issues raised by the local authority were administrative.
Mangani said he had not been informed about any problems that the local authority was facing with his ministry.
Labels: MAYOR, MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS, ROBERT CHIKWELETE
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Rupiah happy with appointment of his friend’s daughter
By Ernest Chanda
Thu 07 Jan. 2010, 04:01 CAT
Mutambo during the swearing-in ceremony at State House in Lusaka yesterday
President Rupiah Banda has said he is happy that newly-appointed Ambassador to Sweden Anne Mutambo accepted the appointment because he had known her since the begining of his friendship with her father.
Swearing in Mutambo at a State House ceremony yesterday, President Banda said he was satisfied that he made a good choice. Before the appointment, Mutambo served as director of development, cooperation and international organisation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"Sweden where you are going is a good place for you because of their balance between men and women. So I'm sure you will fit in well and perform to your ability. By the way, I know who you are from the time you were young, since my relationship with your father. So, I'm happy that you are here to take up the appointment," President Banda said.
He said it was not easy nowadays to balance gender issues in the country.
"I know that it has not been easy in our country for all the other Presidents who have been there before me, and now myself, to balance the gender issue. We are all the time looking for first class women. We are looking for women of high standing, high calibre and I can say you've been truly mothers. I'm satisfied that we made a good choice, you are a good lady with a good pedigree," President Banda said.
And earlier swearing in former Lusaka High Court judge-in-charge Esau Chulu as Electoral Commission of Zambia commissioner, President Banda called on opposition leaders to sensitise their members on voter registration rather than talking about him all the time.
"I would like to take this opportunity to call on Zambians to register for elections, that's when your voice will be loudest. I would also like to urge leaders of the opposition that instead of talking about the President, encourage your members and all Zambians to register as voters. As for judge Chulu, I've no doubt that you are a tested worker and I believe you will deliver as you serve the country," said President Banda, who is closely related to judge Chulu.
On November 25 last year, opposition PF and UPND members of parliament opposed the Presidential appointments of judge Chulu and Professor Patrick Mvunga to the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) and the Judicial Complaints Authority, respectively, describing the duo as friends of the President.
Debating the report of the Parliamentary Select Committee appointed to scrutinise the two appointments, Kantanshi PF member of parliament Yamfwa Mukanga opposed the appointments.
“Those who aspire to be bishops should be above suspicion. The same applies to these nominees. The Electoral Commission of Zambia is a very important commission because it can unite or destroy Zambia. It is for this reason that we need people of great calibre,” Mukanga said. “Professor Mvunga was involved in the Dora (Siliya) Tribunal and failed… what integrity are we talking about? I question as to whether it's prudent to ratify that person. We saw the Professor on the presidential entourage to Swaziland and America.
“What will stop a State Counsel from being compromised? We have seen State Counsels being compromised. We have seen some State Counsel taken to Cuba. The Judicial Complaints Authority can be compromised if we have people of compromised calibre.”
Labels: ANNE MUTAMBO, NEPOTISM, RUPIAH BANDA
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‘It’s not too late to zero rate agricultural products for VAT’
By Kabanda Chulu
Thu 07 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT
ZAMBIA National Farmers Union (ZNFU) has said it is not too late for finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane to zero rate agricultural products for value added tax (VAT) purposes in a bid to reduce costs of production and stimulate demand.
Under the 2010 budget, Dr Musokotwane placed most agricultural products on VAT exempt category and this does not favour farmers because VAT is paid on certain inputs even before the process of production begins.
“This makes it difficult for local products to compete on level terms with imported products as the imported products are not subjected to any VAT upon importation while producers in surrounding countries, such as South Africa are able to reclaim all their input VAT,” Zimba said.
“It is in this line that ZNFU made specific proposals during the 2010 budget submissions and requested for agricultural products to be zero rated for VAT purposes in a bid to reduce costs of production, stimulate demand and expand production.”
Zimba said costs of production were further driven up by other non-production related costs farmers had to pay up because of being involved in farming business.
He said a review undertaken by ZNFU to understand the burden in agriculture revealed that farmers paid as much as 61 per cent in taxes when all forms of charges applied on farming were computed.
“We are grateful to President Rupiah Banda for abolishing crop levies which were penalising farmers even before they sell their products and some of the non-production related costs are council levies, environmental council charges, land rent, among others,” said Zimba. “These charges are continuously being revised upwards without due consideration of the impact they have on the competitiveness of agricultural products. It is for this reason that we are disappointed that in the 2010 budget, ground rent has been increased by 80 per cent in spite of the fact that hardly two years ago, it was revised upwards by more than 100 per cent.”
Labels: 2010 BUDGET, JERVIS ZIMBA, VAT, ZNFU
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NWASCO urges strengthening of legal framework in water sector
By Florence Bupe
Thu 07 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT
NATIONAL Water Supply and Sanitation Council (NWASCO) chairperson Cosmas Musumali has called for the strengthening of the legal framework governing the water sector.
Dr Musumali said it was important to appreciate the current legal environment and put measures in place to strengthen the systems for enhanced sector development.
He said the subject of ensuring a balance between service delivery and tariff rates was critical in attaining sustainable development in the sector.
“We need to appreciate the current legal environment and critically look at the obligation of balancing service delivery with tariffs between service providers and consumers. Services have to be of reasonable standards and we realise that we still have a long way to go in attaining this goal,” he said.
Dr Musumali said the water sector had not performed well in fostering public private partnerships (PPPs) which could increase productive competition.
He said there was need for recapitalisation of most aspects of the water sector to improve service delivery and increase population coverage.
“We need huge capitalisation projects in the sector and this will require human resource capacity building. Currently, we have critical human resource concerns,” said Dr Musumali.
And energy minister Kenneth Konga acknowledged the need for increased government investment into the water sector.
“Government is aware of the urgent need for more investments and increased funding in the water sector, and we are already working towards increasing funding by increasing the budgetary allocation from 2.7 per cent last year to five percent in 2010,” said Konga.
Labels: COSMAS MUSUMALI, NWASCO, WATER
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Redcliff collapses
By Takunda Maodza
Redcliff Municipality has collapsed as a result of alleged gross mismanagement of funds and non-payment of rates by residents and companies operating in the once vibrant industrial town. The town has a population of around 70 000 people.
Council is owed US$4 million in unpaid rates with companies such as Ziscosteel having last settled their bills in February 2008. Other companies operating in the Midlands town such as Zimchem and Bimco have also stopped paying rates citing viability problems. Only Steelmakers is paying rates to Redcliff Munici-pality at the moment.
However, council reduced Steelmakers’ monthly bill from US$74 000 to US$7 000 under unclear circumstances.
This has seen the MDC-T-run council failing to pay workers their salaries for the past four months.
Many small towns die a natural death upon the closure of mines that surround them. Kamativi Tin Mine, Mhangura Copper Mine and BHP Hartley Platinum Mine saw the demise of the centres that surrounded them.
Investigations by The Herald have shown that council owes its employees salaries going back to September last year, while contract workers have not been paid since March 2009.
This has seen the unpaid wage bill ballooning to US$420 000.
Council is also failing to settle its bills with such service providers as Zesa Holdings, TelOne and Ziscosteel.
Ziscosteel supplies Redcliff with water, which it in turn draws from the City of Kwekwe.
Council owes Ziscosteel nearly US$100 000 in unpaid water bills, according to reports.
Ziscosteel in turn owes the City of Kwekwe US$1,3 million in unpaid water bills.
Redcliff Municipality has been running without water and electricity for almost a month now.
TelOne has disconnected telephones and council business is run on individual mobile phones.
Council turned to diesel generators after Zesa switched off electricity supplies nearly three weeks ago.
The municipality owes Zesa US$50 000 in unpaid electricity bills.
At Redcliff Civic Centre (Town House), the non-availability of water for three weeks has seen council introducing "the bucket system" in its toilets.
Redcliff Municipality has been surviving on businessman Mr Phillip Chiyangwa’s US$680 000 land development deal brokered by the municipality’s marketing manager, Mr Paul Shongera.
Mr Chiyangwa, through his company Pinnacle Holdings, has been religiously settling his dues and has already paid US$400 000, but there are indications that the funds could have been misused.
Police in the town have since launched investigations into how these and other council funds could have been misused.
When The Herald visited Redcliff on Tuesday, council was holding a crisis meeting to solve these and other challenges.
Mayor Joseph Matewa confirmed in an interview after
the special council meeting that council was in dire straits and he would require six months to turn around its fortunes.
"We have serious cash problems. We have not paid our employees salaries since September last year and the unpaid wage bill is now US$420 000," said Mayor Matewa.
"We have been surviving on Mr Chiyangwa’s funds after council sold him land. He has paid about US$400 000 now and is left with about US$300 000. We relied on this deal to sustain our activities," he added.
Mayor Matewa claimed there was mismanagement of funds paid by Mr Chiyangwa by some senior council officials prompting the municipality to launch investigations.
Council had reported the alleged embezzlement of funds to the police. Police have since visited Redcliff town offices to establish the facts.
The mayor confirmed that all the companies operating in Redcliff apart from Steelmakers have not been paying their bills.
Redcliff town was established around Ziscosteel Company, yet the giant steel company stopped operations over two years ago.
On Steelmakers, Mayor Matewa said: "Steelmakers used to pay US$74 000 in rates every month, but the bill was reduced to US$7 000 under unclear circumstances and without council’s consent by a senior council official."
In another development, Redcliff councillors earn more than council employees in a development that has caused disharmony among the workers.
"They (councillors) get US$180. Their allowances have been paid and are being updated as we speak," he said.
The majority of workers earn well below US$100 although last year they agreed with council that the least paid employee should earn US$120.
At the moment council is in a quandary as to how to extricate itself from the mess.
It had resolved to lay off some of its employees, but does not have money to give them retrenchment packages running into thousands of dollars.
Labels: LOCAL GOVERNMENT, MINING
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Labour to focus on production
By John Manzongo
Labour social partners have largely agreed that there is need for them to focus on production rather than cling on disputes for the development of the economy.
Employers Confederation of Zimbabwe vice president Mr Jack Murehwa in an interview yesterday said while last year was marred by a lot of disputes which emanated from the gap between worker expectations and the reality on the ground, 2010 was going to be different.
"While in 2008 it was possible to more than double wages in synchrony with inflation every quarter, in 2009 inflation dropped to below zero and wages would have been expected to remain static for long.
"At national employment councils, employers have a big challenge to convince workers to look at wages in the new economic context as they believe that in 2010 a meeting of minds will prevail among the parties and we consider wages in the same manner we did before the era of extreme inflation," he said.
Zimbabwe Banking and Allied Workers’ Union general secretary Mr Wellington Liukukuma said workers were prepared to work for the betterment of the economy as long as employers were prepared to offer them poverty datum line-linked wages.
"If we get PDL-linked salaries of around US$490 a month, then I can assure you that salary disputes and quarterly salary reviews would be a thing of the past.
"We are now operating in a very stable economy where workers can safely do their budgets and live a decent life.
"Workers are very optimistic about the new year as they believe there are a lot of business opportunities which might be brought by the South African 2010 soccer showcase.
"As partners, we should work together to ensure that the Zimbabwean economy regains its previous status," he said.
Mr Murehwa said employers were committed to improving working conditions of workers especially by creating more jobs and making sure that competition prevails again in a situation that will see skilled workers in demand.
"The greatest form of motivation employers can give their workers for now is the guarantee of continued existence of jobs, resuscitation of lost jobs and the creation of new ones.
"Many employers are still in survival mode and they appreciate that they need workers to remain in business. This symbiotic relationship has always existed and we believe it will continue," he said.
He said employers were putting in all their energies to capitalise on the stable macro-economic fundamentals and that when the apparent differences with labour are finally resolved, the future looks good as both partners would start pursuing a common goal — that of building a competitive Zimbabwean economy.
Labels: INFLATION, LABOUR, SALARIES
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Africom — Latest US bid to recolonise Africa
By Tichaona Nhamoyebonde
AFRICAN revolutionaries now have to sleep with one eye open because the United States of America is not stopping at anything in its bid to establish Africom, a highly-equipped US army that will be permanently resident in Africa to oversee the country’s imperialist interests.
Towards the end of last year, the US government intensified its efforts to bring a permanent army to settle in Africa, dubbed the African Command (Africom) as a latest tool for the subtle recolonisation of Africa.
Just before end of last year, General William E. Garret, Commander US Army for Africa, met with defence attaches from all African embassies in Washington to lure them into selling the idea of an American army based in Africa to their governments.
Latest reports from the White House this January indicate that 75 percent of the army’s establishment work has been done through a military unit based in Stuttgart, Germany, and that what is left is to get an African country to host the army and get things moving.
Liberia and Morocco have offered to host Africom while Sadc has closed out any possibility of any of its member states hosting the US army.
Other individual countries have remained quiet.
Liberia has longstanding ties with the US due to its slave history while errant Morocco, which is not a member of the African Union and does not hold elections, might want the US army to assist it to suppress any future democratic uprising.
Sadc’s refusal is a small victory for the people of Africa in their struggle for total independence but the rest of the regional blocs in Africa are yet to come up with a common position. This is worrying.
The US itself wanted a more strategic country than Morocco and Liberia since the army will be the epicentre of influencing, articulating and safeguarding US foreign and economic policies.
The other danger is that Africom will open up Africa as a battleground between America and anti-US terrorist groups.
Africom is a smokescreen behind which America wants to hide its means to secure Africa’s oil and other natural resources, nothing more.
African leaders must not forget that military might has been used by America and Europe again and again as the only effective way of accomplishing their agenda in ensuring that governments in each country are run by people who toe their line.
By virtue of its being resident in Africa, Africom will ensure that America has its tentacles easily reaching every African country and influencing every event to the American advantage.
By hosting the army, Africa will have sub-contracted its military independence to America and will have accepted the process that starts its recolonisation through an army that can subdue any attempts by Africa to show its own military prowess.
The major question is: Who will remove Africom once it is established? By what means?
By its origin Africom will be technically and financially superior to any African country’s army and will dictate the pace for regime change in any country at will and also give depth, direction and impetus to the US natural resource exploitation scheme.
There is no doubt that as soon as the army gets operational in Africa, all the gains of independence will be reversed.
If the current leadership in Africa succumbs to the whims of the US and accept the operation of this army in Africa, they will go down in the annals of history as that generation of politicians who accepted the evil to prevail.
Even William Shakespeare would turn and twist in his grave and say: "I told you guys that it takes good men to do nothing for evil to prevail."
We must not forget that Africans, who are still smarting from colonialism-induced humiliation, subjugation, brutality and inferiority complex, do not need to be taken back to another form of colonialism, albeit subtle.
Africom has been controversial on the continent ever since former US president George W. Bush first announced it in February 2007.
African leaders must not forget that under the Barack Obama administration, US policy towards Africa and the rest of the developing world has not changed an inch. It remains militaristic and materialistic.
Officials in both the Bush and Obama administrations argue that the major objective of Africom is to professionalise security forces in key countries across Africa.
However, both administrations do not attempt to address the impact of the setting up of Africom on minority parties, governments and strong leaders considered errant or whether the US will not use Africom to promote friendly dictators.
Training and weapons programmes and arms transfers from Ukraine to Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Ethiopia and the transitional government in Somalia, clearly indicate the use of military might to maintain influence in governments in Africa, remains a priority of US foreign policy.
Ukraine’s current leadership was put into power by the US under the Orange Revolution and is being given a free role to supply weaponry in African conflicts.
African leaders must show solidarity and block every move by America to set up its bases in the motherland unless they want to see a new round of colonisation.
Kwame Nkrumah, Robert Mugabe, Sam Nujoma, Nelson Mandela, Julius Nyerere, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, Kenneth Kaunda, Augustino Neto and Samora Machel, among others, will have fought liberation wars for nothing, if Africom is allowed a base in Africa.
Thousands of Africans who died in colonial prisons and in war fronts during the liberation struggles, will have shed their blood for nothing if Africa is recolonised.
Why should the current crop of African leaders accept systematic recolonisation when they have learnt a lot from colonialism, apartheid and racism? Why should the current crop of African leaders fail to stand measure for measure against the US administration and tell it straight in the face that Africa does not need a foreign army since the AU is working out its own army.
African leaders do not need prophets from Mars to know that US’s fascination with oil, the war on terrorism and the military will now be centred on Africa, after that escapade in Iraq.
l Tichaona Nhamoyebonde is a political scientist based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Labels: AFRICOM, NEOCOLONIALISM
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Private colleges milking us
EDITOR — As a parent, I am very concerned about the upsurge of the number of private education institutions across the country, some of which have been advertising through your widely-read paper.
I must make it clear that I do not have anything against private colleges, given the battering the public education system has taken over the years, but there are a number of genuine questions on the quality of education on offer.
On the back of robust advertising and lofty promises these institutions make, there should be some kind of accountability on the part of these colleges.
I am aware of one college in Marondera that makes so much media hype, but the situation on the ground tells a very different story.
The education is sub-standard — and hence poor passes — and the place is so small to accommodate all students, and the food leaves a lot to be desired.
On the other hand, the college brags of excellent service despite the glaring shortcomings.
This brings a lot of discomfort to us parents, especially as these colleges are literally promising heaven on earth to their clients.
The Government must step in to monitor the situation at the colleges to stop parents from being defrauded by unscrupulous "educationists".
For what we have seen, nothing has been done to stop the scourge.
Concerned Parent.
Marondera.
Labels: EDUCATION, NEOLIBERALISM, SCHOOL FEES
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COMMENT - That idiot Coltart is 'incentivizing' teachers instead of paying them a living wage. Pure neoliberal idiocy.
Teachers’ incentives bleeding parents
EDITOR — I read with utter disbelief the story in your paper that Government has allowed schools to continue paying teachers incentives so that they could stay motivated to do their work.
While it is understandable, as the responsible minister pointed out, that Government was preparing a "viable" salary for the sector, and that Government really wants to see the back of the incentives, the issue rather suggests a system failure on the part of Government.
This is because only a while ago Finance Minister Tendai Biti presented his 2010 Budget and it is to be wondered why he could not adequately address the concerns of teachers as to lift them from the present situation of being receivers of charity.
While it is not deniable that the economy has had more than its fair share of problems, what is baffling is the fact that Government has not stepped in to address such hard-hit sectors like education.
The evidence of the troubles in schools was so glaring last year, as learners could not afford school and examination fees while teachers were in short supply or simply demotivated.
Senator David Coltart, the Education Minister, should really be an ashamed man.
Does he honestly believe that retention of teachers is the responsibility of parents instead of the teachers’ employer — him and the Government?
Surely, as Minister Biti was compiling his Budget Senator Coltart was supposed to think about his flock.
On the other hand, parents themselves are in trouble as they try to make ends meet and it is hard to imagine whether they can be able to pay school fees for their children plus the teacher incentives.
Government should devise an urgent and comprehensive plan to snap the education sector from the jaws of permanent death.
And that excludes flimsy ideas about parents paying for teachers’ upkeep.
Mary Jengeta.
Eastlea,
Harare.
Labels: DAVID COLTART, EDUCATION, NEOLIBERALISM, SCHOOL FEES
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Editorial: Free gay couple, stop persecution of rights defenders
By Nyasa Times
Published: January 6, 2010
The Nyasa Times editorial team is dismayed at the persecution of people who freely express their sexual orientation and practice it in privacy among themselves with each others’ consent.
The arrest of two men; Steven Monjeza (26) and Tiwonge Chimbalanga (20) because they celebrated their engagement is regrettable. As legal experts have outlined, the Malawi Constitution does not allow discrimination based, among other things, on sexual orientation even if other archaic laws prohibit homosexuality.
The debate on homosexuality is not new in Malawi. Secretary for Nutrition and HIV/Aids in the Office of President and Cabinet, Dr Mary Shaba, is on record as saying that there are many gays in Malawi and some among them are married to people of the opposite sex.
She even told an Aids conference that the fight against HIV/AIDS will not be successful if the country continued to ignore the fact that there are gays in Malawi.
Malawians should be free to express their sexual orientation freely. That’s human rights. They should have a choice to be gay, bi-sexual or straight as long as they practice their sexuality in privacy, among fellow adults and with consent.
Moreover, denying bail to the gay couple is a perversity of justice when people accused of serious violent crimes such as armed robbery, treason and assault usually get bail.
Nyasa Times also condemns the state for forcing the gay couple to have medical tests to prove whether they had intercourse without their consent. This is an unlawful invasion of their privacy.
Police brutality and torture in cells is also condemned. We are dismayed by reports that the state has detained a human rights campaigner on false porn charges because he supports gay rights. Nyasa Times is calling on the government to realize that homosexuality is in our midst.
In support of the pair who are suffering persecution for celebrating their same-sex union, we are urging all people who share our views to join the Malawi Defence Campaign and make a donation to support the jailed men.
For this purpose, post a cheque payable to “OutRage!”, P.O. Box 17816, London SW14 8WT. Enclose a note giving your name and address and stating that your donation is for the Malawi Defence Campaign.
OutRage! will pass all money so donated to the gay-couple’s legal defense team in Malawi to help pay for their legal expenses.
Labels: HOMOSEXUALITY, MALAWI
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COMMENT - " A lot of people think that the Government should provide them with everything from quality education, farming inputs to working capital for businesses. " That is because they have no money to pay for these services individually, and why they will not receive these services if and when they are turned into for-profit enterprises. Free government education turned Zimbabwe into the country with the lowest illiteracy rate in Africa, and one of the very lowest in the Americas - government service available to all WORK. The likes of the MDC like to forget that THE GOVERNMENT = WE THE PEOPLE, and that when we decide that literacy is important, we solve that problem though OUR government. What is needed are effective policies, not psychologizing by non-psychiatrists about 'dependency syndrome' (or 'dependency syndrome from the state' as human rights lawyer Tendai Biti would say).
Shun dependency syndrome
Government should deal with the culture of dependence that has become entrenched in Zimbabweans.
A lot of people think that the Government should provide them with everything from quality education, farming inputs to working capital for businesses.
But the truth of the matter is that Government cannot shoulder all this burden on its own and those who can afford should simply fund themselves and leave the State to take care of the vulnerable lot who are not able to meet their obligations.
This has been prompted by the announcement by Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart that Government will not increase tuition fees at the start of the new term next week.
The fees remain at US$5 for pupils attending a primary school in high-density suburbs and US$10 for those at secondary schools in the same suburbs.
Parents with children at primary schools in low-density suburbs will pay US$10 while those with children at secondary schools will pay US$20.
It is understandable Government has taken this decision on the basis that parents were not able to pay any more than what they were paying last year.
But are these fees being charged at Government schools adequate for them to provide quality education to pupils?
We believe some parents can pay more than this if they had their priorities right. A lot of parents spent more money on trinkets and other expenses such as airtime, hairdos and even beer than the paltry fees being charged by Government.
It is not uncommon for some people to spend as much as US$50 per month on mobile phone airtime.
Yet these are the same parents or guardians who complain bitterly that they cannot afford to pay the fees being asked for at Government schools.
It is clear that the Government cannot continue giving free education to every child in Zimbabwe, free inputs to every farmer in Zimbabwe or free health care to every patient in Zimbabwe.
Even with education, agriculture and health getting the largest allocations in the National Budget, the money is not enough.
This means that parents, farmers and patients have to dig into their pockets to supplement whatever is made available by the State.
Even in the early 1980s when the Zanu-PF Government oversaw a tremendous expansion in education, it was made clear that parents would chip in. Rural parents helped build new classrooms while their urban counterparts paid levies.
It should be the case again today because every parent desires quality education for their daughter or son. But that quality education is not possible if parents fail to pay even between US$5 and US$20 per term.
Last year Bulawayo council expressed shock that only 471 out of 37 734 pupils attending municipal-run schools paid their second term tuition fees.
A council report covering 29 council primary schools showed parents were even failing to pay the slashed fees, a development that councillors feared would hamper the revival of the education sector.
Surely, even if one sold tomatoes at the market one would be able to afford these fees if one’s priorities are right. Parents need to value the education of their children and plan their finances to meet the costs.
Most of today’s leaders were educated the hard way. Their parents had to sell cattle and other assets in order to send their children to school. They had to deny themselves some luxuries to save money for school fees.
The same spirit needs to be cultivated among Zimbabweans. Overdependence on the cash-strapped Government will keep us all mired in poverty.
It will also mean that the Government would be forced to increase taxes in order to raise money to provide the education and health services we so desperately need.
Labels: NEOCOLONIALISM, NEOLIBERALISM
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Three state-owned firms to be privatised
by
06/01/2010 00:00:00
FINANCE Minister, Tendai Biti says
the government plans to privatise three state-owned companies and list them on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) this year.
Speaking during the listing of TN Financial Holdings on the local bourse, Minister Biti said trading the privatised firms on the ZSE would facilitate public participation in their shareholding while enabling the creation of viable independent companies.
“We are looking at listing at least three entities ... so you should be seeing the IPO’s (Initial Public Offers) this year,” said Biti.
The minister said the government had seen some success stories with the privatisation of the former Dairy Marketing Board, now trading Dairibord Holdings Limited and the Cotton Marketing Board which has since been rebranded into AICO Africa Limited.
“We have had some success stories with Dairibord and Cottco,” Biti said.
Although Minister Biti did not name the companies targeted for privatisation, mobile phone operator Telone is understood to be in talks with South Africa’s Telcom while Redcliff-based steelmaker Ziscosteel has also attracted international attention.
The government is also understood to be considering part-privatisation of the struggling national airliner, Air Zimbabwe.
Minister Biti said the ZSE was likely to benefit from increased investor participation during the course of the year following the reduction in trading fees and the signing of the Bilateral Trade Agreement with South Africa.
Labels: NEOLIBERALISM, PRIVATISATION, TENDAI BITI
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SA sees progress in Zimbabwe talks
Ralph Mutema
Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:55:00 +0000
ZIMBABWE'S main political parties have made progress in resolving outstanding issues of the power-sharing deal, although the pace of negotiations is somewhat slow, a South African official mediating in the talks said on Tuesday.
President Robert Mugabe and former opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) leader Morgan Tsvangirai, now prime minister, formed an inclusive Government last year in February 2008.
Lindiwe Zulu, international relations advisor to South African President Jacob Zuma, said while South Africa was not happy with the pace of talks, there was progress on some major issues.
"I don't think that we should be talking of escalating conflict at this point in time.
"We are not saying that we are happy with the speed at which they are working but we think there are a number of things they've agreed upon," Zulu told South African Talk Radio 702.
South Africa is mediating in the Zimbabwe negotiations and Zimbabwean media reports say Africa's biggest economy hopes all outstanding issues resolved before it hosts the soccer World Cup in June.
Tsvangirai's MDC-T in October "disengaged" from Cabinet meetings with President Mugabe's Zanu PF party, accusing it of being an "unreliable partner" but rejoined after mediation by the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) and after that strategy failed.
PM Tsvangirai wants the appointment of provincial governors and the swearing in of Tsvangirai ally and convicted criminal Roy Bennett as deputy agriculture minister.
President Mugabe has also refused to sack the central bank governor and attorney general as requested by Tsvangirai saying their appointment was constitutional and is the prerogative of the president.
President Mugabe says the MDC-T should call off Western sanctions against Zimbabwe and his party and ask its backers in the West to shut down pirate radio stations broadcasting hate messages into Zimbabwe from the United States and Britain.
Labels: GLOBAL POLITICAL AGREEMENT, LINDIWE ZULU
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US$270K bank heist: female security guard charged
Mutsawashe Makuvise
Wed, 06 Jan 2010 13:21:00 +0000
A SECURITY guard at a Chegutu bank that was robbed of US$270,000 at gun point last week has appeared in court, charged with giving information about the security set-up at the bank to the robbers.
Beatrice Matare allegedly provided the information to her nephew, Akim Matare, one of the six men who are accused of robbing a Standard Bank branch in the small farming town of Chegutu Tuesday last week.
The robbery, the biggest heist in the country's history, is suspected to have been carried out by three South Africans and three Zimbabweans. One bank employee was shot and wounded in the robbery.
Beatrice, who has worked at the bank for four years, allegedly spied for the robbers, and gave them details of the security set up at the branch, including assurances that there was no armed security personnel.
Four of the suspected robbers have since been arrested, including Akim who later implicated Beatrice in the robbery, which deeply shocked the country.
Labels: ROBBERS
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Nestle resumes Zim operations
By Sapa
Wed 06 Jan. 2010, 10:50 CAT
Nestlé resumed production in Zimbabwe on Monday, the Herald newspaper reported. This followed the temporary closure of its operations due to "a misunderstanding over the supply of milk from Gushungo Dairy Estates", the newspaper said.
The Switzerland-headquartered food company Nestlé "had bowed to pressure from activists that are against Zimbabwe's land reform programme" to stop buying milk from Gushungo Dairy Estates owned by the Mugabe family in October last year, the Herald said.
"It proceeded to shut down operations in December at its Southerton plant in a move that was condemned by Zimbabweans across the political divide."
The newspaper said it had visited the Nestlé Zimbabwe factory in Southerton on Monday and established that all systems were in place and the company was operating normally.
"The factory was fully operational and employees were seen doing their duties."
The newspaper said employees confirmed the company had resumed operations on Monday, "adding that everything was back to normal". Job seekers were also seen at the company's main gate. No official comment could be immediately obtained from the company, the Herald said.
"Nestlé Zimbabwe was asked by the government to reopen after it was given assurances over the safety of its staff and operations.
"A deal was reached over how milk from Gushungo Dairies would be processed," the Herald said.
This followed consultations between Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube, Nestlé Zimbabwe representatives and other key stakeholders in the dairy sector last month, it reported.
Ncube told the Herald he was asked by President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to intervene after Nestlé's Zurich head office had announced it was temporarily closing its Zimbabwe factory after two managers were questioned by the police.
Labels: NESTLE, SANCTIONS, ZIMBABWE
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Don’t kill Fr Mwewa over his opinion of Rupiah
By Editor
Wed 06 Jan. 2010, 04:01 CAT
Criticising Rupiah Banda is not a crime that Fr Augustine Mwewa should be taken to Calvary and be crucified for.
Criticising the President of this country is a right that every citizen has. Every Zambian should have an undoubted right to lay what sentiment he or she has about the President of this country before the public; to forbid this or intimidate anyone trying to do so, is to destroy the freedom of expression in our country. And when the freedom of expression is destroyed in a country, meaningful citizen participation in governance becomes impossible. Where there is no meaningful citizen participation, dictatorship and tyranny are bound to appear and become the order of the day.
Fr Mwewa has every right to criticise Rupiah – whether this is palatable or unpalatable. And there is no doubt, of course, that criticism is good for people and institutions that are part of public life. No institution – the presidency, Parliament or indeed the judiciary – should expect to be free from the criticism of those who give it their loyalty and support, not to mention those who don’t.
It also should be borne in mind that the structures of our government and those who serve in them exist and are there to serve the people; the people do not exist to serve the government and its officers.
Freedom of speech and expression is the lifeblood of any democracy. Before people can govern themselves or participate meaningfully in the affairs of their country, they must be free to express themselves. Citizens of a democracy live with a conviction that through the open exchange of ideas and opinions, truth will eventually win out over falsehood, the values of others will be better understood, areas of compromise more clearly defined, and the path of progress opened. And the greater the volume of such exchanges, the better.
But what should the government do in cases where the freedom of speech and expression is abused with statements that may be considered to be false, repugnant, irresponsible or simply in bad taste? The answer, by and large, is: nothing. It is simply not the business of government to judge such matters. In general, the cure for free speech is more free speech. It may seem a paradox, but in the name of free speech, a democracy must sometimes defend the rights of individuals who themselves advocate such non-democratic policies as repressing free speech. Citizens in a democratic society defend this right out of the conviction that, in the end, open debate will lead to greater truth and wiser public actions than if speech and dissent are stifled.
Furthermore, the suppression of free speech that we find offensive today is potentially a threat to our exercise of free speech tomorrow – which perhaps you or someone else might find offensive. It is said that “all people are harmed when speech is repressed. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth, if wrong, they lose the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth produced by its collision with error”. And this being the case, why should Fr Mwewa be killed for simply expressing his opinion on the way Rupiah is running the country; for saying that the President is a chintelelwe who moves anyhow without a vision? Probably we will need to go back and reproduce a viewpoint United States president Theodore Roosevelt had on criticism of the presidency:
“The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right.
Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President , or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or anyone else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about anyone else.” This quote was part of an editorial Roosevelt wrote on May 7, 1918 for the Kansas City Star during World War I.
Probably it may be appropriate to also include one of Roosevelt’s top three most requested quotes, that is, the one regarding the “man in the arena” or “not the critic” contained in a speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910: “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring great, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
It is quite true that acceptance of criticism implies the highest respect for the human ideal, and that its denial suggests a conscious or unconscious lack of humanity on our part. Intolerance to criticism must surely rank as one of the worst forms of immorality in human affairs. We can see the horror in people who go out of their way to organise violence or attempt to kill someone for simply being critical of the way Rupiah is governing.
Rupiah’s supporters have every right to disagree with Fr Mwewa. But their disagreement should be expressed in ways devoid of any violence and slander of Fr Mwewa. All citizens must be guided by the truth, integrity and justice which, for Christians, are anchored on God’s commandments.
It is necessary to remind all our people who are in one way or another involved in politics that politics is for the good of people, and not for political survival of any individual or political party. If the spirit of the primacy of the common good were to animate all our political parties and their cadres, we would not witness the politically-motivated violence which leaves the public dismayed and disheartened. The quality of democracy is determined by the establishment of proper structures which facilitate the freedom of thought and expression. The interests of our political parties and their leaders should be kept subordinate to the public good.
As we have stated before, no doctrine, no principle or proclaimed political position and no political differences can justify violence against anyone. No crime should be committed in the name of politics, in the name of supporting and defending Rupiah. It is very easy to start violence but it’s very difficult to stop a culture of violence when it’s planted in a nation. There is only one basis on which violence can be justified by anyone and that is only in self-defence. And this means that if no one can use violence against anyone save in self-defence, then there will be no violence to talk about. But we have seen and heard Rupiah and his supporters justify violence on the basis that their supporters will not tolerate them being insulted. Again, insults cannot justify violence because there are many ways to address and redress such issues. Those who justified the violence of their cadres because they were insulted will today find it very difficult to stop them from committing similar crimes in their name.
It’s easy to start a fire but it’s not that easy to put it out. Similarly, it’s easy to start violence but it’s not that easy to stop it. Violence begets violence and those who try to live by violence will they themselves one day perish in it. This is because no one has the monopoly of violence. And violence can only do one thing, and that is to breed counter violence. Those who hire unemployed youths, propel their weakened souls with Chibuku to go and attack a defenseless Catholic priest with the intention to kill him are no better than animals. And we hope that those who are behind those criminal youths in Ndola will realise that their violent actions against Fr Mwewa and others who from time to time cross their path put them next to animals.
Fr Mwewa has a right and a duty to continue speaking fearlessly and forthrightly about what is going on in our country; about how Rupiah is governing this country. But this culture of violence that they are today encouraging will tomorrow backfire on them. The bells tolling for Fr Mwewa today will tomorrow toll for Rupiah, toll for the whole country. Let’s work to stop violence whatever its source and motivation. Violence is not good for its perpetrators, for its victims and for the whole country.
Labels: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL, MIHA DREVENSEK, PRESS FREEDOM
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It’s sad govt wants to suffocate freedom of information - Fr Miha
By Margaret Mtonga and Chibaula Silwamba
Wed 06 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT
THE MMD government wants to impose statutory regulation of the media because they have seen that Zambians have lost confidence in their governance, Mission Press director Fr Drevensek Miha has said.
And Patriotic Front (PF) spokesperson Given Lubinda has charged that President Rupiah Banda has abdicated his powers to Vice-President George Kunda who is now a defacto President of Zambia.
In an interview yesterday, Fr Miha said it was sad that the President Banda-led government was so much geared to suffocate the freedom of information in the country.
“George Kunda and Lt Gen Ronnie Shikapawasa are busy working hard to ensure that the democratic tendencies of our country are done away with. This is very unfortunate. You cannot have a minister of information who is in the forefront advocating for statutory regulation of the media,” Fr Miha said. “Shikapawasa knows very well that this law that they intend to pass will surely affect the right of individuals to express and access information.”
Fr Miha said it was clear that Lt Gen Shikapawasa and George Kunda were the mastermind of statutory media regulation because they wanted to protect their jobs and please President Banda.
“Why should the government insist on statutory regulation of the media? I smell a rat and that rat is that the government wants to hide a lot of wrongs that they have done in their tenure of office and want to find means and ways of suppressing access to that information. They think by so doing they will win the 2011 elections. They will not win even if they impose this statutory regulation of the media,” Fr Miha said.
He said it was important for the government to leave the media to work in a self-regulatory way.
“I would like to tell George and Ronnie to shut up and not give the people of Zambia statutory regulation of the media. Who are they to start choosing for the Zambians?” asked Fr Miha. “I would like to warn the government that they will not achieve their mission,”
And in an interview, Lubinda said Vice-President Kunda was a very sly man.
“Zambians must realise that Rupiah Banda has got nothing to do with the governance of Zambia, totally. George Kunda is the defacto President of Zambia,” Lubinda said. “It is George Kunda who is governing this country. That is the reason for the arrogance you see in George Kunda because one Mr Rupiah Bwezani Banda is just gallivanting without knowing what is happening in his country.”
Lubinda said President Banda did not even know some of the decisions that Vice-President Kunda was unilaterally making without his input.
“The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing; this is the reason for the numerous contradictions between the President and the Vice-President,” Lubinda said.
“If you follow all the contradictions that have been exposed, George Kunda ends up taking the order of the day. Whenever there is a contradiction between George Kunda and Rupiah Banda, the one that ends up winning is George Kunda, not the boss.”
Labels: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL, MIHA DREVENSEK, PRESS FREEDOM
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Sata warns Musokotwane over Chipata-Mfuwe road project
By George Chellah
Wed 06 Jan. 2010, 04:01 CAT
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) leader Michael Sata has warned finance minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane to be extremely careful with the payments to the tarring of the Chipata-Mfuwe road project estimated at the cost of K290 billion.
In an interview on Monday, Sata cautioned Dr Musokotwane against funding the Chipata-Mfuwe road project outside the approved amount in the 2010 budget. He wondered why the government and President Rupiah Banda in particular were so much in a hurry over the Chipata-Mfuwe road project.
“I am challenging Musokotwane to disclose where they will get the funding for that road. Is that K290 billion for the Chipata-Mfuwe road in the yellow book? Has that amount, the K290 billion been approved by Parliament?” Sata asked.
“Let Musokotwane and Rupiah Banda be very careful over this road. If that K290 billion, which is estimated for this project is not in the 2010 budget then it will be classified as plunder of national resources and abuse of office. Therefore, Musokotwane must be careful.”
He wondered why the government proceeded to award the contract to the contractor assigned for the project.
“Let Mike Mulongoti works and supply minister also tell us because in every contract there is a termination clause. How and why have they kept this same contractor when they have failed to deliver on other roads for instance the Mansa-Kasama road?” Sata said.
“Years keep passing by without them finishing their works on this road Mansa-Kasama. There are other projects where they have also failed to deliver, so why give them more jobs?
“We know that they are on a fundraising venture for the 2011 campaigns so they now want to raise their campaign funds through such questionable projects.”
PF spokesperson and Kabwata member of parliament Given Lubinda echoed Sata’s observations on the Chipata-Mfuwe road project.
“About K5 billion is the budget for the Chipata-Mfuwe road. That’s K1 billion for feasibility studies and design of the road through Road Development Agency (RDA),” Lubinda explained.
“There is an additional K4 billion meant for the construction of the road. So the total amounting to K5 billion was approved for the 2010 budget.
“Let them explain where they are getting the K286 billion from because all the monies irrespective of the source need to go through Parliament. They can’t just spend money without Parliament’s approval.”
Lubinda expressed shock with the government’s decision to award contracts to failing contractors.
“Why is it that they are giving contracts to the same people who are not delivering on the work? Isn’t this just the way of making the hard-earned tax-payer’s money for the sake of funding the MMD?” asked Lubinda.
Labels: CHIPATA, CORRUPTION, SATA, SITUMBEKO MUSOKOTWANE
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CSPR disputes poverty reduction statistics
By By Margaret Mtonga
Wed 06 Jan. 2010, 14:50 CAT
Low funding has negatively affected most of the targets for the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP) in the year ending 2009, Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) executive director Patrick Mucheleka has said.
And Mucheleka said the recently released Central Statistics Office monthly (CSO) bulletin that poverty levels had reduced in the country was not the true picture on the ground. In an interview, Mucheleka said that that prioritization of resource allocation by government has not been given its due attention.
“Almost all government funded FNDP programmes have seriously suffered from poor funding. In addition, such funding is disbursed late making the realization of current and future work programmes very difficult,” he said.
Mucheleka said other than poor funding, weak institutional capacity and in some cases, unqualified human resource were the major factors leading to weak institutional capacity. He said where qualified staff exist, their performance has tended to be sub-optimal, due to low morale resulting from poor incentives.
“Weak administrative capacity is essentially at all levels, national, provincial, district and sub-district. One offshoot of the weak administrative capacity is poor monitoring, evaluation and coordination of the FNDP interventions. Consequently, this has been a recipe for duplication and inefficient resource utilization,” he said.
Mucheleka also said there was a widespread fragmentation of the FNDP efforts and projects due to inadequate government leadership.
“The absence of an effective monitoring and evaluation in the various sectors is one of the greatest yawning gaps facing FNDP interventions in Zambia. An effective monitoring and evaluation system needs to be established in all sectors among other things to ensure development and promotion of appropriate and quality indicators for impact assessment of FNDP interventions,” Mucheleka said.
Meanwhile CSPR said that the current release by the Central Statistics office (CSO) that poverty levels had reduced was not the true picture on the ground.
“It does not make sense to say that the poverty levels have reduced in the country and yet Zambians were wallowing in abject poverty,” he said.
Mucheleka said these statistics they revealed were levels that are carried out from revised methodologies of measuring poverty according to the international standards.
Labels: CSPR, FNDP, PATRICK MUCHELEKA, POVERTY
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Rupiah’s govt is a cheerleader to corruption, says Chinsembu
By George Chellah
Wed 06 Jan. 2010, 04:01 CAT
UNIVERSITY of Namibia lecturer and former UNZALARU publicity secretary Kazhila Chinsembu has said there is a perception that President Rupiah Banda's administration has become a cheerleader to corruption. In an interview, Chinsembu said the issue of corruption in the current administration was worrying.
“And most of us who live outside can feel the stench of corruption. Corruption has been brought back to the front pages and in much bigger fonts whereby because of the case of the former president, it seems that the perception is that government has become a cheerleader to corruption,” Chinsembu said.
“And many people feel that the current administration is protecting people that should have faced the due process of the law. It seems as though because the government has taken this stance to protect people that are perceived to be kleptomaniacs, it seems that the people feel that the government is turning into a cash-cow where government coffers will literally become a cash-cow where plunderers want to make sure that resources do not reach the people.”
Chinsembu said Zambia's current governance record was very poor.
“This can be attested from several events of the recent past,” he said.
He also expressed dissatisfaction with the Dora Siliya case.
“The Dora Siliya case was not handled properly… the recommendations of the tribunal must be respected. But for the head of state to bring back the minister into another portifolio sends a wrong signal about constitutionalism and the role of tribunals. In many cases, people think tribunals are a waste of money,” Chinsembu said, adding that it seemed the current administration was on a collision course with the people.
“… because of the fact that people now think that there is selective application of the law. And you can see this from the abolition of the Task Force on Corruption and the non-renewal of contract for Max Nkole former Task Force chairman and former Attorney General Mumba Malila,” Chinsembu said. “The perception is that corruption, clanism and villageism is now being brought to the forefront.”
Chinsembu said over the past 14 months, most of the virtues upon which a firm presidency should be founded had been compromised.
“Virtues such as transparency, accountability, good governance and rule of law. These virtues have been compromised apparently in a short period of time,” he said.
“We hope that the President will be able to cultivate a sense of leadership that inspires the nation. A sense of leadership that defines his own presidency and a sense of leadership that can take Zambia into a prosperous future,” Chinsembu said.
“To be fair to the President, I think that the President needs to define himself so that he will also leave his own legacy. I would suggest that those around the President advise him on the kind of matrix that he can bring to his own leadership style so that people will be able to look at him as a total package.”
On media regulation, Chinsembu urged Vice-President Kunda to learn from former Zimbabwean information minister Professor Jonathan Moyo who is now being haunted by the same law that he created.
“The press are supposed to be the forth estate so that they can try to regulate the activities of the executive, judiciary and legislature so that a free press can become the lens through which society can view the activities of government,” Chinsembu said.
“If you try to gag the press, if you try to stifle freedom of expression and information, that in itself is retarding development. So I think the Vice-President should interrogate his legal faculties once again and try to see press freedom through the prism of development. Without press freedom, there will be no development in this country.
“The media fraternity should unite and make sure that this bill does not see the statute books and also to urge the government to rethink their position because the government, they have to be servants of the people. The media should be left to fight this alone.”
Chinsembu said draconian laws should never be allowed in a free society like ours.
Labels: CORRUPTION, KAZHILA CHINSEMBU, RUPIAH BANDA
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2009 disbursement of grants to councils delights Kazonga
By Sututu Katundu
Wed 06 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT
LOCAL government minister Eustarckio Kazonga has said the disbursement of government grants to councils and other institutions under the ministry increased significantly in 2009 compared to the previous three years.
During a press briefing yesterday, Kazonga said
this was the first time all the approved grants to councils had been released in full by the government through the Ministry of Finance and National Planning to his ministry compared to 2006, 2007 and 2008 despite the global economic downturn experienced last year.
“The government support in form of grants to councils is meant for strengthening their capacities in terms of service provision to local communities and to supplement their locally generated incomes in meeting their recurrent operational costs,” he said.
Kazonga said towards the end of last year, the government released a full amount of K110,320,000.00 approved by parliament in the 2009 national budget under his ministry.
“Additionally K21.4 billion will be released to 18 selected district councils as capital grant soon. I want to confirm that the bank process of transferring Constituency Development Funds (CDF) and grants which include recurrent and restructuring to constituencies and councils’ bank accounts was finalised on Monday, 21st December, 2009,” Kazonga said.
He directed all town clerks and council secretaries to check the receipt of the funds in their councils’ bank accounts maintained in various commercial banks countrywide.
Kazonga advised the local authorities to utilise the funds for deserving projects, programmes and activities in compliance with the local authorities (financial) regulations and the current CDF guidelines.
“The government shall not condone mismanagement of these funds and the law shall visit anyone found wanting,” Kazonga said.
And 67 out of a total of seventy-two councils in the country have submitted their annuals budgets of revenue, expenditure and capital estimates for 2010 to the Ministry of Local Government and Housing for scrutinisation.
The ministry’s directives and instructions which the councils adhered to include, among others, the prioritisation of their available resources to various programmes and activities in order to meet their set objectives and targets, only included estimates for capital projects with confirmed funding from council, central government or donors and incorporation of prudent revenue projections taking into account challenges faced in 2009 with a targeted own revenues of 75 per cent as well as adequate budgeting for recurrent expenses based on the available resources in 2010.
Effective this year, the Ministry of Local Government and Housing will distribute government grants to councils in accordance with the inter-governmental fiscal transfer system whose main objective is to enhance predictability and transparency in the disbursements of grants.
Meanwhile, K100 billion CDF has been budgeted for under capital estimates on the basis of the number of constituencies.
The provisions of the CDF has been increased from K600,000,000.00 per constituency in 2009 to K666,000,000,000.00 per constituency this year.
Kazonga said the CDF guidelines would be revised to take into account some of the challenges faced by councils in implementing the previous CDF projects and enhance accountability and transparency in disbursement of public funds.
“I therefore, want to inform the nation that I have approved the 67 annual budgets of revenue, expenditure and capital for 2010 with amounts totalling K3,860,068,718,708.00 pursuant to powers vested in me under section 39(1) of the local government act, cap 281 of the Laws of Zambia on 5th January, 2010,” he said.
The ministry has not received 2010 budgets from Livingstone City Council and Sinazongwe district council from Southern province, Mungwi district council in Northern Province, and Mansa municipal and Mwense district councils in Luapula Province.
Kazonga reminded the councils to ensure that an evaluation process of their performance was conducted by comparing the actual performance against the approved provisions.
Labels: COUNCILS, DECENTRALIZATION, EUSTARKIO KAZONGA, LOCAL GOVERNMENT
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