COMMENT - I absolutely commend Mayor Dawn Mumbwe for her actions. It is often said that there is as much corruption at the council level as there is at the national level. However, this example proves that there are many more eyes on the money at the local level than there are at the national and ministerial level. Can anyone in the ministries or parliament call for the impeachment of any government minister or the president because of embezzlement of funds? So bravo to Mongu's Mayor Dawn Mumbwe.
Mongu mayor impeached for demanding probe into abused funds
By Mwala Kalaluka
Thu 07 Oct. 2010, 04:00 CAT
NEWLY-elected Mongu Mayor Dawn Mumbwe has been ‘impeached’ for insisting that town clerk Frank Kalenga should temporarily vacate office to allow for a probe in recent audit revelations that highlighted
rampant abuse of funds at the MMD-dominated local authority.But
Western Province minister Sikwibele Mwapela has warned that the MMD would lose the Mongu Central seat to the opposition if moves to discuss the audit report continued to be blocked.
Mumbwe confirmed in an interview that she was interdicted during a special council meeting she called to discuss the findings of an audit and inspection report covering the period September 2009 to April 2010 undertaken by an auditor from the Western Province Local Government Office.
Mumbwe said the special full council meeting was held in the Mongu Council chamber on October 2, 2010 to discuss the above audit and inspection report that implicated Kalenga and other council officers in the mismanagement of council funds and government grants.
She said before the meeting in question, Mongu Central MMD parliamentarian and deputy defence minister Joseph Mulyata called her and told her to stop pushing for the special council meeting to discuss the audit report. “He called me and threatened me that ‘Ms Mumbwe, if you continue calling for the special council meeting it will backfire on you and we are going to impeach you’ and it has happened,” Mumbwe said.
“I have been interdicted. I am still a Mayor but I have been interdicted. I was interdicted on the 2nd of October because instead of bringing the audit report, the town clerk prepared a document showing that I had abused my office.”
Mumbwe said grounds on which she was interdicted were that she had abused her office when she asked Kalenga through a letter dated September 17, 2010 to vacate office and hand-over the keys to her following his defiance in notifying the councillors of the special council meeting to discuss the audit report.
Another ground that was that Mumbwe lifted the suspension of a councillor who challenged Mulyata to explain the misapplication of Constituency Development Funds (CDF) in Mongu Central.
The document further stated that Mumbwe, who was elected as Mayor on September 8, 2010, had breached her oath of office when she allegedly divulged to the public the audit and inspection report before it could be considered by the council.
Mumbwe said during the special council meeting where she was interdicted, Mulyata chased some members of the public that came to follow the discussion on the audit report.
“Some stakeholders who were inside when they realised that it was not the about the audit report, they walked out,” Mumbwe said. “Currently workers have stayed for six months without being paid.”
Mumbwe said local government permanent secretary Timothy Hakuyu directed Mongu Council to discuss the audit report and send recommendations to his office but that Kalenga and the director of finance a Muyapekwa responded to the report and sent recommendations without the input from the councillors.
Mumbwe has since called on the Ministry of Local Government to constitute a different body to discuss the audit report and ignore Kalenga’s unilateral response.
But Mwapela, who is also MMD provincial secretary, has advised Mulyata not to block the deliberations on the audit report.
Mwapela said it was disappointing that MMD councillors were failing to work together and he asked Mulyata to be in the forefront and meet with the councillors to discuss the audit report.
“If the council has not done anything wrong, there is nothing to hide,” said Mwapela. “We are heading for election; if he continues with that kind of confusion, MMD will lose that seat, Mongu Central.”
Efforts to get a comment from Mulyata proved futile by press time.
Labels: AUDITING, CDF, CORRUPTION, DAWN MUMBWE, FRANK KALENGA, JOSEPH MULYATA, MAYOR, MMD, MONGU
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Rupiah gimmicks
By The Post
Thu 07 Oct. 2010, 04:00 CAT
It is said that lies have no legs. For lies to stand, the liar is forced to tell more lies. Unfortunately, even those new lies also have no legs which leaves the liar sucked into a perpetual cycle of lies. When we exposed the misery that was afflicting our people at the University Teaching Hospital, Rupiah Banda and his minions were quick to try and downplay the extent of the problem.
We carried pictures that showed people sleeping on the floor in corridors and other makeshift arrangements at what is supposed to be our country’s premier medical facility. In the characteristic kneejerk reaction of a government that is used to telling its people lies and half-truths, there was immediate activity that cleared the corridors of patients.
Some ill-thought explanations were given to justify our people’s lying in corridors. We remember that it was suggested that the only reason why patients were sleeping on the floor was that the nurses at the University Teaching Hospital were not doing their work properly. Even assuming that this nonsense was true, where was the hospital management? Indeed where is the government when our people are forced to sleep on the floor in our country’s biggest hospital because of poor management? Obviously, the problem is more fundamental than what Rupiah and his minions wanted us to believe.
The problem with Rupiah’s approach to national issues is that it is all about fluff and no substance. Rupiah thinks it is all about a few nice words here and there and all is sorted out. This is what explains why there is so much commitment to public relations rather than dealing with the problems of the public. Rupiah thinks he can sort out all our problems by merely making this or that promise. They want to conjure an image that everything is okay when nothing is. This is what happens when people accept leadership for the sake of pleasure and other personal benefits without understanding that their calling is to serve our people.
In an attempt to show that there were no problems in the medical sector and that, in fact, efforts were being made to address the medical crisis that has engulfed our nation, Rupiah went to open the Chawama Hospital. They wanted to give an impression that all was well; that there was even a theatre that was going to be opened at Chawama. But today, their lies, half-truths and public relations gimmicks are being exposed for what they are – gimmicks! Rupiah and his friends moved equipment from the University Teaching Hospital to Chawama for window-dressing. They wanted our people to believe that Chawama had equipment when it didn’t.
Today, we are being told that the moving of that equipment to Chawama has paralysed operations at the University Teaching Hospital, where they have cannibalised the theatres. There is now no equipment at University Teaching Hospital all because Rupiah’s minions wanted to cover up the real problems in the medical sector by pretending that they were building hospitals which were adequately equipped when the truth was different. To them, it was not enough to be honest with our people and say 'we intend to buy theatre equipment'. This simple explanation could have satisfied our people, but they chose to lie and engage in shameful acts of deception that in other countries would have disgraced them out of power.
If leaders can cheat their people, what else will they not do? This is why even corruption is rampant in our country today; we have a government that thrives on lies and half-truths. In such an environment, other vices such as corruption thrive as well. How can an entire government machinery set up a commissioning of a hospital theatre with equipment that they know to be coming from another hospital where it’s supposed to be returned? The purpose of this activity is clearly to deceive the people into believing that their government is working when the opposite is true.
Rupiah needs to address himself to reality and dealing with the challenges that our people face. Gimmicks and public relations stunts will not take him anywhere. But this seems to be Rupiah’s character. He seems fickle and incapable of concentrating on the real duties of his office. Rupiah seems happiest when he is up and about doing nothing. Obviously, he thinks that being president is nothing but a ceremonial role for a party-spirited person. This is why he cannot sit still in State House to ponder over the various challenges that our nation is facing. Sometimes we are left to wonder whether Rupiah is actually running this country or somebody else is.
If he is, what time does he run this country? What does he actually do to run this country? We have no doubt that he is very keenly interested in procurement contracts and similar government decisions. But it is also clear that he has no interest in whether or not the country is running well. This is why he has no difficulty travelling out of the country in the midst of a crippling medical strike. He did this during the last doctors’ strike. But he also did it last year during the nurses’ strike. If Rupiah thought that he was responsible for ensuring that the country was running well and our people were receiving the services that that they need, he would not be so careless with the way he travels without any regard to his duties at home. Rupiah must be one of the world’s most travelled presidents. It would be interesting to know the longest time he has ever spent in his own bed. Rupiah’s attitude is such that he does not really care about whether our people receive medical care or not. Of course, he is eager to boast about how many hospitals and even schools they are building. But as the saying goes, the devil is in the detail.
How much are they paying for these hospitals and schools they are building? Who are the contractors? How were they chosen? Yes, we’ve heard of figures of close to US $7 million being spent on building basic schools. What are they building, universities? We have no doubt that a close check on how much is being spent on the building of hospitals would also produce an equally startling revelation of a day-light robbery that is going on. These projects are not being built to serve our people; they are being built to provide avenues for stealing public funds. They are also being made to hoodwink our people into believing that development is being delivered. Why else would people go and get equipment from one hospital and take it to another just to pretend that there is equipment when in fact there is none? This is not the way honest governments that are truly dedicated to delivering services to their people behave.
Services are meant to be delivered. Pretending to be delivering services when in fact not will only anger our people more in the long run. Our people may be poor but they know a good service when they see one. It will not be long before Rupiah realises that trying to treat our people as though they do not think and do not understand issues will not take him anywhere. Cheap public relations gimmicks may make him feel good but he cannot fool our people. Rupiah will pay the price for the lies and half-truths of his government.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, RUPIAH BANDA, UTH
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Rupiah to open farmers' union congress
By Kombe Chimpinde
Thu 07 Oct. 2010, 04:01 CAT
President Rupiah Banda is today expected to open the 105th Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) Congress at Lusaka’s Mulungushi International Conference Centre.
According to a statement from State House special assistant for press and public relations, Dickson Jere, President Banda will be opening the ZNFU Congress shortly after the country witnessed agricultural success last season through a maize bumper harvest.
“President Banda will deliver a speech this Thursday congratulating the ZNFU’s objectives and pledging his government’s wholehearted support for the continued growth and economic development of the farming sector,” Jere said in a statement.
“…the event will celebrate the great agricultural successes enjoyed by Zambia in recent years and will call on farmers, suppliers and government to work together to ensure a productive and healthy future for Zambia.”
He said the farmers’ congress whose theme is ‘Productivity, Competitiveness and Market Development' has attracted over 600 delegates from the agriculture industry countrywide.
Zambia secured bumper harvest, producing 2.78 million tonnes of maize indicating a surplus of more than one million tonnes.
And the president says that the theme that his adopted this year is a reflection of governments agriculture policies.
Labels: DICKSON JERE, RUPIAH BANDA, ZNFU
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Kavindele vows to attend MMD convention despite threats
By Ernest Chanda and Mwala Kalaluka
Thu 07 Oct. 2010, 14:10 CAT
ENOCH Kavindele has vowed to attend the MMD convention, saying no one can stop him since he is made of hard stuff. And MMD provincial leaders in North Western and Western provinces have opposed the position taken by the party youths in Lusaka Province to bar Kavindele and Katuba MMD parliamentarian Jonas Shakafuswa from the convention.
Commenting on Lusaka Province MMD youth chairperson Chris Chalwe’s warning to him, Shakafuswa and other senior leaders that were not in good books with the ruling party not to attend the party convention, the former Republican vice-president, who is in Solwezi, challenged Chalwe to provide a party constitutional backing.
“I don’t think I can be barred because I’m made of hard stuff. Those who remember during the UNIP era, I was threatened prior to the convention in Kabwe, but I braved them and went. In fact, there is nowhere in the party constitution where it says I can be barred by him Chalwe,” Kavindedele argued.
“This is indiscipline which is leading to the weakness of the party, where a junior chap can talk on behalf of a Republican Vice-President to bar me. My intention is not be Republican Vice-President, but party vice-president. Let him ask those of his colleagues who tried to attack me at the 2005 convention and I defended myself, much to their embarrassment. So, tell him that I’m capable of defending myself.”
And North Western Province MMD chairman Pinakin Patel said he would not support Chalwe’s move to stop other party members from attending the convention.
“I wouldn’t support it,” Patel said in an interview from Solwezi yesterday.
He said for as long as the MMD National Executive Committee (NEC) had not found the duo wanting in terms of abrogating the party constitution, they were free to attend the national convention.
“Then I would understand (their being barred) not by mere threats like that. I think as a province we don’t condone that,” said Patel. “We have our party constitution which talks of who is allowed to attend the convention…if they are within the party lines and the NEC finds nothing against them, then they are free to attend.”
And Western Province MMD chairman Simasiku Namakando also disagreed with Chalwe and his cohorts.
“You see, in a democracy there is no one who can bar somebody. Let the people choose,” said Namakando.
On Wednesday, Chalwe warned Shakafuswa, Kavindele and all others he claimed were insulting President Rupiah Banda to stay away from the convention.
Labels: CHRIS CHALWE, ENOCH KAVINDELE, MMD, PANAKIN PATEL
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NGOCC urges govt to address plight of doctors
By Salim Dawood
Thu 07 Oct. 2010, 10:30 CAT
Non-Governmental Organisation Coordinating Council (NGOCC) executive director Engwase Mwale has demanded that government quickly looks into the plight of doctors as having a de-motivated and uninspired medical personnel was not helpful to the country.
Resident doctors had gone on a week-long strike demanding an upward adjustment of their salaries and also complained of receiving their K560, 000 monthly housing allowances late among other problems.
The doctors at the nation’s main hospital, the University Teaching Hospital, have also complained about lack of equipment which besides their low salaries has also added to their demotivation.
Commenting on the residents doctors move to resume work despite stating that they were still de-motivated and unhappy, Mwale commended the resident doctors describing their decision as humane and noble.
“First and foremost we would love to commend the move that has been taken by the resident doctors as a noble and humane response to the plight of many people that have suffered during the period of the strike,” she said.
Mwale said the move by resident doctors was gratifying especially that despite the challenges which they have continued to face during their course of duty, the doctors prioritised serving lives as they still continued to pursue on their demands.
“But most importantly, in recognizing this move, we still emphasise as NGOCC that as a country we need to prioritise issues of health access because it is one thing having doctors resuming work despite being highly de-motivated because this will have repercussions in the level of service that they provide,” she said.
“This is not to say that as organisation we have doubts in what the resident doctors will be able do to during this period but I think it is only human that their level of service must be equated with what the health sector is actually providing to them. We must enable them and equip them to be able to carry out their duties accordingly.”
She said it was important that government recognised that having a de-motivated and uninspired medical personnel would not be helpful in the country.
Mwale said the country had seen a lot of the country’s medical personnel leaving the country for better offers elsewhere and that if government that would continue to be the case if government did not permanently address the plight of the doctors.
“So it is actually imperative that as the doctors are going back to work government must still remain resolute to be able to address their plight in order to ensure that this is not a temporal. I think there is need for government and all interested stakeholders to be able to find a longer term solution towards the various challenges being faced by our medical personnel,” she said.
On chief government spokesperson Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasaha’s statement that the resident doctors were being used by the opposition to discredit government achievement in the health sector, Mwale said the doctor’s plight was something very serious that must not be trivialized by relating it to politics.
She said for any service provider in our country to provide efficient and effective service there was need for equipment regardless of where one is working.
“So if the resident doctors are subjected to inadequate availability of better tools for them to be able to attend to patients, for us as NGOCC we find this demand as noble because how do we expect them to be able to provide a service to people that are seeking health services,” he said.
She said the country’s economy was growing and government was on record announcing that the economy was doing well and as such needed to urgently tackle the plight of the doctors and the health sector as a whole.
In calling off their strike on Monday, Resident Doctors Association of Zambia (RDAZ) acting president Dr Amon Ngongola said the health practitioners were still hopeful that President Rupiah Banda would address their plea.
Labels: DOCTORS, HEALTHCARE, NGOCC
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Liquidate debt to pensioners in next year’s budget, CCZ urges govt
By Fridah Zinyama
Thu 07 Oct. 2010, 10:30 CAT
THE Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) has urged the government to liquidate its domestic debt that it owes to pensioners in next year's budget.
In a statement ahead of the budget presentation this Friday, CCZ general secretary Rev Suzanne Matale called for a pro-poor budget that not only allocates money to labour intensive infrastructure development projects, but also makes sure that all pensioners and retirees are paid their dues on time so that they could invest their pensions and live a dignified life after work.
Rev Matale stated that the Council would like to see pensioners and retirees, many of whom have been waiting for their money for years, paid off to allow them send their children to school and engage in meaningful after-work economic activities.
She stated that the Council believes that by paying the pensioners on time, the government would be injecting money into the domestic economy, thereby positively growing the economy and improving the lives of ordinary poor Zambians.
“Whilst efforts have been made to settle our foreign debts, we have forgotten the former Zambian worker who year in and year out is always demonstrating before government offices for his or her benefits to be paid,” Rev Matale stated.
She added that CCZ was worried that a bad culture of not paying off pensioners and retirees was turning them into destitutes when they had dedicated their entire lives to working for Zambia and contributed to the country’s growth.
“CCZ believes that the best way of stimulating the local economy and creating local jobs is to make sure that Zambians have access to their cash on time so that they can use it to invest into their desired business ventures,” she stated. “By holding on to pensioners’ payments, a large number of Zambians are now being denied a chance to live dignified lives in our communities. We call for a deliberate effort to attend to this problem and make sure that retirees are afforded a dignified after work life.”
CCZ is this month dedicating its programmes and prayers to all pensioners and retirees that have not yet been paid their benefits so that they can receive their benefits on time.
CCZ is also praying for the families that depend on these pensioners so that these can find strength and resiliency as they wait for the government to pay them.
Labels: CCZ, PENSIONERS, SUZANNE MATALE
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Zambia seems to lack a mature democratic culture – Ngulube
By Sandra Lombe in Livingstone
Thu 07 Oct. 2010, 04:01 CAT
FORMER chief justice Mathews Ngulube has observed that the political scene in the country seems to lack a mature democratic culture.
In a keynote address during the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) stakeholders workshop in Livingstone yesterday, Justice Ngulube said the electoral code and similar provisions in the substantive law were all well intentioned and could deliver elections that were plainly free and fair.
“Section 109 (3) of the Act enjoins -‘No person or registered political party bound by the code shall contravene or fail to comply with a provision of that code’…Unless there can be sanctions or at the very least some undesirable consequences, contestants in particular will simply carry on as before. The political scene in this country seemingly lacks a mature democratic culture…the politics of poverty continue to haunt while the temptation by players to capitalize seems irresistible,” he said.
“Unless everyone starts to believe in the code, to breathe the code and to practice the code, no amount of regulation will stop the malpractices, especially those that can be linked to conditions of poverty and need.”
He said the challenge was not so much about the fining and incarceration of bigger numbers of offenders, but the waging of a sustained campaign to change the people’s attitudes, mindsets and perceptions so that wrongdoing was never rewarded and rebuffed.
Justice Ngulube said people should know that their vote was worth more than material things and that they should be interested in party manifestos, programmes and issues.
Labels: DEMOCRACY, ECZ, GOVERNANCE, MATHEWS NGULUBE
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Transfer of equipment paralyses UTH theatre
By Ernest Chanda
Thu 07 Oct. 2010, 04:01 CAT
SOME senior staff at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) have complained that the government’s move to strip the institution of its theatre equipment and move it to Chawama first level hospital has paralysed operations.
But health minister Kapembwa Simbao on Tuesday disclosed that former UTH managing director Dr Peter Mwaba had long donated the equipment to the ministry because it was excess.
In an interview, the source said there was an initial understanding to have the equipment moved to Chawama as a one-day exercise and then brought back to the UTH the following day.
On September 15, 2010, President Rupiah Banda commissioned the first level Chawama Hospital Theatre, whose equipment was moved from UTH.
The source said UTH management and the Ministry of Health, however, rescinded the decision, claiming that the government would purchase new equipment for the institution.
“The saddest part is that there was a shift from the original arrangement where the equipment was supposed to be used just for the launch of that upgraded hospital in Chawama. In short, it was just meant to window-dress the function. But the government has refused to bring back that equipment, and now we are literally stranded; we can’t perform theatre operations at UTH,” the source complained.
“All the theatre tables, trays and other essential equipment were shifted to Chawama. And as I speak, all this equipment is just lying idle in Chawama because there are no doctors to use them. It would have been better if we had a rotational programme where on a daily basis we would have some doctors operate from Chawama. But there is the issue of money; the government will obviously say they have no money for that. And you can’t just move doctors without paying them.”
Another source complained that the change in decision had shocked all staff. The source wondered why the Ministry of Health had not replaced the equipment as earlier pledged.
“We are now being told that the Ministry of Health will buy us new theatre equipment. And I think we saw a story in your paper a few weeks back where the Ministry of Health was giving that assurance. But we are still surprised that this equipment has not been bought. The main theatre rooms are now white elephants; there is literally no equipment there. So, how can you operate a big health institution like UTH without theatre services?” questioned the source.
But Simbao insisted that the equipment was more than what UTH needed.
"Look, that equipment is excess equipment. There's nothing like taking it back to UTH. We are refurbishing theatre 3 and we can't put old equipment there. In fact, that equipment was offered by Mwaba long before he became PS permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health. He had offered that equipment to the permanent secretary then," Simbao said.
When reminded that doctors were still complaining that there was no equipment in the theatre rooms, Simbao dismissed the complaint as a lie.
"No, they're lying. We have the equipment. UTH had about two sets of excess equipment which were donated to the ministry, one for Kanyama and one for Chawama. The other day, some doctor was saying I was just politicking; no, that's unfair," said Simbao.
And UTH public relations manager Pauline Mbangweta said the move was part of the process to decongest UTH.
"You have heard what the government are saying, that we are upgrading. So it is not true that we are not carrying out operations at UTH; we have the equipment," said Mbangweta. "The whole purpose is to decongest UTH. In fact, we are putting up a programme where every Monday, we will assign a surgeon to go to Chawama and Kanyama where we have upgraded clinics. We don't want everyone to come to UTH for those services.”
On Monday last week, resident doctors in all public health institutions countrywide resolved to go on strike, citing poor conditions of service and lack of proper equipment and an unpredictable timetable for paying doctors’ on-call allowances.
The resident doctors, however, suspended their strike two days ago, citing sympathy for patients.
And commissioning the level one Chawama Hospital Theatre last month, President Banda said the government would build more hospitals in order to provide quality health care to the people. He said the exercise would also help decongest UTH.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, KAPEMBWA SIMBAO, UTH
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Lusaka MMD youths warn Kavindele, Shakas to stay away from party convention
By Mwala Kalaluka
Thu 07 Oct. 2010, 04:01 CAT
LUSAKA Province MMD youths have warned that former Republican vice-president Enoch Kavindele and Katuba MMD parliamentarian Jonas Shakafuswa will be physically barred from the party Convention because of their negative comments and insults against President Rupiah Banda.
MMD Lusaka Province youth chairman Chris Chalwe in a press release yesterday indicated that if Kavindele and senior leaders who knew that they were in bad standing with the party wanted to cross the line by going to the party Convention, the choice was theirs.
“As for Mr Kavindele Sir, we shall not allow you in the Convention because of the negative comments and insults against the President, the party and the leadership. The same goes for Mr Shakafuswa and any other senior leaders who know that they are in bad standing with the party,” Chalwe indicated in a statement that was also copied to Lusaka Province acting MMD chairman William Banda.
“If you Mr Kavindele and others want to cross the line the choice is yours, but you must be mindful that the (GIMBOZ) Youths will be waiting to give you a warm welcome because we are the defence, security and military wing of the party.”
Chalwe stated that as MMD youths in Lusaka, they wanted to inform some senior MMD members that the positions at the convention were not up for grabs as they might be thinking.
“The Party presidency all of us we know it is for His Excellency the Republican President Mr Rupiah Banda and it is not negotiable,” Chalwe stated. “The Party Vice-Presidency is reserved for the Hon Vice-President of the Republic Mr George Kunda, for one obvious reason, it is his time to be Party Vice-President.”
Chalwe stated that Vice-President Kunda deserved the position of MMD vice-president because he had served under two past presidents, Frederick Chiluba and the late Levy Mwanawasa, diligently and with total loyalty and allegiance.
“Hon Kunda has never changed colour against the MMD, he has never turned his back against the party, and he has been there for the women, the youths, for the party even in very difficult, hard and trying times,” stated Chalwe.
“Hon Kunda has proved beyond any reasonable doubt he is the man for party vice-president. So we shall campaign for him and support him. We are already consulting and strategising with our other colleagues in the eight provinces.”
Labels: ENOCH KAVINDELE, JONAS SHAKAFUSWA, MMD
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ZICTA gives five ISP five day ultimatum to renew licenses
By Kombe Chimpinde
Wed 06 Oct. 2010, 17:30 CAT
ZAMBIA Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) has temporarily withdrawn its order to five Internet Services Providers (ISPs) to cease operations and has given the affected organisations a five day ultimatum to renew the licenses.
ZICTA director of public relations and consumer, Lotty Kakubo said in a statement that the withdrawal of the order was meant to pave way for further discussions with affected Internet Service Providers (IPS).
“ZICTA would like to inform the public that it has temporarily withdrawn its earlier statement indicating that five Internet Service Providers (IPS) should cease operations effective October 8, 2010 for non renewal of operating license,” Kakubo stated.
“This is to pave way for further discussions with affected Internet Service Providers regarding this matter. The authority has since given the affected ISPs a five day ultimatum in which to remedy the situation.”
Yesterday, ZICTA directed that five ISPs cease their operation by October 8 for non renewal of licenses.
Kakubo named the affected ISPs as Zamnet Communications Systems Limited, Realtime Technology Alliance Limited, trading as Realtime Zambia, Coppernet Solutions Limited, Microlink Technologies, and Pronet Zambia Limited.
Labels: INTERNET, ZICTA
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Mpombo’s apology
By The Post
Wed 06 Oct. 2010, 04:00 CAT
It is said that “it is wrong for a judge to be prejudiced. If he pronounces a guilty person innocent, he will be cursed and hated by everyone. Judges who punish the guilty, however, will be prosperous and enjoy good reputation” (Proverbs 23:23-25).
What the Bible says in Proverbs 23 is something that all those who exercise any judicial authority should bear in mind when they exercise their powers. It is usually better for a judge to protect the simple and humble than to side with the powerful.
We say this because the powerful are able to defend themselves and do not need protection from others. It is the weak and lowly people, who are usually exploited by the powerful, that require protection.
Our democracy is also designed with that principle in mind. One of the principal functions of the courts is to check the powers of the powerful and ensure that justice is available to all. In this regard, the judiciary is meant to be independent of the executive, which in many instances finds itself tempted to trample upon the rights of our people.
An independent judiciary ensures that this is not the case. As powerful as the executive is likely to be, it can be controlled by a principled judiciary that exercises its power with integrity and determination to hold all our people, regardless of their station in life, equal before the law.
But there is something wrong with the way the organs that are supposed to defend our people and keep the executive in check are falling all over themselves to be in good books with the executive. We have seen our courts giving embarrassing decisions in circumstances that suggest that they wanted to ingratiate themselves to those in power.
We have seen the executive freely trampling upon the independence of the judiciary without seeming to have any fear that they will be called to account by anyone or that the courts themselves will call them to order. There is something wrong in the way that they are exercising democracy in our country.
If the executive, and particularly the presidency, is going to be all-powerful and all the organs of the state are inclined to dance to its tune, then we have disaster stalking us. Our democratic experiments cannot be sustained in circumstances where one of the organs of the state is overarchingly superior to the other organs that are meant to check its power.
What we have when this happens is an elected dictatorship that cannot be held to account by the electorate until there is an upheaval that results in a landslide defeat of such a regime. We say landslide because it seems that in our politics, as in the sport of boxing, the incumbent dictator cannot be defeated on a split-point decision; he has to be knocked out completely.
And to achieve this, there has to be a landslide decision by the electorate or else, the ballot remains subject to manipulation as we have come to learn from experience. It is unfortunate that we continue to witness the capitulation of important arms of the state to the hegemony of the executive.
What happened to Kafulafuta member of parliament George Mpombo in Parliament yesterday is nothing short of shameful. The conduct of Speaker Amusaa Mwanamwambwa is shocking and unfortunate. He is in that office to ensure that Parliament operates as an effective check on the excesses of the executive.
But of late, we are noticing a trend that suggests that he is nothing short of an extension of the executive. We say this because it does not make sense for the Speaker of the National Assembly to rise to the defence of the all-powerful executive. The executive has enough powers and resources at its disposal to defend itself. Why should the National Assembly be used as a vehicle to defend the executive?
In a period of about two weeks, the Speaker has made comments and decisions that have brought his ability to be an effective check on the excesses of the executive into question. It is unfortunate that both those issues have had to do with Mpombo. A few days ago, a rebel PF member stood on a point of order, questioning Mpombo’s comment on Rupiah’s speech to Parliament.
Mpombo had said that Rupiah was a liar for reasons that he elaborated. Speaker Mwanamwambwa found it proper to wonder why the law enforcement agencies were not acting against Mpombo because according to him, Mpombo had insulted the President. Again we ask, why should the Speaker consider it within his gift to defend the President? The President has more advisors and legal representatives than the Speaker can ever muster. It simply shows that Parliament has embraced a psychology of subservience to the executive.
Having taken this posture, it is impossible for this Parliament to be an effective check on the excesses of Rupiah Banda and his minions. Yesterday, we saw the Speaker trying to bully Mpombo into an apology to George Kunda. Again, the Speaker was acting as a defender of the executive, not the people that Parliament is meant to defend.
To understand what is going on, it is necessary to trace the background to the apology that Mpombo was forced to read in Parliament yesterday. Clearly, that apology was prepared by Parliament for Mpombo to read. Why should the Speaker and his officers prepare a text of apology for Mpombo? Again, it seems clear to us that this is in their continued posture of subservience to the executive.
It seems they want to please Rupiah and his minions at any cost. If Mpombo is going to apologise, do you have to write an apology for him? Surely such an apology is not an apology at all. They may have forced Mpombo to read that apology but even they know deep down their hearts that that apology was not an apology at all. If anything, it makes a mockery of the independence of the legislature.
The issue that has given rise to this contrived apology was Mpombo’s reaction to George’s threat against Katuba member of parliament Jonas Shakafuswa. Shakafuswa had asked George to confirm whether the state was planning to remove the offence of abuse of office from the Anti Corruption Commission Act.
George threatened Shakafuswa with arrest for raising a matter that was clearly in the public interest. Shakafuswa should enjoy the right to debate and raise on the floor of Parliament issues that concern the welfare of the state without being subjected to intimidation.
George resorted to intimidation on the floor of the House. The Speaker and Parliament in general did not protect Shakafuswa. Was it in order for the executive to threaten a member of parliament with arrest for asking a question?
In that context, Mpombo called George the most stupid Vice-President we’ve ever had. Mpombo’s comment was in the context that if George thought that the removal of the offence of abuse of office from the Anti Corruption Commission Act was going to protect him and his political masters, he was wrong.
And anyway, today Parliament is considering an amendment to the Anti Corruption Commission Act which does exactly what Shakafuswa was asking about and for which he was threatened by George.
George, acting as one of Rupiah’s chief minions, has pushed for the removal of the abuse of office offence from the Anti Corruption Commission Act. It is this that Mpombo thought to be stupid. We have discussed this before.
Stupidity is not an insult, it is a description of a kind of behaviour. A simple dictionary definition of stupidity will tell you that to be stupid is to show a lack of thought or good judgment. This is what Mpombo thought of George’s behaviour.
Mpombo thought that George had acted treacherously in relation to Levy Mwanawasa’s legacy on the fight against corruption. Put another way, it was Mpombo’s opinion that George was showing a lack of judgment in pushing for the removal of the offence of abuse of authority from the Anti Corruption Commission Act.
It should not surprise Speaker Mwanamwambwa that many of our people share Mpombo’s opinion on George’s stupidity. Forcing Mpombo to apologise does not change the reality of what our people and Mpombo himself believe.
It is a shame that Parliament that is supposed to guarantee the debating of matters that concern our people is now being used to intimidate and gag the people’s representatives from raising issues that are pertinent to the interests of our people.
Why shouldn’t a member of parliament express the strongest views that he can muster on the attempt to legalise public officers' corruption by removing the duty to account for their wealth? Well, what happened in Parliament yesterday tells us that our democracy is in critical ill-health.
The checks and balances that are supposed to exist have stopped functioning. It does not appear that Parliament, the judiciary and the executive are operating as counter-balancing forces designed to deliver the best possible services to our people.
It seems we now have a democracy that is of the executive, by the executive, for the executive. The other arms of the state could close down and the executive may not even notice. Forcing Mpombo to apologise in the manner that his issue was handled in Parliament is a disgrace to our democracy.
Labels: AMUSA MWANAMWAMBA, GEORGE MPOMBO, PARLIAMENT
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Speaker orders Mpombo to read prepared apology
By Mwala Kalaluka
Tue 05 Oct. 2010, 20:20 CAT
Speaker of the National Assembly Amusaa Mwanamwambwa yesterday ordered Kafulafuta MMD member of parliament George Mpombo to read an apology prepared for him for saying that George Kunda is the most stupid Vice-President Zambia has ever had.
Before business resumed in the House, Speaker Mwanamwambwa delivered an announcement on a point of order raised by Mwense PF ‘rebel’ member of parliament Jacob Chongo against Mpombo’s statement against Vice-President Kunda published in The Post of Monday July 5, 2010.
Speaker Mwanamwambwa said that on Friday, August 6, 2010 Deputy Speaker Mutale Nalumango made a ruling on Chongo’s point of order.
“The House will recall further that after studying the Point of Order, Madam Deputy Speaker had referred the Point of Order to the Committee on Privileges, Absences and Support Services for their consideration and recommendation to the House,” Speaker Mwanamwambwa said.
“After considering the matter, the Committee had established that Mr Mpombo’s conduct amounted to attacking His Honour the Vice-President’s debate outside the House. Accordingly, the Committee found Mr Mpombo guilty of breaching parliamentary privileges and etiquette and in contempt of the House, and accordingly recommended that the Hon member be suspended from the service of the House for a period of two (2) months.”
Speaker Mwanamwambwa said since Parliament was prorogued after adjourning sine die on the day the ruling was delivered, Mpombo could only be suspended for a period of one week.
“Mr Mpombo was also to give an apology in the House behind the Bar for his contempt of the House,” he said. “The House will recall that, at the time of the ruling, the Hon Madam Deputy Speaker had informed the House that the Hon Member for Kafulafuta was not in the House because he had been given permission to be absent from the House to enable him attend to a court case in the Ndola magistrate’s court. Accordingly, the Hon Madam Deputy Speaker had instructed that the Member should, at an appropriate time, make an apology at the Bar of the House for the disrespectful statements he had made. This is the appropriate time.”
Speaker Mwanamwambwa then ordered Mpombo to stand behind the Bar of the House and instructed the Sergeant-At-Arms to take the Speaker’s Mace and stand behind Mpombo.
“I now instruct you to make your apology before you resume your seat,” Speaker Mwanamwambwa ordered.
Mpombo moved to the ordered vantage but as soon as he started making a verbal apology, Speaker Mwanamwambwa ordered him to apologise to the House.
“I haven’t got a written speech,” Mpombo said.
But after a momentous silence, which was punctuated by laughter in the House, Mpombo said he would read the prepared apology given to him with a pinch of salt.
“A pinch of salt means you are not apologising, you shall withdraw that,” Speaker Mwanamwambwa ordered Mpombo who obliged and started reading the prepared speech amidst shouts of ‘umwaume’ (real man) from some opposition parliamentarians.
“In accordance with the decision of the House through the Committee on Privileges, Absences and Support Services, I George Mpombo, in my personal capacity as Member of Parliament for Kafulafuta Constituency, do unreservedly apologise to this August House for the derogatory remarks I made against His Honour the Vice-President in the Post newspaper of 5th July, 2010,” Mpombo said.
“I deeply regret that the remarks I made against His Honour the Vice-President and Leader of Government Business in the House amounted to breach of parliamentary privileges and etiquette and was in contempt of the House.”
Mpombo read that he had taken time to reflect on his utterances and he had found that his conduct was below the expected conduct of a parliamentarian.
“In this regard, Sir, I take this opportunity to apologise, most sincerely to His Honour the Vice-President for the unfortunate remarks I made against him in the press…the extremely disrespectful remarks are deeply regretted and I wish to assure this August House, through you, Sir, that I will do everything possible to refrain from such undesirable conduct in future. I shall endeavour henceforth to conduct myself in a manner expected of an Honourable member of parliament.”
After Mpombo finished reading the apology prepared for him, Speaker Mwanamwambwa told him to get back to his seat.
However, Speaker Mwanamwambwa cautioned the House over people that had been calling Mpombo as ‘umwaume’ during his apology to the House.
“Let me remind honourable members that you are all collectively responsible for the proper conduct and etiquette befitting each one of you in and outside the House,” Speaker Mwanamwambwa said.
He said those that were using the word ‘umwaume’ in respect of Mpombo were inciting him to run into trouble with the rules and even laws of the House.
On July 4, 2010 Mpombo said Vice-President George Kunda was a turncoat. He further warned that changing laws like removing the abuse of office offence from the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) Act will not protect Vice-President Kunda and his colleagues from prosecution for their wrong deeds when they leave office.
Mpombo was commenting on Vice-President Kunda’s threats against Katuba MMD member of parliament Jonas Shakafuswa for imprisonment when Shakafuswa questioned the government’s motive for removing the offence of abuse of office from the revised Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) Act.
Mpombo said Vice-President Kunda must be told in no uncertain terms that he could not be allowed to threaten people with impunity.
“Since Zambia’s independence, George Kunda is the most stupid Vice-President the country has ever had. He is a danger to democracy and he is a danger even to his own integrity,” said Mpombo, a former defence minister. “This is the man who goes all the way to London to organise cases and the same guy comes to refurbish the Chikwa magistrate’s courts to hear Chiluba’s case at colossal sums of money and the man turns 180 degrees. The public is not foolish. George Kunda, in my view is going berserk. You don’t have a guy like this of a Vice-President and Minister of Justice.”
Mpombo accused Vice-President Kunda and President Rupiah Banda of usurping the powers of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).
“George Kunda and RB have ganged up to reduce the DPP office to that one as President Banda’s special assistant for miscarriage of justice. They are not handling issues on equal basis. Kunda must be told in no uncertain terms that he cannot be allowed to threaten people with impunity,” Mpombo said.
“As far as I am concerned myself, I want to say clearly and categorically that certainly the leadership we have in the name of George Kunda is a tragedy for Zambia and this man is trying to do everything possible to cling to that job. If he had the opportunity to have his motorcade in the air, flying, George Kunda would easily do that – motor vehicles in the air.”
Mpombo said Zambia was a democratic country hence government leaders must uphold good governance.
“Good governance must cut across the entire nation, across political line. Good governance is the one that gives confidence to the people that their government is fair and is serious,” Mpombo said.
“But this man Vice-President Kunda is a total disaster. Since independence of Zambia, this is the most useless Vice-President we have. He is a turncoat, he is a man who has no principles. And as Minister of Justice, what is he telling Rupiah Banda?”
Labels: AMUSA MWANAMWAMBA, GEORGE MPOMBO, PARLIAMENT
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Pact presidency must be resolved now - CARITAS
By George Chellah
Wed 06 Oct. 2010, 04:30 CAT
CARITAS Zambia executive director Sam Mulafulafu yesterday said the pact presidency must be resolved immediately so that all hidden feelings and agendas can be exposed.
And Lusaka Province PF women’s league has warned UPND not to interpret their silence on a number of careless and uncalled for statements being issued against PF leader Michael Sata as a sign of weakness. In an interview, Mulafulafu urged the pact to resolve the issue of the presidential candidate.
“The presidency is a cardinal issue that will open up very clearly where everybody stands.
Once the pronouncement is made on who is going to lead the pact we are going to have a final position on where both parties stand,” Mulafulafu said.
“All hidden feelings and agendas will be exposed. The pact presidency has to be resolved now because it will clarify a lot of things because people will be speaking out.”
He maintained that the presidency must be dealt with to avoid innuendoes and people speaking in tongues.
On Katombora UPND member of parliament Regina Musokotwane’s statement that UPND should consider forming government on its own rather than working with the PF, Mulafulafu said the pact issue are confusing people.
“This pact issue now puts us in a quandary in terms of what the positions is.
In that, from the top leadership they are insisting that the pact is intact and it’s going ahead but from the subordinates they don’t seem to be speaking the same language,” Mulafulafu said. “They are contradictory statements coming from the rank and file. This keeps worrying us in terms of whether the pact will really work.”
He called on the two pact leaders to manage the public pronouncements being made by the rank and file.
“There is clear evidence from the statements coming from members of both parties. The party presidents have not given leadership that would generate committement to this idea of the pact,” Mulafulafu said.
“That’s why we are having individuals issuing statements that seem to be contradictory.”
And in a statement signed by PF Lusaka province women’s league chairperson, Margaret Mumba and other members of the executive, the Lusaka Province PF women’s league expressed displeasure with Musokotwane’s remarks.
“The Lusaka Province women’s committee is very disappointment with Hon. Regina Musokotwane, MP, Katombola constituency for her careless and uncalled for language against our president Mr. Michael Sata in today’s Post newspaper dated 5th October 2010.
Your language does not depict the Tonga speaking people of Southern Province because they are known to be people of high morals who respect elders,” they stated. “From your statement, it is very clear that you are a hired mercenary of the MMD to bring confusion in the pact. If you push us too far, you are opening a jar of worms, which you will not control.
The Patriotic Front women’s league in Lusaka Province has not been responding to a number of careless and uncalled for statements being issued against our president in the press…this is not a sign of weakness but of strength because we are disciplined people.”
They warned Musokotwane to be mindful of her language because they were capable of taking the law in their own hands.
“We wish also to appeal to the president of UPND Mr Hakainde Hichilema to discipline Mrs Musokotwane as he did to disgruntled MP for Namwala major Chizyuka,” they stated.
“We also extend this warning to President Rupiah Banda for his uncalled for insults in today’s Post against our party president for calling him “silly”. As a republican President he should learn to use suitable language befitting the head of state.”
They women have given President Banda a 48-hour ultimatum in which to retract and apologise to Sata and the nation for his careless remarks.
Labels: PF-UPND, REGINA MUSOKOTWANE, SAM MULAFULAFU, UPND
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Pact presidency must be resolved now - CARITAS
By George Chellah
Wed 06 Oct. 2010, 04:30 CAT
CARITAS Zambia executive director Sam Mulafulafu yesterday said the pact presidency must be resolved immediately so that all hidden feelings and agendas can be exposed.
And Lusaka Province PF women’s league has warned UPND not to interpret their silence on a number of careless and uncalled for statements being issued against PF leader Michael Sata as a sign of weakness. In an interview, Mulafulafu urged the pact to resolve the issue of the presidential candidate.
“The presidency is a cardinal issue that will open up very clearly where everybody stands. Once the pronouncement is made on who is going to lead the pact we are going to have a final position on where both parties stand,” Mulafulafu said.
“All hidden feelings and agendas will be exposed. The pact presidency has to be resolved now because it will clarify a lot of things because people will be speaking out.”
He maintained that the presidency must be dealt with to avoid innuendoes and people speaking in tongues.
On Katombora UPND member of parliament Regina Musokotwane’s statement that UPND should consider forming government on its own rather than working with the PF, Mulafulafu said the pact issue are confusing people.
“This pact issue now puts us in a quandary in terms of what the positions is.
In that, from the top leadership they are insisting that the pact is intact and it’s going ahead but from the subordinates they don’t seem to be speaking the same language,” Mulafulafu said.
“They are contradictory statements coming from the rank and file. This keeps worrying us in terms of whether the pact will really work.”
He called on the two pact leaders to manage the public pronouncements being made by the rank and file.
“There is clear evidence from the statements coming from members of both parties. The party presidents have not given leadership that would generate committement to this idea of the pact,” Mulafulafu said.
“That’s why we are having individuals issuing statements that seem to be contradictory.”
And in a statement signed by PF Lusaka province women’s league chairperson, Margaret Mumba and other members of the executive, the Lusaka Province PF women’s league expressed displeasure with Musokotwane’s remarks.
“The Lusaka Province women’s committee is very disappointment with Hon. Regina Musokotwane, MP, Katombola constituency for her careless and uncalled for language against our president Mr. Michael Sata in today’s Post newspaper dated 5th October 2010. Your language does not depict the Tonga speaking people of Southern Province because they are known to be people of high morals who respect elders,” they stated.
“From your statement, it is very clear that you are a hired mercenary of the MMD to bring confusion in the pact. If you push us too far, you are opening a jar of worms, which you will not control. The Patriotic Front women’s league in Lusaka Province has not been responding to a number of careless and uncalled for statements being issued against our president in the press…this is not a sign of weakness but of strength because we are disciplined people.”
They warned Musokotwane to be mindful of her language because they were capable of taking the law in their own hands.
“We wish also to appeal to the president of UPND Mr Hakainde Hichilema to discipline Mrs Musokotwane as he did to disgruntled MP for Namwala major Chizyuka,” they stated.
“We also extend this warning to President Rupiah Banda for his uncalled for insults in today’s Post against our party president for calling him “silly”. As a republican President he should learn to use suitable language befitting the head of state.”
They women have given President Banda a 48-hour ultimatum in which to retract and apologise to Sata and the nation for his careless remarks.
Labels: CARITAS, PF-UPND, REGINA MUSOKOTWANE, SAM MULAFULAFU
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UPND picks Capt. Moono for Chilanga
By Kombe Chimpinde
Wed 06 Oct. 2010, 15:30 CAT
OPPOSITION United Party for National Development (UPND) has adopted party chairperson for defence Captain Cosmas Moono as the Pact candidate for the Chilanga parliamentary by-election.
Making the announcement today at the party secretariat at a press briefing, UPND spokesperson Charles Kakoma said the party was confident that Captain Moono would win the election.
“After consultations the party National Executive Committee (NEC) decided two days ago to adopt former Chilanga member of parliament Captain Cosmas Moono as the candidate for the Chilanga by-election,” he said.
Kakoma said Captain Moono was not new to Zambian politics and that he was popular in Chilanga Constituency.
“Captain Moono was the MP for Chilanga from 2001 to 2006 when the former minister of finance took over. In my opinion, Captain Moono won that election but the MMD stole it from us, so we are taking him back and we are confident that he will win us the seat,” said Kakoma.
And in an interview shortly after his adoption announcement, Captain Moono said he was thankful to the PF-UPND Pact for considering him to contest the Chilanga seat and maintained the seat was ‘stolen’ from him by the MMD in the 2006 polls.
“We will keep our eyes open this time because in 2006, we won the election but the MMD stole it from me. We petitioned but justice was aborted in the court process,” he said.
He said it will be easy for him to get back the Chilanga seat because former finance minister Magande did not deliver.
“For me, my campaign in Chilanga is already done because of Mr. Magande’s failure to perform,” said Captain Moono.
Meanwhile, PF was by press time still expected to announce the party’s candidate for the Mpulungu parliamentary by election.
The Mpulungu seat fell vacant following the death of that constituency’s member of parliament Lameck Chibombamilimo’s death, while the Chilanga seat fell vacant following the expulsion of Magande from the MMD who subsequently decided not to re-contest the seat.
Labels: BY-ELECTIONS, CHARLES KAKOMA, COSMAS MOONO, UPND
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Rupiah’s trips are for personal gain
By Patson Chilemba
Wed 06 Oct. 2010, 04:50 CAT
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) president Michael Sata yesterday argued that President Rupiah Banda does not carry the pride of the nation, but his own interests.
Reacting for President Banda’s statement that he was silly for asserting that the President was now soliciting international trips in order to raise funds for campaigns, Sata said Zambians were not proud when their President aimlessly travelled to other nations to celebrate.
He said Zambians demanded to receive benefits from Presidential trips because a lot of taxpayers’ money was being spent on transporting the President from country to country.
“Tell him he doesn’t carry the nation’s pride. He just carries himself and his interests. What pride does he carry? Is he going to go to all the national days? We have a mission in Nigeria. Our High Commissioner can attend their national day. Do we need all the heads of state to come here for our celebrations?” Sata asked.
He said he did not need to be a reporter for any newspaper to tell that President’s Banda’s trips were a cost to the nation and were not bearing any fruit.
“I have details of his movements. His people tell me. His aimless and unproductive travels, if minimised, the Zambian people can benefit by having manageable cost of mealie-meal below the K60,000 they are spending on the commodity. Tell him to give me his phone number so that I can tell him in person that his trips are a cost to the nation,” Sata said.
“He doesn’t pay money for these trips. And when I am travelling to Mongu, I pay for myself. And I pay much more because he has increased the fuel prices.”
On President Banda’s statement that he had not even called him to say sorry over the death of his two dependants, Sata responded: “Do I even know his number? I would love to speak to him from time to time on things I have already raised, but he has hidden his number.
When he was Vice-President, I knew his number. He is saying I have not paid my condolences on the death of his two dependants, just like he has not on the death of my stepmother. But anyway, tell him I am sorry.”
Reacting to Sata’s earlier statement that he was now soliciting international trips in order to raise campaign funds, President Banda said Sata was very silly.
Labels: MICHAEL SATA, RUPIAH BANDA
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MMD adopts its candidates
By Post Online
Wed 06 Oct. 2010, 11:50 CAT
The MMD has adopted Lusaka lawyer Keith Mukata as its parliamentary candidate for the Chilanga by-election, party spokesperson, Dora Siliya, announced yesterday. The party has also picked Given Mungomba to contest the Mpulungu parliamentary by-election.
The MMD will field the two candidates for the parliamentary by-elections slated for October 30, 2010.
Siliya named Musanzala member of parliament Peter Daka as campaign manager for Chilanga MMD Lusaka Province chairman William Banda as his deputy.
Senga Hill MMD member of parliament, Kapembwa Simbao, who is also health minister, will head the campaign team in Mpulungu and while Guston Sichilima will be his deputy.
Meanwhile Patriotic Front secretary general Wynter Kabimba has said his party will announce its candidate for the Mpulungu seat today.
The Mpulungu seat fell vacant after the death of Lameck Chibombamilimo while Chilanga was declared vacant after the expulsion of Ng’andu Magande from the MMD.
Labels: DORA SILIYA, MMD
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White farmer shoots Zimbabwean man in S.Africa
By: Sapa-TZG
Posted: Wednesday, October 6, 2010 4:20 am
A MAN appeared before the Groblersdal Magistrates’ Court yesterday on allegations of
killing a Zimbabwean farm worker for allegedly playing loud music, Limpopo police have confirmed.
In statement, officer-in-charge of Limpopo police Colonel Mohale Ramatsebain said the firearm used was unlicensed.
"It was alleged that the suspect who was the supervisor of the farm workers shot and killed the farm worker with an unlicensed firearm, on Sunday night," said Lieut-Col Ramatseba.
The suspect, Bertus Honeyball (30) from Tirrit Boerdery, is due to appear in court on November 8 after the case was postponed for further investigation.
On Sunday Honeyball allegedly shot Zimbabwean national Edward Vindi (31) in the head at Vaalfontein Farm — apparently for playing loud music.
The victim was with his colleagues listening to music, when Honeyball allegedly warned them that they were playing their music too loudly, Lieut-Col Ramatseba said.
"The suspect apparently came back again with a rifle and shot the victim in the head and the victim died instantly," said Lieut-Col Ramatseba.
Honeyball was facing charges of murder and of being in possession of an unlicensed firearm. He was granted R3 000 bail.
There are a number of cases in which farmers in South Africa shoot and kill their workers and in mitigation they argue that they "mistook them for wild animals mainly pigs".
Labels: RACISM, WHITE FARMERS, WHITE SUPREMACY
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Khama on Zim: Show good faith, remove sanctions
VERASHNI PILLAY | JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Oct 05 2010 16:33
Zimbabwe has found an unlikely ally in Botswana President Ian Khama in the latest of a series of calls to lift sanctions on the embattled country. Unlike his Southern African counterparts, Khama has previously been a strident critic of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe (86), in keeping with Western nations. He made the call on Tuesday during a two-day state visit to South Africa, saying that as easily as sanctions could be imposed, they could as easily be removed.
"We appeal to those who have placed sanctions to remove them in order to give motivation. There is goodwill expressed by both sides, even if there are concerns. We also have concerns but let's remove them [sanctions] to demonstrate good faith and see where we go from there," Khama told journalists at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
Mugabe and his inner circle have been subject to Western sanctions since his Zanu-PF party won an election in 2 000 after a violent campaign.
The sanctions were imposed at the start of his government's policy of seizing commercial, often white-owned, farms to resettle landless black Zimbabweans.
Mugabe was forced into a power-sharing deal last year with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai that has stabilised the economy after a decade of decline but critics argue that human-rights violations continue.
However, setting aside a possible election next year, Khama said the focus was more on the signing of the constitution, which has been moving at a snail's pace.
"The process of working on the constitution will take a lot of time," he said, adding that the parties concerned in Zimbabwe might even decide to let a full five years run its course before elections.
South African President Jacob Zuma, who has been active in championing the removal of sanctions, said the political situation in Zimbabwe was a major concern for the region.
During their official meeting on Tuesday, both presidents went into "a lot of details" on what they believe both countries could do to help through the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
"This issue features prominently at the African Union," said Zuma. "As SADC, we are appealing to global leaders who are applying sanctions that they should be lifted. They're not helping the situation in Zimbabwe. Instead of helping they are complicating."
European Union
Zuma achieved a victory for South Africa's ailing neighbour in Europe in September when European Union President Herman Van Rompuy said the bloc was ready to take a fresh look at the measures against Zimbabwe.
Mugabe and his aides are subject to travel bans and asset freezes in the European Union and the US, who accuse his regime of repeated human-rights abuses and denials of basic freedoms.
Van Rompuy noted Zimbabwean moves to create a new constitution as part of a road map to elections, a process launched by the unity government formed by Mugabe and Tsvangirai last February.
"In case of positive developments in Zimbabwe we'd be ready to look at fresh measures," said Van Rompuy. The statement was a big move, given the EU's previous stance on sanctions against Zimbabwe.
The EU last year slapped a 12-month extension on its sanctions against Harare, which include an embargo on arms and police weaponry, as well as the travel ban and asset freezes on Mugabe and his inner circle.
On his first trip to European parliamentarians during his visit in September, Zuma told its foreign-affairs committee that removing sanctions would help efforts to turn around the situation in Zimbabwe, which is emerging from a chapter of political violence and hyper-inflation.
"On Zimbabwe, we gave leadership before anybody else did and the current power-sharing deal was facilitated by South Africa," Zuma said to the members of the European Parliament.
Lifting sanctions "would give a chance to the efforts we are making there and empower the SADC to do more on Zimbabwe," he added.
US
But the US has been unmoved, saying Zimbabwe must show greater respect for human rights and political freedoms before their sanctions on the impoverished African nation can be removed, the US State Department said last month.
The State Department said its top diplomat for Africa and other US officials met three Zimbabwean ministers on Thursday and had praised the economic advances but raised concerns "that political progress has not been as successful".
"Zimbabwe must make further progress for the removal of targeted sanctions," the State Department said in a statement.
"As long as human-rights violations, land seizures, and intimidation of those participating in the political process continue, the sanctioned individuals and entities on the list who continue to perpetrate and benefit from these acts are unlikely to be removed," the statement said.
"Significant improvements in the political environment, greater respect for human rights and political freedoms will result in change in US posture."
But the meeting was described as cordial and the US said it was committed to keeping the door open for further dialogue. -- Sapa and Reuters
Labels: IAN KHAMA, SANCTIONS, ZDERA
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Lift Zimbabwe sanctions: Khama
by Staff Reporter
05/10/2010 00:00:00
SANCTIONS imposed on Zimbabwe by western countries should be removed to motivate the country’s leaders and demonstrate good faith, Botswana President Ian Khama said on Tuesday.
"We appeal to those who have placed sanctions to remove them in order to give motivation. There is goodwill expressed by both sides, even if there are concerns. We also have concerns but let's remove them (sanctions) to demonstrate good faith and see where we go from there," Khama told journalists on a state visit to South Africa.
Khama, who ended his two-day state visit on Tuesday, said “as easily as sanctions could be imposed, they could also easily be removed”.
The Botswana leader – once one of President Robert Mugabe’s harshest critics in the region – appears to have had a change of heart about Zimbabwe’s unity government of President Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara which he admits he welcomed with scepticism back in September 2008.
Khama said Zimbabwe needed to be given a chance to "heal" and the sanctions were not helping that process.
"I was one of the people who were sceptical in the beginning ... but the sanctions as it were are now starting to be a hindrance and we have to call on those imposing them to reconsider their position because the situation is better in Zimbabwe," he added.
Khama said he did not see the urgency of elections in Zimbabwe which Mugabe and Tsvangirai have said could be as early as next year, insisting the focus should be more on concluding the drawing up of a new constitution – a process which has been dragging along at a snail’s pace.
"The process of working on the constitution will take a lot of time," he said, adding that the three main political parties in Zimbabwe might even decide to let a full five years run its course before the next elections.
South African President Jacob Zuma, who also supported the removal of sanctions at a recent African Union meeting, said the political situation in Zimbabwe was a major concern for the region.
"This issue features prominently at the AU. As SADC, we are appealing to global leaders who are applying sanctions that they should be lifted. They're not helping the situation in Zimbabwe. Instead of helping, they are complicating," said Zuma.
"It is based on the belief that the sanctions, as I have raised the matter with SADC, are hindering that country's progress. Hence we are calling for those who have imposed sanctions to lift them.”
The European Union and the United States maintain sanctions on Zimbabwe which they say are meant to punish human rights abuses by President Mugabe's loyalists. The embargo bars European and American companies from trading with some critical state-owned Zimbabwe companies; prevent debt relief for the Zimbabwe government while barring travel to Europe and the United States by President Robert Mugabe and senior Zanu PF officials.
Labels: BOTSWANA, IAN KHAMA, SANCTIONS, ZDERA
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Unite against sanctions, says Bishop Manhanga
Midlands Correspondent
ZIMBABWEANS should unite and call for the removal of the illegal western economic sanctions, Presiding Bishop of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Zimbabwe Trevor Manhanga has said.
Delivering a public lecture on patriotism at Mid-lands State University last week, Bishop Manhanga urged the political leadership in the inclusive Government to desist from name-calling as it defeats the purpose of inclusivity. Bishop Manhanga said sanctions have caused suffering to ordinary people.
"Patriotism also calls upon each one of us to collectively call and work for the removal of all economic and other restrictions imposed on our nation and any of its nationals.
"We must understand the devastating effect of these sanctions on the ordinary people of Zimbabwe," Bishop Manhanga said.
Patriots, he said, should not stand by and watch sanctions decimating the nation. The Bishop said the reality was that the nation had borne the brunt of the punitive measures.
"All Zimbabweans must make a concerted and united effort for the removal of these punitive restrictions. As patriotic Zimbabweans we must collectively see that sanctions against Zimbabwe and indeed any other nation are a declaration of war on a sovereign State, which puts the economy under siege, with negative downstream effects on the vulnerable groups and civilians at large," Bishop Manhanga said.
He also said patriotism of necessity "must make the call for a full frontal assault on corruption. We may not be able to do much to curb the wave of economic restrictions imposed on our country, but we can bring sanity to the corruption that threatens the fabric of our society."
Added Bishop Manhanga: "We cannot sit back and watch with folded arms the continued plunder of our natural resources, such as we witnessed during the Wild West days in the diamonds fields of Marange."
He called for respect of the leadership in the inclusive Government to foster unity of purpose.
Labels: SANCTIONS, TREVOR MAHANGA, ZDERA
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MDC-T executive calls for Tsvangirai's ouster
By: Raymond Utsiwegota
Posted: Tuesday, October 5, 2010 12:10 pm
MASHONALAND East provincial executive has castigated MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, and his kitchen cabinet for subverting the party by running it as a briefcase company and has called for their ouster or risk a wave of civil disobedience. The leadership wrangle has sucked in party national chairman, Lovemore Moyo, who has hitherto been a stabilizing factor in the short but turbulent history of the MDC-T.
In a terse report to the national chairman that falls short of nominating him as the caretaker president, the province expressed outrage at what it viewed as unwarranted vilification of party members such as Tendai Biti, the party secretary general, Ian Kay, the Marondera Central MP, Elias Mudzuri, the national organizing secretary, Elton Mangoma, the Deputy Secretary General, who are part of an educated elite of officials perceived as posing a “real and extra ordinary” threat to Tsvangirai’s tenure.
This comes hard on the heels of revelations by The Insider that Biti and Welshman Ncube, the MDC-M secretary general, have agreed in principle to topple their respective presidents as a prelude to the formal re-merger of their two factions.
“Due to goings-on in the party, we may fail to achieve set-down goals under and behind the current leadership as they have been misleading the nation regarding the party vision, mission, objectives and values.
“With enough respect to the founding father of our struggle, the current leadership of President Tsvangirai is undemocratic and dictatorial as it has sought to entrench itself in power through divide and rule.
“Vilification, through agent provocateurs in our midst, has been used to tarnish images of party members whose moral astuteness is beyond reproach,” the report highlighted.
This was in apparent reference to Masimba Ruzvidzo, a national executive member and blue-eyed boy of Tsvangirai, who the province accuses of debauchery and has been a chief architect of pro-Tsvangirai parallel structures competing with those set up by Mudzuri.
“We note these developments with great trepidation and assure those responsible that it is only a matter of time before people start pushing back, and when we do, the only guarantee is that this sham, this charade of leadership will not be left standing,” a national executive member who requested anonymity added.
The insider said that as the party braces for the national congress next year, Tsvangirai had resorted to using his acolytes to carry out vindictive proxy wars that sought to weed out dissenting voices and replace them with pliable individuals willing to do his bidding.
“The report clearly and concisely lays bare an ill and well conceived plan to install, by imposition or fraud, spineless rubber-stampers who will prop the president’s candidature ahead of the national congress next year,” he said.
The province lamented power struggles that had overshadowed party programmes and given Zanu-PF an upper hand, particularly in articulating constitution making talking points.
“We have watched as fortunes of the party plummet because the President and his inner circle have abandoned our founding principles in favour of political gamesmanship.
“Therefore, we want you, as the national chairman, to superintend over the immediate dissolution of the entire kitchen cabinet, ensure that the President gives you his word of honour that he will not seek an unconstitutional third term of office as well as set dates of the next national congress,” said the provincial executive.
However, the move by Mashonaland East province has received mixed reaction from political commentators, with Professor John Makumbe, a rabid anti Zanu-F critic ranting about shadow and shape, even where none exists.
“This is the work of Zanu-PF period! They are masters of this game. Biti, Mudzuri and all those people are all Zanu-PF operatives,” he said.
Another social scientist opined that move might have been prompted by an urgent need to tackle issues in order to save the party from certain demise.
“What benefit derives when good men watch as the city burns? Better then is proactive evil than passive good,” she said.
With people increasingly becoming disillusioned with the leadership of Tsvangirai, long viewed as the face of the western-funded political party, the province has set the tone for more public spates from other provinces with the beleaguered leader.
Labels: MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI
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Rupiah is a pretender
By The Post
Tue 05 Oct. 2010, 04:00 CAT
A great leader is a leader who puts the interests of the people he or she leads before their own. A self-interested person can never be a great leader. Those who aspire to lead our people must understand what our people need and work to deliver on those needs. It is not possible to deliver to a people whose interests one is not prepared to defend.
It was interesting to listen to Rupiah Banda trying to politic amongst our Lenje brothers and sisters the other day. When he attended the Kulamba Kubwalo ceremony in Chibombo the other day, Rupiah tried very hard to show our people that he respects them and values their support. In his pretence, he even tried to praise Levy Mwanawasa, whom he referred to as a great leader.
In Rupiah’s mind, he thinks that the people cannot see through his hypocrisy and cheap politics. For him, it is enough to say a few sweet nothings to change what the people think about him. Who does not know that Rupiah does not respect the things that made Levy a good leader? Today, Rupiah has embraced all sorts of thieves, crooks and criminals in a stance that is clearly calculated to distance him from the fight against corruption that was championed by his late boss. Going to tell the people of Chibombo how much he respected Levy whilst undoing Levy’s legacy may look like a clever tactic to him but our people are not fools.
By embracing Frederick Chiluba, Rupiah has rubbished Levy’s dedicated fight against corruption. Who does not know that Rupiah, through the minions that surround him, has been running a propaganda war against Levy’s fight against corruption? That Rupiah has been waging this war is clear because some of his propaganda pieces have been published in the state-owned and government-controlled Times of Zambia. There is no way that these articles would be published if they went against what Rupiah wanted. Since he came to power, Rupiah has done everything possible to distance himself from the principled stances that Levy took on national issues. It is nonsensical for Rupiah to go to Chibombo and try to cheat our brothers and sisters that he wholeheartedly supports the legacy of Levy when the evidence on the ground is totally different.
But this is Rupiah’s style. This is what he did when he was campaigning in 2008. He cheated a lot of our people into believing that he was a mild mature old man whose only interest was to continue Levy’s legacy. Rupiah had a way of even pulling his face into a submissive posture which hoodwinked our people into believing that he was a very nice man. Some went so far as to suggest that he was a humble old man who should be allowed to finish Levy’s term. When we criticised him and told our people that he was a dangerous man who was likely to gravitate towards corruption and protecting the corrupt, many of our people thought we were going too far and were unfair to him. How could such a harmless-looking old man be all the things that we were suggesting? They assumed that we were wrong.
It would have been nice for the nation if we had been proven wrong. Indeed, this is one of those times when we wish we were wrong, but we were not. In the run-up to the presidential by-election, Rupiah managed to fool a lot of our people but today, the truth is there for all to see. The man who had managed to hoodwink our people into believing that he was a mild-mannered, mature old man has proved that he is everything but mild-mannered. Under his leadership, the government has become a tool for repression. The only people that survive or do well in anything significant are those who are prepared to be his minions and bootlickers. Rupiah does not allow dissenting views anywhere within his earshot. Those who dare to criticise him or give him advice that he does not like soon realise that Rupiah is nothing but a pretended mild-mannered old man.
Rupiah is as ruthless as he is uncaring. When our people say they don’t want something, they might as well be saying they want him to do the thing they are against. This is because Rupiah does not accept that he can be wrong and what our people are demanding is correct. In this way, Rupiah is single-mindedly determined to do what he wants, when he wants, how he wants with no regard to the views or sentiments of anybody else. This is why we have in the past said that Rupiah is probably the most reckless and irresponsible leader one could ever get. Even if you told him that there was a wall in front of him, he would not listen until he hits himself against it. This is the kind of leader we have. For Rupiah, it seems it is enough to string together a few good words.
What you do or do not do is immaterial. This is the only way one can understand his unashamed utterances on electoral violence in Chibombo. It appears to be a nice thing to say and, therefore, he said it. Rupiah wants our brothers and sisters in Chibombo to believe that he stands for unity and more importantly that he respects the legacy of Levy when that is not so. Although Rupiah could go to Chibombo and claim that he would fight for free and fair elections next year, this amounts to nothing. It is a mere gimmick meant to hoodwink our people. We say this because it is clear that the party of which Rupiah is acting head supports violence and foments it. Rupiah’s comments about not supporting violence is cheap campaign rhetoric which he does not mean.
We have not forgotten that Rupiah failed to categorically condemn violence that was being perpetrated against journalists from various media houses, including ourselves. To Rupiah, it was justifiable for their thugs to molest those that they thought were against Rupiah, journalists included. The only time that we recall Rupiah commenting on this issue, he gave a dilatory answer that amounted to nothing but endorsing violence against journalists. More recently, Rupiah has failed to clearly condemn the violence perpetrated by his party in the recent Mufumbwe by-election. Although all the evidence on the ground seemed to point to a State House involvement through William Banda, Rupiah has found it fitting to keep quiet and not condemn the violence of his party.
Notwithstanding the ridiculousness of his position, Rupiah was quick to blame everything on the opposition. And yet now his own party cadres have come out in the open and told the nation that they run a militia that can be used to silence the opponents and those they believe to be working against Rupiah. This revelation was made by well-placed MMD party functionary and yet Rupiah has kept quiet. He goes to Chibombo and tells the people that he is committed to ensuring that the elections next year are free and fair and yet his party is busy mobilising a militia whose stated aim is to molest those who criticise Rupiah or ‘insult’ him, as they like to say. How can a president keep quiet when such a serious declaration of intent and battle preparedness is made by his cadres? To this extent, we agree with the Mansa Catholic Diocese Vicar General Fr Mambwe Mpasa, who has said that mumbwe pakulila pali eko ashintile.
The transliteration for this saying is that a person like Chiko Chibale cannot make the threats he is making unless he knows that he is well backed up. In other words, Chiko Chibale, who arrogantly announced the existence of an MMD militia, knows that he will be protected by the President and his men, and nothing will happen to him. This is why Chibale can even dare the police by declaring that he sees nothing wrong with making threats on Mongu Catholic Diocese Bishop Paul Duffy. Our people will not be fooled by Rupiah’s empty talk.
His pretence is something they have come to understand. When he says he is committed to having free and fair elections, our people know that that is not something to be believed. If anything, they should expect the opposite. How can a person who harbours party militia be able to protect us from violence? Rupiah is not serious; he is nothing but a pretender.
Labels: CORRUPTION, KULAMBA CEREMONY, POLITICAL VIOLENCE, RUPIAH BANDA
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Sata pledges to run Zambia better than Rupiah
By Patson Chilemba
Tue 05 Oct. 2010, 12:40 CAT
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) president Michael Sata has pledged to run Zambia’s affairs not in the manner President Rupiah Banda is doing.
He said this during a meeting with Canadian High Commissioner to Tanzania and Zambia Robert Orr at Chit Chat Café in Lusaka’a Rhodes Park area last Thursday. He said Zambia was drifting into a very dangerous path on the fight against corruption by removing abuse of authority from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Act.
Sata said Zamtel had been corruptly privatised to LAP Green of Libya.
“As we are talking, the leadership of government are always in the aeroplane. The man where you originally came from was a Johnnie Walker but what we have now is a John flier,” Sata said.
He said the Canadian government helped Zambia to reduce the infant and maternity rates but there was no one paying attention to such issues now. He said he wanted to reinstate human dignity, saying if leaders respected the people they would not steal from them.
“If you respect people you don’t get doctors striking,” Sata said.
He said conditions for paying tax in the mining industry should benefit all, and not only the Chinese mines.
At this point, PF vice-president Dr Guy Scott chipped in by asking High Commissioner Orr if the Canadian economy was on a drive to cut government spending.
High Commissioner Orr said Canada had tried to spend its money on ways which were appropriate.
He said as a result, Canada had doubled assistance to Africa in the last five years.
Dr Scott there were some worries about the conduct of elections because the number of voters captured looked selective.
“I am told that what used to be of Rhodesia and Nyasaland to help each other into elections, we send experts into Malawi. I understand Mr. Robert Mugabe has now sent some experts and we know his style of elections,” said Dr Scott.
In response, High Commissioner said Canada wanted free, fair and transparent elections which would result in the will of the people being respected.
On the same issue, Sata said a free and fair election provided a conducive environment for good governance and investment.
[And that is about as far as they should go in making concessions to FDI. It is time for Zambia to start developing. And that means that the mines pay 50% of their incomes (or more) in taxes to the state. Plus pay a road tax as long as they oppose the rail option and keep destroying the roads with their millions of tonnes of ore. MrK]
“No investor will risk bringing money into a country where they know very well that the person who is in charge of the country has not won an election,” said Sata.
Labels: CANADA, MICHAEL SATA, PRIVATISATION, RUPIAH BANDA, ZAMTEL
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Sata is silly, says Rupiah
By Patson Chilemba
Tue 05 Oct. 2010, 04:01 CAT
MICHAEL Sata is very silly, President Rupiah Banda charged yesterday. Reacting to Patriotic Front president Sata’s comment that he was now soliciting for international trips in order to raise campaign funds, President Banda dispelled Sata’s assertions.
“But he Sata is very silly. I think it is the first time I have to call him that,” President Banda said shortly before his departure for Chipata at Lusaka City airport.
“He hasn’t even phoned me to say sorry about my funeral, which I expect him to do. Traditionally, he should do that. He is a fellow leader and he is my cousin, he should do that. He just has to talk. It looks like he is one of the reporters for the particular newspaper because he has all the time to say something. So let him say whatever he wants to say.”
President Banda said he was recently in Nigeria and met that country’s President Goodluck Jonathan. He said he did not travel out of the country to solicit for campaign funds.
“I am a President. It is so disgraceful for me to solicit for funds. I cannot do that. I have my own country. My own industry is here and everything. I am very proud of you people and I carry your pride with me,” President Banda said. “If he does that himself, let him go ahead and do it, but mine is to attend to our obligations.”
President Banda said he had to attend to obligations, adding that Zambia was a member of the African Union, the Commonwealth, SADC and the United Nations.
He said he did not go for the recently held United Nations General Assembly.
“Last year I didn’t go. He pointing at Vice-President George Kunda went, he went isn’t it? Who went?” President Banda asked as Vice President Kunda responded: “I went to the Commonwealth.”
President Banda said this year, defence minister Dr Kalombo Mwansa was the one who went to the United Nations. He said other Presidents went there also.
“I didn’t go. He doesn’t talk about that because it suits him. He only talks when I go somewhere. Even just going for my funeral, I am sure he will say I am traveling again. But I hope he is human enough to understand that I am a President,” President Banda said.
“I have to travel for funerals, for obligations, different obligations which concern all of us here. So I don’t bother much about him anymore. If he had that much power I wouldn’t be traveling by now. But I will continue to carry out my obligations as President as long as I think it is to the benefit of Zambians. I will do it.”
Sata last week observed that President Banda’s trips were fruitless because they had failed to materialise any tangible benefits for the nation. He said President Banda was now soliciting for foreign trips in order to source funds for the 2011 campaigns.
Asked to comment on information minister Ronnie Shikapwasha’s remark that doctors were influenced by opposition politicians to strike, President Banda said he had not read the article in question. He reiterated his earlier statement that the doctors were negotiating with Secretary to the Cabinet Dr Joshua Kanganja and Ministry of Health officials.
President Banda said he wanted to stay out of such matters until it was absolutely necessary.
“So what my colleague may have said, or is alleged to have said I have no comment on that,” he said.
On the problems in the PF-UPND pact, President Banda said he did not know about the wrangles in the pact, adding that the matter did not concern him or the MMD.
Labels: MICHAEL SATA, RUPIAH BANDA
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COMMENT - The non-payment of taxes by people in the informal sector is NOT the problem. The problem is the non-taxation of $2.5 billion in profits made in the mining sector every year. That is where the money is, and that is also the money that is fleeing the country into foreing bank accounts. At least people in the informal sector spend everything they have in Zambia. Even if it is on imported manufactured goods as well as locally grown food.
CSPR observes govt inertia in implementing taxes
By Kabanda Chulu in Kitwe
Tue 05 Oct. 2010, 04:00 CAT
CIVIL Society for Poverty Reduction
(CSPR) executive director Patrick Mucheleka yesterday observed that the government is reluctant to impose taxes and implement them with the necessary political will to attain revenue targets under its (government’s) fiscal policy.Commenting on
the admission by parliamentary chief whip Vernon Mwaanga that the country’s revenue base has been declining, Mucheleka said there were many ways in which the Zambian government could create revenue other than focusing on the formal sector.
“The latest Central Statistical Office (CSO) Living Conditions Monitoring Survey (LCMS) report states that 83 per cent of Zambians who work in the informal economy, 56 per cent of which is based in the urban areas, pay no taxes at all, and the government is seemingly reluctant to impose taxes and implement them with the requisite political will to attain revenue targets under the Government’s fiscal policy,” he said.
He noted that the administration of VAT had weakened, a development that could largely be attributed to inefficient and incomprehensive ways of VAT collection.
“Many basic measures to ensure maximisation of monies collected through VAT are not adhered to by many commercial entities and there is no notable commitment to enforce them. For example, cash registers; there is still a large section of business going on with no record of sale because of the lack of such simple measures. This affects how much money can be collected by ZRA,” Mucheleka said.
“In addition, Zambia has much potential wealth in the area of gemstone mining, though the sector has remained unregulated. There is need for government to put in place measures that will promote domestic gemstone miners and ensure that reasonable revenue is raised from the mining of gemstones.”
He suggested that the government create more jobs and opportunities through incentives for value addition in all sectors for exportation if it wished to continue collecting revenue from people.
“One of the immediate opportunities will be to create enterprises to add value to agricultural produce. For instance, Zambia can take a leaf from other African countries such as Ghana and South Africa who produce drinks from locally grown fruits such as mangoes and pineapples. Such initiatives can have multiplier effects in Zambia by creating employment in rural areas and adding value to excess produce that will otherwise go to waste. In the current arrangement, there is more incentive to defraud or evade tax,” warned Mucheleka.
On Sunday, Mwaanga addressed a budget sensitisation workshop for parliamentarians in view of this Friday’s proposed budget announcement by finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane.
Labels: CORRUPTION, CSPR, PATRICK MUCHELEKA, TAXATION, VERNON MWAANGA
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