IMF gives Malawi comfort letter, to open aid taps
By Amanda Chiliro, Nyasa Times
June 22, 2012
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on June 19, 2012 issued a letter of comfort for Malawi which will open taps for other donors to help Malawi. President Joyce Banda has since hailed the development.
“God loves Malawi,” said jovial President Banda during a news conference at New State House in Lilongwe.
Banda said the comfort letter will enable donors release aid to the country.
She said IMF recognizes efforts that the country has made in the reforms.
“IMF recognizes that my government has inherited a very difficult economic situation but nevertheless the government under my leadership has made specific measures that demonstrate our commitment to economic governance and particularly, our intention to get back on track with IMF,” said the Malawi leader amid applause from government officials.
President Banda said IMF is also proposing a higher than usual access fund resources of about US$157 Million to address the pressing economic issues.
President Banda congratulates finance minister Ken Lipenga after her statement.
Labels: IMF, JOYCE BANDA, MALAWI
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Three chiefs fight over Great Zimbabwe control
Friday, 22 June 2012 16:07
George Maponga Masvingo Bureau
THREE traditional leaders here are reportedly feuding over the control and ownership of the Great Zimbabwe monument. The stone monument, 30km outside Masvingo town, is where the name Zimbabwe is derived. The chiefs all claim that the imposing and historic monument falls within their boundaries.
The monument was
built in the 12th Century during the reign and dominance of the Mutapa Empire. However,
chiefs Nemamwa, Mugabe and Murinye are engaged in a bitter row over ownership of the World Heritage site.
The Mugabe and Murinye chieftainships belong to the
Duma people while
Nemamwa is linked to people of
the Shumba totem.
Some historians however, claim that they belong to the Bonga totem.
Masvingo district administrator Mr James Mazvidza yesterday said the chiefs had reached a deadlock over who has jurisdiction over the ruins.
He said efforts to break the impasse failed dismally, forcing authorities to stop the process.
“There is indeed a deadlock amongst the three chiefs claiming that the monuments fall under their jurisdictions and we had started efforts to deal with the deadlock so as to allow the Masvingo Rural District Council to gazette a resolution determining under whose area the monument falls. We stopped that because new issues emerged and they need to be sorted out first before the exact boundaries of chieftainships in Masvingo district were designated.
“We are however, going to continue with efforts to break the deadlock once the issues have been resolved and no chief can legally claim to be the rightful leader controlling the monument,” said Mr Mazvidza.
National Museums and Monuments director Dr Godfrey Mahachi said the Government was working with all communities around Great Zimbabwe.
The Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe are the custodians of heritage sites.
Dr Mahachi said Government was not qualified to determine whose area the monuments fell under.
Communities surrounding the ruins belong to all the feuding chiefdoms.
He said they had formed a local management committee with representatives of all the communities around the ruins for harmonious co-operation.
“We know there are contestations over the control of the Great Zimbabwe monuments, but we really do not know the origins of those contestations.
“We are merely there to look after the country’s national heritage resources hence at the Great Zimbabwe monument we are working with the entire immediate communities and we regularly hold meetings where all the three chiefs or their representatives attend.”
He said the committee meets once every month.
“Our objective is just to have a harmonious relationship with the immediate communities around the monument. The responsibility to determine which chief should control the monuments lies with other offices, not ours,” he said.
However, historian Cde Aeneas Chigwedere yesterday said there was none among the three chieftainships who should claim control over the monument.
He said Chief Nemamwa was the first to arrive in the area around the Great Zimbabwe monument which had already been built by people of the Mutapa Empire.
Cde Chigwedere, who is also Mashonaland East Provincial Governor, said the Mugabe clan only arrived at Great Zimbabwe in 1840 and fought the Nemamwa clan to get control of the monument.
“It was the great ancestor of the Nemamwa people called Goronga who by the 13th Century was already at the Great Zimbabwe monument.
“He started performing rituals for members of the Mutapa Empire around that time so we can say before the coming of the white men, Great Zimbabwe was in an area under control of people of the Nemamwa clan that is a fact.
“However, by the time the white men arrived right up to colonisation, the area around Great Zimbabwe was now under Mugabe who had fought and defeated Nemamwa.
“None of the three chieftainships can lay claim to the Great Zimbabwe monuments in terms of ownership because the monuments were built by the Mutapa Empire” he said.
Cde Chigwedere said the Duma people (Murinye and Mugabe) came from Uteve (now Mozambique) around the 1700 and settled further south of the monuments.
He said the Nemamwa clan was already settled around the monuments.
Cde Chigwedere said the Mugabe clan broke away from the Murinye clan and only arrived at Great Zimbabwe in 1840.
The Mugabe clan, he said, fought off the Nemamwa clan from the monument.
“The Mugabe clan arrived at Great Zimbabwe in 1840 and fought the Nemamwa clan whose real totem is Bonga (wild cat).
“Nemamwa joined forces with the Charumbira clan to defeat the Mugabe clan that occupied the area,” he said.
Great Zimbabwe is a World Heritage site and its massive curving walls, built from hundreds of thousands of granite blocks fitted together without mortar, remain the largest ancient stone structure in sub-Saharan Africa.
Labels: CHIEFS, GREAT ZIMBABWE, MASVINGO
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Zimbabwe not under curatoship
Tuesday, 19 June 2012 22:52
What is the matter with our brothers who invest in the banking sector? Given how many indigenous-owned banks have gone under over the past decade leaving many a depositor seething, it seems the thinking is, ‘‘let’s form a bank and lend each other as much money as possible. Bugger the consequences!’’
This is the under-developed middle-class or comprador bourgeoisie that Frantz Fanon decries in his classic work, The Wretched of the Earth.
They are not concerned really about creating wealth for the nation but transient conspicuous consumption, which explains why they over-borrow to support lifestyles they can ill-afford. The end result being the collapse of their nascent businesses, many of which end up under curatorship.
These compradors give us a bad name particularly in this era of indigenisation and economic empowerment. They give white supremacists the ammunition they need by making it seem like we can not run anything bigger than general-dealerships.
Be that as it may, that is not my point this week.
I am surprised by people who want to liken our government over the past three deacdes to the leadership of such banks. People who misconstrue the strategic retreat that is the GPA and regional diplomacy manifest in mediation by Cde Jacob Zuma, the President of South Africa, as akin to curatorship.
It is given that the MDC-T and its cousins in the MDC want to portray Zimbabwe as a failed state, a country that has failed at some of the basic functions and responsibilities of a sovereign government.
Common characteristics of a failed state include a central government that is so weak or ineffective that it has little practical control over much of its territory, has no legitimate authority to make collective decisions, a pariah that can not interact with others as a full member of the international community.
This is why, for instance MDC-T secretary general who is also GPA negotiator, Tendai Biti, wanted Zimbabwe declared a Highly Indebted Poor Country so that it could be placed under the curatorship of the Bretton Woods Institutions.
Having failed in the HIPC bid which would have made it easy for the MDC-T’s western overlords to invoke Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, the so-called ‘Responsibility to Protect’ as a prelude to invading Zimbabwe, the MDC-T and its allies have turned to the GPA.
Zuma’s backroom staff; principally his international relations advisor; Lindiwe Zulu, are conveniently elevated to the level of facilitators even though Sadc made it clear that there is only one facilitator, Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, just like Thabo Mbeki before him.
Lindiwe Zulu and company are persona non grata in the councils of Sadc, and can not purport to speak on behalf of Zuma since a facilitator does not need a spokesperson, and neither can he speak on behalf of parties to a conflict.
All that a facilitator does is help the parties talk to each other. Where they are able to do so, the facilitator has no role to play but where they reach disagreements; the facilitator comes in to break the impasse.
That is the be-all and end-all of facilitation which means a facilitator does not speak for the parties or any of the parties but helps them find each other and speak to each other. But here are sections of our media, carving headlines out of the musings of Lindiwe Zulu who is purported, either through sheer ignorance or utter mischief, to speak for Sadc.
At its Ordinary Summit in Luanda, Angola last August, Sadc made it clear that Jacob Zuma was the sole facilitator and he should have a hands on approach to his delegated task as his reliance on proxies was spawning confusion and procedural irregularities.
As President Mugabe pointed out, in constitutional and administrative law, the principle delegatus non potest delegare, “one to whom power is delegated cannot himself further delegate that power”, holds and bids the facilitator to engage the principals directly. This principle holds in several jurisdictions like the United States, the United Kingdom and our own Roman Dutch law.
So why do we continue entertaining the likes of Lindiwe Zulu whose sole pre-occupation has been to spoil the broth? Why do we continue perpetuating the myth that she is a stakeholder in our politics, and that crucial national decisions like elections and appointments in the security services sector lie within the province of the likes of Lindiwe Zulu?
In their last visit here, Zuma’s backroom staff just barged into Harare uninvited, as if they are now administering our affairs from Tshwane.
It should be pointed out that Sadc appointed Zuma, the man, not Zuma the South African president to be mediator. Msholozi mediates in his personal capacity. If he selects backroom staff, they should be just that, backroom people.
It’s high time we stopped the charade by the likes of Lindiwe Zulu. They do not have locus standi before Sadc and by extension shouldn’t be tolerated when they overstep their boundaries like they did in holding meetings with fringe parties like Job Sikhala’s MDC99 and Wurayayi Zembe’s Zimbabwe Democratic Party. Fringe outfits not only outside the GPA but without representation even at ward level.
What will it take for Zanu-PF to give Lindiwe Zulu the boot the next time she exercises her jaws? For how long shall she urinate in our faces and tell us its raining?
We are not a failed state, neither are we without a government. Infact we are the only nation in Africa that is deemed to pose ‘‘an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States.’’ No dysfunctional state can achieve that feat. Its not as if the MDC-T and its allies do not know this, they do which is why they have poured millions in attempts at regime change.
* * *
Still on GPA matters, but on a lighter note.
Here is to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s GPA wedding! I couldn’t help but notice that the MDC-T leader has slated his nuptials for September 15 this year. September 15 coincides with the fourth anniversary of the signing of the inter-party political agreement that gave him the lofty office of premier when he appeared doomed to opposition trenches, that he — however — has refused to outgrow.
The symbolism becomes even clearer when one considers that bad ole Morgan loves fishing in the Zanu-PF pond given that his bride Elizabeth, just like Locadia Karimatsenga Tembo before her, grew up in a Zanu-PF household. But who can blame him given what MDC-T womenfolk have been prescribing for our nation!
Well here is to hoping there will be no outstanding issues Save!
Labels: NEOLIBERALISM
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When democracy becomes defiance
Wednesday, 20 June 2012 22:49
IN December 2005, CITGO, the Houston-based subsidiary of PDVSA, Venezuela’s state-owned national oil company, flighted a full-page advert in major US newspapers with a screaming header “How Venezuela Is Keeping the Home Fires Burning in Massachusetts.”
The advert was about a programme initiated by Hugo Chavez’s government to sell heating oil at discounted prices to low-income communities in Boston, the South Bronx and other parts of the United States. This was of course an ironic gesture in the strained relations between Washington and Caracas.
The background to this development was an initiative by a group of US senators who decided to send a letter to nine major oil companies requesting them to donate a portion of their record profits to help poor Boston residents to cover their bills. Ironically, the only response came from CITGO, eliciting stinging criticism from US politicians and a legion of commentators who accused Chavez of overlooking the needy people in his homeland Venezuela in pursuit of illicit political ends, sought by cheaply reaching out to desperate US citizens.
This of course is unlike USAID which runs purely humanitarian programmes across the world, regardless of the fact that there are desperate and needy people in the United States. Even Britain can afford to give Malawians hundreds of millions of pounds in the midst of a crumbling economy back home, a purely humanitarian commitment righteously inspired by the genuine charity of the white man towards a hopeless black population. There is no pursuit of illicit political ends whatsoever in these cases and Lady Banda of Malawi is convinced about this.
Chavez’s oil heating programme became a scathing challenge to Washington’s planners of grand strategy, following as it did the noisy protests against George W. Bush when he visited Argentina to attend the Summit of the Americas in November 2005.
Chavez’s help for desperate and poor Americans was like salt to a festering wound, coming at a time the Southern hemisphere began its triumphant fallout with the
US, with left-centre governments taking power almost all the way throughout South and Central America. Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador are triumphantly leading the efforts at independent nationalism against US hegemony in the hemisphere.
This has been compounded by the increasing economic integration of Latin American states, further strengthened by the South-South co-operation featuring major powers like Brazil, South Africa and India, as well as the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) alliance.
China has made significant inroads in the acquisition of raw materials from countries like Chile and Venezuela and the dependency of Latin American countries on the US has drastically reduced in the last decade, a development not so impressive for Washington foreign policy planners.
The major headache for Washington in the Americas is Venezuela, a net provider of 15 percent of US oil imports, whose leader President Chavez is after the kind of independence defined by the US as defiance.
When democracy results in the empowering of local people, it becomes defiance for those that define democracy as the dependency of lesser people on the benevolence of profiteering Western investors.
Right now the United States is so distressed over countries like Zimbabwe and Venezuela for their stubborn pursuance of people-oriented policies at the expense of
profiteering Western corporations, nationalising industries and refusing Western corporations free access to their natural resources.
Despite repeatedly winning free and fair elections in Venezuela, Chavez continues to be labelled an authoritarian and a dictator by the West, facing unprecedented scathing attacks from a ruthlessly hostile Western media.
The rise of Venezuela under the leadership of Hugo Chavez at a time Europe is reeling under an excruciating financial crisis has generated debate on the viability of capitalism, just like it has become increasingly questionable to hold in esteem the imposed notion that Western representative political systems are the standard paradigm for democracy.
Questions over the efficiency of capitalism arise when one looks at protests by thousands of people in Europe against the much-talked-about austerity measures being forced on a resistive population by sheer police brutality and the power of the bayonet. The Economic Restructuring Programmes are so unpopular that they have so far cost France’s pygmy war-mongering leader Nicolas Sarkozy a second term election loss, as what happened to Berlusconi of Italy earlier on.
European governments have very little choice in the wake of pressure from the IMF and the World Bank — institutions that have been forced by circumstances to keep cracking the whip on European politicians in order to force through reforms that favour the survival of Western corporations.
Increasingly liberal democracy is shaping up to be a huge hoax in the face of a China-dominated market, and it is turning out that Western secularism is no panacea to governance challenges. If one were to talk about a perfect example of how the titanic clash between a crisis of capitalism and that of Western representative democracy can inevitably produce a popular revolution, two countries that stand out in the last decade are Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
In Venezuela the popular revolution started in 1999 and it is called the Bolivarian revolution, reclaiming vast tracts of land from foreign holders and giving it back to indigenous Venezuelans as well as nationalising the oil industry and even the financial sector, of course for the benefit of the local people.
In Zimbabwe the revolution is called the Third Chimurenga and it started with the popular reclamation of colonially stolen farmlands in 2000, culminating in the current economic empowerment programme targeting to ensure 51 percent local ownership of all huge businesses in the country, and full control of national resources by the locals. Such popular revolutions are destined to create a new era for the livelihoods of any people, the way the land reforms of both Zimbabwe and
Venezuela have done for the traditionally maligned indigenous peoples.
When a government aspires to benefit its own people at the expense of foreign investors, such a government can be vastly popular at home but will be deemed dictatorial by definition from a Western viewpoint, or precisely from the viewpoint of Western elites.
Both Zimbabwe and Venezuela have been resilient victims of manic efforts by Western media to discredit both the popular pro-people policies and the individual leaders of the two countries — Presidents Robert Mugabe and Hugo Chavez Frias. The idea here is not only to discredit political systems of the two countries but also to destroy the embryo of an alternative society independent of the grip of traditional imperialistic powers. A Zimbabwe with a people reliant on Western investment and aid is naturally more democratic in the eyes of the West than a truly independent Zimbabwe in full control of its resources and wealth.
Both Zimbabwe and Venezuela are facing elections in 2012, with Venezuela heading for the polls on October 7 while Zimbabwe is yet to announce a date for an election meant to end the lifespan of an unworkable coalition between the revolutionary Zanu-PF and the Western-sponsored MDC factional groupings.
In Zimbabwe Zanu-PF is confidently pushing for an election while the West is backing a weakened MDC-T in its cowardly efforts to push for the postponing of elections until the party feels it stands a better chance of winning. The propaganda pretext being peddled is that a new constitution must be ushered in first so that it “creates an environment for free and fair elections.” This is despite that the hotly disputed draft constitution could fail to pass the vote at a referendum to be held any time soon or, worse still, fail to make it to the referendum stage, a situation that could mean that elections would have to be held under the current Constitution.
That scenario would thwart Tsvangirai’s idea of a free and fair election, ostensibly reliant solely on the notion of a new constitution.
Morgan Tsvangirai is scared of the electorate and the military, both groups sharing resentment for the MDC-T’s treacherous politics of pandering to Western diktats, as well as for the puppet stigma that Tsvangirai carries in the eyes of Africans across the continent.
Despite being significantly popular in parts of Zimbabwe, the MDC-T leader commands an aura of encyclopaedic confusion, passing himself as a politician of legendary inconsistencies, like his recent call that Zimbabwean army generals must stay out of politics at a time that he himself finds it logical to hold a political meeting with US General Wesley Clark in Austria — a political meeting whose agenda had a direct bearing on the Zimbabwean generals that Tsvangirai beseeches to be apolitical, simply on the basis that Clark is the face of an enemy to those tasked with defending Zimbabwe, being a former Nato commander.
Despite profuse rhetoric from Western mouthpieces against the personality and character of Hugo Chavez, the man continues to command impressive approval ratings, like the April rating of 57 percent, something that infuriates so much most of his foes in the West.
As expected, Western media have embarked on a furious disinformation campaign against both Chavez and President Robert Mugabe, attacking unabatedly both the Bolivarian and Chimurenga revolutions.
For Chavez there have been shameless efforts at peddling baseless and biased manipulative stories about the persecution of the man’s opponents, especially opposition leader Capriles Radonski, whose party is curiously named “Justice First,” a clear message that a people’s fundamental livelihood can be shelved in pursuit of Western-sponsored rhetoric on justice and human rights. This is why the rhetoric about alleged human rights abuses and retributive justice has become the
MDC-T’s idea of governance policy and election manifesto, vainly trying to impress upon Zimbabweans that matters of civil liberties are more pressing than land and economic empowerment, essentially that civil liberties supersede food and welfare rights.
Zimbabwe we are one and together we will overcome. It is homeland or death!
* Reason Wafawarova is a political writer based in Sydney, Australia.
Labels: REASON WAFAWAROVA
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It’s a shame really and my challenge to all the journalists, starting with Sharuko
Friday, 08 June 2012 22:02
It’s a shame really and my challenge to all the journalists, starting with Sharuko, is to resign with immediate effect, before even this useless Zifa board quits, so that we can get a fresh crop of reporters who have no attachment whatsoever to these football leaders.
In 20 years in this job, I have to confess today that I have never felt as powerless, if not as useless, as I did throughout this very depressing week for a national game that means so much for us as a people.
Twenty years ago, my arrival here coincided with the explosion of the golden period that gave us the Dream Team, Reinhard Fabisch, and memories too beautiful to be forgotten.
This week, as I surveyed the wreckage of our emotions, after the events at the National Sports Stadium, all that I saw were ugly things scattered all around a game that has become a part of the person that I am.
I was just a mere Upper Sixth student, lost in the jungle of Sanyati at a Baptist mission school way back in 1989, when Zimbabwe last experienced the pain that came with losing an opening World Cup qualifying game.
Out there in our private world, detached from the rest of the country going to school every week day, doing sports on Saturday and going to church on Sunday to hear Pastor Ndlula preach, we didn’t feel the full weight of the pain of that defeat by the Warriors.
That it happened away in Algeria, when we lost 0-3, and against a team that was clearly the best in Africa by a mile at that time and, easily one of the best in the world, probably diluted the pain. It was a golden era of Algerian football and seven years earlier, they had shocked the globe by beating defending European champions, West Germany, 2-1 in their opening match at the ’82 World Cup.
That the same West Germany team went all the way to the final, where they were beaten by eventual World Cup winners Italy, put into sharp focus the quality of the Algerian national team of that era.
A few months after handing Zimbabwe a 3-0 defeat in that opening World Cup qualifier, the Algerians were crowned champions of Africa after winning a Nations Cup they hosted — thrashing Nigeria 5-1, Cote d’Ivoire 3-0 and Egypt 2-0 in the group stages. A 2-1 win over Senegal in the semi-finals and a 1-0 victory over Nigeria, in the final at the 5 July 1962 Stadium before an estimated 200 000 delirious home fans, took Algeria to the Promised Land and confirmed their superiority.
Rabah Madjer, Djamel Menad, Moussa Saib, Tahar Cherif El Ouazzanni and Cherif Oudjani were the stars that drove that Algerian team to greatness and the destroyers-in-chief when we succumbed to that 0-3 mauling in Algiers in that opening World Cup qualifier.
But, hidden away in our hideout in the Sanyati forests, haunted by the challenges that my Geography studies threw at me and how to juggle them with my passion for William Shakespeare, the result in Algiers in ’89 came and went quickly without provoking a tsunami in my emotional bank.
Twenty-three years later the Warriors lost, again, in the opening game of a World Cup qualifier and, this time, the proximity of the events at the giant stadium, to every facet of my life, brought the full weight of the pain home.
Having been raised throughout a professional career where the events of Algiers ’89 were somehow avoided, with the Warriors seemingly perfecting the art of winning their opening World Cup matches during that period, Sunday felt like a dagger being driven right into the heart. And, the worst part about it was the feeling of helplessness that swept through my body this week, a guilty conscience, triggered by a sense of betrayal to the ordinary people who looked up to me to say something, say anything as a form of protest, which weighed down heavily on my soul.
Some were bold and said it right in my eye, like the guy I met at the traffic lights on the corner of Samora Machel Avenue and Julius Nyerere Way on Wednesday, who didn’t mince his words and pointed his finger at me for letting a huge constituency down by my silence.
Others were not so bold, and used a battery of third parties, who came from all directions and relayed the same message that there was a strong feeling, among the football fans, that journalism was letting them down at a time when it was supposed to protest and, of all people, I was the main culprit. Others didn’t say anything but, then, they didn’t need to do so because the cold look in their eyes said it all.
They all seemed to be speaking on behalf of Henry Anatole Grunwald, the celebrated journalist who became the Editor-In-Chief of Time, and the message was the same:
“Journalism can never be silent: that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air.”
The signs of horror, as far as they were all concerned, were there for everyone to see but, incredibly, journalism was silent, this was its greatest fault, it wasn’t speaking, it wasn’t doing so immediately.
The Written Protests
Hope Mandiopera
Mr Sharuko, I told you before the game kuti don’t wait to write after the game, see where your praise has got us? Why are you afraid to call a spade a spade? Why can’t you take Dube, Rahman and Gumede to the cleaners? How can they drop a player who plays regularly for Charlton Athletic and field the tried, tested and failed Nyandoro, Nengomasha? I cannot believe Rahman can drop a player who plays regularly for Charlton and prefer those old age-cheats who play in Super Diski. Some of them are close to 40yrs of age. You keep quiet but you are the prominent sports journalist in the country. Where are the real journalists who call a spade a spade?
Zeitgeist Mpofu
How can a team win while playing a boozers’ friendly match? If Zifa is serious, they must do something soon or should resign immediately. We don’t care even if we play without a coach, Rahman seems a lost sheep trying old horses like Esrom and Nengomasha who no longer command first team jerseys at their respective clubs.
Simon Mbendera
Guys, for how long are we going to sit and watch our football being taken to the DOGS like this? The current Zifa board is the worst the nation has ever had and one doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to see that. We need an operation, ‘Let’s Save Zim Soccer’ vakomana, the same way yamakaita that operation to persuade companies to sponsor the most beautiful game.
Farai C Matambanadzo
To Jonathan Mashingaidze, your utterances are uncalled for, Sir. With all due respect, you have failed the supporters of this country. Yes, the hooliganism was the last thing we wanted to happen. It’s bad. If you really had the nation at heart how could you bring back Gumbo considering his shortcomings? When we lost to Nigeria, he was the guy in charge. The players went on a drinking spree and brought women into their rooms. Today he just shows us his technical appreciation of the game. We are all Zimbabweans, Sir, and we love our team. When we came to the ground, we are not coming to see Musona or Esrom. We come because we are proud of our country. Don’t hurt our emotions for your personal ambitions, Mr CEO. We are Zimbabweans and this is our team. Don’t play with our emotions. Imimi ana Sharuko ndimi munonyora mapepa muchipuruzira zvidhakwa izvi. Mapeza came in and pushed us up the ladder and this one is taking us down. Good luck Zimbabwe in Maputo.
Simbarashe Chiminya
Leave Rahman alone, the strikers failed to score and the whole team lacked urgency. It’s only that Rahman has never been the favourite of many supporters and also that he took over at a bad time where there is too much politics and backstabbing.
Itai Musengeyi
The bottom line is Zimbabwe, just like the England national soccer team, does not have quality players to compete at the big stage. The English supporters and their media make so much noise about their national team but it always crumbles terribly. That is the same with our Warriors. Let’s be honest guys. Our star player, Musona, was not playing regularly in Germany, his strike partner Chinyama is said to have fitness problems, Esrom and Tinashe are no longer regulars at their bases and these are the guys we trust with delivering. Hameno!
Shuvai Mataure
Mwana abvunzwa kuchikoro kuti ndezvipi zvikafu zvinodyiwa muZimbabwe akati “rice, nyama nemaWarriors.”
Tim Makoni
What pains most, for some of us mere ordinary fans, is not that our team has lost, because we seemed to know that was inevitable, but that we don’t have powers to change what we all see is wrong with our football. To make it worse, the people tasked with playing the role of supervisor, analyst and critic, the journalists, have suddenly gone into the caves hiding from something that we don’t know. Robson used to be vocal in the past and would hit right on the head but he has since been muted and you wonder, is this all about money changing hands behind closed doors to buy silence and support? You find individuals being glorified today, for doing this and that, and the newspapers and journalists seem to be in a race to become the first to heap all the praises on the Zifa leaders and very little is given to scrutiny. It’s a shame really and my challenge to all the journalists, starting with Sharuko, is to resign with immediate effect, before even this useless Zifa board quits, so that we can get a fresh crop of reporters who have no attachment whatsoever to these football leaders. We are being taken for a ride, as a country, by a Zifa board that has no clue whatsoever about how to manage the game and all they talk about is this and that individual and, the sad part of it, is that they come out tomorrow in the newspapers being glorified for that. I don’t expect any criticism on Zifa to come from ZTV or the radio stations for obvious reasons but, seriously, when things are as bad as they are in our football today, I believe we have a lot of newspapers to take care of the mess. The question is — Why is this not happening? Can someone out there give me an answer please?
The Andrew Jennings Story
Andrew Jennings is an award-winning British sports journalist who has dedicated his life to covering what he believes is wrong with Fifa and the International Olympic Committee.
He has also written a number of books on Fifa corruption and how the world’s most influential sporting organisation runs its affairs from its headquarters in Zurich.
Jennings is banned from Fifa functions but that hasn’t stopped him from his mission.
In his latest contribution in The British Journalism Review, Spinning the Olympics, Jennings asks a big question and wonders whether the spin doctors, who make a living out of giving a beautiful image to an ugly picture, have infiltrated the BBC and other British newspapers.
It sounds very familiar to our challenges in sport today and how the local media is reacting.
“Have dirty tricks spin-doctors from Doha and Zurich captured BBC Sport and its impressive global reach?” writes Jennings.
“These well-funded conmen have already captured some of London’s top reporters in the news agencies and the newspapers. There’s a private club of sports reporters who bring us the news and write about the Olympics. It is called the Olympic Journalists’ Association.
“Run your eye down the membership list and you’ll recognise many of the bylines from the sports pages, radio, television and the wires — Mihir Bose, David Bond, Paul Kelso and Ashling O’Connor — people who cover not just the Olympics, but also Fifa and the other international sports federations. And there’s Charles Battle. No journalist, he. He’s a Georgia lawyer-turned-Olympic consultant who suitcased thousands of dollars in cash from the Caribbean to Florida to win an IOC member’s vote for Atlanta’s bid to host the 1996 Olympics.
“And then there’s John Boulter, former British 800-metre runner, a past member of the once-powerful Adidas International Relations Team and Jean-Claude Schupp, also one of the Adidas team that, from the 1970s, intervened in leadership elections at the IOC, Fifa and IAAF. What on earth were those people doing in the reporters’ club? Whatever happened to journalists’ independence, keeping a distance from the people we write about?
“THE MEMBERSHIP LIST SAYS A LOT ABOUT WHAT IS WRONG WITH SPORTS JOURNALISM, THE LACK OF SCRUTINY AND SKEPTICISM THAT IS ITS HALLMARK.
“Jean-Marie Weber was another member of the reporters’ club. Weber was the bagman for the discredited ISL sports marketing company, handing over US$100 million in bribes to top sports officials in return for multi-billion-dollar marketing contracts for the Olympics and football’s World Cup. That reporters let the media masseurs into their private club is just one symptom of a much bigger problem — lack of scrutiny. Sport is big business, holds huge sway over politicians, and, as London has learned, can be used to eat up acres of land, destroy public spaces, suspend civil liberties and grant preferential tax deals. It is in the public interest that sport should be properly scrutinised.
“It’s so much more fun on the other side. I’ve had a hoot exposing sports secrets over the years. I got a suspended jail sentence in Switzerland for saying that (former) IOC president, Juan Antonio Samaranch was, corrupt — I’m really proud of that.
“I’M QUITE CHUFFED TO HAVE BEEN BANNED FROM FIFA PRESS CONFERENCES AND PREMISES SINCE 2003, WHEN I PUBLISHED A DOCUMENTED STORY ABOUT A SECRET BONUS BLATTER PAID HIMSELF. I TAKE IT AS A COMPLIMENT.
“And that’s another thing. You meet the nicest, funniest people — and the finest journalists — outside the club. “There’s Jean-Francois Tanda in Zurich, lawyer-turned-reporter using the courts to force Fifa’s leaders to publish a devastating criminal investigation into who got the US$100 million in contract kickbacks — from Jean-Marie Weber. There’s The Sunday Times Insight team of Claire Newell and Jonathan Calvert, who covertly recorded some Fifa leaders soliciting bribes — and forced their expulsion.
“When I visit British journalism schools I quote the late Louis Heren’s advice to a young reporter to find out ‘Why is this lying bastard lying to me?’, and Lord Northcliffe’s ‘News is what somebody, somewhere, wants to suppress. Everything else is advertising.’ I invite the students to chant these calls to arms back at me — and they do. It’s very heartening.”
Crying Out For A Jennings
What is very clear, at this crucial moment in our football, is that the game’s fans — its biggest constituency — are crying out loudly for someone like Andrew Jennings, a journalist who takes no prisoners and who can bring out the beast in this Zifa board. Zifa did pretty well to brush me with all the black paint that I was part of the Asiagate match-fixing machinery and they have found that to be a convenient shield whenever I ask questions about why they are doing this and that thing.
There is no doubt that Zifa are driven by a boiling passion to silence me and the number of damning letters they have written everywhere, in this country and around the world over the past year, trying to gag me, confirms just that. The good thing is that not everyone on the board subscribes to that and, as so often happens, the leaks come out and you get to know of what is being planned and what has so far been done.
Some of the stuff is very scary, some of the stuff I don’t even lose sleep over and some of the stuff is just what you expect from guys in a corner.
The Zifa leaders are right to question why, if Asiagate happened on such a scale, the journalists missed it and wonder, as they always do, if that miss was deliberate because of certain personal interests. The Italian fans are also right to question why, if match-fixing repeatedly happens on such a grand scale in their country, their journalists, in a country that has the Gazetta delo Sport newspaper, seem to always miss it and wonder if those misses are deliberate because of certain personal interests.
Turkish fans are right to question why, if match-fixing keeps stalking their football the way it does, their journalists always seem to miss it, when it happens, and wonder if those misses are deliberate because of certain interests.
Until The British Sunday Times secretly recorded Amos Adamu and his Fifa colleagues, asking for bribes, we all believed votes for World Cup hosts were transparent and the public have a right to ask, now that they know that wasn’t the case, why the global media didn’t pick that out early. But what this shows is that there are misses and hits in this industry, and it might not be all related to personal interests, because if we go the way some Zifa leaders have gone with Asiagate, then the Gazetta delo Sport, would have long closed because they keep missing all the Italian match-fixing scandals when they happen.
All the Turkish football writers, using this same template, should also be fired because, just like their Italian counterparts, they keep missing the match-fixing scandals when they happen and only catch up with the story later after police raids.
Andrew Jennings reveals in his presentation that henchmen have been hired to try and nail him and Peter Hargitay, a Swiss-Hungarian crisis manager, even tried to rubbish him by telling a British newspaper that he used to be a member of the Communist Party, just like Lord Triesman, then the FA chairman and leader of England’s 2018 World Cup bidding team, and they studied at the same university.
While Lord Triesman was indeed a former Communist Party member, Jennings wasn’t and, crucially, they never went to the same university. But in football such gossip can be taken as fact and when Lord Triesman testified in British Parliament about the failed England 2018 World Cup bid, he said something revealing about his visit to Blatter in Zurich.
“The first part of it involved him (Blatter) interrogating me as to whether Andrew Jennings was one of my very close friends and whether we had been to university together,” said Lord Triesman. “I think he was surprised to hear, because he had been briefed that that was the case, that we didn’t know each other at all. Anyway, he was deeply concerned about that and he pressed that point at some length.”
There is one last connection I have with Andrew Jennings and it’s something being used against us by those who suffered our scrutiny back in 2006.
“I reported on the vast ticket rackets run by (then) Fifa vice-president Jack Warner. Viewers saw him threaten to spit on me at Zurich airport,” writes Jennings in his presentation.
“In another encounter, on the street in Trinidad, Warner told me: ‘Go f*** yourself.’”
Warner, of course, is gone but others remain in the trenches today. No prizes, of course, for guessing.
To God be the Glory!
Come on Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Musonaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
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Labels: JOURNALISM
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McDowell International’s licence cancelled
Thursday, 21 June 2012 12:00
Business Reporter
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has cancelled the licence for McDowell’s International, a money-lender, for contravening the Banking Act and illegally mobilising US$4 million in deposits. McDowell’s International’s licence was cancelled after the company failed to adhere to ethical business practices and for charging exorbitant lending rates, averaging 600 percent per annum.
Depositors are now failing to access these deposits, prompting the central bank to liquidate the institution to compensate the depositors.
“Proceedings for the liquidation of the institution have commenced and the liquidator will be mandated through the High Court to dispose of the institution’s assets, including recovery of funds siphoned from the shareholders’ companies in order to reimburse the duped members of the public,’ said the RBZ.
In terms of the Banking Act, money-landing institutions are not allowed to accept deposits, which is the preserve of registered banks.
In a statement yesterday, the central bank said McDowell’s International shareholders admitted to mobilising deposits and charging astronomical lending rates for personal interests.
Deposits accepted by McDowell’s International amounted to US$4,13 million since dollarisation, with a tenure of between three to 12 months.
McDowell’s has 21 branches countrywide and is owned by Mr Member Chipamba and Mrs Linda Chipamba, with 50 percent shareholding each.
Several meetings were held with the central bank after complaints from the clients.
It is also alleged that McDowells International was deducting loan repayments from civil servants without their consent.
McDowell’s allegedly used the Salary Service Bureau stop order system to deduct the money.
In various correspondence to the Reserve Bank, clients complained of unexplained deductions at 600 percent per annum, which is about 512 times more than the average lending rate of about 25 per-cent.
Clients were not presented with the interest rates calculation. Upon obtaining a loan, a client had their ATM cards and passbooks confiscated as debt security.
McDowell’s also levied penalty charges on the principal interest accrued while they over-deducted loan payments through SSB.
In a meeting with the RBZ on Monday this week, Mr Chipamba admitted taking deposits under McDowell’s International Properties Investments, one of the companies in the McDowells Group.
Mr Chipamba said the deposits were meant to finance the construction of hotels in Masvingo and Bulawayo, as well as capitalising the money-lending business.
He told the RBZ that US$1 million of the deposits was used to fund the construction of Lee’s Inn hotel in Masvingo.
Another hotel is still under construction in Masvingo. In a bid to save the company from liquidation, the McDowell’s shareholders offered to pay back the US$4 million in 12 months, using proceeds from Lee’s Inn.
McDowell’s seven-member board, including the shareholders, has also been declared unfit to hold any significant shareholding or position of accountability in the financial sector.
RBZ Governor Dr Gideon Gono has warned the public to “take heed” that microfinance and money-lending institutions were not allowed to take deposits.
“Members of the public should thus desist from dealing with such unscrupulous institutions and individuals as they risk losing their hard-earned savings to corrupt and greedy individuals,” said Dr Gono.
Labels: BANKING
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ANC hails govt decision
Thursday, 21 June 2012 12:00
JOHANNESBURG — The South African ruling African National Congress yesterday lauded the government’ s decision to invest two billion dollars in the Crisis Fund of the International Monetary Fund, saying the loan would help prevent another global economic crisis.
“We believe that South Africa, as a member of both the United Nations and the G20, has an obligation to join hands with the rest of the world in averting a repeat of the last global economic meltdown in the 2008-2010,” ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said.
At the just concluded G20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, President Jacob Zuma announced that his country would join other countries in contributing to the Crisis Fund, which is part of an initiative to prevent global economic crisis that is threatening the world economy.
The fund will serve as a backstop in the event of further deterioration in the eurozone situation.
“Our contribution together with the rest of the world countries will enable the IMF to intervene decisively using the Crisis Fund that has been established, in the imminent threat to the world economy,” Mthembu said in a statement.
Grouping 188 countries, IMF works to foster global monetary co-operation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.
The ANC said that if the world economy collapsed, triggered by the faltering of the American economy, its impact would engulf the entire world and no country would be spared.
As a result of the last world economic meltdown, South Africa lost one million jobs and its job-creation forecast had to be reviewed downwards and economic growth trajectory had to be equally revised downward, Mthembu said.
“It is therefore in our national interest that we invest in this initiative to prevent future recurrence. We believe that while this is an obligation confronting the world economy’s ills, it is also a secured investment owing to the credibility of the IMF and the interest it will earn for South Africa,” Mthembu said.
Mthembu emphasised that the money is not a donation to the IMF and that South Africa has no capacity to donate cash to the IMF.
“This is an important point to make that this is not a donation as developing countries are not expected to donate to the IMF and therefore this remains a loan to be repaid to South Africa and the South African people as a whole,” he said.
Announcing the move on Tuesday, the South African presidency said the funds would come from the country’s foreign reserves and would be drawn down only if they are needed and only after other resources have been depleted.
If the funds were drawn down, they would ultimately be repaid and continue to earn interest over this period, the presidency said. — Xinhua.
Labels: ANC, IMF, LOANS
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COMMENT - Idiocy. There is no proof whatsoever that circumcision prevents HIV infection, let alone reduce female to male transmission. The only longerm study into heterosexual transmission between sero-discordant couples comes from Nancy Padian, and she found no meaningful transmission at all. (1, 2) The data that claims effectiveness of circumcisin in preventing HIV infection is based on studies that were stopped short when the researchers had the results they wanted ('stopped short for benefit'). That means
there is no scientific evidence that circumcision prevents HIV infection. Khupe, Moyo reveal HIV status
Nip and tuck ... An MP being prepared for circumcision on Friday
22/06/2012 00:00:00
by Patience Nyangove
DEPUTY Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe and the Speaker of Parliament Lovemore Moyo have revealed they are HIV negative as part of a new drive by MPs to encourage people to undergo voluntary HIV testing in a bid to help curb stigmatisation and discrimination.
Some 181 Members of Parliament took part in the voluntary public HIV testing and counseling exercise Friday while another 23 were circumcised. Circumcision is said to reduce female-to-male transmission of HIV by up to 60 percent.
Khupe said she was initially scared of going for the test when Blessing Chebundo, who is chairs the Zimbabwe Parliamentarians against HIV and Aids (ZIPAH), phoned Thursday asking if she would take part in the programme.
“Initially I was afraid of going for HIV testing, but on second thought I said to myself if I took cancer head on I will manage HIV. When I got to Parliament, staff from the New Start centre where waiting for me,” she said.
“I was tested and told to come back for my results after 20 minutes. I went into the Speaker of Parliament’s office; I was so jittery that I said no to the food he offered me.
“After the 20 minutes I went to get my results and I was told I am HIV negative. Normally I do not get excited about things but yesterday I was excited about my test results.”
Moyo said he was lucky to test HIV negative.
“This public VCT and male circumcision exercise which began on Wednesday is a demonstration by Members of Parliament having heeded calls of HIV and Aids organisations and activists who called upon the leadership of this country to lead by example,” he said.
“In response to the calls the MPs have voluntarily submitted themselves to public testing and circumcision. Indeed this is a demonstration of leading by example. Yesterday (Thursday) I led from the forefront as head of Parliament.
“I now know my status. I was lucky to be tested HIV negative and I am happy. I say I am lucky because all of us do indulge and are also targets of this scourge.”
MDC-T MPs Gift Dzirutwe and Paul Mazikana were among the 23 lawmakers who stepped into a mobile clinic set up inside the parliament building to undergo circumcision.
“The only person I feel sorry for is my wife who for the next six weeks won’t have sex, however after two weeks I will try to cuddle her and see what happens,” said Dzirutwe.
Mazikana added: “It was painless, as I was lying on the bed and the team was cutting my instrument (penis) I was thinking of my wife who went through the same process while giving birth because she had stitches, so I have done this for her that she will reduce chances of getting cervical cancer and also that I am always smart.”
Zimbabwe is targeting to have 1.2 million boys and men circumcised by 2015 but campaigners have warned that the procedure should not be seen as a green light for people to have unprotected sex.
“Circumcision is not a magic bullet but part of a prevention package. There is a lot of misconception out there and we are appealing to the media to help us communicate that circumcision is not a magic bullet,” said Dr Owen Mugurungi and HIV and TB specialist with the Ministry of Health.
“The media has to educate the community not to move around looking for circumcised men with the intention of not using protection when they have sex.
“Women are now looking for men who are circumcised and they do not want to use condoms. We should not be creating false hope.”
Zimbabwe has 1.1 million people living with HIV, including 150,000 children, according to the National AIDS Council.
*********
(1) Padian, N. and Pickering, J., "Female-to-male transmission of
AIDS: a re-examination of the African sex ratio of cases",
JAMA 256:590
(2) Padian, N.S., Shiboski, S.C., Glass, S.O., Vittinghoff, E.
(1997), "Heterosexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV) in northern California: Results from a ten-year study", Am. J.
Epidemiol. 146:350-357.
Labels: CIRCUMCISION, HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS
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Use natural resources to fight poverty - Brown
By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone
Fri 22 June 2012, 13:25 CAT
POVERTY reduction, education and health care needs to be enhanced by fully utilising the natural resources that are in abundance in Zambia, says a conservation director.
In an interview in Livingstone, Mathew Brown, who is African regional conservation director for
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) based in Tanzania, said when communities felt they were not deriving the benefits out of the natural resources, they resort to abusing the source for their own gains.
"Africa still has a lot of natural resources that are of commercial interest and we are encouraging communities to get involved, a lot of threats to forests and wildlife comes from the communities, so what TNC aims to look at is how these resources can be utilised to the benefit of poverty reduction, education and health care," Brown said.
He said TNC works in 33 countries worldwide while in Africa it has operations in Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Namibia and Gabon.
Brown said the TNC got involved in supporting Community Based Resource Management (CBRM) because of the realisation that when communities got benefits from the natural resources, they got involved in their management.
"Mulobezi Game Management Area (GMA) still has great opportunities to manage natural resources for the benefit of the community and during the Mulobezi Community Conservation Action Planning workshop held at Protea Hotel we saw great political will from the district commissioner Pascalina Musokotwane," Brown said.
He added that TNC would continue to operate in the Kafue National Park and Mulobezi as long as there was need to help sustain the natural resources for the benefit of the community.
"We should not only focus on anti-poaching and forestry preservation, doing so leads to poaching," he said.
Labels: ENVIRONMENT
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CSOs protest over 'unfair share' from mines
By Gift Chanda
Sat 23 June 2012, 13:22 CAT
A CROSS section of civil society groups interested in the mining industry on Thursday demonstrated and pelted organisers of Zambia's second international mining conference in Lusaka over what they described as "unfair share" from the natural resources.
The civil society groups, who were also attending a parallel mining conference in Lusaka dubbed: 'Mining in Zambia; who benefits?' denounced investors in the mining industry over lack of attention on communities they operate in.
The interest groups, who were drawn from Europe and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) including Zambia, accused investors of ripping Zambia off its mineral resource and leaving very little benefits for the locals.
Carrying placards, some which read; "We want our money! Where is it?", "Let's have a fair share of the profits", the CSOs convened at the new Government Complex where the international mining and energy conference was taking place and denounced the investors operating in Zambia, Africa's top copper producer.
They regretted that despite Zambia being endowed with mineral resources, more than 60 per cent of its 13 million populace live under the poverty datum line.
The interest group also reminded the government on its pre-election promise to re-introduce the controversial windfall tax.
According to a communiqué, the civil society groups demanded among others, increased benefits from the mining sector.
They demanded that the government revises the current mining tax regime in a way that would enable it collect commensurate royalties on mineral sales, gross production and tax on mining profits.
"The existing tax regimes in the mining sector are inadequate and undermine the socio-economic benefits for Zambians from the extractive industries. This has resonated from lack of transparency and accountability across the whole mining value-chain, coupled with narrow scope and levels of the fiscal arrangement," read part of the communiqué.
"The multinational corporations continue to undermine and manipulate national laws, standards and regulations, resulting in the worsening of the situation on the ground. In addition, the Zambia Revenue Authority's limited capacity to monitor, collect and enforce tax laws has worsened the status quo."
They demanded that mines be owned 51 per cent by indigenous people to have a fair share of the profits realised from mining activities.
Presently, most mines are majority owned by foreign companies who are allowed to externalise 100 per cent profits under the Zambian laws.
"As owners of the natural wealth, we demand that Zambians be given the first priority in owning, prospecting and awarding of contracts," they stated.
"It is also imperative that Zambia's government monitors and controls capital flight."
Additionally, they asked the government for a clear, transparent and consistent contract awarding mechanism ostensibly resulting in maximising the benefits of extractive industries while promoting ethical investments.
The interest groups noted with concern that the Zambian government lacked the political will and capacity to negotiate contracts that should result in maximising the benefits of mining, while promoting ethical investment.
"Realising that mining contracts are shrouded with secrecy, we demand that there must be a clear, publicly disclosed and consistent contracting mechanism," they stated.
"The government must review all current extractive contracts based on best environmental management and social standards. Parliament should be actively be involved in the ratification of mining contracts to protect the interest of the Zambian people and enhance accountability."
Participants for the parallel indaba that was held under the auspices of the three Church mother bodies namely: Council of Churches in Zambia, Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia and Zambia Episcopal Conference, were drawn from South Africa, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and United Kingdom.
Labels: CSO, DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS, MINING, TAXATION, WINDFALL TAX
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Opposing endlessly and senselessly
By The Post
Sat 23 June 2012, 13:25 CAT
FOR the opposition to win the trust, confidence and support of the people, they need to do more than just wagging their tongues. To be taken seriously, the opposition needs to start giving expression to convictions.
It is not just a matter of ganging up or congregating against the political party in power. The coming together of the opposition doesn't guarantee them any victory. Moreover, in the last elections MMD and UPND worked together but still lost the election.
And today all those opposed to the PF government have forgotten their mutual scores and have fallen weeping into each other's arms, raising the burner of hatred, bitterness and anger against the PF and its government.
It is not the number of political parties that come together that really matters. It is the quality of their work that counts most. The people are wise - wiser than some opposition politicians may think. Therefore, there is need to talk sense to the Zambian people and tell them the truth.
There is need for the opposition to realise that if they want to be respected and taken seriously by our people and win elections, they have to act up to different standards than the ones they have so far been following.
Let's face it, childish attacks on those in government and implausible promises don't win public confidence and trust. And they also don't win one elections.
It's only central and fundamental issues that will determine the outcome of the opposition's political work.
When a prolonged, stubborn and heated political struggle is in progress, there usually begin to emerge after a time the central and fundamental points at issue, upon the decision of which the ultimate outcome of the campaign depends, and in comparison with which all the minor and petty episodes of the struggle recede more and more into the background.
That, too, is how matters will stand in the political campaigns of the opposition, which for the last nine months has been riveting their attention.
Those in politics shouldn't think that our people are fools and all they need to do is speak and they will follow. They are not in politics because they are more intelligent than everybody else. There are many people who are not in politics but can be said to be wiser than those in politics.
And our politicians shouldn't over-value themselves and start to think that they are very special. Our people are not interested in them for the sake of it. They are supporting them so that they can win themselves material benefits and live better and in peace. They want to see their lives go forward and guarantee the future of their children.
It is therefore very important that our opposition politicians understand very well why they are still in opposition today, why they didn't win the last elections. They should begin by recognising the scale of their problems. What messages were they sending to the people? Were they associated with the most disagreeable messages or thoughts?
Were they thought to favour greed? Were they thought to be arrogant and out of touch? Were they thought to be insensitive to the plight of the people? Where did they stand on the issues of corruption? How well-organised are they? How is their appeal spread across the width and breadth of our country?
Our people are evaluating those in the opposition in terms of their competence and their reputation for honest and selfless dedication to the common cause. They are weighing them in the balance of truth, justice and unselfish service.
It is necessary to remind our opposition politicians that politics is for the good of the people and the country, and not for a political survival of any individual or party. In fact, if this was the case, if the spirit of the primacy of the common good were to animate all the parties, we would not be witnessing the petty politics which leaves the public dismayed and disheartened.
The activities of our political parties should be anchored on ideals and principles and not on tribal or personal cult. The campaigns of our politicians should avoid sectionalism and look for the common good of all people and enter into sincere dialogue with other opponents, even in cases of political divergence.
If our opposition politicians are to make a positive contribution to the governance of our country, they should start addressing themselves to the real issues so that our people can know what ideas they have on problems that really matter: cost of living, unemployment, corruption, poor services in education, health and government offices. Zambia needs patriotic politicians; people who place national interests before personal ambitions.
The opposition needs to conduct itself in a manner that engenders public trust and confidence. As for the ruling party, fulfilling their promises is of great importance. The Zambian people will only continue voting for them if they fulfil their promises and remain loyal to the people. People are loyal to those who are loyal to them. The people have faith in those who have faith in them.
Opposition politics, to be of value, must not be guided by the wish to destroy those in government; and by the determination to be elected. That is not a recipe for winning public confidence and trust. They should not look to defeat those in government on the back of national failure. There will be sufficient grounds without that to argue for their removal.
Those who are in the opposition today are there because they failed to win more public trust and confidence than those in government. This is what they need to work on. But it requires better and different organisation. They need to spread their appeal and attract different sorts of people: different ages, social types, ethnic groups and cultures.
They need to get straight what their core beliefs are. Jumping from one pact or alliance to another will not do, will not win them any election. This is so because no popular alliance, no true alliance can be built on the shifting sand of evasions, illusions and opportunism. Opportunists don't attract respect and loyalty for long.
This is so because an opportunist, by his very nature, will always evade taking a clear and decisive stand, he will always seek a middle course, he will always wriggle like a snake between mutually exclusive points of view and try to 'agree' with both and reduce his differences of opinion to petty doubts and so on and so forth. In a word, the opposition needs to seriously re-examine its political methods, strategies and tactics.
Failure to do so will leave them jumping around like monkeys from one issue to another without knowing exactly on which tree they are going to settle. Opposition politics do not mean opposing endlessly and senselessly everything that is said or done by those in government.
Labels: HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, MMD, UPND
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HH is unstable, says Nawakwi
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe in Rio Janeiro, Brazil
Sat 23 June 2012, 13:25 CAT
HAKAINDE Hichilema is an unstable politician who is not serious enough to deserve my attention, says Forum for Democracy and Development president Edith Nawakwi. And Nawakwi described Hichilema as a kadansa and that he has run down the once vibrant UPND.
Reacting to Hichilema's attacks on her for being part of the Zambian delegation to the Rio+20 - the United Nation's organised conference which is the biggest summit on sustainable development, Nawakwi (left) said she believed her expertise in the field of energy was crucial to Zambia during the meeting.
"I am a mature politician and if the UN is setting an agenda for the next 20 years - an agenda that will live beyond Patriotic Front, and I am a politician aiming to be head of State, I want to be involved in the crafting of world policies that will affect the world for the next 20 years," Nawakwi said.
"It is good training if you find a head of State who think that the opposition are part of government."
Nawakwi said she would not be drawn in discussing petty politics which did not help in improving lives of ordinary Zambians.
"I do not believe that this kind of altercation that people are going through is necessary but they have their own position and I am proud that I have been part of this process," she said.
"If you are talking about becoming a leader in 10, five years' time, you need to know what the world is thinking about the green economy and how we can eradicate poverty. As a country, we go through elections. The next election is in five years, we cannot wait to advise the president in 2016. We need to sit with the President to find out if he is having difficulties and how we can assist better the outcome of whatever policies he is implementing. As opposition, we don't have the mechanism to influence the decisions of government. If we keep ourselves away when we are called to serve, I don't want to engage in this odious debate. There is a debate about people looking for jobs; you will be the first one to defend me that I am a very stable politician. I am very well-exposed and I appreciate this gesture and it gives you a different perspective; if a head of State steps out of his box to try and offer the opportunity for the many people whom he thinks are able to contribute."
Nawakwi said it was regrettable that Hichilema launched a personal attack on her and Elias Chipimo Jr, accusing them of failing to run their political parties when there was evidence to show that Hichilema had rundown the once vibrant UPND.
"Some of my colleagues who are talking have been in UDA 2006 failed alliance of FDD, UPND and UNIP with us before; they didn't complain. They were not looking for jobs. They moved from us and went and formed an alliance with PF, they left the pact, and they went to form another pact with MMD. They have been moving around with great sense of instability," she said.
"That is clearly very narrow thinking because the same leaders who are complaining, why are they in the opposition? It is to form government. They want to be presidents and why do they want to be presidents? Some of them say I just want to serve you; but we will pay them a salary. They are with people who have been on previous trips with previous governments…The Zambian people will judge."
She advised Hichilema to do an introspection and quench his anger over President Sata's victory.
"On a very personal note, I don't know why Hakainde is so bitter. He needs to be advised to calm down and see things in an objective way. Every time he is talking, it's bitterness. I don't understand," she said.
"When he couldn't go through in 2006, he said it was because I didn't campaign for him; he left the pact and now, he is very, very bitter and I personally feel so sorry for him because leadership is about accepting your situation. He's been looking for pacts here and there. Why? Because he has failed to run his party and that is why he looks for pacts. We don't look for pacts."
Nawakwi said President Sata needed the support of the country and to be criticised where it was necessary.
"He Hichilema knows I am his elder sister. I think he is not serious. I feel sorry for him because he has lost a lot of chances to contribute to this country. You will recall that he was with us; he just came and said he was better qualified, late president Levy Mwanawasa tried to persuade him to work with him but he refused, he said MMD ni chimbusu, but now he is in bed with the MMD," she said.
"That shows a lot of instability. I feel sorry for him. He was the first one to make a pact with MMD without even his party approving and he was the first one to walk out and chastises PF. That shows a very high level of immaturity and instability and I am a much more mature politician than he is. President Michael Sata came on the popularity of change; people gave him a mandate and we have no right to think that we shouldn't support him, because not supporting him - I am not talking about getting a job - support the policies that the people put him there for. Let President Sata fail on his own and the people will tell him, he has failed."
Nawakwi advised Hichilema to build an agenda to market himself to the Zambian people.
"Let us not criticise even where there is no need for criticism," Nawakwi said.
"From day one when the President went into office, the criticism started from Hakainde and that's why I am quiet. This is the only election other than 1991 when the people gave someone overwhelming majority. You sit and watch what they are doing because the people have a reason for selecting one out of 10 to go to State House; it is not electioneering every night, every day. There is a myth in Zambia that the louder you talk, then you get known by the people! In fact, the more you talk, the worse off you are these days in Zambia because people will see that you have no agenda. We as politician have no agenda, so, every morning people look at the paper to say 'what is latest?' and that become the political agenda for that day."
She said attending such a high-level dialogue meeting which drew about 104 heads of state and governments' and 50,000 delegates could not be classified as worst of time by a serious politician.
"You mean the Prime Minister of Australia who is here has nothing to do? You mean she doesn't have a country to run? The French President Francois Hollande is here…Hu Jintao has no country and Communist Party to run? Can you imagine that kind of myopic and childish thinking! It's only someone who has been taken from a technical job and given a position on a silver platter, a party to run, who can be thinking like that. Don't draw me into these debates. His view is that if he yaps too much, then he can easily unseat the President. But you reporters must tell him the people of Zambia gave the mandate to one person. The next time we are having elections is 2016; it doesn't matter how hard we shout, even standing on top of FINDECO House, the people of Zambia are not ready for an election and the mandate given to President Sata by the Zambians is still on. Hakainde is rewinding like a reel."
"HH is not a politician. He will say the same thing one million times and he doesn't even sound any better or worse. I actually feel sorry for him. Our level of education has deteriorated to a level where even people who have gone inside of a classroom like HH have come out schooled but not educated. All I can say is that he is the new Kadansa. President Sata is president until 2016 and no matter how much I criticise him, he has the instruments of power. In the meantime, the people who are suffering are the children, the youths and the children. It is important that we give the President unfettered advice, fully knowing that this is genuine advice. Zambia can only be developed by Zambians."
And Nawakwi said although the Rio+20 conference did not meet the key aspirations of developing countries - achieving funding for environmental sustainability development initiatives - the outcome provided a bedrock for future engagements.
She said there was need for Zambians to take advantage of the ongoing constitution-making process to ensure rights that facilitated the achievement of sustainable economic development and poverty alleviation were prioritised.
"Unfortunately, in Zambia we dwell on trivialities. If we can put water as a right in the UN documents, then sure that is what we are putting in our proposed draft constitution," she said.
"That is what we are saying that people must have justiceable rights to water, education…it is good to leave a home environment and come an gear where people are saying 'we need to have more women in politics'. In the UN itself, there are departments truly it is said we want 50-50 per cent representation. Unless you provide for equality, equitable socio-political development, you will not be able to achieve the green economy. So, what the Rio+20 meeting has been focusing on is how we can galvanise our women to participate fully in the economic development of the world, taking into account of practices and technologies that want to uplift the social and economic status of women while taking care of the environment," said Nawakwi.
Labels: EDITH NAWAKWI, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, UPND
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Opposition has lost it - Mangani
By Christopher Miti in Chipata
Sat 23 June 2012, 13:24 CAT
LAMECK Mangani says the opposition in the country has lost it by concentrating on taking over office instead of providing checks and balances. And Mangani says the UPND still has a lot of work to do if it is to form government.
Commenting on the current state of the opposition politics, Mangani, the former home affairs minister, said the opposition had concentrated much on issues like the Judiciary which were already being handled by the other wings.
"The opposition has lost it; right now we have a very important document, the constitution. Instead of educating their members on the key areas on the draft constitution so that they can effectively contribute what they want to achieve in the whole constitution, the opposition spend more time on issues which can be handled by the other wings. For example, we have talked too much about the court and Judiciary and so on but these matters are before court," Mangani said.
"There are issues relating to job creation which are very critical and they (opposition) are supposed to help government sort out some of these problems. They are concentrating much on issues relating to 'taking over'. They want to frustrate so that they take over, but it doesn't work like that. A good opposition should provide checks and balances, that's the most important matter," he said.
Mangani said there were so many areas that the opposition could help government to improve.
"I think they (opposition) are handling very infertile issues that are not helping the welfare of the people in the country. Another part is that when you advise, you should refrain from vulgar language because when you are using very abusive language, your advice will not be appreciated. Some of the areas that the opposition could be addressing could be good but the people that you want to advise will not listen because of the manner you are presenting your advice," he said.
And Mangani said the UPND had not yet produced a national character.
He said the UPND should have a membership throughout the country.
"The UPND is basically in Southern Province and nowhere else, so they have a lot of work to do if they are to form government. They have to produce a national character and a national character means that they should be an opposition that is very attractive; they should have a membership throughout the country. That is a lot of work than just target on a few statements made by President Sata; it will not help them," Mangani said.
Labels: LAMECK MANGANI, MMD, UPND
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Mutati steps down as leader of opposition
By Ernest Chanda and Kombe Chimpinde
Sat 23 June 2012, 13:25 CAT
LUNTE MMD member of parliament Felix Mutati has resigned as leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, citing politics of polarisation in the party. The MMD currently falls short of the required numbers to be recognised as the official opposition in the House.
At the moment a political party is required to have 53 seats in order to lead the opposition in the National Assembly.
After losing three seats through parliamentary petitions and the death of former vice-president and Muchinga MMD member of parliament George Kunda, the MMD has remained with 51 seats.
On Wednesday, Copperbelt minister Davies Mwila raised a point of order on whether Mutati should continue as leader of the opposition since their numbers had reduced, and Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Patrick Matibini reserved ruling in the matter until after next month's parliamentary by-elections.
But Mutati yesterday said he had stepped down because of schemes by his colleagues in the party to oust him from the position.
"Over the past few months, some of my fellow members of Parliament have been going around collecting signatures with the view to petition the party to have me removed as leader of opposition in Parliament. I believe in the unity of the MMD and would not wish to be a divisive element in the party," Mutati said in a statement yesterday.
"I have been a loyal member of our beloved party for over 10 years and endeavoured to deliver service to the general membership and the nation at large to the best of my abilities. In the course of my duty, I may have made mistakes but these were not intentional. There always comes a time to step aside and that hour has come for me to gracefully step down as leader of the opposition in Parliament with immediate effect. I request that the national secretary of our party moves to inform the Speaker of the National Assembly on this development."
Mutati who showed gratitude to his supporters in the party said he believed in politics of upliftment.
"Lastly, being committed to the founding ideals of the MMD which I shall always cherish, I have held as my ideal that politics of insistence and polarisation should not take centre-stage in the party," stated Mutati.
Labels: FELIX MUTATI, MMD
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Hazy commitments at Rio+20 disappoint Sata
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Sat 23 June 2012, 13:24 CAT
PRESIDENT Michael Sata has complained that the Rio+20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, closed with hazy commitments shown on the means of implementing the resolution of the conference.
The Rio+20, the biggest summit on climate change closed yesterday after about 100 Heads of State signed a 50-page compromised document in which rich nations failed to commit to funding to help poor countries achieve sustainable economic growth through poverty reduction and investments in economic activities which did not hurt the environment.
President Sata who was addressing the UN summit for the first time after ascending to Zambia's presidency in September last year, said countries needed to build on the platform achieved in Rio de Janeiro despite the summit falling short of the aspirations of poor countries.
"While Zambia is determined to have sustainable development through a green economy and poverty reduction policies as outlined in the draft outcome document, it regrets the hazy commitments shown on the means of implementation at this conference," President Sata told delegates.
"Nevertheless, Zambia continues to implement sustainable development strategies as outlined in our national development plans. The experience and the discussions of the conference as well as the outcome document if adopted will inform the mainstreaming of green economy across the many different sectors."
He said Zambia was, however, happy that the conference resulted in a document which if adopted could lead to implementation of socially inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction for developing countries.
"I wish to emphasise that Zambia will endeavour to work with the private sector, civil society, international organisations as well as cooperating partners to mainstream sustainable development," he said.
"The variance between what we had expected and what is ultimately contained in the draft outcome document, demonstrates the spirit of multilateralism and the attributes of give, take and compromise. It is my government's hope that this Rio+20 conference will not be viewed as an end in itself, but will indeed lead to "the future we want".
"Therefore, I call upon the United Nations leadership to continue fostering the spirit of multilateralism in order to ensure the successful implementation and attainment of sustainable development by all."
President Sata said Zambia was committed to collaborate and work with UN members towards enforcing coherence, cohesion and building a better and sustained development for all.
"I must admit that Zambia like many other countries has grappled with finding a balance of economic growth, social development and environmental sustenance," said President Sata.
"Therefore, Zambia had set its expectations of 'the future we want', with highest consideration and priority, on tackling poverty through socially inclusive economic growth, sustainable employment, renewable energy for all, and ensuring food security which are all anchored on the background of protecting the environment."
President Sata also invited Rio+20 delegates to the World Tourism General Assembly to be jointly hosted by Zambia and Zimbabwe in August next year.
Earlier, South African President Jacob Zuma called on world leaders to renew political efforts towards achieving the millennium development goals (MDGs).
President Zuma urged those attending the gathering to implement the goals and the outcomes of a similar summit held in Johannesburg 10 years ago.
"We regard Rio+20 to be a critical meeting that should agree on how to fast-track the implementation of the sustainable development agenda," said President Zuma, adding that although the debate on the sustainable development goals was gaining momentum, the discussion should not detract or impact in any way on the MDGs.
"Rio+20 has the potential to outline a process beyond the maturity of the Millennium Development Goals in 2015."
The conference in Rio should build on the "concrete and practical experience of approximately 20 years of the implementation of the sustainable development agenda as outlined in Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation".
The themes of the summit included: A Green Economy within the Context of Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction; Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development as well as Sustainable Development Goals.
The gathering is a platform for the UN to encourage leaders to come up with clear goals on how nations can promote sustainable development without further harming the already imperiled environment.
Labels: BRAZIL, MICHAEL SATA, SUSTAINABILITY
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Ronnie hails stance on FoI Bill
By Moses Kuwema
Sat 23 June 2012, 13:24 CAT
IT is nice that the government is taking the Freedom of Information Bill to Parliament, says Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha. In an interview, Lt Gen Shikapwasha (left), a former information and broadcasting minister in the MMD regime said it was a good move that the PF government had taken.
"That is nice, it is very good. Let's discuss it in Parliament because it will be tabled for people to discuss, so we will discuss it in Parliament also," Lt Gen Shikapwasha said.
Asked if the government had addressed the concerns that the MMD had with the bill which resulted in them dragging their feet to table it in parliament, Lt Gen Shikapwasha responded: "No comment until we discuss it in Parliament."
Information, broadcasting and labour permanent secretary Amos Malupenga announced that a taskforce working on a Bill had completed drafting the document and was expected to launch it next week for public scrutiny and comments.
According to Malupenga, the task force comprising civil society, legal experts, Transparency International - Zambia, Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) and other stakeholders had been working on the FoI Bill for the past few months.
After public scrutiny and comments, the bill would be tabled in Parliament.
Labels: FOI, FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL, RONNIE SHIKAPWASHA
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Scott defends donation of fuel to Malawi
By Mwala Kalaluka
Sat 23 June 2012, 13:23 CAT
VICE-PRESIDENT Dr Guy Scott says the consequences of having a failed state within the country's immediate regional borders could be dire for Zambia. And Vice-President Scott says the statement by President Michael Sata during his address to the Rio summit on sustainable development that Zambia was tired of begging is about encouraging Zambians to take greater responsibility for their fate.
During the Vice-President's question time in Parliament yesterday morning, Vice-President Scott (right) said Zambia's hindsight actions aimed at curtailing any of its neighbours from becoming a failed state were tactical.
Vice-President Scott was responding to a question from Mafinga MMD member of parliament Catherine Namugala regarding the government's recent decision to donate fuel to neighbouring Malawi during the mourning period of that country's late president Dr Bingu wa Mutharika.
"While the House was on recess, the government of the Republic of Zambia donated 5 million litres of fuel with a value of seven million US dollars to Malawi but immediately after that we experienced a serious fuel shortage," Namugala asked. "Explain to us the rationale behind the decision of giving seven million dollars away?"
Vice-President Scott kicked off his response with an adage which says, 'no man is an island.'
"Zambia is certainly not an island," Vice-President Scott said.
"The so-called border between Zambia and Malawi is a line; an imaginary line…the risk of having a failed state on one of our borders is a risk that anybody can surely understand."
Vice-President Scott said even the regional powerhouse South Africa assisted Malawi because it was concerned about the situation there.
"I believe it was an appropriate and tactical use of resources," said Vice-President Scott in reference to the donation of fuel to Malawi.
Responding to Nalikwanda MMD member of parliament Professor Geoffrey Lungwangwa's question on what policy direction the government had devised to match with President Sata's statement that Zambia does not need money but technology from the donor community, Vice-President Scott said he has not had detailed discussions with President Sata over the statement.
But he said as he understood the President's assertion, it was meant to make the country move away from its age-old dependency on donor support, which sometimes was not given deservingly but on mere humanitarian grounds.
"He is merely affirming that we should take more responsibility for our own fate," Vice-President Scott said.
Vice-President Scott also said, in response to Monze Central UPND parliamentarian Jack Mwiimbu's allegations that the government was engaging in what it had discouraged the MMD from doing through the distribution of relief food in areas where there were by-elections, that this was not something being done in response to political instructions.
Vice-President Scott said the government was walking a tight rope on the issue of ensuring that it addressed the problem of street vending and making sure that citizens also find some means of survival.
"Until that time we have to strike some form of compromise whereby people can make a living," said Vice-President Scott in response to Lunte MMD member of parliament Felix Mutati's question. "It is a difficult tight rope to walk."
On Chadiza MMD member of parliament Allan Mbewe's question on what he
thought about PF Secretary General Wynter Kabimba's classification of a Vice-President as a 'chola boy', Vice-President Scott said the whole issued depended on what someone made of it.
"You can judge me at the end of my term," he said.
Vice-President Scott said the government had not initially realised the levels of corruption and dishonesty in the Fertiliser Input Support Programme and that the quantity of fertiliser that would be allocated to beneficiary farmers would have to wait until things have been straightened up.
Labels: FUEL, GUY SCOTT, MALAWI
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Mwamba urges solution to crime at Malawi border
By Selina Nyirenda
Sat 23 June 2012, 13:22 CAT
DEFENCE minister Geoffrey Mwamba has urged Zambia and Malawi to find a permanent solution to reduce cross-border crimes between the two countries. During the official opening and closing of the ninth session of Malawi and Zambia joint permanent commission on defence and security in Lusaka on Thursday, Mwamba said issues of security were of prime importance.
"As we meet for the 9th session of our commission, let us come up with the areas of cooperation and strategies aimed at resolving our common problems which include illegal migration, human trafficking, motor vehicle theft, smuggling of goods and other cross-border crimes," Mwamba said.
Mwamba said the success of the commission depended on the implementation of the resolutions and encouraged the delegates to ensure that the resolutions were implemented.
And Malawian defence minister Ken Kandodo said peace and security was an important ingredient to social and economic development of any nation.
He also appealed to the delegates to ensure that the resolutions arrived at during the meeting were put in practice.
Among the government officials who attended the officiating of the meeting which ended today were home affairs minister Kennedy Sakeni and permanent secretary Maxwell Nkole, Malawian home affairs minister Uladi Mussa, defence secretary Patrick Kachimera.
Labels: BORDERS, GBM, MALAWI
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President Sata criticizes donor funding dependency
TIME PUBLISHED - Thursday, June 21, 2012, 9:30 am
President Michael has said technology transfer is critical for the sustainable development of natural resources in African countries including Zambia. PRESIDENT Sata says Zambia’s unemployment problem is a direct result of the poor management of the country’s natural resources.
Mr Sata, who is attending the Rio+20 world conference on climate change and sustainable development here, also said Africa will never develop on handouts but on technology transfer from developed and some developing countries.
He was speaking during a side session on greening the gross domestic product, dubbed Beyond GDP, organised by the head of the United Nations Development Programme, Helen Clark.
Mr Sata said it is sad that a country like Zambia, which is endowed with natural resources, including minerals, water bodies and wildlife, is still suffering from acute unemployment.
“Zambia has only 13 million people, which is the population of some of the cities in the world. But out of those 13 million, it is most unfortunate that a lot of people are unemployed and God will never forgive us for that.
You can keep your money, just give us technology because that is what we need to sustain ourselves. No country has ever developed by begging. That is not sustainable. Africa has been begging for a long time and it is time to make a real difference through technology transfer
“This is so because we have not managed and used our natural resources the way we are supposed to use them, for the benefit of our people,” he said.
President Sata said the well-being of people in general depends largely on how well their countries manage natural resources.He said Zambia has to move fast in promoting sustainable management of its natural resources for the benefit of its citizens.
On technology transfer, the President said this is part of the key to reducing poverty and taking care of the environment across the world.
Mr Sata said Africa does not need aid, in the absence of technology transfer which is known to spur development.
“You can keep your money, just give us technology because that is what we need to sustain ourselves. No country has ever developed by begging. That is not sustainable. Africa has been begging for a long time and it is time to make a real difference through technology transfer,” he told an applauding audience of delegates.
He said global technology transfer would help a great deal in making the world a better place to live in.Mr Sata also said Zambia is greatly inspired by the technology being applied in Brazil, which has helped to enhance the economy of the South American country of 192 million people.
Brazil is able to make fuel from sugar cane and soya and has been managing its energy sector by finding alternative sources of energy.
“That is great technology, bring it to Zambia. We need technology transfer from the North to the South and West to East, for a better world,” he said.
The President also extended an invitation to delegates to attend the United Nations World Tourism Conference which will be co-hosted by Zambia and Zimbabwe in August next year.
“Come to Zambia and see what we have. We will waive some visa requirements and give you a visa on arrival,” he said.
Mr Sata peppered his speech with his usual sense of humour.
“We have enough water for everyone, including the Greeks and Italians. We have wild animals and there is a lot more to see. The only thing we do not have in abundance is whisky and that is because whisky pollutes the environment,” he said.
Earlier, the Prime Minister of Denmark Helle Thorning-Schmidt said she is proud of her country’s contribution to a greener world and Denmark would continue on that path.
She said Denmark runs an energy-efficient economy and no effort would be spared to make more positive decisions for the greater good.
“Inaction can be costly. We have to make good decisions now,” she said with reference to making a deliberate effort to create a world free of pollution and general environmental degradation.
President Sata is today expected to address the conference.
[Daily Mail]
Labels: DONORS, MICHAEL SATA, NEOCOLONIALISM
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