Parasites and Zambian politics
By Editor
Wed 07 Aug. 2013, 14:00 CAT
THE observations made by Alexander Chikwanda, the Minister of Finance, in the small mining town of Chililabombwe, may have far bigger implications on the future of the ruling Patriotic Front and need to be given serious attention.
Chikwanda says most Zambians are increasingly looking to political appointments and favours for survival instead of becoming self-reliant. He told the Patriotic Front Chililabombwe officials that there was too much politicking in the country and over-dependence on government, and that this over-dependence on politics inhibited Zambians from seizing opportunities in the economy as well as beyond the borders.
"There is too much petty politicking in Zambia such that people are not willing to work…" Chikwanda told Chililabombwe Patriotic Front officials. "…everyone in Zambia wants to join politics."
The setting of what Chikwanda said may be humble, but the importance of what he said to those Chililabombwe Patriotic Front officials is far much bigger.
There is need for the Patriotic Front to constantly examine itself in a very self-critical manner because on this lies the survival and revitalisation of the party itself.
Excessive dependence on politics for survival will only lead to one thing: corruption. If all those who organised, campaigned and voted for the Patriotic Front to win the 2011 elections are to be rewarded with government appointments, where will that leave this country?
It shouldn't be forgotten that UNIP, a once very vibrant liberation movement, was permanently destroyed by careerism. This also happened to the MMD in government and we can today see the effects of this on that once popular political party.
The Patriotic Front is also not immune to all this. The squabbling, factionalism that is starting to engulf the Patriotic Front today is a result of careerism, patronage and business ambitions. There is need for them to be extremely vigilant about the grave dangers of abuse of party structures for careerist and patronage purposes.
While the Patriotic Front needs some full-time party functionaries, not all its members and leaders can be on its payroll as employees. And government jobs and business don't belong to Patriotic Front members and leaders; they belong to all Zambians who possess the right skills, experience and capacity.
There is need for part-time leaders of the Patriotic Front to go back to their jobs or businesses and work hard. The number of jobs that can be given to party members and leaders is limited. All the ministerial positions have been filled. And all the appointments to diplomatic missions have been completed. New appointments can only be made at the expense of those already appointed.
And it is this that is causing the backstabbings, frictions and factionalism that we are starting to witness. Of course, there is also the issue of people repositioning themselves for future higher leadership positions in the party. There is nothing wrong with people aiming higher and setting their goals higher. But unbridled ambition leads to more problems for the individuals involved and indeed the organisations in which they are trying to realise those ambitions.
There is need for the leadership of the Patriotic Front to confront head-on the danger of intra-party factionalism before it takes root. This tendency towards factionalism is leading to indiscipline which, if not controlled now, the Patriotic Front will have serious difficulties dealing with in the months to come. Today, junior party members and leaders are allowed to choose who in the top leadership of the party they should respect and who they should denounce.
In a disciplined political party, there is democratic centralism, and higher organs of the party are the ones which deal with the challenges below. Junior party members and leaders should not be allowed to choose who to respect and who not to respect in the top leadership of the party. They claim to be loyal to party president Michael Sata. And once that loyalty is pronounced, then they turn on the same people their party president has appointed to carry out certain party functions. Loyalty to Michael means nothing if it is not extended to the party structures and leadership he himself has constructed.
When this behaviour is tolerated for a long time, opportunistic elements of all hues take advantage of it to institute their own personal agendas. And these personal agendas sometimes are made to exploit regional and tribal weaknesses.
In saying all this, we are not in any way suggesting that there should be no debate on issues and actions of the party and its leadership. They must not allow legitimate debate to be stifled or to be ruled taboo. But as they conduct such debate within their party, there is need for them to guard against the dangers of factionalism. Debate is good because it does help shake up complacency and routinism in a number of quarters. But those who lead the party should ensure that they do not lose the collective political control of whatever is being debated. In particular, they must be extremely vigilant not to allow any debate to become factionally divisive within their party. They must also ensure that external forces do not hegemonise their own debates. These forces will praise one faction and set it against another.
For all these reasons, we believe that the Patriotic Front leadership should now begin to provide some general strategic guidance on this matter. Chikwanda and a few other party leaders have said something on this issue but there is need for a much stronger and more resolute approach to the issue.
Everything that we have said here applies not only to the Patriotic Front, but to all our political parties that want to be better organised. We see factions everywhere. We see disciplinary measures being used to settle political differences, leaving a strong legacy of bitterness and resentment - "the walking wounded". This cultivates a tendency towards excessive defensivism and also habits of counter-factionalism.
We have in a number of editorial comments spelt out the dangers of factionalism. We have clearly stated that experience has repeatedly shown that a party divided into hostile groups loses its militancy. Protracted intra-party strife inevitably results in party members concentrating on discords. The party becomes distracted from political struggle and day-to-day work among the masses and loses its influence.
We note that the Patriotic Front, somehow, attributes its poor performance in last month's parliamentary by-elections to protracted intra-party strife. These are early warning signs of factionalism weakening our political parties.
And unless the issues which Chikwanda is raising are addressed, indiscipline and factionalism propelled by parasitism on politics for survival will continue to be the order of the day. Let politics be a noble service and not a breeding ground for parasites. Parasites shouldn't be allowed to invade our politics.
Labels: ALEXANDER CHIKWANDA, CHILILABOMBWE, PF
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Idea of inter-country market cheers Chililabombwe traders
By Vincent Matandiko
Tue 14 May 2013, 14:00 CAT
CHILILABOMBWE Cross Border Traders Association says it is happy with the government's intention to establish a modern inter-country market at Kasumbalesa Border Post.
According to Kasumbalesa branch chairperson Raphael Chingelesh, the modern infrastructure is expected to enhance business transactions for small-scale traders.
The association has also called on the government to revise regulations on the issuance of border passes by immigration officers to ease the movement of people and goods into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to avoid illegal trade.
Zambian immigration officers currently issue border passes to people from within a restricted radius, while others have to use passports or travelling documents, a trend that forced some small scale traders to use undesignated routes and getting into conflict with the law in the DRC.
This came to light when Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry director for domestic trade Ambassador Albert Muchanga held a consultative meeting with various stakeholders at Kasumbalesa border regarding the construction of an inter-country market. Chingelesh said small-scale traders from various parts of the country who deal in edible products were faced with many challenges due to lack of a proper market.
He said that the only market at Kasumbalesa being run by the local authority had limited space, forcing traders to operate in undesignated areas under difficult circumstances.
The traders cited other challenges such as the poor security situation as they are sometimes robbed of their commodities and finances, poor sanitation situation which was a serious health hazard.
Other challenges brought out by the traders included the inadequate storage and lodging facilities, lack of banking facilities, language barrier when transacting with the Congolese as well as the lack of understanding of exchange rates, which led to some traders being swindled by middle men.
And Ambassador Muchanga assured the traders of government's willingness to help address their challenges and urged them to adhere to all local authority and national regulations during the course of their business.
He also urged the traders to formalise their businesses to access credit facilities from the government to enhance their businesses, as opposed to subletting shops to foreigners once the inter-country market is constructed.
Ambassador Muchanga and his team are touring various border posts in the country with a view to establishing inter-country markets in areas with the highest trade potential.
Labels: BORDERS, CHILILABOMBWE
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Zambians want to benefit from change - Rev Matale
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Wed 04 Apr. 2012, 12:57 CAT
THE PF government must expedite the process of implementing its developmental policies because Zambians want to start seeing the benefits of changing government, says Reverend Susan Matale.
In an interview after gracing the Palm Sunday celebrations in Chililabombwe, Rev Matale who is the secretary general of the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) said people were tired of poverty, unemployment and poor health service delivery.
Rev Matale said poverty and lack of good public infrastructure were the greatest challenges facing the country and leaders must begin to demonstrate the much-needed political will in addressing them.
She said the advocacy of the Council of Churches of Zambia had always been that the government must put in place a good tax regime where investors in the mines would contribute fairly to the national treasury.
Rev Matale said Zambians were in a hurry to see change and the government could not afford to procrastinate in terms of delivery of its promises.
She said the hope of many people, especially the youths on the Copperbelt, was that government would begin to take pragmatic steps to ensure that foreign investment in the mining sector the country had continued to attract would translate into more jobs and equal pay for the locals.
"I don't see how we can make Zambia a better place for all if we have people unemployed, chronic poverty at household level and deplorable infrastructure such as the roads like the situation is in Chingola and Chililabombwe," Matale said.
She said the idleness of young people in districts such as Chililabombwe on the Copperbelt required addressing through job creation.
She said the opening up of mines was not helping the situation as there were very few jobs that had been filled by the locals.
"The people of Zambia are not counting the months but the immediate delivery of services as promised by the PF when they were in the opposition. They were promised 90 days and after that period the people are still anxious about when they would start seeing development," Matale said.
She said the PF government had a task of being in a hurry as many poor Zambians were looking up to the government to improve their situation.
Rev Matale said the church took comfort in the fact that President Michael Sata had pledged to work hard to implement a strategy to end poverty and provide a conducive atmosphere for human integral development.
"The rhetoric that people have to wait should not be the language. People have been waiting since the late Frederick Chiluba's administration when we were told to tighten our belts. Zambia does not deserve to be a country of poor people because it is very rich in terms of natural," Matale said.
Labels: CCZ, CHILILABOMBWE, POVERTY, SUSAN MATALE
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Chililabombwe PF candidate promises benefits from mines
By Misheck Wangwe in Chililabombwe
Wed 14 Sep. 2011, 13:59 CAT
CHILILABOMBWE residents will never vote for the MMD as they have felt what it means to have a corrupt and non-performing government, says Esther Banda. Banda, who is the PF parliamentary candidate for Chililabombwe Constituency, said people in the area have never felt the presence of President Rupiah Banda and had resolved to vote for the PF as the party that had been consistent and progressive.
Banda said the people of Chililabombwe, who mainly depend on the mining sector for survival, had not forgotten that President Banda's government allowed foreign investors to be getting the mineral wealth without caring about the wellbeing of the local community.
She said under the PF government, the people of Chililabombwe would see the benefits of the mines because investors would be compelled by law to remit a considerable amount of money within the communities they operate and employment would be created for many young people who are currently on the streets.
Banda said it was unacceptable that the general living standards of the people in Chililabombwe had continued to go down because of lack of initiatives by the MMD government to enhance the empowerment of citizens.
"I have served the people of Chililabombwe with undoubted commitment and sacrifice in the last five years as their member of parliament. We have endured challenges together and made significant improvements in many areas of need. I have come to believe that these challenges we face as a community will never be adequately addressed as long as we have Rupiah Banda and the MMD government. Our living standards would only be improved with the PF in government. My appeal is that the people of Chililabombwe should relax but work hard to remove the MMD," Banda said.
But MMD candidate Trudy Ng'andu said President Banda had scored several successes for the people of Chililabombwe and deserved their vote.
She said the MMD under President Banda was a visionary party that had created jobs for the people and maintained the mines at the time they were about to collapse.
Ng'andu said the people of Chiliabombwe must vote for her and President Banda because the PF, which was given the mandate to represent the people in Parliament in the last five years had failed to deliver the much-needed development.
Labels: CHILILABOMBWE, MINING, PF, WINDFALL TAX
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Rupiah’s defeat on C/belt assured, says Chililabombwe MP
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Thu 05 May 2011, 04:01 CAT
Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe CHILILABOMBWE member of parliament Esther Banda says President Rupiah Banda is assured of another massive defeat on the Copperbelt as his government has failed to show leadership over the mining sector.
In an interview yesterday, Banda said it was immoral for President Banda to continue claiming that the country was benefitting from the mining sector when poverty and unemployment levels among young people on the Copperbelt were very high. She said
people were angry with President Banda because he sided more with investors than his people who were
not seeing the benefits of massive foreign direct investment the country had continued to record.
“What is the significance of massive foreign direct investment if our people are not benefitting from it? Poverty levels in many constituencies we have visited so far are very high. Many people are jobless and we can’t even talk about infrastructure development because everything that was left by ZCCM is dilapidated,” Banda said.”
“People are now aware that the man occupying State House is full of deceit and they will teach him another lesson.” Banda said it was sad that despite the mines making huge profits, there was no tangible corporate social responsibility that the people could point at. She said the country needed a leader that would compel investors in the mining sector to share the profits from the mines with the people.
Labels: CHILILABOMBWE, MMD, PF, RUPIAH BANDA
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Rev Chilembo laments lack of development in Chililabombwe
By Mwila Chansa in Chililabombwe
Tue 19 Apr. 2011, 04:00 CAT
COUNCIL of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) Chililabombwe district chairman Rev Moses Chilembo says the people of Chililabombwe are not seeing the economic boom that the government talks about.
And the Chililabombwe Ecumenical Church has urged the government to seriously address issues of unemployment, unequal distribution of wealth and inadequate access to health facilities in the district.
Delivering a Palm Sunday message under the theme ‘Jesus is the Ultimate Answer for the World Today’ at Konkola Stadium in Chililabombwe on Sunday, Rev Chilembo said it was sad that despite Chililabombwe being endowed with mineral wealth, people in the area were poor.
“You walk on wealth everyday and yet you are poor. When you come to Chililabombwe, you are greeted with potholes and yet we hear that the economy is booming. What kind of boom is that?” Rev Chilembo wondered.
“We don’t want an economic boom that is just on paper, we want a boom that translates into bread and butter for our people.”
Rev Chilembo said politicians were not the answer to Zambia’s problems because they were just human beings who were bound to change goal posts at any time.
He asked every citizen of Chililabombwe to evaluate themselves and scrutinise their contribution to Zambia’s damage.
“What kind of damage have you done to Zambia? Are you the kind of person who just throws garbage everywhere and expect the council to collect it for you?” he asked.
“If you are, then I’m asking you to change your mentality and not wait for the council. You can do it yourselves, it’s a blessing for you to be in Chililabombwe,” said Rev Chilembo.
He encouraged residents not to lose hope even if they go through challenges because there was hope in Jesus, the ultimate answer for the world.
And delivering the ecumenical speech, Evelyn Miyambo from African Methodist Church warned that unequal distribution of wealth had been known to cause turmoil everywhere it had shown its ugly face.
She complained that most people that were working in Chililabombwe were not Chililabombwe residents because of the corrupt system of employing workers.
She said there were so many sub-contractors being engaged in major mining operations that were offering slave wages and poor conditions of service.
Miyambo also complained that people’s cry for a district hospital in Chililabombwe seemed to have fallen on deaf ears and that merely putting a fence around Kakoso Health Centre did not mean that the institution had been upgraded because it was lacking a lot of amenities.
Miyambo also urged the government to seriously address the security lapses that were emerging in Chililabombwe as could be seen by the number of killings that had been reported in the peri-urban areas and within town.
She also said the ecumenical church supported the parallel vote tabulation and urged residents to vote wisely.
And CCZ national president Rev Moses Mwale said social conditions in Chililabombwe had deteriorated so much and that the people deserved better.
Labels: CCZ, CHILILABOMBWE
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Chililabombwe MP accuses cops of smuggling mealie-meal to DRC
Written by Mutuna Chanda in Kitwe and Frederick Mwansa in Itezhi-tezhi
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 9:36:55 AM
NYIOMBO Investments' Copperbelt regional manager Martin Chaikatisha has explained that the company is yet to deliver 81.9 tonnes of D Compound and Urea fertiliser to farmers in Chililabombwe farming block.
And Chililabombwe member of parliament Esther Banda has charged that some police officers are involved in the smuggling of mealie-meal into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Chaikatisha said this in response to complaints from farmers from 35 cooperatives in Chililabombwe that they had not received fertiliser despite having paid for it.
"Chililabombwe, we are remaining with some small balances," Chaikatisha said. "We are remaining with 21.9 tonnes of Urea and 60 tonnes of D Compound."
He said the delay in delivering fertiliser was due to a breakdown of their truck that was due to deliver the commodity last week.
"We had loaded the truck on Friday but apparently, we had a breakdown," he said. "The truck that we had loaded was 30 tonnes of Urea. But if we deliver 30 tonnes today, we'll be remaining with about 21 tonnes and we should deliver the rest soon and we will be done."
He said the total amount of Urea that Nyiombo was contracted to deliver was 369.6 tonnes.
And Good Hope multi-purpose cooperative secretary Kabungo Mwenya complained that his members totalling 25 had paid over K6.2 million as early as November last year to access 13 packs of fertiliser which had not been delivered to date.
He appealed to the government to act quickly to forestall crop failure.
Good Hope is one of the 35 affected cooperative societies in the Chililabombwe farming block.
And Banda wondered how the peasant farmers would cope this year in view of the fact that they were also affected by high prices of mealie-meal.
She described as a shame the 'propaganda' that mealie-meal prices had reduced.
"Mealie-meal prices in most of the shops in Chililabombwe is still over K65,000 and the price reductions that they are talking about are fake," Banda said. "Smuggling of mealie-meal has continued because the police officers are failing to control the situation and in some cases, some police officers are involved in smuggling."
She urged the government to move in quickly and ensure that fertiliser was delivered to the peasant farmers in the block.
Meanwhile 350 bags of the government relief maize meant for distribution in chieftainess Muwezwa's area in Itezhi-tezhi district have been stolen.
Nyambo Ward Community School chairperson Huphrey Kashweka, who is responsible for distribution in the area, confirmed the theft yesterday.
"We received about 1,725 x 50kgs of the government relief maize last December which was suposed to be distributed to the beneficiaries last week. But we had to return all the beneficiaries home after discovering that 350x50 kgs of the government relief maize had been stolen," said Kashweka.
Kashweka said that the 350 bags of maize which had been stolen were part of government relief maize that was being distributed by the Adventist Relief Agency(ADRA) in selected wards in the district.
Labels: CHILILABOMBWE, DRC, ESTHER BANDA, MEALIE-MEAL, POLICE CORRUPTION
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Chililabombwe resident sues 2 mining firms
Written by Maluba Jere
Monday, January 05, 2009 5:56:58 PM
A CHILILABOMBWE resident has sued Mopani Copper Mines (MCP) Plc and Consorcio Tauro Mining (CTM) Limited demanding K102 million for loss of expectation of life while on duty.
Margaret Mambwe has sued the two companies as administrator of the estate of the late Loti Kanta who until May 21, 2008 was employed as a driller at CTM Limited.
Particulars are that on April 9, 2008, the deceased and his workmates were assigned by Consorcio Tauro Mining on a project at Mopani mine in Macular at 1,323 metre level 61P2 footwall Drive East.
It is believed that on the fateful day, the deceased and his workmates were preparing to drill 2.4 metre support holes when a mass measuring about 70 metres dislodged from the roof and buried the deceased causing multiple fatal body injuries.
Mambwe has accused CTM and MCM management of failing to protect the working crew from advancing stress disturbances.
She has also accused the two mining companies of failing to close the part of the mine area pending the restoration of safe conditions.
She stated that Mopani Copper Mine, as the mine owner, was strictly liable for damages suffered by the deceased.
Mambwe said the deceased had suffered loss and damages and was now claiming K10 million for loss of expectation of life and K680 million basic pay, less one third for contingencies by 12 months for 17 years which amounts to K92 million, bringing the total claim to K102 million.
Labels: CHILILABOMBWE, CTM, MARGARET MAMBWE, MCP, MINING, SAFETY
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