Easterners should counsel Dora, says Zulu
By Christopher Miti and Joseph Mwenda in Luangeni
Wed 14 Sep. 2011, 14:00 CAT
EASTERN Province women should counsel Dora Siliya, says PF Luangeni Constituency candidate George Zulu. And Lameck Mangani says Zamtel was sold in a dubious way. Addressing a rally at Chikando Basic School on Monday, Zulu said Siliya had embarrassed Easterners because of her sex campaign.
He said Dora should be confined in a small house and counselled on how to stay with people. Zulu said Luangeni had a lot of problems, among them bad roads. He said PF leader Michael Sata's intention was to upgrade Chikando Basic School. Zulu urged the people not to believe the MMD propaganda on PF leader Michael Sata.
And Mangani, who was in Luangeni to drum up support for Zulu, complained of the manner Zamtel was sold.
"This company was established by Dr Kaunda but it was not making profit. We came up with an idea to sell this company because it was not making profit but what people wanted was for this company to be sold in a transparent manner and not in a dubious way. The minister who was in charge of this ministry was Dora Siliya from here, so when things are not okay, we cannot just say niwakwathu ai (she is from our place, no). I went to President Banda, I said, yes, ‘Dora is our sister but people are complaining about the way the company has been sold'," Mangani said.
"The people who came (to buy), the preparation of the paper work were all not done in a transparent manner. So this company was sold to a Libyan firm where there is war and I don't know what will happen because the people who bought Zamtel, the sons of Gaddafi (fugitive Libyan leader) people have risen against them," said Mangani.
He said he used to advise President Banda when he was in government because he realised that all the people of Eastern Province would be embarrassed in an event that he failed to perform.
"If the President who is there from Eastern Province did not do well, Zambian people will say Easterners are fools because when you entrust them with leadership, they don't care for people and that there was a certain old man (President Banda) who didn't do well. So I wanted to help so that this old man can do his work well," Mangani said.
He said the MMD and President Banda could not stop the wind of change that was blowing over Zambia.
Mangani urged Zambians to try Sata this year because trying was not a problem.
Provincial PF vice-treasurer Joseph Ponyerani Phiri urged the people to vote for the PF which was determined to improve their living standards.
Labels: CORRUPTION, DORA SILIYA, GEORGE ZULU, LAMECK MANGANI, MMD, ZAMTEL
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PFC condemns harassment of journalists
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Tue 18 Jan. 2011, 03:59 CAT
NO democratic society can function without the basic principle of a safe working environment for journalists, according to the Press Freedom Committee (PFC) of The Post.
Commenting on the harassment of Post journalist George Zulu and photojournalist Collins Phiri by intelligence officers and former president Frederick Chiluba respectively, PFC chairperson Chansa Kabwela expressed disappointment with Chiluba’s threats against journalists who attempted to cover him on Saturday.
Kabwela also condemned intelligence officers who grabbed a recorder from Zulu and deleted all the information recorded at a public meeting addressed by Vice-President George Kunda.
“Threats such as those Mr Chiluba made against The Post photojournalist, Collins Phiri do not only affect the wellbeing of the individual journalists but also compromise the public’s right to receive accurate and factual information,” she said.
Kabwela said threatening journalists over some pictures or simple questions was unacceptable.
“This is clear affront to press freedom and generally the freedom of expression. We are deeply disturbed about this occurrence because we believe that any threats against journalists, whether physical or verbal, must be strongly condemned,” she said.
She expressed concern that the government was now using security agencies to harass journalists, especially those from the privately owned media institutions.
Kabwela said this was clear intimidation and should not be tolerated in a democratic society like Zambia.
She said journalists do not need any permission from the security agencies to collect information from various sources – be it from those serving in government, civil society, opposition political parties, the church and others.
“We wish to urge Vice-President (George) Kunda to take special interest in this matter and discipline the officer, unless he was operating on instructions from him to harass and intimidate Zulu,” said Kabwela.
Chiluba on Saturday threatened to smash a Post camera when Phiri photographed him viewing the building that should have been his institute for democratic studies, while an intelligence officer in Vice-President Kunda’s entourage last Friday harassed Zulu before deleting information on his recorder.
Labels: GEORGE ZULU, PFC, THE POST
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Mpezeni complains over bad state of Mwami Road
By Christopher Miti in Chipata
Tue 11 May 2010, 03:00 CAT
PARAMOUNT Chief Mpezeni of the Ngoni people in Eastern Province has complained over the bad state of Mwami Road in Luangeni Constituency.
And Ngoni traditionalist George Zulu has advised Luangeni MMD member of parliament Angela Cifire and other aspiring candidates for the Luangeni seat not to fight over trivial things.
In an interview on Sunday, Mpezeni said Mwami Road, which leads to Mwami Adventist Hospital, had been in a bad state for a long time.
Mpezeni said Cifire, who visited the constituency last week, assured him that the road would be worked on this year.
“They (government) are saying this road is on the programme but you know this road needs more than grading. It is supposed to be raised,” he said.
And Zulu who is former Petauke district commissioner and consultant under the United Nations said he was disappointed with the team that was intending to contest in Luangeni for fighting over T-shirts that were given by one aspiring candidate.
“This is a democratic system and every person must be allowed to associate…to give whatever they can give, but the Luangeni Constituency is where the paramount chief of the Ngoni lives. Paramount chief Mpezeni is a honorary member of parliament for Luangeni constituency because that’s where he lives. Now aspiring candidates, those who want to get into leading the people, should not fight over trivial things,” Zulu said.
“The current MP is supposed to be defending her record. At this time, she should be telling the people that if that one is giving T-shirts I have given you roads. Look at the (Mwami) road from the (Malawi road) turn-off to Mwami hospital, the road is impassable. It is in a deplorable state and that’s where our women, our children, our disabled people use to go to the hospital,” he said.
He said Cifire as a defending ‘champion’ should tell the people what she had done for them.
“This is a marketing season. She must lead the people, establish markets and make it easy for the people to go and sell their products.
There were villagers in Luangeni Constituency who had their small fields taken over by titleholders, people who hold title deeds, there were those things. What did the MP do to solve this problem? Because if she went democratically or diplomatically to go and discuss with the farmer (who owns the land), I don’t think the farmer would have been an evil person not to allow the people to continue farming but with an arrangement that the people, the villagers, know that that place belongs to somebody else,” he said.
Zulu said the villagers were complaining that they were now farming on the hills.
Labels: CHIEF MPEZENI, GEORGE ZULU, INFRASTRUCTURE, ROADS
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