Pemba MP explains Zambia’s food deficits
By Sututu Katundu
Wed 10 Feb. 2010, 10:50 CAT
PEMBA UPND member of parliament David Matongo has said the difficulty with
implementing the agriculture policy from theory is precisely the reason the country still has a food deficit.Matongo said apart from the weather patterns, the
marketing, pricing of agricultural produce and delivery of farming inputs had made parts of the country unproductive as far as food security was concerned.
“How do you deliver seed and fertiliser in the middle of November?” Matongo asked when he featured on Joy FM’s The People That Matter programme last week.
He said previously there were depots in the rural areas where fertiliser, seed and other inputs could be picked from and once the maize was ready, payments were made at those same spots.
However, he said the MMD government introduced a promissory note through the current marketing system.
Matongo observed that the cordon line between Angola and Zambia had been broken and animal diseases were spreading back and forth.
He said there had never been a serious attempt to eradicate cattle diseases particularly in the southern parts of Western Province and the diseases had spread to other parts.
Matongo wondered why the government could not plan ahead to curb hunger since the country was not food secure and a lot of money was usually spent on procuring food in times of a deficit.
“How come we have popularised situations like relief food to people who never liked relief food?” he asked.
He urged the government to deal with cattle diseases effectively. Matongo said the government had been paying lip service to food security, cattle diseases control, marketing of animals and agriculture products.
And Matongo said the decentralisation programme had not been properly implemented.
He wondered why monies allocated in Lusaka for Mazabuka should first be taken to Livingstone before they could finally reach the area.
“What happens to permanent secretaries who are highly graded? Why appoint district commissioners if they are not able to handle money at that level? If you put party cadres as permanent secretaries what would you expect at the expense of well-trained civil servants? The directors will simply undermine them and this is what is happening now,” Matongo said.
He advised leaders to respect those with opposing views and be open to discussion.
He said the Constitution was just a piece of paper that guided the country in terms of governance but leaders should have the will to lead their people.
Matongo said the Constitution was not a catalyst for economic development, saying the country could have the best Constitution in the world but it could be rendered worthless if they spent more than they earned.
He hoped the new constitution could help limit certain excesses of politicians and that the people given responsibility should be true to the provision of service to Zambians.
“Their faith in that is what I believe can pull us through out of hunger and lack of shelter, lack of decent drinking water and a small effective government in a decentralised fashion where the man in Kaputa, the man in Choma, the people elsewhere will see the budgetary value of government revenue and expenditure at base,” he said.
And Matongo said the UPND/PF pact would provide alternatives to better the lives of Zambians because the period between 1991 to 2001 was a lost decade, which would take time to recover.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, CATTLE DISEASE, DAVID MATONGO, FOOD, HUNGER, JOY FM
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Maureen not in hurry to have a boyfriend
By Ernest Chanda
Mon 08 Feb. 2010, 04:01 CAT
MAUREEN Mwanawasa has said she is not in a hurry to remarry or have a boyfriend.
Featuring on Joy fm's Tikambilane programme in Lusaka yesterday, Maureen said even though the Mwanawasa family cleared her through a traditional ceremony last year, she did not think of re-marrying anytime soon.
Maureen made the remarks after the presenter asked her which person she would celebrate this year’s Valentine’s Day with since she had been cleared by her late husband’s family.
Maureen said she would wait for God's time.
“Yes, you read in the media that I was cleared by my late husband's family. But you see, I live by God's rules.
God gave me a man late president Levy Mwanawasa whom I lived with and had children, so I have to mourn him for as long as I can. So, marriage is not a priority to me for now, just as I have always said,” Maureen said. “I have a lot of challenges such as reviving the law firm. But I will not say I will not marry again or have a boyfriend. If I say that then I would be wrong because tomorrow you may see me marry or have a boyfriend and then you will say 'remember what you said on air'. So I will wait for God's time.”
Valentines Day falls this Sunday, February 14.
On the fight against HIV/AIDS, Maureen urged women to thank God if their husbands introduced condoms in the home as a way of fighting the scourge.
“We are no longer fighting AIDS through statistics but we are always looking for ways of fighting the pandemic. Men must be able to introduce a condoms in the home. I know this might be difficult to understand but I believe it is good for the fight against AIDS,” Maureen said. “I have told women in many workshops that if a man introduces a condom in a home don't question him. Usually as women, when we see such things in a home, we begin to wonder which other woman our man is sleeping with. If a man introduces a condom in a home just thank God.”
And Maureen said a leader's attributes should not be tied to a degree.
Maureen said there was more connected to good leadership than just a degree.
The National Constitutional Conference (NCC) recently adopted a clause that requires a presidential candidate to possess, among others, a minimum academic qualification of a first degree.
Maureen said education alone did not make someone a good leader.
“The degree clause has brought a lot of debate. I believe that leaders should be chosen by the people and for the people. If there are people who aspire to be leaders I think their attributes should not be tied to a degree. We have others with ACCA, CIMA and other accounting professions, which are quite high. Where do we place them?” Maureen questioned. “We also have military people who are disciplined with other leadership attributes. Some of them are Colonels, but because they may not have a degree should we disregard them? There are other attributes in a person such as integrity which makes one a good leader. And whatever the case, at the end of the day it is the 12 million Zambians who will vote.”
She said the Republican presidency could not be tied to a degree because it encompassed all professions.
“The presidency encompasses all professions, so you can't tie it to a degree. If you say I have a degree in law others will say how are you going to manage the economy of the country? What we should say is that there must be some level of education, experience and integrity in someone aspiring for leadership. After all, at the end of the day, it's Zambians who choose,” said Maureen.
Labels: JOY FM, MAUREEN MWANAWASA
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Rupiah is fighting hard for Chiluba’s immunity – Sata
By Patson Chilemba
Fri 29 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT
RUPIAH Banda is fighting very hard to restore Chiluba's immunity, Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata said yesterday.
Reacting to the resolution by the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) that a former president whose immunity is removed because of criminal allegations should have it restored immediately after being cleared by the courts of law, Sata, who featured on a Joy FM radio programme, said President Banda was now using the NCC to restore former president Frederick Chiluba's immunity.
Sata said presently President Banda had failed to do so because the current Constitution did not provide for the restoration of the immunity once lifted.
“Yesterday they said they are going to put in the Constitution to reinstate the immunity of a President who has lost immunity. Everybody knows Rupiah Banda has been fighting very hard to reinstate Chiluba's immunity, but because in the current Constitution...because he lost his immunity, there are still more investigations, he might be close to Mr Banda today, who knows next year most of these cases are going to come back, and there are some more cases. We have the London judgment which has never been registered, and so many more other things. When we didn't know, it was something else, now we know," Sata said.
"They want to put a clause because what they want is as soon as they amend that clause, then immediately they will go to Parliament and reinstate Chiluba's immunity, and then Chiluba will become untouchable again. That is why you find Chiluba is working very hard, extremely hard. He has gone to assault the MPs on the Copperbelt, knowing very well the Copperbelt is dominated by PF.
“Now those are things he is working for because already his property which was confiscated by the Task Force, it has already been given to him, so if he can get his immunity, well and good."
Sata said it was bribery on the part of Chiluba to be dishing out money to people.
He said people could not allow one person to get everything to himself, including US $8 million.
On the adoption of the degree clause by the NCC for one to be presidential candidate, Sata said although he had a degree, the clause was discriminatory.
He said this same government was a signatory to the African Union charter, which guaranteed citizens in their specific countries to participate freely in the governance of their countries either directly or through chosen representatives in accordance with the provisions of the law.
On MMD national secretary Katele Kalumba's assertions that Sata's degree would have to be certified, Sata said Kalumba had to say something because he was currently under siege because he was viewed as one of Sata's blue-eyed boys in the MMD.
"If they are saying it is going to be certified, then the allegations which people are saying that it is aimed at Michael Sata is becoming true," he said.
Asked if the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) would be able to organise free and fair elections, Sata there was no way the ECZ, under the directorship of Danny Kalale could conduct free and credible elections, adding that it was surprising that Kalale was the longest-serving ECZ director.
He said the opposition political parties had always called for the independence of ECZ.
"In UNIP, if there was no Tobias Mbewe, Frederick Chiluba would never have been president. It is not human for anyone to organise against the person who pays him," said Sata. "Comrade Vernon Mwaanga came to Kasama, but he failed to penetrate because we were too tight."
On the fuel price hikes, Sata said nobody had given any credible explanation as to why the prices of the commodity had been hiked.
Labels: CHILUBA, JOY FM, NCC, RUPIAH BANDA, SATA
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Energy sector is a disaster, charges Inonge Wina
By Ernest Chanda
Fri 20 Nov. 2009, 04:01 CAT
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) national chairperson Inonge Wina has charged that the energy sector in the country is a disaster that the government should be ashamed of. And Wina questioned MMD parliamentary chief whip Vernon Mwaanga's presence in North Western Province considering that there was a by-election.
Featuring on Lusaka's Joy FM yesterday, Wina said the government should take full responsibility in the way they had mismanaged the energy sector. She observed that every government was accountable to its people and was expected to provide answers whenever anything went wrong.
"Energy is a great component that drives the economy of any country. It is therefore unacceptable that our energy sector should be mismanaged in this manner. In my view the energy sector in this country is a disaster that our government should be ashamed of. If our government cannot be held accountable for problems in this country then we have a big problem," Wina said.
"They should not look for excuses, but just admit that they have failed to run the energy sector. Just today I was delayed to come for this same programme because I had to look for fuel. Government cannot be giving excuses when they are supposed to take full responsibility for such problems."
She called on the MMD government to give chance to others if they had failed to rule the country properly. And Wina said the MMD government had crippled the education sector to a level where the country produced mediocre students. She said education should be a priority for any government that takes over.
"If there is an area where the MMD government has failed, I think it's in education. Our education system has definitely gone backwards. Schools have no desks, no books, teachers are demoralised because they get very little. How do you expect our education system to improve in such conditions? Now we are producing mediocre students who can't write or read a letter after completing Grade 9. In my view education will be a priority for any government that takes over after MMD," she said.
Wina asked the PF-UPND pact members to monitor Mwaanga's activities in Solwezi.
Her comment came in the wake of unidentified caller who questioned Mwaanga's activities in North Western Province at a time of a by-election in Solwezi Central Constituency.
"Madam Wina, are you aware that VJ Vernon Mwaanga is in the North Western Province. Remember we have a by-election in Solwezi and this man's history about elections is questionable. What are you going to do about this? " asked the caller.
In response, Wina called on PF-UPND pact members to look out for Mwaanga's activities.
"Our people in the North Western Province are on the ground monitoring the moves of VJ and OP Office of the President officials who have been there for some time. We all know that there is a lot of involvement of the OP in the management of elections in this country,” said Wina.
"And these are elections whose results people have always questioned. Why should VJ travel all the way to Solwezi? What is he doing there? I wish our people could recognise him and chase him. Anyway, I don't want to say much because of libel issues, but I think the involvement of some of our leaders in elections causes worry."
Labels: ENERGY, INONGE WINA, JOY FM
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