Luo urges chiefs to have village registers
By Wayilinda Phiri in Namwala
Fri 07 June 2013, 14:01 CAT
CHIEFS and traditional affairs minister Professor Nkandu Luo has appealed to chiefs in the country to have village registers.
Speaking in Namwala in Senior Chief Nalubamba's chiefdom when she toured Mbeza and Shikalapu village, Prof Luo who was accompanied by permanent secretary Coillard Chibonta said this was important to have a register of villagers residing in a particular village.
She said chiefs should take village registers seriously because this would enable them know the number of subjects for planning development purposes.
Prof Luo also pointed out that registers also helped in tracing criminals who want to seek refuge in a particular village and this would make the work of the police easier.
She also expressed concern on the rising numbers of people abusing alcohol in various villages around the country.
Prof Luo said her ministry was mapping up a strategy to fight alcohol abuse in villages because it lead to low productivity in the country.
She appealed to chiefs to punish people who spend time drinking beer all day without doing any form of farming.
And Professor Luo commended chief Nalubamba for setting up strategic villages in his chiefdomwhich had earmarked on various projects of self reliance in the chiefdom.
She said the government wanted to bring development to Zambia and that this could only be done by developing villages so that rural-urban migration was stopped because villages would be developed.
Professor Luo also pointed out that previous regimes also made people lazy by programmes of relief food instead of empowering communities with loans for various projects ranging from women empowerment funds to youth empowerment funds so that communities become self-reliant.
The minister later toured Kabanga Community School and Kabanga health post where works have been abandoned.
Prof Luo was also moved by the state of the Kabanga Community School and donated 50 pockets of cement while Chibonta donated a KR4,000 cheque towards the construction of the community initiative school.
And speaking after touring Kabanga Health Post and Kabanga Community School in Nalubamba chiefdom, Chibonta said the ministry would support productive chiefdoms.
Labels: CHIEFS, NKANDU LUO, VILLAGE REGISTERS
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Civil servants taking their work for granted - Luo
By Fridah Nkonde
Sun 12 May 2013, 14:01 CAT
CHIEFS and traditional affairs minister Professor Nkandu Luo says it is unfortunate that most civil servants in Zambia take their work for granted. During her ministry's Labour Day award ceremony in Lusaka on Friday, Prof Luo said Labour Day was not about being awarded but about being reminded of the worker's responsibilities.
"There are people out there on the streets that have nothing to do. But the tendency for most of the people that work is to take work for granted. They take work for granted and even say that, 'no one can discipline me because I have found myself in that position', especially in the civil service.
This is all because of these things like the verbal warning, after a verbal warning, a written warning and if you want you can even do an injunction. A lot of us have taken our positions for granted," she said.
Prof Luo said there was need for people to know that Zambians were part of the global world and that things were changing.
"You may continue taking things for granted and it will just take the reforms to come and reform the civil service and they say bad habits die hard so those that would have gotten comfort to the bad habits, they would still continue," she said.
Prof Luo said the Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs was a link between the people and the policy makers, adding that there was need for civil servants in her ministry to understand the needs of rural people.
She encouraged officers in her ministry to contribute to the growth of the ministry regardless of the positions they hold.
Prof Luo said she valued every worker's contribution, adding the civil servants in her ministry needed to be proud of whatever position they occupy.
"If you are not proud of your appointment and what you contribute to the ministry, I am afraid you are going to compromise the levels that we want to achieve. That dream that the ministry has can only be realised by having a human resource that is committed, productive, and celebrates the opportunities that they have," said Prof Luo.
And Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs permanent secretary Coillard Chibbonta assured Prof Luo that employees in the ministry were ready to embrace hard work.
Labels: CIVIL SERVANTS, NKANDU LUO, WORK ETHIC
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COMMENT - We need either the windfall tax or the nationalisation of the mines (preferrable).
A promise is a debt
By The Post
Sun 28 Oct. 2012, 13:50 CAT
In Kiswahili, they say ahadi ni deni, that is, a promise is a debt. Similarly, an election promise is a debt that must be honoured.
The Patriotic Front made many promises in the run-up to last year's elections. And as Prof Nkandu Luo, the chiefs and traditional affairs minister says, time has come for the Patriotic Front to implement its campaign promises.
And indeed, the Patriotic Front has an obligation to deliver development to the people of Zambia as it promised during the campaign period and to do so as quickly as possible.
Last year, the Patriotic Front highly publicised its election manifesto. Its candidates showed commitment to the manifesto of their party as well as to their personal vision for their constituencies. Candidates were therefore evaluated on their capacity to implement their party's manifesto and their personal vision.
In less than four years, we will again be going to the polls. Those in the Patriotic Front who will offer themselves for re-election will be evaluated against the record of what they have or have not achieved. Did they fulfil their promises? Did they offer quality service to all the people and not only to those who voted them into power? Were they available to listen to the concerns of the people and were they selfless in responding to the needs of all, especially the poor? Did they show courage to speak the truth?
Did they show concern for social justice? Did they show desire to work for the common good instead of self-enrichment? Did they show a disposition to use power for service, especially service for the poor and underprivileged? Were they open to dialogue? Did they show good moral standing? Were they transparent in their dealings and were they accountable to the electorate?
Many promises were made. And the Zambian people are waiting for these promises to be honoured. It is said that umuti wa nkongole kulipila. The only way this debt will cease is for it to be repaid.
But we know that sometimes conditions change adversely, unforeseen factors come to the fore, making it impossible for one to honour his debt. But the solution is not to keep quiet, to say nothing, or to pretend that all is well. The solution is also not to run away from the debt or to deny that the debt ever existed. The solution lies in facing the creditor and explaining the challenges and problems one is facing.
When you owe someone a debt and you have challenges meeting your obligations, don't run away or try to hide from them. Instead, try to meet them every day and discuss your limitations with them. Here a number of things can happen: the debt can be totally written off without you losing your standing with the creditor; the debt can be rescheduled, giving you more time to reorganise yourself and increase your capacity to meet your obligations. Similarly, it is not always possible for one to meet all the election campaign promises.
Circumstances change; new realities emerge along the way. It will not be possible for the Patriotic Front government to meet all the campaign election promises that the party made. And there is no need to mask difficulties or hide failures to the masses of our people. There is no need to hope for easy victories.
There were things the Patriotic Front promised the Zambian people to do within 90 days of being in power. Some of these things have been achieved, and others have not. There is need for the Patriotic Front to go back to the people and tell them what has been achieved within the 90 days promised and what has not been achieved within that promised period. There is need to explain the reasons for the failure. Keeping quiet about it and hoping the Zambian people will forget is playing ostrich-like politics. It won't do.
The Zambian people are understanding. They are not looking for miracles. Even they themselves in their own lives make promises to others which, for unseen reasons and other emergencies that crop up along the way, they fail to fulfil. As we have already pointed out, a promise is a debt. But who doesn't have debts? Who has never failed to fulfil a promise?
It's over a year now since the Patriotic Front came into power. There are things they promised to accomplish within the first year of being in office. Some have been accomplished; some have not been accomplished. Here also accountability is required. There is need to explain to the Zambian people why what was promised has not been accomplished.
It seems the Patriotic Front government is scared of talking about its failures. It won't be plain sailing. They will not achieve all that they had promised the Zambian people. It doesn't happen anywhere that way. Election promises are different from other promises. The debt that arises from an election promise is seldom an exact one. If there are shortfalls in delivery, and if an honest job has been done, there should be no difficulty in going to the people to explain the shortfall, the failure to achieve the promised target.
Moreover, the political debt that the Patriotic Front owes the Zambian electorate, in most cases, requires the Zambian people themselves to participate in the delivery process. So the failure to deliver, sometimes, may not necessarily be blamed squarely on the debtor.
The creditor, that is the Zambian people, also have a role to play and some responsibility to shoulder in all this. This is what participatory democracy entails. This is why we have consistently explained it as a growth in the confidence in the power of ordinary people to transform their country, and thus transform themselves.
This is why we have consistently stated that it is a growth in the appreciation of people organising, deciding, creating together. This is why democracy itself is said to guarantee nothing but simply offering the opportunity to succeed as well as the risk of failure. Democracy is said to be a promise and a challenge.
A promise in the sense that, free human beings, working together, can govern themselves in a manner that will serve their aspirations for personal freedom, economic opportunity and social justice. It is a challenge because the success of the democratic enterprise rests upon the shoulders of its citizens and no one else. In the end, we get the government we deserve.
Labels: NKANDU LUO, PF
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Govt's focus on reducing poverty, timely - CSPR
By Henry Sinyangwe
Sun 28 Oct. 2012, 13:50 CAT
CIVIL Society for Poverty Reduction board chairperson Partner Siabutuba says the government's announcement that it will in the next four years work on reducing poverty is a well-meaning and timely decision.
Commenting on chiefs and traditional affairs minister Professor Nkandu Luo's statement last week that the Patriotic Front will in its remaining four years work on reducing poverty levels as well as uplifting the living standards of the people when she addressed a royal council meeting in Macha chiefdom in Choma, Siabutuba said poverty remained a big challenge in the country which needed concerted efforts to fight it.
Prof Luo said her party had an obligation to deliver development to the Zambians as it promised them during the campaign period, adding that poverty levels still remain high in the country hence the need for the government to quickly address the situation as part of its fulfilment of the campaign promises.
"We take the minister's declaration as very serious and very important. It is based on the fact that Southern Province, despite its potential, seems to have been lagging behind on the number of developmental aspects," Siabutuba said.
He advised the opposition to offer solutions as opposed to just criticising the policies of the government.
"Can we put aside political differences and help government to perform. While the politicians are proud of taking their political opinions, they should also say how they are going to help government deliver," said Siabutuba.
"There is need for the reduction of poverty and see how we can support one another for the development of this country."
Labels: CSPR, NKANDU LUO, POVERTY
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‘Donchi kubeba' marketeers defy relocation plans
By Joseph Mwenda
Fri 04 May 2012, 14:00 CAT
TRADERS at the unauthorised ‘Donchi Kubeba Market' in Lusaka on Wednesday openly defied local government minister Professor Nkandu Luo and hurled insults against her for suggesting their relocation. And Lusaka mayor Daniel Chisenga says illegal structures such as the ‘Donchi Kubeba Market' were suffocating the city.
During her conducted tour of illegal structures in the city, Prof Luo who was in the company of her deputy Stephen Masumba and Chisenga, said traders at the market would soon be relocated to permanent structures elsewhere.
The traders had earlier warmly welcomed her, seemingly thinking she had some good news for them. The mood among the traders later changed when the minister started talking about relocation.
"We took some time to look at what alternatives we can give to the people who are trading at the ‘Donchi Kubeba Market'. We have finished doing our inventory and we do have a lot of space in the shops for people to go back in. We would like to relocate them to other markets within Lusaka, because that place is an eyesore. It is a health hazard in fact," said Prof Luo.
She observed that Lusaka had a lot of haphazard structures which needed re-organising.
But Prof Luo's call did not fall on obedient ears as traders reacted angrily and hurled insults at the minister and her delegation.
The traders who are believed to be PF supporters complained of victimisation by their own party in government and vowed not to relocate.
The traders said their government, which they had put in power, needed to relocate vendors first before coming to them.
The traders openly told the minister she was enjoying the benefits of a new government more than themselves.
The minister was forced to abandon the meeting because of their unruly behaviour.
Chisenga described the incident as unfortunate.
"Our plan was to engage the traders and consult them on how much time would be sufficient for them to relocate. We suggested one month and we expected them to agree or ask for more time but our colleagues became unruly and started speaking unpalatable language which was very unfortunate, because we as government could have chosen the shorter route to go at 01:00 hours to break that market without the traders," he said.
He said such structures were suffocating the city.
"We are not happy with the way people are suffocating the city. And our members should not look at PF and think it was made by a few people. Zambians across the country voted for change of government and we now have a responsibility as government to make decisions that will benefit all the citizens," he said.
Chisenga also said the government would start repossessing undeveloped land.
"Certain individuals have too much land which they are failing to develop within stipulated time and government has made a decision to repossess such land and empower Zambians because they are raping government. The state of certain buildings leaves much to be desired, people are now building warehouses right in the central business district and we wonder where our learned planners are," said Chisenga.
Labels: MARKETEERS, NKANDU LUO
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Government bans tujilijili, street vending
By Selina Nyirenda
Mon 16 Apr. 2012, 13:30 CAT
THE government has with immediate effect banned street vending and the manufacturing, importation, sale and consumption of alcohol sachets popularly known as tujilijili in the country.
Local government minister Professor Nkandu Luo said during a press briefing in Lusaka yesterday that the government had also banned the distribution and stocking of tujilijili.
"The main objective of these regulations made under a Statutory Instrument which I have today signed is to prohibit the packaging of liquor popularly known as tujilijili and any other such names that they may be known in small quantities," Prof Luo said.
She said some of the characteristics of tujilijili were that they were cheap and portable, making the alcoholic beverage easy to abuse.
"You should visit the B block at Chainama Hospital and see what damage the tujilijili has done to the youths. You find an elderly person drunk and losing it," she said.
Prof Luo warned that people who would be found trading in, consuming or distributing tujilijili would be penalised.
"A person who contravenes these regulations commits an offence and is liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred units or a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years or both," she said.
Prof Luo said in an event that the licence was issued to the manufacturers of the illicit beer, they risked having their trading licence revoked.
She said any licence issued in respect of manufacturing, importation, exportation, sale and supply of the intoxicating liquor prohibited under regulation 4 shall stand revoked.
And Prof Luo said the council is today expected to remove all vendors from the streets.
She said she would soon be signing and issuing a Statutory Instrument which will legalise street vending but the exercise would be regulated by creating peace and harmony between vendors and members of the public.
"The regulations have been made as a result of vigorous consultation among various stakeholders, who include local government, government ministries and agencies such as the Ministry of Home Affairs, traffic police and RTSA," said Prof Luo.
Labels: ALCOHOL, NKANDU LUO
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COMMENT - Police behaviour and prison conditions need to change.
Suspect dies at PHI amid torture reports
By Joseph Mwenda
Tue 27 Mar. 2012, 12:59 CAT
A 20-year-old suspect has died in police cells at Lusaka's Bennie Mwiinga police station following alleged torture. But Lusaka Province police commissioner Charity Katanga says it was not right to claim that police were responsible for the death of Boniface Mukupa.
And Munali member of parliament Professor Nkandu Luo thanked family members and Presidential Housing Initiative (PHI) residents for remaining calm on Sunday when the incident happened.
According to a police docket recorded at Bennie Mwiinga police station on Sunday, Peter Chilwana of house number 23683 PHI reported a case of burglary and theft involving a laptop valued at K4 million and other items worth about K1 million.
The records indicate that Mukupa was reported to police as a suspect in the company of another man identified as Kelvin at around 06:00 and was formally arrested at 11:00 hours.
"He complained of not feeling well and later started producing white staff from the mouth and was pronounced dead on arrival at the University Teaching Hospital," read the document.
Sources said the suspect was interrogated and beaten after he was reported to police.
"It's like he was beaten before he was arrested and the police also beat him because he was denying the allegations. So he died in police cells. Family members even brought food for the suspect at lunch only to be told that he had died," sources said.
When contacted for a comment, Katanga, who was at the scene, said only a post-mortem would determine the real cause of death.
"It seems the suspect was beaten before he was brought to police but because he died here at the police station, members of the family got aggrieved and demanded that a funeral be held here at the police but we have advised them to wait until a post-mortem is conducted. The problem is that there was no medical examination done on him to see how fit he was before his arrest," said Katanga.
And speaking shortly after she was briefed about the incident, Prof Luo, who is also local government minister, said it was wrong for citizens to take the law into their own hands.
"As area MP, I have offered to contribute to the funeral requirements so that we can give the boy a descent burial. We have spoken to the family members to remain calm until a post-mortem is done," said Luo.
Helpless PHI residents watched as Bennie Mwiinga police station received re-enforcement from other commands to beef up security in the area on Sunday evening.
Labels: NKANDU LUO, POLICE BRUTALITY, TORTURE
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COMMENT - HIV in Africa is a
statistical construct. Instead of being alarmed at the high estimate of HIV infection nationwide, the government should demand proper testing procedures instead, which would lower national HIV prevalence rates enormously. First of all, no more Antenatal Clinic Surveys of pregnant women only, but statistically representative Demographic and Health Surveys.
Stop testing mainly women (84.3% of all tested were women, only 80,659 out of 511,266 were men; 71% of all tested were pregnant women at antenatal clinics - I quote: "The high number of females tested was mostly from the PMTCT programme which accounted for 364,331". This is not representative of the Zambian people in general.), and start doing statistically representative DHS surveys, and I guarantee you, HIV prevalence in Zambia will not be 14.3%, it will be well under 3%, probably much lower than that. Disproportionately testing women inflates both true positives and false positives in HIV surveys. How testing pregnant women overestimates HIV infection rates has been shown elsewhere in Africa,
How AIDS in Africa Was Overstated -
Reliance on Data From Urban Prenatal Clinics Skewed Early Projections, by Craig Timberg, Washington Post, April 6 2006; and in this report on
the UNICEF DHS in Swaziland, the presumption of HIV infection among girls was reduced from 32.5% (1/3 of all women), to 6%. Time for Zambia to only do DHS testing and use Western Blot confirmation tests of positive ELISA screening tests.
Secondly, use Western Blot confirmation tests, to test positive ELISA screening tests in these surveys. ELISA tests only for either p24 or p55. Western Blot tests for all 9 or 10 (depending how you count) HIV proteins - p18, p24, p39, p55, p32, p52, p68, p41, p120 and p160 - although a selection is made, which varies from country to country.
If Zambia only does DHS surveys and checks positive ELISAs in surveys, I am extremely confident that HIV rates in Zambia will go from 14% to under 3%. HIV/AIDS is one of the biggest scams of the 20th century. As an example, the DRC has an HIV infection rate of 1.3%, according to their 2007 DHS.
I quote
from the DRC's 2007 DHS: " According to the EDS-RDC,
1.3 percent of the population age 15-49 years is HIV-positive. The prevalence is
1.6 percent for women and
0.9 percent for men. "
Time to stop wasting everyone's time and resources, and start doing the tests right.
ARVs, condoms and new HIV infections
By The Post
Sun 11 Mar. 2012, 12:00 CAT
LAST week Professor Nkandu Luo lamented at what she said were
incredibly high new HIV infections of 226 daily. Nkandu concluded that "closing the tap on new HIV and AIDS infections" was the only way to defeat the scourge.
She warned that the HIV epidemic will continue for a very long time unless it was tackled differently. Nkandu also warned that unless the epidemic is addressed in a fundamental and meaningful way, Zambia's socioeconomic development will be at risk.
With a prevalence rate of 14.3 per cent, Nkandu's fears about the HIV epidemic are justified, have a basis, are not from without. And we therefore exhort all our leaders, political and otherwise, and all our people to meditate on this issue, delve deeply into it and with broad-mindedness listen to everyone, without anyone thinking they are the owners of the absolute truth.
There will no longer be one single thinker on this issue of HIV and AIDS. It is clear to us now that hundreds of thousands, millions of thinkers can make up the thinker our time needs on this issue.
It is clear that old ideas and approaches are failing to conquer HIV and AIDS. New ideas to prepare our people for the future are needed. There is need for a new awareness on this issue. We are not saying this to mean that we completely lack awareness on this issue.
What we are trying to say is that the issue of HIV and AIDS, given our experience of close to three decades, requires a lot more awareness, and that awareness will be built by adding together the awareness of what is happening and the awareness of what is going to happen.
It has to be built by adding together more than just one thought and the best ethical and humane ideas of more than one religion, the sum total of the preaching of many scientists, medical doctors, politicians.
Our battle is not only a battle for survival, it is not just surviving for the sake of surviving, no. Progressive people, well-meaning people have always fought for the future. It is clear that the methods that have been used so far to deal with the spread of HIV and AIDS are starting to compound the problem.
While it cannot be denied, and cannot be morally, medically, socially, politically or otherwise discouraged, Anti-Retroviral drugs (ARVs) are not helping to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS. While ARVs are helping many of our people live a much healthier and less painful life with the virus in their bodies, this is in some way making some feel they can live a normal sexual life, have unprotected sex and go on with their sex life as if nothing has happened to them.
ARVs have worked wonders for some of our people to a point where some of them no longer exhibit the clinical symptoms which used to warn others of the dangers they carried. Today, most of the people living with HIV or AIDS who are on ARVs look very fine; can't be suspected in any way of carrying the virus. This has opened them to having unprotected sex with others, to spreading the virus to their unsuspecting sexual partners.
People are no longer dying from HIV and AIDS at the rate they used to. This in itself means that those living with the virus - if there is no discipline, care or compassion on their part - can easily spread the virus to others thereby increasing, compounding the problem of HIV and AIDS in our country.
With more and more people looking well with ARVs, fewer and fewer people are testing for HIV - they don't seem to care about knowing their status and of those they want to have sex with.
Our campaign against the spread of HIV and AIDS also seems to be dying; there is no life in it. Activism about AIDS is also dying. And less money seems to be going into fighting the spread of HIV and AIDS. Those who used to fund the campaigns against HIV now seem to be more concerned with other problems like malaria.
It also seems that condoms are not doing much to halt the spread of this horrible virus. With this one cannot fail to stress the importance of preventative measures.
Clearly, in the present circumstances where no cure for HIV and AIDS is available, prevention seems to be the only sure way of combating this problem. We want to encourage the efforts undertaken in that direction and hope they can still be intensified.
We regret the fact that the emphasis that the Church had put on prevention was not taken very seriously. More emphasis was put on the use of condoms and on ARVs. It is most regrettable that little attention is paid to the fact that faithfulness to the Gospel's teaching on conjugal fidelity as the single most effective method of preventing the spread of this tragic illness.
The Church had strongly objected to the dissemination of the view that the use of condoms is the remedy against this epidemic. The Church warned that besides the immorality involved in the indiscriminate distribution and use of condoms, we must be aware of how much they contribute to spreading a false sense of security and encouraging promiscuity which can only aggravate the existing problem.
We may not totally agree with the church on this approach, but it cannot be denied that condoms and ARVs have serious challenges, they have not worked to expectations in halting the spread of the virus. New approaches, new remedies are required in addition to all these other approaches. For whatever condoms and ARVs have achieved, the truth is that the virus is still with us and it is spreading, infecting 226 new people every day.
A remedy has to be found. We cannot continue on this ostrich-like behaviour.
We have to face this problem head-on, once again. HIV and AIDS is clearly a disaster, effectively wiping out the development gains of the past decades and sabotaging the future. We once again have to move from rhetoric to action, and action at an unprecedented intensity and scale.
Let's get back the militancy we seem to have lost in this fight. Let's put more time and resources in this fight which we all thought we were winning but which the figures indicate otherwise.
Let's get more people tested. Let's get everyone back to work on this issue.
Labels: CORRUPTION, HIV/AIDS, NKANDU LUO, UNAIDS
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COMMENT - HIV infection rates are statistical constructs, and frankly, they are boondoggles - jobs for the boys. I hate to be the bearer of good news, but how can HIV infection in Zambia be 14.3%, when across the border
in the DRC, the national infection rate is
1.3%? I quote: " According to the EDS-RDC, 1.3 percent of the population age 15-49 years is HIV-positive. The prevalence is
1.6 percent for women and
0.9 percent for men. " Source:
Democratic Republic of the Congo Demographic and Health Survey 2007New HIV infection rate alarms Luo
By Abraham Kalito
Wed 07 Mar. 2012, 11:59 CAT
LOCAL government minister Professor Nkandu Luo says new HIV infections are incredibly high at 226 daily.
Speaking when she officiated at the Southern African AIDS Trust (SAT) at Mulungushi International Conference Centre, Prof Luo said "closing the tap of new HIV and AIDS infections" was the only way to defeat the scourge.
She said the HIV epidemic would continue for a long time unless it was tackled differently.
"Clearly, unless the epidemic is addressed in a fundamental and meaningful way, Zambia's socioeconomic development will be at risk. As you are aware, HIV prevalence remains high at 14.3 per cent; new HIV infections are also incredibly high at 226 on a daily basis," she said.
Prof Luo said the PF government was fully committed to "face the epidemic head-on" and that it would endeavour to provide an enabling environment that would allow all stakeholders to play their full part in the response.
"Already the government has increased the budgetary allocation to the health sector to 45 per cent from K1,772.9 billion in 2011 to K2,579.9 billion this year," she said.
Prof Luo also said the government was putting in place measures to ensure that Anti Retroviral drugs were available to anyone who needed them.
She said there was need to fight HIV from the communities and families and if possible to focus on individuals and urged SAT to continue sharing the outcomes of its work in strengthening community HIV and AIDS competence in the past 21 years.
Prof Luo is a medical practitioner and a researcher.
Labels: FRAUD, HEALTHCARE, HIV/AIDS, NKANDU LUO, UNAIDS
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Crop subsidy to be extended to other crops other than maize-Guy Scott
TIME PUBLISHED - Sunday, February 26, 2012, 5:56 pm
Vice President Guy Scott says government will consider subsidizing the production other crops other than maize. Dr Scott says this is in an effort to promote crop diversification in the country.
He explained that government has been subsidizing maize production at the expense of other cash crops. The Vice President was speaking on Saturday night when he met the business community in Chipata.
Dr Scott has also called on the business community to supplement government’s efforts of creating jobs for the people.
And Local Government Minister Nkandu Luo says local authorities are not yet ready to implement the decentralization policy.
Professor LUO says councils need capacity building if they are to effectively implement the decentralization policy.
Meanwhile, Traditional leaders in the Eastern Province have pledged to work with the Patriotic Front government in developing the country.
Paramount Chief Mpezeni of the Ngoni speaking people says chiefs have an obligation to work with the government of the day.
The traditional leader said this at a breakfast meeting through his representative Chief Nzamane in Chipata on Sunday morning.
Paramount Chief Mpezeni hosted a breakfast in honour of Vice President Guy Scott and his delegation.
And Dr. Scott says government is serious about restoring the authority of traditional leaders.
And Chieftainess Nkomeshya of the Soli people expressed concern about a circular, which was issued last December indicating that no government official will be invited to be guest of honour at traditional ceremonies.
She explained that traditional ceremonies are a fora, where both government and traditional leaders discuss issues.
But Minister of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs Inonge Wina says government is ready to dialogue over the matter.
[ZNBC]
Labels: CHIPATA, DECENTRALIZATION, GUY SCOTT, MAIZE, NKANDU LUO
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HCAZ implores government to cut licence fees
By Abigail Chaponda in Ndola
Tue 13 Dec. 2011, 11:59 CAT
HOTEL and Catering Association of Zambia Copperbelt region chairperson Kenneth Mulalami has appealed to local government and environmental protection minister Professor Nkandu Luo to reduce business licence fees for hotels and guesthouses.
The Rupiah Banda government in July this year instructed all councils to increase business licence fees for hotels and guesthouses from K750,000 to K5 million. In an interview, Mulalami said the increment was not fair.
He said it was not in order for big hotels and small guesthouses to be paying the same amount of money in licence fees.
Mulalami said the new licence fee had disturbed many businesses as many guesthouses had stopped operating.
He asked Prof Luo to consider reducing the fee to a reasonable amount that everyone would be able to afford.
"Hotel and guesthouses are not supposed to pay the same amount. Guesthouses should pay a less amount, but for starters, the minister should give us a general reduction. This issue should be resolved before many guesthouses stop running," said Mulalami.
Labels: CATERING, LICENSES, NKANDU LUO, TOURISM
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Professor Nkandu Luo bans workshops with immediate effect
TIME PUBLISHED - Sunday, October 9, 2011, 7:27 am
Local Government Minister, Professor Nkandu Luo has with immediate effect banned the holding of workshops by local authorities in the country. She has charged that the outcomes from these workshops are rarely implemented but only serve as a source of corruption.
Professor Luo has further warned Civic leaders to refrain from illegal land allocation regardless of the political party they belong to. She was speaking when she installed PF Councilor, Davies Chiwala as new Mayor for the City of Ndola. Mayor Chiwala takes over from Friday Sikazwe.
Meanwhile, Mr. Chiwala has appealed to all civic leaders to seriously draw a line between politics and development. He says the people of Ndola are highly expectant of development from the new government. The new Mayor has appealed to Government to increase funding to local authorities for easy delivery of services.
Opposition UPND’s Lizuma ward councilor, Aggrey Nyekwa has been retained unopposed as Livingstone City Council mayor. While, his deputy is MMD’s Matthews Jere who also went through unopposed.
Livingstone City Council Town Clerk, Vivien Chikoti as returning officer declared the two duly elected as Mayor and Deputy respectively. Meanwhile, the PF in Livingstone says it did not contest for any position in a bid to probe the land allocation irregularities in the city.
PF Akapelwa ward councilor, Paul Sensele has accused many councilors in Livingstone of allegedly having benefited from illegal plots allocations. He has charged that corruption has hampereddevelopment in Livingstone.
In Kabwe PF councilor for Justine Kabwe Ward, Moses Mwansa, has been elected new Mayor for Kabwe Municipal council, while Ms Rachael Mwelwa also of the ruling PF is the Deputy Mayor.
Mr. Mwansa a former army officer and Rachael Mwelwa who both went unopposed in the elections were declared winners by the Town Clerk Maria Dias Neves in the Council Chambers.
The newly elected Mayor has pledged to work with Kabwe council administration and in collaboration with other councilors whose support he said he values to transform the face of Kabwe town.
He adds that he will work to revive Zambia-China Mulungushi Textiles and other companies that have since closed to create more jobs for the people of Kabwe.
MUVITV
Labels: CORRUPTION, NKANDU LUO, WORKSHOPS
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PF pledges to honour Abuja Declaration
By Agness Changala and Bright Mukwasa
Sun 11 Sep. 2011, 13:59 CAT
THE PF says it will honour the Abuja Declaration by increasing the health budgetary allocation to at least 15 per cent when voted into office this month.
During the signing of a social contract pledging to prioritise equitable and improved access to health service, Professor Nkandu Luo, who represented PF president Michael Sata, said honouring the Abuja Declaration on health would ensure increased funding to the health sector.
Under the Abuja Declaration to which Zambia is a signatory, government commits to increase the health budget to at least 15 per cent in accordance with its commitments to the declaration, with greater transparency and accountability in planning and spending.
Prof Luo said building hospitals alone was not adequate, adding that the sector needed to be supported by well trained health personnel.
"We will ensure that conditions of service for health workers are improved so that they much the work they are putting in," she said.
Prof Luo said the PF would also revisit the health Act and ensure decentralisation in the health sector.
And Zambians for Empowerment (ZED) president Dr Fred Mutesa said Zambia should not continue to depend on donors to fund the health sector.
Dr Mutesa said the country's health sector could fall into a crisis if the donors decided to pull out.
He said his party would ensure increased budgetary allocation to the health sector and production of drugs within the country.
Dr Mutesa said it was disheartening to see the government pay lip service with regards to improving the health sector.
"When they government officials get sick, they are evacuated and we can't continue with this trend," Dr Mutesa said.
He also supported Prof Luo's calls to abolish user fees because they were denying many people access to health.
Dr Mtesa said his party would build a medical school in every province to boost the training of health personnel to address the current shortage health staff.
National Restoration Party (NAREP) representative Niza Sanderson said the health system deserved serious budgetary consideration as it was the cornerstone of human development.
The health election campaign was launched in August, 2011 at the National Youth Development Centre in Lusaka.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, NKANDU LUO, PF
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Corruption in Zambia is everywhere - Luo
By Agness Changala
Thu 21 July 2011, 14:00 CAT
THE face of corruption is everywhere in Zambia, says Professor Nkandu Luo. Prof Luo, a former cabinet minister during the Frederick Chiluba regime, said people claiming that there was no corruption in Zambia were making misplaced statements. She said evidence showing the existence of corruption in Zambia was overwhelming.
“It does not even need someone to read to know there is corruption in this country. We have seen donors pulling out because of the vice and the Minister of Health Kapembwa Simbao is on record saying the government will pay back the Global Fund money which was stolen,” Prof Luo said.
She said the removal of the abuse of office clause from the Anti-Corruption Act would contribute to corruption levels in the country because there would be nothing to deter offenders from engaging in the vice.
Prof Luo said it was sad that the government decided to do away with the abuse of office clause when it was an important law to protect the country’s resources from being plundered.
She said any right thinking government should be looking for laws that would strengthen systems and not take away the little the country had. Prof Luo said putting in place watertight systems that will protect the country’s resources from abuse should be a campaign issue in this year’s elections.
She observed that many Zambians were suffering despite the country having abundant res-ources and being reclassified as a middle income country.
“The middle country status being talked about, I should be able to see whether the lives of rural people are improving,” Prof Luo said. “If this is not the case then who is it for?”
Prof Luo said Zambia was not a poor country that people should continue suffering, saying the much talked about economic growth should be able to improve the welfare of poor people in rural areas.
Labels: CORRUPTION, NKANDU LUO
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Zambia going backwards on health MDG, says Luo
By Moses Kuwema
Tue 19 July 2011, 14:00 CAT
PROFESSOR Nkandu Luo says Zambia is going backwards regarding the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) on health. In an interview yesterday, Prof Luo said her understanding of improvement in health was not about being able to provide drugs but reducing the disease burden in the country.
“There are particular things which should be visible. For example, the nutrition of people should be one of the important parameters that should be used in measuring the progress and if you travel round Zambia, you find that a lot of people are malnourished. Zambia is one of the countries with the highest levels of malnutrition and these days we even see a lot of adult malnutrition. So I don’t know what is improving in Zambia when now we even have adult malnutrition,” Prof Luo said.
Prof Luo said even the distances that people are required to cover to access health services were too long.
“At the moment Zambia is going through a crisis with regards to alcohol abuse, really I don't know what we are talking about. Gender equality, Zambia is very far from attaining gender equality. Zambia is very far from achieving the requirements for reproductive health because if you look at the parameters, we have some of the highest maternal and child deaths in the country. I personally do not agree that Zambia is doing well in terms of the MDGs on health,” said Prof Luo.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, MDGs, NKANDU LUO
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COMMENT - This is what happens when you have a neoliberal government that leaves basic services like education to the markets, and refuses to collect taxes from the mining industry. Every child in Zambia could be and should be in school, and the money would be there if the government collected $1.3 billion a year from the mines. The MMD are bought and paid for by the mining sector, and this is the result.
Government lacks leaders with plans, says Luo
By Brina Manenga
Sun 12 June 2011, 07:50 CAT
GOVERNMENT lacks leaders with proper developmental plans, says Professor Nkandu Luo. Prof Luo, who is a former cabinet minister and the country’s first female professor, said it was unfortunate that Zambia’s development had become a privilege and not an entitlement to citizens because it was not reaching the poorest people.
“The challenge that we have in Zambia is that a lot of decisions on what should happen in the country are made in air-conditioned offices. The people that are providing leadership and planning for Zambia are not close to the problems of the people. Therefore the planning and the decisions are made far from the real needs of the people,” said Prof Luo in an interview.
She said until the government leaders started planning with the needs of the people at heart, meaningful development would be realised.
“Some of us who have travelled this country have expressed sadness. We have seen the state of our schools, hospitals and roads even after so many years of independence. These things are totally in an unacceptable state,” Prof Luo said.
“If we had a leadership in place that does not react harshly to the genuine statements that are being made by different leaders of society, they would inspect their work, the so-called developmental projects.
Together we would work towards improving the lives of the people of Zambia. We would be so much developed as a country.”
Prof Luo said government was spending a lot of money on irrelevant projects because of lack of proper planning.
“The planning of development in Zambia must be done seriously. For how long are we going to have community schools? Does that mean that we do not value the education of our children? If we did value the education of our children, by now we should have graduated from community schools to better schools with the kind of human resource that is deserving to educate our children,” said Prof Luo.
She noted that the quality of community school education was not impressive hence the call for graduation into the mainstream education system.
She also questioned whether government leaders ever put themselves in the ‘shoes of learners’ and children in the community schools.
“Do they ever think what if it were me? What if it were my child who is going to be exposed to the situation of learning in these community schools? I wish they could ask themselves what if this was my son who is having to teach in a community school for a bag of maize then maybe they would try to make things better for our people,” she said.
“These are some of the things that should form the basis of planning. Personally I do not like to read all these praises about how well the economy is doing. The economy of Zambia must be translated to the quality of people’s lives. Which economy is doing well when the people of Zambia are wallowing in abject poverty?”
And Prof Luo said chieftainess Nkomeshya’s recent sentiments about government’s failure to deliver real development should be taken seriously by the government.
“The chieftainess is known to people as a humble woman who is very close to her people. She is a leader who wants to see development for her people. If government leaders have a heart, they will listen and act on what she said,” said Prof Luo.
The Soli traditional leader from Chongwe, during the memorial service of area member of parliament Sylvia Masebo’s mother Margaret Tembo, questioned the benefits of voting for the MMD government again after it has failed to deliver development in her area.
“Every year time, we do vote but what is our benefit? There is nothing! There is nothing! I represent the people. I am not a politician but I am a traditional leader. I want to know what our benefits are for voting for the MMD,” chieftainess Nkomeshya Mukamabo II said.
“When that day comes for us to go and vote, we are going to vote. I want to ask, ‘Is my vote and the vote of my people worth it to this government?’ If I cannot get the benefit from it, why should they vote if they are not reaping?
I am sure even the minister Gabriel Namulambe as he was coming he saw the type of schools that we have. Most of them are self-help schools. Where are the government schools? Chongwe Basic School is a missionary and Catholic school which was taken over by government, it was not built by government.”
Labels: CHIEFTIANESS NKOMESHYA, EDUCATION, GOVERNANCE, NKANDU LUO, POVERTY
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‘Zambia’s political leadership is losing it’
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Sun 16 May 2010, 03:40 CAT
PROFESSOR Nkandu Luo has observed that Zambia’s political leadership is losing it.
In an interview, Prof Luo who is former health minister said even if the word leader was used for certain people in the country, Zambia today did not have people worth calling leaders.
“I don’t think that Zambia today has people that if you follow the definition of a leader can be called a leader because leadership is anchored on various principles and one of the principles of leaders is love for others and the second is humility and the third is selflessness.
And we don’t see these kinds of things in the people that are referred to as leaders,” Prof Luo said.
“All you see is selfishness, they must get what they get at all costs. So if it means killing a few people, those people have to be killed like we saw in Mufumbwe. I mean people being hacked, we saw a report of children dying because somebody just went and drove where people were celebrating.
I think that is unacceptable and yet we do not hear what has happened to these people. Have they been prosecuted? It’s now like the lives of Zambians now don’t mean anything. What means something is the people that are providing leadership for as long as they are in the comfort zone and I think this is totally unacceptable.”
She said the violence currently being experienced in Zambia particularly at election time was very unfortunate.
Prof Luo said leaders and all people needed to remember that violence was a big concern for women and in countries where it had broken out, the first victims were women and children.
“What happens when there is violence is that they take advantage and rape women or if people have to run away, the women always want to carry their children with them. The men will run away and the women and children will be casualties. I think it is important for the women of Zambia to take this very seriously with the leadership of the country so that this comes to an end especially in the run-up to the 2011 elections because if it is this bad now, it is likely to get worse in 2011,” she said.
“And I think as women, we need to reflect on this and we need to say to the leadership of the country that whoever is perpetuating violence, and we all know anyway, must bring it to an end because it is not in the interest of anybody. It’s not in the interest of the leadership, it’s not in the interest of the women and children and it is not in the interest of the populace of Zambia.”
Prof Luo also said the language being used by leaders in the country was unfortunate.
She said there was a lot of persecution and malignment in the language.
Prof Luo cited the recent attacks on Lusaka Catholic Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu.
“I as a Catholic, I was very sad with the kind of the things they talked about Archbishop Mpundu and what was so sad was that some of the perpetrators of Archbishop Mpundu have suffered persecution but because it suits them now, they should persecute another person. I think that is unacceptable,” she said.
Prof Luo said as a Zambian, she was not interested in knowing who was sick and who was suffering from what.
She said she was only interested in her bread and butter.
Prof Luo said the leadership of the country needed to tell Zambians what they would do about the health sector, education standards, roads and issues at institutions like University of Zambia (UNZA).
She said she recently returned from Northern Province where the road network was terrible. Prof Luo said the road between Serenje and Nakonde was in a real bad situation and yet leaders were more interested in attacking each other on health issues.
“I am not interested. I want to hear who is going to repair the road and when so that people travelling on that road have a comfortable ride and also reduce the number of accidents on that road. As Zambians we need to make leaders accountable and it is important leaders account for the violence that has taken place and those responsible apologise and make a commitment that it will not happen again,” said Prof Luo.
Politicians in the country have in the last few weeks engaged in personal attacks, questioning each other’s health and calling names. The attacks started before the by-election in Mufumbwe in North Western Province, which was later marred by violence and loss of life.
Labels: LEADERSHIP, NKANDU LUO, POLITICAL VIOLENCE, POLITICS
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Insults: who is insulting who?
By Editor
Sun 24 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT
PROFESSOR Nkandu Luo is right when she says that “talking about the suffering of the people does not constitute an insult”. Today it seems in Zambia one cannot criticise or question the decisions and actions of the President and others in power without being accused of insulting them.
We are not living in a monarch where the citizens are subjects of the rulers. We are living in a Republic where citizens are the masters of those who govern their country. And the issue of citizens being masters in a republic is not a theoretical matter but a practical reality.
The democracy our people are seeking is a genuine one in which the political leaders are servants of the electorate and not its masters. Even in our chiefdoms, the traditional authorities are no longer treating their people like subjects of the old type, of the times when they had absolute power as a sovereign in their own right. Today in Zambia, both the subject and the chief are citizens with equal rights.
Criticising public officers can never be said to be an insult and should not be criminalised in any way.
And moreover, in a republic, citizens have a divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, we mean the characters and conduct of the rulers. Citizens have a right to comment on, question or criticise the conduct or character of those who govern their affairs. To some people, questioning or criticising political leaders at whatever level is an insult. If criticism is valid, it must be made because it is good for people and institutions that are part of public life. And as we have repeatedly pointed out, no institution should expect to be free from the scrutiny, the criticism of those who give it their loyalty and support, not to mention those who don’t.
But of course, we are all part of the same fabric of our national society and that scrutiny, by one part of another, can be just as effective if it is made with a touch of civility, gentleness, good humour and understanding. This sort of questioning, of criticism can also act, and it should do so, as an effective engine for change.
We have heard some people complain about the President being insulted, but we have never heard the same people complain about the President insulting others, insulting political opponents and even ordinary citizens who he disagrees with. We have never heard these same people who claim to have very high morals complain or criticise the President directly when he insults others.
The President has insulted other citizens so repeatedly. And we really mean insults. The President of this country has insulted us, charging that we are sick people; we are morbid, queer and so on and so forth. None of these self-proclaimed moralists have criticised the President for insulting us. Or are they telling us that it is alright for the President to insult a fellow citizen but it is wrong for that citizen to insult back.
The President has even gone as far as accusing us of having pocketed US$ 30 million from state institutions through Zambian Airways. What insult can be worse than this if what the President is saying is not true, cannot be proved? But again, none of these moralists have come to our defence or have criticised the President for insulting us.
There is need to tell the Zambian people the truth; there are no gains in telling lies. It is better to lose power than to tell people lies and suffocate them with cheap and sometimes silly language. It shouldn’t be forgotten that the Zambian people look to their leaders for compassion, for understanding and for honest purpose.
We have been accused of insulting the President when we have called him a liar when he has lied. To these moralists calling someone a liar, especially the President, when he lies is an insult. And to them it doesn’t matter what proof you have. Some of them have even gone to say one cannot say his or her father is lying even when he is doing so because to do so will be tantamount to insulting one’s father. This may sound sensible but there is a problem here because this suggests that the presidency of a nation is metaphorically equivalent to fatherhood in a family, and that citizens are equivalent to children. This is a dangerous form of paternalism in conflict with the possibility of democracy in a republic, in a modern political system.
The truth is that – and they know it – calling a President who has lied a liar is not an insult; it is a fact, the truth. One who tells lies is a liar. And there is no better way of describing him other than that he is a liar. What else can one call a person who tells lies other than that he is a liar? Yes, there are other alternative words that can be used but they still amount to the same thing, they still mean the same thing – a liar. This is not an insult.
It is difficult for us to understand how the Church’s guidance, pastoral letters can be said to be insults.
Anyway, what they are seeking is praise and not criticism. They don’t want to be questioned on anything. Anyone who questions what they are saying or doing is perceived to be insulting. This is why they have hired some churches, some small briefcase political parties, and some individuals to sing praise of them and come to their defence whenever they are criticised. And these are the ones they refer to as “the church”, “the opposition”. They also have some individuals going under some NGO names who from time to time issue statements that receive very high prominence in the state-owned and government-controlled media. These are the ones they call “civil society”.
Clearly, what they hate is not insults. What they hurt is criticism targeted at themselves. What they like is praise even of their heinous deeds. What they like is criticism of their opponents. What they don’t like is anyone praising their opponents or those they don’t like.
This reminds us of what is said about the rich and powerful and the poor and powerless. It is said that when a man in power stumbles, there will be many people jumping up to try and be the first ones to steady him. But if a poor man, a powerless citizen falls, no one will try to pick him up, even his friends will just watch and wait for him to pick himself up. It is also said that when a man in power makes a mistake, says something wrong, insults someone, there are many people to cover up for him, explain away all the things he never should have said and echo his insults.
But let a poor and ordinary citizen make a mistake, and he gets nothing but criticism. Sometimes even when he is not wrong, he is accused of having done something wrong, of having insulted simply because it embarrasses, humiliates and offends the powerful. Even if what he says makes good sense, is factual, is true, he still gets attacked for it and called all sorts of names. This is the case with those who dare to criticise, to question the decisions and actions of the President, of all those in power.
These are the double standards of our moralists, of those who are complaining about insults, of those who want to sound as if they stand on high moral ground when they are nothing but defenders of inequities, of corruption and other abuses of power; when all they are trying to do is to protect the President, those in power from honest but probably piercing criticism.
It is said that “liars deserved to be cursed” (Sirach 28:13). And when a wicked man curses his enemy, he is simply cursing himself. It is not good to think up lies to tell about fellow citizens who you do not get on well with. It is not good to tell lies at all because it never does anyone any good. It is not good or proper, fair or just for one to set one’s heart on being a judge, unless one has the strength of character it takes to put an end to injustice.
We remember the President’s insults in Kafinda area in August last year. Before starting to insult, the President openly declared that he was going to insult and indeed he did just that. He insulted us and Michael Sata. The President knew what he was doing; his insults were not accidental, they were deliberate and conscious. They were insults aforethought. But none of these moralists came up to criticise him. Why? This same President at a by-election campaign accused us of telling ubufi bwa kunya. This was a clear insult on us but our moralists were nowhere near to criticise the President.
Again, it will be appropriate for us to end this discourse on insults with United States president Theodore Roosevelt’s famous quote on presidential criticism: “The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right.
Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or anyone else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about anyone else.”
Labels: NKANDU LUO, POLITICS
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Prof Luo attributes corruption in MoH to demise of CBoH
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Mon 28 Dec. 2009, 04:01 CAT
FORMER health minister Professor Nkandu Luo yesterday said she hopes the Ministry of Health has learnt valuable lessons from the recent withdrawal of donor funding.
Commenting on the resumption of funding by the three lead donors - Sweden, the Netherlands and the European Commission, Prof Luo said she hoped the Ministry of Health had put in place measures that would ensure transparency and accountability.
She attributed the malpractice in the ministry partly to the demise of Central Board of Health (CBoH).
“CBoH should have never been removed. It was set up primarily to monitor the prudent management of resources and it had started achieving that. So I hope that they have learnt that they need structures that have very minimal bureaucracy where they can easily track resources and how they are being used,” she said.
Prof Luo said she hoped the ministry would rethink its position on CBoH.
She said if the position on CBoH remained unchanged, she hoped that during the process of negotiations, the ministry had put in place measures that would ensure transparency and accountability in guidelines of procurement, tracking of resources and had a proper monitoring system in relation to finances.
“I also hope that in 2010, resources would be put where they are needed the most and not in workshops because in the past most of the money went in workshops. I hope they cut down on seminars and workshops,” said Pro Luo.
Sweden, the Netherlands and the European Commission recently announced that they had released a total of K129 billion in support to the health sector in Zambia.
This follows the progress made by the Ministry of Health in recent months in improving accountability and transparency in the management of funds in accordance with the agreed governance action plan for the sector, established in response to the misappropriation of funds at the ministry.
According to a statement, this plan had also constituted an important part of the poverty reduction budget support dialogue with the government on the key underlying principles of public financial management and good governance.
It stated that the dialogue was satisfactorily concluded on November 25, though a number of outstanding issues would need to be addressed in 2010.
Sweden, the Netherlands and the European Commission, together with the other cooperating partners, all particularly disappointed with the misappropriation of funds, had worked intensively with the Ministry of Health to secure the oversight systems so that funds flowing, both from the Zambian taxpayers and cooperating partners, were safeguarded and used for the intended purposes.
Swedish Ambassador to Zambia Marie Andersson de Frutos said it was critical that the government continues to reform the health sector for the sake of the millions of Zambians depending on the Ministry of Health for receiving treatment and drugs.
She underlined that much work remained to be done to strengthen the oversight and accountability of structures of the ministry.
According to the statement, actions to be taken within the second and third phase of the health sector governance action plan included comprehensive financial, systems and procurement audits as well as a first repayment of misappropriated funds to the cooperating partners.
It stated that in the case of Sweden and the Netherlands, the disbursements were a first step in a partial resumption of funding to the Ministry of Health following the decision taken in May 2009 to temporarily suspend disbursements in the sector when suspicions of irregularities in the ministry were disclosed.
“The government has since implemented a series of actions and reforms within the area of financial management, and has taken decisive steps to prosecute alleged culprits in the courts of law. In addition, the government has produced a repayment plan for donor funds which have been misappropriated,” read the statement in part. “In parallel with the ongoing work at the ministry, cooperating partners have had discussions with representatives of the Zambian government on executing in-depth audits of several other ministries and public-spending agencies to ensure that systems are further enhanced, as was already announced in June by H.E. Republican President Banda.”
Labels: CENTRAL BOARD OF HEALTH, MINISTRY OF HEALTH, NKANDU LUO
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It’s not possible for health workers to believe that there is no money – Luo
Written by Masuzyo Chakwe, Christopher Miti and Mutuna Chanda
Sunday, June 28, 2009 4:50:33 PM
FORMER minister of health
Professor Nkandu Luo has said
it is not possible for health workers to believe that there is no money when a small percentage of people who are not working as hard are getting rich.
And Health Workers Union of Zambia (HWUZ) Lusaka provincial secretary Bruno Tembo said it is clear that the government would not improve the health workers' conditions of service going by President Rupiah Banda’s national address last Wednesday.
Meanwhile, health workers in Lusaka have vowed to continue with the strike despite health minister Kapembwa Simbao's order to them to resume work tomorrow, failure to which they would be sacked.
In an interview, Prof Luo said strikes by health workers had always meant disasters. She said all Zambians knew that members of parliament would get their gratuity.
"They will get about K420 million and if you multiply that by 150 constituencies, then you say to a health worker who doesn't sleep when everybody else is sleeping to care for patients that there is no money. What are difficulties if there is money to pay mid-term gratuity? It makes it very difficult to discuss with health workers when there are huge allowances being given at the National Constitutional Conference," she observed.
Prof Luo said nurses had a very important role to play in health institutions and no institution could operate without them. She said nurses were the majority of all the staff in health institutions.
"Doctors come and leave instructions with nurses, even lab technicians, they go to the labs and the statements end up with the nurses," she said.
Prof Luo said if the nurses were fired, it would be a disaster to the health sector, as it would be paralysed. She said if someone had to document the number of casualties during this strike, the outcome would be very sad. Prof Luo said giving ultimatums was not a way of resolving the problem.
Prof Luo said the best way would be to negotiate because it was difficult for anyone to say that there was no money when a small percentage of people were getting rich and yet they did not work as hard as nurses.
And Tembo said intimidation would not help convince the health workers to resume work. He said only proper language and good reassurance would help.
"The health workers have indicated that they can go back for work if only government can assure them that their demands will be addressed with timeframe tagged to it, not through intimidation. I am appealing to the health minister Honourable Simbao not to use unpalatable words," he said
"Workers are suffering hence the demands they are asking. The minister is aware that the sector is limping in terms of workforce and he is already saying that he fires the only patriotic impoverished Zambians who have remained in the country despite the difficult conditions."
Tembo said it was clear that other conditions of service would not be given since the collective agreement document was already signed, which was supposed to accommodate all the workers' demands.
He appealed to the health workers to resume work so that they could organise themselves for the next move.
"Let us work according to prescribed parameter of our jobs; for example one nurse to attend to eight patients only and not to work the way we are currently working. My fellow workers, we have been defeated by this government, which has no remorse. We are down but not out," he said.
"I know you are bleeding because our transport to the graves [hearses] is already bought by this government which claims to have no money."
Tembo appealed to the national union leaders to consult members before committing themselves to serious matters, which affect the membership to avoid unnecessary industrial arrests.
In Lusaka, the health workers gathered at UTH near the casualty section.
They resolved not to report for work on Monday and wait for Zambia Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) president Leonard Hikaumba to address them.
And former Chadiza UNIP member of parliament Phillip Zulu has described Simbao's threats to dismiss striking health workers who would not resume work by Monday next week as unfortunate, intimidatory and dictatorial.
Zulu said the government should find a better way of resolving the strike by health workers.
"When a husband and wife differ, the solution is not divorce. If that is taken as a solution, then just know that there is a problem in that house. While I don't condone the strikes by health workers because their consequences are grave I strongly believe that there should be a better way of resolving this issue," Zulu said.
He said the government should suspend the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) and the money could be used to address the issues affecting the health workers.
He said it was very unfortunate that Simbao was advertising for vacancies instead of finding a solution to the nurses' problems.
"A good leader is known for what he does and not what he says. So for the minister to start advertising for vacancies for me it shows lack of professionalism on his part. What he should know is that it takes a lot to train a nurse. Let them know that there is a way in which government can solve this problem. To every problem there is a solution that can be good to both parties and not to one party alone because this solution that the minister is putting up is only good to government alone," said Zulu.
Simbao last Thursday said the government had asked retired health workers and those seeking employment to submit applications to provincial and district health offices.
Simbao said workers that were not interested in working would not be allowed to gather within hospital premises and that those that do not report for work tomorrow should consider themselves fired.
Information minister Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha on Friday evening reiterated the government's stance that failure by the striking nurses to report for work tomorrow would lead to serious disciplinary action resulting in dismissal from work.
And Basic Education Teachers Union of Zambia (BETUZ) has suspended two of its Ndola District officials on grounds of inciting teachers to continue with strike action.
According to letters of suspension to Ndola District BETUZ chairman Richard Mweetwa and Mutale Kapotwe, union deputy director S. Chipamina stated that the two officials betrayed the union.
"Since the calling off the strike on 12th June 2009, it has come to our attention that illegal meetings have been organised to incite teachers to withdraw membership and labour so that they continue on strike," stated Chipamina.
"In view of this we feel betrayed by your actions hence the above action."
But in response, Mweetwa dismissed the suspension as being illegal and having no basis.
Mweetwa challenged Chipamina to produce evidence of his claims that he incited workers to withdraw their membership.
Mweetwa stated that it was common knowledge that teachers were disappointed with national union leaders for signing the 15 per cent salary increment hence their withdrawal of membership.
And Kapotwe described the allegations against him as totally false.
"This is pure union politics of which I would not like to subject myself or the BETUZ membership to," Kapotwe stated.
"These actions by Mr. Chipamina will only breed divisions and total chaos. I challenge Mr Chipamina to lay his cards on the table. Produce evidence that I have been inciting teachers to continue with the strike if he can."
Meanwhile, striking teachers in Chipata have refused to resume normal operations despite calls from their unions to do so.
One of the teachers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the teachers wanted a better explanation from their unions for signing a low salary increment.
"Our union leaders ... addressed us at Chipata Day Secondary School and we resolved to go on strike because of a number of reasons that were given at that meeting but now why are they saying we should resume work before giving us reasons why we should go back to work?" the teacher asked.
The teacher said it was bad that workers were being threatened by union leaders and some government officials over their decision to go on strike.
"It's important that they first address our grievances because threatening us will not work. If we are threatened will go back to work quite alright, but are we going to work with a happy mind?" he asked.
But Chipata District ZNUT chairperson Ackson Ngoma said he was not aware that there were some teachers that had not resumed work.
Labels: BRUNO TEMBO, HEALTHCARE, HWUZ, NKANDU LUO
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