Prostitution in Luapula pains Sata
By Misheck Wangwe, Roy Habaalu and Prince Chibawah in Mansa
Thu 21 Nov. 2013, 14:00 CAT
PRESIDENT Michael Sata says it pains him that a lot of women in Luapula have turned to prostitution due to poverty and underperformance of members of parliament in the province. And education minister Dr John Phiri says there is no PF without President Sata.
And President Sata yesterday asked the people of Luapula to give him individuals to stand as members of parliament if the current ones fail to perform.
Addressing a huge rally at Muchinka Primary School grounds in Mansa where he went to drum up support for the PF candidate in the Mansa Central parliamentary by-election Dr Chitalu Chilufya, President Sata said it was shameful that a lot of women had resorted to prostitution just to feed their families and all the leaders were watching.
President Sata who ordered all PF members of parliament from Luapula, including the candidate Dr Chilufya, to kneel before the crowd shortly before his address, said he wanted everyone to work hard to end poverty and deliver on the promises of the PF.
"You MPs, you can't feel ashamed that 49 years of independence some of these children have never seen even a pair of shoes? They are barefooted and you Chilufya you are here, nobody called you to come and stand as MP, you came on your own asking for a job. Look, at independence, 49 years ago people were using pit latrines and they are still using pit latrines as toilets. People die when these pit latrines collapse and you are there saying, 'we are MPs'. You must be ashamed," President Sata said.
He said it was sad that his members of parliament were not taking pride in representing the people of Luapula that had over the years produced some successful businessmen.
And President Sata threatened that he would get rid of all the members of parliament from Luapula because they were not performing.
"Mubamone bonse aba. Uyu mwaka uleisa 2014, Mumpeleko ba MP abakwata amano, fyonse ifi tufitanfye (look at these MPs. This coming year, 2014, give me MPs with senses. All these must be fired)," President Sata said while pointing at the MPs that were made to kneel before the crowd.
"Natukwata ama plans nomba ngatukwete fi MP ifipuba, ama plans tukatwala kumbi. Tupeniko ba MP aba champuka (we have plans of development but we will take our plans somewhere else because we have foolish MPs. Give us MPs who are clever)," President Sata said.
He said the PF had serious plans for development such as building of secondary schools.
President Sata said he was not happy that his MPs in Luapula were not clever.
He said even the former MP for Kawambwa, Elizabeth Chitika, was busy misleading the people but did nothing to develop the constituency.
"Uyu Davies Mwila (Chipili PF member of parliament) said the late Kennedy Sakeni was a Ng'umbo by tribe and they have adopted another Ng'umbo in the name of Dr Chilufya to inherit him. Now when I was a young man in Mufulira, people that brought public transport were from Mansa. I remember Nselemukila, Costar, Kapesha and the Mwense brothers. They all came from here and the fish that we used to enjoy on the Copperbelt came from here. Now you people, what kind of MPs are you? Nobody came to you that come and be our MP; you applied on your own and you must work," President Sata said.
He said his MPs from Luapula must work more than the opposition MMD member of parliament for Chembe, Mwansa Mbulakulima, because he was just alone in the province.
President Sata urged the people of Mansa Central to vote for Dr Chilufya adding that his adoption was temporary and if he does not perform, he would be gotten rid of.
"There is no water in Mansa. You should feel embarrassed as MPs; look at the suffering of the people. Where are we going as a nation if there is no water in Mansa? I want boreholes at each and every village. If you fail to do it, I will do it myself," President Sata said.
Notable among President Sata's entourage were education minister Dr John Phiri, community development minister Dr Joseph Katema, local government minister Emerine Kabanshi, PF deputy secretary general Bridget Atanga, Davis Mwila and other senior party and government officials.
President Sata flew back to Lusaka after the rally.
And Dr Phiri said there was no PF without President Sata.
"PF is synonymous to one name and that is Sata. PF is Sata and Sata is PF. So (Dr Chilufya) when you join us, don't start bringing nonsense you start saying the President is about to die; does he look like someone who is about to die? And I know you can contribute positively to our party," Dr Phiri said.
He said the government would in 2014 lay a foundation stone for the construction a university in Luapula Province. He said the government was in the process of upgrading 22 basic schools to secondary schools.
"Because of the archaic procedure in procurement, the foundation stone for the university I will ask you in 2014 to come and lay the foundation stone," he informed President Sata.
PF campaign manager for the Mansa Central by-election Nickson Chilangwa said the party was united and working as a family. Chilangwa told President Sata that the people in the province were against confusion.
"Luapula is peaceful; the campaigns have been very peaceful. The party is well organised and we are working as a family. People of Luapula love peace," said Chilangwa.
Tomorrow Mansa residents vote for their member of parliament.
The MMD is fielding their provincial chairperson Alfred Malama Kapolyo, UPND has Rosemary Mwiche, UNIP has Charles Mwelwa and FDD has Alfred Mwape.
Labels: JOHN PHIRI, LUAPULA PROVINCE, MICHAEL SATA, PROSTITUTION
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COMMENT - So the MDC wants to legalize prostitution in Zimbabwe. Why are they so obsessed with the reproductive capacity of the Zimbabwean people? This stuff is all NGO (or Non-
Zimbabwean Government Organization)driven. By the way, estimates of HIV infection in Africa are massively exaggerated, so watch out what policies are introduced to 'remedy' it. If they really want to bring down 'HIV infections', they should start proper testing and survey taking, by ending Antenatal Clinic Surveys and switch to Demographic and Health Surveys only, and start using Western Blot as a confirmation test. This would be
immediately reduce HIV estimates to under 1% of the population, not this 1.2 million nonsense. Anyway, here is the MDC trying to legalize prostitution - good luck with the 2011 elections.
MP's Bill to legalise prostitution
06/08/2011 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
AN MP says she is sponsoring a Private Members’ Bill to legalise prostitution, claiming it would stop the physical abuse of sex workers and allow for effective strategies to curb the spread of HIV in the “oldest profession”.
Bulawayo East MP Thabitha Khumalo [MDC-T], who sits on the SADC Parliamentary Forum’s HIV/Aids panel, says she is trying to drum up support among legislators for the controversial law reforms before tabling the Bill.
“SADC has set a 2015 target to reduce new HIV infections by 50 percent. There is a popular belief in Zimbabwe that prostitutes are the biggest drivers of the HIV spread, and if that’s the case then we can’t meet our targets without engaging the sex workers,” she told the Voice of America’s Studio 7 on Thursday night.
Khumalo says legitimising the work of “pleasure engineers”, as she called the prostitutes, would allow for a more open interaction with HIV groups and the police to curb both the spread of the disease and stop physical abuse of women.
She added: “We need to find out how they live; what hazards to their personal security they face and any barriers they face in accessing treatment for various health issues including HIV.
“At the moment they face discrimination, denial of access to drugs and many just go underground and that’s dangerous.”
She said a group representing prostitutes met Health Minister Henry Madzorera in Bulawayo recently to make a case for the recognition of their activities.
“They told the Health Minister they want to work and they would be prepared to pay taxes; be tested for HIV and work with health officials on strategies to safeguard their personal health and that of their clients,” she added.
Khumalo admitted, however, that there was no definitive proof that there is a relationship between legalising prostitution and a reduction in HIV infections.
An estimated 1,2 million adults and children are living with HIV in Zimbabwe, but health officials say new infections are on the decline owing to greater community awareness.
Labels: HIV/AIDS, MDC, PROSTITUTION
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National Assembly Motel: a den of prostitution
By Editor
Saturday March 22, 2008 [12:00]
Leaders lead. They show the way, they lead the way. Those who take up leadership positions, especially in politics, are assuming a very important leadership role. They are supposed to, individually and collectively, set the standards and live by them. Of course, it is said ‘do as I say and not as I do’.
This is not the type of leadership any serious community should expect and accept. Of course, this takes into account the fact that there are failings in human beings. But those who fail, in a serious community, are excluded from the leadership.
And during Easter, we should reflect deeply on what type of leadership we want in our families, in our communities, in our church congregations and indeed in the nation. Doing is the best way of saying. And living is the best way of believing. Our way of life is a result of what we believe.
Followers are supposed to live and act like their leaders. For those who have chosen to be followers of Christ, they should live and act like Him.
When we were young and in junior primary school, we used to have a play called “Follow the Leader”. In this play, we used to queue in a single file and were instructed to do everything that the one who was at the head of the queue, the one who led the queue did. And we would be singing or shouting: “… follow, follow, follow, follow… follow the leader! … I jump, you jump; I run, you run…” and so on and so forth.
This was a simple exercise or play but it had a lot of meaning in it for those who lead and for those who follow others. If you are a follower of Christ, you have to try to live and act as Christ did. It also means that if you are in a position of leadership, you should expect your example to be followed by those you lead. So, a leader has got a duty to perform his responsibility with sufficient honour and integrity.
This too applies to our political leaders – our members of parliament. It is not a lie that the National Assembly Motel has been turned into a brothel. It has actually been a brothel for a very long time. And it is surprising that it’s only now that a member of parliament – Munji Habeenzu – is talking about it.
Who in Lusaka doesn’t know that the National Assembly Motel is a slaughterhouse for women, to borrow from Jonas Shakafuswa’s vocabulary. And we were surprised that Mukondo Lungu, as chairman of the debate, interrupted Habeenzu’s contribution. It is no wonder AIDS has claimed so many of our members of parliament over the years.
We value the lives of our members of parliament and whatever can be done to save them should be done. Moreover, the by-elections that result from these deaths are very costly and everything possible should be done to save the lives of our politicians and avoid these by-elections.
But there is another element to this whole issue that also deserves serious consideration. The National Assembly Motel was built with taxpayers’ money to reduce the costs of running Parliament. Before this motel was built, our members of parliament used to stay in hotels and this was very costly to the treasury.
Our members of parliament’s stay at the National Assembly Motel is free of charge or highly subsidised by the taxpayer. It is immoral to ask the taxpayer to pay for our members of parliament’s prostitution activities. It is not fair to ask our taxpayer to subsidise any member of parliament’s illicit sex.
We shouldn’t forget that this amounts to corruption because corruption is not only the direct stealing of public funds but also the abuse of public facilities. What is happening at the National Assembly Motel is a gross abuse of public facilities by our members of parliament .
What example are our members of parliament, our political leaders setting for the nation? Is this the way to behave in a country that is seriously facing an HIV/AIDS pandemic? Is this the behaviour that is expected of politicians who unilaterally declared this country a Christian nation? What Christian values are being projected by this type of conduct?
What type of a Christian nation are these lawmakers of ours trying to build in this country?
These are supposed to be honourable men and this is why they are called “Honourable so and so”. But is this behaviour honourable? They have turned a noble place built with taxes from a humble population into a Sodom or Gomorrah! In the biblical days, that place would be burnt.
We can’t burn it today but we surely can do something to ensure that it is used for the noble purposes it was built. And prostitution by members of parliament is nowhere near the list of reasons for which that motel was built.
The immorality of our political leaders is truly embarrassing. And as if this is not enough, the childishness and arrogance of some of them is truly frightening. We expect our leaders to behave in a certain way if we are expected to follow them. It is impossible for us to follow our leaders given the way they conduct themselves, unless we want to destroy ourselves and die of AIDS.
We therefore call on the Speaker to do something about this National Assembly Motel that has been turned into a Sodom or Gomorrah and where so many of our members of parliament have met their death after contracting HIV.
There has to be some rules in the use of this motel. And those who don’t want to abide by the rules should find alternative accommodation where they can have their prostitution activities in unlimited ways. Public institutions have to always be governed by certain rules and standards.
Shakafuswa has said a lot of things in defence of the current order at the National Assembly Motel but we will not single him out for a personalised harangue because this issue is far bigger than him.
It has been there long before Shakafuswa even thought of entering politics. All that we can say is that his behaviour is childish, foolish and irresponsible of such an important political leader of our country.
We also urge Habeenzu to carry on to higher heights this very important issue he has started. We commend him for breaking what appeared to be a taboo. And we urge all other members of parliament to join and push this issue further and ensure that the Speaker acts on it.
Labels: MPs, NATIONAL ASSEMBY, PROSTITUTION
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Shakafuswa, Habeenzu differ over prostitution
By Lambwe Kachali
Saturday March 22, 2008 [12:00]
JONAS Shakafuswa on Thursday night threatened to beat up Muji Habeenzu over his remark that National Assembly Motel has been turned into a brothel by members of parliament. Shakafuswa, who is finance deputy minister told Chikankata UPND member of parliament Habeenzu just before Parliament adjourned Sine die at about 22:45 hours that it was ridiculous to talk about such matters in Parliament.
Last Tuesday during the debate on the policy statement of the 2008 budget estimates for the Ministry of Health, Habeenzu said it was sad that even parliamentarians were engaging in extra marital affairs at the motel where they were being accommodated.
Habeenzu described the situation as dangerous in as far as the fight against HIV/AIDS was concerned.
He said the fight against the pandemic would only be fought if people in leadership positions led by example by sticking to one sexual partner.
Habeenzu, who said there was need to enact a law to deter people from willingly infecting others, noted that some members of parliament were involved in immoral activities instead of helping to fight the scourge in the country.
At this point, chairman of committees in Parliament Mkhondo Lungu interrupted Habeenzu's debate and advised him to change the topic while some ministers and other members of parliament insisted that he should disclose what was happening at the motel.
But last Thursday before Parliament adjourned, Shakafuswa threatened Habeenzu at the bar that he would be beaten up if he continued talking about what goes on at the motel.
Shakafuswa, who is also Katuba MMD member of parliament, said his wife consistently phoned him to find out whether he was in the chamber debating or 'slaughtering women' at the motel due to Habeenzu's remarks.
He said if Habeenzu was so poor that he could not buy sex, it was important that he spared those with money to pay for it.
"I can beat you up. We will be beating you if you continue. You are very stupid, idiot, imbecile. How can you say such things in Parliament? If you are poor and cannot manage to buy sex, let people with money do that. You people in UPND are very dull. I know it's because you are very poor. If you don't know how to scr** women, just keep quiet before you are beaten up," he said.
Shakafuswa, who spoke on top of his voice, said it was unacceptable for Habeenzu to assume that National Assembly Motel had been turned into a brothel.
"If a woman wants to be slaughtered, then let her be done. The problem with many of you is that you don't know how to scr** women, no wonder they don't like you. That's why me, I don't like drinking from cheap places like this one," Shakafuswa said.
But Shakafuswa's utterances angered Habeenzu who later wanted to respond but was restrained by Chisamba member of parliament Moses Muteteka and Pemba member of parliament David Matongo.
Muteteka and Matongo advised Habeenzu to leave because the issue had already been discussed in Parliament and that it was against the parliamentary code of conduct to bring matters outside the House.
Habeenzu then left as Shakafuswa continued speaking loudly.
Notable members of parliament present at the scene were Muteteka, Matongo, Vincent Mwale (Chipangali), Given Lubinda (Kabwata), Douglas Syakalima (Siavonga), Toddy Chilembo (Chama North) among others.
Muteteka expressed disappointment at Shakafuswa's outburst, saying Habeenzu had all the right to debate the issue because he enjoyed parliamentary privileges.
Syakalima said Shakafuswa behaved in that manner because he was President Levy Mwanawasa's nephew and that he could not be disciplined by the relevant authorities.
And Habeenzu has said he would write to Speaker of the National Assembly Amusa Mwanamwambwa over Shakafuswa's insults and threats.
Habeenzu said his life had been threatened and would therefore request the Speaker’s protection.
"I am in a state of shock. All I know is that whatever I speak in Parliament I am protected by law. If Shakafuswa was offended by my debate, why didn't he challenge me in the House? I have no option but to write to the Speaker and find out why he has insulted me outside Parliament. I think I need a serious explanation from him," said Habeenzu.
But yesterday, when contacted for clarification over his utterances and Habeenzu's intention to write to the Speaker, Shakafuswa said he did not regret what he said.
Shakafuswa maintained that Habeenzu was stupid because his statement in Parliament undermined the status of parliamentarians.
"Let him write to the Speaker, I don't care. Habeenzu is very stupid. He cannot say that the motel has been turned into a brothel. What will people think about us? That is nonsense," he said.
Reminded further that he also told Habeenzu that if he was poor and could not pay for sex, he should leave those with money to buy sex and that if a woman needs to be slaughtered, let it be so, Shakafuswa said that was a personal statement.
"Look! Do you want to include that in your story? Is that newsworthy? No, it shouldn't be like that. You know I was at the bar and I was drinking. There is no way you can write such things. Those will damage my name. That was a personal statement.
Ok, fine, if you want to write that, go ahead, but I know that you will still need news from me next time. And when you include that, you will make me angry and you will never get any news from me again," said Shakafuswa.
Labels: MPs, NATIONAL ASSEMBY, PROSTITUTION
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