GBM, family get ZNS contracts
By Mwala Kalaluka and Agness Katongo
Tue 14 Jan. 2014, 14:01 CAT
FORMER defence minister Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba, members of his family and associates had monopolised Zambia National Service (ZNS) business contracts.
And Mwamba's younger brother, George Muma Mwamba, says his brother has no principles and he does not agree with the way he does business.
Twenty one local companies supplying ZNS, a military unit which was under the control and direction of Mwamba as defence minister, are either owned by him, his family or by people connected to him in one way or another.
The companies include Elgrezad (Z) Ltd whose contact director is Mwamba Sefuke but PACRA documents show that Grem Newa and Magret Namwinga are the company directors and shareholders; Thosims Suppliers and Contractors whose contract director is Mwamba's daughter Sibongile, who is also the contract director for New Dawn Processors Limited; Multi Trade Investment; Arizona Marketing and Distributors.
The other companies are Mwalama General Dealers, where Sibongile's ex-husband Mwalama Mwansa is the contact director and Sibongile is a shareholder ; CKM Limited with the contact director being Stella Kanyanta Mwenso, who is related to Mwamba through his wife, Chama; Dakwa General Dealers and Kwange Trading whose respective contact director is Chilekwa Munkonge, a cousin to Mwamba; Chantika Food Suppliers whose director is Mulenga Chikwanda; Destiny General Dealers with Joseph Mercine Mwamba as the contact director.
F.M.M Enterprises is another of the companies with Musonda Sosala as the contact director; Yesk General Dealers with Mr and Mrs Ng'andu as the contact directors and the couple are also the contact directors for Limichi Enterprises and Rather Peasant; O'C Zones Enterprises whose contact director is Ms Chanda G. Kasamanda; Mulyata General Dealers and Suppliers with Mwamba Kasangwa as the contact director and this also the contact director for RINOC Enterprises.
F.O. Bs Scientific Limited with Pike Mwamba as its contact director is also one of the companies; Glimpse General Dealers with Cordella C. Mwamba as its contact director is the last on the list.
But when reached for a comment over the list, Mwamba Sefuke, who was listed as director for Elgrezad Z Limited said it was a fraud because she had no knowledge of such a company and that the only company she was in-charge of was Lone Rock Construction.
Asked how she obtained a tender to have her four companies supply to the ZNS, Sibongile referred queries to another mobile phone number saying the owner of that number would be able to give The Post the information they wanted.
"I am not in court," said Sibongile when pressed to name the owner of the mobile line. "I have given you that number so find out what you want to hear."
The person that answered the call to the other mobile line said Sibongile was in a meeting and she refused to disclose her identity.
Mwalama General Dealers and Suppliers Limited's Mwalama confirmed that he was a supplier to ZNS and that he got the business after participating like any Zambian.
He however, asked to be met personally rather than being interviewed on the phone.
CKM Limited's contact director Stella Kanyanta Mwenso said she hails from Munkonge area in Kasama and that she is Mwamba's relative but that she did not get the supply contract with ZNS because of that relationship.
Mwenso said she started doing business with ZNS a long time ago during president Levy Mwanawasa's reign.
Dakwa General Dealers and Kwange Trading's contact director Chilekwa Munkonge said he had stopped supplying to ZNS but that he could explain the details later because he was not feeling well at the moment.
Efforts to get to the other contact directors failed.
And Mwamba's brother, Muma, who walked to The Post offices to give their side of the story over the indication to Mwamba Sefuke as contact director of Elgrezad (Z) Limited, said their relationship with Mwamba was frosty because they do not agree with the people that surround him and his way of doing business.
Sefuke said her family had kept a distance from the entire family following a small financial understanding that ensued between her and Mwamba in January 2011 such that even during her mother in-law's memorial they could not attend because of the same issue.
"No, my husband was not there. The son to the late mother he was not there. We didn't attend the ceremony. That is how distant away we have been from this family," said Sefuke as Muma said: "We do not agree."
The couple said they even foresaw the differences that have arisen between Mwamba and President Michael Sata because they know their brother very well.
"We had fought for a meeting with the President through Mr Katema Mutale, the nephew to Mr Sata. Many times, we attempted soon after elections. I am the young brother, I follow him behind. So we wanted to advise him on how he can advise our brother. So when he heard that we had sought an audience with the President he proceeded to block all our businesses. We do business with RDA. So through him and Mr Nsanda, they blocked all our businesses," Muma said. "Because we didn't support him in Kasama when there were elections."
Muma said he had not seen Mwamba in the last two years despite being his blood brother from the same mother and father.
"He is surrounded by wrong people and power got to him," he said. "He is my elder brother, how can he tell people not to do business with me? And stopping me from seeing the President...I have suffered anguish and isolation because of GBM."
Muma said he could vouch for his wife that there was no way she could do business with Mwamba and Sefuke also added that she now understood why she was having problems in her businesses since Mwamba resigned from his Cabinet position.
"It is these companies that were made which were aligned to me when I have never dealt with or when I have never supplied ZNS," she said.
Muma said unless Mwamba and his cohorts stop humiliating his family they will drop a bombshell on him because they are privy to a lot of things that he had been up to as defence minister.
"That is why we have come to mention to you that it is not fair to mistreat us like this. We are genuine contractors and we have been successfully winning bids but these bids have been cancelled. One of them was Vubwi, GBM went to Mr Nsanda and instructed that 'please do not give to my sister in-law, meaning her because I don't want her to be successful,'" Muma said.
"That is the reason I never went close to GBM. I was not in agreement to the full licence that he was given. He could direct FRA, 'do this'. I am also a transporter with FRA but I don't do it. You know why? The purchasing manager there said 'if you want to transport here go and see your brother.' I said 'no, but he is an individual.' He said 'no one of my relatives should do business with FRA except myself.'"
Labels: CORRUPTION, GBM, ZNS
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3 ZNS trainees die in training
By Mwala Kalaluka and Kombe Chimpinde
Sat 08 Sep. 2012, 10:29 CAT
THE Zambia National Service command has dispatched several of its health personnel to Kabwe Training Camp following the death of three recruits during military training over the last two weeks, according to sources.
And a relative of Rosalyn Chanda, one of the recruits who died in the course of training at the ZNS camp, insists that the deceased was severely beaten and starved by the instructors prior to her demise.
Ministry of Defence sources told The Post yesterday that Chanda, 25 was the first recruit to die after she was admitted to Kabwe General Hospital, where
the other two were also later referred to.
"The matter was actually being dealt with by police officers at Prospect Police Station," the source said. "The girl was vomiting blood."
Other sources said the ZNS top brass had dispatched medical personnel from some of its other camps dotted countrywide to the Kabwe camp with the aim of attending to the recruits' health needs and to also carryout random medical tests on the over 600 recruits and those who were found unfit to continue with the training are being told to leave.
The sources said the ZNS medical personnel would be at the camp until around December when the recruits are expected to complete their training.
And Chanda's relative who sought anonymity said in an interview yesterday that although the postmortem examination conducted on Chanda did not establish the cause of death, it was clear that she died due to intense beatings.
The source said Chanda secretly complained of the beatings they were getting in a phone conversation with her relatives between July 20 and 22, 2012 and where she informed them that she had since been admitted to the Camp clinic for about four days as a result.
"You know when they are in there, they are disconnected from the rest of the world. They are not allowed to make calls but she managed to make a secret call to inform us that she was admitted on 22nd July 2012 a few days after she got in camp," the source said.
The source said Chanda complained of excruciating pain and swelling of the body.
"A week later, she was vomiting severely but they kept her, maybe because they were hiding the fact that she was severely beaten," the source wondered.
The source said on August 18, the family was shocked to receive information of Chanda's sudden death.
The source said a named lieutenant colonel who is the training commander, explained that Chanda had died after experiencing a health complication caused by twisting of her intestines and vomiting.
The source said the family learnt that Chanda had been admitted with the condition for a week and later evacuated to Kabwe General Hospital where she was pronounced dead within two hours of admission.
The source said a private meeting held with the pathologist that had conducted a postmortem on Chanda could not however confirm their suspicions over her death.
"I was told another guy in the camp had died in his sleep, while another girl had remained unconscious for two weeks in Kabwe General Hospital. I do not know if she is still alive," the source said.
The source said Chanda did not have a history of health complications and that she had gone through all the necessary health tests, including HIV before being incorporated in the training.
About 658 trainees where recruited in the routine ZNS training, whose training is strictly military.
ZNS director of public relations Lt Col John Ndhlovu said he had to gather the facts before he could deny or confirm that three recruits had died during training at the Kabwe camp.
Labels: ZNS
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We are not benefitting from foreign investment because of corruption
By The Post
Tue 15 Feb. 2011, 04:00 CAT
Zambia, like any other country in the world, needs foreign investment. Foreign investment is a form of financing that we cannot afford to ignore. And it comes with great benefits. But, like any other form of financing, it comes with challenges of its own. And these need to be weighed and balanced or reconciled.
But, like any other form of financing, there has to be a benefit in it for us. Like it is with debt flows and other forms of financing, we should only engage it when it’s of benefit to us. And this is the point old Aaron Milner is trying to make when he says, “Zambians must benefit from the investment that western and eastern nations are deriving from the country.”
It is not foreign investment for the sake of it. It is foreign investment for the benefit of our people. We say this because foreign investors don’t only bring their money and technology here, they also come to take something more valuable and much bigger than their investment. And they should not be allowed to take all that without consideration to the Zambian people. For every tonne of copper or other minerals they take, there must be an appropriate return to the Zambian people.
For every benefit an investor derives from the resources of our people and from simply doing business here, there must be a reasonable return to our people. If this is not so, there is nothing our people will benefit from foreign investment. In fact, we will be doing the future generations a great injustice because they will find all the valuable minerals depleted or totally finished without anything to show for it. If this generation that governs our country today is not able, for one reason or another, to engage foreign investors profitably, then there is no need to bring them here at all. We will be better off leaving the natural resources of our country unexploited so that the future generations can have something to lean on.
We have continued to give away the resources of our country for nothing. Colonial conquest and plunder left us with very little benefit from the resources of our country, if not nothing. This practice cannot continue forever if we are to survive and develop as a people. We cannot continue to allow transnational corporations to plunder our resources for no benefit to our people like they did during the colonial days. There has to be a new approach to foreign investment. Other nations are benefiting from foreign investment, they are getting better deals from transnational corporations. Why can’t we do the same? One simple explanation for this is the incompetence and corruption of our representatives. It is not a favour to us for any transnational corporation to come here and exploit our natural resources. They will only come here if there is something in it for them. We should also allow them to come here if there is something in it for us. We should reach fair deals with transnational corporations where we both benefit – it should be a win-win situation where we both benefit something. If it is only the transnational corporations that are benefiting from the investments in our country, then we cannot say these are fair deals. But, like any other negotiated deal, the competence and uprightness of the negotiators is important. We cannot say with confidence that we have been well-represented in these deals. And we don’t want to believe that the poor deals we have gotten from foreign investors are simply a result of incompetence on the part of our representatives and nothing else. We are much more inclined to believe that we have gotten these poor deals as a result of corruption on the part of our representatives. Our representatives are invariably recipients of all sorts of favours from investors.
When one looks at the corruption crimes of Frederick Chiluba and his tandem of thieves, it is clear that they were receiving kickbacks, bribes and all sorts of favours from foreign investors who they had even gone to the extent of thinking were their personal friends. And in this belief, they thought money could flow from foreign investors into their pockets without any legal or moral issues being raised. We saw in the case of Gen Wilford Funjika how that rat Rathi was bribing him, paying school fees for his children and extending all sorts of favours to him in return for the business that Zambia National Service was offering him. Clearly, Zambia National Service was poorly represented in its dealings with Rathi – the deals benefitted Rathi and Gen Funjika, and not Zambia National Service. This is the same for most of the deals our representatives are cutting on our behalf. When they go to the Chinese, they give them everything they want at very little benefit to the nation but at much greater benefit to themselves.
The Chinese investors, like other investors in our country, become their personal financiers, fundraisers for their election campaigns, suppliers of automobiles and other campaign materials for them to be reelected so that the deals continue unabated. This is where we lose out. Nations with less corrupt political leaders and other public servants benefit more from their dealings with foreign investors. As a result of this, it will be unwise for us to turn our hatred towards foreign investors.i Yes, it is foreign investors who are corrupting our representatives.
But our representatives wouldn’t be corrupted if they did not want to be corrupted, if they were incorruptible.
[Here comes the 'good fellow hypothesis'. There has to be strict oversight, monitoring and transparancy, from as many different bodies as possible - the ZRA, parliament, the press, the public, if not more. There is corruption everywhere, and hoping for uncorruptable individuals is amateur hour. I don't want to sound harsh, because I agree with most of this editorial. It is just that is no surprise that corruption remains unchecked when there are no checks. - MrK]
They are being corrupted by foreign investors because they are corrupt – foreign investors are simply cashing in on their greed, selfishness and vanity.
[And perhaps by something more sinister too - the belief that there are too many people in the world. - MrK]
Today, even the most useless, a clear conman calling himself a foreign investor with a few thousands of dollars in his pocket will meet the President, the ministers of finance, commerce and industry, mines and so on and so forth without much ado. They are falling over each other to befriend foreign investors so that they can help them in their businesses, their farms and other ventures. That’s how our representatives are making money by selling the resources of our country to foreign investors for nothing, for peanuts, for a song.
This is the case with the mining companies. There is no need for us to turn our anger on Mopani over its tax issues. Mopani may not be straight in its dealings with us but this company is allowed and helped by our representatives to behave in this way. When it comes to their dealings with foreign investors, our representatives stop thinking, they are blinded by their corruption and as such cannot pay attention to detail. Mopani may not be involved in tax evasion.
[It certainly is. Selling copper to itself at basically breakeven price and then selling it on the international market at market price is a clear case of fraud. It is tax evasion, not tax avoidance. Also, when it looks like Mopani has made no profits, it is also under no obligation to pay dividends to it's shareholders. Again, a clear case of fraud on a massive scale. Remember that it is not only the Zambian government that holds Mopani shares through ZCCM-IH, but ZCCM-IH is also floated on international stock exchanges - shareholders there are being defrauded too. And underdeclaring profits to avoid dividend payouts may be in violation of exchange rules. - MrK]
Theirs may end up being a case of tax avoidance. Tax evasion is illegal but tax avoidance is legal. Tax avoidance is simply a process of arranging one’s tax affairs in such a way that he can, within the law, reduce the amount of tax payable.
[No bloody way. Underdeclaring a company's profits is fraud, not 'tax avoidance'. Tax avoidance is setting up a corporation in the Cayman Islands, for instance. - MrK]
It differs from evasion which is knowingly breaking the law to reduce a tax liability by the deliberate concealing of income or the false claiming of allowances and so on and so forth. We don’t know what the investigations will tell us about Mopani on this score. Every person is entitled, if he can, to arrange his affairs so that the tax attaching is less than it otherwise would be. If he succeeds in ordering them so as to secure that result, then however unappreciative we may be of his ingenuity, he cannot be compelled to pay an increased tax. No one in this country is under the smallest obligation, moral or other, to arrange his legal relation to his business in such a manner as to enable the Zambia Revenue Authority to put the largest possible shovel into his stores. Of course, this is not to say such ingenuity should be regarded as a commendable exercise or as a discharge of the duties of a good person.
Those in authority have a duty to seal the loopholes in what is found to be unacceptable tax avoidance. It’s clear to us that the case of Mopani, if it is not one of tax evasion, is certainly one of unacceptable tax avoidance. There is no way transactions between Mopani and Glencore AG can be said to be independent or at arm’s length. These are transactions between associated entities. Glencore is not an independent trader buying copper cheaply from Mopani and selling it at a higher price elsewhere. Where either the buyer or the seller is controlled by the other party to the contract, or both are controlled by a third person, a sale at a price other than market price should result in adjustment by the Zambia Revenue Authority of that price to the open market price and taxed accordingly. Our tax laws have to be very clear on this score. If they are not clear, companies like Mopani will get away with it because where there is doubt as to the meaning of a statutory provision, the taxpayer must be given the benefit of the doubt. There is no equity in taxation.
Until we remove corruption from government business, things like these will continue to be the order of the day. And no amount of foreign investment will benefit our country and remove the anguish of poverty from the faces of our people.
Labels: ANUJ KUMAR RATHI, BRIBERY, FDI, NEOLIBERALISM, TAX EVASION, WILFORD FUNJIKA, ZNS
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‘Gender discrimination should not be tolerated’
By Moses Kuwema
Mon 14 Dec. 2009, 04:00 CAT
CHONGWE district commissioner Japhen Mwakalombwe has said gender discrimination should not be tolerated in the defence force.
During the Zambia National Service (ZNS) Makeni Garrison annual ball on Friday, Mwakalombwe said women should be given equal opportunities to prove themselves in all areas instead of being confined to secretarial and office duties. Mwakalombwe said sexual harassment should also be avoided at all costs.
“I urge you to live your social lives in a disciplined manner as the country cannot afford to lose you. Guard your lives jealously and exercise the necessary preventive measures of sticking to one faithful partner,” he said.
Mwakalombwe commended the ZNS for the commitment and effort that they make to contribute to national food security as well as in the areas of defence and security, youth skills training and land development.
He implored ZNS to increase productivity in order to contribute significantly to the national food basket as this would enable the country avert hunger.
And Makeni Garrison commander Lt Col Rashid Mbewe said the Garrison had been tailoring uniforms for both the defence and security wings as well as garments for the public that express interest in their products.
Lt Col Mbewe said their aim was to completely take over the tailoring of uniforms for defence and security wings instead of having them tailored abroad.
“This is a measure to cut down on expenditure of the meager government resources as our pricing is reasonable…the machine shop has continued with its fabrication of building materials, hammer mills, bunk beds, water tank stands and other general machinery works,” Lt Col Mbewe said.
Lt Col Mbewe also disclosed that ZNS Makeni Garrison was involved in a number of projects which included the housing project where they were constructing houses for Lusaka-based ZNS personnel.
He said so far the unit had completed three by four two bed roomed flats, which had since been occupied, while another block was still under construction.
Lt Col Mbewe said the other project was the construction of a mini hospital at the ZNS Makeni housing complex which was under construction.
Labels: JAPHEN MWAKALOMBWE, WOMEN, ZNS
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Sikaneta bemoans rising number of OVCs
Written by Mwila Chansa in Kitwe
Friday, August 07, 2009 2:50:34 PM
SPORT, youth and child development permanent secretary Susan Sikaneta has observed that unfavourable social conditions, coupled with HIV and AIDS and high poverty levels, have continued to negatively impact on the well-being of children and youths.
And Zambia National Service (ZNS) skills training commanding officer Major Innocent Chileshe said the camp was facing challenges in terms of providing certain infrastructure needed in the training of youths.
Launching the third intake of the 2009 ZNS youth skills training programme in Kitwe yesterday, Ambassador Sikaneta noted that it was saddening that the number of orphans and vulnerable children had kept rising.
“Unfortunately, this is the category of children with little or no access to basic necessities such as food, clothing, shelter, medical care and affection. They are also more likely to be sidelined, exploited and abused,” Ambassador Sikaneta said.
She said there was therefore need for society to ensure that it invested in education, health, and food and nutrition for children and youths for their survival and development because theirs was a segment of the population that would shoulder the countryís responsibility for years to come.
And Ambassador Sikaneta urged the new trainees to ensure that they focused on their empowerment for self sustainability.
“You should consider yourselves lucky that you were picked for this programme because there are so many vulnerable youths out there who would have loved to be here today. We had more than one million people who wanted to be considered but we only took 150 here and 315 at Chiwoko,” said Ambassador Sikaneta.
And Major Chileshe said the training camp needed facilities such as a library, computer laboratory, resource centre as well as sports and recreation facilities.
He said the camp was also facing a challenge in accommodating instructors and officers.
Major Chileshe called for the absorption of graduates from ZNS skills camps into proper programmes to avert the possibility of them falling back into their previous lifestyles.
Labels: INNOCENT CHILESHE, SUSAN SIKANETA, ZNS
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Task Force arrests Funjika’s fugitive co-accused
Written by Kabanda Chulu
Thursday, December 25, 2008 10:23:46 AM
THE Task Force on Corruption has arrested and detained Anuj Kumar Rathi who was a co-accused in the case involving the convicted former Zambia National Service commander General Wilfred Funjika.
Rathi was indicted and appeared in court for corrupt practices jointly with Gen Funjika in June 2004 and during the same time, Rathi was granted bail to seek medical attention but the co-accused (Rathi) fled the country and has been on the run until December 22, 2008, when he was arrested in Lusaka.
Confirming the arrest and detention of Rathi at Woodlands Police station yesterday, Task Force on Corruption public relations officer Victor Makai said officers have been tracking Rathi during the past four years.
However, Makai refused to explain exactly when Rathi came back into the country or which country, Rathi had fled to.
“We confronted and apprehended him at Pamodzi Hotel in Lusaka on 22nd December 2008 and he went into a state of shock and was rushed to Coptic Orthodox Hospital where he received medical attention,” Makai said. “Upon discharge from hospital, Rathi was detained at Woodlands Police Station and yesterday, he underwent formal arrest procedures but it is immaterial for now to state how he came back or which country he fled to.”
The arrest of Rathi, whose co-accused Gen Funjika has been jailed, comes barely a month after another fugitive Xavier Chungu came back into the country and was formally arrested and he is currently being detained in prison facing several charges.
Rathi is represented by Chifumu Banda and would appear in court as soon as possible on contempt charges first and later on the original charges of corruption.
Initially, Rathi and Gen Fungika were arrested in March 2004 and the pair was charged with corrupt practices.
It was alleged that between December 3 and 5, 2001, Gen Funjika received 15,000 pounds as gratification for awarding Seymon Holdings, a company owned by Rathi, a contract worth 72,000 pounds, to supply berets, jerseys and raincoats to the Zambia National Service, without following tender procedures.
Labels: ANUJ KUMAR RATHI, CORRUPTION, TASK FORCE, WILFORD FUNJIKA, ZNS
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Turning street children into entrepreneurs
By Editor
Friday May 23, 2008 [04:00]
Over 600 children have so far been recruited from the streets to be trained under the Zambia National Service rehabilitation programme for street children. Over 200 have so far graduated, others ran away before completing the programme. And those who were trained in skills such as carpentry and gardening were given some starter kits to help them start earning a living but a good number of them have already sold them because they can’t effectively use them to earn a living.
We don’t need an expensive study or consultancy to tell us that this rehabilitation programme will not produce the expected results. It is clear that no matter how many young people we round up from the streets and take to Zambia National Service camps for skills training programmes, we will not be solving anything because these young people – like their brothers and sisters in our universities and colleges – after finishing their training will not find jobs.
And we shouldn’t cheat ourselves that everyone can be an entrepreneur or can be self-employed as long as some starter kit of one sort or another is given to them. We need to find a way of creating jobs. Without tackling the problem of unemployment, of lack of jobs in a serious way, we will not be able to address the issue and other related problems like that of street children.
And moreover, training 600 children in over three years is nothing; it is too little. It is unfortunate that although the problem of street children is acknowledged as one of the key challenges that we face today as a nation, very little is being done to address it. Of course, we have to be mindful of the fact that complex problems of this nature cannot be solved overnight and require a lot of patience.
But this should not stop us from having an honest evaluation of what we are doing in this regard. The Zambia National Service rehabilitation programme for street children is certainly well-intended but it has no capacity to seriously address the problem of street children. It is well-meaning but empty. It will not offer some kind of permanent solution to this problem. We need to find long-term solutions to this problem.
The truth is that this problem is with us; it stares us in the face every day. However, we don’t think we are really hitting at the core of this problem.
The training of 600 youths in all sorts of skills by the Zambia National Service is a good thing but it’s too little – the problem needs far bigger and complete solutions.
We believe that the solution to most of the serious problems related to unemployment is to be found in the promotion of a true civilisation of work. The problem of unemployment should feature in all our political, economic and social debates.
This is because the relationship between the human person and work is radical and vital, the forms and models according to which this relationship is regulated will exercise a positive influence for the solution of a whole series of economic, social and political problems facing our people. Just work relationships will be a necessary precondition for a system of political community capable of favouring the integral development of our country and of every one of our people.
Every individual has a right to work, and this right must be recognised in a practical way by an effective commitment to solving the tragic problem of unemployment. The fact that unemployment keeps large sectors of our population, and notably the young, in a situation of marginalisation is intolerable. For this reason, the creation of jobs is a primary social task facing individuals and private enterprise, all our leaders – political or otherwise – as well as the state itself.
But we are not seeing much political leadership on this score. Yes, some of our politicians are talking about the issue of unemployment in their political campaigns but in a manner that does not inspire confidence. They are not offering solutions or even a realisable vision that is anchored on practical solutions. And those in government seem to be much more dependent on the coming of foreign investors. They don’t seem to think much about what they themselves and their people can do and must do to create jobs and reduce unemployment and poverty in our country.
Since the early 1990s, we have focused much more on creating the so-called favourable investment environment; we have done everything possible from giving long tax holidays, parceling out huge tracts of land and all sorts of things. But there is still a serious shortage of jobs in the country. Isn’t it time we started to refocus our energies where they may produce better results?
And when we talk about employment, we should not forget the plight of those already in employment – the quality of jobs. Wages, which cannot be considered a mere commodity, must enable workers and their families to have access to a truly human standard of living in the material, social, cultural and spiritual orders. If this is absent, the possibility of children leaving homes for the streets increases. It is the dignity of the individual which constitutes the criteria for judging work, not the other way round. Access for everyone to the goods needed for a human, personal and family life worthy of the name is a primary demand of social justice.
There is need for us to realise that if we don’t seriously tackle the problem of unemployment in the country, there will be more and more children pouring onto our streets. And no Zambia National Service programme for the rehabilitation of street children will be able to absorb even the smallest of the percentage of these children.
Training street children in all sorts of skills is a good thing but it shouldn’t be done in isolation from the other problems facing the nation because it is not an isolated problem. It is a problem that arises from the problem of unemployment and other social ills. We shouldn’t focus so much on treating the symptom and ignoring the disease.
Yes, the symptom needs to be treated but not in total isolation from the disease that gave rise to it. The two need to be tackled simultaneously. The symptoms will not totally go away if the underlying disease is not treated. Children will not disappear from our streets if the problem of unemployment and the poverty that accompanies it are not seriously addressed. Any other effort to deal with the problem of street children will be too little and, in some cases, will be an exercise in futility.
Labels: STREET CHILDREN, UNEMPLOYMENT, ZNS
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Govt to evaluate ZNS rehabilitation programme for street children
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Friday May 23, 2008 [04:00]
GOVERNMENT will this July evaluate the Zambia National Service (ZNS) rehabilitation programme for street children to see if it has served the intended purpose, sports deputy minister Angela Cifire has said. In an interview, Cifire said the evaluation would give an indication on how the government had faired with the strategy to rehabilitate street children.
She said the problem with the previous intake where some children ran away from the camps and some who sold their starter kits could be as a result of the non-availability of an exit strategy at the time.
"This is the second intake and at the moment the intake that we have has very few children that have run away. Maybe they run away because they don't fully understand what the camp is all about and what they are going to gain from it. What we are working on right now is an exit strategy that we want to disseminate to the others that have not gone there," she said.
Cifire said the exit strategy would look at how youths would sustain themselves once they got out of the camp. She said there was also land available for those who had acquired skills in agriculture so that they could continue practicing what they had learnt.
She also said there were other co-operating partners that had offered to employ some of the youths after they graduate. Cifire said the children were being encouraged to form youth cooperatives.
Cifire, who emphasised the importance of personal development, said the driving force to develop should be within the youths themselves.
From 2005 to 2006, about 204 children graduated from the ZNS Kitwe and Chiwoko camps. The children, who were trained in skills such as carpentry and gardening, were given some starter kits to help them start earning a living but some of them have since sold them on grounds that they need money to survive.
Some of these children are back on the streets. For the 2007 programme, there were currently 388 children being trained out of the 434 that were enrolled from all provinces.
According to ZNS camp deputy commandant Major John Mwanza, 46 children, mainly from Lusaka and Copperbelt provinces, had deserted the camp as at September last year.
Labels: STREET CHILDREN, ZNS
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Katete's chief Kawaza gives land to council
By Christopher Miti in Chipata
Thursday April 10, 2008 [04:00]
CHIEF Kawaza of the Chewa people in Katete district has agreed to give part of his land to the district council for developmental purposes. And Eastern Province minister Charles Shawa has said the government will not condone inhuman and barbaric activities by traditional Nyau dancers.
Speaking when Shawa paid a courtesy call on him on Tuesday, chief Kawaza said he was ready to release part of his land to the local authority. He complained that previously he was reluctant to give land to the local authority because he was not benefiting from its investment.
Surveyors from Katete were expected to survey the land in chief Kawaza’s area.
And Shawa urged the traditional Nyau dancers to stop harassing people.
“We don’t expect these people to be attacking people because if they do so then they are tarnishing the Nyau dance which is very good and that’s why it was recognised by UNESCO as a master showpiece,” Shawa said.
He said it was sad that some people were bringing into disrepute the rich cultural dance of the Chewa people.
Shawa said this after getting reports that some traditional Nyau dancers were attacking people in senior chief Nzamane’s area.
Shawa also urged Zesco to put a three phased power line at Chiwoko Zambia National Service camp(ZNS).
“The Youth Skills Training Centre is doing very fine at Chiwoko but there is a problem of water as a result of power problems,” said Shawa.
Labels: CHIEF KAWAZA, COUNCILS, KATETE, VOCATIONAL TRAINING, ZNS
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Funjika's case confirms Chiluba's corruption - kk
By Brighton Phiri, Laura Mushaukwa and Noel Sichalwe
Friday March 14, 2008 [03:00]
DR Kenneth Kaunda yesterday said former Zambia National Service (ZNS) commander Lieutenant General Wilford Funjika’s jail sentence confirmed former president Frederick Chiluba’s corrupt mind. Commenting on the decision by the High Court to sentence Lt Gen Funjika to nine months imprisonment, Dr Kaunda said he felt sorry for the former service chiefs who were currently being prosecuted for having been polluted with Chiluba’s corrupt mind.
“Young man, Funjika’s imprisonment is a very sad development. I hope and pray that Chiluba’s corruption disease does not spread and that those polluted are isolated. This is not the Funjika I knew when I was president of this country. He was a young, developing and promising officer,” Dr Kaunda said.
“This is a Chiluba development. Funjika was completely destroyed by Chiluba’s regime. I hope and pray that those officers currently serving in President Mwanawasa’s administration will use this case to see that President Mwanawasa is not like Chiluba.”
Dr Kaunda reminded public officers that President Mwanawasa was following the path that was there under the UNIP administration. He urged public officers to help President Mwanawasa develop a different and honest path of running the country’s affairs.
And Task Force chairman Maxwell Nkole has said the decision by the High Court to sentence Lt Gen Funjika to nine months imprisonment was a great morale booster in the fight against corruption. Nkole said for the first time, there was a signal from the criminal justice system that corruption was here to stay and needed to be fought.
“We feel that our efforts are not in vain. It motivates us to do more,” he said.
Nkole said although Lt Gen Funjika’s sentence had been upgraded to nine months, he expected a much longer sentence considering the gravity of corruption.
Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) president Reuben Lifuka noted that the state of health should not be used as an excuse for handing light sentences on people convicted of corruption.
"While we appreciate and are compassionate about the state of health of Gen Funjika, we are also mindful that this should not be an excuse for letting off lightly those who have been found guilty of corruption," Lifuka said. "The judiciary plays a pivotal role in the fight against corruption and for a while now, we have been concerned at the type and nature of punishment given to offenders.
The sentences clearly have been mild and a light slap on the wrist in most cases and it can be concluded that these sentences are ineffective especially if the intention of the government is to use the investigation and prosecution of high profile cases as a deterrent to those who may be inclined to engage in such activities."
Lifuka said TIZ had been advocating for a high level of activism by the judiciary to send a strong message that corruption, especially grand and political corruption, would not be tolerated.
Lifuka, however, said some of the judgments passed had not been commensurate with the alleged offences and had raised concern in the anti-corruption movement on the efficacy of the fight against corruption.
"We generally consider the revision of the suspended sentence a fair judgment. However, we strongly feel it should not have come to this if the lower court had done its work properly," he said. "The judiciary needs to be bold and courageous in dealing with issues of corruption. In their judgments, the judiciary should be aware of the seriousness of corruption.
We therefore appreciate that judge Musonda has aptly highlighted the severe consequences grand corruption has on the social, economic and political developments of the country. However, we hasten to add that even the other four types of corruption mentioned by judge Musonda are serious and should not be considered as acceptable and those engaged in such acts should equally face the wrath of the law.
"The clarity and boldness exhibited in this case should remain the hallmark of the Zambian judiciary. We have been disappointed before, especially on cases of political or electoral corruption and it is our considered view that the judiciary have, in some instances, not risen to the occasion and what we have previously seen are judgments which acknowledge the seriousness of corruption but fail to categorically mete out appropriate sanctions."
He said the judgment should send a clear message to other controlling officers like permanent secretaries, commanders of the armed forces, Inspector General of Police that their actions would continue to come under close scrutiny.
"For too long, the Zambian people have sat on the fence and we have inadvertently praised and adored those among us who are corrupt. As a people, we have failed to sufficiently denounce corruption no matter the size of the act," he said. "In 2008, we want to urge each and every Zambian to play an active role in their own environment to eradicate corruption.
While we all appreciate and demand that President Mwanawasa and his cabinet should provide leadership in this fight, it is incumbent that we are all fully engaged and contribute to cleaning up government and society as a whole."
Labels: CHILUBA, CORRUPTION, KENNETH KAUNDA, WILFORD FUNJIKA, ZNS
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ZNS can be reliable developmental force, says Levy
By Sandra Mulowa
Sunday December 23, 2007 [03:00]
PRESIDENT Levy Mwanawasa has said that Zambia National Service (ZNS) once dedicated can be a reliable developmental force in achieving economic prosperity for the country. And ZNS commandant major general Raphael Chisheta said 2007 had been a challenging year for ZNS. And Zambia Air Force (ZAF) officer commanding transport command Brigadier General Patrick Tembo has urged officers to be faithful to their partners.
In a speech read for him by defence minister George Mpombo on Friday evening at the ZNS headquarters officers' annual ball held at Chamba Valley officer's mess, President Mwanawasa encouraged officers to reflect on the achievements and challenges so that they could evaluate how best to tackle similar assignments next year.
He said the government recognised ZNS' contributions in efforts to improve the economy and that he was delighted to hear plans of how ZNS intended to increased food production in its camps.
President Mwanawasa encouraged the ZNS commandant and officers to continue searching for new and efficient ways of undertaking assignments in order for them to realise their vision of becoming self-reliant.
"My government would like to see a thriving Zambia National Service that will, apart from equipping our disadvantaged youths with life skills, also help put food on the tables of our people," he said.
He commended ZNS for the various land development works that it had continued to perform.
President Mwanawasa said that it was important that the officers remained disciplined, vigilant and guard the country's peace jealously.
He said the government had taken note of how extremely well the officers had performed so far in both local and international operations, especially peace keeping.
And Maj Gen Chisheta said the installation of two centre pivots at ZNS airport farms had seen a sustained massive productions of wheat, soya beans and a marked improvement in maize production.
"However, I wish to report that generally, the yield of maize in the 2006/2007 farming season slightly went down due to a number of factors. The yield of wheat doubled the same period thereby compensating for the reduced maize yields," he said.
He said ZNS had embarked on an exercise of opening up new cropping land in some of its camps in an effort to increase the yields.
Maj Gen Chisheta said ZNS had plans of installing a centre pivot each at Munsakamba and Mumbwa for the purpose of growing crops all year round.
He said the two pivots were part of the four that government had procured for ZNS.
Maj Gen Chisheta hoped that the installation of the equipment would boost the production of wheat and soya beans so that ZNS meaningfully contribute to making the country self-sufficient in the two crops.
He also said that ZNS was this year training 478 youths of which 90 were responding very well to the training and that ZNS was encouraged by their enthusiasm to learn.
Maj Gen Chisheta also said that ZNS had formed support groups and were sensitising personnel on the dangers of HIV/AIDS.
And during ZAF annual ball held at their officers' mess in Lusaka's Chamba Valley area, Brig Gen Tembo cautioned the officers that HIV and AIDS was real.
He said officers should also encourage their partners to go for voluntary testing and counselling.
"These facilities are available everywhere. HIV/AIDS is real and it has claimed many lives," he said.
And Brig Gen Tembo warned that any steps to undermine the vision of the airforce command would not be entertained.
"I wish to stress this point that discipline is the cornerstone to any success and is therefore cardinal in the military institution such as ours," he said.
He said discipline should be exemplary.
Brig Gen Tembo also said that without government's support, it would not have been easy to accomplish most of the tasks assigned to ZAF.
He also said the command would continue to provide an enabling environment to improve the officers' welfare.
"The Air commander shares your concern on welfare and it is his wish to prioritise this area and is counting on the support of all of you."
And station commander Air Headquarters station Colonel Edward Makumba said 2007 had been a successful year.
Labels: MWANAWASA, ZNS
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Funjika’s conviction
By Editor
Saturday November 03, 2007 [03:00]
The conviction of former Zambia National Service (ZNS) commander Lt Gen Wilford Funjika is a strong message to plunderers and other criminal elements in society, who think they can defeat the cause of justice with all sorts of tricks and clever schemes. For a long time, these characters who have been accused of plunder of our national resources have refused to admit doing anything wrong and have been fighting to frustrate the cause of justice using various tricks, including delaying tactics. They want to retain the benefits of their ill-gotten wealth and have accused their accusers of persecuting them.
We have always said that evil cannot triumph over good. And the truth will always come out, no matter how long it is delayed. After that judgment by Ndola High Court Deputy Registrar Jones Chinyama, can Lt Gen Funjika and all those that condone corruption today stand up and cry that the Task Force is persecuting him?
It is said that the riches one gets through dishonesty do not take time to disappear. And before they disappear, they lead such a one into the jaws of misery and tragedy, like Lt Gen Funjika has today been led to prison, although his ill-health has saved him, for the corrupt activities he engaged in during the time he served as ZNS commander.
The Bible in Ecclesiastes states that there is time for everything. Lt Gen Funjika, like many others who during Frederick Chiluba’s time involved themselves in the banditry and looting of public coffers, accumulated thousands of British Pounds and US dollars as kick-backs for the contracts he corruptly offered his friends without following tender procedures. Now, it is time for them to account for their banditry.
It should always be remembered that anything that comes from evil and injustice does not last. The wealth that these plunderers accumulated is slowly evaporating.
A lot of their ill-gotten properties and other assets, including liquid cash in hundreds of millions of kwacha, have been confiscated by the Task Force on Corruption. Some people who have so far been convicted for corruption have forfeited their property to the state.
Only this week, Lt Gen Funjika was ordered to pay the state 15,000 British Pounds, which his children received as benefits from some company as a result of his corrupt activities.
These are good developments for those well-meaning Zambians who detest corruption and would like to fight it at any cost. Corruption must be denounced in the strongest terms possible because it is evil and a heavy tax on the poor.
And when justice is done, when corruption is fought, good people are very happy; they celebrate. But the evil and wicked people are brought to despair and desolation, so they want to deceive our people that this fight against corruption is not important and will not yield the desired results.
They want to make our people believe that corruption, and its related offshoots of pilferage of public resources, has always existed, exists today and will continue to exist tomorrow. They want our people not to be on guard, not to be vigilant.
They say people fighting against corruption are doing so for political expedience because they are not genuine about it. Yes, this may be correct in some cases.
But doing something about this cancer, which is daily eating into the fabric of our society, is better than doing nothing about it. Today, many civil servants are scared by the mere mention of Task Force or their realisation that it is in existence.
We would like to believe that many of our civil servants and public service workers have been forced to avoid corrupt activities simply for the fear of being visited and paraded in court by the Task Force.
This is not to say all is well in the Task Force. The Task Force has its own difficulties and challenges but the work it is doing for the nation is great and commendable.
That is why it will be wrong to put together its objectives and failures. Doing this will be like one pointing to the stars or the moon and all that other people can see is his finger-tip.
What we are saying is that no one should be allowed to mislead our people into focusing on the incorrect or insignificant part of the matter and miss the most important part.
There are also lessons for President Levy Mwanawasa and his officials in government to learn from what is happening today in as far as corruption is concerned.
It should be realised that the bells tolling for Chiluba and his former officials today can toll for Levy and his colleagues if they do not avoid the looting and banditry that characterised Chiluba’s regime.
Let the past mistakes be known and let us ensure that these mistakes are not repeated today or in future because this is the essence of learning history. Nelson Mandela says, “the past is a rich resource on which we can draw in order to make decisions for the future”.
He also says that the purpose of studying history is not to deride human action, nor to weep over it or to hate it, but to understand it and then to learn from it as we contemplate the future.
Labels: CORRUPTION, ZNS
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Finding a solution to the problem of street children
By Editor
Monday March 26, 2007 [02:00]
It is unfortunate that although the problem of street children is acknowledged as one of the key challenges that we face as a nation, very little has been done to deal with it. We have heard many public statements from government leaders on what plans they claim to have in order to deal with this problem in a more serious manner. But as is the case with other development challenges, there is too much rhetoric around the problem of street children.
The nation is aware of some of programmes that the government has undertaken in its attempt to deal with the problem. Such programmes include the highly publicised Zambia National Service (ZNS) street children’s training initiatives. Of course we are mindful that a lot of patience has to be exercised before we can start to see the benefits of such programmes. However, the question to be answered is whether these programmes are adequate enough to offer some kind of permanent solution to this problem.
We are inclined to believe that there has been a lack of serious commitment to finding a long-term solution to the problem of street children. In fact, sometimes we see that the problem of street children has been trivialised.
The truth is that this problem is with us; it stares us in the face every day. But we need to start acting to help save the children on the streets. We have to begin paying attention to their situation because they face numerous problems.
When we talk about street children, we are talking about young people who face poverty, hunger, disease, violence and homelessness. We are talking about children who have resorted to all sorts of drugs because they think this is the only way they can remain happy under their difficult circumstances. These children that have been allowed to live on the streets are on a daily basis exposed to diseases of all sorts. We have seen some of these children on the streets with scurvy or beriberi as a result of poor nutrition since access to food is another problem for them. These children live in and with filth because they do not have anything to call a home.
These are children who have no guarantee to a healthy lifestyle because even when they fall sick, normally they are just left to fend for themselves. Do we ever wonder what happens to these children, some of them very young, when they fall sick? Do we ask ourselves who takes care of the young children when they are ill? These are some of the questions we need to ask ourselves as we allow young children to live on the streets.
What we should realise is that the children who are being allowed to live on the streets are also vulnerable to all forms of abuse. We are saying this because we know that street children are usually on the front line when it comes to adults looking for victims. There are many reports of street children being sexually abused by some adults.
We may ask ourselves if it is possible to solve all these problems. If there is a will from those in government, we think that the problem of street children should have been behind us by now. We do not understand why it should be difficult for the government to find ways and means of ensuring that, where it is possible, some of the children on the streets are returned to their homes or their families. It may not be possible to return them to their nuclear family which may not be there, but at least some of them can be integrated into extended families. We understand that the realities of poverty have broken the extended family system. But we also know that the system is not completely dead. There are so many children who are growing up, and very well for that matter, within extended families.
We think that it is still possible for the government to devise a system where some of the children on the streets can be traced to their families and allowed to rejoin them. Besides, some of these children have just run away from their homes and they are refusing to leave the streets to which they have become addicted.
Another strategy would be for the government, working with other stakeholders, to come up with sustainable and workable ways of setting up foster homes where these children can be provided with an environment worth calling their home. We are aware that such initiatives have been put in place, especially by non-governmental organisations. However, the initiatives are largely at a low-scale, when compared to the number of children on the streets.
Granted, all these proposals are not easy to implement. But it is also the duty of governments to deal with and find solutions to the most difficult problems. Otherwise, what would be the purpose of a government which cannot deal with the problems of the citizens? We have seen that where the government is determined to deal with a problem, results have been seen. Already, we are seeing that the government actually has the capacity to deal with street vending because our streets are returning to their old self. With the same determination and commitment, the government can easily make our streets free of homeless children.
Labels: EDITORIAL, STREET CHILDREN, ZNS
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