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The Zambia United Local Authorities Workers Union (ZULAWU) has charged that Lusaka City Council is failing to meet its financial obligations due to political interference in the running of markets and bus stations which are a source of revenue for the authority.
But Lusaka town clerk Alex Mwansa says the local authority is having difficulties meeting its financial duties due to reduced revenue collection following the covid19 pandemic, but notes that the council is putting up strategies to address the situation.
ZULAWU President Kingsley Zulu says the council can only manage to run effectively if cadres are removed from markets and bus stations saying the authority is losing money to cadres.
Mr Zulu said in an interview in Lusaka that cadres should be stopped from running the two entities and that Government should put its foot down to ensure that the local authority raises enough revenue to run effectively.
“It is one of the councils that is capable of running on its own in the event that political interference is removed and those two facilities are the ones that can help Lusaka City council get back on its feet,” he said.
He observed that the council owes three months’ salary arrears to its workers because it is not able to raise enough revenue.
And Mr Zulu has appealed Government to come to the aid of Chipata City Council which is owing its workers six months’ salary arrears. Mr Zulu observed that Chipata has a narrow revenue base though it was upgraded to a city.
“It is a city by name but its revenue base is still that of a municipality,” he said.
The ZULAWU president said Chipata city council requires Government support.
“We are appealing to Government to bailout the local authority with a special grant to clear the salary arrears and run efficiently because clearly the wage bill is beyond cannot be met by the council,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Zulu has appealed to Government to increase the equalization fund to councils owing to the covid-19 pandemic.
He observed that councils’ revenue base have been affected by the pandemic.
“As you are aware, the operating time for places such as bars have restricted hours of operating from Friday to Sunday, so that have reduced their workforce so that council is not collecting as much in terms of personal levy and trading license.” He said.
He stressed the need for Government to cushion the impact of the covid-19 on the local authorities.
But Lusaka Town Clerk Alex Mwansa has attributed the failure by the council to fully offset its salary arrears to employees to the slowdown in revenue collection due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Mwansa told ZANIS in a telephone interview that the situation is expected to stabilize between March and April this year.
“Contrary to reports, we have already finished paying the salary arrears for the month of November, we are in the process of paying the December salaries, so we are not behind by three months as alleged,” he said.
Mr Mwansa stated that the local authority is making improvement in revenue collection by enhancing e-billing and processing documents such as fire certificates and licenses using electronic licensing system to improve its revenue base.
“Working with Airtel, we have introduced the mobile collection solution for houses and premises that are still operational, we have created a taskforce of council employees who are collecting what is being owed by property owners,” he said.
The town clerk said the council has also increased the number of field workers to cover the entire district in revenue collection.
He stated that the council is collecting mobile numbers of all its clients in order to further enhance e-billing services.
“We have also captured all the council properties for them to be brought on the e-billing system, we are opening offside pay points in our peri-urban areas so that our clients are not made to come to the civic Centre to make their payments,” he said.
The government says over K4 billion has been collected from the 27 toll gates countrywide since 2014.
Minister of Finance Bwalya Ng’andu said Four billion, Seven Hundred and fifty-Six million Kwacha was collected from 2014 to July 2020.
Dr. Ng’andu explained that all proceeds from the toll plazas are sent to the government’s account.
Dr Ng’andu was responding to a question from Mufulira Member of Parliament Evans Chibanda during the session for Oral Answer Questions in Parliament today.
Dr Chibanda wanted to know what the total number of toll plazas, countrywide, was as of July, 2020; how much revenue was collected as toll fees, from inception to July, 2020, year by year; when the Government will introduce Point of Sale machines at the toll plazas, countrywide and whether the Government has any plans to start collecting toll fees in foreign currency, in addition to the local currency.
In response, Dr Ng’andu stated that the toll gates are collected in both local currency (Kwacha) and the US dollars.
“From 2014 to July 2020 we collected over K4 billion from all the 27 toll gates. In 2014 K297 million was collected, 2015 K 425 million was collected, K465 million in 2016, K668 Million in 2017, K909 million in 2018 and over K1 billion in 2019,” he said.
The Finance Minister was quick to mention that between July 2020 to date K777 million has been collected.
He emphasized that the electronic toll machines are being used but his Ministry is working closely with Smart Zambia to further find ways of expediting the collection of tolls.
The Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) in Luapula Province has arrested three small scale farmers for unlawful cultivation of fresh cannabis plants weighing 1.23 tonnes contrary to Cap 96 of the Laws of Zambia.
The three were apprehended during a special operation conducted in Chienge District of Luapula Province on January 24th, 2021 following concerns raised by local residents of rampant cultivation and trafficking of cannabis in the area especially along the border between Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo.
In a statement issued to the media yesterday by DEC Public Relations Officer, Theresa Katongo said those arrested and jointly charged include Paul Kabwe, male aged 22 of Kazembe Wamabanga village, John Makayi, male aged 45 of Mukosa Village and Samson Mumbi, male aged 48 of the same village in Chienge.
Meanwhile Ms. Katongo said the Commission undertook an operation in Lusaka’s Kalingalinga Township where one of the notorious gangs and their purported leader identified as Rhoda Mpande, a female aged 69 were arrested for drug trafficking.
She said the notorious gang comprising five males and a female have been reported several times for disturbing peace among residents of Kalingalinga Township.
Ms Katongo also said the five identified as Joseph Jere 18, Evans Muzabala 22, James Mwanza, 29, and two juveniles were found with 42 sachets of heroin and loose cannabis weighing 39.7 grams.
She further said arrangements are being made for all suspects to appear before the courts of law.
The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) Council of Ministers has reiterated its commitment to ensure Zambia and Zimbabwe draw equal social and economic benefits, from the development of the US$4.5 billion Batoka Gorge Hydro-Electric Scheme (BGHES).
Outgoing ZRA Council of Ministers Chairman, who is also Zimbabwean Minister of Energy and Power Development, Soda Zhemu, informed his Zambian counterpart Mathew Nkhuwa that mutual benefits will also be extended to other projects under the authority’s water storage infrastructure development plans covering other dam sites located along the stretch of the Zambezi River.
Mr. Zhemu noted that the two sister republics shared various projects on the Zambezi River along the stretch that formed a border between the two countries.
He said this yesterday during the 38th virtual Council of Ministers Meeting (COM) which was attended by Energy Minister Mathew Nkhuwa, Finance Minister Bwalya N’gandu, Attorney General Likando Kalaluka and other senior government officials from both countries.
Mr. Zhemu said it was particularly reassuring to learn that apart from introducing over 4,000 direct and 6,000 in-direct jobs, the project would generate revenue of over US$750 million annually.
“This US$750 annual target will consequently enhance the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), of the two contracting states in addition to empowering our people,” he said.
And Mr. Zhemu stressed the need for establishment of additional water storage and power generation infrastructure under the 2,400 MW BGHES.
“In addition to ensuring the continued existence and safe operation of Kariba Dam, you will agree with me that of paramount interest to the two contracting states is the development of additional water storage and power generation infrastructure under the 2,400MW BGHES,” he said.
Earlier, Energy Minister Mathew Nkhuwa said the Meeting was important as it helped to guide the operations of the Zambia River Authority which was jointly owned by Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Mr, Nkhuwa said the Authority was key for both countries as it spearheaded efforts to harness the social and economic benefits presented by the Zambezi River.
The ZRA Council of Minister’s Meeting was held to get updates on activities under the Zambezi Valley Development Fund; and to receive progress reports on the implementation of various projects aimed at enhancing the livelihood and well-being of communities displaced during the construction of Kariba Dam.
This year, Zimbabwe through Mr Zhemu is handing over chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers to his Zambian counterpart, Mr. Nkhuwa.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Security has urged companies operating in the country to seek guidance on the procedure of how to carry out their operations amidst the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Labour Commissioner, Givens Muntengwa says government is aware of the hardships experienced by several companies due to COVID-19, thus has devised measures to ensure that operations continue safely.
He stated that the outbreak of the pandemic had struck hard on the economy hence continuation of economic activities is inevitable.
The Commissioner however observed that most companies are not engaging the Ministry of Labour and Social Security on how to continue operations while observing the health guidelines hence the workers tend to suffer.
Speaking in his office, Mr. Muntengwa noted that most employers are restricting their employees from leaving the company premises by compelling them to quarantine without their consent.
He urged that companies should engage government for consultation adding that the labour law will not be compromised especially on the welfare of employees.
“The Labour office is open to all employers for consultation on how companies are supposed to operate amid the pandemic. I can assure companies that the labour law will not take time in reaching out to the welfare of employers,” Mr. Muntengwa explained.
Earlier, Ministry of Labour and Social Security Principal Labour Officer, Joseph Kaindama led a team of inspectors at the Chinese Centre in Long Acres and MBP Tipping Services where they discovered that compliance levels of the labour laws amid the Coronavirus were relaxed.
Mr. Kaindama found workers had been quarantined in the company premises for over eight months to avoid transmitting the virus to others when they go home.
The workers at MBP Tipping Services were also found working without signing contracts hence their salaries were below the minimum wage as stipulated by government.
Mr. Kaindama directed management at Chinese Centre to ensure that workers are released to go home until they come to an agreement that should consist incentives.
He gave a 10 day ultimatum to MBP Tipping Services to ensure that they liaise with the Ministry of Labour on coming up with proper contracts for all the 45 workers.
“I am directing you to release these people so that they can go and see their families by the end of yesterday after work. There is a way of how you can come to terms with these people on the conditions of service amid the pandemic. Ensure you engage our Ministry for proper procedures,” Mr Kaindamo urged the companies.
And employees who remained anonymous complained of bad working conditions and called on the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to assist them so that they are treated fairly in their own country.
Later, the Principal labor officer had a chat with the affected workers, urging them to engage the Ministry of Labor in cases of bad working conditions so that they are protected.
Diplomats are international citizens. For the period they are in Zambia, they are actually Zambians. They are the eyes and ears of the world in Zambia. Their job is to objectively shine light on what is happening in the country. If they keep quiet, the world will think everything is fine in Zambia. Notwithstanding their diplomatic postings and their need to respect local politics, diplomats have a responsibility to maintain an international order that respects democracy and human rights. At the top of this responsibility are United Nations (UN) diplomats, led by the Resident Coordinator, the leader of all UN agencies in any country.
In recent years, Zambia seems to attract only the same kind of UN Resident Coordinators, akin to a married person who escapes a very abusive partner only to end up with a worse one. Many Zambians welcomed Coumba Mar Gadio when she arrived in the country in May 2019 to take up her appointment as UN Resident Coordinator, not least because they were happy to see the back of her predecessor, Janet Rogan. Rogan, who was seen locally as too close to the levers of power and easily mistaken for a PF functionary, had so lowered the bar of UN leadership in Zambia that Gadio did not need to do much to raise it. Remarkably, the new UN Resident Coordinator did the opposite and last year lowered the bar so low that it is literally on the floor now. One of the primary roles of a Resident Coordinator is to protect and defend the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In practice, this means condemning violations of human rights, defending freedom of speech, safeguarding the integrity of democratic processes and, most importantly, preventing and reporting early signs of internal conflict in a country.
As civil and political rights deteriorated in Zambia across 2020, Gadio remained a disinterested spectator, choosing invisibility and irrelevance as her strategy. When police shot dead two unarmed citizens as they dispersed supporters of the main opposition party who were exercising their rights of movement and public assembly, Gadio remained silent. When critical media outlets such as Prime Television were shut down while several others were harassed by ruling party cadres for simply doing their job, Gadio remained silent. When civil society organisations and opposition parties were curtailed from conducting public meetings even as the PF held theirs without any inhibition, Gadio remained silent. When several activists were prevented from protesting against the erosion of civil liberties and one government leader urged the police to “break their bones” if they went ahead with the procession, Gadio remained silent. When the Electoral Commission of Zambia scrapped a valid voters’ register and decreed that everyone must re-register within a month, Gadio remained silent. When state institutions harassed President Lungu’s political opponents by restricting their freedom of movement, Gadio remained silent. When rampant corruption endangered the lives of Zambians through the supply of expired drugs, Gadio remained silent.
Why did UN Secretary-General António Gutteres, a person of high integrity and a fearless defender of human rights, send such a hapless envoy with zero interest in doing her job to this country? Any Resident Coordinator as inactive as Gadio would resign if they had any conception of the importance of their job or the magnitude of their failures. Precisely what Gadio has been doing over the last year is unclear. It may be that Gadio lacks motivation since Zambia is her last duty station before the Senegalese retires. But Zambians deserve better, especially from organisations where public money goes every year to support our membership. The silence of an international body that is supposed to be the custodian of human rights in the world cannot be inconspicuous. How many people must be killed in Zambia before the UN begins to talk?
By remaining quiet when human rights are being strangled, the UN is, in effect, sanctioning the violation of international treaties on human rights and diluting the international culture on the importance of the rule of law and respect for human rights. The UN’s apparent inability to recognise the inadequacies of its coordinator in Zambia, especially given the positive record of its past coordinators prior to the arrival of Rogan, is a serious indictment of the organisation. What is the purpose of the UN if not to intervene in situations of escalating political tension and violence that threaten to descend into chaos? Is the UN waiting for large-scale conflict or violence to break out so that they may send peacekeepers and tents?
UK High Commissioner to Zambia Nicholas Woolley
Mr Nicholas Woolley
If Zambia descends into large-scale political unrest after the 12 August 2021 elections, at least three major factors would have driven the country to that outcome. One is the public’s increasing lack of trust in and outright contempt for formal institutions – like the Judiciary, the Electoral Commission of Zambia and the police – as arbitrators of the contest between those who wield state power and those seeking to acquire it. Another is a high-stake election featuring two ruthless groups of political elites. One wants to perpetuate its stay in power in order to continue accumulating and escape possible prosecution and imprisonment. The other group seeks to win power to prevent a crushing end to its political career. Leaders and supporters of both groups see the August election as a matter of life and death and are likely to rebel against an outcome that does not favour them – especially if it lacks credibility. What has emboldened these two factors is the third: the alarming silence of international actors.
If Zambia’s march towards violence seems inevitable, it is partly because it has been aided by the incriminating silence of Western diplomats who previously exercised some kind of leverage on the actions of the looting political elites in power. Once upon a time, Zambia was so respected in international circles that it attracted leading and experienced diplomats from countries like the United Kingdom who supported a governance agenda that included speaking out when democratic backslides and human rights violations occurred. Today, few take Zambia seriously in international relations. With the exception of the United States and until recently Germany, major world powers now send trainee diplomats to Lusaka for internships. A great example in this regard is the United Kingdom, who, in August 2019 sent to Zambia a spineless individual, Nicholas Woolley, as High Commissioner. Like the UN Resident Coordinator, Woolley appears to consider his appointment as a kind of gap year or extended holiday. Unlike several of his predecessors who were outspoken on human rights violations and murderous attacks on democracy, the current British envoy in 2020 remained largely uninterested in political and human rights questions.
It is no wonder that when police shot dead two unarmed citizens in December, not far away from the British High Commission offices in Lusaka, Woolley expressed ‘shock’ at the incident. His expression of shock demonstrates how totally disconnected and oblivious he had been to his surroundings. British intelligence officials in his office must be shocked by his shock because they must have known that the shooting was neither surprising nor an isolated incident. It was a pattern and part of a growing culture of impunity and sustained crackdown on the opposition and human rights by the government. In any case, the government had warned the people against enjoying their freedoms; that any attempt by supporters to give solidarity to the main opposition leader who had been summoned by police for questioning would be met with full force. Woolley would have known all this if he had not been too busy admiring our poverty, cooking nshima, dancing with musicians, and posting evidence of these activities on his official social media pages. Given the heightened political tension ahead of the August election, and the continuing silence of diplomats like Woolley, there will be nothing shocking if large-scale violence breaks out at some point this year. What will be shocking is if there will be peace.
It is extremely disappointing when much is expected from a person, but very little or absolutely nothing results. Whereas the intrepid American envoy, David Young, sent condolence messages to the families of the two innocent Zambians who were killed by the police, Woolley said absolutely nothing. Perhaps he is confused by the earlier British history of nasty dictatorial colonialism, strangely contrasted with the new foreign policy of democracy and human rights. With these opposed concepts whirling around in his wooly mind (no pun intended), the top UK diplomat in Zambia could possibly think of nothing better than to hide under his desk and say nothing.
By doing nothing about Zambia’s deteriorating human rights situation, diplomats like Woolley are emboldening the culprits, are complicit in whatever terrible things might happen and paving the way for what might turn out to be a bloody election. While they most probably use diplomatic, backdoor channels to deliver a quiet word to Lungu, such as the need for him to ‘go easy’ on the opposition, they should consider giving public expression to their positions when governance excesses begin to appear. Otherwise, ordinary Zambians may take it for granted that their silence means that they are quite content with what is happening. To be fair to Woolley, though, Zambia seems to be his first major duty station, so he is probably still learning on the job. A close look at his diplomatic career so far shows that much of it has been served in countries that have no known tradition of protecting human rights and democracy. These include Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan. Given this background, Zambians who cannot wait to see the back of the British envoy should perhaps bear with him.
President Edgar Lungu
President Lungu
“I laugh and chuckle when I hear people say that things are bad in Zambia like they are better anywhere else”, said President Edgar Lungu in December 2020. This statement says much that one needs to know about the Head of State and the tragic mediocrity of his leadership.
It demonstrates how removed Lungu is from the plight of many, from the historic social and economic crises that are dragging Zambia towards the abyss. It shows a President who is extremely unaware of the hunger, poverty, disease and death, unemployment, inequalities and squalor which are the daily life experiences of the majority of Zambians. It reveals how Lungu is insulated by the comforts of State House and his questionable wealth from the hard life of the majority of Zambians. It tells us that the Head of State is a cold, sadistic leader incapable of sympathy, empathy and showing solidarity with suffering, pain and death which are the conditions of the majority of Zambians. It suggests that Lungu is surrounded by a personal choir which has proved incapable of transmitting to him the everyday realities of the majority of Zambians.
With his sadistic insensitivity to the plight of Zambians, it confirms that Lungu is not fit to be President in such a singularly poor country. Here are some damning official stats about his “good country”, from the CIA World Fact Book, UNDP World Development Index, and several relevant institutions in his own government:
• Zambia is among the four hungriest countries in the world, one of the most heavily indebted and impoverished countries in the world, one of the most corrupt countries in the world, and the first African country to default (fail to pay its debt) during the pandemic;
• Zambia is now ranked number 146 on the Human Development Index (HDI) of 189 countries (which measures longevity and healthy life, access to knowledge and decent standard of living);
• less than three per cent of Zambia’s population is expected to live to 65, with the rest of us condemned to very short miserable lives at a time in human history when some countries have a problem of too many old people;
• Among those Zambians able and willing to work, 56 years into our “independence”, 86 per cent still rely on some agricultural activity to survive, only 6 per cent have an industrial job, and a mere 9 per cent are employed in services;
• 8 out of 10 Zambians who want work cannot find it. We are quite capable of carrying a high unemployment rate, especially among the youth, and somehow pray and hope that a miracle will cure our social ills.
As a result of the above, thousands of Zambians are overcrowded in prisons meant for far fewer people. Poverty is endemic and most widespread and acute in Zambian villages. To escape this poverty, millions of Zambians have run away from their villages and are squatting in overcrowded, equally impoverished Zambian towns and cities. This situation has unleashed truckloads of orphans and street children, and Lungu’s government is now planning to violently sweep them off the streets and imprison them in underpaid and poorly equipped Zambia National Service Camps.
Zambia has a proud history of sheltering millions of refugees during Southern Africa’s struggles for independence. Millions of Zambians welcomed refugees into their homes. There was no violence. Under Lungu’s government, we have seen Zambians rise and savage foreigners with xenophobic violence. Extreme poverty in Zambian townships is the cause of this xenophobia. Lungu has contributed hugely to this poverty. One is either a cruel, cold and insensitive individual to fail to see this hard brutal reality if he or she is an ordinary person, or a sadistic and cruel person if they are president of Zambia and have the resources to have this reality made visible to them but refuse to see it. Lungu is both. The President should not be laughing. He should be angry with himself and anguished at the subhuman existence his mediocre leadership has reduced many Zambians to. Everything rises and falls on leadership. Everything. Lungu would do well to internalise this point.
As if the above statement was not terrible enough, the President declared, a few days later, that those who wish to lead Zambia should wait until 2026 or 2031, when he will finally be out of power. This is another most disappointing remark from the President, one that he repeated in different forms through 2020 and into the new year. This thinking is deeply problematic because it shows that Lungu mistakes the presidency for some sort of inheritance. His are not ideas that are consistent with electoral democracy. If anything, they underline his total contempt for elections and Zambians. They do not affirm the process by which elected representatives find themselves in positions of authority. The contempt he shows for voters is not accidental. It is based on the idea that he has absolute control of the electoral machinery, the Judiciary and other crucial institutions such as the police and the intelligence services. To Lungu, we are not a republic. We are a monarchy whose king recognises that periodically there must be sham elections to legitimate their stay in power.
Given that he won the last presidential election with a slender margin, where does Lungu get the confidence to predict the outcome of not just the 2021 election but also future ones? He is very confident of not being removed because he knows what he has done to make sure that he gets the result he wants. He now has a voters’ register that favours him. He controls the police. He has previously shown that he can intimidate judges into submission. He has terrorised the opposition and is exploiting the pandemic to deny his political opponents the space they need to mobilise and conduct their activities.
Having effectively blocked the opposition from democratically opposing him and created a climate of fear in much of the population, the implication of Lungu’s statement that he will rule until 2026 is that only death or God can remove him from power. Otherwise, he will remain in office until 2026, at the earliest. Even then, there is no proof that Lungu’s appetite for power would have waned, so he might decide to change or even remove term limits altogether. Health permitting, Lungu could emulate his mentor Yoweri Museveni and perpetuate himself in power for many, many years. After all, there are very few constraints in his path – timid citizens, weak institutions, and the confluence of forces that have shaped us into who we are: a strange, pacified and frightened lot that has allowed politicians like Lungu to trample on us with impunity.
Lungu is short of declaring himself life president because doing so would be a cumbersome process. In practice, however, that is what he is. He has effectively declared that he alone will decide when to leave office. Zambia’s present predicament, including the collapse of formal institutions, derives from him. He is the energy that feeds the rot, and for this reason was the most disappointing public figure of the year 2020.
HOME Affairs Minister Hon Stephen Kampyongo has told Parliament in a Ministerial Statement today that the investigations into the killing of Nsama Nsama and Joseph Kaunda has led to the identification of the suspected shooter.
Hon Kampyongo said that the Conclusive investigation report was forwarded to the President by the Zambia police command and the President has since handed it to the DPP for further action.
“The house may wish to note that the team tasked to investigate this matter has already concluded investigations and the suspect who is alleged to have fired the gunshots that led to the death of Mr Nsama Nsama Chipyoka and Mr Joseph Kaunda has been has been identified”Hon Kampyongo said.
Hon Kampyongo has further disclosed that following the findings of the investigation, the Zambia Police Service has since opened a docket which they have equally forwarded to the DPP for further action.
The Minister has since urged Police officers throughout the rank and file of the Zambia Police Service to observe the highest levels of professionalism as they conduct their work.
Hon Kampyongo said that Police have a sworn duty to serve and protect all Zambians by maintaining law and order at all times.
He said that even though they are called to maintain law and order by all means necessary, police officers must endeavor to act professionally with out having to take the law into their own hands.
“As Officers you are expected to follow laid down procedures at all times when discharging your duties, further you are required to exhibit high levels of professionalism and discipline when dealing with members of the public” Hon Kampyongo urged Police officers.
Meanwhile Hon Kampyongo has also warned political party cadres against agitating anarchy in the country for whatever reason.
He said that the Police remain ready to decisively deal with all perpetrators of anarchy irrespective of which political party they belong to.
Napsa Stars coach Mohamed Fathi is pleading with FAZ to save his fatigued and injury-hit team a week off after playing seven competitive games in January have left them struggling in domestic action.
Six out of those competitive fixtures have been in league action where they have collected one win, suffered two defeats, and drawn twice and are sitting third from last inside the bottom four relegation zone.
Fathi added that Napsa also had ten players out due to injuries with just two weeks left before they travelled to Kenya to play Gor Mahia in Nairobi in a 2020/2021 CAF Confederation Cup pre-group stage first leg match on February 14.
“To our mother body at Football House, if they can listen to our appeal to give us one week rest because these players are tired,” Fathi said.
“At the same time, these are the players who are fighting and are playing in the pre-group stage representing Zambia.
“We are going to Kenya in the first leg away and we need to win it to qualify to the group stage to keep our flag flying high and hopes of representing Zambia.”
Napsa are one of Zambia’s last two remaining continental representatives this season.
But with fellow CAF Confederation Cup envoys Nkana struggling financially and still reeling from a pre-season player exodus as a consequence, Napsa are looking like Zambia’s best bet for group stage qualification.
Meanwhile, Napsa play their eighth and final competitive game in January when they visit number nine side Green Eagles this Saturday in a FAZ Super Division Week 15 fixture.
That game will come just four days after the Lusaka club lost 2-1 at home to sixth placed Kabwe Warriors.
Zambia has crossed the 50,000 cases mark of Coronavirus with 1,408 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours.
Minister of Health Jonas Chanda stated that a total of 13,524 tests were performed bringing the cumulative number to 50,319.
In the statement to ZANIS in Lusaka today, Dr Chanda said Lusaka recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases of 456 seconded by Copperbelt that had 231.
He further pointed out that North-Western province recorded 186, Southern 144, Muchinga 109, Western 77, Eastern 75, Luapula 60, Northern 47 and Central Province recorded 23 cases of Coronavirus.
“As highlighted in yesterday’s statement, our expert analysis anticipates a third wave around May-June of this year. The key lessons from the first and second wave have been incorporated into our efforts to build a resilient health system capable of withstanding a third wave and with concerted efforts we can adequately prepare to avert it,” he stated.
The Health Minister noted with concern the growing numbers of Covid-19 cases in other provinces such as Northern Province.
He emphasized that even as the country fights Covid-19, his ministry has not lost sight of other disease burdens such as maternal and child health, communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS,TB and Malaria as well as other non-communicable diseases.
Dr Chanda said it was disheartening that 17 people succumbed to Covid-19 in the last 24hrs of which 10 have been classified as Covid-19, two as Covid-19 associated and five deaths are pending classification.
“We currently have 6,843 active cases around the country with 6,345 cases under community management and 500 admitted to various health facilities around the country. Of the admitted patients 347 are on oxygen therapy and 50 are in critical condition,” he stressed.
He further appealed to the general citizenry to observe the five golden rules in the quest to avert the further spread of the pandemic.
Yesterday (January 27th 2021), Zambia recorded 1,289 new COVID-19 cases out of the 11,862 tests carried out across the country.
Prisons Care & Counselling Association (PRISCCA) Executive Director Godfrey Malembeka has commended President Edgar Lungu for commuting 246 inmates from death row sentencing to life imprisonment.
Mr. Malembeka indicated that the current President has so far commuted over 630 inmates during his tenure saying that it is an impressive record which demonstrates a willingness to respect and uphold human rights.
Speaking in a statement, Mr. Malembeka noted that the act will not only decongest the Correctional Centres but also meant to protect inmates from contracting the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Executive Director stated that Mukobeko Maximum facility only has a capacity of 50 people at its condemned section but the number has kept increasing with more than 400 inmates just before yesterday’s commutation, thereby subjecting inmates to untold congestion, an infringement on their rights.
He maintained his position that there is no evidence that suggests that the death penalty deters crime, adding that Correctional Centres are meant to transform people.
“As PRISCCA, we believe reformation is the answer. There is no reformation in the grave. That’s why people who commit serious offences should be jailed and given a chance to reform. Further as a Christian nation. We should leave vengeance to God,” Mr. Malembeka reiterated.
Mr. Malembeka however suggested that the country should consider abolishing the death penalty as it violates the right to life as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
He indicated that as much as there are serious offences such as murder, aggravated robbery and treason that attracts death sentencing, the country should join African countries such as Malawi, Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, Mauritius and Seychelles in abolishing the death penalty and maintain life imprisonment.
Yesterday, President Lungu commuted 246 inmates and of this number, 225 are male and 21 are female. The commutation was done at Mukobeko Maximum prison in Kabwe.
Kasenengwa District Commissioner Sarah Kalaluka has ruled out any compensation to families in Mkowe Ward whose crop fields were destroyed by earth moving equipment during some road works.
Speaking after touring the affected fields today, Ms Kalaluka said government will not compensate the affected people as enough sensitisation was done in the area on the need for people to leave enough space for the road expansion and construction.
The DC mentioned that a stakeholders meeting was held last year in October and all village headmen whose villages are along the road were informed to urge their subjects to leave a minimum space of six metres on both sides of the road when planting the crops so as to avoid being affected once the road works commenced.
She added that most people whose crop fields are along the road left enough space for road works but a few did not comply.
‘’Most people whose fields are along the road left enough space for the road works but only a few ignored the directive and had their crops destroyed,” the DC said.
Ms Kalaluka observed that the Malochi-Mkowe road had not been worked on for a longtime hence government decision to allocate some funds from the Constituency Development fund (CDF) towards the rehabilitation of the road using the Zambia National Service (ZNS).
“After receiving several complaints from the people about the bad state of the road, we decided to engage the ZNS using the CDF so that this road could be rehabilitated and it is sad that some people decided to ignore the directive to leave enough space for road works,’’ she said.
Meanwhile, Mkowe Ward Development Committee (WDC) Chairperson Nelson Mbewe said reports that people were not aware of the road project are not true because all headmen in the area attended the meeting and documentations are there to that effect.
Mr Mbewe charged that the complaints from a few people that their crop fields were destroyed by the ZNS could have been avoided if the affected people had followed the directive of leaving enough space for road works.
He said the local people are the ones to benefit once the road works are completed hence the need for them to always cooperate when given directives.
An Economical Analyst, Yusuf Dodia says the increased production of copper at First Quantum Minerals (FQM) will benefit the country.
Mr Dodia said the increase in production will witness more employment and the awarding of contracts to Zambian contractors.
Speaking in an interview with ZANIS, Mr Dodia said if production is increased, it means manpower will have to increase which will translates into increased income to the local people.
He noted that FQM will have to generate a lot of power to run the mines which will result in the company paying ZESCO, a government company more money which will eventually remain in the economy.
FQM recorded its highest ever annual copper production of 779,000 tonnes in the fourth quarter of last year representing an 11 percent increase in production compared to the third quarter of the same year.
Mr Dodia also said copper prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) have gone up, urging different mining companies in the country should utilize the opportunity to up their production in order to maximize their profits.
He has however, said increased production of copper will not significantly add value to the economy.
Mr Dodia said this year, the mining industry is expected to export over 1 Million tons of copper which translates into eight billion dollars of export earnings of which most of it does not remain in the country.
“The significant portion of that eight billion dollars will remain outside Zambia and therefore the effect of the growth on our economy will be very minor,” Dodia said.
He said the Mining sector is responsible for 80 percent of Zambia’s export earnings of which majority of the dollars go out of the country.
“We need to make sure that there is a law which says if you export one 100 tons of copper, that money which is earned must come into the Zambian Bank,” he said.
The Continental Leadership Research Institute (CLRI) has expressed concern at the recent statement by the Electoral Commission of Zambia over possible restrictions regarding the number of international election observers to be allowed in the country owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement issued to the media, CLRI Executive Director, Paul Mundia Hakoola says ECZ should be more consultative when making such important decisions as opposed to making announcements without engaging stakeholders.
Mr. Hakoola says the statement by the electoral body undermines the spirit of transparency which is one of the co-values of ECZ.
“ECZ has been less consultative and the institute has also noted the lapses by commission’s media department to engage stakeholders through robust media programs aimed at explaining the electoral processes and conduct civic education,” which he says is a situation that has caused anxiety among members of the public.
“As an institute, we reaffirm the earlier position to call on the ECZ to be more consultative and learn to build consensus among stakeholders. In view of the above, the we believe that the possible restriction of international observers will undermine and erode the creditability of our electoral process,” he says.
Mr. Hakoola further wonders why ECZ is raising the issue of election observers entering the country when borders have remained open even under the current face of the Covid 19 pandemic.
“The Zambian airspace and borders have been open, meaning different individuals from different parts of the world have been able to visit Zambia without any restrictions. The position by ECZ to restrict international observers doesn’t hold water.
The statement by ECZ undermines the spirit of transparency and accountability in the electoral process,” he said.
ECZ on Monday said the international observers may need to use their local staff to monitor the 2021 elections owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Ms. Sara Longwe Chairperson of Chapter One Foundation
Chapter One Foundation has noted that its Executive Director, Ms. Linda Kasonde, has been placed on Dr. Sishuwa Sishuwa’s list of “Zambians who gravely disappointed” in 2020 which appeared in the 26th January 2020 edition of News Diggers newspaper. The critique arose out of a decision that Chapter One Foundation took to challenge the 2020 voter registration and national registration card registration exercise in the Constitutional Court. Chapter One Foundation was the first organisation to challenge both registration processes in August 2020. We did this in line with our mandate to promote and protect human rights, the rule of law, and constitutionalism in Zambia. Dr. Sishuwa has issue with the fact that we opted to go to the Constitutional Court to seek redress instead of opting to file a judicial review application in the High Court which he states affords greater avenues for interim relief. In our view, there is no remedy that the High Court can give that the Constitutional Court cannot give. Unfortunately, as the case is still in court, we are unable to discuss the merits of the case save to say that we took out our petition to defend our constitutional right to vote, a claim which cannot be remedied in the High Court. One of the advantages of having an action declared unconstitutional by a court of law is that the action that is subject of the petition will be rendered null and void; meaning that the action being challenged will no longer be legally binding. Also, as a court of first and final instance, taking the matter to the Constitutional Court was the quickest way of ensuring that the issues were determined before the 2021 general elections. Cases in the High Court are subject to appeal which may delay the determination of the case.
Chapter One is all for fair comment however, we think that Dr. Sishuwa’s article makes a number of worrying assumptions that we feel that we must address:
1. The assertion that Ms. Kasonde acted as a “lone wolf”.
Chapter One Foundation consists of a team of professional and qualified staff, who makes decisions collectively and did so in this case. As a team, we decided that the case had merit and we decided to file it in August 2020. Dr. Sishuwa neglects to state that, as the first organisation to commence an action, we were the first to reach out to the lawyers and litigants who had commenced the two subsequent actions in the High Court to see if we could work together. Our efforts at collaboration did not yield any results. By the time that they came back to us seeking to work together on a completely new judicial review court case at the end of 2020, our case had advanced to near trial stage. It is worth noting that is likely that our case would have been at trial stage now had it not been for the untimely passing of the judge presiding over our case, Justice Enoch Mulembe, in December 2020. The case has now been allocated to a new judge. Dr. Sishuwa argues that the reason that the other litigants failed to proceed with their cases in the High Court is because Chapter One Foundation had filed a case in the Constitutional Court, a superior court. Chapter One Foundation simply asserted its constitutional right to defend the Constitution. Judges have the discretion to grant or deny leave (permission) to issue judicial review proceedings – there are no guarantees that leave will be granted. No leave is required to commence proceedings in the Constitutional Court. A person can take out a petition in the Constitutional Court to defend the Constitution as of right. Dr. Sishuwa also neglects to state that the Electoral Process Act has been in effect since 2016 and nobody had stepped forward to challenge the manner in which the right to vote has been violated until after Chapter One Foundation did.
2. The assertion that Ms. Kasonde and Chapter One Foundation should have deferred to the lawyers in the other cases.
As already mentioned, Chapter One Foundation works as a team and that we had earlier reached out to the other litigants in the other two cases. Dr. Sishuwa asserts that the position taken by the litigants in the other two cases was the more correct way to seek redress from the Courts of law. He further asserts that, as the more “junior” lawyers to the lawyers in the other cases, the lawyers on the Chapter One Foundation case should have yielded to the other lawyers’ position. As lawyers can attest, there are many ways of approaching a legal case that take into account various considerations, some of which we have discussed. Having weighed our options, we decided to file a petition in the Constitutional Court taking a broad approach to defend and protect the constitutional right to vote. Also, this year marks Ms. Kasonde’s twentieth year of practice, she is hardly a novice. But that notwithstanding, at Chapter One Foundation we do not believe that junior lawyers have nothing to offer. Our team is made up of highly competent young lawyers whose advice we rely on.
3. The one sidedness of his arguments
In his article, Dr. Sishuwa questions the decisions taken by Chapter One Foundation on technical grounds without having engaged Chapter One Foundation on the issue. He however does not seem to question the decisions taken by the other litigants. We look forward to engaging with Dr. Sishuwa to provide our viewpoint on these matters as we believe in constructive debate on issues, particularly issues of national importance.
Chapter One Foundation expects and indeed welcomes fair criticism of our actions. We do not believe that anyone has a monopoly on knowledge. Our small team works very hard to promote human rights, constitutionalism, and the rule of law in Zambia to the best of our ability.
Chipolopolo coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic is comfortable with the underdog tag heading into Sundays 2021 CHAN quarterfinal date against defending champions Morocco.
Micho also defended Zambia’s poor s performance in Wednesdays final Group D match against Namibia that ended 0-0 and saw Chipolopolo qualify after finishing second in the pool tied on 5 points with leaders Guinea.
“If you want to go far, you need to meet any team,” Micho said.
“With all due respect to Morocco, they are a top team, they are the favourites, they are the defending champions, whatsoever, so let them take the role of the favourites.
“We are who we are and we shall come with the same approach giving out the best and looking at our first target in this competition that was to reach the quarterfinals.
“Now the moment has passed and we are in the quarterfinals, it can be anyone, so we will believe in the work I am doing, believe in the player we are having and believing in the support from the people behind us.”
But Zambia must improve against a convincing Morocco who are gunning to become the first country to successfully defending their CHAN title and join record champions DR Congo with two wins.
“On the other side, in all the 93 minutes, it is not easy to play a team who have no pressure but had the intension to be party spoilers and they have proudly played for their country,” Micho said.
“We need to critically look at ourselves as to why from 20 attempts at least one was not finished off.
“We need to correct all this before playing the quarterfinal match.”
