Join our community of SUBSCRIBERS and be part of the conversation.
To subscribe, simply enter your email address on our website or click the subscribe button below. Don't worry, we respect your privacy and won't spam your inbox. Your information is safe with us.
President Edgar Lungu has encouraged citizens including those working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to work hard in order to help stimulate the country’s economy.
The President has cautioned that “working from home” is different from “staying at home”, and, therefore, citizens working from home must use the available ICT tools, to work hard rather than deciding to abandon work.
President Lungu observed that from last years’ experience, many citizens who were asked to work from home decided to stay at home and abandoned work.
He stated that abandoning work when allowed to work from home will not just negatively affect productivity but will negatively impact the county’s economy.
“Whether you are in the informal or formal sector and you have been made to work from home, work the way you would work at your place of work. Apply seriousness on what you do despite operating from home.
“Those who are positive with the coronavirus but are asymptomatic or are showing little symptoms must equally work hard from home and must not abandon the work they do. Do your normal chores, while observing the recommended health guidelines,” the President said.
Meanwhile, the Head of State has also encouraged people engaged in farming to ensure they visit their farms regularly, despite the surging cases of COVID-19, in order for the county to continue doing well in food production and security.
He noted that like all citizens, farmers need to observe the coronavirus health guidelines which include wearing masks, social distancing, hand sanitising, and steaming among others, but should not abandon their fields.
The President said he visited a farm recently where owners had not been to their field in fear of the COVID-19 pandemic and in their absence army worms attacked their produce.
He added that the World Bank’s Enabling Business of Agriculture (EBA19) Report, launched last Thursday, places Zambia third in Sub Saharan Africa, among the top countries that are encouraging the private sector to invest in agriculture.
The EBA 19 report assesses the laws and regulations impacting agribusiness Value chains and farmers in 101 countries. It ranks governments whether they make it easier or harder for farmers to operate their businesses, and identifies actionable reforms to remove obstacles for farmers seeking to grow their business of agriculture.
“My government has done very well in regulations relating to speedy supply of seeds, registering fertilizers, securing water, sustaining livestock and accessing finance, among other thematic successes, and hence scoring 63.73 from a possible 100, which is way above the regional average,” he said.
President Lungu added that “Therefore, this is a big score by Zambia as we are only behind South Africa and Kenya in Sub-Saharan Africa, and this is because of my administration’s performance in Agriculture. We can only push ourselves to be the best, but if we renege because of covid-19, agriculture production will drop and the consequences on the economy and our people will be dire,” the President says.
“Therefore, I want to encourage all households to work hard amidst the covid-19 pandemic and engage in some farming activity so that we end hunger and create capital for ourselves from the surplus that we produce,” said President Lungu.
This is according to a statement issued to ZANIS in Lusaka, by Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations Isaac Chipampe.
Off the album ‘Kunkeyani’, Tha Jedi Give us a second video titled “Kabwata“. Kunkeyani pays respect to the city and the Hood that raised him, with giving them a hood anthem to vibe too. A Cloud City Media production Shot and Directed by Verb D.O.P by VIC 47
Foreign Affairs Minister Joe Malanji has handed over his personal Mercedez Benz S-350 car to Kitwe’s Our Lady of Peace Parish Priest Fr Benedict Ng’andwe.
The car will be for the personal use of Fr. Ng’andwe.
Mr. Malanji who is also Kwacha Member of Parliament where the Parish is located also donated a 30-seater Rosa bus to the Parish.
And Fr Ng’andwe has advised Mr. Malanji and other senior Government officials to ignore those that are speaking ill of the donations they are making.
Father Ng’andwe noted that Mr Malanji’s gesture of giving back to the community in his constituency is purely out of generosity.
The clergy was speaking when he received donation from Mr Malanji comprising 70 Thousand Kwacha to parishioners and a S-350 Mercedes Benz car including a 30-seater brand-new Rosa Bus to the parish.
Father Ng’andwe has since encouraged Mr Malanji to continue with his generosity, stating that God loves and blesses a cheerful giver.
He thanked Mr. Malanji for fulfilling his promise of helping the church with transport, saying the gesture will facilitate movements especially during evangelical works.
And at the United Church of Zambia-UCZ Kwacha East Congregation, Mr Malanji donated a similar 30-seater Rosa Bus and a further 50 Thousand Kwacha to go towards the construction of a new church building.
The Minister also donated over 100 Thousand Kwacha to five choir groups before handing out 1400 blankets and five thousand facemasks to three churches meant to benefit the vulnerable in society.
And Mr. Malanji handed out a third 30-seater Rosa Bus to St Peter’s Catholic Church in Ipusukilo Compound and another 110 Thousand Kwacha towards church logistics.
Zambia is a nation founded on copper. Its foundations are built such that they reach deep and rest in the earth on the sulfide and oxides ores that host the metal. When Zambia’s founding mythology is eventually written, copper will be its cornerstone. The country is so intertwined with copper that the amber color of the metal has equal standing on the national flag as black standing for the people of Zambia, and red standing for the fight for independence. Two times we find the mining of copper on the coat of arms: first, there beneath an unfurled African fish eagle is a pick-ax crossing a hoe, and there again at the foot of a common man in a safari shirt and shorts is a mine shaft and hoist house.
The Coat of Arms of Zambia
A copper crown tops the National Assembly building where Members of Parliament deliberate and make laws for the country. Perhaps more telling, when Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom visited Zambia in 1979, she rode in a copper clad Land Rover.
The metal seeps into the nationhood of Zambia in deeper ways than merely symbolic. Mined and worked in the Congo and Zambezi river basins for millennia, it was partly in pursuit of copper and other resources that the British came to Zambia (Northern Rhodesia at the time) in the late 1800s and early 1900s bringing with them high volume mining techniques and rapid European population growth. Copper production in Northern Rhodesia rose to second highest in Africa. Now, well into the 21st century, Zambia is still a high copper producer and still second only to the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa.
The global price and the tons of copper mined in Zambia have particular implications for the country. As it happens, Zambia is not only a major producer, but is also heavily dependent on copper—copper accounts for 80% of the country’s exports. Measures of national income follow the cardiogram like ups and downs of global demand and copper prices.
These ups and downs reach into the lives of ordinary Zambians in a manner that often bewilders their efforts at well-lived lives. Among the most consequential result of these pendulum swings is the unremitting dispersal of the Kwacha’s buying power, and the attendant tendency for prices of essentials to rise but never to fall—stubbornly unresponsive to desperate efforts to arrest the increasing cost of living. The relentlessly declining Kwacha is one of a myriad of issues that chronically poison and sap the joy of life for ordinary Zambians who must fully dependent only on their own industry for survival.
What wealth the nation receives from its copper does not accrue equally to all citizens. By some means or other, some Zambians enjoy more of the largess than others. But this is an age-old question—how to fairly distribute a nation’s wealth among its citizens?
Kenneth Kaunda, the first President of Zambia thought the answer to this question could be found in humanism—his own adoption of socialism. It combined African values with western socialist and Christian values.
One important outcome of Humanism in Zambia is the rather, in end, unsuccessful 25-year experiment with government ownership and management of the mines. Taking over the mines in 1969, with copper production at its historical highest, the shift in focus for the mines to providing employment and using copper revenue to nurse other sectors of the economy sent copper production into a slow but steady downward spiral, bottoming out in about 2000 when production was similar to that in the mid-1940s.
The failure of the mining industry as a public enterprise and loss of revenue, and the subsequent essential commodity shortages played a part in the ouster of Kaunda by Zambians in 1991—ending his 27-year rule.
Fredrick T. J. Chiluba, elected as the second president of Zambia in October 1991 embraced with gusto the tenets of capitalism and a market driven economy. His government embarked on a wholesale program of privatizing state-owned enterprises with a special focus on the mines. It took 10 years for the mining industry to shake off the inefficiency hang-over of Kaunda’s rule. But around 2000, copper production began to rise again. The rise in production coincided with increased demand for copper, especially in China, and higher prices reaching an all-time high in 2011.
Something else besides positive copper market vibes happened in the mid-aughts that gave an optimistic tint to Zambia’s future—debt relief. Through the Kaunda years, and for various reasons, including support for Southern African liberation movements, dwindling copper revenue and high oil prices, Zambia accumulated a staggering debt of $7 Billion given the size of its economy. This debt, owed to western countries and the IMF and World Bank, was canceled around 2005. Zambians could start over. They had another shot at financial independence. Returns on copper sales could now be used to develop the country and not go to pay off debt.
Times were good. Zambians sensed the country’s wealth and theirs rise on a track commiserate to the promise at independence. The high demand for copper and soaring prices brought on private western banks and Chinese loans eager to rip returns from emerging markets. The loans bought new roads, bridges, and mega sports stadia. New shopping malls and consumer services keen to relieve Zambians of their new-found wealth popped up around towns at any open space that might have been a green space in some alternate planned cities.
Overnight, ordinary citizens were speculators, buying land and building homes—for some, the era of multiple home ownership and landlordship had arrived. It was a time when you had to have land and perhaps a structure on it to be somebody; every conversation, in due course, succumbed to the gravity pull of owning land and building. It all made sense. With the ever-evaporating value of the Kwacha, real estate was the one investment with any true promise to hold and even increase in value in the long term.
And it appeared after debt relief that Zambian governments had finally figured out how to pilot the country. Now, in the third decade of the third millennia, nearly 60 years after independence, it is apparent that the sensation of flight was an illusion. Zambia is still on the ground taxing uncertain of lift-off, or even of destination. With presidential elections in 2021, and the national debt at an all-time high, the next few years is when we must take to the air because here is where we run out of runaway. The population grows and resources deplete—think copper here. There is likely a gap at some point in this divergence that becomes impossible to bridge.
For some among my fellow Zambians, acknowledging the poor performance of the mines under government ownership and the now dismal outlook of the country in general, leaves a sense akin to a broad-brush accusation of incompetency leveled at the entire nation; suggesting the foul idea of failure to manage our own affairs. For the mines, part of the reason has to do with the removal of the profit motive and positive investment performance requirements as the ultimate end of enterprise and a shift to a mission emphasizing mass employment and social engineering. For the country as whole, it is the pervasive failure among leaders to value legacy and lack of follow-through on the patient work of building strong institutions serving all of society rather than individuals. There is an all-too common and apparent refrain that a little rot here and there does no harm when it benefits those working for the country.
So things carry on in Zambia—much talk of creating employment and accelerating development through infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture, tourism and so on and so forth—all part of the ritual language of development economics and political campaigns with a rotating cast of characters, but in practice the answer to problem after problem for Zambia is always seen as copper and the mines. But how much copper do we have left, and is it enough of a bridge to get us to the next phase when agriculture, tourism, and manufacturing finally take over?
The Department of Fisheries and Livestock in Kabompo district in North Western Province has cautioned farmers to report any livestock movement from other areas as there is an outbreak of Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) disease.
District Veterinary coordinator, Geshom Chungu said movement of any type of livestock should be reported as the disease is capable of wiping out the district’s livestock population in a very short time.
Dr. Chungu said this in Kabompo yesterday during a stakeholders IDP validation meeting.
“We have an outbreak of CBPP livestock disease which has affected almost the whole district, thus all movement of animals should first be reported to the department of veterinary”, Dr. Chungu said.
He said the veterinary department is currently encouraging to slaughter any animal found being suspected to have CBPP as a way of reducing the further spread.
Speaking at the same event, District Commissioner, Patrick Kasoka cautioned the general public to look out for unscrupulous people coming in the district with unauthorized livestock empowerment programmes as they are likely to be swindled.
“I am aware of organizations that are coming in the district through individuals that have come with unknown livestock empowerment programmes and soliciting for money, kindly report to my office and the police as people are being swindled”, Eng. Kasoka said.
He said he is aware of certain organizations currently in the district soliciting people to contribute money and in return receive various livestock such as goats and village chickens.
Eng. Kasoka therefore, appealed to the general public to report such individuals or organizations to the police as many people have reported to be swindled through such activities.
He also gave a two weeks ultimatum to Kabompo residents through the traditional leadership to ensure that all animals were confined to reduce the increased number of stray animals in the township.
“Let me take this opportunity to appeal through the traditional leadership to ask our people to confine their cattle, pigs and goats to help us reduce the number of stray animals in the district as well as the CBPP livestock disuse,” Eng. Kasoka said.
Meanwhile, speaking on behalf of Kabompo public health office, Mahongo Kabanda said the local authority in collaboration with the fisheries and livestock department will soon conduct an animal cropping exercise for stray animals roaming in the township.
“The local authority together with the fisheries and livestock department will soon conduct a cropping exercise for stray dogs and animals if people do not adhere”, Mrs. Kabanda said.
She said various sensitizations have been carried out thus it is expected that the general public will adhere to public health regulations by confining their livestock in the district.
The government has called on the media to heighten protective measures against the Coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking in a statement issued to the media in Lusaka yesterday, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Dora Siliya indicated that media personnel are part of frontline workers hence must make protecting themselves against COVID-19 a priority.
Ms. Siliya implored the media to ensure that they adhere to the five protective golden rules against the virus whenever they are in the field.
She explained that the second wave of COVID-19 is the most dangerous, thus stressed the need to adhere to the public health guidelines by having access to personal protective equipment.
“Government wishes to advise that no media personnel should conduct an interview without wearing a mask and that media personnel must demand that sources wear masks before interviewing them. Media personnel should also ensure that they wash or sanitize their hands regularly, especially after handling microphones,” Ms. Siliya directed.
The Minister further called on the private sector to continue supporting the media fraternity with personal protective equipment such as gloves, face masks and sanitizers for personal use.
She reiterated the government’s appeal to all Zambians to heed to President Edgar Lungu’s call of taking personal responsibility against the pandemic in an effort to control the spread of COVID-19.
The country has continued to record a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases and which has not spared media personnel given the nature of their work which demands interaction with different members of society, hence pose a higher risk of contracting and transmitting the virus.
As Zambia continues to witness a spike in cases of Coronavirus disease, the Minister of Health has called for multi-sectoral enforcement of public health guidelines.
Dr Chanda has also encouraged the use of additional local home-based and traditional remedies to manage the less fever and non-symptomatic patients at home.
And the Minister of Health has announced that the Maina Soko military hospital is now the new additional isolation centre.
He says the Maina Soko military hospital will admit moderate to less critical patients.
Dr Chanda further disclosed that the Ministry of Health has seconded staff to work with the existing staff at the facility.
He says the development will assist in improving clinical management as the Levy Mwanawasa and the University Teaching hospitals isolation centre are decongested.
Dr Chanda expressed optimism that the decongesting of the two isolation centres will result in the efficient utilisation of oxygen and better patient outcomes.
Zambia has recorded 1,531 Coronavirus cases out of the 8,749 tests conducted in the last 24 hours.
According to a Ministerial statement issued and signed by Minister of Health, Jones Chanda, the country’s cumulative number of COVID-19 cases now stand at 37,605.
Dr Chanda revealed that 305 patients are currently in government healthcare facilities with 206 on oxygen therapy while 16 are in a critical state.
The Minister of Health disclosed that a total of 1,053 people are due for discharged today bringing the cumulative recoveries to 26,159.
On a sad note the country has recorded 9 mortalities with 7 in health facilities and 2 in communities in the last 24 hours bringing the cumulative pandemic related deaths to 546 ( 209 COVID-19 deaths, 333 associated and 4 yet to be classified).
Economist Chibamba Kanyama has raised questions over the recent decision by government to engage a UK based public relations firm to handle communications over the country’s debt for the next six months.
Government has hired Highgate Advisory Limited of the UK as the GRZ Communications advisor for the debt management process at a total cost of £333, 403.54 (US$452,897.36 or K9.7 million).
In a statement, Mr Kanyama said the decision to engage Highgate was not properly placed.
He however commended the Ministry of Finance for publicly communicating this undertaking as it helps to enhance transparency on debt matters.
“I urge government to continue with this stance. We should give no room to speculation if our desire is to improve public perceptions on the governance of the nation,” Mr Kanyama said.
“The contention I have about this decision is that it is not properly placed. Last year, we engaged Lazard to advise on the restructuring of the debt and bring Zambia to debt sustainability levels. Lazard also came with legal advisors. What I know is that any kind of restructuring goes with a communications strategy.”
He added, “I was team leader for the restructuring of ZSIC limited (spliting it into three entities). I worked with the consulting firm, First Mutual of Zimbabwe and the process took two years. The communications component was one of the seven key restructuring pillars (in other words, there was a communications strategy within the restructuring strategy).”
“What is debt restructuring without a communications strategy by those undertaking the assignment?”
He said, “I would have seriously thought the money being paid to Lazard included coming up with a communications strategy. This is not a presumption, we were told Lazard understood the expectations of stakeholders (including bondholders) and hence our engaging them.”
Mr Kanyama also questioned whether the decision to engage Highgate is not duplicating efforts by Lazard.
“Is this not duplication of efforts, paying more money for an exercise that should be undertaken by Lazard Lazard has no communications experts given the kind of work they do?”
“Was the communications component an oversight for us to fail to understand its importance when engaging a restructuring consultant? Given the meager resources before us as a country and the demand for prudence as stipulated in the Public Finance Management Act 2018, we need to demonstrate serious commitment to our own pronouncements.”
Mr Kanyama stressed that the Ministry of Finance should be ahead of all ministries in exercising frugality, due care and leadership with regards to public finance management.
“If we do not do this, even the newly launched Economic Revovery Programme will have little traction. I advise government to consult more and more locally on such intentions before engaging external consultants at huge cost.”
“There are certainly many Zambians willing to guide their own government on effective economic strategies at no cost. The debt problem is a battle for all of us and we want to see its back sooner than later.”
FAZ Super Division leaders Prison Leopards are plotting to maintain their top-four status in a bid to qualify for the Absa Cup.
Promoted side Prison have a one point lead at the top with 23 points from 13 matches following Saturday’s 2-0 home win over Forest Rangers.
Prior to the middle of the season when teams to play Absa are picked, Prison have matches against Lumwana Radiants, Kabwe Warriors, Zanaco and Green Buffaloes.
“I am very happy that we are first on the table. Our ambition is to make sure we play the ABSA Cup,” said Prison coach Mwenya Chipepo.
“We have tough games but we are going to fight. We are going to make sure that we finish in the top four in the first round.”
Chipepo said he is also banking on home ground advantage.
“This is home our ground; of course no one can beat you at your own house,” he said.
Prison are yet to lose at President Stadium since shifting from Godfrey ‘Ucar’ Chitalu Stadium earlier in the season.
Zesco United crawled into second place on Sunday following a tough 2-1away win over struggling Nkana at Nkana Stadium in Kitwe.
The Copperbelt derby victory over the defending FAZ Super Division champions moved Zesco back into second place and they are now just one point behind leaders Prison Leopards after 12 and 13 matches played respectively.
But it was a challenging Copperbelt derby to play for both sides on Nkana’s pitch that after every downpour leaves the Wusakile surface notoriously waterlogged.
However, Thabani Kamusoko put Zesco ahead in the 19th minute when he stuck his foot out to tap-in ball from close-range.
Kamusoko finished off the ball after John Makwatta’s initial effort was parried by Nkana goalkeeper Tanunurwa Shumba and Winston Kalengo’s rebound went inches wide of the far post before the Zimbabwean midfielder made no mistake on the third attempt.
Nkana equalized in the 54th minute through Ronald Kampamba on the rebound after a miscued header by Diamond Chikwekwe fell to his feet.
But Zesco clinched the 3 points in the 81st minute when Justin Mwanza chested clearance fell in front of an obliging Kalengo who punished Zambia junior international defender.
Nkana are stuck in 13th place after suffering their second defeat in three games on 14 points from eleven matches played with two games in hand.
In Choma, Green Eagles drew 1-1 at home with sister club Young Green Eagles.
Defender Boniface Sunzu scored a 14th minute own-goal to put Young Eagles in the lead before Shaderick Mulungwe equalized in the 23rd minute to save 13th placed Eagles blushes.
Eagles and second from bottom Young Eagles have 14 points and 10 points respectively.
Zambia has detected nearly 2,000 cases of the coronavirus in the last 24 hours from 55 districts across the country.
Minister of Health Jonas Chanda said 1, 796 positive cases were detected from 9,577 tests conducted across the country bringing the cumulative total of confirmed Covid 19 cases to 36,074.
Dr Chanda disclosed in a press statement issued to the media in Lusaka today that 950 cases were detected from screenings at healthcare facilities and 688 from routine screenings while 110 were contacts to known cases.
He said 312 patients with Covid 19 were currently in admission with 202 on oxygen support out of which 14 were critically.
The Minister said 1,001 patients are due for discharge bringing the cumulative number of recoveries to 25,106.
Dr Chanda said 10 people died to Covid 19 related conditions in the last 24 hours bringing the cumulative mortalities to 537 out of which 203 are classified as Covid 19 deaths and 331 as Covid 19 related and 3 still remain unclassified.
The Minister urged Zambians to mask up as this measure has been proven to be effective in curbing the spread of the Covid19 pandemic.
Dr Chanda stated that studies have indicated that masks used by asymptomatic patients and family members have helped reduce secondary transmission by nearly 80 percent.
He said every Zambia must comply with public health measures as announced by President Edgar Lungu to curtail the spread of the coronavirus.
The Minister stressed that mandatory masking up, social distancing, washing hands and sanitizing and avoiding crowded places will help suppress the transmission of the virus and save lives.
Dr Chanda further urged the general public to heed President Lungu’s advice to utilize home based and traditional remedies as part of efforts to fight the pandemic.
A 30 year old teacher of Chifunabuli district in Luapula Province has been found dead in her house after she was allegedly murdered by her boyfriend.
And an undisclosed amount of money meant to pay Social Cash Transfer beneficiaries that the late teacher was keeping in the house has also been stolen by the suspected murderer.
The teacher identified as Anety Lutanda, is believed to have met her fate between 19.00 hours on Thursday January 14th to 06.00 hours on Friday 15th January, 2021 and is suspected to have been murdered by her boyfriend who robbed her of the said funds.
Confirming the incident in the district yesterday, Luapula Province Deputy Commissioner of Police, Davis Simwanza said the deceased was a teacher at Saashi Primary School in Chifunabuli and was the Social Cash Transfer Pay Point Manager for Saashi and Mwita communities.
Mr Simwanza said Police in the area received a phone call from the Deputy Head Teacher at the same school identified as Joseph Chola informing them of the murder of one of his member of staff.
He said Police rushed to the scene of the crime and found the deceased lying lifeless on the floor in her home with a deep cut on her forehead as she was hit with a pounding stick and her mouth and neck were tied with a chitenge material.
He said the deceased was given an undisclosed sum meant to be paid out to beneficiaries of Saashi and Mwita communities by the District Social Welfare Officer, Miss Ruth Kamanga.
Mr Simwanza said the murder occurred in her home at Teacher’s Compound and has identified the suspect as Christopher Mwelwa Chisote of Mansa District who fled the scene and is on the run.
He said police are investigating the matter and have gone flat out to ensure the suspect is brought to book and faces the law.
The body of the deceased has since been deposited to Mansa General Hospital Mortuary awaiting post mortem.
