Vice President Inonge Wina has called on COMESA member states to honour their obligations and commitments in order to accelerate regional integration in tandem with the commencement of the African Continental Free Trade which comes into force in 2021.

Mrs. Wina noted that regional integration is about inter-connecting people, businesses and governments across the common market.

The Vice President said this morning during the 41st virtual meeting of the COMESA Council of ministers.

The Vice President indicated that from the time COMESA was established in 1994, it has made tremendous progress by promoting and facilitating regional trade and investments adding that advancements in gender and youth affairs, governance, peace and security, climate change, environment and natural resources have also been recorded.

“With the new medium-term Strategic Plan, 2021-2025, COMESA is now well positioned to consolidate the gains made so far while embracing new opportunities. As a result, tangible benefits such as an improved cross-border and unified mechanism for transport movements have enhanced regional integration through trade as envisaged in the COMESA Treaty.

Mrs. Wina highlighted Eight (8) megatrends as the basis for stimulating insightful review in relation to various programmes under COMESA implementation.

Among the proposed recommendations the Vice President mentioned, was the concern on high population growth in Africa which is projected to reach 2.4 Billion by 2050.

In the area of rapid urbanisation, Mrs. Wina called for measures such as building smart cities that effectively respond to wholesome needs of the population such as climate smart and resilient housing, integrated transport systems as well as renewable and reliable energy and water supplies which in turn bring jobs and better living among the people.

She also pointed out climate change effects that may further disrupt social and economic lives and livelihoods of people.

“On the bright side, improvements in telecommunications have come to the rescue in COVID era through online meetings, widespread use of electronic commerce and business transactions that have increased tremendously thereby sustaining businesses and economies,” she highlighted.

Speaking at the same event, COMESA Secretary-General, Chileshe Kapwepwe noted that although the COVID-19 pandemic is a health crisis, it has had devastating effects on macroeconomic performances and related activities in our region.

Ms. Kapwepwe explained that apart from depressed economic growth, lockdowns and drastic restrictions on movements, the pandemic has disrupted production and trade in both goods and services across all sectors.

“It is therefore our responsibility, to come up with innovative initiatives and upgrade existing programmes to address the negative effects on trade facilitation and other programme areas which contribute to the economic wellbeing of the region’s citizens,” she warned.

Ms. Kapwepwe disclosed that COMESA is concluding the implementation of its current medium-term strategy for the period 2016 – 2020 this December.

“Through a highly consultative process, the Draft 2021-2025 COMESA Medium Term Strategic Plan has been carefully designed to map the way forward for COMESA’s integration agenda having taken into consideration key achievements, lessons learnt and challenges of the concluding strategy,” the Secretary-General explained.

Highlighting key achievements on this concluding strategy, Ms. Kapwepwe noted that in the area of market integration, a number of trade facilitation instruments are being implemented, although intra-COMESA trade has remained depressed.

With regard to services, she noted that Member States have made important steps in making liberalization commitments in the four prioritized sectors, namely Tourism & Travel, Transport Services, Communication and Services and Financial Services sector.

“This is important considering the complementary role services play in fostering trade and overall economic growth and development in our economies,” Ms. Kapwepwe explained.

Lusaka Lawyer Kelvin Fube Bwalya commonly known as KBF has told his supporters that he is still a member of the ruling Patriotic Front and he will be running President either under Plan A or B.

In June this year, the Patriotic Front(PF) Central Committee formally expelled him after he had claimed that he had not been served a formal letter of expulsion. The letter delivered to Mr. Fube by PF Deputy Secretary General Mumbi Phiri and seen by the media, stating that the Central Committee at its meeting held on 2nd June 2020 expelled him from the party.

However, speaking to his supporters online, Mr. Fube said that PF must start looking for a new candidate and that he will not back down on that. Mr. Fube said that when he decided to run for the presidency, he did not want to challenge the incumbent President Edgar Lungu but rather ask him to step aside.

“When I declared my intention to stand to run for Office, I respectfully said I would not challenge the President but I will ask the President to step aside so that another person takes over this party so that we can have a new vision, a new face, new ideas to push the agenda of this Nation”, Mr Fube said.

Mr. Fube insisted that President Lungu has had his time and that the Republican Constitution in Article 106 (3) clearly stated that a person who has twice held the office of President is not eligible.

“The President has had his time, some of us like my colleagues CK, Harry Kalaba, Given Lubinda, Mulenga Sata at the time we all humbled ourselves in 2014 and allowed him at the Convention to take the reigns of the party. We have now tested his leadership now it’s time for him to support us,” he said.

Mr Fube said that the President must step aside for a different face, adding that there is nothing personal.

“These things are not personal. If the party rallies behind him and then tomorrow we suffer a blow, then what? And what’s more: why do you want to create confusion in the nation over one person?” he asked

Mr. Fube further said: “A section of the PF may want President Lungu but is it the whole country? Some of the economic problems we facing today are attributed to his leadership. He may not be guilty per se. But his ministers, his civil service that he has presided over, directors and others are responsible for that. Now in politics, the buck stops at the President so you can’t run away from that.”

Mr. Fube insisted that the ruling PF just have to be courageous, face that bullet and bite that bullet and tell President Lungu to help another person and go and enjoy his retirement.

KBF said that the source of the ruling PF party’s problems began in 2016 when others bought their way in, the process was not transparently crating a situation where there are independents who are actually PF and that when he brought these issues up , he was called a rebel.

“By 2016 there was no legit Central Committee whose time started in 2011 and now we’re trying to rape the Republican Constitution, am too experienced at the law for me to start making mistakes. “We cannot be trusted as a party if we are flouting the law and cannot respect our own party Constitution. Your word is your bond. If your word means nothing, people can’t trust you,”