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The Drug Enforcement Commission has arrested Moses Chishimba Bwalya a known drug trafficker and cartel leader operating in Chibolya Compound for trafficking in over 40 grams of cocaine, contrary to Cap 96 of the Laws of Zambia.
Moses Chishimba Bwalya, 35, a Businessman of Obama Compound has been arrested for trafficking in 43.08 grams of cocaine.
According to DEC Deputy Public Relations officer Mwenge Mulenga,the suspect is a known drug trafficker and cartel leader operating in Chibolya Compound in the distribution of cocaine and heroin.
“The Commission so far has arrested a number of runners that are connected to this cartel but the ring leader has in most instances been eluding arrests” Mr Mulenga explained in a statement made available to Smart Eagles.
Meanwhile, Mr Mulenga said the Commission conducted a special operation in Central and Muchinga Provinces and arrested ten (10) people for unlawful cultivation of fresh cannabis plants weighing 43.19 tonnes and trafficking in 76.20 kilograms of loose cannabis.
He said the operation was conducted from 12th July 2020 to 15th July, 2020 in Chitambo District (Central Province) and Lavushimanda District in (Muchinga Province).
Mr Mulenga said all the suspects are in police custody and will appear in court soon.
Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo says the demise of the late home affairs permanent secretary Chileshe Mulenga is a drawback to several projects in the ministry.
Mr. Kampyongo says the late Dr Mulenga scored a lot of success which saw the transformation of both the police and the Zambia correctional service through various projects.
He says among them was the construction of police and correctional services officers housing unit across the country.
Mr. Kampyongo says the late Permanent Secretary has left a good and admirable legacy which needs to be emulated by many Zambians.
Home affairs Minister was speaking during the funeral church service of the late permanent secretary Dr Chileshe Mulenge at Anglican cathedral of the holy cross in Lusaka.
First lady Easter Lungu, Patriotic front-PF deputy secretary general Mumbi Phiri and other senior government officials joined several people that gathered at the Anglican Cathedral of the holy cross to pay the last respect to the late permanent secretary Dr Chileshe Mulenga.
International Trade Expert Trevor Simumba says the accusations that President Edgar Lungu sponsored the insurgency in Rwanda are serious.
And flight radar details have emerged showing that the Presidential Aircraft Challenger 9J-One landed in Kigali, Rwanda this morning from Lusaka.
Mr Simumba said the Office and the name of His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zambia has been brought into disrepute by the accusation from Rwanda.
He said the Government of Zambia must request a categorical response from the Government of Rwanda on these serious allegations.
“More importantly the accuser must retract the statement he has made in court or produce evidence of his alleged meeting with the President. We cannot simply issue a shallow statement and rely on PF cadres on social media to defend the President,” Mr Simumba said.
He added, “We need Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice and Cabinet Office to do their jobs and get to the bottom of this whole matter using established State Protocols. Definition of disrepute: lack or decline of good reputation: a state of being held in low esteem.”
And information obtained from www.flightradar.com and www.flightaware.com shows that the presidential challenger aircraft left Lusaka at 07:32 headed to Kigali, Rwanda.
It is yet unclear who was on board and the nature of the mission to Rwanda.
State House is currently serviced by two aircrafts namely the Challenger 9J-One and the top-of-the-range new Gulfstream G650 jet.
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Here is a wrap of Wednesday’s action from our European –based stars.
=SWEDEN
Midfielder Emmanuel Banda was an unused substitute in second placed Djurgarden’s 1-0 home win over bottom of the log Frankenbergs.
Compatriot Edward Chilufya remains sidelined with injury for a third straight game.
=RUSSIA
Midfielder Klings Kangwa played the full 90 minutes for 6th placed Arsenal Tula in Wednesday’s 3-1 away win over number 10 club Ural.
His brother and striker Evans was substituted in the 58th minute while midfielder Lameck Banda later came on in stoppage minute.
The trio was not on target.
=POLAND
Midfielder Lubambo Musonda missed Slask Wroclaw’s 2-1 away loss at Jagiellonia due to an injury he sustained in the 2-2 home draw against Pogon Szczecin on July 12.
Slask are 4th but out of European qualification after losing their penultimate game in the championship round.
Coach Perry Mutapa says striker and Arthur Davies Stadium cult hero Alex Ng’onga must earn a place back in the Power Dynamos starting line-up on merit.
Ng’onga has been out of action for over a year after sustaining a knee injury during the 2019 transitional season.
After recovering from injury earlier in January, ‘Bazo’ only managed to be on the substitute bench.
With fans wondering whether their star will play a part in the remaining 10 matches, Mutapa said all players at Arthur Davies are important.
“Every player I think is available. So whoever is going to perform is going to be in the team. That is our motto,” Mutapa responded when asked if Ng’onga will play a part in the remaining matches.
“Every other player is equally important,” he said.
Power are preparing to face Buildcon on Sunday at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium as the 2019/20 FAZ Super Division season restarts after the Covid-19 break.
“The training is going on well. We are ready to play our first game this weekend,” Mutapa said.
“Our first game will be crucial to us. We need to be ambitious. And you know the top four is so inviting,” he added.
Power are six points away from the top four which has Forest Rangers, Napsa Stars, Green Eagles and Nkana.
The Ministry of Health has dispelled reports circulating in some sections of the media that a female health worker at the National Assembly clinic died of Covid 19.
Zambia National Public Health Institute Director Victor Mukonka says the deceased nursing sister who died this week had tested negative for covid-19 after a routine test undertaken on June 26th whose results were confirmed on July 1st 2020.
Professor Mukonka says the deceased died at the University Teaching Hospital after three failed resuscitation attempts following a working diagnosis of pulmonary oedema.
He told ZNBC news in an interview that the deceased had a long-standing history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus and asthma.
Professor Mukonka said the deceased fell ill on Friday July 10th after she complained of feeling tired while on duty but her condition turned worse.
He said the ministry of health is saddened by the untimely death of a committed health worker.
He has sent condolences to the bereaved family and appealed to the media and public to avoid speculations and misinformation.
Zambia’s cabinet recently approved the establishment of an economic stimulus package that will be financed through the issuance of a COVID-19 bond. This is in addition to other economic measures instituted by the Government such as the availing of K2.5 billion in financial relief for businesses, and the Bank of Zambia’s K10 Billion Medium-Term Refinancing Facility made available to eligible commercial banks and non-bank financial institutions to access in order to restructure, refinance or extend credit to businesses and households impacted by Covid-19 on more favourable terms while ensuring that financial institutions adhere to set objectives.
To provide further clarity and understanding, “Bonds” are investment securities where an investor lends money to a company or a Government for a set period of time, in exchange for regular interest payments. Upon maturity of the bond, the bond issuer returns the investor’s money. Fixed income is a term often used to describe bonds, since investments earn fixed payments over the life of the bond. The Government of Zambia is raising the entire K8 Billion and this will be done in multiple tranches. In this regard, the Government is relying on support from various stakeholders, especially financial institutions and fund managers to participate. The Bank of Zambia is the issuing authority of the Bond on behalf of the Government and this Bond has the same features as regular bonds that the Bank of Zambia issues and will be issued at a discount that will attract coupon payments just like the regular bonds. The only difference is that the resources raised will be specifically targeted towards local entities that have been affected by the impact of COVID-19.
There is no doubt that in the current context it is necessary to provide an economic stimulus through the issuance of the COVID-19 bond in order to improve the liquidity levels in the economy that have reduced due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Further, Zambia’s allocation of the COVID-19 Bond is as follows;
Payment to Third-Parties (Micro Finance Institutions), K1.315 Billion.
Drugs Debts and Equipment Procurement, K1 Billion.
Grain Purchases, K1.7 Billion.
Other Applications, K800 Million.
The COVID-19 Bond is mainly aimed at stimulating economic activity and is different from COVID-19 Funds and Resources whose aim is on Health Interventions to fight COVID-19 and mitigate the impact the pandemic has on HIV, TB and malaria programs. In sharp contrast to the COVID-19 Bond, activities from COVID-19 Funds include, but are not limited to, management of patients, epidemic preparedness assessment, laboratory testing, sample transportation, use of surveillance infrastructure, infection control in health facilities, and information campaigns.
More prominently under COVID-19 Funding towards Health Interventions is the Zambia COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Preparedness Project which aims to prevent, detect and respond to the threat posed by COVID-19 in Zambia and strengthen national systems for public health preparedness. This funding has the following components
Emergency public health response to COVID-19 through surveillance, case finding, contact tracing, building laboratory capacity, risk communication and community engagement, coordination of emergency preparedness and response while focusing on disease surveillance, case investigation and rapid response capacity, laboratory capacity and specimen transport, screening at points of entry.
Resilient Health Service Delivery through support of COVID-19 case management, infection prevention and control and interventions to maintain health services.
Project management, monitoring and evaluation and research related to COVID-19 to inform decision making.
With this focus and unity of purpose to ameliorate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and health of citizens, Zambia is poised to recover from the impact of the pandemic over the medium-term. It is therefore imperative for all citizens to support these Government initiatives by communicating and disseminating correct information on measures being implemented to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Three Members of Parliament and 10 National Assembly of Zambia staff have tested positive for COVID-19.
In a statement, Clerk of the National Assembly Cecilia Mbewe disclosed that three members of parliament and 10 National Assembly of Zambia staff tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the number of cases at the National Assembly clinic to 19, including six non-staff, who tested positive.
“I wish to inform the media and the nation at large that some COVID-19 cases have been recorded at the National Assembly of Zambia. Confirmed cases as of Wednesday, 15th July, 2020, are as follows: three members of parliament; 10 National Assembly of Zambia staff; and six non-staff tested at the National Assembly Clinic. This brings the total cumulative number of cases monitored by the National Assembly COVID-19 testing centre to 19,” stated Ms. Mbewe.
“In order to manage the current situation and prevent further spread of the virus, the National Assembly of Zambia continues to operate under strict guidelines as recommended by the Ministry of Health as provided for in the National Assembly of Zambia Coronavirus Disease – 2019 temporary standing orders of 2020.”
Airtel Networks Zambia has with immediate effect closed its Head office in Lusaka after one of its staff members tested positive for Coronavirus.
Airtel Head of Corporate Communications Yuyo Kambikambi has revealed in a statement that in order to curb the spread of the disease, the Head Office will remain closed both to the public and members of staff until further notice.
“Airtel Networks Zambia Plc wishes to advise its customers and the general public that its’ Head Office situated on Stand 2375, Corner of Addis Ababa drive and Great East Road, Lusaka has had to be closed due to one member of staff having tested positive for COVID 19, ” Mrs. Kambikambi said.
She advised airtel customers that the staff will continue to be available electronically and urged customers to visit other service centres for any urgent assistance.
Mrs. Kambikambi also encouraged customers to use self-help portals as well as do any monetary transactions using the Airtel Money service.
The PF hooliganism and thuggery in the country keeps breaking news records with the recent incident being where their thugs beat up police officers right at one of the biggest police stations in the country.
Not even the once powerful UNIP vigilantes that terrorised citizens during the one party state reached this level of violence and thuggery of beating law enforcement agencies right at their premises.
As UPND, we have been at the receiving end of this PF thuggery resulting in some of our members even killed in cold blood by PF thugs, yet law enforcement agencies have done nothing up to now.
And we have repeatedly warned that violence has no end once it starts and encouraged by those in authority because one day they will equally be victims of the same.
We knew it was just a matter of time before this PF thuggery degenerates to such levels because it has been tolerated for a very long time now.
There are numerous incidents with video and photo evidence of PF thugs invading premises and beating up innocent citizens, such as what happened during the live TV Bill 10 debate at Intercontinental Hotel, yet nothing has been done to date.
We are also reminded of an incident during the Sesheke bye election when PF thugs invaded a police station and attacked police officers. But instead of promoting the police officers who repelled the PF thugs, the officers were themselves hounded out of the police service.
With all the powers that have been given to these PF hooligans where they have placed themselves above law enforcement agencies, what could stop them from raiding a police station and clobbering police officers?
It is now clear Zambia is finally a failed state because if law enforcement agencies cannot deal with perpetrators of such heinous crimes, where will ordinary citizens run to for security since police stations are equally not safe?
Where is the security of this nation and that of ordinary Zambians if police officers can be clobbered at the police station and then the assailants manage to evade arrest?
Can you imagine if these were UPND members who did such a thing.
National-UPND-deputy Spokesperson, Cornelius Mweetwa says he will not heed to the undue pressure from the ruling PF and its surrogates to apologize to Republican Vice President, Inonge Wina for terming her speech in Parliament recently as “shallow” and “shameful” regardless of the consequences.
Addressing journalists at the Party Secretariat this morning, Mr Mweetwa has insisted that he was not addressing a woman in Parliament but a leader of Government business.
“it is Republican Vice President, Inonge Wina who owes Zambians an apology for the misleading statement that left grave ramifications on the opposition law makers and party members in general.”
Mr Mweetwa observed that the PF has opted to devise a profoundly, antagonistic, archaic and colonial tactics to make MPs look like they do not reason or think.
He stated that those who were clamouring for an apology from him were those who were not privy to the genesis of the controversy, adding that Mrs Wina’s decision to mislead the nation over gassing shouldn’t be construed as disrespect to the Veep as an individual, but her office which is an annex of the Office of the President (OP).
“If they want this issue of gassing to end, it will not end and am a frontrunner and promoter to have the evil gassing issue accorded a conclusive end. I am not going to apologize for anything whatsoever and am ready for any consequences they might be contemplating,” he said.
He stated that it was surprising that he was forced to apologize against his will for lapsing an important question on the floor of the House, adding that he was made to apologize for lapsing the question time on the floor of the House when he had gone to the convenience room.
Mr Mweetwa has also called on Zambians to judge for themselves who committed a bigger wrong between the one who falsely alarmed the nation that the opposition were behind the gassing or the one who stated that this is a lie from a person from a high office.
Mweetwa who stated that the issue of Mrs Wina had no gender connotations on it, warned that those who were including her in these debates were abusing gender advocacy and that age should not be included when it comes to matters of national importance.
Patriotic Front National Youth Chairperson Kelvin Sampa has called for calm among youths in the party. Mr Sampa said PF youths should not react to the provocation being instigated by the opposition UPND but should instead go out in numbers and mobilize young people across the country ahead of the 2021 general elections.
Mr Sampa has further encouraged youths in the PF party to forget about what transpired in Monze where the head of state was jeered by UPND cadres.
“This is one thing that we must all tolerate, it is a painful pill to swallow but as young people let us forget about what transpired in Monze because our President His Excellency Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu has given us guidance that vengeance is only for God,” Mr Sampa said.
He has since appealed to young people in the Patriotic Front to accept the position of the party leadership.
“So to all those youths who have a heart for the President, please refrain from any negative attitude towards the UPND,” he added.
Mr Sampa who is also Kasama Central Member of Parliament said youths should ignore provocations from the UPND whom he labelled as a violent party that wants to smear their violence on the PF.
And Mr Sampa has condemned some suspected PF youths that were seen exposing machetes and other weapons stating that the PF is a responsible and peaceful party that should not be associated with violence.
The PF national youth Chairperson stressed that young people should instead fight for economic freedom as opposed to fighting each other as Zambians.
Mr Sampa emphasized that the future of this country is dependent on young people hence they should strive by all means to protect the peace the country has enjoyed since independence.
“The future of this country is dependent on us the young ones with the way that we are going to carry this country forward and the way we are going to relate to each other,” he added.
Three farm workers at Hakainde Hichilema’s farm in Choma have appeared in the Choma Magistrates court on allegations of murder.
Byta FM’s Court Beat Journalist names the three as 30 year old Coster Halinyanga, a farm Manager, 45 year old Jeff Chitombwe a camp checker and 25 year old Joshua Hamungala.
The three accused persons appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate Idah Mupemo Wednesday morning for explanation of the charge.
Particulars of the offense are that on 26th June, 2020 the accused persons are alleged to have caused the death of Russell Kanoma.
After explanation of the charge, Magistrate Mupemo informed the accused persons that their case can only be heard in the High Court but will only appear in the Magistrate court for mention.
And State Prosecutor Alex Siyulikwa informed the court that they have not yet received information from the Director of Public Prosecution in relation to the case.
The court has since adjourned the matter and set 29th July, 2020 as the day for mention while remanding the accused persons in custody.
Recently, Police confirmed the arrest of three male suspects for allegedly beating up a 57 year old man to death as he was found with a carcass at HH farms in Choma district.
Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has said that the predicted caving-in (sloughing) of the ground at the Nchanga Open Pit (NOP) Cut 2 in Chingola following the recently highlighted ground instability has occurred without any threats to the safety of employees and people in communities near the mine area.
In a statement released to the media, the company said that the failure of the ground involved approximately 3 million tonnes of material spanning a distance of 370 metres around the epicenter of the failure zone, following a series of multiple tension cracks, which had opened up in the eastern part of the NOP.
Peak deformation rate at the time of the failure was 39 milimetres per hour against a threshold limit of 10 milimetres per hour. The KCM Geo-technical team had predicted that the fall of ground on the extreme ends of the unstable zone will continue until all loose ground attain a natural angle of repose. The failure is unlikely to occur beyond an area marked as a hazard exclusion zone, the company said.
The failure, which occurred around 08:30 hours, was controlled by planar sliding of the unstable ground above the Lower Banded Shale (LBS). The sloughing material settled against the north wall and was visibly wet.
There was also visible distortion of the original water pipeline by the moving ground, but no negative impact is expected on the newly installed re-routed water pipeline, used to carry water from the Kafue Pump Station to the KCM Smelter and eventually to Mulonga Water and Sanitation Company for onward community consumption.
According to the company, the safety of employees and people in surrounding communities remains their number one priority and the company reiterated its appeal to residents of Chingola, especially the Nchanga North area to continue staying away from the NOP area even though there is no threat to life.
“We commend the residents for their co-operation in implementing safety measures announced by the company thus far,” read the statement.
“We also encourage local residents to continue normally with their daily business activities, while school authorities in the area and parents should encourage their children in examination classes not to stay away from school,” the statement concluded
Opposition New Hope Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) Deputy National Secretary Mr. Gregory Mofu has said that his Party is still waiting for the nominated Member of Parliament Raphael Nakacinda to sue them since his two days ultimatum for him to be reinstated as an MMD Member ended last week Friday.
Mr. Nakachinda on the 8th of July, 2020 through his Lawyers Makebi Zulu and Associates threatened to take the New Hope MMD to Court over the Party’s decision to expel him. He had vowed to take the party to court if they didn’t reinstate him as a member by the 10th of July, 2020. He had remained a suspended member of the Party from 2016 upto his expulsion over a month ago.
Today, Mr. Nakachinda unveiled his office in Olympia as the MMD Secretariat. And said that the MMD has no right to discipline it’s Members of Parliament.
New Hope MMD Deputy National Secretary Mr. Gregory Mofu said that it is a known fact that Nakachinda is not a member of MMD
“I would like to reconfirm that Raphael Nakachinda is not an MMD Member. He remains expelled from the MMD and the Speaker of the National Assembly reconfirmed that position by saying that he is an Individual nominated member of Parliament and not an MMD one”, Mr. Mofu said.
Mr. Mofu confirmed that Nakachinda had written to the party to reinstate him but the Party is shocked that he hasn’t yet taken them to the Court after his ulitimatinum ended.
“I would like to confirm that indeed Mr. Nakacinda through his lawyers wrote us a demand letter for us to reinstate him as an MMD member after we expelled him. In that letter, we were given two days upto to the 10th of July, 2020 to reinstate him as our Member failure to which he would take us to Court. Today is the 16th of July and We still have not received any Court papers from him”, Mr. Mofu mocked.
He further said it was baffling that Nakachinda who is boasting of not recognising Dr. Mumba as Party President and Hon Elizabeth Chitika as National Secretary had the audacity of writing the New Hope MMD (which he doesn’t recognise) to reinstate him as a party member.
Mr. Mofu labeled Mr. Nakachinda’s personal Secretariat as a beer hall.
“We are not moved nor shaken by Mr. Nakachinda’s move to turn a rented cottage into a beer hall. This is not the first time that well known enemies of our party have done that. In 2013, our then MP for Mafinga Hills Hon. Catherine Namugala opened up a so called Secretariat in Rhodes Park. What happened, it evaporated in thin air. So I urge all MMD Members to ignore that beer hall that Mr. Nakachinda has opened in Olympia”, Mr. Mofu said.
Mr. Mofu then said that MMD MPs are in Parliament at the mercy of the Party.
“Maybe Mr. Nakachinda has never read the MMD Constition before, but it clear gives the Party mandate to discipline it’s Members including Members of Parliament. And for the record, these MPs according to law are not supposed to be in Parliament. This is because their adoption letters were signed by an illegal group and the Court judgment of November 5 2019 said that whatever the now-disbanded Felix Mutati group did from 2016 upto that date which included the signing of the adoption letters was null and void. We have not informed the Speaker about those vacancies because we do not want to cause unnecessary by elections”, Mr. Mofu said.
Some of the people organised by Nominated Member of Parliament Raphael Nakachinda for his press briefing
Yesterday, Mr Nakachinda addressed scores of MMD members from his faction at his office where he disclosed that the former ruling party has resolved to support progressive national matters such as Bill 10 and urged all MMD Mps to support the bill.
Mr Nakachinda said MMD Members of Parliament have since been directed to support Bill 10 which he said is a progressive document that must be supported by all well meaning Zambians.
“Our Members of Parliament have been directed to support Bill 10 because it is a progressive legislative bill, “he said.
Mr Nakachinda explained that the document will allow women, youths and people living with disabilities to have a voice in Parliament.
He has since assured that MMD Members of Parliament will not go against this directive but will vote for Bill 10 and will not be swayed by people who do not mean well for the country.
Mr Nakachinda urged party members not to follow people like Nevers Mumba whom he accused of having no direction as he would in the morning say he supports Bill 10 and a minute later changes he’s position.
Mr Nakachinda has challenged Mr Mumba to be focused and stand on one thing.
He has since advised all well meaning MMD members to remain committed not to be misled by leaders like Dr Mumba because Bill 10 is a progressive legislative.
