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Minister of Gender, Elizabeth Phiri, has praised the traditional leadership in Eastern Province for doing away with initiation ceremonies for boys and girls under the age of 18 years, as a way of combating teen pregnancies and early marriages in their chiefdoms.
Ms Phiri has expressed happiness with the decision made by the Chewa traditional leaders, to put to an end some of the traditional norms and cultures that hinder the development of children in their chiefdoms.
She further indicated that the step taken by the traditional leaders is a clear indication of how the government is engaging other stakeholders in combating the scourge.
The Minister told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka today that her ministry welcomes the development and that she is optimistic that the move taken by the chiefs will largely help bring to an end early marriages and pregnancies.
She added that she is happy that President Edgar Lungu has taken a lead in spearheading the fight against ending child marriages in the country.
And Ms Phiri has advised that all secondary schools that are being constructed across the country, must have dormitories, for easy monitoring of the children when they are within boundaries.
Ms Phiri observed that children are prone to be exposed to different activities as they report to school due to distances between communities and schools, hence the need for all secondary schools to be turned into boarding schools for easy supervision of school-going children, especially girls.
She also hinted that the government will endeavor to empower women, as they mostly play a vital role in educating the girl child.
Recently, the Chewa Chiefs of Eastern Province banned initiation ceremonies for girls under the age of 18 years and initiation of boys into gule wamkulu groups as one way of abolishing norms that negatively affect children.
The Minister of Gender also expressed concern over Eastern Province recording high rates of child marriages and teen pregnancies.
General Education Minister David Mabumba has tasked District Education Board Secretaries -DEBS- and their Education Standards Officers to ensure the 2019 grade seven, nine and twelve examinations are free from malpractice.
The government has revealed that results for the Grade 9 and the General Certificate of Education (GCE) will be announced on November 1st, 2019.
Minister of General Education David Mabumba disclosed that he will announce the results to the public in parliament on Friday, November 1st, 2019.
Speaking at a press briefing in Lusaka today, the Minister also urged pupils, teachers and parents to follow the parliament proceedings when he announces the results.
“Results for pupils who sat for Grade 9 and GCE examinations will be announced in parliament this Friday,” Mr Mabumba said.
And Mr Mabumba has advised school authorities in the country, against chasing away pupils on account of not paying examination fees.
The Minister said pupils should be allowed to sit for their examinations, after which head-teachers will then be compelled to pursue all pending payments.
He further announced that the government in conjunction with the Examination Council of Zambia (ECZ) has embarked on examination reforms, aimed at ensuring efficiency and effectiveness in the manner examinations are conducted.
The Minister regretted the malpractices and experiences that characterized last year’s examination, assuring that there is no room for examination malpractice this year.
The Minister is hopeful that this year’s examinations will be credible, to benefit not only his ministry but the nation as a whole.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of General Education Permanent Secretary (PS) Jobbicks Kalumba says examination classes across the country will not be affected by the load shedding being experienced.
Dr Kalumba emphasized that all examinations will be conducted during the day, adding that no one needs to be alarmed with regards to the smooth conducting of examinations.
And the PS says learning institutions that offer computer studies have been equipped with a reliable source of energy.
Women’s History Museum of Zambia and the National Museums of World Culture have announced a joint collaboration to create a digital platform for museum objects that allows partial open data access to museum artefact collections that are housed in the Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm.
The platform will allow access to the collection of Zambian museum objects but also give the opportunity for data sharing and crowd sourcing of metadata of the objects that may have been previously absent.
The concept comes in the wake of widening global discourse on repatriation of African Museum objects and how African populations can access cultural artefacts that are housed in various museums around the world.
The Museum of Ethnography holds an impressive collection of over 650 Zambian objects and 360 photographs in addition to other materials, books and documents.
These have been acquired over a period of over 125 years and were brought and donated to the museum by various benefactors that include explorers, anthropologists, missionaries and visitors to Zambia.
Co-founders of the Women’s History Museum Samba Yonga and Mulenga Kapwepwe have just returned from Sweden where the idea was hatched along with the Africa Curator Michael Barrett and the team at the Museum of Ethnography.
“There is currently heated discourse on the repatriation of African museum objects. The digital crowdsourcing platform will contribute to the global discourse on repatriation of African objects.
The objective of the collaboration is to increase access to such museum objects by creating a platform where new knowledge can be added by Zambians about their own heritage.
To this end, the partnership hopes to create a digital artefact-sharing platform and consequently a legitimate African knowledge system built by the owners of the objects”, said cultural expert and co-founder of the Women’s History Museum, Mulenga Kapwepwe.
If successful, for the first time, the Zambian public will have the opportunity to examine first hand some of their oldest artefacts and also contribute to new knowledge to the African historical and cultural sector. Said Michael Barrett, Africa Curator of the National Museums of World Culture, Sweden: “For us this collaboration with the Women’s History Museum provides us with an opportunity to learn more about the contemporary significance of these collections, especially what meanings and values they may hold for Zambians in the present.
We are also looking forward to understanding more about the social, cultural and historical contexts of collections that were mostly acquired during the colonial period and which were often poorly understood by museums of the time. Finally, working with WHMZ allows us to develop our capabilities of engaging (digitally and otherwise) with users in southern Africa as well as learning from our inspiring partners about compelling ways of telling stories about this cultural heritage.”
This presents an opportunity to also explore the value of this knowledge and how it can be mainstreamed into contemporary social, media and academic African discourse. “One of the key issues with African knowledge systems is there is always a challenge with tracing the ownership or validity.
This platform will provide a legitimate source for the knowledge but also provide traceability so that the next time we see an African pattern on a global runway we can recognise it and more importantly trace it back to its origin.
It will also give the creative sector and other sectors in Zambia and even rest the of Africa a rich cultural knowledge bank on which to draw on for inspiration,” said content producer and co-founder of the Women’s History Museum Samba Yonga. The team from the Museum of Ethnography in Sweden will also visit Zambia in November 2019 to meet with experts in the culture space and further discuss how the development of the platform will be organised.
Barely 10 days after two suspects were arrested in connection with the supply and leaking of suspected examination question papers on social media, four more people have been arrested and detained for circulating suspected 2019 examination information on Whatsapp Groups at a fee.
Of those arrested is Allan Chola Musonda, aged 19 years a resident of House number N7 Chikola Loop Area in Chingola also a Grade 12 Pupil at Chingola Secondary School.
Musonda is a Group Administrator of two Whatsapp Groups namely, “You are Safe TC” and “Call Me Later Iam Busy”.
According to a statement issued by the Examinations Council of Zambia, it is alleged that Musonda has been sending examination related information to the public on the aforementioned Whatapp Groups.
Others arrested are Sundwa Nyambe, aged 25 years of Kanyama Mbasela, Lusaka also a Group Administrator of a Whatapp Group called “Distinction in Best 5pdf ” which was later changed to “Eagle Never Music”.
Nyambe works for Garda World International and also happens to be a Security Guard at Family Legacy School near Kanyama Clinic in Lusaka.
The other suspects arrested are Jonathan Tembo, 19 and Dokazia Luhanga, 23 both of Nyanje Village in Sinda District of Eastern Province.
The ECZ has warned all the perpetrators of examination malpractices that it is working tirelessly with law enforcement agencies to ensure that all those found wanting are brought to book.
Zambia’s Constitutional Court is expected to deliver two rulings on October 31, 2019, in a matter in which LAZ has challenged the enactment of Bill 10 into law.
In one of the applications, the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) appealed against the refusal by a single judge to grant an injunction that would stop Parliament from considering Bill 10 until the present case is decided by the Court. Last week, the Court ruled that the proceedings before the Court were civil proceedings to which the State Proceedings Act is applicable.
The other application was made by the Attorney General asking the Court to set aside the two subpoenas for Justice Minister Given Lubinda and Attorney General Likando Kalaluka to testify on behalf of LAZ and submit undisclosed documents.
The first ruling on setting aside the subpoenas shall be delivered at 09 hours while the second ruling will be delivered at 14:30 hours on the same day.
The Court has set November 12, 2019, for the hearing of the consolidated petition filed by LAZ and Chapter One Foundation.
Meanwhile, a Lusaka resident, Isaac Mwanza, has expressed intention to write to the Court to allow media houses willing to cover the Court proceedings live on radio and television.
“The case has generated wider public interest and to avoid distortions of court proceedings, my prayer is that the Court shall allow the media to provide live coverage. This would also enable the public to avoid accusing the Court of aiding any one party from being favoured as the Courts are not there to assist any party win a case”, said Mr. Mwanza
I am concerned about the people and their natural resources in and around the Lower Zambezi National Park. This rich ecosystem has supported people for time immemorial.
Allow me to highlight some of the important points in the area’s history:
The Nsenga Luzi people under Chief Mburuma lived in the Lower Zambezi Valley for centuries managing the land and resources well, wildlife thrived.
When the Portuguese arrived and settled at Feira at the confluence of the Luangwa and Zambezi in 1546, Chief Mburuma’s people guarded the valley jealously and protected the wildlife from their avaricious hunters.
British hunters arrived in the late 1800’s and hunted thousands of elephant and other large species, the wildlife survived.
In the early 1920s Nagana arrived and wiped out most of the wildlife and the disease carried by tsetse fly began to infect the people but the wildlife recovered.
In the mid 1950’s the Colonial Government moved Mburuma’s people out of the Lower Zambezi Valley to Chitope hoping to break the sleeping sickness cycle, the wildlife survived.
Much of the Liberation war in Zimbabwe took place in the Zambezi Valley but the wildlife survived.
As soon as the war was over I declared the Lower Zambezi a national Park and the wildlife thrived.
Slowly tour operators began investing in photographic safaris in the National Park and the wildlife thrived.
Today Lower Zambezi is one of Zambia’s most popular destinations for tourists, both local and International, generating more and more income for government and livelihoods for the people of Zambia. The Lower Zambezi valley also provides a critical biodiversity link between the animals in Luangwa valley and the Kafue basin. It was recently discovered that male lions move through this protected area from Luangwa to Kafue thus maintaining the diversity they require.
The proposed mining operation in the middle of the National park poses the biggest threat in history to the wildlife and pristine wilderness that has survived so many centuries of challenges and supported generations of Zambians.
I am happy and relieved that the Minister of Tourism, Honourable Ronald Chitotela has seen the opportunities for the people living around the Park to build viable natural resource-based economies that can sustain them and their descendants well into the future and I urge him and the Cabinet to consider this as a more holistically sound alternative to the proposed mine.
Our people have a deep history and knowledge of managing their natural resources sustainably, perhaps better than anywhere else in the world. My government recognised this strength in 1984 with the introduction of decentralised wildlife management under the LIRDP pilot in the Luangwa and later Admade and I’m pleased that this policy has been mainstreamed and extended to forestry and fisheries through Acts of parliament.
Much more needs to be done to re-build robust community-based resource management structures that involve and benefit every man, woman and child and contribute to building viable sustainable economies in each catchment across Zambia.
Let us imagine what the kind of life every Zambian wants, be clear about how the environment must look like to produce such lives and plan our management towards that context so that no more time is wasted chasing false promises from the extraction industry.
In line with Honourable Chitotela’s vision, we all need to mobilise efforts to help the people of Luangwa, Rufunsa, Chiawa and Chongwe districts to regenerate their natural resources and build a truly sustainable economy that can serve as an example to the rest of the country.
Coach Beston Chambeshi says his defence was improving ahead of next month’s 2019 U23 Africa Cup in Egypt.
Zambia conceded four goals in the two legged final qualifying round against Congo.
Chambeshi said the back-line has shown improvement in training.
‘They defenders have done well in friendly matches. There is much improvement from the time we started our preparations,’ he said.
‘I am happy with the way my coaches are working on the defence,’ Chambeshi said.
Zambia scored seven goals and allowed four in four matches played during the qualifiers.
‘You know we are going for a tournament where we have to make sure maybe we keep a clean sheet because so far our strikers are scoring,’ Chambeshi said.
Zambia plays the opening Group B match against South Africa on November 9.
Cote d’Ivoire and defending champions Nigeria complete Group A.
Zesco United are now the only unbeaten side in the 2019/2020 FAZ Super Division season after Red Arrows were stunned away by Nkana at the end Week Nine fixtures played on Wednesday.
At Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola, Zesco United steamrolled Lusaka Dynamos 4-1 to win their eight successive league game and in the process open a four point gap at the summit of the log.
Jesse were scored a hat-trick while his Kenyan compatriot Anthony Akumu recorded his second in as many games for Zesco.
Were was on target in the 17th ,60th and 63rd minutes while Akumu found the back of the net in the 57th minute.
Babe Basile scored Dynamos consolation goal in the 66th minute.
Zesco move to 24 points with a match in hand after the victory on the days that Levy Mwanawasa hosted three fixtures on Wednesday afternoon.
Dynamos are 14th with 8 points from nine games played.
Meanwhile, Arrows stay second despite losing 3-0 away to Nkana up the road in Kitwe.
The defeat was Arrows first and left Zesco as the only unbeaten side left this season.
Kelvin Mubanga, Harun Shakava and Ronald Kampamba scored in the 5th,37thand 47th minutes respectively to end Arrows unbeaten start to the season.
Arrows have 20 points while Nkana ghost from fifth to fourth on 14 points following the home win.
Napsa Stars are third on 17 points after a 1-0 away win over Buildcon in the second match of a three-game bonanza at Levy Stadium.
A 7th minute goal by Danny Silavwe handed Napsa the away win.
And in the opening kickoff at Levy, Power Dynamos stunned hosts Forest Rangers 1-0 to collect their second league win of the campaign.
Fredrick Mulambia scored goal in the 51st minute to hand the third from bottom giants second three points of the season.
Zack Songs is a multi talented artist who has been working on his craft in the music industry for the past 5 years it’s safe to say he is well on his way.
Zack is an artist who understands all the aspects of being a new age artist as far as online presence and building a brand of his Artistry is concerned.
Zack Songs has decided to go all out this time and is here to present his debut full body of work (studio project) titled ‘On My Way’
With the first official release of the mixtape titled ‘Calling Me’ which was produced by Zambia’s finest Paul Kruz who has worked with Zack on his previous projects such as ‘Melody’.
Zack decided to give fans all sounds on his mixtape emphasizing that he wanted to carter all the moods human beings encounter with amazing sounds for different vibes. Zack described the music on his mixtape as world class music! That is to be enjoyed not only by Zambians and Africans, but the world at large.
‘On My Way‘ Mixtape can be downloaded on the link below:
Group photo with Museum of Ethnography in Sweden, Women’s Museum of Stockholm and Women’s History Museum of Zambia (Photo by Andrea Kronlund )
Women’s History Museum of Zambia and the National Museums of World Culture (NMWC) have announced a joint collaboration to create a digital platform for museum objects that allows partial open data access to museum artifact collections that are housed in the Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm.
The platform will allow access to the collection of Zambian museum objects but also give the opportunity for data sharing and crowdsourcing of metadata of the objects that may have been previously absent.
The concept comes in the wake of widening global discourse on repatriation of African Museum objects and how African populations can access cultural artifacts that are housed in various museums around the world.
The Museum of Ethnography holds an impressive collection of over 650 Zambian objects and 360 photographs in addition to other materials, books and documents. These have been acquired over a period of over 125 years and were brought and donated to the museum by various benefactors that include explorers, anthropologists, missionaries and visitors to Zambia.
Co-founders of the Women’s History Museum Samba Yonga and Mulenga Kapwepwe have just returned from Sweden where the idea was hatched along with the Africa Curator Michael Barrett and the team at the Museum of Ethnography.
“There is currently heated discourse on the repatriation of African museum objects. The digital crowdsourcing platform will contribute to the global discourse on repatriation of African objects. The truth is Africa still needs to build the infrastructure to hold some of these precious objects but at the same time there is a lack of meta data regarding these objects in the international museums. The objective of our collaboration is to increase access to such museum objects by creating a platform where new knowledge can be added
by Zambians about their own heritage. To this end, the partnership hopes to create a digital artifact-sharing platform and consequently a legitimate African knowledge system built by the owners of the objects”, said cultural expert and co-founder of the Women’s History Museum, Mulenga Kapwepwe.
If successful, for the first time, the Zambian public will have the opportunity to examine first hand some of their oldest artefacts and also contribute to new knowledge to the African historical and cultural sector.
Said Michael Barrett, Africa Curator of the National Museums of World Culture, Sweden: “For us this collaboration with the Women’s History Museum provides us with an opportunity to learn more about the contemporary significance of these collections, especially what meanings and values they may hold for Zambians in the present. We are also looking forward to understanding more about the social, cultural and historical contexts of collections that were mostly acquired during the colonial period and which were often poorly understood by museums of the time. Finally, working with WHMZ allows us to develop our capabilities of engaging (digitally and otherwise) with users in southern Africa
as well as learning from our inspiring partners about compelling ways of telling stories about this cultural heritage.”
This presents an opportunity to also explore the value of this knowledge and how it can be mainstreamed into contemporary social, media and academic African discourse.
“One of the key issues with African knowledge systems is there is always a challenge with tracing the ownership or validity. This platform will provide a legitimate source for the knowledge but also provide traceability so that the next time we see an African pattern on a global runway we can recognise it and more importantly trace it back to its origin. It will also give the creative sector and other sectors in Zambia and even rest the of Africa a rich cultural knowledge bank on which to draw on for inspiration,” said content producer and co-founder of the Women’s History Museum Samba Yonga.
The team from the Museum of Ethnography in Sweden will also visit Zambia in November 2019 to meet with experts in the culture space and further discuss how the development of the platform will be organised.
Co-founders of Women’s History Museum of Zambia Samba Yonga and Mulenga Kapwepwe examining Zambian artefacts in the Museum of Ethnography in Sweden with Museum staff (Photo by Andrea Kronlund )Co-founders of Women’s History Museum of Zambia Samba Yonga and Mulenga Kapwepwe examining Zambian artefacts in the Museum of Ethnography in Sweden with Museum staff (Photo by Andrea Kronlund )
Zambia’s First Republican President Kenneth Kaunda says mining operations in the Lower Zambezi valley poses a huge threat on wildlife and the ecosystem.
Dr Kaunda noted that the Lower Zambezi valley has supported generations of Zambians hence the need to protect the area, against all forms of environmental hazards, which in turn affect the ecosystem.
The country’s founding father further feared for the people living around the Lower Zambezi valley, should the mining activities proceed.
ZANIS reports that Dr Kaunda shared his sentiments when a delegation from Grass Roots Trust paid a courtesy call on him at his residence in Lusaka today.
And speaking earlier, Zambia’s renowned artist Humphrey Mwila commonly known as Cactus, thanked Dr Kaunda for adding his opinion on the Lower Zambezi mining debate.
He said there is need to join hands and stop the proposed mining venture, if the country is to score positives towards safeguarding our environment from various effects.
Mr Mwila explained that most of the animals in the park will migrate to neighbouring countries, in fear of the safety and well being, should the mining activities be allowed, thereby affecting the tourism sector negatively.
The 300 megawatts Maamba Collieries limited thermal power plant which was recently commissioned by President Edgar Lungu is operating well as in the picture abov
Maamba Collieries says it needs ZESCO to clear outstanding debts owed to the company so it can maintain efficient operations at its 300 MW coal-fired power plant.
Due to a continued shortfall in monthly payments of its power bills by ZESCO, MCL has not been able to keep up a robust maintenance programme at its modern eco-friendly thermal power plant which has been contributing significantly to the energy balance of the country.
The cash flow shortage has resulted in the company being unable to sustain quality proactive maintenance to the 300 Megawatts facility, and the recent forced shutdown of one of its two-generation units, halving its power supplied to the national grid to 130 Megawatts.
“Maamba Collieries makes a significant contribution to the national grid, and provides a vital diversification from the reliance on hydropower that has proved so vulnerable to climate change. We stand ready, willing and able to supply significant base load power to the nation,” said Maamba Collieries Chief Executive Officer, Rear Admiral Venkat Shankar.
Mr Shankar said without payment from ZESCO their sole source of revenue they have insufficient funds to pay for costly spare parts and maintenance as also the project dues to their principal equipment supplier whose expertise they depend on, which is not a desirable situation in these times of energy crisis that the country is facing and may face over the next couple of years.
He said the company confirmed that one of its two units was forced to shut down on October 17, 2019 owing to a technical fault and requires extensive consultations with the equipment supplier.
A statement from ZESCO on October 18, 2019, attributed an additional three hours of load-shedding to the Maamba shutdown.
Typical of the state-of-the-art technology, the power plant requires intensive regular maintenance involving high expenditure for spares, support services from the equipment manufacturers and other maintenance activities.
However, since commencing supplying power in August 2016, there has been a continuous shortfall in monthly payments received from ZESCO against Maamba Collieries’ power bills, explained Rear Admiral Shankar.
The company has not disclosed the amount of funds owed but explained that the payment shortfall has left it with inadequate cash for the conduct of operations and maintenance activities.
“Maamba Collieries considers the emerging situation as being largely attributable to non-receipt of full payments from ZESCO, leading to MCL being cash strapped, which is increasingly beginning to impact the continued running of the plant and its machinery, and its ability to undertake repairs and proactive maintenance.
Under these conditions we are unable to confirm the timeline for resumption of operations of the unit that is shut down or guarantee the continued availability of the second unit currently operating,” said Rear Admiral Shankar.
“We are hopeful of ZESCO’s cooperation in meeting our monthly payments, which would ensure that Maamba Collieries will be able to run its plant at full capacity in these difficult times of acute power shortage,” he added.
From the onset, I want to go on the record and say, that while I am a member of the United Party for National Development (UPND), my loyalty is, has been, and always shall be to my country and it’s people. This is why I have picked a side, that not only stands to form the next government, but also as far as possible, embody my own personal values – people first, and an expanded civic and democratic space for enhanced accountability.
The things I say of the PF today, I would absolutely say if it were the UPND and Mr. Hakainde Hichilema decimating close to 60 years of our statehood with impunity.
Zambians ought to be reminded, that the now failed regime of the Patriotic Front (PF) under the tragic leadership of PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu, has now resorted to cheap propaganda tactics of peddling lies against their opponents; particularly the leader of the main opposition UPND Mr. Hakainde Hichilema.
The latest laughable attempt by a low calibre PF lawyer Makebi Zulu, to try and draw a link between Mr. HH, Afnat, a $14m open market transaction amount and the damage they themselves – PF, have allowed to take place in the Lower ZAMBEZI National Park for self interested reasons.
Zambians may wish to know, that a company called Zambezi Resources LTD, originally listed on the Australian Stock Exchange used to own both Afnat Resources LTD and Mwembeshi Resources LTD, with both subsidiaries registered on the island of Bermuda.
As far back as 2003, Zambezi Resources LTD, through it’s Mwembeshi Resources LTD subsidiary had been exploring for Copper at Kangaluwi in the LZNP, with over $12m spent on both geophysical and geochemical reconnaissance activities in that area. HH has never been anywhere near Mwembeshi Resources LTD or their activities anywhere in the world.
In 2006, for Six (6) months between March and August, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, as part of his normal professional work in the private sector, was appointed as one of Two (2) company directors as the law provides, both here and in Bermuda, entirely for purposes of providing professional services work to Afnat Resources LTD, primarily around the process of raising capital.
Once his job was done, he left his appointed position as director as a matter of standard professional services practice.
Mr. Hakainde Hichilema was never and has never been an active shareholder of Afnat Resources LTD, or indeed any other subsidiary in respect of Zambezi Resources LTD.
In 2010, Zambezi Resources LTD decided to sell Afnat to Axmin of Canada for a total open market fee of $14m. Naturally, this money went to the shareholders of Zambezi Resources LTD.
I have included a list of shareholders in respect ZRL (as best I believe) for Zambians to see where the $14m went:
Now, if Makebi Zulu was a decent lawyer, he and and the PF could have done their research and realized that Mr. Hakainde Hichilema had neither been a shareholder of Afnat or indeed that of it’s parent company ZRL, and that there was no way a guy who only served as Director for 6 months, 4 years before the sale of the company, could have pocketed $14m of proceeds arising from the sale of a company he never owned or had a shareholding stake in.
Makebi Zulu is a poorly trained lawyer and a very bad liar.
But these are the people PRESIDENT Lungu has surrounded himself with – incompetent men and women of thin intellectual prowess. Little wonder the country is failing.
But of primary interest now, is that in 2017, ZRL changed it’s name to Trek Metals, presumably under new owners, and quickly sold another one of its subsidiary – Mwembeshi Resources LTD, and the license it held in respect of the KCP. The buyer is now known to be a shell company in Dubai called Grand Resources LTD.
Curious enough, there exists a company in China with the same name, with so much secrecy around it. Our suspicions are that this company COULD jointly be owned by a large scale Chinese conglomerate, and the owners of Grandview International, the same company the PF and their business proxies created to defraud us in the $42m Fire Tender scam.
The other curious case is that the courts here in Zambia, have quickly ruled to reinstate the contraversial mining permit only after the sale of the KCP project to Grand Resources LTD has been concluded.
What is clear is that the PF government have yet again cashed in on what they think is the ignorance of our people and sought to divert attention to an innocent man – Mr. Hakainde Hichilema.
The PF and their bunch of poorly trained spin doctors must know this: we are ahead of them. They will not play our people for fools under our watch.
As I end, let me say this: let the PF proceed to cancelling this scandalous KCP permit which is now in the hands of their friends. We know these are the people who fund a huge chunk of of their exuberant party activities and this is why they are dithering.
Zambians must join hands and refuse to be Hoodwinked into another 5 years of failed, corrupt leadership under the PF.
File:Construction workers conducting maintenance works on the G4 unit, which failed to generate power after rehabilitation. The loadshedding schedule has been extended
Zesco Limited has announced that the outage period for the generator which was taken out at Maamba Collieries Limited Power Station 12 days ago has been extended until further notice due to unforeseen circumstances encountered during repair works.
Zesco Public Relations Manager Hazel Zulu said this therefore means that the current load shedding hours of 15 hours daily will remain effective until the repair works are completed.
Mrs Zulu said during the period of the shutdown, generation at Maamba Collieries limited which produces 300 megawatts will remain at 50% of the dispatchable capacity.
She said the daily 15 hours load shedding has been effected in order to protect the generation installations.
Mrs Zulu said Zesco deeply regrets the inconvenience this will cause to their customers.
Government says it is in the process of developing a technical assistance framework to spur private sector participation in the development and provision of renewable energy in the country.
ZANIS reports that the National Designated Authority (NDA) under the Ministry of National Development Planning says plans are advanced to provide technical support and financing to promote Independent Power Producers (IPP) in the country.
Over US$100 million of financing from the South Korea based Green Climate Fund (GCF) will be channeled to facilitate implementation of the Zambia Renewable Energy project.
NDA National Coordinator Francis Mpampi said the Renewable Energy Technical Assistance project intends to finance the private sector to set up electricity generation plants as an alternative source of energy in the country in light of continued effects of climate change that have affected hydro electricity generation.
Mr Mpampi explained that the technical assistance project will help prepare and build the capacity of financial institutions to assess and finance the development of renewable energy projects in the country.
He pointed out that the renewable energy sector in the country has not been exploited due to lack of investment and technical capacity to maximize the massive energy potential.
Mr Mpampi said that the NDA has identified the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) as an institutional investor in the sector and ZANACO as a financial lending institution for the renewable energy project.
He said the NDA will soon engage government ministries, departments and agencies to strengthen mainstreaming of climate change programming in government operations and facilitate application for financing arrangement for climate resilience projects in the country from the green climate fund (GCF).
Mr Mpampi said the NDA will continue to engage and sensitise government institutions and the private sector to develop project proposals for funding by the GCF to address climate change effects in the country.
