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Kitwe District Commissioner Binwell Mpundu has warned officers reported to be misusing funds under the Village bank project being administered by the department of Community Development.
Speaking during a Village Bank programme Evaluation meeting in Kitwe today Mr. Mpundu said his office has received reports of officers being engaged in misappropriation of the funds which are aimed at empowering vulnerable women.
“We will not allow any government officer to take us back in the programme through dishonesty in the management of the funds under this programme as such we will not condone any officer that will be engaged in dishonesty in the handling of the funds, we want to empower the women,” Mr. Mpundu charged.
The District Commissioner who was impressed with the progress recorded by the department in the district said the programme could be used to address the high poverty levels which he said was contributing to the high crime rate in the district.
He noted that it was going to take honesty and transparency among officers in the Community Development department for the village bank programme to be successful.
He however noted that Kitwe district was among the districts where the programme was highly successful.
Mr. Mpundu urged the officers in the department to continue working hard towards the success of the programme and growing the capital base for the project.
And Kitwe District Community Development Officer Michael Miyoba said a total of 732 women have been empowered in Kitwe district since 2014 when the programme was introduced.
Mr. Miyoba said a total of K654 has so far been disbursed and beneficiaries have been able to save about K116, 700.
He said the programme is being implemented in Chimwemwe, Kamfinsa, Wusakile and Kwacha constituencies.
The women Village bank programme is a social protection programme implemented national wide by the Ministry of Community Development.
The suspected owners of the 51 controversial houses in Lusaka’s Chalala area have been identified and named. The suspects are Charles Loyana, a Senior Accountant in the Ministry of Finance, and his wife, Susan Sinkala, a civil servant, as well as a Copperbelt-based lawyer, Chali Chitala.
The suspects have since been warned and cautioned, and the matter has been handed over to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for further action and guidance.
Home Affairs Minister, Stephen Kampyongo disclosed this in a ministerial statement issued in Parliament today, saying this follows joint investigations by the law enforcement wings.
Mr. Kampyongo explained that the investigations were done by the Drug Enforcement Commission -DEC-, Anti-Corruption Commission -ACC- and the Zambia Police.
He further explained that contrary to speculations and false hoods that surrounded the matter were even the names of the first family were mentioned, the development reaffirms Government’s commitment to the fight against Corruption and that the issue will be expedited.
Mr. Kampyongo stressed that the matter must not be politicised.
And responding to a question from Kantanshi Member of Parliament, Anthony Mumba, Mr. Kampyongo said civil servants can own property, but it must be accounted for. Mr. Mumba had asked whether civil servants are entitled to own property.
Chinsali Municipal Council in Muchinga Province workers have joined in the on-going countrywide go slow. The council workers who have joined other local authorities in the country are demanding for their three month’s salary arrears.
The workers lamented that they are failing to make ends meet due to the salary arrears owed to them by the local government which has now entered 4 months for workers in division 1 while those in division 2, 3 and 4 are owed 3 months arrears.
The workers also complained that they are also failing to pay house rentals adding that their landlords are on their necks.
The workers have further demanded for the removal of the Local Government Permanent Secretary (PS) Dr. Bishop Ed Chomba whom they have accused of failing to take care of their welfare and pay them on time.
And a check by the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) this morning at Chinsali Municipal Council found some workers seating under the trees while those in the offices were busy chatting.
About 64 local authorities in the country are on go slow demanding for their salary arrears.
Meanwhile, Zambia United Local Authorities Workers Union (ZULAWU) could not be contacted by press time as they were locked up in a meeting with Management over the same issue.
The Basic Education Teachers Union of Zambia (BETUZ) has made submissions to the Ministry of General Education on the proposed replacement of Grade Seven examinations with assessment tests.
BETUZ General Secretary, Evans Chungu, has confirmed the development to ZANIS in Kabwe, saying BETUZ has since submitted the union’s opinion on the announcement made by the Ministry of General Education.
Mr Chungu says the announcement is a welcome move, however, the union is worried with the quality of results that will be produced from the assessment tests, that will allow the pupils qualify to the next grade.
He added that the whole essence of conducting examinations, is for teachers to see how ready the pupils are, to move to the second level of education.
Mr Chungu added that BETUZ made its submissions after looking at the Policy Chain of the education system under basic level and hopes to see the Ministry of General Education come up with best ways to produce quality results from the assessment tests for Grade Seven learners.
He also revealed that the union is still looking into forwarding more submissions, in order to ensure that good results from Grade Seven School Assessment Tests are produced.
Recently, Minister of General Education, David Mabumba, announced that Grade Seven pupils will no longer write examinations to qualify for the next grade but instead write assessment tests.
Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) says over 200 cybercrime cases involving obscene materials have been recorded from January to June this year across the country.
ZICTA manager Consumer protection and compliance Edgar Mulauzi said most of the cases received by ZICTA involve women being blackmailed due to nude photos they have posted on social media.
Mr Mulauzi said this during the ZICTA exhibition at the Zambia International Trade Fair show ground in Ndola today.
Mr Mulauzi has advised women not to fall prey to any person on social media and post their nude pictures because people use them to blackmail the victim in most cases.
He however, said ZICTA plans to meet Women Organizations and other stakeholders to help sensitize women on the dangers of posting nude pictures on social media.
Mr Mulauzi said other cybercrime cases which have been recorded by ZICTA are fake news, cyber bullying, and fraud activities which once received are reported direct to police.
He further said 18 cyber related cases which have been acted upon by the police have been referred to the courts of law from 2018 to date.
Mr Mulauzi said ZICTA does not arrest the victims of cybercrimes but report them to the police who act upon the cases.
Meanwhile, ZICTA Corporate Communication Manager Ngabo Nankonde said the opening of the Ndola office is in line with the Seventh National development plan of 2017 to 2019 which is aimed at attaining the long-term objectives as outlined in the Vision 2030 of becoming a “prosperous middle-income country by 2030”.
Ms Nankonde has advised people to take their complaints to ZICTA Offices so that they can be protected by ZICTA against various cases that involve cyber related cases.
Zambia’s highest Constitutional Court has misjoined the Republican President and the National Assembly from the petition in which LAZ is challenging the enactment of the Bill to amend the Constitution of Zambia.
Delivering a ruling this morning, Judge E. Mulembe on behalf of the Constitutional Court stated that the application by the Attorney General and submissions by LAZ were anchored on the definition of civil proceedings which is not defined in Article 266 of the Constitution.
The Court observed that Section 19 of the State Proceedings Act, Chapter 71 of the Laws of Zambia defines what civil proceedings are.
The Court thus held that Section 19 of CAP 71 should be read together with section 12 of same Act and Article 177 (5) (c) of the Constitution
“We disagree with the submissions by State Counsel Sangwa that the National Assembly and the president do not constitute the government,” stated part of the ruling.
In addressing itself to the question on whether Constitutional matters can be deemed to be civil proceedings, the Court stated that “We do not think that the framers of the constitution wanted to exclude constitutional matters from being civil matters.”
The Attorney General had argued that the rightful party to all civil proceedings against Government is the Attorney General in line with Article 177 (5) (c) of the Constitution. In his submissions, he made submissions that both the President and the National Assembly have no capacity to be sued or to sue in their own capacities.
The Court has accordingly misjoined the President and National Assembly as first and third Respondents from the proceedings and stated that the proper party to the proceedings should be the AG.
The unemployed making a living on the streets of Lusaka
By Mwansa P. Chalwe Snr
This article is a follow up on my previous one that dealt with the issue of why the Youth Development Funds (YDF failed to create jobs. I promised to provide practical solutions to the issue of creating jobs for the youth through short term and long term interventions using existing government youth policies. The Youth policies are great on paper but how to implement them seems to be a problem.
In August 2015, President Edgar Lungu launched the 2015 National Youth Policy and the Action Plan for “Youth Empowerment and Employment”. The Policy according to the President was supposed to create hundreds of thousands of jobs for the Youth.
“The plan I am launching today must result in the creation of more than five hundred thousand (500 000) jobs for the youth by the end of 2016, through the implementation of the following: The national apprenticeship and internship schemes, expansion of low interest credit facilities and provision of ongoing business support services including mentorship to youth-led businesses”, the President announced.
Lack of action irks President Lungu
However, four years down the line, this has clearly not happened as confirmed by President Lungu himself. In March, 2019, when opening the Central Province Patriotic Front Conference, President Lungu sounded a warning to relevant bodies created to promote youth entrepreneurship against the prevailing Laissez-faire attitude. He said that Youth Entrepreneurship was at the core of his heart and vision for industrialization. He warned that next time, he will either be reshuffling or firing people. He directed that drastic measures to trigger more young entrepreneurs to emerge and existing ones be boosted needed to be implemented immediately.
Further, on July 22, 2019, when swearing in Mr. Emmanuel Mulenga, the new Minister of Youth, Sport and Child Development, the President directed Mr. Mulenga to expedite the full implementation of the 2015 National Youth Policy and action.
“As you take up the office you will be required to ensure that our commitment to the youth is fully implemented to meet their aspirations irrespective of where they are”, President Lungu directed the new minister.
On the basis of the President’s statement, it is clear that the line Ministry has failed to implement the policy, possibly due to lack of ideas on how to roll it out in practice. The Ministry of Youth and Sport, therefore, may need some help in terms of ideas. The issue of lack of funds does not apply to this Ministry as the Skills Development Fund is awash with cash and there are many donors available ready and willing to pour in millions of dollars to fund viable Youth empowerment projects as long as there is accountability.
Proposed solutions to implement Youth Policy in the short term
My proposed solution will mainly focus on the promotion of Entrepreneurship and Self-employment component of the National Youth Policy. This is the most effective initiative for sustainable job creation rather than the national apprenticeship and internship schemes. The solution is recognized by International Labour organisation (ILO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and development (OECD), Africa Development Bank, Economic Commission for Africa, World Bank and others. But what has been lacking are the tools and vehicles to roll it out in terms of practical implementation.
In general , in order for a programme promoting youth employment creation through Entrepreneurship and Self-employment to work, it has to be a merit based comprehensive programme, devoid of political interference and should have a mix of financial and non-financial support as well as have the full involvement of private sector. In addition, there should be some form of focus on the informal sector. Youth empowerment programmes have partly failed due to the exclusion of the informal sector who make up millions of the underemployed youth as informal sector is largely survival employment.
In the short term, the starting point in the implementation of the 2015 National Youth Policy, is by using the already existing vehicles and improving on them. In this case, the improvement of the design of the Youth Development Fund (YDF) by making changes and transforming it into being merit based should be the top priority. The 2017/8 study and evaluation of the programme done by the Zambia Institute for Policy analysis and Research(ZIPAR) in 2018,clearly concluded that the programme had failed to achieve its objectives and needed to be redesigned.(ZIPAR Report is available on the internet)
There are number of critical changes that should be made to the current Youth Development Fund (YDF). The first change should be, the rebranding of the Fund by changing the name to Youth Development Programme (YDP). It is crucial that the current negative public perception of the Fund is changed by changing the name. The name change should be accompanied by other changes outlined below.
The additional changes should include the following: outsourcing the management of the fund, disbursement of loans being conditioned on the acquisition of basic business development services skills, targeting funding to sectors with the greatest potential to create jobs( agriculture, tourism, small scale manufacturing, small scale mining and construction),targeting the informal sector/ street venders (skilled venders like welders, electricians, bricklayers, plumbers, welders, skilled youth farmers etc) to formalize and expand their operations in order to create additional jobs. The Fund should also increase the current limit of loans. There is also a need to depoliticizing youth empowerment programmes and making them merit based and independently managed which is my view is politically smart.
An effective communication strategy including using digital tools so that information dissemination to youth reach them in all ten provinces is an absolute necessity. The President could then re-launch the Programme empathising the difference between the new programme and the old Fund so that public’s negative perception is changed and the Youth buy into it.
In practical terms, in order to kick start the reforms, the first step the Ministry of Youth , Sports and Child development should do is to immediately advertise and request for proposals from Zambian owned micro finance companies for the management of the actual Fund under the newly branded Youth Development Programme (YDP).
In addition to outsourcing Fund management, the Ministry should also invite private sector institutions to present proposals for the provision practical user friendly business development training, mentoring and advisory services which should be a prerequisite to accessing finance from the microcredit scheme. The above proposals can be implemented within a period of twelve months if people charged with these responsibilities are serious.
Medium to Long term interventions
In order to make the above short term proposals permanent and include other youth employment related interventions not covered above, there is a need for a vehicle to facilitate this. In the medium to long term, the implementation of the National Youth policy for youth empowerment and employment, should be the design of a tripartite five year multimillion dollar Youth Development Promotion Project. The project should involve the Government, some cooperating partner(s) and the national private sector representative, Zambia Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ZACCI) as the secretariat.
The project should be able to address the current ongoing fragmentation of efforts. There is a variety of ministries, organisations directly and indirectly that deal with youth employment which leads to a lack of coordination amongst actors and hampers overall effectiveness of interventions. The project should also address the issue of insufficient consultation with and engagement of the private sector. The private sector is an essential stakeholder in addressing youth unemployment, not only as the engine of job creation but also as a potential partner to implement complex interventions alongside government and civil society actors.
The issue of provision or creation of a market for Youth entrepreneurs’ products and services is also an important matter that needs to be addressed by such a project. Business linkages with the mines, the supermarket chains, international construction companies and other multinationals who are importing millions if not billions of goods from outside which in reality constitutes the export of youth jobs, needs to be formalized. There are many items which Youth entrepreneurs can be organized and facilitated to produce and have a ready market for. This is not rocket science. It just needs political will.
The project’s ultimate objective, however, should be the formation a quasi-government full time institution as a special purpose vehicle(SPV) to oversee all Youth development issues. The institution formed should be able to house the following services/divisions: Virtual Business incubation (VBI) to promote starts ups and innovations, Digital Job Centre (DJC), Youth Employment Services (YES), Business development services (BDS), Funding issues and lastly, Strategic Partners Coordination (SPC) in terms of the private sector, education institutions and cooperating partners.
To conclude, policy makers and implementers ought to understand that in the 21st Century, solutions to problems have to incorporate knowledge and information and communication technology tools to be effective; and Youth unemployment is not an exception especially that Youth are addicted to mobile technology.
The details of the proposals outlined above are beyond the scope of this article. In my next article, I will demonstrate how the graduation of Skilled Venders to the formal sector can fast track youth job creation.
The Author is a former financial specialist advisor to the multimillion dollar USAID funded Botswana Private Enterprise Development Project (BPED) and the founder of Prosper Knowledge Solutions. He has passion for solving the Youth unemployment problem using his vast hands on local and international private sector experience. (Send comments and suggestions on this article to pmchalweATgmailDOTcom)
Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops President Bishop George Lungu says people of Eastern Province are becoming angrier and frustrated with many failed developments in the province.
Bishop Lungu who is also Chipata Diocese Catholic Bishop says the situation has gotten worse, with people killing each other for simple by-elections.
Bishop Banda has urged Zambians to brace themselves for more violence in 2021 if nothing is done to arrest the situation.
Bishop Lungu says it is shameful that a life could be lost during a Council Chairperson by election in Kaoma District an indication that more violence is expected in 2021.
Bishop Lungu said the escalating cases of violence are a serious concern and should be addressed.
He says that the country is faced with a number of problems such as power load shedding, poor road network and lack of food in hospitals, which calls for special attention.
Bishop Lungu says that development in the country is not equally shared, as government has concentrated much on developing Lusaka, leaving other provinces with poor road infrastructure.
He says that the situation is fearful as more people are becoming more angry and frustrated.
Bishop Lungu said the economic situation has deteriorated and has challenged leaders to be truthful about happenings in the country.
Bishop Lungu was speaking during mass to mark the closure for the year of the Mission at St. Anne’s Cathedral in Chipata in his Extra Ordinary Evangelization Homily.
File:A man takes his child to the under five clinic in Katete
The National Health Insurance Management Authority says it targets to register about 700,000 people under the National Health Insurance scheme in the next four months.
Authority Director General James Kapesa says the National Health Insurance scheme has now been rolled out after Statutory Instrument number 66 for 2019 was gazetted.
Mr. Kapesa says the focus is to register employees, pension managers and the informal sector.
He however told ZNBC News in Lusaka that it is not true that the Authority is targeting a certain section of people to register.
Mr. Kapesa explained that everyone above the age of 18 and below 65 are eligible for registration.
He stressed that for now the process of registration is on and that those who will be registered are expected to be put on the scheme and access medical services by First February 2020.
Mr. Kapesa further explained that deductions of one percent towards the health Insurance scheme are expected to start this month.
The Zambia National Union of Teachers (ZNUT) in Muchinga Province urged all teachers in the area to avoid all forms of malpractice during this year’s national examinations.
ZANUT Muchinga Province Organising Secretary Nondo Kasanda said this in an interview with the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in Chinsali today. Mr Kasanda said schools should ensure security is beefed up and that the locking systems on the strong rooms should be up to the required standard.
Mr. Kasanda charged that if examinations are not handled properly, the country is likely to experience education decay.
“We need to conduct proper examinations, free from malpractices so that we can avoid having misfit professionals in places of work which is a danger to the society’s well-being”.Mr Kasanda said that if a person passes an examination through leakage, such a person is a danger not only to himself but also to society.
He said that teachers should help the nation by ensuring examinations are properly invigilated.The Union has also appealing to the government to adequately fund the Examination Council of Zambia (ECZ), in order for them to administer examinations professionally. Mr Kasanda said transport should be adequate, adding that the union does expect teachers to collect examination papers on bicycles and without security.
He noted that invigilators and supervisors should be treated with respect because handling exams is a huge task.And Mr Kasanda has appealed to the examination monitors not to intimidate the learners, adding that exam is a form of assessment and not a punishment to pupils.
“Pupils should be given a free atmosphere to write and enjoy exams”.
Mr Kasanda however thanked the Ministry of Education for creating enough learning period unlike previously when exams started in September. He said that this year’s exam period will be the shortest, saying pupils already have some marks from practical assessments done so far at the beginning of the 2019 school calendar.
First Lady Esther Lungu inspects the Ambulance during a tour of Fire Station 94 in California in the United States of America on Tuesday January 22,2019-Pictures by THOMAS NSAMA
Opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema has poured scorn on the Fire Trucks that First Lady Esther Lungu went to receive in the UNistared States as a Donation after the trucks were spotted in Lusaka.
Post on his social media account, Mr. Hichilema mockingly wondered which museums the trucks were destined to so that he could view them at close range.
Mr. Hakainde mockingly described the trucks as some amazing 19th Century Technology and recounted how as a young boy he used to watch these trucks on a black and white television set.
Early this year on the 19th January 2019 the First lady of Zambia, Esther Lungu arrived in Los Angeles for what the government described as a launch of collaboration between the Los Angeles City Fire Department and the Zambia Fire and Rescue Service where she received 4 donated Fire trucks.
In January, the first lady travelled to the US, in what had been described as a collaboration between Zambia’s Fire and Rescue Service and the LA fire department to collect the four trucks.
According to presidential spokesperson Amos Chanda the purpose of the trip was to assess if the fire trucks conformed to Zambian standards.
However, it has emerged that the donated fire trucks were retired by the LA fire department after serving the area for decades. Two of the trucks are 1985 models, a third one is a 1995 model and the other one a 1996 model.
With the amount of money spent to collect this scrap, we could have provided financial aid to over a hundred students at UNZA. #Zambiapic.twitter.com/1eHD6m0PVi
1. Reference is made to a recent widely circulated media report wherein the undersigned was misquoted as having “challenged” the US Embassy to clarify UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema’s claims about “refusing sanctions” against Zambia.
2. The “report” was an unfortunate and sensational misrepresentation, of this author’s statement, because as far as we know, it would be untenable and indeed unthinkable to “challenge” the US Embassy in Zambia in this regard, as the organisation that invited Mr. Hichilema cannot speak on behalf of the US Federal Government.
3. However in terms of “challenging” and without downplaying the “sanctions” talk, we find it quite difficult to provide the sort of answers the media and other stakeholders are seeking, unless they can ask Mr. Hichilema himself or send their queries about “sanctions” to the US Embassy, as it is the only place where correct answers could be elicited.
4. The statement by the undersigned was therefore aimed at galvanising the media and other stakeholders such as the church and civil society, to “challenge” and interrogate among other things, how a seemingly innocuous private meeting discussing “investment” and other “business issues”, went on to discuss “sanctions against Zambia”- which HH “reportedly” “refused to support”. Why would an Opposition leader talk about sanctions that are non-existent?
Sunday Chilufya Chanda
Patriotic Front Media Director
Party Headquarters, Lusaka
Over the course of the 8 years the Patriotic Front (PF) have been at the helm of government, it is undoubted high ranking government officials, through the wanton abuse of the institutional authority and privilege they enjoy, have not only abused public resources, but also systematically diverted economic gains away from millions of Zambians through the accumulation of private property and profit.
We have overwhelming, institutional evidence against a good number of PF government officials who are engaged in grand theft and corruption involving public resources, manipulation of public processes for personal gain, including details of commissions individuals have been receiving for committing our country to public debt we cannot repay and without due regard to process.
This information is known not only in Zambia, but also available to many international cooperating partners whose citizens have lost millions of dollars and Euros through corruption and plunder at the hands of corrupt PF government officials.
But cooperating partners have now realised, that it would be unethical and against the spirit of our shared humanity, to punish a whole nation through the withholding of vital aid to education and health, or indeed investments in critical areas of economy to slap crosscutting economical sanctions against a whole nation.
And the UPND, through it’s PRESIDENT Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, have said we shall not support or advocate for crosscutting economic sanctions against our own country and our own people.
The price to pay if blanket sanctions were issued would be unbearable for ordinary people while the thieving politicians themselves continue to live exuberant lifestyles both here at home and abroad.
Therefore, as part of the process of implementing UNEXPLAINED WEALTH ORDERS (UWOs) and “operation recovery” against politically exposed individuals whom Law Enforcement Agencies will have reason to believe have illegally acquired wealth, property or money, the UPND will take the lattitude and request that special dispensation be exercised in freezing the assets of CORRUPT Zambian officials and politicians, as well as instituting travel bans to countries where these blood assets are held, as well as exclusion from travellibg to cooperating countries.
The UPND will not allow state sponsored criminal actors to get away with having destroyed our country for private gain, just as the UPND will not victimise hardworking Zambian citizens, who have legitimately acquired wealth and continue to contribute immensely to the growth of our economy.
Once the music stops playing, there will be no place to hide for those who have committed grand economic crimes against Zambians.
Monze Town Council has started impounding trucks found parked in unauthorized areas as a way enforcing SI 20 of 2018.
Task force Chairperson Justin Chombo explaind that the local authority in July embarked on a sensitization program on the need for Truckers to park their vehicles in designated parking areas and warned that once the grace period had elapsed trucks found parked in town would be impounded and would only be released after paying a penalty fee.
Mr Chombo who is the Chief Human Resource Manager at MTC said the truckers who had earlier obliged with the directive recently started abrogating the law and returned to their old ways of indiscriminately parking of their vehicles in the CBD prompting the council to swing into action on Wednesday.
“We have impounded a number of trucks since we commenced our night patrols on Wednesday. The trucks are only being released upon payment of the penalty fee. We are following up on some drivers who did not only break the law but went further to maliciously damage government property by destroying the clamps and going away with them. We have contacted their respective offices to ensure that the clamps are returned and the penalties are paid.
“We have to thank members of the the public who continue to report to us that trucks have returned to parking in the CBD. This shows that we are together in this process of ensuring that there is sanity in our CBD.
“However, we have also made a serious observation which is that the perpetrators of this lawlessness are people who were once residents of the district or have relatives within. As a council we expect everyone to comply with the SI and no vehicle is exempted regardless of your connection to the district,” he said.
SI 20 of 2018 prohibits heavy vehicles from parking in any unauthorized area and a charge of 2,500.00 penalty units is imposed on those found wanting
The Patriotic Front has written to the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority to complain over the short mobile code being aligned with the party.
In a letter dated 21st October 2019 addressed to ZICTA and accessed by Hot FM News, Party Director for Administration Alick Tembo has complained of the short code *373# purporting to recruit members and acquire personal details on behalf of the PF without the authorization of the party secretariat.
Mr. Tembo in the letter has requested that ZICTA provide the party and all law enforcement agencies the details under which the shortcode was obtained.
He has further requested that all concerned government law enforcement agencies are allowed to investigate the matter.
