President Edgar Lungu says he is not scared of holding a press conference to address critical national issues.

President Lungu said he is ready to address the media through a press conference when need arises.

Mr. Lungu clarified that he has not yet held any press conferences because he feels that Chief Government Spokesman Chishimba Kambwili and his Special Assistant for Press Amos Chanda have been adequately responding to issues raised by the public.

The Head of State was speaking Saturday morning when he featured on a live special breakfast show from State House on Hot FM to celebrate the station’s 10th anniversary which falls today.

“At the height of the energy deficit, at the height of the kwacha depreciation, i was thinking that i hold a press conference and it was on the verge of opening of Parliament so i said look, it is better i reserve whatever i want to tell the nation in my address to the nation through Parliament,” President Lungu said.

President Lungu added, ‘I have been urged by people saying Mr President, why don’t you have a regular press briefings, i will think about this, am a user friendly person particularly to the media and i consider you colleague, isn’t this a press briefing, aren’t you getting what you want?’

He continued, “If you feel you want to petition that i hold press conferences, i will respond but my style is my style and i will govern in the manner i feel is appeasing to me, some people say we don’t want to be listening to Amos Chanda but what is Amos Chanda there for?.”

President Lungu also castigated the Millers Association of Zambia for announcing a hike in mealie meal prices.

He described the Association as a cartel that is attempting to arm twist the government by unjustifiably increasing mealie meal prices.

“I wanted to address the media the other day when i became so incensed after i heard that they wanted to increase the price of mealie meal but the Minister of Agriculture told me that he will issue a statement on the floor of Parliament which he did,” he said.

On the proclamation of October 18 2015 as the Day of Prayer, Fasting and Repentance, President Lungu said he was moved to make the proclamation after realising how fast the country had drifted from the face of God.

“What drove me to seek God’s intervention is that I noticed that we are drifting away from the face of God. It’s by the grace of God that I’m President. It’s by the grace of God that we have peace. This is a wakeup call and we need to get back to God. It’s a decision I took with great faith and is a sacred one,’ President Lungu said.

He added, ‘We need to periodically go before God. I’m a Christian and we meet here at State House every Sunday. I have bishops who come here, although I haven’t been recently. I hope we can establish a chapel here at State House to avoid all the logistics of me going out of State House to attend church outside.”

President Lungu said October 18th is an occasion to simply say thank you God.

He announced that going forward, Zambia needs to have Thanksgiving Day just to say thank you.

“Yes, I am a Christian, I do go to Church. We have since set up a prayer meeting here although lately I have been attending. We invite Bishops to come and pray on Sundays, this is to avoid the hustle that it takes for the President to go and congregate outside State House,” President Lungu said.

President Lungu said although he has settled in very well as Head of State, he misses his past life as an ordinary member of society.

He said the presidency is a very lonely place.

“I really miss out there, we used to have good times with my friends, I miss you guys, sometimes I try to sneak out of State House, it is not easy here, I wish I would be as free as I was before State House.”

President Edgar Lungu says he will not succumb to pressure to fire any of his ministers from government or his staff at state house just to prove that he has power to do so.

President Lungu has insisted that he has a competent team which is addressing the challenges the nation is faced with.

He also has defended the appointment of Vice President Inonge Wina as Minister of National Planning that she is ably qualified to handle with the additional task.

Patriotic Front (PF) has said that United Party for National Development (UPND) President Hakainde Hichilema is not a leader suited for Presidency, but a micromanager as revealed by his Interview on Radio Phoenix where he had a spat with Information Minister Chishimba Kambwili.

In a statement released to the media and signed by Vice Chairperson for Media and Publicity Committee of PF, the ruling party said that, instead of focusing on the bigger picture of how to govern the country, Mr Hakainde came across as a more process oriented technocratic who believes in “trickle down” economics and the economics of “cutting out everything”, including key social infrastructure like hospitals, roads and schools which clearly according to him are not productive sectors and have to be sacrificed as part of his aggressive fiscal measures.

Mr Chanda concluded by saying that it was not an exaggeration to state that it is by God’s providence that some of these people are not Presidents.

Below is the full statement

PF IS PROUD OF THE BUDGETED PRESENTED BY GOVERNMENT, CITIZENS AND STAKEHOLDERS ASKED TO SUPPORT THE MEASURES

STATEMENT BY SUNDAY CHANDA, VICE CHAIRPERSON, MEDIA AND PUBLICITY COMMITTEE

Lusaka, Zambia, 10th October 2015 – The Patriotic Front (PF) is proud of Government’s proposed K53.14 billion in 2016 National Budget, representing 25.8 percent of GDP. The proposed budget which will be financed through domestic revenues of K42.11 billion and grants from co-operating partners of K550 million, is in line with His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu’s address to the Nation on 18th September 2015. The Budget’s attention to the Health, Education, Agriculture, Energy and among others, confirm of Government’s dedication to transforming Zambia for the better. We therefore ask Zambians and stakeholders alike, to support the proposed Budget presented on 9th October 2015 because it serves the Country’s interests.

The PF wishes to respond to UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema’s sentiments on Radio Phoenix’s “Let the People Talk” program yesterday where he clearly showed that he is a more of a micromanager than a leader suited for Presidency. Instead of focusing on the bigger picture of how to govern the country, Mr Hakainde came across as a more process oriented technocratic who believes in “trickle down” economics and the economics of “cutting out everything”, including key social infrastructure like hospitals, roads and schools which clearly according to him are not productive sectors and have to be sacrificed as part of his aggressive fiscal measures.

We want to state that while President Lungu has articulated a transformative agenda which aims to make Zambia a prosperous middle income country by 2030 and a developed country by 2064, Mr Hakainde and UPND have failed to articulate a long term vision for the country with clear timelines and outcomes. They seem only trapped in the politics of “here and now”.

While Finance Minister Hon Alexander Chikwanda presented a fiscally responsible and development oriented budget in the midst of economic challenges Zambia faces mainly due to global economic forces and climate change, Mr Hichilema and UPND, have failed to present an “alternative budget” which they claim is a secret they have been hiding.

Zambians have realized by now what Mr. Hichilema and UPND represent, and that is an organization purely focused on polemics and political games, but seriously lacking a clear long term development agenda which ties in with Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). On the other hand many stakeholders including UN Secretary Gen Bam Kii Moon and other global leaders have praised President Lungu’s vision for Zambia. In case UPND has one too, we challenge them to present it to the Zambians now.

Lastly, Mr. Hichilema has also clearly failed to articulate how he would have tackled the diminished copper and other commodity prices which are due to economic slowdown in China and the global economy. Neither has he explained how he would have ensured the Kariba dam was full and generating electricity since we all know he is not a rainmaker.

In another strange act, he is strongly opposed and has opted to politicize the National Day of Prayer, Fasting and Repentance declared by President Lungu. In Mr. Hichilema’s wisdom, it is acceptable for UPND to set preconditions before they can join the entire nation in prayers. Mr. Hichilema and UPND must accepted that Zambia is a nation dedicated to God as is pronounced in our National Anthem. On this score, PF is strongly appealing to Zambians to seriously pray for some of these people who seek to become Presidents. It is not an exaggeration to state that it is by God’s providence that some of these people are not Presidents.

Issued by: Sunday Chilufya Chanda, Vice Chairperson, PF Media and Publicity Committee

NDOLA High Court judge-in-charge Jane Kabuka has sentenced a 38-year-old peasant of Samfya to death for setting a house on fire and burning to death five members of one family.
The incident happened after the now convict, Mweni Kope, of Chilekwa village had a brawl at a bar with a member of the affected family.
Justice Kabuka last Thursday, convicted Kope who was appearing in the Ndola High Court of five counts of murder after the prosecution proved their case against him beyond reasonable doubt.
Kope was initially charged with two counts of murder, and three counts of attempted murder, but all the charges were changed to murder following the death of the trio.
Particulars of the offence are that on December 21, last year, in Samfya, Kope murdered Mwape Chibesa, Musunga Chibesa, Theresa Chibesa, Robinson Chibesa and Eunice Mumba.
He denied all the charges.
In delivering judgment, Ms Kabuka said evidence against Kope was overwhelming. She said it was odd that the accused went and hid in the bush after the incident and only resurfaced two days after hunger had taken its toll on him.
“The evidence in this matter discloses a lot of odd circumstances. The accused was heard picking a quarrel with the deceased which erupts into a fight. After being restrained and the fight stops, accused declares that the fight is not over yet and threatens an explosion. He goes to buy two boxes of matches, barely seven hours after the accused’s threat, the deceased’s house is set on fire and all the immediate family members who were sleeping in it sustained fatal burns from which they subsequently die.
Ms Kabuka observed that the prosecution had proved its case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt.
“I direct that accused the be hanged by the neck until he is pronounced dead by a certified medical practitioner,” Judge Kabuka said.
The evidence before court was that Kope was drinking beer with Robinson Chibesa (victim) and other people.
A verbal exchange and later a fight ensured after Mr Chibesa, on his way outside dropped a chair, and thus infuriating the now condemned inmate.
The two were separated but Kope later went to Mr Chibesa’s house and set it alight while the latter was sleeping with his wife and children.
Mr Chibesa and one of his children died instantly, while his wife and two children died at Samfya General Hospital where they were admitted.
Before her death, Mrs Chibesa said she heard Kope daring Mr Chibesa that: “Come out of the house we fight if you are man enough.”

However, Politician Mbita Chitala said the Budget was pro-poor as Mr Chikwanda reduced tax on property transfer from 10 percent to five percent.

Dr Chitala said the Budget outlay was well done especially in the area of taxation as the move to enhance productivity in the manufacturing sector.

Dr Chitala’s words were echoed by Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) executive director Kryticous Nshindano who said the Budget speech clearly spelled out the measures that will improve the country’s social and economic welfare.

Patriotic Front (PF) Deputy Secretary General Mumbi Phiri said she was happy the Budget addressed the Eurobond sinking fund.

Ms Phiri said it was true that the Eurobond had been channelled towards infrastructure development but it was equally important that the Budget had an allocation for the sinking fund to pay back the funds.

Chembe MMD Member of Parliament (MP) Mwansa Mbulakulima however said the Budget did not discuss how the mining sector would be revitalised considering that it was the only main income of the country in the meantime.

Mr Mbulakulima said he foresaw the country remaining static economically if it did not go worse.

Overall, the Budget has been received with a sigh of hope as it has addressed most of the issues that were thorny to many people. The budget is said to have given hope to all sections of society, including the youth, which demonstrates the seriousness of the Government in making Zambia a smart country both in appearance and in economic terms.

Some analysts, cautioned those who are bent on finding faults with anything coming from the Government, that under the prevailing circumstances, this can be considered the budget of hope, which is likely to bring economic growth and increased employment for the youth.

The Government is advised to walk the talk.