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In this image made off Japan's NHK TV video footage, vehicles are washed away by tsunami in coastal area in eastern Japan on Friday. (AP)
A massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake has struck off Japan’s northeastern coast, triggering a 10 meter tsuanami that swept away boats, homes and cars along the coastline.
Video footage showed widespread inundation as mud waves carried debris over farmland in Sendai, the capital of Miyagi prefecture. Large-scale damage could be seen in various locations along the coast. In Chiba prefecture, a massive oil refinery fire has broken out.
Adressing the nation, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the government would do anything it can to minimize the effects of the disaster.
The Japanese Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warming for the entire Pacific coast of Japan following the quake, which struck Friday about 125 kilometers off the eastern coast, at a depth of 10 kilometers. Residents in the coastal areas were urged to immediately evacuate to higher ground.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a tsunami warning was in effect for Russia, Marcus Island, New Zealand, Hawaii, Wake Island, the Northern Marianas, Australia and the South American Pacific coast. Warnings were also issued for Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia. The Hawaii-based center said waves could reach six to ten meters high.
The massive quake was felt in Tokyo, where it shook buildings and caused several fires. The Tokyo metro system says all train and subway traffic in the city has been stopped. Tokyo’s Haneda airport has reopened its four runways to accommodate traffic from other airports, including Narita. Aftershocks have also been reported in Tokyo.
Workers working on the Kulima Tower bus station shelter.
The Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has demanded that the K4.7 billion tender for the construction of Kulima Tower bus station awarded to Chimwenda Investment Limited by the Patriotic Front-controlled Lusaka City Council be reviewed.
ZCTU president Leonard Hikaumba has also called on the Government to take action on the deteriorating standards at the LCC, saying the congress had followed events at the country’s biggest council with concern.
Mr Hikaumba said in Lusaka that the process leading to the awarding of a tender to Chimwenda Investment Limited should be reviewed and urged the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate the matter comprehensively.
The tender for the construction of Kulima Tower bus station was last year awarded to a company owned by the younger brother of immediate past Lusaka mayor Robert Chikwelete, a PF member.
Mr Hikaumba said tender procedures and rules should not be breached and the ACC should establish whether Mr Chikwelete had declared interest at any stage and that such minutes should be produced.
He said the Government had launched a decentralisation policy, whose implementation would need well-organised councils.
Mr Hikaumba said the Government needed to come up with long-term measures to stem the misuse of public resources.
He said continuous audits were needed in councils, backed by an institutional framework to oversee the operations of all councils.
The ZCTU leader said there had been a deliberate departure from such norms and that should there be need to dissolve LCC, the Government should not hesitate to do so.
He said street lighting and drainage upgrades should not be a problem in Lusaka because of the huge amounts of money the council was collecting, but that the services were not being provided.
Mr Chikwelete, who is a councillor for John Howard Ward 2 in Chawama Constituency, is the older brother of the proprietor of Chimwenda Investments Limited, Charles.
The minutes obtained in Lusaka revealed that Chimwenda Investment was awarded a tender despite the company losing to its competitor, China Jiangsu International.
China Jiangsu bid for K4,792,070,200 and Chimwenda lost because of its high bid of K5,177,493,029 but was later awarded the tender and was almost finishing the construction of the bus station.
Documents containing the whole bidding process dated September 16, 2010 also revealed that Chimwenda Investment lost at the engineers’ estimate stage when it scored 10 percentage deviation from the set standards while China Jiangsu International only had two per cent.
The lower figure represents the company’s closeness to winning the tender because it shows that the firm has lesser deviations from the engineers’ parameters.
The bids were advertised in the Times of Zambia and The Post newspapers and 15 firms responded while 13 were short-listed.
Meanwhile, Moomba Member of Parliament Vitalis Mooya has advised people holding influential positions to declare interest in writing when the institutions under their authority are awarding tenders.
Mr Mooya also questioned how LCC awarded a contract without considering the drainage and electric system at the Kulima Tower bus station.
The Government is still searching for about 20, 000 employees in the Ministry of Health to fill up vacancies created by the 2005 strategic plan that established 51, 414 positions.
Health Minister Kapembwa Simbao said in Lusaka yesterday that only 30,883 positions had so far been taken up.
He said the Government was determined to employing adequate manpower to improve healthcare.
Mr Simbao said this during the handover of a newly-constructed 100-seater lecture room at the Chainama College of Heath Sciences in Lusaka.
The new lecture room was funded by the Clinton Health Access Initiative.
The ceremony was attended by officials from the Clinton Health Access Initiative, academic staff and students.
Mr Simbao hailed the partnership between Chainama College and the Clinton Health Services Initiative.
He said in a speech read for him by his deputy Christopher Kalila that the Government had embarked on a programme to build health facilities countrywide to improve access to health services and called for safeguards to stop vandals and loss of equipment.
The minister said while the Government had continued building more health facilities, there was still a shortage of skilled human resource.
“This crisis is one major obstacle to attaining the millennium development goals by the year 2015 and Government’s desire is to have skilled health care providers at every level of health care,” Mr Simbao said.
He said the Government recognised the important role Chainama College had in the provision of health services by training health personnel who were deployed in various parts of the country.
He, however, said despite the role the college was playing, the institution had faced a critical shortage of infrastructure to improve its capacity to accommodate more students.
To address the challenge, management had engaged day scholars in the fields of environmental health and technology.
File: Speaker of the National Assembly Amussa Mwanamwambwa (l) and Chief Justice ernest Sakala
In Parliament yesterday Monze Central Member of Parliament (MP) Jack Mwiimbu (UPND) asked whether Justice Minister George Kunda was in order to keep quiet when ministers of Information and Foreign Affairs, Ronnie Shikapwasha and Kabinga Pande, respectively, had allegedly misinformed the nation over the raging parallel vote tabulation (PVT) debate.
Speaker of the National Assembly Amusaa Mwanamwambwa,who pointed out that he did not wish to usurp the powers of the Executive said: “This debate or debates on PVT is raging outside the House and indeed this House can claim a certain amount of interest in the matter in the sense that this House enacted the Constitution of Zambia and, among the creatures of the Constitution, is an authority known as ECZ.
“The Constitution assigned to ECZ powers and functions to carry out presidential, parliamentary and local government elections and once Parliament, through the Constitution, has assigned ECZ such powers, the House expects ECZ to discharge its functions and powers.”
Mr Mwanamwambwa said the matter at hand was of great magnitude but it would not help the House if he ruled definitely on it because there was no motion for the House to debate and vote.
The Speaker, however, advised MPs who wished to enter the fray of the public to do so freely, advising that they should be factual in their arguments.
“I will not muzzle anyone of you from expressing your opinions outside, join. There are lawyers here and I expect you to assist over this matter.
“I don’t want to enter into functions of the Government but those of you who have been members of the foreign service know the dos and don’ts in that diplomats in countries which they are accredited to are supposed to observe the laws,” Mr Mwanamwambwa said.
He said the protocols and etiquette befitting foreign envoys started as way back as 1848.
The Livingstone City Council has terminated the contract of Town Clerk Dras Neves and sent acting director of finance Kamwata Pongo on forced leave, in a raging battle that has defined the local authority in the tourist capital for the most part of the last 12 months.
Her contract termination was announced yesterday at the Civic Center as workers ululated in jubilation, others chanting”Prayer
Answered!”slogans.
But Ms Neves has said the decision announced yesterday by Livingstone Mayor Aggrey Njekwa was illegal because, according to her, the mayor had no power to end her contract.
Mr Njekwa, who addressed the protesting workers after the full council meeting yesterday, said the town clerk’s contract had been cut short while the acting director of finance would proceed on forced leave to pave the way for investigations.
This follows the sit in protest that the unionized workers carried out since Monday.The protest by unionised workers had by yesterday worsened and taken a new twist, with soldiers temporarily taking up the responsibility of cleaning the streets that were heaving under the weight of garbage.
The workers found seated outside Livingstone Civic Centre premises as their protest entered day three vowed to continue pushing for the removal of the town clerk and Mr Pongo.The workers demanded for the removal of the Ms Dras Neves on account of irregularitis and misplaced priorities.
During the protests the workers claimed that they have not been paid their salaries yet the Town Clerk was busy making trips to the U.S
using the Council’s resources.
Zambian Army soldiers were found cleaning various roads that included Senanga, Kuta Way, Akapelwa as well as the bus and taxi ranks.
Ms Neves in an interview accused the unionised workers of attempting to destabilise the commencement of the voter registration exercise, which was expected to start at the civic centre yesterday.
She said the workers had not shown any maturity in their complaints, adding that the unionised workers such as council police and cleaners were getting new uniforms which had not happened in the last 10 years.
But Zambia United Local Authorities Worker’s Union Livingstone branch chairperson Geoffrey Sianga disagreed with Ms Neves, saying she should respond to specific concerns raised instead of diverting people’s attention by bringing in issues of political nature.
Mr Sianga said the protests had nothing to do with any political influence as the unionised members were non-partisan and were fighting for their rights.
He said whether the protests were legal or not legal, unionised workers would not be scared of being dismissed, and that they would only report for work if Ms Neves and Mr Pongo were removed.
After the mayor’s announcement, Ms Neves said she would not recognise the decision to terminate her contract because it was beyond the mayor’s mandate.
Former Acting Town Clerk,Mr Clement Chisanga takes over from Ms Neves with immediate effect.
PARLIMENTARY Chief Whip Vernon Mwaanga has said former MMD chairman for elections Mike Mulongoti should be the last person to talk about morality.
And MMD national chairman Michael Mabenga has threatened to sue Mr Mulongoti for defamation of character.
Mr Mwaanga said his comment on Mr Mulongoti’s suspension had nothing to do with morality but a political decision taken by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).
Mr Mwaanga was reacting to Mr Mulongoti’s statement that he is always associated with illegality.
“I was not even there when the decision to fire Mr Mulongoti was made. I was in Uganda monitoring elections. I played no role in firing him but I supported this decision then as I do now,” he said.
Mr Mwaanga said Mr Mulongoti should stick to the debate on this issue and be civilised instead of hiding in the issue of morality.
“I am disappointed that Mr Mulongoti made it sound like I have something personal against him. If I want to be personal, I would have a lot more to say about the ministries where both he and I have worked,” he said.
And Mr Mabenga said he would not take the allegations levelled against him by Mr Mulongoti lightly.
“Mulongoti is living in a glass house and, therefore, he must not throw stones because a lot of wind will go into his house,” he said.
“I want him to tell the court what he knows about what he is saying. For his own information, a lot of people have paid me for talking about things they do not understand.
“He is destroying my name. He should ask Transparency International Zambia and the National Mirror who ended up paying me a lot of money for defaming me”.
“Maybe he (Mr Mulongoti) has amassed a lot of wealth and he wants to share it with me. He is welcome to join the queue,” he said.
Former Finance and National Planning Minister, N’gandu Magande has been appointed as Interim President of the newly launched National Movement for Progress Party (NMPP).
Mr Magande, who is also former Chilanga member of Parliament, was MMD National Executive Committee (NEC) Chairman for Finance, up until his expulsion from the from the ruling party.
The NMPP’s new Secretary General, Logan Shemena, has since announced the official launch of the party adding that it was registered on 2nd March 2011.
The NMPP is the latest of the newly formed parties, among them the national restoration Party (NAREP), ahead of this year’s general elections
Meanwhile, Political Parties in Zambia have been urged to be seriously pro-active in the anti-corruption crusade.
Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Board Chairperson, Andrew Ntewewe says the country needs selfless political leadership in fighting corruption.
Mr. Ntewewe further says the youth movement will not sit idle on such matters because doing so will plunge the nation further into socio-economic instability.
The much-traveled Ronald Chinku was this week appointed coach at Kabwe Warriors. How long will he last?
The loquacious, daring but likeable coach signed a one-season deal to become Warriors fourth coach in 12 months taking over from the caretaker duo of Humphrey Malikoni and Via Mwendalubi.
Zambia second biggest supported club sets itself very high standards despite failing to win the league since 1987 and has a renowned reputation of a high turnover on the bench.
Chinku does not come armed with the CV at Railway Grounds that saw George Lwandamina arrive with at last season only to leave by mutual consent after eight games into the start of the season.
Manfred Chabinga took over after arriving from Botswana where he had been fired after a giant killing act with Gaborone United in the Orange Caf Champions League after ejecting Orlando Pirates in the preliminary round.
For Chinku, he takes the reins after a forgettable six plus matches with National Assembly whom he failed to drag from the mire of the D-zone in the Super Division before the Lusaka sides subsequent demotion.
Moreover, his record in the Super Division in the last half a decade has not been anything to talk about.
Chinku had another forgettable spell at Chambishi in 2006 who were also ensued in another relegation dogfight that started mid-way through the season that they never recovered before he exited with one draw from five games.
His last claim to glory came in 2002when he guided National Assembly to their debut Super Division outing with one James Chamanga and the Simbeye twins in inspired mode.
This time, Chinku will have the near luxury of starting on a clean slate from day-one with the smell of demotion still a harmless whiff nine months away.
Warriors were due to face Zesco in their opening league game next Saturday but the latter have an Orange Caf Champions League appointment on that date at home against Young Buffalos of Swaziland.
And so Chinku will be spared an opening day potential baptism of fire in which Warriors were due to travel to Ndola where Warriors have not won a league game since 2005.
Chief government spokesperson Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha says government will direct the ministry of local government and housing to investigate and arrest individuals behind the installation of bill boards in Lusaka alerting the public that the world is coming to an end on 21st May, 2011.
General Shikapwasha says government will not condone people who want to cause chaos in the country.
He wonders how the bill boards were put up when they were not authorized by the local council.
And General Shikapwasha has appealed to the general public not to be bothered by the bill boards by Family Radio with a message reading in part, “we are almost there”.
Bill boards have been placed at Manda Hill and along Makishi road, warning the public that the world is coming to an end on 21st May, 2011.
And Former Roman Catholic Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo has cautioned citizens to be wary of false prophets as prophesied in the Bible.
Archbishop Milingo has urged the public to remain faithful and stay cautious of many more false prophesies to come.
Government has disbursed K11billion to 6 tertiary institutions in the country.
The funds have been drawn under the government financed TEVETA fund.
Among the recipient institutions, the Evelyn Hone College got the biggest chunk of K3billion while Kabwe Trades institute was allocated K900 million.
This came to light during the signing ceremony of the service level agreement between the Ministry of Science and Technology and Technical Education Vocational Entrepreneurship Training Authority-TEVETA.
Science Minister Peter Daka said the fund is intended to sustain financing for the TEVETA system and to enhance skills training in public tertiary institutions.
And TEVETA Board Chairperson Wammulume Kalabo thanked government for providing the funds.
According to the latest World Bank’s Migration and Remittances Fact Book (2011), remittance flow worldwide were estimated to reach US$440 billion by the end of 2010, up from US$416 in 2009. About 75% of these funds or US$325 billion will and goes to developing countries, up from US$307 Billion in 2009.
Zambia in 2009, received an estimated US$68 million in remittances from those living in Diaspora through formal channels. What this entails is that there are more funds that come through informal channels that are not captured on record. With well structured systems that offers incentives for investments, Zambians living in Diaspora can become a giant investor in realizing our Zambia’s development agenda.
In the recent past, the line has been drawn and clearly acknowledged that Zambians living in Diaspora can contribute immensely to the development of our country given a well structured advocacy strategy that demands that government tap into the capital of the huge Zambian Diaspora population worldwide by offering them incentives to invest back home.
There is no doubt many Zambians in the Diaspora would like to invest back home, if anything over 70% would like at some time to return home and settle. This as maybe the case, there are NO clear policies by our government that help the integration of our fellow countrymen and women back into our society.
The challenges faced by the Zambians in Diaspora in regard to investing home ranges from, dual citizenship to right to vote, lack of land ownership to lack of business incentives, cultural shock to legal and political hitches etc. With these multi-faceted challenges there is a need for the government to go the extra mile in helping our brothers and sisters address these critical matters of life that could change Zambia for the better.
It is also possible to have a Diaspora think tank. Realizing the immerse skills as obtained by the Zambians living in Diaspora it is imperative that ideas born from them should find their way to government for consideration and implementation. This program should ensure that every year policies or development documents or papers are submitted to the government. Most of these documents should be done in consultation with the government now that they have a Diaspora Liaison Office at the Office of the President. How neutral the Diaspora office at State House is, I will leave that for you to find out.
We all know that the changes that take place every day in Zambia can have a negative impact on those visiting, especially those that have not been home for a long time. Many people find themselves lost when they get back to Zambia coupled with stigmatization and over expectance from the public, family members, friends and the community, this leads to shock and being lost in your own country. There is need for these people to be orientated when they come or before they travel by providing sufficient information.
The other biggest challenge is that of legal documentation considering the time they have to spend here and the processes of documentation in our county. It is important that government formulates a way to help them access legal documentation in the shortest period of time. These legal documentations could range from National Registration Cards to passports, drivers license to resident/work permit for spouses including company registration.
Why can’t Zambians have dual citizenship? This component has received massive support from different stakeholders and is being considered in the new draft constitution; however, there is need for advocacy and strong voices to build a well structured campaign around this theme. This should not be a privilege but a right for those living in Diaspora
The government should also offer business incentives for Zambians in the Diaspora willing to invest back home. This is one of the biggest challenges that need to be faced boldly. Government should ensure that they are incentives that promote investment for citizens in their own country and make sure that Zambians living in Diaspora can easily access and own land. The Business incentive could include tax exemption i.e. on machinery for those setting up industries. This in partnership with other institutions will be one of the forces to building a better Zambia
Workers at Livingstone City Council have continued to be on a sit in protest.
A check at the council offices found workers outside the council premises loitering around.
When contacted Acting Town Clerk George Kumoyo said that the strike is illegal and that the workers did not follow the right channels to air their grievances.
He said that workers opted to have a meeting with the mayor instead of Town Clerk Ms Dras Nerves who is currently out for official duties.
He added that workers were supposed to address there grievances to the Provincial Local Government Officer if they are not comfortable with presenting their grievances to the Town clerk.
Mr.Kumoyo said that management has already started making payments of salaries to workers for the January and February arrears and wondered why the workers have continued going on strike.
Livingstone Council workers have been on a sit in protest starting from last week demanding removal of the Town Clerk Ms. Dras Nerves and
acting Director of Finance Mr. Kamwata Pongo.Tthe workers also want the trip she has to the U.K to be cancelled.
The Town Clerk is scheduled to travell to the U.K on an official trip on Saturday.
And deputy mayor Agrifree Brill said the council is on fire and called on pastors to pray for it.
The United Liberal Party (ULP) has said there is nothing wrong with election monitors conducting the Parallel Voter Tabulation (PVT) in this year’s elections.
ULP president Sakwiba Sikota said the PVT system will ensure transparency in the electoral system as all stakeholders will have an opportunity to tally and compare provisional results with those of the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ).
Mr. Sikota said results made available through PVT are unofficial as the ECZ is the only body mandated to announce official results.
He said all that is needed is to ensure that organizations involved in handling the PVT are accurate enough so as not to create panic in the country.
And Kabwata Constituency Member of Parliament Given Lubinda has vowed to continue advocating for Parallel Voter Tabulation adding that the exercise has always been conducted during elections.
Mr. Lubinda wonders why the PVT has become an issue now and when the ruling MMD have been relying on the same exercise to announce their victory in the previous elections even before the ECZ declared final results.
The Parliamentarian has also charged that it is highly irresponsible for Chief Government Spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha to threaten Zambians with arrests over a good cause.
He has since dared Lieutenant General Shikapwasha to order for his arrest adding that he will not relent in supporting the Civil Society Organizations that advocate for the PVT.
Meanwhile, the Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) Executive Director McDonald Chipenzi has called on people issuing negative comments about the PVT to seek clarification from the organization than make uninformed comments.
