President Rupiah Banda says the country will not hold its tripartite elections on April 1 which is a fools’ day.

President Banda also said he will release to the public a reply letter written in response to Mr. Sata ‘s politicizing of government’s decision to evacuate his wife, Dr. Catherine Kaseba, to South Africa for specialist treatment recently.

The President said this year’s polls will not take place on April 1 saying it is, “only foolish people who vote on that day.”

Recently PF leader Michael Sata claimed that he had information that this year’s elections will be held on April 1.

Mr. Banda said the MMD was approaching this year’s elections with full determination and scientific approach to understand where the party has been, where it is today and where it is going.

“The MMD is a ruling party that has remained in office for sometime not by accident but by being methodical and getting all systems in place including renewing of the party leadership through Provincial conferences being held across the country,” the President said.

The President was speaking when he opened the fifth -5th Luapula Province MMD party conference held at Mansa College of Education.

Meanwhile, the President says he will release to the public a reply letter written in response to Patriotic Front leader Michael Sata who has politicized government decision to have his wife, Dr. Catherine Kaseba evacuated to South Africa for treatment recently.

The President said when Mr. Sata’s wife fell ill, he and his colleagues in government quickly agreed to transfer Mrs. Sata to South Africa for treatment.

He said to show gratitude, Mr. Sata wrote to him a letter to thank government for rushing his wife to South Africa for treatment. Mrs. Sata has since recovered from the illness.

However, in the same letter, President Banda said Mr. Sata went beyond by becoming argumentative and bringing in politics saying it is a shame for Zambia in this day and age to send its sick people to South Africa for treatment.

The President said Mr. Sata has decided to release the same letter written to him to the media and was published in the Post newspaper of yesterday, January , 16, 2011.

Mr. Banda told MMD cadres from across Luapula that he had responded to Mr. Sata’s letter, and he was going to make available the letter to the public so that the Zambian people could read for themselves what he said about Mr. Sata’s way of showing gratitude.

The President said he normally does not release his presidential correspondences with citizens to the general public, but added that he was going to do so this time in order that citizens could understand government position on Mr. Sata.

“In this letter I said to this man that anyone can be faced with health difficulties and your wife, unfortunately, had this problem and we all agreed quickly to help her but unfortunately you are now bringing in politics saying in this time and age it is a shame for Zambia to send sick people to South Africa,” President Banda said.

The President has also challenged Mr Sata to tell the nation why the health services are in their current state if Mr. Sata who was Health Minister for a long time had made any improvement to the health sector of this country.

“I have not been Minister of health, but since you were minister of health for a long time why is it that our health services in this country are in this state?”

President Banda said he hopes people across the country will read the government letter that will be released so that everybody could hear what government thinks about the PF leader.

The President charged that Mr. Sata waffles about a lot of things in this country. “He talks about elections that he hopes these elections will be free and fair; he waffles about a lot of things in this country.”

President Banda said Mr. Sata is not new to the Zambian people, as he was the National Secretary of the MMD, Minister of health and Minister without Portifolio.

The President said the only thing he remembers Mr. Sata to have done as minister of health was to buy uniforms that comprised a trousers for the nurses and nothing much.

But President Banda said government under his leadership has done much more than what Mr. Sata and his friends had done to the health sector.

And President Banda has questioned the PF leader’s cleverness who he said caused the problems which Second Republican President Frederick Chiluba faced over the third term.

He charged that Mr Sata was advising Dr Chiluba to have a third term, knowing too well that the people of Zambia did not favour the idea for the third term.

However, the President said that when Dr Chiluba got into problems over the third term, Mr. Sata jumped out of the MMD and went off to form his own political party.

“What kind of cleverness is this? Everybody knows the record of this man, Sata,” President Banda said.

The President said it was good that the elections were coming, and the MMD was going to tell the people what it knows about Mr. Sata so that he stops being clever.

United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema has said the PF/UPND pact is currently experiencing some political squabbles because the two parties cannot agree on one aspect of how it will drive the country’s economy forward.

Mr Hichilema said the pact was formed to reduce fragmentation among opposition parties and initiated some policies that needed to be followed and agreed before announcing its leader but that its partners the PF seemed to have ignored what was agreed and wanted to just go ahead and announce the pact president.

Mr Hichilema said this in Lusaka yesterday in response to many questions from people when he officiated at the Zambia Media Forum at Chita Lodge.

Meanwhile, PF leader Michael Sata has said former President Frederick Chiluba was part of the eight member committee who in 1993 recommended that the Barotse Agreement had expired.

At a rally at Muchinga grounds in Matero, Lusaka yesterday, Mr Sata who spoke in Bemba said Government should reveal everything that was said in the committee and not selectively release information.

He accused the State of having arrested him on tramped-up charges of motor vehicle theft and that Government were also trying to make a case out of the US$100, 000 which he said he had been accused of giving Father Frank Bwalya.

Mr Sata also accused Matero Member of Parliament Faustina Sinyangwe of pocketing some money .

Former MMD official Judith Kapijimpanga resigned from the ruling party to join the PF.
[ Times of Zambia ]

A CABINET minister has been named in an alleged covert mission to frustrate dialogue between Government and the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE) over the Barotseland Agreement of 1964.

Clandestine activities have enraged the BRE which has questioned the motive of the named minister accused of holding a postmortem meeting of the activities of the Linyungandambo, Barotse Patriotic Front (BPF) and Barotseland Freedom Movement (BFM).

And police on January 15 seized machetes, knives, catapults and an assortment of fetishes meant to be used in the disturbances arising from the cancellation of a meeting of secessionists on january 14. The owners of the weapons have been arrested.

Sources have revealed that the Cabinet minister organised a group of people to discuss the violence which rocked Mongu and Limulunga.

Sources from Limulunga told the Daily Mail that the Litunga is angry with the minister and has asked relevant authorities within the BRE to establish the motive of such activities.

The source said during the meeting called to discuss the violence, some senior citizens openly attacked Government and demanded that Western Province should secede.

The minister has also angered other Government ministers who wondered what was being discussed on a community radio station whose equipment has since been seized by police.

“The Litunga is shocked by what one of the ministers is doing here. He (Litunga) was listening to the radio and what was being broadcast was confusing because on one hand, Government is talking about dialogue and on the other, a government minister seems to be inciting the people to continue advocating violence and secession,” the source said.

And police have seized an assortment of home-made weapons which included machetes, knives and some animal skins.

The home-made arsenal was meant to be used in attacks on people, who were going to resist secession at the planned meeting of the Linyungandambo, BPF and the BFM.

Western Province police commanding officer Peacewell Mweemba confirmed that the weapons were confiscated from supporters of the Linyungandambo, BPF and BFM.

Mr Mweemba said police will continue with their normal operations and denied allegations that his men had started raiding communities and beating up people.

Mr Mweemba has also confirmed the arrest of the top leader of the three groups, a Mr Maxwell Mututwa, who has been behind a spate of violent activities in Mongu and Limulunga.

Mr Mututwa was arrested along the Mongu-Limulunga road when he attempted to switch taxis a few kilometres from Limulunga. The 92-year-old has been the commander of the Linyungandambo, BPF and the BFM.

Mr Mututwa was the BRE prime minister (Ngambela) and is former member of Parliament during the Kenneth Kaunda administration.

Meanwhile, over 200 paratroopers arrived in Mongu yesterday to enhance security in Mongu and along the Mongu-Lusaka road.

Deputy commissioner of police Solomon Jere said more police officers have been deployed in Mongu to beef up security operations.

A check in Limulunga late yesterday revealed that several youths who are being used in the violence are regrouping to cause more confusion.

The youths, who had fled to the plains, are said to be in Mombo in Limulunga but police said they are ready to counter them.

[Zambia Daily Mail]

Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) President Charles Milupi has called for dialogue to resolve the problems surrounding the Barotse Agreement of 1964.

Mr. Milupi has said  Government should consider engaging the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE) and the various signatories to the agreement to resolve the problem.

He said all the signatories to the agreement are available and that government should take advantage of this to consult them and come up with a unified position on the matter.

Mr. Milupi was speaking at  a press briefing in Lusaka today.

He has also urged the Barotse Royal Establishment to engage government on the issue and urged them to clearly state their position and what they expect from the agreement.

Mr. Milupi has since sent massages of condolences and sympathy to the bereaved families and those who were injured during the incident.

Meanwhile,the United Party for National Development (UPND) has said the MMD Government and President Rupiah Banda in particular are to blame for the loss of lives in the Barotseland agreement fracas that took place in Mongu on Friday.

Party president Hakainde Hichilema has said the deaths could have been avoided if President Banda had taken quality time in trying to address the Barotseland issue.

In a statement to QFM news, Mr. Hichilema said the loss of lives and failure to find a solution to the Barotseland agreement misunderstanding is a clear vote of no confidence in the MMD government.

Mr. Hichilema said the concerns being raised by the people of western Province on the unfair delivery of developmental projects to their region are genuine.

The UPND leader observed that Barotseland issue, which has been raised by the people of Western Province, is not only genuine but has the potential to spread to all the parts of the country if not dealt with amicably.

QFM

By Elias Munshya wa Munshya
In many opinions on Barotseland Agreement of 1964 (BA64), very few comparative studies have been done to see how other countries handled the issue of national unity and secession. Indeed the question of what happened in 1964 is not unique to Zambia alone. Several countries in Africa were faced with similar situations. While not every situation is the same, we could look at what happened in other countries and from their example extrapolate and predict the direction that the Barotseland question is likely to take.

In the 1960s at the time that much of Africa was proceeding to independence several countries had to unite and divide and indeed negotiate on how their future would be. Unity and secession politics happened in Somalia involving Somaliland, Ethiopia and its relationship with Eritrea, in Congo and its Katanga issue, in Tanganyika and its relationship with Zanzibar and indeed in Northern Rhodesia and its relationship with Barotseland. It is impossible in this article to deal with each of these situations.

Except that for the current purpose I will limit myself to the question of how Nyerere dealt with Zanzibar and how Kaunda dealt with Barotseland on the other hand. My argument is that Nyerere was more open and more frank with Zanzibar than Kaunda was with Barotseland. In essence the Tanzanian situation was more responsive to the future than what Kaunda did with regard to Barotseland. Here is why.

The fact that Kaunda negotiated with the Litunga and came up with a deal, means that Barotseland was in many cases different and unique from the rest of other regions in Zambia, otherwise there was not going to be the need for an agreement in the first place. This is more reason why it should be surprising for anyone in our time to discount the significance of the BA64.

It was agreed and negotiated because Barotseland was in itself a unique case. The same situation happened with Zanzibar. While maintaining many cultural ties with the rest of Tanganyika, Zanzibar was known to be a unique region unlike any other region in the rest of main land Tanganyika. This uniqueness was more historical than political. In fact, Zanzibar had enjoyed a few years as an independent nation. It did not even matter which tribes were in Zanzibar or what the population of Zanzibar was.

In the same way, it should not matter which tribes live in Barotseland or the characters of those tribes. The question and recognition we need to make is that Barotseland was a unique region.

Knowing that Barotseland was unique was very clear to Kaunda. With regard to Nyerere, he too knew very well that Zanzibar was a unique area. But when deciding what to do in proceeding to independence made a difference between Nyerere and Kaunda.

Nyerere showed great leadership that took the future into account. As for Kaunda the immediate political scores were more important to him. Nyerere went to Zanzibar and negotiated a unity deal that would ensure some amount of autonomy for Zanzibar in a united nation to be known as Tanzania—the name created from combining Tanganyika and Zanzibar. Kaunda also wanted to go on similar lines as Nyerere, albeit with lots of differences and changes.

First, Kaunda negotiated an agreement with the Litunga from a position of great strength. He for all purposes left very little options for the Litunga. Mwanawina just had to sign the agreement. Besides, the BA64 was done at a time that the Litunga was at his weakest politically. The political party he would have liked to win in Barotseland had been walloped by UNIP in elections and the British had refused him independence.

Additionally, Barotseland was functionally broke. Knowing this, Kaunda put the Litunga in a corner where he had to sign the deal. With hindsight, Kaunda should have been wiser. Politics do change and it changes very fast. Within two years of independence by 1966, UNIP had lost considerable support in Barotseland and the Westerners were having second thoughts about the BA64 already. Kaunda should have negotiated with the Litunga as equals. He should have not based his decisions on his political popularity at that time since politics change very quickly.

Second, Kaunda made a huge mistake with the BA64 by cleverly making the agreement while robbing it of its legal and constitutional effect. As such whereas we have the BA64, it was never legislated by a Zambian legislature and it was done without a referendum.

In Tanzania on the other hand, Nyerere negotiated a legislated agreement such that the unity of between Zanzibar and Tanganyika to form Tanzania was a constitutional act. Kaunda may have been clever in doing the BA64 without parliamentary approval, what is more concerning however, is that Kaunda sought both parliamentary and referendum approval to toss out Zambia’s obligation in the BA64.

I think Kaunda thought that the BA64 paper would just disappear on its own. He was sadly mistaken, because now every one of us has been able to read the agreement and see what it contained. Hiding it, or even claiming that it has been overtaken by events while making lots of sense would not put the emotions of the Barotse to rest. To avoid further unrest and confrontations, Zambia should talk with Barotseland again!

Third, history is not just on the side of Kaunda’s actions. No region world-over that has some legitimate claim to autonomy can maintain connections with the larger country without negotiation.

Secessionist Katanga is quiet now, because it enjoys some autonomy within a united Democratic Republic of Congo. This is why Katanga’s first Bemba-speaking governor could shut down his side of the border without recourse to Kinshasa. Katumbi has the power to negotiate for mineral interests within Katanga. This simple act of autonomy has for the time being kept secessionist talk in Katanga to the minimum.

The Caprivi Strip uprising was violently crushed in Namibia in late 1990s. The Strip does have some legitimate claim to autonomy and Namibia’s violent reaction in dealing with the Strip only guarantees that the question is not solved but buried only to be resurrected latter.

Canada has its own unique issues with Quebec. To keep Quebec within a united Canada, Canada has had to make concessions that other regions in Canada simply regard to be ridiculous. Quebec’s right to self-determination encompasses immigration, and even taxation. Prominence of Québécois politicians at the federal scene gives the region some amount of pride that has for now postponed the drive towards independence.

With regard to Ethiopia, only war led to Ethiopia granting independence to Eritrea. War ought not to be the case with Zambia. We have seen how Nyerere handled Zanzibar, negotiate and make deals. If Zanzibar is happy, so will Tanzania be.

For Zambia, Kaunda is no longer in power. It is therefore not about what Kaunda did and did not do. The challenge for President Rupiah Banda is to listen, negotiate and make a deal. This deal should not be changed at will by Zambia.

A united Zambia is possible only to the extent that those elements that created it in the first place remain peaceful. You cannot dribble the Barotse on one hand while on the other hand preach a message of peace and unity.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings…”
(Proverbs 22:29, NIV)

TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

Too often, it’s easy to get stuck in a rut, doing the same thing the same way over and over every day. But if we are going to live at our absolute best, we should constantly be growing and sharpening our skills. We should strive to learn and grow every single day because when you stop learning, you stop growing. When you stop growing, you stop living.

What are you doing to stretch yourself? What are you doing to improve your skills? Don’t get trapped into thinking that “good enough” is good enough. You were created for more than just average. Today is a new day, and there are new heights for you to climb. Pursue what you love and keep developing that area of your life. Take a class or find a mentor that will help you live skillfully. As you do, you’ll rise up higher and higher. You will stand before leaders and rulers, and you’ll live the blessed life God has in store for you!

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father in heaven, today I choose to rise out of mediocrity. I choose to give my very best to everything I do. Teach me to live skillfully so that my life is a continual praise to You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

— Joel & Victoria Osteen