President Banda has challenged the women’s movement in the country to strongly protest against the battering of women. The President said women in Zambia should reject men who beat up their wives. President Banda said no man should be allowed to beat up his wife in the name of love.

He said the practice should be rejected in the strongest possible terms. Mr Banda said love should not be about beating spouses. The President was speaking in Chawama after commissioning the first level Hospital in the area.

Kasama Central Patriotic Front Member of Parliament Goeffrey Mwamba was on Monday arrested and charged for assaulting his wife, Chama, following a domestic row. Mr Mwamba who is popularly known as GBM will tomorrow appear in the Lusaka Magistrate court for assault.

Meanwhile, President Rupiah Banda has commissioned the newly upgraded first level Chawama hospital in Lusaka. The occasion was witnessed by thousands of Chawama residents at Chawama football ground this morning.

[pullquote]President Banda said government is currently constructing 26 District Hospitals at 65 billion Kwacha across the country. He said eight of the hospitals which include the Lusaka general hospital will be completed this year.[/pullquote]

Speaking after commissioning the hospital, President Banda said government is committed to providing quality health care close to the families.

President Banda said government is currently constructing 26 District Hospitals at 65 billion Kwacha across the country. He said eight of the hospitals which include the Lusaka general hospital will be completed this year.

Mr Banda said this will improve access to quality health care for people in the country. President Banda said Chawama Hospital including four others in the capital will help decongest the University Teaching hospital-UTH.

The other four up graded clinics in Lusaka are in Kanyama, Chilenje, Matero and Chipata compounds. Mr Banda also said a power generator has been bought to help address a critical shortage of power at the new hospital.

ZNBC

The United Party for National Development (UPND) in Livingstone has called on Namwala UPND Member of Parliament Robbie Chizyuka to resign from the party as he had openly insulted party president Hakainde Hichilema and shifted his allegiance to the ruling MMD.

But major Chizyuka said that the current political scenario was not about the MMD, Patriotic Front (PF) or UPND.

“All I can say is that people need to understand that the current political scenario is about the best president for Zambia in 2011,” he said.

Major Chizyuka said the only person at the moment who had the capacity to unite Zambia was Republican President Rupiah Banda.
[pullquote]“The UPND in Livingstone wishes to remind Major Chizhyuka that Mr Hichilema is a political heavy weight with principles which could not be matched with Major Chizhyuka’s.

“Why is major Chizyuka clinging to the court when the UPND has demonstrated its readiness to challenge him in Namwala District as he stands on the MMD ticket,” the UPND said.[/pullquote]
However, in a statement released in Livingstone yesterday and signed by party district publicity secretary Neto Kalwabala, the party accused Maj Chizyuka of repeatedly belittling Mr Hichilema.

The party condemned Major Chizyuka for his alleged unwarranted and unpalatable insults against Mr Hichilema in some sections of the media.

“The UPND in Livingstone wishes to remind Major Chizhyuka that Mr Hichilema is a political heavy weight with principles which could not be matched with Major Chizhyuka’s.

“Why is major Chizyuka clinging to the court when the UPND has demonstrated its readiness to challenge him in Namwala District as he stands on the MMD ticket,” the UPND said.

The UPND in Livingstone also condemned the politics of name calling, violence and hatred that were currently going on in Zambia today.

“This is exhibited in the manner that Major Chizyuka openly referred to his own party president as an under-five and a political diaper,” part of the statements reads.

The party urged Maj Chizyuka to withdraw the court case and seek a fresh mandate from the people of Namwala under a different party.

The UPND in Livingstone further called on the people of Namwala to pass a vote of no confidence on maj Chizyuka as that was the only action that could not be challenged in a court of law.

[ Times of Zambia ]

United Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema has advised Patriotic Front leader Michael Sata to follow procedure in airing his grievances against UPND youth chairperson Joe Kalusa.

Mr Hichilema said his party would not take disciplinary action against Mr Kalusa because there had been no formal representation from Mr Sata spelling out that he had misconducted himself.

The UPND leader said the pact had a system of airing its grievances and said if Mr Sata had used the right channels UPND would have considered his complaint against Mr Kalusa.

Mr Hichilema was speaking at a media briefing in Lusaka yesterday.

Mr Sata told a QFM Radio programme that he had been hurt by Mr Kalusa’s conduct lately who had even gone to the extent of giving him ultimatums in the media apart from attacking him publicly but UPND had not taken disciplinary action against him.

Mr Hichilema said he did not sit on the disciplinary committee which he said was chaired by the national chairperson and that is why it was important that Mr Sata put his demand in writing.

He admitted that his party lacks the political support to lead it to victory in next year’s presidential election, which was the reason it was insisting on keeping the pact alive with the Patriotic Front (PF).

He said there existed statistics from the 2001, 2006, and 2008 presidential election results that showed that UPND could not go anywhere without a pact.

Mr Hichilema said he was disappointed by senior leaders of UPND and other individuals who had been attempting to convince him to contest the elections outside the pact and called them liars because he did not have the capacity to win the election.

“Please stop coming to cheat me that I can win an election alone because statistics are there for 2001 up to 2008 to show that I cannot win. I hope other politicians can see things that way. I cannot win mwilabepa ubufi (Bemba for don’t tell lies),” Mr Hichilema said.

He said it was clear that the combined votes by the opposition were always higher than the ruling party.

“So please don’t come to me again and say Hakainde you can win alone. You are lying to me and I know that I cannot win,” Mr Hichilema said.
[ Times of Zambia ]

THE Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) has said that prices of mealie meal reduced by an average of K5,200 in Lusaka last month.

The JCTR said in the Basic Needs Basket (BNB) for Lusaka in August, the cost of a 25kg bag of breakfast mealie meal reduced by K5,200 from an average price of K60,800 in July to K55,600.

“The sustained reduction in the cost of mealie meal is mainly attributed to the recorded bumper harvest,” the JCTR stated yesterday.

The BNB is a tool that measures the cost of basic food and essential non-food items for an average family of six in a specific town.

The JCTR also recorded a decrease in other food items such as beans, dry fish, dry kapenta, meat, eggs, vegetables, tomato, onion and bread.

The JCTR stated that overall, the Lusaka BNB recorded an unprecedented reduction in the average cost of basic food items of K96, 300 from K945, 650 in July to K849, 350 in August 2010.

“The reduction in the average cost of food has been completely eroded by significant increases in the cost of non-food items. The non-food items on the BNB is made up of a lean list of essential needs such as housing, energy, water and sanitation, soap,” the JCTR stated.

It said that the average cost of these non-food essentials in Lusaka increased by K115,600 from K1,863,830 in July 2010 to K1,979,430 in August 2010.

While other countries in the world were affected by a rise in wheat prices, the JCTR said that it was commendable that Zambia was not affected. In Mozambique for instance, the cost of bread increased by about 30 per cent contributing to the recent violent protests.

It was noted that the upward trend in the cost of essential non-food items was triggered by a significant increase in the cost of electricity.

[Times of Zambia]

The burial for the late Gladys Mabenga Chitika the daughter of MMD national chairman Michael Mabenga has been postponed to a later date to be announced following a dispute over the results of the postmortem.

Mr Mabenga confirmed the development to ZANIS in Lusaka today.

Mr. Mabenga who is also Lands Deputy Minister said the postponement is in a bid to appeal against the results of a postmortem which was carried out at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) this morning.

He noted that he was not satisfied with way the whole exercise was conducted.

Mr. Mabenga who suspected foul play in the death of his daughter noted that a lot of suspicious events surrounded the death of Gladys.

He disclosed that the family of the deceased was not allowed to witness the postmortem while the Husbands side had representatives.

He alleged that he was not comfortable with the presence of a student Doctor named Sampa Mutale who was allowed to be part of the postmortem team.

He said Sampa is suspected to be a relative to the late Gladys’ husband.

Mr. Mabenga also accused Chilenje police officers of not being professional in the way they have handled the matter from the day his daughter died.

He has explained that the body of his daughter was taken to the mortuary even before the family was informed about the death.

He further added that the cleaning of the blood stains and beddings from the House by Mr. Chitika’s family even before informing his family was enough evidence that there was foul play.

Mr. Mabenga has since apologized to the First Lady Thandiwe Banda, Traditional Leaders, Government officials and other mourners for the inconvenience caused by the postponement of the burial.

And a check at the Cathedral of the Child Jesus were the funeral procession was scheduled to take place found mourners gathered and waiting for the body.

Among the notable mourners included, Presidential Affairs Minster Ronald Mukuma, Chief Government Spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane, and Minister of Gender Sarah Sayifwanda.

Gladys was found dead in the early hours of Saturday in a suspected suicide case however, her family suspect’s foul play and the Husband has since been arrested to help police with investigations in the matter.

QFM

United Party for National Development president Hakainde Hichilema says he cannot be cheated by party members that he can go it alone in the 2011 tripartite elections.

Mr. Hichilema says if the UPND goes it alone in the 2011 elections,chances of removing the current MMD government are very slim.

He says Zambia needs a united opposition in order to remove the ruling MMD from power in the 2011 tripartite elections.

Mr. Hichilema has since called for unity among Zambians if the country is to achieve the change of government.

Mr. Hichilema says the country has continued to suffer at the hands of the corrupt MMD government.

The UPND leader further stated that the UPND/PF pact is intact despite attacks that from the ruling MMD and its sympathizers.

And ULP vice president Gabriel Chibambula has resigned to join the opposition UPND.

Welcoming Mr. Chibambula into the UPND, party president Hakainde Hichilema said the party needs more people.

Mr. Hichilema indicated that more people are going to join the UPND in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile UPND, has called on the MMD government to convene a stakeholders’ meeting to discuss how and where the ballot papers for the 2011 tripartite elections will be printed.

Party Deputy Secretary General, Sikwindi Situla, told QFM in an interview that government’s statement that some machines at government printers have not yet been serviced would demand for a stakeholders’ meeting to discuss the matter more effectively.

Mr. Situla said the issue is not about machines alone, but also to convince the Opposition political parties as to whether the printing of the ballot papers locally will not be fraudulent.

He said, it therefore leaves government with no option, but to call for a stakeholders meeting to decide whether the ballot papers will be printed locally or outside the country.

Meanwhile, Mr. Situla has accused the government of not being ready to hold elections next year.

He said government’s delay to work on the machines at government printers is a clear indication that government is thinking otherwise on whether to go ahead with the elections or not.

Mr. Situla has since advised government to quicken up the process of ensuring that machines at government printers are in good condition before the need of printing ballot papers arises.

Works and Supply Minister, Mike Mulongoti, disclosed over the weekend that not all machines meant for printing ballot papers at Government Printers have been serviced.

[QFM]