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The Zambia Federation of Employers ZFE says it is disgraceful to see investors mistreating local workers who fight for their right.
Commenting on the shooting of 12 miners by Chinese nationals at Collum Coal Mine in Sinazongwe district , ZFE president George Chabwera said it is sad that such incidences have continued to happen despite the country celebrating its 46 years of independence.
Speaking in a telephone interview Dr Chabwera said the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) should direct all investors in the country to engage themselves with the Zambia Federation of Employers to run them through workers Industrial and Labour laws.
Dr Chabwera said it is unfortunate that the Chinese nationals resorted to shooting as a way of solving problems instead of engaging in proper dialogue with the workers.
Twelve miners including one onlooker were on Friday, 15th October 2010, shot and seriously wounded by Chinese nationals at the Collum Coal Mine in Sinazongwe district in Southern Province, as they were presenting their grievances of poor working conditions to Chinese management at shaft two.
Police have since arrested the two Chinese nationals who shot the miners.
[ QFM ]
Girls from community teams playing Social football. Such events are used to educate and sensitize the girls on health and social matters like HIV AIDS.
A rapid assessment conducted by the Forum for African Women Educationalists of Zambia (FAWEZA) on the livelihood of young girls in Kapiri Mposhi has revealed that truck drivers are sexually abusing several of them.
A similar survey was conducted by CAMFED in 2007 and revealed the existence of various forms of violence, both sexual and physical, in schools against female pupils by male school teachers and schoolboys.
FAWEZA programmes manager, Edith Ng’omba said FAWEZA Central Province chapter undertook a rapid assessment of safety and the security situation of girls in Kapiri Mposhi because of high presence of travellers both foreign and locals.
Ms Ng’omba said truck drivers in Kapiri Mposhi made their temporary resting sites en route to various destinations and that put a number of schoolgirls at a high risk of sexual abuse and exploitation.
She said a large farming community surrounded the town with scattered squatters and village settlements located far from most schools and pupils walked long distance, making schoolgirls vulnerable to abuse.
Ms Ng’omba said this at the weekend when she presented to Education Minister Dora Siliya a pictorial album consisting of different pictures on girl-child abuse and exploitation situation in Kapiri Mposhi.
She said the objective of the campaign was to identify spaces where girls experienced most violence and highlighted situations and factors that were threats to school girl’s safety and security in Kapiri Mposhi.
She said the campaign was aimed at engaging school managers, community leaders and the general public to make them recognise the risk factors that compromised girls’ safety and put in place regulations to protect them and ensure their retention in schools.
“As you may be aware, Kapiri Mposhi town lies on the highway to the northern part of Zambia and to the borders of Congo, Tanzania and other east African countries. As such it has a high presence of travelers, both foreign and local,” Ms Ng’omba said.
She said FAWEZA found that weekly boarding pupils such as girls lived in rented lodging, making them vulnerable to sexual violence.
She said the girl-child in such situations were at a higher risk of dropping out of school due to pregnancies since Kapiri Mposhi had an influx of truck drivers.
And speaking when she received the album, Ms Siliya called on various organisations to work closely with her ministry to address challenges faced by vulnerable children in many communities.
She said her ministry was aware several children, especially the girl-child, were faced with all forms of abuse such as sexual harassment and organisations dealing with the welfare of children should join the crusade to advocate for better livelihood.
Ms Siliya said her ministry would organise a seminar where organisations and stakeholders dealing with the welfare of children could meet to discuss how the plight of underprivileged children could be addressed.
[ Times of Zambia ]
POLICE in Ndola have arrested an 84-year-old man of Mushili Township for allegedly defiling his three-year-old granddaughter.
Copperbelt police chief, Martin Malama confirmed the incident and said the man was detained at Masala Police Station while investigations in the matter were continuing.
“Yes, it is true that an 84-year-old man of Mushili Township is detained at Masala Police Station for defiling his three-year-old grand daughter but as at now, I cannot disclose his name because we are still investigating the case,” Dr Malama said.
[ Times of Zambia ]
PF cadres
Twelve Patriotic Front (PF) cadres have been arrested for allegedly attempting to disrupt a public rally that was addressed by Vice-President George Kunda in Mpulungu on Sunday afternoon.
Northern division police chief Chewe Mukuka confirmed the incident in an interview from Kasama yesterday.
“They have been taken to Mbala police station because we do not have cells in Mpulungu. They should be appearing in court soon,” Mr Mukuka said.
The cadres have been charged with conduct likely to cause the breach of peace after they descended on the slogan-chanting MMD cadres with a boat, which is the symbol for PF.
And MMD chairperson for information and publicity Dora Siliya has condemned the PF for exhibiting a high appetite for violence without realising the people they want to harm were also Zambians.
The cadres descended on the rally with a boat that was carrying people who acted like paddlers just a few minutes before the vice-president arrived to start addressing.
The Electoral Code of Conduct prohibits any cadres from campaigning within the vicinity of a public rally being addressed by a rival party.
Mr Mukuka said however that apart from Sunday’s incident the campaigns where Mr Kunda addressed were generally peaceful.
Mr Kunda’s public rally was held within the township near the council offices.
He said police kept on advising the PF provincial leaders who were leading the campaigns to leave but they kept on returning with the boat on the road.
“Each time we spoke to them, they would agree to control their cadres but they acted contrary to what they promised,” Mr Mukuka said.
And Ms Siliya said the MMD would never engage in violent acts because whether the cadres were from PF or UPND, they remained Zambians.
“Even us in the MMD want a credible opposition. Zambians deserve a credible opposition,” Ms Siliya said.
[ Times of Zambia ]
PF leader Michael sata and UPND leader Hakainde HichilemaSMALL-SCALE farmers yesterday said Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata and United Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema cannot perform better than President Rupiah Banda.
The farmers have also said opposition leaders should stop criticising President Banda’s trips abroad because they were beneficial to the country.
Zambia Small-Scale Farmers Network (ZSSFN) board chairperson Boyd Liambai said in Lusaka yesterday that Mr Sata and Mr Hichilema did not have the capacity to do anything better than what President Banda had done.
Mr Liambai cited achievements such as the decision by the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to buy farm produce worth K1.5 trillion from farmers while distribution of farming inputs had already started.
The Government had increased the Constituency Development Fund from K200 million to K600 million and the number of people accessing in-puts under the farmer input support programme had also been tripled.
Mr Liambai said the schools and rural health centers had also been improved in the country, which must be appreciated.
“We would like to request Mr Sata and Mr Hichilema to be truthful in their dealings more especially when they are talking about issues affecting the people of Zambia,” Mr Liambai said.
He condemned the recent wave of attacks on President Banda by some clergy, businesspersons and politicians in the name of democracy.
Mr Liambai said the president had ensured that there was improved infrastructure development such as the completion of the Choma-Namwala Road, the Chipata-Mchinji railway line which projects had all been completed within the two years that President Banda had been in power.
He reminded Mr Sata and Mr Hichilema that the Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ) had been revamped and could produce 20,000 tonnes of fertiliser.
“What more do people want better than this? We are therefore appealing to the people of Zambia more especially those in Chilanga and Mpulungu where there are by-elections not to listen to Mr Sata and Mr Hichilema but treat their word with contempt,” he said.
Mr Liambai said the agricultural and other policies were among the best in the SADC region and urged Zambians to embrace the Government for continued prosperity.
He said the trips being undertaken by the president were necessary and accused the two leaders of taking advantage of poor people to tell lies on the President’s trips abroad.
First Lady Thandiwe Banda giving a hammermill to women in Luapula
THE Lusaka High Court has thrown out an injunction in which the Patriotic Front sued First Lady Thandiwe Banda for assisting the vulnerable, alleging that she is abusing Government funds.
In his ruling, Judge Phillip Musonda said the application should not have been brought before court by a person of average comprehension.
He said the application for an injunction was against a wrong party as she has no role to play in receiving or spending Government funds.
Judge Musonda also said no evidence of abuse of public funds was presented. The court said the assumption that she was abusing funds is speculative and that the injunction to stop her, as a first lady, from using Government resources, does not meet the test of irreparability of damage when this practice has gone on for 44 years.
“This injunction on disbursement of funds illustrates a serious misunderstanding by the plaintiffs,” Judge Musonda said.
He said to grant the injunction against Mrs Banda will be violating the Constitution and the Financial Control Management Act.
Judge Musonda said the two statues have appointed officers to receive, pay and audit Government revenue.
He said granting the injunction can also amount to an intrusion in the Auditor General’s constitutional function, the Minister of Finance, Secretary to the Treasury, controlling officers who are personally liable for unauthorised expenditure and internal auditors’ statutory functions.
Evelyn Kangwa and Majorie Nakaponda filed an application for an injunction against Mrs Banda seeking the court to restrain her from acting in any capacity not supported by any law of the land. They wanted the court to restrain Mrs Banda from disbursing moneys and distributing goods which are not provided for in the estimates of expenditure by Parliament.
The plaintiffs, through their lawyer Wynter Kabimba, were also seeking the court to restrain Mrs Banda from using the facilities in the absence of disclosing the source of the monies and goods and also to restrain her from using official Government facilities and services for alleged party political activities until after trial.
Judge Musonda said Mrs Banda has no role directing, disbursing or controlling expenditure. He said Zambia has been independent since 1964 and that all first ladies in the country have enjoyed these facilities which are a practice world over.
Judge Musonda said the United States, United Kingdom andthe entire Commonwealth Africa exercise the same practice which attained the status of a constitution convention.
He said Vera Chiluba set up the Hope Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, which was identified with her while Mrs Maureen Mwanawasa set up the Maureen Mwanawasa Community Initiative.
He said the current first lady states that she wants to join hands with all charitable and non-governmental organisations to help various organisations depending on their needs.
The court said Mrs Banda’s sentiments demonstrate that her approach is non-partisan and wondered how distributing goods to the needy or towards poverty alleviation can cause irreparable harm when more personalised charitable work by previous first ladies did not cause irreparable harm.
INK Tech managing director Mohan Mathews yesterday told the Lusaka High Court that Lusaka lawyer Robert Simeza allegedly initiated the plans to bribe a magistrate and judge to secure the bail of his convicted client, Rathi Kumar using the late Sajid Itowala.
Testifying in his defence before Supreme Court Judge Gregory Phiri sitting as High Court judge, Matthews said Mr Simeza was the one who introduced the deceased to him so that they could work together and help Kumar flee the country.
Matthews testified that the magistrate was allegedly first paid K150 million by the deceased after getting it from him and in turn the magistrate advised Rathi to behave like a mental patient in court.
This move was meant for him to recommend Rathi to go for a mental check up at Chainama Hospital, which was done and later be assisted to flee the country from the mental hospital.
This is in a case where Mohan, is jointly charged with Crown Paints brothers Idris and Shabir Patel with one count of murder.
It is alleged that the trio in July last year, whilst acting together with other persons unknown, murdered Itowala.
He told the court that earlier Mr Simeza had allegedly asked him to inform Rathi that they come up with plans to assist him flee the country and signed a cheque to purchase two air tickets, for Rathi not in his real names and the one for his mother in law, a Mrs Pitti.
Mr Simeza then organised to meet a National Airports official Fred Malama who was also allegedly bribed to ensure that he helped him with a check-in plan prior to the duo’s arrival at the international airport and he gave them two boarding passes.
He said on April 29 last year, Mr Simeza allegedly organised everyone involved alongside Rathi’s mother-in-law and they all went to Chainama to assist Rathi escape from hospital enroute to the airport.
“Shaun and Chileshe broke the main gates to Chainama mental prisons, switched off the lights but were disturbed by the alarm system and immediately ran away before they could rescue Rathi. The security men rushed to the prisons section and got Rathi back to Kamwala Remand Prisons.
Matthews said Mr Simeza allegedly advised him that there were so many ways of killing a rat and that Rathi’s father would be in the country to sort out the mess, and when he arrived he called for a meeting with Sajid.
It was at this point that Sajid allegedly told Rathi’s father, Mr Simeza and Matthews that he needed more money to assist Rathi with bail since by then he had already been convicted to four years.
He said his father organised altogether US$750,000, $450,000 for the judge who was going to handle the bail at the High Court and the $300,000 for the magistrate who allowed the bail application.
The defence continues today.
Qualified and skilled workers are shunning Kabompo district council in Northwestern Province because it is
the only council in the region which is offering lowest salaries and wages to workers.
Kabompo District Council Director of Works, Chisenga Changwe made the observation when he made a submission on the council, on behalf of Council Secretary Lizzy Makayi to the Salaries Review Commission which sat in Kabompo last Friday and was Chaired by Professor Muyunda Mwanalushi.
Mr Changwe said that the Kabompo district council was not only unable to retain qualified and skilled personnel but also unable to pay salaries and wages to its workers because of poor financial muscles.
He said that the council owed institutions and individuals over K 685.6 million in salaries and wage arrears and for other services rendered to the council.
Mr Changwe further said that unless salaries and wages for workers in the district councils were standardized according to the categories of councils in Zambia, some councils with poor resources like Kabompo would continue paying lowest salaries and wages which will cause workers to desert the council for greener pasture.
He lamented that for several years the posts of Deputy Council Secretary and Deputy Treasurer have remained vacant.
The Salaries Review Commission has started receiving submissions from workers and organisations on the Coppberbelt.
President Rupuiah Banda appointed the commission to review the conditions of service for public service workers.
The commission headed by Professor Muyunda Mwanalushi conducted its first sittings in Ndola Monday morning, at which workers, unions and government institutions representatives made their submissions.
Among the institutions which made submissions, are the Clinical officers Association of Zambia, the Mpongwe District Administration, Copperbelt Province administration and representatives form the Meteorological department.
Professor Mwanalushi said government would no longer promote and increase salaries for civil servants automatically.
He said government has instead introduced the annual performance appraisal system to effect salary increments and promotions in the public service.
And Clinical Officer Association of Zambia Secretary General Milner Kasempa urged the commission to recommend the reinstatement of the Clinical Officer structure which was abolished under the health reforms.
And Mpongwe District commissioner Rasford Bulaya called for the harmonisation of salary scales among professionals holding similar qualifications.
[ ZNBC ]
Vice president George Kunda cheering an MMD dance group
Republican Vice-president George Kunda has said he has video evidence of opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema insulting government leaders and police officers.
Speaking when he addressed Chilanga residents during a campaign rally to drum up support for the ruling MMD party candidate, Keith Mukata, Kunda, a lawyer charged that Hichilema was a violent character who preached hatred in his campaign messages.
“Hichilema is a very violent character, he likes violence, that is why everywhere where there is a by-election, HH goes there to destabilize peace. He insults, we have video evidence of Mr. HH insulting even the police, we have it,” he said.
Kunda said the only thing that Hichilema had learned from his Patriotic Front (PF) counterpart Michael Sata, with whom he has formed a Pact ahead of the 211 general elections, was insulting.
“HH has learnt how to insult from Mr. Sata, these are the lessons he has received from Mr. Sata, So my advice to HH is, leave this violent man Sata,” Kunda said.
Earlier, Kunda urged Chilanga residents to vote for the MMD candidate in the October 25th parliamentary by-election, saying the UPND candidate Captain Cosmas Moono was a reject.
“I want to warn you against voting for Captain Cosmas Moono, he is a reject, Captain Moono served you before and he failed, and Mr. (Ng’andu Magande) took over… So we have brought you a new broom, this is the broom you need here in Chilanga,” said Kunda.
Zambians in Mpulungu, North of the capital Lusaka and Chilanga just in the outskirts, South of the City will be going to the polls to vote for two parliamentary candidates.
This was necessitated by the death of lameck Chibombamilimo in Mpulungu and the resignation of former finance minister Ng’andu Magande as Chilanga MP.
Earlier story
Vice President George Kunda says the UPND’s popularity in the country, is diminishing.
Mr Kunda said most UPND supporters are joining the MMD because they have seen that the opposition party has got no future in the politics of Zambia.
The Vice President also said that UPND Leader Hakainde hichilema would soon be suspended from his party because the party has lost confidence in him.
Mr Kunda was speaking at Munyewu Basic School in Lusaka West during campaigns to drum up support for the MMD Chilanga Constituency candidate Keith Mukata
He said Mr Mukata is a hard working Lawyer who has served his community diligently.
Four candidates are vying for the Chilanga parliamentary seat which was left vacant following the expulsion of Ng’andu Magande from the MMD.
The candidates include, Valeri Bqwalya of NAREP, MMD’s Keith Mukata, UNIP’s Henry Silumesi and the UPND- PF pact Candidate Captain Cosmas Moono.
Chilanga residents go to the polls on October 25.
[ ZNBC ]
Every country has traits and characteristics peculiar to it, whether it be a way of doing something or a way of talking. Before I came to Zambia, I didn’t use the 24-hour clock. It was taken for granted that if you arranged to meet someone at 2:30, in all likelihood you didn’t mean in the morning. Here in Zambia, tell someone you’ll see them at four o’clock, and you’ll get a look of horrified surprise. You have to be specific. It’s not even a question of adding am or pm onto the time, you have to say 16 hours or 18:30. The suffix “hours” is even used when talking of time pre-noon. You might, for instance, arrange a meeting at 10 hours or an appointment at zero-eight-fifteen.
Chances are though, that you won’t be making an appointment: that’s another Zambian characteristic. Want to see the doctor? Just turn up and wait. Sometimes you can be lucky and no one else is there, or else you can join a queue which, more often than not, does not follow usual queue etiquette.
The idea of privacy is also something of an unknown where a visit to the doctor’s is concerned. While explaining your ailment, you may be interrupted by a knock at the door because someone has come to pick up their tablets (these are dispensed from a cupboard in the doctor’s surgery, not a chemist). Or perhaps a salesman has arrived and wants to show the doctor what type of antibiotics he has this month, or maybe it’s the lab technician from the hospital with blood test results and he wants to be paid before he leaves. Though frustrating, it’s not as bad as when you are visiting the gynaecologist for an internal examination and her teenage son comes in to collect his pocket money.
Lack of privacy is not confined to the doctor’s surgery. Beauty salons are usually places of great discretion. Therapists practise behind drawn curtains and most operate a “do not disturb” policy while they are seeing a client. Most ladies don’t want their partners and husbands to know that they have their chins plucked and their moustaches regularly removed, never mind half the population of the town. Not in Zambia.
The most interesting experience I had in this regard was when another client turned up while I was having my legs waxed. I was told that she had made an appointment before I had (appointment? What appointment?) and therefore would I mind waiting outside for a moment. So, covered with little sticky bits of wax, I removed myself to the waiting area. The client, who was a young girl of 13 or 14, went inside to have her armpits waxed, while her mother apologized profusely to me. I eventually had my turn again, and when leaving the salon was surprised to see the mother and daughter still there. They had been in no hurry at all and were waiting to have tea with the beautician!
The idea of keeping quiet during play performances, musical concerts and church services is also a foreign one, as people talk on their phones and greet each other with apparently no sense of where they are or who they may be disturbing. The chewing of gum is a national pastime, at all times and in all places. My partner, who is a teacher, had to ask a parent to remove a piece of gum from her mouth as he couldn’t understand what she was talking about.
Zambia is indeed a country of contradictions. The driving is horrendous, and yet drivers hoot at each other for the smallest misdemeanors. Everybody has a mobile phone, yet no one rings you back, even though they say they will. And despite all the emphasis on getting the time exactly right, everybody is constantly late. Whether it’s a 12- or 24- hour clock, we’re on African time here.
Do you have an expat experience you’d like to share? Email no more than 1,000 words to [email protected]
Inspector General of Police Francis Kabonde addresses a press briefing in Lusaka
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Inspector General of Police Francis Kabonde, talks to spokesperson Ndandula Siamana before addressing a press briefing in Lusaka
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Justice Kafusha is a Zambian who has been in Denmark for 20 years now and works as an IT Technician for an Energy Company named Vattenfall, in the Town of Odense(Justice requested to share his picture with bloggers)
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Some Enumerators for the 2010 census being deployed in readiness for the programme from the Ministry of Finance and National Planning Offices in Mongu.
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Some Enumerators for the 2010 census
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One of the dormitories that was burnt at Kabunda Girls Secondary school in Mansa
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KABUNDA Girls Secondary School in Mansa District has been gutted. The inferno swept through the school Dormitories leaving three pupils hospitalised. The fire started around 22hrs on Saturday and destroyed students' Books, Clothes Groceries and other school materials. Here, grade 12 pupils Angela and Frida, mourning because they lost all their belongings
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Some of the dormitories at Kabunda Girls Secondary school that was gutted at the weekend.
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Some of the dormitories at Kabunda Girls Secondary school that was gutted at the weekend.
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Chief Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha, First republican president Kenneth Kaunda, second president Fredrick Chiluba and his wife Regina and Lusaka District Commissioner Christah Kalulu singing a hymn during this year’s independence interdenominational church service at The Cathedral of the Holy Cross
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First republican president Kenneth Kaunda addresses the audience at this year’s independence interdenominational church service at Cathedral of the Holy Cross
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A choir band singing during the independence interdenominational church service at The Cathedral of the Holy Cross
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Chief Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha, First republican president Kenneth Kaunda, second president Fredrick Chiluba and his wife Regina and Lusaka District Commissioner Christah Kalulu follow proceeds during this year’s independence interdenominational church service at Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
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Several church leaders join the congregation in singing a hymn during this year’s independence interdenominational church service at Cathedral of the Holy Cross
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First Republican President Kenneth Kaunda shares a light moment with former President Frederick Chiluba while Chief Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha looks on
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Chief Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha greets first Republican President Kenneth Kaunda
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First Republican President Kenneth Kaunda , former president Fredrick Chiluba and Chief Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha walking out of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross
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Different members from various denominations after attending this year’s independence interdenominational church service at Cathedral of the Holly Cross
Commerce minister Felix Mutati
The Zambian government has finally signed the long awaited Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) with Itezhi tezhi Power Corporation for the development of the 120 Mega watts Itezhi tezhi power station.
The signing of the agreement will see the development of the power station at a total cost of 270 million United States dollars.
The Itezhi tezhi power project is an initiative of Tata holdings and ZESCO limited.
Speaking at the signing ceremony Commerce Minister Felix Mutati said Zambia would never achieve its set target with low supply of power.
He said the country needs constant and reliable power supply for it to achieve targets such as the vision 2030.
Mr Mutati noted that government is working round the clock to ensure that it addresses the power constraints that the country is going through.
Mr Mutati added that government has targeted to connect about 50 percent of homes in Zambia to the national grid in five years time.
And Zambia Development Agency ZDA chairman Luke Mbewe has called on various investors to come and invest in Zambia.
He said it is such investments that are indications that Zambia’s economy is a business friendly environment.
