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Two people have died on the spot while 22 others sustained serious injuries when the bus they were in, hit into another bus on the Samfya-Serenje road.
Police Public Relations officer Ndandula Siamana confirmed the accident on Thursday
Mrs Siamana said the accident happened in the early hours of Wednesday, about six kilometeres from Samya.
She said the driver of the Gemin bus only identified as Chris hit into a stationary CR Carriers Marcopolo bus which had caught fire after developing a fault.
She identified the deceased as Benard Kaite, 29 of Chiengi district while the other person has only been identified as Derson of Kapiri Mposhi.
Mrs Siamana said the bodies of the two are lying in Mansa General Hospital mortuary.
In another development MMD National Chairman Michael Mabenga’s son in law Chansa Chitika has been charged with murder.
Mrs Siamana said Mr Chitika appeared in court Thursday.
[ ZNBC ]
The united party for national development UPND has denied media reports that the party has resolved to pull out from the UPND/PF PACT.
It has been reported that The United Party For National Development (UPND) has resolved to withdraw from the electoral pact with the Patriotic Front (PF).
It is said that National Executive Committee (NEC) and the National Management Committee (NMC) have rejected the alliance with the PF describing it as not workable because of serious differences which have spilled to the media.
But UPND deputy spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa has described the reports as misleading.
He says that the UPND has not resolved to break away from the pact and that it is sad that certain media houses are fabricating stories.
He however says that the pact is currently standing on sick ground because of certain members who are issuing statements that have potential to undermine the pact.
Mr. Mweetwa says that such a decision to break away from the pact can only be arrived at under a high level meeting.
Former vice president Enoch Kavindele
Former republican Vice-president, Enoch Kavindele has charged that the public declaration of his candidature for the MMD vice-presidency at the forthcoming party convention is right on time.
This is in response to claims by the acting MMD national secretary, Chembe Nyangu that it is too early for Mr Kavindele to declare interest to contest the MMD vice presidency at the convention given his membership status in the party.
Mr Kavindele said that it wrong for people to question his membership of the ruling MMD.
He said that his decision to declare interest in running for the MMD vice president position is on time.
The Former republican vice president has since said that he is ready to contest the party position whenever the NEC chooses to announce the date for the national convention.
MMD national chairperson Michael Mabenga’s son-in-law David Chitika has been jointly charged with his nephew for murder and yesterday appeared in a Lusaka Magistrate Court.
This is in a matter in which Chitika, 37, a Barclays Bank Zambia support specialist of 20 Petauke Road in Chilenje South, who is jointly charged with Lawrence Kaunda, 21, a student, are charged with murder contrary to section 200 of the Penal Code.
Particulars of the offence are that Chitika and Kaunda on dates unknown but between September 10 and 11 this year jointly and while acting together did murder Gladys Maketo Mabenga-Chitika.
The duo first appeared before Chief Resident Magistrate Charles Kafunda who allocated the matter to Magistrate Kelvin Soma where the charge was read to both of them in a packed courtroom.
Mr Soma read the charge to the accused persons in presence of their lawyer, Mwansa Phiri of Phiri and Associates.
He informed the duo that the court could not try the matter as it did not handle such cases and that it would be heard in the High Court once the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) issued a letter of committal.
“This murder charge is not triable by the subordinate court but by the High Court, you are only here to appear for explanation of the charge and thereafter you will be required to appear for mention in court until the DPP issues a letter of committal for your matter to be heard in the High Court,” he said.
The matter has since been adjourned to October 7 this year for another mention.
[ Times of Zambia ]
The MMD has called on Zambians to continue rejecting Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata in next year’s elections because he has caused deep divisions among Zambians.
Addressing a rally at Zyamba primary school in Mpulungu yesterday, MMD spokesperson Dora Siliya said Mr Sata’s style of politics and campaigns has led to some areas of the country to support his politics while vast areas of the country have widely rejected him.
She urged people of Northern Province to join the rest of the country in rejecting Mr Sata because he had been promoting bad language, which had led to him being resented in Eastern, Southern, Central, North Western and Western provinces.
“Mr Sata uses fists and bad language to promote hate against the Government, but the good part is that the major parts of the country have rejected his politics,” she said.
Zambians had an opportunity to continue with the current President Rupiah Banda who had continued to unify the country under extreme difficulty because of Mr Sata.
Ms Siliya was in the Northern Province to tour development projects and also hold public rallies to woo support ahead of the parliamentary by-election set for October 28.
“[pullquote]Mr Sata uses fists and bad language to promote hate against the Government, but the good part is that the major parts of the country have rejected his politics,” she said.[/pullquote]
Ms Siliya also announced that K3 billion had been disbursed for the payment to farmers who supplied maize to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA).
“For the first time, Mpulungu is getting a high school which has been constructed already and the Government will enroll 7,250 teachers next year which is a serious jump from the 2,500 employed this year,” she said.
She explained that the current leadership is doing everything possible to reduce the cost of living for all Zambians and the first step was the uniform fuel price announced by the president last week.
Earlier, Ms Siliya urged civil servants aligned to partisan politics to immediately quit and join full time politics ahead of the 2011 presidential and general elections.
She said this when she addressed hundreds of teachers in Mpulungu yesterday where a by-election takes place on October 28, 2010 following the death of Lameck Chibombamilimo who held the seat under the ruling MMD.
Ms Siliya, who is MMD chairperson for information and publicity, said the Government wanted such civil servants to be bold and face an open competition instead of frustrating Government development efforts using covert political methods.
There had been reports that civil servants were deeply engaged in aligned politics to an extent of attending planning meetings at the expense of service provision to the people.
This had compromised their integrity and reduced the balanced trust they held among the people they served.
Ms Siliya said the code of conduct for civil servants was clear and intended to promote integrity among the bureaucrats who had stead taken to political activities.
She also challenged opposition political party leaders to ensure that the campaigns for the Mpulungu seat were violent free to serve children and women who were the most affected by the violence in Mufumbwe in North-Western Province.
[ Times of Zambia ]
Some Lusaka residents during the launch of the UPND-PF pact
THE United Party for National Development (UPND) has said statements by Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata and his secretary general, Wynter Kabimba on the status of the pact go against the spirit which prompted its formation.
And the opposition party has said PF is no longer as strong as it was in 2006 and 2008 and therefore cannot claim that only its president could lead the pact.
Reacting to statements by Mr Sata and Mr Kabimba in yesterday’s Post, UPND acting party spokesperson Douglas Syakalima said by their own statements, the two did not believe in the spirit of the pact.
“By saying that UPND should accept that PF has more MPs than the UPND and the issue of presidency only means that they don’t believe in the pact,” Mr Syakalima said.
But when contacted for comment, Mr Sata said his party was still strong.
“If they respect the pact they would not speak like that. We have helped them to condemn Chizyuka (Namwala Member of Parliament Robbie Chizyuka).
“Those rebels in PF are our problem. We went to Chifubu where there was a rebel MP and we won,” Mr Sata said.
But Mr Syakalima said the pact had never discussed the issue of presidency as claimed by Mr Kabimba.
He said in Lusaka yesterday that the claim by the PF that it had more Members of Parliament (MPs) was wrong.
[pullquote]“As an old man, we expected Mr Sata to provide wisdom in the pact, but he has failed. If anything his statements in the media are showing that he is losing wisdom every day,” Mr Kalusa said.[/pullquote]
“The reason why people enter into pacts or alliances is because they realise that they cannot single-handedly win and form Government.
“That’s why we have had a slogan in the pact that if it is not Michael Sata as president then it should be Hakainde Hichilema,” Mr Syakalima said.
He said PF was no longer strong because most of its MPs voted with the MMD in Parliament and wondered why the PF could not accept reality that they had been losing to the MMD in Luapula Province.
Mr Syakalima said that PF could no longer bank on its past glory because the “political pendulum is emotional and unpredictable.”
He said while the Liberal Democrats were a small party in the United Kingdom, they determined who formed Government in the last elections.
UPND chairperson for energy Garry Nkombo said it was wrong for Mr Sata to create an impression that PF was larger than the pact.
Mr Nkombo noted that the more than 70 per cent of the people who voted against the MMD were more than the share of the PF.
He maintained that Mr Kabimba was an enemy of the pact and that the Zambian people would blame him for breaking the opposition alliance.
And UPND national youth chairperson, Joe Kalusa has claimed that Mr Sata has lost wisdom despite having served in Government for a long time.
“As an old man, we expected Mr Sata to provide wisdom in the pact, but he has failed. If anything his statements in the media are showing that he is losing wisdom every day,” Mr Kalusa said.
And Copperbelt UPND chairperson Elisha Matambo said in Ndola yesterday that the party grassroots members were “sick and tired” of the attitude of the PF bigwigs who had continued to issue statements that belittled the UPND.
EXPELLED MMD Chilanga Member of Parliament (MP) Ng’andu Magande has launched his campaign for his presidential bid in 2011 through a political movement called the National Movement for Progress (NMP), currently distributing campaign fliers in Southern Province.
According to one of the fliers obtained by the Times in Monze, the former Finance and National Planning minister claims to have been the architect of the economy during the reign of the late president Levy Mwanawasa.
“This son of mother Zambia tried his best to transform the Zambian economy working together with the late president Levy Mwanawasa SC,” reads the flier authored by “concerned public servants”.
“You and I experienced and appreciate the positive change in our economy that came with reform and management style under his stewardship,” it reads.
Mr Magande’s campaign claims Zambia’s standing with the international community had greatly improved and that Zambians were well respected worldwide because of his leadership.
Efforts to get a comment from Mr Magande failed, as his mobile phone remained switched off.
Mr Magande recently told a tabloid that he would leave his options open to either form a new political party or join the existing ones.
The MMD recently expelled Mr Magande from the ruling party.
When contacted for comment Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata said Mr Magande had a democratic right to form a party.
“We are not in a one party State. Any body that wants to form a party is free to do so,” he said.
MMD spokesperson Dora Siliya refused to comment and only stressed that Mr Magande and Kafulafuta MP George Mpombo were no longer members of the ruling party.
UPND acting spokesperson Douglas Syakalima said the party would only comment after Mr Magande officially announced his intentions.
Labour Minister Austin Liato (l), Gladys Lundwe (c) from Gender and Bradford Machila for Livestock during the opening of ParliamentParliament today heard that the Ministry of lands has revoked the land administration agency to Lusaka city council because the council was ignoring the laid down procedures as provided under the land circular No.1 of 1985.
Lands Minster Gladys Lundwe said section (7) of Land cicular No.! of 1985 gives reserved powers to the minister responsible for Land to suspend the agency of any council that is not following procedures
She told the house that she used her powers under this section to revoke the agency of the Lusaka city council.
This was in response to a question raised by Kanyama member of parliament Colonel Gerry Chanda who wanted when the ministry of lands will restore the land administration agency to the city council, and what reasons for revocation of the agency .
Ms Lundwe said the illegal land allocation was one of the reasons and the action taken by her ministry within its legal mandate was to revoke the agency of the council.
She however told the house that her ministry was not privy to the details of the individuals involved in the scam as the ministry’s interest was I in the process and not individuals.
This was in response to a question raised by Kanyama Mp Gerry Chanda who wanted to know if illegal land allocation was one of the reasons , why council officials whether re involved in the land scam and whether action was taken against the culprits.
Ms Lundwe noted that the agency will be restricted upon the ministry getting convicted and that the land administration systems in Lusaka are in place.
A woman has been killed by an elephant, while her son has been wounded in the Mosi-O-Tunya National Park near the Sun International hotel in Livingstone.
The unidentified woman’s head and some of her body parts were found scattered along a path that the Elephants use in the park.
Southern Province Police Commanding Officer Lemmy Kajoba said the womans other body parts were also found near the rail line within the National Park.
The gruesome discovery was made at around 09:30 hours Thursday.
Mr Kajoba disclosed that his men also discovered a three year old child a few metres from where the woman’s body parts were found.
A ZNBC crew found the child, who had sustained a fractured right leg and skull being attended to at Livingstone General Hospital.
Police suspect that the deceased woman could be a Congolese national because the child was speaking Congolese.
[ ZNBC ]
Dario Bonetti will have a smile on his face wherever he is in Italy with news that two key players have made headway in recovering from injuries ahead of Zambia’s trip to Libya next month during the weekend of October 8-10.
Striker Jacob Mulenga and defender Hichani Himoonde who both missed Zambia’s opening 2012 Africa Cup Group C qualifier at home against Comoros on September 5 are back on the field that Bonetti’s side won 4-0 in Lusaka.
Mulenga has so far played two games in the last four days starting on Sunday when he came on in the second half to help his Dutch side FC Utretch beat VVV-Venlo 3-2 at home with an assist in the winning goal.
The former Afrisports striker followed this up on Wednesday with a goal for Utrecht in their 1-1 draw against De Graafschap in the KNVB Cup third round that his club won 4-3 on post-match penalties.
Mulenga has been out of action for since August 26.
Meanwhile, Himoonde of TP Mazembe in DR Congo has said he has begun light training after close to a month out of action.
Himoonde he hopes to mark his return to competitive action on October 3 for TP in the Caf Champions League holders’ semifinal clash against JS Kabyile of Algeria whom they host in the first leg on October 3.
“I have started light training and my target is to be ready for the JSK game,” the defender said from his base in Lubumbashi today.
Defence Minister Kalombo Mwansa (c) after inspecting a parade
Minister of Defence Dr. Kalombo Mwansa has said Zambia has made a lot of progress in improving the macro economic environment leading to sustained economic growth of 6.1 percent for the past five years.
Dr. Mwansa has commended cooperating partners whose support had resulted in the positive economic growth which Zambia has continued to enjoy.
He noted that the debt relief accessed after reaching the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) completion point in 2004 from external partners in various donor support mechanisms amounted to a total of US$ 798.20 million.
ZANIS reports that Presenting a national statement to the high-level segment of the United Nations General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Dr Mwansa who is the Special envoy of President Rupiah Banda to the Assembly said with only five years remaining , before the year set for achieving the MDGs, Zambia had stepped back and taken stock of where the country was.
This is contained in a press statement made available to ZANIS by Press Secretary at the Zambian Mission to the United Nations in New York, Moses Walubita.
Dr. Mwansa informed the assembly that the Zambian government had put in place development frameworks such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) and the fifth National Development Plan that have been committed to the achievement of the MDGs and have provided for periodic monitoring of these indicators.
The minister explained that the country has invested in growth sectors and in areas that promoted human capital development.
He said other efforts have been made in implementing pro-poor interventions among them increasing farmer input support from 200,000 beneficiaries to over 800,000 farmers in form of fertiliser and seed.
The minister also highlighted some of the challenges that Government was facing in an effort to achieve the MDGs, saying one of them high food prices that were experienced in the last few years which threatened a large number of poor people who could not easily access highly priced foods.
He said the other challenge was climatic variability that continued to be experienced and has had a telling effect on the lives of the majority of people.
He stated that the other concern was the issue of inequality that was emerging in relation to the attainment of the MDGs describing it as a real phenomenon which needed to be addressed if progress was expected by 2015.
The minister informed the assembly that the Zambian government was accelerating rural development as a prime issue on Zambia’s development agenda.
“The government is improving the state of feeder roads thereby enhancing service delivery and access to markets in the rural population. These interventions are backed by addressing human resources deficiencies in rural areas” the minister said.
He pointed out that some of the measures included the recruitment of 1,610 frontline medical personnel improving the work environment for health workers and improving the rural retention scheme and building houses for rural health workers.
He said it was the conviction of Government that these measures will significantly contribute to meeting the MDGs related to the reduction of child mortality, improving maternal mortality, combating HIV and AIDS, Malaria and other major diseases.
The special envoy who is also leading the Zambian delegation to the 65th regular session of the United Nations General Assembly informed the assembly that Government has recruited and deployed over 25,000 teachers between 2005 and 2009 close to 6,000 basic school classrooms have been built between 2008 and 2010 in a bid to achieving universal primary education.
On gender equality, the minister said the Government was implementing regional and international protocols and conventions through appropriate national policies and strategies saying with this, Zambia was likely to meet the MDG 3 on promoting gender equality.
Scores of Mansa Municipal Council (MMC ) general workers today marched from the civic centre to the District Commissioner’s office to protest over unpaid salaries for 10 months.
About 30 council workers, most of them dressed in blue work suits gathered as early as 08.00 hours demanding to see the district commissioner major Chibwe Nsakasha.
However, when major Nsakasha emerged from his office he refused to address the workers telling them to go back to the civic centre where he would join the town clerk Bwanga Kapumpa to speak to them.
The DC said he would not address the workers in vacuum and asked them to select their leaders who would represent them when he will meet the town clerk.
The workers complained to ZANIS that they have not got paid since January this year.
They said they were paid the salary meant for December last year four months ago.
The workers, who said were going to continue their peaceful demonstrations, are demanding for the removal of Mansa town clerk, Mr Kapumpa whom they accused of being insensitive to their welfare.
The town clerk was not available for comment.
Government early in the year released over K3 trillion budgetary allocation to 67 City and District councils in the country for their 2010 budget expenditure.
Local Government and Housing Minister Eustarckio Kazonga disclosed at a press briefing in Lusaka that five councils however did not benefit from the grant because their failure to submit their 2009 budget expenditure reports to the ministry.
Dr. Kazonga named the five district councils as Livingstone, Sinazongwe, Mungwi, Mansa and Mwense district councils respectively.
He urged the councils that have not submitted their 2009 expenditure to do so before the end of March 2010 to enable the ministry evaluate their spending.
Government has disclosed that about K174 billion has been spent to complete the 73- kilometre Zimba-Livingstone road in Southern Province.
And government has expressed satisfaction on workmanship on the road by the contractor China Geo Corporation (CGC.)
ZANIS reports that Southern Province Deputy Permanent Secretary Alfred Chingi said the completion of the road had boosted the already existing trade in the province as evidenced by the many infrastructure development being witnessed in the province.
Mr. Chingi also stated that the road had linked the province to other parts of the country to trade in various merchandises which would improve the livelihoods of many Zambians.
He said this when Civil Society Platform National Coordinator Mutale Wakunuma and a team of Journalists from Lusaka called on him at his office in Livingstone today.
He said the Zimba-Livingstone road is expected to be commissioned as soon the contractor handed it over to Government.
The DPS further expressed delight on the amount of infrastructure development being witnessed in the province.
He said recently, there has been an influx of investors in the province intending to invest in various sectors, a move he described as good for the development of the region and the people of Southern Province.
Mr. Chingi attributed the level of development being witnessed in the province to Government’s good policies devised to attract more investors who in turn created jobs for the local people.
The Lusaka City Council has advised residents to make formal complaints at the local authority when they experience cases of noise pollution.
Lusaka City Council (LCC) Assistant Public Relations Manager Mulunda Habeenzu said the local authority can not intervene unless members of the public register a formal complaint.
Mr Habeenzu said this in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today.
He explained that upon receiving a report of such nature, the Council then forwarded it to its police to conduct investigations which determined the local authority’s next course of action.
Residents from Rhodes Park have expressed concern at the loud music played at the Barclays Sports Complex until early hours of the morning hence disturbing their peace.
He further said the local authority can not take any action at the moment as it had not received a formal complaint.
Sports Minister Kenneth Chipungu and his Deputy Christopher Kalila
Government has said it will not tolerate unnecessary excuses from Zambian workers who are working with a Chinese firm Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Corporation (AFECC) to build the Ndola stadium.
Minister of Sports Kenneth Chipungu said complaints that the workers were being mistreated at the construction site was one way of delaying works which he said would not be tolerated.
Mr. Chipungu said the Chinese firm had a deadline to meet adding that they were working hard to ensure that the construction of the stadium was completed within the stipulated time frame saying it would be costly to extend the construction period.
He added that extending the construction period of the stadium would require mobilisation of more resources saying this would be unaffordable for the country and that it may delay the works even further.
He said the country was in a hurry to have a modern, multi-purpose Stadium to host international matches adding that the Chinese contractor was aware of the nature of work and would not also tolerate absenteeism, underperformance and laziness from workers.
He said workers at the stadium most of whom were youths should not unnecessarily complain but commit themselves to the work which he said would benefit them greatly once completed.
The Minister said this in an interview in Lusaka today. This was in reaction to a story carried in the media recently that the Chinese contractor contracted to build Ndola stadium was mistreating Zambian workers at the site while favouring Chinese workers.
So far, about 700 to 1,000 locals have been employed at construction site located strategically at the entry point to Ndola from the rest of the Copperbelt towns.
The building of the 45,000-capacity stadium in Ndola by AFECC would, apart from helping develop sport, bring funds to the national treasury.
The Ndola stadium would be fully funded by the Chinese government which offered to put up an ultra modern structure in Zambia after talks between Late President Levy Mwanawasa and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in 2006.
The stadium which is scheduled to be completed in October next year will gobble about US$60 million.
