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Chingola Youths enjoying roasted goat meat at Chingola’s Town center bus Stop.
The Anti-Voter Apathy Project(AVAP)has urged youths in the country to avoid being used as mercenaries of political violence during the forthcoming 2011 elections.
AVAP Director General Bonnie Tembo told youths from various political parties in a training workshop at Fairmount hotel in Livingstone to desist from politics of insults and violence.
Citing the example of what transpired during the Mufumbwe by-elections in Solwezi recently,Mr Tembo advised youths to be messengers of democracy and not perpetrators of lawlessness.
“You see if you are sent to electorates in certain community you do not have to go there with pangas,machetes,stones and the likes because you are not going to the game park but you are going to a community where people live so avoid such kind of intolerance,” he said.
Mr. Tembo also challenged political parties in the country to place youth leadership skill at the centre of the 2011 elections.
He said AVAP wishes to see a country where political leaders are democratically mature unlike ones who breed politics of violence.
And government has pledged to support organizations that aim at promoting democracy and good government in the country.
Southern Province permanent Gladys Kristafor thanked AVAP for its consistence in supplementing government’s effort towards the realization of a liberalized Zambia.
“We must work together for us to make this country a better place so say no to violence we do not take pleasure to see what happened in Mufumbwe,”she said.
Ms Kristafor also urged the youths to take keen interest in understanding issues in politics such as the K5 bn that government allocated to the youth empowerment fund.
She said this when she officially opened the AVAP training workshop in Livingstone.
Recently President Rupiah Banda pledged to rebuild the churches and shops that where destroyed during the Mufumbwe by-elections.
The Energy Regulation Board (ERB) has fined North-Western Energy Corporation (NWEC) K2.7 million for charging an unauthorized tariff to residential customers in Lumwana.
The ERB has since approved a tariff of K285.6/kwh effective May 1, this year far below the unauthorized K452.2/kwh the utility company was charging its customers.
ERB Board Chairperson, Sikota Wina has ordered NWEC to refund all residential customers that were charged the unauthorized tariff the difference between the approved rate and the disallowed rate from the time that they started charging the unauthorized rate.
“With effect from 1st May 2010, the approved tariff to be charged by NWEC is set at USC6/kwh; this translates to a tariff amounting to K285.6/kwh at the rate of K4,760/USD.
“The ERB further orders as follows: that NWEC be fined K2,700,000 for charging an unauthorized tariff to residential customers;
“that NWEC refunds all residential customers that were charged the unauthorized tariff the difference between the approved rate and the disallowed rate from the date that they started charging the unauthorized USC9.5/kwh up to 30th April 2010,” Mr Wina said.
Mr Wina said this during ERB meeting on the application by NWEC to effect electricity tariff held at Lumwana Mine in Solwezi today.
He further directed NWEC to work out and furnish the ERB with a mechanism by which it will compensate customers for the unauthorized tariff within 60 days and that the compensation must be made in full to all affected customers within 24 months thereafter.
Meanwhile, the ERB has commended NWEC for taking up the initiative to supply power to Lumwana and urged the utility company to expand its customer base.
Esther Phiri enters the ring on Saturday to face Duda Yankovich of Brazil for the WIBA welterweight title at Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka.
For most fans, this is fight is expected to be the bout that defines Esther’s status after a string of modest opponents from her 11-fight unbeaten run.
Victory for Esther against champion in recess Duda will also earn her the respectable WIBA title which is the top tier in the long list of women’s boxing organizations.
Esther enters the ring on the back of a dramatic draw at Mulungushi against American Terri Blair last November in a bout she failed to land a decisive punch against the 8th ranked fighter on the WIBA welterweight class.
A decisive win winthin the distance of this 10-round bout will go some way in restoring some faith in her prowess in the ring from a public that enjoys a love-hate relationship with the fighter.
Meanwhile, Duda returns to the ring for the first time since June last year when she lost to Holy Holm in her first fight outside Brazil and injury later kept her of action before making the trip to Zambia.
With one defeat from 12 fights the Serbian-born Brazilian has vowed to bounce back this weekend after losing to Holm when she faces-off against Esther.
Dear Mr. President Rupiah Banda, Mr. Kabinga Pande, Dr. Mumba, Mr.Fabian Katiba, Mr. Simon Kunda and other concerned parties.
Dr, Valeriy Priyma’s family is grateful to all of you for all the assistance you have provided concerned with Dr. Priyma’s death and transportation his body to Ukraine.
We appreciate the information and advices you have given, as well as the connections you have shared with us. Your expertise and help have been invaluable during this process.
Again, thank you so much. We sincerely appreciate your generosity.And we hope for your further countenance in investigation of this accident and communications.
MTN Zambia has submitted a request to the Zambia Competition Commission (ZCC) to investigate the underlining costs for local calls to bring down the high charges of communication.
Company chief marketing officer, Ernst Fonternel said ZCC should determine the causes of high interconnectivity rates in Zambia, to help to come up with solutions on how to reduce the costs.
“We have put up an application through ZCC to look into the high connectivity rates within Zambia between the local players,” he said.
Mr Fonternal said measures were being put in place to address concerns that customers were raising in terms of lowering the cost for local calls.
He said Pricewaterhouse Cooppers was also conducting a study on the high interconnectivity rates which would be completed by the end of June this year.
Speaking after the Launch of the MTN Blackberry mobile phone in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Fonternal said customers should expect reduced rates once the two reports were finalised.
And Mr Fonternal said it would soon operationalise the international gateway once the operators licence was granted by the Government.
President Banda pleads with the people of Milanzi to vote for the MMD candidate during a campaign trail
The Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) has warned that it has enough tools and machinery to silence all those insulting President Rupiah Banda.
MMD Lusaka Province Information Publicity Chairperson Greenock Lupambo said the opposition have not seen any reaction from MMD cadres yet but warned that what the party will do to those insulting the President will be regrettable.
He said the ruling party will not continue to have the President ridiculed in the media, stating that they are ready to protect, at any cost, the President from being insulted.
Meanwhile, Mr Lupambo has said the MMD Leadership in Lusaka is optimistic that the party will this time win back all the lost parliamentary seats in Lusaka Province during the 2011 elections.
He said the ruling party is working hard and seriously to ensure that they win all the seats at all costs.
He added that the party is receiving a lot of both financial and moral support from its partners to facilitate the party’s success in the 2011 elections.
George Mpombo
NDOLA Chief Resident Magistrate Kelvin Limbani has put former Minister of Defence George Mpombo on his defence after finding him with a case to answer.
This is in a case in which Mpombo is charged with an offence of a dishonoured cheque.
In his ruling in the Ndola Magistrates Court yesterday, Mr Limbani said he had considered the evidence on record and found that the State had established a prima facie case against Mpombo in accordance with chapter 207 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), which requires him to be put on his defence.
Mr Limbani said six witnesses testified in the case and that the State filed written submissions while the defence made oral ones.
Particulars of the offence are that Mpombo, on December 18, 2009 with intent to defraud, issued a cheque number 000014 worth K10 million to Colwyn Limited of Ndola on an insufficiently funded account, which rendered the cheque dishonoured.
[pullquote]“When I reached his place, I told him that the hydraulic system on both my tractors had packed up and I needed K10 million to sort out the hydraulic system because I was unable to spray the crop…..it was very, very urgent, absolutely urgent,” Mpombo said.[/pullquote]
During his examination-in-chief led by his lawyer Bonaventure Mutale, Mpombo said on December 10, 2009, he went to Mr Terence Findlay’s office after the latter invited him through a Mr Watson Katema Mutale.
He said Mr Findlay was excited to see him and asked him why he had resigned from his ministerial portfolio.
“When I reached his place, I told him that the hydraulic system on both my tractors had packed up and I needed K10 million to sort out the hydraulic system because I was unable to spray the crop…..it was very, very urgent, absolutely urgent,” Mpombo said.
He testified that Mr Findlay was sympathetic with him and agreed to lend him K10 million in exchange with a postdated cheque.
“I was given K10 million cash, we agreed that I will give him a post-dated cheque for K10 million. I issued the cheque and it was drawn on my account,” Mpombo said.
He testified that he issued a postdated cheque to Mr Findlay because his account had insufficient money at the time.
“I had to sort out the problem of selling animals at the farm and Mr Findlay was aware that my account had insufficient funds.
Notwithstanding this, he accepted the cheque,” Mpombo said.
He said he issued a postdated cheque to Mr Findlay, which was to be deposited on December 18, 2009, but that on December 17, 2009, he phoned Mr Findlay and told him not to proceed to deposit the cheque because he was mobilising funds.
Mpombo told the court that by December 17, 2009, he had mobilised K10 million and agreed with Mr Findlay that he could make the payment another day because the matter was not urgent.
“Mr Findlay told me that he was not pushing me and that I could make the payment another day. It is a blatant lie that he told me to deposit the money in Lusaka,” Mpombo said.
He denied allegations that he dishonestly issued the K10 million cheque to Mr Findlay with intent to defraud him.
During cross examination by prosecutor Lawrence Mudenda, Mpombo said he did not make arrangements with his bank to pay the K10 million to Mr Findlay in case the cheque was deposited.
He admitted that on December 18, 2009, he had K46,000 as available balance in his bank account and that the money could not cover the K10 million he owed Mr Findlay.
“Mr Findlay is my bapongoshi (son-in-law), he assured me that he would not deposit the cheque on December 18, 2009,” Mpombo said.
Mr Limbani set July 16, 2010 as the date on which he will deliver judgment. He ordered the State to make its written submissions on June 10, 2010 while the defence will make theirs on June 25, 2010.
[Zambia Daily Mail ]
The Patriotic Front (PF)has described the conviction of former Finance Minister Katele Kalumba as a political gimmick by president Rupiah Banda.
PF National youth secretary Erick Chanda says though the conviction is welcome,Dr. Kalumba has been used as a sacrificial lamb to pay to for former president Dr.Frederick Chiluba’s sins.
Mr. Chanda accused the MMD of engineering the conviction of Dr. Kalumba in order to neutralize competition at the forth coming MMD convention.
He said president Banda is jittery of Dr.Kalumba’s presidential ambitions.
Mr. Chanda questioned why the former president Chiluba has gone scot free when his aides have been jailed.
He told QFM that if the MMD government is committed to fighting corruption they should appeal against Dr. Chiluba’s acquittal.
[pullquote]
Mr. Chanda accuses the MMD of engineering the conviction of Dr. Kalumba in order to neutralize competition at the forth coming MMD convention.[/pullquote]
He noted that the MMD will never fool Zambians that they are committed to fighting corruption.
And The United Party for National Development (UPND) has questioned the judiciary’s fairness following the jailing of MMD national secretary Katele Kalumba on corruption charges.
In an interview with QFM, UPND Secretary General Winstone Chibwe said the Judiciary’s jailing of Dr. Kalumba and six of his co-accused is questionable.
He said the charges the former Finance Minister has been convicted for are the same charges Second Republican President Dr.Chiluba was acquitted of.
[pullquote]Mr.Chibwe wonders how Dr.Chiluba could be acquitted yet his former finance minister together with his top former ministry officials have been convicted of the same corruption charges.[/pullquote]
Mr.Chibwe wonders how Dr.Chiluba could be acquitted yet his former Finance Minister together with his top former ministry officials have been convicted of the same corruption charges.
He said there is need for the judiciary to pull up its socks especially when it come to the way it is handling corruption cases.
Mr. Chibwe has since described as unfortunate for a man of Dr. Kalumba’s caliber to be jailed for corruption.
The Lusaka magistrate court on Wednesday jailed the former Finance Minister for 5-years after finding him and his co-accused guilty of corruption involving US$20 million.
Dr. Kalumba has since filed the notice for bail pending appeal to the High Court.
GOVERNMENT has said the insinuation that money amounting to K1 trillion was stolen from the Road Development Agency (RDA) was a mere malicious campaign because no such money was misappropriated and that this had been borne by the transformation of the road net work in Zambia under the RDA.
Works and Supply Minister Mike Mulongoti said in Lusaka yesterday that RDA was among the Government institutions that were accountable but faced challenges reminiscent to broad institutional difficulties experienced everywhere.
Speaking during a live programme aired on the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC)’s radio two, Mr Mulongoti said the K1 trillion over commitment had resulted from the three-year long-term programme that RDA had formulated.
“So there is no over commitment where that amount of money is being planned over a period of three years. You cannot fault people for planning in advance,” Mr Mulongoti explained.
He said RDA was very accountable and gave the example of the 72 km Zimba-Livingstone Road whose tender process for the first 30 km was done by the Government at a cost of K105 billion.
He said for the same road, same contractor and same period, the European Union awarded a tender of 210 billion (Euros 35 million).
The minister said reasons for the huge difference between the GRZ managed project and the one that was processed by the EU were unknown.
Mr Mulongoti said this showed how accountable RDA had been and explained, however, that should there be misappropriation of funds, all those involved would be prosecuted because the Government was of laws.
The January 2006 to September 2009 report by the Auditor General on RDA has revealed, among other things, alleged misuse of funds and over-commitment up to K1 trillion.
Mr Mulongoti said RDA needed the support of all stakeholders and not closure.
He said the terms used by some sections of society in reference to the RDA were very crude, such as misappropriation of funds, which was a criminal offence.
The minister said political opponents had taken advantage of the situation to attack the Government while some were driven by ignorance about the operations of RDA.
Mr Mulongoti said he was in the process of appointing the new board chairperson and members but that some people have turned down the offers because of the growing levels of malice against RDA.
The programme also featured out-going RDA chairman Walusiku Lisulo and director Erasmus Chilundika who reiterated that the K1 trillion which had been referred to as over-commitment was for three years.
He said the budgeting was in line with the medium term expenditure framework prepared by the Ministry of Finance and national planning, which encouraged institutions to budget for three years.
Mr Chilundika said management responses to the audit reports where all the misused terms and perceptions had been clarified had been ignored.
And Mr Walusiku said RDA officials had not misappropriated any money but had used it for the projects as approved by the government through an eight-man committee of ministers.
He said RDA was in the process of rolling out the second phase of the road sub-sector investment programme (ROADSIP-II) at a cost of about US$1.6 billion by 2013.
Mr Walusiku said RDA was facing numerous challenges as a result of limited funding .
[ Times of Zambia ]
MMD Chief Whip Vernon Mwaanga
United Party for National Development (UPND) members in 11 districts in Southern Province want an alliance between their party and the MMD, veteran politician and parliamentary chief whip Vernon Mwaanga has said.
Mr Mwaanga said the people of Southern Province have called for a pact between the MMD and the UPND as opposed to the one that was currently in existence between the Patriotic Front (PF) and the UPND.
Mr Mwaanga who has just returned from a visit to the districts said the general view of the people was that they wanted to see an alliance between the MMD and the UPND as the two parties’ manifestos were similar.
In an interview, in Livingstone Mr Mwaanga said only an alliance between the MMD and the United Party for National Development (UPND) would produce a Republican president from Southern Province in 2016.
He observed that coalitions and pacts had a great capacity for failure especially in Africa because their ideologies were usually different.
He cited the pact between the PF and the UPND as one which would not work because the two opposition parties had manifestos that were diametrically opposed.
He said while the PF believed in socialisation and nationalisation, the UPND believed in liberalisation and a free market.
Mr Mwaanga said the people of Southern Province had observed that the MMD and UPND manifestos were similar and this was why they were calling for a pact between the two parties.
He would personally support a pact between the MMD and the UPND, as it would be for the benefit of the Zambian people.
“If UPND shows interest, I would encourage the MMD to enter into an alliance with UPND as it would be mutually beneficial to the Zambian people. It is not about personalities but the interests of the Zambian people,” he said.
Mr Mwaanga condemned the violence during recent by-elections in Mufumbwe saying violent acts did not add anything to development.
As the 2011 elections drew closer, it was important for Zambians to scrutinise speeches and see how some politicians were merely attacking others and engaging in name calling as those vices are bad.
“I believe that Zambians want politics of substance. Zambians want tangible service delivery,” he said.
On the appointment of opposition UNIP Member of Parliament Mkhondo Lungu as minister of home affairs, Mr Mwaanga said that the move was constitutional as the president was at liberty to appoint any MP regardless of which party they were coming from.
He congratulated Mr Lungu on his appointment.
[ Times of Zambia ]
Former Finance minister Katele Kalumba and three others have filed notices of appeal against the five-year jail terms slapped on each of them by a Lusaka magistrate’s court.
Kalumba, former Ministry of Finance permanent secretary Stella Chibanda, Access Financial Services (AFS) directors Faustin Kabwe and Aaron Chungu were on Wednesday each convicted and sentenced for five years imprisonment on various corrupt charges.
The four have also filed in affidavits in support of summons for bail pending appeal to the High Court.
Kalumba argued in his grounds of appeal that the trial magistrate erred in law and fact in convicting him against the weight of evidence.
Other grounds of appeal would follow after his lawyers study the case record.
Kabwe and Chungu said in their grounds of appeal that the trial magistrate misdirected himself on points of law by not considering the ingredients of the offences under the Anti-Corruption Commission Act.
Kabwe said the court misdirected itself on a point of law and fact by finding him guilty of corruptly erecting a cottage for former secretary to the treasury Benjamin Mweene.
Magistrate Musona is today expected to hear the bail pending appeal application although Chibanda’s bail application hearing date is yet to be set as her affidavit for bail was filed late.
In the same case Mr Musona also sentenced former chief economist Bede Mphande, former director of budget Boniface Nonde and Mweene to five years imprisonment each but suspended for 24 months.
The general director of SIDA (Swedish International Development Agency) Anders Nordström is fired and the authority will be re-organized.
The reason is that the government is not happy with the control over money spent on development cooperation. The management of the authority bears the responsibility for the lack of control and for the organisational shortcomings according to the government.
After the revelation last year about development mean for Zambia being used for corruption and embezzlement in the African country, the government realised that something had do be done writes Minister for Development Cooperation Gunilla Carlsson on the debate site Newsmill.
– The control over SIDA must be better and comprehensive changes are necessary to reach the vision about an aid that makes a difference writes Ms Carlsson
Charlotte Petri Gornitzka has been appointed new General Director at SIDA.
A stray elephant has trampled to death a Serenje peasant farmer after he tried to chase it from his field.
The farmer of Mapepala area in Serenje district died after he was trampled on by the elephant on Sunday night.
Central Province Police Chief, Simon Mpande confirmed the incident to ZANIS in Kabwe today and named the deceased as Francis Kunda of Chief Chitambo’s area.
Mr. Mpande explained that the deceased had gone in the company of his friend named as Charles Chisenga of the same area to scare away three elephants which had strayed into his field at about 23 hours.
He said according to Chisenga, they tried to chase the animals by ringing bells and making other noises which made two of the elephants to run away but one charged at them.
Mr. Mpande said the angry elephant attacked Kunda ripping open his stomach hence killing him.
He said Kunda’s body was only recovered the following morning after Chisenga informed villagers that his friend did not return after the beast attack.
And Serenje District Commissioner, Stanley Chibwana who expressed shock at the incident said he would go to Mapepala area with Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) officers to assess the situation.
He also advised people in the area to always work with ZAWA officers when ever they were terrorised by wild animals.
Animals from the nearby Kasanka National Park in Serenje usually stray into Mapepala area.
The Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia, has called on Media institutions to be professional in their reporting so as to ensure that it is not regulated by the government.
Speaking in interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today MISA Zambia President, Henry Kabwe urged Media institutions to be truthful, fair and objective in their reporting.
Mr. Kabwe called on Journalists to report about stories that promote development and peace in the country. He said the media should avoid being political but report on development issues that are helpful to the nation and the public.
“Journalists must play their role of providing the public with informative, entertaining and educative materials as opposed to being political,” said Mr. Kabwe.
He explained that Journalists should avoid propagating agendas of political parties’ and bringing out issues in a political manner.
Mr. Kabwe noted that Media institutions should be responsible in their reporting and that they should avoid being biased.
He also urged politicians to provide the media with information that promotes peace, intelligence and developmental in nature as opposed to attacking each other.
Mr. Kabwe advised politicians to work together and avoid being emotional and personal.
He said politicians should be focused and learn to exchange ideas that are development oriented.
And commenting on the same matter Press Association of Zambia (PAZA),President, Andrew Sakala called on the public not only to focus on the negative aspect but also on the positive issues that the media report about.
Mr. Sakala noted that Journalists have been playing an important role of providing information to the public on Economical, Social and Political issues among other issues.
He said what the media report about is simply a reflection of society happenings and therefore it is vague general and wrong for one to condemn the media.
” Journalists should not be blamed for their reporting because they only bring to the attention of society the happening events”, said Mr. Sakala.
Mr. Sakala has called for a fundamental change in the way politicians exchange their ideas and views.
He added that media institutions have a right to support apolitical parties of their choice. He has since urged journalists to be professional, objective and truthful in their reporting.
