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Over 500 new voters have been captured in the tourist capital since commencement of the countrywide mobile voter registration exercise on June 21 2010.
Assistant Registration Officer, Nelson Sakala said by midday yesterday, 508 people had registered as new voters at the various registration centers across
the district.
Speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Livingstone today, Mr. Sakala said withthe waiver of the police report fees for lost voters and National Registration Cards respectively, the number of people registering as voters was expected to
increase.
He said most people had shown keen interest in registering as voters and he urged them to wait for Registration Officers to get to their areas according tothe time frame indicated on the district deployment plan.
Meanwhile, Livingstone District Voter Education Committee (DVEC) Chairman, Moses Sakala has appealed to Voter Education Facilitators (VEFs) to improve in the manner they execute their duties.
Mr. Sakala said voter registration was an important exercise for the nation and as such ineffectiveness on the part of VEFs would negatively affect the number of people registering as voters.
He said he was not impressed with the methods some of the facilitators had employed to inform and educate members of the Livingstone community on the importance of voting.
Forum for Leadership Search Zambia says the constitution making process should be without foreign influence to allow Zambians to decide how the process should proceed.
Exuctiive Director Edwin Lifwekelo said it is wrong for foreigners to instigate Zambians to boycott the constitution making process.
Mr. Lifwekelo claimed in a statement to ZANIS today that some of the leaders representing civil society organizations are foreigners and have no interest in the welfare of the Zambian people.
“They have a foreign agenda. They have always danced to the tune of foreigners that’s why they are even supporting homosexuality in our country and want Zambia to be a secular state,”Mr. Lifwekelo said.
He notes that the constitution making process must not be a reflection of the 2011 presidential elections.
[pullquote]“They have a foreign agenda. They have always danced to the tune of foreigners that’s why they are even supporting homosexuality in our country and want Zambia to be a secular state,”Mr. Lifwekelo said.[/pullquote]
He states that it will be wrong to use the 2011 presidential elections as a basis for a new constitution because the country will not expire after 2011.
Mr.Lifwekelo explained that political parties and civil society that have refused to make submissions to the draft constitution lack moral values and are doing so at their own peril.
He has appealed to all Zambians to make submissions so as to add value to the people’s driven constitution.
Mr.Lifwekelo stated that Zambians should not allow foreigners to dictate how constitution making process should proceed as they are prophets of doom who aim to derail the process.
He also advised Zambians not to be hoodwinked by selected selfish individuals who don’t like President Rupiah Banda.
He commended the secretariat of the National Constitution Conference for finally coming up with the draft report.
The Road Development Agency (RDA) has called for more investment in the road sector in the country.
RDA Head of Public Relations Loice Saili says this would be of great assistance in the development of roads
across the country.
Ms. Saili told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka today that what the Agency wants was to see a good road network in the nation.
Meanwhile, Ms. Saili has since dismissed claims from sections of society that the Agency has neglected the repairing of some roads in some parts of the country.
She said it was very unfair for members of the public to accuse the RDA of neglecting and failing to repair some roads in some parts of Zambia .
Ms. Saili added that the Agency was very committed to develop and to see a good road network in the country.
She said this was because the RDA knows and understands that a good road network was vital to the economic development of the country.
Ms. Saili said it was just that the Agency needs more resources to carry out repair works on some roads across the nation.
She said RDA has a road working plan put up that helps the Agency to know which roads need to be repaired on.
Ms. Saili said the Agency does do surveys across the country in order to know which roads need to be worked on by RDA.
The Zambia Consumer Association ( ZACA) has opposed the proposed 36 percent tariff increment by ZESCO and called on the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) to reject the application.
ZACA Acting Executive Director Samuel Simutunda said the proposed tariff hike by ZESCO was unjustified and should not be allowed by ERB.
Mr. Simutunda said ZESCO has been awarded several hikes but it has not improved its quality of service to customers and it was unthinkable to hike the tariff by the company and at such a margin.
Mr. Simutunda noted that the company has abused its monopoly position for too long adding that it was high time the ERB took a firm stand regarding the operations of ZESCO.
He said that if the ERB can not take bold measures to protect consumers from ZESCO’s abuse, then the board itself should be disbanded.
He said domestic consumers in Zambia where paying exorbitant electricity bills and they should be protected from further abuse by ZESCO.
President Rupiah Banda has arrived back in the country from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were he went to join other invited Heads of State and Government to commemorate that country’s 50th Independence anniversary.
Mr Banda arrived in the country aboard the presidential challenger jet at 20:55hrs.
He was received on arrival by Vice president George Kunda, Secretary to the Treasury Evans Chibiliti, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ronnie Shikapwasha and Works and Supply Minister Mike Mulongoti.
Others are, Presidential Affairs Minister, Ronald Mukuma, Lusaka Province Minister Charles Shawa, Mines Minister Gladys Lundwe, Gender Minister Sara Sayifwanda, service chiefs and other government officials.
President Banda was not only invited in his capacity as Chairperson for the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) but also as a member of SADC, COMESA and as a neighboring Head of State.
The President was accompanied to the DRC by First Lady Thandiwe Banda, Foreign Affairs Minister Kabinga Pande and Chief of Protocol Bob Samakai and other government officials.
An Election registrar conducting the voter registration exercise in Lusaka
By Wesley Ngwenya
The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) last week announced the commencement of voter registration on 21st June, 2010. This registration will be open to anyone who is eighteen years old or will turn eighteen before 31st July 2011. This registration will run for an initial period of ninety days.
Although the registration has come a little late ECZ should be commended especially for extending the registration to those who have not yet turned eighteen years old. Adverts are running in the media informing the public about this registration process. However, there are a few questions to consider as ECZ embarks on this task.
Firstly, how are voters in rural areas informed regarding this voter registration process considering that they have no access to newspapers, televisions and radios? Are there other medium that ECZ should consider so that they can reach this rural population?
[pullquote]What ECZ should have done is set up registration centers in all primary and secondary schools. They could also have used colleges, hospitals, rural health centers, post offices, markets and banks. This is where Zambians are found who are eighteen years and above. [/pullquote]
Why are they using mobile registration? The adverts are telling us to check the internet and see where their mobile vans will be at a particular time. Are you serious you expect us to get on a bus pay K7,000 round trip to town so we can go online to see where your van will be? Besides, what technology are you using to ensure that you can monitor the vans at all times?
Why did ECZ have to spend so much money using these ineffective vans? Was this the most efficient and effective method to reaching out to voters? Were the stakeholders consulted before it was decided on whether or not to use registration mobile vans? Could it be that this method was chosen because it was more porous and easier to get kickbacks?
What ECZ should have done is set up registration centers in all primary and secondary schools. They could also have used colleges, hospitals, rural health centers, post offices, markets and banks. This is where Zambians are found who are eighteen years and above. Setting up registration centers in these places would be much less expensive compared to the opted method. Besides, this would be more efficient and effective. I am willing to show and challenge ECZ that using mobile registration vans is more expensive than using permanent centers.
Mobile registration is certainly ideal for rural areas where schools and clinics are few and people are spread far apart. In addition, to permanent centers, mobile centers can be used too so as to better deliver the service to the Zambian public. But using mobile registration centers in Lusaka does not make sense at all when ECZ knows where people live, go to work, or go to school.
The Electoral Commission is asking for people who lost their voter’s card to provide a police report before registration. This is clearly a bad move on part of ECZ. How many Zambians will be able to afford to go through the tedious process of obtaining a police report, let alone pay K22,000 for it? Before writing this article, I sampled roughly about twenty people who lost their cards and none of them can afford to pay the required amount to obtain one. Maybe what they need to do is provide free police reports for all those who have lost their cards.
[pullquote]Zambians may not be interested in voting because they actually do not see the use. Yes, it is the constitutional right of every Zambian who is aged eighteen and above to vote. However, there are more pressing issues in the hearts and minds of many Zambians.[/pullquote]
The issue of registration hits home to me because in 2008 I was denied the opportunity to register as a voter simply because I was not in the country in 2006. Electoral Commission of Zambia failed to update voters’ registers so that people like me could equally have voted during the presidential elections. I have kept an eye in my neighborhood to see if I will ever see these vans but nothing yet.
It has been over a week since this registration supposedly started but I have not heard anyone who has registered yet. Will it be another week or another month before we see the registration vans? The chairperson for Electoral Commission of Zambia Florence Mumba, this weekend, blamed the politicians for the low turnout of prospective voters. Personally, I think what she should have said was ask the politicians to appeal to the Zambians to register to vote.
Zambians may not be interested in voting because they actually do not see the use. Yes, it is the constitutional right of every Zambian who is aged eighteen and above to vote. However, there are more pressing issues in the hearts and minds of many Zambians. There are poverty, diseases, and unemployment issues. Voting for people who look the same, speak the same language but are using different slogans is not one of them. As for me, I keep watching so that when that van passes my neighborhood I will register. I am eagerly waiting to cast my vote.
United Party for National Development (UPND) party president Hakainde Hichilema
Chief Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha has described as childish and irritating United Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema’s remarks that President Banda should apologise for allegedly misbehaving and extending his bullying tactics to the donor community.
Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha said Government is not surprised with Mr Hichilema’s outbursts because he is ignorant of governance issues.
He said Mr Hichilema should tone down and develop the habit of respecting President Banda.
“Let Mr Hichilema tone down because he should remember what the Bible says, that what you do unto others is bound to happen to you.
“The unpalatable language which Mr Hichilema has continued to use against President Banda is unacceptable and demeaning to the head of state,” he said.
Gen Shikapwasha said President Banda should be respected because he was elected by the majority of Zambians.
He said Mr Hichilema should study how politics is conducted because he is still new in politics.
[pullquote]“Let Mr Hichilema tone down because he should remember what the Bible says, that what you do unto others is bound to happen to you.
“The unpalatable language which Mr Hichilema has continued to use against President Banda is unacceptable and demeaning to the head of state,” he said.[/pullquote]
Gen Shikapwasha said Mr Hichilema might fool members of the UPND-Patriotic Front (PF) pact with his outbursts, but his conduct will be judged by the majority Zambians.
“What Mr Hichilema and his PF counterpart, Mr Michael Sata, should concentrate on is trying to find solutions to the many challenges the pact is facing as opposed to attacking President Banda,” he said.
Gen Shikapwasha said President Banda’s recent statement on donors has been blown out of proportion by some people who are trying to gain cheap political mileage.
He said there is no cause for President Banda to apologise over the recent statement as he was merely expressing his views over the matter.
Gen Shikapwasha said the relationship between Government and donors is still cordial, contrary to assertions by some members of the public and opposition political party leaders.
He said Government is working hard to deliver development and social services to the Zambian people, but that its efforts are being obstructed by unnecessary criticism by the opposition.
Mr Hichilema was quoted by yesterday’s edition of The Post newspaper as saying that President Banda owes donors and Zambians an apology for misbehaving.
And Gen Shikapwasha said Government is ready to dialogue with the donor community on issues affecting the country.
He said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that Government’s doors are open for the donor community to sit down and discuss issues of national interest.
“The administration of President Banda stands ready to discuss anything which concerns donors and any other issues which will benefit Zambia as a country than using the media,” Gen Shikapwasha said.
He said it is important for donors to seek audience with Government when need arises.
“The donors that have intentions of seeking an audience with Government are more than welcome to do so at any given time,” Gen Shikapwasha said.
On Monday, British High Commissioner to Zambia Tom Carter said he will seek an audience with President Banda to discuss the use of aid in the country.
Mr Carter said the partnership between donors and the Zambian government is of key importance.
“The partnership with the Zambian government is significant as we all try together to deliver the long-term goals of reducing poverty in Zambia and achieving the Zambian government’s target of reaching middle-income status by 2030,” he said.
President Banda recently advised diplomats accredited to Zambia to stop meddling in the internal affairs of the country.
Mr Banda said diplomats should not be made to interfere in the internal matters of Zambia because the country is a sovereign state.
“There has been too much peddling of stories in the media by diplomats who feel that because their respective countries are donating to the road or health sector, they can use that as blackmail,” he said.
The President said the diplomats should appreciate the spirit of warmth being given by Government instead of resorting to public statements regarding funding to Zambia.
[ Zambia Daily Mail ]
Committee of Citizens Executive Director Gregory Chifire has charged that the donor community is crying out too loud over its demands for accountability of the resources it provides Zambia.
Mr. Chifire challenged government to come up with a donor aid exit mechanism by beginning to put in place long term plans that would help the country diversify into other modes of resource mobilization.
He said the current situation where donors are making the government feel as if it is not accountable and incapable of accounting for the little that they provide to Zambia is retrogressive.
The Executive Director said the best solution to avoid confrontations between government and the donor community is to put an end to donor dependency.
Mr. Chifire added that Zambia has the ability to stand on its own if only resources were properly utilized and directly spent for the benefit of the people.
He further stated that it does not give respect for the nation to be scandalized by the donor community.
He noted that Zambia has been begging for far too long and now is the time that government began to work towards policies that would help the nation to stand on its own.
[ QFM ]
Zambia yesterday joined the rest of the international community in commemorating the International Voluntary Counselling and Testing Day with activities in various parts of the country.
In Kitwe, Mayor Steven Chipungu praised various stakeholders involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS for their support and care towards the people living with the virus.
Mr Chipungu said this in a speech read for him by his deputy Chileshe Bweupe during the commemoration of the National Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) at Kitwe City Square yesterday.
He said VCT Day was important for the country as it continued to work towards achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by the year 2015.
Mr Chipungu said the involvement of various stakeholders in the fight against HIV/AIDS was an encouraging development, but that more needed to be done to win the fight considering the high prevalence.
Kitwe District HIV/AIDS Taskforce (DATF) chairperson Chikafuna Banda encouraged people to come out in numbers and get tested.
Dr Banda said it was important that they got tested so they could be able to receive care and support from both government and other stakeholders in the city.
In Chingola, acting district commissioner Philip Simbule urged married couples to go for voluntary HIV testing because 60 per cent of HIV transmission happened in marriages.
Mr Simbule said the percentage was an indication that the epidemic was not only among the high risk groups hence the need for couples to go for VCT.
He said if people were encouraged to go for VCT they would be equipped with knowledge either to protect themselves from the infection or live positively and access treatment.
He said despite the enhanced sensitisation and awareness campaign about the need to go for VCT, only 15 per cent of Zambians had gone for VCT.
“The overall prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in Zambia stands at 14.3 per cent and on the Copperbelt at 17 per cent and Chingola at 16 per cent.
He said the fight against HIV had some setbacks such as lack of trained personnel in VCT, low numbers of VCT centres which were geographically apart, especially in rural areas.
Other challenges he cited were inadequate information reaching the general public on availability of VCT services in Zambia and inadequate physical infrastructure in most VCT centres resulting in limited counselling space.
And Chingola DATF chairperson Aaron Kantumoya said the commemoration of the VCT Day came against the background of Zambia being one of the countries seriously ravaged by the effects of HIV/AIDS.
In Livingstone, DATF is facing a great challenge of having only one CD4 count machine despite the city having one of the highest HIV/Aids prevalence rates in the country.
DATF chairperson Eugene Kamuti said the district only had one CD4 count machine at the Government hospital.
Mr Kamuti was speaking at the commemoration of the national VCT Day held at Livingstone’s Mukuni Park yesterday.
Mr Kamuti has appealed to Government and the cooperating partners to assist purchase other CD4 count machines in the district.
“Government and partners should assist procure for us more CD4 count machines as the uptake for VCT increases in the district,” Mr Kamuti said.
[ Times of Zambia ]
The Zambia International Trade Fair yesterday opened its gates to the public with calls from the chairperson Phesto Musonda to the 618 official exhibitors and show-goers to make sure that they maximise the benefits at the country’s premier annual business event.
Mr Musonda said in an interview at the trade fair grounds the ZIFT management was impressed with the overwhelming response from both local and international investors.
He said most of the exhibitors’ stands and halls were filled and ready to be used by the exhibitors to host the show-goers.
[pullquote]“This year we have experienced a 20 per cent increase in the number of exhibitors participating at the show. The number of local exhibitors participating has increased from 400 last year to 519 this year while the number of foreign companies exhibiting is 99 while 82 companies showed up last year,” he said.
[/pullquote]
The show opened yesterday for the business days, which will end on Friday in readiness for the official opening by President Rupiah Banda.
“This year we have experienced a 20 per cent increase in the number of exhibitors participating at the show. The number of local exhibitors participating has increased from 400 last year to 519 this year while the number of foreign companies exhibiting is 99 while 82 companies showed up last year,” he said.
Mr Musonda said local and foreign exhibitors and show-goers involved in various trade and tourism promotion activities were using the trade fair business days to enter into partnership and exchange business information.
“The business show which has started today will end on Friday with a special trade fair business seminar at the Presidential Pavilion.
“The seminar will deal with economic, policies and investment climate in Zambia at which Government organs such as the Bank of Zambia, Zambia Development Agency and Zambia Revenue Authority will make key note presentations,” he said.
The ZITF chairperson assured both the exhibitors and public that the show organisers would ensure there was security.
He said a number of leading local musicians and other entertainers from different parts of the country have been engaged to entertain show-goers.
PF Leader Michael Sata and Chief Justice Ernest Sakala ( Picture by Post NewsPaper )
Heritage Party (HP) president Godfrey Miyanda has said Chief Justice Ernest Sakala is not obliged to shake hands with Patriotic Front leader Michael Sata because greeting is a personal choice.
Brigadier General Miyanda also said that claims that the refusal by Justice Sakala to greet Mr Sata implied that the chief justice will scuttle Mr Sata’s 2011 presidential ambitions were off the mark.
The general also wondered why eminent people like Michelo Hansungule and John Mambo had joined the melee to add credibility to an otherwise empty noise at a funeral.
[pullquote]“What has happened to Zambia? Why should a mere greeting become a serious political issue and be turned into a national debate?
“There is no need for the chief justice to apologise to anyone unless he wants to. Since when did greeting become a duty?” he asked.[/pullquote]
He said to accept or not accept a greeting was a personal matter and that there was no need for Chief Justice Sakala to apologise to anyone.
General Miyanda was commenting on the greeting row that erupted after Chief Justice Sakala allegedly refused to shake hands with Mr Sata at the funeral of justice Peter Chitengi.
“What has happened to Zambia? Why should a mere greeting become a serious political issue and be turned into a national debate?
“There is no need for the chief justice to apologise to anyone unless he wants to. Since when did greeting become a duty?” he asked.
He said several opposition leaders had been rejecting President Rupiah Banda’s invitations to State functions because it was their right and that no one must make an issue out of it or make it a duty.
Gen Miyanda said Mr Sata’s statement that the chief justice would scuttle his 2011 dream was divisive and based on speculation.
“How can a refusal of a greeting interfere with ballots? Is it the chief justice who votes in all constituencies or does he carry ballots in his pockets? President Sata must provide cogent evidence or else withdraw this divisive statement,” said Gen Miyanda
He said Zambians must reject Professor Hansungule’s new definition of multi-party politics.
He said the idea of forming many parties suggests that people see matters differently and that they might reject even a greeting that they perceived not genuine.
He said Prof Hansungule was wrong to suggest that funerals were gatherings for reconciliation.
“We have several contentious issues facing our country, including the constitution-making process, the electoral process, security, tribalism, regionalism, poverty etc. Does the professor suggest seriously that we should all go to funerals to resolve these issues and for SACCORD to move its headquarters to Leopards Hill Cemetery?
If the 50 per cent plus one issue was tabled to be resolved at a funeral, there will be no reconciliation but fist fights and gnashing of teeth,” he said.
Gen Miyanda was also surprised that Bishop Mambo supported Prof Hansungule and added that a greeting might just be an act to dupe a naïve person into believing that one had found a friend.
“The bishop and most likely the professor know of one Judas Iscariot who hugged Jesus Christ just before he sent him to the gallows!” he said.
He said Zambians must remember the purported reconciliation between President Sata and late president Levy Mwanawasa.
“A lot of fanfare was made after the secret get-together. President Sata has declared that the reconciliation was a “gimmick”. Was Mr Sata’s greeting at St Ignatius also a gimmick?” he wondered.
He recalled that when Mr Sata went to greet him outside St Ignatius Church, he extended his hand voluntarily because he accepted the greeting.
“No one forced me that is how it should be although I did not like to be hugged,” he said.
He has called upon lawyers and Zambians to roundly condemn what he termed pettiness.
[ Times of Zambia ]
Southern Province Permanent Secretary Gladys Kristafor has urged Zambians to cooperate with officers that will be involved in the census of population and housing which has been earmarked to kick off in October this year.
Ms Kristafor said this when she paid a courtesy call on Sinazongwe District Commissioner Oliver Pelete that the census would provide information and indicators for social and economic planning and decision making.
She said government would like to know the exact number of people in the country so that resources could be applied to priority areas.
Ms Kristafor noted that even the ongoing voter registration exercise could be done well if the exact number of people in the country is known as government cannot afford to rely on assumptions.
She called for sensitization on the programme so that people are aware of the importance of getting counted.
And Mr Pelete disclosed that the phase one project for Rural Electrification Programme has been completed in the district.
He said that K8 billion was used to complete the project from Zambeef Farms to Malima area.
Zambia is set to have its first-ever official coaching duo by foreign trainers in the form of the Italian sibling pairing of Dario and Ivano Bonetti.
Sources close to the development have revealed that 48 year old Dario Bonetti who is favored to take up the post by State House will be assisted in his younger sibling Ivano as new Zambia coaches.
The duo last documented high profile engagement together was at Dundee United in Scotland that lasted a season from 2000 and 2002.
Should Dario and Ivano get the job, they will be joined by an assistant coach and goalkeeping trainer if they agree terms with the sports ministry under whom, and via State House, the Italian Job will be coming to take over from Herve Renard.
According to the online Wikipeadia, Bonetti made his professional debut in the 1978-79 season with Brescia. He then moved to AS Roma in 1980, and played for the giallorossi until 1986, except for a one season spell at Sampdoria in 1982-83. In 1986 he signed for AC Milan, but failed to impress and moved to Verona only one year later. In 1989 he transferred to Juventus, where he played two seasons. A return to Sampdoria in 1991 was followed by a single season at SPAL in 1992, and retirement in 1993.
In all his whole playing career in the Serie A, Dario Bonetti was suspended for a total of 39 matches, this being as of 2009 an absolute record.
After his retirement, Dario Bonetti became coach of amateur Genoa side Sestrese in 1999, with his brother Ivano as player. Both brothers then jointly managed Scottish team Dundee from 2000 to 2002, with Dario officially acting as Ivano’s technical assistant. On February 2005, Dario Bonetti was then appointed head coach of Serie C2 club Potenza.
He then announced a surprising move to Hungarian side MFC Sopron on February 2006, thus joining fellow Italian Giuseppe Signori. Bonetti was then sacked on May 2006, after the final matchday, a 1-0 home loss to Rákospalotai EAC, but made a comeback at the Hungarian side on March 2007. On June 22, 2007 he was unveiled as new head coach of Italian Serie C1 team Gallipoli.
On December 2008 he was appointed as new head coach of Lega Pro Prima Divisione team Juve Stabia.
On June 23, 2009 he was appointed as the new head coach of Liga I team Dinamo Bucure?ti, the Italian coach replacing Mircea Rednic. He was sacked by Nicolae Badea, head of Administrative Council of Dinamo Bucharest, as a result of Bonetti’s public statements about Dinamo shareholders on October 3, 2009.
On November 9, 2009, Bonetti was announced as the new head coach of Lega Pro Prima Divisione team Valle del Giovenco. He was fired in February 2010.
Government has announced that it intends to increase the number of beneficiaries of the Farmer Input Support Programme(FISP) from the current 500,000 to over 600,000 farmers for the 2010/2011 farming season.
Acting Agriculture Minister Dora Siliya told parliament that that Government will further increase the number of beneficiaries to over one million farmers by 2011/2012 farming season.
She attributed the bumper harvest the country has recorded this year to the increased number of beneficiaries of the Farmer Input Support Program (FISP) from previously 250,000 to 500,000.
Responding to a question in Parliament today by Mandevu Member of Parliament Jean Kapata who wanted to know whether government is considering increasing the number of bags from the current four bags following an outcry from farmers that it is not enough, Ms Siliya says people are happy with the intervention by government to reduce the number of packs in order to accommodate more people.
Ms Siliya told the House that the reduction in the number of fertilizer bags to four per farmer has enabled more people to access the fertilizer under the FISP.
She says government proved that four bags were enough to produce sufficiently and that beyond that people would be selling the fertilizer.
Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) president Charles Milupi
The Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) has observed that the failure by successive MMD administrations to manage national resources and tolerance for endemic corruption has greatly cost Zambia’s dignity and respect.
ADD president, Charles Milupi said the continued over dependency on donor funds and failure to manage public funds in a prudent manner by successive MMD governments has taken away the nation’s pride and dignity because Zambia is ever begging.
Mr. Milupi it was wrong for President Rupiah Banda to castigate the donor community who in the last few years the MMD has been in power have provided aid and helped in the implementation of various programs across the country.
He said President Banda should simply heed the donor community’s call for accountability in the utilization of their funds because they still remain a significant partner.
The ADD leader noted that donors contribute a significant percentage towards the country’s national budget hence they have the right to demand for accountability.
Mr Milupi who is former parliamentary public accounts committee chairperson said the uproar by the republican President and the government in general over the calls for accountability from the donor community is because the MMD government has not been able to appreciate the Auditor General’s reports.
Mr. Milupi said there is need for government to begin to address the various issues highlighted in the Auditor General’s reports to uphold transparency.
[QFM ]
