By Henry Kyambalesa
The recent castigation of critics of mobile hospitals by President Rupiah Banda that the issue is none of their business should be openly condemned by all citizens who care about the future of our beloved country.I surely thought President Banda’s decision to purchase mobile hospitals from the China National Aero Technology Import and Export Corporation was shelved after it generated so much controversy in the country! It has now become clear that President Banda is not only stubborn and arrogant; he also lacks good judgment. For how can a leader who has good judgment completely ignore the voices of so many citizens who are against the purchase of the US$53 million mobile hospitals through a loan from EX-IM Bank of China?[pullquote]“In a sense, we’re talking about … sending smart white boys in to tell them how to run their countries.”[/pullquote]

It is irresponsible, wasteful and unwise for President Banda to buy mobile hospitals which are likely to last only a few years, given the poor state of roads in rural areas. Also, there are a lot of rural communities today where there are no motorable roads. Moreover, it is hard to imagine how the mobile clinics will be used – would they be driven around in rural communities on a regular basis in the hope of finding a sick person?

Further, it will be very difficult to control the potential abuse of the mobile facilities and their contents. Besides, the recurrent costs of maintaining the mobile hospitals will be prohibitive after spending the following amounts (extracted from The Post Online article of April 27, 2009 entitled “Donors Question Government’s $53 Million Deal”) which are required to seal the two-year contract:

US$

36,260,356 Cost of the 9 Mobile Clinics

3,300,000 Spare Parts for 2 Years

6,000,000 Medicines and Medical Appliances

5,144,650 Chinese Engineers and Medical Staff

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50,705,006 (+ tax)

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As any genuine development economist would advise, loans, if there is really a pressing need to obtain them, should ideally be used to support the production and/or exportation of trade-able goods. However, the US$53 million loan would still have made sense if it was secured to cater for the following:

(a) Provision of free healthcare for all Zambians;

(b) Construction of more permanent healthcare facilities nationwide;

(c) Provision of adequate medicines, medical equipment and ambulances;

(d) Financing of research designed to find cures for HIV/AIDS, cancer, tuberculosis, and other deadly diseases; and

(e) Hiring, retention and training of health personnel.

The mobile hospitals are, at best, a luxury Zambia cannot afford. No doubt, the procurement of such temporary facilities is going to be the most conspicuous case of misapplication of resources by a Republican president thus far. It is a clear case of misplaced priorities! Sooner or later, the President and/or members of his inner circle will be crossing national borders for medical treatment or check-ups after wasting the US$53 million!

And they want to rule Zambia beyond 2011 up to 2030 whether we like it or not—arrogant, stubborn, belligerent, and condescending as they are! That will surely be a testimony to the statement attributed to Dr. Frederick Chiluba by the late Dean Mung’omba that Zambians are docile!

The gross mismanagement of resources, among other forms of incompetence by the MMD government, reminds me of the following words of an anonymous official in an unnamed donor country quoted by L. Timberlake in his 1986 book: “In a sense, we’re talking about … sending smart white boys in to tell them how to run their countries.”

President Banda wants to continue to mortgage our country and the future of our children and grandchildren through such loans. He does not seem to see anything wrong with our country’s over-dependence on loans and donor funding to provide for public services and facilities.

He needs to trim the highly bloated government going through public expenditures line by line, program by program, agency by agency, department by department, and ministry by ministry in order to eliminate unnecessary application of public funds. There is a need for the government to perform existing and planned government functions with a smaller number of Cabinet Ministers, and to abolish the positions of Deputy Minister and District Commissioner.

Also, there is a need for him to reduce the number of Zambia’s foreign missions by having clusters of countries to be served by single embassies, and to initiate restrictions on leaders’ trips to foreign countries and the sizes of delegations on such trips.

The US$53 million deal has all the characteristics of an attempt by President Banda to use the mobile clinics as a campaign tool for the 2011 general elections, designed to woo voters in rural areas. He could win the Republican presidency, but he won’t be there to make a contribution to the re-payment of the loan!

And how does one explain the prominence of single-source procurement by the President during the short period he has been in office, if it is not to reap personal or political benefits from the deals involved? What is the use of having a procurement authority and technocrats in government ministries whose function is merely the acquisition of machinery, equipment and services that are prescribed by ministers or State House?

There is a need for Chinese government officials to guard against encouraging President Banda to borrow lavishly from their country’s state companies to finance projects which are conceived without consultation with Parliament and the Zambia Public Procurement Authority. He clearly wants to secure the US$53 million loan to buy mobile hospitals mainly to win the rural vote in the 2011 elections, and they will do well not to participate in this furtive scheme if they are interested in cementing the existing cordial relations between their country and the people of Zambia.

No sleep for my Motherland!

The Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) interim president, Charles Milupi has described republican President, Rupiah Banda’s call for the electorate in Luena not to vote for him as a distortion to democracy.

Mr. Milupi who recently relinquished the parliamentary seat to take up ADD presidency, said that his conduct is within the obligations of the constitution.
he said the decision he made was in the best interest of the people and his performance in that area still holds enough reputation for him to retain the seat.

Mr Milupi said that ADD is an effective opposition political party that could be able to give a new turn to national politics by according credibility to the democracy that this country has been built on.

He pointed out that his party is by far the most popular party in the LUENA at the moment and MMD is too unpopular to compete for the parliamentary seat.

The ADD president said he is building the ADD on issues and not character assassination as it has been the case with other political parties.

Mr. Milupi, however, said that he does not expect the republican president to take pride in insulting competitors.
[ QFM ]

Choosing a presidential candidate for the Patriotic Front-United Party for National Development (PF/UPND) pact in 2011 will spell doom for the alliance, Luapula member of Parliament Peter Machungwa has said.

Dr Machungwa, who is spokesperson for the Patriotic Front (PF) members of Parliament attending the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) said yesterday that this is because neither PF leader Michael Sata nor his UPND counterpart Hakainde Hichilema is willing to deputise the other.

He however said in an interview yesterday that it is good Mr Sata has realised that the vacuum in the pact leadership is creating problems.
Dr Machungwa said Mr Sata’s suggestion that choosing a leader at this stage will rescue the pact is not feasible.

“Even assuming that one of the two leaders agrees to deputise the other, this will only solve half the existing problems. This is because their manifestos are very different from each other and it will be difficult to harmonise them,” he said.

Dr Machungwa challenged one of the two pact leaders to come out openly and state that he is willing to deputise the other, otherwise there will be no deal.
He said most of the senior members in both PF and UPND know that the pact is only on paper, although the charade will go on for a while.

Dr Machungwa said at the end of the day, it will be “things fall apart” for the pact.
Mr Sata has said that part of the solution to ending the wrangles in the pact is to choose a presidential candidate who will lead the two parties in the 2011 general elections.

The two parties in the pact said they will soon hold a meeting at which top on the agenda will be leadership of the pact.

[ Zambia Daily Mail ]

The Zambia Police Services Victim Support Unit (VSU) has said economic violence and abuse was on the rise in most Zambian homes.

Speaking in an interview in Lusaka, VSU National Coordinator, Senior Superintendent Tresford Kasale said it was disheartening to note that economic violence had become a common trend in most Zambian homes to settle domestic scores.

He said in most cases bread winners in Zambian homes, male or female, took advantage of their economic position to economically abuse their spouses, children and dependents.

Mr Kasale said bread winners deliberately stopped buying food and other human necessities such as clothing , medical care and education, among others in order to make their spouses feel unwanted resulting in them leaving their matrimonial homes.

The VSU National Coordinator said this during a five- day Gender Awareness workshop for service providers at Red Roof Lodge in Lusaka’s Roma Township which started on Monday.

Mr. Kasale said that such trends were commonly practiced in both high and low density urban areas. He noted that such practices were also part of the issues that the VSU was handling on a daily basis as breadwinners attributed prevailing economic situation in the country as the cause of them not supporting their spouses and family in general.

Mr. Kasale however advised breadwinners not use their economic situation as the reason for not supporting their families saying they should instead be transparent and honest to their spouses and families on their situation.

The workshop sponsored by the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is aimed at empowering service providers with adequate information on Gender Based Violence (GBV) which is said to be on the increase in the country.

The workshop has attracted service providers from nearly all corners of Zambia mainly attached to the VSU’s of police stations.

And during the preliminary of the workshop, some participants expressed concern at the law that prohibited housewives from physically reacting to their husbands’ girlfriends.

The participants said this development had actually empowered girlfriends to have undue control of most men thereby creating domestic instability in most homes.

However, Mr. Kasale advised the participants that the affected housewives should take advantage of the law of Adultery which he said was as punitive as any other law.

ZANIS

National Milling Corporation has said good agriculture policies by Government has helped the country to record bumper harvest this year.

National Milling Managing Director, Peter Cottan said Government has also facilitated various players in the agriculture sector to partner with small scale, peasant, and commercial famers to achieve stable agricultural policies.

Mr Cottan said good policies and the enabling environment in the nation had also enabled his company to work and partner with farmers in crop marketing.

He said his company has since put in place mechanisms aimed at providing farmers with a ready market to sell their crops.

Mr. Cottan said this when he presented a donation of 200 by 25 Kg bags of Roller meal to the Lunda Lubanza traditional ceremony of the Lunda people of Zambezi and the Maliko Malende Lwindi traditional ceremony of the Tonga people of Sinazongwe.

He said by providing markets for farmers, his company was helping farmers to stop dealing with briefcase buyers who exploited them by offering unfair prices for their produce.

He has since pledged his continued assistance to traditional ceremonies saying they were a major contributor to the national economy.

And receiving the donation, Senior Chief Ishindi of the Lunda speaking people said while the country was celebrating a bumper harvest, the people of Zambezi feared starvation as their crops were destroyed due to excessive rains.

The Senior Chief said the people may only have food to last for up to September this year.

The traditional leader also commended National Milling for extending its help to hosting of the traditional ceremony slated for next month.

And, Esau Nebwe a representative of Chief Sinazongwe also lauded the company for its continued support to national events.

Mr Nebwe said while the company was known for only sponsoring sports, National Milling had also shown serious commitment to national events like traditional ceremonies through donations towards such ends.

ZANIS

A trade unionist has warned of serious voter apathy if the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) and the Patriotic Front (PF) pact does not reorganize itself.

Zambia Union for Financial and Allied Workers (ZUFIAW) president, Cephus Mukuka has observed that the UPND/PF pact has been a party to reckon with during its smooth operations.

He noted that failure by the two parties to deal with the current problems being experienced will result in great apathy in the 2011 elections.

Mr Mukuka also said that the two pact leaders need to realize that it would be an upfront to democracy if they allow their merger to break.

He challenged both Mr Michael sata and his UPND counterpart, Hikainde Hichilema to quickly address the issues.

Mr Mukuka said that there is tension amongst the electorate in the country and the leaders of the pact have a responsibility to calm the situation.

[ QFM ]

Sexual and Gender based Violence (SGBV) providers in the country have called for the revision of the Rape Act saying the
current one has many grey areas that needed amendment.

The providers said during a five-day Gender sensitisation workshop in Lusaka supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), that the current Act had many grey areas such as cases of marital rape which were not clearly spelt out in the current Act.

[pullquote]“ In Zambia , cases of marital rape is on the increase where husbands tend to demand for sex from their wives in the morning, afternoon and bed time,” the participants said.[/pullquote]

ZANIS reports that providers are from the Zambia Police Victim Support Unit, Ministry of Health and the Social Welfare Department of the Ministry of Community Development and Social Welfare among others.

The participants expressed concern that though marital rape was on the increase in the country, there was no definite description in the Law about the case in the Act.

They said it was for this reason that married women were being sexually abused by their husbands without due consent. “ In Zambia , cases of marital rape is on the increase where husbands tend to demand for sex from their wives in the morning, afternoon and bed time,” the participants said.

But one of the Facilitators, Mhlakeni Zulu told participants that there was nothing like marital rape saying it was a husband’s right to enjoy his conjugal rights from his wife anytime .

Mr Zulu, who is Assistant Commissioner of Police in the Criminal Investigations Department said the general public should be aware that marital rape occurred only when couples were in separation and not in matrimony.

During the workshop the Police Service was castigated for not doing enough to investigate cases of marital rape and their inability to differentiate between real rape and marital rape.

[pullquote]But one of the Facilitators, Mhlakeni Zulu told participants that there was nothing like marital rape saying it was a husband’s right to enjoy his conjugal rights from his wife anytime .[/pullquote]

Marital rape is defined as when a husband uses force of any kind to have sex with his wife without her consent.

At the same workshop, UNICEF’s Gender Specialist Annie Sampa told the meeting that the rising cases of marital rape which often times went unreported had created anger in most housewives who in turn became very brutal to the extent of killing their spouses.
Mrs. Sampa said the only solution to this was mutual respect and honour for each others’ human rights in homes.

She encouraged participants to consider sensitising their communities on the need for married couples to respect each others’ human rights if marital rape was to be reduced.

Meanwhile, another facilitator Tresford Kasale said it was wrong for the Zambia Police Service officers to summon witness to their stations where they ( witnesses) were made to submit evidence in cases of mostly civil nature.

Mr Kasale said the trend was very intimidating resulting in witnesses to willfully not submit evidence to police stations. He said his office had also noted with concern that the police became unease when making submissions in court saying, often times, submissions made only resulted in courts throwing out most cases.

ZANIS

The Zambia Direct Democracy Movement (ZDDM) has predicted a landslide victory for the Movement for Multi Party Democracy (MMD) in the Chifubu Parliamentary by election.

ZDDM National Coordinator Edwin Sakala said ZDDM was convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the MMD would win the Chifubu seat with a slide victory.

Mr Sakala said residents were alive to the fact that voting for the confusion ridden opposition would not be in their best interest.
[pullquote]“Voting for the opposition is like shooting themselves on the foot, we believe the people of Chifubu cannot continue to make the same mistake which other constituencies across the country have made of denying themselves development through voting for the opposition,” Mr. Sakala said.[/pullquote]
In a statement made available to ZANIS in Lusaka today, Mr. Sakala said ZDDM supported the MMD in Chifubu as it was the only party that had the capacity to deliver results.

He said the party was getting inspiration from President Rupiah Banda who was rightfully referred to as man of unity and development.

“Voting for the opposition is like shooting themselves on the foot, we believe the people of Chifubu cannot continue to make the same mistake which other constituencies across the country have made of denying themselves development through voting for the opposition,” Mr. Sakala said.

Meanwhile, speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today FPP spokesperson Charles Kafumbo called on the Patriotic Front (PF) and United Party for National Development (UPND) Pact to join the MMD.

Mr Kafumbo said his organisation was solely behind the ruling MMD in the Chifubu by-election as it was the only party with a vision for the people.

Mr Kafumbo said the opposition had nothing tangible to offer to the people of Chifubu and the country at large.

The Chifubu seat fell vacant following the death of PF’s Benson Bwalya and the PF has since filled in Susan Kawandami as its candidate, with Brian Banda as candidate for the Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) and the MMD’s Frank Ng’ambi and the United National Independence Party (UNIP) has filled in Poko Mambwe.

The Chifubu parliamentary by-election will be held on August 5 this year.

[ ZANIS ]

MMD losing candidate in the Mufumbwe Parliamentary by-election Mulondwe Muzungu has told the Lusaka High Court that some voters did not participate in the by-election because of the violence during the campaign period.

Mr Muzungu, 67 of house number 106 Hellen Kaunda said the violence instilled fear in the electorate making them shun the polls.

He said over 54 per cent people voted but that the figure could have been higher if the campaign period was not hostile.

Mr Muzungu closed his case yesterday.

This is in a case in which Mr Muzungu has petitioned the election of United Party for National Development (UNPD) Elliot Kamondo as Mufumbwe member of Parliament.

He said during examination in chief when the matter came up for continued hearing that the violence in Mufumbwe caused tension and fear among the electorate.
Mr Muzungu said the entire electorate in Mufumbwe was petrified.

He said on April 13, 2010 after addressing a rally in Kashima West, suspected UPND cadres allegedly attacked MMD supporters.

“Violence in Mufumbwe was unprecedented. We have never had such violence, in which people’s eyes were plucked out, people stabbed and dogs killed. These assailants came with UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema,” he said.

Mr Muzungu said MMD officials were allegedly attacked when they were leaving the venue of the meeting onto the Mutanda-Chavuma road.

He said one of his political activist , Danny Kawishya was badly beaten and ended up in Mufumbwe District hospital where he was admitted for four days.

Mr Muzungu said during cross examination that violence in Mufumbwe was between MMD and UPND cadres.
He however said the UPND supporters were the aggressors.

Mr Muzungu said violence was reported in Kikonge, Matushi, Kakikasa, Kashima and Mushima wards.

He said he won by small margins in some parts of the wards although he would have done better if it was not for the violence.

Mr Muzungu denied being related to Chief Chizela saying he was only a business partner with the traditional leader.

He said he was not aware Chief Chizela was campaigning for him during the elections.

Mr Muzungu said he was not aware that Mr Kamondo was approached by the MMD to stand on the ruling party ticket.

Another witness, Ernest Kambili, 36 of house number 25B Solwezi Police Camp said on April 28 he received several reports of incidents of assault resulting from the alleged violence in the district.

Detective inspector Kambili said on this day he was operating from the Mufumbwe Police station inquiries desk where he issued numerous medical reports relating to assaults.

The matter comes up on Friday for continued hearing.

[ Zambia Daily mail ]