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MMD national secretary Katele Kalumba
Convicted former Finance Minister Katele Kalumba’s decision to take leave from his party duties as MMD National Secretary has been described as courageous.
Mission Press Director Father Dravesky Miha said there are few leaders who would take leave from office on moral grounds as Dr Kalumba has done.
He said Dr Kalumba’s decision to ask for leave from his party duties shows his great courage and humility to the party.
Fr Miha noted that Dr Kalumba should be applauded for taking such a brave step, especially that other leaders have failed to take similar steps even after being found wanting by the courts.
And former defence minister Goerge Mpombo said the decision taken by D Kalumba is in his own interest.
Mr Mpombo said his leave from party office would give him a peace of mind and maintain the moral standing of the Party.
A political activist Dante Saunders has described Dr Kalumba as a principled member of the MMD.
He said if other members of the ruling party could emulate him Zambia would be on the right track to ridding the country of corruption.
Youth activist affiliated to a number of youth organizations Mulenga Fube said the move by the MMD National Secretary should not be perceived as a sign of weakness but a right step.
Fube said the leave would not have come at a better time than now when the party is preparing for election next year.
Dr. Kalumba was together with six of his co-accused convicted by a Lusaka magistrate court and sentenced to 4 years imprisonment with hard labour for corruption during the time he served as finance minister.
[ QFM ]
Chief Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha has said Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata wants Zambians to suffer by calling on donors to withdraw aid.
Liuetenant General Shikapwasha said Mr Sata was being unpatriotic through his calls to donors to withdraw aid and make people suffer .
He instead appealed to Mr Sata to be patriotic and moot ideas which will better the lives of Zambians.
[pullquote]“Mr Sata should be patriotic. The Government is here to work with donors and it is the Government that sets the vision.
“Appealing to the donors to make people suffer by withdrawing aid is unpatriotic.
“We should be people of integrity and speak on things that will help people. Zambia is a sovereign State and if he has issues, he is free to go to any ministry and lodge a complaint,” he said.[/pullquote]
Commenting on Mr Sata’s statement that donors should put pressure on President Rupiah Banda’s administration, Gen Shikapwasha said the appeal by Mr Sata was not in the best interest of Zambia.
Gen Shikapwasha said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that Government was the one which set the country’s vision and donors were merely there to help it achieve the set goals.
“Mr Sata should be patriotic. The Government is here to work with donors and it is the Government that sets the vision.
“Appealing to the donors to make people suffer by withdrawing aid is unpatriotic.
“We should be people of integrity and speak on things that will help people. Zambia is a sovereign State and if he has issues, he is free to go to any ministry and lodge a complaint,” he said.
Zambians were looking for leaders who would better their lives and Government under the leadership of Mr Banda had made great strides economically and socially.
He said more schools, roads, health centres and various development projects were being undertaken countrywide.
Despite Zambia not being spared by floods last year, the country was able to record a bumper harvest, which was twice more than that of the previous farming season.
“This is a great achievement for our people as they will have more food. On the other hand if you go to the streets of Lusaka, even Choma or Livingstone there is traffic congestion a sign that more people can afford to buy cars. All these are indications that the Government is delivering,” he said.
He said what Mr Sata and his UPND counterpart Hakainde Hichilema should do was to encourage President Banda to work even harder instead of looking out for faults to advance their political agendas.
Gen Shikapwasha wondered why when there was a report of misappropriation of funds at the Ministry of Health, Mr Sata never condemned the acts.
He challenged him to come out in the open and publicly condemn the alleged theft of funds at the Ministry of Health.
On Mr Sata’s allegations that civil servants were delaying to get paid an indication that the Government was misapplying funds, Gen Shikapwasha who is Information and Broadcasting Services minister said the delay in the payments of salaries was an information technology (IT) problem which was being worked on.
Gen Shikapwasha said Secretary to the Cabinet Joshua Kanganja had explained and apologised to the nation on the delay caused by the IT problem which was being rectified.
“The delay for civil servants to get their dues has nothing to do with lack of money. There is plenty of money. It is an IT problem unless Mr Sata has a hand in messing up the IT. This problem has nothing to do with politics,” he said.
[ Times of Zambia ]
A court in Zambia on Tuesday ruled that two opposition lawmakers must face trial for honking their car horns in protest after former president Frederick Chiluba was cleared of corruption.
Jean Kapata and Mumbi Phiri of the main opposition Patriotic Front were arrested last August after taking part in a mass honking jam to protest Chiluba’s acquittal on charges he embezzled $500 000 in public funds.
Magistrate Charles Kafunda Chiluba found a “prima facie case has been established” against the duo who must now present their defence against charges of conduct likely to cause the breach of peace on July 19.
The acquittal of Chiluba, who led Zambia from 1991 to 2001, sparked dismay among opposition parties and anti-graft campaigners.
The former president still faces legal action in a separate matter stemming from a graft conviction in Britain, where a court in 2007 found him and former aides guilty of stealing nearly $50-million of state funds.
A fire heating up in readiness for a BBQ at Mindolo dam in Kitwe
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A man watches the sunset at Mindolo dam in Kitwe
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An entrance into Chicsokone market in Kitwe.
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One of the streets in Kitwe with statue of a miner called Mposa mabwe or stone thrower
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Street vendors conducting their business in Kitwe
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Some Kitwe residents relaxing at the Mindolo dam in Kitwe
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Some Kitwe residents in the centre of town
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A salsa group entertain guests at Pamodzi hotel in Lusaka.
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Information minister Ronnie Shikapwsha and Zambia breweries Group managing director about to present awards to sports journalists in Lusaka
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Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Danish Parliament and officials from their Zambian embassy are dwarfed by giant 300-tonne Komatsu dump truck on their recent visit to the Chingola Open Pits operations of Konkola Copper Mines.
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Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Danish Parliament and officials from their Zambian embassy at the KCM open pit operations from the top of the 300-tonne dump truck at the Chingola Open Pit mine on their recent tour to Konkola Copper Mines.
Violet lets baby Happiness get a grip on the handlebars of her motorbike. Photograph Rebecca StewartAs the sun rises over a village in Zambia, Judith ties a toddler on her back and a baby on her front and sets off on a 14km walk. Five hours later she makes her way down a dusty track to the health post, a cement building in the middle of the bush. Nico, the only health worker for 50km, looks up from basic exercise books – the medical records for all his patients.
Everything about Judith’s baby is the wrong colour. His lips are white, his eyes yellow, his new teeth brown and black. He is thin and pale and too tired to cry. His name is Happiness and he is eight months old. His mother is HIV-positive.
Nico says: “Because of your status we need to start the child on a course of treatment. But until I get the results from his dry blood spot test there is nothing I can do.” There is a high risk that Judith has transmitted the virus to her baby. The best way to test is by taking a small sample of blood and sending it off to the lab.
That’s when things get tricky. “Even when we have taken the specimens they can stay here for two months before they leave. We keep them in the fridge, but sometimes we don’t have the fuel to power the generator and the samples go bad. There is just no way of getting the samples to the lab in Chadiza or Lusaka in time,” says Nico. “Or to get the results back. Without the results, we can’t start treatment.”
This scene is repeated through sub-Saharan Africa thousands of times a day. But the issue is not medical. It’s failed transport. “I set off at sunrise,” Judith tells Nico. “I’m not sure I can come back here again. It is too far.”
Suddenly something close to miraculous happens. The door crashes open and a young woman in motorcycle gear struggles to remove her helmet. “I am Violet,” she declares as she wrestles an oversized rucksack from her back. “I have come to collect your specimens.” Nico had heard that a fast specimen referral system was supposed to be starting in the district. But he hadn’t believed it, there are so many promises. He holds Violet’s hands tight. Then he gives her the blood specimens and paperwork as he calls in his next patient from the hundred-long queue outside in the clinic.
The lab is in Chadiza, a rural town in the east of Zambia, a country five times the size of the UK. Mostly the “roads” are pot-holed, dusty tracks, and the Ministry of Health has few working vehicles. So the work of most clinics is undermined by their isolation. But there is a change: managed transportation thanks to Riders for Health, a global leader in social enterprise, which has six established programmes from Lesotho to Nigeria.
The group emerged from the world of motorcycle racing and is the official charity of MotoGP and motorcycle sport’s ruling body, the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme. Its mission? “Working to make sure all health workers in Africa have access to reliable transportation so they can reach the most isolated people with regular and predictable healthcare,” its website says.
Riders now manages almost 1,500 vehicles and reaches about 10.8 million people. Zambia’s is the latest Ministry of Health to benefit. Riders started in 1989 when the founders, visiting Africa, looked in horror as a woman in life-threatening obstructed labour had to be pushed to a clinic in a wheelbarrow. “In a world of well-engineered vehicles, it was pretty obscene,” says Andrea Coleman, “especially when the clinics and hospitals were surrounded by broken-down vehicles.” Coleman turned her skills to publicising the scandal and raising money to end it.
At first it met with resistance. Eventually officials in some countries saw the benefits.
Slowly, the Riders’ system of remote fuel management, outreach maintenance and training began to take hold and move from country to country. Setting up the Zambia programme are Alfred Gonga and Lloyd Chipere – long-serving members of Riders’ Zimbabwean team.
“It is not directly about healthcare,” says Gonga. “Here we are sample couriers. We save lives just by making sure people can get a diagnosis.” Chipere says: “One of the most important things we do is train our riders. Every single day they do their own maintenance routine. It’s a sustainable system. And it’s Africans working for Africa.”
A child started on antiretrovirals early enough can have his or her chance of developing full-blown Aids reduced to a mere 2%.
“Imagine,” says Violet, “I am girl from the village who learnt how to ride a motorbike. And now I might save the life of Happiness.” As Violet gets back on her bike Judith and Happiness are starting on a journey of their own: the long walk back to their village. Judith will get the result in three days and the child’s treatment will begin. “Now I can actually do my job,” says Nico. “And all because of a motorcycle.”
Commerce minister Felix Mutati
Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Felix Mutati says he will never insult the integrity of the Zambian people.
Addressing journalists during a press briefing held at his office this afternoon, Mr. Mutati said his statement that the people of Zambia would not understand the ZAMTEL Valuation Report was not meant to insult the integrity of the people.
Mr. Mutati explained that what he meant was that the people would only understand fully the matter after government makes a presentation of a comprehensive statement to parliament immediately it resumed sittings next month.
He said a comprehensive statement would highlight the details of the RP Capital Valuation Report and other details pertaining to the sale of ZAMTEL.
Mr. Mutati said his statement was based on how people might find it trick to understand the motive behind government’s sale of the country’s telecommunications company before a detailed comprehensive statement is made available to the public through parliament.
And Mr. Mutati disclosed that government decided to sell ZAMTEL because it was financially ill.
He said government did not have money to recapitalize the company because it was not budgeted for in the 2010 national budget.
He said the money that was needed to recapitalize ZAMTEL amounted to over US$200 million which he says government could not afford.
He noted that the only option government had was to find an investor who would inject money needed to revive normal operations of the company, which he says was a good idea because government will now receive dividends and taxes, as opposed to recording zeroes before it was sold.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mutati said the Zambia National Commercial Bank, ZANACO, is currently performing well in the wake of its privatization.
He said government has been benefiting well from ZANACO through dividends and taxes it receives from the investor in the commercial bank since it was privatized.
[ QFM ]
The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has temporally called off the Zambia Under-20 training camp after just one day after the team gathered in Lusaka.
The team entered camp on Sunday to begin preparations for its Libya 2011 CAF African Youth Championship 1st round, 1st leg qualifier against Mauritius on July 24.
Under-20 coach Keegan Mumba confirmed that training camp has been and that the 30-member team was due to regroup on June 20 but did not state the reason for the sudden break of camping after just 48 hours.
However, according to sources close to the situation, the administrative and logistical reasons have caused the temporal cancellation of the training camp.
The source said that Faz had a shortfall on funds to camp the team and was also yet to complete the contractual paper work for the technical bench.
Meanwhile, winner of the two-legged f1st round match against Mauritius will face either Nigeria or Guinea in the final 2nd round qualifying stage for a place in next year’s African Youth Championship finals in Libya.
Royal Philips Electronics NV (PHIA.AE) said Tuesday it has signed a “multi-million euro” contract with the government of Zambia for upgrading and the maintenance of 71 hospitals in the country.
MAIN FACTS:
– Philips and the Ministry of Health, Zambia sign a five-year multi-million Euro contract for upgrade and maintenance of 71 hospitals nationwide.
-Philips didn’t give more financial details.
-The deal also includes the training and education of healthcare workers on advanced medical treatments using modern technologies to improve the quality of care.
– By Amsterdam Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; [email protected]
The Global Fund has suspended more than $300 million in health assistance to Zambia because of concerns about corruption — the latest graft scandal to hit President Rupiah Banda before an election due next year.
The freeze, which is likely to affect the southern African country’s fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, comes a year after Sweden and the Netherlands suspended $33 million in Health Ministry aid due to a missing $5 million.
The European Union has also halted aid earmarked for road construction because of concerns about graft.
“The national authorities have failed thus to provide assurance of appropriate action regarding the fraud against Global Fund grant programmes,” the U.N.-initiated Fund said in a report seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
University of Zambia economist Oliver Saasa said the latest suspension should serve as another warning to Banda to get serious about graft, a growing concern to the donors who pay for 30 percent of the budget in Africa’s biggest copper producer.
“This touches directly on life and should send a signal to the government on the importance of accountability,” he said.
Banda’s anti-corruption credentials have been called into question since a junior court in Lusaka cleared former president Frederick Chiluba of graft in August and the government refused to appeal the decision.
Chiluba was accused of stealing $480,000 in Treasury funds but the court said prosecutors had failed to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt, raising an outcry from anti-graft groups and the political opposition.
Banda’s Movement for Multi-Party Democracy narrowly won an election in 2008 but is facing a serious challenge from populist opposition leader Michael Sata.
The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria gets the bulk of its funds come from the United States, Europe and Japan, and magnates such as Bill Gates also chip in.
African nations must stop seeking handouts and begin tough structural reforms, especially on trade, if they truly want to improve their economies, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday.
Clinton’s sharp comments were in response to a question about broadening the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a measure passed by Congress in 2000 which gives favorable access to U.S. markets to dozens of African countries.
While many African governments hope the benefits can be made permanent, Clinton signaled Washington was going to look for signs that African countries are serious about improving their own domestic economic policies.
Both Clinton and U.S. President Barack Obama have used trips to Africa to stress good governance, saying local leadership is as important as foreign help in the drive to stamp out war, corruption and disease on the continent.
[ QFM]
THE National Association for Peasant and Small-Scale Farmers of Zambia (NAPSFZ) has said it is opposed to the suggestion to revive the defunct National Agriculture Marketing Board (Namboard).
Association President Roger Phiri said his association would continue supporting the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) maize marketing system and was ready to go into partnership with it.
Mr Phiri said in a statement in Lusaka yesterday that instead of agitating for the disbanding of FRA, the NAPSFZ would offer alternative solutions to improve maize marketing system in Zambia.
“The Namboard system of maize marketing was condemned by many that it was too big and had many functions outside maize buying and we all agreed to restructure the institution,” he said.
He said the Zambian farming community had not forgotten that they demanded the establishment of a new maize buying institution in the country arguing that the re-introduction of the Government maize board would reverse the earlier decision.
Mr Phiri said in a liberalised economy, any maize marketing system has teething problems and are expected when setting up a national maize buying institution like the FRA.
“It is better to offer alternative solutions to maize marketing system with relevant facts supporting argument for reviving an old maize marketing institution like Namboard,” he said.
Mr Phiri urged institutions in the agricultural industry not to mislead the Zambian people on maize marketing systems.
ZIMBABWE is negotiating with Zambia to import maize to meet that country’s 500,000 tonnes grain deficit, Zambia’s High Commissioner to Zimbabwe, Sipula Kabanje has said.
In an interview in Harare, Dr Kabanje said the two governments were negotiating through the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) so that the once bread basket of the region, which has suffered economic turmoil in the last decade, could import maize from Zambia.
“Zambia today has a surplus but Zimbabwe has a deficit of 500,000 tonnes. We are coordinating with the FRA because they need to import maize to cover the deficit, and FRA is keen to export the surplus,” he said.
Dr Kabanje said Zimbabwe would not only need maize but was also looking to import other food products like cooking oil, wheat, meat and dairy products from Zambia.
He said Zambia should take advantage of the prevailing situation in Zimbabwe, where economic activities were recovering from years of economic downturn, and produce a lot of commodities for that market.
“Zimbabwe used to be Zambia’s biggest import source but now the situation is that Zimbabwe has to import a lot of commodities from Zambia.
“There are a lot of companies in Zimbabwe that want to import our wheat, rice, beans and other agricultural products for processing here while others want copper cathodes and other products from all sectors,” he said.
He said the Government, through the Zambia Development Agency, was trying to link more small and medium enterprises to the Zimbabwean market to supply the food requirements for the southern African country.
Zambia and Zimbabwe would also continue collaborating on infrastructure development, as was already demonstrated with the development of the Chirundu one-stop-shop border post.
SUPERDEAL Investment Limited, a Chinese firm, is set to establish a large-scale kiln in Kabwe at a cost of more than US$2 million.
Company chief executive officer, Luobin Bin Luo said in an interview in Kabwe that the furnace in the Central Province town would enable them process raw manganese ore in Zambia unlike exporting it in its raw form.
Mr Luobin, who was speaking through an interpreter Belinda Jiang, said the development would contribute to the growth of the economy by adding value to manganese.
He said the development of the kiln would create about 400 employment opportunities for the local people.
“We have a huge investment in Zambia and our plans are to put up a large furnace besides the plant we have,” he said.
Mr Luobin said many people would learn techniques that they could not acquire from school.
“This investment will not only create employment opportunities but also
contribute to the revenue base of this country,” he said.
Mr Luobin was optimistic that once the furnace was set up, it would raise the profile of Kabwe due to increased investment.
“We have already presented our investment plans to the Zambia Development Agency and our intention to construct a furnace right here in Kabwe which will boost our production.
“Right now there is little activity at our plant because of non availability of the raw materials,” he said.
Transparency International Zambia TIZ has charged that it is an insult for Commerce Minister, Felix Mutati to state that Zambians will not be able to understand the partial privatization of Zamtel even if the valuation report is released.
TIZ president, Rueben Lifuka said government has a responsibility to account for every action it takes on behalf of the Zambians.
Mr Lifuka said it is only right that government avails the valuation report of Zamtel to the Zambians because RP Capital was engaged to value Zamtel assets using public funds.
He has since called on government to exhibit transparency and allow the people to know the truth about the whole process leading to the sale of 75% shares in Zamtel to Libyan firm LAP Green Networks.
Mr Lifuka challenged Government to come out clean and release the valuation report.
He said government would not lose anything by making public the valuation report especially that the sale of Zamtel has already been concluded.
Mr Lifuka pointed out that Zambians will not stop demanding for the valuation report to be made public for as long government wants to hide it.
[ QFM ]
The Ministry of Defence has discovered that some opposition political parties have embarked on a propaganda campaign aimed at discrediting the leadership of President Rupiah Banda’s Government through music being distributed on CDs in some military cantonments.
Defence Minister Kalombo Mwansa said all political parties must not extend their political activities and campaign to any military cantonment.
Dr Mwansa said in a statement released in Lusaka yesterday that it was not only a matter of grave concern but also unfortunate.
“It is an act of extreme desperation and not in line with public opinion. Military cantonments house officers – men and women, who have dedicated their lives to provision of security in our country,” he said.
He said the men and women in uniform must be allowed free room to execute the provision of security undisturbed by political propaganda and campaigns.
“[pullquote]It is an act of extreme desperation and not in line with public opinion. Military cantonments house officers – men and women, who have dedicated their lives to provision of security in our country,” he said.[/pullquote]
Dr Mwansa said their loyalty was to the Government of the day and the people of Zambia.
“We appeal to all political parties to respect the non-partisan position of the military personnel and encourage our officers to pursue their calling undisturbed,” Dr Mwansa said.
Dr Mwansa said the military personnel shoulder heavy responsibilities in order for them to keep peace, stability, unity and territorial integrity of the country.
“In this regard, partisan campaigns may detract them from this noble cause and create a situation that may compromise our nation’s
