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A foreign woman smuggler has given birth to a dead baby at District Headquarters Hospital under police custody. A magistrate has instructed the police station concerned to make necessary arrangements for burial of the child in Christian cemetery according to wish of the mother.
Tembo Agness, of Zambia, was apprehended by Anti Narcotics Force, carrying drugs in November 2009. At that time, she was pregnant. Later she was sent to Adiala Jail by the court of law.
On Friday afternoon, she was rushed to DHQ Hospital from jail due to labouring pangs. She was shifted to Gynecology Department where she gave birth to a dead baby.
When jail administration came to know about the delivery, they submitted an application before a sessions judge, who deputed Special Duty Magistrate Syed Nazarat Ali to probe the reasons for the death of the child. Ali went to hospital on Saturday and inquired about the matter from the mother as well as doctors. He submitted his report to the sessions judge that according to gynecologist, the death of the child took place before birth.
Mother Agness wished that her baby be buried according to Christian traditions. Upon this the special magistrate ordered city police station to make necessary arrangements for burial of the child in a graveyard of Christians.
Zambia Under-20 coach Keegan Mumba has said the team will not break camp during as the team gathers in Lusaka on Sunday.
The team will be in training camp for six weeks at the Faz Technical Centre until they face Mauritius on July 24 in a Libya 2011 CAF African Youth Championship qualifier.
Mumba said the team needed to be in camp uninterrupted in order for the bench mold a formidable side to face Mauritius who they will host in their first round, first leg match next month.
Meanwhile, Mumba has also added Nchanga Rangers striker Aubrey Funga to the 35-member team.
Funga has so far scored two goals for Rangers in the league this season.
And Mumba has dropped goalkeeper Kenny Mumba of Red Arrows who is ineligible and has been promoted to the Olympic Under-23 team that will be led by Lucky Msiska.
Meanwhile, winner of the Zambia and Mauritius first round, two-leg match will face either Nigeria or Guinea in the second round, final qualifying stage for a place at next year finals in Libya.
Patriotic Front (PF) leader, Michael Sata has charged that the failure by the ruling Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) leadership to apprehend health Deputy Minister, Dr. Solomon Musonda after he shot a PF cadre in Serenje is enough testimony to prove that the party has no capacity to fight corruption.
Mr Sata who have persistently called for the police force and government to account for the shooting, tells Q fm in an interview that the police force is incapable of laying a figure on Dr. musonda despite what he did because he is in the MMD government.
The out-spoken PF leader said that republican President, Rupiah Banda and his government are incompetent to match up to the fight against corruption because they are too compromised.
He said it would have been easy for the MMD led government to apprehend the official, if he was from an opposition party but they could not touch him right now because he is still needed by the party.
Mr Sata also indicates that Zambians should know that the MMD government has no credibility in their words and are incapable of delivering according to it’s promise.
He has reiterated his call on the Zambia police service to arrest Dr. Musonda because he is not a free man.
The PF leader pointed out that it was unfair for other suspected criminals to be rotting in jail when some self confessed government official who almost murdered someone, is left to live in freedom.
[ QFM ]
FLASHBACK: Second republican President Frederick Chiluba poses for photographs to be taken by members of the pubic who turned up for the Restoration Service for World Peace prayer meeting at Matero stadium in Lusaka
MMD Kitwe District chairperson, George Lungu has said the booing of second Republican president Frederick Chiluba during his visit to Kitwe last weekend was stage-managed by the opposition.
And ex-miners in Kitwe’s Wusakile Township have said in no circumstances were they in a position to boo and insult Dr Chiluba who had offered to help address their plight.
In an interview in Kitwe yesterday, Mr Lungu said the picture portrayed by some individuals that Dr Chiluba received a hostile reception in Kitwe and that residents booed him was a total fabrication of what really transpired on the ground.
Mr Lungu charged that in fact it was the opposition that organised some callboys to boo Dr Chiluba to give an impression that the former president in was not welcome in Wusakile.
He said it was the view of the party and a cross section of people in the district that the former head of State had done so much for ex-miners, and for the opposition to organise callboys to boo him was most unfortunate.
Mr Lungu said in fact, ex-miners were eager to meet Dr Chiluba because of the many outstanding issues they wanted the former head of State who is their patron to address on their behalf.
And Wusakile-Chamboli Ex-Miners Association secretary, William Chola expressed disappointment with people insinuating that Wusakile residents who were mostly ex-miners booed Dr Chiluba when he visited the area.
Mr Chola said it was unfortunate that people were now trying to dent the name and image of ex-miners to Dr Chiluba when the two parties enjoyed a good relationship.
“In fact the residents and in particular ex-miners in Wuskile welcomed Dr Chiluba in the area and even demanded to have a meeting with him but unfortunately he had a tight schedule,” Mr Chola said.
As far as he was concerned, the people who booed Dr Chiluba were hired thugs and mostly the so called ‘Copper-Copper’ who upon seeing Dr Chiluba demanded money but when he refused to give them, decided to cause confusion.
Mr Chola said it was the same Copper-Copper thugs and not the residents or ex-miners who booed Dr Chiluba during his visit in Kitwe last weekend.
Last Sunday, former Patriotic Front (PF) secretary general, Charles Chimumbwa revealed that he had the previous day received a phone call from a person only identified as Mulenga who told him that they had managed to disrupt Dr Chiluba’s visit to Kitwe.
THE Patriotic Front (PF) women in Ndola have said that they want a woman to contest the Chifubu by-election on the PF ticket.
PF Ndola women’s chairperson Alice Kafula said yesterday during a press
briefing that the women in the party in Ndola would prefer a woman candidate if a credible woman could be found to contest the seat.
“If a credible woman can be found, we prefer a woman to stand on the PF
ticket. It is about time there was a female parliamentarian to represent the Chifubu constituency,” Ms Kafula said.
She said it was the view of the PF women in Ndola that since the city had four constituencies, the seats should be shared equally between men and women.
Ms Kafula however said that if a woman had to be selected, it should be one of high caliber and not a puppet.
She said her leadership was therefore currently sensitizing women at the
grass root level to encourage them to seek leadership roles in the party and the country.
At the same press briefing, Ms Kafula welcomed back a former PF chairperson for Ndola PF Agness Chomba to the party. Ms Chomba had left the PF in 2006 to join the MMD.
And PF Ndola chairperson Rebby Chanda said the district leadership was in support of the women’s decision to field a female candidate in the forth coming by election.
Mr Chanda said it was only fair that a woman was selected this time around as a parliamentarian.
He said women were capable leaders just like men were.
Mr Chanda however warned all women vying for the Chifubu seat in the PF to be credible and not turn into rebels after winning the election
ZAMBIA Competition Commission (ZCC) has commended mobile phone operators that have publicised their pre-paid roaming rates and internet browsing charges which consumers have complained about for a long time.
In February this year, ZCC engaged the mobile phone operators and requested them to disclose roaming charges and browsing the internet which according to investigations conducted by the commsission were not known by many users.
ZCC public relations officer, Vaida Bunda said the commission would continue to monitor the market for unfair trading practices to ensure that as firms succeed in their various businesses, the benefits are also passed on to the consumers.
Ms Bunda said in a statement in Lusaka that the commission had since last year received many complaints concerning non or full disclosure of roaming rates by mobile phone operators, which left most subscribers in the dark as to how much they were being charged for making calls while on roaming service.
“The commission also received complaints relating to mobile internet browsing whose charges have previously not been made available to users. The commission however, considers the publicising of roaming charges by mobile operators as good news for consumers because they can now decide objectively on whether to roam or simply buy a simpack from the country they are travelling to,” she said.
Ms Bunda noted that consumers would be able to decide based on comparisons in price of the roaming charges and that of the cost of calling using the local network from a purchased simpack in the country they are calling from.
She, however, said the commission considered that there should be options availed to internet users on whether they should be billed per second, minute, hour or megabyte.
“Charging per megabyte appears to be too technical for consumers to understand the billing and it may raise conflicts in future,” Ms Bunda said.
SEVEN headmen and some residents of Mbeza in Namwala say they are disgusted with UPND president Hakainde Hichilema for his alleged verbal attacks and violence directed at Namwala Member of Parliament Robbie Chizhyuka.
The headmen have charged that Mr Hichilema has allegedly been sending youths to harm Major Chizhyuka
Headman Nakamboma said Mr Hichilema is pushing Major Chizhyuka to respond to his continued attacks, saying time has come for the people of Mbeza and Namwala to defend their son.
He sounded the warning in Mbeza when a team of headmen and residents summoned Major Chizhyuka to brief the people on his relationship with the UPND President.
The visibly annoyed traditional leader warned that it is time Mr Hichilema stopped hiring youths to allegedly harm Major Chizhyuka, saying the family and people of Mbeza have been observing Mr Hichilema’s provocations.
He pointed out that the people of Namwala and Mbeza in particular do no want the pact and should not be forced to accept it through violence.
Headman Nakamboma warned that any youth sent to hurt Major Chizhyuka by Mr Hichilema should expect brutal reteliation.
“Some people are not grateful. It is Major Chizhyuka who introduced Hichilema to the people of Namwala. Major Chizhyuka talked well about Hichilema so much that we liked him,” he said.
He said if Mr Hichilema really wants to get some votes in Namwala, he should not rubbish Major Chizhyuka.
The traditional leader noted that in most cases, nothing tangible comes out of pact arrangements, especially those entered into with wrong people.
Headman Nakamboma cited the Choma declaration and the UDA as such pact arrangements which never yielded any fruits.
Meanwhile, a senior representative for headman Shalupumbu, Charles Chiboola, said it is sad that some educated people fail to understand politics and are putting their people in problems.
Mr Chiboola warned that he will deal with anyone who will visit his house to talk about the pact.
“We already have a good MP who has fought for improved lives for his people even way back before politics. What else would we want? We shall go wherever he goes, but not into this pact,” he vowed.
He said it will be difficult for Mr Hichilema to get back to the people in Namwala to ask for a vote when he has forsaken the person who introduced him to the people of Namwala.
“We have already benefitted from Major Chizhyuka’s good works. He has worked well with government to bring us the Choma-Namwala road, a girls’ high school and a basic school in Namwala boma. He worked hard to improve the Monze Nieko-Road,” he said.
Namwala District Indigenous People Rights Association chairman Dominic Shingalwe said Mr Hichilema should understand that Major Chizhyuka has relatives and friends who will not sit back and watch while other people hurt him.
“What wrong has Robbie done? Let Hichilema not start a war he will fail to stop,” he said.
Mr Shingalwe, who was the first district chairman for the African National Congress party, said Major Chizhyuka is an innocent man who is merely expressing his democratic right to oppose the pact.
Mr Shingalwe said Mr Hichilema will regret his move to partner with the PF, saying as a senior citizen who worked close with the late Mungoni Liso and Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula, he has a clear understanding of how the Tonga people have been cheated into forming pacts
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda says the partial privatisation of Zamtel to Lap Green Networks of Libya can be viewed as being the most successful in the country’s history largely on account of the process that was used by the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) to structure the transaction anchored on professionalism and transparency.
The President said Government raised about US$433 million from the previous 262 transactions but will this time around make US$257 million in Zamtel’s proceeds and a further US$127 million in guaranteed financing, bringing the total commitment to US$384 million.
He was speaking in Lusaka yesterday when he officially opened the 13th sitting for the Third Session of the House of Chiefs at Cabinet Office.
“Note that of this (US$433 million), the gross mining sector proceeds accounted for US$339 million and the non-mining sectors accounted for the remainder. As can be noted, the Zamtel transaction alone has raised US$257 million in sale proceeds,” he said.
The President appealed to traditional rulers to explain to their subjects the benefits of the partial privatisation of Zamtel to Lap Green Networks of Libya as it is probably the single most successful transaction of the 263 deals undertaken since 1992.
Mr Banda has also advised Zambians against politicising the sale of 75 percent shares in Zamtel because the benefits from the transaction will be immense and that only posterity will judge Government’s decision on the matter.
[pullquote]The President said Government raised about US$433 million from the previous 262 transactions but will this time around make US$257 million in Zamtel’s proceeds and a further US$127 million in guaranteed financing, bringing the total commitment to US$384 million.[/pullquote]
Mr Banda said the proceeds from the Zamtel deal demonstrate the difference that his Government is making in implementing the right processes aimed at bringing about change and stimulate the country’s economy.
He said Government has ensured that a substantial part of the US$257 million proceeds is allocated to the settlement of full terminal benefits for all Zamtel employees as agreed with union representatives.
Mr Banda said this is significantly different from previous transactions like the Roan Antelope Mining Corporation (RAMCOZ) where workers’ interests were not properly represented or accommodated.
He said independent auditors have been appointed to ensure that the package for every employee is correct and paid in full.
Mr Banda said all Zamtel employees will be given a lump sum proportionate to their grade and tenure at the company.
He said about US$98 million will go into the pockets of ordinary Zambians and the country’s economy.
“I hope that our people will invest this money cleverly to enjoy a lasting benefit,” he said.
Mr Banda said before the sale of 75 percent shares in Zamtel to Lap Green Networks of Libya, a concerted and sustained effort was made by ZDA to maximise the attractiveness of the company, improve its efficiency and prepare its other elements for post-transaction change.
“The process of privatisation was transparent and competitive throughout,” he said.
The President said the implementation of the privatisation process took into consideration some of the shortcomings observed in earlier processes.
“We had many bidders-all of them serious- and Lap Green Networks emerged from this competitive and rigorous process as the clear winner,” he said.
Mr Banda said the rigorous process ensured transparency and was done in accordance with the ZDA Act.
He said from the time Lap Green Networks takes over operations of Zamtel this monthend, Zambians will start seeing real change at the company as it will begin to actively compete and innovate in a way a modern telecommunications firm ought to.
The President, however, said that the key objective of the transaction deal was to find the right partner for the company and Government as an ongoing shareholder in Zamtel.
Mr Banda appealed to Zambians not to politicise the Zamtel transaction because without the intervention to privatise it, the company would have collapsed.
He said in its current form, Zamtel is unable to compete in the telecommunications market for various reasons well known by most Zambians.
The President said Zamtel made US$17 million loss in 2008 and more than US$30 million last year and that while its competitors like Zain have over three million subscribers, Zamtel has been struggling at barely 100,000.
“Even in the fixed line business where Zamtel is a monopoly, it has only about 240,000 connectivity,” he said.
He said the situation in which Zamtel is can only continue up to a certain extent beyond which it would collapse.
Mr Banda said Government has a duty to ensure that it safeguards Zamtel’s assets on behalf of the people and as such cannot allow the company to collapse while there are options to save it.
[pullquote]
The President said Zamtel made US$17 million loss in 2008 and more than US$30 million last year and that while its competitors like Zain have over three million subscribers, Zamtel has been struggling at barely 100,000.[/pullquote]
The President questioned the motive of those politicising the privatisation of Zamtel when it is clear that the prime objective of the transaction was to find the right partner that could raise capital, invest in new technologies and improve efficiencies that could help in turning around the company while Government continues to be a shareholder.
“The proof of Zamtel’s failure will not be in my words but in the turnaround that you, the Zambian people, will see at Zamtel within the next year. My Government and I have been criticised for this privatisation.
“But I challenge all Zambians to judge this privatisation by its results, the change they will see from a new and transformed Zamtel,” Mr Banda said.
ZAMBIA Congress of Trade Unions secretary general Roy Mwaba addresses journalists while his deputy Alfred Mudenda listens during a media briefing in Lusaka
THE Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has urged stakeholders to ignore criticism of the Zamtel sale by the PF/UPND Pact because the two parties poured similar scorn on the privatisation of the now viable Zanaco.
ZCTU secretary general Roy Mwaba said in an interview that meetings had been held in which all the 2,431 workers had been assured of both full separation packages and retention of their jobs.
Mr Mwaba said the pact leaders had continued attacking very promising deals like they did when Zanaco was sold to Rabo Bank but the bank had now proved to be among the most viable financial institutions in Zambia.
ZCTU was reacting to sentiments by UPND president Hakainde Hichilema and PF president Michael Sata who have threatened to revoke the transaction should they assume power.
[pullquote]“They must stop politicising everything. That is exactly what they said about Zanaco and now the bank is doing very well they have kept quiet,” Mr Mwaba said.[/pullquote]
“They must stop politicising everything. That is exactly what they said about Zanaco and now the bank is doing very well they have kept quiet,” Mr Mwaba said.
He said ZCTU had undertaken to research on the viability of the Libyan firm, LAP GreenN that has its headquarters in Uganda and had discovered that the company was well grounded through diversification into ICTs and agriculture.
It had been agreed that all workers who would lose their jobs would be paid in line with the prevailing conditions of service signed between Zamtel management and the National Union of Communication Workers (NUCW).
Mr Mwaba said the people condemning the sale of Zamtel should keep a distance when Zamtel starts making profits and becomes more competitive like Zanaco, which was now operating at its best.
The congress also called on the political stakeholders to accept that contentious issues regarding the sale of Zamtel had been resolved including the tribunal that heard the involvement of RP Capital Partners which cleared former Communications and Transport minister Dora Siliya.
And the NUCW has called on all unionised Zamtel employees to remain calm as they await their separation packages because their packages will be paid in full.
NUCW General Secretary Clement Kasonde said in a circular dated June 8, 2010, that the payment of separation packages for Zamtel unionised employees would be paid in full as agreed upon by the union and Zamtel management.
“In view of the above assurance, you are all directed to remain calm to ensure that the remaining legal issues are finalised as quickly as possible,” the circular read in part.
Mr Kasonde thanked the workers for their patience.
MMD national chairman Michael Mabenga
The ruling Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) has likened the PF/UPND pact to a horse that does not gallop.
MMD National Chairman Michael Mabenga told QFM that there was something sinister about the PF/UPND pact adding that even its recent launch was largely attended by hired cadres.
He said Zambians should question the real motive behind the pact.
Mr Mbenga has also described this year’s party card renewal exercise as overwhelming.
He said the Party has recorded an increase in the number of members recruited in Luapula and the Copperbelt provinces.
Mr Mabenga has also attributed the high levels of defections on the Copperbelt by opposition supporters to the ruling party to the recent irregularities in valuation of land and property in PF run Councils.
He alleged that people of the Copperbelt have now realized that PF cannot be entrusted to run the affairs of the country.
[ QFM ]
Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) General Secretary, Reverend Suzanne Matale has called on Zambians to reject the new constitution if the National Constitution Conference (NCC) continues to refuse to include the bill of rights in the new constitution.
Reverend Matale said if the NCC delegates persistently refuse to include the economic, cultural and social rights in the constitution, they should be assured that Zambians will not vote for it during the referendum.
She said failure to include the basic rights of the people in the constitution is pronouncing death on the people because they would not have access to anything which falls under the bill of rights.
She noted that the non inclusion of the bill of rights in the constitution was worrying and should be looked at carefully.
Reverend Matale explained there is no way a government could claim to be serving the people when it cannot grant them the right to food.
[ QFM ]
Mrs Thandiwe Banda checking her hand bag to get money to award dancing MMD cadres in Mutendere township
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Mrs Thandiwe Banda giving money to dancing MMD cadres in Mutendere township.
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Mrs Thandiwe Banda dancing with pupils at Mahatma Gandhi Basic School in Lusaka
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Mrs Thandiwe Banda captured during the tour of Mahatma Gandhi basic school in Lusaka
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Mrs Thandiwe Banda bids farewell to her hosts after visiting Mutendere township in Lusaka
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Mrs Thandiwe Banda about to give money to dancing MMD cadres in Mutendere township
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A youthful dance troupe in Mutendere township in action
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Mrs Thandiwe Banda waves as she leaves Mutendere township
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Science Minister and technology Brian Chituwo helps a pupil of Nampundwe to wear glasses donated to the public in Nampundwe
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President Banda with Togolese president during the French Africa Summit
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President Banda with vice president George Kunda at Lusaka international Aiport
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Post newspaper editor-in-chief Fred Mmembe saying his last words before being ushered into the Lusaka central or Chimbokaila prison
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Post Newspapers editor- in- Chief Fred M'membe being escorted to Lusaka Central Prison after he was jailed for four months with hard labour by Lusaka magistrate David Simusamba on June 4,2010-Picture by Eddie Mwanaleza
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National Milling Corporation managing director and public relations officer Esther Chilala during a press briefing in Lusaka.
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Local government and housing minister Eustarkio Kazonga inspects the ZAIN Zambia housing compound for winners of the SMS promotion in Lusaka
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Former Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo with his wife Maria Sung captured at Lusaka international airport when they arrived in Lusaka
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First republican president Kenneth Kaunda plants a tree to commemorate the World Environment Day in Lusaka
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Education minister Dora Siliya visits the poor in her constituency in Petauke
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A trucker stands helpless after his vehicle that was used to transport cement flipped
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A peasant farmer drying his agricultural produce in Mongu.
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Some pupils in Nampundwe pose for a photograph after receiving free eye screening from Konkola Copper Mines
Zambia Water and Sanitation Engineering and Allied Workers Union members have began a sit-in protest following the elapsing of a 48-hours ultimatum given to government to withdraw a circular directing water utilities in the country to award workers a 5 percent salary increment.
And some water utilities are reportedly threatening and intimidating their workers who are staging a sit-in protest.
Union president, Joseph Musapa, has however urged water utility managements to calm down and allow for the protest to go ahead as planned because it is not targeted at them.
Mr. Musapa said the protest is meant to send a message of displeasure to government over its decision to award the workers a 5 percent salary increment when civil servants were awarded a 15 percent pay rise.
He has urged water utility managements to stop intimidating workers and allow them to go ahead with the protest because it is for a good cause.
Workers at Nkana and Mulonga water and sewerage companies on the copperbelt have lead the way in staging the protest which expected to spread to Lusaka soon.
Mr. Musapa says failure by the MMD Government to listen has caused the protest by the workers
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) says it is deeply concerned about the recent harassments of The Post newspapers,worsened by the prosecution and detention of editor in chief Fred M’membe.
In a statement released to QFM today, MISA Regional Director Kaitira Kandjii said MISA views the prosecution and detention of M’membe as a deafening attack on media freedom and freedom of expression.
He said MISA’s regional secretariat and its 11 chapters throughout southern Africa outrightly reject the judgement by Magistrate David Simusamba and regard it as a betrayal of media freedom and freedom of expression.
Mr Kandjii said the words used by the Magistrate Simusamba when passing sentence that the sentence is meant to reform M’membe as well as to deter would-be offenders are a threat to every Zambian and are meant to instill fear.
He said The Post Newspaper has been a major critic to Zambia’s bad governance and that its prosecution is a sign by the Zambian government to avenge dissenting voices.
Mr Kandjii added that it is disturbing to note that The Post and M’membe are being prosecuted for giving a platform to a citizen to express himself on an issue of public concern.
He stated that the Zambian media has a responsibility to publish and broadcast news and information and that in this case The Post had the right to publish an opinion article by Professor Muna Ndulo, adding that the fact that the Kabwela case was before the Court did not override the rights of people to express their opinions about the ongoing trial.
M’membe was last week sentenced to four months imprisonment with hard labour after being found guilty for contempt of court.
President Banda with vice president George Kunda at Lusaka internati
President Rupiah Banda has described the sale of Zamtel to Libyan firm LAP Green as the single most successful transaction since the MMD commenced the privatization process of parastatals in the country.
President Banda has also revealed that the sale has enabled the Government to raise a total of 384 million US dollars.
President Rupiah Banda said this when he officially opened the first session of the third House of Chiefs in Lusaka today.
The President further described the sale of ZAMTEL as professional and transparently done and has since called on Zambians to refrain from politicizing the sale and wait until the results of the sale start showing.
And President Rupiah Banda said a substantial amount of the total proceeds from the sale of Zamtel will be allocated towards settling the terminal benefits of Zamtel workers as agreed with the unions.
Through the Chiefs the President assured Zambians of transparency in the settling of the terminal benefits of the workers.
He added that LAP Green is a competitive and reputable firm in Africa that will offer modern communication solutions to Zamtel which was on a brink of collapse.
