By Rodger Chali
Imagine Lusaka was a brother and the eight other provinces were his siblings. Brother Lusaka is blessed to have his own children called government ministries, 22 of them.

The peculiar phenomena in this relationship is either brother Lusaka is a very kind person or the eight brothers and sisters are very lazy. Brother Lusaka may also be very greedy, being the managing Director of company called Zambia, he has directed his siblings who runs his subsidiaries to send all the profits to him and he alone and his children decides who gets what. It does not matter if sister Copperbelt has been making loses or not.

Brother Lusaka has gone to an extent of telling his siblings he will make education decisions for his brothers and sisters through his son ministry of Education. If you obtain land from Western you may need to travel to Lusaka to obtain the title deeds from nephew Lands and natural resources.

Lusaka understands the pain brother and sister NorthWestern and Copperbelt respectively are going through to produce the copper in terms of road destruction by the heavy trucks which uses those roads. While he has his own road problems were he lives, he has assured all of us nephew works and supply has everything under control.

Nephew Ministry Finance has failed to come up with a system of collecting taxes from the informal sector and has opted the easier way of finding money for the Uncles, borrow from the donors.

His intentions and of his children are good but he is clearly overwhelmed and in some cases his children have become abusive to Uncles and Aunties, getting a passport is a nightmare, the Uncles have to pay double the official price.

Lusaka’s siblings have full potential to develop their own areas, but he has assured everyone he is capable of taking care of us. The end result after 45 years only brother Lusaka and his children are fat and all other eight brothers and sisters except Copperbelt province live without intensive care units in their provincial hospitals. By the way if he gets a flu or his children sneeze, they have an option to go to South Africa.

The University of Zambia (UNZA) has handed over the site to a developer for the construction of a business park, which will
house shops, students hostels and staff houses, among others.

The 13 hectare piece of land will be used to develop a business park to comprise a three start hotel, and office blocks, a 50 by 3 storey students’ hostels and 100 housing units for staffs.

Speaking at the handover of the site at UNZA in Lusaka today UNZA Council Chairperson, Tukiya Kankasa-Mabula said the construction is a mile stone in the development of the university.

Dr. Mabula said the project will be developed under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) which the country is promoting.

She said it was pleasing that a Zambian company has been considered for such a big projects which will also set precedent for the development of other projects of such magnitude.

She has she this was also part of the citizen empowerment and urged the developer to an excellent job so that others Zambians companies might also be considered for future projects by others.

Dr. Mabula has since called on the developer to do a world class jobs which others should emulate.

And Graduare Property Development Representative Collins Sitali says the project which started with a plan five years ago will finally take off.

Mr. Sitali said the constructions which will start in the next six months will take three years to be completed.

He said the project which will be the first PPP project will be done with much cautiousness and exemplary for others to follow.

He said his firm had taken insights from the meetings held with both local and foreign stakeholders on how best to handle the project.

Under this project the developer will construct and manage the infrastructure for 30 years before giving it the UNZA.

ZANIS

The Anti Voter Apathy Project (AVAP) has called on all political parties to mobilize their members to register as voters during the continuous voter registration exercise slated to commence on June 21, 2010.

This follows the announcement by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) in Lusaka that the exercise would begin on June 21 for an initial period of 90 days.

AVAP Executive Director Bonny Tembo said all political parties should undertake a vigorous mobilization exercise and sensitize their members to register as voters in order to abate voter apathy in the 2011 tripartite
elections.

Mr Tembo has however cautioned politicians against ferrying potential voters to registration centres, saying the trend was illegal and was tantamount to flouting electoral procedures.

He told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka today that eligible voters should register as voters on their own free will and not be coerced to do so.

The AVAP Executive Director also urged the media to partner with the ECZ for them to fully understand the voter registration exercise for them to report professionally on the exercise.

He said since the media plays a vital role in the electoral processes, it should therefore have detailed information about the exercise in order to be able to enlighten society on the importance of the exercise.

Mr Tembo also urged the ECZ not to be selective in its media campaign butto work with all media house regardless of their status to capture a wide variety of potential voters.

[ ZANIS ]

GOVERNMENT says it is disappointed with United Party for National Development leader Hakainde Hichilema and his Patriotic Front counterpart Michael Sata for allegedly politicising the conviction of The Post editor-in-chief Fred M’membe by a Lusaka Magistrate Court.

Chief Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha said opposition leaders should learn to respect the decisions of the Judiciary.

He said in Lusaka yesterday that he is disappointed that Mr Hichilema and Mr Sata are ignorantly accusing Government of having influenced the conviction of M’membe on contempt charges.

[pullquote]Gen. Shikapwasha said the same courts that acquitted The Post news editor Chansa Kabwela convicted M’membe and wondered why Mr Hichilema and Mr Sata did not accuse Government of influencing the case.[/pullquote]

Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha said the Judiciary is independent and Government has nothing to do with the conviction and sentencing of M’membe to four months imprisonment with hard labour.Monday, June 7, 2010
“I am really disappointed with the ignorance of Mr Hakainde Hichilema, Mr Sata and other opposition leaders because they should know that the work of the Judiciary is independent from Government,” he said.

Gen. Shikapwasha, who is also Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, said the process and outcome of the contempt of court offence that was committed by M’membe was done according to the law.

“So, Government has got nothing to do with him (M’membe) committing an offence. We should allow for the process of the law to take its course,” he said.

Gen. Shikapwasha said the same courts that acquitted The Post news editor Chansa Kabwela convicted M’membe and wondered why Mr Hichilema and Mr Sata did not accuse Government of influencing the case.

The minister said the judiciary is independent and made the decision to acquit Ms Kabwela just like it did with the conviction and subsequent sentencing of M’membe.
[pullquote]
Gen. Shikapwasha also said the international media cannot order the courts of law on how they should make decisions especially that they do not belong to Zambia.[/pullquote]

“So, let us leave the Judiciary to do its own work. People should not politicise operations of the Judiciary,” he said.

Gen. Shikapwasha also said the international media cannot order the courts of law on how they should make decisions especially that they do not belong to Zambia.

The minister said the international media should respect the laws of Zambia because they do not segregate and that any citizen who commits a crime is liable to face the law and M’membe is no exception.

He said those exhibiting ignorance about the conviction of M’membe should take time to study the judgement for them to understand and stop commenting on the matter ignorantly.

[Zambia Daily mail]

The Citizen’s forum has called for the reviewing of laws surrounding the contempt of court in Zambia.

Citizen’s forum executive secretary Simon Kabanda says that lots of innocent Zambians have continued to be unfairly convicted because of this law.

Mr. Kabanda cited the media as one of the many victims that suffer at the hands of the Zambian contempt of court law. He said that the media in Zambia operate under very difficult conditions which if certain laws are not reviewed will make them go to prison on a daily basis.

He said certain laws need to be reviewed to favor the operation of the media unlike what is happening at the moment.

Mr. Kabanda has also added to calls for the President to have his powers reviewed in order to reduce the interference in the judiciary.

He was speaking last evening on Monday Nite live
And Mr. Kabanda says that it will be impossible for the Electoral commission of Zambia to achieve its number of 2.5 million voters as registered voters without addressing challenging issues.

Commenting on the Electoral Commission of Zambia’s announcement that the voter registration exercise will commence on the 21st of June 2010, Mr. Kabanda stated that the poor road network will be one of the major challenges that will hinder the progress of the voter registration exercise.

[ QFM]

CHIEF Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha has challenged United Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema to first reverse the privatisation of Roan Antelope Mining Corporation (RAMCOZ) before he can start talking about the sale of 75 percent Zamtel shares to Lap Green Networks of Libya.

Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha, who is Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, told journalists at Lusaka City Airport yesterday that Mr Hichilema’s plans to reverse the privatisation of Zamtel and Zanaco if he is elected as President are uncalled for.

“I want to challenge him first of all even before people consider him; let him reverse the process of privatisation and liquidation that he did at RAMCOZ and many other companies including Lima Bank,” he said.

Lt.Gen. Shikapwasha said as a result of the privatisation and liquidation of RAMCOZ, the people of Luanshya have suffered a lot.

Lt.Gen Shikapwasha assured the nation that the security of the country will not be jeopardised following the sale of 75 percent shares in Zamtel to a foreign firm.

He said all security issues were looked into before a decision was made to sale majority shares in the company to a foreign company.

“Zambians must not worry that the sell of Zamtel will prove to be a security risk. All these issues were looked into and all those who use the facility, including the defence forces, will still be able to operate normally without any fear of any privileged information ending up elsewhere,” Lt.Gen Shikapwasha said.

Secretary to the Treasury Likolo Ndalamei said the sale of Zamtel will continue to benefit Zambians both in dividends and taxes.

He said being a parastatal, the company was not remitting any taxes but that the new owners will begin doing so as soon as they begin to make profits.

“I cannot tell how much money we will collect from the new investors but when they start operating, we will look at the profits; then we will start taxing them,” he said.

And Economic Association of Zambia (EAZ) president Mwilola Imakando says the sale of Zamtel makes economic sense and that the company must now be ready to compete with other players in the sector.

Dr Imakando said in a separate interview that Zamtel has been sold at a late hour when it is unable to offer services efficiently.

He said the major concern before was the moratorium of not allowing new companies to come on the scene.
He said, however, the sale of 75 percent shares in Zamtel will allow the company to build up muscle and make it ready to compete effectively.

He said having a competitor will improve the operations of the company, which has been unable to make any returns on the investment that has been built over the years.

Government has sold 75 percent shares to Libya’s Lap Green Networks.

[Zambia Daily Mail]

The PF-UPND pact has boasted that the launch of the pact last Saturday has overcome regional and tribal politics in Zambia, of which former president Fredrick Chiluba was the alleged architect.

And the PF-UPND pact has observed that Dr Chiluba is under threat because he knows that President Rupiah Banda, the only person who is shielding him from all his ill dealings whilst President, is slowly losing ground.

In an interview with QFM, PF-UPND co-spokesperson Charles Kakoma said Dr Chiluba and president Banda are talking the way they are talking about the relevance of the pact because they are panicking.

Mr Kakoma stressed that the coming together of the UPND and PF has countered regional and tribal politics.

Mr Kokoma who is also Zambezi west Member of Parliament accused Dr Chiluba of creating strides of regional politics through his malicious and questionable campaigns for President Rupiah Banda.

And Mr Kakoma has maintained that there is no urgency of announcing who will be the Pact’s presidential candidate because the date of the general elections has not been announced.

He said the pact is aware that the MMD wants the presidential candidate to be named so that they can direct their energies to de-campaigning him.
He stressed that the pact will not fall into the MMD’s cheap traps.
[Q FM]