FORMER President Frederick Chiluba has paid tribute to President Banda for honouring national leaders who die in service or after retirement.

And Mr Banda yesterday led mourners at the funeral service of the late freedom fighter and diplomat Axson Chalikulima held at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Lusaka.

Dr Chiluba said in his tribute that political leaders should stand united during times of sorrow despite their differences as all are Zambians.

He said the attitude exhibited by President Banda was an indicator of one who respects fellow leaders.

Dr Chiluba said the respect that Mr Banda is according both present and past civil servants during their funerals deserves recognition.

The former President said he is not campaigning because if Government is good to its people, they must reciprocate.

“If Government is doing good, do the same to it,” he said.

Dr Chiluba said despite his busy schedule, President Banda had found time to attend the church service apart from visiting the funeral house on Monday.

And Dr Chiluba said he personally went to United Party for National Development president Hakainde Hichilema’s house to offer his condolences during the opposition leader’s mother-in-law’s funeral.

“We did not carry cameras when going to offer condolences because it is not for show,” he said.
Dr Chiluba said Mr Chalikulima was always ready to offer advice to politicians.

He said Mr Chalikulima would warn a head of State not to worry about those who were always insulting them, but instead concentrate on bettering the lives of the people.

Dr Chiluba described Mr Chalikulima as a patriot who gave his advice whenever he saw trouble.

He also thanked the defence forces for their dedication to carrying out State duties, which was a sign that Government is ready for eventualities.

And Apostle Haelian Rupasingh said the President deserves to be honoured for the peace the nation has continued to enjoy.

“The peace in this country should actually flow to the rest of Africa, north, south, east and the west,” he said.

Apostle Rupasingh said Zambia is a blessed country and that the peace it enjoys should be nurtured.

And giving the hero’s life history, Chapa Chikamba said Mr Chalikulima’s vision was for Zambia to be united from family to national level.

He said Mr Chalikulima had strived to see the country prosper economically.

Mr Chikamba said Mr Chalikulima, who was a consultant to many politicians, avoided siding with a particular political party.

Mr Chalikulima was the first political assistant to President Kenneth Kaunda in 1966 and 1967.

He was later appointed first Zambian commandant in the Zambia National Service.

In 1969, he was appointed ambassador to the Congo-Brazzaville and four years later, he was appointed Cabinet minister until 1975.

From 1975 to 1983, Mr Chalikulima served as high commissioner to India.

He was later posted to Japan where he served until 1987.

From 1987 to 1992, he served as ambassador to Angola before he retired in April 1992.

Mr Chikamba said Mr Chalikulima was the longest serving diplomat who also served as dean of ambassadors and high commissioners.

Mr Chalikulima died on April 17 in Victoria Hospital in Lusaka.

Those in attendance included Heritage Party president Godfrey Miyanda, All People’s Congress Party leader Kenny Ngondo, National Democratic Focus president Ben Mwila and National Restoration Party interim president Elias Chipimo Jr.

Others in attendance were Cabinet and deputy ministers.
[ Zambia Daily Mail ]

The construction of the 1,4 Tb East Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSY) has been completed ahead of schedule, on Monday, 19 April.

The installation phase started in December 2009, in Maputo, Mozambique. The undersea cable landed on the South African coast in February 2010 at Mtunzini and on 6th April on the Tanzanian shore, before the cable-laying vessel joined the two segments in the Indian Ocean.

“Now that this critical stage of the project has been completed successfully and ahead of time, we will start testing the system almost immediately”, said Chris Wood, West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC) CEO, in a statement.

The EASSY cable will be launched in June and will deliver high-speed, fiber-optic connectivity to nine landing stations and other African landlocked countries, including Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Botswana.

According to Kenya’s Computerworld, EASSY will deliver connectivity to Europe via a direct route through the Red and Mediterranean Seas, reducing the time taken for traffic from Europe and North Africa to reach the East African coast and viceversa.

The East African Submarine System (EASSy) comprises of a 10,000km submarine cable system along the east coast of Africa, with 9 landing stations in Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Comoros, Madagascar, Mozambique and South Africa.

[IT News Africa]

THE MMD on the Copperbelt has accused the Ndola City Council (NCC) of manipulating the list of sitting tenants at Itawa flats and Masala Housing Complex by fusing in names of some directors and other council officials after President Rupiah Banda ordered the sale of the housing units.

Provincial youth vice-secretary Benson Tembo said the MMD was aware that there was a new list where council officials wanted to deprive some of the tenants a chance to buy the units they were occupying.

Acting Ndola Town Clerk Moses Mwelwa denied that some council officials were in the process of manipulating the lists and appealed to the tenants to report to the council any employee or individual making attempts to frustrate the Government’s directive to have the houses sold to sitting tenants.

Mr Tembo said in an interview in Ndola yesterday the MMD would not sit idle and allow the council to victimise sitting tenants who had suffered a lot by living in dilapidated structures which were not being maintained by NCC.

He alleged that some NCC directors and other officials put their names on some of the Itawa flats and Masala complex and then sublet to sitting tenants.

“We’re aware that some directors and other council officials sublet some of the Itawa flats and Masala houses to sitting tenants and now want to start victimising the people staying in those houses so that they (council officials) are given offer letters to buy,” he said.

Mr Tembo said the MMD would ensure offer letters were given to sitting tenants and threatened to report any suspicious manoeuvres by the council officials to relevant authorities.

He said just like President Banda had promised to open his ‘eyes’ on the sale of the council houses, the party in the province would also be vigilant and ensure the right people benefitted from the house empowerment policy.

President Banda on Tuesday directed the Ministry of Local Government and Housing to sell houses at Masala housing complex and Itawa flats, as well as houses belonging to the defunct United Bus Company of Zambia to the sitting tenants at fair and reasonable prices.

But Mr Mwelwa said the Ndola City Council was waiting for further directives from the central Government on whether to sell the houses at the prices to be suggested by the evaluators, or any other price which would be deemed suitable.

He said NCC had promptly responded to Government’s directive to value the houses by engaging the Government valuation department.

He said a team of evaluators had started the process of determining the prices of the Itawa flats and the houses at the Chinese Complex, which had been earmarked for sale to sitting tenants.

THE Government has said that the Catholic Church should state the action that it will take against priests and members issuing utterances that are against the official voice of the church.

Speaking in an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Chief Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha said the people expected the Catholic Church to state the action to be meted out against priests and members issuing personal remarks on political and economic issues of the country.

On Tuesday, Vatican ambassador to Zambia Nicola Girasoli said that utterances by individual priests and members of the clergy in Zambia should not be misconstrued as representing the official position of the church.

Ambassador Girasoli said the church only speaks through the Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC) and through the Vatican Embassy on matters related to the church and the State.

“If the statements that the clergy and some members are issuing are not official positions of the church, the Government and the Zambian people will want to see the action that the church is taking against its members,” Gen Shikapwasha said.

Gen Shikapwasha said the Government and the citizens expected that there was a code of conduct among the Catholic clergy and the general members and when such were violated, he expected that the church should take appropriate action.

In many instances, he said the statements by Catholic priests and some members were annoying and frustrating to many and as such the public should be informed on the course of action taken against erring Catholic believers.

“Just to say that the statements are not the official position is not enough, we want to hear the action taken,” Gen Shikapwasha said.

Now that the Vatican has stated that the position of some clergy and members was not the official position of the church, he said that the Government would be keen to hear what kind of action the church would take against erring members.

[Times of Zambia]

Maximum security prisoners and death row inmates in Zambia will receive booklets about the Rosary through a joint initiative of two U.K.-based charities.

A reported 1,600 copies of the booklet, created by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), will be distributed to prisoners in Kamfinsa State Prison and Kabwe Maximum Security Prison. The initiative is conducted by ACN and the charity Crown of Thorns in response to inmates’ requests for more information about the Rosary.

Lisa de Quay, chief executive of Crown of Thorns, told ACN the charity regularly receives many letters from prisoners, including those on death row. She said contact with the prisoners was probably established after a visiting chaplain distributed Crown of Thorns cards describing the rosary prayers.

“Inmates are usually family breadwinners, worried about the poverty and hardship that their crime has left their families suffering and too far from home for their families to visit,” de Quay explained.

“Although kindly treated, most inmates spend years in prison with only the clothes that they were arrested in, and with no soap, and with no blanket or sheet to cover themselves in through the cold months of the year, and (are) often rejected from their society through crime or disease.”

Sending Rosary cards to prisoners and the booklet is making a difference in their lives, she said.

“Their letters will surprise you, (they are) full of the great joy of contact, of being accepted, and of finding God,” she commented.

Another message of thanks came from a maximum security prisoner in Kabwe jail, who called the Rosary distribution “a lamp that one cannot hide under the table.” “It is a light of the world, a light that can be seen thousands of miles up and much farther on land. This light shines before people.

“How thrilling it is to be part of God’s work, shining out in this dark and corrupt world.

“For the love and faith you have for God’s people, I pray that God should bless you all, and that he gives you knowledge that you can share with me.”

[www.catholicnewsagency.com]