UNITED Church of Zambia (UCZ) Matero congregation members yesterday burnt tyres and fought with police as they protested demanding the removal of presiding Reverend John Mukuka Mwelwa whom they accused of infidelity and abuse of church funds.

The fracas, which disrupted normal Sunday services, erupted when the members, mostly youths, ganged up at the church’s main gate to block Rev Mwelwa from entering the premises.

The protesters, who resolved not to allow Rev Mwelwa to conduct any service, threatened to physically ‘deal with him’ if he entered the premises.

Quick action by police officers from Matero police station prevented the protesters from causing damage.

The rioters accused Rev Mwelwa of infidelity with women seeking marriage counselling from him.

Among the protesters were young women, some of whom claimed to have spurned the reverend’s overtures.

“If you want to get married, you have to inform the reverend so that he announces publicly during church service but when you go to him, he starts making advances,” one of the protesters, who sought anonymity, said.

The protesters also accused Rev Mwelwa of impropriety.

Some of the protesters said when preaching, Rev Mwelwa allegedly brags about his material wealth.

“He boasts that we should not accuse him of stealing church money because he has his own money and that he cannot suffer even if he stops preaching today,” one of the protesters said.

Another woman alleged that Rev Mwelwa has been diverting building materials meant for pending church projects to construct his personal house.

“As a reverend, he is not supposed to handle any money meant for construction projects because there is a committee in charge of that. But he keeps all the money and when he buys building material, he takes some of it to his plot,” she said.

Several members talked to said although the youth started the protest, almost all member are behind it.
Some UCZ leaders later called for a meeting to ease flaring tempers but the members maintained their demand for Rev Mwelwa’s removal.

Addressing the meeting, Lusaka Presbytery Bishop Luckson Chibuye asked the protesters to seek God’s intervention before addressing the issue.

“I was supposed to go for my normal church service at Saint Paul’s but I was called to come here because of this problem. I have heard your demands but you should give me chance to sit with other leaders and sort out this problem.

“At the moment there is nowhere to take Rev Mwelwa. Before he came here, there was a due process that was followed and you must allow that same process to take place before he leaves this congregation,” Bishop Chibuye said amid murmurs of disapproval by the protesters.

He said he and other leaders that accompanied him to the meeting were not infringing on the members’ rights to call for Rev Mwelwa’s removal.

[Zambia Daily Mail]

The Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) says that Zambia still has alarming levels of poverty despite the country having recently recorded an economic growth of over 40 percent.

CSPR Executive Director Patrick Mucheleka says that The 6.5 GDP growth recorded in the country between 2005 and 2009 does not correlate with the levels of poverty that are currently looming in the country.

Mr Mucheleka said that the growth benefits of the economy are only being felt by rich people and not the less privilleged people living in the rural areas of the country.

He stressed that the country’s economic growth figures do not tally with the poverty statistics which currently stand at 85 percent in the rural areas and 34 percent in urban areas because of lack of government funding to the key sectors of the country.

Mr Mucheleksa pointed out that as long as the people are not put first on the agenda of the government the poverty levels of the country will continue to rise to unexplained and untold levels.

He explained that government should take deliberate measures to ensure that there is equal distribution of wealth among the people of Zambia. He also said that government should ensure that it aligns economic growth to poverty reduction if all Zambians are to benefit from the country’s wealth creation.

And the Civil Society for Poverty reduction has called on the government to learn from the Australian government move of introducing super tax on its mining sector so as to improve the country’s service delivery.

He said Government should get back to the discussion table with the country’s key stakeholders and reconsider reintroducing the Windfall tax to the Mining sector so as to enable the country raise its revenue base.
[Q FM]

The Patriotic Front says once it is voted into power it will solve the fuel crisis within the first 90 days of its rule.
Patriotic Front Leader Micheal Sata says the Party will carry out explorations around the country to excavate fuel.

Mr. Sata said it is saddening that even after government proved that some areas like Northwestern Province have oil deposits, it is reluctant to carry out serious explorations. He said the country is endowed with natural resources that government can utilize to improve the lives of Zambians.

Mr Sata said he does not understand why government is adamant about surveying the amount of oil reserves that it has.

He was speaking at a news conference organized by the Press Freedom Committee of The Post in Lusaka last evening.

Meanwhile, commotion broke at the conference when a guest asked if Mr. Sata was fit to stand as President in the 2011 elections during a question and answer session.

The man was almost manhandled by the PF cadres and was rescued by the security personnel at the Hotel.
[Q FM]

UNITED Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema yesterday declared himself the most suitable candidate for the 2011 presidential election on account of his younger age and modern leadership posture.

The UPND and Patriotic Front (PF), headed by Michael Sata, are running a pact which is yet to elect a candidate to lead the alliance into next year’s presidential election.

PF vice-president Guy Scott said, however, that there was nothing wrong with Mr Hichilema declaring himself the right candidate because the members of the joint committee of the pact would still have to decide who would be the candidate.

Addressing supporters on arrival from the United States of America (USA) at Lusaka International Airport yesterday, Mr Hichilema said many developed and developing countries had shifted from the practice of voting for old leaders and because of that, he wanted to lead Zambia starting next year.

He cited the example of Tanzania, Russia, United Kingdom and the USA, which had voted into office young and intelligent leaders aged between 40 and 50 years.

Mr Hichilema said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was 45 years old, while Tanzania’s Jakaya Kikwete was 50 and US President Barack Obama was only 48.

Newly-inaugurated British Prime Minister David Cameron, born on October 9, 1966, was 44 years old and Mr Hichilema, at 48, argued that he was the best candidate to take over Government next year.

Mr Hichilema said Zambia should join this category of leadership next year by electing him into office.

“The world knows what type of leadership this country needs and surely you the people of Zambia cannot see? I hope Zambians can make the right choices next year,” Mr Hichilema told the cheering crowd.

He said he had travelled to the US at the invitation of the government of that country to learn about international security, which was important to Zambia.

He was in the US for 18 days and arrived aboard a South African Airways flight at 12:30 hours.

Asked about the failure by the pact to launch at the end of March as announced at the beginning of the year, Mr Hichilema said by-elections in some constituencies around the country had kept the political parties busy.

[pullquote]But Dr Scott said even Mr Sata could declare himself as the most suitable candidate and urged people not to see anything wrong with that declaration.[/pullquote]

He said the launch would still go ahead and had not been cancelled, although that would now depend on the Luena parliamentary by-election that resulted from the resignation of Charles Milupi, who formed the Alliance for Democracy and Development.

But Dr Scott said even Mr Sata could declare himself as the most suitable candidate and urged people not to see anything wrong with that declaration.

He said there was nothing that would stop any of the two leaders to make such statements because they knew that the joint technical committee in the pact and other stakeholders would eventually decide who would be the candidate.

Meanwhile, Mr Hichilema condemned Mr Milupi for causing the by-election and blamed him for resources that would be spent on the poll.

He said Mr Milupi should have waited for 2011 in line with the advice he was given before he launched his party.

On calls for political parties to have a ceiling in terms of how much they should spend on any election, Mr Hichilema said Mr Milupi should have raised the matter in the National Constitutional Conference.

The UPND was not shaken by plans by the MMD to petition the Mufumbwe parliamentary by-election results because about 300 witnesses would be lined up and some would testify that they were given suits by the Government.

Mr Hichilema also welcomed the demotion of former Home Affairs minister Lameck Mangani and the appointment of former chairperson of committees at Parliament Mkhondo Lungu to take over the position.

[Times of Zambia]

FINANCE and National Planning Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane says that although the Patriotic Front (PF) publicly opposes government’s revised policy on taxes in the mines sector, the opposition party is on record stating it prefers the current policy.

Dr Musokotwane has said that it is surprising and contradictory for the PF to give an impression in public that it opposes Government’s mining tax regime and yet this is what the party wanted.

Dr Musokotwane said this in Lusaka yesterday during a recording of ‘Culture Remodelling’, a television programme under the theme ‘Health Check on the Zambian Economy’.

He said that in 2008 the PF president Michael Sata wrote a letter to then Finance Minister Ng’andu Magande stating that the PF opposed the windfall taxes that Government had introduced.

Dr Musokotwane said that it was surprising and contradictory of the PF and its ally, the United Party for National Development (UPND), to now oppose Government’s decision to review the mine tax regime accordingly.

“The UPND/PF is amazing and surprising to condemn Government for removing windfall tax when there is evidence that Mr Sata had written a letter to my predecessor [Ng’andu Magande] opposing the decision.

It is strange that these people are on one hand making political pronouncements before people when it suits them and on the other they quietly support Government,” he said.

[pullquote]In the letter dated March 19, 2008 to Mr Magande, who was then minister of Finance, Mr Sata expressed concern at the introduction of the windfall tax, saying that this could stifle growth in the sector and cause job losses.[/pullquote]

Dr Musokotwane cautioned Zambians against taking such leaders seriously as they are showing inconsistence on matters affecting the nation.

He said the current taxation system is aimed at attracting more investment into the country and that it is in tandem with the global taxation methods applied in several mining countries across the globe.

Dr Musokotwane said that Government still collects windfall taxes from profit made by the mining firms in the country. In 2008 Government scrapped windfall taxes on revenue for mining companies following reduced copper prices on the world market.

In the letter dated March 19, 2008 to Mr Magande, who was then minister of Finance, Mr Sata expressed concern at the introduction of the windfall tax, saying that this could stifle growth in the sector and cause job losses.

Dr Musokotwane said it is, therefore, shocking that the same opposition party is now attacking Government for scrapping the windfall tax on revenue in the mining industry.

Meanwhile, Dr Musokotwane has said that Zambia’s economy is experiencing an unprecedented growth, which will soon have positive trickle-down effects to the country’s population.

He said Zambia’s economy has remained good and that global financial experts have cited the country as one that has emerged from the global financial crisis virtually unscathed.

He said the expansion of the economy is evidenced by the growth in the mining and construction industries, as well as in the recently announced all time bumper maize harvest.

“We are very confident that our economy will continue to expand,” said Dr Musokotwane.

Dr Musokotwane said the mining industry is this year expected to record higher production because of the newly opened Luanshya, Lumwana and Munali nickel mines.

He also said that the change in the national budget cycle effected last year has accelerated infrastructure development and other capital projects.

[Zambia Daily Mail]