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Pope given a 7 days ultimatum to respond to a Petition on Archbishop Mpundu

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Archbishop of Lusaka Telesphore Mpundu addressing a press briefing

SOME members of the Catholic Church who petitioned Pope Benedict XVI to remove Lusaka Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu as head of the church in Zambia have given the Vatican a seven-day ultimatum to respond to their request.

Group spokesperson Edmond Zulu said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that if the Pope fails to discipline Bishop Mpundu within seven days, they will then go ahead and demonstrate at the Vatican Embassy in Lusaka.

Mr Zulu said his group is still saddened and disappointed with Bishop Mpundu’s alleged misconduct.
He said the concerned Catholic Church members will not relent until the archbishop is removed from his position as head of the Catholic Church in Zambia.

“I spoke to the Apostolic Nuncio over the weekend and he assured me that the Pope has acknowledged receipt of our petition, but we have decided to give the Vatican one-week of which to act but failure to which we will go ahead and demonstrate at the Vatican Embassy in Zambia,” he said.

Mr Zulu said the concerned Catholic Church members are waiting to hear from the Vatican before deciding on the way forward.

“This time around we have decided to go and petition the Pope through his representative Apostolic Nuncio because we want to create sanity in our Church. All the parishes in Lusaka have indicated that they will take part in the demonstrations,” he said.

Last week, some concerned Catholic Church members petitioned the Pope to remove Bishop Mpundu as head of the Church in Zambia for allegedly tarnishing its image.

In a letter of petition presented to the Vatican Ambassador to Zambia, the concerned church members from Chainda and Kamanga parishes called for the immediate removal of Bishop Mpundu for allegedly issuing alarming statements in the press.

They also called on the Pope to issue a public apology on behalf of the Catholic Church over Archbishop Mpundu’s stand towards Government.

The concerned church members asked the Vatican to restore the relationship that the Catholics and Government used to enjoy over the years to enhance development in the country.

[Zambia Daily Mail]

Vatican defends Pope’s handling of sex abuse cases

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Pope Benedict XVI

Revelations that the Vatican halted the investigation of a Wisconsin priest accused of molesting some 200 deaf boys have eerie echoes in Italy, where 67 deaf men and women accused two dozen priests of raping and molesting children for years.

Only now — a year after the Italian case became public — is the Vatican directing the diocese to interview the victims to hear their testimony about the accusations, The Associated Press learned Thursday.

The two cases are the latest in a burgeoning abuse scandal on both sides of the Atlantic that now threatens to tarnish the papacy itself. The office charged with disciplining clergy was long led by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, and a church prosecution in the Wisconsin case was stopped after an appeal to Ratzinger.

The Vatican strongly defended Benedict on Thursday and denounced what it said was a concerted campaign to smear him and his aides for a problem that Rome insists is not unique to the Catholic Church.

Benedict’s actions have been marked by “transparency, firmness and severity in shedding light on the various cases of sexual abuse committed by priests and clergymen,” the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano said in a front-page article. It lashed out at what it said was a “prevailing trend in the media” to ignore facts and spread an image of the Catholic Church “as if it were the only one responsible for sexual abuses — an image that does not correspond to reality.”

The Vatican was responding to the release of documents, first reported by The New York Times, that showed how the pope’s former office told a Wisconsin bishop to shut down a church trial against the Rev. Lawrence Murphy, a Milwaukee priest accused of molesting some 200 deaf boys from 1950 to 1975.

Murphy died in 1998, two years after Ratzinger first learned of the accusations, and more than 20 years after they came to the attention of the Milwaukee diocese.

While the Vatican has not directly addressed the Italian abuse case, first reported as part of an AP investigation last September, it bears marked similarities to the allegations brought in Wisconsin. Both involve some of society’s most vulnerable: deaf children for whom the admonition “never tell” is easy to enforce because they have difficulty communicating. And in both, the major priority of church officials grappling with how or whether to discipline accused predators appeared to be protecting the church from scandal.

In a signed statement last year, the 67 former pupils at a school for the deaf in Verona described sexual abuse, pedophilia and corporal punishment from the 1950s to the 1980s. They named 24 priests, brothers and lay religious men at the Antonio Provolo Institute for the Deaf.

While not all acknowledged being victims, 14 of the 67 wrote sworn statements and made videotapes, detailing abuse, some for years, at the hands of priests and brothers of the Congregation for the Company of Mary. One victim, Alessandro Vantini, told the AP last year that priests sodomized him so relentlessly he came to feel “as if I were dead.”

“How could I tell my papa that a priest had sex with me?” Vantini, 59, said through a sign-language interpreter. “You couldn’t tell your parents because the priests would beat you.”
MSNBC

Simataa ban lifted

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THE FAZ appeals committee has lifted the suspension of Amakumbi Stars proprietor, Simataa Simataa and thrown out all petitions for the removal of some executive committee members and president Kalusha Bwalya.

Appeals committee chairperson William Nyirenda made the announcement in Lusaka yesterday at Chrismar Hotel after the committee met to look at the appeals.

Nyirenda said petitioners would have the right to present their cases at tomorrow’s FAZ Annual General Meeting (AGM) slated for the Mulungushi International Conference Centre.

He said Simataa’s suspension had been lifted because FAZ did not follow laid-down constitutional procedures when enforcing the ban on the Amakumbi Stars proprietor who is also Zambia Football Coaches Association (ZFCA) general secretary.

Nyirenda said according to the constitution, a person should be accorded an opportunity to defend and exculpate themselves before finally being suspended.

The appeals chairperson said some rules in the constitution were flouted by the FAZ executive and declared the ban on Simataa from all football activities null and void.

“The suspension of Simataa has been lifted because FAZ did not accord him the opportunity to defend and exculpate himself. The executive did not follow the right procedure, some rules in the constitution were flouted and so the suspension has been lifted and we have restored on him the full rights as a member of FAZ with immediate effect,” Nyirenda said.

The appeals committee chairperson said Simataa and Medical Stars chairperson Alex Mambwe’s petitions were thrown out because they lacked the seriousness of such a move.

Nyirenda said discussing issues like these would be duplicating the FAZ AGM agenda where aggrieved parties had a right to present their cases against any issues pertaining the running of football matters.

He said FAZ general secretary George Kasengele and head of competition and administration Julio Chiluba’s petitons could not go to the AGM because they were employees of the association.

“The position of general secretary was duly adopted at the last AGM according to the findings of our committee, so that appeal has been rejected because it lacks merit,” Nyirenda said.

Simataa had petitioned to have FAZ president Kalusha Bwalya removed, while Division Two (North) Police Eagles petitioned the removal of vice-president Emmanuel Munaile and committee member Pivoty Simwanza.

Mambwe wanted Kasengele, Chiluba and treasurer Boniface Mwamelo removed for allegedly breaching the FAZ constitution.

Nyirenda said the petitions were improperly submitted and they all lacked the seriousness.

He said even the petition against Mwamelo should be an issue for the AGM. The committee that sat to make a ruling over the petitions comprised retired soccer commentator Dennis Liwewe, retired Brigadier-General William Shonga, former FAZ general secretary Herman Mpashi, former FAZ president Evaristo Kasunga and Nyirenda.

[Times of Zambia]

Kabwe PF councillor arrested

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POLICE in Kabwe have arrested Patriotic Front (PF) Bwacha ward councillor Saidi Chibwana for allegedly issuing two cheques worth K10 million on an insufficiently funded account to retired Zambia Army Brigadier-General, Patrick Mulwanda.

Central Province police chief Simon Mpande confirmed the arrest of Mr Chibwana who issued two cheques of K5 million each last month this year contrary to section 33/1 of the national payment system Act number one of 2007.

“I can confirm that Councillor Chibwana of house number 6 RD7, new Ngungu was arrested on February 27, 2010 after he issued two cheques to Brig-Gen Mulwanda and he will today appear in court for this offence,” Mr Mpande said.

He explained that Brig-Gen Mulwanda reported the matter to the police after he discovered that the two cheques had bounced at the Finance Bank branch in Kabwe.

[Times of Zambia]

RTSA rakes in K5.6 billion in carbon tax

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THE Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) raked in K5.6 billion in carbon emission tax in January when the agency started collecting on behalf of the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA).

ZRA commissioner for customs Muyangwa Muyangwa said in Lusaka yesterday that the authority itself collected K1.8 billion, although this was just new car entries through the border posts.

Mr Muyangwa said the use of RTSA for collecting the carbon emission tax had proved effective just in the first month of administering the taxation through that point, noting that the move was a wise decision.

“We have actually noted good collection through RTSA, which brought in far much higher than what we collected ourselves in that month,” he said.

The carbon tax was introduced in 2006 and the ZRA had been collecting the tax only from border points when vehicles are imported into Zambia or on transit, but the authority was not following up the vehicles to pay the annual tax.

The Government later decided that RTSA starts collecting the tax from all inland vehicles at the time motorists were renewing their road taxes.

Mr Muyangwa said compliance had been overwhelming because the system was working well to capture all cars registered in Zambia.

He said though there were challenges in the collection, because RTSA was currently only issuing receipts to the motorists, ZRA and RTSA were currently working out mechanisms to have the tax reflect on the road licence disc itself.

“We are still working on the procedures, so that by next year it will be reflected on the same disc for road tax instead of RTSA issuing receipts or issuing separate discs,” he said.

The Government has included revenue collected from motorists through the carbon emission tax in this year’s Budget, but has not mentioned which projects it would implement using the proposed K30.7 billion to be raised from the tax.

A carbon emission tax is an environmental tax on emissions of carbon dioxide, as the gas is considered to be a heat trapping ‘greenhouse gas’ and the purpose of a carbon tax is to protect the environment by penalising emissions of carbon dioxide, which may cause global warming.

[Times of Zambia]

RB expected in Mazabuka tomorrow to re-open Munali Nickel Mine

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President Rupiah Banda will tomorrow officially re-open the Munali Nickel Mine, in Mazabuka which was closed as a result of the global financial crisis which led to the collapse of metal prices on the foreign market.

The President will travel to Mazabuka to re-open the mine, which has been acquired by a Chinese firm JINCHUAN Mining Group and is expected to employ over 350 workers in the area. The Chinese company has invested about US$ 37 million in Albidon Zambia Limited, the owners of the Munali Nickel Mine.

President Banda had promised, in his address to Parliament in September last year, that he will do everything possible to find an investor to re-open the closed mine so that more jobs can be created in the country.

Munali Nickel Mine is the second mine to re-open as a result of Government efforts to safeguard jobs in the mining sector despite the global financial crisis.

Last year, Luanshya Copper Mine, which was also closed at the peak of the global financial crisis, resumed operations after it was acquired by a Chinese company China Non-Ferrous Metal Company Group (CNMC).The mine now employs over 2,100 workers in Luanshya.

This is contained in a statement released to today by special assistant to the president for press and public relations Dickson Jere.

Police deny the Consortium of Civil Societies permit to hold a rally

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Citizens Forum executive director Simon Kabanda

The Consortium of civil society organizations has put off their planned good governance rally which was scheduled to be held in Mandevu this Saturday 27th March 2010.

This follows the refusal by the Zambia Police to grant them a permit for the rally. In a statement released to QFM today, Citizens Forum Executive Secretary Simon Kabanda says despite having notified the Police, they have refused to allow them to hold the rally.

He says as law abiding citizens they will not be tempted by the Police’s refusal to grant them a permit to break the law by going ahead with the rally.

Mr Kabanda however said that they will do everything legally possible to ensure that their constitutional right to assemble is not blocked in perpetuity. He says the civil society reiterates their commitment to demanding for good governance and a good constitution in Zambia.

He added that consortium of civil society is further committed to ensure that Zambia does not promote bad laws and corruption in all its forms.

He further stated that the Red Card Campaign is still going ahead and will move to another province from the Copperbelt, and ensure that people sensitized to participate effectively in the Red Card Campaign.

QFM

Treat HIV/AIDS as a national disaster- Sata

Entertainment Editor
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Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata has said there is need to take HIV/AIDS as a national disaster if the disease is to be effectively fought.

Mr Sata noted that at the moment the fight against HIV has been left to the Non Governmental Organizations the majority of whom he says are only making money out of HIV.

He said Zambia had Sexually Transmitted Diseases such as Syphilis which have been wiped out because they were handled nationally.

The PF leader urged government to realize that HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis are national disasters which need to be tackled nationally for it to be eradicated.

Mr Sata added that it was easy to wipe out diseases if they were handled nationally.

He was speaking when he featured on Joy FM’s the Platform.
QFM

Zambia’s inflation back in double digits

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Zambia’s inflation accelerated to 10.2 percent year-on-year in March on higher food and travel costs, from 9.8 percent the previous month, the Central Statistical Office said on Thursday.

“The increase of 0.4 percentage points in the annual inflation rate in March 2010 was attributed to … food products and public transport,” the CSO said.

Chibanda Kanyama, an economist with Zambia Breweries, said inflationary pressure may build, partly due to a firm South African rand, but it should retreat to single digits by year-end on an expected good harvest.

“The major threat is the strengthening of the South African rand. Zambia imports a lot from South Africa and the strengthening of the rand means importers will spend more and that cost will be passed on to consumers,” he said.

“(But) we will definitely achieve single-digit inflation by the end of the year because fuel will not be a factor, I don’t see another fuel price hike.”

The rand firmed nearly 30 percent against the dollar last year and has remained relatively strong in 2010, gaining slightly on the Zambian kwacha.

Zambia raised fuel prices by 15 percent in January.

The CSO also said that the trade account showed a surplus of 391 billion kwacha in February compared with a 316.6 billion kwacha surplus in January.

[Reuters]

Mazabuka Chieftains Need to Be Commended

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Chief Mwanachingwala makes his way among the kapasos or Aid' de camps at his palace in Mazabukua

by Henry Kyambalesa

I am pleased to learn of the constructive views of traditional leaders from Mazabuka who, I understand, were supposed to meet President Rupiah Banda at State House on March 23, 2010—that is, chieftainess Mwenda and Chiefs Hanjalika, Mwanachingwala and Naluama.

Among other things, three of the traditional leaders are quoted in The Post newspaper as having said that they would not allow themselves to be used as ladders by politicians seeking to ascend to higher offices as they were expected to be neutral, and that the role of traditional leaders is to advise and interact with all politicians both from the ruling political party and opposition political parties on development-related issues.

These traditional leaders need to be commended for taking this posture. We should castigate traditional leaders who have stated publicly that their role in matters of politics is to support the government of the day. After all, traditional leaders are, ideally, supposed to be impartial leaders of all the people in their chiefdoms regardless of their political affiliations.

There is, therefore, a need for traditional leaders to be completely independent from political actors if they are to serve their subjects as impartial leaders, particularly in matters relating to politics. In this endeavor, President Rupiah Banda should remove the public assistance to traditional leaders from his office and place it under the aegis of the Parliamentary Committee on Local Governance, Housing and Chiefs’ Affairs.

This will forestall any suspicions that chiefs’ subsidies, electrification of chiefs’ palaces, the purchasing of motor vehicles for chiefs, and any other matters relating to the welfare of chiefs are designed to woo their support during elections.

I trust that our paramount chiefs and all the honor­able chief­tains and village heads will contin­ue to serve the nation well in cultural and tradition­al matters, and as unifying authorities in their respective areas of jurisdic­tion.

THE POOR: What can be done for them?

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by Dr. Charles Ngoma

Traders conducting their business under Zescos high voltage lines oblivious to the danger

As a little boy in the renamed town of Fort Jameson in the late 60s and early 70s. I was fascinated by two ‘white’ men. They were very successful businessmen in the town. From their farms, fresh produce flowed day in and day out, supplying the town folk. Forty years later, I look back and from their names, I gather that they were Jews. One was Cohen, which is the Hebrew for ‘priest.’ Today, the arid lands of the Middle East are feeding the lush lands of Western Europe. The desert sands of Egypt export potatoes to Britain! Why are Jews and Arabs so successful? To understand this, we need to be careful about how we define ‘the poor.’ The UN defines poverty as ‘the total absence of opportunities, accompanied by high levels of undernourishment, hunger, illiteracy, lack of education, physical and mental ailments, emotional and social instability, unhappiness, sorrow and hopelessness for the future. Poverty is also characterised by a chronic shortage of economic, social and political participation, relegating individuals to exclusion as social beings, preventing access to the benefits of economic and social development and thereby limiting their cultural development.’

This is a mouthful! When I look at each component of this definition closely, I realise that anyone of us can fit into this definition at any time. Perhaps, the underlying factor of poverty is ‘the absence of opportunities.’ We can never all have the same material goods, and we cannot all have the same wealth. Communism tried that and failed and that is partly because it mis-interpreted the writings of a great Jew called Karl Marx. The essence of Marx’s teaching is fundamental to Jewish and Arabic prosperity throughout the ages. Since Zambia is a ‘Christian nation’, bear with me while I quote the words of Christ, the Jew. ‘The poor will always be there for you to do something about…’ and elsewhere he talks about a widow who is ‘poor.’ Now the English is confusing here, because it uses one word for two different kinds of people. The first ‘poor’ are the destitute, beggars and those who are totally bowed down that they can never ever get by without help from another. The widow, on the other hand, belongs to the poor who have low income, but there is potential to grow that income through hard work and opportunities. Jesus is saying that the first type we must feel sorry for and we must help. The world will never get rid of those who are disabled, infirm and at extremes of age; these ‘poor’ will always be with us. These will always depend on charity unless ‘good news’ is preached to them!

I may be wrong, but I believe that when people talk about poverty, in general they are referring to low income groups. That is not poverty! Here is where Karl Marx was right; we must give as many people as possible control of ‘the means of production.’ Is the man who lives in a mud-walled, grass-thatched hut, on an acre of land in rural Mazabuka, but has 10 herds of cattle, 20 goats and some chickens poor, compared to an employed miner in Wusakili, Kitwe? The miner has a mobile phone, television, toilets with running water, electricity and possibly a jalopy! I put it to you dear reader that this miner is poor, because he is employed and he does not own the means of production. He cannot plan to increase his ‘yield’ at any time, except negotiate his salary through his union! The owner of the mine will always have the upper hand!

Our nationalist fathers wanted every Zambian to have ‘an egg a day’ for breakfast. We dreamt of public ownership of the means of production. I was young then, but I understood nationalisation to mean that Campbell Booker Carter stores (CBC) would be ours when it became Zambia Consumer Buyers Cooperation (ZCBC). We were promised that there would be no poor people in Zambia. We sung, ‘Dziko la Zambia ndilapamwamba!’ We would own the copper mines too! Who would be poor if they did own these golden geese that laid golden eggs? It was not very long before this dream was shattered. They too, mis-read Marx. Kaunda’s UNIP government discouraged personal enterprise and ambition. Mass employment was government policy. To be employed is to be enslaved! For a nation to prosper there must be as fewer people ‘employed by another’ as possible. More and more people must be entrepreneurs who create wealth.

What should be the role of government in all this? Well, I see two roles:

1. Level the playing field to give equal opportunities for all able bodied citizens to prosper in whatever they put their hands to. Legitimate self enterprise and entrepreneurship should be encouraged. No able-bodied person, fulfilling his God-given potential can remain poor. Some who lost their employment can look back and say that their sack was their luck. We need more wealth builders. We have graduates from University who can start up on their own, but are knocking from door to door ‘looking for employment!’ Engineers, teachers, doctors, nurses, pharmacists and so on, must be taught business skills so that they can start up on their own! Plumbers, electricians, carpenters, builders;, why should they be un-engaged? All these groupings could set up ‘Kibbutz’ (co-operatives) and create their own wealth. The more wealth is created, the more revenue the government collects in order to do the next part.

2. Provide for the needs of the real poor, that is those who are disabled, infirm, maimed and at the extremes of life. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is adding more and more souls to this camp. Some of these people did a great service to the country and now the country must serve them. In a civilised country, no one person should die because the society cannot look after them.

Sata jail data search on

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Mr Sata sandwiched by two police officers

MINISTER of Home Affairs Lameck Mangani says law-enforcement agencies are searching prison files to locate documents related to Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata’s imprisonment.

Mr Mangani said in Lusaka yesterday that the search is going back to the early 1960s.

He said investigations into whether Mr Sata was imprisoned for criminal offences have been intensified following additional revelations by veteran politician Dingiswayo Banda.

“As you may be aware, Honourable Dingiswayo Banda has also confirmed that Mr Sata was allegedly jailed for a criminal offence,” he said.

Mr Mangani said members of the public will be informed on the outcome of the investigations once the search is concluded.

He said a freedom-fighter, Jackson Ngoma, who claimed to have been in prison with Mr Sata, has already given his statement on the matter.

“Mr Ngoma has already given his side of the story, and his sister-in-law has denied that her husband (Mr Ngoma’s elder brother whom Mr Sata said he was with in prison) was never imprisoned,” he said.

Law-enforcement agencies recently summoned Mr Ngoma, who claimed to have shared prison cells with Mr Sata.

Mr Ngoma, 77, the last district governor for Mambwe, said he shared the same prison cells with Mr Sata at Bwana Mkubwa and Mukobeko prisons in Ndola and Kabwe, respectively, in the early 1960s.

The former freedom-fighter said he and other youths were rounded up for the role they played in the Cha Cha Cha uprising during the independence struggle.

[Zambia Daily Mail]

Speaker counsels MPs

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Speaker of the National Assembly Amusaa Mwanamwambwa with United States Deputy Head of Missions Michael Koplovsky at the launch of the Zambian chapter of the Coalition of African Parliamentarians.

SPEAKER of the National Assembly Amusaa Mwanamwambwa has warned members of Parliament against disassociating themselves from decisions made in the House.

Mr Mwanamwambwa said every member is bound by the decisions of the House.

“It is therefore a breach of privilege for a member to publicly disassociate himself or herself from a decision of the House,” he said.

He said this in his ruling on a point of order raised by Southern Province Minister Daniel Munkombwe.

Mr Munkombwe raised a point of order on yesterday’s Post newspaper article attributed to Nkana MP Mwenya Musenge titled “Musenge Urges Citizens to Petition Government over Proposed ZNBC Amendment Bill”.

In the article, Mr Musenge is alleged to have said that: “If need arises, we shall engage the support of the international community and we shall soon get signatures and mobilise people to petition Government against the law.”

Mr Mwanamwambwa said under the current Constitution, there is no legal power vested in the people to petition a bill.

He, however, said under Article 1(3) of the Constitution, a member of the public may challenge the constitutionality of an Act of Parliament before the High Court of Zambia under Article 72.

Mr Mwanamwambwa said Article 72 (2) provides that an appeal from the determination of the High Court on any question of law including the interpretation of the Constitution shall lie to the Supreme Court.

He guided that under Article 27 of the Constitution, 30 members of Parliament can petition the Speaker within three days of a bill being passed by the National Assembly, for a report on its constitutionality.

Mr Mwanamwambwa said the Speaker, upon receipt, refers the petition to the Chief Justice to constitute a tribunal to determine the matter.

This process, he said, may result in the non-enactment of a bill, which is inconsistent with the Constitution.

In the same article, it is alleged that Mr Musenge stated that “Actually, this bill and many others which the MMD want to be in place before the 2011 elections must be stopped because they will just put more pressure on the suffering Zambians.”

Mr Mwanamwambwa said in the above statement, “it is clearly being inferred that laws are made by the MMD. This is incorrect because laws are enacted by the House.”

He said Mr Musenge should have exercised his right under Article 27, to challenge the enactment of a bill, instead of resorting to the press to condemn the bills being passed by the House.

“In the light of what I have stated, it is therefore not in order for an honourable member to disassociate himself or herself from the decisions of the House. It is never done, and this must stop forthwith,” Mr Mwanamwambwa said.
[Zambia Daily Mail]

Government’s SMS System for HIV Test Results

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HIV-positive Bupe Mwamba, 22, lies next to her newborn baby girl at the rural clinic she just gave birth in and wonders if her baby is HIV-positive too.

She has been for counselling throughout her antenatal check-ups and knows there is a chance her baby girl may be HIV-negative. But it still does not eliminate her fears and anxieties.

“It is a moment of reflection about the future of your child and how your child will cope being HIV-positive. It cannot go without (me feeling) some kind of fear as a human being,” she said.

Here at the Chipulukuso rural health centre in Ndola, Zambia’s Copperbelt province, when an HIV test was done, blood samples were taken and then transported to a central regional hospital for analysis. The results were then sent back to the rural centre in a process that used to sometimes take up to 10 weeks.

And in the lifetime of a newborn baby, it was valuable time wasted during which the HIV-positive infant could have been placed on antiretroviral treatment (ART).

But Mwamba is fortunate. She will not have to wait so long to know her baby’s status.

Because of the delays in sending and receiving HIV test results the ministry of health has piloted a short messaging service (SMS) that will now send HIV results of children less than 18 months back to health centres within three to five days.

The blood sample taken from Mwamba’s baby, together with other samples from other rural health centres, are couriered to Ndola Arthur Davison Hospital, the central hospital on the Copperbelt region. Here the blood samples are tested for HIV.

The test results of the infants are then sent back to the health centres via a machine that receives information in the form of short messages. The test results will be printed out and the relevant doctor will be able to pass on the diagnosis to the parent.

Director of Public Health in the ministry of health, Victor Munkonka, is optimistic that the programme, once implemented nationally, will reduce the country’s infant mortality rate by more that 50 percent. Mukonka explained that the delay in administering ART to children who are less than 18 months old was contributing to the high death rates of babies in the country.

“We realised that we were losing many babies because of the delay in testing them for HIV, this is mostly because of lack of proper diagnostic machines to detect the virus in infants,” he said. He also noted that those in remote areas had difficulty receiving their results once the blood samples were sent to the central hospital.

Mukonka said the SMS project started in January 2010 at selected health centres located in the rural areas of Zambia’s Copperbelt, Central and Northern provinces.

“We are targeting 10 health centres on the pilot project which will be assessed after six months. During this period, tests that are sent to Arthur Davison from these health centres will be sent back using SMS within a short period of time,” Mukonka said.

Mukonka said the SMS system will save infants’ lives through prompt diagnosis and treatment.

Media Network on Child Rights and Development chairperson Felistus Chipako said the decision by the ministry of health to introduce the SMS to address paediatric HIV is a good development.

Chipako said Zambia has in the recent past struggled to address child mortality, which is among the highest in Sub Saharan Africa. Zambia’s 2008 Demographic Health Survey showed the country’s under-5 mortality rate was 119 deaths per 1,000 live births.

She said the intervention would help treat HIV-positive children in a more prompt manner than has been the case. “The system also calls for intensive counselling for mothers on how to handle the whole thing when given the results,” she added.

Mwamba, however, said that the new method of receiving results was exciting, and that she was looking forward to the service working quickly.

Mwamba was discharged the day after her delivery and was scheduled to return to hospital with her baby for a check-up a week later.

When she returned seven days later, she also received the results of her child’s HIV test.

Her baby girl is HIV-negative.

“I feel relieved that my baby is HIV negative, I spent the past six days pondering about what life would have been like for the little one living with the virus,” Mwamba said.

However, Mwamba was encouraged to bring back her daughter for another HIV test when she is three months, then at six months and finally at 18 months for the last test. This is done to ensure that the baby is truly negative, since Mwamba is breastfeeding her baby.

“I am positive that the project will work if the health staff remain committed to it,” she said.

Mumba said she cannot forget the fear, pain and anxiety in waiting for her baby’s test results.

[ IPS]

African Energy Resources looking for larger uranium footprint in Zambia

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African Energy Resources (ASX: AFR) has announced that the 2010 exploration programme for Zambia and Botswana has been finalised and approved for immediate commencement.

The programme is designed to increase known uranium resources in southern Zambia and may lead to additional discoveries in northern Zambia and in Botswana.

The approved programmes include 21,000m of reverse circulation (RC) percussion drilling, of which 7,500m has been allocated to the Sese Project in Botswana and the remainder to projects in Zambia.

The programmes include: 3,000m new targets in NW part of the Sese Project, Botswana; 4,500m infill drilling at Gojwane prospect, Sese; 3,000m new targets in the Chirundu JV, Zambia; 7,000m new and existing targets in the Kariba Valley JV, Zambia; 2,000m new targets in the Aldershot JV, Zambia and 1,500m to drill test the Sitwe target in the Northern Luangwa Valley Project in Zambia.

Work has already commenced on developing access roads for the exploration programmes in the Sese Project, Botswana. The Sese Project is wholly owned by African Energy. The company has conducted drilling at two prospects to date, Foley and Gojwane, with significant uranium mineralisation discovered in drilling at both.

In addition to follow-up work on these prospects, the company said a number of other untested uranium targets have been identified for drill testing in 2010.

The total budgeted expenditure to December 2010 is USD $3.7 million, of which USD $2.4 million is for direct exploration and exploration support.

At the end of February, the company’s cash position was USD $5.1 million.

[Proactiveinvestors Australia]

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