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The Patriotic Front (PF) has said the Movement for Multiparty Democracy’s (MMD) decision to send over 2,500 youths to Luapula ahead of the developmental conference to has vindicated the party’s concern that the meeting is not genuine.
PF spokesperson, Given Lubinda has observed that MMD Lusaka province Chairman William Banda’s decision to send MMD cadres to Mansa is proof that the conference that would be graced by former President Fredrick Chiluba, is not being held in good faith.
Mr.Lubinda said in an interview that it is evident that the MMD government wants to give Dr Chiluba a platform to campaign for president Banda for the 2011 presidential elections.
Mr. Banda this morning told journalists at a press briefing at the party’s provincial headquarters that he has already sent 350 youths to Luapula province after receiving information that the PF has sent about 200 of its youths to the province with intent to disrupt the meetings.
Mr.Banda accused PF of being at centre of perpetuating political violence that is currently taking root in the country.
He said the PF does not want to see the developmental meeting in Mansa to go on as planned.
[ QFM ]
Copperbelt Permanent Secretary Villie Lombanya with KCM and Government Officials and the students who received the KCM scholarships
Konkola Copper Mines plc (KCM) has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with top Indian universities, opening the way for some of Zambia’s future engineers, metallurgists and medical doctors to train in that country.
The memoranda were signed last week during a visit to India by two KCM officials; Ernest Makasa, the Principal of the KCM Trusts Schools and Gowri Shenbagaraman, the company’s facilitator for learning and development.
The universities are Manipal University in Manipal, PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore and VIT University in Vellore.
The first beneficiaries of the arrangement will be the 18 students who were recently awarded scholarships by KCM to take up courses in engineering, medicine and commerce.
They are scheduled to take up their places at the respective universities in the next two months.
“KCM has identified top universities in India for the sponsored children based on certain criteria that included the institution’s years of existence, reputation, rating, and existing relationship with Vedanta (KCM’s parent company), courses on offer, pedigree of handling international students and infrastructure,” said Mr Makasa.
PSG College of Technology is a 60-year-old institute with a student population of 7 000 and a 750-strong faculty. It offers Engineering degrees in 14 disciplines and ranks among the top 10 Engineering colleges in India.
VIT University has a student population of 15 000 and is one of India’s fastest growing universities with many internationally accredited programmes on offer. The university has one of the best infrastructure facilities and around 800 foreign students on campus.
It offers undergraduate and post-graduate programmes. KCM-sponsored students admitted to the university will study Engineering in Mechanical, Electrical, Instrumentation and Metallurgy.
Manipal University is regarded as the pioneer in private medical education in India and its medical College in Manipal is now into its sixth decade. Located on the beautiful western coast, Manipal is India’s largest international university tow.
It offers educational, research and training programmes at undergraduate and post graduate levels in disciplines such as medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, life science regenerated medicine, arts and humanities.
The university has 16 000 students from 52 countries and is ranked seventh in India. About 3 000 practising doctors in the US and a quarter of those in Malaysia are alumni of Manipal. Three of the KCM-sponsored students will begin their five-year course at Manipal’s Manipal- Melaka Medical College. They will spend the second half of their training in Melaka, Malaysia.
Mr Makasa and Mr Shenbagaraman interacted with senior officials at the visited universities and also stayed on-campus to have a feel of the facilities.
KCM recently awarded 18 pupils from its Trust schools scholarships to undertake degree courses in India as part of its long-term strategy to develop the manpower the country needs to secure the future of the copper mining industry. Twelve of the pupils are girls.
A few months ago, KCM introduced the scholastic excellence awards programme that awards scholarships to the highest scoring grade eight and 10 pupils from the government schools in the district where the company has its operations.
The awards include cash support to the families of the winning pupils Twenty-four pupils have been awarded under the scheme.
MMD Lusaka Province Chairman William Banda
MMD Lusaka province chairman William has announced that he is sending 250 cadres to the national development conference in Luapula province which will be graced by second republican president Fredrick Chiluba in Mansa starting tomorrow.
This follows the earlier announcement by the Patriotic Front (PF) that it would send more than 200 youths from Lusaka and the Copperbelt to the conference.
Mr Banda announced this during a press briefing in Lusaka today that he would to ensure the republican president Rupiah Banda and second republican president Fredrick Chiluba were protected.
Mr Banda said the cadres who were expected to leave for Luapula this afternoon will further be reinforced by another batch of cadres expected to leave for Mansa this evening.
Former president Chiluba is tomorrow expected to grace the development conference in Mansa which will be attended by chiefs and Members of Parliament from Luapula province.
The conference is expected to discuss development in the province.
[ QFM ]
FLASHBACK: George Mpombo and his wife Naphs dancing on new year's eve during the Zambia Army annual ball at Arakan Barracks in Lusaka
By KENNEDY LIMWANYA
GEORGE Mpombo’s time as Zambia’s defence minister must have been an exciting and transformational curve for him as it must have taught him the ability to use military terminology to comment even on subjects he was grossly ignorant about.Mpombo now carries himself as a master commentator on nearly all issues fashioned against President Rupiah Banda’s personal integrity.
In attacking Mr Banda and his MMD government, Mpombo’s hate speech is now littered with such terms as political battalion, squadron, rockets, grenades, political shooting, kamikaze, foot soldiers, mercenaries, battlefront, and unleashing political missiles. Mpombo certainly wishes he were a military general.
Unfortunately, for him, it takes more than just memorising military terminology to become a Wisdom Lopa (Zambia Army Commander), Andrew Sakala (Zambia Air Force Commander) or Anthony Yeta (Zambia National Service Commandant); one has to be outright sane, of a stable mind, sober character and rational thought.
Mpombo’s obvious inadequacies notwithstanding, President Levy Mwanawasa kept him as defence minister although he apparently used that whole time to only study the English dictionary or memorise military jargon Being a self-appointed champion of anything opposed to President Banda, Mpombo has once again thrust himself into the news, this time accusing the head of State of being a tribal introvert.
It does seem that every morning Mpombo gets out of bed, the first thing he does is call newspapers, radio and television stations, asking them to ask him questions against President Banda so that he can spew out his misdirected talk.
What bitterness!In the latest episode, Mpombo, of all people, can accuse the president of being a tribalist when his own stay in Mwanawasa’s cabinet was because of nothing but nepotism and tribalism.Some people simply have no shame.
This is a typical case of giving a man an inch and he wants to take a yard; you give him a yard, he wants to take a mile.In the first place, Mpombo was given a position in Mwanawasa’s cabinet not because he deserved to be appointed minister; records are there to show his performance as Energy Minister when he comically made disjointed statements at the height of a fuel shortage in the country.
Mwanawasa momentarily tucked Mpombo away from the spotlight by appointing him Copperbelt Province Minister before he elevated to the position of defence minister.Did Mpombo deserve that position? Zambians can answer this question.His only qualification was being one of Mwanawasa’s Lamba lieutenants.
Period!When Mr Banda took over as President in 2008, he overlooked Mpombo’s lack of capacity as defence minister and maintained him in the same portfolio but without realizing that the man had higher ambitions. He wanted the vice-presidency!The case of giving a man an inch!
Today, Mpombo has set out to exploit Paramount Chief Mpezeni’s statement in which he said President Banda’s Cabinet had no Ngoni representatives.In the first place, Mpombo knows that it is practically impossible to balance a Cabinet with each of Zambia’s 73 tribes.
Currently, Zambians are talking about the need to reduce the size of Cabinet so as to cut on the costs of maintaining such office holders.What Mpombo has chosen to conveniently forget is that Paramount Chief Mpezeni’s statement has, in effect, vindicated President Banda as non-tribal in his appointments.
Mpombo ought to know that the President is both Chewa and Ngoni, and if his desire was to fill Cabinet with both Chewa and Ngoni ministers, he would easily have done that.But Mr Banda considers other tribes from other provinces as equal partners in the country’s development, which is why he would not limit his appointments to one region.
In fact, if President were to appoint a Ngoni as Cabinet minister, Mpombo and his like-thinking cynics would be the ones to cry the loudest that the Head of State was restricting his appointments to his tribesmen.
For argument’s sake, if a president were born from Tonga and Ila parents, should it follow that people from both tribes must earn Cabinet ministerial positions?It appears this is what Mpombo and his friends want, just as it was when he served in Cabinet with his fellow Lambas while the other side of Mwanawasa’s relatives—the Lenjes- were also heavily represented.
If Mpombo has not been overcome with amnesia, he still remembers that when he was Cabinet minister, he shared that comfort zone with fellow Lambas Gabriel Namulambe, Marina Nsingo and Mike Mulongoti while Ronnie Shikapwasha replaced fellow Lenje Lackson Mapushi as Home Affairs Minister.
These are bare facts and not an attack on Mwanawasa’s legacy which its defenders do not even understand.But again, if these Lenjes and Lambas who served in the Mwanawasa government as either Cabinet ministers or deputy ministers deserved those positions, it was Zambia to benefit and not Lenje or Lambaland.
And, who knows, maybe even Mpombo deserved his appointments that taught him military terminology which he now abuses to direct political artillery at enemy fire.
If Mpombo were to use reason as opposed to bitterness, he would discover that President Banda’s Cabinet only has two Chewa-speaking ministers namely Home Affairs Minister Lameck Mangani and Local Government and Housing Minister Eustarckio Kazonga.Education Minister Dora Siliya and her Agriculture and Cooperatives counterpart Peter Daka are Nsenga, while Mines Minister Maxwell Mwale is Kunda.
As if to demonstrate that the tribal element that Mpombo is preaching does not matter much in the Eastern Province, Mangani’s victory was in Chipata, which is predominantly Ngoni.As it is, despite being Chewa-speaking, Mangani represents the Ngoni-speaking people in Parliament and Cabinet.The tribalism that Mpombo wants to dwell on is just a manifestation of his own predilection for family-tree politics that have been phased out.
Without any facts on his fingers, Mpombo alleges that President Banda’s senior advisors at State House are from the Eastern Province.Surely, Mpombo can perform better than this.
Of all 16 senior staff at State House, only Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations, Dickson Jere, is Ngoni, and none of them is Chewa.None of the other special assistants— Dr Richard Chembe (economics), Dr Francis Chigunta (politics) and Joseph Jalasi (legal) —is either Ngoni or Chewa.
The Chief of Staff at State House, Dr Austin Sichinga, is Nyika from the Northern Province while the Chief of State Protocol, Mr Bobby Samakai, is Luvale.
Mpombo might also find it enlightening that two of President Banda’s senior private secretaries who handle his confidential correspondence— Rapson Chilufya and Differ Mulimba— were appointed by President Mwanawasa, and the current head of State has simply continued with them.It is only Mr Robinson Nkonde who was appointed by President Banda.
The difference between Zambia and other countries is that politicians in this country argue from a point of bitterness and deliberately gloss over key issues to the detriment of national development.
Zambians deserve better than this decadent political matter that does not even matter to thousands of Zambians yearning for politicians that inspire hope.That it is Paramount Chief Mpezeni of the Ngoni who is crying for a Cabinet minister should prove that President Banda puts country before tribe.
Government has acknowledged that high fuel prices will negatively affect the business sector.
Commerce, trade and industry Minister Felix Mutati however says Government cannot afford to subsidize fuel at the current economic rate.
Mr Mutati says much as Government realizes that subsidy is the only option it has to weigh the pros and cons of such a commitment.
He says that subsidies especially those related to fuel are expensive and that that cushioning the cost of fuel would mean holding the development of infrastructure such as the building of schools, roads and hospitals in the country.
He has since urged the business community to bear the costs of Government while the prices of fuel are still high on the world market.
The energy regulation board has increased the fuel pump prices by over 13 percent citing the increase in fuel prices on the international market.
Some members of the Patriotic Front (PF) and the United Party for National Development (UPND) have remained adamant that their respective leaders should lead the pact raising fears that the opposition alliance may fail to agree on one candidate.
Former Mulungushi Ward councillor and UPND youth activists Edwin Simusamba said PF leader Michael Sata should take a backstage as an advisor and allow UPND president Hakainde Hichilema to lead the pact.
“The major issue for the 2011 campaign will be about the economy, it will be about job creation and wealth creation, Mr Hichilema is best suited because he has demonstrated all these traits to the country,” he said.
But Masaiti losing PF parliamentary candidate Clifford Zulu said Mr Hichilema had everything to benefit by allowing Mr Sata to lead the pact because of the latter’s political experience.
“You can see that HH is not the same person of 2006, he has now learnt politics. You can see even how he looks at issues. All these it is because of his interaction with Mr Sata,” he said.
He said Mr Sata was best suited to be the pact’s presidential candidate because he was action oriented and politically experienced.
Mr Zulu said the PF leader’s political experience can be traced way back from the days for former president Kenneth Kaunda.
“Zambians know what he did as a governor, minister in the Chiluba (former president Frederick Chiluba) Government.
Mr Hichilema should allow him (Mr Sata) even to lead for one term so that we can make a Zambian Mandela,” he said.
Mr Sata had a vision for the country and hence he was best suited to be the pact’s candidate.
But the former UPND councillor Mr Simusamba said the world was now moving towards having a new generation of leaders.
“You have seen what has happened in the UK where they have elected David Cameron and what happened in the US where they voted for Barrack Obama.
[pullquote]On assertions that UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema has no experience to lead the country, Mr. Kakoma said Mr. Hichilema cannot fail to lead the country because he has proved managerial experience both in public and private life.[/pullquote]
“The world is changing towards the new generation and therefore Mr Sata should remain as an advisor in the pact,” he said.
He said having Mr Sata as the pact presidential candidate would be taking the country 10 years backwards.
“As I have stated 2011 will be about the economy and HH is just the better candidate,” he said.
Meanwhile, United Party for National Development spokesperson Charles Kakoma says those arguing over who should be the PF/UPND pact’s presidential candidate are simply wasting their time.
Mr. Kakoma told Q fm in a telephone interview that currently there is no need for anyone to discuss the presidency of the pact because the matter will be dealt with at an appropriate time.
He says since the presidency of the pact has not yet been decided, people should not be concerned but should instead discuss issues that will help the pact scoop the presidency in 2011.
And Mr. Kakoma has described statements by people suggesting that PF leader Michael Sata is not fit to stand for the presidency because of his heart condition as unfortunate.
He says people should desist from making such defamatory statements and instead commit national leaders into prayers for God to give them good health.
Mr Kakoma says people should not concentrate on the negative side of national leaders’lives because that will not help the nation to develop.
On assertions that UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema has no experience to lead the country, Mr. Kakoma said Mr. Hichilema cannot fail to lead the country because he has proved managerial experience both in public and private life.
He has since appealed for calm and called on the pact members to support whoever will be chosen as presidential candidate, stressing that the one who will not successful during the selection process will automatically be the deputy.
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) Chimwemwe Member of Parliament (MP), Willy Nsanda has been divorced by his wife, Phebby but the MP rejected the court’s ruling that he shares half of his property with her.
Mr Nsanda told the Lusaka Boma local court that he could not share 50 per cent of his properties with his former wife because the two were not staying together when he accumulated the properties.
Lusaka boma local court senior presiding magistrate Henry Mwananshiku sitting with senior local court magistrate Juliet Mwila dissolved Mr Nsanda’s marriage yesterday after the MP was sued by his wife for divorce.
Mr Nsanda said he had worked for his properties and had title deeds for the property he had acquired but was surprised to hear his former wife was claiming for the goods for which she was not a beneficiary.
“She found me with a house at Mass Media, she found me building a 20 roomed motel for my child Elizabeth because I did not want my children to suffer. I am surprised that today she is claiming properties she is never party to,” Mr Nsanda said.
He told Mr Mwananshiku that what his former wife was doing was criminal and would not let her benefit from things she had not built with him.
This was in a case in which Phebby Nsanda, 48, of house number 7660 Woodlands Extension Lusaka had sued her husband for divorce alleging that Mr Nsanda, 57, of house number 245, Zekoni Avenue, Itimpi Kitwe was causing marital disputes in their marriage.
Mr Mwananshiku granted Mrs Nsanda divorce and ordered that the MP shared half of his household goods and properties the two had acquired during their stay as a couple.
But Mr Nsanda said after the judgment was passed that he could not share his properties adding that if that were the case he would be forced to appeal to a higher court.
He accused his wife of having an affair with Ernest Mwamba an employee of the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) an allegation Mrs Nsanda refuted. The MP doubted if the child the two had was his.
Mr Nsanda demanded that the court grants him permission to have both the child and parents undergo a DNA test to ascertain the father of the child.
“I want to be clear with the court’s ruling which is saying that I share the properties that I built and gotten deeds before I met this woman?
“If that is the case I want to appeal and who can help me to appeal,” he asked.
Mr Mwananshiku, however, reminded Mr Nsanda that it would be tantamount to contempt if the MP refused to share the properties with his wife.
He said the court had made its decision and if Mr Nsanda was not happy with the decision he had the right to appeal to a higher court.
The court also ordered Mr Nsanda to pay his former wife K20 million compensation in four months installments and provide a K500,000 child maintenance to the child the two had beginning this month.
“Honourable, your job is very respected so just go and pay what the court has ruled failure to which will be contempt. The laws that you make in Parliament have today tied you. These are the same laws that we the courts follow,” Mr Mwananshiku said.
He said there was no doubt the child Mr Nsanda had with his former wife was his and to that effect the MP should ensure the child received what was due to her.
On the court granting Mr Nsanda permission to have a DNA test, Mr Mwananshiku said it was not the duty of the court to grant such permission but it was a decision to be made by the couple.
During trial, Mrs Nsanda told the court that she wanted to divorce her husband because the MP was abusive in his language and had no respect for her as a wife.
She said trouble started after her uterus was removed and after she gave birth to Mr Nsanda’s child by Caesarean Section.
Mrs Nsanda said she started staying with Mr Nsanda in 2004 and the MP paid dowry for their marriage although it was not legally binding because they had not registered their matrimony.
Mrs Nsanda said her husband also accused her of receiving K1 billion from the ruling MMD to kill Mr Nsanda and the PF leader Michael Sata.
She said she was rightly married to Mr Nsanda because he even bought her a Mercedes Benz registration number ABE 8780 as a present after giving birth to a baby girl.
In cross-examination, Mrs Nsanda denied allegations that she started staying with Mr Nsanda because she had run out of money and her companies had collapsed.
Asked by Mr Nsanda if she did not have a charm, Mrs Nsanda responded in Bemba “Imwe ba Nsanda bushe nganalikwete ilomba ama newspaper yonse ngatayaumfwa nokulandikishya mulandikisha,” which when translated into English reads: “Mr Nsanda if I had a charm wouldn’t all the newspapers have heard as you are a loud mouth?”
Earlier Mr Nsanda publicly harassed Times of Zambia chief photographer Stephen Kapambwe when the photojournalist tried to get a picture of the MP outside the local court premises.
As Mr Nsanda was disembarking from his vehicle, Mr Kapambwe tried to capture the MP but he (Mr Nsanda) approached Mr Kapambwe and grabbed his camera demanding that he (Mr Kapambwe) deletes captured pictures.
Mr Nsanda asked for Mr Kapambwe’s identity, and the photographer produced his Press pass but the MP was not happy and took the Times employee to the messengers office where the camera was again confiscated by the court officials.
The MP told Mr Kapambwe that he had no right to take pictures of him and if continued he would sue him for violation of human rights.
President Rupiah Banda has condemned the emerging culture of tribal politics in the country stating that tribalism is a cancer that will destroy the country if condoned.
President Banda said it is disheartening to see politicians sink so low as to be debating tribal politics in this modern era at the expense of developmental issues.
He said it is not possible for him to appoint a cabinet of 73 people to have all the tribes in Zambia to be represented in cabinet.
Mr Banda stated that cabinet ministers are appointed on merit regardless of tribe, race, sex, and creed as per Zambian constitution.
The President said he felt vindicated by comments attributed to Paramount Chief Mpezeni that he has not appointed a Ngoni in his cabinet.
Mr Banda, who is Chewa/Ngoni by tribe, said the comments by Paramount Chief Mpezeni showed that he was not a tribalist because he has not appointed a single cabinet minister from his own tribe.
He has since appealed to the media to avoid giving prominence to tribal remarks as they have the potential of sparking hatred and violence as witnessed in a number of countries.
President Banda has further appealed to his Cabinet Ministers and ruling party officials to avoid getting involved in tribal politics.
President Banda also challenged the media to do a thorough scrutiny at State House and see whether it is true insinuations by some politicians that he has appointed his tribesmen in key positions in his office.
This was contained in a statement released to QFM today by the president’s special assistant for press and public relations Dickson Jere.
[ QFM ]
Zanaco face two-time African champions Enyimba of Nigeria in the pre-group stage of the CAF Confederations Cup in July.
The draws conducted today in Cairo will see Zanaco host Enyimba on July 17 in the first leg in Lusaka.
Zanaco will later travel to Aba to play Enyimba in the second leg during the weekend of July 31-August 1 to decide which side goes through to the group stage that kicks off in October.
Winner over both legs will advance to Group B of the Confederations Cup.
Other teams battling for a place in Group B will be winners of the CS Sfaxien of Tunisia versus Petro Atletico of Angola, SuperSport of South Africa versus FUS of Morocco, El Hodoud (Egypt) versus Gaborone United (Botswana) and the winner between CRB of Algeria and Mali’s Djoliba.
Meanwhile, this will be the second time Enyimba will be playing a Zambian opponent after eliminated Red Arrows 9-1 on aggregate in the 2005 CAF Champions League.
Enyimba won 3-0 away in Aba before crashing Arrows 6-1 in Lusaka to advance to the group stage of the Champions League.
As soccer fans gear up for the biggest football extravaganza of the year, prostitutes too are flocking to South Africa ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
With the World Cup slated to kick off in June, prostitutes are eyeing good money as an estimated 500,000 football fans visit South Africa.
Many sex workers from Zimbabwe are leaving for South Africa, triggering calls from human rights and church groups to impose checks on human trafficking and prostitution.
However, prostitutes arriving in South Africa are optimistic about their future.
“If ever there was time to make money, this is the right time,” Christian Science Monitor quoted Shuvai, a Zimbabwean commercial sex worker working at Maxime Hotel in Johannesburg, as saying.
Shuvai, 22, says she arrived in Johannesburg at the end of March with eight other prostitutes from Zimbabwe.
Cyril Mwamba, 32, travelled over 1,700 miles from Zambia’s Ndola Copperbelt to reach the World Cup.
She said: “When we came here [Summit Hotel], we were not so sure whether we would be able to attract rich and well-paying men since back home in Zambia men were looking down upon us.”
Saying that she now earned R2,000 (about 270dollars) per night, Mwamba added: “I am convinced that after the World Cup, I will be able to buy my own car.
“Cars are cheap here in South Africa.”
Several hotel workers have also noticed the recent influx of prostitutes.
A hotel general manager, who declined to be identified, said: “From the look of the fully booked hotels around Johannesburg and Pretoria, we think these female sex workers could exceed 40,000.
“There are some from outside Africa from as far as China, Pakistan, India, Hong Kong, and Venezuela, who are here for prostitution.” (ANI)
The Bank of Zambia has predicted that the country’s inflation rate is expected to slow down during the second quarter of the year.
Bank of Zambia Governor Caleb Fundanga says the slowing down of the inflation rate will largely be as a result of an increase in the supply of fresh food with the onset of the 2009/2010 crop harvest period.
Dr. Fundanga however says the recent hike in fuel prices might lead to an increase in the inflation rate which will result in increased commodity prices.
Speaking during a quarterly media briefing in Lusaka this morning,Dr Fundanga added that preliminary data shows that Zambia recorded an overall balance of payment deficit of 81.4 million untied states dollars during the first quarter of 2010 compared with a surplus of 18.2 million United States dollars in the previous quarter.
He adds that during the period under review, the current account deficit narrowed to 25.1 million United States from 113.3 United States dollars million recorded in the previous quarter.
He states that this was largely due to a reduction in the income account in the account balance following the decline in income on equity payments.
The central bank governor further revealed that the merchandise trade surplus increased by 35.4 percent to 368.5 million United States dollars in the first quarter of 2010, from 272.2 million United States recorded in the fourth quarter of 2009 mainly due to an increase in exports.
Longburn Adventist College student Joshua Dann was shocked into action when he heard about the suffering of the sick in Zambia.
“I thought it was really sad, like we live here with so much stuff and complain when we don’t have enough to eat like `Oh, I’m a bit hungry,’ but really it’s nothing compared to what people over there have to go through,” he said.
He organised a concert last year, which raised $2600 for the needy – and this time round he hopes to topple this figure.
In 2008 Joshua heard a speech by Auckland surgeon David Friend about medical work he was doing in Kikonkomene leprosy village in Zambia.
Conditions in the village were appalling, with rats crawling through holes in dilapidated houses. Victims couldn’t afford even basic items such as cooking oil and firewood, and had to construct shoes out of car tyres.
Many of the sick had lost the ability to walk or fend for themselves, and received no support from their government.
Joshua said: “I looked at those people and thought, `We need to do something about it, we can’t just let this happen’.”
Rallying together his friends, musicians and the church community to help, Joshua held the first concert in 2008.
It was a success, and Friend emailed to say the money had made a huge difference.
Not only did it help with house repairs and essential items at the leprosy village, but allowed life-saving surgery on patients at Mukinge hospital, where Friend works fulltime as a surgeon. It also paid for soaps and bibles for inmates at nearby Kasempa prison.
“I was pretty stoked eh, it’s really awesome what all of us have done and that the concert has made such a big impact on someone’s life,” Joshua said.
Joshua’s dad Jonathan Dann said he’s proud that Joshua and his friends are using their talents for the benefit of other people.
The concert is this Saturday at 7pm, at Crossroads Church. Performers include The Parachute Band’s Omega Levine, musicians from Longburn Adventist College, and the Huntly Jazz Band.
Commerce minister Felix Mutati
Government has with immediate effect abolished the Minimum capital requirement to start a company as part of the on-going business legislative reform aimed at making business easy.
This means that People wishing to start businesses will not be subjected to disclose their capital to PACRO.
Commerce Trade and Industry Minister Felix Mutati announced the change at a press briefing in Lusaka this morning.
Mr Mutati said the move is part of business licensing reform approved by government last year in July whose objective was to reduce the burden faced by the community when establishing their businesses.
He disclosed that 23 licenses out of the 517 have so far been eliminated while 40 bills will be approved by Parliament at the next sitting.
Last year Cabinet approved the business Licensing Reform report that directed that 170 licenses be eliminated and 57 redefined.
The report also provided that 99 licenses be amalgamated into 21 licenses with the rest being returned after being streamlined.
[QFM ]
Two Zambian women who have been sentenced to prison over drug dealings in Mauritius have advised their fellow women not to engage in illegal ways of making money.
Maureen Mukunta aged 36 and Mulenga Banda aged 28 said this in Lusaka on Tuesday night, upon arrival from Mauritius where they were serving sentences of drug trafficking.The duo will serve the remainder of their sentences in Zambia.
Zambia has seen an increase in the number of women trafficking in drugs. From January 2010
to date, nine women have been arrested abroad while 126 have been arrested within the country, among them four teenagers.
[MUVI TV]
Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) has described as a mockery the increment of fuel prices of over 13 percent to civil servants who had their salaries recently hiked to only 15 percent .
CSPR Executive Director Patrick Mucheleka said the increment of fuel has reduced the 15 percent salary hike to a mere nominal increment which will not make any difference.
He said the the salary gains were already insignificant because of the reduced purchasing power of the kwacha and the high rate of inflation stressing that increment of fuel will further erode the gains of the workers from their salaries.
[pullquote]He added that it is the consumers and not the suppliers that would suffer and feel the effects of the increment as the service providers will pass on necessary costs to them.[/pullquote]
Mr Mucheleka said in an interview that it is the same workers that contribute to the treasury of the country more than even the mines do adding that the Government’s move would lead to stagnation of the state treasury.
He added that it is the consumers and not the suppliers that would suffer and feel the effects of the increment as the service providers will pass on necessary costs to them.
Mr Mucheleka charged that if government insists on having the super taxes on the mining sector it could alleviate some of the problems the economy is facing.
He urged government to find another alternative means to generate revenue as opposed to subjecting a few formal workers to subsidizing their costs.
[ QFM ]
