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Sikalmab temporal bridge which has been swept away by floods in Sinazongwe district near Sinazeze Township Heavy rain has completely swept away a temporal bridge along Maamba/Batoka road leaving a deep gully and complicating the already desperate situation in Sinazongwe district which is already cut off from the rest of the country.
The Road Development Agency (RDA) made partial repairs to the bridge at Sikalamba stream near Sinazeze township last month after it was damaged and blocked several motorists.
Sinazongwe district, which was cut off yesterday for the third time this year, has two other culverts that have been washed away and a third one which was still being worked on by RDA.
Both Sinazongwe MMD District Secretary Jeff Kayamba and Nkanddabwe ward councilor Partson Mangunje confirmed the development.
Mr Kayamba said the situation was more serious than ever before and people were talking ill of government for failing to find a permanent solution for the past two years since the temporal bridge was fixed.
Last month the MMD condemned the Road Development Agency (RDA) for negligence over the collapsing of the temporal bridge at Sikalamba stream.
Mr. Kayamba said RDA officials were allegedly contributing to the weakening popularity of the ruling party in the area because of the bad state of the roads infrastructure in the district.
He said RDA should build a permanent bridge at Sikalamba stream where a temporal bridge was mounted two years ago when the area experienced floods.
The Maamba/Batoka road was rehabilitated last year at a cost of more than K26 billion.
In another development Mweezhya ward councilor Bernard Syanyambwe has disclosed that people in Siyalwala area have run out of mealie-meal, 15 houses have collapsed and roads have become impassable.
He said the situation has become pathetic if nothing was done people would die of hunger.
Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Mutale Nalumango has challenged women parliamentarians to rise above partisan politics to enhance the rights and status of women in their respective countries.
Mrs. Nalumango said women are subjected to more training because of the culture where they are considered less than men in management and leadership while men were just accepted and propelled to positions as decision makers.
Ms. Nalumango said this when she contributed to discussions on the role of parliamentarians in enforcing Gender Equity and Human Rights, organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) 15 years after Beijing.
The Deputy speaker also informed the side event of the 5th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) that Zambia was tackling gender violence which she said has continued to disadvantage women.
She said Zambia would enact a new constitution which has a lot of clauses aimed at uplifting the status of women giving them socio-economic empowerment and assures them of their rights.
This is contained in statement released to ZANIS by First Secretary for Press at the Zambian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, Moses Walubita.
And UN Secretary General’s Special Advisor on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Rachel Mayanja said gender stereotyping, violence against women and under representation of women in decision making processes limits participation of women.
She said the inclusion of women and other under-represented groups is a critical component in a democracy.
Ms. Mayanja has further urged parliaments to strike a balance between men and women in all parliamentary committees including leadership positions.
President Rupiah Banda and First Lady Thandiwe Banda
PRESIDENT Banda said yesterday that his trip to China was successful, especially that there was a number of projects and opportunities discussed with the Chinese Government and investors.
Mr Banda, who completed his state visit to China on Wednesday by touring ZTE and Huawei Technologies, held two separate meetings with the companies’ top executives.
He urged the two Chinese telecommunication companies to consider setting up manufacturing firms in Zambia in addition to their operation offices.
This is contained in a statement issued from Shenzhen, China, by special assistant to the President for press and public relations Dickson Jere.
“The two companies assured the President and his delegation that they will positively consider the invitation to set up manufacturing branches in Zambia,” Mr Jere said.
The President also invited various telecommunication companies to set up international call centres in Zambia as the country has adequate human resource to handle such projects.
Mr Banda said he would like to see Zambia become a centre of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and urged the telecommunication firms to consider partnering with Government in establishing an ICT training centre which will cater for the African region.
He said his trip to China was successful, especially that there was a number of projects and opportunities discussed.
While in China, the President held meetings with his counterpart Hu Jintao and other senior Government officials where they discussed bilateral issues which mainly focused on political and economic co-operation.
The two leaders pledged to continue strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.
And President Hu announced additional scholarships to Zambia of up to 164 students to study in various fields in China.
The two Presidents also witnessed the signing of five key agreements in different fields which include mining and geology co-operation, financing of the construction of a new stadium and the development of an economic sub-zone in Lusaka.
President Banda and the Chinese Government also discussed Zambia’s possibility of accessing financing from the US$10 billion set aside by the Chinese Government for projects in Africa.
Zambia presented projects for possible funding which include water and sanitation in Lusaka, drilling of boreholes in rural areas, improvement of urban roads, mobile hospitals and procurement of boats for Luapula and Western provinces.
The President invited Chinese tourists to consider Zambia as one of the priority destinations for tourism when they travel out of China.
Mr Banda said Zambia has beautiful sites which Chinese tourists should consider to visit, especially that over 40 million Chinese tourists travel outside their country annually.
President Banda, First Lady Thandiwe and other senior Government officials were yesterday due to leave China via Hong Kong on their way back home.
The Zambian delegation to Shenzhen included Minister of Finance and National Planning Situmbeko Musokotwane and his Foreign Affairs counterpart Kabinga Pande.
Other ministers who were in President Banda’s delegation returned to Lusaka after completing their assignments.
CHIEF Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha says it is unwarranted for former Minister of Defence George Mpombo to allege that President Banda and his administration neglected the health of Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Misheck Bonshe.
Mr Bonshe, who was Mufumbwe MMD member of Parliament, died in Nigeria last Sunday from suspected high blood pressure.
Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha said in a statement issued in Lusaka yesterday that Mr Mpombo is merely politicking and advancing his political interests at the expense of mourning his departed colleague.
Gen. Shikapwasha, who is also Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, said he found it strange for Mr Mpombo to blame Government and President Banda over the untimely death of Mr Bonshe.
He said it is surprising that Mr Mpombo as a delegation leader of the Zambian team which travelled to Mbabane, Swaziland for a Southern African Development Community (SADC) security and politics meeting could not arrange for Mr Bonshe’s evacuation to South Africa for specialised treatment.
“This is so since Mr Mpombo says South Africa was just about 30 minutes away from where the meeting was taking place,” he said.
Gen. Shikapwasha said Mr Mpombo should have alternatively used his initiative to suggest even driving Mr Bonshe to South Africa for advanced treatment.
The minister said it appeared attending the SADC meeting was more important to Mr Mpombo than his friend’s health.
He said since Mr Mpombo said the Zambian delegation included some medical doctors, logistical arrangements could have easily been made in collaboration with the Zambian High Commission in South Africa and the Ministry of Health to have Mr Bonshe evacuated to South Africa.
Gen. Shikapwasha said Government is taken aback by Mr Mpombo’s narration that after the SADC meeting, the Zambian delegation was flown together with Mr Bonshe to Livingstone via Johannesburg for a Zambia-Namibia Joint Permanent Commission meeting.
He wondered why Mr Mpombo did not become considerate enough to suggest that Mr Bonshe be hospitalised in Johannesburg where their booked plane landed before proceeding to Livingstone to substantiate the former minister’s claims that the deceased was a very close family friend of his.
“I wish to make it clear that this Government pays meticulous attention to cases of critical sickness such as the one which afflicted the late Deputy Minister of Home Affairs,” he said.
Gen. Shikapwasha said there is no way that there would be negligence on the part of Government to let Mr Bonshe die without being subjected to good medical attention.
He said as far as evacuations of critically ill people are concerned, Government does not segregate.
The minister said Government pays undivided attention to all, including those in the opposition or the ruling party with high level examples being the cases of Patriotic Front leader Michael Sata and the late Mainza Chona.
Gen. Shikapwasha said it is Government’s view that Mr Mpombo is off the mark when he alleges that President Banda and his administration did not care for the health of Mr Bonshe.
He said Mr Mpombo’s utterances should be treated as unfounded verbiage aimed at politicising Mr Bonshe’s death to enhance his political image.
The minister accused Mr Mpombo of seemingly being desperate to mend his dented political career through his unguided and improperly researched statements.
Dr Chiluba addressing people at the Ncwala last weekFORMER President Frederick Chiluba left for South Africa yesterday for a two-week scheduled medical review.
The former President, who left aboard a South African Airways plane, was accompanied by his wife Regina, security staff and his spokesperson Emmanuel Mwamba.
Confirming Dr Chiluba’s trip to South Africa at the Lusaka International Airport yesterday, Mr Mwamba said doctors had given the former President a period of one month after which he should undergo another review.
“The former President is going for a scheduled medical review to South Africa and he will be there for two weeks. Dr Chiluba last underwent a medical review in December last year,” Mr Mwamba said.
IMFIMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn to Visit Africa to Deepen Dialogue on the Continent’s Economic Challenges
Mr. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), will visit Africa March 7-11, to discuss opportunities and challenges facing African economies in the wake of the global crisis. Mr. Strauss-Kahn will visit Kenya on March 7-8, South Africa on March 9-10, and Zambia on March 10-11.
Mr. Strauss-Kahn will discuss the recent successes as well as the challenges the continent needs to address, including the impact of global climate change, a problem that disproportionately affects Africa. He will participate in a panel debate “Africa’s Economic Transformation: The Road Ahead”, which will also include Kenya’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Uhuru Kenyatta; Nobel Peace Prize Winner Wangari Maathai; rock star and activist Bob Geldof; and Transparency International’s Akere Muna.
During his visit to the three countries, Mr. Strauss-Kahn will hold a series of meetings with the authorities, trade unions, representatives of civil society, and the private sector. He will also give a speech on the global financial crisis at the University of Witswaterand during his visit to South Africa.
“I am very glad to come back to Africa and continue our engagement with African leaders and citizens in a fruitful and open policy dialogue,” Mr. Strauss-Kahn said. “It is an opportunity for us to deepen the dialogue on issues concerning the continent’s main challenge—sustaining solid growth in the post-crisis world to put Africa on the path of prosperity.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday urged Zambia, Africa’s top copper producer, to increase mine taxes to fund roads and hospitals, even after the country scrapped a contoversial windfall tax on mining earnings.
Copper is the main export for this southern African country, accounting for over 63 percent of the country’s foreign earnings, and the IMF wants Zambia to raise more revenue to improve public finances and fight poverty.
The IMF has previously said that although Zambia weathered the global downturn last year, government revenue collections have fallen short of expectations.
“Enhanced tax collections, including from the mining sector will be critical for providing space for increase capital and social spending,” said George Tsibouris, head of an IMF staff mission that visited Zambia from February 17 to March 2.
Copper prices have recovered from four-year lows recorded early last year, boosted by demand from China, the world’s largest consumer. Three-month copper futures on the London Metal Exchange are trading around $7,416 a tonne.
With the backing of the World Bank, Zambia imposed a 25 percent mining windfall tax in April 2008, along with a 15 percent profit variable tax to raise revenue, which was to be invested in infrastructure, particularly in poor rural areas.
Lusaka also raised its mineral royalty to 3.0 percent from 0.6 percent and corporate tax to 30 percent from 25 percent.
But the government lifted the windfall tax in January after some foreign investors threatened to take legal action, accusing authorities of breaching agreements they signed with the mining companies that promised lower taxes.
The government says the windfall tax was scrapped to boost foreign investment in mining, and would not be re-introduced.
Last month, Zambia said it plans to further review the Mines and Minerals Act this year to reduce the cost of doing business and make the mining sector even more attractive to investors.
Copper output in Zambia rose 14 percent to 697,860 tonnes last year, and Zambia has previously said copper production could hit 1.0 million tonnes by 2011 as new mines come on stream and expansions and upgrades take place at existing facilities.
Zambia has forecast its economy could grow as much as 7 percent this year and 8 percent in 2011 due on recovering copper exports and booms in construction and manufacturing.
This forecasts put the country of 13 million among the world’s fastest growing economies, and underscores the extent to which countries on the poorest continent — particularly mineral exporters — succeeded in weathering the global economic storm.
[Reuters ]
UNICEF Zambia Representative Lotta Sylwander, right, presents a football to Kabulonga school teacher Musonda MusoleFor Little Mukali, a seventh grader at Kabulonga Basic School in Lusaka, the visit to UNICEF was an opportunity he had long been waiting for.
I would love to help children
“I am happy that we came here to learn more about ourselves, to know what we can do for ourselves, and also appreciate what others are doing for us. I would love to work in the health section,” Little said during a class field trip to UNICEF’s offices in the Zambian capital. “I would love to help children, especially those that are born to HIV-positive parents.”
Little laments that some of his friends have not been able to attend school because their parents have died of HIV- and AIDS-related diseases, leaving them without the needed financial support. “They can’t come to school because there is no one to support them. I feel pity because I can’t see a bright future for them. I hope a cure can be found one day,” he added.
Speaking during the visit, Kondwani Joe Banda, 17, a UNICEF Zambia Unite for Climate Ambassador, encouraged other children to work hard and help control climate change in their communities. “Let’s help preserve our climate. We are global citizens, so whatever happens elsewhere affects us, too. We should be proactive… and the time to act for our environment is now,” said Kondwani.
A broader understanding
Musonda Musole, a teacher at the school, thanked UNICEF for giving the pupils a broader understanding of UNICEF’s work in Zambia: “We feel this will inspire many pupils to work extra hard, especially because they shall begin to appreciate what organizations like UNICEF do for them.”
UNICEF Representative in Zambia Lotta Sylwander led a 90-minute interactive discussion with the students, which included watching a video explaining UNICEF’s accelerated child survival and development programme in Zambia, and a talk by UNICEF Zambia’s Staff Association President James Simasiku.
Ongoing collaboration
“UNICEF Zambia takes pride in its ongoing and future collaboration with the Government of Zambia, and implementing programmes aimed at improving the welfare of children and mothers. We warmly welcome significantly better outcomes for children and their mothers, now and in the future, in every part of the country,” said Ms. Sylwander.
The ten pupils who visited UNICEF are among the 130 seventh graders at Kabulonga Basic School who are studying about the United Nations during the current school year. The UN is incorporated in the Zambian Social Studies syllabus. The field trip offered an opportunity for pupils to visit UNICEF and find out for themselves about the UN’s work in the country.
Nigeria’s United Bank of Africa (UBA) has started operating in Zambia with a capital investment of $15 million as it seeks to expand its influence on the African continent, Chief Executive Officer Abba Bello said on Thursday.
Bello told Reuters one UBA branch was already operational in Lusaka and the bank planned to open two more in the country’s mining towns on the Copperbelt and another in Solwezi, which hosts two key mines in Africa’s largest copper producer.
“Our focus is on wholesale and retail and we play in all sectors of any economy that we are in, so when you say mining, yes we will be in mining but we will be in all sectors of wholesale space in Zambia and we will support that with retail play,” Bello said.
Bello said UBA hoped its growing influence in Africa would help boost trade and spur the continent’s economic growth.
“UBA is here as a vehicle to ensure that Africans have their own bank that can assist in empowering indigenous Africans in growing intra-African trade and trade between Africa and the rest of the world,” he said.
Bello said with the start of operations in Zambia, UBA was now present in 17 countries in Africa.
In October, UBA launched its Kenyan operation to compete with pan-African group Ecobank Transnational Inc, which began working in Kenya in 2008.
Bello said the competition, brought about by the opening of more banks in Zambia, which now has 18 banks, and favourable economic indicators in recent months would help bring down interest rates.
Zambian President Rupiah Banda concluded his nine-day state visit to China and left for home Thursday evening.
When meeting with Wang Rong, acting mayor of Shenzhen city of south China’s Guangdong Province, Banda Wednesday said China’s development experience was significant to Zambia, highlighting Shenzhen’s transition from a small village to a metropolitan.
Banda said Zambia and China had conducted cooperation in medical treatment and the mining industry. He would further facilitate the cooperation back in Zambia.
Banda also hoped more Chinese people would visit Zambia, which could strengthen their friendship with the Zambian people.
During Banda’s earlier stay in Beijing, Chinese President Hu Jintao held talks with him. Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Wu Bangguo, and Premier Wen Jiabao also met with him.
Banda also visited south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guangdong Province.
As the guest of Hu, it was Banda’s first trip to China since being elected president in 2008.
A 25 year old farm driver of Wellington farm in Mazabuka has brutally murdered his wife and his one year old child before he hanged himself after he allegedly found her red-handed committing adultery with his work met in his matrimonial home.
According to an witness who is also the deceased man’s nephew Enoch Siabula, the incident happened yesterday around 15:00 hours when the deceased man Josias Siabula, a driver under feedlot department at Wellington farm caught his wife with his work met committing adultery in his bedroom.
The witness said his uncle who was supposed to knock off around 19:00 hours every Wednesday was released earlier than his usual time owing to the heavy rains but that he was angered to find his wife with another man.
Siabula said his uncle’s anger deteriorated when his wife wanted to run away after she realized that her man-friend had escaped forcing the angry man to take action.
He said his uncle got a hoe from the corner of his house and chased after his wife Agnetus Siabula and hacked her in the head several times crashing the skull.
He said after killing his wife, Josias got a knife and stabbed himself in the head in a bid to take his life but that he couldn’t die immediately.
Siabula said he tried to stop him from taking his life but that the deceased warned him not to go close to him forcing him to run away for his life and stood at a distance.
He added that his uncle went back to his house and got his 1 year 8 months daughter named as Shimbi Siabula and told her that he would not leave her alone to suffer before he also hacked her in the head.
He narrated that driven by uncontrolled anger; Josias went into his house and got a rope which he used to hang himself at a tree near the area were he laid the two bodies that he murdered.
He reported the matter to his boss who rushed to town to inform the police.
And a check at Mazabuka district hospital around 19:00 hours were the bodies were taken for certification revealed that the child sustained a big deep cut on the back of the head while the woman had his whole head smashed.
After the certification, there was a delay to deposit the bodies at the mortuary as it was realized that the watchman who knocked off around 18:00 hours had gone with the mortuary keys to his home.
Some police officers complained on why the entire hospital did not have a mortuary attendant.
Parliament heard today that Zambia’s current external debt stands at US$1.2 billion. The country’s debt in 2005 stood at US$500 million after Zambia’s US$7 billion was forgiven following the attainment of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) completion point
Acting Finance and National Planning Minister Peter Daka told Parliament that Zambia’s current debt is lower than most countries in the region.
He said Zambia cannot develop with borrowing and that government is borrowing at a reasonable interest of point seven, five percent while the local interest stands at 15%.
He adds that government has to borrow in order to sustain economic growth in the country. Mr Daka says Zambia is not at any risk of falling in the unsustainable debt trap with government’s continued borrowing because government has the capacity to pay back all its loans.
And Mr Daka says government has reduced on borrowing as a result of the borrowing policy.
Heavy rains washed away Nkana’s club friendly international against Groupo Desportivo Electrica Cabrobassa of Mozambique in Kitwe today.
The match was abandoned at with less than a quarter of an hour left to play at Arthur Davies Stadium on Power Dynamos training pitch with both sides level at 1-1.
Nkana took the lead against Cabrobassa in the 30th minute when Mumba Mwelwa headed in the ball to give them a 1-0 lead into halftime.
Cabrobassa equalized in the 71st minute through Amika but shortly thereafter the match was washed away after the Arthur Davies pitch became waterlogged.
This was the Mozambique club’s third club international friendly played since Sunday after kicking off their tour of Zambia with a 3-2 loss to Green Buffaloes in Lusaka.
Cabrobassa lost 2-1 to Power Dynamos at Arthur Davies on Wednesday.
The visitors leave for Lusaka on Friday and are expected to face Zanaco in Lusaka on Sunday before wrapping up against Zesco United on Sunday also in the Capital to return to Tete.
Zone 6 Friendly Match fixtures
03/02/2010
-Durban
Moses Mabhida Stadium
South Africa 1 (katlego Mphela 70’)-Namibia 1 (Rudolph Bester 42’)
Angola: 1. Luis Mamona Joao (Lama) (GK)
2. Jamuana
5. Carlos Alonso (Kaly)
7. Job
8. Fernando Costa (Xara)
9. Pedro Henriques
11. Joao Vala (Joazinho)
13. Manuel Machado
17. Nsimba Baptista (Zekalanga)
20. Eduardo Cancilinhas (Castigo)
21. Jose Alberto (Mabina)
Subs:
12. Wilson (GK)
3. Enoque
4. Yhenda Francisco (Dias Caires)
6. Emanuel Arsenio (Neto)
10. Maeco Domingos Antonio (Rasca)
14. Amandio Felipe De Costa (Amaro)
15. Domingos Fernandes (Minguito)
16. Adawa Mokanga
18. Wilson Macamo (Nandinho)
19. Joao H.Rosa Barros (Manucho Barros)
22. Angelo Manuel
23. Osvaldo Talana (Joca
Zimbabwe: E. Sibanda, G. Mapemba, G. Karimupfumbi, M. Mwanjali, D. Veremu, A. Rambanapasi (E. Meleka, 85th minute), T. Kamusoko (R. Zhuwawo, 48th minute), F. Vimisayi (R. Mteki, 50th minute), N. Mushekwi (C. Malajila), K. Musona, T. Rusike.
The political scenario has continued to amuse and stun Zambians since the former President Dr Fredrick Chiluba rushed to choke Michael Sata‘s throat a long term friend they shared the same platform and confided in each other.
Today they are political foes in the boxing ring and ready to drag each other to court for the wounds that Dr Chiluba inflicted on King Cobra Sata.
King Cobra’s venom was not strong enough to clean Dr Chiluba’s wild allegation on his alleged polygamous affair and opted to pull him to court where he would spill it all. And Chiluba is ready for the dossier and to reveal more.
Away from the Chiluba and Sata saga is a young man who has emerged on a political scene with the formation of the National Restoration Party (NAREP) to set a new tone and to give Zambians a chance to fresh ideas.
Lusaka Times recently reported on Elias Chipimo Junior, a little known figure in Zambian politics but a successful and hardworking businessman and his team that have formed NAREP.
While his political foes have not yet bruised Chipimo and his team as they are still plotting for the right disparaging words to throw in his political arena, he has to convince some Zambians who are skeptical to change or adapt to anything new.
Chipimo has outlined his NAREP’s vision as one based on equitable and prosperous Zambia playing its role as an alternative energy superpower, continental breadbasket, regional inland infrastructure and logistics hub, a centre of technological, and innovative excellence.
Who Chipimo Junior is
Chipimo Junior is the founder and managing partner of Corpus Legal Practitioners, Zambia’s largest law firm, established in 1995 and is a graduate from the University of Zambia and Oxford University in 1990-92.
He is the Managing Partner and senior partner, responsible for corporate advisory work, mergers, acquisitions, investments and privitisations.
Chipimo’s main area of work is corporate law, principally advisory work on mergers and acquisitions, privatisation and capital markets related work in Zambia as well as within the Southern African region.
He handled acquisitions of numerous companies and undertakings being sold as part of the Zambian government privatisation programme acting on behalf of large multinationals, many entering Zambia for the first time.
Chipimo acted on numerous acquisitions of mining assets which are responsible for the bulk of Zambia’s foreign exchange earnings.
He was born on 3 September 1965, is a father of two boys, and he is Bemba by tribe.
Chipimo Joined the Law Firm in 1995 and dealt in areas of ,capital Markets, commercial Law, competition, contract Law ,corporate Advisory Service, corporate and business, foreign Investment, mining Privatization, project Financing, projects, and utilities.
He has accomplished the establishment of Zambia’s law practice and leading commercial services firm, professional Associations, international Bar Association, member of Rhodes scholarship selection committee (Zambia), member of the Law Association of Zambia.
He also holds various board memberships representing interests of multinational shareholders in Zambian subsidiaries.
The NAREP leader has written articles on the privatisation process and capital markets in Zambia’s largest circulation financial newspaper and a contributor to Rocky Mountain Mineral Law publication setting out information on mining transactions in Zambia.
He was admitted to the bar in 1989, Zambia
He retired from the firm to pursue a long-held desire to set in motion a process that he believes will ultimately see the development of a new national mindset through the assumption of greater personal responsibility by all.
Chipimo says he has been keenly involved in addressing the plight of the vulnerable and in 2000, he established Plan for Giving, a non-governmental organisation set up to identify needs within Lusaka area and to channel direct support to these areas through a unique system of corporate support.
He established “The Least of My People” Trust two years ago as inspired by the responsibility highlighted by Jesus in Matthew 25 (‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.).
Chipimo says the Trust sponsors 12 children through middle basic schooling in various Lusaka schools.
A branch of the Trust is about to be opened in Kaoma where it will support an additional 10 pupils.
Chipimo believes in the importance of family, enjoys spending time with his wife and children.
He also enjoys reading and playing golf in his spare time and could often be found farming his maize crops.
The NAREP leader says he established the Restoration Forum which is an organisation that aims to encourage every Zambian to take more responsibility, to better manage time, and to live up to their commitments.
He is currently writing a book based on his opinion of the leadership in Zambia and the current state of the nation. The book is scheduled for publication later this year. Watch the space.
NAREP’s goal
The NAREP leader Chipimo Junior also noted in his official speech that anybody living in Zambia today knows that while the country is rich , the human index statistics portray a nation that is poor.
While the country is not at war with the neighbouring states, the nation has no peace with itself.
The politicians seem to be at constant war with one another even when the country is declared as a Christian nation, the conduct of leaders reflect a nation that has no love of Christ as its goal.
Chipimu Junior points that while all the shouting is going on, development remains stunted death and disease knock on the door of every household that is unable to afford drugs to treat complicated as well as common ailments.
Poor feeder roads constrain rural development, flooding and diseases such as cholera occur every rainy season in high density areas with no solution in sight, and constant disruptions in energy and fuel supplies have become an accepted part of business and daily living
The employment remains elusive for the many people, the nation’s school leavers, and in the middle of all this, political leaders seem shamelessly proud that they can still convince foreign nations to pay for the problems they have brought upon themselves.
Politician’s failure
Indeed the NAREP party leader has pointed out some of the weakness that has become an accepted norm in our beloved country.
Zambia is so rich but our leaders plans are not working in addressing many issues aimed at improving infrastructure in many towns and districts.
The sight of most towns is poor and pathetic yet we have leaders that could inspire for improved living environment for its citizens.
The country is still having the same buildings that were built in the Kaunda regime and no effort has been made to improve them or build other structures to befit this modern era.
But the Vice President George Kunda’s slogan at every gathering he convenes he feeds people with the notion that Hakainde Hichilema’s entering into a PACT with Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata is a marriage of convenience. The two are different and have different ideologies.
The people need development at every grassroots and have nothing to do with politics of name calling.
However, if one critically looks at the current political parties in the country, they are nothing but an offspring of the MMD and where formed out of frustration when their leaders pulled out of it.
No wonder they hold so much hatred of each other instead of embracing the spirit of unit to forge ahead in developing the nation.
Even when one is talking sense the other party will always find room to oppose for sake of gaining political mileage.
Though the new political party has come to this arena of insults, arena of hatred it should be careful before it disappears like Heritage Party, UNIP, Agenda for Zambia, and Nevers Mumba’s party.
NAREP on the Web
While NAREP has new ideas it should start having grass root support from the entire country rather than just throwing them on the internet through facebook.
This system worked for Barrack Obama, but it cannot work in Zambia were few people have access to the internet because the current political leaders have not made it a priority or as a tool that could speed up development.
The internet is so expensive and Google research show that Zambia has the highest price for surfing on the internet in Southern Africa.
But we can only give credit to our political leaders for being good tourist overseas, trotting around the global but never implement the development that they admire in foreign countries.
One hopes this new party could live to its vision, avoid politics of mudslinging, add new era of imparting a sense of confidence in politics and woo the support of the electorates and convince the skeptics that change may be good after all.
Short of that they will meet King Cobra Sata who will spit venom at them, become shortsighted, and forget their vision for the nation.
Sinazongwe district have been cut off from the rest of the country for the third time following heavy rains that have resulted in the collapse of a culvert along Maamba/Batooka road today.
The Culvert at Vwavwa area near Sinazeze Township that cracked in January had remained an attended to despite Sinazongwe District Development Cordinating Committee’s (DDCC) reporting the matter to Road Development Agency (RDA).
A check at the site found motorist could not pass and there is no alternative road that has been made to allow vehicles to pass.
The rains have been pouring on-stop from Wednesday to Thursday and most people were indoors.
In Nangombe ward in Chief Sinazongwe area 20 houses have collapsed and several others have not yet been counted.
The ward councilor Robson Sialukowa appealed for urgent attention from government to address the problem of floods and the affected people.
Last week 65 five houses and 15 toilets collapsed in Sinenge ward and people were sheltered in Schools and Churches.
Mr Sialukowa said people have not received any assistance from government since the problem occurred last week.
Chief Sinazongwe’s palace has remained on an island as the bridges leading to his area have been washed away.
