HOME Affairs Minister Lameck Mangani has urged Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata to play sober politics and desist from making bad jokes on alleged threats on his life.

Reacting to Mr Sata’s alleged attempt on his life in Milanzi parliamentary constituency during the filing in of nominations, Mr Mangani said the PF president was only joking, but unfortunately such jokes could mislead his followers.

He said neither he nor President Banda could plot to eliminate Mr Sata and if anything they wish him long life.

“I know that deep down his heart, Mr Sata is joking. He knows that the President cannot plan to have him killed, even I cannot do it. But these are bad jokes because his followers may take them differently,” Mr Mangani said.

He said though unfortunate, the Milanzi incident where a woman who was trying to reverse her vehicle, caused a minor scratch on Mr Sata’s parked vehicle cannot be said to be an attempt on his life.

Mr Mangani said Mr Sata should be careful with the way he plays the traditional cousinship with him, because allegations of attempts on one’s life could be dangerous.

Meanwhile, the MMD in the Eastern Province has dismissed allegations of threats on Mr Sata’s life in an incident that happened in full view of the people during the filing in of nominations for the Milanzi seat.

[pullquote]He said though unfortunate, the Milanzi incident where a woman who was trying to reverse her vehicle, caused a minor scratch on Mr Sata’s parked vehicle cannot be said to be an attempt on his life.[/pullquote]

MMD Eastern Province chairperson Kennedy Zulu has advised the PF leader to leave President Banda out of the Milanzi incident involving their vehicle that was carrying their candidate Whiteson Banda and that of Mr Sata which was being driven by his driver.

He said Mr Sata was in a tent at the venue of nominations and only came out when the two parties clashed.

Mr Zulu said as commotion built up, a PF cadre allegedly pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot at MMD cadres.

He said the MMD camp has reported the matter to the Electoral Commission of Zambia and the police for investigations.

Mr Zulu said allegations by Mr Sata that the MMD national executive committee (NEC) officials deliberately stayed away from the alleged attempt on his life were untrue.

The provincial chairman, who is a NEC member, together with deputy national secretary Chembe Nyangu were there when the incident happened. Local Government and Housing Minister Eustarckio Kazonga, who is the campaign manager, was also present.

Mr Zulu said Mr Sata is just jittery because of the evident massive support for the MMD in Milanzi in particular and Eastern Province as a whole.

He said the MMD in Milanzi is certain of a landside victory.

Mr Zulu said development projects that the MMD government has initiated in the province such as construction of schools, rural health centres and grading of feeder roads are enough campaign for them.

He said Mr Sata saw for himself that the MMD is a crowd-puller in the province. Mr Zulu charged that the graphical crowds that Mr Sata is said to have attracted in Milanzi by some sections of the media was wishful thinking.

He said the PF leader did not address any rally in Milanzi and his attempt to do so at the venue of nominations was unsuccessful.

[Zambia Daily Mail]

A parliamentarian has projected that Zambia will fail to meet the objectives of the new National budget cycle because government has been reckless in handling national matters.

Independent luena Member of Parliament, Charles Milupi told Qfm in an interview that the possibility of the new budget cycle becoming a major success as earlier projected, was very small because government has not given the necessary attention to the critical issues that need to be addressed in implementing the strategy.

Mr Milupi said that government has not invested enough time and seriousness in the implementation of the budget cycle but has focused its energies on mere politicking at the expense of the poor Zambians who are yearning for a change.

Mr.Milupi said the government has failed to meet the inflation targets and very little has been invested in trying to make frantic efforts to change the economical situation in the country.

Meanwhile economist Bob Sichinga observed that no major change will be attained if government does not reconsider the reporting dates, as the new budget cycle is implemented.

Speaking in an interview, Mr. Sichinga said there is still a huge delay in release of the required information on the performance of the new cycle due to the fact that the reporting dates have remained stagnant.

He said that there is need to also look into what dates the government updates the people on the various performance reports as the new budget cycle undergoes scrutiny.

Mr. Sichinga said unless these necessary changes are made in the reporting process of the budget performance, there will be very little to attain from the new budget cycle.

He noted that it will be very useless for government if this new plan does not meet their objectives in national development.

[QFM]

A WOMAN of Lusaka’s John Laing who refused to have a fifth child has asked a local court to terminate her marriage.

Before senior presiding magistrate Regina Mumba was Josephine Mwengo, 30, who sued her husband Kamanga Tembo, 33, for divorce.

Mwengo told the court that she wanted her marriage dissolved because Tembo had married another woman after she refused to have a fifth child with him.
She said she has four children with Tembo and she sees no reason why they should have a fifth when he is unable to provide food and education for those they already have.

“I have four children with my husband. He does not take good care of them. They are not in school, and it is me who provides for their daily needs. He still wanted another child to join the others in suffering,” she said.

Mwengo said that Tembo has since married another woman with whom he has a child.

She told the court that difficulties in their marriage started when her husband left for Chipata for business and returned with another woman whom he said he had married to bear his fifth child.
Mwengo said Tembo left the matrimonial home to live with the new wife.

“I remained alone in the rented house with the children. He never brought food nor bought clothes for his own children,” she said.

Mwengo told the court that it is two years and five months since Tembo abandoned his family but he still physically attacks her when they meet.

She said Tembo beats her when he visits her at home or when he finds her selling groundnuts on the streets.
“We have been on separation for two years five months but the way my husband treats me is like we live in the same house. He restricts me on a number of things and yet he does not provide for my daily needs,” she said.

She said that he burns and throws away anything new he finds in her home and that this makes it difficult for her and the children to have an improved standard of living.

She said Tembo has been threatening to kill her and recently attempted to strangle her with his bare hands. She said this left her with a painful neck and she was for a while unable to work.

Mwengo said she no longer loves Tembo and wants to divorce him so that he may freely concentrate on his second wife.

In his statement, Tembo said that he did not want the marriage to end because the children would suffer.
He said divorce is not good for the children and his wife and wanted to correct his errors.

“The children are young. Besides I only wanted the fifth child from the second wife after my wife refused to bear one for me,” he said.

Tembo said he would not like to lose his marriage of 13 years considering what he and Mwengo have gone through together.

The court dissolved the marriage saying marriage is based on mutual understanding between two people and no one should be forced to continue.

The court also ruled that Mwengo gets all the household property and was granted custody of the children because they are all below the age of 18 years.

Tembo was ordered to maintain his children through monthly payments of K200,000 and to pay Mwengo K3 million as compensation in monthly installments of K200,000.
[Zambia Daily Mail]

Independent Luena Member of Parliament (MP) Charles Milupi has observed that the political tension currently being harbored in the country is unnecessary and a mere struggle for power.

Mr. Milupi said there are so many pertinent issues that need to be addressed in the country but surprisingly non of the political leaders are even working towards bring solutions to the various challenges.

He noted that the common enemy that all political leaders should be focusing their energies on is alleviating poverty and bringing meaningful development but it is unfortunate that attention has been diverted to insults.

He said Zambians have continued to wallow in serious poverty and issues of high unemployment levels in the country but those in leadership positions have shifted their attention to unnecessary issues.
QFM

THE United Party for National Development (UPND) has instructed all party organs to intensify campaigns for their leader Hakainde Hichilema as the Republican presidential candidate for the 2011 elections in what points to deep divisions with the Patriotic Front (PF).

The UPND is in a pact with the PF but the two parties have been giving conflicting views about who would contest the presidential elections next year, insisting that they would announce the presidential candidate “at the right time”.

However, while the pact has been playing to the gallery and showing that they are working together, they have each been campaigning for their presidents.

Last month, PF distributed campaign badges bearing the portrait of their leader Michael Sata for the 2011 polls, three months after UPND circulated similar badges with Mr Hichilema’s picture.

PF cadres in Lusaka distributed Mr Sata’s portrait with a message that he was the only one contesting the elections next year.

But according to a statement obtained by the Times in Lusaka yesterday, issued by the party’s deputy secretary general in charge of politics Sikwiindi Situla on April 1, the UPND said it was the only political party that had the right vision for Zambia.

Mr Situla instructed all the branch and ward constituency committees to ensure that they recruited more members to the party ahead of the 2011 elections and that they should go flat out and campaign for Mr Hichilema to become the next president of Zambia.

He said the UPND was popular across the country and that it was the most popular political party in Lusaka at the moment.

Mr Situla said only the UPND had the right policies to address the ills in the health and education sectors.

[pullquote]Mr Chibwe said the party would only stop campaigning for Mr Hichilema after the PF/UPND pact had chosen a candidate.
[/pullquote]
He urged Zambians to support the UPND if they wanted better schools and quality health care services.

And UPND secretary general, Winston Chibwe said there was nothing wrong with the party to campaign for Mr Hichilema.

Mr Chibwe said the party would only stop campaigning for Mr Hichilema after the PF/UPND pact had chosen a candidate.

“There is no problem with that statement. We shall continue campaigning and we shall only stop when a candidate is chosen,” Mr Chibwe said.

Speaking on a recent radio programme, Mr Sata said there was nothing wrong with the parties campaigning separately.

[Times of Zambia]

Mines and Minerals Minister Maxwell Mwale has  told QFM in an interview today that with the revamping of the operations at Lumwana mine and the re-opening of Luanshya mine, the performance of the Mining sector is likely to shoot upwards.

Mr Mwale said despite the tumbling down of copper prices on the world market in 2009 due to the Global Financial crunch Zambia’s copper production was still high, recording up to 676 000 tonnes of copper production as compared to 650 000 tones in 2008.

The increment showed a significance of almost a 100 000 tonnes increase the production of the commodity.
He said with the development of the big mines and the re-opening of the mines that were put on care and maintenance during the economic meltdown Zambia will this year meet at list 700 000 tonnes of its primary commodity copper this year a significant increase as compared to last year.

The Minister said Government is looking for more viable investments in the mining sector that will enable it hit up to a million tonnes production worth of copper.

QFM