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MMD nationa secretary Katele Kalumba has implored United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema to venture into politics of civilisation and use moderate language.
Dr Kalumba said in a statement yesterday it was unbecoming for Mr Hichilema to lose every gain of political decency that many cultured Zambians assumed he had acquired as a professional and drop down to piggish runts of political debate.
“MMD wishes to counsel Mr Hakainde Hichilema to at least make an effort towards civilised political conduct and language,” Dr Kalumba said.
Meanwhile,Namwala Member of Parliament, Robbie Chizyuka has questioned what political mileage United Party for National Development UPND leader, Hikainde Hichilema will gain from the continuously wasting his time attacking republican president Rupiah Banda with disrespect.
Speaking in an interview with QFM, Major Chizyuka says it is immature for Mr Hichilema to allegedly persistently defame the name of the republican president, when he is old enough to be his father.
Major Chizyuka explains that it is totally unafrican and uncultured for the opposition leader to focus on politics of name calling when he could be investing his time in presenting a strong manifesto to the people of Zambia.
He condemns the action taken by Mr. Hikainde to continue pursuing the republican president in the manner he is currently doing.
He adds that countering president Banda’s statements with insults and negative criticism will at no point bring change to the many areas Mr Hikainde would want to see change in.
Mr Chizyuka has since urged the UPND to take keen interest in explaining to the people of Zambia what developmental change he will bring to the nation once voted into power and leave the republican president to do his job.
THE Government has said that the Catholic Church should state the action that it will take against priests and members issuing utterances that are against the official voice of the church.
Speaking in an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Chief Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha said the people expected the Catholic Church to state the action to be meted out against priests and members issuing personal remarks on political and economic issues of the country.
On Tuesday, Vatican ambassador to Zambia Nicola Girasoli said that utterances by individual priests and members of the clergy in Zambia should not be misconstrued as representing the official position of the church.
Ambassador Girasoli said the church only speaks through the Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC) and through the Vatican Embassy on matters related to the church and the State.
“If the statements that the clergy and some members are issuing are not official positions of the church, the Government and the Zambian people will want to see the action that the church is taking against its members,” Gen Shikapwasha said.
Gen Shikapwasha said the Government and the citizens expected that there was a code of conduct among the Catholic clergy and the general members and when such were violated, he expected that the church should take appropriate action.
In many instances, he said the statements by Catholic priests and some members were annoying and frustrating to many and as such the public should be informed on the course of action taken against erring Catholic believers.
“Just to say that the statements are not the official position is not enough, we want to hear the action taken,” Gen Shikapwasha said.
Now that the Vatican has stated that the position of some clergy and members was not the official position of the church, he said that the Government would be keen to hear what kind of action the church would take against erring members.
SECOND Republican president Fredrick Chiluba yesterday said Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata is panicking that a lot more will be revealed in the investigations of the PF-run councils.
Dr Chiluba told Mr Sata to stop disorienting President Rupiah Banda’s pursuit for a forward-looking empowerment policy by suggesting that the former president was still ruling.
He said the assertions by Mr Sata were unjustified and taking the face of sour grapes in view of the strong relations he enjoyed with the president and the bearing they may have on PF.
Dr Chiluba said in Lusaka President Banda had the right to carry forward policy initiatives that were left incomplete by his administration such as the sale of houses and that all governments were run through a careful and thorough review of previous policies.
Through his spokesperson Emmanuel Mwamba, Dr Chiluba said President Banda had demonstrated his love for the people and urged him to continue, regardless of detractors like Mr Sata who were losing grip on the politics and now wanted to disturb the the Government.
Dr Chiluba was reacting to Mr Sata who was quoted in yesterday’s edition of The Post newspaper that President Banda is a disciple of Dr Chiluba in view of the Itawa Housing Complex in Ndola the president ordered should be sold to sitting tenants.
The house empowerment policy was launched by Dr Chiluba. The former president explained that he was a founder member of the ruling party and what he stood for remains the property of the MMD which President Banda can implement with ease like he is doing.
Dr Chiluba reminded Mr Sata that he was now a sympathiser of the ruling party and would support every effort that promoted the ideals and policies of the ruling party.
He said the home empowerment policy was the initiative of the ruling party that was launched in 1996 to empower Zambians with property of their own and help reduce poverty levels.
Dr Chiluba said the sale of houses for quasi-governmental institutions like the United Bus Company of Zambia (UBZ) and INDECO should be completed because it was the agenda that was set by the MMD Government.
“President Banda is a distinguished leader who can never be swayed by anybody. He is a leader who has welcomed Dr Chiluba and Dr Chiluba feels welcome in the leadership of President Banda. That is what Mr Sata appears to dislike,” Mr Mwamba said.
He challenged Mr Sata to concentrate on reorganising the pact formed by his party and the United Party for National Development which had shown signs of cracking, instead of following the former president’s linkages with other leaders.
Dr Chiluba said President Banda’s Government was at liberty to review previous policies and implement them with undue influence from any leader.
Zambia’s state-run power utility Zesco Ltd. has asked for a 36 percent increase in electricity tariffs to allow the southern African country move towards cost-reflective tariffs, the company said on Thursday.
Zesco was granted a 26 percent hike for the period April 2010 to March 2011, but had asked the regulator to allow it to raise tariffs by a total 36 percent from July, citing inflationary pressures, rising import costs and steep hikes in the price of equipment, said spokeswoman Lucy Zimba.
“We are applying for an average tariff increase of 36 percent for the year 2010/2011 in order to continue on the path to cost reflective tariffs and we hope our request will be granted,” she said.
Zimba said the proposal did not include the copper and cobalt mines, whose tariff was last increased in 2008 under an agreement negotiated by the Copperbelt Energy Corp. (CEC), the country’s largest distributor of power to the mines.
The CEC purchases power from Zesco, which it distributes to the mines in Zambia, Africa’s largest copper producer.
Zesco said prices for copper, steel, aluminium and mineral oil, used to manufacturer machinery, equipment and spare parts used by the power utility, had risen sharply, pushing up its costs.
In order to address the local and regional power deficit, Zesco needs to mobilise huge amounts of funds to be able to invest in new generating and transmission infrastructure.
Zambia has said it needs to invest about $6 billion in the next five years to meet the country’s projected energy needs in the short and medium term. Zesco said it would need the higher tariffs to help foot the bill for the new investments.
But while the hikes would not affect mines directly, they would push up costs of production for the suppliers to the mines, ultimately hurting copper output, said Frederick Bantubonse, the general manager at Zambia’s Chamber of Mines.
“The mines buy from the business community and if the cost of production for the factories increases it will finally be reflected in the cost of mining,” Bantubonse told Reuters. (Reporting by Chris Mfula; editing by James Jukwey)
Maximum security prisoners and death row inmates in Zambia will receive booklets about the Rosary through a joint initiative of two U.K.-based charities.
A reported 1,600 copies of the booklet, created by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), will be distributed to prisoners in Kamfinsa State Prison and Kabwe Maximum Security Prison. The initiative is conducted by ACN and the charity Crown of Thorns in response to inmates’ requests for more information about the Rosary.
Lisa de Quay, chief executive of Crown of Thorns, told ACN the charity regularly receives many letters from prisoners, including those on death row. She said contact with the prisoners was probably established after a visiting chaplain distributed Crown of Thorns cards describing the rosary prayers.
“Inmates are usually family breadwinners, worried about the poverty and hardship that their crime has left their families suffering and too far from home for their families to visit,” de Quay explained.
“Although kindly treated, most inmates spend years in prison with only the clothes that they were arrested in, and with no soap, and with no blanket or sheet to cover themselves in through the cold months of the year, and (are) often rejected from their society through crime or disease.”
Sending Rosary cards to prisoners and the booklet is making a difference in their lives, she said.
“Their letters will surprise you, (they are) full of the great joy of contact, of being accepted, and of finding God,” she commented.
Another message of thanks came from a maximum security prisoner in Kabwe jail, who called the Rosary distribution “a lamp that one cannot hide under the table.” “It is a light of the world, a light that can be seen thousands of miles up and much farther on land. This light shines before people.
“How thrilling it is to be part of God’s work, shining out in this dark and corrupt world.
“For the love and faith you have for God’s people, I pray that God should bless you all, and that he gives you knowledge that you can share with me.”
SOUTH BEND, IN – A local non-profit, Feeding The Nations (FTN), will be shipping over 285,000 meals to Zambia thanks to the efforts of Fox Valley Lutheran High School, Appleton, Wis. On April 22 and 23, the students will be packaging 42,000 pounds of high-quality rice, vegetable and chicken flavor meals that are fortified with vitamins and minerals. FTN will then send the meals to Zambia to continue its support of 17 Christian orphanages and schools, feeding 5,000 needy children each day.
“We are always grateful for partnerships and helping hands that make feeding hungry nations possible,” said Steve Sumrall, FTN president. “To have a high school so willing to give up two days for such a cause is awe-inspiring. We commend them for their desire to roll up their sleeves, take action and feed thousands of hungry children.”
To make the shipment possible, FTN and Fox Valley are working alongside another organization. Impact Lives is providing $25,000 to buy necessary food and packing supplies. FTN will be covering the $13,000 shipping costs. In the last five years FTN has provided nearly six million dollars worth of food to the children in Zambia.
For those who want to help feed Zambia or create a similar opportunity for a school or organization, please visit www.FeedingTheNations.org or contact FTN at 574-968-1566.
Feeding The Nations is a non-profit 501(c) (3) International Christian humanitarian relief organization with supporting international offices. FTN is a division of Provident® whose ministries are headquartered in South Bend, Ind. The mission of FTN is to deliver food, medicine, new clothing and other necessities to families who lack these essentials due to famine, war, poverty or other natural disasters. For more information, you can write Feeding The Nations, P.O. Box 2438, South Bend, Ind. 46680 or visit www.FeedingTheNations.org.
Zesco United technical advisor Andre Mtine has resigned from the club just a year and half after joining the 2008 Super Division champions.
Mtine said today that he was leaving Zesco on personal reasons to concentrate on his non-football business.
He said this weekend’s match against Green Buffaloes whom Zesco host in a Week 7 game at Kafubu stadium in Luanshya will be his last.
“I would like to inform the chairman and other officials of Zesco United football club that I am stepping down from my position for professional reasons,” Mtine said.
Mtine thanked the Zesco executive including the technical bench led by Fighton Simukonda for the support.
The former Roan united and Forest Rangers technical advisor arrived at Zesco in January 2009 together with Simukonda following former coach Wedson Nyirenda to take up another lucrative appointment with Zanaco.
Zambian Breweries PLC is upset with Faz for letting the Under-17 team to use beer branded training bibs.
The clear beer monoply is not pleased after Under-17 players during practice session were pictured in Thursday’s edition of The Post newspapers’ sports page spotting branded training bibs baring the name of a popular lager of South African origin.
The Under-17 are in camp preparing for this Saturdays CAF Under-17 Cup qualifier against Uganda that will be played at Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka with the hosts trailing 2-0 from the first leg played a fortnight ago in Kampala.
ZB corporate affairs director Chibamba Kanyama said in a press statement released on Thursday that his company took great exception in using minors to advertize alcoholic beverages.
“We have observed that some members of your junior national soccer teams have been spotted dressed in attire bearing our beer brands during training sessions,” ” Chibamba said in his statement.
“We are obviously not privy to details as to whether this is being done with your sanction or is just a case of isolated incidences by members of the said teams.
“We would be grateful if you could ensure that any show of our alcoholic beverage brands at any of your events in future is STRICTLY NOT associated with people below the legal drinking age.
“Further, our commercial communication will not incorporate images of people who are, or look as if they are, under the legal drinking age.
“This is the more reason we have restricted ourselves and channeled our support to the Football Association of Zambia through the senior national soccer team which is predominately made up of persons that are above 18 years.”
Lazarous Kapambwe, representative of the Republic of Zambia to the United Nations talks to students at West Orange High School on Wednesday April 21, 2010.
Logan Svitzer was sitting in his U.S. history class here when his cell phone rang. He answered, but didn’t understand the person on the other end and hung up. He subsequently received a text message, which he ignored. Then the phone rang two more times.
Annoyed by the disruption, Svitzer’s teacher, Robbin Sweeney, grabbed the cell and called back the number. On the other end was a man saying he was Lazarous Kapambwe, the Zambian ambassador to the United Nations. Sweeney was certain it was a prank or a con.
But after 10 minutes on the phone, Sweeney became convinced Kapambwe was telling the truth. Kapambwe was urgently trying to get a hold of a fellow diplomat from Sierra Leone to discuss a proposed reform of the UN Security Council. But the phone number he had stored in his phone was one digit off.
“He was eloquent and apologetic, and he had a vast knowledge of Zambia,” Sweeney said. “I made a deal with him. I said, ‘Since you’ve taken up so much of my class time, why don’t you come speak to my school?’”
That was in the fall. Today, Kapambwe went to the school to make amends. He spoke to about 300 students, encouraging them to consider careers in diplomacy.
“I apologize for what happened, but nothing happens without a purpose,” he said. “Many of you are about to graduate. Today I hope I will recruit a few people into diplomatic service.”
Kapambwe spoke cheerfully about his home country of Zambia, which he described as a peaceful place that boasts 74 languages. Zambia, which is landlocked by Tanzania, Zimbabwe and other larger countries, is about the size of Texas and has about 13 million residents, Kapambwe said. Zambia is also home to the Victoria Falls, a renowned tourist spot.
Zambia has also had its share of internal strife.
“You remember how in your country you were fighting for your independence? Well, we had the same problems,” Kapambwe said. “We were under colonial rule until 1964, and for a poor, new country, diplomacy through the United Nations can mean life or death.”
As for the confusing phone call last year that eventually brought Kapambwe to West Orange, they can now laugh about it.
“I learned that anger and annoyance at a wrong phone call will never get you anywhere,” Sweeney said. “Maybe a wrong call can make you a new friend.”
Ballot papers for the forthcoming Mufumbwe and Milanzi parliamentary by-elections have arrived in the country from South Africa.
the electoral materials arrived at the Lusaka International airport aboard a Zambezi Airlines flight at about 19:30 hours last night.
the boxes contain 418 books for the Milanzi and 424 books for Mufumbwe.
And electoral commission of zambia(ECZ) electoral officer Lawrence Mulenga told ZNBC that stakeholders will be at ECZ tommorrow to verify the consignment.
Mr. Mulenga said political parties and other players in the electoral system will verify and inspect the serial numbers and quantity of the materials.
He also disclosed that all the electoral materials will be dispatched to Milanzi and Mufumbwe on friday in readiness for polling day on Thursday next week.
Three political parties in each of the by-election are contesting the two vacant seats.
In Mufumbwe, the ruling MMD has fielded Mulondwe Muzungu, UPND is fielding Eliot Kamondo while Stephen Kamwengo is standing on the UNIP ticket.
The seat fell vacant after the death of MMD area member of parliament Misheck Bonshe, who was also home affairs deputy minister.
And in Milanzi, Whiteson Banda is the MMD’s aspiring candidate, UNIP has fielded Musa Banda while Albert Banda is standing on the PF ticket.
The by-election follows the death of MMD area MP, Reuben Chisanga Banda.
Western province minister Richard Mwapela welcomes President Rupiah Banda to Lealui for the Kuomboka ceremony at the weekend
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President Rupiah Banda and First Lady Thandiwe are ushered at Lealui Palace by Western province Minister Richard Mwapela (r) and western Province Deputy Permanent Secretary Seth Muleya (l)
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Finance minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane looks at a traditional hat with ministry of Education deputy minister Clement Sinyinda during Kuomboka ceremony at Lealui
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President Rupiah Banda listen to traditional drummers with King Lubosi The Litunga of the Lozi people during Kuomboka Ceremony in Lealui.
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King Lubosi The Litunga of the Lozi people chats with President Banda during Kuomboka Ceremony in Lealui
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King Lubosi The Litunga of the Lozi people chats with President Banda during Kuomboka Ceremony in Lealui
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President Rupiah Banda with King Lubosi The Litunga of the Lozi people of the Western Province during Kuomboka Ceremony at Lealui
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President Rupiah Banda emerges out of the Nalikwanda and is helped by paddlers at Lealui
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President Rupiah Banda with the King Lubosi of the Lozi people of the Western Province during Kuomboka Ceremony after his arrival in Limulunga
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President Rupiah Banda and First Lady Thandiwe during Kuomboka Ceremony at Limulunga.
Chambishi Copper MineFour big Chinese firms have signed an agreement with Government to set up business investments worth 100 million United States dollars at the Chambishi Multi facility economic zones.
The four Chinese companies are Shandong Shifeng Group, Xiang Guang Group, Guanteng Group of China and Albetter Albronze Limited which is a subsidiary of China Nonferrous Metal Mining Company (CNMC).
Signing on behalf of the firms CMNC vice president Dr Tao Xingua said that their interest to invest in Zambia follows President Rupiah Banda’s recent state visit to China to solicit for viable investments from the Chinese Government.
And speaking at the same function Director of Finance in the Ministry of Commerce,trade and industry Siazonga Siakalenga who signed on behalf of the Zambian Governments said that Zambia is confident that investment of the four companies would attract more investments from other states.
The four companies would be the first to express interest in setting up businesses at the Chambishi MFEZ leaving 52 more places for investments.
[QFM ]
The Supreme Court sitting in Lusaka yesterday restored Zambezi Portland Cement Limited directors – Antonio Ventriglia and Manuela Ventriglia as directors of the company, taking over from Lusaka lawyer, Robert Simeza who was operating it in receivership.
This was in a matter in which the two directors had appealed against the High Court’s refusal to grant them an injunction restraining Mr Simeza and Eastern and Southern Trade and Development Bank from taking over the operations of the company.
In a judgment yesterday, Supreme Court Judge Lombe Chibesakunda sitting with Hildah Chibomba said the court was satisfied that there was need for an interlocutary injunction to be granted to the appellants to protect company property.
“We have considered the arguments advanced by both parties in their heads of arguments; first we agree that there was evidence on record that the appellants were still directors of Zambezi Portland Cement Limited using the authority of Avalon Motors Limited in receivership going by the evidence on record.
“We are satisfied that the learned trial judge based his rejection to grant the appellant an injunction on his conclusions which were not supported by any evidence on record. He concluded wrongly that the appellants were to be punished because they had failed to disclose the facts that they ceased to be shareholders; so he misdirected himself,” Ms Justice Chibesakunda said.
The court held that there were two main contentious issues, which were to be dealt with at trial stage concerning the bank and Mr Simeza who were the first and second respondents respectively.
Ms Justice Chibesakunda said the first was whether or not the first respondent was right to appoint the second respondent as a receiver at that stage and secondly whether or not there was a breach of the loan.
The respondents had argued that the PTA Bank, which secured the loan, could not be sued because it enjoyed diplomatic immunity.
But the Supreme Court stripped the bank of its immunity and said it could be sued.
[Times of Zambia]
Police in Senanga have arrested a 30 year old man for allegedly raping his 60 year old mother. Western Province Police Commanding Officer Vael Muzwenga confirmed the incident to ZANIS in Mongu yesterday.
Mr. Muzwenga said the incident happened on Tuesday around 17:30hrs when the named mother went to look for her son who had been missing from home for some time. He said the woman eventually found her son in a cassava field and persuaded him to go back home.
Mr. Muzwenga said that after the conversation, the mother left her son in the field and went to a stream to take a bath. He said it was at the stream that the son allegedly attacked and raped her.
Mr. Muzwenga said the woman later reported the matter to police and the suspect has since been arrested and will appear in court soon.
[MUVI TV]
PUTTING 90 per cent of people’s money into Patriotic Front (PF) councillors’ pockets is a damning indictment on a political party that premises its election message on putting more money into people’s pockets.
This is a party whose leader, Michael Sata, has, since his first Republican presidential election race in 2001, been promising that if elected into power, he would put more money into people’s pockets.
Today, Zambians know that the pockets Mr Sata has been harping about are PF councillors’ pockets!
This is what Mr Sata probably meant when he declared after the 2006 presidential electoral defeat that his party would run the councils.
Following that year’s defeat in which he was presumably headed for victory, Mr Sata sought to save face by declaring that despite losing the presidential race to incumbent Levy Mwanawasa, the PF’s victory was in getting the majority of local government seats.
The 2006 presidential battering was a rude awakening to the PF leader who had campaigned against the MMD’s Mwanawasa on a populist platform of delivering in 90 days what Zambians had lacked for 42 years.
A tough one, this one was!
In his characteristic bravado, Sata claimed that despite failing to wrest the presidency from Mwanawasa, he had gained control of the management of local government and, with that, the PF would prove within 90 days at local level what it could demonstrate on the national front if handed the Republican presidency.
[pullquote]‘It is difficult to understand how, for instance, out of K124 billion, the Lusaka City Council could spend nearly half of the amount— K55 billion— on personal emoluments, while service provision and infrastructure development receive only K27billion or 22 per cent of the total 2008-2009 budgetary allocation.’[/pullquote]
It has been more than 40 months since the Sata declaration was made and if the performance of PF-controlled councils is to be the basis of deciding who should be in State House in 2011, Zambian people will have no difficulties making their choice.
Mr Sata’s 2006 declaration has since not been recanted, and what every Zambians still believes is that the PF is running most of the councils in the country.
Running councils is one thing, running them effectively is quite another, and running them scandalously is simply unforgivable and a self-inflicted electoral defeat.
So much has changed since 2006— president Mwanawasa has since crossed over to the opposite side of life, Mr Rupiah Banda is the new Zambian President since November 2008, Mr Sata is yet again trying his luck at the slippery Republican presidency and Hakainde Hichilema has changed from a gentleman to an insulting commentator.
While there has been so much change, certain things have remained constant, and these include the scandalous running of councils by the PF.
At his Press briefing held at the Copperbelt Energy Company (CEC) guest house in Kitwe two days ago, President Banda made a startling revelation of how self-interest has become the norm for PF-run local authorities.
The president singled out Lusaka, Kitwe, Ndola, Luanshya and Chingola councils whose levels of expenditure on personal emoluments would scare any sane person and raise serious questions about the PF’s ability to run the country if, by large slices of luck, they were elected into Government.
It is difficult to understand how, for instance, out of K124 billion, the Lusaka City Council could spend nearly half of the amount—K55 billion—on personal emoluments while service provision and infrastructure development receives only K27billion or 22 per cent of the total 2008-2009 budgetary allocation.
In the case of the Chingola council, only two percent (K202 million) of the K13.9 bn allocated in 2008 went towards service provision and infrastructure development while K3.2billion went to personal emoluments.
The scenario is not different in Luanshya, Kitwe and Ndola where 47 per cent, 50 per cent and 70 per cent respectively went towards personal emoluments in the 2008-2009 period.
Ironically, these are the same councillors who have been in the forefront demonising President Banda’s administration.
The president was, therefore, in order when he briefed the nation at his conference that it was unacceptable, or indeed immoral, for the PF councillors in the said councils to put self interest before service provision.
This can only be interpreted as a deliberate ploy, as Mr Banda, observed, to incite the residents to revolt against a government which is doing its very best to improve the citizens’ lives.
It is now clear that instead of selling the party’s policies to the electorate, the PF has found it more convenient to reverse the MMD’s development initiatives by holding back money meant for development and spending it on themselves.
Many are times when residents have complained against poor service provision, and the PF and their United Party for National Development (UPND) partners have been the first to point an accusing finger at the MMD Government.
With the president’s revelation, Zambian people now know the truth and when he calls for accountability, he should not be accused of politicking or victimising opposition parties.
Local authorities, regardless of their political affiliation, are supposed to partner the central government in taking development to the people.
They should never be the ones top stifle development in the name of opposition politics.
If that were the way opposition parties conducted themselves in the United States of America, Europe and other advanced democracies, there could have been no development to write home about.
Mr Banda was, therefore, right when he said at the Kitwe Press briefing that service provision was a shared responsibility between the central government and local authorities who are closer to the people.
It then goes without saying that the income collected from people in the form of taxes, rates and rents should go back to the same people through service provision and infrastructure development.
These monies should never be channelled to political activities as the case now appears with the PF which is denying people development in their respective localities.
It is further appalling to learn that the PF-run councils have conspired to reveres the empowerment policy that was initiated by the Frederick Chiluba administration.
Astronomical taxation has become the in thing in these councils that have devised methods aimed at frustrating house owners and people who bought houses under the empowerment policy.
Even if Mr Sata no longer likes Dr Chiluba, are there no better methods of fighting the man than letting innocent people suffer?
Unrealistic rates, rentals and other taxes can only worse the plight of residents who are already struggling to survive.
The councils are further delaying issuance of title deeds to people who benefited from the empowerment policy.
President Banda’s anger is understandable.
“By delaying to issue title deeds, councils are frustrating Government efforts to empower our people. This is a direct fight with me and my Government, and I will not allow councils to win,” President Banda said.
These PF-run councils collect a lot of money through various taxes including property taxes from mining companies and other entities but this money does not go back to the people.
The councils cannot even work on township roads, claiming that that is the responsibility of central government through the Road Development Agency (RDA), and yet the RDA’s mandate is trunk roads.
The councils collect parking, and market levies but still fail to maintain markets and put decent road markings.
The PF councilors’ sole interest in is to scandalously put more money into their own bottomless pockets and blame President Banda’s administration for the councils’ failures.
This time they have been caught napping, and they just have to explain how they intend to run the country if they can disastrously fail to run councils.
