Some business houses in Livingstone have expressed dissatisfaction at ZAMNET Communication Systems’ inconsistency in providing internet services.

Hope Dot Com Internet Café Information Technology Officer, Obby Munyama, said internet service delivery by ZAMNET had been terrible in the past few months and had resulted in massive loss of customers to competitors.

Mr Munyama said business had gone down since internet services by ZAMNET became irregular for unknown reasons, and efforts to have the internet service provider provide a long term solution have proved futile.

A check by ZANIS this morning at the internet café found some customers being turned away as internet services were not available.

Mr Munyama said his employer was considering switching to another internet service provider as she suspected that ZAMNET had a serious problem which it had failed to disclose to its clients.

And Zambezi FM Radio Programmes Manager, Richard Ambali, also bemoaned the inconsistent manner in which ZAMNET was providing its internet services.

Mr Ambali said media institutions, like Zambezi FM Radio, were heavily dependent on speedy access to the internet to enable them prepare and disseminate local and international news to the public in a timely manner.

He said it was costly for his institution to use other internet service providers for temporary services and still maintain their monthly ZAMNET bills.

Mr Ambali called on ZAMNET to be innovative and give preferential treatment to institutions that need its internet services constantly.

Meanwhile, the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in Livingstone has experienced similar problems which have resulted in failure to submit diaries and news items on time.

Internet access at ZANIS Livingstone offices has been erratic and disrupted normal operations since the last quarter of 2009.

Efforts to get a comment from ZAMNET Communications Systems Business Development Manager, Majory Nalubamba, failed by press time as she was reportedly off duty.

ZANIS

Zambia and Rwanda have agreed to work together in identifying possible genocide suspects who may be living in Zambia as refugees so that they can be repatriated to Rwanda to undergo the due process of the law for their part in genocide which left over one million people dead in 1994.

The two countries have also agreed to revive the Joint Permanent Commission, JPC, which was signed in 1982, to serve as a platform for regular consultations and cooperation in various sectors.

This is part of the outcome of President Rupiah Banda’s bilateral talks he held with his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame in Kigali, Rwanda today.

In a joint press briefing with his Rwandan counterpart Louise Mushikiwabo at the end of the two leaders’ meeting held at the presidential office in the capital Kigali today, Foreign Affairs Minister Kabinga Pande said as a strong advocate of human rights and the rule of law, Zambia cannot allow any genocide suspect to take refuge on its soil.

Mr. Pande said the process of identifying genocide suspects will be carried out in close collaboration between the Ministries of Justice of Zambia and Rwanda.

He said the genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994 in which over one million people were killed, was a sad event which Africa and humanity as a whole should never allow to happen again.

“We should all learn a lesson from what happened here and ensure it never happens again. The genocide is also a reminder that ethnic and tribal sentiments can have grave consequences on society,” said Mr. Pande.

The minister said Presidents Banda and Kagame also discussed various bilateral and regional issues including peace and security in the region, ahead of the forthcoming African Union, AU, summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the end of this month.

On the Joint Permanent Commission, JPC, Mr. Pande said the two governments are in a hurry to have it operational and agreed that the first meeting should be held not later than June this year.

This will mark the beginning of regular contacts between Rwanda and Zambia to exchange views on various issues of mutual interest.

And Rwanda has paid tribute to Zambia for her support at both bilateral and regional levels.

Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo, during a joint press briefing with Mr. Pande, said among other attributes, Zambia played a key role in Rwanda’s admission to the membership of the Commonwealth.

“We thank Zambia for her support to Rwanda in many areas. Among them is the fact that Zambia was instrumental in lobbying the international community to have Rwanda admitted to the Commonwealth for which we are most grateful,” said Ms Mushikiwabo.

She said Rwanda is eager to have the JPC revived to serve as a vehicle for deepening and broadening cooperation between the two countries.

Earlier, president Banda visited the Kigali Memorial Centre where the remains of quarter a million victims of the 1994 genocide, are buried.

Accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Kabinga Pande and several Rwandan Cabinet Ministers, President Banda laid a wreath on one of the mass graves at the memorial centre in honour of the genocide victims.

The president was later taken on a conducted tour of the centre during which he was briefed on the events and factors which led to the 1994 genocide.

President Banda who arrived in Kigali yesterday for a two-day working visit, has since flown back home.

He was seen off at Kigali international airport by Rwandan Prime Minister Bernard Makuza, Zamba’s Deputy High Commissioner to Tanzania Patrick Ngoma and other Zambian and Rwandan government officials.

ZANIS

Mweemba Area Development Association (MADA) says succession disputes of senior Chief Mweemba in Sinazongwe district have divided villagers who may attack each other if nothing is done to address the situation.

MADA chairperson, Edson Sikalongo, told ZANIS that government and responsible officers were behaving as though the situation over the succession was safe when two people have declared themselves as acting Chief.

In the deepening succession dispute, Lason Siasokwe and Ephraim Siatambika have declared themselves as acting Senior Chief Mweemba and they have each mounted the national flag at their homes.

Mr Sikalongo said the law enforcement officers and the Local Government and Housing Ministry should move in quickly to address the situation before a crime was committed.

He disclosed that the people in Mweemba area have also rejected the shifting of the Senior Chief Mweemba palace each time a chief dies.

The MADA chaiperson pointed out that the Mweemba people would also not accept a politically appointed chief as it happened in 1999 when Syacheye Madyenkuku was alleged to have doctored the appointment of senior Mweemba.

He said the appointment of the chief should be in accordance with the Zambian constitution on the act of chiefs’ article 127 where headmen have powers to appoint a heir.

Mr Sikalongo has called on the people in Mweemba area to be united in the selection of the senior Chief Mweemba.

Tension has mounted between the headmen that are supporting Mr Siasokwe and those that are supporting Mr Siatambika over the succession of senior Chief Mweemba who died in 2007.

The headmen that are supporting Mr Siasokwe have been threatening to shed blood if their fellow headmen continue to support Mr Siatambika.

ZANIS