Intellectual Property Specialist Kingsley Nkonde says Zambia performed very well in the fight against piracy last year.

Mr Nkonde told ZANIS in an interview, yesterday that, the success for Zambia making a mark against piracy is mainly due to the introduction of the Intellectual property unit by the Zambia Police.

He said the establishment of the unit had greatly assisted the country to effectively fight Piracy and other counterfeit products through intensified patrols.

He further said the fight against piracy and counterfeits, last year, also enjoyed political will by government.

Mr Nkonde noted it was with for this structural reason that Zambia was the only country in the region that had exposed a lot of counterfeit products not only in the music industry but in the manufacturing sector as well.

He has also paid tribute to the alert members of the general public who he said helped counter pricacy and counterfeit products in the country.

The Intellectual Property Specialist said Zambia curbed a lot of industrial counterfeits products such as fake Kiwi Polish , batteries and Vaseline among others.

He paid tribute to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services (MIBS) and the police have done a lot of sensitization fight against piracy and counterfeit products to the public and added that a lot of people nterrogate their products before buying.

Mr Nkonde however said that the Music Industry performed badly last year as a number of local and international music products were pirated.

He noted that the problem has been that the people who pirate have also advanced in the equipments.

He noted the need for government to put in place security measures which will distinguish original products from counterfeit products.

ZANIS

DEFENCE Minister Kalombo Mwansa has advised defence and security officers to be cautious and guard against politicians who may drag them into the political arena through their unguided statements.

Dr Mwansa said defence officers should be wary of politicians whose statements were aimed at diverting attention from their duties.

He said this in Lusaka during the Zambia Army countdown to 2010 annual ball dubbed ‘Sound leadership, Esprit de corps professionalism’ on Thursday night.

Dr Mwansa said the standard practice for the defence forces was to remain non-partisan, and cases of indiscipline would not be entertained and decisive action would be taken against those found wanting.

“We are aware of the fact that certain political players have tried to drag you into the political arena through unguided statements aimed at diverting attention from your core functions. The bedrock of a defence is good discipline,” Dr Mwansa said.

He, however, said the Government was gratified to note that the defence and security personnel had ignored such pronouncements but, instead, had remained steadfast and unwavering in the defence of the country and its citizens.

He said although the defence personnel had remained resolute and focused in the face of many challenges the country faced in 2009, the Government was working hard to address them through several projects embarked on in most military cantonments.

“There are several projects that have been embarked upon in most military cantonments. Those that could not be initiated in the just-ended financial year have been budgeted for in the 2010 Budget. I, therefore, implore you to remain patient as we embark on these projects this year,” Dr Mwansa said.

Despite instability in some neighboring countries, he said the defence forces should ensure all borders were manned effectively because the country’s foreign policy emphasised good neighbourliness, among other pillars of foreign policy.

On the international scene, he said Zambia was committed to the maintenance of peace and security, adding that the country would continue sending troops to countries engulfed in conflicts, and hailed the performance of the Zambian troops in peace-keeping missions.

Dr Mwansa commended the defence forces for implementing an HIV/AIDS work policy which had assisted in mitigating the pandemic as it had no boundaries and spared no profession, and urged the officers to be proactive by behaving responsibly.

Earlier, Zambia Army commander, Isaac Chisuzi said the army would remain focused and ready to defend the country’s sovereignty from both internal and external aggression.

General Chisuzi said the army would continue to undertake operations in the quest to keep all borders safe and secure, adding that they would be loyal to the Government of the day and the citizens.

On training, he said 2009 was one of most successful as training were conducted in both local and SADC regional exercises to improve skills of officers and soldiers to enhance professionalism.

“Internally, we managed to conduct a battle group exercise from July 16 to 23, 2009. The exercise was successful and incident-free. It involved participation from our sister service, the Zambia Air Force,” Gen Chisuzi said.
Times of Zambia

By Chilekwa M. Mumba

It has been over a year since the unfortunate passing of our third President, Mr. Levy Mwanawasa. Since then, we have seen an assiduous defense of his Presidency, most of which I daresay is misconceived. I will avoid playing judge of the late Levy Mwanawasa’s Presidency, as it is both dishonorable and contemptible to fustigate a person unable to defend him/herself. However, it is equally important that we lend ourselves some level of skepticism when discussing the legacy of President Mwanawasa. This allows for a provocative and necessary assessment of how this “Legacy” has been converted to mere political currency, by both an inadequate government, as well as an inadequate opposition. Indeed, thanks to the cheap and unproductive politics preferred by our main political players, the late President’s reign has turned from legacy to stuff of legend. Underline the word legend.[quote]

Allow me to first respectfully and briefly school ourselves on the science of politics. One of the paramount contributions to any failed political system is the very conscious resolve made by both the politicians and electorate to prefer wish-wash over fact. Politics are fundamentally classified in two ways; productive or non-productive. Let us choose to be bold and candid with ourselves to class ourselves in the “productive” bracket. Here we identify Zambia’s political Achilles heel, shrouded in the unyielding subject of the “Mwanawasa Legacy”-a term which apparently rolls off any Zambian politicians’ tongue with pleasant ease. There is a very comical, yet shameful and pointless wrestle of who exudes the legacy of the late President the most. Underline the word pointless.

On one hand, we have the current opposition claiming that their calling is to restore the lost vision of the late President. This is despite the unvarnished reality that there are notable shortcomings in this “legacy”. We should not mince words, therefore allow me to proclaim that it is a sham and pretentious that today the major opposition, so vehemently “once upon a time” opposed to the Late President’s policies, has today wholesomely endorsed his Administration with warlike vigor. Who can forget the unproductive and politically vicious attacks of the opposition leaders on President Mwanawasa? This shameless abuse of President Mwanawasa’s tenure serves as testimony to the deficient and desultory opposition with which we Zambians are burdened with. Underline the word “burdened”.

Then on the other hand, the ruling MMD is collapsing within itself, on the basis that the Mwanawasa Vision has been lost by President Banda. The notable MMD Member Mr.George Mpombo has coined quite a few remarkable political terms as reference to the “sinners” against the Legacy. Yet at the same time, we see the MMD clamoring to seem to be upholding the Mwanawasa Vision, according to the silly and illogical MMD dictum “continuity with change”. The President and his advisors are ever referring to how they are upholding the Mwanawasa Vision in the hope of converting Zambian sympathy for this tragedy, to sheer political capital. President Banda today largely find himself criticized as aloof and directionless due to the fact that instead of forging his own legacy, he is trying to duplicate a legacy which in hindsight, may not have been actual reality but due to surrounding circumstances, is mere affordable fantasy. In this case please underline “affordable fantasy”.

You see, the truth is President Mwanawasa’s Legacy, is now mere stuff of legend, due to the cheapness of Zambian politics. Legend, because it is wrongly deemed as the climax of Zambian progress. The majority of our politicians who worship this wish-wash will continue to be prime text-book examples of non-productive politicians. Bottom line is that the discussion of the Mwanawasa Legacy has become an enigma, which is not helping the nation to advance politically, socially or economically. The past belongs to the past.Zambians have more urgent needs our politicians need to attend to. Now for the underlined words; the Mwanawasa Legacy is now officially “Legend”, whose discussion is “Pointless”, thus Zambians can do without this “Burden”, and actually need real solutions to turn the “Affordable fantasy” into a reality of prosperity. LT Bloggers speak on it.