The Christian Coalition (CC) says the proposal by the Kitwe City Council (KCC) that dead bodies should be cremated and not buried is unfortunate.

Christian Coalition Pastor Clergy Chombela said that Zambia being a Christian nation such a proposal should never be allowed due to culture complications.

Mr Chombela pointed out that Zambia should not imitate other countries as it is their culture to burn dead bodies and not Zambia’s.

Speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today Pastor Chombela said even in the Bible it is not written anywhere.

He also said that the dead deserve respect hence the need to bury them honorably.

Mr Chombela urged the council to take responsibility by allocating enough land where the dead are to be buried.

He said that Zambia is blessed with plenty of land and there is no need to burn dead bodies but bury them.

Pastor Chombela advised the council to be consulting Christian Mother Bodies and Non- Government Organizations (NGOs) every time they come with a complicated proposal.

He explained that may be in the near future the proposal can be adopted when every one will be convinced that there is no more land left for burial sites.

ZANIS

EVANGELICAL Youth Alliance (EYA) president, Moses Lungu has said former Defence minister George Mpombo and other senior MMD members allegedly approached him requesting that he launches a series of attacks on President Rupiah Banda shortly after the elections last year.

Speaking at the lapse of the 48-hour ultimatum that he gave Mr Mpombo to resign from the MMD and state the reasons for quitting Cabinet and the national executive committee (NEC) of the ruling party, Reverend Lungu said leaders should strive to remain with integrity.

He said Mr Mpombo was part of a group that paid him and another non-governmental organisation (NGO) about K2 million for them to start attacking President Banda.

Rev Lungu said he declined to embark on the mission despite getting the money.
He challenged Mr Mpombo to explain queries raised at the Ministry of Defence over unretired imprest when he was still minister.

He said the tension the former minister was causing against the MMD and President Banda was unnecessary and that he should respect people elected into public office.[quote]

“I expect Mr Mpombo to speak the truth, all I request him to do is to tell the nation the true reasons for his resignation,” he said.

Rev Lungu dismissed allegations of receiving financial aid from Mr Mpombo on account of destitution.

He also denied ever being excommunicated from the Baptist Association as alleged by Mr Mpombo, saying he was still a credible clergyman.

However, Mr Mpombo described Rev Lungu’s allegations as cheap and unsubstantiated propaganda.

He said Rev Lungu was being used for negative propaganda by some MMD members.
On allegations on unretired money, Mr Mpombo said Rev Lungu should know that imprest was recoverable and not treated as a crime.

“I was just informed of the unretired imprest money by my former PS [permanent secretary] long after I had resigned, so that cannot be a reason for my resignation,” he said.

He said a month ago, he held a meeting with Secretary to Cabinet, Joshua Kanganja, Ministry of Works and Supply Permanent Secretary, Bizwayo Nkunika, and his former PS to resolve the matter.

“This matter was resolved because unretired imprest is recoverable anywhere and is not a crime,” he said.

Mr Mpombo said it was even laughable that Rev Lungu could talk of such petty allegations when he threatened to spill the beans about him just a few days ago.

He described Rev Lungu as “toxic political material trying to earn a living through impersonations and malicious attacks”.

Mr Mpombo said whoever had evidence linking him to any malpractices when he was at the Ministry of Energy was free to take him to court.

He also said he was aware of an article on the Internet suggesting that he had oil dealings with former first lady, Maureen Mwanawasa when he was Energy minister.

[Times of Zambia]

I wish to comment on Vice-President George Kunda’s shameless call for a financial stimulus package financed by Western countries, which appeared in the Times of Zambia of September 15, 2009 under the title “Africa deserves financial stimulus package – Veep.” He made the call during a high-level meeting of Eastern and Southern Africa and Indian Ocean (ESA-IO) regions and the European Commission.

The call is an embarrassment to the people of Zambia. It shows that we have actually failed to govern ourselves almost 45 years after independence. Besides, the Honorable Vice-President should know that some leaders in developed economies are being accused by their people of misusing public resources by bailing out failing local companies. One can easily surmise what would happen to such leaders if they decided to bail out mismanaged African economies.

As I have often maintained, donor countries do not have unlimited resources; they have to make do with scarce resources by going through public expenditures line by line, program by program, agency by agency, department by department, and ministry by ministry in order to eliminate unnecessary application of public funds. We need to start doing the same in order to wean our beloved country from its current dependence on donor funding.

In January 2009, the Vice-president was quoted as having defended the bloated Zambian Cabinet as follows: “I believe that our government is of the right size, representative and effective. I know that there have been calls from many sections of society to reduce the size of our Cabinet, but I think it is the right size.”

There is a need for the government to perform existing and planned essential government functions with a smaller number of Cabinet Ministers by abolishing some of the government ministries which do not seem to add any value to the dispensation of public services, and merging some of the ministries which have similar functions.

Civil servants in ministries to be abolished or merged should be encouraged to seek early retirement with full benefits. Professional and skilled civil servants should be re-deployed in the new government ministries, as well as in government agencies.

There is also a need to abolish the positions of Deputy Minister, Provincial Minister, Provincial Permanent Secretary and District Commissioner, as well as reduce the number of Zambia’s foreign embassies by having clusters of countries to be served by single embassies.

To paraphrase Mr. Bill Clinton’s words, there is a need for us to create a government that is smaller, that lives within its means, and that does more with less. Otherwise we will continue to embarrass ourselves by continuing to beg for assistance from wealthy nations.[quote]

And we will continue to be chastised by some officials in donor count­ries who rightly or wrongly believe that Africa lacks compe­tent people to provide sound leadership in commerce, industry and government. The follo­wing words of an unnamed aid official quoted by Timberlake on page 199 of his book entitled Africa in Crisis: The Causes, the Cures of Environ­men­tal Bankruptcy (published by New Society Publishers in 1986) should, therefore, not be surprising: “In a sense, we’re talking about … sending smart white boys in to tell them how to run their countries.”

Clearly, we need leaders who are willing to develop new attitudes, skills and strategies in order to wrestle successfully with the complex and volatile socio-economic conditions of our time. And such leaders should be technocrats, and not clueless figureheads like a good number of those incompetents who are in President Rupiah Banda’s administration who seem to be preoccupied with promoting the interests of the ruling party and its members.

Zambians are fed up of government leaders whose functions seem to be that of whining and bickering day in, day out.

Patriotic Front (PF) Mandevu Member of Parliament (MP), Jean Kapata, has accused the ruling Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) for not preaching democracy and exhibiting the tenets of democracy that the party was founded on.

Mrs Kapata says postponing the holding of the MMD National Convention to somewhere after 2011 is a sign that the party is waving away the principles of democracy.

She says President Rupiah Banda should not be feared but allowed to be challenged now at the MMD convention as opposed to postponing the convention if truly the ruling party is practicing multipartysm.

Mrs. Kapata was speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today.

She said calls by MMD party cadres from districts, provinces and senior National Executive Committee (NEC) members against holding the convention this year are not justified for a party in government that is also ruling.

“President Banda should be subjected to a national convention to see if people want him because waving away to hold a convention this year is stepping away from the principles of democracy. MMD should preach democracy the party was founded on.

“What are they fearing for not holding the convention now when former republican president, Frederick Chiluba and the late Levy Mwanawasa passed through the same process and they were elected. Calls by MMD cadres to postpone the convention are not justified,” she said.

She said former MMD party and republican president, Chiluba and departed the late Mwanawasa were elected at the National Convention and wondered why Mr Banda could not be subjected to national convention where his two predecessors passed through.

Mrs Kapata further accused MMD National Chairman, Michael Mabenga, of making the MMD into a dictatorship by not subjecting its party president, Rupiah Banda, to a democratic process where he can be elected.

Nine MMD Provincial committees have so far endorsed President Banda as the sole party presidential candidate for 2011 polls.

And Mrs Kapata has said former ministers should not be intimidated but allowed to voice out on what is happening in MMD.

She condemned the harassment of former Finance and National Planning Minister and Chilanga MP, Ngandu Magande, and former Defence Minister and Kafulafuta MP, George Mpombo, who are not allowed to speak out what they know about what is transpiring in MMD and its futuristic by certain members of the ruling party.

ZANIS

MMD Lusaka District Chairman, Paul Chihande, has accused Lusaka Mayor, Robert Chikwelete, of politicking when government is determined to implement policies that benefit the Zambian people.

Mr Chihande says the move by government to chase vendors from the streets in Lusaka should be taken seriously and without politicking.

Mr Chihande observed that it was not right for the Mayor, who is also the Father of City, to distance himself the issue of vendors by saying he was not aware that government has removed vendors from the streets.

Speaking in an interview today, Mr Chihande said he is shocked by the Mayor’s utterances.

He reminded Mr Chikwelete against frustrating government’s efforts in ‘Keeping the City clean’.

He said the office of the Mayor should be in the fore front spearheading development, adding that Mr Chikwelete should be alert of developmental projects at all times being implemented by government.

“As MMD Lusaka district, we are surprised that Lusaka Mayor, Mr Chikwelete, is not aware of government ridding of vendors from the streets. It is his office to be alert, co-ordinate and implement government programmes,” Mr Chihande said.[quote]

Mr Chihande has said Lusaka is now clean and people are walking freely following government’s intervention to chase the vendors off the streets.

The MMD District Chairman thanked government and the Lusaka City Council (LCC) for the move, saying it is a step in the right direction to attaining the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on quality sanitation.

Mr Chihande appealed to the vendors to abide by the law governing this country.

He said the LCC and state police should not relent but close in so that the vendors do not return to the streets.

He said people should not blame government for chasing them but they should blame themselves for opting to sell their merchandise leaving the market stands empty instead of utilising them.

Over the weekend, a combined team of government officers, LCC police and state police, swang into action and chased the vendors from the streets.

By yesterday, those vendors who defied government orders were fined while more than 65 traders who were arrested will be taken to a ‘fast track courts’ established at the LCC.

ZANIS