President Levy Mwanawasa has urged all Zambians to ignore calls for mass demonstrations over the constitution because they have a selfish agenda that will not benefit the people..

Mr. Mwanawasa says Zambia will not solve its economic problems by people engaging in protests over enactment of the new constitution.

“It is surprising that some people are making useless demands over the constitution-making roadmap.

The Constitution roadmap will not feed the people.

The President says civic organisations inciting people to demonstrate have nothing to offer and are just wasting people’s time.

He has called on all Zambians to rally behind the government in its quest to move the country forward.

We haven’t refused that the constitution will be adopted through a Constituent Assembly. Very soon we will be starting the process,” Mr Mwanawasa said.

Mr Mwanawasa appealed to Zambians to rally behind Government so that the country could get out of the current difficult economic situation.

“We will not get out of the economic quagmire through demonstrations.

The small and useless demonstrations are only good for their nuisance value,” the President said.

The President said this yesterday when he commissioned the Lusaka-Mongu road at a ceremony held at a place called Situmbeko, some 65 kilometres west of Lusaka.

Meanwhile Copperbelt Province Minister Mwansa Mbulakulima has called on the Constitution Coalition 2008, an organisation championing the enactment of the constitution by 2008 to re-examine itself, as it was irrelevant to the people.

Mr Mbulakulima said Coalition 2008 should stop misleading the people because it was of no use to the cause of the Copperbelt.

He said their failed rally in Kitwe demonstrated that it was irrelevant
to the people on the Copperbelt and the nation as whole.

Mr Mbulakulima said in a statement in Ndola yesterday that it was not the
first time their rally had failed to attract people.

He said Government commended the people of the Copperbelt for shunning the rally because it did not promote any development.

He said such rallies must continuously be shunned because they were up
to no good.

“Every time they have called for a rally it has always been a flop,” he said.

He said it was a pity that they were blaming the police and yet the
same police had always granted them permits every time they asked.

He said Government has made a commitment to complete this process before the next elections.

President Mwanawasa has sent a congratulatory message to General Amadou Toumani Toure on his re-election as President of the Republic of Mali in the recenly held presidential polls.

In his congratulatory message, President Mwanawasa said Zambia admires the strides
Mali has made in entrenching democratic tenets.

President Mwanawasa has assured General  Toure of his governmant’s support and
cooperation at both bilateral and multilateral levels for the benefit of the two countries.

This is according to a statement issued by the Special  Assistant to the President
for Press and Public Relations, John Musukuma and made available to ZANIS this
evening.

President Mwanawasa has also sent a message of congratulations to the Chairperson of
the African Union, Professor Alpha Oumar Konare on the occasion to mark the 44th
commemoration of African Freedom Day which falls on May 25.

President Mwanawasa has commended Professor Konare for his tireless efforts to turn
the African  Union into an effective instrument for peace, unity and development on the continent.

Mr Mwanawasa  has also reaffirmed his government’s commitment to the AU’s priciples
as provided for in the Constitutive Act.

And President Mwanawasa has congratulated the people and State of Isreal on that’s
59th independence anniversary.

In his message to that country’s Acting president, Mrs Dalia Itzik, President Mwanawasa said Zambia admires Isreal’s achievements in the economic and technology sectors and hopes that Isreal shall continue to strive for sustainable peace and development in the Middle East.

Mr Mwanawasa expressed his disire to further strengthen the bonds of friendship and
cooperation between Zambia and Isreal for the mutual benefit of the two peoples.

And President Mwanawasa has sent a congratulatory message to his Excellency Mr Meles
Zenawi, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on that Country’s national day which falls on May 28, 2007.

President Mwanawasa said Zambia cherishes the cordial relations with Ethiopia and
has commended Mr Zenawi for his country’s efforts to help restore peace to Somalia.

Meanwhile President Mwanawasa has sent a congratulatory message to the people and
government of the State of Eritrea on the occasion of that country’s National day.

In his congratulatory message to his excellency, Mr Isial Afwerki, the President of
the State of Eritrea, Mr Mwanawasa said Zambia is keenly following the steps the
government of Eritrea continues to make towards improving the standards of living of
its people.

” We hope Eritrea shall continue to work and cooperate with the African Union, United Nations and other regional bodies in her efforts to resolve peacefully, the problems besetting the horn of Africa,” said President Mwanawasa.

And President Mwanawasa has congratulated the government and people of the Republic
of Yemen on that country’s National Day which falls on May 22, 2007.

In his congratulatory message to the President of the Republic of Yemen, Mr Ali Adbdullah Saleh, President Mwanawasa expressed his desire to further strengthen the
existing relations through economic cooperation for the mutual benefit of the two
peoples.

Women for Change has added its voice to calls for the discontinuation of the construction of second republican president Dr Frederick Chiluba’s house by the state.

This follows the judgement by the London High Court which found the former president liable of personalising billions of kwacha from the state treasury.

Last week, Judge Peter Smith of the London High Court ruled that Chiluba stole public funds amounting to 41 million US dollars.

Women for Change Executive Director, Emily Sikazwe said this today at a Newsmakers
Forum discussion organized by the press freedom committee of the Post newspaper.

Ms Sikazwe said even though it was constitutional that former heads of state should
be built a house, Dr. Chiluba should not benefit from the facility because he has been found guilty of plundering the country’s resources.

She said the money meant for the construction of Dr. Chiluba’s house should instead
be used to build basic infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and roads for the benefit of the people of Zambia.

Ms Sikazwe added that she would see to it that the second republican president is
not built a house because what he did by plundering taxpayers money was inhuman.

At the same forum, former University of Zambia Students Union (UNZASU) president
Antonio Mwanza said Dr Chiluba should not even get his salary from the government,
because he might use the same money to pay back what he allegedly stole from
Zambians.

Last week the London court ruled that Chiluba stole about $41million a property of
the from Zambian government.

However, Dr Chiluba at a press conference at his Kabulonga home in Lusaka, rejected
the judgement saying he does not recognise the jurisdiction of the London court as
Zambia was a sovereign state.

In his defence, Dr Chiluba dismissed judge Smith’s judgment saying it was racist and
corrupt and also accused British prime minister Tony Blair, and the entire British
political and judicial system of trying to impose imperialism on Zambia.

ZANIS

A traditional ruler in Mazabuka has called on opposition political parties in the country to support President Mwanawasa’s suggestion for a national Indaba to chart the way forward in the constitution making process.

Chief Mwanachingwala says President Mwanawasa’s proposed Indaba is the surest way of breaking the impasse that has characterised the current constitution making process.

The traditional ruler says the Indaba will bring all the stakeholders to a round
table to resolve their differences.

He told ZANIS in Mazabuka today, all progressive political parties with the interest
of the Zambian people at heart, should not hesitate to attend the Indaba in order to
find solutions to the challenges facing the country.

And chief Mwanachingwala has taken a swipe at some opposition political parties and
non governmental organisations for pressurising government to take shortcuts in the
constitution making process.

He said he supports the stance taken by government to follow the constitution making
process step by step in line with available resources.

Chief Mwanachingwala has also called on the donor community to support government
financially to enable it come up with a new constitution.

By Tovin Ngombe-:
Most Children in Zambia go to School on an empty stomach said Sinazongwe District Commissioner (DC).

Speaking at the celebration of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Sinazongwe Laiven Apuleni told the gathering that many parents fail to enroll their children and force them to look for food.

Apuleni noted that Sinazongwe people have joined thousands of their fellow citizens to demand for an end to the unnecessary suffering of children.

The celebration whose theme was Fight Hunger, walk the world has one goal of ending hunger by 2015.

The DC said the UN WFP together with Ministry of education was providing School meals to over 185,000 children in over 600 community and basic Schools around Zambia.

He disclosed that the WFP was currently feeding 22, 592 School going children across Sinazongwe District.

WFP launched a pilot School Feeding Programme in Zambia in July 2003 to increase enrolment, access to education in drought prone areas such as Sinazongwe, and food insecure areas.

It also provides children with hot porridge of fortified Corn-Soya blend, sugar and oil.

However, the DC urged the Schools that donor funding has a life span adding that it was prudent for them to start having gardens in their backyard to prepare for a time when the programmes would end.

Apuleni said parents should start having gardens at each place where there was a borehole to encourage children to be better citizens in future.

“If parents are lazy then they will set a bad example to their children, this scenario of failing to cultivate should end,” the DC said.

Sinazongwe District Education Board Secretary (DEBS) Elijah Sikuvwaza disclosed that WFP has increased children’s enrolment to 23353 for regular Schools and 6671 for Community Schools.

Sikuvwaza said the School feeding programme was not only meant to increase enrolments but also to improve the nutrition of children.

He said the district has a number of programmes running in Schools such as the Save the Children, Bilharzia control, and Change to School Feeding Programme.
The DEBS thanked the organizations such as ZAMBEEFF, Chipaila Stores, Ziba Zako, Kwa Gondwe Guest house, and all Schools in Maamba for the support rendered.

He said the celebration was the first of its kind since the School Feeding programme was instituted in the district

Mothers day may not be a recognized Zambian holiday but before you castigate the West for inventing useless holidays take time to just appreciate your mother.

Your mother loved you even before you were born. She gently caressed her tummy those nine months she carried you. She would secretly or publicly talk to you even before you met. When “D” day finally arrived she labored for you for 6 – 18hrs. During that time she probably said some 4 letter words directed at the midwives or your father but never directed at you! When she finally pushed you out or when the doctor handed you to her and she held you, it felt like heaven. She thought you were the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
The next year you kept her up most of the nights but she was only too glad to be at your service. When you could finally walk, talk and perhaps even climb furniture, she looked at you proudly like someone had awarded her a Nobel peace prize. Those nights you were down with malaria, diarrhoea or a fractured limb she never left your side. She urged you to get an education though you would have rather dodged school. She scolded you for playing with Bana Mulengas kids but she was only trying to protect her precious child from bad company.
When you became a rebellious teenager she still loved you and spent most nights praying you would turn out right. You graduated from university or college and she was “ululating” the loudest in the crowd. Her little angel had done it. You got married and though she would have preferred someone taller or slimmer she was still happy for you. Now she’s a grandmother and the joy you’ve brought in her life is overflowing. How she longs to baby-sit her grandkids for you. Alas you left Zambia in search of greener pastures. For this precious woman who has always been there for you, for your number 1 fan why not appreciate her on this Mothers Day.
To all you mothers out there Happy Mothers Day!