Chief Government Spokesperson Mike Mulongoti says  Government prefers to enact the new Constitution through a legitimate body like Parliament and not the Constituent assembly which had a lot of impediments.

Mr Mulongoti who is also Information and Broadcasting Minister said  it would take
87 weeks for the Government to enact the new Constitution through Parliament which
was cheaper and a less time consuming road map unlike the Constituent Assembly that
some people and stakeholders  were advocating for which could even take five years.

He further said Government preferred to tackle certain clauses in the constitution
that could be amended through an indaba without incurring the wrath of article 79 to
ensure that the new Constitution was enacted by Parliament and not the constituent
assembly.

ZANIS Kitwe reports that Government had already set aside K200 Billion for the
process to ensure that the Zambian people enacted the Constitution in a more decent
and sombre manner.

Mr Mulongoti  said this in Kitwe today during a live radio programme on the Government Constitution review process on the Catholic owned Radio Ichengelo.

The minister noted that the majority of the Zambian people did not know the implications of adopting the Constitution through a constituent assembly and that
the advocates of this process were not helping Zambians as they were not telling the
truth.

He further said if the referendum failed to identify eligible voters by 50 percent then the entire process would be thrown in disarray and chaos which would be a waste of national resources and time.

The minister also wondered what would happen to the entire process, if Parliament
refused to accept the document and recommendations by the Constituent Assembly.

Mr Mulongoti added that there was need for Government to give direction to the
nation by allowing Parliament operate normally and enact the Constitution as required by Law to avoid the nation being thrown into chaos.

He said Government was more than ready to sit down with various Stakeholders and
amend certain articles in the Constitution to ensure that the nation moved forward and adopted a new constitution within the desirable time frame.

And speaking later, in an interview with some members of the press Chembe member of
Parliament Mwansa Mbulakulima said the enactment of the Constitution through a
Constituent assembly meant that Zambians had passed a vote of no confidence in their
members of Parliament.

Mr Mbulakulima wondered how the same people who had voted for them as their sole
representatives could today turn around and render them irrelevant.

He said the people who would sit on the Constituent Assembly would not have the
authority and legality that was given to the members of Parliament.

He appealed to Zambians to tread carefully and ensure that the constitution was enacted by Parliament.

The MMD in Northern Province has appealed to the National Executive Committee (NEC) to immediately intervene in the internal wrangles which have rocked the ruling party in the province.

MMD Acting Provincial Information and Publicity Secretary Chrispin Mulenga told
ZANIS in Kasama that the squabbles among top MMD leadership were affecting party
activities in the province.

Mr. Mulenga said only NEC, which is the highest decision making organ of the party,
could halt the current leadership wrangles and also serve the party from self-destruction in the area.

He explained that the in-fighting was being perpetrated by two senior party officials  who had allegedly ganged up to destabilize  the party in the province.

Mr. Mulenga  also accused two the officials of allegedly inciting party members to
rebell against Provincial Minister Lameck Chibombamilimo and other top officials in
the province.

He  further accused the same party officials of being bias when handling disciplinary party matters, thereby weakening the party further.

Meanwhile, Mr. Mulenga has appealed to the party’s National Executive Committee
(NEC) to consider revoking the suspensions slapped on party members in Mpulungu
district.

He said as a result of the unnecessary suspensions of party members, the MMD was now
losing popularity in the area.

Mr. Mulenga has since called for an immediate end to all illegal suspension of party
members in order to strengthen the party structures in the Province.

PATRIOTIC Front president, Michael Sata, has been challenged to prove that Government has refused to honour former President, Frederick Chiluba’s medical bills at University Teaching Hospital (UTH).

Mr Sata was quoted by the press yesterday accusing Government of refusing to pay for Dr Chiluba’s medical tests at UTH.

On Thursday, Dr Chiluba collapsed at his Kabulonga home and is currently admitted to UTH where doctors have conducted various medical tests.

Chief Government spokesperson, Mike Mulongoti, said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that Government has never issued such orders or directives on the settling of medical bills for the former President.

“Government has never said that, because this is a delicate matter that should be handled with care and morality.

This matter borders on morality, because Dr Chiluba is still in hospital. For him to hear about such talks that have been attributed to the Patriotic Front president, Michael Sata, what is he going to think? I also got shocked when I heard Mr Sata’s attacks on Government that it has refused to pay Dr Chiluba’s hospital bills.

I am challenging Mr Sata to tell the nation where I said that Government would not pay Dr Chiluba’s bills.

The story is a total fabrication,” he said.

Mr Mulongoti, who is also Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, said the doctors at UTH were competent enough to advise Government on Dr Chiluba’s health.

He said Government would not take Mr Sata’s advice on Dr Chiluba’s health status.

“What this Government is saying is that it will follow what the medical experts attending to Dr Chiluba at UTH will advise,” he said.

The minister wondered how Government could have problems in clearing Dr Chiluba’s bills at UTH when in the past it had been paying for him whenever he attended treatment in South Africa.

He said President Mwanawasa’s Government was of laws and would not refuse to settle bills for the former President.

“Under the Zambian constitution, there is a provision for the former President’s entitlement and Dr Chiluba’s benefits are intact,” Mr Mulongoti said.

Dr Chiluba’s spokesperson, Emmanuel Mwamba, declined to comment on Mr Sata’s statement.

“I just heard from Mr Sata that there is something like Government not paying the bill so I can’t comment on the matter because we don’t know the official position of Government and I can’t act on rumours,” he said.

Mr Mwamba said Dr Chiluba was still in the admission ward and would continue receiving medication.

On whether Dr Chiluba would appear before a doctors’ ad hoc committee today to determine his fitness to stand trial as ordered by the Lusaka magistrates court, Mr Mwamba said UTH would advise accordingly.

Dr Chiluba is scheduled to appear before a team of medical experts that recommended for his evacuation to South Africa for the treatment of his heart condition last year in March.

President Levy Mwanawasa has directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to immediately withdraw the diplomatic passport that was issued to former State House Deputy Minister, Webby Chipili.

This follows media reports in one of weekend’s newspapers that Mr Chipili hascontinued using the diplomatic passport he was issued with when he was still at State House as Deputy Minister.

Mr. Chipili was quoted in the newspaper as saying he has continued to use the passport because the President still uses him for official duties.

According to a press statement signed by the President’s Special Assistant for Press
and Public Relations, John Musukuma made available to ZANIS this evening, the President has denied allegations that he still uses Mr. Chipili for official duties.

He said the President has not used Mr. Chipili since he left office at State House last year.

”The correct position is that Mr. Chipili should have surrendered the diplomatic passport upon ceasing to be Deputy Minister, State House,” Mr. Musukuma said in a statement.

Mwinilunga East Member of Parliament (MP) Stephen Katuuka has expressed concern over the shoddy works done by a named Construction company engaged to rehabilitate the road infrastructure in the area.

Speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today, Mr. Katuuka said the T-5 Mwinilunga/Solwezi road  including feeder roads in Chiefs Kakoma and Chibwika’s
areas are all in a deplorable state.

Mr. Katuuka named the deplorable  feeder roads in his constituency as Kahona/Kanyaya, Lumwana/Kakoma and Kakoma/Kambimba which also connects to
neighboring Congo DR

The Mp mentioned other roads as  Chibwika/Kamapanda which goes to Angola.

The MP called for the thorough scrutinizing contractors  saying some of them are
bent on defrauding government out of colossal sums of money.

He appealed to government to engage genuine contractors in the rehabilitation of
roads to avoid spending money on the same roads.

Mr. Katuuka has since  requested  Ministry of Works and Supply to tell the named
contractor to re-do the road repairs saying a good road network enhances quick
delivery of goods and services to the market.

The Mp further appealed to government to rehabilitate the Solwezi/Mwinilunga road
which he said is in a state of disrepair adding that motorists traveling to
Mwinilunga district in  North Western province risked damaging their vehicles and
losing their lives.

 President Mwanawasa has directed the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to start purchasing maize  from farmers by next week .

And President Mwanawasa has expressed unhappiness at the pace at which  FRA is
proceeding with the crop marketing exercise.

President Mwanawasa  said  the delays by the Agency to commerce the maize purchasing exercise has subjected farmers to exploitation by briefcase businessmen.

The President has since asked  Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Ben Kapita
to ensure that the FRA starts purchasing maize by  next week.

Mr. Mwanawasa  was speaking  at a public rally in Petauke , at Chief Nyanje headquarter grounds to drum up support for MMD candidate Fashion Phiri in the June 5
parliamentary  bye- elections.

Mr. Mwanawasa regretted that unscrupulous traders have taken advantage of the delay
to obtain maize from desperate farmers at unreasonable cheap prices.

”I’m not happy with the slow pace at which the FRA is progressing with the issue .
I therefore want it to start buying the grain as soon as possible,” he said.

Mr Mwanawasa  added that government wants to make the crop marketing exercise more efficient  hence the allocation of K205 billion for the exercise this season.

And President Mwanawasa has disclosed that government has negotiated for US$7
million from the Chinese government for the  rehabilitation of silos (food storage
facilities) in all parts of the country.

Mr Mwanawasa pointed out that the rehabilitation exercise for the silos which is
scheduled to commerce towards the end of this year is meant to improve the maize
grain storage in the country.

He said government is determined to implement programmes that focus on improving
performance in the agriculture sector and enhance overall national food security.

Meanwhile President Mwanawasa has disclosed  that government has approved K600
million for addressing the livestock diseases in affected areas.

The President  said government has put in place deliberate measures to address
animal diseases such as the large grain borer , east coast fever, and lamp diseases
reported in some  parts of the country.

And President Mwanawasa has  cautioned the people of  Kapoche constituency not to
entertain politicians promising to give free fertilizers to farmers because such
promises are unattainable.

He wondered where such politicians would source funds from to implement such a
policy when government is  struggling to find resources for the 60 percent farming
input subsides given to farmers.

And in another development, President Mwanawasa  says MMD is ready to work with
people from opposition political parties who are  willing to work with the government of the day in order to improve the country’s economy.

He  said the ruling MMD is the only party that can provide quality leadership
required for national development.

Mr. Mwanawasa said this when he received 134 Forum for Democracy and Development
(FDD) members  who defected to join the ruling MMD.

The President  further advised the people of Petauke not to listen to lies  from opposition leaders.

Others contesting in the Kapoche bye-elections are FDD’s Charles Banda, Patrotic Front’s Mike Tembo, All People’s Congress Party’s Sara Zulu and Former Health
minister Levison Mumba who is standing on UNIP ticket.

The Kapoche seat fell vacant after the high court nullified the election of MMD’s
Nicholas Banda.