Nine SADC countries in collaboration with the Commonwealth today launched a new local democracy enhancement programme aimed at promoting local democracy and good governance in the region.

The nine countries include Botswana, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia,
Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Commonwealth Secretary General Carl Wright disclosed this at the closure of a
two-day Commonwealth Local Governance Forum (CLGF) meeting held in Lusaka.

Mr. Wright pointed out that the core feature of the new programme is the development
and application of local indicators to measure good governance at the local level
including the accountability of local councils and the effectiveness of the of their
delivery to key services to the community.

Other central elements have been the use of the International Peer Review (IPR) to
assess local authority performance conducted by partner cities and extensive
consultation of the civil society and local stakeholders.

Mr. Wright said it was agreed during the meeting that the next new programme should
be undertaken in Zambia.

He said the Zambian cities chosen for the programme are Kitwe, Livingstone, Lusaka,
Mufulira and Ndola and that upon completion, the programme will be rolled out
through out the country.

And Local Government and Housing Minister Syvia Masebo said Zambia was committed to implementing the new programme as it provides the key  to ensuring governance and
effective service delivery by local government.

Ms. Masebo said the International Peer Review also ensures an objective assessment
of performance to the existing African Peer Review Mechanism.

She hoped that the innovative methodology developed under the programme will see
widespread adoption throughout the SADC region, Africa and the Commonwealth.

In this regard, the minister stressed that she would firmely act on weakness that
will be identified in the local government system in the country.

And Dr. James David, the minister of Local Goverment in Mauritius, said the local
government enhancement process is ideally suited to Africa as governments have taken
the initiative to undertake the African Peer Review Mechanism.

He said the Peer Review will assist local authorities in walking the extra-mile and
enhance performance with a view to attaining total quality in the long-term.

Dr. David said that now is the time to move from rhetorics to facts, from statements
to concrete realisation if the programme is to be successful.

The Local Government Enhancement Programme builds on successful work undertaken by the workshop, organisers, the Commonwealth Local Government Forum, and the Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe (UCAZ) since 2003 in five cities in Zimbabwe and their counterparts in other Commonwealth countries such as Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.

Senior local government practitioners including ministers, mayors and officials from
the nine countries met in Lusaka from 18 to 20 June 2007 and agreed to move forward
an innovative programme to promote local democracy and good governance in the SADC
region.

A case in which a South African national is alleged to have defamed President Levy Mwanawasa failed to take off this morning because of the on going  strike by judicial workers.   

Brandon Childs 22, an employee for RJ Southerly Contractors, contracted by Mopani
Copper Mines, Mufulira Division is alleged to have insulted and passed disparaging remarks against Mr. Mwanawasa in April this year.

Childs, a Kitwe resident  was arrested by police and charged with defaming the head
of state contrary to provision 65 of the penal code.

He was later released on police bond but Police withheld his passport, work permit
and national identity documents.

The foreign national has not appeared in court since his arrest in April.

Mufulira Resident Magistrate, Edison Tembo assured  ZANIS in his chamber that the
cases was coming up in court today but workers talked to said they have not prepared
the court for the case due to the strike.

District Prosecutors Officers were this morning found adjourning the cases to later
dates while local magistrates were working from their chambers.   

Mr. Tembo said the situation is normal and all the workers have reported for work.

ZANIS

All Zambia’s nine provinces have been earmarked for new mining projects as strong demand and high prices on the international market trigger a scramble by investors for minerals deposits, according to Mines Minister Kalombo Mwansa. In a special Television Zambia broadcast late Tuesday, Mwansa said projects amounting to billions of dollars of investment would commence around the country over the coming year.

Tentative mineral exploration across the country by a clutch of investors revealed vast mineral deposits, the exploitation of which would require massive local and international investment, he said.

Chongwe district in Lusaka province, Mkushi in Central province, Petauke in Eastern province and Munali Hills in Southern province were examples of areas where new deposits had been found, he said.

To date, some 3 billion dollars have been invested in Zambian mining, mostly in copper, amid projections that figure will rise to around 4.5 billion dollars within the next two years.

The discovery of uranium in North-Western and Southern provinces augured well for the economy, projected to grow by an average 7 per cent over the next three years, said Mwansa.

Albidon Zambia Ltd and Australia’s Equinox Minerals Ltd have discovered substantial quantities of uranium and copper deposits at their operations in north-western and southern Zambia respectively.

The government of President Levy Mwanawasa has been praised by investors for its sound fiscal policies and tough line on corruption.

The country’s roads and communications network, however, require upgrading to enable the movement of goods and services in and out of mining areas.

North-Western Railways announced this week it had secured 250 million dollars in financing from Britain, South Africa and the United States to build a rail link to the northern Copperbelt region.

© 2007 dpa – Deutsche Presse-Agentur ( copyright by monsters and critics .com)

Former President Frederick Chiluba has filed court papers rejecting a British judgement ordering him to pay back $58 million to the country’s Treasury in a graft case, his aide said on Tuesday.

Chiluba’s spokesman Emmanuel Mwamba said the former president had asked the Lusaka High Court to set aside a judgment delivered by British Judge Peter Smith which ordered him to reimburse funds allegedly stolen during his 10-year rule which ended in 2001.

“Dr Chiluba has filed documents asking the court to set aside the judgement because of irregularities in the manner it was delivered,” Mwamba told Reuters.

Chiluba said in his court filing that enforcing the judgement would be against public policy in Zambia because it was delivered without him being heard and that it was obtained “through fraud”.

“The principles in which the judgment was obtained were contrary to the principles of natural justice. The prosecution of the case and the registration of the judgement arising therefrom are in violation of the right to a fair trial,” Chiluba in a court affidavit.

Zambian prosecutors sought to have the case heard in a British court in hopes of recovering properties owned by Chiluba and other defendants in Britain and other EU countries.

Chiluba said Zambia law had been flouted by the government which brought a British civil graft case against him when he was still facing criminal prosecution in a Zambian court for theft of $488,000 in public funds.

Chiluba has appealed together with two Lusaka businessmen Faustin Kabwe and Aaron Chungu, whom he is jointly charged with in the $488,000 case.

Chiluba declined to appear before Judge Smith when the case was being heard in London after arguing Smith had no jurisdiction to determine Zambia legal cases.

He said in his affidavit that he could not travel to London because he was under travel restrictions from the government.

“It appears the attorney general deliberately chose England specifically to make it difficult if not impossible for us to participate and effectively defend the claims against us,” Chiluba said.

Chiluba has in the past argued that the British case was essentially fraudulent and promoted by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa in an effort to make a point about graft in Africa.

Zambia will allow 100,000 tonnes of additional white maize exports this year bringing the total to 350,000 tonnes, Agriculture Minister Ben Kapita told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.

The move comes after the country recorded surpluses in the last three agricultural seasons, Kapita said.

“We are going to export 250,000 tonnes from this year’s stock and 100,000 tonnes which should have been exported to Zimbabwe but was kept after Malawi undercut us on the price.”

Kapita said the maize was ready for export to countries with food deficits, but he did not identify the countries. In the past, the country has exported to Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kapita also said Zambia had started to prepare for the 2007/08 farming season with the distribution of subsidised fertiliser and seed to 125,000 small-scale farmers set to start soon.

The 125,000 farmers will be less than the 210,000 farmers who benefited from government support in 2006 because some farmers have become self-sustaining after receiving initial government assistance.

“The government is downsizing the number of farmers getting help because some of them have graduated from the fertiliser support programme. Most farmers are now able to buy their fertiliser from the private sector,” Kapita said.

Last week, Kapita said Zambia’s 2006/07 maize output declined 4.4 percent to 1.36 million tonnes compared with output for 2005/06 due to floods which destroyed the crop in 41 of the country’s 72 districts.

Kapita said Zambia would keep 250,000 tonnes of maize in strategic reserves compared with a surplus of 160,000 tonnes the previous year.