The Lusaka City Council, LCC, in conjunction with State Police this morning swung into action to remove makeshift stalls from streets in the city centre in a bid to curb street vending.

The officers destroyed the make shift structures erected by the vendors on freedom way, Cha cha cha, Lumumba and all the subsidiary streets in town.   

By press time, police sealed off all the major roads and vehicles were forced to use
alternative routes.
And scores of vendors, who were caught unawares, watched helpless as the uncompromising law enforcement officers took full control of the streets.

Recently LCC warned the street vendors to vacate the streets and relocate to designated trade centres.
The council advised vendors to start trading from the new Soweto Market and other
markets in compounds.
The decision to chase the vendors from streets comes in the wake of the street vendors’  defiance of the 48 hour-ultimatum in which to leave the streets, issued by
the council.

Meanwhile, efforts by ZANIS to get comments from LCC Public Relations Officer Chanda Makanta on the latest development proved futile as her mobile was constantly not reachable.

 And Police spokesperson, Bonny Kapeso refused to comment on the matter.

ZANIS

Kitwe’s Kapoto compound residents last night ran amok destroying property worth millions of kwacha after two Police officers from Riverside police station allegedly shot dead a 13-year-old girl.

And Copperbelt Police Chief, Antoneil Mutentwa, has disclosed that Police in Kitwe have arrested and charged Constable Rexson Banda and Sub Inspector, Africa Zulu, with murder.

The residents went on rampage destroying property that included the office of the local Neighbourhood community Watch and other shops at the Market after the alleged shooting of the girl identified as, Marvis Mwansa, at Kapoto market.

A check by ZANIS at the market found a ZAMBEEF outlet has been destroyed with its window panes completely shattered while meat products worth over K6.5 million were looted by the irate residents.

The Body of the deceased is lying at Kitwe Central Hospital Mortuary

Police chief Mr. Mutentwa told ZANIS in Kitwe today that Police were concerned that the two officers who  allegedly shot the minor were not on duty and had no mandate to pursue drug dealers.

” As a Police we unreservedly condemn such acts especially that our officers acted outside the operational guidelines of the Police service.” said Mr Mutentwa.

He explained that the shooting incident happened when the two officers from Riverside Police Station went to Kapoto market to pursue a group of boys that were allegedly selling drugs at the market between 18 30 and 19 hours yesterday.

“The Boys who were allegedly selling drugs bolted after they saw Police approaching, hence the Officers decided to open fire in a crowed place in an effort to apprehend the culprits which was wrong.” said Mr Mutentwa.

Mr Mutentwa said the two officers have been arrested and charged because they did not follow procedure in pursuing drug traffickers and that there was no evidence to indicate that their lives were in danger for them to resort to firing live bullets.

He said Police would ensure that that the law prevails in the matter.

And one of the residents, Amon Banda, told ZANIS that some Police officers have allegedly been obtaining money from the unsuspecting drug dealers at Kapoto Market.

” The Police Officers  have been coming here for a long time now to harasse  these drug dealers who give them money to elude arrests” said Banda.

And Father to the deceased, Abel Mwansa, welcomed the arrest of the two Police Officers and called for justice to prevail over the death of his daughter.

” I don’t understand why these people decided to Kill my  daughter, please let thelaw take its course on this matter” said Mwansa.

ZANIS

President Levy Mwanawasa has promoted Gwembe District Administrative Officer Dorothy Hamvula as Gwembe District Commissioner.

This is contained in a letter signed by Public Service Management Division Permanent Secretary Ignatius Kashoka and made available to Southern Province Permanent Secretary Darius Hakayobe in a letter dated March, 21, 2007.

Mr Kashoka said the promotion is with effect from February 01, 2007

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says it is important for Zambia to use Internet connectivity to engage in world investments and trade.

UNCTAD Director for Investment Khalil Hamdani, noting that Zambia is landlocked, said it needed to take advantage of technology and Information Communication Technology (ICT) to link the country to the rest of the world.

Hamadani told ZANIS here Thursday that it was important for the country to put in place the appropriate incentives for the private sector to come into the country and establish beneficial services for the Zambian people.

He said the cost of Internet connectivity must be reduced and the country should also improve on the quality of the Internet connectivity, while observing that the present Internet gateway fee in Zambia is very high and prevents many in the private sector to see Zambia as a competitive environment for investment.

Currently, Zambia’s licence fee for operating an International gateway stands at 12 million USD compared with only 50,000 in Uganda and Malawi.

The government is, however, expected to repeal the statutory instrument on the gateway by May so that the fee charges on the operating of the facility is in line with charges in the region, according to the “Blue Book” on best practice in investment promotion and facilitation launched here Wednesday.

The book, prepared by UNCTAD in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce, with the support of the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC), states that international calls in Zambia are among the highest in the region and that incoming and outgoing calls are often of poor quality.

The book said this trend had been frequently cited by investors as contributing to the high cost of doing business in the country. It said high quality and low cost international calls contribute to a competitive business environment.

It also said many countries in the region had liberalized their international telecommunications gateways, granting licenses to incumbent mobile operators. The Zambian government in 2002 issued a statutory instrument, which allows private operator to acquire an international gateway licence for 12 million USD.

The book has since recommended that the licence fee in Zambia should at least be aligned to regional best practices. It also said the government should repeal the statutory instrument and replace it with a new statutory instrument, which sets a fee in line with the consultants’ report for incumbent operators.

Meanwhile, UNCTAD has also urged government to take advantage of the increasing inflows of investment to Africa to expand its industrial base. It stated that investment into Africa was increasing at a faster pace because of demand for the rich natural resources on the continent.

It said China and other fast growing Asians countries are looking at Zambia and other countries to put in place cooperation agreement and Zambia, being rich in natural resources, should explore resources which promotes development through private sector growth.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government says Zambia needs huge amounts of financial resources to be channeled into infrastructure development so as to foster further economic development.

Japanese Ambassador to Zambia Masaaki Miyashita says since Zambia’s debt sustainability has improved according to analysis by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB), the country needs to secure loans for infrastructure development.

He told ZANIS here Thursday that his country, through the Japan Bank for International Corporation (JBIC) would provide new Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) loans to Zambia.

Miyashita, who did not disclose how much his country has set aside, said the loans, would be targeted for projects under the Rural Electrification Programme and the agriculture sector for the promotion of irrigation.

On Wednesday, a JBIC official, Izumi Arai, disclosed that the bank was examining possibilities of providing new ODA loans for infrastructure development in Zambia.

He said the loans, to be provided in co-operation with the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank, would go towards development projects in the field’s electric power and agriculture.

Miyashita also disclosed that the Japanese government was working with the Zambian government in drawing up the master plan for Lusaka city. As Zambia moves to middle income country status by 2030, it is important to come up with a long-term plan for the development of infrastructure in the city.

The ambassador said plan is the first one of its kind in Africa although his country has helped Vietnam and Mongolia with similar plans.

Japan, through its technical support programme, would help the government from the initial stage of planning to the implementation of the programme. The master plan for the city will take into consideration infrastructure development, road networks and water supply for the population.

Government has expressed unhappiness at media reports that people were still grappling with the Cholera epidemic due to unsafe drinking water.

Deputy Minister of Energy and Water Development Friday Malwa however said the provision of boreholes in most parts of the country had resulted in tremendous reduction in Cholera cases and other water borne diseases.

He was speaking at the official handover of a borehole by Celtel Zambia in Lusaka’s Kanyama residential area worth K20 million during celebrations to commemorate World
Water Day which falls today.

He said in today’s era access to clean drinking water was every citizen’s right and concerted efforts must be channeled towards ensuring that Zambians everywhere have
access to clean drinking water.

“George compound is one of the areas with notable reduction in Cholera cases, since the communal water points were introduced a few years back” he said.

During the same event, the Deputy Minister also applauded Celtel for itscontribution towards the creation of employment by empowering small businesses especially in communities such as Kanyama.

Mr Malwa said the company was playing an important role in improving Zambia’s infrastructural development and technological advancement.

He called upon other companies to emulate Celtel’s gesture and urged the residents to look after the borehole and guard it against vandalism.

“The community should look after this investment, therefore a committee must be formed to oversee the use, operation and maintenance of this important investment,”he said.

And Celtel Public Relations Officer Bridget Nundgwe said Celtel donated the borehole to Kanyama compound because of the support that the people of the area have given to the mobile phone company.

She said Celtel remained committed to making every Zambian life better through provision of products and services that suited the people’s needs.

Speaking at the same function, Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company Managing Director George Ndongwe thanked Celtel for coming to the aid of the community and that its gesture would go a long way in helping the people of Kanyama especially the children obtain clean water.