A Lusaka clergyman is happy that President Levy Mwanawasa has given a go ahead to the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) National Executive Committee (NEC) to choose his successor before the next general
elections.

Christ Impact Ministries Prophet Hastings M’zumara said Mr. Mwanawasa’s decision is
a positive step in efforts of enhancing the country’s democracy.

Prophet M’zumara is optimistic that Mr. Mwanawasa’s decision not to interfere with
the selection process of his successor, would improve transparency in the ruling
party.

He advised the party to select a leader that would carry on with the fight against
corruption in order to achieve improved economic welfare for the people.

He also advised the MMD not to choose recycled politicians for the party leadership
and promote people with frewsh ideas of pushing forward the country’s economic
agenda.

President Levy Mwanawasa is tomorrow expected to leave
for France, where he will attend the 24th France-Africa Summit slated for February
15 to 17.

President Mwanawasa will attend the summit to be held in Cannes, at the personal
invitation of French President Jacques Chirac.

According to statement released to ZANIS this evening and signed by Special
Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations John Musukuma, Mr.
Mwanawasa would be accompanied by Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Community
Development, Mundia Sikatana and Catherine Namugala respectively and other senior
government officials.

“Mr. Levy P. Mwanawasa, SC, will lead the Zambian delegation to attend the 24th
France-Africa Summit to be held in Cannes, France, from 15 to 17 February 2007,”
read the statement in part.

“President Mwanawasa was invited to participate in the Summit, at the personal
invitation of Frewnch President Mr. Jacques Chirac,” read the statement.

The France-Africa Summit, which is held every two years, is a forum for political
dialogue between France andf Africa aimed at creating awareness on critical issues
affecting the development of the African continent.

President Mwanawasa, during the Summit, will participate in various high-profiled
discussions with other heads of state on issues of raw materials in Africa, the
stature of the continent and the information society.

Mr. Mwanawasa will join other heads of state and government to discuss and consider
for endorsement the Report of the African Ministers of Foreign Affairs’ conference
held in Bamako, Mali, last month, which would be presented to the Summit.

Mr. Mwanawasa last attended the France-Africa Summit in 2002.

The 24th France-Africa Summit is expected strengthen Zambia’s interaction with
France and further open up new areas of bilateral cooperation between the two
countries.

Three 4th year chemical pathology students were so confident that the weekend before their final exams, they decided to go up to Kitwe and party with some friends up there. They had a great time. However, after all the partying, they slept all day Sunday and didn’t make it back to Ridgeway campus until early Monday morning.

Rather than taking the exam then, they decided to find their lecturer, Dr Kaile, after the exam and explain to him why they missed it.

They explained that they had gone to Kitwe for the weekend with the plan to come back and study unfortunately, they had a flat tire on the way back, didn’t have a spare, and couldn’t get help for a long time. As a result, they missed the final.

The lecturer thought it over and then agreed they could take the final exam the following day. The guys were elated and relieved.

They studied that night and went in the next day, at the time the lecturer had told them. He placed them in separate rooms and handed each of them a test booklet, and told them to begin.

They looked at the first problem, worth 10 points. It was something simple about describing the basic effect of insulin on carbohydrate metabolism in skeletal muscle.”Cool,” they thought at the same time, each one in his separate room. “This is going to be easy.”

Each finished the problem and then turned the page. On the second page was written:

(For 90 points): Which tire?

Minister of Mines and Minerals, Dr. Kalombo Mwansa, said today the ministry was updating its policies to encourage continued private investment in the country, but said increased royalties of 3% on mining sales were “not negotiable”.

Mwansa said Zambia would not delay the implementation of the new royalties, as the country needed money in its coffers “as soon as possible” to further economic development in Zambia.

Responding to a question from the media at a mining conference at Livingstone in Zambia, he said the 3% royalty would not be “negotiable” as foreign mining companies were making “huge profits” and could certainly afford a levy in that range.

“The people of Zambia want to see how they are benefiting from the local copper industry. We have looked at royalties in the region and globally, and regard 3% as ‘realistic’.”

He added that legislation that requires that new mines in the country had a “certain percentage of local ownership” – essentially an empowerment law – was enacted last year, but a committee still had to be appointed to enforce this law.

He could not elaborate on the requirements in the law.

Mwansa said he was “generally satisfied” with Chinese investment of $800 million in the country as this translated into more jobs and increased taxes.

Chinese and other mining companies were permitted to bring employees with certain skills into the country, but this depended on the size of their investments. Zambia had a very skilled mining work force, but for instance did not have many geologists.

The Zambian government recognised the need to reduce the cost of doing business in the country and was therefore “streamlining” the administration and processing of mineral rights.

“We have seen the need for change and are working on issuing mining rights more speedily.”

The Ministry of Mines and Minerals has partnered with the World Bank and European Union to re-design and modernise the existing mining rights licensing system in Zambia, which would position Zambia in line with international best practice.

The mining sector in Zambia has regained its dominant role in the local economy with investment of $2 billion in this sector since 2000.

The government intended to keep the mining sector “risk-free” in order to attract more investments. This included focusing on the safety of workers by increasing the number of mining inspectors.

Zambia’s finance minister, Ngandu Magande, said during his annual speech to parliament in Lusaka on Friday, that the country would increase royalties to 3 percent of mining companies’ sales in order to benefit from their increased earnings.

Royalties were previously set at 0.6% for base metals and at 2% for precious metals.

Zambia will also increase mining companies’ income tax rates to 30 percent, from 25 percent, and will reintroduce a 15% withholding tax on dividends, interest, royalties, management fees and payments to affiliates, Magande said.

Copper accounts for about 70 percent of Zambia’s export income and production has been rising in recent years after the government sold the industry back to private investors after taking it over in the early 1970s.

Copper prices almost doubled last year. Zambia produced 458,296 t of copper between January and November 2006, 14% more than the 400,593 t produced a year earlier, according to statistics from the Bank of Zambia.