HH LIED ON ZAMEC BILL BUT UBUCENJESHI BWA MPELEMBE, CIFULUKUTU PANUMA – MUNDUBILE

….. says media freedom shrinking at fast rate under UPND Government….

Lusaka, Monday (16th January, 2023)

Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Brian Mundubile says President Hakainde Hichilema has backtracked on his promise to have the Zambia Media Council – ZAMEC Bill enacted into law.

Mr. Mundubile who is also PF Presidential Candidate said enough progress was done over the ZAMEC issue but that President Hichilema had now gone silent on the matter.

“The expectation of the media fraternity in Zambia generally is that the UPND Government in general and President Hichilema in particular would expedite the enactment of the Zambia Media Council (ZAMEC) Bill given the many assurances he gave while in opposition to give the media freedom,” he said.

Mr. Mundubile said President Hichilema promised to enact the Bill for more order in the manner media business was done and provide security to the media against any form of harassment.

“President Hichilema should fulfill his promise because ubucenjeshi bwa mpelembe, icifulukutu panuma (one boasts of being blameless but soon after that, he is caught),” he said.

Mr. Mundubile added that media freedom was important and played a cardinal role in a Constitutional Democracy like the one in Zambia.

“We, however, are concerned that media freedom under the UPND Government is shrinking at a fast rate.

Mr. Mundubile said it was in public domain that media personnel were being harassed under the UPND Government.

“Examples are Muvi TV Reporter Innocent Phiri who was recently arrested for filming the police effecting an arrest on one of the opposition leaders Chilufya Tayali. And now we saw that the UPND cadres hounded out Mr. Tayali who was appearing on Kokoliko FM Radio in Chingola and another appearance on radio in Mufulira was thwarted by cadres,” he said.

He commended Zambia Police Service for arresting two suspects that stormed Kokoliko FM Radio in Chingola to hound out opposition leader Chilufya Tayali.

“I must take this opportunity to commend the police for acting swiftly to arrest two suspects in that case. That is as it should be. The police must be seen to be working in order to ensure that the rule of law is upheld. But regards media freedom, it is one of the major sources of concern,” he said.

Mr. Mundubile reminded President Hichilema that he was a beneficiary of media freedom which helped him to be in State House today.

“He cannot therefore, turn his back against the media and begin to harass them in the manner that they are doing,” he said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to Zambia, Senegal and South Africa during the next two weeks, as the United States aims to strengthen ties with a continent that has been the focus of Chinese trade and investment for years.

While in Africa, Secretary Yellen will highlight the Biden-Harris Administration’s work to deepen U.S.-Africa economic ties, including by expanding trade and investment flows and promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

This follows the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit held last month in Washington, DC, where President Biden announced over $15 billion in two-way trade and investment commitments, deals, and partnerships.

Secretary Yellen will discuss the ways that the United States is working with African leaders to build a stronger and more resilient economy on the continent that benefits their citizens, the U.S., and the entire world.

That includes by funding high quality infrastructure investments through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment, preventing and preparing for future pandemics through the new Pandemic Fund, partnering to strengthen democracies and institutions against corruption, and helping African countries address debt vulnerabilities.

While in Africa, the Secretary will also underscore the importance of accelerating clean energy access, helping countries adapt to a changing climate, promoting a just energy transition and providing greater economic opportunity for communities and businesses.

During her engagements, Yellen will urge further action to evolve the multilateral development banks to better address global challenges like climate change, health and pandemics, and conflict and fragility, complementing these institutions’ work on poverty reduction and inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

During her travel, the Secretary will also underscore the spillover effects of Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine, which have disproportionately hurt developing countries in Africa and globally.

The Secretary will note the steps the U.S. has taken to boost food security, including through over $13.5 billion in assistance, a call for international financial institutions to develop and implement an Action Plan to Address Food Insecurity and new support to the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program.

Given the continued urgency to strengthen both short-term and long-term food security, the Secretary will also discuss implementation of the U.S. – Africa Strategic Partnership on Food Security launched at the African Leaders Summit.

Secretary Yellen will also highlight work to address high energy costs by promoting market stability, including through the price cap on Russian oil.

On January 22, Secretary Yellen will travel to Lusaka and she will visit a community health site where she will participate in a tour to highlight joint efforts to advance global health.

Later, Secretary Yellen will visit Mylan Lab’s Lusaka distribution center.

Mylan Labs is a U.S. firm that employs 75 workers at this facility helping to distribute anti-malarial and anti-retroviral treatments.

Secretary Yellen will tour the facility and highlight U.S. – Africa joint efforts to promote a healthy population, improve global health security, and collaborate to prevent and prepare for future pandemics.

Secretary Yellen will then participate in a lunch with business leaders from the American Chamber of Commerce in Zambia, including a spray at the top of lunch.

After lunch, Secretary Yellen will participate in bilateral meeting with the President of Zambia Hakainde Hichilema; Minister of Finance Situmbeko Musokotwane; and the Governor of the Bank of Zambia, Denny H. Kalyalya.

Bilateral meetings with the President and Finance Minister will have photo sprays and brief remarks at the top for pre-approved media.

On January 24, Secretary Yellen will tour two agricultural-related sites in Zambia.

During her visit, the Secretary will deliver remarks highlighting the work the Treasury Department and the U.S. government are engaged in to promote climate-resilient agriculture and food production, as well as to mitigate the global spillover effects of Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine.

In the evening, Secretary Yellen will travel to Pretoria, South Africa.

Our electricity crisis: a golden opportunity for HH and his foreign friends to reap massive profits from us, as they collapse state monopoly of electricity

By Azwell Banda,

In this day and age, any government anywhere in the world that cannot guarantee stable, constant supply and access to quality electricity for all its citizens and visitors in its country, every day, all year round, is not worthy the name “government”, it must be removed from power.

Electricity is the economy of any country; it is its social and cultural life. Without it, a country is dead, literally. Electricity is national security. Electricity is state sovereignty. Electricity is a human right in this day and age. Any political party in government which cannot secure and guarantee constant, steady, affordable, quality electricity for the majority of its citizens for whatever reasons is not fit to run government. HH and the UPND have forfeited their right to be in government. They must be removed from government in the national interest, immediately, before they cause irreparable damage to our country.

One working hour lost because there is no electricity for Zambia’s roughly nine million working age citizens is 9,000,000 hours of work lost to the country, forever. Of course, this number grows when visitors and other non-Zambians of working age are added. Inability to use technology because there is no electricity exponentially compounds the figures of hours of work lost.

All ordinary poor Zambians, who are the majority of Zambians, need electricity now, not just after every six hours; they need electricity all the time! These poor ordinary Zambians, need electricity even in the villages, perhaps to be able to go to the shop or garage, to charge their cell phones so that they can keep in touch with their relatives and friends. This is why they voted for HH and his UPND choir.

In a country in which formal quality jobs are only for an insignificantly tiny lucky few, millions of poor ordinary Zambians need electricity to make their daily small money for rent, water, soap, paraffin, marches, charcoal, food, schools, medicines, second hand shoes and clothing and a cold beer or two. Millions of poor ordinary Zambians need electricity so that the small business from where they get piece work can operate, otherwise they will starve, without the small amounts of money they make every day.

Millions of ordinary Zambians in all our urban areas need electricity, especially in the morning, to bath, make some food that passes for breakfast, and prepare to take children to school. They need electricity all the time. Life is actually very expensive without electricity, for everyone! Millions of Zambians survive from many small businesses that need electricity to operate. All the small shops and businesses in all our townships and villages need electricity to operate, not just for fridges, but to also stay open till late into the evenings! They need electricity all the time, not in spurts of six hours each!

All our schools, colleges and universities need electricity, especially in our rural areas! Our children are being deprived of their badly needed education using electronic devices and the internet to both access information and to process it. Paraffin and candle light is not good for their eyes and general health, nor is it actually inspiring, in this day and age. We are disadvantaging Zambian children when electricity is not available in both homes and all learning initiations.

All Zambians, in our urban and rural areas, rich and poor, young and old, male and female, need constant access to reliable affordable electricity all the time, every day, throughout the year. Electricity is a universal ingredient in all domestic and economic activities in our times. Without it, the life lived is inferior, backward and extremely harsh. Such a life is also usually over exposed to many diseases.

There is a seemingly maddening slowness, lack of urgency, casualness, dishonest, apparent chaos and thoroughly unorganised manner with which HH and his entire UPND government and choir have approached the electricity crisis in the past 16 months. They have actually been praising and defending themselves more than practically attending to the electricity crisis!

Our mass media have done an excellent job to shine their bright lights on everything HH has done since the country was informed about first, the six hours load shedding, and almost immediately after, the 12-hour load shedding, and now the staggered six hourly but still 12-hour load shedding. Being fully aware of the immense magnitude of the devastating impact the massive load shedding would have on Zambia and all the people in it, I have carefully observed and studied the response to this disastrous crisis by our government in general and our President in particular. I am not sure which one is more traumatic between the electricity crisis and the responses of our government and HH. I am traumatised by both.

We all now know HH and the UPND are compulsive pathological liars, both when they were in opposition, and now, when they are in government. This fact is not in dispute anymore even among relatively honest, sober and rational UPND members and HH supporters alike. It is the cynical, cold, calculated exploitation of the many crises HH and the UPND government manufacture that worries me the most, now. A UPND official somewhere in Zambia has already announced that young people must use this electricity crisis as an opportunity to make money! He has suggested the selling of power banks and generators by young people as possible businesses. I let this pass, hoping their leader HH would be less crude and not so savagely insensitive and opportunistic as to announce the electricity crisis as an opportunity for UPND to make money. I was wrong.

I have sifted through most of the available mass media stories on the electricity crisis very carefully. I have desperately searched for information regarding what immediate actions HH and his UPND government are taking to reduce the immense suffering of millions of poor Zambians and mitigate the full immediate impact of the electricity crisis in Zambia. I have found absolutely none. Our past is blamed for not investing enough in electricity. The PF is blamed for the electricity crisis, including as having somehow disappeared the water in order to make money! Zimbabwe appears to have drawn more water than its allocation. The Zambezi River Authority is attacked for failing to regulate water use. Electricity exports must continue because they create jobs in Zambia. Apparently there is a leakage in the Kariba Dam, and so forth.

And then it hit me! The suggestion by a UPND official to youths to make money from this electricity crisis suddenly made UPND sense to me! HH has announced in meetings on the crisis at State House that nothing, nobody, no law should stand in the way of ensuring that Independent Power Producers (IPPs) come on line, to resolve our electricity crisis. Only the Constitution, he says, will be spared, in this maddening effort to exploit for profits the extremely lucrative opportunity to make vast amounts of money which the current version of the electricity crisis presents, to money mongers! HH now is set to raise US $4 billion abroad, for electricity production, through IPPs. Nothing best explains the seemingly chaotic, extremely casual, and full dramatic media displays of this maddening apparent moronic response to the electricity crisis: HH and his friends are poised to start to access the billions in US dollars they crave to lay their hands on, using the electricity crisis!

You see, dear fellow ash mouthed impoverished Zambians, not even the IMF will stand in the way of HH as he expands our debt by “attracting massive foreign investments” into Zambia for private profits using the electricity crisis as a perfect pretence. The mines want guaranteed cheap, affordable, constant steady access to electricity, if they must plunder our resources at the rate commiserate with their supper exploitation of our cheap labour and their gluttonous appetite for massive profits! HH must deliver this electricity, and make money too.

This electricity crisis is good for HH and his friends in government because it also creates the perfect opportunity for them to remove government dominance in the electricity sector and replace government with the “private sector”. Electricity provisioning has become a bottomless gold mine for profit mongers all over the world. Governments stand in the way of the private sector’s gargantuan appetite for turning a societal need, electricity, into a permanent source of massive profits. Note the extreme contempt money monger HH displays about all our laws that may stand in the way of IPPs – they must all be removed from our statutes, to pave way for IPPs, for massive private profits, in the electricity value chains.

And so it is that while millions of Zambians of all tribes in all our provinces who voted for HH, to, among other things, resolve our perennial electricity crises, their votes are now being used to enrich foreign money and its very few Zambian parasites, in electricity, while simultaneously destroying state electricity sovereignty! This is the most cynical abuse of state power and of poor people by politicians of the HH type: use the state and their vote to impoverish them further, as they themselves become fabulously rich!

Zambia needs a Zambian government that will protect the economic and social interests and lives of the majority of Zambians including by the state guaranteeing supply and access to reliable, affordable, quality electricity for all Zambians. The private sector cannot guarantee this, ever. Electricity in this world is a public good, it is a sovereign good. It is a human need. It is a human right.

The majority of Zambians who are poor urgently need measures to immediately lessen their suffering so that they can democratically and effectively participate in shaping medium and long term state solutions to resolve our electricity crisis. HH and his friends were elected to solve our problems, not to explain away our problems and profit personally, from them. They have failed a critical test for running government. They must be removed from power, before they damage Zambia, irreparably.

Comments to: banda.azwell@gmail.com.

WE ARE SORRY SAYS PF

…for the pain and confusion our cadres caused in the past and, promises never ever to condone caderism once re-elected

THE Patriotic Front (PF) is deeply sorry and remorseful for the pain and confusion its cadres caused to Zambians while the party was in government and has pledged never to tolerate or condone cadrerism and thuggery behaviour once re-elected in the 2026 general elections.

Brian Mundubile, the PF presidential candidate says the former ruling party deeply and genuinely regrets the actions of its cadres, particularly in the years leading to the 2021 general elections.

Mr Mundubile, who is Leader of the Opposition in Parliament said should Zambians give the PF a second chance to superintend over the affairs of the country, the leadership would govern
the country with decency and humility because the former ruling party had learnt its lessons.

He said the UPND had failed Zambians and that most were disappointed with the leadership that had promised so much and continued to pledge even after it had delivered zero of what it had promised.

Mr Mundubile, the PF Mporokoso lawmaker said he could never accept a ministerial position under the UPND government because the ruling party had clearly demonstrated that it did not
care about the suffering of Zambians as they were governing the country as if they were running a business empire.

He said the PF had remained a pro-poor political organisation whose ideology was to take the interest of the people first as opposed to the UPND whose focuss was to please foreign multinational conglomerates.

Mr Mundubile said should the PF bounce back into power there were a lot of things that the party would do differently as it had learnt from its past mistakes.
And Mr Mundubile has pledged to support whoever would emerge as party president from the nine contenders after the extraordinary party convention slated for March this year.

He explained that the fact that there were nine candidates who had expressed interest to take over the PF presidency meant that there was intra-democracy competition within the former ruling party and that it would be foolish for one to think that he was going to win the presidency easily.

“There is no need to be bitter if I were to lose, I will congratulate the winner because their win would mean they had put in more work in the campaign than I did,” he said.

He said one could only be sure of winning if they were the only ones in the race but if the second person entered, it meant that there was serious competition especially that the power to choose was in the hands of the people.

Mr Mundubile said politics was about service to the people and at that time if they did not choose any of the nine there was no need to be angry.

He said all the nine presidential candidates were leaders in their own capacity and that they were bringing value to the party and was happy that they had remained united as a family despite vying for the same position in the party.

Daily Nation

I HAVE BEEN KICKED OUT OF MY PROPERTIES AND RENDERED HOMELESS BY ACC, SAYS INTERCITY PF COMMANDER

A HIGH-ranking former commander of the defeated PF, Francis Muchemwa who was second in command of the vicious Intercity Bus Terminus battalion says the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has kicked him out of his properties and rendered him homeless.

At the height of the PF rule, Muchemwa led his troops to many bloody victories against opposition and dissidents with his only defeat in 2019 coming from the judo-strengthened hands of President Hakainde Hichilema’s aide de camp Shaapa Wakunguma who was Sesheke District officer commanding at the time.

Muchemwa and his troops were beaten to pulp and rendered stretcher cases after they imported violence in the Sesheke by-election that was eventually won by UPND’s Romeo Kang’ombe.

Despite the painful beating, Muchemwa and his soldiers got the last laugh as then President Edgar Lungu kicked Wakunguma and four other cops out of the Zambia Police Service as punishment for clobbering ruling party thugs.

However, trouble has been Muchemwa’s close companion from the time PF left power.

Immediately the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) announced that his boss, Lungu, had tumbled at the polls and was to leave State House, Muchemwa fled into self-imposed exile and stayed as a fugitive in South Africa before he sneaked back in the country several months later.

Last September, the anti-graft body arrested the once-feared commander for possession of suspicious property worth over K12 million.

He was charged with five counts of possession of property suspected to be proceeds of crime which included a house in Silverest valued at K2.5 million and apartments valued at K4.5 million in the same area which were all acquired between the period of 2015 to 2022.

Muchemwa is also being prosecuted for pocketing worth more than K1. 4 million as his gross earnings from June 2015 to August 31, 2021 as a Security Sergeant at Zesco Limited with the state arguing that he never worked for the loadshedding implementing power utility.

On Friday, Muchemwa cried to the Daily Nation Newspaper that the ACC had kicked him and his family on the wet streets of Lusaka after seizing his houses on Thursday evening.

Quoting him as a businessman, the Daily Nation reported that Muchemwa confirmed that that the ACC had seized his house and apartments in Chongwe’s Silverest area and ordered him to vacate them by 18:00 hours on Thursday.

“As I speak, I am homeless with my children and my wife and I am struggling to find where I will sleep and where I will get my next meal,” the 38 year old was quoted as saying.

It is reported that according to an ACC call-out dated January 9, 2023 Muchemwa was requested to report himself to the ACC on Wednesday, January 11, 2023.

However upon arriving at the ACC offices, Muchemwa was surprised to find
there was no interview scheduled but was later informed by law enforcement officers that they had to go with him to his apartments.

When Muchemwa asked he asked if he had been arrested, the officers told him he wasn’t.

When the officers arrived at the apartments, they told him that they were given instructions to seize all his trucks properties because the restriction order had expired, Muchemwa told Daily Nation.

“My cry to the President is
that he [should] embrace young people
like me and encourage us, if we are wrong, control us , we are the future of the nation,” he said.

Muchemwa said this action by the ACC will affect 50 workers who will now struggle without jobs.

“I am just a young man aged 38 fighting my lungs out for a better future with determination to help others,” Muchemwa said.

Kalemba

THE CURRENT STATE OF THE OPPOSITION IN ZAMBIA

14/01/2023

In any democratic society , opposition political parties are almost as important as the ruling party.Their checks and balances , plus their alternatives provide the needed democratic oil for political and economic growth.Today ,I will give my analysis about our opposition,in terms of individual parties and as a collective .

*FDD* .

Currently,the FDD under Madam Nawakwi is just on paper .It has lost all the political stamina it had and it is almost impossible to find a provincial leader , district official or a member of this political formation anywhere in the country .While its President is experienced , intelligent ,brave and still around ,the party itself is technically dead .

*PNUP*

This is a Political party headed by Mr Highvie Hamududu .In my view,this man is extremely intelligent and can make a great President.He speaks alot of sense and he is sober minded .The challenge with him is that ,he is not a good political tactician ,no mobilization strategy .Apart from him and his Nalolo MP,the country doesn’t know any other PNUP official.You can’t win an election with such a formation .He is too politically lazy and never in the business of growing.He is also far away from his fellow opposition parties.He is a loner . If he is not careful,he is likely to lose even the single MP he has in Western Province.He is living dangerously.

*MMD*

The former ruling party,now under Dr Nevers Mumba ,is now a shell of former self .Due to so many turbulences it has gone through and the fact that the Zambian people have moved on ,it is just a matter of time before a serious orbituary can be written about MMD.It is dead .Sad for democracy.

*UPPZ*

The UPPZ under Mr Charles Chanda is no longer promising .He was very good politically but the last few years have been catastrophic for this land guru .He must resurrect from his political sleep.He has reasonable potential.

*ZMP*

Zambia Must Prosper under KBF is new and very promising.I hear they will soon be launching their manifesto ,and having read his two books ,I must say the man provides hope for the opposition and the country.He is intelligent, tactical , eloquent and brave .He resonates well with the Young people and citizens in the Northern and Eastern political belts .If he plays his cards well,he could be the next President of Zambia .But at the moment,his party has a lot of grassroot mobilization to do .He has great potential to mobilize.

*GPZ*

The Golden Party under Mr Jackson Silavwe has been around for some time .He portrays a picture of a good patriot but he lacks that edge .He is always commenting on almost everything,every day .It is not good for him and his party .He must only speak when it is necessary.He is also the only person in the party that speaks .He can do better if he had good advisers .At the moment ,he has no political weight.

*DP*

After the departure of Harry Kalaba from the Democratic Party last year ,Madam Judith Kabemba and Mr Justin Nkonge have failed to sustain the party .It is sad that such a promising party has terminally died .

*PeP*

The Patriots for Economic Progress has been handy in providing alternatives , especially on the National Budget .Its President,Mr Sean Tembo ,has been key in making these alternative budgets .This is good for democracy.However,PeP is just around one man and only him alone .Mr Tembo must move out of Facebook and go to create structures in provinces ,if he means business.He must also avoid providing checks and balances childishly using social media .Yes ,he must use it but in a more sensible and mature manner .He is very intelligent and can be taken serious if he becomes serious himself.

*Leadership Movement*

Under Dr Richard Silumbe,the party has remained stable and participates in most elections .This is good for democracy.The team is issue based ,not violent and is always available for national discussions .But again,the LM is never pa ground .Its lack of presence in communities makes it a semi failed project .But the potential is there for growth.

*EFF*

The leader of this party ,Mr Kasonde Mwende is revolutionary but lacks tact.And unlike his mentor ,Malema ,he has no fire power to attract the young people.His ideas and emotional outbursts are just with him .

*UNIP*

To avoid wasting time ,it is just safe to say that UNIP is dead .

*Citizens First*

The CF is the newest political party in Zambia but it is already behaving strongly and positioning itself to convince Zambians for 2026.Harry Kalaba ,the Leader of CF ,is a very determined and focused man .Most people are considering him as replacement for Mr Hichilema . However,the man should avoid being too overconfident .He must genuinely know his political weaknesses and strengths in order for his party to grow.With objective advisers around him ,the man is the future for Zambia. He can make a powerful Republican President .

*NDC*

Madam Saboi Imboela is very vibrant and brave .She can take on anyone and create serious waves but that is just it .Beyond the President ,no one knows another NDC leader and it is difficult ,if not impossible to find leadership structures of NDC in Provinces .It is a Lusaka party ,just like many other parties .

*Socialist Party*
If there is a serious threat to the UPND at the moment ,it is the SP.The Party has attracted serious names ,has structures around the country ,has been consistent in elections and numbers are showing that the formation is having a growth trajectory.If the party will consolidate its grassroot structures and improve its media machinery,it has huge potential to be contenders in 2026 . However,the Party and Mr Fred Membe must clearly tell the people what it wants to do different from the UPND.At the moment,no one knows where the Socialist Party stands on almost all national issues .The party has a lot of community engagements to do . Otherwise,the SP is a serious party to take over state power .

*PAC*

The People’s Alliance for Change was greatly promising but after 2021 ,no one knows where Mr Andyford Mayele Banda has gone .We hope that PAC is not yet dead like UNIP.

*EEP*

The Economic and Equity Party of Chilufya Tayali is a personal Party and only him alone .Off course he has no capacity to mobilize a national grouping and very few Zambians would willingly want to join EEP.That said ,it is important to assert that ,this man alone is more than most parties put together.He makes our politics more dramatic and interesting.He can’t win even bu Counselor but at national level,he causes serious waves .He alone is a political thorn to the UPND and praise singers .

*APC*

The All Congress Party under Mr Nason Msoni is purely a personal business but the man is interestingly and politically magical .He has been around for many years ,knows our politics and cannot be ignored .He makes great political comments and is definitely worthy listening to .

*Economic Front*

The Economic Front is led by Mr Winter Kabimba .It was previously called ,Rainbow Party .The party began well but its current status is very bad .He is very vocal himself and provides great checks and balances but the party starts and ends with him .

*The PF*

In terms of membership and structures,the PF is the biggest opposition in Zambia .After losing power in 2021 ,PF has not recovered from the electoral defeat to UPND . Despite massive infrastructure development, most Zambians have not yet forgiven the party for the alleged ” sins ” it committed between 2011 and 2021 .And looking at the names fronting themselves for PF Presidency later this year ,it will take more than the convention for the PF to begin thinking of grabbing state power from UPND .Off course the manner in which the convention will be done will either break or hold the party together.Equally,the Person who will emerge victorious will either condemn the grouping or help it to believe again.If there is a party that is living more dangerously at the moment,it is the PF .

*CONCLUSION/ WAY* *FORWARD*

As a whole ,the opposition in Zambia is fragmented and weak.They don’t have strong leadership structures in communities .The leaders of these parties are annoyingly selfish and may not come together . This negates the democratic tenet of a strong opposition .

With all the dangerous mistakes UPND is making ,a united and formidable opposition would today be well positioned to mobilize citizens for action.

My advice to the opposition is for them to begin to strengthen their ranks and files so that by late next year,they should come together in a genuine alliance led by either Membe,Kalaba or KBF .Before coming together,they must come up with a common manifesto and common constitution ,to avoid conflicts once in power .

*Authored by Dr Patrick* *Mwanza*

Lusaka ,Zambia*

HH IS WRONG, GARY IS RIGHT- MILES SAMPA

STREET VENDORS IN LUSAKA

By Miles B. Sampa, MP (15.01.2023)

All Lusaka district MPs were yesterday invited for a meeting at Statehouse.
Hon Garry Nkombo and the Secretary to Cabinet Mr Patrick Kangwa made separate direct calls to all of us MPs in the City to attend but unfortunately I could not due to circumstances beyond my control.

President HH addressed them including the City Mayor essentially reversing the Local Government Minister decree that Street vendors vacate CBD by tomorrow to avert risks of Cholera outbreak.

I have seen this script before and was one of the actors as Mayor of the City. Good intentions for the City and it’s people but reversed on orders from up above.

The Minister Nkombo and the President are both right and wrong.
The Minister wants a clean city for health reasons because the effects of a Chorela outbreak are life threatening. Wrong in that people trading on the streets depend on that revenue to feed and take their children to school.

The President is right in that he has opted to priotise the micro economic side of the street vendors pockets for their survival given the harsh economic challenges. He is however wrong in that if Chorela breaks out, some lives may be lost and as it were the blame will be on his desk.

As I have stated before, the topics of town street vendors, clean streets and Chorela risks hardly have a winner. To fix one side, another has to suffer. It needs a government is shrewd. At one point the then President ECL got the soldiers and ZNS to move into town to clean up.

The issue of street vendors is a hot potato as it’s one of the main income sources for party cadres. Be Chester not that the practice is no more. Same as at market and bus stations, they collect daily levies on behalf of ‘the council and party’ in theory but in reality it’s on behalf of their pockets. ‘We put you in power’ entitlement.

Chorela is a real threat to lives and as it turns out in my 3 years as Mayor of the greater city of Lusaka, I recorded zero Chorela outbreak. It was all due to our constant and constant reminder for residents to wash hands regularly, only drink boiled water and avoid shallow wells water especially in Kanyama area.

I can only wish Minister Nkombo and the President best of luck in dealing with the Lusaka street vendors conondrum. In doing so I also wish to remind both on what their promises were on vendors before last general elections. They said they would have zero tolerance for them. I guess now they have done a 360 degrees U-turn. Street vendors are here to stay with all the health risks involved but as always, political expediency seems to always prevail in our Zambian and Africa politics.

MBS15.01.2023

International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva will visit Zambia later this month.

Georgieva on Thursday said she would visit Zambia the week after next.

She also announced that a new global sovereign debt “roundtable” that will include China, other creditors and some borrowing countries will meet for the first time next month on the sidelines of a Group of 20 finance officials meeting in India.

Georgieva will travel to Africa after speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week.

Georgieva, the first person from an emerging market economy to head the International Monetary Fund, told reporters debt relief was critical for heavily indebted nations to avoid cuts in social services and other repercussions.

The Bulgarian economist, who has pushed hard for quicker movement on debt relief, said she would travel to Zambia in two weeks, and hoped the African country would become the second nation after Chad to complete a debt treatment process under the Common Framework.

The framework was set up by the Group of 20 major economies and the Paris Club of official creditors in October 2020 to help countries weather the pandemic crisis, but it has been plagued by long delays.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other Group of Seven have grown increasingly frustrated about what they see as foot-dragging by China in moving forward on debt treatments for countries seeking help.

China, for its part, argues that multilateral institutions should also required to accept reductions in the debt they are owed.

Georgieva said reforms were needed, noting that Ghana was debating whether to seek relief under the G20 Common Framework, but remained concerned about how that process would work and how soon a debt treatment could be agreed.

She said the new roundtable would not substitute for the Common Framework, but would seek to work on transparency, timing of debt treatments, how to set cutoff dates for loans to be considered, and other issues that were not fully resolved.

“The main objective of the roundtable … (is to) bring everybody around the table at the most senior levels,” she said.

“So we had the Common Framework and as it happens, it was this week that it delivered to the fullest, Chad. I’m going to Zambia next week, no, next week, the week after. I really hope Zambia would be the second case. And we know that Ghana is debating whether they should go to the Common Framework. What is the one issue they are concerned about, than anyone is concerned about? Speed and predictability. If we ask for it, do we know how it would work? Do we know what would be the timeline for debt resolution? We have no intention to substitute for the Common Framework,” she said.

She added, “We actually think this roundtable can help the Common Framework by thinking through some of the issues that are still not fully resolved. For example, how do we define a cutoff date for loans to not be considered in restructuring? What is the timeline? From the moment a request is made until a resolution is reached? What is the transparency requirement for the process? This roundtable can help, but the main objective of the roundtable. it is very commonsensical. Bring everybody around the table to discuss these issues at the most senior level. At the ministerial level, at the head of agency level, at the level of private finance CEOs.”

“And in terms of who would participate of the debtor countries, we don’t yet have a full definition of participation. We are going to certainly invite that the countries that are G20 members because our intention is to aim for first meeting of the roundtable at the margins of the G20 finance ministers, central bank governors meeting. But this is this first meeting is also a preliminary meeting. It is for us to come together and reach some common understanding of what we aim to achieve. And then the intention is to have meetings of the roundtable at the margins of Spring meetings and Annual meetings.”

It was not yet clear which borrowing countries would participate, Georgieva added, but the intention was to invite G20 members who were also borrowers, since the inaugural meeting would take place in India at next month’s meeting of G20 finance officials.

Georgieva first discussed the new roundtable last month after a visit to China, noting it would also include private sector creditors and multilateral institutions such as the IMF and World Bank.

The IMF estimates that 60% of low-income countries are in or near debt distress, along with some middle-income countries, but Georgieva said she did not believe the world was facing a systemic debt crisis with contagion risks.

She said she was seeing greater willingness in Beijing – now the world’s largest sovereign creditor – to accept rescheduling of debt or interest rate changes, although officials there remained skeptical about actual debt reductions.

“Of course it is much better if debt reduction is done upfront, not through a reprofiling but with a … haircut,” she said, adding the IMF was continuing discussions with China as lender about the value of having countries actually being able to service their debts.

LEARN FROM LUNGU WHO FAILED TO ACT ON MINISTERS INCOMPETENCE’S, PF MP TELLS HICHILEMA

Hakainde Hichilema should not fall in Edgar Lungu’s trap where he became friends with his ministers and was failing to act on their incompetence’s and allegations of corruption, says Kantanshi member of parliament (PF) Anthony Mumba.

Speaking with Daily Revelation, Mumba warned that if President Hichilema does not decisively act on the various crisis the country is going through, we would only be creating a precedent against himself for 2026.

“He should not fall in the trap of former president Edgar Lungu where ministers became his friends to the extent that he was failing to fire them and we saw what happened in 2021 when the renewal of the contract was made available through an election. People looked at the entire leadership of President Lungu and one of the things that came out clearly is he was failing to make decisions,” Mumba said. “He was failing to act on ministers’ incompetence’s. He was failing to act on ministers that were accused of corruption and people said no no no, if he’s not acting on these then it simply means he’s in agreement with the decisions they have made. So even in this case the President cannot sit back and say because he has formed a task force then that will give us answers.

“No! If he was confident that he had ended load shedding and his speech to parliament when the PF murmured to say uhmmm which load shedding have you ended those investments came from PF he himself went on to say didn’t you leave a debt under this project and I made sure we found money, the contractors finished the work… I have ended load shedding. Now here we are we have gone back to 2016-2017. What will happen to our growth rate?”

Mumba said those skills the President claims to have this was the opportunity to now implement them through his ministers, whom he said were not up to the scratch in terms of what is expected to address the ongoing challenges.

“He has 156 members of parliament. He has also people he can pick outside parliament through the eight that the constitution empowers him. He has to go back to the drawing board before it’s too late because there is only 24 months remaining,” Mumba said, adding… http://dailyrevelationzambia.com/learn-from-lungu-who-failed-to-act-on-ministers-incompetences-pf-mp-tells-hichilema

ZAMBIA EXPORTING 180 MEGAWATTS TO NAMIBIA UNDER A CONTRACT VALUED AT US$500 million

….NamPower has confirmed that Zambia will supply it with uninterupted power to prevent Load-Shedding in NAMIBIA

SOURCE: THE BRIEF

National power utility NamPower maintains Zambia will continue to supply uninterrupted electricity to Namibia despite the neighbouring country enduring excessive load-shedding.

NamPower’s Acting Managing Director Kandali Iyambo told The Brief that Namibia secured a “firm” contract for its supplies, which guarantees uninterrupted power from Zambia.

“What we have with Zambia is firm. Firm means that it’s uninterrupted. It’s not source based. We are not sourcing our power from a specific plant, but from the total portfolio. If you enter into a contract and say its uninterruptable, except for force majeure, which is also specified, then they ought to supply and honour their contract with us because its firm,” Iyambo explained.

Namibia imports 180 megawatts (MW) from Zambia after NamPower secured an additional 80MW from the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) last April, under a 10-year power supply agreement reported to be worth N$8.5 billion (US$500 million).

The reported N$850 million-a-year deal, aims to reduce the country’s dependency on South Africa’s Eskom, which is experiencing acute challenges resulting in Africa’s most developed economy enduring rolling power cuts.

However, Zambia is currently battling a power deficit due a drastic reduction in available water in the Kariba reservoir for electricity generation at Kariba North Bank Power Station, resulting in the introduction of a 12-hour load-shedding.

Although Iyambo was tight-lipped on the exact value of the additional 80MW Namibia is getting from Zambia, she noted that “the value of the agreement depends on which side you are looking at it, because there are other factors that need to be considered on our side, including exchange rate, as we use the Namibia dollar”.

The acting MD ruled out the possibility of the country facing load-shedding due to supply constraints in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, which all export power to Namibia.

“The issue of load-shedding is not foreseeable in the near future at all. It may just mean that NamPower might have to source power from the SAPP to meet the country’s energy demand,” Iyambo said.

As a member of the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP), Namibia, Zambia and other regional utilities assist one another during power supply emergencies. Iyambo stated that in SAPP) members actually assist each other as power utilities. “It’s on the premise that we assist each other as countries or as utilities when the other utility is facing problems,” she said.

Namibia imports a total of 460MW from regional power utilities to meet its daily energy demands of 500MW, and NamPower recently reduced its firm offtake from Eskom by half to only 100MW, with a further non-firm arrangement for 300MW.

In addition, the company is also undertaking five power-generation projects and 11 transmission projects aimed at reducing its reliance on imported electricity, the majority of which will be funded through the power utility’s substantial cash and liquid assets.

DO NOT DISCARD THE ‘JUNKIES’, FIND SOMETHING FOR THEM TO DO – Chrispin Chiinda

….as he counsels Government on how to empower Cooperatives

Lusaka, Saturday, January 14, 2023 ( Smart Eagles )

Socialist Party (SP) Member of the National Committee Chrispin Chiinda has attributed the rapid increase in delinquent youths known as Junkies to high unemployment.

Speaking when he featured on the People’s Debate Programme on Pan African Radio yesterday, Mr Chiinda said most of the Youths who have now turned into junkies engage in illicit activities because they do not have anything to do.

In light of this, Chiinda has been periodicallly organising Draughts and Football Tournaments in Munali Constituency to keep the Youths away from bad vices.

He has however stated that a lasting solution needs to be found in which the Junkies will completely turn away from bad vices and become responsible citizens.

Mr Chiinda, alias Chris Mall, said the Junkies need to be attracted to a business environment where they are getting something.

“Create a business environment for the youths who were found in markets so that they start cleaning the markets and provide security….buta because they have nothing to do, they have become junkies and Crime rate has Increased in communities. Most of these are not educated they are suffering do not have much

“We do not need to neglect such people, we need to ensure that they find something to do. I have visited these guys, they have told me that they also want to learn,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chiinda has urged Government to revisit the criteria and manner in which to empower people in Cooperatives.

Mr Chiinda is of the view that people with similar skills must be grouped together and given the money to increase production.

He said this will prevent a situation where people are forming cooperatives for the sake of doing so.

“If they are plumbers , they need to service a particular sector so that you give them business… if it is capenters for instance , you put them in the category of capenters and give them contract to supply desks to schools,” he said.

Hon. Eng. Peter Chibwe Kapala, the Minister of Energy, has said that electricity has become the highest non-Agro export for Zambia.

In a statement yesterday in which he announced that the New Dawn Government has taken steps to reduce the exports of electricity to other countries by 100MW in order to mitigate the impact of loadshedding on citizens. The reduction is broken down as 40MW cut from the off-peak and standard exports by ZESCO and 60MW from the exports by the Copperbelt Energy Corporation Plc (CEC).

“We understand the difficulties that loadshedding poses to our citizens and we are taking steps to ensure that we balance our power exports with the needs of our citizens,” said Minister Kapala. “Copper remains the highest export earner for Zambia, but there are limited dollars being remitted back into the country due to the nature of mine ownerships and copper trading. However, export earnings from electricity can have a better impact on the economy, including the strengthening of the Kwacha. This is because ZESCO is wholly-owned by the people of Zambia and the company’s foreign earnings will flow back into the country.”

According to the Minister, electricity has become the highest non-Agro export for Zambia. “For example, in March 2022, Zambia made electricity exports of K300 million (about $18 million),” he said. “ZESCO has contracts to supply power to Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia and the DRC totalling 430MW. We are taking steps to ensure that we balance our power exports with the needs of our citizens.”

The Minister went on to provide more details on the figures he mentioned earlier. He said that in March 2022, ZESCO exported 80MW to Botswana Power Corporation, 70MW to SNELL of Congo DR, 100MW to Namibia’s Nampower, and 100MW to Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority. In addition, CEC exported 60MW of power to the DRC. This brings the total exported power to 430MW.

He also added that ZESCO had signed an agreement with Nampower of Namibia to start supplying 80-megawatts of power in addition to the 100-megawatts that the company had been supplying from an earlier agreement signed in 2020. This new agreement allows ZESCO to earn 50 million US Dollars (about K874.4 million at the time of signing) per year for the next 10 years. Similarly, the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) was importing 100 MW from Zambia, under an agreement premised on Zimbabwe making pre-payments for the 100 MW come from Kafue Gorge Lower. The condition precedent is that ZESA has to pay monthly deposits of USD 6.3 million to enjoy the facility.

The Minister acknowledged that the low water levels in the Kariba Dam have forced Kariba North Bank to cut its generation from 1,080MW (1.08GW) to 600MW and this has led to loadshedding. “This situation has been made worse by Maamba Collieries Limited taking off its 150-megawatts generator from supplying the national grid due to routine annual maintenance,” he said.

To address this, the New Dawn Government has asked ZESCO and CEC to reduce their exports to other countries. They have also asked Maamba Collieries Limited to reduce the time to be taken for their routine annual maintenance of their generator so that load shedding is reduced as soon as possible. “We have also asked that Kafue Gorge Lower, Kariba North Bank, and other power stations increase their power generation in order to get rid of loadshedding completely,” said the Minister.

“Whilst the levels at Kariba has started to go up, we have to remember that this is the lowest level of water in the Kariba Dam in the month of January since 1995 and this is due to both climate change and unsustainable usage of water for generation by both Zambia and Zimbabwe over the last 8 years,” he added.

Minister Kapala reassured that he will shortly be updating the public on what the government is doing in the solar energy sector and in the hydro-power sector to get new stations or expansions online. “We are committed to finding sustainable solutions to our energy crisis, and we will work tirelessly to ensure that our citizens have access to reliable power,” he said. He also added that the government has been working on a number of projects that will bring more power to the national grid in the coming months. The Minister said “We are developing new hydro power stations, and we have also been expanding the existing ones. Additionally, we are working on a number of solar energy projects that will be able to generate power for the national grid. These projects will take time to be completed, but we are confident that they will bring the much-needed power to our citizens.”

STOP DISAGREEING WITH HH IN PUBLIC, KANYAMA ADVISES TECHNOCRATS AND HODs

TECHNOCRATS or heads of government agencies should never at any one moment publicly disagree, challenge or rebuttal the Presidency because such often creates communication confusion as has been the case with the Kariba Dam communications gaffes, Chibamba Kanyama has observed.

Mr Kanyama, the governance and communication expert says it was not correct for Zesco board chairman Vickson Ncube and the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) to publicly challenge President Hakainde Hichilema over the state of Kariba Dam.

Mr Kanyama said all heads government agencies such as Zesco, Zambezi River Authority and other parastatals were advisors to President Hichilema and should never contradict the head of State’s statement in a manner it has been happening in the UPND government.

There has been a string of disconnected statements from both the Presidency and the technocrats on the status of Kariba Dam with President Hichilema warning that the dam was leaking with Zesco disputing that in fact there has never been a leakage at the facility.

He said it was against presidential advisory etiquette for technocrats from whom President Hichilema was getting information to openly disagree with the Head of State on a matter he had pronounced himself.

Mr Kanyama stated that President Hichilema recently advised that his office and that of technocrats and other agencies should at all times speak the same language on all matters of governance and development.

“Normally, when the President says something, the government agencies are not expected to disagree or challenge him in public. Even if President Hichilema was wrong or not correct about the status of Kariba Dam, those who are among his advisors should not have disputed what he said in public.

The technocrats as advisors to the President should never at any one moment challenge what the Head of State says in public. Even if they felt that the President was wrong, they should have retreated and investigated the President’s statement and challenge it in private on one to one,” Mr Kanyama said.

He stated that with the communication confusion that has since ensued over the state of Kariba Dam, President Hichilema would have the right to take action against his advisors and remedy the communication gaffes the presidency has been subjected to.

Mr Kanyama explained that President Hichilema was basing his information on what he was being briefed by those tasked to do so and that it was up to the head of State to verify the information through many of his informers.

“The information President Hichilema receives is not only from other sources he has appointed but from an array of technocrats and that the head of State often verified the information he received before making pronouncements.

So when President Hichilema talked about the Kariba Dam leaking, he must have been briefed and had sufficient information and for those who are expected to advise him to choose to challenge him publicly is unacceptable, President Hichilema has all the rights to take action against such advisors,” Mr Kanyama said.

Daily Nation

HICHILEMA SHOULD HAVE FOCUSSED ON SOLUTIONS THAN PRAISING HIMSELF – SICHINGA

Hakainde Hichilema should have been focused on announcing the imminent load shedding and the solutions he had for the same rather than praising himself, says former Commerce minister Bob Sichinga.

Sichinga told Daily Revelation, that the excuse by Zesco board chairperson Ncube that he misled the President was simply an act made to save President Hichilema’s face.

During the last press briefing the President held he challenged anyone to raise a hand if they were experiencing load shedding, and boasting that he had managed to address the problem because of the work he was doing in the background

“If the President does not verify information that comes to him or he wants to justify that he’s a better leader because he solved the problems and then it turns out that he has not even solved the problem it reflects badly on the President himself because he is the one making the statement,” Sichinga said, saying the fact that the President addressed the nation barely seven days before the crippling load shedding started, the matter should have been very serious to have verified throughly and addressed heading into the new year. “Rather than praising himself he should have been saying look we have the following challenges ahead of us in the New year and my government intends to tackle them in this way.”

Sichinga said challenges would always be there for any nation but the key was to resolve what would be done about them, and that the President should have been telling Zambians that because of the challenges, the government would expedite the processes of bringing on stream new sources of power especially those which are not jointly owned.

He said there were so many areas in the country, especially Luapula with its massive water bodies, where additional hydro-power could be generated, including for industrialization.

Sichinga urged President Hichilema to undertake his own projects, adding that his predecessor Edgar Lungu did not start the Kafue Lower but he implemented it and should be given credit for that just as the commissions President Hichilema was undertaking now were not his projects.

On the argument by Zesco board chairman Ncube that he misled the President, Sichinga wondered why Ncube could have misled the President, especially that the head of state has got many methods of verifying issues in his own described ‘methodical ethos’.

He said even if at State House they may not have power shortages, verification could simply be done by asking a few people from the compounds and townships, saying the journalists simply did not confront him on the issue on account of being polite and also because opportunity was given for people to asks questions but not follow up ones.

“And the reason why Mr Ncube is there is because the President knows him personally from the industry from which the President was operating…the question Mr Ncube must answer is why did he mislead the President? What was his objective?” Sichinga asked. “So it seems to me he’s simply taking this in order to deflect criticism against the President because the President himself could have called the intelligence…minister to say can you people verify before he made that statement. As far as I am concerned it’s clear that he’s looking to save the President’s face.”

Sichinga further wondered why it had to take the President to go to Maamba and not his minister or even Ncube to verify the matter before he told the President.

“To cut power by 12 hours is a serious matter that should have thoroughly done by the technocrats. You cannot expect the President to do the jobs the ministers, the technocrats should be doing,” said Sichinga, adding that Ncube should in fact resign if he was genuine with his claim that he misled the President.

More @ www.dailyrevelationzambia.com

COST OF LIVING IN LUSAKA GOES UP, SAYS JCTR
…as Charcoal fetches K1080 per 90kg from K750
By New Dawn Report
THE Cost of living in Lusaka has increased by K400 for a family of five people from K8, 567 to K8, 982 for the month of December respectively.

According to the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR), the high cost of living in Lusaka has been attributed to the increase in food and non-food items.

JCTR Social and Economic Development (SED) Programme Manager, Muchimba Siamachoka has observed that the other contributing factor is the loadshedding which has a great impact in most households.
“The cost of living for a family of five as measured by the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) Basic Needs and Nutrition Basket (BNNB) for the month of December 2022 in Lusaka stood at K8,982.82. This reflects a K 415.62 increase from the K8567.2 recorded in November, 2022.

The upward movement in the basket is attributed to increased prices in food items. The basket also noted a significant increase in the non-food items section specifically charcoal,” Siamachoka said.

Siamachoka also explained that the country recorded an upwards adjustment of petroleum products while the Kwacha continued depreciating against major covetable foreign currencies.

“JCTR notes that the pump price of petroleum products saw an upward adjustment with the kwacha having depreciated against major currencies such as the dollar and the pound sterling. These elements consequently affected price rises,” said the programme manager.
And JCTR is concerned that load shedding will have a negative impact on the most vulnerable people in the country, especially given the high cost of living.

As already observed, according to the JCTR BNNB data, the price of charcoal in December went up by K330 from K750 (K375.00/90kg bag) to K1080 (K540.00/90kg).

“Generally, the price of charcoal goes up during the wet season when the product becomes scarce due to the fact that wood takes longer to dry than it does during the dry. With few or no viable alternatives to charcoal, the commencement of load shedding will inevitably increase demand and affect commodity prices. On the other hand, the need to protect the environment and find alternatives remains critical in the fight against the climate crisis,” noted JCTR.

JCTR is also particularly concerned about the plight of individuals who run medium and small medium enterprises (MSMEs) that rely heavily on electricity, such as saloons, barbershops, and welding businesses.

FORGET PF WILL NEVER COME BACK – IMENDA

By New Dawn Reporter
ZAMBIANS know that the PF will not bounce back in power again and therefore, nobody would want to waste time talking about them, especially after the destruction they caused to the country, UPND deputy secretary general Gertrude Imenda has said.

Imenda said the PF had destroyed this country and that Zambians should be thankful to President Hakainde Hichilema who is now correcting and repairing what the former regime destroyed.

Commenting on the public outcry over increased loadshedding by Zesco, failure to distribute fertilizers to farmers, high prices of mealie meal and high cost of petrol and diesel, Imenda said President Hichilema is on the right track to correct what the PF had damaged.

She explained that those complaining were PF as they were used to free things and stealing from public office.

Imenda said President Hichilema has done a lot in one year and some few months he has been in government, comparing to what the PF did in 10 years.

She said if the PF thinks they would come back to rule this country, they should forget as their time is gone.

“Firstly, the PF will never come back, no matter what happens, Zambians voted them out and they will not vote them back. They should forget about coming back, that is history. And Zambians should be thankful to President Hichilema who has given them freedom, people are now free to insult the President in the manner they want. Zambians should be thankful to President Hichilema as he is on the right track to correct the mess the PF left,” she said.

Imenda said Zambians should now work hard and achieve what they did not achieve in the last ten years of the PF rather than waiting for free things.

“The PF wanted Zambians to depend on handouts, but things have changed now, we want a citizenry that focuses on development and not handouts. Fuel in much cheaper now compared if Zambians could have voted back the PF, fuel would have been very expensive by now,” she said.

MUNDUBILE VOWS TO BRING UNITY IN PF.

…says he would strengthen the party structures aswel.

Lusaka… Friday, January 13, 2023 (Smart Eagles)

PF presidential hopeful Hon Brian Mundubile says he would be the right face for the party’s rebranding.

The Mporokoso Lawmaker said when he featured on radio Phoenix’s “Let the People Talk” program that one of the things he brings to the party is unity.

Hon Mundubile explained that he is vying for party’s top job at this particular time because of the vacancy that is there.

“There is a vacancy. Leadership sometimes is inspired by those that lead, those that should be led. Every other leader in their own rights aspire for higher position some day and sometimes it doesn’t even come within the time that you plan to do so.”

“The rebranding process started last year. prior to that, there was what we called a postmortem report that highlighted some of the areas that could have caused the loss of the election in 2021. So as a party, with the acting President we started attending to those issues.”

Other than the unity, the lawmaker said he would strengthen the party structures.

He added that he will not struggle to add value to the party.

“Your question now is would I be the right person to carry the face of that rebrand? I think I am. What I bring to the table as a person would be unity in the party. And further I would also bring about strengthening the party structures,” he said.

“So these are some of the attributes that come with me as a person naturally. I will not struggle to add value to the party.”

The potential PF president said he believes in the advancement of aspirations of those who are marginalised in society.

“What I believe in is the advancement of aspirations of the disadvantaged, the poor people, the marginalised. And that is the reason why I identify myself with the PF because this is the party that has pro-poor policies,” he said.

“So coming from a humble background myself, I feel, having been privileged to be in the leadership of the party, I can help to stand in the gap.”

ACC CLEARS THABO KAWANA

THE Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has cleared Ministry of Information and Media director Thabo Kawana over the purchase of brand new motor vehicle for his wife at Southern Cross Motors.

According to ACC head of Corporate Communication Timothy Moono, the Commission had instituted investigations into the source of funding for the purchase of a motor vehicle by Mr Kawana.

He said that the investigations established that Mr Kawana obtained a loan on 15th November 2022 from the Public Service Micro Finance Company amounting to K594, 277 to facilitate the purchase of a motor vehicle GWM P-Series.

“These funds were distributed directly to Southern Cross Motor, Therefore investigations shows that there is no corruption in the manner the vehicle was procured as the source of funding was verified and found to be legal,” he said.

Mr Kawana recently bought his wife a brand new GWM P-Series worth US$52,283 as a Christmas present from Southern Cross.

However the move resulted in Governance and Youth activist Charles Kakula reporting Mr Kawana to the ACC.

Mr Kakula said the country was aware that Mr Kawana was a driver before he was appointed into government and he had worked in the civil service less than two years and that his salary scale could not enable him to acquire such a vehicle.

“How can he buy that expensive vehicle costing $52, 283 when his salary scale is G which simply means he gets paid K15, 000 as a Director,” Mr Kakula said.

Mr Kawana’s move also unsettled some members of the UPND like Lusaka Province Information and Publicity Secretary Matomola Likwanya who criticised Mr Kawana for buying a luxurious vehicle for his wife when many youths were suffering.
Mr Likwanya said that it was unfortunate that Mr Kawana could buy a car worth US$60, 000 translating to K1, 074, 600 when many youths who suffered to usher in this government had not yet started benefitting.

“If you have such amounts of money to buy such an expensive vehicle then how much do you have in your account because you can’t just buy a vehicle and completely remain with nothing in your account,” he said.

Daily Nation

THE TRAIN LONG LEFT AND THERE ARE OTHERS WHO STILL THINK ITS COMING BACK.

“Those of us who look into the face of reality with clarity, noticed long before the elections that the PF had overstayed their welcome.

They had turned the country into a mafia state where only the strong and politically powerful would survive. The qualification for one to get any government job or business was to be a staunch PF cadre.

If you hard muscles and mastered the art of foul language, that moved you even closer. Tenderpreneurship became the most lucrative profession.

Education and professionalism was thrown off the window. literally, even the most educated amongst us, started doubting if indeed education was the equalizer.

We witnessed street and corporate cadres. If you were a civil servant and did not do the bidding of these cadres, you lost your job without any compensation or explanation.

The PF developed a very strong and efficient parallel system to the bureaucracy that far exceeded the laters performance. It was so well structured that it became a way of life.

The cadres were split into three tiers. At the very base and peripheral of the food chain, were the intolerable and dangerous headless soldiers and their commanders.

Their orders were very clear; to inflict severe pain and terror to those who opposed the new system. With their demeanor and their well chiseled muscles, they conquered and ruled.

They collected money and any valuables from the markets, bus stations, booths and from business houses. If you did not comply, you risked loosing both your business and in some cases your very life.

The commanders were well tutored to ensure the money collected did not just get into the pockets of these foot soldiers but that it reached the highest echelons of their political structures.

The second level of cadres was the tenderpreneurs. These were educated and experienced professionals in all fields.

They had become loyal to the new system and created efficiencies never seen in the civil service before. They literally took over the procurement processes of all government ministries, departments, agencies and even private companies.

The procurement officers were recruited to the new system and they had to carry out the orders of these corporate cadres to the very last detail. It’s crucial to understand that these were not mere bystanders, they were accomplices who knew well their tasks and the rewards that came with them.

The system became rigged, corruption institutionalized and ethical business practices thrown off the window. Tenders were shared in bars and lodges and restaurants in the dark hours of the innocent night.

These quickly became the new middle class and some even graduated to the cream of our elite society. These are the ones who supplied air and sometimes they even supplied government with dreams.

On two occasions I recall how government paid millions of dollars for a kiln to a European company that soon after receiving the money, liquidated itself and disappeared in thin air. On another occasion we paid for electricity that we never got.

This became the order of the day. The new parallel system, was so efficient that in some instances, people were paid 25% down payment before even contracts were signed.

Government institutions and civil servants became puppets of the new system and its masters. If you did not comply, your days weren’t numbered but cut shot.

The third tier of caderism was at the very highest level. It involved the ministers, PSs, presidential aides, CEOs of parastatals, Directors and senior government officials.

This tier, was the consummate corporate cartel that plundered this nation to its knees. This tier worked with big Chinese and other foreign and local firms to defraud the country.

It is this tier that bought us fire tenders, the jet, the ambulances, the radar system, obsolete security equipment, the bogus digital migration, the defunct road cameras…. The list is endless.

These big deals are facilitated by the people who flew first class and sometimes on presidential planes.

The kickbacks were done in Dubai were they opened accounts and once the deal was sealed, the money never came to Zambia but deposited into those offshore accounts.

This is a glimpse of how deep rooted this new system had become. It was institutionalized and entrenched. The civil service proper, became a shadow of itself.

So the reason we’re here today is because of this picture above. The system of economic management totally collapsed and a new system of patronage grew rapidly.

To think that you can turn around this within a year or two is failure to understand just how deeply rooted our problems had become.

This was not just a system failure but a value system failure. Most of the UPND cadres, admired and still do, the lifestyle of their predecessors.

This is the reason why most people are disappointed with the administration. They hoped by now, it would be their turn to enjoy the spoils.

There are UPND senior officials who want to hide behind cadres and claim that the people are not happy that cadres are not benefiting from government. It’s not just the cadres, it’s the officials too. They want the same benefits that came with belonging to PF.

This will be the greatest challenge president HH will face. He may end up alone trying to correct this systemic failure. He may become a lone general in this battle against corruption and battle for survival.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that most UPND members, including some of the leaders, were just envious of the lavish lifestyle of their predecessors.

They want to also enjoy the spoils. Unfortunately, it won’t be long before president HH tires on this fight. We may get to the now new normal of the three tier cadre system.

As for the PF, regardless of how much propaganda they try to mount, unfortunately the train left and it’s not coming back. There are new cadres in town and they will do everything in their powers to take over the systems.

Be rest assured that these UPND cadres you are now laughing at will have the last melodious laugh. Some have already tested the tempting sweet side of the honeycomb and believe it or not, they won’t let go.

I must admit that, what was lost in the previous regime was not just business ethics but our value systems became severely compromised. This is the most difficult reconstruction that president HH and his team will have to struggle to restore.

I doubt that they have enough time to change people’s mindsets in the short period of Five years as per the mandate from the people of Zambia. They will need another 5 years to turn around this boat to the right shore.

To the PF, the train long left and it’s never coming back. Accept your new reality and quickly realign yourselves. Life in opposition is tough. Good luck lads.”

McPherson Mutale