CIVIL servants who are resisting change and frustrating the UPND administration by being bureaucratically unhinged shall not be allowed to remain in the civil service as they will be replaced, President Hakainde Hichilema has warned.

President Hichilema says there are people who are in the civil and public service who do not want to accept that there is a change of government and work with his new dawn administration, thereby frustrating the implementation of its programmes.

Mr Hichilema has said that such people shall be replaced by those willing to work for Zambians.

On Tuesday, Civil Service Commission Chairperson Peter Mumba admitted that an unknown number of civil servants that includes directors from various ministries have been consigned to what is called holding positions after they were asked to vacate their offices without reasons.

This was after National Democratic Congress (NDC) president Saboi Imboela revealed that the UPND government had removed more than 300 civil servants including 76 directors from their positions and have been consigned to Cabinet Office’s holding position awaiting their inevitable fate of either being separated or retired in national interest as the case may be.

The more than 300 civil servants are said to have already been replaced by people perceived to be sympathisers or members of the UPND, some of whom are believed to be ill qualified serve for being supports of the governing party or hailing from preferred selected regions.

And now, President Hichilema has announced his government shall dispense with civil servants perceived to be resisting change that public service workers should know that they are employed to work for the people.

Mr Hichilema said that the UPND was voted into power on the premise of uniting the nation because according to him, the past 10 years under the PF was regionally polarised.

He said that citizens should rally behind the UPND as it was an organisation that had brought Zambians together and that unity and harmony had returned to a country that he says was regionally and ethnically divided in the last decade.

President Hichilema also disclosed that the second year of his tenure of office would be spent on looking after the grassroots from where there has been a lot of apprehension on the belief that the UPND had abandoned the youth.

“Those in the public service, please remember that we are servants of the people. The first one year was to bring credibility and develop a strong relationship with our neighbouring countries.

“In the second year in office, I will spend 60 to 70 percent of my time to look after the grassroots. Cabinet will this year look at supporting the women, the youth, small-scale businesses and other groupings. We want small businesses to grow and get contracts…I am watching what is happening,” President Hichilema said.

The President added that his administration was determined to change the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) guidelines to ensure projects are not delayed.

He said the government was relaxing the CDF laws and that a committee had already been set in place to unlock the rigidities surrounding the fund.

And Mr Hichilema has urged party members in Southern Province to embrace new members who were joining the ruling party because the party had to continue growing even if it was in government

He said that new members were important in growing the party ahead of the 2026 general elections.- Daily Nation

MONDE WANTS TO FACE HH ON THE BALLOT

….says Bally should be proud to hand over power to someone he once called “my boy”

Lusaka, Wednesday, November 30, 2022 (Smart Eagles)

PF presidential hopeful Greyford Monde says he would love to be on the same ballot paper with President Hakainde Hichilema.

Featuring on Lusaka Music Radio today, Hon Monde expressed optimism that the Head of State would be proud to hand over power to someone he once called “my boy.”

Hon Monde, who was once in the UPND said President Hichilema would not be selfish to remain as President forever.

“I would really want to see President HH and I on the same ballot paper. I am sure he is going to be very happy and proud that from his political party, and probably one of the people he called my boy is now the one taking over,” he said.

“And I am sure he would be happy to hand over power without a problem, to me because I think at that stage he will know that the contribution he made in me to a certain extent is what is going to be exhibited. I don’t think that he would want to be selfish, to remain a President forever and that he would not want anyone to take over from him.”

Reacting to those that are alleging that he stole the money he used to apply as a candidate for the PF Presidency, Hon Monde said such people least expected him to participate in such a race.

“Everyone speaking like this (saying that I stole the K200,000) for the PF presidential nomination) where can Monde get the money? Whether its envy or jealous, I don’t know but I think much more is that they are threatened but my coming on the platform,” he said.

“I think they least expected that a person like myself can come on such a platform and challenge for this position. I want to say to you that you are in for a game with Greyford Monde.”

Meanwhile, Hon Monde has called on all well-meaning Zambians to support him as he wrestles his way to the party’s top job.

He said that he wants to be a torch bearer for the young people.

“From the beginning, I have always been the youngest on a list of those that would want to contest. When I wanted to be the MP I was the youngest, people said what they said, eventually I became MP,” he said.

“When I became MP again I was the youngest in the cabinet. I want to tell you that all of this was not achieved through myself, it is through the support of those that are speaking, those that are encouraging me to do more. The young people, I want to be your torch bearer, I want to be that person who you should be saying if he can make it I can also make it.”

PF SHOWS NO SYMPATHY FOR KAISER ZULU

By Scoop Reporter

IT seems Edgar Lungu’s political advisor Kaizer Zulu had created a lot of enemies within and outside the Patriotic Front as most of the members from the former ruling party have shown no sympathy for the incarcerated former untouchable bully.

In one of the WhatsApp groups, one member raised concern over reports that PF members are not visiting Mr. Zulu, a message which drew an ire from most of the group members who said KZ was pompous and a danger to society and that those who wish to visit him are free to do so.

Here is the initial post which generated debate:

“I have seen so many posts about someone called Kaizer Zulu not being visited in police cells by PF leaders. Can we also be told when the same person visited other PF members who have been in police cells before. Do unto others as you would like them do unto you because what goes around comes around!” one person wrote.

Here are some responses:

1. Kaizer Zulu did a lot of crimes. Why charge him only three crimes? He beat a woman at Longacres Filling Station, he beat a school bus driver with children in the bus, etc, etc., he deserves multiple charges.

2. Ubwafya yalifye ni lock him up ninshi wangena iwe… Fire him ninshi wayenda iwe… Give her a job ninshi wangena nchito iwe..

3. Envy breeds hate and many wished they could be KZ, wished they could do KZ.. so when he fell, many rejoiced. Him being locked up, many are happy. He is one of those many people openly expressed that they were looking forward to him getting locked up. Others are Bowman (that is why there has been no sympathy after the Kabushi injustice), Davis Mwila, Kampyongo, ECL, Kamba… These people will never get a lot of genuine sympathy because the public has been very open.

4. Every dog has its day as the saying goes. This thug will now face justice for multiple crimes and not just beating people… Let God help him, he hurt a lot of people because of his behaviour and today he has met his fate.

MSONI WARNS HICHILEMA OVER THE SALE OF THE PRESIDENTIAL JET

By New Dawn Reporter
THE sale of the Presidential jet, will deliver prisoners in 2016, All Peoples Congress (APC) president Nason Msoni has warned.

And PF presidential aspirant Emmanuel Mwamba says the sale of the jet will be illegal without parliamentary approval.

Mwamba says before President Hakainde Hichilema sells the Presidential Jet, he needs to familiarize himself with Article 210(2) of the Constitution of Zambia( Amendment) No.2 of 2016.

“The said article requires that before a major state asset is disposed off, it be preceded by Parliament signifying approval by a two-third majority vote!

The Presidential Gulf Stream G650 Jet, qualifies to be a major state asset especially that it was bought at the huge cost of $120million.( President Hichilema states that US$193million was used)

The contract signed in in April 2017 between the Government of the Republic of Zambia (Ministry of Defence) and Elbit Systems Ltd(DIB NO. MOD/MPC/024-17) shows that the Jet was bought at US$70million,” he said.

Mwamba further says the contract shows that the VIP Aircraft was later fitted with aircraft defense system and poor weather landing systems that cost a further $50million. The contract was financed by a loan from Israel Discount Bank Ltd,” he said.

He said listening to President Hichilema declaring that he has almost sold the Jet, raises alarm as such a sale will be totally illegal and a serious constitutional breach if Parliament doesn’t approve the sale.

And APC President Nason Msoni has warned that those that will sell the jet will go to prison in 2026.

“I fear that potentially the sale of the Presidential jet may deliver prisoners in 2026.
The selling of the jet would amount to exercising poor judgment and the resultant proceeds may end up in individual pockets,” he said.

Msoni the UPND-Alliance partner said given the fact that the other presidential jet (challenger ) is now ageing it is a good idea that the G650 is not sold for strategic reasons.

“The sale process might render Zambia making a huge loss and possibly getting less than half of the purchase price as much of the money will go to appointed agents and ultimately the money will end up in the hands of politicians. In a nutshell we are better off keeping the jet than selling it as the money will just vanish in thin air,” he said.

Msoni noted that the past experience in such sells Zambia had lost out in all such transactions due to its greedy and unpatriotic citizens who connive with outsiders to rob their own country.

UPND MUST WORRY ABOUT MUTINTA MAZOKA’S RESIGNATION – TEMBO

By New Dawn Reporter
FEIRA Member of Parliament Emmanuel Tembo says Mutinta Mazoka’s exit from the ruling UPND signifies the kind of negative leadership exhibited there in.

Emmanuel Tembo says it is shocking that the daughter of the founding father of the party in power opted out adding that the decision must have been necessitated by frustrations.

Tembo adds that the UPND must worry about her resignation because her exit is an indirect protest indicating that she is not happy with its leadership.

He said it is concerning that the UPND did not consider Mazoka for political space regardless of the many times she tried to contest as Member of Parliament.

“Since UPND came into power, there has been a lot of economic and political problems and she is protesting to say that you are not running the country properly, this is not what my father stood for. And indeed they should take her resignation seriously because it is an indication that there is something serious going on in the country. She decided to leave so that she makes a point. She may not have ironed out her reasons but it should be taken seriously. It is not a ward chairman’s resignation we are talking about, but a daughter of a founding father of the UPND and a member of National Management,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tembo has described the hike in fuel prices as a huge failure on the part of the UPND who not long ago promised cheap fuel.

He said the increase is an indication that the UPND leadership has completely failed to run the country.

He said it is sad that many Zambians believed President Hakainde Hichilema’s lies and calculations while in opposition.

He has however charged that the country is now being run by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) adding that the current events are not home-grown but decisions made by IMF.

“Mr. Hakainde when he was in opposition made a number of calculations that he would remove excise duty and reduce fuel prices and over 2.8 Zambians believed him. So you can see that this fuel increase is an indication of someone failing to run the country lamentably.
Further you see even the price of mealiemeal is going to k200 as opposed to what he promised. There is a general failure to run this economy and I can tell you that these are not Zambia’s home- grown decisions but it’s the IMF because they have given powers to IMF so the IMF is now the president of Zambia,” said Tembo.

EMBARRASSING PUPPETEERING!
By Fred M’membe, President of the Socialist Party

On March 29-30, 2023, the United States will co-host the second Summit for Democracy with the governments of Costa Rica, the Netherlands, Republic of Korea, and Republic of Zambia.

But what democracy can the United States government really promote or advance for an African country?

How many of our elected leaders and governments has the United States toppled and killed?

On February 24, 1966, the fate of Africa was irrevocably altered when the United States CIA sponsored a coup d’état against Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the elected Prime Minister of Ghana and Pan-Africanist visionary, who was voted “Africa’s Man of the Millennium”. At least 1,600 Ghanaians died in the coup.

In 1999, these claims were confirmed when the US government declassified the Western-orchestrated plot to get rid of the man who was, “doing more to undermine our interests than any other black African”.

The US government was determined to depose Dr Nkrumah before he managed to unite Africa under one government, working with allies such as Great Britain and Canada to finance, mastermind, and guide the coup.

According to the US State Department at the time, Nkrumah’s “overpowering desire to export his brand of nationalism unquestionably made Ghana one of the foremost practitioners of subversion in Africa”.

They were behind the toppling and assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the elected Prime Minister of Congo.

Files of importance to the CIA mission to assassinate Lumumba include the 1975-76 US Senate Church Committee’s investigation of CIA assassination plots against Lumumba, the report of a Belgian parliamentary inquiry in 2001, Congo Station Chief Larry Devlin’s 2007 memoir, and the long-awaited appearance in 2013 of a “retrospective” Congo volume in the State Department’s Foreign Relations of the United States series, which contains extensive CIA operational documents from the 1960s.

They played a key role in the toppling and assassination of Muamar Gaddafi.

The list is long, and their endless efforts at regime change in Zimbabwe are well known. To this very day they are still seeking regime change there.

Since the 19th century, the United States government has participated and interfered in – both overtly and covertly – the replacement of several foreign governments. In the latter half of the 19th century, the US government initiated actions for regime change mainly in Latin America and the southwest Pacific, including the Spanish-American and Philippine-American wars.

At the onset of the 20th century, the United States shaped or installed governments in many countries around the world, including neighbours Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

The United States expanded the geographic scope of its actions beyond traditional area of operations, Central America and the Caribbean. Significant operations included the United States and United Kingdom-orchestrated 1953 Iranian coup d’état, the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion targeting Cuba, and support for the overthrow of Sukarno by General Suharto in Indonesia. In addition, the US has interfered in the national elections of countries, including Italy in 1948, the Philippines in 1953, Japan in the 1950s and 1960s and Lebanon in 1957. According to one study, the US performed at least 81 overt and covert known interventions in foreign elections during the period 1946–2000. According to another study, the US engaged in 64 covert and six overt attempts at regime change.

The United States has led or supported wars to determine the governance of a number of countries – Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria.

Again, what democracy can the United States really teach us or advance in our poor countries?

This is the country the Zambian government of Mr Hakainde Hichilema has hired itself to as a puppet. What a shame! What an embarrassment!

What democracy are they advancing or promoting with the United States? The AFRICOM type of democracy!

We urge them to retreat from this embarrassing neocolonial mentality and imperialist puppet, lackey behaviour.

They are stripping our country and our people of the anti-imperialist badge of honour they have worn since independence. For what? We have become the continent’s laughing stock.

PRESIDENT HICHILEMA POSES AS A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER TO OUR NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY

…Prince Chanda..✍🏽🙏🏾🇿🇲🦅🙏🏾
What hurts deep about our president is that he has no shame lying with a straight face. His insatiable desire to hoodwink without shame highly admirable.

It was better if Hichilema as president didn’t give farmers 8 bags of fertilizer he promised because we knew he was lying out of sheer ignorance but reducing the package further from where PF left it is extremely worrying and dangerous for this nation’s food security.

Musokotwane his finance minister is a master in fictitious economics, he misled RB, he managed to con a fictitious single inflation digit without anything to show as the case should have been. He managed to control exchange rates just on paper without any of it’s positive effects trickling down to the people. He messed RB and we had to wire RB, Sata was being declared winner while shangombo was still voting and many other areas votes were still counting. Hichilema asakamane.

Every nation has remnants, what should the remnants do when it is the commander in chief who posses a threat to nation security, peace, unity and now food SECURITY ? Do they have a spine to bring him back in rail or ask him to resign? Do they have better options that are democratic? It is their call to search their conscious and work for the cause of motherland and not for applauds from him, that is wholly unanticipated from them. They ought to help him and ASAP!

Hichilema was too ignorant of governance and the way things were being done in the country and one wonders what his 13 straight years in opposition amounted to if it’s not even anything to help him just do one thing correct with HUMILITY . Why doesn’t it bother him that he has turned out just as people feared?

He couldn’t understand in 13 years that this nation has regions that experience good rainfall patterns like the northern blocks, when government gave more farming inputs to the regions with good rainfall patterns , and somehow less where the rainfall pattern is bad, he came and saw a strategic manouvers that was aimed at securing the nation with proper food stock discrimination and attempted to do what would cost this nation foodwise in few months.

When southern was hit with hunger due to drought , Hichilema wanted Zambia to declare hunger situation as national disasters to attract foreigners to come in with handouts even when other regions within could feed southern as the case was. ECL stood the ground that we had enough food and we wouldn’t insult ourselves in such a fashion in the global eye.

This should be noted, the move not to give farmers enough inputs could be a decoy to deliberately let Zambia face hunger as national disasters for this regime to receive handouts. This is excruciatingly embarrassing as the writing on the hunger situation are on the wall for Zambia.
I remain Hardliner 🇿🇲

STATE VS GIVEN LUBINDA COURT PROCEEDINGS 24TH AND 25TH NOVEMBER 2022

CASE BACKGROUND
Between the years 2018 and 2019 Mr. Given Lubinda contracted private loans against his properties located in Chilenje and the loan was disbursed to him in amounts of $50,000, $100,000 and $80,000 through his ABSA bank account. The receipt dates being 3rd March 2018, 2nd February 2019 and 23rd December 2019 respectively. It is these amounts that the state reasonably suspects to be proceeds of crime.

DEFENSE LAWYERS
Kennedy Kaunda, Anthony Mwila from Kaunda Kaunda & Mwila Legal Practitioners and Makebi Zulu, Nkhula Botha, Francis Daka and Emmanuel Phiri, from Makebi Zulu Advocates.

COURT PROCEEDINGS
On 24th November 2022 the Economic and Crimes court heard from an ABSA Relationship Manager Mupeta N’gambi (a state witness) who confirmed that the loan amounts being suspected to be proceeds of crime where received through ASBA Bank. Mr N’gambi during cross examination testified that given the level of business activity conducted by Mr Lubinda through ABSA Bank for the last 25 years (since 1997) there was nothing unusual about the three transactions which were before the court for scrutiny because had their been any suspicions by the bank the three transactions as per the law would have been reported to the Financial Intelligence Centre.

Another state witness Agatha Banda a Chief Registrar at the Ministry of Lands testified that her Ministry did not have any data relating to the properties which the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) was making inquiries on. During cross examination by the defense lawyers Ms Banda was asked if she was aware that there was no such plot number in Zambia as 22/27 because the plot number presented to her by ACC was incomplete something she should have noticed as Chief registrar at the Ministry of lands. Ms Banda narrated that the warrant of access from the ACC specifically stated that the desired information related to properties on plot number 22/27 Chilenje. She stated that she requested the ACC to avail her more details relating to the said properties to enable her search further but unfortunately the ACC went mute on her. When further asked if she was aware that the said three properties in question were under the jurisdiction of Lusaka City council who in this case were the ones that issued the certificates of title for the properties Ms Banda responded in the affirmative.

On 25th November 2022 the court heard a further state witness a Relationship Manager of FNB who testified and confirmed that Mr Lubinda held an account with FNB.
VERBATIM EXCERPTS
Lawyer Kennedy Kaunda: witness can you confirm that the bank statements you have presented before this Honorable court are part of your evidence ?

Witness: yes they are my evidence .

Lawyer Kennedy Kaunda: Witness do you know the counts that Hon Lubinda is facing in this court?

Witness: No I don’t .

Lawyer Kennedy Kaunda: so you have brought evidence for a case you don’t know?

Witness: I was just told by the ACC to print them and present them as evidence.

Lawyer Kennedy Kaunda: When did you print the statements that you have presented before this Honorable Court?

Witness: I printed the statements this morning because I was asked to do so by the ACC.

Lawyer Kennedy Kaunda: witness do you know that Hon Lubinda started appearing before this Honorable court sometime in March 2022?

Witness: No I am not aware.

Lawyer Kaunda : No further questions Your Honor

Lawyer Makebi Zulu: witness are you aware that FNB is renting Hon Given Lubinda’s property in Chilenje?

Witness: yes I am aware!

Lawyer Makebi Zulu: Where is the property located ?

Witness: At Chilenje market somewhere there.

Lawyer Makebi Zulu: Do you know that FNB is paying about $10,000 in rentals per month?

Witness: no I do not know because I am not privy to that information unless my superiors.

Lawyer Makebi Zulu: Witness with that level of rental income from FNB alone do you think Hon Given Lubinda would fail pay back the loans he contracted from China Africa Cotton Limited and Qingdao Ruichang Cotton Industrial Company Limited looking at the fact that FNB alone as one of the occupants of one his properties in Chilenje was paying rentals of about $10,000 per month.

Witness: He can not fail to service the loans.

Lawyer Makebi Zulu: That’s all from me Your Honor.

A further state witness a Legal Officer at Lusaka City Council Ms Tawonga Kaonga took the stand to testify. Ms Kaonga told the court that she was the custodian of certificates of title at the council and that the property in question did not belong to Mr Given Lubinda but belonged to Jaffer Khalid Shalam and Sahera Shanty Shanan. During cross examination Ms Kaonga failed to substantiate her claims despite having a file filled with documents with her.

VERBATIM EXCERPTS

Lawyer Emmanuel Phiri: Good morning witness?

Witness: Good morning Sir.

Lawyer Emmanuel Phiri: In which department do you work at the Council?

Witness:The Legal department Sir

Lawyer Emmanuel Phiri: For how long have you worked with the council ?

Witness: More than 10yrs

Lawyer Emmanuel Phiri: That’s all from me Your Honor.

Lawyer Nkhula Botha : witness you told the court that you work in the legal department at the council right?

Witness: Yes Sir

Lawyer Nkhula Botha : What qualification do you hold ?

Witness: I hold a Diploma in law from the National Institute Of Public Administration.

Lawyer Nkhula Botha : You claim that the property against which Hon Lubinda contracted the loan belongs to Jaffer Khalid Shalam and Sahera Shanty Shanan and yet the certificate of title bears the names Given Lubinda?

Witness. Yes… because in my office we keep the history of records from the first owner to the current owner.

Lawyer Nkhula Botha : Have you brought a copy of a certificate of title to prove to the court that this property in question belongs to Jaffer Khalid Shalam and Sahera Shanty Shanan?

Witness : No Sir

Lawyer Nkhula Botha : Thats all from me Your Honor .

Lawyer Makebi Zulu: witness would you agree with me that at times there are filing discrepancies at the council ?

Witness : Yes it’s possible.

Lawyer Makebi Zulu: So let’s get to the crack of things and refer to your file shall we! Does the law allow foreigners to own property?

Witness: Kindly just rephrase your question Sir.

Lawyer Makebi Zulu: Can a foreigner own property in this country?

Witness : yes they can.

Lawyer Makebi Zulu: very well, would I be correct to say you do not have all the documents required before this Honorable Court to prove your claims.

Witness: Yes Sir

Lawyer Makebi Zulu: Your Honor I would like to request the court that the witness brings before the court all documentation from the council relating to the properties in question as there is clearly confusion as to which property belongs to who and which property relates to the mortgage.

The court adjourned and requested Ms Tawonga Kaonga to gather all documents necessary to the matter. Trial continues on 19th January 2023.

ZAMBIAN PARLIAMENT IS BACKWARD ON RATIFICATION OF APPOINTEES

By Isaac Mwanza

There has been a long tradition of secrecy at Parliament on the ratification of persons appointed to hold offices, and which are subject to ratification by the National Assembly.

The media has never been allowed to cover ratification proceedings of appointees. Even appointees themselves are not present when witnesses are testifying on their suitability to hold office.

The scrutiny of appointees should never be a secret matter. It was in colonial times but many years after end of colonialism, we cannot have such secrecy proceedings in Parliament, the Peoples House.

But one cannot be surprised by what is happening at our Parliament. Even the recent debates where the freedom to debate among members is gagged, the behaviour by the Speaker and her two deputies to descend from their honourable chair to begin defending the Executive when the Executive are pressed to the corner speaks much about our National Assembly.

What has been happening in Parliament violates an MP’s freedom of speech and debate protected by Article 76(1) of the Constitution which states:

“76. (1) A Member of Parliament has freedom of speech and debate in the National Assembly and that freedom shall not be ousted or questioned in a court or tribunal.”

If the behaviour of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker was to happen in the South African Parliament against such a clear constitutional provision, the EFF led by Julius Malema would be tearing them apart.

What has been the worst with the National Assembly of Zambia has been its insistence on using the King’s language to debate and any use of expression from our local language is quickly frowned up with an MP being asked to interpret the same. This again is contrary to Article 258(2) of the Constitution of Zambia.

Now even amapinda from we have carried over from our forefathers need to be interpreted into English because that is what the Colonial English man wanted when he left post-independence left our black leaders to preside over the National Assembly.

The right to information and to freely express oneself is a constitutional right protected by Article 20 of the Zambian Constitution. If State Organs such as Parliament and the Courts are in the forefront maintaining archaic secrecy traditions in their proceedings, what more other institutions within the Executive.

The people are entitled to know what witnesses appearing before the Committee are saying about persons being scrutinised for ratification. The appointees themselves need to know what the witnesses are saying about them. This is called transparency and accountability.

I challenge mother bodies for media organisations to begin to take these cases to court and challenge the lack of transparency at Parliament, with regards proceedings that are held in camera.

Parliament itself must also reform. They must learn from what is happening in Kenya, South Africa and the United States when it comes to proceedings on ratification of Presidential appointees. South Africa which recently became independent, has overtaken us in both the quality of free debates in the House and transparency in the ratification process of appointees.

The National Assembly keep wasting money sending MPs to other countries to share lessons on parliamentary processes and debates. There is no justification of sending MPs or Committees out when our National Assembly is stuck in colonial traditions and management of the House.

Madam Speaker, your fellow Speaker in the House of Commons has stopped putting on that wig!

THE CHURCH ON THE COPPERBELT APPEALS TO PRESIDENT HICHILEMA TO RESOLVE ISSUES AT KCM.

…as Zambians are urged not to politicize the KCM/ Vedanta issue

Lusaka, Wednesday 30th November 2022

(SmartEagles)

The Church on the Copperbelt has appealed to President Hakainde Hichilema to quickly address the issues surrounding KCM and Vedanta Resources Limited.

Speaking on behalf of the clergy at a media briefing held in Lusaka today, Bishop Elson Bwalya says there is urgent need to resolve issues at KCM in order to address the economic challenges that the people of Chingola and Chililabombwe are currently facing.

Bishop Bwalya who was flanked by other two clergymen stated that the Church on the Copperbelt is confident that the New Dawn government under President Hichilema will find the solution to issues being faced at KCM.

He said it is regrettable that communities in Chingola and Chililabombwe are currently sustaining their families through illegal mining activities which should not be the case.

The clergy has since appealed to the head of state to find a lasting solution to this matter adding that the Church is confident that the mines in Zambia will once again perform well owing to the good policies being implemented by the New Dawn administration.

Meanwhile, Bishop Bwalya has appealed to Zambians not to politicize the KCM/Vedanta issue saying this is what led to the current squabble being faced at the mining firm.

And Bishop Bwalya has noted with concern that KCM is time bomb on the treasury if a solution is not quickly found.

WALK OUT, DON’T RATIFY ZALOUMIS AND CHIPENZI, KAMBWILI URGES MPs

PF presidential candidate Chishimba Kambwili has called on members of Parliament from his party to walk out when the motion to ratify Mwangala Zalomisi and MacDonald Chipenzi is brought in the House, reports Martha Banda.

Kambwili says the duo Zalomisi and Chipenzi appointed by President Hakainde Hichilema as Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) Chairperson and Commissioner are card carrying members of the ruling party UPND.

In live broadcast on his Facebook Tuesday monitored by Zambian Eye, Kambwili warned that instability in many countries are as a result of problems at elections. He said making ECZ partisan could bring problems in Zambia.

Kambwili called on President Hichilema to rescind on the nomination of the two. He said he had no problem with Zalomisi but that she is a known member of the UPND and a lawyer of President Hichilema.

“She is an excellent lawyer, a senior citizen,” Kambwili explained saying the problem was her political party inclination to the ruling party.

Kambwili urged Zalomisi whom he says considers as his mother not to destroy her good reputation she had built for a long time by taking up this appointment. He said whatever decision she will make will not be objectively seen because of her partisan inclination.

As for Chipenzi, Kambwili said a self imposed Electoral Expert was known as a member of the UPND who even had applied for adoption in Siavonga. He said the public know that Chipenzi has had his views biased towards UPND citing the Kwacha and Kabushi by-elections saga.

He said it had now come out that whatever Chipenzi was saying was about seeking a job in the Hichilema administration. He argued that there was no way Chipenzi would change as he is trying to justify if he is ratified as Commissioner at ECZ.

Kambwili reminded President Hichilema that the public had little confidence in ECZ saying this appointments would completely take away the little they had. He said President Hichilema must live upto his promise of reforming ECZ and make it more independent.

The outspoken politician says PF members of Parliament must walk out and refuse to be appointed to Committee to look into the nomination of the two.

The appointment of the two has sparked debate apart from the partisan inclination, some people say Zalomisi is too old to run a demanding institution such as the ECZ.

Zambian Eye

WHY QUESTION DEFENCE FORCE AUDITS NOW?

By Nkonkomalimba Kafunda

The opposition Patriotic Front has insisted hat it will go ahead with impeachment proceedings against president Hakainde Hichilema after the finance ministry, through the Audit General’s office engaged private accountants to audit the county’s security wings.

Acting President of the erstwhile ruling party Given Lubinda told journalists Monday that even though his party did not have the requisite two thirds members of the 156 member parliament, a lot of other MPs were not happy with HH’s rule and would support the motion.

This, however, can not be further from the truth and is generally seen as a party fighting to remain relevant after the humiliating electoral annihilation in the August 12 2021 polls.

In essence, their planned move is a frivolous, mischievous and vexatious exercise in futility
On May 14, 2022, government appointed six audit specialist firm to verify the extent and veracity of the country’s public domestic debt, an exercise necessitated by the endemic corruption in the last government that has cost the country billions of tax payer kwachas.

Of the six firms, two PriceWaterHouse Coopers and Grant Thorton were assigned to audit the defence forces.

Why are these audits being questioned now as they are about to come to their much anticipated conclusion? Are the probable results so damming that officials of the last government and their accomplices are going all out to discredit the process and, ultimately, the outcome?

The argument is that the sensitive and secretive nature of security operations make the hiring of these firms a national security breach does not hold water.

It is an open secret the echelons f power that for generations politicians using dubious business people and corrupt public servants have had no scruples syphoning public resources through the defence forces, because of the same secrecy that surrounds their operations.

Supplying air, under supplying and supplying at exaggeratedly astronomical prices through collusion of quotations has been going for ages.

This is where the same supplier provides the procuring or spending agency with three quotations and the seemingly most favorable is chosen creating an illusion f competitive procurement process when the beneficiary is one and the same.

The fact that the Auditor General’s office has been carrying out audits year in year out but the scourge has not declined or been eliminated in itself should be a cause of great concern.

In essence the engaging of external auditors is in itself an audit of the auditor. It must be established whether previous audits met accepted international standards and can hold up to critical scrutiny and peer review.

Had previous audits been effective the country would not have continued losing billions paying for things supplied at inflated prices or not supplied at all. Here must also critically look at what succusses have been achieved over the years using the auditor general as the principal auditor of government financial dealings. Very little if any.

There has never been any significant successful prosecution using evidence gathered by the Auditor General in cases involving the security wings. Does this mean there have been no transgressions? I don’t think so.

It is important, therefore, in this new dawn of accountability and transparency, all government wings are subjected to the same standard of scrutiny. .

The security wings, because of the secretive nature of their operations, no doubt owe colossal amounts of money as they are easy conduits for corruption.

In fact, they require greater probity than ordinary government departments.

L/stone UPND chairman disobeys Nkombo’s order

By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone

WRITE to me and quote the law that stops a party official from being Constituency Development Fund committee chairperson, Livingstone UPND chairman Christopher Syamwenya challenges Gary Nkombo.

The local government minister on Wednesday said anybody holding a political party position does not qualify to sit on the CDF committee.

He said CDF was not a political fund.

“The CDF in its design was meant to be an apolitical fund and so we set regulations for ourselves that anybody, anyone who holds a political office in a party structure does not qualify to hold any position in the CDF committee. We have noted that there have been some abrogation of that particular requirement and we have written to all councils where we have significant evidence that there are office holders in a political party who also have been nominated to run the CDF,” said Nkombo. “What that does is that because we are living in a democratic

dispensation where politics are normally a dividing factor, if for instance, secretary for a ward is UPND, PF or Rainbow or any other

political party is the chairman of the ward development committee, it means that the office will be repelling those who do not subscribe to the political idea and that is why we deliberately watered down the

issue of political office bearers sitting on the CDF committee. And it shall be like that and it is a non-negotiable position. So anybody who wants to serve in that capacity as a matter of fact must relinquish the position that they hold in the CDF or on the party ticket and that is a settled matter which is not subject to any negotiations.”

Asked if he would step down, Syamwenya said Zambia has laws which citizens follow.

“What I know is that there is nothing like that in the CDF Act number 11 of 2018, even in the CDF guidelines.This country has laws which we follow as citizens,” said Syamwenya. “Let him write me a letter and quote the law he referred to.”

By John Nyambe Kalunga.

THE FARMER INPUT SUPPORT PROGRAM (FISP) IS 100 PERCENT ON COURSE.

The delayed distribution of farming inputs under the Farmer Input Support Program has been seized upon with both hands by the opposition in a malicious attempt to viciously attack the UPND government, misleadingly pronouncing a failure in the new supply chain mechanism even though all 116 districts have started receiving seed and fertilizer as promised by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Incessantly virulent attacks have been the order of the day even after Agriculture Minster Hon Mtolo Phiri flagged off the distribution to all parts of the country. Even President Hichilema on a recent visit to North Western province, while acknowledging the delays, assumed that all was well and measures had been put in place to ensure smooth countrywide distribution of inputs by the end of November in the prescribed quantities. To expedite the movement of the inputs the night ban on movement of trucks has been lifted for this exercise, among other measures.

It is ironic that the same people who had created a corrupt and opaque system of procuring inputs for their individual and collective benefit, are now standing on roof tops, condemning a government that has set about the business of transparently and accountably delivering subsidized inputs to deserving Zambians beyond party, tribal or ethnic lines.

While, as is expected and accepted when transitioning from a flawed to a seamless system and teething problems are inevitable, it is important that Zambians understand why this paradigm shift has been necessitated mainly to achieve a corrupt free procurement system.

Under the Patriotic Front two companies Neria Investments and Miombo Investments dominated the input supply business. Their pricing was unregulated as they enjoyed a monopoly and acted as a cartel in cohorts with PF officials.

Certain individuals such as lawyer Bokoni Soko at Neria were coopted onto the company’s boards of directors to ensure that the interests of senior PF and government officials are represented and taken care off. Bokani Soko is the individual who infamously supplied obsolete fire tenders at US$1 million dollars each to the Ministry of Local Government in the last regime.

It would have been folly and purpose defeating had previous suppliers been allowed to continue. Some have argued that as they had established supply chains over the years the suppliers should continue as changing suppliers would disrupt the supply chain and cause late distribution which would in tun threaten national food security, going forward.

However this was a risk that had to be taken for the greater good as these companies had done irreparable harm to the Zambian treasury. For example, former Agriculture permanent secretary Songowayo Zymbo and his officials are in court for certifying and processing payment of US$131 million for inputs that were never delivered by Neria Investments.

It was, therefore, imperative that the new dawn government engages new honest suppliers for the benefit of Zambian agriculture and to save billions of kwacha that had been gong into individual’s pockets.

Already government has saved US$150 million on this years’ inputs. From the budgeted US$522 million the same inputs have cost US$369. This money saved would have gone to unscrupulous government and party officials as well a businessmen connected to the PF.

The changes being made have not been limited to suppliers. The government has embarked on what is known as the Comprehensive Agriculture Support Program (CASP). This is a more sustainable system that will give farmers other high value crop seed on top of maize allowing the farmer to become self reliant in the near future.

This takes care of the problem of framers being on FISP in perpetuity, continuously depending on subsidized seed and never being able to be weaned off to allow for newer beneficiaries as a way of growing the agriculture sector.

Your government sounds like a choir singing out of tune – GBM tells HH
….as the Head of State admits lack of coordination in his government
LUSAKA, 29.11.2022
Patriotic Front aspiring candidate for the position of party President, Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba, GBM, has likened the UPND government to a choir singing out of tune. Mr. Mwamba says the chaos observable in just about every public sector under the government of President Hichilema is like a choir whose parts are singing in different keys in the process producing a discordant sound.

The former Kasama Constituency lawmaker was commenting on remarks by President Hichilema yesterday that, “One of the issues that is coming out now is that at the higher level we are doing the right thing; we are saying the right things, but the system is not responding; the system is clogging things down. I think we should address this matter. The narrative at the top must be as the narrative in the middle and at the bottom”.

Mr. Mwamba says President Hichilema sounded exactly the way an inexperienced politician, whose overrated capabilities have just been perforated by the realities of his new assignment, would sound like. The veteran politician says President Hichilema is out of his depth as the challenges of governing the country overwhelm his limited understanding of public affairs.

“He came to public office with a top-down management system typical of the private sector”, the veteran businessman observed, adding, “He is unable to pick elements from the top-down, the bottom-up and the New Public Management, NPM, approaches which some successful governments in the developed world have adopted with excellent results”.

Mr. Mwamba says his experience in both government and the private sector has exposed him to the best approaches in the implementation and delivery of public policy, which experience President Hichilema does not have. Consequently, Mr. Mwamba regrets President Hichilema will be governing by trial and error thereby slowing the country down.

Until and unless President Hichilema gets right the mix of management and governance systems, the country will become so dysfunctional, by 2026, the administrative infrastructure of the whole country will be in disarray leaving behind a daunting task for a new government to rebuild them.

“This is the price the electorate will have to pay for using the country as a laboratory to experiment with untried and untested leadership”, says Mr. Mwamba.
ISSUED BY GEOFFREY BWALYA MWAMBA, GBM
CHAIRMAN FOR MOBILIZATION IN THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE PATRIOTIC FRONT
ASPIRING CANDIDATE FOR THE POSITION OF PRESIDENT OF THE PF

PeP STATEMENT ON ABUSE OF AUTHORITY OF OFFICE BY PRESIDENT HAKAINDE HICHILEMA IN RELATION TO THE SECURITIES (AMENDMENT) BILL

LUSAKA – Wednesday, 29th November 2022

1. As Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) we are disappointed with the abuse of authority of office by President Hakainde Hichilema in seeking to use Parliament to pass a detrimental and unconstitutional law called the Securities (Amendment) Bill to be used as a tool for justifying about $120 million of assets that were illegally grabbed from a subsidiary of a well-known indigenous Zambian financial services group, as well as to further use this intended law to grab more assets from this company, using the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and for the benefit of the President’s longstanding business associate and friend who runs a rival financial services group. The background to this matter is as follows;

2. There is a cartel of four prominent individuals who are well known business associates of President Hakainde Hichilema, and which cartel is now seeking to exploit the ascendance to the Office of President by Mr. Hakainde Hichilema to expand their business empires using both legal and illegal means. This cartel is made up of a well-known business associate of the President whose young brother works for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), another longstanding business associate of the President who runs a financial services group in which the President has an interest, a third longstanding business associate of the President who is also a Minister, and President Hakainde Hichilema himself.

3. In the quest to kill competition and expand their own financial services group, this cartel has been using the Securities and Exchange Commission to grab assets from competitors and allocate to themselves. Not so long ago, they took over a subsidiary of a rival financial services group, on the flimsy excuse that it was offering a financial product which was not sanctioned by SEC, suffice to mention that the said financial product had been in existence for more than 10 years without SEC raising any queries. After the cartel, through SEC took over this subsidiary, they proceeded to ransack it including transferring assets worth approximately $120 million to the financial services group owned by one of the cartel members, without any consideration or compensation. The victims challenged the ransacking of their company in the Capital Markets Tribunal, as provided by the Securities Act No.41 of 2016, but the matter has not been given a hearing up to now, more than a year later. Ostensibly because of the influence of this powerful cartel.

4. However, because of this Court challenge, the cartel appears to have been unsettled as they realized that they acted outside of the law because under the existing Securities Act No. 41 of 2016, SEC does not have the power to transfer the assets of a company under judicial management, to another company without consideration or compensation. As a way of seeking to cover up their illegal activities, the cartel appears to have came up with the idea of amending the existing law through the Securities (Amendment) Bill. The objectives of this Bill are two-fold; firstly to atone for the illegalities that the cartel has committed so far, and secondly to empower SEC to grab more assets from other competitors. In addition to this $120 million grab, the cartel through SEC has grabbed assets of unknown value from two other financial services companies which have since been shut down after having their operating licenses revoked by SEC and assets taken over.

5. This Securities (Amendment) Bill was quickly drafted by the cartel and received Cabinet approval in a record time, without any consultation from industry players in the capital market. The Bill was then taken to Parliament for enactment. The Parliamentary Committee on Budgeting was tasked to receive submissions on this Bill. A total of 17 reputable institutions made submissions to Parliament on this Bill. These institutions included the Lusaka Securities Exchange (LuSE), Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZiCA), the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC), the Capital Markets Association of Zambia, Bankers Association of Zambia (BAZ), Bank of Zambia (BOZ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Intelligence Center (FIC), the Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR) etcetera. The submissions of 16 out of the 17 were consistent in stating that the Securities (Amendment) Bill needed to be withdrawn and reconsidered for a variety of reasons. Only SEC supported the Bill.

6. Consequently, the Parliamentary Committee on Budgeting, whose majority members including the Chairperson are UPND MPs, recommended to the house that the Bill should be withdrawn and reconsidered as it is detrimental to the Zambian capital market. The full house agreed, except for one person; the Minister of Finance and National Planning. According to the Minister’s own words; “the Bill was too important to be withdrawn”. Well, is the Bill too important to Zambia’s capital market, or it is too important to the cartel?

7. As Patriots for Economic Progress, we call upon President Hakainde Hichilema to immediately cease and desist from abusing the authority of his office to create illegal wealth for himself and his longstanding business associates, at the expense of destroying public confidence in Zambia’s legal and regulatory framework. It is undeniable that the President has vast powers, both directly and through the National Assembly, but those powers should be used to do good. We further call upon the Minister of Finance to immediately withdraw the Securities (Amendment) Bill as recommend by the Parliamentary Committee on Budgeting. State institutions such as Parliament and SEC should not be used for the personal selfish motives of a few select individuals, regardless of who those individuals are, how powerful they are, and what position they occupy in society.

May God Bless the Good Citizens of the Republic of Zambia and our Ailing Nation.

ISSUED BY:

SEAN E. TEMBO (SET)
PARTY PRESIDENT
PATRIOTS FOR ECONOMIC PROGRESS (PeP)
EMAIL: SET2026@pepzm.org
29.11.2022

By Saboi Imboela President- NDC

News broke that the daughter of the founding father of the UPND, the late Anderson Kambela Mazoka, Mutinta Mazoka, left her party. She has been a loyal member of the party and served in the highest organ of the party the National Management Committee.

Many speculations have been thrown around as to why she has left the UPND, the party that her father started from scratch and left with about 47 MPs at the time of his death. He grew the party in a very short period of time and he was a very loved figure as could be seen from the votes he got from all over the country. People today have jobs because of Mutinta’s father’s hard work, even though they are failing to give the daughter a job.

Coming back to the elephant in the room, just the fact that Mutinta Mazoka uses her father’s name and not the husband’s should tell you 2 things. 1. She has a very supportive husband who is not threatened by his wife’s vision and need to protect her father’s legacy and he supports her as she does that. 2. She wants to carry her father’s legacy. A legacy worth preserving and protecting. So leaving UPND must have been one of the hardest and most painful decisions she has ever had to make and not one where she left to just go and support the husband. They have both supported each other very well even from different political parties. So leaving UPND must have everything to do with UPND and not any external forces.

When some UPND people have called her out to leave the UPND and join the husband’s party, all in an effort to stop her from being adopted, I have had the chance to speak with her and talk about how not easy it is to have women that want to preserve their father’s legacies to just change their names or direction easily. And when you have a husband who supports you and respects women the way Dr. Mmembe does, it becomes an easy task. Just look at the Socialist Party structures and adoptions, you will see what I’m talking about. Men like that who support women to help them achieve their best in the political arena and other public spheres will certainly be hypocrites if they did not do that to their own wives. And the good doctor has proved that he is indeed a person that believes in real gender parity right from his house.

So to see Mutinta Mazoka leave UPND, to me does not look like an external but internal issue. Mutinta has aspired for about 3 to 4 times to stand as an MP and they have never picked her, despite the UPND having very few women. They have formed government and there is no sign that good, hard working women like her, Martha Mushipe, Ruth Dante, etc, will be rewarded for their hard work, commitment and also simply qualification for certain posts. If Mutinta was a man, she would probably be a Minister, but lo and behold, the male chauvinism of the UPND is never too far off.

Mutinta had tried to hold on, but it was increasingly becoming clear that she was not respected and recognised for her efforts. And knowing my former party UPND and their grudges and bitterness, I’m sure that her being married to the Socialist Party President also made them dislike her almost the same way they do her husband. They play politics of hate and their articles on their party platforms show just how they hate people that do not belong to their party. And so they must have certainly treated her with the same disdain.

To Mutinta, you have a lot going for you. You can make a very good MP, Minister, Ambassador, etc, and also First Lady of this country. Infact, even a good President. The sky is the limit and know that many of us support you and whatever you decide to do next. We need more women like you in politics and it is very sad that the sexist UPND fails to see all the good that many women like you can bring to the table. You have a very bright future and I pray that you do not slow down but get in the next chapter of your life with Godspeed, grace and a clear understanding of your work and purpose.

The United Party for National Development – UPND Consultant Mark Simuuwe says the resignation of Mutinta Mazoka from the Party comes in the wake of not wanting anybody to politically attack her husband, who’s the Socialist Party President Fred M’membe.

Mr Simuuwe disclosed that Mutinta Mazoka’s resignation is because she doesn’t want anyone to say anything against her husband.

“So, the question is assuming that today, Fred M’membe becomes the President then who’s going to be the first lady because assuming that Mutinta Mazoka remains in the UPND as a member of the National Management Committee member, which is the highest governing organ of the ruling party and so, a decision to resign had to be made by herself,” he said

He mentioned that many people wondered how she managed to remain in the ruling party when the husband is in the opposition, this is a very difficult area to explain because the common thing that has witnessed elsewhere and everywhere, is that a wife will follow the husband’s political journey as way of showing moral support, they will tend to speak your mind whether wrong or right as it is rare to find couples going parallel in terms of being political affiliated.

“For instance in the United States of America when Clinton was President, the wife supported him overwhelmingly and when time came for the wife to try to contest for candidature as American President, the husband also supported her overwhelmingly, what this demonstrates is that two people that spend nights in the same bedroom cannot easily disagree on political grounds because then they will mess up so many things as politics come with a lot of challenges especially when it comes to certain political attacks that cannot be bared,” he said

“It doesn’t sit well with Mutinta Mazoka when people respond to Fred M’membe’s malicious attacks, I was personally confronted by her when I responded to Fred M’membe, she cautioned as to why I was taking such a route to the point of attacking her husband but you can’t stay in politics like that, because when you decide to join politics there are all those attacks that come but you have to be ready and equal to the task to take them on. So, in my view this is something that has greatly contributed to her decision of resigning from the UPND,” he stated

Mr Simuuwe explained that if one looks at the personality of Fred M’membe who is usually keen on talking about issues to do with tribalism, as many of the youths especially those that are in the mid-20s don’t know Fred M’membe well especially when it comes to ethnic rivalry, and those that may not have known this is the man that has been at the center of tribalism in Zambia, because when tribalism started in politics the POST Newspaper played a very critical role in harnessing that particular tribalism and often times using the Editorial comments as they would call directly to attack viciously the late UPND President Anderson Mazoka not as an individual but the Tonga people themselves, as the POST Newspaper would go deep in attacking them and their persona.

“Fred M’membe attacked Mazoka upto the last nail on his coffin and afterwards, he even married the daughter Mutinta Mazoka, but he continued attacking the one who took over from Mazoka who happens to be Hakainde Hichilema, as many people found that the POST Newspaper carried so many headlines against either Hakainde as an individual, or the Tonga people from Southern Province, and issues of regionalism started with M’membe as he took it up to attack all the regions viciously,” he mentioned

Mr Simuuwe stated that freedom of association basically means that one is free to belong to an organization or a group of your choice, one is free to associate and make a decision but how one makes that decision is entirely up to them, it’s also entirely up to the reflection that one makes for instance, a number of factors which can be private or maybe one could not fit in an organization and in some cases it’s because of personal reason as people make decisions based on what they think.

Mr Simuuwe highlighted this during an interview on JOY FM.

In a letter dated 8th November, 2022, addressed to the UPND Secretary General Batuke Imenda, Mutinta Mazoka resigned with immediate effect from the Party, as she further thanked all the leaders and members of the UPND for giving her an opportunity to work with them.

HEALTH SYSTEM BROKENDOWN – BANDA

By New Dawn Reporter
DEVELOPMENT Activist, Canisuis Banda says the Health system has broken down irretrievable under the UPND Government.

According to Dr. Banda, the laboratories at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) are not functional because the UPND does not trust suppliers to supply equipment at the biggest hospital in Zambia because they were dealing with the Patriotic Front (PF).

The former Ministry of Health Spokesperson said the workforce in the health sector is disgruntled and unmotivated.

Dr Banda said it is unfortunate that Health Minister Sylvia Masebo castigated health personnel and accused them of stealing medicine instead of praising them for working under very difficult conditions.

“It takes a lot to run a health system and everything hinges on leadership. The personnel is disgruntled and there is no motivation. You heard the Health Minister blaming the health personnel instead of commending them for working diligently under difficult conditions, she accused them of pilferage which does not explain the extent of the problem in the hospital.

“The UPND has no confidence in local suppliers that have always been supplying these commodities. The procurement system has been changed all together, they fired procurement officers, they discredited suppliers and there is corruption. This is how everything has fallen apart,” he said.

Dr Banda added that it is unfortunate that there is a shortage of essential drugs such as Antiretroviral drugs (ARV).

He said people are dying because Government is failing to provide medicines in hospitals.

“Just the other day you (the writer) was sick, is it the Government that gave you medicine? Government has no medicines and people are dying. You are not aware of the deaths but relatives of the deceased are aware,” Dr. Banda said.

And Dr Banda said Government has failed to recognize local health researches and herbalists capable of curing diseases like HIV and AIDs because they want to pacify foreigners.

“They can’t empower local health researches and herbalists because this Government is under the control of foreigners. The Europeans Union (EU), the International Monitory Fund (IMF) and America are running Zambia. If you think this Government can empower Mr Kadumba Musanje(Herbalist) to develop his product and make it commercial then you better think again, ” he said.

(Dr. Banda and GBM)

By CIC PF Reporter.

PF MP BACKS HH FOR 2026.

President Hakainde Hichilema is destined to rule Zambia for 10 years because of his determination to take development to every party of the country and improve the lives of all Zambians irrespective of whether they voted for him or not, Mafnga Patriotic Front (PF) Member of Parliament Robert Chabinga has predicted.

And Mr Chabinga has vowed that nothing will stop him from working with President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND leadership because all I aspire for is to bring development to my constituency for that is what I was voted for.

Mr Chabinga has predicted that President Hichilema would rule for 10 years looking at the good plans and the developmental agenda the Head of State has choreographed for the good of Zambians.

He said if Zambians including MPs from the PF were given an opportunity to interact with President Hichilema, they would be able to testify that the Head of State deserved another five years in power so that he could complete the developmental programmes he had embarked on.

Mr Chabinga who has broken ranks and become an arctic critic of his political party believes that only President Hichilema could truly bring the much needed development into the country having been in business throughout his life.

He said he was happy to have forged working relationship with President Hichilema and the UPND because only then would the people of Mafinga benefit from the developmental programmes being implemented by the governing party.

Mr Chabainga has rubbished reports to the effect that he had been suspended for having decided to join hands with President Hichilema and his administration in fostering development. Mr Chabinga however stated that said he had no intentions of defecting from the PF but was only looking out for the people of Mafinga who had sent him to Parliament as their representative.

“I have no intentions to leave the PF, but that does not mean I will not show appreciation where it is due. President Hichilema has done a lot in the last one year that he has been in power and he deserves to be appreciated and supported,” said Mr Chabinga.

And Mr Chabinga says he has decided to forge a working relationship with President Hichilema and the UPND because he has realized that the Head of State was determined to be a President of all Zambians irrespective of tribe or political affiliation.

He said in an interview that in order for him to take development to his Constituency, he needed to delop good relationship with the ruling party and its leadership without which there would be little or no form of economic expansion in the country.

Mr Chabinga said he did not care whether the PF was going to expel him because according to him, it was not the party that was important but the people who had elected him to represent them in Parliament.

“There is nothing that is going to stop me from working with President Hichilema and the UPND government because my desire is to take development to Mafinga Constituency. I am not in Parliament to represent the party but the people who voted for me. President Hichilema has proved that he is a leader for all Zambians who is determined to take development to every part of the country including to areas that did not vote for him. I have pledged to work with him for the sake of development,” Mr Chabinga said. See less

The 2022 fertilizer distributing is heartbreaking – GBM
….as videos of sharing small portions of fertilizer go viral
Lusaka, 27.11.2022

The aspiring candidate for the position of party president in the Patriotic Front, Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba, GBM, says the 2022 fertilizer distribution exercise is heartbreaking. Mr. Mwamba says he is at pains to watch images of cooperatives sharing small portions of fertilizer spread out on the ground.

Unheard of in the history of this country, Mr. Mwamba says the fertilizer distribution under President Hakainde Hichilema is the most painful demonstration of incompetency he has ever known since he became an adult able to understand matters of governance.
“You insisted on running government, combed the whole of Zambia literally begging people to vote for you. Finally, and reluctantly, the Zambian people give in to your wishes. This is what you turn out to be”, the veteran politician asks.
As if he is talking to children under the age of five, Mr. Mwamba says President Hichilema has justified the poor fertilizer distribution exercise claiming that the system needed to be cleaned first. If the system is clean, Mr. Mwamba asks, “Why are you distributing fertilizer in tins and small cups?”

He adds, “Your obsession with fixing what is not broken just because it was built by a government you hate with a passion is hurting innocent Zambians”.

The chairman for mobilization in the former ruling party says the incompetency President Hichilema is demonstrating is already brewing discontent in the nation and risks food security. Zambians, Mr. Mwamba says must know that UPND has shortchanged them and betrayed their hopes and dreams.

For this reason, the former Defense Minister says Zambians must be ready for tough times ahead especially between now and 2026 when the country goes to the polls to elect the next government.

Mr. Mwamba says the measure of a successful government must primarily be seen in the agricultural sector where food is produced, a commodity indispensable for the survival of any living thing.

Ironically, Mr. Mwamba says this is the sector where President Hichilema and his government have dismally failed.
ISSUED BY GEOFFREY BWALYA MWAMBA, GBM
CHAIRMAN FOR MOBILIZATION IN THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE PATRIOTIC FRONT
ASPIRING CANDIDATE FOR THE POSITION OF PRESIDENT OF THE PF

By CIC

GOVT TARGETS END OF 2024 TO ACHIEVE 100% NETWORK CONNECTIVITY – MUTATI

Technology and Science Minister Hon Felix Mutati has said government targets to achieve 100 percent network connectivity across the country by the end of 2024, working closely with the telecommunications company.

Mr Mutati said from the recent auction of spectrum where more than US$41 million was realized by ZICTA, government is reinvesting the resources in rural areas and other places where it is difficult for the average telecommunications company to reach with the aim of expanding connectivity.

Mr Mutati said using the universal access fund, government is working towards expanding mobile network connectivity by way of erecting more towers particularly in the rural areas.

And Mr Mutati said government’s digital transformation agenda that has been embarked on is being done in a deliberate and methodical manner by way of upgrading technology systematically so that inconveniences experienced by customers are minimized.

He said this is evidenced from the recent launch of 5G network, which liberates connectivity as it is the most sought after technology and Zambia is among the only 10 African countries to have it.

The minister said 5G comes with enormous benefits across all sectors and it is for this reason Zambia is no longer a spectator in technological advancements because government is creating an appropriate environment for investments.

Meanwhile, Mr Mutati has called on innovators to make full use of 5G network which provides a necessary platform for the development of applications and also addresses frustrations that were inherent by innovators as a result ofy slow internet speed.

The minister was speaking after a familiarization tour of MTN service store in Lusaka, following the launch of 5G routers last week.

Speaking in an interview after the tour, MTN Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Bart Hofker said the telecommunication firm will by end of this year complete installation of 45 network towers and plans to install another 100 next year in order to expand coverage.

Mr Hofker also said the just launched 5G network gives enormous possibilities for App developers to be part of the champions league of App development, particularly the gaming industry and e-sports which is a multi billion dollars business globally.