REFLECTIONS ON CHINA FROM CHINA

The more I learn about China, its leaders and people, the more my respect and admiration for them and their Revolution grows.

I am on a month long private study visit to China. What these people have achieved in such a very short historical time is beyond belief. There’s no doubt on my mind that the Chinese are very intelligent, disciplined and hard working people. And one cannot ignore or play down the role played or being played by their leaders, especially Mao Zedong and his Thought, Deng Xiaoping and his Theory and Xi Jinping and his Thought. And Fidel Castro was very right when he said, “Xi Jinping is one of the strongest and capable revolutionary leaders I have met in my life.”

I am yet to meet Xi but I am his very keen student and I find him a very outstanding revolutionary leader by all historical standards. And I have read and followed many revolutions and revolutionary leaders in history. We can all learn a lot from Xi’s Thought and what the Chinese people are doing.

Humanity can learn more from the Chinese people who have broken their chains from colonialism and imperialist domination and chart their own path of development and democracy. Those who have chained humanity for centuries cannot teach humanity anything and are today choking with envy over China’s unstoppable achievements in all areas of human endeavour.

Despite a massive propaganda campaign to demonise, discredit and slander China, it’s leaders and people the truth is coming out stronger and stronger. A new awareness about China is emerging, replacing ignorance and prejudice. Ignorance is the root of many ills. Knowledge must be the fundamental ally of nations that aspire, despite all their tragedies and problems, to become truly emancipated, to build a better world.

We shouldn’t isolate or allow ourselves to be isolated from China by imperialist schemes built on lies, calumny, slander and military provocation. The fact is, when people carry the same ideals in their hearts, nothing can isolate them. For single memory, a single spirit, a single idea, a single conscience, a single dignity will sustain them all.

Fred M’membe
President of Socialist Party

September 12, 2022

Goungzhou, People’s Republic of China

SELF-WITHDRAWAL BY AN INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE CANNOT CAUSE CANCELLATION AND CALL FOR FRESH NOMINATIONS?

Social media is awash with a letter of resignation (not knowing from.what) and withdrawal (perhaps from the parliamentary race) allegedly issued by one independent candidate for Kabushi citing malpractices by some competing candidates.

A right has been exercised but if the aim is desperately to induce the cancellation of the by-elections and call fresh nominations to accommodate the embattled duo, is unfortunate but too late.

In accordance with Article 52(6) of the republican Constitution, a cancelaltion of nomination is through resignation, death and or disqualification of a duly nominated candidate.

But resignation from what? It is from a party and not from independent because one goes nowhere.

Nominations to contest an election is done in accordance with Article 52(1) of the Constitution and Section 31 of the Electoral Act.

Electoral Process Act No 35 of 2016 section 31(1) states that

A withdrawal of one’s candidature after the nomination period has expired is contrary to provision of section 31(2) and is null and void.

Sec 31(1) is illustrative and guides that a duly nominated candidate cannot withdraw from the race after the expiry of the nomination period.

It guides that duly nominated candidates at parliamentary level thus:

*A nomination submitted under subsection (1) *may be withdrawn at any time, before the expiry of the period appointed for lodging nomination papers* in respect of the constituency concerned, if the candidate delivers to the returning officer a written
notice to that effect.*

Therefore, from the provision cited above, the ECZ has power to ACCEPT WITHDRAWALS from candidates done/delivered W ITHIN the period for lodgement of nominations

ECZ has no legal powers and mandate to entertain and accept any withdrawal done/delivered outside the timeframe for nominations.

To this end and in my view, Keenedy Yombwe remains the validly and duly nominated independent candidate for Kabushi parliamentary Constituency seat and his letter of resignation and withdrawal is null and void.

It goes without argument that the cancellation of the by-election by ECZ and the call for fresh nominations could be illegal, unexpected and farfetched.

Another legal battle in offing.

I submit

McDonald Chipenzi

President HH accused of vote buying in Kabushi ahead of crucial by election
September 12, 2022

Information has emerged that President Hakainde Hichilema gave K10,000 to a family in Ndola’s Kabushi Constituency on Saturday, with only a few days before Thursday’s by election.

During his door to door campaigns, President Hichilema is also accused of dishing out K300 and bags of mealie meal to every household he visits.

President Hichilema is making the donations in the company of UPND’s candidate in the Kabushi by election Bernard Kanengo.

One of the receipients of the cash donation, Nyuma Ngoma who is a Deacon at Reformed Church in Zambia in Kariba area in Mukuba ward in Kabushi Constituency confirmed receiving K10,000 from President Hichilema when he visited his home on Saturday.

Mr Ngoma whose wife had recently delivered triplets said the money will be used to take cafe of the three babies.

He said he is thankful to President Hichilema for the gesture.

“It was particularly fulfilling to sit with some households and share the daily experiences by our citizens. Sat with a family that God Almighty has blessed with triplets. We committed that with my wife Mutinta, we will support the family in addition to the government support in form of free education among other challenges,” Mr Hichilema confirmed in a Facebook post.

But the opposition PF has described the action by President Hichilema as a violation of the Electoral Code of Conduct as it appoints to vote buying.

PF Copperbelt Provincial Chairman Bernard Chitondo has since challenged the Anti Corruption Commission to summon President Hichilema for questioning over the blatant violation of the Electoral Process Act.

“We have a President here who is flouting the law with inpunity and we want Musa Mwenye to tell his officers to act. There is an election in a few days and this President is bribing people broad day light,” Mr. Chitondo said.

On Thursday, people of Kabushi, Kwacha and Luangwa are expected to go to the polls to elect their MPS and Council Chairperson respectively.
(Lusaka Times)

THE ANALYSIS – SHOULD MULTICHOICE REDUCE SUBSCRIPTION FEES?

I know my elder brother Thomas Sipalo is very passionate about this campaign, but I think it’s very important to do some research before one starts or joins any campaign to ascertain whether the campaign is really necessary, genuine or achievable. Most people use emotions or assumptions when joining campaigns. They assume that the initiators have done their research or just feel that something needs to be done because it doesn’t seem right, this however, is an ingredient for wasting ones time.

The “DStv prices must fall” campaign is one which is marred with a lot of missinformation, ignorance and misconceptions. In this article, i will try as much as possible to clear the air as much as I can.

The Digital Satellite Television, commonly abbreviated to DStv, is a Sub-Saharan African direct broadcast satellite service owned by MultiChoice and based in Randburg, South Africa. Launched on 6 October 1995, the service provides multiple audio, radio and television channels and services to subscribers. DStv operates in Africa and Thailand.

1). Are We Paying More in Zambia Than Other Countries?
The following is the chart for African Countries and their DStv Premium Rates for 2021

Zambia – $45 ( Dollar to Kwacha at ZMW22.3)
1.DR Congo – $105 per month
2. Zimbabwe – $75 per month
3. Malawi – $74 per month
4. Kenya – $72 per month
5. Eritrea – $72 per month
6. Mauritius – $68 per month
7. Ethiopia – $67 per month
8. Uganda – $62 per month
9. Tanzania – $60 per month
10. Ghana – $60 per month
11. South Africa – $54 per month
12. Namibia – $54 per month
13. Eswatini – $54 per month
14. Nigeria – $46 per month

This chart shows that Zambia had one of the lowest rates in Africa. But this scenario started changing drastically when the Zambian Kwacha started gaining against the dollar. This year, as of 11th September, 2022 with the rate of the dollar to Kwacha at K15.5 and DStv subscription fee at K1,100 for premium package(Full bouquet) means we are paying $70.51 USD per year. This implies that we are now at number 6 on the chart of African countries with the highest subscription rates.

2). How does Multichoice Adjust Subscription fees?
Multichoice adjusts subscription prices annually. In the case of Zambia, the financial year starts On 1st April and price adjustments are usually announced in March. These price adjustments depend on prevailing economic conditions such as local currency exchange rate, inflation and fees paid by multichoice to other service providers.

3). Can Multichoice Adjust Prices Within a Fiscal Year?
Most likely not. Only in very unusual circumstances. For example in 2015, Multichoice adjusted prices upwards twice in April and in November because Kwacha lost value of about 61% against the dollar from K7.7 to K12.39, inflation rate rose from 7.2% to 14.3%. Meaning it’s possible but not likely.

This year, 2022, in April when new price adjustments were made, the dollar to kwacha exchange rate was at K17.9 and as of 11th September, the dollar to Kwacha exchange rate was K15.5 which shows 12.5% gain. Inflation in April was at 11.5% and at 9.8% as of 11th September.

I am of the view that this is not a very significant gain which can prompt Multichoice to adjust prices within a fiscal year because anything can still happen by the end of the year.

This month, Multichoice increased prices for stay packages. These are packages that you pay for when you are not usually found at an apartment for example if you own two apartments and only visit one during vacations. Most Zambians don’t even have this package. The rest of the packages remained the same.

4). Why can’t the government hear peoples cries and be involved?
First of all, Zambia has a free market economy and the government only fixes prices for agriculture products such as maize, wheat and cashew nut. Besides DStv is a luxury and not a necessity. DStv has also got different packages going for as low as K165 per month.
And government also owns 50% shares in Multichoice Zambia, so the odds are stuck against us.

5). What Then Can We Do?
In 2015 Multichoice suggested that they were considering implementing a quarterly review of prices for their packages, this was due to unstable economic conditions and this was to their benefit.

Now that the odds are in our favor, we can push Multichoice to implement a quarterly review of the prices so that we can benefit from the gains made by the gain in the local currency, inflation or other economic factors. But we should be fully aware that this change will be a double edged sword, should there be a loss, we shouldn’t cry foul as well.

We can also petition for a price freeze so that there is no adjustment in April, 2023.

Conclusion.
Since we are all now aware that Multichoice only reviews it’s prices annually, the government cannot get involved and pay per view is not possible since all the other countries have got similar packages. We can do this little by little. We can start with fighting for a quarterly prices review. But remember that however we decide to fight, the petition cannot be fought on social media but by actually visiting Multichoice offices and formally filing a petition.

David Chishimba
Youth Advocate
Association Of Unemployed Youths President
0966531998/0779089151

Exploitative Multinational Service Providing Conglomerates: The case of Multichoice Zambia

As a people, we need to wake up and guard ourselves against consumer exploitation, especially by monopolistic service providers. Not very long ago, when Zamtel(Now Airtel) and Telecel (Now MTN) just burst onto the Zambian cellular network scene, their conditions and rates were exploitative and abhorrent. I remember Zamcel wanted us to be using at least $20 of talk time every week, failure to which you got disconnected. There were many other such draconian conditions that we were forced to live with, and because we needed to stay connected, the company ripped us off. When Cell Z joined the market, most of these conditions were dropped and some sanity was established. I swore that I would never ever use Airtel as long as MTN and Zamtel existed. I felt cheated by the organisation and powerless as an individual to stop the carnage earlier, even though everyone understood how exploitative the organisation was as usual, our politicians were quiet.

The biggest problem that we have as a nation, is that regulators who are established for the sole purpose of protecting consumers are turning a blind eye to the so obvious unfair treatment of the consumer. It isn’t an oversight, on their part, but the result of subtle and deliberate manipulation by the multinational companies. There is corruption that makes our politicians and quasi government institutions turn a blind eye and allow for these unfair business practices to continue.

This brings me to the issue of Multichoice Zambia. It is common knowledge that this company operates in many countries across Africa. This company is South African, and offers the same services in its home country. A quick comparison of how they are conducting their business in South Africa, reveals that they are charging South Africans the equivalent of K720($45) for a full bouquet. In Zambia, we are paying K1100 plus K140 for PVR services (total K1240, or $80). That’s almost double.

Now, this is day light robbery! Our hard earned money is consumed on poor entertainment content, Movies are repeated and their documentaries are old. Only takes little intelligence that one has, it isn’t difficult to understand that we are being duped. The biggest problem is that the provider understands that he has no competitor on the market, and even if their service is substandard, they will get away with it because Zambians love soccer. They will still pay. We are glued to DSTV, in the same way a drug addict is to a drug supplier. Even when we know the content isn’t worth half of what we are being charged, we still want to pay in order to watch soccer…

Over the many years that this company of thieves have been in Zambia, their rates have been sensitive to the dollar – Kwacha exchange rates, and they have been using it to exploit the consumer. Now that the Kwacha is gaining, the rascals are quiet. Why should Zambians be exploited like this? We need to unite, as consumers and boycott their product. I know this is easier said than done, but we are getting together with some other interested consumers to start a campaign to sensitize the masses and encourage them to boycott DSTV. They are a bunch of thieves.

Let’s stop the exploitation. We have the power to do it as consumers. Amasuku batulila sana pa mitwe.

By Peter Mautho Ndolo

MALANJI AND LUSAMBO CASE: TEST CASE FOR JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE

By Isaac Mwanza

The decision by Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to bar Hon Joe Malanji and Bowman Lusambo has moved the question out of the realm of who should be an independent referee to our court where independence of the Judiciary is now under further test.

On 25th August, 2026, ECZ Returning Officers from Kabushi and Kwacha, under instruction of ECZ, declared the nomination of Lusambo as invalid. The decision was immediately challenged in the High Court within 5 days under Article 52(4) of the Constitution which allows any person to challenge the nomination of a candidate within 7 days.

The only basis for the decision was that that the earlier election of both Lusambo and Malanji were nullified, hence disqualified.

Meantime, the Constitutional Court swiftly gave an interpretation that clearly said a nullification of seat does not mean a candidate is disqualified from recontesting. May I add that the vacancy which has been created has not been created by a candidate but by the decision of a court to nullify.

According to Regulation 19(7) of the Electoral Process Act (Regulation),

”The determination of the returning officer that a nomination is…invalid is final unless challenged through an election petition in accordance with Article 52 (4) of the Constitution.”

The High Court has sufficiently been clothed with jurisdiction to make a determination on the decision by a Returning Office to declare the nomination as invalid. Is the High Court up to meeting this statutory obligation and contribute to the growth of our nascent democracy?

Article 52 requires that the petition filed by both Lusambo is heard and determined within 21 days from 31st August, 2022. This means the High Court has upto 21st September, to hear and dispose the petition on whether the decision of the Returning officer to declare their nomination as invalid and male such declaration and orders.

Again I say, our Electoral Commission of Zambia has not assumed the same independence the Kenyan Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission enjoys. We still far from attaining that independence so long as Commission are placed under the Executive.

On the other hand, our courts are facing the same test to shoe they can exert themselves and expediently determine matters and protect their own independence. The Kenyan Courts are by far a shining example on the African continent when it comes to timely dispensing justice.

The time has come when the Judiciary must open its door to the media to do live Broadcasts of these Court proceedings. The Judiciary is accountable to the people and must be seen to promote freedom to access and disseminate information.

Kasebamashila Kaseba
WHERE HH MOURNS QUEEN ELIZABETH II OF 70 YEARS REIGN SINCE 1952 WHILE UPHOLDING HER 69 YEAR OLD COLONIAL PUBLIC ORDER ACT OF 1953

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor), 96, (21.04.1926 – 8.09. 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms for 70 years from 6.02.52 to 8.09. 2022. – Wikipedia

The Public Order Act (POA) is reported to be first drafted in 1953 in the anti independence push for the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland when Queen Elizabeth II, aged 27, was one year on the throne; ANC second President Nkumbula, aged 37,was two years on the seat and his Secretary General KK, aged 29, was weeks on the seat.

HH was about nine years yet to be born.

The first irony is that the POA was a colonial anti-independence act that lasted only about 11 years in the colonial Federal government but has lasted 58 years and seven Zambian independence presidents.

The second irony is that POA had about five amendments in the 11 colonial years and four amendments in the 58 independence years.

Third irony is that the independence amendments especially the 1996 amendments including the establishment of Bruce Munyama Human Rights Commission of 1993 that became the Permanent Human Rights Commission that became the Human Rights Commission were colonialist or donor sponsored and driven.

UPND and HH, who suffered perhaps the worst PF misapplication of the POA, plus honoured Christine Mulundika of The Supreme Court Judgement Christine Mulundika and 7 others, of 1996, with national mourning, in 2022, than repeal the POA have instead amended its position from cheaper and faster repeal to costly and slow amendment.

While POA failed to stop attainment of independence, it has succeeded to curtail freedom.

Here below is the POA time line and excerpts from The Supreme Court judgement Christine
Mulundika and 7 Others v People.
—-
1953

1955

38 Public Order . . . . . . . . . . . . Cap. 113

1956

17 Public Order (Amendment) . . . . . . . .
. .
Incorporated in
Cap. 113 1956

1959

28 Public Order (Amendment) (No. 2) . . . . . . Incorporated in Cap. 113

1960

51 Public Order (Amendment) . . . . . . . .
. .
Incorporated in
Cap. 113

1965

19 Public Order Ordinance (Amendment) . . . .
. . . .
Incorporated in
Cap. 113

1967

10 Public Order (Amendment) . . . . . . . . Incorporated in Cap. 113

1996

1 Public Order (Amendment) Act . . . . . .
. .
Incorporated

1996

36 Public Order (Amendment) Act . . . . . .
. .
Incorporated in Cap. 113
—-
Unfortunately, experience teaches and it is sadly not hypothetical that in this country, the requirement for a permit to gather and speak has been used since 1953 to muzzle critics and opponents as well as alleged troublemakers. It has also been used to deny permission on grounds that had nothing to do with securing public order and safety. For example, there was much litigation in our courts during the recent transition to plural politics engendered by denials of permits on spurious grounds.

The right to assemble and speak is too important to be conditioned upon subsection 4 as conceived and first drafted in 1953. The right to assemble and express views is so important to democracy that the Supreme Court of India was constrained to observe, rather aptly, in Rangrajan v Jagjivan ram and others (1990) L.R.C. (const.)412 at page 424:

“In a democracy it is not necessary that everyone should sing the same song ….Democracy is a government by the people via open discussion…. The public discussion with people’s participation is a basic feature…. of democracy …. democracy can neither work not prosper unless people go out to share their views. The truth is that public discussion on issues relating to administration has positive value.”

Of course, we do not share Mr Kinariwala’s view that the politicians in this country are immature and irresponsible…. On the contrary, the people of this country have come a long way and would not like ever again to be oppressed or caged by any other individual or group of individuals.
—–
In sum and for the reasons which we have given we hold that subsection 4 of section 5 the Public Order Act, CAP 104, contravenes Articles 20 and 21 of the constitution and is null and void, and therefore invalid for unconstitutionality.

A DESPERATE PRESIDENT

WHY THIS DESPERATION TO ROB LUSAMBO, MALANJI?

Mr Hakainde Hichilema seems very desperate to rob Mr Bowman Lusambo and Mr Joseph Malanji of their Kabushi and Kwacha parliamentary seats respectively. Every desperate decision and action has been taken to ensure that Mr Hichilema gets Kabushi and Kwacha parliamentary seats. The courts have been visibly put under a lot of pressure to unjustifiably and unfairly nullify these seats and send Mr Lusambo and Mr Malanji ku wire. And the Electoral Commission of Zambia has been made to take wrong decisions and ensure that Mr Lusambo and Mr Malanji do not file their nominations and are kept out of contest at any cost and to the very end.

To crown it all, Mr Hichilema takes five days of very valuable presidential time to do door to door campaigns in Kabushi and Kwacha!
Why this desperation on the part of Mr Hichilema? The term “desperate” comes from the Latin word “desperatus,” which means to be deprived of hope. It is a feeling of helplessness and loss of control. It is also a state of mind where an individual is willing to do anything to escape a difficult situation.

This kind of thinking makes desperate people think that they have no other options but to take drastic actions to survive. Because of this, many are led to make poor decisions that only worsen their situation. This is precisely why it’s crucial to think about the many different possible outcomes of each action we take. More than that, we must be ready to face the consequences—should our desperate measures lead to negative results. It is said that when they face desperation, human beings become animals. Desperate and dammed persons share an affinity for flirting with danger; an infectious case of erotic morbidity fetters them to self-destruction.

The more desperate you are the more mistakes you make. There is nobody more terrible than the desperate – desperate people do desperate things! Desperation can make a person do surprising things. But desperation is like stealing from the Mafia: you stand a good chance of attracting the wrong attention. As a reckless vehicle, desperation has no reign. But, it would seem in Mr Hichilema’s scheme of things, virtually all the passengers on his troubled vehicle are refusing to care about the role which reign plays in the movement of a reckless vehicle. To them, recklessness is key in political competition. And in the process they are ready to bring down the standing of the Electoral Commission of Zambia and our entire judiciary – in a word, they are ready to destroy our democracy just for them to get what they want!

Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party

Man’s face disfigured from beating he received from wife’s brothers

By Yona Musukwa

This afternoon, I paid a courtesy call on an acquaintance of mine. I couldn’t believe the state I found him in.

The man was in a terrible state, massively swollen as if he was involved in a head on collision with a goods train. He could barely walk or talk.

His face looked like he was involved in a boxing match with bees, very swollen and unrecognizable.

After exchanging pleasantries, I inquired why he was in that state.

Apparently, the man had a disagreement with his wife. Foolishly, he chose the wrong solution, that of using his fists on her, thinking violence would solve the problem.

Sadly, it didn’t. The wife quickly wrapped up her belonging in a ukwa bag, and pulled a Muzala Samukonga back to her parents’ home.

The deserted man couldn’t resist the cold of the night without 3 gun salute, and the imagination that someone else could be horizontally engineering his ATM while she was away.

He called her and attempted a reconciliation over the phone, but the wife refused, suggesting that he should come with elders at her parents home, so that the issue can be discussed by elders.

The agreed day came, and the man, with 4 elders from his family, left for the wife’s home, for a reconciliation mission.

When they arrived, the visitors were all ushered into the house, and doors closed. Suddenly, a half dozen brothers of his wife appeared, the smallest being the size of Galagata, the former boxing champion, each armed with umupini.

Immediately he saw his brothers in law, he then realised that matters were very elephant. His brothers in law are well known implementors of Peter Sinkamba’s manifesto. In fact, chamba valley is their staple food.

When he looked at them, for a greeting, all their eyes were very red, and looked like they had smoked very well for the reconciliation event.

The man and his entourage were beaten like a dog that has eaten egg. In fact, the man said it was not a beating but pounding, like pounding sorghum, to the extent that his sphincter muscle couldn’t hold liquid urea, he irrigated on himself.

Had it not been for the alert neighbors, he would have logged off quickly and permanently.

Kalemba

TWO MALE TEACHERS INJURE THEMSELVES OVER WOMAN – KALULUSHI

Two male teachers at a named secondary school in Kalulushi on Friday injured themselves over new female teacher.

According to information available, two male teachers identified as Banda Fredrick, 34 and Chiluba Patrick 37, on Friday challenged themselves to a fight after a new female teacher identified as Milly Chanda, 28, asked for a handyman to clear the surrounding of her house.

The two teachers who were sitting in the staffroom putting their things in order at once offered to do it for free. Mr. Banda was the first then Mr. Chiluba.

Like a joke, the two teachers started exchanging words, I will do it not you, she wants me to do it. The drama in the staffroom surprised female teachers. Mr. Chiluba jokingly told off Mr. Banda that a married man should not be working at single woman’s house it is inappropriate.

It appeared these words did not settle well with Mr. Banda who thought the friend was trying to put him off the market. He silently walked to him and helped him to see stars during the day with a sharp slap across the face.

Throwing the papers, and pushing the staffroom table, Mr. Chiluba was already positioned to fight back. In seconds, punches were all over like stones in the staffroom. Female teachers were shouting, calling for help however, it was unfortunate because many teachers had knocked off.

The two male teachers reached for their necks, Mr. Banda was overpowered, one forehead straight on the sickly lips was enough to rip them open. His shirt was shortly caked with clotted blood, Mr. Chiluba fearing his friend would die came back to his senses. He tried to help him up but the moment he brought his face close to Mr. Banda, he also aimed for the lips with his left punch and succeeded.

The two teachers were bleeding badly and did not continue to fight.

Meanwhile, the two teachers who were rushed to the clinic, today met at church since they are both sabbath keepers but did not talk to each other except for staring at each angrily like they wanted a second fight.

Tompo © 2022

NEW HERITAGE PARTY – PRESS STATEMENT ON THE SPEECH BY PRESIDENT HAKAINDE HICHILEMA ON THE OCCASION OF THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE SECOND SESSION OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.

9th September 2022

The New Heritage Party, wishes to join His Excellency President Hakainde Hichilema in remembering and honouring our dear departed members of Parliament and especially the late Fourth Republican President, His Excellency Mr. Rupiah Bwezani Banda. It is indeed fitting that the late President not only be remembered but be properly honoured with an appropriate honour, befitting such a gallant son of Zambia, who in President Hichilema’s own words had served this country with distinction. Our proposal is that RB as he was fondly called be given the Order of the Zambian Eagle First Division.

We further wish to commend President Hichilema and the New Dawn government for paying attention to the social sectors in the speech, especially government’s plans to rid our cities and towns of the so called street Kids. It is a big shame that in an African country, we can be talking of street kids, as if we have taken leave of our culture of the extended family where we have no orphans in the classical sense of the word. Every child deserves to be sheltered and educated. If we can have shelters for orphaned animals,such as the Chimfunshi sunctuary for Chimpanzees, and dog shelters for dogs what more of a human child?

The plans for the review and reform of the Decentralization policy especially as it pertains to the devolution of responsibility over development projects and final authority over the finances and approvals is a welcome initiative. We would like to see the immediate transfer of this authority from the Minister of Local Government to the people in the constituencies and wards. In our view, the current situation where the Minister still reserves the power to approve which projects should be undertaken by the locals is a mockery of the concept of devolution, as it is like government giving with the right hand and taking back with the left hand.

In the same vein we would like to challenge the President and the New Dawn Government to walk the talk regarding their plan to put in place an equitable Land policy. This policy pronouncement will ring hollow if the council and other public service officials who were involved in the illegal land allocation to the people of Kasompe in Chingola are not arrested immediately and made to compansate those poor suffering citizens whose homes were so inhumanely destroyed. The same punitive actions should follow all other corrupt officials involved in other land scandals including the infamous Forest 27 in Lusaka.

The policy on youth employment and empowerment through agriculture is commendable. There is very little detail available, however, on government mechanisms to support this sector, especially to do with domestic and foreign markets. We recently had a sad situation where the National Union of Farmers were lamenting lack of market for tomatoes and the same is true for so many other agricultural produce. For example, what has happened to the much touted Saudi Goat export deal which was supposed to benefit our small livestock sector in which most of our rural people depend? It is not enough to make good, sweet sounding pronouncement and promises which have not been adequately thought through and where there is no real intention of being fulfilled. This government has so quickly earned itself a bad name of being big on promises and very little on fulfilling them, they now have an opportunity to change this negative perception by delivering on the lofty words that the President so eloquently delivered in his speech to Parliament today.

Concerning good governance issues, again the President made very important policy intentions, including the long promised repeal and replacement of the discredited colonial Public Order Act, the repeal of anti- democratic Defamation of The President law and a general review of the penal code. This is a very bold and progressive move by the government, but we would like to remind this new government that this is nothing new, because previous administrations have promised similar things in the past only to renege on them after finding the same bad laws expedient for their stay in power.

The New dawn government has continued to put it’s hope in foreigners and foreign investors to salvage our dire economic situation. On top of this, the major foreign exchange earners in mining are being subsided by we, the ordinary Zambians at house hold level who are being heavily taxed, on all earnings including the meager salaries, rentals, sales at the markets etc. In contrast, the big mining foreign companies which use most of the energy are being given golden handshakes, with tax rebates and other sweeteners all at the expense of poor Zambians, to the effect that even the little respite that the social safety net programmes would provide are rendered void and of little help to the vulnerable.

Zambia’s development resides in it’s constituent parts, who are the Zambian people themselves, the measures that this government is taking in the economy in this regard are a short term, bandaid measure, sure to only enrich the foreigners, for whom the IMF is just the ” enforcer” in much the same way crooked kaloba money lenders send thugs and bailiffs to collect money and other items owed to them.

Regarding our foreign policy, the President referred to Zambia as ‘Peace makers’. It is well and good to pronounce ourselves as such, but this government is well advised in future to avoid blunders like inviting foreign military entities on our soil without the express approval of the citizens, and avoid voting the way they have done at the UN on the War in Ukraine where we clearly sided with one of parties. We need to maintain our nonalignment in foreign policy. In addition, but more importantly, we need to strengthen our bilateral ties with our immediate neighbors, and with the AU, demonstrated in our pan- africanist voting pattern at all fora.

As for the so called bailout, from the IMF, jury is still out until the full text of the conditionalities is made public.

#ZambiaOurHeritage

UPND NEW DAWN ADMINISTRATION GROWS AND STABILISES THE ECONOMY

PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema says his Government has spent one year in office implementing social economic interventions in order to review and repair the economy as well as deal with the impact of debt on the economy.

Speaking during the official opening, of the Second Session of the Thirteenth National Assembly, at Parliament Buildings today in Lusaka, President Hichilema said,

“During the past one year, government has prioritized the implementation of socio-economic interventions aimed at, repairing and reviving and stabilizing the economy,” he said

Adding that, Government’s focus is in line with the theme “working together towards Social Economic transformation.”

President Hichilema said he is happy that within a year his government has managed to stabilize and grow the economy at 4 per cent.

Adding that the socio economic interventions have led to the inflation rate dropping from 25% to a single digit of 9.8 % within a year.

President Hichilema said it is therefore, for this reason that government has prioritized fiscal discipline, through enhanced transparency and accountability to ensure that resources are used to improve the welfare of the people.

He said that fiscal discipline is meant to protect public resources, as well as serve the Zambian people with a sense of humility, clarity and diligence.

President Hichilema also said that governments focus remains that of transforming Zambia into an industrialized nation with the participation of citizens so as to unlock various economic opportunities to deliver inclusive development, jobs and improved livelihoods for the people.

The Head of State has meanwhile said government will continue to pursue efforts aimed at increasing both local and foreign investments, productivity, value addition and trade ensuring that citizens participate and benefit fully from economic activities.

He told parliament that government is unlocking the economy using the Private sector and has since launched the Public, Private Development Forum for constructive development and to strengthen partnership, industrialization, trade and wealth creation between the Public and Private Sector.

And the President said education is the best possible platform of socio-economic progress any government can and should make available to its citizens.

He said it is for this reason that government has done away with tuition and examinations fees in order to provide free education in public schools.

President Hichilema said this is to ensure that more of the children who were unable to attend school, can be given an opportunity to do so
Mr. Hichilema also said that to fill up the gap in finances created by the free education policy, government has increased grants to schools. as well as ensuring timely delivery of the same, to cater for their operations.

@ THE FALCON

LITUNGA SIR MWANAWINA’S HONORARY DAY

By Brian Mundia Kabeleka

In the eve of the new year,1959, the Queen of England, Elizabeth II at her speech addressed to the Nation pulled out her honor list. On this new year’s honor list she pronounced the name of Mwanawina III. who became to be popularly known as Sir Mwanawina III KBE (Knight Commander – of the Order – of the British Empire.)

The first African to be so honored with KBE. The Sir Medals arose from the Services Mwanawina who was then a Sergeant rendered to the British during the First World War, commandeering the 2000 Barotse porters up to Serenje. The second Medal of a Knight is also by his services when he was the Senior Chief of Mankoya. He ordered his subjects to provide rubber from Mambongo tree species ….a special rubber substance needed for weaponry hardware during World War II to the British.

These services culminated from an understanding between King Lubosi Lewanika and King Edward VII in 1902 at SPITHEAD a site where the King or Queen of England inspects the immensity weaponry power of Great Britain in AIR on LAND and SEA .This is where The two Kings had a luncheon and a conducted tour for the Barotse King to site see the treasures of Britain.

When World War One broke out in 1914 Lewanika wrote to the British. Government that he was ready to join the war along side with Britain according to Spithead Agreement.

Britain replied that .as it was a good idea for Lewanika to get involved into the war….unfortunately the weapons used were too advanced for Africans to operate or plan for. Lewanika then contributed £1400 towards the War. Later Germany through their territories of Germany East and South West Africa..Tanzania and Namibia intensified the War in Africa.

Britain requested 2000 Porters from Lewanika. Within a couple of days, 2300 troops were assembled at Mongu’s Nandimba site enroute to Livingstone to board a train under the Command of Lewanika’s Son Mwanawina.

In pic: Litunga Mwanawina III with Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, at Lealui royal palace in Mongu in 1960.

HICHILEMA HAS SOLD OUR SOVEREIGNTY TO THE IMF

Dr. Azwel Banda

September 9, 2022

Satisfied that Hakainde Hichilema and his UPND friends in government mean business to carry Zambia forward towards complete loss of sovereignty from where Fredrick Jacob Titus Mpundu Chiluba failed, the IMF on the 31st of August finally declared that Hakainde’s government is fit to be under its full financial and economic tutelage under its extended “Credit Facility” for three years at approximately US$1.3 billion.

HH and his friends are gushing with glory and self-praise at achieving this enslaving ‘milestone’, under one year in office.

Only slaves celebrate debt.

A core fundamental difference with the IMF structural adjustment programmes under Kaunda’s UNIP and the MMD of Fredrick Jacob Titus Mpundu Chiluba is that today, under Hakainde Hichilema, it is none other than the managing director of the IMF herself – Kristalina Georgieva – who has boldly, ignorant of the real truth in her statement, announced to the world in her congratulatory message to Hakainde that in fact this time around, the IMF economic reforms are “homegrown”.

This is as it should be: Chiluba was after all incapable of consistently sustaining the IMF draconian economic reforms because he was not a beneficiary of its fruits prior to becoming president.

Hakainde Hichilema is personally a proud beneficiary of the disastrous IMF programmes under Chiluba! This IMF programme was grown in his home. Welcome to the new dawn Zambia under Hichilema, a Zambia with a ‘homegrown’ IMF mass impoverishing, natural resources plundering, debt escalating and sovereignty eroding economic reform programme.

If you doubt the seriousness and accuracy of what I am saying, do trust none other than our most eminent purveyor and publicist of ‘foreign investors’ and global finance capital, Chibamba Kanyama, when he says: “Here is what government officials, political leaders and citizens should know from the moment you sign for an IMF loan: you are simply naked!

There is a full requirement you disclose all government initiatives. You cannot spend money on any project outside what is agreed (the budget) and the IMF must know and possibly approve if there is any slight change to the plan.

It is all about transparent dealings, openness to scrutiny, accountability and integrity. This is what the previous regime in Zambia feared.

Full stop!” Not too cleverly, Chibamba Kanyama does not make it clear that your “nakedness” is only from the eyes of the IMF, not the eyes of citizens of Zambia!

Punishing the working class and poor of indebted countries with austerity and entrenchment of the dictatorship of finance capital.

All programmes of the IMF link an indebted country’s use of IMF resources to its adoption of a strict pro-private sector economic restructuring programmes, constriction of government expenditure, austerity, credit ceilings, restrictions on local and foreign borrowing, trade restrictions, exchange rate policies favourable to foreign investments, inflation targeting and other similar measures all designed to squeeze maximum value from the working masses and the poor in order to enrich the banks and creditors, through debt restructuring.

A cosmetic sprinkling of ‘human rights’ and ‘democracy’ and ‘safety nets’, and lately, limited and controlled government spending on education and health for the ‘most vulnerable’ sweeten the sadistic loss of national sovereignty over economic and public policy, and national finances to the IMF and banks and other financial institutions. Taken together, with the heavy policing of a country’s economy, budget and expenditures by the IMF, the creditors, once satisfied that the indebted country can sustain these measures and begin to accumulate ‘surpluses’ enough to meet its debt obligation on certain specified terms, may then agree to restructure terms for the country to meet its debt servicing needs.

This is the essence of the IMF programme: a country cedes its economic and financial independence to the IMF in return for the IMF to strictly supervise the terms upon which the creditors are happy to have their money from the indebted country, managed. Concealed in all this is that for the first time, as unlike Kaunda, Chiluba and all other presidents Zambia has had, this time we have a president who stands to vastly increase his personal wealth at the expense of millions of Zambians who are being made to pay the cost of debt restructuring, as he himself benefits from inflows of foreign money into the country, from commissions and by cheaply pawning our natural resources, to foreign money.

In truth, in Hakainde Hichilema we do have a ‘homegrown’ economic restructuring programme with the IMF: the programme was grown in the home of Hakainde Hichilema! Welcome to the ‘homegrown’ IMF dictatorship of millions of working and poor Zambians! Responses at: banda. azwell@gmail.com.

CURRENT MEDIA STATUS IN ZAMBIA

Fellow country men and women, including fellow politicians, I note with concern how the media, to which everyone benefits in terms of information dissemination, has been left in the cold. For a start, a reminder would be ideal as to how the term 4th estate is coined, there are three organs of Government, the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature and the 4th is the media.

With the above statement, may I further, as a politician, citizen and consumer of both positive and negative criticism, sometimes even directed at myself from some struggling local media houses, categorically state that the central Government needs to listen now to the challenges the media is undergoing.

When a politician or an ordinary citizen wants to be heard, they run to the media and in this case am referring to the mainstream media which is composed of radio, television and print. Issues surrounding the media performance, human resource retention, better pay are lost and gagged into the illegality allowed by the regulatory authorities through handing out licenses against the digital migration policy because of either political influence or deals cut from dark corners.

The current scenario in the Zambian media, especially the television sector is suffocating and depriving the media of their own resources that is made through monthly subscriptions. As a citizen, I have taken time to study the challenges and clearly it is about time all the politicians and citizens alike stood with the sector because right now what is happening is illegal and cannot be allowed to continue.

Attached to the same, is the issue surrounding the Presidential handlers that fix appointments to meet the president on various matters of public concern. And by the way, why should it take the entire president to deal with matters that are supposed to be handled at ministerial level or/and regulatory level?

Could it be that the relevant bodies to these matters are already trapped in deep pockets of International crooked cartels fronting the media business from outside Zambia? The issue of poor pays or salaries is as a result of questionable individuals heading institutions that are supposed to deal with these problems and these would include regulators and Ministry of Information and Media.

From the grapevine, media owners are struggling to fix appointments with the President, whose victory was largely premised on the use of the same media that today still remain under choke-hold. This is despite the policy clearly stipulating the dos and don’ts, but still continues unabated, breaking these straightforward guidelines.

If I were the president, I would be so concerned with how my handlers perform through seeing the type of people that I will have visit me with matters of public interest. This should be compared with how many ordinary Zambians I have spoken to. The current status of the Presidential handlers is very alarming as a result of who they prefer to meet the President. Without using any sort of tired lame excuse of the usual phrase “the President has a busy schedule,” the questions must follow that busy doing what, when he clearly has no appointment with people that do not seem powerful enough to speak with him? Too busy for his own people that gave him the mandate through the ballot box?

As a Zambian, I find this extremely disappointing that a critical part of the 18 million plus population, the media, cannot have easy access to the head of state, all because of few big-headed handlers working from state house. However, people can fly in from other countries, sometimes unknown, only to be splattered with pictures of foreigners having met the very President whose time has been segmented only as desired by his handlers.

Understand that this is not about political party a, b or c, but the People of Zambia to which he is the President. And certain members of society are critical in dealing with day-to-day happenings in the country, therefore, his handlers must either be fired or cautioned to conduct themselves in an orderly manner much to the satisfaction of the Zambians that voted for him.

How possible is it that media houses from the Western world can fly in and meet the President, but the local media operators are not allowed access? For example, reporters from New York were in the country a few days ago and met with the President, while the local media owners are being fed with the same story of a busy schedule.

President Hakainde Hichilema, sort out your handlers’ misconduct and also clean the rot existing in the operations of the media which has come as a result of compromised and selfish individuals in various media institutions.

This is just briefly the bad treatment the media is receiving, I hope that the President addresses this problem once and for all, while also reminding his handlers that they should respect and accord Zambians, both Corporate and ordinary, the chance with the president they elected before foreigners.

ISSUED BY:

SABOI IMBOELA

PRESIDENT- NDC

10/09/2022

September 9th 2022
PRESS STATEMENT

ANALYSIS OF THE IMF PROGRAMME IN ZAMBIA
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
ActionAid Zambia (AAZ) is part of ActionAid International, a global movement of people working together to further human rights and defeat poverty for all.

The IMF Board approved $1.3 billion 38 month Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement for Zambia on August 31st, 2022 and as an institution we called on the IMF and government to publish the agreement in the spirit of transparency and enable scrutiny and monitoring.

We commend the government for publishing the IMF agreement. As an institution, we wish to share some of our concerns regarding the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program. We shall particularly highlight areas where we see potential risks for the Zambian society and for the economy.

The Extended credit Facility is based on the traditional IMF austerity package. In just over 3 years (38 months) , Zambia is being pushed to move from a 6% deficit to a 3.2% surplus – and this is to be achieved by significant cuts in some crucial areas of spending and some increases in taxes that pass the burden onto the poor majority rather than onto the richest individuals and companies.

The programme projects an increase in the tax-to-GDP ratio of 3.4% (table, page 16), but most of this increase is to be achieved by removing exemptions from VAT – which will make an already regressive tax even more regressive, passing the burden in particular onto women.

There are no projected increases in corporate income tax, only an intention to ensure better tax compliance – and the same is true with revenue from royalties. Indeed, taxes on corporate profits are projected to fall from 4.5% of GDP in 2021 to 4.2% in 2025 (table, page 40). At a time of economic challenges, surely it would be fairer if the wealthiest companies made more of a contribution?

ActionAid Zambia will continue to engage with the government to make the case that increases in tax revenues should be achieved through progressive and gender responsive tax reforms, not passing the burden onto those who are least able to pay.

The government of President Hakainde Hichilema has made bold commitments to make education free from early childhood through to upper secondary and has recruited 30,000 plus new teachers to address serious shortages – as well as employing 12,000 plus new health workers.

This important expansion of the public sector work force will not be possible to sustain under this IMF programme. The public sector wage bill (framed as ‘compensation of employees’ in table on page 40) will only rise marginally from 8.1% to 8.6% by 2025, remaining below the global average of 9% (See – The Public Versus Austerity). Yet the demand for new teachers will rise dramatically as enrolments in every level of education are likely to rise significantly in the coming 3 years – so class sizes will rise, and the shortage of teachers will effectively be more acute than ever in 2025.

ActionAid Zambia will continue to make the case that investment in the frontline public sector workforce (the majority of whom are women) should be a priority as it is key to improving the quality of public services and delivering on human rights obligations.
There are serious concerns about the removal of subsidies which is being done at an accelerated rate.

Fuel and electricity subsidies may have been a factor in accelerating the debt crisis but their abrupt removal at this point could do excessive damage, leaving Zambian citizens especially the women and the youth completely exposed to the wild volatility of fuel prices on the international market following the Ukraine war. It is important over time to phase out taxpayer support to the fossil fuel industry but there is still a case for supporting renewable solutions.

Many other countries are exploring the introduction of price controls and subsidies in response to the present fuel price surges, but Zambia will be forced in the opposite direction.

Everyone in Zambia will face unpredictable bills – but the social protection programmes that are supposed to protect the most vulnerable will only reach one million people and realistically will need to be extended further. ActionAid Zambia will track the impact of the rising cost of living and make the case for more universal and comprehensive social protection programmes.

One of the success stories in recent years has been the Farmer Input Support Programme that has helped Zambia become more food secure, in particular with maize.

This programme will face significant cuts under the IMF programme and where these cuts fall will be crucial.

There is a case for ending subsidies to large scale farmers, but support for smallholder farmers, especially for climate-friendly agroecological farming needs to be protected and extended to local farming communities given Zambia’s commitment to devolution agenda. embarked on. ActionAid Zambia will work to track the impact of these cuts on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, making the case that any cuts to the programme should fall first on industrial scale farmers not smallholders who are working with very narrow margins.
One of the commitments in the IMF programme is to a new Public Private Partnership act. There is certainly scope to improve the present PPP practices but it is important to ensure that any reforms draw learning from the well documented challenges and failures of PPPs internationally (see for example: History Reapeated – How public-private partnerships are failing – Eurodad and PPPs and Women’s Human Rights – DAWN).

One well documented failure is that when PPPs mean that user fees are charged for access to public services, this becomes extremely burdensome on women – who are already restricted by disproportionate poverty and care giving; women have to either fill the service gap themselves or spend already restrained income they have on accessing services for themselves or their households ActionAid will engage with this process to ensure that PPPs do not end up being more expensive for the public purse, do not pass on costs and labour to women, do not place the risk disproportionately on the public sector, are negotiated transparently in balanced negotiation processes with strong and enforceable regulation of all private contractors.

Zambia has been in a serious debt crisis, and we recognise that there are no easy solutions. However, it is not clear whether Zambia’s creditors will actually cancel the $8.4 bn of external debt payments due between 2022 and 2025 or whether these will just be deferred until a late date. More clarity is needed in order to ensure that we will not be faced with a similar debt crisis in future. There needs to be a greater and more explicit commitment to debt cancellation rather than simply postponing the problem.

In summary, this IMF programme fails to pass the burden onto those who are most able to pay. It does not have an equity lens, least of all a gender equity lens. This is the result of a secretive process with key background analytical documents remaining unpublished, making it hard for Zambian citizens and civil society to engage in key stages. It is too late to change the core of the agreement now, but we hope that we can work with others in civil society to make the case for progressive and equitable solutions to be found within the coming three years.

We will track the impact of this programme and expose the injustices that arise, arguing for alternative paths to be followed that shift the burdens on to those actors who are most able to pay.

The next time such an agreement is negotiated we must demand full transparency from the government in every moment of the process – and we must push back against the cult of austerity that the IMF continues to champion.

Signed
Nalucha Nganga Ziba
ActionAid Zambia Country Director

Neyo and Crystal Renee’s divorce battle has just gotten messier as the singer has made it clear that he’s not willing to give her any of his belongings or money.

According to court documents, Neyo agrees his marriage to Crystal Renee Smith is “irretrievably broken with no hope of reconciliation” but he objects to Crystal’s request for alimony and sole custody of their three children.

Neyo and Crystal got married in February 2016. In 2020, after 4 years of marriage, Crystal announced their separation.

They eventually reconciled and welcomed daughter Isabella in June 2021.

In April 2022, they put the past behind them and remarried.

However, in July 2022, Crystal came out to accuse Neyo of constantly disrespecting her by having “unprotected” sex with numerous women.

It appears the marriage is done for good this time because court documents have been filed.

Neyo said in court filings that he does not want to offer Crystal any financial support.

Ne-Yo, whose real name is Shaffer Chimere Smith, also objected to the former reality star receiving temporary and permanent alimony.

However, he says he is not opposed to paying child support and would like joint physical custody of their three children, Shaffer, Roman, and Isabella.

According to court filings, Ne-Yo believes that since Crystal was unemployed during much of the marriage, her lack of contribution should be considered when their assets are divided.

Furthermore, he says since he has been solely responsible for the mortgage and upkeep of their marital home in Georgia, Crystal should be forced to find a new home.

He proclaims that he has maintained all three properties purchased during the union and should be their sole owner.

The award-winning producer declares that at this point, with the many perks that came with being married to him, Crystal should be able to “procure stable and consistent employment.”

Crystal recently sat down with Carlos King for his “Reality with the King” podcast, where she says her husband was going outside of their home to “live a different life.” Once she learned about the double life, Crystal knew things needed to end.

“I wish him the best, but there’s certain things for me, once you cross that line, I’m not gonna accept,” she said to King.

Killing INDENI AND TAZAMA

By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba

To guarantee energy security, founder President, Kenneth Kaunda built key strategic national assets; TAZAMA Pipeline, INDENI Refinery and Ndola Fuel Terminal Depot(NFT) at great cost.

The upstream component comprised crude oil exploration, production and transportation, while the downstream industry involved product refining, transportation, storage, distribution and retail.

Indeni in its current form is a cracker that handles comingled crude feedstock through TAZAMA.

From this crude feedstock, the Refinery produces five products;(a) unleaded petrol (b) automotive gas oil (c) industrial kerosene (d) domestic kerosene (e) Jet fuel.

Because of both issues attributable to capital,middle-men and the powerful cartels that benefit from importation of finished products, INDENI has been on care-and-maintenance since 2019.

To upgrade INDENI Refinery to handle full crude oil,it requires about $500m.

INDENI Refinery needs a new unit called a Diesel Hydrotreater which would cost approximately US$250 million , to enable it produce low sulphur diesel in compliance with SADC Regional Framework for Harmonisation of Low Sulphur Fuels and Vehicle Emission Standards.

The refinery also requires a cracking unit that would enable it to process pure crude oil which was a cheaper feedstock as compared to the spiked crude oil.

On TAZAMA, extensive rehabilitation works have been undertaken since 2017 and over 700km out of 1,710km of works have been completed.

The objective of the project was to rehabilitate the Pipeline and its auxilliary systems to prevent further losses of crude oil through leakages, avoid environmental damage in Zambia and Tanzania.

On Ndola Fuel Terminal, barked on expansion project and built Provincial Bulk Storage Facilities in Ndola, Lusaka, Mpika, Mongu Fuel depots. Others were Mansa, Choma and Chipata bulk depots.

Their Plans

They have retrenched all INDENI workers.

They want to convert INDENI into a blender and will be given a business model to run storage facilities!

On TAZAMA,it will converted to handle finished products ( conaultants have highlighted too many risks with that pursuit as finished products becomes instant “liquid gold” and will be highly susceptible to vandalism and difficult.to police a 1,700km ) and requires investments of over $1.5 billion.

Their plans will kill both INDENI and TAZAMA, as key national strategic assets for a landlocked country like Zambia.

UPND Targeting ECZ As PayBack For Their Time In Opposition – Socialist Party

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) was working within the “political wheels of power” when it ruled that Bowman Lusambo and Joseph Malanji could not contest elections in Kabushi and Kwacha, Socialist Party first vice-president and general secretary Cosmas Musheke Musumali has said.

Speaking on HOT FM Zambia’s Hot Seat programme following a ruling by the Constitutional Court that overturned the decisions, Dr Musumali accused the government of political interference in the electoral process.

Lusambo and Malanji are now free to contest the seats.

“ECZ rushed to make a decision and it’s a tricky situation that we find ourselves in. What is the ECZ going to do now? The ConCourt is saying, the situation as it stands, there was no fairness in it. So what is going to be the response of the ECZ?” Dr Musumali asked.

“What is killing the ECZ is the political interference and we suspect, in these hurriedly made decisions, a tragic decision that was made . . . they were working under political interference.”

Dr Musumali said the ECZ decision was obviously rushed and made on flimsy grounds, citing the “grade 12 certificate” argument against Malanji as a case in point.

“The issue (for Malanji’s case) was not the grade 12 certificate, but that is the one that was brought up. And it was brought up in a way that it even caught his lawyers by surprise. If that was the issue, Malanji would have been given time to bring the certificate and show it to the court.”

He accused the UPND government of taking revenge against the ECZ for the way it had been treated in the past.

“The UPND suffered a lot due to some of the decisions made by the ECZ, but you don’t take revenge. You don’t come to power with anger. That anger, because you don’t like the people at the ECZ or as an institution, there was a need to start a dialogue, to start getting the people at the ECZ to work a certain way. Political interference makes professionalism impossible, and that is what we are seeing in the ECZ.

“We shouldn’t throw away the ECZ, because we need it, but what we need is to improve the professionalism. What is killing the ECZ is political interference.”

Dr Musumali said the decisions over Lusambo and Malanji would have been different if the Commission was professional.

“We have always as the Socialist Party raised issues against some of the decisions of the ECZ. The ECZ is an important institution in our democratic process and we want it to function in a professional way. In the past, we have made our reservations known. What was going wrong with the ECZ. But the ECZ has been an institution that we have had a dialogue with, we have supported some of its decisions,” he said.

Dr Musumali said the Socialist Party supported efforts to modernise the ECZ, although he noted that it had been at “half capacity” recently.

“When you talk about the digitisation of voting and electoral voting, we are behind it. The idea of getting people in prisons to go and vote, we supported that. The thinking that even Zambians in the diaspora can actually vote in 2026, we are for that, we are behind it. So there are some new innovations of the ECZ that we support.”

But said due to chief electoral officer Patrick Nshindano leaving and chairperson Esau Chulu’s contract not being renewed, the ECZ was now functioning at half capacity.

ALL FUEL SUBSIDIES WILL BE REMOVED EVENTUALLY

All subsidies on petroleum products will eventually be removed.

In June 2022, The New Dawn Government extended and maintained the prevailing subsidies or tax waivers on Value Added Tax (VAT), Excise Duty and Customs (Import) Duty on petroleum products – which were in line with Statutory Instrument (SI) number 3 of 2022 and coming to an end on 30th June 2022 – for another three months up to 30th September 2022. This means that government is losing millions of dollars in potential tax earnings per month.

However, it has always been the New Dawn Government’s policy and strategic direction to remove fuel subsidies and direct the government spending towards social sectors that impact positively on the well-being of our people such as health, education, social security etc. Instead of the energy sector getting funding from government, it must instead help to raise the needed revenue.

As things stand, government is not earning any money anymore from fuel marketing and sales while those trading in petroleum products are making the money. This means that the poor are missing out on the funds we are subsidising fuel. Therefore, as long as the prices of petroleum products keep going down, we are likely to reach a point whereby we can then remove the tax waivers on petroleum products, which are really subsidies, and ensure the new prices of petroleum products are stable but not too high for end users. At this point, fuel marketing will now contribute to the treasury. Taxes will then go to the treasury.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Energy Permanent Secretary Francesca C. Zyambo (Mrs) has since announced that tax waivers extended to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) at the begging of this quarter shall not be extended beyond 30th September 2022.

Further, recently, Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary Budgets and Economic Affairs, Mukuli Chikuba, said that the reinstatement of VAT and excise duty is meant to make fuel procurement cost reflective. Mr. Chikuba was speaking during a capacity building workshop on the Extended Credit Facility from the International Monetary Fund, where it was further discussed that eliminating implicit subsidies on fuel was part of the IMF and creditors’ reform programme agreed by the government.

Good evening.

Hon. Eng. Peter Chibwe Kapala
Minister of Energy

9. 2022

IMF is our New President
By Kasonde Mwenda C

Siting in the National Assembly was heartbreaking to see how President Hakainde Hichilema has lost the power to govern to IMF. He has even forgotten what he once promised the people of Zambia. He delivered an empty speech devoid of ambition and emperical direction on serious Economic fundamentals because he no longer has power to control anything:

1. $28BILLION National DEBT: President HH Confirmed that we still do not have a Debt restructuring program in place and the creditors are yet to be engaged on specifics worse did not even give a time frame when this will be done and yet debt restructuring was the initial reason they gave for going to IMF. He also avoided mentioning specific sectors of the Economy where the IMF LOAN will be spent on.

2. No Agricultural reforms direction, since the farming inputs remain undelivered to farmers, feeder roads remain undone when the rains fall next month it is a lamentable farming season ahead.

3. No update on progress or strategy on resolving Mining quagmire on Mopani and KCM mines which have led to revenue and production and JOB LOSSES , POVERTY on the copperbelt.

4. No emperical road map on revival of Manufacturing Industry following the deliberate sinking and sabotage of Indeni Oil Refinery and now the turning of Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia NCZ into a white elephant after it was denied opportunity to supply fertilizer but gave the contract TO HIS CORRUPTION CONVICTED CRIMINAL FRIENDS to importers at inflated prices.

5. No single mention on the reforms on FIGHT against CORRUPTION. No commitment to pragmatic transparency initiatives.

6. No mention on the implications of IMF LOAN conditionalities on the economic and social livelihood of Zambians following the coming fuel and energy cost increases.

7. Stated that Government will not be involved directly in the Petroleum supply chain. The black market importers and rich friends will supply directly and exploit the Zambian consumers . No subsidised country to country oil deals will be in effect to cushion international markets turbulence hence local Zambian consumer will bear all the costs.

8. No hint on reforming the policy on the failed increased K25. 7 million CDF inaugural year where majority people have failed to access said development funds. Most rural Constituencies in North Western has accessed less that K1 million out of K25.7 million allocation.

9. No recourse on the disastrous 2022 Health care delivery. No new plans on how to improve and stop the medicine shortages which characterised this UPND inaugural year.

10. Legal Reforms. No policy direction on Statutory reforms on the Constitution and the contentious Public Order Act.

11. No emphasis on the Rule of Law following the recent skermishes where the state has made several questionable arrests and intimidation towards the opposition.

Dishonest Praises:

1. Ealier last year, President Hakainde Hichilema misled the world with falsehoods that he found empty coffers. Today he u-turned and claimed that he found National Reserves import cover worth 1.9 months and that they have borrowed to increase it to 3.7 months import cover .

2. How does one claim that more tourists have come to Zambia because of UPND than last year when in fact last year was the pandemic raveged with travel restrictions?

3. Claimed the UPND has increased electricity generation but failed to acknowledge the honest fact that Power plants created by the previous regime is the real reason. Unfortunately, no plans were laid on how to connect the local people to affordable power but quickly said we will export.

Wherever we want to go our feet shall take us there.

Kasonde Mwenda C
Economic Freedom Fighters-EFF President