By Fanny Kalonda

FINANCE minister Situmbeko Musokotwane says he feels sorry that government has to be begging for finances.

Speaking at the first private sector day in Lusaka on Monday, Dr Musokotwane also said the government is not going to give tax holidays to mining firms but bring tax levels to where they are supposed to be.

“So, for us, that is very clear and in the next few years, then led by the President, the issue of taxes we want to gradually reduce taxes because when we don’t reduce taxes there will be no enterprises coming up. No jobs while people pay Pay as You Earn. So don’t listen to those who are saying we are giving tax holidays. There are no tax holidays that we are giving. We are only bringing the tax levels to where they ought to be,” he said. “But the problem with many of you when these people talk unreasonable things, you keep quiet and come to the office and say ‘you are doing a good job’. Don’t come and tell me, go and tell those people who are…let’s have more voices of reason. I feel sad. I feel sorry that we have to beg all the time. It is not our intention. Our intention is to make our… independent so that in the next 10 years, we shall also be contributing to those who are not fortunate enough. But for now, I will swallow my pride and ask for contributions.”

Dr Musokotwane thanked the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for its US $500,000 contribution to the country.
International Finance Corporation – a sister organisation of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group – is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector in developing countries.
He however said there was need for more investment and the money was not enough.

“…IFC, thank you for the agreement that we have signed for you to contribute US $500,000 to facilitate this process. This money is not quite enough. Can we have our colleagues, cooperating partners…We are also going to put money into this ourselves to ensure commitment,” Dr Musokotwane said. “We have already put in money but can I ask cooperating partners to chip in and with that I think we will be ready to sign the agreement. And I wish this forum best success so that we don’t just end at talking but we deliver those jobs that we are talking about. IFC, I want to assure you that you are not forcing us. I want to assure you that you are not forcing us. It is us who are forcing you to get this job done. To get the environment clean, to attract more money. But I also want to urge you as I have always done, put more money in Zambia. I know you have put some but we are not satisfied. Put more money. And when you put that money in Zambia, we are not here to make you lose money, we are here to make you make profit. We are here to make the private sector make profit, because without the profits, you cannot sustain the jobs that we are talking about.”
Dr Musokotwane added that the government was committed to dealing with the country’s critical issues affecting young people such as unemployment.

“If you listen to the majority of people in this country, especially the young ones, there are two critical things on their minds. Number one is jobs, and the other one we are talking about decent jobs here. A survey that was taken some years ago, not so long ago, clearly indicated that the biggest problem on the mind of the young people is jobs, jobs, jobs and second; incomes,” said Dr Musokotwane. “The quality of life that people used to enjoy some time back is no longer available. I also want to state that these two problems that I have mentioned here they are very important for our nation. This is gun powder waiting to explode if we don’t do anything to resolve these issues. Not only that, I think the kind of leadership that we have now, we don’t want any citizens… We would feel humiliated if any of our citizens are among those trying to go across the Mediterranean Sea to go and look for jobs elsewhere. It will be humiliating.”

IFC vice-president for Africa Sergio Pimenta said the institution would do more in line with the World Bank Group partnership to create economic diversification with the government and ensure a conducive climate for private sector development.

He noted that the cost of capital remained the biggest constraint to the growth of the private sector in Zambia.

“I was really impressed, I must say, that this is one of the open dialogues that I have seen. And it’s just the beginning. The public and private sectors are not very patient. They all want to move fast. They all want to move quickly. But Rome was not built in one day, neither was Lusaka. But I see the progress and I see the direction. And I really congratulate you all for all of this,” said Pimenta. “IFC has had a fruitful relationship with the public and private sector of the people of Zambia. This relationship ranges from investment, in financial institutions, in agribusiness and also in tourism. I heard this morning that we need to do more in that sector. But also, telecommunications and energy…I agree with the Minister of Finance that we need to do more and we can do more in Zambia in line with the World Bank Group partnership to create economic diversification. To this end, we are keen to developing our collaboration with the government to ensure a conducive climate for private sector development…The cost of capital remains the binding constraints to the growth of the private sector in Zambia…”

Beyond The Recruitment of Teachers

The new dawn government has done the needful and employed 30,496 teachers in the civil service. A promise they made right after winning the August 12th., 2021, elections. This development in itself should not be controversial at all but should be applauded especially with so many of our people being in dire need of a job. Against the 90,000 plus teachers who applied for consideration in the recruitment process, perhaps one can argue that this government should have hired more teachers than the figures mentioned, or names published in the newspaper. However, in defense of this government, we are all aware that it has only been 11 months since this administration got elected to public office, and they are already making difficult and bold decisions with very little to almost no money at all. Hence, for any objective, hopeful and well-meaning Zambian, this exercise of employing 30,496 teachers within the first year of serving as government as the new dawn administration is progress indeed. And we can only anticipate that there is more to come in the remaining 4 years before the next general elections of August 2026. Nonetheless, the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) has a more daunting task than just helping with the recruitment process. In fact, the most important thing to do now as we go forward in this era of free education is to improve service delivery. The quality of education is not measured by the number of children enrolled in schools, or by nice classrooms or desks delivered to these schools, but rather the things that we teach our pupils or students who attend these public schools. Therefore, beyond the recruitment of teachers we should seriously undertake the task of evaluating and revising the school curriculum from grade 1 to grade 12.

There is no doubt that anyone who has carefully studied or taken the time to look at what our children learn in schools, will definitely agree with me that it leaves much to be desired; especially if we expect them to compete in this modern day and age. It is unthinkable that we still have that colonial type syllabi in most if not all public schools. For example, in 2022 we still have teachers who are trained and instructed to teach students things like; it was David Livingstone who discovered the Victoria falls, or even worse force the same students to learn and memorize what is produced in the great plains of North America, but yet the same young ones know nothing about the great plains of Barotseland. We need to be serious for once as a country and set up the next generation for success and not failure. This achievement of recruiting more teachers provides us with an opportunity to start afresh now, to interrogate other inefficiencies in our education sector and begin a painful but much needed discussion about what is wrong with our education system. And so, let me propose herewith that, the most pressing issue we deal with right away is the need to have a complete overhaul of all public-school curriculum or syllabi. It is unfortunate that we have to waste 12 years of our lives in primary and secondary schools, learning nothing of consequence to the realities that surrounds us. Most of these kids who learn about the Prairies of Canada or North America, will probably never ever travel to, or see North America. If anything, should any need arise for them to know about such information; I am sure this google generation will have no difficulties to search or look up this kind of information in such an instance.

Today, the United Party for National Development (UPND) together with the alliance partners have a unique opportunity to fix our education once and for all. In fact, what should be done is that the government needs to task the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) to evaluate the quality of education in our public schools. The commission should set-up a research and development department in charge of investigation and gathering of all the findings, and then present a full report to parliament, the ministry of education and the powers that be for consideration. Zambia needs more STEAM schools now more than ever which are publicly funded, and of course these schools will focus on teaching relevant science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math for purposes of problem-solving as well as making sure that grade 12 graduates have tangible skills after leaving secondary school. The new dawn administration will do well to build an economy that will employ grade 12 leavers, because of the quality of education and skills that these young folks would have attained even before advancing to college or university. Just like our forebears who were employed upon graduating from secondary school with a form 5 certificate during the post-independence era. If we can do that, our country will be the talk of the region, if not Africa and the world over. Sadly, what we have now is an education system that cannot even make our college and university graduates compete in the region. Truth be told, our quality of education is so pathetic that if one graduates from a college or university in Zambia; not only do they struggle to get a job at home, but they will be so lucky to even get employed by any of our neighboring countries and much less other countries abroad. Just like all things in life, the foundation of anything you are trying to build is very important. Therefore, we have to fix this education situation from the bottom up.

This country has a lot of retired educators who have served Zambia with distinction as teachers, headteachers, principals etc. The knowledge and wisdom possessed by this constituency of elders can be a reservoir of formidable experience from which the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) can mobilize and seek guidance during the new curriculum formulation process. In my view, the much-needed revised curriculum from grade 1 to grade 12 should be nationalist, patriotic but yet with a global outlook in all the subjects taught in public schools. I cannot believe for the life of me, that social studies and civic education textbooks do not mention the name Dean Mung’omba and others alike. What kind of heroes do these young Zambians of today learn about and look up to? Yes, we need to learn about Japan, China, Brazil or even the United States of America. But in all of these lessons, we need to answer some fundamental questions such as, how does this topic of another country, be it their discoveries, innovations, culture, or history relate to me as a Zambian and Africa? How does this education help a Zambian secondary school student fit into the world picture? Lastly, we should commend the new dawn administration for the promise kept as they have recruited 30,496 teachers who will be a great asset to our nation. We wish the government well with the implementation of these recruitments, for which we understand will not be easy at all. Again, the next step beyond this recruitment phase is to improve the quality of our education in public schools without fail.

~ Aaron Ng’ambi
political Scientist
aaronngambi@yahoo.com

Declaration of Assets and Liabilities: Why are the former ministers not respecting the law?

It is good that Given Lubinda, Acting president for PF has raised concern over the recent declaration of assets by the current Cabinet Ministers and the slow pace it is being done.

Mr Lubinda argues that, FIRSTLY THE DECLARATIONS ARE BELATED BY 10 MONTHS BECAUSE THE LAW DICTATES THAT WITHIN THE MONTH OF BEING APPOINTED, A PERSON MUST MAKE A DECLARARTION.

He may be right on the time framework it has taken to declare and the concerns on the figures and one wonders the reluctance from those concerned to declare.

However, one may ask whether Mr Lubinda, as former Cabinet, and his colleagues have read the Constitution on the declaration of assets and liabilities and who is targeted for that.

Do they know the demands from the Constitution that both ‘the ins and outs’ public officers (cabinet minister) need to declare their assets and liabilities?

For avoidance of doubt, Article 263 of the Constitution of Zambia demands that both Mr Lubinda, as former minister, and the current Ministers should have declared their assets and liabilities long time ago

The Constitution states, A person holding a public office shall, before assuming office or leaving office, make a declaration of their assets and liabilities, as prescribed

The law on declaration of assets and liabilities, the PF acting president was referring to, must have been derived from the above cited Article.

The question is, have the former ministers declared their assets and liabilities in the last 10 months after leaving office?

If yes, how many have declared, and if not, why?

Unfortunately, the Constitution doesnt exempt Mr Lubinda and his friends who were former ministers, former Vice President, Inonge Wina and former president, Edgar Chagwa Lungu and public officers.*

Isn’t it the non declaration of their assets and liabilities 10 months after exiting the office a breach of the Constitution?

And if people breach the Constitution, doesnt that attract prosecution under the law or the former ministers are awaiting persecution in order to be forced to declare their assets and liabilities?

I submit

McDonald Chipenzi

I FEEL SAD, SORRY THAT WE HAVE TO BEG ALL THE TIME – MUSOKOTWANE

FINANCE minister Situmbeko Musokotwane says he feels sorry that government has to be begging for finances.

Speaking at the first private sector day in Lusaka on Monday, Dr Musokotwane also said the government is not going to give tax holidays to mining firms but bring tax levels to where they are supposed to be.

“So, for us, that is very clear and in the next few years, then led by the President, the issue of taxes we want to gradually reduce taxes because when we don’t reduce taxes there will be no enterprises coming up. No jobs while people pay Pay as You Earn. So don’t listen to those who are saying we are giving tax holidays. There are no tax holidays that we are giving. We are only bringing the tax levels to where they ought to be,” he said. “But the problem with many of you when these people talk unreasonable things, you keep quiet and come to the office and say ‘you are doing a good job’. Don’t come and tell me, go and tell those people who are…let’s have more voices of reason. I feel sad. I feel sorry that we have to beg all the time. It is not our intention. Our intention is to make our… independent so that in the next 10 years, we shall also be contributing to those who are not fortunate enough. But for now, I will swallow my pride and ask for contributions.”

Dr Musokotwane thanked the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for its US $500,000 contribution to the country.

International Finance Corporation – a sister organisation of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group – is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector in developing countries.

He however said there was need for more investment and the money was not enough.

“…IFC, thank you for the agreement that we have signed for you to contribute US $500,000 to facilitate this process. This money is not quite enough. Can we have our colleagues, cooperating partners…We are also going to put money into this ourselves to ensure commitment,” Dr Musokotwane said. “We have already put in money but can I ask cooperating partners to chip in and with that I think we will be ready to sign the agreement. And I wish this forum best success so that we don’t just end at talking but we deliver those jobs that we are talking about. IFC, I want to assure you that you are not forcing us. I want to assure you that you are not forcing us. It is us who are forcing you to get this job done. To get the environment clean, to attract more money. But I also want to urge you as I have always done, put more money in Zambia. I know you have put some but we are not satisfied. Put more money. And when you put that money in Zambia, we are not here to make you lose money, we are here to make you make profit. We are here to make the private sector make profit, because without the profits, you cannot sustain the jobs that we are talking about.”

Dr Musokotwane added that the government was committed to dealing with the country’s critical issues affecting young people such as unemployment.

“If you listen to the majority of people in this country, especially the young ones, there are two critical things on their minds. Number one is jobs, and the other one we are talking about decent jobs here. A survey that was taken some years ago, not so long ago, clearly indicated that the biggest problem on the mind of the young people is jobs, jobs, jobs and second; incomes,” said Dr Musokotwane. “The quality of life that people used to enjoy some time back is no longer available. I also want to state that these two problems that I have mentioned here they are very important for our nation. This is gun powder waiting to explode if we don’t do anything to resolve these issues. Not only that, I think the kind of leadership that we have now, we don’t want any citizens… We would feel humiliated if any of our citizens are among those trying to go across the Mediterranean Sea to go and look for jobs elsewhere. It will be humiliating.”

IFC vice-president for Africa Sergio Pimenta said the institution would do more in line with the World Bank Group partnership to create economic diversification with the government and ensure a conducive climate for private sector development.

He noted that the cost of capital remained the biggest constraint to the growth of the private sector in Zambia.

“I was really impressed, I must say, that this is one of the open dialogues that I have seen. And it’s just the beginning. The public and private sectors are not very patient. They all want to move fast. They all want to move quickly. But Rome was not built in one day, neither was Lusaka. But I see the progress and I see the direction. And I really congratulate you all for all of this,” said Pimenta. “IFC has had a fruitful relationship with the public and private sector of the people of Zambia. This relationship ranges from investment, in financial institutions, in agribusiness and also in tourism. I heard this morning that we need to do more in that sector. But also, telecommunications and energy…I agree with the Minister of Finance that we need to do more and we can do more in Zambia in line with the World Bank Group partnership to create economic diversification. To this end, we are keen to developing our collaboration with the government to ensure a conducive climate for private sector development…The cost of capital remains the binding constraints to the growth of the private sector in Zambia…”

The Mast

ACC asks High Court to quash immunity granted to Chitotela

By Mwaka Ndawa
IN the quest to have former minister of tourism Ronald Chitotela indicted for ‘illegally’ amassing wealth, the Anti-Corruption Commission has asked the Lusaka High Court to quash the immunity it granted him from facing prosecution.

The Commission has sued the Pambashe PF member of parliament, seeking an order that the out of court settlement entered into between itself and him be set aside for misrepresentation and concealment of facts by Chitotela and for not make a full and frank disclosure of facts relating to his past corrupt conduct or disclosing any illegal activity by himself and others.

The ACC says Chitotela misrepresented facts and did not satisfy the requirements of the law which warranted it to assure him that it would not prosecute him because he did not fully disclose that the property was acquired illegitimately or he was involved in any corrupt activities, as required by the law.

In an affidavit in support of summons to set aside out of court settlement pursuant to section 86 of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act no.3 of 2012, Martin Mayembe, an acting chief legal and prosecutions officer at ACC said on May 4, 2022 Chitotela was charged with two counts of possessing property suspected to be proceeds of crime.

He said before plea could be taken on May 5, this year, Chitotela through his advocates Andrew Kampamba Kombe and Benjamin Mwelwa, raised a preliminary issue that there was a subsisting immunity agreement which ACC undertook to exempt him from prosecution relating to the charges which were a subject of the settlement.

“The magistrate (Jennifer Bwalya) in her ruling of May 18, 2022 discharged Chitotela on the basis that there was no evidence to show that the said out of court settlement had been set aside before commencing the criminal proceedings against Chitotela in the Magistrates’ Court,” Mayembe said.

“The settlement was purportedly entered into pursuant to the Anti-Corruption Commission Act No.3 of 2012 and was signed on June 24, 2019 between ACC and Chitotela.”
He stated that in the purported satisfaction of the settlement, Chitotela surrendered his house in Lusaka’s Ibex Hill, property no. subdivision A2 of Lot no.3270/M which is registered in the name of his wife Lillian Lufupa.

Mayembe said Chitotela promised to pay US$10,000 as reimbursement for expenses the Commission incurred in investigating the matter.
He stated that in a letter dated September 20, 2019 Lufupa demanded that the Commission gave her back the house surrendered by Chitotela, claiming she legally acquired the property.

“Lufupa stated that she made substantial developments on the property, all out of savings arising from her employment and that the said property was of sentimental value to her,” Mayembe said. “The purported disclosure by Chitotela concealed any corrupt or illegal activity by him and the said surrendered property appears to have been acquired through legitimate sources, entailing that Chitotela withheld information regarding the property acquired through illegitimate means.”

He argued that Chitotela violated the conditions precedent to an undertaking not to institute criminal proceedings as dictated by Section 80(3) of the ACC Act no.3 of 2012.

Mayembe added that in order for the settlement to be binding, Chitotela ought to have given a full and true disclosure of all the facts relating to his past corrupt conduct and any illegal activity he was engaged in.

According to information obtained by The Mast, efforts by ACC to have the immunity agreement set aside before taking Chitotela to court had proved futile as prosecutors did not have access to the document at the time.

It is alleged that former ACC acting director general Rosemary Khuzwayo and Chitotela’s lawyers declined to release the document.
Khuzwayo claimed that she had surrendered the document to late chief justice Irene Mambilima.
The Commission’s officers wrote to the office of the chief justice in an attempt to have the document retrieved but they were informed that the document was not filed there.

The prosecution team only had access to the document after Chitotela filed it before court as proof that he was exonerated from prosecution by the ACC in relation to the acquisition of his house in Ibex Hill.

MY BUDGET SUBMISSION

By Dr Lubinda Haabazoka

PAYE a cry for the Zambian worker

I know budget submissions are done formally on a paper and submitted to the ministry of finance but since they read my posts, I will make use of my page widely.

I have for a long time argued that for a developing country like Zambia, Personal income tax is extremely high. In an era where the government is trying to promote entrepreneurship and wealth creation, the best way to collect tax is through Value added tax since everyone regardless of the sector they are in formal or informal, employed or unemployed pays vat at the point they consume goods and services.

The most developed country in Africa Mauritius has Personal tax pegged at only 13%. In most countries, citizens are allowed to take home a fair share of their income home but part away with some of it in the consumption stage.

For argument’s sake, a person who gets k100,000 today walks home with only about k65,000! Then when they go to the store, they give GRZ another 16% and even more if goods or services consumed have VAT! Now with this background, saving becomes a big problem there hindering investments because the source of investment is savings.

For a long time, our employees have been denied the opportunity to build, and start small businesses because of PAYE.

This government made a progressive move of reducing company income tax from 35% to 30%! In the long run, this saving will lead to business growth and job creation there generating even more tax income for GRZ.

So in next year’s budget, I propose that we introduce a flat PAYE at 20%! High-income earners are not in the majority so the loss will be minimal but the gains will be more as maids, bricklayers and others will be employed helping in job creation. Small businesses that will be created will also contribute to GDP!

A lot of people will argue that GRZ might lose revenue and therefore I propose to increase VAT to 18% from 16%. I also propose that we improve on VAT administration to avoid leakages, therefore, equalising revenue forgone from PAYE reduction.

This bold move by the government will see us improve the livelihoods of citizens. Because of our African dependent system, even those unemployed but dependent on a working relative will benefit and the government will still tax them at the consumption stage.

Am very aware that colleagues at the ministry of finance have a model to analyse the impact of such a measure.

In future, we should target 13% PAYE. We shouldn’t worry about inflation or revenue loss. GRZ will capture this revenue through customs duty, VAT and excise duty.

I submit my proposal as a citizen

Thanks 🙏🏿

Contact: UPND Media Director Ruth Dante Heaton 0976503165/
Email: info@upndzambia.org

PRESS RELEASE

THE POLITICAL WILL TO END POLITICAL TENSION ALREADY EXISTS

Lusaka ( 20.07.2022)

THE United Party for National Development has welcomed and agreed with calls by Lunte Member of Parliament Mutotwe Kafwaya to end political tension and bitterness in the country.

The call by Mr Kafwaya is in line what President Hakainde Hichilema has been championing before and after becoming Republican President.

To avoid political tension and bitterness after he was released from the 127 days of a trumped up treason trial, he forgave all those that were involved in raiding his house and arresting him for a trumped treason charge.

This is the man who after winning issued a decree to end political cadreism in public places to end political tension and violence against political party members.

This is also a man who has by all means embraced everyone in the public service all in a bid to end political rivalry considered as a drive of political bitterness and tension.

It is worthy to note that the UPND has been championing of peace and unity in the country as evidenced by President Hakainde Hichilema’s commitment and always insisting to work with former President Edgar Lungu.

On a number of occassions Mr Hichilema has invited President Lungu as ‘Father of the Nation’ to represent the country on a number of State functions.

The Head of State, for instance, invited President Lungu during the funeral of fifth Republican President Rupiah Bwezani Banda and veteran politician Sikota Wina when he himself was denied an opportunity to bid farewell to Dr. Kenneth Kaunda when in opposition.

For UPND and its leadership, the party has always been ready to provide leadership with a peaceful environment and bring about unity and what the PF must do for now is to support President Hichilema’s peace efforts in the country just like Mr Kafwaya has said.

During the PF’s rule, citizens who identified themselves with the UPND and openely supported President Hichilema could not trade in markets and bus stations because they were being attacked.

There is fresh air across markets, bus stations and media houses since UPND formed government as there is no traceable attacks on these public instititutions, thanks to President Hichilema who made it clear just after being elected that cadresm would not be tolerated under his rule.

Calls by Mr Kafwaya must be taken seriously by all well meaning Zambians for the benefit of having a more united and peaceful country.

As a party, we also call upon Mr Kafwaya and entire PF rank and file to respect his views of supporting President Hichilema’s to remai united as a country.

We also agree with Mr Kafwaya that it is true there can only be one President at a time and must be respected.
Mr Hichilema must be respected as Head of State while President Lungu must also be recognised as Father of the Nation.

SUGGESTION TO STRIP ECL OF HIS BENEFITS SILLY – NAKACINDA

….. says to suggest that you can strip off the so called benefits, first of all, there is nothing to write home about benefits

Lusaka…. Wednesday, July 20, 2022 (Smart Eagles)

Patriotic Front (PF) Chairperson for Information and Publicity Raphael Nakacinda has laughed off threats by the New Dawn Administration to strip former president Edgar Lungu off of his benefits.

Following the remarks that president Lungu made when PF MPs went to pay solidarity to his wife Esther Lungu, Justice Minister Mulambo Haimbe threatened that government will take the said action claiming that the former president is still politically active.

But Hon Nakacinda said the continued poking of president Lungu by President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND goes to undermine the Head of State’s capability to govern the country peacefully.

He said this when he addressed the media in Lusaka today.

“I want to address Mr Hakainde Hichilema as my elder brother. The bembas say mwikala patalala mwine apatalalika. Your continued poking of the former Head of State only goes to undermine your capability to govern this country peacefully,” he said.

“These little boys that are excited being in offices as ministers and so on like Haimbe are actually being used by external forces to undermine your office. President Hakainde Hichilema, the Patriotic Front and its members and all those that are supporters of president Edgar Lungu and supporters of the opposition political parties have nothing to lose.”

Hon Nakacinda also said there is nothing to write home about the so called benefits.

He charged that the country has not fully dignified the office of our former Head of State.

“You are the one that is in office. You are the one that has a greater responsibility to be able to use a high standard in your judgement in dealing with the citizens including the former Head of State. To suggest that you can strip off the so called benefits, first of all, there is nothing to write home about benefits, whether its financially or otherwise,” he said.

“This country has not fully dignified the office of our former Head of State in terms of benefits that you can talk about. So there is nothing really there to take away. The only thing I can advise is, like they say, you can defend a lion that is caged but the moment you open the cage, the lion will defend itself.”

Hon Nakacinda further told the President that, “otherwise, you are going to prang this nation into chaos.”

The PF MCC urged the UPND to stop what he termed as nonsense.

“President Edgar Chagwa Lungu has respected your Presidency from the time he left the inauguration at Heroes Stadium. He has constantly stayed at home. He has even minimized his movements to give you enough space for you to govern this country,” he said.

“You are the one who continues through your surrogates like Haimbe who continue to poke him out of his house. We advise, stop that nonsense.”

The coincidences between Christianity and socialism
By Dr Fred M’membe

There are thousands more coincidences between Christianity and socialism than between Christianity and capitalism. Responding probably to different motivations, they both advocate attitudes and behaviours that are quite similar.

There’s great coincidence between Christianity’s objectives and the ones we socialists seek, between the Christian teachings of humility, austerity, selfishness and loving thy neighbour and what we might call the content of a revolutionary’s life and behaviour. For, what is the Socialist Party teaching its members and the Zambian people? To kill? To be selfish? To exploit others? Just the opposite. We are teaching them unwavering commitment to honest, equity, humility and solidarity.

We are telling them that our country right now may be too poor to give our people great material wealth, but it can give them a sense of equity and of human dignity. We socialists believe that Christ was a revolutionary par excellence. His entire doctrine was devoted to the humble, the poor; his doctrine was devoted to fighting against abuse, injustice and the degradation of human beings.

There’s a lot in common between the spirit and essence of Christ’s teachings and socialism.
And the Bible has very revolutionary content. The teachings of Christ are very revolutionary and completely coincide with our aims as socialists.

That is why we believe and openly say that we socialists are not the only revolutionaries. All those who truly follow Christ’s doctrine and devote themselves to the cause of the humble, the poor; and devote themselves to fighting against injustice, abuse and the degradation of human beings and to helping them liberate themselves are all revolutionaries.

Like we socialists, the Catholic social teaching does advocate the protection of property rights, but only when strongly situated within what is called the universal destination of goods. That is, “Christian tradition has never recognised the right to private property as absolute and untouchable: ‘On the contrary, it has always understood this right within the broader context of the right common to all to use the goods of the whole of creation: the right to private property is subordinated to the right to common use, to the fact that goods are meant for everyone.”
(Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, No. 177, quoting St. John Paul II’s Laborem Exercens). And because God intends the world to provide for the needs of every person, the distribution of resources must allow every human person with what is needed for a full life. Isn’t this what we socialists are advocating for?

In his encyclical “Pacem in Terris,” St. John XXIII explained: “Man has the right to live. He has the right to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest, and, finally, the necessary social services. In consequence, he has the right to be looked after in the event of ill health; disability stemming from his work; widowhood; old age; enforced unemployment; or whenever through no fault of his own he is deprived of the means of livelihood” (No. 11). Isn’t this what the Socialist Party’s manifesto is advocating for?

A defense of property, absent that context, functions to absolve those who own property from responsibility to those in desperate need. But Catholic teaching treats the withholding of resources from those in need as a failure of justice, and so private property always comes with a “social mortgage.”

Pope Leo XIII explained in his encyclical “Rerum Novarum”: “[W]hen there is a question of defending the rights of individuals, the poor and badly off have a claim to especial consideration. The richer class have many ways of shielding themselves, and stand less in need of help from the State; whereas the mass of the poor have no resources of their own to fall back upon, and must chiefly depend upon the assistance of the State” (No. 37). Isn’t this what we socialists are seeking?

And what is being advocated by the Catholic social teaching is not consistent with the capitalist social order. Even on religious liberty, the Catholic social teaching is saying that it must also respect the common good.

As capitalists, with their religious agents, seek to accord special recognition to Christianity or section of it, the “Compendium” says, “Such recognition must in no way create discrimination within the civil or social order for other religious groups” (No. 423). The church’s witness to the Gospel always requires (and Catholics must acknowledge that it often has failed in this) the defense of the well-being of persons who do not accept the Gospel, in keeping with the commands to love both neighbour and enemy. The purpose of the right to religious liberty within Catholic thought is both to make room for the church’s freedom to give witness to the Gospel and also to honour the call of God for every person to freely enter into communion with the divine life. These two purposes are not at odds. The church’s witness to the Gospel always requires the defense of the well-being of persons who do not accept the Gospel.

The document “Dignitatis Humanae,” promulgated at the Second Vatican Council, explains it thus: “It is…completely in accord with the nature of faith that in matters religious every manner of coercion on the part of men should be excluded. In consequence, the principle of religious freedom makes no small contribution to the creation of an environment in which men can without hindrance be invited to the Christian faith, embrace it of their own free will, and profess it effectively in their whole manner of life” (No. 10).

This makes it important to remember that Catholic teaching says the right to religious liberty “is not of itself an unlimited right. The just limits of the exercise of religious freedom must be determined in each social situation with political prudence, according to the requirements of the common good, and ratified by the civil authority through legal norms consistent with the objective moral order” (No. 422).

And speaking for myself, I can say that the ethical values that are propelling my revolutionary, socialist work came from my Catholic upbringing and education, from my teachers – the Capuchin Fathers, the Irish Christian Brothers and Sacred Heart Brothers. I would even say from my Christian family, home.

I was taught very early in my life that I should not lie. I was taught what was right and wrong, things that should and should not be done. I remember being punished by my Form 1 mathematics teacher at St John’s Secondary School to write 3,000 times, “Oh what a web we weave for ourselves when we first practice to deceive.” I had not done my homework and when asked about it, I lied that I had left it in the dormitory. I was told to go and get it. And immediately after I left classroom, the teacher told the class I was not going to come with any homework. He asked for a bet on it. When I came back empty-handed, the whole class burst into laughter. I have carried these words and memories of that day with me wherever I am and in whatever I do. And I remind my classmates of this incident whenever we meet. That was my baptism out of lying.

Later on, my revolutionary and political involvement began to create in me a feeling of what was wrong, the violation of an ethical standard, an injustice, abuse or fraud. I began to have an idea of what was fair and unfair. I began to have a concept of personal dignity. I think I have always had a sense of justice – from very early on – because of what I saw and experienced.

Undoubtedly, my Catholic upbringing and education influenced me a lot. The Capuchin Fathers, the Irish Christian Brothers and Sacred Heart Brothers inculcated a very strong sense of personal dignity in me, regardless of their political ideas which quite often I didn’t agree with. They valued character, rectitude, honesty, courage and ability to make sacrifices.

The Irish Christian Brothers definitely influenced me with their strict organisation, their discipline and their values. They contributed to my development and sense of justice. Following that path, I came to view abuse, injustice as unacceptable.

If you mix ethical values with a spirit of rebellion and rejection of injustice you begin to appreciate and place a high value on a number of things that other people don’t value at all. A sense of personal dignity, honour and duty form the main foundation that enables people to acquire political consciousness and a revolutionary spirit.

Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party

LUSAKA AU SUMMIT ROLL CALL. Who was AWOL?

By Miles B. Sampa, MP

The just ended Lusaka summit had unprecedented low turnout both at lower ranking end and at Presidentual level. There was many theories but post Pandemic stigma on physical meetings cannot be ignored. It was also a mid term evaluations gathering and historically it does not receive much attention as does the January main summit. Only Presidents that are in Committee to produce reports tend to attend the mid year summit.

Presidents of neighboring countries are however expected to attend summits held in their region as a matter of soliderity to the hosting nation. I could only note the presence of Congo DR President Ettiene Chisekedi from the region.

My surprise absentee ‘landlords’ were Malawi and South Africa’s Lazarus Chakwera and Cyril Ramaposa respectively. I was not so surprised Zimbabwe’s 🇿🇼 Emmerson Mnagagwa did not make it but that is a topic for another day.

Achimwene (uncle) President Chakwera should have come by all means necessary but guess he only enjoys trips out of Africa to the USA and Europe where he can espouse his chizungu (accent) better.

As for Sir Ramaposa (CR) who was even on the Lusaka summit agenda to give a report on Pandemic progress in Africa, he may have hard a ka small ‘matter of urgent public importance’ to deal with back home. There are some public calls for the ANC to recall him following his pala pala farm scandle. About $8M cash was found hidden inside a sofa at his farm cottage. A brother to the maid ‘robbed’ the cottage and ‘accidentally’ took off with both the sofa and contents. Lol.

He was arrested in Namibia, imprisoned in SA and then paid some $50,000 or so never to tell the story.

This happened about 3 years ago and only leaked recently. The SA public is questioning President Ramaposa on his source of the huge US $ 8M cash to which he said he sold his animals (Cows and Buffaloes). Lol

So we can forgive CR for not attending our Lusaka Summit. We must actually empathize with his predicament as he could be the next Boris Johnson (famous BoJo😊) at the rate pressure is mounting on him.
Is Sir CR about to follow his predecessor Jacob Zuma who was also recalled by the ANC for condoning the state capturers (The Guptas)? Only time will tell.

On the local front we had winners and losers to the event. Those whose vehicles got hired (have a story to tell here) won some good money while those that never managed to get clients were left Ku wire. Hotels and Lodges that got clients made some big money. Pamodzi , Radisson, and Sarova hotel were fully booked entire summit period. Those that for some reason did not get guests, were also ‘hanged’ business-wise.

Restaurants also made money and personally took a few guest to taste our Zambian cuisine. Kumushi in the show grounds and one along Kwacha road were some of my Matebeto restaurants winners out of the summit. Took my guests there for meals and yes they paid in Dollars.

The Kwacha was also amongst winners and should pick up some strength once all Dollar payments from the summit are converted into the local currency.

Otherwise well done Zambia for successfully hosting the AU summit. It was ‘incident’ free 😊.

Together We Can
MBS20.07.2022

Not all debt was bad debt after all
By Dr Lubinda Haabazoka

In Zambia and as human beings in general, we focus mostly on the bad things and neglect good things.

Looking at the composition of our foreign debt, the one I hate most are Eurobonds. When government first issued Eurobonds, the country was full of joy the same way now everyone is clapping for everything without having a critical view.

I remember going to radio Ichengelo explaining to the public what Eurobonds were and their danger and as usual I received a hostile reaction from the then faithful some of whom are currently serving in government. Well if you look at our debt negotiations now, Eurobond holders are now giving us the most headaches and despite paying interest for many years, the principle remains the same.

Yesterday ZESCO revealed that Zambia has achieved an electricity generation surplus of 1,156MW (Megawatts) following the successful commissioning of 4x150MW capacity from the 750MW Kafue Gorge Lower Power Station.

ZESCO Managing Director Eng. Victor Mapani says currently the installed national generation capacity stands at 3,456.8MW against a peak national demand of approximately 2,300MW.

Eng. Mapani told a high-level Panel Discussion at the ongoing Association of Power Utilities of Africa (APUA) meeting in Dakar, Senegal that ZESCO was using internally generated resources to progress the 750MW project, being constructed at a cost of approx.$2.3Billion to completion by November of 2022 at a cost of US $2.3Billion following non-disbursements by the project financiers.

According to Power technology the financing for the Kafue Gorge Lower power station is estimated at $2bn, which includes engineering, procurement and construction costs of $1.58bn, financing costs of $43m, the insurance cost of $100m and capitalised interest of $312m.

The project is being financed by the Zambian Government and foreign financial institutions, including the Exim Bank of China. The government allocated an initial investment of $186m for the project.

Now our external debt in 2021 was estimated in the region of $12.9bn of which at least $1.5bn can be attributed to the kafue lower gorge. Zesco MD has announced that with the completion of this project load shedding in Zambia is no more. His predecessor also made a similar pronouncement just last year.

With a surplus of 1000 MW, we can connect new houses and even survive a minor drought as compared to previous years. With energy supply we can now export power and raise revenue to even pay back some debt. No wonder we even signed a power export agreement with Namibia recently.

So am very sure as we demonise the past, we have to point out some positives. The way we demonise anyone who holds public office has really removed the eagerness of professionals to serve in government. Anyone holding public office is viewed as privileged and corrupt! I know our current youth don’t know this but it’s every government since unip that we have labelled corrupt!

Same even today, we need to critically analyse the goods and bads so that we do justice to ourselves. For example we need to continue building infrastructure because a country is all about infrastructure. Without schools we can’t employ teachers and without roads we can’t transport goods and services.

So let us continue building our nation and also consider alternative sources of project financing.

Those that leave legacy deserve credit and those that are in the process of creating their own legacy need support.

I rest my case

PF Media Director Antonio Mwanza has challenged justice minister Mulambo Haimbe to state which law he will use to terminate former president Edgar Lungu’s benefits.

He is reacting to Mr Haimbe’s remarks quoted by News Diggers that president Lungu should not be enjoying his benefits since he declared being in active politics, and that a position from the Attorney General’s chambers has been sent to Cabinet Office.

Mr Mwanza, however, says president Lungu is not in active politics.

Below is his full statement:

Justice Minister Mulambo Haimbe says the UPND government plans to terminate President Edgar Chagwa Lungu’s retirement benefits alleging that the former President is in active politics.

Let’s look at the facts:

1. Chapter 15 of the
   Benefits of Former Presidents Act defines what being in “active politics” means.

Interpretation;

In this Act ( The Benefits of Former Presidents Act) unless the context otherwise requires—

“active politics” means—

(a) the doing of any act indicating a person’s intention to hold elective or appointive office; or

(b) the holding of elective office or appointive office in a political party or in an organisation whose main aim is the furtherance of political objectives.

According to the law as quoted above, President Edgar Lungu is not in active politics so what law will Haimbe and UPND use to terminate his retirement benefits? Unless they want to amend the current law, otherwise Haimbe and his team are totally offside.

2. President Edgar Lungu like any other Zambian has the Constitutional right under the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia to freely express himself without fear or retribution and to try to gag him using threats of withdrawal of his retirement benefits is immoral, unconstitutional and totally unacceptable.

It is buffoonery of the worst kind to go after President Lungu’s family and expect the man to remain quiet while his son, his daughter and his wife are being persecuted and threatened through the abuse of Law Enforcement Agencies.

What kind of a husband and a father can remain mute while his own wife and children are being persecuted? President Lungu has every right and reason to protect and defend his family; that’s the normal and expected thing to do.

3. We are not naive to note that UPND are scared of President Edgar Chagwa Lungu. They have seen how loved and admired the man is. This is evident by the positive manner in which majority Zambians react every time a picture or story of President Edgar Lungu pops up on social media; and in the warped minds of the UPND they think President Lungu is coming back to politics so they are trying everything within their power to silence the man and tarnish his image.

The man is retired. Leave him alone. Let him enjoy his retirement in peace. Stop persecuting his family. If you have evidence of his wrongdoing take the appropriate legal steps as provided by the Constitution instead of mentally and physically tormenting him and his family.

3. UPND must know that no matter how much they try to rewrite history and attempt to tarnish the image of President Edgar Lungu, they can never take away the massive infrastructure development among many other social and economic developments that the President Lungu and his compatriots in PF achieved for Zambia during their time in office. They left an indelible mark of excellency and no amount of lies and propaganda will change that.

UPND must concentrate on fixing the economy and delivering on their many fake promises instead of spending all their time and energy trying to kill and bury President Lungu and the PF.

People are suffering and that should be the priority number one for the UPND instead of wasting time trying to annihilate President Lungu and the Patriotic Front.

Governments come and go and the very seed of bitterness, hatred and vengeance that UPND is planting today will germinate and eat them when their time to leave office comes.

Issued by
Antonio Mwanza
Media Director
Patriotic Front

A MOMENT WITH PRESIDENT LUNGU

By Pilato

Ideally, I do not find pleasure talking about opposition parties or members of the opposition parties for reasons known to myself. I believe members of the opposition parties should take it upon themselves to hold their leaders accountable and inform the direction their parties should take. A few weeks or days ago, I saw a video of President LUNGU addressing the media after Mama Esther LUNGU was summoned to appear before DEC for interviews. I told myself never to comment on the issue. But today here I am, it is difficult to ignore.

If I could get a moment with former President Edgar Lungu this is what I would be saying to him.

Sir, you are no longer a president of Zambia but now a “president “ of an era in our history. You do not represent the PF but a phase in the building of our country. Stop worrying about your political life, it doesn’t exist anymore, be concerned with the life of our country. This is a country that holds all that is possible for everyone. Be concerned with the well-being of its people beyond your political inclinations.

I do understand how difficult this phase could be BUT resist the temptation to prolong the difficult phase by careless and emotional expressions. Please do the following;

1) Structure your office as the 6th President of the republic of Zambia.

2) Build a team of professionals to work with including a spokesperson away from your political networks.

3) Build or improve mechanisms for your interactions with the government in Zambia and those outside.

There is life after politics and the presidency. There is more you can offer to this country and to the world both as a senior citizen and as a former president. See beyond your personal loss, there is a whole world stage for you waiting for you to claim it.

It is too late to change the past but on time to build a better future.

Bye