Local Government and Rural Development Minister Garry Nkombo says mobile money booth cartels were formed as a result of political party carders allocating booths at undesignated places.

The cartels were big as they were run by Council workers, politicians, political party carders and Mobile Network Providers.

The manner in which the mobile money telephone booths were installed was completely against the Urban and Planning Act, Mr Nkombo highlighted this when he made an appearance on HOT FMs Hot Seat Programme.

He noted that the carders would go to mobile money booths to collect rent amounting to K250 per booth in places with high traffic and K100 per booth in places with low traffic and every Friday at 3 O’clock political party carders would go over and above the K5,000 in revenue collection.

“These cartels formed charged K5,000 for stand allocation only,” he said

Mr Nkombo noted that if the money collected by the carders for booth allocation went to the Council, it could have been more affordable than the K5,000 that was being charged by carders.

Mr Nkombo said that one person would own up to 100 booths around the city and use the same trading license, conduct which is illegal and against the stipulated Law.

He added that political party carders planted booths on other people’s property and collected rent, conduct that was disjointed in the rule of Law.

“The money was going to a certain political party and I will live it to the public to guess which political party it is,” he said

Mr Nkombo alluded that when the Zambian people decided to transfer people and power through a vote and gave UPND an opportunity to govern, these are some of the problems that he was confronted with in his Ministry.

He further explained that the mobile money providers included as many people in financial transactions which saw the participation of all citizens, and the inclusion of all our citizens in the financial market is something that the UPND Government extremely desires to achieve.

Mr Nkombo said that despite creating a tangible benefit for those that found a livelihood in the operations of mobile money booths, the onset and setup of money booths became rampant not just in Lusaka but other parts of the country.

Mr Nkombo is concerned with how the Local Authority in the whole country is not recognised as they relegated their power and authority to them by the Constitution Act and ushered that power to political players who in one description can be called political carders who took over the responsibility of designation of mobile money booths.

“The Council’s power to operate had been overpowered by political party carders and it is not something to argue about,” he said

MY HOME TOWN

CHOMA is one of my favorite towns in Zambia for a number of reasons. I intend not to share these reasons for now.

I am familiar with much of the work by Mr James Ndambo and I must state that I respect and admire him and his work. His commitment to sowing back to Choma his birth place is very inspirational and should challenge all of us to remember our home towns.

Now that there is not so much of talks about Mr. Ndambo and the events in Choma have silenced, I would like to request the highly esteemed Chairman to consider the following.

1) The MY HOME TOWN project is excellent…. We saw Fally Ipupa perform in Choma and people from all over the country trekked to CHOMA to see our brother move his waist.

2) The big MY HOME TOWN beauty pageant attracted people from all over the world who gathered in Choma for this spectacular event.

All this happened under a tent….

1) I am proposing that as a starting point, MY HOME TOWN should put up a permanent structure in Choma that should accommodate such high end events in the country. A permanent structure would also add value to Choma’s outlook. MY HOME TOWN AUDITORIUM to accommodate world class events. This auditorium can be hosting conferences and other events in the country which in term would generate income for the Choma town.

2) I am also proposing that the Chairman does consider a more structured investment in the town. Considering that My Home Town is strong on cultural and entertainment sectors, My Home Town can invest in establishing an Art School in CHOMA. Zambia does need that desperately. This school should exist to train models, designers, musicians, painters etc. When we have artists like Fally Ipupa to perform in Choma, we can then invite him to lecture or tutor the students at the My Home Town University in Choma. When we have people like my ex girlfriend Pearl Thusi visit Choma, they should also meet models and designers. This investment would not only provide the pomp but also add value to the town and its people. Am sure Zambians across the country would travel to enroll to study in Choma.

These plus many can be considered for a more sustainable investments in the my home town.

This is not free consultation Chairman, am emailing you the invoice shortly.
Bye

DECLARATIONS MADE BY SOME EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE OFFICE HOLDERS AS REPORTED:

1. Vice President W.K Mutale-Nalumango
= K18.2m in assets.

2. Speaker Nelly Mutti
= K380m (net worth).

3. Finance Minister Hon. Situmbeko Musokotwane*
= K116,020,000 in assets, K17m in liabilities.
Make Up:
– 5 pieces of land with value ranging between K95m & K200m.
– A dairy farm worth K2m
– K320m in the bank
– Liuwa Village House worth K800,000.
– Student Boarding House worth K2.5m

4. Local Government Minister Hon. Gary Nkombo
= K114,123,269 in assets, K900,000 liability loan.
Make Up:
– K50m Mulungushi Road House (Lusaka)
– K40m Shimabala Property
– Other assets

5. Energy Minister Hon. Peter Kapala
= K57.2m

6. Health Minister Hon. Sylvia Masebo
= K50.5m
Make Up:
– Avondale Shopping Complex valued at K4m
– Ibex Hill property valued at K20m
– K1.7m inheritance
– Other assets

7. Information & Media Minister Hon. Chushi Kasanda
= K28m in assets
Make Up:
– K17.3m fixed assets
– K2.9m cash
– K720,000 worth of vehicles
– Other assets

8. Technology & Science Minister Hon. Felix Mutati
= K25.2m in assets
Make Up:
– 4 houses in Lusaka valued in the range of K1.8m and K14m.
– 5 cars valued at K5.4m

9. Justice Minister Hon. Mulambe Haimbe
= K14.8m
Make Up:
– Houses and flats ranging between K1.6m and 2.5m
– 4 cars valued at K800,000.

10. Defence Minister Hon. Ambrose Lufuma
= K12.2m in assets
Make Up:
– real estate, farms, plots and fire arms.

11. Home Affairs Minister Hon. Jack Mwiimbu
= K45.6m in assets
Make Up:
– Lot 2 of Leopards Springs (Lusaka) valued at K30m
– Plot valued at K9m
– Others

12. SP Minister Hon. Cornelius Mweetwa
= K12.5m in assets
Make Up:
– Toyota Landcruiser worth K3.2m
– Choma House worth K3.3m
– Others

13. Kabombo MP Hon. Robert Lihefu*
= K594,000 in assets
– K11.2m guest lodge

14. Bwacha MP Hon. Sydney Mushanga*
= K16m in assets
Make Up:
– 6 vehicles valued at K3.7m
– Houses and plots valued at K13.2m
– Pistol valued at K9000

15. Chitambo MP Hon. Remember Mutale
= K2.7m in assets
Make Up:
– Flats worth K1.1m
– Land valued at K500,000
– Pistol valued at K10,000
– Others

16. Msanzala MP Hon. Elias Daka
= K26m in assets
Make Up:
– Mine worth K4m
– Houses, lodges, herds of cattle, cars etc.

17. Nkana MP Hon. Binwell Mpundu
= K50.5m in assets
Make Up:
– Commercial plots
– Residential plots
– Cars

NB: An asterisk (*) has been put alongside names of officials whose assets have been erroneously reported or do not simply add up. It is clear that the author in certain cases has no idea of what is meant by assets as can be seen by the separation of certain items and figures that do not add up. This is my comment. The above information is as reported in the papers. Another list was earlier published though it did not have a breakdown and indicated amounts in US Dollars.

DEC EXPLAINS MWILA ARREST
…we’re not probing PF funding but possession
of funds one cannot explain – Chirwa

By Kombe Mataka

WE are looking at whoever is in possession of funds they cannot explain because the law does not exempt anyone, says Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) director general Mary Chirwa.

Chirwa told The Mast that there is no law that regulates political party funding but that the commission is mandated by law to investigate whether funds and property donated to a party are proceeds of crime.

She was reacting to the statement by former PF secretary general Davies Mwila that the PF would not disclose its sources of funds because there is no law that provides for disclosure of political party funding in Zambia.

Mwila, who was arrested on Wednesday for the offence of being in possession of property reasonably suspected to be proceeds of crime, said the PF would not disclose its sources of campaign funds in the August 2021 elections because there is no law regulating the same.
“We are not investigating funds of a political party per se but when you look at money laundering definition, you will appreciate that anyone in possession of funds suspected to be proceeds of crime, it does not exempt anyone. And neither does it exempt any political party.

So if we have any suspicion of one being in possession of property and property includes funds, any funds that you cannot account for, in our Act we have the mandate to investigate. So we are coming from that angle. We are not coming from a political angle of looking at any political party. And that is a misconception,” Chirwa explained. “You yourself if a minister donated money to you and you were in possession of that money, we are obligated to find out from you where that money came from and whether it was legally acquired. And remember that under the FIC (financial intelligence Centre) Act, a number of reporting entities are law firms. So if a law firm is in possession of funds from anyone through a suspicious transaction, they are mandated to report that.

There are so many angles you need to look at when you are looking at the law and you need to read them in line with other pieces of legislation. So I want to categorically state that DEC is not investigating any political party in terms of their political funding but we are looking at whoever is in possession of funds that they cannot explain because the law does not exempt anyone. It does not exempt any political party.”

And Chirwa said DEC had summoned former first lady Esther Lungu to appear before the commission on tomorrow.
“You have followed reports everywhere of the preliminary investigations that have been done and I can only confirm with you that yes indeed that they appear before DEC investigators on the 12th of July and we have no problem with that,” said Chirwa.

Dr Nevers Mumba

OUR COUNSEL TO THE “BOOTH VICTIMS” – BOOTHS PART 2

We sympathise with those that have been hit hard by the booth clean-up exercise in Lusaka. We understand and appreciate the implications of this exercise on those that depend on them as a source of livelihood. We also understand that those who operate these booths usually live on a hand to mouth basis and that this action has immediately affected their ability to feed and look after themselves overnight. This is before we even consider the cost of investment in setting up the booths. They require the support of all of us.

However, we also are cognisant of the fact that their security, and public health are the responsibility of the government. It is an open secret that a lot of these booths along side our roads and in many different places in Lusaka do not have proper sanitary conditions. They lack proper toilets and running water.

This situation has been allowed to continue for such a long time now, that we have become accustomed to the proliferation of filth as a normal part of our lives.

This cannot be allowed to continue if we hope to be a nation that stands out as an attractive, and competitive tourist and investment destination.

We therefore do not support the setting up of booths without sanitary conditions. What we advocate for is that government must quickly find a way to provide designated slots for these services to be provided in a safe environment and within health and sanitation guidelines.

We do not wish to join this debate with the ebb and flow of political expediency and just support the idea that that we keep the booths in place, that we keep the dirt in place and that we just continue to exist like this because we need our young people to make that one dollar a day.

Who among us, would allow our own children to avoid a painful injection inflicted by the Doctor just because the child will feel pain and will cry? Surely, this clean up is as necessary, though painful, as that injection that an ailing child needs and needs urgently.

There are a lot of things that our country needs. A clean up is one of them. Fixing the econimy is one of them. Improving our health and access to education is one of them. Restructuring these sectors will be a gradual and painful process.

Let us not be scared to go through the pain. Let us encourage our young people to consider better places to operate from instead of inciting politically motivated revolting. Out of this great dissappointment, some of these young will end up going back to school. Out of this dissapppointed crowd, we will produce powerful teachers, doctors, nurses, sports personalities and entrepreneurs.

Young man, young woman, dry those tears, and pick up your pieces. That broken booth is evidence that you can do much greater things with your life.

A cleaner and greener city beggins with all of us. We will attract better investment, better work environments and better job opportunities by cleaning up our city.

Let’s do this.

FRED M’MEMBE CALLS FOR MASS PROTESTS OVER BOOTHS

CLARION CALL: Join Booths Removal Protest

How can they remove mobile money booths in Lusaka without giving notice to their owners?
And these are small business people from whom levies used to be collected! Booths which were acquired at a cost of not less than K7,000 are being taken away without compensation! How are these poor and struggling people going to survive?

The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Gary Nkombo, says the removal of mobile money booths in the Central Business District has been done to bring sanity and not because of the African Union summit as insinuated. Clearly, what we have today as political leaders of our country are heartless people displaying a complete lack of feeling or consideration. These are cruel people wilfully causing pain or suffering to others, or feeling no concern about it.

Good leaders must be interested in the welfare of those in distress. We must expect them to be concerned with the increasing gap between those who have and those who do not have. We expect them to feel the distress of many who have a big problem about the cost of goods, medicine, with the tragedy of unemployment, of youth, of serious problems with transport, public and personal security, and many other important concerns where we are all involved. We need people of courage who will defend the truth and demand justice for the poor and others struggling to make ends meet.

Virtue must be nourished but vice springs up spontaneously like weeds and grows by itself. We must bear that in mind. If we do otherwise, while nourishing virtue we are simultaneously paving way for vice. That is a reality and we mustn’t lose sight of it.

We support the decision of the Socialist Youth League to closely work with the owners of the mobile money booths and protest at the International Conference Centre. This protest deserves the support all us. We make a clarion call to all of you to join this protest.

Let’s not forget that this country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless it’s a good place for all of us to live in.

Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party

ABOUT THE HEARTLESSNESS OF THE NYUDONI

By Sean Tembo – PeP President

1. Mobile money booths are legitimate businesses who pay council levy as well as contribute tax to ZRA through excise duty and income tax;
2. Mobile money booth owners are bonafide citizens of Zambia who are entitled to the protections of the Constitution and other laws of the land;
3. Mobile money booths have conducted their businesses uninterrupted across the country for more than 20 years now;
4. If the current Government has decided on a change in policy and did not want Mobile money booth operators to operate along the streets, as indicated by the Local Government Minister, the Mobile Money Booth operators deserved to be given adequate notice of not less than 6 months, so that they can adjust their businesses accordingly;
5. The key issue here is not how legitimate or not the reasons advanced by Government for removing mobile money booth operators are, but rather the failure by Government to give these people any notice;
6. Government’s decision to ambush mobile money operators is unfair and in bad faith and is aimed at disrupting and possibly killing the legal businesses of mobile money operators. This will add to the already high unemployment and poverty levels across the country;
7. As bonafide citizens of the Republic of Zambia who conduct a legal business which contributes to the tax pool of the nation, mobile money operators are entitled to fair treatment by Government, but they have received none in this instance;
8. There is no question that Government is more powerful than the mobile money operators, since it controls the police and the armed forces, however it is wrong for Government to abuse its powerful position to abuse the rights of a particular grouping of its citizens. As Head of State, President Hakainde Hichilema is accountable for the actions of his Ministers and the current abuse of Mobile money operators should be put squarely on his head;
9. It is also evident here that President Hakainde Hichilema’s Government has double standards and treats poor and vulnerable citizens like mobile money operators more harshly compared to rich citizens such as those who have built mansions in forest 27. President Hakainde Hichilema only uses poor people to amaze votes during elections, otherwise he is repulsed by their sight. It is foolish for the poor people of Zambia to continue aligning themselves, supporting and voting for this rich man who has no heart for them. A man who sees people’s source of livelihood as dirt. A man who believes that poor people deserve no notice. A man who is embarrassed by the sight of poor citizens, and instead of helping them, decides to get rid of them instead. A man who ascended to the highest office of the land through the support and votes of poor people, but has since abandoned and betrayed them. A double-faced man who preaches one thing and does the exact opposite;
10. Indeed, a Government which mistreats its poor and vulnerable citizens is a cruel Government which must be voted out at the earliest opportunity. Given his evident cruelty, Hakainde Hichilema does not deserve to be given another term in office by the citizens of this nation, most of whom are poor and vulnerable. You cannot treat Zambians the same way you treat your cattle sir.

/// END

SET 12.07.2022

Ndola’s Bwana Mkubwa Independent Member of Parliament Warren Chisha Mwambazi has said he is working smoothly with the New Dawn Government of President Hakainde Hichilema.

Mr Mwambazi is also the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee. Speaking to journalists in Ndola at the weekend, Mr Mwambazi said he does not have any negative issues with the UPND Government.

The Bwana Mkubwa lawmaker said he has access to President Hichilema, Vice President Mutale Nalumango and other government officials regarding developmental matters affecting people in his constituency.

Mr Mwambazi said he is coordinating with the Government to push the agenda for the people of Bwana Mkubwa. He said the time for politics is over as people are more interested in seeing tangible development than politicking.

“I don’t seem to have an issue with the new dawn government. Like I said already, I have access to the President. I have access to the Vice President. I have access to my colleagues; the Government Chief Whip and whenever I have an issue concerning Bwana Mkubwa Constituency will be presenting before them. So far so good, we are moving well and working together,” Mr Mwambazi said.

“What is important are the people of Bwana Mkubwa. Is what I am doing benefiting the people of Bwana Mkubwa? That is what is important to me. The policies that the new dawn government is bringing are benefiting my people who have given me the mandate then it is supported. If not then that will be a thing of looking at something different. I support what supports my people. So basically, for me, we are working well. I have no complaint and if I have any complaint I will still talk and say we have this challenge. How do we mitigate it? Because governance issues are not very easy but so far so good. We are moving in the same direction,” Mr Mwambazi said.

Mr. Mwambazi was in his Constituency over the weekend to check on flood victims camped at the Kaloko Catholic Church Skills Training Centre in Twashuka Ward. Mr. Mwambazi handed over 161 roofing sheets to 56 families affected by floods on behalf of the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU).

He also donated bags of cement and mealie meal to the flood victims in his personal capacity. The Bwana Mkubwa Member of Parliament pledged that more roofing sheets and the cement will be sourced for the victims as the Government joins efforts with his office.

“I visited the flood victims at Bupe Mulenga grounds where l donated bags of mealie meal and cement to help them as they decamp. I wish to express my gratitude to the office of Vice president Madam Mutale Nalumango for sending iron sheets through the disaster management and mitigation unit (DMMU), the support will go a long way. I wish to state that this is the first group to benefit and plans are underway to source more support for the next group,” Mr Mwambazi said.

Comment On The ZRA January to June 2022 Revenue Performance

By Correspondent

A report from the Zambia Revenue Authority providing sketchy numbers on how the Authority performed in the last 6 months. The report showed an overall positive variance over the period target.

It took me over one hour to understand the report and exactly what the Zambian government through ZRA was trying to communicate to the Zambian people, IMF, lenders and the International Community.

As I went through the report over and over which largely comprised of tables, I realized that the major objective of the report was to show that tax revenues were performing above target when in fact that was not the case. I will illustrate why.

Firstly, ALL the six tables compared revenue performance in 2022 to 2021. In short revenue growth.

This would have been two tables; not six. One table should have been on actual revenue growth and another on revenue growth per economic sector.

Please note that the economic parameters used to determine revenue targets in 2022 are different from the fiscal regime in 2021.

Therefore measuring revenue performance cannot be based solely on comparing two different fiscal regimes. In some cases even tax rates are different.

The best way to measure revenue performance is to compare actual collections of each tax type to actual targets in the period under consideration in this case January to June 2022.

The Zambian government through ZRA DELIBERATELY and dubiously failed to give this report because according to some reliable sources ALL tax types except Provisional Income Tax from the mines are grossly underperforming.

The reason why mining income tax is over performing is because of high LME prices for minerals and high exchange rate though it is relatively stable at K17 to 1 USD on average for the period.

Though Mineral Royalty Tax is also over-performing, you cannot count it because the current government made it a deductible tax in 2022.

Meaning that Mining companies will deduct ALL the mineral tax they are paying now when they pay their final Income Tax.

So if you do that calculation now and deduct K6 billion Mineral Royalty Tax that has been so far been collected between January to June 2022, ZRA is below target by K4 billion.

More importantly, ZRA refunded K8 billion in the last six months giving an average of K1.3 billion per month.

According to economic reports and assessments done by both ZRA and the IMF, full VAT refunds for Zambia are around K3.4 billion per month excluding arears.

This means that the Zambian government is accumulating not less that K2 billion in unpaid VAT refund every month or K12 billion in the last six months.

This is adding to an already bloated domestic debt.

So when you adjust Mineral Royalty Tax from mining Income Tax and factor in full refunds, you can safely conclude that the real tax revenue underperformance by ZRA for the period January 2022 to June 2022 is negative K14 billion and not the positive K2 billion falsely reported.

This level of poor tax revenue collections means a lot of things for the Zambian economy.

Firstly, financing government operations will increasing become difficult, loan repayment will be a struggle, lenders confidence will diminish and the rating of the Zambian economy will further deteriorate.

Some sources have indicated that the Zambian government has had to borrow money from NAPSA through BOZ government bonds to pay salaries to civil servants.

If this is true then we must do something about domestic revenue mobilization both tax and non-tax revenue.

If I were the Minister of Finance, I would request the following from ZRA and my economic team:

1. What was the performance of each tax type against target?
2. Why are so many taxes not performing? What are the options to improve performance? Are we dealing with smuggling and tax fraud effectively?
3. What is the full level of VAT refunds and what is the strategy to stop accumulation of arears? Are there options for reform of either the Law, regulations or VAT procedures?
4. What is the total VAT arears sitting in ZRA?
5. Should I even collect Mineral Royalty Tax just to show performance when by Law its not a final tax?

Hiding figures through “creative reporting” is not a solution because you will not hide failure of government to provide public goods and services.

Let us all work together and find a solution to our failing revenue performance. Not just tax revenue but all the revenues at all levels of government.

For this advice which is purely in national interest, I expect my government to take it with humility and understanding.

It is neither unfair criticism nor disrespect. I am genuinely worried about falsified reporting about government performance when the evidence is obvious.

THEY CAME LYING

…but they’re not delivering, Miles mocks UPND

ByThomas Ngala

I WISH to go to the finance minister Musokotwane, he keeps complaining about PF’s debt, deal with it, advises Miles Sampa.

He charged that the UPND “came lying, they will buy pizza, they will do this but they are not delivering.

Commenting on the debt the PF government accumulated which has seemingly been a thorn in the UPND administration, Sampa said even PF found debt but it dealt with it.

“I wish to go to the finance minister, Hon [Situmbeko] Musokotwane, he keeps complaining about PF’s debt. Deal with it. This is almost a year since UPND took over power. When PF took over power in 2011 we found, Musokotwane himself was the minister. We found debt,” he said. “He had debt that he accumulated under formula one, huge debt. And I happened to be the deputy finance minister at the time. We didn’t complain, we dealt with it. Paid it back. Found some money, paid it back.”

Sampa likened the debt situation to a man who marries a divorced woman.

He said such a man should just ensure that he takes care of the woman and not blame his failures on the previous husband.

“It’s like you when you marry a woman, you find that she has been divorced somewhere, it’s your job to give her a child. Don’t start complaining, ‘no she is what she is’. Deal with that. Within no time she needs to start spitting,” Sampa said. “So them, this UPND government, almost a year, Zambia is this woman. They have married this woman. We are about 18 million, none of us is spitting. They keep complaining, ‘no the previous husband’ Why did you fwaya (go for) her. So they came lying, they will buy pizza, they will do this but they are not delivering.”

The Matero PF member of parliament also mocked Vice-President Mutale Nalumango over her stance on inflation and the cost of living in the country.

On Friday during the Vice-President’s Question Time in Parliament, Vice-President Nalumango said the going down of inflation rate was “very real” adding that the cost of living was also going down.

But Sampa, when he and other PF MPs addressed the media after parliamentary proceedings, said Africa is laughing at Zambia and wondering why it was the only country where inflation was going down while the cost of living is escalating.

“In Zambia now, the Vice-President, Nalumango, I would like to call the situation as Nalumangonomics. Increasing in order to reduce, that’s Nalumangonomics. I have just come from South Africa. The entire world or Africa is laughing at Zambia,” he said. “They keep forwarding me. You Zambians, how come you are the only country in the world, on Africa, where inflation is reducing? Everybody else inflation is going up because of the war and yet your country also the cost of living is going up. So you see the Nalumangonomics are not agreeing with the basic economics.”

And Sampa advised the new dawn administration to invest further in power generation.

“And remind Hon Musokotwane, the debt was meant for infrastructure. The PF invested all that money that was borrowed importantly in power generation. I am just from South Africa, in Zambia we thought we had problems with power cuts. In South Africa its 20 times more. It’s on level six,” he said. “So I remind Hon Musokotwane to start thinking of investing in power further. Pick up from where PF left and invest further in power. The population is growing, then we will go back to power cuts. Then they will start blaming PF again.”

On Constituency Development Fund, Sampa said the programme is being such a big talk with no actions.

He wondered why the government has started with evaluation before they could implement the CDF programme.

Sampa insinuated that the year would end without implementing the programme.

“CDF is being such a big talk and zero action. We are now in July. I think what they have started, they have assumed that everybody steals. All the MPs steal! So they have put this CDF money, immediately they start auditing it. It hasn’t even been implemented. How can you audit something you haven’t implemented? So they have started with evaluation. Any project you first plan, you implement. You put in the money then you start investigating, has the money been stolen? Them they started by investigating. And the year will finish they will still be investigating,” said Sampa. “So this CDF to me is big talk and no action. What they are doing now is they tell their cadres in our constituencies, go and see the MP, that is where the CDF empowerment is. Yet the MPs have no money. Even the ministers, when their UPND cadres go to see them, they chase them. Go to your MP, that’s where the CDF is. That’s where empowerment is! They can’t even help their own youths.”

(Credit: The Mast)

LAW enforcement agencies on Friday reportedly pounced on millionaire businessman James Ndambo’s premises in Choma and Lusaka where they allegedly seized seven motor vehicles.

Among the vehicles confiscated were the Mercedes Benz and BMW that were won by the two finalists of the much-publicised Miss My Home Town pageant which was held in Choma on July 2.

And Miss My Home Town winner Faith Mukonko during an appearance on Diamond TV confirmed that the vehicles had not yet been handed over to the winners.

She said that there was a lot of documentation that needed to be done before the car could be handed to her.

“There is a lot of documentation that needs to be processed and right now I was just waiting for that to happen before the car can be given to me,” Ms Mukonko said.

And a close associate confirmed that indeed the investigative wings pounced and actually grabbed seven vehicles belonging to Mr Ndambo.

He said that they also pounced on his offices along Great East Road where his two sons operated and managed to get vehicles too.

Meanwhile, sources within the security agencies disclosed that seven vehicles were seized in an operation conducted on Friday but that the top command did not want the matter to be public.

The sources said someone from Mr Ndambo’s circles was making attempts to talk to President Hakainde Hichilema to have the seized properties released and for the matter not to be escalated.

Meanwhile, Southern Province acting commanding officer of police Fabian Mwaba and My Home Town spokesperson Owen Miyanza when contacted for a comment both expressed ignorance on the matter.

Mr Ndambo, who is Chairman of African Union Holdings became a socialite recently for his generous spending and holding of a prestigious Miss My Home Town beauty pageant where the winners walked away with $150, 000 and $50, 000 as well as brand new cars.

However, Police Spokesperson Rae Haamonga said the operation was not conducted by the Joint Investigative Team while efforts to reach Drug Enforcement Commission spokesperson Mathias Kamanga proved futile as his mobile line was engaged. – Daily Nation

VENGEANCE IS MINE
[The Indefensible Case of Revenge and its \

THE spirit prevailing in the nation today isn’t the right one.
Hosting sodomites and their kind has now become the norm.

It is not a holy spirit.
It is a dark one.

It is the spirit of poverty, pain and suffering.
Nearly everyone, even in the UPND, is heavy-hearted and sad.

Kachasu distillers, instead of being viewed as nascent SMEs, are being forced to drink their own purportedly poisonous brew, and are having their factories destroyed by the Republican President’s men.
Digital money banks, commonly called booths, veritable SMEs/traders, are now seen as an eyesore.

Fixed, citizens are gnashing their teeth.
Tizamuona, with tears in their eyes, they are saying.

Instead of celebrating the few millionaires that we have, and endeavouring to create more as a nation, today, under the guise of fighting corruption, we want anyone with ka-something to be on the run.
Envy has become our national fuel.

Today, we rejoice and dance at the suffering of another citizen.
We are filled with joy when we inflict untold pain on another.

Why?
Schadenfreude has become today’s Zambia.

Instead of easing the suffering of the citizens by lowering the cost of living, and so improve their livelihoods, we are doing the opposite.
Lying has now become the norm and scientific, single-digit this, single-digit that.

Hakainde HICHILEMA, with your own mouth at Community House, you told the whole world that President LUNGU was safe.
Tell us, my man, did you lie?

Aren’t you aware that President LUNGU and his wife are one?
What kind of Christian are you that seeks to divide them?

Which Holy Bible do you read, Hakainde HICHILEMA?
Haven’t you come across the admonition about hypocrisy and that vengeance belongs to God?

Dignify the presidency, my man.
Leave President LUNGU alone.

RB is watching you.
Africa is watching you.

Oh, yes the big one, God is also watching you.
Do NOT revenge otherwise God’s favour will depart you.

Do unto others as you would unto yourself.
Or are these the seeds you are deliberately planting for your own end?

Trust me, my man, your end is coming.
And as you make your bed so shall you lay in it. Do NOT make a bed of thorns.

It is by securing others that we secure ourselves.
When we seek to punish others, we succeed only in punishing ourselves.

There is no peace in tormenting others.
Only suffering for the tormentors.

The country today is filled with the spirit of disquiet and gloom.
And the source of this negative and divisive force is our own State House. This then is the new dawn.

Empty your heart of the bile you carry, my man.
Heal.

Do NOT lie.
Learn from Boris JOHNSON. Give him a call if you can. Lies can prematurely end your reign.

Here we are Father, weary and heavy laden; we cast our eyes upon You.
Heal our land.

Something isn’t right.
And everyone is feeling it.

Dr Canisius BANDA
Development Activist

10 July 2022

BOOTHSGATE

By Miles B. Sampa, MP

London, New York, Brussels, Nairobi, Lagos, Addis Ababa Johannesburg etc all have street vendors and booths.

African Economies stand to gain if they can recognize and formalize the tiny majority business individuals. Multinational big companies not only externalise their money, but hardly observe any corporate social responsibilities.

About all AU leaders and delegates coming to the summit in Lusaka this week would have left their relatives freely trading in booths and streets. Only Rwanda can boast of a clean capital city but they are only a very small percentage of our land size and population. Then one needs to understand their geopolitic and past genocide. In short let’s not compare mangos and grapes. Very different.

It cost about K50,000 to carry out such night demolition operations. I bet it’s some Mall owners, some Banks or Shoprite that have financed the de-boothing exercise for their selfish reasons of eliminating competition from the poor masses. Their aim is to destroy booth business competitors and force all potential customers into their business premises. Profit making by all means and care less about other human lives.

These tiding and cleansing measures will only be acceptable once alternatives are first put in place. Imagine painting our homes with expensive and fancy colours while our children have had zero to eat entire day.

I would have hoped there are some within the ‘relevant authorities’ rankings that know the politics and sensitive intricates around the booth demolition exercises.

In the western world they have formalized booth owners and call them micro small and medium enterprises (MSME) for the purposes of capturing tax from them. ZRA needs our MSMEs. It’s a potentially $1M total turnover business per day.

Speaking from experience, I am sure some are already name dropping to powers that be. ‘He and She just wants to make the Parte and the President unpopular.’ In the other era everything would be blamed on Miles once operations boomeranged and yet he had not been consulted before hand.

There is a lot of invisible hands and parallel interests in such operations. The AU summit may have just given them the right excuse for their personal motives. The sponsors of such operations are even first to wash their hands off in the blame game. I wonder whose name would be or is already on the chopping board as a scapegoat in the latest rather public unpopular operation.

Yes we all need a clean city but let’s do it in a ‘systematic manner’. Let’s be ‘methodical’. There are many alternative places within CBD that can have our MSMEs legalized. Agreed PF failed to do it (for which ever reason) but avoid listening to people that have never stood for any elections and not in the business of caring for other people but only themselves. Balamilufya (mislead you).

A booth cost about K20, 000 and some amongst us have lost all that capital overnight. At minimum let’s love, care and show empathy to those around us in our communities.

Together We Can
MBS10.07.2022