By Thabo Kawana

I have seen the frenzy in the media over our decision to go our separate ways with my partner, its doing rounds on social media after a seemingly dedicated search conducted at the High Court registry yesterday.

My phone too won’t stop ringing as countless people keep calling and sending messages espousing different emotions. Different in that words of encouragement coming from those in the know and shock from the many who knew nothing at all.

Ordinarily, such matters are private and personal and one needs not comment publicly but unfortunately, among the ramifications that come with public life and/office is that one loses their private life completely.

My only request to us all is that in this public ridicule, insults, aspersions and formed opinions, let them all be directed at me, I am the public figure. Let’s leave my partner and children out of this because they are private individuals whom I have endeavored to protect and not involve in my public life.

Yes it’s true, my partner and I have mutually decided to go our separate ways after realizing that our union was not working. We have stayed apart for over three years and as you may be aware, divorce is a final stop after several other interventions to retrieve the union prove futile. That is why at this stage, our differences are dubbed “iretrieveble”.

Many are asking me why, what happened? My answer is that we have decided to keep the reasons private and hoping pipo can respect our decision.

Others are asking is it because of your new job? The decision to go our separate ways was arrived at three years ago, way before my appointment. It’s sad that pipo think it’s because of my three months old appointment. The two are completely unrelated.

We as a people have seen couples where because it didn’t work and they tried to force themselves on each other and in the end, death has been recorded in such unions with one partner ending in the grave whilst the other ends up locked up for life if not sentenced to death. Ramifications? Children remain orphaned and suffering.

Again here, the public says “why didn’t they just divorce instead of killing”?

For us we chose to mutually separate, remain friends and co-parent our children hoping to give them the best of both worlds as parents alive than dead and incarcerated.

What we have before Court is a consent judgement, where two consenting adults have mutually agreed to go their separate ways in a peaceful, respectful and civil manner void of conflict, drama and GBV.

My appeal to both young and old couples is that divorce is never a good thing and/experience, where you can resolve matters, please do. Where you can’t, try again .

My prayer is that no other family goes through divorce because in divorce, nobody wins.

Please don’t and never resort to violence or killing. Life does and will always go on.

Kalemba

ZAMBIA’S ECONOMY IS AS GOOD AS NONEXISTENT- HON NAKACHINDA

…says that the country’s democracy is under threat in the new dawn government .

Lusaka, Thursday 7th April 2022(Smart Eagles)

Patriotic Front (PF) Member of the Central Committee Raphael Nakachinda has said that Zambia’s economy is as good as nonexistent ever since the UPND took over the governance of the country.

Speaking at a media briefing in Lusaka today, Mr. Nakachinda said barely 8 months of the UPND governance, the country’s economy is a national disaster as the cost of living has become extremely high for an ordinary citizen to afford.

“And if you may recall, we told the Zambian people that soon they will come back to us to thank us for quickly pointing out that this government has no direction” Mr. Nakachinda said.

And the PF Chairperson for Information and Publicity said it is regrettable that the country’s democracy is under threat in the new dawn government.

He said that UPND government under Mr. Hichilema are using intimidating tactics to silence people who are critical to their way of running the country.

Mr. Nakachinda said that all Zambians are equal stakeholders and no one should be intimidated for expressing their freedom of expression.

“Zambia has always existed, but it looks Zambia was born the day HH was elected.

“We have had Presidents in the past, Presidents just like governments come and go, there shall surely be others and another is surely coming after HH is gone in 2026″, he added.

The PF Member of the Central Committee said that President Hichilema should not start blaming Zambians who are questioning him for failure to fulfill on his campaign promises.

He advised President Hichilema to learn from his Malawian counterpart who he said over promised and scored nothing which resulted in widespread demonstrations in that country.

“He swallowed his pride by first dissolving the cabinet and openly apologized to the Malawian people.

“We should not be shy to borrow the Bemba saying that ‘INSONI EBUNTU.’ nga naufilwa kuichefya,” Mr. Nakachinda said.

And commenting on the arrest of Economic and Equity Party President Chilufya Tayali, Mr. Nakachinda charged that his arrest his an indictment on President Hichilema.

He recalled that in 2015, while in opposition; Mr. Hichilema claimed that he used to receive copies of sensitive security intelligence briefs before the commander in chief President Lungu then and yet no one arrested him.

Mr. Nakachinda has appealed to the international community to take keen interest in what is happening in the country instead of only focusing in their business interests.

HICHILEMA’S 12 INTERNATIONAL TRIPS YIELDED ZERO INVESTOR CONFIDENCE!-ANTONIO

….says Zambians are dealing with a government full of fake promises

LUSAKA—-Thursday April 7th 2022

SMART EAGLES

Patriotic Front Media Director Antonio Mwanza has charged that there is no investor Confidence in the country under the current Government.

Speaking on Live Radio Special Programme, Mr Mwanza said this is despite President Hakainde Hichilema dubbing himself as the Chief Marketing officer of Zambia.

He said President Hichilema has since made 12 international trips with no investor coming into the country.

“There was a lot of talk about Investor confidence. The President dubbed himself the Chief Marketing officer of this country, he made 12 international trips with Zero results,” Mr Mwanza said.

He added that the Zambian People are dealing with government full of fake promises.

Meanwhile, Mr Mwanza has bemoaned the Propaganda of labelling the Patriotic Front members as thieves.

He said the New Dawn Administration has failed to run the corruption fight because they accuse people of being corrupt without having evidence.

Mr Mwanza said digging people’s homes with the hope of finding hidden money is ploy to paint bad picture on the Former Ruling party.

He said seven months since the New Dawn took office, people have been accused of being corrupt but no one has been charged or arrested.

“Investigative wings went to the House of former National Chairman Mr Samuel Mukupa they dug holes but they did not Find anything. We want to reiterate what the acting PF President said that stop

The President is saying those who stole, should bring the money. We as Patriotic Front have suffered the Propaganda blunt that we are thieves. We want to be cleared in the courts of law. Arrest everybody, take them to court, prosecute them and produce evidence,” he said.

And Mr Mwanza said the Government should stop Victimising civil servants.

He said the issue of trying to blame other people for failure to provide a service should come to an end.

He said it is therefore not right for Minister of Health Sylvia Masebo to say that Politics has taken centre stage in her Ministry.

By Neo Simutanyi

President Hakainde Hichilema has not received a salary since he was elected in August 2021. He says a salary has never been his motivation for seeking public office. According to him, he has not received his salary because he simply didn’t pay attention, as he has been too busy trying to better the lives of the people. While it is commendable that for the first time, we have a Head of State who is prepared to work for Zambians pro bono, the decision not to receive a government salary cannot be a personal one. It is a policy issue. This is because the salaries of constitutional office holders are fixed and approved by Parliament.

President Hichilema should state clearly that he does not desire a government salary so that the allocation can be frozen for the next five years. That would enable the Ministry of Finance channel the funds to other needy areas, including the paying of hundreds of civil servants currently not on payroll because the government has no money. But the idea that President Hichilema has been too busy to worry about his salary is most troubling, as it suggests that as President all his needs are met by the State or his personal income is so high that the government salary is nothing in comparison. Whichever is the case, President Hichilema has exposed a serious contradiction in the remuneration of our heads of state. This is that, while they are entitled to a government salary, they may have easy access to government funds or receive donations in cash from well-wishers.

In 1993 it was discovered that an unscrupulous individual was drawing President Frederick Chiluba’s presidential salary from a bank account in Ndola. We have also witnessed other former presidents either reducing their official salary or donating huge amounts of money to so-called worthy causes, schools, churches and health facilities or youth and women’s empowerment ventures. In 2019, for example, former president Edgar Lungu took a 50% pay cut and a year later demanded that his cabinet colleagues donate 20% of their salaries to the government to help the government meet its debt obligations. The decision, which was clearly unconstitutional, was predicated on the assumption that cabinet ministers and senior civil servants received hefty salaries, which should be shared with ordinary citizens. It was a cheap way of hoodwinking the Zambian people into thinking that our political leadership was empathetic to the plight of the Zambian poor.

While I dare not question the morality of President Hichilema forgoing his salary, as the first Zambian president to do so, I am interested to understand, whether he has access to government funds outside his official salary. He may be a very wealthy man, by Zambian standards, but there are many wealthy heads of state in Africa who receive official government salaries. So the question of declaration of his assets, especially his commercial interests may not easily go away. Zambians may wish to know whether their president has another way of earning an income other than his official salary.

It will also be important for President Hichilema to pay special attention to his salary, as unscrupulous individuals will begin to draw it, since he does not need it – others will see an opportunity to pocket it, as was the case with Chiluba’s salary. But as far as I am concerned, President Hichilema should not shun his salary. It is his entitlement, and he is at liberty to use it in anyway he pleases, including donating it to charity. Not receiving the government salary gives the impression it is unnecessary; its too little compared to what he is worth or there are many other official revenue streams in State House that he can draw on. While I commend President Hichilema’s declared selfless service to our country pro bono, I am acutely alive to the temptations in that highest office, given his extensive commercial interests.

In the interests of transparency and in adherence to our Constitution, I will urge President Hichilema to come out clean and declare that he does not desire to receive a government salary during his presidency. Such a declaration should be followed by a policy pronouncement that will be gazetted by Secretary to the Cabinet to the effect that the salary of the President will be frozen on his instructions and the funds allocated to other causes. We don’t want to hear of a presidential slush fund or so-called presidential initiatives, as another way of siphoning public funds to private pockets. It is my hope President Hichilema will raise the bar on probity and integrity in the office of President during his tenure.

Neo Simutanyi
Political scientist based in Lusaka

By Fackson Banda

DEBASING POLITICAL DEBATE IN ZAMBIA

I am increasingly becoming concerned about how political debate in Zambia has become polarized between the so-called 2.8 and 1.8 million – referring to those who voted for UPND and PF respectively in the 12 August 2021 presidential elections. This is a false binary that is stifling open, intelligent, and coherent political debate on national issues.

This situation is particularly dangerous for the segment of Zambian citizens who are generally ideologically non-aligned with any political party but exercise their right to vote for a party that they believe may better serve their interests at any point in time. Such citizens, as an integral part of the over 18.4 million population of Zambia, can fluidly vacillate between the 2.8 and the 1.8.

Social media, with its hitherto unknown political punditry, has only served to heighten such divisiveness, helping to perpetuate the impression of a real dichotomy. In part, this is a quintessential character of Zambian politics, seen at various snapshots in key historical moments.

Ingrained ‘winner takes all’ attitude

Take, for example, UNIP’s mobilization of Zambians into a One-Party State in 1973, effectively banning political dissent in favour of a form of intra-UNIP democracy. While the reasons for this may have been to promote national unity and development, they disregarded the discursive or contentious character of politics, whether pre- or post-independence.

Fast forward to 1991 in which largely former UNIP members, aided by the significantly changed global geopolitics, morphed into the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), with its mantra of economic liberalization, and nothing else in between. This – again – was a false binary, pitting the MMD against anybody else who harboured differences inherited, in some cases, from the good parts of UNIP. Not everything was bad about UNIP, but the totalizing narrative of liberalization, privatization and commercialization pushed out alternative voices, and a significant segment of society moved along with that metanarrative. The consequences of that political singularity were to manifest themselves subsequently, despite the different intra-party ideological complexions that the MMD took on.

The end of the honeymoon with the MMD in 2011 ushered in the Patriotic Front (PF), whose hegemonic agenda became one of empowering citizens at the expense of everything else, including economic prudence. It was thus not surprising that the ideology of ‘more money into your pockets’ was taken literally to mean dishing out hard cash to party cadres to reward their ‘patriotism’, not to the nation, but to the party. The PF forgot all those Zambians ‘in-between’ who belonged to different social and political formations – anguished families, beleaguered youths, ill-treated civil servants, stifled NGOs, persecuted political parties, the disrespected intelligentsia, the scorned diasporas, etc.

And then UPND happened in 2021, and here we are, reducing the complexity of the Zambian experience of over 18.4 million people to the simplicity of a numerical difference between 2.8 and 1.8 million voters.

Why we must be concerned

Aside from what I have noted above, here is why this is a problem.

• It oversimplifies political debate: In general, the 2.8 and 1.8 may represent opposites, but the truth lies somewhere in between them. Politicians on both sides would do well to seek out this middle ground and leverage it for the benefit of their side. Indeed, an alternative political movement could emerge to capitalize on the weaknesses of both the 2.8 and 1.8. It would not be an easy task, but it represents an opportunity for uniting the country.

• It stifles dissent: Democratic politics thrive in an environment that promotes dissent within the boundaries of the civic virtues of respect for the worth and dignity of each person, civility, integrity, self-discipline, tolerance, and compassion as well as civic commitments to human rights, the common good, equality and the rule of law, among others. For this reason, any ruling party would do well to promote the repeal of laws which stifle such dissent, and Zambia is awash in such laws. Here, the point might be made, in relation to Chilufya Tayali’s incarceration, that the report of the ZLDC (Zambia Law Development Commission) review of the Penal Code and of the Criminal Procedure Code makes an illuminating observation: “The African Commission has said that any restrictions to freedom of expression should be the exception and are only allowed if a clear causal link can be demonstrated between the expression and the risk of harm to a legitimate interest. The authorities should not use laws, such as those concerning sedition (inciting others to rebel), against journalists or others who simply criticize government policies or publish well-documented accounts of corruption in government circles…” Of course, I am not privy to any other such details as surround Tayali’s imprisonment, but I’m making a general comment on freedom of expression and the need to repeal laws that hinder it. Not to do so is to reject what Chantal Mouffe refers to as ‘agonistic pluralism’ to indicate that ‘a well-functioning democracy calls for a vibrant clash of democratic political positions.’ In other words, Zambia, as a democracy, must be treated as a more pluralistic space which does not place ‘too much emphasis on consensus’ but allows for ‘democratic contestation.’

• It reduces political discourse to a zero-sum game: Nurturing democracy means much more than winning or losing an election. That is just its simplistic numerical representation. On the contrary, democracy is about promoting deliberative, and not vindictive, politics. Society must win – at all costs. While on this point, it might be recalled that President Hakainde Hichilema has encouraged an all-society vision of democracy, rather than that of a single party. This is not to say that party ideologies or manifestos do not matter; they do, to the extent that they advance the aim of our multiparty democracy. This ‘zero-sum game’ political reductionism can be seen in the United States of America, for example, where reality becomes sandwiched between two opposites: the Republican Party brand of conservativism and the Democratic Party brand of liberalism. The truth lies somewhere in between, but giving vent to such a zero-sum game means that the rest of the world has lost out an what used to be a shining model of democracy.

• It stupefies otherwise intelligent people: The desire – sometimes for reasons of economic self-preservation – to speak over and above everybody else makes us come across as insincere and unprincipled. Indeed, it is this quality that, often, results in the near worship of our political leaders and our own ways of reasoning as infallible. In the long run, this is an untenable position and certainly one that is out of sync with democratic politics, and even peaceful co-existence.

• It obscures facts. Misinformation and disinformation thrive in an environment where political debate is feared, and political compliance elevated. Establishing facts is more likely to happen in contestation than in conformity. Good political leaders learn more from contests than from concords.

To conclude: it seems to me that the country will be better served if we suspend our loyalty to either the 2.8 or 1.8, and instead transfer it to the 18.4. Therein lies the long-term survival of the 2.8 and 1.8 ensemble!

LOOK FOR MONEY – KAMBWILI TELLS GOVT

Chishimba Kambwili says President Hakainde Hichilema should consult his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame who was on a two-day visit to Zambia why his government has chosen to subsidise the price of fuel.

“Around Luanshya, and the other day in Kitwe what people are saying and the way people are complaining is not too good for a government. The government is supposed to be a father and when an extraordinary situation presents itself, make extraordinary decisions. Look for money,” he urged the UPND government. “There are things you have budgeted for that are not a matter of life and death but these will die of hunger.”

In an address on Monday, Kambwili, a PF member, said he was so sure that President Kagame had told President Hichilema that Rwanda was subsidising the price of fuel.

“Kagame uko na landa balacita subsidise fuel (Kagame has said that they subsidise the price of fuel). South Africa is subsidising. What about you (President Hichilema). What is so difficult? Is the IMF going to be telling us how to govern?” Kambwili asked. “They are telling us that by June we will be done [with IMF programme on board] things will be alright. The IMF programme is a three-year programme. That money will be disbursed in three years not by June.”

Kambwili cautioned the UPND from what he called lying to Zambians.

“Stop lying to Zambians as if they don’t think. Who told you Mr Nkhoma that the IMF programme is ending in June?” Kambwili said in reference to economist Noel Nkhoma who recently held a press briefing in Lusaka to talk about the increase of fuel prices by the Energy Regulation Board (ERB). Nkhoma is member of the ERB board. “Do the right thing to cushion the poor from the imminent suffering and hunger that will besiege this country.”

Kambwili said the UPND should not manage the economy at the expense of the poor.

“We don’t know whether people will start eating sweet potatoes or even roots. Me, I pity you (UPND). Don’t be capitalists. Don’t run the country strictly like a business where you want to see profits. In running the country, you must balance between keeping your macro-(economic) parameters in check and also the living standards of the people,” he said.

“I plead with you subsidise fuel so that people can have a breather. People are suffering. Your ministers get a lot of money. The state buys the President everything and (Anthony) Bwalya, the presidential aide for press, stop telling Zambians to persevere. You are telling Zambians to persevere. Yes, Zambians do persevere. They have persevered many times but this is an extraordinary situation.”

Kambwili said if the price of fuel would not be subsidised this month, it may shoot up to K33 per litre of petrol and diesel.

“Please those in government, don’t be arrogant. Don’t overlook advice. This is what happens to a lot of governments. By the time you realise you are already out of government. I have said, we don’t want you (UPND) to fail but please have mercy on your people. Subsidise fuel and get your cadres out of the equation,” he urged.

“The way government has behaved in the past five days it is like you are trivialising the issue of increase of the price of fuel. The [UPND] IPS (information and publicity secretary) for Lusaka Province was addressing the nation about the price of fuel. You also went and got the (party) chairman for energy in your party to come and address the issue of fuel. You go and get Mr Nkhoma to address the issue of increase in price of fuel. Don’t make mistakes that others have made.”

Kambwili called for separating the government from the party.

“The issue has to do with the government and we want communication from government and not from the party. Statements from cadres is making it worse. Making you (UPND) look disorganised because when you look at statements that IPS made, what Mr Nkhoma and chairman for energy said, they are uncoordinated statements,” he noted. “Mr Nkhoma says ‘we have to fulfill the conditions of the IMF’. The other says, ‘our manifesto says we shall charge cost reflective prices’. Come on UPND, you can do better.”

Kambwili said the issue of fuel should be handled by the chief government spokesperson Chushi Kasanda or the line minister Peter Kapala.

“Where is the chief government spokesperson in all this equation? Where is the official statement?” he wondered. “Stop political party members from speaking on behalf of the government. That is also a form of caderism.”

Kambwili said the complaints over fuel from residents of Luanshya and Kitwe was not good for government.

ANALYSIS BY JEFF SAMPA

ANY genuine desire to improve teaching and learning must necessarily be concerned with the environment in which teaching occurs.

One of the primary functions of teacher unions is to act as the vehicles by which teachers’ concerns about the conditions of teaching and learning reach the attention of policy-makers.

In a context where teachers by definition have little formal authority to participate in policy discussions, and where educational decision-makers have limited knowledge about dynamics of educational practice, teacher unions’ role is critical.

In addition to playing the bridging role, teacher unions are sites where new policy ideas are developed. They can be settings for educational experimentation and innovation, research, teacher leadership, and teacher learning, thus increasing the capacity of educational systems more broadly.

Yet in our country, government officials develop educational legislation, teacher unions are absent from the table. Often established after, and even in reaction to, formal educational systems, teachers’ organisations are not always viewed as legitimate decision markers, and they often are perceived as working in opposition to official educational priorities.

During the Leonard Hikaumba era, unions were understood as critically important to educational quality and had broadly positive working relationships with Government and local education employers.

It’s noted that virtually all top performing countries on international educational measures have strong unions – that is, unions that play an active role in educational decision-making and participate in setting the educational reform agenda.

In these jurisdictions, union influence is more or less taken for granted and unions are recognised for providing unique resources.

Through the reports of their teacher members, unions provide important system feedback on the actual conditions of teaching and learning “on the ground.”

In some context, teacher unions provide necessary infrastructure for educational systems where such capacity does not. And some unions are capable of fostering innovation, bringing needed new educational practices into being.

Teacher union-government collaborative relations are of significant value to attempts to advance educational quality.

Teacher unions are supposed to be a source of innovation and ideas, and their efforts to advance teacher capacity are directly relevant to the conditions of teaching and learning. Teacher unions themselves, policy-makers and education international all must play their part in establishing, maintaining and promoting union-government relationships.

Zambia has had a checkered history of teacher union-government relations, with alternating periods of labour strife and relative harmony.

There has also been unique proliferation of these teacher unions whose missions and visions still remain un-understood by their clientele. This development has seen many if not all teachers lose cognisance of these supposed middlemen in wage consumption.

As if that is not enough, the teacher unions have purely failed to play their role as expected by the teachers. Because they have fixed their eyes not on the plight of the teacher but on the little that the teacher earns, they no longer know how to bargain or negotiate for the teacher’s better conditions of service.

Many are the times they have only appeared before Government just to append signatures to approve what Government has thought of giving to its people and they turn to the teacher and say it is a collective agreement.

Our unions must understand that “God sees evil but bides his time.” They easily forget that this teacher they have failed to represent well is their employer.

Government spoke of 12 percent increment across the board all they did as per tradition was to say nothing but append a number of signatures and called it a collective agreement. Do you really understand what the difference is between 12 percent for someone in salary scales K, L, M and those you survive on in salary scales I going below?

These teacher unions to be honest have lost favour in the sight of the teacher. The best they can do is to merge and carryout some introspection or better still try to rebrand as some organisations are doing because teachers don’t see any of the aforementioned qualities in the unions.

My appeal to the listening government of the new dawn is to strongly intervene by making sure that we have only one teacher union that speaks the mind of an ordinary teacher and also ensure that all the monies received by these unions from teacher contributions are channelled to the national treasury.

I suggest so because this money will still be able to get back to the teacher in form of improved conditions of services. The move will also eradicate the feeling of being demi-gods in our deaf union leadership.

We understand that there are statutory instruments that support their existence in whatever form but as long as they have defied their main essence of existing, it will be worthwhile to have union coffers take part in the rebuilding of our economy.

A stitch in time saves nine.

The author is an educationist in North-Western Province.

Britney Spears has refused to pay $600,000 to foot her mother’s legal fees, accrued during the battle to end her conservatorship.

The singer, 40, was freed from the conservatorship governed by her family back in 2021.

Last week, Britney slammed her mother Lynne Spears and called her worse than her negligent on-screen Crossroads mum.

Now, she has rejected a proposal to pay her legal fees.

Shortly before Britney’s conservatorship termination, her mother applied for payments totalling $663,202.84 from her daughter’s estate for costs incurred during the process.

But in court documents obtained by the PA news agency, lawyers for Britney said her mother had not been an official party involved in the conservatorship.

Lawyers argued that Britney had “continuously and generously” supported her mother financially for years and there was no legal authority for her to help her anymore.

“Lynne Spears and her counsel seek payment of legal fees and costs — from Britney Spears — of more than $660,000,” stated the documents, filed by her lawyer Matthew Rosengart on Tuesday, April 5, in Los Angeles.

“Britney Spears opposes the Petition in its entirety.”

The filing continued: “Britney Spears has for decades been her family’s sole breadwinner, supporting her entire family.

“It warrants noting that Lynne Spears has for at least a decade resided in a large, expensive house owned by Britney Spears in Kentwood, Louisiana, for which her daughter has also continuously – and generously – paid Lynne Spears’s utilities, telephone services, insurance, property taxes, landscaping, pool work, pest control, repairs, and maintenance, totalling approximately $1.7million (£1.3m).

“The Petition cites no authority at all to support the conclusion that a conservatorship estate (or, in this case, a former conservatee’s estate) can be held financially responsible for the attorney’s fees of a third party like Petitioner here.”

Lynne Spears’ November filing said she was requesting the fees for helping her daughter out of her “crisis” and “achieve independence from her conservator father James Spears”.

Lawyers for James Spears, aka Jamie Spears, have also called for his daughter’s estate to continue paying his legal fees, saying he had “stepped up” and kept “opportunistic and wholly self-interested parties at bay”.

The judge is yet to make a decision regarding Lynne Spears’ legal fees and further hearings in the case are scheduled for July.

By Kombe Mataka

CHISHIMBA Kambwili says President Hakainde Hichilema should consult his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame who was on a two-day visit to Zambia why his government has chosen to subsidise the price of fuel.

“Around Luanshya, and the other day in Kitwe what people are saying and the way people are complaining is not too good for a government. The government is supposed to be a father and when an extraordinary situation presents itself, make extraordinary decisions. Look for money,” he urged the UPND government. “There are things you have budgeted for that are not a matter of life and death but these will die of hunger.”

In an address on Monday, Kambwili, a PF member, said he was so sure that President Kagame had told President Hichilema that Rwanda was subsidising the price of fuel.

“Kagame uko na landa balacita subsidise fuel (Kagame has said that they subsidise the price of fuel). South Africa is subsidising. What about you (President Hichilema). What is so difficult? Is the IMF going to be telling us how to govern?” Kambwili asked. “They are telling us that by June we will be done [with IMF programme on board] things will be alright. The IMF programme is a three-year programme. That money will be disbursed in three years not by June.”

Kambwili cautioned the UPND from what he called lying to Zambians.

“Stop lying to Zambians as if they don’t think. Who told you Mr Nkhoma that the IMF programme is ending in June?” Kambwili said in reference to economist Noel Nkhoma who recently held a press briefing in Lusaka to talk about the increase of fuel prices by the Energy Regulation Board (ERB). Nkhoma is member of the ERB board. “Do the right thing to cushion the poor from the imminent suffering and hunger that will besiege this country.”

Kambwili said the UPND should not manage the economy at the expense of the poor.

“We don’t know whether people will start eating sweet potatoes or even roots. Me, I pity you (UPND). Don’t be capitalists. Don’t run the country strictly like a business where you want to see profits. In running the country, you must balance between keeping your macro-(economic) parameters in check and also the living standards of the people,” he said.

“I plead with you subsidise fuel so that people can have a breather. People are suffering. Your ministers get a lot of money. The state buys the President everything and (Anthony) Bwalya, the presidential aide for press, stop telling Zambians to persevere. You are telling Zambians to persevere. Yes, Zambians do persevere. They have persevered many times but this is an extraordinary situation.”

Kambwili said if the price of fuel would not be subsidised this month, it may shoot up to K33 per litre of petrol and diesel.

“Please those in government, don’t be arrogant. Don’t overlook advice. This is what happens to a lot of governments. By the time you realise you are already out of government. I have said, we don’t want you (UPND) to fail but please have mercy on your people. Subsidise fuel and get your cadres out of the equation,” he urged.

“The way government has behaved in the past five days it is like you are trivialising the issue of increase of the price of fuel. The [UPND] IPS (information and publicity secretary) for Lusaka Province was addressing the nation about the price of fuel. You also went and got the (party) chairman for energy in your party to come and address the issue of fuel. You go and get Mr Nkhoma to address the issue of increase in price of fuel. Don’t make mistakes that others have made.”

Kambwili called for separating the government from the party.

“The issue has to do with the government and we want communication from government and not from the party. Statements from cadres is making it worse. Making you (UPND) look disorganised because when you look at statements that IPS made, what Mr Nkhoma and chairman for energy said, they are uncoordinated statements,” he noted. “Mr Nkhoma says ‘we have to fulfill the conditions of the IMF’. The other says, ‘our manifesto says we shall charge cost reflective prices’. Come on UPND, you can do better.”

Kambwili said the issue of fuel should be handled by the chief government spokesperson Chushi Kasanda or the line minister Peter Kapala.

“Where is the chief government spokesperson in all this equation? Where is the official statement?” he wondered. “Stop political party members from speaking on behalf of the government. That is also a form of caderism.”

Kambwili said the complaints over fuel from residents of Luanshya and Kitwe was not good for government.

MAKE PUBLIC THE ZESCO/CEC AGREEMENT

By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba

In 2018, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDC Group PLC, the UK’s development finance institution, formed a company called; Zambian Transmission LLP.

The purpose of the new company was to make a binding offer to purchase all the ordinary shares in the share capital of CEC for a cash offer price of $450million ( US$0.2338 per share).

The purchase offer was based on the anticipation that ZESCO would renew and extend the Bulk Supplier Agreement to CEC to 25 years and at similar favourable terms as the current Agreement scheduled to expire in 2020.

When ZESCO expressed concerns that the earlier agreement was exploitative and a revision needed to be done to both the period and tarrif rates, CDC pulled out of the deal to buy CEC.

NEW BULK SUPPLIER AGREEMENT

On Wednesday, both ZESCO and Copperbelt Energy Corporation Plc jointly announced they had reached an agreement for the bulk supply of electricity.

Recognizing that ZESCO is incurring costs of up-to $40million a month in current Power Purchase Agreements from Independent Power Producers, it is imperative that the details of the Bulk Supplier Agreement entered into, are made public.

1. What’s the duration of this Agreement? 5 years? 10years? 25 years? 50 years?

2. What tarrif charges or rates will ZESCO charge CEC? How much will CEC pay ZESCO per Kilo Watt, at peak and during normal or standard schedules.

3. What period is given to CEC when it falls into arreas? What are the details of the termination clauses?

4. In making a bulk supply of electricity available to the distribution system of CEC, will these assets be maintained by CEC or ZESCO and who meets some of the irrecoverable cost?

It is imperative that we ask these questions as it is common knowledge that CDC Group has been hanging in the shadows since 2018, waiting for this Agreement to snap up one of the most profitable African companies.

The value of CEC should never be based on an exploitative and unfair business relationship with ZESCO.

ZESCO is our public company, formed for the development and benefit of the people of Zambia.

ZAMBIA HAS TAKEN THE RIGHT STEPS TO ECONOMIC RECOVERY DESPITE THE HIGH COST OF LIVING- IMF DEAL WILL GIVE US THE BREATHING SPACE WE NEED FOR LOCAL SOLUTIONS TO THRIVE!

By Alexander Nkosi

If you are a farmer, one of your biggest challenges is the high cost of inputs/chemicals, these are mostly imported. If importing 1000kg of fertiliser is USD1000, at K18/dollar, it will cost K18,000 in kwacha. If kwacha appreciates to K9/ dollar, farmers will spend K9000 to get the same quantity of fertiliser.

If you are a manufacturer and you want to produce goods that will compete on the market, you will most likely need to import better manufacturing equipment. If a machine costs USD100,000, at K18/dollar the kwacha equivalent is K1,800 000. However, if kwacha appreciates to K9/dollar, then manufacturers will only spend K900,000.

Clearly for an import dependent economy like Zambia that also imports inputs and equipment, the unfavourable exchange rate pushes the cost of production up. This makes it hard for local manufacturers to thrive. This explains the importance of strengthening the currency to our economic recovery agenda.

Manufacturers, farmers, small scale miners, players in the hospitality industry all need capital to grow their entreprises. Heavy government domestic borrowing pushes interest rates up. Borrowing at high interest rates, importing equipment and inputs at an unfavourable exchange rate and competing with big continental players makes it hard for local firms to survive?

If the cost of production is high and the cost of imports is also high, this leaves the prices of goods and services high and generally pushes up the cost of living.

How can we strengthen the kwacha? The inflow of dollars into the economy has been slow due to low export growth and low capital inflow? On the other hand government keeps losing more dollars through debt repayment and expensive import of fuel and agriculture inputs.

Should government significantly reduce domestic borrowing? The domestic budget is exhausted by debt service and wage bill, implying that government has to borrow to fund the rest of the budget. External borrowing in international markets at commercial rates is very expensive, right now we are struggling with eurobonds.

Should government significantly lower tax rates to promote production and lower the cost of living? Out of a revenue of K98.9 billion, K78.6 billion goes to debt service and the rest to the wage bill, if tax rates are reduced, the immediate impact is to lower domestic revenue as the economy adjusts, this implies that government has to borrow to cover the huge deficit, and increased borrowing brings us back to the same problem we are trying to resolve.

Should government increase funding to entrepreneurs? This can only be financed through increased borrowing which has a counterproductive effect.

As long as debt is not addressed, we will keep going round circles. This is why the first step to economic recovery lies in dealing with our debt. This is where IMF becomes key. An IMF deal will help us get debt restructuring, attract capital inflow and enable us access very cheap concessional loans including the USD1.4 billion under the extended credit facility.This will increase supply of dollars on the market. Restructured debt will reduce loss of dollars through debt service and this will strengthen the kwacha and enable our farmers, manufacturers, small scale mining firms and other entrepreneurs import at a low cost. Restructured debt will also reduce domestic borrowing as government will now have funds released from reduction in debt service outlays, this will push down interest rates and enable the private sector to have access to cheap credit to expand production. Debt restructuring will also free funds to speed up dismantling of arrears to boost economic activities.

At the centre of Zambia’s economic recovery is the IMF deal and debt restructuring. Given that we have reached staff level agreement in seven months and remain on track to IMF board approval, we have taken the most important steps to economic recovery despite the cost of production and living going up in the short term. There is no more headroom to simply borrow and keep fuel prices and cost of living low. We have to take the steps explained above, otherwise we will end up worse off.

The greatest achievement by the new dawn government is reaching the IMF staff level agreement. The increased CDF allocation, expanded free education and mass recruitment into civil service are good but they will need a thriving economy to be sustained. There is no need to fear any IMF conditionality because Zambia in its current state does not have money to sustain any subsidy for a long time if our debt crisis is not addressed. IMF deal by itself is not development neither does it guarantee development, but it gives us the breathing space and access to opportunities needed for domestic solutions to succeed.

In conclusion, the cost of living might be high but the only way to sustainably reduce it is to address underlying problems; restructure debt, attract capital inflow, access concessional borrowing, strengthen kwacha, lower cost of production, lower cost of living. Other benefits include sustained growth and job creation.

Thank you.

RTSA REVOKES TEN PSV DRIVING LICENCES, GIVE THIRTY DAYS ULTIMATUM TO THREE TRANSPORT OPERATORS

LUSAKA, 7th April 2022

The Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) has with immediate effect revoked driving licences for ten passenger Public Service Vehicle (PSV) drivers for violating the provisions of the Road Traffic Act No. 11 of 2002.

This comes in the wake of the conclusion of the investigation process surrounding the conduct of the affected drivers, which in the view of the Agency, have proved that the drivers failed to advance reasonable causes or responses as to why their licences should not be revoked for putting the lives of the passengers and
other road users in serious danger.
The RTSA is exercising Section 68(1) (a) of the Road Traffic Act No. 11 of 2002, which empowers the Agency to revoke a driving licence, if in the opinion of the Director, the conduct or character of the holder of such a licence is rendered to be unfit to drive such a vehicle from the point of view of the safety of the public.
The affected drivers include, Timothy Shawa of Kalahari Trans Zambia Limited, who on 14th February 2022, while driving a fuel tanker truck along the Great North Road failed to stop at a railway crossing and collided with a goods train resulting in the loss of two (02) lives.

The Agency has also revoked the driving licence for Andrew Musa for abrogating Statutory Instrument No.76 of 2016, which prohibits the movement of Public Service Vehicles at night, and subsequently causing a road traffic crash in which seven (07) people died.

The other affected drivers are Shepherd Ganya, Webby Siame, Sanalami Mwanza, Boyd Chewe, Lazarus Katota, Matanda Lungu and David Mwansa all whose driving licenses have been revoked for being habitual offenders of the offence of exceeding speed limits contrary to the Road Traffic Act No. 11 of 2002. According to the Global Position System (GPS), monitored by the RTSA, the affected drivers violated speed limits on several occasions driving at speeds of between 120 km/h to 220 km/h against the prescribed speed limit for PSV buses on highways which is 100 km/h, thus posing serious danger to the passengers and other road users.

And the RTSA has also revoked the PSV driving licence for Bwalya Mwansa for driving in a dangerous manner on 11th February 2022 by overtaking several trucks on a solid line on the Great North Road, a stretch that had heavy traffic, without regard to other road users, thereby risking the safety of the passengers.

Further, the Agency has given three (03) passenger transport operators a thirty (30) days ultimatum, effective 6th April 2022, to put in place effective measures for monitoring the movement of their buses, including the aspect of speed monitoring through GPS, adherence to SI No. 76 of 2016 and SI No. 51 of 2021 which restricts the movement PSVs at night, between 22:00 hours and 04:00 hours, ensure strict adherence to the RTSA’s Fleet Safety Management Policy and all the terms and conditions under which the Road Service Licenses were granted.

After thirty (30) days, a team of RTSA officers will check compliance with the foregoing directive, failure to which, the Agency will have no option but to suspend the Road Service Licences.

The affected operators include Nicpro Trading and Transport Services, P Mwansa Bus Services and Magodi Lodge Limited trading as FM Bus Services.

Issued by:

FREDRICK MUBANGA HEAD-PUBLIC RELATIONS

The United Kingdom Minister for Africa Vicky Ford has applauded the Zambian government for fully implementing the free education policy to enhance access to education for vulnerable children in country.

Ms. Ford says access to education has accorded children an opportunity to fulfill their potential and develop their abilities.

She says her government will for this reason support Zambia’s implementation of her free education policy to enhance access to quality education for children especially the girl-child.

Ms. Ford , who is on a familiarization tour of schools in the country, stated that United Kingdom is also working with government to construct secondary schools in areas which are underserved.

She said this when she addressed pupils and various stakeholders at Mulola primary school in Chongwe district which she visited to assess the challenges being experienced by girls at the school.

Mulola primary school becomes the 100th school supported by the British council’s climate connection program aimed enabling school going children to take action against climate change issues.

And Education Minister Douglas Siakalima who accompanied Ms. Ford and her delegation implored parents in the Chongwe to stop marrying off their female children at an early age as adding that the practice is detrimental to the lives of girls.

Mr. Siakalima said the girl child should be encouraged to get educated to allow them to access equal opportunities to develop their livelihood as their male counterparts.

He said government is cognisant of the challenges that hinder girls attaining education adding that it is currently implementing various programs to address these challenges.

“Government and various stakeholders are have ensured that the girl child has equal access to education and other opportunities as the boys.

This has been made possible through the implantation of the re-entry policy, equal opportunities during enrollment, financial support through .

“ The keep girls in school’ program, provision of sanitary kits and inclusion of comprehensive sexuality education in the school curriculum among others,” Mr Siakalima said.

He also said the free education policy is expected to reduce drop outs and also improve attendance as well as performance levels for the girl child.

Mr Siakalima called on communities to take advantage of the decentralisation policy which government has actualized by ensuring that they prioritise support for school activities which can improve access to education for the girl child through their ward development committees.

ALL PROSECUTORS SHOULD BE SCREENED AT NPA , POLICE ; LET US NOT FOCUS ON DPP ALONE ; SHE DOES VERY LITTLE IF PROSECUTORS GIVE HER DEFECTIVE REPORTS ON PARTICULAR MATTERS.

By Mark Simuuwe

The prosecutors under the National Prosecutions Authority (NPA) and Police are not helping the country on a number of cases.

Firstly, investigative wings must continue to have and overhaul, including police under criminal investigations.

How does someone arrest you for theft and money laundering and end up in a noble? Theft and money laundering are the easiest charges to prosecute.

One is arrested for merely failing to explain the source of money in the case of money laundering.

One is arrested immediately it is established in investigation that there is appropriation of a property capable of being stolen, and I see no reason why such a case would end up in a nolle.

The aforementioned charges are usually so vivid and are not like murder or treason where you start probing the jurisprudence of treason and murder in order to justify theft and money laundering respectively.

Is it not surprising that under this DPP , there are so many cases being discontinued?

Further, it is not about the DPP; the DPP usually plays a supervisory jurisdiction and usually innocent. The prosecutors who do the actual donkey works of appearing in court to prosecute are killing cases by writing defective reports for further instruction from the DPP and the DPP would do very little if prosecutors or investigative wings are deliberately bringing defective cases.

I have always said, if you want to kill a case, take a defective report to NPA.A suspect or counsel for the defendant will relish on a defective charge. Thus, any Person put in the office as DPP DPP won’t proceed with a defective matter…they will discontinue the case.

So we address such matters by cleaning the investigative wings and also probing the competence of prosecutors in the Queen’s Language, Legalese and later on in investigations, further level of education. Allegiance of investigative officers alone cannot suffice.

Napwisha for now.

IT WOULD BE PETTY MOVING OUT OF THE ALLIANCE BECAUSE OF NOT BEING GIVEN JOBS – MDC

The Movement for Democratic Change MDC has said it did not become part of the UPND Alliance because of being after jobs but to ensure that the country is liberated from among other things, a broken economy, polarized country on tribal lines and misgovernment by the former Patriotic Front regime.

Speaking at a press briefing this morning, MDC Vice President for Politics Leonard Hikaumba said the party will continue being in the alliance with the UPND as it would be petty moving out of this alliance, the first to ever succeed in this country on the basis of not being given jobs by the presidency.

“It is being petty moving from the alliance because jobs are not given. We are not after jobs but liberating the country. As MDC, we shall see to it that this is done because we have a partner in UPND that is ready to listen” he said.

Mr Hikaumba said the primary objective of the UPND Alliance was not to give jobs to alliance members, but the majority 2.8 million voters in the August elections wanted a better economy, enjoyment of their freedoms, unity and a prosperous Zambia.

“We joined the alliance to liberate the country from people we had entrusted, but there was misgovernment. So many things were going so wrong because at no time did we see a country so polarized and divided. Some of us were even scared to mention our names as that came with a lot of hostility” Mr Hikaumba said.

He said never before did the country see so much recklessness in expenditure and management of national affairs as it were under the PF regime and one wonders what would have become of the country had they continued for another 5 years.

Mr Hikaumba also said there is need for Zambians especially those in leader’s to emulate President Hakainde Hichilema who has forgone his salary for 8 months, a clear demonstration that he is not after money but to serve the country.

And Mr Hikaumba said the party received the resignation of its former Secretary General Lucky Mulusa, who did not indicate reasons for stepping down and the leadership has since wished him well in his future endeavors as he has a right and freedom of association to a political party of choice.

The MDC Vice President was flanked by MDC Deputy Secretary Ambassador Joyce Musenge, Central Province Chairman George Kangwa, Copperbelt Chairman Shine Mukosha, Eastern Province Chairman Jacob Mwanza and Lusaka Province Chairman Donald Chilufya among other senior party leaders.

Speaking at the same briefing, UPND Media Director Ruth Dante said the party is very proud of the alliance which agreed on one principle of delivering the country from a broken economy among others.

Ms Dante said the UPND Alliance is there to deliver on its promises to the people of Zambia and therefore, the pain people are currently going through is for a purpose which is to free them from abject poverty imposed on them by the PF.

She said nothing will break what the UPND Alliance stands for going forward.

© MDC MEDIA TEAM

By Hon. Bowman Lusambo
IT’S ALL ABOUT LEADERSHIP

This week, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta signed a supplementary budget for the fiscal year allocating an additional 35 billion shillings (roughly €250 million) for the country’s fuel subsidy program.

In Rwanda, the government further adjusted its fuel subsidy intervention to cushion Rwandan consumers against increased cost of living.

In South Africa, from January, energy subsidies more than tripled from 2017 to stand at ZAR 172 billion (USD 10.4 billion).

This month, Nigerian Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed announced that she will tap US$ 2.2 billion to help fund petrol subsidies.

The world over, UNDP estimates that an astounding US$423 billion annually is spent to subsidize fuels for consumers.

In all these conversations, leadership is being epitomized.

Sensible leaders are taking charge by stepping in and ensuring that their country’s poorest are protected. Ours are blaming everything and everyone for their failure to act.

Down here, we have a leader who conveniently wants to blame his failure to provide leadership on all manner of global factors. He sends his Press Secretary to parrot some gibberish that even my grandmother in Masaiti cannot even understand and yet her bus fare just went up.

We are in this predicament because our self anointed Economic Manager is in sixes and sevens. He has no idea whether he is going or coming. We warned Zambians that Hon. Situmbeko Musokotwane & Co. have surrendered our economic sovereignty to the boys and girls in Washington and they are the ones rushing the show, we only have Zombies for Ministers who can’t even act.

Admittedly, they don’t have headroom to act. This is a consequence of poor foresight.

The first act of this government was to allocate a hefty tax holiday for the mines in a period that even a small Jerabo in Kitwe knows is a time for record high copper prices. In a time when Zambia should be cashing on a windfall from the mines, we are left scrambling for scraps.

In their thinking, our leaders gave their western capitalists mining investors tax holidays in order to attract fresh large scale investments in the mines, as we speak almost 9 months later, there has never been a single dollar brought in the sector.

In no time, Zelensky and Putin will sit and talk, the war will be over but we can assure the Zambians that our economic fortunes will be far from over. After Ukraine-Russia conflict, this team of failures will jump on another global issue to blame for their obvious ineptitude.

It should be stated here that there has never been a time when the world ever fell as silent as the grave, there is always some issue brewing somewhere and our new friends in government ought to understand this. The late Rupiah Banda presided over record GDP growth rates at the height of the global economic crisis of 2008-2009. Our beloved Edgar Chagwa Lungu was confronted with the worst climate change crisis and the pandemic but as the latest ZamStats figures have shown, he managed to steer the ship to an impressive 3.6 GDP growth in 2011.

So what’s the excuse? It’s plain incompetence on the part of those governing the nation today. As they still bask in the glory of their victory of August last year, we wish to warn them that there has never been a leader in the history of the earth who has managed to rule over hungry people, even Moses had to ask God for Manna for the starving Israelites.

AMB. MWAMBA REPORTS ZESCO POLE TENDER TO ACC AND ZPPA

Former Ambassador to Ethiopia and Opposition Patriotic Front Presidential Aspirant, Amb.Emmanuel Mwamba has reported to the Anti-Corruption Commission a tender issued by ZESCO for the supply and delivery of 40,000 wooden poles.

ZESCO has shortlisted 10 foreign companies from Zimbabwe and South Africa to supply and deliver the poles.

In a letter dated 6th April 2022, Mr. Mwamba said the use of direct bidding for a tender requiring collasal sums of money was being motivated by corruption.

He has also requested the Zambia Public Procurement Authority to order a cancellation of the tender as it was not transparent or objective and irregularly issued.

He said the action to exclude ZAFFICO, Copperbelt Forest Company and other Zambian companies was not justified.

He said the tender was being driven by motives of corruption as the method used to single-source the foreign suppliers, was dubious.

He said the use of direct-bidding or single-sourcing is used in emergency circumstances and the supply of wooden poles to ZESCO did not warrant such a method.

Mr. Mwamba also wondered why local suppliers were denied an opportunity when on the list of the foreign ten (10) suppliers that ZESCO has shortlisted, it has middlemen on it.

Mr. Mwamba delivered the letter to the ACC and signed an official statement of complaint.

Below is the letter to ACC and ZPPA.

EMMANUEL MWAMBA

136/A
Chandwe Musonda Road
Villa Elizabetha
Lusaka

Wednesday 6th April 2022

The Director General
Anti-Corruption Commission
LUSAKA

Dear Sir; TENDER FOR THE SUPPLY AND DELIVERY OF 40,000 ZESCO POLES MOTIVATED BY CORRUPTION

I refer to documents released by ZESCO dated 22nd March 2022 referenced MD/PROC/LP/0965/2022 and their public statement issued on 31st March 2022 titled; “ZESCO MOVES TO DISMANTLE NEW CONNECTIONS BACKLOG”.

I also refer to the statement issued by the Minister of Energy Hon. Eng. Peter Chibwe Kapala issued on 30th March 2022 titled; “AVOIDING MIDDLE-MEN IN PROCUREMENT IN THE ENERGY SECTOR.”

The above information reveals that ZESCO intends to award a tender for the purchase and supply of 40,000 wooden poles to dismantle the backlog of 67,000 outstanding new power supply connections.

To this effect, ZESCO has shortlisted and issued a tender to ten (10) foreign companies using the method of direct-bidding (also known as single-sourcing).

CONCERNS

1. The use of direct bidding for such a big tender which will use huge public resources raises deep concerns as the process is not transparent, objective and cannot be justified.
ZESCO as a state-owned enterprise and one of Africa’s largest utility companies, is expected to adhere to best practices and the use of transparent but effective ways and methods in its public spending.

2. On the wooden poles both ZAFFICO and Copperbelt Forest Company have similar capacity to produce and supply ZESCO with the wooden poles. Infact, information shows that ZAFFICO produces 5000 poles a month. If given time, ZAFFICO can produce the whole lot by December 2022 which is ZESCO’s target.

3. The exclusion of local suppliers on the pretext and justification that they are not a direct source of wooden poles is unfounded. A quick search on the 10 shortlisted companies shows that some companies on the list are middle-men, or shop owners and others only have wood treatment plants as they source the raw material of timber from Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and from Eswatini and Brazil.

4. Infact, Zambian entrepreneurs can arrange similar logistical arrangements to supply ZESCO with the Poles at the right quantity, time and price if given a fair chance and opportunity.

5. The attempt to show that this procurement is urgent and required direct bidding to the exclusion of Zambian companies, and on the pretext that it will be cheaper for ZESCO is defeated by the presence of middlemen on the list and the exclusion of both ZAFFICO and Copperbelt Forest Company.

It is therefore envisaged that both your institution and the Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA) will stop the process, investigate the underlying concerns before a public and acceptable tender can be issued which affords business houses in Zambia and elsewhere equal chances to the benefit of ZESCO and the country.

Yours Faithfully.

Emmanuel Mwamba

CC; The Director General
Zambia Public Procurement Authority.
Lusaka

THE OFFICE OF DPP AND NOLLES

By Legal Eagle

The Director of Prosecutions has entered into what observers perceived to be controversial Nolle Prosequi to discontinue cases.

Here are some;

1. On August 10th 2013, the DPP entered a Nolle Prosequi in favour of UPND Leader, Hakainde Hichilema. This was in a case in which Hichilema was charged with one count of defamation of President Michael Sata contrary to the Laws of Zambia.

2. On March 2013, Mazabuka Central UPND member of Parliament, Garry Nkombo and seven others who were facing a murder charge walked to freedom after the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mutembo Nchito discontinued the case against them.

2. On August 17, 2017, the Director of Public Prosecutions entered a Nolle Prosequi in which Mr. Hichilema was accused of Treason.

3. On 4th September 2017, the DPP entered a Nolle Prosequi in the case of Hichilema’s Deputy Press Secretary Brian Mwiinga. Mwinga and nine others were arrested for allegedly obstructing the police from arresting the UPND president on 10th April, 2017.

4. On 7th March 2021, the DPP entered a Nolle Prosequi in the matter in which UPND Leader, Hakainde Hichilema and his former Vice President, Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba were charged with they were charged with seditious practices and unlawful assembly.

COMMENT

The cases against the KCM Liquidator were all ill-fated from the start. A quick perusal of the powers granted in the appointment by Court Order and the law show that the Liquidator has wide discretion on how he deals with the company property.

Further the monies he received were agreed with the Official Receiver for his renumeration as prescribed by the law. He is entitled to pay himself and to pay himself first.

Infact, to this effect, all audits conducted established that he paid within what he was entitled to.

KCM as a private company did not complain that there was money missing.

In these circumstances what option is the DPP left with?