Malupenga explains how he left The Post

FORMER information permanent secretary Amos Malupenga has explained how Michael Sata engaged The Post to find him a press aide soon after being elected Head of State in 2011.

And Malupenga has described how former president Edgar Lungu was persuaded to try and fire him on account that his loyalty was to Dr Fred M’membe and The Post soon after he assumed office when Sata died.

In chapter five “quitting the Bwinjimfumu government” of his second book dubbed “Conversations with Memorable Personalities,” Malupenga narrates how he was tasked by Dr M’membe and Mutembo Nchito to talk to Amos Chanda to take up the position at State House, at the time he was Press Association of Zambia vice-president.

Malupenga said Dr M’membe called for a meeting in his (Malupenga) office which was attended by Mutembo at which he said Sata wanted a name for the position of press aide.

“I said had it not for the position we had taken it would have been easy to get a name from among our journalists,” Malupenga recounts adding that the only name he had was that of Amos Chanda who was a friend of The Post.

Dr M’membe in a congratulatory phone call to Sata made in Malupenga’s presence did indicate that: “I should just mention that as you start putting together your government, you should not think about us. No one from here (The Post) is joining your government. We did what we did without expecting anything in return from you. We are patriots and this is our country. So this is our contribution to the country.”

Malupenga said after Dr M’membe’s call to Sata he shared the information with then Post deputy managing editor Joe Kaunda, legal counsel Sam Mujuda and news editor Chansa Kabwela who “giggled and sniggered”.

He goes to say when he informed Mutembo of Dr M’membe’s conversation with Sata, Nchito merely responded: “that is Fred for you.”

Back to the issue of press aide, Malupenga reveals that the other name that was brought out was that of Fanwell Chembo who later declined the offer on account of his SDA religious beliefs being an elder in the Church.

He said that is how George Chellah’s name was arrived at by Dr M’membe who informed him that that was the only consideration from The Post and that no other name would be considered for a government position.

Malupenga however, narrates how he eventually was appointed permanent secretary by Sata after a meeting on September 27, 2011.

He narrates that after the death of Sata, Lungu got information that Malupenga and other ex-Post Newspaper workers in government were loyalists to Fred and The Post to which he exculpated himself and on behalf of other former Post workers.

Malupenga describes his second book the first being ‘Levy Patrick Mwanawasa: An Incentive for Posterity’ published in 2009 as one: “From stuff fit for a spy movie to stories that would fill gossip columns, like why Dora Siliya got divorced by her husband, and why Sikota Wina was popular with the ladies; to why the spy chief, Xavier Chungu, was being spied on.”

He also talks of what really led to the collapse of Fred M’membe’s empire – The Post?

In this book, Malupenga takes readers on an epic journey, retracing his own tracks in his illustrious career that spanned over 15 years, mainly at the helm of the country’s foremost private newspaper, The Post.

“The result is a riveting book that covers an array of topics, from espionage to bedroom secrets.”

Credit: The Mast

This is a national hazard,they are destroying Kafue River

By Ngobola Cengelo Muyembe

One of the water bodies that were being polluted by Vedanta of KCM is very close to the Katangian/Kalahari Basin of Northwestern Province where the Congo and the Kafue rivers start from.

Lusaka gets its water from underground and Lusaka Water has laid pipelines to get alternative water from the Kafue River south of Lusaka. That Kafue starts as a small stream in Northwestern Province from the Katangian Basin and matures on the Copperbelt through the tributaries.

If you destroy these tributaries, you will not have water and electricity in Lusaka and elsewhere since your alternative is the same Kafue.

This was what I and other people were urging the PF to use against Vedanta not only to grab KCM away from them but to slap them with penalties that would have seen them bankrupt.

I thought the government had just put a halt to the issuance of mining licenses.

We now have a proposal to expand an open-pit in Chingola near water bodies close to the KCM tailing dam which spilt effluent that polluted our rivers that led to KCM gaining notoriety. This just goes to show how complacent our regulators are towards the environment and the reason I urged serious reforms before we can start mines in game parks.

By complacent, I mean to say ”why even entertain this proposal in the first place?”

I started this work back in 2010 because my engineering works are mainly in water infrastructure, and it is very important that water sources where we draw from are kept clean.

In some countries, they do not even allow cows near water bodies but in this country, we have all sorts of people writing reports justifying the unthinkable. I travelled to most of these areas using my own money and Prince Daniel Jere of Kalulushi the brother to Paramount Chief Mpezeni is one of my witnesses as he donated money towards the investigations.

Now we have someone even advertising to expand an open pit which should have never been in the first place. The people of Kalulushi have no water because of this pollution rendering millions of dollars of investment worthless since the abstraction point is on a polluted stream.

Most importantly, it is not just the people of Kalulushi that have lost out of this but the rural people whose livelihood depends on clean water from these streams.

What you are calling China Copper Mine today was just a chicken run operated by peasant farmers when I and Mr Jere visited the area in 2013 after KCM polluted the Mwambashi Stream and it should have been maintained as a farm just like Amano School nearby.

Today I was shocked to see on Page No 10 of Times of Zambia dated 7th March 2022 an advert for China Copper Mine trying to expand in an area in the middle of water bodies of the same basin.

When the government announced that they were no longer issuing mining licenses, the Chinese Copper Mine is already trying to start expanding in the area where the KCM tailing dams polluted the Mwambashi, Mushishima and Muntimpa streams are located.

If ZEMA can be sleeping over the construction of structures on water bodies giving life to the Kafue that I highlighted in the past days, do you really think they can be trusted to handle a hazard such as a Chinese Mine close to the Katangian Basin?

The KCM tailing dam is still a hazard to surrounding land and rivers so why then allow a large expansion of another mine in the same area before you correct the situation]

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky echoed iconic UK leader Sir Winston Churchill, vowing Ukraine would fight Russia ‘in the forests, in the fields, on the shores and in the streets’

In a Tuesday, March 8 speech, via video link from Kyiv to the UK House of Commons, Ukraine’s leader delivered what was called an “historic address” after House Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle approved a request for him to speak directly to MPs in the UK.

Zelensky, in the address,also quoted Shakespeare.

He said: “The question for us now is ‘to be, or not to be?’

“For 13 days this question could have been asked.

“But now I can give you a definitive answer.

“It’s definitely yes – to be.

“I would like to remind you of the words the UK has already heard, which are important again.

“We will not give up and we will not lose. We will fight till the end at sea and in the air. We will continue fighting for our land whatever the cost.

“We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets.

“We will fight on the banks of rivers.”

Zelensky, praised for not leaving Kyiv despite Russia’s onslaught also claimed “over 50 children have been killed” by Russia’s bombs.

Zelensky added: “These are the children that could have lived but these people have taken them away from us.

“Ukraine were not looking to have this war. The Ukraine have not been looking to become big but they have become big over the days of this war.

“We are the country that are saving people despite having to fight one of the biggest armies in the world. We have to fight the helicopters, rockets.”

After the address, all the MPs gave him a standing ovation.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, responding to the speech made by President Volodymyr Zelensky, told the House of Commons:

“Never before in all our centuries of our parliamentary democracy has the House listened to such an address.

“In a great European capital now within range of Russian guns President Volodymyr Zelensky is standing firm for democracy and for freedom.”

“In his righteous defence I believe he has moved the hearts of everybody in this House.

“At this moment ordinary Ukrainians are defending their homes and their families against a brutal assault and they are, by their actions, inspiring millions by their courage and their devotion.”

Johnson said “one of the proudest boasts in the free world” is “I am Ukrainian” – which he said in Ukrainian.

He said: “This is a moment to put our political differences aside and I know I speak for the whole House when I say that Britain and our allies are determined to press on with supplying our Ukrainian friends with the weapons they need to defend their homeland as they deserve, to press on with tightening the economic vice around Vladimir Putin and we will stop importing Russian oil.”

Johnson went on: “And we will employ every method that we can – diplomatic, humanitarian and economic – until Vladimir Putin has failed in this disastrous venture and Ukraine is free once more.”

PF ON THE WAR BETWEEN NEIGHBOURS RUSSIA AND UKRAINE

LUSAKA, Tuesday, 8th March, 2022.

The Patriotic Front (PF) party has been following with keen interest the war between neighbours Russia and Ukraine in Europe. We regret the loss of lives and damage to property.

Our position is that our party remains resolute and committed to finding a lasting solution to this complex and delicate situation being fueled by the United States and its NATO allies.

We are of the view that the Zambian government should have consulted citizens before voting in favour of the United Nations resolution condemning Russia.

This is yet another example of the United Party for National Development (UPND) government’s seriously flawed foreign policy, which has the potential to harm the interests of our nation.

In the UN resolution, 141 countries voted in favour of condemning Russia, 5 against and 35 abstained from taking any side. Historically, Zambia has been a member of the Non-aligned Nations on matters of international conflict involving competing interests between the West and East blocs.

We are therefore disappointed that the UPND government sided with Western interests to condemn Russia without consulting Zambians through their elected representatives in Parliament. This smacks of arrogance.

The PF shares a mutually beneficial relationship with the ruling All-Russian Party (United Russia) and shall remain steadfast and optimistic in calling for an end to the conflict.

We believe that it is important for all interested parties, including Zambia, to understand the complicated and delicate nature of this conflict and join efforts to end it and restore peace in Europe and the rest of the world.

The world should hear both sides. Russia has appealed to the global community to understand the reasons for its military operation in Ukraine, which include demilitarisationnand and denazification of its neighbour for the safety and security of the Russian people.

It has reminded the world that since Ukraine declared independence it had remained non-aligned until the western-backed coup in 1914 after which it has been pushing to join the Western military alliance, the Northern Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), which has declared Russia as its adversary.

This, if actuated, would directly threaten Russia’s security as it shares a long border with Ukraine.

The West turned down Russia’s requests for security guarantees of non-expansion of NATO to Russia’s borders and started mass deliveries of lethal weapons to the Ukrainian government, encouraging the activities of nationalist anti-Russian and armed groups and foreign mercenaries.

All these factors must be considered when adopting a position on this conflict.

Issued by:

GIVEN LUBINDA
PF Acting President.

Remembering Lucy Sichone On International Women’s Day!

Lusaka – 8th March, 2022.

The observation by the media Guru, Edem K. G. Djokotoe, caught my eye when it appeared in one daily. He said, “One of the biggest travesties of journalism in Zambia is that it has never made mining the biggest story in town even though it accounts for about 80 per cent of the country’s GDP and has been for as long as I can remember. If the media hasn’t taken a keen interest in the politics, the geology, the environmental issues, international market trends, the criminality, etc around it, why should the public care?”

Instead, some journalists are busy playing agents of the government that wishes to clip my wings for raising some very cardinal issues in this sector. What’s funny is that until now, the mainstream media has been publishing my articles, often times, without even acknowledging the source. In one article that has kept Hakainde Hichilema on the edge of the seat, I stated that instead of focusing on how Mopani Copper Mines for the first time, under the ownership of Zambians, has posted $60m profit after a decade of declaring losses by Glencore, Hakainde Hichilema and his puppet government want to give back KCM to a thief while his useful idiots insult me for speaking the truth.

I further stated that President Edgar Lungu chased Glencore because based on the Grant Thornton analysis, the company’s practices potentially cost the Zambian government up to £76m a year in lost corporation tax, according to Anna Thomas, head of tax policy at ActionAid. Anna pointed out that the amount was significantly more than the £59m the UK government gives Zambia each year in aid. So has the $60m profit not vindicated President Edgar Lungu’s decision to put the mines in the hands of Zambians? Why is Hakainde Hichilema keen on looking for outside investment when we have the money through the Lusaka Stoke Exchange and the human resource? Whose interests is he serving? Could it be that someone put money in his pre-election campaigns expecting to get the mines back should he win?

Instead of focusing on the issues I raise, why are some journalists busy playing agents of the government that wishes to clip my wings? The answer is money. Government is spending. But we don’t go into journalism to become rich or popular. It is our job to seek the truth and put constant pressure on our leaders until we get answers. The point of journalism is to hold people in positions of power accountable!

The debate about my credentials emenates from my sudden identity. When I returned to Zambia, I was an IT professional who touched positively the national ICT sector, many can attest to that. But even that was not not my first degree. My sudden change was necessitated by the death of my wife who was heavily involved with me. So I put one qualification away and took out another, probably one I should have started with in the first place.

Before I left Zambia, I would be in the Newsroom with Jowie Mwiinga, Sheikh Chifuwe, Catherine Mwewa, Bright Mwape, Bivani Saluseki et al. I was a student who could be anything but what these watchdogs used to do interested me a lot. I remember the resolve of this crop of journalists, to not just collect and report news but to dig deeper and report verifiable news not opinions. These journalists did not work for money but were conveyors of human rights and justice.

To date, very few of the current crop of journalists would even know why Lucy Sichone is a renowned name in the world of journalism. Let me discuss Lucy a bit!

In 1978, Lucy became the first Zambian woman to receive a Rhodes scholarship and went on to read for a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford. She was one of a handful women in her course. Upon finishing her studies, Ms. Sichone returned to Zambia where she embarked upon a career as a lawyer focused on human rights issues. She represented people in the village whose land had been grabbed from them either by the State or by private citizens. She represented widows who had their property grabbed upon the passing away of their husbands, herself having earlier been a victim of this type of injustice. She represented people who had their rights violated by the State. Most of this she did for free.

In 1993, during the pivotal period when Zambia had just reverted to multiparty democracy and the ruling class were still using one-party strategies to stifle dissent, Lucy Sichone formed the Zambia Civic Education Association (ZCEA). ZCEA’s aim was to spread the gospel of human and democratic rights and to remind Zambians that it was not enough to have democracy on paper. We also had to make the demand, every minute and every hour, for our rights. ZCEA formed civic education clubs within secondary schools, her idea was to capture the imagination of the young whilst they could still dream. I am a beneficiary of Lucy’s dream.

But my memories of her emanate from when she joined the then Weekly Post as a columnist. It was during her time at the Post that two memorable events happened that thrust her into the limelight and confirmed her position as the conscience of the nation.

In February 1996, as I prepared my Critical Thinking paper as part of my BBA final year assignment, Ms. Sichone wrote an article titled “Miyanda has forgotten about the need for justice”. Godfrey Miyanda was then Vice President and leader of government business in Parliament. An order to arrest Ms. Sichone along with the newspaper’s Managing Editor and Chief Editor was issued. The three immediately went into hiding with the latter two eventually giving themselves up. But Ms. Sichone refused to do so and continued to write ever more scathing columns whilst in hiding. In one of them, she emphatically declared, “the freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights make it a sacred duty for me to defend them to the death.”

What we have today, if we are not careful, could lead to Journalism for Sale, an embarrassment to what Journalism ought to be in a democracy; putting constant pressure on our leaders until we get answers.

Rest well Mama Lucy Sichone and a Happy International Women’s Day to all the women in journalism and spouses to male journalists like my wife Angela Machona Mwewa!

Mpandashalo Evans Mwewa
WhatsApp: +260 977 430702

©2022 Eagle One Zambia, Inc.
Journalism for social change

The Candidates’ Comment

The International Women’s Day which falls today on the 08th March is not a creation of the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND). This is a day that recognizes the importance women play in societies world over and seek to foster gender balance. This is not a day created by any political party. Observing this day should not be conditioned to how one is relating to those in power. We must celebrate this day because we have an obligation as society to creating an environment that has no class of gender.

We agree with Chishimba Kambwili over his remarks concerning the decision of the Patriotic Front (PF) to boycott observing and celebrating this day. There is no sense in what the PF have decided to do – to stay away from celebrating Women’s Day for whatever reasons they have highlighted. We all know that PF themselves spent their entire time castigating, demonizing Hakainde Hichilema and his party for staying away from State functions for whatever reasons. For the sake of clarity, Hakainde never attended state functions because each time he did so, it was an opportunity for the PF to harass, ridicule and harm him. His supporters were beaten and shot by thugs of the PF. Clearly, Hakainde had enough and genuine reasons to stay away. In fact, when Kenneth Kaunda died and during his funeral processions, Hakainde was barred from attending. We all saw how he watched the entire program through a television at his house. That was PF for you.

Today, the PF are mostly free to do their things despite the ill treatment they gave to Hakainde while he was in opposition. Yes, there are still sporadic incidents of violence and hostility against PF by some overzealous UPND thugs, but overall, the situation is far much better than it was under PF. There is no security risk for any senior PF member to attend these state functions.

When you look at the reasons that Nickson Chilangwa has catalogued which necessitates them staying away from observing Women’s Day, clearly the PF are not being honest. They are crying against the same things they themselves meted out against Hakainde and his party. Did they treat Hakainde differently and better than they want to be treated today? The answer is categorical no. The PF could allow all other opposition parties to be part of them but they could not allow Hakainde and his supporters to freely attend state functions.

It is very clear that these elements in the so-called PF central committee are useless and must be done away with by those who care to save their party. There is no sane person who agrees with their decision. Of course, what can you expect from elements who are the very reason why the PF is not in power? Look at them very carefully. The PF central committee is comprised of characters that played very active roles in the government of Edgar Lungu which was rejected and voted against by Zambians. We all know that Zambians can’t ever trust these characters again but because they are foolish, greedy and lack a sense of self evaluation, they still want to hold on to positions within the party. Where can that senseless, rotten central committee even take PF?

If PF wants to survive from the destructive path it is currently on, all central committee members must leave their positions willingly and they should go for free elections presided over by an independent body to choose new bearers of their highest organ. The people in the PF central committee were all hand-picked by Edgar. Their relevance, their significance ended with Edgar. The loss of the PF in the August 2021 elections is their legacy. Let them leave.

We believe – and we know the majority people agree with us – that, the decision by these PF elements to stay away from celebrating state functions for whatever petty reasons they have championed is nothing but nonsense.

ECONOMIC PLANS: THE PROBLEM IS NOT LACK OF PLANS BUT POOR IMPLEMENTATION!

By Alexander Nkosi

Our economic challenges cannot be blamed on lack of plans, we have produced very good plans, spelling out how to address our challenges. These are excellent documents produced by competent experts. These plans are developed by technocrats with wide consultation from both internal stakeholders and external experts. The biggest challenge is poor implementation, poor tracking of implementation, and lack of wide sharing of progress and impact results.

In Zambia, we have the vision 2030 developed by technocrats under the MMD regime. We have national development plans that are more detailed and feed into vision 2030. We have sectoral policies and strategies. We have annual budgets which are estimates of revenue and expenditure. The budget funds operations and programmes that are drawn from objectives in the national development plan. There is a medium term projection of revenue and expenditure called the medium term expenditure framework.

When there is change of government, it is not every plan and policy that needs changing. In most cases, all you need to do is to implement better. The PF regime did not develop vision 2030, it simply worked with what was developed by technocrats under MMD. When you look at 6th and 7th national development plans, these were very good documents, had they been implemented well, we would be much better. There was actually no need for economic recovery plans, we only needed to implement national development plans better. It can actually be argued that Zambia plus and the economic recovery plan were more of political tools to calm people down in view of deteriorating economic fundamentals such as high debt, depreciating kwacha and rising inflation. Before we got results of Zambia plus, we were given the economic recovery plan. What was the problem with Zambia plus that necessitated the change? What did we actually achieve with Zambia plus? Did anything change after introducing the economic recovery plan? Not at all! If anything, economic fundamentals worsened as we ended up with $12.9 billion external debt, K189.7 billion domestic debt and K46.9 billion domestic arrears. When you critically analyse the two recovery plans, you actually see that they talk about almost the same things.

Do we need more hastily done economic recovery plans or we just need a good debt management strategy and national development plan backed by good budgets? Good implementation, tracking of progress and communication of results are key!

Our debt management strategy hinges on the outcome of IMF deal and debt restructuring negotiations. This will give us a clear picture of how much space we will have and how we will progress while gravitating towards concessional borrowing to ensure we don’t find ourselves choked by huge debt service outlays. With regards to the IMF deal, we have staff level agreement and our debt restructuring discussions commence in a few months.

We also have a draft 8th national development plan in place which has been reviewed to align it to the UPND manifesto and whose objectives and conceptual orientation is already influencing our national budget and implementation of programmes. Policies are being reviewed for consistency, alignment and assessment of progress.

In conclusion, what we need to emphasise is good communication of plans, implementation and tracking of results. There is need for a very strong national monitoring and evaluation system. Without a good monitoring and evaluation system, we won’t know what is going well, what isn’t going well, course correction and effective communication of results. This should either be under state house or office of the vice President or even under cabinet office. If left under ministry of finance as a department, it will be subdued and lose the independence required to make it effective.

Thank you.

“THIS IS WHAT YOU PROMISED YOURSELVES NOT ME”

Praise Singers, where are you?

By Gabriel Nsofwa

That is what you promised, it’s not me. Let me repeat myself, I’m not expecting the government to fix everything in a short period, my argument is based on the decisions you have made so far.

The decisions you have made so far are contrary to what you promised.

You promised to bring down the price of fuel immediately after forming government but you increased it from where you found it (K17) to almost K22. Even if we are to give you time what method are you going to use to bring down the price of fuel from K22 where it is now to K12 which you promised?

What method are you going to use to bring down the price of mealie meal from over K170 to K50 which you promised? You procured fertilizer at a very exorbitant price, what is your excuse?

You said immediately you form government you will do away with students loans, what did you mean by immediately? Did you mean after two years?

You promised to bring down the cost of electricity but you are thinking about increasing it, since you are asking about time, when are you going to bring it down?

I have told you that Ministers have not shifted into government houses so that we can save housing allowance (K11, 200 each per month) and yet you are talking about reducing debts.

You have made 11 (12) International trips in 6 months a thing you strongly condemned, what time do you need here?

You are talking about reducing debt and yet you want to go and borrow money from IMF so what method are you going to use to reduce debts when you will be required to pay back the loan?

Toll fees have been increased, road tax has been increased. There are no drugs in hospitals, when you go to hospital you will be greeted with a prescription. What time do you need to procure drugs in hospitals when you have been in power for more than 6 months now? Do you need a year to procure drugs in hospitals?

You promised to increase salaries for civil servants by K1, 500 across the board but you gave them 12%, should civil servants wait for another increment? You promised to sustain the Debt Swap but you have removed it.

In short, you are increasing instead of reducing that’s where my concern is. If the prices were maintained, yes, I could have agreed with you that you need time to work on it.

Stop stoning officers or be ready for hospital admission, cop warns Livingstone resident

POLICE have warned Livingstone’s Zambezi Sawmills residents to stop stoning officers on duty or should prepare themselves for admission to hospital with a possibility of being extended to heaven via the mortuary.

But Livingstone district commissioner Eunice Nawa says under the UPND government, the Zambia Police needs to work hard to redeem itself from the bad perception that is associated with the men and women in uniform.

Speaking at the Zambia Police Day held at the main post office on Friday, Livingstone police officer commanding Timothy Kashinakazhi thanked Livingstone residents who have been giving the police information with regards criminals.

“Allow me once more to sound a stern warning to those who are in the habit of stoning police officers in Sawmills each time officers are carrying out their duties in the area with immediate effect. You should stop or else be ready to be admitted to [Livingstone] Central Hospital with a possibility of being extended to heaven via the mortuary,” he warned.

“I know Human Rights [Commission] will not be happy but there should be no area that is a no go area. Police will use minimum force on anyone seen stoning police officers and you know what that means. No area should be a no go area for police officers. Be careful, your days are numbered.”

And Kashinakazhi said police started celebrating their day about six years ago to enable the community to feel free to interact with them.

He said the day helps the community to understand the police’s functions and also for the officers to have confidence in members of the public.

“We need to work as a team and not in isolation,” Kashinakazhi said.

He appealed to members of the community to provide credible information to police so that criminals can be flushed out.

Kashinakazhi urged police officers not to charge citizens for services such as police bond and medical reports.

“I wish to encourage members of the public each time you visit our police stations and posts to report to my command anything you feel is short of professionalism to my office because as police in Livingstone we are in a hurry to rebuild relationship with members of the public,” said Kashinakazhi.
“Accessing police bond is free to bondable offences inclusive of medical reports. Hence if any of my officers asks you to pay a fee for police bond you quickly report to my office and the officer will be disciplined.”

And Nawa, in a speach read on behalf by her administrative officer Hellen Mwanza, said the theme of the event: ‘Police and the community together we can rebuild our relationship for a better tomorrow’ could not have come at any better time as the police and community need each other.

“The theme is designed for the Zambia Police to check, amend, correct and restore the lost public confidence to the community and members of the public they serve,” she said. “That means that the police have a task under the new dawn government to work hard to redeeming itself from the bad perception that is associated with the men and women in uniform.”

Nawa urged the police service to advance technologically to be able to arrest criminals who are technologically advancing in their criminal activities.

Credit: The Mast

PF BOYCOTTS CELEBRATIONS

I wish to inform members of the Patriotic Front and the general public that the Central Committee of the Patriotic Front this afternoon met to deliberate on a number of critical issues affecting the Party and the nation. The meeting was chaired by the Party’s Acting President, Hon. Given Lubinda.

I wish to report that the Central Committee did not manage to exhaust all the agenda items for today’s meeting and thus adjourned the meeting to a later date to be announced soon.

The following are some of the key issues that the Central Committee resolved:

1. YOUTH DAY AND WOMEN’S DAY CELEBRATIONS

The Patriotic Front wishes to reiterate that it extols the commemoration of all national holidays and national events as demonstrated by the importance we attached to these holidays and events throughout our 10 years in office.

Youth Day which falls on the 12th of March each year is an important holiday that highlights the importance of the youth to the country on the anniversary of the disturbances in 1962 that resulted in the deaths of young Zambians during the nation’s turbulent journey to independence.

Equally the International Women’s day which falls on March 8th is a special day that is normally used to celebrate women and to also highlight some of the challenges that our womenfolk face. The day can also be used to craft ways to promote gender equality in a bid to create a fair and just society devoid of gender bias.

It is therefore sad to note that barely 6 months after assuming office, the UPND is driving Zambia back to the very evils that we fought against, 58 years ago during the struggle for independence. The UPND regime is fast eroding the gains we had achieved as a nation to ensure enhanced participation and equal opportunity for our women and youths in all facets of our social, political and economic life of our country.

The UPND has completely ignored our youths and women and have relegated them to the tail-end of the social, political and economic strata. President Hakainde Hichilema has systematically excluded our women and youths from critical governance issues by deliberately sidelining them as far as appointments to key government positions is concerned.

With his failure to deal with the economy, the President and his government are pushing our youths and women further into an abyss of poverty and desperation as unemployment, cost of living and lack of business opportunities and lack of empowerment are steadily on the rise.

At Party level, the UPND regime has continued with its policy of harassment and persecution of PF members; many of our women and youths today are either in incarceration, in hiding or are facing various trumped up charges and have become victims of harassment and intimidation by the state’s investigative wings.

For the reasons highlighted above, I wish to announce to the nation that as Patriotic Front we will not take part in marching or any government planned activities on Women’s and Youth days respectively; instead we will use these days to galvanise our women and youths across the country to do community service in their various localities.

As a Party we want to send a clear message to President Hichilema and his government that we are displeased and gravely concerned with the manner in which his administration is abusing the rights of our members and how his failure to provide a clear Economic Plan is worsening the poverty levels and the suffering of our people.

2. EXPANSION OF PARTY STRUCTURES

Following the approval by the previous meeting of the Central Committee to expand the size of all our Party structures from the Central Committee down to the Wards from 24 to 72 members per committee and from 54 to 80 members for the Central Committee, I wish to report to our members and the party leadership that the Central Committee today approved the composition and the manner in which all the party structures shall be created.

3. APPOINTMENT OF PORTFOLIO CHAIRPERSONS

Article 59 of the PF constitution provides for the creation of various sub-committees of the Central Committee such as the Information and Publicity, Agriculture, Elections, Women, Youth committees and so on and so forth to assist the Central Committee in the management and administration of the Party.

I wish to report that the Central Committee has today given the Party leadership authority to come up with names of persons to be appointed as Chairpersons of the various sub-committees of the Central Committee for ratification by the Central Committee.

4. APPOINTMENT OF THE LUSAKA PROVINCIAL COMMITTEE

Following the dissolution of the PF Lusaka Provincial Committee on 2nd December, 2021, I wish to report that the Central Committee today gave authority to the Party leadership to appoint an interim Lusaka Provincial Committee that will be ratified by the Central Committee in its next sitting.

The Central Committee will soon reconvene at a date to be announced to resolve all the other matters that could not be resolved today.

Thank you.

Issued by
Hon Nickson Chilangwa, MCC, MP, AIH
Acting Secretary General
Patriotic Front

*NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HAS POWERS TO SUMMON, ORDER, INVITE ANY PERSON TO ANSWER OR APPEAR BEFORE IT OR ITS COMMITTEE AND HAS POWER TO CHARGE ANY PERSON.

I have read some SENTIMENTS arguing that NATIONAL ASSEMBLY has no POWERS to SUMMON anyone who is not a member of Parliament.

This is in reaction to my earlier post on the need for Cde Chanda Kabwe and Raphael Nakacinda to Cooperate with the Assembly or a committee

To the contrary to those sentiments, the National Assembly (Powers and Privilege) Amendment Act No. 13 of 2016 read together with the principal Act of 1965 empowers the Assembly to summon, order, invite any person to appear before the Assembly or a committee and also inquire into offences and met a charge on any person.

Section 9 A stresses that; Subject to the Constitution, the Assembly has the POWER and JURISDICTION necessary to inquire into an act or omission, matter or thing, amounting to contempt of Parliament contrary and or in contravention of standing Orders and rules of parliamentary practice and procedure

Section 10 guides that the Assembly or a Committee may order a person to attend and or appear before it while Section 11 empowers the Assembly or a committee to summon any person.

Failure to respond to the summons attracts a penalty under section 11 A which startes; A person summoned by the Assembly or a committee who fails without reasonable cause to attend before the Assembly or the Committee at the time and place specified in the summons commits an offence and is liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding ten Thousand penalty units or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both

Section 28(4) further guides that if a person commits contempt of Parliament, the Speaker shall order that person to appear before the Assembly and the Speaker shall, upon attendance admonish or reprimand the persons at the Bar of the Assembly…the case of Antonio Mwanza and Lovemore Kanyama.

Lastly, section 28 C instructs that the proceedings for an offence against the Assembly may be instituted by the Assembly ordering the accused person to answer a charge or appear before the Assembly or a committee

Further the section stresses that if the person summoned fails, without reasonable cause, to answer to the charge or appear before the Assembly or a committee, the Assembly or a committee may proceed to determine the matter

From the foregoing and my engage with cdes Raphael Nakacinda and Chanda Kabwe, it is clear that the National Assembly or a committee is in order to summon them.

However, with Cde Kabwe, he contends that no letter of invitation or summon has been submitted to him in accordance with section 28C(2) which states that the order summoning a person to answer a charge or appear before the Assembly or a committee shall be signed by the Clerk, and personally served on the person summoned, with particulars, in writing, of the matter constituting the alleged office

For cde Raphael Mangani Nakacinda, he has been served with the summons but declares his unavailability to appear before the Assembly or a committee.

The law is clear and it is up those summoned to respect The law or breach it and face the consequences.

I submit

McDonald Chipenzi

Last week, the United Nations General Assembly, reflecting the entirety of the UN membership, held an Emergency Special Session on a resolution condemning the aggressive Russian assault on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. We, the Ambassadors and High Commissioners to Zambia of Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States commend Zambia for voting in support of the resolution, and for the intervention of its Representative to help persuade others to do so.

Zambia’s vote demonstrates leadership arising from its unique role and history in this region and its long engagement in the United Nations and other international fora. The adoption of the resolution reflects overwhelming support for the rules-based international order and for the tenets of the UN Charter, which form the basis for peaceful co-existence among States. It represents a rejection of attempts to change international borders by force, and a clear signal of support for democracies in the face of threats and violence by autocratic regimes, wherever they may be.

To quote the UN Secretary General: “The UN Charter has been challenged in the past, but it has stood firm on the side of peace, security, development, justice, international law and human rights. The adoption of this resolution underlines the statements made by governments around the world, and echoes those made by the African Union, the European Union, the G7 governments, and many other organizations.

We acknowledge the bravery of the citizens of Ukraine in defending their country and the courage of Russian citizens who are protesting at home against President Putin’s war on Ukraine. Many governments have now established sanctions targeted at President Putin and the decision-makers who surround him. The breadth of international condemnation reflects the seriousness of this challenge to global peace and order: from the withdrawal of major investments by private sector firms to Russian athletes being banned from participating in international sporting competitions, and the suspension of many other marquee social and cultural events.

As diplomats, we know the importance of assisting our citizens abroad. We commend the Government of Zambia for its strong focus on ensuring the safety of the approximately 140 Zambians who were in Ukraine when the invasion began. They are mostly young people, aiming for a brighter future through their studies. Russia’s war of aggression has now ruined their immediate plans. We sincerely hope it has not eliminated their plans for a better life. We are proud of the diplomatic efforts by our governments to assist in their safe passage home.

We also acknowledge the range of responses in Zambian society to President Putin’s war against Ukraine: sympathy with the victims; sadness at the scale and nature of the violence; resolute solidarity with a fellow State under tremendous pressure from an outside aggressor. At the same time there is some ambivalence. In the context of the Global South, which has faced many violent conflicts and refugee flows, the calls for solidarity with the victims of the present crisis may also have given rise to a wish among some Zambians to remain focused on issues closer to home, and not on the struggles of nations far afield.

We acknowledge these sentiments. The challenges of building prosperity for Zambian citizens, and ensuring their economic security, health, and well-being deserve the full attention of the Zambian Government. However, Zambia’s role as an example of democracy and peace in the region, its security as a State, attraction as a place of investment, and ability to educate, care for, and foster the success of its citizens, depends deeply on the stability that the international rules-based order has provided for most of the last 70+ years.

Dr. Kenneth Kaunda in 1973 laid out Zambia’s foreign policy principles: “Our first question is not who has done it, but is this right, is this fair, is it just? If the answer is no, no matter who has done it we shall condemn him and the action he has taken.”

Speaking clearly in support of Ukraine, in support of the UN Charter, in support of the rules-based international order is both our duty and is a long-term investment to maintain a collective, peaceful future, both in Zambia and all over the world. It is a watershed moment in the history of international relations, and we congratulate the Government and people of Zambia for speaking up for their future, and indeed, all our futures.

The Ambassadors and High Commissioners to Zambia of Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States