Patrotic Front (PF) Member of the Central Committee in charge of information and Publicity Raphael Nakachinda said the United Party for National Development (UPND) will make history as a one-term party.

Speaking when he addressed party officials in the Kabwata constituency, Mr. Nakacinda said that the former ruling party will not give the UPND chance until they sober up.

“We are winning the Kabwata election for Zambians. Clement Tembo will be a symbol of the victory for Zambians in parliament. Instead of addressing the issue of their planned demolition of houses in Mapuloto area in Kabwata to pave way for a shopping mall, they arrest us and put us behind bars for proposing violence.,” he said.

“We are not afraid of arrests. UPND is a one-term party and President HH has already acknowledged that when he said he is not seeking re-election in 2026,” Mr. Nakachinda said.

Mr. Nakachinda who is campaign manager in the forthcoming parliamentary by-election said instead of arresting PF officials on trumped-up charges, the UPND Government should focus on delivering on their campaign promises.

Mr. Nakachinda said the fear of losing the Kabwata parliamentary by-election is giving the UPND sleepless nights and hence tying, by all means, to have the PF candidate Clement Tembo arrested.

“The Kabwata polls will determine the future of the country as it will show If Zambians are happy with how they voted in 2021. UPND has accepted that elections are a problem for them in Kabwata and hence plotting to arrest Clement Tembo so that they disadvantage him,” Mr. Nakachinda said.

“God will protect him and PF will not give UPND a chance. We need to remove fear, if we do so, we will not liberate Zambians. Late President Sata and former President Edgar Lungu were brave that’s why PF managed to rule the country,” He adds.
And Mr. Nakachinda said the 2021 election loss has taught the PF a bitter lesson and is moving towards amending its mistakes ahead of the 2026 general elections.

“Selfishness contributed to elections loss and some publicly displayed money which angered Zambians. We humble ourselves before Zambians and ask for forgiveness.

The loss has taught us bitter lessons. Things are bad in the country and we need to fight back and work together in order to liberate Zambians,” Mr. Nakachinda said.

IT’S NOT PRESIDENT HH SENDING YOU TO PRISON BUT YOUR BOSS MR LUNGU – PERCY CHANDA

Press Statement

Today, the entire PF leadership is busy insulting President HH for the crimes their members committed on their own. Stop playing to the public gallery; crime does not pay.

Stop insulting the President, just face the law. Blame Mr. Lungu for inciting you to steal through Ubomba Mwibala Alya Mwibala. It’s Mr. Lungu who authorized stealing and booked you a ticket to prison. It’s wrong to blame President HH. UPND never at any time insulted Mr. Lungu even though he was a very bad Leader.

A thief is the most unreasonable person to deal with. If only PF could be reasonable and accept that what they did to the Zambian people was wrong, by now PF could have genuinely apologized for all their crimes. But thieves are not as clever as they believe they are when stealing. Typical of hard core criminals, in PF they believe in going to prison with a NO answer.

Each time a PF Lazo (thief) is arrested what follows is a barrage of insults and public denials. Please spare Zambians from your useless denials and insults. Zambians are not interested in yourself proclaimed innocence. Just be patient you will be given chance to take plea before a competent Court.

Your innocence will be determined on basis of the evidence that will be presented before the Court. Unfortunately, some of you have already demonstrated to the whole world that you are denial masters who are capable of denying even your own shadows, spouses and children.

PF leaders must accept that their members are not above the law. By the way, did you expect the New Dawn Government to be so irresponsible to leave looters go scot free with stolen riches? This Country has laws that every citizen must obey. We can’t continue on the path of lawlessness. For those who think the new Dawn Government is unfair by arresting the PF thieves, please we beg to you to wait for the Court process.

Otherwise all normal Zambians must support the UPND’s policy of zero tolerance to corruption. It’s hard for PF to believe that they are out of power. PF would have loved to continue stealing and inflicting unbearable pain on innocent Zambians. It’s your time now to dance PELETI.

Percy Chanda

UPND – Chairman for Mines and Freedom Fighter

HH MUST FIRE THE AUDITOR GENERAL. HE IS COMPROMISED

The Candidates’ Comment

In his individual capacity, Hakainde Hichilema wants to fight corruption in this country. The biggest hindrance to this goal is that Hakainde is working in an environment where he is surrounded by compromised institutions as well as corrupt individuals in both government and the party.

We know of a very prominent senior member of the UPND Alliance who has remained unemployed. He has not been given any role in the new dawn administration after Hakainde was given information involving the crookedness of this individual. Again, we know of another person who is an aid of Hakainde with regards to party functions, who has not been appointed into anything despite that all his friends having been given jobs in the new administration. This is because Hakainde knows how crooked, how corrupt these individuals are. When the UPND won election, this Alliance Partner member went to various investigative wings requesting for files of cases of PF members whom he went to ask for money in exchange for protection from prosecution.

You can fault Hakainde for anything you want but he hates corruption.

However, regardless of how Hakainde hates corruption, there is every reason to believe that his fight will yield nothing. If by any chance it yields something, the fight against corruption will only be achieved where members of the former ruling party are involved.

Where there is corruption involving UPND members, there shall be no fight. This is not because Hakainde wants it that way but because systems in this country are designed in such a way that those with links to the ruling party are protected.

If Hakainde wants to leave a better legacy of fighting corruption – better than Mwanawasa’s record of persecution against political rivals – there is need to sanitise institutions that play a critical role in exposing and fighting corruption.

We all know that the Anti-Corruption is corrupt and has no moral right to fight any corruption worth talking about. This is so because elements at ACC are also guilty of the same vices which they seek to eradicate.

However, another corrupt institution is the office of the Auditor General. Recently, the AG report details some of the wrongs committed by the PF administration and specifically, at the Ministry of Health and DMMU. But when you look at the period under review, you will realize that there were serious scandals at the Ministry of Agriculture involving PF thieves and their business partners.

We are today having a conversation about a $50 million fertilizer supply contract by Alpha Commodities because of the corruption involving the Ministry of Agriculture. Suppliers of fertilizer including Neria Investment, Nyimba Investment, Export Trading Group (ETG) and Rockcliffe Trading were all paid fully by government to supply fertilizer for the 2020/2021farming season but they did not meet their individual contractual obligations. Towards the 2021 August elections, these companies in collaboration with the PF were busy telling lies in the media that they had supplied all the commodities as per contractual agreements. As of December 2021, government had lost $144 million owing to the crookedness of these fertilizer supplying companies.

But this is information that the Auditor General has not captured in its report. Why? This is not a genuine oversight by the Auditor General but, it was intentional.

We say so because, even the scandal involving HoneyBee has shown how the AG report only captured issues surrounding this company yet, there were two other companies Pharmanova and Artemis which were embroiled into serious scandals.

At the time, Pharmanova got a contract worth $3,554,100 while Artemis got a contract worth $14,139,450 and these two did not supply anything to Ministry of Health. Why did the Auditor General leave these two out in their subsequent report?

Because it is a corrupt institution that is for hire. If you are businessman or a government official and you do not like one of your competitors, you can simply go to the Auditor General and pay them to put up a damaging report against the person you hate. The Auditor General will do just that, so that, the person you hate is dragged in the mud and judged as corrupt in the eyes of the public. While this is so, criminals who should be in jail are never recorded anywhere. It will be prudent for Hakainde to do away with characters at the helm of this institution and find other credible people with morals. The current crop at Auditor General is corrupt.

Hakainde is free to get our advice or to ignore it. It is up to him. He can choose to behave like Edgar Lungu, who allowed such nonsense in public institutions.

Source: The Candidates

President Hichilema to leave for United Arab Emirates tomorrow

By Daily Star Reporter

President Hakainde Hichilema is tomorrow scheduled to travel the United Arab Emirates.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Stanley Kakubo announced the development in a press statement today.

Kakubo said President Hichilema is expected to grace the National Day of the Republic of Zambia at the World Expo 2020 Dubai on Thursday.

“President Hichilema accepted an invitation from his Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Almaktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai to grace the national day of the Republic of Zambia at the World Expo 2020 Dubai on Thursday 20th January, 2022, which is themed: come to Zambia, a land of peace and opportunities,” he said.

“On Wednesday 19th January, 2022, ahead of the Expo, the President is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with his highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi, signifying Zambia’s growing notable presence on the global stage.”

The Minister disclosed that Zambia is among the 192 countries participating at the Dubai Expo, which runs from 1st October, 2021 to 31st March 2022.

He said the Expo presents a great opportunity to create synergies between advanced and emerging economies to promote equitable growth and development.

He said over 40 Zambian companies are expected to participate in the event to showcase the country’s enormous potential for trade, investment and tourism, and cultural endowments.

“On the margins of the national day at the expo, the Republic of Zambia will hold a business forum under the theme: doing business in Zambia, bringing together government representatives, industry captains and potential investors,” he said.

“In line with the government’s vision of ensuring economic transformation and sustainable development, the president will also hold meetings with the Emirates Investment Authority (EIA); Abu Dhabi fund for development; Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce, and DP world. The President’s engagements with strategic partners are of great significance to Zambia, as they will contribute immensely towards the government’s vision of turning around the economy, promoting trade and investment, through the consolidation of bilateral relations with the United Arab Emirates.”

The Minister said government is confident that the President’s Hichilema participation at the expo will translate into tangible benefits for the citizens.

The Head of State is expected to be back in the country on Saturday.

RECRUITMENT OF 41,000 WORKERS HITS A SNAG

By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba

When Minister of Finance, Hon. Situmbeko Musokotwane announced that Government will employ 11,200 health workers and 30,000 teachers, there was genuine excitement from across the board.

The two sectors have trained staff roaming the streets without jobs as government is the dominant employer in the two areas.

But this optimism has quickly waned with the various uncoordinated announcements and pronouncements from Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education.

Minister of Education, Hon. Douglas Siakalima was the first one to put a damper to the process.

He said the process would have to wait until April 2022 as government had just appointed the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) and would allow the Commissioners to settle down and devise methods of conducting the recruitment.

Further, confusion has arisen over the announcements that Government will instead begin with 10,000 teachers within the service who have obtained higher qualifications, but require upgrading to higher pay.

Again, earlier announcements indicated that Government may only start with the recruitment of 10,000 out of 30,000 earmarked for this year.

The teacher unions have also made their own demands.

The Special Education Teachers Union of Zambia (SPETUZ) has urged Government to consider allocating 10,000 teachers out of the 30,000 earmarked for recruitment to qualified special education teachers and teachers with disabilities.

Similarly Minister of Health, Sylvia Masebo has not helped matters.

She has disclosed that the recruitment of the 11,200 health workers will prioritize recruiting volunteers working in the various health centres, clinics and hospitals.

Without providing any statistics or information to back up the decision or demonstrate how widespread the phenomenon is on the newly discovered volunteers, she says the process will begin with them first.

She has even established corruption in the process as she alleges that facility administrators have opened doors to new volunteers in a corrupt and nepotistic manner, to allow the new-to-be entrants to benefit from this new policy pronouncement!

This confusion must stop.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

Dr. Musokotwane has announced that the Treasury has money to conduct the recruitment of both teachers and health workers totalling 41,000.

He has announced that he has provided for these funds to both Ministries.

Therefore the confusion, daily policy shifts and uncoordinated statements from the two Ministries must immediately come to an end.

The two ministries must proceed with the recruitment of these workers as provided for in the 2022 National Budget without delay.

In Bemba we say; “Umunwe balaile Umusunga, wenda uwa konkomana”. ( a finger that has been promised porridge, will ready itself, move folded like a spoon, or the Bible says; “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life” Proverbs 13;12).

So Government has a duty to get on with the recruitment to allay unnecessary anxieties.

These job seekers are made to trek from the UPND Secretariat, to UPND officials and to the two Ministries to seek urgent solution to this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Some unscrupulous people have emerged and are even collecting bribes from the hapless young people.

Let the process be transparent, fair and benefit all and let’s stop the obfuscation and pain for these new recruits.

CONCLUSION

Public Service Management Division (PSMD) may consider to form a special committee to coordinate and handle this mammoth task of recruiting 41,000 in one fiscal year.

In the medium to long-term term, the training of teachers and health personnel may require a special policy restricting training as was before.

The training of teachers and health personnel was the preserve and exclusive role of government institutions.

The opening of this training to the private sector has produced a huge number of backlog of teachers and health workers, who can not be absorbed at the rate they are being trained.

With the opening of training to the private sector, we are now manufacturing unemployment!

As the major employer, Government may consider putting a cap on the number of health workers and teachers that can be trained in a year.

This way, we may prevent the crisis from recurring.

As for now, Government must recruit the 41,000 as announced.

RTSA challenged to explain continued mounting of ‘illegal’ speed traps

The Road Transport and Safety Agency – RTSA has been challenged to explain why its officers working together with traffic police are slowly returning on the roads and mounting ‘illegal’ speed traps which are more of an entrapment than mitigating the vice of over-speeding and dangerous driving.

The Zambian government has invested and installed an automated traffic monitoring system that has CCTV and speed monitoring equipment capable of central monitoring which remains largely un-deployed and was intended to replace the more corruption prone spot monitoring system with no central command and independent monitoring

An analysis by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT of the 2022 national budget and the corresponding details of revenue estimates shows that government has clearly abandoned the collection of speed fines for the 2022 budget but increased the budget of revenue collected from admission of guilt fines.

RTSA is the agency that is mandated to collect speed fines but the situation on the ground seems to be that traffic police officers have taken advantage of RTSA’s lack of policy implementation and leadership to mount illegal speed traps and extract bribes from motorists at discounted admission of guilt rates.

The new government has been preaching about stumping out corruption but the mounting of ‘illegal’ speed traps continues in broad day light, making most members of the public question the sincerity of its anti-corruption stance.

A check on the government estimate for non tax revenue collection under speed fines shows that there is zero planned revenue on this line. The government has dropped from collecting K6.9 million in 2020 to Zero in the 2021 and 2022 budget.

It is perhaps this lack of accountability on speed fines that is fueling rampant corruption on speed fines collections. Government has clearly not budgeted to collect any amount from speed fines for 2022.

RTSA needs to make sure that admission of guilt fines on traffic related issues should be paid into the treasury and not end up in the pockets of a few corrupt traffic officers. The opportunity for discounting and pocketing of admission of guilt fines can be fully eliminated by making use of the installed automated system.

There is urgent need for clear leadership from RTSA and the Minister of Transport Frank Tayali and his Home Affairs counterpart Jack Mwiimbu on this issue of illegal speed traps and continued extraction of bribes by some few corrupt police officers.

Moreover, the government has installed security cameras and CCTVs on key roads and road junctions at great cost to the treasury and the Zambian tax payers that can be employed for automated monitoring and taking of adequate measures to curb over-speeding and other road vices.

Employing of an automated and security camera network across the country is not only a more modern way to achieve 24/7 road monitoring, but also removes the opportunity for corruption as records are held centrally and any fines can be paid directly into national coffers.

Tayali whose ministry has taken over the mandate to collect the funds should therefore take responsibility to end this vice now that they are still fresh in office as these illegal speed traps continue to dent the image of both RTSA and the Zambia Traffic Police. It’s important to acknowledge that corruption is mostly measured by perception rather than reality.

Before illegal speed traps return fully and become business as usual, the government has an opportunity to simply switch on the already installed automated system of traffic cameras monitoring and road accident control measures.

Traffic police officers still have a role to play as they can stationed at designated points and then be sent in to timely arrest dangerous drivers, intercept erring vehicles and vehicle owners found wanting through communications from the automated traffic monitoring central command Centre as well as perform any other roles that does not involve cash handling.- Zambian Business Times

WE ARE WINNING THE KABWATA SEAT FOR ZAMBIANSNAKACHINDA

… says the PF candidate Clement Tembo will be a symbol of victory for Zambians.

Lusaka … Sunday, January, 16, 2022 (Smart Eagles)

PF Member of the Central Committee in charge of information and Publicity Raphael Nakachinda says the former ruling party will not give the UPND chance until they sober up

Speaking when he addressed party officials in Kabwata constituency, Mr. Nakachinda who is campaign manager in the forthcoming parliamentary by election said instead of arresting PF officials on trumped up charges, the UPND Government should focus on delivering on their campaign promises.

Mr. Nakachinda said the fear of losing the Kabwata parliamentary by election is giving the UPND sleepless nights and hence tying by all means to have the PF candidate Clement Tembo arrested.

“The Kabwata polls will determine the future of the country as it will show If Zambians are happy with how they voted in 2021. UPND has accepted that elections are a problem for them in Kabwata and hence plotting to arrest Clement Tembo so that they disadvantage him,” Mr. Nakachinda said.

“God will protect him and PF will not give UPND chance. We need to remove fear, if we do so, we will not liberate Zambians. Late President Sata and former President Edgar Lungu were brave that’s why PF managed to rule the country,” He adds.

And Mr. Nakachinda said the 2021 election loss has taught the PF a bitter lesson and is moving towards amending its mistakes ahead of the 2026 general elections.

“Selfishness contributed to elections loss and some publicly displayed money which angered Zambians. We humble ourselves before Zambians and ask for forgiveness.

The loss has taught us bitter lessons. Things are bad in the country and we need to fight back and work together in order to liberate Zambians,” Mr. Nakachinda said.

Meanwhile, Mr.Nakachinda said the UPND will make history as a one term party.

“We are winning the Kabwata election for Zambians. Clement Tembo will be a symbol of the victory for Zambians in parliament. Instead of addressing the issue of their planned demolition of houses in Mapuloto area in Kabwata to pave way for a shopping mall, they arrest us and put us behind bars for proposing violence.,” He said.

“We are not afraid of arrests. UPND is a one term party and President HH has already acknowledged that when he said he is not seeking re election in 2026,” Mr. Nakachinda said.

John Sangwa wants Zambia to make bye elections expensive

…on MUVI TV appearance in wake of Kabwata saga

16th January 2022

State Counsel John Sangwa, a respected Lusaka lawyer has advised the political parties that are participating in the Kabwata bye election to sue the UPP candidate that pulled out of the poll at the last minute for compensation and damages.

SC Sangwa Says a suit is probably the only way that will deter others like him (Francis Libanda of UPP) in future from making expensive bad decisions’ that inevitably affect others in the race.

“The move by the Kabwata guy (Libanda) was Crazy,” SC Sangwa said, ~if he didn’t like what was going on he should have stayed home and stopped campaigning instead of messing things up for everyone. he must be sued and the rest of the players must claim compensation from him for the fiasco.” Sangwa said its time Zambia started maing wrong doing expensive or else what happened in Kabwata shall recur.

FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION

SC Sangwa has implored the ACC to halt any future arrests of suspects before exhausting investigations because it is embarrassing to arrest and detain people you have to later acquit.”

Sangwa described as “traumatic”, and “unjust” arresting and trying someone who is later proven innocent after soiling their names in the public eye.

“l was part of along seven-year corruption trial of President Frederick Chiluba that cost so much but proved nothing except hurting President Chiluba. That should never happen again unless you exhaust your probe and are ready for a conviction. Seven years is traumatic for anyone and it was traumatic for President Chiluba,” said SC Sangwa.

Sangwa advised ACC in future to, “investigate first and arrest later, not the other way round…its crazy and illegal to do that.”

SC Sangwa on Criminal Defamation of Raphael Nakachinda

Sangwa has advised the PF and other members of the Zambian society to petition the house (parliament) and seek an immediate repeal of the criminal defamation law that recently saw former minister Nakachinda detained for allegedly defaming President Hchilema without a charge under 24 hours.

Sangwa Said the unfortunate part currently is that the criminal defamation law remains law and breaking it is illegal, so the best thing is to revisit its repeal, 22 years after himself and partner Robert Simeza tried to have it scrapped but failed after going all the way to the Supreme Court. “The PF as an interested party must take up the matter of criminal defamation and seek its repeal from the books, it’s a bad law but it’s a law until its repealed. Maybe there will be a change of heart from the high court and supreme court after 22 years of our first attempt.”

Source: Muvi TV The Assignment

EMMANUEL MWAMBA “THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GOVERNANCE AND A VOICE OF FTJ’S LEGACY”

By Wiseman Tembo and Cornel Zimba

(2 min read)

Former late President Fredrick Jacob Titus Chiluba aka “Bally One” (the original Bally by the way) was an astute politician whose political calculations and judgments come second to none. Many people argue that his cabinets for both his Presidential terms can not be compared to the cabinets of his counterparts because they were well balanced and selected on merit.

After Chiluba left the Presidency in 2002 he still went on to make brilliant decisions and choices with one being the choice of his spokesperson – a lesser known youthful Journalist Emmanuel Mwamba. Many wondered then what was going in Chiluba’s head to pick Emmanuel Mwamba as his Spokesperson when he was facing an avalanche of allegations of abuse of office and corruption. Am certain now that many people have now come to understand Chiluba’s mind owing to the view that they can now see in Emmanuel Mwamba what FJT saw.

FTJ knew then before all of us that Emmanuel Mwamba had this quality about him that makes him easy to love and hard to hate. I mean – this soft spoken gentleman has thought provoking punchlines that make you pay attention and make you want to listen to him more when he speaks.

Ambassador is a wiseman who chooses his words carefully. It’s rare that you find him in trouble because of his mouth. The youths of today who are so much in love with the metaphors of hip hop culture would say of him – “he watches what he says like he has got eyes on his tongue.”

Having worked closely with three Republican Presidents in Fredrick Chiluba, Micheal Sata and Edgar Lungu I doubt if there are many people out there who can also claim to have the vast Governance knowledge of Ambassador Emmanuel Mwamba. The man is simply an encyclopedia of Governance but how he manages to stay this humble is beyond comprehension. Had it been anyone with just even half of Ambassador Mwamba’s Governance experience they would be blowing their horn 24/7 claiming they have what it takes to single handedly fix all our problems as a Country.

Ambassadors Mwamba’s humility despite having vast experience in Governance is the reason why he has zero scandals to his name. The man is as clean as KK’s handkerchief. Again had it been someone else by now their name could have been synonymous with corruption.

This Man Chiluba chose to be his Spokesperson at a time when nobody wanted to associate him with, is a gifted orator with the ability to easily convince people with facts whenever he speaks. Ambassador Mwamba doesn’t have to curse to keep it real because he is always calm, cool and collected.

Now that he is now a full time Politician and an active senior member of the former ruling party, he has focused his energies on offering credible checks and balances to the new Dawn Administration. Typical of him. His advice to the Government always comes from a good place. He is offering checks and balances to the Government with the sole purpose of helping it deliver to the Zambian people because he knows that our Country Zambia is the bigger picture.

This year marks 11 years since FTJ passed on but his legacy still lives on having brought us Democracy and so many other things. Today, FTJ’s legacy still speaks to us through his Spokesperson – Ambassador Emmanuel Mwamba. We thank you FTJ for identifying Ambasassor Mwamba’s qualities long before we did. You were indeed a visionary leader.

CENSUS TO BE CONDUCTED FROM 18 AUGUST TO 14 SEPTEMBER 2022

The Government of the Republic of #Zambia has issued a Statutory Instrument to gazette the period 18 August, 2022 to 14 September, 2022 as the official dates for the country to undertake the 6th National Census of Population and Housing. The Statutory Instrument (No. 92 of 2021) was signed by the Minister of Finance and National Planning, Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane, MP, and gazetted on 31st December, 2021.

The designation of Census dates will now enable the Zambia #Statistics Agency (ZamStats) to intensify preparations. The Zambia Statistics Agency is mandated to conduct the Census of #Population and #Housing (CPH) every ten years as per Statistics Act No. 13 of 2018.

The upcoming CPH will adopt the Computer-Assisted Personal Interview (#CAPI) technique. This will involve gathering information with the use of an electronic questionnaire, on computer tablets. This is a improvement on the previous Censuses which were paper-based and is meant to introduce cost effectiveness in the collection and processing of data.

ZamStats will soon release the Census roadmap, outlining key activities leading to the 2022 National Census of Population and Housing.

Issued by:

Felix Nkulukusa
Secretary to the #Treasury
MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND NATIONAL #PLANNING

FOR ENQUIRIES, WRITE TO:

1) treasurybriefs@mof.gov.zm

2) #treasurybriefs@gmail.com

3) info@zamstats.gov.zm

REFERENCE NOTES:

Zambia’s Sixth National Census was planned to take place in August 2020 but was postponed to 2021 due to funding challenges. There were also delays in two critical pre-Census processes, namely; #Mapping and Listing; and, the Pilot Census. Mapping and Listing involves a Census of all physical structures in the country, including housing & non-housing buildings. Mapping was subsequently conducted and completed in September 2020, while the Pilot Census, which is a dress rehearsal to the main Census, was eventually conducted in December 2020. The pre-Census process helps to ensure that every person living in Zambia, is counted during the main Census.

After the 2020 postponement, the main Census was scheduled to commence on Monday, 1st November 2021 and end on Sunday, 28th November 2021. Regrettably, critical preparatory activities such as procurement of Census materials and equipment, country-wide publicity, and recruitment and training of Census staff were not yet undertaken.
To facilitate full preparedness by the Zambia Statistics Agency, the Government postponed the main Census to 2022 (The Statistics Act – Act No. 13 of 2018 – The Statistics Order {National Census} {Revocation}, 2021). The announcement was also made in the budget statement on Friday 29th October, 2021.

The Government desires a Census that will meet not only the country’s requirements but also one which is conducted according to international standards. The postponement of the national Census to 2022, therefore, created room for elevated consultations with stakeholders and will facilitate adequate administrative arrangements to ensure success of the exercise.

Zambia has consistently conducted Censuses since independence in 1964. The last Census was held in October 2010. It was the fifth national Census of population. Previous Censuses were conducted in 1969, 1980, 1990 and 2000.

VICE PRESIDENT MUTALE.W.K NALUMANGO TOURS LUAPULA PROVINCE.

Vice President W.K Mutale Nalumango was on Saturday 15th January 2022 visited Luapula province.

The vice president was welcomed by the Luapula province minister who is also a Nchanga member of parliament Hon Derrick Chilundika, UPND NMC member Hon Daniel L Chisala, District commissioners, Government Heads of Departments and UPND Party officials.

In his opening remarks, Mr chilundika thanked the Upnd government for it’s effort to start paying retirees and farmers who supplied maize to the Food Reserve Agency last year which the previous government failed to do.

The vice President addressed Mansa residents at airport in the morning where she thanked everyone who turned up in numbers to change the government in August 12, 2021 general Elections.

Mrs Nalumango also made some announcements that government through the able leadership of H.E President Hakainde Hichilema they have started paying retirees and farmers which the PF Left uncleared.”

During her addressee, Mrs Nalumango encouraged people to work hard so that they benefit from the 2022 budget of K25.7 million CDF fund which is allocated to the Constituencies countrywide. K25.7 million to each Constituency.

The vice president W.K.Mutale Nalumango further clarified the removal of subsidies on Fuel and electricity as she assured the people that the money which has been removed from Fuel and electricity will be going to majority poor zambians not few individual’s pockets who are comfortable in their lives. Mrs Nalumango said this when she addressed people at Mansa airport yesterday on her way to Sokontwe in Milenge district of Luapula province.

Mrs Nalumango also reannounced the free Education policy from grade 1-12.

The vice president W.K.Mutale Nalumango was accompanied by the minister of labour and social security Hon Tambatamba and other National Management Committee ( NMC).

LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT

Your Excellency the President of the Republic of Zambia

We are enjoying the following.

1. Freedom of of speech, movement, media
2. No fear of thugs, plunderers of national resources
3. Good health in the absence of fear

4. Fair play in elections, no rigging (unprecidented)
5 Rule of law which is unprecedented in Zambia or Africa, and beyond
6. Inclusion of all regions in Government

7. Involvement of all institutions and Zambian Intelligentia in national development endeavours. UNZA etc.
8. Empowering all Zanbians with CDF finds of K25.7 million from K1.6 million for each constituency.
9. Addressing the plight of pensioners and paying
10 Paying farmers on time of rains

11. Releasing funds for the handicapped and disadvantaged people
12. Free education from primary to secondary school and financing of grant aided schools.
13. Commencing the reconstruction of the economy to enable the economy stand without being supported by subsidies. Initial discomforts cannot be compared to life of terror where there was no hope. The current hardships will disappear in due course.

14 Linking Zambia to Angola through the road infrastructure stretching from Copperbelt-North Western- Western – Southern Provinces – Angola. This will result in cheaper imports of crude oil.

15. Creation of ministries for sustainable clean energy, environment and infrastructure.
16. Numerous employment opportunities arising from developmental projects across the country coordinated by the National Association for Medium & Small Scale Contractors
17. Employment of street kids in Farms and jobs for street vendors away from the streets, into constituencies following CDF disbursements.

18 Upcomibg numerous jobs associated with the transformation of the electricity supply operations and services and empowerment of local Counties.
19. Improved medical services including reduction of fees paid by nurses.
20. Increase in salaries for Government workers.
21. Payments for local authority workers.

Your achievements are too numerous to itemise.

Your good work will awaken the devil and we are already observing this. Please be assured that the forces of darkness have already been defeated by God Almighty The Creator of Heaven and Earth.

The mandate is yours. God is protecting you and your Government.

Dedicated to the President:

HH7

Sammy

Chiminya

Hakainde Hichilema

We wish you good health.

Thank you
RS

By Speedwell Mupuchi

THERE are no hidden conditionalities being requested by the IMF, says the Ministry of Finance.

The ministry said this in several responses to questions by the Ministry of Finance online partners.

A partner asked the ministry, “Apart from the macroeconomic conditionality which were actually in line with government’s stance on its 2022 macroeconomic objectives, are there any other hidden conditionality we must expect from the IMF deal?”

The partner premised his query on sentiments from government officials concerning the removal of fuel and electricity subsidies.

In response, the ministry said the government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had focused on the need for the whole public sector to curtail inefficient public expenditure, including in State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and agencies.

“The two parties have agreed that rationalising where and how the government spends public resources is an important part of the economic transformational agenda. In this regard, the removal of subsidies will facilitate an important shift in spending from poorly targeted subsidies towards greater investment in health, education, and the delivery of more social benefits such as: 1) Enhanced allocations for the Constituency Development Fund – meaning that more schools, desks, clinics, water boreholes, etc. will be available for rural communities,” it responded.

“2) Paying off all outstanding pension arrears – some beneficiaries have been waiting for several years for their retiring benefits; and,3) Hiring of 30,000 teachers, hiring of 11,000 health personnel, introduction of a bursary scheme and elimination of tuition fees for secondary school education, etc.”

It emphasized that subsidy removal was a measure that would enable realignment of public expenditure from poorly targeted choices such as fuel, to enhanced investments in health, education, and social protection.

“The outcomes favour our society’s less privileged. The government is also working on measures to streamline the licences and permits required by businesses in order to further improve the business environment,” it explained. “It is also important to note that although the government will continue to support small-scale farmers through the implementation of the Farmer Input Support Programme, the facility will be reassessed to address the embedded historical challenges. Following this, a comprehensive agriculture support Programme will be launched, commencing in the 2022/2023 agriculture season.”

The ministry said the new programme would be cost effective, better targeted, and equitable across beneficiaries.

Another partner asked about the status of Lazard on debt restructuring and the ministry said the government embarked on a debt restructuring exercise in 2020 and appointed Lazard Freres as financial advisors during the process.

It said the restructuring exercise was anchored on the G20 and Paris Club Common Framework, which was also underpinned by an IMF programme support.

It said following a period of discussions and exchanges with the Fund, the government recently reached a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) with the IMF which should culminate into an Extended Credit Facility that would provide financial support amounting to about US $1.4 billion, for three years.

“The SLA has also provided a basis for achieving consensus on the macro framework and the debt sustainability analysis that will inform the debt restructuring exercise. In view of the above, government will continue to work with the financial advisors, the IMF and all other stakeholders towards securing agreement with creditors on the debt restructuring exercise,” the ministry said.

However, a partner challenged the ministry to clearly state the advantages and the disadvantages of IMF Staff Level Agreement (SLA) and the removal of subsidies.

“Give a cost-benefit presentation on why the decisions are important,” urged the partner.

The ministry in response said the SLA would underpin government’s engagement with its creditors to restructure the debt.

It said the SLA was also expected to pave way for a formal programme with the IMF which would be a major step towards achieving the comprehensive debt restructuring needed to repair the economy and place it on sustained growth trajectory.

“The programme will help create fiscal space for Zambia to implement reforms and unlock highly concessional financing amounting to US $1.4 billion to be disbursed over a period of three years under the Extended Credit Facility. This will enhance the balance of payments position and further boost investor confidence; important components in the competitiveness of the economy,” it said. “The SLA will also pave way for restoring macroeconomic stability and provide a foundation for an inclusive economic recovery process.”

The Ministry said the removal of subsidies might temporarily increase the cost of doing business.

It said to reduce the cost of doing business, the government would implement counteractive measures such as improving the business environment and streamlining the number of licences and permits required for businesses.

“Subsidy removal is a measure that will enable realignment of public expenditure from poorly targeted choices such as fuel, to enhanced investments in health, education, and social protection. The outcomes favour our society’s less privileged,” the ministry said. “Regrettably, the capacity to service our loans and invest in development remains very limited and in the absence of restructuring, the country will continue to be choked by the debt burden. We reiterate that without the IMF programme, debt restructuring would practically be impossible as creditors would be unwilling to engage in refinancing discussions. We need the IMF Programme.”

And the ministry said discussions with the IMF did not centre on identifying or earmarking any public entity for privatisation.

“The government and the Fund, instead have agreed on the need for the public sector to curtail inefficient expenditure, including among State Owned Enterprises (SOE’s). The government is therefore undertaking a review of all public entities to rationalise expenditure to those entities, and where necessary, implement reforms for more efficient and cost-effective service delivery,” said the ministry.

Retired veteran politician Vernon Mwaanga has cautioned politicians and Zambians against abusing their freedom of speech.

Dr. Mwaanga has told a local radio station QFM that some comments coming from some individuals targeted at the head of state are disturbing.

Dr.Mwaanga said that Zambians are breathing fresh air due to the freedom of expression that has been restored to them, which, however, must not be abused.

Dr. Mwaanga said that the head of state is a respected figure in any country and that no one should use unpalatable language against him and advised politicians to respect president Hakainde Hichilema, adding that those who disagree with his style of leadership must do so respectfully.

Dr. Mwaanga stated that those abusing their freedom of expression are jeopardizing the freedom of others who have more sensible things to say regarding the direction in which the country should go.

Meanwhile, UPND Lusaka Province youth chairperson Mr. Anderson Banda has called on the opposition members to have constructive criticism and not bring the name of the head of State into ridicule.
Mr Banda said the opposition shouldn’t take the calmness and tolerance by the UPND youths as a source of weakness but they are doing so to respect the rule of law.

Mr Banda said the mandate has been left in the hands of the law enforcement agencies but if they dare the law enforcers, the UPND Youths will have no option but to respond in a way which they would understand.

He has called upon the opposition members like Mr Raphael Nakachinda, Mr Bowman Lusambo and others to practice mature politics because UPND Government has created a conducive environment to accommodate everyone in the political arena unlike before under their regime.

Mr Banda said politics of character assassination and propaganda will not make PF relevant to the people of Zambia who suffered beyond measures.

Mr Banda said it is unfortunate that Nakachinda and Lusambo are seeking public attention hence going as far as insulting and mocking the Head of state who is busy working on the economy which was plundered by the previous regime.

Mr Banda was speaking this when he was featured on a Prime TV breakfast show dubbed “WAKE UP ZAMBIA”.

A NDOLA-based woman who claims that Bowman Lusambo fathered her four children is demanding K13,900 as child maintenance per month.

The woman is also demanding that Lusambo pays her K7,000 every six months for the children’s clothing.

According to an affidavit in support of summons for affiliation and maintenance filed in the Lusaka High Court, Mercy Matongo Cowham wants the court to order Lusambo to be maintaining the children with K5,000 for food, K3,500 groceries, rental K5,000, water bills K200, electricity K200 which comes to K13,900 per month.

Mercy stated that in addition to the children’s monthly expenses, she is seeking an order that Lusambo should be contributing K7,000 every six month for the children’s clothing.

She submitted that this was proper case for the court to make an order for affiliation and maintenance of the children.

And Mercy stated that she was currently squatting at her grandmothers house in Chipata, Eastern province with the children due to lack of financial support from Lusambo.

In this case, Lusambo who is the former member of Kabushi parliamentary seat following the nullification of his seat, sued Mercy in the High Court.

He is seeking an order that a Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test be conducted on the children to ascertain their parternity.

Lusambo is also demanding damages for libel from Mercy.

He further wants the court to order Mercy to retract and apologize your to him of her statements in question, costs and any other reliefs the court might deem fit.

But Mercy in her affidavit maintained that she has been in an on and off sexual relationship with Lusambo from 2014 to date.

Mercy explained that from 2015 to sometime in 2018, Lusambo would maintain her and the children once in a while by providing all the necessities.

“Since July 2010, the plaintiff completely stopped maintaining the children and has refused to do so despite being reminded of his obligations on numerous occasions,” she alleged.

Mercy added that lack of support has caused great hardship on the children and that she has been struggling to provide for them without any support from their father

She wants the court to order Lusambo

to be providing for all the monthly expenses, including accommodation and pay all water and electricity bills.

(Mwebantu)

By Leah Ngoma

Government is holding discussions with various stakeholders to come up with an amicable solution for Konkola Copper Mines-KCM- and Mopani Copper Mines.

Chief Government Spokesperson Chushi Kasanda says the minister of mines and his team are looking into the two mining companies as government is fully aware of the anxieties that the issues surrounding Mopani and KCM have caused not only on the Copperbelt, but on the whole economy.

Ms Kasanda says government is keen to have these issues resolved for the benefit of all stakeholders in the mining industry and once a definite position has been arrived at, government will inform the nation accordingly.

Regarding the issue of ZESCO, Ms Kasanda says there are no plans to sell the power utility company and that restructuring does not mean selling.

In a statement, Ms Kasanda says the Industrial Development Corporation-IDC-, which is the holding company of all state owned enterprises, gave guidance on this early this week.
PHOENIX NEWS

STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND CHIEF GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON, HON. CHUSHI KASANDA, MP ON INDENI, KCM, MOPANI AND ZESCO

Lusaka, Thursday, 13 January 2022 –

Government has noted the misinformation and falsehoods being peddled by the opposition Patriotic Front on several issues regarding the economy in general and on strategic national assets in particular.

While Government is open to the opposition providing checks and balances, we would like them to do so with facts.

The correct and official position of Government on the matters that have been raised is as follows:

Last week a delegation of four ministers visited Indeni Oil Refinery and informed workers of the new business model to which the workers will be part of. But before transitioning to the new business model, all the workers will be paid their dues. The deliberations of this meeting were widely disseminated in the media. But it seems the opposition are still bent on misinforming the public even in the face of clear facts on the table.

There are no plans to sell Zesco. Restructuring does not mean selling. It is about improving operations and increasing efficiency of the power utility. The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), which is the holding company of all SOEs, gave guidance on that early this week. Again this was reported widely in the media.

The Minister of Mines and his team have their hands on deck on Konkola Copper Mines and Mopani Copper Mines. Government is holding discussions with various stakeholders to come to an amicable solution. Government is keen to have these issues resolved for the benefit of all stakeholders in the mining industry. Government is fully aware of the anxieties that the issues surrounding these two mines have caused not only on the Copperbelt, but on the whole economy.

Government would like to urge all stakeholders in the energy and mining industries to exercise patience as it deals with these issues. Once a definite position has been arrived at, Government will accordingly inform the nation.

Issued by:

Chushi Kasanda, MP

Minister of Information and Chief Government Spokesperson

The Candidates’ Comment

A false narrative being championed by the Patriotic Front (PF) and its cluster of crooked tenderprenuers regarding the awarding of a contract for the supply of 50,000 metric tons by the Hakainde Hichilema led administration to Alpha Commodities must be curtailed.

The Candidates had a privilege to talk at length with some honest junior officials at the Ministry of Agriculture regarding the supply of farming inputs in this country for the past seven years. Our conversation with these officials has led to the discovery of so many criminal activities which some suppliers of fertilizer, senior ministry of Agriculture officials and politicians in the PF administration stole public funds through dubious activities.

The information at our disposal is bulk and sometimes confusing, as such, we shall methodically present this information in a series of editorials to ensure that we cast enough light on the criminality that characterized that ministry. As we do so, we hope the new administration can learn about the loopholes and deal with issues presented herein if indeed they are interested in fighting corruption in this country.

One of the many lies told to Zambians by the PF in the run-up to the 2021 elections, is that they had delivered farming inputs to all parts of the country for the year 2020/2021 farming season. A number of suppliers with concrete and traceable links to the PF were paraded on Television to concretize the lie regarding the supply of farming inputs. The PF was in search for votes and farmers were part of their bigger chunk to win an election.

Of course, with the exception of Alpha Commodities and Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia, the other suppliers did not supply all the inputs as per their contractual obligation. These suppliers have always behaved in this way for the past 7 years. These include Nerias Investment, Nyimba Investments, Export Trading Group (ETG) and Rockcliffe Trading. The owners of these companies.

When the UPND came into power, they ordered for a snap check of the supply of fertilizer with a view of ascertaining if indeed farmers received inputs as claimed by the PF and their friends in the supply of fertilizer.

The snap check revealed that a cost of undelivered fertilizer is $144,000,000 when calculated at $1,200 contractual amount. This money was paid to crooked fertilizer suppliers which excludes Alpha Commodities and NCZ.

It must be noted that, the Ministry of Agriculture undertook this snap check. If senior officials at this ministry have been collaborating with crooks, with suppliers of farming inputs and PF thieves, what guarantee is there that the snap check which established that $144 million was plundered has painted a comprehensive outlook of things?

Clearly, while there are few honest junior officials at this ministry, the truth is majority are in the pockets of these crooks. It is therefore, not a problem for government to order for another comprehensive and independent audit at Ministry of Agriculture which should spread to 2015.

The argument which faceless, guerilla online platforms that government must rely on the Auditor General’s report is at best soporific and at worst stupid. We say so because the AG recently released a report but nowhere in that document did they capture this very important issue where government lost $144 million to these crooked suppliers. Cleary, the AG is not a credible and reputable institution that must be regarded in any way, in this fight against corruption.

There is no corruption in the award of fertilizer to Alpha Commodities by the UPND government. PF and their allies must not even open their mouths over this issue because they are part of the plunder that characterized the Ministry of Agriculture for the past seven years.

In our next editorial, we shall expand on this. -The Candidates

Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) President Dr. Nevers Mumba says Patriotic Front officials are in a state of dizziness after losing power in the last August general elections.

Dr. Mumba has predicted that PF officials, who have been vocal after losing power, will go quiet in the next two to three months as they face justice.

Speaking in an interview with veteran broadcaster Frank Mutubila on Capital Radio on Thursday morning, Dr. Mumba further accused the PF regime of raping the Zambian economy through dubious means.

“This kind of attitude (arrogance) will continue for a few more weeks and then it’s going to die out. It is a dream, they think they are dreaming that it is not real. They have lost power and yet they have.I mean you are talking to a guy who has been in Government before and in a party that lost power. There is a period of time we call it “stupid period” in political genesis. It is called a stupid period. A stupid period if you went to drink last night and later on in the morning up to 09h00 you are feeling like a little dizzy over the influence of the liquor you took last night,” Dr. Mumba said.

“The dizziness is still with our colleagues in the PF. The salutes of the policemen and the flag flying in front of their vehicles. It is very destructive to a mind that did not deserve to hold those positions and eventually had that position so they remain under that dizziness for a while. Their language is defiant not knowing the policemen have switched sides, they are now on the side of the law, justice and Government so they will not sustain it because the law does not stop because you insult them, the law keeps going,” he said.

“They will insult as they go into Chimbokaila (Lusaka Central Prison), as they go to Kabwe Maximum Prison they will be insulting and the voices will become dimmer or rather fainter and fainter. And in the next two months, three months with the fast track court coming this country will be quiet; our colleagues in the last administration will be no more. I am just speaking now as a Prophet of God because when I listen to the way they are speaking. The best thing to do when you run the country aground is to feel apologetic and be quiet and when the police are asking you questions, cooperate. If you are innocent you will be set free but if you are arrogant it is also a sign that you are probably guilty,” Dr. Mumba added.

On numerous corruption allegations being leveled against PF officials, Dr. Mumba called for justice to prevail.

“We have made ourselves very clear that time has come for the issues of this nation to finally be resolved and hold every individual accountable. I want to be honest and put it on record that one of the reasons that the Zambians voted in such great numbers for this President and this Government was precisely to end this mess. It is therefore incumbent upon this current President to continue to push as hard as he can in order to gain the confidence of the voters who believed that the former President (Edgar Lungu) and his administration raped the economy of this country to un-proportional levels that we have never seen since Independence,” Dr. Mumba said.

Dr. Mumba, a former diplomat, said Zambians were anxious to see how the New Dawn Government would handle the crusade against corruption.

“More than 80% of Zambians have the gut feeling that the previous Government did unthinkable things and therefore when we read those things they literally make you sick that people who call themselves Zambians and apparently born in this country, educated by the free money of this country can go out there and deliberately rape the economy of this country.”

“We are all sitting on our tentacles waiting to see how this administration is going to wipe away the tears of Zambians and satisfy our anxiety on what is going to happen to those responsible,” said the former Republican vice President during the MMD regime.

EARN FROM THE MINES, BROADEN TAX BASE THAN RUSHING TO THE IMF- AMB. MWAMBA

The taxes imposed on Zambians are too steep the government of President Hakainde Hichilema must get the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) to reduce the Pay As You Earn tax.

Government must immediately find ways of expanding the tax base in order to give the Zambian formal sector relief it so much needs in these harsh days of high cost of living.

“Currently Zambians in the formal sector are bearing the brunt of a huge tax portion, which reduces how much money they take home, this must stop and ZRA must shift its attention to sectors such as the Mines.”

Even the US$1.3 billion the government wants to borrow from the IMF could have been easily raised from taxing the mines more but they go scott-free exporting our gold and emeralds while government borrows money its unacceptable.
The mining sector needs to be taxed much more than they are currently taxed in form of mineral royalties etc not poor hard-working Zambians hence the reason ZRA must broaden the tax base and the new dawn government instead of removing taxes from the mines and heavily tax ordinary poor Zambians like you and me.

THE ZESCO SAGA

I feel that ZESCO must be freed from the heavy financial yoke of paying Independent Power producers up to US$40 million per month its unsustainable and it must end.

“The thought to unbundle and sell ZESCO must end because we need it as a strategic national asset and selling it will result into further huge increments in electricity bills in addition to high costs of fuel, bus fares and mealie meal prices.”
ZESCO must advertise all jobs that have been scrapped by the new MD (Victor Mapani) who has fired all highly trained middle managers and Directors to make it more competent.

THE PF LEADERSHIP RACE

“Among the good and great men running for the party leadership Presidency, I (Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba) among the Big Guns given my vast experience in public service.”

Source: Round Table Interview hosted by Nakiwe Simpungwe in LUSAKA.

UPND Lusaka Province Youth Chairperson, Anderson Banda has charged that the current crusade of the recovery of public resources and assets by the ACC and DEC are an act of natural justice and should not be accused on President Hakainde Hichilema.

The criminal-ladden duo of Raphael Nakacinda, PF Chairperson for Information and Publicity and former Lusaka Province Minister, Bowman Lusambo recently caused a stir which left a larger section of the Zambian society furious after the two renewed their vigorous mudslinging and scandalous fights and taunts against the Head of State.

Statements by Lusambo and Nakacinda such as promising to use juju against the President and accusing him (HH) of having an invincible hand in the recent arrest and detention of a number of PF surrogates on charges ranging from assault, abuse of authority of office, plunder of public resources and possession of property reasonably suspected to be proceeds of crime have left a larger section demanding for justice to prevail against the duo.

And Mr Banda says the manoeuvres by the two are meant at distracting and slowing down the wheels of justice as they face numerous criminal charges including defamation of President and being property reasonably suspected to be proceeds of crime, among.
He says it was regrettable that each time political criminals and plunderers of public resources were summoned before investigative wings of the State, such had resorted to maligning the name of the President.

He says those who have stolen from the poor people of Zambia should not think that they will be saved by their malicious attacks on President Hichilema.

Mr Banda notes that those who were being summoned before ACC and DEC for crimes, abuse of office and corrupt activities should not accuse the Presidency of having a hand in their misfortunes.

He says it was imperative that Zambians and political players alike get to appreciate the restoration of the rule of law.
He charged that it was out of order for few disgruntled elements whose past crimes had caught up with to be working round the clock to divert the attention of the President from carrying out his National duties.

He said the youths of the UPND in Lusaka Province would no longer condone those who are insulting the President indiscriminately.
He has since warned that those who think that the silence of UPND members meant that they were weak and not able to defend the party and its leaders would be shocked when citizens arrests are effected on them, soon.

He notes that the broader spectrum of freedoms such as expression, Press, association and Assembly that were being enjoyed after the UPND formed Government should not be used as a scapegoat on which to commit crimes.

Mr Banda further stressed that the numerous economic achievements that the New Dawn administration has achieved within a short space of 4 months should be appreciated by all well-meaning Zambians.

SUBSIDY ON FUEL REMAINS UNTIL 30th JUNE 2022

By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba

Minister of Finance Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane has extended the suspension of customs and excise duty on petroleum products.

In a Statutory Instrument No.2 of 2022, dated 11th January 2022, the excise duty on petroleum and diesel remains suspended until 30th June 2022.

To prevent fuel increase, the previous government suspended collection of these taxes by the Zambia Revenue Authority.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN

This is very good news to consumers as the pump price of fuel may not be increased just now and the rising cost of living maybe arrested as any further fuel increase could have seen escalating price increase in goods and services.

Government loses upto $41million a month in foregone revenue because of the suspension of collection by ZRA of these taxes.

Government also spends $26milliom in price differential on volatile exchange rate, world oil price and uniform pricing of pump price scheme across the country.

This development however, may threaten an approval of Zambia’s Programme by the Board of the IMF where the Minister of Finance pledged to remove subsidies on fuel, and promised to charge cost reflective tarrifs on electricity and reduction of expenditure on the FISP Programme.

On 3rd December, 2021 IMF announced that it had reached a Staff-Level Agreement with the Zambian Authorities on a new arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility for 2022-2025.

The government’s bold and ambitious reform program, supported by the IMF, seeks to restore fiscal and debt sustainability, create fiscal space for much needed social spending, and strengthen economic governance and transparency.

To complement the authorities’ strong reform program a comprehensive debt treatment under the G20 Common Framework is needed to restore debt sustainability.

The IMF Executive Board’s consideration of this agreement is subject to progress on this front.

(A subsidy is a benefit given by the government to groups or individuals, or sector and is usually in the form of a cash payment (direct) or tax reduction (indirect))

By Ulande Nkomesha,

ACTING PF national chairperson Davies Chama has lamented that it’s unfair to label all those who served in Edgar Lungu’s government as thieves, warning that the UPND will also be given the same name once they leave office.

Commenting on Presidential Spokesperson Anthony Bwalya’s remarks that the UPND government’s collective objective was to ensure that all those who participated in the looting of resources were held accountable, Chama said concrete evidence of the alleged corruption should be availed to law enforcement agencies if it was available.

“The problem I have is that when you insinuate that people have stolen, where have they stolen from? Because when you steal there must be somewhere you have stolen from. They should give valid concrete evidence that money moved from account A to account B. When you say people looted, what did they loot?

If Bwalya from State House who is representing the President says ‘looters must pay’, that is why people are insinuating that probably that there is a hand from State House which is instructing the institutions of government, maligning people who are innocent that so and so has stolen or every minister has stolen or everyone who was in the previous government of president Edgar Lungu has stolen,” he said in an interview, Monday.

“If they have that evidence, they should be able to give it to those security institutions. Now that they are in office they have all the documentation of what transpired. If somebody moved money from somewhere which is government money to his own account, they should have that information rather than saying ‘looters must pay’, which looter?”

Chama said it was unfair to label former PF ministers as corrupt, adding that the UPND would also be called thieves once they leave government.

“Now that they are in government, can we be saying that they are also stealing? That is why our vice president (Given) Lubinda gave a metaphor that the price of road construction was costing $1 million per kilometre during our time, now for them, it was going to cost 1.8 million per kilometre. It is not fair, we should not be labeling each other that we are thieves.

Even themselves, are [they] thieves now that they are Ministers, now that they are in State House? It is not fair, it is not correct. Once they leave they will also be called thieves. Will it be fair for them? There must be decency in the way we do our politics,” he said.

“Even when you want to win people’s support by calling innocent people that they have stolen and yet they have not stolen anything, it is not fair. This is the problem I have, calling other people thieves or all those who served in president Lungu as thieves without providing any evidence, it is not correct and it is not fair. Ministers are not thieves, there is nothing to steal, there are a lot of checks and balances which are in government that if you steal it will show.

These politics is dirty politics that we do in Africa, which is very retrogressive, it will not take us anywhere. We will not develop as a country. If anything, it will retard at the rate at which we are going to move as a nation. It will just cause a lot of division which is unnecessary witch hunt and they are wasting their energy. Let them mention who stole.”

Chama said people no longer trust politicians because of the continued insinuations that they were thieves.

“The scenario of calling anyone a thief, every contract someone is a thief, this level of suspicion is uncalled for. That is why things are not moving. People cannot even process payments. That is not the way you run government, that is how they want to run government themselves thinking that everyone who is in government is a thief, that is why people are not trusting any politician.

This is what saddens me because politicians are not being trusted. Any contract they sign, they are being accused that they have eaten, there is corruption involved. If you are corrupt yourself, if you are a thief, you will see a thief everywhere, if your character is wrong, if you are a prostitute you think everyone is a prostitute,” said Chama.

By Oliver Chisenga

INFORMATION minister Chushi Kasanda says the PF are giving themselves unencumbered credit and popularity to think Zambians would make a mistake of voting them back into government.

Responding to assertions that the UPND government has connived with the Electoral Commission of Zambia to cancel the Kabwata by-election because their candidate Andrew Tayengwa is not popular, Kasanda said the UPND still has the stamina and popularity and would not need to connive with any party.

Kasanda, the chief government spokesperson, said even if the PF rebranded they would never bounce back into power.

“The PF have always given themselves unnecessary credit and relevance. Like I always say, people want to make themselves relevant but to tell you the truth they are very irrelevant if you ask me,” she said. “I know they are talking about the rebranding but whether they rebrand or they don’t rebrand, they are not coming back.” Kasanda said as has happened in the past, “there is no government in Zambia that has bounced back after being booted out of office”.

“There is no government that has ever come back. Absolutely none in Zambia. And they won’t be the first. There is no way the UPND government has connived with UPP. We wouldn’t even bother ourselves to go to a small party like that and start negotiating. Whether small or big we wouldn’t negotiate with anybody. We still have the stamina and popularity and would not need to connive with any party,” she said.

Kasanda argued that the UPND is happy with the Tayengwa and are sure of victory even if the elections were held next week.

“We decided on the candidate and we are happy with the candidate we decided on. There was no reversal by the way. So them to actually say that we connived with the candidate of that party is every unfortunate. They should be bigger than that really,” she said.

Kasanda further said the UPND has spent a lot of money on the by-election thus it would not be in their interest to have it cancelled for whatever reason.

She said with only 10 days remaining before the poll, it was illogical for the UPND which is still enjoying massive support from Zambians to get off the bus.

“We are not ready to do that as a government. We are at pains that actually somebody did that. It has not sat well with us but that’s their constitutional right. PF will give credit to themselves just like they always do just to give themselves relevance,” Kasanda charged.

She said the cancellation of poll by the ECZ was in line with the provisions of the Constitution.

Kasanda said the ECZ is an independent body and “there is no political influence in their operations whatsoever”.

“We cannot influence ECZ to do that, absolutely not,” maintained Kasanda.

On Monday, the ECZ cancelled the
Kabwata by-eletion after the United Progressive Party (UPP) Kabwata candidate Francis Libanda sent in a second letter invoking the provisions of different Article 52(6) of the Constitution of Zambia, which among other things includes resigning from the sponsoring party.

ECZ chief electoral officer Patrick Nshindano said the Commission had rejected the withdrawal from the election by the UPP candidate dated January 7, 2022 and allowed the by-election to proceed as planned as provided for by the electoral process Act No. 35 of 2016, Section 31 (2) which empowers it to reject a withdrawal and proceed with the election.

He explained that a “withdrawal” is clearly only permitted before the closing of nominations as provided under Section 31(2) of the electoral process Act.

Nshindano, however, said with the second letter received from Libanda dated January 10, 2022 clarifying his decision whilst invoking the provision of Article 52 of the Constitution, the electoral process Act under Section 31(2), the law requires the cancellation of elections and calls for fresh nominations for eligible candidates.

Following the cancellation of the by-election, various stakeholders among them the PF feel that Libanda was paid by the UPND to withdraw after sensing a loss.

PROPAGANDA, ILLEGALITIES, THE POISON IN THE CHALICE AGAINST THE FIGHT ON CORRUPTION

By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba

On Wednesday, 12th January 2022, we were greeted by a newspaper banner headline alleging that the Anti-Corruption Commission was pursuing former Lusaka Province Minister, Bowman Lusambo and investigating him for the ownership of 49 or more properties in Lusaka and elsewhere.

Offcourse this was a lie designed to excite maximum public outrage against Lusambo and officials of the previous government.

Later, ACC Spokesperson Queen Chibwe, issued a statement and stated that Mr. Lusambo was being investigated and charged for six (6) and NOT fourty nine (49), properties reasonably suspected of being proceeds of crime.

The previous day, Lusambo was fighting another manufactured lie that peddled a narrative that the paternity dispute debate he has been engaged in with Mercy Matongo Cowham was settled as the court-ordered DNA results were out and he was allegedly proven to be the father.

This false story quickly gained currency and traction as credible online pages and social-media influencers carried the story.

Offcourse the story was fake.

The Court has not yet ordered any DNA test yet.

Learning from the earlier fight against corruption, we must watch out for heightened propaganda and outrageous claims of theft and plunder.

As soon as the fight against corruption takes the course of propaganda, it becomes persecution and absurd.

When it is not driven by evidence or pursuit of alleged crimes, it becomes a political circus, a side-show to distract citizens from discussing serious national issues.

Law Enforcement Agencies and other oversight institutions must not be used as tools in this political fight as they risk losing their professional standing and respect in the eyes of the people.

MWIIMBU FORMS JOINT INVESTIGATIONS TEAM

On 3rd December, 2021, Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, Hon. Jack Mwiimbu announced that Government had constituted a Joint Investigations Team to probe past and present corruption cases with the intention of recovering alleged looted State assets.

Like the Taskforce on Corruption established by the Government of President Levy Mwanawasa, the Joint Team of Investigations has not been established by the law or any legal framework.

Someone may argue that this body is ad-hoc in nature and officers in the team will use authority from their existing institutions.

However, any entity or body established to pursue such a mammoth and noble undertaking requires proper legal standing for legitimacy, legality and posterity purposes.

MUMBA MALILA ESTABLISHES FAST TRACK COURT

During the Ceremonial opening of the High Court, Chief Justice Dr. Mumba Malila SC announced that he had set up the Economic and Financial Crimes Division Court.

He said he had invoked provisions of Article 133 of the Constitution which establishes the High Court.

And in the High Court, the Constitution has established, as divisions of the High Court, the
Industrial Relations Court, Commercial Court, Family Court and the Children’s Court.

Dr. Malila SC, has added a new inclusion and established the Economic and Financial Crimes Court Division.

He is clearly responding to earlier announcements by President Hakainde Hichilema who announced that a fast track court process will be established to handle economic and financial crimes of the past regime.

The Chief Justice has established the new division relying on Article 133(3) (3) which states that;

“The Chief Justice may constitute, by statutory instrument, specialised courts of the High Court to hear specific matters.”

CONCLUSION

So this action by the Chief Justice has been done, not because the country needs this division but because it is at the instigation of the Executive, thereby eroding or undermining the independence of the Judiciary.

Matters like this require broad consultations from stakeholders to establish consensus.

No matter how noble the cause, when propaganda and illegalities drive the process, they become a fly in the soup, poison in the chalice.

The fight against corruption must not be targeted, political or driven to obliterate political opponents.

Instead of pursuing crimes, the fight against corruption must not under the the guise, become a witch-hunt, a tool to carry out vindictiveness and retribution as Justice and the rule of law will be sacrificed at the altar of political expedience.

IS THERE REALLY A FERTILIZER SCANDAL?

The Candidates’s Comment

For a very long time, there has been a false narrative being championed that the UPND administration of Hakainde Hichilema has single sourced Alpha Commodities to supply fertilizer worth $50 million.

Further, a number of online platforms have claimed that Dr. Maurice Jangulo the owner of Alpha Commodities is behind an audit which has been ordered by the Ministry of Agriculture over the supply of fertilizer for the period of 2020 to 2021 farming season, merely, to disadvantage his competitors by producing a report that is damaging.

There is a narrative that Maurice was given the $50 million contract to supply 50,000 metric tons of fertilizer because he is a friend to Hakainde.

Therefore, a number of people mainly from the opposition are accusing the Hakainde led administration of being corrupt. Specifically, the Patriotic Front (PF) is attempting to discredit efforts by the investigation wings to investigate and arrest them for any suspected corruption during their tenure on a premise that, while it is okay to do so, this must extend to allegations of corruption happening at the Ministry of Agriculture today.

We agree that all forms of corruption must be investigated regardless of who the suspects are.

However, the PF and all those crying foul over this Alpha Commodities contract are being hypocrites and dishonest. These elements know the truth very well.Of course, the truth is that, towards the 2021 elections, PF lied to Zambians that they had finished distributing fertilizer to all parts of the country. The companies engaged, which included Alpha Commodities and others stated publicly that they had indeed supplied the commodities to all parts of the country in line with the their individual contracts. Of course, only Alpha Commodities and Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ) had met their contractual obligations despite that all companies were fully paid.

These companies joined the PF to lie, to cheat that they had met their contractual obligations when in fact not because they wanted Zambians to believe that PF was delivering on time. The PF knew very well that not all companies delivered fertilizer but they wanted to fool Zambians during an election year.

When UPND won the election, an audit was instigated by Ministry of Agriculture to ascertain whether or not the commodity had been delivered by the companies involved. That audit was undertaken by officials at Ministry of Agriculture who have in the past worked together with the same corrupt and dishonest fertilizer suppliers to lie that they have met their contractual obligations.

Anyone who has five senses cannot trust any audit undertaken by these elements at Ministry of Agriculture.

After the same audit, it was discovered that only Alpha Commodities and NCZ had met contractual obligations while other suppliers did not despite getting paid. And when it was discovered that there was a deficit of 50,000 metric tons, government sort for the services of Alpha Commodities and NCZ but the latter stated that it could not afford to deliver given the urgency and time frame. That is how government arrived at giving the contract to Alpha Commodities.

Is there any corruption herein? The answer is categorical no. Alpha Commodities was given that contract because it is a good supplier that met contractual obligations unlike those cheaters.

It can’t be said that Alpha Commodities is today corrupt just because it’s owner Maurice is a friend to Hakainde. Maurice was getting these contracts even during the PF administration. Was it corruption then? The answer is categorical no.

We know that these false narratives are being championed by competitors of Alpha Commodities in partnership with some elements within PF. The Candidates had a candid discussion with a few Ministry of Agriculture officials in confidence. The things we have been told and proved with documents over the behavior of the suppliers of fertilizer for the past seven years , are horrific. It is actually very disturbing that the Office of the Auditor General has not captured the theft of public funds by suppliers of fertilizer. Why has the AG report not paid any attention to Ministry of Agriculture ? To those who came to us with information, we thank you very much because now we have a wide perspective of what has been happening at Ministry of Agriculture. In the past, we depended much on information from suppliers themselves to form an opinion but now we know better.

A number of faceless online platforms have been hired to peddle a false narrative about this issue. And because the UPND has a very weak media system, these lies continue to walk and appear to be truth. Surely, with all these facts, available, why is it difficult for UPND to put to rest these lies? Has the UPND media system been put in the pockets of competitors of Alpha Commodities to malign Maurice and by consequence, Hakainde?

We shall do our best to ensure that a correct narrative is presented to the public for them to understand the kind of plunder that has been happening at Ministry of Agriculture. If there has been criminality in the PF administration, Ministry of Agriculture is one a dirty place.