ARC MINERALS APPOINTS PRIVATIZATION EXPERT VALENTINE CHITALU AS DIRECTOR

The Mast

UK-BASED mining company, Arc Minerals Limited, has announced businessman and mining expert Valentine Chitalu as its non-executive director.

But Chitalu’s appointment has been criticised as part of the Arc Minerals Limited’s unyielding desperation to use political connections in its long-standing battle for Kalaba Mine owned by ZAMSORT, a local mining company in which it has shares, as shareholders boast of him being the “President’s man”.

Chitalu, former chief executive officer of the Zambia Privatisation Agency, is a long-standing ally and business partner of President Hakainde Hichilema and is seen as one of the “de-facto” advisors and think tanks on key economic policies.

Arc Minerals Limited’s Nick von Schirnding announced that the Zambian businessman would now be ‘promoted’ to be an actual director on the Arc Minerals’ board.

“I am delighted that Valentine has agreed to join our board which further strengthens our Zambian presence. Valentine brings a wealth of experience as a successful entrepreneur with an extensive international and Zambian network both within the mining sector and beyond. I look forward to working closely with Valentine as we progress our exciting exploration projects in Zambia,” Schirnding said on the appointment of Chitalu, 57.

Arc Minerals Limited is embroiled in a running legal battle with Zambian investors over the control of Kalaba Mine in North Western Province.

Local entrepreneur and investor, Mumema Mushinge, has led a consortium of Zambians that have sued Arc Minerals Limited over unpaid $5.8 million for shares sold in ZAMSORT, which owns Kalaba mine.

Arc Minerals Limited has been using some Zambian individuals to register surrogate companies to hold on to mining rights which by law they are supposed to surrender to the State following their legal expiry.

One such company is Handa Resources registered at the end of 2020, in which former ZAF commander Lt Gen Sande Kayumba is director. Other directors include Caleb Mulenga and Chitalu.

But sources say Arc Minerals hope by promoting Chitalu, a decision purely based on the outcome of the August 12, polls, it would help it galvanise State House support in trying to secure the mineral resource from indigenous Zambians.

Arc Minerals sources describe Chitalu as the “President’s man” and as a silver bullet for their legal problems and running battle with the communities in North Western Province.

Recently, senior chief Sailunga, Kelvin Mulunda, accused Handa Resources Limited of carrying out mining operations in his chiefdom without his consent.

This is contained in the chief’s application to be joined to the case in which Terra Metals and directors Mumena Mushinge and Brian Chisala have sued Zamsort Limited and Handa Resources Limited over Kalaba Mine in Mwinilunga.

The senior chief of the Lunda people of Mwinilunga complained that Handa Resource’s mining operations were a violation of his rights as the traditional leader and custodian of land.

Sailunga said his predecessor (late senior chief Sailunga) agreed with Mushinge and his company, Zamsort, that in exchange for the right to mine in his area, the company would undertake several projects within the chiefdom including rehabilitation of the road, building of a school and clinic as well as cash annuity.

Sailunga said in the affidavit filed in the Kabwe High Court civil registry that pursuant to the agreement, Zamsort began constructing a leach plant to process the ore that was to be mined.

Sailunga said in May 2021, owing to the current case, he came to learn that Mushinge and other directors had sold their shares in Zamsort, who indicated that it was supposed to continue with the agreement insofar as the development of the chiefdom was concerned.

“That after further consultation between my royal establishment and the first defendant (Zamsort), it was resolved to restore the mining consent to the first defendant and I subsequently rescinded my revocation,” Sailunga said. “That it has since come to my attention that even though I restored the first defendant’s consent to conduct mining operations in my kingdom, there is in fact, a 3rd party, the 2nddefendant herein (Handa Resources Limited) who also purports to have the rights to and has in fact has been conducting mining operations in my chiefdom as they have brought on site various rigs, drills and other equipment with which they have been conducting mining operations.”

Meanwhile, some board members of Arc Minerals want the dispute with Mushinge resolved quickly to avert growing resentment of the company evidenced by Chief Sailunga’s position on the legal dispute.

Sources close to the transaction say that some board members want Arc Minerals to pay Mushinge something ‘small’ as part of the plan to pursue an out of court settlement.

“They are very annoyed by Mumena’s persistence on the matter and others are even suggesting that maybe he be given the plant just to ensure he lets go of his pursuit of the matter in the High Court,” a source said anonymously.

Pamela Bwembya

TAKING NO PRISONERS

I know we can’t all be smart enough to tell the difference between dunderheads and people of sense. Three months ago, on the 12th of August , we had what most of us considered an important choice to make. Believe it or not, about 1.8 million Zambians and foreigners were motivated enough to keep the Patriotic Front in power.

To these citizens and citizens of neighboring countries, Edgar Lungu and his team dressed, walked, danced, and talked well enough to be the principle decision makers for our beautiful but inexplicably broke country. To them, the degazetting of national forests, outright theft of public resources through purchases of stale drugs, and at times, purchase of thin air by those that were selfish enough to widen the gap between genuine hard workers and born-thieves was very normal. After all, “when one steals he steals for himself for the future.”

Such was the accepted leadership. The comfort of the country’s top spender was a justified pursuit. He didn’t just deserve the best suits, and suits, and suits, but the sleekest toy in our rain-hungry skies.

Can the intelligent dunderheads among us sit up and tell us where we would have been by now had these people retained power?

Of course we all love those that keep their word. When the late FTJ Chiluba (MHSRIP) said “Kanshi ba tata ba Kaunda niba puti” meaning KK was a liar (may KK’s soul rest in peace too), wasn’t it in reference to a promise that an egg would be an ever present accompaniment on every breakfast table?

Of course we may seem to be a gullible lot, but there is a big difference between a liar that does everything to sink us deeper into poverty and one whose every effort points towards striving to improve our lives. HH’s moves seem to promise painful things howbeit meant to move us out of our bottled pain. Aren’t gambits normal in strategic games?

It is painful for me to watch Hakainde Hichilema break the mould by travelling on commercial planes to save us that extra Kwacha to improve our chances of a stronger Kwacha some day. Some among us will say the Kwacha improved towards the last elections on the back of an executive whose leadership was beginning to tick; but what makes you fail to see that leaders with millions stashed in their concubines’ dubiously acquired homes had some capacity to paint the foreign exchange landscape a color of their choice? Wasn’t K2 million just pocket change?

Our country had been turned into a country where the name of one of your eight great grandparents from your paternal-paternal-paternal line determined your chances of either a government job or a government contract. Valentine’s Day had been turned into a fear-filled day for fear of being mistaken for a UPND supporter.

People open your eyes and appreciate what we now have! We are all participants in the journey to recovery. HH need not be the only one willing to sacrifice his comfort for a better Zambia.

It is amazing to see intelligent friends like Malama Katulwende Author, Kasebamashila Kaseba and the very intelligent PEP president Sean Tembo attempt to throw our baby with the obviously dirty political bath water. Do these good friends know where we would have been had ECL maintained his coveted seat?

By now, only those with feacal matter colored tongues would have been allowed to pollute the airwaves. No one with a red tongue would have been allowed to speak. By this time, promises to lock up HH for good would have been kept just to satisfy our appetite for kept promises.

Isn’t it a blessing that we can all freely wear PF regalia with no consequences? Isn’t it nice that those whose only sin was to hail from wrong provinces have another chance to be citizens of Zambia? Isn’t it nice that some journalists and their stations can freely paint the president with brushes of their choice? What is so wrong about reminding our leaders that no one deserves an allowance for doing their job in their town of residence?

Every farmer knows that ploughing and planting is necessary for a potential harvest, but also knows that germination and eventual maturity are dependent on many other factors. The seed must suffer temporal rejection before it can sprout. Turning round our economy depends on the implementation of growth-oriented policies, and how citizens respond to those policies. Turning Zambia around is our collective responsibility.

The starting point is to fully understand and accept the $hit we are in. We need to pay fairly for what we consume before we can start accumulating enough reserves to wipe our debt and start registering real growth.

The only major failure I see in the New Dawn government is that of keeping their promise of respecting the civil rights of criminals among us. UPND is still working with the PF budget for crying out loud ba swaini!

A bit of free education for the laggards:

Accounting profit is the amount of money left after deducting explicit costs of running the business. Economic profit is the difference between revenue and both explicit and implicit costs after considering various possible business decisions and actions.

This is lesson is important because the smart among us have gone flat-out to demonize tough decisions whose ultimate aim is to maximize economic profits. I may not be the government’s beautiful spokesperson but I can see that we now have bold leaders who don’t want to stroke otherwise doomed egos.

The country stands in very deep debt; doing nothing and continuing to pretend that all is fine like the PF did for many years leading to the elections, will turn our country into a failed state where criminals will invade every sphere of our lives. If the superficial prices of electricity and fuel either go down or stay the way they are, just for our laziness-defined lives to thrive for a moment, our end will be disastrous.

Only a very dull person will fail to see that, as things are, crime is increasing. We now have stories of unsuspecting passengers being raped for seeking accepted services of moving from one place to another by minibus crews. The artificially maintained costs of fuel and electricity are part of what is making our people devise wrong ways of enjoying what they used to afford.

Can the smart ones among us refuse to accept that Zesco buys electricity at 11 cents per kilowatt only to sell it to us at 7 cents per kilowatt? Can they also agree with me that our country had no capacity to buy a single liter of petroleum when world prices of petroleum turned negative (meaning suppliers were offering to pay anyone willing to get their fuel) because of a hardcoded requirement of our INDENI and indebtedness?. Omicro is stealing on us, and this scene is about to be replayed again.

Can the smart ones argue decisively about reduced economic losses to be derived from bringing in finished products versus converting our lovely INDENI into an efficient plant that meets expectations.

Can the smart ones among us explain what the previous government did to warrant the stagnation of current prices of petroleum products and electricity in the midst of a deteriorating exchange rate and huge debts to fuel suppliers that resulted in the closure of INDENI for lack of feedstock.

I am with those that are providing checks and balances, but right now we are in debt. Our country will only get better after we start spending less than we produce. That is the universal principle of accumulation.

PB …. always in national interest.

By Alexander Nkosi

You are driving to Lusaka from some rural district for an urgent meeting, due to heavy rains, one of the bridges is about to be washed away. The long term solution is to fix the bridge, but you cannot pack on the roadside and wait for it to be fixed as you will miss the meeting. You have an option to use a temporal bad road, that will require you to work on your suspension when you reach, just for a kilometre stretch around the dangerous bridge and get back on the good road. Using this temporal road is a short measure and it is just a short stretch, it does not mean you will drive all your way to your destination on that bad road. It is not even the long term solution to dealing with the bridge that needs to be replaced.

An economy works the same way, there are short, medium and long term measures to meet short, medium and long term objectives. Managing inflation also involves short, medium and long term measures and it is usually a combination of both monetary and fiscal interventions. Government is not using MPR as a long term measure to bring down inflation to single digit, the idea is not to keep interest rates high and economic activities low in the medium and long term using MPR so as to keep inflation low. This is just a temporal measure and it will soon be reviewed. Basically MPC meets several times in a year to review MPR based on prevailing economic conditions and economic forecasts.

We are basically at a time when we expect huge inflationary pressure. We are importing agriculture inputs during the farming season, food and non food items during the festive period, projected rise in fuel and other factors are expected to put upward pressure on inflation. The problem with inflation is that, if it is allowed to go up sharply, it has the tendency to bringing in some ‘built-in inflation’ elements (the idea that people expect current inflation rates to continue in the future) making it rise higher than the initial factors driving it up. This is why BOZ uses short term measures to keep it in check while pursuing long term monetary and fiscal measurs with MoF.

Yes it comes with effects of immediately increasing interest rates which are expected to transion into low investment and economic activity but before the decision to raise MPR is made, experts would have made projections of how long that temporal shock will last and they fully understand the transitioning process of high interest rates into low investment and economic activity, this is why they meet again as MPC after a few months to review it, they will not allow it to fully result into prolonged suppressed economic activity and low job creation. It is just a temporal measure and it is usually the best option given the detailed projections and analysis they do.

Note that BOZ works with fine figures, and depending on the level of impact they want their interventions to have on money supply, sometimes they even use a combination of monetary tools.

Where most analysts are missing the point, including Sean Tembo, is that they are assuming government wants to use MPR as a long term solution to driving inflation down to single digit when this is a short term measure. As a result they are prescribing long term alternative solutions, which unfortunately cannot help because the issue at hand is short term. A good example is Sean Tembo who is proposing that we ask all mining firms to start keeping all their earnings in Zambia so as to boost dollar supply and bring down the exchange rate. Good proposal, but this is a long term measure that involves a lot of delicate international politics and requires careful negotiation and implementation. Your child wants school fees because schools are opening next week and then you tell him that you have acquired a farm and you intend to plant maize next season to help you pay school fees other than borrowing. Yes that’s a good plan but it does not address the urgent school fees needed in a few days time. This is the same approach he used in his alternative budget where he proposed long term measures to raise revenue for next year. The arguments sound intelligent at face value but they do not address the problem which requires an urgent solution. How does the money you will raise after 5 years fund a budget next year?

Thank you and I come in peace!

NEW HERITAGE PARTY – PRESS STATEMENT

Is this a case of “Chimbwi No Plan”?

On 24th Nov 2021, the Bank of Zambia Governor announced an increase in the MPC rate from 8.5% to 9% and in the same statement proposed an increase of fuel prices and electricity tariffs. The effects of these proposed adjustments seem to go contrary to the UPND campaign promises of more jobs and a better economy.

Last week, we dubbed the UPND as the ‘United Party for National DISAPPOINTMENT’ with one of the key disappointments being the fact that they are hinging Zambia’s economic salvation on an IMF bailout. It is common knowledge that once engaged, the IMF begin to impose austerity measures, amongst them the removal of subsidies. This is what we are seeing with the proposed increases of fuel and electricity tariffs.

The increase in interest rates, coupled with increases in fuel prices and electricity tariff will hurt the pockets of every Zambian household. For businesses, it will mean less borrowing to invest in higher productivity and less employment as their costs begin to rise. These policies seem contractionary and counterintuitive to stimulating growth and liquidity in the market.

It has been 3 months of UPND in power and we at the New Heritage Party, along with many other stakeholders are still not clear with regard to the economic policy direction of this New Dawn Government. Their pronouncements and their actions appear to be at variance, hence the confusion.

As the New Heritage Party, our thinking is that the UPND could have focussed on reducing the exchange rate and stimulating economic growth through higher productivity, and lower costs of borrowing. We ask the question – is increasing the electricity tariff the only answer available to them – have they considered dealing with the serious in-house issues relating to ZESCO as a priority?

Does the UPND have any serious plans to put the country back on the right economic path? Is this a case of ‘Chimbwi No Plan’?

We continue to watch this space!!

CHISHALA KATEKA
PRESIDENT – NEW HERITAGE PARTY

ABOUT PRESIDENTIAL FOREIGN TRIPS

By Sean Tembo – PeP President

1. It is important for a Republican President to undertake trips to foreign countries provided such trips are substantially beneficial to Zambia. Kindly note my use of the term “substantially beneficial” as opposed to just beneficial. The question then becomes; when does a presidential foreign trip become substantially beneficial to Zambia? Well, from my standpoint, it is when the benefits of undertaking such a trip outweigh the costs. The costs of a foreign trip include the monetary cost of transportation, accommodation, food, allowances for the entourage, etcetera as well as the opportunity cost of traveling abroad instead of attending to domestic matters.
3. The benefits of a presidential foreign trip in my view include the tangible and the intangible. Tangible benefits are those which can be seen and measured, whereas intangible benefits are those that cannot be seen or measured, and whose existence is a matter of conjecture. Examples of tangible benefits include bilateral trade agreement with other countries whereby say Angola agrees to import all its chicken requirements from Zambia instead of Brazil or America which may translate to say 20 million metric tonnes over the next 10 years, and in return we agree to purchase all our crude oil requirements from Angola, for processing by Indeni. That is a mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement that would create jobs in Zambia as well as add to economic growth. Another key tangible benefit of a presidential foreign trip would be attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to Zambia in terms of companies from foreign countries coming to establish operations here and employing our people as well as contributing to the national tax basket. Intangible benefits include networking and creating goodwill between Zambia and other countries.
5. HH has so far undertaken five foreign trips; to the United States, Scotland, South Africa, Botswana and more recently to DRC Congo. All these five trips were to attend summits or conferences. These being the UN general assembly in the US, COP26 climate summit in Scotland, the Inter-Africa Trade Forum in South Africa, the International Children’s Day Commemoration in Botswana and the Africa Business Forum in DRC. Summits are essentially meet-and-greet talk shops which only bring about the intangible benefits of networking and goodwill but hardly bring about tangible benefits such as FDI and bilateral trade agreements (BTA).
7. You see, for a President to attract FDI to Zambia, or for relations between two countries to culminate into a BTA, a lot of one-on-one ground work has to be done. For instance, in the case of FDI, the Zambian mission in say Angola has to identify specific companies that can invest in specific sectors in Zambia and such companies need to be provided with all the information that they need to know about doing business here in terms of Labour laws, economic environment etcetera. Then our relevant Ministers headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs have to go to and meet the interested foreign companies and answer their questions related to specific sectors. It is only after the foreign companies are happy with the information that they have acquired will they considered coming for a physical visit here to come and see the business environment for themselves. When our President goes to visit such a foreign country, he would visit the premises of companies that are intending to set up shop here, just to get assurance that they are not briefcase investors.
9. Similarly, for bilateral trade agreements, a lot of background work has to be put in at Mission level as well as at respective ministerial level before a BTA can be drafted for review by each country. Even when a draft BTA is in place, Presidents and their advisors can speak over the phone to iron out particular thorny issues. By the time a President makes a foreign trip to a particular country, they need to just go and put ink to paper, toast some champagne and fly back, because all ground work would have already been done. As President, you cannot just jump on your presidential jet and swing by Malawi or Congo DRC looking for investors or trying to enhance trade relations when you have not done any ground work.
11. In the case of HH, he has not secured a single bilateral trade agreement in all the five trips that he has undertaken so far. Similarly, he has not attracted a single Ngwee of foreign direct investment despite spending millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money traveling around. That is because his trips are haphazard. They are not coordinated by prior groundwork at Zambian mission level or at ministerial level. Also, he has been focusing too much on summits and conferences as opposed to one-on-one bilateral trips to specific presidents of specific countries. Additionally, HH has got it wrong by believing that he is the Chief Marketing Officer of Zambia. He is not. As President, he is the Board Chairman of Zambia. The Secretary to Cabinet is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Zambia. The Minister of Foreign Affairs is our Chief Marketing Officer. By wrongly believing that he is the Chief Marketing Officer of Zambia, HH is taking over the job of his Foreign Affairs Minister and reducing him to his Aide de Camp. The Minister of ForeignAffairs should be able to embark on various trips in the region and overseas with his own entourage, and not just being in the shadow of the President whenever the President travels abroad.
13. On the other hand, HH should spend sufficient time here at home so that he can obtain a fair understanding of the domestic issues that require to be resolved. Issues to do with reducing the cost of living. Issues to do with hindrances to private sector growth. Issues that make it unattractive for investors to come here. Issues that prevent indigenous Zambians from meaningfully participating in our economy. How the poor and vulnerable can be assisted by the State in a sustainable manner. Those and several other issues require the President’s time and attention. Otherwise HH will be applying effort out there trying to attract investors to Zambia and then will be surprised that despite his manny trips abroad, investors are not coming, not knowing that he did not spend enough time and effort to make the local business environment conducive for investment.
15. My final advise to HH is that he should first spend enough time here at home to understand the structure of our economy and it’s various sectors so that even when he goes out there to the outside world, he will be speaking from a point of knowledge and not a point of ignorance. You cannot claim to be a chief marketing officer when you are new and blank on the job. You do not yet know the intricacies of the agriculture sector, mining sector, manufacturing sector, tourism sector, visual arts, etcetera and yet you want to go out there and speak about these sectors of the economy? You’ll just open your mouth for 5 minutes and your audience will see that you are just waffling. President Donald Trump, despite having been an established businessman in the US, spent about a year at home after becoming President, just understanding what is on the ground, before he ventured on foreign trips. The same with Joe Biden and Cyril Ramaphosa. So please, Mr President sir, you are the Board Chairman of Zambia. Stop knocking on doors around the globe. Let the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is our Chief Marketing Officer do his job. Thank you

/// END

SET 28.11.2021

SAVIOUR CHISHIMBA WRITES;

ECONOMIC HIT MEN AND THE UPND DISASTER

The economic hit men are already steering the statecraft. They want to increase fuel “because government spends US$26 million per month on fuel subsidies”. They want to increase electricity tariffs “because currently they are not cost reflective”. They have increased bank interest rates “because they want to control inflation”. Meanwhile, they have scraped off mineral royalties so that international mining companies can pocket US$3.2 billion per annum. This is US$266 million per month, which is ten times bigger that the US$26 million on the so called subsidies they are lamenting about everyday.

Interest rates in countries they are going to in the name of “economic diplomacy” are less than 3%. They want to deliberately kill Zambian owned businesses by increasing the cost of borrowing for investments while giving chance to their fellow international economic conmen to get loans from their countries and come in the name of foreign investors to reap off our nation and externalise everything. It’s a desecration of the graves to visit (while auctioning our nation) the gravesites of the men and women who paid with their blood to liberate us.

What is happening is the biggest saga of all times. The IMF is not the best manager of our economy. It’s utter nonsense to bring the IMF for a facility of US$1.3 billion or even more when we lose more than US$8 billion every year in the illegal trade of our emeralds. Remember that we have gold and other precious minerals before we even talk about our copper whose loot they are facilitating before our eyes. The hit men who are now in charge of our economy are heartless and their allegiance is to international institutions they belong to.

UPP, in government, will put the destiny of our nation in the hands of Zambians. Further, all central government structures will be realigned to Local Government under executive mayors. Each district will steer the development agenda for its people under the policy of “equal distribution of resources to all districts”. This is our Zambia and our resources are here. The hit men have offshore accounts as our people continue to live in untold misery.

Saviour Chishimba
UPP LEADER

UPP: #Development of #Zambia for #Zambians!

VOTE for No PAYE; No Sales Tax; No Market & TV levies; No tolls on Public Roads; Land redistribution & decent houses for all Zambians.

ZambiaMustBeFreed!

ZAMBIANS DESERVE AN APOLOGY FROM HH AND HIS COHORTS, CHARGES KABIMBA

Zambians deserve an apology from HH and his cohorts before they start insulting our intelligence, Wynter Kabimba has charged.

Speaking with Daily Revelation over the statements from government leaders, which he has interpreted as coming from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kabimba, the Rainbow Party (RP) leader, said he listened to the press briefing by presidential spokesperson Anthony Bwalya and the response from Vice-President Mutale Nalumango, trying to cover up the instructions and conditionalities they have received from the IMF.

He said after listening to both, he can clearly tell that the UPND is “insulting the intelligence of Zambians.”

“Insulting the intelligence of Zambians in that now they have arrived there. They have got the power which HH so desperately wanted. They have now been redeemed, some of them from their poverty levels,” Kabimba said. “They are now driving vehicles which they never drove before. They are living in houses which they never lived in before. What do they do now? It’s to try to insult Zambians to tell Zambians ‘you have warped memories, you forget so easily’.”

Kabimba said he was happy that Zambians were able to remind those in the UPND over their social media postings when they were in the opposition.

“They didn’t know they were archiving their lies. The same Anthony Bwalya issued a statement in 2016 to reduce the fuel pump price from between K12-K13 when they come to power…HH said the same. He was daring PF thinking it’s impossible to reduce pump price of fuel. ‘We will fix it ourselves’,” Kabimba said. “Just like he went to UNZA and said ‘there is going to be bursary for everyone’, and in a chorus they answer forward.”

Kabimba continued.

“And the chap is taking this country backwards now. Now trying to manipulate the minds of Zambians. Listening to Mutale Nalumango, with due respect of her teaching profession, trying to reason like a villager, ‘no, you know when you want to go to town, you want to pass through North Mead and you will get to town’,” Kabimba said. “That is IMF language that ‘we are giving you these conditions. That the situation will be difficult at first but turn out better’. No African country has ever seen the situation better after meeting the IMF conditionalities.”

Kabimba warned that accepting the IMF conditionalities, which he said were being pushed through the UPND, will make life unbearable for Zambians.

“Instead of UPND apologising to Zambians that ‘we are ignorant, we didn’t know what we were talking about’. Zambians deserve an apology from HH and his cohorts before they start insulting our intelligence. They lied to us,” Kabimba said. “He said vote for change and a better future. A better future can’t lie in increased Zesco tariffs, increase pump price of fuel. It can’t lie in laying off INDENI workers. It can’t lie in removing 116 district commissioners and remove them from the payroll. That action can only come from a heartless man.”

Kabimba urged Zambians that in the same manner they did to PF by removing them from power, they should do the same to UPND in 2026.

On arguments that the UPND found a daunting reality in government left behind by the PF, Kabimba said the same UPND actually disputed the debt figures given by the PF, saying the figures were higher than those publicly stated by the former ruling party.

“So if they knew that time, surely that argument can’t run parallel to the promise that ‘we are going to reduce pump prices’,” Kabimba argued. “The man boasted that he has some of the best economists whom we haven’t seen, apart from the young boys and girls he has surrounded himself with. Even with that they said they will make sure the pump price is reduced.”

On placing INDENI on care and maintenance in order to ensure efficiency in the supply of fuel, Kabimba said the UPND knew the status of INDENI, and if they were serious about taking over, they would have done an analysis of the company and its contribution to the high pump price.

“But even with that knowledge they said the pump price will be reduced downwards. They have absolutely no excuse for backtracking. The only excuse is that they are a bunch of liars…that is unacceptable, immoral and unforgivable,” said Kabimba, wondering how many “more lies” they will tell in five years if they “have lied” this much in just three months. http://dailyrevelationzambia.com/zambians-deserve-an-apology-from-hh-and-his-cohorts-charges-kabimba/

By Oliver Chisenga

THE UPND should try to manage “some of the political ‘lies’ they used to win elections”, says University of Zambia lecturer Kelvin Mambwe.

Dr Mambwe, who is also University of Zambia Lecturers and Researchers’ Union (UNZALARU) general secretary, urged the UPND government to try and manage the propaganda such improvement of the kwacha against the US dollar, student meal allowances, cheaper fuel, a depoliticised civil service, lower Pay As You Earn (PAYE).

“These ‘lies’ have the potential to make the UPND a one term government especially now that Zambians have learned how to get rid of
crooks, liars and thieves. The earlier they begin to address and manage these ‘lies’ the better for them and the country,” Dr Mambwe said.

He said the end justifies the means thus the ‘lies’ were inevitable to get rid of the PF that destroyed the nation.

Dr Mambwe urged the UPND to listen to dissenting voices and address the concerns expressed as it would be critical to the success or failure of the new government.

“The political ‘lies’ or promises should I call them, were perhaps important to get rid of the PF that destroyed our nation. I can’t imagine Zambia under the PF today. Going forward, it is very important that the high expectations of the citizens that voted for the UPND are well managed through clear and timely communication of the government’s vision, communication that would be understood by the grassroots,” he said. “This is why it significant to provide clear timelines when some of the promises that the party in government gave are expected to be actualised. I see this missing in the current dispensation. We are blank. We don’t know what is happening.”

Dr Mambwe said people want cheap fertiliser, “they want cheap fuel, UNZA employees want to be paid their dues as promised before the August 12 elections”.

He said communication is key in managing people’s expectations lest they begin to conclude they were duped.

“All these people want to know when their expectations are likely to be met. I am confident that if these timely warnings are not construed to be anti-government, but addressed accordingly, we will see a different Zambia,” said Dr Mambwe.

LEADERSHIP CRISIS IN PF VISIBLY VISIBLE: PF MUST IMMEDIATELY REPLACE ECL TO SURVIVE POLITICALLY.

Unless PF makes a bold decision on its moribund leadership esp the presidency, its future is as bleak as that of the houses built in Forest 27.

As we speak, the PF has no substantive SG, national Chairperson, media director, elections chairperson among other key positions in the party to make it competively compete.

The former vice-president of the party and the republic, Bo Inonge Wina, the running mate, Prof Nkandu Luo among others have also been quiet as if they are not party of the former ruling party.

Currently, the PF president, who is also former republican president, EDGAR CHAGWA Lungu, has been conspicuous invisible to the public eye and to party political activities

However, he is only visible to MCCs as he is said to be presiding over the meetings of the central committee whenever they are convened and he is making apppoints.

With 8 PF seats nullified so far by the Courts, no word has come from the PF president, not even on arrests of his senior members.

A by-election is looming in Kabwata, the PF president is quiet and unable to provide direction and leadership to the party over this by-election.

This was the same posture he assumed during the recently held by-elections.

Yet, this is the same party president who chairs the central committee that decided to hold the national congress to replace him in June, 2022.

In this regard, PF is playing some dangerous and oblivion political games with President Lungu’s continued stay at the helm of the PF.

If not careful, PF will retire along side President Lungu’s pending retirement in June 2021, after the proposed party National Congress, for good.

Since president Lungu, the PF president, has assumed a quiet role in national and party politics, the best he can do is to resign on political and moral grounds or facilitate for a quick holding of the party congress by Dec 2021 to allow an independent rebranding, restructuring and rebuilding of the party.

Whatever makes the PF president to be quiet and immobile even when his successor has guaranteed citizens and political opponents the freedom of expression, association, assembly and movement, is a guess for the good guessors.

But most probably, it is selfishness as he does not want to lose his benefits as former president while still blocking others from taking over the party presidency from him.

I submit

McDonald Chipenzi

EXPLAIN REASONS FOR DECISION TO PLACE INDENI UNDER CARE AND MAINTENANCE* PF MCC

………as MCC Mundubile challenges New Dawn government to “fix” and not to abandon

A Member of the Central Committee in the former ruling Party, the Patriotic Front (PF) has challenged the UPND government to come out in the open and explain the exact reasons, which were unknown to Zambians why it has taken the decision to place INDENI OIL Refinery under care and maintenance

Member of the Central Committee and leader of the opposition in Parliament Brian Mundubile said in Kasama shortly before departure for Lusaka today that the decision government has taken lacks proper expert input.

Mr. Mundubile who is also Member of Parliament for Mporokoso Central in Northern Province said the New Dawn government of President Haakainde Hichilema did not conduct a Comprehensive Regulatory Impact Assessment before reaching the decision.

Mr. Mundubile said there could be other reasons unknown that motivated the decision which he said , Zambians would also want to know.

He said, “now that government wants to transport finished products the same way crude oil was transported, Zambians want to know what security measures they have put in place” adding that the CRUDE OIL being transported through the TAZAMA Oil Pipeline did not attract any thefts, saying “and now that the government wants to transport a finished product through the same old, leaking pipeline, they should explain the measures they have put in place to protect the product

Mr. Mundubile said he does not believe that the UPND government has put in enough security measures in place to protect the product and said technically, the system losses which resulted in throughput only accounted for leakages and not theft.

He advised that government to rethink their position and challenged the Minister responsible to tell the nation which middlemen government was removing in that value chain, how much are the savings and then what the costs of their decision would be.

” Government needed to consider the plight of the workers first before embarking on this mammoth project and I know there was no credible engagement with workers’ representatives that I believe would have resulted in making a better decision”, he said.

The PF MCC said he was surprised that the UPND wanted to work with a defeatist attitude where it abandoned difficult situations to take the easy way out

“Zambians expected Bally to ” fix” things and not to do it in a way of abandoning”, he concluded.

RESPONDING TO BROTHER EMMANUEL MWAMBA OVER ALLOWANCES.

I have noted with gratitude the article on sitting allowances written by my good friend who not too long ago was a civil servant himself and now a politician.

I want to make it clear that what I have writen here is my personal views and that the said views herein do not represent the position of the UPND Alliance nor Government. This is strictly a whatsapp conversation meant for social and not official consumption.

Let me begin by agreeing with him (Mwamba) firstly that, Yes, Sitting Allowances for civil servants, were abolished in 2012. However, other allowances remained such as Subsistence and Out of Pocket among various others. And the President did not call out a specific allowance like sitting allowance but rather mentioned allowances in general meaning, this can relate to but not explicitly sitting allowance only.

So do senior civil servants and officials still receive allowances beyond the ban of allowances such as sitting allowance from 2012?

Yes they do and this is what happens, the organisers of these meetings and workshops who are junior to middle management civil servants whom we shall reffer to as the “tu chawa committee”, would go out of their way to impress the “clique” by ensuring one way or another, they still got Govt money into their pockets even on an ordinary working day.

How? The tu chawa committee would organize meetings and/or workshops involving Government Officials at venues such as Mika Lodge or Sandy’s Creation and then pay allowances of K900 or more depending on your position for the day claiming that Mika Lodge is in Chongwe District whilst Sandy’s Creation is in Chilanga District for example and therefore the Officials are out of their jurisdiction hence allowances being paid to them.

Positions such as that of a PS get over K1200 per day.

President HH simply handed a cure to this mischief, the forth coming workshop for Ministers and Permanent Secretaries will be at Mulungushi International Conference Center within Lsk so no allowances expected to be paid out.

Then I want to also believe that the traveling Provincial Ministers and PSs shall be accommodated and fed hence only attract an out of pocket allowance which is like K240 per day.

This works out cheaper and prudent in utilization of public funds as is envisioned and espoused by His Excellency the President.

Ala mukose ba clique, the days of chewing free money from Govt are over. It’s now time to work for the pipo of Zambia and correctly earning what is truly due to one and not free stealing of public resources.

The days of applying low standards to high office are over!

Bally is fixing this.

Thabo Kawana.

By Laura Miti

100 days is too short a period for a President to have any concrete achievements. It is, however, long enough for conclusions to be reached on the direction a presidency is taking. It, in that period, becomes evident what is important to a president and what not. It is also clear enough which of the campaign promises are likely to be pursued and which, maybe, not.
My view of the first 100 days of the Hichilema presidency is as follows:

LIKES

1. HH is a present president. The void at the top that was quite frustrating, in the last 7 years, has been filled by an individual that seems very comfortable in his own skin, assured of his own convictions and keenly aware that his office comes with not only privilege but also responsibility. Simply, there is undoubtedly a President in office.
2. The cadre problem that seemed intractable, has been largely sorted. At the very minimum, citizens know that they can stand up to a ruling party thug, trying to bully them. More importantly, the untouchable nature of cadre life has ended and citizens can report harassment to the police. This is, in my view, a 100% HH achievement. He had to override senior members of his party that were beginning to buckle under the pressure of members, who wanted a bit of the crime paradise their PF colleagues enjoyed.
3. Linked to no 2, I have always thought that one of the most important freedoms every government should guarantee is the poor Zambian’s ability to hustle for a living. This a country in which, even in good economic times, the poor battle to eat, and power holders are largely unaware of or unfeeling for the struggle for existence majority citizens are engaged in. If you consider how broken the services millions access, it is true that government is largely an academic argument in the lives of most Zambians. For that reason, no government has the right to make it difficult for the poor to scratch for a living in the way that PF cadres did. It is therefore huge, for me, that while we wait for the miracle of an economic turnaround, poor women can once again wake up in the morning buy their tomato and sell it. Critically, they can, since August 12, also go home with the full K10 profit. Because they do not have to share that little profit with some thug in a party T-shirt, they can buy a pamela, bunch of rape and a bit of oil for the day’s meal. Huge achievement for me, which must be sustained.
5. Zambians can, once again, speak their mind without threats of or actual reprisals. Gosh, are they speaking! People I thought had died have resurrected on Facebook, full of opinions. This is so much that even PF leaders that, in my view, should be hiding their faces in shame over what they did to the country, are free to go from radio to TV station demanding that the new President fix, in 100 days, what they took 10 years to destroy. It takes a presidency that is committed to upholding citizen rights to resist what must be the real temptation to give predecessors a small taste of their own medicine. Citizen freedom of speech is an unquestionable achievement of the first 3 months of the HH presidency.
7. Other than just speak, my sense is the level and topics of engagement have fundamentally improved, since elections. There is space for intellectual debate – citizens discuss the budget, how that budget will be funded, whether the IMF is the way to go rather. A shift from tackling a new mindless scandal every day. I like that.
8. The direction towards making rural citizens real rather than imagined Zambians is a big directional plus of the new presidency. For the first time in my adult life, a president insists that Lusaka is not Zambia.
9. A social budget that promotes the education and, therefore, creates an educational path out of poverty for citizens, is an achievement.
10. Appointments in the offices that will oversee the economy, as well as of senior judicial officers, came across as very well thought out.
12. The President has not tried to weaken the opposition, civil society and the media by appointing multiple individuals from these groups into government positions. What this means is that these institutions of democracy can continue to hold government to account, without needing to regroup, like happened after the 2001 and 2011 elections, especially. Good decision, me thinks.
14. ZNBC news is watchable again, phew!
15. Pronouncements promising amendments to the Constitution, Public Order Act and to pass the Access to Information law have been categorically made. If carried through, these are legislative changes that would entrench our democracy. I am happy with the seeming commitment to make legislative changes that have long been in the pipeline.

DISLIKES

1. Presidential and government communication has been a scene of runaway chaos, in the last 100 days. There are just too people talking on behalf of the principle who seem unable to streamline their statements, much less communicate effectively. Anyone, from Party SG to the President’s spokesperson, can speak about anything on any day and bungle it up. Gosh, it is a mess in there! To be honest, the UPND was a communication and PR mess, even in opposition. It seems that dog’s dinner of a communication strategy is continuing in government and especially around the presidency. The President needs to address this urgently, before it messes him up.
2. Linked to number 1, is the absence of one strong communication lead to articulate the direction government is taking. Someone who can confidently, convincingly, regularly and, importantly, timely, articulate to the nation government’s achievements and challenges. Without a recognisable communication lead, issues that could easily be explained (or spun) have become social media fodder.
3. Some of the appointments President Hichilema has made are baffling. There are Ministers and Permanent Secretaries that should probably have been left for boards and the diplomatic service, if indeed the President felt constrained to appoint them.
4. Linked to number 3, is that some Ministers seem totally at sea. They have not made a single statement that shows a well thought out direction for the sectors they are responsible for.
5. The investigations around corruption seem haphazard and going nowhere. This has resulted in a sense of continued arrogance and insult to citizens from many who became miraculously rich in the last 7 years.
6. I don’t like the term “the new dawn government” on repeat, but that’s just me.

To round it off, my overarching 100 days HH presidency review question was – when everything is said and done, does this President come across as being competent, understanding his responsibilities and, importantly, wanting what is good for us, not him. My answer is – yes.

I think the HH administration has experienced some painful teething problems. My first 100 days overall sense, however, is that it is a presidency that is focusing on the public good. Personal interest does not, for now, seem to inform this President’s choices.
We citizens must keep watching – hawk eyed.

By Alexander Nkosi

1. HOW WILL A HIGHLY INDEBTED COUNTRY AFFORD SUBSIDIES?
In 2022, Zambia’s domestic revenue is projected at K98.9 billion. A total of K78.6 billion will go to debt service. When we add the huge civil service wage bill, all the domestic revenue is exhausted. This means that we have to borrow to cover other important items outlined in the budget, and this includes social sector spending and activities aimed at stimulating the economy. Our external debt is $12.9 billion, domestic debt is K189.7 billion and domestic arrears stand at K46.9 billion. As debt is rising one would expect since we are borrowing heavily, arrears should be going down, but unfortunately both debt and arrears are increasing.

2. FUEL AND ELECTRICITY SUBSIDIES
In a country like Zambia where the cost of production and cost of living is so high, fuel and electricity subsidies play a key role both to producers and consumers. Removing these subsidies will increase the cost of production, reduce profitability, growth and job creation. It will also increase the cost of living. This is a fact we cannot dispute even if the impact has not been quantified. The question is much as we know the importance of these subsidies, how do we afford them given our debt and economic situation? Accruing more debt and arrears to provide subsidies will only lead to a situation where we struggle to provide electricity and fuel leading to a situation worse than the removal of subsidies. Let us take a closer look at the fuel and electricity subsidies to appreciate the dilemma we face.

3. FUEL
Between December 2020 and October 2021, the prices of petrol and diesel increased by 89% and 76% respectively. Despite this increase, Zambia did not adjust the pump prices to reflect the cost. Zambia effectively subsidised and because we don’t have money to meet this fuel subsidy, we ended up accruing arrears. Fuel arrears have significantly risen due to the price differential between the landed cost of petroleum products and the pump price. The stock of fuel arrears as at end-August 2021 stood at US $477.79 million. On average, the monthly cost of subsidising fuel is $21 million and this is bound to rise based on projections. The task at hand is to dismantle the $477.79 million arrears and also meet the $21 million monthly subsidy. Where does this come from in an economy where all domestic revenue is exhausted by just two items (wage bill and debt service)? Do we borrow more? Our debt is unsustainable. If we keep accruing arrears, we risk have prolonged periods of fuel shortages which would hurt the economy more than cost reflective prices. What do we do?

4. ELECTRICITY
With regards to electricity, ZESCO buys at a high price from Independent Power Producers (IPP) at an average of US$c11/kWh and sells to its customers at an average tariff of US$c7/kWh. As a result, it owes IPPs about US$ 1.1 billion for the supply of power. Despite only contributing 20% of total power distributed by ZESCO, IPPs consume about 47% of ZESCO’s total revenue. The other issue is that most of the cost related transactions by ZESCO are dollar denominated while it sells to domestic consumers in kwacha. With kwacha depreciating, this has led to huge losses. When the last tariff adjustment was made, the exchange rate was K12/ $, however it increased to K22/$ by 2021, leading to a huge loss. Between 2018 to 2020, ZESCO made losses amounting to $432 million due to kwacha depreciation. By September 2021, ZESCO’s total debt rose to $3.5 billion.

How do we dismantle the $3.5 billion debt? How do we attract more private players into power generation when we are owing the existing ones $1.1 billion? How do these IPPs expand and improve generation if they are owed so much? Efforts are being made to renegotiate and increase tariffs in the mining sector but this won’t be enough to address this high level of indebtedness. Even after restructuring, ZESCO will still have problems if it does not review its business model. How does government bailout out ZESCO when it is also high indebted and actually owes OMC $524 million and ZESCO around $53 million?

5. DO WE BLAME IMF?
We have not had any solution to these problems but we just left them to pile while deceiving ourselves we were managing to subsidise. A subsidy that is funded by simply accruing so much debt and arrears to unsustainable levels is counterproductive. Hence even before we bring in IMF and accuse it of impose removal of fuel and electricity subsidies on us, the question is what alternative solutions do we have apart from motivational speeches from critics? As we are debating this, people are consuming electricity and fuel and our level of indebtedness is getting worse. Apart from cost reflective prices, what immediate alternative solutions do we have and what is the estimated impact of those alternative solutions?

6. CONCLUSION
It is true that reverting to cost reflective electricity tariffs and fuel prices will increase the cost of production and lower profitability, growth and job creation. It will also increase the cost of living. The problem is that the debt levels are already unsustainable and we need concrete solutions with a quantifiable impact. We have not been affording these subsidies, all we have been doing is accruing arrears and if this goes unchecked we risk having frequent power and fuel shortages which will hurt us more than the cost reflective tariffs.

Reverting to cost reflective prices looks inevitable much as it also comes with negative effects on both producers and consumers. We have to revert to cost reflective tariffs and start looking at ways of pushing down costs through reforms. For fuel, we should revisit procurement and transportation though it might not result in any significant change in the short run. We further have to consider putting up infrastructure for huge strategic reserves to help cushion us from sharp changes on the international market. For electricity, we have to promote alternative energy sources for domestic use to cushion them from high tariffs. We further have to speed up restructuring and explore ways of efficiently delivering electricity to consumers. Increased competition in electricity generation could also lead to a reduction in future though not quantified.

Overall, we need to understand that these hard choices we have to make where the opportunity costs are high will mean the pace at which we fix the economy won’t be as fast as anticipated, hence there is need for buy-in by Zambians. This calls for efficient civil service and quasi government institutions, supportive citizenry and robust communication machinery.

Thank you.

STATEMENT BY AMB. FRANK BWALYA

That is what I got from him as statement

To you who mean well for me, please know that some people have and will continue to create malicious stories to make my landing home rough and to injure my character as usual.

Please know that I have not spoken to any journalist about anything to do with my recall. Moreover, I am not aware of the female relative who is a journalist named by a certain social media platform.

You know me as a man who speaks his mind but I have not spoken what is being attributed to me about my recall. On the day of departing Australia, God willing, I will speak and my speech or statement will be full of gratitude for the opportunity to serve at such a high level.

I will thank the Zambian people, Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, the staff at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, members of staff at the Mission, my dear wife and family (not least) and other people I am indebted to.

Above all, I will glorify God and then I will leave gracefully in line with the honour of the office I have occupied for almost 4 years. When I land in Zambia, God willing, I will take time to mourn my relatives and friends, as earlier said, and behave as a responsible citizen in line with the high position my country accorded me.

Regarding my future, I need to discern. So, please ignore the false and malicious stories attributed to me.

Finally, let me reiterate my statement that I acknowledge His Excellency President Hakainde Hichilema as the President of the Republic of Zambia and that I respect his office and himself as the person occupying the office. I also respect Zambians who voted for him and his party.

Finally, I am still a civil servant and loyal to the government of the day. So, I have not said anything publicly or privately to undermine Public Service Ethics.

Love conquers all.

Frank Bwalya
Outgoing Zambia’s High Commissioner to the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand.

27th November 2021

Former Defence Minister in the MMD Government George Mpombo has said that President Hakainde Hichilema has appointed what he described as some “Tamanga” business guys as permanent secretaries.

Speaking in an interview after witnessing the court petition judgment for Masaiti PF member of parliament Michael Katambo, Mr. Mpombo said that also described UPND’s 90 days in power as a complete disaster.

“The 90 days of UPND in power is a complete disaster, it’s a shame actually. What is orderly about their performance? You can see, here is a party which in opposition said will do away with district commissioners. Now they assemble a group of political cadres,” he said.

“District commissioners perform critical functions in government. Now, where you take a guy doing tamanga business in Buteko or Lusaka, what are you doing? You are knifing progress in the back.”

He charged that the current Cabinet consists of people with dubious backgrounds.

Mpombo wondered what would happen in government if all permanent secretaries were party cadres.

“If they are not going to change, they will end up like the Tonse Alliance in Malawi. People elect the government, so where the hell do they get some dubious Alliance member Mr [Thabo] Kawana or some other people to address the people of Zambia? Which mandate do they use? These are party cadres with no mandate to speak to the Zambian people. Zambians will be spoken to by the elected people, people that have the legitimacy and not people doing tamanga business and make them PS. It is a setback.”

He said the UPND government is almost at zero in terms of performance.

Mpombo also said President Hichilema should be humble enough and move into State House.

“This government is almost like zero. The state of the nation is moving directionless. The Head of State can’t move into State House, is HH telling us that the other presidents are a bunch of political nitwits?” he asked. “For HH to say State House is inhabitable is an insult. If he is humble enough, he should move in. That is the designated house. UPND by its conduct is launching rockets of disunity in the country.”

Meanwhile, Mpombo said Katambo’s victory is massive and would produce more fire in parliament. He said Zambians needed strong checks and balances in parliament.

“This is a colossal victory because Katambo is a ball of fire and very productive. The verdict by the High Court is a vivid manifestation of the trust people have in his activities. These kinds of decisions by the courts go a long way in deepening the tenants of democracy. It is important that the will of the people is upheld. This victory is far the viral if democracy is to develop,” said Mpombo.

“UPND, this party is a source of great concern. When in opposition, they were at the forefront of calling for democratic practices but having massive petitions all over the country! The intention here is to reduce or dilute the substance of opposition in Zambia, and there is no country that can develop with a weak democracy. You need strong checks and balances in parliament, somebody to rise. So, this idea of mushrooming petitions must be condemned and it is a serious indictment against the dismal performance of the UPND government.”

A Small Brief On Government Allowances

SITTING ALLOWANCES WERE ABOLISHED IN 2012

By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba

I was rather surprised to hear His Excellency President Hakainde Hichilema state that no sitting allowances, as was done in the past, will be paid to both Ministers and Permanent Secretaries when they hold a workshop in Lusaka next week.

Sitting allowances were abolished in 2012.

I expected a quick rebuttal or clarification from Cabinet Office.

It has not.

Renumerative allowances that include sitting allowances were abolished in 2012/13 when Government implemented the 2010 Pay Policy.

This Policy revised conditions of service and payment of allowances to government officials. It abolished almost all renumerative allowances such as sitting, overtime, lunch, bonuses allowances and consolidated them into a salary.

Sitting allowances were abolished.

However, Government retained only duty-facilitating allowances. Government still pays duty-facilitating allowances for those officers working outside station, outside town or outside the country.

Government introduced Daily-Subsistence Allowances for officers and officials traveling outside town.

Even in this case, sitting allowances were abolished as government pays for accommodation and food, and a small out-of-pocket allowance.

In the case of the workshop due next week, Government will NOT pay any allowances, including sitting allowances to Ministers and Permanent Secretaries based in Lusaka.

However, it will pay duty-facilitating allowances to those Provincial Ministers and Provincial Permanent Secretaries from outside Lusaka to allow and facilitate their travel, and their accommodation.

Infact, for fuel, imprest was abolished and a standard formula was devised to pay based on numbers of kilometers to be covered. The Minister or PS from Kabwe, Central Province will not receive the same fuel amount as the PS coming from Solwezi or Kasama.

So to be clear, no Minister or Permanent Secretaries based in Lusaka received or were paid allowances for their meetings, workshop, ad-hoc, committees and other such function being held at Mulungushi International Conference or Government Complex which form part of their normal daily duties in Lusaka.

However, every government, including that of President Hichilema has bemoaned the abuse of public resources using unnecessary workshops or deliberately moving such meetings and workshops to places like Livingstone so that officials could benefit from stipends.

This must be curtailed and justification shown why such Meetings should take place outside town or in person.

Infact, pandemic has shown us that nearly all meetings including Cabinet Meetings and one due to take place next week can take occur virtually and this can save huge government resources.

HIGH COURT UPHOLDS ELECTION OF CHINKULI AS KANYAMA MP

…as Chinkuli calls judgement ‘a re-birth’ for the constituency

Lusaka~November, 26, 2021

The Lusaka High Court has upheld the election of Monti Chinkuli as MP for Kanyama.

Delivering judgement today at Lusaka High Court, Kitwe based High Court Judge, Charles Chanda stated that the grounds availed before him by the petitioner didn’t guarantee nullifying the seat.

And Chinkuli, who has thanked the youths and women in the constituency for supporting him during the time the Petition, further described the judgement as a “re-birth for Kanyama”.

Losing PF candidate, Elizabeth Phiri petitioned the Kanyama seat in Kanyama citing violence and unfair political playing field during the elections.

He charged that it was regrettable that the PF had proceeded to petition the Kanyama seat when they were the ones in the forefront perpetrating political violence and other malpractices against the then opposition party, UPND.

He says the judgement is a victory for the people of Kanyama who ushered the UPND in power during the August 12th elections.

He also accused the opposition PF of being the ones behind the pockets of violence and other electoral malpractices that flawed the electoral process.

Meanwhile, UPND Lusaka Province Chairperson, Obvious Mwaliteta has toasted the Petition results, calling the judgement “historic”.

He also implored the PF to take a leaf from today’s judgement.

Hon Mwaliteta, who accused the PF of tormenting Zambians due to the use of violence, has since assured Zambians that President Hichilema was committed to ensuring that there is no political violence in Zambia going under the UPND regime.

He has since congratulated Mr Chinkuli for emerging victorious in the Petition.

He also called on PF cadres who have taken over the operations of markets and bus stations to immediately vacate these public spaces.

The President ordered that there shall be no political thuggery in the markets and other public places.

“We are aware of PF cadres dressed in UPND regalia intimidating traders and collecting levies we are giving you 48hrs to leave the markets. we know you.” says Hon Mwaliteta

UPND MEDIA TEAM

AMOS CHANDA TEKANYA- CHILUFYA TAYALI

Given – Amos may have been targeted by some big guys in PF as a come back for the things they believe he could have done to them as well.

However, having been part of the Presidency, I think he should swallow some of the things coming his way, because I think he is making things worse and he might be buried.

Look at Chilubanama, in spite of whatever, the man is quiet. Same with Kaisa Sulu.

We may also go back and look at Richard Sakala on how he was persecuted and ended up in jail, but he never engaged in this kind of behaviour.

The best relationship to admire is that of Dickson Jere and President Rupiah Bwezani Banda.

Awe Amos tekanya mune, in Bemba we say, “Kabundi chefya Umutwe, Impako shaba nabene”, elyo kabili, “Ukulinganya am*tole nabakalamba, kulaponwesha”.

Amos Chanda wrote-

I think I am not the one to be blackmailed or bullied by threats.

As I said those with information must produce it instead of just making unfounded allegations to ACC in the dark.

I will defend myself and those surrogates grand standing here will make the case of their sponsors worse.

I am just helping you to “take me to jail” quicker instead of you sustaining a false story for three years that I took this and that. I was put on trial falsely on speed cameras; how can ACC bring PF alleged charges and you think I should carry the burden for anyone, being it on if you think oath means surrendering yourself to prison for things you did not do, you can keep your oath. In any case let your sponsors and not your minions approach me.

KCM owners and all the people I talked about are still alive; why are losing sleep over them. Take it from me, never again will I be used as scapegoat!

As you make those threats, the people in question are in fact appreciating the situation and wanting to make things better rather than worse. Don’t threaten me bring it on.

My oath ended on June 6, 2019, any allegation that comes to me after that will be dealt with in a manner I deem fit.

My persecutors won’t tell me how I put up my Defence anymore than I should be telling them how they persecute me.

Why are sweating? If any oath has been broken, approach the police and complain? If I was fired tell me who fired me.

The person to who I rendered my resignation is still alive and all details are with both he and I what’s your beef over my life.

Defend whoever you want to defend I will defend myself.

By Chamuka Shalubala,

PF vice-president Given Lubinda says the party will use all legal means at its disposal to ensure it protects its seats that have been nullified.

In an interview, Thursday, Lubinda described the ongoing nullification of seats as UPND’s fulfillment agenda to turn Zambia into a dictatorship.

“This is the fulfillment of the agenda of the UPND to turn Zambia into a party dictatorship. They know very well that with credible opposition, they cannot manage to be in governance to and beyond 2026.

So their agenda is to frustrate the opposition and to do everything they can to disturb the PF. However the country must be made aware of the fact that the PF shall not take this line down,” he said.

“We are going to protect our seats first using all legal means that are at our disposal. We shall not leave any legal recourse, we shall use whatever legal process to defend our seats for the sake of protecting Zambia’s multiparty democracy. If that fails, we shall also go out in the fields and do what we know how to do best.

There is no political party in Zambia that knows how to mobilize better than the Patriotic Front. We mobilized within 10 years and formed a government.”

Lubinda said as far as the party was concerned, no PF member of parliament was involved in any act that would attract a nullification of their seat.

“When we say we are rebranding, it means just that. We are getting rid of all the bad vices that brought us were we are so that we remain the only party of choice, so that in an event that some of these things, the nullification by the High Court is upheld by the Constitutional Court, those decisions will find that we already have our heels tied to the ground to defend and retain our seats,” he said.

“As far as we are concerned, none of our members of parliament were involved in any act that should warrant a nullification of their seats. On the balance of probability, it is actually the UPND candidates who misconducted themselves as was seen across the country where people were killed, where PF members were killed during voting. This occurred across the country.”

He further expressed surprise that some seats that had been petitioned on similar grounds received opposing judgements.

“The only surprising thing is that cases, petitions with similar grounds are receiving opposing judgements. That is quite surprising and that is the reason why we have instructed our lawyers and all our members [to review] these judgments, so that we can see what the Constitutional Court can say about it,” said Lubinda

“So we are simply exercising our right to be heard by the highest court in that Constitutional Court. In case we don’t reach justice at that level, we shall certainly appeal to the final arbiter and the final arbiter are the people of Zambia. So we shall not stop at anything to protect our seats.”

By Alexander Nkosi

In most cases people debate with incomplete information. Not that it is bad to debate but we always have to do so with caution because while our arguments could be theoretically correct, they could be wrong when contextualised.

The Bank of Zambia Monetary Policy Committee at its November 2021 meeting decided to raise the Monetary Policy Rate ( MPR) by 50 basis points to 9.0 percent.

This means that interest rates will go up and the cost of borrowing for investment will go up, economic activities will go down and the job creation agenda will be hurt. The question is, what is the estimated impact on the economy of the increase in interest rates resulting from an increase in MPR? The public does not have this information but experts at BOZ use econometric tools to estimate this.

Now let us look at the flip side. Usually when BOZ is compelled to raise the MPR, it means that there are forces building that could lead to either an increase in inflation or affect efforts to reduce it. So how does high inflation affect the economy? It affects both production and consumption as the cost of production as well as the expenditure on consumption go up. It erodes the purchasing power of the currency. If inflation is high, you will spend more on buying the same quantity of goods and services, it means that you will spend more and save less. There are times when the incentive to save to earn interest is overpowered by the desire to withdraw and spend since the cost of goods and services has gone up. Hence, high inflation hurts the economy just like high interest rates do. The question is what is the estimated impact of high inflation on the economy?

So we can see that the decision to raise MPR has both advantages and disadvantages, how then are decisions made? While a layman works with theories only, experts at BOZ work with econometric analysis, they work with numbers. The detailed analysis looks at both sides and helps them decide on the decision which will best benefit the economy under the given circumstances. This goes down to numbers which public debaters don’t have. Also note that MPR is not fixed for the whole year, it can go up and come down the next time it is reviewed, all this is informed by current and projected economic dynamics. So BOZ might raise it now to help reduce the negative impact of building forces and reduce it after some months.

In conclusion the decision is arrived at after analysing the current and projected economic fundamentals and asking the two questions: 1)What is the estimated impact on the economy of an increase in interest rates resulting from an increase in MPR? 2) What is the estimated impact of high inflation on the economy? Using econometric tools, experts at BOZ weigh the two and make a decision based on current and projected change in economic fundamentals, both internal and external factors. So while those complaining about the increase in MPR could have theoretically correct reasons, they lack tools and a comprehensive picture which experts at BOZ and MoF have which necessitated the decision taken, hence there is need to criticise with caution. There is close consultation between the monetary policy team and the fiscal policy team before such decisions are taken.

Thank you.

POLICE ARREST OF FORMER PETAUKE DC OVER AIDING THE ISSUANCE OF NRCs TO MINORS IS COMMENDABLE: INVESTIGATIONS MUST EXTEND TO THE FORMER MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND OFFICERS IN DNRPC.

The disclosure by the Police that it has arrested former Petauke DC for aiding issuance of NRCs to minors must be a wake up call on the new dawn government to the extent how compromised our security documents are just because of the elections.

According to Police statement issued today, the police have charged and arrested former Petauke District Commissioner Ms Velenasi Banda Moyo aged 44 of plot number one Mayadi area Petauke for one count of Abuse of Authority of office Contrary to Section 99 and jointly charged for Intent to Deceive Contrary to Section 344A(a) of CAP 87 with M/Goodson Ngandu Lungu aged 50 of Nyansimbo Village Chief Mwanjabantu Petauke a Patrotic Front Chairman for Kaumbwe Constiituency.

It is alleged that the duo, on a date unknown between 1st August and 30th September 2020, jointly and whilst acting together with others unknown, did aid more than One thousand under aged children ranging between five and 15 years to obtain National Registration Cards.

The children subsequently obtained Voters cards.The accused persons are currently in custody, concludes the police

When Mubita Nawa and Anthony Bwalya exposed this scheme in 2020, they were rushly arrested to silence them.

Now, it is the expectation of the nation that Mubita and Anthony will help the police bring the culprits to book.

With thorough investigations, it may be discovered that even foreigners were issued with NRCs so that they might vote in the 2021 elections, an act that potentially compromised national ‘security and electoral integrity.

No wonder Mr Steven Kampyongo, then minister of Home Affairs denial stakeholders from monitoring the issuance of NRCs process.

For this move by the police to investigate and arrest some suspects over this issue, police must be commended and must be encouraged to extend the investigations to former and present leaders in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Department of National Registration and passport Cards.

We must clean criminality that was entrenched in our state institutions by the previous regime and those who have information must help the police to track down this evil.

I submit

McDonald Chipenzi

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SPEECH BY PRESIDENT HAKAINDE HICHILEMA AT THE SWEARING-IN CEREMONY OF PERMANENT SECRETARIES, A LANDS COMMISSIONER AND A HIGH COURT JUDGE

-We (Zambians) are one and we must live as such

-Justice in a descent country is paramount.

-There are no two trains
in the context of justice

-We have seen alot of loose ends in a lot of things in our country.

-…sometimes we see (Court hearing) adjournment made frivolously one after another and no substance is discussed in court.

-In my time in detention in Mukobeko, I found people who have been in there for five years and they have never seen a day in court.

-Those of us who have slept in those conditions; no ventilation, no sanitation, every day looked like one year.

-So let us dispense justice quickly.

-When a citizen is aggrieved, they have a right to be heard. This message is to everyone on the Bench.

-Judges and magistrates once in a while must visit police cells and correctional facilities and see what’s going on.

-I hope you will do it quickly because very soon, we are cleaning up those places anyway.

-We should not continue doing the wrong things with regard to public resources and management of public affairs.

-Just this morning .I had a meeting with with our debt advisors Lazard (Freres) .Our less than an hour conversation revealed things that even if you have a stone heart, you will say “this is not right”.

-Some permanent secretaries before you, were paying for services never received.

-You are talking about millions of dollars.

-Then tomorrow, you will want to do the same and expect your colleagues to be quiet about it.

There are millions of Zambians who will be watching.

-Every month in the fuel (sector), we are loosing $26million.

-You are the one to stop that bleeding.

-Next week we will have a workshop, a days-work. There will be no allowances paid because we will be on duty.

Times Will be hard Before they Become Better-HH

PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema says magistrates and judges should, soonest, start visiting police cells and correctional facilities around the country and see how congested they are.

The President spoke when he swore in 18 permanent secretaries, a judge and a commissioner of lands, at State House this afternoon.

The appointees have been sworn-in, in line with Article 206 of the Republican Constitution.

Alice Mipunga Ntambo Sitali was sworn-in as High Court judge and the President reminded her to help in the quick dispensation of justice.

“The English say justice delayed is justice denied. Let us have a sense of duty,” President Hichilema said, stressing that Zambians who take a grievance to courts must be heard, as per the stipulation in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights.

“I don’t like using my example; many times I was never heard [in court]. So, I expect my experiences to end with me. [But] the rest of the citizens should be heard by the courts.”

He emphasised that the judiciary must hear citizens’ legal grievances.

“Please, hear our people. Then we can decongest the detention centres [and] the police cells. Acting chief justice (Michael Musonda), I suggest that in the normal course of duty, judges, magistrates, once in a while, must visit police cells, correctional facilities and see for themselves what’s going on there,” President Hichilema said.

“I hope you’ll do it quickly because very soon we are cleaning up those places, anyway. So, you may not see what I wish you to see. Go there before we get there ourselves. Then you’ll understand what I’m talking about.”

To the new permanent secretaries, the President told them not to be deceived by: “my humble looks” and start engaging in shady deals.

“That’s how we villagers are (having a modest disposition)! We should not continue doing wrong things with regards to management of public affairs. We should not continue the wrong things that have been going on for the last 10 years,” he noted.

“I’m talking about expenditure control! From tomorrow, go in those ministries and start looking at the buying pattern – purchase of items. You’ll feel very bad; you’ll nauseate. Can we work together to change that culture!”

President Hichilema also pointed out that his government has not even started managing the economy: “the way we want.”

“But there will be a bit of pain for us to recover this economy. But you (appointees) are the key!”

Meanwhile, President Hichilema told the new commissioner of lands – Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources Lynn Sianziba Habanji – to reign in on the confusion surrounding land ownership in Zambia.

“Land belongs to Zambians. But it’s available for investments from anybody, but through the Zambians first,” said President Hichilema.

“Two, three title deeds on one plot! How? Why are we creating confusion, work which is unnecessary for us? You should automate that place (Ministry of Lands)!”

The permanent secretaries sworn-in today are:

1. Josephs Rikki Akafumba – home affairs (administration)
2. Green Mbozi – agriculture
3. Beatrice Chilufya Darko – Community development
4. Sakwiba Musiwa – Mines
5. Frederick Mwalusaka – Transport and logistics
6. Bornface Chaabila Nalishuwa – labour
7. Dr Anna Chibulu Songolo – Livestock and fisheries
8. Kennedy Kalunga – information and media
9. Daphine Soko Chabu – lands and natural resources
10. Kangwa Chileshe – youth, sport and arts
11. Joe Kalusa – water development and sanitation
12. Yvonne Mpundu – Small and Medium Enterprises
13. Dr George Magwende – health (administration)
14. Dr Namani Moonze – Southern Province
15. Paul Thole – Eastern Province
16. Augustine Mulumbi Kasongo – Copperbelt Province
17. Henry Mukungule – Muchinga Province
18. Colonel Grandson Katambi – North-Western Province

He wrote….

This afternoon we swore in several government officials among them; High Court Judge, Commissioner of Lands and Permanent Secretaries for various Ministries.

To the High Court Judge, we stated that Zambians expect justice in real time because justice delayed is justice denied.

And to the commission of lands, we emphasised that land belongs to Zambians first and that joint ventures with others and for purposes of development are welcome. No thug or cadres should walk into someone’s piece of land and start sharing it amongst themselves, we detest that and we won’t allow it.

And to the Permanent Secretaries, we stated that they must never ever do what their predecessors in the previous regime used to do and that is issuing payment instructions including awarding of dubious contracts for goods and services which were never meant to be delivered. We stated that anyone hoping to carry on with such, will surely not appreciate our approach to service delivery because you the voters out there expect results.

We are optimistic that together we will turn around our country’s economy and deliver the jobs and business opportunities for our people.

The economy works in such a way that when there is order in the country, investment grows and this is why immediately we assumed office we reined in on lawlessness in the country. In order to cushion some economic challenges that come with parents looking for fees for their children from Grades 1 to 12, we scrapped school fees and PTA. This is a stepping stone to ensuring education for all.

We are on the path to creating a better Zambia and together, we shall do so.

Once more congratulations to all those given an opportunity to serve you, Zambians and like we say, it is not service to oneself but the people and anyone hoping to serve people under the watch of the current times, must search their souls because there are too many eyes watching.

God bless you all.

God bless Zambia.

Hakainde Hichilema
President of the Republic of Zambia

By Ulande Nkomesha,

PF deputy national chairperson Davies Chama says he received no special treatment during his 11 days of detention despite being former Defence Minister.

Narrating his detention experience to News Diggers, Chama who has since been released on police bond after being charged with the offence of causing grievous harm, said he was eating, sleeping well and sometimes his fellow suspects would complain about his loud snoring.

He said, in an interview, Wednesday, that the detention did not bother him and he was ready to spend the rest of his life in police cells, if that was the wish of his enemies.

“There was no VIP treatment, I was just being treated like any other ordinary person in detention, so I was never at any time given any VIP treatment. That is an insinuation coming from the UPND, I don’t know where it is coming from because I think they saw that I came out in a good mood and healthy.

So there was no VIP treatment at all. I was sleeping with all the suspects in the cells, from Lusaka Woodlands station where I [was on] Saturday, then the following day I think on Sunday we left. Then in Livingstone cells I spent two nights, then the rest of the other five nights in Sesheke.

A mattress was provided at Woodlands where we were detained. I think the officials who visited me, the members of the central committee organised the mattress for me and that is the one which I took to Livingstone all the way to Sesheke, I had a mattress from Lusaka,” he said.

“I was eating, sleeping and dreaming nicely, even having nice dreams. I wish the people who detained me or who orchestrated the detention, I think they were being haunted, they were not even having peaceful nights whilst even the person they detained, he was having very peaceful nights and snoring.

The other inmates were telling me that boss mula chita snore sana, (you snore a lot) you sleep a lot. So I was enjoying my sleep.”

The PF official said he was willing to spend the rest of life in detention.

“I am very strong, you need to know me to understand me. I am a free bird person, I don’t know how to describe it, the way I am mentally. My innocence is so pure, I am a very [strong] spirit and there are certain things that don’t bother me really.

I think the people who were outside, my relatives who were outside, my children, my family members were more affected than myself. So I was comforting them more than they were comforting me. My worry was more on how it was affecting the people outside than myself.

Myself I was willing to even spend the rest of life in detention, if that is what they wish to do. At no point did I fall sick and at no point did I request for medical attention. So I have been physically fit through and through,” Chama said.

“When you are in police cell, the state does not provide food. My relatives were providing food. My relatives traveled in Sesheke area. Our colleagues in Livingstone when they got wind that I was in Livingstone they were able to provide me with food.

So in terms of food my relatives were bringing food to me. Even if I spend 11 days in cells, the police does not provide food for those detained in cells. If you have no relatives you starve to death.”

Chama said UPND leaders are devils who want to divide the security wings on ethnicity lines.

“So I am not broken at all, I am strong as ever before, I am not even moved. It just saddens my heart that Africa, even when I was chatting with other officers and other people who are concerned they were saying why is Africa like this? Why are we enemies to ourselves?

You know the slogan of the UPND is moving forward but I don’t think they are trying to move forward, actually they are trying to move backwards. It is a very sad episode but we are not moved, we expected this.

Even those people who have been in UPND, they have testified how bad hearted, how unforgiving, how their leaders are devilish, devils. Those who have been in UPND, they have really testified, they have said their experiences as UPND and they have really talked about the spirit of the leadership of the UPND which is not the spirit to have in Zambia,” said Chama.

“Unfortunately our colleagues, they believe in retribution, they believe in ethnic retribution. You will be surprised that the officers who were put on this case, you can say that they are from one ethnic group sidelining other ethnic groups.

What saddens me is that the security wings will be divided beyond repair. I am positive that we will come and repair the damage that will be caused by these uncaring, they don’t even care, they don’t even have a conscience at all.

You know when someone has no conscience to think through what they are doing, they have a very destructive spirit. But If anything I have rejuvenated and we are looking forward to make sure that we continue to provide the checks and balances for the protection of the lives of the Zambian people.”- News Diggers

By ADRIAN MWANZA

THE ACC has revealed that it was Faith Musonda who requested for the deal which accorded her amnesty in the case where K65, 333, 046 and US$ 57, 900 was discovered at her house in New Kasama.

In a shocking move, ACC failed to institute criminal proceedings against Ms. Musonda on the understanding that she made a full disclosure of the monies in question and that she willingly surrendered the same to the State.

Information has however emerged that the mysterious deal struck between ACC and Ms Musonda implicated UPND who are reported to have also received campaign funding from some Chinese tycoons believed to be the source of the money which was in Ms Musonda’s possession.

ACC spokesperson Queen Chibwe dispelled the claims saying that it was not possible because faith requested for the amnesty.

“That is not possible because it was Faith Musonda who requested for that deal. That request actually came from her and not us, we just weighed the Pros and Cons and we thought it would be okay to accept the deal,” Ms Chibwe said.

But according to Economic and Equity Party (EEP) leader, Chilufya Tayali the deal was struck because the money was from foreign tycoons who funded both the UPND and PF in the August 12 2021.

Mr Tayali said Ms Musonda was just a transporter of the money and that UPND had its own transporters.

He said after the money which was discovered at Ms Musonda’s house was traced to have come from the same businessmen who sponsored UPND, the State backtracked on the case for fear of being exposed and were forced to grant amnesty to Ms Musonda.

‘’The entities had vested interests and they did not know the direction the election result would go hence them giving the money to both the UPND and PF,’’ he said.

When contacted, PF publicity chairman Raphael Nakacinda said he does not respond to rumours while the UPND could not be reached by press time.

formation provided to the House must be factual. It is a punishable offence for any person to willfully mislead the House,” she said. – News Diggers

While holding back tears, the owner of a restaurant where public prosecutor Nsama Chipyoka was shot sombrely recounted yesterday, how the civil servant was wounded and later died.

Cabinet restaurant manager Rebecca Lombe said before Mr Chipyoka was injured, he had ordered some coffee and was trying to rush back to his workplace for safety.“In a split second, I saw the mug [cup which Mr Chipyoka held] flying off his hand.

He dropped and held on to the grille gate.“I asked what was wrong. At this point, my thinking was, ‘he has just fainted’, because people in the premises were lying down,” Mrs Lombe said amid sobs.

She appeared before Lusaka High Court judge Joshua Banda to testify in a case police constable Fanwell Nyundu is accused of killing Mr Chipyoka and United Party for National Development (UPND) sympathiser Joseph Kaunda.

The two were allegedly shot dead on December 23 last year as police officers dispersed UPND supporters who had gathered at the Police headquarters to offer solidarity to President Hakainde Hilchilema, who at the time in the opposition.

Mr Chipyoka, commonly known as Nsama Nsama, was shot in the chest at the Cabinet restaurant next to the National Prosecutions Authority (NPA) building, where he worked.Mr Kaunda was shot in the head close to where Mr Chipyoka was injured.

Nyundu was later arrested in connection with the murder of the two, an offence he denied.In her testimony, Mrs Lombe, a chef, narrated that on the material day, she reported for work in the morning and later received a phone call from Mr Chipyoka, who requested for coffee.“He later came through shortly before 10:00 hours and we entered the restaurant,” Mrs Lombe said.

Mr Chipyoka took his coffee as Mrs Lombe, who was accompanied by a friend, also sat on another table.“Within 10 minutes, we heard a loud bang from outside. We saw some smoke from the windows in the western side.

I asked what the smoke was and Nsama Nsama said [it’s] tear gas,” Mrs Lombe said.She said a group of people who had earlier been spotted near the presidential burial site ran towards the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority offices on Independence Avenue.“We went back to sit but in less than a minute, I heard another bang and people started running and screaming.

Nsama Nsama stood up and said that he needed to get back to his office before the situation got tense,” she said.

Mrs Lombe offered to escort Mr Chipyoka, who also asked to finish off the coffee from his workplace. “When he walked out through the veranda while I was behind him, in a split of a second, the first thing I saw is the mug flew off his hand.

He dropped and held on to the grille gate,” Mrs Lombe said while weeping.She called out his name and asked what was wrong, but he laid face up, mute.“A man who was lying down right in front of me shouted and told me to ‘go back inside [the restaurant] and leave him [Mr Chipyoka because] he was dead,” Mrs Lombe said.

Fix the economy before increasing Fuel Prices and ZESCO tariffs- Pilato.

He wrote:

TARIFF INCREASE? WAIT!!!

The indication by the Central Bank Governor to raise the fuel and electricity tariffs is and was expected. It was expected because from a long time we knew that these were subsidized costs. The real cost is and was not what we the people pay for. Removing these subsidies was the song that the PF preached from inception and whenever the ERB was approving upward adjustments to the costs of fuel and electricity tariffs, they reminded us that it was because the costs were not reflecting the reality at market level.

Increasing the costs of electricity or fuel is not really the problem. I do not think that the problem is the actual cost of electricity or fuel. To assume that the problem is the cost is a huge misunderstanding and may not be helpful for those charged with the responsibility to find solutions to our problems. WHAT then is our problem?

Our problem is the fact that majority of our people cannot afford. We still have a huge number of unemployed youths, who are not sure of what to do next for them to land a coin. We have a huge population who are struggling to afford basic commodities even with the subsidies still in place. The rationale for introducing subsidies was that even the lowest paid citizen should be able to afford some decent life. The removal of subsidies and the subsequent rise of the cost of electricity and fuel prices will impact the ordinary people worse compared to others who bask in enormous wealth. Those who can’t afford basic needs now will be dropped further down the poverty line. Those who could afford just the basics, will equally fall a step below in their poverty.

My advice to the President and the government is, DO NOT REMOVE the subsidies before FIXING the economy. The people need to have the power to buy first. We cannot continue raising the cost of life before raising the power of the people. The subsidies do make life bearable even for those without jobs. DO NOT INCREASE THE TARIFFS before increasing the capacity of the people to afford.

The price is not the problem, the buying power is the problem. Before fixing the price, fix the pockets.
I submit

CHIMBWI UKULILA NINSHI PALI EKO ASHINTILILE AMATAKO… responds Kambwili when asked if Lungu is behind Kampyongo, Mpankata

The PF grassroots structures are being influenced by certain individuals to direct the party, says Lupososhi member of parliament Emmanuel Mpankata.

But Chishimba Kambwili said “Chimbwi ukulila ninshi pali eko ashintilile amatako”, when asked if he felt former president Edgar Lungu was behind the positions taken by people like Stephen Kampyongo and Mpankata against him, as was being suggested by some in the party.

Speaking with Daily Revelation, Mpankata said his main motivation was to safeguard the interests of his party, saying if that were not the case he would have “sold out” to become a minister under late president Levy Mwanawasa, when he served as the PF’s first and sole parliamentarian in 2001. He said he and Yamfwa Mukanga, who joined him later through a by-election in Mufulira, stood with the party when it was not fashionable.

He said he would not respond to any of Kambwili’s assertions, when told that the PF presidential aspirant had said he felt sorry for him (Mpankata) and Kampyongo following the recent press briefing they held where it was said that they would not allow an outsider to hijack the party, and that a president for PF would emerge from among the members of parliament.

But asked on his fellow central committee member, Paul Moonga’s statement that the party leaders should listen to the people on the grassroots over the one they wanted to lead the party, Mpankata said the grassroots were being influenced by certain people. Mpankata and Kambwili have often never seen eye to eye on issues.

“The problem we have is the grassroots structures, because of influences from certain individuals want to direct how the party should be run. We are listening to them but they should also listen to us. Every party has leadership,” said Mpankata.

But Kambwili said he felt sorry for Kampyongo and Mpankata, saying Kampyongo must realise that he was not there when PF was formed, and only joined the party around 2009-10.

“Mwilachindika insalu, mulechindika ichipika nsalu (interpreted as you can’t claim to respect the party without respecting its owners). The one who does so simply doesn’t have wisdom. I can’t lower myself to Kampyongo, he’s a young man,” he said.

Kambwili said he suspected that people were provoking him so that he could respond and then find a way to hound him out of the party.

“Awee nalileka cho chise… they want to find a fault in me,” he said.

Asked if he agreed with assertions that president Lungu was behind the activities of Kampyongo and Mpankata and the others, Kambwili said… http://dailyrevelationzambia.com/chimbwi-ukulila-ninshi-pali-eko-ashintilile-amatako-responds-kambwili-when-asked-if-lungu-is-behind-kampyongo-mpankata/

Honourable Jr.
HAS UPND STARTED WORSHIPPING IMF? THE REMOVAL OF FUEL SUBSIDY WILL HAVE A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE ZAMBIAN ECONOMY ®

In 2013, the late president Michael Sata removed subsidies on maize, the result was suffocating to both farmers and end users. The price of 25kg jumped from K55 to K65. Micheal Sata defended the move saying government would save about $200 million from this removal of subsidies. It was during this time when Kwacha jumped from K5 to K6 against $1. Today, the new dawn government announced that subsidies on fuel will be removed but refuted claims that price of fuel will increase. This was on a live radio program 👉

While this debate is on-going whether price of fuel will increase or not, yesterday BOZ announced increase in monetary policy rate to 9%. I explained that the increase would result into prices of commodities to increase, some cadres from both UPND and PF, especially from UPND attacked me heavily, until today when the newspapers have carried similar headlines about Denny Kalyalya supporting the idea of increasing fuel, electricity tariffs.

On the international market, the price of fuel is fair, but the US who are the largest consumer want to increase the price. This is same with UK and other surrounding regions. Let me state that increase in fuel price in US should not cause us to increase of fuel, as our demand and consumption. Secondly we don’t procure fuel from US, so someone must not start making justifications for nothing while in many countries the price of fuel remains the same.

So, Kalyalya wants fuel to increase, while UPND clarified that fuel price won’t increase. This is pure mind game, because we all know that removal of subsidies will automatically cause increase in fuel. This call by Kalyalya will be justified by removal of subsidies and result in drastic changes in the Zambian economy. Should we say IMF is doing alot of damage to the country?

What are the consequences of increasing fuel pump price and removing subsidies?

Subsidy removal, without spending the associated savings, would increase the national poverty level. This is due to the consequent rise in the cost of inputs relative to the selling prices of products sold by most firms and farmers. The key commodities which experience nominal output increases are refined petroleum products, production of which provide income for an extremely small number of households, worse yet Zambia relies on copper alone.

The inflation resulting from subsidy removal can be considerably reduced with a conservative fiscal policy response. In this case, inflation comes from two sources: the initial increase in general prices due to the higher cost of fuel and more spending by the government as funds are freed up. Therefore, if UPND’s goal is to reduce the inflationary effect as Kalyalya is saying, the government will want to keep spending to a minimum, focusing on areas that can increase the country’s productive capacity.

By contrast, a highly expansionary policy of spending all savings from subsidy removal would favour rural households while increasing urban poverty. There are some many wasteful projects left by PF that government can cut cost from than touching on subsidies. The removal will result into high inflation rate, urban poverty, high transportation costs, high cost of doing business, and high price of products and services.

What are your views? Don’t worry cadres are welcome to say something, it’s thier social media right. 😆