THE MANGANI DEFECTION SAGA....PF SAID HE WAS CORRUPT.

BY SUFZ CORRESPONDENT

Recent political events have been very interesting and they have left many with several unanswered questions.

Former works and supply deputy minister Lameck Mangani resigned from the MMD and joined the Patriotic Front (PF).

One of his reasons for resigning is that MMD has been in power for 20 years and that when there is a serious competitor is that chances of a political party winning an election after 20 years in power were minimal.  But the real reasons for his “defection” are obvious.

First of all, he did not take President Banda’s decision to demote him graciously.  In 2010 President Banda dropped Mr. Mangani as home affairs minister on account of incompetence.

President Banda disclosed that he has demoted Mangani because he had become too open to abuse.  He was too exposed and people began to take advantage of him thereby endangering national security.

He said Mangani was not ready to work as Minister of Home affairs describing the ministry as a difficult one.

“If I am satisfied that a minister is not performing up to the standards that he should especially in your ministry, I have no choice but to move.  You have to protect yourselves.”  So it is obvious that Mr. Mangani has had a bone to chew with President Banda but he decided to gloss over the frustration and put on a brave face for a while.

Following his demotion, there were a number of reactions from politicians such as PF president Michael Sata and PF Kabwata MP Given Lubinda who alleged that Mr. Mangani was demoted because he was a liability and was a corrupt politician.

Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) President Edith Nawakwi said Mangani should be reported to the police if he had done any wrong that led to his demotion. Mr. Sata said he was a liability to the government.

“The whole point is that we have been vindicated that he has more liabilities than assets,” Sata said. And then the PF spokesperson Lubinda said that Zambians were at liberty to speculate that President Banda demoted Mangani for Corruption.

“What Mr. Banda has done is to transfer a compromised man, an exposed man; a man who doesn’t have a stiff backbone from home affairs to Science, Technology and Vocational Training.  It’s transfer of problems,” Lubinda said.

“We as society will be at liberty to speculate that Mr. Mangani acted in an improper manner or that he is corrupt because Mr. Banda’s statement insinuates that Mangani was exposed to corruption, to nepotism, to impropriety, to ineptitude or to failure to perform?  If he is willing to tolerate his deputy ministers who are corrupt, it points at him that he is condoning corruption.”

Now that Mr. Mangani has defected to PF, Mr. Sata has embraced him without any qualms and in his usual style he showed no shame.

A few months ago, Mr. Sata and his party machinery were busy denouncing Mr. Mangani as being corrupt and incompetent.  But today he is the darling of the PF, what a turn around, just like the Cobra of the course!

Nawakwi observed that President Banda was reaping the results of having appointed inexperienced people to cabinet.  She said Mr. Magani’s attacks at the time on perceived political opponents of President Banda were meant to disguise his own wrong doing.

She retaliated that she had warned president Banda not to appoint inexperienced people to ministerial posts but he did not heed the advice.

“I think you will recall that I said that some of these people the president he is employing have never actually worked in any office.  He exposes people to a serious ministry like home affairs,” she said. “Ministry of home affairs is about internal security, about looking after the armoury of this republic.  How can the president give that ministry to someone just because he needs a job?  That is what you get.  You get what you put in.”

Nawakwi said corruption in the ministry of Home Affairs had led to the increase of illegal immigrants in Zambia.

The other reason for Mr. Mangani’s defection was his suspicion that he might not be adopted for the Chipata seat on the MMD ticket.

Going by his own admission, he said he heard rumours that President Banda was looking for a candidate for the constituency and feared that he might not be adopted, forcing him to look for an alternative party.

“After I found out that it was true, I concluded that here there is a problem of trust.  The trust between me and my president is broken.  There is no confidence and I felt so vulnerable that i cannot continue under those circumstances.   So, I had to look for other alternatives.  Hence the decision to resign from the MMD,” he explained.

But we now know that from the MMD Eastern Province from the MMD Eastern Province Chairman Kennedy Zulu that Mr. Mangani fanned the violence in the Mfumbwe parliamentary by-election last year.  Zulu revealed that he orchestrated the violence.

So, it would seem that he has a violent character just like Mr. Sata wwho was the architect of violence in Chawama by arming MMD thugs with machets and guns to hack opponents when he was MMD national secretary.

Mr. Mangani has said the MMD should have reported him to police when he was still in the party if the allegations are true.

The former deputy minister is also heavily in debt and he has failed to pay rentals for his house in Chipata, a matter that has attracted the legal suit.

We are beginning to know his true character.  He cannot even manage to pay house rentals amounting to K37 million.  This is according to a write of summons filed in the Chipata High Court by the Tobacco board of Zambia (TBZ).

The TBZ is demanding immediate possession of the house at Plot. 1463 Umodzi Highway in Chipata.

The TBZ claim indicates that Mr. Mangani has rent arrears from 2009 and he has ignored several demands to settle the outstanding amounts and has not expressed interest to renew the lease agreement which expired on 31st December, 2010.

It was also interesting to hear Mr. Sata say in Chipata that his prime interest was to serve the people of Zambia and not to enter State House.  Like it happens in every election, Namakando is giving Mr. Sata exaggerated media coverage creating the impression that the PF is overtaking the MMD in terms of popularity in the country.

When he featured on Feel Free Radio later he was emphatic that going to State House was not his main pre-occupation but that he was more interested to leave a better Zambia.

But during the 2006 and 2008 election, Sata was busy harassing the secretary to the Cabinet demanding to be sworn in even before the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) finished counting ballots!

What can someone call that action or behaviour?  Definitely, his pre-occupation is not serving the people but to get into State House!

This is because he envies the President and he is worried that since he is in the twilight of his life, this will be the last chance to give it another try.

His selfish desire to force his way into State House was manifested then.

He even attempted to discredit the sale of houses to sitting tenants.  What a shallow mind!

DEMOCRACY FAILS IN PF ADOPTIONS

By SUFZ Correspondent

The Patriotic Front (PF) which since inception faced difficulties in finding candidates for parliamentary and local government seats during general elections finds itself in yet another dilemma.

This time the problem has been caused by the PF's unelected leader Michael Sata imposing of candidates who are unpopular on the ground. If there is anything that Mr. Sata fears, it is to be surrounded by credible and intelligent people. This was clear from the people he handpicked to be in his Central Committee at a poorly organised General Conference in Kabwe. Mr. Sata is also said to be sidelining high caliber candidates who had applied to stand on the PF ticket. He prefers relatives and tribesmen and women. Unlike the MMD which has adopted professionals from a cross-section of society ranging from public administrators, medical doctors, lawyers, accountants to business people, the PF has opted to fill its structures with Mr. Sata's bootlickers. This only strengthens the view that PF was formed by one person who wants to go to State House without any set of ideas to develop the country. In essence this is the main reason the UPND/PF Pact failed because UPND always emphasised the development of an economic programme before choosing the pact leader while PF emphasised on who should be president of the PACT.

PF gravitates and is centred on one person who if he was not there, the entire party would not be there. Hence, even the adoption process is based on Sata's preferences.

Although he has told the grassroots to interview people, none of the interviewed will be adopted. For instance in Munali Constituency of Lusaka, Nkandu Luo who did not attend the interviews is poised to be adopted leaving out the candidate preferred by the grassroots structures.

The youths in Munali are up in arms and have threatened to defect to MMD because of these undemocratic tendencies by Mr. Sata. The Patriotic Front in Isoka district, Northern Province have equally rejected a Caritas Mpika employee the party has imposed on Isoka West Constituency as parliamentary candidate. Other PF applicants in Isoka district have now petitioned their president and the national secretariat over irregularities in the adoption of candidates in Northern Province.  In Matero constituency, Mr. Sata is poised to feature his nephew Mr. Miles   Sampa who   is   a   former director at Finance Bank during the now embattled Dr. Rajah Mahtani chairmanship of the Bank.

This again proves how PF is undemocratic in all its operations and tries to hoodwink the electorate. Many political observers have indicated that because of the poor process of adopting candidates, the PF will lose to MMD by a big margin because it is as incorrigible and arrogant as its leader. It is therefore logical that the MMD will win this year's Presidential elections without problems. It is even shocking that a party that has always failed to field 150 candidates and several councilors always claims that elections are rigged. The PF has been a bad loser because whenever they lose they find an excuse to blame others for their failures.

How can a party that has failed to field all candidates expect to win national elections?

In 2001, it only fielded less than 30 candidates at parliamentary level and claimed that it won those elections. In 2006 it only fielded less than 99 candidates and still claim to be a big party.

PF cannot win elections anywhere which is why even their internal elections are flawed. The Central Committee is not elected but selected by one person who also selected himself without being subjected to elections contrary to the provision of party constitution which is clear that all structures of the party shall be elected.

If a party cannot exercise internal democracy, how can it exercise democracy at the national level? It is a shame for PF in its current form to even mention the word democracy, as it adheres to no democratic principles whatsoever. Lack of democracy is self destructive because where there is no democracy there are no systems and no rule of law but the rule of men. Individuals matter more than institutions and legalities.

Individuals are prone to error while systems are not. This explains why the PF is a diminishing entity; its life span is based on one person whose agenda is to go to State House. When PF loses the forthcoming election, it will be no more.

 

Mr. Sata has run out of ideas; there is no message to tell the people that he has cheated over a long period of time. It should not be surprising that Mr. Sata has been failing to address meetings, his rallies only last for fifteen minutes after that it becomes difficult for him to say anything else. Some people have said that his radio programmes and rallies have been becoming shorter and shorter because of his poor health. While that may be true, he has equally run out of ideas.

THE WEEKLY POST – DECEMBER 11, 1992 BY FRED M’MEMBE

CAN YOU REMEMBER?

BAROTSE AGREEMNET IS A VARIANCE WITH MODERN POLITICAL ORDER

THE WEEKLY POST – DECEMBER 11, 1992 BY FRED M’MEMBE

The debate on the Barotseland agreement 1964 has been on for some weeks now, with media coverage centring mainly on those advocating for its restoration.

Our politicians, including some of the most vocal ones, have been reluctant to make their positions known on the issue, and among the few who have come out openly for the restoration of the agreement is Akashambatwa Mbikusita Lewanika, the movement for multi-party democracy (MMD), member of Parliament for Mongu Central.

Vice President Levy Mwanawasa might have summed the government’s position when he said that the advocacy for the restoration of the agreement were free to take the matter to court, but whatever the decision the court makes would have to be respected by both parties.

Most prominent citizens have refused to comment on the matter openly arguing that their honest comments may appear to threaten national unity.

The Barotse Agreement was a product of political expediency to have Northern Rhodesia to proceed to independence as one country and that all its peoples should be one nation.  Taking into account the civil war which was ragging in the Congo, national unity was a necessity.

There is an urgent need to review our system of provincial governance.  The history of Zambia over the last 28 years on independence shows that the governance of the provinces have never been looked at critically or even discussed. 

Economic development of the provinces, especially the rural ones has not only stagnated by declined and has resulted in the unstoppable drifts to the urban provinces of skilled young men and women.  If this trend is not stopped, the future of the rural provinces is bleak.

An appropriate system of provincial governance needs to be found which can enhance and advance democracy and development and make the young men and women have a meaningful participation in the economic and political life of not only the district councils in which they reside but the provinces as well. 

A survey last June by the weekly Post on how provinces should be governed showed that people wanted more independent administration of the provinces by elected officials and not by deputy minister appointed at the centres.

The Barotseland Agreement authorises and empowers the Litunga, an unelected person, after consultation with his council, to make laws for Barotseland and be the principal local authority for the government and administration of Barotseland.

This system is clearly undemocratic.  It might have made sense in 1964 when the issue at hand was independent and not necessarily democracy.  It will negate the political achievement the people of Zambia have made to date.  For whatever national unity consideration, the Barotseland agreement cannot be restored at the expense of democratic ideals.  Democracy is a more important national ideal to strive for than national unity.  The latter is not the human ideal; it is a matter of political expedience in the struggle for political power.

 The case for the restoration of the Barotseland Agreement has been based on the failure to appreciate that the price of modern political order is calculated on the basis of democracy and human rights, and not obscure customs of convenience.

The political, cultural and economic interests of the people of Western province are far too complex and by far larger than similar interests of the Lozi Royal establishment, the Litunga and his councils and the Indunas combined.  Failure to realise this constitutes part of the explanation why those advocating for the restoration of this Agreement are prepared to waste time and energies on a dead issue which if honoured will only save to restrict rather than broaden democracy in Western Province.

It is negative conservatism to assume and believe that the Litunga and his Council and the Lozi Royal Establishment can have the final and perpetual solution to all the problems of Western Province. Such conservatism has no existential basis.

I hope the MMD government will not make the same mistake the United National Independence Party (UNIP) made of abandoning the goal of the struggle for democracy in favour of an ill-defined quest for national unity.  The people of Western Province like those of all other provinces of Zambia need a better system of Provincial government than they are currently subjected to but definitely not the restoration of the out of tune and outdated Barotseland Agreement monarch type of provincial government.

The issue of concern now is not the issue of the Barotseland Agreement by the advancement of democracy for the whole country.  This is where time and energy should be directed.

WHY FOREIGN RECEIVER? ASK EX-ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS WORKERS?

by SUFZ Reporter

Some former employees of the defunct Zambian Airways have accused Post Editor in Chief Fred Namakando M’membe, Mutembo Nchito and Nchima Nchito of deliberately appointing a foreign receiver so that they could disadvantage organisations and individuals that the company owed.

And Finance bank Zambia had instructed SNB legal Practitioners to demand US 4, 208, 938. 28 from Mines Air Services limited trading as Zambian Airways outstanding balance on accounts held by the defunct company.  Employees of the defunct airline which is equally under investigations by investigative wings told SUFZ news that the directors had deliberately appointed a foreign receiver Mr. Kieran Day a Kenyan to disadvantage the people owed by the company.

“We think it was deliberate the Directors to have appointed a foreign receiver because they knew it would be difficult for people to reach him.

Infact we are interested to see how this debt demand by FBZ will proceed because there is no record or minute to show that there was a resolution that they should guarantee the loan.

“There was so much dirt going on in that company” said the employees who sought anonymity.

Meanwhile FBZ has instructed SBN Legal practitioners to formerly demand US $4, 208,938.28 outstanding balances from the defunct airline liquidator of Kenya to be paid within 10 days.

According to a demand letter addressed to Mr. Day and obtained by SUFZ news, FBZ is demanding the outstanding amount.

“We have retained as advocates for Finance Bank Zambia Limited (FBZ) in the matter.  “FBZ has instructed us to formally demand for Mines Air Services Limited T/A Zambian Airways (in receivership) due payment of US$4,208,938.28 outstanding balance on account held by Mines Air Services Limited T/A Zambian Airways,” reads the letter dated July, 20 and signed by Mr. Sunday Nkonde. The debt is made up of US$2, 096,846.68 accrued through ESCROW Fuel account and US$ 5, 112, 095.60 on the main account.

ONCE MORE, M’MEMBE SPLOTS IN VAIN

BY SUFZ STAFF

Post Newspaper Editor in Chief Fred Namakando M’membe has directed senior management staff at the institution to ensure that they “do” everything they can to ensure that the MMD loses this year’s elections if the paper is to survive.

During a recent management meeting at the Bwinjimfumu offices chaired by Mr. namakando M’membe senior editorial staff were directed to ensure that they exploit to the maximum the opportunity presented by the differences between President Rupiah Banda and his friends like Sebastian Zulu and George Chabwera.

“We are told that we must ensure that we fight the MMD.  He (Fred) told us that we must not blink because we had taken a suicidal stance to endorse the PF and Mr. Sata.  In fact he was saying that if the PF loses then we are in trouble as a newspaper.

“So he has directed that we must make sure that reporters speak to Mr. Zulu and Dr. Chabwera and portray a picture that Eastern Province had gone to PF.  There is so much desperation he can even see how he panics on editorial comments,” one of the senior managers said.

The manager, who sought anonymity for fear of victimisation, complained that Mr. M’membe was unfairly treating them and using the newspaper for his personal political gains.

“On one hand he will always be bragging that he has nothing to lose because he has made so much money while on the other hand he says we need to fight this government.  The newspaper is now run from Farmers house (The PF Secretariat) before we run a story reporters have to be dispatched to Mr. Sata’s office to get a comment.

“Some of us feel it’s enough and we are just waiting for these elections to move on with our lives for we are being treated like kids who do not know what we want.  Imagine the man has the audacity sometimes to insult some tribes! it looks like the most important thing for him now is to push for a bemba, his auntie (Mrs. Inonge Wina) is just being used,” said the source. 

During the same meeting Mr. M’membe directed that Mr. Amos Malupenga should immediately get the accounts department to prepare funds for a reporter Roy Haabalu to travel to Western Province.

“The statement by the President on the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE) did not seem to be very welcome to Fred and Mr. Sata.  The idea is to ensure that we painted the MMD black to the people in the Western Province so that they can vote for PF so when the statement was issued by State House immediately we had to dispatch a reporter to counter.  The other Reporter Mwala Kalaluka who had gone for the Mututwa funeral was recalled,” said the source.

The senior manager said he felt pity for the young reporters who are being used for Fred’s personal political interests.  “ I pity those young reporters whose names are being tarnished some of who are so ill-qualified that they can never work anywhere else if they lost their jobs at the Post today,” said the source.

PF RESORTS TO BRIBES IN LAMBALAND

BY SUFZ CORRESPONDENT

A plot by the Patriotic Front (PF) to win over the Lamba vote has suffered a setback through the airing of a recent episode of the widely watched TV Programme ‘Stand up Zambia’ which showed the PF leader Michael Sata insulting the late President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa.

Sources have revealed that many locals of the Copperbelt rural are incensed with the PF who are attempting to use the influence of the Baptist Church to infiltrate the area.  The PF turned to the church when they saw that they were not making any headway with the chiefs who have openly declared support for RB and the MMD.

Sources further revealed that the PF is busy strategising on how to approach the church because a number of local church leaders are said to be pro-MMD.

The PF wants to lure the Lambas using the church through all sorts of offers including the promise to field Lamba candidates in all the Copperbelt seats.  The Lambas are incensed with the PF which has a habit of using churches as campaign tools.

The PF is targeting the Lamba vote to help to cover up the loss the party has suffered in Luapula due to their blunders over the funeral of former president F.J.T Chiluba.  The one who is heading this campaign is a local businessman who is busy attending funerals and buying coffins.  The named businessman, a Mr. Mwale who runs a lodge has also promised to sponsor an air ticket to enable sick chief travel to Nigeria for prayers in Nigeria in return for his support for the PF.

But the locals are standing together with their chiefs who have endorsed RB and are grateful for the Stand Up for Zambia program for reminding them what sort of man Sata really is.  The Copperbelt vote has become an important factor ever since the late levy Patrick Mwanawasa become president.  He was born of a Lenje father and a Lamba mother.  But Levy was widely accepted as a Lamba because he grew up on the Copperbelt and spoke Lamba most of the time.

DO NOT BE DECEIVED BY THE SERPENT – MUTETEKA

BY SUFZ STAFF

Former local government and housing Deputy Minister Moses Muteteka has said Zambians should not be deceived by the patriotic front (PF) leader Michael Sata because he has no vision except for his pre-occupation to enter State House.

Mr. Muteteka who is also MMD national youth chairman said in Lusaka that the only reason why the opposition leader had left the MMD was because he was not adopted as its presidential candidate by the late President Frederick Chiluba.

“If he was selected as the candidate he would still have been singing praises of the party.  The man has no vision for the country except wanting to go to State House.

“This is the same man who was busy singing praises for the party so Zambians should not waste their time and votes on him because all he wants is to be president,” he said.

Mr. Muteteka said it was for this reason that the opposition was failing to articulate his vision because all he wants is State House.

“The PF is failing to explain to the Zambian people what they want to do.”  That is the more reason why the MMD will win this year’s elections,” He said.  He said the MMD had demonstrated that it had the people at heart as demonstrated by the various development projects the government had undertaken in the last three years under President Rupiah Banda.

Mr. Muteteka urged the Zambian people to vote for the MMD in this year’s elections.

He said the MMD had given Zambians the best parliamentary candidates.

“I would like to urge the youths to ensure that they vote for the MMD and President Banda so that government can continue with the development projects,” he said.

Meanwhile MMD National Secretary Major Richard Kachingwe has said the party would not rescind its decisions on the candidates.

Maj. Kachingwe said the party had consulted with the grassroots and that those that had been adopted were the best.
“So many factors were taken into consideration when adopting the candidates these are people that will ensure the party wins,” he said.

20 SEPT POLLS: COBRA DIPS INTO PANIC

BY SUFZ STUFF

As President Rupiah Banda announced the date of the 2011 tripartite elections on Thursday 28^th July, 2011, Patriotic Front (PF) was gripped with panic following delays to finalise the selection of the parliamentary and local government candidates.

Insiders at the PF Secretariat said the PF Leader had failed to find candidates in vast areas of Western, North-Western, Eastern and Central Provinces which forced him to send his vice Guy Scott to embark on the tour of these areas.

President Banda said that the 2011 presidential and general elections will take place on September 20, 2011.  He also announced the dissolution of the cabinet and the national assembly.

The PF was still holding interviews for candidates as late as Sunday 24^th July, 2011 when Sata’s preferred candidate for Munali Constituency, Professor Nkandu Luo, the first cousin of incumbent Mumbi Phiri, was being interviewed.

The decision by Mr. Sata to conduct special interviews for Luo comes in the wake of Mumbi Phiri falling out of favour with Mr. Sata.

Prof.  Luo was interviewed at the PF secretariat in Villa Elizabetha and constituency, district and provincial leaders had to be ferried to the secretariat at the instigation of Mr. Sata who is determined to field the former minister of health despite wide rejections from the constituency and ward officials.

And as objections grew against Luo in the PF some ward officials including Munali Constituency PF youth Chairman Felix Chewe were grilled by the provincial executive committee on allegations of accepting interviews from the public media.

Mr. Sata directed that investigations be conducted to establish who leaked information to the Times of Zambia about the rejection of Prof. Luo.

Addressing the nation live on both Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) radio and television, President Banda said he remains the head of state and commander –in-chief of the armed forces of the Republic of Zambia.

“I have today 28^th July, 2011 signed the electoral (general) elections (date of poll) declaration order – statutory instrument no. 76 of 2011.

Further, I have also signed the local government elections (date and times of poll) order – statutory instrument no. 77 of 2011.  This means the local government elections will be held together with the parliamentary elections.

I can now announce to the nation that the elections will be held on Tuesday 20^th September, 2011,” president Banda said.

He noted that Zambia has a proud history of democracy which must be built and that during the campaigns, all political parties and candidates for the positions of councillor, Member of Parliament and president must conduct themselves with integrity, honour and fairness.

President Banda appealed to Zambians to avoid lies, smears, political thuggery and negative campaigning.

“The revised electoral code of conduct of 2011 sets out quite clearly the rules and regulations covering the coming election period.  So I urge all candidates and all bodies covered by the code to adhere to it,”” President Banda said.

Mr. Banda said he did not want the 2011 tripartite elections to be marred by any irregularities and reminded all Zambians that election observers would be invited and that the eyes of the world will be upon them.

“I know that the parliamentary session of 2006 to 2011 has been good for Zambia.  A lot has been good for Zambia.  A lot has been achieved,” President Banda said.

The President said announcing the date of the elections was part of his constitutional privileges despite the speculation and anxiety.

One of the constitutional privileges of the office of president is that the final decision on announcing the date of presidential and general elections is my responsibility.  I have consulted with officials from the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) and other relevant bodies to ascertain the most suitable date for the elections,” Mr. Banda said.

The President said most of the logistics for the holding of elections were now in place and had been informed by the ECZ that the final voters’ register would be ready by the end of this month.

He said no matter what happens during the coming months, he was privileged to serve as President and feels honoured but remains ready to continue serving the nation as Head of State if re-elected.

“Even though I shall be seeking re-election, may I also take this opportunity to extend my best wishes to all candidates seeking elected office at presidential and indeed other levels,” President Banda said.

PF IN A COLD SWEAT – RB

BY SUFZ STAFF

President Rupiah Banda has said the opposition are now panicking over the development projects that government was undertaking countrywide and has expressed disappointment that the Patriotic Front (PF) had decided to bar journalists from covering the opposition party’s “shame convention.”

Addressing a mammoth rally attended by thousands of Kabwe residents at Comet Grounds in Kabwe’s  makululu area on Friday July 22 President Banda said the opposition were now accusing him of being Malawian because they were panicking.

“They are lying that I come from Malawi, what has happened now.  Since 1964 I have been a leader so why would they want to lie now?  They are feeling the impact,” he said.

He said instead of name calling the opposition, particularly the PF should also tell Zambians what they had done.  He said similarly Zambians should judge the MMD government on their policies and what they had done for the country.  “You must judge us on whether we have kept the promise to give our people fertiliser, have we ensured that Zambia is self sufficient.  We have ensured that we have enough food,” he said.  President Banda said the MMD was determined to defend the gains the Zambian people had made through the government policies in the last few years. 

He said he would continue to empower Zambians with land, houses and creating employment opportunities because the MMD government had a social contract with the people to make their lives better.  He said the government would continue working towards growing the economy so that employment opportunities could be created for Zambians.

“We want to continue growing the economy; we want to continue building more schools from primary up to university level.  We want to make sure that our youths have employment opportunities.

“We are doing this by encouraging both foreign and local investors in various sectors of the economy,” he said.  The President said the MMD government would ensure that Zambia continued to enjoy the peace she was enjoying allowing Zambians to remain united.  He said the MMD would in this year’s elections campaign on the basis of what they had done for the Zambian people.  “We want you to ask us what they had done whether we have built schools, hospitals and roads.  And i think that we have started doing all that,” he said.  President Banda said the MMD government had found the formula for developing the country and that Zambians should vote for the party during this year’s elections.

He said during the last three years that he has been in office; he together with his colleagues in the party had worked hard to ensure that the country was rebuilt.

He said some opposition leaders had criticised the government when government started working on the Livingstone – Chililabombwe road.  “The opposition started questioning what we were working on the roads for.

You wonder what kind of leaders they are who do not want development,” he said.  The president said the economy was growing as evidenced by the number of vehicles and houses that people were building.  He said the government would continue to encourage Zambians to own houses and property.

“The MMD has decided to go flat out to empower Zambians with land and houses because Zambians deserve decent accommodation.  So people are accusing me of politicking when i am empowering Zambians, you have to work for the people if you want them to vote for you,” he said.

He said he had a contract with the Zambian people.  He said as President he had ensured that democracy was maintained in the party and in the country as a whole.

Meanwhile President Banda expressed disappointment that the Patriotic Front (PF) had barred the public media from covering their convention.

“Wherever I address a meeting I allow all the media even those that insult us but what are they hiding?”  He said.  During the same rally 300 PF members from Bwacha constituency defected to join the MMD while 167 members from the UPND joined the ruling party.  The President called on the MMD members to embrace the people that had joined the party.

LUAPULA CHIEFS HAPPY WITH GOVERNMENT’S MAIZE PURCHASE EXERCISE

Chiefs in Luapula Province have commended the government for commencing the maize purchasing exercise in the area.

In an interview, Chief Chisunka of the Ushi people of Mansa District said it was gratifying to note that government was ready to buy the produce that small scale farmers in the area harvested in the last farming season.

“We are very pleased with what is happening, seeing that the Food Reserve Agency has started buying our maize.  I have been to the depot and the maize purchasing activities are going on quite well,” he said.

Zambia has registered yet another bumper harvest this year, totalling approximately three million metric tonnes, an increase from last year’s 2.8 million metric tonnes.

The rise in the country’s production level has been attributed to the good agricultural policies introduced by the MMD government.

The government has been supporting farmers with input subsidies, particularly for seed and fertilizer, for the last decade.

The number of beneficiaries has since been increased under the leadership of President Rupiah Banda.

This year, the government has assured that it will buy all the maize harvested by all the small scale farmers and payments made on time to allow them produce even more.

Chief Chisunka said farmers in his area are comfortable with the set floor price of maize, standing at K65, 000 per 50 kilogramme bags.

He urged small scale farmers in the province not to rush into selling their produce to briefcase buyers as this would only expose them to unnecessary losses.

Chief Chisunka said Luapula Province had recorded high production levels, and called on the government to continue supporting the small scale farmers.  There are currently over 500,000 small scale farmers benefitting from the government supported Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).

And the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) has urged farmers to exercise patience and ensure that they sell their produce only to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA).

The farmer’s union said farmers should not take unnecessary risks by selling their maize to briefcase buyers.

Small scale farmers constitute about 80 per cent of the country’s agricultural sector, and therefore, play an important role in contributing to the stability of the food basket.

Government’s role in ensuring that these farmers are helped with cheaper inputs is vital as this will help lower the cost of production, thereby resulting in increased production.

Zambia’s annual maize marketing season runs from June 1 to September 30, although the government has over the last few years extended the season to the end of October to allow for more farmers to take their produce to designated buying points.  Government is also facilitating the opening up of export markets to take up the excess maize that the country may not consume.

CHAISA MARKET FOR RB AND MMD

BY SUFZ CORRESPONDENT

Chaisa marketers have urged women in the country to vote for President Rupiah Banda because of his quality of leadership, respect for the Zambians, had work and safe guarding the nation’s peace and unity.

They said Mr. Banda deserved another term so that he could continue with his developmental agenda for the nation which he started.

Mary Banda said voting for the Patriotic Front would only bring anarchy in the country because their leader Michael Sata does not embrace peace and unity.

Mrs. Banda 63 said when Mr. Sata was Lusaka governor he used to harass marketers using UNIP vigilantes.

She said since Mr. Banda came into office no party cadre had harassed them at Chaisa Malasha Market.

Mrs. Banda said even when PF councillors harassed them; they always ran to MMD office in Chaisa for help.

“The leadership that president Banda has provided in the MMD is good.  He deserves another term for safeguarding peace and unity.  We do not need leaders who have no respect for others,” she said.

Mrs. Banda thanked the government through the Lusaka District Office for working on the drainage at the market; she said the marketers were now able to work in a clean environment with no stagnant water.
Zikonde Mwanza said President Banda should be given another term because from the time he took over he had infrastructure development on his agenda.

He said it was during Mr. Banda’s tenure that a health centre was built in Chaisa.

“We thank the leadership and Mr. Banda for building the clinic and living up to their policy of bringing health services close to the people.  We used to walk to either Chipata compound clinic or Mandevu and it was difficult if one was pregnant and had no transport money,” she said.

Mrs. Mwanza urged Zambians to judge Mr. Banda by his works.  She said the opposition had nothing to offer and resorted to insults.

Mrs. Mwanza implored president Banda to continue promoting peace, unity and respect for every Zambian to avoid anarchy in the country.

“We have no any other country apart from Zambia.  We need to safeguard the peace and unity we have enjoyed from years back.  Those promoting the politics of insults should be rejected,’ she said.

She appealed to the government to beef up security in Chaisa Township because crime was on the increase. 

Ebelia Lungu said the building of the school and the opening of the Olympic Development Centre (OYDC) in Mandevu constituency had helped youths to concentrate on school and sports activities.

She said youths now wanted only to excel in their education and become international sports personalities.

She said in the past the youths used to roam the streets and markets but now were busy sharpening their sports skills because they were attracted to a number of sports activities taking place at the centre.

She said Mr. Banda deserved another term even for instituting the woman empowerment fund under the Ministry of Community and Social development.

Ms. Lungu said the work that Mr. Banda had done in the two and half years that he ruled Zambia showed that he was a committed leader.

SATA: KING OF ANIMAL FARM

By JOHN MUSONDA

The defectors of those soar grapes joining the Patriotic Front (PF) at the last minute have earned themselves names of animals of varying description on the sarcastic leader Michael Sata.

Sata boasted as having poached buffalos from the ruling MMD when he referred to disgruntled Chongwe Member of parliament Sylvia Masebo and her Chipata Central counterpart Lameck Mangani who joined the PF in their desperate tempt to survive the current political storm.

The PF “Serpent” further mocks the MMD which has a National character as going for rabbits which in his elusions , were small time cadres like councillors and others at the grass roots level.

The Zambian carrying a research to determine the impact Sata was making by comparing animal behaviour with human beings, and on the outset it was discovered that the PF monster has no regard whatsoever for people as long as he remains at the helm of his sinking boat.

Not long ago Sata rebuffed the massive project President Banda was doing to rehabilitate the Chipata –Mfuwe road which links the Luangwa national game park meant to benefit the local people of Mambwe District but also boost tourism to earn the country the much needed foreign exchange.

Nevertheless, in his myopic assessment Sata scoffed at the road work in question because according to him, it did not deserve attention to rehabilitate as it was only going to benefit  animals;  hyenas, buffalos, rabbits inclusive.

As a result people of Mambwe have since been in arms with lose tongued Sata for referring to them as animals and have declared their area a no-go territory for him as they feel insulted by the king Cobra, the name associated with the Animal world.

They have also warned that even if Sata uses the name of the Kaunda family to field Kaweche Kaunda in the Malambo parliamentary seat in the same district, they will not change their mind to reject him as well, simply because of one of the insults they got from the PF leader.

Instead, the people of Mambwe who are largely the Kundas have thrown their weight behind President Banda and the incumbent MMD MP Maxwell Mwale who is Minister of Mines and Mineral Development, all because of the massive development taking place in their area.

By inference therefore, the so-called high profile defectors such as Masebo and Mangani by virtue of Sata calling them Buffalos, means that they too are untamed cannot so that their rightful natural habitation is the forest or the game reserve.

And the research further confirms that some of the animals Sata is attracting to his vanquished vessel are in fact; fit to be called the wounded Buffalos because of their shady activities as they left the MMD.   If anything, they deserve to be thrown in the animal sanctuary for tourism attraction.

Referring to Sata’s rabbits, the direct opposite of these animal species are the wild dogs, which might as well be attributed to Sata’s small time cadres while the MMD rabbits which by nature, are peace loving and tameable animals, and ready to boost the membership of the ruling party and ensure that President Banda is voted back to power.

A timely warning for Sata – Please beware of your damaging public image or risk to lose the little you may have come the forthcoming tripartite elections.

EDUCATED LEADERS ARE VITAL TO ZAMBIA’S FUTURE

BY JOHN KABWITA

The assertion by some top opposition leaders that Zambia does not need educated people to run the country’s affairs is not only dangerous but ill-timed.

For all intents and purposes, the statement is meant to give opposition parties that may not have sufficiently qualified candidates for the presidency or members of parliament in the forthcoming tripartite election later this year. A valid argument to ensure that their candidates are not rejected by the people on account of their poor education. Those who hold this view are aware that most discerning voters will not vote for leaders who are not educated because a complexities of the modern world require people who are properly educated and have the right exposure in terms of local, national and world affairs.

It is no longer sufficient just to know how to write one’s name. Zambia now needs a new brand of leaders who are capable of making things happen in whatever arena you they find themselves in and can confidently and decisively make decisions on behalf of the Zambian masses.

This is why the MMD’s vision on education, among other things is to expand access to high schools so that two-thirds of those completing basic school education can proceed to institutions of higher learning. They are also proposals to establish a teaching council for “the accreditation of teachers and for insuring the continuous professional development.”

There is, in addition, a commitment to expand education training opportunities at tertiary and vocational levels. This is supported by more specific commitments. First, MMD proposes to ‘’ensure that each province has a degree awarding institution.’’

Secondly, it plans to facilitate the establishments of the long scheme for students who cannot meet the academic or living costs of university education. Thirdly, MMD aims to establish a higher education authority “with the responsibility allocation of resources to various institutions to ensure programmes and public universities respond to national needs and for the monitoring of standards.”

In an urge where 5 year olds can do research on the internet and be able to withdraw money from any bank once they are given the right information. It is folly to think that the country does not need educated leaders. Such thinking is a recipe for disaster for any country more so, a developing one that has just acquired middle income status.

At a time when the government and Private Sector are critically looking at ways to make education the nation’s number one priority and that the masses are sensitized enough to allow the children to go beyond basic education standards, it is saddening to listen to leaders who think that“Zambia does not need educated people to run the country”. Such thinking will not only create a problem for the country but will serve only to de-motivate those who aspire to better education and consequently a better future for themselves and a nation as a whole.

What this means, in reality, is that those who view education as non-essential as Zambia’s developments, do not really know what they want or it could be that what they want is at a variance with all the good things that President Banda his government and the public at large want. if this is truly their view of education, then their manifestos on the subjects are definitely hollow and Zambians should reject and for what they really are quacks.

Zambian leaders must themselves be sufficiently educated in order for them to create the kind of environment that can ensure a better quality of life for everyone. They should be leading examples of the quality of citizen who can help upcoming leaders and others to aspire to new heights in their education so that they can be suitable to take Zambia into a truly bright future.

It is important to stress that life’s surprises are not so surprising when one is prepared for them and there is no better way to prepare for them than getting a good solid education especially in today’s technologically advanced world.

The old adage that “when the going gets tough, it’s the tough that gets going,” cannot be over emphasised. One can only add that in such a situation“it’s the educated that will get going”. That this is true, there is no doubt, although in exceptional cases, some may take it without education if they worked extremely hard. The emphasis is on the term “extremely”.

Most people will certainly agree that in today’s world, one has to be pretty ambitious, intelligent or gifted in a particular way to make a decent living without a good education.

When discussing the subject of education, therefore, leaders should not be frivolous, emotional or greedy but approach the subject with the seriousness it deserves because they have a moral obligation not to deliberately mislead others, especially gullible young people, for personal gain.

There are young people that may take what such leaders say as gospel truth and therefore, care must be taken to ensure that young fragile minds are not destroyed through half truths whose only purpose is to gain mileage during this year’s tripartite elections in which the opposition is increasingly running out of tactics.

While some of Zambia’s pioneers may not have been as educated as some of today’s leaders are, under the prevailing circumstances, they did extremely well in stealing this nation to what it is today. Of course there have been mistakes along the way, but we should begin to understand that they did the best they could under very difficult circumstances.

They did not have as many schools as we have today. Part of the reason was that the colonialists favoured less educated natives that they could easily manipulate. Even then, the policies of our freedom fighters on education ensured that most of us today including the children of all those who resided in Zambia at the time got educated.

However, one cannot deny the fact that today’s world, requires a different crop of leaders and professionals. But judging by some of the wild pronouncements from some opposition leaders on the subject of education, there is need to exercise great caution as Zambians go to the polls to elect individuals to lead them.

This is because today’s world if different. We live in a globalised world where interdependence is the norm. Therefore, it is imperative that levels of education should be better than those held by people in the past. This is necessity. The Zambian people should once again exercise their democratic right to vote for a leadership based on, among other tenets, integrity, capacity and the ability of that leadership to deliver on the promises. It is hoped that the Zambian people will vote for a leadership with the necessary experience, stability and vision that will guarantee and ensure a secure future for all Zambians and their children and not those who deliberately mislead in order to gain political mileage.