MORE IMAGES FROM MPULUNGU

Below Ngwenye market and three women selling kapenta at the same market.

FROM MBALA WITHOUT SMOKE

Rarely in Africa let alone in Zambia would one see a poster against selling cigarettes to people under 18 years of age. It was thus a surprise to find such a poster at a drinking place in Mbala, northern Zambia.

The poster states: "Zambian law prohibits the sale of tobacco products to under aged persons"

The poster is published by Youth Smoking Prevention (YSP) and British American Tobacco (BAT). Perhaps times are really a changing.

IMAGES FROM MPULUNGU

UNHCR trucks at Mpulungu port waiting for a barge to ship them to Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The second picture shows another privately owned fishing complex in Mpulungu on the shores of Lake Tanganyika

IMAGES FROM MPULUNGU

Ngwenye market in Mpulungu on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. It is a market and an unofficial port for boats from Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Some counterfeit notes of Zambian currency have surfaced at the market.

COPPER THEFTS GROWING BUSINESS

Thefts of copper on the Copperbelt of Zambian have grown in number and frequency. It appears copper stolen from the Zambian Copperbelt is first taken into Congo DR where forged papers are prepared before it is exported through Zambia to outside markets. The story below published in the Zambia Daily Mail of April 2, 2009 adds to many other occurences of recent times.

ABOUT 1.6 tonnes of cobalt have gone missing at Chambishi Metals Copperbelt commanding officer Antonniel Mutentwa confirmed April 1, 2009.

“I can confirm that 1.6 tonnes of cobalt was stolen from Chambishi Metals between March 30 and 31 and the matter was reported to police late on March 31,” Mr Mutentwa said.

No arrests have been made but police have launched investigations. Mr Mutentwa said police would do everything possible to ensure that the culprits were brought to book. He said police would not allow theft of copper and other products from mines under care and maintenance.
Chambishi Metals chief executive officer, Derek Webbstock could neither confirm nor deny the theft.

“I am out of town and right now I am driving to South Africa so I cannot comment on that incident,” Mr Webbstock said.

Chambishi Metals recently announced that 600 miners out of the 900 that lost jobs when the mine in Kalulushi was closed would be reinstated following successful talks with the possible new investor from China.

Only $9.8m for corruption says UK govt

The following story which appeared in the Zambia Daily Mail of April 2, 2009 on how much Britain has spent in the fight against corruption in Zambia comes in the wake of reports that the Task force had spent 500 million pound in its fight against graft. It comes amid an outcry from some civil society organisation for a thorough audit of the operations of the Task Force.

United Kingdom government has disclosed that it has spent only 7 million British pounds (9.8 million U.S. dollars) in support of Zambia's fight against corruption, contrary to the reports that it has spent 500 million pounds (700 million dollars),Zambia Daily Mail reported on April 2, 2009.

British High Commissioner to Zambia Tom Carter said in a statement on April 1, 2009 when he refuted claims in some sections of the Zambian media. He said reports that the British government had spent 500 million pounds in helping Zambia's anti-corruption crusade were not correct. Britain, through its Department for International Development (DFID), had spent the money, most of which in support of the activities of the Zambia's Anti Corruption Commission and the Task Force on Corruption.

The money provided is for a period of seven years, the Mail report said.

"The British government will continue to support the Zambian authorities in the fight against corruption and in this context, warmly welcomes the recent approval of the National Anti Corruption Policy," Carter was quoted as saying.

MPULUNGU NORTHERN ZAMBIA

Scenes from Mpulungu on Lake Tanganyika. Mpulungu is Zambia's only port that links the country to Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Bunjumbura in Burundi and to Kasanga and Kigoma in Tanzania. The two pictures depict privately owned fishing establishments.

State says it won’t dictate Indaba agenda

Perhaps to emphasise President Rupiah Banda's view that the Indaba was not political his Commerce minister Felix Mutati joined the debate to allay such fears. In a report published by the Times of Zambia on April 1, 2009 Mutati told the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) that government will not dictate the agenda for the meeting:

COMMERCE, Trade and Industry Minister Felix Mutati has assured that the Government will not dictate the agenda at this weekend’s indaba. Mr Mutati said March 31, 2009 on Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation’s National Watch programme that the Government would go to the meeting with an open mind. He said the indaba was meant to look at the way forward in the midst of the global financial crisis and more than 500 people were expected to attend in order to have a wide participation.

“The Government will be open and will not dictate and say this is what we want because that will defeat the purpose of holding the indaba,” he said.

He said the indaba, which is scheduled for April 4 - 5, 2009, should be a platform of unity and not finger-pointing because there was need to come out more focused. He said the credit crunch was a wake-up call for Zambia to ensure that the economic diversification was expedited through agriculture, manufacturing and industrialisation. He said the indaba was significant because collective wisdom could help Zambia survive the crunch. He advised that the meeting should also explore ways and means of coming up with consistency in policy implementation.

Bank of Zambia (BoZ) deputy governor for operations Denny Kalyalya said although the credit crunch was a global problem, each country was preparing how it would meet the challenges. He said since the crisis started as a financial problem, BoZ wanted to see that the Zambian financial sector was stable and well organised.

Dr Kalyalya said BoZ wanted to hear from stakeholders at the indaba how to move the economy forward because it was time to respond. He said the central bank wanted to see the issue of economic diversification move a step further as a result of the indaba.

Zambia Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ZACCI) chief executive officer Justin Chisulo said the benefit of the indaba was that it would discuss the country’s opportunities in the middle of the financial crisis. Mr Chisulo said that ZACCI would take its experience to the indaba especially that the private sector was feeling the effects of the crisis and had some solutions. He said the crisis was an opportunity to do something in a different way and the indaba was a good environment because it would galvanise many people.

‘Indaba not political’

Since the days of first Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda has held multipurpose meetings called under Kaunda "National Conventions" but since the late President Levy Mwanawasa as "Indabas". Now President Banda has called his own Indaba and in this story carried by Times of Zambia April 1, 2009 ZANIS reporter Christeter Macha reported March 31, 2009 from Matsapha airport in Swaziland that the president did not see the "Indaba" as a political tool:

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has said that the national indaba scheduled for this weekend is not political but intended to help resolve the economic problems brought about by the global economic recession.

In an interview with ZANIS at Matsapha airport in Swaziland before departure back to Lusaka, Mr Banda said that it was sad that some political parties had misinterpreted the planned indaba.

“It is an economic indaba intended to enable Zambians talk about their country and to find ways of overcoming the effects of the global financial crisis,” Mr Banda said.

The Government had in this year’s Budget provided a number of incentives aimed at cushioning the impact of the global economic meltdown on the country’s economy. President Banda was in Swaziland to attend a one-day Southern African Development Community (SADC) extraordinary summit aimed at discussing and charting the way forward on the economic recovery plan for Zimbabwe and to also resolve the political unrest in Madagascar.

And Mr Banda described the summit which came to a close last night as a success.
He commended King Mswati III and his government for organising the summit, saying countries in the region were committed to solving problems affecting member states. Mr Banda said some of the key issues discussed during the summit were the economic recovery plan for Zimbabwe and the political insecurity in Madagascar, adding that the heads of State and government in the region were happy with progress made in the implementation of the unity government in Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, President Banda is concerned that men and women in uniform were involved in violating the constitution in Madagascar. He said what happened in Madagascar was unconstitutional in many ways, adding that the ousting of a legitimately recognised government and ushering into office of a president who is not of constitutional age is another serious violation of the constitution of Madagascar.

“Indeed the constitution has been violated in Madagascar and we have seen men and women in uniform taking the law into their own hands by bringing in a person who is not of constitutional age among other acts,” he said.

Mr Banda said that all SADC countries are constitutional and the heads of state have condemned what happened in that country. The president was among eight heads of State and government who attended the summit, which was chaired by King Mswati III who is also chairperson of the organ on politics, defence and security.—ZANIS

ERB not yet decided over Zesco tariffs

Electricity outages in the Southern region have bedevilled SADC countries in the recent past. Zambia was no exception in this regard. Zambians were continuously exposed to load shedding which at times last for several hours before power was restored. Now however, the country's utility company - the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) has announced that it has a power surpluss of 200 MW due to a fall in demand and the completion of upgrading works. The utility company has now come under public attack when it announced a 66 percent increase in the tariffs to consumers. ZESCO claims that even after such an increment its charges will be the lowest in the sub region. The following article appeared in the Times of Zambia of April 1, 2009:

THE Energy Regulation Board (ERB) has not yet made a decision on Zesco’s proposed 66 per cent increase in electricity tariffs as alleged by some media reports. ERB chairperson, Sikota Wina, said in a statement in Lusaka that the ERB had to follow legal procedures before it could decide on whether to approve or reject the proposed tariff increment by Zesco. Mr Wina said the ERB was committed to adhering to the legal process as outlined in section 8 of the Electricity Act, which provides for a consultative process among the consumers.

“The law provides for a consultative process on adjustment of electricity tariffs and this process entails, among other things, that the public is consulted by submitting comments and participating at a public hearing where arguments for and against the proposed increment are presented before the board. Consequently, until the process has been exhausted or concluded, the ERB will not have made a decision on the matter,” he said.

He said the ERB had just recently called for public comments on Zesco’s application as evidenced by advertisements currently running in the print media. He said it would, therefore, be absurd and deceitful for the ERB to have already made a decision on the matter and then proceed to invite public comments on the same.

“The ERB, therefore, categorically states that it has not yet made a decision on Zesco’s application to increase electricity tariffs. Further, in arriving at any decision on the matter, the ERB will proceed in accordance with procedures stipulated by the law. Members of the public are, therefore, hereby advised to disregard any reports to the contrary and are encouraged to submit any comments they may have on the proposed tariff increase,” he said.

Organised Crime: Vigilant cops nab 3 Atlas Copco managers

Organised crime is on the increase throughout the country as this report in the Times of Zambia of March 23rd 2009 shows.

THREE managers at Atlas Copco have been arrested in connection with alleged theft of mining equipment, which act has been going on at the Chingola’s head office. This comes barely two weeks after two other Atlas Copco employees were apprehended for allegedly stealing K50 million worth of drill rods.

Both police and Vanguard Investigations Limited (VIL) confirmed the detention of a customer service manager and two former site managers to the Times in Chingola. VIL managing director, James Kasamanda, said the trio had allegedly been conniving with some mining companies to steal spares used in servicing mining equipment. VIL is a private investigations company hired by Atlas Copco to help the company trace the white-collar crime, nab perpetrators and recover stolen property.

Captain Kasamanda said at times, the suspects stole in full view of all the employees by purporting that the goods were being transferred from one branch to another while using forged documentation.

“These three suspects when stealing used genuine names of other employees when in fact they avoided using their true identity. VIL has come to realise that the level of connivance on the Copperbelt is so high and there is need for mining owners to have the employees vetted because we have discovered that the same culprits move from one company to another. Through the same connivance with briefcase business companies, Atlas Copco employees smuggled larger consignments of drill rods into Democratic Republic of Congo,” he said.

He said Atlas Copco management, VIL and State law enforcement agencies were working hard to pin down the suspects because most of the people involved were professionals who graduated from universities. Capt Kasamanda said the fight against corruption and money laundering was not supposed to be left to the Anti-Corruption Commission and Drug Enforcement Commission alone.

He said there was need for an expanded method of operation to covert surveillance in Government and the private sector if money laundering and corruption are to be fought successfully. He said the stolen spares, recovered at NFCA in Chambishi from a Chinese firm together with the suspects, are at Chingola Central police station.

Capt Kasamanda, who has been seen around Chingola for the past one month, said US$300,000 worth of drill rods for Atlas Copco, which had gone missing in transit from South Africa, were still being investigated to establish their whereabouts. Those arrested earlier for allegedly stealing K50 million worth of drill rods include the stores officer, assistant security officer and dispatching officer.

MPs walk out

With the backdrop of the Global recession, the collapsing markets that have seen prices of commodities falling, the local scenario has seen mines being closed and many people losing their jobs. The Zambian National Assembly has not been spared of the tensions created by Government's decision to review the law on windfall taxes. Opposition Members of Parliament walked out from the House on March 25, 2009 and the situation is described in the following report which appeared in the Times of Zambia of March 27, 2009:

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) members of Parliament on Wednesday evening walked out of Parliament after the Income Tax (amendment) Bill of 2009 went through the committee stage following a division.

The PF MPs together with some United Party for National Development (UPND) and independent MPs walked out of Parliament when the Bill, which among other things seeks to abolish windfall tax, passed through the committee stage.

Vice-President George Kunda told the House that during consultations, the Government discovered the opposition political parties were merely politicking over the matter.

Mr Kunda said the PF were against the introduction of the windfall tax last year saying they wanted to save jobs and ensuring that the mines did not fold up.

He said variable tax served the same purpose as the windfall tax which he said was a punitive tax.

“Windfall tax is punitive, it does not take the aspect of costs into consideration. The position is that the Bill should go through unamended,” he said.

But Kabwata MP Given Lubinda (PF) said his party was against the windfall tax charging because it was being applied selectively to the mine investors.

Luena MP Charles Milupi (independent) said there was no need to abolish the windfall tax as the prices of copper on the world market were going up.

In an interview, Mr Lubinda said MPs from his party and some other MPs from the opposition walked out of the House because they did not want to be party to the proceedings which approved the abolishing of windfall tax.

He said the walk out was a protest against the stance by the MMD Government to abolish the windfall tax saying “we just want it on record that we were not party to the amendment.”