NATION DAILY
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PURSUING JUSTICE AND EQUITY WITH INTEGRITY Vol. 6. Issue 2655
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Saturday July 18, 2020
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame affirmed the solid and sound relationship he enjoyed with President Lungu, as a person and could not see him sponsor mercenaries to overthrow him. Moreover, the convict had been to 5 countries prior to his arrest and Zambia was not one of them.
PAUL KAGAME RUBBISHES ALLEGATIONS By SIMON MUNTEMBA
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame
R
WANDA’S President Paul KAGAME has pledged to help Zambia identify the source of false allega-
P5. Govt warns against ghost farmers in FISP STORY ON PAGE 5
P3. UPND’s attempt to block Bill 10 dismissed
P2. FDD top brass petitioned to hold convention
‘Stop speculations over Zambia-IMF talks’ Story on P3
Covid-19 death toll reaches 108 Story on Page 3
tions by rebel leader Callixte Nsabimana Sankara that President Edgar Lungu had provided US$150,000 support to the insurgency. The President told Minister of Foreign Affairs, Joe Malanji, who was sent to Ki-
gali as a special envoy, that he did not give credence to the allegations because investigations had established that Zambia was not one of the five countries the insurgent group had sought support from. To Page 3
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Saturday 18 July, 2020
DAILY
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DAILY
‘Equalisation Fund for councils inadequate’ By ANDREW MITI THE Local Government Equalisation Fund is still insufficient and is not a panacea to all challenges facing the local government sector, the Local Government Association of Zambia (LGAZ) has said. LGAZ executive director, Maurice Mbolela, said contrary to perceptions that the grant was the answer to setbacks facing local authorities, the fund was inadequate to meaningfully support operations in councils. Mr Mbolela said this was why LGAZ had continued to call for the immediate and full implementation of the provisions in the Republican Constitution on local government some of which define own revenue sources for local authorities. Twenty per cent of the grant is conditional to finance capital projects while 80 percent is discretional to support operations which include salaries and wages. Mr Mbolela was speaking during the fourth media orientation workshop on local government at Chita Lodge in Kafue on Thursday.
By PETER SICHALI OVER 66 UPND members in Mafinga have ditched their party to join the ruling Patriotic Front (PF). The defectors, led by UPND Mafinga constituency information and publicity secretary Luwani Muwowo, cited lack of leadership in the opposition party. Mr Muwowo said they have joined PF because they were happy with its development agenda. “There is no leadership in UPND and we cannot remain in a political party that has no future hence joining the PF,” he said. Mr Muwowo said people in Mafinga were happy with the PF leadership citing the massive infrastructure development programme it has initiated in the district and
Saturday 18 July, 2020 And presenting a paper on central and local government relations, LGAZ director of programmes Dan Longwe, also called for full implementation of the provisions of the Constitution that empower local authorities to manage their own revenue sources. Mr Longwe said local authorities should be given a chance to control and retain their own sources of revenue as provided for by the current Constitution for effective service delivery and to ensure financial autonomy. Under the constitution, local authorities are mandated to levy, impose, recover and retain local taxes in line with the decentralisation policy that is currently being implemented through devolution of Central Government functions. Mr Longwe bemoaned the lack of a policy that governs local government in Zambia, saying this was making it difficult for the local government system to operate in a guided manner. He urged the media to help sensitise the communities on the importance of participating in local governance and regretted the low levels of participation by the citizens. “The levels of community participation in local governance are very low, I am therefore appealing to the media to help sensitise the citizens on the need for them to participate in decision making as it was critical under the current local government dispensation,” Mr Longwe said.
HOME NEWS
GOVT WARNS AGAINST GHOST FARMERS IN FISP By JOHN KOMBE
G
OVERNMENT has warned against registering ghost farmers in the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) for 2020/2021 farming season. Chongwe District Commissioner, Robster Mwanza, said his office had set up a team to monitor the input supply to ensure that
By NOEL IYOMBWA YOUTHS should refuse being used as tools of violence by politicians, Mandevu Member of Parliament Jean Kapata has said. Ms Kapata said youths should be empowered to become better citizens who contribute to national development. She said this in Lusaka yesterday when she gave out certificates to youths who had undergone entrepreneurship skills training in Mandevu constituency. Ms. Kapata said that her
UPND in Mafinga crumbles
the rest of the country. “We have today defected to PF because of the massive infrastructure development
that PF under the leadership of President Edgar Lungu has embarked on throughout the country and Mafinga has had
Zambia not under State capture -TIZ ZAMBIA is not under state capture, Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) has said. TIZ Programmes Officer, Raymond Mutale, however, said there was need to track finances that go into political parties and their campaigns. Mr Mutale said failure by various political parties to have their books of accounts audited was a source of worry and could be a recipe for resource mismanagement. He said this during the civic
education meeting for media personnel held at Mufla Lodge in Kabwe yesterday. Mr Mutale said TIZ was engaging political parties, stakeholders and the media in tracking political party financing and campaign resources. “As TIZ we are not focusing on an election as an end, even as we discuss we are looking at the bigger picture. “The bigger picture is that our focus this year going forward is to engage political parties, stakeholders and the
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media on issues to do with political party financing and campaign financing,” Mr Mutale said. He said once people who financed the party campaigns take charge while leaders in various positions would be ceremonial and not able to determine the development trajectory of the country. “But for us the moment we start tracking finances that are going into political parties, finances that are going into campaigns what we are trying
fraud was curbed. Mr Mwanza sounded the warning during a district agriculture stakeholders’ meeting for the 2020/2021 input support programme. Mr Mwanza said that 17, 792 framers in Chongwe were earmarked to benefit from FISP in the 2020/2021 farming season. He advised the cooperatives to ensure that they only register viable and eligible farmers.
He disclosed that the district had so far received 3, 100 tonnes of D-Compound fertilizer and 90 tonnes of urea fertilizer. Mr Mwanza stressed that the unprecedented early delivery of inputs must yield the intended results. Mr. Mwanza has since advised the cooperatives to ensure that they encourage farmers to deposit their K400.00 contribu-
tions promptly. He revealed that the farmers who were swindled by a named agro dealer in the last farming season were being given back their inputs. He said that this vice will not be tolerated in this season. And Chongwe District Agriculture Coordinating Officer (DACO), John Lungu, said Government had reverted to the direct input supply programme.
Youths empowered office had registered more cooperatives and that each would suggest what they want to do and her office would provide funds. She said youths should not only be used by politicians during campains and go home with nothing. Ms. Kapata who is Lands and Natural Resources minister however said youths should refused to be used as tools of violence. “it’s not only a white collar
a fair share of this development,” Mr Muwowo said. He cited the construction of two state of the art district hospitals, the post office nearing completion, houses for civil servants, construction of the first ever youth skills centre among other projects. And PF Muchinga Province chairperson, Alex Simuwelu, urged the party leadership and members to welcome them. Mr Simuwelu said PF should embrace new comers and returning members so as to give President Lungu 100 percent votes in next year’s general elections. He said the party has continued to attract new members due to the development agenda that has seen development in all corners of the country.
to do is to safe-guard against party capture as well as state capture,” he said. Mr Mutale called on the media to come on board not as spectators, but as active participants in the fight against corruption. Meanwhile, TIZ Governance and Democracy Lead, Gilbert Mwanza, said so far no political party has had its books of accounts audited. Mr Mwanza wondered how such a party in government would ensure that audits of the books of accounts were conducted as a requirement for prudent public resource management.
job that can bring food on the table but through other means such as entrepreneurship hence my office will ensure youths are empowered,” she said. Ms Kapata disclosed that on March 26 2020 Mandevu constituency launched 500 families’ project and that so far the project has produced tomatoes which it grew on a hired farm land and that it will soon be harvested. She handed over a higer
Tanzanian illegal immigrant convicted By BENNIE MUNDANDO
A TANZANIAN, Moses Okida, who was arrested for unlawful stay after being intercepted at Mongu Harbour has been fined K20, 000 or in default 12 months imprisonment with hard labour. Immigration Department public relations officer, Namati Nshinka, the 41-year-old was apprehended on July 13, this year when he failed to produce a valid travel document. Mr Nshinka said Okida was subsequently arrested and charged with unlawful stay in Zambia. “Moses Mbapuli Okida between 1st January, 2019 and 13th July, 2020 in Mongu stayed in Zambia without a valid travel document and failed to regularize his presence in Zambia,” Mr Nshika said in a statement. Mr Nshinka said the Magistrate Court in Mongu on Thursday fined Okida K20, 000 or in default 12 months imprisonment with hard labour. And Mr Nshinka said
bus to the people of Mandevu and disclosed that another bus will be handed over to the youths in two weeks’ time. And Kalumbila Multipurpose Cooperative Society chairman General Chilekwa Mambwe implored Mandevu youths to avoid begging or asking for handouts from leaders. He said that youths should not be beggars but should hustle towards achieving their goals. Mr Mambwe said that Zambia as a country had a lot of resources that the youths could benefit from.
the department between July 10 and 16, this year secured 13 convictions countrywide. The convicts were fined amounts of money between K 200 and K 10,000 or in default 1 to 9 months simple imprisonment. Mr Nshinka said during the same period, the department apprehended 104 persons for various immigration offences countrywide. He said a Congolese was apprehended after he attempted to obtain a Zambian National Registration Card by false representation. Meanwhile, Mr Nshinka said the department deported 52 illegal immigrants from the country. “These were 13 Tanzanian, 12 Burundians, seven Congolese, three Chinese, three Malawians and three Rwandese nationals. Others were three Zimbabweans, two Angolans, two Ugandan, two Cameroonian, one Mozambican and one Burkinabe,” he said. Mr Nshinka also said the Immigration at Katima-Mulilo Border Control had received 24 Zambians repatriated from Namibia. He said the Zambians were received between July 10th and 16th, 2020 after they were removed from that country for various offences including unlawful entry, unlawful presence, assault and illegal fishing.