Category Archives: Community News

Seventeen suspects of Mchini Compound in Chipata who were charged with conduct likely to cause the breach of peace yesterday appeared in the Chipata Magistrate Court for mention.

James Banda and 16 others who appeared before Magistrate Moses Phiri participated in the riot that broke out in Mchini last month, after the death of a Magazine resident.

Magistrate Phiri has set September 23^rd 2019 as a day for commencement of trial.

He said the suspects will remain in custody, until they meet the bail conditions. Each suspect is required to pay 500 Kwacha cash and present two working sureties, attracting a sum of 5,000 Kwacha in their own recognizance.

The Ministry of Agriculture has reviewed modalities to be used under the 2018- 2019 conventional system of input distribution.
Agriculture Marketing Directed Kezia Mbita Chityamba says the ministry has targeted a total of one million farmers to benefit from the 2018-2019 farming season countrywide.
Mrs. Chityamba says farmers will still be required to deposit their contribution the way it was done under the electronic voucher card.
She explained that farmers under the conventional system will get three bags of D Compound fertilizer, three bags of Urea and a ten kg bag of maize seed of different varieties.
Mrs. Chityamba adds that additional packs of groundnuts, Sorghum and Soya beans will be given to farmers, in a continued effort to promote variation in the agriculture sector.
She was speaking in a separate interview with journalists at the 2018-2019 Farmer Input Support Program FISP sensitization meeting in Chipata yesterday.

ZAMPOST Postmaster General Mcpherson Chanda has been suspended with immediate effect.
This is to pave way for investigations relating to the administration of the Social Cash Transfer Scheme.
Mr. Chanda has been suspended together with the Director Finance Best Mwaichi, Director Operations Isaac Kamwimba, and Assistant Director Operations Moses Musonda.
ZAMPOST Board Chairperson Musenga Musukwa confirmed the development in a statement to the media.
Mr. Musukwa said a Special Board Meeting was held to discuss the administration of the social cash transfer scheme and resolved to suspend the officers in management for a period of SIX months.
He explained that the Board has resolved to appoint an interim management team, with Brighton Ngoma as Postmaster General , Stanely Phiri Director Operations and Ms Dorothy Mulenga as Finance Director.

The Zambian Kwacha is now trading at more than 11 Kwacha against the United States dollar.
The country’s currency is struggling to maintain its stability against other convertible currencies.
A check by Breeze Business News, found that the United States dollar is buying at 11 Kwacha 14 Ngwee and selling at 11 Kwacha 35 Ngwee.
The British Pound is buying at 14 Kwacha 70 Ngwee and selling at 14 Kwacha 98 Ngwee.
The Euro is buying at 13 Kwacha 4 Ngwee and selling at 13 Kwacha 29 Ngwee while the South Africa Rand is buying at 77 Ngwee and selling at 78 Ngwee.
The poor performance of the Kwacha this week has already worried the business sector that fear it might have an adverse effect on the economy.

Tobacco Board of Zambia TBZ says that some people are frustrating the board’s efforts to restructure the tobacco industry.
TBZ Executive Officer James Kasongo however, says that he will not allow anyone to frustrate his efforts and that of the board.
Speaking at the official opening of a stakeholders’ meeting in Lusaka yesterday, Mr. Kasongo stated that in a quest to change the operations and brining sanity, the Board has engaged a specialist to capture data that will help in farmer Registration and their specific locations.
He says that he is targeting to work with the government to ensure there is a conducive working environment for all entrepreneurs in the Tobacco industry.
Meanwhile, government says it expects all players in the industry to observe laid down procedures and avoid doing things outside the legal stipulation.
Acting Director in the Department of Agriculture Alick Daka also called on all farmers that have not remitted levies to do so through the Tobacco Board of Zambia.
Mr. Daka emphasized that children should not be used in the cultivation and farming of Tobacco despite the sector being profitable and a quick win cash crop in the agriculture sector.
He noted that research shows that in Zambia Tobacco is seven and half times more profitable per hectare than maize production and fourteen times more profitable than Cotton production.
Mr. Daka pointed out that Tobacco has great potential to contribute to the growth of the economy through employment and wealth creation.

Eastern Water and Sewerage Company plans to engage an external debt collection agency to recover the outstanding debt of about 10 million kwacha.
Company Acting Managing Director Aaron Mulinda says demand notices are currently being distributed to affected customers.
He says out of the 10 million kwacha, about 4 million kwacha is the amount owed by government while the rest of the amount is owed by individual customers.
He was speaking to journalists after a stakeholders meeting organized by the utility company in Chipata yesterday.
Mr. Mulinda says the outstanding amount had reduced after engaging bailiffs whose mandate expired, but that the debt is again going up.

The Ministry of Agriculture has assured farmers that it will cover up for those who did not have their cards activated in the 2017-2018 farming season.
This was disclosed by Agriculture Business and Marketing Director, Kezia Mbita Katyamba in an interview on the sidelines of a 2018 -2019 Farmer Input Support Program FISP sensitization meeting in Chipata this morning.
Mrs. Katyamba also disclosed that the ministry is working on a system that will enable farmers get the value of their support for previous 2017-2018 farming season.
The Director says this will be done using the data that was captured during the previous season to identify the affected farmers.

Caritas Chipata has condemned individuals involved in the misappropriation of the Social Cash Transfer Program.
Caritas Chipata Good Governance Programs Coordinator John Mthadziko Zulu says his organization is saddened over the misuse of funds meant for vulnerable people in the country.
The United Kingdom government has frozen its funding to Zambia following revelations that about 4.3 million US dollars meant for the Social Cash Transfer beneficiaries was misapplied.
Mr. Zulu says this is a very serious anomaly because people in Europe are trying to help poor Zambians.
He says citizens need a clear explanation on why the former Minister of Community Development and Social Services Emerine Kabanshi was fired.
Mr. Zulu says it is of public interest for people to understand why certain duty bearers are relieved of their duties, so that if it is in relation to embezzlement of funds, other ministers learn a leasson.
He has called for quick action over individuals involved in the misapplication of the funds meant for the vulnerable people in society.
Mr. Zulu says the situation is unfortunate because many vulnerable people who were beneficiaries of the program will starve with hunger.

Plot owners in Katete district have appealed to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to quicken processing of land offer letters.
ZANIS reports that Enock Banda, one of the plot owners says the slow process of working on offer letters has led to the construction of substandard buildings by some people.
Mr. Banda was speaking in Katete during a meeting that was aimed at informing residents on the project of grading township roads by the District Council.
And Samuel Chanda, another plot owner, said the delay is caused by the Council.
Mr. Chanda however, appreciated the efforts the Council is making in providing better services.
Meanwhile the Ubulayo Initiative has handed over 12 boreholes to communities in Katete district.
Ubulayo Founder, Tasila Lungu says the donation is aimed at enhancing access to clean and safe water in places that have water challenges.
Ms. Lungu was speaking during the official handover ceremony of the boreholes in Kanyatula Village in Chief Mban’gombe’s Chiefdom in Katete district.

Transparency International-Zambia TIZ says the country has continued to record high cases of corruption despite the formation of integrity committees in government departments.

TIZ monitoring and evaluation officer Tendai Nkhandu says government departments should ensure that the integrity committees are operational and contribute to a reduction in cases of bribery and other forms of corruption in the public service.

He was speaking at a Zambia Brib Payers Index ZBPI information sharing meeting in Chipata.

Mr. Nkhandu noted that Zambia’s corruption perception has continued to be bad and stressed the need to scale up efforts to fight graft.

He noted that most institutions have recorded an increase from 8.5 per cent in 2014 to 10 per cent in 2017, representing an increase of 1.5 percent.

And ACC Regional Manager Nkandu Chipinda underscored ZBPI in the fight against corruption as it provides an empirical measurement of incidences of bribery in government departments and the private sector.

Ms. Chipinda encouraged public institutions to use the findings of the ZBPI to fight graft.