zambia china signs three economic and technical cooperation exchange notes

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zambia and chinese have today signed three economic and technical cooperation exchange notes on the levy mwanawasa general hospital, national malaria control centre and the dispatch of experts on mini-hydro power plants.
the exchange notes involve the supply of extra-medical equipment to the levy general hospital at a cost of 7.9 billion kwacha and equipment and consumables for the anti-malaria centre at a cost of 1.2 billion kwacha.
it also involves the dispatch of a team of experts from china to zambia to undertake feasibility studies on the rehabilitation and upgrading of the musonda hydro power station in luapula province and the chishimba hydro power plant in northern province.
speaking at the signing ceremony in lusaka today, finance and national planning minister alexander chikwanda said the disbursement of the three economic and technical cooperation exchange notes will come in form of grants.
speaking at the same ceremony, chinese ambassador to zambia zhou yuxiao pointed out that chinese is aid is always people oriented and the one which has been made will assist to improve the energy and health sectors.
ambassador zhou says his government will fulfill its obligations to zambia.
he says the chinese people will always respect the wishes and aspirations of zambians adding that choosing a new government is one such decision which china has accepted and decided to move with zambians.

MR zhou indicated that the experts to do the feasibility studies will be coming to Zambia as soon as possible and once the feasibility studies are done, then the works on the two hydro power plants will begin.
and ambassador zhou further indicated that his government will next year invite president michael sata to pay a visit to that country to strengthen further the bilateral ties which already exist.

FQM AND GOVNM'T TO BANK ROLL UPGRADE OF SOLWEZI

first quantum minerals in conjunction with the ministry of works, supply and communication is spearheading a 117 billion kwacha upgrade of solwezi airport in solwezi, north western province.
the upgrade will allow the airport to handle aircraft as large as boeing 737s, a development expected to further fuel the growth of diversified industries such as agriculture and tourism in a province where mining is the main economic activity.
first quantum minerals country manager general kingsley chinkuli says the upgraded airport is expected to be a major trigger-point for accelerated economic growth for north western province and the rest of zambia.
general chinkuli was speaking when the minister of works, supply and transport, yamfwa mukanga inspected the progress of the airport upgrade.
he stressed that the upgraded solwezi airport will not only ease access to north western province, but will also stimulate growth of diversified industries such as agriculture and tourism.
general chinkuli added that the investment in the upgrade of the airport is one vivid example of how the mineral wealth of zambia can be of mutual benefit to ordinary zambians and investors.
general chinkuli notes that the airport works to be completed by may 2012 have stronger resonance with the patriotic front (pf) government’s intent to put greater focus on improving transport infrastructure to underpin accelerated social and economic development.
and mr. rob scott, first quantum roads division operations manager, disclosed that the new look solwezi airport will have a 2,700 metre runway, and that the upgrade exercise is progressing well.
mr. scott said the upgrade of solwezi airport is among the flagship projects first quantum is undertaking in improving infrastructure in north western province and other parts of zambia.
they include the improvements of the chingola/solwezi road which is the main access to north western province and this has made the road much safer than it had been in the recent past.
in addition, first quantum is undertaking a five-year programme to revamp solwezi general hospital to the tune of eleven billion kwacha.
the improvement of infrastructure by first quantum tangibly addresses concerns of substandard facilities in a province that produces 60 percent of zambia’s copper

president sata blasts kingsley chanda led ZRA commission of inquiry for lack of seriousness

President Sata has expressed disappointment with the Kingsley Chanda led Zambia revenue authority (ZRA) commission of inquiry for poor presentation of the report on the findings and recommendations of the ZRA operations.
The president was speaking at state house when the Zambia revenue authority commission of inquiry led by Mr. kingsley Chanda present the report on the findings and recommendation into the operations of the Zambia revenue authority.
President Sata says lack of seriousness by commissions like the Kingsley Chanda led commission of inquiry has led to witness refusing to appear before other commissions of inquiry instituted to look into various sector of the economy.
Meanwhile president Sata has once again directed the minister of finance and national planning Alexander chikwanda to do a cabinet memo upon which the decision on the way forward will be made.
And making the presentation of the report to president Sata, Zambia revenue authority operations commission of inquiry chairperson kingsley Chanda hoped that the recommendations will help the country understand the tax administration.

PTA bank governor dr micheal ngondwe is bank of zambia's new governor

Preferential trade area (PTA) bank governor dr Michael ngondwe has been appointed as bank of Zambia governor and parliament is this afternoon expected to ratify is appointment.

According to sources the select committee is expected to conclude its recommendations and table them before parliament sine die.

Dr ngondwe has a successful career as governor from the region development bank known as the preferential trade area (PTA) bank and is based in Nairobi Kenya.

Dr ngondwe has been instrumental in securing long term finance for Zambian industries and at one time managed to secure $30million for Zambezi Portland cement.

Recently PTA bank made history when dr ngondwe secured a $1billion Eurobond share and the initial issuance of the $300million PTA bond trading at the Luxemburg stock exchange was over subscribed.

zambia launches the national gender monitoring and eveluation plan for 2011 to 2015

Government under the ministry of gender and women in development with the guidance of gender and child development division has developed a national gender monitoring and evaluation plan for 2011 to 2015 to guide collection, analysis, use and dissemination of information.

The national monitoring and evaluation plan for 2011 to 2015 will enable stakeholders track progress made in achieving gender equality and empowerment of women for enhanced and informed decision making.

The plan further articulates the linkages, reporting relationships, and indicators used to measure outputs, outcomes, and impact of national gender mainstreaming interventions.

Speaking at the launch of the African gender development index for Zambia today, deputy minister of gender and women in development emerine kabanshi has noted that one of the greatest challenges in the efforts to address gender inequalities at various levels, has been the lack of sex disaggregated data.

Mrs. kabanshi has stressed that accessing timely and reliable data, especially gender data is important for policy formulation, planning and achieving results.

She has pointed out that the lack of disaggregated data is a serious impediment to tracking progress and reporting on the achievements that Zambia has made in addressing gender inequalities.

Speaking at the same launch united nations resident coordinator dr olusegun babaniyi has noted that Zambia is still faced with several challenges such as low representation of women in parliament, low number of females completing secondary schools and low levels of women’s participation in labour force.

Dr babaniyi also noted that the country has an opportunity in the work of the upcoming constitution review to ensure that measures are put in the new constitution to enshrine the rights of women, by firstly removing clauses which negate women empowerment in personal and customary law.

She has further called on Zambia to domesticate international and regional instruments on gender and development including the convention on elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, the convention on the rights of the child, the African union protocol on gender and development and the SADC protocol on gender and development.

She says once ratified the instruments, Zambia must put in measures to monitor the implementation of the targets set out in the international and regional instruments

construction sector grows by 15percent this year

zambia’s construction industry this year has registered an improved growth of over 15 percent.
this is due to the various construction projects around the country in the road, education, health, tourism, energy and agriculture sectors.
meanwhile government under the 2011/2012 budget has allocated over four trillion kwacha towards infrastructure development which will be used for road works alone as compared to the three trillion kwacha in the 2010/2011 budget.
the national council for construction (ncc) executive director dr sylvester mashamba has disclosed this in lusaka today.
dr. mashamba has also announced that the council has down graded gabman contractors limited from grade 2b to grade 4 due to its poor construction works done around the country.
dr. mashamba says the sector in the last 10 years, has been recording an average growth rate of 17.3 percent and the figures are looking encouraging though, the growth should translate into reduced poverty levels among the general citizenry if it is to be appreciated by the public.
and dr mashamba has further warned contractors who are perpetuating the trend of forging the ncc certificates to masquerade and purports to be council agents to unsuspecting people who want to register as contractors to stop the evil act.
he says so far the council has worked on two cases with the zambia police and investigations are on the way into the syndicate. and dr mashamba has revealed that the council has fined undisclosed amounts of money to a main contractor group 5 - zcon which was carrying out construction works at the new levy business park were it subcontracted 26 contractors.
and speaking as zambia institute of architects president, dr mashamba warned all architects in the country not to respond to any advertisement for expression of interest requiring architectural designs stating that the aforementioned growing trend is against cap 442.
he said all registered architects must not submit to the illegal expression of interest adverts as they will be penalized.

comesa -zambian government sign 4million euros power interconnector

The common market for eastern and southern Africa (COMESA) and government have signed an implementation agreement on the zambia-tanziania-kenya (ZTK) power interconnector project worth 4million Euros.

The project will address issues of reducing the cost of doing business in the region in order to enhance competitiveness in trade through energy service availability, accessibility and affordability.

The short and medium term intention of the Z-T-K is to supply energy from Zambia or southern African power pool (SAPP) to Tanzania and Kenya and the long term is to provide opportunities to conduct power trade in the region and facilitate the creation of a pan African power market from cape town in south Africa to Cairo in Egypt and Tripoli in Libya.

The project is under the regional integration support programme, a European union funded programme under the 10^th European fund and the implementation agreement is specifically for the financing activities to establish and maintain a project implementation unit for the Z-T-K interconnector projector.

The Z-T-K interconnector project which is a 1,600kilometer, 400megawatts, bi directional 400killovolts power interconnector linking Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya and the SAPP has confirms power availability of minimum 400mega watts by the time Z-T-K will be commissioned

The objective of the power interconnector is to facilitate trade in power, offer improved reliability and security of power supply to both southern and eastern Africa.

It will also encourage investment in new generation by linking generation and customers through provision of power transmission capacity

In addition the power interconnector will promote economic development in eastern and southern Africa through closer regional integration and meet the immediate and future power demand in eastern and southern Africa by providing transmission capacity

zambian treasury losing 12billion kwacha every year through tax invasion by sabmiller

action aid has reiterated that government is losing about 12 billion kwacha every year from zambian breweries under its parent sabmiller due to the tax loopholes in the zambian tax system.

according to action aid, sabmiller is also allegedly eluding paying tax to other developing countries in africa and is making them to lose about 20 million pounds in tax revenue which it says can help about 250,000 children in school if collected.

action aid economic justice campaign officer chris jordan says desperation for revenue amongst most african and european countries especially with the euro zone is making certain countries like zambia lose a lot of revenue due to engagement of companies who are given tax holidays and incentives.

mr jordan has stated that foreign investors like sabmiller were it was revealed that it eluded about $70 million tax payment in africa is undermining aid coming from foreign donors such as the united kingdom and the united states of america.

he has explained that companies like sabmiller which operates as zambian breweries is eluding the zambian revenue authority by pay tax haven nations like switzerland and the netherlands were they own multinational companies.

he advised that the situation of eluding tax by companies like sabmiller in places were they operate can only be averted if tax haven nations like switzerland begin to cooperate.

he has reminded all the investors operating in the country especially those in mining as well that the organisation is not taking anti-business stance in making revelations but only trying to ensure that transparency becomes the norm of the day.

And centre for policy trade development executive director saviour mwambwa questioned what is happening to the audit report on the mines especially in terms of tax payment and company production.

mr mwambwa also pointed out that there is need for government to carry out a cost benefit analysis of concessions which are being given to most investors especially those in the mining sector if more revenue is to be raised.

he has stated that the contribution of the mining sector to the zambian treasury is still minimal hence the need to look at the tax policy and incentives given to investors

zambia consumers right protection authority vows to uproot and stam out business cartels

the competition and consumer protection commission has vowed to stamp out any cartels which it will trump upon stating that the vice has drastic effects on the members of the public who are consumers of services provided by companies.
the commission has also warned trader associations that have been formed on the basis of ensuring standards and quality service to the general public to desist
the commission says the pricing and terms of conditions of sale are supposed to be private and confidential to each enterprise which make one enterprise more competitive than another hence the warning must be taken seriously adding that the commission will investigate associations that discuss prices as this violates section 9 of the act.
ccpc board vice chairperson simomo akapelwa says the vice is growing in the country as cartels are very profitable to venture in and that is why even with serious penalties provided in the competition and consumer protection act 2010 of imprisonment and high fines, enterprises still engage in such activities.
mr akapelwa has explained that in order to address cartels, the new competition and consumer protection act number 24 of 2010 provides for a leniency programme, a kind of whistle blowing framework which allows participants in cartels to report cartel conduct to the commission in exchange for protection from prosecution.
the vice chairperson who was speaking in light of the celebrations to mark the second anniversary of world competition day says the leniency programme has not been successful due to lack of education on the part of business to ensure that the whistle blowers understand the intent of the programme.
mr. akapelwa says the commission has however not been sitting idle to wait for persons to report conducts to the commission but has been conducting various programmes in relation to cartels and so far three cartels were blocked from taking place.
he says recently the commission conducted a dawn raid in the motor vehicle sector in lusaka where garages colluded in a cartel to fix prices for motor vehicle repair services and the commission is finalizing investigations with the view to punish all cartel members.
meanwhile mr. akapelwa says the construction, tourism, finance, banking and agriculture sectors are area of priority concern to the commission for which it will be paying more attention.
he further disclosed that the commission is in the process of engaging the law association of zambia (laz) even though the association is protected by law to ensure that competition is introduced in the sector.
and speaking at the same briefing consumer unity trust society-cuts international board chairperson ambassador love mtesa has urged zambia through the commission to consider putting up a strong position to the united nations conference on trade and development in support of the world competition day.
ambassador mtesa says the cartel business is also a cause of concern from the development and poverty alleviation perspective.

saccord slams amnesty internation for suggesting that african countries should arrest former u.s president george .w.bush during his visit without an indictment

the southern african centre for constructive resolution of disputes (saccord) has scolded amnesty international for suggesting that african countries should arrest former united states president george w. bush during his visit.
saccord says there was no indictment for his arrest.
recently amnesty international called for several african nations to arrest and detain president george bush for authorizing the use of water boarding and other forms of torture.
the organization called for the governments of ethiopia, tanzania and zambia to arrest mr. bush and to secure his presence during the investigation of "his alleged involvement in and responsibility for torture.
president bush who left zambia yesterday morning is visiting also ethiopia, and tanzania this week to raise awareness about cervical and breast cancer and hiv and aids.
but saccord information officer obby chibuluma says the calls from amnesty are baseless and a sheer waste of time adding that the international criminal court has not issued any indictment order to arrest and prosecute president bush.
he says zambia would have had difficulties of where to take the former president had it arrested him as there is no court which has called for his prosecution.

zambian government exmpts the church from paying land taxes

government has deleted the church from the list of institutions to be paying land taxes stating that it does not make sense to tax the owner of the land who is god.
chief government spokesperson given lubinda says the patriotic front government will give priority to the church were land allocation is concerned adding that this was part of its promises of giving people what belongs to them.
mr. lubinda says the pf government will always come back to consult the church over various matters as it is the major stakeholder comprising different zambians from all tribes in the country.
mr lubinda who is information, broadcasting and tourism minister and pf kabwata member of parliament has stated that government does not need to ask where to find the people but already knows that the church is home to most of the under privileged.
he has observed that government is second in terms of offering support but the church is the first one hence president michael sata’s decision to pronounce that zambia will be governed by the ten commandments

the southern african centre for constructive resolution of disputes has charged that the police are becoming a danger to society

the southern african centre for constructive resolution of disputes (saccord) has charged that the police are becoming a danger to society.
saccord notes that instead of protecting people’s lives, the police are eliminating them.
speaking in view of the incident that happened in kalingalinga yesterday were the police shot dead one resident during the curfew time, saccord information officer obby chibuluma has observed that the police have continued to be trigger excited despite several calls from the public seeking protection.
mr. chibuluma says the lack of professionalism by the police is making them to be a danger to the various communities which they are serving.
he has stated that the police need to move away from apologizing each time they do something wrong to the community but ensure they apply professionalism in their conduct.
mr. chibuluma has pointed out that the police officers who shot the person in kalingalinga must be brought to book to allow the law to take its course stating that the time for police who are cadres has passed and this is the time to be professionals.
the saccord information officer was speaking in an interview with radio phoenix this morning.

yesterday, police in lusaka’s kalingalinga compound fought running battles after the residents started a riot upon hearing that their colleague had died after being shot by a police reserve in the area

PSDA welcomes government's plans to revamp ncz

the private sector development association (psda) has welcomed the plans by government to revamp the nitrogen chemicals of zambia through budgetary allocation.
the association has however cautioned that such plans need a company management which is focused to get the firm back into full production.
speaking in an interview with radio phoenix, psda chairperson yusuf dodia says zambia needs the company because the diversification programme is focused on agriculture to get the economy moving.
mr. dodia says apart from producing fertilizer, the company also produces chemicals needed by other companies in the country and the southern africa region hence the revamping of the ncz will make zambia earn more revenue. meanwhile mr. dodia has advised the ruling patriotic front government to look at revamping other non functional companies like the kabwe fabrics company which was placed into private hands but has been performing badly resulting in job losses.
he says the government must engage the owners of the company and strategise the way forward

action aid zambia calls on government to increase the legal age for marriage from 18 to 19 to avoid early child marriages which are common in rural areas

action aid zambia has called on government to increase the legal age for marriage from 18 to 19 to avoid early child marriages which are common in rural areas.
action aid country director pamela chisanga says as women commemorate 16 days of activism against gender based violence, there is need for government to stamp out child marriages and provide effective protective systems for zambian girls.
and ms chisanga has said there is need for government to show that it is committed to ensuring that education is accessible to all adding that some structures to prevent child marriages have been put in place, but the lack of funding is a great challenge which prevents these structures from functioning.ms. chisanga’s comments come in the wake of a new action aid report which is showing that parents’ approval of forced, under-age marriages and a general acceptance of domestic violence and corporal punishment are major obstacles to girls completing their primary education in sub-saharan africa.
the action aid research shows that parents are complicit in under-age marriage and that girls are all too frequently blamed for the violence they experience.
the report shows that up to 86 percent of 1082 girls who participated in the action aid research, had reported some form of violence against them in the past 12 months.
the report says in nakonde, mbala and mpulungu action aid zambia works together with communities to reintegrate girls back to school after becoming victims of child marriage.
however there is need for political will and action at the highest level. the action aid´s report `stop violence against girls in school` is based on research from ghana, kenya, mozambique, nigeria and tanzania however the same sad reality is true for zambia