Posts in category: Uncategorized

 ECONOMIC Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Kasonde Mwenda has been detained after presenting himself to the police this afternoon. Mwenda who has been on the run since Friday presented himself to the police before he was charged with unlawful assembly. Police Deputy Public Relations Officer Danny Mwale said in a statement that the police are in […]

By NATION REPORTER

POLICE brutality against politicians, especially women has escalated under the UPND government, Saboi Imboela has charged.

Ms Imboela, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has strongly condemned the arrest of opposition political party leaders who on Friday peacefully protested against the US$577 million Ndola-Lusaka Dual Carriageway construction contract awarded to Micro Ocean Investment Consortium.

Those arrested included Chishala Kateka of the New Heritage Party, Kasonde Mwenda of the Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) and Jackson Silavwe of the Golden Party of Zambia (GPZ) as we as a Daily Nation female journalist Namo Phiri.

Ms Imboela, the leader of the NDC was however not arrested although she was among the three opposition political party leaders who were protesting.

In an interview, Ms Imboel said it was disheartening that the UPND government did not want opposition political leaders express themselves on national matters that were affecting Zambians.

“My colleagues were arrested like common criminals. Kasonde Mwenda was airlifted and thown into the Kasalanga like a common thief. I was there watching and asking the police why they were arresting people on a Friday. All they told me was they were following orders,” Ms Imboela said.

She stated that the Ndola-Lusaka Dual Carriageway Public Private Partnership (PPP) which the UPND government had embarked on had raised serious concerns among Zambians and it would be prudent for government to explain to citizens what the true status of the contract was.

She stated that while the UPND thought the Ndola-Lusaka Dual Carriageway PPP arrangement was a brilliant idea, the ruling party had not fully explained to Zambians and that was why the contract smacked of corruption and was not making sense.

Ms Imboela said the brutal arrest of the opposition political party leaders was uncalled for and was a sign that Zambia could slowly be degenerating into a dictatorship.

“The brutality of the police under the UPND has been escalated, especially the brutality towards women politicians. Previously, the police would treat female and male politicians differently and with some restraint and respect. Under the UPND, we are all being treated the same because the leadership does has no regard for the female gender. That probably explains why they had abolished the Ministry of Gender. May be the UPND is preparing a female president that is why that are so brutal and barbaric towards female politicians. I was arrested and now Chishala Kateka is in police cells,” Ms Imboela said.

She recalled that the UPND arrested Mumbi Phiri with the force of brutality and ensured that she was detained for as long as their ego could be soothed.

“We have a lot to say about how Ms Phiri had been arrested, detained indefinitely without trial but we cannot say these things for fear of being contemptuous.

By NATION REPORTER

DEFENCE Minister Ambrose Lufuma has rubbished assertions that the recruitment of officers in the Defence Forces has been characterized by corruption and has advised Zambians to ignore the propaganda of graft in the new dawn administration.

And Mr Lufuma has charged that the Patriotic Front (PF) shall never appreciate and the UPND government for all the good things the government was doing because the ruling party is still bitter and jealousy that President Hakainde Hichilema had performed to the expectations of Zambians.

Mr Lufuma said the UPND government was not corrupt and shall never be corrupt, claiming that such vices had gone with the Patriotic Front (PF) which he accused of having been corrupt.

Mr Lufuma said the UPND administration under President Hichilema was trying to be as transparent and accountable to Zambians in all its undertaking and that those criticizing government were only doing so out of sour grapes.

He told the daily Nation that government was doing everything possible to ensure that the recruitment process in the Defence Forces was as transparent as possible and devoid of any form of corruption or nepotism.

Mr Lufuma explained that the recruitment exercise in the Defence Forces had been postponed because government had realized that the training of the recruits would not go well because of foreseen challenges.

He said the recruitment exercise in the Defence Forces was going to be conducted with utmost transparency as it was during the recruitment of teachers and medical personnel.

“We are trying to be as transparent and accountable to Zambians as possible but some people, especially the opposition. They (PF) think that what they were doing is what the UPND is doing. And we are not going to stop them fro

m cooking lies and fake stories. The new danw administration under President Hichilema wants to make the recruitment process in the Defence Forces as transparent as possible. The UPND is not corrupt and we shall never be corrupt,” Mr Lufuma said.

Mr Lufuma said had it been the PF, the recruitment exercise would have gone ahead irrespective of the complaints from the general public because the former ruling party did not respect the views of citizens.

And Mr Lufuma says the PF shall never appreciate or commend the UPND government because the former ruling party was bitter and jealousy of the achievement of President Hichilema with his new dawn administration.

Mr Lufuma said the PF was working hard to scandalize the new dawn administration because according to him, the government had scored a lot of success in the short period of time the UPND had been in government.

“They (PF) will criticize everything we are going to do…no matter how good we are going to perform.  It is expected that they will continue to scandalize the UPND government because of jealousy…it is sour grapes. Just like the homosexuality debate, the UPND and President Hichilema have always been against from the opposition but they want to turn and blame us for it. Anything good we do, the PF is going to rubbish.  That is not how you play politics,” Mr Lufuma said.  

By NATION REPORTER

THE arrest of Bowman Lusambo is politically motivated because he is a big threat to UPND government hence they want to fix him, Patriotic Front (PF) Chairperson for Publicity Raphael Nakacinda has said.

Mr Nakacinda said that it was evident that all the charges they had brought against Mr Lusambo were politically motivated and did not hold water.

He said that the recent grand showoff by Mr Lusambo and his skills of mobilization in Ndola during the women’s day celebrations could have unsettled some member of the UPND who called for his arrest.

“Bowman is a political giant and the UPND no it that is why they want to deal with him at all costs because if you analyse his cases you will find that they are all politically motivated,” Mr Nakacinda said.

Meanwhile Mr Nakacinda said the new dawn needed to stop this political witch-hunt which was currently going on.

He said all those that were perceived as enemies were being pursued on flimsy grounds in a bid to make their lives a living hell. Mr Nakacinda said the party was heading in the wrong trajectory as they were many political arrests that were currently going on.

He challenged the ACC to ensure that the fight against corruption was not political but genuine.

Researchers have found long-term evidence that actively monitoring localized prostate cancer is a safe alternative to immediate surgery or radiation.

A scientific definition to determine whether a man’s erection can be deemed a “grower ” or a “shower” has been produced by researchers.

Vasectomies are much less likely to cause complications than expected, according to a new UK study reviewing the outcomes from over 90,000 vasectomies performed over 15 years.

Surgeons in Germany have shown a small technical change to keyhole surgery for prostate cancer can more than halve one of the most common post-operative complications—where lymphatic fluid collects in the pelvis.

The results of the clinical trial of a new wrist device designed to help control the symptoms of Tourette syndrome have shown it significantly reduces the severity and frequency of tics.

By OLIVER SAMBOKO

DMMU has enough food and other resources to respond to any disaster including floods in any part of the country says Vice President Mutale Nalumango.

Ms Nalumango was responding to concerns by Mandevu Member of Parliament Christopher Shakafuswa as to why the DMMU had not responded to floods victims in Lusaka especially in his constitutiency.

She wondered why the mandevu law maker had to wait for vice president question time in parliament to raise the issue when he should have reported the issue to DMMU.

Ms Nalumango said as far as she was concerned the DMMU have distributed tents and other items to flood victims in Lusaka.

She accused Mr Shakafuswa of playing politics, saying the law maker was concerned with plight of his people he would have reported the issue a long time ago when the incident happened.

“If the Member of Parliament is really concerned he should not have to wait because within Lusaka there areas where we have given tents….. If your people are flooded, surely you sit there because there has been no rain in the past two days and you can’t say anything,” she said.

Ms Nalumango said the new dawn government is responding to all floods and ready to spend any amount of money to ensure the people are safe.

But in his submission, Mr Shakafuswa said the floods have caused huge damage to houses and crossing points which cannot be repaired using CDF because of the evaluation done by technical people revealed that the bill is above the threshold provided in the CDF for disaster response.

He said the past DMMU under the vice president office used to respond to floods by providing tents and food but that it not the case under the new dawn government.

Mr Shakafuswa said the people of Lusaka are concerned that the new dawn government is not responding to disasters adding that CDF allocation for disasters is only K700, 000 which was not enough.

“When are we going to see the DMMU coming on the ground to respond to disasters in Lusaka especially in Mandevu constituency,” he said.