President Sata notes that the PF’s continued growth in popularity and acceptability is also seen in the victories that it has scored in the local government by-elections recently held in Central province, Mkushi District in Nkumbi ward, in Luapula Province, Mansa District in Mansa ward and Eastern Province, Mambwe district in Nsefu ward.

President Sata also notes that the PF’s Nsefu ward in Malambo constituency also underscores his party’s rapid grassroots progression as a people’s party in different regions nationally and that it further point to a definite endorsement for PF’s social and economic development agenda for the country.

The Head of State has since thanked the people of Mansa Central constituency for voting for the PF and its candidate Dr Chitalu Chilufya in the just-ended parliamentary by-election.

He has further applauded the people of Mansa Central for their extraordinary levels of restraint, modesty and political maturity by conducting peaceful and non-violent campaigns.

This is contained in a statement released to Qfm by the President special aid for press and public relations George Chellah.

[qfm]

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The country’s Ministry of Agriculture and livestock announced on Saturday that African swine fever, a highly contagious viral disease that could kill 95 to 100 percent of affected pigs, had broken in Lusaka, the Zambian capital, and another nearby town, Chilanga.

The government has announced a ban on the movement of pigs and pig products into and out of the capital and from one area to another within the capital in order to contain the disease.

But Master Pork Limited said it was working closely with experts in the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to contain the outbreak. “While the disease does not affect humans, it can have a devastating effect on pig herds,” Felix Lupindula, the company’s special assistant to the chief executive officer for operations, was quoted as saying by the paper.

While revealing that there have been no incidences of African swine fever in the pigs supplied to the company so far, the official said they were monitoring the situation on a continuous basis, adding that the company will limit its process operations to plants that were in areas unaffected by the disease.

The official however acknowledged that the reduced supply of raw material will inevitably affect the company’s ability to the demand.

An outbreak of African swine flu in Lusaka, the Zambian capital, has killed more than 1,682 pigs for the past month, prompting the government to put in place measures to contain the outbreak, a senior official said on Monday.

Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Robert Sichinga said preliminary estimates indicate that 11,000 pigs have so far been affected by the disease on 14 farms and another 14,000 animals from areas near the affected farms are at risk of contracting the disease. The minister however said the figures could be much higher because some farmers were not being cooperative while others may be under-reporting the mortalities.

“Immediate measures have been instituted to contain and eradicate African swine fever from Lusaka Province. To that effect, pork processing plants have been directed to stop processing pork. In addition, all pig movements and marketing in Lusaka Province has been banned with immediate effect,” he told journalists at a press briefing at his office.

According to the Zambian minister, check points have been mounted in various places to enforce pig and pig products movement in order to save the country’s pig industry.

The government, he said, will slaughter 25,000 pigs from the affected farms in order to eradicate the disease since there is no cure or preventive vaccine for the disease and that all the affected farmers will be compensated.

The ministry is still carrying out surveillance measures to determine the full extent of the geographic spread, the number of farms and the number of animals affected by the disease, he added.

This is the third time African swine fever has been found in Zambia in recent years with the last outbreak recorded in 2004. The first outbreak was reported in 1994. African swine fever is a highly contagious viral disease that could kill 95 to 100 percent of affected pigs.

READ MORE from SOURCE

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The arrested are Muller Jeremy William, 28, a waiter by profession who has been detained for trafficking in cannabis weighing 10g concealed in a transparent plastic, and Martial Frank Touston, 28, also a waiter has been arrested for trafficking in 10g of cannabis.

The duo was apprehended at Mwami Border in Eastern Province on a Lusaka bound bus as they were coming from Malawi.

Meanwhile in the Central Province, the Commission has arrested nine people for trafficking in various quantities of cannabis.

The nine were arrested after the commission conducted an operation in Luano valley in Chief Mboloma’s area where they were.

Among those arrested are Analyosi Chisenga, 38, of Mboloma area who has been arrested for trafficking in 36.2kg of cannabis, Evaristo Mwamba, 45, also of the same area for trafficking in 27.4kg of cannabis and Methias Mumba, 38, has been arrested for trafficking in 18.4kg of cannabis.

Others include Patrick Cement, 37, a peasant farmer of Kampoko village in Mboloma area who is arrested for trafficking in 17.6kg of cannabis and Alex Kasonde, 29, of Mulungwe village in Mkushi for trafficking in 800g of cannabis.

All suspects will appear in court soon.

This is contained in a statement released to Qfm by the DEC public relations officer Theresa Katongo.

[qfm]

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Government has disclosed that it will be sponsoring four post graduate students in Dental Surgery and one post-graduate in maxilla-facial Surgery in the year 2014.

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A clergy in Kasama has expressed worry in the manner the current constitution making process is being handled.

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A rail line carrying passengers and freight between Zambia and Tanzania reopened on Sunday after a week-long closure that affected copper exports from Africa’s biggest producer, officials said.

The TAZARA line, a key route for copper exports from Zambia and neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, was closed on Monday after a truck hit a railway bridge in Tanzania and damaged part of the track.

“Engineers on site have advised that the line shall re-open on Sunday, a day earlier than originally expected,” TAZARA spokesman Conrad Simuchile said.

In March, the national railways of Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania signed an agreement to make it easier to transport goods such as copper by rail between the three countries.

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BARELY two months after President Michael Sata launched the Pave Zambia 2000 Project in Lusaka’s Chawama, some residents in the township’s Nkoloma Ward One have started vandalising the paving bricks.

Area councillor Lawrence Sichalwe, who confirmed the development in an interview with the Sunday Times, said the residents who were vandalising the road were putting paving bricks they were removing on their door-steps to prevent flooding as the road is on higher level than their yards.

Mr Sichalwe said the area experienced flooding during the rainy season because of a lack of drainage and wondered why the contractor had not worked on the drainage system and yet the Road Development Agency (RDA) had included that component as part of the contract.

A check on Nyerere Road revealed that some paving bricks had been removed on certain sections.

Asked what was being done to stop people from vandalising the road infrastructure, Mr Sichalwe said people were being sensitised to desist from the vice and warned of prosecution.

“The law is there and it will have to take its course,” Mr Sichalwe said.

“However, we have been sensitising the community to desist from vandalising the road infrastructure.”

Chawama Constituency is one of the beneficiaries of the Pave Zambia 2000 Project, to be undertaken in all the 10 provinces at an estimated cost of K1.6 billion, and is expected to create more than 20,000 jobs countrywide.

Meanwhile, area Member of Parliament Edgar Lungu, who toured Wards One, Two and Three to check on development projects, implored the RDA and Lusaka City Council to ensure that drainage facilities were put up as soon as possible to avoid flooding and damage to Nyerere Road in his constituency.

“We are calling upon the Lusaka City Council, like I have said and the RDA to protect this road (Nyerere) and protect our people,” Mr Lungu, who is Home Affairs minister said.

[times of zambia]

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KALUMBILA Minerals Limited (KML) says it has compensated and resettled 100 out of the 570 families that have been affected by the construction of its Sentinel Mine in North-Western Province.

KML resettlement and engagement manager Garth Lappeman said in a statement in Lusaka yesterday that 100 more families would be resettled by December 31 this year.

“We have stepped up the resettlement and compensation process following the approval of the company’s resettlement action plan by ZEMA on 15 October 2013,” Mr Lappeman said.

“The affected communities stand to gain significant improvements across the suite of socio-economic dimensions, including but not limited to jobs, housing, health, education, water, sanitation and sustainable livelihoods.”

KML, a subsidiary of First Quantum Minerals (FQM) has set aside US$12.6 million for its resettlement and compensation programme at Kalumbila where the parent company has a new large-scale mining project.

The Trident Project consists of three potential mines, including Sentinel, Enterprise and Intrepid which is yet to be determined.

ZEMA approved the KML’s controversial Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) on October 15, 2013 following concerns by some stakeholders on the displacement and compensation of the people.

Sentinel Mine, scheduled to be operational by the second quarter of 2014, is expected to produce 300,000mtpa of copper while its construction phase would employ 3,200 Zambians.

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A MAN who yesterday fell into the Victoria Falls gorge, which is about 110 metres deep, was retrieved alive in what could be described as a miracle that left him shaken.
A combined team of Livingstone Fire Brigade, Zambia Police Service and Bundu Adventure yesterday retrieved alive the 45-year-old Chinese national who fell into Victoria Falls near the knife-edge bridge as he was taking pictures of one of the seven natural wonders of the World.
Southern Province Police chief Charity Katanga and Livingstone City Council public relations manager Emmanuel Sikanyika confirmed this in separate interviews.
Ms Katanga said Wang ShunXue, who was booked at Zambezi Sun Hotel, was retrieved around 09:30 hours with no serious injuries. He was taken to the hotel’s clinic for a medical checkup.
Mr Sikanyika said officers from fire brigade received a call yesterday around 08:23 hours that a man had fallen into Victoria Falls and rushed to the scene to rescue him.
The fire brigade officers worked together with State Police and Bundu Adventure, a company which conducts bungee jumping activities at the bridge, to rescue the Chinese national.
“From what they saw, the victim sustained some bruises and he was rushed for medical check-up and treatment.
“The Chinese national did not get to the surface of the falls as he was rescued at the edge of the falls cliff,” Mr Sikanyika said.
He urged tourists and other visitors to the Victoria Falls to follow guidelines to avoid such accidents.
A Times of Zambia crew that rushed to Victoria Falls yesterday saw Mr Wang walking out of the falls in the company of some Chinese nationals and other officials.
He had bruises on his hands and he could not withstand an interview as he was still in a state of shock.

Times

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UNZA Public Relations officer Stanslous Chewe in a statement issued to QFM News says Ministry of Health officials visited the institution on 21st November 2013 in the wake of the death of a female student to establish the truth.

Mr Chewe says based on the surveillance by the ministry of Health officials, it was established that there is no outbreak of any kind at the institution.

He says all the rumours and statements about the outbreak of Typhoid at the institution are not true.

Mr Chewe adds that the University of Zambia receives support from the Lusaka District Health office and ministry of Health in epidemic surveillance, and reports cases of infectious diseases to the district Health office according to prescribed regulations by the ministry of Health.

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Agriculture Minister Robert Sichinga made the announcement in a ministerial statement this afternoon.

Mr. Sichinga says consultations his Ministry has had with the Meteorological Department on the country’s weather forecast have revealed that in long term, Zambia will experience normal rainfall with some regional variations.

Mr. Sichinga says such regional variations are already in some areas such as Southern, Central, Lusaka, Eastern and the Copperbelt provinces as well as South Western parts of Muchinga province where rains have not been adequate to support the planting of crops.

Mr. Sichinga says the Meteorological Department has also advised that when the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) which triggers Zambia’s rain fall is adequately established the nation will be advised appropriately.

And Mr. Sichinga has further stated that his Ministry’s District Agricultural Coordinating Officers are also well positioned to advice on suitable varieties and planting times in the individual regions of the country.

qfm

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SOME Church leaders on the Copperbelt have called on investigative wings to probe clergymen that are making patients stop medication on account of being prayed for.
A Catholic priest based in Ndola said it was unfortunate that some pastors had engaged in the habit of driving sick people from any form of medication and instead concentrate on prayers to recover from their illnesses.
Antony Salangeta said the investigative bodies should get to the bottom of the matter before many lives were lost through such conduct.
Father Salangeta said no one should claim to have authority to detain a patient and make them believe that only God would heal them.
He said people should be allowed to believe in God and similarly be encouraged to receive medical treatment whenever they were unwell.
Fr Salangeta said Church leaders advising people to abandon their medication should be stopped immediately.
He warned Zambians against falling prey to false prophets.
Riverside Baptist Church pastor Richard Daka equally expressed concern at some Pentecostal leaders discouraging patients from taking medicine and urging them to only fast and pray.
Pastor Daka said Church leaders should be “standing in the gap” for the sick, and petitioning God to heal them.
“This does not reflect the true biblical meaning of fasting and praying. Such people lack knowledge and understanding of the word of God.
“Medication must be encouraged by the Church and not encouraging blind faith,” he said.
Last week, a 41-year-old woman of Kitwe died after allegedly being put on prayers and fasting by a pastor at a Pentecostal Church.
The family woman had been on pneumonia drugs before the pastor advised her to end the medication and focus on prayer and fasting.

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Speaking to Q fm in an interview, YALI Executive Director Andrew Nthewewe says there is no need for government to continue holding to the document.

Mr. Nthewewe adds that producing only ten copies for ceremonial purposes is a jock, insisting that government allows the printing of as many copies to enable Zambians have access to the document.

He adds that the biggest fear is that the longer it takes to release the final draft document; it will be subject to more manipulation.

Mr. Nthewewe says Zambians are aware of the contents of the constitution, and that any attempt to doctor the documents will not work.

He states that by releasing the constitution government to the Zambian people, government will be doing itself a favour, stating that any further delays in releasing the draft constitution will only raise suspicions.

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Game-Viewing on Foot at Luwi Camp (Brian is second from the left)

This past summer I spent 3 weeks exploring Zambia and I loved it. It not only offers great game-viewing and stunning scenery but also has maintained an uncrowded, authentic, down-to-earth safari experience that is really unique and increasingly hard to find. Here is just a taste of what I loved about Zambia and highlights from my trip

2) Walking safaris
You can do walking safaris in other countries but this is something that Zambia really excels at and many of the properties in South Luangwa National Park are set-up specifically for walking, including multi-day programs, and the guiding was exceptional.

Tafika Camp

3) The Quality of the Guiding
The quality of guides, especially those specializing in walking, was really exceptional. These were local Zambian guides who have lived in and around these national parks their whole lives. Paul from Chiawa and Brian from Luwi particularly stood out.

4) The Variety of Activities 
In addition to classic game drives and the walking safaris I mentioned above there are a lot of other great activities in Zambia. I went canoeing at several properties and took a micro-light flight at Tafika Camp in South Luangwa which was incredibly fun and a great way to see game. Tafika Camp is the only place you can take a micro-light flight and Tafika’s owner, John Coppinger has to be around because he is the pilot! In August and September in Kafue National Park you can take a hot air balloon ride from Busanga and Shumba camps. This is special because hot air balloon rides are harder to come by in Southern Africa (compared to East Africa).

5) Small properties 
Many properties in Zambia are small bush camps that are only 4-6 rooms, 8-12 guests in camp at a time. In addition many properties or groups of properties are owned and run by comparatively small operators owned by families who have lived in Zambia for generations. It is these small properties and operators that contribute to the remote, authentic, down-to-earth safaris experience that I found so special in Zambia and fading in other safari destinations.

Kaingo (Shelton Safaris) in South Luangwa was the most relaxing camp I visited. It was the perfect place for a couch safari. Skip one game drive, stay in camp and watch the animals come to you.

6) Diverse and Beautiful Scenery 
I really enjoyed how different the scenery was in the three national parks I visited in Zambia. Kafue, specifically the Busanga Plains were open savannah reminiscent of East Africa and while it did not have the volume of game as South Luangwa or Lower Zambezi I loved the feeling of remoteness and exclusivity there. South Luangwa was much more bushy which made it perfect for walking. At Lower Zambezi National Park I was really taken with the views of the Zambezi Escarpment. The escarpment is the northern boundary of the park and acts as a natural boundary with the Zambezi River that keeps the park’s animals in the Zambezi valley (the southern limit of the Rift Valley). Quiet mornings taking in the views of the plateau from a camp like Sausage Tree set on the river where definitely some of the most peaceful and enjoyable moments of my trip

7) Value for Money
Compared to Botswana, which is also known for small, remote properties and great game-viewing, at the same peak time of year (July-October) Zambia is significantly cheaper.

BIOFUEL Association of Zambia (BAZ) has urged the Government to
reconsider its decision to import ethanol from the neighbouring
Zimbabwe.
BAZ president Thomson Sinkala said in an interview in Lusaka that the association was opposed to Government’s decision to start importing ethanol from Zimbabwe as it would disadvantage local producers and would be exporting jobs to that country.
“So we are advising Government to reconsider its decision to start importing ethanol from Zimbabwe, but should instead work towards
empowering local investors,” he said.
Professor Sinkala said it would be unfair for Government to start
importing ethanol from Zimbabwe at the expense of empowering local
people.
He said his members had been waiting for more than eight years for Government to announce the blending ratios.
He added that members could only
start producing the commodity once they were given the prices which Government
would be ready to accept.
Prof Sinkala said the Government should introduce incentives in the
biofuel industry to enable players access equipment meant for processing the commodity.
He said with the availability  of raw materials in the country, there   was need to create an enabling environment to allow more players get involved in the industry.
Prof Sinkala said setting up of specific funds for production could
help more people venture into production of biofuels in Zambia.

Times of Zambia