Bishop Mususu has further stated that there should be no rush in calling for the lifting of the immunity of former president Rupiah Banda.

He says irrefutable and convincing evidence should be put together before any decision is made.

Speaking in an interview with QFM radio, Bishop Mususu has stated that it will be unfair for people to demonize all former government ministers without clear evidence of wrong doing.

He has called for the rule of law to prevail before any decision is made with regards former president Banda and other former government ministers.

Bishop Mususu says law enforcement agencies should ensure that they do not seem to be conducting a witch-hunt in their investigations.

Mr. Sikota says it will also be important if the Patriotic Front government has taken into consideration the amount of money that will be involved in the reversal of the sale.

He says the decision amounts to nationalization, saying that a huge amount of the money will have to be spent.

Mr Sikota says the decision might also affect the inflow of foreign investment in the country as this might suggest that Zambia is not safe for investment.

But a political analyst Alex Ng’oma says the decision will have no effect on foreign investment commending the government for doing the right thing.

Dr Ng’oma says the Zambian government has taken a logical decision adding that it has been taken in an ethical manner.

He says this should send a warning to other foreign investors of the need to follow the laid down procedures when investing in the country.

Dr Ng’oma adds that there is need for any local or international transaction to be conducted in a transparent and accountable manner.

Mr. Lubinda says Mr. Kunda has no right to attack the operations of any media, whether private or public.

Speaking at a media briefing at his office, also attended by heads of public media, Mr. Lubinda says it is surprising how Mr. Kunda can suddenly change his stance on the public media when he and former information minister Ronnie Shikapwasha were in the forefront agitating for the regulation of the media.

Reacting to Mr. Kunda’s attacks on the public media for allegedly being biased in its reporting, Mr. Lubinda reminded the former vice president that he is on record of praising freelance journalist Chanda Chimba III of being a professional journalist.

And QFM reports that Mr. Lubinda has agreed with Mr Kunda’s advice to members of the opposition MMD to brace themselves for hard times following investigations launched by the PF government of former government officials.

He has since reminded Mr. Kunda he should not expect the PF Government to investigate politicians that never served in government and states that government is determined in its fight against corruption.

Mr. Lubinda says the PF government will never interfere in the operations of any media organization, not even the public media.

He says government believes that journalists once given the leeway are capable of operating professionally.

Mr. Lubinda notes that media organizations are capable of finding the balance for their news,hence can not be criticized for not covering any politician regardless of political affiliation.

and radio Q-FM Managing director Asan Nyama says the current PF government has an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the previous government in dealing with the media in the country.

Mr. Nyama says the previous government failed to initiate policies that would have benefited the stakeholders in the media in the area of coverage.

He says under the previous MMD government, the state attempted to transform the private media into state run media by dictating the operations of most private radio stations including QFM.

Mr. Nyama recalls that most private media houses that covered opposition political parties were perceived as enemies of the MMD government.

He says it is therefore important for the Patriotic Front government to leave a legacy by ensuring that the freedom of information bill is enacted.

Mr. Nyama has further stated that if former vice president George Kunda allowed the freedom of information bill to be passed in parliament during the MMD’s rule, he would not be complaining about coverage by the public media.

Justice Hilda Choonya
This was heard in a case in which Philip Phiri, 36 sued his 27-year-old wife Malambo Moonga for divorce before Senior Court Magistrate Hilda Choonya.  Malambo, a security guard by occupation did not object to the divorce.

Court records obtained by The Independent Post indicate that the couple of Lusaka’s Kanyama Compound got married in 2002 and have 2 children together.

Phiri said in his testimony that his marriage with Malambo had never been peaceful. He complained that Malambo does not regard him to be the head of the family as she disregards his rules with impunity.

“The issue of family planning is one of them. We only have two children are still very young. But then, she has already taking contraceptives. I disallowed that a long time ago but I still don’t understand why she still takes the family planning pills,” Phiri said adding, “Her behaviour is shocking! How can she want to stop having children when it was not yet about time her birth canal got closed?”

Phiri complained further that he was fed up of being battered by Malambo’s siblings as she was in the habit of summoning them whenever he quarrelled with her. He added that for the past two years, Malambo had been refusing to wash his clothes.

But Malambo who gave a nearly one hour and thirty minutes long testimony explained that  the issue of family planning had brought a lot of problems in her marriage.

Said Malambo:“He banned me from taking any type of contraceptive a long time ago. But I took them secretly. One day, he caught me red-handed taking them. He was very annoyed. He said he would never allow me to eat his Nshima for free without giving him children.”

She added that as punishment for taking the contraceptive without his clearance, Phiri made her sleep in the cold for four nights.

But Malambo explained that the only reason she took family planning pills was because Phiri was in no position to support more children.

“We have two children at home. Your honour, can you kindly ask him the last time he bought washing soap for these kids. Since we got married, he has only been leaving K1500 which he expects us to use for breakfast and lunch!” she said.

“What is the use of getting pregnant for a man who can’t support the child when it’s born? If he can fail to look after two children, what guarantee do I have that he is going to support the children he wants me to have for him?”

She revealed that Phiri was so stingy that has since recalled their 8-year-old daughter from school. “One morning, he just woke up and tore our daughter’s school uniform saying sending her to school was a waste of resources and time because being a girl, she would get herself pregnant as soon as she reached puberty and quit school. So, our daughter does not go to school,” Malambo said.

She also admitted to not washing Phiri’s laundry but was quick to point out that this was so because he does not buy washing soap.

Asked by the court if it was true that he only left Malambo with K1500 for breakfast and lunch, Phiri responded in the affirmative but explained that it was for a good reason.

“This woman likes coming home late. So, when you give her amounts as big as K30,000 or K50,000 for lunch, you definitely won’t find her home. Sometimes, she will use the whole lot of it on useless things like salon. But when you leave her with only K1000, you will definitely find her at home… the ‘one pins’ are a way of keeping her at home,” Phiri said amid laughter in the court room.

And Phiri vehemently refused to reconcile with Malambo even after the court tried on more than seven occasions to get them back together. Malambo also behaved similarly when the court attempted to reconcile her with Phiri.

Thus Senior Presiding Magistrate Choonya had no option but to grant divorce to the couple.

“ Here, we don’t find pleasure in divorcing  people. Like God, we hate divorce. But our hands are tied when both parties want divorce,” Choonya said.

She however ruled that Phiri compensates Malambo with 8 million Kwacha and that he also maintains his two children with K 200,000 every month. According to the law, this K200,000 is to  be paid every month until one of the children turns 18. It is subject to review every year.

[Source: TIP-www.independentpost.net]

Daily Mail

And Mr Shamenda has said utility companies that failed to provide
effective services to citizens should refocus their priorities.

The minister said the numerous reports on illegal allocation of plots
had become a source of concern in the city.

He said when he called on Ndola Mayor Davies Chiwala that it was even
more disappointing that councillors were named in some of the illegal
dealings.

“In one case I have heard, some councillor from the previous regime
obtained as many as 50 plots alone,” he said.

Mr Shamenda, who is Ndola Central member of Parliament, said he
would recommend to his counterpart at the Ministry of Local Government
that the issuance of plots in Ndola be suspended to allow for a
comprehensive audit.

He also inspected some areas in his constituency that have had broken water
pipes for years.
He said it was unacceptable for Kafubu Water
and Sewerage Company (KWSC) to fail to find a lasting solution to the
problem.
He took to task KWSC managing director Ian Banda when he found
treated water flowing from a broken pipe on Entebbe Road in Northrise 
residential area and refused to listen to his excuses.
Mr Shamenda said the utility company had been in existence for a long
time and should have come up with a solution to replace the aging 
water supply system.
He gave the utility company three months in which to ensure that the
 problems were sorted out.
“Within three months, I expect that this problem will have been sorted
out because it is unacceptable and a sign of incompetence if the 
problem cannot be sorted out for 10 years,” he said.
Mr Shamenda said the company should cut down on other expenditure and
 ensure that service delivery was improved.
He said it was even better to consider taking back the water and
 sewerage services to councils if utility companies did not improve
 their performance.
And Mr Banda said it was costly to replace the concrete main supply 
lines which were installed about 45 years ago and that the material the company was using to mend the broken parts of the lines was equally
 expensive.
He said that was the reason the company would embark on a project to 
replace most pipe lines next year under a programme funded by the
Japanese government at a cost of US$23 million.
Meanwhile, Mr Shamenda earlier urged the Copperbelt principal labour 
officer, Eunice Mifima, to deal with labour officers engaged in
 malpractices.
The minister said when he toured the Labour offices in Ndola it was
 important that the labour department began to respond to citizens’
labour needs effectively.
And Ms Mifima said there were staff shortages in almost all the district 
offices in the province, with Chingola and Chililabombwe not having 
any Labour officers.
She said Ndola had two officers, Kitwe three, Mufulira two while
Chililabombwe and Chingola were manned by office clerks.

And the President is happy with the progress government has made in buying maize and other crops since taking office.

He is particularly impressed that over One point six million metric tonnes of maize worth two point one trillion Kwacha has been bought along with 993 metric tonnes of Rice.

The President says that government has paid out about one point eight trillion Kwacha and an additional one hundred billion Kwacha will be disbursed for payments to farmers this week.

This is contained in a statement released to ZNBC news by State House Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations, George Chellah.

President Sata has also re-affirmed that his government is determined to steer the agriculture sector as promised and in line with the PF manifesto.

He says his government has dedicated huge sums of money to the crop marketing exercise.

President Sata says he is happy that the Food Reserve Agency has interest in buying other crops such as rice and anticipates that other high value crops will be identified.

The President has also thanked millers who have reduced the prices of Mealie Meal and hopes others will soon follow suit so that more Zambians afford the essential commodity.

Ms Zanneta Nyendwa has filed a notice of appeal in the Supreme Court.

The Lusaka High Court last week granted Mr Spooner custody of the children in contention, after a protracted legal suit.

Judge Elita Mwikisa held that Mr Spooner has demonstrated his capability to take care of the children both emotionally and financially.

She further held that being British Citizens, the children will have their interests best catered for if they continue living with their father in that country.

Judge Mwikisa refused to grant custody of the children to their Zambian mother Zanneta Nyendwa who is Mr Spooner’s partner.

She stated that Ms Nyendwa came to Zambia with the children on vacation, bearing in mind that she would restore the children to their father in Britain.

Judge Mwikisa noted that Ms Nyendwa has an option to go back to England and enjoy co-custody of the children with Mr Spooner as was the case before she came to Zambia.

She added that Ms Nyendwa is at liberty to stay in Zambia but merely visit her children in Britain.

The two children Delva Spooner and Caelan Spooner have been living in Zambia since 2008.

This is in a matter where Ms Nyendwa sought the court order to have custody of her children.

She further sought an order that Mr Spooner be granted supervised access to the children on the terms the court might deem fit.

Mr Spooner and Ms Nyendwa met in Britain in 2004 and were consequently in a non-marital relationship until 2008.

The competition expected to award good looking newly weds is promoting the use of American invented black opal cosmetics specifically targeted at the black skinned populace.

The competition is expected to be an annual event offering attractive packages to the participating ladies.