The mines ministry says the latest move is aimed at increasing transparency in Africa’s top copper producer.

Mines Permanent secretary Godwin Beene in a document dated 4th October said all the current permits issued by his ministry are immediately suspended pending issuance of new guidelines by the government.

The new procedures are to be in place by October. 16, according to the document addressed to the heads of mines operating in the country, which include Canada’s First Quantum Minerals, London-listed Vedanta Resources , Glencore International AG and Metorex of South Africa.

Both KCM and Glencore said they would cooperate with the government, but declined to comment further.

Copper accounts for three-quarters of Zambia’s export earnings, but the mining industry contributes only about 10 percent of its tax revenue.

Party deputy national secretary Chembe Nyangu has told Qfm that President Sata took the oath to protect the Zambian citizenry regardless of religious or political affiliation and that this should bear fruits.

Mr. Nyangu says it is unfortunate that some perceived political opponents are being subjected to public ridicule, a situation he says should not manifest in Zambia’s democratic dispensation.

He says President Sata should govern the country under the umbrella of one Zambia one nation as he is a leader for the whole country.

Mr. Nyangu has since charged that members of the former ruling party are living in fear following recent attacks by suspected PF cadres and further calls on the PF government to unite the country.

DEC Acting Public Relations Officer Samuel Silomba tells QFM that Jay Ernest Chisanga, 40, of Woodlands Extension in Lusaka was arrested and jointly charged with Enock Rakim Kapusa, 37, of Farm No. CC1140 Ngwerere in Lusaka, and Chipo Hachitapika, 32, of Plot No. 194/25 Olympia Extension in Lusaka, for money laundering related offences involving over K 800 million.

Mr Silomba says it is alleged that Jay Ernest Chisanga, Director of Hemens Import & Export, Enock Rakim Kapusa an Accountant in Government Ministry, and Chiko Hachitapika a Banker at a named Bank, did steal over K800million property of the Government of the Republic of Zambia.

He says they did this by forging and uttering accountable documents, namely Electronic Funds Transfer Advice (EFTA) and backing sheet from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry where they purported that Hemens Import & Export was the beneficiary of the said funds, when in fact not.

Mr Silomba further states that the trio further engaged into money laundering by importing various goods through Hemens Import & Export from different countries using the said proceeds of crime.

In another development, the Commission has arrested and jointly charged two persons for issuing a cheque on an insufficiently funded account.

Kunda Newton Silwenga, 37, of Plot No. 24392A, Libala South in Lusaka was arrested and jointly charged with Thomas Mwansa Mushibwe, 39, of 750 Avondale Lusaka, for issuing four (04) post-dated cheques amounting to over K23million on an insufficiently funded account.

The suspects have since been released on bond and will appear in court soon.

And Sampa has disclosed that some chiefs in the province are bitter with UPND leader, Hakainde Hichilema for ditching the pact with the Patriotic Front without consulting them.

Mr Sampa said Chief Mwanachingwala of Mazabuka district who was quoted as having attended the meeting in Choma has disassociated himself from the meeting.

He said chief Mwanachingwala has been unwell and has note moved out of the palace except when seeking medical attention in Lusaka.

Mr Sampa who has challenged the UPND to tell the nation why they elected to mislead the nation by presenting ghost names of chiefs who did not attend their politically motivated meeting said the statement attributed to the UPND has just exposed amount of hate for the PF government by UPND.

He said southern province has a total of 41 chiefs adding that a small fraction of chiefs who attended the Choma meeting which he doubted cannot speak for the rest of the chiefs that are in support of President Sata’s decision to re-align the districts.

Mr Sampa urged the UPND to stop using chiefs to challenge government on matters aimed at streamlining government operations.

And Chief Mwanachingwala’s sons, Mpimpa and Richard have advised the opposition UPND to respect the chief and avoid putting words into his mouth for their political gains.

Mpimpa urged the UPND to apologise to the chief and the royal family for putting his name into disrepute.

He said the family received the news about the ailing chief attending a meeting in Choma as a shock because the traditional ruler has never moved from the palace to attend to any meeting except going to the hospital for medical attention.

They said the issue of the President re-aligning the districts should be left to his government and not chief Mwanachingwala.

And Mr Sampa has disclosed that some chiefs in the province are bitter with UPND leader, Hakainde Hichilema for ditching the pact with the Patriotic Front without consulting them.

He said chiefs told him that they are still bitter with Mr Hakainde’s conduct during the run up to the elections as this was going to be an opportunity for the people of the province to take an active part in the running of government.

Mr Sampa who was speaking when made a stop over in Mazabuka said chiefs complained to him that Mr Hakainde pulled out single handedly from the pact without consulting them while in Lusaka leaving them in a quandary.

Just like millions of other soccer fans across the world, we in Somalia, also witnessed as the Chipolopolo’s brought down the much-fancied mighty Elephants in an electrifying match full of tensions and a mesmerizing game of football that had more of a psychological duel, rather than, the normal football physical contest .

There was in deed a lesson to be learnt in the battle of wits, character and passion witnessed late last night in Libreville, Gabon.  That lesson is that determination pays, and if you believe in something you will succeed no matter how big the challenge ahead.

Credit to the Chipolopolo players, who were never given a chance from day one of the tournament. It is only after they brushed aside Senegal’s “Lions of Taranga” that people noticed the Copper Bullets. Morocco, Gabon and Ghana can actually attest to the lethality of these copper bullets!

Ivory Coast had never conceded a goal, a defeat or even drawn any match in the entire tournament. This is probably why many soccer pundits took Zambia lightly assuming the much experienced Elephants would walk over the Copper Bullets.

But that was not the case.

During the adrenaline-filled 120 minutes of AFCON final football match, I even overheard someone saying, “Copper bullets are ideal for silencing the mighty Elephants,” and that is exactly what happened.

As an East African residing in the Horn of African, I supported Zambia for the simple reason of being closer to me geographically than Ivory Coast. As the only south-eastern African country playing at the AFCON, we had a focussed and a deadly representative in Zambia’s Chipolopolo.

Names like Mayuka, Mweene, Katongo and Kalaba will surely last in living memory of soccer in Africa. I don’t remember the last time I shed any tears but the emotional triumph in Libreville was too much for my eyes to bear. I simply could not stop tears of joy bubbling out!

We salute the Copper Bullets for the momentous triumph in memory of the 1993 Zambia soccer players who perished in the same city where the Chipolopolo’s made history last night by holding their nerve to win 8-7 on penalties against a very experienced and technical Ivory Coast side boasting of the likes of Didier Drogba, the Toure brothers ,Gervinho and many other talented African players plying their trade in elite European clubs.

by Guled Mohamed

The Chiefs have also challenged Home affairs minister Kennedy Sakeni to arrest them for resisting the Presidential decree to re-align the two districts.

This is according to the resolutions of a one day meeting of southern province chiefs held at Kozo lodge in Choma yesterday whose meeting was convened specifically to discuss the Presidential pronouncement to transfer the two Districts.

Reading out the resolutions on behalf of others, chiefs Chikanta and Mukuni said chiefs in the region would not accept any piece of land currently under the southern province jurisdiction to be transferred to any another province whether for administrative, economic or any other reason.

They said chiefs found it illogical that   Itezhi Tezhi district should be administered from Kabwe which was over 600 kilometres when Choma which was the new provincial headquarters for southern province was only 200 kilometres away.

They said the chief were perturbed by the President’s unilateral decision which they said was done without consultation with Chiefs and other stakeholders who would be directly affected by such a move.

They said they were ready to be arrested by Home Affairs minister for resisting the re-alignment of the two districts.

And chief Mukuni said what President Sata had done was contradictory to the chiefs’ proposals submitted to the previous MMD government in 2009 regarding the splitting of southern province into two.

He said Chiefs had asked government to split southern province into two with one province to comprise districts of Choma, Itehzi-Tezhi, Mazabuka, Monze, Namwala   and Choma would have been the provincial headquarters.

Meanwhile FDD Munali parliamentary candidate Edmond Lifwekelo said people should not oppose the President’s decision as it has been done in good faith.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Qfm, Mr. Lifwekelo says if decentralization and devolution of power are to be implements creating more districts are inevitable.

He says it therefore important for those opposing the President to understand the grounds of President Sata’s move to re-align the two districts.

UPND Moomba Member of Parliament Vitalis Mooya says it is most likely that most of them do not know how to go about with their work because it is the first time they are serving in government.

Mr. Mooya says failure to have ministers orientated is most likely to see the country have embarrassing moments.

In an interview with QFM, Mr. Mooya notes that the ministers need to be reminded of their ministerial responsibilities instead of speaking for other ministries.

The UPND parliamentarian says it was not necessary for Commerce minister Bob Sichinga to allege that the MMD printed illegal money in China when that matter was supposed to be handled by the finance minister.

Mr. Mooya says such careless utterances will put the country at edge with its cooperating partners.

FFTUZ National Executive Director Lyson Mando has accused the MMD government of being biased towards investors at the expense of Zambian workers.

Mr. Mando says the manipulation of the industrial and labour relations Act by the MMD regime was a deliberate move to weaken the trade unions, leaving them voiceless.

In an interview with QFM, Mr. Mando says most Zambian employees are now de-motivated because of poor conditions of services they are subjected to.

He has since observed the need for employers to realize that they can only maximize their profits if they properly look after their workers, who he says most whom are just working for the sake of working.

Appearing this morning before Commission of Inquiry, Kuijpers Arnold had difficulties in explaining whether the board’s composition tally with the shares that both the Zambian government and Rabo bank have in ZANACO.

Mr.Arnold has however described the privatization of ZANACO as successful.

He says ZANACO has also continued to add value to the country’s development process.

He says despite the bank having an international firm as it’s shareholder,ZANACO remains majority owned by Zambian shareholders.

Mr Arnold adds that the process of purchasing the 49 percent stake in ZANACO by Rabo bank was transparent.

He says the bank was awarded the 49 percent stake in ZANACO because it was willing to leave to the expectations of the Zambian government.

FFTUZ national executive director Lyson Mando says no one can doubt whether the MMD is capable of committing all the corrupt activities being heard or not.

Mr. Mando says the federation would be very shocked to hear that anyone still has faith in the MMD.

In an interview with QFM, Mr. Mando says all the ill activities were seen in the MMD during its time in government.

Mr. Mando says all that the MMD should do is to come out in the open and explain the allegations to Zambians.

He says the burying of 2.1 billion kwacha by Austin Liato speaks volume that the MMD government was corrupt.

The FFTUZ national secretary says no one can trust a government where such a man was a Labor Minister.