This is an inspiring story of a 36-year old man Chris, who met Norma now 68, when he was just 18 at a holiday camp and proposed to her shortly after. Interestingly, they have been living happily together as a couple in Brighton for 15 years now. How did they do it when people of almost the same age can’t even cope with each other? Lol

Chris recalls; “I saw her one night and I was going to ask if she wanted a drink with me but I lost my bottle. “Another night I offered her a piggy back and it went from there.”

The pair say they hit it off from the very first moment and Norma even stayed over.  “People must think Norma creeks in the bed,” jokes Chris.

After just knowing each other for a short time Chris then got down on one knee and proposed. The rest they say is history and they got married in August 1999.

While speaking on a Tv talkshow, Chris however says he is sad because Norma thinks she is going to die soon, she even talks about her funeral often.

“If I go to bed I put fresh make-up on, just in case I die in the night,” Norma says with a grin on her face

A 42-YEAR-OLD woman of Kitwe has told the Kitwe Magistrate’s Court how another woman allegedly swindled her out of K250 on a pretext that she would secure employment for her at Zambia Railways Limited (ZRL).
This is in a case in which Edda Gondwe, 37, of house number 27, Lewanika Street in Kitwe, is charged with 29 counts of obtaining money by false pretences.
It is alleged that Gondwe on dates unknown but between June and July this year in Kitwe, obtained money from 29 youths by purporting that she would secure jobs for them at ZRL when in fact not.
When the matter came up for continuation of trial before senior resident magistrate Daniel Musonda last Friday, Gladys Mumba told the court that Gondwe allegedly collected K250 from her after promising to secure a job for her at ZRL.
Ms Mumba testified that on the fateful day she was at home when Gondwe allegedly went there and informed her that ZRL had engaged her to look for people who were willing to work for the company.
“She told me that in order for me to get the job, I should give her K250 so that she could buy safety boots and clothing. I gave her the money and I shared the news with my friend who also gave her a K250 and she promised that both of us would be given jobs,” Ms Mumba said.
She testified that she never heard from Gondwe again.
Ms Mumba told the court that she found out that Gondwe had moved to an unknown place when she went to her house to get an update on the matter.
Mr Musonda adjourned the case to September 18 this year for continuation of trial.
And in another case before the same court, a 63-year-old woman of Kitwe has pleaded not guilty to obtaining K70,000 by false pretences.
Anna Chanda of Chimwemwe township in Kitwe is accused of obtaining money by falsely pretending that she had a piece of land for sale when in fact not.
Particulars of the offence are that Chanda on January 8 this year in Kitwe, with intent to defraud, obtained K70,000 from Patrick Phiri by falsely pretending that she had a plot for sale when in fact not.
Mr Musonda adjourned the case to September 18 this year for commencement of trial.

  President Sata

President Michael Sata says sports minister Chishimba Kambwili is campaigning and positioning himself to succeed him.

This came to light when the Head of State made an impromptu visit to Ndola on Thursday last week.

President Sata met some senior party officials, among them, secretary general Edgar Lungu, local government minister Emmanuel Chenda, labour minister Fackson Shamenda, chiefs and traditional affairs deputy minister Susan Kawandami, provincial chairman Stardy Mwale and Copperbelt minister Mwenya Musenge.

Sources who attended the closed-door meeting at the Presidential guesthouse disclosed that President Sata told Copperbelt youth chairperson Nathan Chanda to stop Kambwili from using him (Chanda) to campaign.

“You,” President Sata said, pointing at Chanda, “be very careful with the people who are using you to campaign.

I am sure you know the people I am talking about… anyway, I am talking about ba Kambwili. Ba Kambwili is campaigning here and I know what he is doing,” President Sata said, according to the sources.

He urged the youths in the province not to be used by senior party officials who have personal agendas.

“He is just using you. Be careful with him,” President Sata warned.

When contacted for a comment, Chanda said he could not disclose what the President told him.

“Sorry, I cannot disclose what the President told me,” said Chanda.

Sources said Kambwili had been holding meetings with some officials in the province to seek their support as President Sata’s successor.

“After President Sata said that to Chanda, Mwale walked out of the meeting and told other PF officials who were waiting outside that ‘the Head of State has stopped protests against former justice minister Wynter Kabimba and Luanshya MP Stephen Chungu,’” sources said.
When contacted for a comment, Mwale said: “That is a party matter, I cannot comment. Just call our spokesperson.”

19-year-old Elizabeth Bubala, who was shot by a Kitwe businessman on Saturday, says the incident was an accident.

And police in Kitwe have charged Francis Shindono with unlawful wounding after he accidentally shot Bubala in the head.

Police said Bubala usually goes to Shindono’s house in Kitwe’s Kwacha township to do part-time work.

Bubala, who has since been discharged from hospital, said there were no ill-motives attached to the incident.

“I usually go at that house for domestic pieceworks. I do house chores and wash clothes, then he pays me. Now on Saturday, he was checking his shotgun and it accidentally went off and I was hit in the head; and that’s how I sustained these injuries and I was rushed to the hospital,” narrated Bubala.

And police in Kitwe said investigations to verify the particulars of the shotgun were yet to be concluded although it had been established that the shooting was unintentional.

Three people have died while 45 others have survived in an accident on Bottom Road.
Among those who have died is Kelvin Siambole, Gweembe’s Cheezya ward councillor.

Both Siavonga Police and district hospital medical officer, Phallon Mwaba, confirmed the accident which happened in Siavonga’s Changa area on Saturday night.

The police said a light Toyota Canter driven by Mulenga Chidinka, 29 overturned following a tyre burst, killing three people on the spot.

The police said the victims of Sinafila village in Gwembe were travelling to Chirundu to attend a funeral.

And Mwaba said Nelly Siamunda, 56 and Mackson Kandombaile, 50 were also killed in the accident.

He said 25 others had been admitted at Siavonga district hospital and were in a stable condition while one was in a critical condition.

Mwaba said the bodies of the deceased were in the hospital mortuary awaiting burial today.

THE NATIONAL Albinism Initiative Network of Zambia has urged the government to promote human rights for albinos to end discrimination.

Network executive director, Dickson Konkola said during a briefing on Saturday that albinos had continued to be discriminated and their human rights violated.

He said albinos in Zambia were fighting for human rights in order to restore their human dignity.

Konkola explained that to promote human rights for albinos, there was need to come up with legislation for such causes.

“…We expect good things from our government,” he said.

The network believes legislation that could protect rights of albinos could free them from discrimination in society.

Konkola also noted that challenges faced by the families of albinos had led to mental, physical, emotional and financial instability.

The Choma District Aids Task Force (DATF) says sex workers, especially those in border areas, are at a higher risk of contracting and spreading the Ebola Disease Virus (EVD) because some of their clients may be from affected countries.
Ebola, spreads through human-to-human transmission, with infection resulting from direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people.
DATF chairperson Partner Siabutuba said sex workers in border areas need to be sensitised on how to protect themselves from Ebola especially that some of their clients may be from countries affected by the deadly disease.
“Our sisters and brothers [sex workers] are at a higher risk of not only acquiring HIV but also the deadly Ebola disease. Sex workers in border towns offer their services to different customers from different countries and they risk giving their service to an Ebola-infected client, so they need to be educated on how they should protect themselves from Ebola, which is also transmitted sexually from an infected person,” Mr Siabutuba said in an interview.
Mr Siabutuba also commended Government for its unwavering commitment towards sensitising the nation on how to detect and prevent the spread of Ebola, which has killed over 2,000 lives in West African where it broke out in February this year.
He urged sex workers, especially in border towns, to be wary of Ebola as they can catch the disease from their clients.
“We fear that sex workers can spread Ebola,” Mr Siabutuba said.
He also commended Government for its unwavering commitment to sensitising the nation on how Ebola can be prevented or kept in check in an event that the disease spreads into the country.
“Government has done quite well in raising awareness on Ebola but our appeal is that the awareness should be intensified in rural areas and the border towns. There is also need to educate sex workers that the disease can also be transmitted through sex with an Ebola virus-infected person,” Mr Siabutuba said.

Culled From Kitwetimes

Sketchley Sacika says Rupiah Banda has nothing new to offer to the current political dispensation.

In a statement, Sacika, a former Secretary to the Cabinet, stated that Banda should reject any calls for him to come back to active politics.

“Rupiah should be grateful that the people of Zambia gave him the honour and opportunity to lead them. This is enough! Politics is like a relay race. One plays one’s part by running one’s segment of the race; after that he must hand over the baton to the next runner.

Winning a relay race is a collective effort. This also applies to the management of national affairs,” Sacika stated.

He stated that evidence on the ground pointed to the fact those who cut their political teeth during the UNIP era, like Banda, had nothing new to offer to the new political dispensation.
Sacika stated that Banda was given an opportunity to serve in the MMD government, but he failed to bring about any significant improvement in the way the country was managed.
“Not even their moving from UNIP to PF, via MMD, has helped them to acquire a new perspective on politics and how the country should be governed. They have lived up to the adage, ‘a leopard can never change its colours’,” he stated.

Sacika stated that Zambia’s politics and the way the national affairs were managed would remain stuck in the old sterile mode, to the detriment of national progress, unless the younger generation, with a different political perspective and ambitions took over the running of the country.

“We urgently need a transformation from the ‘party and its government’ syndrome to a more open and vibrant political system based on fresh ideas and on a genuine democracy, devoid of corruption and political patronage. Rupiah Banda and all of us from the UNIP era should now be supporting younger politicians like Muhabi Lungu of MMD, Hakainde Hichilema of UPND, Elias Chipimo Jr of NAREP, Frank Bwalya of ABZ and Charles Milupi of ADD to take over the mantle of leadership,” he stated.

Sacika stated that the young men above had the necessary idealism and energy to rescue the country from the current sterile politics of corruption and patronage, hence they needed to be given a chance.

MMD in Eastern Province suspended its youth chairperson Chembe Daka who urinated in full view of people inside Chipata council chamber during totalling of the Kasenengwa by-election votes.

And Daka has not been seen in public since he was released from police cells.

Daka last Thursday stunned the public in Chipata when he woke up from slumber and started urinating inside the council chamber where tallying of votes in the Kasenengwa by-election was in progress.

MMD Eastern Province secretary Samuel Lugomo Phiri said Daka had been suspended from his position for embarrassing and bringing the name of the party into disrepute.

According to the suspension letter made available to The Post yesterday, Daka had been asked to exculpate himself and state why disciplinary action should not be taken against him.
Phiri stated that the party leadership had tried to contact him but could not reach him on his two mobile phones.

He stated that MMD national secretary Muhabi Lungu yesterday apologised to the nation for Daka’s embarrassing behaviour.

“It is embarrassing to the MMD party that a leader can act like that, to urinate in public. We are really sorry and it’s sad to the party.

We have written to Daka asking him to exculpate himself in ten days. I hope this is the time we are going to meet him as a party,”Phiri said.

He disclosed that the provincial executive committee would meet this week to appoint someone to act in Daka’s position.

Sources within the MMD and closest friends said that Daka had not been seen to public and his phones had been off since the embarrassing incident.

A source said that Daka’s friend who attempted to visit his home to counsel him found his house locked.

“Daka has not been seen for the past three days now after that incident. We have tried to call him but his MTN and Airtel mobile phones are off. A closest friend tried to visit him at his home but after knocking at the door, there was no response but the door is locked from inside and a key is seen from outside,” the source said.

And Southen Province MMD chairperson Oliver Pelete says Daka was a disgrace to the former ruling party.

Commenting on the development, Pelete advised Daka to stop drinking beer.

“It shows a very bad picture about leaders. To me my advice is that it is even better that he [Daka] stops drinking beer, I think that will help him,” Pelete said.

He further advised leaders not to drink beer before attending public assignments.
“We need to be careful in the way we handle ourselves and if we know that we are going to be in public, it is important that we avoid taking beer because you can say things that will not be good to people, even acting in a manner that is not acceptable to society,” he said.

Pelete further added that despite being being drunk, Daka’s actions were not acceptable.
A drunk Daka had been sleeping throughout the tallying period in the chamber and was only awakened around 01:30 hours on Friday by shouts of people celebrating news that MMD’s Victoria Kalima had taken an early lead in the by-election.

In his drunken stupor, Daka staggered to his feet and, after struggling with his zip, emptied his bladder on the carpet in full view of officials from the Electoral Commission of Zambia and other stakeholders.

Most of the monitors in the chamber burst into laughter while some women merely glanced at the shocker as Daka obliviously continued relieving himself.

Amid the shock, Kasenengwa returning officer, Noel Sachalwe, asked police officers who were maintaining order in the chamber to arrest Daka.

The officers waited for Daka to conclude his business before taking him to Chipata Central Police, where he was detained.

A man from Bulawayo’s New Magwegwe suburb allegedly turned his 15-year-old step-daughter into a prostitute after he would give her money after forcing himself on her.

Prosecutor Kingston Mkanganwi told the court that the 35-year-old man (name withheld), allegedly started sleeping with his daughter when he discovered that she was in a relationship with another teenager.

After further investigations on the alleged girl’s relationship, the man discovered that the girl was sexually active as she was spending nights at her boyfriend’s place.

It is alleged that sometime in July, the man called the girl who was staying with her brother in Njube under the pretext that he wanted to discipline her following reports that she had been sleeping at her boyfriend’s place.

They proceeded to Nkulumane to his sister’s place where upon arrival, he locked the bedroom door and assaulted the girl several times on her back with a log.

Later on when the girl was sleeping, the man returned and woke her up. He demanded sex promising that he was not going to tell her mother about her behaviour.

He also offered the girl money and allegedly forced himself on her, although the girl later told the court that she did not consent to the acts.

The court also heard that on the second occasion, the man ordered the girl to go to Nkulumane under the pretext that he wanted her to clean the house.

The man followed the girl and they had sex again, the court heard.

However, the man ran out of luck when the girl failed to keep the matter to herself after she confided to her friend who then advised her to report the matter to the police.

The man was arrested and hauled before Western Commonage Magistrate Sheunesu Matova facing charges of sleeping with a person below the age of legal consent.

However, the man pleaded not guilty alleging that he was being framed.

Magistrate Matova remanded him out of custody to 12 September.

It also turned out that he is likely to face rape charges when he returns to the dock as the prosecutor told the court that the girl claims that her stepfather had sex with her without her consent.

-Zim News

Lagos – The death toll from a collapsed guesthouse at a megachurch in Nigeria’s financial capital Lagos hit 57 on Tuesday, rescuers said, as they held out hopes that more survivors would be found.

Eight bodies were pulled overnight from the rubble of a collapsed guesthouse at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos’ Ikotun neighbourhood, Ibrahim Farinloye, southwest coordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), told AFP by text message.

Farinloye said rescuers extracted a woman alive from the building’s rubble on Tuesday morning.

She was able to walk away from the collapse with just a broken wrist. The discovery prompted rescuers to slow down their digging in the wreckage of the guesthouse.

“It’s going to be slower because we believe we can recover more people alive by the grace of God,” Farinloye said, adding that rescuers were focusing on the area around the hostel’s restaurant, where previous survivors have been found.

‘Truth will someday prevail’

A total of 131 people were injured in the collapse of the hostel, which housed Nigerian and foreign followers of the popular preacher and televangelist TB Joshua.

Joshua’s network of churches and a television station have attracted people from around the world to Lagos with promises of receiving miracles and prophecies from the man followers dub “The Prophet”.

Joshua has suggested that a low-flying aircraft was responsible for the collapse and released security camera footage apparently showing a plane flying four times over the hostel before its collapse.

Ikotun is located to the west of Lagos’s international aircraft.

The preacher has not commented directly on the deaths and initially claimed that only a few people were injured but on Sunday tweeted: “No matter how long a lie is sustained, truth will someday prevail.”

Mirriam Mushetu

For 18 years, Mirriam Mushetu sold sex for a living, sleeping with up to seven men a day and making more than K1,000 per day.

And Mushetu says, “Thanks to God I am still alive and for making me meet a man who fell in love with me despite knowing my past.”

Mushetu says she did not even like using condoms because she wanted to charge more.
For Mushetu, it was a hard toil making money as a sex worker but even harder toil the price she had to pay after testing positive for HIV.

She now wants others to learn from her mistakes.

“I was only 15 when I got into prostitution and only realised 18 years later that I was HIV positive,” she says.

Mushetu says as a sex worker, she never believed HIV and AIDS existed and never thought the death of her two children could have been because of the virus.

“I once suffered from syphilis. It got me down. I had it when I was in Kapiri and I hated the town and left after one month for Lusaka. But after I was given 15 injections, I was back on my feet and well I thought that was a bad disease and I survived it, so I thought even AIDS was just another disease,” she says.

Mushetu, 40 explains that she got into prostitution when she was in Grade Seven.

Mushetu says she never cared whether a client used a condom or not.

“Actually I preferred live sex. I never believed in AIDS. With live sex, I would demand more money and that is what I was after – money,” she says.

She explains that her normal charge was K100 with a condom and K150 to K200 without one.

“I never did long term. I was short term. I would sleep with about seven men and the most I made in one night was K1,300,” she says.

Mushetu explains that after sleeping with a client, she would wash her private parts with Mosi Lager.

“Almost all ‘hules’ (sex workers) know the secret is Mosi. We use it to wash down there and you will not only feel fresh, but will become normal again. Men cannot even tell that you have been with another man,” she explains.

Mushetu says she entered a life of prostitution after she lost her parents in an accident.
“When we were in school, my friends used to have nice things and I started to admire, ‘ulukumbwa’. That was what drove me to prostitution,” she says.

According to Mushetu, she decided to move in with friends who were being supported by a ‘queen mother’.

Mushetu explains that she will never forget her first client because the experience still brings tears to her eyes.

“I was not a virgin but I had only had sex with a fellow school-mate. However, my first client was so big and rough, I actually bled. He hurt me a lot and did not care. At the end of it, he threw money on the mattress and left,” she says with visible resentment.

Mushetu says the night with her ‘first client’ marked the beginning of her life as a prostitute.
She then travelled from Mwinilunga to Solwezi and later found her way into Chingola where she moved with truck drivers.

“My destination was then in the fate of the truck drivers. Wherever he is going was where I would go. They offered me a bed and money and that was all I needed,” Mushetu says.
She says the drivers knew her profession and would let her go about her business but when she got back, she would have to sleep with them as well.

Mushetu explains that she was arrested on many occasions but the police would either charge her or sleep with her as payment in kind.

She says life was difficult because some men would use her and refuse to pay. Others would even beat her.

“We were five girls in total and queen mother used to bring us men. After the men finished with us, they would pay us and we would give the money to queen mother, who would then give us something each,” she says.

In Lusaka, Mushetu says she plied her trade around Northmead Shopping Centre where Tasinta reached out to her.

This non-profit group helps sex workers reform their lives using a positive, nonjudgmental approach.

Mushetu says after being shown various arts and craft, undergoing psychotherapy and testing positive for HIV, she decided to quit prostitution.

“It was not easy but Tasinta made it possible for me. They offered counselling and moved me from where I was staying. They started paying for a one room home for me and I became very interested in tailoring,” she says.

Mushetu thanks God she met a man who fell in love with her despite knowing about her past.
She has now been happily married for 14 months.

“From the start I told him of my previous profession and I told him of my status. He said it was the honesty that made him love me more,” she says shyly.

She urges women involved in prostitution to abandon the vice.

“Prostitution has nothing but death. Money is a devil, you will die for money. There is nothing in prostitution but an early death,” Mushetu says, close to tears.

She wants men to stay away from sex workers because most women engaged in the vice do not know their HIV status.

“I only knew my status 18 years later. I have no idea when I contracted it or who I passed it onto. I thank God I am responding positively to my drugs and like you noticed, I do not even look sick at all,” Mushetu says.

Mushetu thanks Tasinta for its mentorship as the organisation has not only saved her life but helped her find love.

Tasinta programme officer Lucy Bwalya says the organisation’s biggest challenge is funding.
Bwalya says lack of funding has stalled some Tasinta programmes, but thanks current donors who have made it possible for the organisation to currently be mentoring 60 women.
“We are doing much better thanks to Hivos, NGOCC and the Global Fund, but more can be done and we wish we could have more funding,” she says.

Another challenge she says is that some parents are actually pushing their children into prostitution.

“There is a woman in Garden compound whom we recruited but her own mother said she never wanted Tasinta near her daughter because they were stopping her from making money,” says Bwalya.

Mimister of Labour and Social Security Fackson Shamenda yesterday reported the alleged attempted bribe by a Dangote Industries Zambia Limited official to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
And the ACC says it has taken interest in the case in which former Dangote human resources manager Bala Zango allegedly attempted to bribe Mr Shamenda.
In an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Shamenda said: “I have now reported the matter to the ACC. The officers have just finished interviewing me.”
The minister explained that he did not report the matter to ACC earlier because he felt he could deal with an African company by merely rebuking it.
“There is a perception by the whole world that black African companies are corrupt and so I wanted to protect their [Dangote] image but this man has opened up a Pandora’s box,” Mr Shamenda said.
The minister challenged Mr Zango to come back to Zambia and to state what exactly transpired.
“I want this man to come back here and challenge my allegations. I have been a unionist for many decades and I understand these things,” he said.
But Dangote denied Mr Shamenda’s allegations that Mr Zango allegedly attempted to bribe him but that it was a mere social event.
The company claimed that Mr Zango is a junior officer in the human resource office in Nigeria who was in Zambia for only four months.
And in response to a query, ACC public relations manager Timothy Moono said the commission is currently studying the case in order to determine the way forward.
“I further wish to encourage members of the public to report all cases of alleged or suspected corrupt practices directly to the Anti-Corruption Commission,” Mr Moono said.
Meanwhile, the ACC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) to conduct a Bribe Payers’ Index survey, which will see the two institutions conduct Bribe Payers Index survey.
The MoU is aimed at exploring better ways of tackling corruption.
ACC director general Rosewin Wandi signed on behalf of ACC while TIZ executive director Goodwell Lungu signed for his organisation.

A thirty five year old man, who was hit with an iron on the eye by a police officer at Lusaka’s Libala police post, has permanently lost his eye after an operation.
Jeremiah Nunga has had his eye removed after medical doctors at the University Teaching Hospital discovered that it has been destroyed.
And Nunga’s mother Silvia Banda has expressed concern at the silence of the police service on the matter despite the case having been reported.
But police spokesperson Charity Munganga Chanda has disclosed that the officer has been arrested.

A Lusaka businesswoman has sued her husband, Brigadier General Isaac Akakandelwa of Zambia Air Force, for divorce on grounds of adultery.

According to a petition for dissolution of marriage filed in the Lusaka High Court principal registry, Pamela Mwanza has sited Brig Gen Akakandelwa and Naomi Simwanza as first and second respondents.

She stated that she was lawfully married to Brig Gen Akakandelwa on December 19, 2008 and the couple has no children.

Mwanza stated that the couple had been on separation for two years and that she currently resides in Longacres while the respondents reside in Ibex Hill.

She stated that there were no proceedings in Zambia and anywhere else with regard to their marriage which could affect the validity of the case.

Mwanza stated further that her marriage had broken down irretrievably as they last lived together in October 2012 and agreed to live apart.

She stated that her husband recently committed adultery with Naomi whom he lives with at the Ibex Hill house and prayed that her marriage be dissolved.

Mwanza also asked the court to order her husband to bear the costs for the proceedings and maintain her.

ALIKO DANGOTE

Dangote Industries Zambia Limited (“DIZ”) categorically denies the allegations and malicious misinformation made by the Minister of Labour, Honourable Fackson Shamenda that has been featured in international and national media as well as circulated through social media. It is indeed regrettable that the esteemed media houses in Zambia did not request for a comment from DIZ but proceeded to disseminate misinformation. Accordingly the purpose of this Press Release is to set the record straight.

As you are aware, DIZ has to date invested over US$400 million to build Zambia’s largest integrated cement plant in Ndola, which will be commissioned in November 2014. Without a doubt, DIZ’s entrance into the Zambian market will completely transform the sector, provide employment and indirectly support Zambian businesses.

The public must be made aware that DIZ entered into an Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement with the Zambian Government and Zambia Development Agency on 9 December 2010. DIZ subsequently applied for an investment license, began feasibility studies and engaged Zambian environmental consultants and other advisors to advise on issues pertaining to environmental impact assessments as well as Zambian tax & legal issues. DIZ has to date obtained all relevant licenses and has been operating within the confines of the Zambian law.

During the construction phase of our project, DIZ has had numerous interactions with the Government including with the Ministry of Labour. In fact senior Management and members of the Board of DIZ have on several occasions met with the Honourable Minister and Senior Officials from the Ministry of Labour in Lusaka to discuss labour issues. Honourable Shamenda has in the last 4 months paid the DIZ Ndola plant “four surprise visits” (two of such visits were made at the weekend when no Dangote senior management were available). All of Honourable Shamenda’s visits were conducted in full glare of the Zambian media, whom he brought to the plant without giving DIZ any notice. Thereafter, DIZ made a written complaint of Honourable Shamenda’s actions to its supervising ministry (Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry) as DIZ was beginning to feel that Honourable Shamenda was deliberately looking for wrongdoing. DIZ was beginning to feel harassed and unwelcome in Zambia and immediately brought this to the attention of the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry.

A meeting was subsequently held between Senior Officials at the Ministry of Commerce and DIZ, wherein DIZ was assured that GRZ were fully committed to creating a conducive business environment for investment and further encouraged DIZ to proceed with its Lusaka project.

Despite all this high level interaction, it is indeed surprising that Honourable Shamenda chose to have a “business meeting” with a junior member of staff at Intercontinental Hotel after working hours. For the record, Mr. Bala Zango is a Manager at the Dangote Group head office in Nigeria. He was assigned to DIZ for 4 months to assist the local team with the set up its human resource department and training for Zambian employees who are to work on DIZ’s highly automated plant. Our understanding of the meeting was that it was a purely social interaction. If indeed the Honourable Minister was offered an inducement then as a responsible Zambian and figure of authority he should have reported the matter to the Anti Corruption Commission, which is the body legally empowered to deal with such issues.

DIZ is a subsidiary of Dangote Cement Plc, the largest listed company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, with market capitalization of over $24 billion. Dangote Cement Plc has operations in several African countries, employs over 8,000 people and operates within the highest corporate and ethical standards and therefore takes great exception to this corruption and bribery claim.

Despite this unfortunate event DIZ remains committed to working with the GRZ on further expansion in Zambia and further values the support received from GRZ to date.

For the record, DIZ categorically deny any claims of corruption and bribery and reserve our rights on this matter.

The Dangote Group is one of the most diversified business conglomerates in Africa with a hard-earned reputation for excellent business practices and products’ quality with its operational headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria. It is majority-owned by Mr. Aliko Dangote, a globally renowned Nigerian businessman, who is President and CEO. The Dangote Group is Nigeria’s largest industrial group with a listed capitalization on the Nigeria Stock Exchange of over US$24 billion.

Police in Pemba have detained a fellow officer after he allegedly assaulted his wife.

Southern Province police commissioner Mary Chikwanda said constable Richard Mufalo was reported to have gone home drunk around midnight on Thursday and started playing loud music, much to the displeasure of his wife, Jackline Musho.

She said Musho complained about Mufalo’s conduct, leading to an argument and her subsequent assault.

Police sources said Mufalo later started kicking the children in the house, forcing them to go to school around 05:00 hours.

They said at this point, Mufalo’s wife attempted to intervene but he turned on her.

Chikwanda said a docket would soon be opened against Mufalo, who is currently in custody.
“As police command, we will ensure that the law takes its course. This officer will be taken to court because no one is above the law regardless of their position,” she said.

Chikwanda said the couple was believed to have had marital disputes ever since they got married.

Efforts to get a comment from Musho proved futile as her mobile phone went unanswered.
She was, however, reported to have gone back to her matrimonial home after being discharged from Monze hospital.

A 26-year-old man of Katongo village in chief Chitoshi’s area of Mporokoso district in Northern Province has married his uncle’s wife, aged 27.

Christopher Chewe, 41, said his nephew, Leonard Katongo, whom he was keeping as an orphan had decided to take his aunt for a wife.

He complained that Katongo, whom he had kept for eight years, had acted selfishly by grabbing his wife on the pretext that he (Chewe) drank too much alcohol, which had rendered him impotent.

Chewe said he was disappointed with his wife and nephew for going against morality
He said Katongo, his late elder brother’s son, should have respected him because he brought him up as an orphan and treated him as his own child.

Chewe, who was escorted by five men from Katongo village to air his grievances to ZANIS, wondered why his nephew decided to betray him in the manner he had done.

He said he would not do anything to Katongo but only curse his wife, with whom he has three children.

“Yes, in our tradition, a nephew can marry my wife when I am dead, but it is a taboo for him to marry my wife now,” added Chewe.

PF members of parliament from the Copperbelt will not allow Chishimba Kambwili’s nonsense of trying to succeed President Michael Sata, says Kankoyo member of parliament Levy Chabala.

Commenting on revelations by President Sata that Kambwili, who is sports minister, was campaigning and positioning himself to succeed him, Chabala, who spoke on behalf of Copperbelt PF members of parliament, said the party in the province wanted unity and would not allow Kambwili to bring confusion.

“President Sata deserves total respect until he says he will not stand. The President is still loved and we will not allow Kambwili’s nonsense to bring confusion in the party. Those that want to support Kambwili should form their own political party with him. He won’t manage to take over from President Sata,” he said.

Chabala said Kambwili should not think that just because he had made money, he could take over from President Sata.

Chabala said Kambwili was dividing the PF in Copperbelt Province.

“I know Kambwili has been a problem to us members of parliament on the Copperbelt. Kambwili must be chased from the party for bringing confusion to the party because of his ambitions. He fought Wynter Kabimba and accused him of campaigning, so even he must leave because we want to organise the party,” he said.

Chabala said Kambwili’s excitement following Kabimba’s dismissal from the government and the party was because the former secretary general of the PF did not tolerate what he termed ‘the nonsense’ Kambwili was engaged in.

“These people were busy telling unemployed PF members that they did not have jobs because of Kabimba. If you are to ask most of these people why they are against Kabimba, they will start giving you funny reasons like ‘No, he is arrogant’. So it is clear that Kabimba was hated for nothing,” he said.

Chabala further said Kambwili must also be investigated for his business contracts.
Last Thursday, President Sata said Kambwili was campaigning and positioning himself to succeed him.

This came to light when he made an impromptu visit to Ndola last week.

According to sources, President Sata told Copperbelt youth chairperson Nathan Chanda to stop Kambwili from using him (Chanda) to campaign.

A few weeks back, TB Joshua said the pope should be prayed for .He didn’t give details but said he sees danger.Well, the Prime Minister of Iraq is revealing that there are serious threats to the Pope’s Life by the dreaded ISIS.Habeeb Al Sadr ,Iraq’s ambassador to the Holy See issued the stark warning today after Vatican officials insisted there was no threat to his safety – and said he will not ride in the bulletproof ‘Popemobile’ of his predecessor Benedict XVI.Mr Al Sadr,told Italian paper,La Nazione:
‘Threats against the Pope are credible. Public statements and crimes against Christianity by Isis are a fact. Just put two and two together. Let me be clear, I am not aware of specific facts or operational projects. But what has been said by the self-declared “Islamic state” terrorists is clear. They want to kill the Pope….
‘I think they could try to hit him during his travels or even in Rome, because there are members of ISIS who are not Arabs but also Canadians, Americans, French, British and Italian.
‘This gang of criminals does not merely threaten. In Iraq they have violated or destroyed some of the holiest sites of Shia Islam. They have hit places of worship in the Yazidi religion and Christianity. They forced 150,00 Christians to flee Mosul.’