A 30-YEAR-OLD Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) employee of Nakonde has allegedly been stabbed to death by his 25-year-old wife after a domestic quarrel.
Muchinga Province assistant commissioner of police Peter Kabengele said yesterday that police have arrested and charged Esther Banda with murder of her husband, Richard Wamunyima.
He said the incident happened on Tuesday around 23:00 hours.
Mr Kabengele said Mr Banda, of house number 7 Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) compound, died at Nakonde District Hospital where he had gone to seek treatment for a stab wound.
“Mr Wamunyima came from a drinking spree and picked up a quarrel with his wife. He sustained a deep cut on the left shoulder and a knife is alleged to have been used,” he said.
Mr Kabengele said Mr Wamunyima reported the matter to the police on Tuesday shortly after being allegedly stabbed and police issued him with a medical report.
He said Mr Wamunyima was taken to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
He said police have recovered the knife suspected to have been used in the alleged murder.
Mr Kabengele said Ms Banda will appear in court soon.
Mr Wamunyima’s body is in Nakonde District Hospital mortuary.

THE Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) and the Zambia Police Service have called on motorists to desist from bribing traffic police officers to avoid compromising road safety.
Speaking when he featured on Radio Phoenix’s Let the people talk programme on Tuesday, RTSA deputy director for safety Gladwell Banda said  bribing traffic officers is a serious offence and people should desist from negotiating whenever they commit traffic offences.
He said motorists must always comply with road traffic officers to ensure safety on the roads.
“We regulate and enforce the law, there is an opportunity for people to be educated but above all, it is important that motorists follow the road rules, this is the only way we can reduce road accidents,” Mr Banda said.
He said RTSA has been working closely with relevant stakeholders to ensure road safety and to reduce fatalities by 50 percent by the year 2020 in line with the United Nations (UN) decade of action on road safety.
Mr Banda also said the fast track court introduced last October has been helping motorists to adhere to traffic rules.
“We are scaling-up on the fast track court to other provincial centres, since the fast track court started, the agency has handled over 5,000 cases,” Mr Banda said.
He said the police and RTSA have a common goal of ensuring road safety.
And Zambia Police Service Traffic Officer Brighton Siwale said the number of road traffic accidents being recorded is alarming.
Mr Siwale said it is unfortunate that some road users fear the presence of law enforcement officers and they end up breaking the law.
“Most bus drivers have the attitude of giving the bus to another driver just when the leave the station, putting the lives of commuters at risk,” he said.
He appealed to commuters to play a role to ensuring road safety by reporting reckless drivers to the authorities.

By VIOLET MENGO
MINISTER of Community Development Mother and Child Health Emerine Kabanshi says the Global Fund has contributed to the high survival rate of children on antiretroviral therapy (ART).
Ms Kabanshi said the survival rate of children on ART above the age of one now stands at 80 percent whereas previously, half of them would die before their second birthday.
She also said last year Zambia distributed 3.8 million mosquito nets and treated over 5.2 million people for malaria.
“Since we began our engagement with the Global Fund, we have treated close to 70,000 patients for active tuberculosis alone.  We have received in total US$740 million since inception,” Ms Kabanshi said.
The minister said this in Lusaka on Tuesday when she officiated at a high-level meeting on the Zambia Global Fund application for HIV, TB and malaria.
Ms Kabanshi said having achieved so much in the partnership with the Global Fund, Zambia has to adopt and address the new  funding model to maintain  and guide efforts to eliminate malaria, new HIV and TB infections.
“The most significant shift we have is that Zambia is now a low income country, from the previous grading of a least developed country, this automatically means the amount of funding we are eligible to get from Global Fund has drastically been reduced,” Ms Kabanshi said.
Zambia has applied to secure a US$180 million grant from the Global Fund.
“We are obliged to engage in genuine, in-depth, multi sectoral national dialogue so that plans we have are truly national in character,” Ms Kabanshi said.
The minister said the concept paper must reflect a broad-based national dialogue and demonstrate that the document the country coordinating mechanism will be submitting is based on Zambia’s own policy documents.
Ms Kabanshi said Government is committed to increasing funding to the health sector, which stands at K4 billion in 2014 budget for implementing of various health services.
The Global Fund has introduced a new funding model which incorporates several features that determine the way applicants can apply for and receive funding and manage their grants.
Salient features of the model include flexible timelines, simplicity, shorter and more interactive process, enhanced engagement and improved predictability of funding amounts based on each applicant’s circumstances.

The all too tempting fantasy of the yet to be fully completed Heroes Stadium in Lusaka being ready to host Africa Cup qualifiers matches has been given a check by Sports Minister Chishimba Kambwili who has ordered that the remaining international matches for the Chipolopolo will be played in Ndola.

With the car park and access roads to the country’s 60, 000 capacity stadium FAZ and government were getting too far ahead of themselves and even forced an international match against Sudan on August 31 at Heroes Stadium but from the evidence on match it was clear that the country had to wait a little longer.

Parking was restricted to the nearby neighbourhoods of Mandevu, Matero and the Olympic Youth Development Centre while it did not help that the match was overpriced with some yawning spaces in most parts of the stadium.

Kambwili said that it was not possible to host the October, 15 home match against Niger and another against Cape Verde in November because the dressing rooms and the doping rooms were not ready.

Zambia was due to play the Group F home matches at the Heroes Stadium.

He said that hosting the games at the stadium will delay progress towards completely making the structure ready for the October, 24th Jubilee celebrations.

Kamfinsa PF member of parliament Moses Chishimba says Chishimba Kambwili is still very far in politics and cannot match the vision of the Head of State.

Commenting on President Michael Sata’s advice to Copperbelt PF youth chairman Nathan Chanda not to be used by Kambwili in his quest to become president, Chishimba said the latter lacked leadership qualities required of a president.

“He is very far. He can’t match the vision of the President. In politics, you have to be a team player but this I have not seen. It lacks in him. The people are the right judges for our conduct. This is not the right time to start positioning ourselves because we have a sitting President,” he noted.

Chishimba further said Kambwili, the Roan member of parliament and sport and youth minister, used celebrations over Wynter Kabimba’s dismissal as justice minister and party secretary general to propel his presidential ambitions.

He said Kambwili’s conduct was destroying the party and that it was high time people with ambitions checked themselves.

“Personally, I think those celebrations as they can be seen from this (President Sata’s) statement, seem to be something a person was using to propel his agenda. For me, I would personally see that they were not genuine celebrations; they were ambitions of trying to say ‘Now an obstacle has been removed out of my way, let me celebrate’,” Chishimba said.

“We are not building the party. They are actually destroying the party because if it is true that they are having these dark-corner meetings, I think it’s high time they realised that they are destroying the party because trying to position themselves is something that won’t bring unity in the party. We need to work as a team.”

He said Kambwili had differed with Copperbelt members of parliament whom he perceived to be obstacles to his presidential ambitions.

Chishimba said people with presidential ambitions should follow the party guidelines.
He said it didn’t pay for anyone to step on other people’s toes just to propel their personal agenda.

Chishimba said party members should realise that they were what they were because of President Sata.

And Kankoyo member of parliament Levy Chabala recently said PF members of parliament from the Copperbelt would not allow Kambwili’s nonsense of trying to succeed President Sata.

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,” said Chabala.

Thieves have broken into Livingstone MMD Namatama Ward councillor Fennix Lyandisha’s house stealing his Plasma TV, LG CD player and an iPad.

And Lyandisha has bemoaned the increasing levels of criminal activities in his ward.

The thieves gained access to the house by removing a piece of glass from the sitting room door and used the key from the keyhole to open the door.

Lyandisha said the thieves stole his household goods in one of the rooms of the house where some of his family members were fast asleep.

“I woke up around 03:00 hours (yesterday) after I heard gunshots in the neighbourhood. That was when I discovered that my sitting room door was open and we later discovered that my Plasma TV, my CD player and my iPad were gone. I have since reported the matter to the police,” Lyandisha said.

Lyandisha said he had received several complaints from the residents who were also victims of criminal activities.

He said it was sad and unfortunate that criminal activities had become rampant in the area.
“I fought very hard to have Mbita police in this area but unfortunately, crime is increasing.

The residents are complaining because of these unproductive activities of theft. People are attacked and property is being stolen, and now, I am a victim of such acts,” Lyandisha said.
Lyandisha said he would organise a meeting this Saturday for residents of Namatama Ward and the police to find ways of mitigating criminal activities.

“I cannot entirely blame the police and the essence of us meeting this Saturday is to find a lasting solution. The residents should come in numbers and air their grievances. Maybe we can come up with a neighbourhood watch,” he said.

Lyandisha said Livingstone was a tourist capital and criminal activities should not be tolerated because it would dent the image of the city and the country as a whole.

A group of 10 experts has been dispatched to Nigeria to evaluate the needs of South African citizens who may have been involved in the collapse of faith healer TB Joshua’s Synagogue Church of Nations building last week, says International Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane.

Addressing a media briefing at Parliament on Wednesday night, she said the group would include doctors who would be able to sign death certificates and see if those South Africans who were in hospital were receiving adequate treatment.

She said this was standard practice by the government and was being done on its own initiative.

Ms Nkoana-Mashabane said the South African consul-general in Lagos had been gathering information and keeping the government updated on the latest news. “This is the largest number of South Africans ever killed in a tragedy in a foreign nation,” she said.

SA’s consul-general in Lagos has been working around the clock, visiting the scene, liaising with the leadership of the church and other authorities. In addition, the South African High Commission in the capital, Abuja, has seconded staff to Lagos to provide assistance to the consul-general.

“I am also able to confirm that an advance team of disaster management personnel is on the way to Lagos. In Pretoria, an inter-departmental team has been put together to co-ordinate all government activities relating to the calamity.”

Ms Nkoana-Mashabane repeated President Jacob Zuma’s statement made on Tuesday that 67 South Africans had been killed in the building’s collapse. However, this appears to conflict with the Nigerian national emergency management agency’s claim that a total of 70 people had been killed and 131 rescued.

SA and Nigeria have developed business links with companies such as cellular network operator MTN and retailer Shoprite having operations there.

Cape Town – Sixty-seven South Africans have died after a building at the Synagogue Church of All Nations collapsed on Friday, according to the presidency.

In a statement released on Tuesday spokesperson Mac Maharaj said: “I am greatly saddened to announce that 67 South Africans died and scores of others sustained injuries, after a building at the Synagogue Church of All Nations collapsed on Friday, 12 September 2014, in Lagos, in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

The last death toll from the collapsed guesthouse at a mega-church in Nigeria was reported at 57 earlier on Tuesday.

Maharaj said: “Our thoughts are with the families, friends and colleagues that have lost their loved ones in this heart-breaking tragedy. The whole nation shares the pain of the mothers, fathers, daughters and sons who have lost their loved ones. We are all in grief.”

He directed the relevant government departments and entities to act with the utmost urgency to ensure that the presidency facilitate the movement of relevant family members to Nigeria, to identify the bodies.

“Government will keep the public informed of developments around this tragedy.”

Founder of Synagogue Church, Prophet TB Joshua, says he has been facing hard times since the collapse of his church guesthouse in Lagos. He has, however, said that he would survive the trying times.

A six-storey guesthouse belonging to the church collapsed last Friday, and as at the last count, about 80 persons have been confirmed dead with over 140 rescued alive.

TB Joshua has assured all who believe in his good works that would not be destroyed by the incident:

“Hard times may test me, they cannot destroy me,” TB Joshua said, adding, “To withstand hard times, stand with Christ. When you face trials, hard times, you can count it all joy if you add faith.”

Quoting the Bible, TB Joshua reached out to his thousands of followers across the world via the social network, just as he stated that God sometimes makes use of hard times to “draw us to Himself.”

According to TB Joshua, in a message on SCOAN official Facebook page, God visits His people with hard times because people often become “proud and stupid with wealth and pleasure.”

He added, “It is through hard times that you gain the necessary experience and maturity to handle whatever responsibility given you. We are most likely to go astray from God and forget Him when things are easy with us in the world because we often become proud and stupid with wealth and pleasure.

“God visits His people with hard times that they may learn His way. His ways, though hard to the ungodly men, are desirable and profitable because they lead us to safety unto eternal life. God allowed the enemy to overcome Israel so that they may learn the difference between serving God and serving the devil.

“If not for our hard times, we would not have sought the face of God. I mean, if not because of hard times, man by his wicked nature, would not have sought the face of God. This means, God sometimes uses hard times to draw us to Him so that we can take our proper position and possession in Him.”

The terrorist attack alleged by Nigerian Prophet T.B. Joshua as the

cause of a guest-house collapse in his church on Friday 12th September

2014 has taken a new development with the release of a picture

claiming to reveal the ‘strange aircraft’ involved.

A Facebook post from ‘TB Joshua Ministries’ stated a South African

visitor named Shadrack Mamzini to The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations

(SCOAN) took a picture of the suspicious aircraft on the day of the

tragic incident.

“While I was taking the last picture, I saw a very big aircraft,” said

a statement attributed to Mamzini on Facebook. “It was something which

was unusual in the way it looked. It did not look like a passenger

plane or an ordinary plane. My worry was that it was too low to the

building.”

Joshua had earlier narrated on Sunday 14th September 2014 how a

‘strange airplane’ had flown over the building four times before its

tragic collapse, accompanying CCTV footage showing the planes

movement.

“By the time the incident happened and the man of God spoke about it,

I went back to check all the photos I had taken,” Mamzini continued.

“I zoomed in on this picture where I saw the aircraft clearly.”

Several online commentators quickly suggested on Facebook that the

aircraft in question was a military transport plane. Dele Cooke from

Scotland observed, “That is a C130 Hercules. The Americans used to

push trays of explosives out of the tailgate in Vietnam. The Nigerian

Air Force owns a few.”

Patrick from Zambia corroborated this assertion. “This aircraft looks

to me like a Hercules C-130 – the propellers are pretty obvious…

Investigative bodies need to look into this incident closely,” he

advised.

Paul Cevis, an American insinuated the same. “If the noise of its 4

turboprop engines did cause the catastrophe, they need to sue the

builder,” he commented.

An online Nigerian traffic update site, ‘Gidi-Traffic’ further tweeted

how ‘a military plane’ was sighted in Ikotun coinciding with the time

of the deadly collapse.

Various clips showing the security footage of the shocking incident

made public by Joshua on Sunday have elicited a wide spectrum of

reactions, the most popular version viewed over 350,000 times on

YouTube already.

Multiple commentators drew similarities between the swift manner the

church guesthouse collapsed with ‘controlled demolitions’.

“My German friends who are specialists in demolition of houses saw

this and concluded immediately that it’s a “kontrollierte Sprengung” –

that was said in unison without hesitation,” one YouTube user known by

the name Oxygen CX commented.

“This is a controlled demolition,” another YouTuber agreed. “The land

underneath the building was cleared with explosives first in order for

it to fall straight down.  I’m a mechanical engineer and can vouch for

this.”

In related events, a 48 hour ultimatum has been given to the Nigerian

government by The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) to

make public their investigations into the incident.

“The (SCOAN) location is far from any approach to the Ikeja or any

airport in Lagos hence it is abnormal for any plane to head for the

location at all,”the statement read, warning that the United Nations

would be informed if findings were not unveiled transparently.

The SCOAN released an official statement early on Thursday 18th

September, commiserating with family members of the affected and

stressing its commitment to ensure “survivors are rescued, attended to

with the best medical treatment, cared for in the most humane and

hospitable manner and reunited with their families, while those who

passed on – martyrs of the Kingdom of God – are retrieved, identified

and treated respectfully.”

Ihechukwu Njoku – freelance Nigerian journalist

A 40-year-old man of Kapiri Mposhi has told the Kabwe High Court that he accidently killed his mother-in-law.
Stanley Chimfule told Kabwe High Court Judge Elita Mwikisa during his defence that he never harboured ill intentions against his mother- in-law but that he accidently killed her.
This is in a case in which Chimfule of Chapala village in Chief Chipepo’s area is charged with the murder of Eunice Zilungu, on October 25, last year.
But in his testimony, Chimfule told the court that on the material day, he was heading home from Lukanga River at about 18:00 hours when he heard a scream from a nearby bush.
“When I heard this person crying, I stopped and went to check who it was and discovered it was my mother- in-law and I found her lying on the ground. She was not alone but with Alice Phiri, who was assisting to get her up from the ground.
“At that point, some men appeared from nowhere and started hitting me and as I tried to fight back, I accidently hit my mother-in-law. I ran away because I felt those people wanted to kill me,” Chimfule said.
He said he rushed to the headman and explained the ordeal but that he was discouraged from travelling to the police station as it is far.
Chimfule testified that the headman offered to report the matter to police on his behalf as the latter had contact numbers for the nearest police station.
“I did not kill Zilungu, it was just an accident that I hit her with an axe,” Chimfule said.
He said the police found him at the headman’s house where he was questioned about the death of his mother- in-law.
He testified that the police later took him to Kapiri Mposhi police station where he was charged and arrested.
Judge Mwikisa adjourned the case to September 29 for Judgment.

A young student in a university in China, who hid her pregnancy throughout, gave birth to a baby girl inside a toilet pipe, hoping the baby would flush down the pipe. Fortunately the pipe wasn’t wide enough to take the baby down and so her body became wedged a short way down the pipe. The baby immediately started crying and the new mum fled. Fortunately, the baby’s cries was loud enough to attract the attention of other students who immediately raised an alarm.

Firemen were called to the student dormitory in the city of Linyi in China’s Shandong Province, and they immediately went to work to free the new bornBut firemen couldn’t free the child from above (pictured during the rescue mission). Fire Brigade spokesman Tao Fang told a local newspaper

“It was impossible to get the baby out from above. She had fallen into the toilet and gone down the pipes were she had got stuck between the third and fourth floors. We used an angle grinder to break open the pipeline on the third floor and we could then push the child up to colleagues on the fourth floor where she was handed to medics who were waiting to take her to hospital.”

The police tracked down the child’s mother who was a student living in the hotel and they took her to the hospital. Police say they are waiting to question her before deciding what she might be charged with.

Former Roan Constituency chairman Moses M’hango says sports minister Chishimba Kambwili has been holding meetings in Luanshya where he has been telling his supporters that he is the chosen one, the one President Michael Sata has anointed to succeed him as President of the Republic of Zambia and leader of the Patriotic Front as he himself is not going for the second term of office.

But Kambwili says he is putting all allegations against him in God’s hands.

In a walk-in interview at The Post offices in Kitwe on Wedneseday, M’hango said Kambwili’s divisive leadership had weakened the ruling party in Luanshya.

He said he was chucked out of his position after disagreements over Kambwili’s leadership style, whereby the Roan member of parliament only wanted people that bowed to his dictates to be in leadership.

“I want to support what honourable [Levy] Chabala and other MPs are doing. Because Kambwili cannot deny the fact that he has been holding meetings in Luanshya, misleading people that he has been anointed by the President to take over. He has been problematic to the party in Luanshya such that whoever differs with him, he hounds them out; he only wants people who believe his narrow agenda of campaigning for presidency,” M’hango said.

M’hango alleged that Kambwili’s ambition of taking over from President Sata had led to him fight independent-minded party members like his Luanshya counterpart Steve Chungu.

“PF in Luanshya is divided. It is a pity that people take Kambwili seriously because of his loud outbursts in the media. All he is doing is confusion. Imagine he has left his constituency to start destabilising Luanshya Constituency simply because honourable Chungu has refused to be his stooge. He wants to be MP for both Roan and Luanshya. The authorities must act on Kambwili now; otherwise, he [will] destroy the party if he goes on unchecked,” he said.

M’hango said Kambwili’s downfall would be celebrated more than the ‘stage-managed’ celebrations he organised when former justice minister Wynter Kabimba was fired recently.
“I am happy myself that this is coming to light today, because I knew and I warned him that what he was doing would one day be exposed. It is said that ‘if you want to know how a hippo lives in water, ask the crocodile’. Here I am, ask me. It is me who first adopted him to stand as MP in Roan in 2006 at my House No. 226 section 21 in Mpatamatu. I was removed because I did not agree with him on many things. Let them send independent people to Luanshya. He has been cheating people that he is the anointed one. Because he has no leadership, so he can only survive by cheating and bullying people,” he said.

Asked to elaborate on the reasons for his removal from his chairmanship position in 2010, M’hango said he was falsely accused of having misappropriated campaign funds, allegations which had not been proved to date.

But when contacted, Kambwili first opted not to comment.

“I have never known… anyway, I have no comment,” he said.

Two minutes later, Kambwili called back but did not deny the allegations and accused M’hango of being a close ally of Chungu.

“…M’hango is a close friend of Steve Chungu and you know what that means. He is a close friend of Steve Chungu and you know what that means. The only thing I can tell you is that I have no comment to make, and all these allegations I am just putting them in the hands of God. Write what I have told you; don’t ask me anything. The only thing I can say is that M’hango is a close friend of Chungu and I am putting everything in God’s hands,” said Kambwili.

This week, PF members of parliament from the Copperbelt said they would not allow Kambwili’s nonsense of trying to succeed President Sata.

Last week, President Sata revealed that Kambwili was campaigning and positioning himself to succeed him.

Police say the case involving suspended MMD Eastern Province youth chairperson, Chembe Daka, who openly urinated in the council chamber has been closed after he paid an admission of guilt fine.
Eastern Province deputy police commissioner, Hudson Namachila, said Daka who was arrested for public nuisance on Friday had paid an admission of guilt fine and the case has since ended.

Police in Chipata have arrested a 23-year-old Malawian woman for alleged sexual abuse on a 15-year-old boy.

Eastern Province deputy police commissioner, Hudson Namachila, said the Malawian woman allegedly sexually abused the boy around 04:00 hours on Monday at Pingulani guesthouse at Kapata Market.Namachila said the suspect was staying at the guesthouse when the incident occurred.

“This Malawian woman is in police custody and the victim is a grade eight pupil at St Atanazio Primary School. We cannot mention the names of these people for obvious reasons. This case is currently being investigated,” he said.Namachila said the suspect was expected to appear in court this week.

Matero PF member of parliament Miles Sampa says the lies that the opposition political parties peddle against the government will work against them in 2016.

In an interview, Sampa, who is commerce deputy minister, said the opposition parties who lost three out of the five parliamentary by-elections that were held recently, campaigned against themselves by using lies and propaganda.

“The Zambian people are beyond propaganda and the more you bring lies about the President (Michael Sata), lies about PF, the opposition are just de-campaigning themselves. We didn’t even have to campaign much because they were de-campaigning themselves, going there with lies and with propaganda against the President, so maybe they should continue doing that and maybe they will even make it much easier for PF in 2016,” Sampa said.

He said the PF’s victory in Zambezi West, Vubwi and Mkushi South last week was diversified and he was hopeful that in 2016, the party would win a number of parliamentary seats in Eastern, Western and North-Western provinces.

Sampa said there were a lot of developmental projects taking place in the three provinces and these would enable the PF to win in 2016.

“There is dust from construction in all these provinces. So there is less talk and more action. So come 2016, it will be easy. 2011 and 2012 was preparation, now the people are seeing results. There is dust all over, there is construction going on, so that is the only message and the rest is propaganda,” he said.

Sampa, however, said there was need for an introspection in the PF if the party was to remain strong.

“It’s high time we stopped pointing fingers unnecessarily and recognised that we only have one party and we only have one President and if we narrow ourselves to that, all of us, we will fight a common purpose and we should all celebrate the victory. We need to unite and move forward,” said Sampa.

President Sata

President Michael Sata has officially opened the fourth session of the eleventh National Assembly by highlighting the fact that the country has continued to post robust economic growth since the Patriotic Front came to power in 2011.

President Sata who was accompanied to Parliament by First Lady Dr Christine Kaseba earlier inspected a full guard of honor mounted by the Zambia army second battalion.

President Sata pointed out that the country has managed to post achievements under PF government because of enduring unity in the country.

The Head of State has also urged Members of Parliament to support the progressive 2015 budget to be presented by Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda in October.

He also cited the PF government robust infrastructure development in the education and health sectors which has seen the construction of schools, universities and health facilities.

President Sata commended health Minister Dr Joseph Kasonde for his handwork and ensuring the decentralization of Medical Stores.

He notes that this will ensure timely distribution of medical supplies across the country.

And President Sata says agriculture remains key to economic growth and poverty reduction.

He says government wants to achieve food security, promote crop diversification and as well as increase productivity.

Meanwhile six newly elected Members of Parliament have taken the oath of allegiance.

The six Parliamentarians emerged victorious in the recent by-elections.

Of the six Members of Parliament sworn-in today, PF Mangango Member of Parliament Lingweshi Lyambai stole the limelight with his antics much to the excitement of the house.

Mr Lyambai sent the house into laughter as he entered majestically before showcasing his military drills as he received the oath from the Clerk of the National Assembly, which he repeated as he handed his oath to Speaker of the National Assembly Patrick Matibini sending the house into further laughter.

The house should brace itself for humorous moments during its sittings if Mr Lyambai’s antics are anything to go by.

Scotland has voted to stay in the United Kingdom after voters decisively rejected independence.

With 31 out of the country’s 32 council areas having declared after Thursday’s vote, the ‘No’ side has an unassailable lead of 1,914,187 votes to 1,539,920.

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond called for unity and the unionist parties to deliver on more powers.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron said he was delighted the UK would remain together and called for national unity.

BBC

A former minister named Vitaly Zhuravsky was attacked on September 16th by an angry mob as he walked past a crowd outside the parliament building in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital.

The minister was grabbed by the screaming mob and bundled head first into the half full rubbish bin and they proceeded to pelt him with the rubbish, pour water on him and hit him on the head with a car tyre. They are mad at him and other lawmakers because of Ukraine’s recent trade pact with EU. See photos above

“Prophet” TB Joshua was named the third-richest pastor in Nigeria with an estimated net worth of between $10m and $15m ), according to a list compiled by Forbes.

Mr Joshua heads the Synagogue Church of all Nations (Scoan). The church’s guesthouse in Lagos collapsed on Friday killing dozens of people, including 67 South Africans.

The church accommodates 15,000 worshippers on Sundays.

Topping the Forbes list is Bishop David Oyedepo with an estimated net worth of $150m

He founded the Living Faith World Outreach Ministry in Nigeria, which is Africa’s largest worship centre with a seating capacity of 50,000.

Mr Oyedepo owns four private jets, a publishing company, a university and a high school.

US entertainment conduit “MonteOz” said Mr Joshua was the 10-richest pastor in the world.