ZAMBIA Economy - overview : Zambi a had one of the worl d’s fastest gr owi ng economies for the ten years up to 2014, with r eal GDP growth aver agi ng roughl y 6.7% per annum, t hough growth sl owed during the period 2015 to 2017, due t o falli ng copper prices, reduced power generati on, and depr eciation of the kwacha. Zambi a’s lack of ec onomic diversification and dependenc y on copper as its sol e major export makes it vul ner able t o fluctuati ons in the world commoditi es market and pric es turned downward i n 2015 due to declini ng demand from Chi na; Zambi a was overtaken by the Democratic Republic of Congo as Africa’s lar gest copper produc er. GDP gr owt h pick ed up i n 2017 as mi ner al prices rose. Despit e rec ent strong economic gr owt h and its stat us as a lower middle -i ncome c ountry, widespr ead and extr eme rural poverty and high unemployment l evels remain si gnificant probl ems, made worse by a hi gh birt h rat e, a r elat ive l y high HI V/AIDS bur den, by market - distorting agric ultur al and ener gy polici es, and growing government debt. Zambia r aised $7 billi on from i nter national i nvestors by issuing s eparat e sover ei gn bonds in 2012, 2014, and 2015. Concurr entl y, it issued over $4 billion i n domestic debt and agr eed t o Chinese -fi nanced infr astructure projects, significantl y increasing t he country’s public debt bur den to more t han 60% of GDP. The government has considered refi nancing $3 billion wort h of Eur obonds and significant Chi n ese loans to cut debt ser vicing costs. GDP 3.4% 3.8% 2.9% - real g rowth rate: ( 2017 est.) ( 2016 est.) ( 2015 est.) GDP - composition, by secto r of origin: agriculture: 7.5% (2017 est.) industry: 35.3% (2017 est.) services: 57% (2017 est.) ZAMBIA NEWS The Zambia Revenue Authority is dismayed by the political smearing of its donation to the Ministry of Health towards the fight against COVID-19 by Patriots for Economic Progress President Sean Tembo. In its endeavor to provide socio-economic security to the nation, the Authority has donated K200,000 and Re-allocated its advertising budget for messages such as anti smuggling by replacing them with COVID-19 sensitization messages, a move Mr Tembo said is illegal. ZRA Corporate Communications Manager Topsy Sikalinda says it is unfortunate that aspiring leaders mudsling the Authority at a crucial time when lives are more important than anything else. Mr Sikalinda says the PEP Leader has of late been petty, criticizing everything that the Authority does to gain political mileage despite ZRA ignoring his statements. He said the Authority has an annual Corporate Social Responsibility budget funded by Employees and the Government from which it uses to carry out charitable works in various communities. Mr Sikalinda said recently, donations have been made to the University Teaching Hospital, City Market and Buseko market for toilets and water supply system. He has reminded Mr. Tembo that ZRA will also prioritise a good cause for the nation such fighting a pandemic when it affects its operations and mandate at large. President Lungu is in violation of the Constitution by allowing Minister Lusambo to beat Citizens In a statement released to the media, CiSCA said that Mr. Lusambo Beating People Violated Article 15 of Our Bill of Rights and that beating of people is symptomatic of the absence of a human rights culture, bad governance and poor leadership in Zambia. Below is the full statement Lusambo Beating People Violated Article 15 of Our Bill of Rights: CiSCA The Civil Society Constitution Agenda (CiSCA) strongly condemns the ongoing violations of the rights of citizens by Lusaka Province Minister Bowman Lusambo who has given himself a new job of chief enforcer of measures to address COVID 19. Minister Lusambo’s beating of people is symptomatic of the absence of a human rights culture, bad governance and poor leadership in Zambia. Our human rights are a birth right and no one has the right to take them away from us even for our so-called own good or benefit. Our human rights are God given and not bestowed on us by law or even by any political leader no matter how powerful. The law only recognizes rights but it does not confer rights. Therefore, what Minister Lusambo has been doing leading the police in beating up people in public places in order to safeguard our lives is not only a blatant violation of human rights but a ridiculous and dangerous contradiction. Human rights are indivisible, interrelated and interdependent so you can not violate one right in the guise of protecting another right! The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has been around since 10th December 1948 and we have a dangerously ignorant minister publicly declaring that he will beat human rights and its defenders using his own law 71 years later! Using one’s law is pure anarchy and delinquent behavior. President Lungu should be ashamed of his appointee Minister Lusambo. This man has a penchant for violence. He beat up Mr. Kambwili on the grounds of the law-making house itself instead of debating Mr. Kambwili on the floor of the house as MPs are supposed to do. Now he is going around shamelessly violating article 15 of our Constitution which protects everyone from being subjected to torture, or to inhuman or degrading punishment or other treatment. This right is in our Bill of Rights. It is not only justiciable but also non-derogable therefore this right cannot be suspended even in a state of emergency or a war situation. Article 25 of our Constitution lists rights that can be derogated from and article 15 is not one of them! Lusambo’s beating of people is ‘inhuman’ and ‘degrading.’ It is corporal punishment and Judge Chulu in his High Court ruling in the John Banda v the People case of 1999 affirmed that corporal punishment, beating people is a violation of article 15 of our Constitution. Once again by the action of his Minister Lusambo’s violation of human rights, President Lungu’s reputation and standing at national and international level is brought into disrepute like his pardon of General Kanene, a child sexual molester. Last year, 2019, in its Fourth Periodic Report on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to the UN Human Rights Committee, Zambia reported that the state has no laws that would give an opportunity for destruction of fundamental rights and freedoms recognised in the Covenant and while derogations are recognised by the Zambian Constitution under a state of emergency, such derogations do not affect the right to life, protection from slavery and forced labour, protection from inhuman treatment, contrary to what Minister Lusambo is doing. It would be interesting to note what the Committee’s response to the Minister’s shenanigans in relation to this part of the State party report would be. We ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1984. President Lungu is also in violation of the Constitution by allowing Minister Lusambo to run wild violating our human rights. Article 91(2) gives the President the executive authority to exercise either directly or by public officers he appoints. He appointed Minister Lusambo so how Lusambo exercises his authority is a reflection of the President himself. In fact, Lusambo has stated that he reports to the President and not to anybody else. Further, under the same article paragraph 3 sub section (e) puts an obligation on the President to promote and protect the rights and freedoms of a person and to uphold the rule of law. So what is the President doing letting Lusambo run wild violating the Constitution on his behalf without consequences? The claim that police are using minimum force does not hold any water. Minimum force is applied to persons resisting lawful arrest. The intention of Lusambo was not to lawfully arrest the revelers but to beat them from the public places. Were the people being beaten resisting arrest or being brow beaten out of public places like cattle? How is that the same as resisting arrest? Minister Lusambo even had the audacity of going on television to defend his unlawful acts. What an embarrassment to the Presidency whether the President acknowledges or wants to be ‘absent’ about the issue as he does on most issues that really matter to us. We are not President Lungus’s subjects. We are citizens whose only mistake was to entrust him with power to facilitate a democratic environment for all of us where the rule of law is respected and our voices are heard. The person who saw value in appointing Minister Lusambo is the President therefore the value of Minister Lusambo as a Minister is in the eyes of President Lungu and perhaps the electorate of Kabushi not the rest of us. So please President Lungu relieve this man of the position of Minister, a position which his actions has denigrated it. If a die-hard brutish man like Mr. Lusambo can be a Minister what’s honourable about such positions? A short while ago he said things that displeased Zambians in the diaspora and they unleashed insults on him a situation reflecting to the appointing authority. Is Minister Lusambo President Lungu’s best choice for a ministerial position? If so, we Zambians should restructure President Lungu’s function. Issued by: Judith Mulenga CiSCA Vice Chairperson Electoral Commission of Zambia schedules Three Local Government By-Elections The Electoral Commission of Zambia has prescribed Tuesday 9th June, 2020 as the date on which to hold the Polls for the Local Government By-elections in Nakato and Imalyo Wards of Mongu Town Council in Western Province and Bulilo Ward of Chilubi Town Council in Northern Province. The Elections in Nakato, Imalyo and Bulilo Wards have been necessitated by the resignations of the incumbent Councillors. This is according to a statement issued to the media by ECZ Public Relations Manager Margaret Chimanse. And in view of the COVID-19 pandemic whose cases have continued to rise in Zambia, the Commission has also put in place measures to prevent the transmission of the pandemic. Mrs Chimanse says political parties are discouraged from holding public rallies to avoid the contraction of COVID-19. She encouraged political Parties and other Stakeholders to use appropriate campaign strategies such as mobile Public Address System, distribution of flyers and other political party materials with minimal or no contact with a crowd. Mrs Chimanse has further advised political parties to desist from ferrying cadres from one district or ward to the other for campaigns in Districts where By-elections are taking place.
