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Lifestyle

The Zambia Police (ZP) says it will use electronic means and revamp the police toll free number (991) & the national call centre as part of the reforms to make the service more responsive and meet the best practices of policing.

The Zambia police command has of late been criticized for failure to put in place a fully functional and monitored public policing system. The currently not fully functional call centre and toll free number has further exacerbated the the negative perceptions regarding the ability of the Police to respond to public emergencies.

ZP spokeperson Esther Katongo stated that “though the Police call centre and toll free line is currently not fully functional due to challenges with some mobile service providers, government and the police command are working on a permanent solution through the establishment of the massive command centre, that will have an independent communication line. This command centre is almost complete”.

In an exclusive response to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Katongo stated that most of the police’s operations will soon be electronic following the launch of smart Zambia and Safe Zambia, which are both key government programes.

Katongo said the process of going electronic for ZP operations and systems has already begun and soon, most of the operations such as receiving of reports from the public and logging in reports directly to a central data base will be launched. This will ensure that there is no tampering of reports afterwards when you compare with the paper based method.

And to monitor its operations and the armoury in order to ensure that police officers return guns before going home, the Police spokeperson stated that each police station has an armourer whose duty is to monitor the usage of firearms, therefore it is feasible for each police station to monitor movement, storage and usage of firearms.

Moreover, this process will also not be left out when digitizing the operations. There will be electronic monitoring of the Armoury as well. Then logging in of reports by both the public and police stations will soon be electronic and this will lead to an audit trail and timely transmitting of information.

She further told ZBT that the police service is also working on having electronic dockets and the system will be linked to sister institutions in the justice system. She added that the process of allocating computers to police stations and centers has already begun, “we as the police are already implementing the online service programme under smart Zambia”.

She stated that some stations have already been given computers while some are yet to receive, adding that special security features will and have been considered to avoid leakage or tampering of data and information.

She said the Safe Zambia project will also ensure monitoring of happenings across the country where semi command centres are also being built. This project is scheduled to be completed before August this year.

When asked how the issue of Police stations failure to respond to emergency calls on account of lack of fuel or transport?, Katongo told ZBT that the police may have challenges with fuel and transportation, but as an institution, just like any other, it works around them, adding that government has started buying motor vehicles for the police and soon the challenge will be addressed.

She also told ZBT that the community in some instances have helped to buy fuel or by donating vehicles to the police in their community as policing is a shared responsibility. These initiatives by the community are commendable.

On the issue of members of the public facing challenges to log complaints against Police officers who are denting the image of the service? Katongo advised members of the public who may have complaints against police officers to visit their nearest police stations and report such officers to the supervisors found at each police station.

She said members of the public logging a complaint against Police offices will be required to make a statement which will be recorded and a docket opened, in emergencies the public is advised to use the national communication line which will in turn inform the responsible or nearest police to respond. She added that these reforms which were announced, are still being worked on, and all efforts to put in controls by electronic means have reached an advanced stage.

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The Zambia Police (ZP) says it will

Agribusiness

Soya beans production is expected to continue to surge upwards as demand for edible oils and stock feed continues to rise in Zambia and its neighboring countries.

Soya beans production is this year projected to increase further as the crop use as a Food crop is also on the raise. Zambia is projected to recorded a notable 6% growth in Soya production between the 2018/2019 to 2019/2020 farming season.

According to information made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT by Zambia’s statistics agency – Zamstats, soya beans production is expected to increased from about 281,000 tonnes in the 2018/2019 farming season to about 297,000 metric tonnes in the 2019/2020 farming season.

And the Soya beans market and demand remains high even within Zambia. Ministry of Agriculture Chief Field Crops Agronomist Nawa Malumo said the current production is still very low when you look at what is required to meet the stockfeed and edible oil requirements of the country.

Malumo said some of the things that can be done to increase production include increasing extension provision to farmers in order to improve on management and yield of the crop, as the current yields are too low when compared to best practices.

He added that other measures that value chain players such as seed companies can take to improve productivity include strengthening soyabeans breeding in order to provide higher yielding varieties to farmers.

Strengthening farmer cooperatives for easy acquisition of inputs and marketing and facilitating bulking centres in production centres especially in rural areas could increase production and make Zambia a net exporter.

He said some of the challenges faced by the farmers are the cost of seed which has been too high for many small scale farmers. Most local farmers who want to venture into Soya can not find quality seeds as its not readily available in many areas. This has led farmers recycling seed which is not ideal.

He also cited poor management practices such as late planting ,farmers not applying the right fertilizer, late harvesting leading to high post-harvest losses and in varieties that shatter adding that this can lead to high losses.

Malumo however stated that there is a readily available market for soyabeans especially in peri urban areas and the demand for the crop is high, although farmers in rural areas still find challenges to market the commodity adding that currently, there are still few processing facilities in the country which restricts the market.

He mentioned that it is difficult to ascertain if this year’s projected increase in Soya production will be realized but noted that the rainfall pattern has been favourable for the crop.

Local farmers have been caught up in mono cropping which has led to less diversification and rain dependent agriculture. For farming to be profitable, there is need for an all year round production system that will ensure revenue generation does not get restricted to rain fed production.

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Soya beans production is expected to continue

Tech

Investigations have been instituted to ascertain the cause of a military plane that crash landed belonging to the Zambia Air Force (ZAF). Questions have arisen as to why ZAF was delivering fuel to Mukinge mission when all other missions don’t receive fuel rations from government.

A check with Mukinge mission revealed that the mission could not give details as to why they were receiving the fuel or indeed if they received any fuel. Mukinge mission could not state if they indeed were receiving fuel but referred the matter back to ZAF for details.

And ZAF confirmed that they has instituted an investigation in the crash that happened in Kasempa district at Mukinge Mission Hospital airstrip where a ZAF plane crash-landed. ZAF Director of Public Relations Colonel Peter Zimba said the air force has constituted a body of inquiry to determine what led to the accident.

Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Zimba said the investigation, which will take a week, will provide the details of what led to the accident. When asked the worth of the plane and whether it was insured, Colonel Zimba said the airforce will be able to provide all that information once the investigation is concluded.

A Zambia Air Force plane crash-landed at Mukinge Mission Hospital airstrip on Tuesday, the 26 January around 08:50 hours, with the initial report indicating that the plane was delivering fuel to Mukinge mission. The mission has however declined to either confirm or deny receiving any fuel consignment.

A preliminary report indicates that the five-sitter plane which crash landed had five crew members on board. The crash left three (who include the pilot and copilot) unhurt, while the two complained of general body pains were admitted to Mukinge mission hospital.

The aircraft registration number AF 222 was reported to have been flying from Lusaka to Kasempa. The crash left a shattered front window screen and a damaged front nose, raising questions of whether it was insured and what the replacement costs would be.

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Investigations have been instituted to ascertain the

Tech

A source at Shalina Pharmaceuticals has exclusively told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that the batches of Vitamin C tablets that has been recalled may have changed colour because of poor storage conditions.

The source who said they were not officially authorized to publicly speak on behalf of the company said there maybe someone behind this whole scandal [poor storage causing the change in color] and the company hopeful that all the facts will be out in the open soon.

The source said Shalina pharmaceuticals is currently not selling any Vitamin C tablets as it is waiting for the Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) to advise on the way forward. He emphasized that Shalina Pharmaceuticals will not do anything that is against the regulatory authority or the country.

The Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) advised the public not to buy Cevite tablets (Vitamin C) bearing batch numbers 0371572 and 0372251 which was imported into Zambia by Shalina Phatmaceuticals.

On January 22, 2021, Shalina Pharmaceuticals Zambia issued a recall citing some change of colour in some tablets to brown as the reason behind the action. Shalina Pharmaceuticals Zambia recalled the Cevite 500mg tablets even before ZAMRA issued its recall message.

In its motive of recall, Shalina pharma advised wholesalers, hospitals and retail pharmacies to instead exchange the defective batches with non defective one, but the statement did no say anything on any remedial actions that would be taken for those that had already consumed the vitamins from the recalled batches.

However, Pharmaceutical Expert Jerome Kanyika questioned the process of certification by the Zambia Medicine Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) that medicine goes through before its put on the market for public consumption.

He told ZBT that there are some senior staff at ZAMRA that are in the forefront of covering up the mess on behalf of the Pharmaceutical companies who supply substandard drugs and medical utilities.

Kanyika said the recalling of medicines that has been happening lately is an indication that ZAMRA is not doing its job in ensuring that the quality and standard of medicine is certified before being circulated to the public.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Kanyika said that it is normal to have a recall of medicines say, once every two years, and this should normally be initiated by the manufacturer themselves and not the regulator, so the current happenings are very alarming.

“Under normal circumstances, the rate of recalling medicines from circulation should not be as much as it has been lately, the way we are recalling drugs speaks volumes because within a short period of time, we have done it too many times. You cannot recall so many medicines in two years as has been the case since 2019”, he said.

Kanyika also mentioned that the World Health Organisation (WHO) does not certify some of these drugs that being imported into Zambia, adding that some of the Pharmaceutical companies in Zambia buy substandard medicines at very low prices.

“In Zambia, as long as you have written good English and put up a big profile about your company, then it will be certified and you will be given market authorisation”, he said.

Kanyika added that countries like Zimbabwe [despite all the current challenges] ensure that the regulatory body travels to inspect the pharmaceutical company that manufactures drugs before registering it on their market.

When asked how some medicines which are certified are ending up being recalled, he stated that “When registering a drug, some pharmaceutical companies buy medicine from a well-known pharmaceutical companies which they use to get the initial certification”.

“But what happens then is that they then source substandard and in some cases counterfeit drugs which are then brought in and distributed. This is why you are seeing all these recalls. So, when the regulator goes and inspects the drugs being supplied, that when these gaps are found”, he said.

“The other problem is that some of these Pharma companies go for cheap products instead of buying quality and authentic products, they go for substandard products without considering the consequences of such actions because they are cheaper and they make more profits”, he said.

There is also need for the public to be more cautious, “Provided someone is selling it at a cheaper price, we don’t question ourselves to say why is this medicine selling at a lower price than this one, we don’t even check to see if a pharmaceutical company is certified by WHO or not”, he lamented.

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A source at Shalina Pharmaceuticals has exclusively

Tech

Patients across Zambia who were prescribed and took the recently recalled 75MG aspirin tablets risk suffering from stoke and heart attack in the short term.

Pharmaceutical Expert Jerome Kanyika says individuals (patients) who consumed the recalled aspirin are likely to suffer a stroke or heart attack, as those are some of the early implications of taking re-called medication, which may be sub-standard or counterfeit.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Kanyika, who is also former Pharmaceutical Society of Zambia President said that when one takes medication which they are not supposed to or is substandard, it turns into poison and can have long-term implications like cancer, impotence, kidney failure and liver damage

When asked about why the affected consumers are not tested and given remedial medicines, Kanyika said that there is a system challenge in Zambia when it comes to tracing who actually consumed the recalled medicines or drugs.

These are some of the failures of our current medical system, members of the public who have already consumed, in this case, the recalled aspirin can’t be traced because Zambia does not have a system of knowing who has and has not accessed a particular medicine.

“All medicines are chemicals and the aspirin that has been recalled is a drug that is designed for people who have problems with their heart pumping blood or blood clotting. These patients are given this type of aspirin medication to make the blood thin so as to prevent blood clots from forming in order to ease the pumping of blood”, he said.

Imagine now that they were given these sub-standard aspirin? There is need to follow through by testing them, assessing the impact and taking corrective measures.

“It’s unfortunate that the country’s health system has been failing for some time because what is supposed to happen is once medicine is recalled, consumers are supposed to be traced and monitored to see the effects of the medicine, but in the absence of such a system, these people can’t be located, we have no electronic files for our patients”, he said.

He mentioned that according to the Medicines and Allied Substances Act, any pharmaceutical company that is involved in supplying sub-standard medication needs to be penalised or have their license revoked. But is this happening?

When asked why ZAMRA keeps having medicines being recalled while the responsible companies are simply asked to replace the recalled medicines with no compensation to individuals who took the sub-standard drugs?

Kanyika told ZBT that “It is clear that some of the staff working at these regulatory authorities [ZAMRA] are covering up for these pharmaceutical companies! otherwise we would not be seeing all these cases where medicines are being recalled”.

“We are in the covid-19 pandemic era and the use of medicines has increased, some people are buying vitamins so that they can boost their immune system and as the pharmaceutical industry, we are supposed to be professionals and tell people what is going on with some of these medicines on the market but its unfortunate we are the ones risking the lives of the public”, he said.

The Ministry of Health was on 25 January, 2021 confirmed through a media statement that they are in receipt of correspondence from Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) dated 7 December, 2020 in which they directed the International Drug Company of Zambia to urgently recall Aspirin 75MG Tablets USP Batch No ET-905 manufactured by Wintech Pharmaceuticals Limited of India from circulation.

Concerns have arisen as to why no punitive measures are being meted to drug and pharmaceutical companies who supply sub-standard drugs which are later recalled. After recall of the counterfeit drugs or sub-standard medicines, it seems like no tracing and monitoring of patients is being done.

And efforts by ZBT to get a comment from ZAMRA proved futile by press time. The ZAMRA team was consistently stating that they are in meetings.

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Patients across Zambia who were prescribed and

Mining

First Quantum Minerals (FQM) Kansanshi Mine produced 128,000 ounces (about 3,630 kilograms) of gold in 2020 valued at about US$218 million at current market prices.

According to the the FQMs Preliminary Production data and 2021-2023 projections shared with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, the solwezi based Mine however recorded an overall reduction in its gold production.

Kansanshi mine gold production dropped by 17,000 ounces (about 12%) from the high of 145,000 ounces in 2019 to 128,000 ounces in 2020. Kansanshi mine also posted a drop in copper production in 2020, which has been blamed on low grade and low oxide recoveries.

The Bank of Zambia had announced that it had signed a deal with FQM to buy gold from the Mine to boost its copper reserves. However, the central bank is yet to disclose its projected gold buying quantities from Kansanshi mine.

With the already announced plans that BOZ plans to buy about 600kgs from the Zambia Gold Company in 2021, the central bank could further boost its gold reserves more aggressively if it buys more gold from the already established gold producers in Zambia such as Kansanshi.

Zambia is now officially a gold producer with total annual production from just two gold mines (Kansanshi and Kasenseli) valued at over US$250 million. As more gold mines start to officially declare their numbers, the diversification within the mining industry is now more realistic goal with Copper and Gold leading the volumes and values.

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First Quantum Minerals (FQM) Kansanshi Mine produced

Tech

The Water Resources Management Authority (WARMA) has advised the public and its stakeholders to be alert as there is a high likelihood of a 20-year return flood in Kasempa district along the Lubungu and Lunga Rivers from the 27th to 31st January 2021, which will cause flooding in areas along the river banks.

WARMA Public Relations Officer Joshua Kapila said according to the authority’s forecast; there is a high probability of a 10-year return flood around Mumbwa at the Hook Bridge, and in areas downstream of the ItezhiTezhi Dam (Namwala) and Kasaka hydrometric station on the Kafue River, which is projected to occur around the 7th to 9th February 2021.

In a statement made available to Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Kapila said based on the analysis of the authority’s hydrological data, increased river flows due to increased rainfall in the abovementioned areas has been observed, with flooding expected to be severe in the same areas and regions around Kasempa and Kelongwa, respectively.

The authority has advised the public in the affected areas and concerned stakeholders to take all the necessary precautionary measures and urgently prepare for the projected flood events to avoid loss of life and property.

Kapila also said that being the sole authority in the management of water resources in the nation as mandated by the Water Resources Management (WRM) Act No. 21 of 2011, WARMA will continue to provide forecasted flood-event updates across the country and will report any observed changes that has potential to cause disaster.

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The Water Resources Management Authority (WARMA) has

Mining

Zambia’s largest copper miner – First Quantum Minerals (FQM) has posted a paltry 4% growth in copper production from its Zambian based Mines for the year ended December 2020.

According to a press release made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, FQM posted total copper production from its Zambian Mines of 472,000 tons for 2020, up from 452,000 tons produced in 2019.

Overall copper production from its two Zambian Mines at Kalumbila and Kanshanshi, both in North Western Province, recorded a paltry increase of about 20,000 tons, which translates to a growth in copper production of 4% from 2019 to 2020.

However, the Toronto listed FQM group which indicated its desire to geographically diversify from its over reliance on Zambian based Mines which in 2019 accounted for over 70% of its copper production seems to be on track on this strategy.

FQM ramped up copper production at its new Mine at Cobre Panama Mine from 147,000 tons in 2019 to 206,000 tons in 2020, an aggressive increase in production of about 40% year on year.

A further review of the individual Mines shows that the Kalumbila based Sentinel Mine achieved a record copper production of 251, 000 tons for the full year 2020, 31,000 tons or 14% more than 2019, reflecting a significant increase in throughput and favourable grades.

However, Solwezi based Kansanshi Mine copper production full year 2020 dropped to 221,0000 tons, from 232,000 tons in 2019, with quarter four [Q4] 2020 being 53,000 tons, a decline of about 11,000 tons or 5% from 2019 production.

These numbers confirm the emergence of North Western Province as Zambia’s Copper Powerhouse with key Copperbelt based Mines namely Mopani Copper Mines and Konkola Copper Mines having experienced challenges in production as well as management.

Both Mopani and KCM are now under ZCCM IH, a state owned investment company with KCM still caught in legal battle with its former owner, India’s Vedanta. Mopani has just concluded the deal with 100% shares acquired by ZCCM IH. There is now need to timely return the two Mines to full production to take advantage of the favorable international copper prices currently obtaining.

Copper production and export remains Zambia’s largest economic activity. The copper mines had been able to continue with their full capacity production in 2020 after being strategically exempted from the load shedding that mostly affected domestic and some commercial sectors.

Zambia experienced steep power shortages in 2020 with domestic and commercial segments being the mostly hit. 2021 however looks set to return to normal in terms of power production and supply as the rains which feed the mostly hydro power generation capacity has so far been normal to above normal, with floods recorded in most of the provinces across the country.

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Zambia’s largest copper miner - First Quantum

Lifestyle

Livingstone Tourism Association – LTA Chairperson Rodney Sikumba says the second wave of the corona virus has slowed down tourist visits in Livingstone, with the industry survival now betting on government incentives.

Sikumba said the travel advisory information from the United Kingdom (UK) has suggested that Zambia is not a safe country to travel to now and that has given people an indication that the number of cases are high.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Sikumba said he is not sure how the industry will survive the second wave of Covid-19 but can only focus on making sure that businesses continue to run instead of making money as the industry awaits incentives from government.

“You plan this today, tomorrow your plans are out of the window, so we really don’t know what’s going to happen this year, all we are trying to do is keep the businesses running”, he said.

Sikumba said the association has come up with incentives to make the businesses more attractive for the locals to visit the tourist destinations such as removing Value Added Tax (VAT) on packaged tours, which include accommodation and activities in order to mitigate the effects of Covid-19 within businesses.

“A few things have been put in place such as the removal of renewal fees for 2021 and suspension of manager’s licenses for 2021, but we are looking at what more we can be given, and we are not talking about necessarily giving us incentives that go towards reducing the cost of doing business, but incentives that will make it more attractive for the locals to visit Livingstone”, he said.

He however said that these incentives would not mean anything if visitors are not travelling as that is the only way businesses would be able to bring in money and continue operating.

Sikumba also said that the association has written to the Ministry of Labour to allow them to put their staff on forced leave hoping that this will be dealt with quickly as it is expensive to keep staff who are not productive.

“In as much as we keep our staff, at-least government can look into giving us relief with regards to keeping staff on payroll for the duration”, he said.

He also mentioned that Zimbabwe has gone into a 30-day hard lockdown and this has made it difficult for anyone to travel adding that Botswana has also instituted a lockdown and South Africa is most likely to institute level 4 lockdown.

“Those are some of the gateways that we have into Zambia and Livingstone in particular. With those places shut, we don’t see ourselves receiving any tangible number of visitors, be it international or from the region”, he said.

He has implored members of the association to plan for the worst and make sure that if a vaccine reaches Africa, they should be able to access it and manage the visitors coming in. So, we look forward to how the vaccine will pan out, but in the absence of a vaccine being successfully administered, it remains a big challenge to focus on future business.

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Livingstone Tourism Association - LTA Chairperson Rodney

Companies

Some Cement distributors have confirmed that Lafarge has hiked its Cement prices and that they have received communication to that effect. Cement price is a key determinant in the cost of construction.

And speaking in an exclusive interview with Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Lafarge Corporate Affairs and Communications Manager Sarah Banda-Ortiz on 21 January 2021 disclosed that” the company is currently evaluating the business impact of several economic variables that have changed in the operating environment since its last price adjustment in July 2020.

Notable among these, is the continued devaluation of the local currency, recent changes in legislation which has a direct impact on the company’s operational costs and the depletion of gypsum reserves locally. We therefore believe that these factors many necessitate a change in our pricing.”

Banda-Ortiz explained that the implementation of SI 106 of 2020 that puts into law the increase of salaries and allowances for truck drivers coupled with SI 125 which effectively revises both diesel and petrol costs to corporates will also impact their transportation costs, for inbound and outbound shipping as well as energy production costs. She added that, the aforementioned will have a significant negative impact on their total costs of production.

Furthermore, she said that sourcing locally of all available inputs and services is their number one priority as Lafarge Zambia. However, the depletion of reserves at their local source, Chambeshi Metals, leaves them with no option but to find alternative sources in the manufacture of quality cement.

She said that Lafarge operates with local transporters and contractors, and has more than 4,000 shareholders, employs more than 900 people both directly and indirectly and has a direct impact on over 8,000 families that benefits from activities related to the business.

Banda-Ortiz said that ”as the country’s leader in building materials and solutions, we remain committed to providing quality building materials to all Zambians.” Lafarge Zambia is the leading supplier of building materials in Zambia.

The company operates a network of facilities, which includes two integrated cement plants (with a combined capacity of 1,500,000 tonnes per anum) in chilanga and Ndola, and distributes by road and rail to all corners of the country and Southern DRC.

Concerns are that Larfarge Zambia being a market leader will trigger similar Cement price hikes across Zambia. The last adjustment resulted in the Zambian competition and consumer protection commission – CCPC investigating the top four industry players on suspected collusion. CCPC is yet to release its findings.

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Some Cement distributors have confirmed that Lafarge