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The Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency – ZAMMSA has refuted claims that it has entered into an agreement were it is paying 5% of value by procurement of medicines using USAID, the global fund and the UN system.

In response to the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, ZAMMSA following accusations by Zambia Must Prosper President Kelvin Bwalya Fube – KBF that government will be paying 5% for all medicines procured using the USAID system, the buying agency refuted allegations saying it was not true and that government through ZAMMSA has no such arrangement.

ZAMMSA Public Relations Manager Patricia Ndulinga maintained that government will continue procuring some of the medicines using USAID, the global fund and the UN system for the country as per ZAMMSA act no. 9of 2019, but that there is no 5% that is paid to these institutions for using their systems.

When asked why government cannot create its own system now that ZAMMSA is in place, she said ZAMMSA is in the process of strengthening her capacity to become efficient and effective government procuring agent as stipulated in the act ZPPA no. 8 of 2020 and ZAMMSA no. 9 of 2019.

She added that ZAMMSA is also enforcing policies that safeguards the internal assets through training staff in ant corruption programs. ZAMMSA which was recently formed after years of delay due to what some stakeholders say is duplication of work and roles with ZPPA as well as with ZAMRA has come under the spotlight with complaints of lack of medicines in public hospitals and clinics being reported.

Medicine manufacturing and supplies in Zambia remain a challenge as most of the drugs and medicines are imported with little to low local business participation. This situation continues to make the sector a big drainer of forex and contributing to low money circulation in the local economy.

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The Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency

Tech

A local company, Ermintes enterprise whose cotton wool medical product has been abruptly recalled by the Zambia Medicine Regulatory Authority – ZAMRA has expressed shock at the medical regulators unilateral decision which will result in perpetuating the culture of frustrating and killing of local companies in Zambia.

Medicines manufacturing and supply in Zambia is largely dominated by foreign multinational entities with no clear policies to support local participation in the value chain. As a result, the country continues to spend millions of dollars on imports, perpetuating pressure on the local unit – the Kwacha.

ZAMRA through acting Director General Makomani Siyanga on 13 September 2022 issued a urgent public notice of a nationwide product withdrawal of white rose absorbent cotton wool hospital grade produced by Ermites Enterprise Ltd, for non compliance with microbiological contamination and labeling requirements.

However Ermites Enterprise Zambia Limited Director Chrispin Musokelo said he finds the statement that ZAMRA has published to be very derogatory as the company has supplied this product for medical use from 2009 (over 12 years). For ZAMRA to claim that they have received complaints from the public about the poor quality of white rolls cotton wool and even stating that “if you suffer any reactions, seek medical advise immediately” is a sad development for a product that has performed for all these years.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Musokelo said all cotton wool on the market are non-steralized be it from the UK, India or China, the cotton is none sterilized that is what is being sold on the market. Additionally, ZAMRA has not shared any standards for cotton wool.

“When I started operations in 2009, I went to Zambia Bureau of standards – ZBS who told me that there were no standards of cotton wool. At the time I started production, Zambia had no standard for cotton wool and if they have today, then I need to see or be availed that publication and also know when it came into effect.” he complained.

The Ermites Director explained that there is no where the Bureau of standards claim that their cotton is terrorized and when it has to be used for applications like surgical operations in an operation theatre that’s when every product now is terrorised.

“So what I don’t understand is what specifications have I not met? I need to understand what are the accepted levels or standards or requirements, because telling me the levels should be zero is not there. Anything which is sterilized is always kept in the tight and closed container and once you open it, it is no longer terrorised.

Musokelo is a former ZESCO employee and now an entrepreneur told ZBT that “I decided to leave employment not because I was fired, but because I wanted to do business, because that is where my passion is as an electrical technician.

He said, “according to the letter Ermites received from ZAMRA, they started investigations in May and concluded in July 2022 and they are only telling me now in September? all this time they had the results? why didn’t they communicate to me?.”

Ermites enterprise Director  expressed worry that ZAMMSA got samples and tested them without his involvement and consent. “Where did they get the samples? and what proof is there that the cotton they tested is my cotton and not other suppliers cotton?.”

“I starting this business in 2009 and I have run this business since then. But in 2016, we had an incident were a some of my staff team members I had who now are now my competitor stole from me the sum of K1.2 million. After stealing from my company, they started making the same product as mine and the matter went to court and up to now it has not yet been concluded.” He said.

Musekolo disclosed that he suspects the same people who stole from him and started making competitor products to be the ones behind this whole thing. They may be behind this whole agenda and may have influenced ZAMRA. When asked to name the company,  he declined to share the names and company as the matter is still in court.

Musekelo said he run out of raw materials since April and he has not been producing as he only received the raw materials at the end of August 2022, and now that he is about to resume production, that’s when ZAMRA recalls his products. “The situation and announcement does not make sense, because am I have not been availed the results from the analysis and what they found. They [ZAMRA] have also not shared the standard which has not been included in the latter.”

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A local company, Ermintes enterprise whose cotton

Lifestyle

UPND Spokesperson Cornelius Mweeta has refuted reports that Minister of Justice Mulambo Haimbe will be fired. This follows attacks on President Hakainde Hichikema’s – HH’s quality legal advisors, who experienced legal minds say should have known better and acted with caution.

There are suggestions and comments making round on Social Media that HH may fire the Justice Minister as he did not advise the President appropriately in relation to the Kwacha Constituency and Kabushi Constituency by-elections. One of Zambia’s leading legal thinkers and constitutional lawyer John Sangwa described the UPNDs legal advisors interpretation of the constitutional court ruling as “juvenile interpretation” of the judgement.
Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Mweetwa said there is no reason to fire the Justice Minister as he has not done anything wrong. “Fire the Justice Minister for what? the Justice Minister is not in charge of the Judiciary, he does not manage how the Judiciary operates, the Judiciary doesn’t report to the Justice Minister”, he said.
“We understand that we are coming from a background where there was massive interference in the operations of government institutions to such an extent that now that you have a government that is not interfering with the operations of institutions of government, it is becoming abnormal to respect the law because people have been accustomed to lawlessness. How can the Judiciary be reporting to the Executive to say this ruling which is coming tomorrow will be like this, then that Judiciary will not be operating in the framework of separation of powers”, he said.

However, some stakeholders have noted that the Justice Minister should have seen this coming and advised the President appropriately as it is embarrassing for the President to campaign for an election when there are still matters relating to that particular election pending in court. The justice minister should have advised HH against spending 5 days campaigning on the Copperbelt especially after the constitutional court ruling that nullification does not mean disqualification.

A day before filing of nominations for Kabushi and Kwacha Constituencies, the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) despite not having the mandate to interpret the laws of Zambia went ahead and announced that it would not accept nominations from candidates who caused a vacancy in the National Assembly, a situation which led to ECZ rejecting Joseph Malanji and Bowman Lusambo’s nominations to recontest for Kwacha Constituency and Kabushi Constituency by-elections respectively, stating that they were not eligible to recontest as their seats had been nullified earlier thereby causing the vacancy.
Lusambo and Malanji challenged ECZ’s decision and petitioned the constitutional court who later ruled that the two candidates parliamentary elections were simply nullified but not disqualified. The Law association of Zambia, a professional body had also given the same guidance in a statement availed to the public.
However, despite all these indications, Justice Minister Mulambo Haimbe, held a Press briefing and stated that the Constitutional Court did not make a pronouncement as to the eligibility of Bowman Lusambo and Joseph Malanji to re-contest the Kabushi and Kwacha Parliamentary seats, respectively. He echoed the views that had earlier been floated by GEARS Initiative Executive Director McDonald Chipenzi – a UPND aligned NGO
Haimbe said the petitioners in Lusambo and Malanji’s case were seeking the Court’s relief on four matters namely, whether the decision by the Electoral Commission of Zambia to reject the dual’s nomination was illegal, null and void and the other matter pertained to whether the applicants are eligible to contest the 15th September, 2022 by elections and whether fresh nominations should be conducted, as well as what is meant by causing a vacancy in the National Assembly.
The Justice Minister noted that from the issues raised, the Court dealt with the issue of causing a vacancy as the other matters were not properly before the court.
Stakeholders feel that this was misleading because the President continued to campaign despite the Concourt’s ruling which meant there was need for fresh nominations in order to accommodate Lusambo and Malanji.
Mweetwa told the ZBT that campaigns were never postponed or stopped by the court, so the campaigns had to carry on adding that the UPND’s campaign teams are currently actively campaign on the ground because the main matter has not been determined by the court.
“Assuming that the court were to say election should continue as it was, how do we at that stage begin to run around campaiging when there was ample time to campaign. That is what the President did, to continue campaigning so that when the elections are finally called in, the party is ready”, he said.
He explained that the stay of the by-elections has no issue on the President’s campaigning adding that the President has a very active schedule, therefore the time which was already designated for him to be in Kabushi should be maximized.
“It is envisaged that when the by-election is finally called in, the President might be held up elsewhere, performing other national duties, there should be no panic, there should be no such a thing as the President has not been to Kabushi to campaign, he has already done his campaign, it will just be a matter of election going ahead”, Mweetwa added.
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UPND Spokesperson Cornelius Mweeta has refuted reports

Mining

The Zambian economy which is anchored on copper exports is currently witnessing an emerging risk as global copper prices continue to slide. Despite the transition to clean energy which requires larger quantities of copper for wiring in electric vehicles (evs) and solar panels, the price of copper has continued falling on the London Metal Exchange – LME.

As of mid September 2022, a check by the Zambian Business Times-ZBT on London Metal Exchange indicated that copper prices have fallen to $7, 984 per ton. This is against global analysts projections that copper prices will rise to over $10,000 per ton in the second half of 2022, alongside a prediction that China copper demand will rise by 5% year-on-year.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Mining Expert Webby Banda has attributed the falling of copper prices to global supply and demand issues. He attributed the Copper prices falling as worries about demand in China and elsewhere due to a slowdown in growth were reinforced by rising inventories.

On 23 June 2022, analysts at Fitch Solutions revised their forecasts, suggesting copper prices could rise to average $9,470 a ton in 2022, $9,580 in 2023, and $10,400 in 2026, a much more sober revision from the buoyant projections that were expected at the beginning of the year.

This is because of the transition to clean energy which requires larger quantities of copper for wiring in electric vehicles (evs) and solar panels. The research revealed that higher crude and gas prices are raising operational costs for copper producers, but also accelerating the energy transition and in turn increasing copper demand.

Zambia exports comprise of over 70% copper and copper related products which makes the global price of the red metal to be a barometer of the Zambian economy. Efforts to diversify the economy away from copper dependence only become visible when the prices are low, with government abandoning the drive as soon as copper prices surge up.

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The Zambian economy which is anchored on

Tech

The family of the deceased 43 years old Moses Tariro Malekano of Mutendere east in Lusaka who died after being electrocuted by a ZESCO line have sued the power utility company for refusing to compensate the family on grounds that the utility company failed to protect and keep residents safe and away from danger.

It is alleged that the deceased was electrocuted on 3rd February 2022 at ZESCO’s sub-station at Mutendere east whilst carrying his 5 year old son. According to court papers, it was alleged that the deceased without fair warning came into physical contact with electricity when he accidentally touched a live wire (or conductor) on or around the wooden pole as he tried to pass on the safer side of the road to avoid a paddle of rain water which had collected in the middle of the road.

It is purported that mounted on the wooden poles were ZESCO live electricity conductors insulated, which resulted in the electrocution and death of the deceased thereafter.

It is believed that the electrocution and death of the deceased was caused by the negligence of ZESCO and its agents who failed to adequately secure its conductor or related equipment which it had fixed on the wooden pole thereby exposing residents to livewire.

According to the statement of claim obtained by the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, submitted in the high court for Zambia by the surviving Uncle Rodrick Malekano who is the duly appointed administrator of his estate pursuant to an order by the Boma Court at Lusaka on 3rd June, 2022, the deceased made a monthly income of about k9, 235-00 carrying on his business from Lusaka to Rufunsa and was able to support his wife Gladys Nyenvuka and his six children.

The deceased resided at house No. 214/10 Mutendere East, earning a livelihood for himself and his family as a farmer, businessman and musician.

The document states that the relevant substation was positioned in a densely populated area, yet ZESCO left it unattended, without fencing it in and without placing any warning on around it to alert residents of the dangers it posed.

It said ZESCO had also the duty of care to ensure that residents were protected and kept safe from danger and not exposed thereto ZESCO breached that duty.

At the material time omitted or failed to use all reasonable known means to properly or at all to secure and keep harmless its electricity conductors or related parts of the substation at the said point thereby resulting in the death of the deceased and injury to his 5 year old son.

According to the post mortem report issued by the state forensic pathologist dated 27th May, 202, the cause of the death of the deceased was electrocution.

Particulars of the damage by reason of the aforementioned matters, the family to the deceased has suffered damage and claims

The sum of k34, 433-91 for funeral expenses (being k35, 823 less k1, 390 value of goods donated by ZESCO during the funeral. The sum of k6, 000-00 for pain and suffering suffered within hour’s duration. Sum of k25, 000-00 for loss of expectation of life. K2, 881,320-00 for loss of dependency (on multiplier of 26 years in employment per current United Nations life expectance for Zambia.

The sum of loss of k499, 200-00 dependency (housing) at k1, 600 per month from March 2022 to March 2048. Medical expenses incurred towards the treatment of infant amounting to k3, 410-00. The family through their advocates wrote a formal letter of demand to ZESCO on 5th April 2022.

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The family of the deceased 43 years

Lifestyle

Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) says the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has lost its credibility, confidence and trust from citizens hence their work is going to be undermined if they don’t redeem themselves through professionalism in order to gain trust back from cross section of Zambian citizens.

TIZ president Maurice Nyambe said the happenings that were seen around Kwacha and Kabushi constituency by-elections because their seems to be a bit of infringements upon rights on the opposition candidates.

In an exclusive Interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Nyambe stated that the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) should avoid the temptation of being used as a tool or used to advance the narrow political interests of a particular political party.

He said the institution needs to function as an independent body with the highest level of integrity and professionalism in line with what is stipulated in the constitution and what the constitution mandates it to do.

Nyambe added that EZC has taken itself into a dark corner in the way it has conducted itself towards by-elections.

He however noted that after the court ruling ECZ still has the chance of redeeming itself and gain the trust of the people through sticking to what the constitution demands of it as an independent institution adding that ECZ is not responsible for the interpretation of the constitution but it is however an institution that manages elections and it should avoid doing things over and above what they are mandate for.

Meanwhile, following the high court ruling delivered on 13th September 2022, staying or suspending the elections for Kabushi and Kwacha constituencies, the by-elections set for 15th September 2022 shall not take place in the respective constituencies until further notice, ECZ has confirmed after it become clear that there was no way the elections could proceed.

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Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) says the Electoral

Markets

Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) has declined to disclose how much revenues the Company is generating from its international trading from Zambian generated carbon credits to Shell’s Nature Based Solutions or any other uptakers.
Company Communications Manager George Sichimba declined to state the share of revenues that COMACO is paying to local farmers and rural folks whose Agro land and forest conservation reserves are being used to get verified carbon credits which are then traded for cash with emission generating companies and individuals.
When asked to disclose how much COMACO was selling the verified carbon credits which they reported to have accrued to over 880k units and what share it was paying local farmers in Zambia, Sichimba told the Zambian Business Times-ZBT that the information is already in the public domain and was available via the Verra website but he declined to give the annual revenue figures.
A further check by the ZBT on the Verra website revealed that specific information relating to COMACO and its use of Zambian generated carbon credit was not available. COMACO was therefore not able to clear the air that they are selling Zambian generated carbon credits at a higher price and only sharing suspected paltry amounts with the affected communities with no direct contribution to the government treasury.
A top Zambian Environmental expert has told ZBT that the ministry of Tourism and Green Economy in Zambia should by now become revenue generating ministries as opposed to their continued status as cost centers. They should by now be generating serious revenues from carbon credits using the huge land masses covered by game parks, rural conservation farming areas, forest and game management areas.
However, these two ministries have continued to post low revenue generation missing out on fast developing and lucrative revenues opportunities such as these from trading in carbon credits. They are missing out because of lack of knowledge which some private companies have taken advantage of. Unfortunately, these private companies and some which are disguised as non-governmental organizations are making millions of dollars in revenues which are not fully and publicly disclosed despite generating their revenues from public resources.
COMACO in partnership with Shell’s Nature based Solutions recently released a Cheque for  $3.1 million carbon credit payment to nine (9) chiefdoms of Zambia in recognition for their conservation efforts and the reduced emissions of CO2 they have achieved. Environmental Analysts however argue that COMACO and other companies involved in carbon credits trading from public resources should further disclose how much they made and what share this $3.1 million was of the total revenues raised.
COMACO in its report confirmed that they have successfully completed the verification of 883,068 carbon credits for the nine chiefdom areas who have managed to keep their customary land protected from destructive practices and made a $3.1 million payment to some chiefdoms. The chiefdoms include Magodi, Zumwanda, Chikomeni, Mwasemphangwe, Nyamphande, Chikulwe, Jumbe, Mwape, and Luembe. The chiefdoms are yet to confirm how these funds have been utilized by press time.
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Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) has declined

Tech

The Railway Workers Union of Zambia-RWUZ has appealed to government to clearly state what method it intends to use to recapitalize and improve the operations of Zambia Railways Limited (ZRL).

Union President Nathan Zulu said Zambia Railways needs urgent recapitalisation in order to contribute effectively to government’s quest to prioritise the implementation of socio-economic interventions which are aimed at stabilising, repairing and reviving the Zambian economy.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Zulu said the Zambian Railways needs an investment of over $1 billion if the company is to be revamped and be able to meet the needs of the growing economy.

Zulu explained that the subsector is supposed to offer competitive rates and move goods in bulk and remove pressure from the roads in terms of damages and safety adding that the cost of goods and services has soared because the rail subsector that is supposed to mitigate the transport cost has been neglected over the years.

He noted that the recapitalisation of Zambia Railways, a company that traverses five provinces, from Mulobezi to Chililabobwe will bring forth economic activities that will trigger employment opportunities from rehabilitation to full operations.

The Union President said this will further bring about the actualisation of the Road to Rail policy and spare the country the colossal millions of Kwacha that go towards maintenance of roads, which government can channel to needy social programs like health and education.

The 12th of September is marked as the day for commemorating the tenth anniversary of the bold decision that was taken to cancel the concession that was given to the Railway Systems of Zambia-RSZ to operate the rail systems in Zambia.

Zulu said the day always brings emotions and trepidation of how the rail sector has lost nine years of rail and personal development as the Zambia Railways is at crossroads in terms of the deterioration of rail infrastructure that was precipitated by the RSZ concession while the company is struggling with obsolete locomotives and wagons due to lack of investment.

 

 

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The Railway Workers Union of Zambia-RWUZ has

Lifestyle

The Basic Education Teachers Union of Zambia-BETUZ has disclosed that government is owing over K3 million in allowances to teachers on the Copperbelt.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, BETUZ Copperbelt Provincial Chairperson Aaron Kunka has since asked government to pay teachers who are owed money such as settling in allowances and leave allowances among other allowances.

Kunka said government does not only owe teachers on the Copperbelt but also owes teachers around the country adding that the over K3 million being owed to teachers dates as far back as 2010 hence the need for government to begin paying off this debt.

“We can equally talk about those who have retired, there are some who are still being owed in leave days so we urge government to ensure that they clear this backlog”, he said.

He explained that the role of the union is to rehearse with government and remind the administration to meet its obligations as well as advocate for better conditions for its teachers.

The Provincial Chairperson noted that previously, government told the union that it did not have money to pay the teachers for allowances and promised that it will pay at an appropriate time.

Kunka said he hopes that with the new government, things will change and the teachers will be given what is due to them.

“We are appealing to government, just like they have paid the pensionaries let them equally settle all the teachers in various allowances because the longer it takes the more the money loses value so by the time they will be paid it will no longer be the same value as the time they started work”, he said.

 

 

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The Basic Education Teachers Union of Zambia-BETUZ

Companies

Some companies in Zambia have been engaged in the lucrative and multi million dollars “carbon credits trading” business under the guise of environmental, forest and wildlife conservation , raking in millions of dollars without paying any notable fees, charges or revenue share with the Zambian government or Zambian communities.

The Zambian Government currently does not have any real mechanism or controls in place to make sure that these revenues are legally declared and appropriately shared. With the country have over 30% of its land reserved for game parks, game management areas and forests, the country is losing out on millions of dollar of revenue from farm credits trading.

The Ministry of Tourism and its department of wildlife has a great opportunity to turn themselves from a cost center of government, into a notable revenue generating centre if it urgently takes advantage of the fast growing carbon credits trading business.

But one company that is aware of this and is fully engaged to contribute to increased revenue generation for the Zambian government and its communities resident in the affect areas is African Parks. It’s Country Director James Milanzi has disclosed that the organisation intends to start trading in carbon credits in the medium to long term.

Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Milanzi said African Parks would engage the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment in order to start trading in carbon credits especially within the game management areas.

Milanzi added that even though the organisation does not manage game management areas, African Parks would like to help organisations that need help adding that this would be a good source of revenue for the communities.

He explained that the organisation is lining up discussions with government and has already constituted a board adding that carbon credit is a government policy and government is doing everything possible to actuate it.

“Definitely they would need our input because it is a long process, you have to prove that you are respecting the environment and all the indicators that denigrate the environment are now pushed down. So it’s a long process and requires a lot of discussions with those that provide funding for carbon credit”, he said.

“As you know African Parks manages these parks by creating a special purpose vehicle where all stakeholders are represented and it is this board that is engaging with government to ensure that the needs of Kafue National Park and areas around it are met, especially where government requires to deliver policy”, he said.

Some Private Companies have incorporated in Zambia and illegally making huge sums of money dealing in carbon credits taking advance of scanty regulation. Authorities have told ZBT that high level investigations are underway and that the affected companies risk facing appropriate sanctions and penalties for non declaration of historical revenues.

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Some companies in Zambia have been engaged