Zambia Daily Mail

#ZESCO Limited has assured customers of seven hours stable power supply once the Energy Regulation Board (#ERB) approves its emergency electricity tariff adjustment. The power utility has reapplied to ERB for an emergency tariff adjustment after the board earlier declined to approve its application. The company plans to raise US$15 million per month once the emergency tariff is adjusted to import 300 megawatts (#MW) of power. Ultimately, Zesco wants to import 788MW of power from South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe on top of the over 400MW it is already importing. READ MORE: http://shorturl.at/sGLNT

#ZAMBIA and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (#BADEA) have signed a US$50 million cooperation agreement for construction of the Kalabo-Sikongo-Angola road. According to a statement issued by the Office of the Secretary to the Treasury in the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, the two parties have also signed a capacity-building agreement worth US$500,000 targeted at facilitating the training and development of public officials in key sectors such as finance, trade, and energy development. The agreements were signed yesterday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, by Minister of Finance and National Planning Situmbeko Musokotwane and BADEA president Sidi Ould Tah. Dr Musokotwane said the US$50m concessional agreement intends to contribute to achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on industrial development, innovation, infrastructure, decent work and economic growth. READ MORE: http://shorturl.at/sGLNT

#ZAMBIA Revenue Authority (ZRA) says a total of 19,262 taxpayers have so far registered on the Smart Invoice System with invoice value of K53.1 billion. Smart Invoice System, also known as electronic invoicing, is the process of generating, sending, receiving and processing invoices electronically. The system was rolled out in December last year but was officially launched in March this year by Minister of Finance and National Planning Situmbeko Musokotwane. Using the system, #ZRA is able to capture data of all business transactions in real time to curb revenue leakages and other value added tax (VAT)-related fraudulent activities. READ MORE: http://shorturl.at/sGLNT

SOON after being sentenced to five years imprisonment with hard labour for illegal possession of a #pangolin, a Lusaka businessman disappeared from the courtroom before he could be taken to a correctional facility. The incident happened last Monday after Lusaka magistrate Mutinta Mwenya jailed the now missing Isaac Nkhata, 44, and his two co-accused after being convicted of unlawful possession of protected animals. After the verdict was passed, the three convicts were in the dock, which has an adjacent door leading to a passageway used to access the magistrate’s chambers, other courtrooms, toilets and a tunnel leading to a holding cell where suspects are kept. But #Nkhata, of Kamwala South, allegedly used the exit door in the dock to leave the courtroom and never returned. A source, who suspects foul play, told the Daily Mail that it could have been assumed that the convict had gone to use the lavatory. READ MORE: http://shorturl.at/sGLNT

ISSUE NO. 241 E-paper link: enews.daily-mail.co.zm

A MAN of Lusaka who was dragged to Matero Local Court for compensation in a case of damage has been let off the hook after the woman he was accused of impregnating confessed that she had slept with another man before the defendant. Doreen Kapungwe, 20, told Magistrate Harriet Mulenga that before she met Collins Muchindu, she dated two men but was only sexually involved with one whom she identified as ‘Ba Chanda’. “I have a child with Muchindu, but I wasn’t a virgin when we met. Before him, I dated and had sexual relations with Ba Chanda,” she said. This was heard in a matter in which Bernard Kapungwe sued Muchindu for compensation for damage. When magistrate Mulenga asked Muchindu if he broke Doreen’s virginity (damage), he informed the court that she was not a virgin when he slept with her. “I don’t understand the charge, but I have a child with her. When I met her, she was not a virgin, she had slept with other men before me, so I don’t know how I damaged her,” Muchindu said. But the complainant, who is Doreen’s brother, insisted that Muchindu ‘damaged’ his sister and he also impregnated her. “Muchindu got my sister pregnant and he has a child with her, I brought him here so that he can pay me for damage,” Kapungwe insisted. But magistrate Mulenga explained to Kapungwe that damage is not pregnancy but a violating of someone’s virginity. The court noted that it has now become common for men to be charged for damage over a woman whose virginity they did not violate. “In this case, the woman has clearly informed the court that the man who broke her virginity was ‘Chanda,’ so Chanda is the right person to sue, not this man. Yes, they can have a child together but it is not damage, because damage is not impregnating someone,” she said. Magistrate Mulenga dismissed the damage or virginity claim and urged Kapungwe to sue the right person and not Muchindu.

MINISTER of Mines and Minerals Development Paul Kabuswe says Zambia’s first-ever #mining insaka, opening tomorrow, will interrogate causes of the country’s stagnation in mining productivity. The insaka, which is being held to celebrate 100 years of mining in Zambia, will be held under the theme: ‘Mining beyond #Copper’. “We are coming to the insaka to interrogate where we missed it as regards mining productivity so that we can correct and move forward progressively by exploring better ways of mining,” Mr Kabuswe said. The minister said during a press briefing held in Lusaka yesterday that Democratic Republic of Congo (#DRC), despite having similar conditions as #Zambia, is doing well in its mining productivity while Zambia seems to have lost its momentum. READ MORE: http://shorturl.at/sGLNT

ZAMBIA Federation of Employers (#ZFE) is optimistic that #Zambia will attain the gross domestic product growth rate of 6.6 percent and reduce inflation rate by six to eight percent in the medium term following various activities in the mining sector. ZFE president Myra Sakala said during the 2025 budget analysis breakfast meeting in Lusaka that support of K8.2 billion through grants by Zambia’s cooperating partners is a move in the right direction. “We have found the 2025 national budget inspiring especially that the K174.2 billion or 80.2 percent will be financed by domestic revenue and K8.2 billion will be financed through grants by Zambia’s cooperating partners. This move is key in the development of our nation. Only K34.7 billion will be borrowed resources, of which K19.4 billion will be from foreign sources,” she said. READ MORE: http://shorturl.at/sGLNT

ISSUE NO. 40 E-paper link: enews.daily-mail.co.zm

ANTI-Corruption Commission (ACC) has appealed against the acquittal of former Lusaka Province Minister Bowman Lusambo contending that the magistrate erred in setting the accused free. A week ago, Lusaka Magistrates Court acquitted Mr Lusambo on three counts of attempting to interfere with witnesses. Lusaka magistrate Trevor Kasanda set free the former Kabushi Member of Parliament on grounds that the prosecution had failed to prove the case against him on all counts. But ACC last Friday issued a statement in which it described the acquittal as shocking and that the verdict would be challenged. Court documents accessed by Zambia Daily Mail indicate that the commission has filed a notice to appeal against the judgment which exonerated the politician. In five grounds of appeal, ACC argues that the trial magistrate misguided himself at law when he narrowed the meaning of attempting to interfere with witnesses to instances where threats and promises for a reward have been offered. READ MORE: http://shorturl.at/sGLNT