| Home |
|
INFORMATION FROM ZAMBIA 16th December 2006 - 18th January 2007 Fuel prices go up
The petrol retail price has risen from K5, 397 to K6, 095, diesel from
K4, 965 to K5, 377 and Kerosene from K3, 919 to K4, 342 per litre. The
price rises are due to the increased cost of oil on the International
Markets and the depreciation of the Kwacha to the US dollar. Indeni
Petroleum Refinery is currently on shut down and in order to forestall
a fuel shortage BP Zambia are importing fuel by road. (Times of Zambia
16th January 2007) IMF Proposals
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has proposed that Zambia introduces
Value Added Tax (VAT) on mealie meal and mosquito nets. This would directly
affect Zambian households, where many are living on less than a dollar
a day. President Levy Mwanawasa has assured Zambians that his administration
would not introduce taxes that could worsen the poverty situation in
the country. (Times of Zambia 11th January
2007) Children Slip Through the ARV Net A shortage of paediatric testing kits and specialised medical
staff in Zambia is causing delays in rolling out antiretroviral (ARV)
drugs for children infected with HIV/AIDS. The largest source of infection
is mother to child transmission during pregnancy and a child's HIV status
can only be clarified after 18 months as before that they may carry
the mother's antibodies. The scaling up of the prevention of mother-to-child
transmission by routinely testing all pregnant mothers should have an
impact. (Times of Zambia 12th January 2007) Floods Overwhelm Chavuma,
Zambezi Districts Heavy rains have brought early flooding to both
banks of the Zambezi River submerging fields of maize, rice and cassava
and destroying some houses. 74 houses had collapsed in Ndola's Kantolomba
Township and roads had become impassable in the last week due to heavy
rain. (Times of Zambia 15th January 2007) State Set to Invest in Energy
Sector Over $2bn will be invested in the energy sector infrastructure
development over the next 5 years, including $65 million into Indeni
Petroleum Refinery to improve production. (Times of Zambia December
25th 2006) Zambia, China Textiles Firm
Shut The Zambia, China Mulungushi Textiles (ZCMT) has suspended
operations and put over 700 employees on three months unpaid leave.
The company was having problems paying salaries and wages including
salary arrears for the past 12 months. The management hope that the
temporary closure would enable it to reposition and source funding for
normal production to resume. (Times of Zambia 3rd January 2007) State Cash Disappears
Over K100 billion meant for housing allowance arrears for workers in
various Government ministries has disappeared. The Finance Deputy minister,
Jonas Shakafuswa stated the Government was determined to ensure that
everybody be accountable over public funds. (Times of Zambia) Task Force Mandate Extended
President Levy Mwanawasa has extended the mandate of the Task Force
on Corruption indefinitely, a move that has cheered the Law Association
of Zambia (LAZ). (Times of Zambia 10th January 2007) Task Force Recovers K1 billion
The Task Force on Corruption has recovered K1 billion from employees
of Mansa Hotel following a High Court consent judgement that 90% of
the Management Buy Out (MBO) shares workers bought was financed by public
funds. Daily Mail 15th January 2007) Under-20s silence Sundowns The Zambia Under-20 national football team came from behind to silence South African Premier Soccer League (PSL) defending champions Mmaelodi Sundowns in a preparatory game in Johannesburg. The Zambian team will be playing in Group B in the Africa Youth Championships in Congo Brazzaville starting on 20th January 2007. The other teams in Group B are Nigeria, Cameroon and Egypt; Group A has Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Gambia and Congo Brazzaville. (Times of Zambia 15th January 2007) Social Security has Improved Zambia's social security has improved tremendously since the transformation of the Zambia National Provident Fund seven years ago to the National Pensions Scheme Authority (NAPSA). The outgoing Director-General Mr Dan Musenge has said the creation of NAPSA has improved labour mobility and prevented loss of benefits. This has also resulted in the country having a bigger blanket where every worker contributed towards social security. (Times of Zambia) The Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP) and the Vision 2030 has been launched with President Levy Mwanawasa urging all Zambians to fully participate in the implementation process and rid the country of donor dependency. The President said the vision for Zambia was to be a prosperous middle-income nation by 2030 that would provide opportunities for the improvement of people's lives. (Times of Zambia) EU Saves Livingstone Roads The European Union has given the Zambian Government about Euro15 million to rehabilitate a 72-kilometre stretch of the Zimba-Livingstone Road in Southern Province. The road forms part of a national strategic transport link between Lusaka and Livingstone also serving the local agriculture industry and is a strategic trade and transportation link between Zambia and its neighbours. (ZNBC 15th January 2007) Exchange Rate 18th
January 2007 £1 = ZK8218.9 Margaret Elmine Currey 13th December 1933 - 29th December 2006, known as to all as Maggie, was born in Vienna, her Father Dr Boyd, a gynaecologist, was gaining work experience. The family moved to South Africa. Maggie went to St. Andrew's School for Girls in Johannesburg and then to Rhodes University in Grahamstown where she met Hilary. She graduated in 1954 in English and Psychology. There followed a year in a Secretarial College in Oxford while Hilary obtained his MA. In 1957 they were married and moved to Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) where they spent the next 24 years. Whilst Hilary worked for RST then Anglo American, Maggie set about establishing a career for herself in journalism. She was a reporter on The Northern News and then with The Times of Zambia where, amongst other things she wrote a weekly article entitled Eve. She was much involved in the Little Theatre in both Chingola and Kitwe and also became active as a theatre critic. She also worked for a time for Hill and Delamain, an airfreight company. Pippa and Susie were born in the 1960s. Maggie was always a very generous host and there were indeed many parties on the Copperbelt at that time. She was an enthusiastic dancer, resplendent in purple mini skirt and high white plastic boots. In Kitwe in the 1970s Maggie and Hilary become the repository for a large number of Basset Hounds up to 7 at any one time all of whom appeared to be called Stoffel! In 1981 Maggie moved with Hilary to Somalia where he had been appointed General Manager of a new sugar estate. Following the separation from Hilary in 1987 Maggie moved to London, which she had come to love during her frequent visits during her daughters' schooling. Maggie set about building a new career in journalism in a country in which she had never worked in this field previously. She served on the editorial committee of The Lion the Parish magazine, St. John's Wood Library and the Residents association of Addison House as well as the Local to Lords Group. It was her work for The Zambia Society Trust, which gave her the greatest satisfaction. She saw this as a way of 'giving something back' to the country where she and her family had been so happy. She joined the Committee in1998 and took over production of News from Zambia in 1999 from Dick Hobson. Spotlight was Maggie's innovation; the first edition was published in December 1999. Words were Maggie's forte, getting them into the computer needed help, in the early days from Peter Foulkes and latterly from her daughter Pippa Currey, son in law David Hoffman and Nigel Sutton. . In furtherance to these activities she spent a good deal of her time attending other gatherings such as the Northern Rhodesia Lunch Association and the N.R.Police Association to persuade those attending to join and also to raise funds for the Trust. In this she was very successful and they all will indeed sorely miss her. In the last few years she has been able to play her part weekly as Granny reading books to her 3 grandchildren for hours on end a task she preferred to changing nappies! Maggie will be remembered as highly principled with a strong sense of right and wrong but loving a good argument, Royalist and somewhat right wing but prepared to see the other point of view. But above all as articulate, full of fun with great pride in and love of her family and a loyal and committed friend to so many. Maggie's funeral was held on 11th January 2007 on a wild windy day. At the climax of the funeral the sun burst through the west window during a solo rendition of Nkosi Sikele�l Afrika. Maggie's family and the Zambia Society Trust wish to thank everyone who has donated money to the Trust in her memory. Maggie, you will be missed by so many people. Pitani Bwino! With thanks to Pippa Currey and Jeremy Hawkins This edition of Information from Zambia has been compiled by Jo Herkes, the Honorary Secretary Correspondence and Membership
queries: |
