Fri, 14 Jul 2017 10:29:44 +0000
Attempt to gut Daily Nation premises an act of terrorism
Dear Editor,
The arsonists attempted to set ablaze the Daily Nation premises using petrol bombs during the night of Sunday July 9, 2017.
The Daily Nation offices are located on Mukwa Road and the attempted arson occurred between 2200 hours and 2300 hours.
The security guards and other employees who were on duty at the time managed to quench the inferno from spreading.
This could have destroyed properties had it not been for the quick action by the alert employees.
Zambia has in recent past witnessed some incidents of gutting of public buildings and other public installations such as the Zesco pylons.
Barely a week ago, Lusaka City Market ignited by the suspected arsonists.
The gutting of City Market has caused untold miseries as the marketeers have lost goods in the inferno amounting to millions of Kwacha.
The motive of setting Daily Nation premises on fire is not known and this is not good.
It is like the arsonists have resorted to burning of media houses. This is an act of terrorism and this should be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
Media play a critical role in the country by reporting on events happening both within and outside the country.
This in turn helps people make informed decisions as they are kept abreast with current affairs. In short, media houses are partners in development.
Someone in the right frame of mind cannot contemplate of torching private and public properties.
Daily Nation newspaper like other newspapers greatly benefit we the readers through their objective reporting.
In light of the above, I implore the law enforcers to be highly alert and intensify patrols especially at strategic installations and buildings.
In my foregone conclusion, I feel all right thinking members of society should work collectively in an effort of combating these acts of economic sabotage and terrorism perpetuated by the arsonists.
The perpetrators are on rampage to create lawlessness in our beloved country.
Truth be told, they will not succeed in their clandestine activities. Moreover, their days are numbered.
ELEMIYA PHIRI,
Lusaka
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Bumper harvest of maize benefiting consumers
Dear Editor,
The bumper harvest Zambia recorded during the 2016/2017 farming season has led to reduction in the price of mealie meal, our staple food.
This decline in mealie meal price has greatly benefited the consumers because they can now buy the commodity at affordable price.
Prior to harvest of maize, the price of the commodity skyrocketed, selling above K100.00 in some provinces like in Copperbelt Province for instance. In Lusaka, the commodity fetched between K85.00 and K90.00.
The high price of the commodity made it impossible for the majority Zambians to afford.
This impacted negatively on people’s consumption level of our staple food.
However, the bumper harvest has reduced the price of the commodity which is now fetching between K55.00 and K70.00. This makes economic sense.
All things being equal, the price of the commodity is expected to reduce further as more maize is being offloaded on the market; supply outstrips demand which entails deflation.
Favourable rainfall patterns which prevailed across the country, early and even distribution of seeds and farm inputs such as fertilizer contributed to the bumper harvest which the country has recorded.
In addition, the good government policies on agriculture have also contributed to the bumper harvest.
Over and above, the bumper harvest which our country has recorded is timely and is benefiting the final consumers through reduced price of mealie meal, our staple food.
EP, Lusaka.
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Future of UPND bleak
Dear Editor,
I wish to agree more with former UPND vice president for politics Dr Canisius Banda who has hinted about the blurry future of UPND.
At the current rate it is doing things, it is becoming increasingly evident that the party has lost its bearings without Hakainde Hichilema(HH).
So those who said HH is UPND and UPND is HH were damn right as now the party is behaving like a headless chicken.
Yes, ba GBM in his usual conceited style (which is the trademark of UPND) breathes some hot air time and again for merely face saving because he totally lacks leadership qualities.
You cannot have a leader who is always insulting others, especially when he does not know better.
A good leader, in my opinion, is always humble and ready to listen to others. This is not there in UPND where practically all the leaders are Jacks of all trades and masters of none.
Ms Mutale Nalumango even went to South Africa to seek advice (or is it sympathy) from their surrogate leaders. What a shame!
You mean the party lacks local brains, strong enough to steer the ship in the absence of the captain but has to stoop low to seek and beg for external help from South African union leaders who are equally not much to write home about?
It must indeed be ‘raining old women and sticks’ in the UPND and there is no much hope either it will be able to storm the weather with such kind of current wretched leadership.
For me, I think GBM is not an effective leader because he lacks self-assessment to check personal metiers and shortcomings.
For whatever reasons, I think that politicians should run as individuals instead of being poster boys.
The trouble in UPND is that it is full of leaders clinging to the false belief that they can do it all without consulting Zambians.
The other danger, as again correctly outlined by Dr Banda, is the possibility of the party being banned it is proved beyond doubt that it is sponsoring the current spate of fires and acts of sabotage.
If it is established UPND is all intent to promote chaos, division, and inefficiency then let it get banned.
For now its future is hard to predict and only time will tell.
Josiah Soko,
Salima Road, Matero
