Wed, 28 Jun 2017 11:52:10 +0000
Parley to hear PF, UPND burial clash
By OSCAR MALIPENGA
HOME Affairs minister Stephen Kampyongo will this afternoon issue a comprehensive statement in Parliament regarding the clash between the Patriotic Front (PF) and United Party for National Development (UPND) cadres which left several people injured last Saturday.
Speaker of the National Assembly Patrick Matibini made the announcement following a point of order raised by Mwembeshi independent member of Parliament Machila Jamba who wanted to find out whether government through the Minister of Home Affairs (Mr. Kampyongo) was in order to remain quiet on the clash between PF and UPND cadres at Leopards Hill memorial park last week during the burial of their respective party members.
Dr, Matibini, in his ruling, revealed that Mr. Kampyongo would today give an explanation of what transpired through a ministerial statement.
Meanwhile, parliament yesterday heard that repairing the sabotaged 330KV Pylons in Kafue that led to the system disturbance on the Zesco power grid would cost over US$ 1 million to replace the tower and associated accessories, spare galvanized steel wire anchors, hire of specialized lifting equipment, labour and energy not delivered to customers.
Delivering a ministerial statement, energy minister David Mabumba said there were also other economic losses suffered by customers who were affected due to disruptions in business activities
“In the recent past, vandalism has become rampant with the latest incident being a clear case of sabotage by disgruntled individuals who are not loyal and patriotic to this country.
“Zambia has a legitimate leadership in the name of President Edgar Lungu and as such people with constructive criticisms, grievances and concerns should therefore use established mechanisms to dialogue than resorting to infrastructure sabotage which has a major bearing on the performance of the economy and well-being of our people,” Mr. Mabumba said.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Felix Mutati yesterday clarified that Zambia’s debt position as at end of May 2017 amounted to US$7.2 billion saying it was unfortunate that the US$7.2 billon was misread as US$17.2 billion.
On Friday, Mr. Mumba raised a point of order to find out whether government was in order to keep quiet on misrepresentation of facts on Zambia’s debt whether it stood at $17.2 billion or 7.2 billion dollars.
After giving clarity, Mr. Mutati further provided the revenue performance as passed by Parliament through the Appropriation Act which he said comprised elements of tax revenues such as customs duty, Value Added Tax (VAT), and taxes on income including profit tax, Pay As You Earn (PAYEE) and withholding taxes on various incomes.
“For the first five months to May 2017, revenues collected including domestic taxes amounted to K16.67 billion against a budget amount of K18.46 billion representing a 10 percent underperformance on aggregate.
“Sir, going beyond the past five months we are taking measures to bridge the 10 percent gap so as to reach the budgeted amount as a minimum,” he said.
