My Nomination For The Africa Story Challenge Award And The Journey Ahead

By Paul Shalala

While attending Thomson Reuters Foundation sponsored training in Advanced Financial Reporting course at the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism in Johannesburg in June 2013, I came across a call for applications from the African Story Challenge for African journalists to submit their story ideas on Agriculture and receive funding to cover their respective stories.

Initially, when veteran Malawian journalist Collins Mtika showed me the link for the competition, I hesitated to apply. I had convinced myself that I wouldn’t make it. Two days after I was shown the link, Collins came back to my room at the Courtyard Hotel in  Rosebank, Johannesburg. He asked me if I had prepared my 500 word story proposal. I answered in the negative and assured him that I would apply later. After he left my room, I debated within myself whether to apply or not. Finally, i decided to give it a shot.

Seeing that my friend had already submitted his proposal, I spent four hours of that night typing the 500 word proposal and I made sure I sent it that very evening so as not to disappoint my good friend Collins who I first met in Berlin, Germany in 2011 and later met him again in Kampala, Uganda in 2012.

In my proposal, I had asked to do a story on the effects of the huge investments by multi-national mining firms in Zambia and their effects on peasant farmers who are usually displaced to pave way for mines. In those 500 words, i gave examples of displacements at Munali Nickel Mine in Mazabuka and at Kalumbila mine in Solwezi.

A few days after I submitted my write up, I received an email acknowdging receipt of my application. Immediately, I went to Facebook and “liked” the African Story Challenge page to keep track of the selection process.

In the following weeks, I kept checking the African Story Challenge website and facebook page for updates but nothing was forthcoming.

Finally, on 10 July, 2013, I received an email confirming that I had been shortlisted among the 20 finalists for the Agriculture and food security theme. I received that email while I was covering debates in parliament. And I remember after I read it, I couldn’t keep the joy to myself, I shared the email with two of my colleagues Bangwe Navilley from ZNBC and Steven Mvula of the Zambia Daily Mail who next to in the press gallery.

Now that I had been selected, it was time to switch from waiting for the selection process to preparing for the story Camp in Naivasha, Kenya.

I must say that from the start, management and editors at the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) had been very supportive of my application for the African story Challenge. ZNBC Director General Chibamba Kanyama and TV2 Assignments Editor Yvette Tembo made my work easier as they kept checking on me on how far I had gone with my application. I kept them informed from the very day I submitted my application until the day I was shortlisted. This made it easy for me to prepare for the story Camp and seek permission to travel.

I left Lusaka for Nairobi on 3^rd August at lunch time but I only arrived in Nairobi in the early hours of the following day due to my itinerary which took me to Zimbabwe and Ethiopia before I landed at East Africa’s regional aviation hub Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at around 01:00hrs.

Since the Story Camp was starting the same day I landed, I only had a few hours of sleep at Hotel Emerald before we embarked on an hour long road trip to the Kenyan resort town of Naivasha which is situated on the picturesque Lake Naivasha.

On our way, we witnessed the real Great Rift Valley and not the imaginary one I learnt at Primary school back in Zambia in the 1990s. It was shocking to note that within 30 minutes of leaving cosmopolitan Nairobi, the landscape had completely changed. This proved to me that Kenya is a country of different faces. On our way, we snaked through hills and made our way through the Great Rift Valley were millions of cattle, goats and sheep are reared for various purposes.

We arrived at our destination close to two hours after we left the bustling city of Nairobi. Enaisipai Resort andSspa was to be our home for the remaining part of our stay in Kenya. The resort is located on the shores of Lake Naivasha which is a tourist attraction hosting the iconic crescent island. On this lake, one can watch such animals as Wildebeasts, antelopes and several birds which live on the island which is completely surrounded by the inland lake.

Of particular interest to me was to learn that most of the tourists who visit Lake Naivasha are Chinese. And indeed on our second day at the resort, we went on a boat cruise on the lake and met more than a dozen boats laden with excited Chinese tourists who wasted no time in taking pictures with virtually everything they saw on the water and in the surrounding trees.

The four days spent at the secluded Enaisipai Resort and Spa were memorable. Meeting other 19 finalists from across Africa made me feel proud of myself and get motivated to aim even higher.

Meeting Africa Story Challenge organisers Joseph Warungu and Maimouna Jallow was a dream come true for me. As a small boy at my village in Mumbwa District, I grew up listening to these two people on BBC Focus on Africa and BBC Network Africa program. A few days ago, when I hinted to my father that I had met Joseph and Maimouna in Kenya, he kissed my hands in the traditional Lozi way and showered blessings on me for having met his heroes who he never thinks he will ever meet in his life.

The most humourous of all facilitators at the Story Camp was one i would call the “Mr Bean” of Nigeria, Declan Okpalaeke. This Knight International Health Journalism Fellow is one of the most jovial Nigerians I have ever met. In his presentations, he mixed journalism best practices with jokes to ensure that even dozing finalists are kept on their toes laughing, smiling and yearning for more.

As a TV finalist, I learnt a lot from Rob Finighan who took us through script writing, pitching a story and video editing. His emphasis on telling a story with a human face compelled me to re-look at the way I do stories for Zambia’s national broadcaster.

Of all the memories I have for Enaisipai, Wednesday night was the best. Joseph and Maimounna surprised us with a night time live band in a tent. Finalists danced the night away with various forms of music. Each journalist was given an opportunity to showcase their traditional dances and songs from their country.

Some of the best dances were the ‘violent’ Ugandan dance which most finalists enjoyed and was performed by three Ugandan finalists. Mustapha El Mehdi’s Arabic song also caught everyone by storm and we danced in an uncoordinated way.

Nana Boakye Yiadom of Ghana was the star choreographer for the night. He took us through the popular azonto dance and many danced to his tune. With the fact that am not a fan of night outs, I secretly and smoothly sneaked out of the event at 23:00hrs and went to have my well-deserved rest. Other finalists partied till 03:00hrs the following day.

When we arrived in Kenya a few days earlier, we thought it would all be smooth, we were wrong. What we didn’t know was that August is the worst month in Kenya in terms of deaths and bad incidents. While we were enjoying our stay in Naivasha, back in Nairobi, the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport was on fire. Authorities closed the airport forcing hundreds of flights to be cancelled and thousands of travellers stranded.

All finalists for the African Story Challenge who flew into Kenya were affected by this disaster when leaving Nairobi. My flight which was supposed to leave Nairobi at 05:00hrs on Friday was brought forward to midnight. Together with four other finalists from Malawi, Cameroon and Nigeria, we queued at the airport from 20:00hrs and only managed to check in at 23:00hrs. The plane which was supposed to fly us out at midnight only came in at 01:00hrs and we left Nairobi at 04:00hrs on Friday. All through that difficult time, none of us slept as we kept vigil to observe the whole episode unfold.

My arrival back in Zambia on that Thursday afternoon gave me another challenge: to start working on my final product for submission to the African Story Challenge. Management and editors at my office received my arrival with joy. For the first time ever, my employer gave me a slot on the main news. I was interviewed to give my views on the nomination and explain what it means for ZNBC and for the nation as a whole. ZNBC Director for News and Current Affairs Kenneth Maduma was also interviewed and his clip was aired on ZNBC TV and TV2 on successive news bulletins on 13 August.

With time ticking, I now need to head in the field to operationalize my story on the impact of investments of multi-national companies on local peasant farmers.

This story will not end here, it will continue till the eventual winner of the African Story Challenge Agriculture and Food Security theme is unveiled at the conference of African Media Leaders in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in November, 2013.  

Works On Stadia In Kafue Progressing

By Paul Shalala

The rehabilitation and construction of two stadia in Kafue District is progressing well.

The Kafue District Council has been spending its own money to rehabilitate the heavily dilapidated Khosa Stadium and construct the new Matanda stadium.

So far, over K300, 000 has been spent on rehabilitating Khosa stadium, which is was heavily vandalised by the residents.

So far, the stadium has been fenced, a new roof to the Grand stand has been erected and some works have been done on the changing rooms.

A borehole has been sunk within the stadium grounds to supply water to the changing rooms.

Only a few works like the sewer system are remaining to be completed.

Kafue District Council Director of Works Stanely Chanda says works at Khosa stadium have now reached 70%.

Meanwhile, works on the new Matanda stadium have started.

So far, a wall fence has been constructed around the site and a razor wire has also been put on top of the wall fence to protect the structure from vandals.

Meanwhile, the Council has also embarked on a street light project to light up the town.

So far, street lights have been erected on the main road in Kafue Estates area and along the Lusaka - Mazabuka road in town.

The Kafue District Council has so far spent K120, 000 on the street lights.

My Perspective On The Second Session Of The 11th National Assembly

By Paul Shalala

It is the first session of parliament in the recent past which has presided over major policy changes in the governance of the nation.

The second session of the Eleventh National Assembly which convened on 21st September 2012, is expected to adjourn on Friday 19^th July 2013.

A parliamentary session is usually organised in three phases which include the budget phase, the legislation phase and the committee phase

During the budget phase held between September and December last year, the 2013 National Budget was presented and adopted.

In the legislation phase held between February and March 2013, several bills were presented and adopted.

And in the current committee phase which is likely to adjourn tomorrow, 20 parliamentary committees have reported to the house and questions for oral answer sessions have also been a daily feature.

By the time it adjourns, this session of parliament would have overseen a transition period for policies from the previous ones initiated by the MMD to those proposed and implemented  by the Patriotic Front.

Among the 17 Bills passed by this session of parliament include five controversial and radical ones that steered huge debate and reactions from stakeholders.

One of these is the Re-Denomination of Currency Bill of 2012 which changed the kwacha notes and re-introduced coins.

Another is the Bank of Zambia Amendment Bill of 2013 which prompts investors to bring back proceeds from mineral sales abroad.

For decades, Zambians had complained that proceeds from mineral sales were being kept abroad and never benefited the nation.

Another thorny issue that brought emotions in Parliament was the issue of subsidies.

Despite not having been tabled in the house, the removal of fuel and maize subsidies was a hotly contested for issue on the floor of the house.

On most Fridays during the Vice President's Question Time, the issue of subsidies was being raised by opposition members of parliament who argued that the move would worsen hunger in the nation.

This debate later moved a step further when MMD Solwezi Central Member of Parliament Lucky Mulusa moved a private members motion to re-instate the subsidies last week.

The motion was heavily debated and took long to conclude but when the vote was cast, the ruling party polled 70 votes against the 52 votes for the opposition.

And that is how the motion on re-introducing subsidies was lost.

Despite this loss by the opposition, the second session of the Eleventh National Assembly is also credited for having passed two opposition motions.

Lubansenshi Independent Member of Parliament Patrick Mucheleka successfully moved a motion to refocus the Rural Development Policy in October last year.

The policy was to refocus government's approach towards poverty alleviation and the house approved it.

Another opposition motion which was passed by the house was one on accelerating the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals which was moved by UPND Bweengwa Member of Parliament Highvie Hamududu last week.

In total, parliament in the current session received 20 committee reports which include the two highly contested ones from the Public Accounts Committee.

However, this session of parliament did not discuss the hugely anticipated Freedom of Information Bill (FOI) which the Patriotic front government promised to bring back to the house in June this year.

FOI has since been renamed as the Access to Information Bill (ATI).

A week ago, Vice President Dr Guy Scott informed the house that the Bill is expected to be presented in parliament in its next sitting as it was still undergoing scrutiny in the committee on legislation.

Another important feature that was observed in the current sitting of parliament was the increase in the resignation of opposition lawmakers to join the ruling Patriotic Front.

These resignations have caused numerous by-elections which have mostly been won by the PF which has a slim majority in the house.

In the last one year, Parliament has also seen a new trend where UPND members of parliament have for the first time in history joined government and crossed from the left side of the Speaker to the right side which hosts the executive.

This has to some extent changed the balance of power in the house in favour of PF in as far as voting is concerned.

As parliament adjourns tomorrow, eight seats remain vacant following resignations by the incumbent and nullifications of seats by the courts of law.

These include Chipata Central, Kafulafuta, Mkushi North, Solwezi East, Mkaika, Mulobezi, Malambo and Petauke Central.

Eight new members of parliament from these constituencies are expected to be elected and sworn in in the next sitting of parliament which is expected to convene in September.

New Tax Can Increase Zambia’s Revenue Collection

By Paul Shalala in Pretoria, South Africa

A 36 member country pan-African tax administration body has observed that the best way of increasing Zambia’s tax base is to introduce a new presumptive tax which can capture millions of Zambians in the informal sector.

African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) Executive Secretary Logan Wort says introducing a presumptive tax will ensure that even players in the informal sector can now start paying tax to improve Zambia’s revenue collection and relieve the burden on the few tax payers in the formal sector.

Mr Wort says the presumptive tax can be levied on each respective business depending on its annual turnover.

He said this kind of tax can be best collected using a mobile phone as has been the case in Kenya where it has been effectively implemented.

Mr Wort said this in the South African Pretoria on Wednesday when he addressed a group of ten journalists from across Africa who are in South Africa on a one week Reuters training in Advanced Financial and Governance Reporting.

Meanwhile, Mr Wort says there is need for African tax administrators to adopt electronic systems of collecting tax in order to avoid corruption.

He said in countries where technology had been employed to collect tax, there is less contact between people and corruption is minimized.

Of the 13 million Zambians, only about 500, 000 are said to be paying tax, leaving millions of potential tax payers out of the tax band.

Zambia was the first country to have ratified the African Tax Administration Forum’s Agreement three years ago ahead of the organisation’s host country South Africa and other African countries.

Since inception , ATAF has carried out research on tax administration on the continent and is advising the thirty six member countries on the best practices of tax administration.

Final Draft Constitution Is Possible By 30 June 2013

By Paul Shalala

The Technical Committee on Drafting the Republican Constitution can produce the final draft constitution by 30 June, 2013 as per their own set deadline. This is very possible because they have all the human resource, the brains, financial resources, time and most of all, they have the necessary resolutions from various stakeholders to guide them in the drafting process.

There is no excuse which can be used to justify their request to extend the process by another six months to December 2013.

In the past two years, I have closely followed and reported on every step of this current constitution making process. As a journalist specially trained in Germany to report on politics and governance issues, I have taken the constitution making personal project. So far, I know everything about this business of constitution making process and not even members of the Technical Committee can lie to me that they need six more months to draft the articles of the constitution because the most difficult parts of this process have already passed.

I have travelled this country doing stories on the constitution and making sure that every voice of a well-meaning Zambian is heard in this process which is likely to change the course of the nation.

Why six months extension is unjustified

At the moment, the Technical Committee has resolutions from District Consultative Fora, Provincial Conventions, the Sector Groups Convention, the National Convention and from international constitutional experts.

All these resolutions are the basis on which the committee is supposed to base its contents for the final draft constitution.

Of all the consultative fora, the most recent was the National Convention which was held in late April this year and its resolutions are being held in soft copy by the Technical Committee.

Between April and 30^th June is a two months period in which the Technical Committee is supposed to prepare the draft constitution. Considering that the resolutions are in soft copy, it is easy for the committee to edit them and prepare a document based on how stakeholders chose and voted on articles to have in their supreme law of the land.

This is not a job which can take two months, it can only take a period of a few weeks because the articles were already voted for by the people of Zambia through the various consultative fora. The committee’s job therefore at this stage is just to consolidate views from the people as contained in the rapporteur’s reports and consolidated resolutions.

With this background, I still argue that the two weeks remaining before the Technical Committee’s self imposed deadline of handing over document to President Michael Sata by June 30, 2013 is possible. There is ample time to finalise this document and the Zambian people are highly expectant of this long overdue document.

How far is the drafting process?

Last month, the Technical Committee split itself in working groups according to the different parts of the constitution in order to deliberate on specific articles and bring back resolutions to the plenary for formal adoption of articles. This process was supposed to take a few weeks before the document was to be handed over to the drafters in late May for preparation of the final draft constitution.

I personally covered a session of the plenary where members of the Technical Committee was adopting articles and the process seemed smooth.

With the passing of time, the public was informed that the committee had asked for a six months extension to complete the process. The question that begs an answer is what is delaying the process when all the documents are already available?

Cost

Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba on 11 June, 2013 told journalists at a press briefing that the current constitution making process had gobbled Kr100 million. This is an amount of money which was spent on getting views from the Zambian people. Through its request for a six months extension, the Technical

Committee hoped to use another Kr44 million through a supplementary budget. To be realistic, this is too much money to fund a simple activity that can be done within the shortest period of time. Mr Kabimba is justified to have described this request as “unreasonable and outrageous” because most stakeholders want this process to come to an end so that the way forward in this current constitution making process can be known.

Conclusion

As a matter of urgency, the Technical Committee must double its efforts and produce the final draft constitution by 30 June. Now that government has rejected their request for an extension, the committee has no option but to produce the document whose contents are already there.

Obama-Romney Final Debate and the 6 November Elections

By Paul Shalala

When Democrat Barack Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney sat down for their last debate on Tuesday morning before they face-off in the November 6 Presidential elections, many pundits wondered who would take the credit in the debate. In the two previous debates, Romney won the first one and the US President snatched the second one.

The third one was very divisive as it dealt with foreign policy. On the table were issues such as China, Iran, Afghanistan and Military spending. President Obama was coming to this debate with an upper hand because he had led the world's most powerful nation for the previous four years and he had dealt with most of the world's most difficult diplomatic engagements. These include Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Al Qaeda, Climate Change, Guantanamo, Africa and many others.

In terms of credentials, the US president was joining the debate with a track record of foreign policy. His republican challenger was entering the debate without any track record at all apart from his recent visit to the UK and Israel which some how was abit of a failure after he was reported to have failed to properly address UK opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband and ended up calling him "Mr Leader." This is why during the debate, Romney kept on agreeing with Obama on almost all of the US president's foreign policy decisions.

As commander-in-chief, Obama also had another advantage of having first hand information on US military engagements worldwide. It is this privilege that Romney didn't have, leading him to embarass himself when he wanted to lie that the US Navy has more ships today than it had in 1916, a point that Obama later clarified as being the opposite.

All in all, Obama has won the third debate on foreign policy. These debates have a considerable impact on the way US voters choose their presidents due to the opportunity the platform offers in terms of policy proposals. From today on wards, US presidential candidates are expected to criss cross the country and campaign in the so-called "swing states" like Ohio and Florida which usually decide the occupant of the White House.

However, there are other US presidential candidates aside of Romney and Obama. These are usually not covered by the mainstream media but they eventually run for the White House.

MUFUMBWE BY-ELECTION: Parties, Statistics and Geo-Politics

By Paul Shalala

Mufumbwe is one of the most famous constituencies in Zambia. Unfortunately the area's popularity is not for good reasons, its actually for bad reasons. Mufumbwe shot to prominence in April 2010 when at the height of campaigns for a parliamentary by-election, violence engulfed the whole constituency as political cadres fought in bloody battles which resulted in heavy casualties on either side. Then Police Chief Francis Kabonde was one of the people caught up in the violence. He was shown on TV running away from cadres in Mufumbwe when his base was invaded by cadres.

As voters will be trooping into various polling stations to vote for their new parliamentarian on 8 November 2012, the fear of violence will be high on their minds as its not too long ago when the previous by-election was held.

Why the by-election?
A few months ago, opposition MMD expelled its Mufumbwe MP Stephen Masumba for gross misconduct. This action came after Masumba accepted a presidential appointment in the Patriotic Front government as a
Deputy Minister He further campaigned heavily for the ruling party and delivered a ward in his constituency during by-elections held in July this year. Masumba appealed his expulsion to the courts but the MMD
won the case hence the by-election.

Statistics
Mufumbwe is a relatively rural constituency. The constituency has 15 wards with a total of 27, 027 voters. According to the latest voters register, Mufumbwe has more women voters than men. In terms of representation among political parties, the MMD and UPND both have 7 councillors each while the PF has one councillor. On 11 October 2012, three candidates from the MMD, PF and UNIP successfully filed in their nominations to contest the vacant Mufumbwe parliamentary seat.

Geo-Politics
Mufumbwe is one of the 12 constituencies in North-Western Province. This is a region that is historically a fluid province that usually votes as a block. Voters in this area change their voting pattern from one election to another. At the moment, MMD has 8 seats, UPND has 3 and Mufumbwe (which was MMD) is the 12th seat which is currently vacant.

Strength of Parties

MMD
MMD is coming into this November by-election as a party that has held the seat since the 20 September 2011 general elections. The party has declared that it will contest the seat whether its alliance partner
UPND also fields a candidate or not. It will campaign on a promise of discipline and try hard to get back the seat. MMD is not new to Mufumbwe, it held the seat for many years and voters in the area know it very well. The party will boast a lot of the developmental projects the party brought to the region when it was in power, developments such as mines.

PF
The Patriotic Front comes into the by-election with memories of its fresh victory in Shukwe ward of Mufumbwe. PF snatched Shukwe ward from MMD 3 months ago. The PF will also use its strength of incumbency to scoop Mufumbwe which will be its first ever seat in North-Western Province. Just like it won its first ever seat in Eastern Province through a by-election, PF will also try to win Mufumbwe and announce
its grand entry into the province. PF will count on its candidate Stephen Masumba, the immediate past MP to scoop the seat. Added to that, the PF also has Elliot Kamondo, the man who won the seat in 2010
and lost it last year to Masumba by 59 votes. According to some PF insiders, the two are likely to form a deadly campaign squad to ensure an easy victory for the ruling party.

Other Parties

UNIP
The former ruling party UNIP is one of those courageous political parties that field candidates in almost all by-elections. Despite having a nationwide appeal, UNIP has declined and only has 3 councillors countrywide and no MP in Parliament. It has contested Mufumbwe to try and bring back its fortunes which keep declining everytime its candidates are on the ballots.

UPND
UPND is not contesting the seat, it has decided to back its alliance partner MMD. UPND shocked many when it snatched Mufumbwe in April 2010 from MMD in a by-election that was necessitated by the death of area MMD MP Misheck Bonshe who was also Home Affairs Deputy Minister. The party held the seat from 2010 till 2011 when Elliot Kamondo was beaten by MMD's Stephen Masumba through a difference of only 59 votes. Therefore, UPND still stands a chance if it contests.NAREP is another party that has a youthful appeal but has so far failed to send any of its candidates into an elected body. It may contest to get its first ever seat in parliament since its establishment in April 2010.

Campaign issues
Infrastructure development is likely to top the campaign speeches. Like any other rural constituency, Mufumbwe lacks good roads, good schools and health facilities. Both the ruling and opposition parties
are likely to use the campaign trail to emphasise the need for good infrastructure. Peace is another issue that is likely to feature highly in the campaign. Coming from the background of violence two years ago, politicians are likely to call for peace and ensure a smooth campaign.

Who wins?
Only the people of Mufumbwe will decide. Violence or no violence, apathy or no apathy, the verdict will be passed and a new lawmaker will enter Manda Hill courtesy of the votes from Mufumbwe.

Conclusion
Mufumbwe is likely to be heavily contested due to its strategic position in the North-Western Province. We are likely to see big guns from all contesting political parties setting base in the area to heavily campaign for their respective candidates. We are also likely to hear allegations of malpractices but what most Zambians wouldn't want to see is the repeat of the 2010 violence where then Police Chief Francis Kabonde was captured on TV hiding in a room from cadres who invaded the area where he was sheltering.