He said only K3.3 billion has been recovered from fertiliser and seed loans.
Mr Mbewe said most co-operatives did not provide collateral but that most of them have been taken to court to try and recover the money.

He said property has also been seized from some of the debtors and will be auctioned so that money realised from the sale could be paid to FRA.
Mr Mbewe was answering a question from Kanchibiya MP Davies Mwango who wanted to know how much money was owed to FRA in fertiliser and seed loans as of December 2009.

Mr Mwango also wanted to know how many people owed FRA and whether Government has continued giving fertiliser and seed loans to farmers.

“I cannot exactly tell which individuals or co-operatives owe the agency money because I have not seen the list. Government is trying hard to collect this money. FRA is not giving out any loans at the moment,” he said.
But Monze MP Jack Mwiimbu (UPND) claimed that only those who are not “politically correct” are being pursued.

He said the process of recovering money has not been transparent. Mr Mbewe said there is no one who is being favoured because of their political inclination.
When asked by Roan MP Chishimba Kambwili whether it is true that two Cabinet Ministers are among those that owe the agency, Mr Mbewe said he has not seen the list.

And Mapatizya MP Ackson Sejani (UPND) moved a motion to urge Government to urgently address the perennial constraints in the agricultural marketing system to enhance food security in the country.
The motion was seconded by Lusaka Central MP Guy Scott (PF).

In moving the motion, Mr Sejani alleged that FRA at the moment is unsuited to handle maize marketing in the country.
He said there is need for Government to restructure the agency to bring in specialised departments to handle strategic food reserves, marketing and funding.

At a media briefing to launch activities in preparation for the celebrations to take place on September 23 at YWCA in Lusaka yesterday, NGOCC board chairperson Marian Munyinda said political parties must adopt more women candidates.

Ms Munyinda said in comparison with other countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, South Africa and Mozambique, Zambia had a lower number of women Cabinet ministers despite being an old democracy.

She said efforts to improve women representation in decision-making positions at both political and other levels should be scaled up.

She said while the fight for gender equality was growing old since it was started on September 25, 1985, achievements on the ground remained static and cited bickering among the women as part of the reason for the stagnation in women’s advancement.

Ms Munyinda said through member organisations such as the Zambia National Women’s Lobby Group (ZNWLB), NGOCC would identify credible women to contest for positions and adoption for candidacy at both parliamentary and presidential levels next year.

Ms Munyinda said the decision to set up the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) was good but lacks a clear plan of action to allow women access the funds without difficulty.

She said NGOCC was displeased that many provisions that should have dealt with social challenges faced by women and children in part three of the Bill of Rights in the Draft Constitution had been rejected.

And NGOCC in North-Western and Copperbelt provinces launched activities to mark the commencement of celebrations the organisation’s silver jubilee in September.

NGOCC liaison officer for the two provinces, Priscilla Chama Mwansa said during the launch in Solwezi yesterday that the occasion provided an opportunity for the women to reflect on the organisation’s achievements and challenges.

In Livingstone, Ms Munyinda urged non-governmental organisations and other institutions to be transparent and accountable in their dealings to instill confidence in their members as well as beneficiaries.

Ms Munyinda said there was need for NGOs to be transparent and accountable to their members and beneficiaries of their programmes if they had to continue existing.

She said this yesterday in Livingstone in a speech read for her by NGOCC active human rights activist Jean Mweene at a Press conference to launch the 25th Silver Jubilee Anniversary celebrations.

VSU National Coordinator, Senior Superintendent Tresford Kasale said it was disheartening to note that economic violence had become a common trend in most Zambian homes to settle domestic scores.

He said in most cases bread winners in Zambian homes, male or female, took advantage of their economic position to economically abuse their spouses, children and dependents.

Mr Kasale said bread winners deliberately stopped buying food and other human necessities such as clothing , medical care and education, among others in order to make their spouses fill unwanted resulting in them leaving their matrimonial homes.

The VSU National Coordinator said on the sidelines of a five- day Gender Awareness workshop for service providers at Red Roof Lodge in Lusaka’s Roma Township which started on Monday that such trends were commonly practiced in both high and low density urban areas. He noted that such practices were also part of the issues that the VSU was handling on a daily basis as breadwinners attributed prevailing economic situation in the country as the cause of them not supporting their spouses and family in general.

Mr. Kasale however advised breadwinners not use their economic situation as the reason for not supporting their families saying they should instead be transparent and honest to their spouses and families on their situation.

The workshop sponsored by the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is aimed at empowering service providers with adequate information on Gender Based Violence (GBV) which is said to be on the increase in the country.

The workshop has attracted service providers from nearly all corners of Zambia mainly attached to the VSU’s of police stations.
And during the preliminary of the workshop, some participants expressed concern at the law that prohibited housewives from physically reacting to their husbands’ girlfriends.

The participants said this development had actually empowered girlfriends to have undue control of most men thereby creating domestic instability in most homes.

However, Mr. Kasale advised the participants that the affected housewives should take advantage of the law of Adultery which he said was as punitive as any other law.

A bond is a debt instrument issued by the government, local governments and companies to raise money from the public to meet their financial requirements.

And Government has urged the business community in Zambia to use options available on the capital market for long-term funding.

Officiating at the Investrust bond redemption ceremony in Lusaka on Tuesday Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Felix Mutati commended the bank for securing the bond and redeeming it on the due date.
Bond redemption is the date on which the bond matures and is cashed in.

On the redemption date, the investor is paid the principal of the bond plus interest.

Mr Mutati said there is need for the business community to shift from the traditional way of raising capital and look at the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE).

“Instead of mourning for capital investments, let’s look at the options available on LuSE. As Government we will continue to ensure monetary policy assist to reduce inflation and tackle fiscal policy by reducing Government borrowing,” he said.

He said Government is faced with the challenge of growing the economy which can only be done by mopping up savings.

“The danger faced by the expansion of savings is the minimum balance required to be kept in banks,” he said.

Mr Mutati cited the high cost of money and concentration of banks in urban areas as other factors affecting economic growth.

He said 50 percent of Zambia’s growth will be derived from agriculture and tourism.

Earlier, Investrust Bank managing director Friday Ndhlovu said the bank formed in 1996 as a Merchant Bank, has grown from internal resources with assets standing at over K500 billion.

Mr Ndhlovu said the issuance of the corporate bond was necessitated to fund demand for credit, extend maturity of loan profile, support branch expansion and product development such as visa cards.

The medium bond was issued in two tranches, the first was K30 billion and second was K70 billion.
He said the bank has so far opened five new branches, increased capital base and trained staff in all critical areas such as credit, treasury and operations.

“We are still ambitious to have a presence in every corner of this country through new branch openings and other delivery channels and we have no doubt that this will continually call for more financing,” he said.

Mr Ndhlovu said competition is getting stiffer and the modern bank customer is getting more sophisticated, which demands for more investments in research and development to ensure continued innovations in product development.

The subscribers for the K100 billion bond include African Life Financial Services, Professional Insurance Corporation, Professional Life Assurance, Cavmont Holdings Limited, Mukuba Pension and ZCCM-Investment Holdings.

Others are Workers Compensation Fund Control Board, National Pensions Scheme Authority and individuals Conrad and Felistus Mbewe.

Works and Supply Minister, Mike Mulongoti said the contract was signed last week and the contractor was expected to go on site by next week.

Mr. Mulongoti said in an interview in Lusaka today.

He said US$ 87 million would be spent on rehabilitating the stadium to have a 50,000 seater capacity.

He said construction works on the 40,000 seater Ndola stadium were also progressing.

Meanwhile, Mr. Mulongoti has said works on the Livingstone stadium would not commence as Government had not put the project on its priority list.

He said it was prudent that Government concentrated on the two stadia before embarking on the Livingstone stadium.

The independence stadium has not been operational after it was declared unfit by the world football governing body FIFA.

The Energy Regulation Board (ERB) has approved Zambia Electricity Supply Company (ZESCO)’s request to increase electricity tariffs by 25.6% on average.
This follows ZESCO’s earlier application to ERB to authorise the increment of electricity tariff of up to 36% which the power utility company proposed. ERB Chairperson Sikota Wina announced the adjustments at a Press briefing in Lusaka.
Mr. Wina said the board arrived at its decision to approve the 25.6% increase after considering submissions from both the power utility company and the general public.
He explained that the new tariffs would take effect from August 1st, 2010 to 2011 and would be applied according to customer categories.
Once effected, residential customers would be paying K376.09 per kilo watt hour representing a 41% instead of the 69% tariff increase which ZESCO applied for while large power consumers would now be paying K320.54 per KW hour representing a 12% increase.

For the small power consumers, the tariffs have increased by 15% equal to K280.32 per KW hour instead of the 14% the utility company applied for. 27%increase has been slapped on commercial customers and 33% increase would be effected for the services tariff.
The Board Chairperson hoped that ZESCO would generate adequate resources to operate commercially and profitably after the 25.60% tariff increase.

Meanwhile, the board has recommended that Government should consider recapitalising the power utility company if it was to operate efficiently saying that it was under- capitalised.
The board has also observed that ZESCO’s receivables were still high and that Government should liquidate the debt it owes the power utility company.

Mr. Wina further added that ZESCO should accelerate the installation of pre-paid meters in all Government departments and urged the company to be proactive in debt collection.

He stated that it was imperative that the tariffs in the country were cost reflective to encourage more investment in the energy sector especially in light of the power deficit.

Meanwhile, ERB has converted the controversial staff tariff to pre-paid tariff following Zesco’s failure to abolish its staff tariffs which was a K500 annual charge.

The measure is to ensure that the burden of uneconomic tariffs is not borne by ordinary consumers. Zesco is expected to generate K3 billion from this measure.

“This means that if Zesco continues to charge the uneconomic staff tariff, the power utility company will forgo estimated revenue of K3 billion,” he said.
On some proposed projects, Mr Wina said the consumer projects which the firm intends to undertake this year should be postponed.

ERB has disallowed administrative costs such as donations amounting to K9.5 billion, entertainment costs of K436 million and K4.7 billion to Zesco United Football Club.

The board has ordered Zesco to consider implementing load shaving as an alternative to load shedding through the use of specific appliances such as ripple switches for geysers.
He urged Zesco to expedite the current electricity supply constraints and accelerate new power projects.

And speaking in a separate interview, ZESCO Managing Director Ernest Mupwaya said the power utility company was happy with the approved tariff adjustments. He noted that the increment would help the company cover operating costs and serve its customers more efficiently.

In a reaction to the increment, Zambia Consumer Association (ZACA) and Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM) have expressed concern at the increase in electricity tariffs saying it will negatively impact on the commodity prices and economic development.

ZACA acting executive secretary Samuel Simutunda said that the electricity tariff increase will have an effect on the economy as the cost of goods and services are expected to increase.

Mr Simutunda said ZACA is not opposed to the increase but that the adjustment should be in tandem with the economic factors such as the inflation, recorded at seven percent.

“The 41 percent increase for residential is too much (exorbitant). Last month, the inflation was at seven percent, the increase is unjustified…We have been discussing and we have said that we are not opposing the adjustment but it should be in line with the other economic variables like inflation which is at single digit,” he said.

Mr Simutunda said electricity is becoming scarce and more consumers are falling off as they are not enjoying the service.

“Most consumers cannot afford the current tariffs and now the increase just means that the commodity is scarce,” he said.

And ZAM executive officer Roseta Mwape said in a separate interview that the increase will have a negative impact on the cost of production.
“We appreciate that the tariffs are lower than we anticipated but that does not mean that the cost of production will be reduced because we have other expenses,” she said.

THE Bankers Association of Zambia (BAZ) has advised customers to be watchful when using debit cards especially when transacting abroad.

In the last few days, some retail banking customers in Zambia have reported suspicious cases involving debit cards on their accounts to their banks.

BAZ chairman Savior Chibiya in a statement said initial investigations by the association reveal that some cards could have been replicated or skimmed and are now being used abroad to transact on both Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and points of sale machines.

Mr Chibiya said a number of banks have taken various protective and preventive measures to protect customers’ funds and ensure customers are not inconvenienced.

“In the meantime, to avoid inconvenience, it is advisable to contact your bank before you travel outside the country as some banks may have reduced the limits in certain high risk countries as precautionary measures,” he said.

He also urged customers to get in touch with their banks should they notice any suspicious transactions on their accounts for investigations and appropriate action to ensure customers are not inconvenienced.

The association has further warned customers not to write their personal identification numbers(PIN) on debit or credit cards or respond to emails that request them to provide information via emails.
BAZ has warned customers against lending debit/ credit cards to anyone.

“Keep an eye on your credit card every time you use it….periodically check your account balance and transactions by utilising online banking, by telephone or by printing interim statements at the ATM,” reads the statement.

BAZ has further warned customers to be wary of people trying to help them especially when an ATM “eats” their card, as they may be trying to steal their pin and account number using remote devices.

The association has urged customers to ensure that, when withdrawing money from the ATM machines, no one sees their PIN numbers.

BAZ adds that in the event that the ATM transactions for one reason or another fails, customers should notify security personnel manning the ATM and check for any suspicious gadget in the ATM card slot.

Copperbelt University Students Union president, Mark Munafumpa and police told reporters in Kitwe yesterday the unruly behaviour was sparked by a disruption in electricity supply.

Campus security personnel apprehended two students in the confusion that happened between 19:00 hours and 21:00 hours.

Mr Munafumpa said shortly after electricity went off, some students ran amok and
went to Jambo Drive where they started throwing missiles and caused commotion among motorists.

He, however, said it was yet to be established whether the protest was actually sparked by the power outage or the students took advantage of the darkness to air their grievances over irregularities in meal allowance payments.

“I am made to believe that protest was over the issue of meal allowance and not the power outage because there are some omissions in payment of the allowances,” he said.

He some motorists were stoned although he could not tell how many vehicles were involved and the extent of the damage caused.

“On behalf of the union, we condemn the students’ action. Their behaviour was not necessary at all,” Mr Munafumpa said.

And police said two vehicles had their windscreens smashed by the students, and that no arrests were made.

CBU registrar Allan Ilunga said some students had not been paid their meal allowances.

Mr Ilunga said the affected students were either those who had not submitted their bank account numbers or those who had given wrong information.

Government says the retail sector’s total investment in Zambia is expected to exceed US$ 200 million this year.

Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Felix Mutati said Government efforts to reduce the cost of doing business in Zambia are beginning to bear fruit.
Speaking at the launch of Pick n Pay in Lusaka on Wednesday night, Mr Mutati said the retail sector in Zambia is the second biggest contributor to the gross domestic product (GDP) at 15 percent.

Pick n Pay is investing US$25 million in Zambia, and its goal is to open seven stores, five in Lusaka and two on the Copperbelt.
Mr Mutati said Government is keen to make a difference in Zambia, adding that the coming of investors such as Pick n Pay will help make a difference.

“The wave of inspiration is what Pick n Pay is bringing to Zambia. The company will connect 5,000 farmers who will be supplying vegetables and fruits,” he said.

Pick n Pay chairman Gareth Ackerman said the legacy of the retail store is looking after its customers, helping the business community and the surrounding community.

“Pick n Pay started in South Africa in 1967, and our focus is on developing the African operations. We are happy to be in Zambia, a market that is growing very fast with the projected GDP of 5.8 percent this year,” he said.

Pick n Pay group enterprise director Dallas Langman said the retail store chain is excited to be expanding in Africa as evidenced by the opening of its first store in Zambia.
Mr Langman said southern Africa represents an attractive market for retail stores, and the market remains untapped.

“The opening of the Lusaka store in Woodlands is an expression of confidence in Zambia…We are present in Namibia, Botswana, and soon moving to Mozambique. We have identified a site in Mauritius,” he said.

Pick n Pay Zambia general manager Andy Roberts said the company is working closely with the Zambia Development Agency as a point of contact for local business houses and Roseblooms, a Ngwerere-based farm, as a point of consolidation for small-scale farmers together with Pick n Pay South Africa.
Mr Roberts said the company plans to establish an academy to grow and improve the farming community in Zambia.

“As the group’s policy, we will use local suppliers as far as possible, and work with the local farmers in a bid to grow the local farming base,” he said.
He said the group is also exploring the possibilities of franchising Pick n Pay to investors who will meet the group’s standards.

He said the retail store will provide Zambians 10,000 line of products, and half will be secured locally.
Mr Roberts said Pick n Pay is excited to employ 140 staff at Woodlands centre, and with further expansion over the next five years, hopes to employ a workforce of 1,000 people.

Former Juventus defender Dario Bonetti is to be the new Zambia national team coach, taking charge of their bid to reach the next African Nations Cup finals in 2012 in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

Bonetti has signed a two-year contract with Chipolopolo and will begin his quest to participate at the 2012 event in September this year, when they begin their qualifying campaign for the Nations Cup.

FAZ (Football Association of Zambia) president, Kalusha Bwalya, told Zambian Chronicle on Wednesday: “We had a lot of applicants for the job but we think we have found the right guy. We want experience from the top level but also a youthful hunger.”

Bonetti, who also had spells with Roma and Milan, as well as winning a couple of caps for the Azzurri, is not particularly experienced on the bench, but time spent in the lower Italian leagues added to spells with Dundee in Scotland and Dinamo Bucharest in Romania, have been convincing enough to see him put in charge of the southern Africans.

Bonetti takes over at the Zambian helm from energetic French coach Herve Renard, who did well with the side at the last installment of the African Nations Cup before deciding to coach Angola to the next AFCON tournament in two years time. The FAZ tried to hold onto the Frenchman, but a better offer from Angola allowed for Bonetti to come into the picture.

The Italian will get his first taste of African football in September when Zambia play the Comoros Islands in African Nations Cup qualifying, with matches against Libya and Mozambique to follow.