OPPOSITION PARTIES KEEN ON DEFEATING PF IN 2016

    >>But Can They Find The Right Campaign Messages<<

President Edgar Lungu may just benefit from late Sata's image in the 2016 polls

By Nyalubinge Ngwende

Elections are won far away before the polling day. It is the campaign messages that build all the way to the polling day that give the opposition the favour of opinion polls.

But it is not every message that wins an election; people must interpret those messages into their social lives and see the reality.

Therefore opposition leaders in Zambia must not be cheated, reliance on the negative views in The Post Newspaper will not help them win the 2016 elections against the ruling Patriotic Front.  

The first reason is that the PF message of pro-poor policies is still well-grounded among the call boys, necessity entrepreneurs and others who could be categorized as the street-wise life earners.

Taxi drivers in Lusaka own their own cars because Sata and his vice President Guy Scott bought them the cars on loan which they have paid back. The salary hikes, enforced through the minimum wage, for shopkeepers and unskilled public workers across the labour market is still a delight.

ZAMBIA CAN STILL GET MORE OUT OF ITS MINERALS

<<BUT IT HAS TO LOOK BEYOND TAX BENEFITS>>

PART1

Barrick Lumwana Mine in Solwezi

By Nyalubinge Ngwende

The uncertainty over one of Zambia’s mining operations closing down has been settled and put behind the country’s concerns.

Lumwana mine in Solwezi of North Western Province faced closure. This followed indications by Barrick Gold of Canada that it was pulling out and placing on care its open pit copper mine in the first week of January due to unfavourable tax measures announced by government.

Government last December introduced new royalty taxes of up to 8 percent for underground mining and 20 percent for open-pit operations, claiming the measure was intended to give the country more benefits from its mineral wealth.

However, government made a last ditch, reversing the tax regime in a move that State House announced was intended to serve 4,000 jobs that were going to be lost if the mine was forced to close.

THE FIRST LADY NOBLE CAUSES: WHAT THEY REALLY ARE!!

<<A Gift Today for a Vote Tomorrow Is Nothing Noble>>

NOBLE CAUSE: First Lady Esther Lungu meets PF women clubs in Mpika

By Nyalubinge Ngwende

Zambia's First lady Esther Lungu has been up and about the rutted terrain of the rural Zambia trying to engage women, encouraging them to form clubs and distributing gifts.

At the surface of it, the first lady’s traverses and engagements are a noble cause. She is reaching out to constituents—rural women, who are left out in the economic activities of the country. They need her support. Through her initiative, they can get access to various resources that can help them to embark on start-ups that supply the rural needs.

The activities of Esther Lungu are not new to this country. These activities have been done by previous first ladies. Vera, wife to President Frederick Chiluba had Hope Foundation, Maureen, wife to President Levy Mwanawasa had Maureen Mwanawasa Community Initiative and Tandiwe wife to President Rupiah Banda undertook an agriculture and environmental related cause, while Dr Christine Kaseba wife to President Michaela Sata ran Ubutala Wa-bumi (granary of health) project.