Zambia

The Committee of Citizens, a NGO, has challenged former Task Force on Corruption chairperson, Max Nkole, to deny that he had written letters to the Republican vice-president asking that the case involving former president, Frederick Chiluba, be dropped.

The organisation’s executive director, Gregory Chifire, says that Nkole should in the next seven days publicly admit that he had written several letters to the vice-president asking that Chiluba's case be dropped because of lack of evidence.

The Zambian government says the NGOs that are demanding that it discloses the names of organisations that have been pocketing donor funding are panicking.

Chief government spokesperson, Ronnie Shikapwasha, says those challenging the government to disclose the names of the NGOs involved in cheating should not panic because the police are doing a professional job.

Lieutenant-general, Shikapwasha, who is Information and Broadcasting Services minister, says he does not see reasons why Transparency International Zambia should be agitated with the revelations.

The Zambia Thetha ICT Discussion Forum will be held on 28 October 2009 at the Golfview Hotel in Lusaka.

The event forms part of a series of regional events that SANGONeT is hosting in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Botswana.

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Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D) has become a truly global undertaking, bringing together north and south, rich and not so rich (poor), those who live in urban areas as well as those who live in rural environments. It has also brought together researchers and ICT practitioners, technologists and social scientists to strive and work towards a better life for the least privileged.

The Zambian government has accused the 17 CSOs of conspiring with some donors and some high profiled Zambians to bring down the government.

Home Affairs Minister, Lameck Mangani, says that some cooperating partners were behind the planned protests over the acquittal of former president, Fredrick Chiluba.
Mangani says that there is a conspiracy between some disgruntled Zambians and the cooperating partners to portray the government as not being serious in its fight against corruption.

Community Development and Social Services Minister, Michael Kaingu, says he will soon announce the guidelines on the implementation of the recently assented to NGO Act.

Kaingu says that the Act will soon be implemented and urged NGOs which were against it to accept it because it is now law.

He says NGOs should not demonstrate against policies already passed by Parliament and assented to by President Rupiah Banda.

Zambia’s Information and Broadcasting Service Minister, Ronnie Shikapwasha, says the government has no plans of withdrawing the NGO Bill from Parliament.

Shikapwasha who maintains that several NGOs made submissions to the bill before it went to parliament and is wondering why they are now objecting.