YALI Member to attend Sayxchange youth programme

YALI member Melinda Maxwell is going to participate in the Say exchange youth programme is a unique opportunity for youths to experience another culture, to learn a new language and to broaden their understanding on civic affairs. As one of Zambian ambassadors,I feel the new ideas and techniques we are going to learn will enable me to inspire, motivate and empower the fellow youths within the southern region and also youths in my country with skills that will bring about poverty reduction and increase productiveness and human development in the country.

Participants in this programme will work for five months as volunteers in community service projects on environmental protection,health,work with migrants,children etc. In short this programme will help youths in the southern region to realize their full potential and enhance their participation on issues to do with culture,economic,social and political. This program promotes youths to been energetic, responsible,transparent,accountable and effective future African leaders!

Zambia cracks down on freedoms

Opposition leaders arrested, youth meetings banned, political rallies blocked by riot police, allegations of judicial interference and ministerial corruption, smear campaigns in government media and threats and lawsuits against journalists are not part of the image most people have of Zambia, supposedly one of Africa's most peaceful democracies, writes Louise Redvers in the Mail & Guardian newspaper.

In September 2011, Michael Sata's Patriotic Front swept to power after the long-ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) gracefully stood aside. But despite its sleepy and safe façade – and its attractiveness to global mining companies and Southern African retailers – Zambia, according to some, is reverting back to a one-party system in which freedom of association, assembly and expression are under threat.

In the past eight months, there have been a number of clashes between police and opposition parties, some ending violently, with the two main opposition leaders, Nevers Mumba and Hakainde Hichilema now facing a string of charges including corruption, defamation and unlawful assembly.

The private Post newspaper has swung to support the PF government, along with the state- owned Times of Zambia, Daily Mail and ZNBC (Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation). The few remaining media outlets that do challenge the ruling party are facing hefty libel claims and closure threats.

The PF is trying hard to reassure Western diplomats (who are starting to question recent events) that their rivals are merely bitter about being in opposition and desperate for Sata to live up to his nickname, "King Cobra".

Officials deny that the crackdown on corruption is a witchhunt, but simply part of "cleaning up the country" after 20 years of MMD rule, though they remain eerily quiet on the controversial halting of probes into the business affairs of several Cabinet ministers and Sata's own announcement that he is immune to all investigations. "This country is deteriorating by the day and being run like a dictatorship," said an indignant Hichilema, president of the second opposition party, the United Party for National Development (UPND).

"We are not being allowed to exercise our human rights of freedom of assembly, association or expression. The police are working against us and we are being taken in and out of detention on flimsy charges."

Controversial Public Order Act

 Both Hichilema and Mumba, the president of the MMD, have found themselves on the wrong side of the country's controversial Public Order Act. Devised by the British government in colonial times to control nationalistic politics and carried over into Kenneth Kaunda's one-party state that lasted until 1991, the Act outlaws free assembly without a permit. Although it was amended in Parliament some years ago to allow meetings to be held without permission (just a formal notification to the local police), opposition parties and civil society groups are claiming it has been reinvoked in its original form.

Both Mumba and Hichilema have been arrested several times while meeting constituents and they have been told they now need formal authorisation to hold rallies and meetings or they could face further detention. The commissioner of police in Lusaka, Joyce Kasosa, on Tuesday sent a written notice to the UPND refusing permission for an upcoming rally following, she said, party-related violence outside a police station last week.

Similar letters have been sent to other parties and groups, warning them about staging meetings and gatherings.

Members of United States President Barack Obama's Young African Leaders Initiative (Yali), who have been organising meetings on the new Constitution, have also come under scrutiny. The police would take "stern action", the group was told, in a letter signed by Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba, saying that no discussion of the new Constitution may take place without a member of the drafting committee being present.

Said Yali board secretary and law student Mundia Paul Hakoola: "This is intimidation at the highest level. We have a right to discuss our Constitution as we feel fit. It is the Constitution of the Zambian people, not the PF government.This country is becoming a police state if you cannot hold a meeting to discuss constitutional reform."The MMD's Mumba told the Mail & Guardian: "I was arrested for going to visit a local chief and attracting a crowd. They said this was unlawful assembly and disorderly conduct and detained me.

Mobilising

"They are basically putting on the opposition unsubstantiated charges in order to intimidate us and stop us mobilising, and eroding our basic rights."

Said Michelo Hansungule, a Zambian professor of human rights law at the University of Pretoria: "The Public Order Act is a piece of colonial legislation and the way it is being used by the police now appears to be inconsistent with the statute book. We are seeing very flimsy grounds for arrests.

"This legislation is being used to deny basic rights of freedom of assembly. This is a reversal of our democratic gains," he said.

The government has not taken kindly to the negative reaction to the arrests and the outbursts now dominating Zambian discussion boards and social networking sites.

Reacting this week to one such criticism of the Public Order Act by a church leader, government spokesperson Kennedy Sakeni told the Zambia News and Information Service that "suggesting abuse of power by the state" in relation to the Act was "the worst form of lies and deceit" and was in ignorance of "fundamental realities of governance".

Vice-President Guy Scott admitted that certain police officers may be "over-zealously" applying the law, but he said a legal review was taking place and anyone who had been charged would face a fair trial to determine their guilt or innocence.

Asked about whether his country was becoming a totalitarian regime, he said: "People are being slightly over the top about this and their analysis is a little bit neurotic. African politics can be a bit of rough and tumble, this is normal. I myself was arrested while in opposition for defaming the president."

Extremely vocal

The MMD's Mumba disagreed: "I do not subscribe to the notion that Sata and the PF are merely doing to us what we did to them when we were in government," he said.

"During the MMD government, people were able to criticise and organise freely and they did so every day. Now we cannot even hold a meeting inside a room without fearing arrest. There is no longer any tolerance of criticism and our democratic advances are being eroded. Even civil society that used to be extremely vocal against the MMD has gone quiet."

Father Leonard Chiti, the director of Lusaka's Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection, echoed the concern about the application of the Public Order Act. "We need some urgent clarity on this and we welcome a review that is ongoing with the Law Association of Zambia in the courts," he said.

"The feeling is that the law seems to be applied only to opposition parties and not to members of government, so it is hard to be convinced that things are OK and that it is business as usual."

The UPND's Hichilema appealed to the international community to take note of what was happening in Zambia. "Everyone talks about Zimbabwe, but never about Zambia. We hope the world does not wait until there is bloodshed here before they take any action."

Links: 

To read the original article in the Mail & Guardian click here:

http://mg.co.za/article/2013-01-25-00-zambia-cracks-down-on-freedoms

IG Libongani is PF cadre –YALI

Police Inspector General (IG) Stellah Libongani is a Patriotic Front (PF) cadre who has failed to instill discipline in the service to help stop the violence that is taking root in the country, says Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) president Andrew Ntewewe.

And Patriotic Front (PF) deputy Secretary General Situla Sikwindi says that Police have every right to deny political parties permits to hold meetings.
Mr. Ntewewe said that the conduct of Ms. Libongani was not inspiring and  failed to promote peace and order in the country because she was biased towards PF.

He said that it was sad that despite the people of Zambia supporting her appointment as the first woman to hold the office of IG, she had let down people’s hope and trust as she was behaving like a pure PF cadre.
“She has just proved to be a disappointment for many people including the women movement today. They are worried whether she will be able to guide us through this trying moments where PF thugs have taken up the position of policing. PF thugs have taken control of everything and this is a well known fact that police has no say about what is happening in the country,” said Mr. Ntewewe.

Mr. Ntewewe observed that the violence being experienced in the country perpetuated by the PF thugs had the capacity to destabilize the nation’s peace and make Zambia ungovernable.

“Especially where you have police IG siding with thugs, where you have police IG behaving to protect the same PF thugs, it is only fair that she changes her attitude or steps aside and leaves the service for another woman to take control of the police. She does not have the heart of a mother.”

Mr. Ntewewe who was speaking on Radio Phoenix’s Face the Media programme yesterday, warned that police officers and others should know that political parties and politicians in government come and go but the system remains.

And featuring on the same programme, PF Deputy Secretary General Situla Sikwindi said that police had the right to deny political parties permits whenever they so wished.

‘Police have every right to deny political parties permits according to the law whenever they feel so especially if there is some activity that will be in conflict with peace and stability of the nation. They can deny anyone permits,” he said.

Mr. Sikwindi said that those that were asking or demanding for the removal of police IG were not sincere because in most cases they found themselves on the other side of the law.

He accused the civil society of supporting and working hand in hand with the opposition political parties to destabilize the party in power, adding that political players and CSOs were not the only people in the country who should enjoy peace.

And UPND deputy general secretary Kachunga Simusamba said that the PF should take responsibility over the accelerating and escalating violence the country.

He said that all the violent activities in country by PF thugs were being carried out in full view of police and senior government officials.

He said that there was no longer freedom of assembly, expression and movement and worship in the country because the PF government had made it policy to attack and beat up people with divergent views.
“I don’t want to talk about things that have not happened, our youths wanted to demonstrate but were beaten and taken to court. PF thugs attacked us at Parliament and were arrested and fined for attacking us.
“So the PF should take full responsibility of the situation in the country because they have been given five year mandate by the people of Zambia to govern in an acceptable manner,” said Mr. Simusamba.

Source: http://zambiadailynation.com/2013/06/21/ig-libongani-is-pf-cadre-yali/

Constitutional making process a sham- YALI

The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) has described the on going constitutional making process as a sham which may not produce a people driven constitution in the stipulated time frame.

This follows revelations that the Technical committee has written to the Ministry of Justice requesting more time and more allocation of funds to complete its work.

YALI president Andrew Ntewewe noted that to this effect his organization has joined hands with the Oasis Forum to ensure that a Private Member’s Bill is passed in Parliament to ensure that the constitutional making process and the contents of the new constitution are protected by a legal framework.

Mr. Ntewewe said that if the current constitutional making process continues without a legal frame it will continue to gobble colossal sums of public funds which can be used for other developmental projects.

Mr. Ntewewe further observed that without a new constitution the country will continue having stunted national development due to policies in the current constitution that do not effectively support such progress.

The YALI president was speaking in an interview with Qfm.

[QFM]

Young African Leaders Initiative welcomes LUSE youth call

The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) has commended calls by the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE) that youths in the country should embrace a culture of investing.

Recently, LuSE business development manager Munyumbu Mutwale stated the need to inculcate the culture of investment in the young people if the country is to achieve meaningful economic development. YALI President Andrew Ntewewe said the call by LuSE was commendable as young people are the core drivers of the national economic and must look at ways of investing money to safeguard their future.

Mr Ntewewe told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka today that young people must be seen to save money into accounts for education purposes, engaging in entrepreneurship schemes, and buying stock on the capital markets.

He however stated that government also needs to play a role in ensuring that youths save their money by creating an enabling environment for them to invest.Mr Ntewewe said government should create employment for youths to assist them with resources to undertake entrepreneurial initiatives which will in turn  provide opportunities for them to buy shares.

 He praised government for providing the Youth Empowerment Fund saying the initiative places youths in a better position economically.

The YALI leader advised that government publicises the fund for more youths to know about it and access the funds. Mr Ntewewe said many a time government came up with good programmes but young people did not fully benefit because of insufficient information on how to access the funds from the government.

Source: http://lusakavoice.com/2013/03/24/zanis-copy-yali-welcomes-luse-youth-call/

YALI's Programs

Since its establishment, The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) has lived-up to the billing by ensuring that a platform is created for young people to participate in democratic processes. Through a series of activities, YALI has positioned itself as an umbrella of youth organizations in Zambia by bringing together several young leaders from different sectors of society including members of the Youth Governance Alliance, Council of Youth Ambassadors, United Nations Youth Association, Operation Young Vote and so many others to promote civic education, monitor elections and debate among the young people of Zambia with the support of the Political and Economic Affairs Section of the US Embassy. YALI has also enlisted young people’s engagement with leaders at the local level in local government, the legislature through Members of Parliament, the executive through cabinet ministers and the general leadership of the country through high ranking government officials and opposition leaders.

In the region, YALI has with the support of the Public Affairs Section of the US Embassy, engaged and collaborated via DVC and face book with young people from different civil society organisations in Malawi and Swaziland. In the same vein, YALI has also collaborated with CSOs and young leaders from Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Zanzibar on elections monitoring and youth engagement in democratic processes with the support of a Dutch foundation called Hivos International.

With this rich background, YALI’s membership has boomed with the establishment of 87 leadership development clubs across the country in high schools, universities, colleges, higher learning institutions and now boasts of over 5875 members with several young professionals from civil society, government and the private sector. YALI has attracted support of several international organizations including the U.S. Department of State through the U.S. Embassy in Lusaka Zambia. YALI has also partnered with the USAID and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) – on the Zambia’s youth leadership development and mentorship programs, and the youth engagement in the constitutional reform processes project.

The organisation has also received support from the United Nations Development Program, UNDP through its 2009-2012 Elections Project Cycle with ECZ to conduct non-violent campaigns during Zambia’s 2011 tripartite elections with young people from all political parties in Zambia.  YALI has also partnered with the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), Irish Embassy and the Department for International Development (DFID) to enable the organisation to conduct its governance activities and promote the UNITE Campaign to end violence against women and girls. YALI also collaborates with the UNESCO Youth Forum and shared its experiences at the 2011 conference hosted in Paris, France. The YALI has also received support from the Dutch foundation called Hivos in implementing its SCREAM for human rights and democracy project. Additionally, Hivos has provided support to YALI to create a network with young people in Kenya and East Africa to share experiences of the Zambian youth in elections as well assist in monitoring of the 2013 Kenyan elections.

YALI stands out as an organisation that is an outspoken advocate for youth democratic engagement and non-violent action in promoting peace and justice for all human beings. YALI is a team player and collaborates well with several partners at home and abroad in the Southern and East African region as well as in the Diaspora.  

Formation of The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI)

The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) was formed with great inspiration of the President’s Forum with Young African Leaders, hosted by the 44^th President of the United States of America, Barack Obama at the White house in August 2010. After the Presidents forum in the USA, the US Embassy in Lusaka-Zambia facilitated a dialogue of young Zambians at the American Center at which the video of the president’s forum was aired and dialogue ensued among young people as to the next course of action. The young people were particularly inspired by President Obama’s remarks that “This is a new moment of great promise. Only this time, we’ve learned that it will not be giants like Nkrumah and Kenyatta who will determine Africa’s future… It will be the young people brimming with talent and energy and hope who can claim the future that so many in previous generations never realized.” With such great inspiration and as a follow-up to the US Embassy-facilitated dialogue, enthusiastic and ecstatic young people from all walks of life brimming with so much energy and vigor continued to gather at the American center and hosted a series of meetings which culminated into the formation of an organization with the acronym,"Enter"

The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) was consequently registered and incorporated on 6th January 2011, as a company limited by guarantee under the laws of the Republic of Zambia. YALI is a non-partisan and non-profit making coalition of young leaders whose mission is to engage, support, and empower young people to effectively participate in democratic processes and decision-making, promote good governance, principled leadership and human rights. Our vision is “a Zambia anchored on a vibrant generation of young leaders who effectively contribute to good democratic governance and promote change, justice, peace and economic development.”

 

The Initiative is governed by the Articles of Association which provides for an elected Executive Board of five office bearers headed by the President. The YALI Executive Board establishes and overseas operations of the Secretariat. The YALI Secretariat comprises the President, two Program Managers; one in charge of Democracy and Governance and the other for Human Rights and Advocacy. The Accounts Assistant and two other supporting staff help to run the day-to-day activities of the organization. The Secretariat reports to the Advisory Council and the general membership at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). The Secretariat for the organization is located at Plot No. 5D Chilimbulu Road in Libala Township, Lusaka Zambia.