•PRESIDENT Lungu releases a white dove on October 18 during the National Day of Prayer at the Lusaka showgrounds. First Republican President Kenneth Kaunda was present at the event. Picture by EDDIE MWANALEZA/STATE HOUSE

By JOWIT SALUSEKI –
THE year 2015 saw a number of events notably the presidential by-elections, the declaration of October 18 as the national day of repentance, fasting and prayer, and the appointment of the first female vice-president.
On January 25, 2015, President Edgar Lungu was sworn in at the National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka as the sixth Republican President of Zambia after a presidential by-election occasioned by the death of President Michael Sata on October 28, 2014.
The polls held on January 20, 2015, saw Mr Lungu emerge victorious after beating other presidential hopefuls who were also vying for ‘Plot One’.
Mr Lungu won by a 48.3 per cent majority, against his main contender, Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development (UPND), who came close with 46.7 per cent of the votes.
Other presidential candidates who participated in the polls shared the spoils, with the Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) surprisingly beating the former ruling Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) into third position.
For the first time in the political history of the country, President Lungu, during the unveiling of his Cabinet at State House, appointed Inonge Mutukwa Wina as the vice-president of the Republic of Zambia – the first female vice president in the history of the country.
The appointment of Ms Wina to the vice-presidency elated women’s movements who hailed the gesture by President Lungu as Zambia was aiming to achieve the 30 per cent women representation in key positions of decision-making which the Southern African Development Community set to be met by the end of 2015.
Soon after the events that characterised Mr Lungu’s rise to the presidency, change in weather conditions had an impact on the country as water levels in Kariba Dam reduced, forcing the nations’ power utility Zesco to embark on load-shedding in order to meet local demand.
In order to mitigate the impact of power rationing, the State turned to importation of power from other countries while also upgrading some power generation sites such as the Itezhi-Tezhi hydropower station.
The Government also encouraged the private sector to help address the power deficit. Of particular interest to the Government was the development of a 600 megawatt coal-fired thermal power plant under construction in Maamba in Southern Province.
On July 31, 2015, Henry Kanyanta Sosala was installed as Paramount Chief Chitimukulu Kanyanta Manga II of the Bemba people.
The year 2015 also saw the mining tax regime changed, resulting in reduction of the mineral royalty tax from 20 per cent to six per cent.
President Lungu declared October 18, 2015 as a day of repentance, fasting and prayer in response to overwhelming requests that ordinary citizens and the clergy from all denominations had made.
On October 25, the President made a statement of faith during a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the New Tabernacle National House of Prayer at Lusaka’s Woodlands forest reserve, opposite Arakan Barracks.
This is an inter-denominational cathedral where Christians of all faiths would have an opportunity to worship freely.
From October 29 to November 3, Mr Lungu and State House operated from Kitwe. The country witnessed the coming of solar-powered hammer mills which the Head of State clinched during his State visit to China.
On the economic situation on the Copperbelt where some mines had downsized their workforce, President Lungu said Government had tried its best to keep the job losses in the mines at the lowest level possible.
He said it was the desire of the Government to keep the number of jobs to be lost on the Copperbelt during the on-going turbulence in the global mining industry to the barest minimum.
“We could not prevent mining companies from rationalising their labour force as part of the survival strategy to forestall possible closures altogether.
“The loss of jobs at Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) and some contract employees at Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) is obviously regrettable.
“These job losses do not only affect individual employees, their families and trade unions but Government as well because as custodians of the welfare of every citizen, we are burdened with various attendant problems arising from unemployment,” Mr Lungu said.
However, the miners who lost jobs were comforted with incentives such the Presidential directive to ensure that the contracts to build the new Ndola International Airport and other works which are set to take shape in 2016 be awarded to Copperbelt-based firms that would give priority to employing Copperbelt residents, especially the ex-miners who were retrenched.
Owing to the low copper prices on the international market, the Kwacha depreciated against major convertible currencies, although some measures were enforced to avert the free fall of the currency on the local front.
In November, President Lungu announced fiscal measures aimed at cutting Government expenditure.
The measures included cutting of foreign trips, deferment of the establishment of a national airline, suspension of creation of new diplomatic missions abroad, and a ban on the procurement of new contracts, including those in the road sector.
Making the pronouncements at State House during his first Press conference since his election in January and the first since the Patriotic Front (PF) formed Government in 2011, Mr Lungu said in order to reduce the cost of running Government, he had taken bold measures that would see foreign travel by various ministers, Government and quasi-Government officials limited to attending essential meetings only with a sizeable delegation restricted to the lowest minimum.
President Lungu directed provinces and spending agencies to start utilising the skills and resources available in the country’s missions abroad and directed Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba to review and down-size the number of missions abroad.
The Head of State said local travel by ministers and other public servants was to be significantly minimised.
The President explained that in the light of the recent economic challenges, the financing of the ambitious infrastructure development programme had to be re-aligned so as to ensure budgetary sustainability.
He directed all Government ministries, provinces and spending agencies to cease the procurement of, or entering into contracts for new works to instead focus on completing the on-going infrastructure projects.
A two-day summit on ending child marriages in Africa was for the first time held in Zambia from November 16 to 17 at the New Government Complex in Lusaka.
On December 11, 2015, Parliament adopted the new Constitutional Amendment Bill with the Presidential running mate and the 50 per cent plus one vote among the clauses which were included.
On the entertainment landscape, in October, Stanbic Bank hosted a two-day jazz international festival where the United States Jazz legend Earl Klugh was the headlining act, beside Zimbabwe’s Oliver Mtukudzi and Micasa of South Africa.
Still on the entertainment scene, the country lost some of its sons who had helped in shaping the destiny of the industry.
Among the deceased included Mobi Television proprietor Francis Chapota and 5FM founder Matteo Phiri, who died in November and December, respectively.