By Mwaka Ndawa

THE Lusaka High Court has struck out from the active cause list the matter in which Cornelius Mweetwa petitioned it over the National Assembly’s decision to subject him to disciplinary hearing for refusing to apologise to Vice-President Inonge Wina for describing her as shallow minded.

Mweetwa in July 2020, during a TV programme dubbed Costa, said it was shameful and shallow for Vice-President Wina to frame the UPND with the gassing of schools and homes that hit the country last year.

Judge Charles Zulu in an order gave Mweetwa a one month ultimatum in which to restore the matter.

“Given the inexcusable non-attendance of the parties, in particular the petitioner, the matter is hereby struck out from the active cause list with liberty to restore within 30 days from the date of this order, in default the matter shall stand dismissed for want of prosecution,” said judge Zulu.

Mweetwa had cited the Attorney General in the matter seeking an order that the pending disciplinary actions against him were illegal for being in violation of Articles 11(b), 18, 20 and 21.

In his petition, Mweetwa said that he was entitled to protection of his rights in accordance with Article 11(b) and as enunciated under Articles 18, 19, 20 and 21 of the Constitution.

He said section 3 of the National Assembly (powers and privileges) Act violates the fundamental rights of freedom of expression guaranteed under Article 20 by restricting the freedom to express views and opinions.

Mweetwa said the purported disciplinary action pursuant to a ruling of the Speaker violates his freedom of expression, association and assembly as a member of the largest opposition political party (UPND).

He said the intended disciplinary action which was slated for December 2, 2020 violated Article 18 of the constitution and the rules of natural justice as it violates his (Mweetwa) entitlement to a fair hearing because the National Assembly would be acting as a judge, jury, and executioner.

Mweetwa explained that on July 10, 2020, Dr Matibini in his ruling on a point or order raised by Mandevu member of parliament Jean Kapata that he attacked the persona of the Vice-President on Diamond TV, found him out of order, in breach of parliamentary privilege and in contempt of the house.

He said Dr Matibini reprimanded him as punishment for the same and asked him to apologise but he refused to apologise as his reaction to the Vice-President’s statement was within his privilege of freedom of expression, assembly and association as guaranteed in the constitution.

“On July 14, 2020, the petitioner wrote to the clerk of the National Assembly seeking to challenge the decision of the Speaker for admonishing him as punishment for an offense he did not accept liability for,” Mweetwa said. “On July 17, 2020, the clerk of the National Assembly wrote to the petitioner asking him to exculpate himself for refusing to apologise and for engaging the Speaker of the National Assembly on the same subject matter as he forced him to apologise.”

Mweetwa said on October 15, 2020, the clerk of the National Assembly wrote to him declining to table his motion to challenge the decision of the Speaker to reprimand him and compel him to apologise against his will.

In its answer to the petition, the state said freedom of speech and debate in Parliament was limited and was only guaranteed within certain parameters in line with parliamentary practice and procedure.

The state said that the disciplinary action against Mweetwa which was scheduled for December 2, 2020 was as a result of his failure to follow laid down rules of parliamentary practice and procedure.

Deputy clerk of the National Assembly Cecilia Sikatele

claimed that Mweetwa was given an opportunity to be heard, as he was requested to exculpate himself for refusing to apologise to the house and the Vice-President in a letter addressed to him by the office of the clerk dated July 17, 2020.

Sikatele stated that Mweetwa’s right to a fair hearing was never violated because he was invited to appear before the committee on privileges, absences and support services to give his side of the story as dictated by the rules of natural justice.

She confirmed that Dr Patrick Matibini in his ruling found Mweetwa in breach of parliamentary privilege and contempt of the house.

Sikatele further admitted that Dr Matibini reprimanded Mweetwa but he refused to apologise.

“The petitioner will be put to strict proof with regard to the assertion that his reaction to the statement was in exercise of his constitutionally guaranteed rights, when in fact it was in breach of the rules of the National Assembly,” Sikatele stated.

She said the office of the clerk did not demand but requested Mweetwa to exculpate himself for refusing to apologise.

Sikatele conceded that the petitioner’s request to table motion challenging the Speaker’s decision was declined and the said decision not to entertain Mweetwa’s request was made by the committee on privileges, absences and services after due consideration in line with the Rules of the National Assembly.

“All actions taken by the National Assembly were within the scope of its mandate in line with its practice and procedure. The petitioner is not entitled to any of the substantive reliefs sought.” Said Sikatele.

====================
By Mupishi Jones

You cannot use the same thinking that you used to create a problem to solve the same problem.
Doing the same thing over and over again and yet expecting different results is the most clear way of defining madness.No wonder CK once confessed before going back to PF, that he should be considered mad once he rejoins PF and his behavior in PF is proving him right anyway!
The PF have created a catastrophic debt crisis of unimaginable proportion for this country,it’s people together with it’s future generations.Based on unsound economic judgements, the PF embarked on an unprecedented spree of debt contraction from expensive sources despite the public protestations.Devoid of sound economic insights, the PF applied almost all that borrowed money on consumption activities instead of on investment ventures.

The same PF’s reasoning that led this country into debt crisis, apparently is the same reasoning that the PF wants to apply to the civil servants.In my view, the best approach to cushion the civil servants would have been to raise the tax exempt probably to K6,000, unlike making promises of taking up the loans when the PF government itself is debt ridden and broke! The PF must be truthful, when one is failing to pay debt when it falls due,it means he’s broke, the PF is broke and it’s just politicking, period!!!

I know many Zambians are not yet aware about that real impact of what the PF have done to them by contracting such huge and unsustainable debt.Most Zambians have not yet started connecting their current economic hardships to this recklessly borrowed debt.However,Zambians will start experiencing the severe economic impact of this debt stress effective next year when the government is expected to repay the principal amount of US$750m of the first eurobond loan as a single bullet payment.The first eurobond loan is maturing in 2022.The next eurobond loan of US$1.02b is equally maturing in 2023/2024. There’s also another US$1.2b maturing after the second one! Besides these eurobond loans, the PF government has also contracted huge loans from other sources such as the Chinese.The PF government has almost K53 billion owed to suppliers, contractors including terminal benefit to retirees.Amidst all this debt, this is the government that is promising on a campaign platform,to take up another debt of civil servants?To know the extent of this debt repayment challenge, Zambians must ask themselves a question such as, if the PF government has been defaulting to pay interest amouting to US$43m only on the above principal amount, how then is it going to manage to remit just the US$750m first eurobond loan as a single instalment?

Knowing the arrogance of the PF,it may choose to default this principal even if it is fully aware of the consequences of defaulting loan principal amounts.It is the consequences of this possible default that is likely to tickle a catastrophe in the households of many Zambians including the PF themselves!

Countrymen, Zambia has gone back to those old days when it was heavily indebted.What makes the current situation even more precarious is not only the volume of the debt stock,but also the conditions attached to most of this debt.The previous debt contracted by UNIP and MMD was from the multilateral institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank during those Paris Club meetings.Unfortunately, the current stock pile of debt contracted by the PF just within 10 years is from expensive open markets with gruesome and pernicious conditions.IMF and the World Bank had strict conditions attached to their loans unlike the open market.For example, if the government applies for a loan from the World Bank or IMF to provide water to it’s rural communities, the World Bank will fund directly to the contractor and not the government.

The reason why the PF government was going after the open market such as eurobond loans is because the conditions are flexible on change of usage of the loan.What attracted the PF government is the fact that it was able to switch the initial purpose from applying that loan for example, from recapitalizing ZESCO or Zambia Railways to procuring of fire engines without the providers of this loan holding them accountable! Therefore,it was this flexibility that was incentivising the PF government in contracting these loans from high interest rate sources.This same loan flexibility is what has led the PF government to be riddled with numerous scandals especially in the procurement of infrastructure and other capital goods.
Zambians must remember that not long ago, the whole country joined hands with the Catholic Church taking up the leading role in pleading for debt cancellation after MMD came into office in the early 90s.Most of this debt was cancelled because we were dealing with the World Bank and IMF and not individuals on the open market as the case is today! Expecting the private sector to cancel your debt is the same as expecting a supplier of stationery from SOWETO market to cancel the debt which the Zambian government owes him, almost impossible!

Coming back to the US$750m elephant in the room to be paid next year, the government would be compelled to raise money to pay for it.Therefore, to raise this kind of money at once, the PF government would have to mop up all available resources at it’s disposal.This means the budgetary allocations for discretionary expenditures will be the first casualty.Allocations such as operational grants to all grant aided institutions such as health, education, public universities, local Councils must brace themselves to be going long months without receiving any grants! More taxes will have to be introduced, already the withholding tax on rental income from landlords has already been concluded pending elections.

This debt will cripple the normal operations of the government and public discourse on this debt,will take center stage.This will trigger price rise.Inflation will go beyond the roof.Exchange rate will exponentially continue going up making imported goods expensive for consumers.Traders will be compelled to downsize their orders.This will lead to shortages of commodities in most of the outlets.This will culminate into political outcry through citizen protests.This will be a time when Zambians will realize the major reason why the PF government procured those heavy military and riot gear equipment for the police.Zambians will also realize why the PF government has been militarizing it’s cadres!

I repeat, Zambians must stop the PF on the 12 August elections this year for their own sake!

*Mupishi Jones*
Presidential Campaign Team/ Vice Provincial Youth Treasurer

ZIIMA PRESS STATEMENT
For Immediate Release

ZIIMA CONCERNED WITH PF DRAGGING THE MEDIA INTO THEIR DESPERATION

Sunday, 8th August 2021

We have observed with much regret the reported cloning of one of Zambia’s leading privately owned newspapers, THE MAST, by suspected PF agents to suit their appetite for toxic hate speech.

The said publication under headline, HH IS A SATANIST, has potential to draw the media house into unnecessary conflict with the UPND and the party President Mr. Hakainde Hichilema in person.

We realise that most politicians from the PF have no agenda and message in this campaign, they have tried to muzzle the media and now they have started cloning newspapers. They did this to News Diggers within this year and circulated it online. And now they have moved to The Mast. We wonder which private newspaper they will target next. This is absurdity that deserves strong reprimand.

Even with a disclaimer from THE MAST Newspaper, some known PF surrogates have continued to circulate the illegality on social media platforms. The worst is that they even went to the extent of printing the same cloned publication in hard copy which they distributed in selected parts of Lusaka and the Copperbelt. We agree with THE MAST that the charlatans must clone their own publications. It’s indeed a shame that the ruling party can go to such levels after sensing an impending heavy defeat in elections. We expect the police to investigate the people doing this and arrest them without delay.

On the other hand, we wish to condemn the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) for their biased accreditation of media houses to the results centre. As a referee in this election, ECZ should have accredited journalists from all media institutions. It is worrying for the ECZ to play politics with the media as if they are a political party. We know that they are under pressure from PF, but such illegal acts give credence to claims that they have a scheme to bar objective media houses and journalists from the results centre, specifically to manipulate the flow of accurate information.

We fail to understand how mainstream media can be denied accreditation in preference to PF propagandist blogs! Such as Smart Eagles, This act will complicate the standing of the ECZ after the elections. We therefore implore the electoral body to reconsider their position and accredit all those media institutions they denied accreditation.

We call on local and international election observers to carefully take into account the current evil schemes being advanced by the ruling party and the elections body as such actions have the potential to affect or disadvantage the ordinary Zambian during this election period.

Jajah Coulibaly
President

Contact: 0978718044/0975094700
Email:ziimafreepress@gmail.com

A PEEK AT THE 2021 ELECTION; DEEP INTO THE ART OF POLITICS

By David Kapoma

In only a few days from now, Zambia shall decide who takes over the stuff of authority as 7th President in what is seen to be one of the most exciting election in the history of our country. Many opinions have been advanced by individuals and organizations with keen interest in politics and elections. Even though the opinions are not exactly the same, what most of them seem to agree is that this election like the previous one is a head on battle between two giants the Patriotic Front (PF) and the United Party for National Development (UPND). It is clear the stakes are very high this election being a do or die battle for both PF and UPND.

Before I get deep into my argument, let me be quick to mention that this piece of opinion I write today is purely based on my personal understanding of the current political mood in the country. Also important to note is the fact that I do not write from the comfort of my sofa but that I draw a lot of authority to this opinion from my travels around the country in the last four (4) months. Even as I find this time to put my thoughts together I do so under a tree in some village.

In coming up with this judgment, I have also looked at statistical data and evidence from election results from as way back as 2001 when late President Levy Mwanawasa beat the late Anderson Mazoka with only 2% difference at 29% and 27% respectively. I have also looked at voting panaches from province to province.
To kick start the argument, I want to suggest with no doubt that this election shall be decided by the people of Lusaka and the Copperbelt provinces. The party that shall claim control of the two (2) provinces will most likely carry the day.

THE CAMPAIGNS

It is clear that the patriotic front has done more in terms of campaigns compared to the other political parties. This is evident from the latest voter register which favors the Patriotic front. The Patriotic front has gained more than 400,000 numbers in the new voter register in their strongholds compared to the UPND which has lost close to 100,000 votes in their strongholds. This scientifically puts a 500,000 gap between the PF and UPND even before the voting is done. It can be argued therefore that the PF well calculated their plan at voter registration stage.

It is also known that the PF adopted a strategy of making the rural areas their strongholds by way of strengthening the relationship between President Lungu and the chiefs and also providing empowerment program for the youth and women in the rural areas. The PF also increased the number of beneficiaries on the social cash transfer program which seemed to have worked in their favor. It is important to note that rural politics are very different from urban politics. In the rural area people vote for what they see.

The don’t use emotions like the voters in urban areas.
One of the mistakes the UPND made is their inability to make the UPND leader available in the rural parts of the country. While candidates like Fred M’membe and Harry Kalaba trekked the country, HH was still trying to figure out how to escape police until time was up. This can never be used as an excuse for losing elections by the way. Every opposition leader gets blocked somehow. I experienced it many times when I traveled around the country with Elias Chipimo. At one point cadres almost killed us inside Radio Mano in Kasama.

The PF campaigners went in the villages and camped there quietly leaving the opposition fighting the police in Lusaka.

Overall it can be argued that the PF put up the best campaign not because they are the most tactical but because they enjoy the power of incumbency, the freedom to move around and also the much needed resource to touch every corner of the country.
I have also noted people suggesting that UPND has entered the strongholds of the PF going by the number of cadres that mob HH and team when they visit places known to be PF strongholds. Let it be known that the number of people that mob a politician can never be converted to votes. The same people that show up when HH comes and the same one that show up when ECL shows up. Those are opportunist who want to feed from the mouth of politicians. Therefore when one is being mobbed it does not mean they are popular.

OUR POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY

It is a no doubt that the UPND remains in control of Southern, Western, North Western and some parts of Central Province. The PF on the other hand are still in control of Eastern, Lusaka, Copperbelt, Muchinga, Northern and Luapula provinces. I know some people believe that Lusaka and Copperbelt provinces have shifted to becoming opposition strongholds. While! this argument is not backed by statistical evidence. The law of progression does not agree that the UPND for example would sidestep the PF in the Copperbelt and Lusaka provinces. The difference in numbers between the PF and UPND in the last election was 155,713 for the Copperbelt and 133,588 for Lusaka province. I argue that these figures are likely going to slightly widen in the 2021 election in Lusaka and reduce slightly on the copperbelt to give UPND an advantage.

The UPND will also gain some numbers in, Eastern, Northern and Muchinga provinces but not to the extent of being deciding numbers for the election. Luapula province is likely going to remain predominantly PF with a good number of votes going to the Democratic Party and the Socialist Party.

The PF will gain some margins in North Western Province owing to the developmental projects in the area and the defection of some strong UPND senior members who understand the province well.
On this same argument it must be interesting to remember that this year’s election shall be decided in 8 provinces. This is simply because the Eastern and Southern Provinces shall cancel each other in terms of numbers.

WHO WINS THE PRESIDENCY?

So far three opinion polls if not more have been conducted by different institutions and opinion makers. All of then indicate that Edgar Lungu and the PF shall carry the day. Strange enough, most of these opinion polls indicate that the PF shall win the elections by more than 55% and above. This figure I do not agree with as I believe that the election shall be too tight for any candidate to get more than 55% votes. What I do agree with however is that putting all factors and indicators together, Edgar Lungu is likely to carry the day going by what I have briefly explained above.
Also important to note is that the only way Edgar Lungu can lose the election is if civil servants across the country reject him in huge number. But again HH has not yet given a convincing promise to them which is good enough to make him a darling of the civil service. HH therefore would be banking on the support of the new young voters on the register.

STATISTICAL ARGUMENT

Earlier above I indicated that at the start of elections the PF shall at bare minimum be more than 400,000 votes ahead of everyone. This means that the UPND would have to figure out how to break this difference which the PF gained at registration stage. We must also remember that the PF in 2016 won with just above 130,000 votes and this is why they realized they had to increase their numbers in their strongholds and so they did.

It is highly unlikely therefore, that the UPND can outstrip the PF in both Lusaka and Copperbelt provinces. The difference as demonstrated above is too big to be overturned in one election.
While it is a fact that PF has lost some support in Lusaka and Copperbelt, it is dangerous to ignore that the party has also increased some numbers in some UPND strongholds.

The attached distribution of votes is not reflective of real numbers but represent the possible outcome of elections. I bet! The numbers won’t be too different from this.

MY OREDICTION OF RESULTS

I predict victory for Edgar Lungu at between 52% and 54% followed by Hakainde Hichilema at between 41% and 45%. I further predict that the other candidates shall share between 3% and 5% of the total votes cast. The voter turnout is expected to stand between 66% and 70%. It is also likely that Fred M’membe would come out in 3rd place, Harry Kalaba 4th and my good friend Andyford Banda in 5th place while the others candidates shall come after that with very small numbers.

CONCLUSION

As stated in my preamble, this is nothing but my personal prediction and analysis of the 2021 elections and therefore with no shame I could be wrong. We must note also that the outcome of this year’s election does not make the other candidates on the ballot unlikeable but that this election is about ‘Change’ or ‘Continuity’.

When all is said and done, our lives must continue with whichever candidate wins the election. We will have to accept the will of the people and move forward as one people. Every election can only have one winner and many losers. Therefore losers should be quick to accept defeat and move on. Let us always remember to maintain the peace we have always enjoyed as a people and protect one another as we help law enforcement agencies to maintain law and order.

I rest my case.

God bless Zambia as we go to cast our votes on Thursday August 12, 2021.

By Gautama Nyerere

Ten years ago I was in my office, crestfallen wondering what had just happened. Michael Sata had just been elected President and apart from one other workmate there was wild jubilation all around me.

In fact I watched as Managing Director, my employees give themselves a day off and join the celebrations outdoors. I couldn’t understand it. How could this happen?

We were trading five (5) years of consistent growth trajectory, our economy being lauded as one of the best in Africa, for the unknown, for wild promises?
And the first few years of Presidents presidency did not convince me either.

Sudden declarations of districts, shock announcements of roads construction and airports being built. This was madness. How could we do all this and how could we pay for it? I remained unconvinced and given by the good education I had by Zambian standards and the business I was in, I was a firm believer in the Bretton Woods hard- nosed fiscal policies, libralization and believed that they were the only solution for economic growth.

But, I found myself more and more alone. There was a populace that applauded and seemed to buy into the PFs policy of economic transformation.
I began to have a change of heart round about 2015.

I began taking my daughter to boarding school to Katete. It is then I realized the scale of PFs ambition. Year on Year roads were being expanded and built, urban Katete town changing, clinics replaced with hospitals. Change everyday and change everywhere.

But more importantly I could see the seeds of commerce. A citizenry that seemed to sense the opportunity and set up businesses along the new roads, renovated their places or set up pharmarcies near the new hospitals.

They did not get hand out or grants, they saw the roads and infrastructure and when government got out of the way got on with it.

This spirit of initiative, of grasping the opportunity is what enthused me the most. It brought me back to the day at the office wondering why these DULL Zambians could ignore a history of fiscal prudence and support the unknown.

Now unlike many, I do not see the privatization era as a complete era. I believe for that period of time and how it has transformed our economic foundation, overall it was the right decision. However, privatization had its failures.

One of its key failures was the party in powers over adherence to conditions placed by donors and funders and particularly the naïve assumption that corporate entities that purchased companies would play fair and PAY TAXES.

We all know how that turned out and the friction we had for example with the mines just to extract a meagre 3% owned to us. For further reading on mines practices please read past Action Aids reports on tax avoidance and transfer pricing.

This impeded MMDs government to make meaningful transformations in peoples lives, to build schools, more roads, clinics. AND this is what got them out of power-nothing else.

Whilst we were scoring high marks with the donors in terms of fiscal policy and economic management, the Average Man felt left behind. For 2 decades, the citizenry made the sacrifices demanded of them but had very little to show for it. Same old schools, same distant clinics. They felt betrayed, and voted for PF.

This lesson must have left a very strong impression on Sata. I think from my perspective, a realization was made that economic participation could no longer be for the few but the many. Zambia’s world would no longer revolve around the line of rail, we could not continue to be an import based country and we certainly could not allow our economic destiny to be dictated by out side forces.

We had to make the decision and do what we needed to do. Open up Zambia, NOT FOR THE FEW, BUT FOR THE MANY.

Given the fiscal constraints we had, and the inevitable backlash that would come from the corporate world, donors and importantly the general public- which PF may well still pay for in this election they still went ahead with their plans.

You can accuse PF of many things but thing you cannot accuse them is lacking balls. It takes balls to transform the country in the manner that they have. SO MUCH SO THAT POLITICAL NARRATIVE HAS CHANGED.

There is no manifesto that talks about building roads, they say they will build them cheaper, no manifesto that talks about building hospitals but providing medicine in the hospitals, no manifesto that talks about school, but employing teachers in work in the schools.

What does all this change mean? It means in the short, medium and long term MORE Zambians will have the opportunity to start and run businesses, more students churned out, more university graduates…the list goes on and on.

A young man from Rufunsa who wants to start a restaurant wont migrate to Lusaka to start his business, commerce will spring up around him, civil servants will eat at his restuarant. A parent from Luapula will not have to consider the cost of taking an achieving child to UNZA but will consider Kapasa Makasa University.

An entrepreneur will seek to build a lodge in Serenje because of burgeoning traffic and ease of access for farming and mining that accrues in that region. This WAS NOT possible before and with real and meaningful investment a platform for NATIONAL investment has been made.

For me this is an ideological shift, from a government that follows the Bretton Institute playbook that waits for incremental growth or we follow the example of Developmental Economies like the Asian Tigers where govt plays a visible role in spurring growth countrywide.

And examples abound even in the west where economies have been transformed through government intervention. FDR’S New Deal, and the UKs Clement Attlee’s labour government after WW2.

I could bet on myself and vote for immediate gratification. I choose the future and my children.

Jury selection for the federal New York trial of R. Kelly, the disgraced R&B superstar who faces a battery of sex abuse charges in several US states, is set to start Monday after more than a year of pandemic delay.

Kelly, 54, faces charges in a US court in Brooklyn including racketeering, sexual exploitation of a child, kidnapping, bribery and forced labour. They span from 1994 to 2018.

The musician, currently incarcerated at a Brooklyn federal prison, has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Following jury selection, testimony is due to begin 18 August.

For decades the artist born Robert Sylvester Kelly has faced accusations including child pornography, sex with minors, operating a sex cult and sexual battery.

But despite the slew of unsettling claims and several out-of-court settlements, the singer known for hits like I Believe I Can Fly, Bump ‘N Grind and Ignition (Remix) maintained a staunch fan base, continuing to tour worldwide.

The house that Kelly built began to crumble in January 2019, however, upon the release of the explosive docuseries Surviving R. Kelly, which renewed focus on the R&B luminary’s checkered history in a post-#MeToo era.

In February 2019, Chicago state prosecutors charged him with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against four females, the youngest 14-years-old at the time of the alleged crimes, which spanned between 1998 and 2010.

Several months later federal prosecutors in Illinois slapped him with four counts of child pornography, and five for enticing a minor into criminal sexual activity.

Prosecutors say Kelly filmed himself having sex with minors and that he paid potential witnesses in his 2008 trial – in which he was acquitted of child pornography charges – for their silence.

In New York, which will be the first state to see Kelly stand trial in connection with the recent raft of indictments, the musician is accused of abusing six women, whose identities are anonymous.

Jane Doe #1 is widely believed to be the singer Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash at age 22 in 2001.

The indictment alleges that Kelly paid an Illinois government employee in 1994 to obtain a fake ID to marry an underage girl; Kelly notoriously married Aaliyah when she was 15 and he was 27, a union that was later annulled.

‘THE TIME HAS COME’

The New York indictment details lurid claims that Kelly operated a crime ring that systematically recruited and groomed young girls to have sex with him, locking them in their rooms at hotels when he was on tour, instructing them to wear baggy clothing when not with him, “to keep their heads down” and to call the singer “daddy.”

Many of the “recruits” were under 18-years-old, say prosecutors, who among other disturbing allegations say Kelly’s “enterprise” facilitated sex without disclosing a sexually transmitted infection the singer had contracted.

The indictment also says part of the ring’s job was to isolate girls and women, and make them “dependent on Kelly for their financial well-being.”

Federal judges in both Chicago and New York denied Kelly bail, citing a flight risk, danger to the community and the prospect of witness tampering.

Kelly has repeatedly denied all charges against him, including in an emotional interview with CBS news prior to the federal indictments.

“Whether they’re old rumours, new rumours, future rumours, not true,” Kelly said.

Along with his two federal cases and the Chicago state prosecution, Kelly faces state charges in Minnesota.

“I’ve never seen anyone face four prosecutions in four different jurisdictions at one time, the way Kelly is,” said lawyer Gloria Allred, who represents three of the alleged victims cited in the New York case.

“The allegations are very powerful, very disturbing,” she told AFP. “To put it mildly, this is going to be a real challenge for the defence.”

Kenyette Barnes, co-founder of the #MuteRKelly movement, is optimistic that Kelly will be convicted, giving alleged victims a chance to begin “healing.”

Compared to his 2008 acquittal, Barnes said today “there is this concerted effort to peel back the layers, to really unnest the nesting doll that is Robert Kelly,” she told AFP. “The time has come for R. Kelly survivors.”

“He has harmed too many young women and girls throughout his life, and has skirted accountability. And it’s time that that reign ends.”

AFP

According to a new report, Kanye West and JAY-Z will release a sequel to their 2011 collaborative album Watch the Throne by the end of the year. The revelation was made by web personality Justin Laboy, who has been a source on Kanye-related information as of late.

“Watch The Throne 2 coming end of the year. Kanye & Hov about to make history AGAIN,” tweeted Laboy when asked if another Throne album was in the works.

Added Laboy, “YES. HOV & YE back building again. They both rich enough to quit rapping, but the passion they share of making the fans happy got them back working.”

Watch The Throne 2 coming end of the year. Kanye & Hov about to make history AGAIN. #Donda #Respectfully http://t.co/OHBpBbVhGn

— Respectfully Justin (@JustinLaboy) August 6, 2021

YES. HOV & YE back building again. They both rich enough to quit rapping, but the passion they share of making the fans happy got them back working #Donda #Respectfully http://t.co/sKuvRpFwr7

— Respectfully Justin (@JustinLaboy) August 6, 2021

The host of Revolt’s “Respectfully Justin” was among the first to hear DONDA and report the July 23 and Aug. 6 release dates. He has remained close to Kanye’s camp and was seen on the live feed for DONDA from Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Kanye and JAY-Z squashed their beef and reunited on a surprise collaboration off DONDA, which Kanye debuted during his live-streamed listening event. On his verse, JAY-Z reignited talks of a WTT sequel.

“This might be the return of The Throne / Hova and Yeezy like Moses and Jesus,” he raps.

Jay-z and Kanye are the best collab since KFC and Taco Bell #DONDA pic.twitter.com/k0xyPQFoFM

— JDM (@Joshua__DM) August 6, 2021

Back in 2018, Kanye teased another Throne album despite his estranged relationship with JAY-Z. Prior to that in 2016, Kanye said that “there will never be a Watch the Throne 2,” revealing that he and JAY didn’t appear on the official version of Drake’s “Pop Style” due to issues between TIDAL and Apple Music.

throne2 coming soon

— ye (@kanyewest) September 8, 2018

“There will never be a Watch the Throne 2. You know why? Because that’s the reason why I wasn’t on the song,” he told fans during his “Saint Pablo Tour” in Seattle. “I wasn’t on the song ’cause of Hov, ’cause of this TIDAL, Apple bullshit. And this shit be getting me tight every time I perform this motherfu**er.”

BLOOMBERG

*Debt-Fueled Splurge May Cost Zambian President Lungu His Job

*Polling shows opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema has the edge after five failed bids for the presidency.

By Matthew Hill and Taonga Clifford Mitimingi
August 6, 2021, 7:00 AM GMT+2

Zambian President Edgar Lungu’s biggest selling point in the past two elections has turned into a liability in the lead-up to next week’s vote, making it his toughest challenge yet.

His party has built thousands of miles of roads, airports and rural health-care facilities during its decade in power. The spending binge has left the southern African nation with about $13 billion of foreign debt and culminated in a default that’s made life harder for Zambia’s 18 million citizens.

The currency slumped last year, driving inflation to the highest level in nearly two decades at almost 25%, and gross domestic product shrank for the first time since 1998. Lungu’s main challenger, Hakainde Hichilema, who’s unsuccessfully contested five elections, stands his best chance of winning so far. A businessman, he’s promising to fix an economy that he says the ruling Patriotic Front has broken.

“In all my years in politics, I have never seen such an overwhelming thirst for change,” Hichilema told Bloomberg. “After years of suffering, the public is desperate for change and a new start.”

While the pandemic has been a major contributor to the southern African nation’s malaise, its origins date back years. The PF has had an often-hostile relationship with private investors, including those in the copper mining industry — which has historically been the bedrock of the economy.

Hichilema, 59, says he can achieve an economic growth rate of more than 10% within five years if he’s elected, mainly by growing the mining, agriculture, construction and manufacturing industries. He also intends to seal a financing deal with the International Monetary Fund as soon as is technically possible and initiate debt restructuring talks with external creditors.

“We believe that the conclusion of the IMF deal will coincide with the conclusion of the restructuring,” he said. “An IMF package is essential for our economic recovery due to the large fiscal deficit and the unsustainable debt level.”

Election Pledges

Hichilema’s United Party for National Development has also pledged to implement stable and predictable policies to lure investment, lower the cost of doing business and tackle graft.

The PF meanwhile intends to establish a new regulatory authority for the mining industry, refine the tax system to ensure the nation derives more benefit from its minerals and complete roads and other unfinished infrastructure projects.

The debt the government has taken on has enabled it to transform the country, and discussions are ongoing about how best to deal with it, said Isaac Chipampe, Lungu’s spokesman.

“If you ask a Zambian to choose Zambia circa 2011 and now, they will choose Zambia 2021,” he told Bloomberg. “The debt won’t hurt our chances because we have delivered.”

Lungu, a 64-year-old lawyer who took office in 2015 and has sought to portray himself as a humble and pious leader through frequently publicized church visits in a deeply religious nation, has notched up some notable successes. They include improving the distribution of fertilizer to small-scale corn farmers, which resulted in record production of the staple crop this year.

Expensive Roads

While the nation’s transport links have improved, many of the large infrastructure projects were initiated by Lungu’s predecessor, Michael Sata, who died in 2014. Their construction has been clouded in controversy, with a World Bank report showing that Zambia’s roads cost as much as double the continental average.

Zambia’s debt has surged since the Patriotic Front won power in 2011

The nation has also paid a heavy price for Lungu’s mining policies. Copper producers including First Quantum Minerals Ltd. have held back on expansion plans, complaining about an onerous and unstable tax regime, and their output has dipped this year despite prices surging to a record. Zambia produced slightly more than half the copper that neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo did last year, compared to almost double as much in 2010, the year before the PF took power.

The government has protected jobs by ensuring that two of the country’s biggest mines remain open, according to Chipampe. “We shall continue talking to potential investors, but we only want those who will increase investment and production and take care of our people,” he said.

Opposition Edge

An opinion poll published by Afrobarometer in May indicated that Hichilema has the edge in the Aug. 12 election. Of the 1,200 people surveyed, 24.8% said they’d vote for his party and 22.8% for Lungu’s, while 38.9% declined to give their preference.

“These are the most unpredictable elections in Zambia since independence,” said Zaynab Mohamed, political analyst at South Africa-based NKC African Economics. “Along with rigging, acts of violence and intimidation against opposition members raise concerns about the credibility and fairness of the polls.”

Lungu won 50.4% support in the 2016 election and Hichilema 47.6% — a result the opposition said was rigged, but failed to overturn in court. While Lungu assured European Union ambassadors in April there would be no foul play in the upcoming vote and the electoral rules would be adhered to, Hichilema said he hadn’t stuck to his word.

The police have used teargas and rubber bullets against opposition supporters and restricted its leaders’ movement in some ruling-party strongholds, while Lungu has campaigned freely, using government aircraft to traverse the country.

Besides Lungu and Hichilema, 14 other candidates are contesting the presidential vote — although none of them has a realistic chance of winning. A run-off must be held within 37 days if no candidate secures an outright majority in the first round.

— With assistance by Prinesha Naidoo, and Chris Miller

Credit: Bloomberg

LIFT SUSPENSIONS SLAPPED ON UPND LIKE YOU DID WITH KAMBWILI…UPND TELLS ECZ

By Ernest Chanda

UPND has asked the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to lift the suspension slapped on the party’s campaign activities in Lusaka’s Kanyama Constituency.

Last week, the ECZ suspended the UPND campaign activities in Kanyama after two PF supporters died when the two parties clashed.

But UPND lawyers have challenged the Commission to lift the suspension the same way they did for PF cadre Chishimba Kambwili.

The letter, addressed to the ECZ chief electoral officer Patrick Nshindano was also copied to the Attorney General Likando Kalaluka and the Inspector General of Police, Kakoma Kanganja.

“Your manner of umpire in these elections has been seen to be highly skewed in favour of the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) at whose behest you have been unfairly suspending our clients’ political activities in the aforesaid constituencies without hearing their side,” read the letter signed by M Associates senior partner Marshal Muchende and dated August 3, 2021. “Our client has also complained about the PF’s destruction of their campaign materials and violence but their complaints land on death ears from your end. This could not be more unfair! We therefore urge you to lift the suspension of our client’s political activities in Ikeleng’i, Sioma and now Kanyama constituencies and call upon you to host our client for an urgent meeting on Wednesday August 4, 2021 at your convenient time, so that they can give their side of the story.”

The lawyers argued that the UPND had been treated unfairly by the Commission as compared to the way it treated Kambwili.

They explained that if they wanted to be professional, they could have also included their client’s narrative.

“Comparatively, when you suspended Dr Chishimba Kambwili for uttering hate speech against our client’s candidate, you quickly heed to the PF’s outcry and lifted his suspension, but to date you have not replied to our letter of Friday July 30, 2021 calling for you to lift the suspensions in Ikeleng’i to give our client an opportunity to be heard,” the lawyers added. “Please note that we have professionally restrained ourselves from publishing our client’s narrative in this letter to obviate jeopardising police investigations. Our client reserves his rights.”

The lawyers complained that the suspension of the UPND Alliance activities in various places had been done too consecutively.

“We refer to the foregoing and note that we hold a brief of the Secretary General of the United Party for National Development (UPND), Mr Batuke Imenda,” said the lawyers. “Our client has instructed that you have suspended their campaign activities in Kanyama Constituency shortly after making a similar decision in Ikeleng’i and Sioma respectively without affording them an opportunity to be heard.”

OUR COLLECTIVE HYPOCRISY OVER PF SPONSORED VIOLENCE IS WHAT BEGETS MORE VIOLENCE.

By Richard Waga

Political violence is a product of our collective hypocrisy, spearheaded by President Lungu.

The pretence that our head of state cannot end violence with his powers or with a politically willed executive order.

Think about it. The same leader who has taken authority away from the police when it comes to PF cadres, is the same one suggesting that the police have failed. He deploys the arm to largely peaceful streets when he knows the terror cells PF thugs operate from.

As a nation we are all pretenders or deniers of the truth. The fact that PF systematically sponsors, abets and immunises violence is visibly and logically evident. The police, the church, the Media, HRC, NGOs, CSOs, PF and some opposition parties are all complicity to the escalation of violence due to their failure to hold President Lungu and his administration accountable.

All these organisation have shared the blame of violence between PF and UPND, even when they know PF is the perpetrators, provocateur, provoker, instigator and sponsor of violence. Most of these organisations are led by cowards who are scared on placing the blame on PF.

Other opposition parties even betray their fellow opposition UPND by blaming them as well, even when they know it is PF that’s always attacking them. To prove this there is no one who can recall an incident where UPND provoked or attacked PF. None, and yet we all want to drag UPND in the same pit of blame.

Denouncing violence has not worked, what has worked is the promotion violence and the impunity granted to PF thugs while police officers who try to stop it get fired. Lungu himself retired police officers who arrested PF thugs who were found with offensive weapons in Sesheke. What a hypocrite! A lot of crimes committed by PF with video evidence have gone unpunished including police station raids, radio station attacks, murders during bye elections, video threats, damage to property, etc.

Even when gruesome attacks are committed by PF thugs, Lungu has never had the guts to call them out and prefers to preach in general terms. The best proof that PF is violent is the mere fact that Police cannot guarantee any citizen safety if they walked in Lusaka with a UPND party regalia, this culture did not just happen, someone promoted it.

President Lungu should learn the difference between Commander-in-chief and Chief priest. Citizens do not expect Lungu to just preach peace, we expect him to guarantee peace. His number one jobs is to protect life, property and liberties of citizens. Domestic and national security are his priority and as commander of the police we expect him to enforce the law and not to just preach the law.

President Lungu has denounce violence more times than Mwanawasa did but violence has escalated because his words are just hot air. Mwanawasa’s words were backed with action and genuine political will and violence stopped. The buck stops with Lungu and never with HH or the opposition. HH himself has been a victim of Lungu’s violence before. Was it not Lungu who sent a death squad to HH house in the middle of the night and cruelly threw teargas in a bunker HH’s family were sheltering in? HH knows the ills of PF violence more than Lungu can ever imagine while Lungu knows the benefit of PF violence because that is what gave him the initial candidacy.

The logic is simple. As long as citizens are scared of holding Lungu and PF accountable, they will continue to use violence for political gains. As long as the police cannot investigate, prosecute and punish PF thugs we shall never know the masterminds of PF violence.

Let us be a country that treasures each life by collectively standing up and calling out the perpetrators and benefactors of violence, without shielding the authorities responsible for ending it.

HH’S LOVE FOR PEOPLE WINNING ZAMBIAN SUPPORT – LISWANISO

UNITED Party for National Development(UPND) National Youth Chairperson Gilbert Liswaniso says the UPND Alliance presidential candidate Hakainde Hichilema’s leadership of tolerance and love for people continues to attracting Zambians from all the ten provinces.

And Mr. Liswaniso says it is not by chance that the UPND leader is increasingly becoming a preferred presidential candidate in the race toward a citizen being elected as a Seventh (7th) Republican President.

Featuring on University of Zambia (UNZA) Great East Road Campus UNZA 91.7FM Lusaka Star programme on Wednesday 4th August, 2021, an optimistic Liswaniso said the crowds following Mr. Hichilema are largely new young people and first time voters, a majority of whom are eager to vote out the incorrigible PF due to lies and deception floated in the last ten years.

“We have had figures as UPND Alliance for victory during the time that PF was busy building mansions and denying us space to campaign through the draconian Public (POA), thus HH, Vice President, Mutale Nalumango, UPND Alliance partners and all of us were mobilising privately in all parts of Zambia’s ten (10) provinces, namely; Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Luapula, Lusaka, Muchinga, Northern, North-Western, Southern and Western. l can tell you that we were all over Zambia, even to places we previously had no numbers and these are the crowds you are seeing,” noted Liswaniso.

And Liswaniso has advised school going children eligible to vote to turn in large numbers and cast their individual and collective vote for free education on UPND Alliance ticket.

“l urge my youths still in school to exercise their inalienable right to vote on Thursday 12th August 2021. l know that the young people who are going to vote for the first time love Bally (HH) and I am confident that he is going to give us all free education and most importantly I plead with all Zambians to turn in large numbers and vote for change and economic liberation,”prayed a determined Liswaniso.

Meanwhile, the UPND die-hard activist is expectant that the inclusion of the security wing to help provide peace and order during the much anticipated victory is going to protect all citizens regardless of their individual and collective political affliation.

And Mr Liswaniso has directed all UPND youths and symphathisers to remain calm, united and fearless.

“With a few days remaining to poll day, we must remain united and all stakeholders in the electoral process need to guard Zambia’s credential as an oasis of peace,” said Liswaniso.

*UPND Alliance Media Team*

UPND has asked the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to lift the suspension slapped on the party’s campaign activities in Lusaka’s Kanyama Constituency.

Last week, the ECZ suspended the UPND campaign activities in Kanyama after two PF supporters died when the two parties clashed.

But UPND lawyers have challenged the Commission to lift the suspension the same way they did for PF cadre Chishimba Kambwili.

The letter, addressed to the ECZ chief electoral officer Patrick Nshindano, was also copied to the Attorney General Likando Kalaluka and the Inspector General of Police, Kakoma Kanganja.

“Your manner of umpire in these elections has been seen to be highly skewed in favour of the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) at whose behest you have been unfairly suspending our clients’ political activities in the aforesaid constituencies without hearing their side,” read the letter signed by M Associates senior partner Marshal Muchende and dated August 3, 2021. “Our client has also complained about the PF’s destruction of their campaign materials and violence but their complaints land on death ears from your end. This could not be more unfair! We therefore urge you to lift the suspension of our client’s political activities in Ikeleng’i, Sioma and now Kanyama constituencies and call upon you to host our client for an urgent meeting on Wednesday August 4, 2021 at your convenient time, so that they can give their side of the story.”

The lawyers argued that the UPND had been treated unfairly by the Commission as compared to the way it treated Kambwili.

They explained that if they wanted to be professional, they could have also included their client’s narrative.

“Comparatively, when you suspended Dr Chishimba Kambwili for uttering hate speech against our client’s candidate, you quickly heed to the PF’s outcry and lifted his suspension, but to date you have not replied to our letter of Friday July 30, 2021 calling for you to lift the suspensions in Ikeleng’i to give our client an opportunity to be heard,” the lawyers added. “Please note that we have professionally restrained ourselves from publishing our client’s narrative in this letter to obviate jeopardising police investigations. Our client reserves his rights.”

The lawyers complained that the suspension of the UPND Alliance activities in various places had been done too consecutively.

“We refer to the foregoing and note that we hold a brief of the Secretary General of the United Party for National Development (UPND), Mr Batuke Imenda,” said the lawyers. “Our client has instructed that you have suspended their campaign activities in Kanyama Constituency shortly after making a similar decision in Ikeleng’i and Sioma respectively without affording them an opportunity to be heard.”

THE ECONOMIST MAGAZINE

Aug 7th 2021 edition

Democracy in Africa

Zambia’s election is crucial, but it’s not a fair fight
Hakainde Hichilema deserves to be elected, but the world should prepare for a rigged vote

Aug 7th 2021

In the late 1980s Zambians, inspired by the changes sweeping through eastern Europe, demanded the end of their own one-party state. In 1991 Kenneth Kaunda, the country’s founding president, reluctantly agreed to multiparty elections. He lost. But in leaving office willingly, even personally removing the presidential pennant from his car, Kaunda ensured that his country was a trailblazer for democracy. By the end of the decade nearly every country in Africa had gone to the polls. During the commodities boom of the 2000s the economy of the continent’s second-largest copper producer grew by about 7% per year. Though far from perfect, Zambia seemed more likely to become the next Botswana (democratic and middle-income) than the next Zimbabwe (despotic and wretched).

How things have changed. Since it took office in 2011 the Patriotic Front (pf) has failed Zambians. In particular, under Edgar Lungu, president since 2015, corruption, human-rights abuses and poverty have all spread. The pf has increased external debt at least sevenfold, with loans spent on graft-ridden Chinese-built infrastructure. In June Amnesty International reported an “increasingly brutal crackdown” on opponents of the regime. Annual inflation is running at 25%, nearly the highest in two decades, and forcing 40% of Zambians to eat fewer or smaller meals, according to a recent study by a local ngo. Some middle-class Zambians are considering what Zimbabweans have done for decades: fleeing to South Africa.

All of which explains why the forthcoming elections matter. On August 12th Zambians should do as they did in 1991 and 2011—vote out the incumbent president. The main opposition candidate, Hakainde Hichilema, would be a huge improvement on Mr Lungu. The businessman promises to clamp down on graft, open serious talks with the imf about reforms and a loan, and win back the trust of foreign investors put off by the pf’s punitive policies of heavily taxing and seizing mines. Zambians seem to like his ideas. Academic analysis of polls suggests that, in a fair fight, he would win just over half of the vote.

Sadly, it is not a fair fight. The PF must have read a textbook on election-rigging. While campaigning, it has abused state resources, from handing farmers subsidies to using taxpayer-funded helicopters. It has corroded the guard-rails of democracy, dismissing impartial members of the electoral commission, installing pliant judges in the Constitutional Court, and co-opting civil-society leaders. The police have blocked Mr Hichilema from campaigning, citing pandemic rules which seem not to apply to Mr Lungu. pf stooges have intimidated the opposition.

There are also fears that, after the polls close, voting tallies could be altered and the internet shut off. Whether the declared outcome is an outright victory for one candidate or a run-off if no one gets over 50%, Zambia could see legal challenges, protests and blood on the streets.

Outsiders must hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Unfortunately, when it comes to criticising their peers’ elections, African countries are as toothless as an anteater. China, for all its pontificating about non-interference, usually backs the incumbent; the Chinese ambassador spoke warmly of the pf at the party conference at which it nominated Mr Lungu as its candidate, in April. America, Britain and the European Union often point out flaws in elections but are sometimes too willing to declare rigged votes “good enough”, as with Malawi’s stolen election of 2019. A year later Malawians peacefully overturned that dodgy ballot and voted for a new president in a re-run.

Anteaters with teeth

This would be harder in Zambia. Judges are less independent and the security forces have more guns. Still, Western countries can, for instance, warn against further violence and put pressure on the electoral commission to allow independent monitors to observe not just voting but the counting of votes as well. Western diplomats can also start to identify African mediators who could help in any post-election negotiations. They must not suggest that an election is passable by “African standards”.

Mr Hichilema has highlighted the stakes in the election. It could be the difference, he says, between recovery and “Zambia deteriorating into a broken economy and failed state”. Zambians should heed his warning. So should the rest of the world. ■

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Zambia’s crucial election”

Unpacking M&E with Dr Kanyamuna: PF out and opposition in or vice-versa must be supported by results and visions

If there was any other important day and date in every Zambian’s lifetime, it is Thursday 12th August 2021 – the day of the general election. More so, to every Zambian citizen fully registered to vote, Thursday 12th August mustn’t be treated like any other ordinary day. Because it is not an ordinary day, it is an extraordinary date on our calendar. It is an election that has come at a time when the country was at its worst in terms of development efforts and poverty had become heavier than wealth for the majority of citizens and households. Therefore, from what I see, 12th August is all about the Patriotic Front (PF) OUT and OPPOSITION IN or vice versa. But while this was true even in past elections, I believe Zambians need to be serious this time around by demanding for evidence-based political party ‘visions’ and ‘development results’. I further believe that in past elections, especially since 2001, Zambians voted for anything that came closer—songs, mediocrity, corruption, nepotism, favoritism, tribalism, regionalism, etc. As a result, Zambia has found itself in unprecedented misery and untold calamitous situation. Under the PF regime particularly, we have seen in the past ten (10) years some increasing gigantic scrambles for corruption, power, authority, greed, hatred, Satanism, violence against citizens, devilish-ism, killings, love of money and accumulation of unworked-for wealth, and other filthy lusts. On average, the leaders in the PF treated us with these and many other ills for their entire 10-year rule.

Despite the above, I think while it is still possible to use ‘high-grade’ emotions to judge the PF on their poor performance developmentally in this election, it is my considered view that Zambian voters must use ‘lens’ of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) as well as results-based management (RBM) approach. Thus, whether or not the PF must be replaced should be subject to reflections, assessments and careful diagnoses with regard to the type and nature of ‘vision’ and ‘development results’ they are placing before the Zambians prior to the 12th August 2021 elections. Similarly, the opposition political parties must also be elected or rejected on the basis of their ‘visions’ and clarity of ‘results’ they want to pursue and achieve for mother Zambia. I know that we differ in preferences, training, experience, language, tribe, faith, etc—but governance styles and systems bring all of us together. The living conditions of an average citizen should be the concern of any leadership. Our people dwell in either the rural or urban areas but their everyday access to amenities should be a matter of concern to leaders.

I am cognisant of the fact that the PF government and particularly its leaders and supporters have been arguing with sweat that the Zambian economy had been made better under their guard in comparison to previous regimes. Of late, we have heard statements from the PF leaders and sympathisers suggesting that President Lungu had out-performed all past presidents including Dr Kenneth Kaunda, Dr Fredrick Chiluba, Dr Levy Mwanawasa, Rupiah Banda and Michael Sata. While other Zambians have agreed with these claims, others have categorically rubbished such self-praises by the PF regime. For me, this is really my point of concern. If the PF regime was prudent, credible and accountable in the manner they governed, will Zambia be in the current situation socio-economically? If the ‘vision’ of the PF and the type and nature of ‘development results’ they pursued and achieved were all excellent as they claim, why is the country divided over people’s poor conditions of living? Is PF telling citizens that this is the best we can experience on earth? What are the visions of both PF and the opposition vis-à-vis tackling the mammoth challenges we face as a country?

Before the PF took over leadership from the MMD in 2011, it was lucrative to graduate from college or university and get an opportunity to work in the industry within a short space of time. Since 2011, how many children graduated from our higher learning institutions and have been employed? Since when did government float job adverts and conduct a credible recruitment process free from flaws? Teachers, nurses, economists, engineers, psychologists, accountants, technicians, plumbers, auditors, agriculturists, development experts, etc—how many of these have been put to use? How many are still roaming the streets without any hope for a job? How many Zambians have access to clean and safe drinking water, both in rural and urban areas? Does the civil service have adequate tools to deliver people development? Do line ministries and quasi-government agencies possess adequate budgets, equipment, personnel, systems, etc to transform the Zambian economy? Is the country forthright in terms of leadership vigor and credibility?

Under the watch of the PF regime, we have experienced a deteriorating mining sector, falling fiscal and monetary policy, scandalised agricultural sector, stunted energy sector, visionless and fragmented education sector, murderous health sector and corruptly run tourism sector. The manufacturing sector stopped to be competitive and thriving due to various factors caused by unattractive government policy and commitment to growing the economy. The majority of young people who desired to pursue a career in teaching, health, law, mining, agriculture, defence forces, sports, arts, etc have been left with a destroyed inner and self-determination. Opportunity has been left to political and family connections instead of merits and capabilities one possessed. We are facing these general elections with costs of living exponentially high. A mealie-meal bag is over K150 each and you need four bags in a month, 2.5 cooking oil is over K200, a bag of cement is K150 and you need 300 to 500 bags or more to build your family house. What is the cost of fuel, sugar, electricity, kapenta, kandolo, transport, water, school fees and charcoal in your location? What about bank lending rates, exchange rates for our Kwacha and other hard currencies? Are your children or siblings in school or employment? Why are many children abusing drugs and living hopeless lives? Thousands (‘000s) of teachers and nurses, including doctors are languishing at home, no jobs—why? Why is the cost of one bag of fertiliser fetching almost K800? Who will manage to grow food at such high cost of farm inputs? Why are Chinese nationals getting vast land in Zambia while citizens are turned away with impunity? Why has our national debt sky-rocketed to over $20 billion yet we cannot show quality investment for it?

I have highlighted a few result areas above which must be used to make decisions in the forthcoming general election. We need a visionary leadership with a clear results-orientation. One with character and commitment. PF is getting into this election from a very weak perspective if we use the above barometer because this political party has brought Zambia this far—untold misery and deprivation developmentally. However, it is up to the Zambians to keep hoping that under a renewed vision, the PF is still worth entrusting. But what is the renewed vision and results for PF? Therefore, and most importantly, which opposition party will redeem Zambia from these many ills the PF brought us? Do they have vision and clear results to pursue? Aluta continua (struggle continues) for a thriving and inclusive Zambia.

Dr. Vincent Kanyamuna holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Monitoring and Evaluation and is lecturer and researcher at the University of Zambia, Department of Development Studies. For comments and views, email: vkanyamuna@unza.zm

Zambian Democracy’s Biggest Test Yet

Jeffrey Smith/Vanguard Africa Foundation

With the August 12 election exactly one week away, our founding director Jeffrey Smith writes that alarm bells should be ringing well beyond the boundaries of this southern African nation.

As one of the few countries to have experienced multiple democratic transfers of power, Zambia has long been considered among Africa’s more promising democracies. During the most recent transfer of power following the 2011 election, the electoral commission remained steadfast in the face of government pressure to fix the results. Despite legitimate misgivings about incoming President Sata’s commitment to democratic principles – as well as the authoritarian populist leanings of his Patriotic Front (PF) party – there was a sense of optimism that a democratic Zambia would persevere. A robust political opposition, a capable and vibrant civil society, and a host of independent media outlets, whose editors were not beholden to the ruling party, all supported this positive outlook.

2011 now feels like a very long time ago. Major warning signs were apparent in the lead up to and during the previous election in 2016, prompting dire forecasts about the future of the country if political reforms failed to gain momentum. Since then, a December 2020 Afrobarometer survey revealed that 75% of Zambian respondents now believe that their country is “going in the wrong direction.” Unsurprisingly, the same survey showed a significant dent in the popularity of the ruling party, with the number of respondents indicating that they would vote for the PF dropping from about 45% in 2017 to only 23% in 2020.

The ruling PF, led today by former defense minister, President Edgar Lungu, has presided over a period of pronounced political and economic decay, including massive democratic backsliding in the country. In fact, Zambia is one of the fastest eroding democracies in the world, according to the Varieties of Democracy Project, one of the most trusted sources of information on democratic progress and regression worldwide.

Over the past six years, the Lungu government has taken an increasingly reckless posture towards the political system and civil liberties of Zambians by harassing civil society groups and jailing activists; introducing and imposing harsh laws that muzzle dissent; tolerating and even encouraging excessive use of force by the police; manipulating the pandemic to tilt the political playing field in its favor; and most recently, deploying the Zambian military in key urban areas, a move that observers have criticized as an attempt to instill fear in the population and dissuade opposition supporters from coming out to vote next week.

The ruling party also forced through changes to the constitution that enabled Lungu to stand for a third term in the first place. And they have used accusations of treason and sedition in attempts to silence their chief rivals. This included the 127-day imprisonment of opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, who is once again the main presidential challenger. Overall, Hichilema has been arbitrarily detained by Zambian authorities on fifteen separate occasions.

The divisive impact of the strategies employed by the Lungu government, and his henchmen in the country’s security forces, has been thrown into particularly sharp relief by the recent death – and period of national mourning – for founding father and former President Kenneth Kaunda, who was known for his efforts to promote national unity.

The country’s electoral commission, too, once broadly trusted after presiding over several transfers of power, has made a series of cynical decisions that have undermined the election’s integrity – this has included closing off legal avenues for election observers as well as political party agents from scrutinizing vote tallies. Even the electoral register – the cornerstone of any legitimate poll – appears to have been manipulated to benefit the ruling party. The full extent of this suspected malfeasance is unknown because an independent audit of the register has been prevented, despite this being an otherwise common practice in Zambia.

In light of these serious concerns, many Zambians are bravely speaking out, warning that next week’s high stakes election could result in political unrest. The rising tensions – fueled by an atmosphere of intimidation and fear, according to Amnesty International – prompted the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops to issue a frank assessment in which they expressed concern about political violence. Undoubtedly, the prospects of violence are greatest if the government seeks to overturn a clear opposition win, which many observers believe is a near certainty should the election remotely resemble a free, fair, and credible vote.

Perhaps no other country – and no other upcoming election – better encapsulates the increasingly pitched global struggle of our day in which the forces of elite authoritarianism and popular demands for democracy are clashing. Indeed, Zambia’s election next week will be critical to prospects for the southern Africa region, and is in many ways a tipping point election.

It is thus incumbent upon all of us concerned with these crucial issues, in Africa and elsewhere, to do what we can to shine a sustained spotlight on this evolving situation. By doing so we can provide resolve to democrats on the ground, while also putting Zambia’s political leaders and authorities on notice that the world is watching with a keen interest, as it rightly should be.

Jeffrey Smith is the Founding Director of Vanguard Africa and the Vanguard Africa Foundation. You can follow him on Twitter at @Smith_JeffreyT