PF IS ‘WORST LEADERSHIP SINCE COLONIAL MASTERS’ – HH

United Party for National Development leader Hakainde Hichilema has branded the incumbent Patriotic Front government “The worst leadership since the colonial masters”, urging voters to back a change of government in August.

Speaking on Wednesday to a consortium of small and medium-sized business owners, as well as taxi and bus drivers from Central, Luapula, Eastern and Northern Provinces, Mr Hichilema complained of the unprecedented levels of poverty faced by many in Zambia.

“At my age, I have never seen the people of Zambia suffer the way they are suffering [now]. This BOMA is worse off than the colonial regime. That is why we need change,” said Hichilema.

He stated that, if elected to office, the UPND would prioritise the creation of a nurturing business environment and support small business across Zambia as a matter of urgency.

The opposition leader also used the opportunity to bash the government’s recently passed Cyber Security Bill, which he branded a ‘draconian’ piece of legislation used to ‘gag’ citizens.

The bill, which was passed earlier this month, will give the government unrestricted power to listen in to Zambians’ conversations without a court order. All internet communications will be subject to real-time and full-time monitoring, overseen by the Central Monitoring and coordination Centre, which is in turn answerable to the department for government communications.

The bill has been criticised by a litany of civil society organisations, with Chapter One Foundation executive director Linda Kasonde warning it has the potential “to facilitate and even enhance the wanton surveillance and censorship of members of the public through interception of communications.”

Addressing the rally on Wednesday, HH promised that no media house would be shut down under his administration and that his government would immediately reverse the cyber law, instead using the internet to promote wellbeing and prosperity.

“They want you to stop using internet,” he said, “This is the channel we are going to use to deliver health care to our people. We will use technology to deliver services to our farmers. Our duty is to use internet so that when there is an accident drivers can easily notify the insurance company to come to their aid”.

Hichilema finished the rally by promising a week-long personal tour of the Copperbelt as part of the UPND’s efforts to reach voters outside of its traditional strongholds. He has also called on UPND members to go out into the district and mobilise voters.

RESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

25/03/2021

REF: WE COMMEND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH FOR STOPPING PF DONATIONS TO THEIR PARISHES AHEAD OF THE AUGUST ELECTIONS

Fellow country men and women in the few days the country has seen unprecedented dishing out of monies by PF leaders and their cadres duped as empowerment. As though this is not enough PF has instructed millers around the country to prepackage mealie meal in PF branded political images mostly that of president Edgar Lungu and PF ministers.

PF leaders have been going round giving money to various churches a situation that has shocked many citizens especially after the country defaulting on its loan payments.

This desperation by Mr Lungu and PF government has prompted the Catholic Church to stop all their local churches receiving any donations from the PF government charging that they feel the monies are meant to manipulate voters mind ahead of the elections.

We are grateful for this action by the church particularly the catholic community. What Lungu and PF are doing to this nation is insulting. There is no way after stealing public resources, today Lungu and his government can resurrect into messiahs. PF is a government of thieves who have robbed our nation of millions of dollars and now want to take advantage of the high level of poverty that, they themselves have created. PF have cursed themselves to think they can buy the church in such a manner. And it is an insult to see Mr Lungu Making headlines that Zambians are living well. Yes PF leaders are living well because they are thieves. They have stolen public resources and they don’t feel the pressure ordinary Zambians are going through now.

This is why we have always argued and remain against politicians attempting to be above the church. The church is our last bus station because some politicians cannot be trusted.Let the church be respected. We would also want to warn Mr Shindano and Mr Esau Chulu that Electoral malpractice is not only stealing votes but doing what PF wants them to do, it is criminal. We are keeping records of what is going on and one day some one will answer. ECZ don’t set the country on fire please. Level the political playing field and be transparent.

Issued by

SIKAILE C SIKAILE
GOOD GOVERNANCE AND HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST FOR ZAMBIA AND AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

It is very tempting to think that the Nkunika case’s question was just about a Grade 12 Certificate. It is bigger and much graver than that. The real issue with the Nkunika case is how the Constitutional Court has approached this whole issue of constitutional interpretation. The philosophy underpinning the Constitutional Court’s decision is seriously problematic. It presents a real danger to the growth of our democracy and the growth of the Constitutional Court’s own constitutional jurisprudence.

The Zambian Constitution requires that for one to be able to stand as a president, MP, or councillor, they must have as a minimum academic qualification a Grade 12 Certificate or its equivalent. This requirement should not be controversial at all. It does not require that all applicants show a Grade 12 Certificate. Instead, Grade 12 will be the minimum education required, leaving the possibility that those with tertiary education, which is factually superior to a Grade 12 certificate, should have no problems qualifying. In other words, applicants can choose to take their bachelor’s or even masters degrees to the nomination centre. This should not be a barrier at all. This interpretation was, in fact, what Justice Sichinga ruled in the 2016 case of Sibongile Zulu v. Attorney General. According to Justice Sichinga, a person like Ms Zulu, who had tertiary professional education, met this constitutional requirement as they had an education superior to a Grade 12 Certificate. But this interpretation has hit a roadblock with the latest ruling from the Constitutional Court.

The Constitutional Court is wrong in that they have decided to interpret ambiguous provisions of the Constitution that excludes rather than include as many Zambians as possible. It is a rule of constitutional interpretation that where the Constitution is vague – interpreters should approach the text liberally to give rights to as many people as possible. Constitutional rights are not like employment rights determined by the employer, such as ZANACO or AIRTEL. ZANACO can choose which job requirements are needed for one to work as a cashier. If they wanted, they could mandate that applicants possess a Grade 7 certificate. And if this requirement is clearly and unambiguously stated as a qualification for the cashier’s job, then it must be had.

On the other hand, our country’s Constitution applies to all citizens. The Constitution is the primary custodian of both the general and special rights of citizens. Zambians cannot claim to have more rights outside the Constitution of their nation. As such, where the Constitution is ambiguous, it is the duty of the Constitution to so construe ambiguous legislation liberally to catch more people than exclude people.

What the Constitutional Court has done in the Nkunika case is to violate basic tenets of constitutional interpretation. The Court has decided to be exclusive rather than inclusive. The Court has decided to play favourites with the few rather than try to be as inclusive as possible. Indeed, if it were Parliament’s intention to exclude people like Ms Sibongile of the 2016 case, the Constitution would have said so. It did not. Having not explicitly excluded people with tertiary but no Grade 12 Certificates, the Constitutional Court had no duty to exclude these people. It is not just right.

It is not because we do not like the Grade 12 Certificate being the only requirement when we say this. The problem is that the Constitutional Court cannot impose upon the Constitution what the framers of the Constitution did not impose. The Court cannot properly develop its jurisprudence if it continues to see every opportunity to deny rights, where the framers of the Constitution did not intend to deny or restrict rights.

We have already been told, several times, that the intention of Parliament was that we should have educated people in Parliament who could carry out meaningful debates. Indeed, working from this intention, we can deduce very clearly like people like Sibongile Zulu, even if they lack a Grade 12 Certificate, have sufficient education to meaningfully debate in Parliament. A more liberal approach to interpreting this Grade 12 requirement would not betray parliament of an educated cadre of legislators.

But the Grade 12 requirement aside – the Constitutional Court’s approach betrays the very reason for this Court. And for the Constitution.

Elias Munshya can be reached at elias@munshyalaw.com

KABWATA PF member of parliament Given Lubinda says he will not recontest the seat in the upcoming general election.

Addressing journalists in Lusaka yesterday, Lubinda who is also justice minister, however said he is recontesting his position in the ruling party’s central committee.

Lubinda is the PF central committee’s current chairman for agriculture and livestock.

“Today, therefore my dear friends, I’ve just come to confirm that I have not applied for adoption as a candidate; not for Kabwata and not for any constituency. I must confess that I have been under tremendous pressure. However, I made a decision in 2019 that 20 years of parliamentary business in a country such as Zambia is quite an achievement,” he said. “There were some speculations yesterday (Tuesday) that I had pulled out of the adoption process. One does not pull out of a system that they have not joined. So, those who have made it their business to dislike me, please on this one don’t malign me because the decision I made, I made it in 2019. And I made that decision after wide consultations with my seniors in the party, with my contemporaries, and I have stood by that decision.”

Lubinda stressed his recommitment to PF, vowing to campaign heavily for its presidential candidate.

“And again, for the sake of avoiding any speculation, if I’ve ever been a weak member of the Patriotic Front, today I want to say I redouble my commitment to the Patriotic Front…I feel extremely energised to go out there and build the Patriotic Front,” Lubinda said. “Lest again I’m misunderstood, I enjoy a very cordial and happy relationship with the leadership of the Patriotic Front. And for members of my party, I’m launching my campaign very early. I am recontesting my position in the central committee of the Patriotic Front. And I’m availing myself to campaign countrywide because, like I said in Kasama, I see no real viable option to Edgar Chagwa Lungu.”

Lubinda gave accolades to Kabwata residents

for allowing him to serve as member of parliament for 20 years.

“Kabwata is a highly cosmopolitan constituency. People in Kabwata do not vote on the basis of tribe. People in Kabwata cannot be considered captive; captive in the sense that when one blows the whistle in one direction, they all follow,” he said. “The people of Kabwata can be called the most cosmopolitan in the whole of Zambia. And for them to have continuously given me the mandate to serve them, it’s honouring. And certainly, I’ll go to my grave with a heart that is indebted to the people of Kabwata Constituency. I shall forever remain indebted to them for nurturing my political career.”

On his achievements over the last two decades as a lawmaker, Lubinda had quite a catalogue.

“Over the last 20 years, Kabwata has seen the introduction of more schools than any other constituency in the country. I’m really honoured to have been part of the development where almost all the roads in Kabwata Constituency are tarred. There are more tarred roads in Kabwata than any other constituency in Zambia; and that has happened over the last 20 years,” said Lubinda.

“So, make no mistake, that development started in 2001. And as you all recall from 2001 to 2011 the humble servant of the people of Kabwata was not in government. Today, I am proud to look back and see that what used to be a clinic (Chilenje) is now a Level One Hospital. Today, I’m humbled to say areas which had nothing to be referred to as a dispensary have a semblance of a clinic. I’m humbled to have been there with the people of Kabwata when we constructed new police facilities throughout the constituency. I’m humbled to have been there when close to 80 per cent of the households in Kabwata are connected to water; unlike any other constituency in the country. I’m humbled to have been there when Kabwata Constituency moved from number 71 on the human development indexes, a position obtained in the year 2000, to becoming number one in the country in so far as development is concerned, as was reported in 2014. Seven years later in 2021, Kabwata has still maintained that record as the most developed constituency in the country.”

PF, UPND in adoption dilemma …Will Jonas Chanda stick to PF?

Now that most of the political parties especially the biggest competitors, PF and UPND are about to adopt their preferred candidates to contest in the August 11, defections and divisions will become the holder of the day due to the nature of politics we have unfortunately found ourselves in.
Aspiring candidates in both the PF and UPND are flashing out money like no man’s business.

Breakups and divisions are inevitable ahead of the forthcoming elections because those aspiring candidates who feel they are popular but are left out of race will certainly opt to either join other existing political who go as independent candidates depending on the situation.
One might argue and most aspiring candidates when asked what they would do if they are pushed to the wire, they respond that they are going to be loyal to the party but the truth is the opposite especially in these elections where ambitious candidates have been allowed to campaign. Most of them have lost money hence the only mitigation is for them to get to parliament so that they recover their hard-earned resources.

Kabwata Constituency has been put on spotlight. It is in this Constituency where PF aspiring candidates are throwing money to candidates as if there is no tomorrow. So being left out in the race in this Constituency means one has been killed financially. Therefore, I don’t think any PF candidate would take it kindly when they pushed to the wire. In short, Danny Yenga may not campaign for Clement Tembo or the other way round if he is not adopted to contest the elections on the PF ticket. Time will tell but as Kwacha, we don’t think that will be a case.

There is a classic example to what we are talking about…in 2016, in his usual way of politics, Hakainde Hichilema disgraced Dr Canisius Banda by appointing Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba as his Running Mate. What happened thereafter? Dr Banda who promised to remain loyal to the party was later accused of holding clandestine meetings with PF officials and the rest is history.

There are many examples we can give- According to the Lusaka Times, Health Minister Jonas Chanda was on Tuesday left sweating after he miserably lost the vote in the race to be re-adopted to stand as Bwana Mkubwa Member of Parliament on the PF ticket.

According to the score sheet obtained from the Constituency Executive Committee, Dr Chanda lost the vote to his main rival Warren Chisha Mwambazi after the incumbent only managed to get four votes out to the 20 available.

This saw Dr Chanda go into a frenzy and confiscated the score sheet and forced the Acting Constituency Chairman a Mr. Chitalima to go into hiding in an attempt to disrupt the process and nullify the vote.

This is what we are talking about. If PF and UPND are not careful, they will go down owing to their poor adoption process. There will be serious divisions and splitting of votes, leading to the rerun.

In our assessment, it could have been better if adoptions are made long before the General Elections so that the political parties can find solutions if there are eminent division and defections arising from the adoption process.

By Sishuwa Sishuwa.

ZAMBIA MAY BURN AFTER THE AUGUST ELECTIONS. HERE’S HOW TO PREVENT THIS.

If Zambia descends into large-scale political unrest after the 12 August general elections, there are three major factors that would have driven the country to that outcome. These include the public’s increasing lack of trust in (and outright contempt for) formal institutions such as the judiciary, the Electoral Commission of Zambia and the police as arbiters of the contest between those who wield state power and those seeking to acquire it.

A second factor is that this is a high-stakes election, featuring two ruthless groups of political elites. One wants to perpetuate its stay in power to continue accumulating resources and to escape possible prosecution and imprisonment; the other seeks to win power to prevent a crushing end to its members’ political careers. Leaders and supporters of both groups see the August election as a matter of life and death and are likely to rebel violently against an outcome that does not favour them — particularly if the electoral process lacks credibility.

What has emboldened these two factors is the third: the incriminating silence of international, mainly Western, institutions and actors who once spoke out against human rights violations and murderous attacks on democracy, thus exercising some kind of leverage on the actions of the political elites in power.

A crucial reason for this silence is the decline in funding to Zambia from major world powers. For example, the UK, as part of its post-Brexit foreign policy centred on developing close ties with Southeast Asia, has “deprioritised” all but a few African countries, and Zambia has seen a 70% reduction in UK funding in 2021 alone. These huge cuts in support might explain the diminishing influence of the UK and other Western powers on governance issues in Zambia.

At the heart of why Zambia may burn, however, are the first two factors. These have been greatly shaped by the reprehensible actions of President Edgar Lungu’s authoritarian regime, which has:

made a mockery of Zambia’s democratic tradition and effectively eliminated constitutional and lawful means of political competition for the occupation of government;
effectively destroyed the vestiges of autonomy in all state institutions outside the executive arm of government for the purposes of establishing an authoritarian regime and a slide into a fearful dictatorship. The president has carried out this task with considerable ease, impunity and skill, employing a line of political rhetoric and well-concealed hypocrisy that went unrecognised until it was far too late;
loaded the courts with judges loyal to the regime;
turned the police into a political tool to be unleashed on critics and political opponents and armed it to the teeth;
collapsed the economy, turning millions of Zambians into fearful beggars easy to corrupt and bribe;
deeply polarised Zambia on ethno-regional and political lines;
weakened the trade union movement to a point of rendering it useless to the working class;
generated mass youth unemployment, massively grown prostitution and youth dependence on alcohol and drug abuse, swelled the ranks of street kids and orphans, exploded the number of violent crimes, increased youth remand and imprisonment, and produced a generation of young people without hope eager to be deployed for political violence;
paved the way for bribery and corruption to thrive on a widespread scale and to destroy even the moral fibre of the leaders of the church, many of whom have been converted into party cadres;
destroyed some and weakened and intimidated most of the private media;
used sustained neglect, financial strangulation and bullying to turn public universities led by the University of Zambia into upgraded secondary schools and ghost institutions;
created a new, dubious voters’ roll to make it nearly impossible for Lungu to be evicted from government through elections;
enacted a punitive cybercrime law to police the use of social media, legalise spying on citizens and arrest free speech;
recreated “party cadres” as the informal police terrorise citizens who do not toe the line or identify with the wishes of those in power. These cadres have become perfect tools for the corrupt and violent political elites to deploy against their political opponents. Sadly, mass unemployment provides an endless supply of desperate, impoverished youths as “party cadres” for the violent political elites to deploy as they see fit; and
stockpiled weapons to kill potential protesters in the event of a flawed election outcome.
The net result is a country waiting to explode because of collapsing institutions, deep polarisation, mass poverty, intolerable levels of unemployment, extreme inequalities, restless and violent party cadres; and desperate political elites. In this context, a flawed outcome in the August election may turn out to be the spark that lights the simmering discontent.

The risk of unrest is greater in urban areas such as Lusaka and the Copperbelt, where the effects of economic decline are more acute. What we have before us, in short, is a powder keg a bomb being primed to explode. The good news is that this horrible potential fate for Zambia is not inevitable. We need to intervene and interrupt this equation. It can be done.

By we, I mean “we the people” particularly those in whose heads and souls the pitiful state of our subhuman existence has struck a chord; a movement, a mass movement of anger, critical of any “saviour” dressed our typical political clothes. We need to reclaim our agency in our own cause; our own liberation from oppression, domination and exploitation.

I recognise that this is a tall order, considering we are now thrust too deep in narrow ethnic, regional and political identities to come anywhere close to being a “people”. But we must rise above these confines and unite to ensure that the drivers of potential post-election violence as elaborated above have been sufficiently dealt with. Otherwise, we must wait for the rivers of blood and broken skulls. How can we avert this nightmare, this painful and disastrous fate?

The first step is to stop Lungu from securing an unconstitutional third term in office. The governing Patriotic Front and the Constitutional Court have the responsibility to do so and to help to prevent the dangerous slide into chaos. The next step would require us to confront the question of a successor to Lungu. If the status quo is a nightmare, the challenge is: How do we wake up from it? I come from a background where to be against wrong is to stand for what is good, but what is good must be created or named.

This would require us to examine, objectively and honestly, the manifestos, policies, internal democratic cultures and practices, and the quality of leaders of all existing political parties and measure them against how far they promise to take us away from the status quo that has reduced us to rubble. We owe this exercise to ourselves. I do not subscribe to saying “no more” to something, without at the same time saying “yes” to what must replace it. Without this dialectical thinking and practice, we are condemned to always lurch from one horrible political experiment to another. This is not the way.

No matter how unpopular and weak the alternative to the status quo is, it remains an alternative. It is the duty and full responsibility of a genuine and progressive individual to be fearless and think about practical, better alternatives that could move us beyond the current dependent economic system with its roots in our colonial capitalism which breeds the likes of Lungu in the first place, not to mention a pathetically timid, apathetic and impoverished population. Anyone who seeks to consolidate this system must be fought against with the tenacity of a wounded tiger.

Sishuwa Sishuwa is a Zambian historian and political commentator.

A box of matches will be costing K100 –Saunders …If PF remains in office

Political Analyst Dante Saunders says the rate at which things are moving and if the Patriotic Front(PF) Government is not kicked out of power on 12 August, 2021, people will start purchasing a box of matches at K100.
And Saunders said he does not care whether President Edgar Lungu will be on a ballot paper because he will be the easiest PF Candidate to beat in the forthcoming elections.

Speaking in an interview, Saunders said it is unfortunate that the biggest Zambian note is failing to buy a 25KG Meali-Meal bag.
The United States Dollar which was selling at less than K10 before the PF wrestled power from the Movement for Multiparty Democracy is now selling at K20 and prices of goods and services are skyrocketing at a fast rate.

Mr. Saunders said the PF has ruined the economy to an extent that most Zambians have been turned into beggars.

Said Saunders: “A K100 Kwacha note will be buying a box of matches if we don’t vote out the PF regime.”

He said the forthcoming elections will be a battle between the PF and the Zambian people who are feeling the heat of the failed economy.

“These elections will not be a contest between UPND and PF, no. Let them forget about Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND. The contest will be between PF and the Zambian people.”
And Saunders said the country is now degenerating into a failed State like Zimbabwe and if not careful, things may become worse than that.

He, however, said Zambians will not sit idle and watch the PF continue wrecking the Zambian economy.

Saunders added that the country is now degenerating into a failed State like Zimbabwe.

And the political analyst said President Lungu will be the easiest candidate to beat going by his mediocre leadership.

“If I had a political party, I would allow President Lungu to be on the Ballot paper because he will be the easiest candidate to beat,” he said.
President Lungu’s candidature has come under serious scrutiny with stakeholders saying he will be illegally on the ballot paper because his term that started in 2015 following the demise of Michael Sata comes to an end in 2021.
However, it is argued that President Lungu has only served one term, claiming that in 2015 he was finishing late Sata’s term.

For Immediate Release

TELL US WHICH BEMBA ROYALTY ENDORSED YOU AS THE NEXT PF PRESIDENT – MUMBI

Wednesday 24th March 2021

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Acting Vice President Edward Mumbi has challenged former NDC Interim President Chishimba Kambwili to disclose which Bemba royalty tipped him to be the next President of Zambia after August 12 Presidential and general election.

During a press briefing held yesterday in Lusaka the 23:03:21 the NDC Veep Mumbi told journalists that Kambwili is telling people that he is going back to the Patriotic Front to take over the party Presidency because President Edgar Chagwa Lungu is barred by the constitution to contest the coming elections.

Mumbi said all these are lies that Kambwili has the backing of the Bemba royalty because there is no royalty in the Bemba land backing Kambwili to run for the Presidency under PF.

He said the real things which has made Kambwili shift camp is that the lies he has been making of late are now catching up with him.

Mumbi now want Kambwili to come in the open not only to tell the nation which royalty is backing but disclose what constitutional issues will stop President Lungu from contesting the coming elections.

He said even the PF themselves have directed their minds to having President Lungu as the sole Presidential candidate.

He accused Kambwili of not only a pathological liar but also a man who take pride in peddling confusions wherever he goes.

Mumbi has advised the people that might be tempted to believe in what Kambwili is saying to ignore the ranting.

Mumbi further said, CK does not accept any wrong because he carries a criminal mind. His desire for criminality is very high.
It has been a challenge to advice Kambwili and he is an embarrassment to the NDC family.

He has repeated his criminal conduct and this kind of behavior is CK’S blood.

He alleges that Kambwili is not only a criminal convict but also a liar in a country of laws and decency.

Kambwili has been telling NDC members that he is going to PF to stand as pf President as angered by President Lungu on account that President Lungu is barred by the constitution and was advised by the bemba royalty.

He was advised to hold on to NDC a little bit long as he prepares the way.

If this is true what constitutional issues does President Lungu has?

Which bemba royalty which has advised Kambwili to go for the PF President in the 2021 elections?

Lastly Mumbi, said Kambwili must answer these two questions. Failure to which he is a self confessed liar and adviced Kambwili to stop harassing NDC members as he awaits to become PF president.

Issued by: Kirby Kaoma Musonda THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS (NDC) party Deputy Media Director
+260977566326

By Elias Munshya

President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa (Zambian President from 2002 to 2008) was a controversial figure. Without a doubt, he has gone into history as one of the most controversial presidents. Several things about Mwanawasa are contentious. Just how he was called from political retirement to become Chiluba’s preferred MMD presidential candidate ruffled many feathers within the MMD in 2001. Legend has it that Mwanawasa was woken up from sleep to go and accept his candidacy at an MMD meeting at State House. Without effort, Levy would be king. Chiluba had famously dribbled several people in the MMD to push the Mwanawasa candidacy through. Ironically, one of those dribbled candidates was a potent MMD Secretary known as Michael Chilufya Sata. Ten years later, Sata would himself become President of Zambia.

Mwanawasa also proved to be contentious by the way he won the 2001 elections. Held during the December holiday season, the 2001 elections were contested by a record eleven candidates including Michael Sata, Nevers Mumba and Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika. What made the 2001 electoral result even more bizarre was how Mwanawasa beat Anderson Mazoka, by a single percentage point. Some political observers claim that Mwanawasa’s victory was stolen right from Mazoka’s nose. We, of course, do not have any evidence for all these allegations. For their part, the Supreme Court exonerated Mwanawasa from any electoral malpractice in the 2001 electoral petition.

Mwanawasa was also controversial in the way he chose to prosecute and, with it, persecute his benefactor President Chiluba and his close collaborators. No one escaped Mwanawasa’s wrath. Beginning from Chiluba’s political collaborators such as Michael Sata to civil servants such as State House senior staff, Mwanawasa made sure that they all faced police cells. Sata’s alleged crime was the theft of a motor vehicle. This was a non-bailable crime at that time. For Chiluba himself, it was theft of about half a million dollars.

With all these controversies, however, there is something for which we should all commend Mwanawasa. The way he handled, perhaps, the most vicious of insults any person can ever face: the state of one’s mental wellbeing. Shortly after the 1991 elections, Mwanawasa was involved in a very nasty accident where he almost died. He was hospitalized in South Africa for many months. His recovery was nothing short of a miracle. According to biographer Amos Malupenga, some of Mwanawasa’s closest associates and even Levy himself did link this accident with his short-temperedness and a slurred speech. According to Malupenga, in his own home, Mwanawasa had a nickname: the tiger. His children and his wife learnt over the years how to handle his temper.

The most vicious of insults, however, concerned the idea that Mwanawasa was a cabbage. The term cabbage meant that Levy had been so affected by the 1991 accident as to leave him without normal human faculties. He had become a vegetable – a cabbage. The idea that Levy was a useless cabbage became the punchline for Zambian opposition leaders. In one of the many protests against Mwanawasa, protesters would be seen hoisting cabbages in the air, sending a clear insult to Levy that he was but a vegetable. Opposition leaders Edith Nawakwi and Dipak Patel even faced a brief prosecution over the “cabbage” remarks in 2002. No doubt, calling Levy Mwanawasa a cabbage was an insult. And as such, the law that proscribes presidential insults and defamation covered it.

The way Mwanawasa handled this cabbage episode, however, teaches us a few lessons in leadership and indeed in the way leaders should handle insults. Before political leaders resort to using the courts or the police to resolve issues of insults, it would be better for them to have recourse to some specific tools that could counteract those insults. Mwanawasa had a choice. He could have started to arrest all the people who called him a cabbage. He could have banned cabbages too.

Additionally, he could have sent soldiers to arrest UNZA students who frequently hoisted cabbages when protesting. Instead of reacting in retribution, this is how Mwanawasa handled the insult. He simply rebutted it by claiming quite famously that: “I am not a cabbage, I am a piece of steak.”

With these few but powerful words, Mwanawasa added hilarity to a very difficult insult. He knew that he could not fight all the people calling him a cabbage. It would be difficult to do a tit-for-tat with everyone bent on annoying him. And he realized that he had a choice in the matter. And that choice was humor. When you react to insult with humour you pre-empt the enemy’s venom.

Only history will judge the Mwanawasa presidency. One thing remains true for sure: he managed to neutralise a very difficult insult. He indeed was that cabbage who became a piece of steak!

Note: This article is adapted from an article we published in January 2014 at eliasmunshya.org. It is reproduced here partly as a tribute to the 2020 commemoration of the life of President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa.

The author, Elias Munshya, can be reached at elias@munshyalaw.com

By: Peter Chola Mwanalesa

One area that President Edgar Lungu has scored high marks is infrastructure development, and roads remain on the top rung of his social-economic ladder.

Today, President Lungu will commission the newly constructed Munali bypass.

The Lusaka Decongestion Project (LDP) aims at redesigning the major road network, with a view to reducing traffic jams, travel time, travel distances and saving precious fuel.

AFCONS International, an Indian firm, has been contracted to build the roads, fly-over bridges and overpasses at a cost of US$389mn co-financed by the Government of the Republic of Zambia (15%) and Exim Bank of India (85%).

The 36- month programme has created jobs for around 1,000 Zambians, in line with the country’s employment drive.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the project took place on April 12, 2018 by President Edgar Lungu and Indian President Shri Ram Nath Kovind.

Last few years along the line has seen a massive change in Lusaka roads, with many of them transformed into four lanes, thus facilitating the easy flow of traffic, enhancing movement of people and indeed the conduct of business.

Scope of works include construction, rehabilitation and widening of 120.7 km of roads.

The project also includes improvement of nine junctions along with four new fly-over bridges.

Today, three bridges are already operational on Kafue Road, Arcades roundabout and Munali Roundabout.

One of the main features of the project is a new outer ring road from Kafue Road near Makeni area to the new Mumbwa Road.

It stretches to Lusaka West and joins the Great North Road on Chikumbi road in Kabwe and is dubbed the ‘Lusaka West Ring Road’ which has since been opened to traffic and has become the new highway for heavy goods trucks, easing traffic within the Central Business District (CBD).

A less congested CBD entails fast moving haulage (including inter-country) from Livingstone in the south to the Copperbelt in the north.

Other salient features of the project encompass:

• Dedicated bus lanes in the middle of the road

• Modern street lights to be installed • Some roads such as Kasangula, Lake, Mwapona, Nangwena, Alick Nkhata,, Munali- Mutumbi, Kamloops and Buyantanshi to be extended to four lanes

• Ben Bella, Kafue, Great East (from Kabwe roundabout to Palm Drive), Independence and Kalambo Roads are being extended to six lanes

• Further road expansions are being made at the Church-Cairo junction, Kabulonga roundabout, High Court roundabout, Longacres roundabout and Mosio-Tunya road

Statistics indicate that Zambia has more than 780,000 cars, with Lusaka accounting for 60%, representing around 480,000 cars.

UPND SHOULD APOLOGISE TO ECL AS WELL FOLLOWING KAMBWILI’S APOLOGY

By Marvin Chanda Mberi

As we reflect on the apology rendered by the betrayed National Democratic Congress leader Chishimba Kambwili, we are reminded by the famous quote from South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu who once said, “Forgiveness is not only to the forgiver, but the forgiven and the parties around the disputant parties.”

Going by that we find it a route worthy taking in the peace building process that Mr Kambwili had been obedient to his conscious and swallowed his pride and paraded himself before the nation and rendered an apology to the Republican President Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu and Lusaka Businessman Vauden Findlay over the remarks made in 2019.

It was not so politically attractive to make admission that Mr Kambwili once upon a time told a lie but it is a prudent decision that as a matter of necessity has to be made.

We are very well informed on the crowds that used to surround Mr Kambwili and cheered nearly every word that he said.

We may give them a benefit of doubt maybe they innocently cheered under a mistaken belief that it had stains of truth but we will hold the crowd that surrounded accountable if they do not do the responsible thing by following what their leader has done.

With all due fairness, at that material time, Mr Kambwili was the apparent Vice President of the alliance and his outrageous misguided statement was never disowned by the alliance.

By implication, the alliance had shown endorsement of the allegation that President Lungu was using the Presidential plane together with Mr Findlay to traffic the drugs.

In our view, if the UPND alliance didn’t support the statement, considering the gravity of the allegations, should have proactively disowned Mr Kambwili.

We can suggest that the UPND alliance politically benefitted from Mr Kambwili’s falsehoods as their success depends on painting President Lungu darker than the color black.

It is not a secret that the UPND alliance escorted Mr Kambwili during the timeline from arrest to attendance of the criminal proceedings.

They showed Mr Kambwili open sympathy and he was their darling.

That was an endorsement of whatever Mr Kambwili would have said at that time.

There are also some Civil Society Organizations aligned to the defunct UPND allice that used Mr Kambwili’s libel prosecution to accuse the Government of undermining freedom of expression and shrinking the political space.

Now that the author of the statement they passionately defended has retracted it, we know how they are walking out with shame with the sense of disbelief that there partisan veil has been unmasked.

Now that the principal author of the statement regarding President Lungu’s nonexistent drug trafficking, Mr Kambwili in particular, has apologized, we expect the beneficiaries of the statement the UPND alliance in particular to apologize to President Lungu for not distancing themselves from the statement by their former ally

Zambia’s main opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema says it will not be possible for the government to secure a bailout from the International Monetary Fund before general elections in August.

The Finance Ministry is targeting a deal before the vote, which would form the basis of talks to restructure its commercial debt, but few see that happening.

“A program before the elections is not feasible,” Mr. Hichilema said in an interview with Bloomberg from Lusaka.

“Why would you throw good money after bad, for heaven’s sake? No-one, who is sane, can do that.

President Lungu’s cabinet will dissolve along with Parliament on May 14, meaning time is extremely short for any agreement.

With fiscal sustainability at stake, the August presidential and Parliamentary polls will be key for the country that’s struggling to emerge from its deepest economic slump since 1994 and became Africa’s first pandemic-era default in November after missing an interest payment on a dollar bond.

It’s skipped two payments since, while it seeks a funding program from the IMF.

The IMF made significant progress in a virtual mission with the Zambian authorities that ended this month, and talks will continue in coming weeks, the Washington-based lender said in a statement March 4.

It said the government still needs to address debt and spending transparency, and stop building arrears for fuel and electricity.

That could entail price increases, which won’t be easy politically ahead of the elections.

Mr. Hichilema said the UPND, which narrowly lost to President Lungu’s ruling Patriotic Front in the 2016 election, will move quickly to secure a deal with the IMF if it wins.

He said the UPND would have a better chance of restoring sustainability with creditors as the ruling party created what he called a mountain of government debt, which the fund saw reaching 120% of GDP at the end of last year.

“We would go to the table with clean hands, with credibility,” he said. “There has to be a haircut. It has to be equitable. We don’t want one group of creditors holding debt stock to cross subsidize another.”

Mr Hichilema emphasized that all creditors should face equal treatment.

Zambia’s public external debt stood at $12.74 billion at the end of 2020, the Finance Ministry said Thursday, with about $3.5 billion owed to Eurobond holders.

Barclays Plc economists last month forecast creditors including Eurobond holders would exit the restructuring with a 20% haircut, and that’s a reasonable starting point for talks, Mr Hichilema, said.

ELECTIONS ISSUES
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With Simon Kabanda
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PREPAREDNESS OF POLITICAL PARTIES FOR AUGUST ELECTIONS
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Preparations for a next election begin immediately one election is over.

The last presidential and general elections in Zambia were held on Thursday 11 August 2016. The inauguration of the head of government, the Republican President, took place on Tuesday 13 September 2016. This means that the 2016 election was over on 13 September. Preparations for the next election, scheduled for Thursday 12 August 2021, were supposed to begin the following day, Wednesday 14 September 2016.

In 2016, nine (9) political parties participated in the presidential election. After the elections, how many of these political parties did a post-mortem of their participation in the 2016 elections? This should have been their first activity to prepare for the August 2021 election.

While the Patriotic Front (PF) and the United Party for National Development (UPND) got 50.35% and 47.63% of the total valid votes respectively, the other Seven (7) of these political parties got less than 1%: Forum for Democracy and Development (0.65%), People’s Alliance for Change (0.43), Rainbow Party (0.26), United Progressive People (0.25%), United National Independence Party (0.24%), Green Party of Zambia (0.12%), and the Democratic Assembly (0.06%).

The post-mortem should have helped them to critically analyse their performance. Lessons learnt from their past performance would have then helped them to plan to do better in the next election of August 2021.

Among the political parties contesting the presidential and general elections of 12 August 2021, which one started its preparations in September or October or November or December 2016? How many of them carried out a post-mortem of their participation in the 2016 elections?

Following the elections post-mortem, political parties should then embark on other activities such as re-organising and re-ordering their party. There should be membership mobilisation, and identification of leaders at various levels. Political parties are supposed to have leadership structures at national, provincial, district, constituency, ward, section and branch levels.

After re-organising and re-ordering their structures and leadership at various levels, they should then begin their outward activities to attract the electorate to them. For new political parties that have been formed after the 2016 elections, there is more work to be done to popularise them.

What a political party stands for should be made known to the electorate.

Between 2017 and today, how much have political parties been doing to attract the electorate to them? What unique features have they been presenting to make the electorate distinguish them? What ideologies have they been “selling” to the electorate? Do they even have ideologies that distinguish them from one another?

We are now less than five (5) months to the elections. How many political parties have publicised what they stand for? What they stand for should be documented in the party manifestos. And party manifestos are not supposed to be private documents. They should be publicised to the electorate. Different manifestos should help the electorate to identify the unique identities of political parties. Those who want to join a particular political party should be attracted by its manifesto.

Which of the political parties participating in the 2021 elections have made their party manifestos public? How many have made their manifestos user-friendly? Have they translated them in local languages? Have they produced leaflets on various issues in the manifestos to distribute to the electorate?

What other strategies are different political parties executing as they prepare to participate in the August elections? What messages have they come up with to attract the voters? What message of hope for a better life are they giving to the electorate?

Prior to the commencement of the voter registration exercise, I expressed a concern to one of my colleagues in civil society. I told him that I was worried that the voter registration exercise was commencing soon, and yet as civil society we had not done much to mobilise and sensitise and encourage the electorate to register as voters. He told me not to worry about this because the political parties, whose “life-line” in the elections was dependent on the votes would do that.

A few days before the closure of the voter registration exercise, this writer made a public note to leaders of political parties, as follows:

“A NOTE TO POLITICAL PARTIES
Dear leaders of political parties.
When the voter registration exercise closes on 12 December 2020, kindly produce numbers of people NOT REGISTERED as voters per polling station countrywide. This is extremely important.
SIMON KALOLO KABANDA
9 December 2020”

I think my colleague was wrong. To date, no political party has responded to this note, and none has produced numbers of people who have not been registered as voters, and not even the numbers of their members and supporters that have been disenfranchised.

Political parties, our observation is that you are concentrating more on de-campaigning others than campaigning for yourselves. This is not the message that should attract the electorate to vote for you. Tell the electorate why they should vote for you. Give them your message of hope for a better life beyond 12 August 2021. Publicise the content of your manifestos and explain how that would translate into bettering their lives.

Spend more time and resources on explaining to the voters why they should vote for you and less time on why they should not vote for the others,

(If you have any election related issue that you would like to be discussed on this column, kindly send a message to me either through sms, WhatsApp or email).

SIMON KALOLO KABANDA
Whatsapp: +260-761-206353
Email: shimwenya@gmail.com
20 March 2021
——————————————————————
About The Author: Simon Kalolo Kabanda is an Elections Monitoring Expert, with extensive elections monitoring experience since 1991.
He has also participated actively in the country’s electoral reforms.

By Kaleele Bwanga

Kasempa.

ANTICIPATED VOTE DISTRIBUTION BETWEEN PF AND UPND IN THE 2021 POLL.

CONVERSATION WITH MYSELF:

In 2016 President Lungu won by slightly over 100,000 votes. He got those over 1,800, 000 votes from 6 and half provinces of Copperbelt, Eastern, Luapula, Lusaka, Muchinga, Northern and the 6 northerly constituences of Central Province, while Hichilema got half Provinces, 3 and half of what ECL got: North-Western, Southern and Western Provinces, and the 6 Southern constituencies of Central Province.

It therefore goes without saying that with votes from 6 and half provinces President Lungu managed to get more than 1,800,000 while Hichilema with votes from only 3 and half Provinces got above 1,700,000! The total difference between the two was a paltry 100,000. This is less than the total vote for a rural constituency! Where did HH get the votes to threaten Lungu’s short hold on power? Obviously from the PF strongholds of Eastern, the Copperbelt and Lusaka…he put up a very strong showing in those provinces that a repeat of the 2016 performance in 2021 could have seen the PF tumble and bow out in defeat.

Herein then lies thefear, worry and desperation in the PF camp. In Conversation With Myself, a consequence of information reaching my desk from my moles in all the ten Provinces, on 12th March UPND and HH many not carry these provinces of Eastern and Muchinga but the haul in votes will be more in 2016.
He will not do well in Northern Province but will post a significant improvement in Luapula Province.

On the Copperbelt, HH is likely to rake in votes from the city and municipalities while ECL will be relegated to the rural constituencies of Lufwanyama, Masaiti and Mpongwe but lose in the rural towns of those constituencies.

In Lusaka, Lusaka Central, Munali, Kanyama and Matero will flip.

However in North-Western Province, PF will scoop 2 or 3 seats, while in Western Province the ruling Party will grab 4 to 5 constituencies, especially the new ones. This is owing to UPND’s failure to carry out an investigation to find out which of its serving MPs are vulnerable and need to be replaced. Loving somebody at the top doesn’t make that person win votes at the bottom. The party must find out the pipo’s choice in each election versus their own choice. We lost a seat in Western Province in 2016 while PF lost several to independents

If this be the case, HH and UPND will go thru with about 56% of the total tally. No one in PF would love to hear this but truth be told.

PRESS STATEMENT
22 ND MARCH 2021
PF IN ITS CURRENT FORM IS TOO WEAK AND VERY EASY TO DEFEAT
The PF leadership has been involved in so many scandals making it so unpopular and very easy to defeat in August elections. The PF leadership has lost respect and credibility from the majority Zambians. It is very difficult for PF to know its strength and weaknesses using bribery as a yard stick. Bribery is not a good tool to measure ones popularity.

PF wants Zambians to praise them for putting up disposable roads. This is like asking your children at home to sing songs of praise for buying them a 10 kg bag of mealie meal after squandering your pay. We all know that a good chunk of our money has been stolen by the same PF. Zambians will teach them a lesson that they shall live to remember.

On August 12 Zambians will be voting in order to kick out the entire PF and not individuals. Zambians have a bone to chew with PF for destroying their lives. PF cannot reverse the damage it has done to the economy. Zambians have been reduced to beggars by this PF regime. Zambians will be voting bearing in mind that PF has people who entered politics with no bank accounts but today are millionaires with offshore accounts.

Parents will be voting for the future of their children and grand children. Youths will be taking on PF for destroying their future; after spending so many years in schools, colleges and universities only to end up on the streets selling talk time. Mothers will be entering the polling booth knowing HH will fix the economy and reduce the cost of living. Fathers will be entering the polling booth with a view of kicking out PF for reducing their status in society and causing death to their friends that have died from depression.

Retirees will be motivated to kick out PF for failing to pay them their terminal benefits but declared them as a disaster, when it’s PF that has been a disaster to their lives. Employees will also wake up early in the morning and cast their votes in protest of being over taxed. Students will also queue up to fix PF for denying them 100% bursary. Other Zambians will fix PF for gassing and giving them expired drugs. This is what we call unity of purpose.
Percy Chanda
UPND – Chairman for Mines and Freedom Fighter

*LET US ALL TAKE CHARGE OF OUR DESTINY – HH
*…pledges to repeal the Cyber Security Bill-NAB2
Lusaka~21st March, 2021.
UPND President, Hakainde Hichilema
says Zambians only have one country therefore they should all get involved and take charge of their destiny.
And Mr Hichilema says that he is committed to restoring law and order immediately he is ushered into State House after 12th August, this year.

Addressing marketeers, small scale and medium entrepreneurs and tax/bus drivers from Central, Copperbelt, Luapula, Easterb and Northern Provinces this afternoon, Mr Hichilema reiterated that once in office, the UPND will create an enabling business environment to support the various businesses in the country.

He also bemoaned the unprecedented levels of poverty in the country, saying he has never witnessed such levels of suffering in his entire life.

“This is the worst leadership since the colonial masters. At my age, I have never seen the people of Zambia suffer the way they are suffering [now]. This BOMA is worse off than the colonial regime. That is why we need change,” said Mr Hichilema.
Mr Hichilema says the PF is trying to use the ‘draconian’ Cybersecurity Bill NAB2 to gag citizens and stop them from using internet services.

He says no media house will be shut and that political interference in the operations of the media would be a thing of the past immediately he is sworn in.

“No media house will be shut down during our tenure in official. One of the laws we are going to reverse is the cyber security Bill. I don’t whether Mr Lungu is going to sign the Bill, though I know he will. They want you to stop using internet. This is the channel we are going to use to deliver health care to our people. We will use technology to deliver services to our farmers. Our duty is to use internet so that when there is an accident drivers can easily notify the insurance company to come to their aid,” said

He has since promised a week-long mobilization tour of the Copperbelt.
“I want thank our colleagues who have travelled all the way from Copperbelt, Northern, Southern and any other part of the country who have joined us this afternoon. We want to thank you for coming here. I want to assure you that I will be coming to the Copperbelt and I will be spending a week there,” he said.

Speakinng during the same event, UPND SG, Batuke Imenda said that the the party had chosen to invite marketeers and drivers from the Copperbelt was as a result of the party’s resolve to bring everyone on board as the country goes to the polls on August 12th.
He also called on members of the UPND to go out in the field and mobilize voters, adding that his office would not allow party members to be lazy.

UPND Taxis and Buses Chairperson, Mr Mutale who led the Copperbelt delegation comprising marketeers and drivers from the constituency, district, and provincial stated that
Meanwhile, Gilbert Liswaniso, who is the UPND National Youth Chairperson, has called on UPND youths across the country to be alert and defend president Hichilema in an event that the Police moved in to arrest him over the Kalomo saga involving the Hatembo family.
*UPND MEDIA TEAM*

21/03/2021
UPND Mandevu constituency Aspiring MP Mr George Mapara has charged that no one can vote for PF under the current political and Economical Hullabaloo.

Mr Mapara said many youths are hungry and angry because of high unemployment levels which has led to hunger in the community and a normal youth who is unemployed or his business is struggling can’t afford to cast a vote on the ailing PF government.

Mr Mapara appealed to the youths and women in Mandevu constituency to vote for UPND and President HH on the 12th, August/2021 as UPND will prioritise the affairs of the youths and women in the country.

Mr Mapara said this when he joined UPND NMC member Mrs Grace Chivube commonly known as mama G, UPND Ngwelele ward Aspiring councillor Mr Boyd Khondowe and UPND Kabanana ward Aspiring councillor Mr chongo were they visited 3 Kabanana based branches until late in the evening.
And UPND NMC member Mrs Grace Chivube commonly known as mama G said time has come for the people of Zambia to liberate themselves by doing the right thing on the voting day. Mrs Chivube reminded the people of Kabanana ward in 3 branches not to Judge PF in 2 days just because they have offered you a bag of mealie meal but judge them for 10 years they have been in power without addressing many challenges the people have been facing.

And UPND Kabanana ward Aspiring councillor Mr Chongo encouraged the youths and women to mobilise more and vote in numbers on the 12th August elections because it is a special day for the people of Zambia to liberate themselves from the poor leadership of PF government.
Mr Mapara said if given an opportunity by the people of Mandevu constituency, he will make sure that the people of Mandevu are well represented and development shall be brought to the people.

Mr Mapara is amongst four UPND Aspiring candidates notably Mr Ross Josphat Kasikili, Mr Isidore Tetamashimba and Mr Aaron Mulope meanwhile the fifth candidate Mrs Harriet Bwale withdrew from the race due her busy schedule beyond her control.
@UPND MEDIA TEAM

SANGWA NOT LEGAL AUTHORITY, HIS LEGAL OPINIONS ARE NOT BINDING – UNZA DON

Zambia is recognized as a common law jurisdiction meaning it’s judicial system is based on English common law and as well as customary law. Our sources of law are the current statutory legislations and judicial declarations.

The Courts are the legally mandated institutions with the authority to interpret our laws. They interpret laws so as to explain or translate the meaning of a word or phrase contained within a statute.

An individual’s interpretation of the law is not authority but merely their own legal opinion. No lawyer has the equivalent authority as the Courts of interpreting the law. Being a State Counsel or Constitutional lawyer like John Sangwa does not give one the Constitutional authority of interpreting the law.

In pushing a Political agenda of the opposition, John Sangwa has embarked on a brutal and ruthless campaign of misleading the masses that President Edgar Chagwa Lungu is not eligible for this year’s elections. Mr. Sangwa is pretending to be defending the Constitution when he is only defending his opinion and that of his pay masters. The arguments he is now bringing out in the public were unsuccessfully argued by him in Court when this matter was taken before the Constitutional Court for interpretation by Dr. Danny Pule, Wright Musoma, Pastor Peter Canda and Robert Mwanza.

The applicants were seeking interpretation of articles 106 and 267, (1) President Edgar Lungu’s tenure and (2) his eligibility for 2021 elections. The Court was uncomfortable with the way the tenure question was phrased because it was personalised by the use of the name “Edgar Chagwa Lungu,” it rephrased it by removing the name Edgar Lungu but the substance of the question remained the same. The Court then ruled that the Presidential term of office that ran from 25th of January, 2015 to 13th September 2016 could not be considered as a full term because it was less than 3 years. Subsequently, the Court ruled that the second question regarding the incumbent’s (Edgar Lungu) eligibility for 2021 elections was otiose or unnecessary to answer because the it had exhaustively defined what a full term was.

As Counsel for the 1st interested party, John Sangwa was present in Court when the law was being interpreted, it’s quite shocking that a lawyer of his caliber, a state counsel for that matter can be the first person playing dumb and ignorant by disrespecting the Court’s interpretation using frivolous claims that the Court did not declare President Edgar Lungu as eligible for 2021 elections. I know for a fact that counting 14 days was a challenge for John Sangwa but I didn’t expect him not to know that President Edgar Lungu was the one in office when the Court ruled that the term that ran from 25th January 2015 to September 13th didn’t amount to a full term hence the arguments that he is not eligible for 2021 elections because he will have served two terms are unsubstantiated and groundless.

To be judged to have held office, one ought to have served a full term which must be at least 3 years, anything less is not a full term and doesn’t amount to holding of office at law. Come August when we will be going to the polls, President Edgar Lungu will be deemed to have served only one term according to article 106 (a) and (b). If John Sangwa is still not clear with the Constitutional Court’s clear interpretation, he is very much free to go and ask the Court for an interpretation because it is his right and he is no longer barred from appearing before the Courts.