Prior to the arrival of European travelers and subsequently colonialism, Africa has had its own political system. Not only has colonialism created a new struggle of unending attempts by Africans to adopt an “alien” governance system, but it has also equally placed the entire continent in the exploitive end of the capitalist economic system. For decades, African countries are yet to experience the dividends of democracy and its entities as it relates to economic progress and quality of life for the people.
Frustrated by the state of his country, renowned Malian – Salif Keita popularly celebrated as the golden voice of Africa joined the debate about the good of Democracy in the continent. In 2019, the musician stated in an interview with The Guardian that “Democracy is not a good thing for Africa. We were all happy to see Democracy come to Africa, but it destroyed the human sensibility.”
Salif Keita comes from a family of nobles and his ancestry can be traced back to the Keita’s Dynasty of Mansa Musa, the famous West African King. He is a native of Mali, a former French colony that gained independence in 1960 and like many Malians, Salif exasperated by the situation of his birth country blaming it on corrupt politicians and the adoption of western system of governance.
With lack of education on the intricacies of democracy and inequitable creation and distribution of wealth across the continent, Salif argued that it would be unrealistic to expect democracy to produce any meaningful progress on the continent anytime soon.
“To have a democracy, people have to understand democracy, and how can people understand when 85% of the people in the country cannot read and write? They [Africans] need someone who loves his country and acts for his country,” Salif argued in an interview with The Guardian.”
Since independence, populist leaders across the continent have been branded as dictators with some, for example, former Libyan head of State Muhamad Gaddafi, Congo’s Patrice Lumumba, and Burkina Faso’s Thomas Sankara assassinated. Many who were lucky like Kwame Nkrumah survived the assassination attempt but were deposed.
Presently, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda is branded as a dictator for his hardiness against critics and opposition whom he considers as individuals who want to disrupt the stability of the country. The highly admired East African leader equally argued that Africa does not have to adopt every European model for its development.
HAKAINDE Hichilema says political strongholds should not be based on tribe or regionalism but on policy.
And Hichilema explained that opportunity and hard work were the sources of his wealth.
Hichilema, the UPND leader, also strongly refuses any links to freemasonry.
He spoke on a programme dubbed National Matters on CAMNET TV on Monday night.
Hichilema said it should not be that if one is politically strong in Southern Province and they are UPND, “some people want to call it tribalism.”
“[But] when PF is strong in Luapula, some people call it a stronghold. We should not allow that to happen in our country and I want to be very clear about that. There will be strongholds in a democracy but what we shouldn’t do is [to] anchor those strongholds based on tribe or regionalism. It must be based on policy,” Hichilema explained. “We should reunite this country and one of our agendas as UPND is to reunite this divided country.”
He promised that a Cabinet of a UPND government would be representative of all the 10 provinces of Zambia.
“It doesn’t matter how the election results will come out…The Constitution allows us as UPND, like it allows the PF, to nominate members from all parts of Zambia. Eight are enough to be able ensure that on the UPND cabinet table there will be members from all the 10 provinces. [But] that is not the case today!” Hichilema noted.
On economic matters, the opposition leader indicated that his government’s fundamental approach to job creation would be to address the current declining economy.
Hichilema recalled that around 2014/2015, Zambia’s economy was growing at around six to seven per cent.
“[But] by the end of 2019, this had come down to minus two per cent – to be specific, 1.9 per cent decline, from six, seven per cent. There are no jobs that can be created by anyone! I’m talking about incremental number of jobs,” Hichilema argued.
“So, what we will do ourselves is to focus on economic growth. Growth will not come without investments – domestic and foreign.”
He added that a UPND government would stabilise monetary policy measures.
“We will make sure that there is a balance in statutory reserve ratios to release more liquidity into businesses to borrow…” Hichilema pledged.
“We’ll reduce expenditure – which means that we will not borrow money recklessly. Currently, our debt is almost $14 billion in foreign debt and another $4 billion to $5 billion in domestic debt. We will dismantle this debt…”
Meanwhile, when asked about whether or not he was associated with freemasonry, Hichilema responded that: “I’m not a freemason – I am an Adventist.”
“I don’t know what freemasons do. Maybe just like any ordinary person we can read about it… The person who accused me of being a freemason is known and unfortunately, for political reasons, he said it. It’s a complete lie!” said Hichilema.
“[But] I believe that him maligning me he has been promoted to get a job he didn’t deserve. But the fact remains that I’m not a freemason. I think there is a freemasonry society in Lusaka [and] the easiest thing is to go to that freemasonry office – wherever it is – I don’t know….”
I MAY be single, I may have had failed relationships, I may be divorced but this does not make me a high professional prostitute, Dora Siliya said in her testimony against photographer Cornelius Tukuta.
Siliya has taken Tukuta to court for defamation of character, for accusing her of being a ‘prostitute’.
Siliya, who is Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services and Petauke PF member of parliament, told the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court that Tukuta’s utterances on his Facebook page injured her reputation.
Meanwhile, the State has dropped one count of libel against Tukuta in which he accused Zambia Revenue Authority commissioner general Kingsley Chanda of taking pecuniary advantage of his position at ZRA by arm-twisting various businesses to give his companies Ciltax and Nishati business.
Tukuta later took fresh plea and denied defaming Siliya.
Allegations in the matter are that Tukuta, on May 26, 2020, on his Facebook page, published defamatory material saying “this Dora Siliya is hooking up girls, selling them to high profile men so that they can be sleeping with them. She is actually the highest professional prostitute. If Dora Siliya is refusing these allegations that she does not connect girls to high profile people for sex, let her come.”
In her testimony before chief resident magistrate
Lameck Mwale, Silya said on May 25, 2020 she received phone calls from Natasha Vandermaas, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Vincent Mwale and former special assistant to the president for political affairs Kaizer Zulu asking her if she was aware of what Tukuta had posted.
She said Vandermaas sent to her the pictures and the video Tukuta posted on Facebook.
“I was quarantined together with my son. He proceeded to show me a video of a man I had never seen. What angered me is the last 14 minutes of the video. I was incensed with the part where he (Tukuta) said Dora Siliya is hooking up ladies and selling them to high profile men to the effect that she is the highest professional prostitute and asking that all of you watching this video should show it to the whole world,” Siliya said.
“…I decided to make a formal complaint to the police. On June 2, I met with the police and made a statement. They asked why I was making a statement and I said I was being accused of criminal activities for selling human beings.”
Siliya said according to her understanding of simple English, a ‘prostitute’ engages in sexual activities for cash and for Tukuta to refer to her as a person who sells girls to high profile men means that she committed a crime.
“I felt angry and embarrassed as I am a person who has been a public servant for so many years since I work for government. I felt that it was damaging to my reputation and my family,” Siliya said. She said Tukuta’s utterances were injurious to her persona because she was of good character.
“I have paid a deaf ear to what is said about politicians and public figures but this is different because I am being accused of heinous crimes, especially that I advocate for women’s rights and that I mentor young girls. I do not sell human beings and engage in sexual activities for cash. I am a human being and I am infallible,” Siliya said. “Yes, I may be single, I have had failed relationships, I have been divorced but that does not make me a high profile prostitute or does not make me, that I sell girls to high profile men.”
In cross-examination by Mulambo Haimbe, Siliya affirmed that she had not given a specific date on which Tukuta alleged that she engaged in prostitution in a certain period.
Asked if she could recall that The Mast Newspaper had published a story in which Mark Mubalama called her a prostitute, Siliya said she did not read the newspaper but that everyone knew she was in a relationship with the businessman.
Siliya confirmed that she did not take a legal action against Mubalama for calling her a prostitute.
Asked if there was a story attributed to her supporting the use of bottom power to get to the top, Siliya confirmed but denied it was true.
Asked if the connotation of using bottom power to get to the top does mean one has to use their body through sex to get to the top, Siliya confirmed.
Siliya denied funding the parties usually hosted by beauty pageants Mercy Mukwiza and Alice Musukwa.
She also expressed ignorance about what the youths discuss at the high profile tea meetings she holds at her restaurant called Mana situated in Rhodes Park area.
EVERYTHING in Zambia is headed for a very big catastrophe, says Socialist Party 2021 presidential candidate Fred M’membe.
He is appealing to Zambians never to give up hope but struggle on if they are to have any hope of survival.
Dr M’membe stresses that there can never be a successful revolution without the involvement of the youths.
Featuring on Livingstone’s Falls FM Radio on Monday, Dr M’membe said the Socialist Party was opposed to political alliances aimed at just getting a person elected adding that Zambians fought for multiparty politics and not a two-party state.
“We are in a desperate situation as a country, as a people. Everything is headed for a very big catastrophe as a country. We are literally saying our economy has collapsed. The Bank of Zambia governor who has just been fired (Dr Denny Kalyalya) made it very clear that we have a negative economic growth rate, which means our economy is in recession and there are consequences in a recession,” he said. “There are serious consequences and we can see them. People are very desperate, many of us don’t know what to do and we share the bitter feeling of impotence that many of our people fear with such problems and such instability in their lives.”
Dr M’membe said it was a bitter pill that Zambians have to swallow.
He said Zambians have to become aware of their current situation and understand what has made them to be in such a situation.
“Why are we in such a desperate situation, economically, socially and otherwise? The sad thing is that there is nobody with a magic solution to problems like these. We do not have nor do we think anyone has magic remedies to such complexities…But history shows us that no matter how difficult the problem is, that problem, such challenges can be addressed if they become a tangible reality that everyone can see, which everyone is aware of. We should never give up hope, we have to struggle if we have to harbour any hope of survival,” he said.
Dr M’membe explained that socialist values were anchored on honest and equity while capitalism was anchored on greedy.
He said capitalism encouraged competition which only lifts up a few people and not the majority.
“What lifts up the majority is kugwilizana, kuswalisana, kwashamukwenu (unity). Socialism is anchored on honest and if you are honest you cannot be corrupted. It (socialism) encourages equity to health services, education, food and nutrition… You are not encouraged to think of yourself as being more important than other people, no matter how intelligent, no matter how meritorious you may be. You realise that on your own you are nothing and you still need to humble yourself,” Dr M’membe said.
On youths, he said the SP would not ignore young people who he said made up 66.03 per cent of the Zambia’s population.
Dr M’membe said youths the world over were the initiators of revolutions.
“When we talk to young people, we make them to be more incensed about the injustices going on in our country, they are incensed about the degradation of human rights going on in our country, so they react very quickly. We cannot carry out any revolution in our country without young people, we can’t, it’s impossible. It’s not only to take their vote or their support, it is making them national leaders of the revolution. Most of our leaders that carved out fundamental changes in the world were young,” he said citing examples of Dr Kenneth Kaunda and Nelson Mandela. Asked by the programme host Edgar Mainza about the SP getting into an alliance ahead of the 2021 general elections, Dr M’membe said it was not necessary adding that there were no shortcuts or improvisations into leadership apart from hard work as did Michael Sata in 2011.
ZAMBIA is running away from being a lawful country and it’s becoming a lawless nation, says Nevers Mumba.
Mumba says President Edgar Lungu does not respect the law and has challenged him to distance himself from individuals who are blatantly defying the law using his name.
The MMD president gave a statement on activities of nominated member of parliament Raphael Nakacinda to destablise the former ruling party in defiance of judicial authority.
Mumba said Zambia at the moment stands in disarray as there was little or no respect for the rule of law by leaders and the led.
He said the strength of a government or community was in the ability to keep and respect the law.
“When the law is not respected, that community begins to disintegrate; there is no progress whether it’s in the economic sector or in the rebuilding of the political, social life of the people,” Mumba said. “And there is this issue where many people think a little corruption here, a little disobedience to the law there makes you achieve your personal goals; it may help you…but it actually affects the overall life of the nation and its chances to succeed.”
Mumba said adherence to the rule of law was what produces a civilised society and creates room for productivity and wealth creation.
He noted that many Africans were running to Europe to go and be part of systems that work, where citizens and their governors obeyed the law.
“Somebody who is in government cannot use that privilege to disobey the law. Zambia is suffering from a lack of respect of the law from both leaders and the led. In fact, to run a nation in respect of the rule of law is dependent on the type of leadership that you install into government,” Mumba said.
“A moral leadership will insist that the law be applied equitably to all. In fact, corruption is a sign that a particular society condones lawlessness.”
He warned that the end result of such behaviour was poverty for the majority and excessive riches for the privileged few.
“We need to find out why corruption has taken root in all sectors of our government. Why is the police service so compromised, for instance? Why is the judicial system under such great threat continually?” Mumba questioned. “When leaders disrespect the law, the entire spectrum of society crumbles.”
Mumba said Zambia had broken down because the leadership had no respect for the law.
“My vision as president of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy and as elected president next year is to ensure we place the rule of law at the centre of the success story of our country,” he said.
Mumba talked about how in 2016, a group of MMD members rebelled against his leadership and organised an illegal convention in Kabwe.
“They corrupted the police who had gone there to stop them because the government of the Patriotic Front told the police to put a blind eye,” Mumba explained.
He said the PF protected the rebels in Kabwe to host the illegal convention.
Mumba said in Lusaka, the rebels, with PF help corrupted and arm-twisted the Registrar of Societies to change the names, illegally and against the law, and placed the rebels’ names as new leaders, which created a crisis in MMD.
He explained that after three and half years the High Court declared the convention illegal.
Mumba said at the time, President Lungu had already rewarded some of individuals (Felix Mutati and later on Raphael Nakacinda) that created the pseudo MMD.
“Unfortunately, after the ruling, President Lungu made a statement that he does not recognise the judgment of the court and decided to continue working with the illegal group which continued to masquerade as leaders of the MMD. It looks and feels good if you are doing it for yourself but it kills the nation,” Mumba said. “You are opening doors to lack of discipline in the nation that may take years to repair.”
Mumba said he did not expect President Lungu would solidly stand with the losers and tell them that they were still MMD with whom he had an alliance.
He wondered whether President Lungu understands the repercussions of those activities.
Mumba said Zambians were watching the President disregard and dismiss the authority of the judiciary.
“I think Zambians, we need to come to a place if we want to be serious to build a state, a nation of respect and repute; if we don’t respect the law, we are not a nation. Animals live in the bush without a law as we know it. They have a jungle law where they know who is more powerful than the other and they give respect accordingly. Zambia is running away from being a lawful country and it’s becoming a lawless nation and it’s being led by the highest offices in the land,” he said.
Mumba said President Lungu’s actions empowers people like Nakacinda to do things that were in defiance of norms and the law.
“Raphael Nakacinda cannot do any of what he does if he is not doing it in the name of the President,” he said.
Mumba said after the court ruling, Mutati respected the court decision and stepped aside but Nakacinda had continued with President Lungu’s support.
“We see it that way because regardless of how we put it, Nakacinda is an appointee of President Lungu as a nominated member of parliament. In other ways, wherever Nakacinda goes and his activities represent, to a greater extent, the wishes of his appointing authority,” he said. “And it’s the truth because in the absence of that name of the President, Raphael Nakacinda cannot disobey the entire High Court. Raphael Nakacinda cannot hold a meeting where the police are looking at him and doing nothing, except that he is using the name of the President to do what he does.”
Mumba said his concern was not for Nakacinda per se but for the Presidency and the country.
“The Presidency is being tarnished and being branded as an institution that is in rebellion against its own institutions. If the President today, as he has said before, does not believe in the judgment that reinstituted me as president of MMD, which other judgment is the President going to believe and respect? None,” he said.
Mumba noted that last weekend Nakacinda again defied the court and held a meeting he arrogantly called a national executive committee meeting of MMD.
He said the police knowing that he had broken the law even after being alerted of the criminal intention, still allowed him to go ahead with the meeting.
“This explains why Zambia is politically and economically in disarray. The powers that be have no respect for the rule of law. My advice to the President is to appeal to him to distance himself from individuals who are breaking the law with impunity in the name of being close to the President,” Mumba said. “Mr Nakacinda is causing a lot of damage to the Presidency. The interpretation is that it is President Lungu who is using Raphael Nakacinda to break the law while he remains the President’s nominated member of parliament. It doesn’t sit well to the President today, it doesn’t sit well with him when he leaves the presidency. We must never sacrifice the rule of law on the altar of political expedience.”
Mumba noted that recently Rwanda raised a concern through someone who testified in court that President Lungu was involved in helping some rebel group in that country.
“A situation, which from a diplomatic point of view we must fight because it doesn’t sound right. The problem I have is when I look at the involvement of His Excellency the President in the matter of MMD, how you carefully and willingly supported a rebel group within MMD and ensure that even when they lost at court, you continue to prop them up as a rebel group to continue to destabilise a democratically elected leadership of MMD, in the testimony and witness of the Rwandan case, it might complicate the testimony that if there is a precedent here, it might weaken our argument there,” said Mumba. “My advice to the President is to distance himself from people like Nakacinda who go out to blatantly defy the judicial system of our country in broad daylight.
We deeply appeal to the President to lay his hands off the Movement for Multiparty Democracy. We also appeal to the former president of our party, Rupiah Banda, in the name of God, support us in what we are doing. You may not like us, you may not like our tribe, our approach, but just like you were supported when you were president, we seek your support…To work behind the scenes and continue to destablise the organisation is creating anarchy in the nation.”
Authorities have charged Rev. Stricjavvar “Strick” Strickland of the Second Baptist Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with sexually assaulting four teenage boys aged between 15 and 17 and also paying them to have sex with his wife while he watched.
According to MLive, a probable cause affidavit that was filed at the Kalamazoo County District Court last week indicates that Strickland, 37, has been charged with 11 felonies in relation to the alleged incidents that occurred between August 2015 and August 2018. Strickland, who has served as pastor at the church since 2012 and was previously president of the NAACP Kalamazoo Chapter, is yet to turn himself in though an arrest warrant was issued for him August 21.
The accused was also allegedly engaged in similar activities with his ex-wife while they resided in Mississippi some years back.
Speaking to MLive, Strickland’s attorney, Michael Hills, said they were preparing to turn him in. He faces two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct on a student as well as one on a 13 to 15-year-old. He also faces another count by force or coercion and four counts of human trafficking of a minor for commercial sexual activity. Three more counts of child sexually abusive activity have also been leveled against him.
“It has been two years since these allegations first came forward and Pastor Strickland has remained in contact and available. He is not running from this,” Hills said. “Pastor Strickland remains ready to turn himself in and deal with these charges accordingly.”
Per his warrant, he faces 15 years behind bars for each of the first four charges and 20 years for each of the other seven charges if found guilty, MLive reports. Kalamazoo County Assistant Prosecutor Christin J. Mehrtens-Carlin has also urged the court to bar the suspect from contacting the alleged victims, his wife Jazmonique, as well as any person under 18 years in the bond recommendation filed together with the arrest affidavit.
“Per the reports, the defendant and his wife would use their employment at Phoenix High School (in Kalamazoo) and to some extent, the defendant would use his work as a pastor, to find male teens to engage in sexual activity with the wife, while the defendant watched and masturbated,” the bond recommendation states.
Elaborating on the allegations against the accused in the probable cause affidavit that was filed on August 18, Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Scott Ernestes wrote two of the juveniles and one of their fathers first got in touch with him in 2018 accusing Strickland of sexual assault against them between 2015 and 2018. They commenced investigations based on the complaint.
Rev. Stricjavvar “Strick” Strickland is facing 11 felony charges
The juveniles said they met Strickland and his wife when they were students at Phoenix High School during the 2017-18 academic year. According to their account in the affidavit, they alleged they were each paid $100 to sleep with Jazmonique in different instances while her husband watched. Strickland also allegedly paid them $100 each for his wife to perform oral sex on them so he could watch, MLive reports.
One of the boys was also paid to send nudes to the pastor while he also allegedly sexually assaulted one of them on another occasion. He gave the latter money after he told him to stop.
The third victim told Ernestes during an interview in 2018 his first encounter with Strickland was in 2015 when he was 16. According to the juvenile, Strickland allegedly offered him money in exchange for nude photos, adding that the accused also performed oral sex on him after he was coerced when he was 17. Strickland allowed him to drive his car in exchange for that.
The fourth victim told the detective Strickland allegedly paid him $200 in 2015 to sleep with his wife in their home basement when he was 15. He said he slept with Jazmonique in subsequent periods between that year and 2016.
Meanwhile, Strickland has denied any wrongdoing, telling MLive on Tuesday the charges against him are “absolutely preposterous.”
“All I can say for now is that we are prepared for this fight,” he said. “God will prevail.” The couple initially proclaimed their innocence in 2019 some days after the fourth victim was interviewed.
These are factual credentials that his opponents are too fearful to talk about. They smear his name with rumours and concocted allegations because they want to shield the truth from Zambians. The same way they accused Mazoka of contributing to the job losses in the mines, is the same strategy they have used against HH. When PF get intellectually challenged, they always resort to lies. But whatever the case you can’t take away the following from HH. You might not love him, but the presidency is not a romantic affair it is a duty.
It’s the economy stupid
Politics has tendency of diverting us from the real problem. And the real issue right now is the dwindling economy. That is why Bill Clinton once used the phrase, “it’s the economy stupid” as his campaign slogan to wake people up and see the real problem. PF infrastructure programme has largely been inflated, marred with corrupting and with poor prioritization. We have borrowed at a staggering rate of at least US$2billion per annum, with no substantial growth to talk about. The PF can’t even bring themselves to implement the austerity decisions required to induce economic recover. Business costs are rising, cost of living is rising, tax collection rate is falling and budgets are getting underfunded. PF is under-performing not because they lost Kalaba and Kambwili, it is the economy stupid!
Foresight
This is another attribute you can’t takeaway from HH. His propensity to save and invest at a young age says a lot about his foresightedness. It speaks to his ability to think about the next generation and not the next election. We have an option of electing to office a person who is not motivated by a retirement house because he already has one.
Business experience
For the first time we can have a president who will understand the business community and an effective tax regime that will suit them. HH understands that growth of this economy will be realized by helping businesses to become profitable and not by government spending. His proposals to reduce energy costs and VAT is targeted at businesses and is a viable plan of boosting production which is a sure way of creating jobs and tax revenue.
Multi-skill set
He has experience in farming, real estate, livestock, manufacturing, mining, consultancy, pension management and international finance. Zambia should seek to benefit from this wealth of business exposure.
Prudence
Has anyone ever wondered why HH’s political rivals have failed to squeeze HH’s business? It all because of proper organization and solid business deals.
Rule of law
No matter how many times PF call HH violent, he has always reacted with civility and believed in due process. Only those who abuse the law to their advantage are the ones who don’t beleive in the rule of law.
International finance
Ignorant hypocritical PF vuvuzelas have always scandalise HH for sourcing finance oversees, yet they do the same with Eurobonds. International finance is an area HH is exposed to, that is why he believes Zambia should prioritise concessional loans or bilateral loans over Eurobonds. The Chinese loans are proving to be problematic to PF because of lack of transparency. This is something PF turned a deaf ear to and are failing to seal a deal with IMF and currently renegotiating with China.
Passion for education
They say the first thing failures do when they hear a new idea, is to claim that it can’t be done. The passion HH has for free education is a personal matter. He is living testimony that education is more of an investment than a cost. And this is the passion Zambians need because we shall never be an advanced country if we don’t put our efforts in education. We have an option of believing in ourselves or admiring advanced foreign countries.
Birds of the same feathers
HH has also shown his ability to work though others. His ability to successfully run various businesses proves his eye for talent and knack of oversight. He is not someone who can have a thug as political advisor or a drug dealer as economic advisor. He has credible people around him and that shows how respectful he is to his citizens.
He is not a good politician
This is the reason we should vote for HH, because he is not a good politician. It is a complement to some of us. It means he is not a good liar, given the standards of Zambian politics. He has no jokes like Sata did. He has no dance move like Lungu. He has no wako ni wako message like Banda and cant sweet talk us like Chiluba did. One thing he has, is hard work and a good sense of duty.
The Zambian youths need a role model in state house. We need to restore decency to that office by electing a sober, family man, respectable leader with a strong character
Just when Zambians were settling down with the idea that Bill 10 had met its cul – de – sac, President Edgar Lungu parachuted another elephant in the room in the Zambian national Assembly. The controversial sacking of a popular and internationally adored Reserve Bank Governor Dr Danny Kalyalya, and the appointment of Christopher Mvunga who many critics view as a debutant to the labyrinthine politics of African Central Banks, has presented another ‘bull in the china shop’, to a deeply divided parliament and I must add, a deeply divided nation.
The short history of the Zambian Parliament since the advent of the Patriotic Front government has been that of rubber stamping unpopular decisions sneaked in by the Executive through PF MPs. The appointment of Chris Mvunga at a defining moment of the Zambian economy, which Edgar Lungu himself has since made a public mea – cuppa of its dysfunctional state, must invoke parliamentary bipartisan and Independents’ solidarity, in refusing to ratify the new appointment for the sake of the people of Zambia.
Mvunga is a politically heavily sedated and inclined person who cannot withstand Edgar Lungu’s proverbial ‘tonne of bricks’ politics, at a time when the Zambian economy is in the ICU. The insatiable attitude of lavish spending of the PF, despite the negative indicators of the fiscal impact analysis, cannot be regulated by a Bank Governor that is a political party surrogate like Chris Mvunga.
Even under the One Party State of the First Republic, MPs who though belonged to a single party parliament, however rejected decisions that were inimical to the interests of the Zambian people. Our MPs must for once strive to put the interests of the Zambian citizens ahead of partisanships. Even in an unlikely event that the new Bank Governor is a very competent person, the mere fact of his insider trading as a PF politician, undermines his credibility and potency to be an effective umpire over the PF’s financial gerrymandering.
I was awe struck to watch a video of Christopher Mvunga’s family celebrating his appointment in a typical Brazilian Samba dance carnival, and typical of the new Governor, champagne flooded the dancing floor. They have every good reason to celebrate this lucrative appointment of their kinsman to the most powerful financial position in Zambia. For Zambian citizens however, the celebration was like a bizarre Halloween party, by a group of happy relatives endorsing the death of an economy that only ten years ago, was an example of prudence and growth in the SADC region.
UPND AND ZAMBIANS PLEASE OPEN YOUR EYES AND BE MORE PROACTIVE THAN REACTIVE
75% of the majority Zambians are fed up with the current economic status of our country and are anxiously yearning for change.
In as far as the most needed regime change is nevitable, UPND will win the 2021 general elections but may not take over power if the current political passiveness status continues.
PF has been campaigning in broad day light and needs no green light signal from ECZ, yet UPND are only on social media yet complaining only in their bedrooms of PFs abuse of this privilege.
What UPND needs is to stop complaining and start doing more than what PF is doing. Go out and mobilise and start campaigning as well.
We have been advising the leadership for too long now to start campaigning in the same way the PF is doing. But the UPND leaders don’t listen? This is so tiring, frustrating and exhausting to advise these people. The problem is that, They are too scared of police.
Sometimes to change something you need to act with impunity and get arrested. That is another way of campaigning and attracting public sympathy. When taken to court, you can then raise preliminary issues as to why police only arrest people from the opposition while the ruling party is doing exactly if not worse things. Gather enough evidence to prove your point to court and raise constitutional issues in the process. If need be sue some of the police officers who misbehave in their personal capacity to send the message to other police officers.
I have personally chosen to keep quiet just like some legal minds have decided to do so because the UPND leadership is too stubborn at times and ignores legal advice. Obviously they don’t want to spend money on legal fees and that may explain why they are so naive and full of inertia in challenging illegalities.
Right now elections are being rigged and ECZ is complicity in that fraudulent scheme but I have seen no action or legal challenge from the opposition. 🤦♂️ 🤔
Take a look at this nonsense below 👇
Kampyongo says 331, 472 have acquired NRCs
GOVERNMENT has announced that 331,472 Zambian citizens have so far acquired their National Registration Cards (NRCs) in the ongoing mobile issuance of the national identities in five provinces under phase one.
Speaking during the NRC issuance weekly update in Lusaka today, Home Affairs Minister Hon Stephen Kampyongo said that out of the 5 provinces under phase one, Copperbelt, Luapula and Northern Provinces have recorded the highest numbers of registered persons so far.
He said that Copperbelt has registered a total of 79,111 while Luapula has registered 74,989 and Northern has registered 78,370 eligible Zambians.
“During my last briefing i stated that we had issued for the first registrationand replacements a grand total of 169,370 national registration cards in the five provinces currently under phase one” Hon Kampyongo recounted.
Kampyongo said that Eastern and Northwestern Provinces have so far recorded the lowest numbers of eligible citizens registered with Eastern registering 56,768 while Northwestern registered 42,234 Zambians.
“As you may know the exercise is still ongoing even as we intensify preparations for phase two of the mobile registration exercise which kicks off on the 1st of September 2020 in Southern, Western, Central, Muchinga and Lusaka Provinces respectively”Hon Kampyongo said.
And Kampyongo has urged all eligible person who are living in the provinces that are in the first phase to take advantage of the exercise.
If we critically look at these figures Kampyongo is mentioning above, they statistically don’t tally. For example, How can Copperbelt be at the same level with Luapula and Northern Province in population?
Anyone who sees beyond and thinks with a sixth sense knows that this statement is justification to cover up for rigging. The opposition will be condemned in future by these same people if they cry foul after losing a fraudulent election.
One doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand these machinations at play here. Cry my beloved country Zambia 🇿🇲 😢😭!
I have always said it that the 2021 election has been rigged and the time to rectify things is now but the UPND leaders don’t listen. (The bemba saying which goes like, “Amano yalafuma mwifwesa yaaya mu chuulu” and the Tonga saying which goes like “Maano alazwa mukasuumbwa aunka mu chuulu”) Do not necessarily talk about kids advice to elders but also the advice of those you consider as nonentities.
If the UPND leadership can critically go through this, I would be the most happiest person on behalf of most surfering Zambians to learn that they have finally visibly seen through and rectified the status.
There are so many illegalities taking place right now and they are being perpetrated by government and the ECZ but there has been completely no action of legal challenge from the opposition.
Does the opposition in this country really want to govern? I honestly think they are not interested to get power but simply to use the political landscape to grow business empires.
I am sorry to say it but that is my honest opinion. Don’t ask me to elaborate right now but I will do so and throw more light to this in the future when it is appropriate to do so. It is sad because a lot of people have put their heads on the chopping board but is this the way people who sacrifice should be repaid? 🤦♂️ 🤔🤔🤔
I know some may get worried of my analysis and conclude that, “UPND Then is losing this coming 2021 election”. My response would be yes Indeed, UPND is losing unless they change their attitude and become more aggressive! And It is annoying, very very annoying.
There is no opposition to talk about in Zambia. The PF is far much ahead in the game. UPND and other political players may dislike PF but they have smart under ground operatives with an organised think tank. The opposition doesn’t even know how to handle intelligence information. 😡😡😡
But my true and realistic response to those who say that UPND will lose in 2021 is simple, “Not really that they will indeed lose No”. The correct statement is that UPND will win the election on merit but fail to get power and remain in opposition.
Then after 2021 the upnd will disintegrate and collapse to an extent where it may never be a force to reckon with again in the near future. There is no better time to rectify the situation than now but as usual UPND is waiting for next year and then start reacting instead of being pro active.
Terminating Dr Denny Kalyalya’s contract as Bank of Zambia governor is not a solution but recipe for the exacerbation of problems.
And South Africa’s Minister of Finance and former Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni’s reaction to the firing of Dr Kalyalya sums it up very well, “No. That Governor was a good fella. Why do we do these things as Africans? The President of Zambia must give the reasons why he dismissed the Governor or else hell is on his way, I will mobilise! Presidents in Africa must stop this nonsense of waking up in the morning and fire a Central Bank Governor! You cannot do that. This is not some fiefdoms of yours! Your personal property! No!”
Terminating Dr Kalyalya’s contract at this time is a very big mistake and it will lead to very serious macroeconomic instability.
Dr Kalyalya gave a lot of credibility to this otherwise very unstable macroeconomic situation.
As Dr Cosmas Musumali aptly puts it, “Dr Kalyalya and his BoZ team were the opiate doses for a critically ill Zambian economy. Beyond a certain level of pain, opiates and other painkillers are ineffective. The patient is then exposed to excruciating pain and death.”
It shouldn’t surprise Zambians if stories of them printing money start flying around. Once on this path, there was no return to sanity – crazy things will happen. That is the only way left for them to face next year’s elections. Monetary policy tools have been rendered irrelevant to mitigate the impact.
And as Dr Musumali correctly observed, “There’s no doubt Dr Kalyalya is by far one of Zambia’s finest economists. He understands the potency of monetary policy tools but is also clear about their limitations. Much more important, he is a sober and objective personality. These are qualities lacking in most Zambian economists. His appointment as Bank Governor was always seen as a panacea to the otherwise misinformed and rogue policies of President Edgar Lungu’s regime. However, it was just a question of time as to when frustration would set in. Ironically, President Lungu lost the patience instead. The President wants to win next year’s elections at all costs. Even if this means a total destruction of the Zambian economy. Dr Kalyalya therefore had to go. He had become a stumbling block in an evil machinery that is destroying the entire Zambian society and economy.”
The firing of Dr Kalyalya will certainly unleash a wave of unprecedented macroeconomic instability which will ruin any hopes of Edgar’s reelection. Edgar has in such a very short period of time destroyed the Zambian economy and consequently himself.
Dr Kalyalya was actually very reserved in his remarks. His removal is likely to backfire on Edgar, the Patriotic Front and its government. The economic situation is likely to get worse much faster.
PF national mobilisation chairperson Richard Musukwa says the ruling party is not worried about opposition drama on social media because it is already working with people on the ground.
He says presidency is about serious people that propel fortunes of a nation and that the man who has the blueprint for the development of Zambia is President Edgar Lungu.
Musukwa has tasked North Western to score the “winning goal” in the 2021 general elections to ensure President Edgar Lungu returns power.
Meanwhile, the mines minister says the government will meet Kansanshi Mine Plc over the firm’s decision to shelve US $1 billion expansion plans for a processing plant due to recent fiscal changes in mining taxation.
Speaking in Solwezi, Musukwa said the opposition was busy dramatising issues on social media and positioning themselves as if they were already in power.
“I want to assure you that we have started mobilising for the 2021 election. And I can assure you that PF will retain power in 2021 and the opposition will continue dramatising and propagandising like the way they are doing. They are on social media; they are on all sorts of platforms, PF is on the ground because the development trajectory that we have started for this country is there for everyone to see,” he said.
Musukwa said the opposition was afraid of facing President Lungu in 2021 because he was still the people’s choice, who had stuck to development.
He urged voters not to be swayed by those who wanted to be changing leadership like a “baby’s napkins”.
“The Presidency is not like child’s play where you are operating the way you want to change a baby’s napkins. Today there is this one; tomorrow there is this one. Presidency is about serious people that propel the fortunes of our country. And you have those qualities in His Excellency the President to drive this country forward. Ifya kwesha-esha mukasanga mwa-esha ne cha kumilya (trying things anyhow you will end up trying something that will eat you),” Musukwa cautioned.
And Musukwa said PF in North Western needs to work hard to produce members of parliament and councillors in 2021 to command a stronger political voice at national level.
“You must stand up and ensure that you are part of the cake. This election that we are conducting in 2021 is a scientific election. This is a scientific election where we need to galvanise numbers across stakeholders in our country, people who are able to see the future of our country anchored on development trajectory that we have. And the man who has the blue print for the development of our country is His Excellency Edgar Chagwa Lungu. And all of us we must rally behind him to ensure that we work as a team,” he said.
And speaking when he toured the stalled processing plant at Kansanshi Mine, Musukwa noted that even though the policy changes were aimed at curbing unscrupulous practices in the industry, compliant mines had suffered the consequences.
But Kansanshi Mine general manager Anthony Mukutuma said the changes affected progression on its expansion plans and the firm has since shipped out of Zambia some of the equipment meant for the plant.
Mukutuma said Kansanshi Mine required the planned expansion works to ensure efficiency and sustainability as the copper yield lowered the deeper mining excavations went on.
However, Musukwa said he would meet his counterpart at Ministry of Finance following instructions by President Edgar Lungu to dialogue over the differences in a move meant to stabilise the industry and protect mining jobs.
He said the government was equally concerned about the stalled project, which he noted would affect tax revenues in the long term.
Musukwa urged Kansanshi Mine to build capacity of suppliers in Solwezi to ensure contracts impact the local economy.
And Musukwa said ZCCM-IH had started operations at Kasenseli site in Mwinilunga where gold was recently discovered and that the government was working on modalities to ensure the industry benefited people in the area.
A 20-year-old Detroit woman with special needs who was pronounced dead by paramedics after she reportedly suffered a heart attack in her home was found to be breathing with her eyes open after she was later transported to a funeral home.
Speaking to WXYZ, family attorney Geoffrey Fieger said staff at the James H. Cole funeral home realized Timesha Beauchamp was still breathing when they were just about embalming her. An autopsy wasn’t carried out by the Oakland County Medical Examiner‘s office as they said the medical history of Beauchamp they received from Southfield Police showed there was no suspected foul play in her alleged passing
“They were about to embalm her which is most frightening had she not had her eyes open. They would have begun draining her blood to be very, very frank about it,” Fieger said.
The incident happened on Sunday when paramedics from the Southfield Fire Department were called to attend to an unresponsive woman in a home. According to a statement released by the department, Beauchamp wasn’t breathing when they arrived and they tried reviving her. They, however, determined she was deceased after about 30 minutes.
“At 7:34 a.m. on August 23, 2020, Southfield Fire Department paramedics arrived at a home in Southfield on a call for an unresponsive female. When paramedics arrived, they found a 20-year-old who was not breathing. The paramedics performed CPR and other life reviving methods for 30 minutes. Given medical readings and the condition of the patient, it was determined at that time that she did not have signs of life,” the statement said, WDIV reports.
“Because there was no indication of foul play, as per standard operating procedure, the Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office was contacted and given the medical data. The patient was again determined to have expired and the body was released directly to the family to make arrangements with a funeral home of their choosing.”
Upon arrival at the funeral home some hours later, staff realized Beauchamp was still breathing and subsequently called EMS.
“It’s one of people’s worst nightmares to imagine having an ambulance called and instead, sending you off to a funeral home in a body bag. The funeral home unzipping the body bag, literally, that’s what happened to Timesha, and seeing her alive with her eyes open,” Fieger told WXYZ, adding that Beauchamp’s godmother, who was present when she was being attended to and is a registered nurse, even told the paramedics she felt her pulse.
The attorney also says Beauchamp’s condition and recovery may be impacted by the hour and a half delay that occurred during her transportation to the funeral home instead of the hospital. Beauchamp has been admitted to the Sinai Grace Hospital and is on a ventilator in a critical condition.
“What did this delay do in terms of Timesha’s health for the rest of her life,” Fieger said.
The Southfield Fire Department released another statement on Monday after Oakland County officials asked for further clarification, WDIV reports.
“A local emergency department physician pronounced the patient deceased based upon medical information provided by the Southfield Fire Department at the scene,” the statement read.
“After which, the Southfield Police Department contacted the Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office to notify them of the findings and the on-duty forensic pathologist released the body to the family. The Southfield Fire and Police Departments followed all appropriate city, county and state protocols and procedures in this case.
“The city of Southfield is currently conducting a thorough internal investigation in addition to the Oakland County Medical Control Authority which will be reporting their findings to the State of Michigan Bureau of EMS, Trauma and Preparedness. In an effort to provide as much transparency as possible, more information will be provided as it is available.”
RATS IN WARDS AT KITWE TEACHING HOSPITAL: A CASE OF POLICY-FAILURE NOT DOCTORS’ PROBLEM
As Green Party President, I do not think that the problem of rats in wards at Kitwe Teaching Hospital is a management issue at the hospital. And I do not think is fair and just to discipline any one of them, as directed by the Minister of Health Dr. Chilufya Chitalu. As far as I am concerned, the vector and rodent problem at the hospitals is a policy-failure issue that is purely a responsibility of the minister and not the doctors.
I am very much aware of problem of rodents at this hospital for two decades now. In fact, as the Green Party we did offer sometime in 2016 to work with a well-known rodent eradication company in Kitwe to try and sort out the rodent problem but failed to do so because of politicians from the ruling party influenced the ministry to regard our offer as campaign gimmick, when in fact we meant well for the community.
Strictly speaking, the problem of vectors and rodents at Kitwe Teaching Hospital, and elsewhere, is a actually a policy issue. You will agree with me that all sectoral policies are a responsibility of the sector minister. When there is policy-failure in a particular ministry that is not the problem of management of an institution in that ministry, but the minister.
In order to reduce vector and rodent nuisance, including transmitted diseases to a level where they cease to become a public health problem, Central Government should develop a public environmental health policy through which relevant institutions promote and research into the integrated physical, chemical and biological vector and rodent control methods.
Those rodents at Kitwe Teaching Hospital are alleged to have developed resistance against certain rodenticides. It is understood that even if food is laced with some common rat poisons, they don’t die. It is the responsibility of Central Government, not hospitals, to work in close cooperation with the research institutions and monitor and recommend interventions to address the reported rodenticide resistance.
Furthermore, it is the responsibility of Central Government to ensure that control measures employed at various levels to control rodents are environmentally friendly so as to promote and preserve lives not only of persons but flora and fauna as well. Otherwise, instead of eradicating vectors and rodents, you may cause widespread deaths of people, flora and fauna.
In addition, it is the responsibility of Central Government to periodically review and reinforce national public health laws with a view to enact legislation and provide the legal framework for the development of surveillance and control activities against vectors and rodents.
Most importantly, Central Government should provide adequate resources for vector and rodent control to local authorities as this is a local authorities key responsibility not hospital management responsibility.
As indicated above, the problem of rodents at Kite Teaching Hospital is not new. It has been there since around1998. Kitwe residents on the bed-side of their relatives in Mkushi and other wards, have always complained of the infestation of rats at the hospital and have on several occasions called for measures to eradicate the rodents which have been extremely disturbing to both the patients and those on the bed side. Sometimes, families have reported cases whereby rodents have feasted on dead bodies. However, successive governments have failed to address the problem. This is purely policy failure by successive governments.
Now we have a situation where the rats have colonized the basement of the hospital and are an eye sore to patients. They are seen moving freely in the wards. Successive ministers of health, including Dr. Chilufya himself, have known this problem. It is neither new nor is it a secret. It has been reported several times in the print media. The only difference now is that the report was visually aided through the viral video recording. Otherwise, this is a problem that is well known by Dr. Chilufya. As far as we are concerned, he was merely playing to the gallery when he issued threats to discipline senior management.
On the reported threats to hospital management, our advice to Dr. Chilufya is that leaders privileged to exercise power should not use their positions to as a scapegoat for own failures or failures of policies.
When you are privileged as a leader to wield power, apply that power judiciously and justly. Do not unduly jeopardize the professional standing of juniors under your charge for political expedience.
Dr. Chilufya must put himself in the shoes of those fellow professionals at Kitwe Teaching Hospital. He should take a leaf from President Lungu who did not take action against him when corruption charges were leveled him. Rather the President let the due process take its course.
But instead of emulating the spirit of President Lungu, Dr. chilufya publicly tried and found Kitwe Teaching Hospital management guilty without any hearing at all. This approach is repugnant and must be curtailed forthwith. He should have let the due process take its course whereby hospital management should have been given a hearing on the rodents.
Most importantly, the right thing Dr. Chitalu should do is to critically address the problem from a policy point of view. First of all, there is need for him to develop an environmental health policy that addresses, among other issues vectors and rodents in public and private institutions.
Secondly, he should ensure that as the Minister of Finance prepares the public health sector budget for 2021, he should set aside adequate resources for local authorities for vector and rodent control. In the last two decades, the only budget set aside for local government in terms of environmental health is for malaria control. Nothing is set aside for rodent control. This is genesis of the problem at Kitwe Teaching Hospital and elsewhere in the country. Let our doctors focus on treating patients. And we should let the local government through the Councils to focus of mosquito, rodent and rabies control. Overburdening our doctors with these responsibilities does not make any sense at all especially in this country where the patient-doctor ration is 10,000 to 1.
I hope President Lungu will not allow Dr. Chilufya to terrorize and frustrate hard working doctors at Kitwe Teaching Hospital who are merely victims of policy-failure. We lost a lot of doctors at Kitwe Teaching Hospital, and elsewhere in the country between 1998-2000 due to policy-failure frustrations. We shudder to see a repeat of the same mistake. It takes a lot of resources and dedication to produce a doctor. We should not frustrate them on account of policy-failure. It is not their job to formulate policy and allocate financial resources for policy implementation.
IF KALYALYA WAS FIRED FOR INCOMPETENCE, WHY IS BAJOYCE NONDE STILL IN OFFICE?
Let’s not malign Dr. Denny Kalyalya to justify his dismissal when we know our ulterior motive. Some of us are Christians, we will not sit back and watch a good man’s name being tarnished, we will stand up to defend him, but in the process we will be destroying what we want to preserve.
For a long time Dr. Denny Kalyalya has been perceived as a Tonga which made a lot of people at State House very uncomfortable, especially during the time of Bena Kaisa Sulu, Amos Chanda and Chilubanama. I thought President Lungu would actually fire him then but he didn’t.
Time and again Dr. Denny Kalyalya has offered professional advice as a Bank Governor which has not gone very well with the political agenda of the PF. And instead of the PF leadership accepting his professional advice, they have seen him through the filter of tribe.
I know that at some point he was followed everywhere, to check if he was linked to HH, but the investigation drew a blank because the man was nothing but a professional.
The current Minister was deputy to Dr. Kalyalya, why did President Lungu promote him to Minister if BoZ was not doing well? Anyway I will come back at 15:00hrs to explain the job of a Bank Governor and how politicians can mess him up.
My point is that, let’s not paint Dr. Kalyalya as a bad man who failed his job, rather let’s just say, he didn’t fit into our agenda, which is why, we have picked Christopher Mvunga a colded blooded political opportunist who was with Rupiah Banda and now with President Lungu. Most probably when I will come into power, he will also be EEP but he will stand no chance.
Mind you I am saying “OUR” because Tulya bonse and Kalyalya was not helping in that regard, however, I will takeover from PF and I might bring him back as Finance Minister.
TWO UPND cadres have narrated how they were arrested, tortured and later released for allegedly being behind the Lusaka City Market inferno that occurred in June 2017.
In an interview, Chileshe Mulenga, 38, and Kayata Zhyinga, 44, popularly known as Mwata, have appealed for legal representation so as to sue the state for illegal detention, torture and abduction.
“On July 12, 2017 between 15:00 to 16:00 hours, we were arrested along Livingstone’s Kapondo Street near Shoprite in the main business centre and taken to Zambia Air Force Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula base where we were detained. Later we were blindfolded and airlifted to Lusaka’s City Airport and butt-stroked upon arrival by ZAF officers using AK 47 butts,” explained Zhyinga.
“Our rights should not be abused by those that wield power. We were abducted, tortured and denied our human rights on flimsy allegations, just to suit the ego of those in power. Our only mistake or wrong was that of belonging to the UPND. We are appealing to Human Rights organisations, NGOs and well-wishers to come to our aid so that we can have this matter before court. We need to be heard; we were not given a chance to be heard as the State took away all our basic rights with intent to prosecute us for wrongs we did not commit. We hear others have been compensated so we also want the same to be done to us.”
And Mulenga added that they were later separated and he was sent to Chelstone [police station], while Zhyinga was taken to Lusaka Central Police Station.
He said later when an identification parade was conducted a state witness who was brought in to identify the suspects did not pick on any of them.
Mulenga explained further that despite failure by the state witness to link any one of them to the case, they were still arrested and taken to Lilayi.
He said it was at Lilayi where he discovered that there were in fact 12 detainees from Livingstone.
Mulenga said after a screening process he and Zhyinga were still detained and arrested in the presence of their lawyer Martha Mushipe.
“So, we waited to be taken to court because that was the next action that was needed after being formally arrested. But, surprisingly, at around 21:00 [to] 22:00 hours we were released after spending 45 days in detention and driven back to Livingstone,” explained Mulenga. “We need help… We will not speak for others who were arrested with us including two police officers, a Mr Mwaba and Mr Kunda, but we feel justice must be done. We will not say much until and when the matter is before court, but we need help to get there. We can be contacted through your [The Mast] newspaper.”
COURT ACQUITS DR CHITALU CHILUFYA OF CORRUPTION AFTER THE STATE FAILS TO ADDUCE FURTHER EVIDENCE IN THE MATTER.
LUSAKA chief resident magistrate Lameck Mwale has acquitted Health minister Dr Chitalu Chilufya of corruption after the State failed to adduce further evidence in the matter.
Dr Chilufya was charged with four counts of possession of properties reasonably suspected of being proceeds of crime.
When the case came up for continued trial today, the prosecution team led by ACC legal director Clifford Moonga, told the court that the State was offering no more evidence in the matter.
Dr Chilufya’s lawyer Tutwa Ngulube submitted that his client be acquitted following the State’s position not to offer further evidence.
“Given that the State has offered no further evidence in this matter, we crave the indulgence of this court to acquit the accused person because we do not want him to go back home thinking he will have to appear in court again,” he said.
Magistrate Mwale in his ruling said in view of the position taken by the State to offer no more evidence and the evidence on record so far, he was acquitting the accused.
“The accused is hereby acquitted on four counts of possession of properties reasonably suspected of being proceeds of crime and subsequently, the summons issued to the Anti-Corruption Commission acting Director General falls away,” ruled magistrate Mwale.
And speaking to journalists, Ngulube said justice has prevailed in the matter.
He thanked his client, saying he has always attended court sessions without faking any illness.
Earlier, Moonga told the court that ACC acting Director General Rosemary Nkonde Khuzwayo, who was summoned to appear in court and show cause why she should not be cited for contempt of court, did not show up because she is unwell.
Magistrate Mwale summoned Khuzwayo following the suspension of ACC investigator Chipampe Chipili Manda.
Manda, who was the first prosecution witness, was suspended on August 6, 2020 after he testified that as far as his investigations were concerned, he did not believe that Dr Chilufya had committed any crime.
Following his testimony, Khuzwayo in a memo dated August 7, directed to all regions, Commission secretary and directors, stated that Manda’s testimony in court was not the Commission’s position and announced that he had been suspended, pending disciplinary proceedings.
On Monday, Ngulube asked the court to cite Khuzwayo for contempt of court.
He said pursuant to section 116 of the Penal Code, it is a crime called contempt of court for any person who actually penalizes a witness for whatever they say before a court.
“The decision by acting director general to suspend him (Manda) was because it is believed that the witnesses gave evidence she did not like is an attempt to scare away truthful witnesses from your court such that at the end of the proceedings, we will not know whether this court has power to deal with this matter or protect witnesses.
We therefore pray to your honour to summon before your court the said Rosemary Nkonde Khuzwayo, Timothy Moono the ACC spokesperson, the secretary to the Commission and all the directors to confirm that indeed this memo was circulated and that indeed they referred to these proceedings. We also pray that this court summons Chipampe Manda to confirm that indeed he is being suspended for what he said in court,” Ngulube said.
Magistrate Mwale then summoned Khuzwayo to appear today but she could not do so because of high blood pressure.
And magistrate Mwale said Khuzwayo should appear on Friday if she recovers.
It was at this point that Moonga, said the State had no further evidence in the matter leading to Dr Chilufya’s acquittal.
US police shoot unarmed black man 7 times in the back
A BLACK man is in a serious condition after being shot seven times at close range by police in Wisconsin.
The man, identified by the state governor as Jacob Blake, was flown by helicopter to hospital on Sunday evening after being shot repeatedly in the back in the city of Kenosha.
Footage circulating on social media showed the incident with Mr Blake, who does not appear to be carrying a weapon, seen walking towards a car as two officers followed him with their guns drawn.
As Mr Blake opens the car door, one of the officers can be seen grabbing his vest and shooting him in the back.
Seven shots can be heard followed by the car’s horn continuously beeping.
Civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump, who represents George Floyd’s family, said Mr Blake’s three sons were in the car when he was shot.
Police said they had been called to a domestic incident at 5.11pm but gave no further details as to what led to the shooting that followed.
Witnesses said Mr Blake was trying to break up a fight between two women when the officers arrived.
The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave, the Wisconsin Department of Justice said early on Monday.
Wisconsin state governor Tony Evers wrote in a tweet: “We stand against excessive use of force and immediate escalation when engaging with black Wisconsinites.”
Wisconsin’s division of criminal investigation is looking into the shooting and said it will seek to “provide a report of the incident to the prosecutor within 30 days”.
A city-wide curfew was imposed until 7am on Monday after large protests marched down the streets throwing Molotov cocktails and bricks at police, with one officer reportedly injured by a brick.
A large rubbish truck parked on the road to prevent demonstrators marching towards the police station could be seen on fire before one of its tyres exploded, while people were seen kicking police cars and smashing their windows.
Kenosha’s protests are the latest in a series of ongoing demonstrations against police brutality and racism since 25 May when George Floyd died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds.
Members of the Press, We have invited you here in order to set the record about our party straight.
I wish to respond to the rantings of one Raphael Nakachinda over the weekend. I do so knowing that he does not deserve a response from us but for the sake of those who are vulnerable and easily swayed I wish to clear the lies told.
Firstly let me state clearly that every dog has its day. Nakachinda will find what he is looking for and that day is not far. Meantime, let me restate for the 100th time that he is not a member of our party. He remains expelled and has no single right to speak on behalf of the MMD.
THE DOUBLE STANDARD OF THE POLICE. It is clear to see that the Zambia police is two-faced when it comes to the MMD. Last week some pastors in Linda compound here in Lusaka invited the Party President Dr Nevers Mumba for fellowship and the police despite notification stopped the meeting from taking place, meanwhile they continue to aid an illegal group. It seems the police under the PF are a political wing of the ruling party. Both the IG and the Deputy IG were informed of the planned meeting ahead of time and had the address of the meeting place. When a law enforcement agency becomes lawless then it is clear that chaos and violence follows. The police have become a threat to peace in the nation. If the same command remains in office until election time, Zambia may experience mayhem. We need a professional police service which serves all Zambians equitably. The current police is a ruling party security wing.
EXPULSION OF MPs It is laughable that the expelled MPs were announcing their expulsion from the party. I can confirm that we have indeed expelled them because they do not work with the party. The reasons which they gave the public yesterday are their own imagination. The MMD is a party of discipline and order and shall not compromise its values for overrated individuals who believe their mere connection to PF is the License to arrogance. These members’ disciplinary action was recommended by the own constituency and district committees and due process was followed, that is why it took this long. If they think dancing in that manner in the public will save them, we wish them well.
BY ELECTIONS We are participating in the forth coming by-elections. Our campaign teams are on the ground and we are excited that after such a long time of absence from elections, we are back again.
We are looking forward to a good, violence free and issue based campaign.
For Nakachinda and his band of stick-ons, all he lives for is to please the Patriotic Front. When we say they are not MMD this is what we mean. If they even were remotely members of this party, they would be excited to contest in elections and not endorse another party.
For 3 and half years when they illegally posed as leaders of our party, all they were, was to be dancing queens at PF events. Even now, in their shock, all they wish to be is to be mercenaries for another political party against another. The simpler thing for them to do is to openly join the Patriotic Front, but of course that would cut of funding for their mercenary activities such as they had the other day. What a terrible and hopeless life to lead. No purpose, no dignity and no certain future.
On the other hand, we wish to warn the PF about these so called endorsements from Nakachinda. Everyone can see that all that Nakachinda is doing is putting up a dance (as his name seems to suggest) for them. Kalela ne mfunkutu aleshana. But it is for the PF to continue to pay him for his dances while their own members remain without help. We wish to warn that, should they carry that falsehood of the so called alliance, into the campaign we shall petition the election. In the same vein, We have also written to the Elections body (ECZ) about this act of provocation ahead of the by elections. We demand that the PF publicly distance themselves from Nakachinda’s statement about MMD supporting the PF candidate in the forth coming by-elections. If they don’t, we wish to put it on record that we shall petition these elections.
ON PARTY MOBILISATION. We wish to inform the nation that we have completed visits to 6 provinces in the past two months and are now going to the rest of the country. We have taken a short break in order to participate in the elections, before we continue. The mood in our party across the nation is extremely that of high morale. It is clear to most Zambians now that our Party President Dr Nevers Sekwila Mumba has become the candidate of choice for President in the 2021 Presidential elections. Most Zambians are openly declaring that they now want a God fearing leader who shall fully interpret and implement the declaration of Zambia as a Christian Nation.
Our members are so excited and have been donating their monies under very difficult circumstances in order to prepare for both the Convention and 2021 General elections. On behalf of the National Executive Committee, I wish to assure our members Nation Wide to focus on the ongoing Mobilization in preparation to the elections next year. As for Nakachinda, he will soon be nabbed and brought to brutal justice which shall not only end his Kandile lifestyle but his fragile political career.
We are aware that the masters who are sending him needed a criminal to carry out these criminal activities. His masters know his history and are confident he can do criminal work. To disregard the Judgement of court is CONTEMPT and is a criminal offense. That makes him a criminal. We know that it’s not all policemen who are corrupt and unprofessional.
We also know that it is not every judge who is corrupt, we have some principled and honorable Judges. It’s just a matter of time, Nakachinda shall soon fall into one of these Judges’ hands and shall be sent back to prison. The only string keeping him out of jail is the PF string and it’s weakening by the day.
CIVIL SOCIETY SHOCKED AT APPOINTMENT OF MVUNGA AS BOZ GOVERNOR
The Civil Society Constitution Agenda (CiSCA) is as perplexed as many others in Zambia that have expressed grave misgivings on the suitability of Mr. Christopher Mvunga as Bank of Zambia Governor.
Even as we appreciate that the President exercised his constitutional powers to appoint Mr. Mvunga, and as much as we acknowledge that Mr. Mvunga meets the minimum qualifications as outlined in Article 214 of our Constitution, we are extremely apprehensive about the suitability of Mr. Mvunga as Chief Executive Officer of our Central Bank. We contend that Dr. Denny Kalyalya’s dismissal and Mr. Mvunga’s appointment is President Lungu’s continued destruction of state institutions starting with the Anti-Corruption Commission and now the central bank.
It is a no brainer that our economy is in a comatose state and a critical economic institution such as the Central Bank needs to be led by a highly competent and respected individual who commands both national and international respect, and definitely not one whose only suitability is being amenable and malleable to PF’s machinations. A Central Bank Governor should not only be independent but should also be seen to be independent. Mr. Mvunga’s independence is questionable because he is a politically aligned whose allegiance will primarily be to his political sponsors.
When juxtaposed, Dr. Kalyalya’s CV not only surpasses Mr. Mvunga on academic, professional qualifications and experience, but he also beats him in sobriety of character and public standing. How then is Mr. Mvunga expected to perform better than Dr. Kalyalya? The backlash from the appointment demonstrates that Mr. Mvunga is taking up a position that the public thinks he is not the best fit for. We further contend that there are easily at least 50 Zambians who are better qualified, have sober rock-solid temperaments with formidable national and international track records that can replace Dr. Kalyalya if he absolutely had to go.
Further, appointing someone to a position requiring ratification by Parliament when Parliament is on recess is wrong and ultra vires to Constitutional procedures. We earnestly appeal to MPs to exercise the doctrine of separation of powers and as the people’s direct representatives, reject Mr. Mvunga’s appointment in the same way parliament refused to ratify the appointment of Judge Lombe Chibesakunda as Chief Justice.
When a friend of mine told me that Kenyan women are loose I didn’t believe, couldn’t believe it Until I came to Kenya for a holiday With a mission.
And yes, I swung into action immediately With post paid lodging services in major cities I indiscriminately went for them Tall and short Slim and fat Single and taken Married but loose I left no stone unturned.
Today I agree with my friend’s assertion In fact loose is understatement of what these women are Just show them a dollar and you’ll see them shake A dollar melts them like ice in summer Perhaps my skin colour to excites them.
Today I’m surprised some people want me arrested For which crime? Spending my own money? Having good time with cheap women? Or posting photos of us? Oh no Kenyans, It’s willing buyer, willing seller deal I forced no one, I raped no one I just showed them a dollar.
If you can be terrified by those few photos What if I posted all of them? I’m sure these hot videos would send you all into a comma A rumour has it that I’m HIV positive That’s neither here nor there But if indeed I’m infected Then it’s not I, but WE.
My aim of posting those few photos wasn’t to hurt anyone I just wanted to show you how cheap your women are Even those who call themselves “independent” women Have you ever asked yourselves where they get their independence from? They trade their dignity for independence.
We have exploited them well without looking back I said WE because I’m not the only dignity buyer here The rest aren’t brave enough to show it Or maybe they haven’t hit the target.
Consequently, I believe I’ve no case to answer All the hundreds of women I’ve smashed were adults And I paid for all the services they offered Those who accepted to eat peeled banana harvested more Kindly don’t crucify me, I will be leaving soon And for you cheap women You can block me on social media But you cannot un-moan my name!
It is baffling how some individuals have reacted to the appointment of Mr Christopher Mvunga to the position of Bank of Zambia Governor.
As much as those people are entitled to their opinions, it is critical that they give space and chance for the new Governor to do his work. I have known and worked with Mr Mvunga and I can vouch for his strong leadership abilities and his knack for detail.
He is a proven performer who I believe will execute his mandate exceptionally. It is also unfortunate that some people are using the changes at the Central Bank to seek to undermine President Edgar Lungu’s abilities as Head of State.
As much as our constitution renders us our freedoms to express our views, we should try by all accounts to remain non hypocritical. It does not serve any purpose to keep flip-flopping when certain developments do not seem to favour our perspectives.
Isn’t it ironic that the same people are forgetting that even the outgoing Governor Dr Denny Kalyalya was an appointee of the same Head of State whose choice they are questioning today. It is worth noting that Dr Kalyalya was actually serving his second contract after having his initial contract renewed which goes to show that his stay in office was purely on merit and the appointing authority saw that.
Mr. Mvunga is an accomplished Professional Accountant with extensive business knowledge gained across industries, ranging from local to Multi-national companies. It is also important to know that the position of Bank Governor worldwide is not the preserve of economists only, but any individual that fulfills the required criteria and as prescribed in Article 214 of The Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act No 2 of 2016.
There are several examples both local and international of people with no training in Economics serving as Governors. Not too long ago, we had Dr Gondwe, a Lawyer by training working as BoZ Governor and on the international front, we have Christine Lagarde who is a French lawyer currently serving as President of the European Central Bank (ECB) after leaving the IMF as Managing Director.
What remains true for now is that Mr Mvunga is the BoZ Governor pending ratification and the whole nation should stand together and wish him success because his success will be the nation’s success.
President Edgar Chagwa Lungu made the appointment and Mr Mvunga has accepted to serve as Governor. Period!
A Texas lady wasn’t anticipating two originations for the record books.
Yet, that is the thing that she got alongside two lovely young men when she brought forth twins of various dads almost a year back.
“The two have comparative hungers. They like to play with their more seasoned siblings.
They like to play with one another,” their mother talked with the newspaper
How could it occur? Consistently a lady’s ovary discharges one egg that can be treated by one sperm.
In any case, for this situation, a couple of eggs rose.
Sperm, in the interim, can stay perfectly healthy and reasonable for as long as five days in the regenerative plot.
Consequently a lady can have intercourse with various men inside those five days and the sperm “only sort of hang out there trusting that the egg will be delivered,” Dr. Hilda Hutcherson, Clinical Educator of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Columbia College, told the news paper.
Washington, who simply turned 20, admitted to her accomplice that she engaged in sexual relations with another man inside that five-day window — consequently, the twofold origination.
The secret started to be fathomed when her accomplice, 44-year-old James Harrison, became worried that Justin and Jordan, brought into the world just 7 minutes separated, looked so changed. A paternity test followed.
At the point when he found that Justin wasn’t his child, Harrison stated, “I was harmed, destroyed didn’t have the foggiest idea what the following move was going to be,” Harrison said to the news paper.
In any case, he’s adored the two young men the equivalent from that point forward. “I raised him [Justin] from an infant right to now. He knows me as his dad, and I know him as my child,” Harrison clarified.
The young men, in the interim, know each other as siblings. “They’re developing in a similar situation,” Washington stated, “and they’re becoming acquainted with one another and play with one another.”
NEW HOME AFFAIRS PS MASIYE BANDA IN DIRTY GAMES OF RIGGING
President Edgar Lungu, recently appointed former senior internal auditor at the ministry of finance Mr. Masiye Banda, as new permanent secretary under the ministry of Home Affairs. There has been a continuous demotion of men and women in the service by Edgar Lungu, with an intent to install his perceived loyalists to back him up in his crooked criminal activities.
Mr. Banda, who has served this country with a clean record, has now succumbed to the dirty works of being used by Edgar Lungu and Steven Kampyongo, through the registering of Congolese nationals as voters ahead of 2021 general elections.
Our sources within the Ministry of Home Affairs have reviewed to us how recently, the new PS travelled to Congo, and spent almost one week facilitating for these illegal activities.
The question Mr Banda should answer is that why did he sneak out without media coverage into Congo? Why the secrecy over a public engagement that represents the people of Zambia?
The trail of Mr Banda was as follows, he first went to EASTERN province for The launch of new voters registration. Here, there was some efforts to assess if the PF government can bring in Malawian to register as voters like it was in 2016, were one post newspaper journalist Peter Sukwa who unearthed the scam was badly beaten by PF thugs and later urinated upon in his mouth. However, this time around PF has failed to get into Malawi due to the new government which is very much alert.
The PF government has failed to get through Zimbabwe as well due to its geographic location of being near southern province the source stated.
This is what has prompted PF to use Congolese and sadly, Mr Banda has been tasked with this dirty works.
Our reminder to Mr MASIYE BANDA is that we are watching all your steps and we shall publicise all your trails if you and Steven Kampyongo continue registering foreigners as voters. These dirty tricks will catch up with you Mr Masiye Banda and unlike your bosses who will take refuge in foreign lands, you will have nowhere to run to but jail. Think about that very seriously and think about how you are putting the very existence of this nation into jeopardy.
We challenge Mr Banda to refute these allegations within 24 hrs afterwhich shall publicise the full details of his involvement in illegalities.
Fellow citizens, rigging has began and let the opposition and all Zambians who care about our nation be alert. This battle is not for the opposition alone, it is for us all to stand up and defend Zambia.
According to recent intelligence reports, PF can’t win any credible elections, this is now why they think the only way out is to overhaul 2016 voters register among other many other things they are trying to implement.
Sikaile Sikaile Good Governance and Human Rights Activist
Masfufah Wardah woke up an hour after being pronounced dead.
The family of a 12-year-old girl who was declared dead were left stunned when she woke as they cleaned her body for her funeral.
The girl, named as Siti Masfufah Wardah, was admitted to a hospital in Probolinggo in the Indonesia province of East Java for chronic diabetes and organ complications on August 18.
She was pronounced dead at 6pm the same day.
Her body was taken to her home at 7pm so that family members could clean it and begin the funeral proceedings.
Loved ones were about to clean the girl’s body when she suddenly woke up again, according to her father.
The girl reportedly passed away again an hour after she woke
The dad, identified only as 40 year-old Ngasiyo, told news outlet Detik: “When her body was being bathed, her body temperature suddenly warmed. And her closed eyes suddenly reopened. And we found her heart was beating again and her body moved.”
The girl was taken back into the house and doctors were called to the scene.
Medics helped the girl with respiratory assistance and oxygen, but she reportedly passed away again an hour later.
s Lazarus syndrome or return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) which occurs in patients who have ‘died’ of heart failure.
According to medical reports, 82 percent of ROSC incidents occur after 10 minutes a person is confirmed dead after being given respiratory assistance.
After her death was confirmed a second time, Siti’s body was washed again and buried in the Lambangkuning Village Cemetery.
Lumbang Police Chief AKP Muhammad Dugel confirmed the incident. He has also visited the location and said the investigation was going on.
He added: “It’s true that there was an incident where the girl died and came back to life, after previously being treated at the Dr Mochamad Saleh Regional Hospital.
“When she was washed her body came back to life. For about one hour was alive and then died again.”
Almost 90 per cent of the population Indonesia is Muslim, and as part of the Islamic funeral ritual it is the responsibility of the family to wash the body according to a specific ritual prescribed for washing the body of the dead.
Three days ago, President Edgar Lungu’s supposed Facebook page posted a congratulatory message to Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) secretary-general Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe for being named among Africa’s 100 most influential women.
Ms Kapwepwe was listed by Avance Media, a leading African public relations and rating firm that seeks to present Africa’s incredible-achieving women as role models for the younger generation.
I join President Lungu in congratulating Ms Kapwepwe for being named in the 2020 compilation which comprised Africa’s most powerful women from 34 countries.
Holder of a Master of Business Administration, Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and a fellow of the Association of Chartered and Certified Accountants (ACCA) of the United Kingdom, Ms Kapwepwe’s recognition is well deserved. She is also a fellow of the Zambia Institute of Charted Accountants (ZICA).
Among the numerous positions Ms Kapwepwe has held include serving as executive director of the International Monetary Fund for the Africa Group One Constituency, based in Washington DC, managing director of the Zambia National Airports Corporation as well as deputy minister of Finance and National Planning.
At the Zambia Revenue Authority, she remains the only woman to have served as board chairperson since its founding in 1994.
Zambians have cause to be proud of these achievements.
Others who have been named together with Ms Kapwepwe among the 100 most influential African women include former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former Mozambican first lady and Nelson Mandela’s widow Graca Machel.
There is also Halima Dangote, the executive director of the Dangote Group and daughter of Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bom Bensouda and United Nations Under-Secretary-General and executive director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka.
That Ms Kapwepwe has been named among these high-profile personalities means a lot to Zambia hence the congratulatory message from President Lungu.
But, wait a minute.
Is Ms Kapwepwe the only Zambian among the 100 women?
No, she is not.
There is also Amanda Khozi Mukwashi and Dorothy Ng’ambi Tembo.
Who are Mukwashi and Tembo?
The British-born Ms Mukwashi is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Christian Aid, the official relief and development agency of 41 British and Irish churches.
Ms Mukwashi, who holds a master’s degree in international economic law from the University of Warwick and a bachelor of law degree from the University of Zambia, is the first-ever African CEO of Christian.
She has previously worked as director of policy for VSO International, based in London and head of external relations as well as head of programmes at Skillshare International UK.
Now, let us look at Ms Tembo.
An economist and trade and development expert, she is the acting executive director of the International Trade Centre (ITC) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Before that, Mrs Tembo was deputy executive director of the ITC after having earlier served as executive director of the multi-donor-funded enhanced Integrated Framework Programme at the World Trade Organisation.
She holds a degree in economics from the University of Zambia.
It was because of the foregoing that Avance Media chose Ms Mukwashi and Ms Tembo among Africa’s most influential women alongside Ms Kapwepwe and 97 others.
Why, then, did President Lungu only congratulate Ms Kapwepwe?
Are Ms Mukwashi and Ms Tembo not as high-achieving Ms Kapwepwe or the president was simply not aware that they, too, had been mentioned among the 100 most influential African women?
Was the congratulatory later to Ms Kapwepwe meant for political capital because of the influence her late father commanded?
How do Ms Mukwashi and Ms Tembo feel about President Lungu’s apparent snub?
Hence the question: Who manages President Lungu’s Facebook page?
Is it State House, the Smart Eagles or the Patriotic Front media directorate?
Should the president’s official Facebook page be run by politicians?
Whoever manages the page is not being fair to the head of State.
Not too long ago, they embarrassed him by posting a picture of a road under construction in another country and purporting it to be Zambian.
Embarrassment to our president is embarrassment to us all.
Such embarrassing situations are usually a result of some people being in too much hurry to please the head of State in a vain quest to prove their relevance.
Patience is a virtue.
Instead of googling for attractive-looking foreign pictures, why not use the Internet to find such useful information as the one that showed Ms Mukwashi and Ms Tembo to be among the 100 most influential African women?
I do not doubt the professional competency of President Lungu’s Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations Isaac Chipampe and his deputy Cecilia Mulenga.
The question that still begs an answer is: Who manages President Lungu’s Facebook page?
Its not about firing Kalyalya but his replacement…
Dr Denny Kalyalya is not the first BOZ governor to be fired. In fact looking at the number of years that previous governors served, Kalyalya is somewhat of an outlier having served for 5 years. Most governors served 2 to 3 years on average. Dr Fundanga served the longest having served for at least 10 years.
So why has there been so much noise following the firing of Kalyalya?
It is mostly to do with Kalyalya’s replacement. Christopher Mvula does not have solid experience in economic management, public finance or finance in general. Mvunga served as deputy minister for a short period. After that he was appointed deputy secretary to the Cabinet for economic management, a role that is not well defined and only filled at the whim of a sitting president. In short it may not be a key role.
Then there is what appears to be Mvunga’s personal life challenges. To be fair most of the bad publicity that Mvunga received in this regard came shortly after he was appointed deputy minister. Maybe he was a bit excited then. Otherwise he has lived a bit more quietly since then. But those videos and pictures from a point in his history are not helping matters.
Also Mvunga’s qualification is another weak point especially for someone without significant experience in economic management. The ACCA was designed for financial and strategic management and not for monetary policy implementation. In fact the qualification does not even have any detailed discourse on economics. It appears Mvunga has not gone on to study anything beyond ACCA to deepen his academic experience.
These things put together have the potential to shake the markets’ confidence in the economy and can lead to further bleeding of the Kwacha and deepen our economic malaise. Trust and confidence are huge assets in economics and business in general.These two qualities have long eluded the Edgar Lungu administration which has largely contributed to our economic challenges.
There are many at BOZ, ministry of finance and the country in general who could have comfortably fitted into Kalyalya’s large shoes including some PF aligned people if that was the objective. This is not a personal attack on Chris Mvunga but the President needed to appoint someone with proven capacity to help steer our troubled economy for the good of us all.
And having said this, maybe it is time for the nation to consider constitutionalising security of tenure for the governor of the Bank of Zambia as it is with central banks in others countries especially those with developed and stable economies.
Former finance minister Ng’andu Magande says, it is expected that President Edgar Lungu’s decision to fire Bank of Zambia Governor Denny Kalyalya was made after extensive consultations.
And Kalyalya says at an opportune time, he will make a statement on his dismissal as Bank of Zambia chief.
Yesterday, with immediate effect, President Lungu fired Kalyalya as Bank of Zambia Governor and replaced him with Christopher Mvunga. Mvunga was deputy Secretary to the Cabinet for finance and economic development.
The Head of State then appointed Ministry of National Development and Planning director Dr Mike Masiye to take up the position of deputy Secretary to the Cabinet.
And, Magande told Daily Revelation that, going by how important the Bank of Zambia is, it was expected that President Lungu made the changes based on consultations with his advisors.
He said the authority to appoint and disappoint was entirely a prerogative of the President, therefore, the Head of State might have made such a decision based on the country’s current economic environment.
“Some people say the executive is too powerful and these are the issues that the position of governor is the prerogative of the president who takes a name to parliament. So, at that point it becomes very difficult then to…I (can) imagine that the Head of State has not made adequate consultations. So, I presume he has made the changes based on what to do for this country’s current economic environment. And he has gotten advice from his advisors there that this is best thing to do. If it was just someone else, then you could say, oh!, the commission was just too big or public service they didn’t do this. But if it’s an individual who is the Commander in Chief, we expect that the decisions are made after extensive consultations,” he noted.
Magande however said it was difficult to provide an assessment about Dr Kalyalya and his successor as he knew little about them.
“On the individuals that are there, it becomes difficult for anybody who hasn’t really had a personal working relationship, especially at my level. I didn’t work with these people. I wouldn’t say whether they are capable or whether they are sober or whatever they are, it will be very very difficult,” said Magande. “It is very difficult to make an assessment.”
Meanwhile, Dr Kalyalya, when contacted said he was unable to talk about his dismissal, but would do so at the right time.
“I am afraid, I can’t comment right now. I am not in a position to comment right now. At the moment, I am not able to make a comment. At an opportune time, I will make a comment,” said Dr Kalyalya.
Dr Kalyalya was appointed to lead the country’s central bank in 2015 at a time when the macroeconomic outlook had already started showing signs of uncertainty. These difficulties were compounded by falling copper prices, drought, infrastructure development which went beyond budget threshold among others. After his appointment, Dr Kalyalya laid out his plans to revive the country’s dwindling macroeconomic outlook.
NATIONAL PROSECUTION AUTHORITY AND THE ADVICE TO THE POLICE
Listening to what advice the learned prosecutors gave to the IG on how to charge Jay Jay PF cadre who beat up police officers and stole money at Lusaka central police station last month makes one understand why we have such a high fail rate at ZIALE. Or better still why we have broken a record on a number of Nolles handed out in criminal cases since independence.
Was this advice given to get Jay Banda off the hook, or was it in the best interest of justice?
Aggravated Robbery according to Sec 294(1) CAP 87 says,” any person who, being armed with any offensive weapon or instrument, or being together with one person or more, steals anything, and, at or immediately before or immediately after the time of stealing he/she uses, or threatens to use actual violence to any person or property to obtain or retain the thing stolen or to prevent or overcome resistance to its being stolen or retained is guilty of a felony of aggravated Robbery and liable upon conviction to life imprisonment or dearth (2) (a) where the offensive weapon is a firearm.
Sec 295 CAP 87 Aggravated assault on the other hand says,”any person who, being armed with any offensive weapon or instrument, or being together with one person or more, assaults any person with intent to steal anything, is guilty of a felony and is liable upon conviction to imprisonment for a period of not less than 10 years and not exceeding twenty years.
Why did these so called learned, yet not so learned prosecutors advise the IG to go for Sec 295 CAP 87? If you look carefully at these two offences one (294) has person or property and (295) has only a person. The reason behind this charge was to triangulate the charge to an individual. Reason being, an individual can be persuaded to drop the charge where as property may not.
This offence of aggravated Robbery was committed against Lusaka Central targeting the evidence room. Therefore, the charge of aggravated Robbery was avoided, because that would mean no way out for Emmanuel Banda commonly known as Jay Jay or it would have been for the infamous nolle.
Change the charge and bring in an assault of the guard and use it so the guard can withdraw the charge and jay jay is free is the game PF leaders have played on this serious case.
Now here is a catch, the attack was on Central Police. If a police officer was injured in the process, that would have proved use of violence (resistance to retain….) which is an ingredient in aggravated Robbery. The fact that the suspects were armed with firearms, the penalty would have been death.
Fellow citizens, are you seeing what I am seeing? Now coming back to the law, Jay Jay would have been charged with aggravated Robbery. If as the prosecutors contend, that there was not enough evidence. A good prosecutor would have gone with the capital offence and moved the court to consider convicting on the alternative charge.
After all, the law considers that no one shall be acquitted merely on ground of a wrong charge. The court is allowed to acquit on a wrong charge and convict in the alternative charge. Therefore, change of a charge should have been considered during submission at the close of the case awaiting judgement.
The officer who got injured was, or is not the owner of Lusaka central. He or she was just like a property at the station. I therefore conclude that the case is fixed in favor of Jay Jay. The officer will definitely drop the charge as he will have no muscle to fight a powerful PF cadre like Jay Jay who reports direct to Edgar Lungu and Steven Kampyongo.
All the plan was surrender yourself and we will protect you using our positions, this is why he didn’t even spend a night in police custody.
Sikaile Sikaile Good Governance and Human Rights Activist
UNZA UPND YOUTHS IMPRESSED WITH PARTY LEADERSHIP SUPPORT
…students urge PF to lead by example and stop the violence
23/08/2020
The United Party for National Development-UPND-students at the University of Zambia have paid glowing tribute to the party leadership for their support towards a football match between the party youths and their counterparts from the ruling Patriotic Front.
The game was played at the University of Zambia grounds yesterday and saw the two teams battle it out to 2:2 draw.
In a statement issued after the first ever such match, UNZA UPND secretary Jonathan Sakuwaha said the students were happy that the party accorded them the opportunity to raise awareness on the need for tolerance, restraint and coexistence among various political parties in the country.
Sakuwaha said as bearers of the message on the need for love, peace and unity among people of varying political ideologies, his team carefully grasped the opportunity accorded to them to mingle and interact with their counterparts often associated with violence.
“We thank our party leadership for sponsoring our football match between UNZA- UPND and UNZA-PF yesterday. The match was used as a means of mobilization as well as a way of sending the message of love, peace and unity amongst youths and Zambians who belong to different political parties,” said Sakuwaha.
He appealed to Zambians from the different political persuasions to embrace each other irrespective of the differences in political affiliation.
“Belonging to different political parties should not be a recipe for divisions and differences among ourselves as Zambians. We should always remember that we are One Zambia One Nation as coined by our forefathers,” he said.
The students have since appealed to the PF to take responsibility and ensure that it sets an example of true leadership by desisting from playing politics of name calling and character assassination as a party in government.
“We call upon the ruling PF to always demonstrate that they are running the national affairs for the good of the people of Zambia unlike character assassination,” he said.
The football match drew a number of senior party officials from the two political parties who mingled freely with each unlike what is always seen at national level. UPND Munali constituency aspiring candidate Mutinta Mazoka was also amongst the enthusiastic party members and helped sponsor a braii at the end of the event. Munali constituency has attracted a number of UPND aspiring candidates , amongst them are Doreen Mwamba and Lillian Mutambo. Several other people are also interested in contesting for the seat on the party ticket.
Kellyanne Conway, a long-serving advisor to President Donald Trump known for sparring with reporters, announced Sunday she will step down to focus on her family.
Conway, 53, has been at Trump’s side since day one, managing his 2016 campaign that catapulted the reality TV star into the world’s most powerful office.
But the past four years of singular loyalty to Trump, including defending him on TV and with informal “gaggles” with the press, have taken a toll.
Her husband, prominent Washington lawyer George Conway, is one of Twitter’s most prolific Trump critics, repeatedly and loudly questioning the president’s mental fitness for office.
Also, Conway’s 15-year-old daughter Claudia wrote on Twitter Saturday that she was “devastated” that her mother would speak at the Republican convention, and pledged to seek legal emancipation “due to years of childhood trauma and abuse”.
Less than 24 hours later, Kellyanne Conway tweeted a statement that closes by saying: “For now, and for my beloved children, it will be less drama, more mama”.
Conway said she would step down by the end of the month and that her husband George would also be making some changes.
“We disagree about plenty but we are united on what matters most: the kids,” she wrote.
Conway has become both famous and notorious for sparring with the media, often by finding a way to change the topic, turn the question back on the reporter, or merely complain.
All of which did with a flamboyant fashion sense — snake-skin pattern dress one day, a bright red one the next — standing out in an often-gray city.
Her work led her at one point to be depicted on the long-running US comedy show Saturday Night Live as “Kellywise”, a spoof of the murderous, sewer-dwelling clown from horror novel and film “It”.
Conway also stuck out her White House role while a parade of other aides were forced out, quit or left in humiliation.
Conway, a lawyer and pollster by training, said her departure was her call.
“This is completely my choice and my voice. In time, I will announce future plans.” -AFP
Donald Trump’s older sister described the US president as cruel and a liar whose lack of principles meant he could not be trusted, according to secretly made recordings published Saturday.
It was the latest unflattering insider account to target the president, only instead of a jilted aide or business associate, it was from one of his closest relatives.
Maryanne Trump Barry, a former federal judge, slammed her brother over his immigration policy that saw children separated from their parents at the border and sent to detention centers.
“All he wants to do is appeal to his base,” she said in recordings obtained by the Washington Post. “He has no principles. None.”
“His goddamned tweet and lying, oh my God.”
The recordings were secretly made by the president’s niece Mary Trump, who published last month a bombshell memoir of the “toxic family” that produced him.
The president’s younger brother Robert, who died last week, went to court to try to block its publication — arguing that Mary was violating a non-disclosure agreement signed in 2001 after the settlement of her grandfather’s estate, but to no avail.
Some 950,000 copies were sold the day of the memoir’s release, with the White House calling it a “book of falsehoods”.
At one point in the recordings, Barry said to her niece: “It’s the phoniness of it all. It’s the phoniness and this cruelty. Donald is cruel.”
The recordings also shed light on the source of an embarrassing claim in the memoir that the president paid someone to take a college entrance exam for him.
“He got into University of Pennsylvania because he had somebody take the exams,” Barry said, adding she even remembered the man’s name.
In response, the White House released a statement to US media from Trump that said: “Every day it’s something else, who cares. I miss my brother, and I’ll continue to work hard for the American people.
Not everyone agrees, but the results are obvious. Our country will soon be stronger than ever before!” AFP
THE Democratic Party will form government next year, Harry Kalaba has declared.
And Kalaba has charged that the objective of Bill 10 is to perpetuate President Edgar Lungu’s stay in power.
Kalaba made the remarks when he paid a courtesy on chief Chitambo of the Lala speaking people of Central Province at his palace on Wednesday.
Chief Chitambo pointed out that currently there was no strong opposition political party in the country.
The traditional leader said that opposition political parties in Zambia were polarised, adding that some of them lacked national character.
Chief Chitambo advised the Democratic Party leader to establish party structures across the country.
“We do not have a strong opposition party at the moment. And we don’t want to revert to one party state. Go round the country and have your presence all over the country. Look for trustworthy individuals that can help you…even here in Chitambo, you can establish party structures so that you can have parliamentary seats during the 2021 general elections,” said Chitambo.
In response, Kalaba told Chitambo that the Democratic Party was making inroads across the country, adding that, “so far, from the interactions we have been having with people, the response from the Zambian citizenry has been overwhelming.”
The former foreign affairs minister said Zambians were losing confidence in PF government “because of the corruption tag that the ruling party currently has.”
“The economy is in a mess and the cost of living is high for majority Zambians. All this is because of mismanagement by our colleagues in the Patriotic Front. Because of this and many other issues, we are confident that we will pull a surprise in the 2021 general elections. The Democratic Party will form government next year,” Kalaba declared.
He also said that the Democratic Party’s desire was to ensure that women were economically empowered.
“In Singapore, for instance, women are economically empowered unlike here in our country where certain politicians take pride in seeing women dancing for them at airports. That is demeaning to the womenfolk,” Kalaba observed.
And Kalaba charged that the objective of Bill 10 was to perpetuate President Lungu’s stay in power.
“Instead of addressing the numerous challenges facing the Zambian people, our colleagues are busy pushing for the enactment of Bill 10 into law. This Bill 10 is only aimed at extending President Edgar Lungu’s stay in power,” he said.
Kalaba, who was accompanied by Democratic Party national chairlady Majorie Matafu, Serenje Central Constituency secretary Janny Namonje, among other party officials, later made a stop-over at Chalilo junction where he interacted with some traders before buying some dry fish, tomatoes, vegetables and some sardines.
Meanwhile, Kalaba bemoaned the escalating poverty levels among Zambians.
Speaking when he met more than 300 headmen and women in Chobela village in chief Kabamba’s area in Serenje district, Kalaba noted that majority Zambians were going through economic hardships.
He said that 2021 would present an opportunity for Zambians “to liberate themselves economically.”
Kalaba also said that the farming community has been given a raw deal by the PF government because small scale farmers that supplied maize to the Food Reserve Agency were not being paid on time.
He further charged that most roads projects were only benefiting foreigners.
“We cannot continue giving these contracts to Chinese nationals. The Zambian nationals that are taking part in road construction projects are being engaged as sub-contractors,” Kalaba said and he implored people in Chimupati area to make the right decisions by voting wisely.
By all means I have a loci standi (enough grounds) to comment on the change in the top job at the Central Bank of Zambia (BoZ).
In my 15 years Banking profession career in Zambia between 1998 and 2011, I interacted alot with both the newly appointed Governor Christopher Mvunga and his predecessor Dr Denny Kalyalya. When I hit peak in my Banking career as a Director of Treasury & International Banking at then Finance Bank (Atlas Mara), I would meet Chris at International Conferences as he was also a director (of Retail I think) at one of the big banks in South Africa called Standard Bank (Stanbic in Zambia).
Dr Kalyalya I would engage with him here and there as he was the BoZ Deputy Governor then and more that I was the Chairman then of the Commercial Banks FOREX & Money market Dealers association.
When I joined politics in 2011, I was briefly the Deputy Minister of Finance in 2012 and by then Dr Kalyalya had moved to work at the World Bank in Washington DC, USA hired to man SADC desk that included Zambia.
We met in Tokyo, Japan then at the annual Word Bank conference. Together we attended all meetings to do with Zambia and Africa in general.
When I left the Ministry of Finance to Commerce Ministry, I was replaced or swapped with Hon Keith Mukata.He was a few years later replaced by Chris Mvunga around 2015. I therefore ‘reunited’ with Chris in Parliament away from the Banking professional World.
Thereon I came to learn that Chris is also a Matero born like me and we are both passionate about the Local Football team Lusaka Tigers which he tells me he played for in his teens.
So given above, I wish to Congratulate Chris on his appointment as the new BoZ Governor. There is time and space for everyone as set by God for various opportunities. Yours is now Chris. “Give us Iwee”. I called Chris this morning to Congratulate him and joked ” I hope you have a Signature. We don’t want kufwantika (thumb stamp) on our Kwacha”.
As for Dr Kalyalya, I can only but wish you well Sir in your future endevours.
Miles B. Sampa Former Banker & Former Deputy Finance Minister. Sunday 23rd August, 2020, 3pm
Mr. Hakainde Hichilema posts on his Facebook page the following: “What has happened at BOZ is like replacing an experienced heart surgeon with a mechanic, in the middle of heart surgery”.
We wish to draw Mr. Hichilema’s attention to Article 214 of The Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act No 2 of 2016 provides that;
“214. (1) There shall be a Governor of the Bank of Zambia who shall be appointed by the President, subject to ratification by the National Assembly, and who shall be— (a) a citizen;
(b) a person who has specialised training and experience in economics, finance, accounting, banking, LAW or other field relevant to banking, as prescribed;… “
While subject to ratification by Parliament, the newly appointed BOZ Governor Mr. Chris Mvunga is an accomplished Professional Accountant with extensive business knowledge gained across industries, ranging from local to Multi-national companies. He is a fellow of the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA) and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA- UK). He is qualified to be BOZ Governor with adequate experience locally and internationally.
We have also observed that its been very easy for UPND leader to attack Minister of Finance Dr. Bwalya Ng’andu, a man who has taken very aggressive fiscal measures while paying a blind eye to his cousin the former Bank of Zambia Governor over the K10 billion stimulus fund which had remained undusbursable until now. Only K1 billion of the stimulus package was disbursed in the midst of negative economic growth. How can the economy be rescued when there is no liquidity in the economy? Which country can allow that? But alas Mr. Hichilema found it convenient to remain quite possibly because the person involved was his relative.
We expect that anyone who is serious about Zambia like His Excellency President Edgar Lungu is must raise concerns about the slow disbursement of the stimulus package and the over stringent measures put up which are defeating the very reason why the Stimulus package was put up in the first place. There was clearly suspected sabotage to knock out out the economy completely and this is what the UPND was banking on.
SIGNED:
Sunday Chanda Media Director Patriotic Front Party Headquarters
DISMISSAL OF BOZ GOVERNOR HAS SERIOUS NEGATIVE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES
The PF is at it again with its typical hallmark of failure in upholding the tenets of sound economic management and good governance. The dismissal of the Governor of the Bank of Zambia, Dr. Denny Kalyalya is another sad development in our country’s history, and it couldn’t have come at such a critical time, when the nation is facing enormous economic challenges, and uncertainties.
We can tell you without doubt, that the IMF will stop engaging with Zambia, not only because of poor fiscal policies but also because of the credibility of the new Bank of Zambia Governor. BOZ under Dr. Kalyalya has behaved professionally and has been managed with a firm and transparent standpoint. With the IMF leaving us to sort out our own mess, the next likely group will be our creditors who will start demanding their pound of flesh. Then the kwacha will follow, in free fall.
Secondly, Government has just shown that it is hell bent on undermining the BOZ, which has remained steadfast in ensuring the economy continues to function within acceptable benchmarks. The efforts made by Bank of Zambia on monetary policy adjustments is well documented. While Kalyalya was busy forestalling a free fall of the Kwacha against major currencies, Bwalya Ng’andu, on the fiscal side, was busy fighting him by introducing strange measures and contracting new debt.
A Central Bank, in any country, is a very important institution that requires professionalism and competence to reign. It is also important that the CEO of the Central Bank is protected by the law from political interference, like this one action that has just been executed by Mr Edgar Lungu. There are no prizes for guessing why Kalyalya was fired. Put simply, the man was professional, ethical and above board. Various public statements he made on the condition of the economy, underscores the fact that he was forthright, prudent and foresighted. In now what has become the PF’s modus operandus, anyone who behaves ethically and professionally is kicked out.
At this point, one can only warn the Zambian public to brace for hard times ahead. The kwacha will devalue further, subsequently sending prices skyrocketing due to the rising cost of doing business. Further, jobs will be lost because the economy will further contract, probably end at a worse position than the projected minus 5.5% growth.
However with all this gloom in our midst, we would like to assure Zambians that come 2021, the economy will be firmly back on track. Do your bit, we shall do ours.
FIELDING in united opposition alliance candidates in the forthcoming Mwansabombwe and Lukashya by-elections is the right thing to do, NDC leader Chishimba Kambwili has said.
In an interview yesterday, Kambwili said the alliance was looking to support each other by fielding united alliance candidates unlike competing against each other.
He said the NDC vice-president Josephs Akafumba and national chairman Fr Richard Luonde were in talks with their counterparts on the idea of supporting each other as it was the right thing to do.
“This is what we are working on. There is a meeting today going on with our vice-president and national chairman and the President of UPND. As I speak to you, there is a meeting going on trying to see how we can work together as soon as the decision is made,” Kambwili said.
He said it was the only way to go, not to test the alliance but the only reasonable option available.
“It’s not that we are testing the alliance, but it is only the reasonable way to go. We are committed to have it work, so why would it not change the outcome? For us, we have gone to the UPND, we have called this meeting so that we can harmonise and see if they can field in one constituency and we also field in another so that we don’t compete among ourselves. I can confirm to you that the agenda of today’s meeting is to see if we can share the constituencies and not compete against each other. We can negotiate within ourselves that we don’t compete against each other,” said Kambwili.
Cross sections of stakeholders have said the Mwansabombwe and Lukashya by-elections should determine the future of the opposition alliance.
They say with the 2021 general elections fast approaching, it was time to showcase the opposition’s ingenuity, sincerity, faithfulness and effectiveness together.
Alliance member and leader of RPP James Lukuku said the two elections must serve as a litmus test and he appealed to the UPND and NDC to contests in one constituency each.
He said the alliance would emerge triumphant if supported single candidates in the by-elections.
Lukuku called for the implementation of the Roan strategy that saw the formation of the UPNDC and ‘Lopola’ formula implemented to defeat the PF.
“Let us not go into these elections as competitors on the same side of the opposition alliance,” pleaded Lukuku.
The Electoral Commission of Zambia has set September 17 as date for the by-elections that have been necessitated by the deaths last month of Mwansabombwe member of parliament Rodgers Mwewa and Lukashya’s Mwenya Munkonge.
PLANS UNDERWAY BY PF TO OUST FINANCE MINISTER DR. BWALYA NGANDU.
As the battle for the Patriotic Front (PF) and President Edgar Lungu to remain in power intensifies, there are frantic and relentless efforts by the regime to anchor down and secure all key institutions with puppets of the regime; individuals who are loyal and willing to sell the fortunes of a whole nation just for a place at the table of blood with the PF.
The regime is well aware that all good men and women of honor and integrity in the civil service will not accept to render themselves as accessories to crimes against their own country. And these are the men and women who are now facing a real risk of losing their positions across key government institutions to pave way for accomplices of the regime.
The firing of the Bank of Zambia governor Denny Kalyalya is part of a long chain of carefully mapped out strategic sackings of high ranking civil servants to soften the already rugged terrain for the PF towards 2021.
Here are some of the PF’s major problems:
Unprecedented hunger with close to 10m starving citizens and a basic food basket of nearly K7,500 per month
Mass unemployment with close to 110, 000 trained young men and women without a job
Food inflation running close to 17%,
Unprecedented load shedding of close to 12hrs a day for nearly 2 years running – costing the economy a collosal $7.25bn
Note: To close this economic gap, the economy needs to grow at a consistent 2% (without fail) for 13 years
Unprecedented politically motivated corruption costing the country in excess of $2bn per year
Note: Between 2012 and 2019, the PF regime have failed to account for around $2.5bn revenue from Mukula sales
Unprecedented public borrowing of over $20bn, now more than 100% the size of the economy.
A breakdown in the rule of law with cadres openly raiding a police station and still get away with it.
Against this background, the PF regime no longer have a bankable story to tell the Zambian people come 2021. Their election message will be pinned on strategic vote buying. But to buy votes, they will need money – a lot of it.
This means they need both keys to the TREASURY – both on the monetary and fiscal side.
To consolidate their grip on the monetary side, they needed to water down the powers of the central bank; this is why BILL 10 is key to them. They virtually want to move Bank of Zambia into a statehouse which is under state capture.
So, the removal of Denny Kalyalya is only a small part of the changes the PF regime need to secure BoZ. They ultimately want access to the $1.4bn sitting in reserves to use for campaigns next year.
Next stop is the Ministry of Finance – Bwalya Ngandu.
Bwalya Ngandu is an upstanding professional. His message to the government was perfectly in sync with Kalyalya. He has been getting in the way of government borrowing, and his situation is further complicated because there is a northern clique in the PF looking to use him to topple Edgar Lungu from the helm of PF leadership.
He will have to go.
“My advice to the Finance Minister now is RESIGN while your integrity is intact. They are after you anyway, so there is no use fighting them. “
NDC national youth chairman Charles Kabwita has charged that if lunacy were to be crafted in human form, it would be PF central committee member Paul Moonga.
Moonga, the Lusaka Province PF chairman, recently said President Edgar Lungu’s daughter Tasila was trying to make a living, and challenged public concerns about her sudden wealth.
“With age should come wisdom, civility and just some good enough common sense and manners. But Paul Moonga is devoid of all that. If lunacy was a person, look no further than this joker that is heading Lusaka on behalf of the PF, Paul Moonga,” he said.
He wondered how a right-thinking person would defend Tasila’s questionable wealth when she was nothing before her father became president.
“Tasila should look at how the once powerful children of former presidents are being arrested in the region and she should learn something from that. Her dealings will land her in problems once there is a change of government and it will be a shame to see her rot in prison all because she decided to go along with the PF acceptable and institutionalised thieving,” said Kabwita, a former PF Chimwemwe councilor in Kitwe.
“We know that stealing has been normalised and institutionalised in the PF, and that is why he chose to stand with the Lusaka minister Bowman Lusambo who also claimed that K2 million was nothing. Do they know how many young people, women and men can benefit from that amount to the extent of changing some of their lives for good? Does he know how many schools, health centres, mothers’ shelters and other social services and infrastructure such an amount can cover?” Kabwita wondered.
He said indeed the PF was full of confusion and their behaviour left the nation even more confused all the time.
Yesterday we spoke about the comedy of appointing a commercial branch manager as deputy governor in charge of operations at the Bank of Zambia (BOZ). Today we saw it fit that we reinforce this concern by stating, though briefly, the dangers of having such ill qualified individuals at the helm of central banking. No disrespect to them and their families whose salaries have risen exponentially overnight, but it’s important that we realise the danger to the economy beyond a well networked individual.
The PF’s targets to keep the rate of inflation consistently below 10 percent per annum and its performance is judged by the effectiveness of the monetary policy to help achieve the inflation target and maintain and create employment. This dual aim requires a serious understanding of macroeconomics that can never be found nor taught in any central banking course nor experience acquired from running a branch along Cairo Road. The USA, for their Federal Reserve Bank, have reserved, the role of Chairman for the Reserve Bank to eminent macroeconomists who have devoted their lives to understanding the economy. It is not a fluke that therefore when America sneezes we call catch a cold.
Despite continued calls for BOZ autonomy, the PF government has, like its predecessors, made sure that the BOZ remain de facto under the control of the Ministry of Finance and the monetary policy hostage to the fiscal requirements of the government. Now, more than ever, with huge fiscal deficits, I suspect it should make sense for the government to hold the BOZ even under heavy hostage to its fiscal requirements.
Intentionally or unintentionally, whether knowingly or indeed unknowingly, advised or not, the PF led government has now confused the qualifications of a central banker with those of a commercial banker. It has been appointing commercial bankers or persons with no macroeconomics background or policy experience as governors and deputy governors. A commercial banker cannot become an effective governor/deputy governor because he/she is trained in totally different skills. The skills required for central banking and those for commercial banking are like those of an aircraft engineer and a locomotive engineer. Yes, they are both ‘engineers’, but they engineer different engines so we should not confuse the two at all!
By tradition, and as a matter of necessity, the deputy governors used to be selected from among the senior career staff of the BOZ to ensure that an outside governor would have the services of his deputies with practical experience in central banking and institutional memory to provide historical perspective in the management of the BOZ. The PF-led government has broken this noble and effective tradition and appointed commercial bankers as deputy governors of the BOZ according to the government’s political preferences.
The PF-led government is thus making sure that the governors/deputy governors it is appointing are willing to remain under its control. Furthermore, they have to be weak and vulnerable enough to subordinate monetary policy to the financing requirements of the budget and the banking system subject to the interference of the Ministry of Finance.
In a time such as ours when we are faced with huge budget deficits and a falling exchange rate and slogans of Link 8000 and more mega infrastructure to hoodwink votes in 2016, the greatest recipe for economic governance failure is to have puppets at the central bank that will do as instructed without questioning the authorities.
We feel the recent appointments may breed such. A grave side effect of the appointment of governors without merit such as being done by PF is that the contribution of the BOZ in macroeconomic policy formulation and in handling the international financial institutions may be questioned heavily, and lead to low confidence in the way we govern our affairs.
A systematic degradation of the office of the governor and deputy governors may be very costly for the country. With a huge budget deficit and high domestic and international debt, we need to guard ourselves against the temptation of resorting to the old trick in the book of printing money, —- the one Uncle Bob next door resorted to when he appointed commercial bankers as central bank governors, or further borrowing.
Indeed, the present state of the BOZ may be deemed poor, but it will go down further if incompetent ‘yes mwami’ men and women are appointed as governors or the government shows an inability to differentiate between commercial and central banking and appoints and sustains other commercial bankers as governors and deputy governors. Unfortunately, it seems the government has already failed to differentiate between the two, and have already fallen prey to the economic governance gimmicks of appeasement and quick fixes.
But that said the BOZ needs to understand that it is a professional — not political — institution and that its governors have a statutory national responsibility without having a blind commitment to a particular government. At the same time, the political leadership of the country needs to understand that economic recovery and price stability will come with strengthening, not weakening, vital economic institutions like the BOZ. Recent appointments surely serve to weaken such important institutions.
What is needed at BOZ is a competent macroeconomist with appropriate experience in policymaking to be appointed as the governor and likewise deputy governors too, allowed to function professionally and then held accountable for the formulation and conduct of monetary policy to control inflation and promote private sector investment and economic growth in coordination with fiscal and exchange rate policies.
A submissive governor and an ineffective BOZ do not serve the national interests that even the PF have at their heart. Enough said, the real test of the PF-government will be beyond the qualifications, calibre and competence of the its governors at the bank—It will be their performance in controlling the volatility of the kwacha and keeping inflation at the government target level while promoting growth and employment.
HERE is a place you probably did not know actually existed Shambalakale farm.
Nestled in a lush mountain side in Chinsali, Muchinga Province, Shambalakale farm was meant to be the retirement home of Zambia first President Kenneth Kaunda.
Shambalakale is a Swahili term meaning old farm.
The estate, which stretches about 12km, is situated in Mafupa village, a few kilometres from Chinsali Boma.
Hidden from view by a pristine forest is the mansion that Dr Kaunda built.
After driving on a very bumpy road, you find an old tarred road, which is still intact, leading up a mountain. About 300 metres and you come to a metal barrier and a guard house.
Beyond that, there is a long driveway lined with trees, flamboyant trees, umbrella and Christmas trees. There are also Bougainville plants.
Then you come before the whitewashed double-storey mansion, which has eight bedrooms, all self-contained. The house is also fully furnished.
The structure itself is an architectural marvel, with high ceiling and wooden window and door frames.
The mansion previously had a flat roof, but it was later replaced with a hip tiled roof.
There is a path leading halfway up the mountain to an observation post behind the house.
The concrete steps are now painted green with moss, an indication no-one ever climbs them nowadays.
From the viewing post, which has metal railing to prevent falling, one can catch an aerial view of the mansion, as well as an extended view of the landscape, as far as the eye can see.
There is a small gate that leads to a large compound with three much smaller houses.
The houses were built by Dr Kaunda for his mother Hellen Kaunda and another for his older Robert. A third house was built for his nephew, Collins.
Hellen Kaunda lived at the farm only for a few months before she died, and Dr Kaunda’s sister, Kate, remained in the house. She is now late, so are Robert and Collins.
The mansion also has a guest wing, which is now occupied by Misheck Mbao, a relation of Dr Kaunda. He is the guardian of the mansion he calls palace.
ORIGIN
The mansion at Shambalakale was built in 1971 by a company called Zambia Engineering and Construction Company (ZECCO), the same parastatal company that built the Taj Pamodzi Hotel, the University Teaching Hospital, and Zambia tallest building, Findeco House.
ZECCO Ltd was established in 1966 as a joint venture company between the Zambian government and Energoprojekt Engineering and Contracting Company of the former Yugoslavia.
According to Kaweche, the son of Dr Kaunda, when his father wanted to build a house, he was offered a plot east of Lusaka by Aaron Milner, who was the country first Minister of Home Affairs.
But Dr Kaunda is said to have been pressured to instead build a house in Chinsali by his friends Simon Kapwepwe and Robert Makasa, who had already started building their houses in the district.
Dr Kaunda gave in and decided to donate the land Mr Milner had given him to Government. That is where State Lodge is now situated.
And so, not far from Shambalakale are two other estates that belonged to Mr Kapwepwe and Mr Makasa. The two houses are not as grandiose as the mansion at Shambalakale, but still remarkable.
Mr Kapwepwe, who was well-known for holding very strong Afrocentric views, chose a circular shape for his four-bedroomed house, to resemble a village hut.
According to Salome, Kapwepwe widow, who recently turned 90 and still lives at the house, when the builders asked her husband for a house plan, he simply drew a circle in the ground with his walking stick, and sketched the rooms inside.
The three freedom fighters must have dreamt of spending their retirement life together in their birthplace, Chinsali.
But since it was built, Dr Kaunda has only made a few visits to Shambalakale. When he was President, he held a few meetings there.
In 1974, Dr Kaunda held a meeting at the farm with British Foreign Secretary James Callaghan to discuss Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).
The meeting was also attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time Vernon Mwaanga.
There is no doubt Dr Kaunda had endearment to Shambalakale, as he often made reference to it in speeches, indicating he would one day settle there.
In 1991, the Shambalakale mansion was renovated by a construction company called Minestone, perhaps to prepare it for occupation by President Kaunda, who was facing growing dissent at the time, and an imminent defeat in elections later that year.
But when he left office, Dr Kaunda opted to stay in Lusaka.
Dr Kaunda’s wife, Betty, in November 2007, she talked about the frustration of leaving Nkwazi House, the official residence of the Zambian President, and not having a permanent home.
According to Mama Betty, she and her husband spent the first three months in a guest house, before they moved into a rented house in Kalundu, but when the owner of the house died, they had to move house again.
They were then offered accommodation by a local businessman for two years.
Later, the Kaundas were given a not-so-befitting house by Government on Kudu Road, Kabulonga, before they were finally built a house in State Lodge.
As to why Dr Kaunda never took up residence at the Shambalakale mansion remains a subject of speculation.
But one plausible reason was the health condition of Mama Betty.
The former first lady herself had talked about her desire to relocate to Chinsali, but was prevented by her health condition.
I wanted to go back to Chinsali, but it’s difficult now after having a stroke because in the building in Chinsali, the bedrooms are upstairs,she had told me.
Mama Betty had suffered a stroke in 1997, and she usually needed a wheelchair to move around.
The former first lady was also a long-time diabetic. She died in September 2012.
FALLING APART
For most part of its existence, the Shambalakale mansion has remained unoccupied and locked.
The mansion now looks forgotten, surrounded by an air of abandonment.
There is a broken-down tractor in front of the mansion, and a rusty satellite dish mounted on the lawn.
In the wooden ceiling of the large verandah of the house, bees have found a dwelling place.
Moss has grown in many parts, including paved walkways, while some roof gutters are detaching from the building.
Mr Mbao says in the past, thieves have stolen some fittings from the house.
Dr Kaunda’s first-born son, Panji Kaunda, lived at the estate between 1978 and 1984, engaging in farming, including fruit farming. And when his brother, Dr Waza Kaunda, served as member of Parliament for Chinsali, he took up maintenance of the mansion.
According to Colonel Panji, Dr Kaunda handed over the estate to Dr Waza to manage.
A peep through one of the windows shows a big dining table. There are also framed pictures of Dr Kaunda on the wall, the only sign that this is his house.
