Europe Has Chosen Its Future Partner, and It Isn’t the United States.
We are seeing more and more signs that Europe has already made its choice for the future. The continent increasingly views China as a more dependable partner than the United States. European governments want stable economic relationships, and China offers exactly that.
China is one of the few actors with genuine leverage over Russia. With the United States drifting into self imposed irrelevance in Ukraine, Beijing becomes a potential channel for pressure on the Kremlin. China has the power, and unlike the United States, it has never acted in a way that has materially harmed Europe.
Meanwhile, the MAGA driven turn inward has left the United States increasingly isolated from both Canada and Europe. In European political circles, there is quiet talk that Canada may soon be the last stronghold of the Western democratic tradition on the American continent. Across the rest of the hemisphere from the United States to Panama to Colombia to large parts of South America the cultural gravity is moving away from the liberal democratic model.
From December 3 to 5, President Macron will visit China at the invitation of Beijing. The agenda spans economic cooperation, the broader EU China relationship, and several strategic issues. The timing is intentional. The visit comes before any potential Trump Xi meeting, underlining China’s strategy to engage Europe directly.
CHINA AND RUSSIA JUST SENT A MESSAGE TO THE WORLD – AND THEY DID IT ON AMERICA’S WATCH
While a U.S. envoy met with Putin in Moscow this week, something else was happening, something bigger, more symbolic, and possibly more dangerous.
China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, was in Moscow too. And he wasn’t there for ceremony. He was there for “strategic security and military cooperation” talks with Russia’s most powerful defense and foreign policy officials. It was the 20th round of these high-level consultations, a number that reflects not just routine coordination, but a sustained and growing alliance.
And the timing? Not accidental.
The same day Wang met with Sergei Shoigu and FM Lavrov, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were preparing for their own meeting with Putin. Wang even acknowledged it, telling Lavrov it was a “particularly busy, tense and significant day” for Russia.
Translation: China knew exactly what it was doing ,and wanted the world to see it.
In a global moment defined by shifting alliances, this wasn’t just another diplomatic handshake. It was a clear display of Beijing and Moscow’s growing alignment on defense, intelligence, and global strategy, with America quite literally in the next room.
Just 24 hours earlier, Putin had signed a decree waiving visas for Chinese citizens, a reciprocal move to Beijing’s earlier gesture. On the surface, that’s tourism and commerce. But underneath, it’s about access, mobility, and infrastructure that supports long-term strategic partnership, not just friendship.
The joint statement after the meeting was even more revealing. China and Russia vowed to “consolidate strategic mutual trust,” “expand mutually beneficial cooperation,” and “jointly respond to the endless new threats and challenges.” That’s diplomatic code for: We’re in this together, and the West should take notice.
And they should.
This alignment isn’t just about Ukraine or Taiwan, though both are crucial battlegrounds in the global order. It’s about building a multipolar world where U.S. influence is diluted and where authoritarian states coordinate to resist Western pressure, militarily, economically, and ideologically.
Meanwhile, the Russian FM stated that “considerable attention” was given to ending the war in Ukraine ,on Russia’s terms, of course. China, for its part, continues to deny accusations that it’s supplying Russia with weapons, intelligence, or equipment, but Kyiv sees the reality on the ground differently.
Whether Beijing is directly aiding Moscow or simply enabling it through diplomacy and dual-use exports, the effect is the same: China is helping Russia endure and adapt.
That should concern Washington, and Europe, deeply.
What this week revealed is that Moscow and Beijing are increasingly acting in sync, even as the U.S. tries to manage each of them separately. These aren’t isolated rivals anymore. They’re partners, and they’re planning for a world without American dominance.
The U.S. may still be at the table. But the map is shifting, and others are drawing the lines.
EU Diplomatic Service Under Investigation as Belgian Authorities Probe Alleged Corruption
Belgian federal police have conducted coordinated raids on premises linked to the European External Action Service (EEAS)—the EU’s diplomatic arm—currently led by High Representative Kaja Kallas. According to reporting by Euractiv, the operation targeted the EEAS headquarters in Brussels, the College of Europe in Bruges, and multiple private residences. Authorities seized documents and detained at least three individuals as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged procurement fraud, conflicts of interest, and possible misuse of EU funds.
This marks the first significant legal and institutional challenge to arise under Kallas’s leadership and comes at a critical juncture for EU foreign policy, amid ongoing support for Ukraine, heightened geopolitical tensions, and renewed scrutiny over transparency and accountability within EU institutions.
It is important to clarify a widely circulating but false claim: Federica Mogherini, former High Representative (2014–2019), has not been arrested. That assertion is inaccurate and risks spreading disinformation. While past EU administrations have faced criticism over governance and oversight, as Mogherini herself once noted, “Fighting corruption is the basis of all reforms”—no credible evidence or official source confirms any legal action against her currently.
That said, the present investigation underscores the urgent need for integrity, due process, and institutional accountability. If substantiated, these allegations would represent a serious breach of public trust, particularly concerning how EU resources, including those directed toward Ukraine and partner regions, are managed.
The European Union must ensure that its commitments abroad are matched by transparency and ethical conduct at home. As this case develops, it deserves sober attention—not speculation—and a firm commitment to the rule of law from all involved.
We invite informed, fact-based discussion on the implications of this investigation for EU diplomacy, governance, and credibility on the global stage.
The European Central Bank has refused to act as a financial backstop for a massive €140bn EU loan to Ukraine, dealing a serious blow to Brussels’ plan to fund Kyiv using frozen Russian assets.
Why? The ECB says the proposal would violate EU treaty rules banning “monetary financing”, essentially, central banks can’t directly fund government spending.
Now, the EU is scrambling for alternatives, while Belgium demands ironclad guarantees from all 27 member states before committing. With US-led peace talks looming and sanctions needing renewal every 6 months, the clock is ticking.
Ukraine needs billions to survive the next two years of war. But legal, financial, and political hurdles are mounting.
A young nun in Croatia, who claimed she had been st@bbed by a Muslim immigrant, resulting in an anti-migrant furore, has now been accused of inflicting the wounds on herself.
Police in Croatia’s capital city of Zagreb suspect that 35-year-old nun, Sister Marija Tatjana Zrno, stabbed herself and then falsely reported that she had been attacked, according to a report published by the Zagreb Police Department.
The department is filing a criminal complaint against the 35-year-old nun after a four-day investigation into the allegations.
The initial incident made national headlines, with many people first speculating it was a religiously motivated attack.
According to the report, Sister Zrno told police that an unknown perpetrator approached her with a knife and stabbed her on Friday, Nov. 28.
Sister Zrno, a Sisters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul sister in Zagreb, was said to be recovering in the Sisters of Charity Hospital Centre after being stabbed several times in what early reports suggest may have been a religiously motivated assault.
Croatian Police immediately opened a criminal investigation and Church officials confirmed the nun was stable and expected to recover.
The alleged attack took place in the residential district of Malešnica. According to her congregation, the sister was struck in the abdomen with a sharp object, and managed to walk back to her convent before being taken for emergency treatment at the Sisters of Charity University Hospital Centre.
Paramedics admitted her at approximately 3pm with a wound inflicted by a sharp object in the area of the abdominal wall. Hospital representatives said she had arrived accompanied by someone known to her, and confirmed that her injuries were not life-threatening.
Local media reported that the assailant may have shouted religious slogans, including the Arabic phrase “Allahu akbar”, during the attack, according to unverified eyewitness claims.
According to the police report, she was discharged on Dec. 1.
The Croatian government’s official X account posted that police and health workers took all necessary measures and actions and launched an investigation.
Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević told local media at the time that his primary focus was on Zrno’s recovery but asked police to fully investigate the incident and publish their findings as soon as possible, noting that many people in the country were upset about the news.
The police said the department’s criminal investigation has now found the claims made by Sister Zrno to be false and said the department fully refutes those claims.
Police allege their investigation confirmed that Zrno purchased the weapon herself at a store in the Zagreb area. The police allege that their investigation determined that she inflicted the injury on herself.
The report alleges that Sister Zrno falsely reported the criminal offense with the intent of misleading the police, despite being aware that filing a false report carries a penalty.
The police are filing a criminal complaint with the Municipal State Attorney’s office.
Sister Zrno, born in Šujica,is a religion teacher at a Zagreb primary school and is known for her pastoral work with young people and her love of football.
“WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED” — CATHOLIC PRIESTS HIT BACK AT KALESHA’S ATTACKS
The President of the Local Catholic Clergy in Zambia, Rev. Fr. Augustine Mwewa, has strongly condemned the verbal attacks made against Catholic Priests and Bishops by UPND supporter Victor Kalesha during a meeting at State House on Monday.
Mr. Kalesha who controversially introduced himself as a Bishop, claimed that Catholic Priests should not comment on the ongoing constitutional amendment debate because “they do not have children.” His remarks, delivered in the presence of President Hakainde Hichilema, have sparked outrage within the Catholic community and beyond.
Speaking to Radio Icengelo News, Fr. Mwewa described the comments as hate speech, an insult, and an unacceptable abuse of religious leaders who have long been central voices in matters of morality, social justice, and national governance.
Fr. Mwewa, Parish Priest of Holy Family Lulamba in Chingola under the Archdiocese of Ndola, questioned the logic behind Mr. Kalesha’s attack.
“I pity Mr. Kalesha. So he is saying all the youths, men, and women without children should not speak out? Where does he want to take our prophetic role and human right? So now in Zambia if you have no child you hold no right to speak for the people?” he charged.
The outspoken priest urged President Hichilema to publicly denounce Kalesha’s remarks, saying silence from the Head of State may be interpreted as approval.
“The President should stand up and denounce remarks by Mr. Kalesha. And the President the other day was saying he is ready for dialogue is that dialogue we are seeing? Such people must be arrested for hate speech. It is sad that we are being insulted for speaking the truth.”
Fr. Mwewa insisted that Catholic Priests have a moral duty to speak on governance matters, especially where national values, human dignity, and constitutional rights are at stake.
He stressed that the Church will not be intimidated or pushed out of national discourse by partisan voices.
“We will not be silenced,” he declared. “Priests will continue to speak the truth. We cannot be bullied into silence by UPND supporters or anyone else.”
BRIEFING | Court Adjourns PF Convention Injunction Case to December 9
The legal battle over the Patriotic Front’s internal leadership and its aborted convention has taken a new turn after the Kabwe High Court adjourned a critical matter to 9 December 2025. The adjournment follows a challenge by the Miles Sampa-aligned faction, which accuses rival official Ngona of obtaining an injunction through misrepresentation.
Former PF president Miles Sampa, who attended the Kabwe sitting, said after the hearing that the injunction issued was based on a false claim of authority: “Our lawyers filed an affidavit arguing that Ngona obtained the Order fraudulently because he purported to be the PF SG when he is not,” he explained.
Sampa referred to an earlier interlocutory ruling by Lusaka High Court Judge CC Zulu, which placed the question of secretariat control in dispute and explicitly stated that Ngona could not act as secretary general.
The ex parte injunction halted the PF convention scheduled for 29 November, deepening the long-running leadership crisis that began after Edgar Lungu’s departure in 2021 and worsened through successive factional splits.
For nearly three years, the PF has operated under competing structures, parallel secretariats and conflicting claims of legitimacy. The courts have repeatedly intervened, including key rulings in 2023 and 2024 that attempted to stabilise the party’s organs but left unresolved the question of who holds lawful authority.
At today’s Kabwe hearing, Ngona’s legal team did not file a response to the affidavit challenging his standing. They argued that the documents were served late and asked for more time. The presiding judge agreed to postpone the matter, giving both sides a week to prepare submissions.
The adjournment prolongs a dispute that has national implications. PF remains Zambia’s largest opposition block by parliamentary representation. Court orders affecting its structures influence not only its internal governance but also its ability to contest the 2026 general election under a unified leadership.
The halted convention was seen by many observers as a chance for the party to restore coherence after years of fragmentation.
Sampa said the adjournment does not change his faction’s position that the injunction was obtained improperly.
“Ngona obtained the Order fraudulently,” he insisted, adding that the Kabwe case must be aligned with prior judicial determinations in Lusaka.
He also noted that the matter is “straightforward” and urged the courts to resolve it swiftly.
The next hearing on 9 December is expected to clarify whether the injunction will stand, whether the PF convention can proceed, and who legally constitutes the party’s leadership ahead of 2026.
I TAKE RESPONSIBILITY, I WAS A BIT CARELESS WITH THE ‘SEED ’ REMARKS – BISHOP KALESHA
BISHOP Victor Kalesha of Lufwanyama has taken responsibility for the words he uttered at State House during a courtesy call meeting on President Hakainde Hichilema by the pro-Bill 7 group.
Bishop Kalesha, in now viral sentiments, said his Lufwanyama community was appalled by the Catholic Church and the Oasis Forum’s “blatant attempt to hold the nation hostage” over Bill 7, adding that someone could not claim to be representing Zambians when there was no “seed” coming from his house.
In an interview, Tuesday, Bishop Kalesha, who is also a UPND Lufwanyama aspiring MP, took responsibility for his sentiments which he said came out of “excitement”.
He, however, said his words were taken out of context as he never meant to injure anyone
“Obviously, I will take responsibility for being a bit careless. I was a bit careless in using some words. But also the context in which I used it was not to injure anyone. I was talking in line with the protest. Sometimes when you are speaking, you forget to put in or to align your statement the way it’s supposed to be. And initially, I was talking about protest instead of dialogue. If we go to the streets and the violence erupts, some of us have children to protect,” he said.
“And when somebody stands and says, ‘I am speaking on behalf of Zambians,’ they should think of who is following them. Because when this erupts, we have to run around with all these people, so obviously when talking, sometimes people get excited and you say things that [make it] blow off like that. So I have a nephew who is a son to my immediate young sister who is a priest, and my wife has a brother who is a priest. So I think you understand the position I am at now. So I’m trying to find means of trying to put this in the actual context, so the only people I need now are people that would help me in that area”.
And in a circulating audio, Bishop Kalesha added that he didn’t mean that only Catholics don’t have children.
“To put it in actual context, what I was actually referring to [was] when somebody rises up and says, ‘I am representing Zambians,’ they should have people that they should think of in case of an eruption of violence out of the protests that were being incited. One thing that I know in Africa and in Zambia is people get excited. You could say we are doing a peaceful demonstration and there are all these kinds of junkies joining in, and at an opportune time, they would just blow off and go crazy and start breaking people’s things. We saw in Chingola where the junkies or the Jerabos just went and started breaking people’s shops and looting shops. And I was saying when that happens, some of us have got children to protect, and if people that are standing up to say, ‘we need to protest, we need to do that and we are speaking on behalf of Zambians,’ then they are not speaking for me,” he said.
“Because if you are speaking for me, you should be able to understand that or you should have a seed that came from you that you should care for, that you should be mindful of. I did not say that just Catholics have no children, there are many people that have no children which is a normal thing. And what it meant was that if you have something that is following you or something that you know is [your] responsibility, you can’t be careless to tell people to go into the streets. And I think the dialogue thing is what we thought should have happened and we just [saw] that the Oasis Forum has pulled off the dialogue thing, what they’re demanding is to withdraw the bill”.
He revealed that since the viral sentiments, he had been receiving threats and insults.
“So I take responsibility, and of course, my nephew hasn’t even called me, he should be very mad with me. And the Catholic brothers and sisters and family that I have, they should be mad at me, but they need to understand that the person that did that, wanted to put in some context of blowing the thing out of proportion, and that’s the way it is. Sometimes people want to do that and you don’t fight them for doing what they think is right in their own minds, but otherwise, that’s the way it was,” said Bishop Kalesha.
“I did not insult, I received massive insults, somebody just [calls] and insults and insults and insults and I’m laughing, I’ve been insulted. And here is a person now insulting my mother saying, ‘we will come and burn your house down.’ And I’m like, ‘oh, wow,’ and they used a South African number to hide themselves. So this thing is something that as Zambians, we need to be careful about. ‘Let’s damage Kalesha, you need to damage him,’ but you’re not damaging me, we are looking at a bigger picture that is happening in the nation”.
CONSTITUTIONAL LAWYER FILES URGENT COURT APPLICATION TO STOP BILL 7 VOTE
Constitutional Lawyer Tresford Chali has filed a new, extreme urgent application in the constitutional court seeking to halt the voting on bill 7 in Parliament until his main case, challenging the declaration of the Chawama parliamentary seat as vacant is concluded.
In a certificate of urgency filed this morning, Mr. Chali argues that the First Deputy Speaker’s announcement yesterday to reintroduce bill 7 for a vote creates an immediate risk that Parliament may proceed with the measure on or before Friday, when the house is expected to adjourn sine die.
He submits that allowing the vote to go ahead would deprive the people of Chawama representation on matters concerning the proposed constitutional amendments.
The emergency application is tied to Mr. Chali’s main petition, in which he is asking the Concourt to overturn the speaker’s ruling of 28 November declaring the Chawama seat vacant.
In the main petition, he argues that the speaker relied on the house’s standing orders rather than a code of conduct “prescribed” by an act of parliament, and seeks declarations that the ruling is null and void, an order of certiorari to quash the decision, and an order staying the speaker’s pronouncement pending final determination
PICK RUNNING MATES OF HIGH CALIBRE, NOT ANYTHING WITH BRE@STS – MUMBI PHIRI
FORMER PF Deputy Secretary General Mumbi Phiri has advised presidential candidates to pick running mates with high calibre and not “anything that has breasts”.
She argues that since former vice-president Inonge Wina was the first female running mate, many now assume the position must automatically go to a woman.
In an interview, Tuesday, Phiri said running mates should be chosen based on credibility, not just because they are women.
“And this notion which people have, because madam Inonge Wina was the first woman running mate, they automatically think there should be a woman who is a running mate. It shouldn’t be like that. We should get a person, whether [it is] a young man, a young lady [or] a woman who has credibility, not any other woman. You know that I agree with President Hakainde Hichilema [on] why he doesn’t send [Vice-President Mutale] Nalumango out of the country. Is that the calibre you would want to have another woman as running mate, of Nalumango’s calibre? Who doesn’t know what comes out [of] her mouth? Who can come from marrying her own daughter in a white wedding and start telling her friends’ children to ‘imite ufole’ (get pregnant and get paid? Is that a woman whom you can say that is somebody you are proud of?” she asked.
“So, let’s pick credible people. Look at the women we have in highest institutions of governance. Are you proud of Madam Speaker? Are you proud of Madam Chairperson for the Electoral Commission? Are you proud of the madam at the ConCourt? Let us not pick anything as long as they have breasts, no, let us pick sense”.
Phiri added that any opposition leader that would want to go alone in the 2026 elections was not representing the people but his stomach.
“You know where we are, it’s not a matter of who wins the PF presidency, no. Where we are is whoever wins has to bring everybody on board. Because at the end of the day, we’ll only have one presidential candidate. So, if it’s Makebi Zulu who is going to win, he shouldn’t look at himself as victorious, he should work hard to bring all those who’ll lose to his side so that we move in one accord. Let me take this opportunity to tell the people of Zambia that where we are, if you can see that the men of God can start insulting each other like that Bishop said to our Archbishops in the Catholic Church. When he reads the Bible and he knows that even in the Bible there are some men of God who never married, was Jesus Christ himself married? Did Jesus Christ himself have children? Then you know that we have demons in our Church leaders and you, our leaders: Kalaba, M’membe, Charles Chanda, [you] name them, please let’s have the unity of purpose,” Phiri noted.
“And Zambians, when we go into next year during filling in, if you see somebody as an opposition going alone, just know that person is not representing [you]. That person is not representing you. That person is representing his stomach and his family because where we are, a normal person cannot want to [go] alone and divide the vote”.
Meanwhile, responding to Zambezi East UPND MP Brian Kambita who said any suggestion to change government now would be disastrous, Phiri said if the lawmaker was comfortable with UPND’s conduct, then the party would continue being in government.
“If Kambita is very comfortable with the words which were used by the UPND cadre, that Bishop from Lufwanyama, insulting fellow clergy, let the UPND government continue. If Kambita is happy to reduce our children who are supposed to be intellectuals to turn them into cadres, I can give an example of my daughter, a vibrant child, to be used as a political cadre when she is supposed to be a technocrat, let that continue. If Kambita believes that Madam Speaker can go against what the Committee on Privileges suggested to Madam Speaker to let Tasila Lungu continue attending Parliament using virtual [means], and a precedent has been set that a Speaker can deny what a Committee on Privileges has recommended, let the UPND continue,” said Phiri.
“If Kambita is okay with the blackouts which are happening in Zambia where Zambians have lost businesses, they are sleeping without eating, let the UPND continue. If he believes that they rejected the same contents which are now in Bill 7, let the UPND continue. That’s the only thing I can see”.
Looking at arguments for and against bill 7 brings me back to the reality of politics. Strengthening the hold on power. When the PF brought Bill10 everything was rosy for them.
Today for them to take the stance taken by UPND then in opposition to campaign against Bill 7 today makes a lot comedy. You sow what you will reap.
For me PF made a very bad road map for future Goverment to walk on. Yes today UPND will take whatever loopholes there is in the Constitution making process to strengthen their hold on power. But then tomorrow we don’t expect UPND to cry foul when future regimes use the same tactics. For UPND an ardent student of PF’s misrule are just walking the talk of PF in Government.
I really don’t think UPND has a formidable opposition today to dislodge them from power. UPND are just learning that running a Government isn’t simply replacing ethnicity. It is hard work which can’t bring results within a short time. They opposed everything including working with the Government of the day. Celebrating failure to their advantage. What they forgot was those failure will haunt them as they try to correct them. This is a reality of governance. You can’t change a system overnight. You can replace it with human beings who eventually show the same inefficiency like their predecessor. So we should not look at replacing a region with another in Government as a solution.
Today PF and most opposition ‘consortium’ think it is easy to unseat UPND and bring back the glory of power and control of the Country’s resources to their region. UPND isn’t going to give up easily. It isn’t only UPND. The people of the so called Zambezi region who were victims of regional politics won’t let go easily either.
Going back to politics where tribe mattered most than citizenship makes us dig our heels deep in the sand to be moved. A redefinition of politics is the only route which can give hope to all Zambians that Politics can be a tool for the emancipation of the Zambian people. In as much as am opposed to UPND ills.
I don’t think I will be ready to go back to where am characterized as a Tonga and not good enough for any service to the Nation. Neither will I support a return to the Same politics which rendered our people second class citizens in a Country where our regions provide more to GDP than their regions.
As a people we are very accommodating and very accepting to other tribes to live in our midst. Here we need a complete change of mind set to ensure confidence that someone from the Muchinga region will accept us as a people they can work with for the development of our Nation. Not a repeat to the persecution we have experienced in the most years of our self determination as a people.
As for now I will watch the way the game of Kingdoms unfolds. I won’t be economic with my usual checks and balance on the State to encourage HH and his Government to show the Country that we are different and bent to steer the Country towards Unity and peace as we develop our country and the people toward a strong Zambia where tribe or region is not a factor in bringing about One Zambia One Nation
NGOCC’S BEAUTY KATEBE UNDER FIRE FOR ALLIGNING WITH PF/TONSE ALLIANCE INSTRAD OF PUSHING THE GENDER AGENDA
By Shalala Oliver Sepiso
Some NGOCC member organisations have complained about their Executive Director’s actions, especially the partisan political stances she is taking on the constitutional amendment process, to the point where the tenability of her tenure is now being discussed.
Some have accused her personal partisan political stances as being behind the organisation’s loss of finding from the Swedish Embassy.
Otherwise feel like her links to Dambo Dambo, which suspiciously saw her win a prize in ‘My Home Town Beauty Pageant’ for people between 40 and 60 years, make her role as NGOCC difficult. Beauty Katebe was the first runner-up in the 30-60 years category of the My Home Town beauty pageant and was given US$30,000 in prize money.
The money was intended to help the winners improve their communities; Ms. Katebe indicated the funds would support her community work in rural villages in Chongwe, Lusaka. It was never reported where that money went. But with people like Dora Siliya, Antony Mukwita and Miles Sampa in the foreground of organising the event, it raises eye-brows as to whether she could have remained neutral under the circumstances.
Those complaining say she has abandoned the fight for the gender agenda and prioritized partisan political issues. During this year’s women’s day in Kasama, Madam Beauty, in her capacity as NGOCC chair, made demands to the Republican President, which includes: 1. Calling for the government to implement a 50-50 nomination policy for the 2026 elections to boost women’s involvement in leadership roles. 2. More proactive steps to close the gender leadership gap, stating that “women can not eat promises”. These are in line with the gender declarations and protocols NGOCC pushes for.
In line with this agenda NGOCC initially supported the constitutional amendment process, based on a March 2025 membership meeting that agreed that the constitutional amendment process of Bill 7 was aimed at increasing the participation of women, youth, and persons with disabilities.
But on 2nd June 2025, NGOCC changed stance over suspicions and kept changing the reasons for not supporting Bill 7 much to the chagrin of those who felt that NGOCC under Engwase Mwale was not so brazenly partisan and not shy to walk shoulder to shoulder with party cadres.
This has led to the NGOCC head being accused of towing the PF/Tonse Alliance party line and repeating what Sean Tembo, Jay Jay Banda and Sishuwa are talking about. They wonder how now NGOCC, a gender organisation, is lowering itself to the point of speaking about fake bribes to members of parliament, who are it NGOCC members or clients, instead of talking about Beijing Declaration and other gender declarations and protocols.
BILL 7 IS A CALCULATED ASSAULT ON ZAMBIA’S DEMOCRACY AND DELIBERATE ATTEMPT TO CENTRALISE POWER IN ONE PARTY AND ONE INDIVIDUAL
Simon Mwila Mulenga writes…
I have taken some more time to go through Bill 7 and the more I study it, the clearer it becomes that this proposal is not simply a harmless adjustment to our governance structure. It is not a reform. It is not modernisation. It is certainly not about development.
Bill 7 is a calculated assault on Zambia’s democracy and a deliberate attempt to centralise political power in the hands of one individual and one party. Nothing about it strengthens accountability or improves people’s lives. If anything, it weakens the balance of power and puts our future at risk.
One of the biggest concerns is the plan to increase constituencies and Members of Parliament. On the surface it sounds progressive, but the real question is: do we actually need more MPs, or do we need stronger councils, empowered local authorities and more workers on the ground delivering services? Development does not come from Parliament alone. It comes from functional local government.
In the current political environment, where competition is shrinking and opposition members face all sorts of challenges (persecution, no rallies and no gatherings), expanding constituencies could hand one political group overwhelming dominance. With that kind of power, changing the Constitution becomes easy, and reversing those changes becomes almost impossible. This should worry every Zambian, regardless of political affiliation.
Another troubling aspect is the proposal to allow the President to appoint more MPs. Zambia has been governed for more than 60 years without any leader needing such powers. So what has suddenly changed? Why would a democratic leader want to extend their personal influence in Parliament?
Some argue that Bill 7 will help women and persons living with disabilities enter Parliament. But the truth is that the biggest barrier has always been political parties that fail to adopt them. You do not change the Constitution to solve a problem that political will alone can fix.
Financially, this bill is also misplaced. The cost of additional MPs could employ doctors, support innovators and strengthen essential services. At a time when we face an energy crisis, unemployment and a struggling economy, prioritising political positions over national needs feels completely out of touch.
And when you listen to some ruling party members who speak recklessly, you cannot help but wonder what will happen if such individuals are handed even more influence under a new constitutional setup. Are we safe in their hands? Are our democratic freedoms safe?
This is why I believe we must all be honest with ourselves.
Bill 7 is not about progress. It is about power.
Every patriotic Zambian must stand up and oppose it. We cannot afford to be passive while decisions are made that will affect our democracy for generations. Our parliamentarians must remember the people they represent, the Zambia they want to build and the legacy they are leaving behind.
Zambia belongs to all of us. We have a duty to protect it.
Let us reject Bill 7 and demand leadership that strengthens democracy, not leadership that tries to capture it.
We SAY NO to “Kupandura Constitution”.. ✌
Simon Mulenga Mwila – Aspiring Mayor of Lusaka. (DBA-Candidate, MBA, LLM, LLB, Legal Practitioner, Commissioner for Oaths, Notary Public)
Constitutions are living documents, imperfect and subject to refinement.
The American Constitution, for instance, had no Bill of Rights when it was enacted and contained clerical errors. Over 250 years, it’s been amended 17 times with 27 amendments.
In contrast, Zambia’s Constitution has been amended 6 times in 60 years. We should strive to avoid frequent amendments. And importantly, we must resist the temptation to create a new Constitution altogether, as there’s no crisis necessitating such a drastic move.
Constitutions are amended to correct imperfections and improve governance, not in response to crises. Our Constitution has its flaws, including the first-past-the-post electoral system, which hinders gender equity and representation of special interest groups.
Constitution making process in Zambia and beyond is always surrounded by controversy and the controversy is mainly political. A day before yesterday, it was MMD that needed to amend the Constitution and then opposition PF opposed the move. Yesterday, it was the PF wanting to amend the Constitution and the UPND opposed the move. Today, its the UPND wanting to amend the Constitution and its both the PF, MMD and others opposing the amendments.
I have always believed that we should address constitutional imperfections, regardless of who’s in power, to enhance democracy and constitutionalism.
I am therefore grateful to be serving on the Technical Committee, appointed by President Hakainde Hichilema, and contribute to this process, until a time when the Committee will be dissolved.
https://youtu.be/-1WGH_-hypM?si=6tgkDs4EBPgsMdz2
In 2015-16, I helped President Edgar Chagwa Lungu deliver a key constitutional amendment which has seen us have the 50 percent plus 1 for electing a President, Presidential Running Mate and a Constitutional Court, but there was more work to be done.
The PF however didn’t deliver on promises like fair representation for women, youth, and PWDs, appointment of Ministers from outside Parliament, and provincial assemblies.
Will President Hichilema leave a lasting legacy by addressing these issues? Only time will tell what unfolds in Parliament.
Good morning, Zambia
(Picture Description: Members of civil society including those drawn from the Church mother bodies and the Muslim Community)
LONG ARTICLE: The UPND’s Dilemma Ahead Of 2026 Elections, Heads Will Roll
……. Mutale Nalumango may be kept to avoid giving someone else as running mate to PHH, fearing that any female to replace NM ahead of the 2026 polls, may be viewed as an “indirect potential” successor to HH, worse a female……..
Political focus has centered on who will be the main opposition challenger or challengers to incumbent President Hakainde Hichilema prior to the presidential and general elections on 13th August, 2026. Constitutionally, President Hichilema is going for his second and last term. Politically, President Hichilema does not want the UPND to end at governing the nation for just ten years, he and others desire that they can go on for as long as possible.
However, there are certain political decisions that must be made before next year’s election and one of which surrounds who will be the running mate to Mr. Hichilema. This is because the person to go side by side to Mr. Hichilema he or she must be a candidate who can be prepared to succeed him in 2031 when he retires. It is evidently clear that Mr. Hichilema is passionate about the UPND as he is to Zambia and he is using the UPND as a tool to develop Zambia the way he envisioned it from the time he took over from late party leader, Anderson Mazoka.
Why Not Mrs. Mutale Nalumango?
Mutale Nalumango is 14th Vice President of Zambia, a position she’s held since August 2021, making her the second woman to hold this significant role in the country after Inonge Wina under the Patriotic Front administration.
Ahead of the 2021 polls, having a female running mate was a competitive strategy not a constitutional requirement, late President Edgar Chagwa Lungu had Professor Nkandu Luo as his running mate, having gone to two elections and winning with Inonge Wina, who gave way to Luo. Therefore, they had to match Luo with a female, hence Nalumango came into the spotlight.
However, as the elections draw near, one can ask, why the UPND with PHH as their front runner maintain Nalumango as running mate?
Our analysis going by her performance as second in command, it is not clear if Nalumango, 70 years, will be favorite to be retained as running mate. From our analysis she has not convinced Mr. Hichilema. On a few occasions she has represented him at major events outside Zambia. Also, retaining Mrs. Nalumango as running mate, has a historical problem with regards to the UPND strongholds. Going that route would be an indication that she will be the sole favorite to take over from Mr. Hichilema ahead of the 2031 elections. The question is, does the UPND general membership agree to be led by a woman?
Information gathered from insiders suggest that the UPND cannot afford to maintain the current top two (HH and MN) for the 2026 elections because it will be risky to have a complete new set of candidates as Presidential and running mate for the 2031 elections. This is why, Nalumango is likely to be sacrificed for someone else, someone more appealing, with a national character, easy to market such a person will be considered for one major reason, to be in line to replace HH come 2031. If the UPND decides to maintain a woman as running mate, then, who stands out among female politicians in the UPND to replace MN.
The working chemistry between HH and MN does not inspire togetherness as it was during the days of the UPND in opposition. Politically, MN was pivotal and instrumental to consolidate what others before her like GBM did to ignite the presence of HH and the UPND in the Northern block.
Also, it must be made clear that embracing gender balance is a good attraction considering that Zambia’s population is female dominated. However, others factors but not limited to these may apply. The age of the running mate, region and sellability, she or he must be a popular candidate across the nation or at least five or more provinces, a scandal-free individual, their political history in the UPND. Does he or she command considerable respect from senior party members?
Who are the potential female Cabinet Ministers?
1. Brenda TambaTamba, 64 years old is Minister of Labour and Social security, she hails from Northwestern province, one of UPND strongholds that can make a good running mate.
2. Doreen Mwamba, 62 years old is Minister in Charge of Community Development, she is from Northern Province, not a UPND stronghold but the region is crucial to elections outcomes. For instance, the likes of GBM, Elvis Nkandu having them on the UPND contributed to increasing popularity of the party in the North region of Zambia. Mwamba is in charge of a critical ministry that oversees a rural vote. When you talk of social cash transfer, the majority of the beneficiaries are in the rural communities. She has performed fairly well.
3. Sylvia Masebo, 59 years old is the most experienced of all the female Cabinet Ministers. She has been around for many years. However, she comes from Lusaka, a complex region which is already under the control of the UPND. Of the five women, Masebo is the most experienced, both politically and government understanding as she has served in government the MMD, PF and UPND administrations. She has wide political eyes.
4. Shealy Mulyata, 64 years is the Lusaka Provincial Minister, could also come into the selection table. Politically, little is known about Mulyata but she managed to convince PHH to appoint her in his cabinet of ministers.
5. Princess Kasune, 49 years old is the current Minister of Justice, the youngest among female Cabinet Ministers, cannot be ruled out from the race. She is Zambia’s first justice Minister. Before her current role, she was the Minister of Central Province from September 25, 2023. Kasune is also a member of the National Assembly, representing Keembe constituency since 2016.
https://youtu.be/-1WGH_-hypM?si=qs_4nVUBBy-STIBF
Again based on several interactions within and outside the UPND, the idea of having a female UPND President, late on as Zambian President is not a topic for discussion. There is no chance to give a female to lead the UPND at least for now. That being the case, Nalumango may have kept to avoid giving someone else as running mate to PHH, fearing that any female to replace NM ahead of the 2026 polls, may be viewed as an “indirect potential” successor to HH, worse a female.
In summary, chances of maintaining NM as running mate to President PHH are 50/50 based on the desire by the UPND general membership to have a female UPND President. Also, keeping NM could advantage her to a pole position to become Zambia’s first female President but there is fear that the control of the UPND will move into a foreign region away from the party’s historical stronghold, the Southern Province.
President Hichilema Removes Draft Constitution from Reports of Technical Committee We do not agree with the work, lack of process and lack of legal framework to guide this constitutional-making process, but it appears that even in this flawed and tainted process, President Hakainde Hichilema and his team are determined to manipulate it!
In its scope of work and deliverables, the Technical Committee on Amendments of the Constitution was mandated to draft;
1. Constitutional amendments (Draft Constitution) and 2. Compile a report on the overall findings of the work of the Technical Committee and make recommendations, These are contained in Terms of Reference () 2.3 and 2.4 which mandated that;
2.3 Draft proposed constitutional amendments and provide justifications for each proposal. 2.4 Draft a report on the overall findings of the work of the Technical Committee and make recommendations. It is imperative that both the Draft Constitution and Report of findings are released.
State House has directed that the Draft Constitution should not be released as it may complicate the issue of Bill 7 which Speaker of the National Assembly refused to drop after the Constitutional Ruling, and which presents a shorter nefarious route Government wishes to pursue to achieve the amendments they wish to enact.
There ‘ll never be right time for constitutional amendments for opposition – UPND Alliance
MEMBERS of the UPND Alliance have defended the consultation process surrounding Constitution Amendment proposals, Bill 7, insisting that debate should be centred on the content of the draft rather than criticisms of timing or alleged limited participation of other stakeholders.
Speaking during a press briefing in Lusaka yesterday, UPND Alliance spokesperson and chairperson Leslie Chikuse dismissed assertions that the constitutional review process had been cosmetic or manipulated.
He said the Alliance’s position was that public discussion should prioritise the legal inconsistencies and lacunas the proposed amendments seek to address.
“The position of the Alliance is that we must first look at the clauses being proposed,” Chikuse said.
“Do they create an absurdity or inconsistency in the Constitution? Before we even bring in complicated legal jargon, let us explain to the people what is being amended and why.”
Chikuse challenged critics such as the Oasis Forum, to prioritise public education over political rhetoric.
And Alliance deputy spokesperson Edmond Miti argued that claims that the constitutional reforms should not be undertaken close to elections have no legal grounding.
“Can they give us an authority in the Constitution saying a mandated government cannot start a constitutional review two years before elections?” he asked.
“There will never be a right time for the opposition, whether it is now, or two weeks after the President is sworn in.”
He said groups that boycotted the public consultation missed an opportunity to submit proposals on how constitutional reviews should be conducted.
https://youtu.be/-1WGH_-hypM?si=6tgkDs4EBPgsMdz2
Miti urged the public to evaluate which political leadership genuinely prioritised the future of young people and the country’s best interest.
Yesterday, First deputy speaker Attractor Chisangano announced in parliament that Bill 7 has been reintroduced before the August House and the select committee chosen to scrutinise the legislation will commence it’s meetings immediately.
Meanwhile, concerns that there were a few submissions during the consultation process of the Bill, which barley reflected a percentage of the country’s registered voters, NAREP president and Alliance member Ezra Ngulube said Zambians must take personal responsibility for low turnout.
“When the government calls for submissions, citizens don’t show up,” he said.
“People only start complaining at the end. This is our document. Where were we when the committee was receiving input?”
Ngulube said national processes suffer when citizens engage only at the last minute, comparing it to voter registration patterns.
“Let us take national matters seriously. This is about today and tomorrow’s children,” added Ngulube.
CONTEXT | Bill 7 Returns to Parliament as Political Tempers Flare
Parliament officially reopened debate on Constitution Amendment Bill 7, setting off a fresh wave of confrontation between the Executive, opposition parties, and the Oasis Forum.
The First Deputy Speaker Attractor Chisangano confirmed the development this yesterday, telling the House that she had “received communication from the Minister of Justice seeking the House to immediately resume consideration of the Bill.”
She added that the select committee tasked to scrutinise the amendments “commences its work immediately.”
The announcement came less than twenty-four hours after President Hakainde Hichilema received the Technical Committee report that documented 11,860 submissions from citizens across the ten provinces.
Hichilema Monday night that the Committee had “successfully concluded its nationwide consultation process… having received the highest number ever recorded in any constitutional review effort.”
But yesterday’s parliamentary restart lands in the middle of an escalating political war.
Opposition Leaders Deliver a Scathing Letter at State House
On December 2nd, twelve opposition parties walked into State House to deliver an extraordinary joint letter accusing the President of “reckless” and “divisive” conduct. They warned that “the nation is boiling,” and accused Hichilema of pursuing a “non-inclusive, rushed and politically engineered” process.
Harry Kalaba, signing on behalf of the coalition, wrote: “Your actions surrounding Bill 7 constitute a real and immediate threat to national peace, security and unity.”
The group further claimed that Hichilema had “chosen to demonise and humiliate the Oasis Forum” and accused him of weaponising ethnicity by suggesting critics oppose him because of his tribe.
The letter marks the first time since 2021 that this many opposition parties have taken a unified public stance. Ironically, most of these parties have failed to form a single electoral alliance since 2016. Bill 7 has now become their closest point of cooperation.
Oasis Forum Accuses Government of Illegality
The Oasis Forum has doubled down on its position that Bill 7 is unlawful. In a statement, Chairperson Beauty Katebe wrote that “the current process is in breach of the orders of the Constitutional Court” and insisted the Bill must be withdrawn.
The Forum said it is considering “engaging the international community” because government “refuses to withdraw an illegal process.”
However, the Forum did not participate in the Technical Committee hearings and provided no submission out of the 11,860 collected. Their stance, therefore, demands the abandonment of every citizen submission, including those from churches, student bodies, women’s organisations, community groups and rural cooperatives.
UPND Hits Back: ‘The Mask Has Fallen’
The ruling party has responded sharply. In a statement today, the UPND Media Team said: “Recent events have exposed the intentions of the Oasis Forum. Their visit to State House confirms what we have highlighted. The Oasis Forum is not a neutral civil society platform, but a coordinated political project.”
The ruling party further accused some opposition figures of operating from behind Katebe’s leadership, saying they want to “undermine the Presidency and influence the constitutional reform process through pressure and misinformation.”
UPND also defended the President, stating: “We remain committed to defending the Presidency and safeguarding the office from coordinated political hostility.”
Church Divide Grows
A new dynamic has emerged within religious circles. While the Catholic bishops and CCZ leadership have called for withdrawal of the Bill, other church groups including the SDA clergy, Pentecostal networks, and rural pastors have publicly rebuked what they call “entitlement” and “dominance” in the constitutional debate.
The pastors who appeared at Monday’s Livestream framed their stance bluntly: “No church is more Zambian than another.” They argued that thousands participated across the provinces and “their views must not be silenced because a small group refused to take part.”
This fracture within the religious community is now one of the most significant subplots in the national debate.
Competing Narratives and Growing Misinformation
Social media is flooded with unverified claims that MPs have been bribed with three million kwacha. No evidence has been produced. Yet the allegations are shaping online arguments, especially among anti Bill 7 groups who insist MPs are compromised.
Meanwhile, others argue that Parliament must be given the chance to vote, just as the UPND did when it defeated Bill 10 in 2020. Their position: “If PF MPs believe the Bill is wrong, let them collapse it on the floor.”
The opposition letter, however, takes an opposite route by calling for withdrawal, external intervention and international pressure.
The Central Question: Who Speaks for the Majority?
Pro Bill 7 groups argue that the Technical Committee’s 11,860 submissions represent the real national consensus, not elite pressure groups.
The Oasis Forum argues that the process is illegal and must be restarted. Opposition parties argue that the President is pushing a divisive agenda. The ruling party argues that civil society critics are masking political intentions.
What is clear is that neither side trusts the other, and the constitutional reform debate has now become a proxy battlefield for 2026 political alignments.
Next Steps
With Parliament officially reopening debate, all roads now lead to the select committee hearings. The fate of Bill 7 will depend on Parliament’s arithmetic, not statements at prayer rallies or submissions at State House.
Whether it reaches the two-thirds threshold remains the most decisive question.
EDITOR’S NOTE
This newsroom prioritises verifiable facts, documented quotes, clear context and neutral analysis. Our mandate is simple. We protect the public from misinformation. We interrogate claims regardless of who makes them. We serve Zambia, not political camps.
Lesa nimalyotola he gave us enough rains to counter their lies on loadshedding – Hichilema
“They said after it rains, the 2019-2020 rains, if it rains okay, there will be no loadshedding. Lesa nimalyotola. He gave us a lot of rains but there is more loadshedding because there is no leadership, there is no management.
I am not gonna mince my words about this, there is no leadership. Twachula pafula, tuchinje (We have suffered enough, let’s change government,)” said President Hakainde Hichilema when he was the opposition leader.
Once he was elected into government in 2021, Zambia experienced a very severe drought in the 2023-2024 rain season which was accompanied by an excellent rain season in the 2024-2025 season.
MY THOUGHTS ARE STILL ON YOU SMILING WHEN A NASTY STATEMENT WAS MADE IN YOUR PRESENCE AT STATEHOUSE – LAURA COUNSELS HH
She writes….
At some point, soon, Bill 7 will pass – or not pass. That’s a given.
I hope it does not pass. Other citizens hope it does.
I’ve vocally stated by position against the Bill. Others have done so, for it.
This is what I can say with hand on my heart – I would be willing to have the sun shine on everything I have done, and will do, to advocate against this Bill.
I would not hesitate to have every word I have spoken about, it broadcasted from the hills and on every media house.
I would be able to do everything again, with Special Branch and Angel Gabriel sitting next to me, because I have focused my efforts on trying to convince the President, his government and his party on how I see things.
That has been true of myself, the organisation I work for and, to my knowledge, the partner CSOs we have worked with.
It is generally true about everything I do.
If you are looking for dirt on me – maybe check on who I fancy來.
I say this to ask President Hichilema, if you can categorically say the same thing, in your exercise of office.
That, whether Bill 7 passes or not, you can stand up tall about all you, your government and your party have said and done – to advance it.
That you would be willing to have a light shone on and a loudspeaker connected to every room in which your strategy to pass the Bill has been set out.
That, hand on heart, you can say it has been, is and will be for Zambia.
Yes, Mr President, my thoughts are still on you smiling when a nasty statement was made in your presence, in our State House – to quote you.
Never, Mr President, should we want anything so much that we are willing to look away from wrong.
That is, especially, true if we are powerful.
The sun will rise the day after Bill 7 passes or falls.
The problem you sit with, Mr President, is that whether it passes or not, the fact will remain that we saw you smile when you should have authoritatively said – No don’t go there!
The question will remain – what else would laugh at?
COMMENTARY | Increase MP Seats But Main By-elections
Bill 7 has now returned to Parliament and the debate has entered its decisive phase. Among its thirteen clauses, none strikes at the architecture of representation more directly than the proposal that allows political parties to replace an MP without a by election. It reads like a technical fix. In reality it rewires the relationship between voters, parties and Parliament. It shifts power from the constituency to the secretariat. It is a quiet revolution dressed as administrative reform.
Today, an MP sits in the House because citizens placed a mark on a ballot paper. The party sponsors the candidate, but the mandate flows from the voters of that constituency. A vacancy triggers a return to the people because the seat belongs to them. Bill 7 alters this logic. Under its current wording, a party simply selects a replacement and notifies the Electoral Commission. No campaign. No public scrutiny. No renewed mandate. The people watch decisions being made in rooms they cannot enter.
In a political culture where MPs already fear party censure more than electoral punishment, this is not cosmetic. It institutionalises loyalty to party leaders above loyalty to the constituency. An MP who challenges internal wrongdoing or votes with conscience risks swift expulsion followed by an effortless replacement. No sunlight. No contest. A single letter becomes the instrument that decides who speaks in the House. Power shifts upward from the community to the party centre.
Supporters are correct to argue that by elections are expensive. Treasury loses money. Tensions can rise. Turnout is usually low. These concerns are valid. But democracies pay for accountability. The ballot is not a financial burden; it is a safeguard. By-elections send political signals. They correct arrogance. They reveal shifts in public confidence before a general election. Removing them may reduce costs for the Treasury, while creating deeper costs for citizen oversight.
Everything also depends on internal party democracy. For this clause to work credibly, parties would need transparent rules for selecting replacement MPs. Zambia’s record is uneven. Adoption processes often reflect factional interests, personal networks and financial muscle. Concentrating all powers in the same structures hands more leverage to those at the centre of party politics.
Constituencies risk becoming rewards in internal fights rather than communities with a voice.
Comparative experience shows caution. In proportional representation systems, party lists determine who enters Parliament after a vacancy, but those systems are built around strong institutional checks, ideological programmes and internal discipline. Zambia is not built that way. The country runs on personality heavy politics and fluctuating alliances. Giving parties unilateral control over replacements without corresponding reforms in transparency, oversight and governance creates a structural tilt against accountability.
https://youtu.be/-1WGH_-hypM?si=qs_4nVUBBy-STIBF
If Parliament passes this provision in its present form, citizens must understand the trade off. Zambia will have fewer by elections and lower short term costs. The price will be a shift in power from voters to party secretariats, weaker direct links between MPs and their communities, and a Parliament more sensitive to internal party pressure than public opinion. It strengthens the centre and weakens the citizen.
Editorial Note: This commentary offers independent analysis based on the published text of Bill 7. It does not endorse or oppose any political actor. Its purpose is to clarify how proposed clauses may alter the balance of authority between voters, parties and Parliament.
When Hakainde Hichilema was still the opposition leader in Zambia, he positioned himself as a defender of democracy, a champion of freedom of expression and a reformist who would dismantle the repressive laws enacted under Edgar Lungu.
One of the laws he attacked most fiercely was the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act, passed in March 2021. Hichilema repeatedly told Zambians that this law was designed to spy on citizens, muzzle dissent and criminalise criticism of those in power. Today he Is sending people to jail using the same law, his social media army Is twerking to the very thing he used to attack.
On 26 February 2021, months before the election, Hichilema warned in a public statement that the Cyber Bill was “not about cyber bullying at all,” but simply a tool to clamp down on freedom of expression and expand state surveillance over private citizens. He was emphatic that this law was dangerous, undemocratic and intended to intimidate government critics. To him, it symbolised everything that was wrong with the Lungu administration.
A few weeks later, in March 2021, Hichilema went even further. He told Zambians that the Cyber Security Act was a “bad law,” and he promised that the first task of a new UPND government would be to repeal it. He made this commitment publicly and repeatedly. It was one of his biggest campaign promises, tied directly to his pledge to restore freedom, end repression and usher in a new, more tolerant political culture.
When he got into power, there was no attempt to remove the law. In fact, he immediately started using the very same law that he had criticised when he was an opposition leader. This is very unfortunate because it puts Africans in a difficult situation where they cannot trust what opposition leaders say anymore. They say one thing when they are in opposition, and when they get into power, they do something completely different.
This behaviour is not new. Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe did the exact same thing. When he was in Mozambique fighting the Ian Smith regime, he fiercely condemned repressive laws like the Law and Order Maintenance Act and many other colonial statutes.
Yet when he came into power in 1980, he quickly turned around and used those very same laws to silence, arrest and brutalise his critics. The Gukurahundi genocide against the Ndebele people was carried out under the pretext of the same laws Mugabe had once denounced as oppressive.
And just like Zimbabwe in those years, Hakainde Hichilema now benefits from the same cycle of blind loyalty. When he was criticising Edgar Lungu for passing this cyber law, his supporters cheered him loudly.
Today, those same supporters cheer again as he uses the very law they claimed to despise. They appear on social media platforms, including my own, defending the same repressive tools they used to condemn under Lungu.
They are spineless. They do not have a value system. They do not follow ideas. They are not guided by principles. They simply follow Hichilema the man, not any philosophy or democratic belief. This is the tragedy of African politics, where the personality becomes the idea. The leader becomes the ideology. And the moment a leader becomes the ideology, accountability dies.
So if Hichilema commits a crime today in Zambia, they will defend him, not because he is right, not because the idea is right, but because to them he is the idea.
As I have always said, the tragedy of African politics is that, unlike on other continents where personalities are a rarity and people focus on issues that affect their families and communities, in Africa supporters and sycophants will defend anything a political personality does, regardless of how wrong that person is. We see it in Zimbabwe, we see it in Zambia, and we see it across many parts of the continent. There is no idea being pursued, no ideology, no principle, no value system. It is simply blind loyalty to an individual, and that is why Africans continue to live in abject poverty.
If an individual comes and hands out chicken and chips, they will support him. Yet chicken and chips is not an idea. It is not a vision. It does not build a country. But they will still support that person, and that is the tragedy that has now taken root in Zambia as well.
Just recently, Hichilema sent two people to prison for witchcraft, Leonard Phiri and Jasten Mabulesse Candunde, claiming they wanted to bewitch him. This is a president who calls himself a Christian, yet he is applying eighteenth-century superstition as if it were modern law and weaponising it to jail citizens. A Christian president, in 2025, using witchcraft allegations to silence critics. It is as absurd as it is alarming.
Hichilema, who some might now start calling the Zambian dictator, is proving through his actions that such a description may no longer be an exaggeration.
Chichi Daisy rejects apology as Mutale Mwanza pleads not guilty! Media personality Mutale Mwanza has pleaded not guilty to allegations of harassing fellow media personality Chichi Daisy (Mwansa Lufumpa) using electronic communication.
On Monday, Ms Mwanza, 38, appeared before Magistrate Mbuywana Sinvula, where she denied the cybercrime charge under Section 69 of the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act.
The matter has been adjourned to December 22, 2025. Away from the court proceedings, a family source said Mwanza has spent the past year attempting to resolve the issue outside court through various mediators.
Mwanza, a former Tuvwange TV show co-host, is said to have reached out to Daisy through church leaders, family members and lawyers. The mother of one reportedly apologised to Daisy and asked for forgiveness.
GOVT CUTS POWER CONNECTION FEES FROM OVER K4,800 TO K300
By Joseph Kaputula
Energy Minister Makozo Chikote has announced that electricity connection fees will be subsidized and reduced from K4,846 to K300, effective December 22, 2025.
Speaking during the Rural Electrification Authority -REA- launch of the Accelerated Sustainable and Clean Energy Access Transformation –ASCENT- initiative in Lusaka this morning, Mr. Chikote says the 2026 application window for the subsidy targets 100,000 new connection fees next year alone.
Mr. Chikote has however instructed REA and ZESCO to ensure the initiative is widely publicized, assuring government’s commitment to ensuring universal access to electricity by 2030.
He notes that the $200 million World Bank funded Ascent-Zambia program aims to connect over 1.6 million Zambians to electricity and clean cooking technologies over the next 5 years.
At the same event, World Bank Country Manager Dr. Achim Fock said the initiative brings together the World Bank group, the African Development Bank and other partners to support sub-Saharan African countries in providing access to electricity to 300 million people.
Meanwhile, REA Acting Chief Executive Officer Alex Mumba commended government for championing policy and financing reforms that made the program possible.
MARY CHIRWA PROMISED TO ARREST NKULUKUSA – MoF AUDITOR
… but she suddenly chickened out.
Ministry of Finance principal internal auditor Grandy Ntumbo says he is disappointed that the former Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) director general Mary Chirwa, whom he held in high regard, disappointed him when she chickened out from her earlier promise to arrest Secretary to Treasury Felix Nkulukusa for abuse of office.
Speaking with Daily Revelation yesterday, Ntumbo said Chirwa knew about Nkulukusa’s activities while she served as director general at the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), and that she mentioned the same to him when the two met after she had been appointed DG at DEC.
“I met her is early February 2022 and she is the one who asked me to say, ‘are you aware why the ACC (Anti-Corruption Commission) is dragging its feet on the Ministry of Finance arrests?’ So she said it’s because
AFTER ordering forfeiture of his properties to the State, a magistrate yesterday granted jailed former Lusaka Province Minister Bowman Lusambo K500, 000 bail pending determination of an appeal against his three year jail term.
Lusaka chief resident magistrate Davies Chiwbili ordered forfeiture of Mr Lusambo’s properties, in Chamba Valley which were earlier deemed to be proceeds of crime.
Lusambo was facing two counts of possession of property suspected of being proceeds of crime. It was alleged that between May, 2015 and December 31, 2021, the accused had property number F/609/E/44/B/9, comprising a single storey four bedroomed house, guest wing and a car shed and six incomplete flats.
Magistrate Chibwili in August found Mr Lusambo guilty of the charges after it was established that value of the tainted properties’ was beyond his legitimate income sources. After being jailed three years imprisonment with hard labour, the State applied that the Lusambo’s tainted properties, which include six incomplete flats, be forfeited to the State.
Dissatisfied with the outcome, the convict opposed the forfeiture application and also appealed against the magistrate’s judgement at the High Court and further applied for bail pending appeal determination. An interested party, Mukuka Munkonge, joined the proceedings and challenged the planned forfeiture of the six incomplete block of flats, arguing that the properties were his and not Mr Lusambo’s.
https://youtu.be/-1WGH_-hypM?si=6tgkDs4EBPgsMdz2
Mr Munkonge’s lawyers contended that he entered into a lease agreement with Mr Lusambo between 2018 and 2023, whose lease contract expired, and therefore, he now assumes ownership of the subject property. When the case came up yesterday, magistrate Chibwili dismissed Lusambo’s bid to stop the forfeiture of the properties, which include his family house.
In respect of the six incomplete flats, the court found that it was proved that they were built on a leased land-consequently ordering Mr Lusambo to pay K5.2million to the state, which is equivalent of the said flats. Regards bail application, magistrate granted bail in the sum of K500, 000, in his own recognizance.
He also ordered him to provide three credible sureties, also bound to K500, 000, which will not be paid, unless Mr Lusambo flees. Even if bail was granted to Mr Lusambo, he is stuck in jail because he is serving another four year jail term imposed on him by another magistrate. (Mwebantu, Tuesday, 2nd December, 2025)
BRIEFING | Army Orders Immediate Exit of Illegal Miners from Lower Zambezi
The Zambia Army has issued its strongest directive yet against illegal mining in the Lower Zambezi, ordering all unauthorised miners operating along the river line in Siavonga District to vacate the area immediately or face forced removal.
Army Commander Lieutenant General Geoffrey Choongo Zyeele delivered the ultimatum during a field tour of the Moomba stretch on Monday, where illegal mining activities have continued despite repeated warnings from state authorities.
The tour included top military brass and representatives from the Zambia Police and Immigration Department, signalling an inter-agency crackdown.
“We have spoken enough, and some people now seem to be inviting harsher measures,” Lt Gen Zyeele said during the inspection. “Those acting with impunity are inviting lifelong memories of the military into their lives.”
The language underlined a shift from advisory warnings to punitive enforcement.
Security officials say the operation is part of a coordinated effort to protect the Lower Zambezi’s ecological assets and curb organised criminal networks involved in illicit mineral extraction.
The Army Commander stressed that the military “is committed to protecting the country’s natural resources” and that offenders will be “brought to justice”.
Zambia Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Oscar Msitu Nyoni joined the tour, reinforcing that security wings are adopting a unified approach to environmental protection and border-area enforcement.
Senior officers from both services inspected hotspots where illegal miners have been encroaching along sensitive river banks.
Illegal mining in Lower Zambezi has grown into a major environmental and security concern, with authorities citing deforestation, land degradation and increased cross-border criminal activity as primary risks.
Monday’s directive indicates the state’s readiness to escalate enforcement if voluntary withdrawal does not occur.
The Army has not yet announced timelines for forced eviction, but officials say operations will proceed “without hesitation” should miners ignore the latest order.
A New York pastor left churchgoers stunned as he publicly announced that he is transitioning into a woman and will now use she/her pronouns.
Reverend Phil Phaneuf, 51, who was born male, shared that she has been undergoing a gender transition with her congregation at North Chili United Methodist Church (UMC) during Sunday service.
‘I get to announce with joy that I am transitioning. I am affirming and saying to all of you that I am transgender,’ the veteran pastor, wearing a rainbow stole, declared this past Sunday.
‘The best way to put this is that I’m not becoming a woman, I’m giving up pretending to be a man.’
Phaneuf, who told listeners that her new name will be Phillippa Faye Phaneuf, said she will continue to go by ‘Reverend Phil.’
‘I’m not going to be the pronoun police,’ she told the crowd. ‘I don’t think that anybody will misgender or mis-pronoun out of malice.’
The religious leader assured church members that the only changes stemming from her transition will be physical ones, noting that she has been undergoing hormone replacement therapy for about three months already.
According to the pastor, her commitment to Jesus Christ and the ministry will remain the same.
A United States lawmaker has introduced a bill seeking to abolish dual citizenship for American nationals, a move that could affect several countries, including thousands of Nigerians.
Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno introduced legislation that would require Americans to exclusively be U.S. citizens. Current law allows people to maintain citizenship with the United States and another country, provided that country permits it.
Moreno is originally from Colombia and immigrated to the United States with his family as a child. He became a U.S. citizen and renounced his Colombian citizenship when he turned 18.
“It was an honor to pledge an oath of allegiance to the United States of America and ONLY to the United States of America,” Moreno said in a statement. “Being an American citizen is an honor and a privilege − and if you want to be an American, it’s all or nothing.”
Moreno’s bill would give dual citizens a year to renounce either their U.S. or foreign citizenship. It says the current policy “may create conflicts of interest and divided loyalties.”
This development comes months after President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at denying automatic US citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants born in the country.
The order was immediately challenged by 18 states and multiple rights groups, who argued it violates the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship. Ongoing legal battles have prevented the order from taking effect.
For years, rumours have drifted across northern Uganda that Joseph Kony might already be dead, lost to the same wilderness where he once commanded fear.
But last week, the International Criminal Court poured cold water on those whispers. Kony, the elusive leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, is still alive. That confirmation came from ICC senior trial lawyer Leonie Von Braun, who told journalists that all the court’s intelligence points to one conclusion.
“I can say that all our information that we hold currently at the moment points to that he is still alive,” she said. “Otherwise, we would also not have proceeded with the confirmation in absentia processes.”
Her remarks reopened old wounds in communities still living with the scars of the LRA’s brutal campaign—mass killings, abductions, sexual slavery, and the uprooting of entire villages.
It has been nearly two decades since the ICC issued an arrest warrant and Interpol placed Kony on its red notice list. Yet he remains a phantom, drifting through remote corners of Central Africa while victims wait for justice that never seems to arrive.
A month ago, the ICC confirmed 39 charges against Kony, including murder, sexual enslavement and rape. But that legal milestone carries a sobering limit: the court cannot move to a full trial unless the suspect is physically before judges in The Hague. Von Braun underlined this reality with a blunt reminder.
“The confirmation of the charge marks actually the end of the in absentia proceeding,” she said.
“We will not have a trial. Only if he gets arrested and handed over and appears before the judges in The Hague—that’s when we will be able to move to the next phase. The judges have made this clear.”
She explained that ICC rules only allow in-absentia hearings for the confirmation of charges, not for a complete trial. That rule, intended to protect defendants’ rights, now sits uneasily with the desperation of northern Ugandan victims who have waited years for closure.
Von Braun insisted that efforts to capture Kony continue, even if the court must rely on partner states rather than its own force.
“The ICC itself does not have a police force or a military force; so, we are working with our partners to see that he is brought into custody,” she said. She declined to name the states involved, saying the information was too sensitive.
“We are working together to finally have him arrested and surrendered.” Part of the challenge, she noted, is geography. Kony is believed to move through remote, loosely governed regions where states have not signed the Rome Statute— the treaty that created the ICC. Without cooperation from those countries, the court’s reach shrinks dramatically.
“That already gives you an indication of why it is difficult to secure his arrest,” she said.
The ICC’s international cooperation adviser, Dahirou Santa-Anna, stressed the historical weight of the case. This is the first time judges have confirmed charges against a suspect who was not in court.
It marks a procedural breakthrough, but also underscores the frustrations of prosecuting a fugitive who has slipped through the cracks for nearly 20 years. Even so, Santa-Anna reminded the public that the judicial process has never been the only path to helping victims.
For more than 15 years, the Trust Fund for Victims has run rehabilitation programmes in northern Uganda, providing physical treatment, psychosocial support, and community rebuilding initiatives.
“There have been rehabilitation activities conducted by the Trust Fund for at least 15 years now in Uganda,” he said. “The efforts did not wait for conviction to take place… before taking a step to provide some sort of assistance to victims in the whole area of northern Uganda.”
In many ways, those quiet programmes— counselling sessions, medical support, and community healing—are the closest thing to justice many survivors have seen. Still, the question hangs in the air: how long must victims wait?
Every new confirmation that Kony is alive brings renewed hope that he might one day face justice. But it also reminds Ugandans of the long shadow he still casts—across borders, across decades, and across a region still learning how to live with the past.
Hyacinth, one of the brothers of singer, 2Face Idibia, has reached out to him via social media amidst reports of marital crisis with his new wife, Natasha.
On Monday, December 1, Kaka Igbokwe, 2Face’s former manager was on Daddy Freeze live where he claimed the singer was in a tox!c marriage with his new wife, Natasha, He alleged that Natasha who is a member of the Edo state House of Assembly has been physically abusive towards the singer and has been disrupting his business moves. He also alleged that Natasha is in control of the singer’s finances and finds it hard to account for the monies or pay the staff who works with the singer their income.
This morning, Hyacinth took to his Instastories to appeal to his brother to allow them save him. He shared an audio recording of a song 2Face had recorded speaking about an independent woman who was ‘’chopping” all his money and leaving him with zero balance.
Hyacinth pointed out that his brother has been brilliant with his lyrics and that the lyrics which were meant to be inspiring somehow unfold into real time.
BREAKING: TRUMP SLAMS THE DOOR SHUT! 19 NATIONS HIT BY IMMIGRATION FREEZE
In a shock move sending tremors through global migrant communities, the Trump administration has imposed a sweeping halt on all immigration and naturalization from 19 low-income and conflict-affected nations.
The dramatic freeze confirmed through multiple reports and internal DHS communications is being described by critics as one of the administration’s harshest moves on border and migration policy to date.
The countries caught in the ban span Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America, including Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Myanmar, the Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Yemen.
Officials defending the decision claim it is based on “security vulnerabilities” and “unreliable government cooperation,” while opponents argue it is a discriminatory overreach that will tear families apart and punish refugees fleeing war and instability.
As uncertainty spreads, thousands are left anxiously wondering what happens next.
ZANU PF CIVIL WAR ERUPTS! MNANGAGWA VS. CHIWENGA SHOWDOWN HITS FEVER PITCH
As Zanu PF limps toward the end of a chaotic year marked by vicious infighting and political upheaval, the ruling party is gearing up for a tense three-day showdown. From Wednesday to Friday, the politburo, central committee, and national consultative assembly will convene in what insiders are calling the most explosive meetings in years.
At the heart of the turmoil is President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s deeply divisive “2030 agenda,” his controversial push to stretch his rule beyond the current term, a move that has split the party and ignited a fierce succession war.
Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, once seen as Mnangagwa’s inevitable successor, is now under relentless assault from the president’s loyalists, who are working overtime to weaken his influence.
After months of bruising factional battles and counterattacks from the Chiwenga camp, Mnangagwa appears to have seized the upper hand for now. But with leadership tensions boiling over, the final outcome of Zanu PF’s internal power struggle is far from settled.
Even before fully shackling off the previous colonialism and struggle for sovereignty, as data becomes the new gold, sub-Saharan Africa faces a new wave of digital colonialism.
This time, it’s driven not by imperial governments, but by powerful multinational technology companies. Across the globe, the world’s most influential corporations are now fueled by data, their revenues rivaling, and in some cases exceeding the combined economies of major African regional blocs.
For instance, 2023-24 revenue figures show that Amazon raked in at least $574 billion, Apple $383 billion, and Alphabet (Google’s parent company) $307 billion. Compare this to sub-Saharan regional blocs: the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) $924 billion, the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) $705 billion, and the East African Community (EAC) at $303 billion.
This stark contrast illustrates a simple truth: data is the new raw material, and Africa is once again the supplier, often unknowingly, and with little benefit.
AFRICA’S UNTAPPED VULNERABLE RAW DATA
Unlike historical exploitation of minerals or agricultural products, today’s scramble is for citizen data, which largely remains raw, unrefined, and unprotected on the continent.
While countries such as Ghana, South Africa, and Rwanda have made progress in data governance, most African ecosystems remain fragmented and nascent. At a recent Data Governance Capacity Building Workshop in Kampala, Patrick Mundua, assistant commissioner for Information Technology at the ministry of Public Service, said many Ugandans still do not appreciate the value of quality data in planning and decision-making.
“That is why even when someone is in possession of actual figures, they still say about. There is a lot of ‘aboutism’ in Uganda because officials don’t take data seriously.”
Lucrezia Biteete, senior digital policy advisor at GIZ Uganda, urged Ugandan civil society to emulate countries like Kenya where civic actors actively shape national AI and data governance processes.
In Africa, big techs often exploit weak legal systems, poverty, and regulatory gaps to harvest and monetize data with minimal oversight. Data holds enormous potential; it can improve public services, drive innovation, open new markets, and empower citizens.
Ugandan government officials at the workshop emphasized that data lies at the heart of their digital transformation strategy. However, big techs are not waiting for Africa to catch up.
Like colonial powers of old, who used religion and weaponry to establish dominance, tech giants today employ both incentives and covert techniques. They promise investments such as data centers while extracting enormous datasets, sometimes through questionable means.
Much like the colonial playbook, where religion and political manipulation paved the way for control today’s tech giants use both incentives and covert strategies. They offer investment in data centres while quietly extracting massive datasets, sometimes through questionable practices.
They seem to revel in Africa’s broken governance systems. Just last week, Google LLC withdrew its appeal in a landmark case filed by four Ugandan lawyers, Frank Ssekamwa, Sharon Pamela Leni, Raymond Amumpaire, and Mercy Owino.
The petitioners accused Google of violating the Data Protection and Privacy Act (2019) by among others, failing to register with the Personal Data Protection Office (PDPO), and conducting cross-border data transfers without PDPO approval.
DIGITAL IDS: NEW FRONTIER OF EXTRACTION
Concerns around AI amplify these issues. Africa remains heavily dependent on foreign-built digital tools, creating structural vulnerability.
At the 2025 Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFAfrica) in Windhoek, Namibia it emerged that global digital ID systems, often promoted as tools for efficient service delivery, may actually be pipelines for big techs to centralize and commercialize biometric data.
Critics argue that centralised bio-data is easier to aggregate, mine, and monetise, and that the near-simultaneous rollout of these systems across Africa is no coincidence. Many projects are funded by the same global actors pushing for global interoperability on their terms with citizens compelled to hand in their data so as to receive services.
Uganda, through the Digital Acceleration Project, recently secured $200 million from the World Bank to expand fibre networks, including into refugee-hosting communities. Yet this raises a critical question: should data remain in-country even when local infrastructure is weak, or should efficiency override sovereignty?
Countries like Estonia, through platforms like X-Road, show that secure, interoperable systems are possible even empowering when states retain full control. Mundua noted that Uganda plans to invest heavily in data services, data centres, and cloud infrastructure so that national data can be consolidated, protected, and properly managed.
He observed that much of Uganda’s data currently sits in systems run by multinational players in banking and telecom, meaning data is effectively stored abroad. He said government intends to expand high-speed connectivity, ensure affordable internet access, and use data for evidence-based planning and socio-economic transformation.
Yet as Dr Wairagala Wakabi, CIPESA’s executive director, noted, political will and frameworks must translate into harmonised and actionable implementation, similar to Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda.
Uganda has yet to ratify the Malabo Convention, despite its importance for cybersecurity and data governance. Only 15 African countries have ratified it, and in East Africa, only Rwanda has.
Wakabi emphasized that certain datasets, such as open weather or public health data can actually serve as public goods when managed responsibly, benefitting entire communities and enabling equitable development. He also highlighted datafication as a socio-technical process in which massive data generation reshapes state operations, market intelligence, and citizen engagement.
UGANDA’S LOCAL-FIRST STRATEGY
A Ministry of ICT official who preferred anonymity said Uganda’s approach—to build local foundations and nurture local innovators, may appear slower than Rwanda’s fast-paced adoption of off-the-shelf digital systems, but will ultimately deliver more sustainable and inclusive benefits.
While Uganda’s policies and frameworks are often praised as progressive, experts urged greater harmonisation and alignment with the, EAC Data Governance Policy Framework, AU Data Policy Framework (2022), Malabo Convention, and and the AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol. Only then, they argued, can Uganda fully unlock the economic potential of its data, and guard against the accelerating wave of digital colonialism.
2’400 NEWLY RECRUITED REPLACEMENT TEACHERS CRY OUT: “We Have Genuine Letters but No Salaries, No Vacancies”
More than 2,400 teachers recruited in 2025 under the replacement category are appealing to the government for urgent intervention after months of waiting to be placed on the payroll despite possessing genuine appointment letters.
One of the affected teachers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, narrated the ordeal faced by the group:
“We were officially recruited this year as replacement teachers. We reported to our provinces, completed all the required paperwork, and submitted every document requested by the District Education Board Secretaries (DEBS). We were then instructed to return home and wait for our first salary before resuming duties.
“Months have now passed and nothing has happened. Many of us travelled from far districts to Lusaka for verification and processing, borrowing money for transport, accommodation, and other expenses. That debt is piling up with interest while we remain jobless and hopeless.”
The teachers allege that when some of them followed up at the Lusaka DEBS office, they were informed by Human Resource personnel that there are currently no vacancies because the Ministry is waiting for serving teachers to retire or pass away before new ones can be placed on the payroll.
This has raised serious questions among the recruits: How were we issued genuine appointment letters and recruited if no vacancies existed in the first place? Why have teachers recruited under the same replacement category in other districts already been placed on the payroll while those in Lusaka and several other areas remain unpaid? How long are we expected to wait for vacancies to be “created” through retirement or death?
“We borrowed money believing we had secured employment. Some of us resigned from private schools and other jobs because the appointment letters were official. Now we are stranded, stressed, and sinking deeper into debt,” the teacher lamented. The affected teachers are pleading with the Ministry of Education- Zambia, the Teaching Service Commission, and the government (President Hakainde Hichilema ) at large to urgently resolve the matter and communicate clearly on the way forward. “We just want to know the truth and be treated fairly. If there are no vacancies, why raise our hopes with recruitment and genuine letters? If there is a delay, tell us officially so we can plan our lives,” they appealed.
https://youtu.be/-1WGH_-hypM?si=tragzbb8cB6Ff7sJ
As of now, the Ministry of Education has not issued an official statement regarding the delay in placing the 2025 replacement teachers on the payroll.
The teachers have called on authorities to expedite the process and honour the appointments that were duly offered, saying the current situation has caused untold emotional and financial hardship.
The country’s former President Joyce Banda has been appointed as board Chairperson for Global Fairness Initiatives (GFI).
Banda’s Executive Assistant, Media and Public Relations Arnold Mnelemba has to confirmed the news to The Maravi Post a while ago.
“I can indeed confirm that the 4th President of the Republic of Malawi Her Excellency Dr Joyce Banda has been appointed board chair for Global Fairness Initiative.
“It is something of great honour considering the fact that the initiative is a global institution of highest reputation,” Mnelemba said.
He added, “We are thrilled to hear the news and Her Excellency is ready to serve. It will be a great honour for Her Excellency to serve in the board whose first chairperson was President Bill Clinton.
“She is ready to serve in that capacity and her term begins on first January. She will chair Her first board meeting in May, Ghana”.
According to the Global Fairness Initiative (GFI), a leading NGO committed to creating more equitable, and secure livelihoods for the working poor, announced today that Banda will head the GFI Board of Directors replacing outgoing Chair H.E. Kabine Komara, Former Prime Minister of Guinea.
“We are honored to welcome President Banda as Chairperson of the GFI Board of Directors,” said H.E. Komara. “She has been a champion of working people in Malawi and throughout Africa, and her deep intellect and practical experience will bring great benefit to the important work of GFI and our grassroots partners throughout the world.”
Joyce Banda served as the 4th President of the Republic of Malawi from 2012 to 2014 following over a decade in public service as Vice President, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister for Gender and Community Services and a Member of Parliament. Dr. Banda was Malawi’s first female Head of State and the 2nd in Africa.
During her Presidency, she championed reforms that exemplified good governance and the democratic rule of law.
She is the recipient of numerous international awards and accolades and is celebrated for her work to tackle global challenges ranging from hunger to maternal health.
Through her Joyce Banda Foundation, she has supported primary and secondary school education of some of Malawi’s most vulnerable children.
The Joyce Banda Foundation also feeds and provides head-start education to over 10-thousand children across the country. The Foundation’s other key activity has been building climate-resilient houses for the vulnerable across the country, with recent focus being on those who lost their homes to the four cyclones that have hit Malawi in recent years.
“It is a privilege to have President Banda as the new Chair of the GFI Board of Directors,” said Karen Tramontano, Founder of Global Fairness Initiative.
“She has been a true advocate and partner to the grassroots, and we look forward to collaborating on our shared work to uplift working poor communities in Malawi and throughout the world.”
Global Fairness Initiative is a US-based INGO committed to creating a more equitable, sustainable approach to economic development through programs to reduce poverty, enfranchise informal workers, and create a more just, secure future for workers.
Founded by Karen Tramontano with Former President Bill Clinton as founding Chair, GFI has implemented programs that strengthen rights and livelihoods for the working poor in nations across the Global South.
Who is Joyce Banda?
Joyce Banda became President of the Republic of Malawi in 2012 following more than a decade in public service beginning with her election to Parliament and service as Malawi’s Foreign Minister and Minister for Gender and Community Services and then as Vice President.
Dr. Banda was Malawi’s first woman Head of State and only the 2nd in Africa, and she has been widely recognized for her work to expand the country’s economy, strengthen democratic systems and build strong diplomatic ties globally.
During her Presidency, Dr. Joyce Banda is credited with turning around an ailing economy which was on the verge of collapse to one that registered 6.2% in 2014 from 1.8% registered in 2012.
This followed her aggressive economic reforms which led to significant economic expansion.
Under President Banda, Malawi’s operational industrial capacity improved from 35% in 2012 to 85% in July 2014, and the foreign exchange import cover improved from one week to three and half months in July 2014.
In the areas of democracy, good governance, and rule of law, President Banda repealed a number of draconian laws which had weakened essential democratic institutions, infringed upon civil liberties, and restricted the freedom of the press.
Since her Presidency, Dr. Banda has launched women-centered organizations across Africa, including the African Federation of Women Entrepreneurs (AFWE), the Council for Economic Empowerment for Women in Africa (CEEWA), the American & African Business Women’s Alliance (AABWA), and her Joyce Banda Foundation.
She served as a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for Global Development and the Woodrow Wilson Center, a member of the United Nations Council of Women World Leaders and is a standing member of the Club de Madrid.
In a dramatic escalation of international political tensions, a series of high-stakes statements from global leaders have sent shockwaves through diplomatic circles and the world’s media.
U.S. President Donald Trump has issued a striking ultimatum to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, demanding that he flee the country immediately to “save yourself and those closest to you.”
This bold directive comes amid growing instability in Venezuela and reflects the persistent friction between the United States and the Maduro regime.
Trump’s order is not just a call for a change in leadership but a stark warning that the United States is prepared to exert significant pressure on Venezuela.
The message underscores the urgency and gravity with which Washington views the situation, signaling a no-nonsense approach that could potentially lead to drastic consequences if ignored.
The implication is clear: the window for Maduro’s peaceful exit is closing rapidly, and the consequences of defiance could be severe.
This ultimatum has elicited an immediate response from China, which has cautioned the United States against any military intervention in Venezuela.
Beijing’s warning highlights the complex geopolitical stakes involved, emphasizing that Venezuela is a country where China holds substantial investments and strategic interests.
China’s position serves as a reminder that the Venezuelan crisis is not merely a regional issue but a flashpoint in the broader contest for influence between major world powers.
The Chinese government’s admonition reflects its broader foreign policy of opposing unilateral military actions that threaten sovereign nations, especially where Chinese economic and diplomatic interests are concerned.
By publicly challenging Washington’s potential intentions, China is signaling its readiness to defend its investments and maintain its foothold in Latin America, further complicating the already tense situation.
Meanwhile, in a separate but equally momentous development, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a chilling message to Europe, stating that Russia is prepared to fight if Europe desires war.
This declaration intensifies fears of a renewed and dangerous confrontation on the European continent, where tensions between Russia and Western countries have been simmering for years.
Putin’s words carry a dual warning: a readiness to defend Russian interests at all costs and a stark challenge to Europe’s political will to escalate conflict.
Putin’s statement cannot be viewed in isolation. It comes at a time when Europe is navigating a complex security environment marked by energy disputes, military posturing, and diplomatic standoffs. The readiness to “fight if Europe wants war” is a stark reminder of the fragile peace and the high stakes involved in diplomatic interactions between Russia and European nations.
It raises concerns about the potential for miscalculations that could spiral into broader conflict.
Adding another layer to this geopolitical puzzle is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s candid admission of fear that the United States might lose interest in Ukraine’s ongoing conflict.
Zelensky’s statement reveals a deep anxiety about sustaining international support in a protracted and challenging war environment.
The U.S. has been a critical ally to Ukraine, providing military aid, financial support, and diplomatic backing. Any perceived waning of this support risks undermining Ukraine’s position and morale.
Zelensky’s concern reflects the broader uncertainty faced by countries caught in geopolitical struggles dependent on external support.
The possibility of diminished U.S. engagement could embolden opposing forces and shift the balance of power in the region, with far-reaching consequences for European and global security.
Taken together, these developments paint a picture of a world teetering on the edge of heightened conflict and instability.
The Trump administration’s ultimatum to Maduro, China’s warning against U.S. military action, Putin’s readiness to confront Europe militarily, and Zelensky’s fears of declining American interest all signal a period of intense rivalry and precarious diplomacy.
The connections between these statements are deeply intertwined.
The Venezuelan crisis, while geographically distant from Europe and Ukraine, is a critical arena where global powers are vying for influence.
The U.S. push against Maduro is not just about Venezuela’s internal politics but also involves challenging China’s expanding reach in Latin America.
China’s swift warning to Washington underscores the global nature of this contest, where economic and military interests overlap.
Simultaneously, Russia’s belligerent posture toward Europe reflects its broader strategic calculation to assert dominance and deter Western influence near its borders.
This posture has a ripple effect on the security dynamics surrounding Ukraine, where Moscow’s ambitions have already led to conflict.
Zelensky’s worries about U.S. commitment highlight the fragile alliances underpinning the current balance of power.
This convergence of geopolitical flashpoints underscores the complexity and interconnectedness of global politics today.
Each leader’s statement not only addresses a specific regional issue but also reverberates across continents, influencing diplomatic calculations and military strategies worldwide.
The urgency in Trump’s demand for Maduro to flee suggests an attempt to force a rapid resolution in Venezuela, potentially preempting further deterioration or foreign intervention.
However, China’s cautionary stance signals that any U.S. military action may provoke wider diplomatic and economic repercussions, including a hardening of Sino-American relations.
Putin’s readiness to engage militarily if provoked by Europe serves as a stark reminder that the specter of conflict remains alive in Europe, despite efforts at diplomacy and sanctions.
His message is a warning to European nations to carefully weigh their actions and avoid missteps that could escalate tensions beyond control.
Zelensky’s public expression of concern about U.S. interest highlights the fragility of international coalitions and the critical role that sustained support from powerful allies plays in conflict zones.
It also serves as a call for renewed engagement and reassurance from Washington to prevent any erosion of commitment.
In sum, these developments collectively represent a moment of heightened alert in international affairs.
The interplay between the United States, China, Russia, Europe, Venezuela, and Ukraine illustrates the multidimensional challenges facing global peace and security.
The world watches anxiously as these leaders navigate a precarious path, where decisions made in the coming days and weeks could shape the geopolitical landscape for years to come.
The urgency, warnings, and fears expressed by these key figures serve as both a reflection of current tensions and a cautionary tale about the dangers of escalating conflicts in a highly interconnected world.
The international community’s response to these developments will be crucial in determining whether diplomacy can prevail or if the world is headed toward a more volatile and uncertain future.
A convicted Russian cryptocurrency fraudster and his wife were tortured and k!lled in the United Arab Emirates after kidnappers failed to extract access to £380 million from their digital wallets, according to reports in Russian media.
Roman Novak and his wife, Anna, disappeared on October 2 after being lured to the resort town of Hatta, about 80 miles from Dubai, by men posing as potential investors. Their mobile phones were last traced to a remote area in the Hajar mountains near the Oman border, where police later dug up a 500-by-500-metre section of desert. Their remains were recovered more than a month later.
Before their deaths, the couple were tortured as their abductors tried to force them to reveal access codes to cryptocurrency accounts that investigators say turned out to be empty. Metro is not publishing the reported methods due to their graphic nature. The bodies were later sealed in thick polyethylene bags, doused with strong chemical solvents intended to accelerate decomposition and destroy DNA evidence, and then dumped in the desert.
An investigation began after relatives in Russia reported the couple missing and informed Dubai authorities that they were likely kidnapped.
Svetlana Petrenko, spokesperson for the Russian Investigative Committee, said that “the investigation has established that the killers had accomplices who helped organise the abduction. They rented cars and premises where the two victims were held by force.” She added that “after the murder, the perpetrators disposed of the knives and the victims’ personal belongings, leaving them in different emirates.”
Novak had previously been sentenced to six years in prison in Russia for large-scale fraud in 2020. He was later granted parole and travelled to the UAE, where he launched a crypto app known as Fintopio, reportedly raising £380 million from investors before he was accused of defrauding them.
Three Russian citizens have been arrested in St Petersburg after returning from the UAE. They were identified as former police officer Konstantin Shakht, along with Yury Sharypov and Vladimir Dalekin. Sharypov and Dalekin have pleaded guilty, while Shakht denies involvement. All three have been remanded in custody until December 28.
Nigerian singer, Burna Boy, has pledged to cover the funeral costs for all four children k!lled in the recent California mass sho0ting.
The Last Last singer said that he had an emotional connection to the story after hearing about it on The Breakfast Club radio show.
He then connected with music executive Wack 100; and Hollywood Unlocked personality Jason Lee, and offered to help.
“When I heard about the children murdered in Stockton, my heart broke. After hearing the story on The Breakfast Club, I reached out to Wack 100 and connected with Jason Lee because no family should ever face this kind of pain alone,” he said in a press statement. “I wanted to do whatever I could to support these parents as they begin the long process of healing.”
The statement also said the 34-year-old star was particularly moved by the story of Amari Peterson, a 14-year-old, 3.8 GPA student-athlete whose life was tragically cut short.
Stockton Vice Mayor Jason Lee noted in a statement that “Burna Boy’s generosity is an example of how people around the world want to help, even when they’ve never met the families impacted.”
The shooting occurred on Saturday, November 29, inside a crowded banquet hall in northern Stockton just before 6 p.m., where 100 to 150 people were attending a children’s birthday party. Four young people were k!lled, and 11 others were left wounded.
The victims who have been identified so far are eight-year-old Maya Lupian and 21-year-old Susano Archuleta.
According to CNN, Heather Brent, a spokesperson for the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office, said that early indications suggest the shooting may have been “a targeted incident.” She added that the investigation remained “very active and ongoing.”
Sheriff Patrick Withrow said on Sunday, “We’re confident that this was not a random act. We’re not gonna say whether it’s gang related or not, until we have all the facts in front of us.”
A $25,000 reward has been offered for information leading to an arrest.
AMERICA IS A THIEF NATION READY TO START ANY WAR TO STEAL RESOURCES OF A NATION -IRAN.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has accused the United States of fueling conflicts across the world in pursuit of stealing natural resources, particularly oil and underground minerals. The statement, released through his verified Twitter account, is the latest in a series of criticisms Tehran has leveled against Washington over its foreign policy and military engagements.
The statement, released through his verified Twitter account, is the latest in a series of criticisms Tehran has leveled against Washington over its foreign policy and military engagements. Khamenei said the US “is a thief nation prepared to start a war anywhere in the world” if it serves its economic or strategic interests.
According to him, American foreign interventions are often disguised as efforts to promote democracy or ensure global security, but in reality, they are driven by a desire to steal and control resource-rich regions. He argued that this pattern has defined several US military actions over the past decades, from the Middle East to other strategic zones.
He further claimed that Washington’s “warmongering” has now expanded beyond traditional theatres of conflict and is “even reaching Latin America.” Although he did not mention specific countries, the remark comes amid rising tensions between the US and several Latin American governments over political crises, sanctions, and ideological disagreements. Tehran has historically sided with governments in the region that oppose US influence, framing them as victims of external interference.
His statement also comes at a time of heightened geopolitical friction involving major world powers, global energy insecurity, and shifting alliances. Analysts note that such remarks are likely aimed at reinforcing Iran’s narrative of resistance and rallying support among nations skeptical of US global influence.
