Press Statement: I Have Not Defected to the UPND!

The notion that an opposition MP cannot engage with the President in the line of duty is incorrect. My appeal to ALL is to reset our politics and recalibrate our collective agenda to service delivery and poverty eradication.

Issued By: Dr Chitalu Chilufya

Lusaka, October 24 – On 22nd October, 2024, I was privileged to be invited to the working presidential visit to Mazabuka. As a result of my being part of this presidential entourage, social media has been awash with maliciously misleading articles coldly calculated at tarring my persona in the collective public conscience of Zambians.

Ordinarily, I do not respond to malice, but I’m compelled to issue an official statement to set the record straight and put closure to the matter at hand. For the avoidance of any doubt, those spreading falsehoods must get this right: I HAVE NOT DEFECTED FROM PF TO UPND. This is anchored on my belief that a credible opposition is crucially fundamental to any functional democracy.

I am the bonafide elected Member of Parliament for Mansa Central, under the Patriotic Front party ticket. I intend to serve out my current term in this regard to the best of my ability and consciously  cognisant of the my absolute loyalty to people of Mansa for the privilege they gave me to serve them.

Further, I am privileged to be the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Parastatal Bodies. I swore oath of allegiance to the Republican President, and the constitution of Zambia to serve the people of Zambia, in general, and the Mansa central in particular. I will continue to work with Government to serve the people by providing effective  checks and balances, as we collectively pursue sustainable development, peace and unity.

It is in this regard that I accepted an invitation to accompany the Republican President, in the stated portfolios, to commemorate the Jubilee Celebrations for one of the country’s most thriving local Zambian companies, the Nakambala Sugar Estate, at which many activities were launched, inter alia, the expanded outgrower scheme for sugarcane, to enhance local participation in the growth of the Zambian economy.

For all intents and purporses,  this is the kind of investment we all must support because it does not only fulfil our collective aspirations of sustainable development, but also creates both corporate and individual wealth we all desire. We can only succeed as the nation if we create common wealth. We can only share wealth and not poverty, not acrimony but progressive human fellowship across all facets of development.

Truth be told, the trip was instructive in many different ways and revealed valuable benchmarking innovations the company is embarking on to expand production, while embracing the needs of the community. The trip further served as an opportunity to network with colleagues in the Executive to lobby for specific constituency  programs and share ideas on matters of national development. I must, therefore, appreciate the President for the invitation to be part of his entourage on this important working visit.

Further, I was invited to a community engagement where the President interacted with the local people and was privileged to address the community. I hereby attach my verbatim speech for ALL to see and judge…

“My due respect to His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zambia. As we celebrate our 60th year of independence, it is important that we reaffirm our commitment to our oneness as a unitary state, and that’s the reason I’m pleased to be part of the presidential entourage, to reaffirm that we are one people, and that we are one nation. Tuli bantu omwe (we are one people)! Atujatane, tubeleke antoomwe tulete lusumpunko mu chisi (let’s work together to develop Zambia). Thank you very much Mr. President for this opportunity to unite all of us and to show that we are one people! “

There is no doubt in my mind this was the right and proper thing for me to do to support the President in supporting the economic developmental agenda. Let us all pursue, not a narrow, but a broad based national agenda that speaks to the best possible interests of our people. In pursuit of this agenda, my  conscious is crystal-clear. I will always pursue efforts that deliver a developmental state that works for all. Let us abandon the machine-politics designed to split rather than unite our people. Let us reject all the senseless and dangerous propagandists who are stealthly embedded in the belly of our body-politic.

At 60, we can be more proud. A Diamond Nation founded on the enduring spirit of One Zambia, One Nation, cannot be narrowed to myopic black-and-white prism of them and us. There  is rendezvous of opportunity in the middle ground available for all us as a collective.

Party colours of green and red, yellow and orange, white and blue…of any shade, mustn’t divide us but offer us an opportunity to compete.

◾The misconception!

Some of my colleagues in the PF party, may have misconstrued the context of the visit, and created the perception in various social and mainstream media, that l have defected to the ruling UPND. I repeat, I have not defected from the PF.
My appeal to ALL is to reset our politics, detoxify the environment, recalibrate our collective agenda to service delivery and poverty eradication. Politics should not be acrimonious. It should be a platform for competition of ideas to serve our people. I do not subscribe to politics of acrimony.

Let’s create a critical mass of leaders and engender a robust, resilient and sustainable path to prosperity for our people by translating our natural resources into wealth. Let’s embrace meritocracy; we have sufficient human capital to drive the agenda if only we agree to work as a team; let’s not frown upon intelligence and hard work.

Politics should not be about perpetual acrimonious discourse. It should be a platform for competition of ideas to serve our people. Further, I want to emphasize this. I do not believe in the shared delusion that politics must create a barrier between “them” and “us”. We are one people. We are not enemies but friends; we must not be enemies; Divergent views we may have but those should never create permanent walls between us; these walls must come down. We need to start talking to each other. Dialogue is fundamentally important in this era of our political season. We will provide checks and balances at any given opportunity.

As we celebrate our 60th year of independence, let us not be rhetorical about unity. Let’s be practical and ensure that we embrace activities that promote unity, including talking to each other and not at each other. Compromise, for instance, is not a dirty word but a way of life that fosters unity and progress. By embracing compromise, we recognize that true strength lies in finding common ground and prioritizing the greater good of all over personal agendas.

For my friends in the Patriotic Front party, we need to settle our internal divisions expeditiously before we permanently disorient our grassroots. l reiterate the importance of a credible opposition to objectively check the Executive for excesses and ensure accountability to the people. We must not cease to meet and talk to each other and work together.

Happy 60th Independence Day!!!

The JCC has gone rogue: why its verdict in the case of the three fired Constitutional Court judges is an act of grave lawlessness

By Sishuwa Sishuwa

I was earlier alerted to the online availability of the report of the Judicial Complaints Commission (JCC) that recommended the recent firing of three judges of Zambia’s Constitutional Court. Whoever made it available has made a commendable decision as the case has wide public interest.

To download and read the report, click here: gofile.io/d/JvBI0N

I have also seen and read the complaint from Moses Kalonde that paved the way for the JCC to recommend the suspension and eventual removal of the three judges.

To download and read the complaint, click here: gofile.io/d/cBclPx

I am grateful to whoever uploaded these documents online. Their decision is an act of courage, one that I suppose they made in public interest. I encourage everyone interested in issues of national interest to read these documents and make up their own mind. I have now read both the complaint from Kalonde and the report of the JCC.

It is the report of the JCC that I find particularly troubling. A careful reading of its conclusions shows that the JCC – itself a creation of the Constitution of Zambia – has elevated itself far above the Constitution and any other constitutional body such as the Constitutional Court, the Judicial Service Commission, and the National Assembly.

Let me illustrate this point with a few direct quotations from the report that reinforce my argument that the JCC has gone rogue, acted outside the confines of the law, and committed illegalities of grave proportion.

Before I proceed to do so, I should pause to cite two provisions of Zambia’s constitution that the JCC relied upon to recommend the removal of the three judges from office. One is Article 141 (1) (b) which provides for the qualifications of Constitutional Court judges: “A person qualifies for appointment as a judge if that person is of proven integrity and has been a legal practitioner, in the case of the Constitutional Court, for at least fifteen years and has specialised training or experience in human rights or constitutional law.”

Another is Article 143 (b) that provides for the grounds on which a judge may be removed from office: “A judge shall be removed from office on the following grounds:
(a) a mental or physical disability that makes the judge incapable of performing judicial functions;
(b) incompetence;
(c) gross misconduct;
or (d) bankruptcy.”

In making its case for removing the three judges on the ground of alleged incompetence, the JCC stated that the three judges did not qualify to be appointed to the office of judge because they lacked specialised training or experience in human rights or constitutional law, and that their nominations were opposed by the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) for the same reason:

“LAZ [Law Association of Zambia] did not support the appointment of the Respondents [Mugeni Mulenga, Anne Mwewa, and Palan Mulenga] and rightly so. Clearly, none of the three Respondents qualified for appointment to the office of Constitutional Court judge and as such are incompetent to hold office or even exercise the functions thereof.

The conclusion of the Commission therefore is that the three Respondents do not meet the minimum threshold to sit as Judges of the Constitutional Court and are therefore incompetent to preside over any matters filed in that Court. The three Respondents’ incompetence in terms of lack of requisite training and experience brings them under the ambit of Article 143 (b) of the Constitution.

The Commission therefore finds that all three Respondents are not qualified to be Constitutional Court judges as per threshold set out in the Constitution and Isaac Mwanza case cited above. The Commission holds that the Respondents are incompetent to be judges of a specialised court like the Constitutional Court and as such should be removed from office.”

There are several questions that arise from this.

First, where did the JCC – an administrative body set up by the constitution to receive complaints lodged against a judge or judicial officer, hear such complaint, and make recommendations to the appropriate institution or authority for action – get the authority to venture into the area of the appointment of judges?

According to Zambia’s constitution, there are three institutions that have been mandated to deal with the appointment of judges. The first is the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), which itself is constituted by the President.

The JSC initiates the process of appointment by identifying and recommending the names of individuals to serve as possible judges to the President of Zambia. The second is the executive. After the president receives the recommendations from the JSC, and if he or she is satisfied with the said recommendations, they (the president) submit the names of the nominees to the third institution, the National Assembly. The National Assembly, usually after receiving advisory but non-binding submissions from other institutions such as professional bodies and civil society, scrutinises the nominees and recommends the approved ones for confirmation of appointment to the president. Once this process is complete, the nominee becomes a judge. This process played out in 2016 when the three were appointed as judges, and all the three mentioned institutions confirmed that the trio was qualified to be appointed as judges to the Constitutional Court. Even the JCC at the time supported the appointments during the confirmation hearings.

More importantly, there is no provision under the existing law that empowers the JCC to review the decisions of the three institutions that have been mandated to appoint judges. By reviewing the appointment of the three judges and concluding that they were not qualified to serve on the Constitutional Court, the JCC exercised powers not given to it by law and elevated itself far above the JSC, the executive, the National Assembly, and ultimately the constitution of Zambia itself. This is an act of grave and extreme lawlessness since the authority to appoint a judge is vested in the JSC, the president and the National Assembly. If a person alleges non-compliance with the appointment of a judge once the process has been completed, they can challenge the institution (s) that appointed them, but not the individual judge.

Second, where did the JCC get the authority to interpret the Constitution of Zambia or pronounce itself authoritatively and with such finality on constitutional matters? Article 1 (5), which provides for the supremacy of the constitution, states that “A matter relating to this Constitution shall be heard by the Constitutional Court.” More specifically, Article 128 of the constitution states that (1) “Subject to Article 28 [which deals with the Bill of Rights and vests the power to interpret this section in the High Court], the Constitutional Court has original and final jurisdiction to hear a matter relating to the interpretation of this Constitution”. It also provides that any person aggrieved with any act, decision or measure taken under law has the right to petition the Court for redress.

If the JCC felt that the appointment of the three judges contravened the Constitution, or that they needed guidance on the meaning of word ‘incompetence’, they should have stopped proceedings before them and sought clarification from the Constitutional Court. Alternatively, the JCC could have declined hearing the complaint on ground that they do not have the jurisdiction to consider it and advised the complainant to refer the matter to the Constitutional Court – the same way the JCC through its chairperson Vincent Malambo did when former president Edgar Lungu asked the body to discipline three other judges of the same court for alleged breach of the Judicial Code of Conduct. By proceeding to interpret specific provisions of the constitution, the JCC not only demonstrated double standards over related issues but also assigned to itself powers not given to it by law, usurped the authority of the Constitutional Court, and engaged in grave lawlessness.

Third, if the JCC is to be believed that the appointment process that resulted in the confirmation of the three dismissed judges was faulty, why should Zambians believe that the judges being appointed by the same institutions – the JSC, the President, and the National Assembly – are any better since nothing has changed in relation to both the relevant laws and the process of how judges in Zambia are appointed?

To put it more clearly, members of the current Judicial Service Commission were appointed by President Hakainde Hichilema, whose party has a majority in the National Assembly. Why should anyone believe that the four judges that the JSC recommended to Hichilema for appointment to the Constitutional Court last year and whose nomination was ratified by parliament through a simple majority are themselves qualified or competent? In fact, some of these new judges recommended by the JSC, appointed by Hichilema, and ratified by parliament – such as Arnold Shilimi – not only lack specialised trailing in human rights and constitutional law but also has their nomination opposed by LAZ. To download and read LAZ’s opposition to Shilimi’s appointment, click here: parliament.gov.zm/sites/default/…
Yet Shilimi is not only a serving judge; he was promoted by Hichilema to the position of deputy president of the court – a very important post that determines case allocation and the composition of panels that hear cases on the court. And if the lack of specialised training or experience in constitutional or human rights law disqualifies a person from appointment as a judge of the Constitutional Court, then where does this leave judges like Martin Musaluke and Mweetwa Shilimi who both lack specialised training or experience in these fields? Musaluke admitted this drawback during his parliamentary confirmation hearing in 2016 by claiming that he did not appoint himself to the role while Shilimi recognised this deficiency as so significant that he enrolled for a course on constitutional and administrative law at University of Lusaka AFTER his appointment as a Constitutional Court judge in order to address it?

Fourth, if the JCC is to be believed that the three judges have been removed from office for their incompetence, then what happens to all the cases they have handled and decided since 2016? Also, is incompetence proved by lack of formal qualifications or one’s incapacity to do something? If the judges are as incompetent as the JCC would want us to believe, then why is the JCC citing as a credible authority a judgement that was passed by the same individuals whom they say are incompetent? What does all this say about the JCC itself?

All this raises one fundamental question: how are individuals appointed by the President to serve as commissioners on the JCC and JSC identified or selected? What qualifications do Prisca Nyambe, Kephas Katongo and Eva Jhala hold that make them suitable commissioners to serve on the JCC? In some cases, during the hearing, these commissioners easily dismissed the evidence provided by the dismissed judges as “all lies” and believed what their former colleagues who testified against them – Margaret Munalula and Hildah Chibomba – said as the truth? How did the JCC know that it was the retired Chibomba who was not lying?

In another strange conclusion that shows how broken the system is, the three commissioners who sat to hear and determine the case stated in the report that the chairperson of the JCC, Vincent Malambo, engaged in unethical conduct. Now, the role of the JCC is to assess the ethical behaviour of judges. If the chairperson of the very body that has been tasked with enforcing the ethical behaviour of judges is accused of unethical conduct, does he still qualify to continue serving in his role?

But wait. At what point was Malambo heard since this case was about the three judges, not him? How did the three commissioners reach the conclusion that their chairperson is guilty of unethical conduct without affording him the opportunity or right to be heard? Doesn’t this demonstrate a degree of incompetence or unethical conduct on the part of the three commissioners? And if the members of the JCC are themselves incompetent or engaged in unethical behaviour, then where does this leave the JCC?

GBM to remain in jail despite appeal

Despite the appeal against his conviction, former Defense Minister Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba will be extending his stay in jail courtesy of a court decision that keeps him behind bars until his appeal is heard.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/rzhc3Me5cChrfkq9/?mibextid=oFDknk

This comes after GBM, as he’s popularly known, was slapped with a five-year jail sentence by the Economic and Financial Crimes Court on eight counts of conflict of interest, four counts of possession of property suspected to be proceeds of crime, and a K50,000 fine for money laundering.

Mwamba’s troubles began when he was accused of allowing his companies and relatives to do business with the Ministry of Defense while he was at the helm.

The court ruled that as a public servant, Mwamba owed a fiduciary duty to the public, and his actions were in clear conflict of interest.

GBM has since filed an appeal, citing eight grounds, including claims that the trial court erred in law and fact when convicting him.

Magistrate Stanford Ngobola in denying Mwamba bail said the chances of the appeal succeeding are dim, and that the prospects of success must not be remote but must have a realistic chance of succeeding.

Mwamba had applied for bail pending appeal against his jailing to the Economic and Financial Crimes Court (High Court division).

On October 9, 2024 Mwamba alias GBM was jailed five years by the Economic and Financial Crimes Court on eight counts of conflict of interest, four counts of possession of property suspected to be proceeds of crime, and fined home K50, 000 for money laundering.

Mwamba was facing 24 criminal charges among them; eight counts of conflict of interest, one count of money laundering and 15 counts of possessing property suspected to be proceeds of crime.

GBM has filed eight grounds of appeal on which he wants to challenge his conviction.

He argues that magistrate Ngobola erred in law and fact when he convicted him on eight counts of failure to declare interest contrary to section 28 (2) and (3) of the Anti-Corruption Act No.3 of 2012.

Mwamba said the trial Court erred in law and fact when it failed to attach any evidential weight to his declarations of interest which clearly demonstrated that such interest had been declared and the matter was previously closed after investigation by an earlier Joint Investigation Team in 2013.

During bail hearing Mwamba’s lawyer Bonaventure Mutale said there are exceptional circumstances that the court ought to consider, which arise primary from the convict’s medical condition.

Mutale said Mwamba has a chronic heart condition which has been confirmed by two heart specialists from the National Heart Hospital.

He said without medical attention from the heart experts his heart condition would be at risk and may deteriorate further.

“The record is voluminous and as such there is a likelihood of a delay in the preparation of the record, which may result in the applicant serving a substantial part of his sentence,”said Mutale.

Kelvin Fube Bwalya, submitted that the appeal raises important and difficult points of law that make it a very exceptional case.

He said there is a real doubt about the correctness of the conviction in some of the counts based on law.

Bwalya said without arguing the grounds of appeal, the grounds that have been filed raise important points of law which manifestly demonstrates that the conviction requires a relook especially with the eight counts of deceleration of interest.

But the State argued that the health of a convict is not an exceptional circumstance for them to be admitted to bail pending appeal.

It said GBM is now a convict who does not enjoy the benefits of an innocent person and can only be granted bail pending appeal where exceptional circumstances exist.

The State argued that the grounds of appeal do not disclose any prospects of success for his appeal and that he has not disclosed any exceptional circumstances warranting the exercise of the Court’s discretion to grant him bail pending appeal.

In his ruling magistrate Ngobola said the right to bail pending appeal is not automatic; as Mwamba is supposed to demonstrate that his appeal has overwhelming chances of success and that there are exceptional circumstances which would entitle him to bail pending appeal.

“I have perused the appellant’s grounds of appeal, and while being careful not to delve into the merits and demerits of the grounds of appeal, am not convinced that the appeal raises important and difficult points of law,” he said.

“Evidentially, it does not raise any substantial or weight on a point of law. As regards the submission on the applicant’s medical condition, in my view it is a good ground. However, ill health of the applicant per se is not enough to warrant this court to release him on bail pending appeal.”

Magistrate Ngobola said Mwamba alias GBM must demonstrate prospects of success on appeal.

He said the likelihood of success of the appeal lies in the strength of the grounds of appeal.

“Having perused the intended grounds of appeal, it is clear to me that the prospects of success of the appeal are slim. I am not satisfied that the applicant has made out a persuasive case for bail pending appeal,” said magistrate Ngobola.

“He has not met the legal threshold required for his release on bail pending appeal. Accordingly, the applicant’s application fails and is hereby dismissed.”

By Mwaka Ndawa

Kalemba October 24, 2024.

DAMAGED BEINGS
[The Curious Case of Colonialism and the African]
_______

Children should not, cannot fail.
It is adults that fail children.

Granted, some children are born both structurally and functionally challenged.
Defective. Mutants. Imbeciles.

It is a given that treating such handicapped children and the non-defective the same is wrong.
Each child needs appropriate attention and care.

Children are programmable beings.
Explains why the very best of our teachers, professors of art, languages, manners/culture, science, hygiene, and such important things as business and mathematics, should be the ones to teach our children.

Langeni umwaice inshila yakwendelamo, nelyo nga akota, takafumemo.
Now you understand what I am talking about. The Catholics know.

It all started when I was born. But then, truth be told, this crap is really old.
When I was born, that is when the shit began. For me at least.

I was the first, much-anticipated child of Mr Kanyenga Mbeta and Ms Mwayi Wanga, a celebrated child.
So, as an undying memory that brought them together and would keep them together till death ended it all, they had a name for me.
Chikondi. Love.

This is a pagan name, the priest, an alien, said. So if you want your child to be a baptized Catholic, you must change his name.
They were beyond stunned.

What was pagan about Chikondi, love? My parents stared at each other in utter consternation.
These strangers are really strange, tacitly, they agreed.

So as an act of loyalty to the strangers’ god, and out of fear of their god’s wrath and being left out on the trip to heaven, Peter, I became.
After one of their saints, my parents were told.

To this day, there is nothing really saintly about me.
Chikondi would have been just fine a name for my character and heritage. It was a name laden with such meaning.

They found me in the bush, looking after cattle, part of my family’s wealth.
Then they said, frowning upon my way of life, I should stop what I doing and go to school.
I obeyed.

I sat in that school as a dry sponge, ready to take it all in.
And take it all in I did.

Instead of teaching me about the various breeds of cattle that there are, instead of teaching me about how you vaccinate cattle to preserve their health, instead of teaching me about the different varieties of grass that enhance cattle nutrition and health, instead of teaching me about artificial insemination to multiply my animals, instead of teaching me about the many products that come from cattle, shoes, bags, processed meats and all, instead of building upon my extant culture, they did something else to me.
They dislocated me.

They taught me about the Prairies, and the British mmonarch. They even said that their king was now my king.
Imagine that.

They found me eating with my hands. That’s uncouth, with a sneer they reprimanded me..
Their manners became my manners.

They said something about a Dr David Livingstone from a place I now forget.
I hear he discovered something and named it after a woman he admired. To this day her name has become our name.

When the exam came, they asked me to state the number of planets.
I said nine. They passed me even when the planets now are only eight.

That is how I got all the degrees I now have.
Having satisfied their grooming, they certified me educated.

Educated? I don’t think so.
Groomed. Yes. Moulded. Shaped. Mentally hijacked. Corrupted. Colonised, if you like.

I miss my God.
He and I used to be one.

These people found me living with God. In my hut.
God was in my village, in our midst.

When they came, they got my God from my village and put Him in the sky.
He is still there.

They even came with a picture of their god.
He looked like one of them.

They thrust their God upon me. They said that theirs was the only god. That there were no other gods. That is how their god became my god.

These days when I seek His presence and interventions I look up the skies.
I never look within like my forefathers had always done before.

My God loved drums. Drums and He were one.
The strangers stopped all that.

These sounds are devilish, they admonished.
They summon evil spirits from the dark pits of hell, they warned.

What they didn’t know was that it was this same evil that had kept us alive and well since creation.
It was us.

Why do you pour all this tasty brew onto the ground beneath that tree? Lividly, they asked.
That is how, my form of worship, became evil. And I began to dislike my ways.

Drink the stuff instead, they insisted.
And now, see, together with my libations, my liver is also gone.

My God was spirit.
Instead, the aliens created God in their own image.

They run everything now, including my life.
The installation of their application software in me is now complete.

I am like a programmed automaton now, a puppet incapable of initiating my own individual action.

I am now 60.
Altered. Damaged. Utterly corrupt. A man with no identity and esteem.

Educated, I now frown upon my own kind,
I treat my culture with disdain, as inferior.

I can no longer identify with my own tribe, my own people.
They see me as different.

I speak English.
I speak better English than the average person in London.

But I am not yet accepted as an Englishman.
I am still viewed and treated as a savage requiring control and improvement.

I barely use my mother’s tongue, Chichewa.
The other day someone, pointing at an eagle, said to me, ‘look at just how beautiful that mbalani is.’ I didn’t know what the hell he was talking about.

These days, for me to ably perform my conjugal rites, I now use their medicines, Viagra and all, instead of Mwanya, Mvubwe, or Mtototo. They said that my herbs were primitive.

Unlike in my village, in the city where I now live, largely because of the diet of these strangers, impotence amongst men is now more common than electricity or cultured women.

Siyabonga became Siavonga.

Queen Elizabeth became more important and respected than Kalonga Gawa Undi.

Pumpkin leaves seasoned with groundnuts became anathema, food for the poor.

The Kwacha lost its light.
It became worthless and dark, the picture of Zambia today.

Along the way, a people that used to fend for themselves since the beginning of time began to rely on donor aid.

The people could no longer re-plant the seed that they harvested.
Fooled, they began to rely on engineered ones.

My eyes became saucers when the other day I found thr headman wearing a Chacago Bulls skipper as he was having a meal using a fork and a knife.

Now they want me to drop my wives and take on other men. We do it all the time, they brag.
Regarfing me primitive, civilisation, they call it.

To this day, children in Mwandi are taught about Peter and Jane, and Alice in Wonderland.
They learn more about Sparta and Saskatchewan, about Europe and the Unitef States, than they do about their own villages, traditions and lives, about Mali, Kermet, Namibia or Eswtini.

Never are they informed about exemplary heroes and heroines in their history, never are they reminded about those celebrated and revered women, important and stellar fixtures in our midst who had the capacity to summon the Spirit of rain in times of drought and then rain would come.

I am a driver, you see.
But I drive vehicles I neither manufacture nor own.

Always, they tell me where to go.
Now they even tell me what to grow, when and what to eat and who to mate with.

I cannot create my own wealth.
They pay me.

I cannot self-determine.
The direction I must head towards is always dictated to me.

My family has no cattle anymore.
Once proud farmers in my village, we now own a shop which sells goods we don’t make.

I feel lost.
I am disconnected from my land, my God and my people.

Is there still time, Nyamalenga?
I find myself looking at the skies again.

It was when someone said ‘happy Independence day’ to me that I started to cry.
Kachamba ukakhota suwongoka. That is how I felt. Perhaps that’s the way I am.

This mind of my own has become a dangerous prison for me.
I want to smash my head. I want to break free.

Educated? No.
Groomed. Hijacked. Taken over. Utterly corrupted. Damaged. Hacked.

I want a new mind.
I want my freedom back. I want to be restored.

Nyambe un-set my mind. Re-make me, Mwari.

You see, the real battle isn’t out there, to keep the aliens at bay.
The real battle is within, to protect and thrive innate freedom, to manifest the God within.

Eerily, from the grave and to the heavens, Bob Marley’s words echo and ring strong, urging all wilted leaves to turn green again. His spirit, the Spirit.
‘Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery.’

Indeed, the future is in the past.
We must become again the people we once were.

Indeed, the future is in the children, our children. We must teach them right.
And always remember that knowledge is both innate and acquired.

Protect and save the children NOW.
You see, they are the aliens’ prime target.

Freedom is coming. It is inevitable.
It isn’t here yet.

Created that way, we used to be independent.
We are not anymore.

A cat cannot indefinitely continue to live its life as a dog.
When a rat is forced not to be itself, insurrection is unavoidable.

Birds must be birds. Freedom is that existential environment that permits any entity, any being, to fully express its integrity and capacity as intended by design.

This then is the default setting of life.
Hope springs from the self-correcting character of Nature.

The original will always be superior.
Nonetheless, copies have their own place.

Aluta continua!
The struggle continues!

In due season.
Yes. Then harvest.

Dr Canisius BANDA
Development Activist

24 October 2024
___________

SIX CABINET MINISTERS CAMP IN KAWAMBWA

….to campaign for the UPND candidate ahead of the 27th October, 2024 Kawambwa Council Chairperson by-election

Kawambwa… Wednesday October 23, 2024

The opposition Socialist Party has castigated the UPND government for allowing six cabinet Ministers using tax payers money to camp in Kawambwa ahead of the Kawambwa Council Chairperson by-election.

The opposition political party further alleges that about eight District Commissioners have equally left their work stations in their respective districts to camp in Kawambwa and campaign for the UPND candidate.

Socialist Party Mobilization Secretary Kelvin Kaunda says it is worrying that the UPND government has continued to waste money on things that do not have a direct impact on the people’s lives.

Mr Kaunda says these officials are using government vehicles and that they have removed the registration number plates on most of these State vehicles.

He named the ministers as Frank Tayali, Chipoka Mulenga, Peter Kapala, Elvis Nkandu, Njavwa Simutowe and Elias Mubanga.

“We have been reliably informed that about eight DCs have equally camped in Kawambwa to campaign for the UPND candidate. Some of these DCs have come from Samfya, Mansa, Chiengi, Mwansabombwe, Nchelenge, Mwense and other districts within Luapula Province. They have removed the number plates from the government vehicles, those are the same vehicles they are using. This is a total wastage of public funds by the UPND administration,” he said.

“This is not the first time they are doing this, one day they will be held accountable for wasting tax payers’ money. They lack priority, because if they cared for the people, those funds should have been channeled to needy areas as you know that there are a lot of problems in the country.”

Mr Kaunda also said the SP candidate Ivo Mpasa, is supported by the opposition political parties because they are against the injustice done to Pambashe PF MP Hon Ronald Chitotela, Kawambwa Central PF MP Hon Nickson Chilangwa, immediate past Kawambwa Council Chairperson Kalumba Chifumbe and three others.

“All the comrades of Hon Chitotela, Hon Chilangwa and Mr Chifumbe are supporting Mr Mpasa, the former Kawambwa DC who is now a Socialist Party candidate. We all do not support what happened to these comrades. So we are honoring them by supporting one candidate, who is Comrade Mpasa,” he stated.

On Saturday, 19th October 2024, two candidates successfully filed their nominations; Titus Musa of the United Party for National Development and Ivo Mpasa of the Socialist Party.

The by-election will be held on Sunday, 27th October, 2024.
SP Media

PF IN KAWAMBWA VOWS TO SUPPORT UPND CANDIDATE

Kawambwa/ Wednesday, 23 October

The Patriotic Front (PF) in Kawambwa has pledged its support for the United Party for National Development (UPND) candidate, Musa Titus, ahead of the upcoming council by-election.

During a campaign rally held in Kawambwa this afternoon, Chewe Siwale, the former Patriotic Front Kawambwa Constituency Chairperson, expressed his dissatisfaction with the state of his former party.

He stated that he could no longer bear the failures of the PF, which he described as being in disarray and lacking direction.

“My party is disorganized because so far it has over four presidents, and this has left me with no option but to seek a more organized political party. UPND is the only party that looks intact,” Siwale said.

Siwale further revealed that he turned down an offer from the Socialist Party, choosing instead to support the UPND due to his belief in its vision and leadership.

He highlighted the positive impact of President Hichilema’s policies, especially in driving economic transformation. “President Hichilema’s good policies are showing positivity in terms of economic transformation,” he added.

The former PF chairperson praised the improvements Kawambwa has experienced under the UPND government, especially through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF). “We have started seeing things we never saw here in Kawambwa because, since the coming of President Hichilema, CDF is doing wonders here,” Siwale stated.

Siwale affirmed his full backing for the UPND, stating that he, along with his family and those who were under his leadership in the constituency, would throw their support behind the ruling party. “Patriotic Front is a finished party, and we cannot continue pretending. We just need to go forward,” he emphasized.

As the by-election approaches, the UPND campaign in Kawambwa has gained momentum, with victory anticipated for Musa Titus.

The UPND campaign team in Kawambwa includes Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises Hon. Elias Mubanga, Minister of Youth, Sports, and Arts Hon. Elvis Nkandu, who serves as Mobilization Chairperson, and Minister of Livestock and Fisheries Hon. Peter Kapala.

Other notable figures include Minister of Commerce, Trade, and Industry Hon. Chipoka Mulenga, Minister of Transport and Logistics Hon. Frank Tayali, and Kafubu MP Bernard Kanengo, who have joined forces to drum up support for the UPND candidate.

The UPND delegation is currently in Kawambwa, campaigning for Musa Titus ahead of the highly anticipated council by-election scheduled for 27th October 2024.

(C) UPND MEDIA TEAM

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY ZAMBIA

FELLOW Zambians, at home and abroad, as we celebrate our 60th Independence Anniversary today, October the 24th, 2024, we reflect with gratitude on the sacrifices made by our forefathers. Their courage, guided by God’s providence, gave birth to the Zambia we cherish today—united, free, and resilient. Our Diamond Jubilee is not only a time to honor the past but also to embrace the future with unwavering hope and determination.

Zambia’s journey over six decades reflects God’s blessings and our national spirit of unity, peace, and perseverance. Like the soaring eagle in our skies, we have risen above challenges, sustained peace, and upheld the principles of justice and equality.

Our commitment to democracy is evident in our smooth transitions of power, respect for freedom of expression, and grassroots development through initiatives like the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).

Even amidst current trials, including severe droughts, our faith remains strong. Through innovation and hard work, we are investing in sustainable solutions like water harvesting and precision agriculture, reaffirming our belief in God’s provision and the strength of our farmers.

As we celebrate our shared cultural heritage—reflected in the songs we sing and the traditions we keep—we are reminded of the unity that binds us as One Zambia, One Nation. Our vibrant youth are our greatest blessing, and by nurturing their potential, we secure a prosperous future for generations to come.

God has endowed us with abundant resources, and it is our sacred responsibility to manage them wisely. With patriotism and faith, we must tackle modern challenges like climate change and corruption, striving to build a just and prosperous nation.

As we honor the legacy of those who came before us, let us celebrate with gratitude and renew our commitment to build a brighter future together. With God’s guidance and our collective efforts, Zambia will continue to shine, united in peace and purpose, for the next 60 years and beyond.

Happy Diamond Jubilee, fellow citizens. May we remain ever faithful to the spirit of One Zambia, One Nation, One People and the Spirit of One God.

God bless you and may He bless the Republic of Zambia.

HAKAINDE HICHILEMA
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA

ZAMBIA’S 60TH INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY : A CALL TO ACTION  FOR  WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP  & NATIONAL RENEWAL.

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24 – October, 2024 Thursday

Today, Zambia celebrates 60 years of independence, a milestone that marks a nation’s journey towards self-determination and freedom. As National Chair Lady for Citizens First and United Kwacha Alliance (UKA), I reflect on our nation’s progress and challenges. We honor the sacrifices of our forefathers, who fought tirelessly for our national independence, achieved on October 24, 1964.
Not to stress my followers and people who take time to read my articles, I have Five (5) points to lay on the  nation’s table on this  special day. Natwendwe bonse Mkwai…

1. Recognizing Women’s Leadership

As we celebrate this milestone, I urge our nation to recognize the critical role women play in shaping our future. Women’s leadership is essential for a sanitized political landscape and competent governance. We must create opportunities for women to take leadership positions where women  will be among the  decision makers, ensuring women’s  voices are heard and valued. The United Nations in Zambia has been instrumental in promoting women’s empowerment and  particularly in digital education and technology.

2. A Call for National Renewal*

Our nation faces numerous challenges, from economic struggles to social injustices especially under the  United Party for National Development (UPND) regime.

Citizens First  under the  competent, tried and tested  leadership of  President HARRY  KALABA  commits to saving the many suffering Zambians, ensuring they receive the respect and dignity they deserve. We envision a Zambia where every citizen has access to quality education, healthcare, and economic opportunities. Not ifi tulemona..

3. Towards Economic Independence

As we look to the future, we await the dawn of economic independence. Citizens First is dedicated to ushering in a new era of prosperity, predicted to begin in 2026. Our party will prioritize sustainable development, innovation, and social justice, by empowering zambians to actively participate in economic development through incentive provision to small scale mining of all minerals,increasing the threshold of farmer input support program which will include those in formal employment and  ensuring Zambia’s resources benefit all citizens.

4. Honoring Our Heritage

We pay tribute to our nation’s founding fathers, including Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, Harry Nkumbula, and Simon Kapwepwe, who paved the way for our independence. Their vision for a united and prosperous Zambia continues to inspire us. My prayer is, the Zambian electorates opens up their eyes and  vote wisely in the year 2026.

5. A Brighter Future

As we celebrate 60 years of independence, Citizens First party reiterates its commitment to a better Zambia. We invite all Zambians to join us in shaping a brighter future, where women’s leadership is valued, and our nation prospers for all.

Thank you, and HAPPY  INDEPENDENCE DAY , Zambia!

Ba KALULUSHI NDI MUNTU WENU ine…..

MUNTHALI FAITH

NATIONAL CHAIRLADY;
CITIZENS FIRST/UNITED KWACHA ALLIANCE (UKA).

Zambia @ 60 Years

United Kwacha Alliance – UKA Celebrates Zambia’s 60 years democratic journey of Independence.

United Kwacha Alliance is happy and joins the rest of the country in celebrating zambia’s 60 years of Independence from the British colonial rule which marked the new era of self governance and national building.

For the past 60 years now, zambia has made tremendous improvement and recorded great achievement in many sectors of the economy.

This is a milestone worth acknowledging and UKA wishes many zambians to join hands and reflect on our great and many  achievements.

Our fellow citizens, we would also love to say that , After many years of democratic progress, today Zambia is seemingly moving backwards in terms of eroding democracy and in some sections, some even fearing a return to colonial-era power dynamics with violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms enshrined in our republic constitution.

UKA takes a strong position in promoting and upholding democracy and civil liberties of citizens and aims to strengthen institutions that promote transparency, and accountability for a prosperous zambia once voted in government.

On this Special day, we rededicate our commitment in addressing the economic diversification beyond mining to ensure sustainable growth for our country and our citizens.
Comrades and friends, United Kwacha Alliance stands firm in ensuring the protection and defending our sovereignty for a just and fair country that puts the interests of Citizens at heart, at the same time promote social Justice, quality education, fight poverty, and improve healthcare for all.

Comrades in the struggle, Our independence is a clear testament to honor the nation’s founding fathers and mothers who fought for our country’s sovereignty and democracy.
To all our freedom fighters, we acknowledge and salute you for the great fight and work you did in liberating Zambia and wish you well and at the same time wish those who have passed away to continue resting in peace.

As United Kwacha Alliance,(UKA) we acknowledge the  challenges our country is facing at the moment and prays with a strong belief that political players will embrace the national and democratic values and forge a brighter future for Zambia with much emphasis on “One Zambia, One Nation” .

Fellow citizens, we are all reminded by our motto which embodies the country’s unity and aspirations.

As Zambia moves forward, it’s crucial to uphold the principles of independence, democracy and human rights in ensuring a brighter future for generations to come.Therefore, United Kwacha Alliance calls upon citizens to love one another, support and love their country and work towards  rediscovering Zambia’s democratic footing and build strong economic environment for a brighter future for its people. UKA – A people’s Movement.

Sakwiba Sikota
Chairperson
United Kwacha Alliance-UKA

NINE AND OTHER PARLIAMENTART SEATS ILLEGALLY TARGETED FOR BY-ELECTIONS

We have noted the latest action in the Constitutional Court by a Petitioner, Isaac Mwanza taking legal action against the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) and the Attorney General seeking to declare the nine seats vacant and attempting to compel ECZ to hold by-elections.

The matter of the nine MPs is active in the Lusaka High Court and the demands by Mr. Mwanza are irregular and unlawful.

We will inform you what action we will take to ensure that the rule of law is respected.

We are, however, not blind or oblivious to the political machinations and orchestrated underhand methods that the UPND government is engaged in and is actively seeking to ensure that the by-elections take place in the nine constituencies.

We are also aware that the UPND has targeted other seats such as Kawambwa, Pambashe, Matero, Petauke Central, and Chawama constituencies for urgent by-elections.

For example, despite Hon. Tasila Lungu-Mwansa being on maternity leave and dealing with post-natal issues of the child, this government is ruthless and lacks respect for maternity leave regulations and display no compassion for a young mother, but are determined to declare such seats vacant.

Further the case of Hon Emmanuel JJ Banda is another case in point. It is this same government, whose officials are accused of having abducted the Petauke Central independent MP. Furthermore it this government that proceeded to slap oppressive criminal charges, illegally and unfairly incarcerated him despite the fact that the matters they were pursuing were previously settled by the courts. It is in their hands and custody that Hon. Banda was when he staged what they claim is an escape.

THABO KAWANA AND HIS CONFESSION THAT HIS GOVERNMENT STOPPED EDGAR LUNGU FROM VISITING CHIWEMPALACHILILABOMBWE

We are rather shocked but amused at the statement issued by Permanent Secretary of Information and Media, Thabo Kawana who has disclosed that according to government, Zambia’s Sixth President, Edgar Chagwa Lungu was not attacked or stoned in Chingola but was “only stopped by authorities to travel to Chiwempala and Chililabombwe”.

Kawana also stated that “authorities” had to ensure that President Lungu “only attended to the funeral program of the Kambwili brothers he had come to attend.amd nothing else”

This is illegal and criminal as Government cannot prescribe or limit the freedoms and rights that the former President enoys, in his personal capacity or official.

President Lungu has always condemned these actions to stop him from jogging, or going to church or visiting areas of his choice. He has previously stated that he is vrtually under house arrest. The revelations by Kawana go to reveal the validity of President Lungu’s persistent complaints.

If it is true as confessed by Mr. Kawana that the authorities stopped President Lungu from going where he wished to go, we have to take legal and other actions against those that perpetrated this illegality.

We wish to put it on record again that a formal report has been submitted to Chingola Central Police Station about the attack on the former President.

Six out of nine perpetrators were identified and named and the vehicles they were using also reported to the Zambia Police.

We hope that the Zambia Police will pursue this matter without fear, bias or favour as the attack forms part of bad precedent for our country.

MICHAEL SATA 10TH MRMORIAL ANNIVERSARY

The country is celebrating the life of Zambia’s Fifth President, Mr. Michael Chilufya Sata.

Our members are directed to participate in the programs of his memorial.

For those in Lusaka, we are encouraged to gather at the Embassy Park on Monday 28th October 2024 at 09:00hrs.

NoIasued by;
Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba
Chairperson for Information and Publicity
Member of the Central Committee
PATRIOTICFRONT

Nalumango and Imenda could have been a breath of fresh air in the stale and schizophrenic male dominated UPND politics; sadly, they are not

By Azwell Banda,

Last Sunday, the UPND held a women mobilisation rally in Kabwata.

Two of the top leaders of the UPND were present at the rally: Vice President Mutale Nalumango and UPND deputy secretary general Gertrude Imenda. Here was a golden opportunity for these two powerful politicians to speak to fellow Zambian women through the UPND Kabwata women mobilisation rally. It is Zambian girls and women who are carrying the heaviest burden of our ongoing national troubles.

Zambian girls and women are the backbones of our society: our patriarchal system assigns to them the burden of taking care of human life, feeding it, cleaning it, watering it, tending to it when it is sick, getting it to school and work, and sustaining its now extremely strained nerves, as hunger, poverty, diseases and general national despondency creeps in. During funerals, it is women who are allowed to put up a public display of mourning for the dead. It is therefore not surprising that girls and women, especially from unemployed, employed and poor urban and rural sections of our population are the most active in our politics: they form the bulk of the membership of all our political parties and they are usually voters during elections.

On August the 21st 2021 our sisters, mothers, aunts and grandmothers voted overwhelmingly for Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND on the hope that the punishing high cost of living then would be reduced by a UPND government. This is what the UPND promised when they were in the opposition. Of course, Zambia’s women also hated and bore the brunt of political party cadre violence in public places including at bus stations and in markets. They voted against this violence when they ushered the UPND into government. While it is true that the levels and forms of political violence have reduced, the violence is still there especially during by-elections.

Hunger, diseases and poverty have all dramatically increased, contrary to UPND promises when they were in the opposition. As money has become very scarce, Zambian women find that they need more of it to buy smaller quantities of mealie meal, relish, sugar, cooking oil, soap, salt, candles, toilet paper and all the things needed to run a home and prevent domestic violence. It is now the burden of women to find ways to feed families in the absence of electricity, especially in the urban areas. Making sure there is charcoal and firewood in the home have become painful everyday reminders to Zambian girls and women of the deceitful UPND election promises of ending load shedding and expanding electricity coverage throughout the country, especially in our rural areas.

Zambian women and girls are back to the charcoal pressing iron, in our urban areas. A small well to do section of our girls and women did not know about this charcoal iron business until now, thanks to the punishing electricity load shedding. There is something extremely backward and primitive in reverting to the charcoal iron at a time in history when other countries are sending their rich citizens into space, as tourists. The UPND in opposition rejected climate and drought as good excuses for load shedding: Hakainde Hichilema famously used the example of Arabs whose countries do not see rains “for 10 years” and yet they have constant supply of electricity. He blamed load shedding on the incompetence and corruption of the Patriotic Front government.

Today, in government, the UPND is shrinking access to electricity by their draconian removal of subsidies from electricity and gargantuan appetite for profits through their sadistic deployment of “cost-reflective” tariffs, for electricity. We have moved from promises of cheap and accessible electricity to extremely expensive but rare electricity. Some homes in our urban areas will now never, ever, be connected to the electricity grid, as the cost of electricity installations has priced them out of the market for electricity. As the cost of electricity has dramatically increased, so have the prices of everything our girls and women need to take care of life.

It is the punishing water crisis especially in our urban areas which has best exposed the undying primitive patriarchy at the heart of our family life in Zambia. Girls and women must make sure there is water in the home, otherwise there will be n o food made. It will take quite some unlearning and hard mental work to undo the damage to sleep patterns of most girls and women and to revert to their normal biological clocks: load shedding means keeping awake at night in anticipation of electricity so that some water may be trapped and stored. And yet the girl and woman will still be expected to be at school and report for work (if employed) on time, in the morning!

Cholera is already knocking on the door. The last episode of cholera claimed more than 700 lives, mostly young lives. Threatening to be joined by monkey pox and several other diseases sweeping the globe today, it will again be Zambian girls and women who will bear a disproportionate share of the brunt of these diseases, in Zambia. All these existential crises morph into pre-existing gender and domestic violence, in Zambia. Zambian girls and women are forced to put up with the ever-present threats of violence and rape, and to suffer these atrocities on their bodies and minds, when they happen.

You cannot “mobilise” for anything, let alone in and into a political party, without first being clear about why such mobilisation must take place. “…I understand that challenges continue as life continues. I keep saying if you are a teacher like me and you are marking exams, normally there is a threshold for failing or passing. But I believe you ladies, women, the youths and the men that are here do remember your 10-point plan. Do you remember your manifesto? And when you look at the manifesto then you start ticking, that is what you should be doing. That these are the things we promised, have we gotten zero? Do we have 80 percent? I believe that today we are close to 80 percent in the three years of the promises we made to the Zambian people. As the UPND members you need to check and tick what has been achieved so far. That is how you will get the strength to go on and tell everybody that is criticising this government of what it has done,” said Mutale Nalumango at the Kabwata rally, dully reported in News Diggers.

Mutale Nalumango, if she truly believes what she said in Kabwata last Sunday, badly and urgently needs a sanity check-up. In politics, when in government, a political party can tick the dots and get 110% of their manifesto done: if the majority of the people of the country are materially and mentally worse off than they were before such a political party was elected into government, the manifesto of such a political party is not worthy the paper it is written on! What exactly was going on in the minds of the sane women at the Kabwata women mobilisation rally as Nalumango said this? These women do not live in a separate and better Zambia than all of us! Immediately after the rally, the majority of these women hopelessly crawled back into their hungry, moneyless, load shaded, waterless, and need I add, sick people infested homes. And yet Nalumango told them to mobilise women because the UPND government has already fulfilled close to 80 percent of its election promises.

Gertrude Imenda perfectly illustrated the stale, thoroughly uninspiring, schizophrenic and zombie like UPND politics which has infected these two leaders: “We are here because the issue is about mobilisation. The party needs to be mobilised but when I look [at people], I have observed something… when we were in opposition, we were beaten for wearing regalia. We wanted so very much to wear regalia but we were being stopped and beaten. If you passed by intercity in a regalia you were a dead meat. But now you are in government, the ruling party but you are shy to wear regalia. What is the problem? Because I don’t think you do not have the regalia. We were given during the campaigns, and when the President was going around when we were celebrating there was also regalia,” said Imenda, as reported in News Diggers.

Gertrude is always interesting whenever she speaks, in quite some morbid ways.

“But now you are in government, the ruling party but you are shy to wear regalia. What is the problem? Because I don’t think you do not have the regalia.” Vice President Nalumango pledged to give one bale of UPND citenge regalia to each of the five wards in the Kabwata constituency. Did these two great leaders of the UPND plan together about what to say at the rally? I do not think so. Sane UPND members, both females and males, are not proud to wear their UPND regalia in their communities: they too feel betrayed by their party, and are careful not to revive violence in our communities by insultingly thrusting the UPND into the faces of equally betrayed and angry Zambians, by arrogantly wearing UPND regalia! Only well fed Imenda and Nalumango cannot get this.

Perfectly insanely, Gertrude Imenda insisted: “But I see you are not wearing regalia. What is the problem? Let us wear the regalia. Let us be proud of the regalia. I want to salute those who are wearing the regalia. Next time when we are going to mobilise let us wear regalia because this is called visibility, let UPND be visible. When you are in the market, stores, anywhere, wear the UPND regalia. It is our symbol, and we are in power. Just wear red. Let us wear the party regalia because that is another form of mobilisation.” Jesus of Nazareth, please come down and save us from these fires of hell! “…be proud of regalia” Why, Gertrude? “It is our symbol, and we are in power.” Who is “we” who are “in power” dear Gertrude? On whose behalf must perfectly sane UPND members make UPND “visible”? It is a fact of life that the betrayed, shamed and humiliated do not make a habit of putting out in public their betrayal, humiliation and shame…

These two powerful women leaders of the UPND perfectly illustrate the disconnect and massive social distance between the ordinary members of the UPND and their impoverished and hungry base. They also mirror perfectly the sterility and schizophrenia of the politics of all the leaders of the UPND. Pity, these two women have the greatest opportunity to call out the fake politics of the men in their political party. What is holding them back?

Send comments to: kalindawalo2010@gmail.com

The Supreme Court of Zambia and its survival of the near capture: the episode of contempt of court

By Prof Munyonzwe Hamalengwa

The Supreme Court of Zambia celebrated its 50 years of existence in 2023.

Its history of survival through various challenges is yet to be written. As we celebrate 60 years of Zambia’s independence, many chapters of the survival of the Supreme Court in particular, the Constitutional Court also in particular and the judiciary in general, can be written. This article discusses one episode in 2019 when evidence, in my opinion, signalled or emerged that the Supreme Court of Zambia was tantalisingly close to being captured by the government of the day. The circumstantial evidence of this was the similarity in the language used by both the judiciary and political functionaries. They both used non-justice language of similar check-marks.

Let justice be done though the heavens may fall. Fiat justitia ruat caelum. This is a time-honoured maxim that the judiciary in dispensing justice should only be guided by the notions of justice as a self-contained vehicle and nothing more. Judges may not import “non-Justice” or extraneous considerations to inform them in their decisional trajectories. Judges should not fear any fall-out from their decisions as long as they are based on principles of justice.

A long time ago in 1740, Lord Mansfield, one of the greatest English Judges of all time, expressed “fiat justitia ruat caelum” this way: “I will not do that which my conscience tells me is wrong, upon this occasion; to gain the huzzas of thousands, or the daily praise of all the papers which come from the press. I will not avoid doing that which I think is right, though it should draw on me the whole artillery of libels; all that falsehood and malice can invent, or credulity of a deluded populace can swallow… Once for all, let it be understood that no endeavours of this kind will influence any man who at present sits here”.

This statement represents the hallmark of judicial independence and autonomy. It is a message for all judicial ages including ours. It is my considered view and opinion that the Supreme Court of Zambia violated the notion of “fiat justitia ruat caelum” on March 15th, 2019 by importing extraneous sentiments in its reasons for sentencing Bishop John Mambo for contempt of court. The court was quoted by the media as justifying in part the need to punish people who engaged in unwarranted criticism of the judiciary because unwarranted criticism of the judiciary as corrupt or whatever, would scare away foreign investors to the detriment of Zambia’s economy and at the sufferance of the Zambians. I have no doubt that many other justifications were given for the need to punish those who engage in unwarranted criticism of the judiciary but the media only picked centrally this notion of scaring away foreign investors as justifying judicial stance on the conundrum of contempt of court.

Since everybody knows that Zambians are not a reading culture, the majority of Zambians will only remain with what they had read in the headlines and what had been reported on ZNBC and other government owned or controlled public and private media. The equation will remain for the most part: unwarranted criticism of the judiciary equaled deprivation of foreign investment and therefore economic suffering of the people. Those who engaged in unwarranted criticism of the judiciary would then be targets of hate and ridicule because they were dangerous to the country, they were enemies of the people. This was because the Supreme Court of Zambia had so directed and reasoned, so a lot of people may have thought so from the summary of the decision by the media. Maybe less than one per cent of Zambians ever read the entire actual decision which was complex and legally grounded. But justifying in part the revulsion against unwarranted criticism of the judiciary on the basis that this would scare away foreign investment had nothing to do with the fulcrum and principles of justice upon which such momentous decisions must be anchored. This was a non-justice issue. Contempt of court is a self-contained vehicle and must be justified within its parameters.

It is my submission and opinion that such importation of extraneous non-justice matters by the Supreme Court of Zambia was and is dangerous to the rule of law and to the autonomy and independence of the judiciary in Zambia. This game was playing to the political gallery and to the “daily praise of all the papers which come from the press” paraphrasing Mansfield.

In the past, the then Economic Association of Zambia president Dr Lubinda Haabazoka, press aide to the President Amos Chanda and a few others had expressed the same exact views pertaining to the alleged effects on foreign investment flowing from unwarranted criticism on social media and by the then opposition to the government on alleged corruption and economic mismanagement. The Supreme Court of Zambia as reported by the media in part was parroting the exact same government sentiment, yet the Government of Zambia was not part of that litigation.

Justice P.D. Anin is quoted in part by then chief justice Ernest Sakala in his LLM Thesis entitled, “Autonomy and Independence of the Judiciary in Zambia: Realities and Challenges”(UNZA, 1999, pp. 283-4) as stating the following: “it is not generally true that in some of our countries that the judiciary are de facto independent of the Executive. On the contrary, the judiciary is regularly dictated to and badgered into following the dictates, whims and caprices of the Government or ruling single party.” The mirroring of government sentiments on foreign investments and the impact of alleged unwarranted criticism thereon, by judicial sentiments almost word for word could induce in a reasonable person the perception that there is cross-pollination and fertilisation between government and judicial agendas. Can you find a more perfect example than this one? Peruse the media on what the government had been saying on this topic at that time in 2018-2019, before and after and what the judiciary had said in the instant case!

After all, as every judge knows, perception can have a life of its own, independent of reality. “Justice must not only be done, it must also be seen to be done”. There are two realities in this sentence. People would lose confidence in the administration of justice and the judiciary if they perceive rightly or wrongly that the judiciary was imbibing and being fed from the well of the government. It just takes perception no matter how furthest it is from the truth. The perception can injure the reputation of the judiciary. People at the time had the widespread perception that the Zambian judiciary was not independent and autonomous, a perception that continues. When the judiciary parroted government sentiments like in the instant case, the judiciary self-supplied the self-evident perceived evidence.

That was, however, not all there was to this problem. Because the relationship between foreign investment and the effect on it by unwarranted criticism is not embedded in the principles of justice, there could never be any evidence to support the notion that unwarranted criticism of the judiciary affected or affects foreign investment. Where was and is the evidence? Where were and are the direct causal linkages in form of statistics?

On the contrary, foreign direct investments could be attracted to regimes drowning in corruption and lawlessness, where government officials and the judiciary could easily be bribed to issue permits and dispense justice based on the highest bidder in terms of settling litigation. There was and is more direct foreign investment in corrupt and lawless DRC than in Zambia. The Kenyan economy was booming in the 1980s and up to the early 2000s during the most corrupt judicial reign in Kenya’s history. There was a lot written about corruption in the Kenyan judiciary but investments flowed in Kenya at a dizzying rate. The lawless judiciary under apartheid never scared investments. Examples are legion rather than the other way round.

Withdrawal of donor monies in Zambia was not based on unwarranted criticism of the judiciary. It was based on outright evidence of government mis-use of the money. And donor money is different from direct foreign investment. Donor money can also still flow even in the face of unwarranted judicial criticism. The judiciary must be very careful in its use of judicial language. The judiciary must stay out of non-justice issues in their decisions. They must stick to the proven evidence before them. Political statements do not belong in the calculus of justice. The judiciary should not say anything that they cannot support. The judiciary must not import the language of politicians in their decisions lest they “draw ..the whole artillery of libels, all that falsehood and malice can invent, or the credulity of a deluded populace can swallow”, to paraphrase Lord Mansfied again.

To make matters worse, at his retirement celebration on March 18, 2019, Supreme Court of Zambia justice Marvin Mwanamwambwa reiterated the same sentiments as reported by the media as those reported in the Mambo sentencing of March 15, 2019. I am sure justice Mwanamwambwa said a lot more but the media reported that he emphasised that unwarranted criticism of the judiciary is anathema to foreign investment and Zambia’s economy or words to that effect. Criticism of the judiciary, warranted or unwarranted is a justice issue but foreign investment is not. And there is no evidence that judicial criticism, warranted or unwarranted affected or affects foreign investment in Zambia. Can anyone seriously believe that the Chinese are moved by notions of criticism on corruption basis of the Zambian judiciary or of any massive human rights abuses in any country they invest in? Would Trump care about judicial or political corruption in North Korea, Brazil, Venezuela or other countries?

The word “unwarranted” is also not without its problems. Who decides what is warranted or unwarranted? The issuer or recipient of the criticism? If it is the recipient, it is a subjective evaluation because anything he or she doesn’t like would be unwarranted. Retired justice at the time the acting chief justice Madam Lombe Chibesakunda stated in 2014 that there were elements of corruption in the Zambian judiciary. Was she issuing an unwarranted criticism? Did she have evidence in hand? Was and is the accusation of judicial corruption totally devoid of any air of reality? So, it is possible that what may be perceived as “unwarranted” could not be totally that. It may be warranted but maybe improperly deployed in certain instances where it does not fit but may actually fit if the totality of the canvass is taken into account.

In the case at bar and in all future cases, the Supreme Court of Zambia must stick to the principles of justice and only to the principles of justice. Let justice be done though the heavens may fall. This analysis applies to the Constitutional Court in particular and to the entire judicial hierarchies in general, now and in future and under all regimes now and in future.

The author teaches Criminal Law, Law of Evidence and Research and Writing Methodologies in Law. Email: munyonzwe.hamalengwa@zaou.ac.zm

LUAPULA PROVINCE PATRIOTIC FRONT PROVINCIAL CHAIRPERSON STATEMENT OVER MISCONDUCT OF HON DR CHITALU CHILUFYA AND HON DR SIMON MWALE, MPs FOR MANSA CENTRAL CONSTITUENCY AND NCHELENGE CONSTITUENCY RESPECTIVELY
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….The two Parliamentarians have benefited from the PF, and have turned around against the party that gave them support, more especially Hon Dr Chitalu CHILUFYA who at one time was appointed as Minister of Health by President Dr Edgar Chagwa Lungu when PF was in Government….

As PF Provincial Chairperson for Luapula Province, I want to condemn the behavior of Hon Dr Chitalu CHILUFYA, MP for Mansa Central Constituency and Hon Dr Simon MWALE, . MP for Nchelenge Constituency, who has accompanied President HH of the UPND when he went to the Southern Province in Mazabuka for Zambia Sugar Company celebrations.

These two Parliamentarians are giving support to HH whilst they were given the mandate to serve the people of Luapula Province in their respective constituencies under the PATRIOTIC FRONT ticket. I am therefore, disappointed by their actions and have violated the party constitution, which demands the two to face disciplinary actions.

The two Parliamentarians have benefited from the PF, and have turned around against the party that gave them support, more especially Hon Dr Chitalu CHILUFYA who at one time was appointed as Minister of Health by President Dr Edgar Chagwa Lungu when PF was in Government. The two Parliamentarians have disappointed the party President Dr ECL who had confidence in them when they were adopted and given these important positions, they have thrown back insults at our party which made them to be what they are right now.

I am not surprised that Hon Dr CHILUFYA can behave in such a manner because even when he came to PF, he defected from MMD and he has moved to the ruling UPND, he is portraying himself to be an opportunist on the look out to eat from the serving Government.

I want to ask the remaining PF Members of Parliament, Councilors and the entire party Membership to remain steadfast and focused, let’s continue rallying behind under the good, strong and able leadership of our Party President Dr Edgar Chagwa Lungu, even as we are looking forward to 2026 and get back into Government if we work hard.

MUSUNGA Francis
Provincial Chairperson
PATRIOTIC FRONT
Luapula Province.
MANSA.

PRESIDENT HAKAINDE HICHILEMA HAS EITHER LOST CONTROL OVER HIS CADRES OR HE IS TOLERATING THEM- Lusaka Lawyer

By Lusaka Lawyer Celestine Mambula Mukandila

An Audio circulating on social media made by Former Nchanga MP Hon.  Richard Kazala who is also former Deputy Minister of Sports who narrated the awful UPND behaviour at the Kambwili’s funeral where UPND cadres urinated on funeral food and brought down tents makes sad reading.  

It has now become very apparent that President Hakainde Hichilema has either lost control of his unruly cadres or he is in fact supporting the trauma and torment that these cadres have placed on society today. 

The same cadres now appear to be more powerful than the police that they break the law in daylight and in full view of the police. 

The former Deputy Minister narrated just how President Lungu left the district discreetly so as to avoid a situation of retaliation by his supporters. 

Today, yet again, we have seen Chingola Business Man by the name of Mr. Kabaso Mulenga popularly known as “Spax Mining” complaining of the trauma and barbarism of the UPND cadres on his business premises or private property.

Barely, a fortnight ago, we saw a youth in Matero by the name of Joseph Daka who was allegedly murdered by suspected UPND cadres and left in the hands of the police to consequently die in police custody. 

The amount of trauma place on society today by UPND Cadres is unprecedented and can’t even be compared to the behavior of PF Cadres as they then were in power.

President Hakainde must know that these individuals causing havoc and trauma to society today are known people who appear to be above the law. 

The respect for the rule of law in the New Dawn Regime appears to only exist in President Hakainde Hichilema’s fiction of his own imagination as his cadres are seen to clearly defy the rule of law and abuse the police.

This is a clear show of the breakdown of the rule of law in this country right under President Hakainde Hichilema’s nose.

I cry for mother Zambia, that UPND cadres have now become the ALFA AND OMEGA and go out to break the law in full view of the police and life goes on.  Not even President Hakainde or his Inspector General of Police has issued a statement on the unfortunate events that endangered the life of the Former President. 

If President Hakainde’s cadres cannot respect President Edgar LUNGU as a person, it’s imperative to remind our colleagues that he is Zambia’s Sixth Republican President and his office must be respected without compromise.  He remains a Government Trophy and must, if anything, be accorded the protection required of his privileged status.

Maybe President Hakainde Hichilema must tell the Zambian people if at all there is any other power InCharge of our country other than himself, that his Cadres can appear not to speak the same language as himself. 

May we please NOT allow this to continue and respect the Law. 

#RespectTheLaw
#mukandila_nabakwe73