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Students in US struggle with antisemitism and free speech

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Students in US struggle with antisemitism and free speech

The head of the University of Pennsylvania has quit because people were upset about what she said to Congress about antisemitism at the school. Her remarks made the already divided atmosphere at one of America’s oldest colleges more intense.

Noah Rubin is a Jewish student at Penn who, like many others, asked Elizabeth Magill to resign.

He says he’s been feeling uncomfortable at his school in Philadelphia since the 7 October attacks in Israel by Hamas.

He is the co-President of the Penn Israel Public Affairs Committee. He proudly wears his bright blue skullcap, but says it’s a decision he makes each day whether to keep showing his faith in that way.

He was very upset by a protest last week where some students were chanting “Intifada”. This term is used to describe violent Palestinian uprisings, but many Palestinians and their supporters see it as a call to end the occupation.

He said the protesters were chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” which refers to the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea.

Many Jews, like Noah, think this means the Israeli state will be destroyed as it is now, but pro-Palestinian activists disagree and say it means the Palestinians deserve freedom and fairness.

During the meeting, Ms. Magill was asked if urging the killing of Jews went against the school’s rules against bullying and harassment. She said that it depends on the situation.

Ms Magill said sorry afterwards, she was concentrated on the university’s rules that say speech alone is not against the law. Harvard’s President Claudine Gay said sorry too.

Noah was not satisfied with Ms Magill’s answer. “Her apology is really bad,” he said in an interview on Friday before she stepped down. “Why didn’t she say it when she promised to tell the truth in front of many people. ”

The leaders of the University of Pennsylvania have been struggling with big disagreements over the Israel-Gaza war since it started. Students and teachers with different opinions about the conflict say that they have been attacked and judged for their views.

Ms Magill’s comments have made people look more closely at the university’s rules about free speech. For many years, it has followed the First Amendment, which keeps speech free. The US Constitution does not protect threats that are intended to harm someone physically.

Penn, being a private university, doesn’t have to follow the same First Amendment rules as a public school. However, since the university receives some money from the government, it may have been worried about getting in trouble if it was found to have not respected students’ freedom of speech.

Many people think that Ms. Magill made a mistake by acting as if her congressional hearing was a court trial, instead of using it as a chance to clearly explain their moral beliefs about a simple question.

Some people have a different opinion. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a group that supports free speech, said that it disagreed with her comments but believes that the solution is to stop all censorship instead of making it worse.

Mia Antonacci, who is 20 years old, is part of the group’s program for students at the campus. She is a Jewish woman and she feels unsure about how she feels.

“I know that from a legal perspective, this speech is allowed. We should also welcome speech that makes us uncomfortable and questions our beliefs,” she says. “What she said made me, my friends, and many people in the community feel uneasy. ”

The university is being looked at by the government to see how they are dealing with antisemitism.

Hillah Kohen, a student studying for a PhD, was at the hearing. She is from Israel and America, and she supports the rights of Palestinians. She does not agree with how Israel’s military is handling the situation in Gaza. The 27-year-old said that Ms. Magill’s answer was not good, and also said that the Republican Elise Stefanik was trying to take advantage of the situation.

Hillah’s great-grandparents died in a place called Auschwitz. She is worried about people who want to cause problems between different groups of people, both at school and outside of school.

“When we see hateful words and symbols on the walls, we need to come together as Jewish students to talk about how we can all stay safe on campus – both Jewish and Palestinian students. Our safety and freedom are connected. ”

An Arab medical student, who we will call Sayyid, asked to keep his name a secret because he is worried about getting in trouble for speaking up. He said to the BBC that he was unhappy with Elizabeth Magill, but understood that she was being pressured from all sides since the war started.

Still, Sayyid said that people who support Palestine don’t have as much power on college campuses as people who support Israel. The president kept criticizing Hamas. However, many students felt that the college should have spoken up more about the many civilian deaths in Gaza.

“Sayyid told the media that the university’s administration is more focused on one side because it is connected to donations. ”

Shortly after the president spoke in front of Congress, a big supporter took back a $100 million grant. They said they were shocked by what she said. A little more than a day later and Ms Magill had left.

Her decision to leave will not stop the intense argument about the Israel-Gaza war at the University of Pennsylvania and other US colleges.

But when we spoke to students this week, they all agreed that the president didn’t do a good job in handling the hearing. This rare unity was a reaction to her comments.

“Sayyid says that even though she may have meant to show both viewpoints, what she said at the hearing was not okay and seemed like it was against Jewish people. ” “I know why students were upset. “

Egyptians begin voting in an election likely to give Sisi third term

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Egyptians begin voting in an election likely to give Sisi third term

Polling stations opened Sunday for Egyptians to vote in a presidential election overshadowed by war in neighbouring Gaza and with little doubt that the incumbent Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will secure a third term.

In a country gripped by the most severe financial crisis in its recent history — inflation has hovered near 40 percent after the currency lost half its value and drove up the cost of imports — the economy is the crux of Egyptians’ concerns.

Even before the current crisis, about two-thirds of the country’s nearly 106 million people were living on or below the poverty line

Before polls opened at 09:00 am (0700 GMT), dozens of voters had already crowded in front of a polling station in a central Cairo school amidst heavy security, an AFP correspondent reported.

Voting will take place from Sunday until Tuesday, between 9:00 am and 09:00 pm (0700-1900 GMT) each day, with the official results announced on December 18.

In front of the Cairo polling station, posters bore messages to “get out and participate” while a DJ played nationalist songs.

Some 67 million people are eligible to vote, and all eyes will be on turnout after successive previous elections mustered low participation figures.

Despite Egypt’s afflictions, a decade-long crackdown on dissent has eliminated any serious opposition to Sisi, the fifth president to emerge from within the ranks of the military since 1952.

Under his rule, Egypt has jailed thousands of political prisoners, and while a presidential pardons committee has freed around 1,000 in one year, rights groups say that three to four times that many were arrested over the same time period.

  • Opponents arrested –

Egyptians, meanwhile, have paid little attention to electoral campaigns that have taken place in the shadow of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

That conflict has monopolised media and public attention across the Arab world. Talk shows in Egypt — closely tied to the intelligence services and fervent supporters of Sisi — have sought to link the two issues in the incumbent’s favour.

“We cannot sit idly by and watch, we will go out and say ‘no to the transfer’ (of Gazans),” said one TV presenter, Ahmed Moussa, echoing a speech by Sisi at the start of the war in October.

The three other candidates are all relative unknowns among the public: Farid Zahran, leader of the left-leaning Egyptian Social Democratic Party; Abdel-Sanad Yamama, from the Wafd, a century-old but relatively marginal party; and Hazem Omar, from the Republican People’s Party.

Of the trio, Omar appeared to come out on top during a televised debate between the candidates. Sisi did not attend and sent an MP in his place.

Two more prominent opposition figures had attempted to run but were quickly sidelined by the government. Today, one is in prison and the other is awaiting trial.

The journalist and activist Khaled Dawoud criticised what he said was a “stifling atmosphere of suppressed liberties, total control of the media and security services that prevent the opposition from operating on the streets”.

“We are not kidding ourselves, the vote will be… neither credible nor fair,” he wrote on Facebook.

However, he added he would vote for Zahran in order to “send a clear message to the regime” that “we want change” because “after 10 years, the living conditions of Egyptians have deteriorated and we risk bankruptcy because of its policies”.

  • Painful reforms –

Sisi, a retired field marshall in the Egyptian army, came to power in 2013 after leading the overthrow of elected Islamist president Mohamed Morsi following mass protests.

In both the 2014 and 2018 elections, he won landslide victories with over 96 percent of the vote, according to official results.

He later extended the presidential mandate from four to six years and amended the constitution to raise the limit on consecutive terms in office from two to three.

Given that context, turnout is likely to be a key indicator of public sentiment. At the last election it fell six points to 41.5 percent.

Sisi is not without supporters, many of whom credit him with engineering a return to calm in the country after the chaos that followed the 2011 uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak.

Since the start of his first term, the president has promised to restore stability, including for the economy.

From 2016 onwards, he has undertaken a host of economic reforms that saw the currency devalued and the number of civil servants slashed.

Those reforms, coupled with high-cost projects including a multibillion-dollar new capital, have led to surging prices, fuelled public discontent and undermined Sisi’s support both at home and abroad.

Under Sisi’s economic stewardship, the national debt has tripled while the various mega-projects — often led by the military — have failed to deliver on their promised benefits.

Source: Africanews

Threesome with Indian client costs Lusaka massage therapist her marriage

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Threesome with Indian client costs Lusaka massage therapist her marriage

Threesome with Indian client costs Lusaka massage therapist her marriage

THE illegal bodily pleasures that take place day and night behind the closed doors of massage parlours dotted around Lusaka were last week displayed on the public hangwire as two ladies, one of them married admitted before the Matero Local Court of engaging in a threesome sexual orgy with their Indian male client.

The ladies operating under the guise of massage therapists, are capable of flying their clients to the rain-bringing Nimbus clouds and back via their waists for an extra fee aside the massage payment.

And so the court heard that Petronella Sichone and her work-mate Grace Kabwe have combining their sexual prowess to jointly give the man from Bombay the time of his life.

However, the the friendship of the two ladies hit a rough patch leading to the revelations of their trade secrets, and eventually court.

Petronella ended up losing her marriage after Grace spilled the beans to her friend’s husband about how his wife had become pregnant for the Indian client who had been chewing them as if they were spiced roasted t-bone.

Seeking compensation for her lost marriage, Petronella sued Grace in the Matero Local Court.

According to a Zambia Daily Mail report, th court heard that both the complainant and the defendant used to engage in sexual activities with their Indian client in full view of each other.

Petronella told Magistrate Victory Ndhlovu that on November 19, she and Grace attended a funeral.

She said while at the funeral, Grace picked a fight and the two started exchanging words. She said the defendant became physical on her.

Petronella said the defendant left while she remained at the funeral house but when she went home between 21:00 hours and 22:00 hours, she found Kabwe with her husband at her matrimonial home.

“In the presence of my husband, Grace accused me of having a child with the Indian man and she accused me of being a prostitute.

She yelled all sorts of insults at me and told me that she now goes out with my husband because I failed him and I disappointed him,” she said.

Petronella said because of the accusations, her husband has since left their matrimonial home and has been away for two weeks.

In her statement, Grace told the court that it was true Sichone was a prostitute and has a child with their Indian client.

She said the child is half-Indian and looks white. “It is true my friend is a prostitute and she has a child with our Indian client.

We work together at a massage parlour. The client used to have sex with her in my presence and he did the same with me in her presence. We would both watch while he sleeps with either of us, but my friend had a child with him,” she said.

Grace admitted that she was found with Sichone’s husband and also said he was the one who started sending her text messages.

When the court summoned the Indian man as a witness in the matter, he admitted that he has been engaging in sexual activities with both Petronella and Grace.

He said he used to go to the massage parlour where the two worked but he later changed his mind and asked the two to instead start doing the massage on a private basis and outside their work place.

Magistrate Ndhlovu dismissed the claim of defamation of character on grounds that both the plaintiff and defendant were engaging in a sexual affair with their client.

Kalemba

Court dismisses Mundubile’s petition against Speaker

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Court dismisses Mundubile’s petition against Speaker

Court dismisses Mundubile’s petition against Speaker

THE Lusaka High Court has dismissed Brian Mundubile’s application for leave to commence judicial review proceedings against speaker of the national Assembly Nelly Mutti for supplanting supplanting him as leader of the opposition in parliament.

High Court judge Geoffrey Mulenga has ruled that according to the amended constitution of 2016 the High Court’s powers have been limited to determine issues bordering on constitutional breaches by public authorities.

He said he will be usurping powers of the Constitutional Court as the original and final arbiter in constitutional matters.

The Mporokoso member of parliament protested Mutti’s decision to alter the seating position by replacing him as the leader of the opposition with his Mafinga counterpart, Robert Chabinga.

He said Mutti’s actions were procedurally improper and irrational when she acted on a request by PF Secretary General Morgan Ng’ona to have him replaced on reasons that he had effected changes on the list of office bearers of the party at the National Assembly.

Mundubile said Secretary General of the Edgar Lungu group Raphael Nakacinda wrote to Mutti informing her that no changes had been made yet she went ahead and pronounced that the office bearers of PF had been changed according to a search conducted by the National Assembly at the Registrar of Societies.

He sought a declaration that the information given by the speaker on November 1, 2023 that the office bearers of PF were changed at the Registrar of Societies is and was incorrect.

Mundubile wanted the Court to pronounce that the decision by the speaker to replace him with Chabinga was elligal, null and void.

He further sought an order of certiorari to quash the decision of the speaker.

Ruling on the application judge Mulenga directed that Mundubile should seek redress from the Constitutional Court if he feels the Speaker has breached the law.

“I find that this Court does not have the jurisdiction to hear and determine this application for leave to commence judicial review proceedings on reasons that the action is concerned with the interpretation of Article 74(2) which is a preserve of the Constitutional Court,”judge Mulenga said.

He further guided that the matter cannot be refered to the correct Court owing to the wrong mode of commencement.

By Mwaka Ndawa

Kalemba

ECL WAS MISMANAGED

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ECL WAS MISMANAGED

ECL WAS MISMANAGED

After deep thought and reflection into my political and personal life, I have come to the conclusion that Edgar Changwa Lungu was mishandled as a former President by GRZ and mismanaged by the PF party. Yes he was no saint as a President and gave the power to cadres hence the “state capture” by business gurus.

I will share a life experience with you about a grandfather whose name simply translated to “The soil is calling” he was feared by all and it was believed he practiced wizardry. I remember growing up, he would come visit us as early as 04AM and make sure we polished his shoes, warm water for him to bath, demand for blue seal Vaseline then break fast and finally when my father would wake up and give him transport money.

A lot of stories were told about him but we came to experience an altercation with him when I lost my father in 1994 after arrangements to bury in Lusaka were changed to follow his will to be buried at the village in Chadiza.

My grandfather vehemently unleashed a threat that if my father was NOT buried in the grave in Lusaka, another family member will die, to feed the grave. After a wrangle it was concluded that a banana stump be buried in Lusaka and we proceeded to the village for my father’s burial.

Fast forward, after burial, stories lingered in family corners that grandpa kept my father’s shadow in his bedroom and we were advised never to engage with him but unfortunately/ fortunately for me, he loved me to pieces, at one time when I was young, he made me a chair that made me feel like a king as no one was allowed to sit in it but me.

He continued visiting me at sunrise and I developed a liking for him as I learnt that he was a super construction expert as he was part of the team that constructed the original Kenneth Kaunda International Airport.

We had an open ended contract that saw him do all construction works for me while I took care of his rentals and monthly needs. He took me through my first marriage negotiations /discussions, traditional norms before my marriage preparations and was there for me when I had marital disputes, even problems at work. At one time he asked me if I believed he had kept my father’s shadow in his house, but we laughed it off.

He later had a stroke and lost his speech but always visited, and he would travel with me at times during funerals. I learnt a lot from him and miss him after he passed on some years back, MHSCRIP.

He left me wisdom that has helped me through life. And I am fully protected against any evil weapon/witchcraft that can ever be used against me, “story for another day”

This experience taught me to always remember all souls that I have crossed paths with for the GOOD they have been to/with me and not the BAD.

In conclusion let’s accept, forgive ECL and treat him with respect and dignity and learn something from his experience. He should be kept busy as a statesman, remember he’s the only living former President we have as a nation.

One Zambia, One Nation – OZON

CHAKA ZULU

GOVT WILL NOT SHIELD ANY PUBLIC OFFICIAL ENGAGING IN CORRUPT ACTIVITIES-PRESIDENT HICHILEMA

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GOVT WILL NOT SHIELD ANY PUBLIC OFFICIAL ENGAGING IN CORRUPT ACTIVITIES-PRESIDENT HICHILEMA

GOVT WILL NOT SHIELD ANY PUBLIC OFFICIAL ENGAGING IN CORRUPT ACTIVITIES-PRESIDENT HICHILEMA

President Hakainde Hichilema says the government will not tolerate corruption in the public service.

Mr Hichilema says his government will not shield any public official found engaging in any corrupt activities.

In a speech read on his behalf by Minister of Home Affairs Jack Mwiimbu, during the commemoration to mark the International Anti-Corruption day in Lusaka today, President Hichilema assured of the government’s unwavering commitment to fighting corruption.

President Hichilema said he will ensure that no public official is allowed to engage in corrupt practice with impunity.

Mr Hichilema urged all institutions and individuals involved in procurement, and government’s awarding of contracts not to engage in any corruption activities as they risk being prosecuted.

In explaining the interventions that the government has done in the fight against corruption, the Head of State disclosed that the government has increased 2023 budgetary allocation for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

Mr Hichilema explained that the increase is meant to enhance ACC’s capacity to discharge its mandate effectively and efficiently.

He however said the fight against corruption is a shared responsibility that extends to all levels of society and not only for the commission.

President Hichilema implored citizens to report suspected misconduct in the management and distribution of resources to the Law Enforcement Agencies.

“In addition to these measures, the government has taken a proactive stance on reviewing the national corruption policy. This initiative aims to develop a new policy that will offer national guidance on strategies and programs to combat corruption effectively,” he added.

The President further disclosed that his government is working diligently to involve various sections of society to ensure that the fight against corruption is inclusive of all citizens.

Mr Hichilema further explained that civic education and Anti-Corruption messages have been included in the education curriculum because young people are crucial advocates for social change.

He further reiterated government commitment to continue collaborating with institutions and the international community in the fight against corruption.

And Anti-Corruption Commission Chairperson, Musa Mwenye said the commission has a strategic vision and envisions a credible anti-corruption institution for a corruption free society.

Mr Mwenye thanked the cooperating partners and stakeholders for helping the commission in the fight against corruption.

Meanwhile, United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator, Beatrice Munthali explained the role that stakeholders play in the fight against corruption in the country.

Ms Munthali said stakeholders provide the much needed collective and inclusive complimentary support to the government and relevant institutions.

She reaffirmed the UN commitment to explore frameworks of technical and financial support to the Zambian government in the fight against corruption.

ACC also launched the Anti-Corruption Commission Strategic and Implementation plan and awarded journalists who report on corruption in the country.

The International Anti- Corruption Day 2023 was commemorated under the theme, “UNCAC at 20; Uniting the World against Corruption.”

Sean Tembo Disappointed With The Dismissal Of His Concourt Petition Against President Hichilema’s Stay At His Private Residence

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Sean Tembo Disappointed With The Dismissal Of His Concourt Petition Against President Hichilema’s Stay At His Private Residence

SEAN TEMBO DISAPPOINTED WITH THE DISMISSAL OF HIS CONCOURT PETITION AGAINST PRESIDENT HICHILEMAS’ STAY AT HIS PRIVATE RESIDENCE

By Michael Kaluba

Opposition Patriots for Economic Progress-PEP president Sean Tembo has described the recent judgment of the constitutional court on the issue of President Hakainde Hichilema living at his private residence rather than the official residence at Nkwazi house, as simplistic, extremely misdirected, and lacking in multiple ways.

Mr. Tembo’s petition to the court was that by residing in community house in New Kasama while working from the state house, President Hakainde Hichilema’s action amounts to a waste of public resources, which he estimates to be worth around K1 billion per year.

He argues that there are enough provisions of the constitution that prevent the president from wasting public resources including articles 173(1) (b), 173(1) (e), 198(b) (iii), and 198(d) but is not satisfied with the outcome of the petition by the constitutional court.

Mr. Tembo believes that the judgment of yesterday is wrong, that the court addressed arguments that he did not make, and that the constitutional court had the objective of dismissing his petition at all costs.

He argues that the court should have asked whether the President’s almost daily travel amounts to a waste of public resources and whether there is a law prohibiting the president from wasting public resources in this manner, which the court did not do.

The opposition leader believes the court would have reached a different judgment if it had considered the petitioner’s actual arguments rather than the paraphrased ones that led to the petition being dismissed.

PHOENIX NEWS

ABOUT THE CONCOURT JUDGEMENT ON HH LIVING AT HIS PRIVATE RESIDENCE

By Sean E. Tembo – PeP President

1. I find the judgement of the Constitutional Court of Zambia on the issue of President Hakainde Hichilema living at his private residence instead of the official residence at Nkwazi House, simplistic, extremely misdirected and lacking in more ways than one.

2. I must mention that l am not averse to losing a court matter, provided the judgement is sound, and that judgement of yesterday is very far from sound. The question then becomes; what constitutes a sound court judgement? Well, different people might have different definitions, but to me, a sound court judgement is one which considers all the arguments made by the parties and addresses each of those arguments in the final judgement.

3. With regard to the judgement in issue, the Court addressed arguments that l did not make, while omitting to address arguments that l made in the petition. Nowhere in the petition or accompanying skeleton arguments did l argue that there is a law which compels the President to live at Nkwazi House. The reason l did not make that argument is simply because l know that there is no such law.

4. My main argument in the petition was that by living at community house in New Kasama while working from State House, the President had to commute on an almost daily basis at a huge cost to the taxpayers, and that it amounted to wastage of public resources which l quantified in the petition as amounting to approximately K1 billion per annum. There are plenty provisions of the Constitution which prohibit the President from wasting public resources including articles 173(1)(b), 173(1)(e), 198(b)(III) and 198(d).

5. I expected the court to address these arguments of wastage of public resources in it’s judgement. The two questions which the Court should have asked is (I) whether the President’s almost daily commute amounts to a wastage of public resources and (ii) whether there is a law that prohibits the President from wasting public resources?

6. The question that is perhaps worth asking is; had the Court considered the actual arguments made by the Petitioner, and not the paraphrased arguments, would it still have arrived at the same decision to dismiss the Petition? I think not. The first question of whether the President’s almost daily commute amounts to a wastage of public resources is pretty straightforward, and even the Attorney General in his submissions was unable to challenge it, because it is self-evident. The President’s almost daily commute does amount to a wastage of public resources.

7. With regard to the second question of whether the President’s wastage of public resources through his daily commute is actually a violation of the Constitution, again articles 173(1)(b), 173(1)(e), 198(b)(III) and 198(d) of the Republican Constitution are very clear. Wastage of public resources by the President amounts to a violation of the Constitution.

8. However, the Court in it’s judgement ignored the actual arguments made by the Petitioner and instead paraphrased those arguments into something else. The Court addressed arguments which were never made by the Petitioner. That is what saddens me. But when you really examine this issue, you will realize that the only way the Court could dismiss the Petition was by evading the arguments that had been made by the Petitioner, and inserting arguments that had not been made. In other words, the Court appears to have had only one objective; to dismiss the Petition. The only question was how? And the only way how was by ignoring the actual arguments of the Petitioner and paraphrasing them into arguments that the Petitioner did not make. But make no mistake about it, it is not Sean Tembo who has lost this case. It is the Zambian people.

///END

SET 09.12.2023

Remarks By Zambia’s Sixth President Edgar Lungu During The First Memorial For The Late Tutwa Ngulube

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Remarks By Zambia’s Sixth President Edgar Lungu During The First Memorial For The Late Tutwa Ngulube

REMARKS BY ZAMBIA’S SIXTH PRESIDENT, DR. EDGAR CHAGWA LUNGU, DURING THE FIRST MEMORIAL FOR THE LATE TUTWA NGULUBE, FORMER PF MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR KABWE CENTRAL, IN KABWE ON 9TH DECEMBER 2023

SALUTATIONS

EXACTLY ONE YEAR AGO, MY WIFE ESTHER AND I JOINED A MULTITUDE OF PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE AND FROM VARIOUS PARTS OF THE COUNTRY WHO TURNED UP TO WITNESS THE BURIAL OF TUTWA SANDANI NGULUBE.

IT IS STILL DIFFICULT TO BELIEVE THAT TUTWA, THAT GALLANT LAWYER, BUSINESSMAN AND POLITICIAN, IS DEAD JUST LIKE IT WAS ONE YEAR AGO WHEN HIS DEATH OCCURED.

HIS DEATH WAS AS PAINFUL THEN AS IT IS TODAY.

HOWEVER, TODAY WE GATHER HERE NOT TO MOURN AND GROAN ABOUT TUTWA’S DEATH BUT TO CELEBRATE HIS YOUNG LIFE. TUTWA DIED AT A VERY TENDER AGE OF 43 AND YET HIS ACHIEVEMENTS IN VARIOUS ASPECTS OF LIFE WERE LIKE THOSE OF A MAN IN HIS SEVENTIES.

OF COURSE THERE ARE SO MANY ASPECTS WE CAN TOUCH ON AS WE EULOGISE TUTWA. BUT TIME CANNOT ALLOW US BECAUSE IF WE WERE TO DO THAT, WE COULD REMAIN HERE FOR HOURS ON END JUST RECOUNTING THE GOOD MEMORIES ABOUT YOUNG TUTWA SANDANI NGULUBE.

FOR THIS REASON, I CHOOSE JUST TO TALK ABOUT TUTWA’S RARE BRAVERY IN EVERYTHING HE DID.

INDEED, TUTWA EXHIBITED EXTRA-ORDINARY COURAGE WHETHER IN HIS PRACTICE OF THE LAW OR POLITICS. HE WAS FEARLESS. HE HAD SUCH A SPINE!

MY FRIENDS FROM KOPALA WOULD SAY, ‘TUTWA ALI NA NERVE!’ YES, TUTWA DID NOT FEAR ANYONE AND ANYTHING WHEN IT CAME TO THE DEFENCE OF HIS CHERISHED PRINCIPLES.

WE ALL REMEMBER HOW HE FACED, IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, THOSE WHO ARE IN CHARGE OF NATIONAL AFFAIRS TODAY WHEN THEY SENSELESSLY DECLARED ON THE FLOOR OF THE HOUSE THAT THEY DID NOT RECOGNISE OR RESPECT OCTOBER 18 AS DAY OF PRAYERS AND RECONCILIATION BECAUSE IT WAS A DAY WHEN WILFULL SINNERS CONGREGATED.

WHAT AN ABOMINATION!

WE ALSO REMEMBER HOW TUTWA DARINGLY WANTED TO KNOW WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF THAT NONSENSE, A FEW MONTHS OR WEEKS BEFORE HE DIED.

I WILL COME BACK TO THAT NONSENSE SHORTLY.

BUT LET ME, FOR NOW, SAY THAT OUR COUNTRY – IN ITS CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS – NEEDS THE COURAGE AND TOUGHNESS OF TUTWA NGULUBE. YES, OUR YOUTHS ESPECIALLY NEED TO REFLECT THE TOUGHNESS THAT EXISTED IN THAT YOUNG BOY TUTWA.

THE BEMBAS SAY “PAFWA BANTU, PASHALA BANTU.” THEREFORE, I AM CONFIDENT THAT MANY TUTWAS WILL EMERGE AND CONTINUE WITH HIS COURAGE AND BRAVERY IN FIGHTING FOR WHAT IS GOOD AND AGAINST THE BAD IN ZAMBIA TODAY.

TUTWA DID NOT DIE IN VAIN. WE CAN ONLY HONOUR HIM IN DEATH IF WE DID WHAT HE LOVED AND CHERISHED THE MOST, ESPECIALLY TO EMULATE HIS COURAGE AND TOUGHNESS.

NO DOUBT, THERE IS A LOT OF NONSENSE GOING ON IN THE COUNTRY TODAY.
IF TUTWA WAS ALIVE, I AM SURE HE WOULD NOT BE ASKING ABOUT WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THIS NONSENSE BECAUSE EVERYONE, INCLUDING TODDLERS, CAN CLEARLY SEE WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THE NONSENSE.

TUTWA, TODAY, WOULD BE AGGRESSIVELY CONFRONTING THE ONE IN CHARGE OF THIS NONSENSE POLITICALLY AND LEGALLY.

TUTWA IS GONE BUT I SEE MANY OTHER TUTWAS COMING UP TODAY IN EMULATING HIS COURAGE.

SO I SAY TO TUTWA, CONTINUE TO REST IN PEACE MY YOUNG MAN AND DON’T ASK WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THIS NONSENSE. ZAMBIANS KNOW WHO IS BEHIND THE NONSENSE AND THEY WILL DEAL WITH HIM.

YES, ZAMBIANS WILL RESIST ALL MANNER AND DESPERATE ATTEMPTS AT KILLING DEMOCRACY. THEY WILL RESIST THEIR ATTEMPT TO IMPOSE DICTATORSHIP ON ZAMBIANS.

RIGHT NOW, THESE SCARED LEADERS IN GOVERNMENT ARE DOING ALL THE SILLY THINGS TO PROVOKE US INTO SOME REACTION WHICH THEY INTEND TO USE IN JUSTIFYING THEIR DECLARATION OF A STATE OF EMERGENCY SO THEY CAN SUPPRESS AND OPPRESS CITIZENS UNCHECKED.

WE KNOW THEIR IMINGALOTOS AND WE WILL NOT ALLOW THEM TO TAKE ZAMBIANS ON A RIDE.

AS I CONLUDE, I SAY TO TUTWA:
CONTINUE TO REST IN PEACE MY DEAR LAWYER AND BROTHER. YOU RAN YOUR RACE WITH HONOUR, DIGNITY AND INTEGRITY.

WELL-MEANING ZAMBIANS WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN. THEY WILL HONOUR YOU WITH THEIR DETERMINATION TO DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION AND ZAMBIA’S THRIVING DEMOCRACY.

ALUTA CONTINUA !!!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

Zambians will resist all manner of desperate attempts at killing democracy. They will resist their attempt to impose dictatorship- Edgar Lungu

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Zambians will resist all manner of desperate attempts at killing democracy. They will resist their attempt to impose dictatorship- Edgar Lungu

“THE SEASON OF NONSENSE IS UPON US ,” ECL

..Had Tutwa still been alive , he would not be asking who is in charge of the nonsense because even toddlers are able to see who is in charge of the nonsense…

Smart Eagles/ Sat. December 9th

Zambia’s 6th President and President of the Patriotic Front, Dr. Edgar Lungu has called on well-meaning Zambians not to let down the memory of late Tutwa Ngulube by defending the Constitution and Zambia’s democracy.

In a speech that he was to deliver at the memorial service and unveiling of tombstone of late lawyer , politician, and businessman Hon. Tutwa Ngulube, President Lungu said a year ago, Tutwa asked who was in charge of the nonsense but that had he still been alive today, he would have been aggressively confronting the one in charge of the nonsense politically and legally.

“Right now , these scared leaders in government are doing all the silly things to provoke us into some reaction which they intend to use in justifying their declaration of a State of Emergency so they can suppress and oppress citizens unchecked, “

” Yes, Zambians will resist all manner of desperate attempts at killing democracy. They will resist their attempt to impose dictatorship,”

“We know their Mingalatos, and we will not allow them to take Zambians for a ride, ” said ECL.

” As I conclude , I say to Tutwa, continue to rest in peace, my dear lawyer and brother . You ran your race with honour , dignity, and intergrity, ” President Lungu said

VACATE MUTULANGANGA FOREST NOW – GOVERNMENT TELLS SQUATTERS

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VACATE MUTULANGANGA FOREST NOW – GOVERNMENT TELLS SQUATTERS

VACATE MUTULANGANGA FOREST NOW – GOVERNMENT TELLS SQUATTERS

Siavonga, Friday (December 8, 2023)

Government has strongly warned of consequences if squatters continue squatting in Siavonga’s Mutulanganga Forest Reserve.

Siavonga District Commissioner Geoffrey Jakopo said squatters must go wherever they came from in order to protect the forest from complete depletion.

Mr. Jakopo was speaking when he launched the Inclusive Sustainable Forest Management Project to be executed in Simamba and Sinadambwe Communities in Siavonga District, Southern Province, by Rise Community Development Aid Programme (RICAP) with support from Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP) under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

“Government is determined to fight against environmental degradation, biodiversity degradation and forest resource depletion. Most of the trees near water bodies in Siavonga have been cut for solid fuel consumption thereby affecting the rainy pattern. We are delighted with RICAP for partnering with Government to mitigate Climate Change and provide livelihoods options,” he said.

Mr. Jakopo said the Project by RICAP is in line with the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) and Zambia’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Speaking earlier, Rise Community Development Aid Programme (RICAP) Board Chairperson James Muyangana said his Organisation’s role will be to work with Sinadambwe and Simamba Chiefdoms to inculcate in them the value of harnessing the actual natural resources they are endowed with.

“RICAP will create synergies to ensure that the two communities sustainably benefit from the resources they have,” he said.

Meanwhile, RICAP Executive Director Samuel Tundu said Sinadambwe and Simamba Chiefdoms have witnessed an alarming commercial cutting of trees for charcoal burning which is negatively impacting on environmental sustainability.

Mr. Tundu called for strengthened collaborative efforts to reverse depletion of local forests to combat Climate Change.

“RICAP will advocate for revamping of Community Forest Management Committees to champion environmental protection as custodians of local resources,” he said.

And Absalom Sakala who was Representing the National Steering Committee of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP) under the UNDP, said effects of Climate Change are real in Siavonga as evidenced by high temperatures, low water levels and low productivity.

“The Solutions by RICAP will not only address challenges in Siavonga alone but help achieve global targets which excites the Global Environment Facility who provided the resources. The rate at which Zambia is consuming resources is worrying as production and consumption patterns are not sustainable.

The Global Environment Facility wants Zambia to come up with sustainable production and consumption patterns in order to value resources and gain livelihoods from them. The lessons from Siavonga will be shared at National level, Africa and global level which will help to increase allocations for Zambia,” he said.

“TUTWA WAS A MAN OF EXTRA ORDINARY COURAGE ,” SAYS ECL

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“TUTWA WAS A MAN OF EXTRA ORDINARY COURAGE ,” SAYS ECL

“TUTWA WAS A MAN OF EXTRA ORDINARY COURAGE ,” SAYS ECL

As he urges more youths to emulate the boldness of Tutwa

Smart Eagles/ Sat . Dec 9, 2023

Patriotic Front President and Zambia’s 6th President HE Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu has paid glowing tribute to the memory of former Kabwe Lawmaker Hon. Tutwa Ngulube, who died a year ago.

President Lungu who was in Kabwe this morning to attend the Unveiling of the Tombstone for the late Ngulube who was a lawyer, politician and businessman par excellence,said Tutwa’s death remained as painful today as it was a year ago but that today , was a day to celebrate his legacy and not to mourn.

” Tutwa died at a very tender age of 43, and yet his achievements in various aspects of life were like those of a man in his seventies,” he said .

Indeed, Tutwa exhibited extraordinary courage, whether in his practice of the law or in politics. He was fearless. He had such a spine!”

“We all remember how Tutwa daringly wanted to know who was in charge of that nonsense a few months before he died,” said ECL.

” My friends from Kopala would say , ‘ Tutwa Ali na Nerve!’ . Yes, Tutwa did not fear anyone and anything when it came to the defence of his cherished principles,”

” We all remember how he faced in the national assembly, those who are in charge of national affairs, the day when they senselessly declared on the floor of the house that they did not recognise October 18th as a day of prayer and reconciliation because it was a day when wilful sinners congregated, What an abomination!”

President Lungu stated that the nation now more than ever was in need of courage and toughness like that of Tutwa. He urged the youths to reflect the toughness that existed in young Tutwa.

” The Bemba’s say pafwa abantu , pashala abantu . Therefore , I am confident that many Tutwas will emerge and continue with his courage and bravery in fighting for what is good and against the bad in Zambia today, ” said ECL

The Memorial service and Unveiling of the tombstone for Hon. Tutwa was scheduled for today , Saturday, December 9th but was shockingly cancelled as the state is said to have moved and told the family to discontinue the event .

TUTWA NGULUBE’S FAMILY PUTS OFF MEMORIAL

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TUTWA NGULUBE’S FAMILY PUTS OFF MEMORIAL

TUTWA NGULUBE’S FAMILY PUTS OFF MEMORIAL

FAMILY of the late Tutwa Ngulube have announced a last minute postponement of his memorial service that was scheduled to take place in Kabwe tomorrow.

The cancellation comes in the wake of plans by the Edgar Lungu-led PF group to turn the service into a political rally.

Tutwa’s uncle, Sam Forward Ngulube has told Kalemba this evening that the family had resolved to postpone the memorial service indefinitely because works at the graveyard where his nephew was buried had not been completed.

Tutwa, a lawyer and former member of parliament for Kabwe Central on ticket of the PF died last year.

On Wednesday, family representative Joseph Nkhata appealed for peace and urged against politicising Tutwa’s memorial.

“We request that there be no political regalia, meetings, rallies or speeches. We further request that the event may not be politicised as we follow the programme as guided by the church,” Nkhata appealed in a brief written statement.

But earlier today, Given Lubinda who is regarded as party vice-president by his comrades in the Lungu-led group, asked PF cadres to retrieve their party regalia, wear it and turn up in mass for the memorial service.

“I appeal to all members of the party to turn out in their regalia nomatter how old it is. Even if it is just a scarf or a cap, please don them on so to show the whole world that the people who are honoring the memory of Tutwa Ngulube are members of the Patriot Front,” Lubinda said.

The former Kabwata member of parliament said he would attend the service and was sure that his boss, Lungu would also be in attendance to lead the PF cadres.

Lubinda claimed that he was aware that hooligans were being taken to Kabwe to cause confusion and urged his faction to be careful.

“My word to them is, watch out, be careful. You can not push people for too long, you cannot push up people against the wall, watch out,” Lubinda warned.

Given the infighting that has engulfed the former ruling party, police feared that the solemn event may descend into festival of violence, for the which the PF is known for.

Zambia Police Service spokesperson Rae Hamoonga issued a statement this evening saying the service was concerned regarding the potential politicization of the memorial service.

“The primary purpose of a memorial service is to honor and remember the life of the deceased, providing solace and support to their family, friends, and the community at large. Politicizing such an event not only disrespects the memory of the departed but also has the potential to escalate tensions and disrupt the peaceful proceedings,” Hamoonga noted.

Hamoonga urged the PF factions to respect the solemn nature of the memorial service and refrain from using it as a platform for political agendas.

He said the grieving process should be a time for unity and remembrance, rather than an opportunity for political posturing.

“We kindly request the cooperation of all parties involved in this matter to uphold the dignity of the memorial service and allow it to proceed without any political interference” Hamoonga appealed.

Kalemba

Information Minister is on fire while UPND media team is ndwii!

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Information Minister is on fire while UPND media team is ndwii!

The other day in parliament, former Health Minister Dr Chitalu Chilufya characterised Cornelius Mweetwa, the Chief Government Spokesperson as ‘Chemical Ali’ for his exceptional skills of at disseminating information! We’re so delighted with what Mweetwa is doing at this strategic Ministry. We’re equally so proud that we noticed his skills much earlier and tirelessly lobbied for his relocation to his current work station.

It’s not the job of a Minister to sit “ndwi” and enjoy Cappuccino while government is suffering a constant barrage of attacks from the usual suspects…….abena M’membe, Tembo, Nakachinda, Mwenda, Saboi, Kalaba and Kateka. Their job is to take a fire brigade approach to every situation or indeed jump on the roller skates and dash to every radio station, TV outlets and Newspaper offices and diffuse the lies or debunk the propaganda before it spreads like wild fire and consumes the very good work the New Dawn Administration is doing.

While Mweetwa has impressively matched the ‘fox cunning’ as Chinua Achebe says in one of his books; unfortunately, the Secretariat and the Ruth Dante led UPND media team remains on holiday. Apart from the party National Youth Chairman Gilbert Liswaniso who is tirelessly traversing the breadth and width of this nation mobilizing and defending the party from incessant attacks, we don’t hear much from the others. At least madam Chivube who is also putting in much.

Take for instance the scrapping of static security check points and road blocks on our highways…..this is a fabulous Christmas bonus for some of us! The day before yesterday, I set off from Lusaka around 15:00 hours. There wasn’t unnecessary congestions in places such as Kabangwe, Kafulafuta or ZAMTAN as is usually the case. I was already home by 20:00 hours enjoying mataamba and Kakeya while catching up with news and current affairs. And just last night, it took me 40 minutes to drive from Chingola to Kitwe; there wasn’t the usual clogging of traffic at the Mufulira turn-off which holds up traffic several hours on end.

Instead of popping bottles of Champagne and celebrating this feat, the likes of M’membe and Mwamba have chosen to mislead the public by conjuring up conspiracy theories.

Take for instance what Mwamba wrote on his Facebook page, “Shortly after road blocks and static security check points were removed country-wide, accident reveals truck was carrying logs from the endangered hardwood specie Mukula.” As a former diplomat, we don’t expect Mwamba to make a living peddling lies! Where was the UPND media team to take him on?

Bowman Lusambo who has a challenge analysing issues has also weighed in and challenged government to reveal “core reasons” why roadblocks have been removed. What other reasons can be there apart from the congestion and corruption imwe ba former Minister! Ba UPND, a finished politician is throwing weak pouches and you can’t show him his place?

If you analyse those photos carefully, you will establish that it wasn’t Mukula as Mwamba wants us to believe, but actually Rosewood! Mwamba couldn’t of course escape being lambasted and roasted by the public who equally ‘educated’ him that while containers are used to transport Mukula for preservation purposes, Rosewood is transported on low bed trucks.

Ba UPND don’t leave the job of damage control to Mweetwa alone, you must equally play your part!

Prince Bill M. Kaping’a
Politica/Social Analyst

Find time to go through this long but very exciting historic memory lane

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Find time to go through this long but very exciting historic memory lane

Find time to go through this long but very exciting historic memory lane.

From Peugeot 404, the Italian brick maker Mr. Marapodi (named compound), Paul Ngozi’s take away food shop called ‘Chibe Paka Paka’ in Kabwata to Errol Hickey’s Mr. Rooster on Cairo Road, Highlights Disco and soooo much more

(1) Lusaka Hotel had a men’s only bar called The Dog Box. Entrance was through Cairo Road.

2) Au Mont Blanc was a cafe next to the Lusaka Post Office across the car park behind a retail store called The Rendezvous which was in Cairo road.

3) Bagayuko Sounkalo of Mali was the African Heavyweight Boxing Champion (ABU) and had declared that the sun would never rise in Bamako if he lost the title fight to Zambia’s Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion The late Lottie Gunduzani Mwale.

Bagayuko was knocked out by Lottie within six rounds. The sun still rose in Bamako.

4) The first Disco in Lusaka was called Dust Bin and was at The Turf Club in Lusaka’s show grounds.The DJ was a Zimbabwean called Joe Pike.

5) The late Keith Mulevu was the lead guitarist of a Lusaka based band called The Rave Five in the late 60s and 70s when hipsters and bell bottom trousers where in fashion.

6) Ray Uyazi was a Zambian Pilot with Zambia Airways who died in a horrific road accident along Great East Road in Chelstone near the water tank.

7)The Rhodesian Army Scouts landed at the Lusaka golf club late one evening during Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle and shelled a house across the road with bullets.

8)Rumour was that the occupant was Zimbabwe’s Freedom fighter the late Joshua Nkomo survived by escaping through a very small back door, as huge as he was.

9) A popular Copperbelt based band called The Witch later moved to Lusaka. W.I.T.C.H stood for “We Intend To Cause Havoc”.Their popular album was “Lazy Bones”.

The surviving member and vocalist of the band is Emmanuel Jaggery Chanda.

10) Zimbabwean Tyrant President Robert Gabriel Mugabe lived in Chalimbana east of Lusaka and was a teacher at the college there.

11) Never ‘Spoiler’ Kapenda was a notorious armed robber who was gunned down by the Lusaka anti robbery squad after a chase and exchange of gun fire on the out skirts of Lusaka in the Makeni area.

12) The first Zambian pop festival was held at the Jubillee Hall in the Lusaka show grounds. All big bands in live music took part in the ‘make love not war’ festival.

13) Elisha Banda was the boss of the much feared ‘Road Traffic Commission’ in Lusaka. They were nick named ‘Cowboys’ because of their out fits. They patrolled Lusaka in white Fiat 124 cars. Their boss Elisha drove an E type Jaguar.

14) Mini-skirts and Bell-bottomed trousers were once banned around Lusaka City by the no nonsense UNIP womens brigade.’King Cobra’ Michael Sata banned spitting in the streets of Lusaka when he was the Lusaka Governor. He gave Council Police powers to arrest anyone commiting the offence.

15) Zambi snack bar was a popular meeting place in Lusaka’s Cha Cha Cha road next to Lusaka Music Palour. The famous palour was owned by the late Edward Khuzwayo who produced most of Zambian music on vinyl.

16) Zambia’s late Zam-Rock icon Paul Ngozi owned a take away food shop in Kabwata called “Chibe Pakapaka” He lived in Chinika compound before moving to Libala stage 2 till his death. He owned a sleek blue Skyline car. His band was called the Scorpions and they jammed in Makeni at a bar called the Pelican.

(17) King Marshal Jetu was a Malawian Heavy weight boxer who claimed he could kill a bull with a single punch when he came to Zambia for a bout.The referee stopped the fight in the early rounds to save the King from further punishment from his opponent. He was stranded in Zambia for a while until the late Lottie Mwale rescued him by funding for his trip back to his homeland Malawi were he died gracefully.

18) Zam cabs were orange and white taxis owned by UBZ (United Bus of Zambia). Each Belmont automatic transmission taxi was more expensive to maintain than the money each made. The Zambia Police and other government departments had a share of the Yugoslav Arrow and Belmont vehicles which were always breakingdown.

19) The ghost of Rosemary, a Lusaka waitress who was said to have died misteriously appeared in three different bars she had worked in.. First appearance was at Tambalala bar owned by a Mr Kasanda along Kabwe road not far from Chingwere cemetery where she was supposed to have been buried. Second appearance was at the Independence bar in Emmarsdale owned by The Findlays. Third appearance was at the Evening bar in Matero owned by Saigar Daka where she was said to have kissed a man who lost all his teeth and lived to tell the story.

20) Plaza Cinema along Chachacha road was known as Carlton Cinema and was owned by a settler well known as Mr George. Captain Charles Mbilika was an usher there while at Matero boys Secondary School. Charles later trained and qualified to became a pilot with Zambia Airways.(

21) Carlton Cafe was in the Central Arcade and had a private ‘Whites only’ bar called the ‘Grill Room’. It became the Forum (Boxers Mess) when the late Lusaka lawyer Mr Folotia took over the premises. The Other Cinema next to Plaza Cinema was a bar called Carlton Bar which was once popular with South African Freedom fighters. In the alley behind the bar was a brothel.

22) Nigerian Gibson Nwosu was a boxing and wrestling referee/promoter based in Lusaka. His Zambian wife owned a take away food shop called Zaninge next to the famous Shop No 3 on the ground floor of the Society building.Top floor of the building was Hanif Adams Room at the Top night club ( High Lites) which mysteriously caught on fire one early morning.

23) Another Nigerian promoter/referee and businessman was Enock Eneke who owned the Mumana Motel at the edge of Chainama Hills Mental Hospital by a stream.

24) Changu Shankomone and Kelly Lungu where netballers who played for the Zambia National Netball Team. Winstone Gumbor was a football referee before becoming FAZ (Football Association of Zambia ) boss. He owned a barber shop in the Lusaka Hotel building in Katondo Street.

25) Lusaka wrestler, Fred Coates owned Fred Joe Auctioneers in Cairo road. Unfounded rumours spread that he was the Lusaka strangler. The actual Lusaka strangler turned out to be an army sergeant called Sililo who killed himself when he did an olympic style dive from the roof of the Lusaka Central Police Station when he was captured.

26) Alice Lenshina was an obese cult leader who caused havoc in Northern province and caught in Chipata( Fort Jameson) supported by her corrupted church followers. She was captured by the armed forces and died in detention.

27) Adamson Mushala was among the most wanted criminals in Zambia. He was a forest ranger who raped women and robbed villagers. He was shot dead in the bushes of Solwezi by armed forces from Gonda Barracks in Chipata after a tip off to the authorities by his young wife. He had a long game of hide and seek with the government forces. His body was shown on the front page of a Zambian news paper for all to see.

28) CARS (Central African Road Services) became known as UBZ (United Bus Company of Zambia). Transporters Smith and Youngson became CH (Contract Haulage). Sacha (Tharcher) Main Bus Stop along Chilimbulu road opposite Kamwala clinic became a National Milling Deport. Not far was Hoola Hoop Bar where Baba Gasto was a popular musician then.

29) At the corner of Katondo street and Freedom way was The Lagondola bar and night spot owned by former Bank of Zambia boss Mr Jere.. Lagondola became a popular spot because of the teentime shows by The Cross Bones. A ganja smoking band from Kenya called the Sunburst became a resident band. Music carried on until morning almost every day. Mr Jere also owned another night spot in Makeni called Kilimanjaro Pleasure Resort. Mike Nyoni, Chris Chali and other Lusaka bands were regular performers at both night spots.

30) Directly across Freedom way from Lagondola was Stanley Bar. Just outside Stanley bar was the main station for transport to Kanyama compound. Stanley bar was popular with Zairean sex workers( Bandumba) in the evening till late.The sex workers used to line up outside for clients to take their pick.

(31) A Kabulonga house servant was stripped naked by the Zairean sex workers for failing to pay one of them after a quick service in an alley. He was rescued from further embarassment by the Para Military Police (Baparapara) who always patrolled the streets of Lusaka at night.

Zambia’s Fiscal Dilemma, State Compensation Ethics and Treasury Stability

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By Misheck Kakonde

The recent judgments overseen by the Attorney General in compensating individuals like Hon. Mwaliteta, Hon. Frank Tayali, Mr. William Banda, and the late Mapenzi a case that should be treated separately raise pertinent concerns. These compensations, while important to acknowledge, have led to substantial payouts from the state treasury, prompting a critical evaluation of their judiciousness.
It is essential to recognize that these compensations do not originate from personal accounts, be it President Hakainde Hichilema’s savings or those of the Attorney General and associated lawyers. They derive from public funds, necessitating prudent management to safeguard the state’s financial health. President Hichilema’s prior observation regarding the nation’s empty coffers adds weight to the significance of responsible fiscal governance.

The present scenario demands intervention from the President to prevent an unchecked depletion of the state treasury. While acknowledging the importance of compensations, there’s a call for the Attorney General to negotiate more reasonable amounts in these consent judgments. The substantial sums being awarded arguably exceeding what’s reasonable ought to be revised downwards, ideally to around K200,000 or lower. Unless in the loss of less of mapenzi, Vespers and many more, their life has no amount to be attached and it is hard even for me to attach a price, may their souls continue resting in peace and those involved are investigated and prosecuted. Such a move would prevent the disproportionate drain of state funds due to payments to a select few individuals.

The Attorney General holds the crucial responsibility of representing Zambian interests and should not succumb to undue pressure from a minority seeking exorbitant compensations. Their role necessitates negotiations for fair consent agreements that safeguard the nation’s fiscal stability.
However, within the confines of consent judgments, wherein both parties cannot appeal, the flexibility for direct alteration is limited. Yet, there exists a possibility for future generations to revisit these decisions through legal means, reassessing their impact on the Zambian treasury. Therefore, the Attorney general and President Hichilema should appreciate this truth.

This situation emphasizes the need for checks and balances to ensure the judicious use of state funds. The Attorney General’s role should extend beyond mere legal representation, incorporating a broader responsibility of safeguarding the nation’s financial interests. President Hichilema’s intervention can steer a course correction, addressing the trend of excessively high compensations that strain the state treasury.
Ultimately, this scenario underscores the delicate balance between honoring just compensations and ensuring responsible fiscal management a balance that requires prudent negotiation and oversight to protect the interests of all Zambians.

The author is a legal scholar, comparative politics specialist, History and Cultural Studies, expertise in international relations, negotiation, and protocol (ZIDIS). Author of the book “peering into Zambian Cultures, Ceremonies” and contributor in the book “Young Zambia between poverty and abundant resources”. Email: misheckkakonde@gmail.com

From Promises to Prayers: Malawi’s social-economic woes under Reverend Chakwera’s rule

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From Promises to Prayers: Malawi’s social-economic woes under Reverend Chakwera’s rule

By Jones Twink Gadama

Since President Lazarus Chakwera assumed office in Malawi, hopes were high for a new era characterized by progress, development, and improved quality of life for the citizens.

However, as time has passed, it has become evident that President Chakwera has struggled to fulfill his promises, leaving many to question the effectiveness of his administration. In a recent turn of events, the President joined the faith-based community in a prayer gathering for the nation, highlighting the mounting social woes Malawi is facing under his leadership.

Broken Promises

When President Chakwera was inaugurated, he made numerous promises regarding key issues affecting Malawi’s social fabric. These included tackling corruption, improving healthcare, providing quality education, and addressing unemployment. Unfortunately, as time has progressed, these promises seem to have been empty rhetoric without substantial action to back them up.

Stagnation in Economic Growth

One of the prime concerns for any country is its economic growth and development. However, Malawi has continued to struggle under President Chakwera’s rule, experiencing little to no improvement in the economy. Despite pledges to attract foreign direct investment, create job opportunities, and boost industries, the country’s economic indicators have remained stagnant, exacerbating the already widespread poverty.

Rising Unemployment

Unemployment rates have steadily increased in Malawi, with many young graduates struggling to find gainful employment. President Chakwera’s administration has pledged to create thousands of jobs, but these promises have materialized more as wishful thinking rather than tangible opportunities for the populace. As a result, frustrated youths, driven by desperation, are often left with limited choices, leading to social unrest and crime.

Persistent Corruption

Corruption has long plagued Malawi’s governance and hindered its progress. President Chakwera’s efforts have seemingly fallen short despite vowing to root out corruption. High-profile corruption cases remain unresolved, and little progress has been made in establishing effective anti-corruption mechanisms. This failure to tackle corruption has eroded public trust in the government, leaving citizens disillusioned.

Strained Healthcare System

Malawi’s healthcare infrastructure and services remain underwhelming, with inadequate access to quality healthcare for the general population. President Chakwera promised to prioritize healthcare and improve the delivery of essential services. However, the health sector continues to face challenges such as underfunding, lack of medical supplies, and inadequate healthcare facilities. This has further strained the already vulnerable healthcare system, especially in rural areas.

President Chakwera’s tenure in Malawi has fallen short of delivering on the promises that inspired hope during his election campaign. As societal problems persist and worsen, the President’s recent participation in a prayer gathering with the faith-based community serves as a stark reminder of the administration’s inability to effectively address the country’s pressing issues. Malawi’s social woes continue to grow under President Chakwera’s rule, leaving citizens to question whether prayers alone can bring about the change they urgently need.

Feedback: jonesgadama@gmail.com

Zanu-PF unfazed by new visa restrictions imposed by the US govt

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Zanu-PF says it is unfazed by new visa restrictions imposed by the United States government on individuals accused of rigging elections and intimidating voters.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the policy on Monday saying it was targeting people who are against “Zimbabwean people’s aspirations for free and fair elections and a strengthened democracy.”

“This policy sends a clear message that the United States stands with the Zimbabwean people in their aspirations for a strong democracy,” stated Blinken.

“We will not tolerate actions that undermine these aspirations, and we will hold accountable those who engage in such acts.”

Individuals deemed responsible for, or complicit in undermining democracy in Zimbabwe

will be subject to visa restrictions under section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

The targeted individuals are those involved in activities such as manipulating elections, disenfranchising voters, excluding opposition members, restricting civil society, intimidating voters and observers, engaging in electoral corruption, interfering with the Judiciary, and abusing human rights.

These restrictions may also extend to their family members. Zanu-PF information director Farai Marapira said the party was not surprised because the United States has an anti-Zimbabwe foreign policy.

“Our elections were free and fair, that is why there was no court case from the opposition. The observer missions had to find things outside their mandate to criticise our election. The US government has never had any proper basis for imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe and they are continuing with this, they have no logical reason,” Marapira said.

“We know that they are not concerned with any facts of the matter; we know that the only reason is the land issue. We will continue winning and now we are learning to live with the sanctions. The boat is taking in water but we are not sinking.”

Maparapira said the ruling party, however, remained “open for engagement like what President (Emmerson) Mnangagwa has said, Zimbabwe is a friend to all and an enemy to none.”

However, the August elections drew criticism from regional and international observer missions.

Zimbabwe Election Advocacy Trust executive director Ignatious Sadziwa said the elections were not credible.

“The elections did not meet the international and regional standards,” Sadziwa said.

Political analyst Maxwell Saungweme said sanctions on Zimbabwe had failed to achieve the intended goal.

“Sanctions are a tool for international diplomacy and based on what the ambassador said, they are meant to cause behaviour change, to promote human rights, democracy among other things,” Saungweme said.

“However, we have seen in many cases that sanctions are tried and failed. There is no way we can see sanctions triggering behaviour change.”

Analyst McDonald Lewanika accused the Zanu-PF government of introducing repressive laws to stifle dissent.

The ruling party blames sanctions for the country’s economic problems. The US, Britain and the EU officials have long refuted those accusations, saying the sanctions are targeting individuals and certain companies rather than State institutions.

In December last year, the US added four Zimbabwean nationals and two local companies to the sanctions list. One of the individuals is Emmerson Mnangagwa Junior.

Source – the standard

Kyrie Irving planning to take over his family business, his stepmom and agent says

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Kyrie Irving planning to take over his family business, his stepmom and agent says

Even before he retires from the NBA, Kyrie Irving has his post-NBA life planned out for him. His father, Drederick Irving, and stepmother and agent, Shetellia Riley Irving, have already carved out the next step for the NBA player.

Speaking in an interview with the “Earn Your Leisure” podcast, Shetellia Riley Irving, the CEO of A11Even Sports, said she and Kyrie Irving’s father have designed a plan to pass the family business to Kyrie Irving whenever he decides to retire from basketball.

“Once [Kyrie’s] done, the goal would be to pass it on to him. I can retire, his dad can retire and we can run around and act like we’re 20-something years old,” she said. “That’s the goal…I think at some point [Kyrie] would have enough experience to really, really be an agent of change for players coming into the industry.”

She also reiterated her advice to Kyrie Irving not to launch an independent shoe brand after losing his Nike deal.

“We took the time to figure out what we really wanted in a shoe deal…It was creativity, price point, quality products and a host of other things,” she noted.

“When we started to have the conversations with ANTA and a few other companies, it was really about us creating our own contract because we didn’t want something that was really a traditional contract where it was like you just get royalties, base commission and then you walk away.”

“We wanted something that had a lot more ownership for us because we knew that once we put [Kyrie] in the lab, we knew what he was gonna create at the end of the day,” she noted, adding, “We wanted something that gave us real equity.”

In March last year, former Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving made changes to his management team by hiring his stepmother Shetellia Riley Irving to act as his agent, writer for The Athletic Shams Charania reported. It made Shetellia Riley Irving the only Black woman representing an active NBA player, the report added.

Prior to putting his mother in charge as his agent, Kyrie Irving was managed by Roc Nation and Jeff Wechsler. He first hired Roc Nation in 2019 after moving on from agent Jeff Wechsler. Kyrie Irving, who is among some players who are unvaccinated, set aside $1.5 million in July 2020 to support WNBA players who opted not to play the rest of the 2020 season be it as a result of the pandemic or to pursue social justice endeavors. On December 10 that year, he also paid off the tuition of nine graduating students at Lincoln University, an HBCU in Pennsylvania.

Kyrie Irving also donated $323,000 to Feeding America to help provide meals to people impacted by the pandemic and partnered with City Harvest to donate 250,000 meals across the New York area to help marginalized communities get food.

South African Woman Sentenced to 50 Years for Stealing $28 million from Employer

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South African Woman Sentenced to 50 Years for Stealing $28 million from Employer

shocking case of embezzlement came to a close on Friday as Hildegard Antoinette Steenkamp, a former accountant at Medtronic (Pty) Ltd, was sentenced to an effective 50 years in prison by the Johannesburg Commercial Crimes Court in Palm Ridge. The 50-year-old woman had been found guilty of an astonishing 336 charges related to the theft of R537 million ($28 million)over a 13-year period.

Steenkamp’s elaborate plan involved making fraudulent Value Added Tax (VAT) claims from the South African Revenue Service in an attempt to cover up her theft. The court heard that she operated alone, despite her claims that her late husband, Mathys Steenkamp, had forced her into the criminal activities.

In delivering the sentence, Magistrate Phillip Venter expressed his shock at the magnitude of the theft, stating that it was the highest amount seen by the court in cases involving an individual perpetrator. He emphasized that Steenkamp had meticulously executed a well-thought-out criminal plan, engaging in transactions larger than the average salary of a middle-class person and even exceeding pension amounts received upon retirement.

Venter highlighted a concerning trend in commercial crime courts, noting an increase in criminals with profiles similar to Steenkamp’s—individuals in positions of trust, such as accountants or bookkeepers, who exploit their access to commit financial crimes.

The magistrate explained, “It’s the profile of the most trusted individual, in a position of trust, like an accountant or bookkeeper. They usually never take leave, and someone who never allows anyone access to their system would go to the length of taking their laptops with them while they are on holiday so that they can continue working. They are usually caught in the moment of forced absence from work.”

Steenkamp’s defense argued against a direct imprisonment term, citing poor living conditions and overcrowding in prisons. However, Venter dismissed these arguments, stating, “A considerable long-term imprisonment is the only appropriate sentence. The court can’t be regarding the issue of overcrowding in prisons.”

The imposed sentence was double what the State had requested. During closing arguments, State advocate Tilas Chabalala had proposed a 25-year imprisonment term due to the severity of the crimes committed.

Steenkamp’s fraudulent activities were revealed when forensic investigators discovered that she funded a lavish lifestyle, including gambling, jewelry purchases, and frequent international travel, with the stolen funds. She resigned from Medtronic in 2017 and handed herself over to the authorities in 2018. Steenkamp pleaded guilty earlier this year, and her sentence serves as a stark reminder of the severe consequences for those who abuse positions of trust for personal gain.

Son of Israel’s war cabinet minister killed in battle in Gaza

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Son of Israel’s war cabinet minister killed in battle in Gaza

The military in Israel says that the son of a former army chief, Gadi Eisenkot, who is now a minister in the war cabinet, has died in Gaza.

25-year-old Soldier Gal Eisenkot passed away in northern Gaza on Thursday.

Israeli news reports say that MSgt Eisenkot was seriously hurt when a tunnel exploded, and he later died in the hospital.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and his wife were very sad, and that Gal Eisenkot was a real hero.

In his statement, Mr Netanyahu said: “Our brave soldiers did not die for nothing. We will keep fighting until we win.

Gadi Eisenkot, age 63, is a retired military leader who was in charge of Israel’s military from 2015 to 2019.

A politician from the National Unity party, he is also a member of Mr Netanyahu’s temporary government formed after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, causing the death of about 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages.

Israel has attacked Gaza by dropping bombs from planes and sending soldiers in on the ground. Hamas people in Gaza say they have killed over 17,000 people, mostly regular people, and a lot more are still trapped under collapsed buildings.

Mr Eisenkot found out about his son’s injuries while he was visiting the Israel Defense Forces’ Southern Command, according to local media.

Several Israeli government officials and lawmakers also expressed their sadness and sympathy for the Eisenkot family.

Yair Lapid, the leader of the opposing party, put up a picture of Gal and Gadi Eisenkot wearing military clothes and hugging each other.

This picture This hug is nice. A dad and his son. Both wearing the same clothes. Both soldiers in this country,” Mr Lapid wrote. Mr Lapid wrote that both soldiers in this country. “They both answer the call and come when they are needed, doing whatever is necessary. ” One hug can decide the future of a whole country.

The IDF also said that another soldier, Sgt Maj Jonathan David Deitch, aged 34, was killed in southern Gaza on Thursday.

‘What CCC must do after crooked Tshabangu and ZANU PF parly heist’- Hopewell Chin’ono

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‘What CCC must do after crooked Tshabangu and ZANU PF parly heist’- Hopewell Chin’ono

By Hopewell Chin’ono

Some folks have asked me what needs to be done now since the crooked Tshabangu/ZANU PF coordinated plan has been fully implemented.

Well, ZANU PF now has a Two-Thirds majority in parliament after stealing Mabvuku and the subsequent seats coming its way thanks to Tshabangu.

That is all they ever wanted so that they can mutilate Zimbabwe’s constitution and create an Imperial Presidency with no term limits.

So let us agree that the opposition CCC MPs are now simply going to parliament to collect their salaries, perks, the 4×4 and heckle their corrupt ZANU PF counterparts to no material effect.

There is now nothing that CCC MPs can stop in parliament after the catastrophic mistakes by their leadership of first not pulling out of parliament when Tshabangu’s nonsense started, and secondly, when they didn’t listen to the advice to run as Independents.

There is nothing else that can be done since it is now clear that Tshabangu is a ZANU PF pawn, after opposing an application to reinstate the Mabvuku-Tafara Member of Parliament when he initially lied on Blessed Mhlanga’s show that he had recalled the CCC Mabvuku-Tafara MP by mistake.

Now that we are here, remaining in parliament is only to give legitimacy to ZANU PF’s corrupt rule agenda so that it pretends internationally that there is democracy in Zimbabwe, when there is none!

The opposition must remain in councils because they are in control of them, and ZANU PF was never interested in them as of now, if ZANU PF starts recalling more opposition councillors through Tshabangu, then CCC should pull out too.

CCC MUST realise that the game is up and that it can’t continue cuddling ZANU PF in its madness and continued mutilation of the constitution, unless it is deliberately complicit!

ZANU PF doesn’t want CCC to pull out of parliament because it knows that there will be consequences internationally if parliament remains in the hands of ZANU PF exclusively without opposition MPs.

Even the empty attempts to engage with the West and its international financial institutions will STOP, it will be a pariah regime!

Remaining in parliament will protect ZANU PF internationally, is that what CCC wants?

Those in the diplomatic community that will urge the opposition to remain in parliament will be doing so for selfish reasons, either as emissaries of ZANU PF or for their country’s selfish interests.

Nelson Chamisa faces one big problem, most of his MPs campaigned using their own resources to get to parliament, and for many of them, parliament is a job and not a calling.

Many of them have never had a single’s day work, this is their first job.

So they might defy him if he asks them to pull out, but that will be good for him if they do so in my view, because the public needs to know those who are in it for money, and those who are in it for the struggle.

I know most of those guys, they won’t pull out, they will defy him, and it won’t be in his financial interest too because they pay a tithe to the party.

Some of Chamisa’s advisers who are handled by the regime will also advise him against pulling out, remember the regime needs CCC in parliament.

Chamisa is facing complex challenges both politically and strategically and they are made worse by the fact that he has no strong and fearless team around him.

The truth is that without pulling out of parliament or a political revolution, you will have to wait for 2028 or for internal contradictions in ZANU PF to resolve themselves!

Remember that Mnangagwa is not only dealing with the opposition, he is also solidifying his power and tightening his grip on on both ZANU PF and the State.

Pulling out would make sense, but it won’t happen, for now Tshabangu will only recall troublesome MPs on ZANU PF’s request!

ZANU PF needs CCC in parliament for a false semblance of democracy to be projected internationally, it will do anything for CCC not to leave!

Hopewell Chin’ono is an award winning Zimbabwean international journalist and documentary filmmaker. He was the African Journalist of the year twice in 2008 and in 2020. In January 2022, he was named among the top 100 most influential Africans for the year 2021 by the British based New African Magazine.

Zimbabwe’s CCC crisis: Farce turning to tragedy for the opposition

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Zimbabwe’s CCC crisis: Farce turning to tragedy for the opposition

The drama playing out in Zimbabwe’s main opposition party could be something out of a farce – as it faces by-elections this weekend with the possibility of its candidates missing from the ballot.

The Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) was left bruised after August’s election – alleging irregularities after President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his Zanu-PF party won.

But winning more than 100 of the 280 seats in parliament, it denied the ruling party of a two-thirds majority that would enable it to change the constitution.

Then the CCC seemed to turn on itself.

In a startling move it started to expel or recall some of its own members of parliament – something that prompts a by-election.

This was being done by Sengezo Tshabangu, who claimed to be the party’s interim secretary-general.

Hitherto unknown to most people in Zimbabwe, Mr Tshabangu now dominates headlines.

He had written to the parliamentary Speaker in October alleging some CCC MPs had “ceased to be members of the party”.

The CCC leader, Nelson Chamisa, immediately labelled Mr Tshabangu a fake and told the Speaker to ignore the letter.

But it was Mr Chamisa who was ignored as the Speaker duly declared vacancies in the constituencies.

The MPs caught up in the fray went to court to challenge the move, but President Mnangagwa went ahead and announced by-elections in the affected constituencies before their hearings.

This was proof, according to the CCC, that he was confident the judges would go his way – which they did. The courts threw out the challenge and a subsequent appeal on legal technicalities.

An emboldened Mr Tshabangu then began to claim more scalps – dismissing, or recalling, more CCC MPs and local councillors too.

So who is this man behind what seems like political hara-kiri for the opposition – an inside saboteur or a Zanu-PF proxy, as alleged by the CCC?

The ruling party has vehemently denied any involvement in what it calls internal CCC squabbles – though it must be rubbing its hands in glee.

Some say Mr Tshabangu was active in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the precursor to the CCC.

A picture of him with Mr Chamisa has been doing the rounds, which the CCC says proves nothing.

“Anybody can get their picture taken with the [CCC] president,” the party’s spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi told the BBC.

Mr Tshabangu backed out of an interview with the BBC after initially seeming eager. He has, however, spoken to local media.

In one interview, he claimed to be loyal to Mr Chamisa, referring to him as “president” as other party members do.

He said his targets were “criminals around the president”, language that recalls the speech announcing the 2017 coup when putschists said then-President Robert Mugabe’s position was safe.

We all know how that finished up – with a resignation letter ending his 37-year rule.

But Mr Tshabangu’s loyalty has been brought into question after he told parliament that funds meant for all political parties, depending on the percentage of votes they garnered in the general election, be deposited into a bank account he controls.

He says his main beef comes down to how CCC candidates were selected for the August vote.

The 49-year-old alleges the party’s leadership disregarded those chosen by the people during primaries and imposed their preferred candidates instead on ethnic grounds.

In his criticism of some CCC members he has used sexist and misogynistic language – and belittled them by referring to them as girls or boys.

As the saga unfolds, Zimbabweans see all the makings of a split in the CCC, with some blaming Mr Chamisa’s leadership style.

The opposition has a history of division, dating back to 2005 when the MDC split, when Morgan Tsvangirai was in charge, over disagreements about whether to participate in senatorial elections.

Mr Tsvangirai’s death in 2018 prompted further schisms.

Mr Chamisa says Mr Tsvangirai appointed him acting leader from his hospital bed. At his funeral, he announced he was taking over the leadership. But it was regarded as unconstitutional as Tsvangirai’s deputy, Thokozani Khupe, was the rightful successor.

The battle ended up in court and Mr Chamisa lost – deciding to form the CCC last January, a new party meant to be a broad church.

Former MP Paul Themba Nyathi, who now describes himself as a politician-turned-civic activist, was one of the leaders who broke away from the MDC in 2005 and sees Mr Tshabangu as a Zanu-PF stooge.

But he says the current turmoil in the CCC is a direct result of Mr Chamisa personalising the party, though he told the BBC he believed this was an opportunity to reform.

“The people have this faith in him to remove Mnangagwa, but he is destroying the idea of a democratic alternative,” he said.

Eldred Masunungure, a political analyst at the University of Zimbabwe, agrees.

“Chamisa’s personalisation and centralisation of power is the problem. But it can be solved by the party putting together a clear leadership structure and a constitution which governs it,” he told the BBC.

Mr Tshabangu has on several occasions tried to imply he has former senior members of the MDC behind him – especially those absent from the campaign trail this year. But one in particular said it was a “malicious and defamatory” insinuation.

The most serious fallout of the affair, however, has been death of a CCC campaigner – intimidation and violence being common tactics in Zimbabwean elections.

Tapfumaneyi Masaya was abducted in broad daylight in mid-November while campaigning in Mabvuku – an opposition stronghold in the capital, Harare. His mutilated corpse was discovered a few days later.

The constituency had been won in August by the CCC’s candidate, Munyaradzi Kufahakutizwi, despite a massive effort by Zanu-PF to take it – including using Floyd Mayweather Jr to woo voters.

The US boxing legend flew into the country on his private jet at the behest of prominent gold dealer Scott Sakupwanya, the Zanu-PF candidate who went on to lose the seat.

“We have more immediate needs here, our clinics do not have medicines, we have water issues, and the $500,000 [£398,000] he reportedly paid Mayweather, whom we don’t even know, could have gone some ways in addressing those issues,” 55-year-old Mabvuku resident Mabel Maposa told the BBC.

The two of them will slug it out again on Saturday despite the court decision as Mr Kufahakutizwi is not on the list of those Mr Tshabangu wanted barred. He now says Mr Kufahakutizwi’s inclusion on the list was “a mistake” which he tried to correct to stop the Mabvuku by-election but he was too late.

The CCC has launched an urgent appeal at the Supreme Court to get its other eight candidates back on the ballot – and it must rule before Saturday to completely disqualify them.

Zanu-PF has deployed its big guns to campaign in all nine contested constituencies. And if successful in all those it will be enough to secure a two-thirds majority in parliament.

During the last election campaign the party promised an end to power cuts – and for weeks before the vote, Zimbabweans enjoyed a mainly uninterrupted supply of electricity.

A day after the polls, load-shedding, as rolling power cuts are known as locally, was not only back, but back with a vengeance.

Voters may have hoped the same tactic would have been used in the run-up to these by-elections.

But this has not been the case and Zanu-PF’s overriding message to voters is: “This is a chance to correct your mistake.”

Ish Mafundikwa is a freelance journalist based in Zimbabwe.

Woman who tried to set Martin Luther King’s house on fire arrested

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The police say that people nearby stopped a woman from setting Martin Luther King Jr’s home on fire in Atlanta, Georgia.

Authorities said that quick action “saved a valuable piece of American history”.

The person who is being accused is in jail and is being charged with setting fire to a building by allegedly pouring gasoline on it.

Dr King lived in a two-story house for the first 12 years of his life, and now it’s a very important historical place.

The National Park Service bought the inside of the building in 2018. It’s been closed to the public for repairs and updates since last month.

Police went to the historic district on Auburn Avenue when they heard about vandalism happening at around 5:45pm local time on Thursday. This information was shared by the Atlanta police in a news release.

A video was shared with the local WSB-TV news channel that shows a woman wearing all black pouring liquid on the porch and front windows of the house.

When the police got there, the suspect had already been stopped by two filmmakers from Utah and two off-duty police officers from New York who were also visiting the home, according to Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum.

One of the movie makers, Zach Kempf, said to the New York Times that at first he thought the woman was watering bushes in front of the house, but then she quickly went up the stairs and pulled on the front screen door.

She didn’t say anything when they asked what she was doing. She poured out the stuff from a big container and threw it into the bushes. Then, she picked up a lighter from the grass. “Mr Kempf, who is 43 years old, said the woman seemed anxious but not hostile. She walked away after he stood in front of her. ”

He called 911 and shouted for help to two New York officers. They chased and caught the suspect, holding her until the local police came.

The woman’s father and three sisters said she has been struggling with mental problems for a long time, Mr. Kempf told the Times.

The person who was accused of a crime was getting a check-up on their mental health before going to the local jail, the police said on Thursday night.

She might get in more trouble with the government for what she did.

The fire department said the home wasn’t damaged and a special team is cleaning up the area.

Fire chief Jerry DeBerry said if the witnesses hadn’t been there to stop her, the house could have been on fire very soon.

“It was mostly about having the right timing and the right people to see what happened. ”

The King Center said that someone tried to start a fire but couldn’t because of brave people helping and the police acting quickly.

“We are praying for the person who is accused of committing this crime,” it added.

THE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE FED UP-Fred M’membe

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THE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE FED UP-Fred M’membe

THE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE FED UP

There is no age group in this country today that is as united and strong as the young people in expressing their frustration and discontent with Mr Hakainde Hichilema’s leadership.

While other voters across the political spectrum are equally concerned about the current state of affairs, the young people are increasingly frustrated and worried, and are turning to various social media platforms to vent their disappointment, displeasure and outrage at the current socioeconomic and political climate.

With the Kwacha in free fall, the rising cost of living, high unemployment, grand corruption, ethnic bigotry, political tensions, unfilled campaign promises and many more, it is clear that the young people are getting convinced each day that passes that Mr Hichilema and his corrupt puppet regime do not possess both the imagination and will power to change this country and its people.

The clarity and conviction from the young people that Mr Hichilema will not change anything is actually very scary for this government.

In fact, the growing numbers of frustrated, hungry and angry young people are a clear warning to Mr Hichilema and his league, as they struggle to cope with the growing economic crisis in the country that, not all is well for them.

Our young people already feel disengaged, forgotten, and deflated by the current leadership’s inability to find common ground in dealing directly with the problems facing them. They feel isolated and frustrated with the daily challenges of their lives.

They were promised sweeping reforms and improved lives, but none of this has materialised to date.

Consequently, there is a serious realisation among the young people that they were deceived, and there is definitely no innovative approach to the problems they face. They also don’t see how this leadership can be trusted and respected in view of their deceptive behaviour and lack of accountability for their actions.

Today, the young people have been left out to dry, and they are yearning for decent, honest, and patriotic leadership and not Mr Hichilema’s “wishy-washy” puppet leadership.

However, we would like to assure the young people of this country that we are aware of their problems, frustrations, concerns and fears about their future and we would like to encourage them not to lose hope.

We urge them to continue with their hard work, commitment, and patriotism as we match together towards a more just, equal, peaceful, and prosperous future.

It is clear that Mr Hichilema is out of touch with the people of all age brackets, especially the younger generation. He doesn’t have the required patriotism, vision, and dynamism to steer this country forward.

One bad term, doesn’t deserve another, aleya!

Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party

UK granted Rwanda additional £100 million in exchange for asylum agreement

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UK granted Rwanda additional £100 million in exchange for asylum agreement

The UK has given Rwanda an extra £100 million this year as part of their agreement to move asylum seekers there.

In a letter to MPs, the top official at the Home Office said that the money was sent to the African nation in April.

Sir Matthew Rycroft said that they are expecting to receive another payment of £50 million next year.

The news came a few hours after Rishi Sunak promised to keep working on the plan because his immigration minister quit.

The plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda to process their applications and possibly allow them to live there, was first announced by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in April 2022. This was to stop people from crossing the English Channel in small boats.

‘Something to hide’

The process has been delayed multiple times because of legal issues, and no people seeking asylum have been sent from the UK yet.

So far, we knew that the government had spent at least £140 million on the policy. Sir Matthew had said no before when asked to share new numbers. He said the government decided to show the costs every year instead.

The numbers were shared in a letter to Dame Diana Johnson and Dame Meg Hiller, who are in charge of committees about home affairs and government spending.

Dame Meg told BBC Radio 4’s Today show that the total cost of the policy was only disclosed after many questions.

“It seems like the government is hiding something,” she said.

Sir Matthew said that the extra payments were not connected to the new agreement signed between the UK and Rwanda this week. This is part of the government’s effort to change the policy that was found illegal by the Supreme Court last month.

The minister in charge of legal immigration, Tom Pursglove, said the money was being used to make sure the Rwanda policy was strong and solid.

He said the plan is very important for saving money on housing migrants in UK hotels, which is currently costing £8 million a day for the government.

Robert Jenrick’s job as immigration minister was divided into two after he quit. Michael Tomlinson is in charge of dealing with people who come to a country without permission.

Labour called the news about the extra costs “amazing”, with Yvette Cooper, who is the shadow home secretary, saying: “How many more unlimited amounts of money will Rishi Sunak give out before the Tories tell the truth about this plan being a complete joke. ”

“It’s like spending £100 million for each trip the home secretary takes to Rwanda,” she said.

The Home Office said Rwanda can initially take 200 people a year, but they want to increase that number later on.

The department thinks it will cost £169,000 to send someone to a safe country, not specifically Rwanda, compared to £106,000 if they stay in the UK.

Legal issues or problems with the law

Earlier in the day, Mr. Sunak gave a speech and asked the members of the Conservative Party to support his idea.

The prime minister talked the day after immigration minister Robert Jenrick quit because he didn’t think the government’s new policy would work.

Mr Sunak said the new law from the government will stop the cycle of legal problems about sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda.

The bill makes judges treat Rwanda as a safe country and allows ministers to ignore parts of the Human Rights Act. However, it does not go as far as letting them get rid of the European Convention on Human Rights, as some on the right side of the Conservative Party have asked for.

The proposed law is being challenged by some members of the Conservative Party in Parliament next week.

On Thursday, Suella Braverman, who used to be in charge of keeping the country safe, said again that the plan would not work to prevent people from coming by boat. She wants the government to completely ignore international law.

The Times said that important government lawyers told No 10 that the new law might still let migrants argue against being sent to Rwanda.

Mr Pursglove told BBC Radio 4’s Today show that the new law would stop people from trying to delay the appeals process.

On Sky News, he said government officials will work with lawmakers to address any worries they have.

Firebrand MP removed from India parliament over bribery scandal

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Firebrand MP removed from India parliament over bribery scandal

India’s parliament kicked out a member of the opposition party because he was accused of taking money in return for asking questions.

Mahua Moitra said she was kicked out without any evidence, even though she denies the accusations.

She can choose to take the decision to court and argue against it.

Friday, lawmakers in the lower house of parliament voted to expel someone after passing a resolution.

Earlier today, a report from an ethics panel suggested that Ms Moitra should be kicked out of the house. The lawmakers who disagree with the report wanted more time to read it before discussing it, but the speaker said no.

Congress MP Manish Tewari said during the debate that if we had been given a few days to study the report and share our opinions with the house, it wouldn’t have caused such a big problem. The decision the house is making is very important and we need time to think about it.

Ms Moitra is a member of Trinamool Congress party, which is currently in charge of the West Bengal state. She strongly criticizes Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has the most seats in the Lok Sabha.

Her friends in the party protested in the building on Friday, chanting and supporting Ms Moitra. The meeting was stopped for an hour before the lawmakers came back to talk.

Leaders of the Trinamool Congress said the report was not reliable and insisted that the accusation of bribery was untrue. They and other people against the government have said that Ms Moitra was attacked because she spoke out against Mr Modi’s party.

Speaker Om Birla said Ms Moitra couldn’t talk in the house on Friday. He said she already had a chance to defend herself in front of the ethics committee. Ms Moitra left when the committee was asking her questions. She said they were unfair and not right.

The problem started in October when a politician named Nishikant Dubey accused Ms Moitra of asking questions about the Adani Group in return for gifts and money from a businessman named Darshan Hiranandani.

Mr Adani is thought to be friends with Mr Modi and has been accused by politicians from other parties of getting advantages from their friendship, but both Mr Adani and the BJP say it’s not true.

Earlier this year, a company in the United States accused Mr. Adani of doing illegal things with stocks and money for many years. The Adani Group says the allegations are not true and calls the report “malicious”.

Mr Dubey said that until recently, Ms. Moitra asked 50 out of 61 questions in the Lok Sabha about the Adani Group. He also accused her of taking bribes worth 20 million rupees from Mr. Ms Moitra has said very strongly that this is not true.

The BJP leader said he has proof against Ms Moitra from a lawyer named Jai Anant Dehadrai, who Ms Moitra called her ex-boyfriend.

Mr Hiranandani told the ethics committee that the TMC leader is targeting Mr Adani because he wants to become well-known. Ms Moitra doubted if the affidavit was real, but Mr Hiranandani said he signed it willingly.

Mr Dubey complained that Ms Moitra gave her login details to Mr Hiranandani so he could ask questions for her in Parliament.

Ms Moitra said she gave her login information to the businessman, but she didn’t think she broke any rules by doing that.

She has sued Mr Dubey and Mr Dehadrai in the Delhi high court for saying bad things about her.

Hunter Biden faces second criminal offence case

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Hunter Biden faces second criminal offence case

Federal lawyers have accused Hunter Biden of not paying his taxes. This is the second time he has been charged with a crime. Hunter Biden is the son of the US president.

He is accused of trying to avoid paying $1. 4 million in federal taxes from 2016 to 2019, according to the nine charges.

Three serious crimes and six lesser crimes are not filing or paying taxes, giving false information on a tax return and avoiding paying taxes that are owed.

Mr Biden, who is 53 years old, was accused of breaking gun laws in September in Delaware.

On Thursday night, his lawyer said the new charges are caused by politics.

President Joe Biden is not named in the charges, and the White House has not said anything about it yet.

Congressional Republicans are focusing on Hunter Biden’s business deals as they investigate President Biden for possible impeachment. President Biden is running for re-election next year.

If Hunter Biden is found guilty in the tax case, he could be sent to prison for as long as 17 years.

Since 2019, Special Counsel David Weiss from the US Department of Justice has been looking into a Yale-educated lawyer who used to be addicted to crack cocaine.

In a legal document in California, it is said that he used his money for things like drugs, expensive hotels and cars, and clothes instead of paying his taxes.

The president’s son got more than $7 million in total income between 2016 and 2020. But he didn’t pay his taxes on time for those years, even though he had the money to do so.

Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said that if Hunter’s last name was not Biden, he would not have been charged in Delaware and California.

Hunter Biden gave back all the money he owed in taxes and fines in 2020. He got a loan from his lawyer to help him do it.

The indictment includes a chart that shows how Hunter Biden used his money.

From 2016 to 2019, he spent more than $188,000 on “adult entertainment” and over $683,000 on “payments to different women”, as stated in the charges.

Prosecutors claim that Hunter Biden made a lot of money and spent it freely in 2018.

The charge says he earned a lot of money from a company he started with a big Chinese company, the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, and someone from Romania.

The indictment says that as he made more money, he spent more on a luxurious lifestyle.

In 2018, the person being accused spent a lot of money, including taking out lots of cash, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to women, and spending $151,000 on clothes.

That year, Hunter Biden told his ex-wife he couldn’t pay alimony because he didn’t have enough money.

He stayed at expensive hotels, spent $10,000 to join a sex club, and said that $1,248 airline tickets for a dancer were a business cost, according to the charges.

The prosecutors say that he had enough money to pay some or all of his taxes on time, but he decided not to.

He supposedly took personal expenses and said they were for his business. For example, he rented a Lamborghini when he first got to California in 2018 until his Porsche arrived.

Earlier this year, Hunter Biden was supposed to admit to breaking tax rules in a deal with the people in charge of making sure the law is followed.

But the agreement didn’t work out because a judge thought it was strange. Congressional Republicans criticized it as a favorable deal.

This summer, two people who exposed wrongdoing at the IRS told Congress that they think Hunter Biden should have been accused of more serious tax crimes. They said they think he got off easy because he’s the president’s son.

Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler said the indictment on Thursday is a complete vindication for them.

In September, he was charged by the government for having a gun while using drugs and lying about it on a form. He said he did not do it.

The House of Representatives Oversight Committee is looking into whether President Biden did something wrong with his son.

Congressional Republicans say they found bank statements that prove Joe Biden lied about getting money from his son’s business. But the White House says the whole investigation is based on lies.

Slovenian Club sacks Nigerian footballer for impregnating Club President’s daughter

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A Slovenian football club has reportedly sacked a Nigerian player for getting the club president’s daughter pregnant.
It has been reported that an unnamed Nigerian football player in Slovenia has been fired by his club for impregnating the daughter of the president of the second division outfit just six months after he joined them.

According to Ghana Soccernet, the player whose name has been withheld, was fired for ‘gross misconduct and indiscipline’ over the pregnancy which he has claimed full responsibility.

The publication also reports that there are four Nigerians players (Bede Osuji, Temitope Nelson, Gerald Chiyoke and Sulaiman Adedoja) registered with second-tier clubs in Slovenia, but it’s unclear which of them is involved in the pregnancy scandal.

The player involved in the pregnancy scandal is said to have returned to Nigeria and he is worried about the well-being of his girlfriend and her pregnancy. He is now considering involving FIFA into the situation following the club’s decision to sack him after only joining them in May 2019.

Narrating his ordeal, he said:

” I signed a three year deal with the option of another year but last month I ran into trouble when my girlfriend who happens to be the daughter of the president said she was pregnant for me”, he said.

” The club got to know about it and summoned me for a meeting. I got there and admitted that I am responsible for the pregnancy and I was told to stay at home and not to be seen around the club premises until I am instructed to return.

” A week later I was called to the office and told that my agent has been informed about their plans to terminate my contract for gross misconduct and indiscipline. The news came to me as a surprise because I have not been found wanting in any area since I arrived the club six months ago”.

” My agent called me up and said we should file a case with FIFA that he has a recording of the president saying my contract was terminated for having an affair with his daughter. She’s an adult for God sake, we both love each other and decided to have a child.

” Now I don’t know what will happen to her and the child since I’m back in Nigeria. They have forced her to block me on all social media platforms so we have not been communicating. The few friends I made at the club are also scared of speaking to me about her apparently they don’t want to run into trouble with the team. I’m confused right now”, he concluded.

NATO has three years to prepare for Russian attack, report 

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NATO has just three years to prepare for a Russian attack, the chief of Polish national security has warned, amid growing concerns over the war in Ukraine.

With Vladimir Putin’s 21-month-long invasion dragging into another winter, Kyiv has suffered a series of setbacks that suggest the war is becoming ‘frozen’.
The United States and the EU are struggling to secure further packages of military aid to Ukraine, which in-turn has struggled to make major advances in its 2023 counteroffensive that many hoped would deal more blows to Moscow’s armies.As a result, attention is turning to the threat the Kremlin could pose to NATO and the EU’s eastern borders shared with Russia and its ally Belarus.
In one troubling report from a leading German think tank, it has been argued that the NATO alliance must be ready to fend off a Russian attack within six to ten years.

But according to Jacek Siewiera, the chief of Poland’s National Security Bureau and a minister in the country’s chancellery, the report has underestimated the time frame.

NATO has just three years to prepare for a Russian attack, the chief of a Polish national security has warned, amid growing concerns over the war in Ukraine. Pictured: Ukrainian soldiers patrol around Avdiivka, Ukraine on December 4.

‘Unfortunately […] this analysis is consistent with studies prepared in the USA,’ he told Polish Catholic newspaper Nasz Dziennik in an interview that was also published on Poland’s presidential website.

‘However, in my opinion, the time frames presented by German analysts are too optimistic. If we want to avoid war, NATO countries on the eastern flank should adopt a shorter, 3-year time horizon to prepare for confrontation,’ he warned.

‘This is the time when a potential must be created on the eastern flank that would be a clear signal deterring aggression.’

Since Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, senior Kremlin officials have hinted that it was just the beginning of the president’s imperial ambitions that could see him set his sights on NATO’s eastern-most member states.

With a full-scale war at NATO’s doorstep for the first time in years, such threats have not been taken idly by European nations.

Both Finland and Sweden signed up to the military alliance, setting aside their decade-long stance on military non-alignment. Finland officially became a member on April 4 this year, while Sweden’s application is currently being held up.

Meanwhile, Germany was among several countries to increase their defence spending in the wake of the invasion.

But concern remains over the threat posed by Russia.

Zanu PF reacts angrily to US visa restrictions announced by Blinken

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Zanu PF reacts angrily to US visa restrictions announced by Blinken

Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party is reacting angrily to a new visa restriction policy which U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced this week, aimed at people accused of undermining democracy in the southern African nation.

Lawrence Socha, spokesperson at the U.S. Embassy in Harare, told VOA that the new visa restriction policy would affect individuals believed to be responsible for or complicit in undermining democracy.

He said that may include manipulating or rigging the electoral process, disenfranchising voters, restricting the work of civil society organizations, or intimidating voters.

“Such acts might also include engaging in corruption, including bribery that undermines the electoral process, interfering with the independent operation of the judiciary, or abusing or violating human rights in Zimbabwe,” said Socha.

“The visa restriction policy will apply to specific individuals involved in these acts, and it is not directed at the Zimbabwe in people. The United States supports Zimbabwe’s aspirations to have free and fair elections that reflect the will of the people and strengthen democracy, the rule of law, and the protection of human rights.”

Zimbabwe’s August general election was marred by delays and shortages of materials in the opposition’s strongholds. Many observer missions – including from the Southern African Development Community, said the process fell far short of requirements of the country’s electoral laws as well as the regional bloc’s guidelines.

Jonathan Moyo, a former government minister in Zimbabwe, says the new restrictions are meant to make citizens revolt against their government after the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, known as ZIDERA, failed to do so.

Then-U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law the measure aimed at promoting economic growth and the rule of law.

“An objective empirical assessment of this latest measure is really an admission first and foremost that ZIDERA has failed, that the Americans have become hopeless, the Americans, the meaning of the American government, have become jittery, and they now are resorting to legal instruments that were there in 2001 but now they think they can achieve what they’ve failed to achieve through Zidera,” said Moyo.

Farai Muroiwa Marapira, a ZANU-PF spokesman, voiced agreement with Moyo.

“As ZANU-PF, we are not surprised by this new activity by the American government. We all know their intent on changing the government,” said Marapira.

“And all their machinations having failed in August, some tantrums are expected and this is what is obtaining. We remain unfazed and remain resolute. We hold on to the words of wisdom from our president; President ED Mnangagwa. We are an enemy to none and a friend to all and our doors are open.”

Moyo says he doubts the new U.S. visa restrictions will have any impact.

However, Promise Mkwananzi, the spokesman for the country’s main opposition party, the Citizens’ Coalition for Change, is more hopeful.

“We note the measures taken by the Americans against the authors and sponsors of chaos, illegitimacy and illegality in Zimbabwe,” said Mkwananzi.

“I think it is important not just for the American government but as well as other governments, regional bodies such as SADC and others to ensure that they put some disincentives against people who would want to undermine the will of the people of Zimbabwe and disrespect at the voice of the Zimbabwean people, including of course those that are not in ZANU-PF, but who are complicit with the regime in undermining the wishes and the will of the people of Zimbabwe.”

The opposition says it is still hopeful that regional body SADC will call for fresh polls following the chaos which characterized Zimbabwe’s August elections. VOA Zimbabwe

DR Congo voters face hurdles ahead of poll

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President Felix Tshisekedi is seeking a second term in office. By SIMON MAINA (AFP)
Problems are plaguing the electoral process in the Democratic Republic of Congo, just two weeks ahead of polling, with many voters rushing to replace illegible voter cards.

The impoverished central African nation is due hold presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections on December 20.

President Felix Tshisekedi, who took office in 2019 after a disputed election, is running for a second term.

Some 20 other candidates are standing for the presidency, but only a handful have the funds for nationwide campaigning.

The DRC is a huge country, roughly the size of continental western Europe, with dire road infrastructure. It is currently rainy season, making the roads worse, and swathes of the east is lawless and plagued by armed groups.

Criticisms of the electoral process also abound. Opposition figures have accused the government of stacking the electoral commission, known as the CENI, as well as in the Constitutional Court, the final arbitrator in case of electoral disputes.

There are fears the final result will be contested.

The DRC’s democracy is relatively new. Its first multiparty election after the 32-year reign of former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko was held in 2006.

“The Congo is in the process of consolidating its democracy,” government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said recently.

But beyond politics, the electoral process is also plagued by technical problems.

Faded cards

Across the capital Kinshasa, and elsewhere in the country, voters are queueing up at the last minute to replace their voter-registration cards.

Congolese voters registered for this month’s election between December last year and March, and received cards enabling them to cast ballots.

The DRC does not have ID cards, and passports are too costly for most people in the country, so the voter-registration cards are crucial.

But an unidentified number of these cards have since faded almost clean, with most of the writing illegible. Would-be voters have been trying to get replacement cards over the past few weeks.

“I’ve been here since 9.30 am,” said agronomist Gregoire-Dieudonne Kaykolongo, in the mid-afternoon at a CENI branch in the Kinshasa commune of Lingwala.

He showed AFP his current voter card — now wiped almost blank. “I can’t vote with a card like this,” the 75-year-old said.

The cards are supposed to be delivered free of charge, but there are widespread reports of corrupt agents demanding money for replacements. President Tshisekedi deplored the practice last month.

Still, some people are reassured that something is being done.

In Lingwala, Joseph Mwendanga, who is standing for the national assembly, said he could see that people were working to tackle the issue.

“I was worried, I didn’t think there would be elections,” he said.

Fears of a delayed election — known locally as a “glissement,” or “sliding”, in French — are also widespread.

However, CENI chairman Denis Kadima has held firm and repeatedly promised that the election will take [place on time on December 20.

Zimbabwe court bars opposition MPs from crucial by-elections

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Zimbabwe court bars opposition MPs from crucial by-elections

Zimbabwe’s opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) has complained that many of its lawmakers and supporters have been the targets of government intimidation. By JOHN WESSELS (AFP)
A Zimbabwe court on Thursday barred most opposition candidates from running in by-elections on Saturday that could take the ruling ZANU-PF party closer to changing the constitution.

The ruling is the latest twist in a battle for control of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) amidst heightened political tensions in the mineral-rich nation.

The Harare high court ruled in favour of Sengezo Tshabangu, whom the CCC leadership says is an impostor.

In October, claiming to be the party’s interim secretary general, Tshabangu had the seats of 14 CCC lawmakers declared vacant by parliament.

This triggered by-elections in nine constituencies the CCC won under a first-past-the-post system in a disputed election in August.

The recalled MPs sought to win their seats back in the new votes scheduled for Saturday. Tshabangu argued that they could not run under the CCC banner without his approval and won in court.

A Harare judge ordered the names of eight of the nine lawmakers be struck off the ballot.

CCC spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi said the party has appealed the ruling at the Supreme Court.

Mkwananzi said the ruling showed “the kangaroo nature” of Zimbabwe courts and of the “total democratic regression” since President Emmerson Mnangagwa took office in 2017.

“The courts of Zimbabwe have ceased to be a just and neutral arbiter of disputes and that is worrying,” he told AFP.

ZANU-PF victories in the by-elections would take it closer to the two-thirds parliamentary majority needed to amend the constitution.

ZANU-PF is currently 10 seats short of the supermajority in the 280 member parliament.

Analysts believe the party wants to remove a two-term presidential limit, and allow Mnangagwa, 81, to cement his control over the nation.

Critics have long accused ZANU-PF, which has been in power since independence in 1980, of using the courts to silence opposition lawmakers and dissent.

The case has sharpened political tensions that have been high in the southern African country since an August 23 vote that international observers said fell short of democratic standards.

The CCC, led by Nelson Chamisa, a 45-year-old lawyer and pastor, has complained about a campaign of intimidation against its members before and after the vote.

The party said one activist was abducted on Wednesday, the latest in a series of similar incidents in recent weeks that saw one CCC supporter killed and others snatched.

Chamisa has said Tshabangu is not a CCC member, the party has no secretary general, and has not expelled or recalled any MPs.

Tshabangu, who denies being a ZANU-PF stooge, is attempting to recall another 13 CCC lawmakers, and the case is currently in court.- AFP

Zimbabwe ruling party eyes supermajority in votes without opponents

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Zimbabwe ruling party eyes supermajority in votes without opponents

Zimbabwe will hold nine by-elections on Saturday with opposition candidates largely absent as President Emmerson Mnangagwa cements his control over the mineral-rich nation.

A political crisis has been growing since a group of MPs with the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) had their seats declared vacant.

A court ruled on Thursday that most of the CCC contenders could not stand in Saturday’s vote. Barring a Supreme Court reversal, the ruling ZANU-PF will now pick up some easy seats as it moves closer to changing the constitution.

“The overall effect of this in terms of undermining any hope for Zimbabwe of democracy right now, is very clear,” said Nic Cheeseman, a professor of African politics at the University of Birmingham in Britain.

The crisis was sparked by a letter laden with spelling mistakes penned in October by Songezo Tshabangu, a little-known politician claiming to be the CCC’s interim secretary-general.

Speaker silences opponents

Addressed to the ZANU-PF parliamentary speaker, it stated that 15 CCC lawmakers elected in a bitterly contested August election had ceased to be party members and should lose their seats.

CCC leader Nelson Chamisa, 45, protested that Tshabangu was not a CCC member, the party had no secretary general, and had not expelled any MP.

The speaker ignored him and ordered the by-elections, except in one seat where Tshabangu had misspelled the name of a lawmaker.

ZANU-PF has denied causing the turmoil even though it has most to gain.

“We have an irresponsible opposition that is selfish and is self-imploding,” party spokesman Farai Marapira told AFP.

‘People are tired’

In Mabvuku, a Harare suburb that will vote on Saturday, only a few electoral posters were visible and there were few signs of the impending election.

“I won’t be surprised if ZANU-PF wins. There is voter apathy. People are just tired so we can just wait and see,” said Gladmore, 28, a resident who gave only his first name.

The local CCC candidate is the only one spared by Thursday’s court ruling that struck the eight other party candidates off ballot papers.

ZANU-PF is currently 10 seats short of the two-thirds majority in the 280 member parliament needed to amend the constitution.

Analysts believe it wants to remove a two-term presidential limit. This would allow Mnangagwa, 81, to counter any challenge to his leadership from inside his party or the opposition.

The term limit was introduced in 2013 after long-time ruler Robert Mugabe was forced to accept a power-sharing government with the opposition.

Critics say Mnangagwa, who came to power on the back of a 2017 coup that toppled Mugabe, is even more autocratic than his predecessor.

Hopes that he could lead Zimbabwe on a more democratic path, foster foreign investment and turn around the dire economy have fallen by the wayside, said Christopher Vandome, a senior Africa research fellow at the Chatham House think tank in Britain.

Parliament has passed laws to silence dissent. The courts have been stripped of their independence, rights groups say.

In August, it won elections denounced by the CCC and that international observers said fell short of democratic standards.

The CCC has complained about a campaign of intimidation against its members before and after the vote.

Meanwhile Tshabangu, who denies being a ZANU-PF stooge, has penned more letters, seeking to gain control of party funds and recalling another 13 lawmakers — something the CCC is battling in the courts with little success.

“Their infighting is our harvest,” Patrick Chinamasa, ZANU-PF treasurer told a rally attended by thousands of people in Mabvuku on Thursday.

“Let’s go out on Saturday and win.”

HH betrays Nsingo, Kenneth Kaunda and all voters by selling Zambian land to foreigners so cheaply- Chris ZUMANI

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HH betrays Nsingo, Kenneth Kaunda and all voters by selling Zambian land to foreigners so cheaply- Chris ZUMANI

HH betrays Nsingo, Kenneth Kaunda and all voters by selling Zambian land to foreigners so cheaply

By Chris ZUMANI Zimba

1. In President HH, each week, it is becoming increasingly clear that Zambians mistakenly voted for a ripe sovereign auctioneer, passionate government privatization agent, chief national resources gambler and master imperial dealer;

2. This December, 2023, we mourn with Mpika MP, Hon. Francis Kapyanga and his people over HH’s sale of over 120,000 hectares of Land around gold rich Kanyelele area in Mpika District to Canadian foreigners for mining purposes. This betrayal is both unbelievable and unacceptable indeed;

3. Apart from being rich with gold and other precious minerals, this land sold to a foreign mining Canadian company is covering multiple villages, grave yards and farms while traditional leaders and local people were never consulted. Thus, HH’s state dealership gesture is both undemocratic and unpatriotic for sure;

4. According Socialist Party leader, Dr. Fred M’membe on 5th December, 2023, the UK’ Guardian Newspaper revealed that President HH so far has already and speedily sold 10% of Zambia’s forest land to UAE royalists for carbon credits. As nobody knows when and how much is involved, these seem to be secret deals between Bally and his foreigners;

5. If this HH has made record of being the First Republican President to auction and sale 10% of Zambian Forest Lands to Dubai based foreigners in two years of being in power, Zambians must prepare to lose more than 50% of sovereign territory to foreigners by 2031 if this man is re-elected in 2026;

6. In December 2022, Zambia’s Dr. Sishuwa Sishuwa lamented that president HH “cut extremely generous tax concession deals with mining multinationals such as First Quantum Minerals (FQM), a Canadian firm that invested in Hichilema’s election as well as made sure the Zambian government relinquished its 20% shareholding stake in the FQM-run Kansanshi Mine in return for a paltry 3% royalty payment on revenue”;

7. Although President HH is shamefully winking at the ‘dog bite IMF loan’ with harsher penalties that are already cooking most Zambians, this country is believed to be losing more than U$ 3 Billion Dollars in revenue annually due to the UPND’s tax holidays for their election funders-foreign mining companies like FQM;

8. It’s clear that HH’s priority and goal is to please his foreign funders and starve Zambians-his voters. This explains why the idea of selling thousands of hectares of Zambian land to foreigners is so easy and normal for him;

9. On March 14th , 2023, Golden Party President Jackson Silavwe revealed and condemned HH’s New Dawn Government’s decision of giving 20,000 hectares of land for maize farming to Kenyans instead of giving Zambian youth or ZNS;

10. In 1890, The Lozi King of Barotseland, King Lubosi or Lewanika willingly gave up his territorial control to the British South African Company (BSA) by giving them Commercial Concessions over minerals and wildlife in exchange with a “salary” of less than 3,000 British Pounds and ‘security protection’ from invaders;

11. Historically, this “uneducated” and innocent Lozi King is the first “Zambian” who unknowingly and freely “sold” half of modem Zambia under his control to British foreigners for imperial purposes, exploitation and colonialism;

11. Factually, it is clear that the innocent Lozi King of Barotseland was cheated and manipulated by the BSA Company agents as he was made to sign concession treaties to surrender his vast territory to them in English as he could not read and write;

12. But when the BSA company decided to take over the remaining “Northern Rhodesia” called North East Zambezi, the Ngoni people led by Prince Nsingo Jere, son of King Mpezeni Thuto Jere openly refused and decided to defend their territorial sovereignty with their lives in the Anglo-Ngoni war of 1898-9;

13. Although the BSA company later killed and defeated Ngoni warriors using their guns and assassinated Zambia’s first freedom fighters leader, Nsingo Jere in modern Chipata in 1899, the invading foreigners remained warned that not all local people smile at colonialism and imperialism;

14. Since HH’s government is not issuing grand mining licenses or giving out such huge sizes of land to Zambians covering this magnitude except to foreigners, it is true that Nsingo Mpezeni Jere and Kenneth Kaunda’s sacrifice and efforts to defend territorial sovereignty has been insulted, betrayed and undermined today;

15. While we understand that King Lewanika was duped to freely give up his Barotseland to foreigners because he was uneducated, ignorant of territorial wealth and ‘fearful’ of British guns in 1890, we don’t understand why this educated, sophisticated and exposed HH is behaving like an ancient and uneducated African king in this modern 2023;

16. Although Kenneth Kaunda feared only HH to become the county’s president as he was the worst threat to “One Zambia, One Nation”, HH’s new passion to auction, sale and privatize this country is another source to “declare national mourning” because future Zambians will be indeed entangled in more colonial servitude and new imperial chains;

17. If we allow this president to be dishing out and cheaply selling our only God given land to these descendants of Cecil Rhodes in this manner and fashion, we risk losing everything for ourselves as Zambians and our children’s children will be like foolish foreigners in the land of their ancestors;

18. Empirically, it seems like the gamble of selling Zambian land to foreigners has emerged to be HH’s new privatization passion and the New Dawn’s imperial auctioning goal;

19. This is huge betrayal to Nzingo Jere, 10, 000 Ngoni warriors and thousands of freedom fighters who died for our liberation. Moreover, as Zambians owning land is the only physical property that qualifies you and me to be true Zambian citizens;

20. Therefore, this unpatriotic and treacherous behavior of HH to auction our land to foreigners in this fashion must be condemned by politicians, scholars, voters, traditional leaders, NGOs, students, youths, the clergy, media practitioners and all well meaning Zambians.

Dr Chris ZUMANI Zimba is a Political Scientist, Researcher, Author & Consultant specialized in Comparative Global Governance and Democratic Theories. He holds a PhD, MA, BA and Cert in Political Science. Zimba was President Lungu’s Political Advisor from December 2019 to August 2021.

Moving to an Electronic Voting System, a suspicious move- Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba

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Moving to an Electronic Voting System, a suspicious move- Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba

Moving to an Electronic Voting System, a suspicious move

By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba

With technology advancements, it is an imperative requirement that our election management enjoys efficient system that should enable that election results should be announced without the wait and suspicions that characterise our elections.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) first tried to implement the electronic voting system in 1996.

The Israeli security company Nikuv International Projects (NIP), awarded to do the data migration and implement voting system, was instead, accused of implementing a rigging system and infrastructure in favour of the MMD.

The failure of implementing the system was blamed on a computer illiterate set of stakeholders.

It’s been almost 30 years later and suspicions against electronic voting system remain highly suspicious despite technology advancements and general acceptance of technology.

In Africa, todate, only Namibia has implemented a full electronic voting system in Africa.

In Zambia, election management, transmission of results and vote tallying remains highly manual.

In 2020 presidential elections, the Republicans and Donald Trump blamed Dominion Voting Systems Corporation and Florida-based Smartmatic, to be behind their loss.

They accused the two companies of being part of a conspiracy to fell Trump.

Despite credible information that the system implements data security, backed-up, tamper-proof and protected, most of the Republican leaders believe that the 2020 election was a fraud.

Biden received more than 81 million votes, while Trump received 74 million votes.

The vote for Biden was so massive that it beat that of Barack Obama’s record of 69.5 million votes from 2008 who is deemed to be one of the most popular american presidents in recent times.

The massive increase in turnout that took place especially during the pandemic was deemed suspicious. Over 158 million Americans voted, nearly 22 million more than voted in the previous Presidential election in 2016.

So far, Zambia has implemented electronic systems around voter registration and data collection but no voting machines have been installed and implemented and electronic transmission of votes has to be tallied and confirmed manually before they are announced.

President Hakainde Hichilema is accused of trying to tamper with the Republican Constitution to entrench himself and the intended amendments may result in the removal of clauses such as the presidential term, removal of 50%+1 majority vote and removal of running mate.

So this process will be shrouded in controversy and suspicions.

So the discussion that ECZ intends to migrate our voting system to the electronic platform 30 years after the first contentious rejection, will be as highly contested as before despite the stakeholders being computer literate as the issue is not about the implementation of technology but is always about lack of public trust and the true intentions of leaders.

DO OUR PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO RUN THE MINES, TO BE IN CHARGE OF THE ECONOMY…cause it appears our role is to work for bamwisa, asks Antonio Mwanza

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DO OUR PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO RUN THE MINES, TO BE IN CHARGE OF THE ECONOMY…cause it appears our role is to work for bamwisa, asks Antonio Mwanza

DO OUR PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO RUN THE MINES, TO BE IN CHARGE OF THE ECONOMY

…cause it appears our role is to work for bamwisa, asks Mr Antonio Mwanza

Lusaka, Thursday, December 7, 2023 (Smart Eagles)

Socialist Party (SP) Deputy General Secretary Antonio Mourinho Mwanza has wondered if Zambians can be entrusted with the responsibility of taking charge of the country.

Mr Mwanza wondered if the job of the indigenous Zambians is to work for foreigners.

He said this earlier today when he featured on Joy FM.

“Do our people have the rights to own the assets, to run their mines? To run the affairs of the country and to be in charge of the economy? Or our role is simply to work for bamwisa? Our role is simple to go and die at Black mountain, picking up the remains of our own mineral resources,” he said.

“If you look at Senseli Mines, it is an abandoned mine that was run by KCM. It is a site that has been abandoned. And our people are going there and dying there because they don’t have what to do. There are no jobs on the Copperbelt.”

Mr Mwanza bemoaned the lack of economic activities on the Copperbelt Province.

“There is no economic activity going on on the Copperbelt. The Copperbelt is dead economically, completely dead economically. Abantu besu balechula. That is how they are risking their lives to find themselves in such very dangerous places without any equipment, without any protection,” he said.

Mr Mwanza reminded Zambians about the glorious promises that President Hakainde Hichilema made to small scale miners on the Copperbelt prior to 2021 elections.

During the period in question, the now Head of State promised to give all Jerabos mining licenses.

He promised to give them equipment as well as capital.

The President also promised to ensure that the environment in which the miners will operate in is conducive.

And Mr Mwanza observed that two years down the line, the President has not implemented any of the things he promised to the people on the Copperbelt.

“Pano pene tikamba, this government has not given our own people… the youths on the Copperbelt, ma jerabo, baja bosauka bamene bafela muma mine, they have not been given the licenses. Ma youths bamene bavutika bafela muma mine, sibaba pasa equipment,” he said.

“Ma youths yamene yavutika yafela muma mine sibabapasa funding. Ma youths bamene bafela muma mine sibabapasa equipment to even ascertain where they are going.”

CONCERNS OVER CONSUMPTION OF FISP MAIZE SEED RISE IN LUNDAZI DUE TO HUNGER

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CONCERNS OVER CONSUMPTION OF FISP MAIZE SEED RISE IN LUNDAZI DUE TO HUNGER

CONCERNS OVER CONSUMPTION OF FISP MAIZE SEED RISE IN LUNDAZI DUE TO HUNGER.

LUNDAZI. 5th December 2023.

A distressing situation has emerged in Lundazi, where the scarcity of food has forced some individuals to resort to consuming maize seeds intended for planting through the government’s Farmer Input Support Program (FISP). Lundazi District Agricultural Coordinator (DACO), Edward Hacuundu, has expressed deep concern about this alarming trend, indicating that the FISP seeds are unfit for human consumption as they are treated with chemicals.

Cooperative leaders suspected of colluding with agro traders have been re-packaging and selling FISP inputs meant for the upcoming 2023/24 planting season. This unethical and unlawful practice endangers the community of Lundazi, as individuals who unknowingly consume these chemically treated seeds could face health risks.

Mr Hacuundu emphasizes that the government’s FISP initiative aims to provide support to vulnerable farmers, enabling them to enhance agricultural productivity and food security. This essential program must remain intact and undisturbed by the actions of a few selfish individuals.

Although the exact number of stolen and re-bagged bags of FISP seeds is yet to be determined, Mr Hacuundu assures the public that his team, in collaboration with investigative bodies, is actively working to apprehend all those involved in this nefarious activity. The Ministry of Agriculture in the district will not tolerate such malicious behaviour, and all culprits will face the full force of the law.

Given the potential health risks associated with consuming chemically treated seeds, it is vital to raise awareness within the Lundazi community. Residents must be informed about the dangers posed by these seeds to their health and well-being. Additionally, alternative measures should be explored to alleviate hunger and ensure the availability of safe food sources for the affected population.

To address the issue comprehensively, the government, local authorities, and agricultural stakeholders need to collaborate closely. Such collaboration would serve to strengthen oversight mechanisms, improve monitoring and evaluation processes, and establish stricter regulations to prevent the misappropriation of FISP inputs in the future.

The distressing situation in Lundazi, where hunger has driven individuals to consume FISP maize seeds intended for planting, calls for immediate action. The government, along with relevant authorities, must work diligently to identify and apprehend those responsible and ensure the safety and security of the community. Long-term solutions, such as improving food security measures and fostering sustainable agricultural practices, should be implemented to address the underlying causes of hunger in the region.

Credit: Kenele 97.7FM

GAMBINO’S ‘THIS IS AMERICA’ AS ‘ONE OF THE DOPEST VIDEOS’ HE’S EVER SEEN

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GAMBINO’S ‘THIS IS AMERICA’ AS ‘ONE OF THE DOPEST VIDEOS’ HE’S EVER SEEN

Ludacris is a big fan of Childish Gambino‘s “This Is America” video – so much so that he has proclaimed it one of the greatest visuals of all time.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone published on Monday (December 4), Luda was asked what videos he’s a fan of these days – as he’s well known for the creative visuals he used to pump out at the height of his career. And he had to give the praise to Donald Glover‘s rapping alter ego.

“[I’m paying attention to] whatever my man Dave Myers is shooting these days,” he began. “He’s so dope of a director to me, and I feel like he’s made some extremely creative videos. I’m trying to think what was one of my favorite visual videos over the last… You know what’s crazy? What stands out to me is still that Childish Gambino ‘This is America‘ video. It’s pretty much still one of the dopest videos I’ve seen.”

He continued: “I can go back and watch that over and over. You’re going to make me watch it once we get off this interview. It’s dope. But I’m going to be honest with you, the best visual video that’s out right now or coming on November 24th is this Ludacris State Farm commercial.”

Directed by frequent Atlanta director Hiro Murai, Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” video tackles gun violence in the United States and shows a shirtless Gambino nonchalantly blowing a person’s head off during the first few seconds of the video.

One of the most jarring moments comes when a choir is seen joyfully singing, oblivious to what is about to happen to them. Gambino marches in, still dancing along to the music, grabs a machine gun and sprays them down with bullets. Meanwhile, the other dancers in the video continue going about their business with smiles on their faces like nothing happened.

Ludacris may have partly gained his fame for his iconic music videos, but as JAY-Z once told him, his outlandish visuals came with a downside.

During an interview on Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes’ All the Smoke podcast earlier this year, the Atlanta rap legend revealed Hov once said to him that they’re the reason he doesn’t get the credit he deserves as an MC.

“It was big, but there was a downside to it because even JAY-Z was one of the ones that said, you know, he don’t think I get the lyrical credit that I deserve because of the visuals,” Luda said.

“People ask me, ‘Why don’t you think get the credit?,’” he continued. “Because I played too goddamn much, that’s what I do! And I wouldn’t have it any other way. That’s why my name is Ludacris, because it’s beyond crazy, it’s wild, it’s ridiculous.”

He added: “I like post-effects and augmenting reality, big-ass shoes with big-ass chains, and bobble heads and all that. So I get it, I can’t be mad at it. I just have to show the multi-faceted aspects of myself and I actually love that.”

DaBaby Says He Doesn’t Drink Anymore After Vomiting In Front Of His Daughter

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DaBaby Says He Doesn’t Drink Anymore After Vomiting In Front Of His Daughter

After a wild ordeal on Interstate 77 that involved vomiting in front of his daughter DaBaby says he is giving up drinking.

DaBaby is opening up about a recent fight for his life with an unlikely opponent, alcohol. The lifestyle of a rapper involves nightly appearances at clubs, bars, and establishments where liquor is the main refreshment on the menu. The Carolina rapper revealed that an embarrassing ordeal in front of his daughter has him giving up the devil’s liquid for good.

According to Complex, he’s so serious about not drinking anymore that he will choose violence if he’s even offered a drink.

“It’s official, bruh. I don’t drink no more,” he shared. “Don’t try to give me no bottles, don’t try to offer me no shot, don’t do none of that. You offer me a drink from this point forward, I’m stealing the f–k out. It’s as simple as that. We gone get to hitting immediately. So, you better not be drunk ’cause I’m going to be sober. I’m stealing off sober.”

While that response seems very extreme he opened up on what led to this harsh set of rules moving forward. It all boils down to embarrassment in front of his daughter.

“I go pick my baby up,” DaBaby explained. “I’m throwing up on [Interstate] 77. She beside me in her car seat talking ’bout some ‘Good job.’ I’m fighting for my life in that back seat and my baby talking about, ‘Good job.’ Man, it’s embarrassing in front of my baby. I don’t drink no more.”

Typically when someone reveals they aren’t drinking ever again it’s in a joking manner and they return to the bottle sooner rather than later. However, with the optics of DaBaby’s story perhaps he will never touch liquor again. If so, good for him it’s setting a great example as a father, and having your daughter cheer you on as you puke has to be traumatizing. Furthermore, it has to make you question what in the world are you doing with your life.

We can say what we want about DaBaby but he seems to learn from every lesson put in front of him. You can watch him describe his drunken ordeal below.

UK immigration minister resigns over controversial Rwanda asylum legislation, claiming it ‘does not go far enough’

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UK immigration minister resigns over controversial Rwanda asylum legislation, claiming it ‘does not go far enough’

UK immigration minister Robert Jenrick resigned over new government legislation on the Rwanda asylum transfer scheme published Wednesday, claiming that the proposed law “does not go far enough.”

The government’s ill-fated plan to send some asylum seekers awaiting decisions on their claims to the African nation Rwanda has been the subject of extensive legal challenge since it was announced in April 2022.

Three successive Home Secretaries have attempted to take the policy over the line with efforts continuing despite the UK Supreme Court declaring the scheme unlawful in judgement handed down in November.

In the latest blow to the scheme, Jenrick who works within the Home Office, said he would not be able to accompany this latest draft bill through the legislative process as he does not believe it goes “far enough” to ensure the policy’s success.

“The stakes for the country are too high for us not to pursue the stronger protections required to end the merry-go-round of legal challenges which risk paralysing the scheme and negating its intended deterrent,” Jenrick said in his resignation letter.

Jenrick had previously promised publicly to do “whatever is required” to clamp down on illegal migration to the UK, even if that meant withdrawing from the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).

A group of hardline lawmakers within Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party, including previous Home Secretary Suella Braverman, have all been lobbying for the UK to leave the human rights treaty, citing it as a barrier blocking the Rwanda policy.

The legislation unveiled by the government on Wednesday did not take the UK out of the treaty, but did have a vital caveat attached to it. On the first page of the bill, UK Home Secretary James Cleverley said he could not guarantee that the legislation was “compatible with the Convention rights.”

The bill also disapplies certain sections of the UK Human Rights Act, a staple piece of legislation which incorporated the rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into domestic UK law. Another clause stipulates that the bill is sovereign and its validity is unaffected by key international law instruments including the ECHR and the Refugee Convention.

The legislation was roundly criticized by Britain’s opposition Labour Party who pointed out this is the third draft legislation that the government has presented to parliament. Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper described the government as being in “total chaos,” saying it should be focusing instead on “going after” criminal gangs smuggling people to the UK.

Legal experts such as Mark Elliot, Professor of Public Law at the University of Cambridge, have also criticized the bill. In a blog post, Elliot described the bill as “hypocritical,” saying it “presupposes” Rwanda heeding its obligations under international law to treat asylum seekers humanely whilst allowing the UK to “breach its own obligations” under international law.

The government was also handed down a warning on Wednesday from the Rwandan government, who threatened to pull out of the arrangement if the UK does not adhere to international law, according to the British national news agency, PA Media.

Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta emphasized in a statement that “without lawful behavior by the UK, Rwanda would not be able to continue with the Migration and Economic Development Partnership.”

The next stage in the bill’s journey will see UK lawmakers debate its merits in parliament, in what is referred to as the “second reading.”

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