The collapse of civil society in Hichilema’s Zambia

By Sishuwa Sishuwa

After the 2021 political transition, the strength of Zambia’s civil society, which served as a check on power since the early-2000s, has been gravely undermined by two major developments. The first has been the mass recruitment into the government of the most influential elites from civil society who spoke truth to power under the Patriotic Front (PF). When former president Edgar Lungu undermined democracy, for instance, the actions and words of certain individuals – from academia, professional associations, churches – helped shape public opinion and held him to account.

The most outspoken civic leaders and public commentators under the PF included Pamela Chisanga, Judith Mulenga, Felicity Kalunga, Chama Fumba alias Pilato, Laura Miti, Fr Emmanuel Chikoya, Musa Mwenye, Bishop John Mambo, Pamela Sambo, O’Brien Kaaba, McDonald Chipenzi, Nicholas Phiri, Elias Munshya, Chibamba Kanyama, Rueben Lifuka, John Sangwa, Linda Kasonde, Muna Ndulo, Brebner Changala, and Telesphore Mpundu.

Following his election, President Hakainde Hichilema moved to appoint the first 14 of these 20 prominent individuals to diplomatic missions, the civil service, parastatals boards, and other public bodies. While this may have benefited the government, the mass recruitment of experienced non-state actors has significantly weakened the capacity of civil society. A few of these former activists now overly praise Hichilema and defend government decisions at every turn.

The second development is the failure of the remaining civic organisations to effectively hold the government to account. Except for a few forthright and principled actors such as Changala and Archbishop Mpundu, many of the civic bodies and commentators who challenged Lungu and the PF are now willfully silent, even when the same wrongs or injustices they previously criticised occur. The rest speak with a new purpose: shielding President Hichilema and his ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) administration from responsibility or blame. Where they attempt to offer criticism of government actions or Hichilema’s leadership, the criticism is so lukewarm that even its target probably sees it for what it ultimately is: flattery or kowtowing of the elite variety.

Zambia’s mainstream civil society has become severely compromised. Nothing best demonstrates this point than a statement issued by a collection of civil society organisations on the cost-of-living crisis dated 2 August 2023. The statement is so hollow and poor on all accounts that silence by its nine signatories would have been golden. To avoid misinterpreting what the civil society organisations said, it is worth quoting and scrutinising their statement on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis. The organisations start with a heading of their statement and the subject of their concern.

“JOINT CSO PRESS STATEMENT DATED 2ND AUGUST 2023 ON THE RISING COST OF LIVING IN ZAMBIA

We, the undersigned Civil Society Organizations, note with concern the rising cost of living in Zambia.”

This section is very important. We learn from it that the statement addresses the burning issue in Zambia today: the cost-of-living crisis. We also learn from here that the signatories to the statement represent Zambia’s foremost civil society organisations. The undersigned are nine institutions that include a church mother body and the country’s numerous and geographically diffuse women’s organisations housed in the Non-governmental Gender Organisations’ Coordinating Council (NGOCC). The signatories to the statement are ActionAid Zambia, Alliance for Community Action, Bloggers of Zambia, Chapter One Foundation, Centre for Trade Policy and Development, Council for Christian Churches in Zambia, Transparency International Zambia, NGOCC, and Zambia Council for Social Development. I cannot imagine any collection of civic organisations in Zambia today that would beat these in terms of stature.

When civic organisations that represent the best of Zambia’s civil society movement come together to issue a press statement on the cost-of-living crisis, their action is significant and deserves to be taken seriously. This is because a statement from such eminences is supposed to enlighten us about the history of the crisis, the current state of the crisis, and how the country should confront or resolve it. So, what exactly have these civic eminences said in their statement?

Civil society: “The cost of living as measured by the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflections’ (JCTR’s) Basic Needs and Nutrition Basket (BNNB) has been on the rise reaching a mid-year average point of K9,126.40 in Lusaka, while the national average basket stands at K6,466.04 for a family of five. The rise in the cost of living has been on account for several factors including the rise in commodity prices such as mealie meal and retail fuel pump prices.

Inflation has remained in its double digits at 10.3% in the month of June 2023 keeping it outside the target range of 6-8%. Similarly, the Kwacha has continued to depreciate against major global currencies averaging K19.05 per US Dollar in the first half of the year. The cost of the country’s staple food, mealie meal, has increased to a record level of K300 per 25kg bag in some parts of the country. Just yesterday, the retail pump prices of petroleum products were equally increased. Petrol was increased by 2.57% while low Sulphur diesel by 6.81% and they are now selling at K25.57 and K23.36 per litre respectively.”

This eclectic assembly of statistics from the JCTR on the Basic Needs Basket, the rate of inflation and the prices of the core variables in Zambia totally conceals the actual conditions of life of most ordinary Zambians. One would expect these august organisations to have intimate socioeconomic knowledge of the everyday life in the communities they purport to serve. Official figures show that 8 out of 10 adult Zambians are not in any gainful employment. Half of this lot stopped looking for work long ago. The other half is young and the dream for a formal job has not yet been snuffed out of them.

The age dependency ratio of working-age population in Zambia stands at 80.52 percent. What the country is facing is not a crisis of youth unemployment. It is a crisis of employment, as over 80 percent of the population is below the age of 35. We do not have a significant old population. Additionally, 97 percent of Zambia’s economy is made up of small and medium enterprises, which contribute 70 percent of GDP. Instead of prefacing their statement with a scientific description of the concrete conditions of life for the average Zambian, the civic bodies chose to hide the actual social crisis.

We expect these groups to remind us that Hichilema was elected to power in August 2021 because the conditions of life for most Zambians had already deteriorated to unbearable levels. It is those conditions that have worsened over the last two years. Why have these eminent civic organisations consciously concealed this? Given their combined experience, wisdom, and access to data – since they purport to be working in our communities – why have they robbed us of an analysis of the horrible conditions of life in Zambia today, where mass unemployment and informalisation of economic activity has meant that ordinary people are removed from the small formal sector that is dominated by foreign entities?

A careless assembly of a few statistics is not what Zambians are interested in. They are interested in seeing that the cost of living is lowered and that their basic needs are guaranteed. The core ingredients both in economic and domestic life of any people are electricity, petrol, diesel, rent, transport, and food. The statement from the civil society organisations tells us absolutely nothing about what has happened to these fundamentals between 12 August 2021, when Hichilema took office, and now. Why?

Civil society: “As Civil Society, we are also concerned with the way Government is undertaking the process of removing vendors from the street. While we are in support of the actions to remove vendors from the streets and re-allocate them in designated marketplaces, it would have been important for Government to adequately sensitize the vendors on the merits of this process. The majority of Zambian’s are in the informal sector, hence removing them from the streets without clear adequate alternative spaces would make their lives quite unbearable.”

There is a fundamental contradiction here. On the one hand, the eminent civic organisations declare their support for the removal of ordinary Zambians from the most concentrated site of economic activity – the street. On the other, they acknowledge the absence of ‘adequate alternative spaces.’ Why are civic leaders supporting the elimination of poor people from the street when they themselves are not sure where these ordinary Zambians will end up? There is something wrong about this kind of civic activism. Removing or not removing the traders is not the issue. The issue is that it is unacceptable for the government to take away poor people’s source of livelihood without first creating a superior substitute.

Some of these civic organisations are supposed to be defending our constitutional rights. The primary right we all have is the right to life which is connected to economic activity. To support the killing of the sites of portent economic struggle for impoverished Zambians, before adequate alternatives are provided, amounts to committing economic genocide against the poor.

For the majority of people who eke a living from the street, the micro capital they have cannot support or sustain them in the formal market, where they are required to buy a stand. These civic institutions should know this, since, going by their names, they deal with grassroots life and communities.

Civil society: “The soaring cost of living is already causing great hardship to many Zambians, the majority of whom are just scraping a living. The situation may be worsened by the removal of vendors from the streets without alternatives as it leaves a handful of them without trading places and ultimately with no incomes to support their livelihoods.”

Here, the key psychological phrase is a handful of them. By deploying the expression, the civic bodies are attempting to minimise the number of those affected. It is not a handful of people who are affected; it is a mass of poor people who operate in the informal sector. In Zambia, the formal sector is the anomaly; the informal one is the normal. According to the latest official labour force report, 73 percent of the employed Zambian population work informally. Since 1991, Zambians have collapsed into a heap of undiluted poverty, mass unemployment and extreme inequalities. The portion of the population that is involved in genuine systemic and structural employment has dwindled to almost an insignificant percentage of the actual total labour force, most of which is either unemployed or eking out a miserable living from the street or from tilling the land.

Arguably, there is a very tiny capitalist class, largely of the ‘businessman type’, which however is incapable of giving Zambia any ‘national character’ complete with the liberal claptrap about ‘rule of law’ and ‘respect for the constitution’, let alone any semblance of morality, especially in the public domain and in politics. This social base is grown on the ever-shrinking real economy. Zambia is an impoverished country, materially and culturally, notwithstanding its natural wealth. We Zambians have absolutely no control, whatsoever, over our country’s economic life. Foreign capital reigns supreme. Some of the members of the middle class and politicians survive on getting kickbacks from representatives of foreign capital.

This is the wider economic and social context that has condemned many ordinary Zambians to vending on the street. Poor people are working on the street not out of choice but lack of better options. The reality is that the government has not created sufficient and life-affirming formal markets across the capital city and the country more generally capable of accommodating everyone if they left the street. In other words, market stalls are inadequate, even if available vendors will be required to purchase or rent them from the civic authorities and asked to pay daily levies when they make a pittance from their sales.

And the cost of living is not soaring. It is an acute crisis. Acute because it was worse when Hichilema, who promised to reduce the price of mealie meal, fertiliser, petrol, diesel, paraffin and cooking oil, and the general cost of living, was elected. Since then, the cost of all these things has gone up and life has become impossibly hard for the majority Zambians.

Civil society: “We also note that the high cost of living in countries such as Kenya and Nigeria have led to civil unrest. Indeed, economic hardship provides fertile ground for populist and authoritarian expressions to take root in the country. Zambia has just emerged from a long period of economic and democratic decline which ordinary Zambians are still paying for today.”

To confidently assert that Zambia has emerged from a long period of economic decline suggests the corner has been turned, that things are better now for ordinary people. Consciously or unconsciously, this was a very good public relations campaign by our eminent civic actors for Hichilema and his friends in government. No! The truth is that things in Zambia are bad, really bad! There is no ‘emerging’ when it comes to the cost-of-living crisis. The intolerable conditions of life for majority Zambians have worsened over the past two years, pushing many poor people closer to the grave than they were in August 2021. This is extremely unjust. It is, in fact, undemocratic. Hichilema and the UPND must be grateful that Zambia has a non-militant and non-combative population. Elsewhere, the worsening living conditions since August 2021 would have seen people peacefully take to the streets in exercise of their right to protest.

The importation of examples of what happens when most people cannot afford to meet basic needs is a passive way of concealing the rising anger and frustration among Zambians. We have enough examples at home to understand what happens when a government starves or fails to feed millions of its population. When Kenneth Kaunda, in the 1980s, presided over terrible conditions – some of them instigated, like now, by International Monetary Fund (IMF) policies – that made Zambia a tinderbox, the majority poor protested. Even after Kaunda abandoned the IMF prescriptions, more food protests occurred, some turning deadly, and he was ousted from power at the next competitive election in 1991.

What is perhaps shocking is that today’s generation of Zambians, who have known so much misery at the hands of this and previous administrations, are not responding to these government invitations to rebel against our sub-human existence. What kind of human beings are we, Zambians? Elsewhere, the people will rise to peacefully protest in the spirit of defiance, fight with limitless courage in pursuit of a better life and happiness, in order to reclaim their dignity. Our civil society – and the UPND government whose anti-poor terrible policies it is supporting – should thank Zambians for our passiveness – while it lasts.

If the assorted civic elites do not want people to rise against Hichilema, they should demand that the president and his friends in government must create conditions that make it possible for citizens to actualise their full potential, to enjoy their freedoms and lead meaningful lives. Unless drastic measures are taken now to arrest the cost-of-living crisis, civil unrest cannot be ruled out. Where we are coming from and where we are now is as clear as where we may end up.

Arising from an extremely weak understanding of the crisis of poverty in Zambia affecting the majority, civil society’s suggested recommendations of what needs to be done to address the issue are as shocking as the preamble of the statement. This is precisely because the premise from which the civic bodies are rising conceals the debilitating poverty that assaults the average Zambian. Let us look at the individual recommendations from our civil society on the question of what is to be done.

“We therefore call on the government to –

1. Meaningfully and effectively communicate with the Zambian people on the state of the economy and outline measures they are undertaking to address emerging challenges from the social and economic reforms currently being undertaken.”

The suggestion here is that Hichilema and the UPND have sustained us in a state of ignorance about the supposedly good things they are doing, for us. To remedy this problem, they need to communicate to us ‘meaningfully and effectively’ about the state of the economy. The implication is that what Hichilema needs to do is to dismiss Minister of Information Chushi Kasanda and the relevant officials at State House who are failing to communicate the wonderful things he is doing for us. Once the president finds better liars, our problem would be solved; we will no longer suffer. There is something extremely patronising and quite insulting about this.

The problem is not the lack of communication. Neither is it Chushi Kasanda or Clayson Hamasaka – notwithstanding their many failings. The problem is that Hichilema is failing to honour what he promised: lower the cost of living and of doing business. Why is this collection of our august civil society organisations failing to call him out on this straightforward issue? Zambians do not need to be told ‘meaningfully and effectively’ that they are suffering. They know and understand their misery better. What they want is simple: concrete solutions to their everyday problems, which include expensive petrol, diesel, fertiliser, ‘saladi’, mealie meal, transport, food, and other basic services.

Zambians elected Hichilema because he – not Kasanda, Hamasaka, or anyone else – undertook to reduce their hardships, their suffering. Two years down the line, the prices of essential commodities are all rising faster. We do not want any explanation for this. We want the prices to go down. The primary responsibility of the government is not to explain our problems; it is to solve them. Urgent measures need to be taken to lower the cost of living, now.

Instead of worrying about how the UPND is communicating, civil society must demand answers from Hichilema on why the prices of essential commodities are not going down. Recently, the president said the prices of basic services will “stabilise” soon. In case Hichilema does not know or he has forgotten, we did not vote for him to stabilise prices. We voted for lower prices, and Hichilema graphically showed us how he would reduce them. He looked and sounded brilliant then. Where has that brilliance gone?

“2. Government should consider further activation of the Zambia National Service and the Zambia Correctional service to get on board and contribute towards maize production, this will help alleviate the rising costs related to mealie meal, further to that, it will create new job opportunities for the young people;”

There are two problems with this section. The first is the deliberate attempt by civil society to indirectly offer a justification for the high prices of mealie meal: shortage of maize. Their suggestion makes it look like the problem confronting Zambia is the low supply of maize. This is false. The government has told us that we have too much maize and consequently must export lots of it to needy African countries.

If the issue is about scarcity of maize, shouldn’t the civic leaders be advising the government to immediately stop the export of maize – as opposed to treating it like any other commodity – in order to meet domestic needs? Shouldn’t they take issue with Minister of Agriculture Mtolo Phiri who recently announced that the government will soon kill agriculture in rural areas by stopping the Farmer Input Support Programme – the very facility that sustains Zambians in mineral-lacking rural areas and one that has contributed to national food security, thanks to hardworking rural farmers?

The second problem is that the proposal to activate national and correctional services to start producing more maize ignores the urgency of the issue at hand: the fact that Zambians are hungry today and want their hunger to be attended to, now. It is mockery of extreme insensitivity to tell a hungry person that they should wait for food in the unknown future. Zambians are not interested in the methods the UPND will use to reduce the price of essential commodities. What they want is affordable food, now.

Our civic leaders should have advised the government to take drastic measures such as subsidising mealie meal production to calm the rising domestic prices. Recently, India, a top rice exporter accounting for 40 percent of the global trade in the cereal, banned the export of rice to calm the escalating prices at home. The government of India, a country with a huge prison system, did not ‘activate’ the Indian prison services to produce more rice. They acted decisively because they understand that the protection of the domestic food market is the primary responsibility of any responsible government.

In contrast, the Zambian government has just exported one million tonnes of mealie meal to the Democratic Republic of Congo! At a time when the major institutions of the world such as the World Food Programme, Food and Agricultural Organisation, and Oxfam are telling everyone that we are headed towards a huge global food crisis, Hichilema and his friends in government are celebrating taking out of the country a commodity that is out of reach for its starving population.

“3. With regards to clean up exercise on street vending, while this is move is welcome, government will need to provide the assurance on the adequacy of alternative trading spaces, this calls for improved and reliable communication on where those alternatives are, and on the carrying capacity of those trading spaces;”

Here, the civic bodies are referring to the recent decision by the government to remove, on sanitary explanations, informal investors from plying their trade on the streets of Lusaka, despite lack of evidence that the affected can all be accommodated in formal stalls. Here is the actual problem: why should assurances of adequate trading spaces be provided after removal? Isn’t the job of civil society to stop the government from acting until it has guaranteed adequate and open alternative sources of livelihood to the poor? Zambia needs new civic actors to protect the poor from these civic institutions whose only response to the state-instigated hardships on vendors is that the state should communicate in a reliable fashion. Poor Zambians should have no illusions about whose interest these civic bodies serve. This is civil society for the minority: those in power and the tiny formal sector. It is important for the poor in Zambia to see all the organisations that signed the statement for what they really are to them: their real class enemies.

It is worth noting that when it comes to their class, Hichilema and his friends in government have failed to raze down the houses in the controversial Forest 27, as they promised during campaigns. Instead, they have regularised the constructions because those affected can easily put up a legal fight. But they have no problem with disrupting the lives of the poor vendors since they know that they are defenceless. The UPND Deputy Secretary General Gertrude Imenda is now telling us that the government can do as it pleases to these vendors because they are a dispensable and insignificant voting constituency. It is a mark of Zambian discipline – or lack of collective political consciousness – that the poor have not risen to peacefully demand the exit of Hichilema from power the same way he has removed them from the streets.

Anyone who still harbours lingering doubts about the callousness, extreme cruelty, and selfishness of the ruling elite in Zambia today should simply listen carefully to the government’s response to the statement from civil society on the cost-of-living crisis. Here is the Minister of Lands Elijah Muchima:

“The cost of living has not risen at all…Who says because of removing street vendors, then the cost of living has risen? That’s total nonsense…. There is no hardship. People are used to easy life like they were doing it in PF where people were getting money anyhow and throwing it away. This time, work hard and get your money. The president wants people to be doing something.”

Here, we see a very senior government minister communicating to two targeted audiences. One is the suffering majority whose hardships he contemptuously dismisses as merely a figment of their poverty-impaired imagination. For things are okay in Zambia – anyone who says anything to the contrary is playing cheap politics! The other targeted audience is our civic eminences, whose assertion that the problem is lack of communication is rejected as invalid. The problem, according to the government, is that majority Zambians are hungry and poor because they are lazy, do not work hard, and are simply used to cheap, free things. This nasty trashing of the poor shows that the UPND are so arrogant that they cannot distinguish friendly fire from enemy fire: to them, all fires must be repelled, no matter how harmless. The only language such politicians understand is electoral defeat or loss of power.

“4. Consider convening an economic indaba, this will greatly help in communicating to the citizens the state of economic and social affairs in the country, it will equally help citizens better understand measures government may be exploring to address challenges related to their livelihood; and”

This is a classic elite, USAID-like, response to problems: convene a workshop! Here, our prime civil society organisations are returning to the theme of communication. According to their civic eminences, the problem is not extreme poverty nor the anti-poor policies of Hichilema and his UPND. It is that the hungry citizens have not been provided with communication that is good enough to calm them down, to persuade them to accept their status. The measures being taken by the government to address their plight – measures that we are not told – are good. The real problem, according to the nine-member group, is that Hichilema and his friends in government are failing to communicate to this hungry mass of ignorant bodies.

In other words, the assumption by our civil society is that the poor are stupid and ignorant, and that they need to be brought in one place – possibly at the Taj Pamodzi Hotel – and fed with a carefully prepared statement that explains their degrading and lowly existence. Once this is done, they would happily return home, satisfied with the newly-found understanding of why they must remain poor and not sell things on the street, or of ‘the state of economic and social affairs in the country’. I do not think even the public relations team of the ruling party could have managed to put up this perfect excuse in order to shield Hichilema and the government from blame or criticism.

If a house is burning, the solution is not to call for an indaba on fires; it is to put out the fire. Zambians do not require an indaba or debate forum. They want solutions to their immediate problems: the skyrocketing prices of mealie meal, ‘saladi’, fuel, transport, sugar, and food. Before the election, Hichilema presented himself as a genius at solving those problems. Let him solve them now. The task of civil society, as is the responsibility of the rest of us, is to hold him to account based on the promises he already made.

I do understand though – and I am even sympathetic to – the primary impulses that are causing individuals including those in civil society today to betray public interest and identify themselves with the ruling elite. In an impoverished country like Zambia where the state is the dominant employer, the ability to stay alive requires association with the government of the moment. The price of dissenting, of challenging the government, of being in the minority, is very high. I know this from personal experience under this administration and previous governments.

It is a grave mistake, I think, for the government to weaken civil society by conscripting most of those who stood up to Lungu and the PF into government bodies. I ask Hichilema and the UPND to not destroy civil society this way – they need it. It is wrong for the state to have a predatory strategy towards its critics. They simply succeed in diluting their sources of legitimate criticism and positive reflections on their performance. The result is mediocrity amplified everywhere and loss of public voices to point out critical failings of the state. It is a strategy that is counterproductive and one that ultimately weakens Zambia’s democracy. A more fruitful relationship, in my view, is to pay attention to the substantiative content of independent criticism and opinions while protecting the independence of critics. No democracy is without critics and no government anywhere in the world believes itself to be perfect.

“5. Engage meaningfully with critical stakeholders in industry and civil society on various social and economic reforms being undertaken, this will help with consensus building on a number of issues.”

At this stage, it is hard to know if the subject of the statement is still ‘the rising cost of living’. The operative words in this section are critical and consensus building. Our civic eminences have decided that the reason why things are as they are in Zambia today is because the government is not talking to two ‘critical stakeholders’: themselves and unidentified players from industry.

Civil society is also telling Hichilema and his friends in government that there is disagreement ‘on various social and economic reforms being undertaken’ and that the solution is to hire the two identified groups to become the consensus builders for the UPND. Who decided to bring together the prime civic organisations of our country to defend the party in government this way?

If this is the state and quality of civil society in Zambia today, then the statement confirms the collapse of this key institution or, at the very least, the fading power of its watchdog role. As the gulf between the worsening state of the economy and Hichilema’s hollow rhetoric to the contrary widens by the day, the UPND, which lacks effective spin-doctors, is likely to be more brutal than the PF because the ruling party now knows that its abuses will not provoke vocal criticism from civil society. Any onslaught on democratic rights by Hichilema, criticised by the opposition as a stooge of foreign mining companies and Western countries, is also unlikely to attract much outrage from the West, whose governments and diplomats have so far avoided criticising their malleable partner.

Every regime has its own civic institutions and intellectuals. What largely exists in Zambia today is civil society for Hichilema and the UPND. When will a genuinely independent and pro-poor people civil society emerge?

Sishuwa Sishuwa is a Zambian writer, historian, and Senior Lecturer at Stellenbosch University

STATEMENT ON THE FOREIGN POLICY AND ECONOMIC CORPORATION OF THE UPND ADMINISTRATION

In response to some press queries to the Inter-Africa Governance Network (AFRINET) regards our position on the assertions by the President of the opposition political party ALL PEOPLE’S CONGRESS, Mr. Nason MSONI and others that President Hakainde HICHILEMA and his administration lack economic and political ideology and the alleged perception that the Head of State is a puppet of Western ideology in relation to International
Diplomacy and Economic Corporation.

First and foremost, as AFRINET we firmly respect the views of President Nason MSONI and others who hold such views about President Hakainde HICHILEMA, however in a spirit of alternative thought, regards this opinion we assert as follows:

As AFRINET, we wish to educate people who hold such views that International Diplomacy visa-vise individual county’s development agenda has fast evolved from the era of alignment either belonging to the Eastern or Western block.

The implication that the country and its leadership is of either Socialist or Capitalist ideological orientation and indeed such an old school of thought regards International Diplomacy is fast fading away, if not long gone in the antiquity of world history.

For the record, one of the factors that have made Africa and other developing countries to lag behind in national development is the firm belief in the alignment of countries in relation to ideology by their leaders.

As such, Economic and Political ideology does NOT develop countries, if it did, Africa and other developing countries would have been the most developed countries in the world because they have far too long exhibited such exceptional and gullible faith in geopolitical alignment for decades through repeated oscillation from one extreme end of ideology to the other, without at any point in time settling for the middle ground.

On the contrary, as well evidenced by fast developing economies like Malaysia, Singapore, Hong-Kong, Taiwan and others collectively referred to as the Tiger Economies or the Asian Tigers, their progress fundamentally is driven by self-belief in terms of the pursuit of home grown policies in response to well
understood Social – Economic challenges and opportunities that are not restricted to and by ideological undertones, careful internalization of best practices by advanced economies and asserting the country on the economic global stage without the obligation of ideological alignment in order to have easy and wider latitude for economic corporation and the flow of Foreign Direct Investment.

In conclusion, in view of these aforementioned fundamentals, as AFRINET it is our carefully audited view that President Hakainde HICHILEMA and his administration have pronounced themselves very well on the global stage in terms of Foreign Policy and Economic Corporation, principally anchored on the Principle of Non-alignment and Economic Diplomacy by moving Zambia from the perceived extreme East to the Centre, in order to freely engage with the East, North, South and West without the perception of exclusion of any other country regardless of their ideological identity.

For a fact, to many stakeholders and citizens who are incline to the East may definitely misconstrue the inevitable repositioning of Zambia from the perceived extreme East to the Centre as a shift to the West simply because of one’s own personal prejudice against certain countries and their unshakable faith in the old school of International Diplomacy and Economic Corporation.

Therefore, as AFRINET in our opinion, Foreign Policy that is fundamentally defined by Economic Diplomacy and the principle of non-alignment is the ideal because NO country is owed any loyalty and allegiance.

MAURICE MALAMBO
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

ConCourt dismisses case seeking to determine the extent of Edgar Lungu’s immunity

THE Constitutional Court has dismissed an action by Zambia Community Development Initiative Programme in which it sought a determination on whether Edgar Lungu is exempted from investigations as a former president.

The Court said the matter which was moved by businessman Hendrix Nyambe as the director of the organization, is anchored on personal issues that are contentious.

Nyambe had argued that it is illegal for the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) to search and seize property belonging to a former president, without Parliament lifting his immunity.

The State opposed Nyambe’s application on reasons that a former Head of State like Edgar Lungu is not immune from being probed by investigative wings.

Emmanuel Khondowe, a senior investigations officer at the DEC, had argued that there is no law which provides for the lifting of immunity of a person who once held office of president or who performed executive functions before investigating them.

He said the seizure of any assets belonging to a former president before lifting of the immunity, is part of the investigation process.

Delivering judgement judge Mary Kawimbe on behalf Court deputy president Arnold Shilimi, Palan Mulonda, Martin Musaluke and Judy Mulongoti said Nyambe has wrongly moved the court under originating summons.

The application is anchored on personal issues that are contentious.

She said the application specifically refers to Lungu’s properties, namely,LUS/38478 and LUS/28479, which were allegedly seized by the DEC.

“This particularity in our view, goes against our interpretive jurisdiction of dealing with issues that are general in nature and seek a legitimate purpose for interpretation,”judge Kawimbe said.

She said that Nyambe’s lawyer Benjamin Mwelwa, equally confirmed that the case bordered on personnel issues, when he submitted that it specifically referred to Lungu as the victim and emphasised that he was the only surviving former president.

Mwelwa claimed Lungu had suffered injustice, contrary to Article 98(5) of the constitution.

“We briefly wish to address a misconception that arose from Mr Mwelwa’s submissions on the status of our court. The Supreme court was allocated final jurisdiction in all civil and criminal matters. On the other hand ,the Constitutional Court was assigned original and final jurisdiction in all Constitutional matters according to Article 128 of the constitution,”judge Mulongoti said

She guided that the consequence is that both courts are at liberty to make law and precedents independent of the other.

“Finally, we hold that the applicant’s case is wrongly before us and is dismissed in its entirety,” said judge Kawimbe.

By Mwaka Ndawa

Chitotela contests the cancellation of his immunity from prosecution

PAMBASHE member of parliament Ronald Chitotela says the Economic and Financial Crimes Court misjudged the case relating to his immunity from prosecution for corruption, when it decreed that the privilege given to him by the ACC is of no legal effect.

Despite the court denying him permission to challenge its decision, Chitotela has defied the order and appealed the cancellation of his immunity in the Court of Appeal.

On July 24, 2023, the EFCC (High Court division) had declared that Chitotela’s exemption from prosecution for corruption by the Anti-graft fighting body after he surrendered his house in Ibex Hill in exchange for freedom, has no legal effect.

It stated that there is no evidence on record to show that Chitotela entered into a bargain with the ACC and surrendered his house as part of the purported out of Court settlement which the wife claims legal ownership.

“We find that there is no valid out of Court Settlement to set aside as the said settlement agreement was void ab initio. However as the said settlement agreement was filed into Court, we proceed through the academic motions of setting it aside and hereby do so,” said the Jury.

However Chitotela wants to contest the Court’s decision on five grounds of appeal.

He argues that the learned judges Susan Wanjelani, Anne Ononuju and Mwanajiti Mabbolobbolo fumbled when they heard the matter for fraudulent misrepresentation which was commenced by way of originating summons, instead of having the matter commenced by writ of summons to allow witnesses to testify and be cross examined.

He said the learned judges erred in law and fact when it determined a matter commenced by way of originating summons when the ACC did not issue and serve him the notice of demand letter prior to the filing of said action as required by the law.

“The judges erred in law and fact when they proceeded to determine a civil a matter when they have only criminal jurisdiction in Economic and Financial Crimes,”Chitotela said.

The former minister of tourism said the learned judges were wrong when they pronounced themselves on a civil matter which sought to interfere with criminal proceedings in the criminal court.

“The judges erred in law and fact when they found that the settlement agreement was void ab initio without the evidential threshold for proving fraud in civil matters being satisfied,”said Chitotela.

By Mwaka Ndawa

Kalemba

Top UPND officials sound poverty alarm

TWO top UPND officials have come out in the open to complain about the neglect and poverty ravaging the rank and file of the ruling party.

In a viral 15-minute audio, UPND youth chairpersons from Northwestern Province, Bruce Kanema, and Lusaka Province, Anderson Banda, candidly discussed the dire situation within the party.

Kanema expressed his dismay at the prevailing poverty among UPND members, particularly the youth.

“There is poverty in the UPND, there is poverty among the youths, terrible poverty. All their hopes are gone,” lamented Kanema

He acknowledged some of the positive initiatives implemented by President Hakainde Hichilema but lamented the lack of effective communication to showcase these accomplishments to the people.

Kanema criticized the party’s leadership for not adequately addressing the issues and warned that this could jeopardize their chances of retaining power.

“We don’t own the supporters; they joined the party willingly and can leave whenever they want. But we are keeping them in terrible poverty. Even the children of party officials cannot find jobs,” Kanema stated, expressing his concern over the hardships faced by party members and the lack of opportunities.

He further criticized the party’s leadership and National Management Committee (NMC) for not taking decisive action to address the problems within the party, leaving it in disarray. Kanema also expressed frustration over the apparent favoritism shown to individuals in positions of power and called for urgent reforms.

In agreement with Kanema, Anderson Banda, UPND Lusaka Province youth chairperson, added that the situation was “extremely disgusting and painful.” He highlighted the disillusionment among party members and the negative perception of the party among the general populace. Banda emphasized the need for immediate action and a genuine commitment to addressing the concerns raised by party members.

Both officials stressed the importance of heeding the voices of the people and taking their grievances seriously.

They expressed worry that the party’s leadership appeared to be disconnected from the realities on the ground, and if not addressed promptly, the situation could further erode support for the UPND.

By Moses Makwaya

Kalemba

By Mary Dindi

Lundazi – 6/08/2023

EIGHTEEN CDF PROJECTS AMOUNTING TO K9M FIVE HUNDRED AND NINETY – ONE THOUSAND WHERE YESTERDAY HANDED OVER TO THE COMMUNITY IN LUNDAZI.

Eighteen (18) Constituency Development Fund (CDF) projects where yesterday handed over to the community of Lundazi District in Eastern Province

Amongst the projects under 2021 CDF were, completion of 1 by 3 classroom block at Kapili primary school,rehabilitation of Lukwezezi health post, completion of Chadeza health post and completion of Matembe health post.

Some of the Projects handed over under 2022 CDF were, supply of a skip roader truck, hand over of CDF projects monitoring land cruiser, construction of 1by 3 classroom block at Kasuku Primary School, construction of 1by 3 classroom block at Mankhaka Primary School, 1 by 3 classroom block at Mutiwanjobvu Primary School, rehabilitation of a 1by 3. Classroom block at Kadamsana Primary School, completion of 1by 3 classroom block at Kapichila Day, completion of 1by 3 classroom block at Mphamba day Secondary School, completion of a staff house at Malawila Primary School and rehabilitation of Desks.

Other projects were the construction of Gumbilwe police post, construction of a Mortuary at Lundazi District hospital with a buck up power system and construction of Kaphodo bridge.

Speaking when commissioning the projects, Eastern Province Minister Honourable Peter Phiri said His excellency President Hakainde Hichilema has declared the year 2023 as a year of action hence this massive completion of different projects in different constituencies.

He thanked the District Commissioner, the area Member of Parliament, the council and the CDF committee for their commitment towards the completion of the projects.

The Minister also commended the traditional leadership for the support rendered from the beginning of the projects.

He went further to say that Zambia Electricity Supply Company ( ZESCO) is already on site constructing a sub station so that the District can be connected to National grid.

He urged the community of Lundazi to take care of the infrastructure which was handed over and report to relevant authorities whenever there is an abuse of the projects.

The honorable minister also explained that the government is planning to introduce soft loans for farmers, so that all the small scale farmers may have an access to it.

He explained that at the moment only a small number of farmers are benefiting from Farmer Impute support Program (FISP)

Speaking during the same function, Lundazi Constituency area Member Parliament Ms Brenda Nyirenda commended the government for the increment of CDF.

She said the increment of the funds has enabled the Constituency to do various projects across the Constituency.

In a vote of thanks his royal highness Senior Chief Mwase Lundazi, commended the government for the handover of the projects and the construction of ZESCO Power station in the District.

He said the power station will enable the district which was importing power from Malawi to have access to national grid.

Picture insert from left to right His Royal highness chief Mphamba, His Royal highness Senior Chief Mwase Lundazi and his royal highness chief Kapichila all of Lundazi District

CIC PRESS TEAM

ANDD WELCOMES £2.5 BILLION UK’S INVESTMENT IN THE MINING SECTOR

…. it has come as a result of President Hichilema’s commitment to revamp the mining sector

Lusaka..Monday August 7, 2023 (SMART EAGLES)

Advocates for National Development And Democracy has welcomed £2.5 Billion investment from UK to support the mining sector saying it has come as a result of President Hakainde Hichilema’s commitment to revamp the mining sector.

The organization says this is a clear indication that investors have confidence in president Hakainde Hichilema leadership to transform and develop the mining sector.

The United Kingdom has offered to support Zambia’s mining, minerals and renewable energy sectors with £2.5 billion of UK private sector investments and £500 million UK government backed investment.

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly disclosed this when he paid a courtesy call on President Hakainde Hichilema last week.

Advocates for National Development and Democracy Executive Director Samuel Banda has also commended President Hichilema’s commitment to revamping the mining sector by introducing progressive mining reforms such as the formulation of mineral regulation commission which he believes will help in regulating the mining sector, improve integrity and ensure investors adhere to the mining policies.

“However we want to indicate that Government will fail to meet its target 3 million metric tonnes of copper production target by 2031 if Konkola Copper Mines and Mopani remain unlocked. The two strategic mines KCM and Mopani mines if operating at optimally have a huge potential to contribute about 1.5 million metric tonnes of copper production towards the 3 million target per annum by 2031,” said Mr Banda.

“Handing over KCM to Vedanta Resources and finding an investor for Mopani mines should not be delayed any further if President Hakainde Hichilema mining vision can be actualized. Its unfortunately that the Minister of Mines and Minerals Development Hon Paul Kabuswe is failing our president by failing to conclude negotiations with investors on a right time in the interest of revamping the mining sector and making it viable.”

He profoundly reiterated his organization’s position as well as for the consortium of civil society organisations championing the revamping of the mining sector that on 12th August 2023, they will have peaceful protest.

“We shall match to statehouse and present a petition to our president so that he can intervene in this KCM Vedanta negotiations as we have the confidence that he will expidite the process and have a final conclusion,” he added.

“Our interest is to promote national development through development of a viable mining sector as it accounts for about 80% of our GDP.

ZAMBIAN OFFICERS GRADUATE FROM ZIMBABWE DEFENCE UNIVERSITY

By Buffalo Reporter

Two Zambian officers graduated at the Zimbabwe National Defence University’s 4th graduation ceremony on August 4, 2023, which was graced by President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, and Chancellor of the ZNDU, Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Colonel George Hatyoka of the Zambia Army and Colonel Victor Chisani of the Zambia Air Force were part of the National Defence Course (NDC) Course 11/2022, which included various faculties.

The NDC is a military strategic course whose aim is to develop the officer’s leadership competencies, analytical skills, and knowledge of defence and national security matters for assignments at the strategic policy formulation level.

The course attracted 35 participants (1 from Botswana, 1 from Malawi, 1 from Mozambique, 1 from Namibia, 2 from Nigeria, 1 from Pakistan, 1 from South Africa, 1 from Tanzania, and 2 Zambian officers), while the rest were from the Zimbabwe National Army, Air Force of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Republic Police, Zimbabwe Correctional Services, and the Zimbabwe Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.

NDC was structured in four terms, which were broken down into term One: Foundational theories and Zimbabwe domestic studies, term two: international security studies, Term three: national National studies; and term four: Covered National Defence building.

The ceremony was witnessed by Zambia’s Defence Attaché to Zimbabwe, Colonel Maggie Nakamba, and family members.