1. Partial lockdown is still affecting global economy with estimated global economical growth rate of 3.2%
2. Zambia to grow by 3.6%. Agriculture has affected the growth rate. Weak performance was also noted in construction sector
3. Revenue has exceeded the expectation with the expenditure falling
4. Government has been releasing funds to ministry on a monthly basis as they require 5. Notable expenditures – census, cdf, pensioners
6. Budget deficit for 2022 was projected at just over 6% but was actually around 9%
7. Zambia is one of the shareholders (primary) in the IMF. The country owns part of the IMF ( we are rich guys).
8. IMF is currently supporting Zambia is engaging with creditors to reduce the debt to manageable level
9. Public debt is currently at just over $14bn
10. Debt level has been rising for two reasons. Projects started by the PF which still require funding as they had reached advanced stages. And Electricity power stations
11. Domestic debts – K72bn (about $4bn)
12. Inflation at its lowest for a long time. Currently at just over 9%.
13. Bank lent 13% more in 2022 than 2021
14. Export were $6bn during the first half of 2022 compared to $5bn in the same period in 2021. This was driven by increased copper exports
—— missed section ——-
15. Agriculture remains the largest employing sector in Zambia.
16. Government has recruited 256 Extention (sp) officers and 300 more will be recruited next year
17. Gov to construct 40 dams
17. Gov has secured $10m for agric irrigation
18. FiSP will always be there contrary to false social media news. IMF cannot stop FISP
19. New program to encompass Fisp – agriculture support program. More scrutiny will be employed to stop ineligible persons from accessing support met for the poor (lost connection here again)
20. Zambia has secured martlet in the EU and Asia for some agric crops including livestock (anyone weighing more than 46kg and living with parents. 😂😂)
21. $300m has been obtained from the world bank to develop some farm blocks (more jobs). Money will be paid over a 30 years period. Gov has borrowed this money to create jobs not fire tenders or cameras in the streets.
22. Farm projects to create thousands of jobs as they will also have good processing plants. They will have jobs in engineering, accounts, labor and many more. Just think of a new city to be created.
23. Both Milk and milk production has increase d this year
24. Gov to introduce livestock IDs to curb theft and help in disease outbreak management
25. Mining continues to be the biggest economic earner at 17% and contributes more than 70% in fOrex.
25. DRC had half our annual mineral output sometimes back but are now far ahead of Zambian at 1.8m tones of copper production with Zambia at 800,000 tones.
There’s no fight against corruption. It’s a fight to annihilate former 6th President, Dr Edgar Chagwa Lungu. Enough is enough, if you think he stole : go remove his Constitutional immunity, arrest him and take him to court, he has told you what to do, else, shut your mouths and keep your peace.
As far as the State House based DEC is concerned, ECL is guilty before investigations. All that he owns or does not own, are all guilty properties which must be seized.
Now that the lodge is not ECL’s, then it’s a free property, so it is handed back to the rightful owner Mr Phiri? And that is all? So is it the property you’re after or it’s the person called ECL? Why don’t you just take off your masks and get into the ring and fight ECL straight on? There’s no rule of law here. It’s just what one man wants done – the way my sister Honourable Mumbi Phiri is facing injustice, more than 8 months no court hearing about her “serious” crime.
But this moribund DEC does not say it has continued seizing the property. DEC is telling us that only ECL is suspicious and corruptly guilty BEFORE investigations.
But, DEC is not aware, have never heard their Boss say “don’t take punitive action before investigations.” DEC sees everything ECL owns are proceeds of crime. You mean a former President can’t own anything of value mwe bantu sure.?
After they fail on the lodge, you saw them other day going to search him. All they want is find him guilty, arrest him jail him and rule him out of 2026 (they fear he may run).
Ok folks, ECL has told ba Pungwa to remove his immunity so that he can have his day in court.
Trust me, if in one year you failed to produce any case against ECL, you mean now you can find something on him? You are really amateurs playing in the wrong Champions league but know that next Season, you gonna be relegated because you’re scoring own goals.
So far, you’re at bottom of the Champions League table ‘ muzamuziba Yesu.
Every day ECL gives you goose pimples and you’re failing to imbibe Chibwantu. You have probed his children, his wife now you are fishing for incriminating evidence against him – you’re in panic mode but as long as Jesus is Lord, see your life now – even your Nigerian god father has abandoned you because he has seen that the looting is now at pseudo Champion’s level, it’s unprecedentedly big.
Leave ECL alone. Start delivering. Hibernian us mealie meal at K50, fuel at K10, fertilizer at K250, no loadshedding, reduce electricity tariffs, Kwacha/Dollar rate at K10, bursary for all eligible university students, lower cost of living… noti ivi daily ma investigations, probes, threats, seizures… tizadya ma speeches yanu?
Mutale Mwanza demands K2 million! Popular TV & Radio Personality, Producer and Entrepreneur Mutale Mwanza is demanding K2 million in defamation damages from a Lusaka businesswoman who accused her of failing to pay money for a wig she allegedly bought from her.
Through her lawyers, Ms Mwanza, a voice over artist has also demanded that the woman in question, Natasha Mwansa, should immediately pull down the defamatory message she posted online.
The social media posting which had angered the social media influencer reads in “You are buying an iPhone for K87,000 but you are slacking to pay for a two thousand wig.. God is watching Y’ all'”.
Ms Mwanza’s lawyers, Makeni Zulu Advocates, have written to Ms Kasanda demanding payment for damaging their clients “powerful brand” through a message she posted on Whatsapp.
“We act for Ms Mutale Mwanza hence note our interest. Our client advises that on or about the 28th instant, you caused to be published on your whatsapp status,” the letter dated September 30, 2022 reads in part.
The lawyers complain that the said words shared on Ms Kasanda’s status were attributed to Ms Mwanza.
” You were suggesting that you had done business with our client and ours did not pay you for the goods supplied. In this case artificial hair.
“Ours has suffered ridicule at the hands of right thinking members of the public owing to your actions,” the letter reads in part.
The lawyers state that their clients wants Ms Mwansa to immediately pull down your post and apologize on all social media platforms with the prominence with which you published your post.
” We have placed the damages to be paid to our client at a modest and reasonable sum of two million kwacha only K2, 000,000 You are further informed that you should take the actions set out in 1 and 2 above and settle the said amount within t
DEC IS INCOMPETENT AND SHOULD BE DISBANDED, DEMANDS TUTWA
OPPOSITION Patriotic Front (PF) lawyer, Tutwa Ngulube has warned that the inefficiency and incompetence displayed by the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) has potentially eroded public confidence in the institution with its back and forth way of operating.
In an interview, Ngulube, a former Kabwe Central Member of Parliament has called for the disbandment of DEC as it has lost its relevance in the country.
He said the institution has not only exposed its incompetence but also its failure to heed to applicable procedures in most of its operations.
“The Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) has exposed not only its incompetence, but its inefficiencies and irrelevance to the problems that the people have in society. That’s why we want to propose that the failure by the Commission to adhere to the law and also to adhere to the applicable procedures in most of what they are doing, actually shows us that this department is no longer required in Zambia, it should actually be disbanded and made a department of the Zambia Correctional Services,” he said.
Ngulube was reacting to the announcement by DEC that it had lifted the seizure notice issued on a property reportedly registered in the names of former president Edgar Lungu.
He has since advised the Commission to conduct thorough investigations to avoid an embarrassing outcome in future.
Ngulube said it is disappointing that the Commission has now become a danger to the peace enjoyed by Zambians and the Commission itself.
“The Drug Enforcement Commission has become a danger not only to themselves but also to the peace that the people are enjoying. The harrassment of the former head of state by the DEC is a clear manifestation that these people have no work to do.”
He lamented, “the Drug Enforcement Commission has eroded all the public confidence that people had in them such that even if they are to arrest a person people would not respect their decision. DEC being an institution that is not only suppose to conduct a witch hunt should stick within the lane that the law has given them. The DEC has been fighting with Zambia Police over fraud cases, they want to do issues to do with fraud cases, they want to do cases relating to Anti -Corruption Commission, they want to do cases relating to Financial Intelligence Center, this institution has lost its relevance and must be disbanded,” he said.
Recently, the investigative wing seized Crest Lodge in Lusaka’s Ibex Hill area suspected to belong to former republican president Edgar Lungu under a law that allows forfeiture of property suspected to be proceeds of crime but was forced to lift the seizure after discovering that the property was registered in other names.
Start the Process to remove my immunity and let me have my day in court, ECL Implores President Hichilema
…..let me answer to the charges you have against me otherwise stop this…..
Lusaka, 30th September, 2022
Former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu has implored President Hakainde Hichilema to commence the process of lifting his immunity and having it tabled before Parliament so that he can have his day in court as opposed to subjecting him to lawless actions that are not enshrined in the country’s constitution.
The former Head of State who woke up to yet another witch hunt from the Drug Enforcement Commission who went to search his property described the action by the DEC as lawlessness.
“People say I talk too much but there is a point beyond in which you stop keeping quiet! I have reached a position that MAY THE PRESIDENT INITIATE THE PROCESS OF LIFTING MY IMMUNITY by going to parliament to lay a case so that they can eventually prove what crime I committed”
The former Head of State, further lamented that for one year he has been called a criminal and a thief but those that allege the he and the government he led were criminals must prove it.
“So my feeling is that may the President initiate the process of removing my immunity so that I can have my day in court. We believe that he who alleges must prove so prove that I am a criminal and I led a group of criminals and we plundered and looted this country so that at the end of the day collectively or as Head I can answer to the charges otherwise they SHOULD STOP THIS”
And narrating to the Patriotic Front Members of Parliament who went show their solidarity, the former President said the officers who after seeing his arrival on the said property changed their story and stated that they were misled and pleaded with the former Head of State to treat the incident like it never happened.
It is worth noting that, under the Presidential immunity provided for Article 43 of the Constitution of Zambia. Articles 43(1) and (2) grant a sitting President immunity from civil and criminal proceedings while Article 43(3) extends the immunity relating to criminal proceedings to a former President.
Article 43(3) provides as follows:
“43(3)A person who has held, but no longer holds, the office of President shall not be charged with a criminal offence or be amenable to the criminal jurisdiction of any court, in respect of any act done or omitted to be done by him in his personal capacity while he held office of President, unless the National Assembly has, by resolution, determined that such proceedings would not be contrary to the interests of the State.”
The import of the foregoing provision is that a former President in Zambia has immunity from criminal proceedings for criminal offences he or she committed in his or her personal capacity while in office until and unless that immunity is removed by a resolution of the National Assembly.
FIRE MARY CHIRWA, MAKE HER RESIGN,OR RESIGN YOURSELF FOR TURNING ZAMBIA INTO A BANANA REPUBLIC, HEAD MUST ROLL AT DEC – SAKWIBA SIKOTA
PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema should either fire the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) director general Mary Chirwa or should ask her to resign, not only for incompetence but for initiating criminal proceedings against former Republican President Edgar Lungu who is protected from prosecution by the immunity he enjoys, Sakwiba Sikota has said.
And Mr Sikota, one of Zambia’s prominent and renowned lawyers has said arbitrary actions by Ms Chirwa and her staff had essentially turned Zambia into a banana republic where the rule of law was no longer the governing principle in running the affairs of the country.
Mr Sikota in an interview in Lusaka yesterday said should Ms Chirwa refuse to resign or President Hichilema fail to sack her, it would be sensible that the Head of State should instead resign for failing to discharge his duties by allowing lawlessness to reign in a country that is known for its democracy.
He said the searches the law enforcement agencies were conducting against former President Lungu were arbitrary and vindictive because they lack the sensibilities of the rule of law.
He said heads should roll at the DEC and whoever was so incompetently in-charge of seizing the properties of the former President should be made to account or resign.
Mr Sikota stated that if President Hichilema did not feel that Ms Chirwa should resign or be fired, the most prudent action would for the Head of State to tender in his resignation.
“Head must roll at the DEC. We should be seeing Ms Chirwa resigning or getting fired for that is what you do in civilised democracies. If President Hichilema does not feel that no one should be fired or resign, then he (Hichilema) should resign. Whoever was incompetently in-charge of the seizure of President Lungu’s properties should resign. This is what you do when you are following the rule of law in a democracy,” Mr Sikota said.
And Mr Sikota said the arbitrariness of the actions of the DEC was turning Zambia into a banana republic that did not respect the constitution nor the principles of the rule of law.
He explained that DEC had already initiated criminal proceedings against former President Lungu, arguing that criminal proceedings did not mean that only matters before the courts of law but immediately an investigation is commenced.
1. The Presidential Spokesperson Mr. Anthony Bwalya raised a very good point about two days ago. He said that we should practice our politics with decency. The only problem is that he was directing those words to the wrong person. Between Sean Tembo and President Hakainde Hichilema, it is the later who needs to be reminded about the need to practice decent politics than the former. For the record, here are some examples of indecent politics by President Hakainde Hichilema and his Government.
2. It is President Hakainde Hichilema and his Government who went and seized a dead man’s properties from the widow and children on the basis that the dead man is suspected of committing certain offenses. The late Mr Suzyo Nyika’s only offense is his close association with former President Lungu when he was still alive. We all know that a dead man cannot defend themselves. By President Hichilema and his Government depriving the widow and children of their property, that is indecent conduct. Therefore, before directing his words about the need to practice decent politics, Mr Anthony Bwalya should have first directed them to his boss.
3. It is President Hakainde Hichilema and his Government who are harassing former President Lungu with seizure of his property and sending investigative wings to his house, even though former President Lungu still has his immunity. By so doing, President Hakainde Hichilema is demeaning the office of the sixth Republican President. If President Hichilema would like to investigate or prosecute former President Lungu, let him first lift his immunity as provided for by the law. Indeed, President Hichilema’s behavior towards his predecessor lacks decency. Therefore Mr Anthony Bwalya can do well to advise his boss on the need for common decency.
4. It is President Hakainde Hichilema who sent his police officers to arrest me for the use of the word “Bally” as if he is the only Bally in the world. In fact, the President only started using the word “Bally” around 2020 when he was in opposition, and today he wants to assume exclusive use even though he has not patented this word at PACRA. Such behavior of over-exalting oneself simply because of your job position lacks common decency. Therefore, Anthony Bwalya can do well to advise his boss on this.
5. It is President Hakainde Hichilema’s State House Media team which runs an online publication called ”Koswe”. This publication makes it their hobby to insult any Zambian who disagrees with President Hakainde Hichilema. This Koswe publication insults myself, my family and my mother on a daily basis. A few days ago, this Koswe publication launched a tirade insulting the Archbishop of Lusaka His Grace Dr. Alick Banda and the entire Catholic Church, simply because of their stance on homosexuality and sodomy in Zambia. Our advice to President Hichilema is that whether you insult those you disagree with directly or through an online publication, it is the same thing. If President Hichilema did not know that the Koswe online publication is run by his State House Media Team, now he knows. Let him take action if he is a decent politician.
7. If we are going to have genuine decency in our political dispensation, then we must all act in a decent manner. Each one of us. Those who insult directly and those who insult through proxies in the form of online publications are just the same. None is better than the other. Also let our conduct reflect a pure heart and not malice. Let us work within the confines of the law and of our authority. Let us not overreach, because that is what common decency dictates.
Unlike the lifting of Immunity of former President Frederick Chiluba (2002) and Rupiah Banda (2013) which was done with ease in Parliament, the law has now changed since 2016. See Article 98 of the Constitution.
In Chiluba and Banda cases, a wide range of unsubstantiated allegations were made in Parliament, which prompted MPs to lift Presidential immunity without verification of the allegations. And it was by mere simple majority vote by Parliament! But now the law has changed. The following pointers must now be followed for lifting Immunity:
It is the sitting President himself who should go to Parliament and present a Report detailing the specific allegations against former President. (Rupiah Banda was done by Minister of Justice).
The allegations must be specific and Parliament is obliged to set-up a special Committee to probe the allegations before tabling them in the House unlike in the Chiluba and Banda case.
The former President, unlike previous, is allowed to challenge and be heard at Parliament before lifting of immunity. So, if the allegations are fake, the Committee will inform Parliament and the whole process fails! Lawyers get involved at this stage like in the US during congressional hearing of impeachment of the President.
If the Committee finds that the allegations are valid, Parliament will still has to vote for lifting of immunity and the motion requires two-thirds majority unlike in Chiluba and Banda cases where you just needed simple majority.
Once immunity is lifted, the former President ought to charged with those specific charges or alleged offences that Parliament approved and nothing else. In both Chiluba and Banda cases, they were charged with other unrelated offences not presented to Parliament.
If acquitted by the Courts, immunity is given back automatically by operation of law unlike in the Chiluba and Banda cases.
The effect of the above entails that the former President must be investigated first and prima facie case found against him before contemplating to lift immunity. There is no law that stops law enforcement agencies from investigating former President but prosecution. The process has now been lengthened following the unsuccessful prosecution of Chiluba and Banda. No ordinary MP or Minister can move Parliament to remove immunity unlike in the past. It must be President.
Friday is a big day in Zambia. Minister of Finance and National Planning, Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane will present the 2023 National Budget in Parliament.
This Budget will affect the outcome of the life of our country in the next one year as this is one of the most effective tool used to attend to the economic, social and growth of our country.
I expected a debate comprising preview of budget expectations and projections to dominate the narrative.
Infact the entire debate this week was not about the impending presentation of the national budget but something else.
Last few weeks, the debate has been dominated by the homosexuality debate and the sexual crimes against boys and men and the poor handling of the same by the New Dawn Government.
President Hakainde Hichilema’s annual trip to the United Nations General Assembly and his activities in Newyork barely got any serious attention or analysis.
This week, a few days before the presentation of the Budget, started with a case of UPND Lusaka Vice Chairperson, Saulos Mwale Cornhill and his insults and vulgarities against the University of Zambia and other institutions.
This resulted in the University of Zambia students protesting and Saulosi’s own suspension.
So here we are as a nation, we have lost an opportunity to debate critical this critical issue.
Here are some activities that stole the limelight at the eve of the Budget presentation ceremony;
1. Search of the premises of former President Edgar Lungu in State Lodge area, New Kasama.
2. Members of Parliament visit former President Lungu.
3. Detention of President Economic and Equity Party (EEP), Chilufya Tayali in Livingstone.
4. ACC arrest Francis Muchemwa.
5. Seizure of Edgar Lungu’s lodge( DEC says we made a mistake,the lodge belongs to someone else).
6. Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops affirms the Church’s strong stand against homosexuality.
7. Road Development Agency (RDA) Chairperson, Mulchand Kuntawala announces the dismissal of Dorector and Chief Executive Officer, George Manyele.
8. Removal of subsidies on fuel ( reinstatement of Value Added Tax, Customs Duty and Excise Duty).
9. Monthly review of fuel pimp price scheduled for Friday.
10. UPND Lusaka Province Chairpserand strongman, Obvious Mwaliteta, who some members have touted as the next Secretary General, issued a notice on his page that he is taking sabbatical leave from provincial politics.
So as you saw with the demise of Queen Elizabeth and the subsequent coverage, having an item dominate debate is not coincidence but is preceded by serious planning, preparations and strategies.
It’s not that the World comes to a stand-still, a narrative makes it appear so.
CNN may dedicate plenty of time to a hurricane that will cover a corner of the USA, and it will feel like the whole World is at the verge of beung battered by a storm and flooding!
But it is clear that the New Dawn Government is preoccupied with everything else except a narrative that should favour them and their leader!
So maybe it’s not too late…what are your expectations of the national budget
‘Prostituting’ student nurse loses father’s financial support
A DISAPPOINTED father has stopped paying school fees for his daughter who is a student at Makeni School of Nursing in Lusaka after a woman whose boyfriend she grabbed posted her photos on Facebook, calling her a prostitute.
It is reported that while scrolling Facebook, father to 21-year old Hildah Phiri almost suffered a heart attack when he came across a post suggesting that instead of learning how to administer injections on patients, his daughter was, infact, a regular recipient of a man’s fleshly and baby-giving injection administered by a male nurse from Mtendere clinic.
The photos and accusations had been posted by 28-year old Victoria Mwamba who was hurting at losing a man she had cohabited with for two years, to the youthful Hildah, who opted to start nursing a taken man’s tool box.
Confounded and heartbroken, Hildah’s father withdrew his financial support to his daughter.
Determined to continue with her nursing programme, Hildah ran to the Lusaka boma local court, petitioning that Victoria be compelled to take up her educational expenses since she had caused her father to withdraw support with her Facebook post.
“She posted me on Facebook that I am a prostitute who has troubled her with her man. When my father saw the post, he blocked me and withdrew from paying for my school fees… Because of that, I want her to start paying for my school fees for defaming my name,” Hildah told the court.
Facts before the Lusaka boma local court were that Kabwe Katanga, aged 31 of Kaunda Square, who is a male nurse at Mtendere clinic was cohabiting with Mwamba for more than two years when she later found a picture of Hildah on his phone.
” I found a picture of Hildah in my boyfriend’s phone and when I asked him about it, he lied that it was his sister but he later changed his statement that she was just an innocent girl,” Victoria said.
Victoria admitted to posting Hildah on Facebook because she was very upset, considering the time she had invested while cohabiting with Katanga.
She said they had been planning to formalise marital processes with Katanga before the ‘innocent’ Hildah came in the picture.
Victoria, however, added that they are no longer together with Katanga because he decided to leave the house and start dating the first year student nurse.
After hearing the testimonies, magistrate Martha Tembo dismissed the claim, noting that if Hildah was not a prostitute, she could not have been with a man who had not paid dowry for her.
She ruled that Hildah was doing things at a wrong time as her main concern ought to be school.
“You can’t save two masters; you can not focus on school while entertaining Katanga who is only playing with you. Your father pulled out paying the school fees because he knew that you would fail and that is a waste of money,” magistrate Tembo said.
She cautioned Hildah that the outcome of her relationship with Katanga will be a pregnancy and that such is not the reason she is pursuing at the nursing school.
Magistrate Tembo told Hildah that Katanga will probably just ‘use’ her, without escalating the relationship to marriage.
The judicial officer further noted that if Katanga marries Hildah, he will still be cheating on her because the proverbial thumb rule of “old habits die hard.”
She advised Katanga to simply marry, instead of ‘monkeying around’ with people’s daughters.
WE’RE WORSE OFF …IMF money meant to frustrate, keep you small – Silumbe
By Fanny Kalonda
LEADERSHIP Movement president Richard Silumbe says Zambia needs a leadership that is driven by production and not on financial assistance from International Monetary Fund which promotes consumption.
Dr Silumbe said IMF packages dwarf African governments to make the people’s living standards continue to deteriorate.
He told The Mast that the new dawn government is moving the country’s economy from bad to worse.
“We are moving from bad to worse. We need to have leaders who think production not leaders who only look at management. Managing money when it comes instead of thinking about how to produce that cash, how to make things that bring about money. So we are moving from bad to worse. That is the genuine understanding and comparison of what we are seeing today. There is no indicator that can show us that we are improving in terms of the living standards. We have seen how the cost of mealie meal has hanged around K100…” he said. “We have heard the President talk about exporting soya beans. We will be exporting wheat, we will be exporting this to United Arab Emirates…how do you talk about exportation when you have not talked about production? We want the Head of State to talk about production.”
Dr Silumbe said IMF packages have never worked anywhere and the government should look at production and other local remedies than depend on the IMF.
He said the IMF package is meant to impoverish Zambians stressing that the government should not move outside the country to ask for money to develop the country “as it never works”.
“From the Leadership Movement perspective, we know the IMF bailout has never worked. I can take you a little bit back to the 1980s, late 80s when Kenneth Kaunda went for IMF and World Bank. What happened when he removed subsidies? That was the end of his term. People suffered more. There was more inflation, there were serious problems in this country and we never recovered from that during Kenneth Kaunda’s era. We can talk about [Frederick] Chiluba’s era. They went for IMF, it didn’t work out. Levy Mwanawasa also went, it didn’t work. What makes us feel that today going to beg will help us in resuscitating the economy?” he asked. “The answer is categorically not. It can never work. The idea that you have to move around, ask for money from outside, to make your country develop doesn’t work. It will never [work] even help the people of Zambia. What should be in the minds of any government today, it should be the issue of production. What are we producing to the outside world? What we need to start thinking about as Zambians, and what we do ourselves, we need to think about local solutions. Those IMF packages are meant to impoverish the Zambian people.”
He said if the IMF’s plan is to help African countries, the government should wonder “why they do not promote production but consumption”.
“They are meant to make sure that the African governments are dwarf. The living standards continue to deteriorate and there is no room for improvement because how would you think a package will help develop the country when the conditions are that you should remove subsidies, then the money should be used for Social Cash Transfer?” he said. “They don’t want you to use that money for productive programmes. They don’t want you to use that money to open a mine for instance. They don’t want you to use that money to create state farms. They want you to use it for consumption. That money is meant to frustrate you, to keep you small and to keep you a complete servant. We reject the issue of loans in totality because we know it never works. We need technology transfer, we need to be getting machines for instance to help us produce more.“
Dr Silumbe suggested that the government comes up with partnerships.
“We can go and come up with a partnership with other countries where we get the technology in exchange for raw materials and produce more. That is the kind of interaction with foreigners that we want. Not always a consumer, you have nothing to offer. You are just looking for money from other countries, it doesn’t work. All countries that have recovered from crisis, they have taken the route of production and they have recovered and they never went to beg for money,” he said. “When the new dawn government celebrate, we just laugh as Leadership Movement because we know that there is no track of history where we have seen that ‘thanks to the IMF, the country has developed’. You are going to see the numbers of unemployment rise in the next three years. You are going to see how poverty is going to strike this country in the next few years. They will be talking about inflation, they will be talking about all these things but Zambians are going to suffer the consequences.”
Dr Silumbe said the country is going to be under captivity of the IMF and the government will justify it with a few economic indicators.
“As we are now we are under captivity, they will talk about all kinds of justification. They will talk about fuel prices being caused by external factors. We are going to see the government justify with a few economic indicators. Pumping dollars in the Bank of Zambia and show people that the kwacha has actually gained and all those things that they’re going to play with just to justify that things are okay. In the end we are going to see poverty,” he said. “We are going back to those days in the early 2000s and late 2000 when there was a high number of street kids, high number of orphans, high numbers of parents that have died due to frustrations, depression like it happened in the 90s when we sold out industries in the name of IMF. They told us ‘sell all your mineral resources, companies. Sell off all companies run by government’ and people were clapping yes. We need to sell these things and what happened? People were dying of depression, people lost jobs without getting paid…”
He said government should work to invest in human capital and the country’s resources to produce goods that the country can export and not depend on funding from outside.
“And these things keep coming up, again and again. Each government comes, no us we are going to manage money from IMF prudently. You can never manage a loan. Think about something else. Think about other ways of creating money. As we have known up to now that no country in this world dropped out of heaven with bags of money and development. All these countries worked out local solutions and they created money, they created wealth. What is wrong with us not to create wealth, why don’t we have leadership that thinks about creation of wealth?” wondered Dr Silumbe. “Bringing into this country genuine money by way of engaging the energy of our human capital and human resources, producing tangible products that we sell to other countries, that kind of money always revolving around production. The country should not continue to pursue the same solutions that have failed the country in the past…The day they give you debt cancellation, they give you more loans again. They even tell you that this money is not for production it is about consumption. You have a lot of street kids, use it!”
STOP THE DEMOLITION OF HOUSES IN BWANA MKUBWA, MATAMBO ORDERS COURT BAILLIFS
By Correspondent Reporter
WITH pending by-elections in Ndola and Kitwe, the UPND administration has felt the pressure now, that they have ordered for any further demolition of houses in Bwana Mkubwa despite the action being an order of the High Court.
Copperbelt Minister Elisha Matambo has with immediate effect directed to stop the demolition exercise of houses by a private developer trading under the name Mulberry Development Limited in Bwana Mkubwa.
This is after UPND cadres ran amock yesterday burning the earth moving equipment and attacking police officers who went to effect the High Court order.
Matambo says it is unfortunate that government and the ruling party was not informed about the operation where many households will be affected following a court order being enforced by bailiffs.
“It is unacceptable that a private citizen armed with a court order can secretly without informing government decide to undertake such a sensitive operation where many lives of people are at stake. Such recklessness will not be torelated. ” The demolitions must be halted immediately to allow for consultations with all the stakeholders and government, ” he said.
Matambo, further, dismissed assertions circulating on social media alleging that the demolition exercise was being conducted with full knowledge of the UPND provincial executive Committee as false and malicious.
“I would like to dismiss the information being circulated on PF platforms that the demolition squard included the provincial and council officials as total lies, Government and the ruling party were not aware about this whole operation, ” Matambo said.
He has since warned all Local Authorities and private developers in the province to desist from sending graders to demolish people’s properties without informing the Minister’s office.
Residents of Katondo in Munkulungwe ward of Bwana Mkubwa constituency in Ndola, Wednesday, woke up to a rude shock when the bailiffs swang into action with a demolition order of housing units purported to have been built on a land belonging to a named private developer.
We have our own cadres who were envying what PF was doing – Nkombo
By Kombe Chimpinde Mataka
LOCAL government minister Gary Nkombo says he is facing a lot of resistance from his party cadres to leave markets and bus stops but that he is determined.
And Nkombo said the role of restoring complete order and sanity should not be left to him alone but also to his home affairs and transport counterparts Jack Mwiimbu and Frank Tayali respectively.
“I don’t want to blame PF. I am an honest person. I have to be as honest as I can. We have our own cadres who were envying what PF was doing. Levying people in markets, taking it to the secretariat giving leaders and so on and so on. When we got in, there was a pronouncement at the highest level of the President who said ‘there shall be no more caderism’. Hello! It was the President who said that that there would be no caderism,” he said when he featured on Hot FM on Tuesday. “Last week we see these cadres with placards saying ‘Nkombo is misleading the President with (party secretary general Batuke) Imenda. They must come out. I agreed with the President. The whole Cabinet agreed with the President that let us find something else that is more sustainable for our cadres to do rather than harassing people on the streets. The bus stations are infested with cadres, I must confess, especially here in Lusaka .They masquerade. When I go there they run away. The only way they can easily get back at me is just to make a lone protest somewhere in the backyard saying ‘Nkombo out! It will not happen. I will come out when I err, when I make mistakes. And even mistakes are forgivable or when I decide to do things with impunity and not follow the vision of the team.”
Nkombo said the issue of ending caderism completely requires concerted effort. “The issue of cadres in the markets is just as bad as it is in the bus stations. Why is it that bad? It is because the bus drivers have decided that they are not going to use the designated bus stops. I am sure you noticed that. They stop anywhere, instead of using the stations. The disorder is still there. Unfortunately, this area is not my own. I don’t run a traffic division in my ministry. It is run by the Minister of Home Affairs. I don’t run the road safety department in my ministry. It is run by the Ministry of Transport and so the three of us honourable Mwiimbu, honourable Tayali and myself must put our act together. We are delaying on this matter and I must confess that,” he said. “It should not be a lone fight. Just Nkombo so that when he becomes unpopular he will be unpopular alone.”
Nkombo said he was equal to the task of ensuring order is restored in markets and bus stations with relevant support. “I am determined to get the things right. People must go back into the designated bus stops. The cadres must leave the market. They should leave the markets. Right now there is confusion because we have not provided for all people who need trading space as a result of partially the gutted City Market which is under quick renovation now. We are going to create nearly 4,500 trading spaces once we are done with renovations and there is Simon Mwewa Lane Market, there is Munyaule Market again another state of art modern building is being constructed by Adura. All those people will be moved and put into the designated places,” said Nkombo. “We face resistance, I must confess. We face resistance even from our own members and the whole idea is that of engagement. One day they will see the importance of this. There was a video that was circulating when I went to Buseko Market. I am sure you may have seen it where I found that the guys had established an office for UPND and I found out they were running a parallel market system. They had their own rules. They were disciplining people but the party has no business disciplinnig people. It is the duty of the council.”
HICHILEMA MUST LEARN FROM KENYA’S RUTO …and show compassion towards predecessor Lungu
29th September. 2022
The Media Director of the Patriotic Front (PF) the former ruling party in Zambia Antonio Mwanza has urged the current President Mr Hakainde Hichilema to take a leaf from the President of Kenya and tone down on the ´persecution´ of his predecessor H.E Edgar Lungu in a radio interview.
Mr Mwanza advised Mr Hichilema that the continued ´persecution´ and attempts to prosecute Mr Lungu will only divide the nation and excite resentment further, instead Hichilema must focus on ´fixing´ the economy.
This follows a controversial decision this week by the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) to seize a Lodge they thought was owned by President Lungu. The property turned out to belong to someone else according to official ownership records.
“He (President Lungu) was President for seven years, a minister in two different ministerial portfolios and legislator and a private practicing lawyer of many years, now he can’t own a property? Mr Mwanza asked.
Turning to Kenya that recently elected William Ruto after the end of an era of Uhuru Kenyatta, Mr Mwanza said, “Mr Hichilema must learn from president Ruto who is treating predecessor Kenyatta with respect. That man (Lungu) is a former President, a father, and a brother you don’t go around treating him the way he is being treated in Zambia.”
Support for the immediate past President of Zambia Lungu has been growing from various sections of the country, within and outside the former ruling party.
Today PF Central Committee member and presidential aspirant Ambassador Emmanuel Mwamba in a statement vehemently condemned DEC for entering without permission and attempt to search a private property belonging to Mr Lungu.
The search was only stopped by President Lungu himself who drove there after he was alerted by caretakers at the premises. The DEC officers drive away without a search.
In Kenya, Ruto has made predecessor Kenyatta who supported his rival publicly a special peace envoy to Ethiopia and the Congo, in Zambia Lungu faces possible prosecution even after handing over power peacefully after an election defeat last August.
In the past DEC has interrogated President Lungu´s wife, daughter, son in law and his own son but its only today 29th September that they have directly gone for the former head of state who constitutionally enjoys immunity against a probe and prosecution.
Mr Mwanza has described DEC´s disrespectful and contemptuous behaviour as sad, it would come to haunt Mr Hichilema when he relinquishes power.
The full interview is available on the Live Radio Facebook page.
“Why are you tormenting the man (President Lungu) like this?” Mr Mwanza concluded. He also questioned the Hichilema administration to continue allowing DEC to be run by a person that faces court action after her nude images with bananas went viral for more than a week on social media.
Acting PF President Hon. Given Lubinda has for a long time now asked, in fact begged for the current administration to treat President Lungu with the respect a former head of state deserves.
Recently when asked about his (Hichilema) relationship with Mr Lungu by BBC, Mr Hichilema said, “He jailed me 15 times).
Meanwhile fuel and food prices including those of fertiliser and other agriculture in puts continue to increase in Zambia with no signs of slowing down says Mr Mwanza.
A joint team comprising officers from Zambia Police Service and Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) recently conducted Investigations in Southern Province on a number of prevailing cybercrime and cash fraud involving mobile money transfer for goods bought through Facebook but never delivered and fake network providers.
After the investigations, five suspects have been apprehended in connection with the offences of Theft, Unauthorized Access to Data, Obtaining Money by False Pretences, Making Documents without Authority and Personation.
The team recovered four cell phones, two desk top computers, one Laptop, eight Automated Teller Machines Visa cards, two National Registration Cards and 28 Sim cards.
Two amongst the five suspects namely, Miyoba Chisanga aged 25 of Manungu Township in Monze, and Dawson Sibande aged 27 of Manungu orphanage in Monze, who are employees of Top Image, a company contracted to manage Sim replacement in areas where MTN Zambia is not present, have been charged and arrested for Theft and Unauthorised Access to Data.
It is alleged that the two employees of Top Image have been resetting MTN Mobile money wallets pin codes belonging to victims of financial related crimes mostly when cell phones are stolen from members of the public.
Meanwhile Ignatius Samasumo Pesuka aged 22 who is a businessman of house number 442 Riverside in Choma has been charged and arrested for obtaining money by false pretences, making documents without authority and personation.
During the same operation the officers charged and arrested Samuel Kasonkomona aged 21 and Boniface Mahepo aged 32 for the offence of making documents without authority.
It is further alleged that a fake company operated by Ignatius called Connectify Broad Band limited was involved in the sales of unlimited internet data, hacking of social media, online mobile banking platforms, unauthorized access, manipulation of critical database and forgery.
All the recovered items have been seized under the seizure of goods Section 121(1) of Chapter 88 of the Laws of Zambia.
Chishimba Kambwili has deleted all the videos and photos from Kumanda. I told you that what he did was strange and wrong, now see.
If what he did went in accordance with the law, he would have kept the record. You can not lie in that manner to cause citizens raise against government.
One thing is clear, we have all what he said, if the police want evidence, please we have it. The loose mouth should be controlled this time around.
KAMBWILI to be ARRESTED to HELP with INVESTIGATIONS on FISP-&-FSP, after his GRAVEYARD JUJU-JIVE, which most now see as just the PF merely adding to their EVIL POLITICS of TRIBALISM, LIES, HATE SPEECH, SODOMY, and HOMOSEXUALITY.
CHISHIMBA KAMBWILI seems CONFUSED and must be educated on the difference between:
FSP (Food Support Pack), and FISP (Farmer Input Support Program)
Via the AGRICULTURE MINISTRY, the successive Governments have a Database of ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS to benefit from their FARMER INPUT SUPPORT PROGRAM, FISP.
Like it has continued to do in all aspects of governance, the NEW-DAWN ALLIANCE Regime cannot be IRRESPONSIBLE to ensue with the FISP Roll-out without UPDATING the Database to weedout GHOST BENEFICIARIES and CORRUPT activities.
ZAMBIA POLICE will do well to ARREST CHISHIMBA KAMBWILI so that he could help with INVESTIGATIONS as to WHO in Government has CORRUPTLY CUT-OUT any Eligible Beneficiary, from either the FISP or the FSP List, especially due to PARTY PATRONAGE or TRIBAL NEPOTISM.
Moreover, CHISHIMBA KAMBWILI must assist the POLICE with the FULL NAMES of any VICTIM of his said elimination from the FISP or FSP List.
To qualify as a Recipient on the FISP 2022/2023 Farming Season, the following is the criteria:
One must be a SMALL-SCALE FARMER, cultivating NOT MORE than 5 hectares of land, and may even be registered in a CAMP COVERAGE AREA,
Must be ANY ZAMBIAN, with an NRC,
NO VOTERS nor PARTY CARDS are asked for
Must be a member of a REGISTERED SOCIETY, like a Cooperative,
Must be able to CONTRIBUTE K400 towards the FISP PACK,
Must NOT be a CIVIL SERVANT, or even ANY PENSIONABLE WORKER,
Must be contactable via PHONE,
Must NOT be an FSP nor the SOCIAL CASH TRANSFER RECIPIENT,
Will get: 3x 50kg D-COMP Fertilizer 3x 50kg UREA Fertilizer 1x 10kg MAIZE SEED 1x 25kg SOYA or 20kg G/NUT
In contrast to the above detailed FARMER INPUT SUPPORT PROGRAM, FISP, the FSP is the FOOD SUPPORT PACK, which is administered by the COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT MINISTRY, usually in tandem with SOCIAL CASH TRANSFER, via the SOCIAL SERVICES Department.
FSP is aimed at being the LAST FALLBACK SAFETYNET, to PROTECT the VULNERABLE in the Community.
Unlike with FISP, the FSP does NOT REQUIRE ANY K400 CONTRIBUTION, and all FERTILIZER & SEED are given out for FREE.
The list of WHO IS VULNERABLE in ALL COMMUNITIES nationwide is a Database open to all at the COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT MINISTRY.
As a matter of fact, this list has been maintained on an annually rolling basis, and the current one permeates successive Governments, from UNIP, to MMD, to PF and now the UPND.
Again, CHISHIMBA KAMBWILI must avail himself to the ZAMBIA POLICE to help with INVESTIGATIONS on WHO exactly CORRUPTLY tampered with this List, thereby JEOPARDIZING the WELFARE of the VULNERABLE POOREST of the POOR Citizens.
CHISHIMBA KAMBWILI is further advised to just concentrate on his GRAVEYARD JUJU-JIVE as a way of him HOPING to WIN the PF PRESIDENCY, and not include FISP & FSP, which he clearly is CLUELESS about.
Former PF Secretary General Davies Mwila has charged that the New Dawn Administration is abusing former president Edgar Lungu through Investigative Wings.
This comes after the Joint Investigative Team put restrictions on Crest Lodge which is located off Twin Palm Road in Lusaka’s Ibex Hill area owned by the former first family.
The restrictions have been put on allegations that the lodge is property believed to be proceeds of crime.
PACRA records show that Chyeso Lungu of NRC number 119188/10/1 and Jasper Katete of NRC 895984/11/1 are the directors and shareholders of the company, but investigators believe that the former president is the beneficial owner who only used his daughter as a front.
“The procedure is that there is supposed to be a gazette notice, inviting the owner of the property under investigation to claim it. If no one claims it, then repossession takes effect. In terms of that property, it is registered under the former president’s daughter of course, but it has been under investigations for some time and the findings are that the beneficial owner is actually him. So it’s an on-going investigation,” said the source.
Commenting on the development and some recent arrests of his close associates, Mwila said in an interview that Lungu was to blame because he had been too quiet in the face of all the injustices.
“It is him president Edgar Lungu to blame, because how can [President] Hakainde Hichilema place him on house arrest, that is house arrest, he can’t move, he can’t talk, how can a former president, the UPND government manages to grab your lodge, how possible is that? He (President Hichilema) has seen weakness in Edgar Lungu, if it was me, they can’t even manage that, because the former president has presidential immunity, so what the UPND government is doing is illegal, they can’t go and grab a lodge from a former president, no! Not only that he owned that lodge when he was a minister,” he said.
“For a long time, he has been a lawyer, I can’t blame HH, I have to blame Edgar because he has been too weak, he has been too quiet and you can’t run your life like that. Me, I can fight back because you see, the former president has immunity, how can he be mistreated like that and he is just watching? No! That is unacceptable and what government is doing is illegal, because if they want to grab any property from the president, they know the process, they are supposed to go to Parliament and establish prima facie if the former president has any case, then Parliament will decide.”
He insisted that grabbing property was illegal.
“They started slowly, they started with close associates, after that they went to the children, after that they went to the wife. Immediately, he was supposed to know that next, it is him, me I can’t accept. This thing of grabbing property is illegal, this law that they are implying, the one that they are saying property suspected to be proceeds of crime is abuse of the law. What that means is that even you, they can pounce on you and say where did you get this motorbike, so this is an abuse of the law,” Mwila said.
“But I can’t blame [government], I have to blame Edgar Lungu he is former president, how can he be mistreated like that and he is just watching? He has the immunity, so whatever they are doing, it is illegal and he is supposed to stand up and challenge it. He is a lawyer, he knows, so this is not new. We knew that it will come to Edgar Lungu and it is coming. These guys, the agenda is to fix people, one year, one month they have just been fixing people instead of fixing [the nation].”
Mwila said Lungu was behaving like he was on house arrest.
“I am not happy because president Edgar Lungu has kept quiet, he is just like he is on house arrest, he can’t talk, no! These are politics, they are playing politics and when they are playing politics, they have to talk. The UPND are vindictive, they are personal, they are following people, they are political. Because Edgar Lungu is quiet, they want to take advantage, a former president is a politician, he must speak out!” exclaimed Mwila.
When contacted, Joint Investigations Team spokesperson Rae Hamoonga said he needed to confirm whether Crest Lodge had been seized.
Opposition Patriots for Economic Progress (PEP) president Sean Tembo’s continued unpalatable and sexist language is now becoming unacceptable warranting total condemnation by the general populace in the strongest terms.
The efforts to engage the opposition leader by some concerned stakeholders have been downplayed, undermining the critical role that these stakeholders play in the development process of the country.
Mr Tembo’s continued offensive, immoral and insulting posts are an outright insult on the Zambian people. Mr Tembo as an aspiring national leader should conduct himself as a role model especially for the young people.
It is unfortunate to see immorality in his tongue. What leadership can such a man bring to this country if he can see nothing wrong in spending all his time uttering insulting, demeaning and immoral words?
Zambians need to wake up and be alive to characters such as Mr Tembo who are contributing to the country’s moral decay. Zambians must be very cautious of such people who apparently are seeking public office but without leadership qualities.
Every well-meaning Zambian should be concerned about Mr Tembo’s declining morals and ethical principles as evidenced by his insultingly, demeaning and immoral utterances and continued abuse of social media for destructive purposes.
Zambians should not be diverted from appreciating the good work of the New Dawn Government such as the IMF bail out program, increased CDF, free education, teacher and health workers recruitment, Kwacha appreciation just to mention a few. Mr Tembo’s insults are aimed at diverting citizens’ attention from these numerous unprecedented achievements scored by the UPND Government so far.
It is clear in black and white that Mr Tembo has run out of political ideas after obtaining zeros in last year’s general election. He has now resorted to insulting the Head of State on a daily basis.
Mr Tembo’s conduct is totally unacceptable and the Police are hereby called upon to put a stop to his insults. It does not matter how many times he is arrested for as long as he continues defaming the President. The Law is in place firmly and it is very clear.
Cheating wife loses marriage but gets K16,000 as compensation
A WOMAN of Lusaka will be smiling her way to a mobile money booth to withdraw upto K16,000 which the Lusaka Boma Local ordered her husband to pay after he divorced her on accusations that she was cheating.
This is in a matter where Jeff Mwemba aged 31 of Chinika area sued to divorce 29-year old Ruth Tembo after six years of marriage and bearing two children.
Mwemba told the the court that he could no longer stomach his wife’s habit of communicating with her ex-boyfriend and mistreating her step daughter.
“My wife has been communicating with her ex boyfriend who was also her teacher in high school,
I found messages of her texting him that she would like to see him so she can thank him for his generosity to her and I figured out that it was her body she was offering him,” Mwemba said.
He further complained that his wife turns to boozing whenever he goes out of the country doing his work as a cross border truck driver.
Mwemba narrated that his wife’s behaviour has not spared her step daughter who often gets mistreated.
“I remember when I was nursing pains resulting from an accident last year, My wife would tell my daughter to call her mother to send her food to eat. During that period, She always told me that she couldnt manage providing for my family,” Mwemba told the court.
He added they also have conflicts with his wife who constantly asks for her share of the property they have as if they were divorced or he had died.
And when the court asked Tembo to counter Mwemba’s clams, to the Lusaka Boma Local Court’s shock she admitted that everything that was said about her was true and had no questions to ask.
Tembo however refused the narrative of divorce stating that she was not ready to lose her marriage because she still loved her husband.
“I took alcohol because he was stressing me by saying he was tired of me.
The other issues is that we bought a plot together and he later told me that he sold the plot without even consulting me,” Tembo narrated.
She said her mother in law was too involved in their marriage to an extent that she would shout at her not to stress the son she depended on.
Tembo said she does not believe that her husband sold the plot but believes there is an arrangement with the mother inlaw to exclude her in the progress of the plot on pretext that it was sold.
“One time when I was at work in town my husband came with his mum to give me a K10,000 and my in law told me that she does not want me to cry for them that they used my money for the plot that’s why they where giving me a part of the money,” Tembo said.
The two parties which have been married since 2016 have two children aged one and four year.
In passing Judgement Justice Contrudah Kamono has dismatled the marriage on grounds that the court can not force Mwemba to remain married when his mind is made up.
Justice Kamono noted that the marriage has crambled because there was no team work adding that there is no way Mwemba could have sold the plot they bought together without consulting his wife.
She added that Mwemba did not dispute that his wife kept him for one year after his accident and she is still providing for him now even though he has recovered and is Working.
Justice Kamono therefore ordered Mwemba to compensate his wife with K16,000 which He will Pay the first installment K1,500 and then K500 every month.
She also ordered him to be maintaining his children with K600 and this does not include medical and school requirements.
….allowing American Military Presence in the country is a danger to Zambia’s Democracy says Dr Fred M’membe
LUSAKA, Wednesday, September 28, 2022 (Smart Eagles)
Socialist Party (SP) Leader Fred M’membe ays the country is at risk of losing its sovereignty because it has sell-outs and puppets as Leaders.
Dr M’membe said this in light of what he termed as the Assembling of the United States of America Military office in Zambia.
He said this calls for all well-meaning Zambians to rise and create a gigantic movement which no imperialist force will destroy.
“When the strongest army in the world sets up in your territory, you can no longer maintain your independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Dr. M’membe has said.
He has however noted with concern that what previous Republican Presidents rejected is what President Hakainde Hichilema is allowing in the country.
He has charged that the Americans have come to take away the country’s honour and sovereignty.
“The American Military have made it clear that their presence is to protect American interests…..but you may wish to know that American interests are not our interests. The interest of an imperialists can never be our interest where were they when we were fighting for our independence,” he said.
And Dr M’membe said allowing the American Army to set up an office or installations in the country is a danger to Democracy.
Dr M’membe said this is because the Americans would never allow a political party that opposes its agenda to rule the country.
He cited Patrice Lumumba of then Zaire, Samora Marchel of Mozambique and Abdel Gamal Nasser of Egypt as some of the leaders the Americans disliked and toppled.
“We can say it is not a military base they are setting up but look at what is happening to Ghana today, the Americans would not allow a political party that oppose their stay to come into government. This kills Democracy,” Dr M’membe stated.
Meanwhile, Dr M’membe said the presence of American Military in any country yields destabilisation.
“Whichever country they have gone to there is no peace. This is what our government is bringing to us, to threaten our peace. A country that is a colony can never develop. They have destroyed Libya, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, we know that they are supporting separate forces in Ethiopia,” he stated.
Dr M’membe has since called upon citizens to defend the independence and sovereignty the country has enjoyed.
“This calls for cooperation, solidarity, Humility……. the issues we are talking about are not small issues. These are issues that give us an identity. We make a clarion call to all citizens and Democrats to work side by side with us and defend our dignity and existence,” he said.
Antonio Mwanza spells hard times ahead for Zambians …as IMF conditionalities kick in
28.09.22
Antonio Mwanza, the PF Media Director has warned ordinary Zambians who are in the majority to brace for further poverty and hunger as soon as International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditionalities imposed on Zambia.
Mr Mwanza said if Zambians think they are suffering today, things will get worse once fuel prices rise further and food prices too, which unfortunately wont affect the UPND senior government officials and President Hakainde Hichilema whom he calls by his other first name “Sammy”.
Mr Mwanza said, “unga uzadula (food prices will increase) fuel will also increase and so will electricity and bus fares that have already jumped from K10 per trip ten months ago to K20.” He was speaking in a LMR interview with Wiseman Zulu, a programme that attracted the ire of the public that called in droves to complain about how poor and hungry the have become since President “Sammy” assumed office.
Mr Mwanza said Mr Hichilema over promised in a despeate bid to win the presidency, consequently he will feel the wrath of the Zambians in about three and a half years when his term ends. He said the UPND was arrogant and indifferent to the suffering of the ordinary people because cabinet ministers earn K109, 000 per month and additional K27,000 housing allowance while ordinary Zambians in the public service earn K4000.
“Things are worse for old people, the sick, the retirees and orphans, 54,000 of whom have been dropped off the list of the Fertiliser in put support programme (FISP) by President Sammy Hichilema. “These poor people earn only K400 per month from the social cash transfer, yet they are expected to buy themselves a fertiliser bag costing above K1000.
Mr Mwanza said if Zambians knew what kind of person Mr Hichilema is and what he brings to national politics, they would have not voted for him lasty year but as “smooth criminal” Mr Hichilema got himself elected.
Fuel prices currently at K21 and K23 are expected to rise to as much as K5 in less than one week once Mr Hichilema brings back the taxes the previous administration of President Edgar Lungu scrapped to keep prices low. Mr Mwanza also wondred why President Sammy has not given students the meal allowances he promised them in order to win their vote. He lied to university students said Mr Mwanza. When prices of fuel increase in Zambia, everything else follows.
The law do not count how many times one is arrested for as long as they continue breaking the law. HH, the most abused and attacked opposition leader then has continued to be attacked for things he has not done. What kind of hate is this.
President Hakainde Hichilema did not send anyone to go and use bad language. Secondly, anything that a UPND member does should not be put on the shoulders of government or UPND as a party. The president has made it very clear, anyone who misbehaves they are on they own.
It is very wrong for a leader like SEAN E TEMBO to insult the Head of State as Imbwa yaku State House. If the police will not move in to arrest him, then it will look as normal to use such defamatory statements against the President. I don’t want to say much but to ask the police to arrest this bitter man.
Let him go and explain the Imbwa from state house in court. This is how you put sense in leaders who have little sense in their heads. This is not freedom of speech but abuse of freedom of speech.
SEAN TEMBO’S LEVEL OF MENTAL DISORDER ON A HIGHER LEVEL
This man has on several occasions insulted the republican president since he assumed the highest office of the land. We want to remind Mr Tembo that the man he has been insulting is not only a republican president but also a family man with children who sees the father as their God on earth, no child would appreciate the father to be insulted day and night by a common useless man whose brain has corroded.
Mr Tembo has continued insulting the president day and night without police exerting serious punitive measures to restrain the traitor from inflicting pain to the Zambian people who voted for HH.
We want to request Mr Tembo to refrain from politics of insults especially to the republican president as failure to that will cause serious harm to him. Tembo is a very small fish in a pond who can only be seen by using a microscope that’s why he’s full of zeros but an attention seeker.
As a deputy spokesperson to CB Youth I have personally received alot of phone calls asking me on the position of Zambia police regarding Tembo’s continued insults to the republican president. This is the second time we are warning Mr Tembo to stop attacking and insulting the president as doing so will land him in serious problem and his face will be deformed for life.
Please avoid misusing the freedom of speech introduced by the president as doing so you have yourself to blame
Be warned and guided strongly
Issued by Douglas Kasalala CB youth deputy Spokesperson politics & mobilisation
SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA MR. HAKAINDE HICHILEMA DURING THE CHINA – ZAMBIA TRADE AND INVESTMENT FORUM 28TH TO 29TH SEPTEMBER, 2022
HON. CHIPOKA MULENGA, MP., MINISTER OF COMMERCE, TRADE AND INDUSTRY AND ALL CABINET MINISTERS PRESENT; HIS EXCELLENCY, MR. DU XIAOHUI, THE AMBASSADOR OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA TO THE REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA; SENIOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS FROM BOTH ZAMBIA AND CHINA; CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY FROM BOTH ZAMBIA AND CHINA; DISTINGUISHED GUESTS; MEMBERS OF THE PRESS; LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
IT IS GRATIFYING TO ADDRESS YOU ON THIS OCCASION TO MARK THE FIRST-EVER CHINA-ZAMBIA TRADE AND INVESTMENT FORUM UNDER THE THEME: “CHINA – ZAMBIA TRADE AND INVESTMENT FORUM IN THE NEW ERA: ALL WEATHER, ALL DIMENSIONAL AND HIGH – QUALITY FRIENDSHIP.”
THIS FORUM IS A DIRECT OUTCOME OF A TELEPHONE CONVERSATION WE HAD WITH PRESIDENT XI JINPING, PRESIDENT OF THE PEOPLES’ REPUBLIC OF CHINA IN JUNE, 2022; DURING WHICH WE AGREED TO MAINTAIN THE MOMENTUM OF STRONG CHINA-ZAMBIA BILATERAL RELATIONS, UNDERPINNED BY A RESURGENCE IN THE TRADE AND INVESTMENT VOLUMES BETWEEN OUR TWO COUNTRIES.
WE, THEREFORE, ARE GRATEFUL TO PRESIDENT XI JINPING, THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA; AND INDEED, THANKFUL FOR THE UNRELENTING EFFORTS OF HIS EXCELLENCY, AMBASSADOR DU XIAOHUI, FOR ACTUALIZING AND CO – HOSTING THIS VERY IMPORTANT FORUM WITH OUR GOVERNMENT.
WE ALSO COMMEND THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE, TRADE AND INDUSTRY AND THE ZAMBIA DEVELOPMENT AGENCY FOR ALL THEIR EFFORTS TO ENSURE THE SUCCESSFUL HOSTING OF THIS EVENT TODAY.
DISTINGUISHED GUESTS,
THIS FORUM SEEKS TO STIMULATE DIRECT INTERACTION BETWEEN THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND THE BUSINESS COMMUNITIES OF OUR TWO COUNTRIES, THROUGH THE PROMOTION OF TRADE AND INVESTMENT COOPERATION.
BASED ON OUR SHARED COMMITMENT WITH PRESIDENT XI JINPING, THE ZAMBIA-CHINA TRADE FORUM IS ENVISAGED TO DELIVER THE FOLLOWING:
FACILITATE INVESTMENTS IN MINING, MANUFACTURING, CONSTRUCTION, AGRICULTURE, ICT AND DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT, HIGH QUALITY INDUSTRIES DEVELOPMENT, ENERGY, GREEN ECONOMY AND PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTION;
ENHANCE MARKET ACCESS AND COLLABORATION ON TRADE EXPANSION BY FOLLOWING UP AND IMPLEMENTING AGREEMENTS ON QUOTAS ETC., BEEF AND SOYA BEANS; AND
SET UP JOINT VENTURES ON VALUE ADDITION TO RAW MATERIALS.
DISTINGUISHED GUESTS,
CHINA REMAINS A KEY AND MAJOR TRADE PARTNER, WITH ZAMBIA’S EXPORTS TO CHINA ESTIMATED AT 1.2 BILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS IN 2021, WHILE IMPORTS OVER THE SAME PERIOD, WERE ESTIMATED AT 896 MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS – CULMINATING IN A POSITIVE TRADE BALANCE OF APPROXIMATELY 847 MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS, IN FAVOUR OF ZAMBIA.
AS SUCH, ZAMBIA SHALL CONTINUE TO DEEPEN HER TRADE AND INVESTMENT COOPERATION WITH CHINA BY ENHANCING EXPORTS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, FOOD AND OTHER NON-RESOURCE PRODUCTS TO CHINA, WHILE LOOKING FORWARD TO CHINA OPENING THE “GREEN LANES” FOR AFRICAN PRODUCTION.
DISTINGUISHED GUESTS,
WE ARE ELATED TO NOTE THAT CHINESE COMPANIES HAVE AN ESTIMATED INVESTMENT OF OVER 9.4 BILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS ACROSS OUR SECTORS SUCH AS MINING, MANUFACTURING, CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING, FRESH AGRO PROCESSING, AMONG OTHERS.
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ZAMBIA CHINA ECONOMIC AND TRADE COOPERATION ZONE, THE FIRST CHINESE OVERSEAS ECONOMIC AND TRADE COOPERATION ZONE IN AFRICA, AS WELL AS THE FIRST MULTI – FACILITY ECONOMIC ZONE IN ZAMBIA, CONTINUES TO ATTEST TO THE STRONG, ALL WEATHER, ALL DIMENSIONAL, HIGH QUALITY ZAMBIA – CHINA INVESTMENT TIES.
WE ARE DELIGHTED TO STATE, AT THIS JUNCTURE, THAT ZAMBIA, WELCOMES CHINA’S UNDERTAKING OF TEN (10) INDUSTRIALISATION AND EMPLOYMENT PROMOTION PROJECTS FOR AFRICA UNDER THE NINE (9) FOCAC PRIORITY PROGRAMMES THAT ARE TARGETED AT SUPPORTING SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (SMES) – REPRESENTING A SIGNIFICANT SHIFT IN CHINA’S POLICY FROM IMPORT AND EXPORT, TO LOCALISED PROCESSING AND PRODUCTION THROUGH INVESTING AND ESTABLISHING PLANTS IN ZAMBIA.
THIS POLICY FURTHER ENTAILS A SHIFT FROM THE ENGINEERING PROCUREMENT AND CONSTRUCTION (EPC) MODEL, TO INVESTMENT-CONSTRUCTION OPERATION, PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP (PPP) AND OTHER MODELS.
DISTINGUISHED GUESTS,
GOVERNMENT SHALL, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE PRIVATE SECTOR, CONTINUE PRIORITISING AGRICULTURE, MINING, MANUFACTURING AND TOURISM AS PROPELLERS OF ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION, WHILE ENERGY, TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS, TECHNOLOGY, WATER, INFRASTRUCTURE, AS WELL AS SKILLS, ARE BEING REPOSITIONED AS ENABLERS OF THIS TRANSFORMATION AGENDA.
OUR COLLECTIVE AIM IS, AND SHALL REMAIN, THAT OF DELIVERING ROBUST AND COMPETITIVE PRIVATE SECTOR-LED INDUSTRIALISATION, ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION AND ULTIMATELY, SOCIO-ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION.
DISTINGUISHED GUESTS,
IN LINE WITH THE VISION 2030 AND OUR RECENTLY LAUNCHED 8TH NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN, WE ARE POSITIONING ZAMBIA AS THE INVESTMENT DESTINATION OF CHOICE WITHIN THE REGION AND THE CONTINENT. WE WILL ACHIEVE THIS BY ENSURING SECURITY, CONSISTENCY AND PREDICTABILITY WITHIN THE BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT ENVIRONMENT, THROUGH ENHANCED POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC STABILITY, ABUNDANT NATURAL RESOURCES, A SKILLED LABOUR FORCE AND A LIBERALISED MARKET ECONOMY.
TODAY WE WISH TO EARNESTLY INVITE YOU TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST CONTINENTAL FREE TRADE AREA – THE AFCFTA, WHICH BOASTS A MARKET SIZE OF OVER 1.2 BILLION PEOPLE AND A GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) ESTIMATED AT 2.5 TRILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS, ACROSS ALL THE 55 AFRICAN COUNTRIES.
DISTINGUISHED GUESTS,
IN CONCLUSION, WE WOULD LIKE TO REITERATE OUR GOVERNMENT’S COMMITMENT TO CHINA AND ZAMBIA’S LONGSTANDING PARTNERSHIP FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH, THE CREATION OF JOBS, AND DELIVERING IMPROVED LIVELIHOODS FOR OUR PEOPLE.
WE ALSO WISH TO REAFFIRM OUR COMMITMENT TO PROVIDING A CONDUCIVE BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT CLIMATE, DRIVEN BY SOUND ECONOMIC POLICIES WHICH WILL ENABLE THE PRIVATE SECTOR TO EXPLORE THE SIGNIFICANT TRADE AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES THAT EXIST BETWEEN OUR TWO NATIONS.
Shakira has appeared to take several jabs at ex Gerard Piqué via her music after the Spanish footballer was allegedly unfaithful in their relationship.
The 45-year-old Colombian pop star first appeared to include a jab at Piqué, 35, in her single Te Felicito (I Congratulate You), as noted by The Sun.
A key line in the song is translated as, ‘To make you whole / I broke myself in pieces / I was warned, but I didn’t take heed / Don’t tell me you’re sorry / I know you well and I know you’re lying.’
In an interview with Elle Magazine, the hitmaker was asked about the line and it’s apparent connection to her marital issues.
‘Is that the feeling that you had that you kind of had to give a part of yourself during that relationship, which perhaps was hard to get back?’ she was asked by Lulu Garcia-Navarro.
‘I can only say that either consciously or subconsciously, everything I feel, everything I go through is reflected in the lyrics I write, in the videos I make,’ Shakira responded. ‘When the glove fits, it fits. Like I said before, my music is that channel.’
Shakira’s song and the accompanying video featuring the Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro, who is currently dating Rosalía.
In the video, he appears to play both a romantic interest to Shakira, as well as a robotic clone of the same person, which Shakira tinkers away at until it comes to life.
Earlier this month, Shakira was seen filming a video for her single Monotonia that also featured what appeared to be a critique of her relationship with Piqué.
The pop star could be seen carrying a fake heart in her hand, presumably to symbolize her heartbreak. She also had a black circle over her chest that was presumably meant to be replaced later with computer-generated imagery of a hole in her chest.
Shakira appears to blast her ex Gerard Pique in recent songs after cheating scandal
The timing suggests it was related to Shakira’s split from Piqué, as he was seen only days earlier making his debut with his PR student girlfriend Clara Chia Marti, 23.
Last month there were images of Piqué passionately kissing his new love interest in a new video taken by Spanish media outlet Socialite at the Summerfest Cerdanya festival in Catalonia.
The now former couple announced their split back in June, though there was reports Shakira did not want the relationship to end at the time.
According to Spanish newspaper El Periodico, Shakira and Gerard are trying to remain friends for the sake of their children; sons Milan, nine, and Sasha, seven despite their relationship being strained.
The split announcement followed rumors in the Spanish tabloids that the couple were on the verge of breaking up with sources claiming he had cheated on the star.
Former US president, Donald Trump said the idea of an impending World War III ‘keeps him up at night,’ while making repeated his claim that the Ukraine war would have been avoided if he were still president.
Trump stated this during a wide-range interview where he went on a rant against New York Attorney General Letitia James.
He said that due to nuclear power, the world is the most dangerous it’s ‘ever’ been, as the former president warned that international affairs are spelling doom.
The predictions of a possible WWIII, Trump said, are based on the war between Russia and Ukraine, which started in February, and the growing feud internationally over the island nation of Taiwan and its autonomy from China.
‘I think more than anything else, I think we could end up in World War III,’ Trump said when asked by John Catsimatidis on his radio show Tuesday evening ‘what are the things that keep you up at night right now?’
‘To be throwing around the word cavalierly like nuclear is a very bad time,’ the 45th president said. ‘A very bad time for this country and a very bad and a very dangerous time for the world.’
Trump also said that if he were still the president, Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine. He said that after President Joe Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer, Putin saw a weakness in U.S. leadership.
‘I think it was the most embarrassing and horrible moment – just about the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country,’ Trump said of the Afghanistan debacle. ‘I think Putin saw that.’
‘But he would have never done it, that would have never been a problem,’ Trump said in the hypothetical situation where he is still president. ‘He was not going to go into Ukraine, and he understood the consequences.’
‘What’s happened in Ukraine should have never ever happened,’ he added.
Trump also had some choice words for James during his interview after the New York attorney general brought fraud charges against him for his business dealings with the Trump Organization.
When discussing spiking crime in the nation’s most populated city, which he once called home, Trump went on a tangent lashing out against its ‘horror show’ liberal AG.
‘We have murderers going down – walking down the street. It’s just horrible. She’s a horror show, she’s so bad,’ Trump said of James’ leadership. ‘She doesn’t care about violent crime.’
‘She doesn’t care about anything except trying to use Trump’s name to get elected,’ he continued to 77 WABC radio show Cats at Night. ‘And she’s a disaster and everybody knows that. She’s done a terrible job.’
Russia has claimed victory in referendums organized in Russian occupied regions of Ukraine, giving it grounds to annex more territory.
Moscow-installed officials in the occupied regions on Wednesday, September 28 announced total support to join the Russian federation with people living in the occupied regions among those who took part in the disputed votes.
The votes were held in the breakaway eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Ballots in Russian-occupied parts of the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were also organized.
Up to four million people were asked to vote in the war-torn regions, which make up about 15% of Ukraine’s territory.
The polls were denounced as a sham by Ukraine’s government and its allies and in the absence of international recognition, the process was not monitored independently.
Kremlin backed news agencies in Donetsk and Luhansk are reporting that up to 99.23% of people voted in favour of joining Russia.
This comes as reports emerge that Russian President Vladimir Putin may announce the four regions’ annexation in a speech to a joint session of Russia’s parliament on Friday.
In March 2014, Putin announced that Crimea had joined Russia just a few days after a similarly unrecognised referendum was held there.
President Putin defended the referendums, saying they were designed to stop the persecution of ethnic Russians and Russian-speakers by Ukraine – a charge the Ukrainian government denies.
If Russia annexes the four regions, which Moscow does not fully control, it could take the war to a new and more dangerous level, with Moscow portraying any attempt by Ukraine to regain them as an attack on its sovereign territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of “brutally violating the UN statute” by trying to annex territories seized by force.
“This farce in the occupied territory cannot even be called an imitation of referendums,” he said on Tuesday night.
The president added that it was “a very cynical attempt to force men in the occupied territory of Ukraine to mobilise into the Russian army in order to send them to fight against their own homeland!”
The UK responded to the dham referendums with new sanctions targeting top Russian officials involved in enforcing the votes.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated that the West would never recognise Russian annexations, warning the Kremlin of “additional swift and severe costs”.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who on Tuesday visited Ukraine, described the polls as a “masquerade”.
Singer, Justin Bieber’s wife, Hailey has denied being responsible for a break up between her husband and his former lover, Selena Gomez.
Selena and Justin began dating in 2010 when the former Disney star was about 18 and Justin, about 16.
The couple’s first big break up happened in 2012 and was followed by a series of makeups and breakups until 2018.
Justin and Hailey, who’d had a previous fling in 2016, rekindled their flame in mid-2018. They were engaged by July and tied the knot two months later.
After years of fan-driven speculation that she ‘stole’ him from Selena Gomez, Hailey appeared on the Call Her Daddy podcast, saying Justin, 28, had not cheated on Gomez, 30, with her.
Hailey, 26, told show host Alexis Cooper ;
”This is so crazy I’ve literally never talked about this ever,’ the model responded after Cooper remarked on how the public was ‘obsessed’ with the relationship between Justin and Selena.
Then Cooper asked outright, ‘Were you ever with Justin romantically at the same time as [Selena]?’
‘No, not once,’ she stated, adding that she and Justin began ‘hooking up’ after he’d already split from his former on/off girlfriend in early 2018.
‘When him and I started hooking up, or anything of that sort, he was not in any relationship, It’s not my character to mess with someone’s relationship, I was raised better than that,’ Hailey stressed.
‘I understand how it looks from the outside, but that was a situation where I know for a fact that it was the right thing for [Justin and Selena] to close that door, but of course, there’s a very long history there and I respect that a lot.
‘I don’t want to talk on either one of their behalf’s,’ she explained.
‘A lot of the hate comes from like “oh you stole him” and the fact that he wished he ended up with someone else. And that’s fine, you can wish that all you want, but it’s not the case.’
‘There’s a certain numbness that you get,’ she said of coming across hate comments and posts from ‘Jelena’ devotees.
‘It still happens to this day, if I was to go live right now, it would still be happening. You reach a point where you have to ignore it,’ she told Cooper.
‘If we have moved on, why can’t you?’
Watch the video below…
THIS WEDNESDAY 9/28 Hailey Bieber opens up about the public-generated controversy between her and her husband's ex. Hailey makes it clear she wants to discuss this one time and one time only…on Call Her Daddy. pic.twitter.com/TXuc5WuXBg
Queen Elizabeth before her death, reportedly encouraged Meghan Markle to make up with her father, Thomas Markle.
Royal expert Katie Nicholl made the claim in her upcoming book, “The New Royals”.
Nicholl claimed a royal source told her that the late monarch felt “the whole thing was quite badly handled with Thomas Markle and it if had been done differently, it would have come out better.”
She said;
“The Queen could see how damaging the situation was between Meghan and her father and she did speak to Meghan about it and tried to encourage her to talk to Thomas.”
Nicholl further noted that the Queen thought it was a mistake that Harry never traveled to Mexico to meet his future father-in-law.
“I think she felt that Harry should certainly have met Thomas Markle and it was unfortunate that that had to happen,” Nicholl said.
Not only did the Queen, who died on September 8 at age 96, want Meghan to make amends with her dad but she also wished the same for Harry and the rest of the royal family.
“The Queen adored Harry right to the end, and Harry adored her,” royal author Robert Hardman told People. “I think she was one of the conduits between Windsor and California and it would have been one of her dearest wishes that they patch things up.”
The former lighting director for TV soaps and sitcoms, 78, was set to walk his daughter down the aisle at St. George’s Chapel but then flip-flopped about whether he would even attend after photos surfaced of him allegedly getting a suit measured for the wedding and perusing books about the UK.
He later admitted to secretly collaborating with a paparazzo to stage the photos and bowed out of the ceremony, later undergoing heart surgery.
Thomas also later confessed that Prince Harry had warned him not to collude with the press and that he had both lied to and hung up on Harry during a heated phone call ahead of the royal wedding.
Konkola Copper Mines Plc (KCM) Provisional Liquidator Ms. Celine Nair, has announced the appointment of Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) as financial advisor to the Company in the Government’s ongoing efforts to bring it back into full operation.
The appointment of RMB follows on from the announcement in June 2022 that a comprehensive search had begun for a financial advisor to assist in securing financing for its medium to long term projects. A total of 11 local and international firms were invited to participate in the tender process that culminated in the selection of RMB.
“The appointment of RMB is a major milestone in the journey towards the full turnaround of Konkola Copper Mines Plc and its subsidiaries, Konkola Mineral Resources Limited (KMRL) and KCM SmelterCo Limited,” Ms. Nair said.
Ms. Nair added that, “The Company forms part of a strategic national resource base and stepping up the search for a strategic equity partner is vital to unlocking the rich ore reserves at Konkola Deep Mine. It is also pivotal in reaching the targeted increase in national copper production of 3 million tonnes within the next 10 years – the cornerstone of the New Dawn Government’s mining policy.”
Instrumental to the growth of KCM Plc is the Konkola Deep Mining Project (KDMP), which requires a minimum investment of circa US$1.2 billion, to construct additional pump chamber facilities necessary for pumping out water and unlocking new production areas within the rich ore reserves. Other upgrades and expansions are required in the Tailings Leach Plant at Nchanga in Chingola, the Nchanga Smelter and other key assets.
“It is KCM’s focus to complete the process of securing capital as soon as possible in order to accelerate the unlocking of long-held back investments and mine development. These requirements are important to ensure growth and the sharing of benefits to strategic stakeholders, which include the Government and employees of KCM, its subsidiaries, as well as business partners and communities in KCM’s areas of operation,” Ms. Nair said.
Ms. Nair added that the appointment of RMB serves as an assurance to the ongoing management process, which is aimed at strengthening governance in KCM and its subsidiaries.
“A lot of improvements have taken place at KCM since May 2022 and the mine’s future is looking bright as we gear up to increase production as soon as bridge funding is secured, Ms. Nair said.
JOHN CHILEMBWE ’S STATUE UNVEILED IN LONDON ’S TRAFALGAR SQUARE
A larger-than-life statue of Malawian freedom fighter John Chilembwe has been unveiled in London’s historic Trafalgar Square.
The artwork named Antelope and made by Malawian Samson Kambalu depicts John Chilembwe and John Chorley, a European missionary. Chilembwe’s statue stands at five metres towering over that of Chorley’s.
The artwork restages a famous photograph taken in 1914 of Chilembwe standing next to British missionary Chorley, outside his church in Mbombwe village in southern Malawi.
“By increasing his scale, the artist elevates Chilembwe and his story, revealing the hidden narratives of underrepresented peoples in the history of the British Empire in Africa, and beyond,” says the Mayor of London’s website.
Speaking to the BBC, Kambalu who is an associate professor of fine art at the University of Oxford in England, expressed hope that the statue will start a conversation in Britain that is still coming to reckoning with their colonial past.
“The sculpture brings to light the forgotten histories of the empire, and society is looking for that recognition.”
Chilembwe, a pan-Africanist who inspired other freedom fighters, was born in 1871 and grew up in Chiradzulu District.
Chilembwe later worked under Joseph Booth, a missionary, and the two eventually travelled to the US, where the Malawian studied theology in Virginia and witnessed the struggles of African Americans.
When he returned to Malawi as an ordained preacher, Chilembwe established a church as well as schools and farms in Chiradzulu.
However, during this time, white settlers were forcing Malawians off their land and Malawian soldiers were also being taken to Tanzania to fight against the German army in the World War One.
Chilembwe expressed discontent over these injustices and in January 1915 he led an uprising against white settlers.
The rebellion was not successful and Chilembwe was shot dead a few days later while trying to cross into what is now Mozambique.
Malawi eventually became independent in 1964 and today, Chilembwe is on banknotes and there are is a highway named after him. Malawi also celebrates John Chilembwe Day on January 15 every year.
According to the BBC, the Fourth Plinth, where Chilembwe’s statue has been placed, is regarded as one of the world’s most famous public art commissions. Since 2003, the Fourth Plinth has been showcasing different pieces of artwork every two years.
UNZA DON COMMENDS UPND FOR UPHOLDING LAW AND ORDER IN ZAMBIA
28th September, 2022 – Lusaka
By Thandiwe Phiri
UNIVERSITY of Zambia Lecturer and Researcher Ntazana Mutungwa Musukuma has commended the top leadership of the United Party for National Development (UPND) for restoring and upholding Law and Order in the country.
Commenting on the suspension of UPND Deputy Chairperson (Administration) for Lusaka Province Mr Saul Mwale Cornhill who allegedly insulted the UNZA Community, Mr Musukuma said the UPND must be commended for taking that whipping action promptly as it could never happen under the previous regime.
“Under the PF reign, such quick action of suspending an erring Official could never happen. We all saw how the former regime tolerated lawlessness, corruption and disorder, including illegal land allocation, among its Officials. There was no disciplinary action taken by top PF leadership against such mischievous officials. If it was PF still in power today, they could have been defending their insulting Official. That’s the difference between PF Party and UPND. Therefore, we commend the UPND for this bold decision. It is testimony that truly UPND have restored Sanity and do uphold Law and Older in the country,” said Musukuma.
The UNZA Lecturer has further called on the UNZA Student Union (UNZASU) leadership to call off their protests since the Official they are displeased about was suspended and the UPND apologized to the grieved UNZA Community.
“Protests should cease immediately because timely action was taken by the ruling Party over the disparaging remarks uttered by its Official. He was suspended with immediate effect and the UPND Secretary General, Mr Batuka Imenda, further apologized on bahalf of the UPND to the hurt UNZA Community including the student populace over Cornhill’s inappropriate language and action. Call off all form and manner of protest, bury the matter and concentrate on studies,” advised Musukuma.
He pointed out that the UPND Administration were on course towards creating a better Zambia for all and implored all well-meaning Zambians to give President Hakainde Hichilema and UPND full support.
“This is indeed the New Dawn. No cadreism. No lawlessness. No corruption. No thuggery. No mayhem. No violence. A breath of fresh air has truly come to Zambia. The best any responsible citizen can do is support the able leaderhip of His Excellency President Hakainde Hichilema and his well-meaning Party, the UPND,” said Musukuma.
The UNZA Don described one year of UPND in power as a success story and urged Zambians not to be discouraged by Mr Cornhill’s disparaging remarks.
“Let not one bad element discourage you. The UPND are on course in creating a better society for all as evidenced by: highly increased CDF, mass recruitment of public workers, free education, Kwacha appreciation, falling inflation, reducing prices of goods and services, reducing cost of living as reported by JCTR in their latest report, restoration of Rule of Law as well as Law and Order,” explained Musukuma.
Earlier this week, a video emerged and made rounds on social media in which Mr Cornhill was said to be grabbing land belonging to UNZA and heard using foul language. However, the UPND as a Party clarified that Mr Cornhill had no blessings of the Party but was on his own, suspended him from the Party immediately and apologized unreservedly to UNZA, a move that has pleased Mr Musukuma, who emphasizes that such positive action by the party in power against negative deeds and words by its officials was never seen under the former regime.
In an announcement by the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB), the East African country maintained its rather unwavering and intransigent position towards homosexuality by reiterating that the screening of all movies with LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) content in Kenya remains banned; in the wholesale sense of the word banned.
The KFCB affirmed Kenya’s hostile attitudes towards homosexuality (most notably in arts and entertainment) by sticking to the provisions of the country’s Constitution, the latter which effectively outlaws same-sex relations.
And in placing such obstinate reliance in ‘law and order’, the KFCB vowed to intensify its severe repression of same-sex films in the mainstream media.
The Acting CEO of the KFCB, Christopher Wambua, delivered the stern warnings to the country on radio — strictly speaking, content with same-sex relationships should absolutely never be shown in any media within the confines of Kenya’s geographical borders.
“The country’s laws do not allow LGBTQ+ content or even relationships. Even as we rate and classify content, we also consider other applicable laws.
“If there is any content that normalises or glorifies same-sex relationships, our position in Kenya has always been that kind of content is restricted and should not be broadcasted, exhibited or distributed within the borders of the country.”
While placing unconditional emphasis on outlawing the broadcasting of LGBTQ+ movies in the mainstream media, the issue of such content being available on the internet (social media and streaming platforms) with profound and overwhelming ubiquity is one which is still giving Kenyan state authorities some headaches.
Wambua noted while explicit homosexual content is pervasively available on the internet, the government is working tirelessly to restrict and block the airing of such content in Kenya. He lamented the fact that Netflix is the most conspicuous culprit in this rather moralistic conundrum, adding that talks between Kenya and the American streaming site are already in progress so as to find a way to curtail access to homosexual content among Kenyans in the future.
Wambua highlighted this aspect saying, “ Most of them are restricting; because of our discussions with Netflix, they are curating their classification system that is very aligned with our laws with the view of ensuring that in future once we sign the agreement, some of this content is not visible at all within the republic.
“Whether you are exhibiting on the theatre or VOD platform, there is no vacuum, the law is very clear.”
He further affirmed the government’s moral crusade by remarking on how parents should be vigilant over their children having access to visual content with same-sex relationships.
“Research has shown that film and media content influence the behaviour and the thinking of consumers, especially children who are most impressionable.
“Parents need to set screen times and monitor their child’s internet use because the internet is filled with unfiltered content for kids to be exposed to harmful interactions like bullying and harassment.
“As we try our best to assign the age ratings, it is the responsibility of the parents to educate and sensitize their children that they should not be able to look at it.”
Kenya’s official record regarding the airing of same-sex unions content through films has always been a hostile one. In 2018, the film Rafiki — premised on “a lesbian storyline” — was banned by the KFCB for “promoting lesbianism”, with express notions from KFCB’s leadership that “homosexuality is not our way of life”.
However the ban on Rafiki was lifted by a High Court judge in Kenya for the purposes of allowing the incendiary film to be submitted for the Oscars (the Academy Awards). Rafiki was the first film from Kenya to debut at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in that same year.
In 2019, the High Court in Kenya upheld the ban on homosexuality, arguing that legalizing homosexual relations “would indirectly open the doors to same-sex unions”.
The judge who presided over the matter, Roselyne Aburili, upheld the legality of Sections 162 and 165 of the Kenyan penal code (which criminalize homosexual relations) saying that the decriminalization of LGBTQ+ relations run contrary to the constitutional norms and the customs of the Kenyan people.
The obdurate reliance on the Constitution in banning same-sex relations is somewhat — if not outright — disingenuous, considering how Kenya’s Constitution (adopted in 2010 via a referendum) has been hailed as progressive as far as granting “golden threads of equality, dignity and freedom” is concerned through its Bill of Rights (Chapter 4 of Kenya’s Constitution).
In this, the interpretation of statutes becomes a convenient pretext to clamp down on the fundamental and inalienable freedoms of people who identify as LGBTQ+.
And this spreads through to the film industry (and the generality of the arts sector) with venomous ferocity. As such, this is the context in which the ban of homosexual movies in Kenya should be given attention to.
Arguments of patriarchal hegemony and sexist domination to preach a vainglorious moral message infringing the rights and choices of other human beings become totally unavoidable. In the broader African picture.
I am shocked to learn Shaka has been removed from our history syllabus.
You see without Shaka there is no Zambia. Shaka is root cause for having for the creation of Lozi kingdom in the West of Zambia and for the presence of the Ngoni in Eastern Zambia.
And there would not have been a North Rhodesian Protectorate without the amalgamation of North Eastern and North Western Rhodesia.
Interestingly a voting pattern map for the 2016 elections is roughly the approximate borders of North Eastern and North Western Rhodesia.
However Shaka caused the Mfecane which caused the appearance of Kololo in Zambia, Ndebele in Zimbabwe and the Ngoni in Eastern Zambia.
it also caused the Boers and the British to finally break out of the Cape and head northwards. You see the fighting and confusion weakened the Xhosa and other tribes who had kept the British and Boers hemmed in to the Cape.
When the Boers were heading away in the Great Trek they found a land in turmoil and could easily move in. Something they would have had far more trouble doing before the Mfecane.
The Kololo brought new styles of warfare and government and a language to Western Zambia and this led to a well-run efficient kingdom in Western Zambia. Which 30 years later would culminate in Lewanika joining the British Empire.
Cecil Rhodes fought an expensive war creating his won country named after himself Rhodesia. His toughest opponents were the Ndebele. Refugees from Shaka, part of the Mfecane.
Lewanika signed away his kingdom for protection from the Boers and the Ndebele like Khama and in the East the British crushed the Ngoni and the end result was Zambia in 1964 created by Rhodes who found his way north partly due to the turmoil and confusion caused by the Mfecane..
No Shaka no Zambia. I really hope he has not been removed from our history education. knowing your past helps you know your future. But anyway what would you expect from a generation that wonders why we learn about insect bodies in biology?
INVESTIGATIVE wings have seized what they believe to be former Republican President Edgar Lungu’s lodge in Lusaka’s Ibex Hill area.
The lodge has been seized under a law that allows forfeiture of property suspected to be proceeds of crime.
According to a notice of seizure served on the former President dated September 19, 2022, Crest Lodge which is on property No LUS/38479 was seized in terms of section 15 of the Prohibition and Prevention of Money Laundering Act No.14 of 2001 as there were reasonable grounds for believing that they were liable to seizure.
The seizure was carried out by an Investigative officer by the name of Mr Khondowe and was witnessed by Mr Katete the Director of Crest Lodge.
The notice indicated that the property located in Ibex Hill may be declared to be forfeited to the State under section 17 of the Prohibition and Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
And Zambia Republican Party President Wright Musoma said that the property had been seized as being suspected proceed of crime and that they were trying to find something to be used to remove Mr Lungu’s immunity.
Mr Musoma believes that the seizure was the commencement of the long awaited investigation, removal of immunity and subsequent prosecution of the former President.
“”This is a well calculated plot designed to remove immunity.”he said.
said this meant that investigations may ultimately lead to the removal of immunity for prosecution which was a well calculated move.
He added that the nullification of seats in Parliament was also meant to secure suffiicient numbers in order for immunity removal to succeed “”They do not have sufficient numbers to pass a vote for immunity removal, hence the plot for nullification of seats.”” he said.
Under the present law any claim of impropriety must go to Parliament where two thirds must vote for immunity removal.
He however said the UPND did not have two thirds hence the efforts to nullify seats so that they get the numbers.
He said President Hichilema needed to take a leaf from his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto who offered an olive branch to his predecessor who actually supported his opponent.- Daily Nation
ZAMBIAN CAMERA MAN DEMANDS K2 MILLION FROM BUSHIRI FOR HELPING HIM FAKE ANGELS
A Zambian camera man and video editor who worked at Bushiri’s Prophetic Channel Television has come out in the open to joining Bushiri Survivors Network and reveal how miracles were edited in South Africa to present moving objects on camera that Bushiri said were angels.
According to the former camera man identified as Festus, he is the one that edited the video and created the impression of moving objects that they related to angels. He has since written to the Prophetic Channel International that he be given $125,500 (K2,000,000) for helping the ministry make close $1,000,000 in huge visitations after people were attracked by the presence of fake angels.
“There was no such a thing as Angels. That was a total lie. I edited the video and added the objects. If you watch it closely, you will see that people sitting close to the angels dont even notice everything because there was nothing for them to notice. I have a unedited version of the video and I will share with you to compare,” he said.
He also said most of the things people see on the TV are not real as there is a team of creative people behind them. “Sometimes even Bushiri himself laughs and jokes about it that people love him so much and trust him that they would even demolish their houses and sleep outside if he ordered them to do,” he said adding: “I fee sorry for faithful people defend him without knowing what really happens. Only if they paid attention to what they see and think soberly, but they are too lazy and blinded to think.”
The camera man was fired for being suspected to be in a relationship with a church young girl that his former boss also ‘chewed’ for pleasure. He is now back to Zambia and has started doing his business in Lusaka.
You can watch the video on Youtube and see for yourself how Bushiri fooled people to believe in fake angels.
PRESIDENT HICHILEMA COUNSELS UPND MEMBERS TO STOP INFIGHTING WHICH IS NOT THE ONLY REASON FOR THIS DISCONTENT…
By Stembridge Sikalundu
When the president reacts to something it is always believed that the truth has been exposed in the highest office , at times people doubt whether the president is correctly briefed with what is happening on the ground , those who surround the president in most instances want to be seen as concerned and good advisory unit . The president is the final person in the country and his resolve to attend to all issues is a constitutional right . However in my view if something is wrong in the UPND I would have loved the president to look at all the concerns before regarding infighting as a problem that needs counsel, the UPND party needs to call for an extraordinary meeting where members are going to make submissions to the NMC which are supposed to be assertively assessed and presented to the president in full detail for action . There was no infighting when the UPND was in opposition ,is it what the president has come to know about from the numerous concerns which UPND members have openly stated in many media forums? . Is the president going to heal UPND members from just asking them to stop the infightings when a lot is begging his authourity action? , the UPND leadership has been requested to do more to address the concerns of the party members , if the statement from the president is the only word that is sought to keep the party together , am afraid the crack is going to be widening each time we move to the future .
The president is supposed to be aware of many things which the UPND party is going through and affecting the membership, first and foremost the president is supposed to attend to national issues affecting all zambians, but the UPND party forum was used to win elections and it’s firmness and strong organisational structure is supposed to have attributes through leadership team work and support , coordination requires a continuous connectivity with the grassroots to ensure mobilisation to support the party is unconditionally built , in this case UPND leaders need their members at all times to foster this achievement , now if there is a disconnect between leaders in govt , party officials with their party members , no one is going to claim the UPND is an organisation , in this case UPND members feel abandoned since winning the general election and the party has no active party structures in most parts of the country , there is need for the UPND party to be seen being active because it is in govt .
The UPND leaders have been challenged to stop being selfish and greed because of having gone to establish their own comfort zones , a lot was expected from the president but as things are it appears he has no serious attachment to what is coming from the party members , the president is confident of the senior govt and the party officials , one important factor in politics is that a party which forms govt must learn mistakes made by other Political parties especially the UPND which has been in opposition longer than any other party that formed govt before , the UPND was more organised for 23 years in opposition , but what has happened in just a year and more after winning elections ?, it is likely that UPND foot soldiers will defect in 2026 for greener pastures if things remain the way they are ,and the UPND elite will be requested to endure the hard campaign conditions which they have never done for the benefits they are enjoying today , I see the UPND leadership spending to recall their carders but that will not work given the situation they will have to endure for five years without recognition . we hope the UPND leaders will change the narrative that they used people to win elections for the elite to live better . God bless mother Zambia.
Augustine Mukoka RIGHT TO REPLY: Zambia Under-17 Women’s National Team Coach, Kaluba Kangwa, Has Responded
Following revelations published yesterday that Zambia under-17 coach women’s national team coach Kaluba Kangwa has admitted impregnating a soccer player believed to be 15 years old in 2013, but has denied allegations he has sexually abused anyone.
Kaluba says he has since married the girl (now a woman) after the pregnancy. He says allegations published yesterday were false. The girl was at the time in secondary school and due to the pregnancy had to stop to focus on motherhood.
While Kaluba denies the allegations, I stand by the revelations as the scourge is rampant and his activities at Bauleni United Sports Academy (BUSA) are among the worst.
Here is part of my exchanges with him yesterday.
Dear Augustine,
Well, well, well, this is really a challenge to see your own people fighting you and your own people after your life! what have i done wrong to you and everyone? I have never done anything wrong to you and everyone! why are you doing this to me! am just a simple and matured man, very responsible in my life, Am saddened to see this and the way you are judging me! Anyway, zikomo kwambili for your work and your mission. Am a very innocent person and the damage you have caused to my family is deep, to my life is deep, to my career is deep! God is my witness but the truth will come out. Lesa amipale for your works.
Blessed Day
Good afternoon sir,
Thank you for your message. I am sure we have never met. However, I have been in sports journalism for sometime now.
So, I have nothing personal against you.
There are numerous allegations against you and the girls which very close people to you have confided in me.
The same people have talked to you about these allegations and you have confirmed to them.
I put Prof. Oscar Mwaanga on the spotlight because he has never been mentioned in these allegations, but when he was mentioned I thought I should reach out to him.
When I reached out to him, I expressed my disappointment in him and why he didn’t take action as a leader when the incident happened in 2013.
My prayer is that we go to an independent inquiry so that those who have been through BUSA can testify.
If you feel aggrieved and feel very confident that you’re innocent, please commence legal action so we can summon everyone by means of subpoena to testify under oath what has been happening at BUSA under your watch.
May God bless you too. Augustine
Kaluba responds;
Ba Augusting, Natotela sana for everything!
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RECEIVED YESTERDAY ABOUT KALUBA KANGWA’S SEX EXCAPADES AT BUSA
Am so excited that finally someone has come out to expose him, there are celebrations in bauleni right now.
So this man is a pedophile who takes advantage of the small girls he coaching. He was staying alone at his house in [text redacted for alleged perpetrator’s location for security reasons] and would ask the girls to go and wash, cook even clean for him. What used to amuse me is how a single man would spend the whole day with girl at his house alone. Honestly what would a single man be doing with a girl at his house whole day?. It was later discovered that most of these girls would get pregnant and he would have them abort it or even denying it and forcing the young girls to point at someone else. Last year, three of the girls he coaches and used to spend time at his house got pregnant. The names are Doreen [text redacted], Salome [text redacted] just to mention a few. A lot of people are willing to give out information and I would urge you to carry out an investigation that side and bring this man to justice.
NOTE: At least five credible sources have collaborated on the information the anonymous source sent yesterday. Some of the sources state that Kaluba has a spiritual problem when it comes to sex that must be exorcised. I hope authorities will expedite the setting up of an independent inquiry in the FAZ sex scandal. I respect the principle of our jurisprudence that we are all innocent until proven guilty. The same applies to Kaluba in as much as the information and evidence about his sex escapades in Bauleni is overwhelming.
Councillor Hon. Mainda Simataa writes: The LCC Diary of Scandals, PART 2:
The 5m Mega Theft, Mr. Munthali, and his Unknown Senior Partner in Crime from Finance
======================================
1. First off, friendly advice to Daily Mail – always double-check your sources and report facts, not speculations. Here’s a letter below for you that distances Auditors from this theft.
2. The Auditors at LCC are heroes because the nation would never have known about the astonishing levels of theft by public servants, happening at LCC, if it was’nt for their digging.
3. When a city council loses K5 million, an amount that is an equivalent of CDF funds for the entire Lusaka in the previous regime, and they don’t fire the culprit, or report him to ACC, or better still hand him over to C5 kuti aulule, what does that say about such a management?
4. The nation may wish to know that as Councillors we supported the Auditors strong recommendation to management, to the legal department in particular, to report this matter to ACC. But Legal, for reasons best known to themselves, disapproved, and has not acted on that recommendation to date…
Now here is where it gets interesting…
5. Do you know why legal hasn’t acted? Because one of their own, a lawyer, was involved in a K100,000 theft in a filling station deal with Lake Petroleum, where a licensing officer, acting together with others, issued 8 licences for storage of dangerous substances at lower than what it should have costed!
6. Lastly, who is the unknown senior Finance officer at LCC who’s name Mr. Munthali refused to disclose, the one who authorized him to DELETE K5m nkongole owed to the people of Lusaka by Alliance media billboard company?
Where does the Audit trail lead? Did he act alone or in collusion? Just how wide is the cartel at LCC?
More about the Lake Petroleum scandal in Part 3, tomorrow.
27th September 2022 Press Release For Immediate Release
THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION STATEMENT ON THE SITUATION OF LESBIANS, GAY, BI-SEXUAL, TRANSGENDER, QUEER AND INTERSEX (LGBTQI) IN ZAMBIA The Human Rights Commission (the Commission) has, in the recent few days, received correspondence from various stakeholders expressing fear about the safety of suspected or real members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) community in Zambia.
The expression of fear emanates from public statements made against perceived or real LGBTQI individuals following the alleged increased cases of sodomy. The Commission is monitoring the situation and studying the public statements that have been made on the matter by various stakeholders, including Government.
Further, complaints and fear of potential human rights violations and abuse against real or suspected LGBTQI individuals are being investigated within the established complaints handling mechanism of the Commission.
Regrettably, the Commission has noted the tendency by some stakeholders to deliberately confuse purely criminal acts with human rights issues when dealing with matters relating to the situation of LGBTQI in Zambia. A distinction must be made between supporting the human rights of the LGBTQI community, which rights accrue to them by virtue of them being human and supporting them to freely and publicly exercise their sexual orientation and gender identity, which is a criminal offence in Zambia.
The reported cases of sodomy are criminal offences that must be thoroughly investigated by the Zambia Police Service and must be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the Penal Code, Chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia. Everyone must effectively be protected from any form of sexual abuse and cases of sodomy against individuals, including children, must therefore be treated as a crime, akin to defilement and rape. Therefore, law enforcement against sodomy should not be confused with clamping down on the LGBTQI community in Zambia.
But be the foregoing as they maybe individuals that are suspected of having committed acts of sodomy must not be subjected to unlawful actions and/or violations of their human rights such as arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Instead, they must, just like any other suspect, be granted equal protection of the law such as being promptly informed of their offence, being charged and taken to court within a reasonable period of time and/or as prescribed by the law.
All suspects irrespective of the nature of the offence they are suspected to have committed must be presumed innocent until proved guilty before a court of competent jurisdiction and must also be allowed access to legal representation of their own choice, access to medical services where need arises and be allowed visits by members of their families and friends if detained while awaiting their cases being processed by the Police or pending trial.
The Commission also notes with concern the continued hate speech and threats of physical attacks against persons based on their perceived or real sexual orientation and gender identity. This is a criminal offence and/or a violation of the right to personal security among other rights. The State, particularly the Police, has an obligation to protect everyone from any form of violence, abuse, harassment or harm without any form of discrimination. To this end, the Commission is appealing to all stakeholders to respect the rule of law and human rights.
The Commission is cognizant of the fact that practicing homosexuality or lesbianism is illegal in Zambia and the Commission has noted the opposition against the practice based on various factors such as religious and cultural beliefs and values. However, those found on the wrong side of the law or in conflict with the law should be treated in a humane manner because they are human beings and are entitled to the protection of their human rights as enshrined in the Bill of Rights and the international and regional human rights instruments that Zambia is a party to. By virtue of being party to various human rights instruments, Zambia is bound to protect the indivisible and inalienable rights of all citizens including those found on the wrong side of the law or who come in conflict with the law.
It is the Commission’s clarion call that the lives of members of the LGBTQI community should not be sacrificed at the altar for political, religious or cultural expedience because life is sacrosanct and must be protected. The State must, therefore, not spare any effort to stop the emerging vicious hate campaign against the LGBTQI community. The State is obligated to adopt effective measures of protection against the actions of private individuals who may violate or threaten to violate the right to life and security of person or members of the LGBTQI community in Zambia.
(Original Signed)
Mudford Z. Mwandenga CHAIRPERSON HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
