In continuation of the $50m defamation lawsuit, Actress, Amber Heard has claimed she feared her ex-husband Johnny Depp would accidentally kill her during an alleged assault during their honeymoon.
Testifying in the defamation case Depp brought against her, Ms Heard, 36, painted a picture Depp as an abuser addicted to drugs and plagued with jealousy and self-harm.
Depp is suing Ms Heard for $50m (£40m) over an article in which she claimed she was the victim of domestic violence .
The piece did not name Depp but his attorneys, however, have said that the article “incalculably” damaged his reputation and career. She has countersued him for $100m.
The case being tried in Virginia has resumed for a fifth week, and in previous court hearings Depp had told his side of the story while Heard had begun some of her testimony.
In court on Monday, May 16, Heard tearfully told jurors that she believed she’d likely “not survive” if she had remained married to Mr Depp, 58.
“I was so scared that it was going to end really badly for me,” she said. “I really didn’t want to leave him. I loved him so much.”
She alleged that he attacked her while aboard the Orient Express train in Asia after their February 2015 wedding, claiming that he struck her and held her by the neck while in their sleeper compartment.
“He was squeezing my neck against the railway car for what felt like a very long time,” she said.
She said she recalled thinking he could “kill me”.
“I remember being scared that he wouldn’t mean to do it,” she said.
In another instance, Ms Heard described a “week of hell” after Depp allegedly became jealous because she was offered a role with James Franco. She claimed he punched her and threw her into furniture.
While Ms Heard said that the marriage was “at times, very loving”, it deteriorated over time to a point in which tension and violence became “almost normal”. They divorced in 2017, after two years.
She also claimed that Depp would frequently self-harm during their arguments.
“In fights he often would cut his arms or hold his knife to his chest or draw blood, superficially at first,” she said. “He also put cigarettes out on himself.”
Attorney Camille Vasquez, Depp’s lawyer questioned the witness over her prior testimony, questioning why there were so few photos and medical records to back up claims of physical injuries from her alleged beatings.
Heard countered that she didn’t take photos or videos of the beating because she was embarrassed to be a victim of abuse and “other than my therapist”, she relied on makeup to cover bruises and ice to reduce swelling.
In a heated back-and forth, Ms Vasquez forced Ms Heard to acknowledge that she had “pledged” to donate the entirety of her $7m divorce settlement with Depp to charity but was yet to make any donation.
She also noted that her client had not once looked Ms Heard in the eye over the course of the trial. “He can’t,” Ms Heard responded.
In his own testimony earlier in the trial, Mr Depp said that he never struck Ms Heard and told jurors that she had a “need” for conflict and violence.
On Monday, jurors heard a number of audio clips of the former couple arguing. In one clip which Heard can be heard saying she hit Mr Depp.
“I was hitting you. I was not punching you,” she can be heard saying. “You’re not punched.”
According to Ms Heard, she sometimes “reactively” hit Mr Depp and claimed that she was referring to the “disparity” of their strength.
On 21 Nov 2021, I posted this on my facebook page regarding election petitions in Zambia and their unlikely success due to limitations in the law. I thought I can reload in view of the many nullifications done by the High Court being dismissed by the Constitutional Court
ELECTION PETITIONS IN ZAMBIA: A MOCKERY OF ELECTORAL JUSTICE.
In the last General Election, it is believed that over 400 election petitions were filed by losing candidates at parliamentary, district and ward levels against the winning candidates at local government, mayoral/chairperson and parliamentary levels.
The law demands that such election petitions must be heard and determined by the High Court or tribunal within 90 days from the date of the lodgement of the petitiob but the High Court or tribunal decisions are appealable in the constitutional Court.
The Constitutional Court has not timeframe in which to discharge off these petition appeals as a result can go on until the next General Election as was the case of Lundazi.
So far, many of these petitions have been discharged off at HIGH Court or tribunal levels in favour of the winning candidates and most likely the remaining will go the same way.
So far this hypothesis has been proven right by the number of petition cases originally nullified by the High Court but now being overturned by the Constitutional Court
What is the problem and is there any prospect for any successful election petition in Zambia?
The problem is section 97 of the Electoral Process Act No 35 of 2016 which guides how an election petition is supposed to done and details grounds on which to void an election.
Section 97.(1) guides that An election of a candidate as a Member of Parliament, mayor, council chairperson or councillor shall not be questioned except by an election petition presented under this Part.
Subsection 2 stresses that the election of a candidate as a Member of Parliament, mayor, council chairperson or councillor shall be void if, on the trial of an election petition, it is proved to the satisfaction of the High Court or a tribunal, as the case may be, that—
(a) a corrupt practice, illegal practice or other misconduct has been committed in connection with the election— by a candidate; or with the knowledge and consent or approval of a candidate or of that candidate’s election agentor polling agent; and the majority of voters in a constituency, district or ward were or may have been prevented from electing the candidate in that constituency, district or ward whom they preferred;
This is the biggest obstacle to election petitions success in Zambia as it is not possible to prove any candidate’s direct involvement in electoral irregularities and malpractices such as violence, corruption etc.
The Act also guides that any omission by the Electoral Officers cannot be used as a basis to petition an election and void.
So repealing section 97 of the electoral process Act is key to future successful election petitions and also for rooting out electoral corruption, violence and other malpractices and illegalities in the electoral process.
As it stands now, one cannot blame the judges at the Concourt over the petitions but the lacunaed law because the outcome is known even before one files in their petitions by the operation of law.
Therefore, election petitions, though a constitutional right, are proving to be just an academic forum shopping expeditions in Zambia.
They are just a waste of time, resources and energies and just raises unnecessary anxieties to the petitioners and petitioned.
Only lawyers seem to gain out of these petitions at the end of the exercise as they are paid for representing their clients-petitioners or petitioned-whether they win or lose the petitions.
Only petitions based on academic qualifications have a high rate of success not petitions based on violence, corruption and other electoral malpractice.
Let us wait for those electoral petitions and appeals based on candidates having no Grade 12 Academic Qualifications.
The rate of success in these type of petitions may be guaranteed both at HIGH Court and Constitutional Court levels.
While we were chasing the wind,they stole the mines.
When Zambians were being shown a tantalising movie about the ZAMTROP, designer suits, shoes from croc leather, and jet skiis, the biggest scams in oil, maize and mine deals were being done.
In 2003, while they were chasing Frederick -Jacob Titus Chiluba for alleged theft, they were engaged in some of the biggest frauds of the land.
Konkola Copper Mines, valued at $650million was being sold to a little-known Indian mining firm for $25million.
The theft was so sophisticated that the World Bank pledged $20million in development finance to support the transaction!
At the time there was State House linked scandals, an oil scam involving Trans Sahara Trading oil imports which were guaranteed by ABSA and ZANACO where $100million was lost.
There was also the scam involving the importation of maize worth $7.5million by alleged friends of the President while Zambia had a bumper harvest.
NEW MINING AGREEMENTS
Similarly, Zambians may take interest in the recent Mining Agreements being signed especially the new one between Zambia and First Quantum Mine.
On 1st April 2022, President Hakainde Hichilema was at the Royal Zambezi Lodge in Lower Zambezi attending a “secret” meeting in which the extremely high-level guests were not disclosed and were kept out of the public’s eye.
This meeting was so secretive that it was NOT reported by both ZNBC, or the President’s social-media pages.
If it were not for the excited staff at the Lodge who took a group memorabilia photo, we wouldn’t know anything about it or the secret presence of the President in Lower Zambezi.
The Lodge is owned by First Quantum Minerals, who also own Royal Zambian Airlines.
What are the details of this new mining agreement especially in relation to taxes?
If you have nothing to hide, publish the Mining Agreements.
We may take interest in what will happen to Mopani Copper Mines and Konkola Copper Mines especially in the absence of a transparent process detailing how government is handling these national strategic assets.
Because the commodities; copper, lithium and cobalt present the immediate future of the world electric motor vehicle industry, there is heightened commercial and global interest about them.
The global electric vehicle market was valued at $163.01 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach $823.75 billion by 2030.
ZESCO/CEC BULK SUPPLIER AGREEMENT
Zambians may also take interest in the recent signed Bulk Supply Agreement (BSA) between ZESCO Limited and the Copperbelt Energy Corporation.
How much will it cost for ZESCO to supply power to CEC? What’s the duration of this Agreement?
We remember that CEC was a subject of a UK state-owned development finance institution, the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) Group’s plans to acquire the Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) for US$450million.
CDC expressed interest to acquire controlling shares of the utility.
CEC is majority owned by Zambian Energy Corporation (“Ireland”) Limited (“ZECI”) which holds 52% shareholding whilst the balance of 48% is held by various institutional and retail investors.
The bid failed because CEC couldn’t obtain a new Bulk Supplier Agreement with ZESCO.
But now this has been done and on 1st April 2022 announced the successful negotiations.
Shortly after the ZESCO and CEC Agreement, the UK’s Minister for Africa, Vicky Ford visited Zambia from 5th to 7th April 2022.
She stated that she was in Zambia to continue building the “modern partnerships” between the United Kingdom and Zambia.
If you have nothing to hide, publish the new Bulk Supplier Agreement between ZESCO and CEC.
MINISTRY OF JUSTICE AND LUCRATIVE CONSENT JUDGEMENTS
You may not know! The Ministry of Justice has become the biggest hub of suspected corruption and probably the new cost centre against government domestic revenue as numerous and strange out-of-court settlements are being made, compensating huge sums of money to individuals and entities.
If you have nothing to hide, publish the Consent Judgements and out-of-court settlements being made since September 2021 so that Zambians can understand what they are paying for.
While we are preoccupied with trivialities, side-shows and diversions, some things of critical national interest are being perpetrated under the radar.
Under Ministry of Justice, Agro Fuel, owned by a well-known close business associates of President Hakainde Hichilema, has been paid in excess of $26million.
This payments relates to a court dispute on the cancellation of the concession and expulsion of Agrofuel from Mpulungu Harbour in 2005.
The Concessioning of Mpulungu Harbour Corporation was done in the year 2000 to Agro Fuel Zambia for a period of 25 years.
In 2005, Government cancelled the Concession citing exploitation, breach of the Agreement and general poor performance.
Remember, under the privatisation programme, state-owned enterprises and public utilities that government had reservations to privatize, were encouraged to enter into public-private-partnership concessions.
Hence the concessions of; Zambia Railways to Railways Systems of Zambia and Mpulungu Harbour to Agrofuel.
According to the Zambia Development Agency 75% of the PPPs that were entered into by the government of Zambia prior to the promulgation of the PPP Act of 2009 were all cancelled.
These include: the Kasumbalesa Border Post, Mpulungu Harbour and Railways Systems of Zambia with an exception of the 65 year concession of the Luburma Market (popularly known as Kamwala Market).
The cancelations were all attributed to failure to fulfil pledged investments, failure to disclose incomes and general poor performance.
Since the enactment of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Act of 2009, there has not been a single successful PPP transaction entered into between the Government of Zambia and any private sector entity under the PPP Act of 2009.
The Act has defined the types of PPPs to be implemented in Zambia and are; Concession, Build Operate and Transfer (BOT), Build Own and Operate (BOO), and Supply Operate and Transfer (SOT).
It is for this reason that the naive optimism being displayed by the Minister of Infrastructure, Hon. Charles Milupi over PPPs believing that the private sector will deliver infrastructure development, is amusing to watch.
And while our attention is focused elsewhere, matters of interest are brewing at ZESCO, Department of National Parks and Wildlife and in the Mining Sector.
BRENTHURST FOUNDATION, GREG MILLS AND STATE HOUSE
Of worry is the role of Brenthurst Foundation and its Executive Director, Dr. Greg Mills and his influence on President Hakainde Hichilema.
Dr. Gregory John Barrington Mills popularly known as Greg Mills, heads the Brenthurst Foundation, based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Brenthurst Foundation was established in 2005 by the Oppenheimers ( of the fame of Multibillion dollar corporation; Debeers and Anglo-American Corporation) to strengthen “African economic performance”.
Since President Hakainde Hichilema’s election, Mills has been a constant feature at State House.
President Hichilema even travelled to South Africa to launch Greg Mills’ book; “EXPENSIVE POVERTY;Why Aid Fails and How It Can Work”.
Information has emerged that a team of private advisors and private media outfit are on a private payroll at State House and BRENTHURST Foundation is being named as one of the organisations funding this.
State House and the Presidency are sacred institutions, and a seat of power in Zambia but appear to have been defiled by the presence of these private activities.
Kindly publish the details of the role of Brenthurst Foundation at State House and these private activities.
All biggest heists have a diversion, and therefore don’t fall prey.
Kulima Tower Building in Lusaka’s Central Business District which is the headquarters of the ACC was this afternoon converted into a not-so-Holy Altar of Insults by former PF Secretary General Davis Mwila.
Mwila, famous for dancing ‘Alebwelelapo’ in the face of Harry Kalaba in the run-up to the 12 August polls where his party eventually tumbled, was today not in a dancing mood as the pressure of being an opposition cadre seemed to be taking a toll on him.
What infuriated Mwila to the point of sweating like a pot of beans which has overstayed on a brazier, was that when his party’s cadre Mbachi Chimfwembe turned up at the ACC to join PF colleagues to give solidarity to former DMMU boss Chanda Kabwe, Mbachi was wearing a red Nike Cap complete with a trademark Nike white tick on the forehead.
The iconic Nike white tick, Mwila forgave, but the colour red on the rest of the cap was too much for him to take.
Like an Altezza driven by a ‘Yo Bally’ from Chilenje, Mwila’s temper shifted from Zero to over 180 in a few seconds as he confronted Mbachi over his red Nike cap.
The former SG wasted no time to anoint Mbachi with Bemba blessings of ‘Chika#a’, among other unprintables, and accused him of being a UPND undercover spy no wonder his wearing of a red Nike cap.
But what got people falling to the ground scratching their tummies in laughter was when Mwila added that “I’ll call cadres to come and deal with you”.
Most of the PF cadres laughing at the threats of their former party Chief Executive Officer accused him of not being in touch with reality.
The laughing crowd claimed Mwila’s so-called brutal cadres he was threatening to summon and panel beat Mbachi had hung up their fierce green overalls and boots after 12 August and were now humble sheep registering co-operatives and busy applying for CDF from the UPND government.
Zambia leaves South Africa choking in its dust at the 2022 Mining Indaba.
By Ed Stoddard/Daily Maverick
16 May 2022
Investors are buying President Hakainde Hichelema’s narrative of ‘New Dawn’ change, but remain sceptical about South Africa’s vague promises to break bureaucratic logjams in its mining sector.
In the world of investment, political shifts are monitored as closely as any economic indicator.
At the “Investing in African Mining Indaba” in 2018, the changing political winds in a trio of southern African countries — Angola, Zimbabwe and South Africa — lifted the mood of investors.
Angola’s Jose Eduardo dos Santos and Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe had both stepped down, or been forced out, in 2017, and Cyril Ramaphosa had clinched the ANC presidency that year and was on the verge of becoming head of state when the Indaba was held in early February 2018.
The Angolan and Zimbabwean mining ministers launched charm offensives to woo investors at the conference. The hapless Mosebenzi Zwane was still SA’s mines minister but the industry — which simply could not stand the sight of the man — knew the writing was on the wall.
Fast-forward to May 2022, and it was Zambia that stole the show — a performance also driven by political change. Hakainde Hichilema won the presidency last year, defeating the autocratic Edgar Lungu, whose administration at one point had arrested the former on treason charges.
Hichilema declared Africa’s No 2 copper producer “open for business”, using a phrase that is a cliche at such conferences. But investors are buying the narrative of change under the banner of “New Dawn Government” — which has a familiar political ring for South Africans.
Copper miner First Quantum Minerals used the Indaba to announce the largest investment in Zambia in a decade: $1.35-billion in two new projects.
“The government deserves a great deal of credit for the approach they have taken since this administration commenced last year,” said First Quantum’s representative, Godwin Beene. “They want to see a radical improvement in the size and scale of the industry over the next decade, confident in the belief that when mining does well so does Zambia. These things do take time to come to fruition, but it does feel like we are entering into a new and better future for the industry.”
Hichilema noted the opportunity the “green energy transition” represents as copper is a “green metal” and a key ingredient in the construction of solar panels, wind turbines and the like.
“Copper is critical in the green energy transition, and there is increasing demand for it. What an opportunity!” he said.
Translation: this is a no-brainer.
South Africa, by way of unflattering contrast, has the sun setting on its “New Dawn”, falling into the bottom of the rankings of the Fraser Institute’s “Investment Attractiveness Index”, which focuses on mining exploration.
Cape Town is a great place to throw a party, but investors are not going to let the dop blur their vision regarding the mining sector.
Commenting on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s speech to the Indaba, law firm Webber Wentzel noted the lack of detail about the measures proposed to increase investment and grow South Africa’s mining industry.
“He omitted to address the challenge of unlawful protests which disrupt mining operations. He also did not clarify exactly who would be responsible for improving the living conditions of host communities, although government is responsible for the provision of services such as education, water, infrastructure and health services.”
It noted acute capacity shortages in the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) and “long delays in producing a cadastral system and processing applications result from both capacity and corruption issues”.
The backlog in applications for mining rights and the lack of a cadastral system are joined at the hip — the latter is needed to break the logjams.
A cadastral system is an online portal open to the public that provides comprehensive geological data about a country, information on mining and prospecting permits that have been issued and expired, and so on. It brings transparency to the sector, reducing opportunities for corruption.
The current Samrad system for mining applications is utterly useless and replacing it is a matter of urgency. DMRE officials at the Indaba blamed the State IT Agency for the delays.
Such finger-pointing is hardly going to resolve the issue and is a transparent ditching of responsibility — but no surprise from a government and ruling party that do not embrace accountability.
Ramaphosa did pledge to reduce the waiting time for the issue of water-use licences to 90 days. The Minerals Council SA welcomed the move while noting that the current pace for issuing such permits was “years” — a clear symptom of state failure.
And a failing state is not exactly a magnet for investment. DM168
For the first time, the passenger who landed a jet despite having no training has spoken up.
On “Today,” Darren Harrison chatted with Savannah Guthrie. He said that he was about to become a father, which drove him to land the jet after the captain lost consciousness.
The plane began to nosedive at a high rate of speed when the pilot became incapacitated, according to the 39-year-old.
“I knew if I didn’t react, we would die,” Harrison said calmly.
He said: “Because I realized it was a life or death situation, I remained cool and collected throughout. Either you do what you need to do to maintain control of the situation, or you’ll perish.”
Harrison, who works at a flooring company, said his wife, Britney, who was 7-months pregnant with their unborn daughter, was his inspiration.
He also said there was an element of divine intervention.
He told host Guthrie that “the hand of God was on that plane.”
He said: “I was climbing to the front and that plane was in a dive. I was just looking going, ‘I can’t die today. Britney’s pregnant, I’ve got a baby on the way — not today. Today’s not my day’.”
Harrison contacted the tower operator who helped guide him down to the runway, where he made a perfect landing.
“My nightmare’s always been when I go on flights like this, ‘What happens if something health-wise happens to the pilot? What’s gonna happen?’ “he told Today, saying he had thought about it “many a time.”
When his worst fears finally happened, he had been “just back there relaxing” in the plane, even taking a photo of his shoe-less feet up on a chair, when the pilot suddenly called to him and the other passenger.
The pilot made a strange movement and told the passengers, “‘Guys, I gotta tell you, I don’t feel good … I got a headache and I’m fuzzy and I just don’t feel right,’” Harrison recalled.
“I said, ‘What do we need to do?’ … but at that point he didn’t respond at all. He was already done,” he said, adding that the pilot “wasn’t responding to us yelling at him.”
“By the time I had moved forward to the front of the airplane, I realized that we had now gone into a dive at a very fast rate. All I saw when I came up to the front was water out the right window and I knew it was coming quick,” he said.
“I grabbed the controls of the airplane and slowly started to pull back on the stick and turn,” he said, adding that he relied on “just common sense.”
“I knew if I went up and yanked that the airplane would stall. And I also knew at the rate we were going, we were probably going way too fast and it would rip the wings off the airplane.
“That’s the scariest part of the whole story,” he said.
Once leveled, he tried to grab the pilot’s headphones to reach ground control but it was broken with frayed wires.
“I immediately turn to the guy next to me and say, ‘I’m gonna need your headset because I got to talk to somebody,’”he recalled.
He then got through to Robert Morgan, an air traffic controller and part-time flight instructor, who was able to guide Harrison to his first landing after he spotted the outline of Florida.
“When I was flying and saw the state of Florida, at that second I knew, ‘I’m gonna land the airplane,’c he recalled.
“I don’t know what the outcome is gonna be, I don’t know how it’s gonna happen, but I’m gonna have to land this airplane because there’s no other option,” he said.
Once he got the plane to safety, he “felt so comfortable” flying he even offered to park the plane at the airport, he said.
He finally got to say “thank you for everything” and “threw the headset on the dash and said the biggest prayer I’ve ever said in my life,” he recalled.
“That’s when all the emotions set in. It was a thankful prayer for the safety and everything that happened,” he said.
Cleveland Cavaliers star, Rajon Rondo has reportedly been accused of threatening to kill his ex-wife with a gun.
Ashley Bachelor, Rondo’s former partner and mother of his two kids, filed for an emergency protective order in Louisville last week, requesting protection for her, her son, and daughter, reports TMZ Sports.
NBA star Rajon Rondo accused of threatening to kill his ex-wife and children with gun
Sharing disturbing details of the alleged incident, Bachelor said Rajon — a 2x NBA champ and 4x All-Star — was playing video games with his son on May 11 when Ashley asked the boy to separate laundry. Bachelor alleged that Rajon became enraged and ripped the game console out of the wall in front of the kid.
Ashley said Rajon then continued the destructive behavior, smashing everything from a teacup to outdoor lights and trash cans.
According to her, while the kids were upset after witnessing their dad losing it, she tried to “deescalate” the situation. But Rajon responded by making a death threat, allegedly saying, “You’re dead.”
Rondo temporarily left the home, according to Ashley, before returning about 15 minutes later, when he allegedly approached a back door and began banging on the window with his gun.
Bachelor said she didn’t know what was going on, but when she approached the door from the inside to take a look. She allegedly saw Rondo with the weapon and asked him to stop because he was scaring her. She said Rondo didn’t listen, and instead yelled, “Go get my f**king son!”
Writing in her emergency order of protection on May 13, Bachelor said :
“I am extremely fearful for my safety and for the safety of my children. Rajon has a history of volatile, erratic, explosive behavior. He is verbally, emotionally, and financially abusive. He physically hits our son and calls him names like ‘p***y’ and accuses him of acting like a ‘bitch.'”
“Rajon verbally assaults our daughter. He calls her names like ‘thot, bitch, and d**khead.’ Rajon has made several threats on my life, saying at various times he will shoot me or shoot up my car.”
Ashley Bachelor was granted protection for herself and her two children by a local judge.
49-year-old Stephen Walter, one of the men who sold Mac Miller the pills that caused the rapper’s fatal overdose in 2019, has been sentenced to 17 and a half years in prison after he pled guilty last year to the distribution of fentanyl.
He was handed the sentence by U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright, II, on Monday May 16.
Prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence Walter to 204 months in prison since he initially took the plea deal.
However, since Walter was still dealing even after he took that plea in 2021, the judge gave him the extra six months at the sentencing.
According to Rolling Stone, Walter addressed the court on Monday in Los Angeles, saying he was “truly remorseful” for his actions. He said;
“I’m not that type of person who wants to hurt anybody. That’s not me. But on the paperwork where it says that I continued to conduct in that kind of behavior after I knew that there was death, that’s not the truth, your honor.”
He went on to claim that he only directed Ryan Michael Reavis to deliver the pills to Cameron Pettit, whose case is still ongoing and believed Pettit was going to ingest the pills.
Walter added;
“I’m still taking responsibility for everything that happened, but he never told me it was for another person.
“He was experienced is using those pills. I thought it was for him — for personal use. And then he delivered them to McCormick with cocaine and Xanax, or whatever. I was not willing to do that and had no intent to do anything else other than [sell to] Cameron Pettit. And then two days later, when there was an overdose, Cameron never called me and told me about it, that he had anything to do with him. So I had no idea that somebody had passed. If I would have known, I would not have continued that type of behavior.”
Walter is one of three people charged in the death of Miller, born Malcolm James McCormick, who passed away on Sept. 7, 2018 at age 26.
The star was found unconscious inside his Studio City, California home by his personal assistant. When paramedics arrived, they pronounced Miller dead at the scene.
Last month, Reavis was sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison for his role in Miller’s death. Prior to his sentencing, an emotional statement was read out in court from Miller’s mother, Karen Meyers.
It read;
“My life went dark the moment Malcolm left this world. Malcolm was my person, more than a son. We had a bond and kinship that was deep and special and irreplaceable. We spoke nearly every day about everything – his life, plans, music, dreams.
“He would never knowingly take a pill with fentanyl, ever. He wanted to live, and was excited about the future. The hole in my heart will always be there.”
Sean Paul has reacted to the rumours that he had a relationship with Beyoncé after their 2003 hit song ‘Baby Boy’.
When asked by The Daily Beast’s Marlow Stern in a story published Monday, May 16, whether he had hooked up with the Grammy winner, Paul answered, “Nah! I wish I did! She’s beautiful.”
He said he’d been excited when she asked him to work with her, but soon there was gossip the two were together. This was despite the fact she was dating rapper Jay-Z.
“We had to have a speak about it,” said Paul, explaining that their talk came after the first two times they performed the song.
“We had just three performances, and one was at Reggae Sumfest. At the time, we were both on the Rock the Mic Tour. This was 2003,” Sean Paul said.
“She wasn’t on it every day, but she would come on certain dates and do the song [“Crazy in Love] with [Jay-Z]. One day, we left to do the video and then played Sumfest. That was the first time. The second time was in L.A., and a strange thing happened — and I think that’s what started the rumors. Strange things started to happen at the performances, which was weird.”
Sean Paul recalled that the Los Angeles concert didn’t quite go as planned.
He said: “I did my show and then she was performing, and they told me to stick around because we’ll do ‘Baby Boy.’ We do it and I run out there and the crowd goes wild, but after a while it seems like I lost their energy.
“And it’s weird because I was going wild out there. When the song finished, I came backstage and my own band was all pissed off, like ‘Man, that’s fed up. You heard yourself? We couldn’t hear you in the crowd. Your mic was off.’ I was like, ‘How the f did that happen?'”
Then came that third performance in Scotland.
“That’s when we had the talk, because the rumors got really crazy. I landed in Scotland and it was this MTV event, and there were paparazzi everywhere,” Paul said.
“We ended up doing the rehearsal and everything was good, and the performance was going to be where I come up from under the stage, and then we both walk to a big center thing in the middle of the stadium which was surrounded by fire. That all happens, and then it reaches my part — ‘You’re a top, top, girl’ — and the track keeps going, ‘Baby boy, you stay…. Baby boy, you stay…’ just repeating. I was like, ‘What’s going on here!?’ She was pissed and was like ‘I need to speak to you.’ So, we go back and talk and she’s like ‘What’s all these rumors about?’ and I’m like ‘Yo, I’m not saying s,’ and she’s like ‘These rumors f with my career. I just want you to know that.’ I was like ‘They don’t fuck with mine. So, listen: I met Jay before you, and we was friends, so me and him should talk. If he feels a way about that, then we should talk, because it’s not coming from me.'”
Paul was asked if he thought Jay-Z had anything to do with the audio issues.
He replied: “It couldn’t be because he wasn’t even there. But people started to say this s***.
“And there was one more performance we were supposed to do at the VMAs, and she said to me ‘We’re gonna have rehearsal, so look out.’
“The day before the VMAs happens, there’s this press day where you speak to every radio station, and I’m hearing somebody rehearsing ‘Baby Boy.’ So, I’m like ‘What’s going on?’ We went to the label and they were like ‘Yo…they’re not gonna do the song with you.’
“So, I’m sitting there in the crowd with my present wife and Paris Hilton is sitting in front of me. Beyoncé is coming down the stairs singing the song and Paris Hilton turns to me and goes ‘Why aren’t you up there?’ It was embarrassing and weird.”
Sean Paul said he still planned to do ‘Baby Boy’ again.
He recalled: “So, the next day, I was supposed to perform in Washington, D.C., and do the song with her for her father.
“I went there, did my show, and then waited around for a while. And I got pissed off. They were like ‘There are 3,000 influential people waiting out there for you to do it.’ And I was like, ‘There were 50 million people watching the VMAs. I’m not doing it.’ And I left. That was the last time we did the show, and by that time I was saying publicly that there was nothing going on. It fell on me. Nobody was asking them about it. But you know what? It was a big, fat, sexy song.”
Victims of the Buffalo mass shooting who all lost their lives after a gunman attacked a local supermarket have been identified.
An 18-year-old white suspect shot 13 people, 11 of whom are Black, in a racially motivated attack on Saturday, police said.
Ten people, all of whom were Black, were killed in a mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday, in an attack authorities are calling a “racially motivated hate crime.”
The victims included four grocery store employees as well as six customers, several of them regulars at the store, according to the Buffalo Police Department and those who knew them.
Three others were wounded in the shooting, two of whom have been treated and released from the hospital, police said.
Victims of mass shooting in Buffalo identified
A “hero” retired police officer and a 77-year-old community leader are among the 10 victims
Among the lives tragically lost were Ruth Whitfield, 86, who was in Tops Friendly Market after visiting her husband in a nursing home, and Pearl Young, 77, who was described by her loved ones as a woman of faith and a pillar in the community. Young ran a local food pantry for more than 20 years, according to reporter Madison Carr.
Authorities late Sunday identified the victims:
Roberta A. Drury, 32, of Buffalo
Margus D. Morrison, 52, of Buffalo
Andre Mackneil, 53, of Auburn, New York
Aaron Salter, 55, of Lockport, New York
Geraldine Talley, 62, of Buffalo
Celestine Chaney, 65, of Buffalo
Heyward Patterson, 67, of Buffalo
Katherine Massey, 72, of Buffalo
Pearl Young, 77, of Buffalo
Ruth Whitfield, 86, of Buffalo
Zaire Goodman, 20, of Buffalo, was treated and released from hospital
Jennifer Warrington, 50, of Tonawanda, New York, was treated and released from hospital
Christopher Braden, 55, of Lackawanna, New York, had non-life-threatening injuries
Jake Daniels has become the first active British male footballer to come out publicly as gay since Justin Fashanu.
Jake,17 plays for Blackpool FC and he says he hopes that his decision to go public about his sexuality will encourage others to do same.
“Now is the right time to do it. I feel like I am ready to tell people my story. I want people to know the real me,” Daniels told Sky Sports News.
“I have been thinking for a long time about how I want to do it, when I want to do it. I know now is the time. I am ready to be myself, be free and be confident with it all.
“I can’t really put a date on it, but I was probably five or six years old when I knew I was gay. So it’s been a long time that I have been living with the lie.
“At that age you don’t really think that football and being gay doesn’t mix. You just think, one day, when I’m older I’ll get a girlfriend and I will change and it will be fine.
“But as you get older you realise you can’t just change. It doesn’t work like that.”
Daniels last season scored 30 goals for the under-19 team of Blackpool FC and scored against Chelsea and Newcastle in the FA Youth Cup.
He made his senior debut as a substitute in a 5-0 defeat at Peterborough on the final day of the Championship season.
“For a long time I’ve thought I would have to hide my truth because I wanted to be, and now I am, a professional footballer,” Daniels added.
“I asked myself if I should wait until I’ve retired to come out. No other player in the professional game here is out.
“However, I knew that would lead to a long time of lying and not being able to be myself or lead the life that I want to.”
“Since I’ve come out to my family, my club and my team-mates, that period of overthinking everything and the stress it created has gone. It was impacting my mental heath. Now I am just confident and happy to be myself finally,” he said.
“I first told my mum and my sister, who I live with. ‘Yeah, we already knew,’ was how they reacted.
“Then we told my whole family and at this point I was quite scared because I didn’t know how the older generation might react.
“I needn’t have worried. I’ve had so many messages saying, ‘we are proud and we are supportive.’ It’s been amazing. I couldn’t have wished for it to go better.
“The day after I told my mum and sister, we played Accrington [in an under-18s fixture] and I scored four goals, so it just shows how much of a weight off the shoulders and what a massive relief it was.”
In a statement the club said: “Blackpool Football Club has worked closely with Stonewall and the relevant footballing organisations to support Jake and is incredibly proud that he has reached a stage where he is empowered to express himself both on-and-off the pitch.
“It is vital that we all promote an environment where people feel comfortable to be themselves, and that football leads the way in removing any form of discrimination and prejudice.”
The Professional Footballers’ Association also celebrated Daniels’ bravery.
They said: “We are extremely proud of Jake and have been working with him and his club. He has the complete support of everyone at the PFA.”
PRESIDENT HICHILEMA EXCITED ABOUT FIRST EVER EU – ZAMBIA ECONOMIC FORUM- STATE HOUSE
President Hichilema is excited and looking forward to the first ever European Union – Zambia Economic Forum, which is scheduled to take place at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre from tomorrow, 17th May – 19th May 2022.
The forum is aimed to serve as a platform of trade and investment collaboration, linking and bringing together a wide range of investors, exporters, entrepreneurs, experts, financial institutions, innovators and policy decision-makers from Zambia, as well as from the European Union and its 27 Member States.
The President is confident that this interaction between Zambia and the EU will energize private sector investments and business opportunities that foster inclusive economic growth, and create jobs for citizens in line with the new administration’s Eighth National Development Plan (2022-2026), through exploring sustainable value chains, products and services within the green economy for both Zambia and the EU.
The Head of State is optimistic, that the Forum will create a platform for business networking among investors as they explore the unending abundance of trade and investment opportunities available in Zamba across key sectors such as mining, agriculture, energy and tourism among several.
The Forum is envisaged to open up conversation channels around how private investors can interact with government and government agencies for purposes of unlocking Zambia’s trade and investment potential into tangible opportunities for the creation of jobs and wealth for citizens of both the EU and Zambia.
Meanwhile, President Hichilema will continue to emphasize that Zambia is back and open for business, and that the thrust of the new administration is to provide an investment environment that is underpinned by the utmost transparency, consistency of business policy, an intolerance to corruption and political interference – both of which tend to disrupt the business environment.
And Chief Marketing Officer of the country, President Hichilema will be relentless in his quest to pursue constructive collaborations between Zambia and other economic blocks, as well as partnering with the private sector – both here at home and abroad, for purposes of expanding social and economic opportunities for the people of Zambia, including leveraging increased trade and investment platforms to deliver expanded access to food and other basic necessaries for all our citizens.
Issued: Anthony Bwalya Presidential Spokesperson. 16 May 2022
FRED M’membe is a bitter man but he should direct his bitterness to Edgar Lungu and not HH, says NDC member of the central committee Paul Sensele.
Sensele, a former Livingstone district commissioner under the Michael Sata administration, said on May 6 the Socialist Party president was quoted in The Mast attacking the UPND as being a reactionary puppet regime.
“M’membe even suggested the UPND will be more corrupt than the regime of Edgar Lungu. Today (Saturday May 14), he says the UPND should not turn into parrots, parroting things they do not understand just to win acceptability by the Americans. My elder brother, in my own view, is suffering from bitterness, a disease that may not be curable,” he charged. “He is championing the views of socialist countries who have an issue with America. He should not draw Zambia into this bitterness between socialist countries and the US. My appeal to him is to turn his bitterness against Lungu and the PF, not HH. M’membe is becoming a parrot himself and not HH.”
Sensele said Dr M’membe being a lawyer should know that each administration has a choice of which country to closely work with just like the PF did with China.
He said Dr M’membe risked making himself irrelevant in 2026.
“We know that he wants to keep the heat burning for the SP. But I fear that he is driving himself into being irrelevant by the time we get to 2026. He, during the days of The Post, fought for media freedom, human, social and economic freedoms. He was a pro-poor journalist guru. The socialists have made him pretend he is a poor man,” Sensele said. “Abapina (the poor) don’t drive expensive vehicles like a Hummer. I challenge him to sell his Hummer and build a clinic in Mongu.”
Sensele said Dr M’membe should thank President Hichilema for the freedoms he has brought back to Zambians.
“M’membe is himself a beneficiary of President Hichilema’s leadership of not abusing power to shut down the media. He should thank the UPND because I remember that in 2016 HH did promise to re-open The Post but PF rigged its way into power and [Post provisional liquidator Lewis] Mosho was a free soul over the fate of the paper. At that time all assets were still intact but alas it is now a shell and ex-workers continue to die while M’membe dines and wines with rich socialist leaders who have no regard for human rights,” said Sensele. “My brother, use your legal knowledge and energies to ensure that your former workers at The Post get their dues. I for one would be happy if you can secure their salaries backdated to 2016 when Lungu closed the paper paid to them. Money is there and the thieves in PF have it, you know it. So, help HH get that money and ask him to use part of it to pay Post workers.”
Speaking when he met visiting US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and Environment Jose W Fernandez at State House on Thursday, President Hakainde Hichilema said the new dawn government is not trying to change the country’s values by aligning them with American values.
“Zambia is a democratic country. It is a country anchored on the rule of law. It is a country that respects human rights, liberties and freedoms. This new government will do its best to ensure that the country continues to advance democratic values. Values that we share with yourselves. Sometimes the media have somehow misinterpreted this statement to mean that the new dawn government is going to change, alter Zambian values so as to align with the American values,” said President Hichilema. “That is not the point. We are not altering our values. These are our values. And by choice as a country, we chose to run ourselves on a platform of democracy. Also it is our African values to respect each other, to respect other people of course in return to get respect. To also get respect in an orderly manner. So we are not altering our values to align with the American values. These are our values. They happen to be shared with the Americans as well. So I’m very happy that we share these values and I think that these values will largely help us keep ourselves in order, as the world is confronted with a lot of challenges.” But Dr M’membe said American values “are not our values” adding that political ideas are worthless if they are not inspired by noble and selfless sentiments.
“It is important to understand the core or real values and assumptions of the people we are dealing with. Values are ideas about what is right and wrong, desirable and undesirable, normal and abnormal, proper and improper. Assumptions are the unquestioned standards about people, life, and ‘the way things are’. People who grow up in a particular culture share certain values and assumptions. This means that most of them, most of the time, agree with each others’ ideas about what is right and wrong, desirable and undesirable. They also agree, mostly, with each other’s assumptions about human nature, social relationships. The values and assumptions of a culture shape the way people act. Understanding these values and assumptions help us understand why people from a certain society behave the way they do. In life it is always very important to be clear about things,” he said. “The most important thing to understand about Americans is probably their devotion to ‘individualism’. This is their main value, the value on which all their other values – greed, unbridled competition and consumerism – are anchored. They have been trained from early in their lives to consider themselves separate individuals who are responsible for their own situations in life and their own destinies. They have not been trained to see themselves as members of a close-knit, tightly interdependent family, religious group, tribe, nation, or other group. And all their values are subsets of individualism or are there to serve and reinforce it.” Dr M’membe said the most important value for the Socialist Party is equity, and not individualism as it is for the Americans and “their puppets”.
He said Zambians would thrive best in a decent community of people with principles, standards, common aims and values. “All our other values are subsets of ‘equity’ to serve or reinforce it. Individualism is certainly not our core value. Our traditional society, culture and religious beliefs are not anchored on individualism but on Ubuntu, equity,” noted Dr M’membe. “In this respect, the American values are not our values. Our leaders shouldn’t turn themselves into parrots parroting things they don’t even understand just to win acceptability by the Americans. Political ideas are worthless if they are not inspired by noble, selfless sentiments. Likewise, noble sentiments are worthless if they are not based on correct and fair ideas. For us, we have chosen to defend certain principles that are of tremendous value at a time of confusion and opportunism in our country and in the world. A time when many politicians are feathering their own nests, are struggling for recognition by the imperialists. We will never be hired or hire ourselves out to be lackeys or puppets of imperialism. We are striving to build a new society anchored on the values of equity, honesty, humility and solidarity. You do not suffer just because you are getting fewer calories than required. There is another sort of suffering; social inequality, which makes you feel constantly debased and humiliated as a second-class citizen in your own country.”
ABOUT FTJ UNIVERSITY $33M PAYMENT. Lost or Held up?
by Miles B. Sampa, MP APNAC Chairperson
May 16th, 2022
Under our Constitution, the Secretary to Treasury (ST) and the Minister of Finance are only two offices with power to authorize payments (contracts) on behalf of Zambia. Nothing can ever be paid outside Zambia without their signatures. Even in the contraction of debt or borrowing abroad on behalf of Zambia, it’s only the two signatures that have the authority to. If it’s the Finance Minister, he is actually a one man shareholder for a ‘company’ called Zambia.
All other Ministers don’t have funds commitment or payment authoriation rights. If it’s a deputy Minister then like I was (2011-2016), we were just Kapyopyos (toddlers in the scheme of things). We did not even attend Cabinet meetings where Government decisions are made.
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) clients are Ministries that make funding or payments requests. In FTJ University case, it was the Ministry of Higher Education that was the project owner. MOF technocrats would then have had to tick the following checklist before remitting funds;
1. Does this payment instruction have a Cabinet decision (minutes would be attached to the payment request)? 2. Has the Contract been signed off by the Permanent Secretary ( PS) of Higher Education? 3. Has the Attorney General (AG) and as required by the Constitution approved and signed off the project implementation or payment?
The FOREX payment request would then be tabled in a meeting of MOF PSs ( usually 3 ), the Secretary to Tressury (ST) and the Minister of Finance. If all checks satisfies majority, payment is agreed and processed. This entire process from sponsoring Ministry to Cabinet approval to internal MOF Ministry approval can take atleast 2 months.
In the period leading to and during the payment of the $33M offshore for the FTJ university, the Finance Ministers were Hon Felix Mutati (2016-2018) who then handed over to Hon Margaret Mwanakatwe(2018-2019) about a week before the first tranche of payment was made. Dr Bwalya Ngandu (2019-2021)was the Finance Minister in the period most huge capital projects were frozen.
The ST and Attorney General (AG) in the period 2016 to 2021 were Fred Yamba and Likando Kalaluka respectively while Mr Mukuli Chikuba was (and still is) at MOF as the Permanent Secretary (PS).
Meantime MOF has no SWIFT computers as it is not a Bank. It’s the Bank of Zambia (BOZ) that would have to send that payment outside Zambia to China, Europe or USA based receiving bank account.
The BOZ also has internal control measures same as for commercial banks. Before funds can be sent out on behalf of their client MOF and Zambia, BOZ big wigs would need to append their signatures. Typically these would be director of Banking, deputy Governor operations and the Governor. During the $33M payment periods the Governor was (and current) Dr Denny Kalyalya and the current deputy Governor Dr Francis Chipimo was one of the directors.
From the project sponsoring Ministry of Higher Education, to Cabinet office (State House), MOF and BOZ, records or paper trail are kept so as for internal and external Auditors to come and validate.
In short, this wahala about the FTJ university can easily be traced with actual signatures of authorisation made at any one of those institutions mentioned above. Money paid by Government abroad can never be hidden or unexplained as paper and electronic records or trail remain intact for atleast 10 years both within and outside Zambia where that transaction touched.
The people who signed or authorized payments vouchers are known as indicated above and should care to tell the public what convinced them to put their pen to paper for the funds transfer. From debates I have read on the payment thus far, my prayer is that the money was sent to the Exim Bank of China because then funds are still held up in some escrow account awaiting counter party funding from the Zambian Government.
If funds were sent to the contractor directly, then there may be reason to worry. The contractor needs to be located via the Chinese embassy so they explain where funds are or what it was spent on.
I and like every Zambian wants to know the truth around this transaction. Reconciliation and Accountability of public funds in the past, today and tomorrow is part and parcel of good governance wanted by all of us Zambians.
ACTING PF president Given Lubinda says the UPND government is desperately attempting to label the former ruling party as a corrupt one to raise public anger and discord against it.
He notes that life has become unbearable by the day, “due to the incompetence and failure of President Hichilema and his government to deal with the depressing economic challenges affecting Zambians”.
And Lubinda says the comment by technology minister Felix Mutati has vindicated PF in the FTJ University saga.
On Friday, Mutati said payments for the FTJ University were made after he was moved from the Ministry of Finance to then ministry of works and supply.
The PF had called on Mutati to explain the FTJ University saga and how finances were released since he was finance minister then.
But Mutati published a letter showing that he was demoted from finance to works and supply.
He said all those payments were made after he had left the Ministry of Finance.
“It has come to my attention via various sections of the media that there is a story surrounding FTJ University funding and that I should explain my role then. On February 14, 2018 – I was demoted as Minister of Finance and sent to the Ministry of Works and Supply. On 28th February, 2018 the first payment for FTJ University of US Dollars 8,888,421.63 was made to China Energy Engineering Group. You will notice from the above that the first payment was made following my removal,” explained Mutati. “Subsequent payments made on FTJ Project were as follows; 20th March, 2018, 8,000,000.00. Second, 20th April, 2018, 8,000,000.00 and lastly, 1st June, 2018, 8,861,578.37. This brings the total payments to China Energy Group for FTJ Project to USD 33,750,000.00. I trust that this clarifies the payment transactions on the FTJ project.”
In his immediate reaction, Lubinda said the PF was happy that Mutati had full knowledge of the $33 million transaction regarding the much talked about FTJ University.
He however insisted that all those who wanted to know what happened to the $33 million should not point fingers at the PF but ask Mutati because he is the one with all the information as indicated in his formal response.
“Mr Mutati in his official response to our query has indicated the company that was paid, the amounts that were paid including the dates when the money was paid. This is exactly what we have been saying that it is malicious for Charles Milupi to be accusing the Patriotic Front or any member of the Patriotic Front of impropriety in the matter of the FTJ University when in fact he is fully aware that Felix Mutati was minister of finance at the time,” said Lubinda. “He has all the information regarding who was paid, what was paid and when it was paid. So, Milupi and all those who want to know what happened to the $33 million should not point fingers at the PF but ask Felix Mutati because he is the one who has all the information as indicated in his formal response. Unfortunately for them, no amount of malice, lies and propaganda against PF and its leadership will save President Hakainde Sammy Hichilema and his UPND from the anger and frustration of the Zambians whose lives are becoming unbearable by the day due to the incompetence and failure of President Hichilema and his government to deal with the depressing economic challenges affecting Zambians.”
I’m still wondering as to why some cases of our beloved citizens are not carefully followed up by the government. Because if the government takes keen interest in some of these cases, some characters will stop making alot of noise. It was these characters’ noise that created some if not all of these cases.
We still remember how the two citizens were gunned down a few years ago for an alleged farm issue. The people who started this campaign that facilitated for the loss of lives are back with their style of living and we are ok with that.
Prior to the death of those two citizens at force headquarters we had two ministers by then who threatened to kill any body who would be around those premises and it came to pass. The government needs to watch such characters that include Tayali Chilufya. Again when UNZA student Vespers Shimunzila, was killed by the former regime, Mr Tayali, behaved in a similar way of justifying the death and even suggesting the victims being recruited by the UPND. These characters are very provocative and their actions affects even ordinary Zambians not in politics.
If the government calls it democracy, one day these guys will cause a regrettable trouble in the nation.The likes of Sean Tembo also who find it ok to refer to others as “dogs” is one other issue that can’t be mistakenly to be free speech. The warning signs of genocide is to hear people start likening each other to animals.
My interest is to know how the deaths of those two citizens at force headquarters isolates Tayali, Nawakwi, the two ministers in the Frontline by then who assured us of the outcome of the same event. That was a premeditated murder just to send shivers in the opposition political parties. Tayali was part of the conspiracy.
You people who investigate these cases, do you ignore the route cause of someone’s actions? Let us say, Sikaile is moving in the streets and Romeo Kang’ombe, calls on a mob to say Sikaile is a thief and has stolen, then a mob descends on Sikaile and unfortunately he dies, will Kang’ombe not be liable to my death or is it just the mob we shall concentrate on? In Murder cases recklessness and negligence can substitute as mortive.
We wait to hear from key government representatives like the chief spokesperson on some of these critical issues that are not followed up accordingly. The freedom in the country has been given to wrong characters.
When we talk of democracy it doesn’t mean insulting those you don’t agree with instead providing tangible checks and balances. If you recall again some of these very characters they also told us that they know it was the UPND leader by then HH who was behind gassing. Why is the UPND failing to take keen interest today in such allegations I don’t know. We want to know what role Tayali played in the incident at force headquarters that led to the loss of innocent lives. It is ignoring of such issues that has made him comfortable with utterances of hate words.
Zambia is a multiparty democracy where every stakeholder has got something to contribute to our democratic credentials. On paper, we have over 40 registered political parties. However, there are less than five relevant ones that Zambians can look up to for providing checks and balances, and even form the next government. This is why any disintegration of a big political party such as the Patriotic Front (PF) should be a big source of worry for every citizen.
This country has a history of not returning former ruling parties at any general election; even if there is a clear revolution. Zambians have never gone into their political archives to unearth a political party like Malawi did two years ago. Instead, they have always faced forward – looking for new political parties. It seems they never want to be reminded of past bad memories of any former ruling party. This is the trend that has seen two former ruling parties so far confined to the political dustbin in the likes of UNIP and MMD. And now we have the PF which lost power last year and is gossiping for a surprise comeback; seeking to rewrite history in our politics. And Eastern Province PF information and publicity secretary William Phiri says the former ruling party should consider postponing the convention and concentrate on strengthening membership. Phiri warns that the rebranding process will injure or destroy the already fatigued and worn-out general membership.
“The loss indeed was painful, which somehow destabilised the party, especially the lower organs. The much talked about rebranding of the once mighty Patriot Front party has left many with mixed feelings when it comes to certain names that have been included in the central committee, the highest organ of the party in charge of making decisions. The rebranding process will injure or destroy the already fatigued and worn-out general members if not handled with care and consideration. In short, it is too premature to go to the convention at this stage. The party needs to deal with all the power-hungry elements or power struggles within the party,” said Phiri. “The different factions that have so far emerged may cause mayhem at the convention and later paralyse the entire party. We don’t want to go that route. We must analyse critically what president Nason Msoni has advised the PF. It is myopic for the party to ignore such advice. The party cannot afford to elect some leaders into sensitive positions when they are facing very serious allegations of corruption. Otherwise the rebranding won’t have any meaning at all. Worse still, the Zambian people won’t take us seriously anymore and the tag of ‘PF party of thieves won’t be easily erased’. The party should seriously consider postponing the convention. Let’s concentrate on strengthening the abandoned lower structures and help revive the morale. The structures may be intact but if leaders are not pushing the agenda of unity and hard work, then let’s forget about returning power in 2026. The power struggle in the party is very worrisome.”
William has brought out very serious concerns here which the PF leadership should ponder on critically. It is true that right now there are several groups in the PF with vested interests. This has not started today. It was there even when the party was in power. And it should not be blamed on Edgar Lungu. Shadow boxing and otherwise emanates from the party’s founding president Michael Sata. Michael managed this party using a divide and rule system, which resulted in the purging of some loyal members based on pure gossip from others. We all remember how Wynter Kabimba was hounded out after PF members staged mock funeral processions about Wynter, sponsored by Michael himself. Opportunists found their way into the party’s inner circle. Edgar just amplified on this.
This is the legacy that PF has carried on for the 21 years it has existed. And the leadership should look back and see what has made them disintegrate in this manner. William is calling for the postponement of the PF convention, but we do not agree with his view. We think that holding the PF convention quickly with a totally new leadership will help the party survive and live a little longer. Further, the party should avail its postmortem report to the general membership. This is the best way of dealing with the past mistakes and confronting the future.
There is no honour in hiding the findings of this postmortem. If PF leaders continue hiding the findings then they will never know what exactly caused their downfall – they risk finishing quickly even before the 2026 elections.
Amilcar Cabral advised that, “We should recognise as a matter of conscience that there have been many faults and errors in our action whether political or military: an important number of things we should have done we have not done at the right times, or not done at all.”
On false confidence and deception, he warned that, “We must practice revolutionary democracy in every aspect of our Party life. Every responsible member must have the courage of his responsibilities, exacting from others a proper respect for his work and properly respecting the work of others. Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories.”
It is not healthy for PF leaders to behave like ostriches by burying their heads in the sand. Problems in the party are real, and they continue to multiply, especially that the PF is no longer in power. How can certain names pop up as presidential candidates even when they know the mess they caused prior to the August 12 elections? This is what is called courage of a cockroach. In a normal organisation, such leaders should have stayed away from leadership aspirations.
For the sake of democracy, Zambians would like PF to exist and provide checks and balances to the UPND. However, the key is in the hands of PF members and the entire leadership. If they want to exist for the next 10 years, it is up to them to decide. This will certainly depend on how they conduct their national convention. This exercise will either keep the PF afloat or bury them. If it buries them, their entire leadership should bear the blame, not anyone else. The PF problem cannot be postponed!
IT IS my honour and privilege to be part of this year’s Investing in African Mining Indaba. This year’s theme, “African mining: Investing in the energy transition, environmental, social and governance and economies”, could not have come at a more opportune time.
The energy transition and unprecedented technological advancements are anchored by mineral resources, among others. Your excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, as we all know, the mining sector remains critical to the sustainable development of the African continent.
Our continent is blessed with vast mineral resources that are key drivers of the development agenda of most of our countries.
As such, this calls for deliberate efforts on the part of African leaders and their partners to ensure sustainable development and management of mineral resources.
These efforts include building down-stream linkages aimed at promoting value addition and manufacturing, as well as up-stream linkages into mining capital goods, consumables and services industries.
The development of supporting infrastructure including:
Power,
Logistics and transport,
Communications,
Significant investment in research, technology and development, among others, also remains critical.
Our continent is endowed with vast mineral resources that largely remain undiscovered and unexploited.
We also have immense potential in the artisanal and small-scale sub-sector. Aggressive investment into exploration will unlock the undiscovered mineral resources and create enormous socio-economic impact that will not only lift many of our people out of poverty but create new wealth and prosperity.
We have an opportunity to actualise “Agenda 2063: The Africa we want”, which is anchored on harnessing the continent’s endowments embodied in people and natural resources.
We are, however, cognisant of the threats that stand in the way of us actualising our aspirations.
Civil strife, conflict and instability have characterised a number of mineral-rich areas of our continent. We must endeavour to foster peace and stability across the continent because conflict impedes investment and the prospect of social and economic growth that we all desire.
I, therefore, wish to underscore Zambia’s support to all efforts aimed at resolving the ongoing conflicts on our continent. We often stress the point that instability anywhere is a threat to stability everywhere.
Your excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, I wish to share with you our vision of “a new dawn for Zambia’s mining sector”.
Since coming into office in August 2021, our government has been determined and focused on efforts to revive the Zambian economy. Our economy is anchored by the mining sector, which, historically, has been a major contributor to our development.
We undoubtedly believe in its potential to be an even greater contributor to our economy as we welcome active and pragmatic collaboration with mining industry players.
We are committed to building a resilient and sustainable mining industry anchored on environmental, social and governance standards and best practice.
Our determination towards industrialisation, job creation and an increased fiscal envelope, sees the mining industry as a core factor to achieving these objectives.
This, indeed, is why we are here. We are open for business and we are open to engage and partner with you. As many of you are aware, Zambia is a key player in the global copper mining industry and is home to vast reserves of copper and cobalt.
We are addressing factors that constrain investment and putting in place factors that catalyse it.
Our investment environment will undoubtedly be:
Transparent,
Consistent,
Predictable,
Fair,
Intolerant of corruption.
Momentum is building towards increased mineral production as new mining operations are being established and existing mines are expanding and ramping up production.
We are building strategic partnerships that will help position Zambia for future prosperity.
Just last month, we signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to facilitate the development of value chains in the electric battery and clean energy sector.
Together we will change the narrative that Africa is only a source of raw materials and establish our nations as leading players in the era of electric vehicles and other green innovations.
Your excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, copper is critical in the green energy transition and there is an ever-increasing demand for it. Continued tomorrow
Fast food retail giant, McDonald’s has announced it will permanently leave Russia after 30 years.
In March McDonald’s said it was temporarily closing its roughly 850 restaurants in the country as part of the economic fallout following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Chicago-based company, owns 84% of its stores in Russia, and has said that its restaurants there and in Ukraine contributed 9% of its annual revenue, or around $2bn (£1.6bn).
As part of the exit, the company expects to record a non-cash charge of between $1.2bn (£980m) and $1.4bn.
“The humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, and the precipitating unpredictable operating environment, have led McDonald’s to conclude that continued ownership of the business in Russia is no longer tenable,” McDonald’s said on Monday, May 16.
According to the company it has started to sell its restaurants there and made the decision because of the “humanitarian crisis” and “unpredictable operating environment” caused by the Ukraine war.
McDonald’s plans to sell its business, which employs 62,000 people and includes 850 restaurants (including those run by franchisees), to a local buyer.
It will “de-arch” those restaurants, meaning they will no longer use the McDonald’s name, logo or branding. McDonald’s said in a statement that its “priorities include seeking to ensure the employees of McDonald’s in Russia continue to be paid until the close of any transaction and that employees have future employment with any potential buyer.” It will retain its trademarks in Russia.
The company said owning business in Russia was “no longer tenable” or consistent with its values.
“This is a complicated issue that’s without precedent and with profound consequences,” Chris Kempczinski, the chief executive of McDonald’s, wrote in a message to franchises, employees and suppliers that was obtained by The New York Times.
He added: “Some might argue that providing access to food and continuing to employ tens of thousands of ordinary citizens is surely the right thing to do. But it is impossible to ignore the humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. And it is impossible to imagine the Golden Arches representing the same hope and promise that led us to enter the Russian market 32 years ago.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday May 14, 2022, sent warning to his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto that relations between the two neighbors could be “negatively affected” if Finland follows through with plans to apply for NATO membership.
The Kremlin’s press service said in a statement that Putin told Sauli Niinisto Finland’s abandonment “of its traditional policy of military neutrality as it would be an error since there are no threats to Finland’s security.”
“Such a change in the country’s foreign policy could negatively affect Russian-Finnish relations, which had been built in the spirit of good neighborliness and partnership for many years, and were mutually beneficial,” the statement added.
The response came after Niinisto told Putin in a phone conversation that the militarily non-aligned Nordic country, which has a complex history with its huge eastern neighbor, will decide to apply for NATO membership in the coming days.
Niinisto’s office said in a statement that the Finnish head of state told Putin how starkly Finland’s security environment had changed after Moscow’s February, 24, 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and pointed to Russia’s demands for Finland to refrain from seeking membership of the 30-nation Western military alliance.
“The discussion with Putin was straightforward and unambiguous and was held without exaggeration. Avoiding tensions was considered important,” said Niinisto, Finland’s president since 2012 and one of a handful of Western leaders who has been in regular dialogue with Putin over the past decade.
Niinisto pointed out that he had already told Putin at their first meeting in 2012 that each independent nation would maximize its own security.
“That is still the case. By joining NATO, Finland will strengthen its own security and assume its responsibilities,” Niinisto said.
Niinisto stressed that Finland, despite its likely future membership in NATO, wants to continue to deal with Russia bilaterally in practical issues generated by the border neighborhood and hopes to engage with Moscow in a professional manner.
According to the Kremlin statement, the two leaders also discussed Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, and the possibility of achieving a political solution.
Putin said negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv had been suspended due to Ukraine’s lack of interest in a serious and constructive dialogue.
The phone call was conducted on Finland’s initiative, Niinisto’s office said.
Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia, the longest by any European Union member.
Niinisto and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Thursday 12, 2022 jointly endorsed their country’s NATO bid and recommended that Finland must apply for NATO membership without delay to guarantee its security.
A formal announcement from Niinisto and Marin of Finland’s intention to apply for NATO membership is expected on Sunday May 15,2022.
Marin’s governing Social Democratic Party approved the membership bid on Saturday May 14, 2022, paving way for a parliamentary vote next week to endorse the move.
It is expected to pass with overwhelming support. A formal membership application would then be submitted to NATO headquarters in Brussels.
Neighboring Sweden was set to decide on its NATO stance on Sunday May 15, 2022 at a meeting of the governing Social Democratic Party led by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.
One possible hurdle to Finland and Sweden joining the alliance came from NATO member Turkey, whose president said Friday he was “not favorable” to the idea.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan cited support in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries for Kurdish militants — whom Turkey considers to be terrorists.
Finland’s Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said Saturday that he had already called his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, “to take the tensions down.”
“I’m sure that we will find a solution to this item as well,” he told reporters at the start of an informal NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Berlin late Saturday.
U.S. President Joe Biden held a joint call on Friday 13, 2022,with both Niinisto and Andersson where, according to a White House statement, he underscored his support for NATO’s Open Door policy and for the right of Finland and Sweden to decide their own future, foreign policy and security arrangements.
Zimbabwe has denied harbouring the Rwandan genocide fugitive Protais Mpiranya after it emerged that he died in 2006 and was buried in the country after living there for four years.
The 20-year manhunt for one of the world’s most brutal killers came to a decisive end in an overgrown cemetery outside Harare, but Zimbabwean authorities say they did not conceal his whereabouts.
“As a law-abiding nation, Zimbabwe will never harbour criminals and welcomes findings from the DNA samples extracted from the fugitive,” foreign affairs minister, Frederick Shava, said in a statement on Sunday.
He added that the government of Zimbabwe cooperated with UN investigators into Mpiranya’s case.
“The government of Zimbabwe wishes to clarify some recent media reports that are circulating insinuating that the government was harbouring the most wanted Rwandese fugitive, Protais Mpiranya, whose remains were allegedly found in Zimbabwe under the alias Ndume Sambao,” the statement read.
The body of Mpiranya, a former commander of the Rwandan presidential guard indicted for genocide, lay buried under a stone slab bearing a false name, which UN investigators tracked down and identified with the help of a lead found on a confiscated computer – the hand-drawn design for Mpiranya’s tombstone.
His remains were exhumed last month at the request of UN investigators, and his identity was confirmed by DNA analysis on Tuesday.
Zimbabwean authorities insist that they cooperated with the investigation by the organisation charged with tracking down fugitive criminals, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), adding that Zimbabwe joined a taskforce to coordinate the inquiry.
“From day one, Zimbabwe cooperated fully with the investigation team,” the statement read. “The Zimbabwean authorities have consistently cooperated and adhered to the country’s international legal obligations.”
Authorities in Harare said they were involved in the exhumation of Mpiranya’s remains and authorised DNA samples to confirm his identity.
However, the government’s claim will raise some eyebrows among those who have followed the search. Investigators have long suspected the fugitive of hiding in Zimbabwe and have made repeated attempts to persuade local authorities to hand over Mpiranya, investigate his activities or provide evidence of his death.
As early as December 2010, investigators reported to the UN security council that Mpiranya had connections with Zimbabwe and had lived there for long periods.
In 2012, under pressure from Kigali, Zimbabwean authorities admitted that the fugitive could be on their territory and pledged to find him “dead or alive”. The question of his presence in Zimbabwe was discussed in parliament, and local media listed possible aliases and addresses associated with him.
Officials from the IRMCT travelled to Zimbabwe months after President Robert Mugabe was forced from power in November 2017 in the hope that the new government would prove more helpful.
However, in 2020, Serge Brammertz, prosecutor of the IRMCT, told the security council that despite credible evidence of the whereabouts of key fugitives, the lack of cooperation from governments remained a challenge, particularly in east and southern Africa.
According to the IRMCT, Mpiranya fled to Zimbabwe in 2002, where his entry was facilitated by local officials. He then brought associates and family to Zimbabwe, along with a series of “trusted subordinates”.
For four years, Mpiranya was able to avoid arrest in Zimbabwe, where he resided in an affluent area of Harare, and “continued his engagement with Zimbabwean military officials” while also receiving a series of visitors from overseas.
PF CLIQUE OF THIEVES SHOULD KEEP QUIET AND BE SHAMEFUL
The people of Zambia are offended by tactics of PF leadership calculated to divert their attention to the party misrule and plunder of the treasury by crying victim in the ongoing corruption crusade. The people’s displeasure against the PF is justified given the depth of thieving that took place under its administration. The UPND government will not betray the Zambians in ensuring full recovery of resources stolen from them. It is evidently clear to all that the present mulfunctining of the economy is as a result of wide spread embezzlement of public funds leading to shortages of essential services such as drugs in hospitals. The scandal of FTJ Chiluba University is testimony of the looting allowed under PF
We have noted shameful and disgraceful attempts by some PF leaders trying to defend the defrauding of citizens, especially our citizens in Luapula Province, over the abandoned FTJ University project.
Instead of being remorseful, apologise, and keep quiet in shame, they are still mocking citizens with explanations such as the buildings were there, but they don’t know where they have gone.
The UPND government has so far introduced a free education policy from grade one to twelve and is recruiting an unprecedented number of teachers from across the country.
This free education policy would have sat very well had the FTJ University been completed by now as more trainers and learners would have been absorbed in the education system in the Province without looking elsewhere.
But shameful, the likes of Nickson Chilangwa and other PF leaders who were elected from that part of the country to supervise development projects that side are today the ones defending the daylight robbery of resources meant for the university.
And these are the people who today can move around the country without shame and claim being victimised while urging the New Dawn government to ignore the past and just move on as if nothing happened.
Zambians are not foolish people and the earlier the PF realise the anger of the Zambian people against them, the better.
David Chikwanda
Deputy National Youth Information and Publicity Secretary- UPND
The visit to the Chitimukulu by a bunch of shameless tribalists to seek tribal sympathy and solidarity from His Majesty is a dangerous gimmick that has potential to set this nation on fire, and this is the evil aspiration of these tribalists. They want this country to be plunged into tribal wars so that they cover up their crimes.
The Chitimukulu must refuse to be a tool of the PF tribal rebranding exercise. Was Given Lubinda who is the recognised PF President absent because he is not a Northerner? Was Nakachinda the binoculars vuvuzela not included because he is not a subject of the Chitimukulu?
And why did the Chitimukulu use the very occasion and platform to announce scholarships where the recipients are only his subjects? How is the visit by the these shameless politicians connected to the tribal scholarships? What message is being sent that the announcement of tribal scholarships must be made during the visit of tribalists?
Using the same platform, why didn’t the Chitimukulu quiz the tribalists how many scholarships have been criminally squandered due to the massive theft of the funds to build the FTJ University that was going to benefit eligible Zambian regardless of tribe?
Zambians must be on the lookout against this undisguised tribalism and sense of entitlement by a clique of ethnic supremacists who believe they are the only ones that have a right to rule this country. Their combined and spirited visit to a traditional leader to seek endorsement is not only cheap and childish, but it’s a huge risk to national unity.
One of those tribalists has been Zambia’s Ambassador in foreign missions and has seen and experienced first hand how tribalism has set entire nations on fire. He should be ashamed of himself.
I want to say it again, let these criminals rebrand in jail. Let them account for every stolen penny.
These criminals are being arrested, given bail which they never used to give citizens only 8 months ago, then they start being arrogant, mocking HH and his government as though they are untouchables. Zambians want to see serious prosecutions, convictions, recovery of stolen money and assets including the money that was stolen from the FTJ University. It’s a national asset. No sacred cow.
“THE STORY OF HOW PF MESSED UP THE ECONOMY IS BECOMING BORING . GET TO WORK AND PRODUCE RESULTS TO HELP THE SUFFERING CITIZENS,” LILIAN MUTAMBO TELLS NEW DAWN GOVERNMENT
She wrote:
16.05.2022 Time is really flying, around this time last year campaigns were happening.The New Dawn Government then made promises of a better Zambia.. Apart from peace, things are tough and even though some people will say its too early, many Zambians have lost hope in this Government. I have not seen youths use the slogan “Bally will fix it” in a long time….The Youths have been fixed with disappointments and it is the absolute truth….
All we see is people trying to divert our attention from reality to scandals of siezing houses and summoning people…They are buying time, wasting our resourses by being paid to write more speeches…People cannot eat Speeches…
The Youths are Jobless, have no access to Scholarships and remain at home hoping to see the fairy tale “Bally will fix it” come to pass…1 year will be gone whilst foreign nationals eat from the national cake in the name of “Investors” whilst the Youths are being told to form cooperatives. How can they do so when the registration process of a company at PACRA is not free, when printing and binding documents is not free? Salaries are so poor in that their families cannot support them.
All we hear and read about is the boring stories of how PF messed up the economy. The new adminstration is behaving like a person damped by the lover and what they do is share “bad memories”…The PF is their scape goat as they had no proper vision to govern and it is no wonder many in positions are from MMD and even the PF.
Zambians are being treated like teenagers in love where they are supposed to believe in everything not knowing they just want to cover face as they eat quietly….The Ministers, MPs , Councilliors are eating, buying cars, signing deals whilst they say things are bad…Whilst the Praise team is busy singing the Chorus, with no money in their pockets, they are fattening their own pockets. They do not even pick calls.
Whilst their Children go to expensive schools, they tell you education is free but children are sitting on floors. Civil servants like teachers have no proper support and structure and have to manage with the Disorganised and failed system! Many are weeping but have no choice, they cannot speak!
The nation is in a crisis and they aportion the blame on Ukraine- Russia war. The mines we have no say about as others are incharge, the youths on the Copperbelt have lost it, Copperbelt has lost hope, too much disappointments even over Black Mountain, life is tough…
There is no money is circulation, businesses are crumbling down! Payments are on hold..Can we see the Manifesto in manifestation otherwise 2026 may look far but it will be here soon…
… After accusing him of gross misconduct after illegally attempting to suspend his Secretary General.
– In a dramatic turn of events, the opposition United National Independence Party (UNIP) has with immediate effect passed a vote of no confidence on its party president Bishop Trevor Mwamba.
Party Member of the Central Committee who attended the meeting, Andrew Nalumino said in an exclusive interview that the decision to pass a vote of no confidence and subsequence suspension of Bishop Mwamba was arrived at at the second party Central Committee since he become the party president.
Naluminono said the meeting was initially called to ratify the suspension of the secretary-general Mulenga Mwiche from the party that the president had without consulting the central committee instituted. He said Bishop Mwamba decided to suspend the Secretary-general after accusing him of doing things without consulting him as the party president.
He said the action by Bishop Mwamba was found to be violating the constitutional procedure of chairmanship. He said the president erred after he failed to fulfill his obligations when he assumed the role of the chief executive officer of the party to suspend the secretary-general of the party without following the party laid down a procedure that requires that erring members of the party need to be head before matting the punishment. He said the conduct of the party president was in a conflict with the party constitution hence the decision of the Central Committee to suspend him on his own game.
Following the suspension of the president by the Central Committee, Nalumino said the suspension of the Secretary-general was put on hold for want of fair play. He said the president of the party did not give the secretary-general of the party right to behead before deciding to suspend him from the party. He said the president ought to have given the secretary-general right to be heard before the Central Committee before unleashing a punishment on him.
As a result of the suspension of the party president, Bishop Mwamba, the Central Committee has nominated Mike Kaira as acting president of the party until the next central committee meeting decides otherwise. But when contacted for a comment, Bishop Mwamba who acknowledged receipt of his purported suspension letter said his suspension was null and void. Bishop Mwamba said in an exclusive telephone interview that the people that convened the meeting to suspend had no mandate to do so. He said the Central Committee meeting that sat on Saturday passed a resolution endorsing the suspension of Secretary-General Mulenga Mwiche.
He said the suspended Secretary-general shall be allowed to answer the charges brought against him at an ordinary meeting of the Central Committee to be convened in due course.
He claimed that the letter of suspension is not genuine and is concocted by those who what to loot Party Assets in Zambia National Holdings. He said their grievance is that they wanted to discuss Zambia National Holdings directorships of which they want to be – but the Extraordinary Central Committee’s purpose was to deal only with the suspension of the Secretary-General Mulenga Mwiche. And acting president Mike Kaira told journalists at a briefing that the decision to suspend the president was due to his failure to execute his duties as president of the party.
He said Bishop Mwamba has lamentably failed to inspire the party and decided to part company with him He accused the Bishop of having recommended the suspension of the Secretary-general who had written to him about his failure to lead the party.
As a result, the Central Committee decided to pass a vote of no confidence after 33 petitioners of the 44 members of the central that attended the meeting raised a motion to remove him from the party. He said the central committee will then take the matter to the national governing body that will decide whether Bishop Mwamba should continue to lead the party l.
He said on 17 June a central committee will reconvene to discuss the agenda which was abandoned after Bishop Mwamba abruptly ended the meeting yesterday.- Zambia24
Muhanga will be first new dawn technocrat to go to jail – Mung’andu
By Ernest Chanda
CHAMA South PF member of parliament Davison Mung’andu has warned that tourism permanent secretary Evans Muhanga will be the first new dawn government technocrat to go to jail.
On April 29, The Mast published an expose which showed that Muhanga had cancelled tourism hunting concession agreements for 19 hunting blocks which were signed in December 2020.
This was against advice from the Attorney General who also warned of heavy compensation the government could pay successful bidders if they sued.
Several stakeholders condemned Muhanga’s decision, including Lusaka lawyer Sakwiba Sikota, a State Counsel.
Socialist Party president Fred M’membe also said there is no public interest in the cancellation of safari hunting concession agreements by Muhanga.
“Clearly, there’s no ‘public interest’ being pursued here; it’s all about personal interest. They want to corruptly award the concessions to themselves, their friends or associates. We demand that they immediately cancel their cancellation of the awarded tenders and follow the Attorney General’s advice,” said Dr M’membe. “There’s something seriously wrong, questionable or even corrupt with this government’s cancellation of the tender for the granting of safari hunting/ photographic tourism concessions ‘due to public interest’. This cancellation is against the Attorney General’s very well-reasoned legal advice. This government has deliberately ignored the Attorney General’s warning that this cancellation was legally unsustainable. And that it will lead to law suits against the government which will tarnish its image in terms of creating an enabling investment environment and respect of the law.”
When contacted for comment, Muhanga blamed The Mast, accusing the newspaper of being used to push an agenda against him.
…I received your press query, but you’ve been going on writing things that you don’t even confirm. So just continue the way you are doing them. If you respect the office, you will come first of all; you ask. But you go and…For me, The Mast has got its own way of doing things, which is not professional I must tell you,” said Muhanga. “My friend, I’ve been in the media also for quite a long time. So, I know who has an agenda. Who is pushing an agenda. You’ve decided to be used at the expense of national interest. I’m not gonna be dragged into that element. So, you’ve decided not to be professional.”
Adding his voice to the debate, Mung’andu, whose constituency covers part of the South Luangwa National Park, questioned in whose interest Muhanga had made such a decision.
“For me, Mr Muhanga has just presented himself to be the first new dawn technocrat who will be going to jail because that is against the law. He can’t just come and unilaterally cancel hunting concessions that were awarded legally. Why is it that they want to bring politics and promote their own economic or financial interests in this?” he asked. “The people of Chama South will reject that. They need to give a valid reason, otherwise this cancellation smells corruption. Let him tell us if there was corruption in the bidding process, and did it affect the community? They need to give us all these answers, or else we’ll not tolerate it.”
Mung’andu accused Muhanga of pushing an agenda “possibly given to him by interested parties”.
“Clearly, instead of Evans Muhanga accusing The Mast of having an agenda, it is him and those that are giving him instructions who have an agenda against the people where these hunting concessions were signed. That has to be put clearly. That it is actually him and those that he is possibly receiving instructions from,” he said. “Why I say so it is them who have gone against the advice from the Attorney General. It is not The Mast newspaper.”
Mung’andu said people from his constituency have already complained against Muhanga’s decision.
He said people from the area had already contacted him to complain about Muhanga’s decision.
“Then secondly, the CRBs (Community Resource Boards) actually have contacted me to complain. As a member of parliament, I’ll be writing him a letter tomorrow over the same matter. You know, as MPs, we don’t necessarily get involved in all what goes on because the community is well represented at each level,” Mung’andu explained. “All villages they have what they call Village Hunting Groups (VHGs). VHGs submit to what they call Community Resource Boards. And representation of the Community Resource Boards comes from some members of each VHG which is represented. That is how the selection is done. And the selection is done according to the commitment that the bidders have made to the community. On top of that they (bidders) pay levy to the government. They also look at how many things has the bidder pledged to do for the people in the entire community. When you look at the outfitters in my community, they are the highest. One of them was the highest in the country. How then can it (cancellation) be called public interest?”
He explained that with Muhanga’s decision only a few locals would benefit.
Mung’andu said he would write to Muhanga on behalf of his constituents, seeking what he termed satisfactory answers.
“They are also questioning to say they are suggesting that outfitters should partner with indigenous locals. That will mean only a few locals will benefit. The current system which makes these outfitters to make pledges to the community is the best because the entire community benefits. So, for us we will be writing to Mr Muhanga, why he unilaterally cancelled the tenders against the advice from the Attorney General,” he said.
Mung’andu asked Muhanga to prepare himself for possible litigation from winners of the tenders he has cancelled.
“If anything, further, we want to remind Mr Muhanga to prepare himself because we are told that those who were affected, they are likely to go to court; which simply means there will be no hunting. And if there will be no hunting let him quickly employ as many wildlife police officers as possible because many of these areas are manned by villagers,” explained Mung’andu. “So, we are talking about people from the community who have been making a living from this. They have been sending their children to school, they have been able to buy soap and do other activities. Now, they are still waiting. They don’t know what will happen. So, he should also be able to prepare himself. He should also tell us whose interest he’s pushing.”
Last month, Muhanga cancelled safari hunting concession agreements signed in 2020, against the advice of Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha, as the hunting season opened on May 1, 2022.
Instead, he ordered a readvertisement of the same in his memorandum to director of national parks and wildlife in the Ministry of Tourism Dr Chuma Simukonda dated April 22, 2022.
According to the Attorney General’s advice in a letter dated January 5, 2022 addressed to President Hakainde Hichilema on tender No. MTA/SP/001/2020, there was nothing illegal about the tender and that cancelling it would attract law suits against the government.
“Your Excellency, I find it pertinent to make an appointment with you and explain the legal implications relating to the subject matter. Your Excellency, prior to meeting you [I] wish to bring it to your attention through this letter that I received a letter from the Ministry of Tourism and Arts reference No. MTA/54/14/2 dated 15th December, 2021 in which the Ministry was seeking a legal opinion on the cancellation of Hunting Concession Agreements (hereinafter referred to as ‘HCAs’,” Kabesha wrote. “The circumstances that engendered the opinion is attributed to your directive to the Minister and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism to the effect that the execution of the HCAs must be halted and that the negotiated HCAs must be cancelled.”
He cited formalities which prescribe a genuine hunting concession agreement and advised that once they are met then the tender remains legal.
Citing case law, Kabesha advised against cancelling the agreements as that would attract legal suits on government and subsequent loss of income through compensations to the affected parties.
“Your Excellency, once all these formalities are met, the contract or contracts come into being. According to the Procuring Entity all these procedures were met which resulted in the HCAs being approved,” explained Kabesha. “In the case of National Drug Company Limited and Zambia Privatisation Agency v Mary Katongo, the Supreme Court held that: ‘It is trite law that once the parties have voluntarily and freely entered into a legal contract, they become bound to abide by the terms of the contract and that the role of the court is to give efficacy to the contract when one party has breached it by respecting, upholding and enforcing the contract.’ In view of the cited case and in the absence of cogent evidence of infringement of section 69 (1), it becomes legally unsustainable to terminate the HCAs. Any attempt to effect will undoubtedly lead to law suits against Government which is striving to resuscitate the economy of the country and at the same time creating an enabling environment for investment and respect of the law. I humbly render my advice.”
Specifically, the affected hunting concession agreements include the following:
Musungwa and Shezongo Community Resources Board and JVZ Safaris Limited, relating to safari hunting rights in Nkala Hunting Block in Nkala game management area.
Nabwalya Community Resources Board and Kuwama Safaris Limited, relating to Safari hunting rights in Nabwalya Hunting Block in Nabwalya Game Management Area.
Malama and Kakumbi Community Resources Board and Kwalata Safaris Limited, relating to safari hunting rights in Lower Lupande Hunting Block in Lupande Game Management Area.
Chikwa Community Resources Board and Mopani Safaris Limited, relating to safari hunting rights in Chikwa Hunting Block in East Musalangu Game Management Area.
Mulendema Community Resources Board, Chibuluma Community Resources Board, Kabulwebulwe Community Resources Boards and Nedzo Safaris Limited relating to safari hunting rights in Mumbwa West Hunting Block in Mumbwa West Game Management Area.
Chifunda Community Resources Board and Kocango Safaris Limited relating to safari hunting rights in Chifunda Hunting Block in East Musalangu Game Management Area.
Several stakeholders, including good governance activist Brebner Changala and State Counsel Sakwiba Sikota, have advised Muhanga against the cancellation, warning that government would pay heavily when bidders sue.
And on May 4, 2022, Muhanga wrote a letter officially informing all the bidders about the cancellation.
There has been a flurry of announcements concerning our Mining Sector in Zambia:
1. The President has indicated that Government will discontinue the court case against Vedanta and that Vedanta Has agreed to be included in discussions in the resolution of the KCM issue.
2. Vedanta has made overtures to the Zambian Government and has offered to step up investment in Zambia’s Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) and implement several social responsibility programmes if it resumes control of the local firm. This investment includes a US$1.5 billion to capital mine development.
3. FQM has announced their intention to inject a US$1.25 billion for their mine expansion program.
4. There has been an announcement that Anglo-American Corporation will be returning to Zambia after a 20 year absence. Under the deal, Anglo will take 70% of a joint venture with Arc that will own licenses to explore Zambia’s.
There is much excitement in certain quarters in Zambia due to these pronouncements.
If Zambians would like to continue operating as we have from 1964 until now, a Zambia where:
– our means of production are controlled by outsiders; – the benefit that we derive from our mines translate to job creation, a payment of some (minimal) taxes, payments to a few select suppliers to the mines; – we derive benefit from the provision of some social amenities such as schools, hospitals, some roads, sports clubs etc;
if that is the Zambia we would like to see, then let us join in the celebration!!! We shall go back to the Nchanga Consolidated Copper Mines (NCCM) and Roan Selection Trust (RST) type of Copperbelt. We must then clap for HH and his UPND Government for taking us back to what we have experienced before!!
We shall continue to do what we have always done – the foreign investors will be singing the same old song and we shall be dancing the same old dance. Because we shall be doing what we have always done, we shall continue to get the same results – not much will change.
The benefit that we shall derive from the Billions of Dollars worth of minerals that will be mined will amount to a pittance as:
– some families will benefit as they will be gainfully employed, while those that they (the Zambians) give on the job training to will be rewarded with a pay 10 times what they get; – These mining deals will have very little impact on the lives and livelihoods of most Zambians; – tax holidays will be given in order for us to show how grateful we are for these institutions investing in Zambia; – The mining houses will start to declare losses and thereby pay as little taxes as possible; – The pledged investment amounts of more than a billion Dollars will be borrowed (even through syndicated loans through our local banking systems) and will most likely have the related interest charges passed on to the Zambian entities; – The pledged expansion amounts will come to Zambia in the form of machinery and equipment – probably at inflated prices and over a prolonged period of time; – Minerals will be sold and payments made outside of the country and only amounts enough to pay for salaries, taxes, suppliers to the mines and a level of maintenance will be brought back into the country. The bulk of the sale proceeds will be kept abroad.
The biggest travesty of all this is the fact that the wealth that is in our soils really belongs to Zambians but Zambians hardly benefit from their God given heritage.
Unless our leadership stop to carefully think through the model of mining that we have hitherto been engaged in, unless they begin to appreciate what should and could be, then we are afraid that we shall continue to dance to the same tune and Zambians shall continue to wallow in poverty in the midst of abundance.
At New Heritage Party, we are not joining in the celebrations.
THE biggest tragedy the country has is to follow the smoke and leaving the fire behind, says acting PF secretary general Nickson Chilangwa.
Speaking when he featured on Diamond Live Programme on Thursday evening, Chilangwa said he was amazed about how the issue of alleged misappropriation of funds meant for the construction of FTJ University in Mansa during the PF regime was blown by the UPND government.
“In this country the biggest tragedy the country has is to follow the smoke and leaving the fire behind. And because of that tragedy, we have got in place some characters and human beings we have placed in governance who would want people to run away with the smoke and leave the fire behind,” he said. “The FTJ University, I agree, is a project that was started by His Excellency president Michael Sata in 2013…When president Edgar Lungu came into government, he picked up the story and said ‘I am going to run with the project’. So, he came to cabinet and [it was] approved by 18th July 2019.”
Chilangwa said he had failed to explain where money allocated to the fund was because as a provincial minister, he could not sign for any project but merely supervise.
“Something along the way went wrong. This is where we come back to the issue of running away with the smoke and leaving the fire behind. This is what is happening. I have said on the 18th July 2019 the contractor was on site. Yes, he was on site. Was work going on? Yes. Did the Ministry of Finance assure me that money was available? Yes, I was assured,” he explained. “I am amazed you as a journalist, do you listen to yourself? Do you listen? This is what goes on in this country. Can I tell you that at the end of 2016 there was a decision by cabinet? There was an announcement by cabinet through the Ministry of Finance to say ‘we are under negotiations with IMF; and IMF are saying we have over borrowed and we need to slow down on capital projects’. It was all here. Where you do live. In this country?”
Chilangwa affirmed that as of 2019 he found the contractor on site.
“In 2019 in July, I was at the project. I found the contractor on site. The minister of finance told me the constructor was on site. But we as government need a loan and raise counterpart funding – about US $33 million,” he explained. “And by the way, the counterpart [funding] of $33 million was for the two universities: the FTJ University and Northern University. That is money the government [was supposed to provide] as counterpart funding. I was not in charge of money or payments. I am not the one in charge of paying.”
Chilangwa said people should stop vilifying him and PF over the FTJ University saga because there was a new government that must take up the issue.
“Is there anyone who has been indicted for chewing this money? This is the problem. This is the tragedy of this country. We have characters in governance here who do not want to be truthful. When this entire structure started, who was the finance minister? Honourable (Felix) Mutati. He has not died. He is still in this government…” said Chilangwa. “I like to believe honourable (Dr Situmbeko) Musokotwane is a truthful and honest man. He will be able to take you through the process of how the money was released. Who was it released to? I am not in a privileged position, no mwana (my friend)! Listen naiwe (you), your colleagues who have never been in governance; is not abracadabra. It is not what you say ‘I am going to do this by 14:00 hours’, no. There are processes and procedures. We have got colleagues at the Ministry of Finance who are keeping quiet when all this is going on. What is the agenda? To paint us black? There are records there that money has a trail. Why are they being economical with the truth? Why are they whipping people’s emotions?”
…your persecution is a passing phase says Rev. Fr. Kelvin Bwalya.
NDOLA, Sunday, May 15, 2022 (SMART EAGLES)
THE Catholic Church in Kabushi on the Copperbelt has urged area Member of Parliament Bowman Lusambo not to despair but rather treat the “persecution” by the Law Enforcement Agencies as a passing phase.
Ndola’s Holy Cross Catholic Church Priest Rev. Fr. Kelvin Bwalya has encouraged Hon Lusambo to continue speaking for the people on things that would bring development to the country.
He said Hon Lusambo is a blessing to the people of Kabushi Constituency as evidenced by his works in the area.
“Through the works you have done, a lot of people in this Constituency have testified that “Bowman Muntu, Mwaume pabaume,” he said.
“Your election as Member of Parliament brought joy to the people of Kabushi Constituency. It was a resounding victory, and if you were to ask the people whom they voted for they would just reply,Bulldozer!!”
Fr Bwalya was speaking earlier today when the Kabushi Lawmaker in the company of ward councillors attended Mass at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Ndola.
He has however expressed concern that the constituents may be deprived of Hon Lusambo’s leadership each time he will be attending to issues relating to court processes.
“We are just worried that what you are going through, may derail development for the people of KABUSHI. The area might Lag behind in terms of development because your time will be taken up by all what is transpiring,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hon Lusambo has called for Unity and trust in the Lord.
The Kabushi lawmaker said there is nothing too big or difficult for God.
“Do not worry if you see me arrested here and there, only God knows why this is happening,” he said.
And Hon Lusambo has promised to ensure that the Constituency Development Fund(CDF) is prudently utilised.
He said there will be no space for people trying to derail development in his Constituency.
Also known as the Bulldozer, Hon Lusambo said he will continue working with the Church and the community in ensuring that all deveoplelmt projects are effectively undertaken in Kabushi.
IF I can bring Given Lubinda to UPND I will be very happy, says lands minister Elijah Muchima.
He says the PF’s dream to bounce back into power will not come true because they stole a lot of money from Zambians.
Muchima, a UPND national management committee member, said President Hakainde Hichilema is ready to die for Zambians.
Speaking at Victoria Hall on Thursday when former Mbabala member of parliament Ephraim Bbelemu and two others rejoined the UPND from the PF, Muchima said President Hichilema wants power to get back to the people.
“Through you (UPND members) we are respected as Zambians. Never again shall we suffer as Zambians as we did under PF. But good things don’t come easily,” he said. “Please don’t stop people from coming to join the UPND. Let’s make UPND attractive. Let’s not chase them. If I can bring [acting PF president] Lubinda to the UPND, I will be very happy. If I receive a PF member, I will be very happy.”
Muchima said the PF left big problems and that he is surprised that they could afford to build big mansions.
Muchima, who was flanked by information minister Chushi Kasanda and Livingstone mayor Constance Muleabai, said he has been in government administration for decades but was shocked as to where PF ministers got money to build lavish mansions.
He said his tours are not for luxury but to “get land that was stolen from poor Zambians back to them”.
“We will reposses land stolen by PF cadres. This war you fought, you were not alone. God saw the violence. God saw the levels of cadreism. General mosquito (UPND national youth chairperson Gilbert Liswaniso) don’t follow in PF footsteps. PF has a dream to come back, but that won’t come true because they stole a lot from Zambians. But HH won’t subtract even a penny from Zambians,” Muchima said. “But he has increased CDF. Yes, the cost of living is high, fuel prices are high as a result of the war (Russia-Ukraine conflict). But in every Cabinet meeting he (President Hichilema) talks of poor people. He says ‘land should be for the poor’. HH is ready to die for you.”
He asked UPND members to give President Hichilema and his leadership some time stressing that good things don’t come easily.
“Be strong, do not fear. You will never be left alone,” Muchima said.
He said the PF would criticise Dr Jimmy Bbelemu (Mahogany Airways owner), his brother Ephraim and former Choma mayor Jackson Makwamba for rejoining the UPND but he advised the trio to ignore the criticisms.
“Wait for 2026 to see if there will be any PF. From where I come from I’m tough and rough. They will never come back, they stole a lot,” Muchima said.
He praised former Livingstone and Katombora members of parliament Mathews Jere and Derrick Livune respectively for being loyal to the UPND.
The duo remained in the party after not being adopted to reelection in 2021.
And Bbelemu said he takes responsibility for his actions to join the PF in April 2021 which injured many UPND members.
“For now I redirect my energies away from the PF and I want to render my apology to anyone I may have injured. I know people were injured when I left,” he said.
Bbelemu said at the moment it was only the UPND which has talked of giving back power to the people as well as opening up people’s freedoms and rights so that they can exercise them freely.
“I believe that I must enjoy my liberties, my rights. And the UPND has so far exhibited that,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Bbelemu said it is disheartening to segregate people based on tribe.
For his part, Makwamba apologised for ditching the UPND in May 2021 for PF.
“Please accept my apology. I am human and I am bound to sin. I have come to work. I seek no position,” said Makwamba.
And Liswaniso urged UPND members not to wait for 2026 to engage Zambians on what the government was doing.
He said the UPND needs to be stronger as a party. “Even stronger than the government. [But] this can only be done by growing its membership,” he said.
PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema says he gave a chance to former government officials who stole public resources to return them but that they have not done so and his administration is left with two choices, to get back the money and jail them.
Speaking on arrival at Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport in Ndola before departure to Mpongwe for this year’s field day yesterday, President Hichilema took a jibe at his predecessor Edgar Lungu when he said his administration has changed a slogan.
President Hichilema was on the Copperbelt to attend the farmers’ field day in Mpongwe district.
“Ifwe natucinja (we have changed the slogan). It’s no longer uubomba mwibala alya mwibala (a field worker should benefit from there), ours is to grow the seed,” he said to a cheering crowd.
President Hichilema described corruption as a thief who is hated by the people, citing the US $33 million which has been revealed to have been spent on the non-existent Frederick Chiluba University in Luapula Province by the previous administration as evidence of how evil corruption and theft of public funds was.
“We will fight corruption day and night. Corruption is a thief. Look at FTJ University, ulupiya lonse balya basheta ati uubomba mwibala (they stole all the money). When we ask them to bring back the money they have stolen, they say he is fighting a tribe. Were you stealing for the tribe? Did you share your loot with your tribesmen?” President Hichilema asked. “It’s a lie. Ubufi bwabalya twanaka nabo (we are tired of their lies). That money belongs to the State, belongs to the people. There was an argument that that $33 million was never paid. The evidence is there. The Ministry of Finance paid the money. Do you understand how big 33 million dollars is? It’s a lot of money and very few people get it. Ati balebomba mwibala nomba balya mwibala (that they were field workers and benefited from there), that money belongs to the people. Corruption is a thief. Do you love a thief?”
President Hichilema assured Copperbelt residents that no matter what his administration would recover the stolen money.
“That money is for the people. Tulepoka (we shall recover it). I told them ngamwaliiba leteni ulupiya. Nomba twayalanshyanya tabalefwaya, nomba kubakaka (if you stole bring back the money. We talked but now they don’t want. So we shall jail them). We will not just jail them, it’s two things: jail and returning the money,” he said.
President Hichilema said he got elected to serve the people and not to take away from them.
“We got elected to serve our people. We got elected not to get but to give. We sought public office not to divide but to unite. We sought public office not to exclude but include. We took public office not to steal from the people but protect the people’s assets and I want the Copperbelt, like the whole country, to join the new dawn government in protecting people’s habitat: buildings, people’s lives, people’s money, ulupiya lwa bantu, tefyo (people’s money, not so),’’ President Hichilema said further. “Tatulefwaya filya ifyakale umuntu mwamubika mu office ati abombe, nomba atampa ukwiba, ukusenda. Natucinja slogan. Tatulefwaya ati ubomba mwibala alya mwibala; ukulila kumo ne mbuto. Tatulefwaya, we want to grow the seed. (We don’t want those past habits when you put someone in office in order for them to work, then they start stealing. Taking away. We have changed the slogan. We don’t want things like he who ploughs the field eats from there. You consume together with the seeds. We don’t want).”
He said he had already led the foundation of his all-inclusive national development agenda by increasing the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and sharing it equally to all the 156 constituencies.
President Hichilema also announced that world leaders had appointed him as the Cholera Champion, saying he would be accepting the appointment in Geneva later in the year.
His announcement sent the crowd into wild cheers.
“I was telling my friends that when you plant pumpkin seeds do not eat all the leaves and flowers, because you need pumpkins because when you have pumpkins, you have seeds…that is the concept of this government. That is different thinking. Paradigm shift,” he said. “Lilya twalemweba (when we were telling you) when we were campaigning and you are seeing now. Germinate the seed that the provincial chairman talked about of free education. Twabyala (we’ve planted), take care of the crop. We harvest then we can distribute. Te (Is it not) free education mulefwaya (you want), te (is it not) CDF mulefwaya (you want)? …clear the garbage, we don’t want cholera. And let me tell you something ba Kopala…the whole world has appointed me Cholera Champion. In eight months, the world has recognised. I will be accepting the appointment later in the year in Geneva.”
On the mines, President Hichilema said unlocking the mining sector on the Copperbelt and North-Western Province remained top of his economic agenda because he wanted to see more people benefit from the mineral proceeds, adding that he wanted Zambians to supply goods and services to the mines and get paid on time.
“We have started unlocking the mines here and North-Western Province, full of minerals. We want the minerals to benefit the people of Zambia. Black mountain is just the beginning. We are legalising mining, licences… we want to unlock Mopani to increase production and employ more people, contracts for goods and services for Zambians and be paid on time. Not what used to happen,” President Hichilema said. “We are looking at KCM day and night. We have not given it to Vedanta, bufi (it’s a lie). We want to remove all court cases so that we talk. You can’t resolve when you have court cases daily. We want a mining company that will invest in Konkola Deep. We want to unlock KCM.”
And speaking when he met all Lamba chiefs before the field day tour at Munkumpu village in Mpongwe, President Hichilema said he would always rely on traditional leaders countrywide for advice to deliver equitable development to the people.
He also thanked Lamba chiefs on the Copperbelt for allowing their subjects to vote freely in the August 12 elections.
Meanwhile, chief Nkambo of the Lamba speaking people of Masaiti district showered praises on President Hichilema, saying he had shown leadership and stability in the nation in the short time he has been in office.
“The title of ‘His Excellency’ befits you because there is a touch of excellence to whatever you do. Even when we see you walking on TV we are very happy…there is excitement in the villages because now every child is going to school, thanks to your free education policy just months in office,” said Nkambo who was flanked by other chiefs.
DON’T TURN INTO PARROT …just to win US acceptability, M’membe urges HH
By Fanny Kalonda
SOCIALIST Party president Fred M’membe has urged leaders not to turn themselves into parrots, parroting things they do not understand just to win acceptability by the Americans. Speaking when he met visiting US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and Environment Jose W Fernandez at State House on Thursday, President Hakainde Hichilema said the new dawn government is not trying to change the country’s values by aligning them with American values.
“Zambia is a democratic country. It is a country anchored on the rule of law. It is a country that respects human rights, liberties and freedoms. This new government will do its best to ensure that the country continues to advance democratic values. Values that we share with yourselves. Sometimes the media have somehow misinterpreted this statement to mean that the new dawn government is going to change, alter Zambian values so as to align with the American values,” said President Hichilema. “That is not the point. We are not altering our values. These are our values. And by choice as a country, we chose to run ourselves on a platform of democracy. Also it is our African values to respect each other, to respect other people of course in return to get respect. To also get respect in an orderly manner. So we are not altering our values to align with the American values. These are our values. They happen to be shared with the Americans as well. So I’m very happy that we share these values and I think that these values will largely help us keep ourselves in order, as the world is confronted with a lot of challenges.”
But Dr M’membe said American values “are not our values” adding that political ideas are worthless if they are not inspired by noble and selfless sentiments.
“It is important to understand the core or real values and assumptions of the people we are dealing with. Values are ideas about what is right and wrong, desirable and undesirable, normal and abnormal, proper and improper. Assumptions are the unquestioned standards about people, life, and ‘the way things are’. People who grow up in a particular culture share certain values and assumptions. This means that most of them, most of the time, agree with each others’ ideas about what is right and wrong, desirable and undesirable. They also agree, mostly, with each other’s assumptions about human nature, social relationships. The values and assumptions of a culture shape the way people act. Understanding these values and assumptions help us understand why people from a certain society behave the way they do. In life it is always very important to be clear about things,” he said. “The most important thing to understand about Americans is probably their devotion to ‘individualism’. This is their main value, the value on which all their other values – greed, unbridled competition and consumerism – are anchored. They have been trained from early in their lives to consider themselves separate individuals who are responsible for their own situations in life and their own destinies. They have not been trained to see themselves as members of a close-knit, tightly interdependent family, religious group, tribe, nation, or other group. And all their values are subsets of individualism or are there to serve and reinforce it.”
Dr M’membe said the most important value for the Socialist Party is equity, and not individualism as it is for the Americans and “their puppets”. He said Zambians would thrive best in a decent community of people with principles, standards, common aims and values. “All our other values are subsets of ‘equity’ to serve or reinforce it. Individualism is certainly not our core value. Our traditional society, culture and religious beliefs are not anchored on individualism but on Ubuntu, equity,” Dr M’membe noted. “In this respect, the American values are not our values. Our leaders shouldn’t turn themselves into parrots parroting things they don’t even understand just to win acceptability by the Americans. Political ideas are worthless if they are not inspired by noble, selfless sentiments. Likewise, noble sentiments are worthless if they are not based on correct and fair ideas. For us, we have chosen to defend certain principles that are of tremendous value at a time of confusion and opportunism in our country and in the world. A time when many politicians are feathering their own nests, are struggling for recognition by the imperialists. We will never be hired or hire ourselves out to be lackeys or puppets of imperialism. We are striving to build a new society anchored on the values of equity, honesty, humility and solidarity. You do not suffer just because you are getting fewer calories than required. There is another sort of suffering; social inequality, which makes you feel constantly debased and humiliated as a second-class citizen in your own country.”
And Dr M’membe said inequality has divided the country into two, the poor and the well-to-do. He said the Zambian masses are suffering from poverty, injustice, humiliation and inequality adding that the suffering is both material and moral.
Dr M’membe said even when no one lives in absolute poverty, the existence of a glaring disparity in income levels indicates an intolerable imbalance in the way wealth and resources are distributed, where average rural poverty is 76.6 per cent.
“…two nations – the Kwa (shanty compounds) and Ku (low density residential areas) nations – the nations of the poor and the well-to-do. As such, we cannot today truly speak of one Zambia as one nation. Those who live in Kwa have poor water supply, sanitation, shelter, nutrition, schools, healthcare, roads, and very high rates of unemployment. Those who live in Ku have the best of everything. And whereas in the past it was easy to move from Kwa to Ku, today it is very difficult to do so. In those days, all one needed was to work very hard at school, college or university. Today, hard work is not a guarantee that one will finish school, college or university. It is money that determines that, the ability to pay school, college or university fees,” he said. “If you are born in Kwa, it is highly unlikely you will marry someone from Ku. Where are you going to meet? You live in different places, you go to different schools, churches, shopping centres, places of entertainment, and even bury your dead in different graveyards. To unite our people in ‘one land and one nation’ – as is our cry in our national anthem – will require equity of access to necessities such as education, healthcare, water, housing, sanitation, transportation, physical security, land and food. Most, such as health, education and physical security, should be public goods, and others should at least be distributed according to the level of need in order to ensure access for all.”
Dr M’membe said Zambian society is a long way from realising that requirement. “The rich have ‘first-world standard’ goods and services, whereas the poor masses have access to poor-quality services or none at all. There should be no such gap. Western Province has poverty levels of 82.2 per cent, Luapula Province 81.1 per cent, Northern Province 79.7 per cent, Eastern Province 70 per cent, North Western Province 66.4 per cent, Southern Province 57.6 per cent, Central Province 56.2 per cent, Copperbelt Province 30.8 per cent and Lusaka Province 20.2 per cent,” he noted.
Dr M’membe said as long as the gap between the poor and the rich remains at “its current scandalous level, the future of the country is at risk”. “…if the gap between the rich and poor is unacceptable, then so, too, is the actual degree of poverty in our society. In a compassionate society, there should be no differences in outcomes based on factors for which people cannot be held responsible. Zambia has one of the worst situations globally. There is a glaring gap between the rich and poor. Between 2010 and 2015, the Gini coefficient increased from 0.65 to 0.69. This is a very high rate of income inequality. It is volatile and dangerous for national development. It could be argued, of course, that those who enjoy the highest levels of income have achieved it through hard work, and that they deserve the benefits of their efforts, regardless of the poverty afflicting others. There are many reasons to reject this argument,” he said. “Firstly, from a religious point of view, it is sinful to keep for oneself an overabundance of wealth when one’s sisters and brothers are suffering, and even dying for want of simple necessities. In such a situation, it is of no consequence how and why some people come to be excessively wealthy while others starve. Distributive justice demands that sufficient sharing takes place to ensure the basic needs of all are met. Secondly, even if the demands of charity are rejected, and were it possible to argue that those enjoying excessive wealth are fully justified in doing so, commonsense dictates that our society cannot prosper under such conditions. The good of each of us in the long term is secured and promoted by the common good. Failure to do so can only precipitate social instability and threaten the wellbeing of all, rich and poor.”
Dr M’membe said history abounds with instances where the rich and powerful have brought about their own downfall by refusing to recognise in good time the legitimate demands of the poor.
He said by tolerating high levels of poverty, the Zambian economy undermines the common good, and fails to demonstrate the solidarity of shared human dignity demands.
He added that the country has become a shameful example of how capitalism is creating and reproducing itself under conditions of extreme injustice, inequity and state-sponsored violence.
Dr M’membe said that if nothing is done to address “this decay, a total collapse of the social, political, cultural and economic life of Zambia is imminent”.
“It’s very clear that the value systems that Zambians had at one time hoped to create for their country; those of equity, non-violence, a sense of justice and national unity, are becoming a distant vision,” said Dr M’membe.
Alia Ismail is de-transitioning to female after six years of medical transitioning to male.
Alia, from Michigan, came out as trans at the age of 18, adopting male pronouns and dressing more masculinely.
Alia changed her name to Issa in the years after, and at the age of 20, she began a medical transition that included taking male hormones to boost testosterone and having a double mastectomy.
“Socially, at 18 years old, I came out, used male pronouns, and dressed masculine,” Alia explained.
“When I was 20 years old, I went through a medical transition in which I took hormones and legally changed my name in August 2015, and subsequently had a double mastectomy in 2016.” My grandparents were accepting but not understanding of my transition, and as time went on, my mother began to understand my sentiments better.”
Alia, now 27, felt that her new identity didn’t truly reflect who she was after the transition, and after much thought, she opted to de-transition to female and now uses they/she pronouns.
“I have no regrets about having surgery or taking hormones,” Alia said. That was a pivotal point in my development into the person I am today.
“My family was emotionally apathetic. They knew I was strong enough to take this uncertain road again, and they were proud of me for remaining loyal to myself. I no longer take hormones and have undergone laser hair removal. I have no immediate plans to do anything else, but I am aware that things may change in the future.
“My testosterone level dropped dramatically, but my oestrogen level remained unchanged.” I’ve only been off hormones for a year, after roughly seven years on testosterone. My body only needs time to adjust, and we’ll see if I need to take anything to increase my oestrogen levels later.”
“I believe that those who do not understand do so out of ignorance and a lack of empathy,” Alia continued.
“Decisions are difficult no matter what they are, and I hope that instead of projecting our fears and judgments, we can all remain open-minded to understand why.”
“There will always be those who misinterpret me, but I can’t let that destroy me.” By sharing my experiences, I’ve been able to assist many others who were wondering their sexuality and gender.
“I’ve received numerous messages from people seeking advice, and I like building a sense of trust in others.”
The only way Zambia can achieve anything good economically is when spending is reduced through government expenditure and revenue collection is improved. Yet the only way to grow an economy is through increased spending.
Zambia is paying almost it’s entire revenue collection per month to debt service. Our debt ratio is over 100% to the GDP and what is recommended for an economy to be healthy is 25 to 35 % debt ratio to the GDP. Basically this implies that the more we live the more we are going in debt because of budget deficits.The pandemic and the Ukraine war just undressed us faster.
Example is what’s happening to most government institutions. They have monthly expenditure 600 but they only receive 400 to pay for their orders and contracts, so every month they accumulate 200 more debt. Thats the same issue at national level. I will be very careful supplying to government unless am UPND or have serious connections; they are basically stealing your money and killing Zambia business for them to survive.
President HH’s major solution is to engage the IMF. The IMF are coming to stop or reduce budget deficits so that debt is sustainable by reducing government expenditure. Further more to manage our debt so that it is reduced in the short period of time and finally offer relief for the time period.
They will come with tough conditions that will see our citizens grapple with hard-hitting structural reforms and prompt job losses. It will be a bitter pill to swallow. Debt ceiling will be immediately implemented; no more borrowing but you recieve a drawing from them. Goverment spending and business will be tight.
With less Government spending to grow the economy, HH is now desperate for investors. He is depending on foriegn direct investment to cover that gap. This is the reason he is pushing deals with mining companies to invest billion of dollars in the economy. We have FQM and Vedanta already pledging over $2.5 billion and Anglo American hinting to come back.
In short he is sorting the debt issue through IMF by restricting spending and replacing that lost spending with Foriegn investments. I don’t believe in the IMF, yet you can see it’s fairly an intelligent idea. My concern is there are no creative ideas or reforms to cure or grow the local businesses. For his plan to work there has to be some major business reforms like government paying on time, stop kaloba, cost of doing business, order Financing or cheap capital and prioritise contracts for locals.
You see what he is trying to do? We must also bring to his attention local business otherwise the economy will heal with foreigners but we shall be broke and just basically working for them. For example, if you give CDF contracts to poor citizens with no capital they will fail, even if they borrow the cost is too high and so they won’t make anything out of those contracts.
ZAMBIANS MUST RUN THE MINES, NOT THE BLACK MOUNTAIN Mundubile urges Zambians
……..as the Leader of the opposition in Parliament says UPND has put too much focus on foreigners while neglecting Zambians to languish
Kelvin Sichizya
May 13,2022- Leader of the opposition in Parliament Brian Mundubile has said the UPND government was too fast in giving wealth to foreigners at the expense of Zambians who voted for it but warned that the New Dawn government must start preparing itself for a time when Zambians will know the truth
And Mr. Mundubile has challenged HH and the UPND government to stop summoning public outcry on petty issues each time they wanted to burry their own failures and misdeeds to occupy people’s minds while they were busy handing over mines to foreigners.
Speaking on Kasama radio this evening Mr. Mundubile who is PF Member of the Central Committee and Mporokoso Central Member of Parliament described the UPND as ” a government of DRAMA” which always wanted to make people, dwell on falsehoods, machinations and insecerity such as summoning public outcry on petty issues as is the Milingo case, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the F. T. J University simply to occupy the minds of Zambians while in the background, they were transferring Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) to Vandata, a so called investor that failed Zambians before
He said, while rich foreigners were getting the mines to run as well as tax holidays, Zambia ended up with the back mountain and said “UPND has long forgotten about the unemployed youths who voted for the party in power now and doesn’t care about the economy any more because they have too much trust in the foriegners” and hope to realize their dreams.
He called on the New Dawn government to change their focus and focus on Zambians and reduce the cost of living adding, Zambians must demand for the mines and not the BLACK MOUNTAIN
He said ” issues of grabbing PF vehicles and calling everyone a thief, arresting people and paralising operations the of opposition was only a ploy to divert the attention of Zambians in order for them to do things that will leave Zambians crying for decades”.
He explained that there was no law for political parties to disclose the sources of their funding and asking PF alone to explain how they bought their vehicles was one thing Zambians did not expect adding, “MMD bought their own vehicles while the UPND also has vehicles they bought and no body is questioning them*, wondering why they labeled ” the entire PF ‘theives’ *but were busy celebrating the so called thieves who defect into their part*.
He said what the UPND was doing was persecution of the worst kind even in the absence of evidence and said when the UPND talked about getting rid of caderism, they lied because “now we see worse cadres who attack people even at court premises
He said “Prices are going up and life has become unbearable because UPND has diverted its attention to the rich foreigners while neglecting poor Zambian citizens”.
There will be a time when people are going to findout the truth, UPND should prepare for that time because they will have a lot of explaining to do, Mr. Mundubile noted.
The leader of the opposition said the UPND was so busy trying to “kill the opposition” calling them names, persecuting everyone but wondered why they were celebrating each time they welcomed a defector into their party adding how do you cebrate so much when one of those you knew as a thief joins you”?
He explained that no vehicle was bought using government resources and said “just like the MMD, or even the UPND, they have well-wishers and other sympathizers who fund political parties or buy them vehicles.
He said the dabate the UPND started on the KCM liquidator Milingo, the DPP and the issue of the FTJ University was only meant to turnish the image of the former ruling Party while intending to occupy the minds of the people while making regretable decisions asking “what business of PF could be that in government contracts?
” KCM has gone back to Vendata despite of what that so called investor did to the economy of Zambia”.
He called on Zambians to open their eyes to see through the UPND government adding ” it a government of drama, what they say is not what they do and what they do, you never even know or even ask them”.
Meanwhile some Kasama residents have endorsed Mr. Mundubile as PF President
A UPND sympathizer who called Kasama radio during Mr. Mundubile’s phone in programme said he was confident that the PF Member of the Central Committee would be the right candidates for PF Presidency.
The 2022 Edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, AMVCA, took place on Saturday night, May 14 in Lagos.
The event was hosted by IK Osakioduwa and South African media personality, Bonang Matheba.
Actress, Osas Ighodaro beat her colleagues Bisola Aiyeola and Bimbo Ademoye to clinch the Best Dressed Female award, while Media personality, Denola Grey beat actor, Deyemi Okanlawon and Ghanaian actor Mawuli Gavor to win the Best Dressed Male award.
See the full list of winners for AMVCA 2022 below:
Best actress in a comedy – Funke Akindele Bello (Omo Ghetto: The Saga).
Best actor in a comedy – Samuel Perry ‘Broda Shaggi’ (Dwindle).
Best supporting actress – Omowunmi Dada (Country Hard).
Best supporting actor – Odunlade Adekola (Jankariwo).
Best actress in a drama – Osas Ighodaro (Rattlesnake).
Best actor in a drama – Stan Nze (Rattlesnake: The Ahanna Story).
Best short film or online video – Taiwo Ogunnimo (I am the prostitute Mama described).
Best Indigenous language (Yoruba) – Alaise – David Akande, Demola Yusuf, Edgard Leroy.
Best indigenous language (Hausa) – Voiceless – Rogers Ofime
Best Indigenous language (Igbo) – Nne-Ka – Uche Nnanna Maduka.
Best Indigenous language (Swahili) – Obambo (Freddy Feruzi).
Best art director (Movie or TV Series) Tunji Afolayan – Amina
Best costume designer – Millicent T. Jack (Amina).
Best lighting designer – Matthew Yusuf (Nneka the pretty serpent).
Best picture editor: Tunde Apalowo (Maria Ebun Pataki).
Best sound editor: Jim Lively and James Nelson (Amina).
SHUT DOWN MUNDA WANGA AND RELOCATE THE ANIMALS, A WILDLIFE CONSERVATIONIST HAS SAID
A Wildlife Conservationist who has been voluntarily helping the new Cub at Chilanga’s Munda Wanga Environmental Park Bruce Woods has uttered a cry of dismay after the death of a nine year old lioness which he believes it was starved to death.
In his write-up shared on a Conventional National Park Whatsapp group this morning, Mr. Woods said the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) must be held accountable for their lack of competence.
He has since called for the immediate shut down of Munda Wanga Environmental Park.
The Wildlife Conservationist who seem to be more concerned about the welfare of animals further revealed that there is high levels of animal cruelty at Munda Wanga Environmental Park.
He believes the situation at Munda wanga is bad and has extended an olive branch by suggesting that a decision be made so that the animals are either relocated to a new place with different management or at least Munda Wanga be privatized again.
Munda Wanga Environmental Park is a NATURAL park which houses a botanical garden, a wildlife sanctuary and a fossil site.
The Park was originally created as a private Botanical Garden in 1950.
And today it is a popular Environmental Park consisting of a Wildlife Sanctuary, Botanical Gardens, Environmental Education Centre and a Recreational Village.
It hosts about 50,000 school children every year to teach them on environmental, climate change and conservation issues.
✍️Courtesy of Dynamic Analysis Zambia
And below was Bruce Woods’ write-up;
CHANGE IS NEEDED!!
I’M DONE..
And to be honest, i don’t actually care about the repercussions I’ll face for EXPOSING this HORRIFIC photo.
Tired of trying to help wildlife in Zambia and getting blocked by DNPW.
One marauding lion that had been reported roaming around Shimabala area for the past 14 days has finally been located and shot dead as all efforts to tranquilize, capture and translocate it proved futile.
Toursim Permanent Secretary Evans Muhanga said the a sub- adult male, was brought down by the Department of National Parks (DNPW) officers in the early hours of today, 14th May 2022, when it was flushed out of its hiding place in the thickets and suddenly charged towards the officers in attack.
He said the officers, who set out to tranquilize the animal with the intention of capturing and translocating it to the Lower Zambezi National Park, where it was suspected to have originated, were left with no option but to bring it in order to save the lives of the officers and the public.
Mr. Muhanga said since, there have been rumours circulating about suspected presence of more than one lion, we wish to caution members of the public to be on high alert and to promptly report confirmed sightings or observations such as spoors (footprints) and attacks to humans or depredation on livestock.
The Ministry of Tourism is, however, concerned with abuse of social media by people who have been posting false videos, images and alarming statements to the public and wishes to warn those providing false information that do so constitutes an offence and that any persons providing such information risk being arrested and prosecuted by the relevant authorities.
According to the information three heads of cattle and one goat are suspected to have been killed by the rogue lion. Sadly, we have also observed that some rustlers could be taking advantage to steal/kill domestic livestock using the lion situation to conceal the offences.
We wish to particularly thank the Zambia Air Force (ZAF) who provided aerial surveillance to locate, sight and communicate information to ground troops and the Honourary Wildlife Police Officers (Lusaka Unit) as well as the Professional Hunters Association of Zambia (PHAZ) who provided the resources to ensure the success of the operation.
Finally, the Ministry remains committed to respond to Human-Wildlife Conflict reports in order to safeguard human life and property
MINE WORKERS UNIONS WELCOME INTENTIONS BY GOVERNMENT AND VEDANTA TO SETTLE KCM DISPUTE OUT OF COURT
By Chileshe Mwango/ Tinkerbel Mwila
Three Mine Workers Unions namely the Mine Workers Union of Zambia, the National Union Of Miners and Allied Workers and the United Mine Workers Union of Zambia have expressed happiness with indications that both government and Vedanta desire to settle the dispute concerning the ownership of the mine out of court.
They have described the move as progressive as the continued court action is putting KCM at a greater risk of further depreciation and complete shutdown of the mine.
The three unions have since advised government to ensure strict conditions are put in place as a deterrent to what happened in the past in an event that they settle for Vedanta or any other investor.
In a joint press statement, the three unions have since proposed that going forward, the mine should undergo a whole recapitalization process, improvement of conditions of services for employees and ensure a well-defined Cooperate Social Responsibility (CSR) for the hosting communities among others.
They have also urged government to expedite the process of investor engagement to serve KCM from total collapse which will be economically catastrophic to both the hosting communities and the country.
Last week, Vedanta Resources indicated its desire to return to Konkola Copper Mine PLC while government has also disclosed that solutions to the problems at KCM may include the involvement of Vedanta.
In a related development, Konkola Copper Mines and its subsidiary companies, the Konkola Mineral Resources Limited (KMRL) and KCM Smelter Company Limited has warned its business partners and members of the public of unscrupulous people soliciting for applications to register new vendors and upgrade the company vendor data base.
KCM General Manager Corporate Affairs Shapi Shachinda tells Phoenix News in a statement that the mining company and its subsidiaries have at no time embarked on compiling a new vendor data base.
Mr. Shachinda says the claimed registration or fresh applications is a hoax by people seeking to bring the name of KCM into disrepute by conning unsuspecting KCM vendors or potential business partners.
He adds that KCM will continue to engage and communicate with its current and future business partners through the official and ordinary course of business.
CHANDA PUTS THE BLOOD OF 6 KILLED PEOPLE AT A RALLY ON HH
Charles Chanda has charged that President Hakainde Hichilema (HH) takes the blame for the six people killed at the Mpongwe Agriculture event, reports Asa Manda.
Six people were run-over by vehicles after the Zambia Farmers Union event President Hichilema graced in Mpongwe on the Copperbelt province yesterday.
Chanda an opposition leader says the blame must be put on President Hichilema. He alleges that just like during PF reign, Cadres were ferried to the event yesterday.
Police by press time had not confirmed the accidents which involved two vehicles. One killed five while the other one.
Hundreds of people were gathered at the Agriculture event where President Hichilema also took advantage of to thank the people for having voted for him in the last elections.- Zambian Eye
HICHILEMA MUST TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE SIX PEOPLE THAT WERE KILLED YESTERDAY IN MPONGWE BY THEIR RECKLESS CADRES
The President should have used a Chopper to Mpongwe and this thing of importing cadres across the province must be discouraged. That was the standard left by PF and cannot be repeated. We expect better governance from Bally and his team.
The black Jeep was speeding like no man’s business and left five people dead and the driver is at home. Instructions were given not to have him arrested despite causing death by dangerous driving. This is a repeat of the PF nonsense of protecting cadres and we are saying a big NO. The same police are being instructed to arrest suspected opposition offenders for whatever offences.
The small pink car killed a child bringing the number to six. There was an instruction that leaders did not want the name of the party to be dented. You kill people and you want to hide. God is watching. O come on New Dawn you can’t be PF repeat.
