issues over matters

SATA AT CLOSE QUARTERS

2011-12-17T23:19:00.002Z

By GERSHOM NDHLOVU
You got to love Michael Sata, Zambia’s fifth president, or hate him—for his abrasiveness bordering on rudeness tinged with crude language—and now as head of state, disregard for protocol. The case that immediately comes to mind in this “department” is his conduct on his first international trip as head of state when he allegedly defied Uganda’s protocol officials at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Great Lakes Region meeting in Kampala recently.
Another—call it strange—case is when Mr Sata caused a security and protocol nightmare in Livingstone where he went to meet Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe in Livingstone, on the border with Zimbabwe. He refused to use regular vehicles in the presidential motorcade which usually comprise Mercedes Benz cars, BMWs, high end Toyota models, an ambulance or two and numerous luxury cars. He demanded a blue and white UTTA type minibus to ferry him from the Harry Mwaanga Airport to the venue of the meeting.
But the story that has prompted me to do this write up is what started off on Facebook but later reported on some Zambian news websites, that the current President of the Republic of Zambia (POTROZ), arrived at the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport from an international trip during a downpour but declined to be covered with an umbrella by an aide.
Am I surprised? No! In my younger days as a reporter on the Zambia Daily Mail’s Sunday Mail, I had an opportunity to travel with Mr Sata on some trips outside Lusaka on more than a couple of times where I got at close quarters with the man. I am also one who experienced his abrasiveness first hand particularly when he was MMD national secretary and I as Deputy News Editor and Mr Sata’s mbuya.
The first time was when we travelled to Eastern Province when he was Minister of Health c1995 on a tour of health facilities. Using a Zambia Flying Doctor Service plane, we flew to Lundazi after failing to land in Petauke which was to be the first scheduled stop but the airstrip was overgrown. The welcome in Lundazi was sort of muted because he was not expected to get there when he did. But by the time we arrived at the next stop, Chipata, the organisers had sorted themselves out.
Forget about the visit to Chipata General Hospital which was a very officious affair with Mr Sata taking to task the executive director to task for a few things he thought they were going wrong. Come the political leg of the trip, we were driven to Navutika, a shanty compound to the west of Kapata township. There, party cadres had organised themselves singing and dancing to welcome Mr Sata. The way the man jumped into the action, hugging the dirty looking villagers, shaking hands with them, laughing and singing left me speechless.
For the night stop, we went to Katete where we found cadres gathered at Mphangwe Motel. To cut the long story short, there was a lot of merry making with enough food, drink and jokes with everybody who was there. What was in short supply was the nonsense about “balekeni baMinister bapumule.” In the end it was Mr Sata who ensured we were all safely tucked in our beds for those of us who were to spend the night at the motel.
The Eastern Province trip over, a few weeks later I was to accompany Mr Sata to Chanyanya, to the south west of Kafue. I can’t remember exactly what the assignment was but I think it was to open a clinic or something to that effect. What moved and convinced me that Mr Sata was a man of the people is what he did during the meals that were prepared by the villagers.
Mr Sata washed his hands in the same bowls that everybody had washed and ate from the same plate as everybody. There was nothing like “iyi ni mbale yaba minister”—and this at the time when there were stories of how one aspiring MP used to go to campaign to his constituency carrying Hungry Lion take away and shunning food prepared by villagers he wanted to represent. That aspiring MP lost the elections, no doubt.
From all what is going on in the first few months of Mr Sata’s presidency, Zambians should be happy that the man is redefining the presidency. The office is not occupied by gods but by ordinary men (and women hopefully). I hope we will no longer have to kneel before the president or whisper his name when talking about his shortcomings.
The last four presidents have brought their own attributes to the presidency—Kaunda brought independence; Chiluba brought plural politics; Mwanawasa fought corruption; RB came to finish Mwanawasa’s projects; Sata is opening up the presidency!

PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY MUST BE LIMITED TO THE TERM OF OFFICE

2011-10-16T18:20:00.001+01:00

By GERSHOM NDHLOVU

That Zambia has had to remove the immunity of a former president before and ordinary Zambians are at least looking at the possibility of removing that of another former president, it shows clearly the need to make the process easier than having to rely on parliament to do it. Granted that the Constitution grants a sitting president immunity well into his retirement via clause 43 and its attendant sub-clauses which read as follows: “(1) Civil proceedings shall not be instituted or continued against the person holding the office of President or performing the functions of that office in respect of which relief is claimed against him in respect of anything done or omitted to be done in his private capacity. “(2) A person holding the office of President or performing the functions of that office shall not be charged with any criminal offence or be amenable to the criminal jurisdiction of any court in respect of any act done or omitted to be done during his tenure of that office or, as the case may be, during his performance of the functions of that office. “(3) A person who has held, but no longer holds, the office of President shall not be charged with a criminal offence or be amenable to the criminal jurisdiction of any court, in respect of any act done or omitted to be done by him in his personal capacity while he held office of President, unless the National Assembly has, by resolution, determined that such proceedings would not be contrary to the interests of the State. “(4) Where provision is made by law limiting the time within which proceedings of any description may be brought against any person, the term of any person in the office of President shall not be taken into account in calculating any period of time prescribed by that law which determines whether any such proceedings as are mentioned in clause (1) and (3) may be brought against the person.”

When this is done, it will definitely stop people ascending to the presidency from conducting themselves in a potentially criminal manner both in their official and personal capacity knowing fully well that they risk going to jail at the end of their terms. Zambians have lived in poverty for far too long while their leaders have gone on to acquire unimagined wealth most of it in matters not devoid of impropriety.

With the revelations coming out regarding the conduct of Zambia’s immediate former president Rupiah Banda in his three short years in office, it is increasingly becoming necessary for people to demand that Mr Banda be stripped of his immunity just like it happened to Zambia’s second president, Frederick Chiluba. Mr Banda himself inadvertently admitted to abusing public funds when he said “remember that the next election will judge you also. Treat those who you have vanquished with respect and humility that you would expect in your own defeat…. It is not for us to deny the Zambian people. We never rigged, we never cheated, we never knowingly abused state funds. We simply did what we thought was best for Zambia…” The extent of the abuse must and can only be determined when Mr Banda is stripped of his immunity which demands that the matter be taken to parliament going if his statement that he is ready to be investigated is anything to go by. In the case of the ruling party, the Patriotic Front (PF), this may be a tall order as it is short of numbers required to remove a former president’s immunity which requires a two thirds majority. In this case, Zambians must do themselves a favour by making it easy to prosecute former president by limiting the immunity guaranteed by the Constitution especially that we have a chance to work out a new document under the PF government. When this is done, it will definitely stop people ascending to the presidency from conducting themselves in a potentially criminal manner both in their official and personal capacity knowing fully well that they risk going to jail at the end of their terms. Zambians have lived in poverty for far too long while their leaders have gone on to acquire unimagined wealth most of it in matters not devoid of impropriety. When that happens, Zambians must ensure that future leaders are made accountable for their actions both in the official and private capacities. Having leaders ensconced in the bubble of the constitutions will forever leave Zambians mourning after the departure of untrustworthy leaders from State House.

MORENO-OCAMPO MUST FOCUS HIS SIGHTS ON ZAMBIA

2011-09-11T13:30:00.000+01:00

By Gershom Ndhlovu
“Let us crush them,” an MMD official is quoted in a TV news clip of one of Zambia’s TV channels in reference to opposition Patriotic Front (PF) members who are going about their business campaigning for their party for the forthcoming September 20 tripartite elections that will include presidential, parliamentary and local government polls.
The irony of it all is that the unidentified official made the statement in a police station where the Lusaka Province MMD chairman, William Banda was summoned for interviews for violence which had occurred in Chongwe district, 40 km outside the capital city.
In Chongwe, at the alleged instigation of William Banda, a former UNIP stalwart who used to harass MMD members when they were in opposition in the early 1990s and was later deported by President Chiluba, ordered the beating up of the villagers apparently because they supported the PF candidate and former MMD MP Sylvia Masebo.
A few weeks earlier the PF through its secretary general, Winter Kabimba who is a lawyer, had issued instructions to his members to defend themselves from acts of violence perpetrated against them by members of other political parties.
In the last few weeks, a Facebook group called Zambian Peoples Pact, a forum on which netizens discuss political issues especially those pertaining to the forthcoming elections, launched a petition against violence before, during and after elections.
But with the unfolding events in the country, it seems International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo will be busy with indictments of Zambian politicians after the elections if President Rupiah Banda and his security apparatus do not restrain, even stop, the marauding MMD cadres and others bent on promoting violence.

ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION REACHES ITS “SELL BY DATE”

2011-08-21T13:43:00.004+01:00

By Gershom Ndhlovu
Recently I said on a Facebook page something to the effect that the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had reached its “sell by date” in view of how it had handled allegations of corruption involving UPG, a South African company printing ballot papers for September 20 elections in Zambia.
When I wrote that, it did not take long for the ACC director-general, Lt-Col. Godfrey Kayukwa to allow himself to be dragged in the mud by how poorly he handled the whole affair. Unless the ACC modus operandi has changed, it is not the duty of the whole director-general to interview suspects, witnesses and complainants. These matters are left to the director of operations who assigns units and officers under him to carry out these duties.
Among other duties of the director-general is to authorise investigations into allegations of corruptions that get to him on specified forms if he reasonably believes there is a case for investigations. In the case where there is doubt of corruption having taken place or even about to take place, a preliminary inquiry is carried out with a view to take it to full inquiry or drop it altogether.
It is however very strange for the director-general to go out publicly and state that there is no investigation going on. As I have stated above, the best Lt-Col. Kayukwa could have done was to authorise a preliminary inquiry, all behind the scenes and summoning Post Editor Fred M’membe and PF’s Kabwata candidate Given Lubinda as persons of interest to the matter without the involvement of the press.
The UPG debacle has not added any credibility to the ACC by denying any investigations going on when in fact, there is one. If anything, the ACC’s credibility, already shaky on many fronts such as the removal of one of the Abuse of Office clause in the ACC Act, has been eroded even further by no other than its director-general who is the lynchpin of its very existence.
To restore the ACC’s credibility, Lt-Col. Kayukwa will need to step down on his own otherwise government needs to relieve him of his duties immediately. If none of these options happens, government’s commitment to fighting corruption will be in serious doubt especially that it only recently removed one of the key clauses of the ACC Act referred to above.
Or maybe it is time the ACC was disbanded the same way its sister investigative wing, SITET, went the way of the dodo back in 1991 when some of the things it used to investigate became part of everyday life. Corruption is slowly but surely become the accepted way of life in Zambia.
(Also read here and here)

ONLY ELEPHANTS SHOULD WEAR IVORY

2011-07-30T10:38:00.002+01:00

By Gershom Ndhlovu
“A ZAMBIAN woman has been arrested in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for wearing ivory bracelets. Ruth Mwale aged 46 was arrested at Bole International Airport Tuesday morning upon her arrival from Bangkok, Thailand en-route to Zambia.”
When this story broke out on various Zambian internet forums including Facebook and other social media networks, the arguments for the arrest and against that ensued bordered on separating the patriotic from the unpatriotic. The “patriotic” thought the arrest was wrong as the Ethiopians apparently did not “understand” the Zambian cultural dynamics while the few “unpatriotic”—I was one of those—supported the arrest.
To reiterate the question that was asked, were the Ethiopian authorities right to arrest Mwale for just a piece of ivory on her wrist? Put it in another way, would the Zambian government through the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) arrest anybody wearing an ivory bangle?
For all those who care to remember, around 1992, a few months into the new MMD administration, the then Minister of Tourism, Lieutenant-General Christon Tembo, now late, led government, non-government organisations (NGOs) officials and ordinary citizens, in torching a bonfire of ivory, rhino horns and guns seized from poachers held by ZAWA which was then known as National Parks and Wildlife Service. This public event was held at the service headquarters in Chilanga.
The ivory burning event in Zambia followed on the heels of a similar event in Kenya which was led by none other than that country’s then president, Daniel arap Moi in Nairobi’s Uhuru Park. Both these events were largely supported by World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) with a promise for further funding and logistical support of wildlife management in the countries involved. Whether that was fulfilled or not is a different issue altogether.
These two events were born from the recognition by the two countries and the wider international community of depleting elephant populations in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa wrought by widespread and heavily commercialised poaching that was taking place then. In Zambia, heavy poaching was going on in the Mulobezi and Kaoma/Itezhi Tezhi precincts of the Kafue National Park, Luangwa North and South National Parks and Lower Zambezi National Park.
Brazen Zambian poachers were even crossing into Zimbabwean national parks such as Matusadona, Mana Pools and Hwange national parks where, unfortunately, a lot of suspects lost their lives from uncompromising wildlife rangers who had no mercy for armed poachers.
Although 20 years ago these issues were very much in the media limelight with what was the then Species Protection Department of the Anti-Corruption Commission, I don’t know if it is the case these days as, admittedly, I only read Zambian newspapers on the internet which only post political stories.
Again, those who care to remember will know that in the last three years or so, outgoing Minister of Tourism, Catherine Namugala has been at the forefront of trying to have trade in elephants and ivory downgraded from Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) which totally bans such trade, to Appendix II which allows partial trade.
Zambia is supported by Zimbabwe, Namibia and Tanzania, all of which claim to have substantial stocks of ivory that they need to dispose of. But opponents of the proposal such as the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), an independent campaigning organisation committed to bringing about change that protects the natural world from environmental crime and abuse, argue that the downgrade will allow contraband ivory find its way into the legitimate system and consequently fuel poaching.
Other critics of the proposal believe that Zambia is being pressured by China, one of its largest trading partners with huge investments in the country, whose noveau riche seek ivory and products of other exotic and equally endangered wildlife species like rhino and tiger as status symbols of their newly found wealth.
It is unimaginable that there is no illegal trade going on in ivory or xanja as the Chinese call it when there are so many Chinese nationals in Zambia than at any other time. It obviously goes on in the streets of Lusaka as it did all those years ago when the onus to export the contraband was left to the Zambian contacts. Poaching with the heavy stakes involved, fuels corruption at many levels—from low level wildlife guards, to policemen manning roadblocks to customs officials who allow the goods out at ports of exit.
Ivory is a proscribed item and therefore Mwale or whoever has possession of it commits an offence under the ZAWA Act. There is no cultural excuse for wearing a proscribed wildlife animal part. If such an argument were to hold, then the Ngonis—of the fwaka yachiNgoni fame—and the old women of Gwembe must be allowed to smoke cannabis at will as they have done so since time immemorial. Here I have in mind my Lozi relatives some of whom are my mulamus, nieces and nephews to desist from wearing ivory for any reason.
Only elephants, and no one else, should wear ivory. As such, not only the Ethiopian authorities should arrest Zambians wearing ivory bangles on their territory, Zambians should also play their part for as long as elephants and elephant products remain on CITES Appendix III.

MKHONDO LUNGU, BESA CHIMBAKA ILLEGALLY IN OFFICE

2011-07-23T08:56:00.002+01:00

By GERSHOM NDHLOVU
ON Saturday July 23, I was going through my twitter messages when I saw a message story in which Home Affairs Minister Mkhondo Lungu was deriding former Solicitor-General Sebastian Zulu as a frustrated individual for allegedly attacking President Banda in the hope of getting favours from the opposition Patriotic Front (PF) if it forms government after the forthcoming elections.
Apparently, Zulu, a former Secretary-General of opposition UNIP, some 10 days before, had charged that President Banda’s administration was condoning plunder of national resources which Lungu described as baseless.
Whatever spat was there between the former—mark the word former—UNIP members was there between the two of them was not my concern, but rather that Lungu inadvertently crossed the floor, that is he changed political parties but still remains an MP and a minister, contrary to the Constitution.
The ruling MMD announced its list of parliamentary candidates earlier in the week and among them was Lungu, who together with a PF rebel MP Besa Chimbaka, had been appointed cabinet minister and deputy minister, respectively, from opposition ranks early this year.
Others on the MMD list of aspiring candidates are PF “rebel MPs” Peter Machungwa for Luapula Constituency Bahati’s Besa Chimbaka who is also Luapula Province Minister, Dr Jacob Choongo (Mwense), Faustina Sinyangwe (Matero), Majory Mwape who was MP for a Kantanshi constituency and Elizabeth Mulobeka Chitika (Kawambwa). Machungwa and Mwape will now run in Kabwata and Munali, respectively.
Other serving opposition MPs who have turned up on the MMD candidate list are none other than opposition Nchelenge National Democratic Focus (NDF) MP Ben Mwila and United Party for National Development (UPND) Namwala MP Robby Chizyuka.
Apart from Mwila who is president of the NDF, all the above MPs have been in trouble with their parties principally with issues related to the National Constitution Conference (NCC) which PF president Michael Sata did not want his MPs to attend but they defied him. As for Chizyuka, the problems he had with his party were internal disciplinary matters.
The choice on which party ticket people stand is entirely a personal matter but the problem I have with Lungu who hold constitutional offices of minister and deputy minister, respectively, and the other MPs in general is that they have knowingly or unknowingly crossed the floor—they have changed political parties without relinquishing their seats.
On the part of the MMD, it announced its candidate list without ensuring that parliament was dissolved first. If the ruling party’s list did not have opposition members on it, it would not have been a problem at all.
The Constitution is clear in article 71 (c) which says that “ in the case of an elected member, if he becomes a member of a political party other than the party of which he was an authorised candidate when he was elected to the National Assembly or, if having been an independent candidate, he joins a political party or having been a member of a political party, he becomes an independent…”
For the eight opposition MPs now cavorting with the MMD, the most honourable thing to do now is to cease, on their own, from enjoying the benefits of an MP and in particular for Lungu and Chimbaka to give up their offices which they are now occupying illegally. Unfortunately for the two, even if parliament is dissolved now, they just have to wait until they are reappointed in the new post-election government.
They can also not be nominated after parliament is dissolved but more so because the Constitution states in article 68 (3) that “a person may not be appointed as a nominated member if he was candidate for election in the last preceding general election or in any subsequent by-election.”
As it is now, Lungu cannot superintend over law enforcement wings of government because he is illegally in office.

WHAT WENT WRONG WITH STATE-OWNED NEWSPAPERS

2011-07-17T16:54:00.001+01:00

By GERSHOM NDHLOVU

“A lot of people are busy saying the MMD government is abusing ZNBC because ZNBC only covers the MMD government. Yes, ZNBC has to cover us because it shows government developmental projects...Even when Sata comes into power, ZNBC will be covering him alone. This time is our time. Those who want to be feeling bad about themselves when they wake up every day, they should be buying The Post newspapers because it always talks about negative things, saying things are bad in the country when the economy is doing well...”
Dora Siliya, Education Minister and former journalist is quoted by the Post as saying in defence of the dismal performance of state-owned and controlled media.
The view that state-owned media is supposed to toe the government, and worse, the ruling party's line is one I have often heard from government officials and, surprisingly, some journalists working for the Times of Zambia, Zambia Daily Mail and the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation. It appears to me, however, that the people purveying such a despicable view have very little understanding of the history of Zambia's media.
Equally puzzling is Siliya's position on the matter. She is one person who should know better as a University of Zambia Mass Communication graduate who should have read the media history in her first, or is it second, year of study.
Talking about the the history of Zambia, I must hasten to say that it is aptly captured in late Francis P Kasoma's seminal book, The Press in Zambia. It captures the development of the media in Zambia from 1900 up to about 1980. Nowhere in it does it say that state-owned media was created to portray government's development projects or, indeed, government's views on issues.
Sadly, state-owned media has been reduced to the ruling MMD's public relations unit. Anyway, first things first, I will not discuss the history of broadcasting, neither will I discuss the privately-owned press represented by the Post which was born in 1991.
The Zambia Daily Mail was the first newspaper the UNIP government acquired in c1969 from Dr Alexander Scott, father of politician and Patriotic Front (PF) vice president Dr Guy Scott. The weekly African Mail as it was known and started in the late 1950s tended to portray the views of freedom fighters fighting for Zambia's independence. Some of the early journalists to have emerged on this paper were Kelvin Mlenga and Bill Saidi.
The Mail transformed into the Zambia Daily Mail around 1970. Along the way it introduced the Financial Mail (1990/1) and the Sunday Mail (1992) to its portfolio of newspapers. For some reason, the Financial Mail was discontinued but the Sunday Mail, the paper I joined as a Senior Reporter in 1992 has continued as a flagship of the company.
I must say that during my time at the Zambia Daily Mail, both papers were quite critical in their reportage and feature writing. Some of the critical journalists to have walked the corridors of the Zambia Daily Mail in recent times include the late Jowie Mwiinga, late Moses Mbewe and late Nigel Mulenga, an uncompromising lot when it came to journalism principles.
As for the Times of Zambia, its history goes back to a bit earlier than that of the Mail. It was started as the Northern News under Lonrho and it was pro-colonial in its outlook serving mostly the white community on the Copperbelt. It was later to change to the Times of Zambia. Government acquired the paper in 1974.
Vernon Mwaanga served at the paper as editor-in-chief around 1972 and 1974. Even though he was appointed by President Kaunda to serve at the newspaper from the diplomatic service, he was surprisingly one of the most liberal editors who allowed journalists express themselves to the full. Actually, the outlook of the Times never changed much from the Vernon he took over from.
Mwaanga took over from Vernon Wright who was deported by the Kaunda administration after some misunderstanding between them. One strange phenomenon is that at some point, even though the Times was privately-owned, Kaunda got to appoint editors-in-chief.
Even then, the Times produced some great journalists among them the late Patu Simoko, the late Bandawe Banda, the late Desmond Mubiana, Arthur Simuchoba and even the iconic “Kapelwa Musonda”, a satire-columnist who wrote under a pseudonym.
In the current environment of fear of loss of jobs in which the ruling MMD has usurped the operations of state-owned media, the journalists I have mentioned above could not have done their jobs as they did. I suppose not even the Zambia Congress of Trades Unions (ZCTU) and its leadership led by the late Frederick Chiluba who went on to become Zambia's second republican president, could not have been covered as to be known and become a factor in Zambian politics.
Because both the Daily Mail and the Times were not quite the papers they are being made to be by the MMD government, both UNIP in government at the time and the MMD in its first days in government, ran their own newspapers which were short-lived. UNIP started the Eagle and the MMD the Herald (if I get the name right).
Things for the Zambia media started going pear-shaped in 1999-2000 when Chiluba started hankering for an unconstitutional third term. Unfortunately, there was a lot of money being thrown around to journalists and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to skew people's views in support of the political manouvre. Incidentally, this unprecedented hold on the media by a government and a ruling party has continued just over a decade later.
The media under Kaunda was very critical considering that there was only one party in power and constitutionally, no other party was allowed to exist alongside UNIP. Journalists, between 1979 and 1980, even defeated government's moves to introduce a Press Council Bill that was going to let government control the practice of journalism in Zambia. I am sure the current generation would have allowed themselves to be roughshod.

THE MMD RUNS UNDER MAFIA RULES?

2011-07-16T19:57:00.001+01:00

By GERSHOM NDHLOVU
I am slowly beginning to think that the MMD government runs a Mafia-type system where for as long as you are part of them and have kept the omerta—the oath of secrecy—you are very part of them and all your crimes are glossed over or covered up altogether.
How else can one explain the allegations of crimes that have been exposed against Kafulafuta member of parliament George Mpombo who resigned his Cabinet and party positions early last year; the threats of exposure of alleged crimes against former Works and Supply Minister Mike Mulongoti who was also expelled from the party; claims by Lusaka Province MMD chairman William Banda that Chongwe MP Sylvia Masebo was involved in illegal foreign exchange dealings or something to that effect and, the latest exposure against newly resigned Deputy Works and Supply Minister Lameck Mangani that he has not been paying rentals for the house his second wife occupies in Chipata?
Mpombo who resigned as Defence Minister, is probably the only minister and government employee to be indicted for abuse of government resources exposed by the Auditor-General’s office. As this matter is sub judice, I will not dwell on it. Be that as it may, Mpombo has suffered even more humiliation by being convicted of bouncing a cheque, making history as the first person to have ever been convicted of that case for the law that was passed a few years back.
The Ndola rural legislator’s woes followed his outspokenness against perceived weaknesses of President Rupiah Banda, the man who took over from Mpombo’s tribesman and close ally, the late Levy Mwanawasa, both as Republican president and MMD acting leader at the time. Within a few weeks of Mpombo’s resignation, he was to be a frequent guest of the state on the other side of the law.
Assuming that Mpombo was still a part of government, the ever quiet and loyal servant of the President, none of us lesser citizens would have heard about his business misfortune of bouncing a cheque, of forging imprest receipts and even owing a bank over K500 million for his farm business on the Copperbelt.
For Mulongoti, the man who had been a loyal MMD member ever since he returned as a prodigal son from the FDD and subsequently nominated and appointed minister by the late Mwnawasa, made a mistake of trying to challenge for the then vacant position of MMD vice president at the party’s convention. President Banda’s preferred candidate was Republican Vice President George Kunda.
Mulongoti’s interest in the position engendered so much acrimony, the party decided to scrap the position altogether. Mulongoti’s nomination to parliament was withdrawn and automatically lost his ministerial position. The party’s former chairman of elections continued speaking out against President Banda and the MMD for losing the democratic compass.
The position of vice president in the MMD seems to be very problematic. In 2006, President Mwanawasa suspended elections of the position, effectively making former Republican Vice President Enoch Kavindele the last elected MMD vice president, the position he assumed in 2001 after another acrimonious convention at which 22 senior MMD members including Mulongoti, were expelled.
A few days after Mulongoti was relieved of his duties by President Banda, the man he helped bring into the MMD from UNIP and later helped to get elected as Republican president, chief government spokesman and information minister Ronnie Shikapwasha asked his former Cabinet colleague to keep quiet as the government reserved the right to commence investigations against him for unspecified crimes.
As I write, do not know if any investigations have been commenced against Mulongoti but he called off their bluff by saying he had deposited some documents apparently about on-goings in government with some lawyers as well as family and friends. Whether this scared his would be tormentors or not, is difficult to say.
Even more outrageous was William Banda’s disclosure after the high profile defection of Sylvia Masebo from the MMD a few weeks ago that government would launch investigations against her for some foreign exchange crimes. Obviously, Banda was anachronistically operating in his former party, UNIP’s mindset, that possession of foreign exchange was a crime. Again, it is difficult to tell whether or not investigative wings have gone in to investigate Masebo who has since joined Michael Sata’s Patriotic Front (PF).
Another victim is former permanent secretary Susan Sikaneta who served in various ministries whom it was disclosed immediately she was associated with the PF that she was being investigated for corruption offences. Again, I am not in a position to comment on what Sikaneta has done or not done to warrant a visit from law enforcement agencies.
For the critical minded, examining these threats and counter-threats coming from the MMD and former MMD members, it appears that the ruling party holds its members hostage, even at ransom, for indiscretions if not crimes that they commit while working in either the party or, indeed, the government.
There is definitely something wrong that crimes or alleged crimes committed by people serving in government or in the MMD are only disclosed after they have left the service of the party or the government usually arising from serious differences. Those who go quietly are reappointed and their “loyalty” praised.
Maybe it explains why Gabriel Namulambe whom it was rumoured was about to defect to the opposition, said it was sweet to be a minister in the MMD government. Ironically, when Namulambe briefly fell out with President Banda, it was revealed that he had acquired seven industrial plots in Mpongwe where he is MP and once served as district secretary.
As Zambians go to the polls later this year, they need to become even more discerning and more demanding of the morality of their leaders. Maybe it is time citizens broke the MMD Mafia hold on them!

A ROLL CALL OF THOSE WHO LOVED AND HATED CHILUBA

2011-07-01T08:43:00.003+01:00

By GERSHOM NDHLOVU

I COULD not help but chuckle when a friend on Facebook asked if the funeral of the late second president of Zambia, Frederick Chiluba was a roll call of those who loved him and those who hated him.
The way a certain section of society, particularly clergy aligned to the ruling MMD and the party’s supporters have been coming out against opposition PF leader Michael Sata from the time Chiluba died, one would think Sata switched off the former president’s life support machine.
All sorts of characters, aided by certain sections of the media, want to vilify Sata for the manner he mourned or did not mourn Chiluba, someone who gave him an opportunity to serve at very high levels of government including the position of Minister Without Portfolio, de facto third in the hierarchy of government. Sata also served as MMD national secretary when Chiluba was party president.
Political observers, however, ought to know that there was no love lost, at least politically, between Chiluba and Sata from the time the incumbent president, Levy Mwanawasa died in 2008 when Chiluba declared his support for the then Vice President Rupiah Banda who contested the resultant by-election. Of course, all the time Chiluba was appearing in court for cases of the plunder of national resources when Mwanawasa was alive, no one wanted to be seen near him including George Kunda, now Vice President, who was in the forefront of prosecuting Chiluba’s cases at home and abroad.
Sata and the PF membership was always on hand giving Chiluba all the support he needed, welcoming him home at the Lusaka International Airport coming from South Africa for treatment or when appearing in court. However, this camaraderie nose-dived when Chiluba threw his weight behind Rupiah Banda’s presidential candidature, leaving Sata in a political lurch. Chiluba’s support to anyone was, rightly or wrongly, perceived to guarantee the delivery of the Copperbelt, Luapula and Northern vote.
Whatever deal was struck behind the scenes for Chiluba to suddenly stop supporting the PF which he had publicly supported between 2003 and 2003 is a matter of conjecture, but this was no longer a matter of doubt when Chiluba was suddenly acquitted and other court cases, notably the registration for local enforcement of the London judgment which found him liable for plunder, just stalled.
Sata’s friendship with Chiluba clearly hit rock bottom when the latter started campaigning for Banda, but equally, Chiluba’s support for the so-called rebel PF MPs did not help matters in their friendship. Even up to a few days before Chiluba’s death, Sata was threatening to re-start the court cases once elected president.
Sata’s non-appearance at the funeral house and subsequently at the burial at Embassy Park can be linked directly to the threats issued by Lusaka Province MMD chairman William Banda and other party cadres that those who “insulted” Chiluba when he was alive would be manhandled if they turned up at the funeral house. These threats could not be taken lightly because less than two years ago when a former MMD MP, Lameck Chibombamilimo died, people who were not in good books with Rupiah Banda were manhandled. Former Finance Minister Ng’andu Magande was badly manhandled.
Whatever the circumstances, Sata’s would have just been seen as shedding crocodile tears. However, the wily politician he is, Sata turned up at Mulungushi International Conference Centre where Chiluba’s body lay in state and viewed his body. Obviously, the schemers of the violence they were threatening against him were probably still sipping tea in the comfort of their homes. Of course there could be other reason why Sata did not visit Chiluba’s Serval Road house, Belvedere Lodge and, indeed, Embassy Park burial site. For me that Sata turned up at Mulungushi, was enough to mourn his erstwhile political colleague.
It is just political morbidity that some people want to link Sata’s future political fortunes to straight forward matters of Chiluba’s funeral. The rent-a-crowd mob baying for Sata’s blood need to grow up and understand, first and foremost, that funeral matters are private and two, no one wants to expose himself or herself to violence or the threats of it. It would have been gullible for Sata to walk into William Banda’s trap hoping to come out a hero with a broken nose and a tattered jacket like Magande.

HOW PREVALENT IS HOMOSEXUALITY IN ZAMBIA?

2011-06-15T15:13:00.004+01:00

By GERSHOM NDHLOVU

The self-confession by Mazabuka resident, Joseph Mfula, of his homosexual dalliances with a Portuguese expatriate, Francisco Vasco Dubrito Vale in the 1980s, once again brings the issue of homosexuality in the Zambian society to the fore. Whether Mfula’s confession is a bid to link opposition Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata to homosexuality and his support for it as being historical is difficult to tell.
Before I go into what is generally known about homosexuality in the Zambian society, I woud like to state what Chapter 87, the Penal Code of the Laws of Zambia, says about homosexuality.
Section 155 (c) states that any person who permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him…the order of nature commits a felony and liable, upon conviction, to imprisonment for a term not less than fifteen years and may be liable to imprisonment for life.
Section 158 (1) states that “…any male who, whether in public or private, commits any act of gross indecency with a male…person, or procures a male…person to commit any act of gross indecency with him, or attempts to procure the commission of any such act by any male person with himself or with another male…person, whether in public or private, commits a felony and is liable, upon conviction, to imprisonment for a term of not less than seven years and not exceeding fourteen years.”
Subsection (2) states the same as Subsection (1) but in respect of females. By virtue of the above sections of the Penal Code, Mfula has committed or did, indeed, commit an offence at the time he used to have sex with Vale regardless of whether Mr Sata witnessed the sexual activities.
It is imperative to state, however, that this is not a legal write up arguing about the merits or demerits of the case but neither is it a political treatise in support of any politician or political group. This write up, as stated above, is the perception and knowledge, if any, that people have about homosexuality in Zambia.
Apart from knowing that homosexuality is unlawful in Zambia, I doubt that a lot of Zambians know the specifics of the law on the practice. I will, however, safely bet that most Zambians have an idea about what the bible says about homosexuality. The oft-quoted book in the bible on the subject is Leviticus, in particular chapter 18 verse 22 which states: “…do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.”
The issue of homosexuality has arisen publicly in Zambia at various times but most notably in the mid-1990s when then outspoken Zambia Independent Monitoring Team (ZIMT) president Alfred Zulu attempted to register Lesbian, Gay and Transgender Association better known by its acronym LEGATRA whose object was to speak for the people who were practicing homosexuality.
One or two people came out to publicly admit their homosexuality and portraying that they were representative of a number of others who were forced to live a sheltered sexual life because of the Zambian culture which does not tolerate or even admit homosexuality.
Zulu at the time said although few had come out in the open, "we have statistical evidence to the effect that there are over 500,000 homosexuals in Zambia, some of them are senior public figures. But they are too jittery to identify with LEGATRA openly." (Read related story here)
The social and political pressure proved too much in this constitutionally proclaimed Christian nation. Blame was, as usual, put on the western donor community for sponsoring LEGATRA with claims that the concerned western countries where homosexuality is legal, wanted to import foreign cultural practices into Zambia. LEGATRA did not last long. It had come with a bang, it fizzled out not even with a whisper.
Another time when homosexuality became a public issue was when Vice President George Kunda as leader of government business in parliament, accused some people he did not name who were critical of the MMD government of being practising homosexuals.
But it is what the PF leader said in an interview with a Danish media team that has taken the homosexual debate to another level leading to the MMD distributing pictures of males kissing and being in sexually compromising positions. The ruling party and sympathetic Non-Governmental Organisations sympathetic to it vilify Sata on homosexuality at every opportunity as a result.
The icing on the cake came this week when Mfula publicly confessed that he used to be engaged in homosexual activities with Vale who was a friend of Sata’s.
The question to ask is, should homosexuality be reduced to Mr Sata (read related story here) , or is it a bigger problem than it is being presented? As stated above, over 15 years ago, ZIMT through LEGATRA had established that there were 500,000 homosexuals in the country. The population was smaller then but with the population at over 13 million, the figure could even be higher.
For as long as I have been conscious of socio-cultural issues, I have heard stories of sodomy in prisons, a matter that is never officially acknowledged. What is equally not known is what support is given to ex-convicts who had been exposed to sodomy while in prison or if they go on into society to practice their new sexual orientation. (Read related story here).
But, equally, there is always chatter about homosexuality in society. For a long time, there have been rumours of homosexuality involving a named late Lusaka businessman of Greek origin who was into property development who is alleged to have been luring male students for sex by lavishing them with cash and other presents. Unfortunately, no one has ever come out publicly to admit same sex liaisons with the businessman.
In Ndola in the 1990s, there were rumours among people working in the crude oil/fuel industry complex of Bwana Mkubwa area of an Italian expatriate they called Santo Petro who is alleged to have had a passion for same sex liaisons. Again, no one ever admitted to have been sexually involved with Santo Petro apart from pub talk about his activities.
As much as homosexuality is a touchy subject, maybe Zambia needs more Joseph Mfulas to come out and share the stories so that citizens get an idea of the depth of the practice.

DO US A FAVOUR MR PRESIDENT, ANNOUNCE ELECTION DATE

2011-05-05T21:59:00.001+01:00

By GERSHOM NDHLOVU
Granted, the current Zambian constitution gives the President the prerogative to announce an election date in an election year. However, going by the history of the nation, this prerogative has been taken to ridiculous levels by the presidents that have led Zambia at one time or another.
Zambia’s presidents keep the date so secretively it is almost treasonous to even speculate on it. It appears, especially in the multi-party dispensation of the last 20 years, an incumbent president wants to keep his opponents in the dark and spring the date as a surprise when the ruling party, in this case the MMD, has put its logistics in place.
As the nation hurtles towards the 2011 elections, everyone except the president and perhaps his closest circle of advisors, are just speculating on the date. For opposition parties that want to start campaigning are being told it is illegal to do so while the ruling party’s candidate and head of state, Rupiah Banda has been in campaigning mode since the elections that brought him into office in October of 2008.
In advanced democracies such as America, presidential elections are held on a fixed date every four years such that it is easy for all the players to prepare for elections years in advance. In the UK, while elections can be called at any time, the usual time table is that elections, local government or parliamentary elections, and this year a referendum, are held at the beginning of May.
But even as the constitution stipulates in the Zambian case, there could and in fact there should be an administrative arrangement where an election date is “fixed” say at the end of October when historically most of the national elections have been held before.
The MMD, PF, UPND, NAREP, other political parties and, most importantly, the citizens who constitute the electorate, are important players in the electoral process who should have an idea about what is going on at every stage. This does not in any way make the president who announces the date any more important than all these entities and citizens. This is the more reason who should, by the beginning of the year, indicate when polls would take place in an election year.
The argument that the delay to announce the poll date is to allow the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to put logistics in place for “ smooth” polls does not hold water because the commission has five years from one election to another, save for occasional by-elections that occur in between.
It is these deliberate hurdles that lead to perpetual accusations of rigging of elections by both opposition parties and voters. There is absolute need to curtail such presidential excesses even in such otherwise straightforward matters when the Constitution comes up for review again. So do us a favour Mr President, announce the election date now!

PVT OR NO PVT, TO TRUST ECZ OR NOT TO

2011-03-12T22:22:00.004Z

By GERSHOM NDHLOVU
ACCORDING to Wikipedia, the free internet encyclopaedia, Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) is an election observation methodology that is employed for independent verification (or challenge) of election results. It involves observation of the voting and counting of ballots at the polling stations, collection of official polling station results and independent tabulation of these results, parallel to election authorities. If the PVT is performed on statistical sample of the polling stations, it is called Quick Count.
Organizers from the Philippine National Citizen Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), says Wikipedia, are widely recognized as the pioneers of the quick count, or parallel vote tabulation (PVT), in emerging democracies. During a 1986 election for President, NAMFREL attempted to mirror the official count of all 90,000 polling stations. They performed a remarkable task in collecting data from the majority of polling stations, and they were instrumental in helping uncover the massive vote counting fraud attempted by Marcos supporters.
The will of the people of a country is the basis for the authority of government, and that will must be determined through genuine periodic elections, which guarantee the right and opportunity to vote freely and to be elected fairly through universal and equal suffrage by secret balloting or equivalent free voting procedures, the results of which are accurately counted, announced and respected. A significant number of rights and freedoms, processes, laws and institutions are therefore involved in achieving genuine democratic elections. This according to the 2005 Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and Code of Conduct for International Election Observers, a document endorsed by, among others, the African Union and the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (Read full report here)
But, unfortunately, PVT has sent the Zambian ruling MMD government and its supporters into overdrive threatening Civic Organisations that want to conduct it in this year’s upcoming elections, and its advocates with arrest. The government and those against PVT are foretelling fire and brimstone in the event that PVT is allowed to be carried out. The anti-PVT lobby is giving examples of countries where PVT has allegedly brought about problems, among them, Ivory Coast where both, the sitting president Laurent Gbagbo, and opposition leader Alassane Ouattara have claimed victory and declared themselves president.
I, however, would say that PVT which was conducted by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network in Zimbabwe in 2008 prevented the country’s Elections body from manipulating the results in favour of President Robert Mugabe just in the first round. But since the Elections body was caught out, it took it six weeks to announce the results which saw the election going into a second round run-off from which opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirayi pulled out because of violence against his supporters that was perpetuated by ZANU PF supporters.
As for Ivory Coast, the Constitutional Court, chaired by Gbagbo’s crony, overturned the results announced by the Electoral Commission.
Zambia’s Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Ronnie Shikapwasha who is also Chief Government Spokesman and National Assembly Speaker Amusaa Mwanamwambwa have gone further to say that it is only the Electoral Commission of Zambia that is mandated to announce election results. That, for me, is definitely without doubt but what is at issue is the trust, or worse still, the lack of it that the ECZ attracts.
Much as the argument that there are legal mechanisms in place to challenge elections is concerned, the history of Zambia has been such that once a president has been sworn in, no petition by opposition parties has been ruled against the incumbent president even in the face of glaring evidence of electoral malpractice. To make matters worse, petitions have been known to drag on for years to an extent that by the time they are concluded, it is only a year before the next election.
Election rigging is not so much about stuffing ballots, but what is done before and after the elections. First and foremost, the ruling government which controls some of the media, does not allow such media to give coverage to opposition parties for them to sell their manifestoes and reach out to potential supporters. In the event that the ECZ were to mis-count and erroneously, or most likely deliberately, announced a presidential candidate as a winner, verifying presidential ballots is not easy as PF’s Michael Sata discovered at the last elections when he lost to President Rupiah Banda.
In all this, we are not saying that the MMD should lose elections. On the contrary, we want the MMD to win and win convincingly and the opposition to lose and lose conclusively without crying “rigged”! This is the reason why both the ECZ and the government as the overall overseer of the ECZ, should work on trust that people should repose in the commission. The raving and ranting by government officials and pro-government NGOs is just arousing suspicion as to what the motive of the ruling party is.

MIKE MULONGOTI DISMISSAL: CURTAINS UP FOR 2011 POLLS

2011-02-19T14:03:00.002Z

By Gershom Ndhlovu

A few weeks ago, on social network site Facebook, I sent the following message to MMD spokesperson Dora Siliya:
“The MMD has just finished holding a series of provincial conferences at which provincial executive committee members notably chairpersons who are also members of the national executive committee, have been elected.
“In most cases, competition for the position of chairperson was discouraged and most of the rivals stood down at the last minute after being spoken to by the acting MMD president, Rupiah Banda who is also head of state. The move by President to talk out some candidates brings to question the “democratic” credentials of the party which has democracy in its name.”
Siliya sent me the following response: “What is good about MMD is that we are able to have internal democracy through negotiations, compromise, elections and dialogue. At the end, the voice of the majority prevails. Even when one individual tries to believe it's about them the party works out to show them that it is about the ideals of MMD based on a development agenda. In Southern, Northern, Copperbelt and Central there were more than one candidate.”
It is quite shocking that barely a few weeks later, MMD chairman for elections Mike Mulongoti should be dismissed as minister of works and supply and has his nomination as MP withdrawn for trying to stand up for democracy in the MMD. However, Mulongoti may not receive a lot of sympathy because he himself was quite abrasive to people like former defence minister George Mpombo who had been airing their views about democracy within the party.
Mulongoti should have defended the same principles he is defending now that he is gunning for the vacant position of party vice presidency, the post for which President Banda is supporting his Republican Vice President George Kunda. A lot of candidates at provincial congresses were pressurised to stand down and allow those that President Banda desired to work with. It is these people that Mulongoti should have spoken for before he ended up tying himself in knots, setting him at cross purposes with President Banda whom he says he, together with the late Benny Tetamashimba, brought into the party
Whatever the case, Mulongoti raises valid questions about democracy, or more appropriately the lack of it, in the MMD. If President Banda wants to choose the people he wants to work with in the MMD, then there is no point in holding provincial congresses and the national convention at which members are supposed to elect their representatives in the party.
Looking at the MMD now, it is a very different institution from the party that held its first convention at the beginning of 1991 which whose elections were truly and genuinely democratic. Those that have followed subsequently have degenerated into a handpicking circus.
In 2001, up to 22 senior MMD members were barred from attending the convention and challenging for the positions of their choice including that of president, which incidentally then President Frederick Chiluba was still interested in despite serving the constitutionally allowed two terms.
The 2005 convention did not equally go well as the then President, Levy Mwanawasa, froze the elections for the position of vice president apparently because he did not like some of the people that were likely to win the poll. In his words, he alleged that some candidates wanted to buy the position through bribery. The position has been vacant since then and the irony of it is that it is the same position that has burnt Mulongoti’s fingers.
May be the drama unfolding now just goes to show that the run up to the 2011 elections and what goes with campaigning is upon the nation and more drama is in store and as I say “watch this (political) space.”

CUT THE PRETENCE OF THE UPND/PF PACT

2011-01-21T16:58:00.003Z

By Gershom Ndhlovu

The UPND/PF, or is it the PF/UPND, Pact has squandered the people’s goodwill with which it was welcomed when it was announced just over two years ago. Truth be told, this political alliance between the two opposition parties is going nowhere. It is high time the two leaders, UPND’s Hakainde Hichilema and PF’s Michael Sata, faced up to reality and went their own individual ways.
Going by the history of elections in Zambia, which are normally held between October and December, political parties taking part only have nine to eleven months to prepare for the local government, parliamentary and presidential polls. For the two Pact parties to be still talking about the possibility of harmonising, rather than polishing their joint, manifestoes, policies and other strategies is too little too late.
The two political parties squandered their chance to consummate their “marriage” in June of last year when they officially announced the formation of the Pact at a rally in Lusaka. It was there that they should have told the nation their way forward regarding the manifesto, policy, leadership and strategy-wise. The statements coming out of the two parties now are not helping matters at all.
The danger is that if both the UPND and the PF hang on to the Pact which, for all intents and purposes, only exists on people’s lips rather than on paper, they will disadvantage themselves because by the time elections are announced, they will not be ready regarding who is to be their joint candidates at local government, parliamentary and most importantly, their presidential candidates.
If the two parties were serious with their Pact, the citizens would have by now known the presidential candidate picked by representatives of the two parties and the bickering going on, would have been behind them. What should have been remaining at this point in time was to tighten the last bolts and nuts of the government-in-waiting.
The most unfortunate development of the Pact’s existence is that the two parties have rarely held rallies together or at least acknowledged one another at these fora. It would appear to any discerning eye is that there is a lot of distrust between the two parties. Both leaders also think they are better placed to be the presidential candidate.
“While it is true that choice of the PACT Presidential candidate is important, the Joint Economic, Social and Good Governance programme is even more important as this is the basis upon which the citizens of Zambia are pinning their hopes on for a better Zambia.
“UPND believes that reaching consensus on the joint Economic, Social and Good Governance programme and the choice of Presidential candidate (together with other positions) should be taken as a package, not in isolation. In any case, the UPND’s considered view is that whoever is chosen to be PACT Presidential candidate should commit to the agreed Economic, Social and Good Governance programme.”
Principally, the above quote from the UPND’s statement of a few days ago underlines fundamental points making it reluctant to give away its position of leading the Pact. On the other hand, it appears that the PF derives its strength in being the second largest party at least going by the number of MPs in parliament and possibly that its leader, Sata, emerged second in the 2008 presidential by-elections.
Going by media stories, it appears that the PF is in full swing campaigning for itself in almost all parts of Zambia including the perceived UPND strongholds. From this alone, the UPND should abandon the pretence of the existence of the Pact before it is too late, to go out and campaign for itself in areas where it is patently weak such as the Copperbelt, Luapula, Northern, Eastern and parts of Central Province before it is too late.
The PF has also not refuted media stories of its potential cabinet which did not have any member of the UPND in it. This in itself shows how whoever came up with that list views members of the Pact partner party. This error of omission or commission could have been understandable early last year but it coming out early this year, especially unrefuted, is inexcusable.
Both the UPND and the PF should realise that the presidential poll parade is not shrinking, but rather expanding. Before the two parties know it, there will be eleven presidential candidates, obviously most of them pretenders, on the ballot paper. This is the time the two parties take decisive action on what they want to do instead of pulling the wool over people’s eyes about the existence of a Pact that is not there at all.
For now, I say to both Hichilema and Sata, cut the pretence about the existence of the Pact, or come up with something more concrete.
(Read related stories/posts here and here)

THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR VIOLENCE, SAYS MMD’S DORA SILIYA

2011-01-04T16:10:00.000Z

By GERSHOM NDHLOVU

In one day on January 4 2011, Dora Siliya, the MMD national spokesperson and minister of education has broached the issue of political violence in Zambia three times on her Facebook page. It is obvious that for her to bring up the issue for discussion, it is something that is of concern at the highest level of not only the ruling party but government as well.
In her first posting of the day, Siliya wrote: “As a Zambian I call upon all young people to refuse politics that glorify violence. It's unfortunate that some people are bent on making violence part of Zambian politics and are preaching doom as we head toward election. Real doom is not just a word but violence that can destroy our country. Let our voices be heard to be against violence. God bless.”
In the second posting of the day, Siliya, in response to a contributor on her thread, wrote: “… I could not agree with you more. Unless at family, household level, we condemn violence, vulgar language, hatred, and simply bad manners, we should not expect good values to permeate our society. Let's all look at ourselves and our homes and end violence in all forms. Let your voice be heard in this fight against violence.”
The recent most telling effect of political violence is the recent nullification of the Mufumbwe by-election which had been won by United Party for National Development (UPND)’s Elliot Kamondo by the High Court. The nullification followed the successful petitioning of the elections by losing MMD candidate Mulondwe Muzungu on the basis of violence that characterised the run up to the by-election.
Perhaps, the most ominous harbinger to the violence that has become entrenched in the country’s body politic is that which characterised the Chawama by-election in 2001 when then newly formed Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) fielded Geoffrey Samukonga who was clearly the favourite to win the by-election after the then Member of Parliament Christon Tembo, now late, resigned from the MMD.
His resignation from the MMD had been precipitated by violence at the party’s national convention at which he and 21 other senior members had been barred to attend it for opposing the then Republican and MMD President Frederick Chiluba who had wanted to go for an unconstitutional third term. It was not surprising that there was violence in Chawama shortly after that convention.
Before the Chawama violence, a taste of what violence was to come was unleashed by MMD supporters at Kulima Tower Bus Station who waylaid people who had attended a rally at which Republican Vice President Gen Tembo, MMD vice president Gen Miyanda and other senior MMD members had joined the opposition to denounce Chiluba’s third term attempt.
The Chawama violence is, rightly or wrongly, blamed on Michael Sata who was then MMD national secretary. He himself did not last long in the ruling party after a National Executive Committee (NEC) outsider, Levy Mwanawasa was anointed as Chiluba’s heir. Sata had felt he was the rightful heir having backed Chiluba’s third term attempt and fended off people like Miyanda and Tembo.
Worryingly, in recent times MMD cadres have been issuing public threats to harm people speaking against President Rupiah Banda’s leadership. Those that have borne the brunt of the MMD cadres’ ire have included FDD president Edith Nawakwi who was publicly threatened with rape if she continued verbally attacking Banda, Mongu Catholic Diocese Bishop Paul Duffy for saying that people in Western Province were ready to kick out the MMD, and Father Frank Bwalya, a former Catholic radio station manager, who launched a “Red Card” campaign to kick Banda and his MMD out of power.
Some MMD cadres even publicly claimed that they had a militia with which they would go after Banda’s critics. However, following a public outcry against these proclamations of threats of violence, the MMD suspended two of the most vocal members, Chiko Chibale, a Kitwe district MMD official and Alex Mubanga, a Ndola District official.
Most telling of the creeping violence within the MMD was that which broke out early in December in which supporters of incumbent Lusaka Province chairman William Banda clashed with supporters of his opponent Nolobe Kuliye which forced the postponement of the provincial council at which a new executive was to be elected.
In responses to Siliya’s Facebook posting, William Banda has not been spared the blame of perpetuating political violence within the MMD and against the opposition, notably that which broke out during the Chilanga by-election nominations at Chilanga Basic School late last year in which UPND president, Hakainde Hichilema was caught up.
However, Siliya had this to say in one of the day’s Facebook posts: “And I see that many people want to reduce violence to simply William Banda or Sata's violence in Chawama and Kanyama where people where maimed with panga(s) or even UPND in Mufumbwe. No, this is a fight against violence by all decent Zambians. You have no excuse to excuse any violence. Let your voice be heard.”
The question I ask is, is Siliya taking leadership in the fight against violence and rightly so? Can she take the fight off the social media network into the public domain which the citizens are asking of the MMD?

IS DEMOCRACY IN THE MMD REGENERATING WITH MULONGOTI AND CHITI’S VOICES?

2011-01-01T13:32:00.002Z

By Gershom Ndhlovu

It is now very difficult to follow pronouncements coming from the MMD regarding elections to the National Executive Committee at the forthcoming convention. Some NEC members, provincial executive members of various regions and low-level district and constituency officials have at various times stated “their” positions on which positions are to be contested, which ones are preserved for which candidates and, indeed, those that would be contested by a sole candidate.
Notably, the positions of president and vice president have generated a lot of interest. A number of MMD members at all levels have stated, obviously against the party’s constitution, that President Rupiah Banda who is acting party president would not be challenged at the convention while some cadres have indicated their support for Republican Vice President George Kunda for the position of party vice president.
So far, only Nason Msoni has indicated that he would challenge Rupiah Banda but whether his challenge would have an impact or not, is another matter. It is, however, the position of vice president that has attracted a number of candidates including the last elected MMD vice president Enoch Kavindele who has openly declared his interest.
Others who have been mentioned include Mike Mulongoti who is the current chairman for elections and Captain Austin Chewe who contested the same position at the last convention but it was frozen following allegations of serious vote buying among candidates. The MMD has never had a vice president since.
But what has prompted Mulongoti to come out with the statement that all ruling party positions will be open for contest at the convention? First and foremost, this statement should have been made much earlier when junior officials started talking about the Banda’s sole candidacy because these statements sent wrong signals to political observers and MMD sympathisers. Secondly, it appears that Mulongoti was forced to make the statement--not that it is unwelcome--when the George Kunda lobby started gaining ground.
Another very sober statement was that of MMD legal affairs committee chairman, Bwalya Chiti, who said all MMD positions including the presidency have always been contested. Again, Chiti should have clarified just after the low level cadres started calling for Rupiah’s sole candidacy.
“If you look at every election of the MMD, there has always been contestation of all the positions, the presidency included. That is the MMD, okay! So why should you fear? I think people who fear are fearing their own shadows, or it is a creation by candidates who may want to ensure that some people do not participate by creating that fear,” Chiti said.
This is exactly what happened prior to the 2001 convention when all the provincial councils, except Lusaka led then by Dr Boniface Kawimbe, supported the then Republican and MMD president Frederick Chiluba to not only go for the third term as Republican president but for the same as party president. Unfortunately, the party constitution was even amended to allow for it.
It was the Republican constitution that not only proved difficult, but it also undid all the man had stood for in terms of democracy and his other achievements. The person who succeeded him for both positions, Levy Mwanawasa, now late, even removed his presidential immunity and for the next seven who was to frequent courts of law like a common citizen on allegations of plunder of national resources.
I wonder why some people want to liken the MMD to other parties that have not had conventions or have been led by single leaders since their inception. The MMD to a generation that fought Kaunda’s one party rule is as important as UNIP is to those who fought against the colonialists. It would be good if it held aloft the standards and ideals that its founders and interim leaders such as Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika, Mbita Chitala, Arthur Wina, Humphrey Mulemba and even Chiluba set out with.
If the MMD was to easily morph into what UNIP had been before it, where no one was allowed to challenge President Kaunda, Zambians could have as well allowed UNIP and Kaunda to continue in power. But the irony here is that President Rupiah Banda comes from the UNIP background, a party whose membership he has never officially denounced. With him, is another UNIP stalwart William Banda who only joined the ruling MMD less than six years ago.
Perhaps with more and more sober and wiser voices of people who know the MMD constitution start rising up in the party, people who have been put off by undemocratic tendencies supported even by some of the most educated people within, will start cheering it once again.

RIKKI’S RE-MASTERED MUSIC, MEMORIES AND NEED FOR CULTURAL REVIVAL

2010-12-31T17:55:00.001Z

By GERSHOM NDHLOVU
During the gift-buying frenzy period a few days to Christmas, I did not know what gift I was going to buy my brother who was supposed to come from London to the little town I live in, to the south west of the British capital. I trawled the shops and websites but couldn’t come up with any idea until I saw a re-mastered CD of Rikki Ililonga and the Musi-O-Tunya entitled Dark Sunrise.
I placed an order hoping that it would turn up in time for its wrapping and placing it under the Christmas tree. However, in the days before Christmas it snowed very heavily disrupting the delivery of post which in turn delayed the arrival of the CD. As it also turned out, my brother and his wife could also not come.
The CD arrived two days before New Year. A day passed before I could unwrap it from its cellophane and, of course, the first disc of this two-disc set I played was the Musi-O-Tunya one. The reason is simply that anybody my age remembers this group particularly its song Wings of Africa.
I know that competent people have already reviewed the CDs and it is therefore not my mission to do so. It is the memories that listening to these songs bring to me. The songs transport me right up to my place of birth in Kitwe, where I did my primary and secondary schools. But most importantly, I am transported back in time to the neighbourhood I grew up in Kwacha township.
Older boys who were my elder brothers’ peers, used to play these songs on their Philips mono record players whose speakers they used to put in gourds to boost speakers. And because our neighbourhood did not have electricity then, they used batteries which they could put out in the sun to recharge them. We also used to listen to these songs on Livingstone-assembled two band ITT radios.
But it also reminds of the numerous songs we used to listen to blaring from the juke box at the nearby Mukwae Tavern, ranging from solo Zambian musicians such as Nashil Pitchen Kazembe, Peter Tsotsi Juma, Smokey Hangala to groups such as Super Vina, the Witch, Mulemena Boys and many more. Newer groups like Juligzya Band, Serenje Kalindula Band, Makishi, Masiye, etc, also emerged.
When I went to the University of Zambia while frequenting Chibuku taverns in Kalingalinga, Mutendere, Kaunda Square and other Lusaka townships, there I listened to a lot more Zambian music most of which has now disappeared from the public domain. And when I briefly worked on Radio Mulungushi, now Radio 4 of the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation in 1989, I was exposed to a lot of Zambian music.
Sadly, this music in private hands was on vinyl which was largely forgotten, even gotten rid of because compact cassettes replaced record players and later CDs came on the scene. But sadder still, most of these bands fazed out of the scene either through economic circumstances and also that most of these musicians died from AIDS. In some cases, entire band members were wiped out.
This music has largely disappeared from the public domain and there is no way of laying hands on it. Music is a bigger component of a nation’s culture. Zambian music is no exception. The re-mastering of Rikki Ililonga and Musi-O-Tunya’s music should be extended to other musicians and other bands for its preservation and diffusion to wider audiences. The market for such music would not be lacking as the voracious consumption of CDs such as Zambiance, attests to this yawning market.
If anything, a Malawian on Facebook was asking for the music of the Burning Youth, a band that created a storm on the Zambian music scene in the mid-1990s.
I mourn this loss of Zambian music the same way I mourn the loss of art works of one artist by the name of Donald Ndalachani Chisanga who could qualify as the Zambian version of Banksy, the elusive British artist who paints on public walls under cover of darkness. Chisanga painted the walls of taverns in the Lusaka townships I have mentioned above.
One memorable painting of Chisanga’s was a wall mural we referred to as “Ninali Kumaliro Mbuya” depicting a monkey telling a mouse how he is never seen on paydays and when he reappears, he is always asking for beer from friends.
This is probably why Zambia needs a ministry seriously dedicated to cultural issues so that the country does not only renew what has already been created, but promote the creation of new cultural artefacts of all forms, not excluding music.

Killing the Messenger: Corporate Media and Politicians v. Julian Assange and Wikileaks

2010-12-05T08:12:00.000Z

Killing the Messenger: Corporate Media and Politicians v. Julian Assange and Wikileaks

HENRY KYAMBALESA ON THE DRAFT CONSTITUTION

2010-06-27T11:15:00.001+01:00

Dear NCC Commissioners:

I wish to join other Zambians in acknowledging your extraordinary effort, determination and commitment to review the Republican constitution and give our beloved country a new constitution that is expected to stand the test of time.

In this connection, I wish to make a few comments and suggestions designed to make the new constitution more acceptable to the majority of Zambians, and more credible in the eyes of the international community.

1. The Preamble: The first three paragraphs of the Preamble should read as follows:

We, the people of Zambia, by our representatives assembled in our Parliament,

Acknowledge the supremacy of God Almighty;

Uphold the right of every person to enjoy that person’s freedom of conscience or religion; …

The Republican constitution should be a neutral document that should not appear to discriminate against atheists or pagans, or those who believe in Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, or Jainism. All these segments of Zambian society have a genuine stake in the Republican constitution and, therefore, deserve to be respected in spite of the fact that they are not currently as large as their Christian counterparts.

2. Christian Values and Principles (Article 16): This Article should be removed because “directing the policies and laws towards securing and promoting Christian values” or beliefs would be inconsistent with “upholding the right of every person to enjoy that person’s freedom of conscience or religion” that is enshrined in the Preamble. It is also not consistent with what is enshrined in Article 96(2)(a) of the Bill, which states that a political party shall not be founded on a religious basis, among other things.

If it were permissible for the national government to generate “policies and laws towards securing and promoting Christian values …,” why would it be wrong for a political party to fashion its existence and contemplated policies and laws that would have a religious bearing?

If there is a compelling and absolute need for this Article to be retained, however, the “Christian Values and Principles” will need to be specifically defined in the same manner as Article 10 (Political Values, Principles and Objectives), Article 13 (Socio-Economic Values, Principles and Objectives) and Article 15 (Cultural Values, Principles and Objectives) are defined.

3. Promotion of Sport (Article 19): This Article states that “The Government shall promote recreation and sports for the citizens.” It could more appropriately and logically be incorporated into Article 13 (Socio-Economic Values, Principles and Objectives).

4. Qualifications of Presidential Candidates (Article 108): The requirements that presidential candidates should have a bachelor’s degree as a minimum academic qualification, and to have been resident in Zambia for 10 consecutive years preceding any given presidential election are clearly designed to exclude certain individuals from contesting the Republican presidency.

It is obvious that these two clauses could not have been recommended by the NCC if the MMD presidential candidate in the 2011 general elections -- that is, Rupiah Banda -- did not have a degree and had been working or studying in a foreign country over the last 5 or so years.

The degree requirement, for example, is undesirable and outrageous for the following reasons:

(a) It is not based on evidence from Zambia or anywhere else in the world suggesting that a president’s competence is directly related to his or her academic qualifications. In other words, it is mainly based on hunches rather than on facts!

(b) There is no academic degree offered anywhere in the world which can equip an individual with the qualities that are needed in political leadership, such as emotional stability, patriotism, selflessness, fair-mindedness, patience, compassion, tolerance, respect for the rule of law, and the ability to make compromises with people who have dissenting views.

(c) Most academic degrees are not designed to equip students with the requisite knowledge and skills relating to political or national leadership.

(d) The number of years which have passed from the year someone obtained a degree to the present reflects on the relevance of the degree involved. A degree obtained during the 1980s, for example, is generally useless if the holder is not engaged in teaching or other professions which require the application of the knowledge and skills acquired during the pursuit of the degree.

(e) The Republican president appoints qualified advisors to provide him or her with decision inputs in dealing with legal, economic, political, and other matters.

(f) The Republican president is expected to appoint competent government ministers and charge them with the responsibility of advising him or her on matters relating to national projects and programs, and spearheading the implementation of such projects and programs.

(g) The clause, if it is eventually included in the new Republican constitution, will inevitably require all office bearers (including the vice president) who are constitutionally expected to take over the presidency under special circumstances to be holders of academic degrees. And

(h) The kinds of national policies, projects and programs a presidential candidate promises to pursue are more important than his or her educational attainments.

There is, therefore, a need to retain Article 123 (1) (e) of the Willa Mung’omba draft constitution, which states that a person would only be qualified to be a presidential candidate if he or she had obtained the minimum academic qualification of a Grade 12 certificate.

With respect to the 10-year residence requirement, what is really the rationale for such a Clause? What is it supposed to achieve?

There are many reasons why Zambians temporarily reside in foreign countries, such as to pursue studies, to work for the Zambian government in foreign missions, to work at foreign-based branches of companies registered in Zambia, to pursue investment opportunities, or to seek employment due to the widespread unemployment currently obtaining in the country.

These are all good reasons why some Zambian citizens have, now and again, found themselves temporarily residing in foreign countries. Why, then, should their native country’s constitution deny them the opportunity to vie for the Republican presidency?

There is a need to remove this requirement because it discriminates against citizens who temporarily live in foreign countries for good reasons.

Over the years, the people’s call for a non-discriminatory Republican constitution that is expected to stand the test of time has been loud and clear. Unfortunately, those who are entrusted with the noble task of delivering such a constitution to the people seem to have personal and/or partisan stakes in the constitution-making process.

I, therefore, wish to urge each and every member of the NCC to heed the people’s call for a Republican constitution that will meet their needs and expectations in order to save financial and material resources that are likely to be devoted to another constitutional review commission in future.

Thus far, Zambia has wasted a good portion of its meager resources on financing the Chona Constitution Commission, the Mvunga Constitution Review Commission, the Mwanakatwe Constitution Review Commission, and the Mung’omba Constitutional Review Commission. There is, therefore, a need for the NCC to put personal and partisan interests aside and give the people a more acceptable constitution this time around.

5. Appointment of MPs to Executive Positions: The Bill requires that the Vice President, Provincial Ministers and Deputy Ministers should be appointed from Members of Parliament (Articles 128, 130, 131 and 132). This is an outdated and backward requirement for a burgeoning democratic system like ours.

We, therefore, need Articles and/or Clauses which would provide for the appointment of the Vice President, Provincial Ministers and Deputy Ministers from Zambians who are qualified to be elected as MPs, but who are not MPs. Such Articles and/or Clauses are important for the following reasons:

(a) They can afford a Republican president or President-elect a larger pool of competent people from which he or she can constitute a Cabinet.

(b) They can provide for greater separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches of government.

(c) They can afford presidential aspirants enough time to identify potential ministerial appointees well before tripartite elections rather than waiting for parliamentary elections to be concluded. And

(d) They can reduce the apparent work overload on government officials who have to handle both ministerial and parliamentary functions.

6. Defence and National Security (Part XVI): There is a need to create an additional Article in this Part of the Bill relating to the Zambia National Service (ZNS).

Henry Kyambalesa
www.agenda123.com/
kyamba@zambia.co.zm

FULL STATEMENT: CSOs RESPONSE TO THE LAUNCH OF THE NCC DRAFT CONSTITUTION

2010-06-25T17:30:00.000+01:00

The Civil Society Organisations listed below, cautiously welcome the launch of the draft constitution and reports by the National Constitution Conference (NCC) for public comments. It is a trite fact that the constitution review process has unnecessarily been long and divisive- instead of rallying Zambians together around a common cause. It is a process where the interests of the general public, have been sacrificed at the altar of political expediency. It is our sincere hope therefore that the launch of the draft constitution and report will go a long way in uniting Zambians in coming up with a people-driven and people centred constitution. The Zambian people have long desired for a constitution that commands their respect and obedience, a constitution that addresses their aspirations for a fully democratic country- where the rule of law is paramount and the ordinary man and woman- recognized as full participants in national development. As Governance and Development CSOs, we have had our concerns and apprehensions about the whole process of adoption of the draft constitution via NCC and we have previously expressed our worry about the long delay in concluding this exercise – and we are still concerned about the prospects of Zambians going to the polls in 2011 on the current constitution knowing fully well the inadequacies of the electoral process and systems.

It is our intention to engage in this process mainly by sensitizing the general public on what the NCC is proposing and allow them to participate from a well informed basis. We will additionally continue to advocate for the adoption and enactment of a new constitution, which is anchored on commonly shared democratic principles. We do however, note with sadness some inadequacies in the whole process of receiving comments from the public and we are concerned that these could affect the participation of the majority of Zambians. Some of our observations are as follows:

1. The launch of the draft constitution and report took place without a prior notice. Indeed the public generally knew that the report would be launched soon but NCC should have taken a leaf from the Electoral Commission of Zambia which has been running public notices in the mass media to sensitise the public of the voters registration exercise. NCC, knowing fully well that the public only has 40 days to comment on the draft constitution, should have preceded the official launch with public sensitization – unless the intention is not to have as many people participating in this exercise;

2. There is an apparent lack of preparedness for this exercise and this can be illustrated by the fact that the launch to place at the time when Government Printers is still printing copies of the documents, all the websites mentioned had not uploaded the document for access by the public and the issue of translation is not yet decided. In the meantime, the countdown of the 40 days has begun. These are basic logistics which should have been put in place before the launch – and if people cannot yet access these documents – what was NCC launching?

3. It is a pity that translation of the draft constitution and report is not a given and contingent on availability of resources. NCC and the Government should have prioritized public participation as opposed to the largesse spent on endless sittings of the NCC. We are worried that this whole process will soon become exclusive and the preserve of the literate –and yet every Zambian should have a say on this important document and efforts should have made to ensure that this is possible.

4. It is our considered view that the NCC Chairperson should have taken advantage of the launch of the draft constitution, to equally avail to the public – a programme of how the NCC was going to facilitate public engagement in this process. For instance, is the NCC going to organize public meetings and if so- where and when? Further details should have been given on how rural areas which are far away from the district centres are going to access the documents. The question which still lingers is how will communities in the rural and remote areas participate in this process? Is the NCC in discussion with Churches, NGOs or other stakeholders working in these areas to reach out to these communities? Related to the above, it necessary that NCC indicates how many copies of the draft constitution and reports will be or has been sent to each district and how the people can access these copies.

5. Another issue of that requires clarification from the NCC is the manner in which differences between what the NCC is recommending and what the people and institutions who comment on the draft constitution and reports will be resolved. For instance, the NCC, in their draft constitution has proposed a minimum degree qualification for a prospective presidential candidate; assuming that the majority of the people and institutions (more than the numbers at the NCC) canvass for removal of this article- how will NCC handle this development? It is important that the process of reviewing and integrating the proposals from the public is made clear from the onset so that this does not turn out into an academic exercise where people take time to read the document and suggest changes and yet the NCC and Government remains adamant on what they would like to see in the final document.

6. Given the stage that this process has reached and some of the issues raised in the draft constitution, it is necessary for Government to present a full roadmap as to what will happen after 31 August 2010. There should be a sense of forward planning on the part of Government and thus ensure that this process does not stall after August 2010 but reaches its logical conclusion. Government, for instance, should consider appointing a Referendum Commission who should start working out modalities for a referendum as soon as possible. Such a step, will be a sign that Government really means well and that a new constitution is a possibility before the next elections.

In conclusion, we wish to underscore that these constitutional reforms should, at all cost, promote the common good and all those engaged in managing this process, should ensure that the final document that is adopted and a constitution bill subsequently enacted, is one that embodies the vision and aspirations of not just the current generation but even sets a foundation for generations to come. We do not want to see this process started all of over again in the next few years simply on grounds that partisan or sectarian interests were promoted as opposed to national interests.

Signed:

Caritas Zambia
SACCORD
TIZ
Citizens Forum
NGOCC
JCTR
CTPD
CSPR
ZCSD

STATEMENT BY CHANGE LIFE ZAMBIA TO MARK THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE ORGANISATION AND PROMULGATION OF THE THEME FOR 2010 NAMELY “THE CHANGE WE WANT”

2010-05-31T09:19:00.002+01:00

This month May 2010 Change Life Zambia (CLZ) celebrates its first anniversary having been registered on 22nd May 2009. As we observe this occasion we praise God for sustaining us in the midst of hostility. We trust that God will continue to guide us in the struggle for a just society.
We believe that our country requires radical change to usher in upright, patriotic, innovative, pragmatic and selfless leaders that should accelerate development and steer our country to the kind of prosperity that offers a better life for all Zambians especially vulnerable citizens. Against this background, we reiterate the importance of mobilizing people to transform Zambia’s social, economic and political landscape for improved living standards for all.

UNVEILING THE 2010 THEME
We wish to inform the public that the theme for 2009 namely “Change or Die, Zambia” has transformed into a new theme for 2010 namely “The Change We Want”. We are very happy to observe that the theme for 2009 has achieved its objective of raising awareness on the vital need for change. It is now clear that many Zambians appreciate the inevitability of positive change for Zambia to reverse its serious situation of regression and hopelessness. Moreover, poor people in our compounds and villages also know that the only solution to their suffering is change.
For the next one year under the new theme “The Change We Want”, CLZ will implement programmes and activities to facilitate the drawing up of a People’s Manifesto (PM). This will be a document that will outline some cardinal and priority changes that the government to be formed after 2011 should implement to move the country forward. We shall lobby voters to demand adoption of the PM as a condition for them to vote for any party or candidate that will take part in the 2011 general elections.

NEED FOR A PROACTIVE ELECTORATE
CLZ desires to see a proactive citizenly that should not wait for politicians to state what they would do if voted into office but a situation where the people would demand desired changes in exchange for their vote. We believe that time has come for Zambians to demand critical changes as a condition for any political party to get their valued vote.

NEED FOR FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS
For many years now our people have been denied a genuine and happy national election victory party where supporters of the losing party or candidate would share a drink and make merry with those of the winning party or candidate. Instead we have sporadic violence after elections and the reason is that majority of our people believe that elections are rigged in favour of the ruling party.
Against this background, CLZ demands affirmative action by government and other stakeholders to ensure free and fair elections in 2011. We believe that failure to implement drastic measures to guarantee free and fair elections will be a great danger to our peace and stability.
Hence, we repeat our condemnation of electoral violence and other forms of politically motivated violence. Moreover, we add our voice to that of various organisations and eminent citizens calling for action to stop electoral violence.
Therefore, we are scandalized and shocked to note that the MMD party has concerned itself more with the loss of the Mufumbwe seat to UPND/PF pact than with the loss of blood and life that happened in Mufumbwe.

CONCLUSION
We call upon our members and sympathizers to continue praying for justice in our country conscious of the reality that peace and development are fruits of justice. We also urge them to pray for national leaders committed to establishing a just society where all live in harmony as brothers and sisters.

Fr Frank Bwalya
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

MARSHAL PLAN FOR WESTERN AND LUAPULA PROVINCE

2010-05-20T19:06:00.001+01:00

Sakwiba Sikota,ULP,Luapula,Western

wrote:

MARSHAL PLAN FOR WESTERN AND LUAPULA PROVINCE

MARSHAL PLAN FOR WESTERN AND LUAPULA PROVINCES

The United Liberal Party (ULP) is calling on government to develop a Marshall Plan to help accelarate development in Western and Luapula provinces. The Marshall Plan we are proposing is similar to the “Marshall Plan” for Europe, announced 60 years ago by US Secretary of State George C. Marshall on June 5, 1947, which set Europe on a path of economic development and ultimately led to the formation of the European Union. Our “Marshall Plan” should be called the “Zambia for All Plan”.

Western and Luapula Provinces have consistently emerged as the poorest provinces in most surveys conducted by the Central Statistics Office with the incidence of poverty remaining between 75 and 84 percent of the total population. This is not to say that other provinces should be excluded from the development agenda of the country. We are simply calling on government to put Western and Luapula Provinces as priority areas in the development process in order of agriculture, health, education and directing investment from the Foreign Direct Investment projects.

The ULP feel that in order to get greater equity within the country it is necessary to pay extra attention to the two least developed provinces in the country. The aim of any government should be to ensure that no province or region is left behind in development. The statistics we have show that the two provinces which are lagging behind in terms of development in Zambia are Western and Luapula Provinces.

Compared to other provinces Western and Luapula Provinces are least developed in terms of education, agriculture, health infrastructure, road infrastructure and Direct Foreign Investment which is channeled to the province. There is a need for Government to increase funding in these areas so that Western and Luapula Provinces can catch-up with the rest of the country in terms of development.

In surveys conducted by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on the access to basic amenities such as safe drinking water Western Province has the lowest percentage per household. For example Western province has the lowest proportion of households with access to electricity which stands at 3.5 percent. Yet electricity is one of the major sources of energy that can help accelerate development in the country.

The proportion of households without a toilet facility is highest in Western Province at 53.4 percent, followed by 33.2 percent in Southern Province and 21.5 percent in Eastern Province. Lusaka Province has the largest proportion of households with access to safe water (96 percent) while Northern Province and Western Province have some of the lowest proportions of households with access to safe water in the country. Luapula Province has some of the highest deficiencies in nutrition among children resulting in stunting levels well above the national average of 54.2 percent. Luapula Province also has levels of poverty above 75% of the population.

The “Zambia for All Plan should deliberately target groups that represent medium and low-income groups who are in the category of subsistence living. The targeted groups should not be less than 50 000 households, representing the rural population. The “Zambia for All Plan” for Western and Luapula Provinces should also aim at reaching directly to at least 15 000 farming families in each Province including those living below the subsistence level.

Funds should also be provided in the “Zambia for All Plan” to target female-headed households which have been on the increase as a result of high HIV/AIDS infection. Investment in health should also target women and girls because they are the most vulnerable in terms of HIV/AIDS infection. The poorest provinces in Zambia deserve all the necessary efforts from government to reduce the high levels of poverty. Government should include the “Zambia for All Plan” for Western and Luapula Provinces in the “6th National Development Plan” for the country.

ULP challenges all the other political parties to publicly declare their commitment to having the least developed provinces being given special attention which will bring them to simillar levels of development with other provinces.

Sakwiba Sikota SC

President

United Liberal Party (ULP)

May 17, 2010

PRESIDENT BANDA CONDEMNS TRIBAL POLITICS (FULL STATEMENT)

2010-05-13T18:04:00.003+01:00

(Unedited for this blog)

STATE HOUSE
LUSAKA
THE REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA
Media Statement
For Immediate Release

PRESIDENT BANDA CONDEMNS TRIBAL POLITICS

LUSAKA, May 13, 2010 – His Excellency, Mr. Rupiah Banda, President of the Republic of Zambia, on Thursday condemned the emerging culture of tribal politics saying tribalism is a cancer that will destroy the country if condoned.

The President said it was disheartening to see politicians sink so low as to be debating tribal politics in this modern era at the expense of developmental issues. The President said it was not possible for him to appoint a cabinet of 73 people in order to have all the tribes in Zambia to be represented in cabinet. He said cabinet ministers are appointed on merit regardless of tribe, race, sex and creed as per Zambian constitution.

President Banda said he felt vindicated by comments attributed to Paramount Chief Mpezeni that he has not appointed a Ngoni in his cabinet. President Banda, who is Chewa/Ngoni by tribe, said the comments by Paramount Chief Mpezeni showed that he was not a tribalist because he has not appointed a single cabinet minister from his own tribe.

The President said the media should also avoid giving prominence to tribal remarks as they have the potential of sparking hatred and violence as witnessed in a number of countries. The President appealed to his Cabinet Ministers and ruling party officials to avoid getting involved in tribal politics.

President Banda also challenged the media to do a thorough scrutiny at State House and see whether it was true insinuations by some politicians that he has appointed his tribesmen in key positions in his office. He said almost all provinces are represented at State House at very senior level.

Issued by:

Dickson Jere
SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT
PRESS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

ULP PRESIDENT SAKWIBA SIKOTA ON THE NEED FOR GOVERNMENT TO PLAY GREATER ROLE IN MAIZE PRODUCTION AND MARKETING

2010-05-10T18:02:00.001+01:00

(Unedited for this blog)

MILLERS NEED TO COLLABORATE WITH STAKEHOLDERS

The United Liberal Party (ULP) is calling on government to play a greater role in the production and marketing of maize in order to help stabilize the liberalized market system in the milling industry. Government needs to introduce legislation that will stop deliberate market distortions and to protect consumers of maize-meal.

We are not calling for the reintroduction of price controls but legislation that will compel millers to declare stocks of maize in their shades on a monthly basis. Compelling millers to declare maize stocks will help the Ministry of Agriculture to get the correct picture in terms of the availability of maize in the country and adequately prepare for any back-up supplies that may be required.

Millers as handlers of a strategic commodity and a staple for this country need to seriously coordinate their activities with government to avoid the shortage of maize and un-necessary price hikes. Maize as a strategic commodity needs to be jointly handled by all stakeholders including farmers, millers of maize-meal and the government.

Millers should also help to stop the exploitation of small-scale farmers by briefcase buyers who are in most cases are selling the maize to millers of maize-meal. Millers can systematically help stop the abuse of the open market system of marketing maize by buying directly from the small-scale farmers to avoid the middlemen who exploit the farmers.

The poorest in our communities are the hardest hit by the break in the supply chain as a result of lack of proper communication between the millers and the small-scale farmers; the poor spend the highest portion of their income on food and with meagre budgets already overstretched they cannot be expected to keep on absorbing high prices of maize-meal.
Considering the five most widely consumed food types in Zambia, maize meal, white sugar, tea, milk and bread in terms of very poor consumers, maize-meal contributes about 54 percent of energy intake. Reduced consumption of maize meal is likely to affect the daily energy intake among the poorest of our population.
If not handled properly the issue of maize-meal prices can destabilize the relative peace we are enjoying. All past riots have been centred on high prices of food including maize-meal.

Hon. Sakwiba Sikota SC
President
United Liberal Party (ULP)
May 10, 2010

HON. SAKWIBA SIKOTA'S STATEMENT TO MARK WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY WHICH FALLS ON MAY 3

2010-05-03T14:24:00.003+01:00

(Unedited for this blog)

PRESS FREEDOM

All Zambians including the state and corporate institutions should be at the forefront of protecting media independence in the country. A free press plays a key role in sustaining and monitoring a healthy democracy, as well as in contributing to greater accountability, good government, and economic development.
Most importantly we should guard against any restrictions on the media that could affect freedom of the press because most often they could indicate an impending assault on other democratic institutions.
All stakeholders including media institutions should stop controlling the viewpoints that should reach citizens and repress independent voices who aim to promote accountability, good governance, and economic development.
The press should also play a role in ensuring freedom of the press is protected by thoroughly investigating issues and providing balanced reporting. While there is no reason that justifies restrictions on media independence, reporting half truths has led to unnecessary assaults on the media.
The legal environment for the media should also be designed in a way that will not allow political pressures that influence reporting, and economic factors that affect access to information to thrive.

Hon. Sakwiba Sikota SC
President
United Liberal Party (ULP)
May 3, 2010

ULP PRESIDENT, SAKWIBA SIKOTA'S STATEMENT ON TRADE SURPLUS AND LABOUR

2010-05-01T18:25:00.003+01:00

(Unedited for this blog)

TRADE SURPLUS AND LABOUR

Reports that Zambia in March this year recorded a trade surplus amounting to K 752.9 billion resulting from increased exports in metal products is a good development for the economy. Government should take advantage of this and ensure that the increased trade surplus is sustained and diversified so that the larger percentage can also include processing consumer and capital goods.

There is need for government to take measures that will increase the share of processed capital and consumer goods on trade surplus from 6.6 percent of total exports to around 30 percent. What we are proposing is a workable initiative that can benefit the economy and increase employment levels.

For example according to information obtained from the Central Statistics Office the bulk of the trade surplus (75.1 percent) is from copper cathodes and some refined copper. Again copper and other metal ores such as cobalt account for 19.3 percent of the total trade surplus attributed to raw materials.

Similarly if government can support the non-mining industries to increase the volume of their exports by processing consumer and capital goods it could translate into thousands of jobs being created to meet increased demand. Relying on copper for the bulk of our exports is a risky business transaction that urgently requires to be resolved by supporting non-mining industries to produce high quality products for export.

As we celebrate Labour Day, the trade surplus should also be viewed from a broader perspective. It should be viewed not only in monetary terms, but because it also represents one of the ways that we can use to transfer semi-skilled labour to the modern production systems of processing raw materials to finished goods locally. Currently general trade in raw materials and refined metals account for over ninety percent of the trade surplus, this needs to be changed.

Government support to non-mining industries will help the export economy to move from relying on general trade in copper, to providing rapid growth of the processing trade of non metal commodities that can help to sustain the trade surplus for many years and increase demand for skilled labour. The trade surplus should be used to help create job opportunities for the thousands of un-employed University and College graduates around the country.

Government should also encourage the setting up of labour intensive industries to provide employment opportunities for the backlog of unemployed people and also to help broaden the tax base. Farming, Agro Processing, small scale manufacturing and tooling should be among the priority areas that can help create employment.

Hon. Sakwiba Sikota SC
President
United Liberal Party (ULP)
May 1, 2010

FATHER FRANK BWALYA'S STATEMENT TO MARK ONE YEAR OF HIS REMOVAL AS RADIO ICENGELO STATION MANAGER

2010-04-30T18:25:00.001+01:00

(UNEDITED FOR THIS BLOG)

PRESS STATEMENT
ISSUED BY FR FRANK BWALYA
KITWE
30TH APRIL 2010

PREAMBLE
Today April 30th 2010 marks one year since I was removed as Radio Icengelo Station Manager and decided to take leave of absence from active priestly ministry. Many of you will remember that on May 1st 2009 I made a public statement during which I addressed a number of vital national and personal issues. During the same live studio based press conference I announced my decision to take leave of absence from active priestly ministry. My statement was published in form of a booklet and some Zambians have a copy. The media in Zambia especially the Post Newspapers reported the events very well.
Today, I have decided to address you again to share with you what I have gone through during the last one year. I will also inform you about what follows in my life after the end of my leave of absence. Moreover, I will address a number of personal issues as well as burning national issues. I must hasten to emphasise that my press statement is not prompted by president Rupiah Banda’s hate speech recently in which he shamelessly and obnoxiously attacked me alongside some opposition political leaders.
Before I proceed, let me recite my mission statement.

The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight,
to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.
(Luke 4:18-19)
Let me now revisit what happened, what cause conflict between me and government and my subsequent removal from Radio Icengelo.

A REMINDER OF EVENTS THAT CAUSED CONFLICT
In March last year Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC), a body comprising all Roman Catholic Bishops in Zambia issued a pastoral letter called “A Call to Integrity”. When the vice president George Kunda who claims to be a Catholic responded to the letter he accused the Bishops of aligning themselves to a particular political party. The response by Mr Kunda was ridiculous and completely baseless. I considered it childish and I actually made a statement to the same effect and I promised to do radio programmes on Radio Icengelo to translate the pastoral letter into Cibemba so that ordinary people would understand what the Bishops said and therefore appreciate my terming as childish the response of learned Mr Kunda. I called the programmes “An In-depth Analysis of the Bishops’ Pastoral Letter Call to Integrity”. The response to my programmes pointed to an overwhelming agreement that the government’s response to the Bishops’ pastoral letter through Mr George Kunda was childish. That’s when trouble started brewing.
This truth angered the MMD party. So during a demonstration on 18th March 2010 held in Ndola they made scathing attacks on me and the Catholic Church in Zambia. The MMD demonstration was covered by state media in the same fashion they give prominence to state sponsored hooliganism.
On 19th March 2009 I made a statement that I would make a comprehensive response to the allegations the MMD on the Copperbelt levelled against me at a press conference the following week on Wednesday 25th March 2009. Due to public demand I later decided to move my press conference to Saturday 28th March 2009 at Buchi Hall in Kitwe.
At this stage the MMD and the state got into panic mode and started evil schemes to cage me and ensure that I don’t address a public meeting to respond to them. They behaved in a typical manner of someone who starts a fight they can’t handle.
Falsehoods were spread that I was forming a political party and these malicious lies were told to Catholic Church authorities in Ndola diocese under which I fall. The state media especially The Zambia Daily Mail splashed these lies. To cut a long story short, the MMD government finally succeeded in influencing the Catholic Diocese of Ndola to remove me as Radio Icengelo Station Manager.
Hence on Friday 1st May 2009 I bid farewell as Radio Icengelo station manager during a live studio based press statement on Radio Icengelo and I also announced my leave of absence.
The government thought by removing me from Radio Icengelo and eliminating my voice from the waves of this community radio they had succeeded in shutting me up. They were very mistaken.

BIRTH OF CHANGE LIFE ZAMBIA
After my removal from Radio Icengelo it became necessary to form an organisation to continue civic education programmes I was doing through various radio programmes. That is how Change Life Zambia Limited was conceived with the following aims;
1. To mobilize, harness and direct the power of citizens for transformation of Zambia to achieve improved living standards through positive change in the areas of democratic governance, social and economic development for the benefit of all Zambians especially vulnerable groups;
2. To promote the emerging of new leaders, especially young women who are selfless, visionary, strategic, pragmatic and patriotic;
3. To promote entrenchment of high ethical standards in public life;
4. To support processes which safeguard the independence and integrity of State Institutions;
5. To sensitize the masses of their rights so that they can demand for them as well as for transparency and accountability from elected leaders.
The organizational vision of CLZ is; “To be a powerful agent that contributes to positive change in Zambia for sustainable social, economic and political development that guarantees welfare and integrity of citizens especially the marginalized” whereas the vision for Zambia is; “A Zambia where all citizens live above the national poverty datum line, are educated about their rights and national leadership steering the nation towards accelerated social, economic and political development.”
I was appointed first Executive Director. Since then governments determination to silence me using all kinds of schemes and blatant persecution has become more pronounced. Here I remember the words of Jesus to his opponents;
“Do you know why you cannot take in what I say? It is because you are unable to understand my language. The devil is your father, and you prefer to do what your father wants.”
(John 7:43-44)
WHAT I HAVE GONE THROUGH
The public now knows that I have been a target of smear campaigns by the MMD government and some of such persecutions are instigated by Mr Rupiah Banda himself using hate speeches at various national and MMD party functions. The state media has been used to vilify me and isolate me from my Church and the general public. The Times of Zambia, Daily Mail and ZNBC have carried vicious and clearly malicious reports about me. They have tried to paint me as a blood thirsty man bent on causing genocide in our peaceful country, and for them peace means lack of armed conflict. They have also tried to orchestrate treason charges against me.
It is clear that the state media has been used as propaganda tools to peddle lies and all kinds of falsehoods about me. The offence I have committed to deserve this treatment is exercising my prophetic role by challenging the inept, selfish and corrupt government of Mr Banda.
I have been denied access to community facilities for meetings and other public functions in a manner that is reminiscent of the one party state. In fact we are back in the one party state culture and that is why today politicians and party cadres masquerading as police officers can try to influence a medical doctor to discharge from hospital a convicted sick political opponent just to ensure that he rots in our pathetic prisons. This is a manifestation of devilish and sadistic behaviour. We can’t go on like this. We should stand up and oppose this intrinsically immoral conduct.

VIOLATION OF MY RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
My rights and freedoms have been violated by the state and its agents and it makes me convinced that we are on the verge of losing some of our gains in entrenching democratic culture and liberal multi-party politics. My ordeal speaks volumes about the injustices and torture our people are subjected to everyday.
MMD cadres have publicly threatened to beat me up and even kill me if I insist on exercise my constitutional rights and freedoms such as free expression, association and assembly. On the other hand President Banda has continued to stimulate hate, anger and violence against me through his hate speeches. Mr Banda has accused me of instigating confusion and violence in Zambia. He has called me a mad man and at least one over-zealous police officer has joined him in branding me as a mental patient. Mr Banda has even gone to an extent of lying that I was no longer a Catholic priest all in the futile attempt to isolate me from my church and those who support me for what I stand for.

LIFE HAS BEEN TOUGH
Life in general has been very tough for me and sometimes I felt that I was exhausting myself for nothing but the words of Scripture have provided much needed consolation and grace to forge ahead. Particularly the words of Scripture in the Prophet Isaiah provided much needed steam;
“He said to me,
‘You are my servant Israel in whom I shall be glorified’;
while I was thinking, ‘I have toiled in vain, I have exhausted myself for nothing’; and all the while my cause was with Yahweh, my reward with my God.
I was honoured in the eyes of Yahweh, my God was my strength”
(Isaiah 49:3-5a)
Even within a Church institution some people associated with me have been targeted. These poor people have had their employment contracts not renewed whereas others have been fired from their jobs just for being perceived as my friends. And when I tried to speak out on such social injustices, heavy handed measures were taken to twist my hand and ensure my silence over such injustices. But I will not stop speaking out for the poor and I believe that one day soon God will answer their prayers.
I have suffered but I have not surrendered. I have been pressed but not crushed. I have been pushed but not moved.
I will continue to speak for the people. I will continue to criticise bad governance, corruption, violence and mediocre leadership. I will also continue to condemn government structures and practices that perpetrate ignorance, disease, hunger and poverty. I will also continue to condemn the greed and selfishness of leaders in our country especially those that occupy public and elected office. It was for this that I was born and if I do not do it I am doomed. So I will not succumb. Jesus tells me; “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both the body and soul in hell.” (Mt 10:28)

GRATITUDE TO INDEPENDENT PRINT AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA
The government has lamentably failed to destroy my character and crush my spirit thanks to independent and objective electronic and print media in the country and abroad that have given me fair coverage to rebut the notorious and poisonous falsehoods that Mr Banda’s government has been spreading about me. Without these media outlets the state would have succeeded in destroying my reputation.
Against this background, I am an ardent proponent of free media in Zambia and I am totally opposed to statutory regulation of the private media. I also advocate the transformation of state controlled ZNBC into a public service broadcaster. I urge all private media to resist attempts by the MMD government to compromise them and turn them into propaganda tools.

RUPIAH BANDA MUST BE STOPPED
If Mr Rupiah Banda is allowed to continue using threats and intimidation to limit the space for social dialogue and liberal democratic engagement he will succeed in crippling all governance institutions including civil society organisations and the media. When this is done Zambia will have to forget about keeping in check the excesses of government let alone demanding transparency and accountability in the way it manages public affairs. Against this background, Rupiah Banda’s attempt to silence critical and divergent views in our country should be stopped before it is too late. It is even more inevitable to stop him now that the 2011 tripartite elections are around the corner. He must be made to understand that the behaviour of his government is at variance with the democratic culture we have been entrenching since 1991

THE RED CARD CAMPAIGN
The red card campaign is not Fr Frank Bwalya’s campaign. If it were, no one in Zambia and the world at large would have paid attention. As a matter of fact, the Red Card is a peaceful public expression of discontentment over the manner our corrupt government has failed the Zambian public on a number of issues. The major issues that serve as the basis for the campaign were outlined in the 2010 Buchi Declaration which was promulgated on Saturday 27th February 2010 at the first ‘Save Zambia Conference’ at Buchi Hall in Kitwe. The declaration was published in the Post Newspapers for a number of days and received fair coverage from independent and objective media in Zambia and abroad.
Unfortunately, our corrupt government has made fundamental errors and they are determined to hang on to these errors such as the refusal to appeal against the clearly dubious acquittal of Dr Frederick Chiluba for embezzlement of public funds. As such, their response to the red card campaign has been senseless, arrogant and abusive. Mr Rupiah Banda has called it madness and a recipe for confusion and violence. The appeal of Zambians to him and his government is to focus on the issues the red card campaign has raised and address them. So we call upon Mr Banda not to panic. We urge him to stop spiting abuse against those taking part in the campaign. We demand that he exercises mature and responsible leadership by addressing the real issues at stake.
However, we wish to assure his government that we are law abiding citizens and we shall not engage in any unconstitutional means to remove his government.

THE RED CARD CAMPAIGN CONTINUES
Zambians are determined to continue red carding the foul behaviour of government.
Thousands of people have so far secured a red card and I am sure that if government doesn’t address the issues that have been raised before the end of this year, close to 3 million people will join the campaign. Against this background, Mr Banda’s recent statement that people on the Copperbelt had refused to take part in the campaign was wishful thinking. I challenge him to stop using the police to block us so that we can publicly demonstrate the popular support the red card campaign has received in the province.
Nevertheless, Mr Banda will soon be shocked. Since he has started using the chopper to avoid seeing red cards, we are going to encourage our children to make red kites and fly them the next time Rupiah tries to fly around in Copperbelt air space. At the Kuomboka his reaction was white beret. We can’t imagine his reaction to red kites in the skies maybe he will stop flying around wasting our money. I ask him to look forward to a red card welcome when he comes to the Copperbelt Agriculture Mining and Commercial Show in Kitwe and the Trade Fair in Ndola.

DANGER OF WIDESPREAD VIOLENCE IN THE RUN-UP TO 2011 GENERAL ELECTIONS
The parliamentary by-elections we have had have exposed the levels of panic and desperation on the part of Mr Rupiah Banda’s government and their resolve to retain power at all costs. I fear that our country will be plunged into chaos instigated by those who want to hang on to power in total disregard of the will of the people. Against this background, it is accurate to say Zambia hangs over the pit of chaos and total confusion by a slender of thread. It is therefore urgent to implement measures to deter political parties especially the ruling party from acts of electoral violence. The government and its puppet Electoral Commission of Zambia has no capacity to handle this matter especially that the ruling party has vested interest and it is the main culprit in instigating electoral violence and corruption.
We should therefore appeal to the international community and SADC in particular before it’s too late bearing in mind that the elections in 2011 have the sure potential to build or break Zambia. Moreover, free and fair elections next year are a must and one sure way to maintain law and order after the polls.

I FEAR THAT I WILL NOT GET A FAIR TRIAL
The general public is now aware that I have been appearing in the Kitwe Magistrates court facing a charge of conduct likely to breach the order of peace and I will appear next for continued trial on 8th June 2010. I fear that I will not get a fair trial because of the clearly prejudicial comments by President Rupiah Banda. During his shameful and grossly embarrassing press conference on Tuesday 20th April 2010 in Kitwe, President Banda commented on my matter before court and said he was annoyed with me for promoting violence and he accused me of causing confusion at the celebration of Youth Day in Kitwe on 12th March 2010. This is not the first time he has made such clearly prejudicial statements regarding my case. It seems to me that the position of Mr Banda is that I am guilty until proven innocent. This is contrary to the law of our land. It is clear that Mr Banda means to send a strong signal to the magistrate handling my matter to convict me and send me to jail for the misdemeanour I allegedly committed. This is a violation of the law and my right to a fair trial. I will instruct my lawyers to raise these issues accordingly.

YES MY FACE IS UGLY
My face is ugly because it bears the marks and scars of our poor people who suffer in our country at the hands of an inept, corrupt, heedless and selfish regime. Mr Rupiah Banda and his friends have access to the good things of life that enhance the dignity of a human being.
For them, they look good even when they are taking T.B. drugs and or life prolonging ARV drugs because they eat well in a country where one out of every two children is malnourished. They look good because they sit in planes and air conditioned offices swinging in expensive chairs at the expense of reducing unemployment and poverty especially rural poverty which now stands at 80 percent.
Their wives and daughters can buy expensive skin care products to make them look good whereas my Zambian sisters and mothers are bitten by the sun every day as they struggles to sell sugar cane, groundnuts, maize etc. My face bears the scars of these who suffer hence I can’t afford excess flesh on my face like Mr Banda neither can I afford fatty skin fed on sumptuous and exotic foods, distilled alcohol and sweet cakes etc.
My appeal to Mr Banda is, please improve the economy, create jobs for our people and maximise opportunities for local people to ran successful businesses. Only then will I also access the good things of life and be as good looking as Mr Banda and his friends. Otherwise, I continue to play my role as “John the Baptist” preparing the people for the kind of change that offers the promise of a better life for all, a change that will restore social justice and respect for economic rights of all Zambians.
Against this background, I will never agree to challenge Mr Banda in a beauty contest. Besides the man has been a champion in his kind of games from the time he was a boy in school. He publicly brags about it.

ULTIMATUM TO APOLOGY IS OVER
The ultimatum given to Mr Rupiah Banda and his government to apologise over the genocide accusations levelled against the Catholic Church in Zambia has expired. It is now time to make them feel unwelcome at our functions. We need to treat him and his government as “pagans or tax collectors”.
“If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain any charge. But if he refuses to listen to these, report to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community treat him like a pagan or a tax collector”
(Mt 18:15-17)
MY LEAVE OF ABSENCE
My initial one year leave of absence ends today. I have written to my new Bishop Right Reverend Dr Alick Banda but I can’t say the contents of my letter. In the next coming few days, I will inform the public about what will follow. Until then my leave continues. I must state that I will respect and obey the decision of my Bishop and I will inform the public accordingly. So, please don’t buy Mr Rupiah Banda’s lies and cheap propaganda that I am not a Catholic priest anymore. Statements that I have been suspended by Mr Mwansa Mbulakulima are also just a heap of political rubbish. I have been on leave and I will soon announce the way forward.
I must also mention that I love my priesthood and despite my weaknesses I have tried to be a good priest for my Church and the wider community. It is my firm belief that God will continue to show me the way.

GRATITUDE
I thank God for sustaining me through the kindness of various people. I am indebted to my immediate family and the Christian fraternity for their love and care. I appreciate the support given me by independent and objective media such as the Post Newspapers and others.
I say thank you to all that have supported me in various ways such as saying a prayer or sending an encouraging text message. God will reward you all a hundredfold.

CONCLUSION
The wheels of change have started turning in Zambia. So let us continue collecting fire wood so that we can generate as much steam as possible to drive this change. We should all sacrifice to guarantee a better life for our children and their children.
We should be confident that change is on the way because the people have spoken. Let us remember the Latin dictum “Vox populi vox Dei” translated as “The voice of the people is the voice of God”.
God bless Zambia.

Fr Frank Bwalya

DESPICABLE BEHAVIOUR OF THE ZAMBIAN POLICE

2010-04-16T19:21:00.002+01:00

I received this account from a friend who has gone back to Zambia after his studies abroad. He was recently caught up in a serious misunderstanding with the police over a real estate deal that went sour but he was nowhere near being connected to it but was simply a case of mistaken identity. It is unbelievable, in this day and age, that Zambian Police could be have like this

Something very strange happened to me in Lusaka last month:

I'm responsible for a family residential unit which has been under renovations and expected to be rented out. My church reverend [acting as an agent] recieved an anonymous call from some "prospective tenant"; whom we agreed to meet at noon that day. At the rendezvous point, five men and a white lady turned up; physically dragged us [my reverend and I] to their vehicle and seriously assaulted us when we tried to run away -- they even threatened to shoot us with two pistols if we resisted. As this white lady drove; from Chilenje - Interland - State House - Kabulonga - Mass Media - Arcades Mall - Ngombe Police; we demanded an explanation of what was happening. They turned out to be cops and accused my Reverend [BG] swindling the white lady out of millions of Kwachas. After some back and forth, they released us with the officer in charge stating as follows: "It's unfortunate that we got the wrong man, we instead are looking for a Mr AG. You may not have noticed but one of those people you found at our offices identified you as negative. Please understand that it is necessary form time to time for us to be aggressive because we have no clue over the kind of people we're dealing with. Furthermore, your identity was forwarded to us by a private investigator so it's not exactly our fault."

I couldn't believe my ears and was shocked at the level of incompetence. More so, when we tried to use standard procedure to lodge a complaint [and an assault charge] against the officers involved, we were told that such events were "very usual" and " very common" in their line of work. Clearly, nothing would come out of our effort to bring these fellows to retribution -- therefore,our only option is to take them to high court in their individual capacities and hope something can be done about this. I believe that such men do not deserve the badge of our beloved police force.

ZAMBIA NEEDS A PROGRESSIVE AGENDA FOR CHANGE

2010-04-04T19:59:00.002+01:00

By Trevor Simumba

ZAMBIA today is at an important economic and political crossroads. Many patriotic citizens are asking what has happened to our great nation? In 2010 we face a dangerous uncommon breed of Zambian advocating anarchy and violence to remove a properly elected Government with a ‘red card campaign’. Politicians are daily hurling insults and threats against each other forgetting the suffering masses? Where is our country going? Where are the patriotic national leaders to speak up on behalf of the people? Many are cowering hiding away while others behave as minions daily praising their leaders. The country is in a shameful state where we do not respect the rule of law and, parts of the media and civil society have become toothless mouthpieces’ of local and foreign interests. It is important that we acknowledge the truth and not bury our heads in the sand.

At independence in 1964, Zambia had one of the most vibrant economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, which was supported by a strong mining industry. Today, Zambia has more than two thirds of its people living below $1 per day and GDP per capita is now one of the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa. We are now classified as a Least Developed Country and a Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC). The Government has in the past been bold enough to undertake severe fiscal and monetary policies to achieve the HIPC Completion Point and generate more foreign aid. However, this success has been on the basis of a foreign imposed austerity programme that bears no relation to the reality on the ground for the ordinary Zambian.

Zambia is not poor and we can reverse all these negative statistics within 10 years if we unite and use our natural resources in a prudent manner. What is required is a locally owned and developed National Plan of Action (not foreign prepared and donor dependent Vision 2030) and the Political Will to implement the right policies over a sustained period of time to create the conditions that will allow the country create wealth and through that defeat poverty.

I urge all peace loving progressive Zambians to rally around this plan and let us focus on securing the future of our children rather than fighting over power. Our plan should be to restructure the economy to: create jobs, provide adequate incomes and to meet the basic needs of our people. The current political discourse in Zambia calls for progressive citizens to articulate and embody their values, embracing the metaphorical, cultural, and emotional quality of political thought rather than to focus on gaining power no matter the cost to the nation. The question one would pose is, what exactly has Rupiah Banda done that is so wrong that he must be removed from power using unlawful means? Why will the so called civil society and Pact not wait for 2011 and use the ballot to gain power?

Someone once said that “let us follow the Prince of Peace, not the dogs of war” because “those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” – Voltaire. We are being daily bombarded by negative misleading headlines promoting tribalism and making Zambians think in tribal lines rather than as national citizens. The big question is why are the men and women who are tasked with security in Zambia sleeping on the job and allowing known people to continue to subvert and circumvent our nation’s freedom and unity? There is need for the President to act decisively and ensure Zambia remains ‘One Nation, One Zambia’.

It is true that there are a number of Government officials that need to be removed as they are not adding any value to the Government but this requires sensible objective criticism and not advocating violence. We should not be afraid of speaking out where we see wrong in Government but at the same time when we see wrong in the Opposition and in Government we must speak out as well.

Let us reflect on a Kenyan prayer that says: “From the cowardice that dare not face new truth, from the laziness that is contented with half truth, from the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth, Good Lord, deliver us”. May the good Lord deliver us and our country from evil forces. It is time for the Churches, business associations and all progressive Zambians rise up and speak against this deadly red card campaign and denounce this Priest speaking hatred and evil. Father Bwalya must be unmasked for what he really is and he if there was any principle in him, he would stop hiding behind a Priestly garment and state very clearly what he aims to achieve from this evil campaign. It would be best for Father Bwalya if he truly wants to play a positive role in the nation to go out there and encourage as many youths to register to vote and use their vote wisely in the next elections, instead he is inciting them to flash red cards against a democratically elected Government. That is wrong in any language of democracy.

Every Zambian knows that God teaches us to respect authority and to love one another just as Jesus loved us. Where we disagree with the Government we can do this without rancour and insults. If we truly believe we have a better deal to offer to the Zambian people lets go out there and campaign on issues not on how many trips a President takes. What petty politics we are allowing in the country. It is time for all political leaders in Zambia to tell us why they would like our votes in 2011. Tell us how you will improve health care, education and ensure that every Zambian has at least a decent basic standard of living. Our people have been patient enough, its time for true leaders in Zambia to emerge. Twachula pafula!! God bless Zambia.

*I thank Trevor Simumba for allowing me to use his write up on my blog.

PRESS STATEMENT BY FR. FRANK BWALYA ON PRESIDENT RUPIAH BANDA ATTENDANCE OF GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE AT ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH

2010-04-03T10:52:00.002+01:00

PRESS STATEMENT BY FR FRANK BWALYA
SATURDAY 3RD APRIL 2010

President Rupiah Banda’s attendance of the Good Friday service at St Ignatius Catholic parish in Lusaka was an act of mockery and should be seen by all Catholics as another slap in the face. It is not different from the action of Dr Frederick Chiluba to receive Holy Communion at the same church knowing too well that it was not in order for him to do so. I make this statement against the background of the grossly unfair and evil things that Mr Banda’s government has consistently accused the Catholic Church of. He presides over a government whose members including the official spokesperson Rev. Ronnie Shikapwasha has accused the Catholic Church in Zambia of planning genocide. Rev Shikapwasha even stated that members of our church are more Catholic and Christian. We all know that the government of Mr Banda is behind the machinations of persons that have been using state controlled media to vilify and scandalise the local and universal Catholic Church. Even the salvo that these people have been unleashing on Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu is packaged and fully sponsored by Mr Banda’s government. This explains why such people have access to unlimited space and airtime in state controlled print and electronic media respectively. Moreover, some MMD officials have directly attacked Archbishop Mpundu.
I wish to remind my fellow Catholics that on Tuesday March 30, 2010 the state controlled Times of Zambia published a feature article under the title “The great shame of the Catholic Church” by one of Mr Banda’s proxies in his government’s smear campaign against us and specific members of the Catholic family in Zambia. It would be very naïve of anyone to believe that the said feature article which repeated the genocide allegation among other evil accusations was by an individual exercising his constitutional freedom of expression. It’s all propaganda and only children and naïve people would be fooled.
As a matter of fact many Zambians know that state media has been reduced to mouthpieces of the MMD government and is being used to splash cheap propaganda against those perceived to be threatening Mr Banda’s plan to win elections in 2011 so that he can continue to be president and finish visiting countries in the world.
The MMD is on recorded instructing some of its members to apologise to individuals or groups of people they offended. But this is the same party that has not apologized over malicious remarks made against Catholic Church. Up to now Mr Banda’s government has not apologised over the genocide accusations made by Rev. Shikapwasha let alone condemning them.
Against this background, I think that the only source of Mr Banda’s guts to go to St Ignatius parish on Good Friday was that he would not be snubbed or prevented from attending the service. But time has come for us to challenge Mr Banda’s government and demand that they explain why they keep slapping us in the face. I know that shortly after this statement comes out Mr Banda’s hired people will accuse me of not promoting reconciliation and that my statement does not represent the official position of the Catholic Church in Zambia. Let me address these two expected responses. I am ready to forgive Mr Banda’s government and I am sure that many other Catholics would like to do so. But these people want to treat us like fools and they expect us to forgive them regardless of the stubbornness and insolence with which they continue to injure us. They should be reminded that Jesus demanded to know why a guard slapped him for being forthright. This is recorded in the passion narrative by John in chapter 18 verses 19 to 23. Regarding the issue of an official position of the Catholic Church on these matters, I believe that there is no such a thing as an official position against evil. Evil is evil and no prophet or any sensible person needs permission to condemn it or wait for an official spokesperson to do so. Moreover, there is no such a thing as an official position on attacks directed at members of a united and loving family. For instance, how can the Catholic Church say to the MMD, “It is okay because you have just scandalised a few members of our family such as Bishop Duffy, Bishop Mpundu, Fr Miha, Fr Mwewa etc and not the entire family. So you can continue attacking them and they should defend themselves and our official position is that we enjoy a cordial relationship with your government.” This would only have been possible if the Catholic Church were not a united and loving family concerned about the welfare of its shepherds and members. As a matter of fact, the Church is the Body of Christ and all parts in this body love, support and feel for one another.
Finally, as a baptised Catholic who was confirmed and promised to defend my faith I give president Banda seven days to make a public apology over his government’s unwarranted attacks on the Catholic Church especially regarding accusations of genocide failure to which I will make sure that Mr Banda is made to feel unwelcome at Catholic functions including official ones to which he may be invited as republican president. We shall protest against the presence of president Banda and members of his government at our religious functions. I urge all confirmed Catholics to defend our faith against attacks by Mr Banda’s government. It is time for us to stand up and defend our faith before our children begin to believe the evil propaganda being spread about us. An effective and powerful way of expressing ourselves on this matter must be found.

Frank Bwalya (Fr)
Confirmed Catholic

FATHER FRANK BWALYA'S LETTER TO THE FIRST LADY MRS THANDIWE BANDA

2010-03-30T18:23:00.001+01:00

The First Lady
Republic of Zambia
State House
Lusaka
Zambia

Dear Madam First Lady,

RE: OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT RUPIAH BWEZANI BANDA

Greetings!
On Saturday 12th March 2010 I was arrested and detained at Kanfinsa state prison until Monday 15th March 2010 when I was released on bail. I will appear in the Kitwe magistrates court for commencement of trial on Wednesday 31st March 2010. As Christians throughout the world reflect on the agony of our Lord Jesus Christ during this holy week and the trial he underwent at the hands of a bunch of hypocrites they will prayer for me and those who suffer for proclaiming the truth.
While in detention I interacted with over 70 percent of the 1,600 inmates at Kanfinsa and a good number of other people that I can’t mention. During these interactions critical issues came to my attention and I wish to make them known to your husband, our president Mr Rupiah Bwezani Banda. However, I have decided to do so through you Madam First Lady because I think that Mr Banda may listen to you. So far it seems that he has been listening to wrong people who smile as they watch him getting into a ditch. This explains why the Red Card Campaign is succeeding. If it were possible for the Zambian people to reclaim the power delegated to members of parliament your husband would have been impeached long ago.
The following are the issues I wish you let your husband know about;

1. PRISONERS AT KANFINSA STILL MOURNING LEVY
Please, let your husband know that many prisoners at Kanfinsa state prison are still mourning late president Dr Levy Patrick Mwanawasa SC, may his soul rest in peace, who they describe as a good man. They told me that Dr Mwanawasa SC regularly pardoned prisoners that had served the greater part of their long prison sentences. They convinced me that many inmates that had spent many years in prison had reformed and needed to be pardoned after remaining with a few years to finish their terms. Unfortunately, since your husband came to power after hoodwinking Zambians that he would maintain the legacy of Levy, he has not shown the same love and compassion towards prisoners that deserve pardon throughout the country. Instead your husband has been pardoning those with shorter sentences who return to jail for similar offences shortly after being released.

2. MR BANDA DEFENDS THE RICH AND UNREPENTANT CRIMINALS
Your husband is labelled as a defender of the rich that have money to buy their innocence and freedom. He is also disparaged as a committed advocate and protector of one unrepentant serial plunderer of public funds. Many prisoners wondered how some of their colleagues found themselves in jail for stealing a tin of shoe polish or toothpaste while somebody who had stolen millions of US dollars continued to enjoy eating cake at state banquets. They wondered how a certain white man who brutally murdered a defenceless Zambian woman in 2005 was pardoned and released this year after serving only about six years in prison. This prompted me to start asking some prisoners about the offences they committed and how long they had stayed in prison. I cried as I listened to their testimonies and I convinced myself about the significance of the Red Card. Indeed the Red Card that your husbands fears like death is a sum total of the frustrations of millions of Zambians.
Dear Madam First Lady, please understand that the point is not that prisoners that committed grave crimes should be pardoned and released. Not at all! The issue is that there seems to be a different law for the rich and powerful who enjoy the favour of your husband and his government. Convicts that committed similar offences to the said white man continue to languish in jail having served far more years. In fact some prisoners that committed less serious crimes have stayed in prison beyond six years. So you can understand why the Red Card Campaign has found fertile ground.

3. GENERAL CONDITIONS AT KANFINSA PRISON
Madam First Lady, I am sure that prison authorities through out the country write reports about difficulties they encounter in their work. I am sure that relevant authorities are aware about congestion in our prisons and the need to implement programmes to decongest prisons and above all address the root cause of petty crimes that land our people in prison. Please plead with Mr Banda to do something about this. Also plead with him to ensure that prisoners have the basic necessities they are entitled to such as clean water, food, proper health care and beddings. As a mother of the nation I urge you in the name of Jesus our Lord to convince your husband to pardon terminally ill inmates especially those with little hope of surviving. I visited at least two of such ailing inmates.
I also urge you to speak for those taking ARVs so that they can have required food supplements.

4. NEED TO SAVE MONEY FROM TRAVELS ABROAD
Madam First Lady, please be informed that when prisoners are released they are not given transport money to go back to their homes. Some of them get stranded and start begging for transport money. Kindly ask your husband to cut down on trips abroad and allow relevant authorities allocate some of the savings to prisons as transport money for prisoners when they are released.
5. NEGLECTING THE POLICE
My heart bleeds and tears collect in my eyes as I write about the cruelty of your husband’s government regarding the in human conditions that our police officers are subjected to. Be informed that as the police made arrangements to take me to Kanfinsa prison, I was driven to Wusakile police station to be locked up in the cells. Before getting into the cells I requested to go to the toilet but I was advised to use the toilet in the cells because it was in a much better condition. To prove the validity of the advice I insisted until another officer convinced me. This is just one simple example to show that our police officers are neglected and subjected to conditions that are inhuman. But your husband presides over a blotted, selfish and greedy government. Your husband and his friends are enjoying life and getting all the good things of life while poor people including police officers and their families wallow in poverty that can be avoided. This explains why these people do not vote for the party your husbands claims to belong to. As a matter of fact many of them have collected red cards from me and when I joke that Mangani will arrest them, they just laugh sarcastically. Please Madam First Lady, intercede for these people as well. Selfish people in government will never speak for them.

6. CONCLUSION
It is my sincere hope that Mr Banda will not start witch hunting to establish who interacted with me and make them face state-managed reprisals but that he will concentrate on the issues raised and respond accordingly as a mark of true leadership.
I am hopeful that you will intercede effectively for prisoners throughout the country.

God bless you and your family.

Fr Frank Bwalya – Prisoner for Justice

THE CONSTITUTION ON PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

2010-03-28T12:50:00.004+01:00

By Gershom Ndhlovu

The late Levy Patrick Mwanawasa, when he was first sworn in as Zambia’s third President, told the nation that his would be a government of laws and not of men. This became the mantra of all those he appointed to serve with him and so it was for the seven years he led the nation.
Barely 18 months after his demise in August 2008, it appears that the “government of laws” has been thrown out the window and “the rule of men” is back. I refer here to the fragrant disregard of the Constitution with regards to PF leader Michael Sata’s apparent incarceration in the late 1950s or early 1960s for unknown reasons which the MMD government wants to use to bar him to contest next year’s presidential elections.
Unless the Chifumu Banda-led NCC is in the process of altering what has always been a fundamental part of Zambia’s past constitutions including the 1996 one, a simple search of the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia (as amended by Act No. 18 of 1996) on the National Assembly website reveals the following provisions on the requirements for the eligibility of contesting the presidency.
Clause 34 states that “(1) The election of the President shall be direct by universal adult suffrage and by secret ballot and shall be conducted in accordance with this Article and as may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament.
(2) An election to the office of President shall be held whenever the National Assembly is dissolved and otherwise as provided by Article
38.
(3) A person shall be qualified to be a candidate for election as President if-
(a) he is a Zambian citizen;
(b) both his parents are Zambians by birth or descent;
(c) he has attained the age of thirty-five years;
(d) he is a member of, or is sponsored by, a political party;
(e) he is qualified to be elected as a member of the National Assembly; and
(f) has been domiciled in Zambia for a period of at least twenty years.
(4) A candidate for election as President (hereinafter referred to as a Presidential candidate) shall deliver his nomination papers to the Returning Officer in such manner, on such day, at such time and at such place as may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament.
(5) A Presidential candidate shall not be entitled to take part in an
election unless-
(a) he has paid such election fee as may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament on or before the date fixed by the Electoral Commission in that behalf;
(b) he makes a statutory declaration, of his assets and liabilities, which shall be open to public inspection at such time and at such place as may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament; and
(c) his nomination is supported by not less than 200 registered voters.”

Clause 65 further states that “(1) A person shall not be qualified to be elected as a member of the National Assembly if-
(a) that person is under a declaration of allegiance to some country
other than Zambia;
(b) that person is under any law in force in Zambia, adjudged or otherwise declared to be of unsound mind;
(c) that person is under a sentence of death imposed on him by a court in Zambia or a sentence of imprisonment, by whatever name called, imposed on him by such a court or substituted by a competent authority for some other sentence imposed on him by
such a court;
(d) that person is an undischarged bankrupt, having been adjudged or otherwise declared bankrupt under any law in force in Zambia;
(e) that person's freedom of movement is restricted, or that person is detained under the authority of the law; or
(f) that person, within a period of five years before his nomination for election, has served a sentence of imprisonment for a criminal offence. (My emphasis).
(2) A person who holds, or is a validly nominated candidate in an election for, the office of the President shall not be qualified for election s a member of the National Assembly.”
As far as the nation can remember, Mr Sata has not been in jail in the last five years as clause 65 (f) above states which means that he is eligible to contest the election to the office of the President or Member of Parliament. It is wrong for Mr Mangani or whoever it is that is directing this operation, to waste national resources to unearth dusty files of a case that is five decades old.
These resources in terms of time and allowances, can be directed elsewhere seeing that our nation faces a lot of challenges immediate of which are the floods and the concomitant cholera outbreak which is afflicting the flood victims. It is a shame that the new Constitution that is in the process of being formulated is being tuned to fix an individual and at the same time, the existing Constitution is wilfully being ignored.

CHURCH TAKES LEAD IN VCT INITIATIVE

2009-10-27T13:16:00.002Z

By BENEDICT TEMBO
(Guest blogger)

A UNITED Nations Population Fund (UNPF) survey in Zambia shows that 80 per cent of all HIV/AIDS infections are transmitted through heterosexual contact.
The survey says out of 100 new infections, 71 are estimated to arise through sex with non-regular partners while 21 per cent of new infections are estimated to occur in people who report that they have only one sexual partner, which signifies a great risk even for those who are faithful.
Other factors apart from low levels of male circumcision, mostly common in North-Western and Western provinces, are gender-based discrimination, migration and socio-cultural norms.
“Many organisations have sprung up to fight the epidemic through efforts meant to minimize infection rates and devise ways within existing structures on how to handle already infected,” according to Mr. Duah Owusu-Sarfo, UNPF country representative.
Mr. Owusu-Sarfo said the church has entered the fray and is now in the battlefront.
“One such church is the Gospel Outreach Fellowship, which has broken the silence in fighting the epidemic,” he said in a speech delivered for him by HIV/AIDS programme officer, Mrs Florence Mulenga at the Family and Friends Health Day on October 18.
The Family Health Day was organised by the Young Couples Fellowship of Go Centre in Lusaka with the blessing of the Senior Pastor, Revered Helmut Reutter. The idea behind the initiative is to promote voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) as a way of preventing HIV transmission and de-stigmatise HIV and put a human face to it through talking about it in an informal way.
The one day event which was also used to promote VCT as an entry point to care, support and treatment and to provide benefits of VCT, attracted about 1,000 people – exceeding the 600 which was budgeted for.
Living Waters Church sent 72 members, 35 of whom tested at this event which was staged to challenge pastors to take the lead and testing for HIV and to promote the use of VCT as a good healthy practice for children and youths.
The Family and Friends Health Day marked exactly three months since the last Family Day in June 2009.
The Kalusha Bwalya Foundation sent three football teams to entertain the participants from Chawama, Kanyama and Chibolya. The players also attended the group counselling.
“I wish to invite the church to rise to these challenges through its moral and religious teachings especially in the area of abstinence,” Mr. Owusu-Sarfo said.
He said the church’s role apart from the conventional moral and religious teachings should be encouraging their members to go for voluntary counselling and teaching (VCT).
He says the low levels – 15.4 per cent – of Zambians who have gone for VCT were unacceptable.
Yet, Zambia is one of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with a high HIV prevalence of 14.3 percent among the adult population 15-49 with a projection of 82,681 (59 percent women and 41 percent men) new infections expected to occur this year.
“Further research has revealed that, currently about 226 new adult infections occur per day. These are serious and alarming figures. We can’t afford to be silent anymore, we need to act as a matter of urgency, we need to speak out in our churches, communities and families,” Mr. Owusu-Sarfo said.
In order to access various ranges of treatment medical personnel ought to know their HIV status through VCT.
“It is my sincere hope that more families will use this opportunity to test and be able to take control of their lives so that the church and communities at large can be healthy and be able to make a meaningful contribution towards the social-economic and spiritual development of our country,” he said.
Go Centre was the ideal venue for the Family Health Day as the church, through its social wing – Chreso Ministries Centre for Anti-retroviral (ARVs) and HIV Counselling and Testing (VCT).
The Church presently provides care and treatment (ARV) to over 8,000 people based in Lusaka , 2,000 in Kabwe and another 2,000 in Livingstone.
Levy Phiri, vice chairperson of the Young Couples Fellowship, said Go Centre has different fellowship groups which meet once every month and the Church encourages these groups to put the topic of HIV/AIDS as a priority.
“The Senior Pastor Helmut Reutter was invited by the young couples for their fellowship and HIV/AIDS in our homes, was included as one of their topics of discussion.
The director of Chreso Ministries (Pastor Helmut Reutter) gave a very moving presentation on the need to have healthy families, emphasizing the need to ensure that children and everyone else in the family access such health services as HIV testing together,” Mr. Phiri said.
Thus on 28 June 2009, Go Centre had their first ever family day where all the members were encouraged to bring extended families to Go Centre for a second service that was dedicated to HIV information delivery and the importance of HIV testing.
The service was conducted by Chreso clinic. About 150 people came to attend and 42 ended up having an HIV test
“This success story could also have been attributed to the fact that our leader, the Senior Pastor and his wife were the first to test for HIV and this gave an encouragement to the entire congregation. The event was so successful that churches around our centre started asking for another opportunity so that they can also participate,” Mr. Phiri said.
This prompted the Young Couples Fellowship to put up a bigger act on October 18, attracting 1000 people and 256 people tested. “With our approach on group testing, we believe if they get the information right, two is a crowd. There were lot of young teenagers who could not test because they did not come with their parents, there was age restriction on VCT but they themselves were willing to test,” Mr. Phiri said.
Some people had different responsibilities in organising the event and turned out last to test, hence queues were long, some didn't get a chance to test due to time factor
“We also understand that the UN can help us with a constant and sustainable supply of condoms. We are encouraged that our own senior Pastor (Helmut Reutter) has permitted the use of condoms among married people for various purposes ranging from prevention to family planning,” Mr. Phiri said
He said: “Young couples of Go Centre were very grateful for the UNFPA support to the Family and Friends Health Day. It takes great responsibility to find the value of an event which will help with the people’s morality.
“The UNFPA country representative Mr Duah Owusu-Sarfo must be commended by all faith-based organisations and Government for realising that, faith-based organisations in Zambia account for the majority of the population and sensitising them will greatly improve on the percentage of people going for VCT.”
He said Pastor Reutter's decision to encourage people to go in groups of families and friends for VCT must be supported by all.
“People get encouraged by seeing others test and it has already started showing good results with the prior event. Parents have a responsibility to take the whole family including dependants and infants for testing. Pastor Reutter did not only preach about VCT but he took the whole congregations at Go Centre for testing and he was the first one to test with his wife showing good leadership.
Leaders have a lot of influence in society and if we want to see a bright future of our children they have to take the first step.

20 YEARS OF THE COLLAPSE OF THE BERLIN WALL: A PERSPECTIVE OF AFRICANS (Guest blogger)

2009-10-02T18:23:00.003+01:00

GERMANS world over will this week be celebrating 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is the Day of German Unity. The fall of the Berlin Wall symbolized the unification of East and West Germany which transformed Germany into Europe's largest economy, writes BENEDICT TEMBO

WEBBY KALIKITI was watching television in his apartment in Paris when people begun to climb the Berlin wall and begun breaking it.

It was spontaneous, the way German politicians on either side of the wall reacted, Dr. Kalikiti recalls. He was a student of history at Paris7 University in France in 1989 when the enduring symbol which divided the two Germans – East and West on ideological grounds, started crashing like the walls of Babylon.

Dr. Kalikiti, now a lecturer of European history at the University of Zambia’s Great East Road campus in Lusaka, said the collapse of the wall meant that Germany had once more become a unified power after the second world war.

“Since the collapse of the wall, Germans are now free to engage in world affairs in the attempt to bring world peace,” Dr. Kalikiti said, pointing to Germany’s contribution to troops in the Balkans (former Yugoslavia) and in Afghanistan as part of NATO.

He said Germany plays a very important role in European Union (EU) politics.

“They have been the largest contributor of the resources to the EU,” Dr. Kalikiti said.

The Berlin Wall was a physical blockade constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR) or East Germany completely surrounding West Berlin, separating it from East Germany, including East Berlin.

Prior to the Wall's erection, 3.5 million East Germans had been tempted to escape into West Germany, many over the border between East and West Berlin.

During its existence from 1961 to 1989, the Wall stopped most such migration and detached East Germany from West Germany for more than a quarter of a century.

Dr. Kalikiti said Germany unification was achieved during a revolutionary ripple sweeping across the Eastern Bloc.

“It was a change that came with breaking up of the Soviet Union empire. It precipitated events,” he said.

He said it was a reflection of what was happening when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics started disintegrating as people got fed up with communism.

“East Germans saw what had happened in Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania. It was a general collapse of the communist bloc. The collapse of the wall symbolised the end of the cold war between the East and the West,” Dr Kalikiti said.

After many weeks of civil agitation, the East German government was forced to proclaim on November 9, 1989, that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin.

The announcement prompted crowds of East Germans to go up and cross the wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere.

According to Dr Kalikiti, “Germany is a leading economy in the world, third after the United States and Japan.

The collapse of the wall has given Germany the possibility of playing a greater role in international affairs. A unified Germany moderates extremist policies of the USA.”

He cited the Iraq war in which Germany and France took a stance which was different from the US by refusing to participate in the invasion.

“Even over Afghanistan, the US has been pushing for an increase in the troops but Germany has been reluctant. Germany plays a limiting role for the US. A bigger and unified Germany is of interest in world peace because it tries to limit the extent to which the US can exert its will in world affairs,” he said.

He added, “A united Germany is of great benefit to Africa and Zambia in particular.”

Dr. Kalikiti said Germany has had privileged relations with Africa, citing Zambia as one country which benefited from both the East and West Germany.

For countries like Zambia, there is technical assistance through GTZ (German Technical Cooperation).

At UNZA, the schools of mines, economics, and development studies have benefited from training in Germany.

“Where Germany has helped, it is of high quality,” UNZA lecturer of history, Friday Mulenga, said, citing GTZ projects in rural areas.

Mr. Mulenga said a united Germany is good for the economy of the world.

“Through out history, Germany has had a very strong economy, not just in Europe but the whole world,” he said.

Nigerian journalist and artiste Olayinka Oyegbile whose birthday coincides with the day of German unification says, “I think the unification of Germany is a testimony to the fact that the human race is one.

You may be German, British or African, the one uniting force is that we are all human. As an artiste the unification for me represents the power of arts. German writers such as Gunther Grass signify this.”

Mr. Oyegbile who was in Berlin in 2007 said, “My memory of the city is that Africa has a lot to learn from it.

The city was divided for several years under two ideologically opposed powers and yet it is now united without any difference between East and West Germans. This is a big lesson that we can also be one as Africans.”

Sara Bakata, a Kenyan journalist who visited Berlin for the first time 2000 said, “It was one huge construction site, but with desolate empty houses standing all over the city, empty deserted land fills separated the newly-united East and West Berlin.

There was no HauphBan Hof (biggest train station in Berlin), half of Potsdamer Platz (shopping mall) was still under construction, the wall Berlin wall still standing in most places but with tourists still chipping away at it for a piece of history.”
She said politically, there were still strong divisions of Leftists, Conservatives, Liberals and everything in between.
”There was a vibrancy to the city, with ever increasing numbers of tourists visiting the half-closed-for-renovation historical buildings dotting the city from the parliament buildings, to the Museums Island.
She said politically, it was also the time that the seat of government had just moved from Bonn to Berlin.

“This added to the flurry of buildings coming up as most foreign missions rushed to construct embassies and High Commissions.
Socially, the country itself was just adjusting to its central location in Europe, with an influx of foreigners from around the world, music concerts by foreign performers was the order of the day.

But beneath all this also were the media reports of Xenophobic attacks of foreigners in predominantly neo-Nazi neighbourhoods.

As visiting foreign students, my group was well warned to avoid such neighbourhoods, always walk in groups, especially at night and not to get into any altercation with aggressive individuals or groups of people. So deserted U-Bahns and bus stops were out of the question.
On her second visit to Berlin in 2007, she noticed Berlin, the capital of the united Germany had come of age.

“New sparkling buildings, almost all foreign embassies were now in Berlin. The grand coalition of Christian Democratic Union (CDU) / Christian Social Union (CSU) and Social Democratic Party (SPD) government was in power, working together in parliament.
The coalition government concept was heavily borrowed by Kenya after the election fiasco of December 2007 that took the country to the brink.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has who swept back to power in after the September 27 election, will now open talks with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP).

She believes a coalition between them and her centre-right CDU/CSU bloc offers the best chance for recovery.

Her previous coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD) suffered their worst election performance for decades.

Ms Bakata suggested the German mission in Nairobi was very influential in behind the scenes negotiations between the incumbent President Mwai Kibaki and then opposition leader Raila Odinga.
She said this went on to prove that Germany was still a force in African politics, being a crucial development partner in Kenya. It should also not be lost on observers that Raila Odinga received his university education in Germany and speaks fluent German.
”This means the policies of the old German and the new German had not changed much, since the government of the day still had the same influence in countries such as Kenya,”

”By 2009, on my third visit to Berlin, it was like a breath of fresh air. The first thing I noticed was that more people spoke English on the streets, in the trains, and even attendants in shops. It’s amazing how a society can open up in merely 10 years.

In 2000, hardly any German wanted to speak English, even after we were assured that the language is well understood and spoken, and that we would have no problems communicating in public.
In 2009, most of the talk in trains, shops, restaurants and even bars was in English!
The city itself had acquired younger inhabitants, there were always groups of young happy people, going about their business, new foreign stores had come to town to add to the already high quality German stores.
UNZA lecturer of history, Friday Mulenga, said the unification of Germany was unique because it entailed bringing two different systems together.

“It is not good to divide people who are the same like the case of Korea: North and South. Everywhere people want to be united because when people are united, it lessens problems. The unity of Germany was inevitable,” said Mr. Mulenga.

As the Germans toast their unification, they will be doing so knowing that some countries in Europe did not want to see the two Germans re-united because of the First and Second World wars which the country ignited.

But it is history and Germany has been transformed from a bully to promoting peace, regional and international integration as well as economic empowerment in the world.

Germany ambassador to Zambia, Frank Meyke said Zambia is continues to have a reputation of a democratic country that is stable and peaceful.

“Our special commitment to Zambia over the years is because both countries have been through periods without freedom,” ambassador Meyke said.

WHICH MEDIA ETHICS ARE BEING BROKEN?

2009-10-01T18:47:00.002+01:00

By Gershom Ndhlovu

I have just finished reading a book, Ethics For Journalists by Richard Keeble. This book recently caught my attention on Amazon, a website that among other things, sells books because of the threat of statutory regulation if journalists do not come up with a mechanism of self-regulation.

Having taken Media Laws and Ethics as part of my Mass Communication studies at the University of Zambia in the late 1980s, I felt I needed to refresh my understanding of ethics once again by reading this book.

As such, I do recommend that people on both sides of the argument, that is, those for statutory regulation and those against it, should read the book which has largely been written based on the UK media environment, but can, nevertheless, be applied on the Zambian media environment.

The Zambian media landscape is basically dichotomous between state-owned Zambia Daily Mail, Times of Zambia and ZNBC which are seen as compliant to the dictates of government and the ruling MMD, and the private media largely represented by the Post. It may seem though that statutory regulation is aimed at the Post with its patently anti-establishment stance of always exposing wrong doing in government.

After reading, Keeble’s book, I have realised that government officials and the statutory regulation lobby, do not clearly state what it is that the so-called recalcitrant media do not conform to in terms of ethics in the manner they report and write news.

Is it the mere fact that newspapers such as the Post will publish what the state controlled media would not publish such as the abuse of state resources? Do the Post and other private media invade people’s privacy? Is reporting corruption or perceived corruption in and outside government wrong? What is the best way of reporting and writing news?

These are some of the questions that need to be answered particularly by the statutory regulation lobby which should understand that journalists are not just thrown into the field without essential grounding in ethics during journalism training. The same ethics that journalists in public media learnt are the same ethics that private media journalists learnt during their training. It is the ownership and economic consideration that determine a media’s editorial direction.

Obviously, the Zambia Daily Mail, the Times of Zambia and ZNBC tend to echo the ruling MMD government’s line while the Post and other private media will tend to fill in the vacuum left by the government media and also for their need to maximise sells considering that they are not subsidised by the government.

But, as Keeble writes, “ethical inquiry is crucial for all media workers—and managers. It encourages journalists to examine their basic moral and political principles; their responsibilities and rights; their relationship to their employer and audience; their ultimate goals.”

One important ethos that I gleaned from Keeble’s book is that journalists need to pursue accuracy and truthfulness in their course of duty.

“Indeed, there is a strong ethical commitment among many journalists towards accuracy and truthfulness in their reporting. These are values stressed in codes of conduct throughout the world…,” he writes.

Media Ethics Council of Zambia (MECOZ), to which all state-owned media organizations but not the Post, are party to, states in its explanatory note of its role:

“The purpose of distributing news and informed opinion is to serve the general welfare [sic]. Journalists who use their professional status as representatives of the public for selfish or other unworthy motives violate a high trust.

“Journalists uphold the right to speak unpopular opinions and privilege to agree with the majority while at the same time respecting the will of the minority. A journalist shall at all times defend the principle of the freedom of the press in relation to the collection of information and the expression of comment and criticism....”

One of its 10 point code of ethics, MECOZ states that the public has the right to know the truth. Therefore, it says, journalists have a duty to report the truth either as representing objective reality or representing what the source says fairly, accurately and objectively. Vice President George Kunda recently gave media organisations representatives an ultimatum to present to government a framework of their proposed self-regulation, failure to which would force government to enact its draft law to regulate the media.

But most tellingly, was parliamentary chief whip Vernon Mwaanga’s statement recently that the media had lost his support and that once the bill to regulate the media was introduced in parliament, he would support it.

Mwaanga, a former editor of the Times of Zambia, diplomat and minister of information is quoted to have said that it was sad that the media in Zambia had drifted away from upholding reporting ethics alleging that some journalists were irresponsible in their work and that regulating the media is the only way to stop such.

Mwaanga, who said that from the time he served as information minister, government had always advocated for self-regulation of the media but that the media seem to have failed to do so and it is for this reason he thinks that government should move in and assist in enacting a law that will allow the state to regulate the media.

In handling this issue, it is important to go back in history and bring out the fact that journalists in the early 1980s defeated manoeuvres by the then UNIP government to introduce a draconian media bill called the Press Council Bill which was to control the practice of journalism.

Most of the journalists of the time did not have the education that most of us are privileged to have—there are professors, PhD, Master’s and Bachelor’s degree holders and others who have branched into other disciplines such as law among us—and yet we seem more vulnerable now than the early journalists who withstood pressure from the UNIP government which did not easily tolerate dissent. The fight was no walk in the park either.

Among the current crop of MPs, there are people such as Zambezi West MP Charles Kakoma who was once managing editor of the Zambia Daily Mail and Mpika Central MP Mwansa Kapeya who was once a high ranking official at ZNBC who should resist the MMD government’s intention to pass legislation to regulate the media.

CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS ON ACQUITTAL OF DR CHILUBA

2009-09-30T18:46:00.005+01:00

Press Statement on the Acquittal of Dr. Frederick Chiluba and the general justice system in Zambia delivered by 17 Civil Society Organisations on 30th September 2009

Theme: One Land, One Nation and One Law is our Cry

1. INTRODUCTION

Members of Press, invited guests, ladies and gentlemen.

NGOs want Chiluba back in court

The past few weeks have been defining moments for Zambia. We have seen the conclusion of some of the corruption cases against former President Frederick Chiluba. We have all had occasion to listen to Government’s reaction to the acquittal of Dr. Chiluba and most importantly, we have all witnessed the reaction of the former President himself. We have also seen solidarity marches and other public events in support of the acquittal.. As Civil Society Organisations, we have taken time to analyse the different issues at play and gauged the public dissatisfaction with the judgement and calls for restoration of the immunity of Dr. Chiluba. This press conference has been called by a consortium of Civil Society Organisations to state their position on matters of governance and justice in Zambia and in particular on the recent acquittal of former President Dr. Frederick Chiluba. What we present to you is our common and united position and we address specifically the following issues – 1) the judgement by the Presiding Magistrate in this case, 2) the events surrounding the appeal and 3) the registration process of the London High Court.
Additionally, we do comment on calls for restoration of Dr. Chiluba’s immunity and we end by stating our course of action in our continued advocacy for fair justice for all anchored on the theme – One Land, One Nation and One Law is our cry..

2.0 THE JUDGEMENT

As a preamble, we want to categorically affirm our respect for the dignity and independence of the judiciary as provided for in the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia. As Civil Society Organisations, we recognize and desire that our Judiciary remains insulated from criticism but above all, it is our fervent hope that the Judiciary discharges its functions in an unbiased manner and above any reproach. That is the Litmus test for our Judiciary – it will not help us as a people
to turn a blind eye to acts of omission and compromise by the Judiciary despite the respect that we accord this arm of government. Indeed, we do acknowledge that any court process could lead to either a conviction or an acquittal and that the reactions to any judgement will either bring about contentment or discontent as the case maybe. As Civil Society Organisation, we fall in the category of those Zambians who are saddened by the Judgement of the learned magistrate Honorable Jones Chinyama. This reaction is based on the type and quality of evidence adduced before the court, which in our view, adequately supported the case of impropriety on the part of Dr Frederick Chiluba who illegally benefitted from public funds in the Zamtrop account. We are not alone in this belief because even the Government of the late President Dr. Levy Mwanawasa SC
also strongly supported this position as evidenced by the statement made by the then Chief Government Spokesperson Hon. Mike Mulongoti when he plainly stated Government’s position on Dr. Chiluba’s defence that he had kept his personal money in the Zamtrop account when he was quoted by the Times of Zambia in its edition of Saturday, May 12, 2007, Mr. Mulongoti said “…the advice that the former president puts his personal money into a ZAMTROP account could only have been given on account that the sources were illegal and the public did not have to know about them.”
We wish to remind the public that Ms. Anna Chifungula, the Auditor General who was called by the defence to give evidence in the matter stated that one can not put private money in a government account, and in the event of this happening, the said private money is forfeited to the State. It becomes government money. And assuming that Dr. Chiluba had money in the Zamtrop account, the court should have noted the requirement for Dr. Chiluba to prove the source and ownership of the same money at the defense stage. This was not done and it leave everything to conjecture as to the source of the funds which the former President is now claiming to be his The implication of the judgement is that public and/or elected officials can now knowingly and willingly deposit their private funds in a government account without facing the consequence of the law especially if there is suspicion to the sources of the funds and the intended use. . There are a number of other points of inconsistency in the judgement which makes it difficult for us to appreciate and indeed accept the innocence that it bestows on Dr. Chiluba. This judgement attracts more questions than answers.
Against this background we find this judgement highly questionable and we are not surprised that it has attracted a lot of criticisms, with some questions to be answered by the Government of the day. It is difficult to ignore the statements by different Government leaders which all go to explain the growing political interest in these matters.
There are several aspects of this judgement which give an indication of possible political interference. Our view point has been confirmed by utterances by Hon. Mike Mulongoti that jailing Dr. Chiluba would have been costly and that some people should be able to go to jail while others remain. Hon. Mike Mulongoti further said:
“We consider the general harmony in the country. Even courts are sensitive to the political situation in the country. You cannot just say, jail everyone. No, there is forgiveness, there is reconciliation. Everything is there. So Chiluba, whether we like it or not, he was president of Zambia. Not everyone hates Chiluba. There are wrong things he did, there are also good things he did” (The Post Newspapers of Monday, September 21 2009).
2. It is such statements from high ranking government officials which convince us that this matter was handled carelessly and politicized by the Government. Hon. Mulongoti’s statement clearly demonstrates that the judgement was politically engineered as he implicitly admits that Chiluba did some wrong things but the courts of law were made to dance to the tune of the political sensitivity in the country instead of concentrating on the legal provisions.
We wish to state that we have studied the judgement itself and we have noted a number of flaws a few which include:
1. The Learned Trial Magistrate neglected to consider finding the accused of the commission of a minor or alternative offence
2. The learned trial Magistrate breached the rules of criminal procedure when he decided to exclude otherwise admissible evidence after it had been admitted by himself.
3. There is also an irregularity on the no case to answer stage or case to answer stage.
4. There are also a number of procedural issues that were not complied with.
5. The weight attached to the unsworn evidence by Dr. Chiluba.
We have done a detailed analysis of these irregularities that are contained in more than 40 pages
that all interested Zambians can be emailed to.
2.1 THE IMPACT OF THE JUDGEMENT
It cannot be denied that the case of former President Dr. Chiluba was a high profile one and the outcome of this case has several implications on the local and international levels
We wish to note the following impacts:
1. The Judgment has the potential to completely erode public confidence and trust in the justice system and judiciary in Zambia.
2. Zambia’s governance record will undoubtedly come under intense international scrutiny and our reputation as a country will be called into question;
3. The ruling by the learned magistrate that former President Chiluba was not a public servant has the potential of creating comfort zones where elected leaders can plunder public resources with impunity. It also raises unnecessary confusion on whether elected leaders are public officials or not.
4. The judgement sets a bad precedent on the utilization of public funds. This is why we welcome the stance of cooperating partners who have expressed concern to ensure that public funds that include tax payers money from their respective countries is well utilized.
3.0 THE QUESTION OF THE APPEAL
Article 56 (7) of The Zambian Constitution provides that, “In the exercise of the powers conferred on him by this Article, the Director of Public Prosecutions shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority..”
3. Contrary to this Article, Vice President Hon. George Kunda who is a member of the executive was quoted confirming that government would not appeal against former president Chiluba’s acquittal saying, “It will amount to professional misconduct for the DPP Chalwe Mchenga to appeal against Frederick Chiluba’s acquittal because the case has no merit.” He further said that, “on Chiluba, it would be unprofessional, in fact, professional misconduct for the Director of Public Prosecutions to appeal knowing well that the case is frivolous and of no merit whatsoever for him to go ahead and lodge an appeal.” (The Post Newspapers, 23rd September 2009)
The statement of Hon. Kunda that government would not appeal amounts to directing the DPP not to appeal contrary to Article 56 (7) of the Constitution. As such it is our considered view that the DPP was intimidated by Hon. Kunda. Hence, the DPP’s withdrawal of the appeal confirms that he is towing Government line in a political decision which is unconstitutional.
Against this background, we civil society organizations are of a strong and united view that the office of the DPP was interfered with and that the right course of action by Mr. Chalwe Mchenga, our DPP would have been to allow the appeal succeed and let the due process of the law prevail.
Therefore we are of the strong view that the withdrawal of the appeal amounts to conspiracy to subvert the course of justice.
We wish to reiterate the reality that Mr. Mchenga misled the public by purporting that he needed to grant fresh permission to the prosecutor to appeal. It’s an extremely unfortunate position the DPP took because according to precedent set by High Court Judge M S Mwanamwambwa’s judgement of June 5, 2008 in The People Vs Julius William Banda,- in that Judgement, it was said a prosecutor has power of immediate appeal to the High Court. According to this judgment’ and we quote, “the language of Article 56 (4) of the Constitution and sections 87 and 321 (A) of the Criminal Procedure Code are clear. Applying the plain meaning rule, I hold that Article 56 (4) and sections 87 and 321 (A) do not require the Director of Public Prosecutions to issue a statutory
instrument specifically authorizing a police public prosecutor to lodge an appeal under section 321(A). Just as much as a police public prosecutor can institute and undertake criminal proceedings in the subordinate court on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions, he can lodge an appeal from such proceedings to the High Court, right away. I hold that the delegated authority of a police public prosecutor under Article 56 (3) (4) and (6), and section 87 of the criminal procedure code to institute and undertake criminal proceedings on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions, extend to lodging an appeal from an acquittal in the subordinate court to the High Court, when the need arises to appeal. There is no need for a fresh mandate.”
The judgement went on to reaffirm and we quote, “this equally applies to a legal practitioner who represents the Director of Public Prosecutions in criminal proceedings before any court”. Mr. Mchenga has thus betrayed public interest by withdrawing the appeal from the higher court especially that the grounds for appeal have merit. In fact the position of the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) is clear that there were enough grounds for the DPP to appeal. As civil society organizations we strongly endorse the action of the public prosecutors to appeal which was withdrawn in questionable circumstances by Mr. Mchenga.
4. We therefore disagree with the Minister of Justice Hon George Kunda who said the case had no appellable merits. It seems Honorable Kunda has forgotten that he was the one as Justice Minister and Attorney General during the Mwanawasa era who on behalf of the Zambian government took Dr. Chiluba to court and articulated himself very well about the merits of this case. These unfortunate events in the history of judicial system have eroded credibility of the office of the DPP and that of the Minister of Justice. It is crystal clear that these two public officers have failed to protect and uphold the Republican Constitution.

4.0 GOVERNMENTS U TURNS ON CHILUBA’S CASES

As concerned CSOs we have also noted with dismay the high level of pretence exhibited by the Vice President, and some Ministers over Dr. Chiluba’s acquittal. It is interesting to note that the same ministers who were castigating Dr. Chiluba when the late Dr. Levy Mwanawasa was President have now turned against what they were saying at that time.
We want to remind Zambians on what Government’s position was when President Mwanawasa was alive and Hon. Mike Mulongoti was Chief Government spokesman and we quote as follows.
4.1 Times of Zambia, Saturday, May 12, 2007: Main Headline; Don’t Incite Zambians,
Mulongoti tells FJT Government has said former President, Fredrick Chiluba, should have defended himself in the London High Court than attempt to incite Zambians to rise against the Government. Chief Government spokesperson, and Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, Mike Mulongoti said in a statement in Lusaka yesterday that Dr. Chiluba as a defendant was entitled to his opinion about the London High Court and could have argued in court if he did not refuse to defend himself.
He said he was particularly concerned with Dr. Chiluba’s attempt to summon the people of Zambia to his side but that Government has a duty to protect interests of the people when their funds are alleged to have been put to personal use by leaders like former President Chiluba whom they had entrusted to run their affairs. “Having failed to explain how much was donated and by who and considering that what was withdrawn from the ZAMTROP account followed in-flows from the Government, the judge concluded that all the money belonged to the State,” Mike Mulongoti said..
4.2 Zambia Daily Mail Newspaper of Friday November 30, 2007, Headline, Mulongoti
Challenges FTJ over allegations 5 .Mr. Mike Mulongoti castigated Dr. Chiluba and we quote,” Dr Chiluba was telling lies that Government departments had been requested to transfer their insurance policies from the Zambia State Insurance Corporation to Professional Insurance Corporation.” Mr. Mulongoti further said, “Dr. Chiluba was found liable of theft of public funds by a London Court and was still appearing in court of other cases and that was evident of how bad his regime was. Millions of Dollars were not only misappropriated by government officials but were also stolen by some former leaders who were now masqueradering as angels,.”Mulongoti said in a statement.
4.3 Zambia Daily Mail, Headline, Chiluba’s complaint baseless – Mulongoti
Chief Government spokesperson, Mike Mulongoti, says there is no basis for former President, Fredrick Chiluba, to accuse his successor, Levy Mwanawasa, of working with Britain to secure his conviction in cases of alleged corrupt practices. “I have difficulties to find any basis for Dr Chiluba to say the President has connived with Britain to secure his conviction,” he said. Mr Mulongoti said the British court had no interest in Dr Chiluba because it was merely helping Zambians to determine whether or not their complaints against the former head of State over alleged theft of public resources were justified.
In all these statements, Hon Mulongoti was very clear that former President Dr. Chiluba’s regime was involved in theft of public funds. We now wonder why he has changed position.

5.0 THE LONDON HIGH COURT JUDGEMENT

As Civil Society Organisations, we fully recognise that the process of registering the London High Court judgement is before the courts of law and it is not our intention to be contemptuous by commenting on this process. However, we would like to register our concern about the inordinate delays that this process has encountered.. We would want to encourage the Judiciary to expeditiously complete this process. We wish to serve notice as well that we are keenly following this process and eager to see the final outcomes. . We know that the London High Court Judgement is in extent of $400 million if you put all the defendants together and we do note that Government through the Taskforce has already started recovering some of the money from other defendants apart from Dr. Chiluba.
We commend the Task Force for some of the recoveries made so far against Mr. Attan
Shansonga, one of the co defendants. Former Taskforce Chairperson, Mr. Max Nkole confirmed to the nation that Boutique Basili who was making the shoes and suits for Dr Chiluba has since paid back the funds that the Boutique received.. We are happy as CSO’s that others have started paying back these funds and we look forward to the completion of the London judgement. In short, the London judgement confirms that Dr. Chiluba still has outstanding cases which need to be concluded accordingly.. It is in the best interest of all Zambians to ensure that Government must recover all public funds.
6
6.0 CHILUBA’S IMMUNITY
The Task Force still has several cases, which are still outstanding – this is a point that cannot be disputed or ignored We therefore wonder why Dr. Chiluba expressly wrote to the Speaker of the National Assembly requesting the restoration of his immunity. The Task Force has publicly confirmed that they are investigating him on a case involving 20 million United States Dollars for the arms that were not delivered. Other matters still outstanding involve the Carlington maize saga involving $US8.5 million, (apparently Mr. Chiluba claims the similar amount of US$8m as personal money in the Zamtrop account whose sources are unknown).
The criteria of restoring Chiluba’s immunity has already been said not to be in existence in the Constitution. We would like to strongly appeal to the Speaker of the National Assembly not to entertain Chiluba’s request to restore his immunity. If Dr. Chiluba strongly thinks that he is innocent of any wrongdoing, we wonder why he is in a hurry to have his immunity restored.

7.0 DEMANDS

In the light of the above, we demand the following:
1. That the Minister of Justice, Hon George Kunda and the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr. Chalwe Mchenga must step down from their offices for failing the Zambian people.
2. That the Judge in Charge of the Lusaka High Court and if necessary the Chief Justice must exercise supervisory jurisdiction and call the case record in the Chiluba case and review it.
3. That Government Ministers including the Republican President must stop intimidating Zambians who have totally refused to accept the acquittal of former President Dr. Chiluba.
Our rights should not be violated simply because Government are more interested in
maintaining general harmony than promoting the rule of law; We find it annoying that
Government finds the actions of those of us who are opposed to this acquittal as causing anarchy and yet Government is quiet when cadres march in solidarity with Dr. Chiluba. We will not accept these double standards any more.
4. That the Judiciary should rise to the occasion and ensure that judicial system is not biased and compromised to serve narrow political interests of the Governors. We demand for one justice system for all Zambians- rich or poor.
5. Dr. Chiluba should stop abusing Gods name in this case as Hon. Mulongoti clearly stated that his regime stole money.

8. WAY FORWARD

1. We shall petition the Speaker of the National Assembly not to entertain Dr. Chiluba’s request for restoration of his immunity and we will picket Parliament if need be for a number of days to make our views known on this matter. In much the same way that we picketed at Parliament demanding for the lifting of Dr. Chiluba’s immunity, we will mobilize the general public to demonstrate against the restoration of the immunity – not until all cases are concluded

2. We shall immediately embark on nationwide campaigns to demand for the appeal process against the acquittal of Dr. Chiluba to go head without any hindrance. Our nationwide campaigns will equally sensitise the Zambian people to guard our justice system jealously and ensure that it is not compromised for political gain.
3. We are devising several strategies to involve the Zambians who want to make a contribution to cleaning up this country of corruption and other malpractices. For a start, we shall adopt some of the strategies which worked very well during the anti-third term campaign including honking and whistling to show support for the calls for the appeal and fight the ugly spectacle of corruption that this country is witnessing. We call upon all Zambians who love this country and are worried about corruption to wear black and honk or whistle every Friday at 17:00 hours for 10 minutes. We call upon all Ministers and Senior Government officials who hate corruption to join in this campaign.
We stopped Dr. Chiluba from going for a Third Term, we are determined to use the same system to advocate for this appeal to be heard. This is not about causing anarchy as Government would want the people to believe, this is a fight for justice.

9. CONCLUSION

This entire case is a clear testimony of the current Governments lack of political will to fight corruption. The lack of political will has unfortunately exerted a lot of pressure on our judiciary to start making political instead of legal judgements. We want Zambia to have one land, one nation, and one law which is our cry and not two laws one for the poor and another for the rich and powerful.
God Bless Zambia and we thank you all.

FODEP'S FULL STATEMENT ON THE ACQUITTAL OF CHILUBA

2009-08-29T09:38:00.002+01:00

August 27, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FODEP’S STATEMENT ON THE ACQUITTAL OF CHILUBA, HIS DEMAND FOR THE RESTORATION OF HIS IMMUNITY AND ON THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE APPEAL

1. Finally the protracted and heavily contested prosecution of Dr. Chiluba has come to pass with his acquittal by the Subordinate Court . While being mindful of the financial implications that such a prosecution had on the meagre state resources and the politicking that came with it, one cannot but be gratified that this case, the first of its kind had run a full course of the legal process. There were genuine fears that the prosecution may abruptly, for political convenience be brought to an end. This indeed confirms and entrenches the rule of law that “no man is above the law”.

2. That said, we are however concerned with the current events of the aftermath of the Judgment which are raising fundamental Constitutional and jurisprudential issues. Although we are yet to read and study the said Judgment as it is not yet typed and ready for distribution, we can not keep quiet for long but to comment for the time being as we await receipt of a copy of the typed Judgment, as these issues are very important for the good, democratic, transparent and accountable governance firmly founded on the rule of law.

3. At the outset, we are happy to note that the Task Force being dissatisfied with the Judgment have decided on behalf of the Zambian People, in whose name all prosecutions are conducted, to appeal against the said Judgment to the High Court. In this regard we will not comment on the merits or demerits of the Judgment as the matter is now subjudice. Our comments therefore are on the demand for the restoration of the immunity and the current dispute or argument that the DPP is the only person to file the Notice of Appeal or that he must first give the consent before such an appeal is lodged, which appeal regrettably has been withdrawn.

4. We note that barely 24 hours of his acquittal, Dr. Chiluba wrote to the Speaker demanding that he immediately convenes a special session of Parliament to consider the restoration of his immunity claiming that it is his accrued Constitutional right. He even suggests that if it would not be possible to do so immediately, to refer the matter to the Standing Orders Committee whose decision would then be ratified by the House when in session.

5. By making such a move initiating the process so to say, as an Organisation, we can reasonably assume that Dr. Chiluba has now recognised and accepted that Parliament had properly and lawfully removed his immunity despite having demonised that institution for what they did arguing among other things that he was not afforded the right to be heard. It is incumbent, and we call upon all leaders and citizen alike to respect democratic institutions that have been created and submit to their authority. Leaders must lead by example and therefore must be the last ones to condemn these institutions that they were party to and whose authority they also benefited from.

6. We strongly oppose the idea of “restoration” of Dr. Chiluba’s immunity as doing so is unconstitutional. We urge the Honourable Speaker not to convene a Special Session as demanded or any Session at all for that matter, for the consideration of this issue as doing so will be tantamount to using Parliament to engage in unconstitutional business which is ultra vires its jurisdiction.

7. We submit that the immunity that is enjoyed by a President against criminal prosecution in respect of crimes committed during his/her tenure of office is not a right but a privilege which can be taken away at any time in accordance with the law as was the case. This privilege we must add is never conferred by Parliament but by the Constitution. Parliament therefore has no authority to “restore” Dr. Chiluba’s immunity so to say. Parliament cannot confer that which it has no powers to do.

8. We wish to emphasize that this privilege is only enjoyed by a person who is holding the office of President or performing the functions of that office. It is our firm submission that Dr. Chiluba is neither holding the office of President nor is he performing the functions of that office to claim and enjoy such privilege.

9. Article 43(2) of the Constitution, Chapter 1 of the Laws of Zambia (herein after referred to as the Constitution) provides as follows:

Article 43...

(2) A person holding the office of President or performing the functions of that office shall not be charged with any criminal offence or be amenable to the criminal jurisdiction of any court in respect of any act done or omitted to be done during his tenure of that office or, as the case may be, during his performance of the functions of that office. (emphasis added)

10. It is very clear from the above Article that it is the Constitution itself that confers such protection, and not Parliament, by virtue of one holding the office of President or performing such function. It does not require an act by any person or institution for that person to enjoy such immunity.

11. As we have stated above that immunity from prosecution is not enjoyed as a right but as a privilege, because the Constitution having granted such protection, vests in the National Assembly the power to lift such immunity and open such person to criminal prosecution.

12. Article 43(3) of the Constitution provides as follows:

“(3) A person who has held, but no longer holds, the office of President shall not be charged with a criminal offence or be amenable to the criminal jurisdiction of any court, in respect of any act done or omitted to be done by him in his personal capacity while he held office of President, unless the National Assembly has, by resolution, determined that such proceedings would not be contrary to the interests of the state.” (emphasis added)

13. In this Article, the jurisdiction of the National Assembly with regard to the issue of immunity is clearly limited to the removal of such immunity only and nothing can be read into it empowering conferment of the same. It is on this basis that we are urging the Speaker to respectfully decline such demand and call upon all the Members of Parliament not to even entertain the idea.

14. There is no provision in the Constitution providing for restoration of immunity and any move to do so shall be void to the extent of its inconsistency with the constitution.

15. If we are wrong with our interpretation of the relevant Articles of the Constitution, which we think we are not, we still submit that once the immunity has been lifted, it can never be restored. The lifting of the immunity is never temporal but final. It is not even conditional on the outcome of the criminal prosecution. If that was the case, the Constitution would have expressly said so.

16. Assuming Dr. Chiluba was convicted, would he still have claimed the restoration of his immunity since his prosecution has come to an end? This is a very important question that must be answered by those advocating the restoration of his immunity. In his letter of demand, the restoration is premised on his acquittal and is not independently based on the conclusion of his case. Otherwise his acquittal would have had no relevance or even worth mentioning in his letter.

17. To that extent we are fortified in our humble submission that immunity once lost can never be restored however innocent or guilty a person is. In our view immunity is like an egg shell which once broken can never be made whole again.

18. What Article 43(3) of the Constitution is saying is that for as long as Parliament has not removed your immunity, you will never be prosecuted. But once that has been done, then sorry you have to be subjected to criminal jurisdiction, period. It does not make any legal sense to reclaim the privilege of not to be prosecuted after you have been already prosecuted. What are you preventing when the act has already been done?

19. Coming to the argument as to who should file the Notice of Appeal or whether indeed the DPP must first give consent before the same came be filed, we find such an argument to be self defeating and contradictory in many respects. It is our humble submission that it is not just the DPP himself who can file a Notice of Appeal and you do not need the consent of the DPP to file same.

20. While recognising the exclusive authority of the DPP under the Constitution to conduct criminal prosecutions, it is our view that once consent has been given to conduct a private prosecution as was the case in this matter, unless the DPP terminates such prosecution before a judgment is delivered or he has taken over such prosecution, the Task Force has the right to file a Notice of Appeal.

21. It is our submission that “criminal proceedings” does not only relate to conducting the trial but that it encompasses the appeal processes as well. This means that a private prosecutor, who is not satisfied with the outcome of the trial, has the right and authority to file a Notice of Appeal as the initial authority extends to appeals as well. This is why, from a layman’s point of view, the ACC, DEC, NAPSA and other prosecuting authorities do not require the consent of the DPP when prosecuting their appeal or responding against appeals.

22. Our above submission is based on Article 56(6) of the Constitution which provides as follows:

“(6) For the purposes of this Article, any appeal from any judgment in any criminal proceedings before any court, or any case stated or question of law reserved for the purposes of any such proceedings, to any other court in Zambia shall be deemed to be part of those proceedings:” (emphasis added).

23. Therefore, since he had authorised a private prosecution in this matter, it goes without saying that the private prosecutor has the right to file a Notice of Appeal as well. There is no law that requires that it is only the DPP who shall file a Notice of Appeal nor is it a legal requirement in the circumstances that he must give consent before the filing of the Notice of Appeal.

24. We are fortified in our humble submissions when regard is had to the provisions of Article 56 (3) (b) and (c) as material to this matter which provides as follows:

(3) The Director of Public Prosecutions shall have power in any case which he considers it desirable so to do –

(b) to take over and continue any such criminal proceedings as have been instituted or undertaken by any other person or authority; and (emphasis added)

(c) to discontinue, at any stage before judgment is delivered, any such criminal proceedings instituted or undertaken by himself or any other person or authority (emphasis added)

25. It is plainly clear from these provisions that criminal proceedings including an appeal can be instituted or undertaken by any other person or authority while the DPP is at liberty if he so desires to take over and continue or to discontinue such criminal proceedings.

26. All the above Constitutional provisions we have referred to, are written in plain and clear language and must be given their natural and ordinary meaning. We therefore demand that all the players in the issues we have raised above must uphold the letter and spirit of the Constitution by not restoring Dr. Chiluba’s immunity and by allowing and respecting the rights of the Task Force in filing the Notice of Appeal which was properly lodged.

27. We therefore appeal to the DPP to immediately restore the Notice of Appeal in keeping with the strict observance of the rule of law as provided for in the Constitution.

Charles Chanda

CHAIRPERSON LEGAL SUBCOMMITTEE

AREN’T EXISTING ZAMBIAN MEDIA LAWS ENOUGH?

2009-08-16T11:03:00.002+01:00

By Gershom Ndhlovu

It is difficult to understand on what basis the government wants to enact a law to regulate the media. This difficulty arises due to the fact that there are enough laws on statute books that do so and some, if not most, of them pre-date Zambia’s independence in 1964.

Vice president George Kunda recently told journalists at a meeting with media organisations representatives that the media should give government a framework of their proposed self regulation failure of which would force government to enact its draft law to regulate the media.

The government appears to be motivated to change the law because of the privately owned The Post newspaper which always seems to find fault with President Rupiah Banda and his government and accuses the paper of “twisting” facts. Matters recently came to a head when ruling party supporters resorted to beating up Post journalists and those from other media organisations who failed to produce identification cards.

In his determination to cripple The Post, President Banda ordered the arrest of Post News Editor, Chansa Kabwela for sending a picture of a woman giving birth outside the University Teaching Hospital, the biggest hospital in Lusaka, at the height of a debilitating strike by medical and paramedical staff countrywide.

But for those who followed media and related laws in Zambia know that, first and foremost, the Zambian Constitution’s Part 3 on the Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Individual guarantees the protection of freedom of expression.

Article 20 of the Zambian Constitution of 1996 provides that”(1) Except with his own consent, a person shall not be hindered in Protection of the enjoyment of his freedom of expression, that is to say, freedom to hold opinions without interference, freedom to receive ideas and information without interference, freedom to impart and communicate ideas and information without interference, whether the communication be to the public generally or to any person or class of persons, and freedom from interference with his correspondence.

“(2) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, a law shall not make any provision that derogates from freedom of the press.

“(3) Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of this Article to the extent that it is shown that the law in question makes provision- (a) that is reasonably required in the interests of defence, public safety, public order, public morality or public health; or

(b) that is reasonably required for the purpose of protecting the reputations, rights and freedoms of other persons or the private lives of persons concerned in legal proceedings, preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, maintaining the authority and independence of the courts, regulating educational institutions in the interests of persons receiving instruction therein, or the registration of, or regulating the technical administration or the technical operation of, newspapers and other publications, telephony, telegraphy, posts, wireless broadcasting or television; or

(c) that imposes restrictions upon public officers; and except so far as that provision or, the thing done under the authority thereof as the case may be, is shown not to be reasonably justifiable in a democratic society.”

Going by the above article, the Constitution protects against passing legislation that has the potential to take away freedom of expression and, as such, the passage of the proposed law announced by government through Mr Kunda would clearly contravene the supreme law.

Anyone aggrieved by the media by way of reportage can fall back on the Defamation Act Cap 68 through civil courts. The Act provides in Section 3 that:

“In an action for slander in respect of words calculated to disparage the plaintiff in any office, profession, calling, trade or business held or carried on by him at the time of the publication, it shall not be necessary to allege or prove special damage, whether or not the words are spoken of the plaintiff in the way of his office, profession, calling, trade or business.”

The Act also states what defence those sued for defamation can give, notably justification and fair comment.

The government and the Media Ethics Council of Zambia (MECOZ), under the present circumstances in which there is heightened acrimony between the government and certain media organizations, should publicize and encourage the use of this Act. There would be no better regulation than the use of the Act for erring media organisations to be taken to court.

Ironically, it is the delays of the dispensation of justice in the courts of law under this Act that the formation of MECOZ was mooted because media practitioners who gathered at Andrews Motel in Lusaka in 1998, felt that defamations cases took very long to be determined in the courts of law. With the establishment of MECOZ, it was hoped, adjudication would be done quicker outside courts. Whether MECOZ, which The Post has refused to be part of, is doing that or not is something else.

The government equally has recourse to Cap 87, the Penal Code Act which, among other things, provides under section 191 that “any person who, by print, writing, painting, effigy, or by any means otherwise than solely by gestures, spoken words, or other sounds, unlawfully publishes any defamatory matter concerning another person, with intent to defame that other person, is guilty of the misdemeanour termed "libel".”

Section 192 states that defamatory matter is matter likely to injure the reputation of any person by exposing him to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or likely to damage any person in his profession or trade by an injury to his reputation. It is immaterial whether at the time of the publication of the defamatory matter the person concerning whom such matter is published is living or dead. There is a proviso, though, that prosecution of libel relating to a dead person, consent must be given by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Section 193 further states that “(1) A person publishes a libel if he causes the print, writing, painting, effigy or other means by which the defamatory matter is conveyed, to be dealt with, either by exhibition, reading, recitation, description, delivery, or otherwise, so that the defamatory meaning thereof becomes known or is likely to become known to either the person defamed or any other person.

“(2) It is not necessary for libel that a defamatory meaning should be directly or completely expressed; and it suffices if such meaning and its application to the person alleged to be defamed can be collected either from the alleged libel itself or from any extrinsic circumstances, or partly by the one and partly by the other means.”

Again, it is difficult to understand why and how the government is hesitant to apply the law when some of its officials feel that newspapers, radio and TV stations, and indeed, other means of communication are deemed to be committing libel.

Cap 161 Printed Publications states that no person shall print or publish, or cause to be printed or published, any newspaper until there has been registered at the office of the Director (of the National Archives) at Lusaka the full and correct title thereof and the full and correct names and places of abode of every person who is or is intended to be the proprietor, editor, printer or publisher of such newspaper, and the description of the premises where the same is to be published.

Any person who contravenes the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding three thousand penalty units.

There is equally Cap 111, the State Security Act which spells out sanctions for communicating information prejudicial to the safety or interests of the Republic. Most of the offences under this Act carry a minimum term of 25 years.

What better means of regulation can anyone talk about if not the laws stated above and a myriad others that need to be unearthed? Is the new law going to proscribe lawyers, accountants, teachers and ordinary citizens who have no formal journalism training from expressing themselves through the media, or for that matter, owning media companies? Does the government want people to apply for accreditation to perform what is guaranteed them in the Constitution?

I suppose that Mr Kunda, Ronnie Shikapwasha, the minister of information and broadcasting as well as the executives at MECOZ would do well to look at existing laws instead of going through the expensive motion of making new ones which will fall into disuse at some point or other.

**This article appeared in the Sunday Post of August 16, 2009.

CULTURE MISUNDERSTOOD BY ZAMBIAN POLITICIANS

2009-08-12T19:16:00.002+01:00

By Gershom Ndhlovu

In Zambia, the word culture especially as spoken by politicians, is associated with ceremonies such as the Kuomboka of the Lozi in Western Province, Mutomboko of the Kazembe Lunda in Luapula and Nc’wala of the Ngoni in the Eastern Province.
As it has come to be part of the tradition of these and other ceremonies observed around the country, all manner of government officials ranging from the President himself, to District Commissioners, mayors and council chairmen, officiate at these functions which are in some cases tourist attractions in themselves.
For instance, at last month’s Mutomboko Ceremony President Rupiah Banda said culture played a very important role in developing the nation, pointing out that it was the source of strength and unity and that the government had come up with a deliberate policy to promote culture in the country.
President Banda also disclosed that the government had budgeted for K150 million for the construction of a cultural village in Luapula Province. Once constructed, the Mansa Cultural Village would provide a venue for musicians, actors and craft entrepreneurs to showcase and exhibit their works which is good in itself.
The question, however, is: can culture be compartmentalised just to mean matters of traditional ceremonies which are at par with any other carnival held in different parts of the world such as the Notting Hill Carnival of London, Mardi gras in New Orleans in the USA and the Brazilian Carnival, probably the biggest on the globe? Indeed, these ceremonies in Zambia, or carnivals in the rest of the world, have become a part of the wider culture of the places in which they are observed.
By its very nature, culture is a difficult term to define but scholars such as Craig Storti who has written among other books, Figuring Foreigners Out and The Art of Crossing Cultures, describe it as the shared assumptions, values, and beliefs of a group of people which result in characteristic behaviours.
Most, if not all, of the cultural traits that people exhibit are learned from their family surroundings, their immediate society and nation at large. These define how individuals view and react to not only other people of other cultures but also in other cultures in which they find themselves through work as business people, diplomats or indeed as tourists or students.
Harry Triandis in his book, Culture and Social Behaviour, writes of culture as providing traditions that tell people what has worked in the past and makes it easy for humans to pick behaviours that may work again in the present.
Put simply, culture is a way of life of a people and is something that is never taught as such, but something that people pick up in the socialization process in their community. It is, in other words, a catalogue of “dos and don’ts” of a group of people, ethnic groups or whole nations.
It is my argument that culture does not start and end with the Lozi celebrating the Kuomboka in April when their king migrates from the flood plains to higher ground, or when the Kazembe Lunda celebrate their conquest of other ethnic groups some two or so centuries back, or indeed, the Ngoni Paramount Chief tasting the new crop in late February of every year.
Culture is all things, including language which is obvious, that make a Frenchman different from an Englishman, or those social characteristics that make a Finnish different from an Italian, and closer to home, those characteristics that a Luvale exhibits and observes that a Lenje does not; things that a Tonga does and a Tumbuka does not. This is the reason why, strictly speaking, it is difficult to talk of a Zambian “culture” which is homogenous to all the 73 ethnic groups.
All ethnic groups tend to withdraw into their cultural laagers at some point, especially when observing rites of passage such as chisungu when girls come of age, marriages and funerals. You often hear people say “we don’t do this where I come from.” It is also not uncommon for a man or family to engage a friend from a particular ethnic group to negotiate on their behalf if he is marrying from that friend’s ethnic group. This is all about culture.
Apart from the common everyday interactions that are taken for granted, culture is embodied in pursuits such as literature, (the English, for instance, celebrate William Shakespeare as the greatest bard that ever lived), music, architecture, museums and other areas of human endeavour.
It is also around these pursuits that cultural industries revolve such as the film industry reflected through Hollywood, broadcasting houses such as the BBC, the book and newspaper publishing industry, the multi-billion dollar music recording industry of the West. The pervasiveness of the western cultural industries has swamped other cultures, particularly in Africa where people want to imitate what they have watch in cinemas, on TV or read in newspapers and books.
When cultures clash people talk of a “culture shock” which Esprit Global Learning, a company providing cultural coaching services describes on its website as “…an internal response to being in a “strange” culture with no cultural guideposts or familiar cues of one’s personal, social, cultural, physical and business environment.”
Knowledge and appreciation, or the lack thereof, of other people’s cultures could equally lead to the success or failure of business deals. For instance, how a person treats a business card, or meishi, of a Japanese businessman upon being given one determines how the deal goes from there, whether it succeeds or not.
Similarly, most development assistance by western bilateral and multi-lateral donors fails in most areas because the implementers do not take into account local cultures, customs and traditions and try to transplant their own cultures, traditions and customs on recipient communities.
For culture to play its rightful role in Zambia’s social, political and economic spheres, there is need to move away from the idea that culture and related issues should only come alive during cultural ceremonies, but it should be incorporated in all spheres such as tourism and other economic activities by especially understanding cultures of foreigners that Zambians interact with.
Multinational corporations such as Disneyland Incorporated have learnt their lessons when they have tried to transplant their American modus operandi onto other cultures. The best example is Disneyland Paris which nearly collapsed because the French felt that it did not meet their cultural expectations.
Culture in Zambia needs to be understood and appreciated in its totality rather than in piecemeal fashion when it suits the politicians. Similarly, developing cultural industries would not only preserve our diverse cultures, but would provide jobs for a lot of Zambians who otherwise have to depend on elusive foreign investors for their existence.
*This article appeared in the Zambia Daily Mail of 7th August, 2009.

CORRUPTION IN AFRICA HINDERS WESTERN INVESTMENT

2009-06-20T10:07:00.000+01:00

“Corruption is not exclusive to Africa, of course. Yet official corruption is bound to be more glaring on a continent where most people live in dire poverty. And the news from Africa, as reported in the International Herald Tribune on June 10 by Celia W. Dugger, is that the fight against such corruption is not going well…

“Corruption is a terrible disease that destroys a country from within. Funds desperately needed to combat poverty and disease and to build roads, hospitals and schools are spent instead on everything from palaces on the Riviera to the acres of shoes made of snakeskin, satin and ostrich that Frederick Chiluba accumulated in a decade as Zambia’s president. Corruption begets corruption, turning ruling elites into self-perpetuating cliques, destroying peoples’ faith in government and law.”

The above passage is part of a recent Editorial in the influential New York Times entitled “Grand Larceny Africa” and this is definitely not good for the continent which is stirring interest in western, particularly American, investors who think that Africa is the last frontier of investment.

The western investors want to emulate the Chinese who have in the last decade poured billions of dollars into Africa by investing in oil exploration, mining and infrastructural development. But unlike the Chinese, the western investors are averse to corruption, lack of transparency and poor governance.

Stories like the on-going court case involving Ministry of Health staff in which K27 billion is alleged to have been misappropriated, the Dora Siliya saga involving RP Capital in the earmarked privatization process of ZAMTEL, etc, all do not give confidence to potential western investors who think that their investments would go down the corruption drain.

But what is very sad is the reaction from the donors who finally appear to be putting a plug on funding to corrupt ministries and departments, and they cannot be faulted for their actions. They have to protect their taxpayers’ funds back home.

Statutory media regulation

2009-05-19T19:29:00.001+01:00

Written by Gershom Ndhlovu

Of late, the issue of compelling media organisations and journalists to join the Media Ethics Council of Zambia (MECOZ) and the threat of statutory regulation of the media has been quite hot.

I am one of those who feel that MECOZ has gone off the rails and I wish to point out that there is no need for extrastatutory regulation of the media because the laws that are in place are adequate.

Unfortunately, I do not have ready access to the laws of Zambia, but from what I can recall off-hand, there is the supreme law, the Constitution which guarantees freedom of expression, which guides every citizen.

The piece of law that sends a chill down the spine of every journalist is the official secrets Act which carries a minimum sentence of 25 years. This mainly guides matters of security of the nation.

Then there is the Penal Code which prescribes crimes and penalties thereof. Under this law, there is criminal libel and defamation as well as sedition to which any journalist is liable if he or she breaks the law. Anyone who feels that a journalist has criminally defamed someone or has committed an act of sedition is free to report him or her to the police.

There is also the law of civil libel and defamation for individuals who feel that a newspaper has written untruthfully about them. Such people are free to sue in their individual capacities to seek compensation for any damage caused them by such publications. A lot of people have invoked this right and many a newspaper has paid the price to an extent of even folding up.

Then there is the law of copyright. No journalist in his right frame of mind can go about lifting published or unpublished materials without attributing to that source. Infringement of copyright can be treated both as a civil or criminal matter.

As I am recalling these laws from memory, I may have forgotten some of the laws and may have misrepresented what they exactly state. However, the point is that there are enough laws in the land dealing with how the media should operate. Our ministers, members of parliament and politicians in general should not even waste time making a piece of law regulating the media when they can invoke the above laws if anyone breaks the law.

One thing for sure is that MECOZ has lost credibility to an extent where it needs serious sprucing if it has to stand with its head high. The people behind it need to go back to the drawing board and start afresh, recapturing the spirit for which it was initiated just over a decade ago. Lecturing on what stories a newspaper should cover, how it should write them and what words should be used, is not in their ambit.

**This post appeared as a letter to the editor in The Post of 19/05/2009.

MECOZ lobby is targeting Organizations

2009-05-17T09:00:00.002+01:00

Written by Gershom Ndhlovu

I understand the background from which newly-appointed ZNBC acting director general Juliana Mwila is coming.

Ms Mwila was until recently director of press and planning at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and by advocating for the accreditation of journalists through the Media Ethics Council Of Zambia (MECOZ), she is actually singing from the same hymn book as the present and former ministers of information.

Having been a delegate to the inaugural MECOZ meeting held at Andrews Motel in Lusaka in 1998, I feel that the direction that this body has taken is totally opposite of what was discussed at the time.

Every journalist who has studied media law and ethics knows that in Zambia, there is a whole gamut of laws that regulate the media from the civil law of libel to criminal libel in the Penal Code, to the state secrets Act and a whole range in between.

In terms of accreditation, journalists used to get accredited through the now defunct Zambia Information Services. I must admit though that I am a bit ignorant about the role of ZANIS in all this for the simple fact that I have been outside the country for the last few years.

What I remember about the conception of MECOZ was for people who had any complaints against any one media organisation was to short-circuit the court process in terms of litigation by an offended party because libel cases took unnecessarily long for both the aggrieved party and the newspapers.

But the lengths which the pro-MECOZ lobby are taking are worrying because they want to take a tangential course which was not part of those first discussions of September 1998.

It is very clear that that lobby has certain people and organisations in mind by calling for compulsory accreditation of journalists. They must also remember that by calling for statutory regulation of the media, they are being like Dr Frankestein who created a monster that came back to haunt him. The law they want enacted now will encroach on the very people demanding it when they are no longer in the comfort of the offices they are holding now.

By calling for a Law Association of Zambia-like statute, there are a lot of things that will need to be taken into account, such as education levels of practitioners with the very minimum being a degree. Where will it leave non-degree holders? With the lawyers, there is no short-cut. With journalism, everyone with an opinion can write. Friends (and relatives), think deeply about MECOZ and what you want before you regret a few years down the road.

*The above item appeared as a letter to the editor in The Post on 15/5/2009.

HOSPITALS ON WHEELS

2009-05-08T17:08:00.002+01:00

By Gershom Ndhlovu

For anyone who has been to Zambia’s rural areas, whether in Western Province or Eastern Province, North-Western Province or Southern Province, the concept of mobile hospitals does not make sense at all. People living in those areas have for many years been served by the existing infrastructure there which needs a lot in terms of equipment, drugs and, crucially, personnel.

As someone who has been to outlying hospitals such as Sichili Mission Hospital in Sesheke, Luampa Mission Hospital in Kaoma, Chilonga Mission Hospital in Mpika, Chitambo Mission Hospital in Serenje and government-run hospitals such as Nyimba and Lundazi, I have seen for myself how the people running these institutions have tried to do their best with limited resources.

The challenges that these hospitals face range from the lack of a constant supply of electricity, to lack of necessary laboratory equipment if they have laboratories in the first place, and even communication equipment for seeking assistance in case of an evacuation which in itself is a far cry.

Forlorn is written on the faces of not only the patients that seek medical services from these hospitals, but also on the faces of the members of staff who are equally helpless in the circumstances.

Granted, people cover long distances to go to these hospitals, but certainly, there is no guarantee that the mobile hospitals will cover every village along the way, and if they will do, what will they do with the cases that need hospitalisation? Will there be beds on which the patients will be dragged all over the place? These are just some of the questions that need answers.

Most of the hospitals in the rural areas are run by missionaries and as such they are kept going, thankfully, by their faith and the support from mother churches in their countries of origin where support is also dwindling with declining church attendance. If these were local doctors and nurses, they would have left long ago to seek greener pastures either in urban areas or foreign countries.

Instead of spending US$53 million on mobile hospitals which would obviously be in form of containers, government would do well to spend this money on existing infrastructure and putting up new hospitals where they do not exist. Who can imagine that Chongwe residents still have to go to the UTH, over 50 km away, for some services?

Government could even buy equipment for which politicians are sent to South Africa when they are ill but which the majority of the people in Mwinilunga, Gwembe and Kaputa come nowhere near to. Ironically, the rural hospitals are even shunned by District Administrators who would rather be treated in bigger and better hospitals!

Practically speaking, these mobile hospitals say in the case of Central Province, will probably not reach Ching’ombe in Mkushi or Ngabwe in Kapiri Mposhi because of the poor road network to these parts. It is no use parking at Mkushi boma or Kapiri Mposhi town centre and asking the ailing to visit these hospitals. The same is true for outlying areas such as Kazembe in Lundazi, Chiawa in Lusaka Province and Mumbezhi in North-Western Province.

I am not a medical person, but I am sure that the dynamics of diseases in Zambia are very different from those in China. Whereas malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS are some of the common afflictions in Zambia most of which require hospitalisation at some point, the Chinese probably suffer from different ailments altogether for which a one off appointment with the doctor is enough. In other words, the Chinese are trying to sell Zambia snake oil in terms of these hospitals knowing fully well that they will not work.

In the first couple of years, these hospitals on wheels will be in spick and span condition, and everyone, most probably the Chinese medical crew manning them, will be enthusiastic as funding from the US$53 million will still be flowing, but in the third year when funding dries up, there will be no fuel, no tyres, the engines will need servicing, and then, kaput.

There will no longer be subsistence allowances, and staff will start selling off the on-board equipment and so on and so forth. But even grimmer, Zambians for generations to come, will be saddled with a huge debt which they will be struggling to pay back to the Chinese government.

This is no rocket science, it is simple common sense.

….

The other week I could not believe what I read about Works and Supply Minister Mike Mulongoti saying democracy in Zambia had been hijacked by some “strange journalists” and non-governmental organisations.

Not to mention the fact that Mulongoti has no constituency apart from the fact that he was elected by about 5,000 MMD members at the party convention as chairman for elections and subsequently nominated by the late President Mwanawasa and later President Banda, he certainly missed his secondary school Civics lessons on democracy.

His attempt to quote Abraham Lincoln’s government of the people, for the people by the people speech was quite clearly misplaced.

The following is the quote from the Gettysburg speech “[We must] be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honoured dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the Earth.”

On the contrary, Mulongoti wants to curtail the freedom that this great man envisaged for America and the rest of the free world. He wants to take us back to the feudal and monarchical days where only kings and their appointees had any say in matters of governance.

Please, Sir, revisit your Civics note books, if you still have them, for they may help you understand democracy and what it entails. You just have to learn to live with the “strange journalists” and NGOs.

*The format of the blog will soon be changing because the newspaper for which the column was written has been liquidated by its owners, the Zambia Episcopal Conference and the Christian Council of Zambia. I wish to thank the readers who keenly followed the column, and the editors with whom I worked for the last three years when every week, save for one when I did not have an internet connection because of moving house, I unfailingly submitted the column. I thank particularly Mulenga Chomba who initiated the column, Brenda Zulu and Simon Mwanza, both of whom continued to have faith in me. Hats off and good wishes for the future, mates.

ANONYMOUS DOCUMENTS

2009-05-01T06:14:00.000+01:00

By Gershom Ndhlovu

Recently I have received anonymous documents in my e-mail box but the latest one entitled the Dora Siliya Affair: The Parallel Government beats them all. What can be deduced from these documents is that whoever writes them is either well connected to government or was once in government and still has access to information.

One of the earlier documents tore apart Chief Justice Ernest Sakala particularly his attempt to have some magistrates hearing plunder cases, promoted to High Court judges and how the Law Association of Zambia blocked him because most of them did not meet the criteria for appointment and also how someone keeps a “little” secret about his private life.

Says the latest anonymous circular: “Dora Siliya has fallen. One strong pillar that stood against an empire is felled, succumbing to the chain saw of the evil empire. Another strong pillar in George Kunda is being chipped away.

“Justice Dennis Chirwa sealed Dora’s fate when his Tribunal made recommendations that clearly appear to be outside the provisions of the Parliamentary and Ministerial Code of Conduct. Dora faced specific charges and the tribunal findings were expected to restrict itself [sic] to the charges. She was cleared of all charges relating to the Parliamentary and Ministerial Code of Conduct.

“Yet, she was found liable of breaching Article 54 (3) of the Republican Constitution! Although this opinion rendered appeared mundane and was not a subject or scope of the tribunal, it proved to be the most damaging.

“Further, their inclusion of the Republican President, Rupiah Banda, who was not part of the proceedings, roping him with threatening words, was strange.

“The report included a mischievous fact stating that: ‘’If a sitting President breaches the Constitution, he is liable to impeachment under Article 37’’!

“Was the President the matter of this tribunal?”

The document goes on to say Dora must be remembering a threatening call she received just before elections last October from a named journalist in which she was allegedly threatened that her life would be turned upside down and warned her that her life including her ‘social life’ would be a focus of public glare!

The document states: “Dora dared the heart of an Evil Empire. And now she has paid a high price. And with Dora caving in, the Empire is encouraged that their worst nightmare in George Kunda could also be pressured to resign so that Rupiah Banda remains bare, and bare enough to manipulate or hound out!”

The document concludes: “The empire that has risen against Rupiah Banda is tenacious and relentless one. It will continue to derail his development agenda to the detriment of the country.

“Banda should deal with their crimes decisively since this is the only reason they have mounted a war against him and his government. This clique is so desperate that it is only preoccupied with activities such as an impeachment motion against him. Their activities that [sic] are designed to portray him as a failure, as corrupt and as a political liability to Zambia when not.

“They are so afraid of exposure and they fear that the law is slowly catching up with them and against their activities that they have employed an old age methods from Sun Tzu’s Art of War.

“Sun Tzu is traditionally believed to have penned in 480 BC, the Chinese classic book used by officers in the Military called The Art of War. The book defines various military strategies that are now used constantly by modern politicians and activists.

“Politicians, business managers and other activists now use the Art of War to manage political conflicts and deploy warfare tactics and strategies in order to subdue an ‘enemy’’ in business, public administration.”

The document rumbles on and on. My argument however is that if the authorities know or knew or about the scheming that went on involving the so-called Evil Empire, they could have moved in much, much earlier. But the problem is that not a lot of people in government itself have clean hands and let matters get to the current state of affairs.

Today in Zambia people go into government, or have dealings with it, not for the service of the majority of the citizens, but rather for what they can get out of it for themselves and their families.

What people such as the authors of these documents and their principals should be doing is to examine forests in their own eyes before they point at logs in other people’s eyes. Look at how many people have lost their livelihoods since 1991 at the advent of privatisation, all because of the selfishness of the leaders Zambians have entrusted with their affairs in the last couple of decades.

Zambians must wake up from their slumber and realise that they have the power to put in clean governments rather than being used as pawns in dangerous political and economic chess games that only benefit a few.

……

As President Banda himself noted on swearing in new Zambia Police Service commissioner Graphael Musamba, the man has always been a sensible policeman.

I remember him as Emmasdale Police station officer-in-charge in the 1990s when I would go there as a reporter on the Sunday Mail in the company of then police service spokesman Peter Chingaipe and he would give us stories that most often turned out to be lead stories.

Musamba, with his colleagues such as Phineas Hindamu, was always cool headed I am not surprised he has risen to the higher echelons of the police service. Hopefully he will probably breathe some fresh air in the police which has slowly been drifting back to a force in the last few years.

If Musamba could treat President Banda humanely when he was detained as a political prisoner then (he had no idea that the man he was dealing with would be president one day), it is just logical that the police service treats all politicians and political functions equally and reasonably rather than with cadre tendencies that some senior policemen exhibit.

NCC TAKING AWAY PEOPLE’S RIGHTS

2009-04-24T06:08:00.000+01:00

By Gershom Ndhlovu

If the National Constitution Conference (NCC) recommendation that the Vice President should automatically take over the presidency in the event that the incumbent vacates office due to death or incapacity is included in the new constitution, it will mean Zambians losing one existing right and potentially denying them another one.

Firstly, the NCC not recommended that the Vice President be made running mate of the president in an election means that people will be denied the right to elect the vice president by the larger Zambian constituency rather than by a smaller constituency unit. Such a person taking over the presidency would do so without the people’s general mandate.

Secondly, the automatic assumption of the presidency by the Vice President without a by-election has taken away the right of the people to decide who takes over as the current constitution guarantees.

Of course, Zambia has experienced a sad episode of the demise of a sitting president and a by-election, and I am sure that the recommendation comes as a result of that. I am sure that what many well meaning Zambians doubt is whether there is any justification, apart from the costs which are necessary in a democracy, for that fundamental change in the constitution. But coupled with that, is the arrogance with which the politicians from the ruling party are going about it.

What would be the most ideal situation is that such a person is scrutinised by the general Zambian electorate in the first place but, as I have stated above, would have just been elected in one corner of the country or in a worst case scenario, just nominated as Member of Parliament and appointed vice president.

Not taking away anything from him, but President Rupiah Banda is himself a case in point. He was just nominated by the late President Levy Mwanawasa in 2006 and today he has taken occupancy of State House through that fluke appointment less than three years ago.

The NCC delegates should have also looked at the history of instability in the office of the vice president. In the last 17 or so years of the MMD in power, not less than seven people have occupied that office starting from Levy Mwanawasa himself in 1991 to George Kunda today. In between there have been people like Godfrey Miyanda, the late Christon Tembo, Enoch Kavindele, Nevers Mumba, Lupando Mwape and Rupiah Banda himself in that order.

Simply put, there is no security of tenure in the office of the vice president because whoever occupies it, does so at the pleasure of the president who is the appointing authority and can be removed at any time. For this reason, the president could appoint a weak person who would not be inclined to challenge him for any reason, including wrong decisions, for him to continue enjoying the comfort of Government House and other facilities and benefits attached to it.

It appears to me that the MMD members on the NCC and their proxies are not thinking through some of the recommendations they are passing. The motivation is clearly to entrench the MMD in power given the control that the ruling party has on the Electoral Commission of Zambia, an organisation which lacks the full confidence of the people.

The danger is that whoever will come in power after President Banda, especially if it he or she will come from the opposition, will change the constitution. It will be a cycle repeated over and over and it is doubtful if we will ever come up with one that will stand the so-called test of time.

There is equally no guarantee that even an MMD president will not change the constitution. Zambians know that when President Mwanawasa took over from Chiluba, he ripped the Chiluba constitution which is in the process of being re-written. We all thought that this should have been the opportunity to put in a good document especially that the constitution making process costs money which could be better used in other areas of development.

Sadly, Zambians are once more being taken for a ride by the very people they put in office by drafting a constitution that takes away their fundamental rights. One would have hoped that Vice President George Kunda, who is also justice minister, should have done a better job considering that he was once president of that luminous legal body, the Law Association of Zambia.

Equally sad is the fact that most of the people sitting on the NCC are just interested in the huge allowances they are earning when everyone else faces the spectre of joblessness as a result of the global economic meltdown.

……

So President Rupiah Banda knows it when he is being told lies by the people who have access to him? Yes Sir, this type of flotsam has spoiled lives of many honourable men and women of our beautiful country who have wrongly being reported to heads of state who have acted on the information based on lies.

People have lost businesses, professions, jobs, and unfortunate ones, even their lives because of such liars.

The people who tell lies to presidents have probably wanted to win favours for themselves or have done so merely out of jealous and malice. A good President would indeed verify this information through the professional system and if needs be, ask the people so maligned for their side of the story.

Many a time, these lies would be disproved and it would be appropriate if the liars were exposed right there and then, and if needs be, even punished. What is sad in the Zambian case is that even people who have held ministerial positions have done that to settle simple scores with ordinary citizens.

Zambia

needs a lot of healing from this type of people and other political misfits who have gotten to the top through deceit, backstabbing and utter lies. And there is no better place from where to start this process than from the President himself.