An Open Letter to the Editor of Zambian Watchdog
Dear Mr. Editor,
I write to you as International counsel to His Excellency, former President Rupiah Banda and to Henry Banda (Mr. Banda), regarding serious and urgent concerns over articles published on your website over the past week. I refer to your articles of 9 February 2015, “Henry Banda joins Katumbi, Lungu in Mfuwe”, and 17 February 2015, “Lungu, Katumbi, RB, Henry Banda seal arms deal for Zambian military” (the Articles), containing blatantly fictitious information.
As you are well aware, His Excellency and his family have been subject to baseless allegations by the Zambian government and partisan media such as yourself over the past year. During this period, politically compromised outlets such as the Zambian Watchdog have published a vast array of false accusations against the distinguished former President and his family. We can only assume that these fabricated news articles are an attempt to tarnish the good reputation of my client and manipulate the Zambian people.
The Articles referred to above contains information that is absolutely false and fictitious. This letter is a notice to you to stop mindless defamation against my client, Mr. Henry Banda. Mr. Banda is an honorable businessman who has not been charged with any crime. We have physical evidence that Mr. Banda was not present in Mfuwe at any time during the period mentioned in the Articles; as such the allegations in the Articles are fabricated and untrue. These allegations lack any form of substance. The purpose of these headlines is to stir up an attack campaign on my clients with the intent of damaging the reputation of Mr. Banda and that of His Excellency.
We understand the Zambian Watchdog to now in part be funded by a group known as “the cartel”, who view the Banda family as political opponents. In the past, much has been published concerning the Banda family that have been ignored, but this situation can no longer be tolerated, given the gravity of the bogus allegations now made.
I therefore request that you act expeditiously to remove the above Articles or disable access to the links to their webpage and associated social media platforms, in order to avoid proceedings being issued against you for defamation in the London courts.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Robert Amsterdam
International counsel to former President Rupiah Banda and to Henry Banda
Lungu and PF has failed,,,,,
Why is Lungu still defence mininster,,,,,,why???
Hehehehe…..The decoy of RB by the name of Armsterdam ! who are you to dictate wht ZWD should do?
You are the one who is lying, we believ in whtever ZWD writes and are MOSTLY 99.99999% acurate SO STOP making noise.
RB and ECL marriage is not viable.
#ZAMBIA A COUNTRY WITHOUT A PRESIDENT
Hehehehe…..The decoy of RB by the name of Armsterdam ! who are you to dictate wht ZWD should do?
You are the one who is lying, we believ in whtever ZWD writes and are MOSTLY 99.99999% acurate SO STOP making noise.
RB and ECL marriage is not sustainable.
#ZAMBIA A COUNTRY WITHOUT A PRESIDENT
Your English comprehension has failed.
If you read their cooked up report ZWD posted yesterday, and then a letter they have posted today struggling to contradict themselves against their own claims, they are are saying that the business of arms dealing is too complicated with respect to international arms control for individuals to take a a middle role between manufacturers and Government. Doing a thorough context analysis of the two posts from the same confused trolls only brings to the fore that some street journalists are far away from being investigative journalists. Can’t they consult with uncle VJ who supported HH in the just ended election. Uncle VJ is an senior most ex-DG of the Service, foreign Minister and most knowledgeable systems actor with unparalleled depth. He knows how state arms of war are procured.
SATA IS LYING HELPLESS WHILE BANDA AND LUNGU ARE BEASY STEALING IN DARK CORNERS
ECL when you receive a call from Kabila DRC, what will you answer him on the arms deal and your association with MCK which is not official from DRC government?
ECL when the Zambians asks you about the RB and Henry Bandas sagas of corruption what will you say?
Bambo a LungU mufunikila ku nkala naku ganiza vyamene mwana wanyoko is advising otherwise ni zanu bambo, muzaliila paka gazi ikachoke.
@senior man
Can you please tell tell us why PF is now contracting debt on behalf of Zimbabwe to fix the Kariba when it has previously failed to settle the first debt for the construction of the dam?
Zimbabwe still owes Zambia huge amounts of money for the kariba dam which it has refused to pay todate. When Mwanawasa demanded the money, the Zim CIOs took him out.
Who is really in charge of Zambia if Mugabe can demand that Zambians borrow on behalf Zimbabwe?
What kambwili said today just confirms what I have always said about Mugabe ruling Zambia by proxy, via RB and Lungu.
Zambia under PF is truly a failed state. I think our peaceful nature has really gone too far.
I am now ashamed to call myself a Zambian for sure!
kekekekeke,,, this not the same zambian watchdog which you Amsterdam and RB was using to fight Sata???
IS THIS A LAWYER WRITING THIS POORLY CONSTRUCTED LETTER. THE LETTER ITSELF APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN WRITTEN BY A BOY OR GIRL BETWEEN GRADE SEVEN AND GRADE 10. IT LACKS A LOT OF SUBSTANCE. DON’T GET ME WRONG- I AM NOT A FAN OF ZWD AND I DON’T EVEN READ IT. BUT, WHOEVER WROTE THAT LETTER MUST GO BACK TO SCHOOL.
Zambian watch dog temunobe. It will support your cause as long it is genuine. Once you start backflips on your morals it will bring down in a flash.
“proceedings being issued against you for defamation in the London courts.” These are the same London courts that failed to convict Chiluba
If the allegations are baseless, then why is henry running away from Zambia? Do you run away if you have nothing to answer? Let him come back home and answer the charges and then you can tutor us. Failure to that Amsterdam, shut your big mouth. I think we are now beginning to miss Sata who treated you how you are supposed to be.
Dear Editor, hide my ID as I have national interest at heart.
Title: The Arms illegal deal is an international insult to legal terms in ARMS selling policies.
The recently night negative meetings of president Edgar Lungu, Rupiah Banda, Henry Banda and MCK on the arms deal on behalf of the State is an insult to the people of Zambia and that of the DRC and the entire region of southern Africa and the world at large.
No manufacturing firms of arms which are owned by the sovereign governments across the globe will allow middle men to purchase arms, arms are only purchased by government to government deals, the only arms that are purchased on the streets are considered as non-war weapons but security weapons which can be bought by any cash pocketed individual not in bulky but by the…
Why was I when Amsterdam brought his fights with dogs in our yard? Amsterdam or Banda family will not get sympathy with these people at LT who even managed NOT to help Mutembo Nchito.
That article is for ZWD & websites like Tumfweko, Mwebantu, Kitwetimes etc.
Mr Amsterdam, you should publish this letter on the ZWD. This is a wrong platform. What if the ZWD dont see it here? How sure are you that ZWD staff read Lusaka Times?
which part of open letter don’t you understand.
ZWD are now active on Lusaka Times because they have noticed their site is only visited by Upnd cadres, now they bring their trash here and lower the standards of Lusaka Times, yaba!!!
You have not proved that the information is false. Henry Banda has his hands dirty with Government contract through his father. Why would he permitted to sit in cabinet meetings?
Now we have Arms deal, dubious Angola water deals, Mutembo Nchito saga, Double deputies,Kwacha at gone down the drain,Rupiah Banda controling, Vacation time,borrowing borrowing and more borrowing. Ifintu ni nani……is this what Zambians asked for???
UTH no medicine yaba kwena
Ayopa chani mambala uyu kupeleka nkalata iyi ku Watchdog?
ZWD won’t publish it naiwe.
The problem with everybody is to find the Zambian Watchdog editors or journalist. I am sure Sata tried but failed. May be you Mr Useful fimo-fimo can be useful enough. ZWD is complicated and may be their even attend these meeting. Mind you they have even challenged those not agreeing to say so. This means your argument may just open the pandora box yet the matter is so sensitive. You should even have written on their site first so as to restrict the sensitive matter to one domain. This galavanting approach will just further spread the argument which you yourself deem baseless. If you are sure ZWD is lying why take their issue on another platform? Are you sure you can take hold of the ZWD editor?
never!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he cant
This chap running the watchdog has overrated himself for such a long time.
Time after time he writes the letters addressed to the Dear Editor, pretending that they are from readers.
He has so much bitterness, anger and envy. One wonders if he manages to have enough sleep.
Bwezani Rupiah Banda wants to get rid of key members in the PF.
He is the one behind lies against Home Affairs Minister Davies Mwila and Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba. Why accuse the two ministers of meeting Dr Nevers Mumba? Even accusing the two ministers of challenging ECL. These are cheap politics of the past.
Rupiah has observed that these are very close to H.E President Lungu, so in order to fulfill his ambitions he has embarked on a mission of causing a tumoil within the ruling PF. He want to take full control of the party.
We the voters observed the same man bringing the MMD to its knees after his rule.
RB should go back to his party.
HE ECL should be very careful with this unpopular politician.
Go on, smoke the snake from its hole.
No where to hide and insult Zambians.
I like this, not so long ago you Mr Holland Amsterdam and the ZWD were bedfellows in demonising the late MCS and now you are feeling the heat!!!!! Kikikiki, tiye nayo kukosa mambala
Exactly! He probably thinks we have forgotten
drop that letter to hakainde hichilema, he may know who to give
@ thalipwanika kale,
You are very shallow, a waste of breath and space. Where does HH come in all this? Cant you leave him alone for once? Please get a life, you are nauseating.
Ba shikulu ba R.B with all due respect, leave P.F alone. You had your chance in MMD, you failed to keep it together. You sabotaged it yourself with the help of Namugala, Kachingwe, Dora, and crew. Please, take permanent leave from politics and rest.
P.F have their own internal wrangles and 99 problems to worry about, you shikulu should not be one of those problems.
As someone has noted already, Amsterdam is not refuting the allegations. Can you please give us your version of events? ZWD have been on point more times than any other media, so we believe their stories are closer to the truth than any of our public media stories. ZWD is truly a watchdog. I hope the Banda’s and Mr. Lungu are feeling the heat! That’s good for our democracy.
In an case the writer should have taken trouble to explained who crossed Mwami border post with a Red cross Nisan Hard Body heading to Mfuwe on the Material day. We were also told that MCK would land at Mfuwe air strip which he did and many other stories. It is in public domain that RB, KK, Chirwa(fake professor)Chitundu and many others went there. Please Mr.Writer tell us the side of your sotorry
ECL when you receive a call from Kabila DRC, what will you answer him on the arms deal and your association with MCK which is not official from DRC government?
ECL when the Zambians asks you about the RB and Henry Bandas sagas of corruption what will you say?
Bambo a LungU mufunikila ku nkala naku ganiza vyamene mwana wanyoko is advising otherwise ni zanu bambo, muzaliila paka gazi ikachoke.
The only way the former President (RB) and his family can exonerate themselves or clear their names is to subject them to a financial forensic audit by a reputable international auditing firm. Otherwise, the “crook / corrupt” label still applies.
litsen you white monkey bearing a name of a town synonimous with drugs,homosexuality and prostitution “amsterdam”.
we all know that rupiah banda went to the village a broke fella with a pile of debts,broke companies and in rags until mwanawasa fished him out and rewarded him with the vice presidency.
now where do you think this guy bwezani has found the wealth to be hiring jets from? i put it to you that the man benefited from the sale of zamtel to lapgreen and botched sale of finance bank to absa.he also chewed the nigerian oil money.sata did well to nail his ass.the man is corrupt and without shame.he is even vulnerable to being swindled by bootlickers like you.just eat the mulla and shut your ass up.
Yes, ba watchdog continue imforming us more. One RB One Lungu One Deal.
Shut up amsterdam! Busy eating stolen money from poor Zambians! U will pay!
If this ***** can’t find ZWD, why publish it on Lusaka Times platform? Just two years ago he used ZWD to attack Sata. What has changed now? Am sure his pocked has been oiled from lucrative deals which are being hatched under ECL government. This is wako ni wako kantemba govt. With RB in power, more deals will be heard. That’s the reason RB was kicked out of state house by Zambians because he loves dirty money. Even his own son who was supporting HH said it that RB is not supporting Edgar for a good reason but for his own selfish reasons. The Post which is somehow trapped in similar cartel deals rebuked RB’s son for for being too harsh against his own father. But the truth had to be told anyway. I guess the Mfuwe deals is just a tip of an iceberg. Ifintu ni Lungu kateka ni RB and…
muzungu anikonde so I will give him all the wealth of Zambia to blither on mindlessly about the “cartel”? What “cartel” is that? The original PF of Sata, Scott and Kabimba minus the opportunist “cartel” of UPND Lungu, UNIP/UPND Inonge, MMD/UNIP Rupiah Banda and a foreign mercenary quack lawyer who has never even visited Zambia and has no connection with the country called Robert Amsterdam? If that’s the cartel this clueless Canadian is clucking about then he’s really exposing his ignorance or his totally corrupt business model (or maybe both). Can’t the Canadians arrest him for this BS that he hides behind the Canadian state?
It will be interesting to see where Amsterdam will deliver his summons
@Kaluba, you are spot on. I guess the summons will be delivered to Lusaka Times since this is where he is venting his anger.
A renowned lawyer can not poorly phrase a letter in that manner. That letter is a concoction of ZWD!One of their many ‘crafty’ tactics in tarnishing ECL’s reputation.
I trust watchdog, they seldom miss. For them to challenge the PF Govt to deny the arms deal, they really know what they are talking about.
Chiimbwi bakulila ninshi pali opo ashintilile
Nangu impofu ngayalanda ati ndekulasa ilibwe, ninshi nainyatapo pe libwe
Wait and see the watch dog reply.
Ajax should ask Miles Sampa and Kambwili about watchdog. No size
Lawyer wa wisi nyoko
Wanzelu:
You are free to find yourself a new country. The sooner you go, the better; we are truly ashamed to call you a Zambian.
ROBERT ARMSTERDAM YOU ARE ANOTHER WASTED PERSONALITY. ZAMBIANS HAVE A RIGHT TO INFORMATION, ESPECIALLY ON THESE GREEDY AND CROOKED POLITICIANS WHO ARE BUSY SIPHONING AND PLUNDERING OUR COUNTRY. THE BANDA FAMILY IS DIRTY-MINDED. THEY ARE THIEVES. THEY WANT TO MILK OUR COUNTRY TO THE LAST ATOM. ZAMBIANS FULLY DEPEND ON ZAMBIAN WATCHDOG FOR NEWS. ALL THE OTHER MEDIA ARE PUPPETS TO THE RULING AND CROOKED PF.
Funny how tables turn, the same blog was used to pour insult and ridicule Sata and the PF by RB and Armsterdam, now today he wants to condemn them for their reporting. Well if the watdog have always been right and truthful in their reporting then even what they are reporting about the dual is correct. Armsterdam give us break please!
MR ROBERT AMSTERDAM, DON’T MAKE LONG EXPLANATIONS ON WHAT, WHAT, WHAT.
ALL YOU NEED TO DEMONSTRATE ABOUT THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST HENRY IS:
1. PROVIDE A STRONG ALIBI THAT HENRY WAS NOWHERE NEAR MFUWE DURING THE TIME THAT IS BEING ALLEGED THAT HE WAS THERE.
2. PROVIDE ANOTHER STRONG ALIBI THAT MR MOISHE KATUMBI WAS ALSO NOWHERE NEAR MFUWE. FINISHED. WHY ARE YOU TROUBLING YOURSELF?
He knows evidence is heavy against him. There are so many people who saw all the mentioned people in addition to the photos taken right their. Although one can intelligently argue about photos, what can one do to all the potential eye witnesses? bribe them as usual or kill them all? impossible! Amsterdam should just keep quite rather than open a Pandora box which will boomerang in his face if he is not careful.
Dear bloggers we know that the DOGS will not publish this on their website because they are DOGS,thus bringing it here on our lovely LT.Like @Jasmine has said ZWD or the DOGS is a paper for UPND cadres and they know that pipo have stopped accessing it Bcoz they have realized it’s fake Tribal divisive they are now coming to pollute our LT with substandard unverified uncensored lies concocted ones.
your reasoning is chocked. touch not ZWD because these guys can finish you like the wild dogs finish the cacase.armstadam will soon dance from their fungs. lelo lelo, lelo lelo armstadam lelo lelo. wait and see if you dont know ZWD.
NAYE AMSTERDAM NI MUZUNGU OPUSA WINA. FOOLISH!