Zambia has slid into dictatorship under the leadership of President Edgar Lungu, an expert on Africa said on Wednesday, adding that “something is definitely wrong” in that country.
In an interview with News24, Greg Mills said that Zambia was now “virtually a dictatorship”, as critics of president Lungu were “systematically being silenced”.
Mills said the situation was worrying, as it had negative effects on the southern African country’s economy.
“Zambia is now virtually a dictatorship due to the ongoing unstable political situation. The current administration has been systematically silencing its critics, starting off with the silencing of a newspaper [The Post], which was critical to Lungu, and now the opposition leader [Hakainde Hichilema] is also being persecuted on unclear grounds. So definitely there is something wrong in that country,” said Mills.
Hichilema, a wealthy business, who was also the leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND), was recently charged with treason.
Maximum security prison
Authorities alleged that he blocked Lungu’s motorcade with his own convoy of vehicles during a traditional ceremony in the country’s western province in April.
They said that Hichilema’s motorcade did not yield after presidential security guards signalled for it to get out of the way.
In the meantime, the authorities have kept up pressure on his supporters, including blocking the Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane from attending his trial last month.
Hichilema, who lost an August election to Lungu, alleged polling irregularities after the vote. His UPND unsuccessfully tried to contest what it called a stolen election.
Hichilema has refused to recognise Lungu as president, arguing that his party still has a case pending and could only recognise him once that is dealt with.
Political agendas
but to me it does seem like a huge leap – from a road incident to a treason charge – that does seem a little far-fetched.
Mills said the treason charges against Hichilema were going to have an impact on the way the country’s democratic institutions were perceived.
“I do not know much about the charges against Hichilema, but to me it does seem like a huge leap – from a road incident to a treason charge – that does seem a little far-fetched.
“This trial is going to have a huge impact on how the country is going to move forward. It is clear that state resources are being used for certain political agendas, thus, this is going to be a very difficult issue going forward,” said Mills.
Mills also said that the country’s political instability could be traced back to the time when the late president Michael Sata was still in office.
Sata was regarded as a “no-nonsense man of action”.
He came into power after winning a crunch election in 2011. His critics, however, viewed the former policeman, trade unionist and taxidermist as an authoritarian populist.
He died in 2014.
‘Poisoned chalice’
Zambia did not have any foreign debt before both these administrations, but it has become one of the most unequal countries in the world with a huge foreign deficit
“The country has been going down this trajectory since the early 2000s. When the late president Sata took over in 2011, the country’s unstable situation continued to go down – meaning that there is something wrong in how the country is being governed,” said Mills.
Mills said that the present government inherited a “poisoned chalice” from Sata, adding, however, that Lungu escalated the “already volatile” situation.
“Zambia’s current president inherited a somewhat poisoned chalice from his predecessor. Lungu was also part of that government as a defence minister, and since he took over he has done little to improve the country’s situation. He has instead escalated it,” said Mills.
Mills said that the country had since become highly unequal due to the government’s economic policies, adding that this was “very bad for the country’s development.”
“Zambia did not have any foreign debt before both these administrations, but it has become one of the most unequal countries in the world with a huge foreign deficit,” said Mills.
Source:News24
This is really poor journalism. Who is Greg Mills and what is he an expert at??
Not an expert but a friend to the accused.
Gregory John Barrington Mills
Born
May 9, 1962 (age 55)
Cape Town, South Africa
Spouse(s)
Janet Margaret Wilson
Children
Amelia
Beatrix
William
Parent(s)
Denis Arthur Barrington Mills
Nanette Mary How Elliott
Gregory John Barrington “Greg” Mills (born 9 May 1962) heads the Brenthurst Foundation, based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Foundation was established in 2005 by the Oppenheimer family to strengthen African..
YOU CNA FIND THE REST ON HIS WIKEPIDIA f00L
He is only telling the truth which we Zambians know very well ,that this mess was started by late sata.I wander why all you guys who supporting the mess whether you are all paid to support no matter what.this mess will be left to our children to suffer the consequences .
Not long ago on this same forum we were told that he is a friend to HH, Obassnjo and others. He is a wrong expert to talk about Zambia.
The other question is: What is his interest in Zambia? There are so many countries where things are seemingly not going well, why is he accusing the PF government of bringing civil war in the country, there is no civil war in Zambia, its just people mourning their great leader who is behind bars and it’s just a matter of time he will be exonerated.
I get concerned if a person claims to be an expert & confesses that he knows nothing about the matter but then still volunteers an ‘expert’ opinion. That’s known as propaganda. Those of us who live in Zambia know that we’ve had internationally acclaimed credible elections since 1991 & 5 presidents later our economy has grown from GDP of $5b to $35b. Thats an average of 7%! Most importantly we are Christian nation with democratic institutions. All these are facts that only a cynical person would chose to ignore. We are not perfect but we’ve a more positive story to tell than most because God’s favouring us. God Bless Zambia!
Tell these journalist-pretenders to learn their craft before misleading us their audience
JOURNALISM IS BECOMING A CIRCUS – BEWARE OF FAKE NEWS
=================================
Unprecedented levels of hate and negative reporting about Zambia perpetrated by UPND surrogates is becoming a source of concern. Yes we knew of Fred’s Post Newspaper as the main source of incredible “fake news” agent in the past but now The Mast and many social media platform are champions. No media platform is spared from this ill-vice. We also now know that very few Zambians read these wrong sources of news. Never mind Greg Mills, he is definitely not Zambian but some goon paid by Mmembe and UPND sympathizers. What is surprising though is the level of tolerance from Zambian media platforms to these “Fake news sources”.
Who is Mills to talk about Zambia?
A country can not turn into a dictatorship if one i.diot who breaks the law is arrested. The whole country is completely free apart from law breakers. So this expert is a lunatic
A country can not turn into a dictatorship if one i.diot who breaks the law is arrested. The whole country is completely free apart from law breakers. So this expert is a lunatic
I find it funny that questions as “Who is Mills to talk about Zambia?” amidst other insults targeted towards him. We all know that Zambia’s debt is soaring due to excessive borrowing as government is broke with no effective policy implementation to cushion hardships the country faces. Lets not escape from the fact that Mills also belongs to the syndicate that Zambia runs to for this heavy borrowing! Hunger humbles and will force one to go beg from most unlikely sources even under insults by the source! The Brenthurst Foundation may feature well among the syndicate than Zambia thus Mills has reason to feel emboldened in making comments as he has done! After all much as Zambians can say what they like, with stained pride, fact of being borrowers to sustain the Zambian economy dictates…
contd…that the nation has to dance to the tune of the syndicate! Cry the Beloved country as the downward spiral is putting scorn and eroding dignity on its people!
Fumanchu, it’s HH who borrowed from this foundation not the PF government.
Give a man a fish and you need to feed him every day. Teach Homo Africanus how to fish and you still need to feed him everyday.
Greg Mills is double H’s friend. He is the founder of The Brenthurst Foundation. It is a country club in South Africa.
So what? What are friends for?
The brenthurst foundation is a country club?my word if you guys can search lusaka times .just google greg mills and you will have all the information including what the brenthurst foundation does .For your information Mr.Mills has a BA,Maters and a PHD which i guess you don’t have .He also lectures at universities on international relations .Tema cadre yapa soweto aya iyo stop showing your ignorance …
Friends are for supporting each other even when the friend is wrong – that is why we should not listen to Greg Mills. By the way, he is an expert in what?
If the seen I watched on Prime TV yesterday, an army of the police including the C5 escorting one innocent prisoner to court is anything to go by, then only a mad person having intimate relations with dogs can stand up and claim that there is no crisis in Zambia. The picture I saw was not different from the one you see in Central African Republic, South Sudan, Somalia etc.
In pf cadres eyes that is normal, but even a 2 year old child can see that something is horribly wrong in this country.
@Chilankalipa….. I was actually driving along Nationalist road and met with that convoy on their way to court. Gosh…that serious escort speaks for itself!
What a statement from this Mills. He seems to be thinking from Mars or some planet. The article calls him an expert my word! an expert in what???
Hasn’t he just pointed out plain truths ,as of his expertise why not research first before you attack my guess is your academic credentials are inferior to his and you ask what he is an expert on .
Kupusa bati a Mills, ba Mills balitupile, ba Mills ukukosama, anyway who is this Mills?
Correction: Greg Mill is not the founder. The founders of the Brenthurst foundation are the Oppenheimers’ family.
Thanks
“Oppenheimer family” does any one know about Anglo-American CEO?. Anglo American pulled out of the copper mining following the loss of election by the late Anderson Mazoka (UPND)-MHSRIP. However, soon after Anglo America pulled out the country sold the mines to other foreign investors and the copper prices boomed. It appears that the Oppenheimer (CEO) of Anglo America have been trying to come back to mine in Zambia. But the manner in which they pulled out seems to hold them back. What seems to be clear though is that they would rather support a leader (stooge) who they can ask to invite them back into the country because they seem to have a problem to come back on their own. So your G Mills is part of this external cartel. In South Africa the white capital imperialists have been a…
Tell them Kev. These characters wanted Zambia to collapse, but that did not happen.
But he is telling the truth no matter who he is or what he represents and so what if he is HH’s Best Friend?
Pharaoh Lungu is so stubborn. Only famine and pestilence and a breakout of boils will let him release HH. This is one problem he does not need but his stubbornness and pride will be his downfall.
You will continue praying for ECL’s downfall till 2021, and to your dismay again, he will rebound even stronger.
white capital monopoly has been a subject of discussion for sometime now. This G Mills is just part of this cartel and their influence in Africa is propelled by the funding of political parties that would enhance their financial capital. So this man (Mils) will tell the Zambian people that they have elected a dictator which effectively means we cannot reason or we cannot choose our own leader unless we choose/elect the one they (imperialists) go to bed with.
Spot on , Kev!!!!
This Mills thing is a business partner of HH.him and Abasanjo funded HH’s campaigns and were promised copper mines if HH won.HH managed to hire choppers from SA because of Mill’s dirty money.so the fella is very shocked seeing HH in jail and maybe expecting the end of HH’s political career.if that happens,then Mills can never recover his lost money,hence ranting daily about Zambian democracy!!
Mill please dont worry,us Zambian voters are happy with ECL.if ECL is a dictator,then sorry that is only on your head.majority of us havent seen that yet!!ITS LIFE US USUAL IN ZAMBIA SORRY!!
True!!!!
The helicopters didn’t come from SA they were rented from a company in Livingstone.
Who is happy with ECL? Speak for yourself iwe kolwe. Why are you speaking on our behalf? Mr. Lungu’s leadership has been a disaster from the beginning! How can you add more than 100% to the debt in less than a year? And where has that money been invested? In Jameson? Zambia is a cursed land because a kaboyi has become a king! The bible warns against that and it has happened to us. We are seeing the fruits of our evil as a nation. Koseni bane!
#3.3 Its still a country club.
I don’t know about his thoughts but the man in the picture looks sober.
I am forced to comment on this dictatorship issue that is been talked. Stop this nonsense people.
How many opposition have been silenced or put in jail. HH himself and its few people are to blame. You can’t force something to happen if it’s not your time to lead the Nation. People like HH and GBM pushed Lunga and his government in the corner for no valid reasons. HH arrested himself. Respect the law and order will be achieved. You can’t fight with the government machinery.
Zambia is not under dictatorship in any way but Zambian government machinery and judicially are just enforcing the law to be followed.
Respect leaders and wait for your time to come to lead.
So for me and other people there who understand Zambia and its governance refuse to accept the notion of dictatorship…
Accept challenge in your life.
Accept challenge in your life. Trump is being challenged for suspicion that he colluded with Russians before he was declared winner. Why can’t Lungu be challenged on the suspicion that he stole votes from HH?
Iwe mills tombanoko can you mind your business. We are enjoying sanity and peace in the absence of this beast called hungry hyena. For your information sazachokemo mu maximum condom oh sorry maximum prison munzako. Tizamuchita prisoner for life. So continue barking while we enjoy our peace.
just release HH the way you release the musician general kanene. otherwise, busiri’s guese work will come true. there will be fighting in your country.
general kanene was convicted.
PF government can/should equally bring in any independent expert to review this regime and leave it for Zambians to assess. PF should not only cry foul as Zambia is not part of the whole world. With internet and ICT in this world you can not hide anything every time. The world keep watch 24/7/365.
Instead of attacking Mills counter his claims, state where he has given false information. Unless one was born five years ago i can forgive them for thinking that the economic situation was the same in 2011 as it is today. Let us learn to call a spade a spade. Only yesterday ECL said rural poverty is at 76%, its okay if that statement is made by a Zambian, if a foreigner dares to say that, Zambians will start breathing fire like in the case of the Commentor
shadreck Biemba… don’t insult young man….Words such as ” tombanoko” are not good. Your father and mother can never be proud of your great insult because you are product of them.
Young man repent.
I know your heart and mind are never at peace as you insult.
So now the new shift is to defend Greg Mills?
Should a lodger
ukwangala tabapatikisha……
A breed of white donkey. As you know donkeys see tjings digferently from us. For example we go to see the doctor at the hospital when we are not well. Donkeys probably see the Vet. We have CT scans, they go to dip tanks. Look there is no basis for comparison with donkeys.
Nor is there a basis for engagement, how?
HEAR THE TREASON!
This is the real reason UPND will never win the Presidency of Zambia… Majority of Zambian voters will never allow a hired foreign crooks or Dunderheads masquerading as Experts to poke their pink noses in the Zambian Democracy especially that they were practising apartheid just a few years ago…
There’s something definitely wrong with the entire world.
There’s something definitely wrong with the entire world. No country is at peace ..be it economy …be instability …be it terrorism.
To answer to you all of you PF angels, the situation in Zambia has deterioted to an extent of no repair.
That is the more reason why great people are now concerned. You are so brain washed that you cant see what is happening in this once great Nation. Work up from you slumber. The situation in Zambia is really appalling,awful,terrible.
How do you classify a country as dictatorship based on the incarceration on one man? This strategy by UPND will seriously backfire because it’s beginning to even annoy people who wouldn’t comment on Zambian politics. This strategy of using Dictatorship as many times as possible to make it believable is a sure sign of desperation. If the government fails to deal with UPND, the Zambian people will. Just remember that when you start inviting outsiders to unsettle people just for your selfish reasons, You are actually uniting our resolve and determination against you rather than dividing us.
Future zed,
Mind your useless language. Do you actually thing with all you senses that HH is mere Man? He is a big political figure you hard nut to crack. Sink that into your thick skull. For as long as HH is behind bars Zambia will not be the same.
Big political figure my backside! Is that why he lost 5 elections? A thick skull is better than a dull one. Zambia has found peace with HH behind bars, what does that tell you? Selfish people like you have no place in the Zambian society. Keep dreaming, you have a long way to go…atase!
Another person who has been reading Under Five Card Clinic articles not knowing that there has been a tribal party trying to take assault on the peaceful majority Zambian peoples! The Greg Mill may be an expert in his country but cannot be on Zambia! He is not eveb aware that during privatization HH pocketed a lot of money to enrich himself and now supported by the beneficiaries, he wants to mortgage this nation! Mr. expert, you fail just like these ignorant bloggers here who 24 hrs a day and 7 days a week support a thief and loser!
@BENECHISHI, “HH is a not a mere man” (Yes you are right, He is a three mansion – agreed! Free Manson) A big political figure? (Wow! Only in your head!) UPND supporters suffer from delusions! Strong delusions! Sometimes they compare Under Five Card Clinic to Mandela, to KK, to Martin Luther King, when he is not even a factor in Zambian politics and he WILL NEVER be President in Zambia!
HH is a leading opposition Leader in Zambia. In the 2016 Election HH received more than 1.7 million voters. Had the Election not been rigged HH would have been the Winner. Lungu cannot write off HH no matter how long he keeps him in Jail. By incarcerating HH on Trumped Up charges Lungu has made even more popular.HH and his workers are innocent but are being persecuted on Political grounds and for refusing to recognize a Vote Thief and Law Breaker as a President. HH and UPND will Never recognize illegality. The casualty to the Crisis is the Zambian Economy. Without IMF Loan and Western Financial Assistance the Zambian Economy will collapse with dire consequences. Lungu and his illiterate Economic Advisers dont understand how Economies function or collapse.
Keep dreaming…If UPND was so concerned about upholding the rule of Law, you wouldn’t have been that reckless to give the ruling party the chance to incarcerate your leader. HH was playing a daring game which backfired because you are now finding out that the party is useless without him. Smart people connect with people that matter the most, the voters not your fake friends who think they can cause confusion in a peaceful country. HH has been around for some time, what has he ever done for the Zambian economy that could that detrimental without him? We will not allow our Zambia to be taken for a ride by a few. We are many and our resolve is as strong as ever. I’m not even a PF supporter so that should tell you something.
These are the facts: The British South Africa company of Cecil Rhodes was financed by the Rothschilds- a very rich Jewish family that owned and still own most of Europe’s top companies. BSA was all about mining rights and when Zambia gained its independence, those mining rights were handed over to BSA’s heir apparent in the form of Anglo-America also run by another powerful Jewish family called the Openheimers. People such as Greg Mills and Human Hyena (HH) are just tiny pawns in a game of chess that began before colonialism. Sad to say even Mazoka was a pawn in this game.
If Greg Mills wasn’t a white South African, I’d find his concerns believable. But at his age he probably lived through apartheid and he clearly has a warped sense of what dictatorship means.
Respond to his assertions in the article, not whether he is entitled to make them or not. Are they a reflection of or part thereof, of what obtains in Zambia? Those questioning his loci standii or underlying interest to comment on Zambian matters, are the same as the dictators who decide on whether a newspaper or opposition leader should write or say anything – not on whether what they state is legitimate or not.
Something is wrong yes, and what is wrong is that people see the situation from one side of the coin without turning it to see the other side too. They are blaming the president without considering the lawlessness which is prevailing in the country.
BUT WE TOLD SATA MHSRIP THIS DOG PF YOU ARE RAISING WILL ONE DAY BITE ZAMBIANS BUT HE CONTINUED PAMAKA PAMAKA. WE TOLD HIM THIS IS NOT HOW WE RAISE DOGS BUT HE NEVER LISTENED. LOOK NOW IT BITE CHILUFYA SATA, MILES SAMPA, GBM,MWENYA MUSENGE,GUY SCOT, WINTER KABIMBA, POST NEWS PAPER AND THE OWNER MMEMBE ALL SCATTERED AND NOW IT`S ON CHISHIMBA KAMBWILI AND MWAMONENI ENGINEERING PULLING DOWN HIS TROUSERS AND CRIES FOUL WHO BOASTED TOO MUCH ABOUT THIS DOG PF PARTY ALL OVER ZAMBIA ESPECIALLY IN COPPERBELT. THIS DOG PF PARTY HAS NO MERCY LOOK AT HOW IT HAS BITTEN HH IT CAN NT LEAVE HIM ALONE EVEN AT A COURT ORDER AND BESIDES THE LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTIONS, CHURCHES.THIS DOG PF KNOWS NO RULE OF LAW. THIS DOG PF PARTY CAN NOT EVEN LISTEN TO ITS CADRES IT NO LONGER OBEYS THEM. IT HAS…
YES SURE