Prime TV Reporter reported behind the story Njenje Chizu has now accused ZESCO  Managing Director Victor Mundende and his two officials of trying to bribe him to retract the story blaming the Government for load shedding and not climate change.

Appearing on Prime TV, Mr. Chizu said that he stood by his story and he was amazed at how officials from ZESCO trying to deny his own story and instead accuse “some people” of having created the video.

Mr Chizu further said that the two officials from ZESCO offered him a job at ZESCO  in a town of his own choice either Lusaka or the Copperbelt in exchange of him admitting that the story was doctored.

Mr. Chizu also said that when he met Mr. Mundende in his office, the ZESCO MD  threatened that he should aim at reporting issues to make peace and not stories which will make him watch his back.

Mr Chizu said that he recorded all the conversations and gave it to ZESCO officials in case anything should happen to him.

Appearing on the same Prime TV Program, Analyst Mark Simuwe said that there was corruption for a cover-up by the persons who made him a job offer and that the two ZESCO officials can be dragged to court, adding that with recordings, the reporter has what he described as a good case

By Sishuwa Sishuwa

Across 2019, Zambia experienced no shortage of disappointments and setbacks. Yet there are some individuals whose courage and principles made them inspiring figures in the political landscape.

In this and the next article, I list two sets of citizens of 2019: those who through their actions offered hope to Zambians and those who were huge disappointments. Today, I focus on those Zambians and individuals who inspired public trust. Next week, I will discuss individuals and institutions who disappointed.

The heroes

Zambia suffers a deficit of genuine, consistent heroes. Perhaps there are many unsung heroes whose quiet and diligent work in our own communities goes unnoticed. I apologise for overlooking them in this article. The people I discuss below are drawn from those in public life whose actions are reported in the mainstream media – those who try to contribute positively to our political life and are willing to risk the ire and repression of the government in defence of the public good, or what is just, ethical and principled. The shortness of the list, which is not put in any order of importance, speaks for itself and points to the great absence of commendable figures in our public life who inspire.

UPND and Independent MPs: It is not very often that Zambia’s National Assembly, well-known for its supine character, acts in defence of public interest. Yet this is exactly what members of parliament from the main opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) and a significant number of independents did in 2019 when they rose to oppose the widely condemned Constitution (Amendment) Bill No. 10 of 2019, one that is primarily designed to consolidate the ruling Patriotic Front (PF)’s stay in power and make it effectively impossible to remove President Edgar Lungu from office.

When the PF realised that their manoeuvres to push through Bill 10 in Parliament were headed for defeat, they postponed its presentation for second reading to a later date. What the ruling party hopes to achieve in the meantime is to secure the support of those opposition and independent MPs who are open to bribery or overly motivated by money in order to enable it raise the two-thirds majority required to make any changes to Zambia’s constitution. Since most UPND and independent MPs have shown that they are resilient to bribery over this crucial matter, Zambians can be cautiously optimistic that the Constitution Bill will fall, as it must, when it is eventually presented for second reading in Parliament. It is their principled opposition that has the possibility to rescue the country from the abyss it is about to sink into.

Linda Kasonde: Most Zambians have now come to know Linda Kasonde as one of the country’s most courageous voices and a leading defender of human rights, civil liberties, the rule of law, constitutionalism, social justice and democratic principles. In 2019, Kasonde achieved two significant things that confirmed her reputation. First, she institutionalised the protection of human rights and the defence of the constitution by setting up Chapter One Foundation, an advocacy organisation also dedicated to the promotion of good governance and the protection of democracy. Second, she, alongside others in civil society such as Alliance for Community Action executive director Laura Miti and ActionAid country head Nalucha Nganga-Ziba, raised greater public awareness on the ills of Bill 10, the gravedigger of Zambia’s democracy and the country’s worst constitutional amendment since the achievement of independence in 1964.

While Miti and Nganga-Ziba removed the talk about Bill 10 from the confines of legal chambers into the public domain, Kasonde initiated a court action that challenged the constitutionality of the proposed law. When a prominent Bemba-speaking political strongman, previously a holder of important Cabinet positions and one of the key architects behind Lungu’s rise to power, approached and attempted to dissuade her from contesting Bill 10 on account that her campaign risked “undermining our hold on power as Bembas and installing a Tonga as [Zambia’s] president”, Kasonde made it clear that she was above ethnicity and that her political and human rights activism was as a matter of conviction – an inspiring response that reveals her ‘Zambia First’ nationalism.

Eddie Mwitwa: Zambia’s civil society is very weak. There are few organisations able to mobilise people against actions they see as illegitimate or illegal. At one point, the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) was an exception to this – exerting every effort to fulfil its mandate of defending the rule of law – but it now appears to have been captured by the PF following elections that saw one or two supporters of the ruling party assume senior leadership roles. After the departure of Kasonde, LAZ has been in the sway of the PF and the executive. In 2019, Eddie Mwitwa, the president of the association, stood up against this negative turn in the character of the institution and, to the displeasure of some of his colleagues on the executive, tried to give it some sense of duty and actual activity in defending the constitution.

As well as singlehandedly condemning violations in the rule of law, Mwitwa caused LAZ to join hands with Chapter One Foundation in challenging the constitutionality of Bill 10. In taking this principled position, the lone ranger effectively resisted the capture of LAZ and broke ranks with his colleagues in defence of Zambia’s constitution and the interest of the public. John Sangwa, the prominent lawyer who represented LAZ in the Bill 10 case, also deserves to be commended for taking up the case when few competent lawyers were willing to do so.

Margaret Munalula: When the Constitutional Court ruled that it was not its business to make a judgement on the contents of a bill, only a single judge, Margaret Munalula, dissented. In taking this position, not for the first time, Munalula confirmed her growing public reputation as the seven-member court’s most independent-minded judge who prefers to give a progressive interpretation of constitutional provisions at the risk of being seen as anti-executive. Zambia’s judiciary will be better off with justices like her – those with the qualities she possesses and which are admired and treasured by her colleagues: an active conscience, a keen mind, intelligence, fairness, devotion to scholarship, and a willingness to learn, to understand better, to judge better.

In a country in which many lawyers and judges will gladly serve out lies, corruption and injustice to advance their careers and the interests of a coterie of elite scumbags, hypocrites, kakistocrats and scoundrels of all sorts who somehow find themselves in power, Munalula’s consistent utilisation of these outstanding attributes in a way that lives up to fulfilling the mandate of the Constitutional Court – protection of the constitution – is inspiring and gives hope to many. Individuals like her sustain the struggle for sanity, for our mental health; they are the sane islands who are a constant reminder to all of us of what we must demand: an effective and impartial judiciary that is not susceptible to political and financial interests, and which is unafraid of asserting its constitutional power, even if this means ruling against the government and the ruling party. These individuals also confirm that human willpower does exist: we can overcome our poverty and uphold high moral and other human values.

News Diggers: Fiercely independent and not suffering from the stringency of partisanship that one sees in other private publications such as the Daily Nation, News Diggers is on the path to becoming the most influential and credible newspaper in Zambia. Given a better climate and a much more positive media environment with greater democracy, the paper would have earned top spot by now. In 2019, the publication continued its duty of holding power to account and providing an important platform for the discussion of issues that matter most to Zambians.

As well as exposing a number of scandals in government, it kept open the civic space despite operating under a political climate that is hostile to critical free press, provided a platform for political party leaders to share their institutions’ policies, and published stirring editorial comments whose depth and wisdom were truly inspiring. In conjunction with other institutions, it also organised a series of important public talks on different topics that increased public voices in the processes of governance.

A rare bright light in the country’s dysfunctional democratic institutions, a publication that many Zambians must use and support, and an inspiring example of a free press and the future we want, News Diggers has demonstrated that fighting for what is good was not unique to The Post. Many Zambians would love to do that. They simply have no opportunity and see the risk as too great to their lives. It is worth pointing out that to be a journalist in Zambia is risky, less rewarding, and requires a lot of sacrifice. That is the more reason why the editors and reporters of News Diggers deserve praise for their inspiring passion, dedication, commitment to work and running the paper so well on a shoestring budget.

Telesphore Mpundu: Retired Archbishop of Lusaka Diocese Telesphore Mpundu is a dignified individual and among a very small number of Zambian clergy who are incapable of finding peace in an environment in which human suffering is manufactured by politicians. Throughout 2019, Mpundu, as he has consistently done throughout his public life, raised his voice to speak out against injustice, abuse, corruption in government, the closing political space and the indifference of the country’s political leadership to the plight of many.

The man of God refused to be bullied into silence by the PF’s familiar tactic of accusing anyone who criticises the government, however well intentioned, of being a supporter of the opposition, mainly the UPND. A highly principled individual with the strength of convictions respected even by his adversaries, Mpundu is an inspiring example of the kind of clergy we need in the Zambia we should move towards – a country that is replete with people with a deep sense of responsibility and a conscience that is restless in the face of the misery and poverty that surround them.

Daniel Foote: Ambassadors accredited to Zambia have nothing to lose even if they do not speak out on the country’s ongoing collapse. They can easily take the diplomatic approach –praise the good things and pretend the bad things are not happening. Even when they know that the centre is rotten, majority of them continue to relate with that centre as if there is nothing wrong. Not Daniel Foote, the United States of America’s Ambassador to Zambia, who is included on this list not because he has taken up Zambian citizenship, but because he, in 2019, broke ranks with diplomatic protocol to speak out in defence of the interests of Zambians. Foote drew attention to the kleptocratic behaviour of the Lungu administration, openly rebuking it for lack of accountability, unbridled corruption and the grand theft of public resources. ‘The current government of Zambia’, he said, ‘wants diplomats to be compliant, with open pockets and closed mouths’, succinctly capturing what the PF demands from other states and mostly Zambians.

Foote also criticised the gross violations of human rights of a significant fraction of Zambia’s population, one that not even the country’s foremost human rights defenders will stand up for – those in same-sex relationships. The discrimination and mistreatment they continue to suffer, he noted, has no basis in the constitution. The most basic principle of the rule of law is that we are all equal before the law. Where is the justice, Foote asked, when two adults who are having a private consensual relationship that does not harm the public in any way are jailed for 15 years while those who are engaged in corruption, which is extremely damaging to millions of people, are walking scot-free? Even in rare instances where the plunderers are arrested and convicted, they spend only a few years in jail before their friends in the higher echelons of power pardon them at the earliest opportunity.

In a country that pretends to be Christian but is steeped in sin, including the sin of stealing public resources and of the fear of standing up to the ‘corrupt saints’ laughably known as our government, who are dragging Zambia down, Foote must be commended for opening up space for a healthy discussion on difficult subjects such as the idea of the state policing human sexuality, religion, morality and what it means to be human.

The recalled US ambassador has also shown that diplomats do not have to be reduced to lying and hypocrisy under the guise of not interfering in a country’s domestic affairs. They have the right to speak out – as the former British High Commissioner to Zambia Fergus Cochrane-Dyet and the current ambassadors from Germany and Sweden have previously, occasionally and commendably done. In this sense, Foote has left a lasting lesson for his colleagues: the need for diplomats, especially from those countries that are contributing millions in dollars to Zambia’s development agenda, to banish their incriminating silence in the face of corruption, the erosion of democracy and extreme social challenges such as those we are experiencing.

One hopes that in 2020, we will have more Zambians who care about the fate of this country doing everything they can to stand up for it.

By Wilfred Sameta

The wisdom of my homeland is wisdom like no other. It is a wisdom that is simple yet somewhat celestial.

Perhaps it is because as folklore would have it, our tribe began when Nyambe, the sun god descended from heaven onto Barotseland. It is said he came with his wife Nasilele (the moon), and together they began the line of Luyi-Luyana kings. Before ascending back to the heavens, they left their daughter Mbuyu to continue the line of leadership through her male offspring.

Maybe it is this legacy of having some divinity in our DNA that makes our male folk the fine, elegant and intelligent specimens that they are; and our female folk rare specimens of feminine grace…Barotse beauties with brains that have for generations had many a Tonga bull smitten and drooling!

But I digress!

Our culture and tradition has many rich axioms and wise sayings.

We have a saying:

“Kupotoloha kacacani ka mwangalala”

The literal translation is “to go round a mwangalala bush”.

It simply means to go mad, and it is used when referring to a person showing signs of madness.

The use of the mwangalala plant was probably decided upon by our ancestors due to its inedibility.

While Lozi might have found it reasonable to go round a plant to pick its fruit for food, they might equally have found it absurd for someone to frantically go round and round a tree with fruit that was not edible.

The disappointing loony eccentricities of certain “Reverend” Kapya Kaoma, who portrays himself as a “gay rights activist” in the diaspora, provides a befitting context to this adage.

How can a Zambian pastor be a gay rights activist? It’s absurd!

Round and round Kapya Kaoma goes enjoying the mwangalala bush of men sleeping with men. Round and round he goes delighting in the plant where women sleep with women. Round and round he goes looking for fruit from the tree that moved Jehovah to unleash God’s fury upon Sodom and Gomorrah.

Can a woman produce the fruit of the womb after sleeping with a woman?

Can a man conceive after sleeping with another man?

It is sheer madness!

Kapya Kaoma is frankly speaking, just a weird weasel with a seared conscience. He is masquerading and hiding in the Christian Church to make money out of the American Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Intersex (LGBTI) society. What a shame!

He is a complete sell out. He has sold his Zambian identity to debauchery and his despicable soul to diabolos.

The love of money is truly the root of all evil.

The “Clergyman” is part of an elaborate international scheme worth millions of dollars to introduce and legalise LGBTI in Zambia. On the evidence of his writings as “researcher on religion and sexuality” for a Boston based outfit and his close association with Pro-LGBTI organisations in the US, he cannot deny this.

Part of the scheme involves discrediting the current administration of Bo Lungu on the international scene, in order to influence regime change for a government that is “LGBTI Friendly”. This is where Kapya Kaoma comes in… to defile the reputation of the current regime.

What an irreverent Reverend!

Since Bo Edgar Lungu announced that he had cut his salary, a lot of vermin has come out of the woodwork.

Much of the fuss has been mere politicking, while some as in Kaoma’s case that are driven by money with a maliciously immoral mission, have been going round and round in frenzied madness, in a desperate attempt to sully and besmirch the President’s act of goodwill.

It reminds me of a tongue twister we learnt at primary school:

God made man;
Man made money;
Money made man Mad!

Or in this case:

Gay Money made Kapya Kaoma Mad!

The Author is a Retired Journalist Tilling the Land in Central Province

Tehran’s streets were packed with black-clad mourners Monday as a sea of people turned out to pay their respects to Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian general killed by a US drone strike in Baghdad last week.

Soleimani was assassinated in a US drone strike in Iraq on Friday on the orders of President Donald Trump.Iran has allegedly offered an $80 million bounty on US President Donald Trump for the death of Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani ,mirror.co.uk said in a report.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei led prayers and at one point was seen weeping.

Iran has vowed “severe revenge” for the death of Soleimani and on Sunday pulled back from the 2015 nuclear accord.

Soleimani, 62, headed Iran’s elite Quds Force, and was tasked with protecting and boosting Iran’s influence in the Middle East.

The US saw him as a terrorist, and President Trump said Soleimani was plotting “imminent” attacks on US diplomats and military personnel.

In Iran, Soleimani was hailed as a national hero and widely considered the second most powerful man in the country behind Supreme Leader Khamenei.

But not all Iranians are as distressed about the general’s death as the mourners who lined Tehran’s streets, says BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen.

Soleimani was a hardliner and a dominant force in a regime that shot dead scores of protesters at the end of 2019. He also spent vast sums building up alliances and militias in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria at a time when US sanctions are impoverishing many Iranians, our correspondent says.

Some people cried, while others clutched pictures of the late commander. Mourners passed Soleimani’s coffin over their heads and “death to America” chants were heard.

His daughter Zeinab Soleimani warned the US that it faced a “dark day”.

“Crazy Trump, don’t think that everything is over with my father’s martyrdom,” she said.

Soleimani has been hailed a martyr and a hero inside Iran, especially due to his work in the fight against ISIS. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s ultimate political and religious authority, was photographed praying over Soleimani’s body during the funeral ceremony alongside President Hassan Rouhani.

General Ismail Qaani — Soleimani’s longtime lieutenant and his successor as Quds leader — was seen crying over his coffin.

Sources : BBC, CNN, Mirror,Indiatoday

ZESCO managing director Victor Mundende has praised President Edgar Lungu’s support to facilitate major transformations and investments in the energy sector that has resulted in the power utility company’s performance to significantly improve.

Mr Mundende said assertions that there is pressure coming from the President and government are unfounded because government has been supportive in every area to ensure that numerous projects to improve the performance of the sector are effective implemented.

Speaking today during the Hot FM breakfast program, Mr. Mundende praised the government for facilitating major changes and improvements in the energy sector compared to previous governments.

Mr. Mundende said there is a lot of professionalism at ZESCO and assertions of incompetence are not true and that the issue of Caderism does not exist.

“The president has been supportive because, without his support, we would never be having these projects we are talking about as it takes government will to do certain things,” he said.

Mr. Mundende also described as a huge milestone in the passing of the electricity act which he feels will contribute to major improvements in the sector for improved service delivery.

“What you can call pressure, I can all it support,” Mr Mundende said as he praised the professionalism of his team at the power utility company.

Meanwhile, the ZESCO MD has said that the firm will Lodge Official Complaint To The IBA Against Prime TV. During the same interview this morning, the ZESCO MD expressed deep displeasure at the conduct of Prime TV that had decided to cut various clips to produce a sensational but fake documentary.

Last week, Prime TV was at it again with a fake documentary that was doctored to pour ridicule on the Edgar Lungu led PF government. Prime TV documentary showed Mr. Mundende heaping blame on Government Ministry officials and disputing the effects of climate change.

Last year, the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) suspended independent TV station Prime TV for ‘exhibiting unprofessional elements in its broadcasting through unbalanced coverage, opinionated news, material likely to incite violence and use of derogatory language.

PF Deputy Mobilisation Committee Chairperson Geoffrey Mwamba has insisted that National Democratic Congress Leader Chishimba Kambwili will soon rejoin the ruling party.

Mr Mwamba the Former UPND Vice President advised PF Members not to worry about Mr Kambwili’s that he is not rejoining the PF prescribing it as mere politics.

He said Mr Kambwili will soon come to the realisation that he is only being used by the UPND for their selfish motives.

Mr Mwamba said like him and other members who left and have now rejoined the PF, Mr Kambwili will soon follow suit because he like many other Zambians believe in the leadership of President Edgar Lungu.

He has since challenged PF members to concentrate on explaining to the Zambian people that the challenges facing the nation such as loadsheding are because of natural causes and not President Edgar Lungu.

Mr Mwamba said it is unfair for the UPND and others to blame all the challenges on President Lungu.

Mr Kambwili yesterday expressed concern with the propaganda going round that he is going back to the Patriotic Front.

In a statement issued by his spokesman Saboi Imboela, Mr Kambwili said he is committed to the party and remains president of NDC, with no intentions of rejoining the PF.

‘The whole story came as a shock to me as I have never even met Mr. Chikwanda since I left government. The only time I spoke to him was three months ago when he was hospitalised and I called to wish him a quick recovery,’ president Kambwili said.

“The PF needs fundamental and radical change for it to be attractive or accepted again by the people. It’s not a matter of Chishimba Kambwili going back to PF that can make people like it. The people want food, jobs and other basic needs and the PF have failed to provide all those things. So my moving to PF cannot be a solution to the hunger and anger people have towards PF”, he added.

Mr Kambwili said currently there was the Chilubi by elections that the party was concentrating on and all the rumours were meant to distract the people and members from mobilising and campaigning adequately.

“Besides, if I am going back to PF, why would we be serious mobilising the party like this? The police denied us a permit to hold our Chingola launch just about a week ago citing the festive period and that they do not have enough power. We have since reapplied for a permit for the Chingola launch. We wouldn’t be doing all this if we intended to go back to PF”, he said.

He urged the NDC membership countrywide not to be swayed by such propaganda but to concentrate on mobilising the party and appealed to the party membership and general public that he may not answer to all propaganda, as the idea of those creating the falsehoods is to destabilise the party, so they should ignore them and treat them with the contempt they deserve.