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Zesco United assistant coach Alfred Lupiya says they will respect guests Green Mamba in Saturday’s game despite enjoying a healthy lead but are determined to advance to the first round of the 2019/20 CAF Champions League.
Zesco head into the preliminary round, final leg leading 2-0 for the first leg tie played on August 10 in eSwatini.
The Ndola giants only need a draw this weekend to advance to next month’s pre-group stage of the competition to stay on course for an unprecedented fifth successive league round continental football qualification by a Zambia club.
“Football is very tricky. If you say we beat them 2-0 you will be surprised that they will beat you 4-0 here,” Lupiya said.
“We don’t dwell on that, we just need to go all-out and field a strong side so that we go to the next round.
“As Zesco, we are going to take that game very seriously, we need to finish the business tomorrow, we are not going to sleep and say we are two goals up, no.”
Lupiya disclosed that influential striker Jesse Were is fit and expected to start against Green Mamba after limping off in the 70th minute of last Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Zanaco in the 2019/2020 Charity Shield final in Lusaka.
Winner over both legs this weekend will face winner of the Young Africans of Tanzania versus Botswana champions Township Rollers away in the first leg of September’s pre-group stage.
Rollers host Young Africans in Gaborone this Saturday tied at 1-1 from the first leg in Dar es Salaam.
Shepolopolo have intensified preparations for next Wednesday’s Tokyo 2020 Olympics qualifier against Zimbabwe to be played at Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka.
The Zambia women team regrouped this week in Lusaka to prepare for the encounter against Zimbabwe.
The team has since been boosted by the arrival of Europe based stars Rachael Kundananji and Misozi Zulu who plays for BIIK Kyzgurt in Kazakhstan.
Shepolopolo now waiting for Spain based star striker and Captain Barbra Banda.
‘The girls from Europe know how it is to take on Zimbabwe,’ striker Rachael Nachula said.
‘We are preparing very well and we are ready for the game. We will carry the day on Wednesday,’ Nachula said.
The return match is scheduled for 31 August in Zimbabwe.
The UPND says reports that the Zambia Correctional Services has donated 10 animals to Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo are disturbing and amount to corruption.
UPND Chairperson Fisheries and Livestock Raphael Muyunda has asked Commissioner General of the Zambia Correctional Services Dr Chisela Chileshe to immediately withdraw the 10 herds of cattle donated to Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo as that amounts to abuse of authority and public resources.
Mr Muyunda has given the Correctional Services Commissioner General seven days in which to withdraw the cattle bought using public resources or UPND shall seek for a judicial review to ascertain the validity and legality of such a suspicious move.
He said the nation is aware of the poor and inhumane conditions in correctional facilities which Dr Chileshe and his team have failed to improve leaving everyone wondering what was the motivating factor behind such a corruption laced donation.
“What is so surprising is that at a time when most Zambians are starving and at the near-point-of-death due to hunger, the prisons service would resort to such a shameful and immoral act”, Mr Muyunda said.
He said a rough estimation indicates that the gesture is worth more than K 50,000 , money which would have gone a long way in improving the conditions and welfare of the prisoners in the country but given to a single individual for personal appeasement.
Mr Muyunda has further wondered what kind of a human being Mr.Kampyongo is who can accept such a personal gift instead of advising the correctional services to channel such resources towards improved services and diet for its inmates.
“The nation is still alive to allegations of Mr.Kampyongo receiving four Ford Ranger vehicles from the supplier of the infamous 42 fire engines and now he is receiving 10 cattle from the prisons”, he alleged.
He said Zambians are left to wonder what suspicious deal Dr Chileshe and the Minister are involved in this time around as such ‘humanitarian’ gesture is unprecedented in this country hence our demands on the CG to immediately withdraw that donation or personally be held liable.
Mr Muyunda said the insatiable appetite for plunder of public resources under the PF is reaching endemic levels at the price of Zambians that have continued to receive very poor services.
“We further call on President Edgar Lungu to discipline his ministers and senior public officials involved in such schemes of wantonly abusing public resources with impunity resulting into poor service delivery in public institutions”, Mr Muyunda added.
He said Seven days is all the UPND gives Dr Chisela to return the cattle or we seek court interpretation of this absurd administrative lapse for and on behalf of Zambians with whose resources those cattle were acquired
Felix Mutati speaking at a Copperbelt provincial MMD card renewal
MMD President Felix Mutati says the contribution of late Republican President Levy Mwanawasa is tangible and visible in all corners of the country.
And Mr. Mutati says is it by this that Zambians should never stop honouring the late President for his efforts to build Zambia into a better place to live in.
Dr. Mwanawasa who government the country from 2002 to 2008 died on 19th August 2008 and the country few days ago celebrated his life 11 years after his death.
Speaking in Mufumbwe District, North Western Province, during a Party Meeting Thursday afternoon, the MMD Leader said various projects done by the late Zambian and MMD President are a marvel in the province.
He said projects such as roads, connecting of different parts of the province to electricity national Grid among others shows how much Dr. Mwanawasa treasured North Western and the country at large.
“Mwanawasa sacrificed for the people of Zambia. He was a selfless fighter for the people of Zambia, he believed in you. He believed in the people of North Western and the country at large and that is why Mwanawasa deliver the M8 Road to the Province. Mwanawasa believed in North Western Province,” he stated.
Mr. Mutati, who is also former Works and Supply Minister said President Mwanawasa had a passion for the development of the country and had placed Agriculture at high premium in order to sustain the people of Zambia and as a way of growing the economy.
“Mwanawasa believed in North Western Province and that is why he gave you eight bags of fertilizer to improve food security,” He added.
Mr. Mutati further reminded the gathering that he from 1965 stayed in North Western Province for 20 years and that today he is happy to see the Province being one of the main drivers of the country’s economy through mining.
“Mwanawasa brought money in the Mining industry and made North Wester the New Copperbelt in the country.
Mr. Mutati added that at personal level, he viewed Dr. Mwanawasa who was also MMD President as a disciplined man that hated inhuman treatment and corruption adding that “he considered personal pain not important as compared to the pain the Zambians were going through”.
The MMD leader has since urged all party members to remain united and at peace with each other in order to build the party and make it stronger.
Mr. Mutati in an unfortunate situation had a road mishap as he and his entourage were traveling from Mufumbwe to Kabompo.
The driver of the vehicle in which Mr. Mutati was in lost control after hitting into a pothole forcing it to carrier off the road into Kamazavu stream but all the four occupants survived without any injuries.
The MMD President, Mr. Mutati is well despite the accident.
The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has apologised to government for wrongly putting blame on the authority for the Under 20 Women’s National Soccer team’s failure to participate in the 2019 African Games in Morocco.
Recently FAZ Vice President Rix Mweemba accused government for the team’s failure to travel for the All Africa games, when initially it was government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who spearheaded the team’s visas with Moroccan authorities.
It has been established that after securing the team’s air tickets for the match which was scheduled for August 17th 2019, a slight glitch in the issuing of visas to all participating countries prompted FAZ to cancel their flights.
Speaking when he met the FAZ Vice President this morning, Minister of Youth Sport and Child Development Emmanuel Mulenga revealed that FAZ actually cancelled the team’s flight when government had already facilitated their movement with the Moroccan authorities.
“During the days preceding the commencement of the games, FAZ secured the air tickets in time for their match on 17th August, 2019 in the games. The delay in issuing of entry visas by the Moroccan government to all the participating countries prompted FAZ to cancel their flights”, said Mulenga.
He said the Ministry undertook tireless efforts to ensure that all athletes make it in time for the competitions, despite FAZ having challenges.
The Minister stated that it was only realized that FAZ had cancelled their flights after such efforts.
And the FAZ Vice President has since apologised to both government and the Minister of Sports for his earlier statements, suggesting that it was government’s fault that the women failed to participate.
In responding to the apology by FAZ, the Minister stated that government is committed to sports development as well as different youth led initiatives across the country.
Justice Leicester Adams of the Gauteng Local Division, Johannesburg, of the High Court of South Africa has today denied ZCCM leave to appeal his judgement of 23rd July 2019, dismissing ZCCM’s application with costs.
The Johannesburg Court is recognised as a Court in the context of the International Arbitration Act. ZCCM’s application for leave to appeal was in the main against Justice Adams’ finding that the South Gauteng High Court has jurisdiction based on the arbitration clause in the KCM Shareholders Agreement, and that the KCM winding-up application instituted by ZCCM in Zambia amounted to a breach of the KCM Shareholders Agreement.
In his judgement, Justice Adams noted that his central reasons for refusing leave to appeal were that ZCCM raised nothing new in their application that had not already been dealt with in the initial judgement and that leave to appeal can only be granted when the judge is of the opinion that the appeal would have a reasonable prospect of success.
In Justice Adams’ view “there are no reasonable prospects of another court coming to different conclusions, be they on aspects of facts or law, to the ones reached by him.
Vedanta had argued that the original judgement of 23rd July 2019 should stand, both because the Court Order was interim in both form and effect and because the Court was properly empowered under the UN CITRAL Model Law to grant the Order.
It was and remains Vedanta’s view that the dispute with ZCCM has to be resolved through arbitration – as envisaged by the KCM Shareholders Agreement.
Vedanta served its notice of arbitration on ZCCM on 31st July 2019 and remains committed to engaging with the Government of Zambia in order to find an amicable solution.
The 4.8 million Kwacha starch processing plant in Kalumbila district is set to start operations in October this year.
Premiercon Chief Executive Officer, Lubasi Yuyi says the factory is complete and that the facility is only awaiting the connection of electricity to the plant in readiness for commissioning.
ZANIS reports that Mr. Yuyi said this when he led a team of officials from the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) and Zambia Bureau of Standards in inspecting the facility on the sidelines of the Expo Northwest 2019.
Meanwhile, CEEC Public Relations Officer, Cheelo Mukata said the Commission is proud to be associated with Premiercon starch and that government will continue funding programmes aimed at promoting rural industrialisation and value addition to local products
And Premiercon Extension Manager, Frobisher Fulayi said 4000 farmers will be engaged in the out-grower scheme that will cover six districts in Northwestern Province.
The facility will mainly be processing cassava, sweet potatoes and yam tubers into industrial starch used in the mines for purifying copper among other uses.
Children playing with bottle tops in the dust in Chowa township in Kabwe. The dust is highly contaminated with lead, which is extremely toxic. Photograph: Larry C Price for the Guardian
Children living in Kabwe are still exposed to high levels of toxic lead, 25 years after mining ended in the area, Human Rights Watch said on Friday.
The 88-page report, “We Have to Be Worried’: The Impact of Lead Contamination on Children’s Rights in Kabwe, Zambia.” examines the effects of lead contamination in Kabwe on children’s rights to health, a healthy environment, education, and play.
Kabwe is known as one of the world’s most polluted places from decades of mining, with serious health implications for residents.
In the report, HRW Kabwe still has extreme levels of lead contamination and children continue to be exposed to high levels of toxic lead in soil and dust around their homes, schools and play areas.
“The Zambian government is aware that Kabwe has been severely contaminated … since the 1990s and efforts to clean up have been inadequate,” HRW’s children’s rights fellow and report author Joanna Naples-Mitchell said.
“This is a public health emergency and the government is not responding with the sense of urgency that is warranted,” she said.
The report said that despite lead and zinc mining having stopped in the town in 1994, various medical studies conducted over the past seven years show children there still had elevated levels of lead in their blood.
“The profits of Kabwe’s mine came at a very high cost to generations of children who have grown up with toxic lead found throughout surrounding townships,” she said.
“While the Zambian government has made several attempts to clean up the lead since the mine closed in 1994, the actual scope of the problem has yet to be addressed.”
Between 2003 and 2011, the World Bank funded a government project to decontaminate Kabwe’s affected townships, and to test and treat children.
But some 76,000 people, or a third of the town’s population, still live in contaminated areas.
But one recent study published last year and cited by HRW estimated that more than 95 percent of children in the townships surrounding the lead mine have elevated blood lead levels and that about half of them require medical attention.
Three years ago, the government launched another five-year World Bank-funded project to get rid of the lead and carry out new rounds of testing and treatment.
The project targets around 10,000 people including children, pregnant women and mothers.
“Since the government has new plans now to clean up the lead… we think this a very important opportunity for the Zambian government to find a lasting solution to this problem,” said Naples-Mitchell.
“But their past record means it’s vital that they choose different models that will actually be effective in Kabwe because the past models have not worked. The study that was done in 2018 shows that levels of lead have been as high they had been in the 1970s,” she added.
In a letter last month, the government indicated to the HRW that it does not have enough resources to address the full scale of the contamination.
Government did not immediately comment on the report.
Meanwhile, there is trouble brewing for Anglo American after the law firm that took Vedanta to court regarding community abuses in Chingola has now turned its attention to allegations of lead poisoning at the UK mining group’s now closed Kabwe mine.
Johannesburg attorney, Mbuyisa Moleele, in collaboration with Leigh Day, a UK- based human rights attorneys, said they were preparing a legal class action case against Anglo American SA on behalf of Zambian communities.
Anglo American contends it was only one of several investors that owned Kabwe through the years and was never the majority owner.
“In the early 1970’s the company that owned the mine was nationalised by the Government of Zambia and for more than 20 years thereafter the mine was operated by a State-owned body until its closure in 1994,” it said.
The case will say activities at Anglo’s Kabwe lead mine, which operated from 1915 to 1994 and was for a while the world’s largest, was responsible for lead poisoning of tens of thousands of Kabwe residents.
“Very high levels” of lead has been detected in the blood of “a substantial proportion of the local population” the two law firms said citing “a series of published reports”.
Said Anglo: “We were concerned to learn of the situation at Kabwe as reported by the press, but since the nationalisation more than 40 years ago effectively placed these issues under the control of the Zambian Government, we are not in a position to comment further about the matter, but we certainly don’t believe that Anglo American is in any way responsible for the current situation”.
“This is the worst environmental disaster I have seen in 30 years of practice,” said Richard Meeran, partner and head of Leigh Day’s International Department, in a statement.
“There is incontrovertible evidence of massive lead contamination of soil in local villages and of staggeringly high levels of lead in the blood of a substantial proportion of the local population in Kabwe, particularly among very young children,” he said.
“As a major multinational that holds itself out as a responsible corporate citizen, we believe Anglo American should compensate the lead poisoning victims and assist, practically and financially in the prevention of ongoing lead poisoning of these communities,” he said.
The attorneys said they were preparing the class action in South Africa and an application to certify a class action will be filed in the Johannesburg High Court.
UPND PResident Hakainde Hichilema flanked by National Chairperson Mutale Nalumango at the Canadian High Commission
UPND Leader Hakainde Hichilema this morning held a meeting with Canadian High Commissioner to Zambia Pamela O’Donnell, in Lusaka and discussed issues of mutual interest to both countries.
Mr Hichilema said among the issues discussed was the increasing cost of living as well as the hunger situation that is affecting most parts of the country.
He also expressed gratitude to the Canadian government and other cooperating partners whose focus is ensuring food security, respecting human rights and good governance and generally a better society.
Mr Hichilema told the Canadian envoy that Zambia remains committed to fostering bilateral and multilateral relations especially on issues that places the people’s interests first.
Mr.Hichilema was accompanied by his National Chairperson Mutale Nalumango, Secretary General Stephen Katuka, Deputy Chairperson of International Relations Rose Sakala, Chairperson for Elections Gary Nkombo and Leader of the opposition in parliament Jack Mwiimbu.
“The Lord blesses the work of your hands, the same way he blesses the thoughts of your mind / and in time you will rise and start to shine / and after you cultivate / you don’t wait / you get the grapes / and be great” – The grapes
K.r.y.t.i.c is a local rapper who has been getting a lot of buzz lately. During the past couple of weeks’ social media was all the rage about his latest album. I had heard of him but hadn’t really paid much attention to his music, so I didn’t feed into the hype. One Sunday evening I was listening to a Hiphop show on one of the local radio stations. They played a song called ‘Roses on your feet’. After the first verse I was hooked, I had to shazam the song to find out who it was by, and lo and behold it was none other than K.r.y.t.i.c !!! That song blew my mind, it was then that I knew that I had been overlooking, potentially, Zambia’s greatest lyricist.
Imiti Ikula is K.r.y.t.i.c’s third album ( ‘Best before forever’ and ‘Art. Is. Tic’ being its predecessors). It was released exclusively to online streaming site Audiomack. The title is from the Bemba proverb ‘Imiti ikula ,empanga’ which translates to “The trees that grow make up the forest”. In the context of the album it could mean that he is telling the young listeners that as they grow individually there is more power in coming together as a collective.
What stands out from the onset is the amazing production, which was handled by Roc Beats, J Hun and others. K.r.y.t.i.c is a very talented and creative wordsmith, the album is filled with strong lyrical content.
This album is a great introduction to K.r.y.t.i.c. This is the first complete body of work I have listed to by him. Imiti Ikula could be described as a conscious album as he touches on some deep subject matter and also discusses some details about himself, his personal battles and what he stands for. An example of this is in the song ‘Singing my song’ where he talks about his tough upbringing and how music was his outlet.
“I kept on singing my song/ I kept on writing these verses/ I was writing rhymes before I was writing in cursive” – singing my song
Great North Road flows is another introspective song in which he tackles topics such as his falling out with a local radio station, and also the death of South African hip hop legend HHP among other subjects. “…tell your telemarketing prophets I see the damn lies/ and I don’t hear what you be saying when you evangelize, ever since I heard you rape women what a damn surprise / tell these old n****r’s to go back to their damn wives / cause now its marriages verses Instagram lives / and Instagram lives matters / I took Jarabies beat and made it 5 times fatter / my flow bring the lights, so the night might scatter / apologies for the blood that my mic might scatter”
Dear Theodore – this song is dedicated to his nephew. He gives him a number of life lessons, fatherly advice.“…if you having sex condomise / treat a woman right and do right in your mama’s eyes / try not to live your life like its dramatized / don’t fake a mental condition if you ain’t traumatized, just to fit in with other guys…”
The album is not all deep talk; he also has tracks that are celebrations of life (e.g. Birthday Boy). On songs such as ‘Free’ and ‘The Grapes’ he really flexes his lyrical muscle. “I speak the language of the ancient kings / shallow minds get split quicker than Asian twins / that’s why I bounce flows like I used to play with springs / the words cut deep / I’m not just saying things”he spits on the latter. On ‘Free’ he is basically challenging anyone to out rap him.
The Grapes is my favorite track on the album. Everything from the beat, to the flow, to the subject matter is top notch. “This year I’m getting paper cuts from counting stacks / I’m here to cause a racket / Mr. Nadal’s back / I see the US open / now watch me make a move / not only did I inspire you, I’m your maker too / sometimes i feel for you, wish I could play for you / but the cameras on / welcome to pay-per-view” he raps.
Imiti Ikula is an album the Zambian Hiphop scene needs right now. It feels fresh, in an environment where most artist are using similar sounds and subject matter, K.r.y.t.i.c goes against the grain. This shows that one can be successful doing what they love, and that one does not have to follow trends. He has found his niche, core audience of like-minded fans. His core fan base is growing bigger and bigger every day.
“…it’s funny how my fear of heights probably made me a pilot” – 07 Buzzing
K.r.y.t.i.c has stated that his goal is to be the best lyricist in Africa, from what I have heard from him so far, he is well on his way to achieving that goal.
“As the sun fly by my face / I’m just a grain in this world trying to find my place / but thank God I’m safe / cause I done a lot of dumb things in my space / and now the light I chase / these are the grapes”
Kabwe Central Mp-Tutwa Ngulube and Kasama-central Mp-Kelvin Sampa at the PF-interactive Forum
Deputy Parliamentary Chief Whip Tutwa Ngulube says the decision by Law Association of Zambia President Eddie Mwitwa to take President Edgar Lungu, the National Assembly and the Attorney General to Court over NDF Bill number 10 of 2019 was not a collective decision of lawyers.
Mr Ngulube says no consensus was reached by Lawyers on whether the matter should be taken to court and they are surprised that Mr Mwitwa went ahead to sue the President.
Speaking on the Hot Seat Programme on Hot FM, Mr Ngulube said there are no minutes anywhere to show that LAZ sat and approved the decision to go to court over the matter.
“He has no support from Zambian Lawyers, the people supporting Mr Mwitwa are CSOs, Political Parties and Law Associations from other countries not Zambian Lawyers because no agreement was reached over this matter”, he said.
And Mr Ngulube said it is sad that Mr Mwitwa and many other people opposing the Bill have not read its content and have not made any suggestions on how the content can be improved.
He said if Mr Mwitwa and John Sangwa has read the Bill, they wouldn’t have gone to court but made suggestions on how the content can be improved.
“We pay a lot of money to LAZ, the K10, 000 every lawyer pays annually should be used to improve the Association and not to pay Mr Sangwa to take the President to Court”, Mr Ngulube said.
He said the select Parliamentary Committee will on 2nd September 2019 start receiving submissions from stakeholders and all those that are aggrieved should appear before the committee failure to which the process will go ahead without their input.
Meanwhile, Mr Ngulube said he has not received any formal communication from Mr Mwitwa demanding an apology for accusing him of working with the UPND.
He said a decision will be made to either apologise or not after he receives formal communication from Mr. Mwitwa.
Zesco United striker Jesse Were is the only Zambian-based Kenyan player summoned for next month’s international friendly date against Uganda on September 8 in Nairobi.
Were returns to the Harambee fold after he was snubbed by ex-Kenya coach Sebastian Migné for the 2019 AFCON in Egypt.
But Migne’s successor Francis Kimanzi has axed Were’s club mate David Owino and Nkana defender Musa Mohammed who were both in Egypt with Kenya.
Midfielder Anthony Akumu, who was also dropped for the 2019 AFCON, has also not been picked.
However, Akumu is currently recovering from a long-term injury he in sustained against GreenEagles in the 2019 FAZ Super Division final playoff in June and has yet to even feature for Zesco this season.
First Republican President Kenneth Kaunda has urged private institutions of higher learning to offer scholarships to the less privileged in society.
Dr Kaunda was speaking when Texilla American University Management officially handed over a scholarship plaque for a scholarship programme given in his honour at his residence.
Meanwhile, Texilla American University Deputy Vice Chancellor Ajay Poddar said the University was proud to be associated with Dr Kaunda’s name.
Prof Poddar said the University is giving out the scholarships to twenty-five students as part of its social corporate responsibility programme.
Buildcon coach Tenant Chembo believes qualification to next month’s CAF Confederation Cup first round is attainable tomorrow away against Young Buffaloes of eSwatini despite their first leg home defeat.
Buildcon this Saturday battle to overturn a 1-0 preliminary round, first leg home loss they sustained on August 10 at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in a game of two halves that saw the visitors dominate the first period and scored the game’s lone goal through Mpendulo Dlamini in 42nd minute.
But Chembo’s side controlled in the last 45 minutes in which poor finishing , and an inspired Young Buffaloes goalkeeper Bongani Gwebu, characterized proceedings.
“Definitely we are confident, we know what we can do, we went through the paces in training and we know where we went wrong,” Chembo said.
“Having said that, we have to go and play for a win and we are ready for that.
“I know it is a big task, but it is task that can be attained.
“Looking at the way we played in the second half gave us a starting point.
“They (Young Buffaloes ) are a beatable side but that won’t come without hard work, we have to go there with a positive mind, focused, and cover a lot of ground, but mentally we have to be strong.”
A 1-0 away win will see the match decided on post-match penalties while a 2-1 victory will see Buildcon advance on away goals rule.
Winner over both legs has a first round date in September against Bidvest Wits who enjoyed a preliminary round bye.
Minister of Information and Broadcasting Dora Siliya
Relieving an encounter with Dora Siliya
And why she’s right about need to curb social media
By Chimwemwe Mwanza
A heavy sound emanating from a high pointed shoe (stiletto) pounded the staircase leading to the reception at Kanjombe house. In no time, an elegantly dressed lady strolled into the reception area.
This author who by then was a teenage freshman pursuing Media studies, was an intern at a now defunct, independent tabloid. Turning to check on the identity of the intruder, yours truly was star-struck, almost dropping his jaw to the floor. Here was Ms Dora Siliya in flesh. Watching the now Honorable Siliya on his family’s small black and white television screen, this author grew up idolising her in the same breath as Maureen Nkandu, late Goreti Mapulanga, and the gruff-voiced Kenneth Maduma among others.
Make no mistake, Siliya, has an infectious aura around her. She’s beautiful, smart but feisty. After an exchange of pleasantries, she went straight to business. “Are you a Journalist? To which a trembling yours truly responded, indeed madam and how can I help you? She narrated her frustrations about the existence of a highly ingrained patriarchal structure at her then employer, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC). She strongly believed that this structure only served to silence and frustrate ambitious and talented women Journalists like her.
Moreover, she had observed that exciting and rewarding assignments including the holy grail of international trips, were a preserve of a select few. She now wanted management to put a stop to this practice, a bit more like the biblical David taking on Goliath. But what infuriated her the most was that news bulletins were often skewed and wrongly edited against tenets and ethics of the profession, she lamented further.
“Having said all this, what can I do for you madam,” enquired yours truly? “This is not about me but the fact that women in any work place should not be subjected to such a working environment. We need more women in ZNBC’s decision making structures, maybe that way things will change,” she argued. Prior to our interview, Siliya had just been summoned to a meeting with ZNBC management in which she was threatened with disciplinary action for wearing a mini-skirt. She explained that the incident was merely a ruse, to intimidate her for her outspokenness and principled stand on injustice and freedom of the newsroom.
Relieving this encounter, a few things stood out during our interview. Her determination for ZNBC to transform by offering key positions to women seemed genuine. Her desire for the public broadcaster to offer unbiased but credible news was also on the mark. However, yours truly’s most important observation was that, ZNBC had such expansive radio platforms for her to tell her story yet she chose our publication? “Because you are credible and that is important for me and anybody who cares for the truth. ZNBC would never tell my story and even if they did, it won’t be accurate,” she insisted.
This response was enough to earn her a front-page newspaper headline “Dora’s miniskirts annoy ZNBC bosses,” The following day. The irony of this episode is that she did not flinch at the prospect of earning a dismissal for speaking ill of her employer to a rival media company. Even better, she opted to wear the same short number for the photo-shoot accompanying this story.
Curbing social media
As fate, would have it, Honorable Siliya is now the de-facto head of not only ZNBC but government’s communication apparatus. By extention, she is the most influential figure responsible for shaping Zambia’s narrative against anything that might be perceived as being negative or even positive. Not sure though how far she’s progressed in transforming ZNBC into a well-functioning medium that she’s long-wanted it to be.
For starters, she was right about everything she told the Canadian High Commissioner to Zambia, Pamela O’Donnell regarding the effects of social media and the need to curb this vice. In support of the Minister, social media has indeed broken families to devastating effect. In certain cases, the callous have gone on to use this medium to peddle lies against the innocent. We live in interesting times indeed. It’s almost an accepted norm in this age that when somebody whips a lie so hard, it gradually morphs into a truth and this only happens on social media platforms. So, what recourse do victims of hate-filled chain messaging have when their reputation is unfairly soiled?
How do we curb social media?
Against everything the Minister said, the only thing absent were solutions on how this could be curbed. Do we go the Chinese route in which we can easily adopt a blanket ban on the vice or impose harsher punishment on those that peddle lies or hide under pseudonyms?
Borrowing a pay-offline from one of the world’s oldest but credible independent publications, the Washington Post, it reads, “In darkness, truth dies.” It’s thus tempting to speculate that the absence of truth creates fertile grounds for, lies, speculation or the spread of hate filled messaging. As goes an adage, lies have short legs. In fact, they have no hiding place as those that seek the truth will use all means necessary to uncover that which is hidden.
Take the case of the 48 houses without an owner, is it true that government does still not know who owns these properties? The absence of fact is the reason why deceptive politicians like Chishimba Kambwili are banding about conspiracy theories. He believes that by whipping the dog so hard and linking this potential scandal close to state house, the owner of the dog will finally show up.
And this is no different to the story of who owns land in Forest 27. Surely, why should it be left to social media platforms to scout for individuals who have bought land in this area? Unless there is something else, is it even a scandal for one to own land in a degazetted area? A bit more of objectivity, transparency and transformation in government owned media might just be a starting point towards curbing the ills of social media. How about starting with ZNBC, honorable Minister?
The author is an avid reader of political history and philosophy. He loves eating Nshima with game meat.
