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Minister of Foreign Affairs Joe Malanji (l) with his term and outgoing Chinese Ambassador Yang Youming (r) ground breaking for the construction of Conference hall at Foreign AffairsThe Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has advised government to start regulating the inflow of foreign nationals in Zambia.
The ZCTU particular wants government to regulate inflow of Chinese nationals to avoid over population through labor migration.
ZCTU Deputy Secretary General Elaston Njobvu says the regulation of foreign nationals will help arrest the situation of labor migrating into the Country.
Speaking during the official opening of a two days ZCTU/ITUC workshop on organizing labor migrants into unions, Mr. Njobvu stated that if properly managed labor migration does have more advantages.
He says it is for this reason that ZCTU has joined other trade unions in Africa to awareness on the need for unions to take up labor migrations as part of their work at all levels.
Nkana have been awarded the three points against Zesco United following their abandoned Copperbelt derby on July 13 at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola.
The Week 24 match was abandoned in the 89th minute when crowd trouble erupted after Nkana were awarded a disputed penalty with the scoreline at 1-1 following a hand ball by Zesco defender Marcel Kalonda.
Nkana have been awarded a 3-0 result but both sides captains, Jacob Banda for Zesco and Ronald Kampamba for the visitors have been banned for a match each
The result sees Nkana stay put at number three but rise to 58 points from 30 games and are now four points behind second placed Green Buffaloes and five adrift of Zesco who have a game in hand.
Meanwhile, Zesco coach George Lwandamina has been handed a two-match touchline ban for bringing the game into disrepute in their 2-0 away loss at Green Buffaloes.
Lwandamina’s ban will only come into effect after Saturday’s home date against Buffaloes.
However, his predecessor and now Buildcon coach Tenant Chembo has been slapped a heavier sanction and slapped with a four-game ban.
Chembo is said to have insulted a referee in Buildcons Week 16 date against Green Eagles on June 9 that his side lost 1-0 away in Choma.
His ban comes into effect with this Saturday’s home date against Nakambala Leopards in Ndola.
President Edgar Lungu greets Crew pilot before departure for ChinaPresident Edgar Lungu has arrived in Beijing China ahead of the Forum on China and Africa Cooperation – FOCAC- which begins next week.
The plane carrying the head of state touched down at Beijing Capital International Airport at 14:53 hours local time.
President Lungu was received by Chinese People’s Political Council Consultative Conference Deputy Secretary General Zong Peng.
While in China President Lungu is expected to have a bilateral meeting with Chinese President XiJinping and Chinese prime minister LI Keqiang.
The President will then on Monday join other African leaders at the Forum on China Africa Corporation summit FOCAC in Beijing.
The head of state is also expected to attend the China Zambia business forum before visiting Jiangxi Province where he is going to witness the twinning of that province with Zambia’s Muchinga Province.
Hakainde Hichilema
The opposition UPND has demanded that government from now on start paying civil servants on time.
UPND president Hakainde Hichilema says his party is dismayed and alarmed that it has now become a perpetual habit of government to delay payment of wages to civil servants.
Mr. Hichilema says the UPND has taken note that every month civil servants such as teachers receive their salaries way from normal time.
He says this is however exposing these civil servants to various defaults and subsequent penalties from banks and other lending institutions with whom they have signed standing orders.
In a statement made available to QTV News Mr. Hichilema laments that this in turn is putting civil servants’ creditworthiness in jeopardy with credit monitors.
Mr. Hichilema notes that this is besides putting them in rental distress in addition to making them unable to meet their food and children’s school bills.
He says his party’s concern is that while civil servants’ salaries are being made to suffer this way, government is on the other hand buying new state of the art four wheel drive SUVs.
Mr. Hichilema states that this is what actually makes the UPND think that Zambia is on autopilot.
He says Zambians must use available legal and peaceful means to reclaim it from what he has referred to as mediocre and uncaring leadership.
SuperSport United have added Zambia international Billy Mutale to their squad for the 2018/19 Premiership campaign from Power Dynamos.
The announcement that the 25-year-old will be joining the Pretoria-based outfit was made by Dynamos who play in Zambia’s Super Division.
The defender was a part of the Copper Bullets squad which reached the 2018 COSAFA Cup final, but lost out to Southern African rivals Zimbabwe.
It subsequently seems he caught the eye of United and he has since signed a contract with the Kaitano Tembo-coached team.
A statement on Power 90’s official Facebook account read: “Dynamos FC international defender, Billy Mutale, has moved to Super Sport United FC of South Africa on a permanent transfer.
“Mutale’s move comes in the wake of the successful conclusion of negotiations held with Super Sport United.
“Mutale joined Power in 2014 and has spent five seasons at the club with his current contract expected to expire at the end of the 2018 football season.
“The club considers the decision good for the player’s personal career development and growth in a highly competitive league coupled with international exposure and a possible gateway into much a more advanced leagues in Europe.”
The Mumbwa Magistrate Court has convicted former Mumbwa Central Member of Parliament Dr. Brian Chituwo for failure to declare interest in a matter involving the disbursement of K70,000 Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
Mumbwa Resident Magistrate Honurable Sithole has convicted and sentenced Dr. Chituwo to one year imprisonment with hard labour suspended for two years.
Honurable Sithole has also ordered that Dr. Chituwo should pay back the K70,000 given to Blue Sky FM Limited or the equipment bought for the radio station be forfeited to the State, failure to which he will serve a jail sentence of one month.
This is in a matter in which the Anti-Corruption Commission arrested Chituwo on one count of conflict of interest contrary to Section 28(2) as read with Section 41 of the Anti- Corruption Act No. 3 of 2012.
In this matter it was alleged that on dates unknown but between 1st January, 2012 and 31st December, 2014 in Mumbwa District of Central Province, Dr Chituwo attended a Council meeting, and participated in the proceedings to fund Blue Sky FM Limited, a private company in which he was director and shareholder without declaring interest in writing.
Top spot in the FAZ Super Division is at stake as leaders Zesco United welcomes second placed Green Buffaloes at home in Ndola on Saturday.
The two teams clash in the round 31 match at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium with just one point separating them.
Zesco leads with 63 points from 29 matches while Buffaloes sits on 62 points after playing 30 matches played.
Buffaloes could topple Zesco should they beat their hosts.
Zesco must avoid losing to stay top.
This will be Zesco’s first local league match following their elimination from the CAF Champions League at the group stage last Tuesday.
Elsewhere, Power Dynamos are searching for their first win in four matches as they host Napsa Stars at home in Kitwe on Saturday.
Power have posted two defeats and one draw prior to welcoming Napsa at Arthur Davies Stadium.
Sixth placed Power have 49 points while fourth from the bottom side Napsa sits on 26 points after 30 matches played.
Meanwhile, FAZ says Sunday’s match between Nkana and Kabwe Youth will be open to the public.
FAZ spokesperson Desmond Katongo said this is in compliance with SuperSport who have scheduled the match for live broadcast from Nkana Stadium.
And Katongo said Saturday’s match between Power Dynamos and Napsa Stars will be played behind closed doors as the home team serves a one match ban over crowd trouble.
FAZ Super Division – Week 31
01-09-18
15:00 Green Eagles Vs Nchanga Rangers (Independence Stadium)
15:00 Zanaco Vs New Monze Swallows (Sunset Stadium)
13:00 Buildcon Vs Nakambala Leopards (Levy Mwanawasa Stadium)
15:00 Zesco United Vs Green Buffaloes (Levy Mwanawasa Stadium-Live on
15:00 Lusaka Dynamos Vs Nkwazi (Nkoloma Stadium)
15:00 Lumwana Radiants Vs Kabwe Warriors (Lumwana Stadium)
15:00 National Assembly Vs Kitwe United (Edwin Imboela Stadium)
15:00 Power Dynamos Vs Napsa Stars (Arthur Davies Stadium)
15:00 Forest Rangers Vs Red Arrows (Trade Fair grounds)
Chipolopolo on Friday regrouped in Lusaka ahead of the 8th September away 2019 Africa Cup qualifier against Namibia.
Seven foreign based players were present on the first day of the camp as coach Sven Vandenbroek took charge of the two and half hour work out.
The seven players that have reported for duty are Clatous Chama (Simba FC-Tanzania, Rainford Kalaba, Nathan Sinakala, Kabaso Chongo (all TP Mazembe), Augustine Mulenga, Justin Shonga (both Orlando Pirates) and Salulani Phiri (Polokwane City).
However, Mulenga sat out of the session due to the injury which is being assessed.
Vandenbroek is now waiting for local players that will be featuring for their clubs this weekend with the European legion expected on Monday.
Meanwhile, Zambia have no point in Group K after starting the qualifying campaign with a 1-0 home loss to Mozambique on 10 June 2017.
Zambia’s James Sakala in action during the Africa Unite Music Festival in Lusaka on June 2, 2018.
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Zimbabwe legendary musician Oliver Mtukuzi captured in performance during the Africa Music Festival in Lusaka on June 20, 2018
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Patrons dance to music
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One of the music lovers livestreaming the Africa Unite Music Festival which was held on June 2, 2018
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Shisha smoking is popular among Zambian youths, though others want it banned. Here, an unidentified man puffs out smoke from a Shisha joint during the Africa Unite Concert in Lusaka recently
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Some music fans livestreaming the Africa Unite Music Festival which was held on June 2, 2018
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Fans following musical performances duing the Africa Unite Music Festival, which was heldin Lusaka on June 2, 2018
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Shisha smoking has become very popular in Zambia, though others want it banned. Here, an unidentified man puffs out smoke from a Shisha joint during the Africa Unite Concert in Lusaka recently
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A reveller ululates during the Africa Unite Music Festival in Lusaka on June 2, 2018
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A group of revellers captured during the Africa Unite Concert, which was held in Lusaka on June 2, 2018.
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A patron maintains a grip on a beer mug on during the Africa Unite Music Festival on June 2, 2018
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Shisha smoking is very popular in Zambia, though others want it banned. Here, an unidentified man puffs out smoke from a Shisha joint during the Africa Unite Concert in Lusaka recently
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An unidentified reveller cheers Zimbabwean legend Oliver Mtukuzi during the Africa Unite Festival in Lusaka on June 2, 2018
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Part of the stage arranged by Sound Wave Zambia at the Africa Music Festival in Lusaka on June, 2018
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Part of the audience captured while watching musical performances during the Africa Unite Music Festival in Lusaka on June 2, 2018.
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A group of revellers captured during the Africa Unite Concert, which was held in Lusaka on June 2, 2018
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An unidentified member of the security team keeps vigil during the Africa Music Festival in Lusaka on June, 2018
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Patrons captured while watching musical performances during the Africa Unite Music Festival in Lusaka on June 2, 2018
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James Sakala and his band in action during the Africa Unite Music Festival in Lusaka on June 2, 2018
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A patron music lovers livestreaming the Africa Unite Music Festival which was held on June 2, 2018
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Patrons captured while watching musical performances during the Africa Unite Music Festival in Lusaka on June 2, 2018.
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Part of the audience in dance during the Africa Unite Music Festival in Lusaka on June 2018.
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Fans following musical performances duing the Africa Unite Music Festival, which was heldin Lusaka on June 2, 2018.
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James Sakala and his band in action during the Africa Unite Music Festival in Lusaka on June 2, 2018.
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Zambia’s James Sakala and Zimbabweanlegend Oliver Mtukuzi in action during the Africa Unite Music Festival in Lusaka on June 2, 2018
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Zimbabwe music legend Oliver Mtukudi comes to the stage amid cheers from fans during the Africa Unite Music Festival in Lusaka on June 2, 2018
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A patron music lovers livestreaming the Africa Unite Music Festival which was held on June 2, 2018.
What do Zambia’s intellectuals (those trained in a particular discipline and attached to a university faculty) think about the pitiful state of our existence today, including what is happening in North-Western Province, where we, as a country, have allowed the re-creation of spatial apartheid in the new mining areas? Much like during the colonial era, mining companies in Solwezi have replicated the notorious racial colour bar: white mineworkers are paid exceptionally high wages, live in segregated estates with lavish housing and social facilities, while their black counterparts who do much of the labour are paid significantly less, housed in distinctively less lavish settings, and effectively left to fend for themselves.
Where is the Zambian intelligentsia in identifying what looks very much like a new wave of colonialism? What do our intellectuals think about the plight of the rural residents who once called this place home, but have since been dispossessed of their land and are now living in soul-less shanty compounds – their land leased, complete with surface rights to multinational corporations and ex-Rhodesians? Kalumbila, for example, is padded with staff from Australia and Zimbabwe, many with kinship ties to the mine proprietors! The issue is that places for the settlement of many whites in southern Africa, in particular South Africa and Zimbabwe, are hostile, so there is a sense of looking somewhere new and away from the scrutiny of state regulatory authorities. It is now evident that in Zambia and North-western Province in particular, they have found that sanctuary. Kalumbila is effectively a little apartheid outpost in independent Zambia!
white mineworkers are paid exceptionally high wages, live in segregated estates with lavish housing and social facilities, while their black counterparts who do much of the labour are paid significantly less, housed in distinctively less lavish settings, and effectively left to fend for themselves.
What’s more, the dynamics in North-Western Province are not different from what is going on in Luapula, where land has been allocated for large-scale farming developments, but also for so-called energy projects, which in themselves are not a bad thing, but just that many of these projects get much more land than they need for their operations. It is clear that the interest of the new corporations is not just mining but also appropriating land for ranching, commercial farming and private wildlife reserves. Frighteningly, these plans encompass much of Western Zambia (the Barotse floodplains of the Zambezi river and adjacent areas) and go all the way to Southern Province. This explains why there has been a concerted effort by multinational corporations to lobby to get this land under the so-called custodianship. i.e. preserving the place as nature reserves, masked under the rhetoric of ‘greening the environment’ or promoting ‘sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems’, whilst promoting the degazetting of protected forests and reserves in order for them to be privatised.
The 1,000 residents of Chichele area in Ndola who have been displaced by a foreign company -Golden Lay
One cannot help but think that the West, and many white Africans, still have visions of Empire – I cannot underestimate the extent to which they will work to further these aims. Dispossession of land (much of which was already occupied by rural folk but treated as empty) and protection of these spoils via ‘private property’ is for them also seen as something quite noble, as it is rationalised as taming the landscape to facilitate ‘development’ and the ‘civilising’ of ‘natives’, whose desires to live a certain lifestyle and whose connection to the land are swept aside. Why can’t our intelligentsia speak out on these key matters of public concern to help our national leaders understand that we are in effect being recolonised by stealth? Are they ‘captured’?
What do Zambian scholars think about our ‘independence’, about who ‘we’ are, about the global debt mechanisms that restrict the possibility of economic independence? With the imminent return of the International Monetary Fund, for instance, what will we become? So many decades after independence, can we be wise and brave enough to advance a genuine independence? What is the public role of intellectuals in this country? Just who and where are Zambia’s public intellectuals? There are the academics at our universities and many more educated Zambians working abroad, but what is their role in relation to the government today?
Below, Mahmood Mamdani, a Ugandan academic and political commentator, issues a challenge to African academics to reflect carefully on their role and how it has changed in the years since political independence was achieved. The section I have deliberately quoted at great length was part of Mamdani’s address to the University of South Africa delivered on 26 May 2017 to commemorate the 8th annual Thabo Mbeki Africa Day. Mamdani, arguably Africa’s leading public intellectual, demonstrates the downward slide of the public intellectual in Africa from a political partisan to an apolitical expert and calls on African scholars to both lend their voices to important public concerns and to theorise their social realities.
“The public intellectual and the scholar are not two different persona, but two distinct perspectives, even preoccupations. One draws inspiration from the world of scholarship, the other from that of public debate. The distinction between them is not hard and fast, since the boundary shifts over time and is blurred at any one point in time. Tensions between the two perspectives were evident in the early post-independence period. If the public intellectual hoped to work with local communities, as close to the ground as possible, the scholar had ‘universalist’ aspirations based on the claim that a universal intellectual traded a global ware, theory. The split between the two was often pregnant with political significance. If the public intellectual took sides as a proud partisan, the scholar claimed objectivity as an observer, a Hegelian witness – “the owl of Minerwa” – whose wisdom came only in the wake of events to which the disinterested intellectual must relate as a witness rather than as a partisan.
“We need to acknowledge that the gulf between the public intellectual and the scholar is minimal in the West and maximal outside the West. This is for one reason: the theory that valorises the scholar is abstracted from the Western experience. Even though theorists claim universality, a theory has a history, and that is the history of the West. This means that in spite of pretensions to universality, the scholar in the modern (African) academy is basically a Western scholar. It should not be surprising that Western theories resonate more in the Western context than outside it.
“In the half century since independence in this part of the world (Africa), the dialect between the public intellectual and the scholar has gone through a number of significant shifts. The first big shift took place with independence. Few at the time realised how radically both the perspective and role of the public intellectual would change in a post-colonial setting. The role of the public intellectual in a colonial university was relatively unambiguous. The public intellectual found a secure home in the ranks of the nationalist movement. But nationalists in power had little patience with domestic critics especially if those crossed the language barrier between the gown and the town, the town and the countryside and tried to link up with the social movements. This introduced a tension among radical intellectuals still on campus and yesterday’s ‘comrades’ now in power. From allies in a broad camp, they turned into adversaries.
“The second big shift is taking place now, on the hills of the development of an expanded NGO movement. Most NGOs have been retooled to act as so many whistle-blowers who must ensure the ‘accountability’ and ‘transparency’ of the government in power, but without combining it with the search for an alternative order. If NGOs act as so many sentries for the neoliberal order, the new public intellectuals are expected to shed the politically partisan character of the old public intellectual and function as so many in-house advisors to governments of the day. Though advising governments, they don the cloak of expertise and claim to be untainted by politics. Yet the consequence is to harness would-be ‘scholars’ to a political agenda that would quarantine the nationalist project. The underlying assumption is that politics inevitably introduces a bias, whether national or sectarian, and has thus a negative influence on the formulation and implementation of policy.
“The ground is shifting as international donors seek to reshape the African academy and its relationship to society and the state. In this new context, the public intellectual is being retooled as an advisor and a consultant. Not the university but the think tank is emerging as the new home for the refashioned public intellectual in the neo-liberal era. The effect is both to depoliticise the public intellectual and to hitch his and her labour to an official agenda.
“Unlike in the 1960s and 1970s, the public intellectual of the early 21st century cannot be presumed to be a progressive intellectual. In this era, the definition of the ‘public’ has changed. It is no longer just the ‘people’, the governed. It also includes the government, the donor and the financial institutions on which governments increasingly depend. The public intellectual based in a think tank is expected to serve the government above all as the guarantor of ‘evidence-based policies’. The new type of public intellectual is recruited and funded by development partners to monitor public institutions both from within and from without, as it were round the clock in the name of ‘accountability’. The combination of ‘transparency’ and ‘accountability’ in turn ensures the monitoring of this new type of the public intellectual by development partners who fund the exercise.”
Mamdani is right. Intellectuals have an ethical obligation to the wider world around them within which they pursue their scholarly activities. In contexts of injustice, for instance, they should not stand aside but immerse themselves in the struggles of their communities including advancing freedom and knowledge to an audience larger than their professional colleagues and students. When performing this public role, the intellectual should rid themselves of the ‘objective’ workings of scholarly engagements and be unafraid to take an informed position on a range of public issues or subjects, however controversial or arguably political; they should actively seek to disturb the status quo, aim for openness, and advance the class considerations or interests of other groups other than their own: the exploited, the marginalised, the poor, rural dwellers and the less powerful.
It is time we heard the voice of Zambian economists, historians, political scientists, development academics, etc., on the social, political and economic implications of a post-humanist Zambia, including the almost uncritical acceptance in public discourse of neoliberalism and its rationales that so hinders the ability to reformulate an alternative. Their silence on many important national discussions is deadly and disturbing. Our literati men and women have the responsibility to find common ground between private and public interests. What do they consider to have been the implications of the drastic restructuring of the Zambian state since 1991 on how the country sees itself and works? What, in the judgement of our intelligentsia, explains our continued sub-human existence and our refusal to rebel against this status?
There must be many and complex and interrelated social, economic, political, cultural, religious and spiritual forces combining with our entire history as a people that have moulded and continue to shape the current psychology and character structure of the ‘typical Zambian’: unquestioning, passive, cowardly, zombie-like, devoid of ethical values, easy to manipulate, naive, superstitious and quite clearly backward. Our intelligentsia, in their diversity, have a duty to unravel these forces, understand them, and reshape them to build a different and genuinely alive Zambian. We, as a people, must understand all this as it relates to our place in the wider world. In fact, our current deep-seated systemic and structural social, economic and cultural crises are a perfect foundation to begin to build a new national consciousness, to begin to resurrect the human being in the Zambian.
If Zambia’s intellectuals are to remain relevant to the country beyond their teaching and research roles, they should consider engaging with the changing issues of the world around them while at the same time remaining true to the principles of their scholarly trade. The veneer of ‘neutrality’ and ‘objectivity’ can no longer be a hiding place.
Linda Kasonde (C) with Bishop Mususu and Dr Moses Banda during the Levy Mwanawasa Memorial Lecture at Mulungushi International Conference Centre.
Former Law Association of Zambia President Linda Kasonde has denied calling President Edgar Lungu a thief.
Some news reports indicate that Ms Linda said Zambians do not scrutinize the leaders they vote for and that is why they end up even voting for thieves.
This was allegedly said when Ms. Kasonde featured as a discussant during the Levy Mwanawasa Memorial Lecture recently at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre.
But in a statement issued this morning, Ms Kasonde said at no time did she utter those words.
She said not only have words that she did not say been attributed to her but also the actual remarks that she made have been taken out of context.
Below is Ms Kasonde’s full statement
RESPONSE TO REPORTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA ALLEGING THAT I CALLED PRESIDENT EDGAR LUNGU A THIEF
My attention has been drawn to a story circulating on social media alleging that I called President Edgar Lungu a thief. It is alleged that I made the said remarks during the 10th Memorial lecture held for President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa SC held at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre on 18th August 2018.
Please note that the story is false. At no time did I utter the alleged remarks against President Lungu. Not only have words that I did not say been attributed to me but also the actual remarks that I made have been taken out of context.
On 18th August 2018 I was one of the discussants at a public lecture delivered by Dr. Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika on the life and legacy of President Mwanawasa. Below are the short remarks that I made on that occasion:
REMARKS BY LINDA KASONDE AT THE PUBLIC LECTURE COMMEMORATING PRESIDENT LEVY PATRICK MWANAWASA’S LIFE AND LEGACY
Distinguished guests, fellow Zambians, I am deeply honoured to be seated here as a lawyer, a younger citizen (no longer a youth) and a woman. As Dr. Lewanika stated in his lecture, the freedom struggle continues. Indeed, as a democracy, more so as a fledging democracy, we must live with the fact that democracy is always under threat. That is true in any democracy as we are seeing globally. Democracy is about allowing the marketplace of ideas to thrive. President Mwanawasa is reported to have complained about criticism in the media and yet he did allow a free press to flourish. A notable exception is the prosecution of satirist Roy Clarke for an unflattering satire of President Mwanawasa and then Vice-President George Kunda SC which nearly resulted in Mr. Clarke getting deported. This was perhaps a moment of personal weakness but we are here because President Mwanawasa is widely celebrated as one of if not the best President that Zambia has ever had.
As a keen follower of history, I must depart from the view held by one of President Mwanawasa’s biographers that ‘It matters how it ends’. It does, but I also believe that it matters how it starts. Contrary to some believers, leaders do not drop from the skies. They live and work amongst us. We can see where they came from and anyone choosing a leader will ignore a leader’s past at his peril. President Mwanawasa was previously known as a student leader at the University of Zambia, he was a former Vice-President of the Law Association of Zambia, a celebrated and skilled Advocate, a former Solicitor-General of the Republic of Zambia before becoming the Republican Vice-President and then President. We see his integrity when he resigns as Republican Vice-President because of corruption in the government; we see it when he attempts to follow the rule of law. Dr. Moses Banda tells me that as an economist working as an economic adviser to President Mwanawasa, he was often inconveniently reminded that the economic strategy that he was proposing was contrary to the law. This meant that it could not be done or the law would have to be amended. I am told that President Kenneth Kaunda, the first Republican President, shared this trait.
Dr. Lewanika talked about the ideas and values for which the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) stood, at least at its inception. Values are another thing that are sorely lacking in our current politics. I have said on other platforms that good institutions need good people. This is because it is the values of the individual that allow the individual to keep themselves in check – avoiding corruption or removing oneself from a situation where the environment is such that reversing corruption is untenable. The fight against corruption is always a good thing. Corruption is a cancer that is now endemic in our nation. What can we learn from the fight against corruption during the Mwanawasa era? I think that it is that the fight against corruption must be sustained and not just against political enemies. It cannot have been easy for President Mwanawasa to fire one of his own ministers, former Lands Minister Gladys Nyirongo, for corruption. Today we see lowly police officers being caught taking bribes. But we must be careful to look at the root causes of corruption. What is happening in our society that makes people think that it is okay to steal? That it is okay to be corrupt? I’m told that people who worked for President Mwanawasa feared him. People felt restrained against excesses. Fear of a leader in itself is not a bad thing if accompanied by love or respect. As a leader, it is tempting to want to oversee everything, I have been guilty of this myself. The ultimate test of a leader is seeing how people behave in their absence.
Today, ten years down the line, we are here to celebrate the legacy of a Zambian patriot who through his own living will stated that he wished the best for the Zambian people. We accept that no one is perfect, President Mwanawasa included. We are here because he planted a seed, even one as small as a mustard seed, that today is still flourishing. Writer and poet Dr. Maya Angelou used to say that “You have no idea what your legacy will be. Your legacy is every life you have touched”. That is why we are here.
I hope that future generations will take a leaf from the Mwanawasa Foundation by preserving and even dissecting the history of our leaders. We need to know our history to understand our present. Often a reference to history could quite quickly resolve an issue today. I thank you again for this opportunity.
By Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D.
Professor of Sociology
My chipesha mano (one who kills a man’s brain), my chipha dzula (sun killer), my momma (University of Zambia students lingo), and the prospects of seeing and being with my brown sugar Linda Jitanda again haunted me night and day. What haunted me was knowing something earth shakingly good was going to happen to me but not knowing when. I woke up every day just thinking of the moment and going back to my deep wild overwhelming feelings of passion during that memorable night at Sinjonjo Bar in Mongu. I went to the Lusaka Intercity Bus Terminal for several days checking for the buses from the Copperbelt. She was not on any of the buses. I began to give up. May be she was just playing games with me. But what a cruel game? May be she did not have transport money to catch a bus. May be she met someone else and was now happily married.
It was late morning just before noon at my NAMBOARD office. I was sitting at my desk in the office large room which other workmates busy working. The sounds and furious clacking of the big typewriters were as loud as ever. I was working on paper work for the Staff Training Workshop for Provincial Agricultural Officers at Mount Makulu Research Station the next week. Mr. Mbewe walked in and beckoned me to come out of the office. I quietly went into the corridor.
“There are two women looking for you,” Mr. Mbewe said in a whisper. “Come with me. They are waiting for you down stairs.”
“Who could they be? Were they speaking my mother tongue Tumbuka lnguage? Because I have so many relatives here in Lusaka from Lundazi.”
“I don’t know,” Mr. Mbewe replied. “I didn’t talk to them.”
When the lift or elevator stopped on the ground floor, I rushed out. I emerged out of the large front door to see 2 women standing on the right side of the entrance. The first slightly taller woman was my beautiful and stunning Linda Jitanda just standing there in a radiant glow. Time stopped.
Her face brightened, and her eyes lit up when our eyes met. My heart melted, and my surging passion irresistibly drew me to her as her tender full bosom pressed against my chest in a very unZambian broad daylight public embrace between a young woman and a man. I shook and held on to her right hand. Our palms were sweating and hands trembling. We stared into each other’s eyes and deep into each other’s souls of intimacy. We were at that moment engulfed in our own private secret world only lovers know. I was oblivious to throngs of people walking past us in and out of the Kwacha House building.
“F-le – nd Anna,” Linda uttered. “Mzanga (friend)” she added pointing to the other woman with her.
“Eh!! Ndine Anna,” Anna said as I shook her hand in the Zambian greeting while Linda and I were still holding hands. “Nakumana naye Jitanda ku Kamwala Market. Anifunsa kuti nimpelekeze ku zaona imwe. Cifukwa nizibako Chi Kaounde pang’ono.(I met Jitanda at Kamwala market. She asked me to escort her because she wanted to see you. I know a bit of Kaonde)
Linda tagged my hand and pulled me toward the side of the quiet, tall and isolated 6 floor NAMBOARD building. There were broken bricks, short scraggly grass and pieces of plastic and torn bits of papers blowing about. The short wire fence had a big hole in it through which people slipped to walk along the railway tracks as a short cut to and from Cairo Road. A big goods train thundered by drowning our voices bellowing its loud sirens at the Great East Road railway crossing. Linda had been saying something that I could not hear when the loud train was thundering by. The radiant smile was gone. Suddenly Linda’s face had a contorted face of anguish and pain.
“What’s wrong baby chiphadzuwa?” I asked as I rubbed her forehead with my right palm as she tightly gripped on to my left hand with both her trembling hands.
“P-leg-nanti!!!” she blurted pointing to her stomach.
“What!!” I shouted screwed my face furrowing my fore head. “What is she saying?” I asked as I turned to Anna who was 2 meters away.
“Ana Mimba uyu Linda.(She is pregnant.)”
I felt an arrow pierce right through my heart. The shock drained the energy from my head, my arms, knees, legs all the way to my feet as I collapsed on to my knees with my hands still desperately holding on to my Linda Jitanda’s hips. I sobbed as my forehead rested just below her belly button. I sobbed uncontrollably as Linda softly rubbed the hair on top of my head.”
“Why! Why! Why did you have to get pregnant!! Why! Why! When did it happen!!” I moaned. When I paused, I heard her soft sobs.
I looked up at her as she reached for the side of my head with her soft tender hands. She tried to lift me up as her tear drops landed on my head. I slowly crouched up from my shaking knees and a reached for her face. I wiped hot tears from her smooth soft cheeks.
“No, no, don’t cry baby,” I soothed her. “It’s going to be alright.”
“Something something in Kaonde. Something something 3 months Wilson” Linda said between sobs as she wiped her tears with the back of her hand.
“Imwe Ba Tembo uyu mkazi a mukonandi maningi.(Ba Tembo, this woman loves you very much.)” Anna said translating her Kaonde language. “Ana Mimba ya 3 months ya aWilsoni amene anaba forcing’a ma parents babo kuti ankhale mkazi wawo. (She is 3 months pregnant from Wilson the man her parents forced her to marry in the village. This is why she did not want to come and see you after she sent you that letter.)
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**If you loved this story, this author published “The Bridge” a highly acclaimed romantic thriller novel in 2005 that reflects deep aspects of our Zambian culture. The Ministry of Education Curriculum Development CDC) in April 2015 approved or accepted the book to be used as a supplementary reader for grades 10 – 12 in the Zambian Secondary School Literature syllabus. An application was filed with the Zambia Examinations Council for the book to be adopted by Secondary School in June 2016. Please kindly contact Zambia Examinations Council to urge them to adopt the book.
The young DJ has performed at some of the biggest festivals in Sub-Saharan Africa while also sharing the stage with A-List African acts such as Black Coffee, Mi Casa & Goldfish. His 2016 release “Bottle of Loneliness” on Blanco y Negro Music and major Scandinavian imprint disco:wax (Sony) earned Mukuka a place in the international deep house scene with various iTunes, Spotify and terrestrial radio chart rankings in Spain, Argentina, Estonia and Zambia as well as millions of streams worldwide. The song later caught the attention of the European smash hit DJ duo Filatov & Karas who remixed it in 2017.
El Mukuka is also the face of Stella Artois (a premium Belgian beer) in Zambia as of April 2018. His latest release, titled “Weight of the Sun” sees him collaborate with Netta Nimrodi & Arie Burshtein AKA AMBER REVIVAL, a singer-songwriter/producer duo & couple based in Berlin. The duo enjoy dividing their time writing in multiple genres ranging from EDM and Rock all the way to J-POP, with chart-topping success in multiple territories around the world. The duo also co-wrote & produced the Russian entries for the 2017 and 2018 Eurovision Song Contest (arguably Europe’s biggest song competition). The new smash single will be serviced by Sony Music Africa, receiving support from territories such as Germany, Russia, Australia and Turkey to name a few, labeling El Mukuka as potentially one of the biggest electronic musicians to come out of the Sub-Saharan market.
The Lusaka High Court has ordered UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema and the State to inform the court whenever they will be ready to proceed with a case in which the UPND leader has gone to court regarding his dismissed Presidential election petition.
In this matter, Mr. Hichilema has gone to the High Court claiming that his right to be heard was violated when the constitutional court threw away his petition.
Last time, the matter was adjourned at the instance of the petitioner’s lawyers.
But the High Court has ordered that the court should be moved by Lawyers representing both parties so that new dates for the status conference, which will give directions on how the matter proceeds can be set.
High Court Judge Mwila Chitabo issued the order upon receipt of the consent order to adjourn the matter.
Judge Chitabo said he cannot set a date in the absence of the parties representing Mr. Hichilema and the respondent who in this case is the Attorney General.
He said he is doing this because he was not availed with the grounds of adjournment by the two parties when they made an agreement.
The case went back to the High court after the Supreme court threw out Mr. Hichilema’s appeal in which he wanted Justice Chitabo to recuse himself from handling the matter for alleged bias.
The Supreme court dismissed the appeal on grounds that Mr. Hichilema and his Vice President Geoffrey Mwamba had used a wrong mode of appeal as they appealed straight to the Supreme Court instead of starting with the Court of appeal.
