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And the winner is, Justin Banda(right) of team gematrix. The man put up an impressive performance. Leaving no doubt as to who truly dominated this tournament.
Two Zambian eSports gamers have done the country proud by winning big at the Pro Series Gaming Tournament in Nairobi, Kenya. Justin Banda won 1st place and K50,000 and Mwelele Zaza won 3rd place and K10,000, both representing Team Gematrix.
Liquid Telecom Kenya participated by delivering free ‘gamer-quality’ internet connection, as part of its 5-year initiative to boost Africa’s gaming industry, under which the group is running and supporting launch pads, forums and training sessions continent-wide for game developers. In addition, Liquid Telecom Kenya had also provided free 250Mbps internet to support gaming and streaming from the East Africa Gaming Convention (EAGC), where a host of new African games were launched.
“Gaming is emerging as an industry in Kenya and East Africa, now delivering growth of 25% a year or more, with African games and gamers moving into the global arena and the industry delivering globally over $100 billion of sales a year,” said Ben Roberts, Chairman of Liquid Telecom Kenya and Group Chief Technology and Innovation Officer for Liquid Telecom.
In Kenya, last year, gaming sales amounted to Sh2.7bn ($27m), placing the country among the top new gaming nations in Africa, behind the Sh19.3bn ($193m) Egyptian games industry, Sh17.3bn ($173m) Nigerian games industry, and Sh11.8bn ($183m) South African industry. Sudan has, likewise, made it into the region’s fastest growing gaming markets, with gaming sales in 2017 of Sh1.8bn ($18m), according to global research company Statista.
Liquid Telecom’s support for the rising eSports industry is helping to stimulate new jobs in game development. The Africa Game Developers Community was formed earlier this year, and has now grown to approximately 30 members in Kenya and more than 80 across Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Zambia, and Ghana.
The tournament, which is the second in the series, but the first to offer large cash wins, had attracted 40 top players – 30 from Kenya, seven Ugandans, two Zambians, and one Malawian – in a gathering that is moving the sector towards being a spectator sport.
This high-speed and unlimited internet connection was key to game developers such as Sim-U-nation, which works in partnership with production studio SanaaWavelab Media, and recently launched its motor rally game – Zawadi the Game.
“Our game relies on a strong online connection and one of the things that Liquid Telecom has done is to provide these connections so gamers can have extremely high access to each other’s data, which allows for very good gaming. In gaming we need fast trans-communication with each machine because of downloading large files,” said Ed Behr, the Sim-U-Nation developer.
Earlier this year, Liquid Telecom also ran its first Launchpad for game developers in Cape Town where a Kenyan company Kukua emerged the winner for its educational game Sema Run. The company won six months free mentorship in the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) Cape Town incubator.
“These early-stage game development companies will evolve into bigger studios that will create jobs for animators, creators, programmers and digital marketers. We also see the rise of professional YouTubers that are paid to play video games, which is a popular concept in the UK that will also develop in Africa,” said Ben Roberts.
“Overall, this industry is a huge opportunity across Africa, and offering it free support, reliable high capacity infrastructure and incubation is the fastest way we see of converting that into an employment and economic reality,” he said.
SERIES 6: IMPEACHMENT MOTION – a motion which alleges that Hon. Chishimba Kambwili and others are unsuitable to hold ministerial office
Introduction
On Sunday, 8th March, 2016, Zambia’s Minister of Justice, Given Lubinda, told journalists who gathered at the Patriotic Front Interactive Forum at Chrismar Hotel that despite the motion to impeach the President of the Republic of Zambia, having met the constitutional requirement of one-third of Member of Parliament endorsing it in order for the matter to proceed, the motion will have to meet the test of admissibility for it to be tabled for debate on the floor of the House.
Key to these rules of admissibility is whether Parliament can debate matters which are active before a court of law, whether the house can discuss, in form of a motion, a matter already decided by Parliament and, finally, a focus on people who cannot defend themselves before the House
Grounds of Impeachment
In this series, I discuss grounds 2.1.2, 2.1.2 and 2.3.1 which read as follows:
2.1 That the President conducted himself in a manner which brought the Office of the President into disrepute, ridicule and or contempt as follows:
2.1.1. By failing to curtail the indiscipline among his aides who have engaged themselves in corrupt activities and are known to be living well above their means, aside from the numerous transgressions which have lowered the esteem of the office of the President of Zambia
2.1.2 By appointing persons who are not fit to hold public office as Ministers in view of such persons refusal to comply with the lawful order of the Constitutional Court directing them to pay back emoluments unlawfully paid to them by Government between May and August 2016 following the dissolution of Parliament in the run up to the 2016 general elections. By conducting himself in such a manner, the President exercised and continues to exercise the executive authority of the State in violation of Article 2, 8(e), 91(3)(a) and (f), and 92(1) of the Constitution.
2.3 That the President engaged in acts of corruption as follows 2.3.1 By the unprecedented procurement of personal wealth and assets during the short period that he has held office as President
The Question of the Law
With regards to these grounds of impeachment, the relevant provisions of the law is the Constitution of Zambia in Articles 185. (1) (a)(b)and (c), 72. (1) and 116. (3) (c) and (e) which provide as follows:
“185. (1) (a)(b)and (c) The President has, in accordance with and subject to the other provisions of this Constitution, the power to appoint and confirm public officers, exercise disciplinary control over public officers; and terminate the employment of a public officer.
72. (1) A Member of Parliament shall, except the Speaker and the First Deputy Speaker, vacate the seat in the National Assembly on dissolution of Parliament.
116. (3) (c) and (e) The office of Minister becomes vacant if in the case of a nominated Member of Parliament, the nomination is revoked; or another person assumes the office of President”
Deficiencies of grounds 2.1.2, 2.1.2 and 2.3.1
Allegations against Presidential aides
Apart from the fact that the allegation is too general as it fails to specify which one of the president’s aides is indisciplined, the ground does not specify in what way such aides are indisciplined, whether or not such indiscipline has been proven as such, and by what authority, or if such indiscipline or any action taken meet standards set in any written code of conduct so that the alleged violations are in fact defined and can be proved before a court of law or Tribunal if the alleged offender were to seek refuge in and protection from our courts. The grounds advanced by the petitioner, do not specify who among the president’s aides, engaged in corrupt activities, or what form such corruption took and, most importantly, if such corruption was proved before a court of law.
In this ground, the petitioner is asking Parliament to discuss untested and unproven allegations against unnamed aides who will not be afforded an opportunity to defend themselves on the floor of the House, contrary to the rules of the National Assembly.
The presidential aides, like any other person working in public service, are public officers whose appointment is based on the powers of the President granted to him in Article 185 of the Constitution. It is interesting that movers of the motion have elected not to cite other presidential appointees, for instance, public officers such as Permanent Secretaries by virtue of their responsibilities as Controlling Officers who have been found wanting in the Reports of the Auditor General as reported to parliament itself. Why has the motion not cited other public officers who are directly appointed by the President and have been found wanting by the Auditor-General or other oversight institutions where, as a matter of fact, the failures have been documented?
It is by asking these questions that one comes to the conclusion that the allegations against the presidential aides, unsubstantiated as they are, are in fact malicious. If the movers of the motion were genuinely concerned about indiscipline and corrupt activities among those appointed by the President, they would have, at various points, raised these matters specifically either with the President himself directly, or through the various mechanisms established for purposes of enforcing discipline among public officers, such as the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Drug Enforcement Agency or even through parliament’s own oversight Committees.
On allegations against appointment of ministers to hold office
The ground of allegation on former ministers, who most interestingly include Hon. Chishimba Kambwili the seconder of the impeachment motion, or Hon. Harry Kalaba the Member of Parliament for Bahati Constituency whose name appears on the list of the 61 MPs on the petition but did not sign, raises interesting questions.
First, does Hon. Kambwili or indeed Hon. Kalaba who may support the impeachment motion, genuinely believe they did not deserve to be reappointed as Ministers after the 2016 elections, or is Hon. Kambwili merely playing the usual politics by seconding an impeachment motion which questions his reappointment? Perhaps we missed something, has Hon. Kambwili himself repaid the money in question, as ordered by the Constitutional Court? Was he not a party to the instructions issued to the Attorney General to approach the Constitutional Court and apply for leave to ask the honourable court to review its decision?
Second, and arising from the issues above, is the President in breach of the constitution, or the law, when he allowed the Attorney General to approach the court to review its decision because such decision appears not to conform with the spirit of the constitution and can be said to be blatantly in disregard of a provision of the Constitution itself? Does the application by former Ministers to reopen and have the Constitutional Court rehear the question of payment make the President in breach of the Constitution?
The matter of ministers paying back has been challenged and is back in the Constitutional Court. The recent decision in the case of Hakainde Hichilema and 5 others v. Government of the Republic of Zambia (2017/CCZ/0006)implies the Constitutional Court can re-open and hear afresh, a matter “if there is a strong basis or convincing grounds upon which the Constitutional Court can summon its inherent powers.”
The matter of ministers paying back has been taken back to the Court by Mr. Davies Mwila, in his capacity as a former Minister who was among the ministers that were ordered to pay back the emoluments they received when they purported to remain in office after the dissolution of parliament on 13t| May, 2016 until the decision of the Constitutional Court on 8th August 2016. The question on whether the Court can hear the matter afresh, is no longer moot.
This ground of impeachment is thus back in the constitutional court. However, even without the matter having been taken back to Court, there is nothing in the judgment of the Constitutional Court which stated that the President had breached the Constitution in ordering his Ministers to remain in office. The Court, in fact, did mention that the Constitution has two interpretations on the question of whether ministers were to stay in office or leave office after dissolution of Parliament, but the Court decided to go for one of those two interpretations. Notably, the court did not state or even imply that by electing one interpretation, the other interpretation was a violation of the constitution. The Court did not amend the provisions of the Constitution that allowed former ministers to stay in office as only Parliament can amend the Constitution.
CONCLUSION
The motion to impeach the President based on the re-appointment of former Ministers like Hon. Chishimba Kambwili, Hon. Harry Kalaba and others as cabinet ministers, questions the capacity of all these former ministers to hold office. Hon. Kambwili who is the seconder of the motion, in effect, is saying he is not qualified after the 2016 elections to be appointed as a minister and his appointment was a breach of the Constitution. Again, I want to say, this motion is not about the President breaching the Constitution but is one that puts on trial, every former Cabinet minister before 2016 and cabinet ministers holding office now.
The allegation against unnamed presidential aides is too general to be considered a ground for impeachment. Even if the aides were mentioned by name, the ground would not meet the admissibility test because it will be discussing unproven allegations against persons who cannot defend themselves and have never been put on trial before a competent court of law on hose allegations. Clearly, by principle of our own laws, none of those aides is guilty of any of the allegations until they are proved guilty before and by a court of law.
In a nut shell, this ground of impeachment is not only inadmissible but malicious and groundless at law.
I wait to see how Hon. Chishimba Kambwili intends to prosecute a matter in which he is himself an accused person as well as a defendant! It should make for a very interesting lesson in parliamentary democracy.
Lusaka Province Minister Bowman Lusambo says the proposed national dialogue process should be led by Zambians.
Mr. Lusambo who is also Kabushi Member of Parliament said as correctly guided by President Edgar Lungu, the dialogue process should be fully home grown and Zambian owned.
He said has credible institutions such as the Zambia Centre for Interparty Dialogue that can successfully lead the dialogue process.
“As a nation, we have demonstrated immense abilities to handle our sovereign issues without any foreign interference. As can be evidenced from our history, the Zambian people are resolute in protecting the interests of the nation. In 1964, all Zambians rallied together to push for a birth of a new and liberated nation. In 1991, Zambians again came together and collectively made a return to multi party democracy with no foreign influence,” Mr. Lusambo said in a statement.
He added, “On the regional front, Zambia’s record in peace building is unparalleled. We have seen the country host numerous peace talks over the years. In May 1995, under the stewardship of late President Chiluba, Zambia hosted the signing of the Angolan Protocol which saw President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos and UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi meet and hug each other at Mulungushi International Conference Centre and in July 1999, the Lusaka Ceasefire agreement was signed towards the cessation of the second Congo war.”
“These including some of our regional liberation efforts have put Zambia in a respectable league as far as promotion of peace and enhancement of dialogue is concerned. Therefore to begin to peddle a position that only a foreign led dialogue process would attain credibility is not only mischievous but suspicious. Zambia at 54 cannot be reduced to a puppet master. Our forefathers who sacrificed so much including their lives would be turning in their graves to hear some arguments that seek to perpetuate the narrative that only a western initiated and western led dialogue process would succeed.
Mr. Lusambo continued, “As a nation, I feel, as corrected pointed out by President Lungu, our own national institutions such as the ZCID should take the lead in any dialogue process. From where I am standing, the ZCID has both the institutional capacity and credibility to foster national dialogue especially of a political nature since it is a creation of political parties.”
“With that said, why then are some people still against a home grown dialogue process? The answer is simple, these are people who are unpatriotic and have somehow convinced themselves that only a western led dialogue process would be genuine,” he said.
“As the Head of State pointed out, dialogue is in the Zambian DNA. We have always dialogued as a people and we have scored tremendous success as a matter of history. My humble appeal to my brothers and sisters opposed to a home grown dialogue process is to search deep in their hearts and reflect. Failure to do so would mean that they all have to leave this country and join their western counterparts where they may be useful.”
French engineering firm Razel-Bec has started works on the Kariba Dam whose wall is swelling, raising the risk of cracks in the structure.
A check at the dam this week, found workers busy mobilizing equipment and creating an access road to the plunge pool.
Works include reshaping and stabilising the 80+ metre deep plunge pool and refurbishing the six floodgates.
According to a 2015 report by global risk managers AON, a collapse of the dam could pose a risk to 3.5 million people in Zambia and Zimbabwe as well as Malawi and Mozambique further downstream.In February, Razel-Bec was awarded a contract by Zambia and Zimbabwe to perform dam safety repairs at the 1,830-MW Kariba hydroelectric plant.
Erosion under 128-meter tall, 579-meter long dam has created swelling along its face and fear that the structure could eventually fail.
Should Kariba Dam break, the dam would threaten more than 3.5 million people in Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as residents further down the Zambezi River in Mozambique and Malawi.
The repairs will be overseen by the Zambezi River Authority using a US$294 million funding package.
The financing, which includes money from ZRA, the African Development Bank, European Union, Swedish government and World Bank Group, was announced in September 2015 but not finalized until sometime in January.
The European Union would provide $100 million, the World Bank $75 million, the African Development Bank $36 million grant and $39 million loan while Sweden will offer $20 million with the balance of the $294 million repairs to be paid by Zambia and Zimbabwe, the two countries through their jointly owned Zambezi River Authority.
The deal will allow Razel-Bec to reshape the plunge pool beneath Kariba and make repairs to the dam’s spillway.
ZRA officials said they expect work on the plunge pool to be complete by 2021, and work on the spillway to be finished in 2022.
The Kariba Dam was built in the 1950s.
Razel-Bec is the civil works division of the Fayat Group of France.
It has built several dams in France, Algeria and Cameroon.
Photo session time.Women patrons on the floorBBZ members of staff were awarded.BBZ members of staff were awarded.Lusaka based songbird Maureen Lilanda and Nyoni “Fresh” Emmanuel graced the occasion.Photo session time.Photo session time.Lusaka based songbird Maureen Lilanda and Nyoni “Fresh” Emmanuel graced the occasion.Photo session time.BBZ long standing customers were recognised.Women of all walk of lives who were invited.Women of all walk of lives who were invited.Women of all walk of lives who were invited.Women of all walk of lives who were invited.Zambia first lady Esther Lungu was the guest of honour flanked on the left by BOZ deputy governor Tukiya Kankasa Mabula and labour minister Joyce Simukoko ; on the right BBZ board chairperson Kateka Chisala and BBZ CEO Mizinga Mehlu.
Zambia is facing tough questions over its foreign-debt levels from investors who think the real number may be more than double what the government has disclosed.
Lenders including Nomura Holdings Inc. believe the state has not completely come clean on its external debt.There is a growing concern Zambia may be headed for a similar situation to neighboring Mozambique, where hidden debts led to default as the government is seeking to restructure.
According to Peter Attard Montalto of Nomura International, “Zambia is in somewhat of a serious predicament of having politically connected additional ‘hidden’ loans”.
Officially, Zambia’s public debt in August 2017 stood at $ 12.45 billion, or 47% of gross domestic product.It has been the main stumbling block in securing a $1.3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund due to doubts about its debt sustainability.
According to presidential spokesman Amos Chanda “Zambia will not go to the end of the world to pursue an IMF program, if not, it will continue with its own program, which is already producing results”.Still, Zambia is devising strategies to generate revenue internally.
That decision has led the tax administration to audit mining companies, hoping to rake in $ 7.9 billion.Authorities in February increased a liter of fuel to $ 1.41 cents.
Meanwhile, Investors are fretting that Zambia may have more debt than it’s let on have sent the nation’s Eurobonds tumbling.
Yields on the copper-producing country’s $1.25 billion amortizing bonds due in 2027 rose as much as 54 basis points, the most since February 2016, before paring the increase to 50 basis points by 4:35 p.m. in London.
At 8.45 percent, the yield was the highest in more than a year.
Banks including Nomura Holdings Inc. say the government may have greater tax liabilities than it’s made public.
That’s bad news for holders of Zambia’s dollar securities, which were already the worst performers in Africa year-to-date through the end of last week, losing 2.4 percent, according to the Bloomberg Barclays Emerging Markets USD Sovereign Bond Index.
The risk is that Zambian bondholders could find themselves in a similar situation as investors in Mozambique, where hidden debts led to default and the government is seeking to restructure.
Zambia has been in talks for several months with the International Monetary Fund about a $1.3 billion bailout, but the two sides have failed to strike a deal, partly because of the Washington-based lender’s concerns about foreign borrowings.
Finance Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe said on Friday she was carrying out a debt sustainability analysis to move the IMF negotiations forward and also wants to “reprofile” $3 billion of outstanding Eurobonds.
The nation is already restructuring bilateral loans from Chinese state companies.
Brenda holding some of the vegetables she grows at KATC centre pivot irrigation system in Chongwe. Pictures by Hope Mkunte.
Chongwe is only 30 minutes’ drive away from Lusaka for most car owners, yet most people are unaware that most of the vegetables they eat are from this small agriculture hotspot where small scale farmers, including women are growing organic vegetables under centre pivot irrigation system.
One of the women who stands out is Brenda Banda, a vegetable farmer from Chasha village who started out as a tailor.
Brenda, like most women in her village used to water the vegetables in her garden using water from a well, which sometimes would dry up in the dry season leaving her with only her sewing machine as a source of income.
“Water has always been a problem here, so most of the vegetables we grow we eat and if there is any surplus, we sell to get some money to buy soap and other things. It is even more difficult to grow maize in the rainy season because fertilizer is very expensive.” She says.
Lucky enough for Brenda and her fellow women, Kasisi Agriculture Training Centre under the Civil Society Environment Fund, Phase 2 (CSEF2) project, which is funded by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland (MFA) has made available 12.5 hectares of land under centre pivot irrigation for small holder organic vegetable production.
The CSEF2 project set out to train 100 farmers in organic farming and Brenda was one of them. Among the courses she attended include sustainable organic agriculture, and organic vegetable production.
“The project trained us how to do organic farming. They taught us how to prepare our beds, control pests and diseases, make and use manure tea and also how to make a budget, find market and manage our money”. She says.
Asked the difference between ordinary farming and organic farming, Brenda is quick to point out.
“The big difference I have experienced between using artificial fertilizer and organic farming is that artificial fertilizer is very expensive, especially for us in the village but with organic farming you can buy a 50 KG bag of chicken manure for only ZMW5. Also, I have found that vegetables grown using organic farming get ready faster than the ones grown using artificial fertilizer. Even the customers who come to buy from us tell us that our organic vegetables taste better.”
Brenda’s life has taken a turn for the better. Not only has she been able to send her children to school, she has also been able to increase her income by investing money earned from organic vegetable production under centre pivot irrigation into starting poultry and pig rearing.
“I started out with 20 broiler chickens but now I keep 100 broiler chickens and 23 pigs. You know this business you need to be strong and serious. A lot of the women on this project are doing wonderful things that they could not do before they started organic vegetable production under centre pivot irrigation.” She says.
Brenda says she would love to one day have a borehole at her house so that she and a few women could take what they have learned on the CSEF2 project and implement it in the village.
“We have been on this project for two years now and our lives have changed for the better, but we would love to group up with other women in the village and start our own centre pivot irrigation system.” Says Brenda.
The CSEF2 project promotes the technologies and land use practices associated with sustainable crop and vegetable production. By encouraging innovation in agricultural practices, farmers can secure more stable and sustainable livelihoods, restore soil fertility, foster sustainable use and management of natural resource and prevent environmental degradation.
Brenda holding some of the vegetables she grows at KATC centre pivot irrigation system in Chongwe. Pictures by Hope Mkunte.
Roan United, Konkola Blades, Kansanshi Dynamos, Chambishi and newly promoted side Trident FC of Kalumbila all recorded wins on the opening weekend of the 2018 FAZ Division 1 Zone 2 season.
Trident are the early pace-setters after thumping FQMO Roads 2-0 in the North Western derby at home on Sunday.
Ex-Konkola striker Smart “Chowa” Chisenga scored a brace as Trident shot to the top of the Zone 2 table via goal difference.
At Kafubu Stadium in Luanshya, Roan United edged Gomes Wanderers 1-0 with coach Israel Mwanza’s side Kansanshi Dynamos stealing a 2-1 win at Ndola United earlier on Saturday.
Konkola Blades beat FQMO Mining 1-0 and Chambishi stunned Mufulira Blackpool 1-0 away at Kachofa Stadium in Kamuchanga, Mufulira.
Elsewhere, the much anticipated opening match between Mufulira Wanderers and Kalulushi Modern Stars ended in a goalless draw at Independence Stadium in Kalulushi.
Vodafone Zambia has appointed Jussab Kara as its new Chief Technical and Information Technology Officer with effect from April 1, 2018 as part of the operator’s drive to reinforce its network and fast-track its technology strategy.
“I’m delighted to be joining Vodafone Zambia at this exciting time, as we drive forward the likes of 4G-Advanced and Voice over LTE (VoLTE) all of which will power the new digital economy. We aim to be the key enabler of this digital revolution, drawing on our leading position in areas such innovation to transform how businesses operate and how we live our lives,” said Kara upon his appointment.
Jussab has more than 19 years of extensive telecommunications experience. His career begun with Zamcell/Celtel in 1999 where he worked in several areas including, customer service, finance, billing, marketing and Information Technology. After which, he joined MTN Zambia in 2013 as the Executive Departmental Head of Information Technology until March of 2018.
He holds an Honors Degree in Computer Science, Accounting qualification, Graduate qualifications in technology, a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) and currently pursuing law.
Lars Stork, CEO of Vodafone Zambia said: “I have no doubt that our new CTIO will bring the capability and expertise to continue to build Vodafone Zambia as a flagship digital service provider with superior network quality and innovative technology.
“We’ve got a very strong network roadmap, which includes coverage expansion, Voice over LTE and I’m excited about everything we’ll be delivering for customers.”
Napsa Stars have axed coach Linos Makwaza after a poor start to the 2018 FAZ Super Division campaign.
Makwaza has been sidelined after failing to win any of his opening five games of the 2018 campaign that has seen Napsa collect just one point since his confirmation as head coach in January.
Second from bottom Napsa have lost their last four games and scored just one goal since kicking of the season with a 0-0 away draw at Nkwazi on March 17.
Makwaza is the second coaching casualty after Gugulielmo Arena was fired by bottom placed Buildcon last week after losing his opening three games in charge.
“Napsa Stars Football Club hereby announces the sidelining of its head coach Linos Makwaza, first assistant Dabtwitso Nkhoma and third assistant coach Harry Milanzi until further notice,”Napsa spokesperson Gwen Chipasula said.
“The move is in view of the poor performance of the team which has seen it pick a point out of possible fifteen points.
“An announcement on the new technical bench will be made in the course of the week.
“Meanwhile third assistant coach Donewell Yobe and Goalkeeper Coach Lameck Nyangu will oversee the training of the team in the interim.”
Makwaza was initially interim coach last September after his former boss Tennant Chilumba suffered a similar fate following a poor run of results.
FAZ has banned expelled executive committee member Blackwell Siwale and two other councillors from all football activities.
Siwale has been banned for allegedly illegally obtaining and circulating official FAZ documents.
“Following a meeting held by the FAZ Ethics Committee, on Friday April 6, 2018, Chaired by Mr Kephas Katongo, Mr Siwale was found guilty of obtaining and circulating illegally obtained FAZ documents,” FAZ spokesperson Desmond Katongo said.
“He has further been found guilty of uttering statements with potential to scare away FAZ partners and potential partners.
“The Association notes that, despite failure to appeal his case at the FAZ Council, Mr Siwale has continued to put the association’s name into disrepute through the press.
“FAZ wishes to appeal to all its members not to allow Mr Siwale entry to any stadia as doing so will culminate into serious penalties.”
Also banned are Kelvin Chipili and Damiano Mutale.
“FAZ has further banned Mr Damiano Mutale and Mr Kelvin Chipili from all football related activities for putting the name of the association and it’s President into disrepute,” Katongo added.
“This follows the duo’s decision to take the FAZ President to court for abuse of authority of office, a matter which was later withdrawn by the complainant. The duo has also been found guilty of falsely accusing the Association of preventing them from attending the Annual General meeting.”
The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has with immediate effect banned expelled FAZ Executive Committee member Blackwell Siwale from all football related activities.
This follows a meeting held by the FAZ Ethics Committee last Friday which was chaired by Kephas Katongo, where Mr Siwale was found guilty of obtaining and circulating illegally obtained FAZ documents.
FAZ Communications Manager, Desmond Katongo said Mr. Siwale has further been found guilty of uttering statements with potential to scare away FAZ partners and potential partners.
Mr. Katongo said despite the failure by Mr. Siwale to appeal his case at the FAZ Council, he has continued to put the association’s name into disrepute through the press.
He has since appealed to all FAZ members not to allow Mr. Siwale entry to any stadia as doing so will culminate into serious penalties.
And FAZ has further banned Damiano Mutale and Kelvin Chipili from all football related activities for putting the name of the association and its President into disrepute.
Mr. Katongo said this follows the duo’s decision to take the FAZ President to court for abuse of authority of office, a matter which was later withdrawn by the complainant.
He said the duo have also been found guilty of falsely accusing the Association for preventing them from attending the Annual General meeting.
Meanwhile, FAZ has urged its members to adhere to football rules when settling disputes stating that FIFA has set guidelines that members should regularly familiarize themselves with to avoid sanctions from the mother body.
Mr. Katongo hoped that the decision the association has taken will bring sanity and allow the smooth flow of day-to-day running of football.
Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Dora Siliya has welcomed the partnership between international media institutions and local media houses.Speaking during a courtesy call on her by German media house Deutsche Welle (DW) Director General Peter Limbourg, Hon Siliya said forged partnerships would create a platform for local media houses to scale up local content production following the massive strides Zambia has made under the digital migration process.She said Zambia could learn how German media regulated fake news, cyber bulling and other vices.
Deutsche Welle, Director General Peter Limbourg said his organisation was interested in knowing the state of media freedoms in Zambia and that Deutsche Welle had an expanded base with about 15 million followers drawn mostly outside Germany and it was committed to provide quality service delivery through cooperation with its foreign partners.
He said in its strategy, Deutsche Welle had identified forging links trough a Pan African -European approach where co-productions with African media houses were promoted to feed into its platform and so as to give a positive outlook of the various issues affecting Africa.
Below is the Full Press Statement
Government says it welcomes strengthened partnerships between international media institutions and local media houses to enhance media content.
Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Dora Siliya, speaking during a courtesy call on her by German media house Deutsche Welle (DW) Director General Peter Limbourg, said forged partnerships would create a platform for local media houses to scale up local content production following the massive strides Zambia has made under the digital migration process.
The Minister said there is need for more content to fill the digital space and that both the public and private media would like to learn how a public media house like DW had sustained its relevance as a traditional broadcasting media.
“The growth of the local media and online platform is creating its own challenges such as regulation of fake news, cyber bulling and other vices detrimental to the Zambian society a situation which we could learn as to how it has been handled in your country,” she said.
The Minister said ZNBC now has three television channels on the digital platform, while the Zambia News and Information Services(ZANIS), which was undergoing studio refurbishment, would soon have its own television channel.
She said government had taken a leading role by embarking on the establishment of six new provincial production studios to encourage local content production.
She explained that government had created an enabling media atmosphere leading to the proliferation of media houses with 115 radio licences and 54 television licences being issued by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA).
Ms. Siliya, however, regretted the polarized media environment between the Government and private media. She said the media should not only cover politics but issues like climate change, health, agriculture and community development.
And Mr Limbourg has said his organisation was interested in knowing the state of media freedoms in Zambia and that DW had an expanded base with about 15 million followers drawn mostly outside Germany and it was committed to provide quality service delivery through cooperation with its foreign partners.
He said in its strategy, DW had identified forging links trough a Pan African -European approach where co-productions with African media houses were promoted to feed into its platform and so as to give a positive outlook of the various issues affecting Africa.
Mr. Limbourg who was in the company of DW Head of Distribution Africa Sevan Ibrahim-Sauer and DW Director for International Affairs Klaus Bergmann said the DW visit to some African countries was to familiarize with programmes and challenges other media partners face.
The United Party for National Development (UPND) has accused the three church mother bodies namely the Council of Churches in Zambia,Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia and the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops of abandoning MMD faction leader Never Mumba during his incarceration.
UPND Vice President Geoffrey Mwamba says the three church organizations failed to give solidarity to Dr Mumba.
Mr Mwamba told Q-News that he is disappointed that the church abandoned Dr. Mumba in his hard times, when he is a clergy and former republican vice president.
He said it is high time the church stopped taking sides and handled certain matters fairly.
And Mr. Mwamba said he remains disappointed with the conviction of Dr Mumba by Magistrate David Simuusamba.
Meanwhile, MMD faction vice president Reverend Reuben Sambo has described Dr Mumba’s bail conditions as outrageous.
Reverend Sambo told Q-News that the bail conditions were harsh.
Dr Mumba has been granted a K30,000 cash bail pending appeal with two working sureties who will also have to pay K30,000 each.
