UPND Chilanga Member of Parliament Keith Mukata has filed in a notice of appeal against his conviction.

This is according to a notice of appeal filed in the Court of Appeal Holden at Lusaka Criminal Jurisdiction.

Lusaka High Court Judge Susan Wanjelani yesterday sentenced Mukata to death after finding him guilty of first degree murder.

“… On the following grounds, the learned trial judge erred in Law and fact when she convicted me without my supporting evidence on record to support such a conviction in.

“The learned trial judge erred in Law and fact when she convicted me based on circumstantial evidence which had more than one inference to drawn therefrom. Other grounds to be included upon perusal and review of the entire judgments,” the notice read in part.

However, Mukata’s coaccused Charmaine Musonda was acquitted on all charges of murder.

In this matter, Mukata was convicted for one count of murder.

Castle Lager is bringing the inaugural Castle Africa 5s five-a-side football tournament to Zambia, where the finals will be hosted.
The tournament has the backing of one of the world’s greatest athletes from Africa, former Cameroonian National Team striker Samuel Eto’o, who is a four-time recipient of the African Footballer of the Year award and has played in three World Cup tournaments.
The competition has been hailed as the biggest five-a-side contest ever held in the continent and will be played across six different countries – South Africa, Lesotho, Tanzania, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The popularity of five-a-side football, a variation of association football in which each team fields five players, has grown considerably in recent years and is now played by millions across the globe.
Castle Lager has sponsored football on the African continent for over 60 years and continues to provide fans with the opportunity to live out their passion for the beautiful game through this unique and exciting five-a-side tournament.
Fans have an opportunity to not only represent their country in a continental showpiece competition, scheduled to take place between February and the end of May, but can also use their skills to net a trip to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
The Castle Africa 5s tournament is aimed at giving more amateur players a chance at making it in football.
The tournament will involve amateur teams from around Zambia, who will then meet other five southern central African countries teams from South Africa‚ Lesotho‚ Zimbabwe‚ Swaziland and Tanzania.
The winning teams from the six countries will compete in the continental finals in Zambia at the end of May, and the best team will be on their way to Russia to watch the World Cup. The competition is open to male and female players.
Eto’o will make an appearance in the tournament to drum up support for the teams participating in the finals in Zambia.
The 36-year-old former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea star, a four-time recipient of the African Footballer of the Year award, played in three World Cup tournaments.
As one of the world’s leading footballers, Eto’o won 14 major trophies, including the prestigious UEFA Champions League on three occasions, twice with Barcelona and once with Inter Milan. He is such an inspirational figure to up-and-coming African players.

The tournament is the first of its kind and is set to become a hub of where friendships will be created, nurtured and cemented on the football field.
After the official announcement was made, Eto’o had described the opportunity to be a part of the campaign as a privilege, stating: “It is an honour to be part of this initiative, whereby communities are provided with a rare opportunity to form bonds on the field of play and across borders.I have formed amazing friendships around the globe on the football field and now fans stand a chance of reliving my experiences”. Eto’o said.
Also excited about the launch is Zambian football legend, Chris Katongo who is an African Cup of Nations winner as well as a recipient of the 2012 BBC’s African Footballer of the Year award. Katongo was revealed as one of five ambassadors, each representing the respective home countries.
“I am so happy to be part of this campaign. CastleLager is known across the continent as the preferred beer when enjoying a game of football, a sport which I am so passionate about! Further to that, Castle Lager is known as a friendship beer that brings people together and indeed it has; I can now count the legendary Eto’o as a friend as well as the other ambassadors from different parts of the continent. I have formed close bonds with them since the start of the Castle Africa 5’s. I’m also looking forward to the continental finals which will be hosted right here in Lusaka, Zambia where I will get to share a Castle Lager with them again.” joked Katongo. ”As the host country of the tournament’s finals which will take place between the 25th – 28th of May 2018, I would like to encourage mass participation from my fellow Zambians .
Similarly to Katongo, the other four ambassadors are also esteemed footballers who enjoyed rewarding careers whilst playing the game – Lehlohonolo Seema (Lesotho), Tinashe Nengomasha (Zimbabwe), Siza Dlamini (Swaziland) and Ivo Mapunda (Tanzania).
Castle Lager’s Zambian Director Jose Moran, welcomed the campaign and shared the same sentiments and delight as Katongo, stating: “Castle Lager has been dubbed as the friendship beer for a reason as it has fortified the bonds of belonging and true friendship. Social football is in our view, an ideal platform to sustain these significant societal interactions.” “We are excited to grow our footprint in the continent through this five-a-side tournament, which is a progressive, fast paced and accessible way to play the beautiful game”. Moran concluded.
The CASTLE AFRICA 5s tournament is open to players from Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland; South Africa and Tanzania, who have been tasked with forming five-a-side teams with their friends to play the beautiful game, build close circles of camaraderie and share a round of the friendship brew! The final will be played in Lusaka between the 25th to the 28th of May 2018.

Stanbic Bank is spending K800,000 to upgrade and modernise the A08 children’s ward at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka.
The transformation work will involve the extensive renovation of the 80-year-old facility to update amenities and expand the ward’s ablution block to improve hygiene.
Chanda Katongo, Stanbic Bank’s head of public relations, said the project was in line with the bank’s objective of making a tangible difference in communities and people’s lives.
She said: “Health is a key pillar in Stanbic’s sustainability strategy. We have supported the ward for over four years through monthly donations. This time around, we decided to do something more and give the dilapidated facility a facelift to make it more conducive for the patients and staff.”
Last year, the bank donated hospital beds to UTH’s filter clinic to mitigate the shortage the wing was experiencing.
Ms Katongo noted that although the bank had been supporting the institution regularly over the years, its efforts were not limited to the capital city and that it had other health related projects running in other parts of Zambia, including rural areas.
She said: “We have been building mothers’ shelters at rural health centres around the country to help expectant mothers access proper healthcare in hygienic surroundings and reduce the risk of maternal mortality.
“We will continue to support communities through innovative banking solutions, education and community projects to build a learned, wealthy and healthy nation.”
The project at the A08 children’s ward is expected to be completed in four weeks.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has set 24th APRIL, 2018 as the Poll date for Local Government By-Elections where vacancies have arisen in various districts of the country.

The Commission has further fixed 27th MARCH, 2018 as the date of Nominations for councillors in all fifteen wards in the various districts where there are vacancies.

In view of this, the Commission wishes to notify members of the public that may wish to contest in the current vacant Council By-Elections to take note of what the law demands for by-elections when a vacancy for the office of councillor occurs.

Article 157 (2) (b) of the Constitution of Zambia Amendment Act No. 2 of 2016 provides that “the office of councillor becomes vacant if the councillor resigns by one month’s notice, in writing to the Mayor or Council Chairperson.”

At the same time, clause 3 provides as follows; “Where a councillor resigns in accordance to clause 2 (b) the councillor shall not be eligible to re-election as a councillor for the duration of the term of that council.”

The wards and districts where the Commission will conduct elections are as follows: MUDYANAMA, Mwinilunga; MUCHIMA, Mufumbwe; KANONGO, Kasempa; KAKOMA, Mafinga; KALEBE, Shiwang’gundu; MIKUNKU, Chinsali; LUAPULA, Kalulushi; and KANSUSWA, Mufulira.

Others are NTUMBACHUSHI, Kawamabwa; MUNWA, Mwense; CHIWEZA, Nyimba; CHIWUYU, Sinda; MWANZA EAST, Monze; LEALUI, Mongu; and NAMPUNDWE, Shibuyunji.

The House of Chiefs has rejected the draft National Land Policy document which was in the process of being finalised and submitted to cabinet for approval.

House of Chiefs Chairperson, Chief Ngabwe says traditional leaders have rejected the document on grounds that the Land policy is allegedly trying to temper with the Chieftaincy.

The traditional leader has also accused some civil servants of working against President Edgar Lungu because they did not submit the concerns that were presented by the Chiefs to the Ministry of Lands and Natural resources.

Chief Ngabwe was speaking during the national validation meeting for the draft Land policy which was attended by about 22 Chiefs from the 10 provinces.

Traditional Leaders walked out of the meeting immediately after Chief Ngabwe concluded his statement.

And Minister of Lands and Natural Resources Jean Kapata said the move by the traditional leaders has come as a surprise.

Ms Kapata said the ministry has made efforts to consult the traditional leader on the land policy.

She said the ministry will however remain available to dialogue with the traditional leaders on the matter.

GOVERNMENT is unhappy that some foreign firms awarded major infrastructure contracts seem to unwilling to offer local firms no more than bit parts such as construction of drainage.

Special Assistant to the President for Project, Implementation and Monitoring Andrew Chellah said on Monday foreign contractors were expected to award at least 20 per cent of their contracts to locals.

Mr Chellah said he was disappointed that where there was a level of compliance to the requirement, it amounted to such basic works as building drainages or other elementary constructions attached to the projects.

He said this was frustrating Government’s initiative to empower locals with jobs and the skills they could gain from being involved in such huge projects and appealed to the Road Development Agency (RDA) to look into the matter.

Mr Chellah was speaking on a tour of the on-going construction of the K13 million district hospital in Vubwi, Eastern Province where he expressed satisfaction with the quality and pace of the work being done by Chinese Construction company, Zam-Chin.

Mr Chellah said he was optimistic the hospital would be operational in the next four months.

“I am very, very happy with the way Zam-Chin is constructing the hospital and I think it can be completed as soon as possible so that by June this year, the hospital becomes operational,” he said.

He was accompanied on the visit by Chief Analyst Policy Implementation and Monitoring Joseph Mwape Mukupa, Eastern Province RDA Regional Engineer Thomas Zimba and Ng’andu Consulting Resident Engineer, Alfred Banda.

He said Government was committed to completing all projects on time as demonstrated by President Edgar Lungu’s decision to set up a ministerial task force to oversee various on-going works across Zambia.

He said projects were being funded and that in six months’ time, work at nearly all those that had stalled would resume.

He said he was aware that the construction of the Chipata-Vubwi-Chadiza road by China Jiangxi was behind the schedule with only 25 percent of the first part done the Chinese contractor.

“This project started in 2013 and it was supposed to be completed in 2015 by the contractor but the contractor has been unable to carry on due to lack of funds. The ministerial task force will ensure that such projects are completed because we are behind the schedule,” Mr Chellah said.

Mr Chellah called upon the contractor working on the township roads in Vubwi to move on site by March 15th this year.

Apart from touring the Chipata-Vubwi road, he also inspected district administration, post office, a civic centre among other projects.