The opposition UPND has refuted reports that it was part of a grouping of political parties that recently met in Ghana and endorsed gay rights in its constitution.

UPND Secretary General Stephen Katuka said the reports that the UPND signed up to gay rights during the meeting is mere propaganda by the PF.

Mr Katuka said the UPND is not interested in engaging in unproductive undertakings with the PF.

And Peoples Alliance for Change President Andyford Banda who also attended the meeting described the reports as rubbish.

Mr Banda said nothing of that sort happened during the Ghana meeting.

He has since challenged the PF to familiarize themselves with the term liberal politics than spreading falsehoods.

In a statement, PF Media Director Sunday Chanda alleged that the UPND met in Ghana to adopt a common constitution that will support and promote gay rights in Africa and the party was represented by Chairman for international relations Mulondwe Muzungu and Party spokesperson Charles Kakoma.

He said the UPND, with its partners appended their signatures to adopt the rights of homosexuals, which includes lesbians, gay, bisexual, non-binary and intersex relations whom they classified as marginalized.

Mr Chanda alleged that the same gathering was used to discredit Zambia’s image and that of the Patriotic Front Government as covered in some sections of the media.

“We wish to advise the Africa Liberal Network (ALN) that Patriotic Front shall not be lectured to by a ‘club’ with liberal values and agendas that at variance with our core values and culture as Zambians,” Mr Chanda said.

He said democratic principles are agreed and ascribed to in the party’s membership to the highest intergovernmental and multilateral bodies and treaties.

“We refuse to entertain ‘imagined and UPND spun ‘abuses’ in their quest to tarnish the nations reputation in a blatant power grab with their ‘liberal partners’ who promote among many other affronts to our culture, rights of lesbians, gay, bisexual, non-binary and intersex relations,” he said.

Earlier, there was a report that the Liberal parties meeting in Ghana has adopted a common constitution that will support and promote gay rights in Africa.

More than 30 countries were represented and Zambia was covered by the United Party for National Development (UPND) Chairman for International Relations Mulondwe Muzungu and Party Spokesperson Charles Kakoma.

In adopting the final draft, the liberal networks accepted to promote equal rights for all and defend human rights world-wide including rights of lesbians, gay, bisexual , non-binary and intersex.

Liberal political parties in Africa such as the Democratic Alliance of South Africa and UPND of Zambia are meeting in Ghana.

The resolution follows the final draft adopted in Oxford in April 2017 after other drafts were adopted in Berlin, Taipei, Newyork and Marakeshi.

The parties also expressed what they termed as serious concerns on the deteriorating political situation in Zambia and urged the government to restore democracy in the country.

Opposition liberal parties countries in about 30 countries in Africa passed a resolution on Sunday in Accra, Ghana, urging the Zambian government to depart from the path of dictatorship and allow democracy to prevail.

The resolution was passed at the General Assembly of the Africa Liberal Network (ALN) meeting in Accra.

The ALN is an organisation of 44 liberal political parties from 30 countries in Africa. It is an associated organisation of Liberal International, the political family to which liberal parties belong.

The meeting alleged that the Zambian government lacked commitment to national unity, good governance, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law as enshrined in the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance .

The meeting also alleged that Zambia was sliding into one party dictatorship as press freedom, freedoms of expression, assembly, movement, privacy and association were being trampled upon every day, and opposition political parties were denied the freedom to operate due to repression, state brutality and political violence.

The meeting was concerned that the prevailing circumstances were fuelling tension in the country, threatening peace and stability in Zambia, thereby exposing the country and all its values to the dangers of civil strife, displacement and misery.

Part of the resolution said:

“Now therefore, the Zambian government which is a member of the African Union and signatory to the African Union Agenda 2063, African Charter on Human Rights, African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance is implored to uphold the ideals of Agenda 2063 by doing the following: (i) depart from the path of dictatorship and allow democracy to prevail ; (ii) call upon the Zambian government to amend the Public Order Act and free political activity in keeping with democratic principles ; (iii) prevent the escalation of tensions, political violence and state brutality and give back to the citizens their normal lives ; (iv) stop cold blooded arrests and incarcerations of citizens as the case was with the incarceration of the UPND President Hakainde Hichilema in April 2017, on trumped up treason charges ; (v) stamp out corruption as it has created unbearable conditions for the majority of the citizens; and (v) uphold liberal values to level the political playing ground in line with competitive politics. ”

The ALN General Assembly was hosted by the Progressive People’s Party of Ghana with support from the Liberal Democrats of the United Kingdom , Friedrich Naumann Foundation of Germany, The People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) of the Netherlands and the Democrats 66 party of Europe.

The resolutions were released by the African Liberal Network President Steven Mokgalapa of South Africa.

The UPND was represented by Chairman for International Relations Mulondwe Muzungu and Party Spokesperson Charles Kakoma

For the first time ever, Castle Lite Unlocks is headed to Zambia! The brand synonymous with sub-zero temperatures is bringing the most extra cold concert to Lusaka at Levy Mall Upstairs Car Park on the 10^th of March 2018 with the multitalented “Hell Naw” hit maker, Nasty C, as the headlining act!

Castle Lite Unlocks is known for bringing international artists onto African shores, giving consumers the most innovative music experience with both local and international acts performing on one Extra Cold Stage. The Unlocks concert has over the years seen international artists such as Kanye West, Drake, J Cole and Travis Scott grace the South African stage and since then, it has transcended onto other African countries like Mozambique, Nigeria and Tanzania. This year sees the birth of “Road To Castle Lite Unlocks” which will give African countries a first-hand experience of the Castle Lite Unlocks Experience.  First up on the roaster is none other than rapper, producer and trailblazing song writer Nasty C, who will headline the first ever Road To Unlocks concert in Zambia.

“Road To Castle Lite Unlocks has been an exciting event that we’ve been planning for a while now and we can’t wait for the first one to happen in Zambia! Africans have interacted with the Castle Lite Unlocks concerts in South Africa so we thought it would be cool to bring the experience to countries such as Zambia, with headlining acts from African countries. Road To Castle Lite Unlocks is going to be an epic celebration of African talent and we hope you’ll be a part of this Extra Cold first!” – Marsha Kumire – Castle Lite Africa Brand Manager

Zambia’s High Commissioner to South Africa Emmanuel Mwamba has called on South African retail chain stores operating in Zambia to recall ready-to-eat meat products imported from that country following expert confirmation that the products were a source of Listeria bacteria.

South Africa is in the midst of what is believed to be the largest listeriosis outbreak of all time. At least 915 cases of Listeria have been confirmed, and 172 people have died since the outbreak began at the beginning of 2017.

Mr. Mwamba stated that most cold meats that are stocked by retail chains were supplied by a company called Enterprise Food whose meat production was from Polokwane and Germiston.

Mr. Mwamba says the withdrawal and recall of all ready-to-eat meat products from retail stores would help contain the spread of the disease which has infected over 900 people resulting in about 180 deaths in that South Africa.

He said the chain stores should emulate measures put in place by the South African government to recall cold and meat products supplied by the firm.

South Africa’s Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced the recall of ready to eat meat products from retail chain stores nationally after Science experts traced the bacteria to Enterprise Food Production plant located in Polokwane.

He added that tests on several ready-to- eat meat products from Enterprise facility located in Germinstone, Johannesburg tested positive to the Listeriosis bacteria hence the measure to recall the products.

The Zambian Mission in Pretoria recently requested the South African government to put precautionary health measures in place to ensure that all the country’s food exports to Zambia were free of the food borne disease.

South Africa is Zambia’s second largest trading partner following a number of South African business entities operating in Zambia.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Malanji has reaffirmed that his country has severed all ties with the Sahrawi Republic.

And Ambassador Malanji has announced that President Edgar Lungu will soon visit Morocco for an official visit.

Ambassador Malanji, who joined Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita at a press conference in Rabat, said that “Lusaka no longer maintains bilateral relations with SADR.”

Lauding the bilateral ties between Morocco and Zambia, Ambassador Malanji said that Zambian diplomatic missions “will inform countries and the international and regional organizations of this decisive break” with the Sahrawi Republic.

He said talks were focused “on the very good relations between Morocco and Zambia, which are expected to be reinforced in several areas, especially on political and economic levels.”

Ambassador Malanji also lauded King Mohammed VI “historic visit” to Zambia in February 2017.

After Morocco’s official return to the African Union on January 31, 2017, King Mohammed VI began an African tour on February 1, 2017.

The King’s tour started from the Republic of South Sudan and then continued into Ghana, Zambia, Guinea, and Cote d’Ivoire.

During his visit to Zambia, King Mohammed VI co-chaired the signing ceremony of 19 partnership agreements with the Zambian leader Edgar Chagwa.

After the King’s visit, Zambia’s Former Minister Harry Kalaba announced his country’s decision to withdraw its recognition of the SADR.

The announcement was made less than a month after Morocco’s return to the African Union and few days following King Mohammed VI’s first official visit to Zambia.

And Mr. Bourita said their meeting was an opportunity to discuss means to ensure the smooth implementation of an agreement signed last year.

Mr. Bourita lauded the growing momentum in bilateral ties since the Moroccan king’s visit, saying the signed agreements lay the ground for solid cooperation.

The Moroccan Foreign Affairs Minister said the two sides also discussed a number of regional issues of common interest.
The Sahrawi Republic officially known as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a partially recognised state that controls a thin strip of area in the Western Sahara region region and claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony and later province.

The SADR government controls about 20–25% of the territory it claims.

The SADR government considers the Moroccan-held territory to be occupied territory, while Morocco considers the much smaller SADR-held territory to be a buffer zone.

The Sahrawi Republic maintains diplomatic relations with 40 UN states, and is a full member of the African Union.

Chongwe Member of Parliament (MP) and Copperbelt Province Minister , Japhen Mwakalombe has paid a glaring tribute to president Edgar Lungu for handing over 10% shares of the black mountain to the youths on the Copperbelt saying the move is aimed at empowering the unemployed youths in the province.

Mwakalombe, who is also new Copperbelt Minister told journalists at the PF Interactive Forum held at Charisma Hotel on Sunday that, the people opposing to the government decision to handover the 10% share of the black mountain to the youths don’t mean well to the Zambian youths in general.

According to Mwakalombe the decision to handover a 10% share of the black mountain should be seen in the light of empowering the youths in the province and not for political because this is another form of creating jobs for youths in the province.

“For sure this decision has nothing to do with politics but a service be given to the youths on the Copperbelt by the government snd will benefit the young people especially the unemployed youth in the province ”

He urged all well meaning Zambians to support the decision made by the president to give back 10% share of the black mountain to the youths than leaving it in the hands of elements that does little or nothing to the development of the country.

Mwakalombe also disclosed that the young people that will be working on the black mountain will be trained in safety measures to avoid losing lives

“The Young people that will be working on the black mountain will not be there to earn a living but also will be learning the art of mining.”

He clarified the people will not be mining on the black mountain perse but expertise will be guided to them by the ministry of mine.

Meanwhile Mwakalombe expressed the desire for the people on the Copperbelt to diversify their economic activities away from Copper.
My desire for diversification on the Copperbelt will help to reduce the level of poverty people are facing as a result of job loses on the mines.

He is of the view that the people are suffering because their economic activities oscillate around the production of copper.

“The province has ready built infrastructure supportive of economic activities, including tourism and agriculture, including other precious metals the people can utilize to earn a living..”

He urged the people not concentrate on copper alone but on other metals including agriculture and tourism to expand their economic activities.