Leading opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema has charged that the amended republican constitution is a sham and a disgrace to the Zambian people.

And Mr Hichilema has stated that the UPND which has two serving Vice Presidents is not bothered by the passing of the 50+1 clause in the amended constitution.

He said it is shameful that President Lungu choose to sign the Bill to amend the constitution at Heroes Stadium in an attempt to hoodwink Zambians that he was delivering a new constitution.

The UPND leader was speaking in Lusaka Wednesday afternoon when he featured on a special programme on Hot FM.

‘This is not a new constitution. This is deception as usual from the PF. They are doing a Don’t Kubeba on Zambians by cheating them that they have passed a new constitution. This is a PF constitution,’ Mr Hichilema stated.

He charged that the amended constitution was a complete departure from the wishes of the majority of Zambians as contained in the draft constitution.

‘PF denied Zambians a chance to give themselves a new constitution. PF rejected most of the clauses contained in the draft constitution and allowed about 110 MPs to defeat the will of Zambians,’ he said.

..this is a man who has never run anything successfully in his life apart of eating his client’s money and you expect him to effectively manage the economy?’

Mr Hichilema cited a number of clauses from the draft constitution which were rejected by Parliament by justifying his sentiments that the amended constitution fell short of the people’s expectations.

‘The PF rejected the appointment of cabinet outside Parliament, they also rejected Proportional Representation, the PF also rejected the clause on Provincial Assemblies, the Provincial Assemblies could have in a way helped resolve the Barotseland issue by promoting actual devolution of power and equitable allocation of resources,’ he said.

He added, ‘this amended constitution has not dealt with separation of powers. You still have a very powerful Executive controlling all other arms of Government. What kind of a constitution that fails to give citizens their rights? This is a total sham and a disgrace.’

Mr Hichilema charged that President Lungu signed his exit from State House the day he appended his signature on the draft bill.

‘We were watching and laughing as this man signed the Bill because he was signing his exit papers out of State House,’ he said.

Mr Hichilema cautioned that President Lungu should not take credit for passing some popular clauses such as the 50+1, the running mate and dual citizenship because he was merely fulfilling the wishes of the people.

‘This is a man who has failed. Look at the economic mess, he found the Kwacha to a dollar around 5.7 and takes it to 15 Kwacha to a dollar, he brings it down to 11.3 and he starts celebrating, this is a man who has never run anything successfully in his life apart of eating his client’s money and you expect him to effectively manage the economy?’

On the issue of nominating his running mate, Mr Hichilema said the matter is a non-issue in the UPND.

He said the party is not bothered about the choice of a running mate even if it currently has two serving Vice Presidents.

‘For us this is a non-issue. We will sit as the party’s National Management Committee to table the issue at an appropriate time. For now we are serving the Zambian people and the issue of running mate does not bother us.’

Mr Hichilema also paid tribute to the two Vice Presidents Geoffrey Mwamba and Canisius Banda for their contribution to the party.

‘Remember these are voluntary works in service of Zambians but the two men have been exceptional. They have done very well for the party. I know there are rumours been circulated by the PF about the running mate situation in our party but that should not worry our members,’ he said.

Mr Hichilema said the UPND is an organised political party which believes in doing things in a systematic manner.

‘We are very methodical in our approach, we are very organised and this is why we don’t have squabbles in our party, so even the issue of running mate, we shall handle is efficiently at the right time.’

Roan Member of Parliament Chishimba Kambwili has distanced himself from posters circulating in some Copperbelt towns purporting him to be positioning himself to be adopted as a running mate in the forthcoming general elections.

Speaking at media briefing in Lunshya today Mr. Kambwili said he was not behind the posters saying he will support whoever is going to be chosen to be the running mate by the party.

He said the question of who will be a running mate will be decided by the party and not him.

Asked if he would like to be picked as a running Mr. Kambwili said the question was neither here nor there because if he said no and the President choose him, he would be called a liar if he said yes.

Posters of Mr. Kambwili have emerged on Copperbelt suggesting that the Roan Parliamentarian is campaigning for him to be picked as a running mate on the PF ticket.

A drama based on the experiences of Agu, a child soldier fighting in the civil war of an unnamed African country.

PROS

• Outstanding performance by the young Ghanaian actor Abraham Attah , who played the part of Agu.
• Idris Elba also gave an Excellent performance as the ruthless commandant.
• Very tense and emotional story-line .
• The movie was visually appealing , it had many scenic locations and had great cinematography .

FAVORITE QUOTES

Agu: “I saw terrible things… and I did terrible things. So if I’m talking to you, it will make me sad and it will make you too sad. In this life… I just want to be happy in this life. If I’m telling this to you… you will think that… I am some sort of beast… or devil.”

Commandant: “All of you that have never been listened to before and have seen your family killed, huh, you now have something that stands for you. You now have something that stands for you!”

Agu: “Bullet is just eating everything, leaves, trees, ground, person. Eating them. Just making person to bleed everywhere. We are just like wild animals now, with no place to be going. Sun, why are you shining at this world? I am wanting to catch you in my hands, to squeeze you until you can not shine no more. That way, everything is always dark and nobody’s ever having to see all the terrible things that are happening here.”

CONCLUSION

“Beasts of no Nation” may be a fictional movie but it gives a true-to-life depiction of the harrowing effects of war in Africa ; tearing families apart ,displacing thousands of people and the inhumanity of child soldiers and the horrors they go through. The innocence is stolen from these children and they are made to commit heinous acts of violence . They are brainwashed into believing the ideologies of their leaders such that they wouldn’t escape even if they had the chance.

Abraham Attah gave a tremendous performance as Agu , a young boy caught up in a vicious war and forced to be a child soldier . There was great character development ,as you watch him go from a care-free boy playing with his friends and brothers , to a dangerous child soldier getting deeper and deeper involved in the rebel army . You will get emotionally attached to the character .

Idris Elba may have been outshone by Abraham Attah ,but he gave a phenomenal performance as the ruthless , cunning commandant of the rebel army.

This is a fascinating and thought-provoking movie that all must watch . It will make you appreciate the peace we have even more .

RATING

5 out of 5

BY KAPA187

Speaking to Journalists after his press briefing yesterday, Mr Mwamba accused the PF Government of trying to use the constitution to bar him from taking part in the August 11 general Elections.

‘All these are machinations of the desperate Panga Family because they think I don’t have qualifications but they will be shocked, I will not say much today but come that day for nominations, they will be shocked,’ he said.

He added, ‘ Remember, the MMD under Rupiah Banda tried to use the same trick on Michael Sata not knowing that the man had a University Degree, we know these tricks and all I can say is that they will be shocked when I produce my Grade 12 Certificate

Mr Mwamba also said that he was not concerned about reports that he may be not be picked as presidential running mate for Hakainde Hichilema in the August 11 general elections.

Mr Mwamba who is commonly known as GBM said he joined politics to serve the Zambian people and that he is not bothered about holding positions.

He said he is ready to serve the UPND in any capacity adding that the running mate is an administrative one which will be discussed at an appropriate time.

‘I am not bothered by this issue, look here, I joined politics to serve the Zambian people. If I wanted to enrich myself through politics, i could have stayed to continue running my businesses which are all over Africa but i joined politics to help the Zambian people,’ Mr Mwamba said.

Netflix, the popular American multinational subscription-based internet streaming media service provider was launched across Africa on Wednesday 6th January as part of its mission to extend its services to almost every country in the world. The subscription video on demand (SVoD) provider has been on a global expansion spree, having entered the Asian market with a launch in Japan last September, and another in Italy in October.

While its expansion to Africa is a welcome development, as SVoD services are growing exponentially across the globe, the American multinational might not record as much success in the continent as it did in other parts of the world due to the lack of excellent broadband infrastructure and the high cost of internet mobile data for their streaming services.

Save these obvious impediments, Netflix is bound to garner quite an audience, as Africans are already major fans of most of its content, particularly its original programmes and series. The world’s leading internet TV service providers also stands the chance of ousting Multichoice’s digital satellite TV service, DSTV, as users have constantly complained about the company’s high monthly subscription fee.

But as it appears, Netflix, like DSTV, would be providing services targeted mainly at elite viewers who in spite of the high cost of mobile data, can afford streaming services.

In terms of content, the US based streaming media might begin streaming more African content as they recently featured “October 1^st” by Nigerian film maker, Kunle Afolayan.  This is definitely a great step towards improving the visibility of Nollywood to the rest of the world. As of October 2015, Netflix had 69.17 million subscribers globally, including more than 43 million in the United States of America.

Popular US TV shows that you can watch on Netflix include hits such as Suits, DareDevil and Arrow. Meanwhile original Netflix content like Narcos and Marco Polo are also available .

Netflix, which started its streaming service in the US in 2007, last year expressed a goal to expand to an extra 150 countries across the globe.

Monthly charges are as follows :

(venturesafrica.com)