Naomi Mbewe Zimba, wife of Newstead Zimba has asked the magistrates court to have her 20-year-old marriage to dissolved. Naomi claimed Mr Zimba, a former Cabinet minister and diplomat, is violent, adulterous and once infected her with a sexually transmitted disease, adding that he does not care for her.

She narrated that problems in their matrimony started just after they married because he had a girlfriend who was working for the National Assembly of Zambia- one of the country’s highly revered institutions.

“He used to come home late. I remember one time when our child was sick I asked him to drive us to the clinic he refused, forcing me to wait until the following morning to take the child to the clinic. I walked 10 kilometres to the nearest clinic. On my way back, he cruised past me.”

Naomi said: “I forgave him but his detestable behaviour continued. He is one man who allowed his friends to come home with their girlfriends.

“They do whatever they want to an extent that they cook and serve themselves without my permission.”

She recalled a time during political campaigns when Zimba went to the Copperbelt with another woman named Mervis, who was his other girlfriend.

She said his insatiable appetite for extra- marital affairs has no limits because he reached an extent of proposing love to her younger sister.

In his quest to have an affair with his sister-in-law, Zimba went to her school to enquire more about the girl’s school programme and arranged to pick her up.

“His love [lust] for my sister was so deep that when she died, he was so devastated and told me that he felt like a part of him had died,’’ she said.

To strengthen her case further, Naomi disclosed that among other women Zimba was flirting with are a cleaner named Candy in Sweden, where he served as Zambia’s ambassador, another one called Alice, and a Ms Mtine, who was an ambassador in Namibia.

She said when Zimba was minister, he was always accompanied by a Ms Siwale from the Ministry of Community Development on all his official duties.

She does not want to reconcile with him because he has always wished her dead, adding that he pretends to people that he loves her when in fact not.

But Zimba, who has not been living with Naomi for six months now since she left home, was vividly shocked at his wife’s revelations and asked the court to ignore the submission.

He asked magistrates Abishine Michelo, Linda Tembo, and Pauline Newa to reconcile them and not to dissolve their marriage because he loves her so dearly.

Zimba claimed that Naomi is just possessed with some evil spirit, hence her outburst in court.

He said they had lived in harmony as a happy couple until he caught her with another man.

“Omi my wife, as I call you, there are problems in every home, please come back home. I need you, I love you,’’ Mr Zimba pleaded.

But she refused and pleaded with the magistrate to dissolve the marriage because she cannot continue living with a violent man who always threatens to kill her.

The magistrate then asked the couple to list properties they co-own and when Naomi talked about the cars, Zimba chipped in and told the court that she cannot talk about the vehicles as he bought them using his personal money.

Judgment on the matter has been reserved for October 22, 2013 to allow the couple to explore other avenues of resolving their marital impasse.

Political analyst Mbita Chitala says Patriotic Front (PF) secretary-general Wynter Kabimba should resign or be “excused” from the party to save it from more damage.

Dr Chitala says it is evident that unless Mr Kabimba leaves the management of the PF, the ruling party will suffer more damage and could deter further foreign investments in Zambia.

Mr Kabimba could not be reached for a comment because his mobile phone went unanswered after several attempts to contact him.

In recent weeks, however, Mr Kabimba, who is also Justice Minister, has been quoted as saying he would not quit and that those demanding his removal are a clique of tribalists promoting anarchy in the party.

But Dr Chitala says for the good of the party and the country, Mr Kabimba should not be at the helm of the governing party.

“We who helped form this government are only hopeful that this instability can be quickly stopped by either Mr Kabimba himself excusing himself as has been demanded by PF cadres countrywide or the PF Central Committee should live to its mandate and excuse Mr Kabimba so that peace and harmony can return to the PF and that the PF government can successfully execute its development programme of our country,” he said.

In a statement to the Sunday Mail yesterday, Dr Chitala, one of the founder members of the MMD in 2001 and a supporter of the PF in the run-up to the 2011 elections, said events in the PF have potential to scare away investors.

“No clever investor will come to a country where there appears to be an insurrection such as the events in the PF appear to show now. It is obvious that many PF members do not want Mr Kabimba to continue,” Dr Chitala says.

He reckons the rebellion by PF members against Mr Kabimba is self-made and self-induced.

“He has been too drunk with power and forgotten about the virtues of being modest and grateful to colleagues in public affairs. All his work however good comes to naught for not appreciating the contribution of others and being too self-centred,” Dr Chitala says.

The former minister and diplomat says that by claiming that some PF leaders are corrupt and tribal and threatening to spill the beans, Mr Kabimba is committing an act of “self-preservation”.
“(It) appears to be an act of blackmail, which should not be tolerated. This is the same cry we have heard from many Africans when they fail in their good-for-nothing schemes,” Chitala said.
He said Zambians will always be united and thanks must go to patriotic nationalists who united the country.

Dr Chitala said the creation of parallel structures without the consent of the party is like instituting a creeping coup.

“Events in the PF are a good reminder that those of us who serve the public must always respect the people that voted us. And if people feel unhappy with us and demand our removal, however wrong or unfair they may be, we must oblige. We cannot force ourselves on them.

On Wednesday, President Sata called for an end to the infighting in PF and to instead concentrate on developing the country.

The following day Vice-President Guy Scott was quoted by the press saying Mr Kabimba is “here to stay because he is not expected to be removed as secretary general of the PF”.
There have been ceaseless demands that Mr Kabimba leaves the position. Party representatives from all 10 provinces met in Lusaka recently and resolved that for the good of the party Mr Kabimba steps down.

A member of the party’s central committee, Jean Kapata, put the demand in writing that Mr Kabimba be disciplined. This was backed by former PF Lusaka district information and publicity secretary Wellington Musonda.

MINISTER of Defence Geoffrey Mwamba has called on Zambians to guard against tribalism and other forms of discrimination.

Mr Mwamba said Zambians should learn to co-exist and promote peace and unity.

“The foundation of our country rests on the principle of one Zambia, one nation in which all people are free regardless of tribe and colour,” Mr Mwamba said.

Speaking when he officiated at the Nsakwa Yaba Kaonde traditional ceremony in Kasempa yesterday, Mr Mwamba said culture and tradition must be preserved as it is a mode of identification.

Mr Mwamba said Government attaches great importance to traditional ceremonies because they are vital to national development.

He said a country that ignores traditional values and culture is as good as dead.

Mr Mwamba said Zambia is what it is today because of the long preserved values that ancestors have passed on through traditional ceremonies.

He said Government values traditional leaders and sees them as partners in development hence the creation of the Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs.

The minister also called on people to guard against early marriages and ensure that boys and girls have equal access to education.

He said gender-based violence has remained a major problem in Zambia and there is need for concerted efforts to address the problem.

And Mr Mwamba said North-Western Province has potential to develop economically in sectors such as agriculture, mining, tourism and forestry.

He said the province is poised to become a major economic zone due to its location.

“Government will construct 74 health posts in the province as a way of increasing health service delivery. Government is also determined to develop a viable road network in the province,” Mr Mwamba said.

Earlier, the ceremony was almost abandoned after fire gutted the kitchen at Chief Kaponda’s palace burning all utensils.

People scampered for safety and only returned after realising that the fire was not as bad as it seemed in the beginning.

It is believed that people at Chief Kaponda’s palace had deserted their cooking to witness the ceremony proceedings.

The 15th Extraordinary council of the African Union has opened in Addis Ababa , Ethopia to discuss Africa’s relationship with the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Executive Council Chairperson Tedros Ghebreyesus during the official opening of the Council expressed concern over the way the ICC has been treating Africa and Africans.

Dr Ghebreyesus who is also Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Minister said that the ICC had transformed itself into a political instrument targeting Africans instead of promoting justice and reconciliation as well as contributing to the advancement of peace and stability on the continent.

He said that the AU had made attempts to engage with the ICC with the view of finding a solution to the unfair treatment but that it had not received desired response.

Dr Ghebreyesus said that AU Member States should speak with one voice and ensure that they receive a fair treatment from the ICC.

He said that he was confident that the Extraordinary Summit will send a strong message to the International Community on the issue of Africa’s relationship with the ICC.

The Extra ordinary Summit has been convened following a motion passed by Kenya’s upper and lower parliament last month to take the country out of the ICC because of the trial of its President, Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto.

Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Gabriel Namulambe is attending the Extraordinary Executive Council. Mr Namulambe will also represent President Michael Chilufya Sata at the Extraordinary Assembly of the Heads of State and Government tomorrow.

This is contained in a statement signed by First Secretary Press and Tourism at the Zambian High Commission to Ethopia, Dorcas Chileshe.

ZANIS

THE Lusaka magistrate’s court has set November 18, 2013 as the date on which it will deliver judgement in a matter in which deputy Youth and Sports Minister Steven Masumba is charged with forging a diploma in technician accounting.

Director of local courts, Wilfred Muma who sat as magistrate set the date after Mr Masumba closed his defence yesterday.

Masumba, 31, of NAPSA Housing Units, Ibex Hill, is charged with one count of obtaining pecuniary advantage by false pretences.

But Masumba’s last witness, former National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA) Examination officer Clive Kawana insisted yesterday that Masumba’s statement of results was correct and genuine because he signed it.

This was contrary to the testimony of NIPA registrar Kanyembo Wina that he was the one who signed Masumba’s statements which highlighted that the minister failed his course and as such he could not graduate.

While the State alleges that Masumba failed this basic accounting course, the deputy minister produced before court a statement of results signed by Mr Kawana which indicated that he amassed 82 per cent in basic accounting level one while in level two he obtained 72 per cent and not 38 and 57 per cent as was alleged.

Mr Kawana, 58, now a lecturer at Lusaka Vocation Training Centre confirmed to the court that he was the one who signed Mr Masumba’s statements and not Mr Wina because he was at the time, the only one charged with the responsibility of signing the results.