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A 41 year old Zambian national has been shot dead in unclear circumstances by unidentified people in Kerk street, Central Johannesburg, South Africa.
The deceased, identified as Harold Zulu, was shot by suspected stray bullets following a suspected gun violence that erupted near where Mr. Zulu was doing his work at the time.
He was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital after an emergency rescue ambulance evacuated him from the scene with the help of his friends.
Mr. Zulu’s remains have since been deposited at Johannesburg hospital mortuary, awaiting further investigations by local police who have so far recorded statements from some witnesses.
According to the information made available to the Zambian Mission in Pretoria,the deceased was working as a loader for Zambian registered bus operators based in Johannesburg.
And Zambia’s High Commissioner to South Africa Major general Jackson Miti expressed sadness at the death of Mr. Zulu.
He said it was sad a life had been lost as a result of suspected gang-related violence.
Major General Miti has wished the bereaved family members in Zambia God’s strength during this difficult moment.
The Constitution does not provide for the rescission of a resignation by a councillor, Attorney General Likando Kaluluka has told the Constitutional Court.
This is in a matter in which governance activist Isaac Mwanza has sued the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) and Attorney General, seeking an interpretation whether the Constitution permits councillors who resign to rescind their resignation.
In 2018, when the councillor for United Party for National Development (UPND) resigned for Chilongozi Ward in Sinda District resigned, the Electoral Commission of Zambia proceeded to conduct a by-election despite the fact that the councillor in question had rescinded the resignation but the Commission refused to conduct by-elections in Munyambala Ward where another councillor resigned but later retracted his resignation.
In the submissions by the Attorney General, the office of councillor becomes vacant at the point a councillor resigns by one month’s notice and the act of rescission sets off the other provisions of the Constitution, which immediately become effective.
There is no provision for a councillor to take back their decisions on a literal interpretation of the Constitutional provisions in issue.
On the question whether a unilateral notice to withdraw a valid resignation by a councillor would necessitate or prevent the holding of a by-election in accordance with Article 57 of the Constitution, Mr. Kalaluka submitted that since the resignation has already occurred, the councillor does not have a right to unilaterally withdraw his or her resignation.
According to submission by the Attorney General, a by election would not be invalidated on the basis that of the councillor’s unilateral rescission of the resignation within 30 days.
The matter comes up on September 9 for status conference before Judge Musaluke.
Dr.Abigail Mulenga obtained her medical degree in Ukraine in 2019,becoming a doctor at the young age of 23.Just two months into her dream job at Kabwe General Hospital where she had dedicated her life serving the people of Kabwe, she died a painful death with no painkillers available for her. Her family also had to plead to have a doctor attend to her to no avail.From the time Dr.Mulenga started work two months ago she was not paid her salary.
Below is the emotional account of her last moments from her brother
No Patient relative especially a mother should go through what my mother and I went through at Kabwe General Hospital.. Friday into Saturday morning. The system failed you my beautiful sister.As doctor as you were still I had to plead and beg for pain killers. We also had to plead for you to be seen that night Friday night. This is too painful Abby.
My last memories of you are you in severe pain crying out for life.I even told them that but they ignored.The system failed you my baby sister.I just had to express myself before you are laid to rest.Two months no pay yet you worked for them diligently then today they want to give you your salary for two months.My sister this is hard..what do I do with the budget we made..How do you traumatize a mother restraining her daughter for hours with no help??
Baby girl the whole system that includes myself we failed you lamentably when you needed us most..I had a vile of Diazepam in my car for sometime but that stupid car wash I did I lost it..I would have given you the Diazepam so you could sleep my baby..am sorry baby sister.. taking you through the corridors of that hospital, the same hospitals you excitedly run around with your patients except this time other patients watched you feeling sad for you as you screamed on top of your voice in unimaginable pain..Aah Abby you suffered my lil Sister..
One facebook user said” We have a government that spends colossal sums of money to purchase anti riot vehicles rather than investing in the health system that has been failing for years and years“
Another facebook user said, “There are no medicines in government hospitals, instead of telling it as it is the medical staff are scared of being quoted and intimidated so, they will quietly walk away from you. Something somewhere is wrong, the citizens of this nation may have gone through a resilience course, seemingly knowing what is wrong but choosing to endure. May God comfort the family during this difficult time, this is a tragic, no one deserves to go through this in this Country of abundance”
‘Confidence, not paper or digital money, is the key currency of any capitalist system’ Mal Fletcher – Australian futurist and social media commentator
A few days ago was August 20th, my mother’s birthday, and it was a day of joy, cake and presents. All to celebrate the life and journey of a wonderful woman in our lives.
That is the beauty of Birthdays. They always seem to be the happiest day in the world. I guess that’s why we put the word ”HAPPY” before the word birthday.
Once I got back to my desk to close out the day and run my daily market analytics, I saw another birthday coming, and boy was this one, not a happy one. You see, on that same day, the Kwacha turned 19. Now This birthday was not a day of joyous celebration but a day of doom, gloom and despair because deep down we all know that 19 was the final barrier between the simplicity of childhood and the rapid growth of adulthood, also known as your 20s. Anyone above the age of 30 knows that once you pass 20, it’s like the years fly by so fast. I’m 33, and turning 20 felt like it was just yesterday, but seven felt like it was such a long time ago. The same phenomena seems present in the world of currencies. It appears that they age, or devalue, faster and faster. Currencies are oddly like Children. You want them to stay five years and innocent forever because you know the older they get, the more complex they become to manage.
Yes, in March 2020 it did trade at 19, but there it just reached 19 in a quick and rapid devaluation. Still, this time has now settled at 19 in a slow and steady depreciation, meaning backtracking would be very difficult because this represents a market consensus of the currencies value.
Let me take you back ten years ago, in 2010 when the Zambian kwacha was trading at an exchange rate under K5. Yes at the beginning of 2010 the Zambian kwacha was an under 5. During the decade, the Kwacha had experienced its first minor devaluation of the period, that was back in 2013. Then, came another more significant devaluation, which took place during the period of 2014-15, and then finally, since 2018, it has been on a sustained devaluation path. All this has been mainly driven by a decline in confidence in the Zambian economy. This decline came from the fact that the source of geosynchronous global growth (geosynchronous is just a fancy way of saying most of the economies of the world are growing at the same time) and Zambian economic growth, that being China was starting to run out of gas, and with no economic growth source of its own, Zambia’s future was uncertain, and the currency was just reflecting that.
You see, currencies are funny in that people run so many technical and intense quantitative models to try and predict their movements but, to quote former CEO of Credit Suisse, Tidjame Thiam,
‘The Currency is nothing but the reflection of Economic Growth or the prospects of economic growth of a country. They act, move or behave almost like a listed company share price, totally driven by sentiments of growth.’
For all the eloquent blabbering we economists love doing, currency valuation is a very simple thing, we just like the sound of our voices and sounding like the smartest people in the room. The value and direction of a nation’s currency is simply derived from the level of local economic activity in a country. The more local economic activity there is in that country, the more transactions are needed to facilitate that level of economic activity. The more local economic transactions done in the country, the more a medium of exchange, namely that nation’s currency, is needed in order to facilitate those local transactions and that’s the demand for the currency. Simply put, the faster your economy grows the more money you need, and therefore your currency appreciates. THAT’S IT.
Now I am going to give you a brief Zambian economic history lesson. If one goes back into history, you will discover that Zambia was one of the first African countries to establish Bilateral economic relations with China under the administration of the Late President Mwanawasa and this reflected, almost instantly, in our economic growth prospects. This, in turn, was the actual source of the booming 2000s or the Golden Mwanawasa era as we all would like to remember it as. That age of economic prosperity was more because, since 2002, the Zambian Economy was actually chained to the Chinese economy, and China was experiencing rapid economic growth acceleration from 1999 – 2008.
Economic Growth Rates of Both China and Zambia from 2002 – 2019 [Source – World Bank]During this period the Kwacha also experienced sustained appreciation between 2004 – 2008, where the Kwacha moved from 4.8 to 3.7. However, when 2008 came, it appeared the party stopped and with the end of Chinese Acceleration so too came the end of Zambian Economic Acceleration and Currency stability. Since 2008 we have entered the age of devaluation, and we have never stopped. With that, all the confidence behind the Kwacha slowly vanished.
As Chinese economic growth declined from its 2007 peak of 14%, simply because China has just run out of growth, so too did the Zambian economy. As the Zambian economy declined, the currency devalued. So with growth already on a downward trajectory, it appears a combination of load-shedding and droughts, further weakened us, and finally, the coronavirus just came to finish us off. However, the key underlying factor has always been that the Zambian economy has never gone through a period where it has created its own economic growth internally and organically.
As much as we link the 2000s to the late President Mwanawasa’s policies, who did, in all honesty, do a remarkable job on the economic stabilisation side of the equation, it was mostly a combination of China-driven geosynchronous growth and Chinese trade and investment in Zambia that did most of the heavy lifting. In reality, no Zambian administration has ever managed to work out the endogenous Growth side of the Zambian Economy. All the administrations of both past and present, have only worked on the strategy of making Zambia conducive to receiving or experiencing the benefits of externally driven growth, but have never managed to crack the code of making the Zambian economy generate its own economic growth through the rise of booming local enterprises.
Now, the period of 2010 to 2020 has simply given the people of Zambia a look at what’s underneath the hood of the economy and guess what, there was no engine in the car this whole time. Our economy has been like a car being towed this whole time, and when I say this whole time I mean since 1964, and the tow truck has either been the Global Economy, a specific trade and investment partner, such as China, or the Government. However from 2010 to now, our government has since maxed out on credit, and the global economy, along with China, has slowed down to such a grinding halt, that there has been no economic force remaining to pull us forward. But in this whole picture, there has never been a period where Zambia has been a purely local entrepreneur-driven economy to give global capital confidence in times where the global economy is not there to prop up the Zambian economy.
All this can be seen in last year’s quarter by quarter economic growth figures, in which the Zambian economy moved from 2.3%, in the first quarter, to almost no growth of 0.2%, in the 4th Quarter. So even without the Coronavirus economic slowdown we were heading for a recession. All the coronavirus did was give the economy an added nudge down the mountain it was already fiercely tumbling down, thus accelerating the process and exaggerating the immediate impact.
Now I’m gonna have to be brutally honest with you. The Kwacha hitting 20 is inevitable, and now it’s really about what we do after that, which will make the real difference. It’s this decision that will determine whether we go into free fall or whether we reign it in and avoid repeating the depression of the 80s and 90s. And Yes, we are in the exact same set of circumstances that led to the economic downturn that introduced the Zambian depression that lasted until 2002. There was a Global Recession in the 80s, there is a Global Recession now, which mind you was already coming with or without the Coronavirus. There was a declining Kwacha in the ’80s, and there is a declining Kwacha Now. There was rising inflation in the 80s and there is rising inflation now. There was growing unemployment in the 80s, and there is growing unemployment now, which has been growing for the larger part of the last decade. There was expanding and unsustainable public debt in the 80s and there is expanding and unsustainable public debt now. For all intents and purposes, it appears we have brought the 80s back.
So we are now at a crossroads, and we have a choice to make. We can either sit here cosmetically prettying our economy up while indefinitely for the next rising global economic superstar to come along and allow us to hitch a ride on its economic acceleration wave, a strategy, by the way, we have proudly been using since 2002, or we can finally decide to take control of our economy and start learning as a country how to create economic growth for ourselves by ourselves. We can choose to learn the hard lesson that an economy cannot sustain growth through a series of exogenous shock factors, but it can only do it through the growth and efforts of its own organic private enterprises. We have to recognize how unsustainable it is to run an economy like a car with a faulty battery that needs to be jump started every single time the world has a slowdown, and there we are stuck, looking for someone with jumper cables to help us out. We have to make the tough decision to finally end all reliance on the outside world. That would mean no more touring world like a musician with a new album in search of FDI, like we have been doing for the past three decades. We have to decide that we are no longer going country to country with a begging bowl asking for aid and assistance, Like we have been doing for the past three decades. Most importantly, and i cannot stress this point enough, we definitely must put an end to any and all reliance on external debt. Zambia has to behave as if the World has closed every door and avenue indefinitely and dig deep within itself to find its own organic sources of private-sector growth, namely from the innovations and enterprises of the people. Everything, and I mean absolutely everything, Every product, every input, every service, every supply chain, every innovation, you name it, has to start coming from within, and has to come from Zambia’s people. That’s if we don’t want to repeat the mistakes of the 1980s and the depression that came after.
Make no mistake, the Kwacha heading for its 20th birthday is just one of many warning signals of an imminent economic threat, and the next two decades of the Zambian economy are hanging in the balance of the decisions we make now.
The Author is a Financial Economist with over ten years of experience in the Zambian Financial and Capital Markets in and with companies and institutions such as the Lusaka Securities Exchange, Securities and Exchange Commission, Aon Zambia and many other participants. He is also a freelance economic journalist from Lusaka who writes about currency, commodities, macroeconomic policy and markets from the Global and Domestic Perspectives. He can be found on Twitter at @MutwaleM.
Green Party President Peter Sinkamba has come to the defense of management at Kitwe Teaching Hospital charging that Dr. Chitalu Chilufya missed the point when he directed that management at the hospital should be disciplined for rats that have infested some wards. Mr. Sinkamba said that the vector and rodent problem at the hospital is a policy-failure issue that is purely the responsibility of the minister and not the doctors.
“I am very much aware of this problem. In fact, as the Green Party, we did offer in 2016, to work with a well-known rodent eradication company in Kitwe to try and sort out the rodent problem but failed to do so because of politics. Some people within the ministry viewed our offer as campaign gimmick when in fact not.
“The problem of vectors and rodents at Kitwe Teaching Hospital, and elsewhere, is an actually a policy issue. And all sectoral policies are the responsibility of the sector minister. When there is policy-failure in a particular ministry that is not the problem of management, but the minister,” Mr. Sinkamba said.
Mr. Sinkamba said that in order to reduce vector and rodent nuisance, including transmitted diseases to a level where they cease to become a public health problem, Government should develop a public environmental health policy through which relevant institutions promote and research into the integrated physical, chemical and biological vector and rodent control methods.
“Those rodents at Kitwe Teaching Hospital are alleged to have developed resistance against certain rodenticides. It is the responsibility of the Government to work in close cooperation with the research institutions and monitor and recommend interventions to address the reported rodenticide resistance.
“Furthermore, Government should ensure that control measures employed at various levels are environmentally friendly to promote and preserve lives not only of persons but flora and fauna as well.
“In addition, Government should periodically review and reinforce the national public health laws with a view to enacting legislation that provides the legal framework for the development of surveillance and control activities against vectors and rodents.
“And most importantly, Government should provide adequate resources for vector and rodent control to local authorities as this is a local authorities key responsibility not hospital management responsibility,” he added.
Mr. Sinkamba said due to policy-failure, since 1998, Kitwe residents on the bed-side of their relatives in Mkushi and other wards, have always complained of the infestation of rats at the hospital and have on several occasions called for measures to eradicate the rodents which have been extremely disturbing to both the patients and those on the bed side. He added that sometimes families have reported the rodents having feasted on dead bodies but successive governments have failed to address the problem.
“The rats that have colonized the basement of the hospital have been an eyesore to patients as they have always been seen moving freely in the wards. Successive ministers of health, including Dr. Chilufya himself, have known this problem. It is neither new nor is it a secret. It has been reported several times in the print media. The only difference now is that the report was visually aided through the viral video recording. Otherwise, this is a problem that is well known by Dr. Chilufya. As far as we are concerned, he was merely playing to the gallery when he issued threats to discipline senior management,” Mr. Sinkamba said.
On the reported threats to hospital management, Mr. Sinkamba stated that leaders privileged to exercise power should not use their positions to as scapegoat for own failures or failures of policies.
“When you are privileged as a leader to wield power, apply that power judiciously and justly. Do not unduly jeopardize the professional standing of juniors under your charge for political expedience,” he said.
Mr. Sinkamba said that Dr. Chilufya must put himself in the shoes of those fellow professionals at Kitwe Teaching Hospital. He said Dr. Chilufya should take a leaf from President Lungu who did not take action against him when corruption charges were leveled him. Rather the President let the due process take its course.
“But instead of emulating the spirit of President Lungu, Dr. chilufya publicly tried and found Kitwe Teaching Hospital management guilty without any hearing at all. This approach is repugnant and must be curtailed forthwith. He should have let the due process take its course whereby hospital management should have been given a hearing on the rodents.
“Most importantly, the right thing Dr. Chitalu should do is to critically address the problem from a policy point of view. First of all, there is need for him to develop an environmental health policy that addresses, among other issues vectors and rodents in public and private institutions.
“Secondly, he should ensure that as the Minister of Finance prepares the public health sector budget for 2021, he should set aside adequate resources for local authorities for vector and rodent control. In the last two decades, the only budget set aside for local government in terms of environmental health is for malaria control. Nothing is set aside for rodent control. This is genesis of the problem at Kitwe Teaching Hospital and elsewhere in the country,” Mr. Sinkamba explained.
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“Let our doctors focus on treating patients. And we should let the local government through the Councils to focus of mosquito, rodent and rabies control. Overburdening our doctors with these responsibilities does not make any sense at all especially in this country where the patient-doctor ration is 10,000 to 1.
“I hope President Lungu will not allow Dr. Chilufya to terrorize and frustrate hard working doctors at Kitwe Teaching Hospital who are merely victims of policy-failure. We lost a lot of doctors at Kitwe Teaching Hospital, and elsewhere in the country between 1998-2000 due to policy-failure frustrations. We shudder to see a repeat of the same mistake. It takes a lot of resources and dedication to produce a doctor. We should not frustrate them on account of policy-failure. It is not their job to formulate policy and allocate financial resources for policy implementation,” he said.
President Lungu has said he will continue working hard for the people of Zambia and will not be derailed by critics, some of whom will always condemn him as long as he remained President.
According to a statement released to the media by statehouse, the president said this yesterday when he met church leaders from the Independent Churches of Zambia
“President Kaunda, President Chiluba, President Mwanawasa, President Banda, and President Sata are all good people now that they are no longer in this job. For me, the critics will never say anything good but what is important for me is to do my best for the Zambian people,” the President said.
The President thanked the church leaders for the messages of encouragement and added that because of some people’s penchant for criticism, their advice is lost in the maze of criticism.
And Independent Churches of Zambia President Bishop David Masupa, representing Bishops from all the provinces of Zambia, said President Lungu has shown distinguished leadership, citing infrastructure development and how Government has handled the covid-19 pandemic as one of the examples.
“You have shown exemplary leadership since the time you assumed office. Our economy, like other world economies have been impacted by climate change and covid-19 and yet you have not played a blame game. There is good leadership in you,” Bishop Masupa said.
He praised President Lungu’s administration for the massive infrastructure development across the country and handed him a plaque for Distinguished Leadership.
Glencore and ZCCM-IH are in talks about ZCCM-IH acquiring additional shares in Glencore subsidiary Mopani Copper Mines, Glencore and Mines Minister have revealed.
ZCCM-IH holds a 10% stake in Mopani Copper Mines.
Glencore is the majority owner with 73.1% and First Quantum Minerals owns 16.9%.
Mines Minister Richard Musukwa told a media briefing on Tuesday that ZCCM-IH submitted an expression of interest to acquire additional shares in Mopani and Glencore responded favourably.
“The government has constituted a team to liaise with ZCCM-IH for the negotiations with Glencore. Furthermore, ZCCM-IH is in the process of engaging a transaction advisor,” Mr. Musukwa said.
Mr. Musukwa said the government is working closely with stakeholders, such as labour unions and suppliers, to ensure that operations continue to run smoothly during the negotiations.
Glencore said in a statement discussions with ZCCM-IH “and other shareholders” were progressing and further updates would be issued as appropriate.
John Gladston, a First Quantum spokesman, declined to comment.
“Glencore can confirm that it is in discussions with existing Mopani shareholder ZCCM-IH and other shareholders regarding the potential acquisition of additional shares by ZCCM-IH from Glencore,” the global commodities company said.
“The discussions are progressing and further updates will be issued as appropriate.”
Neither Mr. Musukwa nor Glencore said how many shares ZCCM-IH was looking to acquire.
Glencore’s announcement in April that it planned to place Mopani on care and maintenance sparked a backlash from Zambia’s government, which said it had not given enough notice and threatened to revoke the company’s mining licences.
In May, Mopani said it would resume mining operations for 90 days but still expected to go into care and maintenance – a term for a temporary production halt during which a mine site is maintained ahead of an eventual restart.
On July 16 the company said it would appeal the mines ministry’s decision to reject its proposal to suspend the operations.
Following his appointment as new Bank of Zambia Governor, there has been some dissent sentiments in some sections of society and social media. Slurr is being cast on almost anyone who gets appointment.
An unfair comparison is being made between outgoing Bank of Zambia Denny Kalyalya and in coming Bank of Zambia Governor Hon Christopher Mvunga. First and foremost, I admire Governor Kalyalya; he has had an illustrious career and has contributed immensely to Zambia and the world at large. Therefore, it is advisable that he should not be vilified or ostracized by the media.
A couple of years ago, I sat with him Business Class of South Africa from Johannesburg to Lusaka; we talked a lot of about energy markets and gave me very good advice some of which still remains valuable todate.
With regard to Hon. Christopher Mvunga, a lot of people do not know the actual person. He likes carrying himself simple, basic and very socially pliable and can come down and play soccer with you and spend time laughing and he listens a lot. In fact he likes consultations a lot, signoff and alignment. Many people who have been bruised, got bruised because they took him lightly based on basic narratives which appear around him in social media when he is having fun with his friends and family. I remember when both of us where living in Johannesburg, South Africa, he would host big events at this residence and invite hundreds of Zambia’s at his house for relaxation and fun and then we would start dancing and he wanted everyone dancing. And wanted to know everyone by name. He has a wonderful wife and family.
However, on a professional side, he is extremely deep and broad. He is very intelligent and deadline driven. He is one of the few civil servants whom I know who has an extraordinary sense of urgency and so deadline driven. At one time I called him and told him, “sir I don’t like what is going on in the energy sector-it is a nexus of national financial bleeding. This has to stop” He said, “come we hold a meeting “. I could tell the depth of seriously and commitment and action points which were being taken and implemented. He is also very passionate about reforms in the Energy Sector because this is the area where we have been bleeding as a country. Hon Mvunga is a former Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Finance which supervises the Bank of Zambia. He is immediate Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet in Charge of Finance and Economics. He is coming from the banking and financial sector where he held alpha level positions in both in Zambia and South Africa. Please lets give him chance. Mvunga will prove his critics wrong. Lets not personalize positions. He has such a strong praxis of leadership and gravitas when he sets his hands to the plough. This man has a history of almost sleeping in the office until work gets done from what we hear from those close to him.
With the support of the staff at Bank of Zambia and smooth transition, he will perform beyond expectations. But I can forewarn the lazy, those who talk a lot and get little done, and those who have insufficient sense of urgency, those who frustrate leadership and make things hard for them, are not going to have it easy at Bank of Zambia. He wants this done and done like yesterday. And in any case, no matter how educated and experienced a Central Bank Governor is, his success depends on several factors internal and external.
Several African and European economies are have gone through doldrums even with the best Central Bank Governors in Place. Even here in Zambia, we have had some of the best Bank of Zambia Governors but we still went through significant challenges. As a country we have Vision 2030 to pursue. We have the Seventh National Development Plan (7th NDP) which is informing, guiding, directing and mentoring the developmental aspirations of our country. And Hon Mvunga was heavily involved in consultations, and validations workshops with developmental stakeholders at promulgation stage of 7th NDP and its implementation. He is well vested with Part II of the 7th NDP which talks about Macroeconomic Framework-Towards economic stabilization and growth, fiscal policy, monetary and financial sector polices. He was part and parcel of the architects of the 7th NDP. Let him drive. He is also part of the travelling party to the World Bank and IMF and elsewhere all the time. He is current.
I would like to encourage to pay a lot of attention to energy sector and its impact on our economy. Much of the bleeding has been because of energy poverty in the country both at electricity sector and petroleum subsector.
President Edgar Lungu is tomorrow expected in Luapula Province for a four-day working visit.
Addressing the media in Mansa today, Luapula Province Minister Nickson Chilangwa disclosed that while in the province the Head of State is expected to visit six districts namely Lunga, Samfya, Nchelenge, Chienge, Chipili and Mwense.
Mr. Chilangwa said the President is scheduled to commission Musonda Hydro Power Station in Mwense district.
He discloses that the President is also expected to launch The Citizen Entrepreneur Development fund in Nchelenge district, which is aimed at empowering people in the Province.
The Minister further says the Head of State will also visit flood victims in Lunga district.
Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, Ms. Dora Siliya has told the court that she was shocked to learn that she was a subject of serious allegations of human and sex trafficking which were broadcast on Social-media by a Chellah Tukuta after she was alerted about his Videos and Facebook postings.
Ms. Siliya said this in her testimony in the case where Photographer Chella Tukuta, whom she had no knowledge of, is accused of making criminal and derogatory remarks posted on social media against her, Zambia Revenue Authority Commissioner General(ZRA), Kingsley Chanda, Northern Province Permanent Secretary, Charles Sipanje and Former Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations, Mr. Amos Chanda.
“We accept that things will be said in our area of work, especially as politicians, and in the past, I’ve paid a blind eye” she testified. However this is different because I’ am being accused of selling human beings,” Ms. Siliya said in her testimony.
I may be single, divorced with some failed relationships, but that doesn’t make me a high-level prostitute who sells girls to high profile men.” she said.
“One can accuse or criticize a person in their course of duty but to accuse me of selling humans and calling me the highest of high prostitutes is disgraceful, demeaning and an insult, ” she said before adding that the videos went viral on social media and people close to her as friends and associates across the world, calling her about the allegations made by Tukuta.
“To have my colleagues across the globe call and ask me about these allegations, left me with no option but to take this course of action,” she said while denying any involvement in the allegations calling them malicious and criminal.
“I don’t sell humans, I don’t sell sex for favours. I am human and not infallible and I make mistakes but the allegations were shocking. I may be single, divorced with some failed relationships, but that doesn’t make me a high-level prostitute who sells girls to high profile men.” she said.
Ms Siliya went on to say that although she is a Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services and promotes Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Press, the law, however, doesn’t support hate speech, libel and other abuse of expression and the abuse of the media.
“Being Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services responsible for media, freedom of the press, I have no doubt or hesitation in making a clear distinction between accusing someone of a crime and freedom of expression”.
She said over the years she has been a victim of hostile criticism but has never bothered to take anyone to court.
“And this is why over the years, many have said a lot about me but it did not border on being a crime, but to be accused of selling human beings, this was a serious crime”. she said.
Ms. Siliya took the time to give the Court her career path to where she is today. According to her, she graduated from Kabulonga Girls Secondary School as the best student and proceeded to the University of Zambia (UNZA). In her third year, she gained acceptance to study for her Masters at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. The national broadcaster, ZNBC, employed her while she was a student at the University, and at the age of 29 years, she was the youngest controller at ZNBC. Ms. Siliya also said that she worked for the European Union and created a good network of friends at home and internationally and also served as a diplomat and created a great network of friends internationally. Ms. Siliya further said that she also served in various portfolios as Cabinet Minister, as Minister of Commerce, Minister of Transport and Communications, Minister of Education, Minister of Energy, Minister of Agriculture, and now Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services and Chief Government Spokesperson.
On serving the people, Ms. Siliya said she been a member of parliament since 2006, and since 2015, she has been doing philanthropy work through her foundation called “Show You Care”. She is also an advocate of women issues, especially young women with a bias to fighting sexual and gender-based violence and abuse. She is also a patron for “My Home Town- Zambian Chapter,” a business network involving Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Argentina, USA, and the UK, adding that she has committed to the cause to uplift young women through education and business and her business, Mano Restaurant, has organized high tea networking sessions and as a platform for Women in Businesses which has had international guests from the region.
It is for this reason that she felt strongly that the utterances by Mr. Tukuta were injurious and damaging to her, accusing her of selling human beings for sex and selling herself for sex.
General Education Minister Dr Dennis Wanchinga has announced that government has reduced the school holiday period in a bid to recover the time lost during the abrupt closure of schools due to covid 19.
Speaking at a media briefing in Lusaka today, Dr Wanchinga disclosed that the holiday will be for a period of only two weeks from 28th August 2020 to 14 the September 2020.
“It is also during this period that the GCE and Grade 9 External examination will take place,” The Minster said.
Dr. Wanchinga explained that government understands that the holiday period will be very short thereby making it challenging for learners to crisscross the country to join their families.
He stated that it will be up to the individual family to decide whether their child will join them during the two weeks break.
The Minister advised parents to consider allowing their children to remain in boarding school in order to reduce the strain on family resources and allow their children to study and catch up and prepare for their examination.
And Dr Wanchinga has therefore called upon school authorities to ensure that all learners that wish to stay in school during holidays are accorded to do so and ensure they continue providing a safe environment.
The Minister has authorized boarding schools to receive an extra boarding fee of K150 for two weeks adding that the modalities of payment should be agreed with the parents.
Dr Wanchinga has since warned schools managers not to use this as a fundraising opportunity but a service.
The government has sent a message of sympathies and condolences to the family of the late Dr. Abigail Mulenga who died at the University Teaching Hospital at 18:30 hours yesterday.
Health Minister Dr. Chitalu Chilufya said the late Dr. Mulenga was a highly committed medical practitioner who worked with the ministry of health for the last two months and showed her diligence and dedication.
“Allow me today to express my sympathies and condolences to the family of the late Dr. Abigail Mulenga our 23-year-old intern who died last evening. The young lady had suffered from some headaches and had been unwell for more than a week and succumbed yesterday 18:30.
Dr. Mulenga was a highly committed medical practitioner who worked with the ministry of health for the last two months and showed her diligence and dedication to duty in a short period of time. Today we express deep sympathies to the family and the dark cloud covers the health sector as we have lost a gallant young fighter.” Said Dr. Chilufya.
He said investigations conducted thus far have not confirmed if her death was COVID-19 related
“The investigations we have done so far have not yet confirmed that the death was COVID related but so far what we have picked are comorbidities and these comorbidities have been investigated thoroughly and noted may her soul rest in peace.” The Minister added.
The country has recorded 137 new COVID cases out of 651 tests conducted in the last 24 hours bringing the cumulative number of cases to 11,345.
2 deaths have occurred while 192 people have recovered from the pandemic.
Legendary ex-City of Lusaka “Yamoto” coach Fred Nasilele has died.
Nasilele passed away in the early hours of August 25 at Maina Soko Military Hospital in Lusaka.
The ex-Chipolopolo assistant trainer made his mark during his three-year stay at City between 1994, when he led them to promotion, and 1996.
The famous Woodlands side of that period led by striker Aaron Lubunda and midfielder Mohammed Seedat held their own in duels against dominant Copperbelt rivals Mighty Mufulira Wanderers, Nkana and Power Dynamos including in Lusaka derbies against their tenants Zamsure.
“The late Nasilele lived and breathed football. His legacy speaks for itself as he groomed various players during his time as coach for City of Lusaka, Red Arrows and Napsa Stars,” FAZ general secretary Adrian Kashala said in a statement released by Football House.
He also had Chipolopolo stint as part of Roald Poulsen’s bench from two years that won bronze at the 1996 AFCON.
Nasilele, who was a teacher by profession and Ministry of Education Inspector of Schools during that period, later joined the Zambia Air Force in 2001 where he was director of sport.
Under his reign at the directorate, Arrows won their only league title to date in 2004.
Nasilele later served as Napsa Stars physical trainer from 2011 to 2012.
Zambian Hip-Hop artist, Chanda Mbao, seems to be growing a reputation for collecting international accolades as part of the Zambian Hip-Hop movement, via his base of Lusaka. Less than two months after being featured in the Nigerian press and gaining a number 1 position on Trace Africa’s Hip-Hop chart for his recent collaboration with Skales, Jay Rox and Scott, Chanda Mbao has now been recognized by major streaming company, Audiomack.
Audiomack as a company has seen a rapid ascent to the top of free streaming segment of the market, a spot previously occupied by Swedish company Soundcloud. On the African continent, Audiomack has been a very valuable partner in the rise of Afrobeat, working with local tastemakers and setting up shop on the continent to identify and promote local African talent through their Audiomack Africa offices.
One of the company’s primary avenues of identifying and celebrating talent is through ‘playlisting’ which has become the modern version of international radio play in this new streaming era. Just last year, we reported how Chanda had been playlisted by the largest streaming service in the world, Spotify, and now he has been afforded the same recognition by Audiomack through their official ‘Afro Hip-Hop’ playlist where Chanda Mbao currently has the only Zambian song placed on the playlist alongside names such as Burna Boy, Nasty C, Sarkodie and others. The song selected for playlisting is Chanda Mbao’s single ‘OK’ which was produced by Zambian producer Magician and AmoBeatz. Chanda’s most recent release ‘The Final Wave’ was also recognized by Apple Music through their ‘African Hop-Hop’ and ‘The New Africa’ playlists.
We like to see our Zambian talent recognized, across all genres, and hope to see all our acts continue to make such strides, bringing attention to the Zambian music industry. Let’s continue to support Zambian, especially on digital platforms!
Check out Chanda Mbao’s song ‘OK’ on Audiomack’s official ‘Afro Hip-Hop’ Playlist:
Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya has been acquitted on all four charges of alleged corruption that were slapped on him by the Anti-Corruption Commission, ACC.
And ACC Acting Director General Rosemary Khuzwayo failed to appear before the court today due to an illness.
When the matter came up for continuation of trial, the ACC Secretary Clifford Monga who was among the team of lawyers from the Commission told Chief Resident Magistrate Lameck Mwale that he was instructed to offer no further evidence in the matter.
At this point, Dr Chilufya’s lawyer, Tutwa Ngulube asked the court to acquit his client. Magistrate Mwale then acquitted Dr Chilufya of all the charges and set him free.
Yesterday, the court had issued summons to ACC Acting Director General Rosemary Khuzwayo, ordering her to appear before the court and show cause why she should not be cited for contempt.
This was in connection to the alleged suspension of an Investigative Officer who testified as the first state witness in the matter.
However, Mr. Monga today told the Court that Ms Khuzwayo suffered from High Blood Pressure and was unable to avail herself before court.
The court has since canceled the summons to ACC management following Dr. Chilufya’s acquittal.
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